DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45598#0056
Macrata.
91
A part of the north
Cornice-
In teriorDado-
slanting upper surface, and above this
Elan-
piers, the slabs which formed the intermediate floors above the narrow rooms, and the
exterior colonnades were all of basalt. The windows and doorways are provided with
good mouldings, but the details of the colonnades are of the very plain and rigid kind
common in basalt architecture, as may be seen by the
Tombs. The great majority of tombs in all this
locality would seem to have been excavated below the
surface of the ground, and to have been filled up; for
the natives of the neighborhood are constantly making
rich finds of pottery, glass and coins. In Macrata, how¬
ever, there are important remains of built fombs, and
this funeral architecture is closely allied with the monu¬
mental tombs of the Djebel Riha, though in detail it
presents many individual characteristics. In and about
the ruins of Ma rata there are remains of no less than
six pyramidal tombs with large cubical chambers, two
of which are so well preserved as to make it a com¬
paratively easy matter to restore them in drawings, and
these will suffice as examples.
Tomb I. The best preserved of these tombs (Ill. 102),
and the most imposing in ruins, is situated to the north¬
east of the deserted town. In form it was a cube sur-
mounted by a fine pyramid. The south and west sides are perfectly preserved with
the lower section of the pyramidal roof still in place above them.
wall is still in place, but the east wall, where
the entrance was, is completely destroyed. The
four lower courses of the structure are of highly
finished opus quadratum in basalt, the remainder
is entirely of fine white limestone (Ill. 103).
The interior contained five sarcophagi. The
ornamental features of the tomb correspond to
the decorations of the pyramidal tombs of the
Djebel Riha, yet the profiles of the mouldings
show the influence of the basalt architecture
of the eastern district. The angles, above the
basalt coursing, are treated as pilasters by in¬
cising- grooves on both faces of the stones of
the corners. These pilasters have no caps, and
a heavy moulding, consisting of a bevelled
fascia, a flat band and a torus, is placed directly
above their tops. (Ill. 102). Above this is set
a cornice, consisting of a fascia, a cyma recta,
a bevelled fillet and a fascia; this cornice does
not project beyond the torus of the moulding
below it. Upon the cornice is placed a thin
coping stone of considerable projection, with a
the slope of the pyramid begins its steeper angle, on a line with the face of the wall
MArAta- hovsehl
Ill. IOI.
MA'rAtA-
Tomb I-
SideElevation
Restored-
:l-
i|l
fl.'iu
: ? a
.11
w
V'
/Qx- :; 4 A
15
•? M - / .J
.20
91
A part of the north
Cornice-
In teriorDado-
slanting upper surface, and above this
Elan-
piers, the slabs which formed the intermediate floors above the narrow rooms, and the
exterior colonnades were all of basalt. The windows and doorways are provided with
good mouldings, but the details of the colonnades are of the very plain and rigid kind
common in basalt architecture, as may be seen by the
Tombs. The great majority of tombs in all this
locality would seem to have been excavated below the
surface of the ground, and to have been filled up; for
the natives of the neighborhood are constantly making
rich finds of pottery, glass and coins. In Macrata, how¬
ever, there are important remains of built fombs, and
this funeral architecture is closely allied with the monu¬
mental tombs of the Djebel Riha, though in detail it
presents many individual characteristics. In and about
the ruins of Ma rata there are remains of no less than
six pyramidal tombs with large cubical chambers, two
of which are so well preserved as to make it a com¬
paratively easy matter to restore them in drawings, and
these will suffice as examples.
Tomb I. The best preserved of these tombs (Ill. 102),
and the most imposing in ruins, is situated to the north¬
east of the deserted town. In form it was a cube sur-
mounted by a fine pyramid. The south and west sides are perfectly preserved with
the lower section of the pyramidal roof still in place above them.
wall is still in place, but the east wall, where
the entrance was, is completely destroyed. The
four lower courses of the structure are of highly
finished opus quadratum in basalt, the remainder
is entirely of fine white limestone (Ill. 103).
The interior contained five sarcophagi. The
ornamental features of the tomb correspond to
the decorations of the pyramidal tombs of the
Djebel Riha, yet the profiles of the mouldings
show the influence of the basalt architecture
of the eastern district. The angles, above the
basalt coursing, are treated as pilasters by in¬
cising- grooves on both faces of the stones of
the corners. These pilasters have no caps, and
a heavy moulding, consisting of a bevelled
fascia, a flat band and a torus, is placed directly
above their tops. (Ill. 102). Above this is set
a cornice, consisting of a fascia, a cyma recta,
a bevelled fillet and a fascia; this cornice does
not project beyond the torus of the moulding
below it. Upon the cornice is placed a thin
coping stone of considerable projection, with a
the slope of the pyramid begins its steeper angle, on a line with the face of the wall
MArAta- hovsehl
Ill. IOI.
MA'rAtA-
Tomb I-
SideElevation
Restored-
:l-
i|l
fl.'iu
: ? a
.11
w
V'
/Qx- :; 4 A
15
•? M - / .J
.20