DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45598#0058
Macaishurin.
93
though details in basalt are found. The stone is poor in quality, though very white,
and comparatively few of the great number of buildings of which there are traces, are
preserved to a height of more than 2 m. above the soil. From the small number
which are preserved it is plain that the architecture of the place was closely related
to that of the Djebel Riha. The plans of houses are quite the same, the mouldings
of doorways and windows are exactly similar, and the presence of pyramidal tombs
shows another bond of relationship. In the mouldings of these tombs, however, there
are elements that are more closely allied to the basalt architecture of the eastern country
than to that of limestone in the western mountains. There are several houses of
ordinary plan that are still quite well preserved; one
showing parts of these stories. The house, a plan of
which (Ill. 106) is given herewith, was a handsome resi¬
dence like many in the Djebel Riha. Its doorways and
windows are framed in elaborate mouldings now badly
weathered. There are no girder arches, nor remains of
any, in the large square apartments of the residence.
Well made cupboards are found in the intermediate walls, large windows, high from
the ground, appear in the rear wall, and loop-holes in the end walls. Above the rear
windows are moulded corbels for the support
of wooden girders.
Tomb. About five minutes’ walk eastward
from the ruined town is a pyramidal tomb almost
perfectly preserved, so far as the cubical chamber
is concerned, and parts of four courses of the
pyramidal roof are also in place. The chamber
is, of course, square (Ill. 107), and anta walls
project towards the east, on which side was
the entrance. The exterior treatment is quite
similar to that of the tombs at Ma'rata, described
above ; but the pilasters at the angles are genuine
in their structure being set out from the wall
surface and provided with bases and caps (Ill. 108).
The architrave consists of a bevelled fascia be¬
tween two plain fascias surmounted by a torus
moulding. Again the frieze is omitted, and the
cornice is a heavy cymatium which slants slightly
back to the base of the pyramid, the angle of
which rises from the line of the lowest member
of the architrave. There are remains of other tombs in the vicinity, but this is the only
one sufficiently well preserved for publication.
37. MACAISHURIN.
Among the villages in the strip of limestone country that borders the eastern
region of basalt on the west, and not far from the great highway that divides the
locality here under discussion from the Djebel Riha, is Maaishurin, a large settlement
93
though details in basalt are found. The stone is poor in quality, though very white,
and comparatively few of the great number of buildings of which there are traces, are
preserved to a height of more than 2 m. above the soil. From the small number
which are preserved it is plain that the architecture of the place was closely related
to that of the Djebel Riha. The plans of houses are quite the same, the mouldings
of doorways and windows are exactly similar, and the presence of pyramidal tombs
shows another bond of relationship. In the mouldings of these tombs, however, there
are elements that are more closely allied to the basalt architecture of the eastern country
than to that of limestone in the western mountains. There are several houses of
ordinary plan that are still quite well preserved; one
showing parts of these stories. The house, a plan of
which (Ill. 106) is given herewith, was a handsome resi¬
dence like many in the Djebel Riha. Its doorways and
windows are framed in elaborate mouldings now badly
weathered. There are no girder arches, nor remains of
any, in the large square apartments of the residence.
Well made cupboards are found in the intermediate walls, large windows, high from
the ground, appear in the rear wall, and loop-holes in the end walls. Above the rear
windows are moulded corbels for the support
of wooden girders.
Tomb. About five minutes’ walk eastward
from the ruined town is a pyramidal tomb almost
perfectly preserved, so far as the cubical chamber
is concerned, and parts of four courses of the
pyramidal roof are also in place. The chamber
is, of course, square (Ill. 107), and anta walls
project towards the east, on which side was
the entrance. The exterior treatment is quite
similar to that of the tombs at Ma'rata, described
above ; but the pilasters at the angles are genuine
in their structure being set out from the wall
surface and provided with bases and caps (Ill. 108).
The architrave consists of a bevelled fascia be¬
tween two plain fascias surmounted by a torus
moulding. Again the frieze is omitted, and the
cornice is a heavy cymatium which slants slightly
back to the base of the pyramid, the angle of
which rises from the line of the lowest member
of the architrave. There are remains of other tombs in the vicinity, but this is the only
one sufficiently well preserved for publication.
37. MACAISHURIN.
Among the villages in the strip of limestone country that borders the eastern
region of basalt on the west, and not far from the great highway that divides the
locality here under discussion from the Djebel Riha, is Maaishurin, a large settlement