DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45601#0026
Serdjilla
121
very low. I assume that the stone roofs indicate that the rooms which they covered,
— (F), (G), and the small recesses —, were used for hot water and vapour baths,
since roofs of wood over such rooms would not readily hold in the heat and would
decay rapidly. (G) then, with its curved and square recesses, I would call sudatoria.
(H) a small square chamber with a high ceiling of wood, open at one side upon the
great hall by means of an arch carried upon colums, and having a half-domed apse
towards the east, was the last of the baths. This was the frigidarium, or cold bath;
for no heat could be retained here owing to its large openings, its high ceiling, and
its roof of wood. A fountain of cold water may have stood in the apse. The great
hall (K), which M. de Vogue designates as the apodyterium, extends along the north
side of the chambers (E), (F), and (H). Its roof, a double pitched one of timber, rose
high above the other roofs, providing for a sort of clearstory of five large windows
opening above the lean-to roof (Ill. 134, South Elevation, and Ill. 135). At the west
end of the great hall was a row of four columns carrying a balustraded tribune (L),
provided, no doubt, for spectators, or musicians as M. de Vogue suggests. From (K)
one may pass into (B), and the circuit of the baths is complete. In the east end of (K)
there is a doorway leading into a hall (M) which extends across the entire width of
(K). The east wall of this apartment has a portal at its south end, and two large
windows in the remaining space. Here we have another entrance and waiting room,
one more convenient for the bathers coming down from the villas on the eastern slopes.
These patrons would pass through the great hall to the other end of the building to
begin their baths. (M) was covered by a low lean-to roof of wood (Ill. 136) that exten-
ded up to the windows in the east end of the great hall. It was furnished with a
mosaic floor of simple geometrical design. (N) is a small low-roofed chamber adjoining
(M); it stands free on three sides and has a doorway which opens from (M), and another
opening out of doors. A trench extending along the west side of the room indicates
that this was a latrina. A channel about 4 cm. in diameter pierces the wall of the
great hall at its northeast angle, at the level of its pavement, and conducted water
from the pavement, when the floor was washed, into the trench of the latrina. (O)
in the plan, represents a part of a pavement which is carried upon a series of under-
ground arches and forms the covering of a large arched cistern, 16 m. long, 12 m.
wide, and still 4 m. deep. At (P) is the ruined substructure of an elevated reservoir,
and the supports of a pump by which the water of the cistern was raised to the reser-
voir which probably extended over the very thick partition between (D) and (E). From
this reservoir an exterior conduit, or canal, cut in the upper surface of a projecting
course of stone at the level of the window sills, was carried all along the south wall
of the baths and around to the east wall. The highest level of the conduit was oppo-
site the reservoir; in one direction the water flowed a short distance to the west, enter-
ing (D) by a hole in the wall; in the other direction the water was carried a long
distance, flowing into (E) and (F) through holes in the wall, and into the apse and
the rectangular recess of (G) by means of short channels cut into the window sills of
those chambers. The water was then carried around the irregular angles in the east
wall, and found its last entrance through a channel in the sill of the large window in the
apse of (H). Thus a supply of fresh cold water was constantly supplied to each com-
partment of the bath. In the caldarium this water was, of course, brought in contact
with the heating aparatus. M. de Vogue suggests that, in the vapour baths, the water
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria, Div. II, Sec. B, Pt. 3. 16
121
very low. I assume that the stone roofs indicate that the rooms which they covered,
— (F), (G), and the small recesses —, were used for hot water and vapour baths,
since roofs of wood over such rooms would not readily hold in the heat and would
decay rapidly. (G) then, with its curved and square recesses, I would call sudatoria.
(H) a small square chamber with a high ceiling of wood, open at one side upon the
great hall by means of an arch carried upon colums, and having a half-domed apse
towards the east, was the last of the baths. This was the frigidarium, or cold bath;
for no heat could be retained here owing to its large openings, its high ceiling, and
its roof of wood. A fountain of cold water may have stood in the apse. The great
hall (K), which M. de Vogue designates as the apodyterium, extends along the north
side of the chambers (E), (F), and (H). Its roof, a double pitched one of timber, rose
high above the other roofs, providing for a sort of clearstory of five large windows
opening above the lean-to roof (Ill. 134, South Elevation, and Ill. 135). At the west
end of the great hall was a row of four columns carrying a balustraded tribune (L),
provided, no doubt, for spectators, or musicians as M. de Vogue suggests. From (K)
one may pass into (B), and the circuit of the baths is complete. In the east end of (K)
there is a doorway leading into a hall (M) which extends across the entire width of
(K). The east wall of this apartment has a portal at its south end, and two large
windows in the remaining space. Here we have another entrance and waiting room,
one more convenient for the bathers coming down from the villas on the eastern slopes.
These patrons would pass through the great hall to the other end of the building to
begin their baths. (M) was covered by a low lean-to roof of wood (Ill. 136) that exten-
ded up to the windows in the east end of the great hall. It was furnished with a
mosaic floor of simple geometrical design. (N) is a small low-roofed chamber adjoining
(M); it stands free on three sides and has a doorway which opens from (M), and another
opening out of doors. A trench extending along the west side of the room indicates
that this was a latrina. A channel about 4 cm. in diameter pierces the wall of the
great hall at its northeast angle, at the level of its pavement, and conducted water
from the pavement, when the floor was washed, into the trench of the latrina. (O)
in the plan, represents a part of a pavement which is carried upon a series of under-
ground arches and forms the covering of a large arched cistern, 16 m. long, 12 m.
wide, and still 4 m. deep. At (P) is the ruined substructure of an elevated reservoir,
and the supports of a pump by which the water of the cistern was raised to the reser-
voir which probably extended over the very thick partition between (D) and (E). From
this reservoir an exterior conduit, or canal, cut in the upper surface of a projecting
course of stone at the level of the window sills, was carried all along the south wall
of the baths and around to the east wall. The highest level of the conduit was oppo-
site the reservoir; in one direction the water flowed a short distance to the west, enter-
ing (D) by a hole in the wall; in the other direction the water was carried a long
distance, flowing into (E) and (F) through holes in the wall, and into the apse and
the rectangular recess of (G) by means of short channels cut into the window sills of
those chambers. The water was then carried around the irregular angles in the east
wall, and found its last entrance through a channel in the sill of the large window in the
apse of (H). Thus a supply of fresh cold water was constantly supplied to each com-
partment of the bath. In the caldarium this water was, of course, brought in contact
with the heating aparatus. M. de Vogue suggests that, in the vapour baths, the water
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expedition to Syria, Div. II, Sec. B, Pt. 3. 16