DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45601#0027
122
II. B. 3.
fell upon stones heated red hot, to produce the necessary steam. It is not at all
improbable that leaden pipes, long since carried away, conducted water from the great
tank, and from a receptacle in which water was heated.
In exterior appearance the Bath at Serdjilla was rather plain and severe (Ills.
(135—1 236); its carved decoration consists only of the moulded cornice which crowns
every wall and gable, the simply moulded lintel of the doorway of the chamber (D),
the more richly moulded lintel of the eastern portal, and the frame mouldings of the
high arched windows at the east of the great hall. These window mouldings, which
are returned at two right angles between the openings and returned again for a short
distance on both sides, are interesting for the reason that they are comparatively rare
in the buildings of the Djebel Riha, though they are very common in the churches of
the mountains lying directly to the north. Since the bath is dated, the age of other
buildings in which similar mouldings occur, may be approximately determined. The
ornament of the interior is confined to the well proportioned Corinthian columns and
moulded architrave of the tribune at the west end of the great hall, with the carved
posts and parapet above them, and the columns that carried the arch between the
great hall and the cold bath (H). The corbels at the top of the wall, which suppor-
ted the timber trusses of the roof, were adorned with simple mouldings. The mosaic
pavement of the great hall, discovered by the American Expedition in 1900, was the
chief ornament of the building. It is described in detail in the publications of the
American Expedition 1 where an outline drawing of that part of the mosaic which was
brought to light at the time is also given. A further description and a colour sketch
of a small part of the mosaic, are given in the report3 of a Russian expedition that
came to Serdjilla later in 1900. The American party found the two thirds of the
pavement which they uncovered in a perfect state of preservation, but for a small break near
the centre; the Russians found the remainder perfectly preserved. The first expedition,
and the second likewise, carefully covered the monument with earth after making their exa-
mination of it; yet the Princeton Expedition, in 1905, found the whole room absolutely clear
of earth, and the mosaic in a sadly broken condition. All efforts to save, for the Imperial
Ottoman Museum, a few fragments which preserved complete figures from the original
design failed, owing to the interference of a local official. The monument is now obliterated.
The public bath at Serdjilla is the best preserved of the baths that have been
discovered thus far in Syria, if, indeed, it is not the best preserved of all the buildings
of its kind known to belong to the period between the reigns of Constantine and
Justinian, and is particularly interesting as an example of the public bathing establish-
ments of the Christian period as compared with those of Imperial Roman and ancient
Greek times. Its walls were plastered on the interior, and decorated in colours, as is
proven by fragments of coloured plaster still found in the building. It is quite probable
that paintings, comparing in quality to the mosaic designs of the pavement, adorned
the walls of the larger rooms. Fragments of roof tiling show how the roofs were
treated. The picture that this building presents to the imagination is a scene from the
daily life of the inhabitants of these Syrian hill-towns during the fifth and sixth cen-
turies — a scene suggestive of a high degree of civilization and of not a little luxury.
1 A.A. E.S. II, p. 288.
2 Th. Uspensky. ArCheologitcheshie Pamatniki Sirii. Publications of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Con¬
stantinople. Sofia 1902. VII, 1-2, p. 63-76.
II. B. 3.
fell upon stones heated red hot, to produce the necessary steam. It is not at all
improbable that leaden pipes, long since carried away, conducted water from the great
tank, and from a receptacle in which water was heated.
In exterior appearance the Bath at Serdjilla was rather plain and severe (Ills.
(135—1 236); its carved decoration consists only of the moulded cornice which crowns
every wall and gable, the simply moulded lintel of the doorway of the chamber (D),
the more richly moulded lintel of the eastern portal, and the frame mouldings of the
high arched windows at the east of the great hall. These window mouldings, which
are returned at two right angles between the openings and returned again for a short
distance on both sides, are interesting for the reason that they are comparatively rare
in the buildings of the Djebel Riha, though they are very common in the churches of
the mountains lying directly to the north. Since the bath is dated, the age of other
buildings in which similar mouldings occur, may be approximately determined. The
ornament of the interior is confined to the well proportioned Corinthian columns and
moulded architrave of the tribune at the west end of the great hall, with the carved
posts and parapet above them, and the columns that carried the arch between the
great hall and the cold bath (H). The corbels at the top of the wall, which suppor-
ted the timber trusses of the roof, were adorned with simple mouldings. The mosaic
pavement of the great hall, discovered by the American Expedition in 1900, was the
chief ornament of the building. It is described in detail in the publications of the
American Expedition 1 where an outline drawing of that part of the mosaic which was
brought to light at the time is also given. A further description and a colour sketch
of a small part of the mosaic, are given in the report3 of a Russian expedition that
came to Serdjilla later in 1900. The American party found the two thirds of the
pavement which they uncovered in a perfect state of preservation, but for a small break near
the centre; the Russians found the remainder perfectly preserved. The first expedition,
and the second likewise, carefully covered the monument with earth after making their exa-
mination of it; yet the Princeton Expedition, in 1905, found the whole room absolutely clear
of earth, and the mosaic in a sadly broken condition. All efforts to save, for the Imperial
Ottoman Museum, a few fragments which preserved complete figures from the original
design failed, owing to the interference of a local official. The monument is now obliterated.
The public bath at Serdjilla is the best preserved of the baths that have been
discovered thus far in Syria, if, indeed, it is not the best preserved of all the buildings
of its kind known to belong to the period between the reigns of Constantine and
Justinian, and is particularly interesting as an example of the public bathing establish-
ments of the Christian period as compared with those of Imperial Roman and ancient
Greek times. Its walls were plastered on the interior, and decorated in colours, as is
proven by fragments of coloured plaster still found in the building. It is quite probable
that paintings, comparing in quality to the mosaic designs of the pavement, adorned
the walls of the larger rooms. Fragments of roof tiling show how the roofs were
treated. The picture that this building presents to the imagination is a scene from the
daily life of the inhabitants of these Syrian hill-towns during the fifth and sixth cen-
turies — a scene suggestive of a high degree of civilization and of not a little luxury.
1 A.A. E.S. II, p. 288.
2 Th. Uspensky. ArCheologitcheshie Pamatniki Sirii. Publications of the Russian Archaeological Institute in Con¬
stantinople. Sofia 1902. VII, 1-2, p. 63-76.