DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45601#0050
£
Dana
139
for building material. But in the environs of the town, among the olive groves that
sweep up the western slopes above the ruins, there are tombs that have been made
famous by M. de Vogue. Here is the tomb of Olympiane,1 a canopy of stone carried
upon four colums, and here the beautiful pyramidal tomb,3 with its tetrastyle porch,
that is often quoted as an example of the beauty of the architecture of Syria between
the third and seventh centuries. The Princeton Expedition did not tarry among the
ruins in the village; but visited the well know tombs and, in pursuing their journey
toward Kasr il-Benat, came upon the ruin of another pyramidal tomb that seemed
worthy of publication (Ill. 161). It is a smaller structure, and less pretentious in every
way, than the great pyramidal tomb, its neighbour, and it is not nearly so well preserved.
The tomb chamber is about 4.50 m. square inside (Ill. 162); the front elevation shows
a podium with a very salient
cap moulding. The structure
above the podium is about
4.40 m. high to the top of the
cornice, and the pyramid rose
over 4 m. above it. Each face
of the square portion of the
tomb was ornamented with base
with Corinthian caps, an archi¬
trave and a denticulated cornice.
The channelling of the pilasters
is of most unusual form; there
are three grooves; the middle
one is hollow, the other two
are filled with a cable, i. e.,
an ovolo member, with a deep
incision cut down the middle.
The pilaster cap that is still in
place shows delicate carving
and good proportions in its
acanthus leaves; but the cap
is much wider than the pilaster, and gives the appearance of having been made for
some other purpose. The architrave has three narrow bands at the bottom, a cymatium
with a fillet, and a fascia below an ovolo of the same width as the fascia, a very
unusual profile in the Djebel Riha, but reminiscent of the profiles of architraves of
tombs in the region to the eastward, at Macrata and il-Ghadfeh.3 The cornice has two
broad fasciae below the narrow dentil band, and a salient, filleted cyma recta above it.
The doorway is in the north side; it is framed in good mouldings, and further adorned
with a tall flat cymatium delicately carved with upright acanthus leaves.
Kasr il-Benat. This Arabic name, a common one in Syria, is applied to buildings
and not to places; moreover it is usually applied to isolated buildings, and its meaning,
in English, “Castle of the Virgins,” has often led to the supposition that ruins of this
mouldings, grooved pilasters
Ill. 161. Dana (Southern), Tomb.
1 S.C. Pl. 78.
2 Ibid. Pl. 77.
3 II. B. 2, pp. 91—93.
Dana
139
for building material. But in the environs of the town, among the olive groves that
sweep up the western slopes above the ruins, there are tombs that have been made
famous by M. de Vogue. Here is the tomb of Olympiane,1 a canopy of stone carried
upon four colums, and here the beautiful pyramidal tomb,3 with its tetrastyle porch,
that is often quoted as an example of the beauty of the architecture of Syria between
the third and seventh centuries. The Princeton Expedition did not tarry among the
ruins in the village; but visited the well know tombs and, in pursuing their journey
toward Kasr il-Benat, came upon the ruin of another pyramidal tomb that seemed
worthy of publication (Ill. 161). It is a smaller structure, and less pretentious in every
way, than the great pyramidal tomb, its neighbour, and it is not nearly so well preserved.
The tomb chamber is about 4.50 m. square inside (Ill. 162); the front elevation shows
a podium with a very salient
cap moulding. The structure
above the podium is about
4.40 m. high to the top of the
cornice, and the pyramid rose
over 4 m. above it. Each face
of the square portion of the
tomb was ornamented with base
with Corinthian caps, an archi¬
trave and a denticulated cornice.
The channelling of the pilasters
is of most unusual form; there
are three grooves; the middle
one is hollow, the other two
are filled with a cable, i. e.,
an ovolo member, with a deep
incision cut down the middle.
The pilaster cap that is still in
place shows delicate carving
and good proportions in its
acanthus leaves; but the cap
is much wider than the pilaster, and gives the appearance of having been made for
some other purpose. The architrave has three narrow bands at the bottom, a cymatium
with a fillet, and a fascia below an ovolo of the same width as the fascia, a very
unusual profile in the Djebel Riha, but reminiscent of the profiles of architraves of
tombs in the region to the eastward, at Macrata and il-Ghadfeh.3 The cornice has two
broad fasciae below the narrow dentil band, and a salient, filleted cyma recta above it.
The doorway is in the north side; it is framed in good mouldings, and further adorned
with a tall flat cymatium delicately carved with upright acanthus leaves.
Kasr il-Benat. This Arabic name, a common one in Syria, is applied to buildings
and not to places; moreover it is usually applied to isolated buildings, and its meaning,
in English, “Castle of the Virgins,” has often led to the supposition that ruins of this
mouldings, grooved pilasters
Ill. 161. Dana (Southern), Tomb.
1 S.C. Pl. 78.
2 Ibid. Pl. 77.
3 II. B. 2, pp. 91—93.