DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45601#0064
146
II. B. 3.
the sixth century, and it is probable that it is still earlier. The only other example
that has been found thus far in Syria, is the little church at it-Tuba, discovered by the
Princeton Expedition in the basalt country to the southeast of the Djebel Riha, and
already described in these publications;1 it is dated in A.D. 582. At it-Tuba the
transverse arches were reinforced by arches that spanned the side aisles, and by buttresses
in the aisle walls. The weakness of the system, as employed in Ruwfeha, lay in the
lack of these lower lateral supports; the transverse arches were too high to stand
effectually without abutment; yet an important principle was recognized, and put into
practice by the architect of the Bizzos church — a principle destined, for lack of time,
to reach no further development in the Syrian country, but to play an important part
in the later history of Christian architecture in Europe. Transverse arches over the
naves of churches were, of course, commonly employed in Southern Syria; but without
reference to the principle involved here• for they were used without longitudinal arches,
and were placed near together to carry thin slabs of a flat stone roof. The important
factor in the construction at Ruw^ha is the division of the nave into squares by the
longitudinal and transverse arches, thus providing a frame work which was in later
centuries to carry the high cross-vault. I do not mean to suggest that the architect
of this church had the faintest notion of placing a vault upon the framework he had
devised• for the builders in this part of Syria seemed to have scorned the use of the
vault, though they could hardly have been ignorant of its practicability, considering the
remarkable examples of its use in existence a few miles to the eastward, at il-Anderin
and Kasr Ibn Wardan; but it would seem that another century must have seen a fusion
of the two styles of construction so nobly represented in this church at Ruweha and
in the church at Kasr Ibn Wardan,3 which would have resulted in the cross-vaulted basilica.
At the east end of the nave only the curved wall of the apse with its three
windows, and one of the piers of the chancel arch are preserved; the half-dome has
collapsed. On either side stand the responds of the nave arcade with two or three
voussoirs above them. The west wall of the diaconicum is in situ; but only one of the
piers of the arch of the prothesis is preserved. Both tombs are in wonderful state of
preservation, as may be seen in the plate 3 devoted to them in La Syrie Central^ and
in the photographs published by the American Expedition.4 The wall of the peribolos
is almost complete; but the vestibule of the entrance is partly ruined.
Ornament. The carved decoration of the Bizzos Church is particularly interesting.
It is not profuse, as in some of the later churches of the Djebel Barisha and the Djebel
Sim'an;' yet it is the most richly ornamented of the churches of the Djebel Riha. The
ornament throughout is reserved, and is used to the best advantage. The emphasizing
of horizontal lines by the use of string mouldings, and the employment of grooved
pilasters along the walls, are both strongly suggestive of the influence of Classic models,
and of the return to Classic forms of decoration that is manifested by the architecture
of the sixth century in Northern Syria. The restoration of the west front of the church
(Pl. XVI) shows the variety of mouldings employed, and the interesting manner of
running them in a perpendicular as well as horizontal direction — a fashion truly Syrian,
and in spirit rather more Gothic than Classical. The architrave moulding above the
piers of the narthex is returned to form the archivolt of the great central arch, and is
1 Div. II, Sect. B, Pt. I, p. 19.
3 S.C. Pl. 91.
2 II B 1, pp. 29—34.
4 A.A.E.S. II, pp. 163, 248.
II. B. 3.
the sixth century, and it is probable that it is still earlier. The only other example
that has been found thus far in Syria, is the little church at it-Tuba, discovered by the
Princeton Expedition in the basalt country to the southeast of the Djebel Riha, and
already described in these publications;1 it is dated in A.D. 582. At it-Tuba the
transverse arches were reinforced by arches that spanned the side aisles, and by buttresses
in the aisle walls. The weakness of the system, as employed in Ruwfeha, lay in the
lack of these lower lateral supports; the transverse arches were too high to stand
effectually without abutment; yet an important principle was recognized, and put into
practice by the architect of the Bizzos church — a principle destined, for lack of time,
to reach no further development in the Syrian country, but to play an important part
in the later history of Christian architecture in Europe. Transverse arches over the
naves of churches were, of course, commonly employed in Southern Syria; but without
reference to the principle involved here• for they were used without longitudinal arches,
and were placed near together to carry thin slabs of a flat stone roof. The important
factor in the construction at Ruw^ha is the division of the nave into squares by the
longitudinal and transverse arches, thus providing a frame work which was in later
centuries to carry the high cross-vault. I do not mean to suggest that the architect
of this church had the faintest notion of placing a vault upon the framework he had
devised• for the builders in this part of Syria seemed to have scorned the use of the
vault, though they could hardly have been ignorant of its practicability, considering the
remarkable examples of its use in existence a few miles to the eastward, at il-Anderin
and Kasr Ibn Wardan; but it would seem that another century must have seen a fusion
of the two styles of construction so nobly represented in this church at Ruweha and
in the church at Kasr Ibn Wardan,3 which would have resulted in the cross-vaulted basilica.
At the east end of the nave only the curved wall of the apse with its three
windows, and one of the piers of the chancel arch are preserved; the half-dome has
collapsed. On either side stand the responds of the nave arcade with two or three
voussoirs above them. The west wall of the diaconicum is in situ; but only one of the
piers of the arch of the prothesis is preserved. Both tombs are in wonderful state of
preservation, as may be seen in the plate 3 devoted to them in La Syrie Central^ and
in the photographs published by the American Expedition.4 The wall of the peribolos
is almost complete; but the vestibule of the entrance is partly ruined.
Ornament. The carved decoration of the Bizzos Church is particularly interesting.
It is not profuse, as in some of the later churches of the Djebel Barisha and the Djebel
Sim'an;' yet it is the most richly ornamented of the churches of the Djebel Riha. The
ornament throughout is reserved, and is used to the best advantage. The emphasizing
of horizontal lines by the use of string mouldings, and the employment of grooved
pilasters along the walls, are both strongly suggestive of the influence of Classic models,
and of the return to Classic forms of decoration that is manifested by the architecture
of the sixth century in Northern Syria. The restoration of the west front of the church
(Pl. XVI) shows the variety of mouldings employed, and the interesting manner of
running them in a perpendicular as well as horizontal direction — a fashion truly Syrian,
and in spirit rather more Gothic than Classical. The architrave moulding above the
piers of the narthex is returned to form the archivolt of the great central arch, and is
1 Div. II, Sect. B, Pt. I, p. 19.
3 S.C. Pl. 91.
2 II B 1, pp. 29—34.
4 A.A.E.S. II, pp. 163, 248.