DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0012
The Djebel Barisha.
155
But, at the same time, the extravagant use of string mouldings and of volutes, and
the cusping of the upper edges of arch-mouldings, and even of string mouldings,
produce effects that are far from Classic.
Civil Architecture. Aside from the churches, the public buildings of the Djebel
Barisha consist only of baths and shops. Of the former only one undoubted example
is known, - that at Babiska —, though there are great masses of completely ruined
buildings at Dehes and Kokanaya that may have been baths. Of shops, or bazaars,
there is a wealth of remains in almost every ruined town in the region. A description
of the bath at Babiska appears elsewhere in this Part, and the plans of many bazaars
will be found in the maps accompanying the descriptions of the ruins at Babiska and
Dar Kita. Numerous photographs of the shops, or bazaars, also appear in the publi-
cations of the American Expedition. 1 These buildings are long structures consisting
of a row of rooms in two stories, with a shallow portico in front surmounted by a
loggia with a parapet. The double pitched roof of the long row of rooms was brought
down to cover the loggia. The piers of the portico, and of the loggia, were mono-
lithic, and usually very smoothly dressed, but entirely unadorned. Even the moulded
cornice was often omitted; but the panels of the parapets were often countersunk, and
ornamented with simple mouldings and decorative, or symbolical, discs. In some cases
an inscription was carved upon the parapet, as in the case of a shop at Babiska, where
the inscriptions 3 in Syriac give the names of the owners of the estewci, or stoa. The
shops usually faced directly upon a street, again we find two shops facing each other
upon a narrow alley with only one entrance. The spaces between two shops thus
facing each other, or the street itself, was often temporarily covered with tent stuffs,
or matting, to make a shade for the bazaars, and one may regard these ancient shops
as the prototypes of the bazaars of the present day in Aleppo and Damascus. There
can be little doubt, as I have said in an earlier publication, that the goods were ex-
posed for sale by day in the porticos of the ground story, that they were housed at
night in the unlighted chambers behind, and that the owners, or keepers, of the shops
lived in the upper story which had doorways and windows opening upon the loggia,
and windows in the rear. It was interesting to find that these structures were called
suk (shops) by our native guides, without any suggestion from us. And, indeed, they
have many features in common with the bazaars in the older parts of Aleppo, where
the streets are not covered by a wooden construction, as they are in the bazaars of
Damascus and other large cities in the nearer Orient, but are shaded with tent material
and matting. The upper story, with latticed windows, overhangs the street; often the
overhang is supported by posts, so that the ground floor and the upper story corre-
spond closely to the same features in the ancient bazaars in the ruined cities.
Domestic Architecture. There are undoubtedly some houses in the Djebel Ba-
risha that were built as early as the first or second century; though the earliest dated
inscriptions on private houses here belong to the third century. But private residences
were more subject to alteration than other kinds of buildings, and comparatively few
of the houses earlier than the fifth century have been preserved in their original form.
The fifth century furnishes a large number of houses with dated inscriptions upon their
portals, and the sixth century is well represented in dated examples of domestic arclii-
1 A.A.E.S. II, pp. 168, 265.
2 sl.A.E.S. II, p. 265. Ibid. IV, Syr. inscr. 14.
155
But, at the same time, the extravagant use of string mouldings and of volutes, and
the cusping of the upper edges of arch-mouldings, and even of string mouldings,
produce effects that are far from Classic.
Civil Architecture. Aside from the churches, the public buildings of the Djebel
Barisha consist only of baths and shops. Of the former only one undoubted example
is known, - that at Babiska —, though there are great masses of completely ruined
buildings at Dehes and Kokanaya that may have been baths. Of shops, or bazaars,
there is a wealth of remains in almost every ruined town in the region. A description
of the bath at Babiska appears elsewhere in this Part, and the plans of many bazaars
will be found in the maps accompanying the descriptions of the ruins at Babiska and
Dar Kita. Numerous photographs of the shops, or bazaars, also appear in the publi-
cations of the American Expedition. 1 These buildings are long structures consisting
of a row of rooms in two stories, with a shallow portico in front surmounted by a
loggia with a parapet. The double pitched roof of the long row of rooms was brought
down to cover the loggia. The piers of the portico, and of the loggia, were mono-
lithic, and usually very smoothly dressed, but entirely unadorned. Even the moulded
cornice was often omitted; but the panels of the parapets were often countersunk, and
ornamented with simple mouldings and decorative, or symbolical, discs. In some cases
an inscription was carved upon the parapet, as in the case of a shop at Babiska, where
the inscriptions 3 in Syriac give the names of the owners of the estewci, or stoa. The
shops usually faced directly upon a street, again we find two shops facing each other
upon a narrow alley with only one entrance. The spaces between two shops thus
facing each other, or the street itself, was often temporarily covered with tent stuffs,
or matting, to make a shade for the bazaars, and one may regard these ancient shops
as the prototypes of the bazaars of the present day in Aleppo and Damascus. There
can be little doubt, as I have said in an earlier publication, that the goods were ex-
posed for sale by day in the porticos of the ground story, that they were housed at
night in the unlighted chambers behind, and that the owners, or keepers, of the shops
lived in the upper story which had doorways and windows opening upon the loggia,
and windows in the rear. It was interesting to find that these structures were called
suk (shops) by our native guides, without any suggestion from us. And, indeed, they
have many features in common with the bazaars in the older parts of Aleppo, where
the streets are not covered by a wooden construction, as they are in the bazaars of
Damascus and other large cities in the nearer Orient, but are shaded with tent material
and matting. The upper story, with latticed windows, overhangs the street; often the
overhang is supported by posts, so that the ground floor and the upper story corre-
spond closely to the same features in the ancient bazaars in the ruined cities.
Domestic Architecture. There are undoubtedly some houses in the Djebel Ba-
risha that were built as early as the first or second century; though the earliest dated
inscriptions on private houses here belong to the third century. But private residences
were more subject to alteration than other kinds of buildings, and comparatively few
of the houses earlier than the fifth century have been preserved in their original form.
The fifth century furnishes a large number of houses with dated inscriptions upon their
portals, and the sixth century is well represented in dated examples of domestic arclii-
1 A.A.E.S. II, pp. 168, 265.
2 sl.A.E.S. II, p. 265. Ibid. IV, Syr. inscr. 14.