DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0017
II. B. 4.
160
period, are both of them without west entrances. The two south portals were pro-
vided with a broad set of frame mouldings, and capped with hood mouldings of deep
cyma-recta profile, which were carried across the lintel, about 20 cm. above the frame
mouldino-s, and returned downwards on both ends to the bottom of the lintel stone.
The frame mouldings and the hood moulding of the easternmost of the two portals
are carved with rich geometrical and foliate designs, and bear the inscription 1 which
gives the date 414 A.D. as is shown in the drawing (Ill. 170 A); the mouldings of the
other portal are not carved. The side portals of these basilicas in Northern Syria
were assuredly the chief entrances at all times; but especially is this true of the earlier
churches, some of which, as I have remarked above, had no western portals. It is to
be observed that there are generally two entrances on one side or the other, according
to the location of the church with reference to the town, and that the easternmost of
the two is often the more ornate, and bears the inscription. These facts indicate, to
my mind, that the easternmost portal was the ceremonial entrance, at least during the
first half of the fifth century; and if, as is supposed, the men sat in the eastern half
of the, nave while the women occupied the rear, as is the custom in the churches of
the Jacobite sect today, this, the richer of the portals, was the entrance for the men.
The striking similarity between this portal and the portals which occupy corresponding
positions in the two churches mentioned above, and the resemblance of all three to
the portals of the great church at Kasr il-Benat, should be particularly noted. Their
ornament is not only peculiar to Syria, but to this particular locality; it is, as I be-
lieve, the work of one sculptor who shows himself to have been an artist of remark-
able originality in design. The inscription 1 upon this portal gives the date 414 and
the name of the architect as Kyrillas, which may be a form of the name Kyris or
Kyros which occurs in the inscriptions of the early fifth-century churches at Babiska,
Dar Kita, and Kasr il-Benat.
West Church. The West Church in this same place is a somewhat later structure
than the other. This church also was published by the American Expedition 3 by
means of a ground plan and a photograph of the south wall. The building stands
at the top of the western slope, southwest of the main group of buildings. The plan
(Ill. 171) is wholly different from that of the other church. The building was nearly
square; its presbyterium is rectangular, flanked by square chambers. The nave had
four narrow arches on either side. There is a portal in the south side, and one in
the west end. There are now standing, whole or in part, the west wall, the south
wall, and the whole east end except the arches of the presbyterium and prothesis. The
columns of the nave were tall and placed near together; they carried an arcade which
was not composed of true arches; but of an arrangement of arcuated lintels, as is
shown in the longitudinal section in Ill. 171. The capitals of the columns are of the
Corinthian order composed of plain water plants. The portals have good mouldings,
and are each capped by a cymatium carved with erect acanthus leaves. An inter-
esting detail in this church is a small colymbion, or piscina, attached to the face of
the pier at the east end of the northern arcade. A scale drawing of this feature,
and a view of it in place, are given in Ill. 171. The lower courses of the pier extend
30 cm. or more in front of the upper ones. In the top of the uppermost of these
1 A.A./i.S. Ill, insc. 73.
2 A.A.E.S. II, p. 218.
160
period, are both of them without west entrances. The two south portals were pro-
vided with a broad set of frame mouldings, and capped with hood mouldings of deep
cyma-recta profile, which were carried across the lintel, about 20 cm. above the frame
mouldino-s, and returned downwards on both ends to the bottom of the lintel stone.
The frame mouldings and the hood moulding of the easternmost of the two portals
are carved with rich geometrical and foliate designs, and bear the inscription 1 which
gives the date 414 A.D. as is shown in the drawing (Ill. 170 A); the mouldings of the
other portal are not carved. The side portals of these basilicas in Northern Syria
were assuredly the chief entrances at all times; but especially is this true of the earlier
churches, some of which, as I have remarked above, had no western portals. It is to
be observed that there are generally two entrances on one side or the other, according
to the location of the church with reference to the town, and that the easternmost of
the two is often the more ornate, and bears the inscription. These facts indicate, to
my mind, that the easternmost portal was the ceremonial entrance, at least during the
first half of the fifth century; and if, as is supposed, the men sat in the eastern half
of the, nave while the women occupied the rear, as is the custom in the churches of
the Jacobite sect today, this, the richer of the portals, was the entrance for the men.
The striking similarity between this portal and the portals which occupy corresponding
positions in the two churches mentioned above, and the resemblance of all three to
the portals of the great church at Kasr il-Benat, should be particularly noted. Their
ornament is not only peculiar to Syria, but to this particular locality; it is, as I be-
lieve, the work of one sculptor who shows himself to have been an artist of remark-
able originality in design. The inscription 1 upon this portal gives the date 414 and
the name of the architect as Kyrillas, which may be a form of the name Kyris or
Kyros which occurs in the inscriptions of the early fifth-century churches at Babiska,
Dar Kita, and Kasr il-Benat.
West Church. The West Church in this same place is a somewhat later structure
than the other. This church also was published by the American Expedition 3 by
means of a ground plan and a photograph of the south wall. The building stands
at the top of the western slope, southwest of the main group of buildings. The plan
(Ill. 171) is wholly different from that of the other church. The building was nearly
square; its presbyterium is rectangular, flanked by square chambers. The nave had
four narrow arches on either side. There is a portal in the south side, and one in
the west end. There are now standing, whole or in part, the west wall, the south
wall, and the whole east end except the arches of the presbyterium and prothesis. The
columns of the nave were tall and placed near together; they carried an arcade which
was not composed of true arches; but of an arrangement of arcuated lintels, as is
shown in the longitudinal section in Ill. 171. The capitals of the columns are of the
Corinthian order composed of plain water plants. The portals have good mouldings,
and are each capped by a cymatium carved with erect acanthus leaves. An inter-
esting detail in this church is a small colymbion, or piscina, attached to the face of
the pier at the east end of the northern arcade. A scale drawing of this feature,
and a view of it in place, are given in Ill. 171. The lower courses of the pier extend
30 cm. or more in front of the upper ones. In the top of the uppermost of these
1 A.A./i.S. Ill, insc. 73.
2 A.A.E.S. II, p. 218.