DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0019
i62
II. B. 4.
on the outskirts are a few houses of the better class. The bazaars here, as in many
other towns in these northern mountains, consist of long rows of chambers, 20 m. to
40 m. long, and 5 m. to 6 m. deep, in two stories, with equally long porticos, about 3 m.
deep, also in two stories, in front of them. The chambers of the ground story, as
I have said in the introduction, were undoubtedly, in many cases, used for storing
goods at night, the porticos for the display of the goods in the day time. The upper
chambers and loggias were the homes of the shop-keepers. The porticos consist of
square monolithic piers in both stories, connected by heavy architraves. In the upper
story there are parapets, about 90 cm. high, composed of thin slabs fitted between the
piers. One such portico, at Babiska as related above, bears an inscription in Syriac
which applies the word estewct (adopted from the Greek stoa) to the structure. Although,
in strict usage^ the Greek word would apply only to the colonnade or portico, I be-
lieve that the Syriac term, and the Greek too, were often used to denote the whole
building, and was the common word for shops. The walls of the chambers in these
examples are found in most cases to have been built of rough surface stones of various
sizes, laid in yellow clay, only the doorways and window frames being of cut stone.
The disintegration of these poorly built walls has left only the porticos standing. These
porticos or stoae, are of a more ornamental character than those of Babiska and Dar
Kita; some of the piers have rectangular, moulded caps in the lower and upper stories,
and many of them have moulded architraves (Ill. 173). The upper story is provided,
in every case, with a panelled parapet. There appear to have been no roofs of stone ;
but the stoae, like the shops behind them, were roofed in wood. Most of these build-
ings were undoubtedly bazaars, others were certainly inns; for the ground floor of some
of them is occupied by rows of mangers which divided the interior into stalls, like
those so common in the stables of the Hauran.1 Inscriptions are not wanting in the
regions of Northern Syria to prove that a building of this character was called a
an inn. The inns of Baudeh were probably for the accommodation of mer-
chants who turned aside from the high-road of traffic below, and deposited in this
market town goods to be carried to all the towns in the mountains. Ba'udeh may
then be considered as the main distributing centre of commerce for all this region.
The site is, without doubt, one of the most ancient in the neighbourhood, though no
inscriptions have been found here that are earlier than the fourth century. The little
church is one of the oldest in the district.
Church. Date: 392 A.D. A heap of ruins marks the site of the church; a part
of the south wall, with one portal in it, a fragment of the west wall, and the lower
parts of the piers that flanked the chancel arch are the only remains standing; yet it
is possible to secure the main dimensions of the nave (Ill. 174). These parts that are
in situ were all constructed in quadrated blocks of large size; all the other walls
were built of crude, undressed stones of various sizes, and have collapsed. The ruins
of the east end are particularly confused, so that it is quite impossible, without re-
moving some of the debris, to discover the disposition of the presbyterium. The east
wall is straight, and the presbyterium looks as if it had been rectangular; yet there
are stones lying about that certainly were parts of a half-dome. It may be that the
curved wall of an apse is now completely concealed in the ruins; or that an original
1 II, A. 2. Ill. 142.
II. B. 4.
on the outskirts are a few houses of the better class. The bazaars here, as in many
other towns in these northern mountains, consist of long rows of chambers, 20 m. to
40 m. long, and 5 m. to 6 m. deep, in two stories, with equally long porticos, about 3 m.
deep, also in two stories, in front of them. The chambers of the ground story, as
I have said in the introduction, were undoubtedly, in many cases, used for storing
goods at night, the porticos for the display of the goods in the day time. The upper
chambers and loggias were the homes of the shop-keepers. The porticos consist of
square monolithic piers in both stories, connected by heavy architraves. In the upper
story there are parapets, about 90 cm. high, composed of thin slabs fitted between the
piers. One such portico, at Babiska as related above, bears an inscription in Syriac
which applies the word estewct (adopted from the Greek stoa) to the structure. Although,
in strict usage^ the Greek word would apply only to the colonnade or portico, I be-
lieve that the Syriac term, and the Greek too, were often used to denote the whole
building, and was the common word for shops. The walls of the chambers in these
examples are found in most cases to have been built of rough surface stones of various
sizes, laid in yellow clay, only the doorways and window frames being of cut stone.
The disintegration of these poorly built walls has left only the porticos standing. These
porticos or stoae, are of a more ornamental character than those of Babiska and Dar
Kita; some of the piers have rectangular, moulded caps in the lower and upper stories,
and many of them have moulded architraves (Ill. 173). The upper story is provided,
in every case, with a panelled parapet. There appear to have been no roofs of stone ;
but the stoae, like the shops behind them, were roofed in wood. Most of these build-
ings were undoubtedly bazaars, others were certainly inns; for the ground floor of some
of them is occupied by rows of mangers which divided the interior into stalls, like
those so common in the stables of the Hauran.1 Inscriptions are not wanting in the
regions of Northern Syria to prove that a building of this character was called a
an inn. The inns of Baudeh were probably for the accommodation of mer-
chants who turned aside from the high-road of traffic below, and deposited in this
market town goods to be carried to all the towns in the mountains. Ba'udeh may
then be considered as the main distributing centre of commerce for all this region.
The site is, without doubt, one of the most ancient in the neighbourhood, though no
inscriptions have been found here that are earlier than the fourth century. The little
church is one of the oldest in the district.
Church. Date: 392 A.D. A heap of ruins marks the site of the church; a part
of the south wall, with one portal in it, a fragment of the west wall, and the lower
parts of the piers that flanked the chancel arch are the only remains standing; yet it
is possible to secure the main dimensions of the nave (Ill. 174). These parts that are
in situ were all constructed in quadrated blocks of large size; all the other walls
were built of crude, undressed stones of various sizes, and have collapsed. The ruins
of the east end are particularly confused, so that it is quite impossible, without re-
moving some of the debris, to discover the disposition of the presbyterium. The east
wall is straight, and the presbyterium looks as if it had been rectangular; yet there
are stones lying about that certainly were parts of a half-dome. It may be that the
curved wall of an apse is now completely concealed in the ruins; or that an original
1 II, A. 2. Ill. 142.