DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0021
Bacudeh
163
apse may have been converted into a rectangular presbyterium in the sixth century,
as was the case in the West Church at Bakirha. The only ornamental details that
have been preserved are a few capitals of the interior arcades (Ill. 174, B and C), which
are debased forms of the Doric and Ionic orders, and the mouldings of the south
portal (A), a profile of which is given in the drawing. The inscription 1 upon the
second fascia is unique in its form, being inverted, and having letters the outlines of
which are incised, leaving the letters themselves in [relief of the same height as the
111. i74.
ordinary surface of the stone. The carver of the inscription probably knew no Greek;
he seems to have inverted the written copy given him, and he set out as if to make
the letters in relief, as most inscriptions are carved in the basalt country directly south-
east of this region. This double error seems to have been detected at once ; for the
inscription shows every signs of having been left unfinished, occupying as it does only
one end of the space. Nevertheless the date was written, and there seems to be
but little doubt, as Mr. Prentice shows, that it is to be rendered 392 A.D.
52. BABISKA.
Not more than quarter of an hour west by south from Baudeh are ruins of a
town of quite different character : the ruins of Baudeh are predominantly the ruins of
purely commercial buildings, those of Babiska are in larger proportion those of religious
and civil structures. There were also many bazaars in Babiska, some of them con-
structed throughout of quadrated blocks, and still well preserved, and others built in
the same loose method as those of Baudeh, and preserving, like them, only their two-
story porticos. The majority of the domestic buildings were constructed of crudely
dressed stones of uneven shapes, and of these only the door frames are standing. But
the two churches and the larger and the smaller public baths, with the large inns near
them, were built of finely dressed blocks of stone in large sizes, and have remained in
a better state of preservation than the other structures. The map of the town pre-
’ A.A.E.S. Ill, insc. 72.
163
apse may have been converted into a rectangular presbyterium in the sixth century,
as was the case in the West Church at Bakirha. The only ornamental details that
have been preserved are a few capitals of the interior arcades (Ill. 174, B and C), which
are debased forms of the Doric and Ionic orders, and the mouldings of the south
portal (A), a profile of which is given in the drawing. The inscription 1 upon the
second fascia is unique in its form, being inverted, and having letters the outlines of
which are incised, leaving the letters themselves in [relief of the same height as the
111. i74.
ordinary surface of the stone. The carver of the inscription probably knew no Greek;
he seems to have inverted the written copy given him, and he set out as if to make
the letters in relief, as most inscriptions are carved in the basalt country directly south-
east of this region. This double error seems to have been detected at once ; for the
inscription shows every signs of having been left unfinished, occupying as it does only
one end of the space. Nevertheless the date was written, and there seems to be
but little doubt, as Mr. Prentice shows, that it is to be rendered 392 A.D.
52. BABISKA.
Not more than quarter of an hour west by south from Baudeh are ruins of a
town of quite different character : the ruins of Baudeh are predominantly the ruins of
purely commercial buildings, those of Babiska are in larger proportion those of religious
and civil structures. There were also many bazaars in Babiska, some of them con-
structed throughout of quadrated blocks, and still well preserved, and others built in
the same loose method as those of Baudeh, and preserving, like them, only their two-
story porticos. The majority of the domestic buildings were constructed of crudely
dressed stones of uneven shapes, and of these only the door frames are standing. But
the two churches and the larger and the smaller public baths, with the large inns near
them, were built of finely dressed blocks of stone in large sizes, and have remained in
a better state of preservation than the other structures. The map of the town pre-
’ A.A.E.S. Ill, insc. 72.