DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45603#0059
Babutta
193
large residence adjoining it fills the west side. In front of this large residence, and
extending across the opening of the passage, is a row of piers, two stories high, which
binds the two residences together, though their walls are actually detached. The upper
story of the front wall of the large room on the south side of the courtyard (on the
left in the plan, Ill. 199) is composed of a row of piers with stone settles between
them, showing that the whole front of the upper room was open, like a loggia, unless
there was a wooden partition behind the piers and the settles. The Section (Ill. 199)
shows a cut through one of the seats. The floor of this part was a little lower than
that of the section adjoining, and there are steps in the thickness of the division wall.
This house is by no means the most pretentious in the town ; but its ruins are by far
111. 199.
the most picturesque. It lies at the bottom of the valley, and its situation is favorable
to vegetation. When I saw it, in the month of April, the inner court was filled with
blooming iris, and the walls and piers were clad in flowering vines. The photograph
(Ill. 198) gives a hint of the effect. At the left of the picture may be seen the lintel
of a doorway with its ornamental disc and the inscription that gives the date of the
house; immediately above the lintel stands one of the settles the paneled back of which,
and one of the arms, are plainly seen underneath the luxuriant vine. The remaining
houses of the town present no features that are different from those already described.
54. BABUTTA.
From the valley of Dar Kita in the midst of the foot hills, we may now ascend
the slope of the towering north end of the Djebel Barisha, passing through the town
of Bakirha, half way up the slope, and not lingering beside the ruined temple and
imposing pylon of Burdj Bakirha, but mount almost to the peak of the Kubbit Babutta,
to the ruins of a small town clinging to the northern side of the mountain. From
its high perch the ancient town commanded a view of all Syria to the north of it,
a view bounded only by the snow-crowned summits of the Taurus range to the north
and west, and by the limitless undulations of the rocky desert to the east, in the
midst of which the glistening walls of Aleppo, set in the deep green of gardens and
olive groves, are all that breaks the monotony of a desert scene. Babutta is in a
193
large residence adjoining it fills the west side. In front of this large residence, and
extending across the opening of the passage, is a row of piers, two stories high, which
binds the two residences together, though their walls are actually detached. The upper
story of the front wall of the large room on the south side of the courtyard (on the
left in the plan, Ill. 199) is composed of a row of piers with stone settles between
them, showing that the whole front of the upper room was open, like a loggia, unless
there was a wooden partition behind the piers and the settles. The Section (Ill. 199)
shows a cut through one of the seats. The floor of this part was a little lower than
that of the section adjoining, and there are steps in the thickness of the division wall.
This house is by no means the most pretentious in the town ; but its ruins are by far
111. 199.
the most picturesque. It lies at the bottom of the valley, and its situation is favorable
to vegetation. When I saw it, in the month of April, the inner court was filled with
blooming iris, and the walls and piers were clad in flowering vines. The photograph
(Ill. 198) gives a hint of the effect. At the left of the picture may be seen the lintel
of a doorway with its ornamental disc and the inscription that gives the date of the
house; immediately above the lintel stands one of the settles the paneled back of which,
and one of the arms, are plainly seen underneath the luxuriant vine. The remaining
houses of the town present no features that are different from those already described.
54. BABUTTA.
From the valley of Dar Kita in the midst of the foot hills, we may now ascend
the slope of the towering north end of the Djebel Barisha, passing through the town
of Bakirha, half way up the slope, and not lingering beside the ruined temple and
imposing pylon of Burdj Bakirha, but mount almost to the peak of the Kubbit Babutta,
to the ruins of a small town clinging to the northern side of the mountain. From
its high perch the ancient town commanded a view of all Syria to the north of it,
a view bounded only by the snow-crowned summits of the Taurus range to the north
and west, and by the limitless undulations of the rocky desert to the east, in the
midst of which the glistening walls of Aleppo, set in the deep green of gardens and
olive groves, are all that breaks the monotony of a desert scene. Babutta is in a