DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45605#0069
Brad (Barade]
305
has three doorways in its front wall between which are narrow, but deeply splayed,
loop-hole windows. The interior is divided only by a row of six mangers at one end
where there is also a rear entrance. The building was two storeys high, and had a
two-storey portico in front of it. The openings are generally plain, with massive un-
carved lintels; but one of the upper doorways which remains is provided with a hand-
some moulded doorcap which contains the dated inscription. It is quite certain that
this lintel is in its original place, for its jambs are carefully fitted to the polygonal
masonry, and the lintel fits the jambs exactly. Moreover, the surface finish of the lintel
and the polygonal walls was worked with the same kind of chisel. The inscription is
so important, and mentions the names of so many persons as having had something
to do with the erection of the building, that Mr. Prentice can not believe that this was
an ordinary house. The plan bears out this suggestion; but neither the inscription nor
the plan sheds any further light upon the question as to the purpose of the building.
In the southwest angle of the court-yard of this building is a peculiar square structure
partly in polygonal and partly in quadrated masonry. It has one narrow entrance on
the north, and six narrow loop-hole windows, three on a side. The interior is divided
by transverse walls into three very narrow divisions, at one end of the first and third
of which are well-heads still perfectly preserved. The original purpose of the building
is not suggested by what remains of it. South of this building, in the lower left hand
corner of the plan (Ill. 332), is a private residence in quadrated masonry of somewhat
unusual arrangement. It consists of one large room on the ground floor, with a portico
of piers upon the street on one side, and a portico of columns on a small court-yard
on the other. At one end of the former portico is a small square vestibule, and, ad-
joining this, a double arched vestibule leading into the court-yard.
“Cathedral”: I have given the title “Cathedral” to the most important of the
three churches of Brad, because it is the largest church building in all the hill country
of Northern Syria, excepting only the church of St. Simeon at Kafat SinTan, and is
surpassed in size only by the so-called cathedral of Kerratin in the basalt country of
Eastern Central Syria. This great building is in a very nearly complete state of ruin;
only the apse piers and the piers of the nave arcades adjoining them (Ill. 335) are
preserved to their complete height, and the walls of the west facade (Ill. 336) preserve
the lower storey and parts of the upper. The rest of the east end is represented in
walls from 2 to 3 m. high; the side walls are reduced to their foundations though
their portals are standing, and the interior arcades lie in heaps in the nave. Neverthe-
less the ruins are so disposed that an accurate ground plan can be readily obtained,
and restorations can be drawn in which only a few unimportant heights are left to
conjecture. The plan (Ill. 337) displays a typical basilica of the northern type, with
an apse between side chambers, all concealed by a flat east wall, a nave of nine bays,
a columnar porch to the west, a colonnaded atrium to the south, and a small chapel,
with apse and side chambers, opening out of the north aisle through a wide arch.
The nave has three west portals, and two portals in either side wall with bicolumnar
porches. Both side chambers have small doorways upon the aisles, and the north
chamber connects with the sanctuary. The increase in the size of this building over
that of ordinary churches is not effected by any very great increase in the scale of
.details but rather by extension, and multiplication in the arch system. The arch of
the apse was of course wide in proportion to the nave; but the walls are of the usual
305
has three doorways in its front wall between which are narrow, but deeply splayed,
loop-hole windows. The interior is divided only by a row of six mangers at one end
where there is also a rear entrance. The building was two storeys high, and had a
two-storey portico in front of it. The openings are generally plain, with massive un-
carved lintels; but one of the upper doorways which remains is provided with a hand-
some moulded doorcap which contains the dated inscription. It is quite certain that
this lintel is in its original place, for its jambs are carefully fitted to the polygonal
masonry, and the lintel fits the jambs exactly. Moreover, the surface finish of the lintel
and the polygonal walls was worked with the same kind of chisel. The inscription is
so important, and mentions the names of so many persons as having had something
to do with the erection of the building, that Mr. Prentice can not believe that this was
an ordinary house. The plan bears out this suggestion; but neither the inscription nor
the plan sheds any further light upon the question as to the purpose of the building.
In the southwest angle of the court-yard of this building is a peculiar square structure
partly in polygonal and partly in quadrated masonry. It has one narrow entrance on
the north, and six narrow loop-hole windows, three on a side. The interior is divided
by transverse walls into three very narrow divisions, at one end of the first and third
of which are well-heads still perfectly preserved. The original purpose of the building
is not suggested by what remains of it. South of this building, in the lower left hand
corner of the plan (Ill. 332), is a private residence in quadrated masonry of somewhat
unusual arrangement. It consists of one large room on the ground floor, with a portico
of piers upon the street on one side, and a portico of columns on a small court-yard
on the other. At one end of the former portico is a small square vestibule, and, ad-
joining this, a double arched vestibule leading into the court-yard.
“Cathedral”: I have given the title “Cathedral” to the most important of the
three churches of Brad, because it is the largest church building in all the hill country
of Northern Syria, excepting only the church of St. Simeon at Kafat SinTan, and is
surpassed in size only by the so-called cathedral of Kerratin in the basalt country of
Eastern Central Syria. This great building is in a very nearly complete state of ruin;
only the apse piers and the piers of the nave arcades adjoining them (Ill. 335) are
preserved to their complete height, and the walls of the west facade (Ill. 336) preserve
the lower storey and parts of the upper. The rest of the east end is represented in
walls from 2 to 3 m. high; the side walls are reduced to their foundations though
their portals are standing, and the interior arcades lie in heaps in the nave. Neverthe-
less the ruins are so disposed that an accurate ground plan can be readily obtained,
and restorations can be drawn in which only a few unimportant heights are left to
conjecture. The plan (Ill. 337) displays a typical basilica of the northern type, with
an apse between side chambers, all concealed by a flat east wall, a nave of nine bays,
a columnar porch to the west, a colonnaded atrium to the south, and a small chapel,
with apse and side chambers, opening out of the north aisle through a wide arch.
The nave has three west portals, and two portals in either side wall with bicolumnar
porches. Both side chambers have small doorways upon the aisles, and the north
chamber connects with the sanctuary. The increase in the size of this building over
that of ordinary churches is not effected by any very great increase in the scale of
.details but rather by extension, and multiplication in the arch system. The arch of
the apse was of course wide in proportion to the nave; but the walls are of the usual