Butler, Howard Crosby; Princeton University [Editor]: Syria: publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria in 1904 - 5 and 1909 (Div. 2, Sect. B ; 6) (1920)

Bazihir — Batuta

331

only example in situ (Ill. 376) of one of those distyle porches which were so common
in the churches of Northern Syria, and which must have contributed so much to the
picturesqueness of these provincial houses of worship. The chapel itself is of no particular
interest. It is of the oblong type sufficiently wide to accommodate a small square
sanctuary between narrow side chambers at its east end. It has also a portico of piers
at its west end. The capitals of the two slender columns of the south porch are of
one of the less attractive Ionic types developed by the Syrian Christian architects. The

BATVTA-

c

=110 M-


CHVRCH-




5CALE.:.0'OCM=1M-
f-.--i-.-i-.IJM-

3ECTI0NC-D-


Hl. 374-

moulded architrave beams, which are let into the wall on either side, are not carried
across the front of the porch, their place being taken, structurally speaking, by a solid
stone pediment. This pediment is carved to represent the beams of a roof truss, like
that at Brad (Ill. 348), and the triangles between the beams are ornamented with
symbolical discs in high relief. The tie-beam is carved with a flat cyma and a bevelled
fillet, and the king-post is adorned with an upright incised palm branch. Resting upon
the pediment in front, and let deeply into the wall at the back, the roof of slabs