DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45605#0118
Shekh Sleman — Mshabbak
341
into two right-lined frames also embracing richly carved discs; and the end panels have
each two round-topped incised frames for discs enriched with Christian symbolism.
There is nowhere in all Syria a church portico which in
any way can be compared to this for beauty and richness
of detail. The arched narthex which is found in a number
of these churches is a totally different architectural con¬
ception. The paved atrium with the opening to a cistern
in the middle, and the plain and severe clerical residence
which stands opposite to the church porch, add simple dignity
to the group of buildings.
We found in the town a small square structure
(Ill. 390) which must have been a tomb. Its north face
is occupied almost entirely by a low broad arch with a
moulded archivolt. The niche in the interior of its south wall appears to have been
cut long after the building was erected, and was probably done in Moslem times when
the little building may have been converted into a Mohammedan shrine. The carved
base moulding, the caps of the arch piers and the simple right-lined cornice suggest a
date not later than the third century.
5HEKH SLEMAN-
Ill. 390.
WraSWW
^ornTcI-
tomb?
E
103. MSHABBAK.
This place, which is situated on the southern confines of the Djebel SinTan, was not
visited by the Princeton Expedition. It was, however, one of the points reached by the
American Expedition in 1899, and on that occasion I took elaborate measurements of
the church; but eventually published only a ground plan of it and four photographs.1
At the time of my publication of this monument I spoke of it as the most perfectly
preserved building of its size and type in all Northern Syria, and now, after having seen
hundreds of others, and after having published a large number of them, I am still able
to give this church of Mshabbak the first place in point of preservation. It was upon
this building that M. de Vogue based his restorations of the churches of Northern Syria,
although he never saw this church, but worked from photographs of it taken by a resident
of Aleppo. Since Mshabbak is actually in the Djebel SinTan, and since the church bore
so important a relation to M. de Vogue’s great work, it seems worth while for me to
make use of my elaborate measurements and other data collected in 1899, and to
make this the final monument in the present publications. I shall depend upon my
photographs already published, and referred to above, to provide illustrations of the
actual condition of the building, adding a new plan with sections and elevations (Ill. 391).
It may be stated that Mshabbak is a small, completely ruined and deserted place,
wholly without monuments of interest other than its church. The ancient town was
poorly built throughout. The church, on the contrary, is an excellent specimen of early
Christian construction in Northern Syria. In making my restorations it was found
necessary to supply only parts of two gables, the exterior bicolumnar porches, and the
wooden roofs. The doorways speak for themselves. The church presents a typical
basilica of the third quarter of the fifth century.
1 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 143-146.
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. II, Sec. B, Pt. 6.
45
341
into two right-lined frames also embracing richly carved discs; and the end panels have
each two round-topped incised frames for discs enriched with Christian symbolism.
There is nowhere in all Syria a church portico which in
any way can be compared to this for beauty and richness
of detail. The arched narthex which is found in a number
of these churches is a totally different architectural con¬
ception. The paved atrium with the opening to a cistern
in the middle, and the plain and severe clerical residence
which stands opposite to the church porch, add simple dignity
to the group of buildings.
We found in the town a small square structure
(Ill. 390) which must have been a tomb. Its north face
is occupied almost entirely by a low broad arch with a
moulded archivolt. The niche in the interior of its south wall appears to have been
cut long after the building was erected, and was probably done in Moslem times when
the little building may have been converted into a Mohammedan shrine. The carved
base moulding, the caps of the arch piers and the simple right-lined cornice suggest a
date not later than the third century.
5HEKH SLEMAN-
Ill. 390.
WraSWW
^ornTcI-
tomb?
E
103. MSHABBAK.
This place, which is situated on the southern confines of the Djebel SinTan, was not
visited by the Princeton Expedition. It was, however, one of the points reached by the
American Expedition in 1899, and on that occasion I took elaborate measurements of
the church; but eventually published only a ground plan of it and four photographs.1
At the time of my publication of this monument I spoke of it as the most perfectly
preserved building of its size and type in all Northern Syria, and now, after having seen
hundreds of others, and after having published a large number of them, I am still able
to give this church of Mshabbak the first place in point of preservation. It was upon
this building that M. de Vogue based his restorations of the churches of Northern Syria,
although he never saw this church, but worked from photographs of it taken by a resident
of Aleppo. Since Mshabbak is actually in the Djebel SinTan, and since the church bore
so important a relation to M. de Vogue’s great work, it seems worth while for me to
make use of my elaborate measurements and other data collected in 1899, and to
make this the final monument in the present publications. I shall depend upon my
photographs already published, and referred to above, to provide illustrations of the
actual condition of the building, adding a new plan with sections and elevations (Ill. 391).
It may be stated that Mshabbak is a small, completely ruined and deserted place,
wholly without monuments of interest other than its church. The ancient town was
poorly built throughout. The church, on the contrary, is an excellent specimen of early
Christian construction in Northern Syria. In making my restorations it was found
necessary to supply only parts of two gables, the exterior bicolumnar porches, and the
wooden roofs. The doorways speak for themselves. The church presents a typical
basilica of the third quarter of the fifth century.
1 A. A. E. S. II, pp. 143-146.
Publications of the Princeton University Archaeological Expeditions to Syria, Div. II, Sec. B, Pt. 6.
45