BSY_FB_17-62

62

Suwêda. May 29, 1900

This town is now the seat of Turkish military
authority for the whole region. The town has
been completely rebuilt and all of the
ancient buildings but two have been
destroyed to build the Seraya and the barracks.
The two buildings that were spared are the
temple and a tomb - the latter ^ was
published ^ by deVogüé and appears as his finish piece.

Temple. The temple is one of the most interesting
buildings in the Haurân. It was of Nabataean
region and belongs doubtless to the first century.

Altho' designed according to the general scheme
for a classical temple it presents so many
new and unclassic features that it can
scarcely be called Greco Roman in style.

It is periptual (sic-peripteral) in plan and faces the north.
There were six columns in front, eight on the sides
and either six or seven at the back - where fine
pilasters or the cella wall would indicate
that the number of columns had been uneven.

The columns are so spread as to have been made
the ground plan nearly square.