Princeton Expeditions to Syria (1899, 1904-1905, 1909)

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on its west side led into the [...] or place where the after - supper service was said. The martyrium of Bêth 'Abhê contained a casket in which were preserved the relics of some of the Apostles which Isho'yalbh II had stolen from Antioch, and in it were buried five metropolitans and eighteen bishops. Where Isho'yalbh II built the second church at Bêth 'Abhê their bodies were not disturbed but where his namesake built the third church a century later they were removed to the library temporarily.

In front of the church was a portico [...] i.e. στοα which usually extended along the entire length of the front of the church; the space between the pillars or supports of its roof was called [...] "the place of pillars," and the portion of the church immediately inside the west wall was called [...] or the place where the office for the night was sung.

[3. The positions of these places are indicated by Thomas, who tells us that as Rabban Cyracus was going into the portico from the temple, and as Sergius was going into the temple from the colonnade, they met each other in the "place of the watchers" i.e. [...] vol. II p. 431]

( To be noted that vol. II p. 341, annot. 2, Budge says: κατα στρώμα ["tiled pavement"] is the whole area of the church before the [...] not the place where the seats of the clergy stand, and was the raised or built up floor of the choir upon which the altar of sacrifice [...] stood. The [...] also included the "steps of the apse," and its pediment was three steps above the pavement of the rest of the church".)

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District V (Second Trip)

Djebel Ḥaluḳa April 17, 1900

Ḳaṣril Benat

On the second trip as we moved north from the Djebel Rîhā on the way to Kinnisrin and the Djebel Ḥâṣṣ, we moved the camp for several days back to the northern end of the Djebel Bārîsha which we had reached in the autumn from Bashmishli. This made it more easy to study the before unknown ruins of this part of the Djebel, Dukîta, Bābisḳa, etc - and to reach the low western hills of the Djebel Ḥaluḳa which lie between the Djebel Bārîsha and Djebel Simʿān.

The line of demarcation between the Djebel Bārîsha and the Djebel Ḥaluḳa is a deep narrow valley, running east and west, through which passes the ancient Roman road, which connected Antioch with Kinnisrin , a portion of which we saw in the southern part of the circular Djebel Ḥaluḳa near Kefr Kermîn*

*see p. 1