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

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il-Mushennef. May 21, 1900

This is a small ruined town about an hour to the south of Tarba. Several inscriptions were reported from here by M. Waddington but the buildings were not published by de Vogüé.

The greater portion of the town is completely ruined - a part has been rudely rebuilt to accommodate a small number of Druse families.

The sole interesting feature of the place is now the Roman Temple - a little building in excellent style - well preserved except for its facade which has been greatly disfigured by being walled up with loose stones where the building was fortified.

Its plan is distyle in antis. It is raised upon a low base. The cella seems to have had no Eastern wall behind the columns but was spanned by two transverse arches, which sprang from deep pilasters, and supported a roof of stone?

The temple is constructed of well-dressed and fitted blocks of basalt - the four angles

Sî‘ April 4-5, 1909

The Nabataean altar found in front of the temple was split from top to bottom; but the important face, preserving the Nab. insc. the garland and the lions' heads, was quite perfectly preserved.

I made arrangements with the Druse Abu Nejib who took the head of Ba‘al Shaûm to Damascas four years ago to take this 1/2 altar and the relief to the Am. Consul at Damascas to be kept for me to carry to Constantinople for the Museum.

The relief was found in front of the East arches of the new temple, and probably was part of a frieze between the half column and the corner pilaster.

It represents a youth with Phrygian cap riding a bull and stabbing the bull with a knife.

See Photos of this and of altar.

Dêr Berain & idj Ojadj

Djrên April 16, 1909

This is an imposing ruin when seen from a distance. It is set on high ground, and two towers stand out as landmarks. The place is inhabited by a few families of Druses. Some time after Waddington's visit, presumably at the time of the Druse settlement of the adjoining ruin now called Lubên, the names of the two sites were exchanged, ancient Aegriun, called by the Arabs idj-Djrên, became Lubên and the Arabic Lubên became idj-Djrên.

The present ruin consists of a crudely built but strong tower of two high stories set on an eminence with a Nabataean inscription in large letters carved in a lintel of rough porous basalt over a large window in the upper story: of a number of ruined houses of the Christian period, and a large ancient house still partly preserved and inhabited. The entrance to this house is a long passage beneath a tower of three stories. To the right as one enters is a row of large rooms of the original construction, one of which

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50

V in-Nudêheh. This is a ruin which has been completely destroyed by the builders of il-Ghari'yeh. It seems to have been a well built town of ordinary size, belonging to the christian period. In the neighbouring village there are many inscribed stones that purport to have come from in-Nudêheh, and among them an alter of good workmanship with a top piece carved with fine eagles.

V il-Ghariyeh. This is a flourishing Druse village. Most of the houses are new, though there are several which are at least partly ancient, there being many fragments of ancient wall and a few ancient arches still in use.

Near the centre of the town is a section of wall of well finished stone with a doorway flanked with thin pilasters which have good classic moulded caps and bases. The lintel is now plain though it shows traces of carving that has been carefully chopped off. In the middle of the lintel is the following acrostic in Greek letters

.....I .....X +IXθOS .....O .....S

51

V Ἁnz. This is a small village, part Druse and part Christian, built up on a hill on the side of an ancient town. Most of the buildings of ancient date have of course disappeared in the building of the modern houses. There are a few ancient houses that are still inhabited and a long building, with transverse arches, having its major axis E. and W. which was probably a church. This building has a large portal of good design with moulded pilasters, a lintel ornamented with wreaths, and inscribed, and a deeply overhanging hood-mould. The parts of the wall of this building that are to be seen are of very well finished masonry. The portal is of good workmanship. The interior surface of the walls is better finished than ordinarily, and there are mouldings over some of the windows on the inside. The piers are capped with right lined mouldings. The pavement of the court on the N. is still to be seen, the walls surrounding it are original also the passage.