ENPages
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p. LI
included both places for the doors which led to the [...] are called [...], and not [...]. Above the gates of the κογχή stood the [...] i.e. [...] or screen. The κογχήβήμά portion of the church was approached by three steps called [...] and on each side of them was the bench-shaped wall called [...] = [...].
Below the κογχή - βήμά was the [...] i.e. γάος [...] which was set apart for the performance of choral services by the monks and into which the laity were not allowed to enter. In the γάος stood two lecterns; from that on the south-side the [...] or extract from the Old Testament or from the Acts of the Apostles was read by the deacon, and from that on the north the [...] or extracts from the Epistles of St. Paul by the sub-deacon. The γάος , or place of the choir of the monastery or chancel, was raised the height of one step above the remaining portion of the floor at the west end of the church (like the ancient Σωλέα), and was divided from it by gates ([...]), over which curtains were hung ([...]) [ a part of the [...] γάος, or all of it, probably formed the [...] place of the service of Thomas of Margâ. That it must have been near the [...] or martyrium we know from [WR VI], chap 7.]
Below the [...] in that portion of the church called by the Greeks[...] sat the male portion of the laity, and on the south or north side, or on both, but separated from the [...] by a lattice or grating, was the [...] or place set apart for women [In the larger churches the women also sat in galleries].
p.LII In the south-east corner, in the κογχή - βήμά stood a smaller altar, dedicated to some saint, and close by stood the font; in or near this corner was the [...] or place of bapism. In the north-east corner was a chamber called [...] "house of the saints" or [...] "house of the martyrs", where the monks were buried; a door
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{page 9 Insert 3]
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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[Page 9 Insert 4] Bêth 'Abhê
[Plan of an ancient Nestorian Church]
EAST
(Floor Plan) Altar raised on steps or platform Altar dedicated to some saint Place of baptism Steps of the Apse
NORTH
[at left] The place where compline was said
[Center] Σωλεα
SOUTH
[Bottom left and right] The place set apart for women
[Center] ΝΑΟΣ Chancel or choir of the monks πύλαιι ώραϊαι
ΠΡΟ ΝΑΟΣ The 'temple' where the male part of the laity sit
[At left and right] The place set apart for women
[Bottom] [Arabic] The colonnade
στοά [Arabic] The portico
WEST
a. The lectern from which the extracts from the Old Testament or Acts are read b. The lectern from which the extracts from St. Paul's Epistles are read. c. The place where certain services were performed.
Plan of an ancient Nestorian Church. (Budge, The Book of Governors, Vol. I London 1893, p. (LIII)
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Monument
On the slope of a hill at the south of the town of Benâbil, facing the town, stands a large and well preserved monument in the form of a huge column standing upon an elevated pedastal.
The monument stands on a hillside filled with rock-cut tombs and may well have been a memorial. In its original form it consisted of two columns with caps and the architrave. One column, both caps and the architrave have disappeared completely but the remaining column with its base and impost mould and the well preserved base are sufficient to indicate the design of the original structure. +
The northern face of the basement was adorned with the hieracria.
+ see photo
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About half an hour to the S.S.E. of Benâbil are the ruins of Barîsh, completely deserted and much destroyed by earthquakes.
The town seems to have consisted of a group of dwellings, well built and of fair size. The condition of the ruins is such as to render plan of the town and the separate houses equally difficult to trace.
The houses are generally provided with colonnaded courts and were built usually in two stories. A number of mill and olive presses are still well preserved and large cisterns are found connected with almost every house.
The material is ^ almost ^ universally huge blocks of native stone carefully squared on all faces ^ and laid without mortar. ^ These are employed for every possible variety of purposes.
