BSY_FB_29-58-b

58

V
Ṣammeh. This is one of the best preserved of all
the ancient towns of the region. It is inhabited
in seed time and at harvest; but few of the buildings
have suffered other depredations than those
of time and weather. The greater part of
the town is built of well finished masonry,
interlocking points being a feature of the work.
A Nabataean inscription records the building
of some structure under Malchos in the
1st Century. Early Greek inscriptions show that
the town flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries;
while Christian buildings of good style prove
that it was an important place in the 4th & 5th Centuries.
The remarkable structure here, - one of the most
interesting in the Haurân - is the building of
which has great niches all still standing. This
may have been a church, if so, it was very early.
The pier caps are handsomely moulded, and the
stonework is all of high class. The interlocking
jambs of the masonries are of special interest.