{"topic":"early-christian-work-in-central-syria","count":1,"articles":[{"id":"britannica-11-early-christian-work-in-central-syria","work_id":"britannica-11","title":"Early Christian Work In Central Syria","normalized_title":"early-christian-work-in-central-syria","slug":"early-christian-work-in-central-syria","aliases":[],"subtitle":"Internet Archive OCR import","body_text":"Contemporaneously with the early developments of the Christian churches just described, another line of treatment was being evolved in central Syria, which would seem to have been quite independent of the others, though at first sight it bears considerable resemblance to the Byzantine style, and for that reason was probably classed and described under that head by FerniMon. But the leading charact ITIM ic of t he Hyzantine style is the dome over the centre of the i hurrh round which all other feature* are grouped, whereas in central S\\ria, uith the exception of two example*— ooe a circular, the other a polygonal church— there are no dome*. There is considerable Creek feeling in the mouldings and carvings of the capitals, but that i* probabjy due to the fact that the masons were originally of Greek extraction. A comparison, for instance, of the design and carving of the largest church in central Syria, the famous building erected round the column of St Simeon Stylites at Kalat-Seman, dating from the 6th century, with any Byzantine church of the same date, •hows very little resemblance, because the former wa* inspired more or less directly by the Roman remain* in the country. A similar inspiration is found in the churches of St Trophime at Aries and St i .illes in the south of France, and at Autun and 1-angres in Burgundy. Both were founded on Roman work, and the mouldings of the pediments and archivolts and the fluting of the pilasters at KalatScman, of the 6th century, are identical with what is found, quite independently, in Provence and Burgundy in the nth and itth centuries. There is, however, another special characteristic found in the masonry of the churches in central Syria, which is peculiar to the whole of Palestine, and is found in the earliest remains there, as also in Roman work, and to a certain extent in much of the Mahornmedan construction and in that of the Crusaders, viz. its mcgalithic qualities. Instead of building an arch in several voussoirs, they preferred to do it in three or five only, and sometimes would cut the -whole arch out of a single vertical slab. If they employed voussoirs, they were not content with ordinary depth, shown by the archivolt mouldings, but made them three or four times as deep. The masons, in fact, would seem to have retained the traditional Phoenician custom of the country to employ the largest stones they were able to quarry, transport and raise on the building. Subsequently, in working down the masonry, they reproduced the architectural features they found in Roman buildings; this was done, however, without any knowledge as to their constructional origin or meaning; thus, in copying a Roman pilaster, the capital and part of the shaft would be worked out of one stone, and the lower part of the shaft and the base out of another. It is only from this point of view that we can account for the peculiar development given to the decoration of their later work, where archivolts, wood mouldings and window dressings are looked upon as simply surface decoration to be applied round doorways and windows, without any reference to the jointing of the masonry. The immense series of monuments, civil as well as religious, existing throughout central Syria, were almost entirely unknown before the publication of the marquis of Vogue's work. La Syrif centrale, in 1865-1867. This work, illustrated with measured plans, sections and elevations, with perspective views, and accompanied by detailed descriptions of the various buildings, forms an invaluable record of an architectural style, more or less completely developed, which flourished from the 3rd to the beginning of the yth century. An American archaeological expedition made further investigations in 1899-1000, and its report, written by Mr H. C. Butler, contains additional plans and a large number of photogravures, which bear testimony to the truth and accuracy of the engraved plates of the marquis dc Vogue. The preservation of these central Syrian remains, more or less intact, is considered to have been due either to the desertion of all the towns in which they were situated by the inhabitants at the time of the Mahommedan invasion, or, according to Mr H. C. Butler, to the deforesting of the whole country about the commencement of the 7th century. The monuments and buildings illustrated may be divided into three classes, — ecclesiastical, including monasteries; civil and domestic; and tombs. It is in the two first that the principal interest is centred. Churches. — The earliest of these date from the end of the 4th century, and the latest inscription on a church is 609, so that a little over 200 years includes the whole series. With one or two small exceptions all the churches follow the basilican plan, with nave and aisles separated by arcades, the arches of which are carried' by columns, four arches on each side in the smaller churches, ten in the largest. The churches are all orientated, and have generally a semi-circular apse, and occasionally a square or rectangular sanctuary at the east end, on either side of which are square chambers, — the diaconicon, reserved for the priests, on the south side, and the prothesis, on the north side, in which the offerings of the faithful were deposited. Except in the earliest churches, the entrance was generally at the west end, and was sometimes preceded by a porch. In addition to the west entrance, there were sometimes doorways leading direct into the north and south aisles, with projecting porticoes, _ About the middle of the 6th century a change was made in the design of the arcades in the nave, and rectangular piers with arches of wide span were substituted for the ordinary arcade with polumns. The effect as shown in the engravings and photogravures is so fine that it is strange that the scheme was never adopted in the earlier Romanesque churches of Europe. The two more important examples are at Kalb-Lauzeh (fig. 31) and Ruweiha, but three or four others are known, and this plan was adopted in the basilica erected in the great court of the temple at Baalbek. All","body_html":"

Contemporaneously with the early developments of the Christian churches just described, another line of treatment was being evolved in central Syria, which would seem to have been quite independent of the others, though at first sight it bears considerable resemblance to the Byzantine style, and for that reason was probably classed and described under that head by FerniMon. But the leading charact ITIM ic of t he Hyzantine style is the dome over the centre of the i hurrh round which all other feature* are grouped, whereas in central S\\ria, uith the exception of two example*— ooe a circular, the other a polygonal church— there are no dome*. There is considerable Creek feeling in the mouldings and carvings of the capitals, but that i* probabjy due to the fact that the masons were originally of Greek extraction. A comparison, for instance, of the design and carving of the largest church in central Syria, the famous building erected round the column of St Simeon Stylites at Kalat-Seman, dating from the 6th century, with any Byzantine church of the same date, •hows very little resemblance, because the former wa* inspired more or less directly by the Roman remain* in the country.

\n

A similar inspiration is found in the churches of St Trophime at Aries and St i .illes in the south of France, and at Autun and 1-angres in Burgundy. Both were founded on Roman work, and the mouldings of the pediments and archivolts and the fluting of the pilasters at KalatScman, of the 6th century, are identical with what is found, quite independently, in Provence and Burgundy in the nth and itth centuries. There is, however, another special characteristic found in the masonry of the churches in central Syria, which is peculiar to the whole of Palestine, and is found in the earliest remains there, as also in Roman work, and to a certain extent in much of the Mahornmedan construction and in that of the Crusaders, viz. its mcgalithic qualities. Instead of building an arch in several voussoirs, they preferred to do it in three or five only, and sometimes would cut the -whole arch out of a single vertical slab. If they employed voussoirs, they were not content with ordinary depth, shown by the archivolt mouldings, but made them three or four times as deep.

\n

The masons, in fact, would seem to have retained the traditional Phoenician custom of the country to employ the largest stones they were able to quarry, transport and raise on the building. Subsequently, in working down the masonry, they reproduced the architectural features they found in Roman buildings; this was done, however, without any knowledge as to their constructional origin or meaning; thus, in copying a Roman pilaster, the capital and part of the shaft would be worked out of one stone, and the lower part of the shaft and the base out of another. It is only from this point of view that we can account for the peculiar development given to the decoration of their later work, where archivolts, wood mouldings and window dressings are looked upon as simply surface decoration to be applied round doorways and windows, without any reference to the jointing of the masonry. The immense series of monuments, civil as well as religious, existing throughout central Syria, were almost entirely unknown before the publication of the marquis of Vogue's work. La Syrif centrale, in 1865-1867.

\n

This work, illustrated with measured plans, sections and elevations, with perspective views, and accompanied by detailed descriptions of the various buildings, forms an invaluable record of an architectural style, more or less completely developed, which flourished from the 3rd to the beginning of the yth century. An American archaeological expedition made further investigations in 1899-1000, and its report, written by Mr H. C. Butler, contains additional plans and a large number of photogravures, which bear testimony to the truth and accuracy of the engraved plates of the marquis dc Vogue. The preservation of these central Syrian remains, more or less intact, is considered to have been due either to the desertion of all the towns in which they were situated by the inhabitants at the time of the Mahommedan invasion, or, according to Mr H. C. Butler, to the deforesting of the whole country about the commencement of the 7th century. The monuments and buildings illustrated may be divided into three classes, — ecclesiastical, including monasteries; civil and domestic; and tombs. It is in the two first that the principal interest is centred.

\n

Churches. — The earliest of these date from the end of the 4th century, and the latest inscription on a church is 609, so that a little over 200 years includes the whole series. With one or two small exceptions all the churches follow the basilican plan, with nave and aisles separated by arcades, the arches of which are carried' by columns, four arches on each side in the smaller churches, ten in the largest. The churches are all orientated, and have generally a semi-circular apse, and occasionally a square or rectangular sanctuary at the east end, on either side of which are square chambers, — the diaconicon, reserved for the priests, on the south side, and the prothesis, on the north side, in which the offerings of the faithful were deposited. Except in the earliest churches, the entrance was generally at the west end, and was sometimes preceded by a porch. In addition to the west entrance, there were sometimes doorways leading direct into the north and south aisles, with projecting porticoes, _ About the middle of the 6th century a change was made in the design of the arcades in the nave, and rectangular piers with arches of wide span were substituted for the ordinary arcade with polumns.

\n

The effect as shown in the engravings and photogravures is so fine that it is strange that the scheme was never adopted in the earlier Romanesque churches of Europe. The two more important examples are at Kalb-Lauzeh (fig. 31) and Ruweiha, but three or four others are known, and this plan was adopted in the basilica erected in the great court of the temple at Baalbek. All

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