Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania XVII – 1997

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482 RICERCA IN GIORDANIA Two twin rooms are found to the north-east and south-west of the apse. The southern room is still standing with the roofing in place. The northern room is collapsed beneath the fall of the area 5. The fall invades the apse and hall of the church. Area 3 was used as a habitation in successive periods. The walls are intact to a height of two meters above the floor level. The spans between the pilasters were plugged with stone, suggesting that the roofing underwent a transformation from being supported by arches and covered by horizontal ashlars to a barrel vault. A door on the south wall allowed access to other areas. On the west side there is a second door which has, at the level of the sill, a manhole which is 80 × 85 cm. A passage way to area 4 is found on the north wall. Here an arch still stands. The church 2 is slightly larger than area 1. It presents an entrance on the right side of the west wall, and a small room set against the external wall of the church on the left. The pilasters are similar to those in the adjoining area 1. The apse is not yet identifiable, but the hypothesis that has been formulated affirms that it has been in part absorbed by the foundations of area 5. Area 5 has peculiar characteristics. It is set upon the above-mentioned structures and rises for 4-5 m above the crest of the perimeter walls of area 1. Its entrance is to the north and opens on to the vaulted roof of area 6. The buildings in area 5 and 6 are at a point which would have enabled their control, on the supposition that the old roads as being approximately in the same direction and position as the actual ones. To the south of area 1 an edifice with arches in place has been preserved in a good state (area 16). The north wall of the latter is badly damaged by a fall, which, notwithstanding, has not modified the disposition of the arches. These have a span of 5 meters and the thickness of the impost is about 50 cm. Because of the fall of the north wall, it is difficult to identify the northwest corner (the survey shows the corner without guarantee that it is exactly at the right point). On the east side there are two rooms (area 17) which have construction characteristics that are more recent. There is also a courtyard attached to them. These buildings are used by the local people. To the south of area 16, one sees a room set at a lower level, which is only partly visible as a result of the collapse of the roofing. One cannot exclude the possibility that this area might be connected to area 16 through a passage way still to be identified. A Mosque, area 15, is set to the south-west of area 16. It is still intact with walls as well as the roof, supported by transversal arches with ca. 1 m long ashlars set longitudinally. The yard set in front of the mosque contains architectonic elements which had belonged to other buildings. Rooms 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 are set to the south of the ecclesiastical complex. This complex of buildings presents different states of ruin, brought
RELAZIONI DELLE SPEDIZIONI ARCHEOLOGICHE 483 about also by the partial re-utilization of the rooms by the local population. Room 28 had an arch-wall, now collapsed; rooms 30 and 31 have still to be excavated completely whereas 32 and 33 are in a state of abandonment, may be as a result of their proximity to animal sheds. Areas 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38 have similar characteristics to the preceding group of rooms. The complex shows evident signs of the superimposition of architectural structures in different epochs. The entrance arch of room 34 carries an inscription in Arabic, and the keystone in the window arch has a decorative motif. The same are present in room36. A portion of a Roman wall, with ashlars still in a good state, has been identified in courtyard area 37. All of the complex, set to the west of these areas, are occupied by the local people as habitation, animal sheds, and garden. Areas 39 and 40, scarcely legible, are set to the north. One of the rooms has an arched door together with a partially collapsed roof. This is made of the characteristic transversal ashlars. To the east and in the vicinity of area 4, a group of rooms (area 27) with courtyard, which have been used as a school remain well preserved. Part of the complex still preserves the roof made of a lath work plastered with hay and soil, a technique characteristic of this area. Moving towards the east of the ecclesiastical complex the dwellings do not change in their typology, but are more scattered over the territory: they have been mostly re-used by the local people, unless they were inaccessible because of collapse, as in rooms 26 and 27. Area 24, itself re-used, is more articulated, may be as a result of successive additions. Notes on the Survey The survey of the individual rooms and complexes has been carried out by triangulation using visible points: for various reasons it was not possible to gain access to all of the rooms and therefore, whenever possible, the survey was carried out from the roofs or simply by measuring the external walls. The rooms of the complex (area 24), room 6, all the stables, and the complex to the west of areas 32-33 were not surveyed internally. Whenever the buildings in the area were obviously modern, we simply marked its external dimension. The plans were re-checked in scale 1:100, and thereafter reduced to a scale of 1:200. Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Report by: L. Dolfi - L. Di Marco - P. Pizzi
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Ricerca storico-archeologica in Giordania XVII – 1997

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