[Picture: Triumphal Arch]
Ascending the steep mountain-sides with two of the guides, I preceded the
rest of the party, and even the baggage mules. In perhaps half an hour,
(it may be more,) I came to a triumphal arch, the commencement of Jerash.
One of the guides told me that they call this the Amman Gate of the old
city; for that, in ancient times, there were two brothers, one named
Amman, and the other Jerash. Each of them built a city, and gave it his
own name; but called the gate nearest to his brother's city, by the name
of that brother.
At this gateway I observed the anomaly of the columns on each side of the
principal opening, having their capitals at the bottom of the shafts, and
resting on the pediments, though in an upright position. It was very
ridiculous. When could this have been done--at the original erection of
the gate, or at a later rebuilding, after an earthquake had shaken the
pillars? It would seem to me to be the former, as they are posted
against the wall, and this is not disturbed or altered. The columns and
the curve of the portal are gone, so that it cannot be seen whether
originally they had capitals on the heads also of the columns. It is
most probable that those remaining are not the true capitals, inasmuch as
they have no volutes.
Passing by inferior monuments of antiquity,--such as a sepulchre, a
single column, a sarcophagus, and then a square elevated pavement in good
condition, upon which are several sarcophagi, some of them broken, and
all with the lids displaced,--I came to a large circus of Ionic columns,
almost all standing, and joined to each other at the top by architraves.
Thence holding on the same direction forwards due north, our way was
between a double row of grand Corinthian columns with their capitals, and
occasional temples to the right and left. At the termination of this,
but without continuing the same line, between columns of another Grecian
order, I turned aside, at a vast Roman bath, to a spring of water, the
commencement of a running stream, in a small meadow of tall grass and
thorns, intending to pitch my tent there; but soon changed my mind, and
got myself established within a wing of the Roman bath, which stood on
higher ground, and had a good roof upon it.
The other gentlemen on coming up, adopted the choice of their dragomans
and muleteers, near the water, after having the thorns and thistles
cleared away. A fresh afternoon breeze that sprang up was peculiarly
grateful to men and cattle.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account