On the right
side are only two small columns, with their entablatures; to the left,
are eight, two, three, two, four, and again three, each set with their
entablatures; close to the ruined town-gate (w), near the bank of the
river, is a single column.
I shall now describe the ancient buildings, which I observed on the
south-west side of the long street. The street which leads from the
theatre across the rotunda (r) is prolonged from thence towards the side
of the river: it was lined with columns, of which two only, with their
entablatures, remain, and it terminates at a vast edifice (u), situated
over the river, and extending along its banks forty or fifty paces; it
is divided into many apartments, the greater part of which have arched
roofs; some of them are very lofty.
I now returned towards the gateway (n), and found, opposite to it, and
to the great temple (a), a second cross street running towards the
river; it had originally a colonnade, but none of the columns are now
standing; it terminates, at about thirty paces from the main street, in
a gate, through which I entered into a long quadrangle of columns,
where, on the right hand, four, and then three columns, with their
entablatures, are still standing. At the end of this place, are the
remains of a circular building fronting a bridge (p) across the river:
this bridge is of steep ascent, owing to the northern banks being
considerably higher than the southern, and it is no longer passable.
Having returned to the four cubical pedestals (d), I followed to the
left the continuation of the street (c), by which I had first approached
those pedestals, and which having crossed the main street at the
pedestals, leads south-westward to the river, where it terminated at a
broad flight of steps, leading down to the bridge (k); of the colonnade
of this street (i), some broken shafts
[p.263]only are standing. The bridge is fourteen feet wide, with a high
centre arch and two lower ones; it is built with great solidity, and its
pavement is exactly of the same construction as that which I observed in
the streets of Shohba;[See page 70.] its centre is broken down. An
aqueduct is traced from the side of the building (u), passing near the
two bridges, towards the southern gate of the town. Such weremy
observations of the ruins on the right bank of the Wady.
On the left bank little else remains than heaps of ruins of private
habitations, and numerous fragments of columns. I must confess, however,
that I did not examine the part of the town towards the south gate; but
I have reason to believe, from the view which I had of it while on the
temple hill, that nothing of consequence, either as to buildings or
columns, is there to be met with.
![Travels In Syria And The Holy Land By John Lewis Burckhardt
- Having
returned from hence to the rotunda in
[p.262]the long street, I followed it along the colonnade (v - Page 174](../images/travel.jpg)
