In General Each Dwelling Has A
Small Entrance Leading Into A Court-Yard, Round Which Are The
Apartments; Of These The Doors Are Usually Very Low.
The interior of the
rooms is constructed of large square stones; across the centre is a
single arch, generally
Between two and three feet in breadth, which
supports the roof; this arch springs from very low pilasters on each
side of the room, and in some instances rises immediately from the
floor: upon the arch is laid the roof, consisting of stone slabs one
foot broad, two inches thick, and about half the length of the room, one
end resting upon short projecting stones in the walls, and the other
upon the top of the arch. The slabs are in general laid close to each
other; but in some houses I observed that the roof was formed of two
layers, the one next the arch having small intervals between each slab,
and a second layer of similar dimensions was laid close together at
right angles with the first. The rooms are seldom higher than nine or
ten feet, and have no other opening than a low door, with sometimes a
small window over it. In many places I saw two or three of these arched
chambers one above the other, forming so many stories. This substantial
mode of building prevails also in most of the ancient public edifices
remaining in the Haouran, except that in the latter the arch, instead of
springing from the walls or floor, rests upon two short columns.
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