The Largest Was Ten Spans In
Length, And Three And A Half In Breadth; But The Greater Part Are Much
Smaller, And Are Not Even Large Enough To Contain The Corpse Of A Full
Grown Person.
On the sides of a few of them are sculptured ornaments in
bas-relief, as festoons, genii, &c. but in a mutilated state, and not
remarkable for beauty of execution; I saw only one that was elegantly
wrought.
The whole of these sarcophagi had flat covers, a few of which
still remain. Upon one of the largest of the sarcophagi, and which is
one of those first met with in going from Souf, is a long inscription,
but so mutilated as to be almost wholly illegible. In the neighbourhood
are several heaps of large square stones, the remains of some building.
In an hour and a half from Souf we reached the city walls of Djerash, or
Kerash, [Arabic], the Dj being the Bedouin pronunciation of the letter
[Arabic], which in the language of the city corresponds with our K.
Djerash was built upon an elevated plain in the mountains of Moerad, on
uneven ground, on both sides of Wady Deir, which, besides the name of
Kerouan [Arabic], bears also that of Seil Djerash [Arabic], or the river
of Djerash. This river empties itself, at a short distance from the
town, into the Wady Zerka [Arabic], probably the Jabock of the ancients.
The principal part of the city stands on the right bank of the river,
where the surface is more level than on the opposite side, although the
right bank is steeper than the other.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 320 of 870
Words from 86746 to 87017
of 236498
