th Archaeological Institute of America 111 th AnnualAnnual MeetingMeeting NicolasNicolas BeaudryBeaudry (Université(Université(Université dudduu QuébecQQuébecuébec àà Rimouski),RRimouski),imouski), [email protected][email protected][email protected] Anaheim, CA, January 6-9, 2010 MakingMaking aa TableTable ElioElio HobdariHobdari (Instituti(Instituti(Instituti ArkeologjikArkeologjikArkeologjik Tirana)TTirana)irana) AA CaseCase StudyStudy ofof ProvincialProvincial LateLate AntiqueAntique CraftsmanshipCraftsmanship AlexiaAlexia GrammatikakiGrammatikaki (Athens)(Athens)(Athens) SECUNDA E u CILICIA p h PRIMA ra t E e U Tarsus P

H I A R S A U R I A T E Anemurium Seleukia Pieria Mount Kasios N Ras el Bassit S PRIMA I S

Laodikeia ad Mare Apamea SYRIA SECUNDA O ro n

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Tripoli E C I N E Beirut N O 0 50 100 km H P

A.782 Excavation in a church at Ras el Bassit, on the North Syrian coast, 1. Materials yielded in 2001 the assemblage of a table Parts of such tables were widely distributed from the and its unrobbed reliquary, found in situ quarries of the Eastern Mediterranean. The tabletop being A.784 in a room adjoining the apse to the the most visible and most noble part of the assemblage, it North. While most of the marbles of the was the most likely to be imported. The specimen of sanctuary and of the South adjoining Bassit is made of fine white marble and belongs to the A.780 1 : 10 room were robbed, the table had most common type, characterized by the thick profile of 0 5 25 cm

remained sealed with early its rim (Chalkia 1991, type F). At a smaller scale, it is 1 : 10 similar in material and profile to the main altar; both were The reliquary and its covers, 0 5 25 cm seventh-century finds and only part of its September 2001. tabletop was missing (Beaudry 2005a, probably imported together from an Aegean or (Photos NB, drawings FG/NB) Reconstructed section of the assemblage. (NB) Constantinopolitan quarry. Less visible parts of the assemblage were more likely to be made locally from local materials or spolia. The The legs after restauration at the base and its frame are made of a fine, blue-gray veined (NB) References

A.785 Museum of Lattakia, 2002. marble widely used in the plated decor of the sanctuary. Beaudry, N. 2005a. Formes architecturales A.783 et géographie historique: l'église de Bassit et le The legs were made of four different materials, including A.768 A.775 corpus nord-syrien. In Mélanges Jean-Pierre blue-gray veined marble (A.763) and a poor-quality, A.781 Sodini, ed. by F. Baratte, V. Déroche, C. 1 : 4 crystalline white marble (A.764). The reliquary was 0 10 cm Jolivet-Lévy & B. Pitarakis, 119-136. TravMém

1 : 10 carved from a damaged fence post in the same blue-gray 0 5 25 cm 15. Paris. marble and its cover plates were cut from a Roman frieze. Beaudry, N. 2005b. Un autel et son Tabletop and base before restoration, September 2001. (Photos NB, drawings FG/NB) reliquaire à Ras el Bassit (Syrie du Nord).

N Hortus Artium Medievalium 11, 111-122. 1 : 50 0 1 2 m A.766 Beaudry, N. 2007. Ras el Bassit et l'Antiquité tardive sur la côte nord-syrienne. 1 : 250 (Photo NB, plan SCA/NB) 0 5 10 m The table in situ, September 2001. N Revue d'études des civilisations anciennes du Proche-Orient 13, 19-28. Reconstructed plan of A.763 A.764 A.761 A.717 A.762 Beaudry, N. Forthcoming. Ras el Bassit and the church, 2009. (NB) 3. Assembly the Late Antique Archaeological Landscape of Coastal North Syria. In Late Antique Crossroads 2. Craftsmanship Assembly marks on the upper surfaces of the The table was composed of a in the Levant: Space, Ritual, Texts, and Everyday Four of the legs bear on their plinths a legs include two M's, two N's, and an A identifying Life, ed. by E. B. Aitken & J. M. Fossey. MGR. tabletop, five column-shaped legs and a monogram that may be interpreted as a shop or the central leg A.763. Its acanthus capital is the Leyden. framed base slab. The base slab was craftsman's mark. Despite differences in materials, most elaborate and its dimensions are the most Chalkia, E. 1991. Le mense paleocristiane. pierced with a funnel leading into the proportions and capital design, they belong to a regular but it is color, rather than the quality of Tipologia e funzioni delle mense secondarie nel sealed compartment of a reliquary, which same model and probably originate from a same workmanship, that determined the repartition of the culto paleocristiano. SAC 46. Vatican City. Grammatikaki, A. 2009. Study of the drained into a second, deeper shop that thus worked materials of different origins. legs. compartment that remained accessible. preservation state of the altar of Ras el Bassit Leg A.762 bears a different monogram on its Legs of this type were normally set into the and suggestions for its conservation. The sealed compartment contained two abacus and belongs to a different series. However, Medium-grained, veined, Crystalline, grayish beige Fine-grained white marble; Fine-grained white marble; Medium to rough-grained, floor or into the sockets of a base, often bonded Unpublished report. Athens. metal containers and a casket, all all were made with the same techniques and tools. blue-gray marble; smooth marble; rough and grainy smooth surface; occasional smooth surface; occasional grayish white marble; dark with mortar and sometimes with metal pins. The containing bone relics, as well as a glass They were cut from irregular quadrangular blocks surface. decayed surface; edges eroded. rough, brownish-orange veins. rough, brownish-orange veins. inclusions; rough surface. base of the table of Bassit is a large, flat slab and flask. A liquid, probably olive oil, was shaped with a toothed chisel; tool marks remain as no evidence was found of mortared joints. Its frame Acknowledgements meant to be poured into the funnel, the texture of the abacuses and plinths, and traces is made of long, rounded-edged strips similar to the The authors wish to thank the Directorate sanctified by contact with the relics, and remain on a base (A.763) and a drum (A.761). plinths and frames used in the wall plating of the General of Antiquities and Museums of the Syrian Arab Republic; the Director of the collected in the outer compartment. Guide holes on their upper and lower faces allowed sanctuary. The framed marble surface of the base While the table itself belongs to a type Museum of Lattakia, M. Jamal Haydar, and the them to be set on a lathe, but actual turning played took part in the staging of the relics, but the frame staff of the Museum; Prof. Jacques Y. Perreault widely distributed and copied across the little or no part in their shaping, as their irregular would only have marginally contributed to abut the (Université de Montréal); the field and off-site Mediterranean in the sixth and seventh profiles show. A texture cut with a pointed tool in a sides of the corner legs, the weight of the tabletop teams of the Canadian Archaeological Project at centuries, the association of relics with gorge of the bases echoes that of the plinths; other offering the only significant resistance to lateral Ras el Bassit (MAQREB). Research on Late an altar remains unknown in the Syrian visible surfaces were polished. This interest for forces. This technique borrowed to the crafts of Antique Bassit is supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council from provinces and this full oil circulation surface finish and visual effect and relative lack of 10 cm pavement and plating seems particularly system in a table base is unparalleled in Canada. The attendance of N. Beaudry at the interest in regularity and proportions is a inappropriate for this purpose, given the seismic AIA Meeting is partly funded by the Université 0 the Levant (Beaudry 2005a, forth.). characteristic of early Byzantine craftsmanship. 1 : 4 activity of coastal North Syria in the sixth century. du Québec à Rimouski. Following a restoration attempted The tabletop was also inscribed on its lower The limestone fence of the sanctuary and the by the Museum of Lattakia, an surface before it was assembled, but this inscription limestone parapet of the gallery also relied entirely assessment of the condition of the has more the character of a graffito than that of a on gravity. Thus, while the design of the table base components of the table was carried in maker's mark. Guidelines on the upper surface of 5 cm may have been motivated in part by the colors and 0 2008 and its legs were cleaned by a the reliquary have also been observed and 1 : 2.5 surface of materials, it may also have reflected the professional conservator (Grammatikaki photographed but they remain to be recorded and limits of the technical repertoire of the craftsmen of studied in detail. Bassit at the end of Antiquity. Contact 2009). This allowed a detailed The legs after cleaning, July 2008. (Photos NB/EH; drawings EH, SCA) Nicolas Beaudry re-examination of one of the few Laboratoire d'archéologie et de patrimoine complete, excavated specimens of such Université du Québec à Rimouski tables, and of the materials, tool marks, [email protected] assembly marks, monograms and other http://lap.uqar.ca evidence of the work of the craftsmen who made it. This poster is intended as a 5 cm 5 cm follow-up of a preliminary publication focused on typological and liturgical issues (Beaudry 2005b). 0 0 1 : 1 1 : 1

1 : 1 0 5 cm