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The Roman Theatre of Jebleh in Syria: Analysis of the Construction Form

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The Roman Theatre of Jebleh in Syria: Analysis of the Construction Form Proceedings of the First International Congress on Construction History, Madrid, 20th-24th January 2003, ed. S. Huerta, Madrid: I. Juan de Herrera, SEdHC, ETSAM, A. E. Benvenuto, COAM, F. Dragados, 2003. The Roman theatre of Jebleh in Syria: Analysis of the construction form Teresa Patricio Tarcis Stevens Roman architecture plays an important role in terms vaults and arches are expJained and particular details of variety of structures and variety of materials and of the construction are presented. means by which they were constructed. The roman theatre of lebleh in Syria is one of the unknown masterpieces of roman architecture in the Middle East GENERAL HISTORY OF THE THEATRE that deserves our attention. Since 1999 the Syro-Belgian mission carried out Some authors state that the theatre was built by the analytical investigations at the roman theatre of emperor lustinianus, 527-565 AD (Jacquot 1927), lebleh in Syria. The project was started at the behest others state that it was built by the emperor Septimus of Prof. Dr. lama] Al Ahmar, Director-General of Severus, 193-2 liAD. From the architectura] details Antiquities and Museums of Syria, in agreement with and from the first results of the excavations we are Mr. lamal Haidar, Director of the ArchaeologicaJ considered that the theatre was probably built during Museum of Lattakia, engineer Fatima Ibrahim is the the Severian dynasty, 193-235 AD, probably in the Director of the Archaeo]ogical site of the roman first half of the 3,d century AD. This question theatre. The BeJgium team is under the responsibility deserves more attention and future research. of Prof. Karel Van Lerberghe, professor in Nevertheless the roman theatre was situated at the Assyriology at the K. U.Leuven; Belgium.] The team centre of a roman settJement, the city of Gabala. is made up by a number of researchers, technicians In the years of 1098-1285 the crusaders occupied and students from Syria and from Belgium. Three the city (lacquot 1927) and in that time the theatre missions took place to gather data on: archive was transformed into a fortification, 1ike the Bosra research, archaeological research and detailed theatre in south of Syria. Many authors refer to this architectural analysis (survey of remains, construction transformation as G.Rey after is trip in J859 (! 871: and structural anaJysis and survey of weathering 215), and some archaeologicaJ evidences prove it as forms). well. Many are the travellers that visited lebleh, The research project aims the study of the building Arabic travellers as Yakut al-hamoi in 1225 and Ibn in view of its conservation and its integration in the Battuta in the 14th century, and especially European city of lebleh. Part of the analysis of the theatre is travellers as H. Maundrell in 1698, R. Pococke (¡745: dealing with a thorough study including aJl its 199), Louis de Clercq (1881: 36) and G.Rey (1871) in architectural features. For this paper the analysis of 1859, Max Van Berchemand and Edmond Fatio in the construction made of massive masonry walls, 1895 (1914: 94-97). From their travels descriptions, 1602 1. Patricio, T. Stevens important information was collected about the campaign at the roman theatre (Frezouls, 1952). In theatre. 1962-1964 the houses were demolished. The oldest pictures known from the theatre are The city of Jebleh is situated in an earthquake area; from 1859 or 1860 taken by Louis De Clercq during a few strong earthquakes known: 476, 859 and 1171 his trip to Orient (De Clercq, 188 l: 36). One can see AD. At that moment heavy damages were reported in that the cavea structure was still complete for the first Jebleh. Nevertheless we still have no information about and second maenianwn and that all the openings of their consequences to the theatre and implications on the main fa<;ade of the cavea are completely closed. further transformations and/or deformations. This filling in of the openings is probably what Furthermore, on the outside structure, no apparent remains of the late fortification built around the deformations by an earthquake are recognisable. theatre. Comparing the photographs and the nowadays situatíon and referring to literature we can conclude that many destructions happened to the ANALYSIS OF THE EXISTlNG STRUCTURE theatre in the span of time 1860-1930. These destructions, half of the cavea structure, were « . The architects of the High Empire reworked the probably due to the fact that the theatre has been used old designs with great virtuosity into varied as an open quarry to the Jebleh citizens. Besides, in ensembles of fresh power. But, more and more, they the end of the nineteenth century and during the first turned from them toward complete encJosure of space half of the twentieth-century, the substructures were by curved surfaces. Confident mastery of their used for shops and animal stable and at the same time, materials made them free to throw great vaults over houses were built on top of the cavea remains space and swing great curves around it. Experience (Jacquot, 1927). In 1949 the General Direction of taught them to conceal structural support in the body Antiquities and Museums started a full excavation of structural fabric . » (Brown 199\, 33). Figure 1 General view 01'the roman thcatre of Jebleh, main fa~ade of the cavea. (Jebleh 2000) The Roman theatre of lebleh in Syria: Analysis of the construction fonn 1603 The theatre situated in the centre of the town of 1988, and a vaulted ceiling. The compartments in Jeb]eh, is built on a flat land and is orientated to the between the radial walls connect the main gallery North. The structure is built in opus quadratum with with a second vaulted gallery. From this gallery is b]ocks of local sandy-limestone, Figure 1. still possible to perceive the starting of another set of Originally, the externa] fa¡;ade of the cavea was a scalaria to establish the connection to the third level half circled ring wall where one cou]d seea rhythm of of the cavea, Figure 3. The original pavement of the doors, circled windows and buttresses, corresponding third gallery still exists. to the inside partition of the cavea sub-structure. The still standing part of the original theatre Dividing the ]evels a profile was running all around corresponds to the cavea with its central part the wall and the buttresses, Figure 6, 7. Nowadays on re]atively well preserved, Figure 2. The ima cavea is the main fa¡;ade one can still perceive part of the half complete and half of the media cavea still exists. circle ring walJ. As the street ]evel changed the ]evel Some elements of the summa cavea are still in-situ. of the in-side gallery changed also, around 3,30 The three praecinctium are still partially visible. The meters higher than the original level of the gallery. structural system to support the gradus is very similar Original doors and windows are not anymore clearly with the structural system of the Bosra Theatre, as readable. The lintel s of the doors were broken and well as of some Jordanian theatres (Frézouls, 1952). windows were transformed into doors. Nowadays the The re]ation of the measurements of the gradus existing part of the fa¡;ade corresponds to the leve] of (height = 0.39 m, depth = 0.65 m, larger = 0.90 m) the windows, Figure 4. gives the slope of the maenianum, Figure 4, 6. The The fa¡;ade openings give access to the main first arch supporting the second and third maenianum gallery with a new travertine slab pavement, built in is closed with carved stones composing the back wall Figure 2 General view of the cavea.(Jebleh2000) 1604 T. Patricio. T. Stevens of the praecinctium, and closing the vomitoria. The internal ambulatory was only connected with the praecinctium by four doors, Figure 5. Nowadays one of these doors is complete and the second is partially visible. The first supporting arch of the ima cavea is also c\osed with a wall composing a reduced praecinctium of \AO m high. From the first till the fifth gradus, rubble stone and mortar established the foundation. Five groups of small stairs connect the orchestra to the ima cavea. At the ima cavea and going through the media cavea, nine groups of radial scalaria are still visible. Concerning the number of gradi, the 1st maenianum has 13 existing gradi, the 2nd maeniana has 11 existing gradi and the 3'd maeniana only part Figure 3 of three gradi are preserved. Graphic survey of the first level 01' the cavea. (Mario While studying the memhra di.\jecta of the Santana Quintero and Tarcis Stevens, 2000) orchestra a large amount of carved stone blocks that compose four stone parapets were recognized. Two of the lalter close the extremities of the ima cavea; the The frons pulpitum exists in its half, with lAO m other two are axial and are connected lo the axial height and presents a succession of rectangular and scalaria separating the two central cunei. half circled niches. SECTION AA' Figure 4 Graphic survey ofthe sections AA' and BB' (Tarcis Stevens. 2(01) The Roman theatre 01'Iebleh in Syria: Analysis 01'the construction fonn 160S The nowadays scene building is only existing at the foundations leve!. Many are the membra disjecta existing frorn the frans scaenae. With the survey 01' the blocks two cornices and an architrave with a radial shape were encountered bringing up the idea 01' a possible central circular niche. Three different types 01' colurnns with untluted and rnonolithic shafts can be identified: the ones in grey granite by a height 01' 4.72 rn and 0.65 rn to 0.56 rn diarneter, those in rose and red granite with undefined height and diarneter 01' 0.80 rn.
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