DIONYSIAS
(Soueida) Syria.
Town in the
Hauran on the road from Damascus S to Bostra. The
few visible remains include four columns of a peripteral
temple of Nabataean times, on the main street. Their
Corinthian capitals carry figurines carved above the corbel, and the entablature is adorned with vine branches.
Farther W are the remains of a large basilica with five
naves, and sections of a Roman theater now hidden under
houses. There are also a monumental arch, a marble
fountain (dated to the time of Trajan by an inscription),
and a water tower (built under Commodus), the terminal
for aqueducts coming from nearby springs. The tomb of
Hamrath stood on a hill beyond the ravine crossed by
the ancient bridge. The tomb is now destroyed, but a
bilingual Greek and Aramaic inscription dates it to the
1st c. B.C. It was a massive cube adorned with Doric
pilasters, between which were sculptured helmets, breastplates, or shields; it was crowned by a Doric frieze and
a stepped pyramid. A funerary tower stood at the W
exit of the town.
Numerous basalt sculptures, notably a Minerva, some
winged Victories, and fine mosaics are now in the Soueida
and Damascus museums.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. de Vogüé,
Syrie centrale, Architecture civile et religieuse (1865-77)
I; H. C. Butler,
AAES Pt. II,
Architecture and other Arts (1903)
MPI; R. E. Brünnow & A. v. Domaszewski,
Die Provincia Arabia III (1909)
MPI; M. Dunand,
Le Musée de Soueida (1934)
I.
J.-P. REY-COQUAIS
