the first case its original owner would have been one of later Lakhmid princes allied to the Sassanian kings, or else the Persian satrap who took the place of the house of Nu'man ibn Munthir during the years that immediately preceded the downfall of the lords of Ctesiphon; but if the second alternative be correct, Kheidhar must have been built by Persian artificers for one of the early khalifs. I incline to this opinion. There is a growing body of evidence to prove that the Umayyad khalifs were addicted to such resorts, where they could shake off, remote from prying eyes, the strict yoke of Islam. On the west side of the Syrian desert they employed Syrian workmen to build and decorate these hunting palaces; on the east side they could naturally have recourse to Persians, for it must be remembered that the invaders brought no arts with them except the art of verse. Certain structural features of Kheidhar are hard to reconcile with a date in the Sassanian period. The chief of these are the groined vaults in the passages and over the central chamber in the east annex within the court. They point to a certain amount of Syrian influence which is more easily explicable under the khalifs than under the Chosroes. It is of great significance that the architect did not venture to set a dome on columns. The twocolumned chambers in the central block of the palace, where a dome might be expected, are covered with three parallel barrel vaults. Skilful as were the builders in the construction of vaults-the span of the great hall is ten metres, and the vault is of brick, laid on the same principle as the famous Ctesiphon vault that spans 25.80 metres-they were very cautious in the matter of domes. The sole example is the dome within the north door, which covers a space of 2.80 x 3.20 metres and is set on corbels. It is instructive to compare these meagre dimensions with those of the Sassanian domes of Firuzabad and Sarvistan, both covering a chamber some 16 metres square, which are set on squinch arches. All the walls are plastered with stucco within and without, and in some places there are remains of stucco ornament. The part of the building that adjoins the north wall has two upper storeys, the uppermost of which is considerably ruined. On a level with it is the chemin de ronde running along the top of the outer walls; it is completely preserved on the east side and interrupted only by short ruined spaces on the other three sides. The stairs in the corner towers leading up on to it are all destroyed, but we climbed up over the ruins of the gates. To the northeast of the castle there is a small detached building which the Arabs call the bath; they assured me that brackish water can be got by digging in the sand close to it. There is a mound here which may mark the site of some other structure now fallen, otherwise there are no traces of ruins round the castle except some vestiges of a wall or water channel connecting the main building with the Wady Lebay'a. Excellent sweet water is always to be got by digging in the valley, and in winter a stream runs down it. I saw no appliances for storing water within the castle, though in all probability they exist; there is a brackish well, scarcely drinkable, in the court. Under some portions of the palace are vaulted substructures now much ruined, but the need of underground chambers in which to shelter during the summer heats is not felt at Kheidhar, the roofs and walls being so massive that the rooms are always cool. There are curious devices in the vaulting for protection against the heat. The annex in the east part of the court is a later addition, and so, in all probability, are the outhouses to the north, but both belong to the same architectural period as the rest of the building. A very short survey made it clear that Kheidhar could not be planned in a day. We had exhausted our small stock of provisions, and the materials necessary for carrying out so large a piece of work were at Kerbela with the caravan. Fattuh disposed of the difficulties at once by declaring that he intended to ride into Kerbela that night and bring out the caravan next day. Fattuh yearned for the sight of the baggage horses, and for my part I longed for a bed and for a table more than I could have thought it possible. I was weary of sleeping on the stony face of the desert, of sitting in the dust and eating my meals with a sauce of sand-so infirm is feminine endurance. An Arab called Ghanim, clean-limbed and spare, like all his half-fed tribe, offered himself as guide, and 'Ali assured us that he knew every inch of the way. But when the zaptiehs heard that one of them was to accompany the expedition they turned white with fear. |