Butler: Diary of Third Expedition to Syria, 1909

Jericho March 15, 1909

Leaving Jerusalem early in the morning, after an extraordinarily cool journey, owing to the sky being overcast, we camped at 'Ain is Sultan, near the ruins of ancient Jericho.

Late in the afternoon we walked over the ruins to see the excavations being carried on by the Germans. The work is being done largely by women who walk in an endless chain carrying baskets of earth on their heads, and dumping them into cars of a short [Buthillon] system.

The excavations are uninteresting to the casual observer remains of walls of mud bricks following confused lines at a considerable distance above the plain, and a battered wall of stone with a brick wall above it, on the north side of the Tell are the only apparently important remains yet excavated.

‘Arâk il-Emîr March 16-17, 1909

On the morning of the 16th we left Jericho. stopped for a bath at the Jordan and then traversed the Trans Jordan plain and ascended the steep slopes of the Mountain of Ammon, following at first the bed of a Wâdi and then passing over the crest into a valley which we crossed and then made the final ascent over the last ridge, descending a little to ‘Arâk il-Emîr.

We casually examined the ruins of the temple while M. and Bell took a bath in the Wadi Sîr from which they were driven by irate natives.

The following morning (17) I made a further examination of the great ruin to check up my publications. I made certain of the presence of two fallen columns at the South end of the temple between the outer curtain walls - one of them was measured: diam at mid .88-.89

‘Arâk il-Emîr

plan, ‘Arâk il-Emîr

Columns at S. End .88-.89 diam at mid 2.32 circ. at top

‘Arâk il-Emîr (cont.) Mar 17, 1909

circum. at top 2.32 one of these columns had a long upper drum to which the capital was attached (all one piece.); but the capital is in a wretched state of preservation, and I could not tell certainly whether it was like the Corinthian capital of the columns at the North end or like the bull's-head capitals of the interior. No further data for the restoration of the interior of the South porch could be obtained, nor could I discover if there was a portal in the south end of the cella.

I took some measurements of the mud walls of the interior. These walls are not parallel with the main walls of the temple, they are crudely constructed. They may be early Christian or later Saracenic. There are unmistakable remains of stone vaults.

plan

Vault in Situ

Vault fallen

Not to Scale