Page:History of Art in Phœnicia and Its Dependencies Vol 1.djvu/400

 378 HISTORY OF ART IN PIKKNICIA AND ITS DKI-KNDF.NC ir.s. external face (Fig. 257). In the latter figure the reader will notice an ornamental detail. The wall is decorated at about half its height with a moulding or string-course, which is turned in a semi-circle o o over the head of the buttress. Its section is that of a torus, the one ornamental motive which is hardly ever absent from any structure to which a Phoenician origin can be surely assigned. All these annular reservoirs are built of concrete. The one we have just described presents, moreover, one curious peculiarity ; it affords a rare example of pure Phoenician workmanship still existing side by side with Roman construction. During the Roman period a large square filter was added to the larger basin, and covered with a flat roof over a vault (Fig. 254). This addition is built of rough stones arranged in regular courses ; its angles are of dressed stone and the roof is a regular keyed vault. FlG. 256. Cross section of cistern wall. From Daux. FiG. 257. Elevation of part of cistern wall. From Daux. The floor of the chamber is lower than that of the principal basin, and the roof is higher than the summit of its wall. There is an opening for ventilation in each of the four sides. The advantages gained by this addition are obvious. The water was protected from the sun, from dust, and from those sand- laden blasts which are so common in this part of the world. The way in which the water was admitted from the great basin into this square filter was also an improvement upon that already described. At the point of junction the wall was pierced by several circular holes at vertical intervals of about twenty inches. These holes were plugged during the rains, while the turbid water was flowing into the great reservoir. Such a system allowed the flow of water into the square receiver to be regulated and did away with