‘AṬSHÂN
Two hours’ ride to the south-east of Mudjḍah is the ruined caravanserai which the Arabs call ‘Aṭshân, the Thirsty—the name is well deserved, for there is no water nearer than the Hindiyyeh.[41] It is not exactly oriented, but faces approximately north ([Plate 46], Fig. 2). It is built of brick tiles varying from ·31 × ·31 × ·7 metre to ·32 × ·32 × ·8 metre and sometimes as large as ·34 metre square. The walls enclose an area 29 metres square; they are 1·80 metres thick, and are strengthened at the angles by round towers, 4·10 metres in diameter, projecting 1·90 metres from the face of the walls, as well as by smaller towers 2·75 metres in diameter which are placed in the centre of the east, west, and south walls. The small towers have the same projection as the angle towers. In the centre of the north wall is the gate, which is pierced through a double tower having a projection of 3·10 metres from the face of the wall. The gate towers are preserved up to a considerably greater height than the other towers ([Plate 48], Fig. 2), but the systematic levelling of the walls and towers is probably due to brick-robbers, and there is nothing to indicate their original height. Even the gate-house towers have been higher than they are at present ([Plate 49], Fig. 1). The west wall has fallen, carrying with it the south-west tower and all the constructions in the interior which ran along this side. The whole edifice looks as if it had been terribly shaken by earthquake; great cracks have sprung open in the solid masonry; the north-east tower leans outward and is on the point of falling.
The north doorway is set back ·75 metre within the segments of the flanking towers.[42] The doorway is 1·35 metres wide and opens into a small chamber, 2·40 metres square, which is covered by a barrel vault. The inner doorway is set back within an arched niche ([Plate 49], Fig. 2). To the west, a small opening has been pierced through the wall (it can be seen in [Plate 49], Figs. 1 and 2), but it has been formed merely by removing the bricks of the wall and bears no sign of having existed in the original plan. The arches over the outer doorway and over the interior niche are composed of a course and a half of tiles laid vertically and an outer ring of brick voussoirs laid horizontally. The gateway leads into an irregular courtyard which has been surrounded on three sides by chambers. Near the centre of the court there is a brick tank, 2·90 by 3·25 metres. This seems to have been the only provision which was made for water. A row of chambers 3·50 metres wide lies along the west wall. No. 1 is 5·80 metres long and has been roofed with a barrel vault running north and south. No. 2 has a length of 3·75 metres and was vaulted from east to west. No. 3 is 9·10 metres long and No. 4 is 4·15 metres long. There is no door between Nos. 3 and 4. In the latter room a space of ·80 metre is left open upon the east side and the remainder of the chamber is covered with a barrel vault lying east and west. Judging from the analogy of similar rooms at Ukhaiḍir, No. 4 was probably the kitchen. No. 3 seems to have communicated with the court by a door in the north-west corner. Parallel to it lies the vaulted lîwân, No. 5, 4·90 metres wide ([Plate 50], Figs, 1 and 2). At its southern end a door, placed in a wide and shallow niche, opens into No. 6. No. 6 communicates both with No. 4 and with the long, partially ruined hall, No. 7. The doorway between 6 and 7, 2·05 metres wide (the arch has broken away), is placed within a niche 1·45 metres deep which is covered by the segment of a semi-dome ([Plate 51], Fig. 2). The semi-dome is laid across the angles by means of masonry brackets which must have borne a very strong resemblance to pendentives. The horizontal courses are carried up in the centre of the semi-dome for three courses, each shorter than the one below, and round this pyramidal core the brickwork of the semi-dome is laid concentrically.[43] To the south, the door niche is carried back beyond the width of the semi-dome, forming a small vaulted recess. No. 7 seems to have been provided with a door opening on to the court, but the western end of the north wall is completely ruined. A very narrow door under the semi-dome gave access to room 8, which could also be approached from the court by an arched door in the west wall ([Plate 52], Fig. 1). No. 8, 2·90 by 5·75 metres, lies parallel to No. 7, and is roofed with a barrel vault. In the west wall, north of the door, there is an arched niche, ·54 metre deep, and a similar niche is placed in the north wall. The main interest of No. 8 is the decoration on the exterior. On the west wall a simple and effective pattern is produced by laying a couple of rows of brick tiles face outwards at intervals along the top of the wall, and below these, north of the door, a rectangular tablet was formed, for purely decorative purposes, by inserting 2 or 2½ rows of faced tiles into the wall. The top of the north wall was ornamented with a row of four arched niches ([Plate 50], Fig. 2). Small engaged columns, without bases, carry imposts formed of a single brick, from which spring round arches decorated with three fillets in plaster. One of the niches is pierced by a narrow window. The vault construction is very similar to that of Ukhaiḍir. All the vaults oversail the walls by 4 centimetres. The lower part of the vault is composed of from five to nine courses of bricks laid horizontally, the upper of bricks laid vertically. Over the ovoid arch thus formed (it is always a course and a half thick) are carried the horizontal courses of the walls. I looked carefully for any trace of tubes between the parallel vaults, but found none; the masonry seems to be solid in every case. All the door arches, as far as can be determined in their ruined state, were round and sprang flush with the jambs.
The fortress-like character of the khân of ‘Aṭshân, the plan of its gateway, and the details of its construction and decoration incline me to assign to it a date not far removed from that of Ukhaiḍir. The tower of Mudjḍah must stand in intimate connexion with the khân, for I can conceive of no reason for the erection of an isolated tower in the midst of a waterless desert, unless it were intended to serve some purpose on the caravan track from Kûfah to ‘Ain al-Tamr, of which the khân of ‘Aṭshan was the intermediate stage.[44] I would suggest that neither khân nor tower can be dated much later than the ninth century; both are valuable and interesting examples of early Mohammadan architecture of the age, or at least of the school, to which Ukhaiḍir itself belongs.
CHAPTER III
QAṢR-I-SHÎRÎN
The general disposition of the Sasanian ruins at Qaṣr-i-Shîrîn has been given by M. de Morgan, and the plan of the two principal buildings, the palace of Khusrau and the palace (if palace it were) of Chehâr Qapû, both of which I examined, appear in the same volume.[45] It is quite possible that the ruins may have suffered to a certain extent during the years which elapsed between M. de Morgan’s visit and my own, and this may account for the omission in my plans of some features which are shown by him. Nowhere did I observe stucco decorations in so good a state of preservation as that which is depicted in his Figure 208. I have, however, compared my photographs with those published by him and found no very noticeable differences. Moreover, it will be observed that such details as are absent from my plans are usually indicated hypothetically on those of the French mission, and it is therefore doubtful how much of them was actually seen and how much was conjectural. A very little excavation would determine whether these conjectures are correct. It is much to be regretted that I had not the French plans with me, as I might have been able to form some more definite opinion as to the value of the proposed restorations. As it is I must content myself with recording that which I saw above ground.