“Now near a rocky hill stands the sacred city—Hierapolis—which gives its name to a well-known marble; and of this is made all the fair floor of the place where they read the divine wisdom of the holy books; and it is fitted by the craftsmen’s skill on eight cunningly wrought columns. Two of these are towards the north, two towards the southern wind, two towards the east, and two towards the home of evening. Thus is the floor raised up. And beneath there is as it were another space, where the priests continue their sacred song. The stone is a covering to those below, but above it is like a spreading plain, untouched by the feet of mortals. And the underside the mason (laotomos) has cut out and hollowed, so that, by the craftsmen’s skill, it rises from the capitals, curving over like the hollow shell-back of the tortoise, or some oxhide shield held up over the helmet, when the warrior leaps in the mazes of the Pyrrhic dance.
“Now the rugged surface (metopon) of the stone they have girdled everywhere with the silver metal; and there the skilled workman, cutting, with the point of his iron, twining foliage and lovely flowers, has inlaid the beauteous leaves of ivy, with its clusters and budding shoots.
“But with all its steps and floor and the columns as well, the artificers have formed for it a fixed foundation, and raised a base (krepis), the height of a man’s foot, above the floor of the church; and in order that they might widen the foundation of the space they have placed on either side, round the belly (gaster) in the middle, half-circles in stone, and they have surrounded the space with separate columns arranged in semicircles. Thus the whole belly is widened by means of four rich columns on either side, to north, and to south; and the cave space (speos), like a house, is surrounded on all sides by a fence of circling stone.
“Some of the fair columns that the masons have set up are from the Phrygian land, towards the Mygdonian heights, hewn with strong axes: and looking on these flowers of stone, one would say that white lilies mingled with rose cups, or the soft petals of the shortlived anemone. Here is abundance of red and a mere tinge of white, there thin sinews mix with the veins which dye the columns deep red, as with drops from the Laconian shell.
“First then at the bottom they have placed the fairly wrought plinth (krepis) supporting all, made beautiful with twisting curves; and above it they have set stone bases, firmly fixed, cut from the rich quarries of the Bosporus. Quite white, they glitter, and in branching veins a deep blue line wanders in the shining flesh. And the bases on the eight sides the mason has adorned with moulded bronze rings fixed circle-wise round each base, as round a neck. And through the space of the whole church shines the glory of each column fixed on its polished base, like a white cloud wrought into patterns by the ruddy rays of the rising sun.
“Thus are ranged in half-circles the company of four, and this half with the other four they have connected by a fair chiton of stone, even round the well-formed hollow (antron); for the three spaces between the four columns have been closed by the skilful mason with fencestones of marble from Hierapolis, firmly fixed on the plinth (krepis). And it is meet that this crown of stone on the fair floor of the sacred fane should be called of ‘the Holy City’ (Hierapolis). In the boundary is placed a door, slightly curved, through which enters the priest, to the floor of the hollow cavern (antron).
“Now you must know that the curve (spelunx), with columns, and plinth (krepis), and fence wall, is alike on either side, towards Garamas on the south and towards Arimaspus [to the north]. But the doors the workmen have not fixed in like places, but one is westwards and the other eastwards—the western one inclines towards the north, but the southern gate is towards the east. Moreover the fence-walls do not stand the same height as the columns, but they rise above the beauteous pavement, as much as to hide a man in the hollow space (antron). But the eight columns with fair carved capitals come out above the fence wall, and stand round it on the base with equal spaces between them, even on the stone plinth. The capitals shine with gold, like high peaks which the golden-rayed sun strikes with its arrows.
“And all the capitals on high are crowned above in circled order by an embracing rim of beams (douratea antux), which binds the columns together in one curve, though at the same time each column is separate from its fellow. And fixed upon the rim you might see trees, with clusters as of fire,—the glitter of silver boughs shining afar. Nor does each sapling wander at will, but it is restrained in a cone-like form of many edges, from a wide circle ever lessening to a point at the top. Now the fair girdle (zoster) that forms the rim is all crowned with golden ivy-leaves, and coloured with the sapphire dust. But towards the home of Zephyr, and also towards the fiery-winged Eurus, there are fixed upon the rim (antux) two crosses of silver, with a curved spike (hêlos) above each, bending like a shepherd’s crook, flashing a thousand lights to the eyes.
“In this manner is the shining ambo made; thus have they called it ‘the place ascended’ (ambatos), by holy paths, and here the people direct their eyes, as they gaze on the divine gospel.
“And it is to good purpose that they have placed the cut stones in steps, on whose white surface one might descry thin veins of deep red like the dye of the sea-shell. For the unpolished stones the mason has hewn into a long flight (rachis) of steps, a strong support for the feet of men, lest any one slipping from above and falling should descend all unsteady to the floor; thus in order and in continuous line one stone, as it rises above another, recedes from it, even as much as a man ascending plants one step in turn in front of another.