EZRA.
61
TO TIMION ANON, TOT QANENTOE ATTW IANNI
OT KAo TIINON AAAA QANEPIE EN ETIO ETOYE T
Before the temple is a small paved yard, now used as the exclusive ¬
burial ground of the Greek priests of Ezra.
In the midst of the present inhabited part of the village stand
the ruins of another large edifice ; it was formerly applied to Christian ¬
worship, and subsequently converted into a mosque: but it
has long since been abandoned. It consists of a quadrangle, with
two vaulted colonnades at the northern and southern ends, each
consisting of a double row of five columns. In the middle of the
area stood a parallel double range of columns of a larger size, forming ¬
a colonnade across the middle of the building; the columns
are of the Doric order, and about sixteen feet high. The side arcades ¬
are still standing to half their height; those of the middle
area are lying about in fragments; the E. and W. walls of the
building are also in ruins. Over the entrance gate are three inscribed ¬
tablets, only one of which, built upside down in the wall, is
legible ; it is as follows :
AT ..... TENELIN EAEIME foIHIMa QzEINON
AIN IAE. OIXPHIE KTAOE EX... DPA T..L
TIIOLAEHIEAHIAII NZON AQOITON OTTINOE. TW
aTTOKALITNHTWN XEIPAL OPEZALNOg
TOTNEKA OEOWENELOAAIIOPOI OEOE EIAE TILAINHIL
...LO... HTWETXEIATEAT. AE AOTW
Over an inner gate I saw an inscription, much defaced, which
seemed to be in Syrian characters.
Adjoining this building stands a square tower, about fifty feet
high; its base is somewhat broader than its top. Ifrequently saw
* A.D. 410. This was the third year of the Emperor Theodosius the younger, in
whose reign the final decrees were issued against the Pagan worship. It appears from
the inscription that the building upon which it is written was an ancient temple, converted
into a church of St. George. Editor.
