This basalt panel was used as a window in a Byzantine church. Light came in through the small elongated holes in the center. The decorative program of a Syrian church around 350 CE normally included such windows. While the provenance of this window is not certain, it may have come from Ḥalabīyyā, since this city is located in a region that is rich in basalt.
Dimensions: 72 x 62 x 12.5 cm.
Era: 400 CE (?).
Text: Michel Fortin (translated from French by Jane Macaulay).
Photo: Jacques Lessard.
Collection of the National Museum of Damascus.
Michel Fortin, Syria, Land of Civilization. Les Éditions de l'Homme, Musée de la Civilisation de Québec 1999.

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