A makeshift drawing from the Cathedral in Faras may be a depiction of the ground plan of a church. Nevertheless, the naive appearance of the sketch and an almost complete lack of sufficient parallels from either Nubia or the Eastern Mediterranean make a proper examination of this assumption unfeasible. A reassessment of the architectural drawing from the cathedral, however, draws a wider perspective for a discussion of originality in Nubian architecture. The following paper presents the rather modest evidence available for a study of the nature of Nubian architecture from the point of view of its builders.
Archeological work in the 2012 and 2013 seasons in Jiyeh (Porphyreon), which lies on the Phoenician coast north of ancient Sidon, was focused on reconstructing the history of settlement on the site. At least three phases were identified and dated to the Iron Age II, the Persian– Hellenistic–Roman period and late antiquity. The early dating of the functioning of the Christian basilica to the 4th–5th century AD was also confirmed in trial pits. The complex and unusual sewage installation discharging rainwater from the roofs and streets of the 5th-century settlement contributed important data for studies of late antique domestic architecture in the region.
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