ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



In a good example at Ala Safat (Fig. 22) the floor 

 of the tomb is formed by a single flat slab of 

 stone. The great cover-slab rests on two long 

 blocks, one on either side, placed on edge. The 

 narrow ends are closed up with smaller slabs, 

 one of which, that which faces north, has a small 

 hole pierced in it. A similar closure slab with a 

 hole is also found in certain rock-tombs quite 

 close to this dolmen. Apparently none of these 

 dolmens have been systematically excavated, and 

 nothing is known of their date. 



Menhirs, too, are not wanting in Syria. Perrot 

 and Chipiez figure an example from Gebel-Mousa 

 in Moab which is quite unworked, except for a 

 shallow furrow across the centre of the face. In 

 many cases the menhir is surrounded by one or 

 more rows of stones. Thus at Der Ghuzaleh a 

 menhir about 3 feet in height is set in the centre 

 of what when complete must have been a rect- 

 angle. In other cases the enclosure was elliptical 

 or circular in form. In an example at Minieh the 

 menhir stands in the centre of a double (in part 

 triple) circle of stones, on which abuts an elliptical 

 enclosure. In some cases the circle has no proper 

 entrance, in others it has a door consisting of a 

 large slab resting on two others. The largest of 

 the circles attains a diameter of 600 feet, and has 

 a double line of stones. 



Within these circles and near them are found 

 large numbers of monuments consisting each of a 



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