Building Stone and Stone Buildings in the Hawrān Plateau (Syria and Jordan)

Massimo Coli, and Marino L.

Florence University, Italy

Abstract: In the Hawrān basalt (Syria-Jordan border area), the almost total lack of timber led to a wide use of the basalt as building stone. That resulted into a typical and peculiar “all stone” architecture. Basalts had been used for the structural masonry with solutions of great interest but also for building singular carpentries all of stone resting on embedded shelves in dry masonry. The floor and roof slabs had been made with basalt bars placed onto overhangs shelves up to covering until 3 m of span. Larger sections had been reduced by the use intermediate wall-arches supporting shelves and the bars for the deck. This unique all-stone architecture represents a cultural heritage to be preserved and handed down; this paper has this main purpose.

Key words: Hawrān, Basalt, stone building, building stone, lithic carpentry