Sat. May {23} 22. [22 May 1909] Had an awfully long day beginning
with 1/2 an hour's work on the basilica of Mar Philoxenos which was I
think a true basilica with the narthex to the W. Probably all vaulted; the
old vault of the N aisle remains, of great stones, quite different from
the new vaults. Rode off at 6.5 with Jusef and Abd ur Rahman and got
to {Arnas} Salah at {5.50} 7.25. The wonderful church lies to the W of
the village. Stayed there till 9.20. It deserved a longer visit. Lots of
mouldings, round the bottom of the narthex wall, round the inside of the
nave (decorated and too high to take) doors etc. But horribly dark
inside. Got to Arnas at 10.35 and stayed till 12.20. The church is much
ruined - remains of the cymatium still to be seen outside. It has been
restored but I think exactly on the old plan, ie the engaged piers here
are part of the original structure. They fit onto the apse instead of
leaving the awkward gap of the reconstruction piers. Lunched before
I left. The church is part of a house (the buildings of Mar Yakub are
also inhabited by peasants). Two {apses} niches on the E side of
court, one apsed, but both much later work. We rode down hill and up
to another village, Halaf, which we reached at 12.55. At 2 we got to
Kefr Zeh and stayed till 3.45. The church is inhabited by a nun - there
was also a Kas but I'm not sure if he lived there - there was only one
room. The piers here are part of a reconstruction: I shd think the
church was originally vaulted from the walls only. Here and in both the
other chambers fine decorated mouldings round the triumphal arch. I
was very tired by the time I had finished. We were told it was 3 hours
to Khakh but it was only a little over 2. We left Kefr Zeh at 3.45, {got to}
passed Mar Hanik at 4.50 and so onto a plateau from which we
presently saw Khakh lying on its hill with the mountains behind it - very
beautiful. We had had thunderstorms all day and the evening was
mild and lovely like an English spring. Got into camp at 5.50. After tea
I took a look round and found that there was much to be done.
Prayers were being said in the Adra, the women standing in the
narthex, the men inside. One of the latter had put down his knife and
half a cigarette in a holder on the narthex door step. As I came back
through the village, the people coming up from prayers greeted me
with "Marhaba Ingliziyeh." The Adra is occupied by a monk, a novice
and a nun. The latter begged me to give them arms as a little time
ago the Moslems came and said that order had been given that all
Xians were to be killed. The Xians in Midyat heard the same thing
and shut themselves into their houses for a day or two.