Domestic architecture and fresco decoration at Humayma : social pretence in Provincia Arabia
Date
2000
Authors
Karas, Basiliki Vicky
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Abstract
In the summer of 1996 painted wall plaster remains were uncovered from a Late Roman period house at the ancient site of Humayma, located in modern Jordan. Partial excavation of this structure (referred to as House E125) revealed a building constructed in stone and mud-brick. Ceramic dating places House E125 around the late second or early third centuries A.D. The painted plaster remains from this house.suggest that during its original occupation, the walls of this house were plastered and ambitiously decorated with colorful geometric and figural motifs in true fresco technique.
This thesis explores the style, motifs and technique of the fresco decoration in House E125, with the purpose of providing a better understanding of this painted house in its historical, chronological, and socio-cultural context. The analysis reveals that the multi-ethnic character of Humayma during its Roman occupation had a strong influence on the private tastes of the population. The bulk of scholarship devoted to the study of Roman domestic art and architecture has traditionally focused on houses from Roman Italy. Within the last two decades, however, scholarly attention in the field of domestic art and architecture has shifted to include houses throughout the Empire. Until recently, excavation projects in the Roman Near East have concentrated on monumental structures such as forts, temples and baths. With the growing interest in houses of the Empire, House E125 represents one of only a few carefully excavated and documented decorated houses from Roman Arabia, and provides important new evidence concerning domestic art and architecture in the Roman Near East.