al-Qalʿa; Qalʿat Safīra Complete

Description

al-Qalʿa / Qalʿat Safīra is a village registered in TIB 15 on p. 1672 in the entry on as-Safīra / Sfīré. The site is closely connected to as-Safīra with which it shares the epigraphical collection. This is because al-Qalʿa was sourced for stone by the inhabitants of as-Safīra, which, of course, contributed to the displacement of inscriptions from their original context and resue in new constructions at as-Safīra. Little is known of the al-Qalʿa's plan and buildings. Johannes Koder in TIB 15 offers a short description in the entry on as-Safīra which highlights a walled enclosure, measuring 128 x 186 m. Within the enclosure, there are ruins of a church, and a building. At least three Syriac inscriptions were brought from this site to as-Safīra where they were recorded by Mouterde and Poidebard's expedition. For possible exports, see also our entry on as-Safīra. Literature: TIB 15 – Todt, K.P., Vest, B.A., Tabula Imperii Byzantini, vol. 15 (Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2014). p. 1672. Syriac inscriptions: Mouterde, R., Poidebard, A., Le limes de Chalcis. Organisation de la steppe en haute Syrie romaine (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geutner, 1945), 223, no. 3 and fig. 40,1 (mentions an archimandrite with two presbyters, including one steward/oikonomos). Mouterde, R., Poidebard, A., Le limes de Chalcis. Organisation de la steppe en haute Syrie romaine (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geutner, 1945), 223, no. 4 and fig. 40,2 (scarcely legible; perhaps mentions the name Paulos). Mouterde, R., Poidebard, A., Le limes de Chalcis. Organisation de la steppe en haute Syrie romaine (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geutner, 1945), 224, no. 5 (descriptum) and fig. 40,3.