Description

Ejnar Fugmann served as architect-in-chief on two Danish archaeological expeditions to Syria, first to Hama (1931-38) and much later to Gabla (1958-61). He was a skilled artist and spent much of his spare time painting watercolors of local monuments and daily life. While he also painted scenes from other parts of Syria such as Aleppo and Krak de Chevaliers, his portraits of Hama and Gabla are especially compelling for the witness they bear to two towns before modern development changed their appearance irrevocably. In addition to the waterwheels on the Orontes and other scenes from daily life, his watercolors from Hama show the Azm and Kilani mansions, the Han Rustam basa, the Great Mosque and the Abu-l-fida Grave Mosque, presented in their cultural and historical context. The Gabla watercolors focus on scenes in the town, by the harbor and around the expedition house. This handsome volume is introduced by P.J. Riis, who participated in the excavation of Hama and directed the Gabla expedition. He provides an especially vivid account of Hama in the 1930s, with its horse-drawn cabs and constantly turning waterwheels. Hama and Gabla offers a colorful window to a world that no longer exists. It will interest armchair time travelers as well as serious students of Islamic architecture and history.