CHAPTER IX.
Six miles to the north-east of Nimrood is the old Syrian convent of Mar Behnâm. This is a large square edifice, with a low entrance, leading into an open court separated by a double row of apartments intended for the accommodation of the resident monks. A spacious portico extends along the entire front of the church, which is situated on the right of the court, and measures about 50 ft. by 60 ft. The interior of the building looked so extremely wretched, that I was not prepared to find here one of the finest specimens of ecclesiastical architecture in the country. Two noble entrances, constructed chiefly of marble, and ornamented with Estrangheli, or ancient Syriac, inscriptions, lead into the church. The nave is divided into two unequal portions by a double arch resting on a single isolated pilaster, opposite to which is a circular column supporting a kind of canopy, raised over the entrance into the chapel, on the right of the principal sacrarium. The high altar is situated in a semicircular recess beneath a beautifully carved dome, and a vaulted roof of still more exquisite workmanship covers the apartment which occupies the south-western wing. To the left of the sacrarium is the Beit Kaddeeshé, or cemetery, where several Syrian Bishops are buried, and over whose graves
