Serindia : vol.3 / 90 ページ（白黒高解像度画像）

0090	Serindia : vol.3
セリンディア : vol.3

from what remained of the projecting mass of rock that once formed the core of the statue ; it pointed
to a colossal standing figure.
Cellas on Considering the only too obvious effects of moisture on these cellas, the hope of recovering
ridge A. III. recognizable remains of relievos or more interesting relics under the heavy masses of débris that
filled the interior in parts seemed too small to justify the heavy expenditure of time and labour
which a complete clearing would have cost. But on the top of the ridge, which at its eastern end
has evidently been occupied by a number of small structures, either shrines or monastic quarters,
I had the two cellas vi and vii cleared. From a few fragments of painted plaster brought to light in
vii it appeared that these, too, were places of worship. In addition to the walls shown in the plan,
which probably served mainly to secure level building space, there were remains of terraces built up
against the north-east end of the ridge, at a height of 20–30 feet above the level ground. These,
too, may once have borne small structures.
The only ruins at Ara-tam which still remain to be mentioned are six small cellas, some only
a few feet square, found perched in a line, as Fig. 192 and Plate 48 show, on little spurs jutting out
from the foot of the hill directly to the north of A. III. They were found completely empty and
were declared to have been searched two years earlier by Dr. von Lecoq, who had paid a flying
visit to Ara-tam when on his reconnaissance tour eastwards on behalf of Professor Grünwedel's
Mission. With what result I have not been able to ascertain.
Date of My own search of the ruins had yielded no definite chronological evidence. But, in view of the
Ara-tam close resemblance which the remains of the fresco decoration in the rock-cut cellas showed to designs
shrines. familiar to me from the later cave-temples of Ch'ien-fo-tung, it appears to me highly probable that
the Ara-tam shrines dated from the period of Uigur dominion (ninth–twelfth centuries), during which
Hāmi is likely to have enjoyed protracted spells of peace and prosperity. It is more difficult to guess
the date at which Buddhist worship had finally ceased at the site. We have seen above that at
the time of Shāh Rukh's embassy (1420) Buddhism still continued to be professed at Hāmi by the
side of Islām. Clear chronological evidence, such as a site definitely abandoned to the desert might
have easily yielded, was not to be looked for at a place which, favoured by its abundant water-supply
and fertile soil, must have ever invited continued occupation. That the advantages and facilities for
archaeological work which are offered by ruins within the cultivated areas, along the south foot of
the T'ien-shan and far away from the desert, have their antiquarian drawbacks also is a lesson I first
learned amidst the pleasant surroundings of Ara-tam.
March from On November 2 I left Hāmi for Turfān, after having completed the safe packing in twelve
Hāmi to wooden cases of the additional manuscript acquisitions from Ch'ien-fo-tung, which so far had to
Toghucha. travel in huge bags and without adequate protection. Regard for the available transport and our
survey-work induced me to follow the rather circuitous high road which, for the sake of wells and
some chances of grazing, keeps close to the foot of the T'ien-shan.⁷ By doubling marches where

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