four niches each, knotted with a simple loop at
tail ends that entwine to form a loop and thence
the points of juncture At the top the dragons
taper to a pointed tip Also of note are the small
terminate in the same manner as on the portal
star-rosettes which on both portals are set into
of Mār Behnām; however at the bottom of the
the interstices of the vertical bands
niches the slightly tapered tails entwine to form
The representation of dragons situated at the
a loop, whence they curl inward to terminate in
approach to the most sacred part of the building,
a bird’s head with curved beak which pecks at
both in the case of the monastery of Mār Behnām,
the tail (comparable to the birds on the tail tips
where they feature on the second portal leading to
of dragons on the Cizre door-knockers (fig 83)
the chapel of the baptistery, and at the mausoleum
and on the wing tips of the dragons at the Bāb
of Imām Bahir, where they appear on the portal
al-Ṭilasm in Baghdad (fig 139a)) Just like the
leading to the vestibule, indicates that their depic-
bottom mouldings, the central niches terminate
tion was intended to serve as monumental apotro-
at the top in addorsed heads and at the bottom in
paion and to guard the entrance to a sacred space
the dragon motif on portable objects
35