Travels in Syria and the Holy Land by John Burckhardt (page 5)

the streets, with a paved footway on each side; but the streets are all narrow, just permitting a loaded camel to pass.

Near the Bab el Haoua are the springs above mentioned, called Ayoun el Merdj; with some remains of walls near them. The late Youssef Pasha of Damascus built here a small watch-tower, or barrack, for thirty men, to keep the hostile Arabs at a distance from the water. The town walls are almost perfect in this part, and the whole ground is covered with ruins, although there is no appearance of any large public building. Upon an altar near one of the springs was the following inscription:

ANTONIAE FORTVNATAE ANTONIVS. V . . CES CONIVGI PIISIMAE

[p.235] Near it is another altar, with a defaced inscription.

In going northward from the springs, I passed the rivulet Djeheir, whose source is at a short distance, within the precincts of the town. It issues from a stone basin, and was conducted anciently in a canal. Over it seems to have stood a small temple, to judge by the remains of several columns that are lying about. The source is full of small fish. Youssef Pasha built a barrack here also; but it was destroyed by the Wahabi who made an incursion into the Haouran in 1810, headed by their chief Ibn Saoud, who encamped for two days near this spot, without being able to take the castle, though garrisoned by only seven Moggrebyns. The banks of the Djeheir are a favourite encampment of the Bedouins, and especially of the Aeneze.

Beyond the town walls, and at some distance to the north of the Djeheir, stands the famous mosque El Mebrak; and near it is the cemetery of the town. Ibn Affan, who first collected the scattered leaves of the Koran into a book, relates that when Othman, in coming from the Hedjaz, approached the neighbourhood of Boszra with his army, he orderd his people to build a mosque on the spot where the camel which bore the Koran should lie down; such was the origin of the mosque El Mebrak. [Mebrak [Arabic] means the spot where a camel couches down, or a halting-place.] It is of no great size; its interior was embellished, like that of the great mosque, with Cufic inscriptions, of which a few specimens yet remain over the Mehrab, or niche towards which the face of the Imam is turned in praying. The dome or Kubbe which covered its summit has been recently destroyed by the Wahabi.

The above description comprises all the principal antiquities of Boszra. A great number of pillars lie dispersed in all directions in the town; but I observed no remains of granite. Its immediate

[p.236]invirons are also covered with ruins, principally on the W. and N.W. sides, where the suburbs may have formerly stood.

Of the vineyards, for which Boszra was celebrated, even in the days of Moses, and which are commemorated by the Greek medals of [Greek], not a vestige remains. There is scarcely a tree in the neighbourhood of the town, and the twelve or fifteen families who now inhabit it cultivate nothing but wheat, barley, horse-beans, and a little Dhourra. A number of fine rose trees grow wild among the ruins of the town, and were just beginning to open their buds.

April 28th.–I was greatly annoyed during my stay at Boszra, by the curiosity of the Aeneze, who were continually passing through the place. It had been my wish to visit the ruined city of Om El Djemal [Arabic], which is eight hours distant from Boszra, to the S.; but the demands of the Arabs for conducting me thither were so exorbitant, exceeding even the sum which I had thought necessary to bring with me from Damascus to defray the expenses of my whole journey, that I was obliged to return to Aaere towards mid-day, after having offered thirty piastres for a guide, which no one would accept. None but Aeneze could have served me, and with them there was no reasoning; they believed that I was going in search of treasure, and that I should willingly give any sum to reach the spot where it was hid.

April 29th.–I took leave of my worthy friend Shybely, who would not let us depart alone, but engaged a Bedouin to accompany us towards the western parts of the Haouran; this man was a Bedouin of Sayd, or Upper Egypt, of the tribe of Khelafye, who inhabit to the west of Girge; he had entered the service of the Mamelouks, and had been with one of them to Mekka, from whence he returned to Damascus, where he entered into the Pasha’s cavalry; here he had the misfortune to kill one of his comrades, which

EL HEREYEK.

[p.237]obliging him to fly, he repaired to the Aeneze, with whom he found security and protection.

Half an hour from Aaere we passed Wady Ghothe [Arabic], with the village of Ghothe to our left; route N.W.b.N. One hour and a half, the village Om Waled [Arabic], one hour and three quarters, the village El Esleha [Arabic], inhabited principally by Christians. Two hours and a quarter, passed Wady Soueida. Two hours and a half the village Thale [Arabic], to the west of which, one hour, is Tel Hossein, with the village Kheraba. At three hours and a quarter is the village El Daara [Arabic], with Wady Daara; here we dined at an encampment of Arabs of Djebel Haouran, who are in the habit of descending into the plain to pasture their cattle, as soon as the country is evacuated by the Aeneze. At four hours and three quarters is Melieha el Aattash [Arabic], in a direction N.W. from Daara; from thence our route lay W. by N. Not more than one-third of the plain was cultivated, though the peasants had sown more grain this year, than they had done for many years back. S. of Melieha half an hour lies the village Rakham [Arabic]. Five hours and a half the village El Herak [Arabic]. Five hours and three quarters, the village El Hereyek [Arabic]. In all these villages are several reservoirs of water, for the supply of the inhabitants during summer, and which are filled either by the winter torrents descending from the Djebel Haouran, or by rain water, which is conducted into them from every side by narrow channels: they are all of ancient date, and built entirely with the black Haouran stone; but I saw in none of the villages any edifice of magnitude. Near Hereyek we fell in with the encampment of the Damascus beggars, who make an excursion every spring to the Haouran, to collect alms from the peasants and Arabs; these contributions are principally in butter and wool,

NAEME.

[p.238]which they sell on their return to Damascus. They had about a dozen tents, and as many asses, and I saw a good mare tied before the tent of the Sheikh, who is a man of consequence among the thieves and vagabonds of Damascus. His name is El Shuhadein [Arabic]: he invited us to drink a cup of coffee, and take some refreshment; but my companions, who knew him, advised me to keep clear of him. At six hours and a quarter, we passed at a short distance to our left, the village Olma [Arabic], our route being N.W. About one hour S.W. of Olma lies the village El Kerek. Eight hours and twenty-five minutes, the village Naeme [Arabic]. Most of these villages stand upon, or near, low hillocks or Tels, the only objects which break the monotony of the plain.

It was at Naeme that I saw, for the first time, a swarm of locusts; they so completely covered the surface of the ground, that my horse killed numbers of them at every step, whilst I had the greatest difficulty in keeping from my face those which rose up and flew about. This species is called in Syria, Djerad Nedjdyat [Arabic] or Djerad Teyar [Arabic], i.e. the flying locusts, being thus distinguished from the other species, called Djerad Dsahhaf [Arabic], or devouring locusts. The former have a yellow body; a gray breast, and wings of a dirty white, with gray spots. The latter, I was told, have a whitish gray body, and white wings. The Nedjdyat are much less dreaded than the others, because they feed only upon the leaves of trees and vegetables, sparing the wheat and barley. The Dsahhaf, on the contrary, devour whatever vegetation they meet with, and are the terror of the husbandmen; the Nedjdyat attack only the produce of the gardener, or the wild herbs of the desert. I was told, however, that the offspring of the Nedjdyat produced in Syria partake of the voracity of the Dsahhaf, and like them prey upon the crops of grain.

SHEMSKEIN.

[p.239]Those which I saw in the Haouran, and afterwards in the gardens of Damascus, fly in separate bodies, and do not spread over a whole district. The young of this species are quite black until a certain age.

The Bedouins eat locusts, which are collected in great quantities in the beginning of April, when the sexes cohabit, and they are easily caught; after having been roasted a little upon the iron plate [Arabic], on which bread is baked, they are dried in the sun, and then put into large sacks, with the mixture of a little salt. They are never served up as a dish, but every one takes a handful of them when hungry. The peasants of Syria do not eat locusts, nor have I myself ever had an opportunity of tasting them: there are a few poor Fellahs in the Haouran, however, who sometimes pressed by hunger, make a meal of them; but they break off the head and take out the entrails before they dry them in the sun. The Bedouins swallow them entire. The natural enemy of the locust is the bird Semermar [Arabic]; which is of the size of a swallow, and devours vast numbers of them; it is even said that the locusts take flight at the cry of the bird. But if the whole feathered tribe of the districts visited by locusts were to unite their efforts, it would avail little, so immense are the numbers of these dreadful insects.

At eight hours and three quarters from Aaere, and at a short distance to the right, is the village Obta [Arabic]; our route N.W. by N. Nine hours and a quarter, we saw, at one hour to the left, the village El Kherbe [Arabic]. Nine hours and three quarters, Shemskein [Arabic], one of the principal villages in the Haouran. As we had rode at a very brisk pace, the above distance of nine hours and three quarters may be computed at nearly twelve hours of the common travelling. Shemskein, a village containing upwards of one hundred families, is situated on the Hadj road, on the side of Wady

[p.240]Hareir [Arabic], over which a solid bridge has been built on one side of the village: this Wady comes from the north-east at four or six hours distance, and flows south-west. It is one of the largest torrents of Haouran, and was at this moment full of water, while most of the other Wadys were nearly dried up. The Sheikh of Shemskein has the title of Sheikh el Haouran, and holds the first rank among the village Sheikhs of the country. In the time of Hadj he collects from the Haouran and Djolan about fifteen hundred camels, and accompanies them to Mekka. His income is considerable, as the peasants of the different villages of the Haouran, when engaged in disputes with neighbouring villagers, or with their Sheikhs, generally apply in the first instance to his tribunal.

We alighted at the Sheikh’s house, in the court-yard of which we found almost the whole population of the village assembled: there had been a nuptial feast in the village, and the Nowars or gypsies, were playing music. These Nowar [Arabic], who are called Korbatt [Arabic] at Aleppo, are dispersed over the whole of Syria; they are divided into two principal bodies, viz. the Damascenes, whose district extends as far as Hassia, on the Aleppo road; and the Aleppines, who occupy the country to the north of that line. They never dare go beyond the limits which they have allotted to each other by mutual consent; both bodies have an Aga, who pays to the Grand Signior about five hundred piastres per annum, and collects the tribute from his subjects, which in the Damascus territory amounts annually to twenty piastres a head for every full grown male.

April 30th.–As I wished to visit from Shemskein the Mezareib, and to ascend from thence the mountains of Adjeloun, I set out in the company of an old acquaintance of Aleppo, a Janissary, who had entered into the service of the Pasha of Damascus, and was now stationed at Mezareib. Following the Hadj road, in a S.S.E. direction, in an hour and a quarter from Shemskein we crossed the

EL MEZAREIB.

[p.241]Wady Aar [Arabic], coming from the east. Half an hour to the left of the road is Daal [Arabic], a considerable village; and between Daal and Mezareib, but more to the eastward, lies the village of Draa [Arabic], the ancient Edrei. Two hours, Tefas [Arabic], with a well built mosque.

At the end of three hours, we arrived at El Mezareib [Arabic], El Mezareib is the first castle on the Hadj road from Damascus, and was built by the great Sultan Selym, three hundred and eight years ago. It is the usual residence of the Aga of the Haouran; but that office is now vacant, the late Aga having been deposed, and no one has yet been appointed to succeed him. The garrison of the castle consisted of a dozen Moggrebyns, whose chief, a young black, was extremely civil to me. The castle is of a square form, each side being, as well as I can recollect, about one hundred and twenty paces in length. The entrance is through an iron gate, which is regularly shut after sunset. The interior presents nothing but an empty yard enclosed by the castle wall, within which are ranges of warehouses, where the provisions for the Hadj are deposited; their flat roofs form a platform behind the parapet of the castle wall, where sixteen or eighteen mud huts have been built on the top of the warehouses, as habitations for the peasants who cultivate the neighbouring grounds. On the east side two miserable guns are planted. Within the castle is a small mosque. There are no houses, beyond its precincts. Close by it, on the N. and E. sides, are a great number of springs, whose waters collect, at a short distance, into a large pond or lake, of nearly half an hour in circumference, in the midst of which is an island. On an elevated spot at the extremity of a promontory, advancing into the lake, stands a chapel, around which are many ruins of ancient buildings. The water of the lake is as clear as crystal, neither weeds

[p.242]nor grass growing in it; its depth in the middle is much more than the heighth of a man; the bottom is sand, and gravel of the black Haouran stone. It abounds with fish, particularly carp, and a species called Emshatt [Arabic]. In summer time, after the harvests of the Haouran have been gathered in, when the Aeneze approach the more populous parts of the country, the borders of the lake are crowded every evening with thousands of camels, belonging to these Arabs, who prefer filling their water skins here, as they say that the water keeps better than any other. The water of the springs is slightly tepid, and nearly of the same temperature as that of the springs near Kalaat el Medyk, in the valley of the Orontes. According to the Arabs the springs emit a copious steam in the winter mornings. An ancient mill stands near one of them, with a few broken stones around it; but it does not appear that any village or city of note stood here, though the quantity of water seems inviting to settlers. The springs as well as the lake are known by the name of El Budje [Arabic].

The pilgrim caravan to Mekka collects at the Mezareib, where the Pasha, or Emir el Hadj, remains encamped for ten days, in order to collect the stragglers, and to pay to the different Arab tribes the accustomed tribute for the passage of the caravan through the desert. The warehouses of the castle are annually well stocked with wheat, barley, biscuit, rice, tobacco, tent and horse equipage, camel saddles, ropes, ammunition, &c. each of which has its particular warehouse. These stores are exclusively for the Pasha’s suite, and for the army which accompanies the Hadj; and are chiefly consumed on their return. It is only in cases of great abundance, and by particular favour, that the Pasha permits any articles to be sold to the pilgrims. At every station, as far as Medina, is a castle, but generally smaller than this, filled with similar stores.

[p.243]The Haouran alone is required to deliver every year into the store houses of the Mezareib, two thousand Gharara of barley, or about twenty or twenty-five thousand cwt. English. The town of Damascus has been fed for the last three months with the biscuit stored in the Mezareib for the Hadj.

As far as the Pasha was concerned, the affairs of the great Caravan were generally well managed; but there still reigned a great want of economy, and the expenses of the Hadjis increased every year. Of late years, the hire of a single camel from Damascus to Mekka has been seven hundred and fifty piastres; as much, and often more, was to be paid on coming back; and the expenses on the road, and at Mekka, amounted at least to one thousand piastres, so that in the most humble way, the journey could not be performed at less than two thousand five hundred piastres, or L125. sterling. A camel with a litter cost fifteen hundred in going, and as much in coming back. Of the whole caravan not above one-tenth part were real pilgrims, the rest consisted of soldiers, the servants of soldiers, people attached to the Pasha’s suite, merchants, pedlars, camel-drivers, coffee and pipe waiters, a swarm of Bedouins, together with several tents of public women from Damascus, who were so far encouraged, that, whenever they were unable to obtain from their lovers the daily food for their horses or mules, they obtained a supply from the Pasha’s stores.

The greater part of the pilgrims usually contract for the journey with one of the great undertakers, or Mekouam [Arabic], as they are called; this agreement is only for a beast of transport and for water; as to eating, the pilgrims generally mess together at their own expense, in bodies of about half a dozen. The Mekouam, on agreeing to furnish a beast of burthen, are bound to replace whatever may die on the road, and are therefore obliged to carry with them at least one unloaded camel for every loaded one. It is a general

[p.244]practice with the Mekouam to obtain as large sums as possible on account from the pilgrims who engage with them for the journey; they generally agree among each other upon the sum to be demanded, as well as the moment at which it is to be called for: so that if the pilgrims resist the imposition, the Hadj sometimes remains encamped on the same spot for several days, the Mekouam all refusing to proceed, and feeing the Pasha for his connivance at their injustice. On their return to Damascus, if they have already extorted from the pilgrims in the course of the journey more than the amount of their contract, as often happens, they generally declare themselves to be bankrupts, and then the value of a few camels is all that remains to pay their debts to the pilgrims.

Those pilgrims who do not engage with the Mekouam, as is generally the case with those who come from Armenia and the borders of the Black sea, perform the journey somewhat cheaper upon their own beasts; but they are ill-treated on the road by the Mekouam, are obliged to march the last in the caravan, to encamp on the worst ground, to fill their water skins the last, and are often even avanized by the Pasha. It is difficult to conceive the wretched condition of the greater part of the Hadjis, and the bad conduct of the troops and Arabs. Thieving and robbery have become general among them, and it is more the want of sleep from fear of being plundered, which causes the death of so many pilgrims, than the fatigues of the journey. The Pasha’s troops, particularly those called Howara, which bring up the rear of the caravan, are frequently known to kill the stragglers during the night, in order to strip them of their property. The Pasha, it is true, often punishes such delinquents, and scarcely a day passes without some one being empaled alive; the caravan moves on, and the malefactor is left to be devoured by the birds of prey. The Bedouins are particularly dexterous in pilfering; at night they sometimes assume the

[p.245]dress of the Pasha’s infantry, and thus introduce themselves unnoticed amongst the camels of the rich Hadjis, when they throw the sleeping owner from his mule or camel, and in the confusion occasioned by the cries of the fallen rider, drive off the beast.

The caravan marches daily from Asser, or about three hours after mid- day, during the whole of the night, and till the followingmorning, when the tents are pitched. It never stops but during prayers. The Arabs of Sokhne, Tedmor, and Haouran, together with the Bedouins who let out their camels, precede or follow the caravan at the distance of one day’s march. They transport the provisions for the Pasha’s troops, of which they steal, and publicly sell at least two-thirds. They march during the day, and encamp in the evening. Their caravan is called El Selma [Arabic]. It passes the great caravan once every two or three days, and then encamps till the latter comes up, when they supply the Pasha’s suite with provisions. The cheapest mode of performing the pilgrimage is to agree for a camel with one of those Arabs; but the fatigue is much greater in following the Selma.

The last year in which the Hadj quitted Damascus, the pilgrims reached the gates of Medina, but they were not permitted to enter the town, nor to proceed to Mekka; and after an unsuccessful negotiation of seven days, they were obliged to return to Damascus. About two hundred Persian Hadjis only, who were with the caravan, were allowed to pass on paying a large sum of money. Ibn Saoud, the Wahabi chief, had one interview with Abdullah Pasha, accompanied by the whole of his retinue, at Djebel Arafat, near Mekka; they exchanged presents, and parted as friends.

Of the seven different pilgrim caravans which unite at Mekka, two only bear the Mahmal, the Egyptian and Syrian; the latter is the first in rank.

We left Mezareib towards the evening, and were obliged to proceed

EL TORRA.

[p. 246]alone along the Hadj route, the fear of the Aeneze rendering every one unwilling to accompany us. In a quarter of an hour we came to a bridge over the Wady Mezareib, called Djissr Kherreyan [Arabic]; to the left, near the road, is the ruined village Kherbet el Ghazale [Arabic], where the Hadj sometimes encamps. It often happens that the caravan does not encamp upon the usual spots, owing to a wish either to accelerate or to prolong the journey. Past the Akabe, near the head of the Red Sea, beyond which the bones of dead camels are the only guides of the pilgrim through the waste of sand, the caravan often loses its way, and overshoots the day’s station; in such cases the water-skins are sometimes exhausted, and many pilgrims perish through fatigue and thirst.

At one hour from the Mezareib, following the river that issues from the small lake, are several mills: from thence, south-west, begins the district called Ollad Erbed [Arabic]. Half an hour to the right, at some distance from the road, is the village Tel el Shehab [Arabic]; forty minutes, Wady Om El Dhan [Arabic], coming from the eastward, with a bridge over it, built by Djezzar Pasha. In winter this generally proves a very difficult passage to the Hadj, on account of the swampy ground, and the peasants of the adjacent villages are, in consequence, obliged to cover the road with a thick layer of straw. At one hour to the right of the road is the village El Torra [Arabic], on the top of a low chain of hills, forming a circle, through the centre of which lies the road. Here, as in so many other parts of the Haouran, I saw the most luxuriant wild herbage, through which my horse with difficulty made his way. Artificial meadows can hardly be finer than these desert fields: and it is this which renders the Haouran so favourite an abode of the Bedouins. The peasants of Syria are ignorant of the advantages of feeding their cattle with hay; they suffer the superfluous grass to wither away, and in summer and winter feed them on cut straw. In one

REMTHA.

[p. 247]hour and a quarter we passed Wady Torra; our road lying S.S.E. One hour and three quarters, we came to Wady Shelale [Arabic], a torrent descending from the southern hills, and flowing in a deep bed, along which the road continues for some time. In two hours and three quarters quick walking, we came to Remtha [Arabic], a station of the Hadj; which encamps near two Birkets or reservoirs formed in the bed of the Wady by means of three high walls built across it. A large tribe of Aeneze were watering their cattle as we passed. The surrounding country is hilly: the village is built upon the summits of several hills, and contains about one hundred families. In its neighbourhood are a number of wells of fresh water. We met with a very indifferent reception at the Sheikh’s house, for the inhabitants of the villages on the Hadj route exceed all others in fanatism: an old man was particularly severe in his animadversions on Kafers treading the sacred earth which leads to the Kaabe, and the youngsters echoed his insulting language. I found means, however, to show the old man a penknife which I carried in my pocket, and made him a present of it, before he could ask it of me; we then became as great friends as we had been enemies, and his behaviour induced a like change in the others towards me. A penknife worth two shillings overcomes the fanatism of a peasant; increase the present and it will have equal effect upon a townsman; make it a considerable sum, and the Mufti himself will wave all religious scruples. Remtha is the last inhabited village on this side of the Haoun: the greater part of its houses are built against the caverns, with which this calcareous country abounds; so that the rock forms the back of the house, while the other sides are enclosed by a semicircular mud wall whose extremities touch the rock.

May 1st.–From Remtha I wished to cross the mountains directly to Djerash, which, I had reason to believe, was not more than seven

WADY WARRAN.

[p.248]or eight hours distant. It was with difficulty that I found a guide, because I refused to be answerable for the value of the man’s horse and gun, in case we should be plundered by Arab robbers. A sum of twelve piastres, however, at last tempted one of the Fellahs, and we rode off late in the morning, our road lying toward the southern mountains, in a direction S. by W. Remtha is on the boundary line of the Haouran; which to the south-eastward runs by Om el Djemal and Szamma, two ruined towns. The district bordering upon the Haouran in this part is called Ezzoueit [Arabic], and stretches across the mountain nearly as far as Djerash. To the E. of Remtha runs a chain of low hills, called Ezzemle [Arabic], extending towards the S.E. nearly to Kalaat Mefrek, a ruined castle situated on the eastern extremity of Djebel Zoueit. At one hour and a quarter, brisk walking of our horses, we saw to the right, or west, about one hour distant, the ruins of a town called Eszereikh [Arabic], at the foot of Djebel Beni Obeyd. From thence the village of Hossn bore W. by S. The Kalaat el Mefrek, or, as the Arabs call it, El Ferka, lay in a S.E. direction, distant about three hours. About one hour and a half distant, in a S.W. direction, is the ruined village of Remeith [Arabic], with several large columns lying on the ground. At two hours and a half from Remtha we passed a Tel, with the ruined village Dehama [Arabic], on its top; near the foot-way lay several broken shafts of columns. At three hours, on reaching the Wady Warran [Arabic], our route began to ascend. The Wady, which descends from the mountain Zoueit, was at this time dry. Three hours and a quarter brought us to three fine Doric columns lying on the ground. We met several Arabs, but they did not venture to attack three men armed with musquets, and gave us a friendly Salam Aleykum. We now ascended the mountain, which is calcareous with flint, in following the windings of the Wady. Wild pistachio trees abound;

SOUF.

[p.249]higher up oaks become more frequent, and the forest thickens; near the top, which we reached in five hours and a quarter from Remtha, are some remains of the foundations of ancient buildings. The Djebel Kafkafa [Arabic], as this summit is called, commands a beautiful view over the plain of Djerash and the neighbouring mountains of Zerka and Belka. The ruins of Djerash, which were distinctly seen, and the highest points of Djebel Belka behind them, bore S.S.W.; the highest points of Djebel Zerka S. The district of Zoueit terminates at Djebel Kafkafa; and the country called El Moerad [Arabic], lying S.W. and W. commences: to the S. the Zoueit runs parallel with the Moerad as far as Wady Zerka.

On gaining Djebel Kafkafa, our guide discovered that he had gone astray, for it was not our intention, on setting out, to make directly for Djerash, but to rest for the night in the village of Souf, and from thence to visit the ruins on the following morning. We therefore turned more to the westward on quitting the Djebel, and fell in with the road, which continued through a thick wood, till we saw Souf, an hour and a half distant before us, bearing W.S.W. At the end of seven hours and a quarter from Remtha, we reached the spring of Souf, and allayed our thirst, for we had been without water the whole day; there being very few springs in the Djebel Zoueit; though it abounds in luxuriant pasture, and is full of hares and partridges. In seven hours and a half we reached the village of Souf [Arabic], where I alighted, at the house of the Sheikh El Dendel, an honest and hospitable man.

Souf is situated on the declivity of the mountain, on the western side of a Wady called El Deir, the stream of which, called also El Kerouan [Arabic], is supplied from three copious springs that issue from under a rock near the village, at a short distance from each

[p.250]other. They bear the names of Ain el Faouar [Arabic], Ain el Meghaseb [Arabic], and Ain el Keykabe [Arabic], and with their united waters the narrow plain of Djerash is irrigated. Souf is a village with about forty families, whose principal riches are some olive plantations on the sides of Wady Deir: it is the chief village in the country called Moerad [Arabic], in which the following are also situated: Ettekitte [Arabic], one hour distant from Djerash, and abandoned last year; Bourma [Arabic]; Hamtha [Arabic]; Djezaze [Arabic]; and Debein [Arabic]. It is customary in these mountains for every house to manufacture gunpowder as well for its own consumption, as for sale to the neighbouring Arabs. In every house which I entered I saw a large mortar, which was continually in motion, even when a fire was kindled in the midst of the room: the powder is formed of one part of sulphur, five and a half parts of saltpetre, and one part of the charcoal of the poplar tree [Arabic]; it is not very good, but serves very well the purposes of this people.

I passed a most unpleasant night here. It is the custom, for the sake of saving lamp-oil, to light every evening a large fire, for the supply of which, there is plenty of dry wood in the neighbouring mountain. The room where I lodged was thus soon filled with smoke, which had no other issue than a small door, and even this was shut to keep out the cattle. The peasants seemed to delight in the heat thus occasioned; they took off all their clothes except the Abba, and sat smoaking and laughing till midnight; I wished to imitate them, but did not dare to strip, for fear of shewing the leathern girdle containing my money, which I wore under my clothes. Towards the morning the fire went out, and the company was asleep: I then opened the door to let the smoke out, and slept a few hours under the influence of the morning breeze.

[p.251]There is an ancient ruined square building at Souf, with several broken columns. From one of them I copied the following inscription, written in very small characters:

[Greek].

Upon a pillar near it is a fine inscription, but now quite illegible.

At the spring of Ayn Keykebe, which is covered by a small arched building, I copied some characters from a broken stone lying in the water; the following were the ending of the inscription:

[Greek].

Near the sources are numerous caverns, in which the poor families of Souf reside.

May 2d.–Being impatient to reach Djerash, I left Souf early in the morning, taking with me a guide, who was afterwards to have conducted me towards Szalt, in the Djebel Belka. Our road lay along the mountain on the west side of Wady Deir. On the E. side of the wady, half an hour from Souf, is the ruined place called Kherbet Mekbela [Arabic]. Three quarters of an hour from Souf, in our road, and just over the ruined city of Djerash, are the ruins called Kherbet el Deir, with a Turkish chapel named Mezar Abou Beker. Our road lay S.S.E. In one hour we passed, n the declivity of the mountain, descending towards Djerash, a place which I supposed to have been the burying place of

DJERASH.

[p.252]Djerash. I counted upwards of fifty sarcophagi, and there were many more; they are formed of the calcareous stone with which the Zoueit and Moerad mountains are composed. Some of them are sunk to a level with the surface of the ground, which is very rocky; others appear to have been removed from their original position. The largest was ten spans in length, and three and a half in breadth; but the greater part are much smaller, and are not even large enough to contain the corpse of a full grown person. On the sides of a few of them are sculptured ornaments in bas-relief, as festoons, genii, &c. but in a mutilated state, and not remarkable for beauty of execution; I saw only one that was elegantly wrought. The whole of these sarcophagi had flat covers, a few of which still remain. Upon one of the largest of the sarcophagi, and which is one of those first met with in going from Souf, is a long inscription, but so mutilated as to be almost wholly illegible. In the neighbourhood are several heaps of large square stones, the remains of some building.

In an hour and a half from Souf we reached the city walls of Djerash, or Kerash, [Arabic], the Dj being the Bedouin pronunciation of the letter [Arabic], which in the language of the city corresponds with our K. Djerash was built upon an elevated plain in the mountains of Moerad, on uneven ground, on both sides of Wady Deir, which, besides the name of Kerouan [Arabic], bears also that of Seil Djerash [Arabic], or the river of Djerash. This river empties itself, at a short distance from the town, into the Wady Zerka [Arabic], probably the Jabock of the ancients. The principal part of the city stands on the right bank of the river, where the surface is more level than on the opposite side, although the right bank is steeper than the other. The present ruins prove the magnitude and importance of the ancient city; and the modern name leads to the belief that it was the ancient Gerasa, one of the principal

DJERASH.

[p.253]towns of the Decapolis, although this position does not at all agree with that given to Gerasa from the ancient authorities by D’Anville, who places it to the north-east of the lake of Tiberias, forty miles to the north-westward of this place. The ruins are nearly an hour and a quarter in circumference, following insulated fragments of the walls, which were upwards of eight feet in thickness, and built of square hewn stones of middling size; I could not judge of their original heighth, as the upper parts were every where demolished.

I shall now enumerate the principal curiosities of Djerash, agreeably to the annexed plan, which may give a general idea of the whole; for its accuracy in regard to distances I do not mean to vouch, as I had, at most, only four hours to make my survey, and it was with great difficulty that I could persuade my three companions to wait so long for me. None of them would accompany me through the ruins, on account of their fear of the Bedouins, who are in the habit of visiting this Wady, they therefore concealed themselves beneath the trees that overshade the river. The first object that strikes the attention in coming from Souf, after passing the town-wall, is a temple (a). Its main body consists of an oblong square, the interior of which is about twenty-five paces in length, and eighteen in breadth. A double row, of six columns in each row, adorned the front of the temple; of the first row five columns are yet standing, of the second, four; and on each side of the temple there remains one column belonging to the single row of pillars that surrounded the temple on every side except the front. Of these eleven columns nine are entire, and two are without capitals. Their style of architecture is much superior to that of the great colonnade hereafter to be mentioned, and seems to belong to the best period of the Corinthian order, their capitals being beautifully ornamented with the acanthus leaves. The shafts are composed of five or six pieces, and are seven spans and a half in diameter,

[p.254]and thirty-five to forty feet in heighth. I was unable to ascertain the number of columns in the flanks of the peristyle. The temple stands upon an artificial terrace elevated five or six feet above the ground. The interior of the temple is choaked with the ruins of the roof; a part of the front wall of the cella has fallen down; but the three other sides are entire. The walls are wthout ornament; on the interior of each of the two side walls, and about mid-way from the floor, are six niches, of an oblong shape, and quite plain: in the back wall, opposite to the door, is a vaulted recess, with a small dark chamber on each side. The upper part of a niche is visible on the exterior of the remains of the front wall, with some trifling but elegantly sculptured ornaments. This ruin stands within a peribolus or large area surrounded by a double row of columns. The whole edifice seems to have been superior in taste and magnificence to every public building of this kind in Syria, the temple of the Sun at Palmyra excepted. On the two sides marked (x) of the colonnade of the peribolus many bases and broken shafts of the inner row of columns are yet standing; on the two other sides there are but few; these columns are three spans and a half in diameter. On the long side (x) forty columns may be traced to have stood, at only three paces distant from each other; on the opposite long side one perfect column is yet standing; on the short side (x) are three in the outer row without their capitals. The corner columns of this peribolus were double, and in the shape of a heart, as in the annexed figure. Of the outer row of the peribolus very little remains; indeed it may be doubted whether any outer row ever existed opposite to the back of the temple, where the ground is rocky and uneven. The number of columns which originally adorned the temple and its area was not less than two hundred or two hundred and fifty.

Proceeding westwards from the above described ruin, through

[p.255]the remains of private habitations, at about two hundred yards distant from it are the remains of a small temple (b), with three Corinthian pillars still standing. A street, still paved in some places, leads from thence south-westwards, to a spot where several small broken columns are lying. Turning from thence to the south-east, I entered a street (c) adorned with a colonnade on either side; about thirty broken shafts are yet standing, and two entire columns, but without their capitals. On the other side of the street, opposite to them, are five columns, with their capitals and entablatures. These columns are rather small, without pedestals, of different sizes, the highest being about fifteen feet, and in a bad taste.

Originally there must have been about fifty pillars in this street; a little farther on to the south-east this street crosses the principal street of the town; and where the two streets meet, are four large cubical masses of stone (d), each occupying one of the angles of the intersection, similar to those which I saw at Shohba, and intended, perhaps, to imitate the beautiful pedestals in the middle of the great portico at Palmyra. These cubes are about seven feet high, and about eighteen spans broad; on each side of them is a small niche; three are entire, and the fourth is in ruins. They may have served as pedestals for statues, or, like those at Palmyra, may have supported a small dome upon columns, under which stood a statue. I endeavoured to examine the tops of the cubes, but they are all thickly overgrown with shrubs, which it was not in my power to clear away. There were no traces whatever of statues having stood upon those which I saw at Shohba.

Following the great street, marked (e), south-westwards, I came again to the remains of columns on both sides: these were much larger than the former, and the street, of which some parts of the pavement yet remain, was much broader than that marked (c). On the right hand side of the street stand seventeen Corinthian

[p.256]columns, sixteen of which are united by their entablature; they vary in size, and do not correspond in height either with those opposite, to them or with those in the same line; a circumstance which, added to the style of the capitals, seems to prove that the long street is a patch-work, built at different periods, and of less ancient construction than the temple. Some of the columns are as high as thirty feet, others twenty-five; the shortest I estimated at twenty feet. Their entablatures are slightly ornamented with sculptured bas-reliefs. Where a high column stands near a shorter one the architrave over the latter reposes upon a projecting bracket worked into the shaft of the higher one. Next comes, following the street in the same S.W. direction, on the right, one insulated column; and three large columns with their entablature, joined to four shorter ones, in the way just described; then two columns, and five, and two, all with their entablatures; making, in the whole, on the right side of the street, counting from the cubes, thirty-four columns, yet standing. On the left, opposite the three large ones joined to the four smaller, are five columns of middling size, with their entablatures, and a single large one; but the greater number of the columns on this side have fallen, and are lying on the ground. In some places behind the colonnade on the right, are low apartments, some of which are vaulted, and appear to have been shops. They are similar to those which I saw in the long street at Soueida, in the mountain of the Druses.[See page 81.]

The long street just described terminates in a large open space (f) enclosed by a magnificent semicircle of columns in a single row; fifty- seven columns are yet standing; originally there may have been about eighty. To the right, on entering the forum, are four, and then twenty- one, united by their entablatures. To the

[p.257]left, five, seven, and twenty, also with entablatures; the latter twenty are taller than the others, the lower ground on which they stand having required an increased height of column in order to place the whole entablature of the semicircle on the same level. The pillars near the entrance are about fifteen feet in height, and one foot and a half in diameter: they are all of the Ionic order, and thus they differ from all the other columns remaining in the city. The radius of the semicircle, in following the direction of the long street, was one hundred and five paces.

At the end of the semicircle, opposite to the long street, are several basins, which seem to have been reservoirs of water, and remains of an aqueduct are still visible, which probably supplied them. To the right and left are some low arched chambers. From this spot the ground rises, and on mounting a low but steep hill before me, I found on its top the remains of a beautiful temple (g), commanding a view over the greater part of the town. The front of the temple does not stand directly opposite to the long street and the forum, but declines somewhat to the northward. Like the temple first described, it was adorned with a Corinthian peristyle, of which one column only remains, at the south angle. In front was a double row of columns, with eight, as I conjecture, in each row. They seem to have been thrown down by an earthquake, and many of them are now lying on the declivity of the hill, in the same order in which they originally stood. They are six spans and a half in diameter, and their capitals appeared to me of a still finer execution than those of the great temple. I am unable to judge of the number of columns on the long sides of the peristyle: their broken shafts lie about in immense heaps. On every side of the temple except the front, there appears to have been a large ditch round the temple. Of the cella the walls only remain, the roof, entrance, and back wall having

[p.258]fallen down. The interior of the cella is thirty paces in length, and twenty-four in breadth; the walls within are in a better state than those of the temple (a), which are much impaired. On the outside of each of the two long walls, was a row of six niches, similar to those within the temple (a).

On entering the temple by the front door, I found on the right a side door, leading towards a large theatre (h), on the side of the hill, and at about sixty paces distant from the temple. It fronts the town, so that the spectators seated upon the highest row of benches, enjoyed the prospect of all its principal buildings and quarters. There are twenty- eight rows of seats, upwards of two feet in breadth: between the sixteenth and seventeenth rows, reckoning from the top, a tier of eight boxes or small apartments intervenes, each separated from the other by a thick wall. The uppermost row of benches is about one hundred and twenty paces in circuit. In three different places are small narrow staircases opening into the rows, to facilitate the ingress or egress of the spectators. In front, the theatre is closed by a proscenium or wall, about forty paces in length, embellished within by five richly decorated niches, connected with each other by a line of middling sized columns; of which two remain with their entablatures, and six without their capitals. Within these was another parallel range of columns, of which five are yet standing, with their entablatures. The entrance to the theatre, was by steps between the two ends of the proscenium and the two extremities of the semicircle. Near the proscenium the steps on both sides are ruined, but in the other parts they are perfect. The town wall runs very near the back of the theatre.

On this side of the town there are no other ruins of any consequence, excepting the south-west gate, which is about five minutes walk from the semicircle of columns: it is a fine arch, and, apparently,

[p.259] in perfect preservation, with a smaller one on each side adorned with several pilasters. I did not examine it closely; meaning to return to it in taking a review of what I had already seen, but my guides were so tired with waiting, that they positively refused to expose their persons longer to danger, and walked off, leaving me the alternative of remaining alone in this desolate spot, or of abandoning the hope of correcting my notes by a second examination of the ruins.

Returning from the theatre, through the long street, towards the four cubic pedestals, I continued from thence in a straight line along the main street (l), the pavement of which is preserved in several places. On the right hand, were first seven columns, having their entablatures; and farther on, to the left, seven others, also with their entablatures; then, on the right, three large columns without entablatures, but with pedestals, which none of those already mentioned have; opposite to the latter, on the left hand side of the street, are two insulated columns. The three large columns are equal in size to those of the peristyle of the temple (a); they stand in the same line with the colonnade of the street, and belonged to a small building (m), of the body of which nothing remains except the circular back wall, containing several niches, almost in complete ruins. On a broken pedestal lying on the ground between two of the columns of this building, is the following inscription:

[Greek].

There is another stone with an inscription upon it; but I could make nothing of it. The street is here choaked up with fragments of columns. Close to the three columns stands a single one, and

[p.260] at a short distance further, to the left, is a large gateway (n), leading up to the temple (a), which is situated on considerably higher ground, and is not visible from the street. On either side of the gateway are niches; and a wall, built of middling sized square stones, which runs for some distance, parallel with the street. Among a heap of stones lying under the gate I copied the following inscriptions:

From a broken stone:

[Greek].

The letters of the word OPNHA are five inches in length.

Upon another broken stone near it was this:

[Greek].

And close to the latter, upon the edge of a large stone, this:

[Greek].

Continuing along the main street, I came at (q), to a single column, and then to two with entablatures, on the right; opposite to them, on the left, are three single columns. Beyond the latter, for one hundred paces, all the columns have fallen; I then came to an open rotunda (r), with four entrances; around the inside of its wall are projecting pedestals for statues; the entraces on the right

[p.261]and left, conduct into a street running at right angles to the main street. I followed this cross street to my left, and found on the right hand side of it three short Ionic pillars with their entablatures, close to the rotunda. Proceeding in the same direction I soon reached a quadrangle (s) of fine large Corinthian columns, the handsomest in the town, next to those of the temple. To the right stand four with their entablatures, and one single; formerly they were six in number, the fifth is the deficient one: the first and sixth are heart-shaped, like those in the area of the temple (a.) They are composed of more than a dozen frusta, and what is remarkable in a place where stone is so abundant, each frustum consists of two pieces; opposite to the two first columns of the row just described are two columns with their entablatures.

This colonnade stands in front of a theatre (t), to which it evidently formed an appendage. This theatre is not calculated to hold so many spectators as the one already described though its area is considerably larger, being from forty-five to fifty paces in diameter. It has sixteen rows of benches, with a tier of six boxes intervening between the tenth and eleventh rows, reckoning from the top. Between every two boxes is a niche, forming a very elegant ornament. This theatre was evidently destined for purposes different from the other, probably for combats of wild beasts, &c.; The area below the benches is more extensive, and there is a suite of dark arched chambers under the lowest row of seats, opening into the area near the chief entrance of the theatre, which is from the south-east, in the direction by which I entered the colonnade in front of the theatre. There seems formerly to have been a wall across the diameter of the semi-circle, and between this wall and the colonnade there is on both sides a short wall, with a large niche or apartment in it; the colonnade stands upon lower ground than the theatre. Having returned from hence to the rotunda in

[p.262]the long street, I followed it along the colonnade (v) and found the greater number of the columns to have Ionic capitals. On the right side are only two small columns, with their entablatures; to the left, are eight, two, three, two, four, and again three, each set with their entablatures; close to the ruined town-gate (w), near the bank of the river, is a single column.

I shall now describe the ancient buildings, which I observed on the south-west side of the long street. The street which leads from the theatre across the rotunda (r) is prolonged from thence towards the side of the river: it was lined with columns, of which two only, with their entablatures, remain, and it terminates at a vast edifice (u), situated over the river, and extending along its banks forty or fifty paces; it is divided into many apartments, the greater part of which have arched roofs; some of them are very lofty.

I now returned towards the gateway (n), and found, opposite to it, and to the great temple (a), a second cross street running towards the river; it had originally a colonnade, but none of the columns are now standing; it terminates, at about thirty paces from the main street, in a gate, through which I entered into a long quadrangle of columns, where, on the right hand, four, and then three columns, with their entablatures, are still standing. At the end of this place, are the remains of a circular building fronting a bridge (p) across the river: this bridge is of steep ascent, owing to the northern banks being considerably higher than the southern, and it is no longer passable.

Having returned to the four cubical pedestals (d), I followed to the left the continuation of the street (c), by which I had first approached those pedestals, and which having crossed the main street at the pedestals, leads south-westward to the river, where it terminated at a broad flight of steps, leading down to the bridge (k); of the colonnade of this street (i), some broken shafts

[p.263]only are standing. The bridge is fourteen feet wide, with a high centre arch and two lower ones; it is built with great solidity, and its pavement is exactly of the same construction as that which I observed in the streets of Shohba;[See page 70.] its centre is broken down. An aqueduct is traced from the side of the building (u), passing near the two bridges, towards the southern gate of the town. Such weremy observations of the ruins on the right bank of the Wady.

On the left bank little else remains than heaps of ruins of private habitations, and numerous fragments of columns. I must confess, however, that I did not examine the part of the town towards the south gate; but I have reason to believe, from the view which I had of it while on the temple hill, that nothing of consequence, either as to buildings or columns, is there to be met with. The only buildings which I observed to the left of the river are near to it, upon a narrow plain which stretches along its banks. Nearly opposite to the temple (m), are the remains of a building (y) similar in construction to that marked (u), on the right bank. I supposed it to be a bath; a stream of water descends from a spring in the mountain, and after flowing through this division of the town, passes this building, and empties itself into the river. The arched rooms of the building (y) are loftier than those in (u). Near the former stand four columns; two insulated, and two with entablatures; also two broken shafts, the only fluted ones that I saw in the city. On the left bank of the river, nearly opposite to the town-gate (w), is a ruined building (x), which appears to have been a small temple; a single column is standing amidst a heap of broken ones.

Between this spot and the building (y) are the remains of an aqueduct.

Besides the one hundred and ninety columns, or thereabouts,

[p.264]which I have enumerated in the above description, there are upwards of one hundred half columns also standing. I did not see any marks of the frusta of the columns having been joined by iron hooks, as at Palmyra. Of the private habitations of the city there is none in a state of preservation, but the whole of the area within the walls is covered with their ruins.

The stone with which Djerash is built is calcareous, of considerable hardness, and the same as the rock of the neighbouring mountains; I did not observe any other stone to have been employed, and it is matter of surprise that no granite columns should be found here, as they abound in Syrian cities of much less note and magnificence than Djerash.

It had been my intention to proceed from Djerash to the village of Djezaze, in my way to the castle of Szalt in the mountains of Belka, from whence I hoped to be able to visit Amman. After many fruitless enquiries for a guide, a man of Souf at last offered to conduct me to Szalt, and he had accompanied us as far as Djerash; but when, after having surveyed the ruins, I rejoined my companions, he had changed his mind, and insisted on returning immediately to Souf; this was occasioned by his fear of the Arabs Beni Szakher, who had for sometime past been at war with the Arabs of Djebel Belka and the government of Damascus, and who were now extending their plundering incursions all over the mountain. The name of the Beni Szakher is generally dreaded in these parts; and the greater or less facility with which the traveller can visit them, depends entirely upon the good or bad terms existing between those Arabs and the Pasha; if they are friends, one of the tribe may easily be found to serve as a guide; but when they are enemies, the traveller is exposed to the danger of being stripped; and, if the animosity of the two parties is very great, of even being murdered. The Mutsellim of Damascus had given me letters to the chief of the

AATYL.

[p.265]Arabs El Belka, and to the commander of the Pasha’s cavalry, who had been sent to assist them against the Beni Szakher. The allies were encamped in the neighbourhood of Kalaat el Zerka, while the Beni Szakher had collected their forces at Amman itself, a place still famous for the abundance of its waters. Under these circumstances, I determined to proceed first to Szalt, hoping that I might from thence attain Amman more easily, as the inhabitants of Szalt, who are always more or less rebellious towards the government of Damascus, are generally on friendly terms with the Bedouins. The fears of my guide, however, prevented me from executing this plan, and I was most reluctantly obliged to return to Souf, for it would have been madness to proceed alone.

We returned to Souf, not by the road over the mountain, but in following the course of the rivulet in the valley El Deir, which we reascended up to the village; we found the greater part of the narrow plain in the valley sown with wheat and barley by the people of Souf. Half an hour from the town, in the Wady, are the remains of a large reservoir for water, with some ruined buildings near it. This is a most romantic spot; large oak and walnut trees overshade the stream, which higher up flows over a rocky bed; nearer the village are some olive plantations in the Wady. We reached Souf in two hours from Djerash. I enquired in vain for a guide to Szalt; the return of the man who had engaged to conduct me made the others equally cautious, and nobody would accept of the fifteen piastres which I offered. I thought in unnecessary, therefore, to stop any longer at Souf, and left it the same evening, in order to visit Djebel Adjeloun. Our road lay W.N.W. up a mountain, through a thick forest of oak trees. In three quarters of an hour from Souf we reached the summit of the mountain, which forms the frontier between the district of Moerad and the Djebel Adjeloun. This is the thickest forest I had yet seen in

RABBAD.

[p.266]Syria, where the term forest ([Arabic] or [Arabic]) is often applied to places in which the trees grow at twenty paces from each other. In an hour and a half we came to the village Ain Djenne [Arabic], in a fertile valley called Wady Djenne, at the extremity of which several springs issue from under the rock.

May 3d.–There are several christian families at Ain Djenne. In the neighbouring mountain are numerous caverns; and distant half an hour, is the ruined village of Mar Elias. When enquiring for ruins, which might answer to those of Capitolias, I had been referred to this place, no person in these mountains having knowledge of any other ruins. An olive plantation furnishes the principal means of subsistence to the eighty families who inhabit the village of Ain Djenne.

We set out early in the morning, and descended the valley towards Adjeloun [Arabic], which has given its name to the district: it is built in a narrow passage on both sides of the rivulet of Djenne, and contains nothing remarkable except a fine ancient mosque. I left my horse here, and took a man of the village to accompany me to the castle of Rabbad [Arabic], which stands on the top of a mountain three quarters of an hour distant from Adjeloun. To the left of the road, at a short distance, is the village Kefrandjy. From Ain Djenne Kalaat el Rabbad bears W. by N.; it is the residence of the chief of the district of Adjeloun. The house of Barekat, in whom this authority has for many years resided, had lately been quarrelling about it among themselves; the chief, Youssef el Barekat, had been besieged for several months in the castle; he was now gone to the Aga of Tabaria, to engage him in his interests; and his family were left in the castle with strict orders not to let any unknown persons enter it, and to keep the gate secured. I had letters of recommendation to Youssef from the Mutsellim of Damascus; when I arrived at the castle-gate, all the inhabitants

OBEID.

[p.267]assembled upon the wall, to enquire who I was, and what I wanted. I explained to them the nature of my visit, and shewed them the Mutsellim’s letter, upon which they opened the iron gate, but continued to entertain great suspicions of me until a man who could read having been sent for, my letter was read aloud; all the family then vied in civilities towards me, especially when I told them that I intended to proceed to Tabaria.

Kalaat Er-Rabbad is very strong, and, as appears from several Arabic inscriptions, was built by Sultan Szelah-eddyn [Arabic]; its date is, therefore, that of the Crusades, and the same as that of many castles in other parts of Syria, which owe their origin to the vigilance, and prudence of that monarch; I saw nothing particularly worth notice in it; its thick walls, arched passages, and small bastions, are common to all the castles of the middle ages. It has several wells; but on the outside, it is distinguished by the deep and broad ditch which surrounds it, and which has been excavated at immense labour in the rock itself upon which the castle stands. Rabbad is two hours distant from the Ghor, or valley of the river Jordan, over which, as well as the neighbouring mountains, it commands a fine prospect. It is now inhabited by about forty persons, of the great family of El Barekat.

I returned from Kalaat Rabbad to Adjeloun, where I rejoined my companions, and after mid-day set out for El Hossn, the principal village in the district of Beni Obeid. Our road lay up the mountain, in the narrow Wady Teis. At half an hour from Adjeloun we passed the spring called Ain Teis [Arabic]. At two hours the district of Djebel Adjeloun terminates, and that of Obeid begins. The country is for the greater part woody, and here the inhabitants collect considerable quantities of galls. Our road lay N.E.; the summits of the mountain bear the name El Meseidjed [Arabic]. At three hours and a half is a Birket of rain-water, from whence the

EL HOSSN.

[p.268]road descends over barren hills towards El Hossn, distant five hours and a quarter from Adjeloun.

El Hossn is the principal village of the district called Beni Obeid; it stands on the declivity of the mountain, and is inhabited by upwards of one hundred families, of which about twenty-five are Greek Christians, under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Jerusalem. I saw nothing remarkable here but a number of wells cut out of the rock. I happened to alight at the same house where M. Seetzen had been detained for eleven days, by bad weather; his hospitable old landlord, Abdullah el Ghanem, made many enquiries after him.

May 4th.–I found very bad company at El Hossn. It is usual for the Pasha of Damascus to send annually one of the principal officers of his government to visit the southern provinces of the Pashalik, to exact the arrears of the Miri, and to levy new extortions. The Aga of Tabaria, who was invested this year with the office, had just arrived in the village with a suite of one hundred and fifty horsemen, whom he had quartered upon the peasants; my landlord had seven men and fifteen horses for his share, and although he killed a sheep, and boiled about twenty pounds of rice, for supper, yet the two officers of the party in his house were continually asking for more, spoiled all his furniture, and, in fact, acted worse than an enemy would have done. It is to avoid vexations of this kind that the peasants abandon the villages most exposed to such visits.

We left Hossn late in the morning and proceeded to Erbad [Arabic], one hour and a quarter N.N.E. from the former. Our road lay over the plain. Erbad is the chief place in the district of that name, likewise called the district of Beni Djohma [Arabic], or of Bottein [Arabic], from the Sheikh’s being of the family of Bottein. The names of Beni Obeid, and Beni Djohma, are probably derived

HEBRAS.

[p.269]from Arab tribes which anciently settled here; but nobody could tell me the origin of these appellations. The inhabitants do not pretend to be descendants of those tribes, but say that these were their dwelling places from time immemorial.

The castle of Erbad stands upon a low hill, at the foot of which lies the village. The calcareous rock which extends through Zoueit, Moerad, Adjeloun, and Beni Obeid, begins here to give way to the black Haouran stone, with which all the houses of Erbad are built, as well as the miserable modern walls of the castle. A large ancient well built reservoir is the only curiosity of this place; around it lay several handsome sarcophagi, of the same kind of rock, with some sculptured bas- reliefs upon them. Part of the suite of the Aga of Tabaria, consisting of Moggrebyns, was quartered at Erbad. From hence I wished to visit the ruins of Beit el Ras [Arabic], which are upon a hill at about one hour and a half distant. I was told that the ruins were of large extent, that there were no columns standing, but that large ones were lying upon the ground. From Beit el Ras I intended again to cross the mountain in order to see the ruins of Om Keis, and from thence to visit the Djolan.

We were shewn the road from Erbad, but went astray, and did not reach Beit el Ras. One hour and a half N. by W. of Erbad we passed the village Merou [Arabic]; from thence we travelled W.N.W. to El Hereimy [Arabic], two hours from Erbad; and from El Hereimy N.N.W. to Hebras [Arabic], three hours from Erbad. Hebras is the principal village in the district of Kefarat, and one of the largest in these countries. It is inhabited by many Greek Christian families. One hour and a half to the N.E. of it are the ruins of Abil [Arabic], the ancient Abila, one of the towns of the Decapolis; neither buildings nor columns remain standing; but I was told that there are fragments of columns of a very large size.

OM KEIS.

[p.270]May 5th.–I took a guide from hence to shew me to Om Keis, which, I was told, was inhabited by several families. I there intended to pass the night, and to proceed the next day to Feik, a village on the E. side of the lake of Tabaria. In half an hour from Hebras we passed the spring Ain el Terab [Arabic], in a Wady, which farther to the north-westward joins the Wady Szamma, and still lower down unites with the Wady Sheriat el Mandhour. At one hour and a quarter to our right was the village Obder [Arabic], on the banks of Wady Szamma, which runs in a deep ravine, and half an hour farther north-west, the village Szamma [Arabic]. The inhabitants of the above villages cultivate gardens of fruit trees and all kinds of vegetables on the side of the rivulet. The villages belong to the district of Kefarat. To the left of our route extends a country full of Wadys, called the district of Serou [Arabic], to the southward of which begins that of Wostye [Arabic]. At one hour and a half to our left, distant half an hour, we saw, in the Serou, the village Faour [Arabic]. Between Hebras and Szamma begins the Wady el Arab [Arabic], which continued to the left parallel with our route; it is a fertile valley, in which the Arabs Kelab and others cultivate a few fields. There are several mills on the water-side. Our route lay W. by N. and W.N.W. across the Kefarat, which is uneven ground, rising towards the west, and is intersected by many Wadys. At the end of three hours and a quarter we reached Om Keis [Arabic].

Om Keis is the last village to the west, in the district of Kefarat; it is situated near the crest of the chain of mountains, which bound the valley of the lake of Tabaria and Jordan on the east. The S. end of the lake bears N.W. To the N. of it, one hour, is the deep Wady called Sheriat el Mandhour, which is, beyond a doubt, the Hieromax of the Greeks and Jarmouk of the Israelites.

To the south, at the same distance, flows the Wady el Arab,

[p.271]which joins the Sheriat in the valley of El Ghor , not far from the junction of the latter with the Jordan. I am doubtful to what ancient city the ruins of Om Keis are to be ascribed.[It was probably Gamala, which Josephus describes as standing upon a mountain bordered by precipices. Gadara appears from the authorities of Pliny and Jerom to have been at the warm baths, mentioned below, on the north side of the Sheriat el Mandhour; Gadara Hieromiace praefluente. Plin. Nat. Hist. l.i.c.18. Gadara, urbs trans Jordanem contra Scythopolin et Tiberiadem, ad orientalem plagam, sita in monte, ad cujns radices aquae calidae erumpunt, balneis super aedificatis,–Hieron. in Topicis.]

At Om Keis the remains of antiquity are very mutilated. The ancient town was situated round a hill, which is the highest point in the neighbourhood. To the east of the hill are a great number of caverns in the calcareous rock, some of which have been enlarged and rendered habitable. Others have been used as sepulchral caves. Great numbers of sarcophagi are lying about in this direction: they are all of black stone, which must have been transported from the banks of the river below: the dimensions of the largest are nine spans in length by three in breadth; they are ornamented with bas-reliefs of genii, festoons, wreaths of flowers, and some with busts, but very few of them are of elegant wor[k]manship. I counted upwards of seventy on the declivity of the hill. On the summit of the hill are heaps of wrought stones, but no remains of any important building: on its west and north sides are the remains of two large theatres, built entirely of black stone. That on the W. side is in better preservation than the other, although more ruined than the theatres at Djerash. The walls and the greater part of the seats yet remain; a tier of boxes intervenes between the rows of seats, as at Djerash, and there are deep vaulted apartments beneath the seats. There are no remains of columns in front of either theatre. The theatre on the north side of the hill, which is in a very dilapidated state, is remarkable for its great depth,

[p.272]caused by its being built on a part of the steepest declivity of the hill; its uppermost row of seats is at least forty feet higher than the lowest; the area below the seats is comparatively very small. From these two theatres the principal part of the town appears to have extended westwards, over an even piece of ground at the foot of the hill; its length from the hill was at least half an hour. Nothing is at present standing; but there are immense heaps of cut stones, columns, &c. dispersed over the plain. A long street, running westward, of which the ancient pavement still exists in most parts, seems to have been the principal street of the town. On both sides there are vast quantities of shafts of columns. At a spot where a heap of large Corinthian pillars lay, a temple appears to have stood. I here saw the base of a large column of gray granite. The town terminates in a narrow point, where a large solid building with many columns seems to have stood.

With the exception of the theatres, the buildings of the city were all constructed of the calcareous stone which constitutes the rock of every part of the country which I saw between Wady Zerka

SHERIAT EL MANDHOUR.

[p.273]and Wady Sheriat. In Djebel Adjeloun, Moerad, and Beni Obeid, none of the basalt or black stone is met with; but in some parts of El Kefarat, in our way from Hebras to Om Keis, I saw alternate layers of calcareous and basaltic rock, with thin strata of flint. The habitations of Om Keis are, for the greater part, caverns. There is no water but what is collected in reservoirs during rains; these were quite dried up, which was the occasion, perhaps, of the place having been abandoned, for we found not a single inhabitant.

My guide being ignorant of the road to Feik, wished to return to Hebras; and I was hesitating what to do, when we were met by some peasants of Remtha, in the Haouran, who were in their way to the Ghor, to purchase new barley, of which grain the harvest had already begun in the hot climate of that valley. I joined their little caravan. We continued, for about half an hour from Om Keis, upon the high plain, and then descended the mountains, the western declivity of which is entirely basaltic. At the end of two hours from Om Keis, we reached the banks of the Sheriat el Mandhour, or Sheriat el Menadhere (Arabic] or Arabic) which we passed at a ford. This river takes the additional name of the Arabs who live upon its banks, to distinguish it from the Sheriat el Kebir (Great Sheriat), by which the Jordan is known. The Sheriat el Menadhere is formed by the united streams of the Nahr Rokad [Arabic], which flows from near Ain Shakhab, through the eastern parts of Djolan; of the Hereir, whose source is in the swampy ground near Tel Dilly, on the Hadj route, between Shemskein and El Szannamein: of the Budje, which comes from Mezareib, and after its junction with the Hereir, is called Aweired [Arabic], and of the Wady Hamy Sakkar, besides several other smaller Wadys. The name of Sheriat, is first applied to the united streams near Szamme. From thence it flows in a deep bed of tufwacke; and its banks are cultivated by the Arabs Menadhere (sing. Mandhour), who live under

VALLEY OF THE GHOR.

[p.274]tents, and remove from place to place, but without quitting the banks of the river. They sow wheat and barley, and cultivate pomegranates, lemons, grapes, and many kinds of fruit and vegetables, which they sell in the villages of the Haouran and Djolan. Further to the west the Wady becomes so narrow as to leave no space between the edge of the stream, and the precipices on both sides. It issues from the mountain not far from the south end of the lake of Tabaria, and about one hour lower down is joined by the Wady el Arab; it then empties itself into the Jordan, called Sheriat el Kebir, at two hours distant from the lake; D’Anville is therefore wrong in making it flow into the lake itself. The river is full of fish, and in the Wady its course is very rapid. The shrub called by the Arabs Defle [Arabic], grows on its banks; it has a red flower, and according to the Arabs is poisonous to cattle. The breadth of the stream, where it issues from the mountains, is about thirty-five paces, its depth (in the month of May) between four and five feet.

We had now entered the valley of the Ghor [Arabic], which may be compared to the valley of the Bekaa, between the Libanus and Anti- Libanus, and the valley El Ghab of the Orontes. The mountains which enclose it are not to be compared in magnitude with those of the Bekaa; but the abundance of its waters renders its aspect more pleasing to the eye, and may make its soil more productive. It is one of the lowest levels in Syria; lower than the Haouran and Djolan, by nearly the whole height of the eastern mountains; its temperature is hotter than I had experienced in any other part of Syria: the rocky mountains concentrating the heat, and preventing the air from being cooled by the westerly winds in summer. In consequence of this higher degree of heat, the productions of the Ghor ripen long before those of the Haouran. The barley harvest, which does not begin in the upper plain till fifteen days later

SZAMMAGH.

[p.275]we here found nearly finished. The Haouran, on the other hand, was every where covered with the richest verdure of wild herbage, while every plant in the Ghor was already dried up, and the whole country appeared as if in the midst of summer. Volney has justly remarked that there are few countries where the changes from one climate to another are so sudden as in Syria; and I was never more convinced of it than in this valley. To the north was the Djebel El Sheikh, covered with snow; to the east the fertile plainsof Djolan clothed in the blossoms of spring; while to the south, the withered vegetation of the Ghor seemed the effect of a tropical sun. The breadth of the valley is about an hour and a half, or two hours.

From the ford over the Sheriat we proceeded across the plain in a N.W. direction; it was covered with low shrubs and a tree bearing a fruit like a small apple, very agreeable to the taste; Zaarour [Arabic] is the name given to it by the inhabitants of Mount Libanus; those of Damascus call it Zaaboub [Arabic]; and the Arabs have also another name for it, which I forget. In an hour and upwards, from the ford, we reached the village Szammagh [Arabic], situated on the most southern extremity of the lake of Tabaria; it contains thirty or forty poor mud houses, and a few built with black stone. The Jordan issues out of the lake about a quarter of an hour to the westward of the village, where the lake ends in a straight line, extending for about forty minutes in a direction nearly east and west. From hence the highest point of Djebel el Sheikh bears N.N.W.; the town of Szaffad N. by E. Between the lake and the first bridge over the Jordan, called Djissr el Medjami, at about two hours and a half from hence, are two fordable passages across the river.

Excepting about one hundred Fedhans around Szammagh, no part of the valley is cultivated in this neighbourhood. Somewhat

HOT WELLS.

[p.276]lower down begin the corn fields of the Arabs el Ghor, who are the principal inhabitants of the valley: those living near Szammagh are the Arabs el Sekhour, and the Beshaatoue. The only villages met with from hence as far as Beysan (the ancient Scythopolis), are to the left of the Jordan, Maad [Arabic], at the foot of Djebel Wostye, and El Erbayn [Arabic]. From Szammagh to Beysan the valley is called Ghor Tabaria. I swam to a considerable distance in the lake, without seeing a single fish; I was told, however, that there were privileged fishermen at Tabaria, who monopolize the entire fishery. The beach on this side is a fine gravel of quartz, flint, and tufwacke. There is no shallow water, the lake being of considerable depth close in shore. The only species of shell which I saw on the beach was of the smallest kind, white and about an inch and a half long. There are no kinds of rushes or reeds on the shores in this neighbourhood.

May 6th.–The quantities of mosquitos and other vermin which always by preference attack the stranger accustomed to more northern climates, made me pass a most uncomfortable night at Szammagh. We departed early in the morning, in order to visit the hot wells at the foot of the mountain of Om Keis, the situation of which had been pointed out to me on the preceding day. Returning towards the place where the Sheriat issues from the Wady, we followed up the river from thence and in one hour and three quarters from Szammagh, we reached the first hot-well. The river flows in a deep bed, being confined in some places on both sides by precipices of upwards of one hundred feet in height, whose black rocks present a most striking contrast with the verdure on their summits. For several hundred yards before we arrived at the hot-well, I perceived a strong sulphureous smell in the air. The spring is situated in a very narrow plain, in the valley, between the river and the northern

HOT WELLS.

[p.277]cliffs, which we descended. The plain had been covered with rich herbage, but it was now dried up; a great variety of shrubs and some old palm trees also grow here: the heat in the midst of the summer must be suffocating. The spring bubbles up from a basin about forty feet in circumference, and five feet in depth, which is enclosed by ruins of walls and buildings, and forms below a small rivulet which falls at a short distance into the river. The water is so hot, that I found it difficult to keep my hand in it; it deposits upon the stones over which it flows a thick yellow sulphureous crust, which the neighbouring Arabs collect, to rub their camels with, when diseased. Just above the basin, which has originally been paved, is an open arched building, with the broken shaft of a column still standing; and behind it are several others, also arched, which may have been apartments for the accommodation of strangers; the large stones forming these structures are much decayed, from the influence of the exhalations. This spring is called Hammet el Sheikh [Arabic], and is the hottest of them all. At five minutes distance, ascending the Wady, is a second of the same kind, but considerably cooler; it issues out of a basin covered with weeds, and surrounded with reeds, and has some remains of ancient buildings about it; it is called Hammet Errih [Arabic], and joins the waters from the first source. Following the course of the river, up the Wady, eight more hot springs are met with; I shall here mention their names, though I did not see them. 1. Hammet aand Ettowahein [Arabic], near some mills; 2. Hammet beit Seraye [Arabic]; 3. Hammet Essowanye [Arabic]; 4. Hammet Dser Aryshe [Arabic]; 5. Hammet Zour Eddyk [Arabic]; 6. Hammet Erremlye [Arabic]; 7. Hammet Messaoud [Arabic]; 8. Hammet Om Selym [Arabic]; this last is distant from that of El Sheikh two hours and a half. These

FEIK.

[p.278]eight springs are on both sides of the Wady, and have remains of ancient buildings near them. I conceive that a naturalist would find it well worth his time to examine the productions of this Wady, hitherto almost unknown. In the month of April the Hammet el Sheikh is visited by great numbers both of sick and healthy people, from the neighbourhood of Nablous and Nazaret, who prefer it to the bath of Tabaria; they usually remain about a fortnight.

We returned from the Hamme by the same road we came; on reaching the plain of El Ghor we turned to our right up the mountain. We here met a wild boar of great size; these animals are very numerous in the Ghor, and my companions told me that the Arabs of the valley are unable to cultivate the common barley, called here Shayr Araby [Arabic], on account of the eagerness with which the wild swine feed upon it, they are therefore obliged to grow a less esteemed sort, with six rows of grains, called Shayr Kheshaby [Arabic], which the swine do not touch. At three quarters of an hour from the spot where we began to ascend, we came to a spring called Ain el Khan, near a Khan called El Akabe, where caravans sometimes alight; this being the great road from the Djolan and the northern parts of the Haouran to the Ghor. Akabe is a general term for a steep descent. In one hour we passed a spring called Ain el Akabe, more copious than the former. From thence we reached the summit of the mountain, one hour and a quarter distant from its foot, where the plain commences; and in one hour and three quarters more, entered the village of Feik, distant about four hours and a half from Szammagh, by the road we travelled.

One hour to the E. of Szammagh, on the shore of the lake, lies the village Kherbet Szammera [Arabic], with some ancient buildings: it is the only inhabited village on the E. side of the lake, its

[p.279]site seems to correspond with that of the ancient Hippos. Farther north, near the shore, are the ruined places called Doeyrayan [Arabic], and Telhoun [Arabic]. Three quarters of an hour to the N. of Khan el Akabe, near the summit of the mountain, lies, the half ruined, but still inhabited village of Kefer Hareb [Arabic].

The country to the north of the Sheriat, in the direction of Feik, is, for a short distance, intersected by Wadys, a plain then commences, extending northwards towards the Djebel Heish el Kanneytra, and eastwards towards the Haouran.

Feik is a considerable village, inhabited by more than two hundred families. It is situated at the head of the Wady of the same name, on the ridge of a part of the mountain which incloses the E. shore of the lake of Tabaria, and it enjoys a fine view over the middle part of the lake. The rivulet of Feik has three sources, issuing from beneath a precipice, round the summit of which the village is built in the shape of a crescent. Having descended the hill for three quarters of an hour, a steep insulated hill is met with, having extensive ruins of buildings, walls, and columns on its top; they are called El Hossn, and are, perhaps, the remains of the ancient town of Regaba or Argob.

Feik [Arabic], although situated in the plain of Djolan, does not

[p.280]actually belong to that district, but constitutes a territory of itself; it forms part of the government of Akka, and is, I believe, the only place belonging to that Pashalik on the E. side of the Jordan; it was separated from the Pashalik of Damascus by Djezzar Pasha. There being a constant passage through Feik from the Haouran to Tabaria and Akka, more than thirty houses in the town have open Menzels for the entertainment of strangers of every description, and supply their cattle, gratis. The landlords have an allowance from the government for their expenses, which is made by a deduction from the customary taxes; and if the Menzel is much frequented, as in the case of that of the Sheikh, no Miri at all is collected from the landlord, and the Pasha makes him also an yearly allowance in money, out of the Miri of the village. The establishment of these public Menzels, which are general over the whole country to the S. of Damascus, does great honour to the hospitable spirit of the Turks; but it is, in fact, the only expense that the government thinks itself obliged to incur for the benefit of the people of the country. A peasant can travel for a whole month without expending a para; but people of any distinction give a few paras on the morning of their departure to the waiter or watchman [Arabic]. If the traveller does not choose to alight at a public Menzel, he may go to any private house, where he will find a hospitable landlord, and as good a supper as the circumstances of his host can afford.

I observed upon the terraces of all the houses of Feik, a small apartment called Hersh [Arabic], formed of branches of trees, covered with mats; to this cool abode the family retires during the mid-day heats of summer. There are a few remains of ancient buildings at Feik; amongst others, two small towers on the two extremities of the cliff. The village has large olive plantations.

May 7th.–Our way over the plain was in the direction N.E. by E.

DISTRICT OF DJOLAN.

[p.281]Beyond the fields of Feik, the district of Djolan begins, the southern limits of which are the Wady Hamy Sakker, and the Sheriat. Djolan appears to be the same name as the Greek Gaulanitis; but its present limits do not quite correspond with those of the ancient province, which was confined to a narrow strip of land along the lake, and the eastern shore of the Jordan. The territory of Feik must have formed part of Hippene; the mountain in front of it was mount Hippos, and the district of Argob appears to have been that part of the plain (making part of Djolan), which extends from Feik northwards for three or four hours, and which is enclosed on the east by the Djebel Heish, and on the west by the descent leading down to the banks of the lake.

Half an hour from Feik we passed, on our left, a heap of ruins called Radjam el Abhar [Arabic]. To the S.E. at about one hour distant, is the village Djeibein [Arabic]; to the left, at three quarters of an hour, is the ruined village El Aal [Arabic], on the side of the Wady Semak [Arabic], which descended from the Djebel Heish: there is a rivulet of spring-water in the Wady, which empties itself into the lake near the ruined city of Medjeifera [Arabic], in this part the Wady is full of reeds, of which the people make mats. On the other side of the Wady, about half an hour distant from it, upon a Tel, is the ruined city called Kaszr Berdoweil [Arabic] (Castle of Baldwin). The plain here is wholly uncultivated, and is overgrown with a wild herb called Khob [Arabic], which camels and cows feed upon. At one hour and three quarters is a Birket of rain water, called Nam [Arabic], with a spring near it. At two hours and a quarter are the extensive ruins of a city, called Khastein [Arabic], built with the black stone of the country, but preserving no remains of any considerable building. Two hours and three quarters, on our left, is Tel Zeky [Arabic], to the left of which, about one hour and a half, is the southern extremity of the Djebel Heish, where stands a Tel

TSEIL.

[p.282]called El Faras. The Djebel Heish is separated from the plain bya stony district, of one hour in breadth, where the Arabs of the country often take refuge from the extortions of the Pasha. In three hours we passed Wady Moakkar [Arabic], flowing from the mountain into the Sheriat. Here the direction of our road was E.S.E. The Arab who accompanied me presented me with a fruit which grows wild in these parts, and is unknown in the northern parts of Syria, and even at Damascus; it is of the size of a small egg, of the colour of the Tomato or love-apple, of a sweet agreeable taste, and full of juice. It grows upon a shrub about six inches high, which I did not see, but was told that its roots were three or four feet in length, and presented the figure of a man in all its parts. The fruit is called by the Arabs Djerabouh [Arabic].

At three hours and a quarter, at a short distance to our left, was the ruined village Om el Kebour [Arabic]. In three hours and a half we passed Wady Seide [Arabic]; and at the end of three hours and three quarters reached the bridge of Wady Hamy Sakker We met all the way Arabs and peasants going to the Ghor to purchase barley.

The bridge of Hamy Sakker [Arabic] is situated near the commencement of the Wady , where it is of very little depth; lower down it has a rapid fall, and runs between precipices of perpendicular rocks of great height, until it joins the Sheriat, about two hours and a half from the bridge. The bridge is well built upon seven arches. At four hours we reached a spring called Ain Keir [Arabic], and a little farther another called Ain Deker [Arabic]. The rocky district at the foot of Djebel Heish extends on this side as far as these springs. In five hours we passed Wady Aallan [Arabic], a considerable torrent flowing towards the Sheriat, with a ruined bridge; and in five hours and a half Tseil, [Arabic], an inhabited village. Here the plain begins to be cultivated. There

[p.283]are no villages excepting Djeibein to the south of the road by which we had travelled, as far as the banks of the Sheriat. The inhabitants of the country are Bedouins, several of whose encampments we passed. Tseil is one of the principal villages of Djolan, and contains about eighty or one hundred families, who live in the ancient buildings of the ruined town; there are three Birkets of rain water belonging to it. The only building of any size is a ruined mosque, which seems to have been a church. In coming from Feik the soil of the plain is black, or gray; at Tseil it begins to be of the same red colour as the Haouran earth.

After dinner we continued our route. In half an hour from Tseil we passed on our left Tel Djemoua [Arabic]. The greater part of the plain was covered with a fine crop of wheat and barley. During the years 1810 and 1811, the crops were very bad all over Syria; the rains of last winter, however, having been very abundant, the peasants are every where consoled with the hopes of a good harvest. It was expected that the Haouran and Djolan would yield twenty-five times the quantity of the seed sown, which is reckoned an excellent crop. Half an hour north of Tel Djemoua lies Tel Djabye [Arabic], with a village. At one hour and three quarters from Tseil is the village Nowa [Arabic], where we slept. This is the principal village in the Djolan, and was formerly a town of half an hour in circumference. Its situation corresponds with that in D’Anville’s map of Neve. There are a number of ruined private dwellings, and the remains of some public edifices. A temple, of which one column with its entablature remains, has been converted into a mosque. At the S. end of the village is a small square solid building, probably a mausoleum; it has no other opening than the door. Beyond the precincts of the village, on the N. side, are the ruins of a large square building, of which the sculptured entrance only remains, with heaps of broken columns before it. The village

EL KESSOUE.

[p.284]has several springs, as well as cisterns. The Turks revere the tomb of a Santon buried here, called Mehy eddyn el Nowawy [Arabic].

May 8th.–Our route lay N.E. At two hours from Nowa is the village Kasem [Arabic], which forms the southern limits of the district of Djedour, and the northern frontier of Djolan; some people, however, reckon Djolan the limits of Nowa. One hour E.b.S. of Kasem stands the village Om el Mezabel [Arabic]; one hour and a half E.N.E. of Kasem. the great village Onhol [Arabic]. In two hours and a half from Nowa we passed, to the left, distant about half an hour, the Tel el Hara [Arabic], with the village of the same name at its foot; this is the highest Tel in the plains of Haouran and Djolan. Three hours and a quarter is the village Semnein [Arabic]; and three hours and three quarters, the village Djedye [Arabic]. The plain was badly cultivated in these parts. From hence our road turned N.N.E. At five hours is Kefer Shams [Arabic], with some ancient buildings; all these villages have large Birkets. At five hours and three quarters is Deir e Aades [Arabic], a ruined village in a stony district, intersected by several Wadys. Six hours and a quarter, Tel Moerad [Arabic]; eight hours Tel Shak-hab [Arabic], a village with a small castle, and copious springs; it lies about an hour and a half to the west of Soubbet Faraoun. The cattle of a large encampment of Naym wa spread over the whole plain near Shak-hab. At eight hours and three quarters, there was on our left a rocky country resembling the Ledja; it is called War Ezzaky [Arabic], and has a ruined Khan called Ezzeiat [Arabic]; the millstones for the supply of Damascus are hewn in this War, which consists of the black Haouran stone. In ten hours we reached Khan Denoun; and in ten hours and three quarters, long after sun-set, the village El Kessoue.

May 9th.–We arrived early in the morning at Damascus.

[p.285]

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY TO THE

SOUTHWARD OF DAMASCUS

WITH

REMARKS ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE HAOURAN.

Before I submit to the reader, a few general remarks upon the inhabitants of the Haouran, I shall briefly recapitulate the political divisions of the country which extends to the southward of Damascus, as far as Wady Zerka.

1. El Ghoutta [Arabic]. Under this name is comprehended the immediate neighhourhood of Damascus, limited on the north by Djebel Szalehie, on the west by the Djebel el Sheikh, on the south by Djebel Kessoue, and on the east by the plain El Merdj. It is under the immediate government of the Mutsellim of Damascus. All the gardens of Damascus are reckoned in the Ghoutta, which contains upwards of eighty villages, and is one of the most fertile districts in Syria.

2. Belad Haouran [Arabic]. To the south of Djebel Kessoue and Djebel Khiara begins the country of Haouran. It is bordered on the east by the rocky district El Ledja, and by the Djebel Haouran, both of which are sometimes comprised within the Haouran; and in this case the Djebel el Drouz, or mountain of the Druses, whose chief resides at Soueida, may be considered another subdivision of the Haouran. To the S.E. where Boszra and El Remtha are the farthest inhahited villages, the Haouran borders upon the desert. Its western limits are the chain of villages on the Hadj road, from Ghebarib as far south as Remtha. The greater part of its villages will he found enumerated in the two Journals.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY

[p.286]The Haouran comprises therefore part of Trachonitis and Ituraea, the whole of Auranitis, and the northern districts of Batanaea. Edrei, now Draa, was situated in Batanaea.

3.Djedour [Arabic]. The flat country south of Djebel Kessoue, east of Djebel el Sheikh, and west of the Hadj road, as far as Kasem or Nowa, is called Djedour. It contains about twenty villages.

The following are the names of the inhabited villages of the country called Djedour; El Kenneya [Arabic], Sheriat el Ghoufa [Arabic], Sheriat el Tahna [Arabic], Deir Maket, [Arabic], Um el Mezabel [Arabic], El Nakhal [Arabic], El Szannamein, Teil Kefrein, Merkasem, Nawa, where are considerable ruins; Heitt [Arabic], El Hara, Akrebbe eddjedour [Arabic], Essbebhara, Djelein [Arabic], Namr [Arabic], Essalemie [Arabic], [Arabic], El Nebhanie [Arabic], Deir el Ades, Deir el Bokht, [Arabic], Kafershamy, Keitta [Arabic], Semlein, Djedeie, Thereya [Arabic], Um Ezzeijtoun [Arabic].

The greater part of Ituraea appears to be comprised within the limits of Djedour. The governor of Djolan usually commands also in Djedour.

4. Djolan [Arabic], which comprises the plain to the south of Djedour, and to the west of Haouran. Its southern frontier is the Nahr Aweired by which it is separated from the district of Erbad, and the Sheriat el Mandhour, which separates it from the district El Kefarat. On the west it is limited by the territory of Feik, and on the northwest by the southern extremity of Djebel Heish. Part of Batanaea, Argob, Hippene, and perhaps Gaulanitis, is comprised within this district. The maps of Syria are in general incorrect with regard to the mountains of Djolan. The mountain El Heish, which is the southern extremity of Djebel el Sheikh, terminates (as I have mentioned before) at Tel el Faras, which is about three hours and a half to the north of the Sheriat or Hieromax; and the mountains begin again at about the same distance to the south of the same river, in

TO THE SOUTH OF DAMASCUS

[p.287]the district of Wostye; leaving an open country between them, which extends towards the west as far as Akabe Feik, and Akabe Om Keis, which are the steep descents forming the approaches to the lake of Tabaria, and to the Ghor of Tabaria from the east. The maps, on the contrary, make the Djebel Heish join the southern chain of Wostye, instead of leaving an open country of near eight hours between them. The principal villages of Djolan, beginning from the south, are the following: Aabedein [Arabic], Moarrye [Arabic], Shedjara [Arabic], Beiterren [Arabic], Sahhem [Arabic], Seisoun [Arabic], Kefr Essamer [Arabic], Seiatein [Arabic], Beit Akkar [Arabic], Djomra [Arabic], Sheikh Saad [Arabic], near Tel Sheikh Saad, Ayoub [Arabic], Deir Ellebou [Arabic], Kefr Maszer [Arabic], Adouan [Arabic], Tel el Ashaara [Arabic], Tseil, El Djabye [Arabic], Esszefeire [Arabic], Djernein [Arabic], El Kebbash [Arabic], Nowa [Arabic]. The Aga of Haouran is generally at the same time governor of Djolan.

5. El Kanneytra [Arabic] comprises the mountain El Heish, from the neighbourhood of Banias to its southern extremity. It is the Mount Hermon of the ancients. Its chief place is Kanneytra (perhaps the ancient Canatha), where the Aga el Kanneytra resides.

6. Belad Erbad, or Belad Beni Djohma [Arabic], likewise called El Bottein, which name it derives from the family of Bottein, who are the principal men of the country. It is limited on the north by the Aweired, which separates it from the Djolan, on the east by the Hadj route, on the south by the territory of Beni Obeid, and on the west, by the rising ground and the many Wadys which compose the territory of El Kefarat. The greater part of Batanaea is comprised within its limits; and it is remarkable that the name of Bottein has some affinity with that of Batanaea. Its principal villages are: Erbad [Arabic] (the Sheikh’s residence), El Bareha [Arabic], Kefr Djayz [Arabic], Tokbol [Arabic], El Aaal [Arabic] (by some reckoned in Djolan), Kefr Youba [Arabic], Djemha

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY

[p.288][Arabic]. The ruined villages and cities of Belad Erbad are as follows: Djerye [Arabic], Zebde [Arabic], Hanneine [Arabic], Beit el Ras [Arabic], Ain ed Djemel [Arabic].

7. El Kefarat [Arabic], a narrow strip of land, running along the south borders of the Wady Sheriat el Mandhour from the frontiers of Belad Erbad to Om Keis. Its principal village is Hebras.

8. Esserou [Arabic]. This district lies parallel to El Kefarat, and extends from Belad Erbad to the Ghor. It is watered by Wady el Arab. Its principal village is Fowar [Arabic].

The Kefarat as well as the Serou are situated between the Sheriat and the mountains of Wostye. They may be called flat countries in comparison with Wostye and Adjeloun; and they appear still more so from a distance; but if examined near, they are found to be intersected by numerous deep valleys. There seems, however, a gradual ascent of the ground towards the west. The valleys are inhabited for the greater part by Bedouins.

9. Belad Beni Obeid [Arabic] is on the eastern declivity of the mountains of Adjeloun. It is bordered on the north by Erbad, on the west by the mountain Adjeloun, on the east and south by the district Ezzoueit. The southern parts of Batanaea are comprised within these limits. Its principal village is El Hossn, where the Sheikh resides. Its other villages are: Haoufa [Arabic], Szammad [Arabic], Natefa [Arabic], El Mezar [Arabic], Ham [Arabic], Djehfye [Arabic], Erreikh [Arabic], Habdje [Arabic], Edoun [Arabic]. In the mountain near the summit of Djebel Adjeloun, in that part of the forest which is called El Meseidjed, are the following ruined places: Nahra [Arabic], Kefr Khal [Arabic], Hattein [Arabic], Aablein [Arabic], Keferye [Arabic], Kherbat [Arabic], Esshaara [Arabic], Aabbein [Arabic], Sameta [Arabic], Aabeda [Arabic], Aafne [Arabic], Deir Laouz [Arabic].

11. El Koura [Arabic] Is separated from Adjeloun on the S.W.

COUNTRY TO THE SOUTH OF DAMASCUS

[p.289]side by Wady Yabes [Arabic], which empties itself into the Jordan, in the neighbourhood of Beysan. To the west and north-west it borders on Wostye, to the east on Belad Beni Obeid. It is a mountainous country which comprizes the northern parts of the ancient Galaaditis. Its principal villages are, Tobne [Arabic], where resides the Sheikh or el Hakem, who exercises his influence likewise over the villages of Omba [Arabic], Szammoua, [Arabic], Deir Abou Seid [Arabic], Hannein [Arabic], Zemmal [Arabic], Kefer Aabeid [Arabic], Kefer Awan [Arabic], Beit Edes [Arabic], Khanzyre [Arabic], Kefer Radjeb [Arabic], Kefer Elma [Arabic].

12. El Wostye [Arabic]. To the south of Serou, and east of the Ghor Beysan.

13. Djebel Adjeloun [Arabic]. On the north-east and east, it borders on Beni Obeid, on the south and south-east on the district of Moerad; on the west on the Ghor, and on the north on the Koura. It is throughout a mountainous country, and for the greater part woody. Part of the ancient Galaaditis is comprised within its limits. Its principal place is Kalaat Rabbad, where the Sheikh resides. It contains besides the following villages: Ain Djenne [Arabic], Adjeloun [Arabic], Ain Horra [Arabic], Ardjan [Arabic], Rasoun [Arabic], Baoun [Arabic], Ousera [Arabic], Halawe [Arabic], Khara [Arabic], El Kherbe [Arabic], Kefrendjy [Arabic]. The principal ruined places in this district are, Rostem [Arabic], Seleim [Arabic], Kefer Eddorra [Arabic], Szoan [Arabic], Deir Adjeloun [Arabic].

14. Moerad [Arabic], is limited on the north by Djebel Adjeloun, on the east by Ezzoueit, on the south by Wady Zerka, on the west by the Ghor. It forms part of Galaaditis, and is in every part mountainous. Its principal village, where the Sheikh lives, is Souf; its other villages are Borma [Arabic], Ettekitte [Arabic], at present

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF THE COUNTRY.

[p.290]abandoned; Debein [Arabic], Djezaze [Arabic], Hamthe [Arabic]. The summits of the mountain of Adjeloun, which mark the limits between Adjeloun and Moerad, are called Oeraboun [Arabic]. Half of it belongs to Adjeloun, the other to Moerad. It contains the following ruined places; Szafszaf [Arabic], El Hezar [Arabic], Om Eddjeloud [Arabic], Om Djoze [Arabic], El Haneik [Arabic], Eshkara, [Arabic], Oeraboun [Arabic], El Ehsenye [Arabic], Serabeis [Arabic], Nedjde [Arabic].

15. Ezzoueit [Arabic] lies to the east of Beni Obeid and Moerad, being separated from the latter by the Wady Deir and Seil Djerash; it is situated to the north of Wady Zerka, and extends eastwards beyond the Hadj route to the southward of the ruined city of Om Eddjemal, between Remtha and El Fedhein. Part of it is mountainous, the remainder a flat country. There are at present no inhabited villages in the Zoueit. Its ruined places are Erhab, Eydoun, Dadjemye, Djebe, Kafkafa, Mytwarnol, Boeidha, Khereysan, Kherbet, Szamara, Khenezein, Remeith, Abou Ayad, El Matouye, Essaherye, Ain Aby, Eddhaleil, Ayoun. It forms the southern parts of the Galaaditis.

Beyond the Zerka the chain of mountains increases in breadth, and the Belka begins; it is divided into different districts, of which I may be able to give some account hereafter.

The whole country, from Kanneytra (exclusive) to the Zerka, is at present in the government of the Aga of Tabaria; but this can only happen when the Pasha of Acre is at the same time Pasha of Damascus.

REMARKS ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE HAOURAN.

[p.291]

Remarks on the Inhabitants of the Haouran.

The Haouran is inhabited by Turks, Druses, Christians, and Arabs, and is visited in spring and summer by several Arab tribes from the desert. The whole country is under the government of the Pasha of Damascus, who generally sends a governor to Mezareib, intituled Agat el Haouran.

The Pasha appoints also the Sheikh of every village, who collects the Miri from both Turks and Christians. The Druses are not under the control of the Agat el Haouran, but correspond directly with the Pasha. They have a head Sheikh, whose office, though subject to the confirmation of the Pasha, has been hereditary from a remote period, in the family of Hamdan. The head Sheikh of the Druses nominates the Sheikh of each village, and of these upwards of eight are his own relations: the others are members of the great Druse families. The Pasha constantly maintains a force in the Haouran of between five and six hundred men; three hundred and fifty or four hundred of whom are at Boszra, and the remainder at Mezareib, or patrolling the country. The Moggrebyns are generally employed in this service. I compute the population of the Haouran, exclusive of the Arabs who frequent the plain, the mountain (Djebel Haouran), and the Ledja, at about fifty or sixty thousand, of whom six or seven thousand are Druses; and about three thousand Christians. The Turks and Christians have exactly the same modes of life; but the Druses are distinguished from them in many respects. The two former very nearly resemble the Arabs in their customs and manners; their ordinary dress is precisely that of the Arabs; a coarse white cotton stuff forms their Kombaz or gown, the Keffie round the head is tied with a rope of camel’s hair, they wear the Abba over the shoulder, and have the breast and feet naked; they have also adopted, for the greater

[p.292]part, the Bedouin dialect, gestures, and phraseology; according to which most articles of housebold furniture have names different from those in the towns; it requires little experience however to distinguish the adults of the two nations from one another. The Arabs are generally of short stature, with thin visage, scanty beard, and brilliant black eyes; while the Fellahs are taller and stouter, with a strong beard, and a less piercing look; but the difference seems chiefly to arise from their mode of life; for the youth of both nations, to the age of sixteen, have precisely the same appearance. The Turks and Christians of the Haouran live and dress alike, and religion seems to occasion very little difference in their respective conditions. When quarrels happen the Christian fears not to strike the Turk, or to execrate his religion, a liberty which in every town of Syria would expose the Christian to the penalty of death, or to a very heavy pecuniary fine. Common sufferings and dangers in the defence of their property may have given rise to the toleration which the Christians enjoy from the Turks in the Haouran; and which is further strengthened by the Druses, who shew equal respect to both religions. Of the Christians four-fifths are Greeks; and the only religious animosities which I witnessed during my tour, were between them and the Catholics.

Among the Fellahs of the Haouran, the richest lives like the poorest, and displays his superior wealth only on the arrival of strangers. The ancient buildings afford spacious and convenient dwellings to many of the modern inhabitants, and those who occupy them may have three or four rooms for each family; but in newly built villages, the whole family, with all its household furniture, cooking utensils, and provision chests, is commonly huddled together in one apartment. Here also they keep their wheat and barley in reservoirs formed of clay, called Kawara [Arabic], which are about five feet high and two feet in diameter. The chief articles

[p.293]of furniture are, a handmill, which is used in summer, when there is no water in the Wadys to drive the mills; some copper kettles; and a few mats; in the richer houses some woollen Lebaet are met with, which are coarse woollen stuffs used for carpets, and in winter for horse- cloths: real carpets or mattrasses are seldom seen, unless it be upon the arrival of strangers of consequence. Their goat’s hair sacks, and horse and camel equipments, are of the same kind as those used by the Bedouins, and are known by the same names. Each family has a large earthen jar, of the manufacture of Rasheiat el Fukhar, which is filled every morning by the females, from the Birket or spring, with water for the day’s consumption. In every house there is a room for the reception of strangers, called from this circumstance Medhafe; it is usually that in which the male part of the family sleeps; in the midst of it is a fire place to boil coffee.

The most common dishes of these people are Burgoul and Keshk; in summer they supply the place of the latter by milk, Leben, and fresh butter. Of the Burgoul I have spoken on other occasions; there are two kinds of Keshk, Keshk-hammer and Keskh-leben; the first is prepared by putting leaven into the Burgoul, and pouring water over it; it is then left until almost putrid, and afterwards spread out in the sun, to dry; after which it is pounded, and when called for, served up mixed with oil, or butter. The Keskh-leben is prepared by putting Leben into the Burgoul, instead of leaven; in other respects the process is the same. Keskh and bread are the common breakfast, and towards sunset a plate of Burgoul, or some Arab dish, forms the dinner; in honour of strangers, it is usual to serve up at breakfast melted butter and bread, or fried eggs, and in the evening a fowl boiled in Burgoul, or a kid or lamb; but this does not very often happen. The women and children eat up whatever the men have left on

[p.294] their plates. The women dress in the Bedouin manner; they have a veil over the head, but seldom veil their faces.

Hospitality to strangers is another characteristic common to the Arabs, and to the people of Haouran. A traveller may alight at any house he pleases; a mat will be immediately spread for him, coffee made, and a breakfast or dinner set before him. In entering a village it has often happened to me, that several persons presented themselves, each begging that I would lodge at his house; and this hospitality is not confined to the traveller himself, his horse or his camel is also fed, the first with half or three quarters of a Moud[The Moud is about nineteen pounds English.] of barley, the second with straw; with this part of their hospitality, however, I had often reason to be dissatisfied, less than a Moud being insufficient upon a journey for a horse, which is fed only in the evening, according to the custom of these countries. As it would be considered an affront to buy any corn, the horse must remain ill-fed, unless the traveller has the precaution to carry a little barley in his saddle-bag, to make up the deficiency in the host’s allowance. On returning to Aaere to the house of the Sheikh, after my tour through the desert, one of my Druse guides insisted upon taking my horse to his stables, instead of the Sheikh’s; when I was about to depart, the Druse brought my horse to the door, and when I complained that he had fallen off greatly in the few days I had remained in the village, the Sheikh said to me in the presence of several persons, “You are ignorant of the ways of this country [Arabic]; if you see that your host does not feed your horse, insist upon his giving him a Moud of barley daily; he dares not refuse it.” It is a point of honour with the host never to accept of the smallest return from a guest; I once only ventured to give a few piastres to the child of a very poor family at Zahouet, by whom we had been most hospitably treated, and rode off without

[p.295] attending to the cries of the mother, who insisted upon my taking back the money.

Besides the private habitations, which offer to every traveller a secure night’s shelter, there is in every village the Medhafe of the Sheikh, where all strangers of decent appearance are received and entertained. It is the duty of the Sheikh to maintain this Medhafe, which is like a tavern, with the difference that the host himself pays the bill: the Sheikh has a public allowance to defray these expenses, &c. and hence a man of the Haouran, intending to travel about for a fortnight, never thinks of putting a single para in his pocket; he is sure of being every where well received, and of living better perhaps than at his own home. A man remarkable for his hospitality and generosity enjoys the highest consideration among them.

The inhabitant of the Haouran estimates his wealth by the number of Fedhans,[The word Fedhan is applied both to the yoke of oxen and to the quantity of land cultivated by them, which varies according to circumstances. In some parts of Syria, chiefly about Homs, the Fedhan el Roumy, or Greek Fedhan, is used, which means two pair of oxen.] or pairs of cows or oxen which he employs in the cultivation of his fields. If it is asked, whether such a one has piastres (Illou gheroush [ARABIC]), a common mode of speaking, the answer is, “A great deal; he drives six pair of oxen,” (Kethiar bimashi sette fedhadhin [Arabic]); there are but few, however, who have six pair of oxen; a man with two or three is esteemed wealthy: and such a one has probably two camels, perhaps a mare, or at least a Gedish (a gelding), or a couple of asses: and forty or fifty sheep or goats.

The fertility of the soil in the Haouran depends entirely upon the water applied to it. In districts where there is plenty of water for irrigation, the peasants sow winter and summer seeds; but where they have to depend entirely upon the rainy season

[p.296]for a supply, nothing can be cultivated in summer. The harvest in the latter districts, therefore, is in proportion to the abundance of the winter rains. The first harvest is that of horse-beans [Arabic] at the end of April: of these there are vast tracts sown, the produce of which serve as food for the cows and sheep. Camels are fed with the flour made from these beans, mixed with barley meal, and made into a paste. Next comes the barley harvest, and towards the end of May, the wheat: in the interval between the two last, the peasants eat barley bread. In abundant years, wheat sells at fifty piastres the Gharara,[Three Rotola and a half make a Moud, and eighty Moud a Gharara. A Rotola is equal to about five and a halfpounds English.] or about two pounds ten shillings for fifteen cwt. English. In 1811, the Gharara rose as high as to one hundred and ninety piastres. The wheat of the Haouran is considered equal, if not superior to any other in Syria. Barley is generally not more than half the price of wheat. When I was in the Haouran, the price of an ox or cow was about seventy piastres, that of a camel about one hundred and fifty piastres.

The lands which are not capable of artificial irrigation are generally suffered to lie fallow one year; a part of them is sometimes sown in