Travels in Syria and the Holy Land Part 19

KHAN DOUMAS.

[p.208] March 22nd.--Caravans reckon two days journey between Djob Djennein and Damascus; but as I was tolerably well mounted, and my guide was on a good mare of the Emir Bes.h.i.+r's, I resolved on reaching it in one day; we therefore pursued our route at a brisk walk and sometimes at a trot. We crossed the plain obliquely, having the projection of the Anti-Liba.n.u.s, which ends at Djob Djennein, on our right. At thirty-five minutes from Djob Djennein, to the right, is the village Kamel el Louz [Arabic], where are many ancient caves in the rocky mountain which rises behind it. In three quarters of an hour we reached the foot of the Anti- Liba.n.u.s. On the summit of the mountain on our left, I observed a singular rock called Shekeik el Donia [Arabic], or Hadjar el Konttara [Arabic]; my guide told me that the time would certainly arrive when some Frank nation would invade this country, and that on reaching this rock they would be completely routed. After a short ascent the road lies through a narrow plain, and then up another Wady, in the midst of which is the village of Ayty [Arabic], two hours distant from Djob Djennein; it belongs to Sheikh Ha.s.san, the brother of Sheikh Bes.h.i.+r, a very rich Druse, who is as avaricious as the latter is generous; he has however built a Khan here for the accommodation of travellers. There is a fine spring in the village; the inhabitants manufacture coa.r.s.e earthen ware [Arabic], with which they supply Damascus.

At the end of two hours and three quarters we reached the summit of the Anti-Liba.n.u.s, where the heavy rains had already melted the greater part of the snow; here are some stunted oaks, and numerous springs. In three hours and a quarter we descended into a fine plain watered by the Wady Halloue [Arabic], which we followed into a narrow valley, and on issuing from it pa.s.sed a ruined Khan, with a spring, called Khan Doumas [Arabic], which is five hours and a quarter from Djob Djennein. We left the

PLAIN OF DAMASCUS.

[p.209] village Doumas, which is half an hour from the Khan on our right, and at the end of six hours reached a high uneven plain, situated between the Anti Liba.n.u.s and the chain of hills which commence near Katana; the plain is called Szakhret el Sham [Arabic]. Seven hours and a half, the ruined Khan Meylesoun [Arabic]. Eight hours and a half brought us to the termination of the Szakhret, from which we descended into the Ghouta, or plain of Damascus. At nine hours, the village Mezze [Arabic], among the gardens of Damascus; and at the end of nine hours and three quarters we entered the city, which is generally reckoned fourteen hours journey from Djob Djennein.

Note.

Between Kesrouan and Zahle, I am informed that in the mountain, about six hours from the latter, are the ruins of an ancient city called Fakkra or Mezza. Large blocks of stone, some remains of temples, and several Greek inscriptions are seen there.

Between Akoura and Baalbec is a road cut in the rock, with several long Greek inscriptions, and near the source of the rivulet of Afka, near Akoura, are the ruins of an ancient building, which I unfortunately did not see during my pa.s.sage through that village in 1810, although I enquired for them.

[p. 211]

JOURNAL

OF A

TOUR FROM DAMASCUS INTO THE HAOURAN,

AND THE MOUNTAINS TO THE E. AND S.E. OF THE LAKE OF TIBERIAS.

IN THE MONTHS OF APRIL AND MAY, 1812.

In returning to Damascus, it was my intention to obtain some further knowledge of the Haouran, and to extend my journey over the mountains to the south of Damascus, where I wished to explore the ruins of Djerash (Gerasa) and of Amman (Philadelphia) in the ancient Decapolis, which M.

Seetzen had discovered in his journey from Damascus to Jerusalem. An unexpected change in the government of Damascus obliged me to protract my stay in that city for nearly a month. The news had just been received of the dismissal of Soleiman Pasha, and it was necessary for me, before I set off, to ascertain whether the country would yield quietly to the command of the new Pasha; for, if rebel parties started up, and submission became doubtful, the traveller would run great hazards, would be unable to derive any advantage from the protection of the government, and would be obliged to force his way by the means of endless presents to the provincial chiefs.

As soon as I was satisfied of the tranquil state of the Pashalik, I set out for the Haouran. I took with me a Damascene, who had been seventeen times to Mekka, who was well acquainted with the

DEIR ALI.

[p.212]Bedouins, inured to fatigue, and not indisposed to favour my pursuits; I had indeed reason to be contented with my choice of this man, though he was of little further use to me than to take care of my horse, and to a.s.sist in intimidating the Arabs, by some additional fire- arms.

We left Damascus on the morning of the 21st of April, 1812; and as my first steps were directed towards those parts of the Ledja which I had not visited during my first tour, we took the road of El Kessoue, Deir Ali, and El Merdjan, to the description of which in my former journal I may here add the following particulars: The N.E. part of Djebel Kessoue is called Djebel Aadelye [Arabic]. From Kessoue our road bore S.S.E. In one hour and a quarter from that place we pa.s.sed the small village called Haush el Madjedye [Arabic]; Haush being an appellation applied to small villages enclosed by a wall, or rather to those whose houses join, so as to present by their junction a defence against the Arab robbers.

The entrance to the Haush is generally through a strong wooden gate, which is carefully secured every evening.

At an hour and three quarters from Kessoue is Deir Ali, to the north of which, upon the summit of Djebel Kessoue, is situated the Mezar el Khaledye [Arabic]; Deir Ali is a village inhabited by Druses, who keep the Arabs in great awe, by the reputation for courage which they have acquired upon many occasions. It seems rather extraordinary that the Druses, the known enemies of the Mohammedan faith, should be allowed to inhabit the country so near to the gate of the holy city, as Damascus is called; for not only Deir Ali, but three or four villages, as Artous, Esshera, Fye, and others, at only three hours distant from Damascus, are for the greater part peopled by them. Numbers of them are even settled in the town; the quarters called Bab Mesalla and El Hakle, in the Meidhan, or suburbs of the city, contain

MERDJAN.

[p.213]more than one hundred Druse families, who are there called Teyamene [Arabic]. In another quarter, called El Khereb, live three or four hundred Metaweli families, or s.h.i.+ytes, of the sect of Aly; of this sect is the present Mutsellim, Aly Aga. The religious creeds of all these people are publicly known; but the fanatism of the Damascenes, however violent, is easily made subservient to their fears or interests; every religious and moral duty being forgotten when the prospect of gain or the apprehension of danger presents itself.

At three hours and a quarter from Kessoue is the village El Merdjan.

When I pa.s.sed this place in 1810, I found a single Christian family in it; I now found eight or ten families, most of them Druses, who had emigrated hither from Shaara, a well peopled village in 1810, but now deserted. They had brought the fertile soil round El Merdjan into cultivation, and had this year sown eight Ghararas of wheat and barley, or about one hundred and twenty cwt. English.[The Gharara of Damascus is eighty Muds, at three and a half Rotola per Mud, or twenty pounds.] The taxes paid by the village amounted to a thousand piastres, or fifty pounds sterling, besides the tribute extorted by the Bedouins. The vicinity of the village is watered by several springs. I was obliged to remain at Merdjan the next day, because my mare fell ill, and was unable to proceed. As I did not like to return to Damascus, I bought a mare of the Sheikh of the village, a Christian of Mount Liba.n.u.s, who knew me, and who took a bill upon Damascus in payment. This mare I afterwards bartered for a Bedouin horse.

April 23d.--I left Merdjan to examine the eastern limits of the Ledja.

We pa.s.sed the Aamoud Es...o...b.. [Arabic], or Column of the Morning, an insulated pillar standing in the plain; it is formed

BERAK.

[p.214]of the black stone of the Ledja, about twenty-five or thirty feet high, of the Ionic order, and with a high pedestal. I had been told that there were some inscriptions upon it, but I did not find any. The column is half an hour distant from Merdjan, to the eastward of south. Round the column are fragments of three or four others, which appear to have formed a small temple. The remains of a subterraneous aqueduct, extending from the village towards the spot where the column stands, are yet visible. In one hour from thence we pa.s.sed a ruined village called Beidhan [Arabic], with a saltpetre manufactory. Two hours from Merdjan is Berak [Arabic], bearing from it S.E.b.E. Our road lay over a low plain between the Djebel Kessoue and the Ledja, in which the Bedouins of the latter were pasturing their cattle. Berak is a ruined town, situated on the N.E. corner of the Ledja; there is no large building of any consequence here; but there are many private habitations. Here are two saltpetre manufactories, in which the saltpetre is procured by boiling the earth dug up among the ruins of the town; saline earth is also dug up in the neighbouring plain; in finding the productive spots, they are guided by the appearance of the ground in the morning before sunrise, and wherever it then appears most wet with dew the soil beneath is found impregnated with salt. The two manufactures produce about three Kantars, or fifteen or sixteen quintals per month of saltpetre, which is sold at about fifteen s.h.i.+llings per quintal. The boilers of these manufactories are heated by brush-wood brought from the desert, as there is little wood in the Ledja, about Berak. The whole of the Loehf, or limits of the Ledja, is productive of saltpetre, which is sold at Damascus and Acre; I saw it sold near the lake of Tiberias for double the price which it costs in the Loehf. In the interior of a house among the ruins of Berak, I saw the following inscription:

[p.215]

[Greek] ["The tenth of Peritius of the eighth year." Peritius was one of the Macedonian months, the use of which was introduced into Syria by the Seleucidae. It answered to the latter part of December and beginning of January. Ed.].

On the outside wall of a house, in another part of the town, was the following:

[Greek] [[GREEK] Apellaeus was another Macedonian month, and answered to half October and half November. This inscription is within a tablet of the usual form. Ed].

Berak, like most of the ancient towns of the Ledja, has a large stone reservoir of water. Between these ruins and Missema lies the ruined city Om Essoud [Arabic], in the Loehf.

Djebel Kessoue runs out in a S.E. direction as far as the N.E. limits of the Ledja, and consists of the same kind of rock as that district. The other branch of it, or Djebel Khiara, extends towards Shaara. One hour S.W. from Berak, in the Ledja, are the ruins of a tower called Kaszr Seleitein [Arabic], with a ruined village near it. An Arab enumerated to me the following names of ruined cities and villages in the Ledja, which may be added to those mentioned in my former journal: Emseyke [Arabic], El Wyr

EL KHELKHELE.

[p.216] [Arabic], Djedl [Arabic], Essemeyer [Arabic], Szour [Arabic], Aasem Ezzeitoun [Arabic], Hamer [Arabic], Djerrein [Arabic], Dedjmere [Arabic], El Aareis [Arabic] El Kastall [Arabic], Bord [Arabic], Kabbara [Arabic], El Tof [Arabic], Etteibe [Arabic], Behadel [Arabic], El Djadj [Arabic], Szomeith [Arabic], El Kharthe [Arabic], Harran [Arabic], Djeddye [Arabic], Serakhed [Arabic], Deir [Arabic], Dami [Arabic], Aahere [Arabic], Om el Aalek [Arabic], Moben el Beit [Arabic], Deir Lesmar [Arabic].

I engaged a man at Berak to conduct me along the Loehf, or limits of the Ledja; this eastern part is called El Lowa, from the Wady Lowa [Arabic], a winter torrent which descends from Djebel Haouran, and flows along the borders of the Ledja, filling in its course the reservoirs of all the ancient towns situated there; it empties itself into the Bahret el Merdj, or marshy ground at seven or eight hours east of Damascus, where the rivers of Damascus also are lost. Our road was S.S.E. In one hour from Berak we pa.s.sed the Lowa, near a ruined bridge, where the Wady takes a more eastern direction. Some water remained in pools in different places in the Wady, the rains having been very copious during the winter season. In an hour and a half we pa.s.sed Essowara [Arabic], a ruined town on our right; we travelled along the fertile plain that skirts the rocky surface of the Ledja, which at two hours took a more southern direction. On our right was El Hazzem [Arabic], a ruined town; and a little farther, Meharetein [Arabic], also in ruins. All these towns are on the borders of the Ledja. Their inhabitants formerly cultivated the fields watered by the Lowa, of which the stone enclosures are still visible in some places. At three hours is El Khelkhele [Arabic], a ruined town, where we slept, in the house of the owner of a saltpetre manufactory.

The Wady Lowa in some places approaches close to the Ledja, and in others advances for a mile into the plain; its banks were covered with the most luxuriant herbage, of which little use is

SOWARAT EL DSAKEIR.

[p.217]made; the Arabs of the Ledja being afraid to pa.s.s beyond its limits, from the almost continual state of warfare in which they live with the powerful tribe of Aeneze, and the government of Damascus; while the Aeneze, on the other hand, are shy of approaching too near the Ledja, from fear of the nightly robberies, and of the fire-arms of the Arabs who inhabit it. The labourers in the saltpetre manufactories are Druses, whose reputation for individual courage, and national spirit, keeps the Arabs at a respectful distance.

April 24th.--Khelkhele, like all the ancient towns in the Haouran, is built entirely with stone. I did not observe any public edifice of importance in the towns of the Lowa; there are some towers of moderate height, which seem to have been the steeples of churches; and a few houses are distinguished from the rest by higher arches in the apartments, and a few rude carvings over their doors. From Khelkhele, S.E. about two hours distant, is a high Tel in the plain; it is called Khaledie [Arabic], and has the ruins of a town on its top; nearly joining to it are the most northern projections of Djebel Haouran, which are distinguished on this side by a chain of low hillocks. To the E. of Khelkhele, about four hours, stands the Tel el Aszfar [Arabic], farther E. the ruined village of Djoh Ezzerobe [Arabic], and still further E.

about nine or ten hours, from Khelkhele, the ruined village El Kasem [Arabic], near which is a small rivulet. In the direction of Tel el Khaledie, and to the S.E. of it, are the ruined villages of Bezeine [Arabic], and Bezeinat [Arabic].

The direction of our route from Khelkhele was sometimes S.E. sometimes S. following the windings of the Ledja and the Lowa. At half an hour is the ruined village Dsakeir [Arabic], in the Ledja, which here turns to the E. in the direction of Tel s.h.i.+ehhan. On its S.E. corner stands the ruined town Sowarat el Dsakeir [Arabic],

OM EZZEITOUN.

[p.218] where we found a party of Arabs Szolout encamped, with whom we breakfasted. In one hour and a quarter we pa.s.sed Redheimy [Arabic], where the ground was covered with remains of ancient enclosures. One hour and a half, El Hadher [Arabic]; one hour and three quarters, El Laheda [Arabic]; two hours, Omten [Arabic]; two hours and a half, Meraszrasz [Arabic]; three hours, Om Haretein [Arabic]; three hours and a half, Essammera [Arabic]. All the above villages and towns are in ruins, and prove the once-flouris.h.i.+ng state of the Ledja. In four hours we reached Om Ezzeitoun [Arabic], a village inhabited by Druses. The advantages of a Wady like the Lowa are incalculable in these countries, where we always find that cultivation follows the direction of the winter torrents, as it follows the Nile in Egypt. There are not many Wadys in this country which inundate the land; but the inhabitants make the best use of the water to irrigate their fields after the great rains have ceased. Springs are scarce, and it is from the Wadys that the reservoirs are filled which supply both men and cattle with water, till the return of the rainy season. It is from the numerous Wadys which rise in the Djebel Haouran that the population of the Haouran derives its means of existence, and the success of its agriculture.

Om Ezzeitoun is inhabited by thirty or forty families. It appears, by the extent of its ruins, to have been formerly a town of some note. I here copied several inscriptions.

Upon a broken stone in the wall of a public building over the great reservoir of the town, was the following:

[Greek]

[p.219] [Greek].

The only ancient building of any consequence is a small temple, of which an arch of the interior, and the gate, only remain; on each side of the latter are niches, between which and the gate are these inscriptions: