Travels in Syria and the Holy Land Part 25

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 sh.o.r.e 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 pa.s.sed, 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed. Tseil is one of the princ.i.p.al 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 pa.s.sed 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 quant.i.ty 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 princ.i.p.al village in the Djolan, and was formerly a town of half an hour in circ.u.mference. 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 pa.s.sed, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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 princ.i.p.al 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].