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CHAPTER L.

hair
1685
FOUNTAIN NEAR ALEPPO.
CARAVAN PREPARING TO BREAK UP THEIR ENCAMPMENT.


Alan ini
TRAVELS
IN
MESOPOTAMI A.
INCLUDING A
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO BAGDAD,
BY THE ROUTE OF
BEER, ORFAH, DIARBEKR, MARDIN, & MOUSUL;
WITH RESEARCHES ON THE
RUINS OF NINEVEH, BABYLON,
AND OTHER ANCIENT CITIES.
BY JA S. BUCKINGHAM,
AUTHOR OF TRAVELS IN PALESTINE AND THE COUNTRIES EAST OF THE JORDAN;
TRAVELS AMONG THE ARAB TRIBES; MEMBER OF THE LITERARY SOCIETIES
OF BOMBAY AND MADRAS, AND OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
С C
HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1827


THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY
493550 A
ASTOR, LEN , AVL
TILDEN FOUNDATIONS
R 1930
L
LONDON :
PRINTED BY D. S. NAURICE, FENCHURCH STREET.


TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LADY HESTER LUCY STANHOPE,
ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST ORNAMENTS OF HER SEX AND STATION,
THIS VOLUME OF TRAVELS IN MESOPOTAMIA,
PERFORMED SOON AFTER QUITTING HER HOSPITABLE RESIDENCE IN SYRIA,
IS GRATEFULLY DEDICATED, AS A MEMENTO OF THE HIGH RESPECT
AND UNAFFECTED ESTEEM
OF HER OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL FRIEND,
1
THE AUTHOR.
BAIXOS


事
​


i
PRE FACE.
In laying before the world the present account
of a Journey through Mesopotamia, I feel a
stronger assurance of its being acceptable to
the generality of readers, than I could venture
to indulge on either of the two former occa-
sions on which I had to present to the public
eye the result of my researches and observa-
tions in other countries of the East. The
“ TRAVELS IN PALESTINE” appeared under
the greatest disadvantages : notwithstanding
which, their success, and the almost universal
commendation they obtained, was as encou-
raging to future labours, as flattering in its
6


vi
PREFACE.
approbation of the past. The same unfavour-
able circumstances continued, when the “TRA-
VELS AMONG THE ARAB TRIBES” succeeded :
but these also met with a reception so favour-
able, as to make me think more lightly of the
obstacles which had hitherto impeded my
progress than I had before felt justified in
doing
These disadvantages no longer exist. A
severe and patient investigation, extended
through nearly four years, into the accu-
mulated and reiterated charges, by which
the rivals as well as enemies of my reputa-
tion had endeavoured to impress the world
with an opinion of my bad faith as an author,
my worthlessness as a man, and my utter in-
competency as a Traveller, either to observe
accurately what I heard and saw, or to de-
scribe intelligibly even the ordinary objects
of curiosity or interest, has led to the most
satisfactory result. Two of the individuals
who first dared to give utterance to these


PREFACE.
vii
aspersions, have, in a British Court of Justice,
voluntarily confessed their falsehood, apolo-
gized for their misconduct, and submitted to
verdicts being recorded against them; and
the third has been convicted, before a crowd-
ed tribunal, and a jury of his countrymen, of
being a false, scandalous, and malicious libel-
ler, by a verdict which adjudged him to pay
Four Hundred Pounds damages, and his full
portion of the expenses of the legal proceed-
ings, the whole of which, on the three actions
tried, are understood to be upwards of Five
Thousand Pounds sterling.
The details of the origin, progress, and
termination of these trials, are given, for the
satisfaction of the curious, in an APPENDIX at
the end of the present volume. It is here
thought sufficient, therefore, merely to record
the fact, in order that the reader may be sa-
tisfied, before he enters on the perusal of the
present Work, that its author, whatever may
be his qualifications, is at least innocent of


viii
PREFACE.
the charges framed and propagated by his
accusers, and is worthy of the faith and con-
fidence of his fellow-countrymen, as to the
originality and fidelity of his descriptions and
details. For the rest, he cheerfully submits
this portion of his labours, as he has always
readily done every other, to the ordeal of
Public Opinion, to be neglected, censured,
or approved, as its defects or merits may
determine.
The circumstances under which this Jour-
ney was entered upon and completed being
fully explained in the Narrative itself, it is
only necessary to premise, that it was per-
formed without the pleasure, and advantage
of a European friend, companion, interpreter,
servant, or attendant of any sort; that the
dress, manners, and language of the country,
were adopted, and continued throughout the
whole of the way; and that the utmost care
was taken to ensure as much accuracy as was
attainable, by recording all the observations


PREFACE.
ix
that suggested themselves while fresh on the
memory, and amid the scenes and events
which gave them birth.
It would scarcely be. imagined, by those
who have not taken the trouble to consult the
authors whose accounts of this country exist,
how scanty and imperfect is the information
they collectively contain on the state and con-
dition of Mesopotamia, even at the periods in
which they wrote. Whether it was, that the
difficulty of penetrating across its desert tracts,
which has always been considerable, occupied
all the attention of travellers in providing for
their personal safety—or, that journeying as
subjects of a different nation, and a different
faith, they were unable to escape sufficiently
from the observation of those around them,
to record their researches without interrup-
tion—it is not easy to determine. Perhaps
both of these causes may have operated to
prevent their bringing away with them the
ample details which it has been my good for-


PREFACE.
tune to amass, respecting the interior of this
interesting region, through which I travelled
under all the advantages of respect and confi-
dence from those around me, and with suffi-
cient leisure and safety to enjoy unmolested
opportunities of recording whatever appear-
ed worthy of observation, before one series
of impressions was obliterated by a succeed-
ing train of objects and thoughts.
The principal Travellers who have made
Mesopotamia the scene of their wanderings,
have been the Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, an
enterprising Jew, who, as early as the year
1170 of the Christian era, visited many coun-
tries of the East, and wrote his observations
in the Hebrew tongue, from which they have
been subsequently translated into two of the
languages of Europe ; Dr. Leonhardt Rau-
wolff, a German, who went, by the Euphrates,
from Bir to Babylon, and returned from
Bagdad to Aleppo, by land, about the year
1530; Pietro Della Valle, an Italian, who was


PREFACE.
xi
· in that country about 1620; Otter, a French-
man, who travelled in 1730; and the cele-
brated Danish engineer, Niebuhr, about thirty
years
later. Since this last period, now nearly
a century ago, there has been no Traveller
of eminence, with whose works I am ac-
quainted, who has had any opportunity of
examining the country between the Eu-
phrates and the Tigris, which strictly com-
prises the region of Mesopotamia; though
many have passed from Constantinople, east
of the latter river, through Georgia, Arme-
nia, and Koordistan, to Bagdad and Persia.
I have reason to believe, therefore, that
my account of Mesopotamia will be more
ample than that of the Travellers named, as
I have had an opportunity of consulting
each of their works, and seeing the extent of
their materials; and I am not without a
hope, also, that it may be found as new and
interesting, as it must be admitted to be
copious and diffuse. On a country, however,


xii
PREFACE.
of which so little has been said by ancient
travellers, and still less by modern ones, I
considered that abundance, and even minute-
ness of detail, would be an error on the
safe side; and, under this impression, I have
permitted my observations, made on the way,
to remain with little or no retrenchment :
the opportunities of writing, which I en-
joyed during this protracted journey, ren-
dering it unnecessary to wait for further
leisure, for the purpose of adding illustra-
tions, or filling up the outline of the Nar-
rative written on the spot. Such as the
Journal of the Route was, therefore, on
terminating the Journey at Bagdad, such
is it now presented to the Reader; and if he
should, from this state of the Narrative, be
enabled to enter more readily into the views,
and participate more freely in the feelings, of
the writer, it cannot fail to increase the plea-
sure of both.
1
The Map of Mesopotamia, with a Sketch of


PREFACE.
xiri
the Author's Route, has been constructed by
Mr. Sidney Hall, from the original notes of
bearings, distances, and time, recorded on the
march; the Plan and Views of the existing
Ruins of ancient Babylon are from the pencil
of Mr. Rich, originally designed for his va-
luable and interesting Memoir, inserted in
a Continental Work, under the direction of
Baron von Hammer, entitled “Les Mines de
l'Orient;" and the Illustrations at the Heads
of Chapters, which embrace the most interest-
ing of the many sketches taken on the jour-
ney, have been drawn on the wood by Mr
W. H. Brooke, whose reputation, in this de-
partment of graphic productions, is fully main-
tained by his present labours, and engraved
by the several individuals whose names are
placed opposite the respective subjects on the
list; while the peculiarly perfect manner in
which the impressions are taken from the
blocks, does much credit to the Printer.
Of the matter, style, and general literary


XIV
PREFACE.
character of the Work, the Public will form
their own estimate. : It would be affectation
in me to pretend, after the ordinary custom
of the
age, that I had been persuaded, by the
earnest solicitations of indulgent friends, and
in opposition to my own judgment, to give
these materials to the world; and, on that
ground, to deprecate criticism and seek shel-
ter from scrutiny. I candidly confess, that I
have been induced, by two more powerful
considerations, to the execution of my task;
first, the general approbation with which
my former labours have been received ; and
secondly, the desire, which never forsakes me, ,
of contributing-as far as my opportunities
of observation, means of recording them, and
capacity to render them intelligible, admit
my full share towards that accumulating stock
of general instruction, which is now happily
so largely drawn upon by all classes of the
community, through which philanthropy and
patriotism alike co-operate to encourage its
diffusion. If this Offering, which I now lay


PREFACE.
XV
with pleasure, not unmixed with hope, on
the Altar of Public Information, be accept-
able to those who see, in the extension of
Knowledge, the surest means of ameliorating
the condition of mankind, I shall be abun-
dantly rewarded.
J. S. BUCKINGHAM.
TAVISTOCK SQUARE,
FEBRUARY 5, 1827.





CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I.
Journey from Aleppo to the Banks of the Euphrates
1
CHAP. II.
Passage of the River Euphrates, at Beer
45
CHAP. III.
From Beer, across the Plains of the Turcomans, to
Orfah
68
CHAP. IV.
Entry of the Caravan into the City of Orfah
89
.
CHAP. V.
History and Description of Orfah-the Edessa of the
Greeks, and the Ur of the Chaldees
120


xviii
CONTENTS.
Page
CHAP. VI.
Further Detention at Orfah: Interior of the City,
Gardens, and Entertainments
166
CHAP. VII.
From Orfah to the Encampment of El Mazār
230
CHAP. VIII.
From the Arab Camp at El Mazār, to Mardin
278
CHAP. IX.
Entry into, and Stay at, Mardin
314
CHAP. X.
Journey from Mardin to Diarbekr
346
CHAP. XI.
Description of Diarbekr
364
CHAP. XII.
From Diarbekr to Mardin, Dara, and Nisibis .
402
CHAP. XIII.
From Nisibeen, across the Plain of Sinjar
448


ILLUSTRATIONS.
1 MAP OF MESOPOTAMIA, WITH A SKETCH OF THE AUTHOR's
ROUTE
Vol. I. p. 1
2 PLAN OF THE REMAINS OF BABYLON, ON THE EAST BANK OF
THE EUPHRATES
..... Vol. II. p. 258
3 VIEWS OF THE PRINCIPAL EXISTING RUINS OF THAT ANCIENT
CITY
Vol. II. p. 291
AT THE HEADS OF CHAPTERS.
VOL. I.
Chap
...
68
Subject of the Drawing.
Engraver8. Page
1 Fountain near Aleppo. Preparing to break up En.
To face
campment
Bonner the Title
2 Banks of the Euphrates, and approach to the Town
of Beer
Byfield 45
3 Halt of the Caravan, and Diversions of the Guards
by Moonlight
Branston
4 Interior View of the Streets and Buildings of Orfah,
from a Terrace
White 89
5 Mosque of Abraham, in his native City, Ur of the
Chaldees
Lee
120
6 Oriental Conversazione and Garden Entertainment Dodd 166
7 Plunder of the Caravan by a Turcoman Horde Branston 230
8 Ancient Arabic Remains in the ruined Town of
Koach Hassar
Lee 278
9 Approach to Mardin, a City seated on a Rock
Dodd 314
10 Waadi Zennaar, or Valley of the Girdle, Travellers
reposing
White 346
11 Crossing the Tigris, and first approach to Diarbekr Jackson 364
12 Rural Celebration of an Eastern Marriage by a Vil.
lage Feast
White 402


XX
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Engravers.
Page.
Chap.
Subject of the Drawing.
13 Ancient Greek and Roman Remains on the ruined
site of Nisibeen
Byfield
448
VOL. II. »
To face
Lee
1 Caravan rushing, by night, to a deep and rapid river Bonner the Title
2 Perspective of a Vaulted Bazar at Mousul
26
3 Bridge of Boats across the Tigris, and View of the
River's Banks
Byfield 43
4 Interior of a Public Caravanserai, at Ain Koura White 92
5 Walled Town of Kuffre, at the foot of a range of
Hills
Branston 123
6 Rocky Defile between Kara Tuppee and Delhi Abass Byfield 147
7 Perspective View of a Street and Mosque at Bagdad Lee 175
8 Akkerkoof, or the Castle of Nimrod, “ the mighty
hunter"
Bonner
217
9 Tomb of Zobeide, wife of Haroun-el-Rashid, the
Caliph of Bagdad
Branston 240
10 Return from a Desert Excursion in search of the
Walls of Babylon
Dodd 296
11 Tower of Babel, and Plain of Shinar, near the banks
of the Euphrates
Bonner 359
12. Turkish Coffee-House, near the Bridge of Boats on
the Tigris at Bagdad
Branston 400
13 Gates of the City, as seen from the Interior
White 437
14 Procession of the Pasha, from the Mosque to the
Palace
Bonner 478
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TRAVELS
IN
MESOPOTAMI A.
CHAPTER I.
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO THE BANKS OF
THE EUPHRATES.
AFTER a long and perilous journey from
Egypt, through Palestine, Syria, and the un-
travelled countries East of the Jordan and
Orontes, I enjoyed a repose of some days, in
the city of Aleppo : from whence, however,
I soon prepared again to depart for the
equally interesting regions of Mesopotamia,
on my progress to the farther East. The
state of the city itself was, at this period, suf-
ficiently tranquil ; but the whole of the sur-
B В.


2
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
rounding country was in a state of turbulent
commotion, so that travelling, either singly
or in small parties, was impossible, without
imminent risk of plunder, and perhaps de-
struction; and the difficulty of assembling
sufficient numbers, to form a caravan of
strength enough to force a passage through
the Desert, was such as to leave little hope
of that being accomplished till the return of
more tranquil times. It was in the month of
May, 1816, that hostilities had broken out
between the Anazie Arabs, and another tribe,
each belonging to the great division of this
people which had embraced the new and re-
forming doctrines of the Wahābees, a sect of
deistical puritans, who had, for some time past,
disturbed the peace of Arabia, by their con-
versions and their wars. The immediate cause
of this rupture was stated to be this: that one
of the warm-blooded' sons of Mahānna, the
great Chief of the Anazies, who assumed to
himself the title of Sultan of the Desert, had
stolen away, by force, from a neighbouring
camp, a beautiful virgin, of whom, at first sight,
as is not uncommon with Orientals, he had be-
come passionately enamoured. This Trojan
treachery had roused the whole of the sur-


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
3
rounding country to arms: and the most ro-
mantic tales of heroism, love, and self-devo-
tion, with all the exaggerations which Eastern
fancies give to such traits of character, were
repeated by every tongue, and greedily drank
in by every ear.
As a detail of preparations for a journey
through rarely frequented countries is not
only beneficial to those who may contemplate
pursuing the same route at any future period,
but instructive to all who desire to see the
modes of thinking and the manners of acting,
which prevail in distant countries, exhibited
in the freshness of their original colouring;
and to be transported, as it were, to the imme-
diate scene, so as to become a co-spectator and
a co-actor, as far as sympathy can effect this,
with the Traveller himself, this detail will be
given, and will serve at once to introduce to
the reader's attention the characters in whose
society, and the circumstances under which,
the Journey about to be described was under-
taken.
The great regular caravan from Aleppo to
Bagdad, across the Syrian Desert, was not ex-
pected to leave the former city until Sep-
tember; but a smaller one had been formed,


4.
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
for the purpose of going, by a more circuitous
route, to Mardin, and Mousul on the Tigris.
This caravan was, indeed, now on the point of
departure. Mr. Vigoroux, a French gentle-
man, recently appointed consul for Bussorah,
in the Persian Gulph, and whom I had seen
some months before at Alexandria, in Egypt,
had gone by the same way not more than ten
days before my arrival at Aleppo; but ac-
counts had already reached this, of certain
arbitrary demands being made on him, as a
Frank or European traveller, by the gover-
nors of the different stations on the road; and
Mr. Barker, the British Consul at this city,
spoke also of the route by Mardin and Mousul
being extremely troublesome and vexatious
on account of such exactions, of which he had
heard much during his residence here.
My anxiety to enter upon the journey, and
the faint prospect which presented itself of
any better occasion, determined me, however,
to accept this, whatever might be its disad-
vantages. I accordingly obtained an intro-
duction to a merchant of Mousul, named
Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, who was returning
by this caravan to his native city, with mer-
chandize from the pilgrimage at Mecca. For
·


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
5
the respect which, as he said, he bore the
English nation, from having always traded
with them until the decline of their com-
merce at Aleppo, he consented to admit me
into his party, the only condition exacted of
me being, that I should conform myself, in
every respect, to his advice and direction, and
take no servant of my own to disturb the good
understanding of his personal dependants.
This was readily assented to, and it was stipu-
lated, that I should furnish my horse and its
trappings only, and for the rest, that I should
be considered, in every respect, as one of the
Hadjee's own family, as well for our general
security from interruption on the road, as for
my own comfort, which was likely to be much
increased by my being placed on this familiar
footing
As it was thought that Hadjee Abd-el-
Rakhmān was a person of too great respecta-
bility to accept for himself any sum of money,
as a compensation for this favor, it was agreed
between Mr. Barker the Consul, on my part,
and the Hadjee's Factor at Aleppo, that I
should give, before our departure, the sum of
150 piastres to the chief camel-driver of the
Hadjee's party, who would put my small


JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
portion of baggage among the merchandize
of his master, to be free from examination and
prying curiosity, so that I should have nothing
but my horse to look after; and, on my safe
arrival at Mousul, it would be sufficient to
make some handsome acknowledgement to the
Hadjee himself, proportionate to the service
he might have rendered me, with a proper
distribution of presents among such of his ser-
vants as had been attentive and useful to me
on the way.
My dress and arms were like those of his
nephew, Hadjee Abd-el-Ateef, a young man
of twenty-five, who had accompanied his ve-
nerable uncle on the pilgrimage. The former
consisted of the blue cloth sherwal, jubba,
and benish, of the Arab costume; a large
overhanging tarboosh, or red cap, falling over
the neck and shoulders behind; a white
muslin turban, and a red silk sash: the latter,
of a Damascus sabre, a Turkish musket, small
carbine, and pistols, with ammunition for each.
The conveniences borne on my own horse
were, a pipe and tobacco-bag, a metal drinking
cup, a pocket-compass, memorandum books,
and ink-stand, on one side of a pair of small
khoordj, or Eastern travelling-bags; and on
.


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
7
the other, the maraboot, or chain-fastenings
and irons for securing the horse, by spiking
him at night to the earth, on plains where
there are no shrubs or trees. A small Turkey
carpet, which was to serve for bed, for table,
and for prayers; and a woollen cloak for a co-
verlid during the cold nights, in which we
should have to repose on the ground, without
covering or shelter, were rolled up behind the
seat of the saddle with straps; and my equip-
ment, for any length of route, was thus thought
to be complete. The supplies I had taken
with me for the journey, included a bill of
exchange for 6000 piastres (then about 1007.
sterling) on a merchant at Bagdad; and nearly
2000 piastres in small gold coin, which, with
such papers as I considered of importance to
me, I carried concealed in an inner girdle round
my waist, called, by the people, a khummr,
and generally used for this purpose, as it
cannot be lost, or taken from a traveller,
without his being absolutely stripped.
All my own arrangements being comple-
ted, I took leave of Mr. Barker's family about
noon, and, accompanied by his son, and one of
his native assistants, named Nahoom, we as-
sembled, with the friends of Hadjee Abd-el-


8
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
Rakhmān, at a fountain on the public road,
about a mile from Mr. Barker's country resi-
dence, in the environs of Aleppo. Having
taken coffee here together, as a pledge of our
future union, and watered our horses, we re-
mounted and set out on our way. The friends
of each party still accompanied us for a few
miles on the road, when, at last, our final sepa-
ration took place, with many warm and friend-
ly adieus, and we now felt ourselves to be
fairly on our journey.
Our route lay nearly north, along the east-
ern edge of the river of Aleppo, which ran on
our left. The only appearance of verdure
seen about its banks, is that created by the
winding course of the stream itself, the bor-
ders of which are fringed with trees and gar-
dens, very thickly planted. Beyond its im-
mediate banks, the soil is dry, and the hills
bare and stoney throughout the whole of the
way to its source, which we reached about
sun-set. Here several winding streams, all
rising from the same spring, watered a small
hollow plain in which a Turcoman horde was
encamped.
The form and arrangement of the tents of
these people, and the general aspect of the


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
whole of their camp, was extremely different
from that of the Arabs, among whom I had
so recently sojourned. With the latter, it is
the custom to have their tents mostly of an
oblong form, closed on three sides, and open
on the fourth; made altogether of hair cloth;
and the several tents generally arranged in the
form of a great circle, for the sake of prevent-
ing the escape of the animals confined within
its limits. Here, among the Turcomans, the
form of most of the tents seemed nearly round,
instead of oblong, with a small door of en-
trance, instead of one entirely open front; or,
when otherwise, it was open only at one of the
narrow ends, and not at the side, with an awn-
ing, or porch, at the door-way. The roofs of
these tents were the only parts formed of hair
cloth (of which material the tents of the Desert
Arabs are entirely made); the sides of these of
the Turcomans being formed of matted reeds.
Neither was there any order in the arrange
ment of the tents themselves, as they were
scattered quite at random over the plain.
Besides goats and camels, the usual inmates
of these camps, there were here an abundance
of sheep, asses, bullocks, horses, and even buf-
faloes and fowls; animals which belong only


to
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
to a stationary life, and which marked the peo-
ple among whom they were found, as of less
wandering habits than their southern neigh-
bours, the Arabs. They were, indeed, a
stouter and better-fed race; and even their
dogs, the guardians of their camps, were larger,
more hairy, and, altogether, characterized by
the greater abundance amidst which both they
and their masters lived.
In our way from Aleppo thus far, we had
passed several ruined villages, leaving them
all on our left, and had remarked that the
houses were distinguished by a high pointed
dome of brick-work, rising from the square
of
their base. We lost sight of these, however,
as we ascended from this place of encampment
over a bare rising ground, and then gradually
sunk our level by a very slow descent.
As it was now dark, and so cloudy that even
the stars were hidden from our view, we soon
lost the beaten track, and wandered about to
the right and left, according to the directing
voice which for the moment prevailed. It was
in this state of confusion that we were alarmed
by a sudden shout from persons
whom
could not yet perceive; and this being sus-
pected to be a signal of attack upon our party,
we


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
11
we closed our ranks, and rushed forward toge-
ther to receive it. Two muskets were dis-
charged at us, but their balls passed without
wounding any person, though not without
being returned threefold by our party, seem-
ingly with as little execution. This display
of vigilance had the effect, however, of repress
sing any future attempt; and the men who
were seen, heading the attack, speedily dis-
persed and fled.
It was nearly midnight before we reached
the great body of the caravan; and we then
only discovered its place of encampment, by
sending off one of our own party to each of
the four quarters of the horizon, to shout and
discharge a musket, which being at length
heard, the returning of the signal directed us
to the spot.
We found a tent erected for the Hadjee
Abd-el-Rakhmān, and his suite, in which the
embers of a fire were still burning; when,
taking shelter beneath it, we were welcomed
by a cup of coffee and the congratulations of
friends, and sank, soon after, to repose.
May 28th.—Every individual of the cara-
van was seen stirring with the earliest dawn;


12
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
and as this was the first morning of our depar-
ture from a station beyond the town, a con-
siderable degree of bustle prevailed among the
servants and camel-drivers, and an equal anx-
iety among the merchants or owners of the
property embarked, to see it safely laden, and
to take care that nothing remained behind.
· At sun-rise we were all in motion, to the
number, perhaps, of four hundred camels, which
was thought rather a small caravan : the asses,
mules, and horses that accompanied it, might
amount to another hundred; and the whole
number of persons, including men, women, and
children, were about three hundred at least.
Our course had been nearly north, through-
out the whole of the preceding day, but it now
bent towards the north-east, in pursuing which
direction we reached, in an hour after setting
out, a village called Oktereen. There was a
smaller one, about a mile to the north of it,
which bore the same name, and both were at
this moment inhabited by peasants who culti-
vated rich corn lands on a fine red soil, and
of great extent. The style of building in both
of these villages, like that of the ruined ones
we had already passed, was remarkable, each
separate dwelling having a high pointed dome


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
13
of unburnt bricks, raised on a square fabric of
stone; so that, at a little distance, they re-
sembled a cluster of bee-hives on square pe-
destals.
In the village through which we passed,
was a khan or caravanserai of Mohammedan
construction, and good masonry, though now
seldom resorted to by travellers. Near it was
a high round eminence, enclosed by a circular
wall, formed of very large masses of unhewn
stone, rudely put together without cement.
This is called the Castle, but over all the hill
there appear no other vestiges of building than
this, which I should consider to be a work of
the very earliest ages of antiquity. The
stones are, in general, much too large to be
moved by mere manual labour, estimating the
strength of man at its present standard ; and
yet one would conceive, that if the people, by
whom they were placed here, used the aid of
any instruments for that purpose, they would
also have hewn them into regular forms, for
additional strength. But, like most other works
of ancient labour, the very simplicity of their
construction excites problems the most diffi-
cult of solution.
Near the foot of the hill, but without its


14
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
wall of enclosure, are deep wells, containing
excellent water, of which we drank, as we pas-
sed, from the pitchers of some women of the
neighbourhood. The vessels used by them
are broad at the bottom, narrow at the top,
and about two feet high, with a thick handle
on each side. They are all of copper, tinned
within and without; nor did we see a single
vessel of earthenware among them. The dress
of the females was mostly of blue cotton cloth;
some of the younger girls were pretty, and all
had fairer and more ruddy complexions than
we had lately been accustomed to see.
From hence, the high range of Mount Tau-
rus was visible on our left, to the north-west,
and seemed to be nearly in a line with our
route, or to run in a north-east and south-west
direction. Many of its rugged summits were
covered with snow; and from their appearance,
as they intercepted our horizon but slightly
in that quarter, it was evident that our own
level was also a very elevated one.
While halting at the well of Oktereen,
there came to drink a poor ass of our own
caravan, who had lost from the thickest part
of his thighs behind, between the knee and the
tail, at least an English pound of flesh from


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
15
each, and yet still walked freely, without any
apparent suffering. . The blood remained clot-
ted in streams below the wounds; and, on in-
quiry, it appeared that he had been torn in
this manner, only two nights before, by a
hyæna, while the caravan was encamped at
Hailān, a few hours' distance from Aleppo.
Bruce's account of the Abyssinians cutting
steaks from a live ox, sewing up the wound,
and driving the beast on his journey, had
always, until now, appeared to me difficult of
belief ; not from the cruelty of the act, for
that would weigh but little with people of
their character, but from my conceiving that
no animal could, after being so treated, pur-
sue its march. Here, however, I saw before
me a similar fact, one which I confess sur-
prised me, but to which I could not refuse
credence, as it was confirmed by the evidence
of my senses.
In an hour from Oktereen, we came to
another village of the same name, each of
these being called by that of the district in
which they stand. The pointed dome-tops to
the dwellings were now no longer seen, all the
houses being flat-roofed, with terraces. As
we stopped at this place to drink milk, we had


16
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
an opportunity of seeing the method followed
by its inhabitants in making butter. The
milk is first put into a goat's skin, without
being scalded, and a small space is left in this
for air and motion ; the skin is then hung
by cords to a peg in the side of the wall, or
suspended to a sort of sheers, formed by three
poles, in the open court; it is then pushed to
and fro, until its motion in the skin shall have
been sufficient to churn it; when the watery
part is thrown off, and the thick part stirred
by the hand until it becomes of the oiliness
and consistency required. * Such of the women
as we saw here were really handsome; all of
them were unveiled, and displayed blooming
complexions and agreeable features, not dis-
figured by stains of any kind. As an addi-
tional charm, they were remarkably clean and
well dressed, with white or red trowsers, white
upper garments, wreaths of gold coin across
* The Bedouin Arabs practise the same method.-
“ Dans une peau de chèvre, encore garnie de ses poils, ils
mettent le lait, comme dans une outre. Une femme Be-
douine, après avoir fortement noué les deux bouts, et sus-
pendu le tout à une branche d'arbre, en secouant l'outre de
toute sa force, parvient à faire le beurre.”—CASTELLAN,
Mours des Ottomans. t. vi. p. 60.
1


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
17
DI
el
10
e
I
of
their foreheads, and their long black hair hang-
ing in tresses over their shoulders.
In an hour from hence, we came again to a
small elevation, which had seemingly been once
enclosed with a wall around its base, it being
now covered with narrow blocks of stone. These,
however, were well hewn, and of a much smaller
size than those described at Oktereen, though
probably, like that mound, this might have been
the site of some old fortress of a later
age.
It was about noon when we reached a wide
plain, in which were encamped a horde of Tur-
comans, to the number of about five hundred
tents; and near these it was decided that we
should take up our station for the night. It
was on entering this plain, that we first began
to perceive the black porous basalt so common
in the Haurān, lying here, however, in rounded
and detached masses, thickly placed, like those
in the plain between Hhoms and Hhussan, and
in the vallies of the Orontes and the Jordan.
Our present position was nearly in the same
meridian of longitude as the Haurān, though
it is on a higher level; and there was a general
resemblance between its soil and stones, except
that the latter are here in detached or insu-
e
5
с


18
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
lated masses, while to the south they are prin-
cipally in continuous ridges of rock.
When our tents were pitched, we could see,
from the place of our encampment, the range
of Taurus to the west-north-west of us. Its
highest part, which, in general form, was
thought to resemble Lebanon near the Cedars,
was covered with snow. It now bore from us
west by north, three quarters north, distant
about fifty miles, and preserved nearly the same
appearance from hence, as it presents to the
traveller approaching Aleppo from the west.
The place of our encampment was called
Chamoorly, from a ruined Mahommedan vil-
lage of that name. In this village, besides
many dwellings of stone, were the remains of
a mosque with pointed arches, its southern
niche for prayer still perfect. Between it, and
the spot on which our halt was made, rose a
high, steep, and round hill, larger than either
of those we had yet passed, though, like them,
it was apparently artificial. Around its base
were scattered blocks of black stone, probably
used in its wall of enclosure, now destroyed,
and marking it as having been a fortified post.
These stones were all of the basaltic kind, and


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
19
the greater number of them were stuck end-
wise into the ground, like the perpendicular
head-pieces of modern sepulchres in England.
Before us, we had an extensive plain, wa-
tered by a small stream near our halting-place,
and covered with the richest pasture. In the
distance, the mountains shewed their blue and
pointed summits; and as the sky was clear, the
northern wind fresh, and the climate as delight-
fully pure and healthy as could be wished, our
situation united
many
charm's.
Among the diversions of the afternoon, we
caught a beautiful bird, about the size of a
turtle dove, called, in Arabic, “ Ghatter.” It
had a white breast, with dark bands across it;
a granivorous beak, and a large black spot de-
scending from the root of the beak downward
on the throat; fine yellowish-red eyes, and
small head; wings speckled with brown and
white above, and of the purest white beneath ;
with a fine tail, similarly speckled as to colour,
but with smaller spots and a long thin feather
growing out of its centre, at least a foot and a
half beyond the rest.
A lamb was killed for supper, and, for the
morrow, we purchased from some shepherds
near us, a fine fat sheep for a gold roobeah, or


20
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
about half an English crown. We entertained
some pilgrims at our tent, who were from the
eastern parts of Afghanistan, and who had
come all the
way
from thence by land to go to
Mecca. One of them was from Cashmeer, and
one from Lahore, the only places I recognised
by name; and several of them spoke Hindoo-
stanee, in which language I was able to con-
verse with them, much to their joy and satis-
faction. As they went onward to Aleppo, I
profited by their departure, to send letters by
way of that city to England.
Our tent was struck, and every thing packed
up at sun-set to be ready for instant departure
in the morning. At supper, we had a party
of fifteen persons besides the servants, all of
them apparently fed, during the journey, by
the hospitable Hadjee. When the new moon
appeared, all the Moslems offered up a short
prayer at the first sight of this auspicious guide,
for which they have a strongly religious, as
well as poetical and romantic veneration.
We slept in the open air beneath a starry
canopy of unusual brilliance; and the purity
of the atmosphere, with the sweet odour of the
fresh young grass, was such as to make even
perfumed halls and downy couches inferior by


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
21
the contrast. The servants, who had slept
during the day, were destined to watch in the
night; and the horses and mules were all
brought within a circle, formed by the camels
kneeling around, to secure them from the
Turcomans of the neighbouring camp.
May 29th.–Our departure was as early as
on the preceding day, and we now directed
our course nearly east over the plain. At sun-
rise, we came to some artificial caves in a rock
on our left, probably ancient places of burial;
and, at intervals of about an hour each, we
passed three ruined villages, the dwellings of
which were generally of sun-burnt brick, with
some few of black stones, and the houses all
flat-roofed.
At nine, we reached Shahaboor, a large in-
habited village; and, as the caravan passed
directly through it, most of the passengers
halted without alighting, when all who desired
it were served by the villagers with bowls of
lebben, or curdled sour milk. As far as I could
perceive, this was an act of pure hospitality,
for which no payment was either asked or
offered; though, if frequently repeated, it must
form a heavy charge on those who exercise it.


22
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
The men at this place were dressed nearly
as in those through which we had already
passed. The women wore on their heads the
large red Syrian tarboosh, the loose part over-
hanging before, while the men permit it to
fall behind. These Turcoman females were
much better dressed than the Arab women
ever are; some of them having red and others
white trowsers; striped silk upper robes, gold
ornaments about their head, their hair hang-
ing in long tresses, as in the towns; and their
whole
appearance neat and interesting. The
language used here was Turkish ; and, in-
deed, scarcely any other was heard in the ca-
ravan, as the Arabs speak Turkish much more
frequently than the Turks do Arabic, from the
superior ranks of the military and the govern-
ment being filled by Turks, who are too proud
and too indolent to learn; while the neces-
sities of the others compel them to acquire
the language of their masters.
We had scarcely left Shahaboor an hour
behind us, before we were alarmed by a troop
of horsemen making towards the caravan, in
full speed, from the southward. The camels
were widely scattered, so much so, that there
seemed to be a distance of nearly two miles


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
23
between their extremes. The design of the
enemy being to attack and cut off the rear, all
who were mounted rushed towards that quar-
ter, leaving only the men on foot, who were
armed, to protect the other parts. The enemy
checked their horses, advanced, retreated,
wheeled, and maneuvred on the plain, with
great skill; and, as they were all mounted on
very beautiful animals, it formed as fine a dis-
play of horsemanship as I had ever witnessed.
On the other hand, nothing could exceed
the confusion and disorder which prevailed in
our train. As there was no acknowledged
leader, a hundred voices were heard at once,
all
angry at not being attended to; the women
and children shrieked, the asses brayed at the
noise of other animals, and the men set up
the wildest shouts of defiance.
When our
enemies, however, betrayed fear, it was the
moment chosen by those attacked, to affect
courage; and, accordingly, all who were dis-
mounted, young and old, came out from among
the camels, behind which they had before taken
shelter: and those who had muskets without
powder, of which there were several, borrowed
a charge or two of their neighbours, and idly
wasted it in the air. There were at least two


24
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
hundred balls discharged in this way, in the
course of the hour that the Turcomans haras-
sed us by changing their apparent point of
attack, and flying round us with the velocity
of the wind.
This skirmish had, at least, the effect of
exciting exaggerated ideas of our force, and
of inducing the enemy to abandon their de-
sign, though they were twice near enough for
us to distinguish their features, or within short
pistol-shot; but, from the rapidity of their
movements, they all escaped unhurt. Their
number, as nearly as we could estimate them,
seemed to be about fifty; all well mounted, and
armed with a short lance, a musket, pistols,
and sabre. Had they persevered in their ori-
ginal design, and not given us time to form,
their success would have been easy: for, in the
whole of our party, we did not muster more
than a hundred stand of arms; and these were
so disunited, and so unskilfully used, that they
must have failed in repelling, though they
might have annoyed, the attacking force. The
alarm, however, was in some degree a benefit,
as it occasioned the straggling individuals of
the caravan to keep closer order; for, before
this, each seemed to follow his own pace,


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
25
without reference to the general security, and
undisturbed by any thought of danger.
In about an hour from the time of this
pre-
datory troop quitting us, we passed through a
small village on an elevation, from the heights
of which the women and children were view-
ing the attack. As there was not a single
man to be seen among them, and they seemed
to avoid our salutes, they were, most probably,
the wives and daughters of the horsemen
themselves, of whom this eminence was, per-
haps, merely a temporary habitation.
It was noon when we reached a small vil-
lage, of a round form, called Waadi Sajoor,
through which wound a full stream, of the
same name, about fifty feet wide, and so deep
as to be scarcely fordable. The whole of this
district was cultivated with corn, and several
small villages were seen scattered over it.
As we halted for a moment to water, and to
collect the animals in close order, on the op-
posite side of the stream, most of the people
gave loose to their joy, and triumphed in their
In the expression of these feel-
ings, some danced with their naked swords
and khandjars, or dirks, in their hands, singing
the wildest songs at the time, like the guards
late escape.


26
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
of the Dolas, or chiefs of the Arab towns in
the Yemen, when they precede their Gover-
nors in their march ;* and others discharged
their pieces in the air. This display of war-
like disposition at length terminated in occa-
* The habit of chaunting rude songs, on occasions of joy
or of danger, has, we find, prevailed, from the remotest an-
tiquity, among all barbarous nations. Tacitus, speaking
of the ancient Germans, has the following passage :-“ The
Germans abound with rude strains of verse, the reciters of
which, in the language of the country, are called' Bards.
With this barbarous poetry, they inflame their minds with
ardour in the day of action, and prognosticate the event,
from the impression which it happens to make on the minds
of the soldiers, who grow terrible to the enemy, or despair
of success, as the war-song produces an animated or a feeble
sound. Nor can their manner of chaunting this savage pre-
lude be called the tone of human organs; it is rather a
furious uproar—a wild chorus of military virtue. The voci-
feration used
upon
these occasions is uncouth and harsh ; at
intervals, interrupted by the application of their bucklers to
their mouths, and, by the repercussion, bursting out with re-
doubled force.”—Manners of the Germans. Murphy's
Translation. Xenophon likewise relates, in the Fourth
Book of the Anabasis, that, on an occasion of rejoicing,
the Mosynæcians, a barbarous people on the Euxine, ex-
pressed their satisfaction by dancing and singing in a wild
manner :-“Cutting off the heads of the slain, they shewed
them both to the Greeks and to the Mosynæcians, their
enemies (the nation was divided into two hostile tribes);
dancing, at the time, and singing a particular tune.”


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
27
sioning two or three frays in the caravan, by
exciting disputes, as to who had been the
foremost and the bravest among them, in
repelling the late attack : the consequences
were serious, for not less than five persons
were, more or less, hurt or wounded in this
affair among friends ; though not one had
received any injury in the attack of the
enemy.
On leaving the Waadi Sajoor, and ascend-
ing a gentle hill, we continued, again, our
easterly course, over plains of great extent
and fertility, seeing, to the north of us,
low
chalky hills, and losing sight of the range of
Mount Taurus altogether.
About one o'clock we reached a small vil-
lage called Zemboor, near which we halted on
an elevated ground, and encamped for the
night, for the sake of the supply of water,
which the wells here afforded us. There
were, at this place, nearly as many tents as
houses. The chief himself dwelt in one of
the former, of a very large size, supported by
sixteen small poles, in four rows of four each,
the points of which thrusting up the roof,
appear
like so many Chinese domes. In front
of this, was an open place of reception for


28
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO,
strangers, and behind it the apartment for
females, enclosed all around by a partition of
reeds, sewn together by black worsted, in
crossed diagonal lines. The tent, and its outer
porch, were furnished with beds, cushions, and
carpets. The language used here was Turk-
ish; the Arabic being scarcely understood.
As the disposition for feats of arms still
reigned among the greater number of our
companions, and weapons of some kind were
in almost every one's hands, several parties
were formed for hunting and shooting, instead
of prosecuting further quarrels among each
other. By the camel-drivers of our own party,
we had a ghazelle brought to us from the plain.
It was dressed for supper, and partaken of by
many more than our own immediate circle,
from its being as highly esteemed here as
game is in England. Its flesh was dark, and
of a strong taste and smell, but it was much
relished by all present.
May 30th.–Our departure was delayed
until the day was fairly opened, the alarm of
yesterday not having yet subsided. As there
was no Director of the caravan, and every
one followed his own way, some were in


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
29
motion earlier and others later than usual, pro-
bably both from the same motive of fear; so
that, from front or rear, the opposite end of
the long line of the camels was scarcely dis-
cernible.
In less than an hour after commencing our
march, we passed a village about half a mile
on our left; and half an hour further on, we
came to a similar one, on the side of an arti-
ficial hill, both of them having brick-built
houses, white-washed on the outside. In an-
other hour we reached a third village, the
people of which sold dried black raisins and
tobacco, by the way-side, to the passengers of
the caravan, and gave, liberally, of milk and
lebben, to all who desired it.
About nine o'clock, we reached a fourth vil-
lage, larger than the rest, where we halted for
the rear of the caravan to come up with us.
We alighted at the tent of the Chief, for here,
as in many of the other villages that we had
passed, the tents were almost as numerous as
the houses, and formed by far the most com-
fortable dwellings. The whole of these set-
tlements were called by the general name
of Barak, from the plain on which they stood,
and were all inhabited by Turkish peasants,


30
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO.
who cultivated a fertile soil, which now pro-
mised them an abundant harvest.
This great Plain, as it is called, was under
the direction of the Sheikh, who received the
tax from his people, and paid it to the Pasha
of Aleppo, and who pitched his tent at differ-
ent periods near all the villages and wells of
his territory in succession. When we alighted
at his tent-door, our horses were taken from
us by his son, a young man well dressed in a
scarlet cloth benish, and a shawl of silk for a
turban. The Sheikh, his father, was sitting
beneath the awning in front of the tent itself,
and when we entered, rose up to receive us,
exchanging the salute of welcome, and not
seating himself until all his guests were ac-
commodated.
The tent occupied a space of about thirty
feet square, and was formed by one large awn-
ing, supported by twenty-four small poles in
four rows of six each, the ends of the awning
being drawn out by cords fastened to pegs in
the ground. Each of these poles giving a
pointed form to the part of the awning which
it supported, the outside looked like a number
of umbrella tops, or small Chinese spires. The
half of this square was open in front and at


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
31
the sides, having two rows of poles clear, and
the third was closed by a reeded partition, be-
hind which was the apartment for the females,
surrounded entirely by the same kind of mat-
ting.
It thus gave a perfect outline of the most
ancient temples, and as these tents were cer-
tainly still more ancient as dwellings of men,
if not as places of worship to gods, than any
buildings of stone, it struck me forcibly on the
spot, as a probable model from which the first
architectural works of these countries were
taken. We had here an open portico of an
oblong form, with two rows of columns of six
each in front, and the third engaged in the
wall that enclosed the body of the tent all
around; the first corresponding to the por-
ticoes of temples; and the last, as well in its
design as in the sacredness of its appropriation,
to the sanctuaries of the most remote anti-
quity. *
The Sheikh, whose name was Ramadán,
was an old man of eighty, of fine features,
combining the characteristics of the Turkish
* See the representations of the primitive huts, in Vi-
truvius.


32
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
and Arabic race, with large expressive eyes.
His complexion was darker than that of the
people of Yemen, though somewhat less so
than that of the common order of Abyssinians,
and this was strongly contrasted by a long
beard of silvery white. His divan was spread
out with mats and cushions, covered with silk:
his dress and arms were plain, yet of the best
qualities of their kind ; before his tent were
two fine mares, well caparisoned, and every
thing about his establishment wore an ap-
pearance of wealth and comfort.
Others of the caravan, seeing us halted here
as they passed, alighted likewise, and took
their seats without invitation, all being re-
ceived with the same welcome salute, until
the party amounted to twenty-six in number.
While we were talking of the Turcomans, who
had alarmed us on our way, a meal was pre-
paring within ; and soon afterwards, warm
cakes baked on the hearth, cream, honey,
dried raisins, butter, lebben, and wheat boiled
in milk, were served to the
company.
Neither
the Sheikh himself nor any of his family par-
took with us, but stood around, to wait upon
their guests, though among those who sat
down to eat, were two Indian fakīrs, or


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
33
beggars, a Christian pilgrim from Jerusalem,
and the slaves and servants of Hadjee Abd-el-
Rakhmān, all dipping their fingers into the
same dish. Coffee was served to us in gilded
china
cups,
and silver stands or finjans, and the
pipes of the Sheikh and his son were filled and
offered to those who had none.
If there could be traced a resemblance be-
tween the form of this tent, and that of the
most ancient buildings of which we have any
knowledge, our reception there no less exactly
corresponded to the picture of the most an-
cient manners, of which we have any detail.
When the three angels are said to have ap-
peared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre, he
is represented, as sitting in the tent-door in
the heat of the day.* “ And when he saw
them, he ran to meet them from the tent-
door, and bowed himself towards the ground.”
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent, unto
Sarah, and said, “ Make ready quickly three
measures of fine meal, knead it, and make
cakes
upon
the hearth.' And he took butter
and milk, and the calf which he had dressed,
and set it before them, and he stood by them
* See Genesis, chap. 18, where the interview is described.
D


34
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
under the tree, and they did eat.” When in-
quiry was made after his wife, he replied,
“ Behold, she is in the tent.” And when it
was promised him, that Sarah should have a
son, it is said, “ And Sarah heard in the tent-
door, which was behind him.” The angels are
represented, as merely passengers in their
journey, like ourselves : for the rites of hospi-
tality were shewn to them, before they had
made their mission known. At first sight they
were desired to halt and repose, to wash their
feet, as they had apparently walked, and rest
beneath the tree, while bread should be
brought them to comfort their hearts.
66 And
after that,” said the good old Patriarch, “ shall
ye pass on, for therefore are ye come unto your
servant;" so that the duty of hospitality to
strangers seems to have been as well and as
mutually understood in the earliest days, as it
is in the same country at present.
The form of Abraham's tent, as thus de-
scribed, seems to have been exactly like the
one in which we sit; for in both, there was a
shaded open front, in which he could sit in
the heat of the day, and yet be seen from afar
off; and the apartment of the females, where
Sarah was, when he stated her to be within the


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
35
tent, was immediately behind this, wherein she
prepared the meal for the guests, and from
whence she listened to their prophetic decla-
ration.
I have noted these points of resemblance,
chiefly because the tents of the Turcomans
here are different from all those of the Arabs
that I have ever seen in the countries of the
south: these latter being of an oblong form,
and divided in the middle, so as to form two
compartments by the side of each other, both
of them open in front, and closed at the back
and sides, but without either a shaded porch
or door before them, or an apartment of any
kind behind.
The Turcomans, on the borders of Turkey,
seem to hold the same position as the Be-
douins on the borders of Syria. They dwell
chiefly in the plains, south of the
range
of
Mount Taurus, and extend from the sea-coast,
near Antioch, to the borders of the Euphrates.
They are, however, more wealthy than the
Arabs, from having richer pastures, and more
numerous flocks, and from being cultivators;
as well as shepherds. They are, therefore, also
more fixed in their stations, and live both in
tents and in villages. There are among them


36
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
peculiar tribes, as among the Arabs, some re-
maining almost stationary, and others mounted
on fleet mares, scouring the plains, and living
more by depredations on caravans, and even
on single passengers, than by agriculture or
pastoral labours.
Some of their customs and opinions are too
singular and peculiar to be passed over in
silence. Their horror of a certain indiscre-
tion is said to be so great, that the most vio-
lent pains, occasioned by a suppression of it,
will not induce them to commit so heinous an
offence. Mr. Maseyk, formerly the Dutch
Consul of Aleppo, related to me, that being
once on a journey with another Frank, of the
same city, they halted at a Turcoman's tent.
The latter, from fatigue, a hearty meal, and a
cramped attitude, had the misfortune to be
unable to prevent the sudden escape of a noise
loud enough to be heard. Every one looked
with astonishment on each other, and, from
that moment, shunned communication with
the offender. About four years after this
event, one of the men who were of this party,
coming to Aleppo on business, called on Mr.
Maseyk, when, by accident, his friend was with
him. The Turcoman blushed on recognizing


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
37
this disgraced individual, when Mr. Maseyk,
asking him if he had known him before, he
replied with indignation, “ Yes, is it not the
wretch who defiled our tent?"*
Their custom of curing a fever, is to sew the
patient tightly up in the hot skin of an ox,
freshly flayed for the occasion ; afterwards to
cover him with blankets and carpets, and then,
sometimes, even to sit upon him until he is
in danger of suffocation. It often happens,
however, from the strength of his constitution,
that the patient recovers even after this rude
treatment.
Their women, who are in general fair, ruddy,
and handsome, neither disfigure themselves
by blue stains, nor veil themselves, after the
manner of the Arabs: The jealousy of the
* D'Arvieux and Niebuhr both allude to this singular
trait of manners among the Arabs. The latter, in his “ De-
scription de l'Arabie,” 4to. p. 27, gives a very extraordinary
anecdote of an opposite kind: but he adds, in alluding to
the general abhorrence excited by this indiscretion, or offence,
“ Dans quelques tribus entre Basra et Hálep l'impolitesse
dont je parle est si choquante, que celui à qui elle échappe
une fois, sert pour toujours de jeu et de risée aux autres :
on assure même, qu'un des Bellûdsjes, sur les frontières de
Perse, fut contraint de quitter sa tribu par cette seule
raison.”


38
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
men, regarding their honour, is, however, still
stronger. Mr. Maseyk, who, it should be
added, is a Dutch merchant of the highest
respectability, and has resided at Aleppo for
forty years, and made journeys through every
part of the surrounding country, told me an
instance in proof of this, which I should scarcely
have believed, if I had not heard it from his
own mouth.
Two
young persons of the same tribe, loved
each other, and were betrothed in marriage :
their passion was open and avowed, and known
to all their friends, who had consented to their
union, and even fixed the period for its cele-
bration. It happened, one evening, that they
met, accidentally, alone, but in sight of all the
tents: they stopped a moment to speak to
each other; and were on the point of passing
on, when the brothers of the girl perceiving
it, rushed out, with arms in their hands, to
avenge their disgrace. The young man took
to flight, and escaped with a musket-wound;
but the poor girl received five balls in her
body, besides being mangled by the daggers
of her own brothers, who had aimed to plunge
them in her heart; and, when she fell, they
abandoned her carcase to the dogs !


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
39
The young man gained the tent of a pow-
erful friend, the chief of another tribe, en-
camped near them, and told his story ; begging
that he would assist him with a troop of
horse, to enable him to rescue the body of his
love from its present degradation.
He went,
accompanied by some of his own people, and
found life still remaining. He then repaired
to the tent of her enraged brothers, and asked
them why they had done this? They re-
plied, that they could not suffer their sister
to survive the loss of her honour, which had
been stained by her stopping to talk with her
intended husband, on the public road, before
her marriage. The lover demanded her body
for burial; when her brothers, suspecting the
motive, exclaimed, “ What, is she not yet life-
less ?-then we will finish this work of death ;"
and were rushing out to execute their pur-
pose, when the youth caused the troop of
horsemen, sent to aid his purpose, to appear,
and threatened instant death to him who
should first stir to interrupt his design. The
young girl was conveyed to his tent, and, after
a series of kind attentions, slowly recovered.
During her illness, the distracted lover, now
expelled from his own tribe, came, under cover


40
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
of the night, to see her; and, weeping over
her wounds, continually regretted that he had
been so base as to seek his safety in flight, and
not to have died in defending her. She as
heroically replied, “ No! No! It is
It is my high-
est happiness that I have suffered, and that
you have escaped; we shall both live, and
Heaven will yet bless us with many pledges
of our lasting love.” This really happened ;
the girl recovered, was married to her impas-
sioned swain, and they are still both alive,
with a numerous family of children.
So romantic a tale of love, jealousy, revenge,
fidelity, and heroism, would have been incre-
dible, were it not that all the parties were
known to Mr. Maseyk, who related it; that
he did so in the
presence
of
many
other
per-
sons born in Aleppo, and acquainted, by report,
with the fact; and that the veracity of the
narrator may be regarded as unquestionable.
When we remounted, to quit the hospitable
tent of the Sheikh of Barak, we continued our
way, on a course of east-north-east, over an
unequal plain of less fertility than usual, being
composed of a whitish dry soil, interspersed
with scattered eminences of a chalky appear-
From some of these we again saw the
ance.


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
41
high range of Taurus, now seeming to stretch
from west to east, more lofty than before, and,
in some parts, completely sheeted over with
unbroken snow; so that these points, at least,
were probably higher than any part of Le-
banon.
In about an hour, gradually descending, we
came to a valley, through which ran a stream
called Nahr-el-Kahareen, having its sources in
the northern mountains, and flowing from
hence, south-easterly, into the Euphrates. It
was here about thirty feet broad, its current
running at the rate of a mile-and-a-half
per
hour, and its stream too deep to be forded.
Its waters were of a dull yellowish colour,
from the soil over which their course lay ; but
soft, and of a sweet taste.
We crossed this river by a lofty and narrow
bridge, of three pointed arches, apparently a
modern work; after which we continued to
ascend, for half an hour, over a white dry
ground, when we came again to a plain, of
great extent and fertility, the soil of which was
a fine brown mould, and nearly the whole of
it covered with corn. When at the summit
of this gentle ascent, which brought us to the
top of the plain, we saw a Turkish tomb, with


42
JOURNEY FROM ALEPPO TO
two white domes, on the left of the road; and,
on the right, directly opposite to it, were some
humbler graves, the upright stones of which
were marked with a cross, deeply cut, so that
they probably contained the bodies of some
Christian passengers, who had died on the
road, and whose surviving friends had placed
no other memorial of them there, thân the
emblem of the faith in which they had lived.
In pursuing our way across this plain, we
passed a party of husbandmen gathering in the
harvest, the greater portion of the grain being
now fully ripe. They plucked up the corn
by the roots, instead of reaping it, a practice
often spoken of in the Scriptures* though
* Psalm 129, v. 6.—Maundrell, in his “ Journey from
Aleppo to Jerusalem,” in the same month of the year as the
present, though upwards of a century ago, (May 11, 1697,)
noticed the same practice, in the following passage : “ All
that occurred to us new in these days' travel, was a particu-
lar way used by the country people in gathering their corn :
it being now harvest-time, they plucked it up by handfuls
from the roots; leaving the most fruitful fields as naked as
if nothing had ever grown on them. This was the
prac-
tice in all places of the East that I have seen, and the rea-
son is, that they may lose none of their straw, which is ge-
nerally very short, and necessary for the sustenance of their
cattle, no hay being here made. I mention this, because it
seems to give light to that expression of the Psalmist, 129,


THE BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES.
43
reaping seems to be made the earliest and
most frequent mention of. On seeing the ca-
ravan, one of the labourers ran from his com-
panions, and, approaching us, danced, stood on
his hands, with his feet aloft in the air, and
gave other demonstrations of joy, when he
presented us with an ear of corn and a flower,
as an offering of the first-fruits of the
year ;
another remnant also of a very ancient usage
in the “ wave offering” of the sheaf and the
ear of corn, commanded to the Israelites by
Moses. * We returned for it a handful of
paras, or small tin coin, and answered the shout
of joy which echoed from the field, by accla-
mations from the caravan.
We continued across this plain for nearly
three hours, seeing several large wells in the
v. 6, which withereth before it be plucked up,' where
there seems to be a manifest allusion to this custom. Our
new translation renders this place otherwise ; but in so doing,
it differs from most or all other copies ; and here we may
truly say, the old is the better. There is, indeed, mention
of a mower in the next verse; but then it is such a mower
as fills not his hand, which confirms rather than weakens the
preceding interpretation.”—p. 144, Oxford, sixth edition,
8vo.
* See the Jewish offerings, in Leviticus and Deutero-
nomy.


41
ALEPPO TO THE EUPHRATES.
way, but no dwellings, though the soil was
cultivated throughout, and the harvest nearly
ripe for gathering ; when, soon after noon, we
reached the village of Humbārak, seated on a
little hill, beneath which we halted to encamp.
Notwithstanding the danger from which we
had so narrowly escaped on the preceding day,
in consequence of our being so widely scat-
tered, the caravan had made to-day an equally
straggling and disorderly march. One division
of it halted at least two miles before us, and
another part was nearly half that distance be-
hind us; while we preferred the vicinity of
these dwellings, for greater safety, and the
supplies of a peopled spot. Here, as we had
noticed in other Turcoman villages, were as
many tents as houses; a burying-ground, with
turbanned tomb-stones, and inscriptions in the
Turkish language; and, near the village, in
the plain below, was a high, oblong, artificial
mound, like an ancient tumulus, from the sum-
mit of which we obtained the first sight of the
bed of the Euphrates, a few miles only to the
eastward of our halting-place.






CHAPTER II.
BD DOUG
BANKS OF THE EUPHRATES,
AND APPROACH TO THE TOWN OF BEER.


CHAPTER II.
PASSAGE OF THE RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
WE quitted our station with the dawn,
and going, for about half an hour, over a fertile
plain, opened a full view of the Euphrates,
winding in its course to the southward.
Descending gradually for an hour more, and
going nearly east, over a dry white soil, we
came near the water's edge, close by a small
hamlet of about twenty dwellings. There was, ,
at this place, a ruined Turkish building, with
à domed top and four open arches in its
square walls, one on each side; it was probably
an old well or fountain, as the tombs of the
Mohammedans are mostly enclosed.
We went up from hence to the northward,
along the west bank of the river, for another
half hour, over a flat shelving land, when we
came immediately opposite to Beer, which


46
PASSAGE OF THE
stands on the east side of the stream. We
halted here for some time, in an extensive
burying-ground, near which is a khan, for the
accommodation of travellers detained on this
side of the river. The dead are transported
across the stream for interment, and their
graves appeared to occupy a very large portion
of the plain.
The transport of the caravan, from one side
of the Euphrates to the other, was long and
tedious, occupying us till nearly noon. There
were six large boats, each about forty feet in
length, by ten broad, only two feet high at the
stern, and about fifteen feet at the
shape of these boats resembled the half of a
gourd, divided longitudinally, and hollowed
out within ; the head of the fruit representing
the head of the boat, and the stem of the fruit
its stern. The floor or platform was nearly
level, and the side timbers rose almost perpen-
dicularly, or at right angles with the floor ones,
being many in number, and of a small size.
There was neither keel, stem-piece, nor stern-
post; the bottom was formed by planks,
nailed beneath the cross timbers of the floor-
ing, which, on reaching near the head of the
boat, were bent upwards in a rounding form,
prow. The


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
47
till they reached the stem, generally tapering
away there in breadth, and offering an over-
hanging bow to the stream, while the stern
was merely a gradual rising up of the bottom
planks, till they were well cleared of the water,
when the trunk of a tree was placed across
their ends, like a ship’s transom, its top being
only two feet from the water's edge.
The stern of the boat being presented to
the beach, and from the flatness of its bottom,
and little draft of water, almost over-hanging
the sand, the beasts of burthen got into it with
ease, after they were lightened of their loads.
Each of these boats carried about two tons of
merchandize, besides four camels, a horse or
two, three or four asses, and eight or ten pas-
sengers, but they were then almost danger-
ously laden. The crew consisted of four men
and two boys'; three persons being placed at
each extremity, and the cargo
and
passengers
a-midships. Over the high prow went one
long oar, formed of the trunk of some slender
tree; and this having to be managed by one
person, its thickest end remained in-board,
while to its other extremity were nailed two
flat pieces of plank, for the blade.
This oar


43
PASSAGE OF THE
was used chiefly as a rudder; and on both
bows were smaller oars of the same descrip-
tion, as well as on the quarters, so that they
were used either on one side or the other, as
occasion required.
When we pushed off from the shore, the
lee-oars with regard to the current, or those
on the south only, were pulled to impel the
boat across the stream ; but this was so rapid
in its course, as to whirl the boat round four
or five times in her passage over, and occasion
her to fall at least a quarter of a mile below
the point immediately opposite to that from
which we started.
We landed on a steep beach, and passed
under the arch of one of the buildings close
to the water, where we were all detained for
examination at the Custom-House, a refine-
ment in which the Turks are inferior to no
people in Europe. When this duty was over,
we were suffered to pass through the town
unmolested ; and repairing to a sort of wharf
without it, and close to the southern walls,
the goods were there landed for examination.
This occasioned us another long detention, so
that it was nearly evening before all was ended,


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
49
when we went up through the town, and,
going out of its eastern gate, encamped close
to the walls for the night.
The town of Beer, which is the Birtha of
antiquity,* is seated on the east bank of the
Euphrates, at the upper part of a reach of that
river, which runs nearly north and south, and
just below a sharp bend of the stream, where
it follows that course, after coming from a long
reach flowing more from the westward. The
river is hereabout the general breadth of the
Nile, below the first cataract to the sea. It is
considerably larger than the Orontes or the
Jordan, and is at least equal to the Thames at
Blackfriars-bridge.f Its eastern bank being
* D'Anville, Comp. of Anc. Geog. vol. i. p. 426. 8vo.
+ Rauwolf says, that the Euphrates, when he crossed
it at Beer, about the year 1575, was a mile broad ; Maun-
drell, that it was as broad, in his time, as the Thames at
London. When Otter crossed it, in 1734, its breadth,
according to his conjecture, exceeded not two hundred
common paces ; though lower down, upon the plain, it
spread, he observes, to the width of five or six hundred
paces, at the time of its increase. Travels, vol. i.
112.
The same traveller mentions a tradition, which
ascribes the building the fortress of Beer to Alexander the
Great; and adds, that there were, in his time, three other
remarkable fortresses in the neighbourhood. Nedgem, to
the east ; Souroudge, to the north-east; and Kalai-Roum,
p. 108
E


50
PASSAGE OF THE
1
steep, and its western one flat where we
crossed it, the rapidity of its current was very
different on opposite sides. On the west, its
rate was less than two miles an hour; in the
centre, it was full three; and between that and
the eastern shore, it ran at the rate of more
than four miles an hour. Its greatest depth,
as judged by the immersion of the large oars,
which often touched the bottom, did not seem
to be more than ten or twelve feet. Its waters
were of a dull yellowish colour, and were
quite as turbid as those of the Nile; though,
as I thought at the time, much inferior to
them in sweetness of taste. The earth, with
which it is discoloured, is much heavier, as it
quickly subsided, and left even a sediment in
the bottom of the
сир, while drinking; whereas
the Nile water, from the lightness of its mould,
may be drank without perceiving such depo- .
sit, if done immediately on being taken from
the river:
The people of Beer are, in general, aware of
the celebrity of their stream, and think it is
the largest in the world. It still
preserves its
a day's journey to the west. He observes, also, that the
Vale of Olives, not far from the town, abounded in springs
of water, and in fruit-trees.


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
51
ancient name, with very little corruption, being
called by them Shat-el-Fraat, or the River of
Fraat. *
Josephus says, in his description of the four rivers of
Paradise; “ The Euphrates and the Tigris fall into the sea
of Erythras; the Euphrates is called Phora (POPA),
which signifies, by one derivation, Dispersion, and by
another, a Flower ; but the Tigris is named Diglath
(AITAAO), an appellation which indicates sharp and
narrow.” Ant. Jud. lib. 1. c. 1. s. 3. On this passage,
which is given in the translation of Dr. Vincent's “ Com-
merce and Navigation of the Ancients,” that writer has the
following note.
“Phora, however, in some manuscripts, is written
Phorath, like Diglath, and is in reality the modern name
Phoráth, Phõrāt, Forát, F'rat. It has two derivations from
the Hebrew 7 or 372, Phar or Pharatz, to spread, which
indicates (oxedæquòr or) dispersion, or 1775, Pharah, to pro-
duce fruit or flowers (ävdos).
Diglath is derived, in this form, from 337, Khalal, to
go swift (ou metà sevÓTnTOS). This is a coarse etymology,
for óú is not swift, (but wnú), and we have nothing to
represent yetà SEVOTNTOS. Perhaps, Josephus and his coun-
trymen were as bad etymologists as the Greeks.
“ Pherat is used frequently in Scripture with the pro-
noun, as Hu-Pherát na $17, "the Pherát, or that Pherát,
by way of pre-eminence; and is derived by the commenta-
tors from 1770, Pharah, to produce fruit, on account of its
fertilizing the country by canals, &c. from 79, Phar, and
399, Pharatz, to burst or spread, because it overflows its
banks, and from 775, 275, 179, Phras, Phreth, and Phred,


52
PASSAGE OF THE
It is known, also, as one of the four rivers
of Paradise; and the only one, seemingly,
to divide, because it separates or bounds the Desert. The
Greeks, as Hoffman justly says, more suo, derive Eu-
phrates from ευφραινειν. .
“ Hid-Dehkel is written by, Kid-Dekhel, and by
the Samaritan manuscript 31777, Hid-Dekhel, (or rather
Hhid-Dekhel, and Ed-Dekhel,) as we are informed, from
77, to dart forth, 7777, loud, or from 777, Hhed, to pene-
trate ; with the addition of 337, Khalal, which implies
swift motion; a sense agreeable to the opinion of the
Greeks, who interpret the Tigris sometimes swift, and
sometimes from the Persick, Teir, an arrow.
“ If Dekhel had been written with a g in Hebrew,
like Degel in Arabic, or the Diglath of Josephus, 527,
Dagal, signifies to dazzle, or glitter, &c., an idea not incon-
sistent with a swift and agitated stream; but all the au-
thorities tend to 5577, Khalal.” 4to. 1807; vol. i. p. 420,
421. Notes.
To this may be added, that the name of the Euphrates,
which is written in Arabic, signifies also very fine
sweet water, and both it and the Tigris are called in the
dual, ulj Phratan, or the two Phrats ; so that this sig-
nification would well apply, but it would be difficult to
prove, whether the name was given to these rivers from their
containing this fine sweet water, or whether this last was not
subsequently expressed by a term, derived from the name
of the river itself.
By Richardson, the name of the Tigris is written in
Arabic ass, but it is pronounced Dejjala. Now, you
Dejal, signifies gold--the glittering of a sword—a large


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
53
which has preserved its name.
The river
Gihon, which is mentioned also in the Koran,
was thought, by an Indian pilgrim of our party,
to be the Gunga of the Hindoos; and the rest
assented to its being in Hind-el-Juāny, or the
Innermost India. It is true, that it is said “ to
compass the whole land of Ethiopia;” but
Herodotus speaks of Indian Ethiopians in his
time; and, among the early writers, the word
Ethiopia was applied to the country of the
black people generally.*
The Euphrates seems to have been thought
even superior to the Nile, by a writer, the
scenes of whose history were occasionally on
both. In describing a communion between
Abraham and his God, amid the darkness of
caravan-liquid pitch; the first of which might be indi-
cative of the wealth produced by it; the second, the
appearance of its rapid stream; the third, the commerce
carried on upon it; and the last, the springs of bitumen
and naphtha, which abound as much on the banks of this
river as on those of the Euphrates. Whether the Arabic
or Hebrew etymologies are to be preferred in point of an-
tiquity, or even of appropriateness, is a question that
would admit of dispute. In Armenia, where the Tigris
rises, the word Tiger is said to signify an arrow.
*“ Can the leopard change his spots, or the Æthiop
his skin ?"


54
PASSAGE OF THE
the evening, he says,—“ In the same day God
made a covenant with Abraham, saying,—
Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the
river of Egypt unto the Great River, the river
Euphrates."* It deserves this distinctive ap-
pellation, in contrast with rivers generally,
though not with the Nile; which may be
considered as equally great, whether from the
length of its course, or the celebrity of the
ancient cities which stood upon its banks. .
I made many inquiries here, after the ruins
of Hierapolis, now called Yerabolus, but no
one knew of such a place although it is cer-
tainly less than a short day's journey from
this town. I should have thought it might
have been at a spot called Khallet-el-Room,
or the Roman Castle,t said to be four hours’
* Genesis, chap. xv. v. 18.—The Kennizzites, spoken
of in the next verse, may possibly be the great tribe of
the Annazies, who occupy all the western banks of the
Euphrates, and the eastern frontier of Syria, to this day.
+ This is said to be the ancient Zeugma, so called from
the Grecian term, signifying a Bridge, and not a Bride, as
erroneously printed. This was the great passage for the
Roman armies into Mesopotamia ; and opposite to it, on
the east side of the river, was a small town called Apamea.
--Kinneir's Persia, p. 316. It is the Kalai-Roum men-
tioned by Otter.—See Note, p. 29.


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
55
A
distance
up the river, were it not that, from the
course of Maundrell's journey from Aleppo to
that place, it would appear to have been to the
southward of this. :
The principal stations spoken of, between
this and Bussorah, are Anah, the ancient
Anatho,* Hit, and Hillah; the former, per-
haps, the country of the Anakites—the second,
of the Hittites and the last, now recognized
as the site of the ruined Babylon. There is,
at present, no communication by water from
Beer, either up or down the Euphrates ; partly
from the want of proper boats, and the un-
skilfulness of the people to build them, and
partly from the banks being, on both sides, OC-
cupied by tribes of Arabs, often at war among
themselves, and always in hostilities against
strangers who
pass
that
way.
The stream is
called Shat-el-Fraat, from its source in the
mountains of Armenia, until its junction with
the Tigris, below Bagdad; when they are
jointly called Shat-el-Arab, or the river of the
Arabs, to its outlet into the sea.
Just below the town of Beer, the stream
divides itself into twenty smaller channels,
* Gibbon, vol. iv. p. 164.


56
PASSAGE OF THE
running between low grassy islets; and op-
posite the town itself was now a dry bank of
mud: but all these, no doubt, change their
form, their size, and even their situation, at
different periods, according to the state of its
waters, as in the Ganges, and the other great
rivers of India. The stream undergoes some
variation in its height during the course of the
year; but this is not regular, as the rains
without the tropic are not fixed in the periods
of their fall; and if, in winter, these give an
accession of waters to the tributary streams,
the melting of the snows on Mount Taurus, in
the summer, contributes, perhaps, an equal
portion.
The banks on both sides, where steep, are
of a chalky soil, as seen from hence; and,
where flat, they are fertile, and covered with
trees and verdure. About two hours below
Beer,* and on the eastern bank of the river, is
an extensive grove, not of palms, but of some
* It should be noted here, that the practice of the Ori-
entals is to estimate distances by the time in which a strong
and healthy man could walk over them, rather than by any
more definite measure.
Wherever this standard is used in
these pages, an hour's distance may be understood to imply,
generally, from three to four miles.


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
57
fuller foliaged tree; and near it, on the river's
brink, is a high artificial mound, like the site
of a fort. To the north, also, are seen woods
and green fields; but immediately opposite
to the town, is a plain, of bare soil, with a
broad beach of fine dark sand, covered with
pebbles of white quartz, and other hard stones;
and, at the town itself, the bank is, in some
parts, a steep beach of broken fragments of
stone, and in others a high chalky cliff.
The town of Beer may contain about four
hundred houses, and from three to four thou-
sand inhabitants. It has five mosques, with
tall minarets; a public bath, a caravanserai,
a few coffee-houses, and a small, but ill-sup-
plied, bazār. Its western front is washed by
the edge of the river, so that the walls of the
houses form its defence on that face; and on
the other three sides, towards the land, it is
encompassed by a good wall of Saracenic work,
disfigured in some places by later Moham-
medan repairs. As this has been, no doubt,
a general pass from Syria into Mesopotamia,
for many ages, it was necessarily an important
position, both in a military and commercial
point of view; and sufficient marks of fortifi-


58
PASSAGE OF THE
cation and building remain, to shew that it
had long been so considered.
As the town itself stands on the side of a
very steep hill, there are perpendicular cliffs
within and around it, in different directions.
In these are a number of large caves, and
smaller grottoes; none of which, as far as I
could examine them, appeared to be sepul-
chral; so that they may be carried up to as
high an antiquity as any other Troglodyte ha-
bitations. The cliffs are in general of a hard
chalky substance, and have furnished the ma-
terials for the buildings in the town; many of
the quarries being now caves, closed with a
wall of masonry in front, and used as dwellings
by the present inhabitants. The houses, and
the rocky slope on which they stand, present,
from the opposite side of the river, a mass of
glaring white, which is painful to look upon
in the sun.
In the centre, on a height of the rock,
stands an old ruined fortification; and all
along the north end of the town, where a
perpendicular cliff faces the water, are the
walls and towers of a large castle, incorporated
with the cliff itself, and presenting, even now,
1


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
59
in its state of great dilapidation, an imposing
aspect. These are said, anciently, to have
contained some curious engines of war,' and
other antiquities, hastily seen and described
by Maundrell. Some of the persons to whom
we addressed our inquiries here, regarding
them, contended that they had been since car-
ried away; others, that they had never been
there; and others, again, that they were still
remaining to be seen; all swearing by their
beards, and appealing to God and the prophet
for the truth of their opposite statements.
My mortification was the greater, inasmuch as
I was unable to visit it myself, from the ne-
cessary attention which I had to pay to my
horse, my baggage, &c.; and from the many
other troublesome duties which fall on every
individual of a caravan, on entering a new
district. I saw, however, in the porch of
one of the gates of the town, two large iron
axles for wheels, each of them about six feet
long, and nine inches diameter in their
thickest parts; and these were among the
articles which Maundrell enumerates. *
* Maundrell's visit to Beer was made in the year 1699,
and is appended to his Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem.


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
61
imitated by the Saracens. They were always
executed by these last, however, with an ap-
proximation to the pointed arch, and in a way
to be easily distinguished from those of the
Roman age. Around the battlements, I ob-
served, also, a sort of frieze, formed of large
fleur-de-lys reversed; but whether this orna-
ment had any reference to the defeat of the
Christian powers, who bore it among their em-
blems during the time of the crusades, it
would be difficult to determine.
There were here, also, as in most old Mo-
hammedan fortresses, many circular stones
jutting out from the walls, like guns projecting
through the closed port of a ship's side; and
on all these were inscriptions in relief, for
which purpose they seemed to have been
placed there. In the oldest buildings this is
the use to which they are applied, and this
was, no doubt, their original intention ; though
in some, perhaps later buildings, fragments of
granite and marble pillars have been used, to
project from the walls in this way, when the
buildings were erected near the site of any
ruined city, and were thus already formed to
the builder's hands; but their ends were not
then used as inscriptive tablets.


62
PASSAGE OF THE
Around the whole of the front of the eastern
gate was a long band of smooth stone, contain-
ing an inscription in characters of high-relief,
and well cut; but it was in such ancient com-
plicated forms that none of our party could
understand it, although we had
many
who
could read the old Cufic character with faci-
lity, and who understood the most learned
style of Arabic in use at the present day.
Beer is under the dominion of the Pasha of
Orfah, and is governed by an Aga, who has
only a few personal attendants, and no troops.
The sum paid on the entrance of goods from
Syria, is four piastres and a half, or about half
a Spanish dollar per camel-load, of whatever
commodity; one hundred paras, or about
half-a-crown sterling per head, is also de-
manded from all Christians returning from
the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and crossing the
Euphrates into Mesopotamia, of which there
were several in our caravan.*
* According to Olivier, the passage of the Euphrates at
Bir (as it is spelt by him) was performed, in his time, in a
large boat, directed by a helm and a long pole. The river,
he observes, seemed to resernble the Rhone in size and ra-
pidity; while its volume is considerably increased in the
beginning of spring, and in autumn, by the melting of the


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
63
Without the eastern walls, where we en-
camped, was a large cave, supported within by
columns, left in the rock; and it appeared to
have been once used as a place of shelter for
cattle. In the sides of the rock itself, and in
every one of its pillars, were holes and bars
hollowed out for fastening the halters of the
beasts; and these had certainly been used for
this
purpose during many years, as the origi-
nally rough stones were worn quite smooth
by continued friction, though it had long
ceased to be appropriated to such a purpose.
At this place I saw none of the boats, formed
of rafts buoyed up by inflated skins, with
which the river Euphrates was anciently navi-
gated from Armenia to Babylon, as described
by several of the Greek writers; though an ap-
plication of the principle still remained in use,
probably as a last vestige of its gradual decay.*
snows, and the rains which fall in those seasons.
The town
of Bîr contained, according to his conjecture, about three
or four thousand inhabitants.—Vol. ii. p. 327. In the time
of Otter, Bîr was under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of
Aleppo.
* In the “ Description du Pachalik de Bagdad," by
Mons. Rousseau, formerly Consul for France at that capital,
the following passage alludes to this decay :-
“ Sans remonter jusqu'à leurs sources, et sans vanter la


64
PASSAGE OF THE
The stream is often crossed by men and boys,
who, stripping off their clothes, place them on
their heads, and throw their bodies along on a
sheep or goat-skin, tightly filled with air. They
completely embrace this highly-buoyant vessel
by clasping their arms around it, near to one
extremity, till their hands lock together be-
neath it, throwing their thighs more loosely
over the sides near the other end. By the
simply propelling motion of the feet, and the
occasional use of one of the hands, as an oar or
rudder, they get across faster than the largest
bonté de leurs eaux, je commencerai par dire que si l'Eu-
phrate et le Tigre eussent traversé la Grèce, ou l'Italie,
on auroit vu les poètes s'empresser de chanter à l'envi leur
magnifique aspect, et se plaire à célébrer les grâces naïves,
et les jeux folâtres des divinités imaginaires, dont auroient
été peuplées leurs ondes argentines: alors, ils n'auroient
cédé en rien pour la renommée au Pactole, ou au Tibre. Au
reste, les deux fleuves dont il s'agit produisent en abond-
ance d'excellens poissons, et sont également navigables,
l’Euphrate, depuis Bir, à cinq journées d’Alep, et le Tigre,
depuis Moussol, jusqu'à Bassora. Il y a quarante ans
que les communications par eau, entre Bir et Hilla, étoient
très-fréquentes : elles sont aujourd'hui totalement inter-
rompues, par la négligence des habitans du premier de ces
lieux, qui ont laissé périr tous leurs bateaux, sans vouloir
se donner la peine d'en construire de nouveaux, propres à
cette navigation


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
65
boats, and with much less loss of
way
from the
force of the stream.
The language of Beer is almost entirely
Turkish, by far the greater portion of the in-
habitants not even understanding Arabic. The
dress of the men is nearly the same as at
Aleppo; and among them are quite as great a
proportion of green-turbanned Shereefs.t It
* On this singular practice, Monsieur Rousseau has
the following passage :-
“ Tous les voyageurs ont parlé avec surprise de la cou-
tume qu'ont les Arabes de ces contrées, de faire de très-
longs trajets à la nage, au moyen d'une outre enflée qu'ils
s'attachent au ventre. Cette outre n'est autre chose qu'une
peau de chèvre dont ils cousent exactement toutes les
ouvertures, excepté celle d'une jambe, par laquelle ils
'soufflent cette peau jusqu'à ce qu'elle soit remplie d'air et
bien tendue ; ensuite ils tortillent cette partie, et la tiennent
bien serrée. Après cette préparation, ils se dépouillent
nus, font un paquet de leurs habits qu'ils attachent sur
l'épaule, et se posent à plat sur l'outre; de cette manière
ils voguent très-lestement à fleur d'eau, en remuant les
pieds et se gouvernant avec les mains, tandis qu'ils tiennent
à la bouche leur pipe toute allumée. Ce que je viens de
dire ne regarde pas les hommes seulement, on voit aussi
très-souvent des troupes nombreuses de femmes et de jeunes
filles, se transporter d'un rivage à l'autre sur leurs ballons
enflés, et faire retentir l'air de leurs chants pendant la tra-
versée."
+ Pretended lineal descendants of the Prophet Mo-
hammed.
F


66
PASSAGE OF THE
as any
would seem remarkable that these immediate
descendants of the Prophet should be so nu-
merous throughout the northern parts of Syria,
where neither himself nor any of the family of
his own times ever reached, while they are so
comparatively few in Yemen and the Hedjāz,
his native country, and the scene of his prin-
cipal exploits, were it not known that this
honour is as frequently purchased by money
other distinction in the Turkish empire.
The women of Beer dress like those of Asia
Minor, and among the few that I saw loosely
veiled, were some as fair as the women of
southern Europe, with more healthy ruddi-
ness of colour.
We passed our evening on the summit of
the hill above the town; where, while we
smoked our pipes on the grass, and drank the
cool freshness of the western breeze, we were
gratified with the most agreeable prospect.
Immediately before us were the walls, the
towers, and the broken turrets of the Saracenic
Town and Castle, with a bright moon throw-
ing her silver touches along the line of its
battlements, and producing the finest contrast
between the dark outline of their ragged
points, and the clear blue sky, on which they


RIVER EUPHRATES, AT BEER.
67
.
1
1
!
were so distinctly traced. Beyond the eastern
wall, the camels of the caravan were dimly
seen, the twilight of the broad shade in which
they reposed; being still more darkened by
the smoke of the fires, around which their
drivers had assembled to sing away their cares.
Behind us, was a white chalky valley, with
abrupt cliffs on either side, and well wooded
throughout with thick foliaged trees. Before
us, at our feet, flowed the majestic Euphrates,
winding its way through innumerable little
islets. The stream was bordered, on its eastern
side, by a narrow slip of plain, filled with pro-
ductive gardens; but from its opposite bank,
towards the horizon of the west, the eye ranged
over a level tract of land, without a marked
feature or a prominent object to be seen
throughout its illimitable extent.
1


CHAPTER III.
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF THE TUR-
COMANS, TO ORFAH.
JUNE 1st.—We quitted Beer with the
dawn, though it was long past sun-rise before
all the caravan had cleared the hill above;
not so much from its steepness or its length,
as from the unfitness of the camel, particu-
larly when loaded, to tread any roads but level
ones.
on his
As we were among the last in motion, we
were surprised by a party who had been de-
spatched from the Aga to seize a Janissary
escape from Aleppo, and who laid hold
of me as the person in question. It had been
observed at the Custom-house, that I had no
merchandise in the caravan, and it was there-
fore concluded that I was not a trader. As
I wore the Musulman turban, it was decided



CHAPTER III.
ri
PER
HALT OF THE CARAVAN,
AND DIVERSIONS OF THE GUARDS BY MOONLIGHT.


Aか
​


FROM BEER TO ORFAH.
69
that I was not a Christian pilgrim from Jeru-
salem ; my person being unknown to the
different douaniers who were acquainted with
all the people that usually pass from Syria
into Mesopotamia, I must, they thought, have
been a military man of some kind ; and my
being well armed, and riding a horse, instead
of a mare or gelding, tended rather to con-
firm this opinion.
My ignorance of the
Turkish language was thought to be a pre-
text, merely to protect myself from suspicion:
and the conclusion on all these facts was, that
I could be no other than a Janissary of Alep-
po, flying for some crime, either of a public
or a private nature.
I'was about to shew my passport, as an
Englishman, from the Pasha of Aleppo; but
Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, whom I consulted
privately on the affair, advised me, in a whis-
per, by no means to do so. It would be cer-
tain, he thought, of leading to a large demand
of entrance-money on coming into the ter-
ritory of the Pasha of Orfah, as this chief was
independant of the Pasha of Aleppo, and even
courted opportunities to show how much he
despised his authority. To relieve myself
from this detention, I endeavoured to per-


70
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
suade them that I really was not a Janissary,
but a Muggrebin Trader, who had been un-
fortunate in the west, and was now seeking
to repair my losses by new adventures in the
east.
I think that this tale was believed, though
the first accusation was still persisted in, until
it was at last told me, that if I chose to pay
fifty gold roobeahs to the Governor's people,
I might depart and join the caravan ; but if
not, that I should be detained here until I
could give some better account of myself. I
desired a moment for consideration, and it was
granted me; when, consulting with the Had-
jee, he assured me that he could not possibly
wait, as his goods and attendants were gone
on, and that if I was detained here alone, I
should no doubt be ill-treated and greatly
distressed. He offered even to pay the sum
himself, rather than suffer this to take place,
but advised immediate decision. I accord-
ingly returned, agreeably to his advice, and no
longer denied the charge of being really a
Janissary, who had lately entered the service,
and had come from Cairo, where Turkish is
but little spoken. As they had concluded
that, for some mutinous conduct there, I had


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
71
been obliged to seek my safety in flight, I now
threw myself upon the clemency of the Go-
vernor, as a brother soldier-pleaded poverty
from my being obliged to escape in haste, but
put twenty-five gold roobeahs, or about sixty
shillings sterling, into his hand, at the time
of my kneeling to kiss it, and this in so secret
a manner, that no one could see the gift or
claim a share. I was then ordered to be set at
liberty immediately, and, distributing a few
piastres among the servants, was quickly
mounted and soon rejoined the caravan.
From the top of the hill above the town,
we went onward in nearly an eastern direction,
over a hard chalky soil, producing a long slen-
der grass, and cultivated but very slightly
in scattered patches. We saw here many large
vultures, and some common hawks. The as-
pect of the country was dull and uninterest-
ing, as there was neither mountain, valley, nor
even plain ; the whole being an unequal sur-
face, like the high and long waves of a deep
sea when subsiding from a tempest into a
calm,—and not a tree any where in sight to
relieve the monotony of the scene.*
* The description given of the Plains of Mesopotamia,
by Xenophon, is strikingly accurate. “ The country was


72
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
As the animals and their guides were equally
fatigued with the exertion of getting clear of
the town this morning, our march did not
exceed five hours, when we halted in a grassy
dell to encamp for the night. The only
place at which water could be procured, was
from a cistern or tank, near a small hamlet,
upwards of a mile off. From thence it was
brought by asses, but we could obtain from its
inhabitants no other supplies of refreshment.
As we were now reduced to our own re-
sources, our supper consisted of boiled wheat,
warm bread, baked on a fire of camels' dung
and steeped in clear melted butter, and some
wild herbs, gathered from among the grass
around us. This was followed by a pipe and
a cup of coffee, and afterwards about an ounce
of brown sugar, made into a round hard cake,
was served to us out of a little tin case. This
was the travelling fare of one of the richest
a plain throughout, as even as the sea, and full of worm-
wood: if any other kind of shrubs or reeds grew there, they
had all an aromatic smell ; but no trees appeared. Of wild
creatures, the most numerous were wild asses, and not a few
ostriches, besides bustards and roe-deer, (antelopes,) which
our horsemen sometimes chased.” He then gives a lively
description of the mode in which the pursuit was conducted,
and its general result. -See the Anabasis, book i.


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
73
merchants of Mousul, who had property to
the amount of ten or fifteen thousand pounds
sterling in money and goods embarked in the
present caravan, and who every night fed,
from his own table, not less than twenty poor
pilgrims, besides his own immediate depen-
dants.
JUNE 2nd.—We quitted our station just as
the moon had set, or near midnight. From
thence, until the day broke, our way was east-
erly, over a country similar to that which we
had traversed yesterday, composed of swell-
ing ridges of land, with a dry light soil, scan-
tily covered by grass, and a few patches of corn
in the hollows of the plain, but not a tree was
any where to be seen.
About eight o'clock we came to a large
ruined caravanserai, called Khan Charmellek.
It was one of the largest and best constructed
that I had yet seen any where out of the cities
of Turkey, being constructed with excellent
masonry, and furnished with every conveni-
ence in rooms, stalls, courts, &c. The pointed
arch is seen in the great front door ; but, in a
range of smaller apertures on each side, the flat
Norman arch is used. The roof was formed
5


74
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
into a terrace running around the central
court, and the cornice over the four sides of
the outer front was purely Arabic. In a good
building opposite, which is said to have been
the station of the custom-master and his pro-
per officers, for examining the goods as they
passed, there is equally good masonry. Be-
sides the pointed arch, there is here one win-
dow which is formed of three segments of
circles; the two lower segments being those of
the round arch, and the upper one being
slightly pointed, which resembles the Gothic
style; and yet these three kinds of arches in
the same building are most indisputably con-
temporary
There are fine Gothic windows in the Great
Saracen Castle of El-Hhussan, in Syria, of
which the date is not known: and in the same
place is an inscription in Gothic characters,
which could not have been an Arabic work,
even if the architecture were Saracenic. There
is neither history nor tradition, however, re-
garding the possession of the Castle of Hhus-
san, by the Crusaders, though the inscription
in the Gothic character renders this highly
probable ; and, if so, the architecture would
be easily accounted for as a repair, or as an


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
75
addition to the original Saracenic work. The
whole history of architecture in these countries
is clouded by a thousand doubts, on examining
the monuments of the different races who
have possessed them. Each style and order
has had its day; but, instead of the remains of
these elucidating, as might be expected, the
history of their succession, every fragment
seen tends only to make the rise, progress,
perfection, or decline of particular styles and
orders of architecture in the East, more ob-
scure than before.
This khan, though very slightly ruined, is
now entirely abandoned, as well as a small
mud village behind it, the people of which no
doubt subsisted, principally, by furnishing it
with supplies.
From hence, we turned up on the left to a
small Turcoman camp where we procured
some milk, which was a welcome refreshment
after our long morning's ride. The tents,
hough smaller, were similar in structure to
those recently described.
The men of this camp, as I had noted
elsewhere, were fairer, cleaner, better dressed,
and more at their ease, than Arabs of the


76
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
same class; and all of them wore turbans,
which were generally of white cloth in broad
folds. In most of the countenances that I had
yet seen, there seemed to me to exist traces
of resemblance to the Tartar physiognomy.
The face is short, broad, and flat, with high
cheek-bones, small sunken eyes, flat nose,
broad mouth, and short neck, with a full black
bushy beard. The Malay and the Chinese face
are but exaggerated examples of the same cast
of countenances seen here, and form perhaps
the extreme, of which this is the first marked
commencement. In the Arab race, the face
is long, narrow, and sharp; the cheek-bones,
flat and low; and all have large expressive
eyes, a prominent and aquiline nose, small
but full-lipped mouth, long graceful neck, and
generally a scanty beard. As a race or caste,
the Turcomans are, therefore, widely different
froin the Arabs; though the same habits of
life have brought them from the north and
the south, to border upon ea
each other.
The women of this tribe were quite as well
dressed as those we had seen before. We no-
ticed one, said to be newly married, who was
driving goats to her tent, dressed with red


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
77
shalloon trowsers and yellow boots, a clean
white upper garment, a red tarboosh on her
head, overhanging in front, and three rows of
gold Venetian sequins bound around her brow.
She was fair, ruddy, and her skin was not dis-
figured by stains; but, above all, she was re-
markably clean and perfectly unveiled, two
marks of more distinctive difference from the
Bedouin women than even those which are
noted as separating the male races.
The existing abhorrence of any imputation
on their chastity, and the going openly un-
veiled, in a country where the cortrary com-
binations are much more frequent, are also a
singular feature of the Turcoman women; and
this, like all else that we had seen of their
manners, is strictly conformable to that of the
It appears that, then, harlots
only veiled themselves, to avoid, probably, the
disgrace of ever being recognised or person-
ally known; while modest females exposed
their features to public view. In the story of
Judah's unconscious incest with Tamar, his
daughter-in-law, it is said, that “she covered
herself with a veil, and wrapped herself, and
sat in an open place by the way-side,-and
when Judah saw her, he thought her to be an
earliest ages.


78
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
harlot, BECAUSE she had covered her face.”*
After his communication with her in the
public road, it is said, “ she arose and went
her
way,
and laid by her veil from her, and put
on the garments of her widowhood.”. When
it was told him afterwards, that this same
daughter-in-law “ had played the harlot, and
was with child by whoredom,” as she was one
over whom he had the power of a parent, he
exclaimed, “ Bring her forth, and let her be
burnt;"+ so that the same jealousy of injured
honour, and the same openness with which
women appeared before men, existed then, as
are still found here among the people now.
The contrary customs and manners, which
prevail in towns, may be considered, perhaps,
as an effect chiefly produced by the seclusion
which forms a constant part of the Moham-
medan treatment of women.
From this camp, we went on for about an
hour and half, when we came to a large cis-
tern, constructed for the reception of rain-
water; where we did not find enough, how-
ever, to supply our party. It was a reservoir
of a circular shape, excavated out of the rock,
* See Genesis, chap. xxxviii. v. 14-15.
+ See Genesis, chap. xxxviii. v. 24.


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
79
to a depth of twenty feet below the surface,
and was descended to by a flight of steps,
hewn down also to that depth. The whole
was stuccoed over on the inside, and it was
both a useful and a well-executed work. It is
called Saireej Kairaat.
About an hour beyond this, we came to a
second reservoir, in a spot called Char Merz,
where we encamped for the day.
JUNE 3rd.— We departed again with the
setting moon, and had lightning and slight
showers of rain, which made our way dark and
disagreeable until the day broke. Our course
was a point or two to the southward of east,
and this brought us, at day-light, to a large
reservoir for rain-water, with a place for
prayer near it.
We were now come into a more uneven
country than before: the height of many of
the eminences gave them the character of
hills; and they were, throughout, formed of
lime-stone rock, of a rounded surface, and ge-
nerally barren. In the vallies, were some few
patches of cultivated ground, and the rest
was covered with a long wild grass. .
This
furnished sufficient provender, not only for
1


*80
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
1
the camels, but for all the mules and asses of
our caravan, the horses only requiring corn.
In our progress, the road became more stony
and bare as we advanced, till, about ten
o'clock, we turned out of the way to halt by
a cistern. There being no water in this, ex-
cept the small portion yielded by the light
showers which had fallen in the night, we were
compelled to continue our way again, until we
arrived, in about another hour, at a small hol-
low plain or Wādi, as it is called, where there
was a large hewn reservoir for rain-water, and
a smaller one of good masonry in the same
plain, distant about a quarter of a mile. As
the first of these contained an abundant
sup-
ply for us all, we pitched our tents here for
the day, though we were now not more than
an hour's distance from Orfah.
Caravan-travelling, for one whose business
required great despatch, was more tedious to
'me, than could be well imagined ; and it was
rendered still more so, by my having no hope
of being able to avail myself of any other
mode. To go alone, as we had already had
sufficient proof, was highly dangerous ; and,
by leading to my being stripped in the way,
might prove fatal to all my designs. Messen-


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
81
gers of the government, accustomed to carry
despatches, and acquainted with by-roads,
which they alone frequent, were not to be
met with during my stay at Aleppo; and as
the government Tartars now go only from
Constantinople, through Diarbekr to Bagdad,
and Arab messengers directly across the De-
sert from Aleppo, there seemed no probability
of falling in with either of these on the way.
Our rate of travelling was so slow, that it
scarcely exceeded twelve miles a day, on an
average; the least distance being about ten,
and the greatest fifteen. The time occu-
pied in this, was from four to six hours, in
one continued march, so that our average rate
must have been, as nearly as can be estimated,
about two and a half geographical miles per
hour.
In walking my horse a gentle pace, if I
mounted the last in the caravan, I could gain
the head of it in two hours, though our line
extended nearly two miles in length; when,
as was the practice of most of the other horse-
men of the party, we dismounted on the grass,
suffered our horses to feed there, and either
lay down or smoked a pipe for nearly an hour,
until the caravan had all passed us again,
G


82
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
This was repeated at every similar interval ;
so that, in an uninteresting tract of country,
where there was no picturesque landscape to
charm the sight, not a tree to relieve the
monotonous outline of the hills, nor sufficient
verdure to clothe their rocky sides,—where
either we were lighted only by the stars, or
scorched by the sun an hour after its rising
its tediousness may be easily conceived.
The only advantage to be counterbalanced
against all these, is security. But with re-
gard to supplies, as it is more difficult to
obtain them for a large number than for a
few, and as every one furnishes himself with
what he may require on the journey, mutual
help in these is scarcely ever thought of, or
even practicable, without great inconvenience
to one or other of the parties. It is the prac-
tice, however, of most of those who can afford
it, to dress an ample supper at night, that
sufficient may remain for the poor
who are in
.
From the tent of Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān,
there were not less than twenty such, who
were regularly fed, besides those who sat down
with him, and were looked upon
either as his
companions, or immediate dependants, and
the camp


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
83
amounting to fifteen or twenty more. Among
these was a Wahābee, from the Nedjed, in
the heart of Arabia, who had been redeemed
from his deistical and puritanical heresy to
the orthodox Islamism of the Turks, by a
wound which he had received in his face.
This had injured his jaw-bones to such a de-
gree, that he could not open them at all, so
that, to enable him to eat, he had been obli-
ged to have four of his front teeth drawn, to
open a passage for admitting his food. He
never failed, however, to consume his ample
share of this, and that too very rapidly, from
his losing no time in mastication. Hadjee
Abd-el-Rakhmān had found this man at
Mecca, a prisoner, taken from the Wahābees;
and, on his return to the faith of his fathers,
he had taken him into his service as his in-
spector of camels.
There were, also, two Indian fakirs from
the Punjāb, who had been two years from
their homes, having staid two Ramadāns at
Mecca. They had come with a
straight from Muscat, in the Persian Gulf, to
that city, through the country of the Arabs;
and described the face of it as generally de-
sert and destitute of water, and the few tribes
caravan


84
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
of Bedouins there as bad people, generally at
war with each other. They had also found a
friend in the venerable Hadjee, who offered
to take them from Mecca to Mousul on their
return, in his own train, free of expense.
They walked on foot; but as they suffered
nothing from the heat, and performed only
short daily journeys, this was no inconve-
nience to them ; and they certainly ate, drank,
and slept more—and did, in all other re-
spects, considerably less—than any others of
the party.
One of them spoke a little Hindoostanee,
and told me that he had been at Bombay.
He praised the English government very
highly, and thought they did right in every
thing but that of their flogging fakīrs, when
they found them wandering naked in the
streets. *
It was observed, indeed, by many
*
Aurungzebe adopted a more effectual method of
terrifying the fakīrs into decency. “I was for a long
time disgusted, (says Bernier,) with a celebrated fakīr,
named Sarmet, who paraded the streets of Delhi, as naked
as when he came into the world. He despised, equally,
the promises and threats of Aureng-Zêbe, and underwent,
at length, the punishment of decapitation, from his obsti-
nate refusal to put on wearing apparel."-Bernier's Travels
in the Mogul Empire.


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
85
1
1
!
of our circle, as well as by myself, that these,
and Indian Mohammedans generally, are more
bigoted and fanatic than the believers in the
same faith who come from other countries;
and that they have more of the forms, with
less of the spirit, of their religion, than either
Arabs or Turks. It was thus that one of these
men would repeat, for an hour together, in
quick succession, the Moslem profession of
faith, as many times as possible, in one breath;
and another would count his beads and mut-
ter sentences unintelligible to the rest, while
neither of them ever washed or prayed, ac-
cording to the prescribed manner. The more
reasonably pious of our party were much
scandalized at this, and held their practices
to be tainted, as they doubtlessly are, with
the idolatry of Hindooism.
The state of the thermometer, since our
leaving Aleppo, had been tolerably regular,
but was gradually on the advance. The air
was extremely dry and light, and the addi-
tional heat was, no doubt, partly caused by this
and by the bareness of the earth's surface.
During the day, our skies were clear in the
zenith, but marked by lines of white clouds
all around the horizon ; and our nights were


86
FROM BEER, ACROSS THE PLAINS OF
beautifully pure and brilliant, with the excep-
tion of the last night only, which was clouded
between midnight and daybreak. At sunrise,
we had the thermometer at 78°; at noon, it
was 102° in the sun, and 96° in the shade
of the tent; at sunset, it stood at 88° and
at midnight, at 76'. During the day, we had
strong winds from the north, which consider-
ably tempered the air, as these winds came
from the lofty snow-clad ridge of Taurus ;
and, during the night, it was generally calm,
without the slightest perceptible fall of dew,
which contributed much toward preserving
an equal temperature. There was, indeed, a
freshness in the air, both by day and night,
which made it as agreeable as we found it
healthy.
In the course of the evening, several horse-
men alighted at our tent, and were served
with the cup of hospitality, as passengers on
their
way. We at first suspected them to be
the spies of some Turcoman troop in the
neighbourhood, who had come among us to
ascertain our force. They all told the same
story, representing themselves as adventurers
from Diarbekr, going to seek military ser-
vice at Aleppo and Damascus. We found


THE TURCOMANS, TO ORFAH.
87
1
.
1
amono
this afterwards to be true; for, soon after
they had left us, there passed a caravan going
to Beer, the leaders of which confirmed to
us the truth of their statement, and set our
minds at rest. Our condition, indeed, was
now more defenceless than before, and gave
sufficient reason for alarm, since more than
half the caravan, including the lightly-laden
beasts, and the horsemen, who were merely
passengers without goods, had gone on to Or-
fah, and left here but a small party encamped
My host, Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, having
his hospitable treatment of them on the road,
they were grateful enough to return it, by
sending out to us, from the town, a very ex-
cellent supper, composed of at least fifty
dishes, besides two mules laden with ices for
making iced sherbets, some white mulberries,
quinces, and other fruits, forming altogether
a meal and dessert for a sovereign.
We continued up late, in the enjoyment of
as much festivity as our means would afford,
by hearing the rude music and
songs
of some,
and clapping our hands to the dances of
others of our camel-drivers, around a blazing
with us.


88
FROM BEER TO ORFAH.
fire. We surrounded this circle, formed by
the animals themselves, who, on being driven
in from the hills where they feed, are made to
kneel down, and are generally arranged in a
circular form around the horses, the merchan-
dize, and the people of the caravan, as an outer
barrier for general security. Here, though
our guards were set on the outposts of the
camp, and we had each to relieve the watch
in our turn, we sang and danced away our
cares, and were as happy as the most sump-
tuous banquets or gorgeous palaces could have
made us.





CHAPTER IV.

OOOOOOOO
10000
AUTO
LI
INTERIOR VIEW
OF THE STREETS AND BUILDINGS OF ORFAH, FROM A TERRACE.


CHAPTER IV.
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN INTO THE CITY OF

ORFAH.
JUNE 4th.—The effects of the preceding
night's dissipation (if mirth so temperate as
ours could be so named) kept us asleep until
the sun rose, and it was not until a full hour
afterwards that we commenced our march.
The road now became more hilly and stony
than before; but, in about an hour and half,
on arriving at the top of one of the eminences,
and winding down a ravine, we came in sight
of Orfah.
As it stood on a lower hill beyond us, and
presented little to the westward, except a long
bare wall running nearly north and south, the
view of it from hence was uninteresting. On
the hill itself, from which we first saw it, I
remarked a pass cut through the rock, and
leaving a perpendicular wall on each side ;


90
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
and from hence, all the way to the city, a
distance of more than a mile, led a broad
paved road, winding down the side of the hill,
and still in good preservation.
In the cliffs above us, we noticed, both to
the right and left, several excavations, which
* had all the appearance of sepulchral grottoes.
Some few of these were arched at their open-
ings, like the tombs at Seleucia, at the mouth
of the Orontes; but the greater number of
them had oblong square entrances, like those
in the Necropolis of the Egyptian Thebes ;
and they were all, no doubt, works of high
antiquity.
On reaching the foot of the hill, which is
composed of lime-stone rock, we went for half
an hour over a cultivated plain of good soil,
and began to ascend a smaller rising of the
land, where the approach to the town is made
through an extensive modern cemetery. The
tombs were all in the Turkish style, with a
tall stone at each end of the grave, and that
at the head ornamented with a turban, by the
character of which, the sex and class of life
of the deceased may be known, even by those
who are not able to read the monumental
inscriptions.


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
91
I thought it remarkable, however, as all
the people from this place, whom we had yet
seen, wore the overhanging tarboosh of Syria,
with a shawl wound high on its front, that the
graves here should be decorated with the
Turkish kaook, or high-ribbed calpac; which
is, in general, peculiar to the Osmanlies, or
Turks of Constantinople and its immediate
neighbourhood
The graves were not decked with myrtle
by the hands of surviving friends, as at Damas-
cus, nor apparently attended with so much
pious remembrance of their silent inmates; but
they were, in general, better built, and more
expensively ornamented, than the former.
The body of the grave, or of the tomb above
it, rose in receding stages, one within another,
for three or four rows, leaving on the top a
space about the length and breadth of the
human form, from each end of which rose the
perpendicular inscriptive stones. On the sides
of these receding stages, ran around sculptured
friezes, formed, invariably, of the little arched
niche, so constantly repeated in Arabic and
Turkish architecture. They were here, how-
ever,
in every instance, reversed, with their
points downwards; but whether such a rever-


92
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
sion of this common ornament, in being
peculiarly applied to the sepulchres of the
dead, had any reference to the change of state,
as well as habitation, of the beings whose re-
mains they contained, I could not learn.
Among these tombs, I saw, for the first time,
military trophies depicted. The inner sur-
faces of the head and footstones of the graves,
which fronted each other, were flat; and these
were inscribed with many lines, both in Turk-
ish and in Arabic. The letters were cut in
high relief, in some gilded on a white ground,
and in others painted in black on a green
ground; the former, as it was explained to
me, being for virgins and youths, dying in a
state of innocence, and the latter peculiar to
the
graves of shereefs, or other
persons
distin-
guished for their piety; green being the holy
colour of the Prophet.
The lines were
engraved obliquely, or diagonally upwards,
from the right to the left, in the manner of
firmans, and other state-writings; and the
characters were exceedingly well executed.
The outer faces of these same stones were
convex; and on them were generally repre-
sented various emblems, in gaudy colours.
It was on this part, beneath the turban at


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
93
the top, that I saw depicted a sword, a shield,
a mace, a battle-axe, and other instruments
of war, as well grouped as the Roman devices
of this kind generally are. They were, how-
ever, very imperfectly executed, from their
being done in painting, an art of which the
Turks are scarcely yet in the infancy. The
execution of the turbans was much better, as
they were wrought in sculpture; and there
were some variations in the fashion of them,
which decided the peculiar classes of society
to which the dead belonged, as certain forms
are worn only by certain ranks of men.
On arriving near the gate of the city, we
turned down on the left, and, crossing a small
bridge over a rivulet, halted at the Khan
Koolāh-Oghlee. This is a large caravanserai,
set apart for the use of those who do not bring
their goods into the town, but who remain
there only a few days, as passengers on their
journey to some other place.
Our camels were unladen at this khan ; but
the numerous friends of my protector, who
came out to congratulate him on his return
from the Hadj, or holy pilgrimage to Mecca,
would not suffer us to remain here. As soon,
therefore, as all was safely unladen in the


94
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
great court, and the servants were distributed
in the chambers above, we quitted the khan,
leaving only the favourite and faithful Abys-
synian slave of the Hadjee toguard his master's
property.
The invitations were so many, and so press-
ing, that it was at first thought necessary to
refuse them all, for it was impossible to prefer
one to another, without giving cause of
offence; so that chambers were prepared for
us in a large building, called Khan-el-Goom-
rook, or the Custom-house Khan, where our
friends were to rendezvous. Here, indeed,
we were quite as well accommodated, and as
much at liberty, as we could possibly have
been in any private dwelling, having each of
us a chamber apart, and a small one besides, in
which to meet our friends, though the con-
gratulators were so many, that it was neces-
sary to receive them on the outside.
This khan consisted of an open court,
which was, at least, a hundred feet square,
and was paved throughout. On two of its
sides, were doors of outlet into covered bazārs ;
on the third, was a range of stables and cloaca ;
and all around, on the ground-floor, the inter-
vals were filled up by small rooms : flights of
1


IN TO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
95
steps there led to an upper story, in front of
which were open galleries all around, and
chambers, in which were carried on manufac-
tories of cotton, as well as the process of
printing them. Through the court below,
ran a fine broad stream of transparent water,
crossing it diagonally from corner to corner ;
and as it was descended to by long steps, it
served for watering the horses, for the ablu-
tions of the pious, and for the washing of the
manufactures above, as they came from the
workman's hands, before they were laid out on
the flat terrace of the roof to bleach.
This same stream was made contributary,
also, to another convenient purpose; all the
cloaca being supplied from it with a branch
running under them, while it fed a little foun-
tain in each, for the filling a small square
cistern, close by the left-hand of the person
sitting ; so that all impurities were carried off
by the stream below, and there was running
water always at hand, in which to wash, sup-
plied from above. Another branch of this
water filled a reservoir without, from which a
supply was procured by cocks, for the conve-
nience of those who might have occasion to
use it only in passing. The plan and the


90
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
arrangement of the whole was excellent, and
the masonry of the building was well executed;
yet, from the natural aversion of the Turks to
labour, it was not so clean as, with all these
advantages, it ought to have been.
Our day was almost entirely passed in re-
ceiving visits, which were chiefly from the
most respectable merchants of the town ; and,
in the evening, we had to attend a supper-
party, formed for us by the Hadjee's friends.
It was before sun-set that we assembled at
the house of a green-turbanned descendant
of the Prophet, to the number of about thirty
persons. We were received in a very hand-
some room, with gilded ceiling, carpeted
divans, furnished with silk cushions, and other
marks of the occupier's wealth. Among our
party were the two Indian fakīrs, who knew
their interest too well ever to desert their
patron, so that they constantly hung about
his person. These men, clad in a bundle of
loose rags, scarcely holding together, though
bound with many cords and threads, and
swarming with vermin, from their never having
changed their garments, or perhaps washed
their bodies, for the last three years, were
seated among the rest along the sofa, and


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
97
served with exactly the same attention as
others of the company.
This practice of admitting the ragged and
dirty to an equal place with the well-clad and
clean,—as well as that of suffering the servants
of the house to sleep on the divan at night,
which equally prevails among the Turks,—
occasions the houses of the rich to be almost
as subject to vermin as those of the poor. .
It is thus by no means rare to see the most
wealthy and polite among them arrest the
crawling intruder in his march over their
benishes; and, rather than defile their nails
by killing it on them, as is the practice with
the
poor in Spain and Portugal, they usually
blow it off into the middle of the room. They
say that they themselves thus remain clean,
and there is but a chance at least of the little
crawler's ever reaching them again : whereas,
though the practice of killing it at once
renders that impossible, yet, in their estima-
tion, this act is in itself too grossly shocking
to decency to be permitted.
Our supper was served on a large metal
salver, highly ornamented with Arabic devices
and inscriptions, and containing at least forty
dishes ; the central one of which was, as usual,
H


98
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
a pilau, and the surrounding ones stewed
meats, fruits, and various made dishes. Among
our drinks were, iced milk and lebben ; a fine
iced sherbet, made with honey, cinnamon-
water, and spices; and the iced juice of
pomegranates of the last year, diluted with
water of roses ; so that one could not regret
the want of wine to crown the banquet. The
napkin which surrounded the salver, so as to
leave a portion large enough to cover the
knees of all who sat before it, was of fine silk
gauze, embroidered at the edges and ends, and
was in one piece of six or eight yards long by
a yard broad. Water was served to us in a
silver cup, called, in Arabic, “tassé ;” and we
washed afterwards over silver ewers. Our
evening pipes and coffee were taken on the
terrace of the house ; which, being lofty, and
seated nearly in the centre of the town, gave
us a panoramic view of great extent and
beauty.
After sun-set, we retired to the Khan
Khoolāh-Oghlee, without the town, as the
Hadjee still persisted in refusing to give the
marked preference of a permanent abode with
any of his friends. They all accompanied us,
however, to the gate of the khan itself, where


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
93
we separated. Here, too, we found a party
formed for our entertainment, by the servants
and charitable dependants of the worthy pil-
grim; and, though of a humbler kind than
that which we had just quitted, it was much
more vivacious, and equally entertaining.
The chief personages who figured in this
assembly were two Christians, returning, from
the Easter festival at Jerusalem, to Mardin,
called, by the Turks, Mokhoddesy, and not
Hadjee; these titles being derivative from
the respective places visited.*
The names
of these pilgrims were Eesa, or Jesus; and
Abdallah, or the Slave of God. The names
of Jesus and Mohammed are borne only by the
followers of their respective prophets ; but
Abdallah is common both to Moslems and
Christians, though less frequent among the
latter, where it is sometimes replaced by the
* The Arabic name of Jerusalem is El Khods, or the
Holy: and, by the construction of the language, Mokhod-
desy is a name formed to signify persons who have visited
it in pilgrimage. In the same manner, El Hadj is the
Mohammedan name for the pilgrimage to Mecca; Hedjāz,
the name of the Holy Land; and Hadjee, one who has
performed the pilgrimage.
493550 A


100
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
name of Abd-el-Meseeah, or the Slave of the
Messiah.
Eesa was crowned with a high-pointed
bonnet, fringed at the edge, gilded on the
sides, and adorned at the top with a bunch -
of small tinkling bells. Abdallah made a still
more grotesque figure, as he was naked to
the waist, and had contrived to decorate his
head with coloured feathers and cotton wool,
which, added to the blue stains, (the symbols
of the holy pilgrimage,) with which his body
and arms were covered, gave him an appear-
ance somewhat between that of a savage
Indian and an ancient Briton, as they are
generally represented to us. To complete
the resemblance, these men threw themselves
into the wildest attitudes, like those of the
aboriginal war-dance of America, and to as
rude a music.
The band was composed of a drummer, who
beat with the palm and fingers of his hands
on a large copper pan, turned bottom upwards,
and a fifer, who blew into the upper end
of a long cane, holding it as a clarionet, and
using six stops, as in a flute. These produced,
as may be imagined, no sweet or seductive


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
101
sounds, though they were sufficiently musical
to charm most of the party, who kept time
by clapping their hands, as is commonly done
in Egypt.
Besides these, there was a little slave boy
of the Hadjee's, born in his house, of Abyssi-
nian parents, who, though not yet eight years
old, had accompanied his master to Mecca,
and was addressed by the honorary title of
all who visit the Caaba. This child, and one
of the camel boys, a lad of fifteen, sang to
each other in responsive verses, which were
again repeated, at stated intervals, by the
harsh chorus of all the voices of the assembly.
The dance then sunk from savage wildness
into the most lascivious movements; the men
approached each other, by progressive and
mutual advances, and, after an imitation of the
warmest union, embraced more firmly, and
cried aloud in an ecstacy of pleasure. The
song and music followed this change, by more
characteristic tones; so that the whole was
rather like a Thesmophorian exhibition in
honour of Ceres, than what one might con-
ceive to be the sober amusements of a grave
Moslem pilgrim, returning from the Temple
of his Prophet; or the pious practices of


102
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
Christians, still more recently come out from
the Tomb of their Saviour, and from witness-
ing the scenes of persecution and suffering
which preceded the death of their God. *
* The lascivious dance here described to have been per-
formed by the Christian and Mohammedan pilgrims, for
the amusement of a grave and pious merchant and his suite,
is the same which the late Queen Caroline of England was
so much reprobated for permitting her Eastern servant
Mahomet, to perform in her presence, during some portion
of her travels abroad. It has always prevailed in the East,
from whence, in the time of Augustus, it seems to have
been introduced into Italy. The reader will, perhaps,
remember the passage in Juvenal, which describes the effects
produced by Bathyllus's dancing the Leda Cheironomos.
It may be referred to, either in the original, or in Dryden's
Translation, Sat. 6, v. 3; but cannot be transcribed. This
dance, says the Delphin editor, which obtained its appellation
from Leda, a famous dancer and mimic, was performed by
certain gestures of the body and motions of the hand. It
was thought to be the highest incitement and stimulant of
lust, and was one of St. Cyprian's strongest reasons for
denominating the theatre, where it was always performed
among the degenerate Romans, “the Sanctuary of Venus."
“ The woman,” says he, “who visits these spectacles, ap-
proaches them, perhaps, with modesty in her heart, but leaves
them a prey to impurity and intemperance. They move
the senses, soften the heart, and expel robust virtue from
the honest breast.”—Epist. ad Donat. The Bathyllus, men-
tioned by Juvenal, was an Alexandrian, and, as some say,
the freedman of Mecænas, by whom he was subjected to


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
103
JUNE 5th. Our khan was crowded this
morning by the arrival of a caravan, after a
unnatural pollution.--Tacit. Ann. i: 54. This dance is
performed by women in Egypt, and was introduced into
Spain by the Moors. Volney speaks of it as follows:-
“ C'est une representation licentieuse de ce que l'amour a
de plus hardi. C'est ce genre de dance qui, portée de
Carthage à Rome, y annonça le declin des moeurs repub-
licaines, et qui depuis, renouvellée dans l'Espagne par les
Arabes, s'y perpétue encore sous le nom de Fandango.
Malgré la liberté de nos meurs, il serait difficile, sans blesser
l'oreille, d'en faire une peinture exacte : c'est assez de dire
que la danseuse, les bras etendues, d'un air passioné, chantant
et s'accompagnant des castagnettes qu'elle tient aux doigts,
exécute, sans changer de place, des mouvemens de corps que
la passion même a soin de voiler de l'ombre de la nuit.”—
Voyages, t. ii. pp. 403, 404. The Fandango, as at present
performed in Spain, is thus described by Swinburne: -
“ Our evening ended with a ball, where we had, for the first
time, the pleasure of seeing the Fandango danced. It is
odd and entertaining enough, when they execute with pre-
cision and agility all the various footings, wheelings of the
arms, and crackings of the fingers; but it exceeds in wan-
tonness all the dances I ever beheld. Such motions, such
writhings of the body, and positions of the limbs, as no
modest eye can look upon without a blush! A good Fan-
dango lady will stand five minutes in one spot, wriggling
like a worm that has just been cut in two.”—Vol. i. p. 70.
“ There were, however, (at Cadiz, many assemblies and
balls of a lower class, where the Fandango was danced a la
ley, that is, in all the perfection it is capable of. Among
the gipseys, there is another dance, called the Manguindoy,


104
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
journey of two days, from Diarbekr, destined
chiefly for Aleppo. It had been thus long on
so lascivious and indecent, that it is prohibited under severe
penalties; the tune is quite simple, little more than a con_
stant return of the same set of notes: this, as well as the
Fandango, is said to have been imported from the Havannah,
being both of negro breed.* I have been told that, upon the
coast of Africa, they exhibit a variety of strange dances,
pretty similar to these. Whatever may have been the birth-
place of the Fandango, it is now so thoroughly naturalized in
Spain, that every Spaniard may be said to be born with it
in his head and heels: I have seen a child of three
years
of
age dance it to the mother's singing, with steps and turns
scarce to be credited in an infant of that age. Towards the
close of the great balls given heretofore in the theatre, when
all the company appeared drooping with fatigue and over-
powered with sleep, it was a constant trick of the fiddlers to
strike up the Fandango. In an instant, as if roused from
the slumbers of enchantment by the magic touch of a
fairy's wand, every body started up, and the whole house
resounded with the uproar of the clapping of hands, footing,
jumping, and snapping of fingers.”—Vol. i. pp. 354, 355.
If the reader should be curious to see further accounts of
this wanton dance, he may consult Grose's Voyage to the
East Indies, p. 222; and Lucian, de Saltatione. And in .
Bayle, art. “ Bathylle,” he will find some very curious par-
ticulars respecting its introduction into Italy. From the
following passage of Lady Montague's Letters, it will be
seen that movements, something very similar to those wit-
nessed in the male performers at Orfah, constitute also a
portion of the female amusements enjoyed in the privacy of
* This is an error-they are of Moorish breed.


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
105
the march, in consequence of the spring, when
the mules, of which this was chiefly composed,
halt
every hour or two to graze. Diarbekr is
said to be in nearly a north-east direction
from this, and to be six good caravan days'
journey off.
We went early into the town, where our
day was passed in a round of visits to those
who had come to welcome our arrival yester-
day, which gave me an opportunity of seeing
many of the best houses in the place, as well
as 'many of the upper rank of females. As
our train was large, wherever we went the
the Harem :-"Her fair maids were ranged below the sofa,
to the number of twenty, and put me in mind of the pictures
of the ancient nymphs. I did not think all nature could
have furnished such a scene of beauty.
She made them a
sign to play and dance. Four of them immediately began
to play some soft airs on instruments between a lute and a
guitar, which they accompanied with their voices, while the
others danced by turns. This dance was very different
from what I had seen before. Nothing could be more artful,
or more proper to raise certain ideas. The tunes so soft !
:--the motions so languishing !_accompanied with pauses
and dying eyes !-half falling back, and then recovering
themselves in so artful a manner, that I am very positive,
the coldest and most rigid prude upon earth could not have
looked upon them without thinking of something not to be
spoken of !"-Vol. ii. Let. 33.


106
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
women contrived to get a peep at us from the
windows of their apartments, either as we
entered or as we quitted the courts of the
dwellings, and afforded me as good a sight of
themselves in return. This, however, was as
purely stolen on my part as on theirs; for as
not one of our company ever directed their
eyes that way but myself, it was necessary to
be the more guarded, to avoid being discovered
in the exercise of a curiosity which, however
laudable in itself, is here only permitted to
the weaker sex. Our constant passage from
one quarter of the town to another gave me,
also, an opportunity of seeing much of its
interior, which it would have been difficult for
me to have done otherwise, without a guide,
and without the risk of exciting observation.
There was a liberality of conduct displayed
towards me by my kind protector, that deserves
to be mentioned as peculiar to him. It has
been observed, that the term Hadjee is re-
served for the true believers in the Koran
only; and that Christians, although they have
performed their pilgrimage to Jerusalem, are
called Mokhoddesy, from El Khods, or the
Holy, the Arabic translation of the ancient
Hebrew, and present modern name. The


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
107
salute of “ Salām Alaikom,” and its answer,
“ Alaikom Salām,” or, “ Peace be upon you,”
and, “Upon you be peace,” is permitted to be
given and received by Moslems only; as well
as the formula before commencing any action,
however trifling, “B'ism Illah el Rakhmān el
Rakheem.” In the name of God, the great
and the merciful.* My friend, however, per-
mitted me to be addressed as “ Hadjee Aga,”
or, as we should say, “ Sir Pilgrim,” by all
those who did not know my name, and as
Hadjee Abdallah,” by those who did ; the
latter being the name under which I travelled.
When I ate or drank, or washed, or filled my
pipe, I constantly repeated the Mohammedan
formula ; and, on closing the operation, what-
ever it might be, ended by the grave “ Al
humd el Illah,” or, “ To God be praise.” This
was so far from being thought an infringement
* “ J'ai lu que les Européens ont savamment recherché:
num inter naturalis debiti et conjugalis officii egerium liceat
psallere, orare, &c. J'ignore ce que les Mahométans ont
écrit sur cette matière'; mais on m'a assûré, qu'accoutumés
à commencer toutes leurs occupations par ces mots, Bism
allah errahman errachhim, ils disent la même chose ante
conjugalis officii egerium, et qu'aucun homme de bien ne
neglige cette prière.”-Niebühr, Description de l'Arabie,
4to. p. 43.


108
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN."
on sacred privileges, that I never failed to
have the usual blessings of “ Aneeah," after
drinking; “ El Hawāf,” after washing; or
“ Naiman,” after rising from sleep; which was
given to me by every one of the party, in-
dividually, and returned to them by the usual
answers in the same way.
It was thus that few knew of my being an
Englishman, and still fewer of my not being a
Moslem. There were, indeed, some among our
party, who thought that Mohammedanism
was the prevailing religion of our country.
They had loosely heard that the English were
not so stupid as the other Franks, in setting up
gold and silver images in the churches, and
perfuming their priests with incense; and
they were sure that so brave a nation could
not think that the Almighty was a vain and
weak woman, which they think is implied in
the Catholic notion of the Virgin Mary, who
is worshipped as a being delighted with gold
and silver, and easily charmed into compliance
with our wishes, by seducing odours and sweet
smells.
At El Assr, the hour of afternoon
prayer,
which is midway between noon and sunset,
the Hadjee and his son wished to go to the


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
109
Mosque, to pray; and I saw that they were
evidently embarrassed how to dispose of me in
the interval. As we walked together, however,
towards the Mosque itself, which was near
one of the most interesting parts of the town,
I parted from them at the door, with an en-
gagement to wait for them on the side of the
lake, at the brink of which it stands, and
where I reposed in the shade until their
prayers were ended.
This lake, which is called “ Birket el Ibra-
him el Khaleel,” from being in the native city
of that patriarch, “ Abraham the Beloved, or
the Friend of God,”* is filled from a clear
spring which rises in the south-west quarter
of the town. It then forms a canal, which is
two hundred and twenty-five paces long, by
twenty-five paces broad; and generally from
five to six feet deep. At the west end, where
it commences, a room is built to hang over the
stream; and at the east, where a small bridge
terminates the greater canal, the waters run
into a lesser one, which divides itself into many
* It was the birth-place of Abraham and his wife, as
well as several of his family, who went out together from
this city, Ur of the Chaldees.—See Genesis, chap. xi. v. 31.


110
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
branches, and is dispersed in streams through-
out the town, for the convenience of manufac-
tories, private dwellings, and public khans.
On the south side of the canal is a long
causeway, the brink of which is nearly level
with the water's edge; and behind it are
gardens full of large white mulberry trees, as
tall and full in foliage as the largest of our
English elms.
On the opposite side, the
eastern half of the northern bank is occupied
by the grand façade of the Mosque of the
Patriarch, whose name it bears; and its foun-
dations are washed by the waters of the lake,
which are also considered to be sacred to him,
The centre of this façade is a square pile of
building, from which rise three large domes,
of equal size, and a lofty minaret, springing
up from amid a cluster of tall and solemn
cypress trees.
At each end of this central
pile, towards the stream, are flights of steps
descending to the water's edge, for the ablu-
tions of the pious, each flight occupying the
centre of two corresponding open arcades,
composed of several arches each. The wings
are terminated by two solid masses of building,
perfectly uniform in design, and completing
one of the most regular edifices of this kind,


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
111
to be found, perhaps, in Turkey. Beyond
this, and extending to the room at the west
end of the lake, is a large garden, filled with
mulberry and fig trees, and having smaller
bushes overhanging the water's surface.
The Birket or Lake, from being considered
as consecrated by devotion to the Patriarch,
is visited as well from motives of piety as of
pleasure, and seldom fails to have several
parties on its banks. Like the one of El
Bedāwee at Tripoly, on the coast of Syria, this
is filled with an incredible number of fine
carp, ,
some of which are two feet in length, and of
a proportionate thickness. As the water in
which they float is beautifully transparent,
they are seen to great advantage ; and it is an
act of charity, as well as of diversion, for the
visitors there to purchase vegetable leaves and
scatter them on the surface, by which the fish
are collected literally in heaps. As they are,
forbidden to be caught or molested, they
multiply exceedingly: and I certainly do not
exaggerate in estimating their present num-
ber throughout the whole of the canal, and
smaller stream, at twenty thousand at least ;
and their numbers are constantly on the in-
crease : it being regarded as a sacrilege of the


112
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
9. In
most unpardonable kind, for any one to use
them as food.*
There are some other delicious spots in the
neighbourhood of this beautiful Mosque, in
shady walks, gardens, and open places bordered
with trees; particularly near another fountain
and lakeclose by, called “ Ain el Zilgah.”
the Birket el Ibrahim, both men and boys
were swimming, some of whom performed that
exer- cise well; and in the lesser lake of Zilgah,
we surprised a party of females bathing. The
real and unaffected chastity, both of the Had-
jee and his son, or at least their prudent
exercise of it in all their public deportment,
* There is every reason to believe, that this abstinence
is a relic of the ancient superstition of the country, which
taught men to worship Dagon, or Venus, under the form of
a fish, and, consequently, to abstain from eating their God.
It was somewhere in Mesopotamia, that Venus, flying from
the violence of Typhon, was metamorphosed into a fish. See
Manilius, Astronom. iv. Selden de Diis Syriis, Syntagm. ii.
c. 3. “ Timebant,” says Selden, “ne sibi membra, si
animalibus hisce vescerentur, à vindicta Deæ intumescerent,
ulceribus scaterent, aut tabe consumerentur.”—Ibid. Cicero,
de Nat. Deor. iii. and Xenophon, Anab. observe, that the
superstitious inhabitants of these countries enumerated
fishes among their gods : and Clemens, quoted by Selden,
remarks, sneeringly, that the Syrophænicians paid no less
worship to their fish than to Jupiter Eleus.


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
113
occasioned them to turn instantly aside, and
obliged me to follow them, though we might
have enjoyed this picture of natural beauty
unobserved, and without disturbing for a mo-
ment the supposed seclusion of those who had
chosen this retreat.
The Lake of Zilgah, as clear as the finest
crystal, had its surface unagitated by the
slightest breath of air, the calm that reigned
becoming still softer and more balmy as the
evening closed. Along its borders were full
and verdant bushes, which overhung its waters,
and cast at once a refreshing fragrance, and
a welcome shade around. These interesting
combinations formed as fine a scene, either
for poetry or painting, as any of the foun-
tains of Greece could have done, though all
the Naiads of the stream had been conjured
up to aid its effect.
We went from thence to an enclosed ceme-
tery, called also Ibrahim el Kaleel, part of
which was overhung by the rocky cliffs of the
eminence on which the castle stands, and
the rest darkly shaded by the interwoven
branches of trees, literally impervious even to
the mid-day sun.
Besides many dervishes,
both at prayers and at play, with chess-boards,
I


114
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
shells, &c., there were also several parties of
females, most of whom were unveiled, as in a
retreat too sacred to be intruded on by men.
We turned as abruptly from this as we had
done from the former scene; and after halting
at some of the coffee-houses in our way, we
returned to our chambers in the khan.
We found here in waiting a servant of the
Patriarch of the Syrian church, who came to
congratulate me, in his master's name, on my
arrival at Orfah, and to say that, having been
informed by letters from Aleppo of my inten-
ded passage this way,
his Reverence was de-
sirous of seeing me at his convent.
I accordingly accompanied this man to the
residence of his master, towards the south-east
quarter of the town, to which the church and
the burying-ground of the Christians is at-
tached, and which is surrounded chiefly by
Christian dwellings. On being shewn up
into
his room, I was received by à middle-aged
personage, of more natural tranquillity than
affected gravity of appearance, who did not
move from his place, as is usual on the entry
of a supposed equal, but desired me to seat
myself opposite to him. His conversation was
in so low a tone of voice that it was with


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
115
difficulty I could understand it, although we
were not ten feet apart : it turned chiefly on
news, and the state of affairs in general; for,
he asked about China, the New World, and
the country of the Franks, all in a breath, and
seemed more ignorant of them all than any
Arab I had
yet found.
We were soon relieved from this, by the
entry of a Cawass, or silver-stick bearer of the
Motesellem, the Turkish governor of the city,
very gaily dressed as a Moslem soldier.
My
surprise was excited, when I saw him kneel
and kiss the Patriarch's hand, until I was told,
that though one of the Moteséllem's personal
guards, he was known, and avowed as a Chris-
tian. This, and a similar instance at Tripoly,
in Syria, are the only ones that have come to
my knowledge, of Christians being allowed
the same privileges of dress as Mohammedans,
even when in the actual service of the govern-
ment.
Soon afterwards, the priests began to as-
semble, all of whom kissed the hand of the
Patriarch, raised it to their foreheads, and
then kissed it again a second time. Some of
them, when they approached him, even un-
covered their heads,-an act of reverential


116
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
humility not paid even to sovereigns in Asiatic
countries, and observed by the Christians of
the East only to their bishops and their God.
There were but two of the whole number
who could speak Arabic, they being chiefly
from the north of Asia Minor, though most of
them, except the Patriarch himself, had
per-
formed their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
At sun-set, we ascended the terrace, where
we enjoyed an extensive and commanding
prospect of the town, from a new point of view,
in which it looked still more interesting than
before. We saw from hence many of the
inner courts of Christian houses, with the
females unveiled ; among whom, one pecu-
liarity was pointed out to me, namely, that
while virgins, they wear a red cloth of cotton
over their head, to distinguish them from
Moslem girls; but, that when they become
mothers, their having borne children entitles
them to the same privilege as the women of
the country, and from thenceforward they wear
white muslin, as is done by Turkish females.
I had been so pressed to remain the night
here, that it would have been an ill return for
my host's kindness to refuse, so that I sat
down with the rest to supper. Previous to


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
117
the meal, a small plate of fried fish, (stolen,
it was admitted, from the Birket el Ibrahim,)
was placed before us, of which all partook.
Rakhee, or brandy distilled from dates, was
then served from a rude image of a bird
moulded in clay, the stream being made to
issue from its mouth, and each of the guests
drank from ten to twelve china coffee-cups of
this strong spirit, before supper began. In
serving the Patriarch, the same reverence was
shewn to him as had been done below:
When the cup was given to him, or when it
was taken
away,
when his pipe was presented,
or when he wiped his mouth with a napkin
after drinking, his hand was invariably kissed
by the priests who attended him.
Our supper was composed of several good
dishes, and a bright moon was the lamp by
which we ate. Towards its close, a cannon was
discharged to announce the execution of a
Janissary, that mode of proclaiming their death
being an honour reserved for their class, as
beheading is for the nobility in England, while
inferior persons, not belonging to this class, are
here sent out of life without such a formality.
One of the priests having unfeelingly ex-
claimed, “ Ah! there is another child of the


118
ENTRY OF THE CARAVAN
devil gone to his father's bosom,” was followed
by several others, saying, “ Al humd ul Illah,"
or “ Thanks be to God;” and all prayed rather
for the destruction, and utter rooting out of
the Turks, than for their conversion to a purer
faith. In this the Patriarch did not actually
join, nor did he, on the other hand, at all rebuke
it. It led to a conversation of the most
fanatic and blood-breathing kind, in which
they seemed to pant only for an occasion to
persecute their
oppressors
with more than
tenfold return for injuries received.
From the library of the Patriarch, a sort of
General History was then produced, describing
in one volume the leading events of the
world, from Adam down to the first taking
of Jerusalem by the Mohammedans. This
was written in the Arabic language, with the
Syriac character, and called therefore, “Gur-
shoonee;" as the Arabic and Syriac are distinct
languages, having each a distinct character,
while in this dialect they are both mixed
together. From this book, some horrid details
were read of the cruelties practised on the
Christians, and it was then asked, “ What! if
the occasion offers, shall we not revenge our-
selves ?” I answered, that the head of that


INTO THE CITY OF ORFAH.
119
religion himself had said to his followers,
6 Bless them that persecute you, pray for
them that despitefully use you;” and, “if thine
enemy smite thee on the one cheek, turn to
him the other, or if he take away thy cloak
from thee, give unto him thy coat also.” All
of them knew these passages of Scripture
well enough, but said they applied only to
personal injuries, and not to those inflicted on
the cause of their holy faith ; an interpreta-
tion which, however ingenious, served only to
prove how pre-eminent are the feelings of our
nature over doctrines and precepts intended
to counteract them.
The remainder of our evening was passed
in theological disputes, as bitter as they could
well be, though between members of the same
church, and on points held to be unimpor-
tant, merely appertaining to faith and doc-
trine, uniformity in which is considered far
less essential than in ceremonial rites ; for all
were considered by this party to be orthodox
Christians, who made the cross and took the
sacrament in the same manner with them-
selves, however much they might differ from
them in other respects.


CHAPTER V.
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH-THE
EDESSA OF THE GREEKS, AND THE UR OF
THE CHALDEES.
I ENJOYED a night of delicious rest, in a
clean bed and clean linen, with the additional
luxury of being undressed, and free from tor-
menting vermin; as we slept on the highest
terrace of the house, in the open air, while the
priests reposed below.
Our morning pipe was smoked beneath a
fine pomegranate tree, about twenty feet in
height, in the middle of the court. Its rich
green glossy leaves, contrasted with the fine
scarlet flowers of the fruit just budding from
their stems, looked fresh and beautiful; and
its boughs were visited by black starlings, of
which there were a great many here, as familiar


CHAPTER V.

DITT
10
Du
OMANTTTTT
UIT
MOSQUE OF ABRAHAM,
IN HIS NATIVE CITY, UR OF THE CHALDEES.


7
1


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
121
and nearly as numerous as the sparrows of
the country:
During the remainder of the day, my leisure
was employed in arranging the notes which
I had made to guide my inquiries in this
town; and, after this, in visiting those parts
of it which I had not yet seen, and complet-
ing the examination of it; in the course of
which, I met every where with civility and
respect.
Orfah is conceived, by all the learned Jews
and Mohammedans, as well as by the most
eminent scholars among the Christians, to
have been the Ur of the Chaldees, from
whence Abraham went forth to dwell in
Haran, previous to his being called from
thence, by God, to go into Canaan, the land
promised to himself, and to his seed for ever.*
The Jews say, that this place is called in
Scripture Ourcasdin, that is, the Fire of Chal-
dea, out of which, say they, God brought
* Genesis, c. xi. v. 3; and Joseph. Ant. Jud. I. 1, c. 6,
s. 5.-" And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of
Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son
Abram's wife, and they went forth with them from Ur of
the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan, and they came
unto Haran, and dwelt there."


122
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
Abraham ; and, on this account, the Talmu-
dists affirm that Abraham was here cast into
the fire and was miraculously delivered.*
This capital of the country between the
Euphrates and the Tigris, the Padan Aram
and Aram Nahraim of the Hebrews, † the
Mesopotamia of the Greeks, and the Paradise
of the Poets,g received, from its Macedonian
conquerors, the name of Edessa ; and an
abundant fountain which the city enclosed,
and called, in Greek, Callirrhoe, communicated
this name to the city itself. In later times
it was called Roha, or, with the article of the
Arabs, Or-rhoa, and by abbreviation, Orha, #
D’Anville thinks, that this last name may
be derived from the Greek term signifying a
fountain ; or, according to another opinion, it
may refer to the founder of this city, whose
name is said to have been Orrhoi, now retained,
with some little corruption, in Orfah, or
Urfah. T
* Pococke, vol. i. p. 159.
+ Genesis, c. 28, and Josephus.
# From Megos, medius; and motapos, fluvius.
8 Milton's Paradise Lost.
|| Cellarius Geographiæ Antiq., lib. 3, c. 16.
Compendium of Ancient Geography, v. i. p. 426.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
123
Pococke
says, “ This place seems to have
retained its ancient name, as many others have
done,-Edessa being the name given to it by
the Greeks. However, the name of this city
seems to have been changed in honour of the
Kings of Syria, of the name of Antiochus, and
to have been called Antiochia.”* The famous
fountain of Callirrhoe being here, distinguished
this city from others by the name of “ Antio-
chia ad Callirrhoen;" and there are medals
which were struck with this name, though, if
it had not been explained by Pliny, it would
have been difficult to know what place was
meant.t
Niebuhr, however, observes, that the Turks
still call the district here, El-Rohha; because
a city of the same name, which had been for
the most part ruined, was anciently the resi-
dence of the Pasha. I
For myself, I can confidently affirm that it
is called Orfah by all the Turks, and by the
greater part of the Koords and Arabs of the
* Pococke, vol. i., part i., c. 17, p. 159, folio.
+ “ Arabia supradicta habet oppida Edessam, quæ quon-
dam Antiochia dicebatur, Callirrhoen a fonte nominatam."
-Plin. Nat. lib. 5, 21.
# Niebuhr, vol. ii. p. 332, 4to.


124
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
surrounding country ; but Rohha by a few of
the latter only, and these chiefly Christians.
I could meet with none, however, among
either, who were able to give a satisfactory
reason for the retention of this last name,
all of them believing that Orfah was its original
appellation in the time of Abraham’s dwelling
here. *
Edessa was thought, even by the early
geographers, to be so ancient, that in the time
of Isidore of Charax, Nimrod was named as its
founder; and the traditions current among the
* Mr. Gibbon erred in supposing Edessa to have been
only twenty miles beyond the Euphrates, it being consider-
ably more than that distance from the nearest part of the
river in a straight line.-Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. i.
c. 8, p. 335.
D'Anville
says, that Edessa was placed in the lat. of 36°,
and stood at the head of the river Scirtas; the latest autho-
rities make its latitude about 37° 10' N.
This author adds, regarding its name :-“On lit dans
Pline, (ed. in folio, tome i. p. 268, note 8,) parlant d’Edesse
en Osroène, nunc vulgo creditur esse Orpha, et alio rursum
nomine Rhoa : sed verius citra Chaborem amnem, cui Orpha
imposita est, fuisse veteram Edessam putamus. Quoiqu'il
soit commun dans l'usage vulgaire d'appeller cette ville
Orfa, cela n'empêche pas que son nom pur et sans altération
ne soit Roha, que la denomination Grecque, Callir-rhoe,
lui a donnée."-D'Anville sur l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 12.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
125
people here, at the present day, ascribe the
building of their castle to that “ mighty hunter
before the Lord.”
Before the conquest of this city by the
Romans, it was the capital of Osrhoene, an
independent kingdom, which occupied the
northern and most fertile part of Mesopota-
mia, and whose inhabitants, since the time of
Alexander, were a mixed race of Greeks, Arabs,
Syrians, and Armenians.* This capital, which
had taken its name of Edessa under the empire
of the Seleucides, from that of a considerable
town in Macedonia, still retained it under
its change of fortune, as a Roman colony,
when it became, from its position, one of the
barriers opposed to the Parthians, and to the
Persians of the Sassanian dynasty.
It was about the time of Christ that it ceased
to be subject to its own princes, as Abgarus is
said to have written a letter to Jesus, declaring
faith in him, and desiring his presence to cure
him of a disease. This same Abgarus was the
* “ The polished citizens of Antioch called those of
Edessa mixed barbarians. It was, however, some praise,
that of the three dialects of the Syriac, the purest and most
elegant (the Aramæan) was spoken at Edessa.”—Gibbon,
vol. i. c. 8, p. 335.


126
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
last King of Edessa, who was sent in chains to
Rome, about ten years before the fall of the
Parthian monarchy, when the Roman power
was firmly established beyond the Euphrates.*
In the time of Julian the Apostate, or
A. D. 361, the sect of the Arians flourished at
Edessa, where they committed great disorders,
for which the whole property of their church
was confiscated; the money being distributed
among the soldiers; the lands added to the
general domain; and this act of oppression
aggravated by the most ungenerous irony.+
It is asserted, that Edessa was re-edified,
A. D. 545, by Justinian, the great builder of
churches to Saints in the East, and during his
reign was called, after him, Justinopolis. It
was probably too the Antoniopolis, a city of
Mesopotamia, mentioned by Ammianus Mar-
cellinus, and so called from the assassination
there of Antoninus Bassianus Caracalla. This
* Gibbon, vol. i. c. 8, p. 335.
+ “I shew myself,” says Julian, “ the true friend of the
Galileans. Their admirable law has promised the kingdom
of heaven to the poor; and they will advance with more
diligence in the paths of virtue and salvation, when they are
relieved, by my assistance, from the load of temporal pos-
sessions."--Gibbon, vol. iv. c. 23, p. 129.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH
127
son of the Emperor Severus--who killed his
brother Geta in his mother's arms, married and
lived publicly with his own mother, slaughtered
some thousands at Alexandria, for jestingly
calling him an Edipus and his wife a Jocasta,
and at last assumed the name and dress of
Achilles, proclaiming himself the conqueror of
provinces which he had never seen—was assas-
sinated at Edessa, by Macrinus, A.D. 217, in
the forty-third year of his age, and, on his body
being sent to his wife Julia, she also stabbed
herself on the spot.*
In the early ages of the Church, Edessa was
famous for the possession of a certain image,
thought to represent the genuine features of
the Son of God, and held up as the Palladium
of this honoured city. After a long imprison-
ment in a niche of the wall, where it had lain
in oblivion for five hundred years, this image
was released by a bishop, and presented to the
devotion of the people. Its first exploit was
the deliverance of the city from the arms of
the Persian Chosroes Nushirivan; and it was
soon revered, as a pledge of the Divine pro-
mise, that Edessa never should be taken by
* Lempriere's Classical Dictionary.


128
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
a foreign enemy. It had been exposed on
the ramparts during the battle; and the final
delivery of the city from its enemies was
attributed to its influence; after which, the
image itself was not only preserved with
respect and gratitude, but hymns were even
addressed to it in the full choir of the church.*
Toward the close of the fifth century, the
heresy of the Nestorians was received in the
church of Edessa, after it had been driven
from Ephesus and Chalcedon.t
Although Edessa had for a considerable
period resisted the Persian force, it at length
became involved in the common ruin ; and
after being relied on as the chief protection of
the city for three hundred years, the “ Palla-
dium” was yielded to the devotion of Con-
stantinople, for a ransom of twelve thousand
pounds of silver, the redemption of two
hundred Mussulmans, and a perpetual truce
for the territory of Edessa.I
* Gibbon, vol. ix. c. 49, p. 119.- The fallen fragments
of another celebrated image, the Colossus of Rhodes, were
sold to a Jewish merchant of Edessa, who is said to have
laden nine hundred camels with the weight of the brass.
-Vol. ix. c. 51, p. 425.
+ Gibbon, vol. viii. c. 47, p. 339.
# The prudent Franciscan, Pagi, in his Criticism, re-


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
129
It was in the reign of Heraclius, or about
A. D. 637, that the Saracens, under the second
Khalif Omar, completed the conquest of Syria
and Mesopotamia, when the walls of Edessa
and Amida, of Dara and Nisibis, which had re-
sisted the arms and engines of Sapor and Nu-
shirivan, were levelled in the dust.*
It again reverted to the Christians, how-
ever, some centuries afterwards, when Bald-
win, one of the celebrated heroes of the first
Crusade, founded there, in the year 1097, the
first principality of the Franks, or Latins,
which subsisted fifty-four years on the west-
ern border of Mesopotamia.t
fuses to determine, says Gibbon, whether the Image of
Edessa now reposes at Rome or at Genoa ; but its repose
is inglorious, and this ancient object of worship is no longer
famous or fashionable.—Vol. ix. c. 49, p. 122.
In the mutinies under the reign of Maurice, when the
camps, both of Europe and Asia, were agitated with fre-
quent and furious seditions, the enraged soldiers of Edessa
pursued with reproaches, with threats, with wounds, their
trembling generals; they overturned the statues of the
emperor, cast stones against this miraculous image of Christ,
and either rejected the yoke of all civil and military laws,
or substituted a dangerous model of voluntary subordina-
tion.-Vol. viii. c. 46, p. 205.
* Ibid. vol. ix. c. 51, P
424. + Vol. xi. c. 58, p. 64.
It was during the existence of this principality, that the
K


130
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
It was then subjected to its present posses-
sors, by the arms of Zenghi, the son of Ascan-
Counts of Edessa, from whom the Courtenay family of
France, and now of England, are descended, first arose;
although a French knight of some opulence first founded
the Castle of Courtenay, about fifty-six miles to the south
of Paris. From the reign of Robert, the son of Hugh
Capet, the Barons of Courtenay are conspicuous among
the immediate vassals of the crown; and Joscelin, the
grandson of Atho and a noble dame, is enrolled among the
heroes of the first Crusade. He became attached to the
standard of his cousin, Baldwin of Bruges, who was the
second Count of Edessa; and after the departure of his
cousin, Joscelin himself was invested with the county of
Edessa, on both sides of the Euphrates. After a holy war-
fare of thirty years, in which he was alternately a conqueror
and a captive, he died like a soldier, in a horse-litter, at the
head of his troops; beholding, with his last glance, the
flight of his Turkish invaders. His son and successor, of
the same name, while enjoying the peaceful luxury of Tur-
bessel, in Syria, neglected the defence of the Christian fron-
tier beyond the Euphrates; and it was in his absence from
it that Zenghi, the first of the Attabegs, besieged and
stormed his capital, Edessa, and drove Courtenay himself
to end his days in the prison of Aleppo. The Countess
Dowager of Edessa retired to Jerusalem, with her two
children: the daughter, Agnes, became the mother of a
king; the son, Joscelin the Third, accepted the office of
Seneschal, the first of the kingdom, and held his new estates
in Palestine by the service of fifty knights. His name ap-
pears with honour in all the transactions of peace and war,
but he finally vanishes in the fall of Jerusalem ; and the


132
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAK.
The early travels of the Jewish Rabbi Ben-
jamin of Tudela, which were commenced in
the year 1173, mention Edessa under the name
of Dakia, which would seem to be a Syriac
corruption of Antiochia, a name it is said once
to have borne.* The whole of Mesopotamia
is called by this traveller the Land of Sen-
naar, as if intended for the Shinar of the Scrip-
tures.Dakia, the ancient Chalné, is spoken
These scattered notices respecting Edessa, or Orfah,
having been compiled with some care, are now given in a
connected and chronological order, for the purpose of filling
up the interval between its scriptural and its present con-
dition, by the intermediate links of its history in the middle
ages : especially as Orfah, or Edessa, is one of the cities of
the East, of which less appears to be popularly known by
readers of the present day, than any other that can be
named. We shall soon pass, however, from research to
description.
* Independamment du nom d'Edesse, cette ville aurait
pris sous les Seleucides le nom d'Antioche. (Polybe, lib. 5.)
Quoique, selon les auteurs très graves, comme on verra par
la suite, la même denomination soit appliquée à Nisibis,
plus reculée en Mesopotamie, le temoignage de Pline (lib.
5, c. 24) n'est point équivoque en faveur d'Edesse. • Edessa,
dit-il, quæ quondam Antiochia vocabatur, Callirrhoen à
fonte nominatam.'--D'Anville sur (Euphrate et le Tigre,
p. 12.
+ This land, however, was south of Nineveh, and not far
from Babylon, as may be seen in Genesis, c. x. v. 10^-11.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
133
of by him as the commencement of this land,
and is said, in his day, to have had many Jews
there, with a synagogue, built by Esdras the
scribe, on his return from Babylon. This is
unquestionably the Orfah or Rahhah of the
present day; and if any doubt remained on
the subject, it would be set at rest by the fact
of Benjamin's describing Hharran, the ancient
residence of the Patriarch Abraham, as only
two days' journey from thence.*
In the thirteenth century, during the inva-
sion of western Asia by the Moguls or Tartars,
from whom the Turks of Constantinople are
descended, Edessa was sacked by them during
three whole days; and two centuries after-
wards, suffered equally from the armies of
Timur Beg, or Tamerlane.t
The changes which it has undergone since
that period are not easily to be traced. The
earliest notice that I have met with of Edessa,
in comparatively modern works, is that con-
tained in the Travels of De Haiton. It is
there called Rohais, and is said to be a city of
the kingdom of Abgar, to whom was sent the
* Benjamin de Tudele, in Bergeron's Collection.
+ D'Anville sur l’Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 14.


134
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
image of Veronica, then at Rome.* This city
is named, with the Euphrates, as the most
western boundary of Mesopotamia, and close
to Harran, the country from whence Abraham
was called.+ It is, therefore, undoubtedly the
Rahhah of the Arabs, and the Orfah of its pre-
sent governors,
the Turks.
In the year 1644, it was passed through by
Tavernier, on his
way from Aleppo to Ispahan.
He says of it, “ Orfah is the capital city of
Mesopotamia, built, as they say, in the place
where Abraham lived, and where stood the
ancient Edessa, where the people of the coun-
try report that King Abgarus held his court.
There are still to be seen the ruins of a castle,
from whence, they add, that the same king sent
to Christ for his picture.”I
In the summer of 1738, our own celebrated
traveller, Pococke, visited it; and, at that pe-
riod, it seems to have arisen from a ruined state
to one of opulence-if the difference be not
* Of the pictures chiefly venerated by the early Chris-
tians, the most ambitious aspired to a fraternal relation with
the Image of Edessa ; and such is the Veronica of Spain,
or Rome, or Jerusalem.--Gibbon, vol. ix. c. 49, p. 120.
+ From Bergeron's Collection.
| Travels of Tavernier. London, 1678, folio, p.
68.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPION OF ORFAH.
135
rather in the details of the narrators than in
the state of the place itself. Tavernier had
said, “ The walls of the city are of freestone,
with battlements and towers, but within, the
houses are small, ill-built, and ruinous; and
there are several void spaces in the city, which
makes Orfah to look rather like a desert than
a metropolis.”* Pococke, however, describes
it as having a great trade in his time, and
being very flourishing; and, on his visit to
the castle, he says,
6 From hence, there is a very
delightful prospect of the city, the water, the
gardens, and the plain to the north, which
make it, in every respect, a very charming
place.”+
In the spring of 1766, the Danish traveller,
Niebuhr, passed through this town, on his way
from Bagdad to Aleppo, and it was then in an
equally flourishing state, though his stay there
was too short to admit of his giving any mi-
nute details of its condition.I
Orfah is seated on the eastern side of a hill,
at the commencement of a plain ; so that while
* Tavernier, p. 68.
+ Pococke, vol. ii. part 1, c. 17, p. 160.
# The outline ground-plan which he has given of the
city seems to be tolerably accurate. — Vol. ii. p. 330. 4to.


136
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
its western extremity stands on elevated
ground; its eastern is on a lower level; and,
with very trifling variations, the whole of the
town may be said to be nearly flat. The wall
by which it is surrounded encloses a circuit of
from three to four miles, and appears to tracé
out, in its course, an irregular triangle; the
west side of which runs nearly north and
south; the southern side, east-south-east and
west-north-west; and the third, or longest
side, on the north-east, connecting the two
others by a line of north-west and south-east.
The length of the shortest of these sides is a
mile, and the space within is well filled; there
being few open places in the town, and where
trees are seen, they are generally in streets or
courts, or before coffee-houses or places of
public resort.
The town is bounded on the west, by mo-
dern burying-grounds, gardens, hills, and vales;
on the north, by rising land; on the east, by
a fertile plain, terminating at the foot of a bare
ridge of hills; on the north-east, by this same
plain, extending to an horizon like the sea,
where it runs into the sandy desert; and on
the south-west, by a high hill, nearly overlook-
ing the town, and crowned with the walls of a


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
137
ruined castle. The houses are all built of
stone, and are of as good masonry, and as
highly ornamented, as those of Aleppo. They
have mostly a small door of entrance from the
street, with an open court, and divans, in re-
cesses below; while the upper story is laid out
in rooms of reception, more expensively fur-
nished. Above this is the terrace, on which,
in many instances, are raised central benches,
railed around, so as to form sofas, or beds, as
occasion may require ; and it is here that the
morning pipe
pipe is enjoyed, the evening meal
taken, and the whole of the night passed, in
summer, by the inhabitants. The Harem, or
the wives and children of the family,—which
that word strictly means, without reference
to
any number of either,-live here, as much
apart from the males as throughout the rest of
Turkey, generally occupying a small suite of
rooms by themselves, at the other end of the
court, into which there is no communication
but by passing across that court, and thus being
publicly seen by all the inmates of the dwell-
ing
The streets are narrow, but having a paved
causeway on each side, with a central channel
for water, and, being more or less on a sloping


138
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
ground, they are generally clean. On the
outer doors of many of the dwellings here, I
had observed, as at Beer and Aleppo, the in-
scription of allo (Mash Allah,) with a date
beneath, which I now learned was a privilege
granted to pilgrims only. The exclamation
itself is one generally used in common dis-
course, to express wonder and admiration, and
has here, no doubt, the same application. The
date attached is that of the year of the Hejira
in which the pilgrimage of the dweller was
performed. In commenting on this practice,
they never fail to compare it with what they
consider the absurd usage of the Christians,
who mark their arms and bodies with various
figures of saints and angels, to commemorate a
similar event. * Ours,” say they, “is a con-
fession to all who pass our dwelling of the
pious work we have performed, and is never
concealed even from the eye of the stranger,
since we are not ashamed of the precepts of
our Prophet. The emblems of the Christian,
on the contrary, are not to be seen but when
his body is uncovered, and then it is but to
shew how men can deface the beauty of the
human form, which came in the perfection of
excellence from the hand of its Maker.”


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
139
The bazārs are numerous and well supplied,
and are separated, as usual, into departments,
each appropriated to the manufacture and sale
of particular commodities. The shoe bazār is
small, but peculiarly neat and clean, being
wider than the others, and roofed over with a
fine arched covering of masonry, whitewashed
within, and admitting the light and air from
without through grated windows at the top.
Most of the other bazārs are also covered, and
are always fresh, cool, and sheltered both from
rain and sunshine. That in which muslins,
cottons, and other piece-goods are sold, is equal
to any of the bazārs either at Smyrna, Cairo,
Damascus, or Aleppo. It is from twenty to
twenty-five feet wide, including the benches
of the shops on each side, which are all fitted
up as divans, with carpets and cushions. It
is, at least, from thirty to forty feet high, and
covered in throughout its whole length by a
range of fine domes, in succession, admitting
light and air by a sort of lantern-windows in
the roof.
This bazār is amply furnished with the
manufactures of India, Persia, and Asiatic
Turkey, and with some few Cashmeer shawls
and Angora shalloons; but English articles,


140
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
which are held in the highest estimation, are
extremely rare. I repeatedly heard, indeed,
expressions of wonder, as well as regret, from
dealers in this bazār itself, at the failure of the
usual importations of British goods from
Aleppo. Formerly, it appears, there were
many English merchants established there,
who furnished regular supplies of cloths, shal-
loons, printed cottons, arms, hardware, and
glass. At this moment, there is not one of
these establishments existing; and the few
bales of cloth, which are to be had from the
remaining Frank dealers of Aleppo, are com-
plained of, as being of a much worse quality,
and higher price, than those they had been
accustomed to receive. If the English Fac-
tory at Aleppo should ever again recover from
its decline, there is little doubt but that its
trade would be soon as extensive as ever, since
the superiority of British goods, of every de-
scription, seems to have been better learnt by
privation of them, than by their actual use.
The khans, or caravanserais, are numerous,
and some few excellent. The Khan Khoolah-
Oghlee, on the skirts of the town, in which the
merchandize of our caravan was lodged, could
accommodate, in its central court, a hundred


142
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
walls of his abode; as he has stabling, water,
lodgings, and food, close at hand, to be brought
to him prepared in any way he may desire;
;
with a house of prayer, in which to offer up
his devotions to his Creator.
The
mosques
that are crowned with mina-
rets, and seen from without, amount, in num-
ber, to about fifteen. That of Ibrahim el
Khaleel has already been described : it is the
most beautiful in its exterior, though not the
largest ; and it is also held in the highest re-
verence and esteem, from its lake teeming with
the fish therein preserved in honour of that
Patriarch.
The people here believe, that, even if these
fish were taken, no process of cooking would
make any impression on their bodies, or ren-
der them at all fit for food. On my first hearing
this, I considered it only as one of the super-
stitions of the very lowest class, ingeniously
imposed upon them, perhaps, to prevent their
disturbing a source of supply to the tables of
the higher orders of society ; but in a party
on the banks of the stream itself, composed
of some of the most sensible, respectable, and
liberal-minded men in the place, I heard this
opinion gravely re-echoed from voice to voice,


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
143
as one of the incontrovertible proofs of the
care which the venerable Patriarch took of his
native city, and of the approbation with which
he looked down on their labours, to embellish,
with spreading trees and running waters, the
temples which they had reared there to his
covenanted God.
I could have assured them, that, only on the
preceding evening, I had eaten of some of
these fish, which had been stolen from the
lake by Christians, who thought it less crimi-
nal to commit a theft than to sup without
some of those delicate morsels, to relish the
arrack, of which they drank so copiously before
their supper began. Such a disclosure, how-
ever, would have brought them into trouble,
and their religion, perhaps, into persecution-
two evils, certainly not worth incurring, for
the sake of undeceiving men in an error of so
harmless a tendency.
The largest of the mosques at Orfah has a
square steeple, and this form is also repeated
in one of the smaller ones; at the top of
which are open double windows in each face,
as in the square towers of the Haurān; the
division being here made by Corinthian co-
lumns, which would seem to mark it as an early


144
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
Christian work. The general form, however,
of the minaret, is circular, with a gallery of
open stone work near the top, and the summit
is crowned by a pointed cone, surmounted by
the crescent of the faith. On many of these,
a large bird builds its nest of reeds and bushes,
to the size of the head of a small tree, and
often as large as the whole diameter of the
minaret itself. It is said to be
It is said to be a bird of pas-
sage, coming here in spring to breed its
young,
and remaining during the summer; when, in
winter, it goes away into a southern and
warmer clime, either into the Deserts of Ara-
bia, or to some region still more remote. It
is called, by the people, “ Hadjee Lug lug;"
the former, from its making a yearly pilgri-
mage and building chiefly on mosques; and
the latter, from the sound made by its broad
and heavy wings when flying. I had seen the
bird itself only at a distance, and from thence
judged it to be a very large kind of stork;
not, however, so large as the immense bird
called the Adjutant, which makes similar pe-
riodical visits to the banks of the Ganges,
and the lakes of Bengal.
The baths of Orfah, of which there are four
or five, are large, and some are reported to be


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
145
On our
extremely good. The one into which I went
being the nearest to our khan, was spacious,
but dirty and badly attended. It is true, that
it was in the afternoon, when many of the male
attendants were gone; as it is the custom in all
the large towns for the baths to be open from
daybreak until El Assr for the men, and from
that time till sunset for the women.
leaving it, the female attendants were already
assembling in the outer room, preparing the
beds and cushions; and at the porch without,
were a large party of ladies chattering aloud,
and expressing their impatience for our re-
moval, that they might be admitted.
The manufactories of the town are confined
chiefly to articles of the first necessity, among
which cotton and woollen cloths have the
pre-
eminence in extent of consumption. The first
of these are about the quality of coarse English
dowlass, and are used in their original state
for the shirts and drawers of men, for the
inner garments of women, and for many do-
mestic purposes.
When printed, they are
convertible to more various uses, as they
are then made into gowns, or outer robes, for
females, shawls for the head, and coverings for
beds and sofas ; and by being printed of a
VOL. I.
L


146
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
peculiar pattern, they are used for the fronts
of the large cushions that surround a Turkish
divan.
The process of printing their cottons is
very slow and tedious, and renders the cloth
in that state nearly double the price that it
bears when white. A number of men and boys
were arranged along one of the upper galle-
ries of the Goomrook-Khan, seated on the
ground, and having before them low tables,
perhaps a foot in height. Beside each person
was a kettle, containing the ink, or dye, of the
colour required. On his left hand was bound
a block of wood, of the size and shape of a
clothes-brush, and the under face of this was
covered with the pattern to be stamped, like
the printing blocks of the Chinese. This,
being dipped in the ink, was placed on the
cloth, the left hand closed into a fist resting
above it, and by a blow on it with the fist of
the right hand, the impression was made. As
this was repeated for every colour, and every
new form, and not more than from four to
six square inches were printed at a blow, the
patterns were, of course, imperfectly executed,
and the whole process very slowly performed.
While examining this manufactory, I repre-


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
147
sented myself as a Muggrebin, or Barbary
merchant, who had been in Europe, and de-
scribed to them, as well as I could, the im-
proved methods used among us for all these
operations. Their admiration was very pow-
erfully excited, and the director of the esta-
blishment made me an offer of a very
handsome remuneration, if I would remain
a few weeks at Orfah, to superintend such
improvements as the mechanics of the town
might make, under my direction. I would
have gladly accepted it, had I been free from
other engagements; as there is no way, per-
haps, in which men can be more usefully
employed, than in advancing the domestic
arts, in improving the labours, and in in-
creasing the comforts of their fellow-creatures,
of whatever country, climate, or religion they
may be. Missionaries dispersed into different
quarters of the globe for this
purpose,
would
do more in a few years towards civilizing and
uniting the discordant parts of it, than all the
merely religious societies have done since their
first establishment.
The woollen cloths made here are of a still
coarser kind than the cotton, and about equal
to that used in England for sailors' winter


148
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
jackets. It is mostly brown, from the original
colour of the wool, though sometimes it is
dyed with indigo. It is used only for the
commonest purposes.
A few carpets are made, of a very good
quality ; some hair-cloth, for sacks and bags;
and silk bands and tapes, of an excellen kind.
Every description of sadlery and smith's work
is well executed; and the labours of the mason
and the carpenter are equal to those of the
largest Turkish cities.
The cook-shops and coffee-houses are abun-
dant, in proportion to the size of the town.
In the former are prepared, mutton, and
sausages without skins, called kabaub; these
last are formed of meat cut into small pieces,
which are first 'strung on a thread, and then
wound round an iron skewer, and roasted at the
fire. Another kind of food, having a round
ball of paste without, and mixed ingredients
within, is called koobbé; besides which, are
other little pátés of minced meat. These are
to be had at every moment; and at half an
hour's notice, a meal may be prepared, of any
dishes one might desire, and either eaten in
the cook-shop, or at a coffee-house, a khan, or
a private dwelling.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
149
Among other vegetables abounding here, is
a fine large lettuce, of which people eat at all
hours of the day, without salt, or any other
accompaniment; and leeks, or onions, in
their raw state, are generally served up with
meat.
In the coffee-houses, nargeels, an instrument
for smoking through water, may be had,
though the long Turkish pipe is in more
general use; this last is always furnished by
the smoker, which the nargeel is not, perhaps
from the ease of carrying the former, and the
inconvenience of bearing about the latter,
from place to place. During all the summer,
there is also an abundant supply of solid ice,
brought down from the summits of Mount
Taurus, in a journey of a day and night. About
an English pound of this is sold at present for
a para or a farthing, and is a cheap and healthy
refreshment, accessible to the poorest of the
people. Iced milks, and sherbets of honey,
cinnamon water, and perfumes, are also made
for the rich, and furnish a great luxury during
the heat of the day. I sought diligently in
the ice-shops for some fragment of stone, which
might have been brought down with the snow,
for the sake of ascertaining of what material


150
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF URFAH.
the
range of Taurus is composed, but could
obtain only some very small pieces, which were
all of lime.
The fruits of Orfah are chiefly the white
mulberry, the quince, the apricot, the fig, the
pistachio nut, the grape, and the pomegranate;
the three first of these were now in perfection,
and the latter were just beginning to form.
There are neither lemons, oranges, nor melons
to be seen.
In the streets are often trees, beneath the
shade of which the inhabitants repose-to take
fruit or ice, or a pipe and coffee. Here they
sing to the stream that runs by, accompanied
sometimes by a Turkish guitar; or play at
chess or some other
game,
and
pass away their
hours in great apparent happiness.
The population of Orfah may be estimated
at fifty thousand inhabitants, among whom are
about two thousand Christians, and five hun-
dred Jews; the rest being all Mohammedans.
The Christians are chiefly Armenians and
Syrians, each of whom have a separate church,
and live in a separate quarter ; and are so dis-
tinct, that, besides their different rites, their
language, and the very character in which it
is written, are totally unlike each other. The


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
151
Armenian and Syriac tongues are confined,
however, to their domestic circles and their
religious duties; for in their intercourse with
strangers, Turkish is the language chiefly used
by the former, and Arabic the tongue spoken
by the latter. Both the Christians and the Jews
are merchants and traders; the one moving
more frequently from place to place with cara-
vans, and the other remaining stationary in the
bazārs. I could not learn with certainty whe-
ther the Jews have a synagogue here or not;
but should think, from their number, that they
possessed some place of worship apart from
their dwellings.
The tradition of the Image of Edessa, and
the story of Abgarus, seem to be almost for-
gotten, both by the Christians and Jews;
though the well, in which was placed the
letter of Abgarus addressed to Christ, is still
pointed out.
Among the Moslems, the men dress more
like the people of Damascus than of any
other town; the large overhanging tarboosh
is universally worn, and the shawls are gene-
rally large, of bright and lively colours, and
fringed and tasselled at the edges and cor-
'he “coat of many colours,” with the
ners.


152
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
reversed pyramid on its back and shoulders, is
also worn here, and the whole of the dress is
of corresponding gaiety. The only marked
peculiarity which I noticed was, that the
sleeves of the shirt, which in other places are
usually cut round even at the wrist, have here
one side cut away to a point reaching long
enough to touch the ground. While walk-
ing, or using the arms in any way, these points
are brought to meet, and are tied together be-
hind the neck, by which means they keep up
the loose outer sleeves over the arm. When
sitting on the divan, however, they are loosened,
and are then often used as a towel, or a hand-
kerchief, to wipe the mouth and hands; though
it is still the fashion here, as elsewhere, to carry
an embroidered towel for that purpose, hang-
ing from the sash, or girdle, behind. The wo-
men dress with white outer robes, and are
veiled by a black stiff gauze, which projects
several inches from the face, and gives them
more liberty of air and sight than is enjoyed
by those who wear the Constantinopolitan
costume.
All classes of people resident at Orfah are
extremely subject to eruptions in the face,
like those which are common at Aleppo, but


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
153
in a much more extensive degree. Among
the inhabitants of this place, I did not see
one in five exempt from it; while at Aleppo,
not more than half the population, perhaps,
have been affected by it. Here, too, the
marks left by the eruptions were more nu-
merous and deforming, sometimes covering the
whole face, often preventing the growth of
the beard in particular spots, and otherwise
detracting much from the beauty of the peo-
ple, who are, in all other respects, a well-made
and handsome race. At Aleppo, this eruption,
or the worm which occasions it, is thought to
be engendered by the water, and here it is
conceived to be done by the air ; both, pro-
bably, vague means of accounting for what
is but imperfectly examined into, or known.
At Orfah, other causes may contribute to it:-
such as the quantity of ice consumed by all
classes, from the lowest to the highest ; the
abundance of raw lettuces eaten at all times
and seasons, without bread, salt, or other in-
gredient; the equal abuse of mulberries, eaten
often in an unripe state; and the quality of
the water of the Lake of Abraham, filled as
it is by so many thousands of fish, which
must render it less wholesome: but which


154
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
of these causes may contribute most to the
evil, it is not easy to pronounce.
The government of Orfah is under the
Pasha of Diarbekr, who pays an occasional
visit to it, with his troops, and in his absence
deputes a Motesellem, or Governor, with a
few personal guards. As at Aleppo, the great
mass of the people are Janissaries and Shereefs,
who predominate alternately, but who were,
at this moment, both in tranquil subjection
to the reigning governor-a man personally
respected and feared by all.
The language of Orfah is mostly Turkish.
In the bazārs scarcely any other tongue is
understood ; but Hebrew, Armenian, Syriac,
Koordish, Arabic, and Persian, are all spoken
by their respective classes of people. The
native inhabitants, as far as I had an opportu-
nity of seeing their manners, in their familiar
intercourse among themselves, are well-bred,
complimentary, yet perfectly at ease in the
exercise of their politeness, and tolerant to
strangers and men of different faiths.
JUNE 7th.–After taking our morning meal,
in a party of about thirty persons, at the house
of a rich merchant, I embraced an opportunity,


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
155
while they were discussing some affairs of
business, to steal away from their society, and
make a visit to the castle, as much for the
purpose of enjoying from thence a more exten-
sive view of the town, as of seeing the ruins of
that edifice itself.
The castle is seated on the summit of a
long narrow hill of rock, on the south-west of
the town, near the Birket Ibrahim el Khaleel,
and the Ain el Zilkah.* The ascent to it, on
the north east, is by a very steep and winding
path, scarped in some places into steps, in the
side of the rock. The entrance is by an arched
gateway, and a paved passage; but the whole
of the interior presents only a scene of con-
fused ruins.
The enclosed part of this hill is nearly a
* This is most probably the Scirtos of the ancients,
though it hardly corresponds to the description of this
stream, by D'Anville. In speaking of the sieges which
Edessa had sustained, he says, “ Elle est exposée à un autre
fleau que ceux de fer et de feu, qui est d'être submergée
par un petit fleuve, qui, ayant reçu des écoulemens de vingt-
cinq torrens, comme le rapporte M. Assemani, se répand
dans cette ville. Il est appellé Daisān, en usant d'une
terme de la langue Syriaque, qui répond au terme Grec,
Skirtos; en Latin, Saltator, ou Sauteur.”—D'Anville sur
l'Euph. et le Tigre, p. 11.


156
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
IT
quarter of a mile long, though not more than
one hundred yards broad. It is defended on
the south and west by a ditch, in many parts
full fifty feet deep, and about twenty wide,
hewn down out of the solid rock, and present-
ing a work of great labour. On the other
quarters, it is secure by the steepness of its
ascent. The wall, which rises in some places
from the side of the rock below, so as to form
a casing to it, has every appearance of being
Saracenic, from the style of its masonry and
square towers.
The rustic work is seen in
some parts of it, but of that inferior kind which
might have been executed in any age, except
the present very degenerate one as to archi-
tecture, among the Turks.
The interior, which is now occupied by a
few
poor families only, presents a scene of the
most complete desolation. There are two fine
Corinthian columns with their capitals still
erect, and these are seen at a great distance
from every point of view. The people here
called them the pillars of the gate of Nimrod's
Palace, for which one may easily forgive them.*
* Pococke says, there is a tradition, that the throne of
Nimrod stood on these pillars. It is certain, however, that
Tamerlane erected some trophies on them.-Descr. of the
East, vol. ii. part 2, p. 160, folio.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
157
They are evidently, however, the portion of
some considerable Roman edifice, but whether
of a temple, or of some other building, there are
not now sufficient remains left to decide. These
columns are without pedestals, are executed
in good taste, and of a proportion in height
that pleases the eye, though they are up-
wards of six feet in diameter. A defect in
their construction is, that their shafts are
composed of many pieces, each perhaps thirty.
in number, like so many millstones heaped one
on another; and from each of these, are left
little projecting knobs of the stone, as in the
Ionic circus and the Corinthian colonnade at
Jerash. The proportions, however, being
chaste, the size large, the shafts standing with-
out pedestals, and the capitals of good work-
manship, there are, upon the whole, stronger
marks of pure taste, than there are peculiarities
of a defective nature to be seen in them. They
stand from twenty to thirty feet distant from
each other, and had probably a column or co-
lumns between them, belonging to a portico
of which they formed a part. Behind them,
some of the masonry of the lower part of the
edifice to which they belonged is seen ; this
is smooth and good, and is of the kind


158
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
1
generally used in temples, rather than that
found in buildings of state or palaces.
Not far from this, I noticed a portion of a
ruined building, with
many
small
square
and
large circular windows in its walls, which, in
the general style of its construction, resembled
many of the ruined Christian churches in the
Haurān, and was very probably itself an edifice
of that kind, but of a still later age.
All the rest of the ruins are Mohammedan,
the most perfect among them being a mosque,
with its oratory, and niche of prayer in the
southern wall, and its windows looking out
on the deep excavated ditch which surrounds
the castle.
On the north-east, this fortress completely
commanded the town, and before the use of
artillery was known, might be considered to be
impregnable. At present, however, even if in
its original state of repair, it would be of no
defensive strength, as it is itself commanded by
a higher hill on the south and south-west.
In the cliffs and sloping sides of this hill
are either the ancient burying-places of the
people of “ Ur of the Chaldees,” from among
whom Abraham was called, or the Necropolis
of the Romans, when this was one of the


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
159
settlements of their widely extended Empire,
Those having their fronts in the perpendi-
cular cliff, are mostly entered by oblong square
door-ways, as the sepulchres of Thebes, at
Gournou' on the Nile; but some few of them
are arched, and one particularly has a large
central arch, with two smaller side ones, like
the usual form of Roman gateways. Those in
the side of the hill below are descended to by
sloping passages, like the tombs at Oom Kais
or Gamala, in the Decapolis ; and others at
Tartoose and Latikeea, on the Syrian coast.
The whole of these grottoes may amount to
two hundred in number, besides those noted
to the west of the town, on the morning of our
entering it.
The existence of the Roman ruins within,
and of the tombs without, furnish great rea-
sons to believe that the site of the castle itself
was of Roman choice, unless it be carried back
to the Chaldean age. The ditch, to the south
of it, hollowed down to the depth of fifty feet
out of the solid rock, is a work worthy of either,
and one which, however ancient, would be
likely to undergo very little alteration on a
change of masters. With the castle itself, it
would not be so. The original rock on which


160
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
it was first founded still remains; but, except
the columns and masonry within its enclosure,
as already described—and, perhaps, some few
fragments of work near the bottom of the wall,
which may be Roman—the whole of the pre-
sent structure is decidedly Mohammedan.
Here, as in many other instances, the original
work seems to have been almost entirely de-
stroyed before the place was completely con-
quered; but the same advantageous site was
again built on, to secure the position thus
gained.
The view of the city from the walls of the
castle, spread out, as it were, at the observer's
feet, is extensively commanding, and exceed-
ingly beautiful. The minarets of the mosques,
the tall
cypresses, the domes, the courts of the
khans, all have an air of grandeur from hence,
which they do not possess on a nearer view;
while the lake of Ain el Zilkah the fountain of
Callirrhoe, and the canal of Abraham, seen
amid the bowers that surround them, close to
the foot of the rock, with the Corinthian
columns and ruined walls and arches above,
add, to the general beauty of the scene, a
number of objects, all equally classic and pic-
turesque. The town looks, from hence, to be


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
161
larger than Aleppo can be made to appear
from any one point of view; and is, I should
conceive, in truth, nearly two-thirds of its size,
In general character, it bears a nearer resem-
blance to Damascus, as seen from the heights
of Salheah, than to any other eastern town
that I remember: like it, the site appears
from
hence to be nearly a level plain, with slight
elevations and depressions, and, on the south-
east, it has a long range of trees and gardens,
extending for nearly two miles in length, with
but little wood in any other direction.
To the south-south-east from the castle, is
a road leading across a plain, uninterrupted
but by a few mounds of earth, until it ter-
minates in the barren desert, where the hori-
zon is as level as that of the open sea. It is
in this direction that Haran, the ancient resi-
dence of Abraham and Laban with their fami-
lies, is pointed out, at a distance of only eight
hours from this place, the Ur of the Chaldees,
from whence the Patriarch is represented to
have journeyed thither.* The site is still
preserved by a town of the same name; but,
* The Theodosian Tables place Charræ at a distance of
twenty-six miles from Edessa, which is just eight hours'
journey on foot.
VOL. I,
M


162
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
from its being in the possession of Arabs, simi-
lar to those of Palmyra, it is difficult to visit
it except in the company of some people of
the place. A ruined town and wall are spoken
of, with the remains of an old castle; but
these are said to be much smaller than those at
Orfah, by those who have been there, nor are
there columns or arches of any kind, according
to the same report.
This Haran of the earlier Scriptures* is
called Charran in the later ones,f and, after-
wards, Charræ, Carræ, and Carras, by the
Romans. In the first, it is celebrated as the
scene of the interesting histories of Isaac and
Rebekah’s interview at the well, and of Jacob's
serving for Leah and Rachel; events, which
are as characteristic of the manners of the
Bedouin Arabs of the present day, as they
were of the people of that early age. Among
* And they went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go
into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran, and
dwelt there.-Genesis, c. xi. v. 31.
+ The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham
when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charan.-
Acts, vii. 2.
| Cellarius Geog. Antiq. lib. iii. c. 14. Mesopotamia.
Genesis, c. xxiv. and c. xxix. and Joseph. Ant. Jud. I. i. c.
16-19.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
163
the last, it is chiefly celebrated as the scene of
the defeat and death of Marcus Licinius Cras-
sus, who formed the first triumvirate with
Pompey and Cæsar. After crossing the Eu-
phrates in his march against the Parthians, he
was met in the plain of Carræ by the Parthian
general Surena, by whom the Roman army
was defeated, with the loss of twenty thousand
killed, ten thousand taken prisoners, and the
death of Crassus, their leader.*
This city must have been in a state of ruin
at a very early period ; for, when the Rabbi
Benjamin travelled through Mesopotamia, it
seemed to be quite desolate.† There did not
then remain a single edifice standing in the
place where Abraham, our father, (says the
pious Jew,) had his dwelling. The Ismael-
ites, or Bedouins, however, came there often
* Plutarch's Lives, 1. iii. c. 11. Lucan, 1. i. v. 105.
Pliny, l. v. c. 14.
+ The following is a singular account given of the sort of
masonry observed in constructing the buildings of Carrhæ,
or Haran, which, if correct, might account for their early
and total decay :-“At Carrhæ, a city of Arabia, all the
walls thereof, as also the houses of the inhabitants, are
reared and built of salt stones, and the same are laid of
mason's work, and the joints closed and soldered by no other
mortar than plain water.”—Pliny Nat. Hist. b. xxxi. c. 7.


164
HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
to pray, as they do now to shelter their
flocks. *
On descending from the castle, and passing
by the lake of Ain el Zilkah, I was shewn a
small white worm, about six inches in length,
and the size of whipcord in girth, which is
used here successfully as a leech, and found in
great numbers in these waters. It attached
itself by one end only to any substance on
which it was placed; but when in motion, no
difference could be perceived between that
particular end and the other.
Our afternoon was passed at another Mo-
hammedan house, in a large party, until sun-
set, as it is the fashion among the higher ranks
here to sup early, soon after El Assr, or about
four o'clock, in order to distinguish themselves
from the vulgar, who cannot enjoy that meal
until after Muggrib, or dark, when their la-
bours of the day are over; so different are
their notions of fashion, as to hours, from those
which prevail in Europe.
It was cool and agreeable when we reached
the outer khan, where we had hitherto slept ;
and after prayers, in which all the Moslems
* Voyage de Benjamin de Tudele-Bergeron's Collection.


HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION OF ORFAH.
165
joined in couples, under the direction of an
Imaum, or leader, our evening was closed with
the same festive gaiety as that which marked
the preceding ones of our stay here.
t


CHAPTER VI.
FURTHER DETENTION AT ORFAH:
INTERIOR
OF THE CITY, GARDENS, AND ENTERTAIN-
MENTS.
KWA
JUNE 8th.-_The business of the caravan
being closed, and all the purchases and sales,
which had occasioned our detention here,
effected, we were preparing for our departure
to-night, when information was brought us,
by some people who had themselves been
robbed on the road, that the Beni-Saood, or
Wahābees, had made an incursion to the
northward, and were now encamped, in con-
siderable numbers, by the way.
These predatory Arabs were represented
to be, in their persons, dress, manner of living,
and religious tenets, every thing that was
hideous, frightful, and savage; their extra-
ordinary capacity of going, like their camels,



CHAPTER VI.
they
ORIENTAL CONVERSAZIONE AND GARDEN ENTERTAINMENT.





GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
167
two or three days without food or drink,
struck me, however, as the most surprising;
but when I expressed my doubts on this head,
it was confirmed by the united voices of all the
assembly. * In war, they are said to mount
two on a camel, and to use, alternately, mus-
kets, swords, and spears; but the chiefs, the
look-outs, and the couriers, are mounted
singly, and perform journeys of a hundred
bees, says:
* The intelligent author of the “ Description du Pachalik
de Bagdad,” which contains the most recent and authentic
account of this powerful sect, uniting, in his time, nearly
all the tribes of the Great Desert, in speaking of the Wahā-
:-“ Cette horde, qui dans ses commencemens
n'étoit qu'un ramas de misérables familles, n'a cessé de pren-
dre des accroissemens rapides, par l'adjonction successive
de différentes tribus nomades disséminées dans les vastes
déserts de l'Arabie; de manière que toute cette grande ré-
gion, les domaines de l'Imam de Mascate, les côtes du Golfe
Persique, et les îles de Bahrein, sont aujourd'hui soumises
à sa domination. Il ne lui manque plus que de pousser ses
excursions en Mésopotamie, pour répandre l'epouvante
jusqu'aux portes de Constantinople. Le chef de cette nou-
velle puissance jouit d'une autorité sans bornes: ses sujets
lui vouent une obéissance aveugle, et un mot de sa part
suffit pour faire marcher dans le besoin des milliers de
combattans, habitués à verser le sang, avides de depouilles,
qui comptent pour rien les dangers et la mort, et croyent
mériter la palme du martyre en expirant les armes à la
main pour la cause de leur doctrine.” p. 40, 41.


168
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
miles without once alighting. A story is told
of one of these couriers having gone from
the neighbourhood of Aleppo all the way to
Bagdad, in five days, upon the same animal,
without once dismounting, but merely giving
his beast a moment to snatch a few dry herbs
by the way, and supporting himself by a little
dough of flour and butter, with the small
quantity of water contained in a lamb's skin,
hung from the camel's side.
Many of the tribes of the Great Desert,
who have embraced the religion of the Wa-
hābees, are said to be strangers even to the
use of bread. It is affirmed, that they subsist
entirely on dried dates and the milk of their
camels, with the flesh of such of these ani-
mals as die of sickness or old age. These, it
is said, they often eat in a raw state; and it is
agreed, on all hands, that they have neither
sheep, goats, nor other cattle, except their
camels : their deserts furnishing neither water
nor other sustenance for them.*
* In a separate “ Notice sur les Wahabis," attached to
the Memoir of Mons. Rousseau, the following description
of these singular people is a corroboration of the general
accuracy of the representations here made :-“Au reste,
d'une complexion saine et robuste, ils sont accoutumés dès


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
169
Notwithstanding the permanent state of
want in which these people live, being desti-
tute of what, by others, are considered the
bare necessaries of life, they marry and multi-
ply exceedingly; and their incursions upon
the territories of others are chiefly in search
of new pastures for their flocks, and food for
their attendants. During the winter, they
retire into the depths of their own deserts,
where the few shrubs that exist are then
l'enfance aux travaux d'une vie toujours active; l'air pur
qu'ils respirent, la chaleur du climat, la privation de toute
espèce de superfluités sont en eux les principes d'une santé
vigoureuse et à l'épreuve des fatigues : graves, phlegmati-
ques, fanatiques, et grossiers, leur orgueil est autant dans
leurs procédés que dans leurs sentimens; inviolablement
attachés aux usages de leur pays, ils condamnent et mépri-
sent ceux des autres peuples, et rejettent dédaigneusement
tout ce qui est au dessus de la sphère de leurs connoissances.
La force de leur temperament et leur sobriété singulière,
se font remarquer surtout dans les expéditions qu'ils en-
treprennent; ils n'emportent alors avec eux que deux outres
pleines, l'une d'eau, l'autre de farine, qu'ils chargent sur
leurs dromadaires : quand ils sont pressés par la faim, ils
délayent un peu de cette farine dans une écuellée d'eau et
l'avalent sans aucune autre préparation; souvent aussi quand
l'eau leur manque, ils se désaltèrent avec l'urine de leurs
montures. Accoutumés comme ils le sont à toute espèce de
privations, ils peuvent résister à la faim et à la soif pendant
des jours entiers.”—Notice sur les Wahabis, p. 149, 150.


170
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
found, and where water is occasionally to be
met with. At the commencement of summer,
when the violent heats burn up every blade
of verdure, and exhaust the sources of their
wells, they disperse themselves over the edge
of the cultivated country, scouring the eastern
borders of Syria, between Palmyra and Damas-
cus, and the country east of the Jordan and
the Dead Sea. They come up here also, upon
the southern edge of Mesopotamia, where
they encamp in the spring, to the terror of
all caravans passing this way, as, if their force
be sufficiently strong, they never fail to plun-
der them.*
They do not, however, destroy the lives of
their captives, except when resistance is made,
or blood shed on their side, when they are
desperate in their revenge. They suffer to pass
free all commodities that are useless to them,
such as paper, indigo, unworked metals, (ex-
* «Quant à leurs qualités militaires, on doit en prendre
l'idée dans le fanatisme même qui les inspire. Ils affrontent
avec un courage incroyable les dangers et la mort, et rien ne
sauroit ralentir leur fougueuse intrépidité, parce qu'ils at-
taquent leurs ennemis dans l'espoir de recevoir, en mourant
les armes à la main, la palme du martyre.”—Notice sur les
Wahabis, p. 150.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
171
cepting only gold or silver,) and all heavy wares
not worth the labour of removal. It is related
of one of these Wahābees, engaged in the plun-
der of a caravan, that on being asked what were
the things contained in some small barrels,
(which were full of cochineal,) he replied, they
were the seeds of coffee, which is forbidden
among the Wahābees, and therefore could not
be retained. As the barrels, however, were
useful to the captors, for water, or other
common purposes, the valuable cochineal was
scattered on the sands, and the empty casks
carefully preserved.*
The Wahābees, however, from having had
some communication with towns, know the
value of gold and silver, pearls, and rich stuffs,
which sometimes form the ladings of cara-
vans; and these they plunder, to barter for
other articles more suited to their own wants,
which they effect by emissaries sent into the
* A similar anecdote is related by Captain Horsburgh,
in his East India Directory; where, speaking of some part
of the coast of Africa, near Madagascar, he says, the
natives refused guineas, which were offered in payment
for a supply of cattle ; but brought down a quantity of
fresh provisions, fowls, vegetables, &c. for an old gilt
anchor button, because it had an eye, and could be applied to
some useful purpose, which the others, without it, could not.


172
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
large cities around them, where they are un-
known and unsuspected.
Such were the accounts given us of the men,
through whose very tents it was said we had
now to pass, or wait until they had changed
the place of their encampment; men who
multiplied their species beyond all credibi-
lity, if one could listen to report, and this
too amidst privations of every kind; while,
throughout the rest of Turkey, where the
means of life are cheap and abundant, the
number of the human race is thought gene-
rally to be on the decline.
In consequence of the information we had
thus received, a council was held among the
parties interested in the safety of the caravan,
to consult on the measures necessary to be
taken for its security. Like a number of
sea-captains, all bound to the same port, as-
sembling to petition the Admiralty for a
convoy, when their track is infested by priva-
teers, so these camel-drivers and land-traders
thought it best to apply to the government of
Orfah for an escort as far as Mardin, offering
a fixed sum of money for the force required.
The government, however, had the honesty
to confess, that no force which it could send


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
173
would be at all equal to the protection of the
caravan, the number of the Arabs being esti-
mated at a hundred thousand at least; and
they therefore advised our waiting until they
should disappear, or take another road.
On a second consultation, it was determined
to despatch a messenger to Sheikh Abu Aioobe
Ibin Temar, Pasha of the tribe of Beni-Melān.
The station of this chief was in the open
plains, called, in Arabic, “ Berreeah,” and dis-
tant about two days' journey, or from forty to
fifty miles. This chief, from having under his
command about twenty thousand horse, re-
ceived regular tribute from all the caravans
which passed near his domains, and was, in
every sense, a very powerful man. When,
therefore, a letter was addressed, imploring,
in the most humble terms, his august protec-
tion through the camp of the robbers, his own
justice and magnanimity were extolled, while
the marauding character of the intruders on
his dominion was painted in the darkest
colours,—and yet the only real difference be-
tween them seemed to be, that the one was a
stationary robber, and the others roving ones;
for in this very application, for his protection
against the stronger enemy, it was carefully


174
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
added, that an adequate compensation would
be given to his followers for their convoy.*
When this important business of the day
was closed, and the messenger despatched, we
* The difficulty of successfully resisting or subduing
these Desert hordes, and the advantages they would possess
as invaders of cultivated territories, if they possessed but
tactics and discipline, is thus powerfully shewn.—“Il ne
manque aux Wahabis pour être un peuple invincible et ca-
pable de soumettre toute l'Asie à ses lois, que de joindre à
leurs qualités physiques et morales, les connoissances de la
tactique et de la discipline militaire, dont ils sont dépourvus
jusqu'à ce jour. En les acquérant, ils seroient en état
d'attaquer constamment et avec succès les nations étran-
gères, et jamais celles-ci n'oseroient aller les chercher au
centre de leurs possessions ; car, pour pénétrer jusqu'à eux,
il faut traverser des plaines arides et sauvages, des mon-
tagnes hideuses et des vallées brûlées par l'ardeur du soleil,
où l'on est exposé à périr par la faim, la soif, et les chaleurs
ardentes du climat: leurs déserts, leurs sables, et leurs
rochers, sont comme autant de barrières, dont la nature sem-
ble avoir voulu les entourer, pour assurer leur liberté.
J'observerai en outre que leurs habitations n'étant pour
plupart que de méchantes huttes ou de miserables tentes, ils
les abandonnent sans regret aux ennemis qui leur sont su-
périeurs, pour se réfugier dans des lieux escarpés et inacces-
sibles aux autres hommes, où leur frugalité naturelle, jointe
à l'habitude qu'ils ont de s'accommoder aux circonstances
les plus critiques, leur fournissent des moyens de subsistance
qui seroient insuffisans aux autres peuples." —Notice sur les
Wahabis, p. 150, 151.
la


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
175
supped together in the open court of the pub-
lic khán, to the number of seventy or eighty
persons, all at the expense of Hadjee Abd-el-
Rakhmān; and the poor, who came after-
wards to gather up the fragments that nothing
might be lost, amounted certainly to as many
more. Among the dishes were two lambs and
two kids, each stuffed with rice, herbs, and
spices, and stewed whole, ---- besides ten or
twelve large dishes, containing three or four
hundred weight of rice,—with many smaller
and more choice messes of different kinds.
This public exercise of hospitality on the part
of the merchant having the largest property in
the caravan, was intended and received as a
pledge of his protection to those who might
accompany it; and it had, unquestionably,
the effect of uniting all the members of it to
his interests more closely than before.
JUNE 9.–After a morning passed in glean-
ing such further news of the road as we could
collect, and listening to the exaggerated tales
of Wahābee prowess, we dined before noon,
at the house of a wealthy shereef; slept, for
an hour, in his garden, beneath the shade of


176
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
fig-trees, willows, and oleanders, and passed
the remainder of the afternoon at the Birket
Ibrahim el Khaleel.
The room at the eastern end of this lake
being now open, we entered it, and found
there a most agreeable retreat.
In the centre
beneath a dome, was a square cistern, railed
around, on a level with the pavement, and the
body of the cistern descending below this
about five feet. It was filled by the clearest
water, the spring which supplied the lake be-
ing made to pass immediately through this
cistern, and it was even more thickly crowded
with fish than the canal without. On each
side of the central pavement, which enclosed
the cistern, was a raised divan, with carpets
and cushions, for the accommodation of visi-
tors. One of these divans looked out into a
garden on the west, and had a sort of gallery
above it, like the orchestra of an English ball-
room; the other overhung the water, and
commanded the whole range of the lake, as
far as the mosque of Abraham, to the east.
The door of entrance was from an arched and
paved way, on the south ; and attached to the
building, on the north, was a kitchen, with a


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
179
to have been intended as a ditch to the outer
fortifications of the city wall, but in other
quarters of its circuit no such work is seen.
On our return from the Lake of Abraham,
we halted, during a shower of rain, in the
court of the mosque, called Jāmah el Wizeer,
or the mosque of the vizier.
of the vizier. It has a front of
about a hundred and fifty feet, with a piazza
running along it. Before the whole, glides a
branch of the waters of the lake, which are
distributed through every part of the town,
and which are here, as elsewhere, as clear as
crystal, and crowded with carp. On the other
side of it are seen the shafts of eight or ten
small white marble columns, arranged at re-
gular distances, and all erect. They are with-
out capitals, but are no doubt the remains of
Roman labours, now applied to decorate the
court. These, and a few slabs of a stone re-
sembling porphyry, but of a less deep brown
· than the antique—which I saw in the bench
of an ice-shop in the town—are all the frag-
ments of fine stone that I had yet met with.
That used in the mosques, and other large
buildings of the city, is chiefly a pale yellow
lime-stone. Some of the caravanserais are
built with alternate layers of this and of the


180
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
black basalt of the Haurān, found also in
the plains; but no granite had been any
where used. As the most precious of the
fragments of ancient ruins are, however,
generally converted to the internal embellish-
ments of the mosques, it is probable, that
among the fifteen large buildings here, many
architectural remains of Roman days may be
preserved.
In the court of this mosque of the vizier, a
venerable sheikh was teaching certain children
of the town to read the Koran, and the most
proficient among these were again teaching
others beneath them, according to the Lan-
casterian mode, now so common in Europe.
It is only to be regretted, that their labours
are not followed up by the introduction
among them of other useful books, contain-
ing the elements of general knowledge, as
most Turkish children are taught to read
and write, and if their curiosity were excited
at an early age, they have all of them the
brilliant capacity, which their climate favours,
to learn whatever might be laid before them.
One cannot, indeed, but be struck with the
remarkable intelligence of the youths of this
country, whose understandings seem to be


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
181
matured before the age at which it first un-
folds itself in more northern regions. Their
acuteness of perception is often followed up
by a corresponding power of reasoning, which
very soon fits them for the society of their
elders, so that, notwithstanding they are kept
at a very humble distance by their own imme-
diate parents, they are admitted to a great
equality with grown-up strangers. When men
salute them, a proper answer is always sure to
be returned ; and if they in their turn address
a stranger, it would be considered an unpar-
donable rudeness for the stranger not to return
them some complimentary expression. It is
thus, that they become early habituated to
social intercourse, and I scarcely remember an
instance, of what we call “ mauvaise honte "?
among them, though this is so common among
the children of our own country.
In the caravan, we had a little slave-boy,
named Ferădj, born of Abyssinian parents in
the service of the Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān,
who, though only eight years old, had accom-
panied his master to Mecca, and was now as
useful in superintending the loading and dis-
charge of the Hadjee's personal baggage, and
in waiting on him at table, as any servant of the


182
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
suite. We had another, named Zechariah, not
yet ten years of age, who had accompanied his
father across the Desert from Bagdad to Aleppo,
and, after a stay of some months there, was
going back with us by way of Mousul. The
intelligence with which these boys would make
purchases, execute errands, or answer inqui-
ries, was really admirable, and excited constant
regret, that such fine capacities should remain
uncultivated.
Whether it be that the premature develope-
ment of their powers naturally leads to as early
a decline, or whether, from the want of that
exercise which the vivacity of youth demands,
the understandings of their age are not pro-
portionably good, I know not. But, though
in infancy, they are naturally superior to Eu-
ropeans, yet, the distance between their wisest
men, and the merely well-informed gentlemen
• of England, is really immeasurable. In both
cases, the influence of the respective religions
may be thought to have some effect.
With the people of the East, religion acts
as a detractive cause, and hinders the natural
progress of their understanding, by corrupt-
ing it with errors in its course. In boyhood,
they are sensible, acute, and rational. In man-


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
183
hood, they are weak, credulous, and prone tº
error. They see nothing in any books they
read to induce them to believe, either that the
power of God to work miracles, his inclination
so to do, or the necessity of their existence
to convince the unbelieving, has ceased ; so
that they continue to believe in the occurrence
of events, as miraculous as those with which
the pages of the books used by them in the
studies of their infancy abound.
The Mohammedans, equally convinced, with
their Jewish and Christian neighbours of the
East, (for nearly all the Asiatics are alike
immersed in superstition,) of the immediate
superintendance of genii and guardian spirits,
as well as of the influence of their prophets
in heaven, say—“ What! If angels could
perform such wonders in the days of old, can
they not now, in a similar way, protect the fish
of the Lake of the Patriarch, from the opera-
tion of fire, and make them resist every pro-
may be tried upon them, to convert
them into food ?"
In Protestant countries, the devout are con-
tent to believe in the miracles of the past, and
look on the age of working them as having
closed with the closing page of Revelation.
cess that


184
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
As to the grounds on which they reject a
belief in their existence since that period
whether it be from any failure of power or want
of inclination in the Deity, or from the absence
of a necessity for their occurrence since the
commencement of the Christian era, all men
are not agreed; but certain it is, that modern
education teaches Europeans to measure the
events and opinions of their own day, by a very
different standard from that used in judging of
the history of earlier times. And though, on
events of a certain degree of antiquity, the
indulgence of much freedom in inquiry is
thought to be dangerous, yet on the affairs
of our own times, and on matters more nearly
affecting our business and bosoms at the pre-
sent moment, it is courted and encouraged.
It is thus that, with us, religion does not, as
in the East, obstruct the progress of our ge-
neral knowledge, and the two pursuits are
kept distinctly apart from each other. We
have now, happily, neither persecutions for
discovering the fountain of light to be the sun,
nor for thinking that sun to be stationary,
instead of revolving round the earth, nor for
believing the earth to be a globe, instead of
a level plain. As long as this liberality


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
185
continues, science and knowledge will progres-
sively advance among us; while in the East,
unless the same distinctions be made, ignorance
is still likely to prevail, and the effect con-
tinue to be a retrogradation in knowledge,
as it has been in the eastern world for
many
centuries past.
On returning from the mosque of the vizier,
where this train of reflections had been ex-
cited, and in a corner of the court of which
they were actually committed to paper, we re-
paired to the house of a venerable old moollah,
who was blind from mere age, and joined
there a party of about fifty persons at sup-
per. The dishes were prepared and served in
the Turkish rather than the Arabian style.
The party were distributed around four large
salvers, or metal tables, on the ground, with
thin tough cakes of bread, like white-brown
packing paper, placed in folds around the edges
of them. One dish was then placed in the
centre, and, after time being allowed to take
just two hasty mouthfuls of it, this was re-
moved, and replaced by new
by new ones. These
were again followed up in quick succession,
by various others, to the number of at least
sixty, and all of different kinds. Among these


186
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
the first was a strange mixture of sour milk
and herbs, with melted butter and honey.
Soon afterwards, a lamb stuffed with rice, and
stewed whole, was savagely torn in pieces by
the large and butcher-like hands of one of the
servants in waiting. Others then liberally
kneaded the fat of it with their hands, and
seemed to have as high a gratification in man-
gling the flesh as they had in eating it. We
had then a dish of pistachio nuts and raisins,
stewed together, with preparations of apri-
cots, and many other excellent things; but
all were borne off with such dexterity, that
one could barely taste of the greater portions ;
though, from their numbers, it must have been
a fastidious stomach indeed that could not
have relished any. .
Beards are so general at Orfah, that there
were only two of our whole party who were
shaved, and these were both young men.
Turkish was the only language spoken; and
except the Hindoo Dervish, our camel-driver
Mohammed, and myself, the features of all the
company were more or less Turkish also. The
distinguishing marks of these are a full round
face, a wide mouth, a straight nose, thick eye-
brows, a full beard curling down the sides in


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
187
long locks, and a remarkably thick neck, which
is often deeply furrowed behind, in cross lines,
like that of a young
bull.
The sons and relatives of the master of the
house stood to wait on us during the meal,
and when we had finished, they sat down with
their blind parent to the fragments of the
feast; after which, there was still enough left
to feed a host of poor dependants, waiting
for their portion in the court below.
JUNE 10th.-Our morning was loitered away
in rambling over the town, in which, among
other new objects that arose to excite inquiry,
I remarked, that the fronts of all the best
houses in the principal streets were covered
with the marks of musket-balls, some of which
even still remained imbedded in the plaster.
These, I learnt, were the effects of a very
recent civil war among the Janissaries and
Shereefs of the town, in a dispute on the pre-
eminence of their respective classes.
These Janissaries were originally the regular
troops of the Turkish empire. When peace
rendered their services no longer necessary,
they were not disbanded, though suffered to
depart to their own homes, and to distribute


188
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
1
1
themselves in the towns to which they pro-
perly belonged. They were still considered
as the sultan's troops, and were granted cer-
tain privileges and exemptions on that ac-
count, on condition that they should hold
themselves always in readiness to be called
out in time of war; but, as they were suffered
to follow their own occcupations as artisans
and traders, they received no pay during their
absence from actual service.
Such a state of repose, long continued,
would, necessarily, lead to a decline of military
discipline, to a diminution of their numbers,
and to the growth of insubordination among
them. All these were soon produced, and the
first and last seem irremediable. Their num-
bers, however, have been kept up by the
successive entry of new members into the
respective corps or regiments, and these
pay
to its chief a certain sum for that benefit,
which entitles them to privileges of exemption
from some burdens, independent of those mi-
litary honours which their fellow-citizens do
not enjoy. As the Janissaries of the remote
parts of the empire towards the south are but
rarely called upon to go to war, and when
they are, assume to themselves the option of


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
189
attending to that call or not, it happens that
there are among them great numbers who
have never been without the walls of their
native town, and who know nothing of war,
but what civil discord may have taught them.
At Aleppo, the disputes for pre-eminence
have been chiefly between these Janissaries
and the Shereefs, or nobles claiming to be the
descendants of the Prophet. Here, however,
though the Shereefs are also numerous, the
most violent struggles have been between the
different corps of the Janissaries themselves.
These, it would seem, were not contests for
the government of the town, since they have
generally been content to leave this in the
hand of the Motesellem, appointed by the
Pasha of Diarbekr; but they have obstinately
contended for the idle honour of precedence
in matters of ceremony, and for the mere boast
of being the first in distinction by name only,
without caring whether that distinction was
deserved by honourable deeds or not.
At noon, when the Hadjee and his friends
went into the mosque of Abraham to prayer, I
was suffered to accompany them into the inner
court, which presented an appearance of as
great regularity as the exterior of the edifice.


190
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
In the wing buildings, we saw several vene-
rable muftis, or doctors of the church and the
law, each occupying a small carpeted apart-
ment looking over the waters of the lake, and
all of them occupied in reading.
Fronting the inner façade of the mosque,
was a large square court, formed by uniform
ranges of buildings on three of its sides, and
closed on the fourth by the mosque itself. .
These buildings were apparently colleges at-
tached to the mosque ; for, in the chambers
of them, were male youths of different ages,
from ten to twenty, all occupied in studying
under masters, and divided by their ages into
classes. Their studies here are purely theo-
logical, being confined to reading the Koran,
learning the prayers, precepts, doctrines, and
traditional history of their prophet, and his
faith.
Around three sides of this court runs a
piazza, which is broad, lofty, and well paved.
The columns of its arcade are of white marble
with yellowish veins, like those at the mosque
of the vizier, and were each probably taken
from the ruins of some more ancient edifice.
The arches between these columns, the springs
of which they support, are of a very singular


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
191
opens to
kind, being broad and flat at the spring, like
the Norman and Saxon arch, and then droop-
ing into a fanciful figure in the middle, so as
to present an appearance of being crushed
down by the superincumbent weight.
The door of the
mosque,
which
the north, is of a fine hard wood, panelled,
and very richly carved. Over it are a number
of inscriptions, in white letters of relief, on
an azure ground, the characters slanting, in
the Turkish and Persian form, rather than in
the Arabic, which are generally erect. The
interior of the mosque presents only an ora-
tory, ascended to by steps; the niche of prayer
in the southern wall, some large ostrich eggs
and lamps suspended from the roof, and the
rich Persian carpets, with which all its
pave-
ment is covered.
The open square of the court is filled with
trees, among which are several towering cy-
presses, from amid the dark spires of which
the whitened domes and tall minarets rise
with the finest effect. The other trees are so
thickly planted as to yield a constant and
welcome shade, and the whole is one of the
most agreeable spots that can well be con-
ceived.


.192
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
We went from hence along the southern
side of the lake, where we now observed,
through a grated window, the tomb of a saint,
it being opened on this day, peculiarly devoted
to his
memory, for the prayers of the devout.
Our party went into this, and repeated their
orisons, the tomb itself being included in a
mosque. The minaret of this was a square
tower, in which were four open windows at
the top, having a Corinthian pilaster on each
side, and a pillar in the centre, supporting
the springs of a double arch. The pilasters
and columns were all on high pedestals, and
the capital badly executed, while the arches
were of the horse-shoe form, so that this had
been probably a Christian church of the Lower
Empire, and not originally a Mohammedan or
a Turkish building.
The noonday sleep of the Hadjee and his
followers was enjoyed on the sofa of the room
that overhangs the Lake of Abraham, at its
eastern end; and after this, on our way back
to the town, we halted to take a pipe and
nargeel at a public coffee-house. The great
bench in front of the house, on which the
principal guests generally sat, was a seat of
raised masonry, smoothly plastered, railed


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
193
around with
open
wood-work at the back and
sides, and spread over with clean straw mats.
It overhung a clear stream, running from the
Birket el Ibrahim, crowded with playful fish,
and was capable of accommodating fifty per-
sons, who might sit here at their ease, to watch
the current of the brook. On the opposite
side was a garden, so thickly planted with
trees, that the lofty and ruined walls of the
castle could be but here and there perceived
through their openings, though appearing,
from its elevated site, to be almost right above
our heads.
A beautiful weeping willow, the
trunk of which reared itself from the banks
of the stream, within a few feet of where we
sat, spread its falling branches over the waters,
and completely shaded us from the heat of the
sun; while the scarlet blossom of the
pome-
granate, and the finest combinations of sum-
mer-green in the various trees that vied in
richness and beauty with each other, de-
lighted the eye, and helped to complete the
charm of this lovely spot.
Every thing that I had yet seen, indeed,
about the town and its environs, convinced
me that the Turks were genuine lovers of
nature; and here they had been peculiarly
VOL. I.
0


194
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
fortunate in the combination of her beauties
for the common enjoyment of all.
Our supper-party was at a new house, and
with some new persons, though the general
circle of the Hadjee's friends were the same.
Our treatment was as bountiful, and our even-
ing passed as agreeably, as before.
JUNE 1lth. -We were still detained at
Orfah, in expectation of the messenger's re-
turn from the “Berreah," with news of the
road. Preparations were made, however, for
our departure, by the purchase of such pro-
visions as were deemed necessary for the way;
but, besides this, our other occupations through
the day were exactly similar to those of the
preceding ones, and it was closed in the same
manner, by a large supper-party in the town.
JUNE 12th.—Our apprehensions for the
safety of the man, despatched as an inquirer,
were raised to the highest pitch, as the pe-
riod for his expected return had already ex-
pired. In the evening, however, he appeared,
bringing with him an account of the An-
nazies having made a movement farther east,
between Mardin and Mousul, leaving the road


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
195
to the former place clear; but that this road
was still infested by smaller parties of the
Arabs of the country, from whom he had him-
self had several narrow escapes by flight and
concealment. From the number who had
halted here at Orfah, as the place of their ori-
ginal destination, and others who had gone off
to Diarbekr, our caravan was reduced to about
fifty camels, and less than that number of
per-
sons to accompany it. The hope of aug-
mentation in force, or indeed of any other
advantage to be gained by waiting, was how-
ever so slender, that it was determined to de-
part to-night, and run all risks.
In the morning, therefore, I prepared for
my journey, by going to the bath. The one
which I had at first visited on the day of our
arrival, and which is situated in the public
market, near the Goomrook Khan, not being
clean or well attended, I had obtained direc-
tions to another, called the Chewchewch Ham-
mām, in a situation of great retirement, near
the goldsmiths' bazār, and in a small street
turning up on the right of the direct road
leading from the Khan Khoolāh Oghlee, to
the Goomrook Khan, or from the Bab el
Ameer to near the centre of the town.
The


196
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
entrance to this was not prepossessing, al-
though the' dome of the outer room was
one of the largest and finest that I had seen ;
but there was a bareness of furniture on the
benches, and a general nakedness, which
looked more like that of a deserted than a
peopled place. The only persons seen, were
the master of the bath, and one attendant.
Nothing, however, could be more favourable
to the enjoyment of all the requisite comforts
of such an establishment, than this state of de-
sertion really was. The interior of the bath
was as thoroughly clean as could be desired;
the rooms were variously heated, and the
waters might be had of any 'temperature.
A great degree of care and expense
had
been bestowed on the embellishment of the
inner chambers, where, in the Mosaic work of
the pavements, were seen black and white
marble, and large slabs of the stone which I
had before noted as resembling porphyry, ex
cept that its ground was of a lighter' colour
than the true antique. Mr. Maundrell speaks
of a quarry of similar stone being still used
near Aintab,* so that it cannot be far from
* Journey from Aleppo to the river Euphrates, p. 209,
8vo.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
197
the foot of Mount Taurus; but whether this
observed at Orfah was brought from thence,
or found among more ancient, ruins here, I
could not learn.
As we continued to be perfectly unin-
terrupted by the visit of a single person, dur-
ing the whole of my stay, I remained a full
hour, under the hands of the operator, had
eyery joint cracked, every muscle moulded,
and the hair entirely removed, excepting only
from the eyebrows and beard, which were care-
fully trimmed and set in order by the same
person, according to the fashion of the coun-
try.* An hour's repose upon a clean bed in
the outer room, where coffee, nargeels, and
iced sherbets of raisins were brought me, and
afterwards a dinner of minced meat patties
and salad, taken also in the bath before dress-
ing, completed a course of considerable plea-
* It is one of the many remarkable contrasts between
European and Asiatic usages, that, on the parts which
Europeans most carefully shave, Asiatics suffer the hair
to grow, and as carefully preserve it; while on those where
the former, suffer it to remain, the latter as studiously
remove it-on all occasions of their visiting the bath. It
has been thought that depilatory powders are sometimes
used for this purpose, but I have never known any thing to
supersede the common razor.


198
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
sure; the whole expense of which was only fifty
paras, or scarcely an English shilling.
It is usual for males and females in Turkey
to visit the same bath: the former class from
morning until El Assr, or between three and
four o'clock, and the latter from that time till
sun-set. In Egypt, it is the practice to hang
before the door of the bath a coloured cloth,
during all the time that women are within it,
for the sake of announcing to passers-by its
being so occupied, and thus preventing any
one from entering it inadvertently. In the
bath which I first visited here, there were two
doors of entrance, that for the men fronting
the public market, and that for the women by
a private passage from the street behind ; so
that while one was opened the other was
closed, and effectually secured those within
from intrusion. Here, however, at the Chew-
chewch Hammām, the women's bath was en-
tirely distinct; having separate dressing rooms,
fountains, cisterns, and chambers; in which
the female attendants were now making pre-
parations for the expected visitors of the after-
It has an entirely separate entrance,
though being part of the same establishment
it is heated by the same fires, and watered by
noon.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
199
the same streams, and is superior in its de-
corations and arrangement to that of the
men's bath, as the wife of the master, under
whose direction the whole is kept, took more
pains to embellish and keep in order the part
devoted to visitors of her own sex, than he
himself did for the department under his
immediate care.
On reaching the Goomrook Khan, I found
the whole of the Hadjee's friends assembled,
with those also who were interested in the
safety of the caravan, consulting on the pro-
bable danger of its being plundered. They
all concluded, that it depended entirely on
the destinies of Heaven, whether they should
go safely or not; though it was easy to per-
ceive that their confidence in God was more
in word than deed : for it was only because
there was no hope of our case being improved
by waiting, that they now consented to set
forward.
All, however, went together to the Mosque
of the Vizier at noon, and, on coming out,
we re-assembled in a thickly-wooded garden,
close by, called Bistān el Hassan Pasha, from
the name of its original planter. Here a sort
of farewell dinner was given to us, by a cer-


20
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
tain Seid Hassan, a merchant of consideration,
who had come with us from Aleppo to Orfah,
where his family resided, and who was also
going with us to Márdin, having a tent of his
own, but supping always at the Hadjee's carpet.
We were arranged in this garden, along the
banks of a clear stream that flowed through
it; and the dishes set before us on the grass
were nearly as numerous as the persons who
sat down to them, amounting at least to a
hundred. We continued here until hour of
prayer again returned at El Assr, when each
one performed his devotions under the shade
of some tree in the garden; and this gave an
opportunity of dispersion without formal sepa-
rations, which, in Turkish parties, are as much
avoided as in the fashionable circles of Europe.
The rest of the afternoon was employed in
collecting together our straggling numbers ;
when, at sun-set, we quitted Orfah, and rea
paired to the Khan Khoolah Oghlee, outside
the town. Here the public prayers of Mug-
grib, or sun-set, were repeated by all the Mos-
lems present, under the direction of an Imâm
at their head; and we afterwards took a twi-
light supper in the centre of the khan in the
This was given by the Hadjee,
open court.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
201
as a public pledge of his protection to all who
partook - of it; and, besides every individual
about to depart with us in the caravan, there
were fed at this meal at least fifty dervishes
and fakīrs, coming and going from different
quarters, and halting here on their
way.
The number of these men throughout Tur-
key is more considerable than one could ven-
ture to assert, without being thought guilty
of exaggeration. In every caravan they form
almost the major part, and consist of men who,
under pretence of either going to or returning
from the pilgrimage, wander from place to
place, and live entirely on the liberality of the
pious. These are generally strong and healthy
individuals, capable of earning their living by
labour, were they acquainted with
any
branch
of art or manufacture, and are distinct from
the halt, the lame, and the blind, who are
always objects of charity. The former, how-
ever, by carrying about them a Koran, some
talismans, beads, and charms, make a more
profitable business of it than those who have
nothing to recommend them to the commise-
ration of their fellow-creatures, but their real
sufferings and absolute incapacity of remedy-
ing them.


202
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
The number of unproductive beings thus
preying upon the gains of the rest—who are
themselves but barely a remove beyond them,
from their extreme ignorance of the improved
methods of labour, and their natural aversion
to activity—occasions a great mass of poverty,
which nothing but the wealth that nature has
bestowed
upon their climate and soil, the
fruits of which may be said to grow up spon-
taneously to their hands, could at all support.
The military, and the officers of the govern-
ment, with a few of the merchants, more ac-
tive than the rest, who extend their specula-
tions, and move from place to place, are the
only rich people in the country. These, how-
ever, invariably support a vast number of de-
pendants, who are free from every concern but
that of eating, drinking, praying, and sleeping;
so that if the higher orders of society know
nothing of those refined pleasures which afford
so much delight to our circles, the lower
orders, from their temperate habits, their fami-
larity with the rich, and their freedom from
the common cares of life, are certainly more at
ease than ours.
I am even inclined to believe, notwithstand-
ing the positive evils of despotism, and the


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
203
undoubted disadvantages of ignorance and
indolence, that the mass of happiness is, on
the whole, as great here as in many of the
monarchical countries of Europe. The plea-
sures of nature, in one of the most delicious
climates in the world, are ever open to the
people, and they are always disposed to enjoy
them. Their diseases are neither so numerous,
so lingering, nor so destructive of the faculties
of enjoyment, as those which luxury has intro-
duced among us.
The plague may be consi-
dered an exception; but this, as it takes its
victims speedily away from sufferings of every
kind, may be deemed either a blessing or a
curse, in proportion to the estimation of the
state to which the death leads. And war, the
great scourge of the West, does not here make
whole towns of widows and fatherless children,
nor fill crowded hospitals with the mangled
carcases of wretched individuals, to whom the
sword has but barely spared the power to drag
out the remnant of a miserable and weary ex-
istence.
Our camels were laden, our horses already
saddled, and we intended to have commenced
our march immediately after supper; but the
meal was scarcely finished, before there arrived


204
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
at the caravanserai a party of Yezeedis, from
the eastward, who brought the most alarming
accounts of the state of the roads, and oc-
casioned such a general consternation, that, for
the present at least, no one would set forward.
These Yezeedis, according to report, are a
tribe of people living chiefly by themselves in
the mountains of Sinjār, between Mardin and
Mousul, having many very peculiar manners
and customs, a distinct dialect, and a strange
religion, in which they do homage to the
Devil, as an ancient prince of Heaven, ap-
pointed by God to be the demon of evil, and,
therefore, still the servant of the Most High,
and, as such, deserving of honour and respect.
It
* “ Les Yéxidis, qui peuplent la montagne de Singiar,
sont une nation barbare, qui ne connoît ni lois, ni meurs,
ni jeûnes, ni fêtes, ni prières, et qui, sans aucun régime
fixe de police, s'applique à la culture des terres, et du reste,
ne vit que de rapines. La religion des Yézidis est une
espèce de manichéisme. Ils adorent un seul Dieu sous
différens emblêmes, spécialement sous celui du soleil, et
ont pour maxime de ne pas maudire le démon, parce que,
disent-ils, il est la créature du Souverain Etre, et peut un
jour rentrer en grace avec lui. Ils habitent indifféremment
dans des villages et sous des huttes; mais en hiver, ou lors-
qu'ils sont menacés de quelque péril, ils désertent ces de-
meures et se réfugient avec leurs troupeaux dans des
cavernes obscures, ou entre des rochers escarpés, qui les


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
205
These Yezeedis are characterized by the Mos-
lems around them as the greatest robbers upon
the face of the earth, and men in whose words
no faith can be placed ; yet, when they re-
ported their having been stripped and plun-
dered by the Annazies, and nearly a third of
their party, or about twenty persons, killed,
in the act of making resistance, the hearers all
praised their courage, and lavished every spe-
cies of malediction on their enemies.
The number of the Desert Arabs was said
by some of these to amount to sixty thousand
tents; others said a hundred thousand camels,
with two men mounted on each, besides mares
and their riders; and others again contented
themselves with saying that they were a sea,
not to be numbered. All agreed, however,
that the chief motive of their coming into this
district was to procure food for their animals,
as during the summer months all sustenance
mettent à couvert de toute insulte et de tout dommage.
Leur nourriture ordinaire se borne au laitage, à la viande, au
pain d'orge et à quelques fruits; ils obéissent à divers
scheikhs, et ont l'abominable coutume d'aller vendre leurs
enfans dans les villes. Du reste, ils ne sont pas circoncis,
ils haïssent les Turcs, et paroissent avoir de l'inclination et
de l'estime pour les Chrétiens.”—Description du Pachalik
de Bagdad, p. 97, 98.


206
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
1
becomes dried up in the Southern Desert.
Their only property is in camels and mares,
of both of which they mount chiefly the fe-
males, and sell the males, to supply beasts of
burden for caravans. Their camels, their mares,
and themselves, are declared to be capable of
living each three successive days without
tasting food of any kind, and this not as an
extraordinary effort, but a common necessity
to which they are very frequently reduced.
The milk of their camels forms almost the
only food of all, since the mares never have
any corn, and seldom any grass, and they
themselves neither use bread, rice, nor other
food of grain. When a camel is wounded, or
likely to die from disease, he is then killed,
and his flesh often eaten raw; this, with a few
dates, forms the only luxury they are able to
add to the milk on which they, their mares,
and their camels' young, may all be said to
subsist. The wool or hair of the camel (which
is shed annually in the spring, leaving the
animal bare in summer, until replaced by a new
coat in autumn) supplies materials for the
hair-cloth of their tents, and their own gar-
ments, both of which are spun and woven
chiefly by their own women. Whatever other


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
207
supplies they may procure, in the way
of
arms,
ammunition, or clothing, are obtained entirely
by their plundering caravans, and bartering
the spoil for such articles as they may more
immediately need.*
In the expressions naturally drawn forth
by such a recital as we had heard from the
Yezeedis, of the depredations and cruelties of
these Wahābee Arabs who now obstructed
* “ Ce qui vient d'être rapporté des mæurs, du fana-
tisme, et de l'ambition des Wahabis, ne doit laisser aucun
lieu de douter que ces sectaires, endurcis aux fatigues, et
toujours prêts à se sacrifier pour la cause d'une religion qui
leur commande de verser le sang des autres nations, ne
soient continuellement tourmentés par la soif des conquêtes :
tout porte à croire qu'avec le temps, et par le moyen d'une
artillerie qu'ils ne tarderont pas à se former, ils parvien-
dront enfin à ranger sous leur obéissance les deux grandes
provinces ci-devant nommées (la Syrie et la Mesopotamie).
Bagdad, Bassora, Moussol, Alep, et Damas, qui en sont
les villes principales, quelque bien fortifiées qu'elles puis-
sent être, ne sauroient tenir longtemps contre ce torrent dé-
vastateur. Ce n'est pas que les Wahabis soient capables
d'enlever ces places par les maneuvres d'un siège régulier
et bien dirigé ; mais, en se bornant à piller les villages des
alentours, à ravager les campagnes, à détrousser les cara-
vanes, à interrompre enfin toute communication de ces villes
avec le dehors pour leur faire éprouver les horreurs d'un,
famine complète, ils viendroient aisément à bout de les ré-
duire.”-Notice sur les Wahabis, p. 176, 177.


208
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
7
1.
our way, all kinds of maledictions were min-
gled, and more particularly the common one
of calling them “devils, and sons of devils;"
to which some added, “ and fit only to live
with devils in the lowest depths of the bottom-
less pit.” The Yezeedis, who honour Satan
as a prince and servant of the Most High,
executing only his sovereign will upon earth,
are shocked beyond measure at any disre-
spectful mention of his name; and they them-
selves avoid even the use of certain words in
Arabic which may have an affinity in sound
to that of Sheitān, or Satan, that they may not
take the name of this Lord in vain. They
were angry beyond expression, therefore, at
that which they now heard from almost every
mouth of our assembly, and sullenly shunned
all reply, or even communication : it was, in-
deed, thought, that had their numbers been
equal to the task, they would have, vented
their anger in a more hostile and effective
way.
* “ Les Yézidis ont pour premier principe de s'assurer
l'amitié du Diable, et de mettre l'épée à la main pour sa
defense. Aussi s'abstiennent-ils non-seulement de le nom-
mer, mais même de se servir de quelque expression dont la
consonnance approche de celle de son nom.
Par exemple,
un fleuve * se nomme dans le langage ordinaire schatt, et
*


-210
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
their features small, but sharp and expres-
sive.; their colour not a glowing sun-burnt
brown, but a deadly or sickly olive of the
deepest hue; and their hair long, black, silky,
and glossy, with full mustachios and beards. *
It has often struck me as probable, that, if
ever such a sovereign as Sesostris existed in
Egypt, and made the conquests, attributed to
him by history, in India, bringing back with
him from thence, as related by the priests of
the Nile to Herodotus, a large train of spoils
and captives to grace his triumphs, the great
diversity of people and religions existing in
different parts of Asiatic Turkey might be
descendants of such captive families scat-
tered in the way; for the Druses, the Nes-
seeres, the Ismaylees, and many other classes
of people in Syria, as well as these Yezeedis of
Mesopotamia, have certainly, in their practices
and opinions, a greater resemblance to many
of the Hindoo castes, than to any other sect
or race of people now existing in the West,
or even to any of the ancient idolaters of
* “ Il est défendu aux Yézidis d'ajuster leurs mous-
taches avec des ciseaux, ils doivent les laisser croître na-
turellement : aussi y en a-t il parmi eux dont on aperçoit
à peine la bouche.”—Notice sur les Yéxidis, p. 202.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
21
which our Scriptures give us any detailed ac-
counts.
We still remained with the caravan in
the khan, but our offended informers would
not even lodge within the same walls with us,
taking away even the horses on which they
were mounted, and reposing with their animals
on the outside of the caravanserai.*
* The reader, who feels any curiosity to know the va-
rious opinions which the learned of different countries have
entertained of this singular sect, may consult Hyde, Historia
Relig. Vet. Pers.; the Memoir by Father Garzoni, trans-
lated by M. Silvester de Sacy, appended to Rousseau's
Description du Pachalik de Bagdad; and the Travels of
M. Febvier. The latter, now a very scarce book, contains
a full account of this race as they then were: the writer ob-
serves, that the number of the sect amounted to about two
hundred thousand, part of which was scattered over Persia,
and the remainder over the Turkish frontier provinces.
Their language was the Koordish. They were a hardy,
indefatigable, abstemious people; fierce in their hostile en-
counters, but kind and hospitable when approached in their
own tents. Their arms consisted of the bow and arrow, the
Turkish sabre, and the sling, in the use of which they exhi-
bited the most marvellous dexterity. His account agrees,
indeed, with what later writers relate of them, except that
he is more circumstantial and full. The following passages
from the “ Notice sur les Yézidis," already quoted, as being
less generally known, may be here transcribed :-
“ Le diable n'a point de nom dans le langage des Yézidis.


212
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
JUNE 14.—I was so completely tired of this
detention from day to day, without hope of
any speedy removal of the causes which oc-
casioned it, that I had determined to form,
Ils se servent tout au plus pour le désigner de cette péri-
phrase, scheikh mazen, le grand chef. Ils admettent tous
les prophètes et tous les saints révérés par les Chrétiens,
et dont les monastères situés dans leurs environs portent
les noms.
Ils croient
que
tous ces saints
personnages,
lors-
qu'ils vivoient sur la terre, ont été distingués des autres
hommes plus ou moins, selon que le diable a résidé plus
ou moins en eux: c'est surtout, suivant eux, dans Moïse,
Jésus-Christ, et Mahomet, qu'il s'est le plus manifesté. En
un mot, ils pensent que c'est Dieu qui ordonne, mais qu'il
confié au pouvoir du Diable l'éxécution de ses ordres.
“ Le matin, à peine le soleil commence-t-il à paroître,
qu'ils se jettent à genoux les pieds nus, et que, tournés vers ,
cet astre, ils se mettent en adoration, le front contre terre.
Pour faire cet acte de dévotion, ils se retirent à part, loin
de la présence des hommes ; ils font leur possible pour
n'être point vus quand ils s'acquittent de ce devoir, dont ils
se dispensent même suivant les circonstances.
“ Ils n'ont ni jeûnes, ni prières, et disent, pour justifier
l'omission de ces cuvres de religion, que le scheikh Yézid
a satisfait pour tous ceux qui feront profession de sa doc-
trine jusqu'à la fin du monde, et qu'il en a reçu l'assurance
positive dans ses révélations ; c'est en conséquence de cela
qu'il leur est défendu d'apprendre à lire et à écrire. Ce-
pendant tous les chefs des tribus et des gros villages sou-
doient un docteur mahométan pour lire et interpréter les
lettres qui leur sont 'addressées par les seigneurs et les


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
213
if possible, a small party in town, to go to
Diarbekr, where I might expect to meet with
government Tartars going to Bagdad, whose
pachas Turcs, et pour y répondre. Relativement aux
affaires qu'ils ont entre eux, ils ne se fient jamais à aucune
personne d'une autre religion; ils envoient leurs ordres et
font faire toutes leurs commissions de vive voix, par des
hommes de leur secte.
“N'ayant ni prières, ni jeûnes, ni sacrifices, ils n'ont aussi
aucune fête.
Ils tiennent cependant, le 10 de la lune
d'Août, une assemblée dans le voisinage du tombeau du
scheikh Adi. Cette assemblée, à laquelle beaucoup de Yé-
zidis se rendent de contrées éloignées, dure toute cette
journée et la nuit suivante. Cinq ou six jours avant ou
après celui où elle a lieu, les petites caravanes courent risque
d'être attaquées dans les plaines de Moussol et du Kur-
distan, par ces pélerins qui voyagent toujours plusieurs
ensemble, et il est rare qu'une année se passe sans que
ce pélerinage donne lieu à quelque fâcheux événement.
On dit qu'un grand nombre de femmes des Yézidis, à
l'exception cependant des filles qui ne sont point encore
mariées, se rendent des villages voisins à cette réunion, et
que cette nuit-là, aprés avoir bien bu et mangé, l'on éteint
toutes les lumières, et l'on ne parle plus jusqu'aux approches
de l'aurore, instant auquel tout le monde se retire. On peut
se faire une idée de ce qui se passe dans ce silence et à la
faveur des ténèbres.”—pp. 194—197.
This is a part of their manners, which resembles that of
the Nessāries and Ismaylies, in Syria, among whom a similar
annual meeting, with promiscuous intercourse, even of the
nearest relatives, takes place, under the sanction and name
of a religious festival.


214
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
escort I might enjoy, as I had a letter from
Mr. Barker, the consul at Aleppo, recom-
mending me to the protection of any one I
might meet with, carrying British or Indian
despatches that way.
In going from the Khan into the town,
instead of passing through the Bab el Ameer,
as usual, I went along the outside of the eastern
wall, in order to arrive at the gate of Diar-
bekr in that quarter.
On the left of my
walk, I had all the way a deep ditch, crossed
in several parts by narrow bridges of two
arches, with extensive burying-grounds, and
beyond it a long village, or suburb, chiefly in-
habited by peasants; while, on the right, was
the continued line of the city wall, thickly
filled, in its course, with square, octagonal,
and circular towers.
In the construction of this wall, it appeared
to me that three distinct periods could be
traced, even before the more modern repairs
of the present day. The first of these dis-
played the best masonry; the blocks being
long, though not very thick, about six feet
by two, but well hewn, and nicely joined
without cement. These were near the foun-
dations, and in some few places only were seen


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
215
higher up near the centre of the wall. The
surface was in general much corroded by the
operation of the air, and, on a closer examina-
tion, I was surprised to find them mostly
blocks of coral and sea shells, such as are
seen in the cliffs along the shores of the Red
Sea, in a state of decay. In some of these,
the substance seemed to be a mass of lime,
in a state of decomposition, which broke
easily, and crumbled, at the touch, into a
white salt-like powder. In others, the large
oyster, with the small queen or fan-shell, was
repeatedly and distinctly seen, with still more
numerous examples of those smaller ones like
rams' horns, so frequent, among the sands of
every sea-beach. Other parts, the surfaces of
which had become hardened by the opera-
tion of the air, looked like coarse limestone,
crossed by harder and finer veins of pure mar-
ble. These were all in the original structure
of the wall, though of what age it would be
difficult to determine. The style of the ma-
sonry is rather Saracenic than Roman, though
there is no apparent reason for its not being
carried back to a much earlier date than
either, and considering the foundations to be
even of the Chaldean age. The nature of the


216
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
stone, however, is worthy of remark, in a
situation so remote from any sea, and so ele-
vated above the level of the ocean, beneath
which alone it could have been formed. I
had seen no such rocks in the way to Or-
fah, though no doubt the quarries from
which these stones were taken are not far
remote ; but in the neighbourhood of Aleppo,
are several masses of hardened shells and coral,
appearing above the surface of the ground.
The rock of the castle is limestone; and the
soil, in which the ditch on the east of the
city wall is excavated, is of light-brown earth,
full of large and small pebbles of a rounded
form, but not sufficiently hardened together
to deserve the name of pudding-stone, which
it otherwise resembles.
The second period of work in the construc-
tion of the wall is evidently Arabic, and of a
very old date. Between the Bab el Ameer and
the Bab el Seraia, or the gate of the prince,
and the gate of the palace, are two very long
inscriptions, each occupying the whole front
of one of the square towers in the wall, and
both consisting of several lines in depth.
Neither Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, nor his
nephew, whom I afterwards took to the place,


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
217
could understand them, though the letters of
the inscriptions were all well preserved in a
high relief, and of a large size, being long and
slender. They were of opinion, that both of
these were older than the time of Mohammed,
from the form of the characters, and the ob-
scurity of the language, which, they said, was
decidedly a very old Arabic. The masonry
coeval with these inscriptions, as seen in the
towers, and in other parts of the wall, was
evidently of a much later date than that of
the foundation before noted; and the sub-
stance and form of the stones of which it was
executed were also different. Instead of the
corroded and fretted exterior of the former,
the surfaces of these were firm, smooth, and
of a fresh yellow colour, the material being a
hard and close-grained marble. These stones
were shorter, but at the same time wider in
proportion, than the stones of the original
work; and the manner in which they were
joined together proved that the masonry was
executed in a different age, and by a different
race of people.
The third period was also of tolerably
good masonry, and was as inferior to the
second as this was to the first, in strength and


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
219
preceding ones, or even with the last of them
only, which was executed but a century and
half since, presented a very striking picture of
the rapid decline of architecture among the
Turks.
In the street which led from this gate of
Diarbekr, through the centre of the town, I
noticed a Corinthian capital of white marble.
It was small and of mean execution, but was
evidently not a Mohammedan work. The
black stone found here seems to have been
much used formerly, as it still is, in the Haurān,
and in Palestine, for mill-stones.* In the
pavements of the streets a great number of
these are seen, of a considerable size in dia-
meter; and in general, the stone, from its
superior hardness, has been rather used for
pavements than for buildings. It is seen ap-
propriated to the former purpose in many
parts of the town; but it is found in a few of
* When the younger Cyrus was marching through this
country towards Babylon, he found, at a place called Pylæ
by Xenophon, a great number of people, who made a trade
of fashioning mill-stones. “ The inhabitants," says he,
were employed near the river, with digging mill-stones,
which they afterwards fashioned, and conveyed to Babylon
for sale, to buy provisions for their support.”—- Anabasis,
vol. i. p. 57 .


220
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
|
the principal buildings only, and placed there
chiefly for the sake of varying the alternate
layers of black and white stones, according to
the taste of the Turks.
All my efforts to make up a party for
Diarbekr had been hitherto ineffectual, the
same risk being thought to prevail on that
road, as on the way to Mardin, from small
bands of robbers, formed of the Arabs of the
country, against which a caravan would be
secure by its numbers, but by which a small
party would be sure to be pillaged.* The ca-
ravan itself, in going that road, would probably
lose no time, as the route was only three
additional days from Diarbekr to Mardin, and
the distances of these places were each five
days from hence, whereas the prospect of our
detention here had no apparent limit. We
should also be sure of passing to the north-
ward of the districts occupied by the Annazies,
the danger of being plundered by whom had
been yet the only obstacle to our departure.
But another consideration of still higher im-
portance in the estimation of all who had
* Rousseau says, in speaking of this road, “ La route,
(de Mardin) à Diarbekr, quoique très fréquentée, est
effroyable et dangereuse.”—p. 95.


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
221
}
11
the
7141
abik
here
property of any value to convey, was, that
after paying the custom-dues of five piastres
per camel-load here, they would be obliged to
pay a charge of five per cent., ad valorem, on
all their goods, if they went to Diarbekr; and
this would be forced from them, whether they
entered the city or not: since the custom-
house there would send its agents out to meet
them half way on the road, and make them
thus pay dearly for the short deviation of their
march from a route of danger into one of
safety. Some few, indeed, who had nothing
but their personal baggage to protect, were
strenuous in their advice to take the road to
Diarbekr at once, urging, very sensibly, that it
was better to pay, as a certain loss, the charge
of five per cent., than run
a great risk of
losing all. The merchants, however, would not
admit this principle, and seemed to know
nothing of the nature of insurance.
Some of the dervishes and fakīrs said, “Of
what avails all this caution and prudence ?
Can the sons of Adam prolong their lives at
their own pleasure ? and are not all events
written in the destinies of Heaven? There is
no God but God, and Mohammed is the apostle
of God! Let us, therefore, trust in God, for
ami
fin
of 0
OM
TaZIA
nha
artur
o ho
à
atée,


222
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
all things are with God; and as God is mer-
ciful, we shall pass, by the blessing of God, in
safety and peace.” Such was their lavish use
of the name of the Deity—a name almost
ceasing to be venerable in Turkish ears, by its
constant application to the most trifling as well
as important occasions. But, pious and ortho-
dox as were these suggestions of the poor,
the
rich suffered their pecuniary interest, and
their love of life, to prevail over their devotion,
or their confidence in the protection of that
Being whose name they had so often invoked,
and determined not to move
until more
favourable intelligence should arrive.
At noon, it being the public day of prayer,
all the mosques were crowded, particularly
those of the Vizier, and of Ibrahim-el-Khaleel,
which are the most generally frequented. In
the inner porch of the latter, our noon-meal
was taken, and no scruples were made by my
host to my being one of the party, or to my
receiving the salute due only to a Moslem
from those who knew not of my being an Eu-
ropean. In the
In the pavement of this mosque
I
observed some slabs of the pale porphyry,
noted before in the baths and shops of the
town. In th
In the outer court, also, I remarked


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
223
some arches, which I thought purely Gothic,
the lower parts being formed of sections of a
Roman arch, which were broken and raised
upon by a smaller pointed one. It is more
probable that these were Mohammedan than
Christian arches; though, in the erection of
this mosque, their forms are as likely to have
been borrowed from the Crusaders of the
West, as the Gothic is to have been merely a
variation of the Saracenic arch. The dates of
the respective buildings are the chief deside-
rata ; for by these it might be easy to deter-
mine whether the Gothic architecture is a
mere variation of the Arabic, and brought
from the East, or whether, as contended by
some, it had its origin purely in the West.
For myself, I confess that all I have yet seen
inclines me to the last opinion.
In the afternoon, there arrived an express
messenger from Aleppo, bringing me a letter
of the 11th inst. from Mr. Barker, in answer
to one addressed by me to him on the 3d. and
sent by a messenger of the country. The
subject of the correspondence was this :
Previous to my departure from Aleppo, in
the
company of Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, it
had been agreed on that his servants should


224
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
receive the sum of a hundred and fifty pias
tres on my account. This was to be divided
equally between the chief camel-driver, the
cook, and the groom, for the respective ser-
vices which each might render me on the way.
It was on the promise of these men being, for
this consideration, perfectly at my command,
that
my own servant,—which had been kindly
furnished me from the establishment of Lady
Hester Stanhope, in Syria, as one of tried
fidelity, on whom I might safely rely—had
returned to his home, it being thought un-
necessary to take him to the other end of Asia,
on such a journey as this, while his home and
his family were in Syria.
For the first day or two of our route, I had
to attend entirely to my own wants, without
any other exemption than that of not cook-
ing; it being required of me to look after
my own baggage, saddle my horse, rub him
down, feed him, and secure him at night, as
well as lead him to water in the day; and to
do all the other little offices which I might
otherwise need. I had been of late so ac-
customed to this, under a state of much
greater privation, in my journeys east of the
Jordan, and through the mountains and plains


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
225
of the Haurān, that I scarcely felt it to be
inconvenient. Its being thrown on me at all,
however, I attributed to the hurry and bustle
of the caravan's departure, which accumu-
lated a pressure of duties on every one's hands,
so that no man could yet attend to the affairs
of another. Considering myself as on board a
ship just departing from her port—for these
land-fleets and ships of the desert require
quite as much time to put in regular order-
I consoled myself by saying, We shall get all
to rights when we are clear of the land, and
well out to sea.
On our arrival at Beer, on the Euphrates,
matters were, however, no better; and as the
prying eyes and curious inquiries of
many
in
the caravan had been attracted, by their seeing
a person equally well dressed with the Hadjee
and his nephew performing menial duties,
which they themselves did not, and as I was
often annoyed by the impertinence of those
who took greater liberties with me on that
account, I ventured to inquire whether the
sum specified had not been given to the ser-
vants on my behalf, and whether I was not
thereby entitled to their assistance on the
journey. The owner of the camels admitted
VOL. I.
Q


226
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
that he had received fifty piastres, for which
the small portion of baggage I carried-name-
ly, a carpet, corn for my horse, and his chain-
fastenings for the night—were placed on the
lading of one of the camels, and he thought
this to be all the service which I should
require of them. The cook, who was an
Abyssinian slave, had really enough to do in
his own department and as he denied his
having received any consideration on my
behalf, nothing could be expected from him.
The groom declared, also, that he had not
been rewarded in any way, and that I had,
therefore, no just ground of complaint against
his inattentions.
I directed my inquiries still further, think-
ing that these men might have given me false
answers, in order to exempt themselves from
any claims from me, and, accordingly, I asked
the young Hadjee Abd-el-Ateef, the nephew
of Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, if he knew any
thing of the hundred and fifty piastres pro-
mised, and the mode of its appropriation.
He declared that he was entirely ignorant of
the affair, and said he believed his uncle to
be so too: adding his conviction, that if the
consul had promised me to pay that sum, and


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
227
1
I really intended it, it was no doubt done,
though the servants might deny it. He still
repeated that he knew nothing at all of the
matter; and expressed himself almost angrily
at my having so underrated their hospitality
and respect for the English nation, as to think
any reward, even to the servants, necessary
for my participation of their common fare on
the journey.
As I felt that if the affair were suffered to
end thus, the veracity both of the consul and
myself might be liable to suspicion, I had
written to Mr. Barker a full detail of the
case, requesting his explanation of it to be sent
after me, that it might reach me before I quit-
ted my companions at Mousul. This, then,
was the purpose for which the messenger had
been despatched, and the answer which he
brought stated that the hundred and fifty
piastres had been paid, by his own cashier, into
the hands of the young Hadjee Abd-el-Ateef
himself, and in the presence of his friend
Hadjee Hāshim of Aleppo. Letters in Ara-
bic, directed to the uncle and the nephew,
accompanied this to me; and on reading them,
the former was roused to a violent degree of
anger, and the latter covered with confusion.


228
INTERIOR OF THE CITY,
From all that I could learn, it really ap-
peared that this young man, who had received
the
money,
had concealed the fact from all
the rest of the party; and after giving fifty
piastres to the camel-driver, who alone had
been previously told that he would have to
receive that sum, he had appropriated the rest
to himself. The uncle, who had every ap-
pearance of being sincere and honest, ex-
pressed his indignation in very warm terms,
and made every suitable apology to me; the
nephew, on the contrary, first strove to brave
it out, by repeating that he knew nothing of
the affair, until the camel-driver confessing
that it was from the hands of Hadjee Abd-el-
Ateef that he received his portion, further
denial was vain.
This was the act of a young man of twenty-
two, an age when the heart is generally most
inclined to revolt at any thing that is base or
mean, particularly where pecuniary gains are
the only benefit to be received by it, and the
son and nephew of wealthy merchants, so that
he had the prospect of a good inheritance.
It was a sad picture, therefore, of Eastern
integrity, (it could neither be called Arabic
nor Turkish, since the family was strictly
1


GARDENS, AND ENTERTAINMENTS.
229
neither,) and as this young pilgrim was also
just newly returning from the Hadj, it seemed
to prove that there was reason in the pro-
verb which is common among the Arabs of
the Desert, with whom pilgrimages are not in
great repute, and which says, “ If thy neigh-
bour has been once to Mecca, suspect him ;
if twice, carefully avoid him ; but if three
times, make haste to remove from near his
habitation !”


CHAPTER VII.
FROM ORFAH TO THE ENCAMPMENT OF
EL
MAZAR.
It was past noon, when a party arriving
from the eastward brought intelligence of
the Annazie camp being removed farther
south, and of the road for the moment being
clear. It was, therefore, advised, that instant
advantage should be taken of this favourable
change, by setting out immediately on our
journey, as these wanderers might soon again
return. This being determined on, with a
promptitude extremely rare among Orientals,
all became a scene of bustle and preparation.
The caravan destined for Diarbekr, and
which, like our own, had delayed its depar-
ture from day to day, from the supposed
danger of the road, now united itself to ours,


CHAPTER VII.

PLUNDER OF THE CARAVAN BY A TURCOMAN HORDE.


ܐ
ii.;
ܐܐ
ܕ


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
231
in order to go with us part of the way at
least, and thus increase our mutual safety.
The number of animals assembled at even-
ing in the khan was at least three hundred,
chiefly horses, mules, and asses; camels being
said to be unfit for the road to Diarbekr,
because a branch of Mount Taurus crosses
this route: the number of persons accom-
panying the caravan was at least equal to that
of the animals.
Public prayers were performed at sun-set
in the inner court; a bountiful supper was
again distributed among the poor, and the
strangers; and we continued up, surrounded
by parties of great mirth and gaiety, to await
the rising of the moon before we set out
on our journey to Mardin.
JUNE 15th.—It was past midnight when we
left the khan, after which we passed southerly
through the long range of suburbs without
the wall and ditch of the city, and getting
nearly opposite to the gate of Diarbekr,* in
* In eastern cities, gates are generally named from
places towards which the road leading from them looks ;
and from which caravans for such places consequently de-
part.


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
233
greater number of other flocks and cattle ;
but still more than all, by their being tri-
butary to the nearest government, of which
the great Desert Tribes are wholly inde-
pendent.
At sun-rise, we crossed a stream flowing
to the south-south-west, called the Water of
Jelab, and said to lose itself in the southern
sands. * We saw here a number of the
erested hoopoes, a bird extremely abundant
in Egypt. They are called in Arabic “ Hed-
hed,” with the appellation of Beni-Sulimān,
or children of Solomon ; from a prevalent
opinion, that in the splendid age of this Jewish
monarch, these birds were among the num-
ber brought to him, with the peacocks and
monkeys, from Ophir, and other distant lands.
It is currently believed by the people of the
country, that its crest was then a crown of
gold; but that the avidity of mankind for
* “ Les environs de Roha ont quelques positions locales
qu'il ne faut pas omettre. En s'eloignant de cette ville,
vers Grec-levant, une plaine, que le nom d'Eden fait croire
être agréable, est traversée d'une petite rivière qui prend
le nom de Giallab, d'un château situé dans les montagnes
qui côtoye la route ; et le nom de cette place est Calaba, dans
la Notice de l’Empire, et dans Procope de Edificiis.”-
D'Anville sur l'Euphrate et le Tigre.


234
FROM ORFAH TO THE
this precious metal occasioning the birds to be
often killed for their crowns, they assembled
together, and represented their case to Solo-
mon himself.
This monarch, in his great
wisdom, understood the languages of all ani-
mals, as well as of all people, on the face of the
earth; and, hearing and pitying their case,
he prayed to their Creator to ameliorate their
destiny, when the crown of gold was instantly
changed to a crest of feathers, of equal if not
of still greater beauty.
The plain over which our road lay now be-
came waste and dreary, being no longer culti-
vated, although it was still covered with a
fine fertile earth, and bore a long wild grass,
on which the animals of the caravan fed as
they went along. The town of Orfah, as seen
behind us, at the foot of the hills near which it
stands, still preserved an interesting appear-
This range of hills runs nearly north
and south, and ends in the last direction in
the Desert. To the east of our path, at a
short distance, was a similar range of hills,
lying also north and south. The bare ridge
on our left, lying east and west, completed
three sides of a square, and the fourth side of
the horizon on our right was open, presenting
ance.


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
235
an even line like the sea, terminating in the
sandy waste of the Great Southern Desert.
In the western edge of this, we could dis-
tinguish as we passed the minaret or towers of
Haran, bearing south-south-west, and distant
from twelve to fifteen miles. From some of
our party who had been there, I heard that,
though all in ruins, it was a larger town than
Orfah, and had, like it, enclosing walls and a
castle; but I could hear of no remains of
Roman architecture resembling those seen in
the castle of Orfah.* There are at present no
inhabitants of
any kind at Haran, though the
Arabs of the country come occasionally to
lodge there during the rainy seasons, for the
shelter of their flocks.
Our march was continued in a state of con-
-stant apprehension and frequent alarm, from
the appearance of horsemen in small parties,
until nearly noon, when we halted at a spot
called Tal Kaloo, for the sake of watering at a
well there. We had slightly ascended from
* Charran, which was at the same time called Carræ
and Charræ by the Romans, and was remarkable for the
defeat and death of Crassus, is placed by Golius Niger, and
others, forty miles to the northward from hence, which is
evidently erroneous.--See Ives's Travels, p. 354.


236
FROM ORFAH TO THE
the level of Orfah, and had reached the foot
of the eastern range of hills seen from thence,
at a distance of about fifteen miles.
The heat of the day was excessive, and a
dead calm prevailed at noon; the thermome-
ter in the shade standing at 99º. A strong
north-east wind however soon sprung up; and
a storm of thunder, lightning, and large hail,
beat down our tent, and obliged us to cover
ourselves and horses with all the cloaks, bags,
and carpets we could collect, to protect us from
the heavy fall of the stones, many of which
were an ounce in weight.
We were repaid for this inconvenience by
the delightful serenity of the evening, and the
pure freshness of the air. Ascending a round
artificial eminence, near the place of our en-
campment, on which foundations of buildings
were visible, the view from thence was ex-
ceedingly extensive. The people here have a
particular and characteristic name for the
Desert, and for all wide spaces of land, unpeo-
pled by towns and villages, similar to that
which we use for the wide
expanse
of
ocean,
when we call it “ the open sea.”
tions of unpeopled country are called “ Bur-
reah," a name derived either from “ Burra,
Such por-


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
237
1
2
10
meaning the land—as “ Burra el Sham,” the
land of Sham ; or Burra, meaning without, at
a distance: thus they say, “ Nuzzult al Bur-
reah,” or “ We encamped without, in the open
land,” exactly as we should say, on ship-board,
“ We brought up, or lay-to, without, in the
open
sea.” In these extensive plains, minute objects
are seen at quite as great a distance as on the
ocean, and the smallest eminences are dis-
overed, (or “made,” as the sea phrase is,) by
degrees, just as islands and capes are at sea,
first perceiving their tops, and then raising
them gradually above the horizon; till their
bases appear on the level of the observer.
Many of these, like rocks and headlands to
sailors, become, among the Desert Arabs, so
many fixed marks of observation, and fresh
points of departure. The bearings and dis-
tances of wells are noted and remembered
from such objects; and they are seen by
caravans, going slowly across the Great Desert,
for many days in succession, as they approach
to and recede from them. We observed from
hence several of such eminences, all of which
are said to have their peculiar name among
the Arabs of these wastes, as well as among
the leaders of caravans, so that they answer the
-
DC
211
1
- 2


238
FROM ORFAH TO THE
names and positions of capes to sailors, in the
direction of single ships, or fleets at sea.
From several single passengers whom we
met coming across these plains from the east-
ward, all of them poor men, venturing as mes-
sengers, or letter-carriers, having, in the ex-
ecution of their errands, much to gain and
nothing to lose, we had such unfavourable ac-
counts of the direct road to Mardin, that it
was determined in our next march to make a
turn to the northward, and get into a by-path,
little known or frequented, and lying in the
hollows of the hills. Seid-Hassan, of Orfah,
being still with us, on a journey, in charge of
merchandize to Mardin, and being better ac-
quainted with this neighbourhood of his nati-
vity than any of the other leading men of our
party, took upon himself, by general consent,
the charge of caravan-bashi, or pilot; and it
was under his orders that we were to halt,
move forward, break up, or form our camp.
Even in this forlorn spot, we met fakīrs and
dervishes on their way towards Aleppo, for the
next pilgrimage of Mecca; and by one of
these, an Indian, who halted at our tent to
refresh, I forwarded another letter to my
friends in England. The camp was breaking


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
239
up whilst I wrote it, and we afterwards moved
on for about an hour after sun-set, to change
our halting place, as it was suspected that our
position had been seen by horsemen wandering
on the hills, and we were likely to deceive
them by this measure. We lay down at night
with our arms in our hands, and the bridles
of our horses forming our only pillow, to be
ready at the first alarm, in case of any
sudden
attack.*
* To shew the grounds which existed for this alarm, and
to give the reader an idea of the terror which the attacks of
the Wahābees had inspired throughout every part of the
East, it may be well to give a few extracts of the Memoir
written by the French Consul at Bagdad, and founded on
the most accurate sources of information in the country
itself, in letters written to him by correspondents residing
at the time in Aleppo and Bagdad, in 1806 and 1807.
“ Extrait d'une lettre écrite d'Alep, en date du
12 Juin, 1806.
“ La caravane des Hagis ou Pélerins, a dû souffrir con-
sidérablement cette année du brigandagé de ces sectaires
fanatiques. Après avoir massacré une partie des dévots
Musulmans qui la composoient, et soumis l'autre à des im-
positions excessives, ils ont brisé le sacré Mahmel, coffre
d'un riche travail et couvert d'un drap vert brodé, qui ren-
ferme les pieuses offrandes que le Grand Seigneur envoie
chaque année, pour être déposées sur le tombeau de Ma-
homet. Ce coffre est porté ordinairement par un chameau
superbement caparaçonné, et qui marche toujours à la tête


240
FROM ORFAH TO THE
JUNE 16th.-We commenced our march
with the rising of the moon, and now bent
our course to the northward, going through
narrow and winding valleys, and constantly
du convoi, en mémoire de celui qui portoit le siége du
prophète dans ses courses apostoliques et militaires. Un tel
accident, fait pour jeter l'alarme parmi les Turcs, a plongé
notre ville dans la dernière désolation ; tout le monde le
regarde comme le triste présage de la décadence du Maho-
métisme. Tandis qu'un corps de Wahabis s'étoit mis aux
trousses de la caravane des pélerins, un autre plus nombreux,
expédié de Dréhyèh même, se dirigeoit rapidement vers
Zéber, Bassora, et Imam-Ali. Ces brigands se présentèrent
en force, le 27 Avril, devant le dernier de ces lieux, et à
la faveur de la nuit parvinrent à en escalader les murs ;
déja ils avoient planté leurs drapeaux au haut des rem-
parts, et quelques-uns d'eux avoient même pénétré dans
l'enceinte de la place, lorsqu'un de leurs chefs s'écria tout-
à-coup, en s'adressant à ses camarades: Mes amis, voici
le moment favorable pour signaler notre saint zèle: nous
sommes les vengeurs du Très-Haut, faisons grâce à ceux
qui suivent sa loi, mais punissons de mort ceux qui osent la
violer.'
Cette courte exhortation, prononcée d'un ton haut
et délibéré, réveilla les sentinelles endormies, et sauva
Imam-Ali. L'alarme fut générale ; les habitans coururent
aux armes, et jugeant qu'il valoit mieux se défendre avec
courage que de se laisser lâchement égorger, ils firent une
vigoureuse résistance et tuèrent tous les Wahabis qu'ils
rencontrèrent: ceux-ci voyant leur projet manqué par une
harangue tout-à-fait déplacée, n'eurent d'autre parti à
prendre que de se retirer à quelque distance de la ville, où,


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
24
ascending At sun-rise we were in a small
confined place, where the bare hills on each
side nearly approached each other. In those
on our right were perpendicular cliffs, near
s'étant retranchés, ils la tinrent dans une espèce de blocus;
mais un scheikh Arabe, nommé Hatab, fondit sur eux,
suivi d'une poignée de gens, et les obligea, au bruit du
canon de la place qui les étourdissoit par un feu continuel,
à s'éloigner, après qu'il leur eut tué plus de six cents
hommes. Les Wahabis, informés de la sortie du pacha, se
replièrent sur Sémawat, ville des bords de l'Euphrate, et
attaquèrent cette place selon leur coutume pendant la nuit;
mais ils échouèrent encore dans cette tentative. Osman-aga,
commandant du lieu, les repoussa vivement, et le lende-
main un scheikh Arabe, suivi de trois cents Kézaïls, les
chargea avec tant de vigueur, qu'ils perdirent dans cette
dernière affaire, à ce que l'on assure, plus de cinq cents hom-
mes.”—pp. 170—176.
66 Extrait d'une seconde lettre d'Alep, en date du
14 Mars, 1807.
“Je m'empresse de vous donner la nouvelle très-impor-
tante de la mésaventure arrivée aux pélerins, qui après être
partis de Damas pour se rendre à la Mecque, ayant à leur
tête selon l'usage l’Emir-el-Hage, Abd-allah-pacha, ont été
arrêtés au milieu de leur route par les Wahabis, et exposés
à de nouvelles vexations. Ces sectaires avoient dicté l'an
passé au même pacha des conditions rigoureuses qui inter-
disoient au convoi qu'il conduisoit toute espèce de pompe
extérieure; indignés de voir qu'il ne s'y étoit pas conformé,
ils lui ont signifié l'ordre de suspendre sa marche et de s'en
retourner avec toute la caravane, le menaçant d'un pillage
VOL. I.
R


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
243
that they were used as places of sepulture, than
that they were ever the residences of men, or
places of shelter for cattle.
On gaining the highest part of the stony
which we had been all the morning
ascending, an extensive view of the country
to the east and west presented itself. In both
directions there were a number of successive
levels, divided by such inconsiderable ridges,
land, up
construire un fort pour recevoir une garnison, et qu'ils
avoient déja rassemblé tous les matériaux nécessaires pour
cela. Ceci démontre assez le projet qu'ont les Wahabis
d'entrer dans la Mesopotamie, où ils n'ont pu pénétrer
jusqu'à ce jour; et une fois qu'ils y auront mis les pieds,
toutes les forces réunies de la Porte ne pourroient peut-être
plus venir à bout de les en chasser.”—p. 179.
“ Extrait d'une quatrième lettre datée de Bagdad, 'le
30 Juillet, 1807.
“ Nous venons d'apprendre par des avis certains la triste
nouvelle du saccagement d'Ana, éxecuté par un corps com-
biné de Wahabis et d’Al-Ubeids, à la tête duquel se trou-
voit Létouf-beg, fils du fameux Schawi-zadèh, qu'Ali-
pacha a fait étrangler il y a quelques années. Les cruautés
qui ont été commises dans cette ville sont horribles, et rap-
pellent le souvenir affreux de celles qu'exercèrent ces bri-
gands en 1802, dans la ville d'Imam-Hussein. Ils ont mis
tout à feu et à sang, et après avoir massacré la majeure
partie des habitans, ils se sont retirés précipitamment;
chargés de dépouilles, et entraînant avec eux en esclavage
un grand nombre de femmes et d'enfans.”—p. 181.


244
FROM ORFAH TO THE
as still to retain the character of two great
plains, the one on the north-east and the
other on the north-west of our present point
of view. The northern prospect was bounded
by the eastern extremity of the range
of
Mount Taurus, which here ends sloping away
by a long and slow descent into the plain. I
could not perceive the branch or chain of it,
which is generally represented in our maps
as forming a sharp angle here, and running
nearly north and south ; nor could I, in an-
swer to my inquiries, glean any accurate ac-
count of the country beyond this boundary.
I had reason to believe, indeed, that the
information given me of the road from Orfah
to Diarbekr leading across these mountains,
was incorrect; since the plain beyond their
eastern extreme seems to be more in the direct
way. The reason why horses, mules, and asses,
are chiefly employed in that journey, and
camels in this to Mardin, must be sought
therefore in some other cause.
While I was
in the act of conversing on this subject with
a stranger of the caravan near me, my host,
the Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, inquired of me,
whether there were any mules in the country
of the Franks? I replied in the affirmative;


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
245
adding, that in the south of Europe they
were the principal beasts. of burden used.
He then gravely assured me of the fact, which
he thought peculiar to the mules of this
country, that they did not perpetuate their
species, and was greatly surprised to learn that
this defect was common to their race else-
where. He said, that tradition had preserved
a story of the old idolaters among the Chal-
deans attempting to burn the Patriarch Abra-
ham, for his having deserted the gods of his
fathers, when called into the land of Canaan;
and that, as mules were the animals on which
the wood for the fire was carried, the mules
of Mesopotamia were condemned by the Al-
mighty to sterility for ever afterwards; though
before this period they brought forth their
young
like other creatures. There was no
authority that I remembered to set up against
the latter part of this tradition, namely, that
there ever had been a period in which mules
enjoyed the common privilege of propagating
their species. The oldest of profane histo-
rians, Herodotus,* mentions such an occur-
rence in the early times of which he treats,
* Thalia, 153, vol. ii. p. 339. 8vo. and Polyhymnia, 57,
vol. iii. p. 482 .


246
FROM ORFAH TO THE
but he notices it as a prodigy, out of the
common course of nature, and numbers it
among the strange omens that preceded an
important event: this, however, was a writer
of whom my companion had never heard, and
to whose authority he would have attached no
credit, in any thing which might have tended
to invalidate so pious a tradition as this, where-
in the true God was made to appear as the
enemy of infidels.
We continued our way over a stony land,
composed principally of lime and broken flint,
and covered with a profusion of fine white
poppies. The soil abounded in other wild
productions of the vegetable world, a great
many of which were used in the common
medicines of the country, and were gathered
by the people of the caravan for that
purpose.
As nature had been here lavish of her re-
medies in this almost unpeopled waste, so
there were not wanting poisons and venomous
creatures to make up the balance of evil and
good. Among the former was a plant, which
sent up a soft stalk about four feet in length
from the ground, and the diameter of the
human finger at the root, gradually becoming
smaller. The stalk, which was full of white


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
247
frothy sap, bore a profusion of berries, about
the size of large peas, hanging thickly around
it. In their present state, they were of a
whitish colour, and smooth on the outside ;
but within they were of a deep green, with
black seeds of a triangular shape, and a
spongy substance.
Among the insects, were several small flies,
the stings of which were painful; though it
is worthy of remark, that, since leaving
Aleppo, we had not seen a single musquito,
neither on the banks of the Euphrates at
Beer, nor amid the lakes, the streams, and
the gardens of Orfah, favourable as these
situations might be considered for their pro-
duction. The large and hideous lizard, with
bloated head and eyes, so common over all
Syria, had also ceased to be seen; and it was
now rare to hear the croaking of frogs at
night. Black beetles, such as the scarabeus
of Egypt, were, however, plentiful; and large
black ants, many of them a full inch in length,
were also abundant, and often made us feel
very sensibly the depth of their bite.
The most remarkable creature was, how-
ever, a large black scorpion, called, in Arabic,
6 Akrabee.” It was about two inches in


248
FROM ORFAH TO THE
length; the first inch forming its head, breast,
and legs, and I think its wings, though I did
not see them opened ; and the last inch being
occupied by a soft ringed body, or tail, of
about a third of an inch in thickness. When
touched by a stick, it seemed to divide its
head into two parts; the cleft between, form-
ing, to all appearance, its mouth, presented a
surface covered with brown and stiff hairs,
like so many darts, and with these it made
great efforts to touch the offending substance.
While its head and breast lay thus flat on the
ground, in the natural position of its motion,
its body or thick tail, forming half its entire
length, was cocked up in the air, at right an-
gles with the other half or part before it,
which seemed to be its head. This body or
tail, so elevated, was ringed and scaled, like
the tail of a lobster, but ended abruptly, as
if a piece had been cut off from the trunk.
In the centre of this flattened termination
was a small tube, through which it emitted
its venom, of a milky white; and when
teased, it expanded its large mouth, waved
its heavy tail in the air, and sent forth
momentary emissions of its poison. Its bite
or sting was said to be generally productive of
C
à
0
1


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
249
death; though not so suddenly, but that, under
skilful treatment, some efficient remedy might
be applied. *
It was now near noon when we encamped
in the hollow of a waving plain, near a reser-
voir of rain-water, which supplied our wants.
To the south of us, about three miles, were
seen a few trees on the brow of a hill. These
were now become remarkable objects; for,
since leaving Antioch, near the coast of Syria,
excepting in the gardens of Aleppo, on the
borders of the Euphrates, and at the town of
Orfah, we had scarcely seen a tree throughout
our track.t This general bareness of wood
gives a very desert and melancholy aspect to
a country, however productive it may be in
other respects. A lover of the picturesque
would soon become disgusted by the mono-
* There are representations of a similar scorpion in the
forty-second plate of D’Olivier's Atlas, Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6;
but the one, here imperfectly described, resembled No. 4.
of that plate, more than either of the others.
+ The face of the country was the same in the age of
Xenophon; as, in the Anabasis, he thus describes it :-
“ The country was a plain throughout, as even as the
sea, and full of wormwood; and if any other kind of shrubs
or reeds grew there, they had all an aromatic smell; but no
trees could be seen.”


250
FROM ORFAH TO THE
B
2
1
tony of the views; but an American farmer
would probably be charmed with them, as
they would present to him extensive tracts
of dry and cleared land, needing no draining
of marshes, no hewing down of whole forests,
and at the same time having fine pastures for
cattle, and a fertile soil for corn-lands.*
Our afternoon offered no variety of occu-
pations, but it kept us all on the alert and in
a constant state of alarm, from the
appearance
of horsemen in different directions, whose
pursuits and destination were judged of by
their numbers, their course, and other indica-
tions, in the same way as opinions are formed
of strange vessels passing in sight at sea. In
the evening, every spark of fire, or the least
appearance of smoke, was quenched, to pre-
vent our place of encampment being noted
from afar off, as all lights are extinguished
at night upon the ocean, by vessels wishing
to escape the observation of an enemy.t
* It has been remarked, that the richest and finest views
of nature in America present no charms to the eye of the
native back woods-man, who can see no beauty but in cleared
land, as that is the great object of all his toils.
+ Notwithstanding this perpetual apprehension of danger
and precaution for safety, there is a feeling of pleasure in


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
251
As the place of our encampment, called El
Beil, was in a high and thick grass, we were
the independence of a desert life, which none can imagine
but those who have felt it. This is very happily expressed
by one, who had no doubt experienced it himself, and to
the fidelity of his description most persons who have
travelled any distance among the Arabs must be ready
to bear witness. The writer to whom I allude says,
“ Malgré la solitude et les désagrémens du désert, malgré
la vie vagabonde, dure et laborieuse, que mènent ses
habitans, on doit croire que ces hommes agrestes et endurcis
aux fatigues, se dédommagent assez des nombreuses priva-
tions auxquelles ils s'accoutument de bonne heure, et que
bien des gens regardent comme des maux réels, par le
plaisir de l'indépendance et par les douceurs de la concorde
fraternelle qui règne constamment entre eux.
J'avouerai
même que dans mon voyage en Mésopotamie, j'ai éprouvé
bien des fois, en me trouvant au milieu des Arabes qui
m'accueilloient avec empressement et affabilité, les charmes
de cette liberté primitive, précieux apanage de l'homme,
dont nous perdons le sentiment par l'habitude que nous
faisons de la commodité et du luxe des villes. Un simple
tissu de crin ou de chaume, que l'Arabe nomade trans-
porte où bon lui semble, pour s'en former un toit, le met
à couvert lui et sa famille de la pluie, du froid, et des
ardeurs du soleil. Rien ne borne sa course, il peut la
diriger à son gré; le sol sur lequel il se fixe lui appartient,
et sans avoir besoin de distinguer les propriétés par des
limites, il partage avec ses voisins le pacage de son trou-
peau qui l'habille et le nourrit tout à la fois.”—Description
du Pachalik de Bagdad, p. 106, 107.


252
FROM ORFAH TO THE
surrounded at night by swarms of fire-flies,
which are said by the natives to shew their
luminous effulgence here only while they feed
upon the herbs and grass of the spring, and
that in the depth of winter they either emit
no light, or totally disappear.
JUNE 17th.—We departed from hence, when
the moon gave us sufficient light to direct
our path, and our course was now bent towards
the north-east. In the progress of our way, .
we passed in sight of several places where there
had apparently been buildings, and close by
one on which the portion of a considerable
edifice was still remaining. The stones of
this were large and well hewn, and the mason-
ry smooth and good. It marked the outline of
an oblong square, about a hundred feet by
fifty; but to what age it belonged I could not
decide, nor could I learn whether the spot
had
any name among the people of the
country.
In descending, we came to several very deep
cisterns, hewn out of the hard rock, which
here presented a flat surface, level with the
soil, as if it had been hewn down to this
level by human labour. This was rendered


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
253
more probable by there being traced out, on
the face of the rock, small channels for con-
veying the rain-water into the reservoirs. I
could not even learn the name of this place,
though it no doubt had one; for so valuable
a station could not but be well known and
much frequented by the Arabs of the coun-
try; but as we were now out of the Derb-
Sultāni, or King's highway from Orfah to
Mardin, the best-informed individuals of the
caravan had sufficient difficulty in making
out the road at all, without knowing any
thing of the names of places on it.
It was about an hour after sun-rise, gra-
dually ascending from hence, that we reached
the brow of an eminence, which opened to us
a boundless prospect on the east, very similar
to that which we had seen on the south when
looking towards Haran. To the north, the
wide plain below was bounded by an in-
sulated range of mountains, separated from
Taurus by an intervening valley of great ex-
tent; this range rising in its western and
terminating in its eastern extreme, by low
points gradually sloping down from the cen-
tre of its length, where its summits were
highest. The general direction of this range


254
FROM ORFAH TO THE
seemed nearly east and west, and it might
extend from forty to fifty miles. Its outlines
were more even, and its summits less elevated,
than those of Taurus, as we saw no snow on
any part of the former; whereas the southern
face of the latter presented many patches of
the purest white. The northern sides of both
these ranges might, however, be more thickly
covered with snow, from their being less ex-
posed to the dissolving influence of the sun.
The Great Eastern Plain presented an hori-
zon like the sea, broken only in two or three
places by little mounds, arising like rocks and
islets out of the water.
We saw here
many
thin columns of smoke
arising from Bedouin tents, scattered over
this plain, as it was the hour for kindling
morning fires, and not a breath of wind was
yet stirring. We were pleased, rather than
alarmed, by these appearances, because they
were known to proceed from the Arabs of the
country, as they are called, who satisfy them-
selves with a fixed tribute from all caravans
passing through their districts, and do not pil-
lage passengers, unless the payment of this is
resisted by them. Their peaceably abiding in
their tents induced us to hope, that the wan-


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
255
dering hordes of the Annazies, who transport
themselves with such rapidity from place to
place, had not reached thus far, and this hope
gave new confidence to our steps.
Soon afterwards, two horsemen were seen,
coming towards us across the plain : and the
headmost of our caravan, consisting of its
leader, Seid-Hassan, the Hadjee Abd-el-
Rakhmān, and myself, being all well mounted,
galloped off to meet them, in order to ascertain
as speedily as possible from whence, and under
what sheikh or chief, they were. We found
them to be Arabs of the Beni-Melān, under
Abu-Aioobe-Ibin-Temar, Pasha, who were on
the look-out on behalf of their tribe, with or-
ders to let no caravans pass without payment
of the regular demand of tribute.
These men were mounted on fine mares,
though very wretchedly caparisoned ; and
their dress was rather like that of the Fellahs
or cultivators of the country, than like the
Bedouins I had been accustomed to see.
They wore the large overhanging tarboosh,
and white muslin turbans, with a serge cloak,
resembling in colour, form, and substance the
white Muggrebin burnoosh, used in the west
of Africa ; except that this had large sleeves,


256
FROM ORFAH TO THE
and, instead of being woven like the former
without seam, it was joined in the middle
like the Syrian Arab cloak, by a red cord,
going horizontally across the back.
Their arms were, a sword, a brace of pis-
tols, and a long light lance, of twelve or thir-
teen feet in length. Both of these men were
shaved, wearing only mustachios, and one of
them had light blue eyes, a fair complexion,
with yellow hair and eye-brows; but neither
of them had a single feature at all resem-
bling those I had been accustomed to see
in the pure Arab race, from the southern
extremity of the Yemen, to this the most
northern limit of Arabia.
It is impossible to convey an idea of the
respect which was paid to these two indivi-
duals, by the leader of our caravan, Seid-
Hassan, as well as by the Hadjee, who was the
chief owner of the property it conveyed; and
it was from my being really unprepared to
do them the homage thus spontaneously of-
fered by my companions, that I was disco-
vered to be a stranger, and soon made to pay
dearly for such an omission.
At their giving the word, a halt was made,
till they could ride round the caravan to


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
257
survey it; when, one of them remaining
behind to prevent escapes, and the other
preceding us, we were conducted, like a flock
of sheep by a shepherd and his dog, to one
of the stations of their encampment, called El
Mazār.
It was near noon before we reached this
place, as it lay about two hours north of the
road from which we had turned off, and was
just midway between the common routes
to Diarbekr and Mardin, being therefore a
good central station from which to guard the
passage to both.
There were other local
advantages which rendered it eligible to these
tribute-gatherers, and occasioned it to be a
frequently-occupied and often-contested spot.
The first of these advantages was a spring
of good water, forming a running stream, and
fertilizing a fine pasture-ground on each
side of it. The next was a high and steep
hill, which, if artificial, as, from its abruptness
of ascent and regularity of form, it appeared
to be, must have been a work of great labour,
and served the double purpose of an elevated
post of observation, from which the view
could be extended widely on all sides round,
and a place of security for the flocks at
VOL. I.
s


258
FROM ORFAH TO THE
night, it being quite inaccessible to mounted
horsemen. The last peculiarity, which recom-
mended this place as a station for a tribe ex-
acting tribute, was, that the passage to one
particular part, at the foot of the hill, was so
exceedingly difficult, either for horses or foot-
passengers, even in the day-time, that it could
not be gained but very slowly, step by step,
and under constant exposure and disadvan-
tage. This last spot had been chosen for the
tents of the Arabs themselves, where they
were as secure as in the most regularly for-
tified garrison ; and we were ordered to en-
camp in the pasture-ground below, at the
distance of about a quarter of a mile from
them.
The first tent was scarcely raised, before
we were visited by three of the chief's depen-
dants, mounted on beautiful horses, richly ca-
parisoned, and dressed in the best manner of
Turkish military officers, with their cloth
gar-
ments highly embroidered, and their swords,
pistols, and khandjars, such as Pashas them-
selves might be proud to wear. Every one
arose at their entry, and the carpets and
cushions of the Hadjee, which had been laid
out with more care than usual, were offered to


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
259
the chief visitor, while the rest seated them-
selves beside him. All those of the caravan
who were present, not excepting the Hadjee
himself, assumed the humiliating position of
kneeling and sitting backward on their heels,
which is done only to great and acknowledged
superiors.
This is one of the most painful of the Mo-
hammedan attitudes, and exceedingly difficult
to be acquired, as it is performed by first
kneeling on both knees, then turning the soles
of the feet upward, and lastly, sitting back on
these in such a manner, as that they receive
the whole weight of the body, while the knees
still remain pressed to the ground. I at first
assumed this attitude with the rest, but an
incapacity to continue it for any great length
of time obliged me to rise and go out of the
tent, on pretence of drinking; which simple
incident, though I returned in a very few
minutes afterwards to resume my seat, from its
being thought a disrespectful liberty to rise at
all in the presence of so great a man, without
a general movement of the whole party, gave
rise to very earnest inquiries regarding a per-
son of manners so untutored.
The answers to these inquiries were highly


260
FROM ORFAH TO THE
contradictory. Some asserted that I was an
Egyptian of Georgian parents, and of the race
of the Mamlouks of Cairo, from their knowing
me to be really from Egypt, and from my
speaking the Arabic with the accent of that
country, where I had first acquired it, while
they attributed my fairer complexion than that
of the natives to the same cause.
Others said
that I was a doctor from Damascus, and sug-
gested that I had probably been in the ser-
vice of the Pasha there, as I had given some
medicines to a little slave-boy of my pro-
tector, by which he had recovered from an
attack of fever; coupled with which, they had
heard me talk much of Damascus as a beau-
tiful and delightful city, and therefore con-
cluded this to be the attachment of a native.
Some again insisted that I was a Muggrebin, or
Arab of Morocco, acquainted with all sorts
of magical charms and arts, and added, that I
was certainly going to India to explore hidden
treasures, to open mines of diamonds, rubies,
and emeralds ; to fathom seas of pearls, and
hew down forests of aloes-wood and cinnamon,
since I was the most inquisitive being they
had ever met with, and had been several times
observed to write much in a small book, and


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
261
in an unknown tongue; so that, as it was even
avowed by myself that I was going to India,
and had neither merchandize nor baggage with
me of any kind, it could be for no other
pur-
poses than these that I could have undertaken
so long a journey Lastly, some gave out that
I was a man of whom nobody knew the real
religion; for, although I was protected under
the tent of Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, and
treated as an equal with himself, I was cer-
tainly not a Moslem of the true kind; because,
at the hours of prayer, I had always been ob-
served to retire to some other spot, as if to
perform my devotions in secret, and never
had yet prayed publicly with my companions.
A Christian they were sure I was not, because
I ate meat, and milk, and butter, on Wednes-
days and Fridays, as well as on other days;
and a Jew I could not be, because I wore no
side locks, and trimmed the upper edge of my
beard, after the manner of the Turks, which
the Israelites or Yahoudis are forbidden to do.
As I had been seen, however, at every place
of our halt, to retire to a secluded spot and
wash
my
whole body with water, to change my
inner garments frequently, to have an aversion
to vermin which was quite unnatural, and a


262
FROM ORFAH TO THE
feeling of disgust towards certain kinds of
them, amounting to something like horror, as
well as carefully to avoid being touched or lain
upon by dirty people, and at night to sleep
always aloof from and on the outskirts of the
caravan, they concluded, that I was a priest of
some of those idolatrous nations of whom they
had heard there were many in India, the
country to which I was going, and who, they
had also understood, had many of these sin-
gular aversions, so constantly exhibited by
myself.
All this being openly declared by one mouth
or another, from individuals of the caravan,
who had crowded around our tent, and in the
hearing of the Hadjee himself, he found it
necessary to clear me from all these imputa-
tions, by declaring me at once to be an English-
man, whom he had taken under his protection.
These Arabs had never heard of such a peo-
ple; but when it was said a Franjee, (or a
Frank,) “ Oh !” said one of them, “ they are
the people who come from Ajām,* and I know
how to prove or try them,” A cup of water
Ajam is the name given by the Arabs to Persia, and
among the most ignorant of them is generally applied to all
countries eastward of their own.


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
263
was then at this man's request brought to me,
and I was requested to drink out of it, being
first told that the cup belonged to a Jew of
the caravan.
I drank, as requested, and then
the man declared, with a loud voice, that I was
an impostor, since the Franjee were all Ajāmi,
and the Ajāmi would rather die than drink
out of the cup of a Yahoodi, or Jew.
I know not how so strange an assemblage
of ideas had been formed in this man's brain,
but it was such as to produce on the minds
of all who heard him the firmest conviction
of my having deceived even my companions.
I was then questioned about the country of
the English and that of India, and my answers
to these questions only made the matter still
As they believe the world to be a per-
fect plain, surrounded by a great sea, so as
to be like a square mass floating in water,
the Mohammedans generally inquire how the
countries lie in succession, one within another
in the different quarters, taking their own for
nearly the centre of all. My replies to such
questions were directed by truth, for the
sake of avoiding self-contradiction, to which I
should have been very liable if I had been
cross-examined, and had endeavoured to shape
worse.


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
265
from the caravan. A paper was then brought,
containing a written statement, drawn up by
one of our party, at the command of the sur-
veyors, and by him read to the chief; for nei-
ther himself, nor any of his attendants, ap-
peared to be able to read or write. While all
the rest humbly knelt around him, this chief
stretched himself, with an affectation of con-
tempt, along the carpet on the ground, and
threw his legs occasionally in the air. It was
neither the attitude of weariness, nor the rude
carelessness of unpolished life; but a barba-
rian or savage notion of dignity, which con-
sisted only in shewing to those around him
how much he despised them.
It was just at this moment that the Hadjee
contrived to lay before this Chief, with his
own hands, and with an attitude of the greatest
humility, a box of presents, containing a rich
Cashmeer shawl, some female ornaments, an
amber mouth-piece for a Turkish pipe, and
other articles, amounting in value to at
least fifteen hundred piastres, or fifty pounds
sterling These the brutal despot turned
over, with a look of as much indifference as he
had assumed from the beginning, and neither
deigned to praise them, nor to seem even


266
FROM ORFAH TO THE
ass.
pleased with the gift. The list of our goods
being then read to him, a certain sum was
commanded to be affixed to each name, and,
to judge from his manner of naming it, the
amount of this was entirely arbitrary. The
owners of the merchandize were then ordered
to pay twenty piastres for each camel-load,
fifteen for each horse or mule, and ten for every
The leader of the caravan was to pay a
thousand piastres, to be levied by him in any
way he thought proper on the persons com-
posing it; the merchants were to give a thou-
sand Spanish dollars for the members of their
class ; the Mokhöddesy, or pilgrims from Je-
rusalem, were to raise fifteen hundred piastres
among themselves, which was a still harder
condition than the preceding; and I was
condemned to pay one thousand piastres, in-
stead of five thousand, which it was contended
would have been demanded of me, if I had not
been under the protection of Hadjee Abd-el-
Rakhmān, who had smoothed his way by his
presents to the Chief.
The sums named for the merchandize were
instantly agreed to be paid ; but the other as-
sessments were not so easily to be obtained; as
their amount was not only exorbitant, but


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
267
the persons named were really unable to raise
it. The leader of the caravan reduced his
tribute to five hundred piastres, of which
he paid the half himself, and raised the other
half by subscription. The merchants com-
promised for two thousand, which was fur-
nished by about ten of the principal ones; and
the pilgrims could not raise altogether five
hundred piastres, though they formed, in num-
ber, nearly two-thirds of the caravan.
The two men who exercised the duty of
collectors, and who, being on the look-out
on that day, were perhaps interested by a
specific share of the prize-money, behaved
with the greatest insolence and cruelty.
They ransacked the private baggage of such
as they suspected to have any thing worth
taking, and selected from amongst it whatever
they pleased. When they came to mine, I
trembled for the result, as, though consisting
only of a pair of small khoordj or saddle-bags,
and a portmanteau, these contained all that
was necessary, not merely for my journey, but
for the success of my views in the East. In
them were the money with which Mr. Barker
had furnished me for my journey, a gold
watch, all my Indian letters and papers,


268
FROM ORFAH TO THE
which if seen would have made them think
me a greater man than they had yet ima-
gined me to be, and induced them to aug-
ment their demand; a thermometer, compass,
and other instruments, all now crowded, by
the advice of the Hadjee, into this small space,
to escape observation, from the fear that if
seen they would occasion my being taken for a
magician, and this idea would be confirmed
by their finding among the rest of the things
some few medicines, and broken specimens of
mineralogy, of which no one would have
known or even imagined the use.
I made all the efforts in my power to pre-
vent the portmanteau from being opened,
but, whenever I advanced to interfere, I was
driven back by blows and insults, until, seeing
them proceed to loosen the straps, I en-
treated the Hadjee to intercede for me,
saying, that it had cost me much trouble
to get the things there into a small space,
and begging that they might not be ran-
sacked. The motive was suspected, and oc-
casion was taken of it to say, that if I chose
to
pay the thousand piastres demanded of me,
nothing should be disturbed. I had before
declared, that I had no more money with


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
269
me than the few piastres shewn to them
in my purse, and said that, as I was poor,
I hoped to get along by the help of the
faithful, and by such sum as should be pro-
duced by the sale of my horse at the jour-
ney's end. All the money that I had, indeed,
except these few piastres, which were neces-
sary for the current wants of the road, was
really within the khoordj, the greater amount
being in a bill on a merchant of Bagdad, and
the remainder in gold coin, carefully secured,
and I could not pay it, if disposed to do so,
without opening this package. I was allowed
a moment to consult with the Hadjee, to
whom I stated my wish rather to accede to
these terms, hard as they were, than to have
my baggage opened, which might, perhaps,
lead to still worse consequences, as in it money
would be found, which would betray my
having deceived them, and other articles of
still greater value, which would be, perhaps,
taken from me altogether. He then, after
fruitless efforts to reduce it lower, agreed
to pay the sum required, on condition that
my effects should not be disturbed; and it
was of course understood, that I was to re-


270
FROM ORFAH TO THE
for a pre-
turn this sum to him either on the road, or on
our arrival at Mardin.
The poor pilgrims were treated even worse
than I had been; for they had not only their
effects taken from them, to make up for a
tended deficiency of tribute, but many of them
were severely beaten into the bargain.
This duty of exacting and paying the
tributes occupied all parties very busily until
after El Assr, the hour of afternoon prayers.
The chief of this robber-tribe had already
washed and prayed, however, with all due
formality, beneath the tent, during the time
of the pillage : for prayer, among a very large
portion of Mohammedans, is not so much
performed as a duty of religion, as it is to
imply manhood and consequence. What we
mean in Europe by devotion, namely, a pour-
ing out of the soul before an invisible Being,
as much loved as feared, and a feeling of gra-
titude for his blessings, is certainly very rare
among them, though there is no people in
whose mouths the name of God, or the ex-
pression of thanks to him, is more frequent.
As soon as all these revolting proceedings
were ended, we were commanded, rather than


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
271
invited, to go up to the camp
to
supper.
I
would willingly have staid behind; but, though
I pretended incapacity from indisposition, I
was not suffered to remain. I had seen the
people of the tribe take a khandjar or dagger
from one, and a brace of pistols from another ;
and although I had escaped having my musket
taken from me, as that was a weapon not in
general use among them, yet I was apprehen-
sive for the fate of my sword, which was a very
excellent old Damascus blade, and cost up-
wards of a thousand piastres in Egypt. As
it was too large to have it packed away in any
of the parcels of our baggage, I had con-
trived, by lifting it up between my shoulders,
to conceal it behind my back, beneath my
abba or cloak; but it was difficult either to
mount, to dismount, or to change positions
in any way, without risking its being seen.
I went up to the encampment, however, on
foot, while most of the rest went on horse-
back ; taking my sword with me in the
position described, as I had no opportunity
of leaving it behind, without the certainty of
its being discovered and taken from me by
those of the hostile tribe who were guarding
our tents. When we arrived at the camp,


272
FROM ORFAH TO THE
we found about a hundred and eighty tents,
all of black hair-cloth, and of a form neither
purely Arab, nor Turcoman, but combining
the peculiarities of each. They were generally
raised on several small poles ; some consisted
only of one apartment, others of two, and
the partitions and outer enclosures were in-
variably of reeded matting. The tent of the
chief was very large, and its roof was sup-
ported by at least forty poles : it was of an
oblong form, divided into two squares ; one
of these, being enclosed from the outer side,
was appropriated to the females ; the other
was open on the two fronts, and closed at the
centre for the harem.
We found in this tent two persons, superior
even to the chief who had visited us below.
These were seated on fine divans, lolling on
rich cushions; and one of them, a corpulent
man, with a long white beard, was dressed in
silk cloths and furs, with a high cap, of a kind
between that of a Delhi and a Tatar. We
knelt humbly around on the earth, and were
barked at by large dogs, stared at by dirty
and ill-dressed children, and eyed by the wo-
men from the openings in the partitions of
the tent; the whole presenting a greater


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
273
mixture of the rudeness of Arab manners
with the luxurious indolence of the Turkish,
than I had ever before seen.
Supper was served almost instantly after
the first cup of coffee had been taken. This
consisted of a whole sheep, two lambs, and
two kids; the former set before us with its
limbs unsevered, the four latter in separate
dishes of a large size, cut into pieces, and
boiled with wheat in the husk. We had
warm bread, and an abundance of lebben or
sour milk, for which last only spoons were
used, the boiled wheat being eaten by hand-
fuls. The whole was despatched with the
haste of beasts devouring their prey, and
fearing to lose it by delay; and as every one,
after washing his hands and mouth, poured
out the water on the ground before him, with-
out using a towel or a basin, the whole space
within the tent was speedily inundated. The
earth at length, however, absorbed it; but so
rudely was every thing done amidst this
abundance, and even luxury, that hands and
faces were wiped in the sleeves of shirts,
or skirts of cloaks, or else left to dry in the
air. Coffee was again sérved, and as the
sun was declining we prepared to return.
VOL. I.
T


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
276
engaged, at close quarters, for half an hour
at least, and it fell to my lot to come into
grappling contact with three individuals in
succession, neither of whom escaped unhurt
from the struggle. It ended, however, in vic-
tory declaring on our side, in the
recovery
of
the plundered property, and the chasing the
intruders from the camp.
It was faint twilight when this contest
ended, and as it was desirable to get to our
tents before it became dark, those who had
ridden up to the camp, mounted the same
horses to go back; but as I was on foot,
a saddled mare was presented to me.
I
declined to ride, and begged to be permitted
to walk. It was answered, that it would be
a great breach of politeness to suffer one
like me to depart from the tent of the chief
on foot, and, in short, my riding was insisted
on. I was obliged to yield; and, when mount-
ing, my sword, which after the affray I had
still continued to conceal, as before, was, as I
expected, discovered. As the people of the
country never see arms of
any
kind without
examining them, it was in vain to resist their
inspection of this. I was accordingly taken
in to the sheikh, who expressed himself


276
FROM ORFAH TO THE
pleased with it. He asked how much it had
cost me: I was afraid to name any sum; be-
cause, if I told him justly, he would have
concluded that I was rich; if I stated its
value at a low estimate, he would have excused
himself for taking it from me as a thing of
little value. I therefore said it had been
given to me by a friend whom I respected;
and added, that I valued it so highly on that
account, that I would suffer my life to be taken
from me rather than part with it. This was
uttered in a very determined tone, as the only
method which presented itself to my mind, of
escaping from extortion. It had, in part, the
desired effect; but to compensate to the
sheikh for his relinquishing all further claim
to it, on account of the motive of my esti-
mating it so highly, I was obliged to give him
another sword, belonging to the nephew of
my host, for which I engaged to pay this
young man two hundred and fifty piastres, or
return him one of equal value at Mardin.
After being thus literally fleeced, we re-
turned to our camp, fatigued as much by the
vexations of the day, as by the privation of
our usual noon-sleep, and the bustle we had
undergone in the mid-day sun.
On going


ENCAMPMENT OF EL MAZAR.
277
1
back, we saw the look-out boys descending
from the summit of the steep hill, before men-
tioned, as one of the eminences of this post,
and others were driving the flocks into stone
enclosures, for their greater security through
the night.
I had, at first, taken these enclosures for the
remaining foundations of destroyed buildings;
but, on a nearer examination, they appeared to
be only sheep-folds, constructed of loose stones,
with a door of entrance, and the enclosing walls
just sufficiently high to prevent the animals
escaping. There was here, however, on the
south-western side of the hill, the portion of
an old building, now in ruins. Its masonry
was of unburnt bricks of a large size, but thin,
and well cemented. I observed in it a good
Roman arch, as of a recess, in the inner wall,
but of what age its construction was, or to
what purpose it had been applied, it would
now be difficult to determine. The whole of
the stones were large round insulated masses
of the black porous basalt, so often described
in the plains of the Haurān, on the eastern
frontiers of Syria.
1


CHAPTER VITI.

TRA
份
​NO
000000
les
ANCIENT ARABIC REMAINS
IN THE RUINED TOWN OF KOACH HASSAR.


--


EL MAZAR TO MARDIN.
279
were on the southern road from Orfah to
Mardin, and the more northern route from
Orfah to Diarbekr ; they had now, however,
shifted their position, from a fear of the
Annazies, who were much more powerful than
themselves, and with whom their only mode
of warfare would be by retreating, unless sur-
prised and obliged to fight. These Annazies
were estimated at fifty thousand horsemen at
least, according to the testimony of the Beni-
Melān themselves, as well as that of others
who professed to be intimately acquainted
with their resources.
In our progress over the plain on which we
now travelled, we passed wide tracts of the
finest land, producing a high grass exactly like
corn. Indeed, I did not at first know it to
be otherwise, until, by a comparison of it with
fuller ears of grain in some sown patches near
it, the difference was perceived. Even at the
time of that examination, however, I still
thought the first to be wheat in its indi-
genous state. Excepting only some few stony
portions, where goats and sheep chiefly fed,
the whole tract was one waving field of yellow
harvest, seeming to invite the sickle; and in
cleared patches of this were seen not less than


280
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
1
1
it
a
five hundred tents, scattered in groups of from
thirty to fifty each, in different parts of our
way, with large herds of bullocks and horned
cattle feeding in this luxuriant pasture.
At such of the tents as were near our path,
we drank milk and coffee; and after an agree-
able road of only three hours, in which, how-
ever, we were oppressed by the violent heat
and the fatigue of the preceding day, we
halted at noon near a pool of rain-water, to
replenish the supply of the caravan.
Our situation was in itself sufficiently pain-
ful to all, but its effect was heightened to me
by the forlorn situation in which I found my-
self here, without friend or companion, servant
or interpreter; hearing every hour four or
five strange languages, one of which only (the
Arabic) I understood, and seeing in every
indi-
vidual about me a rudeness and selfishness of
the most repulsive kind, however justified it
might have been by the necessary dependance
of
every man on his own exertions.
It is true that here no one is superior to
another, but by his own capacity of enduring
hunger and thirst, heat and cold, watching and
fatigue ; and his only safeguard consists in the
union of his own vigilance and courage with
a


282
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
the missing utensil, were all powerless, how-
ever, in their effect. The lost cup was not
found ; and the consolation then assumed was,
“ God knows where it is gone, but it was
written in heaven from of old.”
As the Koordi inhabiting the hills near us
had the reputation of being great robbers, we
lay encamped to night in closer order than
usual, every man by his horse, ready armed
and accoutred, and catching at intervals an
hour's sleep upon his sword or his spear.*
On departing from our station, we went a
course of east-south-east, over the plain, which
was an alternate succession of stony tracts,
and fertile soil, covered with rich grass and
The stones were black, porous, and in
separate masses of from one to five hundred
corn.
* Travelling in Mesopotamia seems, even in the earliest
ages of which we have any records, to have been little less
dangerous than at present. In the history of Isaac and
Rebekah, when Abraham sent his chief servant from Ca-
naan to Haran, to betroth the damsel, it is said, “ It was
a considerable while before the servant got thither; for it
requires much time to pass through Mesopotamia, where
it is tedious travelling in winter, for the depth of the clay;
and in summer, for want of water; and, besides, is dan-
gerous, by reason of the robberies there committed, which
are not to be avoided by travellers, but by caution before
hand.”—Josephus, Antiq. of the Jews, b. i. c. 16. s. 1.


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
283
pounds weight, above the surface of the
ground, resembling in form, though not in
colour, large masses of sponge. Some, indeed,
were semi-globular above the earth ; and
where they were broken on the surface, shewed
coatings of different lamina like the coats of
an onion, while the points of such few ridges
as thrust themselves above the soil, were of a
more solid kind. The remarkable perfora-
tions which appeared in the greater portion
of these stones, did not seem to depend on
their greater or less exposure to the air ; for
the freshest and blackest of them were as full
of these as the most decomposed ; and when
broken, the interior presented the same ap-
pearance as the part without. The soil was
a fine brown mould, of a light colour, appa-
rently equal in depth and fertility to that of
Egypt.
After a march of about two hours, we
reached a burying-place of the tribe of Beni-
Melān, under the foot of a small hill, on the
sides of which were enclosures of stone for the
security of flocks. The graves here were of
a different form from any that I had yet seen
in the country, being of the usual length and
breadth, but built in a strait wall on all sides


284
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
up from the ground, to the height of seven or
eight feet, and then closed on the top by a
semicircular or convex covering of stone. At
each end rose a small slab, without ornament
or inscription of any kind.
There were nearly fifty of these tombs, but
the principal one was that of Temar Pasha,
the father of Aioobe, the present chief of the
tribe. It consisted of an octagonal outer wall,
enclosing a well-paved court, the ascent to
which was by a flight of steps. In the cen-
tre of this court rose an octangular build-
ing, having an open arch in each of its sides,
and being covered by a well-executed dome.
Beneath this, stood the tomb of the Pasha,
which presented the appearance of an open
grave, the sides being raised about a foot
above the level of the surface, and the cen-
tral part hollow to that depth. Around these
sides were seen the common ornaments of the
Turkish frieze reversed, as remarked on the
tombs at Orfah; and at the head of the grave
was raised a perpendicular stone of the com-
mon form, containing the monumental in-
scription in Arabic, and crowned by the high
cap between the form of that worn by the
Tatars and that used by the Delhis. In the


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
285
paved court without this central octagonal
building, were two other humbler tombs,
probably those of the wives or children of the
Pasha himself.
We continued our march from hence, going
east-south-east, until nearly noon, when,
having been in motion about eight hours, we
halted near a pool of rain-water, in a hollow
of the plain, and close to the foot of a small
round hill called Tal Jaffer. We had now all
around us a level view, broken only by little
hillocks; excepting on the north, where the
plain terminated at the range of hills before
spoken of, as forming the insulated mass, east
of Taurus. This is called in Turkish, Karaj
Dag, and in Arabic Jebel el Asswad, both
signifying the Black Mountain. It is proba-
ble, from its name, that it is formed of the
black stone so common over all this tract.
In the evening, some Yezideeah, as they
were here called, halted at our tent, on their
journey from the eastward towards Orfah, and
took coffee with us. These men were very
different in their appearance from those I had
before seen at Orfah; the individuals of the
present party having round harsh features, red
complexions, and stiff wiry hair. They were


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
287
Among the new particulars which I heard
of this people, it was said, that in their sacred
books no mention is made of any superior
beings, except Sheitān and Eesa, or Satan and
Jesus ; but they paid to the former the higher
honours of the two; as they did not scruple
to use the name of Jesus, while that of
Satan could not, even by the most cruel
deaths, be extorted from them. The inter-
view described in the Gospeļs, where the Devil
is said to have tempted the Messiah ; the
instances of his sending whole legions of his
inferior spirits to torment men, and possess
herds of swine; and more particularly the
occasion on which the Devil is said to have
taken Christ up into a high mountain, to have
shewn him all the kingdoms of this world, and
promised them to him if he would fall down
and worship him;-are all interpreted by them
as favourable to the high dignity of this
Prince or Melek, as they call him. They
contend, that if the assertion of the Gospel be
true, that all the kingdoms of the earth are at
the disposal of Satan, and the power and the
glory of them delivered to him, to give to
whomsoever he will, he must be a personage
of the highest consideration, and one whose


288
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
favour all the good kings and emperors of
the earth must have won ; for to his influence
alone do they owe the possession of their
respective thrones. This is the orthodox doc-
trine in the mountains of Sinjär; and any one
who should dispute it, would no doubt be
treated with much the same kind of indul-
gence that is shewn to sceptics elsewhere.
The Yezeedis have one large church, some-
where in the north of Mesopotamia, which
they all visit at the yearly feast; and besides
this, there are many smaller ones in their
native hills. The brazen image of a cock is
said to be set up in their temples, as an object
of adoration ; but they suffer no one to enter
their places of worship except themselves, and
are also scrupulously reserved on the subject of
their religious opinions, in which particulars,
as well as in their isolated situation in a range
of mountains going by their name, they resem-
ble the Druzes and Nessaries in Syria. Their
women are most carefully concealed from
public view; but I could not learn whether
each man confined himself to one wife or not.
Blue, which is the distinctive colour of the
Christians throughout the Turkish empire, is
studiously avoided by them. They will neither


290
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
JUNE 20th. --The moon was now so far ad-
vanced in her wane as to yield us little light
before the morning, so that it was broad day-
personnage qu'ils appellent kotchek, et sans le conseil du-
quel il n'entreprend rien. Celui-ci est regardé comme
l'oracle du chef, parce qu'il a le privilège de recevoir im-
médiatement des révélations du Diable. Aussi quand un
Yézidi hésite s'il doit entreprendre quelque affaire im-
portante, il va trouver le kotchek, et lui demander un avis,
qu'il n'obtient point néanmoins sans qu'il lui en coûte quel-
que argent. Avant de satisfaire à la consultation, le
kotchek, pour donner plus de poids à sa réponse, s'étend
tout de son long par terre, et se couvrant il dort, ou fait
semblant de dormir, après quoi il dit qu'il lui a été révélé
pendant son sommeil telle ou telle décision : quelquefois il
prend un délai de deux ou trois nuits, pour donner sa ré-
ponse. L'exemple suivant fera voir combien est grande
la confiance que l'on a en ses révélations. Jusqu'à il y a
environ quarante ans, les femmes des Yézidis portoient,
comme les femmes Arabes, afin d'épargner le savon, des
chemises bleues teintes avec l'indigo. Un matin, lorsque
l'on s'y attendoit le moins, le kotchek alla trouver le chef
de la secte, et lui déclara que pendant la nuit précédente
il lui avoit été révélé, que le bleu étoit une couleur de
mauvais augure et qui déplaisoit au Diable. Il n'en fallut
pas davantage pour que l'on envoyât sur le champ à
toutes les tribus, par des exprès, l'ordre de proscrire la
couleur bleue, de se défaire de tous les vêtemens qui étoient
de cette couleur, et d'y substituer des habits blancs. Cet
ordre fut éxécuté avec une telle exactitude, que si aujour-
d'hui un Yézidi se trouvant logé chez un Turc ou chez


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
291
light before we were all in motion. Our
route was directed a point more southerly
than before, but the face of the country over
which we travelled was nearly the same,
consisting of stony tracts, fine grass-covered
plains, and some few patches of corn-land,
alternately succeeding each other.
On the south of us was the Great Desert,
on which the eye soon became fatigued to
look, as it had all the monotony of a sea-view,
without the freshness of its colouring, or the
variety occasioned by the winds and waves by
which this last is continually agitated. We
now opened in the north-east a second range
of isolated mountains, rising more abruptly,
having more broken outlines, and being of
a greater height than those of Karaj Dag.
These were called Jebel Mardin, and near
their centre the city of that name was said
to stand.
In all our progress to-day, we saw neither
houses, tents, nor flocks, though we passed
several wells and springs, as well as pools of
un Chrétien, on lui donnoit une couverture de lit bleue,
il dormiroit plutôt avec ses seuls vêtemens, que de faire
usage de cette couverture, fût-ce même dans la saison la
plus froide."--Notice sur les Yéxidis, pp. 197—202.


292
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
rain-water, preserved in natural hollows of
the land, and still fresh and good.
It was before noon when we halted at one
of these, named Uslam Deddé, large enough
to be called a lake. Its borders were edged
around by large masses of black rock and tall
rushes, and its waters contained crabs and
small fish, some of which were caught
and
eaten. On its banks was an abundance of
rich grass, which furnished welcome refresh-
ment to our horses and mules, while the camels
seemed to prefer the drier herbs more remote
from the edge of the lake. As its waters were
deep, many of our company bathed here, and
myself among the number, finding it refresh-
ing beyond description to wash my whole
body and change my inner garments ; for the
dirt and vermin accumulated in a few days
only, by eating, drinking, and sleeping among
fakīrs and dervishes, with which the pious
Hadjee's tent and table were always crowded,
is scarcely to be conceived, without actual
experience of the evil.
As we had intelligence that the Sheikh
Aioobe Ibin Temar Pasha was encamped in
the neighbourhood, with all his suite, it
was deemed necessary for the heads of our


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
293
caravan to visit him with presents, to prevent
any further extortions from his tribe. The
party was small, and I carefully avoided
making one of the number; for though I had
already contributed more than my share, I
should have been, most probably, forced or
inveigled into a further contribution.
It appeared, from what I could learn of
this tribe, that its founder was a disgraced
Pasha, who escaped the sword of the exe-
cutioner at Constantinople; and bringing away
with him both money and troops, forced his
march down through Asia Minor, till, getting
safe beyond the mountains of Taurus, he took
refuge in these extensive plains. He then
invited to his tent adventurers and outcasts
from
every quarter, so that he soon had a nu-
merous force about him, formed of excellent
materials for his purpose. For the life he was
to lead, as an independant freebooter on the
territory of the sovereign by whom he had
been disgraced, no man could be more fit than
this fugitive chief; and, by the aid of his ad-
herents, he soon succeeded in making himself
acknowledged lord of these domains, and feared
even by the established Pashas of Diarbekr and
Aleppo. After a long reign, he died, and left


294
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
the chieftainship of the host to his son, the
present Sheikh Aioobe, who is himself far ad-
vanced in
years.
This tribe is said to consist of about fifty
thousand tents, scattered over the country be-
tween Mount Taurus on the north, and the
Great Desert on the south, and from the bor-
ders of the sea on the west, as far as Mardin
on the east. The variety of national character
here brought together accounts for the corrupt
state of their manners, as well as for the dif-
ferent styles of physiognomy which we ob
served among them. Their women are mostly
unveiled, though but few of them are pretty.
We saw none who were dressed purely as
Arabs; they wear a white chemise with long
and ample sleeves, tied to meet behind the
neck, so as to leave the arms bare, a coloured
cotton gown, and a turban or calpac, like the
Turkish chaook, covered with white cloth.
Neither do they stain their skin with blue, or
load their arms with heavy bracelets, after the
manner of the Bedouin females.
To the north and west of their district are
the Turcomans, already spoken of, with whom
these people live in tolerable amity; and in
the south-east, just beyond our halting station,


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
295
were a small tribe of Desert Arabs, called Beni
Hadideel. These were said to amount to no
more than about one thousand tents; but they
are represented to be all Seids or Shereefs,
that is, noble, or descendants of the Prophet.
On this account, they all wear the green tur-
ban, which distinguishes them from ordinary
Moslems, and they are among the very few of
the Desert tribes who have continued faithful
to the orthodox doctrines of Mohammed, and
resisted the innovations of the Wahābees. The
incursions of the Annazies, with whom, as
heretics, this tribe is at war, having driven
them farther north than usual, the smoke of
their evening fires was pointed out to us, from
hence, in one of their encampments to the
southward, upon the borders of the Great
Desert, but we could not distinguish the tents
themselves. *
* The following description of the appearance and na-
ture of the Southern Desert is accurately and happily
expressed :
“ Le long de l'Euphrate et du Tigre, et sur les deux
bords du Schatt-el-Arab qui est formé de la réunion de
leurs eaux, on ne rencontre que fort
peu
de forêts, encore
n'y croît-il point d'arbres de haute futaie ; ce ne sont par-
tout qué des terrains couverts de taillis, de roseaux, et de
broussailles, qui offrent les plus tristes perspectives : à


296
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
JUNE 21st.-We set out at a later hour than
usual this morning, as the sky was lowering,
and the sun at its rising obscured by a red
mist. The air was calm, but a disagreeable
gauche du premier de ces fleuves, est l'immense et aride
désert de l'Arabie, borné à l'ouest et au midi par la mer,
et où l'oil du voyageur n'aperçoit, ni collines, ni vallées, ni
bois, ni sources, enfin aucun de ces aspects pittoresques,
et gracieux ou terribles, que la nature s'est plu à réunir
dans d'autres pays sous mille formes variées.
“ Cependant c'est ce même désert que les grandes cara-
vanes de chameaux traversent une ou deux fois chaque
année, pour pourvoir Alep, Damas, et Bagdad, des mar-
chandises
propres
à alimenter leur commerce, et leur luxe :
on n'y trouve ni sentier frayé, ni chemin battu, soit parce
que la route est peu fréquentée, soit parce que les sables
emportés par le vent ont bientôt fait disparoître les traces
des hommes et des animaux. On peut dire que c'est un
océan de sable, où les Arabes se dirigent par la seule in-
spection du soleil et des étoiles, comme ceux qui voyagent
D'après ce qui vient d'être dit de l'aridité et
de la sécheresse de ce désert, brûlé d'ailleurs par les ar-
deurs du soleil, on aura peut-être peine à comprendre,
comment ceux qui s'y enfoncent peuvent trouver de l'eau,
et ne pas mourir de soif. On a pourvu à ce besoin, en
creusant de gîte en gîte des puits, dont l'eau, quoique sau-
matre et quelquefois même tout-à-fait corrompue, ne laisse
pas
de servir à abreuver les Arabes et leurs chameaux. En
hiver, les pluies forment en divers endroits des lacs et des
marais ; alors le voyage n'est pas si désagréable, ni si pé-
nible.”—Description du Pachalik de Bagdad, pp. 53–55.
sur mer.


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
297
and suffocating heat prevailed, all which were
considered symptoms of an approaching south-
ern wind. Two hours after sun-rise the heat
was insupportable, and, even from the people
of the country, the general cry was to halt.
It was about this time when the wind began
to be felt by us, coming in short and sudden
puffs, which, instead of cooling or refreshing,
oppressed us even more than the calm, each of
these blasts seeming like the hot and dry va-
pour of an oven just at the moment of its being
opened. The Southern Desert was now co-
vered with a dull red mist, not unlike the
sun-rise skies of our northern climates on a
rainy morning, and soon after we saw large
columns of sand and dust whirled
up
into the
air, and carried along in a body over the plain
with a slow and stately motion. One of
these passed within a few hundred yards of
us to the northward, having been driven over
a long tract of stony land, to a distance of
perhaps twenty miles from the place of its
rising. It was apparently from eighty to a
hundred feet in diameter, and was certainly
of sufficient force, by its constant whirling mo-
tion, to throw both men and animals off their
legs, so that if crossing a crowded caravan, and


298
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
broken by the interruption of its course,
the danger of suffocation to those buried
beneath its fall would be very great, though,
if
persons were prepared for it, it might not
perhaps be fatal.
The wind now grew into
a steady southern storm, and blew with a
violence which rendered our march confused
and difficult, till at last we were obliged to
encamp, before the usual number of hours'
march had been performed.
The course we had pursued to-day was
nearly east-south-east, and the distance not
more than ten miles in five hours of time.
Our road still maintained the same character
of a fertile plain, and was covered with the
same kind of black basalt, now seen in smaller
pieces, of a still more porous substance, some
of them resembling the ragged cinders formed
by the coal and iron of a smith's fire. We
passed over a piece of ground where the na-
tive rock was visible, pointing its ragged sur-
face above the level of the soil, and forming a
bed of pure stone, without any mixture of
earth. It was here that I remarked the same
appearances as those observed in the basaltic
masses of the Haurān, namely, in some places
presenting circular and serpentine furrows, as


AT EI. MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
299
if the matter had been once a fluid, and had
suddenly cooled while in the act of a whirling
motion; while in other places, where the
masses were of a semi-globular form, and
coated like onions, it had the appearance of
a fluid matter suddenly becoming solid, while
in the act of ebullition, and throwing up thick
bubbles, such as are seen on the surface of
boiling tar or pitch.
Towards the close of our march, we passed
through some villages of Koords, all of them
very small and meanly built. The dwellings
were generally constructed of small stones,
or unburnt bricks; they were all low, having
only a door of entrance to admit light and
air, and were roofed either with a sloping
thatch of straw, or reeds, plastered over
with mud. Some, indeed, were simply formed
of two walls, with a roofing of hair-cloth, like
a tent, raised over them; and others were en-
tirely tents of the worst and poorest kind.
The people make of these villages only a tem-
porary habitation, in the sowing and reaping
season of the year; so that they are de-
serted for a greater length of time than
they are inhabited, and are, therefore, not


300
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
worth the care bestowed on more permanent
residences.*
The Koords occupy a tract of country to
the north and east of this, extending beyond
Diarbekr, in the former direction, and as far
as Mousul, in the latter ; so that the river
Tigris may be said to form their north-eastern
boundary, the Desert of the Arabs their south-
ern one, and the Euphrates their extended
western limit, few of them being found even
to the westward of the great plain of the
Turcomans, at the eastern foot of Taurus.
They prefer the mountains to the plains, and
generally make the former the place of their
permanent habitations for their families and
property. As they unite the pursuits of shep-
herds and cultivators, they descend into the
plains, in the early spring, to plough the land,
and in the summer to reap the harvest, leaving
their fields in the interval to the care only of
the few boys and women who attend upon
the
* The following is mentioned by Otter as a peculiarity
of the Koords:—“ Comme ces gens n'ont point de maisons,
ils font de grands trous dans la terre, où ils cachent si bien
leurs grains qu'ils est difficile de les trouver.”-Otter, t. 1.
p. 118.


302
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
his rider, and laughingly wished him after-
wards a good journey on foot.
All were
agreed on their being rather cunning and
dexterous thieves, than open robbers, like
their more daring neighbours on the south.
In our way, we had seen some of those
Koords from the northern hills, or those
called generally Jebel Mardin, and the dress
of these was nearly that of the Bedouin
Arabs, the chief garments being a long and
ample shirt, and an outer goombaz or caftan,
of coarse white cotton cloth. The girdle of
the waist was of thick leather, tightly buckled
On the head, instead of the kaffeah, was
worn a small red tarboosh, bound round by a
thin blue cotton handkerchief. They wore
also a white cloak of coarse and open serge,
which, being thrown over their head and
shoulders, sheltered them from the sun in the
heat of the day, and served for a sufficient
covering at night, in a climate where we had
yet found no dews, and where the atmos-
phere after sun-set. was mild and agreeable
in the extreme. Their arms were merely a
sword and shield. The sword was slung by
a belt, depending from the broad zennaar, or
girdle, with its edge downwards, in the
on.


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
303
European fashion, and not with the curve of
the blade turned upwards, after the manner
of the Arabs and Turks. The shield was
formed of a semi-globular piece of brass, with
carved devices in the centre; and this sur-
rounded by a broad fringe of black silk, which
waved in the air, the outer part being made
of a close basket-work of coloured reeds, and
the whole forming a handsome appendage to
the wearer.
As these Koords walked beside our caravan,
singing and driving their cattle before them,
with their shields slung over their shoulders,
their loose robes and light cloaks blown out
by the storm, and thus trudging along, with
their naked and brawny legs covered about
the ancle only with sandals of thongs, they
formed an interesting group, and in the hands
of a skilful artist would have furnished an ad-
mirable subject for a picture of costume.
The people whom we saw in the village
were not all dressed and armed in the manner
of these herdsmen; their costume more re-
sembling that of the common cultivators of
the country. I remarked no peculiarity of
countenance which could be called general
among them, except that their faces were


304
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
rounder and fuller of flesh than those of the
Arabs, and they had neither the long straight
features nor the thick furrowed neck of the
Turkish peasantry. Their complexions were
in general dark, their hair and eyes of a jet
black, and their forms robust and well-pro-
portioned. Such of the women as we saw
were unveiled, clean, and well-dressed, sun-
burnt, yet of a ruddy colour, and many of them
pretty; while their children were in better
order than is ever witnessed among Arabs
in the same class of life. The passion of the
men for arms is not greater, it is said, than
the passion of the women for pleasure; and,
as far as the modes of life they follow will
admit of it, each sex indulges its peculiar pro-
pensities."
* Lord Bacon had before remarked the generally con-
temporaneous existence of the passions for arms and love
in the same sex; when he said, “I know not how, but
martial men are given to love. I think it is but as they
are given to wine, for perils commonly ask to be repaid
with pleasures.” But where this latter passion exists in
men, it is sure of reciprocity in women ; and the following
interesting anecdote, from M. Rousseau's Memoir, to which
a number of equally romantic ones from other accredited
sources might be added, if necessary, will shew the cha-
racter of the events, and the force of the passions that give


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
305
The close of our journey among these vil-
lages was through fine corn-lands on each side,
from which the people were now gathering in
the harvest; and it furnished us an opportu-
nity of seeing, that thickly as the soil was
covered with large masses of basaltic rock, this
formed no obstacle to its fertility; for the
rise to them, even in these rude classes of unpolished, but
not unfeeling, society :
“ Plus haut que Samerra, on voit un vieux bâtiment,
en face duquel, sur la rive opposée, en est un autre presque
de la même forme et non moins remarquable par sa vé-
tusté; tous deux sont compris sous la dénomination com-
mune d’Ascheck-maschouk, ce qui veut dire les Deux Amans.
Les habitans du pays racontent à ce sujet l'histoire suivante,
qui a beaucoup d'analogie avec celle de Héro et Léandre.
“ La fille d'un des pontifes Arabes aimoit un jeune
homme des mieux faits, qui de son côté brûloit pour elle
d'une ardente passion, sans avoir pourtant l'espérance de
pouvoir l'épouser: car il étoit d'une naissance vulgaire,
qui mettoit un obstacle à son bonheur. La princesse, douée
d'un esprit fécond en expédiens, et dressée au manège de la
galanterie, obtint de son père la permission de faire bâtir
sur les bords du Tigre deux maison de plaisance ; et lorsque,
sous prétexte de changer d'air et de jouir des agrémens
de la campagne, elle alloit habiter l'un ou l'autre de ces
lieux, elle faisoit prévenir secrètemente son amant, qui à la
faveur de l'obscurité de la nuit traversoit le fleuve à la nage,
pour aller jouir avec elle, loin de tout soupçon et de blâme,
des plaisirs de l'amour.”—Description du Pachalik de
Bagdad, p. 83, 84.
VOL. I.
X


306
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
wide tracts seen beyond the edges of the space,
quite cleared by the reapers, seemed one un-
broken sea of waving corn.
About an hour before our halt, in crossing
the dry bed of a torrent, we suddenly lost all
appearance of the basaltic masses and loose
brown mould over which they were spread,
and came upon a hard light-yellow clayey
ground, with small fragments of white lime-
stone imbedded in it; and here, instead of the
full-eared corn, or the high rich grass, which
had before bordered our way, were only a few
thick-leaved and prickly plants, with bitter
weeds sparingly scattered over it, furnishing
nothing more than a scanty supply of food
for camels.
On passing suddenly into this, it was said,
that we had now again come into the “ Bur-
reah,” or “open land;" so that the idea of an
uncultivated or a desert tract is implied by
that term. The range of Jebel Mardin, now
only three or four miles off on our left, was
composed of a white stone throughout, and
the horizontal form of its layers was distinctly
visible in the cliffy parts of the summit, long
before we quitted the black stone on the
plain; so that this sudden and immediate


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
307
change of the soil did not correspond with
any similar change in the material of the
mountain, from the foot of which it spreads
itself out.
The place of our encampment was at the
base of an isolated eminence in the plain; but
as the storm still continued, we could not
erect our tents, so that we were doubly op-
pressed during the afternoon by the violent
heat of the sun, which raised the thermome-
ter to 102° in the shade, and by the force of the
wind, which filled the atmosphere with dust,
so as to render objects quite obscure at the
distance of even twenty yards from the ob-
server.
At night, the violence of the storm abated,
and opened to us again a serene and brilliant
sky. Guards were now regularly set over the
different parts of our camp, and even those who
slept, lay down upon the chains by which their
horses were fastened to the ground. I had
myself an hour's watch assigned to me, among
those of our own party; but the degree of vi-
gilance necessary on this occasion seemed to
have been much overrated, for, notwithstand-
ing that we had Koord villages on all sides
of us, the inhabitants of some of which had


AT EL MARZA, TO MARDIN.
309
ridian. I regretted that we were not here an
hour earlier, to see if there was any percep-
tible motion in these flowers at sun-rise ; it
is certain, however, that, among the whole of
them, every one now turned his golden cup
towards the God of Day, as if to drink in more
fully the principle of life and nourishment
from his invigorating beams.
We soon reached the town of Koach Hassār,
seen by us, from the level nature of the road,
and from some tall minarets which rose from
amidst it, ever since the noon of yesterday.
This place had been evidently once of greater
consequence than at present, judging from
some fine Arabic ruins which it contained.
The principal of these was part of a large
mosque covered by a central dome of good
brick-work, as well executed as the vaulted
roofs of the Romans, and of the same ma-
terials. The exterior of the northern front
presented three fine pointed-arched door-
ways, highly ornamented, the central one of
which was equal in beauty to the celebrated
door-way near the Ezbekeeah in Cairo, or to
the fine gateway of the principal caravanserai
in Damascus, and greatly superior to any thing


310
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
I
of the same kind that I had seen in Aleppo.
Between these doors were perpendicular chains
of a large size, well sculptured in high relief,
and crowned by a richly ornamental device.
The mosque itself had been surrounded by
a court and outer wall, which was strength-
ened by buttresses, and from the north-east
angle of this arose a lofty minaret of a square
shape, from a hundred and fifty to two hun-
dred feet in height. It was similar in form,
equal in elevation, and superior in execution,
to that of the great mosque at Aleppo. Its
sides were divided into storys, each of which
was ornamented by sculptured arches and
other devices in relief; and, in a wide band
near the centre, running round the whole of
the building, was an Arabic inscription of
well-formed letters, in high preservation, but
which I could prevail on no one to stop to
read. It was, upon the whole, one of the
finest fragments of Arabic architecture and
sculpture that I remember any where to have
seen.
Beside this ruined mosque, were the minarets
of two others, little inferior in size to the first,
and each also of a square form. One of these


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN.
311
only was crowned on the top by a small cupola
in the centre of the square, but this was
scarcely perceptible at a short distance off.
The present town of Koach Hassār may
contain about five thousand dwellings, all of
a humble kind, and low and flat-roofed. The
inhabitants sleep either on their terraces, or
on raised benches of hardened earth before
the doors, in the open air. The population
is chiefly Christian, and those of the Arme-
nian church; there being only a few Syrians,
and still fewer Mohammedan residents.
At a short distance from Koach Hassăr we
crossed a small stream of good water, and in
a little more than an hour beyond it came
to the village of Soor, where our party made
a halt, while the rest of the caravan pursued
its
way to Mardin, the ultimate place of their
destination.
The ascent to that city is over so steep a
hill, that goods merely passing by it on their
route to other places are never carried up
there, nor is it thought that laden camels could
at all ascend to it.* The merchandize of the
3
* M. Rousseau says, “Il n'y a de chemins pour entrer dans
Mardin, que quelques mauvais sentiers raboteux, où les che-
vaux le plus vigoureux ne se traine qu'avec peine.”—p. 95.


312
FROM THE ARAB CAMP
Hadjee was therefore lodged at Soor, in the
warehouse of a general receiver, who was also
the officer of the government for the collec-
tion of the custom-dues on transit, amounting
to two and a half per cent.
I was at first at a loss to understand why
we had halted here at all, since the Hadjee
had no business to transact at Mardin, and the
bare act of touching there for an hour was
attended by such a demand; but there were
ample reasons for his so doing. The chief
of these was, that the state of the roads is
so uncertain on this edge of the Desert, as to
make it important to obtain the most cor-
rect information respecting them, because the
going by any one particular route of the
many
which lead from here to Mousul, or the set-
ting out a day too early or a day too late,
might be attended with the loss of all the
property embarked. Another reason was, that
if he omitted to halt and pay the accustomed
duty of transit on this occasion, he would be
sure of being burdened with some arbitrary
and heavy contribution, if he should ever
again pass this way during the reign of the
present governor, for having, as he would say,


AT EL MAZAR, TO MARDIN
313
on a former occasion, defrauded him of his
acknowledged dues.
The village of Soor appears to contain about
two thousand dwellings of the same kind as
those at Koach Hassār, and the inhabitants
here are all Christians, partly Syrian and
partly Armenian, each sect having its respec-
tive church. They wear the white cloak and
the dress and arms of the Koords, and though
most of them speak Arabic, the Koordi,
which bears no resemblance to either this
or Turkish, is the language in common use
among them.


CHAPTER IX.

2700ka
APPROACH TO MARDIN, A CITY SEATED ON A ROCK.


ane
As
ab
lik
tha
I his
| de
cel
bo
of
BE
th
wi86.** CHINI
R
the
Les
OE
be
th
C
a


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
315
1
and the nature of the rock scattered over it.
As both these tracts are equally fertile, and
abundantly supplied with water, they are
likely to have been equally well peopled in
those days of antiquity of which the Mosaic
history treats; when the land of the Chal-
deans and the plains of Mesopotamia were as
celebrated as the land of Canaan. A neigh-
bouring desert, such as that on the south
of this, inhabited no doubt in the earliest
ages by a race of needy wanderers like the
Bedouins of the present day, existed also on
the eastern edge of the Haurān, beyond the
stony district of Lejah, and the rising land of
the Druses there.
The same mode of constructing their habi-
tations is likely to have prevailed among the
occupiers of each of these tracts, and from the
same cause; for in each there is scarcely a tree
to be seen throughout their extent, and not
sufficient brush-wood even for fuel, the dung
of animals being used by the inhabitants of
both for that purpose. Stone was, therefore,
the only material that presented itself for the
construction of such buildings as were suit-
able to a civilized people, or calculated for du-
rability ; and either loose earth for brick-built


316
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
]
IK
(
EO
M
5
be
Ja
huts, or the hair of flocks for tents suited to
wandering cultivators and shepherds, such as
are used by the people of these districts at
the present day.
These considerations suggested the ques-
tion of Whence is it that the Haurān is full
of the ruins of stone-built dwellings, which
may
be assigned to a very high antiquity, while
Chaldea and Mesopotamia, equally celebrated
in the same remote age, and traditionally con-
sidered to be the Paradise inhabited by the
first parents of mankind, shew not a vestige
of such buildings, even in those parts, which,
from the features of resemblance between
them and the Haurān, already enumerated,
were equally calculated to produce them ?”
The difficulty of answering this satisfac-
torily, inclined me to believe, that in both
these countries, as well as in the equally
ancient and woodless land of Egypt, earth
dried in the sun was the only material used in
the construction of private dwellings, at least,
and tents of hair or wool for the herdsmen
and peasantry.
This would account, in a
great measure, for the existence of such
unbaked brick buildings in Egypt, where all
classes of its inhabitants were necessarily in-
2
f
Da
th
te
R
1


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
317
cluded in a narrow space, in consequence of
the Desert hemming them in on both sides,
and confining them to the banks of their
river ; while in the greater part of the Hurān
and the open country of Mesopotamia, chiefly
peopled by cultivators and shepherds, and
having fewer large towns, the dwellings of the
people were principally in tents, and therefore
no vestige of very early buildings would be
found in them.
The conclusion suggested by this is, that
the numerous ruins of stone-edifices in the
Haurān are all of them the remains of Roman
works, and mount no higher than the age
in which Syria and Palestine were colonies
of that vast empire. It is true, there is a
marked difference in the style of many of
these edifices : some of the best, such as the
temples, theatres, and castles, resembling the
Roman works of the west, while the small
square towers, and private dwellings, have a
different description of masonry, peculiar to
the Haurān itself. It may be supposed in-
deed, that as the towers were sepulchral,
like similar ones at Palmyra, and the dwell-
ings those of private settlers in the country,
the
pure Roman style might have been con-


318
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
fined to the great national buildings; and the
mixed and often capricious orders of masonry
and decoration, seen in the rest, have been
the work of private individuals, who followed
the bent of their own fancy, when architec-
tur began to decline, and the standard of
fixed rules and just proportions to be accord-
ingly disregarded.
The Romans, among whom architecture was
pursued with a passion, rather than cultivated
merely as an art calculated to increase the
security and augment the comforts of man,
arriving in a country, the conquered subjects
of which were their slaves, and where the best
materials for building presented themselves
abundantly at hand, would naturally apply
these resources to the indulgence of their
favourite pursuit; and hence it has happened,
that in Syria there are more remains of Roman
architecture than are to be found in an equally
small
space in
any other part of their extended
empire, or indeed in any other portion of the
globe, India, Greece, Italy, and even Egypt,
not excepted.
We began to ascend the hill on which Mar-
din is seated, and had a steep and rugged road
before us, which we were a full hour in accom-


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
319
plishing, passing in the way a well of good
water, some fragments of an old paved road,
and some parts where the path had been cut
down through the solid rock—all now in a
most neglected state, and greatly in want of
repair. *
On my departure from Aleppo, I had been
furnished with a letter for the Syrian Patriarch
of Mardin; and learning from some Christian
passengers on the road that he was not in
town, but at his Convent of Deer Zafferany,
a short ride from this place, I parted from
the Hadjee, and proceeded thither with a
guide. In our way towards the convent,
which lay to the eastward of the city, we
passed some deep valleys on our right, where,
in cliffs of the bare lime-stone rock, were seen
a considerable number of excavated grottoes—
without doubt, ancient tombs. In different
parts of the mountain were not less than a
* “ Mardin, dont la latitude est de 36° 14' N., et la lon-
gitude de 37° 35' E., se trouve à l'extrémité du Pachalik de
Bagdad, et lui sert de bornes du côté du nord. Cette ville,
située sur une haute montagne, a un château bien fortifié,
et des maisons bâties en pierres, qui s'élèvent en amphi-
theâtre les unes au dessus des autres, le long d'une pente
extrêmement roide et hérissée de rochers.”—Description du
Pachalik de Bagdad, p. 94.


320
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hundred of these, and among them I saw the
fragment of a plain sarcophagus. The whole,
however, were so evidently sepulchral, and
so like the many others with which the East
abounds, that, as at Orfah, I had really no
desire to visit them for the
purpose
of more
minute examination.
In our way we passed also several fountains
of pure and excellent water, and some agree-
able spots, where large and full-foliaged trees
yielded a refreshing coolness in the air of their
rustling boughs, and a welcome shelter from
the heat of the sun.
In two of these we saw
parties of Turkish women, enjoying the de-
lights of the shady retreat. A small village,
inhabited chiefly by Christians, lay in our
way, in which were gardens, vine-grounds,
and a number of pomegranate trees now in
full bloom.
On our arrival at the convent, my letter
procured me a favourable reception from the
Patriarch, who was a handsome and polite
young man, and had been advanced unusually
early to the dignity he enjoyed, as he was but
little beyond thirty years
of age. Our even-
ing was passed in a large party, consisting
chiefly of pilgrims belonging to Mardin, who


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
321
had returned from Jerusalem, and had come
from Aleppo in our own caravan. The supper
served to them consisted of the choicest
dishes ; and not less than twenty jars of
arrack were drank by about as many persons,—
all of them, too, before the meal, as a stimulant,
and not a single cup after it. The party was
continued until a late hour, and our enjoy-
ment was then terminated by the delicious
luxury of clean linen and a clean bed.
JUNE 23rd.—-It being Sunday, I attended
the morning service of the church, with the
rest of my companions, where every one stood
for about four hours in succession, without
even the indulgence of the crutches in use
among the Christians of the Greek commu-
nion; The service was performed by the
Patriarch in person, very splendidly dressed in
robes of gold-embroidered satin, and waited
on by the inferior priests in garments of cor-
responding splendour. As every thing was
read and sung in the Syriac language, except
the exhortation to the people, which was
delivered to them in their native tongue, the
service was unintelligible, not only to me, but
to almost all the congregation.
VOL. I.
Y


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
323
what was going on behind, and thus to pre-
serve the necessary stage-effect.
During the elevation of the host, all the
people uttered loud groans, the boys within
screamed most vociferously, so as to drown
entirely the voices of the priests, and all this
confusion of tongues was still further in-
creased by one behind the scenes, clashing a
pair of brazen cymbals, and so shaking them
after the first concussion, as to resemble the
reverberated rattlings of loud thunder.
When the service was ended, the pilgrims
were called forth, and all of them having
their heads bared, were invested in succession
with a robe of one of the officiating priests.
A cross was then placed in the right hand,
and a taper in the left of each, and all the
congregation, except the female part, who
stood aloof at a respectful distance, walked
before them uncovered. They first encom-
passed the altar, kissing the curtains, the book,
the candlesticks, &c. as they passed; and then
kissed the cross in the hand of each of the
pilgrims, beginning with the eldest, an old
man of eighty, and ending with the youngest,
a boy apparently not more than ten years of
age.
1
1


324
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
This convent of Deer Zafferany enjoys an
agreeable and healthy situation, being seated
on the side of a hill, with high rocky cliffs,
pierced with ancient tombs, behind it, and
commanding an extensive view of the southern
plain to Jebel Sinjār, and the edge of the great
Southern Desert.
The church itself appears to have been a
work of the lower empire, perhaps of the
Empress Helena, the great founder of re-
ligious establishments all over the East. Its
order is an overloaded and corrupt Corinthian,
of which the arches and pilasters of recesses,
facing each other in the form of a Greek
cross, still remain perfect ; but in the part
now used as the church, no columns appear
ever to have been placed. The doors of en-
trance, the windows, and a portion of an ex-
terior frieze, are all of the same kind; but
the building has evidently undergone so many
repairs, that the original work is now much
less in quantity than that which has been
since added.
The convent consists of a central square
court, with domestic offices around it; above
which are the chambers of the priests, fur-
nished with carpets and cushions after the


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
325
manner of the country; the whole is encom-
passed by a high stone wall, and is secured
vith a small door of entrance, faced with
iron plates, and carefully guarded.
The establishment consists of a patriarch,
six matrāns, and twelve catzees, for these are
the titles they bear. The former, though
only thirty years of age, neither tastes flesh,
wine, spirits, nor tobacco, neither can he
marry.
The second class, or the matrāns, fast every
Wednesday and Friday only, then abstaining
from flesh, butter, milk, and eggs; but even
on these days, they eat fish when it is to be
had ; though, during the forty days in Lent,
this is forbidden to them. These are per-
mitted to marry one wife ; but, if she dies, the
husband cannot take another. The last class,
or the catzees, fast on Fridays only, and may
take fish during the Lent; they also are per-
mitted to marry, and on the death of their
first wife they may take a second, provided
she be a virgin.
The duties of these men consist in the
performance of their church-service, seven
times in the day: that is, at day-break, at
three hours after sun-rise, at noon, at El Assr,
about three o'clock; at Muggrib, or sun-set ;


326
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
at three hours after sun-set, and at midnight ;
the due performance of which, as the services
are of long duration, scarcely leaves them time
for food and sleep.
The families of all these live in the con-
vent; and on Sundays, and days of festivity,
crowds of female visitors and their children
come here to divert themselves, free from the
more rigid observation of the town. There
were here, on this Sabbath, no less than fifty
women, who were all unveiled, and as full of
frolic and gaiety as young girls of fifteen.
They were occupied throughout the day in
going from one part of the convent to the
other, and in freely indulging themselves in
every liberty allowed them. The Deer, or
Convent, seemed to be exactly to the Christian
females what the bath is to the Turkish ones :
a place of recreation, free from the fetters of
their husbands, rather than for the perform-
ance of religious or devotional duties.
Among the books I saw here, was a copy
of the Gospels in the Syriac language, admira-
bly written in large and beautiful characters
on a fine and stout parchment. The portraits
of the Evangelists and the heads of chapters
were painted in rich body-colours, and highly


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
327
1
1
illuminated. The date at the end of it
shewed it to have been written in the
year
of Christ 1150, at the Convent of Deer
Zafferany; and as it had Greek marginal
notes, evidently as old as the book itself, it
might be inferred that the priests then here
were of that communion. It formed a volume
of a larger size than the largest of our church-
bibles, and was highly valued by the Patriarch
and his flock.*
The two highest orders of the Priesthood
have circular, dome-like turbans, of the same
shape as those worn by the Ulema of the
Turks, resembling in size and shape a large
water-melon. The Turks wear them of white
muslin; but the Christians commonly have
them of the same material in blue. All the
Christians subject to the Turkish government
are prohibited from wearing any but dark
colours, and the boots and shoes of the
clergy must be absolutely black, while red is
* This was, probably, one of the bibles shewn to Taver-
nier in 1644, as it agrees with the description of them
given by him, except when he says, that they were written
in Chaldaic, in which it is possible for him to have been
mistaken.—See the Voyages of Tavernier, London, 1678,
folio, c. iv. p. 69.


328
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
permitted to the laity, though yellow can on
no account be worn by either; and
green
in
the turban is even prohibited to all Moslems,
except the immediate descendants of the
Prophet, or Shereefs. At the same time that
these restrictions exist in full force, Christians
are permitted to ride on horseback, a favour
which, in the days of the Mamlouks, was not
granted even to the Franks in Egypt; and,
at Mardin, the Patriarch’s having a green
bridle and martingale gives no offence, though
even now, in Damascus, such an invasion of
the privileges of a true Mohammedan would
probably cost an infidel his life.
I was here assured, by persons who had
travelled over the greater part of the Turkish
empire, that nothing could be more variable
than the rules for these restrictions, as to
colours, in the different cities of Asia Minor.
At Mardin, Christians give the salute of “Salām
Alaikom,” and receive its answer, even from
Shereefs; in other places, this would be
deemed the highest possible outrage. In
some towns, the turban is the only part of
the dress in which particular colours may not
be used ; in others, the boots only; while, in
some, again, every garment has its specified


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
329
1
1
shade. In many places, the colours of the
dress are not at all regarded, and even green
may be worn; but a horse or an ass cannot
be mounted, nor can the salute of peace be
exchanged between a Mohammedan and a
Christian, of any class or sect.
In the evening we quitted the Convent of
Deer Zafferāny, and returned to Mardin, ap-
proaching the town on its eastern side, and,
just before sun-set, reaching the residence of
the Patriarch.
On entering this, we had to salute a
venerable old Matrān, now one hundred and
of
age,
with a long beard of silvery
white, possessing all his mental faculties in
full perfection, and reading even letters and
other writings without the aid of glasses. A
large party were assembled here also, but not
of pilgrims; they were all residents of the
town, and the purport of their meeting was an
interesting one, it being the prelude to a mar-
riage intended to be consummated to-night.
It was the custom of this place, half a cen-
tury ago, to celebrate the marriages of the
Christians in their churches, and to perform
the festivities as openly as they wished; but
repeated insults and interruptions, offered to
two years
1


330
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
them by the Turks, occasioned this to be dis-
continued. The practice now is, when an
espousal has been contracted between the
parties, and the day of marriage fixed, for the
bride to be prepared at her own house in the
morning. The friends of both parties then
assemble at the house of the priest, and break
bread together before him, which is received
as a confirmation of their intentions, and at
midnight, the bride being taken to her future
lord's house, the marriage is solemnized by a
union of hands in
prayer.
Festivities follow,
in proportion to the wealth of the parties;
but these seldom end, even with the poorest,
before the expiration of three days.
It was this breaking of bread that had called
the evening party, in which I found myself,
together. Three large flat loaves, made in
the convent, and bearing upon them the holy
seal, were placed on a salver, covered with an
embroidered cloth, and on them was laid a
gilded paper full of fine white
sugar. The
Patriarch, holding the jewelled cross, which
he constantly carries with him, in his right
hand, waved it over the bread, and gave
it
his blessing. All then crossed themselves, and
the bread being broken by one of the party, a


332
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
tion here would extend to a week at least.
The roads were so bad, from being infested
with robbers, that all the caravans for Mousul
had, within the last three months, gone round
by way of El Jezeeret, a large town on the
Tigris, between Mousul and Diarbekr, and
five days' journey in an east-south-east direc-
tion from hence. There were neither Tar-
tars* nor caravans here for Bagdad at the
present moment, nor were there any soon
likely to be formed. As Diarbekr, from being
the seat of government and the chief central
town in the passage from Constantinople to
Bagdad, has generally Tartars in waiting
there, I determined to set out for that place,
having been furnished with an order from
Mr. Barker of Aleppo, directing any English
Tartar I might meet with on the way to take
me to my destination.
It was late in the day before this determi-
nation was taken; and then it was with in-
conceivable difficulty that I could find a com-
panion or guide to go with me thus far, so that
the whole day was occupied in this pursuit.
* The Turkish and Arabic pronunciation of this word
is the same, both omitting the first qe used by us in Tārtar,
and both spelling and pronouncing it Tatār.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
333
.
We had engaged to set out in the evening
before sun-set, and to travel during the night,
as the road from hence to Diarbekr was said
to be so well frequented as to be considered
safe at all hours. My guide, however, who
had part of the money agreed to be given
him already paid in advance, did not make
his appearance at the appointed hour, and
the journey was therefore delayed until the
morrow's dawn. This left me a leisure even-
ing, which I devoted to recording the follow-
ing observations made on this place, during
our stay here.
Mardin is, according to some authors, the
ancient Marde, or Miride, of which little is
known except the name. Its position is
most erroneously given in the “ Bibliothèque
Orientale,” where it is called a Town of
Mesopotamia, situated on the banks of the
Tigris, between Mousul and Bagdad.* We
learn from the same work, however, some
particulars of its history which are more
accurate. The town itself was taken and
plundered by Tamerlane, in the year of the
Hejira 796, but its castle was then suffi-
}
* Vol. ii. p. 563. 4to.


334
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
ciently strong to sustain a long siege from
the same army, and to oblige them indeed at
one time to raise it.
This conqueror, how-
ever, rendered himself at last the master
both of the town and the citadel, and made
prisoner the Sultan El Mālek el Dhaher,
who commanded there; though, according to
the report of Ibn Arabshah, he afterwards gave
him his liberty. Hulākou, the grandson of
Jenghiz-Khan, who, in the partition of the
Mogul empire, was charged with the govern-
mėnt of Persia, attacked Mardin about the
middle of the fourteenth century, but with-
out success, according to the report of Asse-
mani, But Osman Beg, who has given the
name of Osmanlies to the present Turks,
made himself master of this place during his
reign, which ended A. D. 1326, after a period
of twenty years.* In the early travels of
De Haiton, this place is noted under the
name of Meradin, and it was then said to
be peopled by a race of Sarazins, who were
good arbelêtriers, or cross-bow-men, and were
called, in the language of the country, Cor-
dinis, or perhaps Curds.† It has also pro-
* D’Anville, sur l’Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 53. 4to.
+ Travels of De Haiton, in Bergeron's Collection.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
335
duced
many Mohammedan authors, who have
been called, from this place of their birth,
Mardini, in addition to their usual names ;*
and it is equally known as the place where
was born the Lady Maani Gwerida, the first
wife of Pietro della Valle, so well known by
his Travels.
Mardin is seated near the top of a high
hill, about the centre of a long range, bearing
the same name. Tradition says, that some
centuries ago, a Koord of the plains erected
his dwelling here, for security against the
intrusion of his neighbours. Some women,
who were searching among these hills after
the strayed sheep of their flocks, happening
to arrive at the place of his abode, were struck
with surprise at the motive which could have
induced
any man to retire to a spot so difficult
of access; and in a conversation with him on
this subject, called him “ Mare-deen,” which
is translated from the Koordi into the Arabic,
by the words “ Rajul-majnoon,” or, as we
should
say in English,“ a mad-man.” “ Since
you think so then,” he replied, “ I shall disclose
* Bibliothèque Orientale, vol. ii. p. 563.
+ Voyages of Tavernier, c. iv. p. 69. folio, London, 1678.


336
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
to you that the advantages of my position will
soon be so highly envied, that a city will rise
around me, and the compliment which you
have bestowed on my choice shall be its name;
for I will henceforth call my own, the only
dwelling yet here, Khallet-el-Mare-deen,”
or the “ Madman's Castle.'*
The summits of almost all these hills have
a large mass of lime-stone rock, the material of
which they are composed, broken into cliffs for
a short depth from their summits, and from
* “ Josaphat Barbano, who had performed a journey to
the Crimea and several parts of Muscovy and Tartary, (to-
wards the close of the fifteenth century,) was selected, (by
the States of Venice,) as one accustomed “to endure and
deal with barbarous men,' for the mission to Persia. He
landed at Cencho, (Cenco,) in Caramania, where, passing
through Tarsus and Adama, he directed his route to the
Euphrates. He notices nothing remarkable till he crossed
that river, and arrived at Orfah. His next stage was
Mardin, which appeared to him to be the most extraordi-
nary city in the world for situation. It is ascended by a
stair cut in the rock, more than a mile high, at the top
of
which is the gate ; but there is no wall except the walls of
the houses, the defence of the place being trusted solely to
its inaccessible site. The Turks hyperbolically assert, that
the inhabitants never see a bird flying above them. It
contains three hundred houses, and several manufactures
of silk and cotton.”-Murray's Discoveries in Asia, vol.
ii. p. 10.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
337
thence the soil forms a steep but smooth de-
scent, so that the square masses thus left on
their tops look at a distance like so many
elevated fortresses.
Advantage has been taken of this, in con-
structing the Castle of Mardin, which is simply
a wall raised up from the perpendicular cliff
all round, and is thus exceedingly difficult
of access.
It appears, from below, to be a
Mohammedan work, and it is more formida-
ble from its natural situation, than strong
from artificial means of defence. There are
but few cannon there, and about fifty soldiers,
forming the personal guard of the Motesellem,
who resides there himself, and who permits
the families of all those in his immediate ser-
vice to dwell within the citadel.
The town of Mardin is built chiefly on the
eastern and southern sides of this hill, below
the castle, and is surrounded by a wall lead-
ing down from it on two sides, and going
along in front of the town below. The whole
circuit, including the castle, may be little more
than two miles; and the figure formed by it
is necessarily irregular, from the nature of
the ground on which it stands.
The houses are placed in ranges above
VOL. I.
Z


338
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
each other, like the seats of a Roman theatre;
and the streets, which run along the side
of the hill, are, for the same reason, so many
successive' terraces or causeways; while the
smaller lateral intersections of these are lite-
rally flights of steps, like similar cross streets
at Malta. The houses are built of stone,
though but few are of good masonry; they are
generally small, and without ornament. The
terraces are all flat; and in the paved courts
of the upper storys are large wooden stages
railed around, -serving for evening supper-
parties, or for sleeping on at night, during
the summer months.
There are eight mosques here, five of which
are very small and inconsiderable, and only
one of the remaining three is large. Among
these, however, I saw in the doors and win-
dows some specimens of Arabic stone-work, as
rich and chaste as any thing I had yet seen in
that style. The minaret of the Great Mosque
is also a fine one: it consists of a circular shaft,
raised on a square base, on each front of which
is a large pointed arch; the shaft itself is then
ornamented on the exterior by sculptured
arches and other devices, in separate compart-
ments from the base upwards, when an open


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
339
stone-work gallery and a pointed top termi-
nates the whole.
In the dome of this, as well as of the other
principal mosques, a striking peculiarity is
observed in their being ribbed or guttered in
their masonry from the summit downwards,
like rays spreading from a common centre.
These furrows are not round in the sunken
part, and flat in the raised, as in the flutings
of Corinthian columns, but are all sharp and
angular, the raised parts being so thick at the
base, that their lower edges only leave the
smallest space between them, and their upper
ones come away to a sharp edge, forming a
succession of trilateral ribs. It is said here,
that the Great Mosque was once a Christian
church; its exterior, however, presents no
such appearance, but its interior I had no
opportunity of examining with safety.
There are three baths, each of which are
said to be badly attended, and scantily sup-
plied with water, though one of them bears
the title of Hammām el Ameer, or the Prince's
Bath. Neither the coffee-houses nor other
places of recreation are so abundant here as
they are generally found to be in Turkish


340
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
towns, and those few which are seen are but
poorly furnished and thinly attended.
The only caravanserai which I saw was
small, and this was said to be the best of
them. The bazārs, though tolerably nume-
rous, and vaulted over by arched roofs in the
usual way, are very narrow, and barely sup-
plied with even the necessary articles of
consumption for the town; all which defi-
ciencies are attributed to the general poverty
of the inhabitants, and to the want of trade,
for which the situation of this place is un-
favourable.
The population is thought to amount to
twenty thousand, of which, two-thirds at
least are Mohammedans, the remainder are
composed of Christians and Jews. Of the
Syrians, there are reckoned two thousand
houses, of the Armenians five hundred, of the
Armenian Catholics one thousand, of the
Chaldeans or Nestorians three hundred, and
of the Jews four hundred. Each of these
have their respective churches and priests, and
the Syrians have two churches in town, and
two convents a little way out of it, beside
many churches in the neighbouring villages.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
341
The Syrians differ from the other sects of
Christians, in believing the Holy Ghost to
proceed from the Father only, and not from
the Son, and in paying even higher adoration
to the Virgin Mary than either the Greeks or
the Catholics. They do not acknowledge the
authority of the Pope, not scrupling to call
him an impostor; and their chronology makes
five thousand five hundred years between the
creation of the world and the coming of the
Messiah.
There is, besides, another religious sect
inhabiting here, called Shemseeah. These, as
their name implies, are thought to be wor-
shippers of the sun, which they have been
seen to reverence at his rising, by taking off
their turbans. When Sultan Murad came
this
way, and found by their own confession
that they were not “people of the Book,”
that is, neither Jews, Christians, nor Moham-
medans, he ordered them all to be put to the
sword. The Syrian Patriarch of that day
took them, however, under his protection, by
owning them as part of his flock, and they
have been, politically, so considered ever since,
though, as a religious sect, they are quite dis-
tinct, both in belief and practice.


342
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
The same Patriarch, after an intimacy of
many years with some of the heads of these
people, could never obtain from them any
disclosure on the subject of their religion, as
they all agreed, that death from the hands of
their fellows would be the penalty of such a
crime. The details given of this people by
Niebuhr are acknowledged to be only from
vague report; for he confesses, with all others
who have spoken of them, that nothing posi-
tive could be learnt either of their opnions
or their ceremonies.* This was nearly the
same case with myself. The particulars related
to that traveller were also repeated to me;
and the number of the Shemseeahs was stated
'to be now about one thousand families ; but
every one admitted that the greatest care
was taken by them to prevent the disclosure
of their real tenets.
All these different sects of Christians are
looked on by the Turks in nearly the same
light, being considered in the mass as infidels;
and as they are all heavily taxed for their
heresies, their equal contributions to the trea-
sury of the governor makes him indifferent
*
Voyage en Arabie, vol. ii.
p.
321.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
343
to the distinctions which exist among them-
selves. This place was formerly governed
by a Waiwode, dependant on the Pasha of
Diarbekr. The title of the present is that
of Motesellem, an he is a dependant of the
Pasha of Bagdad. The details given to me
of the government of this place were pre-
cisely the same as those related to Niebuhr;
and though its resources are lessening rather
than increasing, the same despotism is exer-
cised as in all other Turkish posts, to exhaust
those sources of wealth rather than to improve
them.
The dress of the merchants is light and
gay, but the lower orders are more coarsely
and plainly clad than in most other places.
It may be remarked, as one of the caprices
of fashion, that while at Orfah, where the heat
is great, it is usual for all ranks of people to
wear a heavy woollen abba over their other
garments; here, where every house has a
chimney for fire in the winter, and where the
summer even is cool and temperate, it is the
custom to wear the smallest possible quantity
of clothes, and the heaviest garment known
among them is a jubbe or benish of Angora
shalloon.


344
ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
The women, both Moslem and Christian,
cover themselves with the blue chequered
cloth used in Egypt, which gives a general
air of meanness to the whole dress. The
former of these content themselves with
covering the mouth only, and the latter go
entirely unveiled. Among them I saw but
few that were handsome, though all had fine
complexions; and it was here that I first
noticed the nose-ring among the female orna-
ments, as marking an approach to more Eastern
modes of adorning.
All the boys, and many grown young men,
wear ear-rings; though most of them content
themselves with one of a large size in the
right ear. The eruption in the face is seen
here, in about the same degree as at Aleppo,
though less so than at Orfah; and it would
thus seem to be the effect of some cause not
locally confined to a small space, at least.
At sun-set, I received a message from the
Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, requesting my at-
tendance at a supper-party, given to him by
his friends, in the open court of a large house.
Our entertainment was really bountiful, and
it was followed by a dessert of choice fruits,
the produce of the neighbouring gardens.


ENTRY INTO, AND STAY AT, MARDIN.
345
I departed from them, with many kind ex-
pressions of regret at this sudden separation,
and a thousand wishes for an agreeable jour-
ney and a safe and speedy return.


CHAPTER X.
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
JUNE 25th.-Had my guide appeared at
the appointed hour, it would have been wor-
thy of remark, as a singular instance of Eastern
punctuality ; but it was high noon before he
came, and then other causes delayed us still
longer.
This man, whose name was Hussein, was
one of the most notorious robbers among the
Koord horsemen belonging to the different
independent chiefs in this neighbourhood;
and, by some of those who exercised their kind
offices for me in the affair of engaging him
for the journey, he was chosen as the safest
passport I could have through my intended
route; though, by others, it was prophesied, as
certain, either that he would pilfer me, under
the pretence of presents due to himself, or



CHAPTER X.
10000
WAADI ZENNAAR, OR VALLEY OF THE GIRDLE,
Try
TRAVELLERS REPOSING.


th
20
1
ETE
PE
m
W
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(1.
U
ni
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348
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
town, passed through the Bab el Room. It
could be seen here, that the whole of the wall
of enclosure, going from the extremities of
the castle-rock around the town, was of Mo-
hammedan work, and of the most inferior kind.
From this gate we descended over the steep
side of the hill, into a broad and deep valley,
drinking at a fountain in the way, and leaving
on our right a small village called Allipoor,
seated beneath the castle, on its northern side,
amidst gardens and wild brush-wood. We
went nearly north through this valley, and, as-
cending over its boundary-hill in that quarter,
came in about two hours to a beautiful wind-
ing vale, called Waadi Zennaar, or the Valley
of the Girdle. Its name was most appropriate,
as it formed a narrow belt of the richest ver-
dure, between two bare ridges of rock, and was
watered by a small rivulet following the course
of its centre.
Descending into this, we halted at a deli-
cious spot, and reposed for an hour upon a
carpet turf, beneath the shade of lofty
and wide-spreading trees, in the midst of
which reared some tall and stately cypresses,
whose dark and thickly-interwoven foliage
formed an impenetrable veil to the sun de-
of green


350
1
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
they go.
On their return from Mecca, however, their
progress is still more tardy, for being now
honoured with the title of Hadjee, and highly
respected as the holiest kind of Dervishes,
they are well treated and well fed wherever
This life of indolence and good
living is found by them so superior to that of
their early days in India, that it is scarcely to
be wondered at if they should wish to perpe-
tuate it, by prolonging their stay in the coun-
tries in which they enjoy it. Some, therefore,
end their days in their journey back. If any
reach their own land again, it is that, going
always farther and farther on, to keep up the
pretence of moving homeward, after a length
of time they find themselves getting out of
the great Mohammedan world, upon the con-
fines of their own country, where infidels and
idolaters pay them no such honours as had
strewed their
way thus far, and they hasten to
end their pilgrimage among such of their
friends as are of their own faith, and such of
their relatives as may be still left alive to wel-
come their protracted return.
On remounting our horses, we followed the
course of the Waadi Zennaar to the north-
west, having water, wood, and gardens, all the


352
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
a respect bordering on fear. A clean cotton
mattress and cushions being placed for me on
the terrace, my guide absented himself for
some time, leaving me alone to receive those
who came to pay their evening visit to the
stranger; but, as not one of these spoke
Arabic, and I myself did not understand the
Koord tongue, we could not communicate with
each other.
Hussein soon returned, however, with an
invitation from his chief, Tamar Aga, to visit
him. I at first declined, suspecting the ex-
tortion of a present at least ; but though I
strongly objected, it was insisted that it was
impossible to pass without visiting the chief,
and that, in short, I could not be suffered to
depart without performing this necessary duty.
We accordingly waited on the Aga, and
were received by him with that mixture of
dignity and ease, which belongs even to the
lowest classes of the Turks, who display, on all
occasions, great self-command and natural
po-
liteness. The chief was surrounded by his
armed followers, in all the pomp of feudal au-
thority; and though these men would each
of them use liberties in conversation with
their lord, which would scarcely be tolerated


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
353
between equals among us, yet no one dared to
seat himself in his presence.
As not even my guide was aware of my
being an European, I was introduced to the
Aga as a merchant of Aleppo going to Bagdad
with the caravan now at Mardin ; but who,
having some affairs to transact at Diarbekr,
had profited by their halt, to go up to that
city, and, in a day or two, intended returning
again by the same route. Our conversation
was at first general, but soon turned towards
the dangers of the road, and the important
benefits conferred on travellers, by those whose
vigilance kept the roads clear of the robbers
which usually infested them. This was fol-
lowed by a commission to procure certain
articles from Diarbekr, in lieu of paying the
usual tribute exacted from passengers who
went this way; and after some ineffectual re-
monstrances on my part, I was obliged to
yield to the demand, and to promise obedience.
In the true spirit of the people of this
country, the chief first exacted an arbitrary
contribution, as a tribute to his local authority,
and then entertained me with all the liberality
of a friend of long standing. We all supped
together, from rich dishes mostly prepared for
2 A
VOL. I.


354
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
the occasion; the house of the Aga was
offered for my use, as long as I chose to remain
in it, and the protection of his name or of his
people for the remainder of my journey. I
was glad to have the power of declining this
last, however, as the price of such safeguards
is often more than their value. I therefore
retired to the house of my guide, that we
might set out alone from thence in the
morning
We were mounted at least an hour before
day-break, and went from this valley, in which
we had passed the night, up over hills of lime-
stone, which were in general steep and craggy,
though their faces being covered with brush-
wood gave them an agreeable appearance.
When the day first dawned, we were on the
summit of these hills, and after continuing
over uneven ground, again descended over a
slope, covered, like the former, with brush-
wood, and reached the valley just as the sun
rose.
There was here a small village, called Gal-
leen, which was seated on the side of a hill
facing towards the north, and the most con-
spicuous object in this was a castellated dwell-
ing, built on the edge of a cliff, and command-


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
355
ing the whole of the plain. This was the
residence of another chief, named Hassan Aga,
who ruled over only a small portion of terri-
tory, but, like the one from whom we had just
escaped, never failed to fleece all who were
worth pillaging, whenever they passed through
his possessions without a strong escort. We
therefore carefully avoided going into this vil-
lage, and as it was about the hour when most
of the inhabitants were taking their first meal
after morning prayers, it was favourable to our
passing by without being observed.
Nothing could be more beautiful than the
general aspect of this valley, or more romantic
than the situation of the village of Galleen, at
the entrance of it. The hills, by which it
was hemmed in so closely on all sides, were
sufficiently broken in their outline to be pic-
turesque, and the narrow plain which skirted
them at their feet was clothed with the richest
verdure. Corn-fields were seen in different
stages of growth, from the earliest
appearance
of the green blade, to the developement of the
ear on the yellow stalk, and the full ripe grain
of the red wheat now ready for the sickle.*
* Similar variety in the progressive states of vegetation,
all seen at the same time and nearly on the same spot, is


356
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
The gardens and vineyards, occupying distant
portions of the valley, gave a great luxuriance
to the picture ; and a stream of fine clear
water, which here meandered between banks
lined by full-foliaged trees and bushes, com-
pleted the union of fertility and usefulness
with wealth and beauty.
We halted at this stream to refresh, as we
had now gained a sufficient distance from the
town not to be observed from thence, and
conceived that we might therefore eat our
bread in peace.
Here we washed and prayed :
for my guide, though a professed robber, did
not neglect this common duty; and after en-
joying a hearty repast from our own scrip, and
reposing for an hour on the green sod, while
the horses grazed by our side, we quitted this
delightful spot, to renew our way.
After going for two or three hours over
rugged hills of lime-stone, sparingly clad with
brush-wood, and keeping always a north-
westerly course, we reached a small village
called Shoasheef, just as the sun was on the
meridian, or in time to perform in public our
described as common about Quito, in Peru, in the voyage
of Don Ulloa to South America ; and by Bruce, in his ac-
count of the ascent of Lamalmon in Abyssinia.
I


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
357
noon-day prayers. This village, seated on the
side of a gentle ascent, was peopled chiefly by
Koords, and its population was said to consist
of sixty families, or little more than two hun-
dred persons, who were all peasants, and lived
by the produce of their fields and flocks. We
were received by one of the elders, who fur-
nished our horses with food, and set before
us some sour milk, the most refreshing beve-
rage to be obtained in these countries, and al-
ways a welcome one in the summer of such a
climate.
After sleeping for an hour, we remounted
soon after one o'clock, and still went north-
westerly over the same bed of hills, which is
composed of many smaller ridges, crossed
transversely, in the direction in which we tra-
velled, as they stretch generally from south-
west to north-east. The whole mass appears
to be composed of lime-stone, and to be bare
of wood, except in some few places where
stunted trees and bushes clothe their sides.
Their average height above the level of the
plain of Mardin is less than a thousand feet;
but even the valleys which are found among
these ridges, of which the great chain is com-
posed, are at least five hundred feet above that


358
JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
1
plain ; and some of them are as high as the
site of Mardin itself. As they, therefore, enjoy
a temperature highly favourable to vegetation,
are amply watered by brooks and springs, and
receive the soil of the hills, as it is washed
down into them by the winter rains, they may
easily be conceived to be charming little spots,
when contrasted with the sterile aspect of the
hills by which they are generally encompassed.
At El Assr, we reached the termination of
this bed of hills, and by a very short descent
came into a valley, through which ran a small
stream of water. In this stream we noticed
some of the same kind of tortoises as are found
in the rivers of Syria, but they were here of a
smaller size. The plain itself was on a higher
level than most of the valleys through which
we had come, and but little below the height
of Mardin, though that is seated on the sum-
mit of a hill. At the entrance of it we ob-
served a village called Shukra Tuppé; which
we left about a mile to the right, or north-
east of our path.
In continuing our way, we found this appa-
rent plain to have, at first, a gentle ascent, and
then to be formed of wavy land, the inequali-
ties of which are not perceptible at a distance.


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
359
There were no eminences throughout it that
could deserve the name of hills. The soil was
every where abundant in quantity, and of
sufficient depth for cultivation. It seemed
too of a fertile kind; for such portions of it
as were now sown with corn offered the pros-
pect of an ample harvest, the wheat being
formed in the ear, and ripening daily under
the influence of an unclouded sun.
In about two hours after our quitting the
foot of the range of hills described, and first
entering on this wavy land, we came to a
small village called Akh Tuppe. This, though
now having a population of not more than
thirty families, had been at some former period
evidently a place of more importance. Among
the ruins of ancient buildings, I noticed the
remains of a mosque,
with the masonry in in-
termediate layers of lime-stone and basalt,
so that, as the blocks were well hewn into
square forms, alternate layers of black and
white were produced ; this is a caprice of taste
to which both Arabs and Turks are very par-
tial, if one may judge from the frequent in-
stances in which it is met with in their ma-
sonry, as well as others in which it is imitated
by painting. The minaret of this mosque was


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
361
that we first saw the black porous basalt, so
common in the Haurān and the plains east of
the Euphrates, all the hills that we had tra-
versed from Mardin thus far being of lime-
stone. The basalt appears here, however, on
the river's bank, and is said to follow the
course of the road all the
way
down to Jezeeret
and Mousul, and to be still found upon the
banks of the Tigris upward beyond Diarbekr,
to near its source. It evidently extends west-
erly also from hence, probably falling into the
Kara Dagh, or Black Mountains, and then
joining the basaltic basis of the great plains,
over which we had journeyed since leaving
Orfah.
It was not yet dark when we reached a
village called Poorang, where we halted to
pass the night, as there was no hope of reaching
Diarbekr in time to be admitted within the
gates. The chief of this village received us
very readily; and while the younger part of
his family took care of our horses, and set
about to prepare our supper, he himself spread
carpets and cushions for us on the terrace of
tries happen to be parched up with drought, for rains seldom
fall in these parts. Plin. Nat. Hist. b. vii. c. 7, v. 2.
p. 138.


362
JO URNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
his house, and sat to entertain us with such
civilities as he conceived most agreeable to us
after our journey. The population of this
village, to the number of about a hundred
families, were wholly Koords, descendants of
early settlers in the plains, who had originally
come down from the opposite mountains of
Koordistan. The physiognomy of such as we
saw seemed to be different both from the
Turks and the Arab countenance. The form
of the head and face was rounder, the features
in general flatter, the complexion fair and
ruddy, and the eyes dark and expressive. The
abodes of these people were cleaner and neater
than the habitations of the same class of pea-
santry are found to be either in Egypt or Syria,
and the furniture and conveniences of the
household establishment
are,
in
every respect,
superior.
In addition to the hospitable treatment
which we received from our host, we were en-
tertained by a party who were called in by the
old man expressly for our amusement. This
consisted of a robust mountaineer, who wore
a pointed bonnet and a fantastic dress, an
effeminate youth dressed in female apparel,
and decked with ornaments, and three men


JOURNEY FROM MARDIN TO DIARBEKR.
363
who played on musical instruments, including
a rude guitar, a reed or pipe, and a drum,
beaten on by the palm of the hand and the
fingers. The man exhibited some extraordi-
nary feats of strength and agility; the boy
danced, and placed himself in such lascivious
and wanton attitudes, as to draw forth shouts
of approbation from all beholders. * The
music was rude, but very skilfully varied, from
the abrupt and hurried measure to which the
Athleta moved in his exercises of strength,
to the rapturous softness and languishing
cadence of the airs to which his effeminate
companion danced.
This entertainment was so perfectly suited
to the taste of the people here, that, in less
than an hour after the exhibition began, every
individual in the village, man, woman, and
child, had gathered upon the house-tops to
enjoy as much of it as they were able, our own
terrace not being sufficiently large to contain
more than about fifty persons, and this was
already so crowded as to make us apprehensive
of its falling in. The festivity continued until
a late hour, it being long past midnight before
the party had dispersed or the music ceased.
* See the Note on these Eastern dances in a former
chapter, pp. 102-105.


CHAPTER XI.
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
JUNE 27th.—Notwithstanding that we were
now within thre hours only of Diarbekr, it
was thought so unsafe to go from hence to
that city alone, that two horsemen had been
waiting here the whole of the preceding day
for the protection of additional companions,
before they would venture to continue their
journey. They had, during the entertainment
of the last evening, solicited permission to
join us, and as they were known in the village,
we readily consented to their proposition.
We quitted Poorang together at day-light,
being all four well mounted and well armed;
and the road being now unobstructed by hills
or rocks, we scoured over the plains, as if we
were ourselves bent on some plundering ex-
pedition.
In less than an hour we reached the Tigris
,


CHAPTER XI.

JACKSON
CROSSING THE TIGRIS, AND FIRST APPROACH TO DIARBEKR.





DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
365
which here came from the south-west on our
left, and flowed to the north-east on our
right, making a great westerly bend as it
goes
by the town of Diarbekr; and here taking an
easterly bend, so as to get again in the proper
line of its descent to the sea, which is from
north-west to south-east. The banks of the
river were shelving, and its bed a mixture of
earth and sand. Its breadth across was not
more than a hundred feet, and it was so shallow
as to be fordable by our horses without wetting
their riders. The waters were tolerably clear,
and sweet to the taste, and the rate of the
current seemed not to exceed two miles
per
hour.*
After crossing the river, we came on a fine
light soil, now used as corn-land, and, as we
rode past, started large flocks of black starlings,
to the number of several hundreds in each
flight. Continuing on a course inclining more
* While the Ten Thousand were encamped between the
mountains of Curdistan and the Tigris, before they struck
off among the Curds, they had the curiosity to attempt
ascertaining the depth of the river. On one side of them,
says Xenophon, were exceeding high mountains, and on
the other a river so deep, that, when they sounded it with
their pikes, the ends of them did not even appear above the
water.


366
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
northerly, we came, in another hour, to the
banks of the Tigris again, the river here
coming from the north-east on our right, and
flowing to the south-west on our left, or
exactly the reverse of what we had found it
before, from its making the serpentine bend
described.
It was on the moment of our coming on the
brow of the slope, which here formed the
southern bank of the river, and gave us the
view of the stream flowing by, that we caught
the first sight of Diarbekr, which burst upon
us all at once, and presented a picture of so
much interest, that I involuntarily checked
the bridle of my horse to dwell upon the
scene; while my companions, to whom it was
a familiar one, dashed across the river without
heeding it for a moment, and stemmed to-
gether a broader, deeper, and more rapid
stream than we had crossed before.*
The aspect of Diarbekr, at this first view,
isth at of a walled and fortified city, seated
on a commanding eminence, appearing to be
strongly defended by its position as well as
* Pliny says, that the Tigris, in Mesopotamia, is
reckoned among the rivers that go under ground and re-
appear again.--Nat. Hist. b. 2, c. 103_b. 6, c. 27.
1


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
367
its works without, and splendid, and wearing
an air of great stateliness and opulence, in its
mosques and towers within.
The country,
amid which it is seated, is every where fertile
and productive. Lofty mountains in the dis-
tance, while looking eastward toward Koor-
distan, give an outline of great grandeur; in
that direction, gardens and bridges, and plea-
sant summer-houses, seen nearer at hand, add
softer beauties to the scene ; while the passage
of the Tigris, at the foot of the hill on which
the town is seated, offers a combination of
picturesque beauty, agricultural wealth, do-
mestic convenience, and rural enjoyment.
After passing the Tigris a second time, we
went up a steep road on the side of the hill,
having gardens below us on our right, and
extensive cemeteries, in more abrupt valleys,
on our left, till we approached the gate called,
by the Turks, Mardin Kaupusee, and by the
Arabs, Bab el Mardin, from its being the gate
leading to and from that town. A mass of
the basaltic rock, on which the whole city of
Diarbekr is built, having recently fallen away,
exposed to view an extensive cluster of dis-
tinctly-formed basaltic columns. These were
in general of a pentagonal form, some of


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
369
the entertainment that had been hastily pre-
pared for the occasion was set before us, my
guide, who had no more scruples than myself
as to the use of forbidden draughts, followed
my example in this particular, and we, there-
fore, still retained our Moslem characters in
each other's eye, though our practices were
entirely Christian. While we sat around the
board of our hospitable host, messengers
were sent to the Konauk Tatar Agasi, or
rendezvous of the Tartars, to ascertain whe-
ther there were any despatch-bearers destined
for Bagdad, or whether any were soon ex-
pected from Constantinople. The principal
object of our journey to this place was, in-
deed, to find such messengers, if possible, in
the direct road between these great cities,
which stand at the extremes of the Turkish
empire, and to accompany them on their way.
This cannot be done casually at any of the
intermediate posts on the road, but must be
effected at some one of the head-quarters, in
the great towns at which they halt. It is
here only that travellers can make the neces-
sary arrangement for the proper supply of
such a number of horses as they may re-
quire : a firman is then given to them, by
VOL. I.
2 B


370
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
the governor of the city, authorizing them to
demand the number specified, from those who
have contracted to supply the post-horses on
the road, and all then goes on smoothly.
Without such authority from the govern-
ment, the suppliers of the horses would not
grant them to a stranger, even on payment
of the common hire; as it is not the custom
to lend out horses in this way to any one,
except the Sultan's messengers, for whom
they are carefully reserved.
Our disappointment was great when the
messengers returned to tell us, that though
there were several Tatars going to the north,
there were none destined for Bagdad; and
from the recent passage of despatches that
way, no couriers from Constantinople were
immediately expected. This, however, they
added, was always uncertain ; and we were,
therefore, advised to wait a day or two, under
the hope of some arrival. In complying with
this advice, we should lose the occasion of the
caravan from Mardin, which still remained,
without being certain of securing another;
so that on reflection I determined rather to
hasten our return. As we had yet nearly the
whole of the day before us, I was desirous of


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
371
employing it in an excursion about the town,
and in seeing as much of its interior as the
short period allotted for our stay would admit.
For this purpose, a guide was furnished me
by Yuseff, the merchant, who was recom-
mended to me as combining the useful quali-
ties of fidelity and great local knowledge,
acquired during a long residence here ; and
besides this, he was perfectly acquainted with
Arabic, which enabled us to communicate
freely. With this man I traversed the in-
terior of the city, in every direction, visiting
the mosques, the bazārs, and the baths; and,
after nearly four hours' rambling through
crowded streets and narrow passages, halting
to observe such buildings and places as were
more particularly curious, we came at last to
the citadel, which stands at the opposite ex-
tremity of the town to that by which we
entered it. From hence we enjoyed a more
commanding view of the whole city, spread
out beneath us, as well as of the surrounding
country, than we could have done from any
other spot; and, adding the more minute
features, which we had collected in our pere-
grinations through the town, to this panoramic


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
373
guns mount-
tween these two last-named gates, is thus in
the north-east angle of the town; and, seated
on the eminence of rock here, in a line with
the walls, it overlooks the stream of the Tigris
below, and by its elevation commands the
whole of the town. The city-walls have
round and square towers, at irregular inter-
vals, and being high and strongly built of
hewn stone, present an appearance of great
strength; but the most securely fortified por-
tion of it is that on the north, where the
square towers are very thickly placed, and
where there is a long battery of
ed, pointing through covered embrasures.
The remote boundaries of the view from
hence, while standing on the citadel, are
sufficiently marked to convey an idea of the
nature of the country in which this city is
placed. On the west is seen the range of
Karaj Dagh, or the black hills, which are of
a moderate height, regular outline, and dis-
tant from ten to fifteen miles, going in a
north-east and south-west direction. On the
north are seen the lofty mountains of Moosh
Dagh, over which the road leads into Armenia
and to Erzeroum, the mountains themselves
being distant about twenty miles east, and


374
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
stretching from west to east, as if a continua-
tion of the chain of Taurus.
To the north-north-east, the Tigris is seen
winding downward from its source in the
hills, about four days' journey off, till it
reaches the town itself, when it bends to the
south-west, and runs past it in that direction,
till it recovers its former course by a con-
trary bend, as before described. On the north-
east, another portion of the Moosh Dagh is
seen, covered with snow, the range of its
chain here bending south-westerly to go
down
through Koordistan in the line of the Tigris,
running nearly parallel with its stream, but at
some distance beyond its eastern bank. On
the south-east, the wavy land and hills over
which we had come from Mardin offered no
particular objects to the view. And on the
south-west is seen a portion of the Karaj
Dagh, and the plain, leading in that direction
towards Orfah.
The citadel, which enjoyed so commanding
a position here, is now abandoned, and com-
pletely in ruins. We had even difficulty in
ascending to the platform near its centre, being
obliged to mount over rubbish and fallen frag-
ments; and, on reaching the top, we found


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
375
the desolation so complete, that several of
the dismounted cannon, which had been left
there, were now more than half buried in
the earth and long grass that had grown up
around them. The form of the citadel is
nearly circular; and it enclosed a space of at
least a furlong in diameter. Within its ruined
enceinte, is still the palace of the Pasha,
which is a commodious rather than a splendid
building. Attached to it are extensive stables,
and a Maidān, or open space, where the
horses are kept in the air, and where the
horsemen sometimes exercise in the use of the
jereed. One of the places used as a stable
presents the ruins of a handsome and noble
edifice, with finely-constructed domes of brick-
work, and a beautiful door with columns and
pilasters, most probably the remains of an old
Christian building.
In the lower part of the citadel, near one of
the gates of entrance, and now, indeed, the
only one, as two of the former are closed up,
we saw a number of brass cannon of different
calibre, lying neglected on the ground. The
largest of these had a bore equal to that of
a twenty-four pounder, the smallest were of
the size of our long nines, but were nearly


376
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
double the length of our longest guns. Some
of these pieces had on them Arabic inscrip-
tions, of the date of the 1113th year of the
Hejira, or A. D. 1735, so that they could
hardly have been used here before they had
fallen into neglect. There were also some
bombs and mortars of brass, and old armour
of iron; but the guns were all dismounted,
and every thing lay in one undistinguished
heap. *
The town of Diarbekr, as seen from this
height, does not appear to cover so great an
extent of ground as Orfah, nor are the houses
within it so thickly placed. The aspect is
extremely different; the buildings of Orfah
being generally constructed of white lime-
stone, and those of Diarbekr being all built
of black basalt in the lower stories, and of
* Ammianus Marcellinus, in describing his flight to
this city, says, “ It is seated on an eminence, accessible
only by a narrow path cut out of the rock.” He adds
also, “ that Constantius surrounded Amida with walls and
towers, and furnished it with a magazine of warlike
machines.” He adds, after an accurate description of its
environs, “ that there was in the centre of the city, and
near the fortress, a large fountain, of which the water
was drinkable, though, during the very hot weather, it
had a disagreeable odour,"lib. xviii. c. 9. v. 1,
וי


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
377
dark-coloured brick in the upper ones. There
are, however, several mosques, towers, and
little garden-plots with trees, seen in different
parts of the town, which relieve the sombre
colour of the buildings, and the sameness
which a succession of flat terraces always
produces.
The population is estimated at an extrava-
gant rate, by the people of the country them-
selves; but it
may be safely asserted, that at
the present moment there are about fifty
thousand inhabitants. The great mass of these
are Osmanli Turks, as soldiers, government
officers, merchants, and mechanics. Besides
these, the Armenians, who, next to the Turks,
are the most numerous, are thought to have a
thousand families. The Arab, Turkish, and
Armenian followers of the Catholic commu-
nion, have five hundred families. The Syrian
sect are thought to include, at least, four hun-
dred families. The Greeks, who are the least
numerous among the Christians here, have
about fifty. But the Jews have of late so
rapidly declined, by emigration to Bagdad,
Aleppo, and Constantinople, that there are
now not more than a dozen houses of them
left.


378
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
Of the mosques seen from the citadel, there
are fifteen with minarets, nine of these having
circular shafts and galleries in the Mohamme-
dan style, and the remaining six having square
towers after the manner of Christian churches,
which it is generally thought these edifices
once were.
There are five other mosques,
with domes or cupolas only, and several smaller
ones without any distinguishing mark, making,
altogether, about twenty-five Mohammedan
places of worship. Of the Christian churches,
the Armenians have two, one of which is large
and richly decorated, and the other is smaller,
but more tastefully adorned. The Catholics
have a church, and a convent attached to it,
in which two Italian Capuchin Friars live, with
their usual dependants. The Syrians and the
Greeks have also a place of worship each, and
the few Jews have a small synagogue for their
service, which completes the whole of the
religious buildings within the walls.
There are upwards of twenty baths in the
town ; of which the principal are, the Bath of
Wahab Aga, the Pasha's Bath, the Bath of
the Market, the Castle-Bath, and the Baths
of the Camel and the Ass. The two first de-
rive their names from their founders ; the two


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
379
next, from their situations; and the two last
from their peculiar features, that of the camel
being the largest and most spacious in all its
interior divisions, and that of the ass having
so little to recommend it but its cheapness,
that none but ass-drivers and asses, according
to the saying here, would even visit it, though
it is frequented by all the poor people of the
town.
There are about fifteen khans or caravan-
serais, of which the chief are, Khan Hassan
Pasha, Khan Cheufta, Yengi Khan, Khan Paga
Oghlee, Khan Abba Chia, Khan Kirkasha,
Khan Segheutty, Khan Delibashi, Khan
Khalah, Khan Thaboon, and Khan Arratha.
The first of these is particularly fine, and
superior to any of those at Orfah. In its
lower court, the corn-market is usually held.
Its magazines, within the piazza, which runs
around this, are generally filled with goods.
In the upper galleries are carried on several
trades and manufactures. The rooms around
form the lodgings of the travellers who halt
here ; and above all is an upper story, with
apartments for the harems or families of those
who may sojourn here, with kitchens, fire-
places, and other domestic conveniences.


380
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
1
11
]
The bazārs are not so regularly laid out, or
so well covered in, as in the large towns of
Turkey generally. They are narrow, often
crooked, and mostly roofed-over with wood.
They are, however, well supplied with goods
of all descriptions that are in request here, and,
during the regular hours of business, are
thronged with people. The manufactures of
the town are chiefly silk and cotton stuffs,
similar to those made at Damascus ; printed
muslin shawls and handkerchiefs, morocco
leather in skins of all colours, smith's work in
hardware, and pipes for smoking made of the
jasmin branch, covered with muslin and em-
broidered with gold and silver thread. There
are thought to be no less than fifteen hundred
looms employed in weaving of stuffs ; about
five hundred printers of cotton, who perform
their labours in the Khan Hassan Pasha, after
the same manner as before described at Orfah;
three hundred manufacturers of leather in the
skin, besides those who work it into shoes,
saddlery, and other branches of its consump-
tion; a hundred smiths; and a hundred and
fifty makers of ornamented pipe-stems only,
besides those who make the clay balls, amber
mouth-pieces, &c. The cloths consumed here


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
381
are obtained from Europe, through Aleppo, as
well as most of the glass ware, which is Ger-
man; and fine muslins, Cashmere-shawls, ,
spices, and drugs, come to them from India,
through Bagdad; but most of the articles of
domestic necessity can be procured in the
place from its own resources, as every species
of fruit and provisions are abundant and cheap,
and the common manufactures of the town are
sufficient to supply the wants of the great mass
of the population.
The present Governor of the Pashalick and
city of Diarbekr, whose name is Kullendar
Pasha, has the dignity of three tails, and is
therefore immediately dependent on the Sub-
lime Porte only, without acknowledging any
intermediate chief. His force within the city
is said to consist of about a thousand soldiers,
of whom more than half are Turkish cavalry,
and the remainder Turkish and Albanian foot.
In the remote part of his territory, however,
there are always petty chiefs, both among the
Turks and the Koords, who, in case of need,
do him military service with their followers,
on condition of certain privileges and exemp-
tions granted them in return. Even among
the people here, in the heart of the Turkish


384
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
Among the minarets of the
mosques,
I
noticed some that were highly sculptured, and
in several of the square towers were inter-
mediate layers of red burnt-brick work, mixed
with masonry of stone, after the manner of the
Roman towers in the walls at Antioch, and
quite as well executed as the buildings there.
Amid the ruins of the castle, too, we had seen
some fine arches of highly burnt bricks, which,
from their form, as well as material, looked
more like Roman than Saracenic work. In
the bazārs and baths, there are portions of
brick-work of a similar kind, which are, how-
ever, decidedly Mohammedan, as well as the
mixture of basalt and lime-stone, in interme-
diate layers of black and white, in the khans
and other large buildings. Among the broken
columns of black basalt, which are seen scat-
tered in different quarters of the town, there
are, however, several Ionic capitals, which can
leave no doubt of their being of Greek origin,
and previous to the invasion of this country,
either by the Turks or the Saracens.
It is from the circumstance of the wall and
buildings of this city being constructed almost
wholly of this black stone, that it is called, by
the Turks, Kara Amid, or the Black Amid.


386
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
eloquence, by the author of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire. After describing
the military pomp of the army of this sove-
reign, from the plains of Assyria towards
those of Mesopotamia, and the obstacles op-
posed to their march by the precautions that
had been taken to retard their progress or
defeat their design, he says, that though Sapor
overlooked the strength of Nisibis, he resolved,
as he passed under the walls of Amida, to try
whether the majesty of his presence would
not awe the garrison into immediate submis-
sion. An attack was made by a select body
of troops, which was answered by a general dis-
charge, in which the only son of the besieging
prince was pierced through the heart by a
javelin, shot from one of the balistæ. The
funeral of the youth was celebrated according
to the rites of his country, and the grief of
the aged father was alleviated by the solemn
promise of Sapor, that the guilty city of Amida
should serve as a funeral pile to expiate the
death, and to perpetuate the memory, of his
son.
The Emperor Constantius had recently con-
ferred on Amida the honour of his own name,
and the additional fortifications of strong


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
387
walls and lofty towers. It was provided with
an arsenal of military engines, and the ordinary
garrison had been reinforced to the amount of
seven legions, when the place was invested by
the arms of Sapor. The assault was again
made ; but, after an obstinate combat, the
besiegers were repulsed ; and though they
incessantly returned to the charge, they were
again driven back with a dreadful slaughter.
In one of the fiercest of these repeated as-
saults, Amida was betrayed by the treachery
of a deserter, who indicated to the barbarians
a secret and neglected staircase, scooped out
of the rock that hangs over the stream of the
Tigris. After Sapor had tried, without success,
the efficacy of force and stratagem, he had
recourse to the slower but more certain opera-
tions of a regular siege, in the conduct of
which he was instructed by the skill of the
Roman deserters. But every mode of resist-
ance which art could suggest, or courage could
execute, was employed in the defence of
Amida, and the works of Sapor were more
than once destroyed by the fire of the
Romans. The resources of a besieged city
may, however, be exhausted. The Persians
repaired their losses, and pushed their ap-


308
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
proaches ; a large breach was made by the
battering ram, and the strength of the garri-
son, wasted by the sword and by disease,
yielded to the fury of the assault. The sol-
diers, the citizens, their wives, their children,
all who had not time to escape through the
opposite gate, were involved by the conque-
rors in a promiscuous massacre.*
When Jovian evacuated Nisibis and Singara,
and restored the five provinces of the Tigris
to the Persians, about four years after this
siege of Amida, or A. D. 363, the unhappy
fugitives of the former city, now compelled to
abandon their homes, were seated in a new-
built quarter of Amida ; and that rising city,
with the reinforcement of a considerable co-
lony, soon recovered its former splendour, and
became the capital of Mesopotamia.
During the Persian war of Kobad, A. D.
505, Amida again sustained a long and de-
structive siege. At the end of three months,
says the historian, the loss of fifty thousand
of the soldiers of Cabades or Kobad was not
balanced by any prospect of success, and it
was in vain that the Magi deduced a flattering
* Gibbon's Roman Empire, vol. iii. pp. 205–209. 8vo.
of Ibid. vol. iv. c. 24, p. 220. 8vo.


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
389
prediction from the indecency of the women
on the ramparts. At length, in a silent night,
they ascended the most accessible tower, which
was guarded only by a few monks, oppressed
after the duties of a festival with sleep and
wine. Scaling-ladders were applied at the
dawn of day; the presence of Cabades, his
stern command, and his drawn sword, com-
pelled the Persians to vanquish ; and, before
it was sheathed, four thousand of the inha-
bitants had expiated the blood of their com-
panions.*
The pillage of Tamerlane was nearly nine
hundred years after this event, or A. D. 1393;
and the successive sieges and captures of
this place by Usuncassan and the other Kings
of Persia followed, until it was conquered by
Selim, the first Sultan of the Osmanli Turks,
in A. D. 1515. It fell again, however, under
the Persian power, in less than a century
afterwards, or about the year 1605. In the
history of the Suffavean dynasty of Persian
kings, after describing a bloody battle between
the Persians and the Turks, in which the
latter were entirely defeated ; another his-
torian says, from the period of this great
* Gibbon's Roman Empire, vol. vii. c. 40, p. 138. 8vo.


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
391
of either; and, indeed, the wonder of those
whom I consulted on these subjects was
strongly excited by the questions, as they
could not conceive the motives which led to
these inquiries, nor did they know any thing,
even traditionally, of the facts to which they
alluded. In the time of Tavernier, the esti-
mate of the population was much greater
than at present, as he numbers the Christians
alone at twenty thousand, and states that the
Basha or Vizier could bring above twenty
thousand horse into the field.*
Niebuhr, in 1766, thought the number of
inhabited houses to be about sixteen thousand,
and the fourth part of these to be Christian
dwellings. The government was then a
Turkish one, as it still continues, nor does
any material alteration seem to have taken
place, since that period, except probably the
ordinary change of governors. The inscrip-
tions in Kufic and Arabic, which he then
copied from the walls, are, as he described
them in his time, but barely legible, from
their being on a soft white lime-stone, which
is inlaid between layers of the black basalt,
* The Six Voyages of John Baptiste Tavernier, b. iii.
c. 3, p. 104. London, 1678, small folio.


392
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
among
and from the operation of the atmosphere
alone is much more liable to injury than the
hard stone of the walls themselves.
The Turks of Diarbekr are conceived to be
more fanatic in their hatred of Christians than
in other parts of the empire: I had no oppor-
tunity of witnessing this, though it was con-
firmed by the report of those resident here.
It was at this place that I first noticed the
Armenian calpac, a sort of high and heavy cap
of cloth, which is worn by the Armenians of
Constantinople, Smyrna, and the north of
Asia Minor, but extends no farther south
than this ; for in Aleppo, Orfah, Mardin, and
all Syria and Egypt, as well as Mousul and
Bagdad, as we were told, these are always
replaced by turbans of the Arabic form. The
Koords and Arabs who sojourn here preserve
their own peculiar and respective costumes.
The women wear their outer coverings some-
times of white muslin, as at Smyrna and
Damascus; sometimes of checkered blue
cotton, as in most parts of Syria and Egypt;
and sometimes of black silk, as is usual
Both sexes are subject to the eruption in the
face, as at Aleppo and Orfah, but in a much


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
393
less extensive degree than at either of these
places, the proportion here not exceeding one
person in forty. As at the former towns,
it is attributed by some to the water, and by
others to the air, of the place; the mode of
treatment too is the same at each, and the
effects nearly similar, leaving a scar on the
part affected after it has healed.
When we returned from our excursion
around the town, as the gates were not yet
shut, we intended going out to the village
of Poorang 'to sleep, and hoped by setting off
from thence early in the morning to reach
Mardin within the same day, in time to join
the caravan on its march. We accordingly
took leave of Yuseff, the merchant, and re-
paired to the Khan to rejoin our horses and
mount there. My Koord guide was not at
first to be found; but, after sending emissa-
ries in all directions to search for him, we at
length discovered that he was held in per-
sonal arrest by a Turk of Diarbekr, to whom
he was deeply indebted, and who, having met
him now for the first time during the last
five years, had laid violent hands upon his
person, and swore by his beard, and by that
of the Prophet, that he would not set him


394
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
again at liberty, until a portion, at least, of the
debt was paid, and some security offered for
the remainder.
The redemption of this man from his pre-
sent bondage seemed to me so hopeless, that
I did not even make an offer towards it, but
directed search to be made after any other
man who might be qualified to go with me
as a guide to Mardin, and who should be
sufficiently well known to the chiefs and their
bands on the road, to protect me by his
presence from their rapacity. Such a person
was at length discovered, though not without
much difficulty, and profiting by the supposed
urgency of the case, demanded five hundred
piastres for the undertaking! It was in vain
to think of coming to terms after such an
extravagant demand as this, so that the point
was given up, and the man dismissed, amidst
a volley of abuse and imprecations on us all,
for having called him from his pipe and
cushions on such a faithless errand.
I now returned to the Khan, with a deter-
mination to set out on my journey alone,
and run all hazard of the evils which would
necessarily await me on my track. Yuseff,
the merchant, and all his friends, very kindly


396
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
Go
its
che
In this dilemma, nothing remained to be
done, but to make an application to the
Governor himself, through the best and
speediest channel, and as it was now long past
sun-set, there would be considerable difficulty
in obtaining access to his person. It was pro-
posed, therefore, that we should repair to the
house of Yuseff, and endeavour to find out
some one of the suite of the Pasha, who was
usually attendant on his person, and who, for
a competent remuneration, would no doubt
undertake to negociate the affair. We ac-
cordingly returned to the merchant's dwelling,
and in less than an hour afterwards a Turkish
Effendi, one of the Pasha’s confidential se-
cretaries, was found, who offered, for an ac-
knowledgment in money, to obtain both the
liberation of my own horse, and that of the
Koord too, before the morning. For each
of these he at first demanded two hundred
piastres, but, after many bickerings, he re-
duced his demand to one hundred. The
liberation of the Koord himself he thought
would not be so easy a task, as the order of
the Pasha would be hardly sufficient to induce
an enraged creditor to give up the hold which
he had of his debtor's person, the only secu-
те
28
th
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to
all
pi
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ar


398
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
cluded, that they might the more freely in-
dulge the privileges of their common faith in
midnight potions, and vent their indignation
against their oppressors over the intoxicating
draught. We sat down, to the number of
about thirty, around a large metal salver,
laden with dishes, which were put on, taken
off, and replaced by others in quick succes-
sion, after the fashion of the Turks. The
feast was preceded by songs in the Turkish
language, most of them remarkable for their
gross indelicacy. Large glasses of arrack were
swallowed at short intervals, so that most of
the party were intoxicated before they began
to eat, and as glasses were again served in
pretty quick succession during the meal, many
were quite drunk before it was ended. Loose
songs were now followed by still looser con-
versations, and lascivious dances were next
performed by men and boys, without the
gravest among them being at all shocked at
these Bacchanalian orgies. The utmost free-
dom was given to their expressions of hatred
against the Turks; and though it was im-
possible not to feel pity for them, as subjects
of the most galling tyranny, or not to sym-
pathise with them in their faintest struggles
1


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
399
against so odious slavery, yet it was painful
to see that they quietly submitted to the
yoke, and suffered themselves to be trodden
under foot while sober, and breathed forth
slaughter and revenge only while they were
drunk; leaving the impression that they
would be as cruel, were they of the stronger
party, as they are timid and unresisting now
that they are of the weaker. Here, upon the
spot, I was forcibly struck with the contrast
which the conduct and professions of these
Christian teachers exhibited, when compared
with the charity of a former bishop of the
same place, as related by Gibbon, and de-
servedly rescued by him from oblivion.*
Acts of benevolence and Christian charity,
from whomsoever they spring, cannot be too
frequently mentioned, and they shine with
more lustre from amidst the aggravated wrongs
* “ This Acacius of Amida, boldly declaring, that vases
of gold and silver are useless to a God who neither eats
nor drinks, sold the plate of the church of Amida; em-
ployed the price in the redemption of seven thousand Persian
captives, taken in the Theodosian war; supplied their
wants with affectionate liberality, and dismissed them to
their native country, to inform the king of the true spirit
of the religion which he persecuted.”-Gibbon, vol. v.
c. 32, p. 427.


400
DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
under which they are displayed. But of
the conduct to which I was here a painful
witness, it is difficult to speak, except in terms
of reprobation. These oriental Christians of
the present day were not, however, without
their consolations, which they reciprocally
interchange in nearly the same language as
that attributed, in the very next page of the
same historian, to the Armenian archbishop
Isaac, when he deplores, yet half excuses, the
vices of Antasines, the nephew and successor
of the Persian Chosroes. *
These midnight revels did not cease until
the morning was nigh, and even then many
more had sunk upon the floor to sleep, from
fatigue and intoxication, than had retired for
the purpose of going to their own homes.
The speedy downfall of the Mohammedan
power, and the eternal damnation of all here-
tics and infidels, were the favourite toasts;
and these, it is said, were so clearly recom-
* “ Our king," says this mitred prelate, “is too much
addicted to licentious pleasures; but he has been purified
in the holy waters of baptism. He is a lover of women, but
he does not adore the fire or the elements. He
may
de-
serve the reproach of lewdness, but he is an undoubted
Catholic; and his faith is pure, though his manners are
flagitious.”


DESCRIPTION OF DIARBEKR.
401
mended by holy writ, that drinking to their
accomplishment was only supporting the word
of God, and hastening the drinker's own salva-
tion. With this reiterated assurance, which
was repeated on all sides at every draught
that was swallowed, sounds of cursing still
reverberating in my ears, I stretched myself
along upon the carpet, to catch an hours
repose before the dawn should summon me
to begin my journey, which the revolting
scenes I had unwillingly witnessed here made
me most impatient to begin.
VOL. I
2 D


CHAPTER XII.
FROM
DIARBEKR
ΤΟ
MARDIN, DARA, AND
NISIBIS.
JUNE 28th.—It was by the grey twilight
of the morning that I saddled my horse, in
haste; when, rolling up my carpet behind
me, and balancing my spear, I mounted in
the court-yard of the merchant's house, and
left the recently noisy party all now sound
asleep, after the excesses of the preceding
night.
It was not yet sun-rise when I reached
the city-gate, so that this was still shut; and
as the warders had received orders on the
preceding evening not to suffer either the
Koord or myself to pass without express per-
mission from the governor, I was again ar-
rested here, until the truth of my own
liberation from the claims of my companion's



CHAPTER XII.
RURAL CELEBRATION OF AN EASTERN MARRIAGE BY A VILLAGE FEAST.


1
|
1
|
.
1


FROM DIARBEKR TO NISIBIS.
403
creditor could be ascertained. A well-timed
present prevailed on one of the guards to
hasten off to the palace, in order to make the
necessary inquiries; while another commanded
a servant to hold my horse, with a hope of
something being given him for his civility.
The Aga of the guard, who had by this time
just ended his morning prayers, then invited
me to his carpet, and filling my pipe out of his
own tobacco-bag, presented me also with a
cup
of his morning coffee, thus rendering my
detention as agreeable as he could.
The messenger at length returned, with a
confirmation of the truth of all that I had
stated, with respect to my freedom : the ex-
pected presents were paid, the gates were
thrown
open, and with the prayers of the
guards for the safe journey of one whom
they supposed to be a believer, going heed-
lessly forth into danger, I left the walls of
Diarbekr to return to Mardin alone.
Crossing the Tigris at the two fords, over
which we had passed before, I was enabled to
retrace my path with sufficient ease, and
pushed on through Poorang, Akh Tuppé,
Shukrah Tuppé, and Sushoaf, going at a full
trot nearly the whole of the way, halting


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
405
and who seemed privileged, by the occasion of
the festivity, to speak their minds more freely
than usual. They pleaded warmly, and not
unsuccessfully, on my behalf; and the anger
of the chief was soon appeased.
The preparations in which these females
were engaged, were for a marriage-feast, the
bridegroom being a Koord of the mountains,
and the bride a sister of the young girls who
so kindly advocated my cause; and as these
were all daughters of the Sheikh himself,
they even prevailed on him to insist on my
tarrying to partake of the wedding-dinner to
be given on this occasion. The invitation
was accordingly offered to me, and I was
too deeply impressed with gratitude for the
kindness of my young female pleaders, to
whom I was indebted for so happy an es-
cape
from threatened danger, not to accept it,
although I dreaded every moment of deten-
tion as pregnant with still greater evil.
It was at the close of the afternoon prayers
that the company, who consisted of all the
males of the village, to the number of more
than a hundred men and boys, began to seat
themselves on the ground, on each side of a
long cloth spread out as a table. While the
.


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
409
information I needed on this point, by which
I learnt the existence of a more westerly road
than that pursued by my Koord guide, on our
way to Diarbekr.
The feast being ended, after thanking the
Sheikh for his kindness, I remounted
my
steed, with anxious thoughts, and pursued the
beaten track by which we had come from
Mardin, until I was entirely out of sight from
the village, when I crossed over a by-path
which had been described to me by the
Sheikh's daughter, and got, at length, into the
more westerly road, leading to Burnisht.
It was near sun-set when I reached this
village, which was larger than either of those
through which I had yet passed. It was
seated in a hollow, between hills, and had a
small castle, or fortified dwelling, which was
occupied by the chief, Mustapha Aga, who
commanded the district for a short distance
around him, and was as much feared as the
most powerful sovereign could be within his
own dominions. My ignorance of the road
beyond this station obliged me to halt here ;
and, as I could not make the necessary inqui-
ries without being questioned in my turn, I
was obliged to use the same precautions as I


412
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
accordingly halted here beneath his humble
shed.
JUNE 29th.—The dawn had hardly yet
opened before I was again on horseback, and
quitting Kufferdell, as this small village was
called, I bent my way over hills and bare
ground, until, soon after sun-rise, I came to
the edge of some cliffs, overhanging a deep
valley, beyond which I now saw Mardin but
a short distance to the east-north-east.
Winding down the steep sides of these
cliffs, and crossing the valley below, I entered
the gates of the town about an hour after
sun-rise, and hastened immediately to the
bazār, to inquire after the caravan. This I
learnt had departed on the morning of yester-
day, and as it was intended to push on by
forced marches towards Mousul, it was thought
that no hope remained of my overtaking it on
the
way,
unless it made a halt at Nisibeen.
I now repaired to the dwelling of the Syrian
Patriarch, and from hence we despatched mes-
sengers to the villages on the plain, to ascer-
tain precisely at what hour the caravan de-
parted from thence, what route they intended
to take, how their halts would be regulated,


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
413
and all other particulars regarding them. In
the meantime, we employed ourselves quite
as actively in town, in endeavouring to find
out whether any unfortunate passenger had,
like myself, been left behind, and if so, whe-
ther he would be willing to join me in setting
out after the caravan; as well as to learn
whether I could, by any and what other means,
resume my journey with a hope of success.
After strict search we discovered, that a
horse-dealer of this place had about fifty
horses, which he was desirous of getting
marched to Mousul as speedily as possible;
but that, like myself, he had lost the caravan
by a few hours only, while he was willing to
incur some risk in endeavouring to join it.
Our condition was exactly similar to that of
vessels left behind in port, and who, having
lost their convoy, were obliged either to
hazard something in sailing alone after the
fleet, or incur all the loss and detention of
waiting for another commodore.
any better, or even equally advanta-
geous, opportunity seemed to us, in this case,
so faint, that we soon made up our minds to
make the best of the present occasion. After
taking a hasty refreshment, therefore, and
The pros-
pects of


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
415
and prepare for starting at day-light, and
just as the sun rose we mounted to proceed on
our journey.
We continued our march in a south-easterly
direction across the plain, and, in less than
two hours after our setting out, were over-
taken by two Tartars from Constantinople
going to Bagdad, in charge of papers from the
British Consul General at that capital, to the
East-India Company's Resident at Bagdad.
They had left Diarbekr on the evening of the
same day that I had quitted it in the morning,
and had there heard of my inquiries after
Tartars. They were accompanied by a young
Bagdad merchant, named Suliman, who was
returning home with them; and they had each
of them official orders on the Konaukchis, or
post-horse suppliers on the road, for such
horses as they might require, these supplies
being furnished by an annual contract to all
the Sultan's messengers that may be in need
of them.
As soon as I ascertained this to be the case,
I disclosed myself to the chief of these Tar-
tars, who was called Yunus, or Jonas, and pre-
sented to him the general letter of Mr. Barker,
addressed to any of the Government Tartars,


416
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
bearing English despatches, that I might
meet on the road. On the faith of this, he
offered me his protection as far as we should
go together; but added, that it would be im-
possible to procure me a change of horses
for my journey until we reached Mousul, to
procure a new order to that effect from the
Pasha; so that nothing was left for me now
but to put the strength of my present animal
to its utmost stretch until we reached that
city.
We accordingly proceeded together in com-
pany, and in about two hours after our leaving
Harim, going at a pace of five or six miles an
hour, we reached a small village called Gholee,
containing little more than fifty dwellings, and
peopled entirely by Koords. We did not
alight here, merely halting to drink, as we
sat on horseback, from the pitchers of some
damsels at the well ; after which we continued
our way, and came, in about two hours more, to
the village of Amooda. Here we alighted to
wait on the Sheikh, who was a man of some
consequence, and commanded many of the
villages in the neighbourhood. The one in
which he resided was larger than either of
those we had passed through since leaving


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
417
Mardin; and, like these, its whole population
were Koords.
On our visit to the Sheikh, the Sultan's Fir-
mān was put into his hands by Yunus ; when
the chief, as soon as he recognised the royal
signet, rose from his seat, placed the sacred
document on his head, and then kissing it,
raised it again to his forehead. A meal was now
placed before us, of which we all partook, after
which inquiries were made as to our several
occupations and pursuits, our means of travel-
ling, and our capacity to pay the usual tri-
bute of travellers passing this way.
The
Tartars easily escaped, from their having the
high protection of the Sublime Porte; the
young
Suliman affected poverty, and came off
with a trifle, and I followed his example with
success; but the poor horse-dealer, whose
property was too visible to be concealed, was
obliged to leave one of the best of his troop
behind, this being selected by the Sheikh
himself, as an equivalent for the money-tribute
which the dealer was unable to pay.
· We observed the Koord women at this vil-
lage to be in general handsome, though they
approached nearer to Arabs, in their com-
plexions, and in their modes of adorning them-
1
VOL. I.
2 E


418
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
selves, than the more northern Koords among
whom we had sojourned; they were all well
dressed, and wore a profusion of silver orna-
ments, in the shape of bracelets, anklets, and
rings; but their lips were stained with a blue
colour, after the fashion of the Arabs of the
Desert.
We quitted this village of Amooda about
ten o'clock, and still continued south-easterly
over the plain. The harvest was now ga-
thering in by reapers, who worked with the
sickle in the right hand, and grasped the
stalks of the corn with the left, as in Europe;
the practice of plucking up the whole by the
root, as described in a former page, not pre-
vailing here. Horses were used, in the
open
air, to tread out the corn, in the manner in
which oxen usually are in other Eastern coun-
tries. These were not muzzled during their
labours, but were suffered to eat as they
worked, and enjoy the reward of their hire,
which they seemed to do without imped-
ing the labour itself. We noticed here a
singular kind of locust, which, while it stood
on the ground, was of the same shape and
colour as the common locust seen in large
flocks; but when it expanded its wings for


.
419
DARA, AND NISIBIS.
flight, it exhibited a body and wings as
beautifully, as variously, and as brilliantly co-
loured, as those of the gayest butterfly. This
locust was not much smaller in size than the
large locusts of Egypt and Syria, but it was
said to be always seen single, or in such small
numbers as to lead to the belief that they
never associated in hosts as the destructive
locusts do.
Continuing our march over the plain, we
had on our right, or to the south of us, at a
great distance off, the mountain of Sinjár, a
lofty range, high in the middle and tapering
down at both ends till it lost itself in the
plain.* To the left, or on the north, was the
longer and lower ridge of Mardin, distant only
*6 Au midi dè Mardin s'éleve la montagne de Singiar,
qui a été de tout temps la terreur des caravanes ;
elle peut
avoir quatorze lieues de longueur, et s'étend du nord-est au
sud-ouest dans une plaine immense, qui aux mois de Mars
et d'Avril n'est qu'une prairie charmante, tapissée de
verdure, parsemée de fleurs odoriférantes, et arrosée de
plusieurs sources que la fonte des neiges convertit souvent
en larges et impétueux torrens. Le sommet de cette
montagne offre un terrain plat et fertile, où serpentent et
murmurent mille ruisseaux agréables. L'orge et le millet
y viennent en abondance ; les raisins et les figues qu'il
produit, sont renommés par leur beauté et leur goût
exquis.”—Description du Pachalik de Bagdad, p. 96, 97.


422
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
brought ruin, not only on it, but upon all the
Roman towns and territories in its vicinity.*
About thirty years afterwards, when Chos-
roes, the son of Kobad, received the ambassa-
dors of Justinian, the successor of Constantine,
it is said that he accepted of them eleven
thousand pounds of gold, as the price of an
endless or indefinite peace. Some mutual ex-
changes were then regulated; the Persian
assumed the guard of the gates of Caucasus,
and the demolition of Dara was suspended,
on condition that it should never be made the
residence of the general of the East.
In little more than the same period of time,
or about seventy years after its first founda-
tion, when the contests between Rome and
Persia were still continued, it fell before the
arms of the latter. I
* Sir John Malcolm’s History of Persia, vol. i. p. 135.
A. D. 531.
+ Gibbon, vol. vii. c. 43, p. 308.
Nushervan, or Chosroes, conducted in person the siege
of Dara; and, although that important fortress had been
left destitute of troops and magazines, the valour of the
inhabitants resisted for months the elephants and the mili-
tary engines of the great king. In the mean while, his
general, Adarman, advanced from Babylon, traversed the
Desert, passed the Euphrates, insulted the suburbs of


DARA, AND VISIBIS
In the beginning of the serenth century,
or nearly a hundred years after Dara had been
first founded, the generals of Khoosroo Pir-
veez, who had been first restored to the Persian
throne after his defeat and flight into Tartary,
invaded the Roman territories, to avenge the
death of the Emperor Maurice, whom Khoos-
roo had publicly adopted as his father. In
the state to which the empire was then de-
graded, says the historian, by the rule of the
centurion Phocas, who had been advanced to
the purple by a despicable faction, and whose
authority was hardly acknowledged beyond
the walls of his capital, little opposition was
made to the sudden and formidable invasion
of the Persians. Dara, Edessa, and other
strong places on the frontier, were soon sub-
dued; Syria was completely pillaged, Palestine
overrun, Jerusalem taken, and the true cross
which had been enclosed in a golden case and
buried deep in the earth, was discovered, and
borne in triumph to Persia ; and the historians
of that country, who give us these details,
Antioch, reduced to ashes the city of Apamea, and laid the
spoils of Syria at the feet of his master, whose perseverance,
in the midst of winter, at length subverted the bulwark of
the East.–Gibbon, vol. viii. c. 46, p. 174.


424
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
add, that the sacred relic was attended by a
crowd of captive priests and bishops.
Of this “Dara in the Mountains," as it is
called, in the road from Mardin to Nisibeen,
mention is made, in the Persian history of the
Sassanian kings, by Mirkhond. It is there
said, that Noushirvan the Just, or Kesra, en-
tered the province of Jezeereh, the tract
comprised between the Tigris and Euphrates,
and forming the ancient Mesopotamia, where
he subdued the cities of Dara and Edessa,
and afterwards conquered Kennasserin and
Aleppo.t
Procopius fixes the distance of Dara from
Mardin at ninety eight stadia, which, at seven
stadia to the mile, (the proportion used in
the Lower Empire, and the standard used by
Procopius generally,) gives exactly fourteen
miles. This, though it seems to have been
rejected by D'Anville, who has doubled it in
order to reconcile it with other distances of
a place called Daras,f sixty miles south of
Amadia, and fifteen from Nisibeen, according
to the authorities of Marcellinus, Cedrenus,
* History of Persia, vol. i. p. 157.
+ De Sacy's Memoires, p. 366. 4to.
| D'Anville sur l'Euphrate et le Tigre.


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
427
between Mardin and Nisibeen, or east of the
former. Its having a river, and a bridge over
it, makes it probable, however, that Daracar-
din was the place which Callistus places be-
tween two streams, more particularly as the
distance of this place from Nisibeen does not
at all accord with that of the Roman Dara.
It may be worthy of remark, that as Dara was
rather an appellative than a proper name, and
signified, in the Persian language, royal, or
sovereign,* it was likely to be applied to many
places which were either royal, from being
founded by emperors or kings, or deserving
the title from their military importance.
It was near noon, after a journey of eight
hours' brisk walking for the horses, or about
forty miles from Mardin, that we reached
the town of Nisibeen, where we found the ca-
ravan encamped. We halted here to join
them, and learned that they had arrived thus
far on the preceding evening, but were de-
tained to-day in adjusting the claims, and
softening down, if possible, the pretensions of
the chief, who demanded an exorbitant tri-
bute. When we alighted, this dispute was at
* Bibliothèque Orientale, tome i. p. 565.


DARA, AND NISIBIS,
429
left behind us; and other chiefs weré spoken
of, who, from being more powerful than Sheikh
Farsee, would not content themselves, without
a proportionately larger tribute than he had
received from us.
Whether this was true or
false, the impression created by it was such,
that even the Tartars would not prosecute
their journey alone, notwithstanding the im-
portance to them of expedition, but deter-
mined to abide with the caravan, for the sake
of enjoying its protection, so that we all now
clung together for mutual aid.
Towards the evening, I left the tent of the
Hadjee, to make an excursion around the
ruins of former days, which are found in
abundance here. Though I saw much at a
distance, the insolence and jealousy of the in-
habitants were such as to prevent my entering
into the town, and, consequently, to deprive
me of the power of examining any thing
closely, or seeing much in detail. Some par-
ticulars of the present state of this settlement
were, however, collected, and these will serve
at least to contrast with those which are re-
lated of its former importance.*
* In the Description of the Pachalik of Bagdad, the
situation and condition of Nisibin is thus briefly men-


430
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
The first foundation of Nisibeen mounts
up to an antiquity beyond even the reach of
records ; since it is thought, by some learned
divines,* to be one of the places enumerated
in the Scriptures, as built by Nimrod, “ the
mighty hunter before the Lord.”+
Its name is more frequently written “ Nesi-
bis," on the medals which are preserved of it.
It is found to be written “ Nisibis” in Greek
authors, while the present pronunciation of
the name, “ Nisibeen,” or “ Nesbin,” is said, by
tioned :—“Sans m'arrêter aux villages de la dépendance de
Moussol, je passe à Nissibin, ville qui en est éloignée
d'environ quarante-deux lieues. Cette cité célèbre, à
laquelle les Grecs donnèrent le surnom de seconde Antioche,
à cause de sa situation délicieuse, fut prise, comme on le
sait par Lucullus sur Tigrane, du temps de la guerre de
Mithridate, et devint le boulevart de l'Empire Romain,
contre les Parthes et les Perses. Il n'en reste aujourd'hui
que quelques masures qui servent seulement à indiquer le
lieu où elle a existé. Des Arabes y habitent, et une petite
rivière, qui est apparemment le Migdonius, en fertilise les
plaines. Le site de Nissibin, son climat, et la beauté de
son terroir, la rendent encore digne de la célébrité dont elle
a joui autrefois ; elle est sous la régie du vaivode de
Mardin, dépendant lui-
même du pacha de Bagdad, qui le
nomme et le dépose à son gré.”—p. 92, 93.
* See Cellarius Anc. Geog. p. 448. 4to.
+ The cities attributed to Nimrod are as numerous
throughout Mesopotamia and Babylonia as those attributed


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
431
D'Anville, to be in conformity to Abulfeda,
the Arabian geographer.*
Its situation is very clearly marked, as
being in the northern part of Mesopotamia,
between the Tigris and Euphrates ; though
it has been placed on the banks of the former
by some geographers, who have confounded
this river with the stream that runs by it.t
This stream, according to the most modern
maps, is made to discharge itself into the
to Pharaoh are in Egypt, or those to Solomon in Palestine
and Syria. Among others, was the city of Samarah, one of
the most famous in eastern annals. “ This city,” observes
Mr. Beckford, “is supposed to have stood on the site
where Nimrod erected his tower. Khondemir relates, in
his Life of Motassem, that this prince, to terminate the
disputes which were perpetually happening between the
inhabitants of Bagdad and bis Turkish slaves, withdrew
from thence, and, having fixed on a situation in the plain of
Catoul, there founded Samarah. He is said to have had,
in the stables of this city, a hundred and thirty thousand
pied horses, each of which carried, by his order, a sack of
earth, to a place he had chosen. By this accumulation an
elevation was formed that commanded a view of all Sa-
marah, and served for the foundation of his magnificent
palace.”—Notes to the Caliph Vathek.
* Ammianus Marcellinus says, “ Nisibis jam indè à
Mithridaticis regni temporibus ne Oriens a Persis occupa-
retur, viribus restitit maximis.”—lib. 25.
+ See Cellarius Anc. Geog. p. 448. 4to.


432
FROM DIARBEKR TO) MARDIN,
Euphrates ; but, by the more ancient map
of
Cellarius, which corresponds with the opinion
and report of the people of the country, it
discharges itself into the Tigris. This river
of Nisibeen is the Saocaras of Ptolemy, and
is formed of several small torrents, which unite
together in the neighbourhood of Nisibeen.
It was afterwards, under the Seleucides, called
Mygdonius, as may be gathered from the
Emperor Julian, who says, that the fields, in
the neighbourhood of the walls, of Nisibis,
were watered by a river of that name. Under
this dynasty, the city was called Antioch, with
the addition of Mygdonia, which was then
applied to the whole of this part of Mesopo-
tamia.*
1
* The change of names in places of antiquity presents
continual obstacles to accurate deductions in ancient geo-
graphy. The following place, mentioned by Pliny, is
thought to be another name for Nisibis, and the tradition
attached to the fountain described by him to apply to the
springs there.
“ At Cabura, in Mesopotamia, (which is
thought to be Nisibis under another name,) there is a foun-
tain of water, which hath a sweet and redolent smell ; set-
ting it aside, I know not any one of that quality in the
whole world again. But hereto there belongs a tale, namely,
that this spring was privileged with this extraordinary gift,
because Juno sometimes bathed and washed herself therein.”
-Plin. Nat. Hist. b. xxxi. c. 3.


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
433
It is thought to have been taken, in the
Mithridatic war, by the Roman general Lu-
cullus, when he pursued his enemy across the
Euphrates, and gave battle, on the plains of
Mesopotamia, to the numerous forces which
Tigranes had assembled to support the cause
of his son-in-law; when, according to Plutarch,
one hundred thousand foot and fifty-five thou-
sand horse of the Asiatic forces were slain, by
an army of only eighteen thousand Romans,
little more than a century before the Chris-
tian era.
About two centuries afterwards, the Em-
peror Trajan, in the prosecution of the Par-
thian war, when he overran all Mesopotamia
and Assyria, took Nisibis, among his other
conquests, which, according to Dion Cassius,
extended as far as Ecbatana; where, when he
had obtained victories over unknown nations,
and found himself on the borders of India, he
lamented that he possessed not the vigour
and youth of an Alexander, that he might add
unexplored provinces and kingdoms to the
Roman empire.*
* In the history of Artabanes, King of Parthia, and his
restoration, as given by Josephus, the historian says,
66 And
thus was Artabanes restored to his kingdom, by the means
VOL. I.'
2 F


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
435
An unsuccessful attempt on this place by
Sapor is described by Gibbon, from the Ora-
tions of Julian, as taking place about the year
338 of the Christian era. This, however, was
Shapoor the Second, of the Persian historians,
(between whom and his predecessor of the
same name six sovereigns had intervened,) the
son of Hormuz, who was crowned in his
mother's womb before his birth,
a circum-
stance noted by all the historians of his life,
both Greek and Persian.* The description of
these unavailing efforts against the fortress
of Nisibis by Sapor, is given in so animated a
manner by the historian, who has caught the
leading features from the best authorities, and
presented the whole as a glowing picture of
his own, that the reader, who feels sufficient
interest in the subject to desire further details,
may receive great gratification on turning to
the
pages
in which these are recorded.
About twenty-five years after this, accord-
ing to the chronology of the Persian histo-
rians, the Romans invaded Persia, and Sha-
* Gibbon, vol. iii. p. 134; and History of Persia, vol. i.
106.
+ See Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
vol. iii. c. 18, pp. 142–145.


436
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
poor
the Second was called on to defend his
country. The Arab tribes, it is said, who
were eager for revenge, readily joined the
Romans, and their united force amounted to
one hundred and seventy thousand men, which
were commanded by the celebrated Emperor
Julian, himself, in person. Shapoor declined
meeting this formidable army at the frontiers,
being sensible, that if he suffered a defeat,
which their overwhelming numbers rendered
probable, he should be ruined. He retreated
to one of the interior provinces ; and, collect-
ing all the force he could, he advanced to give
battle. After a dreadful conflict, in which we
are told he made the greatest personal efforts,
his army was routed with immense slaughter,
and Shapoor himself barely saved his life by
flying with a few followers. He soon, how-
ever, assembled his army, and recommenced
operations, to which he was more encouraged
from the retreat of his victorious enemy, in
pursuit of whom he advanced into the Roman
territory, and sent ambassadors to their em-
peror with the following message_“ I have
reassembled my numerous army, I am re-
solved to revenge those of my subjects who
have been plundered, made captives, and slain.
1
1


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
437
It is for this object, that I have bared my arm
and girded my loins. If you consent to pay
the price of that blood which has been shed,
to deliver
up the booty which has been plun-
dered, and to restore the city of Nisibis, which
is in Irāk, and properly belongs to our empire,
though now in your possession, I will sheath
the sword of war ; but should you not assent
to these terms, the hoofs of my steed, which
are as hard as steel, shall efface the name of
the Romans from the earth, and my glorious
scymitar, that destroys like fire, shall exter-
minate the people of your empire.” Accord-
ing to Persian history, this proud and insulting
message had the desired effect. The alarmed
Emperor of Constantinople agreed to the
terms prescribed, and the famous city of
Nisibis was delivered over to Shapoor, who
immediately sent a colony of twelve thou-
sand men, drawn from Fars and Irāk, to in-
habit it, and to cultivate the lands in its vi-
cinity.*
This emperor was succeeded by Jovian, by
whom this fortress was yielded to Shapoor, as
part of the cession with which he gladly pur-
* History of Persia, vol. i. p. 108, (A. D. 363,) and
De Sacy's Memoires, p. 315.


438
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
chased a peace.* The entry of Jovian into
Nisibis, and the sufferings of the inhabitants,
who were ordered to evacuate it in three days,
are described by Ammianus, who was present
at the scene.f This irresolute emperor, in-
stead of breaking through the toils of the
enemy, expected his fate with patient resigna-
tion, and accepted the humiliating conditions
of peace which it was no longer in his power
to refuse. The five provinces beyond the
Tigris, which had been ceded by the grand-
father of Shapoor, were restored to the Persian
monarch. He acquired by a single article the
impregnable city of Nisibis, which had sus
tained in three successive sieges the effort of
his arms.[
It was, however, wrested from the hands of
the Persians about thirty years afterwards,
according to the date of the reign of the em-
peror under which it happened. Khosrou
Parviz had been fourteen years on the throne
when the Greeks conspired against their em-
peror, and killed him, with his son Theodosius.
There was another son of his at the court of
* D’Anville sur l’Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 52.
+ Book xxv. s. 9, v. 2. pp. 406—408.
# Gibbon, vol. iv. c. 24, p. 210.
1


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
439
Parviz, and under his command he sent a
numerous army into the country of the
Greeks, and intò Syria. Being entered here,
they first possessed themselves of Palestine
and Jerusalem. They made prisoners of all
the bishops who were at the Holy City, with
many other persons, possessed themselves of
the true cross, which was shut up in a case
of gold and buried underneath the earth, and
sent it to Parviz, in Persia. They then, in
the same manner, rendered themselves masters
of Alexandria and Nubia, and having entered
the territory of Constantinople, committed
great havoc. The Greeks, however, would not
acknowledge the son, but named 'Heraclius
their emperor, who, on the strength of a
favourable dream, assembled an army at Con-
stantinople, and marched as far as Nisibeen.
Parviz sent twelve thousand men against
them; but, in a battle there, they were de-
feated, with the loss of six hundred, besides
their commander. *
Ferakhsad, however, one of the sons of
Khosrou Parviz, who fled his country from
fear of the reigning prince, made Nisibeen
* De Sacy's Memoires sur divers Antiquités de la Perse,
p. 402. 4to. A. D. 394.


440
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
his place of refuge, and found protection
there.*
It is acknowledged to have been the most
important of all the places in Mesopotamia ;
and its name of “ Nisibin,” in the plural, is
said to denote“ posts, or military stations.”+
In Syriac, the name, in the plural, signifies
“ a place of columns ;” but in Hebrew, Chal-
daic, and Arabic, it implies, in the singular, a
military post.f Either of these etymologies
would be sufficiently consistent with its for-
mer state and history to be adopted, since
the greatest part of its importance arose from
its value as a military post; and as the resi-
dence of emperors, nobles, and generals, it
was decorated with many columned edifices
in the architecture of the time.
When the Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela
travelled through Mesopotamia, in 1173, he
visited “ Netsibin,” as he himself writes it, and
describes it as being then a large city, having
rivers near it in abundance, and containing
an assembly of a thousand Jews.ỹ The notice
* De Sacy's Memoires, p. 415. 4to.
+ D’Anville Comp. Anc. Geog. p. 434. 8vo.
I D'Anville sur l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 52. 4to.
§ Voyage de Benjamin de Tudèle, in Bergeron's Collec-
tion, 4to.


442
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
now no Jews. The houses of the modern
town, which are found erected on the ruins,
scarcely exceed a hundred habitable ones, and
these are small square buildings of stone
and mud, with flat roofs of straw, divided by
narrow alleys
for they can scarcely be called
streets and wearing altogether an air of great
poverty.
The situation of the town is in a level
plain, with the hills of Mardin ranging along
on the north, at the distance of from five to
ten miles; the high mountain of Sinjār on
the south, distant about ten or twelve leagues ;
and a flat desert country, generally, to the east
and west. The town is seated on the western
bank of the river Mygdonius, now called
merely the river of Nisibeen; and this is still
observed to overflow its banks on the falling
of the autumnal rains, and the melting of the
vernal snows; confirming the accuracy of
Julian, who described it as inundating the
country near the walls of the city, and water-
ing the neighbouring fields. There are seve-
ral smaller streams running into this river,
near the city itself; which corresponds with
what Ptolemy has said of the Saocaras, as
quoted before, and mentioned to be the same


FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
sufficiently close to this to examine it minute-
ly; for, in going towards it alone, though not
more than a quarter of a mile distant from our
encampment, I had a cloak, and inner gar-
ment, or abba and jubbe, stripped from me
by four of the villagers, who were seemingly
strolling in search of plunder, and whom I
could not afterwards find, to recover the
articles, or even to repurchase them.
The bridge is a long and level work of
masonry thrown across the river, and sup-
ported on twelve arches of Roman work; the
pathway, or platform, of the bridge being not
more than ten feet above the level of the
stream. It resembles the bridge seen near
Khallet el Hhearin, on the road from Antioch
to Aleppo, and, like it, was no doubt originally
of Roman construction, though it has under-
gone repairs, in later times, from Mohamme-
dan workmen; and this portion of it is now
in a still more ruined condition than the more
ancient one.
et gris, presque entièrement enfoui, sur lequel il y avait une
inscription Latine, très effacée. Nous ne pûmes lire que les
trois mots suivans-Currus . . . . victoriam stadii'
C'était, peut-être là, le stade, où se faisaient les courses
des chevaux."-vol. iv. p. 243. 8vo.


446
FROM DIARBEKR TO MARDIN,
are pure and sweet,* produce several kinds of
fine fish, large crabs, and water-snakes, or ser-
pents, like those found in the Arabian Sea,
and on the coast of the Concan in India,
particularly when approaching the harbour of
Bombay.t
On returning to the
my excur-
sion, I found a large party of the inhabitants
of the town assembled round the tent of
Hadjee Abd-el-Rakhmān, and the eternal de-
mand for presents was vociferated from every
camp, after
* See the Note from Pliny's Natural History, at p. 432.
+ In the Voyage of Admiral Van Neck, and Vice-Admi-
ral Van Warwyck, to the East Indies, 1598, 1599, we find
the Dutch killing and eating a large sea-serpent, near the
island of Banda, “Le 8 de Mai, 1599, un serpent d'onze
piés de long, ayant passé par un des écubiers du vaisseau
Zelande, y fut tué et mangé,"— Voyages de la Comp. des
Indes, t. i. p. 567
Dampier met with sea-snakes about four feet long, four.
fingers broad, flat tail, and spotted with yellow, on the coast
of New Holland. There were also smaller ones, spotted with
black and yellow; and others, very long and slender ; and
some as thick as a man's leg, with a red head.
Pennant, “ reminds me of the species described by Arrian,
in his · Periplus Maris Erythræi, to which he gives black
skins, and blood-red eyes."--Outlines of the Globe, vol. iv.
66 This," says
p. 100.
1


DARA, AND NISIBIS.
447
mouth, but resisted with equal obstinacy.
The people of the tribe living here seemed to
be more mixed than we had before been ac-
customed to see them. The men only spoke
Arabic, and the women and children Koordi.
All were well dressed and clean, and about as
many
families resided in tents as in houses.
The roving portion of the community possess-
ed some of the most beautiful horses that
could be seen; and these were chiefly employ-
ed in predatory excursions, while the rest of
the men remained at home to till the ground,
to feed the flocks, and to be employed in the
more inglorious task of guarding the harems,
or the females and children of their warring
brothers.
At night all our difficulties were surmount-
ed, and our departure was fixed for the mor-
A strong watch was set around our
tents, formed chiefly of volunteers from
among
those of the caravan who had the most to lose;
but, notwithstanding all our vigilance, many
trifling articles were stolen, and muskets and
pistols were repeatedly discharged during the
night at thieves stealing silently into the
camp.
row.


CHAPTER XIII.

7
ANCIENT
GREEK AND ROMAN REMAINS ON THE RUINED SITE OF NISIBEEN.


||
||


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
449
many instances, artificial, and are always
chosen as the sites of villages, for the pur-
pose of greater security, and a more ready
view of approaching danger.
After a march of two hours, we reached
a small village, on an eminence, called Tal
el Schiaire, or the Hill of Corn. The few
houses seen were in shape like the long
barns of English farm-yards, thatched with
sloping roofs of straw. The people, who
were all Koords, lived chiefly, however, in
tents ; so that these buildings were mostly
uninhabited, and kept probably for store-
houses of grain.
In two hours from this, pursuing the same
course, we passed through another place,
called Theat Khalif Aga, or the Village of
Khalif Aga, the name of the chief who re-
sided here. It was seated on a smaller emi-
nence than the former, and contained about
fifty houses, but more than a hundred tents
were pitched around it.
Just before noon we came to a similar
village, called Doogher, where we made our
halt for the day. We remarked that all
these villages resembled each other in their
chief local features; all were seated on rising
2 G
VOL. I.


450
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
names.
grounds, each had a stream of water running
near it from the northward, and in all of them
were wells for the supply of this necessary
article, when the brooks might be dried up
and the streams fail. In our way
In our way from Nisi-
been thus far, we saw several villages on our
right and left, but I could not learn their
The last and largest, however, of
these was one now nearly abreast of us, called
Azrowar, and standing on a higher eleva-
tion than either of the others.
In forming our halt, the place chosen for
our encampment was by a small stream of
water descending from the northern hills, and
going to the southward to join the waters
of Nisibeen. On the bank of this was killed,
by one of our party, a large black serpent, of
about nine feet in length, and nearly a foot
in girth around the largest part of the body.
It is said to prey chiefly on lizards, of which
there are here many small ones of a very beau-
tiful kind.*
* Otter mentions a poisonous serpent found near Tche-
men, not far from the lesser Zab, whose bite proved fatal
in the course of an hour :-“A notre arrivée à cet endroit
un Persan alla couper de l'herbe sur le bord de l'eau, et
fut mordu à la main par un serpent. Au cri qu'il fit, on


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
451
Our tent was scarcely pitched, before there
poured down from the northern hills a troop
of about fifty horsemen, all mounted on beau-
tiful animals, and armed with long lances.
The caparisons of some of these were rich,
and even splendid, and a few of the chief
among the riders were also superbly dressed.
They formed, indeed, by far the most re-
spectable body of men in appearance that we
had yet seen on our way.
The whole of
these were followers of Khalif Aga, the head
of a very numerous body of horse in this
quarter, and, according to report, the most
powerful chieftain between Orfah and Mou-
sul. There were among this party two lit-
tle boys, who could not have been more than
ten years old, but who rode with as much
firmness and ease, and wielded their lances,
and discharged their pistols, with as much
dexterity as any of the rest; and had, if
pos-
1
3
.
4
accourut avec des sabres et des haches, croyant qu'il étoit
tombé dans quelque embuscade des Kiurds; on le trouva
étendu sur l'herbe, s'agitant, écumant comme s'il fut tombé
du haut-mal; son bras enflé et noir fit bientot connoître la
cause du mal. On decouvrit à quelques pas de lui un ser-
pent monstreux qui fut mis en pièces. La thériaque et les
contre-poisons qu'on donna à l'homme furent inutiles; il
mourut une heure après."_tome i. p.
149.


452
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
sible, still more boldness in their behaviour
to strangers. They were all Koords, and we
remarked in them a roundness of feature that
was much more approaching to European
than to Asiatic physiognomy, particularly
when contrasted with the long and promi-
nent features of the Arabs. Their complex-
ions too were as fair as those of Englishmen,
though, in all, the eyes and hair were dark.
Their dress was in fashion a mixture of Turk-
ish and Arabian, but inclining more to the
latter; many of them, however, wore gold
ear-rings, which is rather a custom of the
Indians than of either of the people before
named.
The reception given in our tent, to the
chief of this party, was like that of a man to
whom all owed unlimited submission. Every
one seemed to acknowledge him, as far as ob-
sequious humility can express that feeling,
to be the absolute master of their lives and
property. One among his suite, whose ap-
pearance was more ruffian--like than that of
any
other of his comrades, was selected by this
chief for the duty of inspecting the goods
of the caravan.
This duty he performed,
while his superior threw himself along upon


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
453
his carpet, beneath the tent, attended by his
followers, who formed a complete circle around
him.
On the report of this inspector, a contribu-
tion of two thousand Spanish dollars was fixed
as the amount to be paid by the whole cara-
van; the proportion in which it was to be
contributed by each was left to be settled
among ourselves. There was at least an hour's
strong remonstrance against this arbitrary de-
mand of a sum which all confessed their in-
ability to pay; and some even said, “ Take
every thing, all that we possess, and leave us
naked. It will be less troublesome to us all,
and effectually prevent the pillage of the next
band of robbers, who, if you leave us any
thing remaining, will be sure to lighten us
of our burthens.” It was not these remon-
strances, however, but a conviction that the
original sum could not be raised, which in-
duced the chief at length to lower his demand
to two thousand five hundred piastres, or
about £125 sterling. Of this, the Hadjee
Abd-el-Rakhmān was obliged to pay the half, ,
and the remainder was left to be raised among
the rest of the caravan. As we were now few
in number, and the great mass even of these


454
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
had not wherewithal to answer the exorbitant
claims of these freebooters, I was compelled
to pay, for my own share, no less than three
hundred piastres, part of which I was obliged
to borrow from the young nephew of my friend,
Hadjee Abd-el-Ateef, my own ready cash being
all expended, and having nothing now but my
bills on Mousul and Bagdad left.
One would have expected, that after this
sum was produced, which it was with some
difficulty, and presented in hard and bright
coin, they would have left us to repose in
peace. But the possession of the glittering
treasure served only to excite new desires for
more; and it seemed to me that we were now
in danger of complete pillage. The Hadjee had
already laid out his presents before the chief,
on his first entering the tent, after the usage
of the country; and these were sufficiently
rare and valuable to have been offered to a
Sultan, Others were, however, now demand-
ed; and some of the bales of goods, that had
hitherto remained untouched, were even open-
ed, to search for something worthy the accept-
ance of this insatiable marauder. Nothing
was found that suited his caprice; and when
he discovered that he himself was not likely


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
455
to be individually benefited by further plun-
der, he began to affect a regard for justice, and
desired that all“ private property,” as he called
it, might be respected !
Notwithstanding this positive injunction,
from a leader, whom, in all other respects, his
followers seemed implicitly to obey, the in-
ferior
persons
of the troop wandered through
the caravan, and secretly pilfered what they
did not venture to take in public. The saddle
and bridle of my horse, which were pur-
chased new at Aleppo, and still in good riding
order, were literally stolen from off the ani-
mal's back; a mare, with all her furniture,
was taken from another of the caravan ; and
many things of smaller value from others, who
had not the power to defend themselves from
this arbitrary pillage of the troop, and who
had no hope of redress from an appeal to their
commander.
These men thus hung about our camp until
sun-set, when they left us, all labouring under
the dread of their paying us another visit be-
fore we finally quitted their neighbourhood.
We learnt, that Khalif Aga, the great leader,
and most of the petty chiefs of these Koord
horsemen, were Moslems; but that the vil-


456
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
lagers dwelling in houses, including those of
the plain and the hills, were Christians. It
is asserted, that this chief can bring twenty
thousand horse into the field under his ban-
ner ; and, though this may be an exaggeration,
for the sake of approaching to round numbers,
the force which he can command is no doubt
very considerable.*
* To shew that the character of the people, and the dan-
gers of travellers in these parts, have been the same for
more than two centuries past, the following passage from
Dr. Leonhart Rauwolff's Travels, in 1573, on his way from
Mousul to Nisibeen, is worth extracting :
“ After our journey had been deferred for four days, we
broke up on the eleventh of January several hundred strong,
and went on for the whole day without eating, with all
speed, until the sun-set at night, when we encamped on an
ascent near a small village, to keep our beasts and goods
safe, and to refresh ourselves and them. We watched all
night long, and went continually, three and three together,
round about our camp by turns. The next day we pro-
ceeded on again in our journey with all speed, rather for a
good fountain or spring's sake, as they do in these countries
in the vast deserts, than to reach a good inn, where we ar-
rived late at night, and encamped near it, to stay all night to
rest. A little after, when we were at supper, some of the
Curters (Koords) came to us into our camp, spoke to us
kindly, and asked us whether we did want any thing that
they could help us to; but we soon perceived them to be
spies, that were sent by their companions, to see what
strength we were of. But when they perceived that we


458
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
going about east-south-east throughout all the
way, we made our halt for the night.
In the course of this march we saw many
villages, both on our right and left, and went
through five similar ones in the direct route,
all of them small, and composed of pent-roofed
dwellings of the long form before described.
The people appeared generally to live in
tents; and these long barns, as far as we could
perceive, were more frequently used as places
of shelter for cattle at night, than as the habi-
tations of families. These villages were all
seated on eminences of the plain, and all their
doors looked towards the south, the point from
which they have the most danger to appre-
hend. They were, however, all so small and
so little known by the people of our caravan,
that I could not obtain the names of any of them.
It was in about an hour after our setting out
from near Azrowar that we quitted the culti-
with me to dry my plants in, expecting their assault every
moment. But, when they had made a halt again, fearing
their skin as much as we did ours, and did neither shout
nor move up towards us, one of ours provoked them, and
did shoot at the camel, and did hit it, so that it gave a sign
thereof, but the rest forbore to fire. So they staid a little
while, and then went off a second time.”—p. 168, 169,-
Ray's edition, 8vo.


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
439
vated ground, and came again on what was
called “El Berreeah,” or “the open land.”
This presented a surface of light dry turf,
with a fine soil, and wanted only water to
make it highly fertile and fit for immediate
cultivation. Passing over this “ Berreeah” for
another hour, we came again on the basaltic
rock, in large black masses, in some parts
porous, and in others solid, with one portion
particularly close and fine in the grain, but in-
tersected by a vein of highly porous matter,
apparently injected or shot through it in a
straight line while liquid, and being about two
inches wide throughout its whole length. The
appearance of this vein was that of a fine
sponge, or of dough, as it is seen if cut through
while fermenting, or rising, previous to its be-
ing baked into bread, full of small holes; while
the solid mass, in which this porous or spongy
vein was seen, was one of the closest-grained
stones that we had met with in our route, and
would have borne a polish equal to the finest
marble. Both of these substances were of a
black colour; the vein, however, was not quite
so dark as the solid portion through which it
We lost the traces of this basaltic rock
in the soil, after a short time, and came again
ran.


PLAIX OF SINJAR.
461
..:
LATES
east-south-east making an angle with it of
nearly two degrees.
This course, while it occasioned us to leave
the hills of Mardin at a greater and greater
distance on our left, brought us progressively
nearer to the mountain of Sinjār on our right.
This mountain is considerably higher than the
range of hills on the north; and its elevation
above the plain appears, from hence, to be up-
wards of two thousand feet at least. It rises
by sloping capes at either end, gradually grow-
ing higher near the centre; its direction being
nearly east and west, and its length apparently
about fifty miles. This mountain is here so
marked a feature in the geography of Mesopo-
tamia, that it found a place in all the geogra-
phical writings of the ancients who treated of
this country;* and continues still to be a land-
mark for the Desert Arabs, and a place of
constant reference by travellers, when speak-
ing of the roads through these plains.
The town of Sinjār, or Singara, which
either
gave its name to, or derived it from,
the mountain itself, was a celebrated mili-
tary post during the contests for universal
empire, of which this was, for a long while,
* See Cellarius, Anc. Geog. p. 441. 4to.
27
tu
Bike
1


462
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
the scene, between the armies of the East
and the West. Its name frequently occurs
in the histories of these wars, and coins have
been found which bore the inscription of this
city as a Roman colony.*
When the Emperor Trajan returned
through Mesopotamia, after his conquest of
Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and his visit to the
ruins of Babylon, he made war against a tribe
of Arabs here, who then formed an indepen-
dent body in Sinjār. He besieged their ca-
pital, which defended itself bravely. The
length of the siege, the excessive heat, and
the want of water in the plain, engendered
diseases in the camp. The emperor himself,
indeed, here laid the foundation of the dis-
order which occasioned his death within the
same year, A. D. 117, as he abandoned the
enterprise against the Arabs, and returned
with all speed through Syria towards Rome.
He was unable to proceed any farther, how-
ever, than Cilicia, where he ended his days
in the town of Selinas, which was afterwards
called Trajanopolis, in honour of him.t
* See Cellarius, Anc. Geog. p. 441. 4to.
+ Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-
Lettres, vol. xxi. p. 61. 4to. Paris.


464
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
In the invasion of Mesopotamia by Sapor,
when Constantius was sole Emperor of Rome,
after the conquest of Amida, it is said, that
the strength as well as spirit of the army
with which Sapor took the field in the ensuing
spring, was no longer equal to the unbounded
views of his ambition. Instead of aspiring
to the conquest of the East, he was obliged
to content himself with the reduction of two
fortified cities of Mesopotamia, Singara, and
Bozabdi, the one situated in a sandy desert,
the other in a small peninsula, surrounded on
every side by the deep and rapid stream of
the Tigris.* Five Roman legions, of the dimi-
nutive size to which they had been reduced
in the age of Constantine, were made prison-
ers, and sent into remote captivity, on the
extreme confines of Persia. After dismantling
the walls of Singara, the conqueror abandoned
that solitary and sequestered place.
In the reign of the Emperor Jovian, Sin-
gara,
and the Castle of the Moors, one of the
History of the Decline and Fall of Rome, vol. iii. pp. 139–
142.
* The account of these sieges is given by Ammianus
Marcellinus, 20–6, 7.
+ Gibbon, vol. iii. c. 19, p. 209.


466
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
poses it to be the Shinar of the Scriptures.
And Niebuhr also thought it probable, from
the affinity of names, that the district of Sinjār
at least might be the Shinar of the Pentateuch.t
This may explain that passage of the Bible,
which, after naming these cities as being in
the land of Shinar, says,
6 Out of that land
went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and
the city Rehoboth, and Calah. And Resen,
between Nineveh and Calah : the same is a
great city.” Nineveh and Calah are both
out of that land, or beyond the river Tigris
to the eastward; and Resen, which was be-
tween them, was necessarily so too; though
Cellarius has, in his map, placed this nearly in
the heart of Mesopotamia.
D'Anville, who thinks there is some dif-
ficulty in acceding to this opinion, of the pre-
sent name of Sinjār being a corruption of
Shinar, or Sinear, and applied to the same
tract of country as before, I remarks, in another
* Voyage de Benjamin. Bergeron's Collection.
+ “Selon tout apparence, le Singara des auteurs Grecs.
Le nom a aussi beaucoupde rapport avec le Sinear de la
Bible."— Voyage en Arabie, vol. ii. p. 315, en 4to.
# Comp. of Anc. Geog. p. 433. 8vo.


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
467
place, with great accuracy, on the error of
Ptolemy in placing it close to the Tigris, from
which it is separated by a wide desert tract.*
It was here, on this plain, to the north of the
mountain of Sinjār, that the great scientific
undertaking, of measuring two degrees of the
meridian, was carried into execution, under
the Khalif Al-Mamoun, the result of which
problem ascertained a terrestrial degree to
be equal to fifty-seven Arabic miles.t
Throughout the whole range of the moun-
tain of Sinjār, there is now no great town, but
there are still many villages. Of these, how-
ever, very little is known, as neither Turks,
Koords, nor Arabs, dare to venture among
the Yezeedis, by whom the mountain is chiefly
“Singara est une ville de grand consideration. Cel-
larius, apportant une attention scrupuleuse sur la nomencla-
ture, remarque que le nom est au pluriel chez les écrivains
Grecs, et l'emplacement près du Tigre ; c'est bien ce qui
est evident dans Ptolémée, mais non pas également dans
la Table Théodosienne, où le nom et la position figurée
comme les principales, ne tiennent point au Tigre, et en sont
séparés par le desert, que le nom de Troglodoti dans la table
paroit designer. Cette ville fut prise par Trajan, au rapport
de Dion Cassius, et on la voit ensuite colonie Romaine, avec
les surnoms d'Aurelia et de Septimia, qui se lisent sur les
medailles.”—D'Anville sur l’Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 50.
+ D'Anville sur l'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 121.


470
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
so far venerate the Christian religion, as to
kiss the hands of the priests, when they visit
them at Mardin and other towns. They take
the sacrament of the Lord's
supper
also from
them; and believing the wine to be the real
blood of Jesus, are careful, while drinking it,
not to suffer a drop of it to fall on the ground,
or even on their beards.
There is no great head or chief of the Yezee-
dis, as a nation; but the people of the towns
on the plain, and in the hills, have their own
governors, distinct from the wanderers of the
mountain. These stand in nearly the same
relation to each other as the Town Arabs and
the Desert ones, or cultivators and Bedouins.
The people of the towns live by agriculture,
and such trades and manufactures as are suited
to their wants. The mountaineers are in
tribes, with sheikhs at their heads, and live
chiefly by the plunder of caravans ; to obtain
which, they descend from their hills, and in-
tercept the passage of the high road. There
are also some tribes scattered about the plain,
even near to the borders of Mardin, and these
lead the same kind of life. The mountaineers
are said, however, to be the most savage and
barbarous of the whole: they never trim their


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
471
mustachios or their beards, nor do they ever
cut their hair; so that, as they go without
any other covering than this on their heads,
their appearance is quite conformable to their
character. The difference which I had noticed
in the physiognomy and complexions of the
party of these Yezeedis, whom we met with at
the khan in Orfah, must have been occasioned
by this difference, of residing either in the
mountain or on the plain. On the one, there
is snow for a great portion of the year; on
the other, the heat is equal to that of any
part of the world ; so that fair complexions,
light hair, and blue eyes might be produced
under the same degree of latitude with the
olive Indian colour, dark hair, and black eyes,
each of which I had seen among them ; these
varieties arising only from the difference of
elevation, on which the persons were born
and brought up to manhood.
The holy city of these Yezeedis is said to be
in the mountains of Koordistan, on the east
of the Tigris ; and another of their celebrated
religious places is one, called Sheikh Khan,
between Mousul and Amadia, to which they
make an annual pilgrimage for the perform-
ance of some religious rites. The people of


472
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
the country say it happened, on one occasion,
that a Turkish military commander surprised
them at this place, when engaged in worship,
by coming suddenly on them at night; and
that, his force being too powerful for them to
resist, they fled with great precipitation, leav-
ing one of their sacred books behind them.
Of this the Turkish officer took possession,
and had even the patience to read some parts
of it, so that it was probably written in Ara-
bic; but finding it, as he said, to be full of
infidelity and profanation, he destroyed it, on
the same principle as that which instigated
the Khalif Omar to order the burning of the
Alexandrian Library, and Père Sicard to de-
stroy the old Papyrus Manuscripts of Egypt.
The general opinion is, that these Yezeedis
have no sacred book; but this, when said by
Mohammedans, simply means that they have
neither the Bible, the New Testament, nor
the Koran, for they acknowledge no other
books as sacred. If, however, the anecdote
of the Turkish officer be well founded, it is
clear that they once had some religious code,
and it is probable that they even still possess
some written records, dogmas, or legends con-
nected with their rites and faith.


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
473
Between the Lakes of Van and Shahee, in
the north of Koordistan, beyond the moun-
tains, and south of Armenia, there are said to
be many Yezeedis settled, while others again
are scattered along the banks of the Tigris,
and in the road between Mousul and Bagdad.
It is not known whether the origin of this
respect for the Devil, whom they call Chelibi,
or “ Il Signore,” be from the ancient Persians,
with a subsequent mixture of Christianity, or
whether it is a remnant of the doctrine of
the Manicheans, whose heresy flourished at
Edessa. Their name, from Yezd, the evil
principle, as opposed to Ormuzd, the good
one, with many of their peculiarities of lan-
guage and customs, would seem to give them
a Persian origin; while, on the other hand,
some of their superstitions are referable to the
Manichean sect; and both of these again have
undergone many changes, brought about part-
ly, perhaps, by the residence of Jews in these
towns, as they are still suffered to live among
them at the present day, and partly by their
mixture with Christians, as their country was
once even the see of a Chaldean bishop.
At the close of our journey to-day, we
opened the lofty mountains of Koordistan, the
.


474
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
highest point of the range of which is called
Jebel Judee; and this is thought to be the
spot on which the “ Sefet-el-Noah,” or the
Ark of Noah, rested, after the “ Wugt el Ty-
phoon,” or the time of the Deluge, as it is here
expressed. This mountain is indeed exceed-
ingly lofty, and, like many other points of
the same range, was covered with one un-
broken sheet of snow, for at least a third of
the
way
down from the summit, although it
was now the hottest season of the year, and
the intense heat of the plains was scarcely
bearable to an European. These mountains
form the range seen from Diarbekr, going to-
wards the south-east. They appear from
hence to lie in a direction of nearly north and
south, on the east of the Tigris. Their out-
lines are broken, and they present numerous
beds or ridges, while the mountain of Sinjār
is apparently only one great isolated mass, of
even outline, and said to be composed of lime-
stone.*
* In the Travels of De Haiton, as inserted in Bergeron's
Collection, this mountain of Siniar, as it is there called, is
noted as the easternmost range in the territory of Mesopo-
tamia; and the scarcity of water in the plains near it is also
remarked.


476
FROM NISIBEEN, ACROSS THE
force, and in preparing our weapons for a fray;
and at night we lay down to catch an hour's
sleep, to recruit our strength and spirits for
the march.*
Yezidi, il fait une action très agréable à Dieu, et si un Yezidi
tue un Turc, il fait une æuvre très-méritoire aux yeux du
Grand Scheikh, c'est-à-dire du Diable.”—Notice sur les
Yezidis, p. 208.
* We were just now on the very spot where Dr. Rau-
wolff met the adventure described in a former note, (p. 456 ;)
and, as the same fears existed with us, and kept us awake,
in continual apprehension, the sequel of his adventure is
worth giving, being as completely illustrative of the state
of manners and character at the present day, as at the mo-
ment when it was first written, about two hundred and fifty
years ago. The learned Doctor says: “ So we kept awake
all the rest of the night, and kept a good watch, and went
on our journey again early the next morning about break
of the day; and came again to wide and dry heaths, where
we saw neither men nor beasts, and so we went on till noon,
where we encamped in a large place, which was surrounded
with walls and ditches pretty well, just like unto a fortress,
whereof there are several in these dangerous places to be
When we staid there, two Curters (Koords] came
again to us into our camp, and spoke to us, pretending that
they came to demand the toll that was due there, it being
their place: but our merchants soon perceived that they
were not in a right cause, wherefore they would allow them
nothing, which put these two into such a passion, that they
drew their swords, and would have at us; but our friends
did not stay idle neither, but took their swords away, and
laid on with dry blows at them, and so flung them out of
seen.


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
477
All my efforts to get even half an hour's
rest were, however, unavailing.
We were
roused by the signals of the guards, and the
our camp
After this hubbub was over, we dined, and that
the rather that we might not be too much weakened by
our hard travelling, and so be the less able to resist these
robbers, for want of strength, if they should fall upon us,
which we were not wont to do before night, chiefly in great
deserts, for there we used to get up presently after mid-
night, and travel all day long with all speed without eating,
which I had often experimented before ; wherefore I used to
provide myself always with bread, and when I had a mind
to eat it, I did either stay behind or go before ; for nobody
eats openly by the way in the sight of others, except he has
a mind to run a hazard, because that most of them are very
hungry and so eager at it, that they will assault one another
for it, and take it away from their very mouths. After
we had refreshed ourselves, and fed our beasts, which useth
to be done also but once a day, we broke with our cara-
van, and went on again.' We quickly saw some mountains
before us, where, when we approached them towards the
evening, there appeared sometimes, on a high one, that be-
fore the rest lieth nearer to the plain, some of them, so that
we might very well presume that there was more of them
behind in ambuscado, which also proved very true: for, no
sooner were we past it, but before we went up the hill, they
came out from behind the mountain, in great troops on
horseback, which immediately drew up into order in the
fields, in two squadrons, three and three in a rank, to the
number of about three hundred, almost as many as we
were. They exercised their horses, which were very lank,
very swiftly, turned sometimes on one, and then on the
up


PLAIN OF SINJAR.
479
action, prevented the attacks of several bodies
of Koords, formed in different quarters to
assail us; at other times, the alarm was ground-
less, and arose from the idle discharges of pis-
tols and muskets within our own camp: be-
tween both, however, sleep, or even bodily
repose, was unattainable; so that I burned
with impatience to commence our dangerous
march.
END OF
VOL. I.
LONDON:
Frinted by D. S. Maurice, Fenchurch Street.








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