: — = A 2 e i Ede s: is 3 > i ¢ ry ¢ a a . wd ; ‘ ; L * s NG ae . 3 ie Pe f dl ad . . 4 7 ae bee ‘« = - ; . ‘ 7 ‘ Mn =) “F ~- e ~ * ® , r : a : : " i = . . S ~ ~ " 7 or i 4 ’ E i ee < - « 2 + ee 7 ee ‘ : ‘ x a : . Dr sa » iy o rj 7 . i J \ 7 im ¢ * * ~ a : : f wey Pa, ORs . a 4 é ; M : , . ~ A - hs ur s ~~ . ‘ * foe ue be ‘ : 5 s i + - + ‘ be t ; i . 4 . - . > mal on! ; et ol ae el ar As . Sa ee ee a Lic i . " a. x sa, j e = n ‘ id . ane 3 -. = ‘ . 3 ‘ oN z 4 i r re $ ¥ z ~, ALMYRENA _ ay | AT Patty Td K3rbela ¢ . * 4 age AnWegef'\ \ Ke is 4t fue ALOIS MUSILS ROUTES 1908-1915 Scale on Latitude 30° 50 100 150 200 KILOMETERS 50 0 50 100 MILES aceeeavoemeas as described in “The Northern Hegaz’ a ee ie eee » » ‘Arabia Deserta” mepeseennwesesesel ” ” » "The Middle Euphrates” aivacon tem agmy eaten “ ” » “Palmyrena” pee ty pes Ta Se » ‘Northern Negd” 40° Alois Musil’s routes as described in the topographical volumes of the series American Geographical Society, Oriental Explorations and Studies: No. 1, The Northern Hegdz, published 1926; No. 2, Arabia Deserta, published 1927; No. 3, The Middle Euphrates, published 1927; No. 4, Palmyrena, published 1928; No. 5, Northern Negd, (forthcoming). AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY ORIENTAL EXPLORATIONS AND STUDIES No. 4. Edited by J. K. WRIGHT PALMYRKENA A Topographical Itinerary BY ALOTS MUSILL Professor of Oriental Studies Charles University, Prague Published under the Patronage of the CZECH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND ARTS and of CHARLES R. CRANE NEW YORK E238 THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL BROADWAY AT 156TH NEW YORK ; * . aS, . a) - = 5 . . ihe : : : 2 a . s . , Se ; 2 %e 5 ; . Bay Sa “ bs e Y 5 2 , ; tae Sa ‘ : . ? . 4 3 7 ~ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Pees ion os ax eo BPs Le teen SN eT ee xi PART el Expedition of 1908 I WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID AND RE- Pie ay WAY OF HAN -AS-SAMAT 200 SV a. 1 Wadi al-‘Asejfir to RgGim al-Mesajid..................... 2 [EOE OVENS gage wad WT RY RE R02 eC ee aR A A 4 Return to Wadi al-‘Asejfir by way of Han as-Samat..... 7 II WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO THE AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE AND Tyla TS e Sie GA Misa Mie as eA i apn te ee ena G Wadi al-‘Asejfir to Ab-al-Gerwe ........ SPR AA PIE oe 9 View from Ab-al-Gerwe; Return to an-Niri’s Camp ...... 12 er reee NN UT) StOAIND skids fw. Moses aces hs wie 5 eee nes 15 The Beni Sahr and the Government............... een enh Newearom tie Domain: of: EbeniRasid.w 0 0 402. olen. 19 III WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA BY WAY OF ‘UZERIBAT 22 Wadi al-‘Asejfir to Gebb as-Sahr; Gerfid................. 22 Gebb as-Sahr to ie ttle GEL Cewecis otc nt eee Fi oo 24 Al-Rurab to Han al-Manktra....... eS iene een ety 28 The HAn al-Mankira to al-Zerjitejn..................0... 33 Al-Zerjitejn to Abu Rubah; the Fwa're .....0...3...-...; 36 Peumeansh tooGebb Mabiy. fa ee: bas en So a oe 39 Gebb Habl to ‘Uzéribat; the Beni Haled; the MwAali...... 43 Ree sept CPt LOST Jada ema oe Ps ee ee OES ela 49 Dareas even tdejb and the “Ebedew ie... ce. So dt be. 53 Wee CerOL PreST iia Ase fee eee een ee ame Aes oe aa alia 55 IV ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER BY WAY OF AR-RESAFA... 61 eee AMCO AT“ROESATA sha obra y ch cate fe aes oie eee eo a 61 OS) ENE Cea ok ae Rael td ates ge MEN Bre ee Colt ane 64 Bre tcon ad 2) LO als A WOERY hoo eae © Ren rs ee elma cg ae 67 Preven) CO WN aSt Cale Ler ant a ew ne oe wee are a vk en ee) 73 V KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS BY WAY OF ARAK AND AL-BHARA ..... rece Nndiatr alae ies deepika ACR Mme Reet s 81 ems er POPU CAPEK 9S? Clee | ee ie AR etd Oh evils. a.) ete 81 Pee OS OM MPATA vo oye er ce ae oe eae eee peat Wc atiige) 13) ee UG! UW Ora Se, erate een cans, Lenses ek RS 88 ra Wat: Aim Dare: ok yas ho eb cette tte we tees eens 95 V vl PALMYRENA CHAPTER PAGE VI AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE BY WAY OF AL-ZER- JITEIN AND HAN “ANEJBE).....150 2. 200) Se 98 Al-Barde to al-Zerjitejn. .....-......- 15.5: he 98 Al-Zerjitejn to Han “Anejbe .......2:-2... 0.5 ee 100 Han “Anejbe to: Dmejr al-’Ative 2... 25.5 -an a 104 VII SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL“ATIZE .. .:.\. soe 110 Part II Expedition of 1912 VIII HOMS TO AL-BHARA BY WAY OF AL-BASIRI AND TUDMOR. «of. n eae aa). ya 124 Homs to al-Geba’ ig) 0600. we lu. 121 Al-Geba’ toal-Barde . 2) 44.424- 255 2 Oe, 125 Al-Barde to al-Basiri 2... 0.22.7...) = “ee Al-Basiri to al-Béza oo... 0. eae eee 129 Al-Béza to Tudmor. 0.024 2..... 42.5 133 Tudmor to al-Bhara: ... 0522.0: 224) 136 Ix AL-BHARA TO AR-RESAFA BY WAY OF GEBB AL-KDEJM 144 Al-Bhara to Tudmor.. 05-240 202. oy ee 144 Tudmor to Gebb, al-Kdejm:...... 1. - 22 323 146 Gebb al-Kdejm to ar-Resafa; the Hadedijjin Tribe........ 151 Ar-Resafa .. ac. bn wide es ses 2 Se 155 X. AR-RESAFA TO DEJR AZ-ZOR; AL-BISRI (= 3.geeeeee 168 Ar-Resafa to ar-Rehtib.... 0...) ieee 168 Ar-Rehtb to Se%b of at-Tniy.<1)...5).ce 173 Se%b of at-Tni to Dejr az-Zor..¢4.): 420) FT XI ABU HRERA TO ALEPPO BY WAY OF ZEBHO eee 179 PART TH Expedition of 1915 XIT AL-MESKENE TO DAMASCUS... 0... 3302 189 Al-Meskene to Gabb@l...0. (0.0 5..238 1) er 189 Gabbftll to ,al-Mrejrat. . ov..a.04. 160.400 a eee 196 The Mesa of Sbhét.. 05. 4.00. a eee 200 Al-Mrejrat to ‘Anadan..::.....2.. 1. 25. 5 203 *Anadan to Helban.. 0... 30s. 5 eee gs 207 Helban to Tell ad-Dra’...... 0) 1... %..) Aa ee 216 Tell ad-Dra‘ to. al-Kara..... cl ,..200 2 218 Al-Kara to al-Ktejfe: i... bac esd 222 Al-Ktejfe to Damascus. ............ «04. ee 225 APPENDIX I PTOLEMY ON SOUTHEASTERN SYRIAZ = ee 229 Chalybonitis . 20.0 2.0. . Se) a 230 CONTENTS Vii APPENDIX PAGE I PTOLEMY ON SOUTHEASTERN SYRIA (continued) Apamene, Laodicene, and Coele-Syria..................4.. 233 TED SEC RE TS En ee a Ce a One a 233 Putea, Adada, Adacha, Danaba, and Goaria.......... trys $3) puerta, Casama, Admana, and -Atera:.i.. 4 licyees. 0. 235 Pealbeneurn, and: Alamathi: m9 exugitin’ vo cide Sols his ba 235 II ROMAN ROADS IN PALMYRENA; THE ROMAN LIMES 237 abheyeh UCC Sis ai Ma ee peraeiae SSR ent | Sheer eee knee ae ne oe 237 According to the Antonine Itinerary ............... MeO L According to the Peutinger Table.......... Pee 238 Pee mlascu, (Oat y Pains etn sce gee nls doo ee et one Lis 238 Reo LOO LNe TE WOnYAles 2. vere nee ys ha cae 242 Rtn Cyr P ACTA ice SAU ikon Uae See si, Yo Pama aia 242 PetMaAS LO OL ONT VHP a ee eRe eo ee EE x 243 Email tour Ines (HOME) eons. bee a aes Cea 244 Palmyrena According to the Ravenna Geographer ........ 246 emer Tera: PINGS 6 Ue ia oe Me eee Vee bP ha wipe a 247 II ROADS IN PALMYRENA ACCORDING TO THE ARABIC PE ee Pee Bl ops eee ee Neots, ee Me A eds Rees ol ee 249 IV ROMAN MILITARY STATIONS IN PALMYRENA ........ 202. V AL-UWEJR (OR AL-RUWEJR) AND AL-BARDE......... 255 Sejfaddowle at al-Barde and al-"Uwejr ............... Eee st Al-Ruwejr and the Kalb and Kejs Tribes......-......... 257 MEmiiSTORiCAL NOTES ON AR-RESAPA <0. occ 50)c.e scan. 260 Geographical Situation of ar-Resafa...................... 260 PCa Pe UPA AY West a yn. Soe acs hey Whi kde Role HNL Ia wks 262 Meee TOGO estab OOL PUG ess wt) Po eso ea ice eet elles Shes 263 Ar-Resafa in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries........ ..... 264 arly Episcopal History of ar-Resafa .........0...0.5 05. 267 Ar-Resafa under the Early Moslems............. ey. e08 Ar-Resafa in the Later Middle Ages................. bea ro VII SOME EARLY BISHOPRICS OF PALMYRENA........... 273 VIII GABBULA OR GABBUL...... only Riana oe ods Waa tet 274 IX THE COUNTRY RESIDENCES OF THE OMAYYADS..... BAT Seasons of the Caliphs’ Sojourns in the Country ......... rare | Hoeestion of the Country. Residences ... 005) .0.5 vce ee 280 Semin lis) COUNTY Y= RESIGeNCRS 64.5 2a 2a oe ea 285 PREM TISU UI CONETPUC TIONS ia ure Shcg be as BA ea pete Gate 287 Walid Il’s Flight from-al-Radaf to al-Bahra’.....-.....-. 290 PM eny OFHON VOL it aD ar Gat ee. ie ek wy ees eo 290 Peconar vorsion) ol.at-Pabarl cee oa ae ee ek ks 294 Papoabarig’s) Camp at. al Hira c8 sce fe oc kee eet 296 X A RECONSTRUCTION OF AR-RESAFA (by PROFESSOR er OMUNM NGM tate Page) sory ach hs vies Sky eS oa aes Zoo DONE eau AUS UES 9 GG Sess Bi Casa a fal he eee 299 Vill PALMYRENA APPENDIX PAGE X A RECONSTRUCTION OF AR-RESAFA (continued) The North and East Gates...) 7.73912 300 The Martyry (ioe... Ve, i oh ee 303 The Southern Church .9 2°. 22 43.32 308 Basilica of St.. Sergius’... °. S043) eee 308 Elements Originating in the First Stage of Construction.. 308 Elements Originating in the Second and Third Stages of Construction ... 2.2. a ee eee 319 Structures outside the Wallis’. 4 0../) 2.) eee 320 BIBLIOGRAPHY «62.00. ee ee 329 INDEX 200 5 3 2 1 oa 341 FIG. FOoWOOHN OOP WN FH DRE EE eR HE bt A SeONanhwhd OE Od oe OO We) Or WN FR bo or) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Han ak-Samat, OSE EY COR aon 87 von aa ante Use gc Raa | at APR 10 Han as-Samat: upper building, a rosette...................... nb Peg seretienkured and. environs, planwy, 0... Je. ve ae. ee vee 32 SEE UC ViaTh aN a ENGNG Vy Oko ee vere ee 38 gS EEE CE SR MR Sanco aaa 44 Daresoueainiuah, 42 cross.above. a loophole. ...4...0.00.0.0565... 45 ee ree VINO S, PiAnc.% oy ces oa ke eee eee 4S Ne rE aE Ore AOU Iw INT Ps unis Le ee oe oe, 49 ree Peete CM DIOS Poise ets ee a ep ee ee 51 Ree ee OMemeT ANG ey ques Poe ia y SS e od a 56 Hsrija: temple, facade: a) detail of lintel and arch............. 57 OSS Coit ON Tat mare N hit 1 tle ee oT Pegs eae cornice. withea Christian emblem. orc. cc. e ek eee 5g See ceo rn i PTL IR. wae ee sw so dia ew eee 68 ee PPE CEICR etre hte a OE rt ed Dee dae lee 70 meee Aree POV Dian ok. ee co eee ee eee ee 72 Meeeteticrs sitaier, or Persian, fort....0.).0 00.060 06 cece ee 73 Pome ee NiOslem Sate. oo hie ee 74 Pee Per UO Ne ds oe ee Bene 75 ee eM ePIC ADIGA 2 Fo. ke i aisles Ea ee cada cae es fat CF NE SETS a 2 US a et a 77 Kasr al-Hér: smaller fort from the southwest................. 78 ieereririteteeiIngiler tort, fAtewaAy.. i... vce. oe oe ane 78 Kasr al-Hér: smaller fort, gateway tower ....................: 80 Kasr al-Hér: larger fort, ornament over the western gateway... 80 Peres) te NOLAN dee es le cs oo. Be ew we OP a ee 92 Pere neve and ‘environs, plan. 2... 6. ee ee eee 106 REDD here cc iia ne Ce te la ac. ee b ether... 107 SIME TIT Here OE. Ga gol es Pe Oe ee 108 Ser emrree oun hor eh ee od lew ale ee dee Oe 112 Cn tier ee Rees, ee Soe en eA ee Pe 130 eet bonne fom “the “SOULNWESE 26. eta ee 132 EMI AH th si ekg wae My weg ae Late shah ahs ot 135 eer em seasteyn Tain, Plan... eee le ee ee 138 Ie ESLOTIY PUI, DIAN coe. ko ie ee es Ne we dae eos 138 REMC LEAGUCTTY TUIT . .ks sc es UR ee ed ele ee ee 139 et eerrsie: WEStern TUG. ive ls. On ete ee, 139 Pete LAN. oth ho pe ks 'n ak pede ae OE Oh es 140 MNT le Sree rah 2 a wR enscae Bs Vin oe ale gk de 141 EE RIT nga es sc x ace vee WR Ste ea ae Bw oe ee ve ea 142 i Pat 1D re CS es ee ae we ial ee be oa hws oe ee 146 SERIE Te EE OUN CATT) tes cui cad ws des Raa Pe ee 150 SeemEaere MAT SEO Vg wl Wi. Ma SP oe ee ees 153 Ar-Resafa: the northeastern part of the walls from the southwest 156 Ar-Resafa: southwestern corner of wall, plan.................. 158 1X PALMYRENA PAGE Ar-Resafa: eastern gate, plans, 1724.) 12.5. ga 158 Ar-Resafa: southern gate, plan: ......0)0)-- a 158 Ar-Resafa: northern gate, pian. 0...) 23 jai, no 158 Ar-Regafa: eastern gate from the east, 2.2.0 7). ee 159 Ar-Resafa: eastern gate, a capital: 00.13.) 2 29 159 Ar-Resafa: eastern gate, a capital... .7..0.) ce eee 160 Ar-Resafa: northern gate from the north...) .:. {eee 162 Ar-Resafa: northern gate, middle door 72.205, -2 2:5) ane 163 Ar-Resafa: northern gate, east portal |. ..097) ei) 3) ee 164 Ar-Resafa: northern gate, details...>.) a2) ee 164 Ar-Resafa: northern gate, propugnaculum 7. (7.5) 232s 165 Ar-Resafa: inside passage along northern walls ............... 166 Ar-Resafa: martyry, the apse from the east) 72.0)... ane 170 Ar-Resafa: martyry from the southwest...) .. 29) eee 170 Ar-Resafa: martyry from the west... -._.. 2)... es. Ar-Resafa: martyry, arch and vaulting above diaconicon....... Vii Ar-Resafa: southern church from the southwest............... 173 Ar-Resafa: southern church, apse from the west............... 174 Ar-Resafa: southern church, right diaconicon.................. 175 Ar-Resafa: detail of a structure adjoining the southern church.. 181 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius from the southwest......... 182 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, nave looking east.......... 184 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, nave looking west ......... 185 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, north aisle looking west.... 185 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, south aisle looking west .... 190 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, south aisle looking east..... 191 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, squinches in the north aisle 194 Ar-Res&afa: basilica of St. Sergius, a capital laa. oe eee 194 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, the apses from the east.... 195 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, south side ................. 195 Ar-Resafa: martyry, porphyry columns ......5 50 ones= eee 197 Ar-.Resafa: martyry, a marble pillar ..3205:?). 2a 199 Ar-Res&afa: martyry, a capital......,0/0..).. ae 201 Ar-Resafa: the mosque from the southwest ...........:....... 204 Ar-Resafa: looking southwest from the southern church....... 205 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, interior of the main apse.... 208 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, a capital .~- a0.) ee 208 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, a capital ........ 2... ). 7 ee 209 Ar-Resafa: a mausoleum ., ...,.4. 00. (9a oe 211 The Euphrates north of ar-Resafa, with our camp ............. 218 Ad-Dahal from the east....../0.2....@25 neue oe 215 AS-Sbét and al-Hass from the northeast... 4...) see 218 A&-Sbét from al-Mrejrat..............)...\6 219 Drejb al-Wawi..... 65000005 en ae ee 220 Hanaser from al-Mrejrat.....-..°....) 2... 222 oy. UC: Seen 224 Ar-Resafa: general plan of ruins.........05¢..sen ee 301 Ar-Resafa: gates, ground plan; reconstructed elevation of interior walls of propugnaculum of north gate..:.2. 7299 ee 302 FIG, 115 Mmeex mapylt2.500,000) : 2.00.0... 6. Map of Northern Arabia al : 1,000,000, in four sheets) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS <1 PAGE Ar-Resafa: north gate, ground plan; reconstructed elevation of facade facing town; sections of gate and walls............. 304 Ar-Resafa: north gate, east interior wall of the propugnaculum 305 Ar-Resafa: north gate, reconstructed elevation of detail of south INCE DMPeraCAOe Ol-LNe PropuUgnaculunh. ..,.... bos acene ose eas 306 pene racemase yry, STOUNG PLAN. ...46800e Sanrs de cc ed wes be oe wt 307 Ar-Resafa: martyry, detail of southern apse .................. 309 Ar-Resaia: martyry, longitudinal section ..................... 310 Ar-Resafa: martyry, transverse section....................... 310 Ar-Resafa: martyry, reconstruction of interior of the nave and Si AUS a 0 ae eo a OL Ar-Resafa: martyry, perspective reconstruction of the exterior... 312 Ar-hesata: southern church, ground plan.................... 313 Ar-Resafa: southern church, apse of the aisle................ 314 Por teeiia, SOutnern church, the aisle’... 2.26.05. 0. Ge ee 315 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, ground plan.............. 316 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, longitudinal section ....... O17 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, transverse section, looking ee Toe RAI CE en VA ain ey os mice ee tv al Wishes nde 318 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, transverse section, looking ie ER eRe TRO CSO! tart, Gln pe eS te bi oe ls See eee, Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, reconstructed elevation of Seer A heen. 2, aids Aes ee Svcd ie ccuid 6 ) dually o OS 319 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, reconstructed elevation of pe A EEO MA TA en A ee ba ehh he hie eews ow 320 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, reconstruction of interior, Wee ee Tet RP Ter) Oh pte eek Spe oe 321 Ar-Resafa: basilica of St. Sergius, perspective reconstruction of ie ca REPT ee, tm AO TS ae Sh a ke phe bod ae ateeg 822 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, ground plan................ 323 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, (above) longitudinal section; MOU ER TANS VOCE SECTION <.4%. io)n Psd ee ee 324 Ar-Resafa: Alamundarus’ church, reconstruction of interior, Fates teem VOR rE GI aa he Whee th ey tev hat oe! als vee a Be EER Boa O20 Sy ede dear he MA at ei in pocket ames im map case + i we “sz PREFACE It had not been my original intention in 1908 to explore Palmyrena, but while Prince an-Niri eben Sa‘lan lingered at Dmejr in the autumn of that year I availed myself of the opportunity to visit the ruins of al-Kastal and al-Bhara’ and to follow the Tarik ar-Rasif (Roman Road) which had been described to me as running from Han as-Samat to ar-Resafa. My studies of the scientific material collected during this excursion of 1908 prompted me to return to Palmyrena in 1912 and to explore its more mountainous districts prior to my first expedition along the middle Euphrates.” In 1915, on my return from central Arabia and Mesopotamia, I sketched the northern and northwestern borders of Palmyrena for my map of Northern Arabia, which illustrates the text of this volume. During the World War German officers carried out a survey in the western part of Palmyrena; some of their positions as shown on the German General Staff map of Mesopotamia and Syria® are more precise than mine. I have, nevertheless, not felt it necessary to substitute their results for mine, for to do so would ne- cessitate a complete change in the character of my map. A discussion of the method by which the latter was constructed will be found in the preface of my Arabia Deserta, pp. xili-xv. The primary motive of my explorations was historical, not cartographical; I therefore tried to collect as many topograph- ical names as possible as a basis for my historical researches, and in so doing I paid especial attention to the spelling. In - transliterating Arabic letters I have used the same signs as in my works The Northern Hegaz (New York, 1926), Arabia Deserta (New York, 1927), and The Middle Euphrates (New York, 1927), attempting to express each sound by a single letter or a single symbol. For experts, a full explanation of the meaning of the different symbols is given below the title of the map of Northern Arabia. For the general reader I would point out that g is to be read like g in gem, § like sh, Z like z in azure, ¢ like ch in chief, 7 like y in yoke, and that ‘ is 1 Discussed in the author’s Kusejr “‘Amra, Vienna, 1907, pp. 160—162. 2 See the author’s The Middle Euphrates, New York, 1927. 3 Kartographische Abteilung des Stellv. Generalstabes der Armee (now: Kartographische Abteilung der Kgl. Preussischen Landes-Aufnahme), Karte von Mesopotamien und Syrien, 1: 400.000, Berlin, 1917. xill X1V PALMYRENA a strong guttural sound. The remaining symbols need not trouble him. Throughout this work most of the Assyrian names have been transliterated consistently with the scheme of trans- literation employed for Arabic names. Greek names are in general spelled in their Latin form rather than directly trans- literated from the Greek.’ Bibliographical references in the footnotes are given in abbreviated form. The full references, with the dates of Arabic and ancient authors, will be found in the Bibliography, pp. 329—837. The meaning of the majority of Arabic terms used in the text will be evident from the context. Two terms, however, are frequently employed without explanation: seib (plural, se‘ibdn) : relatively small watercourse or valley occupied by an intermittent stream; wddi (plural, wudijdn): relatively large watercourse or valley occupied by an intermittent stream. Arabic botanical terms appearing in the text are listed in the index with brief characterizations and Latin equivalents as far as these have been determined. A sketch map showing the author’s route and indicating the pages in this volume on which the different portions of his itinerary are discussed accompanies the volume. The writer considers it both a duty and a pleasure to express his most sincere thanks to the editor, Dr. J. K. Wright, for help and advice; to Miss Anna Blechova, secretary of the Oriental Seminar of Charles University, Prague, for many days of devoted work upon this volume; and to Mr. Karel Dyrynk, technical manager of the State Printing Establish- ment (Statni tiskarna), Prague, for his expert solution of the © difficult technical problems connected with the printing of the present book. Grateful acknowledgement is also due to Mr. C. O. Cornelius of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, for his careful revision of Appendix X. 4 Exceptions to these general rules governing transliteration are made for those proper names that have acquired conventional English forms, the latter forms being used to avoid the appearance of pedantry. CHAPTER I WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID AND RETURN BY WAY OF HAN AS-SAMAT In the first half of July, 1908, I paid a visit to Prince an-Nuri eben Sa‘lan in his camps near al-GAbija, southwest of Damascus. At the end of June he had come with his Rwala from the inner desert to Syria in order to provide himself with the food and clothing necessary for his sojourn in the desert. In each camp were to be seen the long white tents of camel traders and round tents where provisions and cloth- ing were sold. After obtaining a promise from the Prince that he would take me along with him to the interior of the desert, I returned to Damascus, where I got my own stores ready and hired the required servants. An acquaintance of mine recommended two members of the ‘Akejl tribe and a negro, all of whom made a living by camel trading and were familiar with the desert. My right-hand man was to be ‘Abd- allah al-Matrtd, a delicate but cunning little fellow who had to keep an eye on my property and deal with the various chiefs. Mhammad al-Kazib, who could write, was to accompany me on my trips and be my assistant in studying the customs and habits of the people. A negro, Fara& by name, was our cook and laundryman. My scientific assistant was Rudolf Thomas- berger, an official of the Military Geographical Institute in Vienna, who took charge of the scientific instruments and, besides, had to sketch maps of the various roads and districts. While in the desert Thomasberger was known as Tuman. As to tents: I bought a somewhat long one from the ‘Akejl and a round, smaller one from a dealer who sold tents to the Mecca pilgrims. Camels I obtained from the Rwala and Sba‘a tribes. We waited impatiently for the first rain. As arule areport comes as early as the second half of August or at the be- ginning of September that there has been rain in this or that part of the desert. As soon as the Bedouins learn this, with their herds they leave the district known as an-Nukra to the south of Damascus and make for the desert; there they find the rain ponds, holes, and wells filled with water by the last 1 2 PALMYRENA rains, and also the nutritious dry pasture remaining from the last rainy season — and therefore the season of prosperity (rabi*) — in that region. In an-Nukra they can stay no longer, because the fields are already eaten off; the felldhin are plow- ing, the water in the cisterns is becoming scarce and of bad quality, and, furthermore, the first rain is regularly followed by various epidemics. But not even by the end of August nor during the first half of September had the glad tidings reached the Rwala camp that there had been rain anywhere in the desert. A few clans of the Rwala went into the desert by the Eastern Gate between the mountain chain of ar-Rawak on the north and the volcanic area of Tlal al-‘Ijat on the south and camped on the border ridge of ar-Rawak between the settlements of Dmejr and Tudmor and along the eastern frin- ges of Tlal al-Ijat and the Hawran. Only Prince an-Nori re- mained near Damascus, where his camp had been established on the marshy meadows south of the ‘Adra’ settlement. There, then, I sent my baggage and the tents and on September 24 was encamped beside the Prince as his neighbor. At the be- ginning of October we went to Wadi al-‘Asejfir near the settlement of Dmejr. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID Saturday, October 3, 1908. For my topographical map I needed fixed trigonometric points. It was necessary to survey from a base, for which we deemed the lowland south of Dmejr the most suitable position, since it was bounded on the north by a mountain chain with some isolated peaks visible from afar and on the south by a volcanic area dotted over with conspicuous extinct volcanoes. Still, surveying there was not without danger, because the volcanic area was occupied by the hostile Ahali al-Gebel. The Prince, therefore, would not permit me to spend the night there. It was, however, imperative for me to determine the latitude at one end of the base by ob- serving the polestar. When I promised the Prince that I would observe the polestar immediately after sunset, after which we would start north, he gave me his negro, Hmar, as a com- panion. Old Hmar was a confidential servant not only of Prince an-Nuri but also of the late Prince Sattam, whom he had once accompanied to Constantinople. It was his business to watch over our safety and to see that we did not act incau- WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID 3 tiously. Knowing the names of all the places in the vicinity, our guide was to be Hsén al-Mazlim. At 7.26 A.M. we left my tent. There were five of us, Taman, Mhammad, Hmar, and Hsén — all seated on my cam- els. Heading southeast, first we crossed the al-‘Asejfir creek, after a while the se?%b of al-Mubjeza, and by eight o’clock were following an ancient but lately renovated subterranean aqueduct, Mufakkar al-Brac, through which water flows from the Bir Hazzal into the reservoir of al-Makstra and to the gardens extending east of Dmejr. At 8.10 we reached the al- Makstra ruins, lying to the south of the reservoir. In the seventies of the last century, when Midhat Pasha was reform- ing the Turkish empire, stones from the wall enclosing the reservoir and from the demolished houses south of it were used for erecting military barracks. These barracks, intended for the mounted police, form a long, massive, one-storied build- ing on a rocky knoll northeast of the reservoir and are now deserted. To the south of them lies a cultivated plain which was strewn over with black tents belonging to the Eben Meg- wel kin of the Rwala. The water flowing out of the reser- voir formed a streamlet about one hundred meters long, around which crowded hundreds of thirsty camels. At 8.37 we passed on our left the extensive Dmejr al-‘Atize ruins and then rode through the plowed country to the semicircular tower of al- Burg, built of smoothed square blocks and belonging to a small square fort which we passed on our right. The land behind the tower was not cultivated, although it could easily have been turned into fertile fields. On all the hills we noticed heaps of stones (rgum), ap- parently the débris of old watchtowers. Conspicuous in the lowland were numerous enclosures, fenced around by rough stone walls. Many of these measured several hundred meters in circumference, and the walls were up to two meters in height. The fellahin from Dmejr and the northern settlements catch gazelles in them. These enclosures, called mesdjid or mesdjed, are triangular with a single narrow entrance at their sharpest angle. The walls do not end at the entrance but extend to a distance of several hundred meters beyond, widening out gradually and becoming lower all the time. If a herd of gazelles is grazing somewhere near, the hunters begin to drive the animals cautiously towards the enclosure in order to get them into the widest opening of the walls first. When they succeed 4 PALMYRENA in this, the usual method isto frighten the beasts from behind; this makes the frenzied game run right into the narrow open- ing, which the hunters quickly close. Then the hunters begin to throw missiles of all kinds at the trapped animals. The wall enclosing the base of the triangle is purposely made lower in some places, with deep pits dug on the outside. Frightened as the gazelles are, they invariably jump over the wall into the pits, where they break their necks or legs and become an easy prey to the hunters. In this cruel manner from fifty to sixty gazelles are often captured in half a day. MEASURING A BASE At 9.32 we stopped before one of these large enclosures. To the south and southwest of it were four others, and before the entrance of each were high piles of stones, visible from a great distance and thus well suited to our purpose. We halted at the northernmost pile in order to measure our base from there to the fourth enclosure. Making a sketch of the land nearest to us, we placed a long pole on the northernmost pile as well as on the fourth pile and between them eight more in such a position as to form a straight line. Then we took levels and began to measure the distance. I determined the direction while Taman drove stakes of the proper height at intervals of approximately twenty meters. When this was done, in order to determine the exact distance I would lay the point marked ‘20 m.” on my steel measure upon the cross with which each stake was marked; Taman would then pull out the measure to its full length and place the first part of it, which was divided into millimeters, on the cross mark of the next stake and read the distance. After repeating this procedure in the opposite direction, we determined the length of our base to be 687.74 meters, and then began to determine the azimuth of the base. Hmar and Hsén had at first evinced some interest in our labors but by the afternoon began to grow impatient; deeming our stay in the same locality too long, they begged us to leave immediately. Hmar declared that we had gone too far south and that to remain until sunset was out of the question, be- cause then the Ahali al-Gebel would certainly attack us. It is the habit of these robbers after the sun goes down to sneak behind returning herds of camels and steal such animals as WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID 5 fall behind. Our baggage was loaded and HmAr tried to force me to go. Now, if ever, it was necessary to be careful not to antagonize him, especially since it was our first trip and be- cause he could make trouble for me not only with the Prince but also with his slaves. Appealing to his well-known prudence and bravery and calling his attention to the fact that we were well armed, I finally gained his consent to remain until after sunset for as long a time as it would take him to smoke two cigarettes. Loading our guns, we waited impatiently for the sun to set. Our camels knelt behind the pile. Hmar stood on the top of it with me in front of him and kept urging me to take a look at the polestar. He could not understand why I wanted to see that star just on that day and from that par- ticular heap of stones when I could make the observation from the camp or some other place with far more comfort and se- curity. Lanterns we dared not use, for any light would have revealed to the enemy our whereabouts. Consequently I tried my hardest to catch a glimpse of the pole star with the help of my theodolite and to read the vernier with my naked eye. But the impatient Hmar jumped off the pile and into the saddle, Hsén following his example, and both warned me that the Ahali could suddenly leap like wild beasts from any of the nearest stone heaps and kill us before we knew it. “If, O Sheikh Misa, thou dost not value thine own property and thy own life, then at least take pity on our lives,” were the words which they constantly dinned into my ears. And with all this going on I had to make an observation of the polestar and to note accurately, without a light, the reading of the vernier! Finally, however, the azimuth was determined, the theodolite wrapped up, and our camels raced with us back northwards. At the foot of the Ab-al-K6s mountain range we found a camp of camel herders. Making our beds at a distance of a rifle shot from them, we started a fire of dry camel manure (gelle, ba‘ara) and cooked our supper of burrul (boiled husked wheat kernels, which have been allowed to dry). Taman and I were the only ones who ate. My other companions while back in the camp had persisted in saying they would keep the ra- mazan fast; but they had forgotten their religious duty as soon as the camp was behind them and had smoked, drunk, and eaten all day, so that by evening they felt no hunger at all. Towards midnight one of the herdsmen encamped near us began to tell stories in such a loud voice that Hmar shouted 6 PALMYRENA over to him that, being a Weléd‘i, he should not disturb the sleep of the Rwala. In answer to my query as to how he knew the story-teller to belong to the Weld ‘Ali, Hmar told me that he could tell by his way of speaking, because the Weld “Ali use a different dialect from the Rwala, although both are members of the ‘Aneze group. The Rwala, who crowded the Weld ‘Ali out from quite a stretch of grazing land, consider themselves more genteel and claim that they alone are bedw (Bedouins), while the Weld ‘Ali would soon change into tenders of goats and sheep (Swdja). The night was quiet but so chilly that by five o’clock we were shivering with cold and both my kerchief and cloak were soaked through with dew. Sunday, October 4, 1908. Before sunrise I awoke Mham- mad and ordered him to light a fire and warm up the left- over coffee, because I knew that Hmar would not mount his camel unless he had first drunk his hot coffee, and I wanted to begin work as soon as possible. At six o’clock we were rid- ing over the plain in a southerly direction and overtook some herdsmen who had started to drive their animals to pasture the moment the sun appeared. Silently we went on; there was not a sound to be heard on the wide, seemingly lifeless des- ert. The rising sun spread its first rays over the volcanoes to the south, making them look like small red-hot islets in a sea of mist. To the northwest, above the tents of the Rwala, hung countless wisps of smoke, which, as it seemed, drove the fog to the ground. In front of the tents thousands of camels were moving slowly, making a picture well worth seeing. They appeared to be swimming in the fog, which concealed both their legs and bodies, leaving only their humps and heads vis- ible. The humps of the white camels (mardtir) glistened like gold, and wherever there was aherd they resembled the domed roofs of the north Syrian churches, smoldering, as it were, in the sun. Reaching our base, we measured off the azimuth and formed a second much longer base, which cut our first one almost at aright angle. Running nearly parallel with the mountain chain to the north this new base promised us the possibility of better results than the first one, which pointed almost directly at the mountains. The mountain chain running from north of Dmejr to Pal- myra the Bedouins call ar-Rawak. It is part of a ridge extending from the Kalamtn mountains near Damascus northeastwards to the Euphrates. North of Dmejr this ridge is cut by the WADI AL~ASEJFIR TO RGUM AL-MESAJID 7 al-‘Asejfir valley, to the east of which it is called Ab-al-Kos; still farther east it bears in turn the names Ab-al-Gerwe and MeSakk Semri, and the last part visible from our second base is known as az-Zbejdi. The ridge forms a narrow, flat-topped plateau above which a few dome-shaped hills rise. The highest of these are the second from the west in the mountain of Ab- al-Gerwe and the western butte of Ab-al-Kés. To the south of the ridge the Dmejr lowland spreads out to the Hawran mountains on the south and far into the desert on the east. On the west this lowland meets al-Rita, or basin of Da- mascus. There are hardly any elevations in the northern part of the lowland. Southwest of the tower of al-Bur& may be noticed three low, grayish domes known as al-Orejnbat, close to which are the ruins (hirbe) of the same name. To the south- east of al-Orejnbat rises the height of al-Hdejb, beyond which begins the black, stony tract, Tlal al-Ijat, dotted with many extinct volcanoes and isolated hillocks. AS-Samat, the northern- most of these, reach almost to the foot of Ab-al-Gerwe. With the help of my binoculars I discovered some ruins on the high- est peak of aS-SAmat and resolved to examine them. Hmar opposed this, but gave in when I promised him a handful of cigarettes. RETURN TO WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR BY WAY OF HAN AS-SAMAT At 12.20 we rode from Rgum al-Mesajid in a northeast- erly direction to Han aS-Samat. Ten minutes later we crossed as-Sidd, a partly ruined wall 1.2 meters thick, which leads with many turnings from the mountain chain on the north south- wards to the Hawran mountains and forms on the east the border of the fertile lowland of Dmejr. Originally this wall was 1.8 meters high, with gates in a few places only, so that the fellahin were secure from an unexpected attack by the Bedouins. Now it is completely demolished in places. Southeast of the wall the ground is covered with black lava out of which rise a few extinct voleanoes. We could observe very closely the craters of the fourth largest volcano in the Mtejriéat group as well as those of the Umm Iden and al-Makhul groups. At 2.10 P.M. we were at the as-Samat hills (as the Rwala call them, whereas the Rijat, the clan of our guide Hsén, know them by the name of as- -Sema’ ), and at 2.30 with our camels we somewhat laboriously ascended a hillock, on top as 8 PALMYRENA well as at the base of which lay the ruins we had come to examine. We stayed there until 3.42. The building (Figs. 1, 2) on the top of the hill is 53 me- ters long from north to south and 45 meters wide; but all that remained of it were the foundation walls and even they were destroyed in many places and often indistinct. The struc- ture is entered from the west. In about the center is a square tower, in the southeastern corner a flight of stairs, leading to the walls, and in the northeastern a deep well. Below the hill on the north there are the remains of a fortified Roman camp, about fifty meters square, facing the northeast. From each corner of the strong ramparts rises a square tower. Within the yard, which is entered by a gate strengthened by two but- tresses, iS a square, walled enclosure measuring about thirty meters on a side. The space between the wall and the ramparts is filled with débris from smaller rooms. Within the enclosure is another still smaller enclosure containing rooms built in two parallel rows about twenty meters long by eight meters wide. North of the gate a stairway leads up to the ramparts and to the southeast of the gate outside the camp is a reservoir twenty-seven meters square. It was after sunset when we finished our trigonometric work and our. plan of the ruins. Mounting our camels we then rode quickly westward over the now silent lowland as far as the al-‘Asejfir valley and thence along the terrace on its left- hand side to the north-northeast until at 9.52 we came to a halt before my tent. CHAPTER II WADI AL-ASEJFIR TO THE AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE AND RETURN WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE On Monday, October 5, 1908, it was necessary to go. to the Ab-al-Gerwe and Ab-al-Kés ridges in order to extend my trigonometric survey to the north and east from them. As we had a guide, I sent ‘Abdallah to the Prince to inform him where we were going, but ‘Abdallah did not find the Prince in his tent, because the Prince had left for ‘Adra’. An-Nari’s son, Nawwaf, then came to see me and I told him of my plan. I impressed upon him the fact that it would be hardly possible for me to wait in camp until the first rains set in, because then I could not finish my examination of the territory north of al-Zerjitejn and Tudmor. The freedom of my movements so far had been much hindered by the insufficient number of my camels. Whenever we had to change camp, it took all my animals to carry our baggage, and, since I did not know when the Prince meant to order a change, I could never leave the camp for long. I therefore decided to buy three more she- camels. With five or six animals I meant to make my scientific excursions; the other eleven or twelve were to stay with my tent and be used for carrying the baggage whenever the camp was changed. Nawwaf asked me to return from my next ex- cursion the moment it began to rain in earnest, in order that I might accompany the Rwala on their migration to the inner desert. On my trip to the Ab-al-Gerwe ridge I had to take for my companion Nawwaf’s negro, Frejh, whom Nawwaf commanded to take along a rifle and sheepskin coat (farwe) and to obey me in everything. Then Nawwaf begged me before I left to call on his youngest brother Hafagi, who had been ailing for the last four days. Without delay I entered the Prince’s tent and in the apartment reserved for women I found Hafagi, a sick boy of about ten, lying on the ground. After examining him I ordered them to do what was necessary and possible, and I gave Nawwaf some medicine, cautioning him to care for his 9 10 PALMYRENA sick brother as best he could. In front of my tent a woman with her little daughter was waiting. The child, who was feeding at its mother’s breast, had been cared for by many doctors, since it had on its little body scars caused by a red- HAN AS-SAMAT METERS 0: 10 20) 30 4059150) 60 70 80S a8 [OPT TTY Ces a eS Ce Ce Mo See ES} Fic. 1—Han as-Samat, plan. hot iron and was smeared on the breast, abdomen, and back with a layer of clay one centimeter thick — all signs of dif- ferent prescriptions. At eight o’clock in the morning we started in a northeast- erly direction. At first we followed the brook of al-‘Asejfir, which comes from ar-Rhejbe and receives the water of the spring of al-Méabrat. At 8.20 we entered the wide valley of WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE 11 al--Emedijje, close by an old, dilapidated dam, which in times past was evidently intended to hold the water coming down from the hills, in order that it might afterwards be distributed over the surrounding gardens. The soil here is oversaturated with lime but workable. The hillsides are not steep, the side valleys are low, and at one time all were culti- vated, chiefly as gardens. At 9.15 Hsén showed me to the north the wells of the ar-Rhejbe settlement. By 9.50 we reached the ridge of Batra and by 10.05 turned into the narrow Se%b of al-Babejn. The right wall of this se%b is composed of soft limestone, through which run parallel sloping veins of quartz. Soon to the left of our road we saw the holy terebinth tree Mizar umm ‘Ajjas. The mighty old tree was broken by the wind; from its stump grew a few shoots hung full of very old ribbons and pieces of cloth, votive gifts in honor of the spirit who made the tree his abode. Our guide Hsén would not go a step farther until he had obtained some coffee, tea, and bread. He refused to breakfast at the camp, asserting that as an orthodox Moslem he must keep the strictly ordained fast of ramazdn and that from sunrise to sunset he would neither smoke, drink, nor eat; but by 10.10 he had wanted to do all these things. Since I had asked him to breakfast while we were in the tent, I did not mean to give in to him now; but he sat down under a tree and laughed at us when we turned into a wrong path. Thus all we could do was to give him bread and tobacco and then wait until he had finished eating and had rolled himself some cigarettes, all of which took him until 10.30. A little later we came to a broad basin called al-Mkejmen, overgrown with sturdy perennials and full of camels. The herdsmen were accustomed to stay with their animals two nights in the basin and on the third day to drive them to the creek of al-“Asejfir. We now took a narrow path on the southern slope up to the pass Tenijjet ab-al-Gerwe. The ascent gradually became more and more difficult, until finally we had to dismount and lead our animals by their reins. Fia.2—Ha4n ag-Samat: upper building, a rosette. 12 PALMYRENA At 12.55 P.M. we reached the top of the pass. I asked Hsén to guide us up to the highest peak of Ab-al-Gerwe, but he declared that the path there was impassable for the camels and that he was hungry and would therefore ride no farther, nor, indeed, go with us at all until he had eaten enough. No choice was left for us but to unload our baggage in the pass and for Taman and me to find our way on foot to the highest peak. Having found it, we returned to our baggage and asked Hsén — who in the meantime had drunk both coffee and tea and was comfortably smoking by the fire — if he would take the theodolite with the tripod and accompany us to the peak, where he could give us the names of the principal places in the whole neighborhood. After entreating him for some time, he finally consented to carry the theodolite, but the tripod he threw aside, exclaiming that he was no pack camel. Shoul- dering our various instruments and a leather water bag, in forty-five minutes we reached the peak of Ab-al-Gerwe. The view from there was very interesting. VIEW FROM AB-AL-GERWE; RETURN TO AN-NURI’S CAMP The mountain chain of ar-Rawak, of which the Ab-al-Gerwe ridge is a part, forms the southern edge of a mountainous region. On the south- east Ab-al-Gerwe looks as if it were broken off along a scarp line that faces the southeast. The sandstone strata comprising the higher north- western portion of the ridge are horizontal, whereas at a lower elevation southeast of the scarp what are apparently the same beds dip almost perpendicularly. South of these perpendicular beds extends a plain, grayish to the north and black to the south, on which numerous extinct volcanoes shaped like cones and frozen bubbles rise in various groups. Close by, almost directly south of us, were visible the truncated cones of aS-Samat. To the east of them were Mtejricat and Karawisat. In the background to the southeast and southwest spread numerous other groups. South of Karawisat is the Malhat al-Kronfol cluster; to the southwest the volcano of Umm Iden, which falls off quite sharply on the east; west from there rises the volcano of al-Afejhem; farther to the south the low bubbles of al-Mintatrat; southeast of them, al-Mahftr; southwest of al-Mahfir, al-Mutalla‘’; and still farther in the same direction, the highest volcano of this row, the peaked butte of Dekwa. Northeast of the volcanic hills Tlal al-‘Ijat spreads a grayish-yellow plain on which shone large, almost white spots. These are dried-up hol- lows called habra (pl., habdri), where rain water accumulates. The largest of them bears the name Sejkal and reaches almost to Mtejri¢cat. Two smaller ones to the south are called Radajef Sejkal; southeast is the Habra aS-Subejée, farther east the Habra at-Trejfawi, and southeast of the last-named the Habra al-Bawlijjat. Far to the southeast of this there WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE 13 glistened in the sun the rough environs of the basin of al-Gwejf, and nearer at hand, to the southeast of us, rose the rolling heights of al- Butmijjat. No large ruins could be seen south of us. Hsén pointed out, to the southwest of Mtejri¢at, a heap of ruins called al-Ksejr and north of that, at the foot of Mesakk Semri, a smaller ruin, Han at-Trab. North of this there yawns in the range a deep rift dividing Ab-al-Gerwe from az-Zbejdi, from which stretches, west by northwest, a low ridge called first al-Hazba and then al-Hamame. The latter and its southern spurs, al-Morar and al-Fasla, enclose the:basin of al-Mkejmen on the north, northeast, and northwest and form, with the offshoot of Batra which extends to the west, the watershed between the valley of al-‘Emedijje, the depression Dawwat az-Zab‘, and the salina Mellaha Gerfid, which glit- ters to the north of Batra as if covered with ice. Northwest of the salina the mountain chain of al-Hagtle and Se‘eb al-Loz stretches from south- west to northeast, overlooked on the northwest by the almost parallel ridge of the al-Gid mountains. To the northeast of us appeared the white hills in the midst of which al-Zerjitejn is situated, and to the southeast of them two black hills were conspicuous, the northern one being known as al-‘Abd and the southern as al-‘Abde. Only at sunset did we interrupt our map sketching and return to our baggage, where we determined the latitude. In the night I was tortured with pains in the right side of my breast. About three weeks before, when jumping from a running camel, I had bumped against the muzzle of my carbine and injured three of my right ribs at the very spot where they change into cartilage. Then, while ascending the top of Ab-al- Gerwe, where it was necessary to climb laboriously from rock to rock, the scarcely-healed wounds had opened anew, and in going down my foot had slipped and I had fallen, striking against a rock with my still sore breast. The gap where we encamped was full of large and small stones, which made my companions grumble, since there was no comfortable place to lie upon. As the night was cold (4.5° C) and very damp, they made a fire-as soon as the morning star appeared. Tuesday, October 6, 1908. Daybreak (temperature: 13°C) showed itself in a peculiar manner. All the northern valleys were filled with thick, moving fog, in contrast to which the ridges of the mountain chain as well as some of the hilltops stood forth perfectly clear. A thin violet haze covered the lowland south of us, and behind it only the outlines of some hills were visible. The slowly rising fog now became so dense that we could not see five meters ahead of us, but after a few minutes it drifted as thin white clouds above our heads and seemed to change the summits of the mountain into giants 14 PALMYRENA with white robes. From the east masses of fog rolled, monster- like, over the lowland, covering it completely and preventing any observations. Not far from our camp I found in the rocky clefts red and greenish rite blossoms, the yellow-flowered snan, the bluish ‘asansal (which our guide called helléwz), sikkara, serr, ga‘ade, bsejjel, za°*étmdn, nefel, esbet an-na‘dm, ummu ktejt, resdd, and other plants. In the pass, and es- pecially on the road to the summit of Ab-al-Gerwe, we fre- quently noticed tracks of the ibex (beden), gazelle, porcupine (nis), and even of wild bear (hallif). At 9.37 A.M. (temperature: 21.8°C) we left Tenijjet ab- al-Gerwe and rode over the crest of ar-Rawak in a south- westerly direction. The road was often extremely fatiguing and even dangerous, as one false step would have sufficed to send both camel and rider down into the lowland. Several times we had to dismount and lead our animals by the bridle. In the lowland south of us we saw thousands of dark, moving points — grazing camels; over our heads eagles and vultures were circling. At 10.52 we passed on our left a small spring, ‘Ajn ar-Rahib, near which a hermit once lived.’ In Ab-al-Kos I saw a white gazelle. Notwithstanding the pains in my chest, I slid carefully from my camel, which I then drove slowly towards the gazelle until I came within rifle shot of my prey. All I could see was its head, but soon it was ours. At 12.30 P. M. we reached the western summit of Ab-al- K6s, which we had already observed from our base. We stayed there until 4.30, working on our map (temperature at 3: 26°C). The mountain spur running from Ab-al-K6s southwest is called al-Mkére‘e. The valleys of al--Emedijje and al-“Asejfir separate it from the hillocks of al-Ma‘ésre, which rise south- west of the ridge of al-Mu‘azzamijje. East of this and south of the village of ar-Rhejbe is a group of rough white hills named Arz al-Minkat‘e. Leading our camels by the reins, we descended the slope of al-Mkére‘e to the valley and, mounting again, came to our tent at 6.15 (temperature: 27.5°C). After supper Hsén received his wages and was discharged. He would gladly have remained,, because our tea and cigarettes were much to his taste, but we were all dissatisfied with him. He was obstinate and lazy. 1-The Latin equivalents and brief characterizations of many Arabic botanical terms appearing in the text are given in the index. 2 Al-Bekri, Mu‘gam (Wiistenfeld), p. 756, mentions a hermitage in Syria called Kis, of which the poet Du-r-Rumma sang.—It may have been this very retreat near ‘Ajn ar-R&ahib, and it is likely that the mountain of-Ab-al-Kés was named after the hermit’s hut. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE 15 SOJOURN AT AN-NURI’S CAMP. Our herdsman, Harran, returned with the camels which had been at pasture, complaining that he was unable to walk in his new shoes. I had hired him for three megidijjat ($2.70) a month and two pairs of shoes a year. Mhammad had then taken him to the tent of a hawker and bought him shoes which he himself picked out; but, after wearing them for four days only, he showed us marks on his feet where they pinched him. As he had never worn shoes before and did not know how to walk in them they of course made his feet sore. Mhammad soaked the shoes in water, wrung them out, and ordered Harran to put them on once more and not to take them off even when going to sleep. Harran, who four days before had shown the shoes to all his friends and boasted that he would never again go barefoot, obeyed Mhammad’s order readily and the next morning came to us with the glad tidings that his feet and his shoes were at peace at last. Wednesday, October 7, 1908. Intending to work up the results of my two excursions, I stayed in my tent and gave a positive order that no one was to enter but the Prince and Nawwaf. The latter did not come until eight o’clock; he in- quired what success I had and begged me to visit his brother, Hafagi, the sick boy. He said that he had given him the med- icine on the first day until sunset and then, having to leave, had told the women to take care of him. This they had failed to do, excusing themselves by saying that they did not know which medicine to give or how to administer it. Hafagi was having a chill with high fever and was coughing. What was needed was nourishing, easily digestible food, but he did not even get milk, because his father’s she-camels were not yet back from pasture. The women fed him with bread soaked in melted butter, which caused him to vomit instantly. I then prepared a strong soup from Maggi’s extract and had it given to him in spoonfuls until evening. All other medicines he stubbornly refused. I sent ‘Abdallah to invite the Prince and Nawwaf to supper in my name, but the Prince came to me before sunset and asked me to sup with him, because he too had meat. He inquired what spoils I had brought from my raids (razwdan) and, when I showed him the stones, seeds, mosses, and plants that I had collected, he could not understand why I should 16 PALMYRENA bother with such nonsense. On the way he told me that Ha- fagi had taken all the soup and felt much better. Giving him now the necessary medicine, I made some fresh soup. Hafagi lay in the women’s quarters on a dirty carpet, and nobody paid any attention to him. His mother, Mnife, Sattam’s daugh- ter, was busy preparing breakfast with her slave women; and his blind grandmother, Takla, daughter of Fajez eben Gandal and mother of Prince an-Niri, was quietly smoking her long pipe (raljvuin). Almost incessantly she drank coffee, which was handed to her by her slave woman sitting near by. After tell- ing Hafagi that he would soon ride his filly again, I went with the Prince to the men’s part (rab‘) of the tent. All those present rose and greeted me in a friendly way. A clean carpet would have been placed on the ground for me, but I sat down beside Nawwaf. Those present formed an oblong close about a blazing fire. On the narrow side of the oblong, close to the partition that separated the men’s from the women’s quar- ters, was spread a small rug with a riding camel’s saddle upon it. This was the seat of honor, reserved for the most distinguished guests, who sit with their arms leaning against the saddle. Along the lower side of the tent as well as along its back side, rugs were laid out on which were placed pack saddles (heddjeg). No carpets were spread on the open side of the tent, where the slaves, servants, or the poorer members of the clan sat or squatted. Nawwaf sat down by the lower side of the tent and leaned against a pack saddle. No sooner had I taken my place by his side than one of the slaves brought a quilt and pressed me to stand up again so that he could put it under me. The way to sit on the carpet is with the legs crossed. Everyone bade me welcome, one after another; then they inquired about my health and wanted to know what spoils I had brought from my raids. Hardly were the customary greetings over, when I was asked to look at my watch to see if “breakfast time was reign- ing (hakam al-ftur).’ A peddler who was there pulled out his watch to answer them, but nobody believed him because he stated that the sun would set in fourteen minutes, while I said it would set in only six minutes. The peddler claimed his time to be correct, since he had set his watch in Damas- cus, which he had left early that morning. But Fahad, Naw- wat’s father-in-law, thought this ridiculous and said: ‘So thou wouldst believe those lying people in Damascus, wouldst thou? WADI AL-ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE 17 Now we won’t take thy word at all, but will listen to Sheikh Musa, who believes only in the stars.” At the Prince’s command a negro now poured a few drops of water over the fingers of our right hands. In the mean- time four slaves had brought in a large pan (sahn) loaded with large thin pancakes (srd¢c). The pancakes were covered with a mixture of tomatoes and the meat, bones, and head of a goat. Over this melted butter was poured. Then the pan was placed between the fire and the partition, and the Prince laid out the pieces of meat in rows. The instant I announced “the sun has gone down, the breakfast time reigned’; the Prince invited me and eight others to rise and reach towards the pan with our hands. Kneeling on our left knees and sitting on our left heels, we unrolled our right sleeves and with the words “bismi-lladh” began to eat. The pan lay on plowed land, and all the invited guests knelt right on the ground. For me alone and with his own hands the Prince spread out the leathern cover from his horse saddle. Then with three fingers of our right hands we fished in the butter for bits of meat, rolled them together with bread into small balls, and put them into our mouths. After a few minutes we licked our fingers clean, stood up, and the Prince called other guests to the pan. He himself and Nawwaf sat down with them. A slave poured water over my hands that I might wash myself; but the others had to wipe both their fingers and mouths on the tent ropes. After paying another visit to Hafagi, I went to my tent with Nawwéaf, who stayed with me until almost midnight. THE BENI SAHR AND THE GOVERNMENT Thursday, October 8, 1908. The night was very damp, a thick fog covered the valley, and it was not until nine o’clock that the sun broke through. The rest of the day thin clouds were to be seen grouping themselves in the sky like large flocks of white lambs. I was working in my tent when ‘Ab- dallah reported that my friend and brother, Talal Pasha, was coming to pay me a visit. Talal eben Fajez, prince of the Beni Sahr, was an old acquaintance of mine; he had been a good friend and brother to me since 1896. He had come to Damascus not long before to settle some differences between his tribe and the Government. For a certain strictly stipu- 18 PALMYRENA lated consideration his tribe used to guide pilgrim caravans from al-Mzérib to Ma‘an, lending them the necessary camels and guarding them from danger. Talal, whom the Govern- ment had appointed head chief of the Beni Sahr with the title of pasha, was also to receive a yearly salary; but since 1906, when the Mecca pilgrims began to travel by railway, neither his salary nor the tribe’s subsidy (ma‘dSe) had been paid. In addition to this the Government had declared the country west of the railway to be its own property and had also demanded from the felldhin cultivating the land there the annual rent which until then they had paid to the Beni Sahr. These people started to mutiny and threatened to de- stroy the railway tracks leading through their territory; but the mutasarref (governor of the Turkish sanjak) of al-Kerak leagued himself against them with the Hwétat and Beni “Atijje, defeated them, and drove them back into the desert. Talal complained of the Government’s ingratitude, claiming that he had always been loyal, that with his help alone the Govern- ment had obtained possession of the settlements of al-Belka’ and Ma‘an, and that if it had not been for him the Turkish engineers could not have built the Hegaz tracks as easily as they did. He warned the Government not to play with his kinsmen, lest they, compelled by hunger and want, should rob the settlers, attack the trains, and destroy the railway bridges. Having been invited by the governor, he went to Damascus in the middle of September to consult with several officials, but he accomplished nothing. The governor had inquired in Constantinople what was to be done with the Beni Sahr, had received no answer, and is said to have told Talal: “Constanti- nople, our head, is sick. Who there now cares for a thorn stick- ing into our foot?” ‘Abdarrahman Pasha Jtsef, the emir al-hdgg or chief overseer of the pilgrim caravans, had told Talal of my pres- ence in the camp of Prince an-Nfri eben Sa‘lan, and, since Talal also wished to consult with the latter, he had come from Damascus to Dmejr. After spending the night with the Prince, he paid me a visit before noon. He had grown quite old since the last time I had seen him, and his face bore the marks of great worry. He was very bitter against the governor and said he did not know what his kinsmen might yet compel him to do. After conversing with him, I visited him in the Prince’s tent and gave him a letter to Jerusalem in order that he might WADI AL-~ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE 19 obtain there six thousand loaded cartridges for the Mann- licher carbines of which I had made him a present in 1901. The cartridges had been deposited in his name with a friend of mine. The rest of the time I spent in arranging my cartographic material with the help of Taman. Nawwaf did not put in an appearance until after sunset and then only to scold me for forgetting all about Hafagi. To excuse myself I told him that the Prince had assured me that Hafagi was in good spirits and felt hungry. Nawwaf again complained that he himself was feverish and headachy, which was not to be wondered at considering that he had been eating and drinking coffee with his slaves all through the chilly and damp night in order not to be hungry or thirsty during the hot day. As long as the Rwala camped near Dmejr, where their tents were visited by the neighboring settlers, they were obliged to keep the rama- zan fast. NEWS FROM THE DOMAIN OF EBEN RASID Nawwaf told me that two merchants from al-Gowf had brought his father strange news from the domain of Eben RaSid, which had been full of unrest since the death of Prince Met‘eb eben ‘Abdal‘aziz eben ‘Abdallah. In 1906 ‘Abdal‘aziz had been defeated and killed on the plain of at-Tarfijje in the northeastern part of al-Kasim. As soon as the report of his death had reached HAajel, his son Met‘eb had been proclaimed his successor; but his mother’s brothers, Sultan, Sa‘td, and Fej- sal, sons of Hmtd son of ‘Obejd, had killed him and his whole family, with the exception of his brother Sa‘td, a boy of six. Sa‘td was son of ‘Abdal‘aziz’s second wife, who was a member of the Eben Subhan family. The boy had been saved by a faithful slave and had fled with the relatives of his mother to al-Medina, where he was being brought up. Sultan had then become prince of Hajel, but in May, 1908, he in his turn had been deposed, imprisoned, and murdered by his brother Sa‘ud, who then became prince. Taking advantage of the dissensions that followed, the adherents of the fallen ‘Abdal‘aziz had brought his son Sa‘id, now eight years old, from al-Medina and proclaimed him prince. Supported by several clans, they had marched on Hajel and laid siege to the town. Their parti- sans among the inhabitants had then opened the gates to 20 PALMYRENA them and had killed Prince Sa‘td with all his following. It was stated that Fejsal eben RaSid, the governor of the oasis of al-Gowf, to whom I had several letters of introduction, had also been slain, but this proved to be untrue. Fejsal fled with his family to Prince Eben Sa‘ad at ar-Rijad. Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10, 1908. By this time Taman and I had worked up the material gathered on our two excursions and had made a sketch map of the vicinity. We now started to make ready for a new trip, which was to last from fifteen to twenty days, and to get together our pro- visions for this time. But when I examined our baggage for the necessary stock of food, I noticed that we had used up too much food during the last fortnight. “Abdallah, who had charge of our stores, maintained that it was impossible to live more frugally than we had done, and the servant Farag impudently reproached everyone with niggardliness who had enough and would not let others share with him. They both called on Allah to judge between themselves and me, who ac- cused them of dishonest manipulations. I said that I could not understand how we could have consumed three rotols (almost eight kilograms) of sugar in two weeks, when during all that time I had had tea only three times in my tent, nor how we could have eaten up twenty kilograms of butter, over one hundred kilograms of flour, fifty kilograms of burrul (husked wheat), etc.; and that I could not see how our provisions would last us from ten to twelve months if we managed no better than during the last fortnight. At that Farag started laugh- ing and bade me buy fresh provisions and more camels to carry them, averring that they could live no differently from heretofore. I then learned from Mhammad and Taman that “Abdallah and Farag were in the habit of making tea twice or even three times a night; that they-made presents of bread and burrul to their friends; that Farag drank melted butter instead of water, and threw to the dogs all that remained over from supper. I felt vexed that ‘Abdallah, whom my friends had recommended to me so warmly and who should have been my confidant and supporter, had made common cause with the black liar, Farag, and that, like Farag, he was cheating and deceiving’ me. Sunday, October 11, 1908. I wished very much to visit the still unexplored territory north and south of Palmyra, because I was not sure that it would be possible to do so later WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO AB-AL-GERWE RIDGE _21 on. The Prince and Nawwéaf tried to dissuade me from this, declaring that the region was the camping ground of their chief enemies and was also infested by many bands of ma- rauders, who could easily attack, rob, and even kill me; but when I stood firmly by my purpose Nawwaf gave me his young slave, ‘Abdallah, for a companion. We took only enough provisions for about fifteen or twenty days, because we wished to return from al-Kastal by way of Palmyra. In the morning Nawwaf called me and begged me to be careful not to put myself in any danger. The saddling of the animals and the loading of the provisions lasted quite a while, because neither of my servants ‘Abdallah and Farag was willing to help. They merely sat a little way off and gave us advice. I intended to take two pack camels: one to carry two large water bags and one to carry our baggage, since I did not want to overburden our riding animals. But ‘Abdallah complained that he would lack camels necessary for the baggage that we left behind if I were to take two animals, assuring me that in Palmyrena we should find water enough, that on our road we should pass one well after another, and that, therefore, we need not take with us an extra animal to carry the water. I let myself be persuaded and, in order to reduce our baggage as much as possible, I left my 13 X 18 cm. photographic apparatus in the tent — something that I soon regretted. Besides the negro ‘Abdallah, Taman and Mhammad were to accompany me, and a guide with local knowledge, whom we meant to find for our- selves. CHAPTER Il WADI AL-“ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA BY WAY OF ‘UZERIBAT WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO GEBB AS-SAHR; GERUD On Sunday, October 11, 1908, at eight o’clock I left my tent, not without anxiety. The bitter experience of the last few days with my servants Farag and ‘Abdallah had disturbed my mind to such an extent that I decided to dismiss both of them and find new servants. I could not hire any among the Rwala, since I should constantiy have had my tent full of their friends and visitors. To get servants in Damascus was equally impossible, because I knew that townspeople were not of much use in the desert. Therefore I wished to go to al-Zerjitejn, where I had friends who could find me men on whom I could rely. I made up my mind to stop there at the beginning of the trip, find a servant,.and take him with me until I returned again. From the tent we went north along the al-‘Asejfir creek and after a few minutes turned northeast to the valley of al- “Emedijje. Numerous short se“bdn coming from the al-Hagtle ridge and con- verging in the plain of Gertid combine to form the valley of al- Asejfir. Beginning near.the village of ar-Rhejbe, the valley is watered by a stream which has cut its way through the white hillocks of al-Minkat‘e on the east and al-Ma‘ésre on the west. On the southern slope of al-Ma ésre there bubbles out the sulphur spring al-Méabrat, the water of which later joins with the al-‘Asejfir creek and supplies power to numerous small mills. The se%b of al-‘Emedijje, which enters al-‘Asejfir on the left, rises in the low cross-ridge Zemlet al--Amara, which connects the crest of al-Fasla with the spur of Batra to the north; al-“-Emedijje then breaks through the rolling land of al-Msejriha, which is bounded by the moun- tains of al-Morar and ad-Dahab. Beyond this al-"Emedijje receives on the left the se%b of al-Mkejmen, which rises in the ridge of az-Zbejdi; farther west it receives, also.on the left, the narrow Se%b of al-Bab; it then separates the slope of al-Mkére‘e from the dome-shaped al-Minkat‘e hills, and finally joins the valley of al-‘Asejfir near a large mill. At 9.42 we left the Se%b of al-"-Emedijje to go north, as we were trying to find the camp of the ‘Umdtr tribe, from among whom we wished to take a guide. One hour later we 22 WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 23 saw the gardens of the village of ar-Rhejbe and, heading north- northeast, entered a large lowland in which we rested near the Gebb as-Sahr wells from 12.08 to 2.14 P. M. This lowland is shut in on the north by the high mountain chain of al-Ha- Sle, al-Hakla, and Se‘eb al-Léz. At its base, by the as- -Sultani road, lie the settlements and gardens of Geriid, al-Wasta, al- ‘Atne, an-Nasrijje, and Kena Gowha. The run-off from the whole surrounding country finds its way into the lowland in which these settlements lie. Water remains under the top soil, thus assuring crops both in the large gardens and in the smaller cultivated tracts. Salt works in the vicinity also help to provide a living for the popula- tion, which at Gerid numbers about three thousand.® 3 Of the older history of Gerfid not much remains. The classical authorities called the place Geroda. According to the Antonine Itinerary, 196: 1, Geroda (var., Cheroda, Gerosa) was a station on the road from Eumari (Hawwarin) to Damascus. It did not belong to Palmyrena. In 451 A. D. the metropolitan Theodore of Damascus signed the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon in the name of his suffragan Peter from the town of Coradaei (Lat. text: Coradaenorum), and this same ‘‘Petrus episcopus Coradensis” in 458 joined in a petition from the bishops of the province of Phoenicia to the emperor Leo (Harduin, Conciliorum collectio [Paris, 1715], Vol. 2, cols. 485f., 720). “Eulogius episcopus Danabon”’ and ‘‘Theodorus episcopus Coradensium”’ participated in the fifth oecumenical synod in Constantinople in 553 (Mansi, Concilia [1759—1798], Vol. 9, col. 394). That Coradaei and Coradensis can refer to no other place than Geroda (Gerfid) is evident from the list of bishops subordinate to Theodore, the metropolitan of Damascus, as Harduin, op. cit., col. 486, recorded them. These were: ‘‘Joannes civitatis Palmyrae,”’ ““Cochena civitatis Danaborum”’ (var., ‘‘Dada Chonacharorum’’), ‘‘Eusebius civitatis Jabru- dorum,’’ ‘‘Theodorus civitatis Dabrorum,”’ ‘“‘Abraamius civitatis Alanorum” (var., “Arlano- rum’’), and “Petrus civitatis Coradaenorum.” The Greek text has, instead of ‘‘Cochena civitatis Danaborum,” ‘‘Dada poleos Chonacharon’”’; and, instead of ‘‘Abraamius civitatis Alanorum,” ‘‘Abraamios poleos Archaon.”’ — Instead of ‘‘Cochena civitatis Danaborum’’ should stand ‘‘Dadas episcopus Chomocharenus”. (or ‘“‘Chonacharon’’), as is indicated by this bishop’s signature recorded in Harduin, op. cit., Vol. 2, col. 720, and by the variations (Mansi, op. cit., Vol. 7, col. 169): ‘“‘Dadapoles Chona Charon,” ‘‘Dadacrum bonocha,” ‘‘Da- dacorum bonocha.” The settlement of Conna lay between Laodicia Scabiosa and Heliopolis, where Ras Ba‘albekk is now situated. I. Benzinger (Pauly~Wissowa, Realencyclopddie, Vol. 7, col. 1547) gives the names ‘‘Chomokara,” ‘“Comoara,”’ and ‘‘Chorokara,” -although none of these can be found either in Le Quien, Oriens christianus (1740), Vol. 2, col. 848, from whom he quotes, or in Harduin or Mansi. Benzinger, loc. cit., would identify al-Kara with the Coara and Goaria of Ptolemy, Geography, V, 14: 14 and,19; this, however, is impossible, as Coara lay in Chalcidice and Goaria in Palmyrena, whereas a town on the present site of al-Kara would have been located by Ptolemy in Laodicene. A similar observation applies to the identification of al-Kara with the Coara given as the seat of the Bishop Gerontius, who signed the decision of the Nicene Council in 325; ‘‘Gerontius episcopus Coarae’’ was one of the bishops of Syria, but al-Kara lies in what was the province of Phoenicia of those times. After all, the reading ‘‘Coarae’’ is not correct. Harduin, op. cit., Vol. 1, col. 314, gives “TLeontius Larissenus’’ and Gelzer, Patrum nicaenorum nomina (1898), pp. 18f., gives in the Latin text ‘“‘Carison,” ‘‘Carisiensis,” ‘‘Larisa,”’ (var., ‘‘Charisson,” ‘‘Cariensis,’’ ‘‘Lurissae’’), but in all the other texts (op. cit., pp. 60, 68, 85, 103) ‘‘Larissa.’’ Moritz, Palmyrene, p. 22, note 38, writes that Kara must be identical with the ‘‘Charran”’ of Le Quien, op. cit., Vol. 2, cols. 849 f., and this because the latter place was situated in Coele-Syria. But the Christian town of Kara never was in Coele-Syria, for the country around it, since about 195 A. D., had been a part of the praetorian province of Syria Phoenices. Thus Ulpian (Corpus iuris civilis, Digesta, L, 15:1, writes that the Emperor Septimius Severus granted jus. coloniae to ““Emisene civitati Phoenices.”’ In Le Quien, loc. cit., reference is made to the Christian Arabian writer, Theodore Abu Kara, bishop of Charran, a town lying several hundred kilo- meters northeast of al-Kara (see Migne, Patrol. graeca, Vol. 97, col. 1446). In some manuscripts relating to the synod at Constantinople in 553 instead of ‘‘Theo- dorus civitatis Dabrorum”’ we have the variants (Mansi, op. cit., Vol. 7, col. 169) ‘‘Danaborum”’ or “Dababorum,” and the bishop signs (Harduin, op. cit., Vol. 2, col. 720) ‘‘Theodorus episcopus Castridanabeni,” that is, ‘bishop of Danaba Fort,’ or the al-Basiri of today. In considering the name ‘‘Alanorum” with its variants (Mansi, loc. cit.) ‘‘Arlanorum,”’ ‘““Archaorum,” or ‘‘Uranensis’ (Harduin, loc. cit.), we are led to the ‘“‘Archaon”’ of the Greek 24 PALMYRENA On the southeast, south, and northeast the lowland of Gerid is shut in by the following elevations in order from south to north: the mountain spurs of al-Hwa’ and al-Min- kat‘e; the height of Tell ad-Dahab; the low ridge of Batra, the broad Zemlet ‘Omar Ara, and the spurs of the high black mountain of al-Rurab. Nearly in the center of the lowland lies the salina Mellaha Geriid, which is about three and a half kilometers long by three kilometers wide. The environs of the Mellaha, which receives its water from about two-thirds of the whole lowland, are saturated with salt. In many places gypsum is mined. On the edges of the salina about fifteen small houses had been put up for the guards. GEBB AS-SAHR TO AL-RURAB. THE ‘UMUR Between the Gebb as-Sahr and the salina we passed a government building, the residence of the salt procurer. West of the Gebb as- -Sahr by the spring ‘Ujan al-Clab stood the tents of the Rijat clan of the “‘Umutr tribe. From among them I hired a guide named Nazzal eben ‘Ali. The ‘Umtir’s camping grounds lie between Til al-‘ljat, al-Zerjitejn, and Tudmor. The tribe numbers about six hundred tents and consists of the following clans: al-Rijat (chief : Gasem eben Mihbas) Al abu Harba’ (al-Harbawi) ( ,, SlaS walad ‘Err) Al Hersan ( , Sultan eben Mihbas) Maharse ( , ‘Addab eben Nowman) Al ‘Eléwi ( ,, Swélem eben Slejjem) al-Burku’ ( , Farag al Dur‘an) Al Garrah ( ,, Rubejje’ eben Gedii‘) Al Hamis ( , Saleh eben Cerh) Al Hasan ( ,, Halaf eben Matlak) Al RaSed ( , Sejran eben RaSed) Furra‘ ( , Satid eben Melhem). (This last clan camps with the chief Eben Mezjed [or Eben Melhem] of the al-Hsene tribe.) text, the ‘‘Adacha”’ (from ‘‘Aracha’’) of Ptolemy, the ‘‘Harac”’ of the Peutinger Table, and to the modern Arak, twenty-five kilometers northeast of Palmyra. Thus we see that the settlements of Arak, Palmyra, and Danaba to the northeast, and of Jabrad and Conna (Ras Ba‘albekk) to the northwest of Coradaei (Korada: Gerodai or Gertid) were under the juris- diction of the metropolitan of Damascus. The Syriac manuscripts (Wright, Catalogue [1870—1872], pp. 709, col. 2; 712, col. 2) mention Kuradoje’. Noldeke, Topographie (1875), p. 424, connects Kuradoje® with the Kurds, which is impossible, as ‘‘Kuradoje’” is written with K and “Kurd” with K (ef. Wright, op. cit., p. 880, col. 2). In 743 Jazid (Yazid) ibn al-Walid, the adversary of the caliph Walid II, left his country seat near al-Kastal (at-Tabari, Ta°rth [De Goeje], Ser. 2, p. 1788) and, escorted by seven men, rode secretly on a donkey to Damascus, a journey of four days. In Gerad, a day’s march from Damascus, the people gave him food. The following night he arrived in Damascus, where he was proclaimed Caliph. — WADI AL“ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 25 Our guide led us northeast along the southern edge of the salina, which shone like an ice field of wondrous beauty; the reflection of the sun’s rays from it almost blinded us. The salty soil changes gradually into a sandy tract. East of the Mellaha the plain is covered many meters deep with drifts of white sand, so fine and shifting that everything sinks in when placed upon it. These drifts are called at-Tu‘ts. Out of the sand rise countless remnants of harder sandstone, so grotesquely Shaped that from afar they look like the ruins of a great city. These fantastic shapes undoubtedly inspired the popular tradition that on the very place where the salina now extends once stood Lot’s city, which for the greater part has sunken below the surface. The sand between the rocks forms either level or hollowed surfaces, on which no one has ever set foot. It seemed as if even our camels instinctively felt the danger lurking in these places, for they steadily made for the south and shied when we urged them to go nearer the sand drifts. West of at-Tu‘ts we noticed the gardens of the settlement of an-Nasrijje. To the north were many wells and small ruins ealled al-Magrune or al-Magnitne, by the side of which a clan of the Weld ‘Ali was camping. Although we rode at a con- siderable distance from their tents, a Weléd‘i, who took us for itinerant traders, came and demanded the fee which is always exacted from strangers passing through the territory of some tribes. Not succeeding in his errand, he returned with a wry face to his people. As our camels had found no pasture at noon, we stopped at 4.26 by the foot of the Batra ridge (temperature: 20° C), where rite, sith, romt, mwassal, and other perennials (Sagar) grew in abundance. Taking off the baggage we aired the sad- dles a little, tied the reins tight to the girths, and handed the animals over to Nazzal. Mhammad gathered dried camel manure (gelle), by which he baked bread and cooked burrul (husked wheat). ‘Abdallah prepared our coffee. Timan climbed If the distance between Damascus and Geriid is thus determined as a day’s march, it is evident that Yazid’s country seat should not to be looked for near the settlement of al- Kastal lying 16 kilometers north-northwest of Gerad, but in the vicinity of the al-Kastal ruins 140 kilometers northeast of Gertd. 5 Jaktit, Mu‘gam (Wiistenfeld), Vol. 2, p. 65, places Gertid in the administrative district of Ma‘lila’ of the political district Rata Dimask. Ibn Hallikan (al-Makrizi, Sulik [Quatremére’s transl.], Vol. 1, Part 2, pp. 262f.) writes that Gerad is a settlement in the political district of Damascus in the direction of Homs and that in that region there are many wild asses; also that there is a hill there, the summit of which is at all times enveloped with haze-like smoke, wherefore it is called al- Mudabhen (the smoking one). — It is interesting to note that as late as the end of the thirteenth century there were still so many wild asses about Gerad. The hill of al-Mudahhen is undoubtedly identical with Abu Rubah, seventy kilometers northeast of Gertd. 26 PALMYRENA the nearest hill with me and sketched a map of the vicinity. After sunset Nazzal brought the camels home from the pas- ture, and we made them kneel about our camp and tied the: left lez of each above the knee, lest she run away. After a while a shepherd joined us and spent the night with us, together with his flock of about a hundred head of sheep. Monday, October 12, 1908. The night was again very cold. The sheep lying about us had risen after midnight and gone to their pasture. The camels became restless; therefore we got up at five o’clock and untied them so that they could graze; then we prepared breakfast and at 6.10 A. M. were on the road. We now went through a valley bounded on the north by the elevation Zemlet ‘Omar Ara and on the south by the ridge of Batra and its spurs Nktb al-Bir and Lassafet az-Zab*. We were all eager for some warming rays of sunshine, because the temperature was only 5.2°C; but the sun failed to show itself. No sooner had its first rays given a rosy tinge to the summits of the mountain range of Se‘eb al-Léz to the north than they again disappeared behind thick clouds. The color of the summits then became dark blue, almost black, and that of the sky a dirty yellow. A stiff, chilling wind from the east kept blowing our cloaks and thin shirts, uncovering our bare knees, and making us feel still colder. At seven o’clock we heard growling and stamping behind us and saw thick clouds of dust, which enveloped hundreds — nay, thousands — of camels, running with the utmost speed to the northeast. Frightened by something, they had broken away from their herdsmen, and we had to hold our animals as tight as we could lest they also follow the bad example and run away. Turning eastwards, we observed many herds rolling together avalanche-like to the northeast. Each herd was led by an old she-camel, now pacing, now trotting, and now madly galloping ahead. The other animals of her herd followed her example. My companions alighted and ran to- wards the camels, coaxing them, calling them to come near and graze. Some of them wanted to obey and turned in our direction, but they were only swept along by the rest of the herd. Their herdsmen rode after them, both on horseback and on camels, trying to get ahead of them by making a wide detour. When the men reached our troop, they jumped off their mounts and left them in our care; then, throwing off their WADI AL-~ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA ae cloaks, they ran as fast as they could to their respective herds, forcing them either south or northward to make them lose sight of the other herds. But only one succeeded in getting his herd to the foot of Zemlet ‘Omar Ara, behind a small ele- vation whence the other fugitives could no longer be seen. For a while the frightened animals ran about, trembling, but soon became quiet again and began to graze. The other herds went on running for about twenty kilometers farther to the northeast, until they were stopped by a number of riders from the Esage‘a clan. As long as the various herds were rushing by us and until they had disappeared from the horizon, it was difficult for us to keep in the saddle and not be thrown off by the rearing animals. The Bedouin says, not without reason, that there are eleven thousand devils in the head of every camel. On our right we noticed numerous paths leading through the passes Nkub al-Bir to the wells Bijar abu Hjaja. At 9.02 we reached the defile Tenijjet Maksar walad Nimr, which separates the broad elevation Zemlet ‘Omar Ara from the al- Rurab mountain. Here we saw a flock of more than fifty ga- zelles, which disappeared quickly. The plain through which we were passing ascends gradually towards the northeast. At 9.30 we arrived at the watershed between the Mellaha Geriid and the rain pool Habra az-Zab* to the east. This pool lies in a rocky hollow on the western edge of the Dawwat az-Zab‘ basin, shut in on the north by the al-Rurab mountain and its spurs, al-‘Enejz and al-Mhasse, on the east by the two dark, isolated hills, al--Abd and al-‘Abde, on the southeast and south by the border mountain chain of ar-Rawak already mentioned, and on the southwest by the ridge of az-Zbejdi, with its spur Zem- let ‘Omar Ara. As the summit of the high mountain of al-Rurab was visible both from the Ab-al-Gerwe and Ab-al-Kés summits, we meant to extend our triangles from it farther east and northeast. For this reason we tried to ride by a zigzag route, keeping as high up as possible; this was also beneficial to our camels, since the higher, the better the pasture. But as one of our animals had fallen by eleven o’clock, unable to go any farther, we had to stop and try to reach the summit on foot. Accompanied by Nazzal and burdened with the necessary in- struments and drinking water, we crawled rather than walked for fully forty-six minutes before attaining the summit (temper- aiure: 23 .C). 28 PALMYRENA The view, however, rewarded us richly for our exertions. On the southwest there shone like a burning lake of ice the salt surface of the Mellaha Gertid, bounded on the east by almost blood-colored rocky bluffs, partly covered by rosy sand. The gardens of an-N4srijje, “Atna, and Ge- rad stood out like dark green islands in the grayish-yellow bottom land, through which ran, like a yellow ribbon, the as-Sultani road, connecting Damascus with Palmyra. Northeast of the hamlet of an-Nasrijje, past the dilapidated watchtower Kal‘at al-Hamra and the demolished Han Gnejzel,‘ a branch road leads northward through the gap Tenijjet al- Hakla. Northeast of the defile of al-Hakla is the mountain chain called Se‘eb al-Léz. Its southern slope is not as steep as that of the border chain of ar-Rawak. Clearly to be seen were two terraces which broaden out still more at about the center of the Se‘eb al-Léz, east of the defile of az-Za‘tnijje, and then run southeast. Above the last-mentioned defile, towering far to the northwest, stands the sharp cone Halimt al- -Kara, the highest point in this part of the country. To the northeast the Se‘eb al-L6z sinks into a wide ridge called Rawdabi-t-Tahin and ends in a broad height, MaSkikt Mhin. South of the Se‘eb al-Léz runs the valley of al- Kalabijjat, which begins east of the road leading from the Han al-Abjaz to the gap of a8-Se‘eb. This valley is shut in on the south by the al-Ru- rab mountain and its spur, al-‘EnejZ, as well as by the low domes of Rus at-Twal, al-Mzejble, and al-Gbejl. South of these a chain of hills reaches eastward to the ar-Rawak range, a northern spur of which, the black mountain of al-Barde, appeared widely separated from the southern black mountain of Ratttis and the yellowish Kehle. Southwest of the last-named the chain of ar-Rawak is called Gebel an-Nusrani; above its low, flat ridge rise the broad summits of ‘Ade and ar-Rm&ah and between these those of Kal‘at Tejr. Gebel an-Nusrani extends southwest almost to the defile of ad-Delle, to the southwest of which stretches the mountain of al-Butmi, on the west separated by the al-Wazha gap from the Hejmtr mountain. The Hejmtr reaches to the gap Tenijjet al-Jabarde, above which rise on the west the mountains Ma‘raz al-Krejze and on the east the high az- Zbejdi. To the southwest of the last named we sighted the whitewashed stone pyramids built by us on the tops of Ab-al-Gerwe and Ab-al-Kés. Through the al-Wazha gap the yellowish walls of the Han al-Manktra ruin could be seen. The top of al-Rurab is bare rock, without anything grow- ing there at all except a few stunted swéddt bushes hidden among the rocks. Our guide spoke of ibexes often coming there in great numbers, but we did not see any. AL-RURAB TO HAN AL-MANKURA Having finished our work with the theodolite, we re- turned to our men, loaded the baggage, and departed at 4.17 (temperature: 20.1°C). At first we led our animals because 4 Gnejzel is identical with GulejZel, which Jaktt, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 109, asserts was a khan two days from Damascus on the desert road to al-Karjatan. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 29 of the steep slope, and we did not mount again until we reached the plain Dawwat az-Zab‘; then we hurried as fast as we could southeast to the gap Tenijjet al-Wazha. When we rode here between two camps of the ESsage‘a, subjects of the chief Eben Me‘Sgel, two riders demanded tribute of us for passing through. Recognizing me, they apologized and invited me to dismount and enter the tents as their guest; but this I declined with thanks. I accepted hospitality only when it was absolutely neces- sary, and even then I gave orders not to put our baggage in our host’s tent but to leave it outside, next to the men’s com- partment. Preferably I lodged in a lonely hollow and, if this were not possible, at a distance from some camp, but never in a tent. He who enters a tent has to adapt himself to the customs of the country, to wait for his supper until almost midnight, and after supper to sit by the fire again and take part in the conversation. For his bed the host allots him rugs and covers, which are seldom, if ever, clean; and then he has to lie among the other guests. In the morning the esteemed guest must not leave without breakfast and has to wait with patience while it is leisurely prepared for him after sunrise. Be- fore he can seat himself on his animal the servant stretches out his hand and the host, too, expects the guest to pay for the cost of his entertainment. The negro or the servant who makes the coffee must also receive at least one megidijje (90 cents). So the noble guest has to give something to every- body; and in addition he has to give thanks for the favor done him and praise the liberality of the tent when he finally leaves, thankful to get away, though still hungry and sleepy. Searcely had we pitched our camp at 5.32 (temperature: 18°C) about two kilometers south of the Esage‘a encamp- ments when the stout chief Naser eben Me‘gel came to us on horseback with a barefooted servant trotting behind him. He sat down on my rug and inquired why I did not honor his tent by entering it as his guest. He then began to boast both of his wealth and generosity and to entreat me to order my men to load our baggage on the camels again and go to him. His companion expressed regret at not having heard of our arrival sooner, since they would have ridden out to meet me and have arranged a sham battle (le‘eb al-hejl) in my honor. Soon afterwards three more chiefs arrived, all of whom sat down by me and then ate and drank with us, meanwhile in- 350 PALMYRENA viting us to get up at once and go to them, where we should be treated like princes. When supper was over the chief, nes- tling still closer to me, whispered: “An-Nari eben Sa‘lan is a chief and I, Naser eben Me‘éel, am likewise a chief. Give me a few piasters that I may buy a cloak (‘aba)”; to which I replied: “T know very well that thou, Naser eben Me‘gel, art also a chief, and I will gladly give thee a present worthy of thyself, but not here nor in this manner. Come to my tent some time and there all thou wishest shall be ready for thee, if it be Allah’s will (in 8a allah). Hearing this, the chief got up and rode away with his men without a word. But we all exclaimed “al-hamdu lillah” that Allah had ridden us of such hosts. Tuesday, October 13, 1908. The minimum temperature shown by our thermometer was 0.3° C. This made us get up as early as 4.40 A.M. and, after warming ourselves a little, take to our saddles at 5.48 and go east-southeast over the plain Dawwat az-Zab‘ to the al-Wazha gap. After sunrise the temperature rose to 3.1°C. To the southwest the somewhat long but low height of Tarak at-[mede was to be seen and behind it two rocks, Idan ad-Dib, projecting above the wells of Abu Hjaja. Our guide showed me a rift in the northern slope of the az-Zbejdi mountain, where there is a well, Gebb az-Zbejdi, a favorite meeting place for small robber bands. South of this well a road leads through the pass of an-Nijas to the basin of al-Mkejmen and to Dmejr. Another well, Gebb al-Fa‘i, is located at the beginning of the al-Jabarde gap but has little water in it. The plain which rises slowly towards the south was covered with small bunches of hudrdf, just then in blossom. This plant is from five to ten centimeters high, has a single stem bearing a corolla from three to six centimeters wide and almost round, and flowers in nearly all shades of color with the exception of blue and black. At seven o’clock we reached the al-Wazha gap separating the highland of al-Butmi on the east from that of Hejmtr on the west. Another defile branches off to the west-south- west, winding between the mountains of Hejmtr on the east and al-CabS on the west and leading to a basin about three kilometers in width bounded by the mountains of al-Cabi, al- Hanejzir, and Ma‘raz al-Krejze. Having reached the highest point of the first defile at 7.50, we followed the Se%b of al- Manktra, through which the run-off flows down to the rain WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 31 pond of as-Subejée. Here and there in the rocky river bed artificial hollows were to be seen and on its banks luxuriantly growing rite. The slopes here are not steep but very stony. At 8.46 we found a strong wall across the se%b and east of it an artificial aqueduct, where we halted at 8.50 in order to start afoot to the Han al-Manktra. But as the al-Wazha gap affords a very convenient connection between the north and the south sides of the range and the ESage‘a were camped due north of it, we feared that marauders of the Ahali al-Gebel might be lurking somewhere near. For this reason we hid our camels in a deep gully and sent ‘Abdallah to a high pile of stones not far off to watch the whole neighborhood. Leaving Mhammad with the camels and the baggage and taking the necessary instruments, the rest of us went to the ruins, at a distance of about six hundred paces south. The Han al-Manktra lies on the southern base of the al-Butmi mountains. To the south, southeast, and southwest a vast rolling plain spreads out, bounded on the northeast by the mountains Kehle, Khejle, and ar-Rmah, and east of these by the table mountain ‘Ade. In the plain east of the ruins rises the long height Tarak abu Dalje, which runs from southwest to northeast. Far to the southwest the black Tlul al-Ijat could be seen. The Roman fort known as the Han al-Manktra (Figs. 3 and 4) forms a rectangle approximately 90 meters long from west to east by 82 meters wide. The rampart wall, which is 2.2 meters thick, is strengthened at each corner by a rounded tower. From the centers of the north and south sides similar towers rise; there are also two towers each on the western and eastern sides, between which gates lead into the fort. No traces of walls can be seen within the yard. Behind the fortress, by the southwest corner, a reservoir was built 63 meters long from north to south by 43 meters wide, divided by a wall into two unequal parts. In the smaller northern part, the rain water was caught and the sediment deposited, while the cleared water flowed over the wall into the south- ern part.° 5 The Han al-Mankdra I consider to be the Roman station of Casama shown on the Peutinger Table (Vienna, 1888), Segm. 10, and the Kusam of the Arabic authorities. Jakit, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 124, repeats older reports that Kusam is a place in the desert near Syria, but that it belongs to Irak; and that Haled on his march to Syria passed there before reaching Tadmur. — Jakdat traveled through Palmyrena, visited al-Zerjitejn and apparently Tudmor also, but he was ignorant of the location of the watering place of Kusam. It is thus evident that even before his time Kusam must have received another name. PALMYRENA RS > = = = = = = > = S = >a = <= Ss 3 es YS » = vs = \ Ss Y » x = uy s x = : | RY < oat eS Md. Z, <2 ae eed < Z, << ef, Fic. 3—Han al-Manktra and environs, plan. ey) ee) WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA THE HAN AL-MANKURA TO AL-ZERJITEJN Returning to our baggage at 11.86, we found it already loaded and the camels prepared for departure. After having drunk a little tea, we left hurriedly for the north at 11.48. HAN AL-MANKURA METERS 10 0 10 20 30 40 So SOO Et eee ee ) Fic. 4—Han al-Mankira, plan. I should have liked very much to have gone in an easterly direction to the Han ‘Anejbe and then through the pass of al-Hufejjer northwards, but my companions feared an attack from our enemies; besides this, Nazzal, our guide, declared that the road through al-Hufejjer was impassable for camels. Therefore there was no choice for us but to return by way of the gap of al-Wazha. Nazzal told us that in the preceding winter the snow about the Han al-Manktra and in the moun- tains of al-Butmi for three weeks had lain over half a meter deep and that the cold was so intense that in his camp children 34 | PALMYRENA had died of it. And now, in the middle of October, the sun was shining warmly and the swallows flying about our camels, catching the countless flies which we had brought with us from the Han al-Manktira. Flies had crawled over our backs as we passed through the ruins and had returned every time we chased them away. On reaching the plain Dawwat az-Zab*‘, we turned north-northeast and made our way along the north- ern foot of the al-Butmi mountains towards the two dark hills of al-‘“Abd and al-‘Abde. On the ridges to our right we saw scattered butum (terebinth trees), the fruit of which, called kzdma, is picked with great care. The ‘Umtr as well as the fellahin from al-Zerjitejn and Tudmor press oil out of it and eat it with bread. ‘Abdallah caught a hedgehog about half the size of the English variety and hid it in his bag to roast and eat afterwards. To the north we saw numerous herds of camels returning from the watering places at al-Zerjitejn. Shortly afterwards three riders reached us; they had taken us from afar for enemy’s spies and were very glad to find that we were friends instead. By 2.25 P.M. we were at the foot of the isolated hill of al-‘Abd, which is quite black and cleft in two. Rising to the southeast is the similar but much larger hill of al-‘“Abde, which consists of five blocks of rock separated by deep rifts. Having ridden between these two hills, we turned towards the north- east at the foot of the white limestone height, Tarak al-Kan- nas, which stretches northeastward. We urged on our animals in order to reach the wells of al-Hufejjer as soon as possible, for besides watering our camels we also wished to fill our water bags. The plain we were passing over merges gradually into a tract of countless white hillocks, among which, at 4.50, we found the wells of al-Hufejjer. Two were abandoned or “dead” (majjete); the third, situated on the left side of a gully of the same name, was untouched, and we were greatly surprised not to find traces of visitors anywhere about. The reason for this we found, however, in letting our canvas bucket down the well and pulling it up again. It was filled with yellow, evil-smelling water full of rotting locusts. And since the well had not been cleaned, the water was undrinkable and generally avoided.® 6 Abu-l-Farag, Ardni (Balak, 1285 A. H.), Vol. 20, p. 121, records that some divisions of the Kalb tribe were attacked by the Beni Numejr_in Hufejjer and al-Faras. — I look for Hufejjer and al-Faras east of al-Zerjitejn. Al-Faras lies about fifty kilo- meters northeast from there, but Hufejjer may well be identified with our watering place. WADI AL-ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 35 Mounting our camels again, we rode fast to al-Zerjitejn. Both to the left and right we noticed stone quarries, from which came the splendid building material used in the build- ing of the fortress al-Hosn as well as of the walls of Tell al- ‘Ajn above the spring of Umm al-Kelajed south of the settle- ment of al-Zerjitejn. The ride was not pleasant. Our animals as well as we ourselves were tired out and wished to rest, but there was no water; and, moreover, it was dangerous to camp on the road from al-Hufejjer, since it was frequented by marauders hiding among the white hillocks. Very soon we ob- served many fires—tokens of a large encampment; but for a long time they seemed to be white, a proof that we were at least five kilometers away. Not until they appeared red did we hear the barking of dogs. Finally, at eight o’clock, we lay down to sleep not far from the tents. Wednesday, October 14, 1908. We had no rest that night, as thousands of camels passed by on their way to the watering places. Having watered our animals in a brook which brings water from the abundant spring of Umm al-Kelajed to the southern gardens and fields of the al-Zerjitejn settlement, we rode northwest over many aqueducts, most of them about five meters deep and provided with cleaning holes about a hundred paces apart. This brought us to the spring of al-Gedje west of the settlement, where we unloaded our baggage. Accompanied by Mhammad, I rode on a camel’s back to the monastery of Dejr Mar Elijjan, about one kilometer northwest of the settle- ment, supposing that a Syrian Catholic priest lived there. The sanctuary is a square complex of buildings with a small church, where the grave of St. Elijjan is the object of worship. Next to the building on the west in a garden there is a spring, ‘Ajn Gennet an-Nasfra, which fills a small pond abounding in fish. In the last two years everything had been repaired and the garden surrounded by a wall about two meters high. Dis- mounting before a low iron-bound gate, we knocked, but nobody opened. The house seemed to be deserted. Thinking I could get in from the garden, I went round and found in the eastern garden wall several breaches made by the Bedouins; the garden itself was in a bad state. The Syrian priest, or kassis, Philip did not live in the house of Mar Elijjan but in the settlement, where I went to see him. I begged him to find me a reliable servant; which he obligingly did, sending for a young man who was willing to go with us. 36 PALMYRENA Having made an agreement with the latter as to the wages, I promised to stop for him on my return and to take him with me to my tent. After this I went to the mudir, or represen- tative of the Government, and then to the officer in com- mand of the gendarmes stationed there, whom I asked for a mounted gendarme as my guide. As my route was to take me through the territory northeast of al-Zerjitejn, a camping ground of both herdsmen and felldhin to whom a gendarme is an object of fear, he was to be a visible sign that I was traveling with the consent of the Government and he would save me from their impertinences. The mudir granted my request very readily, giving me as a companion the gendarme Haggi Mhammad, who was to come at noon with his horse to our baggage. The horse caused me not a little worry, because we had to take along barley and water for him and our ani- mals were, to say the least, already overburdened. © The settlement was full of Bedouins, who entered houses at will and acted as if they were masters there. They came even into the kassis Philip’s room on the second floor, seated themselves, and asked for coffee and something to eat. When the kassis reminded them that they should keep the fast, it being the month of ramazdn, they merely laughed and bade him bring what they wanted. The five gendarmes stationed in the settlement for its protection were openly laughed at by them. Returning to my companions, I found them in a very unpleasant situation. They were surrounded by Bedouins who demanded the same tax from us that wandering merchants have to pay. I finally succeeded, partly by reasoning, partly by force, in convincing them that we were no traders at all and that we would not give them anything. We=were heartily glad when we could at last leave the place at 1.40 P. M. AL-ZERJITEJN TO ABU RUBAH; THE FWA‘RE After riding in a northwesterly direction across the broad cultivated plain of as-Sahl, we ascended the limestone elevation Hazm as-Sajeh, which stretches from west to east. To the southwest was seen the ad-Dawwa lowland with the shallow river bed of al-Kalabijjat twining through it. This lowland is bounded on the north by the Se‘eb al-L6z and its spurs al- Kawdan and Maskukt Mhin. From the latter the plateau of ar-Rmejle extends to the north. We went in the direction of WADI AL~ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 37 the last-named through the bare undulating region of Zahrat al-Harrtba, and camped at 4.20 in the Se%b of as-Sijar, not far from the tents of the Fwa‘re. Before long several of the latter made their appearance, but to our inquiries regarding the ter- ritory on the northeast they gave conflicting answers. The Fwa‘re have about six hundred tents. The principal chief is Hmejjed as-Sibli. The clans are: al-Aramne (chief: Hmejjed aS-Sibli) al-‘Alzawijjin » salame eben ‘Afnan) at-Twémat » salame al-‘Azzawi) -al-Hananme » Aklat al-“Awwaz) al-Bahadle » Farag az-Za‘éter) al-Hanadze “Ali al-‘Adlan) at-Trejge » Mhammad al-Hmejdan) az-Zijadne » salame al-Melhem) al-Ma‘édijjin » Mhammad al-Msétef ) al-Masa id Peer ek bre air’) at-Twénan 3 Halaf al-Gasem). Thursday, October 15, 1908. At 6.15 A.M. (temperature: 16°C) we started over. the Wdijan an-Nijasa plain in a north- westerly direction and soon came to the small poor hamlet of al-Rontor, made from the ruins of the same name.‘ Southwest of this hamlet lie the settlements of al-Haw- warin* and Mhin, where there are numerous remains of large ancient buildings. EOP RRR OQ ON RN “ “ 7 Al-Bekri, Mu‘gam (Wiistenfeld), pp. 411f., states that Sejfaddowle (944—967 A.D.), on his expedition against the nomads, marched to the waters of al-Furkulus and al-Runtur. Jaktt, Mu‘gam (Wistenfeld), Vol. 3, p. 819, records that Runtur is a valley between the towns of Homs and Salamja. 8 Asurbanipal (Rassam Cylinder [Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 5, pl. 7], eol. 7, 1.111; Streck, Assurbanipal [1916], Vol. 2, pp. 64, 66) defeated the Arabs who sup- ported his antagonist, the Babylonian king Samassumukin, in the neighborhood of the city of Ha-u-ri-na. Zachaeus and the young son of the widow whom the Savior raised from the dead were tortured to death in Hawwarin in the desert (Michael the Syrian, Chronicle [Chabot], Vol. 4, p. 98). Ptolemy, Geography, V, 14:19, knew of a town ealled Aueria or Aueira, which in all probability may be identified with our Hawwarin. The Antonine Itinerary, 195:9 (Parthey and Pinder edit., p. 88), mentions a station of Eumari, distant about forty miles from the station of Geroda. — Eumari was the starting point of a road leading by way of Geroda (the Gertd of today) to Damascus. It is almost certain that an important caravan road led to Eumari from Palmyra and very likely another led thither from Seriane (Esrija, Serija) by way of Occariba (‘Uzéribat). It seems that Eumari never belonged to Palmyrena proper. About 400 A. D. Euhara was apportioned to the province Phoenices Secunda, or Phoenices Libanensis. The seutarii Illyriciani cavalrymen once camped there (Notitia digni- tatum, Oriens, 32, nos. 4, 19). The acts of the Council of Chaleedon were signed among others by Thomas, bishop of Euaria (Lat. text: Theonas episcopus Euariae) (Harduin, Conciliorum collectio [Paris, 1715], Vol. 2, cols. 473f.; Michael the Syrian, Chronicle [Chabot], Vol. 4, p. 199). The signature of the same Thomas, as ‘‘episcopus Euariae,’’ a subordinate of the metro- politan of Damascus, is also appended to a petition of the bishops of the province of Phoe- nicia Secunda (Mansi, Concilia [1759—1798], Vol. 7, col. 559). The Chronica minora (Brooks, p. 227) and Michael the Syrian (op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 267) say that after 520 A. D. the monophysite bishops Thomas of Jabrtid, John of Tadmur, John 38 PALMYRENA Southwest of al-Rontor flows the good spring ‘Ajn al- Hadat and north of it the ‘Ajn al-Ksejbe. The water from these springs might well irrigate large gardens were it not for the Bedouins, who with their herds would immediately destroy any attempts at cultivation. In the hamlet, numbering only eight huts, we could not find a guide familiar with the country, and the Fwa‘re herdsmen who were watering their flocks there showed no desire to accompany us. Finally an older man called Ramztn leaped on the camel carrying our water bags and declared that he would act as our guide if I gave him one megidijje (90 cents) a day. To my question whether he preferred to sit on my camel for half a megidizje a day or in his tent for nothing at all, he replied that he would go for half a megidi7j7e, but must be given coffee and cigarettes besides. the bishop of the Arabian monks in Hawwarin, Nonnus of Circesium, and Marion of Stra’ of the Roman Empire were driven out by the Government. John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, III, 40—42, states that the curator Magnus caused a wall to be built around Hawwarin and also that he built a church there. To its consecration he invited the patriarch of Antioch and the patrician Alamundarus (al-Mundir). The last-named was escorted by his soldiers, who, however, yielding to Magnus’ entreaties, went back again. Alamundarus was then captured. No sooner did his soldiers hear of this than they returned and occupied the fortress, but had to retreat before the superior Roman strength. An-No‘man, al-Mundir’s eldest son, assembled his troops and, after Magnus’ departure, attacked and conquered Magnus’ fort (Hawwarin). The Arabs slew some of the inhabitants, took the rest captive, and carried away whatever fell into their hands: gold and silver, brass, and iron, dresses of wool and cotton, corn, wine and oil, pack animals-of all kinds, herds of cattle and flocks of sheep and goats. In Georgius Cyprius, Descriptio (Gelzer), p. 50, Hawwarin appears (about 605) on the list of the towns in the eparchy of Phoenicia Libanensis under the name of Euarius or Justinianupolis and as subject to the metropolitan residing in Emissa (Homs). — The new name of Justinianupolis was probably given to the old settlement when it was rebuilt at the end of the sixth century. Al-Ahtal, Diwdn (Salhani), p. 289, recollects that the caliph Jazid (Yazid) ibn Mu‘awija liked to reside in HuwwAarin, where he was also buried in 683. Al-Mas‘tdi, Tanbih (De Goeje), p. 306, and at-Tabari, Ta’rth (De Goeje), Ser. 2, p. 427, write that Yazid died in the middle of October, 683, in Huwwa€arin in the district of Damascus near the road leading by way of al-Kutejfe (or al-Kutajjefe) and Kara to Homs. — Al-Ktejfe and al-Kara lie to the southwest of al-Hawwarin. When the caliph Walid II was murdered, the inhabitants of Homs rebelled against the caliph Yazid II, who then sent an army against them, which started a battle near Huwwarin (at-Tabari, OP. Cis oSeLs La Dee Lau) In the middle of July, 998, Bakgstir fled from Damascus through the mountains to the fortress of Huwwarin, where his property was hidden. Snatching up hastily what he could, he continued to flee to ar-Rakka (Ibn al-Kalanisi, Dajl [Amedroz], p. 30). According to Jaktt, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 355, and Abu-l-Fada’il, Mardsid (Juynboll), Vol. 1, p. 827, Huwwarajn, or HuwwaArin, was a place in the political district of Aleppo and a fortress in the administrative precinct of Homs. Jaktt quotes al-Beladori’s report of. HAaled ibn al-Walid’s march from Tadmur to al-Karjatan and Huwwarin in the mountainous Sanir region. Here Haled fell upon the flocks of sheep and goats belonging to the inhabitants of HuwwaArin, to whose aid came the people of Baalbek. Abu Hudejfa says that Haled, after marching two days from Tadmur, reached the settlement of al-Karjatan, also called Auwwarin, where in 683 the caliph Yazid I died. — Jakat considers all the settlements in Palmyrena as subject to Aleppo. Al-Beladori, whom he does not quote literally, mentions, besides the inhabitants of Baalbek, the people of Bosra as having come to the help of al-Hawwéarin. As this seemed to Jakit to be less credible, he omitted mentioning it. It is not easy to understand why he erroneously identified al-Karjatan with al-Hawwarin. Being a native of Hama’ and having himself visited al-Karjatan, he surely must have known that they were two different places, separated by a distance of nearly twenty kilometers. Abu-l-Fada’il left this mistake uncorrected because he did not know Palmyrena at all. Abu-l-Feda’, Taxwim (Reinaud and De Slane), p. 83, says that the settlement of Huwwarin lies southeast of Hons. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 39 ABU RUBAH TO GEBB HABL Starting at 7.50 in a northeasterly direction, we came before long to the foot of the broad but low ridge of Abu Rubah, which stretches from northeast to southwest, and halted at nine o’clock before the ruins of the same name. On the western slope of the ridge lie extensive remains of a huge fortress enclosed by a wall 120 centimeters thick and provided with numerous small square towers. The southwestern tower and a big arch in the northwestern corner are comparatively well preserved. At about the center of the northern side of the fortress a gate leads into a small yard, from which it is possible to crawl through a low opening in the eastern wall to an old vault, where, through a narrow crevice in the middle of the floor, escape vapors of a temperature of 51°C. This is the famous hot bath Hammam abu Rubah, much frequented by the sick of Homs, Hama, and Aleppo. The spring itself bubbles out at a depth of about twenty meters down in the rock. Nearly four hundred paces east of the fortress steam also escapes through a similar rock crevice, but there the temper- ature could not be measured. Out under a stone right by the hole two adders with thick tubercles on their heads were hiss- ing at us and would not be chased away with stones. We un- fortunately had no stick. Above this spring rises a truncated cone, on which lhe piles of débris from an old ruined watch- tower. From there we sketched a map of the neighborhood. Far to the west rose the rocky peak Halimt al-Kara. To the northwest we could see the Tarak H6laje which extends from southeast to northwest forming the watershed between the river basin of al-‘Asi (Orontes) and that of the streams flowing into the lowland of ad-Daw. The last-named extends southwest of Tudmor. South of the Tarak Holaje spreads the undulating region of al-Mkejmen, ground easy to cultivate, in the western part of which could be seen the gardens of the settlements of Sadad, ar-Rhejbe, and al-Hafar, and in the eastern the settlements of al-Hawwarin and Mhin. On the southeast the Tarak Holaje joins the flat-topped ridge of Zukum al-Hanzir, which on the northeast merges with the mighty and much higher ridge of aS-Somerijje, shuting in the northern horizon. Southeast of aS-Somerijje stretches the hilly district of Tafha, from which the at- Tjas hills run south. Southwest of these hills glistened the white escarp- ment Tar ar-Rhejmi, south of which rose the isolated Tell as-Semen. Far to the east-northeast shone the steep walls of the al-Abjaz mountains, overlooking on the northeast the basin of ad-Daw, which extends as far south as the ar-Rawak range. Near at hand to the east and southeast of the ruins of Abu Rub&ah stood out clearly in view the white rocks of AQ) PALMYRENA the Kih al-Geba’, below which flow the springs ‘Ajn al-Geba’ and ‘Ajn al-Komkém, well known as watering places for camels. To the west of these projects the long flat-topped Hazm al-Jasir. The land south, west, and north of the Abu Rubah ruins is tillable, but the area to the east, composed chiefly of soft calcareous rocks, absorbs the moisture so easily that the grain usually dries up before it can ripen. At 10.15 we were in our saddles again, trying to destenn from the ridge of Abu Rubah to the neighboring rolling plain of al-Wu‘erijje; but this was not easily done, as the side gul- lies form deep hollows in the slope of the ridge. The valleys of al-Faras, az-Zebi, and az-Zel‘a, through which we passed in a north-northeasterly direction, must also have been cultivated in times past. Low dams for catching the run-off seen there- about bear witness to this. Here and there were lying the white skins (ti7@b) of various snakes, which are quite plenti- ful about Abu Rubah. We also had a glimpse of two herds of gazelles. On the southern edge of the rolling plain of al-Bawlijje, two Fwa‘re from the neighborhood of Homs joined us. They were traveling to the ‘Ebede division to recover from them five stolen camels. The Fwa‘re and the ‘Ebede were friends, but one of our new companions had been camping with enemies of the ‘Ebede, the Hsene. The ‘Ebede had suddenly attacked the Hsene, taking their camels and also the five belonging to our new companion. For this reason the two Fwa‘re were going to the head chief of the ‘Ebede, Bargas eben Hdejb, to ask for the return of his animals. They did not know where Bar- gas was then camping, and yet all they took with them for their long trip was an old rifle and an earthen pitcher holding no more than half a liter of water. Of provisions they had none at all, depending on hospitality in the camps they were to pass and, whenever these were too distant from each other, waiting several days until some other travelers whom they could join chanced to pass. Having met us, they thanked Allah for the precious gift he sent them in us, for they did not intend to leave our party until we had escorted them right to Bargas. For food and drink they depended on us, too, and also hoped to get a ride occasionally. My native companions were not overjoyed by their new comrades, and the guide Ramzin did not even hesitate to say that Allah was often charitable to wholly undeserving persons. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 41 In the territory we were now passing through there were no distinctly formed watercourses. If it rains enough, the water gathers in the smaller flats, and only after a lasting and heavy rain does it flow through the valleys to the al-Hor basin and disappear on the lowland of ad-Daw. At 2.47 we came to a big pile of stones, Abu ‘Akbén, behind which we found deeper gul- hes, running south. The ride through the monotonous rolling plain, covered with dried yellow plants, was so very fatiguing that we were glad when we finally reached the gray slopes of the as-Somerijje ridge. Both on the slopes and in the gullies numerous black points —terebinth trees— were to be seen. At the foot of the ridge we came at 3.05 to the Gebab Hamed wells, but no one was there (temperature: 27.8°C). We camped in a basin open only to the northeast, where our animals found good pasture and we plenty of dried camel manure to cook our Supper with. From there I went to the two wells to find out their depth, in order that Mhammad could take along ropes of the right length. The southern well was partly caved-in and dry, “dead” (majjet); in the northern, however, there was water, only it was about twenty-five meters below the surface and the rope we took measured just fifteen meters. To reach the water, therefore, we had to tie our reins and girths to the rope and, as this was not enough, even two shirts. Our canvas bucket finally reached the water, but being very light, floated on the surface and could not be made to sink. After pulling it out again, we tied a large stone to the bottom of it and thus were able to fill the bucket. The sides of the well, however, being hewn through the rock, were not even and the bucket, now full, bumped against all the sides in turn. We trembled with anxiety’ lest our rope, so laboriously constructed, should break and lose us not only the water but indispensable parts of our clothing and the girths and reins as well. Allah helped, however, and we succeeded in watering the gendarme’s horse and filling both our bags, although the camels did not get a drink. From the wells, lying at an altitude of 819 meters, I went to a slope to the west, where, at a height of 830 meters, I found the remains of an old fortification with foundation walls 220 centimeters thick. South of these are two cisterns and a res- ervoir hewn in the rock. Returning to the camp again, I saw that our camels were grazing too far away without anybody to watch them and that the gendarme as well as the negro A2 PALMYRENA ‘Abdallah were regaling themselves with coffee, tea, rice, and meat, and allowing the travelers of the Fwa‘re to share with them. All the baggage was opened and the flour and rice scat- tered about. Since no one except Mhammad had the right to take the food out of the baggage, I asked him who had caused this disorder. To excuse himself Mhammad pointed to the gen- darme and ‘Abdallah, saying that they of their own accord and in spite of him took from the baggage whatever they liked. Reproaching them with their high-handed actions, I threatened to dismiss them instantly if they should do such a thing again. I could not permit any uninvited person to meddle with and waste our provisions, not knowing when and where we could replenish them. We had to keep watch all night, being apprehensive of an attack by robbers or marauders who might come to the wells after dark. It was manifest before midnight that our fears were not without grounds. Three riders on camels dis- covered our camp and prowled about a long time. Finding that we were the stronger’ party, they finally disappeared. Friday, October 16, 1908. At 6.22 A. M. (temperature: 15°C) we started north-northeast, ascending the mountain chain of aS-Somerijje. The valleys here are wide and their slopes not abrupt, but their side gullies are narrow and deep. The moun- tain ridge is broad and almost flat-topped; only here and there a dome-shaped hillock rises above the general level. At 7.20 we were in the Se%b of al-‘Akulijje, where, a half-hour later, we saw on our left the ruins of a settlement of the same name. At 8.20 we reached the ruined village of al-Kattar and saw standing on a neighboring butte by a large pile of stones a rider, who instantly disappeared when he saw himself observed. It was possibly one of the trio who had kept us awake the night before. Two or three robbers riding on camels are called ma‘djir. They sneak close to flocks of sheep or camels and drive away aS many animals as they can. If some of the herdsmen catch sight of them, they at once give warning to their companions, who then place lookouts on all the highest points in the neighborhood to keep watch from there over their herds. The herdsmen of the Beni Haled, whose flocks were grazing in aS-Sdmerijje, must have known about these robbers, because at nine o’clock, when we arrived at the deep well Gebb Habl, we noticed that all the prominent places were occupied by watchers. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 43 GEBB HABL TO ‘UZERIBAT; THE BENI HALED; THE MWALI The Beni Haled number about one thousand tents and obey one head chief, ‘Abdalkerim eben Naser. Their clans are: Al Naser (chief: “Abdalkerim eben Naser) Al ‘Asi ose ‘ snehery az-Zmil ( ,Mhammad al-Rareb) al-Ranajem ( , Hadr al-‘Amiri) al-Bejatre ( ,, Arejmes) Al ‘Alejjan ( , Haled al-Halaf) an-Negagir, with al-Haswa and Batta families ( , Fares ar-Rhejjes) as-Sakra ( , Sallam al-Mhammad) at-Ta‘ama’ ( , Hadr al-‘Eléwi) al-‘Azazre ( , Mhammad al-Misa) al-Brejéat ( , Hamis al-Brejéi) az-Zrejg ( , “Abdallah al-Hebaw) ar-Rfé‘ijjin ( , Mhammad ‘Ali ar-Rfé‘1) al-‘AkarSe ( , Hazza* al-Btejhes) as-Sikr (ago Wambar) al-Mtejhat ( , Ged‘an al-Kasab) at-Tahhan (ins Pn Gasem al-Mhammad) as-Smir ( , Ahmad a8-Stéwi). At 9.13 we crossed the road of at-Tidribe connecting Homs and Hama’ with the territory of Bilas and Tudmor. This road runs in an easterly direction across the mountain chain of Tafha and along the southern slopes of the mountains Zemlet al- Knéman, as-Safwani, and Mu‘allak as- Ska’. After crossing the Se‘ibdn of at- -Temajel and al-Futtas, it traverses the Zuml Emhéar hills to the wells Bijar Ghar and thence cee straight to the Bijar abu-l-Fawares. Near Gebb Habl a branch leads off to the southeast beyond the seb of al- Faje, running between Tenaja Haleb and the at-Tjas ridge past the ruins of at-Tjas to the well Bir Misrab, the demolished Han at-Trab (or al- Leben), and still farther to the well Gebb Gezel north of the small ruins of al-Klejbijje. At the Abu-l-Fawares well both the main road and this branch connect with the as-Sultani road which runs from Tudmor to Da- mascus by way of al-Zerjitejn. Since the seventies of the last century, however, when Midhat Pasha ordered the fortress Kal‘at al-Béza to be built, large caravans bound from Tudmor to Homs and Hama’ have used the commercial road of as-Sultani as far as this fortress and only from here have turned directly west-northwest to the well Gebb Cen‘an, called also Bir (or Gebb) Misrab. The fort Han abu Sindah, where we stayed from 10.05 to 12.15 P.M. (temperature: 28°C), may have been built for the protection of the at-Tidribe road. The Han abu Sindah is situated on a high butte (Fig. 5). Its walls are 220 centimeters thick and form a rectangle 44 PALMYRENA 45.40 meters long from north to south by 41.20 meters wide. Through the center of the southern wall a narrow gate leads into a court, the southern part of which is full of débris. Almost in the middle of the court is a deep well, to the west \ ee hie i HAN ABU SINDAH METERS. 10 20 ie : a 30 400 eee 10 0 Fic. 5—H4n abu Sindah, plan. of which there is a square structure built close to the wall. In the western and southern walls are six loopholes each, in the northern only five, and in the eastern seven. Above one of the loopholes on the outside projects a rough-hewn stone with a cross on it (Fig. 6). _ The butte of Abu Sindah forms a part of the ridge of aS-Somerijje and can be seen from far to the southwest. The highland east of it and north of the ridges of al-Abjaz and Abu Rigmén is called Bil‘as,? the eastern border of which is formed by the hillocks near the al-Kdejm wells; this region extends as far north as Esrija. As seen from the Han abu Sindah the horizon to the west is shut in by the aS-Sdmerijje mountains; to the south appear the bare Tafha hillocks; to the east rises the ridge of al-Kném4n, overgrown in some places ® According to Ibn Hordadbeh, Masdlik (De Goeje), p. 76, and Jakit, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 722, al-Bal‘as (or Bal‘4s) is an administrative precinct in the political district of Homs. WADI AL“ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 45 with terebinth trees, behind which is as-SawwAani and the still more distant Mu‘allak as- -Ska’. The high outlines of the al-Abjaz mountains also show on the horizon. In front of them gapes the wide rift of Ghar, separat- ing them on the west from the mountain chain of Abu Zhiir, the western spur of which, Sawwant abu Zhfir, reaches as far as Mu‘allak a3-Ska’. HAN ABU SINDAH 2. Fic. 6—Han abu Sindah, a cross above a loophole. All the se‘ibdn between these ridges might be cultivated, as is proved by the ruins of old settlements. For instance, to the south of the Han abu Sindah in the Se%b of as-Sa‘id lie the al-Abitlije (or Abu Elijje) Tuins; southeast of these in the setb of al-Faje and east of the Han abu Sindah in the Sawwant abu Zhtr lies the Bita wa-l-‘Ala’ ruin. The se%b of at- Temajel rises on the western extremity of the Sawwant abu Zhtr. After being joined on the left by the se%b of al-Futtas, it finds its way be- tween Tenaja Haleb—as the eastern spurs of the hilly district of at-Tjas are called — and the E‘jat Ghar rocks, and ends in the lowland of ad-Daw. About mid-course of the se%b of at-Temajel lie the Murran ruins, in the neighborhood of which, it is said, much ‘dark-brown stone” (probably lignite or brown coal) is found, which burns when laid on a fire. Going north-northeast from the Han abu Sindah, at 1.10 we reached a small ruin, Surrat Rarra. Thence we rode west of the deep valley of al-Rattas or al-Btim, in which the ruins of Umm al-Kbébe, Umm al-Hmejme, and Rasm al-Hallaz lie. East of Umm al- Hmejme and at the eastern base of Abu Zhur, is the al-Kumejje ruin, and south of the latter in a branch 46 PALMYRENA of the sevb of Ghar is the well Gebb az-Zubejjed. West of Surrat Rarra the as-Sémerijj je mountains send out to the west the broad spur of as-Sawwane. At 1.42 we had on our left on a plateau covered with tall dry grasses the hillock Tell Erkab and were crossing Zahr al- Makta‘ and the low ridge of al-Manktra, on the northwestern slope of which are the ruins of al-Kars,*° Umm at-Twéne, and the village of al-HarizZa. At 2.38 we entered the plowed fields of the new settle- ment of Gebb Siha and a few minutes later were in the broad sev%b of al-Mrejzel, which was also cultivated. At 3.48 we stopped by the wells of al-Barrak, not far from the ruins of the same name. These wells had recently been cleaned by the MeSarfe felldhin, breeders of goats and sheep. (Temper- ature: 27.5°C.) Our guide did not know these new settlements and thought that we should find our next water in the hamlet of al-Ha- riza; it was therefore necessary to look for a new guide. Hav- ing made camp on the eastern slope of the as-Suwejjed ridge, about five hundred meters from the camp of the Mesarfe we began to negotiate with two men. After a while the chief arrived with several companions and complained that we did not honor his tent as his guests. Our gendarme treated these fellahin as though they were his slaves. They called him ef- endi, brought him the best rugs, prepared a soft bed for him, offered him cigarettes and a water pipe (narkile, or narg- hile), inquired what his soul was yearning for, and showed him the barley they had brought for his horse. The gendarme beamed with pleasure when he noticed the jealous — nay, en- vious — looks of his companion, ‘Abdallah, and accepted every- thing, even the barley, but whispered to Mhammad to remember that he had received this as a present from his friends and that he expected the Pasha to pay him the price of it. The chief then brought us a guide and seemed to be glad that we did not honor his tent by our visit but that, on the contrary, he could drink tea and eat burrul with us. Also our guide, Ramzin, was so well pleased with our hospitality that he prom- ised to go to the Euphrates and then to return with us again to al-Zerjitejn. He was even ready to give up his wages, if only he could ride on one of our camels, smoke our cigarettes, and 10 Jakit, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 57, knew of a Tell Kurs in the territory of the Ghassanian tribe. — As our al- Kars is in territory which once belonged to the Ghassanians, we may identify it with Tell Kurs. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 47 drink our tea, which seemed especially to his taste. Both of the Fwa‘re men also remained with us without seeking hospi- tality in the tents. We were, therefore, now accommodating fourteen men, something we could not, of course, continue to do, or we should soon have had nothing left for ourselves. The MeSsarfe belong to the MwAli tribe, who live in about eight hundred tents and obey Emir Fagr abu RiSe. This tribe is formed of the following clans: al-Bu Rise (chief: Fagr abu Rise) Al Halife Gane: “Abdalkerim eben Ahmad) ad-Dowle (..4;, + Abdalaziz Ibrahim) Beni ‘Ezz ad-Dwadne Al Razi al-Kalkal as-Srejf al-Hasaw aS-Sléwa as-Swértan at-Towkan ( , Ahmad al-Hamad) al-Mesarfe. The Mesarfe clan numbers about two hundred tents and consists of the following families: Al-Haz‘al (chief: Gasem eben Mhammad al-‘AzzAwi) al-Hzémat ( , Dthi al-‘Umejjer) Al Hasan (ues Hmejd an-Negm) al-‘Ests ( , ‘Abbtid al-Hmid) al-Bakkar ( , ‘Aléwi al-Ajjtib) al-‘Abdelijje ( , Gdé& an-Negm). Saturday, October 17, 1908. Long before sunrise I sent Mhammad with three men and all the camels to the wells, but after a short time they returned with the unwelcome re- port that there was no water there. But since our new guide, Ahmad al-“Ali, assured us that we should find plenty in the new settlement of ‘Uzéribat, we started for that place at 6.20 A. M. (temperature: 18°C). Crossing the se%b of al-Mrejzel in a northeasterly direction, we saw the al-Barrak wells on our right and then came upon the cultivated land of the Me- Sarfe. This clan has plowed during the last few years the fields of al-Barrak, Umm at-Twéne, al-Msérfe, and al-‘ArStne. Ahmad complained bitterly of the locusts which had appeared regularly during the last few years and destroyed not only the fields but also the pastures. After having passed the ruin of al-Gabrijje we reached the flat-topped hillocks of as-Swejda, A8 PALMYRENA grown over with terebinth and low blackish trees known as swejd. To the northwest there spread a vast plain bounded on the northwest by the uplands of al-‘Ala’; above the plain -rose the butte of al-“Ezejjem, south of which we had a mo- Paar eonn-----J bb fal i o a i ‘ z AL-KASTAL ano environs METERS 10 20 Fic, 7—Al-Kastal and environs, plan. mentary glimpse of the little fortress Kasr Sumejmis, stand- ing on an isolated hill. Farther to the southwest appeared the outlines of two high black mountains called KrOn Hama’. At 7.50 we passed the caved-in wells of al-Kurbatijje; to the west we saw the village of as-Stha, and from 8.08 to 9.20 we stayed in the settlement of ‘Uzéribat (temperature: 31.8°C). The half-fellahin call this settlement ‘Uzériba’ or ‘Ukériba’. The new settlement, which is built on a small elevation, and its productive neighborhood are the property of the chief 11 According to Notitia dignitatum, Oriens 33, nos. 8, 17, Occariba was garrisoned by the equites promoti Illyriciani, who obeyed the commander of Syria. Ibn Hordadbeh, op. cit., p. 76, notes that the administrative district of the town of Homs contained the precincts Zumajn, al-Kastal, Salamijja, and “‘Ukejriba’. — In the text “Akbarta is printed, but from the geographical position of the places named above it should evidently read ‘Ukejriba’. Nasr (Jaktt, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 699) refers to “‘Ukejriba’, stating that it is a precinct of the administrative district of Homs. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 49 of Tudmor (Palmyra). Neither in the settlement nor in its en- virons could we find any Roman remains. Having watered our animals and filled our water bags, we gave the two FwaAa‘re to understand that they had better look for other companions. They were not a little angry that we declined to accommodate them further, but they took the hint. ‘UZERIBAT TO ESRIJA Proceeding on our way, we now went through an open productive country. To the east, behind the as-Swejda hillocks, rose the high ridge of al-‘Ekejre, on which lie the al-‘Amara ruins. This ridge slopes toward the northeast into Fic. 8—Al-Kastal, a capital. the hilly region of al-Géne, in which is the small ruin Rasm at-Tumbak. . West of al-Géne appear two isolated hills, Sefa? Idéntén, and northeast the bare hillocks Tlul ar-Raml. On the east the al-Ekejre ridge overlooks the deep and wide se%b of al-Bim, east of which the ridges of aS-Sotob and Umm al-Fhid stretch to the north. Groups of terebinth and swejd trees were to be seen on all these ridges. Riding along the edge of the fertile plain which spread to the west, at 1.34 P. M. we passed a pile of stones, Rigm al-Fahar, the remains of an old watchtower; then we descended slowly to the broad se%b of al-Rawr, the sides of which are rocky and covered with small groves of terebinth trees. In crossing the valley we had frequently to ride on old dams past the remains of garden watchtowers and caved-in wells. We headed steadily northeast towards a high hill at the foot of which stand the ruins of a watchtower which now serve as a place of burial. Turning east, we stopped at 2.40 under a half-crumbled fortress known as al-Kastal (Fig. 7), built nearly in the form of a square with sides between 17 and 18 meters long and walls 120 centimeters thick. It was built of blocks averaging of 165 centimeters long, 55 centimeters wide, and 60 centimeters deep. South of it we found the foundation walls of a round church with basalt columns ornamented on the capitals with Christian emblems (Fig. 8, 9). Next to the church there is 50 PALMYRENA a rather large house, probably a monastery, built out of the material of a very handsome older structure. South of the monastery are still to be seen the remains of a wide gate. Northeast of the fortress is the foundation of an extensive building with a court bounded by a colonnade, and on the south a structure built of colossal rough-hewn blocks, averaging 280 centimeters in length, 72 centimeters in width, and 50 centimeters in depth.’ We had scarcely completed our examination of the ruins when a strong west wind brought an icy rain, which made us run for shelter. 12 The classical name of this place is as yet unknown. The Arabs have always called it al-Kastal. Al-Ahtal, Diwdn (Salhani), p. 58, writes of saddle covers manufactured in al-Kastal. Some cavalrymen from the army commanded by Abu ‘Obejda on their march from Homs to Hama’ went as far as az-Zerra‘a and al-Kastal (al-Beladori, Futaih [De Goeje], p. 181). In 743—744 Syria was plagued with various diseases, which caused the royal princes to leave Damascus for the country. Prince al-“Abbas took up his residence in al-Kastal and his brother Jazid (Yazid) ibn al-Walid went only a few miles farther, whence he often visited his brother (at-Tabari, Ta’rih [De Goeje], Ser.2, p.1784). —- We know from the same source that Yazid’s country seat lay back of the settlement of Gertd, a good four days’ march from Damascus. For this reason we may identify the residence of his brother at that time with the ruins of al-Kastal, almost two hundred kilometers from Damascus. In 745 Merw4n II with his followers went from Damascus to the settlement of al-Kastal, which lay east of the town of Homs, a three days’ journey from Tadmur. In al-Kastal he received the information that his antagonists had had all the wells between al-Kastal and Tadmur filled with stones. Still intent on attacking them, he obtained provisions, water bags, and camels; while in the meantime his followers negotiated with the antagonists. Some of the latter then joined him, but others fled to the desert region held by the Kalb tribe. Merwan finally began his march through the desert by way of Strija and Dejr al-Latak to ar-Rusafa, and from there to ar-Rakka. In ar-Rusafa his follower, Sulejman ibn Hisam, was collecting an army. When MerwaAn’s troops, sent to humiliate Irak, reached ar-Rusafa, Sulejman openly declared war against him and encamped with both his own and the newly won warriors in Kinnesrin (ibid., Ser. 2, pp. 1896f., 1908). At-Tabari fixes the distance henna al-Kastal and Tadmur at three military marches. Our al- Kastal lies about ninety kilometers from Tudmor and no infantry can make more than thirty kilometers a day on a prolonged march. The settlement of al-Kastal on the road from Damascus to Homs lies south of the latter, while al-Kastal, the camping place of Merwan, is to be sought east of Homs, under the jurisdiction of which it belonged. The al-Kastal between Damascus and Homs was politically subject to Damascus and was 150 kilometers from Tudmor. No infantry could cover that distance in three days. Strija is written erroneously for Surja or Surija. It is the Serija or Esrija of today on the road from al-Kastal to ar-Resafa. Dejr al-Latak, lying on the same road, should be sought in the ruined monastery now called at-Turkmanijje, halfway between Esrija and ar-Resafa. Jaktt, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 95, states that al-Kastal is a settlement between Homs and Damascus and that, according to other authorities, it is also the correct name of a district, which he also visited. — The administrative district of al-Kastal must have been identical with the vicinity of the present settlement of that name, to which Jakut paid a visit on his trip from Aleppo to al-Karjatan (al-Zerjitejn). In May, 1812, two political administrators deposed by Sultan Naser leagued themselves with the Bedouins of the Salamja country. An army was sent against them, which marched from Aleppo by way of Hama’ to Salamja. The rebels tried to attack the army at night, but, failing in this, they fled with the army pursuing them past al- Kastal, Kudejm, ‘Ord, and Kebakeb as far as ar-Rahba, but were not overtaken, since they sought refuge in “H WM°N,”’ near ‘Ana and al-Hadita, which was then under Mongol rule (Abu-l-Feda’, Muhtasar [Adler], WOl, oy DH smsoztahe The al- Rastal here mentioned may also be sought in the al-Kastal I am desertbing. The fleeing Bedouins must have had to stop with their herds at several large watering places, and the pursuing army followed suit. Thus they probably fled from Salamja 50 kilometers eastward to al-Kastal, thence 75 kilometers eastward to Kdejm, thence east-southeastward to “Ord (at-Tajjibe), thence 70 kilometers eastward to al-KebaZeb, and finally to ar-Rahba. The last does not mean the formerly large town of ar-Rahba but the present fortress of ar-Rhaba near al- Mijadin. After that the Bedouins hurried along the right bank of the Euphrates farther southeast into Mongol territory and camped beyond the settlements of ‘Ana and al- Hadita near a locality the correct name of which has not been preserved for us. Judging by the consonants it might have been the Wadi Hawrdn, which always was and still is a good camping place. WADI AL-“ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 51 When it ceased raining Timan and I began to sketch a plan, but a few minutes later our guide called out and showed me several riders on the high spur, Ras as-Sinime. While I was examining the strangers, the guide ran to my com- Fic. 9—Al-Kastal, some emblems. panions and urged them to drive in our grazing camels. To conceal myself, I crawled into the ruined structure built of gigantic blocks, from which I saw three riders approaching at a trot. Then, running to my men, I ordered them to fetter the camels so as to prevent their shying and getting away from us during the attack. Loading our guns we waited to see what would happen. After a few minutes we saw two men in the structure from which I had just emerged. They looked us over for a while and then, coming out, made signs to us with their long sleeves, Answering them in the same manner, I invited them to come over, which they gladly did, seeing that we were not enemy’s spies, as they had suspected, but peaceable persons whom they had no need to fear. They were members of the ‘Umar tribe and told us that their herdsmen 52 PALMYRENA had sighted in the southeast a troop of the enemy, which all the men in the camp had gone out to meet. These were the riders we had seen on the as-Sinime spur. As they had also sighted our camels, their chief had sent three men to find out who we were. Our gendarme had absolutely no desire to sleep in al- Kastal nor even to sup there, but kept on asking me to place the kettle, with the supper already prepared, on a camel and to go with the riders to their camp. Much as I should have liked to have stayed in al-Kastal to finish the examination of the ruins, I could not needlessly put myself and my companions in danger. Therefore, when it again started to rain, I made them load up and we went to the camp of the ‘Umtr at a distance of about four and a half kilometers northeast, where we spent the night (temperature at 6 P. M.: 20° C). It made the people*in the camp restless to have the enemy so close when all their fighting men were away, but-they calmed down on seeing us so well armed. Both the old men and the women surrounded us, asking all the while what we knew about the enemy. After midnight two riders, whose mares were too young for much exertion, returned and the crowding and inquiring went on as before. Unable to sleep, we determined the latitude as soon as the clouds had parted, let the camels loose to graze, and made ready to leave again. Sunday, October 18, 1908. Since we were camping in a narrow gully right in front of the chief’s tent, my men would not light their own fire, but preferred to wait until the women in the tent had lit theirs and sent milk to us. Having drunk the warmed-up coffee with the milk, we rode off at 6.41 A. M. (temperature: 20° C) to the nearest water, Esrija, beside which Bargas eben Hdejb, the head chief of the ‘Ebede division of the as-Sba‘a tribe, had his camp. This chief was just then at war with my friends, the Rwala. I much wished to meet Bargas and to gain his friend- ship, since I could then be sure of having nothing to fear either from the ‘Ebede or the tribes related to them. Crossing the height Kftf al-Bib in a north-northeasterly direction, at 8.20 we went down into the broad se%b of al-“Azib, which was overgrown with tall dry grasses (hemrz), with which in a little while we had filled two large bags to use in feeding our camels when we reached Bargas’ camp. We also saw a group WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 53 of yellow tulip-like flowers, which our guide called wardet al-ehwa’. The se%b of al-‘Azib forms the continuation of the Se%bdn of al- Rattas and al-Bim. Farther northwest it joins the right-hand side of the al-Rawr valley, which comes out of the al-Makta‘* and al-Mankitra hills and stretches, under the name of al-Rarr, in a north-northeasterly direction to the salt marsh Sbaht al-Morara. After nine o’clock we rode past the small al-Mdawwara ruin and sighted to the southeast the broad bare ridge of al-Hsejje, northwest of which lies the long flat elevation Hawijjet al-Butma, which is linked on the west with the steep scarps of Tanahes Esrija. BARGAS EBEN HDEJB AND THE ‘EBEDE At 12.08 P. M. we reached the ruins of Esrija, where we halted by the tent of the head chief Bargas. No one offered us a welcome, but on entering I saw Bargas sleeping on a rug. Sitting down by him I waited until ‘Azw, his maternal uncle, came in. “Azw bade me welcome in the chief’s name and then woke the latter. Bargas leaned with his back against the main _ pole of his seven-poled tent and, saluting briefly, began to examine me. “Where dost thou come from?” “From south and west.” “Where art thou going?” “To Allah’s gate,’ meaning wherever Allah would lead me. At this Bargas looked at me with more attention, smiled slightly, sat closer to me, and began to converse in a whisper. The ice enclosing his mistrusting heart was broken. He was then only twenty-eight years old, but his young life had been filled with sorrows enough to crush an older spirit. As a boy of twelve he had had to leave the tent of his father, Farhan, and at the command of the Turkish Govern- ment go to Constantinople, there to attend a school estab- lished by the Sultan for the sons of the various chiefs. He had had to stay in Constantinople for five years and had ruined his health there. When he reached his eighteenth year he was made an officer and served for several years in the army. After Farhan’s death Bargas returned to his tribe as chief. Now, since he was familiar with both the laws and 54 PALMYRENA customs of the Turks, he constantly endeavored to protect his people against ill usage from the Turkish officials and knew how to coax large tracts of land from the Government, both for himself and his tribe. He would build houses and people them with peasants from Syria, whom he protected and to whom he also let his fields for a rent of an eighth or a fifth of the net proceeds. He would encourage his poor kinsmen to engage in agriculture and firmly believed that in a few decades the whole of northwestern Palmyrena would be turned into productive fields. Beloved as he was by his people, who knew his kindness and love of peace, no one had any fear of him and even his slaves did not obey him. Often he would bid them ten times to do this or that, but no one would stir. He complained bitterly of having no children and begged for a medicine to avert that misfortune. To be his successor, Bargas was educating the twelve year old Bandar, a very sensible boy, whose father, famous both for intelligence and courage, had fallen in a raid. The Rwala, the enemies of his tribe, he hated fiercely, but he assured me over and over again that he was not afraid of them, since the ‘“Ebede were numerically the stronger. The longer he assured me, however, the more certain I felt that not only he, Bargas, but also his “Ebede were very much afraid of them. While I was examin- ing the ruins I overheard a mother in a tent near by thus threaten her crying boy: “Be quiet, or the Rwejli will come and get thee.” Bargas had already been informed that I was to go with an-Ntri eben Sa‘lan, the prince of the Rwala, to the inner desert, and he promised that his tribesmen would not rob me if they should make an attack on the Rwala: Having conversed with him on all matters important to me and having made him agree to furnish me with a guide, one camel, and two large water bags for the trip to ar-Resafa, | strolled over to the pagan temple of al-Ksejr and still farther into the ruins. For dinner they gave me jam made from grapes (debes) boiled soft in butter, and very thin freshly baked bread. In the even- ing Bargas had our supper of meat and rice brought beside my baggage, where he ate and sat with me until almost mid- night. I was eager to leave in the morning, but Bargas’ camels were not to return from pasture until the following evening, and, since I needed one more camel to carry our water, I had no choice but to wait. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 55 The ‘Ebede and the Kmusa are two divisions of the as-Sba‘a tribe of the “Aneze group and number about 3500 tents. The “Ebede are sub- divided into: ; al-Mwajze al-“Ebede proper al-Mseke. Clans of al-Mwajze: Al Salem Al Kwéran chief: Bargas eben Hdejb) » Derzi walad Farhan) an-Nsafa’ » Farhan eben ‘Abbtd) al-Mesande » Awde) al-“Aglat Na‘san) as-Sanabir it ee Sall )s Clans of al-‘Ebede: Al Dawam » Ramazan al-Fkiki) LO SE LR mf “ “ al-‘Arafa » ‘Ames eben ‘Amire) al-Wutara ( ,, Lebbad eben Fa‘tr) Al Zuwé‘en (_ ,, Batel eben Sarrab). Clans of al-Mseke: al-Mseke ( ,, ‘Asi eben Gladan) Al Rm4h ( ,, Bargas eben Wajel) Al Mwéne® (_ ,, Fazel eben Mwéne’) al-“Abadat ( ,,. Ahmad eben Kardis) al-Bejajea ( ,, Mezjed eben “Awde). In war the commander-in-chief or ‘‘chief of the camel saddle” (sejh as-Sdad) is Fazel eben Mwéne’. Monday, October 19, 1908. I got hardly any sleep that night. Scarcely had Bargas left when whole groups of visitors one after another came in with all sorts of questions and stories; and they were not a little surprised that I was in- terested in neither. Bargas came in every half hour to re- mind us to keep an eye on our baggage lest anything be lost. As soon as the morning star appeared, hundreds of camels returning from the watering places passed us on their way to pasture. In the tents, sufr, or the supper of the month of ramazdn, was being prepared, and the Bedouins ate and drank. We set up our theodolite to ascertain the latitude, but the sky was overcast all the time, and when the pole star appeared for a short time it soon was again obscured by dense clouds. RUINS OF ESRIJA After breakfast I went with Taman to the Esrija ruins, which cover a basin one kilometer wide. This basin is open on the northwest and through it winds the bed of a creek of the same name, Esrija. At the eastern end of the basin, on the right bank of the channel, there rises a hillock where there are remains of a strong fort with two deep wells. Op- 56 PALMYRENA 0.85 1.88 0.85 15.3 ee ae Ie TEMPLE AT fee ESRIJA METERS | 2 5. ' el Fic. 10—Esrija: temple, plan. WADI AL-‘ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 57 lg | Za mm om al i a Sa S a ta eae oS =o : Ki on po] ea He + il Hl mH a es il pa E 1 ma ee eer: ~ idly + A } i all I ON Fic. 11—Esrija: temple, facade; a) detail of lintel and arch; b) detail of capital. 58 PALMYRENA posite the fort on the same bank the foundation walls of a stately round building measuring seventy paces in diameter are still to be seen. Its roof evidently rested on gigantic pil- lars, the drums of which have been dug out by fellahin searching for water. On one of these I saw two Greek letters. About two hundred paces to the west I found the apse of a Christian church. Still farther west both the banks of the channel and the neighboring hillsides are covered with the remains of ruined houses. At the northwest end of the ruins there rises on the ridge formed by the spur Tanahegs Esrija a tolerably well preserved pagan temple (Figs. 10, 11). This forms a rectangle 15.38 meters long from east to west by 9.04 meters wide. From the east a gate 2.5 meters wide leads into it. In the corner to the right of the gate there is a spiral stairway reaching to the roof. The gate and the whole east side have remained almost intact. There are heaps of débris of other ruined buildings about the temple. Here I found and copied an Arabic inscription. Northeast of the temple there is a reservoir 236 paces long from north to south by 174 wide. Northwest of it on the right bank can be seen the foundation walls of a Christian church. A few paces farther north is another church with an adjoining monastery, on the cornice of which are Christian emblems (Fig. 12). From the Christian church a beautiful view opens out over the extensive plain stretching west and northwest as far as the black mountain chains of al-Hass and Sbéh (or Sbét). Splendid in the rays of both rising and setting sun, the pagan temple must have been a shrine sacred to the inhabitants of the numerous towns, villages, and lone- ly dwellings strewn over the plain to the west, and a place of annual pilgrimage. When Esrija became a Christian town the former pagan temple was converted into a Christian church and after the expulsion of the Christians into a Mohammedan place of worship. It is owing solely to this double transformation that it was not demolished entirely.'* 18 The present name of the ruins points to the old town of Seria or Serija. The Antonine Itinerary, 194: 11—195: 3; 197: 5—198: 1, mentions a road running from Beroa 15 Roman miles to Calcida, thence 27 miles to Androna, thence 18 miles to Seriane, thence 82 miles to Salaminiada, and thence 18 miles to Emessa. — Seriane, lying between Androna (the present Anderin) and Salaminiada (now Salamja), must be identical with the Serija or Esrija of today. At-Tabari, op. cit., Ser. 2, pp. 1896 f., and 1908, relates that Merwan II marched from al-Kastal by way of Strija and Dejr al-Latak to ar-Rusafa. — Strija is identical with our Esrija, 35 kilometers northeast of al-Kastal on the road to ar-Resafa. See above, p. 50, note 12. Jaktt, op.cit., Vol.3, pp.187f., places Strija, called popularly Stja, between Hundsira and Salamja in Syria. Fleischer (ibid., Vol. 5, p. 255) remarks with regard to this that the WADI AL-ASEJFIR TO ESRIJA 59 Adorned by so many churches, monasteries, and mighty buildings at one time, what remains of the city of Esrija today? In the very same places where formerly stood the houses of rich inhabitants, there were at the time of my visit about three hundred tents, the largest of them — that of Bargas — erected on seven poles, the others on five, three, two, or even on a single pole. Here and there long slender spears projected above the tents; on the tent ropes hung red quilts and rugs; through the en- ~——s Fig. 12—Essrija, a cornice campment fettered mares moved to with a Christian emblem. and fro, and near them their colts gamboled. Around the numerous wells crowded thirsty camels, for which half-naked herdsmen drew up water, humming short ditties as they worked. The camels growled; the she-camels wailed for their young ones, who gave little bleats; and the hungry mares whinnied. The whole camp was enveloped in rising vapors and smoke. From the south came flocks of bleating sheep; from the north long rows of camels, which their herdsmen tried to coax to greater speed by their characteristically monotonous singsong. From the plain three wild-looking riders with waving hair came at a gallop to the camp, announcing that they had seen far to the northeast a troop of the enemy. Thus appeared before me the once famous city of Esrija. But Bargas wanted to build it anew and promised me that after ten years I should surely eat grapes in Esrija from vineyards everywhere covering the hillsides. In Sd allah! Our guide, Ahmad, felt no desire to return and tormented me all day with entreaties to be permitted to accompany us still farther. He offered to serve for a fourth of a megidijje (23 cents) a day, if he could only get plenty of sweet tea. When I told him it was absolutely impossible, he begged form ‘‘Stija’”’ (or even “Siijja,”’ as given by Abu-l-Fada’il, Mardsid [Juynboll], Vol. 2, p. 67) is possible as an abbreviation for Stirija: it should, rather, read Surja. This view is entirely correct. The transcribers confused the r with w. We may assume that the form ‘Surja”’ corresponds with the Latin Seriane (and the modern Serija or Esrija), since we know that the Latins and Greeks also transcribe elsewhere the Arabic uw with 7 or ¢. Thus the Arabic Rusafa was spelled by classical writers ‘‘Risappa”’ or ‘‘Resapha.”’ Della Valle (Viaggi [Venice, 1664], Vol. 1, p. 569) found here numerous wells with good water and near them such remains of a large, ancient town as marble slabs, columns, pedestals, capitals, and stone walls of various thicknesses. He asserts that this great place was evidently abandoned on account of the sterility of the neighborhood and that the Arabs call it Serija. 60 PALMYRENA for higher wages, claiming that the gendarme had made no agreement with him and that therefore his pay depended on my liberality and appreciation. The night was just as restless as the last. After mid- night we determined the latitude and shivered with cold in doing so. We should have liked to drink some hot black coffee but dared not light a fire ourselves; and Bargas’ servant, whose particular business it was, slept and would not get up. When Bargas finally woke him with many kicks, he went to other tents in search of dried camel-manure and after lighting a fire declared again that he could find no coffee beans. Having hunted for them through the whole tent, he came begging us to lend him some. He now began to roast, and then to erush and boil it, but all this very leisurely, so that not until six o’clock could we drink a cup of coffee ordered at two in the morning. CHAPTER IV ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER BY WAY OF AR-RESAFA ESRIJA TO AR-RESAFA Tuesday, October 20, 1908. Our water bags were already filled, the whole baggage loaded, and still we could not depart. Sheikh Bargas wanted to make me a gift of a killed sheep but could find no one who would kill the animal, which had been tied to his tent since the evening before. In the morning Bargas asked several men, promising them both the fleece and the head, but nobody felt inclined to do the job. At last his coffee cook took pity on him, killed the sheep, and skinned it with the help of Mhammad. Having received the meat, we had still to wait until our new guide could procure a sheep- skin coat to wear on the journey; having none of his own, he wandered from tent to tent begging at each for the loan of one. I squatted with Bargas and his uncle ‘Azw, waiting patiently until a coat was finally found. At last we left at 7.10 (temperature: 14°C). Bargas accompanied me part of the way and promised me his friendship. It cost me a Mannlicher carbine and a nickeled Gasser revolver; also one hundred rounds of ammunition. This revolver I brought Bargas as a present; but when he wanted Timan’s carbine too, at first I would not give it to him, pretending that I could not be without it on our dangerous trip, but finally let him have it in exchange for a Martini rifle with fifty rounds of ammu- nition. The maker of coffee received one megidijje (90 cents) for his thorough and quick work. ‘After riding alongside the tents and then going east- northeast, we crossed the Se%b of ad-Dwejlib and shortly after the se%b of al-Habar. The latter rises on the northern slope of the a’-Sotob mountains and receives on its right the short Se‘ibdn of al-Fasde and al-Fsaka, the latter opposite the ruins of al-Hamra. To the southeast of al-Hamra there flows a spring at the ruins of the fortress of al-‘ASze. The Se%b of al- Habar ends at the salt marsh Sbaht al-Morara. West of it from north to south stretch the hills Tanaéheg Esrija and Hawijjet al-Butma, and east of it rise the hills of al-Harbaka (or Harbakat al-Hsejje) and al- 61 62 PALMYRENA Fasde. East of al-Harbaka appeared the ridge of Umm ‘Ajjas, south of which extends the Durmand basin. This basin is bounded on the west by the al-Mra’ ridge; on the south by Abu Rigmén; on the east first by a spur of Abu Rigmén and then by Abu Tummén, as well as by the rough hills of Ebrérit, all of which also enclose the basin on the north. To the northeast of the hills of Ebrérit is the well Gebb al- Kdejm, west of which rise the isolated crags Asabe‘ Kdejm and al-Jetime, and farther north al-Hassabijje. Looking up the broad valley of al-Habar we sighted to the south, above the hillocks of Harbakat al-Hrejbée, the northwestern part of the high mountain ridge of al-Abjaz, called Zahr al-Metenne; northwest of it we could see the crest of a3-Sotob, with aS- -Sa‘er, Umm ‘Aker§e, and al- Mra’ extending to the east. Northeast of the last-named spread out the gray, rocky hillocks of al-Mezabe’, among which rises the Se%b of al- Faska. On the right, in the basin of the al-Kdejm wells, this se%b is joined by the sevbdn of Ahejzer, Nasabt al-HStini, and ad-Defa‘i, and the combined Se%b is called Rar. Parallel with our course extended the hilly region of Hesjan al-“Ejr (with the wells Gebab Gam‘ )and Abu-l-Fejjaz (with a well of the same name); farther east lay the Ab-an-Nétel hills, where a sulphur spring bubbles out; and finally al-‘Afuwijjat with the at-Turkmanijje ruin on its northeasterly spur. The neighborhood of the Ab-an-Nétel wells is a favorite camping ground of the Bedouins.!4 Hast of the se%b of al-Habar we passed over an undulat- ing plain between the oblong flat-topped height Hazm as-Serr on the north and the hilly area of Srejja on the south. We had to watch our camels carefully lest they fall into some of the numerous holes dug by the jumping mice called gerdt. From 11.28 to 12.56 we rested and then rode on again over a similar plain until 3.25 P.M., when in the vicinity of the Rar valley we found good pasture for our camels about ten kilometers north of the Gebb ab-an-Nétel, where we spent the night. Our new guide Halil eben Ahmed was not a member of the ‘Ebede, but of the His family, who are goat and sheep breeders camping between ad-Dejr and ar-Rakka; he soon had no rival among us for timidity. We should have liked to have reached the foot of the height near the water holes of al-Hrejbe, but our guide begged us not to, because there are caves at al-Hrejbe inhabited by spirits.’ 14 Al-Hazemi (Jakiat, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 788) knew of the mountain of Nabtal in the territory of the Tajj tribe, as well as a place of that name in Syria. — Nabtal in Syria is perhaps miswritten for Nejtel, and I suppose it to be the watering place Ab-an-Nétel. 15 I identify the wells of al-Hrejbe with the place named al-Gerib in the territory which formerly belonged to the Tarleb tribe. Abu-l-Farag, Ardni (Balak, 1285 A. H.), Vol. 4, p. 141, and al-Bekri, Mu‘gam (Wiusten- feld), p. 75, write that al-Ahass is a valley in the territory of the Beni Tarleb, where the Tarleb were often attacked by their relatives, the Bekr ibn WaA4’il. There, too, fell Kulejb ibn ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 63 After making camp, Taman and I sketched a map of the neighborhood. Wednesday, October 21, 1908. In the evening we agreed to start the next day at least an hour before sunrise in order to reach ar-Resafa before nightfall, but when I tried to wake my companions in the morning not one of them wanted to get up, saying that they were shivering with cold. There was nothing for me to do, then, but unfetter the camels for pas- ture, light a fire, and put on the coffeepot myself. That made one after another of them crawl out of their cloaks and come to the fire. ‘Abdallah hesitated the longest and, when he finally rose and had drunk his coffee, he went with Halil for the camels and at the same time tried to find his short pipe (sebil), which he had lost. He seemed to care so little for the camels that Mhammad and I had to bring them home and load the baggage ourselves. In answer to my rebukes ‘Abdallah re- plied that he did not come with me to work, but to have a look at regions new to him. At 6.20 A. M. (temperature: 14.2°C) we finally broke camp, going in a northeasterly direction, and at 6.50 we crossed the Setb of Rar, near which are the wells of al-Kdejm, Rar, and Ab- an-Nétel, and which disappears in the plain of al- Metajih. At eight o’clock we approached the broad and flat height Tarak al-Hrejbe, which sinks gradually from north to south, and then went over the plain of as-Safja, where we noticed great num- bers of snakes. Soon to the southeast and then to the south of us were the walls of a square ruin called at-Turkmanijje and farther southeast of them the low long ridges Zel* an-Na‘am. From 10.18 to 11.45 we rested in the plain of an-Nbag (or Ambag) by a large pile of stones, from the top of which we could see the whole country from south to east. To the west the view was obstructed by the heights Tarak al-Hrejbe and Tarak as-Safja. To the north rose the heights Tarak Ambag, al-‘Atfa and al-‘Anz. To the northeast spread a vast plain shut in on the south by the little gray rocks Zel‘ an-Na‘am and al-A‘wugat. To the southeast we looked into the wide valley of al-Meleh, bounded on the west by the hills of Zel‘ an-Na‘am and al-Harit with its western spur, ‘Orf Twénan. West of the last-named rises the steep cone of al-"Wejr and to the south, al- Rabi‘a, struck down by Gassds ibn Murra of the Bekr tribe. Kulejb had been troubling the Bekr tribe, who camped with the Tarleb; he had driven them away from the rain pools in Subejt, al- Ahass, and al- Gerib, and finally from ad-Dana’ib. Here he posted himself at the watering place and sent the thirsty Bekr away from the water. At that Gassas rushed at and pierced him with his spear. This was the cause of the Basts war between the two tribes which lasted forty years. — Subejt and al-Ahass are the modern districts Sbét and al- Hass northwest of al-Hrejbe For al-Gerib I read al- ‘Herib, which is probably the same as our al- Hrejbe. 64 PALMYRENA Mistah, which on the southwest joins the long ridge of Abu Rigmén. This ridge stretches, with a steep descent to the north, from al-Mra’ as far east as the ridge of al-BiSri and is made up of several mountains. A spur of it, Tamm Ahejzer, runs out westwards. The Abu Rigmén ridge is split at about the middle by the gap Ri al-Hawa, separating the moun- tains of al-Morar from those of Umm ‘Astr on the east. Above the latter rises the high dome of Hawijjet ar-Ras with its northern spur, al-Labde; farther east lie the mountain chain of al-Morara and the steep dark ridges of al-Mkejbre and al-Minsar. Al-MinSar reaches almost to the southern part of the valley of al-Meleh. All these mountains give good pasture to the flocks of goats and sheep of the ‘Umitr tribe, and among them numerous valleys are cultivated. Soon after noon we met great herds of camels owned by the “Ebede. From the herdsmen we learned that some of their kin were camping near ar-Resaéfa and watering their herds in the Euphrates. Finally, after three o’clock, we sighted the walls of ar-Resafa and scared away large flocks of kata’ and kidri (sand grouse) as well as a few habdri (gray bustards with white-bordered wings, a little smaller than our hens). My companions wanted to go and spend the night with the ‘Ebede encamped far to the northwest of ar-Resafa. Our guide Halil especially begged me not to sleep near a town where spirits live. Therefore at 5.20 (temperature: 23°C) we lay down about three and a half kilometers south of the tents in a small dry flat, which in the rainy season receives the water from the whole neighborhood. Halil lamented all night and would not be calmed until we were joined by several herdsmen, among whom he then hid himself. AR-RESAFA Thursday, October 22, 1908. In spite of the opposition of my companions, I had no fire lighted, and we set out at 5.20 A. M. Our camels bore us to the east as quietly as if we were swimming. Already the eastern horizon was turning rosy, but the earth was still dark. The sky in the east slowly cleared up, and we sighted in front of us first three black peaks and im- mediately after the black towers and battlements of the ruins of ar-Resafa.'® Everything in the ruined town was black and covered by night. Through the crevices in the walls and re- flected in the windows the bright eastern sky could be seen. ‘I should have liked much to have seen the town in the rays of the rising sun; but it was still very early, and all the time 146 For a more complete description of ar-Resafa, which I again visited in 1912, see below, Chapter IX. ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 65 we were drawing nearer the black masses of masonry in this dead city. The sound of a human voice could nowhere be heard. Only a hyena howled among the ruins and was answered by a few owls. My companions remained far behind, and my she- camel shied before the ghost-like outlines we were now ap- proaching. Nothing was left but for me to turn south and make my animal kneel down near the city walls. Having fet- tered both its front feet and having concealed my saddlebag, I prepared to enter the ruins. Ascending the wall, I called out to my men to light a fire and warm up some coffee, because I had to begin work with Taman at once. Rifle in hand I entered the ruins to find a place to work from; but, returning after a short half hour to our baggage, I found neither my companions nor the camels. The latter were grazing far to the south and, as far as my binoculars helped to show me, were dragging their reins after them. The baggage was scattered, and the men were in the ruins treasure- hunting. Even Halil had conquered his fear of the spirits and attached himself to Taman, believing that in his company the hidden treasure would soon appear. There was nothing to be done, then, but to find all the other men and make them prepare the coffee for us. Having supplied ourselves with the necessary instruments, after breakfast I went with Timan and-the gendarme to the church of St. Sergius, where we worked until past noon. First we sketched a plan; then I copied the inscriptions and took photographs, while Timan made drawings of the ornaments. In the afternoon we worked in the southern basilica. Fearing the rain, my men led the animals into the town, carried our baggage there, and unloaded it under the arch of a half- ruined house. Halil warned them not to anger the spirits, but they seemed to be more afraid of the rain than of his spooks. Since it was evident that our stay in ar-Resafa would be longer than we were prepared for and since we needed water and bar- ley for the gendarme’s horse, I asked Halil to go and get both, but neither he nor ‘Abdallah showed much liking for the errand. Only after I had promised to pay two megidijjat ($ 1.80) for getting what we now urgently needed, were they both at once eager to go; but each claimed that he could go alone and needed no one to help him. Then I decided that together they should eo to the Euphrates, buy barley there, and fill two water bags. I never saw a man so afraid of spooks as Halil proved 66 PALMYRENA to be on the following night. He groaned and lamented, em- braced the gendarme’s legs, and begged me wailingly to order the baggage to be loaded and to leave the wretched town. He. saw a ghost called ar-Resafa in every shadow. He described the ghost as a tall woman with long loose hair. He showed us how she was approaching him, how she wanted to embrace and kiss him, and that she would strangle him. At first we laughed at him; then I tried to calm and cheer him; but when | finally saw that his hallucinations made the rest of the men afraid too, I became angry and told him to get ready for his trip to the Euphrates. ‘Abdallah would not leave before he had had a drink of coffee, but we had no dry camel manure for building a fire. Halil now fell on ‘Abdallah’s neck, kissed him, and begged him to take pity on him and not to allow his three little daughters to become orphans, should ar-Resafa strangle their father. After that they loaded the empty water bags on a camel and departed after midnight. I advised them to encamp north of ar-Resafa among the “Ebede herdsmen and to start for the Euphrates only after daybreak. When they left I lay down in the hope of getting a good sleep. But the gendarme, who was on the last watch, was hardly less afraid than Halil and came every few minutes either to me or to Mhammad to ask about one thing or another. Not until the morning star had shown itself above the eastern horizon and the power of spooks and ghosts had vanished, could any of us fall asleep, and then we did not wake up until the first rays of the sun showed themselves. Friday, October 23, 1908. After breakfast we finished the plan of the southern basilica and began to survey the town walls, work which occupied us until almost three o’clock in the afternoon; then we made a drawing of the martyry south of the northern town gate. Before sunset I went to the mon- astery church north of the town, and, shortly after, Mham- mad came there with the report that Halil was waiting south of the town with both the camels that carried the water bags and the fodder, declaring that he would not enter the ruins again and that he would leave us altogether if we would not camp with him south of the town. I then sent him word to mount Bargas’s camel and return to his chief and tell him how he had behaved while with us and why he had deserted. At the same time I ordered him ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 67 to say that I had asked the chief for a man and that he had given me a craven coward. I did not return to our camp until after sunset and there I learned that “Abdallah had joined Halil and that both would spend the night south of the town. Saturday, October 24, 1908. Early in the morning I went to the monastery church north of the northern gate and copied a Greek inscription. After this I sketched two mauso- leums built north of this church and copied several Arabic inscriptions in the old cemetery northwest of the town. While there I disturbed several adders with thick tubercles on their heads. Two were lying under one of the tombstones. The mo- ment I tried to turn the stone over, one of them leapt at my hand and I only escaped being bitten by a miracle. On return- ing to the town I- examined the reservoirs as well as the larger buildings to the north of them, where I found several inscriptions. My companions now pressed me to depart. As the ‘Ebede had gone farther west and there was no other camp then in the neighborhood of ar-Resafa, they feared lest we be attacked by marauders at night and either killed or robbed. AR-RESAFA TO AL-KWEM At 3.45 A.M. we led our camels out of the town and rode south. The guide, Halil, was to return to his master, but he insisted that he dare not leave until he had delivered us to the chief al-Fkiki; that such was the order of the head chief Bargas and that he must therefore act accordingly. When I reminded him how he had threatened to leave us the night before, he replied that Bargas did not order him to perish in the embraces of ar-Resafa and therefore he was perfectly justified in protecting his own life. Our new guide, a herdsman of the ‘Ebede, Nassab eben Zasem by name, knew the surrounding country well but was very indolent. All he delighted in was rest and sweet tea, and scarcely had we left ar-Resafa than he began to ask when and where we should encamp and what we should have for supper. The country south of ar-Resafa is an undulating and fertile plain where at 4.52 we made camp near a small but solid building called al-Ksejr (Fig. 13). This forms a square 68 PALMYRENA with sides of almost fifteen meters; at the northern end of its western wall a door leads into a court 13.6 meters long from east to west and 7.6 meters wide. At about the center of the south side there is an entrance to a room 4.45 meters METERS Ze Fic. 183—Al-Ksejr, plan. long by 3 meters wide, adjoining which both on the west and east are similar rooms. All three are vaulted and windowless. From the roof of this building we sketched a map of the vicinity. To the northeast, east of ar-Resafa, rises the isolated hill of al-Mhéra, northwest of which projects the rather low but steep escarpment of the plateau of al-Mezabe‘, which is connected with the ridge of al-Bisri on the south by the hills of Rgtim a3-Sih, az-Zmejli, and Zemlet al-KA‘ijje. From the latter the hills of al-Bowlijjat extend westward and their spurs of al-A‘jfigat close the valley of al-Meleh. Behind these heights tower the ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 69 steep walls of al-BiSri, the limestone ridge stretching northeastward from the head of the al-Meleh valley. This ridge is broad and flat-topped and is intersected by numerous deep ravines. After abundant rain both camels and sheep find good pasture in the ravines and gullies and on the slopes of al-Bisri. To the southeast of al-Ksejr, on which we stood, and west of al- Bisri there appeared on the sky line the high mountain chain of Abu Rigmén with the deep notch of Ri° al-Hawa, from which the upland of Bil’as extends to the north and northwest. Nearly south of al-Ksejr the mighty butte ‘Orf at-Tajjibe projected from the eastern spur of the al- Minsar ridge, and almost in the same direction but nearer where we stood rose the truncated cone Tell Fhede. The hills of Asabe* Kdejm, Ab-an-Nétel, and al-“Afuwijjat clustered together to the southwest of our position, forming the western edge of the drainage basin of al-Meleh, which gathers all the run-off into the low plain west of ar-Resafa during an abundant season, giving it the appearance of a big lake. The smoke of our fire attracted a traveling Bedouin who declared that he would serve as our guard against a night attack. The reason for this magnanimity was the goat’s meat which Mhammad was just then cooking for supper. Sunday, October 25, 1908. There was lightning that night on three sides and a cold westerly wind driving black clouds before it. When we started out at six o’clock, the whole southern sky was overcast, and broad bands slanting down told us of rain in that direction. The damp cold penetrated to our bones. The plain of ar-Rg&Gm, through which we were now passing, rises gradually towards the south. At eight o’clock we were close to the ruins of al-Hulle village, which lie on the northern slope of the height of al-A‘jagat. About five hundred paces southwest of this hamlet we saw the remains of a fortified encampment. At 8.10 Timan and I went to examine them, while our companions proceeded farther south. I called to them to stop, but in vain, since they were afraid of the rain and paid no attention. Unable any longer to hold our camels, who wished to follow the other animals, we had to survey the ruins but superficially and at 8.20 to trot after the others. Our guide called the ruins al-Halla, but Turkijje, Prince Sattam’s widow, to whom I traced the ruins after our return to Prince an-Niuri’s encampment, pronounced it al-Holle or al-Hulle. The camp (Fig. 14) is approximately 60 meters long from north to south by 55 meters wide. The walls are but- tressed at each of the four corners by a round tower and between the corners by two towers on each side. From the 70 PALMYRENA east and west sides gates lead into a yard, where the founda- tions of several walls are still perceptible, and nearly in the AT H ULLE METERS ie) 10 «0 Fig. 14—Al-Hulle, plan. center of the yard there is what might have been a well or a deep cistern. Our guide was positive that we should find a huge ruin below the hill of Fhede, which from afar resembles a fort of large dimensions. Having crossed at nine o’clock the shallow ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER id. but wide river bed which emerges from the wells of ar-Rehtib, we halted at 9.28 at the foot of Tell Fhede, where we stayed until 11.45. Here we were caught by a chilly shower which fortunatelly ceased after half an hour. But we found no ruins either about Fhede or on its summit. The view from the summit, however, was splendid. To the southwest the eye rests on the high ridge of aS-Sa‘er and to the south on the mighty mountain chain of Abu Rigmén with its northeastern spur, al-MinSsar. To the east appears the high ridge of al-BiSri, in the center of which stood three dome-shaped hills called Tlejtuwat. North of the eastern dome lie the wells Gebab al- -Ka‘ijje and southwest of it the well Gebb al- Gajri. Southwest of the western dome projects an oblong hillock, Tell ad-Dabbe, and to the south glistens the steep white scarp Tar as-Sbé1. Wending our way farther through the innumerable broad but low white hillocks and mounds of al-A‘jagat, at 1.20 P.M. we reached the al-Kdejr ruins, whence we turned a little to the left. At 1.40 we sighted the Nedwijjat al-Kdejr wells about two kilometers to our right. They were in the center of a white area, to which the black tents of the Arabs camping there formed a bizarre contrast. All about us were white rocks of soft limestone. Salinas glistened in the valleys and lowlands, and both to the right and left of our road there were heaps of dug earth and the rather shallow but wide pits from which salt is mined. The largest salina, Sbaht al- Kdejr, shone forth about ten kilometers west of us. The small village of al-Kowm, which we. passed on our right at 3.40, numbers fifteen huts built on high’ mounds of dug earth. Here also salt has long been mined. Hasan al-Hmejd was the village elder.** In al-Kowm as well as in the smaller village of al-Kwém, which lies to the south, there are numerous wells of salt water. The valley of al-Meleh, on the edge of which lie both villages, is over five kilometers wide. About ten kilometers west of al-Kowm there is a small depression, from which the 17 In the year 1302 the Tartars prepared a new onslaught on Syria. Having crossed the Euphrates, they encamped for a time on the flood plain by its banks. A detachment of about ten thousand men attacked the settlement of al-Karjatan (al-Zerjitejn) and other neighboring villages. The Moslem army gathered at Hama’, whence a detachment was sent to al-Karjatan on March 27, 1303. It met the Tartars on March 31 in Kawm, near the ‘Ord settlement, and defeated them there. But when the main Tartar army advanced on Hama’, the Moslems drew off to Damascus and waited for the enemy in the Merg as-Suffar, where the Sultan of Egypt joined them. The Tartars took up their position near the settlement of Sakhab on the western line of the Mer& as-Suffar and ventured an attack; but they were repulsed on April 21 and pursued by way of al- Karjatan. As the Euphrates was flooded at that time, many of the fugitives were drowned in the river, which they could not cross, and the rest fled along the right bank towards Bagdad. The Arabs pursued and killed many of them and others died of hunger. (Abu-l-Feda’, Muhtasar [Adler], Vol. 5, pp. 182 f.) — Kawm, where the Tartars were defeated on March 30, 1803, is identical with our al-Kowm, which is scarcely nine kilometers north of the ancient ‘Ord, the at-Tajjibe of today. 72 PALMYRENA salt is extracted that accumulates there during the summer after good winter rains. Salt is also plentiful in the as-Sak valley, which stretches southeastward. Our guide promised to take us direct from al-Kwém to the Kasr al-Hér ruins, KASR AL-HER ME ARGCE RE POR METERS 10 20 30 Fig. 15—Kasr al-Hér: larger fort, plan. thus leaving at-Tajjibe on our right. For this reason we wished to fill our water bags at al-Kwém, since the nearest water was as far distant as the settlement of as-Suhne. It so happened that chief Ramazan al-Fkiki, a good friend of Bargas eben Hdejb, was camping near al-Kwém. As my com- panions were positive that the next night would be the last one in ramazgdn (the month of fasting) and that from the morrow the Arabs everywhere would hold great feasts, they gave themselves up to the glad anticipation of being al-Fkiki’s ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 73 guests and the recipients of various presents, as is the custom of the country on such occasions. Knowing, however, that a prolonged visit to chief Ramazan al-Fkiki would but cause me unnecessary fatigue and expense, I turned to the wells where we wished to replenish our water bags. But the guide warned me against the salt water of al-Kwém and was also of the opinion that we should not go through the as-Sauk valley. He had heard that the ‘Amarat herdsmen were camping south- east of at-Tajjibe and might attack us. Taking his advice, therefore, we left al-Kwém at once and made for the as-Sul- tani road leading along the foot of the al-Minsar ridge, east of which at 4.42 we pitched our Fic. 16—Kasr al-Hér: camp on a small flat. ‘Abdallah smaller, or Persian, fort. and the gendarme were much displeased at this arrangement and kept on asking Allah why He suffered them to spend the last night of ramazdn in so lonely a manner. SMALLER FORT Same scale as Fig 15 AL-KWEM TO KASR AL-HER Monday, October 26, 1908. Leaving at six o’clock, we ad- vanced south-southeastwards on the as-Sultani road. We passed a watchtower on our right and then crossed the aqueduct Kenat an-Nedwijje, which carries the water southeast to Kasr al- Her. There we saw before us the little shrine of as- Sejh Ibrahim and east of it an old square tower, about which were grouped the twenty-five huts of the hamlet of at-Tajjibe. The latter is inhabited by the Felalih, who obey their elder, Hmejd al- Glal. Northwest of the hamlet there rises a high mound of ex- cavated earth, which proves that here also salt was formerly mined. At the eastern foot of the mound the spring of Nahr al-Kebir flows forth, from which we wished to water our camels; our guide, however, declared that the water of ‘Ajn al-Gbéb to the south was better; therefore we rode on, halt- 74 | PALMYRENA ing at 6.25 at the southern end of the village in front of a huge lintel of a gate which now served as a prop for two huts. ‘Abdallah, the guide, and the gendarme led the camels to the watering place. Mhammad went to the village to in ve it eae i i : : ty Peas pore > aa Pee as al Inte fe a vm? PR oH aii lt ie eas — a Ie a il Ty ih hi l Fic. 17—Kasr al-Hér: Moslem gate. buy barley for the horse, while Taiman and I watched the baggage. In a little while we were surrounded by the inquisitive and no less impudent ‘Amarat, who were camping south of us. It was not easy to make them keep a proper distance from our baggage. A villager about forty years old had to help me, for which I presented his little son with a piece of soap. In the ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 75 meantime the gendarme arrived with the report that the water in the ‘Ajn al-Gbéb was so turbid that it was impossible to fill the water bags immediately and that we must wait from two to three hours until it became clear again. Motioning to Fic. 18—Kasr al-Hér: mosque. the guide, who was just leading back the camels already watered, I ordered him to fetter the animals, take the camel that was assigned to carrying the water to the northern spring, and fill the bags there. The father of the boy to whom I had given the cake of soap brought me a stone with a Syriac inscription, of which I made both a squeeze and a written copy. He also wished to show me an old burying ground there, but, scarcely had I gone with him as far as the lintel mentioned above, when I heard a violent dispute between the gendarme and the “Amarat and hence I had no choice but to return. The ‘Ama- rat were making fun of the gendarme, inspecting the contents of his bag, and even trying to pull things out of his pockets. The gendarme resisted, threatened to shoot, and called to me to protect him and not let a representative of the Government in Constantinople be insulted by an uncivilized Arab rabble. Wishing to end this unpleasant affair quickly, I swung myself 76 PALMYRENA into the saddle and rode southeast, my companions following my example. As we passed the ‘Amarat tents I noticed that our new guide hired in at-Tajjibe was not with us. Mhammad then told me that the old guide had frightened him away. Since it was impossible to go on without a guide, I sent Mhammad back to the village to hire another one there. We waited for them in the Kenat-as-Shejm valley until 9.30. The settlement of at-Tajjibe’® lies on the eastern spur of the al-MinSar ridge and dominates a large basin extending to the south and east. The boundaries of this basin on the west are the ridges of al-MinSar, Kotkot, and az-Zaheé;* on the north, the hills of al-Hamra and Menajet al-Hér; on the east, the spurs of the al-BiSri mountains — called ad-Didi— and also the hillocks Zahrat al-Harriba which sink gradually 18 The old name of the at-Tajjibe settlement is ‘Ord. Since this word calls to mind the Day of Judgment, it is supposed to bring bad luck; hence it was replaced by the at- tributive at-Tajjibe (The Beneficial) and became obsolete. The earliest mention of our ‘Ord is, I believe, in the annals of King Assurbanipal (Rassam Cylinder [Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 5, pl. 8], col. 8, I]. 101—104; Streck, Assurbanipal [1916], Vol. 2, p. 72). On the ninth expedition (about 640—638 B. C.) his army supplied itself with water at a walled-in place called Laribda, which had many wells. — The walled-in place of Laribda may be identified either with “Ord or with al-Labde beside the al-Kdejm wells. Both from ‘Ord and from al-Labde a road leads to the Palmyrene moun- tains, over which the Assyrian army was marching. Jakit, Mu‘gam (Wiistenfeld), Vol. 3, p. 644, writes that the town of ‘Ord, belonging to the administrative district of Aleppo, lies in the Syrian desert between Tadmur and ar-Rusafa, Al-Makrizi, Sulik (Quatremeére’s transl.), Vol. 2, Part 2, p. 198, states that in the year 1303 the Tartars occupied al-Karjatan and “Ord. On March 31 the Egyptian army at- tacked the Tartars in their camp at ‘Ord, defeated and plundered them, and took many prisoners. In January, 1313, Harbanda besieged ar-Rahba with his Tartars-eand’ undertook the invasion of Syria. The heads of the Syrian towns assembled with their armies in the neigh- borhood of Hama’. Their spies penetrated even to ‘Ord and as-Suhne. When hunger and pestilence broke out in Harbanda’s camp, he drew back without withdrawing his war engines, which the defenders then brought into the fort of ar-Rahba. (Abu-l-Feda’, Muhtasar [Adler], Vol. 5, pp. 268 f.) Ad-Dimiski, Nuhba (Mehren), p. 202, knew of ‘Ord as a great town on the edge of the desert, where also was as-Suhne, the administrative center. In 1616 Della Valle (Viaggi [ Venice, 1664], Vol. 1, p. 569) reached a walled-in settlement called Taiba, which he said means ‘‘the good.” There he found many old relies, especially in the mosque. The tower of the mosque was built with great care and, it seems, originally formed the tower of a Christian church. There are many columns there, used by the Moslems to strengthen their mud huts. Inside the mosque Della Valle saw a large square stone with a Greek inscription and, below this, two lines in letters unknown to him, but resembling either Hebrew or Samaritan.— This was a Greco-Palmyrene inscription of August, 134 A.D. (Lidzbarski, Handbuch [1898], Vol. 1, p. 477). Tavernier, Les six voyages (Paris, 1679), Vol. 1, p. 285, says that Taiba is a kind of fort on the plain, built of mud bricks like Mached-Raba. At its gate a spring flows out filling a small pond close by. — Mached-Raba, or MeShed ‘Ali, an habitual stopping place for cara- vans, lay beside the fort of ar-Rhaba. 19 Mount az-Zaheé was known to Arabie writers. The poet ‘Adi ibn ar-Rika‘, who frequently visited the caliphs Walid I and Sulejman ibn ‘Abdalmalek, speaks of the table-like mountains of Dahek and al-Hazim (Jakut, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 974). — The caliph Walid I often stayed in the neighborhood of al- Zerjitejn,. whence a_ road leads via ‘Tudmor and as-Suhne to Irak. About twenty-five kilometers southwest of Tudmor is the well of al-Hazim, and north of the as-Suhne settlement rises the hill of az-Zaheé; we might, therefore, identify both these places with the al-Hazim and D&ahek of the poet “Adi. But there are two places called Hazim and Zaheé in the northwest corner of the depression of Sirhan which lie much nearer together and for this reason may well have been the ones to which the poet referred. Abu-l-Feda’ in the first redaction of his Takwim, p. 105 (Rei- naud’s translation, Vol. 2, Part 1, p. 105) compared al-‘Ared in Negd with Dahek near as- Subne. ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER ei from north to south; and on the south, the long flat ridge of az-Zwéheé. The whole of the basin might be cultivated. Riding in an east-southeasterly direction along the aque- duct Kenat as-Shejm, we soon sighted the high walls of the fort of al-Hér, where we remained from 11.52 to 3.50. At the southern foot of the height of al-Hamra stand two forts. The outside di- mensions of the larger one are ap- proximately 160 meters long from east to west by 150 meters wide; it has round towers on each corner and smaller towers on each side, 20.7 meters apart on the east and west sides and 22.6 meters apart on the north and south sides (Fig. 15). In the center of each side there is a gate flanked by two towers and leading into a spacious court, where a few remains of old walls could be seen. Five brackets orna- mented with human faces project above the western gate (Fig. 24). About in the middle of the court there is a reservoir with a door shaped like a horseshoe, above which is written in Arabic (Fig.17): “Al-Malek Said ibn Gemaleddin... tiSrin the second, eight hundred and ten. Manstr wrote this.” Thus the inscrip- tion dates from November, 1407; yet the fort itself is un- questionably of Roman origin. In the southeast corner of the fort a mosque was built (Fig. 18), with three aisles resting on pillars. The walls above the arches are constructed of brick, and among the débris lay various capitals (Figs. 19, 20). In the mosque grows luxuriant bengi. Of more interest is the smaller fort, 42 meters east of the eastern gate (Figs. 16,21). This is approximately 65 meters square on the outside. There is a round tower at each corner, and on each side except the west two smaller equidistant ones serve as buttresses. On the west the towers are a little nearer together, and a gate (Fig. 22) between them leads into a court full of débris. Abutting against each wall a row of rooms of unequal size is still to be seen. In the southeast and north- Fics. 19, 20—Kasr al-Hér, capitals. 718 PALMYRENA HiGgu22Z 21—Kasr al-Hér: smaller fort from the southwest. Fic. 22—Kasr al-Hér: smaller fort, gateway. ESRIJA TO KASR AL-HER 79 east corners there are stairs leading up to the ramparts. Some of the towers are topped by brick domes (Fig. 23) and orna- mented all around with pairs of semi-columns connected by arches. The columns, as well as the spaces between them, are covered with decorations. Between the two forts there is a well with a high tower above it, up to which more than twenty steps lead.?° 20 In 1616 Della Valle (op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 570; Vol. 4, p. 614), having started from Taiba, grcached a place where there had-once stood a town with a strong fort; its walls were built of huge boulders. It was called El Her by the Arabs. In 1625 Della Valle passed a similar fort named Heir. This was a large square building of white marble, with fortification walls having small round towers. In the court walls of white stone were still to be seen, but every- thing there was so dilapidated that it was impossible to obtain any idea of the arrangement of the interior. Parsons (Travels [1808], pp. 75ff.) traveled in the spring of 1774 from Aleppo via Hekla, at-Tajjibe, and ‘Ana to Bagdad. He calls the castles of al-Hér and al-Hwér ‘“‘Soor”’ (ibid., p. 86). Sighting the walls from afar, he probably asked what they were and his guide answered ‘fortification walls (stir)’’; whereupon he put in his notes that both the forts were named Soor. 80 PALMYRENA it ee “ai 4 ' Aes OS ; +n = SS LON \\ aon I EX NYE === : a y \' Pa = RX \ WS ” veo — ‘ rahe = _ i) WO i, __y Hiied WAL ih Ue Fic. 24 \@ ‘ . Drath Pt BR . - 1s ae smaller fort, gateway tower. larger fort, ornament over the western gateway. ér Fic. 23—Kasr al-H SaaS or IE [f 30 2>292399297>>: = Spek Fic. 23 Fic. 24—Kasr al-Hér CHAPTER V KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS BY WAY OF ARAK AND AL-BHARA KASR AL-HER TO ARAK Suddenly ten ‘Amarat came to us on camels and would have driven away our animals if we had let them. They asserted that we might be the spies of the enemy’s troop whom their herdsmen had sighted on the previous day at al-Bisri. As there was a possibility of our being attacked not only by this troop but also by the marauding ‘Amarat, we left the ruins in the evening and sought a sleeping place in the az-Zwéheé ridge. For over an hour we rode along a wall enclosing a garden. - Six arches could be seen to the southeast, but we could not go to examine them just then. As we have already seen, the whole vicinity of Kasr al-Hér might be cultivated, but only really good rains would assure a crop, and, since frequently periods as long as two years elapse with but little rain, artifi- cial irrigation would be necessary. In olden times the aqueducts Kenat an-Nedwijje and Kenat as-Shejm conducted water to the neighborhood of the castle and they were easy to repair. The run-off from the whole basin of al-Kowm flows to the se%b of as-Stk. As-Sik begins at the junction of the al-Minsar and al-“Afwijjat ridges, then runs along the western foot of ad-Didi and Zahrat al-Harrtba, and finally disappears on the plain Fejzat “‘Edeme southeast of the al- Muhejfir well. This well, now caved-in, lies at the southern foot of the tabular hills of az-Zwéhe¢ on the old trade road leading from as-Suhne to Dejr az-Zor. About thirteen kilometers northwest of it a new well, which the Bedouins call Gebb al-Gedid and the settlers Bir al-Barr4la, was dug by the order of the governor of Dejr az-Zor. This well is located west of the se%b of ad-Didi and has plenty of water, which is unpalatable because of its brackish taste. In the dry period merchant caravans approach this well by the new as-Sultani road along the northern side of az-Zwéheé and do not enter the old as-Sultani road until east of ad-Didi near the Seibdn of ad-Defajen. During the winter months, whén, water is to be found southeast of az-Zwéhec either in Radir at-Tejr or in Radir al- Muhejfir, they follow the old as-Sultani road. Fresh water can be had all the year round at the Zelib Negib well, which lies several kilometers south of the al-Muhejfir well. The western of the two seibdn of ad-Defajen begins at the Tlejtuwat domes near the al-Gajri well and winds in an 81 82 PALMYRENA easterly direction between Tell ad-Dabbe and Tar as-Sbéii on the west and Sa‘afet al-BiSri on the east. It is joined on the right by the se%b of ad-Didi and disappears in the plain Fejzat Fazel. The eastern Se%b of ad-Defajen originates in Sa‘afet al-BiSri and ends in the same plain. At about the center of the long flat-topped az-Zwéheé ridge, which runs from east to west, stands the low dome of al-Klejb. At 5.40 we reached the new as-Sultani road and went along it southwest as far as the knoll of al-Bwejb; there at 6.05 we encamped at an altitude of 452 meters. Tuesday, October 27, 1908. We were not disturbed at night either by robbers or by rain, although after midnight we heard the neighing of a horse and observed incessant lightning. Having left our camp at six o’clock, we descended from the hill and took the new as-Sultani road on the vast, white, rolling plain of al-Emejlat, which is shut in on the northeast by the az- Zwéheé ridge, on the north by az-Zaheé, on the west by the white escarpment of the ar-Ruraj, and on the south by the mighty heights of az-Zbejwat. Numerous se%badn which wind - through the plain merge in the al-Kebir valley and conduct the run-off down to the plain of “Edeme. At 8.05 we crossed the Se%b of al-Razwanijje, which rises on the western slope of the steep white az-Zahe¢ ridge and merges with the al-Kebir valley. Numerous springs flow forth west of the upper part of al-Razwanijje and irrigate the gardens of the settlement of -as-Suhne. The most important are the ‘Ajn Fejjaz to the north and the ‘Ajn ‘AjjaS to the south of the settlement; southeast of the latter bubbles out the “Ajn al-Waz‘ijje. South and east of as-Suhne there are cultivated tracts and numerous small gardens, irrigated in some places by the spring ‘Ajn al-Hammam, while elsewhere water is pumped out from shallow wells. The soil is marshy, and every- where there is water a meter and a half beneath the surface. Here we saw peasants cutting millet (dura) in some of the fields. , In as-Suhne there are about four hundred small houses called hdne, out of which four communities are formed. The first, Harat al-Habas, the second, Harat al-Mar4ziz, and the third, Harat al-"Afjat, obey Mhammad al-‘Ajed. In the fourth, Harat ar-Rhamat, the families of al-MZejbel, M48, and Beni Sbat live, all of whom obey Ahmad eben ‘Abdal‘aziz.24. ~ Bass 21 Jakat, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 52, states that the Suhne settlement, inhabited by Arabs, lies in the Syrian desert between Tadmur, ‘Ord, and Arak, or, more correctly, between Arak and “Ord. — And in reality as-Suhne is situated between Arak and ‘Ord, at-Tajjibe of today. _ At the beginning of the year 1348 Ibn Battita traveled from ar-Rahba to as-Suhne. He writes (Tuhfa [Defrémery and Sanguinetti], Vol. 4, p. 315) that as-Suhne is a fine settlement KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 83 Mhammad and the gendarme went to the settlement of as-Suhne, while the rest of us rode about the gardens and at 9.28 stopped near the spring of al-W4z‘ijje by the foot of a small hillock near a pile of débris from an old watchtower. About an hour later a poorly clad Bedouin joined us and sat down by the fire, inquiring whether we should need a little brother or companion (haw). Since I was quite sure that the guide we had hired at at-Tajjibe was not familiar with the country which I wanted to pass through south and southwest of the as-Suhne oasis, I had asked Mhammad to find us another guide and therefore told the Bedouin to wait until he returned. When Mhammad brought no one back with him, I made an agreement with the newcomer and discharged the old guide. The new guide very readily helped Mhammad with a wether he had bought in the settlement for two megidijjat ($1.80). The guide killed and skinned it and gave the fleece to a fellah, who was working in a garden near by, to keep for him. My companions asked me whether they might cook their dinner near al-Waz‘ijje, to which I agreed; and we stayed there until one o’clock. When it was time to go, our new guide, who had made a good meal of meat and bread and had alone drunk almost half a pot of black coffee, all at once declared that he could not accompany us and ran to the fellah to whom he had given the fleece in safe keeping. The gendarme rode after him, but at the same moment we heard the war cry of the ‘Amarat and saw eleven riders on camels galloping close to us. They surrounded us and forced our camels to kneel. But, having satisfied themselves that we were not Bedouins — as they had thought at first — but wandering traders, they let the camels go. In the meantime Mhammad recognized one of them and called out to him by name, which brought forth apologies from all of them. Returning from an unsuccessful marauding expedi- tion, they had taken us for booty sent to them by Allah himself. But they did not wish to despoil wandering peddlers, who have their protectors in every tribe, especially since they are obliged to return to them anything of which their kinsmen may have robbed them. Since we did not feel sure that there had not attached themselves to this group some ordinary robbers who inhabited chiefly by Christians and named ‘‘The Hot” (as-Suhne) because of its hot springs, near which were built baths both for men and for women. To be able to drink the hot water, the inhabitants draw it in the evening, leave it on the flat roofs of their houses to cool overnight, and have it entirely cold in the morning. From as-Suhne Ibn Batttta went by way of Tadmur to Damascus. 84 PALMYRENA might assail us at night, without taking a guide we left as- Suhne by the as-Sultani road, where we met six more groups of the ‘Amarat, all of whom scrutinized us greedily. The road runs along the foot of a long steep escarpment, Sekif ad-Dabbas, which stretches from northeast to southwest. It marks the northwestern edge of a plain which ascends gradu- ally to the south with only a few isolated domes rising above it. The highest of these is called Rigm as-Sabin (Soap Pile), because a great pile of stones is heaped on its summit and because in the neighborhood much ‘azgw and sndn grow, the ashes (kelw) of which are used in the manufacture of soap. At 1.50 P.M. we crossed the wide al-Kebir valley, which comes from a deep rift between the mountains of aS-Sejh WaAsel on the east and those of al-Klélat and Satih on the west. It rises in the Abu Rigmén ridge south of Ri* al-Hawa and east of the pass Nakb al-Hmejde and runs eastward along the western edge of the fertile plains Fejzat Fazel and Rozat al-Basal. Both of these plains are bounded on the north by the main ridge of Abu Rigmén and Kotkot, on the west by the _ Zahrat al-Bedr heights, on the south by the ridges of Satih and al-Kattar, and on the east by az-Zaheé. At two o’clock we rode through the river bed of al-Fares, which comes from the hillocks of al-Mkate‘ and Zahr al-Hmar to merge later with the al-Kebir valley. After three o’clock the road led through a gap west of the small al-Hléhle ruin, and at 3.45 on the left side of the Se?b of al-Butmi we entered a wide plain, shut in on the south- west by the peaked hillocks of ar-Rumamin and on the north by the spurs of al-Mkate’. The se%b of al-Butmi, also called al-Bustan, runs southeastward to the salt morass Sbaht al- Mumbatah south of Rigm as-Sabtn and joins the al-Hejl valley. We noticed on its left bank the ruined shrine of al-Kubba. At six o’clock we had Tell al-Ku‘ajjed on our left and crossed the channel of al-Hesja, which runs under the name of al-“Obejje from the hills of al-Wa‘arijjAt and an-Nhéle, winding south- east to the Zelib al-Mumbatah where it ends in a morass of the same name. At 7.25 we finally encamped with the Kmusa division of the Sba‘a tribe near the hamlet of Arak, or Raka (temper- ature: 10.2° C). Mhammad went into a tent to beg dry camel manure and returned after a while with an armful. He was followed by the owner of the tent, who asked us to come in, KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 85 at once. To show that he was in earnest, he put out our fire twice — nay, he even pulled out the iron stakes which were to hold our kettle and was not a little angry when I, knowing that a late guest would not get supper (ze7f al-masa’ ma lah ‘asa’), declared that we would not disturb him. After a poor meal, I lay down in order to avoid being questioned and entertained, but scarcely had I covered myself, including my head, when the chief of the camp, Fejjaz al Mesreb, came in with about ten companions. He sat down by me and began to question my men as to whence we had come and where we were going. He said that he was very sorry he could not talk to me person- ally and wanted them to wake me up, which, however, they refused to do. It was after midnight when he finally left. A little later some strange Arabs who were camping with the Kmusa tried to sneak in, and twice we chased away what we took to be thieves. Wednesday, October 28, 1908. In the morning I noticed that someone had pulled the case containing my toilet set out of my saddle bag lying beside me, but the set had been thrown away again about eight paces from the saddle bag, the thief evidently having no taste for anything of that sort. As we were loading our baggage a young man stepped up to me and asked whether we should not need a companion (hdwi), saying that he would very much like to ride with us. The guide that we had, an old man hired by Mhammad, did not seem to be what I needed; therefore I nodded to Mhammad to settle it with the young man. The old man gave up his job gladly on hearing that his relative Blejhan had something to do in al- Zerjitejn and would have to go there in any case. We filled our water bags from the spring ‘Ajn umm as- Sardak, which gushes out by the southern foot of the small hillock Tell at-Tafsih, the last spur of the hilly region of ad- Dwara. West of this hillock there flows a better spring, the Umm Srejhige. Both of these springs could irrigate large gar- dens as well as fields, but their water now runs to waste. ARAK TO AL-BHARA All of the fifteen huts of the hamlet of Arak—or, ac- cording to the Bedouins, Raka (or ar-Raka)— were deserted. The inhabitants, Tadamre from Tudmor, had suffered much from the Bedouins camping in the neighborhood and still 86 PALMYRENA more from the numerous raiding bands; therefore, as they always do under such circumstances, they had moved in a body with their supplies to Tudmor. The Turkish Govern- ment, it is true, some time in the seventies had ordered a strong barrack to be built halfway between the hamlet and the springs, with five gendarmes for a regular garrison; but this was now deserted, because the Bedouins only made fun of it. South of the hamlet we saw remains of a few old build- ings.2? (Temperature at 5P.M.: 11°C.) Blejhan’s brother went with us part of the way and begged me, in the name of his mother and himself, to be good to his dear brother. At 6.15 we were riding over a plain that rises towards the south and.where hardly a pebble could be found. On the north this plain is shut in by several mountains running out from the main ridge of Abu Rigmén, which projects above them all. North 22 Arak is often mentioned in history. Assurbanipal’s army on its ninth expedition, about 639 B. C., marched as far as Hurarina and defeated the nomads in the desert between Jarki and Azalla (Rassam Cylinder [Rawlinson, Cuneiform Inscriptions, Vol. 5, pl. 8], col. 8, l. 107; Streck, Assurbanipal [1916], Vol, 2, p. 72). — I identify Jarki with Arak and Hurarina with the Kal‘at al-Hurri or al-Harr4r ruins, fifteen kilometers northwest of Arak. Ptolemy, Geography, V, 14:19, mentions Adacha; the Peutinger Table (Vienna, 1888), Segm. 10, shows Harac; the inscription published in Corpus inscriptionum latinarum, Vol. 3, Suppl. no. 6719, mentions Aracha; the Notitia dignitatum, Oriens 32, nos. 14, 29, gives the name Adatha; and the anonymous Ravenna geographer, Cosmographia, II, 15 (Pinder and Parthey’s edit., p. 89), refers to Adatis. — Ptolemy lists Adacha (misrendered from Aracha) among the Palmyrene settlements. It lay on the road built by the Emperor Diocletian and called after him Strata Diocletiana, which connected Damascus with Palmyra and the ford of Sura (Strija) on the Euphrates. After the new division of the province of Phoenices at the end of the fourth century, Adatha (misrendered in the Notitia dignitatum from Adacha, in turn misrendered from Aracha) belonged to Foenices Secunda and was garrisoned by equites sagittarii indigenae. Peters, Nippur (1897), Vol. 1, p. 372, publishes an inseription from a milestone, which ~ indicates that the building of the Roman road Strata Diocletiana was in progress during the reign of the Emperor Constantine. The milestone was found about eight Roman miles from Palmyra in the direction of Arak. The decision of the Council of Constantinople in the year 381 was signed among others by Alexander Arachensis (var., Arachon) (by the proxy of the priest Timotheus), one of the cnr of the province of Phoenices (Harduin, Conciliorum collectio [Paris, 1715], Vol. 1, col. iF The resolutions of the Council of Chaleedon,-451; were ratified by Theodore, metro- politan of Damascus, in the name of his suffragan ‘‘Abraamios poleos Archaon”’ (ibid., Vol. 2, col. 485). ; The petition to the Emperor Leo to recognize the resolutions of this council was signed (ibid., col. 720), among the other bishops of Phoenicia’ Secunda by the same ‘“‘Abraamius episcopus Uranensis.’’ — The first n in Uranensis is due to an original substitution of a Greek v for a Greek x. Jakuat, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 210, writes that Arak is a small town on the borders of the Aleppan desert near Tadmur and that palm and olive trees thrive there. — By ‘the Aleppan desert”? JakGt must have meant the old Palmyrena, because immediately south of Arak he placed the northern edge of the desert of as-SamAwa. Abu-l-Feda’, Muhtasar (Adler), Vol. 5, p. 246, relates that in February, 1312, Kara’ Sonkor, the administrator of the town of Aleppo, journeying through the desert, reached the pilgrim’s station of Birket Ziza. Fearing lest the Egyptian soldiers escorting the Egyptian pilgrims should arrest him in the Hegaz by order of Sultan NAser, he returned from Ziza via Araka and Suhne to the Aleppan desert, where he and the Arab Emir Muhanna ibn ‘Isa conspired to rebel against Naser. He then attacked Aleppo, but before he could take possession of it the Egyptian army had reached Hama’ and, by the middle of April, had driven Kara’ Sonkor as far back as al-Hammam near az-Zerka. From there he fled to the Euphrates, where he took refuge in the camps of Emir Muhanna ibn ‘isa. — Both al-Hammam and az-Zerka lie on the highway from Palmyra by way of Esrija to Aleppo. It is interesting to note that Abu-l-Feda’ does not call the settlement Arak, but Araka, as do the Bedouins, who pronounce it either Raka or ar-Raka. KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 87 of Raka tower the high mountains of Zahrat al-Bedr and al-Rassabijje, to the southwest of which appear the Zahrat as-Safra and al-Mizar (other- wise called aS-Sejh Mhammad eben “Ali). The last-named falls steeply into the plain southwest of Tudmor. Hast of Zahrat al-Bedr, beyond the Se%ib of al-Mzebbed, the ridge of Satih stretches parallel with it, and both merge on the southeast into the rough hills of al-Wa‘arijjat, which send out the narrow spur of an-Nhéle to the southeast and the crest of ad-Dawwara to the south. Al-Mzebbed winds through the al-Wa‘arijjat hills, separates ad-Dawwara from the mountain of al-Harrar to the west, is joined on the left by the Se%b of Carej‘e and on the right by the Seibdn of Hale and al-Minsef, and disappears finally in the marsh south- east of Tudmor. At the head of the se%b of al-Minsef there are the ruins of al-Kattar with a little spring; southwest of them lie the Kal‘at al- Hurri ruins.”° On the west by the ridge of al-Harrar stretches the deep se%b of al-Ahmar with its wells Bijar al-Ammi. This Se%b also disappears in the marsh of Tudmor. South of the wells rises the height Mkate‘at ad- Darag, which falls off steeply to the southwest. Above it projects the steep scarp Marbat al-Hsan, the south side of which is called Tar an- Nwejser. South of the latter gapes the pass Tenijjet ad-Demis, through which a road leads from Tudmor westward. South of the pass rises the conspicuous gray ridge of al-Kajez, merging to the southwest into the darker ridge of Hejjal, which skirts the plain of Tudmor on the west. To the southwest this plain extends as far as the rose-colored rocks of the hilly region of Abtar?‘ and to the south and east as far as the heights of at-Telile and az-Zab*. Many parts of the plain might be cultivated. As our camels were very hungry we let them rest from 9.00 to 11.30 and then made our way southward along the eastern edge of the Tudmor marsh. This marsh is covered with deep drifts of gray sand, in which grow arta, rimt, and ‘alanda bushes. The animals’ legs sank into the sand, and we were more than thankful when, at 1.30 P. M., we again trod on firmer ground. At 1.50 (temperature: 26°C) we crossed the river bed of al-Frej, which comes from the south and ends in the marsh. To the northwest, about fifteen kilometers from us, the fort Kal‘at eben Ma‘an, built on a high rock above the ruins of Palmyra, was clearly outlined on the horizon. South of the fort dark-green palms veiled the poor grayish huts of the village of Tudmor, the wretched heiress of the imposing queen city of the Palmyrene desert. It seemed as if the village were seeking shelter in the folds of the al-Mizar ridge, to find safety from the countless attacks of raiders. 23 Nasr records (Jakit, op. cit., Vol. 2, p. 228) a place called Hurra’ in the territory of the Kalb. — As our Kal‘at al-Hurri lies in the former territory of this tribe, we might identify it with Hurra’, but in this case JakGt should have written the last letter as a j and not an alif. 2% Jakat, op. cit., Vol. 1, p. 78, mentions a place called Abtar in Syria. — This might have been the ridge of Abtar. ‘ 88 PALMYRENA Two Tudmor felldhin told us that only four days before their settlement had been attacked and they had lost 230 sheep and 60 pack camels, and that in spite of this they had had to regale the raiders as their most welcome guests. 3 The men were gathering on the plain ‘agw, rimt, and §ndn plants, which they pressed into piles about one meter high; about these piles they would lay dry sith; then they would throw some earth on, set fire to the whole, and wait until the plants withered and turned to ashes (kelw). These ashes are sold to soap makers in Hama’ or Aleppo and bring 250 to 800 piasters ($ 11.25—13.50) for 260 kilograms. Blejhan pointed out to us to the west the spring wells of a’-Sagara, al-Ksejbe, Zebara, and al-“Edejje, the watering places of the camels of the Kmusa division of the Sba‘a tribe. At 3.48 we halted before a small ruin at the northern foot of the low hillock Tell al-Bahra, on the top of which a watchtower once stood. There we sketched a map of the neighborhood. To the north we could see the Tudmor mountains all the way from al-Abjaz and aS-Sa‘er in the west to az-Zahe¢ in the east. To the north- west rose the reddish domes of Zhtr al-Humr, which lie south and south- west from al-Abjaz. To the southwest stretched the mountain chain of ar-Rawak, the various parts of which are called Hejjal, al-Gurnijje, al-Keteb, and al-Wu‘tl. A broad valley separates this mountain chain from a lower ridge to the south, Abtar by name. At the northeastern foot of the latter are the extensive al-Bhara ruins, south of which rise the bare rocks Swéwint al-Hamra; southeast of these the isolated hill Tell al-Frej marks the easiest approach from the south to al-Bhara as well as to the lowland of Tudmor. Southeast and east of al-Frej stretch the steep escarpments of Tlejlat al-‘Eleb and al-Giffa, above which stands the dark red cone of al-Rurab. The view to the east was obstructed by the mighty height of at-Telile. There is an abundance of water in the neighborhood of of al-Bhara, with possibilities of cultivation that must have been made use of in times long past, as the numerous re- mains of gardens and country houses bear witness. AL-BHARA TO AL-HAWA Having finished. our work, we went to the al-Baztrijje ruins, which lay about one kilometer farther south at the western foot of the hillock Tell al-Bahra. Al-Bazirijje had evidently never been a settlement, but, rather, a country res- idence. It was built in the center of a large garden irrigated KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 89 from two wells. Solid buildings once stood near the northern well, but of these little remains. The southern well is in the court of a small square fort with a projecting gate and a huge tower. As herds of camels were being watered at the wells by singing and shouting men, we were prevented from sketching a plan. After a while some Arabs came and asked what we had for sale. When my companions told them that we were not hawkers but wished to survey the country, they began to curse the Government for sending engineers to rob them of the land inherited from their fathers. It was quite a long time before I succeeded in pacifying them. (Temper- ature at 5.45: 20°C.) Tuesday, October 29, 1908. Leaving al-Baztrijje at 6.20 A.M. (temperature: 12°C), we went in a southwesterly di- rection to a rather small, partly ruined farmhouse which we had on our left at 6.38. At 7.08 we dismounted before the tent of Ratwan eben MerSed, the head chief of the Kmusa divi- sion of the Sba‘a tribe. My policy was to become personally acquainted with the head chiefs of all the ‘Aneze tribes. I wanted, if for only a short time, to visit Ratwan. When I had entered the men’s compartment of his seven-poled tent, he commanded me to sit down on a rug spread out for me op- posite him. But I sat quietly beside him, remarking that a Rwejli belongs to a Sbé. This made Ratwan laugh. He was pleased that I] did not refer to him as a Kmasi (one of the Kmusa) but, rather, as a Sbeé‘l (one of the Sba‘a), because the word kmdsi means a man with long protruding teeth and is therefore avoided by the Kmusa. Ratwan knew that I had attached myself to the Rwala and was therefore considered a Rwejli. The Rwala and the Kmusa division of the Sba‘a were friends of long standing and had helped each other against all their common enemies. It was his duty as a Sbé‘% to sup- port me — a Rwejli. Ratwan, a man of about thirty, tall, with thick black brows, black curly hair, and a pleasant face, behaved amiably, but with composure. It seemed as if he possessed no judgment of his own, because he consulted his scribe all the time. The latter had formerly been in the service of Farhan eben Hdejb, head chief of the ‘Ebede and Bargas’ father, from whom he had stolen more than one hundred Turkish pounds ($ 450). Farhan had then confiscated all his property and chased him out. After this incident he had entered the services of. Ratwan 90 PALMYRENA and was now examining me. Instead of replying to him, | handed him the letters of introduction addressed to his lord, and when the scribe asked if the Sublime Porte was informed of my journeying there, I told him to read the order of the Government addressed to all the head chiefs of the various tribes and not to bother me any longer with his questions. He then read all the documents aloud and left me in peace. After drinking a cup of tea made for me by Ratwan’s orders, I went to the ruins. Al-Bhara lies at the southwestern end of the Tudmor lowland on the northeastern spur of the ridge of Abtar. The fresh water in the wells, the fertile soil of the neighborhood, and the proximity of the great Roman road from Damascus to the Euphrates gave the inhabitants of al-Bhara so many advantages that the place prospered, at least as long as it was protected by a strong Roman garrison against the attacks of the Bedouins. I could not examine the ruins very closely, as the scribe made himself one of our party and began to worry me with questions; when I did not answer, he boasted of all the things he had ever done for noble foreigners. For instance, he claimed to have accompanied the Bartn (Oppen- heim?), a lady of the French royal family, and many other exalted personages, and he said that Ratwan did not have a good pair of binoculars and that I should put him under a great obligation by presenting him with mine. In answer to my remark that I needed the binoculars myself, he thought that I could order a pair for Ratwan from Damascus. Seeing that the scribe’s impudence would paralyze my whole activity about the camp, I returned to the tent, and, having written to my friend Halil Fattal in Damascus to buy Ratwan eben Mersed a pair of binoculars, I prepared to leave. My compan- ions urged me to get another guide from Ratwan, but when the latter saw our present guide, Blejhan, he declared that I needed no other, because I could travel all over his territory without any of his tribesmen molesting me. During the conversation several members of the Slejb tribe came in and, on hearing that Timan was a Frangi, wanted to befriend him. They claimed relationship to the Franks, who had left them behind in the desert when they emigrated from Arabia to Europe. Also they wished me to . induce Ratwan and an-Nitri eben Sa‘lan to compensate them for some goats which the kinsmen of these chiefs had killed KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 91 and eaten. Some of the Slejb wore long skirt-like robes made of gazelle skins. Strange to say they were all dressed cleanly, if poorly, and evidently washed much oftener than Ratwan and his Bedouins. The Kmusa belong to the Sba‘a tribe of the ‘Aneze group. According to the Rwala their name is derived from their long teeth. They live in about twelve hundred tents, obey the head chief. Ratwan, and are divided into three subdivisions: al-‘Amira ar-Rasalin al-Mesarbe. Clans of the “Amira: al-Btejnat (chief: Ratwan eben Mersed) ar-Rhama (35 Barras eben_Sa‘ajjed) al-Hamsan ( ,, Hajes eben Selhtb) as-Shejm ( , Fellag eben Stéwi) al-Mwahib tar “Abbtad eben Rasem). Clans of the Rasdlin: Al Gasem ( , Rati eben Nawwak) Al ‘Aglan ( ,, Mhammad eben ‘Ide) Al HwejSan (_,, Siran eben Matra). The Mesarbe form one unit only; their chief is Fejjaz al Mesreb. The recognized leader of the Kmusa in war is BeSir eben MerSed, a half-brother to Chief Ratwan by his father. After a meal of boiled rice soaked in melted butter, we left al-Bhara at 10.30 and rode westward to the Gebb as-Sikkerijje well (otherwise known as al-Hazim), which we reached at 10.52. The well was dug in the yard of some gentleman’s residence northwest of a strong tower. Southwest of al-Bhara there is a similar country seat called al-Bhéra. Without making a stop, we rode along through the broad valley of al-Hallabat, which separates the ridge of Abtar from the mountain chain of ar-Rawak. Far to the west-south- west were seen the Han (or Kasr) al-Hallabat ruins. Accord- ing to Blejhan’s explanation, this name was given the ruins because of old the women from al-Bhara used to come there every day to milk the goats and sheep grazing in the neigh- borhood. Consequently it is called “the Castle of Milking Women.” In this sense people often explain to themselves the names of old buildings, about the origins of which they are ignorant. On the road we met about twenty camels carrying the tents and smaller property of a migrating family of the Sba‘a. Every now and then both to the right and left we saw the remains of old graves, garden walls, and even dams. These dams became especially numerous just before al- Hallabat was reached at 1.25 P.M. (temperature: 24.3°C). Since 92 PALMYRENA the neighborhood did not have a good reputation for safety, we meant to stay near the fort only long enough to sketch a plan of it; therefore I ordered my men to make coffee while I began work at once with Taman. | ae yee Eom 33, HAN AL-HALLABAT METERS 10 = w 0 1S 20 25 Fic. 25—H4n al-Hallabat, plan. Han al-Hallabat forms a square 49 meters on each side with mighty, rounded towers at each corner (see Fig. 25). In the center of the eastern wall is a gate 3.1 meters wide leading into a court in the middle of which lies a heap of débris from several ruined chambers. By the north side of the gate a stairway leads up to the rampart 3.4 meters wide. In each tower is a square room with two stairways giving ac- KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 93 cess to the loopholes. After the soldiers had gone, the inside of the fort had evidently been made to house peaceful in- habitants, possibly monks.?° The plan finished, we sketched a map of the vicinity and then began to look for old inscriptions. At this moment I sighted several horsemen far down the valley west of the castle. Thinking that they belonged to the migrating clan we had met that morning, I did not pay much attention to them, but when I noticed four separating themselves from the rest and galloping over to us, I ran with Taman to warn our com- panions, who were concealed by the eastern wall and could not see them. Blejhan knew them as attackers at once, started after the camels, and drove them towards us. In the mean- time the strangers were already close to the castle and headed directly for our party; two of them pointed their rifles at us; the other two held their spears ready to throw. Another four surrounded us at the same time from the north; two threw themselves at our camels; and the rest, reinforced by two more, seized our water bags, quenched their thirst, and watered their horses. The thirsty mares trod all over our baggage and when I tried to drive them away with a club, two of the band took hold of my hands, laughing derisively. Blejhan and Mhammad came to my aid, snatching the water bags away from the strangers; but the gendarme hid his gun and with the coffeepot in his hand waited on the attackers un- blushingly, calling them ‘“‘efendijje’; ‘Abdallah ordered Mham- mad in a loud and angry tone to prepare dinner for our es- teemed guests. This order evidently pleased the men who were still holding me, for one of them let me loose and went with ‘Abdallah to our baggage, from which he helped himself to rice, burrul, and tea. At that moment two more riders appeared on the scene. One of them, who was the commander (‘azid) of the band, Blejhan recognized as Met‘eb, son of Fahad eben Haddal, the head chief of the ‘Amarat. When he approached me I said reproachfully to him: 2% Han al-Hallabat is the Roman station of Heliaramia (Peutinger Table [Vienna, 1888], Segm. 10). Perhaps no soldiers were there in the Byzantine era, and later it became a monastery. Wright, Catalogue (1870—1872), p. 718, col. 2, records the following Monophysite settle- ments in the ecclesiastical province of Arabia; ‘Awejra, Gubejl, Hadita, Helioram, Gejgil, “Awkaba, “Afa’? and (ibid., p. 714, col. 1) the monastery of “Entin. — Helioram is undoubtedly identical with the Roman post of Heliaramia, southwest of Palmyra; the monastery of “Entin with ‘Anén, southeast of Palmyra; ‘Awejra, probably with al-Barde; and Gejgzil with Han Gnejzel, northeast of Geri on the road to Palmyra. (See also Lamy, Profession [1898], p. 138, nos. 116 and 119.) 94 PALMYRENA “Took, Met‘eb, how thy friends are treated by thy men.” He made no reply whatever, but sat down by our fire and commanded Mhammad to prepare a good dinner for him and his men. Then he invited me to take a place beside him. When I declined with the remark: “T cannot sit with a friend who treats me as an enemy,” he replied: “Since when am I thy friend?” “Since the time thy friends gave me letters of introduction to thee and when I myself wrapped up the presents intended for thee and thy father!’ “Show me those letters!” “T will, but only in the tent of thy father, who shall know how thou hast treated me!” My words did not fail in the result desired. Met‘eb rose, sat down by me, and begged to be forgiven for the way he had acted. At his command his men helped to load our bag- gage, the kettle in which our husked wheat (burrul) was mer- rily boiling was taken down, and the flour just ready for mak- ing bread was returned to the sack, so that by 2.52 we could continue on our way again. Met‘eb offered me his friendship and his hand; but I refused to give him mine, saying that I would do so only in his or his father’s tent. We had been on the march about half an hour when Met‘eb overtook us and again offered his hand, begging for- giveness. Then I gave him mine and sent greetings to his father. The young man now told me that he had set out at ‘the head of about four hundred riders on camels and thirty on horseback against the Rwala; but the Rwala’s herdsmen sighted them and so alarmed the neighboring camps that nothing was left for him to do but to save himself by flight. His camel riders and some horsemen escaped by way of al- Zerjitejn and Tudmor, while he and about a dozen riders went home by way of al-Basiri and al-Bhara. At 4.15 we reached the ruined well Zelib al-Hawa, north of which lies the demolished Han al-Hwénize. Northeast of the latter, through the Se%b of as-Sihle and the defile Ri* al- Hawa between al-Gurnijje to the west and as-Seklawijje to the east, there leads an easy road to the spring of al-“Edejje and to Tudmor. Another road heads northwesterly to the Kal‘at al-Béza fort through the saddle between al-Gurnijje and al- KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 95 Keteb, running thence alongside the se?%b of ar-Raml, which disappears in the ad-Daw lowland. AL-HAWA TO AL-BARDE South of the Zelib al-Hawa I noticed the first Roman mile- stones, but most of them were broken and crumbled, thus making the reading of even a single letter absolutely impos- sible. From five to six o’clock we rested and then rode on in the same direction, not desiring to sleep where we had lighted our last fire. But in a little while a heavy cold rain began to beat across our faces. For more than half an hour we and our animals struggled against the rain and wind with all our strength; then suddenly our camels turned their faces to the east, knelt down, and could not be made to rise again. Un- loading the baggage and covering it as best we could, we, too, sought protection from the rain. I sat down beside my camel and the baggage with my back to the wind and wrapped my cloak tight about me; but the wind kept raising it and the rain sent one trickle after another down my back. After an hour the rain ceased a little, which gave me a chance to get a blanket out of the baggage, stretch it on the wet ground, pick up some large stones, and lie down, covering myself with my cloak, the edges of which I weighted down with stones lest it be blown away by the wind. Just then it started to rain heavily again. The blanket on which I was lying got wet, the night was cold, and the morning star would not show itself. My companions wrapped themselves up in their clothes, wool coats, and blankets, pulled their knees almost to their faces, and seemed not to mind the bad weather at all. But the gen- darme pressed, closely to me, making my head ache with his lamentations and complaints. The second watch fell to Mham- mad’s lot and the third to Blejhan, but both of them de- clared that in a dark rainy night like this, no thief or robber would venture out and to guard our baggage or camels would therefore be unnecessary. The gendarme, however, was con- cerned about his horse, which had no iron fetters, and feared that any marauder, from what he knew of that gentry, would take a horse before anything else. I advised him to consult his good friend and ally ‘Abdallah, who surely would keep awake with him; but ‘Abdallah declared that he had not known 96 PALMYRENA the gendarme up to a month ago, that in two days he would forget all about him anyway, and that if he were afraid for his horse he should watch it himself. Having thus relieved his mind, ‘Abdallah crawled back into his covers again and did not stir until morning. Friday, October 30, 1908. At five o’clock we started to- ward the southwest. The sky was dark, but the clouds were breaking, and here and there a star appeared. From 5.18 to 6.34 (temperature: 15°C) we let our camels pasture on the abundant rate in the neighborhood, while we warmed up the coffee. After a while we sighted on the south side of the valley about sixty camels laden with the tents and furniture of the Hamsan clan of the Kmusa division. Soon after, an elderly man seated on a she-camel came over to us and asked where we had come from, of what tribe we were, and where this and that clan were camping. At 7.48 A.M. Blejhan showed me a place to the north where the spring “‘Ajn al-Kattar lies on the eastern slope of the ridge of al-Wu‘il. There is another spring called al-Wu‘tl southwest of al-Kattar. The deep rift Tenijjet al-Wa‘are separates the ridge from al-Keteb to the east. North of the rift begins the Se%b of Misa Ara, which ends northeast of the at-Tw4ale ruins and well (also called an- Najfe). At the entrance to Tenijjet al-Wa‘are there lies, east of ‘Ajn al-Kattar, the small fortress of al-Kattar, which I did not see, since it was hidden in the fog and Blejhan did not call my attention to it in time. To shorten our way, we left the Roman road which leads through the valley to the al-Basiri ruins and went across the pass between the al-Hlejjel and an-Neknekijje ridges in a westerly direction. To the south the Abtar ridge sinks gradually to’ the flat hillocks of al-Makta‘a, southeast of which appear the gray rocks Swéwint aS-Shaba, connected on the west with the broad black crest of ‘Ade. This ends in a cluster of scattered crags not unlike a black castle, which is called Kal‘at Tejr. West of the crags projects the mighty black pyramid of ar-Rmah with its two terraces, partly concealing the bluish rocks of the low tabular hill of Khejle. Northwest of ar-Rm&h glisten the dark blue mountains of Kehle, with the higher Rattis to the north of them, and, still farther, al-Barde. To the north was seen the Kasr al-Hér al-Rarbi ruin on the as-Sultani road, which runs from al- -Zerjitejn to Tudmor. The lowland of ad- Daw, which fie road cuts through, is shut in to the north of al-Hér by the white escarpment Tar ar-Rhejmi and by the white heights of at-Tjas as well as by the low hillocks Zuml Emhar, al-Hadidijje, and Ras al-Medrir, which cluster in front of the southern spur of the high ridge of al-Abjaz. KASR AL-HER TO AL-BARDE WELLS 97 At ten o’clock, leading our camels by the reins, we reached the western foot of the ridge, crossed the road to the spring ‘Ajn al-Wu‘tl, and went through the basin to the isolated hillock Tell al-Akta, which rises east of the spring wells of al-Barde. Around the water were about two hundred tents, through which I should have had to ride had I wanted to visit the dam of al-Harbaka. From the camp several men came to- wards us and invited us to enter their tents as their guests. Since our baggage was soaking wet and every one of us dead tired, we turned west and encamped at 11.38 (temperature: 23.5°C) at the foot of the mountain of al-Barde, which rises on the left side of the valley of the same name about a kilo- meter and a half south of the wells. The gendarme with Blej- han went to the wells, the former to water his horse, the latter to get water for us. Having unloaded the baggage, we spread out the blankets, hung our clothes on the ‘alanda bushes to dry, and began to sketch a plan of the vicinity. This done, Taman and I lay down for a short rest, but just then the gendarme brought to us Chief Fellas eben Stéwi with six of his friends, who bothered me a long time, trying to persuade me to come as their guest to their tent and in the mean- time drinking up all our coffee. CHAPTER VI AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE BY WAY OF AL-ZERJITEJN AND HAN ‘ANEJBE | AL-BARDE TO AL-ZERJITEJN At 2.05 we left in the direction of the gap Tenijjet az- Zerka, which separates the ridge of al-Barde from that of Rattis. On the way to the pass we found a small cluster of yellow flowers which resembled the tulips of Europe and which Blejhan called ‘asansal. Leading our camels all the way, we reached the summit of the pass in about twenty minutes and there sighted to the south-southeast at about six kilo- meters from us a few tents of the Fwa‘re, camping by the al- Basiri wells. The Roman road branches off from the al-Basiri wells through the Tenijjet al-“Alézijje rift to the southwest. Another road leads from these ruins north through the valley of al-Kantara to the al-Barde wells and farther on to Kasr al-Hér al-Rarbi; and a third road goes west through the al- Haramijje and al-Maszijje passes to al-Zerjitejn. These two passes separate the mountain of Kehle from the long ridge of an-Nusrani, which is grown over partly with groves of terebinth trees. Far to the west in the desolate white plain our eyes were refreshed by the sight of the dark green gardens of the al- Zerjitejn settlement, where we wished to spend the night; we therefore urged on our tired animals to greater speed. The descent from the pass was much more difficult than the as- cent because the path leads over and among big boulders, where our camels could move only with the utmost care and very slowly. On reaching the foot of the ridge we were over- taken by two riders going from the Fwa‘re camp near al- Basiri to visit their relatives, who were camping in the Se%b of al-Abtah. Recognizing us as the travelers guided a short time ago by their kinsman Ramzin, they inquired what: clans we had met on the road and what experiences we had had thus far. From 4.28 to 6.45, letting our camels graze at the western foot of the al-Barde mountain in a shallow valley in the un- 98 AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-ATIZE 99 dulating region of al-Hazerijjat, we sketched a map of the sur- rounding country. After supper we passed through the rolling plain to the west to the lowland Rozat al-Mizra‘a, where the camp fires of the Fwa‘re were then burning. At first it seemed that the flames were white, visible one minute, out of sight the next. Not until an hour later, when we had crossed the Abu Tine valley, which rises at the Tenijjet al-Hufejjer pass, did the fire assume its normal red ‘color. It could plainly be seen to rise, flare up, and then die down again. We also began to hear dogs, then human voices and the wailing of the she- camels caring for their young; and at last we halted before the camp itself, where we lay down at eight o’clock and had a good night’s rest. Saturday, October 31, 1908. The sky was clouded and the air was moist when we resumed our trip at 5.08 the next morning (temperature: 8°C). The Fwa‘re drove their sheep to pasture —or, rather, led them; for every herdsman sat on a donkey, his dog trotting beside him; then came a ewe with a bell hung around her neck, and in her wake the rest of the flock, long rows of them in single file with heads bent down. The lowland of al-Mizra‘a, which we were passing, might be cultivated very profitably. We let our camels graze from 6.22 to 6.40, after which we headed for the gardens of al-Zerjitejn. We should have liked to go around them in the direction of the Umm al-Ke- lajed spring and to encamp northeast of the settlement on the very spot where we had stayed at the time of our first visit (see above, pp. 35f.), but the gendarme declared that we should have to go too far out of our way and that he would lead us straight through the gardens. As he had been stationed at al-Zerjitejn, we took his word for it; but no sooner were we between the high garden walls built of dry marl than he did not know which way to turn. Our camels shied and made us fear for our instruments, which might easily have been da- maged if rubbed against the walls. Nothing was left for us to do but face about and lead our animals by the reins; hence we did not reach the northern edge of the settlement until 9.42, when we finally pitched our camp.”° i 26 The poet al-Ahtal, Diwdn (Salhani), p. 86, mentions al-Karjatan (the modern al- Zerjitejn). The caliph al-Walid ibn ‘Abdalmalek once listened at the al-Karjatan settlement to a quarrel between two men, one of the Kalb tribe, and the other of the Kejs tribe. The Kalbi was standing in a pond and challenged all present to a wrestling match. The Kejsi took up his challenge, but got a ducking and could save himself only by great efforts. He was thus humiliated, with nobody willing to help him. At that very moment another burly 100 PALMYRENA AL-ZERJITEJN TO HAN ‘ANEJBE Al-Zerjitejn is divided into four Moslem and two Christian precincts. The Moslem precincts, Harat aS-Serkijjin, Harat al- Rarbijjin, Harat al-Bali‘a, and Harat al-Wasta, number about six hundred huts, peopled exclusively by Moslems. Harat as- Sarijjan and HAarat al-Katilik, with about two hundred houses, belong to the Christians. The Strijjan (Syrian orthodox Chris- tians) have two priests, Gebrajil and Haran; the Katdlik (Syr- ian Catholics) only one, Philip. The head chief of the whole settlement is Ahmad eben Fejjaz. j To save themselves from robberies, the people of al-Zer- jitejn have protectors in the several tribes of the desert, who are obliged to return to them everything of which their kins- men have robbed them. For this such protectors get an an- nual tribute called huiwa, as follows. In the Rwala Eben Me‘gel gets 30 megidijjat ($27) se . Eben Rowzan » 40 e ($ 36) » » Weld ‘Ali Al Halfl Mee? ; ($27) » 9» Hsene ar-Raffase ecu % ($18) pin uc ehigab Ahl Fellah 520 4 ($18) Sg a. Eben Sa‘dan as a 5 ($ 14.40) Pry iakt OC an Eben Nubejhan ee pi ($18). One of the “‘Amarat chiefs Wee . ($27). As long as Fejjaz eben Da“as was living, nobody dared to ask the inhabitants of al-Zerjitejn, who are commonly Kejsi arrived in al-Karjatan on his camel, and scarcely had he dismounted when the caliph al-Walid ordered him to challenge the victor. The newcomer hesitated at first, fearing that he would have to pay the eustomary blood price; but when the victorious Kalbi yielded his claim for the blood money, the Kejsi engaged him in a struggle, which ended by the Kejsi’s holding his opponent’s head under the water until he was dead. The caliph was much displeased with this. (Abu-l-Farag, Ardni [B0l4k, 1285 A.H.], Vol. 12, pp. 32f.) At the beginning of February, 1071, some bands of the Turkoman army, then besieging Aleppo for the caliph al-Kajim, passed through the desert to seize al-Karjatén, which, as well as the country thereabouts, they thoroughly plundered (Ibn Tarri Birdi, Nugtim [Popper], Vol. 2, p. 245; Ibn al-Kalanisi, Dajl [Amedroz], p. 100). In October, 1104, Emir Sukman, leader of the Seljuks of Mardin, who ravaged the surroundings of Damascus, died at al-Karjatan and was buried at Hisn Kifa near Mardin (Ibn al-Atir, Kamil [Tornberg], Vol. 10, p. 268; Ibn al-Kalanisi, op. cit., p. 147). tive In 1199 al-Malek az-Zaher, son of Saladin, came with only a small retinue to the vicinity of the town of Sarhad and from’there went through the desert of as-Samawa to Tadmur. The baggage-laden mules followed him to al-Karjatan. During the next rainy season he camped with his army in the Merg as-Suffar and Ras al-Ma’, after which he marched by way of al-Karjatan to Aleppo. (KemAaladdin, T'a’rih [Blochet’s transl.], Rev. d’or. lat., Vol. 4, p. 220; al-Makrizi, Sulik [Blochet’s transl.], Rev. d’or. lat., Vol.9, p.107; Abu-l-Feda’, Muhtasar [Adler], Vol. 4, p. 180.) Jakat, op. cit., Vol. 4, p. 77; Vol. 2, p. 355, and Abu-l-Fada’il, Mardsid (Juynboll), Vol. 2, pp. 406f., write that al-Karjatan is a large settlement inhabited only by Christians on the desert road from Homs to Suhne and Arak. According to Abu Hudejfa (as cited by Jakut) Haled marched out of Tadmur to the settlement called al-Karjatan, or otherwise Huwwarin, two days distant from Tadmur. — Al-Karjatan, however, was not situated on the road from Homs to Arak and Suhne, as the direct road between these places ran north of it. Al-Karjatan also was quite different from HuwwéAarin, a settlement lying twenty kilo- meters to the northeast, and it is indeed remarkable that Jakdat failed to point out the difference between them. ; AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 101 called al-Karawne, to pay the huiwa. But he died in 1903 and, as his sons are weak and afraid of everybody, they have to buy protection from strangers. Having paid a visit to the kassis Philip, I told the ser- vant I had hired there to follow me to our camp. Asking for eight napoleons ($ 30.40) in advance, he promised to bring his clothes and to be with us before noon; but in the afternoon a messenger came with the report that my man was afraid and that he did not know whether he would go with us or not. This meant that his friends, having found out that I had come to take him with me and begrudging him the good wages he was about to get, were trying to scare him away in the hope of entering my service themselves. ‘Abdallah eben Huri in particular, the son of the late parish priest Ibrahim, was spreading rumors throughout the settlement that anyone going out with me and the Rwala would put himself in the greatest danger. And after that ‘Abdallah was impudent enough to offer me his own services, adding by way of ex- planation that he had accompanied a number of consuls to Palmyra, had more than fifty letters of recommendation, knew what every traveler wanted, and that I could hardly find so reliable and experienced a servant as he. But, having no suc- cess in this, he begged the kassis Philip to plead for him, so that I would hire no one but him, ‘Abdallah. Since even this did not help, he brought to me the chief of the settle- ment, Ahmad eben Fejjaz Agha, who declared that there was only one man between Damascus and the Euphrates whom he could vouch for, that his name was ‘Abdallah eben Hari, and that he warmly recommended him; then he said that all he asked for his exertions in this matter would be a rifle, Tt- man’s carbine. When Ahmad eben Fejjaz Agha also failed to convince me, I was visited by about twenty other men, all offering me their services; but I stated over and over again that I wanted only the one with whom I had made the agree- ment. For him I waited until one o’clock that afternoon, when he sent the prepayment back with the excuse that he would not accompany me because he really could not. Then, when I was ready to leave, a new messenger came, announcing that the brother of the man whom I had hired would like to go with me on the same terms; because I liked his looks, I accepted him. I had, however, to wait for him until 4.22, when he finally came with his mother and several relatives. 102 PALMYRENA At five o’clock we stopped at the spring ‘Ajn umm al- Kelajed where we planned to spend the night. Telling Mham- mad to show the new servant how to prepare our supper, I went to the al-Hosn ruins. The building material, huge stone blocks, was covered with variously executed ornaments and therefore must have been taken from other ruined buildings. Use had also been made of it in building a small fortress, the vaults of which were in a good state of preservation. Returning to the camp, I found the new servant working hard. Soon after, his brother came with two strangers who were buying horses from the Bedouins then watering their herds at the spring. Having bidden a farewell to his brother, who turned to go back to the settlement again, our new servant suddenly leaped on the baggage pile, took out from a bag his bundle of clothes, and called to me, saying that I was not to be angry with him, that he could not leave his mother, and that he would return the prepayment directly. Then he ran after his brother. Mhammad, having forgotten the tea he had bought as well as the raisins for which al-Zerjitejn is widely famed, went back for them with ‘Abdallah to the settlement, so that only Blejhan and I remained by the fire. To my question whether he too had now to return to his relatives, Blejhan replied that he would stay with me as long as I wished him to and that he would serve me conscientiously if I would only “rid him of coffee and bread,’’ meaning I should not ask him to prepare our meals, since he did not understand that kind of work. At that moment I heard the war cry of the Esage‘a and saw ourselves surrounded by eight armed herdsmen, who be- lieved us to be camel thieves. We were encamped in a small basin between low limestone hillocks, and neither we nor our fire could be seen except from very near. Having satisfied themselves of our peacefulness, they left again, with the ex- ception of one, who sat down beside Blejhan who was just then about to finish making our coffee. Fifteen minutes later Blejhan brought the empty coffeepot to me with the words: “There, thou seest that the ESage‘a are not Sha‘a. The Sba‘a have sense, but the ESAge‘a.are insatiable like a bot- tomless bucket.” . “Why didst thou give it to him?” “He helped himself.” AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 103 “Then why didst thou not tell me before?”’ “Because Allah has ordered that all our coffee be eve by an Esage'i today.” This opened my eyes to the fact that Bhejhan would not be able to defend my provisions either against my always hungry servants, Farag and ‘Abdallah, or against their guests. A sensible and fearless man Blejhan certainly was, but at the same time very open-handed. The only thing left for me to do was to look for a servant of mature age and without generous notions; one who out of sheer greediness and antip- athy to the Bedouins would know how to protect my pro- visions against them. Such an older servant would have to cook, whereas Blejhan would take care of our camels, sad- dles, and water. Mhammad reported to me on his return that the kassis had found a new servant for us, a much better and more re- liable one than either of the former two. He said that he would have offered him to me the day before, if he had not been away from the settlement, returning only towards even- ing. This aspirant for our service was said to be a camel driver named Naser, who, with the help of his beast, acted as a sort of carrier between the settlements. He knew the roads, was accustomed to exposure, and could be away from his family for several months if necessary. This proposition appealing to me, I told Mhammad to start for the settlement before sunrise and bring the man back with him. We had to watch our baggage all night to prevent the herdsmen frequent- ing the watering place from stealing anything. Sunday, November 1, 1908. At four o’clock I woke Mham- mad, reminding him not to stay in the settlement too long but to return as soon as possible. Two or three hours had passed, however, before he came with the report that Naser had left after midnight for the spring to buy a camel, which he wanted to kill, cut in pieces, and sell in the settlement. His brother went to look for him, saying that he would soon be with us. Before long the brother came, but without Naser, who he said had returned home by another road. All that I could do now was to send Mhammad to the settlement again. This time it took two hours before he brought the expected guide. Naser asked for six napoleons ($22.80) in advance and wanted us to start out at once. By ten o’clock we broke camp, rode around the Turkish 104 PALMYRENA barracks, which had been built in the eighteen-seventies but were now deserted, and made our way along the foot of the hillock Tell al-‘Ajn. This hillock is about ten meters in height and on it once stood the fortifications of the old town; the foundation walls were still visible here and there. Many of the blocks used in building the walls were 2.60 meters long, 90 centimeters wide, and 60 centimeters thick. To the south- west, under the hillock, there bubbles out the large spring of Umm al-Kelajed, the water of which irrigates the gardens and fields; the farmers just then were industriously plowing and sowing. On the north of the Ri* aS-Sam gap, through which runs the as-Sultani road, projects the butte Muntar al-Radir, and south of the gap stretches the long hillock al- Gbejl. At 10.20 P.M. we crossed the Se%b of al-Fahel and then, riding between the limestone domes of ar-Rts, reached the junction of the two branches of the Se%b of al-Jehmutn. The western branch gathers the run-off between the hills of al-Mzejble, Ris at-Twal, al-“Enejz, and as-Sawwane; the south- ern gathers that from between the mountains of an-Nusrani, as-Sejh, and ad-Delle. The combined Se‘ibdn of al-Jehmiin and al-Fahel form the Se%b of al-Abtah, which receives on the right the at-Tine gully and ends in the low plain of Arz al- Kamt‘. At 12.12 we reached the black hill of al-“Abd, made a little turn eastward, and went on over the plain to the pass Tenijjet ad-Delle, situated between the ranges of al-Butmi and an-Nusrani. From the summit of the pass we sighted on the south the Han ‘Anejbe, which we reached at 1.38 and where we stayed until 4.46 (temperature: 15°C). HAN ‘ANEJBE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE The Han ‘Anejbe lies on the southern foot of the an- Nusrani range. On a high hill north of it stands a ruined watchtower. The dn is a ruined fort the interior dimensions of which are 44 meters long from south to north by 35 meters wide (Figs. 26, 27); the walls are 2 meters thick. At the cor- ners, Square towers, the outer sides of which are each 9 me- ters in length, project 6.5 meters beyond the walls. In the center of the south side the wall is additionally strengthened by a buttress which projects 6.5 meters beyond the wall and is 14 meters long on the outside. A gate 2.7 meters wide in the middle of the east side leads into a court divided into six AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-ATIZE 105 parts by low walls. North of the gate a stairway leads up to the ramparts. The towers on the east side have five loopholes, the other towers four each. The door in the northern wall opens upon two reservoirs, one of which on the inside is 35 meters long from east to west by 11.8 meters wide, while the second is 12.6 meters long from north to south by 11.6 meters wide and extends northward along a ditch in a projection 2.3 meters wide by 20.8 meters long. Into these the rain water used to flow from several gullies. The gap Tenijjet al-“Alézijje, which opens to the north, is a favorite thoroughfare for marauding bands; therefore Blejhan warned me not to spend the night near the hdn, but to go farther southwest. Thick clouds began to envelop the mountains of Kehle and ar-Rmah, making a never-to-be-for- gotten picture. These clouds seemed to come down from the skies as if to draw a curtain over the two mountains. Gigan- tic sluggish masses of vapor rolled up and down the hill- sides. The sky to the east was very black, while to the west it glowed in the setting sun as if colored with blood. And down ar-Rmah thick columns of smoke seemed to be tum- bling eastwards. Riding as fast as we could in a southerly direction, at 5.82 we reached the camp of the ‘Abdelle clan of the Rwala tribe, near which we lay down to sleep. Monday, November 2, 1908. At 5.10 A. M. we were on our way again and from 6.08 to 6.42 we rested about one kilo- meter from the Han al-Manktra. South of here spreads an almost level plain, partly covered with basalt and intersected by the numerous wide valleys of al-Butmijjat. The largest of these runs out of the Tenijjet al-‘Alézijje, the rest coming from the southern slopes of the an-Nusrani, al-Butmi, Hejmatr, Ma‘raz al-Krejze, and az-Zbejdi mountains, which shut in the plain on the north. East of al-Butmijjat and the long height Tarak abu Dalje the valleys are called al-Bowlijjat; and still farther east, as-Serijjat. All these Se“ban trend toward the Tel‘et as-Sai, which carries the run-off west to the rain ponds Habari Sejkal. Scattered all over the region of al-Butmijjat are isolated terebinth trees. The entire plain is sparsely covered with various perennials, on which the herds of camels of some Rwala clans were then grazing. Their watering place was the springs near al-Zerjitejn. The Roman road we now took runs along the foot of the border range of ar-Rawak. At seven o’clock we passed a ruined 106 PALMYRENA watchtower and a large camp of the Weld ‘Ali. Half covered by fog banks (kubejs), the tents resembled some giant monsters AG e Re CAO! RRS aon oS ney Na CVV NA hy as ee pes ) ara ( ea \ 7 HAN ANEJBE AND ENVIRONS METERS 0 20 40 60 100 SSE ERT Nase eee eee Sy MIR Fic. 26—Han ‘Anejbe and environs, plan. of bizarre shapes. The camels appeared to be swimming in the mist and parting it with their necks. Here and there projected the head of a herdsman or an unreal-looking rider AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL“ATIZE 107 HAN ANEJBE METERS 10 15 20 Fic. 27—Han ‘Anejbe, plan. 108 PALMYRENA on a camel; and with each shifting of the wind these pictures changed. At 7.58 we sighted on our right three broken mile- stones and at 8.11 two more. At 8.50 we passed a watchtower on our right, at nine o’clock a milestone on our left, at 9.15 HAN AT-TRAB METERS 10 Fig. 283—H4an at-Trab, plan. another one, at 9.50 a watchtower, at 10.28 a milestone num- bered VI, and from 10.52 to 12.56 we sketched a plan of the ruins of the Han at-Trab. The Han at-Trab was built of soft stone, now almost wholly crumbled and fallen to pieces. The walls have disappeared, but the plan is still distinct (Fig. 28), forming a rectangle 44.8 meters long from east to west by 41.5 meters wide, with a mighty square tower in each corner. In the middle of the north side is a gate. The court is divided by thinner walls AL-BARDE TO DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 109 into many spaces of various sizes. West of the gate are traces of a staircase to the rampart, which was three meters wide. In each tower there are four loopholes. The Han at-Trab stands at an important crossing. The Roman Road stretching from northeast to southwest is cut here by the highway leading from the Hawran in the south to Homs in the north. North of the Han at-Trab the latter divides, one branch running past the well Gebb az-Zbejdi, the other through the pass of al-Jabarde. At 1.52 we noticed a Latin inscription on a fallen mile- stone. I made an impression and a copy of it, which took me until 2.45. At three o’clock we passed another milestone, and the negro ‘Abdallah pointed out to me some ruins about five kilometers to the south of our road. At 4.52 we reached the Han aS-Samat, where we had wished to let our camels rest, in order that they might graze and then be able to continue traveling after supper. But far and wide there was not a vestige of a plant. The herds of the Eben Hnejjan of the Rwala tribe, which had camped here for some time, had eaten everything in the vicinity, and there was nothing left for our camels. All we could do was to leave the place; which we did without further delay, riding on as fast as possible to Dmejr, where we halted at 7.08 before my tent between the al-Makstra bar- racks and the Roman camp of Dmejr al-‘Atize. Hither, while I had been away, an-Nitri had moved his camp from the al-“Asej- fir valley. Coming to my tent we surprised a large party that my servant Farag was treating to burrul, rice, and tea. ‘Abd- allah al-Matrad was away somewhere visiting. After a while the Prince’s scribe GwAd abu ‘Ali, who hailed from ‘Ana on the Euphrates, delivered to me several letters which he had brought from Damascus. He was followed by Nawwaf and finally by Prince an-Niri himself, who asked all kinds of questions about my trip and did not leave me until after midnight. Then, since GwAd had to go to Damascus that same day, I sat down to my correspondence and wrote until dawn. CHAPTER VII SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE Tuesday, November 3, 1908. After sunrise I dismissed my servant Farag. His dismissal came to him so unexpectedly that he found the parting with my tent and supplies very hard indeed. He cursed, reviled everything and everybody, asked several persons to put in a good word for him, and begged and promised to mend his ways; but*it was out of the question to keep him any longer. He then called on all his friends to bear witness that he had received fourteen napo- leons ($54.04) from me in advance and, since for this sum he had served me two months and ten days, he now owed. me nothing. He even wanted me to confirm this in writing, a request I refused to comply with, since he was hired for me for three napoleons a month by the Hagg Datd 4l Salem, a good friend of mine. Farag’s complaints having no end, I threatened to have him led off by a gendarme to Damascus — which helped, because he went out and was not seen any more about the camp. Prince an-Ntri was very uneasy because the rains were so late in coming that season; he was thus prevented from going to the inner desert, since he could not have found water there either for his people or the camels. As the mountains northeast of Dmejr and the plain east of aS-Samat were grazed over completely by this time, all the Rwala could do was to send their herds into the territory of their enemies, the Ahali al-Gebel, or even into the volcanic area, Tl0l al-jat. The herds were remaining at pasture (je‘azzebaw) for six days under the protection of the younger warriors, who were commanded by Nawwaf. The latter came to take leave of me when he went to the pasture on his ash gray, pure blooded she-camel. I accompanied him for quite a stretch, at last leaving him at the Roman tamp of Dmejr al-‘Atize, where I spent an hour or so at work. Dmejr al-‘Atize was the largest fortified camp northeast of Damascus (Fig. 29). It is 189 meters long from east to west by 173 meters wide. There is a round tower in each corner 110 SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 111 measuring 20 meters in diameter, and rounded turrets project from the sides. The middle turrets on each side are only 8 and 9.95 meters apart on the east and west and on the north and south sides respectively; between each pair a gate leads into the camp. From north to south the camp is cut through by a road seven meters wide, with columns ornamenting both sides of it. Two narrower roads run parallel with it from north to south, and there are three similar ones from east to west. In the western half of the enclosure are two buildings of almost equal size, each 20 meters long from north to south by 17 meters wide. Outside the camp, near its southwest corner, is a basilica 30 meters in length by 24 meters in width, divided into three aisles by four pillars on each side. The nave ends at the east with a stately apse. Neither in the camp nor in the basilica are any columns or even pieces of marble left, everything having been sold in Damascus. Returning to my tent, I found the Prince there with the chief, Fahad. An-Ntri showed me a Mannlicher carbine of the 1898 model which I had given him. Being used to the Martini rifle, he could not accustom himself to the Mannlicher lock and had had it changed to the Martini type. This pleased him beyond measure and made him boast that his carbine carried much farther and better than the Martini. To my mild reproof that he could have loaded the original Mannlicher with five cartridges, while now he had to be satisfied with only one, he replied that at least he would not have to waste so much ammunition as before. At noon I was visited by the Turkish official at Dmejr, who was very pleasant to me when he saw that I had orders as well as letters of introduction from Constantinople and Damascus. He also told me that my discharged servant, Farag, had denounced me as having come to the country with the intention of inciting the Bedouins against the Government. In the afternoon I overhauled my provisions and was not a little surprised to find to what extent they had been pillaged by both my servants during my absence. ‘Abdallah kept quiet; when I asked him what they had done with the flour, which was 150 kilograms, and the sugar, which was 30 kilograms short, he said that he knew whom he served and that he must act accordingly. After supper the Prince came, complain- ing that he had received from Nawwaf only thirty instead of the promised two hundred rounds and begged me to make 112 PALMYRENA good the rounds of which he had been cheated by Nawwaf. I gave him what he wanted, making the remark that he should not allow his son to cheat him. Then he began to explain that a messenger had come from Fejsal eben RaSid with letters in DMEJR AL -‘ATIZE 10 Lo) 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 BO 90 100 METERS LOTT TT CTY es ee Sn ee ene CSS 4 7. e ie eecarssee =y - H] © Ss Lu a \ i ni \ i ae it a 6. H \ 7. { : ae, nl 5 8. f i | - 1 ut : i) N N sscccccesssses) benseesncesessee90 | Ghee sss nn aeeessss | [ee eeseseeee Sieteiaiaiataiateiaiaiaieaa | 5S ee a merce ec ines ng en Fic. 29—Dmejr al-‘Atize, plan. which Fejsal and his followers asked him for his help against Eben Subhan, offering him the oasis of al-Gowf as a reward. An-Nuri said that scarcely had Nawwaf heard of this than he wanted to go with a thousand riders to al-Gowf in order to get possession of that important place, which Eben Rasid had taken away from the Rwala sixty years before. NawwéAf, he added, was counting on the help of the Rwala clans then camping in the neighborhood of al-Gowf, but he, an-Niari, would not permit him to begin to fight before all the Rwala divisions had collected in the northern part of the Nefad. Wednesday, November 4, 1908. My men occupied them- selves with repairing our riding and pack saddles; Taman was SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 113 sketching a map of our trip, and I went to Dmejr to return the Turkish official’s visit. He welcomed me cordially, praised my Gasser revolver, and asked if I could not order one for him, or, perhaps, give him one. I promised not to forget him on my return from the desert. This pleased him so much that he offered to let me ride his mare when I returned to my tent. The official was a Circassian named Rajsuli, a descendant of the famous Shamyl who gave the Russians so much trouble in the Caucasus in the first half of the last century. The settlement of Dmejr has about 2500 inhabitants and is divided into five precincts (hdrat): Harat al-Rarbijje (or al-Hasel), of the ‘Akejdat (alderman: Hajel al-Ibrahim). Harat a3-Serkijje (or as-Sijjad), of the Nu‘ejm (alderman: Halil eben Hamdan). Harat al-Kiblijje, of the Lhejb (alderman: “Abdallah al-‘Ali). Harat al-‘Allak, of the Swarke (alderman: Hazim al-Fathallah). Harat al-MSarrez, of the Hawalde (alderman: Ism&‘in al-Hasan, who is also the mayor of all Dmejr).?? Having ridden to my tent on the official’s mare, I visited the ailing Turkijje, widow of Prince Sattém, who had died six years before. Turkijje was the daughter of Eben Mhejd, the head chief of the Fed‘an tribe, the worst enemies of the Rwala. She evinced much interest in my trip, particularly in the country about the town of “ar-Rusejfe’’—as she called ar- Resafa— because her tribe used to camp there very often and she knew every gully in the district, even the smallest. In the afternoon I dismissed my other servant, ‘Abdallah al-Matrad, who would.not take sufficient care of my property and, moreover, never made an effort to conceal his hatred of the Christians. In the evening my neighbor ‘Adib eben Megwel brought me his sulkijje (greyhound bitch) as a present, which I de- clined with the excuse that I had neither a falcon nor a fal- econer, without which his well-trained hound would only de- 27 According to the inseription given in Corpus inscriptionum latinarum, Vol. 3. no. 129, the camp at Dmejr was built perhaps about 162 A.D. In the settlement of Dumejr, about fifteen miles distant from Damascus, ‘“Obejdallah ibn Ma‘mar died of grief on learning that his nephew Misa had been murdered in Irak (in 701) because he took part in the revolt against “Abdalmalek. According to others, he was said to have died of the pestilence ravaging Syria at that time. (Al-Bekri, Mu‘gam [Wistenfeld], pp. 622f.; Abu-l-Farag, Ardni [Btlak, 1285 A. H.], Vol. 14, p. 105.) Jaktt, Mu‘gam (Wistenfeld), Vol. 3, p. 481, writes that Dumejr is a settlement and fort on the farthest border of Damascus and the desert of as-Samawa. Hagsi Halfa, Gihdn numa’ (Constantinople, 1145 A.H.), p. 586, states that in “Adra’ and Dumejr the kelw plant is burned for its ashes and used in the preparation of soap, thus bringing a good profit to the population. The best ashes of this sort (called kull) are produced by the inhabitants of the fort of Gertd. 114 PALMYRENA generate. I did not accept presents and thus avoided putting myself under obligations to anybody. Thursday, November 5, 1908. In the morning I explained to my new servants, Naser and Blejhan, their duties, after which I spent the entire day working on and arranging the scientific material I had brought from my trip. Towards noon a slave of the chief Haled eben Sattam came to me with his master’s request for ammunition for the Gasser revolver, which he had received from me some time before. | said that whenever his master wanted something he should tell me so himself. This made Haled come soon. I gave him forty rounds, but asked him at the same time never to send his servant on such an errand again. The Turkish official Rajstli Efendi also came, begging for belladonna drops for his wife. An- Nari asked me to go with him to see a sick warrior — the bravest of his tribe, as he said — who had been wounded by a shot in a raid about three months before. The wound had healed, but he had suffered over two months from diarrhoea, which enfeebled him until he looked like a skeleton. Scearcely had I come to the sick man when he hastily stopped his mouth and nose with his fingers, fearing that my odor, or rather the emanation from my body, might injure him. I tried to encourage him and left the necessary medicine, while the Prince counseled the patient’s brother to take care of him as I had instructed. Friday, November 6, 1908. All day I spent cataloguing my scientific material. When noon came, the report was brought to me by the brother of the sick warrior that he was asking for food for the first time in six weeks. He asked what the sick man should be given now. “Milk,” said I. “We have no milk.” “Rice.” “Neither have we rice, but an-Ntri would give us some.” “Then what have you?” “Four loads of barley for our mare and the eight of us. The barley will last us all winter, and in the spring we shall have milk!” The wandering merchants and the other friends of my discharged servants could not get used to the idea that they would not have access to my provisions any more and for that reason kept bothering my new servants with all kinds SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 115 of supplications, requests, and even threats. Twice I had to drive them away from my large tent. One Kubejsi— as such traders are called in the desert because the majority of them hail from the settlement of al-Kubejsa, west of Hit —even had the impudence to come to my round tent, where he lit a cigarette and sat down most composedly. To my curt question as to what he wanted, he said that he had cut his hand and had come to me to have the wound washed, salved, and ban- daged. I said: “Go to the Prince and ask him to come with thee. If he does that, I will do as thou wishest; not otherwise.” Then he left and did not return. Saturday, November 7, 1908. My neighbor ‘Adtb eben Megwel pitched his tent again today. His women pulled out the tent pegs, drew the tent about twenty meters to the south, drove in the pegs anew, lifted the tents over the poles, and then lit a fire under it. The winter supplies as well as the litters remained outside. In the afternoon, when the sky be- came clouded in the west, and later in the evening, when a strong wind brought a heavy rain—unfortunately only of short duration—, ‘Adib asked my servants to help him carry the barley and burrul sacks into the tent. Blejhan had to dig a trench (ni‘) around my tent to carry off the rain water, and from all sides could be heard the noise of blows strik- ing tent pegs, strengthening them to withstand the wind and rain, which soaked the roof and the walls of the tents, mak- ing them as heavy as lead. My tent could not have been put up in a more incon- venient place. It stood in the channel of a short side gully on the very edge of a wide road leading from the desert to the watering place and would have been flooded if the rain had been of some duration; its ropes shook more than once a day under the hoofs of the she-camels walking about the camp. Even if they did keep two or three meters from the pegs of my tents, the incessant clamor made by the coaxing cries and threats of the herdsmen, the grumbling, the roars, and uneasy murmurs of the camels, and the stamping of the horses could be heard all night long, waking me from sleep every little while. The night before, a camel carrying two large water bags had stumbled against one of my tent pegs and the girl or woman driving him called out: “O, he who is noble-minded will help me!’ 116 PALMYRENA Sunday, November 8, 1908. We were: all sorry that the rain ended so soon, since we had been waiting for it anx- iously for so many months, and now it was over in two short hours. In the morning the sky in the west cleared, and the sun rose as if from a bath. The earth was breathing, the air freed from dust, the birds sang as if awaking to a new life —it seemed as if it were the first day of spring. In the afternoon Gwad returned from Damascus with several letters for me, which I answered immediately, in order that the Prince’s messenger might take them to Damascus again before we left Dmejr. Gwad brought 120 napoleons ($463.20). I offered him one as his reward, but he would not accept it, asking from me a ten-shot repeating pistol. I had to refuse his request, telling him that he did not need it, while I might be obliged to give presents to the chiefs of other tribes in whose ter- ritories I should work later on. An-Niri dropped in for a chat and said he felt sorry to see me sitting all day and doing nothing but write, write, write. Then my neighbor ‘Adtb eben Megwel came in, stricken with grief for his sister, who had died the day before, hay- ing been ailing for years. Her death was what caused the women to move the tent to another place, since no Bedouin can spend the night on the spot where a person has died. ‘Adtb stayed all night with the Prince, who gave him a good supper. Monday, November 9, 1908. My camels came back from pasture at nine o’clock in the morning. They had been there six nights; on the seventh they were to rest by the water (‘ala sumh). Nawwaf, who brought them back, alighted at my tent and stayed with me until afternoon. He said that the pasture on the northern border of the territory of Tltl al- ‘ljat was eaten off and for that reason all the Arabs had moved their camps to the south of the rain pools of Sejkal. Since I intended soon to visit that very territory, this news did not please me. In the afternoon a feast was given by my neighbor ‘Adtb in honor of the deceased. The sheep, tied the day before at the place where the woman had died, was killed on the spot and cooked. The tent ropes were loosened so that the tent seemed to be sinking. ‘Adtb invited me to the feast too, but, having been unwell for the last two days, I was unable to go. His guests stayed with him long past midnight. SOJOURN AT DMEJR AL-‘ATIZE 117 Tuesday, November 10, to Sunday, November 15, 1908. On Tuesday morning the camels went to pasture again. I should have liked to have kept four or five animals near my tent to enable me to make shorter excursions, but, since there was no pasture in the immediate neighborhood, I had to wait another seven days. I had plenty to do. I finished my topographical report about the last trip, sketched and completed the map, and revised the architectural plans. All of us worked from sunrise to sunset and often even longer by candlelight. Naser and Blejhan, being thoroughly familiar with the terrain we had examined, proved excellent assistants. They drew the various valleys in the sand; the mountains they marked with coarse gravel; they defined distances and directions and argued about the pronunciation and correct spelling of this or that word. It was hard but profitable work, because I could now complete and verify my memoranda. I was not feeling well. From Wednesday to Sunday I ate very little and what I did take I vomited. The nights were a torment as I could not sleep, and in the daytime I had to work hard to be ready on time. The Prince and Nawwaf showed their native courtesy by coming every day to inquire about my health.?® 28 The author’s subsequent journeys in the winter of 1908—1909 and spring of 1909 are narrated in his Arabia Deserta (1927), pp. 1—3853. , fy . : : 1p 2 wale, ti . on he. & } P Tadmur, 31, 38, 50, 76, 82, 83, 86, 100, 134, 205, 224, 250—252, 255, 257, 258, 270, 283, 290— 292, 294 Tadejjén (a9), 168 169 Tafha (c6—7), 39, 43, 44 At-Tafri‘, Hazm (d5), 220 At-Tafsih, Tell (e9), 85 At-Tahhan, clan of the Beni HAled, 43 Tahsis (b5), 217, 218 At-Tahta’, “Ajn (d5), 221 Taiba, 76, 79 Taiba, 76 Tajj, tribe, 62 Tajjebt at-Turki, 216 At-Tajjibe, 210; (b9—10), 50, 71—73, 76, 79, 82, 88, 178, 238,242, 261. 255.9250. 26e,- 500, Takla bint Fajez eben Gandal, 16 Talal eben Fajez, 17, 18 Tamak, Kasr (b5—6), 214, 216 Tamerlane (1336—1405), 224 Tamm Ahejzer (c8), 64 At-Tamme, 210, 211, 230 Tanaheg Esrija (b7), 53, 58, 61 At-Tannfaze (a8), 189, 192 Tar. See proper name Tarak. See proper name At-Tarfa, salt marsh, 134, 135 At-Tarfijje, 19 Tarik ar-Rasif, xiii Tarleb, Beni, 62, 68, 172, 178, 175, 177, 248, 255, 258, 267, 269, 281 Tarrad (b5), 216 Tartars, 71,76). 404, obo Tat, 198 Tavernier, J. B., 76, 337 Tejma (q9), 245, 279, 286 Tejr, Kal‘at (e6—7), 28, 96 At-Tejr, Radir (c10), 81 TelPassar, 262 Telendena, 216, 232 Tel‘et. See proper name At-Telile (d8—9), 87, 88 Tell. Sez proper name At-Temajel (¢7), 43, 45 INDEX 565 At-Tenaja, 147 Tenaja Haleb (c6—-7), 43, 45 At-Teni, 177 Teni Muhasen, 172 Tenijjet. See proper name Terebinth trees, 98, 105, 149; oil pressed from their fruit, 149. See also Butwm Tetrapyrgium, 263, 264 Teucrium Polium, L. See Ga‘ade Thadoneus of Alassus, 254 Thapsacus (of Ptolemy), 229, 285—237; (of Xenophon), 261 Thapsakos, 240 Thelda, 230 Theleda, 330, 243, 244 Theledda, 209, 2382 Thelsea, 225, 237, 289, 252 Thelsee, 225, 252 Thema, 230 Themella, 209, 232 Theodora, wife of Justinian I, 266, 267 Theodore, bishop of Danabon, 129 Theodore, metropolitan of Damascus (485-451), 23, 86, 129 Theodore Abu Kara (or Theodorus Abukara), Theodoropolis (Anasartha), 204 omoon Theodorus Castridanabeni, 273 Theodorus civitatis Dabrorum, 23 Theodorus episcopus Coradensium, 23 Theonas episcopus Euariae, 37 Theophanes the Confessor, 248, 337 Theophylactus Simocatta, 155, 267, 33 Thevenot, Jean de, 220—224, 337 Thomas, bishop of Euaria, 37 Thomas, bishop of Jabrtid, 37 Thomas Evariae, 273 Thomasberger, Rudolf (Taman), 1, 121 Tiberias, Lake, 282 At-Tidribe, Darb (c6), 48, 122 Tiglath Pileser I (1115—1102 B.C.), 174 Tigris, 261, 270 Timotheus (c.381), 86 At-Tin (d6), 126, 127 At-Tine, gully, 104; village, 205 Tine, Abu, 99 At-Tine, “Ajn (e4—5), 224 At-Titen (a7—8), 191 At-Tjas (c6—d7), 39, 43, 45, 96, 125, 132; (c7), Ameuloc. loa, 200, 256, 296 Tléhan, 214 Tlejgine (a5), 207 Tlejlat al-“Eleb (e8—d9), 88 Tlejtuwat (b10), 71, 81, 174, 176 Tlélat al-Humr (a7), 179, 192 At-Tlésijje, 210 Tlal, plural of Tell. See proper name Tmar, Ummu, 210 At-Tmede, Tarak (e6), 30 At-Tni, 172. See also Gubejlat at-Tni At-Tni, Se%ib, 178, 177 Tomb of the Christian (Kabr an-Nusrani), a Wie Toétah, 214 At-Towkan, clan of the MwaAali, 47 At-Trab, Han (e6), 13, 108, 109, 235, 240, 241, 245, 246; (al-Leben), 438 Treasures, search for, 65 At-Trejfawi (b11), 178; habra, 12; village, 207 At-Trejge, clan of the FwAa‘re, 37 At-Trid, 189 At-Ttba, 216; (a7), 202, 203 Tabt al-Radaf (j5), 283, 285—287, 292, 293 hudmore(GS)ssic Va ols O42, 09 405, 49, 50, 10, 85—88, 90, 94, 96, 121, 122, 124, 126, 131—134, 130, clots el 4446 149) 78, 2209 2ou, 202s 256—259, 291—2938, 296 Tudmor Gate, 121 Tudmor mountains, 88 Taman (R. Thomasberger), 1, 3—5, 12, 19—21, 25, 01, 55, G1, 63 65, 69, 74, 90, 92, 93, 97, 101, Zarb At-Tumbak, Rasm (c7), 49 Tamin (¢c5), 219 Tummén, Abu (b—c8), 62, 149, 151 Turkijje (Sattaém eben Sa‘lan’s widow), 69, 113 Turkish barracks, 103—104; Government, 53, 86; Government, grudge against, 18, 123; officials, 54, 111, 118, 114 At-Turkman, 149 At-Turkmanijje (or Abu Tummén), 149; (b8-9), 50; 62;. 63; 158, 164 Turkoman army, 100 Turkomans, 154, 222, 272 burks;.545, 123 Turmanin, basilica, 321 At-Tit, Tell, 218 At-Tu‘ts, 25 At-Twahine, 202 At-Twale (d7), 96 At-Twane, Umm, 214 At-Twejbe, 210 At-Twejzijje, 217 At-Twém (a6), 209 At-Twémat, clan of the Fwa‘re, 37 Twénan (b8—9), 152 At-Twénan, clan of the Fwa‘re, 37 At-Twéne, Umm (c6), 46, 47 Tyre; 212, 2215 Ubajr, 279, 286 Ubar, “Ajn, 144 Al-Ubéza (c6), 218 Ueriaraca, 253 “Ujin, plural of “Ajn. See proper name “Ukejriba’, 48 “Ukejribat, 253 “Ukériba’, 48, 244 “Ukériba, 284 Ulpian, 23 Al-Uméleh, 199, 213 Umm. See main part of proper name Al-Umiur (e5—d6—7), 22, 24, 34, 51, 64, 122, 136, 148, 150 Uranensis civitas, 23, 86 Uranius Emesae, 273 Al-Urdunn, administrative district, 282, 283, 285 Usejs, 282, 293 Al-“Uwejr, 128, 255—257 “Uzériba’, 48 ‘Uzéribat (c7), 37, 43, 47—49, 134, 230, 2383, 238, 244, 249, 258, 284 566 PALMYRENA Valerian (253—260), 247 Valle, Pietro della, 59, 76, 79, 201, 206, 337 Velenovsky, J., 337 Venechalis, 268 Venethali, 268 Via Strata, 239 Vineyards, traces of old, 199, 200, 209, 216, 232 Visigothic kings of Spain, 190 Al-Wa‘are, Tenijjet (d7), 96, 127, 182, 241 Al-Waf‘arijjat (c8—9), 84, 87 Wadi. See proper name Al-Wadi, Umm, 206 Walde, half-felldhin, 154, 175 Waldmann, Karl (Halaf), 189 Walid I ibn ‘Abdalmalek (705—715), 76, 99, 100; 126, 204, 277, 279, 281, 282, 287 Walid II ibn Jazid ibn “‘Abdalmalek (743-744), 24, 38, 148, 234, 269, 277—280, 285—297 Walid ibn Muhammad al-Mwakkari (d. 894), 283 Al-Ward, Ksér (a6), 198 Al-Ward, Tell (c6), 218 Wardan, Kasr Eben (b6), 212 Al-Warde, 189 Wardet al-ehwa (Sternbergia Clusiana, Ke. Gawl.; a bulbous herb with large spikes of yellow flowers, 53 Al-WasSal, 149 Wasel, A3-Sejh, 84 Al-Wassa8, 2038 Al-Wasta’, 196; (e5), 23 Al-Wasta, Harat, 100 Water, difficult drawing of, 41; hoists, 179 Wazha (a8), 189 Al-Wazha (e6), 28—31, 33 Al-WaAz‘ijje, “Ajn, 82, 83 “Wdaje’, 144 Wdijan an-Nijasa (d6), 37 Al-‘Wejr (b8), 63, 152 Weld ‘Ali (f5—9, r8—10), 6, 25, 100, 106 Weléd‘i, 25 Al-“Wénat (a6), 207 “Wént al-Razal (b6—7), 212 Al-WeSel (c8), 149, 250 Wezz, 207 Wild boar, 14 Winckler, H., 262, 337 Wraka (Fagonia glutinosa, Del.; Fagonia mollis, Del.; a bushy subshrub with hairy and spiny branches, pink flowers, and green pods), 152 Al-Wréde, 209 Wright, J. K., xiv Wright, W., 24, 93, 125, 204, 223, 337 Al-Wtejd (a9—10), 169 Al-Wuterijje (d6), 40, 125 Al-Wurédi (c5), 219 Al-Wusad, Radix (i7), 245, 291 Al-Wutara, clan of the “Ebede, 55 Al-Wu‘dl (d7), 88, 96 Al-Wu‘tl, ‘Ajn (d7), 96, 97, 132 Yabruda, 273 Yazid I (Jazid ibn Mu‘awija, 680—683), 38, 126, 257, 281, 287, 290 Yazid II (Jazid ibn “Abdalmalek, 720—724), 277, 283, 285 Yazid III (Jazid ibn al-Walid ibn “Abdalmalek, 744), 24, 25, 38, 50, 278, 280, 282, 290-292, 294, 296 Az-Za‘abne, Harat, 145 Az-Zab* (d9), 87 Az-Zab‘, habra, 27 Zabad, 1838, 193 Zabbtde, 216 Zabur, Wadi (d5), 221 Zachaeus, the publican, 37 Zacharias the Rhetor, 275, 33 Zafar ibn al-Haret, 258, 259 Az-Zahéijje, Fejzat (i—j6), 285, 292 Zaheé (or az-Zahéijje), 76 Az-Zaheé>(e9), 76, 82, 84, 88 Zahr. See proper name Zahrat. See proper name Zaitha, 247, 277 Zajd, 198 Zakl near Tudmor, 223 Az-Zaman, Tell (a6), 206, 207 Az-Zammarane, 245 Za‘raja, 192, 196, 255, 256 Az-Zarra‘a, 249, 250 Zasem al-Hsejn, 127 Zat, “Ujain (c5—6), 219 Az-Za‘tnijje (e5), 28 _ Az-Zawra’, 267 Az-Zba‘ijje, 214 Zbejde, Tell (e5), 122, 219 Az-Zbejdi, 196; (e6), 7, 18, 22, 27, 28, 30, 105 Az-Zbejdi, Gebb (e6), 30, 109, 245 Az-Zbejwat (c9—10), 82 Az-Zebade (b5—6), 211 Zebara, 88, 137 Zebed (a7), 179, 183, 186, 202 Zeben, 189 Az-Zebi (d6), 40 Zejdal (c5), 122, 219 Zejdan, 122 Zejte (Lavandula coronopifolia, Poir.; lavander subshrub with blue flowers), 152 Az-Zejtin, 282 Az-Zejtine, 270, 277 Zel‘. See proper name Az-Zel‘a, 40 Az-Zel‘i, 125 Zelib. See proper name Az-Zemle hill, 169, 172; radir, 172 Zemlet al-‘Amara, 22 Zemlet al-Ka‘ijje (b10), 68, 172—174 Zemlet al-Knéman, 43, 44 Zemlet ‘Omar Ara. See ‘Omar Ara, Zemlet Zén al-‘Abedin, Mount, 212, 213, 217 Al-Zena, 212, 213 Zénab (b6), 214 Zenjan, 198 Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra (until 272), 244, 247 Al-Zerjitejn (d6), 9, 18, 22, 24, 38—36, 43, 46, 50, 71, 76, 85, 94, 96, 98—100, 102, 105, 121, 124, 126, 127, 131, 133, 134, 189, 234, 238, 241, 249—253, 256, 296 Az-Zerka’ (b7), 86, 212, 255, 256 Az-Zerka’, Tenijjet™(d6—7), 98, 127 SS a eee Zerra® Beni Zafar (or Husaf), 193 Zerra‘a, 198 Az-Zerra‘a (or az-Zarra‘a), 50 Zetab al-BiSri (b11), 174, 178 Zeugma, 242, 343 Az-Zhir (b6), 214 Zhir, Abu (c7), 45 Zhar al-Humr. See Al-Humr Az-Zijadne, 37 Zikrwajh ibn Mehrwajh al-Karmati (d. 906—907), 270 Al-Zir, Ab-, 173—175 Ziza (i3), 86, 288, 286 Zléle, Ummu-z-, 196 Zlélet as-Sarire, Umm-z-, 196 INDEX 367 Az-Zmejli (a—b10), 68, 169 Az-Zmil, 43 Zonobia, 268 Zonovia, 268 Az-Zrejg, 438 Zrejyme (Gaillonia calycoptera, Jaub. Spach. ; subshrub with bare branches and winged fruits), 152 Az-Zubejjed, Gebb (c7), 46 Zukum al-Hanzir (d6), 39, 125 Zumajn, 48 Zuml Emhar (c7), 438, 96 Az-Zurba, Bir, 210, 211 Zuwé‘en, Al, 55 Az-Zweéheé (c10), 77, 81, 82 ERRATA p. 17, line 12: for southwest read southeast. i) AL Ned line 41: for Yazid II read Yazid III. p. 38, line 43: for middle of July 998 (as printed in Amedroz’s edition of Ibn al-Kalanisi) read end of October 988. > to S > line 20: delete Evagrius, Historia ecclesiastica, IV, 40. p. 225, line 5 from bottom: for the second half of March, 1149, read the first half of March, 1140. Ne GETTY CENTER LIBRARY | INU 3 3125 00 £ " . t : % - . . . uy . es he y * - [~< : a a j “of J Musil: Palm rena, 1928 7 a = aE 6 Amer. Geogr. Soc. Oriental Explorations and Studies No. 4 ; to Al Bao 36 Meanie | Apne + May 30, (Ev preeasten (192) 82. | lio) 192 190 Be BBUL al e 36 TT gg OpbeH -Mesken Mp 198 eat 197 179 —«*'89, May 26 1915 dnp Pe ('esee eo gn se 179% 207 205-205) Jn 179 - \ y 207 ‘4 S - ‘ zy Eu a fla? 203 ee Sel (i80- -183--[~ a aetnee he (GON PU OTE 5 )Anadan 293 .SbSt 202 179 179 ae a ke eS ‘ 207 oe 179 TY 169] _,169 ee 209: 209 an, 201 , 168i 68 172 a a Or Ah RESAFA im 2i0 <77 + 64-67, Oct.22-24,190 30 , ji 210 209 63 4% 67- 6d): IS4* 167, Mar.29-Apr.l, 2 10] (oy oa 68 | | aie. 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Pate Ce i eras Mes Eras EXPLANATION NAI-Mijadin Gerd] 39 a “8 Han al-Manktra Author's routes with dates and e 23" 13 7 (08) saan 05 page references to text, thus: (71) TE gamelan inks | sp Beni hares | A tesa ee Oct. 3 ,1908-Oct. 22,1908 Ar-Rumadi® Me forte a TLS eerste Pa Sino eT i en Oct, 25, 1908- Nov. ze canoe Z : a ieee ar. r. 81912 _Nek roe 225 <'] oe Han aé- 12 105! =-=-- - May27,1912- May 301912 aa , Ee e Bey He Samat | Miemcaecosenss May 26,1915 - June 51915 a 1 = Wa aN 109" Now? 1908 31 27 12 12 64-67 136,145 Page references to topographical ne 4 Z descriptions. Many topographical e Al-Gowf features are mentioned on other N= 2-7 ee sx SJ DAMASCUS : Ne w—{ 226, June 51915 Ie pages as well; the index should | / OEE BES 12 IZ also be consulted seep, RED : : Ben SEA 40 gi : oo ae Lf to al-Medina 30’ 9 39° 10 30' 11 40° pete breeteccs rs ts a af “ : preatss : a i Sales Rey paietrier it V3.5 She DE et be spits ye y =