Travels in Syria and the Holy Land Part 30

While I remained at Szalt I was told of a traveller of whom I had also heard in the Haouran; he was a Christian of Abyssinia, whose desire it was to end his days at Jerusalem; he first sailed from Ma.s.soua to Djidda, where he was seized by the Wahabi, and carried to their chief Ibn Saoud at Deraye, where he remained two years. From Deraye he crossed the desert with the encampments of wandering Bedouins, in the direction of Damascus, and last year he reached Boszra in the Haouran, from whence he was sent by the Christians to Szalt, where he remained a few days, and then proceeded for Jerusalem. When he arrived at the Jordan, he declared to his companions that he was a priest, a circ.u.mstance which he had always kept secret; he continued two days on the banks of the river fasting and praying, and from thence made his way alone to Jerusalem. He never tasted animal food, and although he had experienced no sickness on the road, he died soon after his arrival in the holy city.

It was not my intention to tarry at Szalt; I wished to proceed by the first opportunity to Kerek, a town on the eastern side of the

MEZAR OSHA

[p.353] Dead sea; but the communications in these deserted countries are far from being regular, and the want of a proper guide obliged me to delay my departure for ten days; during this delay I had the good fortune to see the ruins of Amman, which I had not been able to visit in the course of my late tour in the Decapolis. But before I describe Amman I shall subjoin some notes on the neighbourhood of Szalt.

A narrow valley leads up from Szalt towards the Mezar Osha, which I have already mentioned. Half way up, the valley is planted with vines, which are grown upon terraces as in Mount Liba.n.u.s, to prevent their being washed away by the winter torrents. The Mezar Osha is supposed to contain the tomb of Neby Osha, or the prophet Hosea, equally revered by Turks and Christians, and to whom the followers of both religions are in the habit of offering prayers and sacrifices. The latter consist generally of a sheep, to be slain in honour of the saint, or of some perfumes to be burnt over his tomb. I was invited to partake of a sheep presented by a suppliant, to whose prayers the saint had been favourable. There was a large party, and we spent a very pleasant day under a fine oak-tree just by the tomb. The wives and daughters of those who were invited were present, and mixed freely in the conversation. The tomb is covered by a vaulted building, one end of which serves as a mosque; the tomb itself, in the form of a coffin, is thirty-six feet long, three feet broad, and three feet and a half in height, being thus constructed in conformity with the notion of the Turks, who suppose that all our forefathers were giants, and especially the prophets before Mohammed. The tomb of Noah in the valley of Coelo-Syria is still longer.

The coffin of Osha is covered with silk stuffs of different colours, which have been presented to him as votive offerings. Visitors generally throw a couple of paras upon the tomb. These are

[p.354] collected by the guardian, and pay the expenses of illuminating the apartment during the summer months; for in the winter season hardly any body seeks favours at the shrine of the saint. In one corner stands a small plate, upon which some of the most devout visitors place a piece of incense. A wooden part.i.tion separates the tomb from the mosque, where the Turks generally say a few prayers before they enter the inner apartment. On the outside of the building is a very large and deep cistern much frequented by the Bedouins. Here is a fine view over the Ghor. Rieha, or Jericho, is visible at a great distance to the southward. About half an hour to the N.W. of Osha, on the lower part of the mountain, is the ruined place called Kafer Houda (Arabic).

As pilgrimage in the east is generally coupled with mercantile speculations, Osha?s tomb is much resorted to for commercial purposes, and like Mekka and Jerusalem, is transformed into a fair at the time of the visit of the pilgrims. The Arabs of the Belka, especially the Beni Szakher, bring here Kelly or soap-ashes, which they burn during the summer in large quant.i.ties: these are bought up by a merchant of Nablous, who has for many years monopolized the trade in this article.

The soap-ashes obtained from the herb Shiman, of the Belka, are esteemed the best in the country, to the S. of Damascus, as those of Palmyra are reckoned the best in northern Syria. They are sold by the Arabs for about half a crown the English cwt., but the purchaser is obliged to pay heavy duties upon them. The chief of the Arabs of El Adouan, who is looked upon as the lord of the Belka, although his tribe is at present considerably weakened, exacts for himself five piastres from every camel load, two piastres for his writer, and two piastres for his slave. The town of Szalt takes one piastre for every load, the produce of which duty is divided among the public taverns of the town. The quant.i.ty of soap-ashes brought to

[p.355] the Osha market amounts, one year with another, to about three thousand camel loads. The Nablous merchant is obliged to come in person to Szalt in autumn. According to old customs, he alights at a private house, all the expenses of which he pays during his stay; he is bound also to feed all strangers who arrive during the same period at Szalt; in consequence of which the Menzels remain shut; and he makes considerable presents on quitting the place. In order that all the inhabitants may share in the advantages arising from his visits, he alights at a different house every year.

In descending the narrow valley to the south of Szalt, the ruins of a considerable town are met with, consisting of foundations of buildings and heaps of stones. The Arabs call the place Kherbet el Souk (Arabic).

Near it is a fine spring called Ain Hazeir (Arabic) (perhaps the ancient Jazer), which turns several mills, and empties itself into the Wady s...o...b..(Arabic). The latter joins the Jordan near the ruined city of Nymrein (Arabic). In a S.W. direction from Szalt, distant about two hours and a half, are the ruined places called Kherbet Ayoub (Arabic), Heremmela (Arabic), Ayra (Arabic), one of the towns built by the tribe of Gad, and Yerka (Arabic). East of Szalt, about one hour, are the ruins called El Deir (Arabic).

I found it impossible at Szalt to procure a guide to Amman; the country was in a state which rendered it very dangerous to travel through it: the Beni Szakher were at war with the Arabs of Adouan, with the government of Damascus, and with the Rowalla, a branch of the Aeneze; and we heard daily of skirmishes taking place between the contending parties, princ.i.p.ally near the river Zerka. Amman being a noted spring, was frequented by both the hostile parties; and although, the people of Szalt were now at peace with the Beni Szakher, having concluded it on the day of my arrival, yet they were upon very indifferent terms with the

FEHEIS

[p.356] Adouan and Rowalla. I had once engaged four armed men to accompany me on foot to the place, but when we were just setting out, after sunset, their wives came crying to my lodging, and upbraided their husbands with madness in exposing their lives for a couple of piastres.

Being equally unsuccessful in several other attempts, and tired of the exaggerations of my land-lord, who pretended that I should be in danger of being stripped, and even killed, I at length became impatient, and quitting Szalt in the evening of the 6th, I rode over to Feheis, where the greater part of the Szaltese were encamped, for the labours of the harvest, and where it was more likely that I should meet with a guide.

On my way I pa.s.sed the deep Wady Ezrak (Arabic), where is a rivulet and several mills.

El Feheis is a ruined city, with a spring near it; here are the remains of an arched building, in which the Christians sometimes perform divine service. Below Feheis, upon the top of a lower mountain, is the ruined place called El Khandok (Arabic), which appears to have been a fort; it is surrounded with a wall of large stones, and the remains of several bastions are visible. From a point near Khandok, the Dead sea, which I saw for the first time, bears S.W. b. W.

At Feheis I was so fortunate as to find a guide who five years ago had served in the same capacity to Mousa, the name a.s.sumed by M. Seetzen. As he was well acquainted with all the Bedouins, and on friendly terms with them, he engaged to take me to Amman, in company with another horseman.

July 7th.?We set off before sunrise. On leaving Feheis we crossed a mountainous country, pa.s.sed through a thick forest of oak trees, and in three quarters of an hour reached the Ardh el Hemar, which is the name of a district extending north and south for about two hours. Here are a number of springs, which have rendered it a

AMMAN

[p.357] favourite place of resort of the Bedouins: the valley was covered with a fine coat of verdant pasture. From hence the road ascended through oak woods and pleasant hills, over flinty ground, till we reached, after a march of two hours and a half, an elevated plain, from whence we had an extensive view towards the east. The plain, which in this part is called El Ahma (Arabic), is a fertile tract, interspersed with low hills; these are for the greater part crowned with ruins, but they are of irregular forms, unlike the Tels or artificial heights of the Haouran, and of northern Syria. Just by the road, at the end of three hours, are the ruins called El Kholda (Arabic). To the left are the ruins of Kherbet Karakagheish (Arabic); and to the right, at half an hour?s distance, the ruins of Sar (Arabic), and Fokhara (Arabic). At about one hour south of Sar begins the district called Kattar (Arabic) or Marka (Arabic). The ruins which we pa.s.sed here, as well as all those before mentioned in the mountains of Belka, present no objects of any interest. They consist of a few walls of dwelling houses, heaps of stones, the foundations of some public edifices, and a few cisterns now filled up; there is nothing entire, but it appears that the mode of building was very solid, all the remains being formed of large stones. It is evident also, that the whole of the country must have been extremely well cultivated, in order to have afforded subsistence to the inhabitants of so many towns. At the end of three hours and a half we entered a broad valley, which brought us in half an hour to the ruins of Amman, which lies about nineteen English miles to the S.E. by E. of Szalt. The annexed plan [not included] will give an idea of the situation and ruins of Amman, one of the most ancient of the cities recorded in Jewish history. The town lies along the banks of a river called Moiet Amman, which has its source in a pond (a), at a few hundred paces from the south-western end of the town; I was informed that this river is

[p.358] lost in the earth one hour below the pond, that it issues again, and takes the name of Ain Ghazale (Arabic); then disappears a second time and rises again near a ruined place called Reszeyfa (Arabic); beyond which it is said to be lost for a third time, till it reappears about an hour to the west of Kalaat Zerka, otherwise called Kaszr Shebeib (Arabic), near the river Zerka, into which it empties itself.

Ain Ghazale is about one hour and a half distant from Amman, Kalaat Zerka is four hours distant. The river of Amman runs in a valley bordered on both sides by barren hills of flint, which advance on the south side close to the edge of the stream.

The edifices which still remain to attest the former splendour of Amman are the following: a s.p.a.cious church (b), built with large stones, and having a steeple of the shape of those which I saw in several ruined towns in the Haouran. There are wide arches in the walls of the church.?A small building (c), with niches, probably a temple.?A temple (d), of which a part of the side walls, and a niche in the back wall are remaining; there are no ornaments either on the walls, or about the niche.??A curved wall (e) along the water side, with many niches: before it was a row of large columns, of which four remain, but without capitals, I conjecture this to have been a kind of stoa, or public walk; it does not communicate with any other edifice.?A high arched bridge (f) over the river; this appears to have been the only bridge in the town, although the river is not fordable in the winter. The banks of the river, as well as its bed, are paved, but the pavement has been in most places carried away by the violence of the winter torrent. The stream is full of small fish. On the south side of the river is a fine theatre, the largest that I have seen in Syria. It has forty rows of seats; between the tenth and eleventh from the bottom occurs a row of eight boxes or small apartments, capable of holding about twelve spectators each; fourteen rows higher, a similar row

[p.359] of boxes occupies the place of the middle seats, and at the top of all there is a third tier of boxes excavated in the rocky side of the hill, upon the declivity of which the theatre is built. On both wings of the theatre are vaults. In front was a colonnade, of which eight Corinthian columns yet remain, besides four fragments of shafts; they are about fifteen feet high, surmounted by an entablature still entire.

This colonnade must have had at least fifty columns; the workmanship is not of the best Roman times. Near this theatre is a building (h), the details of which I was not able to make out exactly; its front is built irregularly, without columns, or ornaments of any kind. On entering I found a semi-circular area, enclosed by a high wall in which narrow steps were formed, running all round from bottom to top. The inside of the front wall, as well as the round wall of the area, is richly ornamented with sculptured ornaments. The roof, which once covered the whole building, has fallen down, and choaks up the interior in such a way as to render it difficult to determine whether the edifice has been a palace, or destined for public amus.e.m.e.nts. Nearly opposite the theatre, to the northward of the river, are the remains of a temple (k), the posterior wall of which only remains, having an entablature, and several niches highly adorned with sculpture. Before this building stand the shafts of several columns three feet in diameter. Its date appears to be anterior to that of all the other buildings of Amman, and its style of architecture is much superior. At some distance farther down the Wady, stand a few small columns (i), probably the remains of a temple. The plain between the river and the northern hills is covered with ruins of private buildings, extending from the church (c) down to the columns (i); but nothing of them remains, except the foundations and some of the door posts. On the top of the highest of the northern hills stands the castle of Amman, a very extensive

[p.360] building; it was an oblong square, filled with buildings, of which, about as much remains as there does of the private dwellings in the lower town. The castle walls are thick, and denote a remote antiquity: large blocks of stone are piled up without cement, and still hold together as well as if they had been recently placed; the greater part of the wall is entire, it is placed a little below the crest of the hill, and appears not to have risen much above the level of its summit.

Within the castle are several deep cisterns. At (m) is a square building, in complete preservation, constructed in the same manner as the castle wall; it is without ornaments, and the only opening into it is a low door, over which was an inscription now defaced. Near this building are the traces of a large temple (n); several of its broken columns are lying on the ground; they are the largest I saw at Amman, some of them being three feet and a half in diameter; their capitals are of the Corinthian order. On the north side of the castle is a ditch cut in the rock, for the better defence of this side of the hill, which is less steep than the others.

The ruins of Amman being, with the exception of a few walls of flint, of calcareous stone of moderate hardness, have not resisted the ravages of time so well as those of Djerash. The buildings exposed to the atmosphere are all in decay, so that there is little hope of finding any inscriptions here, which might ill.u.s.trate the history of the place. The construction shews that the edifices were of different ages, as in the other cities of the Decapolis, which I have examined.

I am sensible that the above description of Amman, though it notices all the princ.i.p.al remains, is still very imperfect; but a traveller who is not accompanied with an armed force can never hope to give very satisfactory accounts of the antiquities of these deserted countries. My guides had observed some fresh horse-dung near the water?s side, which greatly alarmed them, as it was a proof that

SZAFOUT

[p.361] some Bedouins were hovering about. They insisted upon my returning immediately, and refusing to wait for me a moment, rode off while I was still occupied in writing a few notes upon the theatre. I hastily mounted the castle hill, ran over its ruins, and galloping after my guides, joined them at half an hour from the town. When I reproached them for their cowardice, they replied that I certainly could not suppose that, for the twelve piastres I had agreed to give them, they should expose themselves to the danger of being stripped and of losing their horses, from a mere foolish caprice of mine to write down the stones. I have often been obliged to yield to similar reasoning. A true Bedouin, however, never abandons his companion in this manner; whoever, therefore, wishes to travel in these parts, and to make accurate observations, will do well to take with him as many hors.e.m.e.n as may secure him against any strolling party of robbers.

About four or five bours S.S.W. from Amman are the ruins called El Kohf (Arabic), with a large temple, and many columns. About eight hours S.S.E. is the ruined city of Om el Reszasz (Arabic), i.e. the Mother of Lead, which, according to all accounts, is of great extent, and contains large buildings. In my present situation it was impossible for me to visit these two places. I hope that some future traveller will be more fortunate.

We returned from Amman by a more northern route. At one hour and three quarters, we pa.s.sed the ruined place called Djebeyha (Arabic); in two hours the ruins of Meraze (Arabic). The hills which rise over the plain are covered to their tops with thick heath. At two hours and a half are the ruins of Om Djouze (Arabic), with a spring. Sources of water are seldom met with in this upper plain of the Belka, a circ.u.mstance that greatly enhances the importance of the situation of Amman. At three hours and a half is

SZALT

[p.362] Szafout (Arabic), where are ruins of some extent, with a spring; the gate of a public edifice is still standing. To the north and north- east of this place, at the foot of the mountain on which it stands, extends a broad valley called El Bekka (Arabic); it is extremely fertile, and is in part cultivated by the people of Szalt, and the Arabs of the Belka. The Beni Szakher had burnt up the whole of the crops before they concluded peace with Szalt. In the Bekka is a ruined place called Ain el Basha (Arabic), with a spring.

From Szafout we returned by Ardh el Hemar to Feheis, which we reached in four hours and a half from Szafout. Near the springs of Hemar we found a cow that had gone astray from some Bedouin encampment; my guides immediately declared her to be a fair prize, and drove her off before them to Feheis, where she was killed, to prevent the owner from claiming her, and the encampment feasted upon the flesh for two days. N.E. from Szafout, distant about two hours, is a ruined city, with several edifices still standing, called Yadjoush (Arabic). N. of Amman, two hours, is a ruined building called El Nowakys (Arabic), on the interior wall of which are some busts in relief, according to the report of one who had seen them, but whose veracity was rather doubtful.

On my return to Szalt I was obliged to remain there several days longer, for want of a guide; for the road to Kerek is a complete desert, and much exposed to the inroads of the Arabs. At last I found a man who engaged to serve me, but his demands were so exorbitant, that I was several days in bargaining with him. Mousa, (M. Seetzen), he said, had paid his guide twenty-five piastres for the trip from hence to Kerek, and he would not, therefore, go the same road for less than twenty- three; this was an enormous sum for a journey of two days, in a country where an Arab will toil for a fortnight without obtaining so great a sum. My princ.i.p.al

MEKABBELY

[p.363] objection to paying so much was, that it would become known at Kerek, which, besides other difficulties it might bring me into, would have obliged me to pay all my future guides in the same proportion. My landlord, however, removed this objection by making the guide take a solemn oath that he would never confess to having received more than six piastres for his trouble. There was no other proper guide to be got, and I began to be tired of Szalt, for I saw that my landlord was very earnest in his endeavours to get me away; I resolved therefore to trust to my good fortune, and to set out with no other company than that of an armed horseman. In the evening I returned to Feheis, from whence we departed early the next morning.

July 13th.?We pa.s.sed Ardh el Hemar, in the neighbourhood of which are the ruined places El Ryhha (Arabic), Shakour (Arabic), Meghanny (Arabic), and Mekabbely (Arabic); and at a short distance farther on in the wood, we met two men quite naked. Whenever the Bedouins meet any other Arabs in the desert, of inferior force, and who are unknown to them, they level their lances, and stop their horses within about ten yards of the strangers, to enquire whether they are friends or not. My guide had seen the two men at a great distance among the trees; be called to me to get my gun ready, and we galloped towards them; but they no sooner saw us than they stopped, and cried out, ?We are under your protection!? They then told us that they were peasants of a village near Rieha or Jericho; that they had been carried away from their own fields by a party of Beni Szakher, with whom their village happened to be at war, as far as Yadjoush, where the latter had encampments; that after being required to pay the price of blood of one of the tribe slain by the inhabitants of their village, they had been beaten, and stripped naked; but that at last they had found means to escape. Their bruises and sores bore testimony

MERDJ EKKE

[p.364] to the truth of their story; instances of such acts of violence frequently occur in the desert. In one hour and three quarters we came to the ruins of Kherbet Tabouk (Arabic), which seems to have been a place of some importance. Many wild fig-trees grow here. The direction of our road was S. b. E. Here the woody country terminates, and we found ourselves again upon the high plain called El Ahma, which has fertile ground, but no trees. At two hours and a quarter is a ruined Birket, or reservoir of rain water, called Om Aamoud (Arabic), from some fragments of columns, which are found here. In two hours and a half we pa.s.sed, on our right, the Wady Szyr (Arabic), which has its source near the road, und falls below into the Jordan. Above the source, on the declivity of the valley, are the ruins called Szyr. We continued to travel along a well trodden road for the greater part of the day. At three hours were the ruins of Szar, to our left. At three hours and a half, and about half an hour west of the road, are the ruins of Fokhara, on the side of the Wady Eshta (Arabic), which empties itself into the Jordan. Here are a number of wild fig-trees. The whole of the country to the right of the road is intersected with deep Wadys and precipices, and is overgrown in many parts with fine woods. We had at intervals a view of the Ghor below. To the left of the road is the great plain, with many insulated hillocks. In three hours and a half we pa.s.sed a hill called Dhaheret el Hemar (Arabic), or the a.s.s?s Back. At three hours and three quarters, to the right, are the ruins of Meraszas (Arabic), with a heap of stones called Redjem Abd Reshyd (Arabic), where, according to Bedouin tradition, a wonderful battle took place between a slave of an Arab called Reshyd, and a whole party of his master?s enemies. Here terminates the district El Ahma. To the left are the ruins called Merdj Ekke (Arabic). The soil in this vicinity is chalky. Last year a battle was fought here between the troops of the Pasha of Damascus,

EL AAL

[p.365] and the Beni Szakher, in which the former were routed. At four hours and a half, and about three quarters of an hour to our right, we saw the ruins of Naour (Arabic) on the side of a rivulet of that name, which falls into the Jordan opposite Rieha, or Jericho, driving in its course several mills, where the Bedouins of the Belka grind their corn.

On both sides of the road are many vestiges of ancient field-enclosures.

From Naour our road lay S. At five hours and three quarters are the ruins of El Aal (Arabic), probably the Eleale of the Scriptures: it stands upon the summit of a hill, and takes its name from its situation, Aal meaning ?the high.? It commands the whole plain; and the view from the top of the hill is very extensive, comprehending the whole of the southern Belka. From hence the mountain of Shyhhan (Arabic), behind which lies Kerek, bears S. by W. El Aal was surrounded by a well built wall, of which some parts yet remain. Among the ruins are a number of large cisterns, fragments of walls, and the foundations of houses; but nothing worth particular notice. The plain around is alternately chalk and flint. At six hours and a quarter is Hesban (Arabic), upon a hill, bearing S.W. from El Aal. Here are the ruins of a large ancient town, together with the remains of some edifices built with small stones; a few broken shafts of columns are still standing, a number of deep wells cut in the rock, and a large reservoir of water for the summer supply of the inhabitants. At about three quarters of an hour S.E. of Hesban are the ruins of Myoun (Arabic), the ancient Baal Meon (Arabic), of the tribe of Ruben.

In order to see Medaba, I left the great road at Hesban, and proceeded in a more eastern direction. At six hours and three quarters, about one hour distant from the road, I saw the ruins of Djeloul (Arabic), at a short distance to the east of which, are the ruined places called El Samek (Arabic), El Mesouh (Arabic), and

MADEBA

[p.366] Om el Aamed (Arabic), situated close together upon low elevations. At about four hours distant, to the east of our road, I observed a chain of hills, which begins near Kalaat Zerka, pa.s.ses to the east of Amman, near the Kalaat el Belka, (a station of the Syrian Hadj, called by the Bedouins Kalaat Remeydan [Arabic]), and continues as far as Wady Modjeb. The mountains bear the name of El Zoble (Arabic); the Hadj route to Mekka lies along their western side. At seven hours and a quarter is El Kefeyrat (Arabic), a ruined town of some extent. In seven hours and a half we came to the remains of a well paved ancient causeway; my guide told me that this had been formerly the route of the Hadj, and that the pavement was made by the Mohammedans; but it appeared to me to be a Roman work. At the end of eight hours we reached Madeba, built upon a round hill; this is the ancient Medaba, but there is no river near it. It is at least half an hour in circ.u.mference; I observed many remains of the walls of private houses, constructed with blocks of silex; but not a single edifice is standing. There is a large Birket, which, as there is no spring at Madeba might still be of use to the Bedouins, were the surrounding ground cleared of the rubbish, to allow the water to flow into it; but such an undertaking is far beyond the views of the wandering Arab. On the west side of the town are the foundations of a temple, built with large stones, and apparently of great antiquity. The annexed is its form and dimensions. A part of its eastern wall remains, constructed in the same style as the castle wall at Amman. At the entrance of one of the courts stand two columns of the Doric order, each of two pieces, without bases, and thicker in the centre than at either extremity, a peculiarity of which this is the only instance I have seen in Syria. More modern capitals have been added, one of

[p.367] which is Corinthian and the other Doric, and an equally coa.r.s.e architrave has been laid upon them. In the centre of one of the courts is a large well.

About half an hour west of Madeba (Arabic), are the ruins of El Teym (Arabic), perhaps the Kerjathaim of the Scripture, where, according to my guide, a very large Birket is cut entirely in the rock, and is still filled in the winter with rain water. As there are no springs in this part of the upper plain of the Belka, the inha[bi]tants were obliged to provide by cisterns for their supply of water during the summer months.

We returned from Madeba towards the great road, where we fell in with a large party of Bedouins, on foot, who were going to rob by night an encampment of Beni Szakher, at least fourteen hours distant from hence.

Each of them had a small bag of flower on his back, some were armed with guns and others with sticks. I was afterwards informed that they drove off above a dozen camels belonging to the Beni Szakher. They pointed out to us the place where their tribe was encamped, and as we were then looking out for some place where we might get a supper, of which we stood in great need, we followed the direction they gave us. In turning a little westwards we entered the mountainous country which forms the eastern border of the valley of the Jordan, and descending in a S.W.

direction along the windings of a Wady, we arrived at a large encampment of Bedouins, at the end of ten hours and a half from our setting out in the morning. The upper part of the mountains consists entirely of siliceous rock. We pa.s.sed on the road several spots where the Bedouins cultivate Dhourra.