south of Damascus into the great plain, then turns to the left towards
the town, which it traversed in seven arms, and then runs into a lake.
It was the golden-streamed Chrysorrhoas of the ancients, the celebrated
Farfar of the eastern poets. It is this stream which causes the whole of
this paradise; and through it this ancient city, which was known even to
Abraham, and conquered by David, has had its importance secured.
Formerly Damascus was the centre of Arabian literature and learning, and
it is said that a disciple of the prophet gave instruction in the Koran
to 1,600 believers at the same time (according to the Lancastrian
method) in the great mosque of the Ommiades. The town appeared to us, at
first, not to respond to its glorious environs. Tolerably wide but bare
streets received us, with low houses, plaster walls, in which were
little doors, and hardly any windows. There were none of the beautiful
wood-carvings or stone ornaments to be seen either by the doors or at
the corners. Only some mosques and wells which we passed formed an
exception; and the many single trees in the streets and squares gave a
pleasing appearance. As we came more into the interior of the city, the
almost massive bazaars and the full shops; the richness of heaped-up
fruit of all sorts; the gay crowd of large and small in the numerous
costumes; and the never-ending turnings from one street into
another;--everything forced upon us the idea that we were in a large and
rich oriental city. We rode to the Prussian Consul’s, but he was lying
ill of a fever. We then went further to a newly-established hotel. Here,
also, as well as at the consul’s, we entered by a narrow door in an
unsightly outer wall into a little dark court, and from thence into a
low, crooked passage. Then, however, there opened before us a beautiful,
spacious court, surrounded by stately, shining marble walls, in the
middle of which was a fountain, overshadowed by lofty trees. At the
further end was an arched niche, whose vaulted top was twenty-five feet
high. To this one we mounted a few marble steps, and then found ourself
in a hall not large, but rather lofty, which opened into the court, and
along the inner walls had comfortable divans. To the left, near this
niche, was a dining-room; on the right we mounted a staircase to the
upper rooms, where we lived. These were wainscotted all round, and the
walls and ceiling were decked with gay painting, gilding, and silvering.
We afterwards saw several more of the best houses in Damascus, which all
from outside appeared almost miserable, but internally displayed an
oriental magnificence that was to be found nowhere else in this most
charming country. And in this manner they sometimes build at the present
time, at least, if we may judge by some of the small palaces, which have
only been built within the last ten or twenty years. There reigns here a
profusion of the use of marble and other valuable stone in these courts,
halls, and rooms, such as we only find in royal palaces in our own
country. The beautiful open halls, which are always built with a high
arch in front, are found sometimes on two or three sides of the court,
and have very often a small fountain, as well as the great one, which
never fails to stand in the middle of the court, generally overshadowed
by trees, which grow out of the middle of the marble slabs.
The next day we spent entirely in looking through the city, and
particularly the large bazars in which are spread out beautiful stuffs,
worked with gold and silver, magnificent arms, and other oriental
articles of luxury. We visited the great Khan, with its nine splendid
domed chambers; it is a kind of exchange for the most distinguished
tradespeople; then the grand mosque of the Ommiades, which is kept with
the utmost sanctity, and whose hall of pillars is 550 feet long, and 150
feet broad. It was formerly a Christian church, which must also have
been built on the foundations of a Romish Temple of Juno. We were not
allowed to enter, only to look in at the numerous open doors, and were
even prevented by a fanatical Mussulman from going upon the roof of a
neighbouring house, so that we were obliged to put it off till the next
day. We were also shown a splendid plane-tree, thirty-five feet in
circumference, which is in the middle of a street, near a well, called
after an old Sheikh Ali, who is said to have planted the tree; we went
also into the inviting coffee-house on the cool side of the stream. The
next day we rode to the south gate of the city, called Bab Allah,
towards which leads a perfectly straight street, more than an hour long,
between magnificent shops, mosques, work-shops, and other buildings,
which merits its name of “the street called Straight” (ἡ ῥύμη ἡ
χαλουμένη εὐθεῖα), in which Saul lived when he was converted by
Ananias.--(Acts ix. 11.)
On the road we stopped at the little cupola building which is usually
supposed to be the tomb of Saladin, but is really only a little betort
raised to his honour by Sultan Selim. The real tomb is twelve hours
south of Damascus, near a place called Gibba, according to a Sheikh,
whom we met here. From Bal Allah, the “Gate of God,” through which the
pilgrims to Jerusalem and Mekka go, we rode round the town, to the left,
through the pleasant orchards of olives, poplars, mulberry, and
giant-sized apricot trees; the latter produce the most delicious
apricots, which are dried, and under the name of Mishmish are sent all
over the world. We then came to the burying ground of the Jews, where
they were just letting down a body into the grave, and according to
their custom here were calling out the praises of the dead. Not far from
there lies the Christian burial-ground, in the neighbourhood of which
the place is pointed out where Saul was thrown to the earth by the
heavenly vision. From thence our way lay over a little bridge to the
town wall, in which they showed us, near a gate which is now bricked up,
the window through which Paul was let down. We continued along the wall
till we came to a beautiful Roman gate, with three entrances, the _Porta
Orientalis_, through which we came to the house of Ananias, and the cave
in the rock, which is now turned into a chapel. Then we rode through
fruit and olive gardens to a neighbouring village Gôba, where Elisha
crowned Hazael king of Syria, and Elijah was fed by ravens in the cave.
We visited also the tomb of the great Arabian mystic, the renowned
Sheikhs Mohieddin el Arabi, on our road from Damascus, in Salhîeh, which
is situated near, and we thought also of his master the Sheiks Shedeli,
who discovered how to make a drink of coffee, and used to keep his
pupils awake with it. In Palestine we wandered about the tombs of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel; of Joseph, David,
Solomon, and the Prophets; of Christ, his parents and his disciples.
Here we came to the tombs of Noah and Abel, and soon also to Seth’s; we
trode the fields of the paradise of the first human pair. What a
singular feeling it is to travel in a country where legends can be
occupied on such subjects!
We remained the first night after our departure in Sûk el Bárada, at the
foot of Nebbi Habîl. From thence we went again over the ancient arched
bridge, which, as well as most of the buildings of this country, were
built by the Empress Helena; and this time we examined more nearly the
tombs in the rocks, to which we had to arrive by a very difficult path,
through an old aqueduct hewn out of the rock. Some of these tombs were
singularly planned and appeared to be very ancient; further on, followed
several of the Greek period, with bas-reliefs and gables, and some
steles in the rock, on which we could still decypher some Greek words.
From here, not far up the river, we found an immense Roman work, the
great old (though now forsaken) road, hewn for a considerable distance
out of the solid rock. On the flat, high, side-wall were two Roman
inscriptions, each in duplicate. The longest ran thus:--
IMPerator CAESar Marcus AVRELius ANTONINVS | AVGustus ARMENIACVS ET
IMPerator CAESar Lucius AVRELius VERVS AVGustus AR | MENIACVS VIAM
FLVMINIS | VI ABRVPTAM INTERCISO | MONTE RESTIVERVNT PER | IVIium VERVM
LEGatum PRo PRaetore PROVINCiæ | SYRiae ET AMICVM SVVM | IMPENDIIS
ABILENORVM. The other was:--PRO SALVTE IMPeratoris AUGusti ANTONI | NI
ET VERI Marcus VO | LVSIVS MAXIMVS (centurio) LEGionis XVI. Flavin
Firmae QVI OPERI | IN STITIT Voto Suscepto.[155] Since then the rock has
been, without doubt, undermined and broken up for the second time by the
current, (probably very violent in the spring-time of the year,) as
close by the second copy of the two inscriptions, the rock-road breaks
off into a steep. Towards four o’clock we had ascended the Antilibanon,
and we then again went to Nebbi Shît, which is Seth, in the great plain
of the Leontes. We immediately went to search for the tomb of Nebbi
Shît, and were not a little astonished at finding here, as well as at
Nebbi Noëh, a solid ancient Ambian building, with a small cupola
adjoining, and within a grave forty ells long. It was wider than that of
Noah, because on both sides along the whole length of the grave three
steps led up to the height of the tomb, which were wanting in the
other. It is quite apparent that tradition, by giving such an uncommon
measure to the bodies of these two patriarchs, intended to represent
them as antediluvian men; and the number forty, which is so frequently
used both in the Old and New Testament as an indefinite holy number,
has, as is seen here, not lost this signification among the Arabians.
The same evening we rode two hours further, to Britân, and arrived
before sunrise next morning, at Bâlbek, the ancient Heliopolis, with its
famous ruins of the temple of the sun. I stopped next by the old stone
bridge, by which the road passed, and measured there a building block,
which was not quite loosened from the rock, of 67 feet in length, 14
feet in breadth, and 13 feet 5 inches thick. Of such blocks, or of
somewhat smaller ones, consist several walls of the ruins of the temple
and Bâlbek. A block that I measured on the spot, and in its place,
without particularly choosing it, was 65 feet 4 inches, by 12 feet 3
inches, and 9 feet 9 inches. The ruins are, in fact, immense; the style
of the architecture, in all its ornamental parts, is however heavy,
overloaded, and partly of a very barbarous taste.
To Bâlbek there hangs a very sad recollection. As I approached the
straggling houses of the village, which is very near the ruins of the
ancient temple, my faithful servant, Ibrahim, who had arrived here
before us, came to meet me with the joyful intelligence, that Abeken,
from whom we had separated in Jerusalem, had just reached the village. I
found him, indeed, in the next house to the worthy bishop, Athanasins;
hardly, however, had we greeted each other, when they came to tell me
that Ibrahim was dying outside in the street. I found him almost on the
same spot where he had met me in so friendly a manner, stretched out,
the death-rattle in his throat, and his eyes already fixed. A priest,
from the next convent, endeavoured to assist him, but in vain; he died
in a few minutes before my eyes. A fever produced by being exposed to
the weather, seemed to have given him his death-blow. He was a man of
sterling worth, and an inborn noble nature, such as is not often found
among the Arabs. I had taken him with me, in my journey to Nubia, from
Assuan; he desired, from his own impulse and attachment, to accompany me
to Europe, and would have been exceedingly useful to me in my labours on
the Sudan languages, on account of his knowledge of the Nubian dialects.
I wished to place a stone over the spot where he was buried, at the foot
of Antilibanon, on the slope of the hill near a tree; but no stone-mason
could be found. For this reason I sent one from Berut, with this
inscription:--IBRAHIMO HASSAN SYENE ORIVNDO SERVO BENE MERENTI P.R.
LEPSIVS. D. XXI. NOVEMB. MDCCCXLV.
This news made a deep impression upon Gabre Mariam, when I told it him
at Berut; he wept bitterly, for they had been very good friends.
Before we left Bâlbek, the bishop advised us to take another road than
that which we had intended to take, as the news had come that the other
side of Libanon was in a very disturbed state, and that the population
was in insurrection. However, as the whole country was in commotion, and
as we had never met with any difficulty on that account, we cared but
little about it, and remarked to him that we were only going through the
Christian districts, whose inhabitants would be friendly to us. We
quitted Bâlbek a little before sunset, and crossed the narrow plain, in
order to pass the night in Dêr el Ahmar, the “red convent,” and the next
day, with renewed strength, to ascend Libanon almost to its highest
point. During our whole journey through Palestine and Syria, we had,
till now, been favoured with the most beautiful weather. From day to
day, according to the calculations of other seasons, we might expect
continued rains, and, nevertheless, we had only once been wet through,
on our return from the Dead Sea to Jerusalem. The broad plain, Begâa,
which we crossed now a second time, is after the rains, at this season,
not passable; and the numerous mountain-streams of the well-watered
Libanon, are generally so swollen, that, on account of the want of
bridges, they can only be crossed with great danger. This evening the
sky was clouded over, in a threatening manner, the darkness of the night
was impenetrable, and at last, when we had just perceived some lights in
the distance, at Dêr el Ahmar, we lost our way upon a desert, full of
clefts, and the ground broken and rough. At last hardly were we arrived
when a heavy rain poured down. We shared again a large room with a
whole Christian peasant family, and passed one of the most unquiet of
nights.
Among the women and children, who appeared to be ill, there was a
constant groaning and fretting. In a short time the continued rain
penetrated the roof and dropped upon the beds; persons were sent up to
heap fresh sand upon it, and to roll it with heavy pieces of stone
pillars, (kept upon every house ready for this purpose,) which, however,
sent so much lime and dirt down upon us, that we were obliged to beg
that the operation might be discontinued. In a little shed near the
door, lay a dog with a numerous progeny, whose bed must have also been
wet, as they began to whine and yelp most piteously. Finally, our host
was with repeated and much noise knocked up, in order to procure a horse
for a soldier, who was carrying letters on further in haste for the
Pasha. Consequently, during the whole night we could gain no rest; and
if the Arabian proverb says, that the king of the fleas holds his court
in the holy city of the Jews, I have every reason to suppose that he has
removed his residence from there (where we laid comfortably) to this
place.
Towards morning the rain had ceased, and had turned into a thick fog,
which forming together into thick clouds, appeared sometimes to be cut
by the prominent mountains of the lofty Libanon, and sometimes with its
phantom-like play, with the light of the morning sun occasionally
breaking through upon the nearer and farther woody hills and
mountain-tops, perfectly delighted us. When we came to the first
height, which is divided from the principal chain by a shallow valley,
we had suddenly an indescribably beautiful and astonishing view over the
whole of the mountain range of Libanon, which rose up before us, its
whole length and down a considerable distance, covered with fresh
shining snow; a true Alpine country in its most magnificent features,
which towers majestically over this land blessed with eternal spring,
but now so shamefully oppressed by its Turkish enemies. I enjoyed most
fully this uncommon sight, which aroused in my heart a true native joy,
and I tried to retain within me this clear pure light. Before me I drove
my little Egyptian horse, who had lost his rider at Bâlbek, and who
carried on his back the small possessions he had left; I thought then,
how I had rejoiced a few days before, at the idea of the good Ibrahim’s
astonishment, when he should traverse with us the snowy region of
Libanon. The ass did not appear to be much pleased with the snow-heaps
that we had to ride through; he often stood quite astonished in the
middle of the snow, and no doubt took it all for salt, the white soft
fields of which he had already known by the Red Sea and elsewhere. We
rode zigzag along the immensely steep precipice seven to eight thousand
feet high, which is here not rocky, but covered with earth, and
terminates in a sharp brow. “El hamdu l’illah!” cried the old guide,
when we had reached the top; and, “Salâm, salâm,” sounded in chorus. We
had reached almost the highest point of Libanon, but the view over land
and sea was unfortunately hidden from us by clouds and fog, although
the blue sky was above our heads. After a short ride down from the top,
our guide showed us at our feet, in a large level inlet of the
mountains, the ancient and renowned forest of cedars, out of which King
Hiram sent the great stems to Solomon to build the temple; it appeared
from above as small as a garden. It had been considered for a length of
time as the remains of this forest, till, in later times, in a northern
part of Libanon, other forests of cedars have been discovered. We soon
lost sight of the cedars as we descended lower into the clouds, which
cut off all view from us. Suddenly the dark shadows of these giant trees
appeared in close rows before us, out of the great masses of fog, like
spirits of the mountains. We rode to the chapel of the hermit, who has
usually a good glass of Libanon wine to put before a stranger, but we
found it shut up; just then the clouds broke into a regular
straight-down rain, from which the needle-like roofs of the proud cedars
afforded us but little shelter. I found a cedar-apple hanging low enough
for me to break off, and to carry with me as a token of remembrance.
Some of these stems are forty feet in circumference, and ninety feet
high; and as it is supposed that a cedar of a hundred years old will
only be half a foot in diameter, so must these be reckoned three
thousand years old, which would reach back to the time of Solomon. The
rain increased, and we had yet several thousand feet to descend to the
nearest village, Bsherreh. The lower we came, the more slippery and
dangerous became the narrow, sometimes rocky, sometimes soft, footway,
which leads along the steep precipice over a yawning abyss down to the
right. At a bend in a corner of a rock, we at last caught sight of our
desired night-quarters, the rich, pleasant, and large village of
Bsherreh, which gives its name to the whole district, and is well known
on account of its strong and influential, but wild and ungovernable, and
often cruel inhabitants.
The rain had abated; the white houses with their flat roofs, the number
of silver poplars, plane-trees, and cedars, which rose up among them
either singly or in rows, formed one above another a semi-circle on a
hill projecting from the right hand precipice, and appeared, as they
shone with the rain-drops, as if they were just out of a fresh bath.
Nothing was moving in the village; it appeared as if everything was dead
in it; I rode on along a narrow path by the wall of a vineyard, with our
old guide, before the rest. Suddenly, at a bend of the road, a strong
voice called to us, and as I looked over the vineyard-terrace, of about
the height of a man, I saw to my great surprise, twenty guns pointed
towards me and the guide. The guide let the bridle of his horse fall,
and raised his hands towards heaven, and cried out to the people. I
immediately threw back the hood of my cloak, to show the people my
European hat, and to prove to them who we were. When they saw that there
were but few of us, and that we made no attempt to defend ourselves,
they came in hundreds from behind the trees, surrounded us, and for a
long time would not believe that we were not disguised soldiers. Some
threw sticks down upon our horses from the terraces, while I was
endeavouring to explain who we were to those nearest to me. Others
understood the mistake sooner, and came down to the street, and took
hold of the bridle of my horse. At last, a boy of about fourteen, with a
frank countenance, a beautiful forehead, and red fresh cheeks, pressed
through the crowd, and called out in Italian that we should not fear, it
was all a mistake, we were their friends, and we had only to ride and
dismount at his brother’s house. Some violent people accompanied us
still, and cried out to us from the walls with the most angry gestures;
while the great crowd were already satisfied, and raised a deafening
shout of joy, fired their guns into the air, and led us in triumph to
the village.
In Bsherreh, which contains from 1,200 to 1,500 inhabitants, all were on
foot; they pressed and pushed each other, in order to kiss our hands or
clothes. The women began their piercing cries; clapped their hands, and
danced; my brave boy remained still by my side, and so, at last, we got
step by step through the thick crowd, who now saluted us as friends, and
reached the house of the sheikh, of whom my guide was a younger brother.
We were led up the stone steps, across the hall, into the roomy chamber
where we were to lodge.
I passed almost the whole evening with the sheikh of the village, Jûsef
Hanna Dâhir, a full-grown young man with a serious, gentle countenance,
which invited confidence. His father had been killed in battle under
Ibrahim Pasha, who will be considered yet as a saint here, if the
present detestation of the Turk continues much longer. Sheikh Jûsef was
the eldest son of this numerous and old family, in which the office of
sheikh is hereditary. He related to me with full openness, tranquillity,
and judgment, everything that was passing among them; how they had
determined to deliver up their arms, which were demanded, but had
altered this determination when they had heard of the shameful acts
which had been perpetrated by the Turkish soldiery in the southern
districts. Now they had the number of thirty-four villages united, and
all sworn in their churches, not to give up their arms, but to use them
against the dogs of Turks. When I asked him if, since the death of their
common leader, Emir Beshir, they had any prospect of being able to
defend themselves against a disciplined army, he reckoned up in Bsherreh
alone 3,000, and in the whole united district 13,000 combatants, as much
as the whole Turkish military force in the country; besides these, they
had their mountains, their snow, and rain, their defiles, and
hiding-places, which would render all the cavalry and cannon of the
Turks useless. Added to this, said I, a friendly consul in Berut, who
will mediate to prevent the worst. This has, as I learned afterwards,
happened; the French General-Consul, Bourré, has negotiated in their
favour with the Pasha.
But I fear that all has been too late, and that over my good host in
Bsherreh the storm of war has already burst, and they will not be more
merciful to them and their children, than they were to their less
powerful neighbours.
I rejoiced much on that evening to be able to render a service to the
young Sheikh, whose quiet dignity had so much prepossessed me, in
dressing and binding up a wound, better than was possible with the means
they had, and I supplied him with linen and lint. He told me that we
could not go the next day, as he must prepare a feast for us, roast a
sheep, and show us that he was our friend; I however refused the
kindly-meant invitation.
The next morning, we took a servant of the Sheikh with us to the next
village, Ehden, which we found in great commotion, but not inimically
disposed toward us. Sentinels had been posted at different places, and
the gay population, in their dazzling red and yellow costume, who were
stationed on the hills around the village, appeared from a distance like
a flowery meadow among the green trees; they surrounded us, asked us
questions, and appeared to have different opinions about us. A young
Amazon ran from some distance to me, raised her finger in a threatening
manner, and reproached us that we Franks did not openly and efficiently
assist them.
We here took leave of our companion from Bsherreh; instead of him, a man
upon a noble spirited horse attached himself to us, unasked; he saluted
us politely, and at a certain distance kept us in sight. In about two
hours, on an even slope of the hill, we perceived a troop of armed
people in a field, who had planted the blood-red flag, as a signal to
proclaim revolt and war far and wide over the plain. The patrol came up
to us, and positively refused to let us proceed. Not till after a long
negotiation, through a golden bribe, and by the mediation of our
companion, who proved to be the Sheikh of a neighbouring village, did we
obtain a free passage; but the whole troop accompanied us to the foot of
the mountain. When we passed the next village, Zehêra, our companion the
Sheikh was obliged to use serious threats in order to pass us safely
over the frontier of the armed district; he then accompanied us along
another valley, to a turn in the rock, saluted us shortly, and rode
quickly back into the mountains. We had now only a few hours’ journey to
Tripolis, where we arrived soon after sunset, and passed the
grave-looking Turkish guards, who might have been somewhat roused from
their stupid carelessness by the prospect of a desperate battle with the
brave mountaineers.
We remained in Tripolis, now called Tarablûs, in a Latin convent, now
only inhabited and protected by two monks. They told us that a short
time before, the Christians of Libanon came to them, to desire their
spiritual intercession, whereupon they did not hesitate to exhibit the
holy sacrament for three days, on their account. Unfortunately the
Maronites have less scarcity of these spiritual prayers and good wishes
than of the more material provisions of bread and gunpowder, of which
the Turks cut off their supplies.
The next day we visited the Prussian-American Consul, who lives in a
pleasant house, of the oriental style, and then went to the bazaar.
Passing over a beautiful old bridge in the middle of the town, we met a
division of Turkish cavalry on their way to Libanon, in their gay,
tawdry, dirty costumes, with their lances, ten feet long, ornamented
with black ostrich feathers, and the little war-drums in full work going
before. About noon we left this place just at the same time that the new
Turkish general from Berut was passing the same gate, out of which we
rode. On our road we met the division of troops which had been ordered
from Zachleh here. We now travelled along the sea-shore, and almost the
whole day we heard the thunder of the cannon in the mountains.