DEPARTURE FOR THE INTERIOR.—ARRIVAL AT MIZDA.—REMAINS OF A CHRISTIAN
CHURCH.
Meanwhile the instruments provided by Government had arrived, and proved
in general well adapted for their purposes.[6] But the tents and arms
had not yet reached us; and I thought it better to provide a strong,
spacious, and low tent, which, even after the Government tents arrived,
did not prove superfluous, although perhaps rather too heavy. All tents
intended for travellers in hot climates should be well lined, and not
high. Those which we received were quite unfit for the country whither we
were going, and while they were so light that they could hardly withstand
a strong blast of wind, they scarcely excluded the sun, particularly
after a little wear and tear. All the tents ought also to have top-ropes,
which can alone secure them in a tornado such as are common in those
climates. Mr. Richardson was soon obliged to provide himself with another
tent, so that in the course of our journey we had altogether five tents,
but generally pitched only two, or, where we encamped for a greater
length of time, four.
Mr. Overweg and I sustained a heavy loss in the secession of our black
servant Ibrahím, who might have proved of great service to us in the
interior, as he spoke the Bórnu and Bagrímma languages, and had himself
wandered about a good deal in those little-known districts between
Mándara and Bagírmi. But he declared that he could not remain in our
service along with our servant Mohammed ben Belál, the son of a liberated
Góber slave, who was a very clever but unscrupulous and haughty fellow,
and bore the character of a libertine. But another cause of detention
was the protest of his wives, who would not allow him to go unless he
divorced them. We tried every means of settling the matter, but without
success; so that we had only two servants, one of whom, Mohammed eʾ
Zintáni, the lad I have mentioned before, would certainly not go further
than Fezzán.
At length all was ready for our outset, except the boat, which caused Mr.
Richardson a great deal of trouble, as it had been divided in Malta into
two pieces instead of four. I proposed that we should pitch our tents
for some days at ʿAin Zára, in order that we might be duly seasoned for
our long journey. I would advise every traveller, who would calculate
upon all the means of ensuring success, to adopt a similar course. A few
days’ stay in his tent will familiarize him with the little store which
is henceforward to form his principal, if not his only resource, and will
enable him to bear the heat of the sun with ease.
It was late in the afternoon of the 24th of March, 1850, when Overweg
and I, seated in solemn state upon our camels, left the town with our
train, preceded by the consul, Mr. Crowe, in his carriage, by Mr. Reade,
and by Mr. Dickson and his family, of whom we took a hearty leave under
the olive-trees near Kasr el Haeni. We then continued our route, and
in fine moonlight pitched our tent on the border of ʿAin Zára. This
locality takes its name from a broad swampy hollow or depression to the
south, thickly overgrown with reeds and rushes. At present no one lives
in it; the wells are filled up with earth, and the date-trees, cared
for by nobody, are partly overwhelmed by the sand which has accumulated
in large mounds. Still it is an attractive spot, having just a little
of cultivation and a little of sandy waste. A few olive-trees spread
their fresh cool shade over a green meadow, forming a very pleasant
resting-place. It was at this very spot that, in August 1855, on my
joyful return, I again met Mr. Reade the vice-consul, and passed a night
there.
Here we remained encamped till Friday the 29th. In the afternoon of the
27th, Mr. Frederic Warrington, who wished to escort us for a few days,
came out, accompanied by the American consul Mr. Gaines, and brought us
the satisfactory news, that on the following Friday Mr. Richardson would
move from the town, and that we should meet him at Mejenín. I and my
countryman required eight camels for our luggage, besides the two which
we rode ourselves, and which were our own. I had been so fortunate as to
procure an excellent Arab camel of the renowned breed of the Bú-Saef,
which was my faithful companion as far as Kúkawa; and Mr. Warrington had
made me a present of a handsome Ghadamsi saddle or basúr, with pillows
and Stambúli carpet, so that I was comfortably mounted.
After a great deal of trouble (the camel-drivers and our men being as
yet unaccustomed to our unwieldy luggage), we at length succeeded in
making a start. After leaving the olive-trees and the little palm-grove
of ʿAin Zára, we very soon entered deep sand-hills, which sheltered
us from the strong wind; and after more than two hours we came upon
pasture-grounds, which furnished our camels with a variety of herbs and
gramineæ, such as the shʿade, the shedíde, and various others unknown to
me. The progress of an Arab caravan (where the camels march each after
its own inclination, straying to the right and to the left, nipping here
a straw, and there browsing on a bush) must be rather slow in districts
where the stubborn animal finds abundance of food. This way of proceeding
is extremely tedious and fatiguing to the rider; and to obviate it the
Tuarek, the Téb, and the people in the interior fasten all the camels
one behind the other. Owing to our slow progress, the sun was almost
setting when we overtook Mr. Warrington, who had pitched his tent on a
fine pasture-ground near Bir Sbaea. The last hour and a half’s ride from
the well Jenáwa lay along well-cultivated and flourishing corn-fields
extending along the narrow wady of Mejenín, and intermingled with a rich
profusion of flowers, principally the beautiful blue “khobbés.”
Having indulged for some hours in the quiet enjoyment of a fine morning
and an open green country, I went with the shoush to look after Mr.
Richardson’s party. After an hour’s ride through luxuriant corn-fields,
and pasture-grounds enlivened by the horses of the Turkish cavalry, we
found Mukni, the sailor, and all Mr. Richardson’s baggage; but he himself
had not yet come up. I could not persuade the people to remove to our
encampment; so I returned, after having paid a visit to the binbásha of
the cavalry, who had been stationed here for the last seventeen years. He
had contrived to procure himself a cool retreat from the sultry hours, by
forming a regular tank, about two feet and a half square, in the midst of
his tent, and keeping it always full of water. In the afternoon I made
a long excursion with my Zintáni through the plain, beyond the chapel
of Sidi Bargúb, in order to buy a sheep; but though the flocks were
numerous, none of the shepherds would sell, as pasturage was abundant and
every one had what he wanted.
Foggy weather indicated that rain was approaching; and just in time Mr.
Richardson with his party arrived, and pitched his enormous lazaretto
tent opposite our little encampment. Mr. Reade also had come from the
town, in order to settle, if possible, the misunderstanding with our
servant Mohammed, and see us off. It is an agreeable duty for me to
acknowledge the many services rendered us during our stay in Tripoli.
Our whole party was detained here the following day by the heavy
rains; and Overweg and I were happy to get hold of the black servant
of the ferocious pseudo-sheríf mentioned by Mr. Richardson, when that
troublesome fellow was sent back to town, as we were much in want of
another servant.
We fairly set out on our exhibition. The country became more diversified
as we approached the defile formed by the Bátes and Smaera, two advanced
posts of the mountain-chain, while the varied forms of the latter, in
high cones and deep abrupt valleys, formed an interesting background. But
the country hereabouts is cultivated with less care than Wady Mejenín;
and the ground being more stony, presents of course more obstacles than
the latter, while both districts are inhabited by the same tribes, viz.
the Urgáat and the Akára. Even here, however, in the circle formed by the
surrounding heights, was a fine extent of plain covered with corn-fields.
Just at the entrance of the pass there is a well, where the road divides;
and after a little consultation, we took the western branch, as our
people feared that on the eastern we should not find water before night.
Changing, therefore, our direction, we seemed awhile to keep off entirely
from the mountain-range till we reached the wide but very rugged and
rocky Wady Haera, which it was our object to reach at this spot, in order
to fill our water-skins from the pools formed by the rains. The wady,
indeed, looked as if it sometimes bore in its floods a powerful body of
water; and a considerable dyke had been constructed in the early times of
the Arabs, extending for two hundred paces from the wady eastward; but it
has fallen to ruin, and the path leads now through the breach.
Resuming our march, after a good deal of delay, we turned sharp off
towards the mountains, and at an early hour encamped on a very pleasant
spot adorned with numerous sidr-trees (_Rhamnus Nabeca_); but instead
of enjoying it in quiet, Overweg and I felt disposed to direct our
steps towards a hill called Fulíje, about half an hour’s walk eastward,
which promised to be a convenient point for obtaining correct angles of
the prominent features of the chain, and proved to be so in reality.
Having executed this task, therefore, we returned to our companions
well satisfied, and spent the evening in the comfortable tent of Mr.
Warrington. We had now reached the slope of the chain, where some of our
people supposed that the boat would cause difficulties; but it could
not well do so after being cut into quarters, which fitted to the sides
of the camels rather better than the large quadrangular boxes. The most
troublesome parts were the long oars and poles, which caused the camel
much exhaustion and fatigue, by constantly swaying backwards and forwards.
The ground, soon after we had started the next morning, became stony,
and, at three miles distance, very rugged and intersected by a number
of dry watercourses. The landscape was enlivened not only by our own
caravan, composed of so many heterogeneous elements, but also by some
other parties who happened to be coming down the slope: first the
Kaimakám of the Jebel, then a slave caravan, consisting of about sixty
of these poor creatures, of whom the younger, at least, seemed to take
a cheerful interest in the varied features of the country. The Wady
Bú Ghelán, where the ascent commences, is here and there adorned with
clusters of date-trees. In about an hour the first camels of our party
reached the terrace of Beni ʿAbbás; and till the whole had accomplished
the ascent, I had leisure to dismount from my tractable Bú-saefi, and to
sit down quietly under a fine olive-tree near the chapel of the Merábet
Sámes, watching them as they came up one by one, and cheered by the
conviction that the expedition was at length in full train. The country
was here hilly, and the path very often narrow and deeply cut in the
marly soil. Further on, Overweg and I, together with our shoush, turned
off a little to the right from the great caravan-road, and, passing
through fine corn-fields interspersed with flowers of different kinds,
reached the village Gwásem, lying at a short distance from the eastern
foot of Mount Tekút, where we were treated with sourmilk by a friend of
our companions. When we had overtaken our caravan, I found time to pay a
visit to the Roman sepulchre, and ascertained that the base measured 24
ft. in every direction, the principal body of the monument, containing
the sepulchral chamber, having fallen in entirely. From this point
we began to ascend the second terrace, and reached the level of the
plateau at two o’clock in the afternoon. The country had now a much more
interesting appearance than when I was here two months before, being at
present all covered with green corn. Having started in the direction of
the castle, we descended, a little before reaching it, along the shelving
grounds towards Wady Rummána, and encamped on the spot where the troops
usually bivouac.
Here we remained the following day, when, in order to settle formally the
demands of our camel-drivers, we had all our things accurately weighed
by the officials of the castle. The little market did not grow busy till
ten o’clock. The chief articles for sale were three head of cattle, one
camel, some sheep and goats, a few water-skins, some barley, a few eggs,
and sandals; but at noon it was moderately thronged. In the afternoon we
paid a visit to several subterranean dwellings, but were disappointed in
not getting access into an entirely new structure of this kind, formed
of a much harder sort of clay. Our cheerful friend Mr. Warrington, in
order to treat our party before he separated from it for a length of
time which nobody could foresee, got an immense bowl of kuskus prepared,
seasoned in the most savoury manner; and our whole party long indulged in
the remembrance of this delicate dish as a luxury beyond reach. The site
of our encampment was most pleasant: below us the wady, rich with varied
vegetation; while towards the north the Tekút, with its regularly shaped
crater towering proudly over the lower eminences around, formed a most
interesting object. Though busy at an early hour, we did not get off till
late; for many things were still to be settled here. We separated from
Mr. Warrington: and of the three travellers I was the only one whom he
was ever to see again.
Our path was at first very winding, as we had to turn round the deep
indentation of the Wady Rummána, after which it took a straighter course,
passing through several villages, with their respective olive-groves,
till we reached Bu Sriyán, where the cultivation of the olive-tree
ceased entirely for some distance, and the country became more open. Here
we made another considerable deviation from our southerly direction,
and followed a wide valley with much cultivated ground. Having reached
the village Sémsa, situated upon an eminence to our right, we turned
off eastward into a very pleasant ravine with an olive-grove, and then
began the steep ascent towards the height Kuléba, which forms the passage
over this southern crest of the plateau. While the camels in long rows
moved slowly onwards, with their heavy loads, on the narrow and steep
rocky path, I, allowing my camel to follow the rest, ascended directly
to the village, which is situated round the eastern slope, and is still
tolerably well inhabited, although many a house has fallen to ruin; for
it has a considerable extent of territory; and owing to its situation
as the southernmost point of Ghurián, the inhabitants are the natural
carriers and agents between the northern districts and the desert. On the
highest crest, commanding the village, there was formerly a castle; but
it has been destroyed by the Turks.
Having descended a little into the barren valley, we encamped, at two
o’clock in the afternoon, on the slope of the western hills, near
the last scanty olive-trees, and not far from the well, from which
we intended to take a sufficient supply of water to last us till we
reached Mizda. While our people, therefore, were busy watering the
camels and filling our water-skins, Overweg and I, accompanied by two
of the inhabitants of the village, who had followed us, ascended a
conspicuous mount, Jebel Toëshe, the highest in the neighbourhood, on
the top of which a village is said to have existed in former times. We
took several angles; but there is no very high point about Mizda which
could serve as a landmark in that direction. The country through which we
were marching, along irregular valleys, mostly of limestone formation,
exhibited scattered patches of corn for about the first three miles,
after which, almost every sign of cultivation suddenly ceased, and the
“Twél el Khamér,” stretching from north-west to south-east, about two
miles distant on the right, formed, as it were, the northern boundary
of the naked soil. On its slope a few trees of the kind called radúk by
the Arabs were seen from the distance. We then entered desolate stony
valleys, famous for the bloody skirmishes which are said to have once
taken place there between the Urfílla and the Welád Bu Séf, in the time
of ʿAbd el Jelíl. Refreshing, therefore, was the aspect of Wady Ranne,
which, extending from east to south-west, was overgrown with green
herbage, and had two wells.
A little beyond, near the hill, or rather slope, called Shʿabet el Kadím,
the latter part of which name seems, indeed, to have some reference to
antiquity, we found the first Roman milestone, with the inscription now
effaced: but further on, Mr. Overweg, who went on foot and was far behind
the main body of our caravan, succeeded in discovering some milestones
with inscriptions, which he regretted very much not being able to show
me. Hereabouts commences the region of the batúm-tree, which, with the
fresh green of its foliage, contributes a good deal to enliven and
adorn some favoured spots of this sterile, gravelly tract. To the left
of our path were some remarkable basaltic cones, starting up from the
calcareous ridge. The ground was strewn with numerous flint-stones. About
four o’clock P.M. I went to look at a curious quadrangular and regularly
hewn stone, three feet in breadth and length, but only eight inches
thick, which was standing upright at some distance from the caravan. It
was evidently meant to face the west; but no trace of an inscription
was to be seen. About a mile further on we encamped at the foot of the
western chain, which rose to a height of about three hundred feet, and
formed a narrow cleft with the eastern chain, which at this point closes
upon it. In this corner (which collects the humidity of two valleys),
besides several batúm-trees, a little corn had been sown. Panthers are
said to be numerous in this region.
The next day we directed our march towards the pass, crossing the dry
beds of several small torrents, and a broader channel bordered by plenty
of batúm-trees. After an hour’s march, we had reached the summit of the
pass, which now began to widen, the heights receding on each side, and a
more distant range bounding the view. We found in the holes of the rocky
bottom of Wady Mezummíta, which we crossed about half-past eight, several
pools of rain-water, affording us a most refreshing drink; but it was
quite an extra treat, owing to recent heavy rains which had fallen here,
for in general the traveller cannot rely on finding water in this place.
The ground becoming very stony and rugged, our progress was excessively
slow—not above half an English geographical mile in seventeen minutes.
The hills on our right displayed to the view regular layers of sandstone.
Another long defile followed, which at length brought us to a plain
called Wady Lilla, encompassed by hills, and offering several traces of
former cultivation, while other traces, further on, bore testimony to
the industry of the Romans. A small herd of goats, and the barking of a
dog, showed that even at present the country is not wholly deserted. In
our immediate neighbourhood it even became more than usually enlivened by
the passage of a slave-caravan, with twenty-five camels and about sixty
slaves, mostly females.
After having passed a small defile, we at length emerged into the
north-west branch of the valley of Mizda, called here Wady Udé-Sheráb,
the channel of which is lined with a considerable number of batúm-trees.
Crossing the stony bottom of this plain, after a stretch of three miles
more we reached the western end of the oasis of Mizda, which, though my
fancy had given it a greater extent, filled me with joy at the sight
of the fine fields of barley, now approaching maturity—the crop, owing
to the regular irrigation, being remarkably uniform—while the grove of
date-trees encompassed the whole picture with a striking and interesting
frame. So we proceeded, passing between the two entirely separated
quarters, or villages, distinguished as the upper, “el fók,” and the
lower, “el utah,” and encamped on the sandy open space a little beyond
the lower village, near a well which formerly had irrigated a garden.
People going to Tripoli encamp at the other end of the oasis, as was done
by a caravan of Ghadamsi people with slaves from Fezzán, on the following
day.
Mizda, most probably identical with the eastern “Musti kome” of Ptolemy,
appears to have been an ancient settlement of the indigenous inhabitants
of North Africa, the Berbers, and more particularly of a family or
tribe of them called “Kuntarár,” who even at present, though greatly
intermixed with Arabs, have not entirely forgotten their Berber idiom.
The oasis lies in the upper part of Wady Sofejín, or rather a branch of
it, stretching out from south-west to north-east, which has in some parts
a great breadth. The natural advantage, or productive principle, of the
locality seems to lie in the circumstance that the humidity carried down
by the Wady Sheráb is here arrested by a hill, and absorbed by the clayey
soil. This hill is of a lengthened form, and consists entirely of gypsum.
[Illustration]
The wells have little depth, and the water is drawn to the surface by
means of oxen; but there being at present only three specimens of this
precious animal in the place, the wells are far from being made use of
to the extent which is practicable and has been once practised, as may
be concluded from the pillars which extend to a considerable distance
on the plain. The town, as I said, consists of two distinct quarters
or villages, of which the western one, situated at the eastern foot of
the hill, is by far the larger; it is built exactly in the character of
the ksúr of the Algerian Sahara, with high round towers decreasing a
little in width towards the upper part, and furnished with several rows
of loopholes. The wall, purposely built with a great many salient and
retiring angles, is in a state of decay, and many of the houses are in
ruins; but the village can still boast a hundred full-grown men able to
bear arms. The chief of this village always resides in it, while that of
the other generally lives at some distance under tents. The circumference
of the village, together with the palm-grove attached to its eastern
side, and consisting of about two hundred trees, is 2,260 paces.
The lower or south-eastern village, the circumference of which is 600
paces, is separated from the former by an interval of about 400 paces,
and has at present no palm-grove, all the gardens having been destroyed
or ruined by neglect, and only twenty or thirty palm-trees now remaining
scattered about the place. About 100 paces further down the declivity
of the valley, is a group of three small gardens surrounded by a wall,
but in bad condition; and at about the same distance beyond, another
in the same state. The only advantage peculiar to this quarter is that
of a large “zawíya,” the principal articles in the inventory of which
are eight holy doves. But this also has now become but an imaginary
advantage, as, according to its learned keeper’s doleful complaints, it
is very rarely visited. In this as well as in the other quarter, all the
houses are built of gypsum. As Mizda is a very remarkable feature in the
country, I thought it worth while to make a particular sketch of the
oasis also from this side.
[Illustration]
This oasis is very diminutive; but two caravan-routes, one from Murzuk
and one from Ghadámes, join at this point. The inhabitants are of a
mild disposition, and enjoy the fame of strict honesty. Everything is
here considered as secure; and the camels which cannot find food in the
neighbourhood, are driven into the green valley at four or five minutes’
distance, and left there without a guardian. I make these statements
advisedly, as reflections of a different kind have been made on their
character. The people seem to suffer much from sore eyes. When we asked
them about the most remarkable features of the road before us, they spoke
of a high mount, Teránsa, which, however, we did not afterwards recognize.
[Illustration]
In the afternoon I made an excursion with Overweg to Jebel Durmán,
situated at the distance of a mile and a half south-east. It is rather
a spur of the plateau jutting out into the broad valley, and, with its
steep, precipitous, and washed walls, nearly detached and extremely
narrow as it is—a mere neck of rock—looks much like a castle. Upon the
middle of its steep side is a small zawíya belonging to the Zintán. The
prospect from this steep and almost insulated pile could not, of course,
be very extensive, as the mount itself is on the general level of the
plateau; but we obtained a fine view over the sea of heights surrounding
the broad valley and the several tributaries of which it is formed. Night
was setting in, and we returned to our tent.
[Illustration]
Having heard our Zintáni make frequent mention of an ancient castle
with numerous sculptures, and situated at no great distance, I resolved
to visit it, and set out tolerably early in the morning of the 9th of
April, accompanied by the Arab and one of our shoushes. We had first
to send for one of our camels, which was grazing at about three miles’
distance, in the sandy bottom of the wady south-east from our encampment.
It was only on this occasion that I became aware of the exact nature of
the valley of Mizda, and its relation to the Wady Sófejín; for we did not
reach this latter wady until we had traversed the whole breadth of the
sandy plain, and crossed a mountain-spur along a defile called Khurmet
bu Mátek, at the distance of at least eight miles from our encampment.
This is the famous valley mentioned, in the eleventh century, by the
celebrated Andalusian geographer El Bekri. Figs and olive-trees adorn its
upper part, which is said to stretch out as far as Erhebát, a district
one day and a half beyond Zintán; barley is cultivated in its middle
course, while wheat, from which the favourite dish ʿajín is made, is
grown chiefly in its lower part near Tawárgha. The valley seems worthy
of better fortune than that to which it is reduced at present; for when
we marched along it, where it ran S. 20 W. to N. 20 E., we passed ruins
of buildings and water-channels, while the soil exhibited evident traces
of former cultivation. I listened with interest to the Zintáni, who told
me that the valley produced an excellent kind of barley, and that the
Kuntarár, as well as the people of Zintán, his countrymen, and the Welád
Bu-Séf, vied with each other in cultivating it, and, in former times
at least, had often engaged in bloody contests for the proprietorship
of the ground. When I expressed my surprise at his joining the name of
his countrymen with those of the other tribes hereabouts, he gave me
the interesting information that the Zintán had been the first and most
powerful of all the tribes in this quarter before the time of the Turks,
and held all this country in a state of subjection. Since then their
political power and influence had been annihilated, but they had obtained
by other means right of possession in Mizda as well as in Gharíya, and
still further, in the very heart of Fezzán, by lending the people money
to buy corn, or else corn in kind, and had in this way obtained the
proprietorship of a great number of the date-trees, which were cultivated
and taken care of by the inhabitants for a share of the produce. Formerly
the people of Zintán were in possession of a large castle, where they
stored up their provisions; but since the time of the Turkish dominion,
their custom has been to bring home the fruits of their harvests only
as they want them. In Wady Sháti we were to meet a caravan of these
enterprising people.
[Illustration]
While engaged in this kind of conversation we entered a smaller lateral
valley of Wady Sófejín, and reached the foot of a projecting hill on
its western side, which is crowned with a castle. Here it was that I
was to find marvellous ancient sculptures and drawings; but I soon
perceived that it would be as well not to cherish any high expectations.
The castle, as it now stands, is evidently an Arab edifice of an early
period, built of common stones hewn with some regularity, and set in
horizontal layers, but not all of the same thickness. It forms almost a
regular square, and contains several vaulted rooms, all arranged with a
certain degree of symmetry and regularity. But while we pronounce the
main building to be Arab, the gateway appears to be evidently of Roman
workmanship, and must have belonged to some older edifice which the Arab
chieftain who built this castle probably found in the place,—a conjecture
which seems to be confirmed by several ornamental fragments lying about.
It is a pity that we know so little of the domestic history of these
countries during the period of the Arab dynasties, though a step in
advance has been made by the complete publication of Ebn Khaldún’s
history; else we should regard with more interest these relics of
their days of petty independence. This castle, as well as another, the
description of which I shall subjoin here, though it was visited some
days later, is called after a man named Khafáji ʿAámer, who is said to
have been a powerful chief of great authority in Tunis no less than in
Tarábolus (Tripoli).
[Illustration]
The other ruin, related to this one as well by name as by the style
of its workmanship—but in many respects more interesting, having been
evidently once a place of Christian worship—stands on a narrow and
detached neck of rock in the Shʿabet Um el Kharáb, and, from its whole
plan, appears to have been originally and principally a church about
forty-three feet square, sufficiently large for a small congregation,
and with more art and comfort than one can easily suppose a Christian
community in these quarters ever to have possessed. Hence greater
interest attaches to this building than it would otherwise deserve. It
closes with a plain apsis, in which there are two openings or doorways
leading into an open room stretching behind it and the side-naves, and is
divided into three naves, the middle one of which is eight paces, and the
lateral ones six and a half wide. The naves are divided from one another
by columns with differently ornamented capitals supporting arches, all in
the so-called round style of architecture. I made purposely a sketch of
two different capitals, in order to show their designs; and I think they
are very characteristic. But it is curious to observe that the walls also
appear to have been originally painted on stucco, though at present but a
small piece of it remains near the corner; hence I conclude that the date
of the painting was later than that of the erection of the church.
The front of the building has suffered in some degree from the
depredations of the Arabs, who are said to have carried away a great
many sculptures from this place—as much, indeed, a man from Mizda would
have made me believe, as fifty-five camel-loads. However exaggerated
this statement may be, it is evident that the whole layer over the
entrance was originally covered with ornamental slabs, while now only
two remain to the left of the doorway; and these, though in the same
style of sculpture as the capitals, would rather seem to have been
taken from another edifice. There are many debatable points involved
in the consideration of this building. The first fact clearly shown is
the existence of a Christian community or a monastery in these remote
valleys, as late as the twelfth century at least, under the protection
of a powerful chief; and this is not at all improbable, as we know that
Mohammed expressly ordered that zealous priests and monks should be
spared, and as we find so many monasteries in several other Mohammedan
countries. That it was not merely a church, but a monastery, seems
plainly indicated by the division into apartments or cells, which is
still clearly to be seen in the upper story. Attached to the north side
of the church was a wing containing several simple apartments, as the
ground-plan shows; and on the south corner of the narrow ridge is a small
separate tower with two compartments. Near this ruin there is another,
which I did not visit, called Ksaer Labayed mtʿa Derayer, while a third,
called Ksaer el Haemer, has been destroyed.