[p.377] very fertile, and large tracts are here cultivated by the
inhabitants of Kerek, and the Arabs Hamaide. At two hours and a half is
Rabba (Arabic), probably the ancient Rabbath Moab, where the ancient
causeway terminates. The ruins of Rabba are about half an hour in
circuit, and are situated upon a low hill, which commands the whole
plain. I examined a part of them only, but the rest seemed to contain
nothing remarkable. On the west side is a temple, of which one wall and
several niches remain, by no means distinguished for elegance. Near them
is a gate belonging to another building, which stood on the edge of a
Birket. Distant from these ruins about thirty yards stand two Corinthian
columns of middling size, one higher than the other. In the plain, to
the west of the Birket, stands an insulated altar. In the town many
fragments are lying about; the walls of the larger edifices are built
like those of Heit Kerm. There are many remains of private habitations,
but none entire. There being no springs in this spot, the town had two
Birkets, the largest of which is cut entirely out of the rocky ground,
together with several cisterns. About three quarters of an hour to the
S.E. of Rabba, are two copious springs, called El Djebeyba (Arabic), and
El Yaroud (Arabic). From Rabba our road lay S. by E. At four hours are
the ruins of Kereythela (Arabic). At the end of five hours we entered a
mountainous district, full of Wadys; and after a march of six hours we
reached the town of Kerek.
I hesitated where I should alight at Kerek, and whether I should
announce myself as a Turk or a Christian, for I knew that the success of
my progress southward depended upon the good will of the people of this
place. I had a letter of recommendation to the Sheikh of the town, given
to me by a Turkish gentleman of Damascus, whose wife was a native of
Kerek, and he had mentioned me in such terms as led me to anticipate a
good reception; but as I knew that I should be much harassed by
inquisitive visitors, were
[p.378] I to take up my lodgings at the Sheikhs house, I determined to
alight at some Christians, and then consult upon my future proceeding
with the Greek priest, whom I knew by report. I no sooner entered the
north gate of the town, where is the quarter of the Christians, than I
was surrounded by several of these hospitable people, who took hold of
the bridle of my horse, every one insisting upon my repairing to his
dwelling; I followed one, and the whole neighbourhood was soon
assembled, to partake of the sheep that was slaughtered in honour of my
arrival; still no one had asked me who I was, or whither I was going.
After some conversation with the priest, I thought it expedient to pay a
visit of ceremony to the Sheikh, in order to deliver my letter; I soon
however had reason to repent: he received me very politely; but when he
heard of my intention of proceeding southward, he told me that he could
not allow of my going forward with one guide only, and that as he was
preparing to visit the southern districts himself, in a few days, I
should wait for him or his people to conduct me. His secretary then
informed me, that it was expected I should make some present to the
Sheikh, and pay him, besides, the sum which I must have given for a
guide. The present I flatly refused to make, saying that it was rather
the Sheikhs duty to make a present to the guest recommended to him by
such a person as my Damascene friend was. With respect to the second
demand, I answered that I had no more money with me than was absolutely
necessary for my journey. Our negotiations on this point lasted for
several days; when seeing that I could obtain no guide without an order
from the Sheikh, I at last agreed to pay fifteen piastres for his
company as far as Djebel Sherah. If I had shewn a disposition to pay
this sum immediately, every body would have thought that I had plenty of
money, and more considerable sums would have been extorted; in every
part of Turkey it is a prudent rule not
[p.379] to grant the Turks their demands immediately, because they soon
return to the charge. Had I not shewn my letter to the Sheikh, I should
have procured a guide with little trouble, I should have had it in my
power to see the borders of the Dead sea, and should have been enabled
to depart sooner; but having once made my agreement with him, I was
obliged to wait for his departure, which was put off from day to day,
and thus I was prevented from going to any distance from the town, from
the fear of being left behind. I remained therefore at Kerek for twenty
successive days, changing my lodgings almost every day, in order to
comply with the pressing invitations of its hospitable inhabitants.
The town of Kerek (Arabic), a common name in Syria, is built upon the
top of a steep hill, surrounded on all sides by a deep and narrow
valley, the mountains beyond which command the town. In the valley, on
the west and north sides, are several copious springs, on the borders of
which the inhabitants cultivate some vegetables, and considerable
plantations of olive trees. The principal of these sources are, Ain Sara
(Arabic), which issues from the rock in a very romantic spot, where a
mosque has been built, now in ruins; this rivulet turns three mills: the
other sources are Ain Szafszaf (Arabic), Ain Kobeyshe (Arabic), and Ain
Frandjy (Arabic), or the European spring, in the rock near which, as
some persons told me, is an inscription in Frank characters, but no one
ever would, or could, shew it me.
The town is surrounded by a wall, which has fallen down in several
places; it is defended by six or seven large towers, of which the
northern is almost perfect, and has a long Arabic inscription on its
wall, but too high to be legible from the ground; on each side of the
inscription is a lion in bas-relief, similar to those seen on the walls
of Aleppo and Damascus. The town had originally only two entrances, one
to the south and the other to the north; they are
[p.380] dark passages, forty paces in length, cut through the rock. An
inscription on the northern gate ascribes its formation to Sultan Seyf-
eddin (Arabic). Besides these two gates, two other entrances have been
formed, leading over the ruins of the town wall. At the west end of the
town stands a castle, on the edge of a deep precipice over the Wady
Kobeysha. It is built in the style of most of the Syrian castles, with
thick walls and parapets, large arched apartments, dark passages with
loop-holes, and subterraneous vaults; and it probably owes its origin,
like most of these castles, to the prudent system of defence adopted by
the Saracens against the Franks during the Crusades. In a large Gothic
hall are the remains of paintings in fresco, but so much defaced that
nothing can be clearly distinguished. Kerek having been for some time in
the hands of the Franks, this hall may have been built at that time for
a church, and decorated with paintings. Upon an uncouth figure of a man
bearing a large chain I read the letters IONI, painted in large
characters; the rest of the inscription was effaced. On the side towards
the town the castle is defended by a deep fosse cut in the rock; near
which are seen several remains of columns of gray and red granite. On
the south side the castle hill is faced with stone in the same manner as
at Aleppo, El Hossn, Szalkhat, &c. On the west side a wall has been
thrown across the Wady, to some high rocks, which project from the
opposite side; a kind of Birket has thus been formed, which formerly
supplied the garrison with water. In the castle is a deep well, and many
of the private houses also have wells, but their water is brackish;
others have cisterns, which save the inhabitants the trouble of fetching
their water from the Wady below. There are no antiquities in the town,
excepting a few fragments of granite columns. A good mosque, built by
Melek el Dhaher, is now in ruins. The Christians have a church,
dedicated to St. George, or El Khuder, which has been
[p.381] lately repaired. On the declivity of the Wady to the south of
the town are some ancient sepulchral caves, of coarse workmanship, cut
in the chalky rock.
Kerek is inhabited by about four hundred Turkish, and one hundred and
fifty Christian families; the former can furnish upwards of eight
hundred firelocks, the latter about two hundred and fifty. The Turks are
composed of settlers from all parts of southern Syria, but principally
from the mountains about Hebron and Nablous. The Christians are, for the
greater part, descendants of refugees from Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and
Beit Djade. They are free from all exactions, and enjoy the same rights
with the Turks. Thirty or forty years ago Kerek was in the hands of the
Bedouin tribe called Beni Ammer, who were accustomed to encamp around
the town and to torment the inhabitants with their extortions. It may be
remarked generally of the Bedouins, that wherever they are the masters
of the cultivators, the latter are soon reduced to beggary, by their
unceasing demands. The uncle of the present Sheikh of Kerek, who was
then head of the town, exasperated at their conduct, came to an
understanding with the Arabs Howeytat, and in junction with these,
falling suddenly upon the Beni Ammer, completely defeated them in two
encounters. The Ammer were obliged to take refuge in the Belka, where
they joined the Adouan, but were again driven from thence, and obliged
to fly towards Jerusalem. For many years afterwards they led a miserable
life, from not being sufficiently strong to secure to their cattle good
pasturing places. About six years ago they determined to return to
Kerek, whatever might be their fate; in their way round the southern
extremity of the Dead sea they lost two thirds of their cattle by the
attacks of their inveterate enemies, the Terabein. When, at last, they
arrived in the neighbourhood of Kerek, they threw themselves upon the
mercy of the present Sheikh
[p.382] of the town, Youssef Medjaby, who granted them permission to
remain in his district, provided they would obey his commands. They were
now reduced, from upwards of one thousand tents, to about two hundred,
and they may at present be considered as the advanced guard of the
Sheikh of Kerek, who employs them against his own enemies, and makes
them encamp wherever he thinks proper. The inhabitants of Kerek have
thus become formidable to all the neighbouring Arabs; they are complete
masters of the district of Kerek, and have great influence over the
affairs of the Belka.
The Christians of Kerek are renowned for their courage, and more
especially so, since an action which lately took place between them and
the Rowalla, a tribe of Aeneze; a party of the latter had on a Sunday,
when the men were absent, robbed the Christian encampment, which was at
about an hour from the town, of all its cattle. On the first alarm given
by the women, twenty-seven young men immediately pursued the enemy, whom
they overtook at a short distance, and had the courage to attack, though
upwards of four hundred men mounted on camels, and many of them armed
with firelocks. After a battle of two hours the Rowalla gave way, with
the loss of forty-three killed, a great many wounded, and one hundred
and twenty camels, together with the whole booty which they had carried
off. The Christians had only four men killed. To account for the success
of this heroic enterprise, I must mention that the people of Kerek are
excellent marksmen; there is not a boy among them who does not know how
to use a firelock by the time he is ten years of age.
The Sheikh of Kerek has no greater authority over his people than a
Bedouin Sheikh has over his tribe. In every thing which regards the
Bedouins, he governs with the advice of the most respectable individuals
of the town; and his power is not absolute enough to deprive the meanest
of his subjects of the smallest part
[p.383] that prevails prevents the increase of wealth, and the richest
man in the town is not worth more than about £1000. sterling. Their
custom of entertaining strangers is much the same as at Szalt; they have
eight Menzels, or Medhafe (Arabic), for the reception of guests, six of
which belong to the Turks, and two to the Christians; their expenses are
not defrayed by a common purse: but whenever a stranger takes up his
lodging at one of the Medhafes, one of the people present declares that
he intends to furnish that days entertainment, and it is then his duty
to provide a dinner or supper, which he sends to the Medhafe, and which
is always in sufficient quantity for a large company. A goat or a lamb
is generally killed on the occasion, and barley for the guests horse is
also furnished. When a stranger enters the town the people almost come
to blows with one another in their eagerness to have him for their
guest, and there are Turks who every other day kill a goat for this
hospitable purpose. Indeed it is a custom here, even with respect to
their own neighbours, that whenever a visitor enters a house, dinner or
supper is to be immediately set before him. Their love of entertaining
strangers is carried to such a length, that not long ago, when a
Christian silversmith, who came from Jerusalem to work for the ladies,
and who, being an industrious man, seldom stirred out of his shop, was
on the point of departure after a two months residence, each of the
principal families of the town sent him a lamb, saying that it was not
just that he should lose his due, though he did not choose to come and
dine with them. The more a man expends upon his guests, the greater is
his reputation and influence; and the few families who pursue an
opposite conduct are despised by all the others.
Kerek is filled with guests every evening; for the Bedouins, knowing
that they are here sure of a good supper for themselves and their
horses, visit it as often as they can; they alight at one Medhafe,
[p.385] go the next morning to another, and often visit the whole before
they depart. The following remarkable custom furnishes another example
of their hospitable manners: it is considered at Kerek an unpardonable
meanness to sell butter or to exchange it for any necessary or
convenience of life; so that, as the property of the people chiefly
consists in cattle, and every family possesses large flocks of goats and
sheep, which produce great quantities of butter, they supply this
article very liberally to their guests. Besides other modes of consuming
butter in their cookery, the most common dish at breakfast or dinner, is
Fetyte, a sort of pudding made with sour milk, and a large quantity of
butter. There are families who thus consume in the course of a year,
upwards of ten quintals of butter. If a man is known to have sold or
exchanged this article, his daughters or sisters remain unmarried, for
no one would dare to connect himself with the family of a Baya el Samin
(Arabic), or seller of butter, the most insulting epithet that can be
applied to a man of Kerek. This custom is peculiar to the place, and
unknown to the Bedouins.
The people of Kerek, intermarry with the Bedouins; and the Aeneze even
give the Kerekein their girls in marriage. The sum paid to the father of
the bride is generally between six and eighthundred piastres; young men
without property are obliged to serve the father five or six years, as
menial servants, in compensation for the price of the girl. The Kerekein
do not treat their wives so affectionately as the Bedouins; if one of
them falls sick, and her sickness is likely to prevent her for some time
from taking care of the family affairs, the husband sends her back to
her fathers house, with a message that he must cure her; for, as he
says, I bought a healthy wife of you, and it is not just that I should
be at the trouble and expense of curing her. This is a rule with both
Mohammedans and Christians. It is not the custom for the
[p.386] husband to buy clothes or articles of dress for his wife; she
is, in consequence, obliged to apply to her own family, in order to
appear decently in public, or to rob her husband of his wheal and
barley, and sell it clandestinely in small quantities; nor does she
inherit the smallest trifle of her husbands property. The Kerekein
never sleep under the same blanket with their wives; and to be accused
of doing so, is considered as great an insult as to be called a coward.
The domestic manners of the Christians of Kerek are the same as those of
the Turks; their laws are also the same, excepting those relating to
marriage; and in cases of litigation, even amongst themselves, they
repair to the tribunal of the Kadhy, or judge of the town, instead of
submitting their differences to their own Sheikhs. The Kadhy is elected
by the Sheikhs. With respect to their religious duties, they observe
them much less than any other Greeks in Syria; few of them frequent the
church, alleging, not without reason, that it is of no use to them,
because they do not understand one word of the Greek forms of prayer.
Neither are they rigid observers of Lent, which is natural enough, as
they would be obliged to live almost entirely on dry bread, were they to
abstain wholly from animal food. Though so intimately united with the
Turks both by common interests and manners, as to be considered the same
tribe, yet there exists much jealousy among the adherents of the two
religions, which is farther increased by the Sheikhs predilection for
the Christians. The Turks seeing that the latter prosper, have devised a
curious method of participating in the favours which Providence may
bestow on the Christians on account of their religion: many of them
baptise their male children in the church of St. George, and take
Christian godfathers for their sons. There is neither Mollah nor fanatic
Kadhy to prevent this practice, and the Greek priest, who
[p.387] is handsomely paid for baptising, reconciles his conscientious
scruples by the hope that the boy so baptized may perhaps die a
Christian; added to this, he does not give the child entire baptism, but
dips the hands and feet only in the water, while the Christian child
receives total immersion, and this pious fraud sets all his doubts at
rest as to the legality of the act. The priests pretend nevertheless
that such is the efficacy of the baptism that these baptised Turks have
never been known to die otherwise than by old age.
Kerek is the see of a Greek bishop, who generally resides at Jerusalem.
The diocese is called Battra (Arabic) in Arabic, and [Greek] in Greek;
and it is the general opinion among the clergy of Jerusalem, that Kerek
is the ancient Petra;[The Greek bishops belonging to the Patriarchal see
of Jerusalem are: 1. Kaisaryet Filistin; 2. Bysan: 3. Battra; 4. Akka;
5. Bethlehem; 6. Nazareth. The Greek bishops in partibus (Arabic) are;
1. Lyd; 2. Gaza; 3. Syna; 4. Yaffa; 5. Nablous; 6. Shabashye; 7. Tor
Thabour: 8. Djebel Adjeloun.] but it will be seen in the sequel of this
journal that there is good reason to think they are mistaken; Kerek
therefore is probably the Charax Omanorum of Pliny. The bishops revenue
is about six pounds sterling per annum; he visits his diocese every five
or six years. During my stay, a Greek priest arrived from Jerusalem, to
collect for his convent, which had been at a great expense in rebuilding
the church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Greeks delivered to him in sheep
to the value of about fifteen pounds sterling.
The Kerekein cultivate the plains in the neighbouring mountains and feed
their cattle on the uncultivated parts. One-third of the people remain
encamped the whole year at two or three hours distant from the town, to
superintend the cattle; the rest encamp in the harvest time only. During
the latter period the Christians have two large camps or Douars, and the
Turks five. Here they
[p.388] live like Bedouins, whom they exactly resemble, in dress, food,
and language. The produce of their fields is purchased by the Bedouins,
or exchanged for cattle. The only other commercial intercourse carried
on by them is with Jerusalem, for which place a caravan departs every
two months, travelling either by the route round the southern extremity
of the Dead sea, which takes three days and a half, or by crossing the
Jordan, a journey of three days. At Jerusalem they sell their sheep and
goats, a few mules, of which they have an excellent breed, hides, wool,
and a little Fowa or madder (Rubia tinctorum), which they cultivate in
small quantities; in return they take coffee, rice, tobacco, and all
kinds of articles of dress, and of household furniture. This journey,
however, is undertaken by few of the natives of Kerek, the trade being
almost wholly in the hands of a few merchants of Hebron, who keep shops
at Kerek, and thus derive large profits from the indolence or ignorance
of the Kerekein. I have seen the most common articles sold at two
hundred per cent. profit. The trade is carried on chiefly by barter: and
every thing is valued in measures of corn, this being the readiest
representative of exchange in the possession of the towns-people; hence
the merchants, make their returns chiefly in corn and partly in wool.
The only artizans in Kerek who keep shops are a blacksmith, a shoemaker,
and a silversmith. When the Mekka caravan passes, the Kerekein sell
provisions of all kinds to the Hadj, which they meet at the castle of
Katrana. Many Turks, as well as Christians, in the town, have negro
slaves, whom they buy from the Bedouins, who bring them from Djidda and
Mekka: there are also several families of blacks in Kerek, who have
obtained their liberty, and have married free black women.
The houses of Kerek have only one floor, and three or four are generally
built in the same court-yard. The roof of the apartment
[p.389] is supported by two arches, much in the same way as in the
ancient buildings of the Haouran, which latter however have generally
but one arch. Over the arches thick branches of trees are laid, and over
the latter a thin layer of rushes. Along the wall at the extremity of
the room, opposite to the entrance, are large earthen reservoirs of
wheat (Kowari Arabic). There is generally no other aperture in these
rooms than the door, a circumstance that renders them excessively
disagreeable in the winter evenings, when the door is shut and a large
fire is kindled in the middle of the floor.
Some of the Arab tribes in the territory of Kerek pay a small annual
tribute to the Sheikh of Kerek, as do likewise the peasants who
cultivate the shores of the Dead sea. In order, however, to secure their
harvests against any casualties, the Kerekein have deemed it expedient
to pay, on their, part, a tribute to the Southern Arabs called El
Howeytat, who are continually passing this way in their expeditions
against the Beni Szakher. The Christians pay to one of the Howeytat
Sheikhs one Spanish dollar per family, and the Turks send them annually
about fifteen mule loads of carpets which are manufacured at Kerek.
Whenever the Sheikhs of the Beni Szakher visit the town, they receive
considerable presents by way of a friendly tribute.
The district of Kerek comprises three other villages, which are under
the orders of the Sheikh of Kerek: viz. Ketherabba (Arabic), Oerak
(Arabic), and Khanzyre (Arabic). There are besides a great number of
ruined places in the district, the principal of which are the following;
Addar (Arabic), Hedjfa (Arabic), Hadada (Arabic), Thenye (Arabic), three
quarters of an hour to the S. of the town; Meddyn (Arabic), Mouthe
(Arabic), Djeldjoun (Arabic), Djefeiras (Arabic), Datras (Arabic), about
an hour and a half S.E. of the town, where some walls of houses remain;
Medjdelein (Arabic), Yarouk (Arabic), Seraf
[p.390] (Arabic), Meraa (Arabic), and Betra, where is a heap of stones
on the foot of a high hill, distant from Kerek to the southward and
westward about five hours.
Several Wadys descend from the mountains of Kerek into the plain on the
shore of the Dead sea, and are there lost, either in the sands or in the
fields of the peasants who cultivate the plain, none of them reaching
the lake itself in the summer. To the S. of Modjeb is the Seyl Djerra
(Arabic), and farther south, Wady Beni Hammad (Arabic). In the valley of
this river, perhaps the Zared of Scripture, are hot-wells, with some
ruined buildings near them, about five hours from Kerek, in a northern
direction. Next follow Seyl el Kerek, Wady el Draah (Arabic), Seyl Assal
(Arabic), perhaps Assan, which rises nearer Ketherabba; El Nemeyra
(Arabic), coming from Oerak; Wady Khanzyre (Arabic), and El Ahhsa, a
river which divides the territory of Kerek from the district to the S.
of it, called El Djebel.
Not having had an opportunity of descending to the borders of the Dead
sea, I shall subjoin here a few notes which I collected from the people
of Kerek. I have since been informed that M. Seetzen, the most
indefatigable traveller that ever visited Syria, has made the complete
tour of the Dead sea; I doubt not that he has made many interesting
discoveries in natural history.
The mountains which inclose the Ghor, or valley of the Jordan, open
considerably at the northern extremity of the Dead sea, and encompassing
it on the W. and E. sides approach again at its S. extremity, leaving
only a narrow plain between them. The plain on the west side, between
the sea and the mountains, is covered with sand, and is unfit for
cultivation; but on the E. side, and especially towards the S.
extremity, where it continues to bear the appellation of El Ghor
(Arabic), the plain is in many places very fertile. Its breadth
[p.391] varies from one to four and five miles; it is covered with
forests, in the midst of which the miserable peasants build their huts
of rushes, and cultivate their Dhourra and tobacco fields. These
peasants are called El Ghowárene (Arabic), and amount to about three
hundred families; they live very poorly, owing to the continual
exactions of the neighbouring Bedouins, who descend in winter from the
mountains of Belka and Kerek, and pasture their cattle amidst the
fields. The heat of the climate of this low valley, during the summer,
renders it almost uninhabitable; the people then go nearly naked; but
their low huts, instead of affording shelter from the mid-day heat
rather increase it. At this period violent intermittent fevers prevail,
to which, however, they are so much accustomed, that they labour in the
fields during the intervals of the paroxysms of the disease.
The principal settlement of the Ghowárene is at the southern extremity
of the sea, near the embouchure of the Wady el Ahhsa; their village is
called Ghor Szafye (Arabic), and is the winter rendezvous of more than
ten large tribes of Bedouins. Its situation corresponds with that of
Zoar. The spots not cultivated being for the greater part sandy, there
is little pasturage, and the camels, in consequence, feed principally
upon the leaves of the trees.
About eight hours to the N. of Szafye is the Ghor el Mezra (Arabic), a
village much frequented by the people of Kerek, who there buy the
tobacco which they smoak. About the middle of the lake on the same
eastern shore, are some ruins of an ancient city, called Towahein el
Sukkar (Arabic) i.e. the Sugar Mills. Farther north the mountains run
down to the lake, and a steep cliff overhangs the sea for about an hour,
shutting out all passage along the shore. Still farther to the north are
the ruined places called Kafreyn (Arabic), and Rama (Arabic), and in the
valley of the Jordan, south of Abou Obeida, are the ruins of Nemrin
(Arabic), probably