the former, and we passed the night in the open air, at _Shawr_,
where the river Orontes winds majestically through the plain. The
town of _Shawr_ is populous, and has a good caravanserai; but we
preferred the open air, to avoid the vermin which lodge in such
places. Adjacent is a good stone bridge of seven arches. These
conveniences have been originally provided for the caravan, which
rests here in its route from Constantinople to Mecca.
On the fifth day arrived at _Keftîn_, a village remarkable for its
pigeon-houses, which supply the adjacent country, even to Aleppo. The
neighbouring lands abound in wheat and barley, sown in ridges; the
soil is rich, and requires no farrow. The women here go unveiled,
and at _Martrawân_, which is not far removed, are by their friends
presented to strangers.
The people are termed _Ansarîé_ in Arabic, a sect of pretended
Mohammedans, who are said to worship the pudendum muliebre. With
Christians they affect to be of their faith. The women are fair,
have black eyes, and tolerable features. The strange practice above
commemorated, seems a relique of the antient dissolute manners of
Antioch and Daphne.
Thence to Aleppo is a journey of eight hours; for two hours through
corn lands, the rest passes a barren country. That city is visible
at the distance of two hours, and as you approach displays a most
magnificent appearance.
CHAP. XXIV.
OBSERVATIONS AT ALEPPO.
_Sherîfs and Janizaries — Manufactures and commerce — Quarries
— Price of provisions — New sect — Journey to Antioch —
Description of antient Seleucia — Return to Aleppo._
The country adjacent to Aleppo is broken with many inequalities,
and even the city stands partly on high and partly on low ground. A
small river, called _Coik_, descends from _Aintab_, and, after
passing through the city, is lost in a marsh on the West.
So many descriptions of this famous capital having appeared, I
shall only offer a few remarks on such objects as struck me during
my residence there.
The site is rocky, and the few gardens chiefly produce pistachios. The
city is well built, and paved with stone. The tall cyprus trees,
contrasted with the white minarets of numerous mosques, give it a
most picturesque appearance. The population and buildings seem to
be on the increase; but this affords no proof of public felicity;
for, in proportion as the capital swells, the adjacent villages are
deserted. The houses are clean, airy, substantial, and commodious. The
people in general are distinguished by an air of affected polish,
hardly to be observed in the other towns of Syria. Their dialect
too has its characteristic marks. The Arabic prevails, though many
speak the Turkish language.
A new Pasha had been lately appointed at the time I arrived, but was
prevented from entering the city, by the feuds which had prevailed
between the Sherîfs and the Janizaries, and induced the latter to
suspect that the Pasha had a design of punishing them. This officer
was a young man, the son of the Pasha of Adene; his title El Sherîf
Mohammed Pasha; of an unblemished character, but unequal, in point
of talents and personal weight, to compose the violence of these
factions, which, after he had resided a short time in the city,
obliged him to retire. The Sherîfs, or descendants of Mohammed,
here form a considerable faction; a circumstance also observable
at Bagdad, but not in so remarkable a degree. In Aleppo they form a
body of near sixty thousand. The Janizaries do not exceed one-fourth
of that number. The Sherîfs consist of all ranks, from the highest
Imâm to the lowest peasant, and are far from excelling in courage:
the Janizaries are of superior valour, though little acquainted with
the use of arms or aspect of battle. Hence the force of the factions
is merely balanced, and continual disputes arise for offices of
profit or power, which generally terminate in bloodshed. In the
course of this summer, 1797, several of these took place; in one
of them it is supposed near three hundred persons perished. This
imperfect exercise of authority may be estimated among the symptoms
of decline in the Turkish empire.
The manufactures are in a flourishing state, being carried on with
great spirit both by Christians and Mohammedans: silk and cotton form
the chief articles. Large caravans frequently arrive from Bagdad and
Bassora, charged with coffee, which is carried round to the Persian
gulf from Moccha, with the tobacco and cherry-tree pipes from Persia,
and muslins, shawls, and other products of India.
Besides the manufactures of Aleppo, and the productions of the
surrounding country, which are sent to Europe by sea, three or four
caravans, laden with merchandize, proceed annually through Anatolia
to Constantinople. Pistachio nuts form no mean article of trade,
being the chief produce of the adjacent territory, in the soil
of which that tree particularly delights. Aleppo also maintains a
commercial intercourse with Damascus, Antioch, Tripoli, Ladakia,
and the towns on the East towards the Euphrates.
The last pestilence is supposed to have destroyed sixty thousand of
the inhabitants.
The women of Aleppo are rather masculine, of brown complexions,
and remarkable for indulging in the Sapphic affection.
The quarries which supplied the stone for the construction of the
city, are not far removed from the Antioch gate. They are every way
worthy remark. On both sides of a road, cut through the solid rock,
are seen the openings of caverns, capable of giving shelter to a
vast number of persons. From these again, which are tolerably light,
open a number of other passages, in all directions, from the principal
apartments. These I had neither time nor instruments to investigate;
but the people of the place pretend that one of these passages goes to
the castle, another to Antioch, &c. Traditions similar to which abound
in every country, which presents any caverns natural or artificial.
The material is a soft stone or tufa, replete with petrified
shells. It would appear that the artificers designed those quarries
for some useful purpose, as they have not only left rough columns, and
cut perpendicular shafts, which admit some portion of light, but the
walls are hewn to a much greater degree of smoothness than is usually
seen in quarries. It is certain they have afterwards been occupied,
as marks of fire, mangers for horses, and even burial places, may be
observed. In latter times, disbanded _dellîs_, not being admitted
into the city, have here fixed their abode, and become dangerous to
passengers, whom they have robbed, and sometimes murdered.
There is a large burying-place without the city. Here I observed
the tomb of an Englishman, dated 1613.
The dress of the people of Aleppo resembles that of Constantinople
more than that of Egypt and southern Syria: both men and women, in
rainy weather, wear a kind of wooden patten, which has no agreeable
effect either on the eye or the ear.
The hire of a camel from Aleppo to Ladakia or Scanderoon, about
sixty miles, was a century ago four piasters, thirty years ago eight
piasters, and is at this time nineteen. The price of commodities is
much changed in the course of not many years. But since the year 1716
it has increased in a tenfold proportion. I saw an authentic document,
that the _ardeb_ of rice at that time sold for eleven piasters;
it now fetches one hundred and eighteen piasters. They at that time
sold 185 rolls of bread, of a particular kind, for a piaster; they
now only sell forty of the same kind for that sum. Meat is good
and in plenty; it is sold for fifty paras the rotal, 720 drams,
or about 4½d. a pound. There are no fish, save a few small eels,
found in the _Coik_. Wine is very dear, none being produced in the
neighbourhood. On the other articles of provision nothing remarkable
occurs.
At Aleppo I first observed the practice of illuminating the mosques on
Thursday night, to usher in the Mohammedan Sabbath; this is unknown
at Kahira, and other cities of the South.
About this time, the beginning of June 1797, intelligence arrived,
that the Pasha of Bagdad had sent a strong detachment of troops,
to be joined by the Arabs friendly to the Porte, in repressing the
incursions of _Abd-el-aziz ibn Messoûd el Wahhâhbé_, a rebel
against the government, who by the rapid success of his arms, and
his increasing followers, had lately grown formidable. This man, a
native of _Nedjed_, respected among the Arabs for his age and wisdom,
had two years before first made public his determination to resist
the authority of the Porte. He has since collected a considerable
body of men, but it is said they are only furnished with spears and
swords. He pretends to a divine mission, and gives no quarter to
those who oppose him. To invite Christians and Jews to his party,
he only requires an annual capitation tax of three piasters and
a half. Of the people under his jurisdiction, every owner of a
house is obliged to serve in person or find a substitute; and, to
encourage them, he divides the spoil into five parts; taking one
himself, he gives two to the substitute and two to the principal,
or if the latter serve he has four parts. It was supposed his views
pointed to Mecca, which he had threatened to attack. His confession
of faith is only—“There is no God but God;” inferring, that
a prophet, when dead, deserves no homage, and that of course to
mention him in a creed, or in prayers, is absurd. He enjoins the
absolute necessity of prayer, under the open canopy of heaven,
and destroys all the mosques he can seize. Of the five dogmata
of Mohammed, he admits alms, fasting, prayer, and ablution, but
rejects pilgrimage. He denies the divine origin of the Korân, but
prohibits the use of all liquors but water. Being advanced in age,
he had taken care to secure the attachment of his followers to his
son, who was generally his substitute in the field[59].
On the 11th of June set out from Aleppo for Antioch, where I arrived
on the 14th. Part of the route is mountainous. We passed the Orontes
at a ferry. Country cultivated with Hashîsh, a kind of flax.
Entered Antioch, now called Antáki, by _Bab-Bolûs_, the gate of
St. Paul. The walls are extensive, but the houses are chiefly confined
to one corner. Numerous towers flank the walls, which are strong
and lofty, and run from the river Orontes, the southern boundary of
the city, up to the summit of the mountain. There is a substantial
bridge over the river, which winds through a fertile vale. A large
castle on the mountain, now ruinous, commands an extensive prospect.
Antioch is governed by a _Mohassel_, who derives his appointment from
Constantinople. He received me with great politeness, and desired
me to make what researches I pleased.
The barley harvest was begun. The length of the plain of Antioch is
about three leagues and a half, the width two leagues. The language
is here generally Turkish.
It must be remarked with regard to Aleppo and Antioch, that the
latter has by far the most convenient situation. The former has no
navigable river, the land is little productive, and it is placed
at a great distance from the sea. Antioch possesses every opposite
advantage, except that of a navigable river, which however far
exceeds the diminutive Coik; the air is superior to that of Aleppo,
and it is within five hours of the sea. The mountain produces wine,
which is sold cheap, and there is plenty of sea-fish. The mouth of
the river forms a haven for small vessels, with very deep water.
Between Antioch and the sea, the ridge abounds in mulberry trees,
which furnish a copious supply of silk, though not of the best kind.
From Antioch I set out for _Suadéa_, the antient _Seleucia_, and port
of Antioch, and only about four hours removed from it. It presents to
the mind the idea of the immense labour used by its former possessors
to render it convenient for traffic, which is now rendered useless,
by the negligence of its present masters. The road from Antioch is
pleasingly diversified by mountain and plain; yet to appearance the
country is but thinly inhabited, though filled with all kinds of
flowering and odoriferous plants, particularly myrtles, oleanders,
and cyclamens. Having crossed four rapid and translucid streams,
which descend into the Orontes, I passed the night with a hospitable
native, in a garden of mulberries, which afforded support to his
numerous family.
A large gate of Seleucia yet remains entire; it approaches to
the Doric order. The rock near it has been excavated into various
apartments. A part exists of the thick and substantial wall which
defended Seleucia toward the sea. The port must have been commodious
and secure, though but small, being formed by a mole of very large
stones. Though the port be at present dry, the sand in the bottom
appears not higher than the surface of the sea. A little to the
North is a remarkable passage, cut in the rock, leading by a gentle
descent, from the summit of the mountain towards the water. It is
above six hundred common paces long, from thirty to fifty feet high,
and about twenty broad. In the middle of it is a covered way, arched
through the rock, but both the ends are open. A channel for water runs
along the side, conveying the pure element down from the mountain
to Seleucia. The whole rock above is full of artificial cavities,
for what purpose does not appear. There is a Greek inscription on the
South side of the cavern, comprising, I believe, five lines. Having
no glass, and the inscription being lofty, I could only discover
the letters ΤΕΤΑΡ, which form a part of the last line but one.
Returning towards the sea, I observed some catacombs. One of the
chambers contains thirty niches for the dead, another fourteen. These
catacombs are ornamented with pilasters, cornices, and mouldings.
Returned to Antioch, and on the following day set off for Aleppo. The
Kûrds occasionally attack the caravans going between these two
cities. The Turcomâns form another tribe of rovers; they generally
pass the winter in the plains near Antioch, returning in the summer
to Anatolia.
CHAP. XXV.
JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS.
_Entrance of the Hadjîs — Topography of Damascus — Trade and
manufactures — Population — Observations on the depopulation
of the East — Government and manners of Damascus — Charitable
foundations — Anecdotes of recent history — Taxes — Price of
provisions — Sacred caravan._
After waiting some time in Aleppo for the departure of the caravan,
I at length left that city on the 23d of July for Damascus. The heat
was great, but nothing equal to that of Africa. The beasts of burden,
employed in this caravan, were only mules and geldings.
The route from Aleppo to Damascus has been often described. On
Wednesday the 8th of August entered Damascus at day-break. The
approach is remarkable, being ornamented for many miles with numerous
gardens, and then by a paved way, extending for a great length.
On the day after my arrival, was entertained with the entrance
of the grand caravan from Mecca. The street was lined for some
miles, for such is its length, with innumerable spectators, all
impressed with curiosity, some with anxiety to see their friends
and relations, many with reverence for the sacred procession. Some
of the more opulent Hadjîs, or pilgrims, were carried in litters,
(_tattarawân_,) but the greater number in a kind of panniers, two and
two, placed on the back of camels. They did not appear much fatigued,
though it was said they had suffered from the want of water.
On the Saturday following, was the entrance of the Pasha of Damascus,
who is constantly the _Emîr-el-Hadje_, or chief of the caravan by
office. First appeared three hundred dellîs, or cavalry, mounted on
Arabian horses, variously armed and clothed, but on the whole forming
no mean display. These were succeeded by fifteen men on dromedaries,
with musquetoons, or large carbines, placed before them, and turning
on a swivel in every direction. This destructive instrument of war
is said to have passed from the Persians to the Syrians. Some of
the great officers of the city followed, well mounted, and decently
attired. Then came part of the Pasha of Tripoli’s Janizaries, well
clothed and armed; that Pasha himself, with his officers, and the
remainder of his guard. Next was the tattarawân belonging to the
Pasha of Damascus, another body of four hundred dellîs, a company
of thirty musquetooners, a hundred and fifty Albanians, in uniform,
and marching two and two, like our troops. Before the latter was
borne the standard of the Prophet, _Senjiak Sherîfi_, of green silk,
with sentences of the Korân embroidered in gold, and the magnificent
canopy brought from Mecca, guarded by a strong body of Muggrebîns,
or western Arabs, on foot. Then passed the Pasha’s three tails,
(generally of white horses,) borne by three men on horseback; twelve
horses, (a Pasha of two tails has only six,) richly caparisoned,
and each bearing a silver target and a sabre; six led dromedaries,
in beautiful housings; numbers of the chief persons of the city
followed, among whom were the Aga of the Janizaries, the governor
of the castle, and the Mohassel. Last came the Pasha himself, in a
habit of green cloth adorned with fur of the black fox, preceded by
his two sons, the eldest about fourteen, all mounted on the most
spirited steeds of Arabia, and followed by his household troops,
to the number of four hundred, well armed and mounted. More than a
hundred camels had preceded the rest, bearing the tents and baggage
of the Pasha. The whole was conducted without any noise or tumult,
to the great credit of the Damascene mob, who had been waiting
several hours without their usual repast.
Damascus has been often described; but a residence of about two months
may enable me to suggest some particulars worthy of notice. The walls
are of a circular form, suburbs large and irregular. The situation is
in an extensive plain, filled with gardens, to the length of more than
three leagues, and the breadth of more than a league and a half. At
no great distance to the East, rises a ridge of Anti-Libanus. The
river Baradé is above the city divided into many streams, which
are distributed through the gardens; so that there is a supply for
all. The air is excellent, the soil exuberant in fertility. Fruits
more abundant than I have ever seen, particularly the grapes and
apricots, which are of excellent flavour.
Near the mountain are some Saracenic remains of a mosque and palace,
with many inscriptions in Cuphic characters. These are vestiges of the
destructive warfare conducted by Timûr Leng, the hero, the robber,
the warrior, the scourge. The walls are antient, not very lofty, but
strong. Gates nine. The city is divided into twenty-three districts,
each under its distinct magistrate.
That beautiful tree, the Lombardy poplar, abounds all over the
plain. It is a native of Syria. When old it becomes ragged and
uncouth, as usual in other regions, a monument of fugitive beauty.
Damascus is the seat of a considerable trade; and its manufactures
afford a support to a great number of Mohammedans and Christians:
they consist of silk and cotton, mixed or separate, but chiefly
mingled together, in the form of what they call _Cottonî_ or
_Alléja_[60]. Much soap is also fabricated[61], which is carried to
different parts of Syria and to Egypt. Such of the European articles
as are used by the Orientals, are drawn from Seidé, Beirût, and
Tripoli, to and from all which places, there are regular caravans,
iron, lead, tin, cochineal, broad-cloth. From Persia and the East the
caravans of Bagdad convey shawls, muslins, and the rich fabrics of
Surat, a part of which is consumed in the city, and a part passes
on to other places in Syria and to European Turkey. To maritime
commerce the Damascenes were formerly very adverse, and it is only
within these few years that they could be prevailed on to send goods
by sea to Constantinople.
Timûr Leng, on his conquest of Syria, about the beginning of the
fourteenth century, conveyed all the celebrated manufactures of
steel from Damascus into Persia. Since that period, its works in
steel have been little memorable. They were formerly of the highest
reputation in Europe and the East. The famous sabres appear to have
been constructed, by a method now lost, of alternate layers, about two
or three lines thick, of iron and steel: they never broke, though bent
in the most violent manner, and yet retained the utmost power of edge;
so that common iron, or even steel, would divide under their force.
So far as my researches have enabled me to ascertain the population
of Damascus, I should not be inclined to compute it at less than
two hundred thousand souls. That of Aleppo may be estimated at two
hundred and eighty thousand.
Some modern travellers appear to me to have mistaken the nature of
the gradual depopulation of the East. The villages in general are so
much deserted, that, in the neighbourhood of Aleppo for instance,
where within the present century stood three hundred villages,
there now remain no more than ten or twelve. Yet, this depopulation
of the villages swells the cities and towns, not indeed in the same
proportion, but still with a rising tide. The causes seem to be, 1. In
the cities the modes of gaining a livelihood are more multifarious,
and small or no capital is required, whereas in agriculture it
is indispensable. 2. In the cities the property is not tangible,
so to speak; it is veiled from the eye of government, so as to be
safe from the excessive exactions imposed on the peasants, whose
property is of the most unwieldy and self-apparent description. The
peasantry, both in Syria and Egypt, are not _Villani_, but as free
as any class of men; and it happens unfortunately, that even a good
governor cannot sufficiently protect them, for he must either resign,
or pay the usual tributes at the Porte. Money he must have, and the
modern ministerial arts, of diving into the most secret recesses of
property, being there unknown, he of course taxes that which is most
apparent, and the most difficult to remove.
Yet the distinction between a good and a bad governor is, even here,
sufficiently felt; the population and commerce of Damascus being
on the increase, by the justice and equity of the present Pasha;
whereas, both had been materially injured by the violence of Jezzar.
At this moment the shops in the extensive bazars, much larger than
those of Aleppo, are all opened, and furnished with every species
of commodity, and each caravan brings a supply of persons who,
shunning oppression elsewhere, come here for temporary profit or
fixed residence. The rent of houses, though still low, is sensibly
increasing, and the suburbs spreading by new buildings.
The Pashalîk is the first in Asia. The present Pasha is Abdallah,
a man of about fifty years of age, tall and personable, and of noble
extract, his ancestors having been invested with Pashalîks in the
last century. It is hardly necessary to mention, that every Pasha
has absolute power of life or death, there being no appeal from
his jurisdiction.
The inhabitants of Damascus were formerly noted for their maltreatment
of the Franks, but at present I found the pride of their ignorance
somewhat abated, and observed no difference between them and other
Oriental citizens. It is deeply to be regretted, that religion,
intended to conciliate mankind, should be the chief cause of their
ferocity against each other, and should, in an equal proportion,
have mingled poisons and antidotes. The Mohammedan himself a god,
all the rest of mankind dogs! can any benefit recompense the pride,
the fury, the eternal enmity, destruction, and slaughter, inwoven
into the very soul by such misanthropic dogmata?
A striking contrast exists between the inhabitants of Damascus and
those of Aleppo. The Aleppîns are vain and seditious; the Damascenes,
on the contrary, sober, industrious, and unostentatious. The females
and children have commonly regular features and a fair complexion:
the dress of the women nearly the same as at Constantinople, white
muslin veils, except the prostitutes, who, as usual all over the
East, expose their faces. To paint the face is an improvement unknown
among the Oriental fair, save the Greeks alone.