Chapter 6

In the middle niche of the three, which are represented in the engraving, the base of the statue is still visible.[Banias, [Greek text], or Caesareia Philippi, was the Dan of the Jews. The name Paneas was derived from the worship of Pan. The niche in the cavern probably contained a statue of Pan, and the other niches similar dedications to the same or other deities. The cavern and [Greek text], or sanctuary of Pan, are described by Josephus, from whom it appears also that the fountain was considered the source of the Jordan, and at the same time the outlet of a small lake called Phiala, which was situated 120 stades from Caesareia towards Trachonitis, or the north-east. The whole mountain had the name of Paneium. The hewn stones round the spring may have belonged, perhaps, to the temple of Augustus, built here by Herod. Joseph. de Bel. Jud. l.i,c.16. Antiq. Jud. l.3,c.10,-l.15,c.10. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l.12,c.17. The inscription appears to have been annexed to a dedication by a priest of Pan, who had prefixed the usual pro salute for the reigning Emperors. Ed.]

Upon the top of the rock, to the left of the niches, is a mosque dedicated to Nebi Khouder, called by the Christians Mar Georgius, which is a place of devotion for Mohammedan strangers passing this way. Round the source of the river are a number of hewn stones. The stream flows on the north side of the village; where is a well built bridge and some remains of the ancient town, the principal part of which seems, however, to have been on the opposite side of the river, where the ruins extend for a

[p.40]quarter of an hour from the bridge. No walls remain, but great quantities of stones and architectural fragments are scattered about. I saw also an entire column, of small dimensions. In the village itself, on the left side of the river, lies a granite column of a light gray colour, one foot and a half in diameter.

October 15th.--It being Ramazan, we remained under a large tree before the Menzel, smoking and conversing till very late. The researches which Mr. Seetzen made here four years ago were the principal topic; he continued his tour from hence towards the lake of Tabaria, and the eastern borders of the Dead Sea. The Christians believe that he was sent by the Yellow King (Melek el Aszfar, a title which they give the Emperor of Russia) to examine the country preparatory to an invasion, to deliver it from the Turkish yoke. The Turks, on the contrary, believe, that, like all strangers who enquire after inscriptions, he was in search of treasure. When questioned on this subject at Baalbec, I answered, "The treasures of this country are not beneath the earth; they come from God, and are on the surface of the earth. Work your fields and sow them; and you will find the greatest treasure in an abundant harvest." "By your life (a common oath) truth comes from your lips," ([Arabic] is a common word used in Syria for [Arabic] which signifies "thy mouth."] [Arabic] Wuhiyatak, el hak fi tummak) was the reply.

On the south side of the village are the ruins of a strong castle, which, from its appearance and mode of construction, may be conjectured to be of the same age as the castle upon the mountain. It is surrounded by a broad ditch, and had a wall within the ditch. Several of its towers are still standing. A very solid bridge, which crosses the winter torrent, Wady el Kyd, leads to the entrance of the castle, over which is an Arabic inscription; but for want of a ladder, I could make out nothing of it but the date "600 and ... years (.... [Arabic])," taking the era of the Hedjra,

BOSTRA.

[p.41]it coincides with the epoch of the crusades. There are five or six granite columns built into the walls of the gateway.

I went to see the ruins of the ancient city of Bostra, of which the people spoke much, adding that Mousa (the name assumed by Mr. Seetzen) had offered thirty piastres to any one who would accompany him to the place, but that nobody had ventured, through fear of the Arabs. I found a good natured fellow, who for three piastres undertook to lead me to the spot. Bostra must not be confounded with Boszra, in the Haouran; both places are mentioned in the Books of Moses. The way to the ruins lies for an hour and a half in the road by which I came from Rasheyat- el-Fukhar, it then ascends for three quarters of an hour a steep mountain to the right, on the top of which is the city; it is divided into two parts, the largest being upon the very summit, the smaller at ten minutes walk lower down, and resembling a suburb to the upper part. Traces are still visible of a paved way that had connected the two divisions. There is scarcely any thing in the ruins worth notice; they consist of the foundations of private habitations, built of moderate sized square stones. The lower city is about twelve minutes walk in circumference; a part of the four walls of one building only remains entire; in the midst of the ruins was a well, at this time dried up. The circuit of the upper city may be about twenty minutes; in it are the remains of several buildings. In the highest part is a heap of wrought stones of larger dimensions than the rest, which seem to indicate that some public building had once stood on the spot. There are several fragments of columns of one foot and of one foot and a half in diameter. In two different places a short column was standing in the centre of a round paved area of about ten feet in diameter. There is likewise a deep well, walled in, but now dry.

The country around these ruins is very capable of cultivation.

SOURCES OF THE JORDAN

[p.42]Near the lower city are groups of olive trees. Pieces of feldspath of various colours are scattered about in great quantities upon the chalky rock of this mountain. I found in going up a species of locust with six very long legs, and a slender body of about four inches in length. My guide told me that this insect was called [This is the abbreviation of - [Arabic].] [Arabic] Salli al-nabi, i.e. "pray to the Prophet."

I descended the mountain in the direction towards the source of the Jordan, and passed, at the foot of it, the miserable village of Kerwaya. Behind the mountain of Bostra is another, still higher, called Djebel Meroura Djoubba. At one hour E. from Kerwaye, in the Houle, is the tomb of a Turkish Sheikh, with a few houses near it, called Kubbet el Arbai- in w-el-Ghadjar [Arabic].

The greater part of the fertile plain of the Houle is uncultivated; the Arabs El Faddel, El Naim, and the Turkmans pasture their cattle here. It is watered by the river of Hasbeya, the Jordan, and the river of Banias, besides several rivulets which descend from the mountains on its eastern side. The source of the Jordan, or as it is here called, Dhan [Arabic], is at an hour and a quarter N.E. from Banias. It is in the plain, near a hill called Tel-el-Kadi. There are two springs near each other, one smaller than the other, whose waters unite immediately below. Both sources are on level ground, amongst rocks of tufwacke. The larger source immediately forms a river twelve or fifteen yards across, which rushes rapidly over a stony bed into the lower plain. There are no ruins of any kind near the springs; but the hill over them seems to have been built upon, though nothing now is visible. At a quarter of an hour to the N. of the spring are ruins of ancient habitations, built of the black tufwacke, the principal rock found in the plain. The few houses at present inhabited on that spot are called Enkeil.

BANIAS.

[p.43]I was told that the ancient name of the river of Banias was Djour, which added to the name of Dhan, made Jourdan; the more correct etymology is probably Or Dhan, in Hebrew the river of Dhan. Lower down, between the Houle and the lake Tabaria, it is called Orden by the inhabitants; to the southward of the lake of Tabaria it bears the name of Sherya, till it falls into the Dead Sea.

October 15th.--My guide returned to Zahle. It was my intention to take a view of the lake and its eastern borders; but a tumour, which threatened to prevent both riding and walking, obliged me to proceed immediately to Damascus. I had reason to congratulate myself on the determination, for if I had staid a day longer, I should have been compelled to await my recovery at some village on the road. Add to this, I had only the value of four shillings left, after paying my guide: this alone, however, should not have prevented me from proceeding, as I knew that two days were sufficient to enable me to gratify my curiosity, and a guide would have thought himself well paid at two shillings a day; as to the other expenses, travelling in the manner of the country people rendered money quite unnecessary.

There are two roads from Banias to Damascus: the one lies through the villages of Koneitza and Sasa; the other is more northly; I took the latter, though the former is most frequented, being the route followed by all the pilgrims from Damascus and Aleppo to Jerusalem; but it is less secure for a small caravan, owing to the incursions of the Arabs. The country which I had visited to the westward is perfectly secure to the stranger: I might have safely travelled it alone unarmed, and without a guide. The route through the district of the Houle and Banias, and from thence to Damascus, on the contrary, is very dangerous: the Arabs as well as the Felahs, are often known to attack unprotected strangers, and

DJOUBETA.

[p.44]a small body of men was stripped at Koneitza during my stay at Banias.

As soon as I declared my wish to return to Damascus, I was advised by several people present to take a guard of armed men with me, but knowing that this was merely a pretext to extort money without at all ensuring my safety, I declined the proposal, and said I should wait for a Kaffle. It fortunately happened that the Sheikh of the village had business at Damascus, and we were glad of each other's company. We set out in the afternoon, accompanied by the Sheikh's servant. The direction of the route is E.b.S. up the mountain of the Heish, behind the castle of Banias. We passed several huts of Felahs, who live here the whole summer, and retire in winter to their villages. They make cheese for the Damascus market. At the end of an hour and a half we came to Ain el Hazouri, a spring, with the tomb of Sheikh Othman el Hazouri just over it; to the north of it one hour are the ruins of a city called Hazouri. The mountain here is overgrown with oaks, but contains good pasturage; I was told that in the Wady Kastebe, near the castle, there are oak trees more than sixty feet high. One hour more brought us to the village of Djoubeta, where we remained during the night at the house of some friends of the Sheikh of Banias. This village belongs to Hasbeya; it is inhabited by about fifty Turkish and ten Greek families; they subsist chiefly by the cultivation of olives, and by the rearing of cattle. I was well treated at the house where we alighted, and also at that of the Sheikh of the village, where I went to drink a cup of coffee. It being Ramadan, we passed the greater part of the night in conversation and smoking; the company grew merry, and knowing that I was curious about ruined places, began to enumerate all the villages and ruins in

MEDJEL.

[p.45]the neighbourhood, of which I subjoin the names.[The ruins of Dara, Bokatha, Bassisa, Alouba, Afkerdouva, Hauratha (this was described as being of great extent, with many walls and arches still remaining,) Enzouby, Hauarit, Kleile, Emteile, Mesherefe, Zar, Katloube in the Wady Asal, Kseire, Kafoua, Beit el Berek. The villages of Kfershouba, Maonyre in the district Kereimat, Ain el Kikan, Mezahlak, Merj el Rahel, Sheba, Zeneble, Zor or Afid, Merdj Zaa. In the Houle, Amerie, Nebi Djahutha, Sheheil.] The neighbouring mountains of the Heish abound in tigers ([Arabic] nimoura); their skins are much esteemed by the Arab Sheikhs as saddle cloths. There are also bears, wolves, and stags; the wild boar is met with in all the mountains which I visited in my tour.

October 16th.--The friends of the Sheikh of Banias having dissuaded him from proceeding, on account of the dangers of the road, his servant and myself set out early in the morning. In three quarters of an hour we reached the village of Medjel, inhabited by Druses, with four or five Christian families. The Druses who inhahit the country near Damascus are very punctual in observing the rites of the Mohammedan religion, and fast, or at least pretend to do so, during the Ramadan. In their own country, some profess Christianity, others Mohammedism. The chief, the Emir Beshir, keeps a Latin confessor in his house; yet all of them, when they visit Damascus, go to the mosque. Medjel is situated on a small plain high up in the mountain; half an hour further on is a spring; and at one hour and a quarter beyond, is a spacious plain. The mountain here is in most places capable of cultivation. In one hour more we reached the top. The oak tree is very frequent here as well as the bear's plum [Arabic] (Khoukh eddeb), the berries of which afford a very refreshing nourishment to the traveller. The rock is partly calcareous, and partly of a porous tufa, but softer than that which I saw in the Houle. At one hour and a quarter farther is the Beit el Djanne (the House of Paradise), in a narrow Wady, at a

REITIMA.

[p.46]spot where the valley widens a little. On its western side are several sepulchral caves hewn in the chalky rock. Another quarter of an hour brought us to the Ain Beit el Djanne, a copious spring, with a mill near it; and from thence, in half an hour, we reached the plain on the eastern side of the mountain. Our route now lay N.E. by E.; to the right was the open country adjoining the Haouran, to the left the chain of the Heish, at the foot of which we continued to travel for the remainder of the day. The villages on the eastern declivity of the Heish, between Beit el Djanne and Kferhauar are, Hyna, Um Esshara, Dourboul, Oerna, and Kalaat el Djendel.

At three hours and a half from the point where the Wady Beit el Djanne terminates in the plain is the village Kferhauar. Before we entered it I saw to the left of the road a tomb which attracted my attention by its size. I was told that it was the Kaber Nimroud (the tomb of Nimrod); it consists of a heap of stones about twenty feet in length, two feet high, and three feet broad, with a large stone at both extremities, similar to the tombs in Turkish cemeteries. This is probably the Kalat Nimroud laid down in maps, to the south of Damascus; at least I never heard of any Kalaat Nimroud in that direction.

To the right of our road, one hour and a half from Kferhauar, lay Sasa, and near it Ghaptata. Half an hour farther from Kferhauar we alighted at the village Beitima. On a slight eminence near Kferhauar stands a small tower, and there is another of the same size behind Beitima. The principal article of culture here is cotton: the crop was just ripe, and the inhabitants were occupied in collecting it. There are Druses at Kferhauar as well as at Beitima; at the latter village I passed an uncomfortable rainy night, in the court-yard of a Felah's house.

October 17th.--We continued to follow the Djebel Heish (which

DJOUN.

[p.47]however takes a more northern direction than the Damascus road for four hours, when we came to Katana, a considerable village, with good houses, and spacious gardens; the river, whose source is close to the village, empties itself into the Merj of Damascus.

Three hours from Katana, passing over the district called Ard el Lauan, we came to Kfersousa. Beyond Katana begins the Djebel el Djoushe, which continues as far as the Djebel Salehie, near Damascus, uniting, on its western side, the lower ridge of mountains of the Djebel Essheikh. Kfersousa lies just within the limits of the gardens of the Merdj of Damascus. In one hour beyond it I re-entered Damascus, greatly fatigued, having suffered great pain.

After returning to Damascus from my tour in the Haouran, I was desirous to see the ruins of Rahle and Bourkoush, in the Djebel Essheikh, which I had heard mentioned by several people of Rasheya during my stay at Shohba. On the 12th of December, I took a man with me, and rode to Katana, by a route different from that through the Ard el Lauan, by which I travelled from Katana to Damascus in October. It passes in a more southerly direction through the villages of Deir raye [Arabic], one hour beyond Bonabet Ullah; and another hour Djedeide; one hour and a quarter from Djedeide is Artous [Arabic], in which are many Druse families; in an hour from Artous we reached Katana. This is a very pleasant road, through well cultivated fields and groves. I here saw nurseries of apricot trees, which are transplanted into the gardens at Damascus. To the south of Artous three quarters of an hour, is the village of Kankab, situated upon a hill; below it is the village of Djoun, opposite to which,

RAHLE

[p.48]and near the village Sahnaya, lies the Megarat Mar Polous, or St. Paul's cavern, where the Apostle is related to have hidden himself from the pursuit of his enemies at Damascus. The monks of Terra Santa, who have a convent at Damascus, had formerly a chapel at Sahnaya, where one of their fraternity resided; but the Roman Catholic Christians of the village having become followers of the Greek church, the former abandoned their establishment. To the N.E. of Djedeide, and half an hour from it, is the village Maddharnie.

Katana is one of the chief villages in the neighbourhood of Damascus; it contains about one hundred and eighty Turkish families, and four or five of Christians. The Sheikh, to whom the village belongs, is of a very rich Damascus family, a descendant of a Santon, whose tomb is shewn in the mosque of the village. Adjoining to the tomb is a hole in the rocky ground, over which an apartment has been built for the reception of maniacs; they are put down into the hole, and a stone is placed over its mouth; here they remain for three or four days, after which, as the Turks pretend, they regain their senses. The Christians say that the Santon was a Patriarch of Damascus, who left his flock, and turned hermit, and that he gained great reputation amongst the Turks, because whenever he prostrated himself before the Deity, his sheep imitated his example. Katana has a bath, and near it the Sheikh has a good house. The villagers cultivate mulberry trees to feed their silk worms, and some cotton, besides corn. The day after my arrival I engaged two men to shew me the way to the ruins. We began to cross the lower branches of the Djebel Essheikh, at the foot of which Katana is situated, and after an hour and a quarter came to Bir Karme, likewise called El Redhouan, a spring in a narrow valley. We rode over mountainous ground in the road to Rasheya, passed another well of

CASTLE OF BOURKUSH.

[p.49]spring water, and at the end of four hours reached Rahle, a miserable Druse village, half an hour to the right of the road from Katana to Rasheia. The ruins are to the north of the village, in the narrow valley of Rahle, and consist principally of a ruined temple, built of large square stones, of the same calcareous rock used in the buildings of Baalbec: little else remains than the foundations, which are twenty paces in breadth, and thirty in length; within the area of the temple are the foundations of a circular building. Many fragments of columns are lying about, and a few extremely well formed capitals of the Ionic order. Upon two larger stones lying near the gate, which probably formed the architrave, is the figure of a bird with expanded wings, not inferior in execution to the bird over the architrave of the great temple at Baalbec; its head is broken off; in its claws is something of the annexed form, bearing no resemblance to the usual figure of the thunderbolt. On the exterior, wall, on the south side of the temple, is a large head, apparently of a female, three feet and a half high, and two feet and a half broad, sculptured upon one of the large square stones which form the wall: its features are perfectly regular, and are enclosed by locks of hair, terminating in thin tresses under the chin. This head seems never to have belonged to a whole length figure, as the stone on which it is sculptured touches the ground. Near the ruins is a deep well. A few hundred paces to the south, upon an eminence, are the ruins of another edifice, of which there remain the foundations of the walls, and a great quantity of broken columns of small size. Around these edifices are the remains of numerous private habitations; a short column is found standing in most of them, in the centre of the foundations of the building. In the neighbouring rocks about a dozen small cells are excavated, in some of which are cavities for bodies. I found no inscriptions.

KATANA.

[p.50]S.W. from Rahle, one hour and a half, are the ruins of the castle of Bourkush [Arabic]. We passed the spring called Ain Ward (the rose spring), near a plain in the midst of the mountains called Merdj Bourkush. The ruins stand upon a mountain, which appeared to me to be one of the highest of the lower chain of the Djebel Essherk. At the foot of the steep ascent leading up to the castle, on the N.W. side, is a copious spring, and another to the W. midway in the ascent. These ruins consist of the outer walls of the castle, built with large stones, some of which are eight feet long, and five broad. A part only of the walls are standing. In the interior are several apartments which have more the appearance of dungeons than of habitations. The rock, upon which the whole structure is erected, has been levelled so as to form an area within, round which ran a wall; a part of this wall is formed by the solid rock, upwards of eight feet high, and as many broad, the rock having been cut down on both sides.

To the E. of this castle are the ruins of a temple built much in the same style as that of Rahle, but of somewhat smaller dimensions, and constructed of smaller stones. The architrave of the door is supported by two Corinthian pilasters. A few Druse families reside at Bourkush, who cultivate the plain below. On the S.E. side of the ascent to the castle are small caverns cut in the rock. From this point Katana bore S.E.

We returned from Bourkush to Katana by Ain Embery, a rivulet whose source is hard by in the Wady, with some ruined habitations near it. The distance from Bourkush to Katana is two hours and a half brisk walking of a horse. The summit of the mountain was covered with snow. I heard of several other ruins, but had no time to visit them. There are several villages of Enzairie in the mountain. On the third day from my departure I returned to Damascus.

[p.51]JOURNAL

OF AN

EXCURSION INTO THE HAOURAN

IN THE AUTUMN AND WINTER OF 1810.

November 8th.--On returning from the preceding tour, I was detained at Damascus for more than a fortnight by indisposition. As soon as I had recovered my health I began to prepare for a journey into the plain of the Haouran, and the mountains of the Druses of the Haouran, a country which, as well from the reports of natives, as from what I heard that Mr. Seetzen had said of it, on his return from visiting a part of it four years ago, I had reason to think was in many respects highly interesting. I requested of the Pasha the favour of a Bouyourdi, or general passport to his officers in the Haouran, which he readily granted, and on receiving it I found that I was recommended in very strong terms. Knowing that there were many Christians, chiefly of the Greek church, I thought it might be equally useful to procure from the Greek Patriarch of Damascus, with whom I was well acquainted, a letter to his flock in the Haouran. On communicating my wishes, he caused a circular letter to be written to all the priest, which I found of greater

DEPARTURE FROM DAMASCUS.