NOTES ON A SOJOURN IN THE LEVANT. 35 
Like other Arabs they claim descent from that very important 
person in the history of Western Asia, Abraham, or, as the Arabs 
call him, Ibrahim. Abraham, as is well known, had two sons, 
Ishmael and Isaac. The descendants of Ishmael appear to have 
settled in the north of the country which we call Arabia. Here or 
hereabouts they remained in comparative obscurity until there 
arose the greatest of Ishmael’s descendants, Mahommed, who 
was born about the year 568 a.p., and whose followers and their 
descendants conquered and impressed their religion upon an 
empire in Western Asia and Northern Africa larger than that 
conquered by the Romans. 
Syria, more than any of the countries conquered by the followers 
of Mahommed, was settled by the Arabs, one reason for this 
being probably that Syria previously to the Arab conquest was 
inhabited by a Semitic people, and therefore the Arabs, being 
themselves Semitic, would mingle and unite with them without 
great difficulty, except as regards Jews, whom the Arabs regard as 
fraudulent interlopers. 
The Syrian Arab is of an olive complexion with dark hair—as a 
rule he is not as dark as the Spaniard. When dressed in 
European costume you would not easily tell him from a European, 
until he began to speak: then you would soon tell something of 
his nationality by his deep gutturals. In character he is subtle, 
and treacherous in his dealings, and generally the reverse of 
honest towards those who employ him. In temperament he is, as 
contrasted with his conqueror the Turk, impulsive and enthusiastic, 
but in a very. far less degree than the native Arab, or even the 
Egyptian Arab. In intellect he is receptive and imaginative, and 
what is usually understood by the word ‘ clever.” 
To continue the history—the Arabs conquered and governed 
Syria until they in turn were conquered and governed by the 
Turks. The date of the Arab conquest over Syria is 634 A.D. 
Just when the countries of the Mediterranean basin had become 
settled by their Arab conquerors, consolidated into one empire, 
and called by one name, Arabistan, then down upon them came 
the Turks, who conquered and subdued the Arabs, adopted their 
