1834.] Persia and Mesopotamia. 459 



and here take an easterly direction. To the south of us, about three 

 miles, were seen a few trees on the brow of a hill. These surrounded 

 the town of Ahar, and were now become remarkable objects ; for 

 since leaving the shores of the Araxes, with the exception of a few 

 hilly tracts in the hamlet of Ruswar, we had scarcely seen a tree 

 throughout our track. This general bareness of wood gives a very 

 forbidding and melancholy aspect to a country, however productive it 

 may be in other respects. A lover of the picturesque would soon be- 

 come tired of this monotonous appearance. We descended across the 

 plain of Ahar for nearly an hour, and opened a full view of the Ahar 

 river winding in its course to the westward. Still descending, and going 

 nearly south, over deep snow, we came near the water's edge. There 

 was here a ruined building with a domed top, and some arches in its 

 walls ; it was perhaps an old well, as the tombs of the Mohammedans 

 are often enclosed. We went from hence to the westward along the 

 northern bank of the stream, over a flat shelving land, when we came 

 immediately opposite to Ahar, which stands on the southern side of the 

 river. 



We found no difficulty in crossing, as the river's greatest depth did 

 not appear to be more than five feet. Its waters were extremely turbid, 

 more so than those of the Kur, and much inferior to them in taste. 

 The town of Ahar is the capital of Karadaugh, or the " Black Moun- 

 tain," as the whole district is designated. It would appear to be the Hara 

 of antiquity, one of the three cities mentioned in 1 Chron. ch. v. 

 26 ver., to which the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of 

 Manasseh, were carried away by Pul, King of Assyria, and Tilgath- 

 pilneser, King of Assyria. The letters in Hara exist also in Ahar, 

 and a transposition of syllables, or letters having the same sound, is 

 very common in the east. Its relative position with Khalcal, and Ab- 

 har would also favour the conjecture. The river runs nearly east and 

 west, and is extremely narrow, infinitely more so than the Araxes. 

 It undergoes a variation in its height during the year, but this is irre- 

 gular, as there are no periodical rains ; and if in spring these give an 

 increase of waters to the tributary streams, the melting of the snows on 

 Mount Savalan, in the autumn, contribute an equal portion. 



Ahar contains about six hundred houses, and from five to six thou- 

 sand inhabitants. It has four mosques, a public bath, a spacious cara- 

 vansary, and a good bazar. Its streets are narrow, but apparently 

 clean, and some of its houses are plastered with Persian inscriptions, 

 bearing the date of their erection. On the southern side of the town, 

 upon an elevated spot, stands the tomb of Sheikh Saab-ul-deen, the 

 teacher of Sheikh Seffi, the founder of the family of Seffeviah, better 

 2 n 2 



