ALE 



Alomtcio would export, and confcqucntly grow, niucli moro 

 com, if tlierc were but ro ids for its conveyance. 6ee Link's 

 Journey tlirough PortiJg;il, p. i ;o — 164. 



Al^EOS, in Anaer.l Ceografhy, a river of Afia, to the 

 weft of Smyrna, according to Pliny. To the waters of it 

 was attributed the virtue of making the hair and (Icin to grow 

 on di'ircrent parts of the body. 



ALEPPO, in Geography, the metropolis of Svria, is 

 deemed, in importance, the third city in the Ottoman do- 

 minions. Although it is much inferior to Conftantiiiople 

 and Cairo with regard to fituation, magnitude, populatiuii, 

 opulence, and courtly fplendo\u-, it may be reekonud iu- 

 perior to both thefe cities in the falubrity of its air, the lo- 

 lidity and elegance of its private buildings, and alfo the 

 convenience and neatnefs of its (Irccts. With refpcct to 

 commercial advantages, it has much declined, but ilill con- 

 tinues to maintain a trade that is lar from being ineonfider- 

 able. In Arabic, Aleppo is called Haleb, to which is ul'ually 

 added the epithet Al Skahbit. According to tlie fabulous 

 hiltory of the Arabian writers, who trace the origin of this 

 city to the migration of the patriarch Abraham into the 

 land of Canaan, who relied tor fome time on the hill, 

 where the calllc of Aleppo is now iituated, the appellation 

 Hcikh is derived irom the eircumftance of his dillributing 

 milk to the poor of a neighbouring village. Their frequent 

 repetitiiin of the words " Ibruheem haleb," or " Abraham 

 has milked," gave oecafion, as it is laid, to the name Haleb, 

 vvhicli was conferred on the town that was afterwards built 

 on this i'pot. The fame hillory refers the epithet Al Shuhba 

 to a pied cow, wluch the populace dillinguifhtdhy its lowing 

 in the herd oi the jjatnarch. Goliub and others, with much 

 greater probabihiv, deduce this term, which denotes a varie- 

 gated grey and white colour, from the colour of the foil 

 and of the buildings. Some have luppoied that Aleppo 

 was the Zobah ot Scripture ; but it was, more probably, 

 the Beroea of the Greeks. Aleppo is fituated, according 

 to celeftial obfervations (fee Conn, des Temps. 1792.) in 

 N. lat. 36° 11' 25" and E. long. 37° 9', at a confiderable 

 height above the level of the fea, near the nsiv Ko'-Muk, 

 which luns in a fmall ilream to the well of the city. Its 

 dillance from Scanderoon or Ai.exandrf.tta, the neareft 

 fea port, is in a Ib/aight line between 60 and 70 miles, but 

 in the caravan road between 90 and ico miles. It is en- 

 compafTed, at the dillance of a few miles, bv a circle of hills, 

 which are in general rocky, fcantily provided with fprings, 

 and totallv dtllitute ot trees, but aifordiiig good paihire for 

 {heep and goats. Witliin this circle, there are hills and 

 hillocks, which are interleifted by plains and little valleys ; 

 the foil of which is in !ome parts of a reddirti or black colour, 

 rich and fertile, but in general whitidi, fliallow, and mixed 

 with many fmall flones. This city, including its exteniive 

 fuburbs, occupies eight fmaU hills, the intermediate vallies, 

 and a confiderable extent of flat ground, comprehending in 

 the whole a circuit of about Icven miles ; though the city 

 itfelf is not above three and one-half miles in circumference. 

 The wall that iurrounds it, which was built, or at kail re- 

 paired by the Mamaluke princes, is negleclcd and moulder- 

 ing into ruin. Befides this wall, the city was formerly de- 

 fended by a wide and deep ditch, which is now filled with 

 rubbifli or converted into garden grounds. It has, at this 

 time, nine gates, two to the foiith, two to the eaft, two to 

 the north, and three to the weft. One of the northern gates, 

 formerly called the Jews' gate, which the fon of Saladin 

 changed into Bab al Nafer, or Gate of Victory, was once, 

 according to the Miffionaries, the refidence ot the prophet 

 Elifha, and it has lamps which are kept couftantlv burning 



Vol. L 



A L i; 



in commemoration of that faint. The caftle, wiiich ftands 

 on a hill near the iiorlli-caft corner of the city, and which 

 is encompulied by a broad deep ditch, about half a mile in 

 circumference, may he dillinguilhcd at a confiderable dif- 

 tiiiiee'; but a traveller, ai)pioaehing from the weft, can fee 

 fcarcely any other part of the city, till he gains the brow 

 of one of the hilla within two or three miles of the gate:. ; 

 and thus it becomes an exteniive and ftnkiiig objeft. Tiic 

 mofqnes, the minarets, and numerous cupolas, form a fplendid 

 fpeClacle, and the llut ro(;ls ot the houfes which are Iituated 

 on the hills, riling one behind another, preftnt a fuccelTuin of 

 hanging terraces, interfperfed wiili eyj)refs and poplar trees. 

 Aleppo is, in general, a well-built city, and the houfe» 

 within are grand and handfome. The ftrects arc better 

 dilpofed and broader than thofc of eallern cities ; they 

 are well paved and remarkably clean, and they have a 

 commodious toot-way, on each lide, raifed half a foot above 

 the other part. The mofques in Aleppo are numerous ; of 

 wliich leven or eight are reckoned magnificent, thougli none 

 have more than a fingle minaret, or II .eple, whence the 

 people are fuiumoned to prayers. Thefe minarets were firll 

 annexed to the mofques, as it is faid, by Al Walecd, who 

 fuceeeded to the Caliphate, in the b6th year of the Hegira. 

 Into tliele luolques none but Modems arc permitted to 

 enter ; and at Aleppo, it is only one of thein into the court- 

 yard of which Jews and Chriftians arc allowed admiliion. 

 The public edilices, next in importance to the mofques, ai-e 

 the Khanes, or Car avansari Ks, intended principally for 

 the accommodation of ftrangers, and partlv as warehoufes 

 for goods. The Bazars, or Markets, are lofty ftone edi- 

 fices, arranged in the form of a long gallerv, arched above 

 or roofed with wood. Of thefe the principal are fituated 

 clofe to one another, in that part of the city that is con- 

 tiguous to the great khaiie ; and others are diftributed 

 through feveral parts of the town, and the fuburh called 

 Bankufa, where the corn-market is kept. The ftrects, in 

 which are Ihops, for the neceflarics of life, are alfo called 

 bazars, and they are dctended from the fun by mats fpread 

 on wooden rafters, projefting from each fide. The bazar 

 gates are regularly Ihut at fun-fet, and watchmen, provided 

 with a pole and a lamp, are ftationtd for the night within 

 them. Thefe gates are fecured merely by wooden locks and 

 keys. There arc alfo gates and watchmen in the principal 

 ftrects, and by thefe the town is fecured irom nocturnal 

 brawls and depredations. The natives, who arc habitually 

 fober and regular, retii-e to their habitations at an early 

 hour, and the dread of being carried by the patrol to the 

 Seraglio, rcilraiiis the moil riotous from drunken frolics. 

 The public baths, or hummums, do not contribute much to 

 the embclliniment of the citv, as their" fronts to the ftreet 

 are veiy iimple ; but the coff^ec-houfes, which are fpacious 

 and handfome, and difperfed through all quarters of the 

 town, attraft the notice of ftrangers. They are gaudily 

 painted, and furni'hed with matted platforms and benches ; 

 and tliofe of the better fort have a fountain in the middle, 

 with a gallery for muficians. At certain hours of the day 

 the coffee-houfes are full of company, though they arc not 

 frequented by pcrfons of the firft rank. The dwelling-houfes 

 of Aleppo comprtheiid the-leraglios, or pal ices, the hoiiles 

 of the opulent merchants, and the habitations of the mid- 

 dling and ordinaiy people. The leraglio,in which the Bafiiaw 

 of Aleppo ufually refides, is fituated near the caftle, and is 

 a very ancient and extcnfive Ijuilding, furrounded by a ftrong 

 and lofty wall. The gates of this edifice lead to feveral in- 

 terior courts, which are deftincd for barracks, ftables, an 

 hippodrome, and various other offices. The principal builJ- 

 4 G utjr 



