Vol. XXXVIII, No. 2 WASHINGTON 



August, 1920 



MATQOMAI 



nun 



RAPIH 



MAGAZM 



COPYRIGHT. 1 920. BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. WASHINGTON. D. C. 



ANTIOCH THE GLORIOUS 



By William H. Hall 



Author of "Under the Heel of the Turk" 



IF THE land of the Garden of Eden 

 is half so fertile and well watered to- 

 day as it was in the time of its first 

 occupants, its possession is well worth the 

 hardships of a long and difficult military 

 campaign. When the British Army en- 

 tered the city of Bagdad, in the spring 

 of 191 7, Eden was won and made a part 

 of the British Empire. 



For the production of cotton, corn, and 

 dates, the Valley of Mesopotamia is un- 

 surpassed, and, according to all calcula- 

 tions, it is still capable of supporting a 

 population of fifty millions, whose main 

 occupation would be the cultivation of the 

 soil and the preparation of the abundant 

 products of this most wonderfully fertile 

 region for the markets of the world. 

 Some of the products of this valley go 

 out by way of the Persian Gulf and are 

 consumed in India, but by far the. greater 

 portion will eventually go westward, to 

 supply the looms of Europe or to feed 

 and clothe her industrial millions. 



fortune's wheel turns to antioch 

 once more 



The natural Outlet for all this wealth 

 is not the long haul over the Bagdad 

 Railway to Smyrna and Constantinople, 

 some 1 ,500 miles, but the short haul, past 

 the city of Aleppo, to some harbor of 

 the Mediterranean coast — Alexandretta. 

 where the great Macedonian brought final 

 defeat to the Persian hordes, or to the 

 ancient harbor of Seleucia, seaport of the 

 city of Antioch. 



For a thousand years Antioch was the 

 capital city that ruled the industries, 

 trade, and commerce of the Euphrates 

 and Tigris valleys. And now the turn 

 of Fortune's wheel is again about to di- 

 rect the stream of trade past her doors. 



While this is being written a large force 

 of Arab and Turkish Nationalists is lying 

 behind the ancient walls of Justinian that 

 surround the modern city of Antioch. 

 Within the city a little force of some 500 

 French soldiers is holding back the be- 

 siegers. 



In the days of its glory the people of 

 Antioch were gathered in the great thea- 

 ter listening to a famous actress while 

 the Persians were besieging the city. 

 They trusted to their splendid fortifica- 

 tions and feared naught. At a point in 

 the play the actress paused, while, with 

 arm outstretched toward the mountain 

 above the city, she exclaimed, "Behold, 

 the Persians are come !" There was great 

 applause, the audience thinking it a fine 

 bit of stage play; but as a shower of ar- 

 rows darkened the sky, the people turned 

 to behold that instead of play it was 

 reality. The enemy was within the walls, 

 and plunder and destruction had already 

 begun. 



THE CITY OF BEN HUR'S TRIUMPH 



When we read the story of Ben Hur 

 and follow him about the streets of that 

 splendid city, or enter with him the pal- 

 aces of the rich, or see Messala gaming 

 with his friends in the magnificent palace 



