SYRTA: THK LAND LINK 01- HISTORY'S CHAIN 



44, 



But this very development may rob 

 the larger output of that individuality 

 which has made the rugs, the brasswork, 

 the silk and linen products of Syria much 

 desired by those who appreciate origi- 

 nality of design and perfection of finish. 

 There is today one fairly large brasswork 

 factory in Damascus, where tiny children 

 hammer silver or copper wire into the 

 engraved designs on the pitchers, basins, 

 and trays of Damascene ware, but in 

 almost no other case has industry risen 

 above the stage of family production, 

 which, though slow, insures distinctive 

 products. 



THE APPRECIATION OE WATER IN A DRY 

 LAND 



Water holds a high place, not only in 

 the view of the abstemious Mohamme- 

 dan, but of the Syrian Christian as well. 

 The main attraction of the Damascus 

 cafe is a tiny fountain, whose sight and 

 sound delight the son of the desert vaca- 

 tioning in the urban oasis, or the Sart of 

 Samarkand, wearied by his desert march 

 to Mecca, who stops here and dreams of 

 his distant Zerafshan. 



Dan and Beersheba are popularly con- 

 sidered the termini of Palestine, as they 

 formerly were of Hebrew territory. One 

 grew up around a source of the Jordan, 

 the other owed its existence to the age- 

 old wells whose limestone rims have been 

 grooved and polished by a million bucket 

 ropes. No hotel register attests so long 

 and distinguished a line of guests. 



From Abraham to Allenby, the rope- 

 worn signatures that rim Beersheba's 

 seven wells bespeak romance and passions 

 broad as human life. Here Abraham 

 arrived with Sarah, his wife, and being 

 unused to town ways and fearing harm, 

 they registered as brother and sister. 

 Later Sarah induced Abraham to drive 

 Hagar and Ishmael out into the desert to 

 die. Evidently cross-roads life did not 

 improve Sarah's character. 



A PECULIAR AUTOGRAPH ALBUM EULE OE 

 FAMOUS NAMES 



Here Abraham, the father of his race, 

 received a message to kill his only son 

 Isaac, and from this spot he set out with 

 heavy heart to accomplish the task which 

 he was saved from completing. Here 



Jacob robbed Esau of his birthright by 

 methods that remind one of Launce'ot 

 Gobbo, and here he later stopped when 

 as an old man he was on his way to visit 

 his famous son, Joseph, in Egypt. 



Here Samuel's sons practiced the pro- 

 fession of their distinguished father and 

 here Elijah took refuge from the original 

 Jezebel. All in all, Beersheba was as 

 melodramatic as any frontier town and 

 nightly gatherings beside those famous 

 wells have discussed the rise and fall of 

 nations since the world began. 



A single spring determined the site of 

 Nazareth, and Jacob's well still provides 

 water in an otherwise thirsty land. To 

 the tired traveler from the hills of Moab. 

 the dirty Jordan seems a blessed refresh- 

 ment after the dry ride ; but Naaman, the 

 leper, because he was accustomed to the 

 crystal streams of his native city, scorned 

 the coffee-colored flood which had been 

 recommended to him as a cleansing agent. 

 In Jerusalem, I was seldom able to with- 

 stand the tempting clatter of the drinking 

 bowls of the seller of cooling drinks, but 

 in the Lebanon, where cold, clear springs 

 abound, one never seems to thirst. 



THE P.ROOKS AND STILL WATERS OE SYRIA 



Water bounds Syria on the west. The 

 lack of it defines the eastern and southern 

 boundaries. Many of the most pleasing 

 pages of the Bible ripple with the songs 

 of running brooks or praise the "still 

 waters" of wells which have long marked 

 the resting places of weary nocks and 

 heavy-laden caravans. 



In the Lebanon there are scores of 

 springs or rivers gushing forth direct 

 from the rock. The whole countryside 

 facing the Mediterranean suggests the 

 passage of a miracle-working Moses. 

 practicing in these glorious dells the more 

 difficult feat he was to perform in 

 parched Sinai. 



When the early inhabitants of Syria 

 wanted to express gustatory delight, they 

 could not speak o\ ambrosia and nectar. 

 for their God was free from sensual ap- 

 petites; but they chose two articles of 

 human diet and expressed deliciousness 

 by saying that a land (lowed with milk 

 and honey. That was in the days when 

 bees, rather than beets, furnished the 

 sweetening. In the Lebanon, two springs, 



