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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



in the old town of Braunschweig, in 

 Germany. 



On returning from a visit to the Niobe 

 (see page 3) I was fortunate in meet- 

 ing with a Turkish wedding procession. 

 A wedding in a Turkish town or village 

 is an event which calls for proper cele- 

 bration — at least, the volume of noise 

 made carries that impression to the 

 stranger. At the head of the procession 

 in question six drummers marched, vig- 

 orously beating cowhide drums, while 

 in the row next behind came the fifers 

 blowing shrill blasts on tin and willow 

 whistles. The bride was seated in a 

 large screened sedan chair, which was 

 strapped to the backs of two mules. Fol- 

 lowing in some ten closed carriages came 

 the usual coterie of veiled women, while 

 the men marched at the sides or between 

 the carriages. 



Manisa, so legend has it, was founded 

 by the Amazons before the time when 

 history began to be chronologically re- 

 corded. The history of the city has been 

 a checkered one, as it belonged at various 

 times to the Lydian, Persian, Roman, 

 Byzantine, and Turkish empires. Manisa 

 seems, however, to have remained more 

 or less uninfluenced by Attic and Ionic 

 civilization. Under the reign of Tiberius 

 the city was destroyed by an earthquake 

 and rebuilt by that emperor. During 

 the days of the Crusaders the city flour- 

 ished, and many bright chapters were 

 added to romantic history by the deeds 

 of John Ducas and the Catalan Roger de 

 Flor. In 1402 Tamerlane ravaged Asia 

 Minor and made a storehouse of Ma- 

 nisa for the plundered wealth of Smyrna, 

 Sardes, and other populous cities 

 throughout the country. 



The mosques of Manisa are consid- 

 ered to be exceptionally fine, and any 

 one interested in the art and architecture 

 of such structures should visit this town. 

 Some of them are reconstructed old By- 

 zantine churches, in which many traces 

 of Christian worship may still be seen. 

 One of the sights which the Turks show 

 with considerable pride in one mosque 

 is an old Genoese clock, the machinery of 



which seems still to work in perfect 

 order. 



Magnesia ad Sipylum was the birth- 

 place and home of Pausanias. Under 

 the reigns of Hadrian and the Anto- 

 nines he traveled extensively in Asia. 

 Minor, Syria, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. 

 Ten books were the fruit of these jour- 

 neys, and next to the works of Pliny 

 they are looked upon today as an au- 

 thority not only upon the subjects of an- 

 tique art, but upon the topography of 

 these countries as well. 



About an hour's drive from Manisa,. 

 and immediately at the foot of Mount 

 Sipylus, there are many ancient ruins,, 

 such as rock-cut tombs, caves, mounds,, 

 and upon a very high peak an acropolis. 

 Above all there is the rock-hewn image 

 of the Niobe. There seems to be con- 

 siderable controversy on this point 

 among archeologists, but that we have 

 before us the huge figure of a woman in 

 a sitting posture there can be no doubt. 

 The figure is about 30 feet in height and 

 can easily be seen from the valley below. 

 During most of the year water drips over 

 the face, thus fulfilling the old description 

 of the Niobe who wept for her children 

 (see illustration, page 3). 



About 700 feet above the Niobe, on 

 an almost inaccessible peak, is a mauso- 

 leum supposed by many to be the true 

 tomb of Tantalus. There are also dis- 

 tinct traces of small rooms or dwellings 

 which have been chiseled into the rocks. 

 The mountain at this point is disfigured 

 by deep rifts and chasms, the home of 

 numerous vultures, and it is impossible 

 for the stranger to get to the top without 

 an experienced guide. 



Just below the Niobe, beyond a little 

 lake which catches the waters of the 

 snow that melts on Mount Sipylus, 

 stretches the plain of Magnesia, where 

 that great battle was fought in 190 B> C, 

 which was not only one of the great bat- 

 tles of history, but in many respects one 

 of the most decisive, for it gave the Ro- 

 mans Asia Minor and marked the last 

 futile attempt of Hannibal to check the 

 expansion of Rome. 



