904 



TURKEY IN ASIA. 



Approach to the toicn of Beer, situated on the Banks of the Euphrates. 



Babylon. 



as klians, or places of abode for 

 travelers. An Armenian church 

 occupies one of ihese excava- 

 tions. Population, 15,000. 



The country upon the banks 

 of the Euphrates and Tigris, was 

 for centuries the seat of power- 

 ful empires, and the centre of 

 the commercial transactions be- 

 tween China, India, Persia, 

 Egypt, and Eastern Europe. 

 Here are still seen the ruins, or 

 rather vestiges of the ruins, of the 

 ancient JVinere/i, once the larg- 

 est city of Asia, and the capital 

 of the Assyrian empire ; of the 

 magnificent and luxurious Baby- 

 lon., the capital of the Babylo- 

 nian monarchy and the wonder 

 of the world ; of the splendid 

 and sumptuous capitals of the 

 once powerful Syrian, and Par- 

 thian empires, Seleucia., and 

 Ctesiphon. As the soil furnish- 

 ed clay, those cities were built 

 of bricks baked in the sun, and 

 of a perishable nature. 



Erzerum, in Turkish Arme- 

 nia, is situated at the foot of a 

 high mountain, in a large plain 

 near the Euphrates. It has a 

 flourishing commerce and exten- 

 sive manufactures, with about 

 100,000 inhabitants. The side- 

 arms made here are in high re- 

 pute in the east ; its vast mosque, 

 capable of containing 8,000 per- 



sons, its bazars, and caravanseries are the most remarkable edifices. 



Fiin, upon the lake of the same name, a strongly fortified and industrious city, is the next 

 most important place in Armenia. It is of great antiquity, and in a neighboring hill are shown 

 vast subterranean apartments, attributed by the Armenians to Semiramis. 



Kutaieh., the residence of the beglerbeg or governor-general of Anatolia, is a large city with 

 50,000 inhabitants. Karahissar, in the neighborhood, noted for its opium and its woolen man- 

 ufactures, has a population of 60,000 souls. Broiissa or Bursa is one of the most flourishing 

 cities of the empire ; it contains an ancient castle, a number of magnificent mosques, handsome 

 caravanseries of stone, and fine fountains, and has 100,000 inhabitants, actively employed in 

 manufactures and commerce. It was once the capita! of the empire, and at an earher period 

 was the residence of the Bithynian kings. In its vicinity is Isnik or JSTice, now a miserable 

 village, once a splendid city, and famous for having been the seat of the first general council 

 of all Christendom, in 325. To the northwest, on the Bosphorus, opposite Constantinople, 

 stands Scutari, with 35,000 inhabitants. It is the rendezvous of the caravans trading between 

 Constantinople and the east, and contains many handsome buildings ; its cemeteries are re- 

 markable for their extent and elegance, the rich Turks of the European shore still preferring to 



buried in Asia, out of love to the ancient land of their fathers. 



Smyrna., pleasantly situated upon a gulf of the Archipelago, but with narrow and dirty 

 streets, is the principal commercial place of Western Asia. It is about four miles in circumfe- 

 rence, and makes a very handsome appearance when approached by sea. Its domes and minarets, 



