914 



SYRIA, OH EGYPTIAN ASIA. 



out in vineyards, olive, fig, and pistachio trees ; but the country round is rough and barren. 

 Foreign merchants are numerous here, and transact their business in caravanserais, or large 

 square buildings, containing their warehouses, lodging-rooms, and counting-houses. This city 

 abounds in neat mosques, some of which are even magnificent ; in public bagnios, which are 

 very refreshing ; and bazars, which are formed into long, narrow, arched, or covered streets, 

 with little shops, as in other parts of the East. In 1822, the city, as well as almost every other 

 town or pachalic, was nearly shaken to pieces by an earthquake ; it was estimated, that 20,000 

 persons were killed, and as many wounded in the city on that terrible night, and many others 

 afterward fell victims to disease from exposure or from hunger. Yet such are the advantages 

 of its site, that Aleppo must continue to be a large city. In the vicinity are Hamah, on the 

 Orontes, situated in a fertile district, esteemed the granary of Syria, with extensive manufac- 

 tures and a thriving commerce, giving employment to 60,000 inhabitants ; Antakieh, on the 



Modern Antioch. 



sue of the ancient ^intioch, with about 12,000 inhabitants ; and Scanderoon, or Jllexandrctla, 

 a small town in an unhealthy situation, but the centre of an active trade. 



Tripoli, a well-built city in a delightful district, carries on a considerable commerce. It has 

 16,000 inhabitants. Jlcre or Ptolemais is one of the principal commercial towns of Syria, 

 population, 20,000. In its vicinity are Mount Carmel, celebrated in sacred history ; Tyre 

 and Sidon, once queens of the sea ; and Jaffa or Joppa, the nearest port to Jerusalem. To 

 the north of Sidon is Beirout, the ancient Berytiis, in the land of the Druses, a small town 

 with about 5,000 inhabitants, and, further north, is Gibel, the Byblos of the Greeks, and the 

 Gebal of the Old Testament, whose inhabitants were the calkers of Tyre. In the interior is 

 the village of Balbec or Baalbec, noted for its fine ruins. 



Damascus, one of the most ancient cities in the world, since it is mentioned in the history 

 of Abraham, is one of the handsomest and most flourishing cities of Asia. It stands in a val- 

 ley celebrated for its beauty and fertility, and ranked by the Arabians as one of their four ter- 

 restrial paradises. The houses, though simple externally, are internally finished in a style of 

 great splendor, and most of them are furnished with fountains. The coflee-houses, mtiny of 

 which are built upon piles in the river, where an artificial cascade has been made, are distin- 

 guished for their luxury and magnificence. From 30,000 to 50,000 pilgrims on their way from 

 all parts of the Ottoman empire, and from Persia and Turkistan, annually assemble at Damas- 



