TOMB OF SHEIKH SHAAB^E-DEEN. 
335 
the large square before many devout looking men were praying on 
their knees, over the tombs that were spread all about. The mausoleum 
is of brick, with a foundation of stone, and faced by an elevated portico, 
flanked by two mina rs y i piliar^encrusted with green tiles. A little 
wooden door was opened for us in the back of the building, which in¬ 
troduced us into the spot that contained the tomb of the Sheikh, which 
was enclosed by a stone railing,^arved into open work, and surrounded 
by a sculptured arabesque ornament, of very good taste. The tomb 
is distinguished by a marble cover, on which is an Arabic inscription in 
relievo. Adjacent to the tomb, in a distinct part of the mausoleum, 
is^ the mosque; and the cleanliness of its interior, made us con¬ 
clude that the personage to whose memory the whole has been 
erected, must stand high in the estimation of his countrymen. D’Her- 
belot, under the article Schehabeddin, mentions several doctors and 
learned men of that name; but I do not find any notice which would suit 
the one whose tomb we visited. Ahar is the chief place of the Karadagh, 
and is a walled town of a considerable size. Iron is known to exist in its 
surrounding mountains, and the Prince has it in contemplation to ex¬ 
plore mines, and establish furnaces in the most eligible places for 
working their produce. * The ore is in such great abundance, that it 
may literally be called, A land whose stones aro won, and out of whose hills 
thou muyest dig brass. Dent. viii. 9. 
There appears to be in the name of Ahar a better ground for con¬ 
jecture that it is Hara, one of the three cities mentioned in 1 Chronicles, 
V. 26., to which the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half tribe of Manas- 
seh were carried away by Tilgath Pilneser, King of Assyria, than 
Tarom or Tarim, which Major Rennel has adopted in his luminous 
disquisition concerning the disposal of the Jewish tribes, f The letters 
which exist in Hara also exist in Ahar; and a transposition of sylla¬ 
bles or letters having nearly the same sounds, is common in the East: 
such as Lezgee for Legzee, Corbal for Colbar; Tilgath Pilneser, is also 
* See Appendix, Note C. 
f Rennell’s Geo. Sys. of Herodotus, p. 397- 
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