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A UTHOR: 
 
 PARRY, OSWALD 
 HUTTON 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 SIX MONTHS IN 
 SYRIAN MONASTERY 
 
 PLACE: 
 
 LONDON 
 
 DA TE: 
 
 1895 
 
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 P2i9 
 
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 Parry, Oswald Hutton, 1868- 
 
 Six months in a Syrian monastery, being the re- 
 cord of a visit to the head quarters of the Syri- 
 an church in Mesopotamia, with some account of I 
 the Yazidis or devil worshippers of Mosul, and 
 El Jilwah, their sacred book, by Oswald H. Parry 
 ••• illustrated by the author, with a prefatory 
 note by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of 
 Durham. London, Cox, 1896 • 
 
 xviii, 400 p. illus., plates, fold, map., 
 plans. 24 om» . . 
 
 339661 
 
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SIX MONTHS 
 IN A SYRIAN MONASTERY, 
 
 BEING THE EECORD OF A VISIT TO THE HEAD QUARTERS 
 
 OF THE SYRIAN CHURCH IN MESOPOTAMIA, 
 
 WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF 
 
 THE YAZIDIS OR DEVIL WORSHIPPERS OF MOSUL 
 
 AND EL JILWAH, THEIR SACRED BOOK. 
 
 BY 
 
 OSWALD H. PARRY, B.A., 
 
 Of Magdalen College, Oxford, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR. 
 WITH A PREFATORY NOTE BY 
 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM. 
 
 LONDON : 
 HOEACE COX, 
 WINDSOR HOUSE, BREAM'S BUILDINGS, E.C 
 
 1895. 
 

 \^ 
 
 1^1 
 
 - I ? 
 
 5 ^ 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY HORACE COX, WINDSOR HOUSE, 
 
 bream's BUILDINGS, E.C. 
 
 TO 
 
 D. G. Hogarth, Esquire, M.A., 
 
 )VhO FII^ST piRECTED 
 
 !) 3 D 
 
 /VIy foOTSTEPS TO THE ^AST 
 
 .4 
 
i . 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 if i 
 
 f 
 
 f i 
 
 Mk. Parry has asked me to write a prefatory note to the 
 record of his visit to the Old Syrian Church. Sucli an intro- 
 duction appears to me to be quite unnecessary. The scope 
 and character of the narrative cannot fail to commend it to 
 all who watch with interest and hope the quickening into 
 fresh life of the ancient Christian communities of the East, 
 and are anxious to fulfil their political obligations to the 
 Turkish Empire and to the Christians who are subject to its 
 rule. At the same time I am glad to have the opportunity of 
 saying with what pleasure and profit I have read the book. 
 
 Mr. Parry visited the East in 1892 on behalf of the Syrian 
 Patriarchate Education Society, in order to inspect the 
 elementary schools already established by the Syrian 
 Patriarch of Antioch with the help of friends in England, 
 and to report generally on the prospects of effectually pro- 
 moting education in the churches under the Patriarch\s 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 The route which he followed through the '' Syrian gates " 
 to Aleppo, Urfa (Edessa), Diarbekr, Mardin, Mosul, is full of 
 ^reat memories, and yet comparatively unknown to English- 
 men. As the traveller moves Eastward, Western influences 
 gradually disappear, and he looks again on scenes of 
 pati-iarclial times, which call up thoughts on human life lost 
 
 h 
 
VI 
 
 Prcjatonj Note. 
 
 f 
 
 Prefatory Note. 
 
 Vll 
 
 in tlie hurry of our own restless days. Mr. Parry has 
 succeeded in conveying to his readers, with vivid and natural 
 directness, the impressions whicli the country and the people 
 made upon him. His sketches of scenery and manners, of 
 character and persons, are full of life and local colour. He 
 describes with perfect candour and impartiality the good and 
 bad ([ualities of Christian and Mohammedan ; and it is no 
 slight testimony to the power of the Gospel that he found the 
 Syrian Christians, isolated and oppressed for centuries, to 
 maintain a higher standard in the common virtues of personal 
 and domestic life than their Moslem neighbours. From time 
 to time he throws side lights on the vices of the Turkish local 
 o-overnment as he chronicles the intrigues and corruption— 
 Oriental, perhaps, rather than Turkish — of which he was 
 witness ; and the recent outrages on the Armenians receive a 
 terrible illustration from the sufferings inflicted on the 
 Yazidis while he was at Mosul. 
 
 At the same time Mr. Parry recognises the growing 
 toleration which is now extended to the native Christians 
 in the country which he visited. But it must be remem- 
 bered that every fresh concession to Christians is opposed 
 to the spirit of Islam, and cannot but alienate the feelings 
 of the true believer from the Sultan who yields it, and make 
 the Sultan more nervously sensitive to every expression of 
 national spirit. None the less the duty of the European 
 powers, by which the authority of Turkey is upheld, is 
 clear. They are bound to observe scrupulously the terms 
 of the treaties which they have made with Turkey, and 
 to provide by watchful care that the Turks shall also 
 observe them. In this respect it is a matter of dee]> 
 
 t 
 
 1 
 
 . 
 
 regret that the name of England has lost something of 
 its old power. 
 
 But great as is the value of Mr. Parry's book as a 
 contribution to our knowledge of an important out-lying 
 province of the Turkish empire, its chief importance lies 
 in the view which it gives of the position and prospects 
 of the Old Syrian Christians, tiie scanty representatives— 
 perhaps 150,000 or 200,000 in number— of tlie Syrian 
 element in the Church of Antioch, the earliest of the 
 Gentile churches. Since Dr. Claudius Buchanan visited 
 the Old Syrians in Malabar in 180(3, from whom the 
 Patriarch received a valuable present while Mr. Parry was 
 at Mardin, interest in the ancient Oriental Cliurches has 
 steadily, if slowly, increased in England, and it has received 
 a powerful stimulus lately from the work of the Arch- 
 bishop's mission to the Assyrians. The interest is natural. 
 These independent Churches appeal with especial force to 
 England and to the Churches of the Anglican Communion. 
 They lie, it is true, under the imputation (^f contrasted 
 heresies, dating from the controversies of the fifth century; 
 but those most competent to speak are satisfied that in 
 the case of the Jacobites and Nestorians of the present 
 day the accusation rests on the misunderstanding of 
 technical terms, and can be cleared away by mutual 
 explanations. Meanwhile the rival Communions are eager 
 for education. They desire to learn fully the teaching 
 of their own ancient formularies and of Holy Scripture. 
 They are not committed to any modern errors. Their 
 very existence through centuries of persecution and 
 temptation is a proof of the vitality of their faith. 
 
 h2 
 
Vlll 
 
 Prefafori/ Nofr, 
 
 They are characteristically national Churches. They guard 
 with the most jealous care their apostolic heritage, and 
 are still able to express through it the power of their 
 own life. Thus, while they cling to their liturgical 
 language, Syriac, with almost pathetic devotion, they adoi^t 
 the vernacular freely in sermons and popular services. 
 
 These general remarks apply with peculiar power to the 
 Old Syrian Church. This seems to live in the past. Its 
 Patriarchs still assume on their election the name of Ignatius 
 the Martyr. The people hitherto have known Western 
 Christianity only through the Roman and American Missions 
 (Congregational and Preshyterian) . But both missions have 
 failed to make any serious impression on the main body of 
 the Church. The aggressive imperialism of Rome, in spite 
 of the dignity of its services, the strength and devotion of its 
 missionaries, the political influence of France, repels a nation 
 proud of their own possessions handed down from their 
 fathers. The American Missionaries necessarily offend the 
 same feeling of religious patriotism from another side. They 
 have no instinctive regard for historic continuity, and look 
 with little reverence on customs veueral)le by ancient use. 
 But the Anglican Church on the other hand, strong by 
 apostolic order and catholic sympnthy, can approach the 
 Syrian Christians without threatening their independence or 
 disparaging the primitive traditions of a Communion older 
 than itself. It can consistently welcome the task of building 
 up, purifying, strengthening a body which claims tender 
 regard foi- the sake of sufferings which it has borne for the 
 Faith. It is under no tem]itation to seek either sul)mission 
 or uniformity from those whom it serves. It acknowledges 
 
 PiTfafory Note. 
 
 IX 
 
 the power of the Faith to harmonise large differences of 
 intellectual and ritual exj)ression, answering to differences of 
 race and history, within the limits of the historic Creed. 
 It can wait for the issue which it desires, taught by home 
 experience that stable reform must come from within. It can 
 with good hope prepare the w^ay for reconciling divided 
 Churches through considerateness and patience. 
 
 The tirst step towards the accomplishment of this great 
 work of conciliation and enlightenment for the Eastern 
 Churches by England — a partial acknowledgement of our 
 debt to the East — must come through better know^ledge on 
 both sides. The Old Syrians confound our position w4th that 
 of non-episcopalian missionaries ; and we again are inclined 
 to treat them as merely '^ nominal Christians." The under- 
 standing which we both require w411 come through that help 
 in education which the Svrians seek from us. And their 
 need is unquestionably pressing. The Syrian Christians in 
 the villages are for the most part poor — there are not, we 
 are told, *^ perhaps more than four books on an average in a 
 village through Jebel Tur '^ — and those in the towns require 
 the encouragement of a good example. So far a good 
 beginning has been made. The late Patriarch used well 
 the means which were placed at his disposal ; and the 
 work in the schools which he founded is on the whole 
 satisfactory. 
 
 For rendering on a larger scale the help which is required, 
 the present time is eminently favourable. There is good 
 reason to hope that the new Patriarch — fur the nonagenarian 
 Patriarch with whom Mr. Parry stayed died in the past year 
 — will be even more anxious than his i)redecessor for the 
 
4 
 
 Pi'ffatunj Note, 
 
 extension of elementary religious schools and for the ethcient 
 education of his cleriry. The noble monastery P]l-Za'aferan 
 offers itself as an admirable place for a Patriarchal College. 
 And for the larger influences of an educational mission, the 
 rule of Turkey gives better opportunities than could be found 
 if national and ecclesiastical differences were accentuated by 
 the dismemberment of the Mohammedan Empire. 
 
 If the seasf»n is thus opportune and the work urgent, the 
 English Church appears, as I have endeavoured to show, to 
 be specially fitted to undertake it. Here also, as elsewhere, 
 representatives of the English Church would come to learn in 
 teaching ; and the Old Syrian Church can give us several 
 lessons which are worth consideration. Let me mention two 
 only. The regulation of the order of Deacons — "perhaps 
 the most characteristic order of the Eastern Churches " — 
 deserves careful study, as likely to provide a solution of some 
 of the problems suggested by the conditions of home work. 
 Scarcely less interesting and important is the service of 
 ordination for the wives of the parochial clergy, by which 
 they are made a kind of deaconesses. Some such solemn 
 dedication might l)e a help to numy women among ourselves 
 who, placed by nuirriage in positions of heavy responsibility, 
 are distracted by the trivial calls of modern society. 
 
 Even directly, therefore, we might gain much from extend- 
 ing the work which has been most happily begun in the East. 
 And we cannot but look to more remote and wider con- 
 sequences of the enterprise. If it be fulfilled, it is likely 
 that the controversv with Mohammedanism will enter on a 
 new stage. The spread of Mohammedanism over Eastern 
 Christendom was largely due to the barren controversies and 
 
 I 
 
 
 Prefatory Note. 
 
 XI 
 
 divisions of Christians : the quickening and reuniting of the 
 remnants of the ancient Churches may well be a revelation of 
 the power of the Faith which will bring conviction to many 
 devout souls, and open the way to the evangelization of the 
 East by Eastern teachers. No doubt a long period of 
 discipline and training must go before such a consummation, 
 and our part is to claim now a share in the preparatory 
 hi hour. 
 
 So the vision opens before us. By history and character 
 and by the history and character of the National Church, 
 the English nation is called to be the missionary nation of the 
 world. It is not more surely marked out by its history to 
 bring the Christian truth to the peoples oi India, than it is 
 marked out by the endowments of the National Church to 
 bring new life to the Churches which represent the old 
 I^atriarchates of Antiocli, and Alexandria, and Jerusalem. 
 May it be enabled to fulfill this double call, and so to gain 
 the blessing of fruitful service. Mr. Parry's narrative of his 
 pioneer mission to Mesopotamia will, I trust, hasten the 
 fulfilment of one part of this great issue. 
 
 B. F. Dux ELM. 
 
 Auckland Castle, 
 Dec. bth, 181»4. 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 

 If 
 
 lATRODUCTION. 
 
 As ill old days the tide of conquest flowed westward, it is but 
 natural that the ebb of travel should return toAvards the East. 
 Year by year the region of romance is narrowed, and places 
 which once were names for travellers to conjure with are 
 brought one by one within the reach of spring and summer 
 tourists. Romance now lurks beyond the Karakoram ranges 
 or in Japan, scared away from the more familiar haunts of 
 Syria and Greece. Nor can "the prerogative of travellers in 
 Turkey to tell lies," which Landor tells us was in his time 
 undisputed, be any longer exercised. 
 
 For the serious archasologist, however, or the devotee of 
 history much still remains within the ring or in the border- 
 land surrounding it. With such a region, the Syrian country 
 that lies between Palestine and the Tigris, the following 
 pages are concerned. They present a detailed study of a relic 
 of history j)ursued off the track of general research. They 
 record no adventures or unusual episodes, but they seek to 
 present a ])icture of quiet life in a country much abused, and 
 among a i)eople that command less than their share of 
 (ordinary interest. 
 
 Among the various schemes, many fantastic enough, for 
 promoting the union of Christendom, none seem to rest on a 
 firmer basis than those whose aim is to secure greater 
 intimacy and a more intelligent cordiality between the 
 Christians of the East and West. Several societies have been 
 formed with this purpose, recalling the similar efforts made 
 by the Non-jurors of the eighteenth century; audit was at the 
 invitation of tlie oldest of these (the Syrian Patriarchate 
 Education Society;, and as their agent, that I undertook the 
 
 m 
 
XIV 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 XV 
 
 journey here described. The aims of the society, the method 
 of carrying them out, and their prospect of success, will be 
 apparent to the reader. It is necessary here only to record 
 my gratitude to the society for the opportunity afforded of 
 obtaining so unique and pleasant an experience. 
 
 Among the number of obligations which I have to acknow- 
 ledge, the chief are owing to the Rev. F. E. Brightman, of 
 the l^isey House, and the Rev. A. C. Headlam, of All Souls' 
 College, Oxford, for much kind advice and assistance in the 
 more strictly ecclesiastical part of my work. To Sir 
 Frederic Goldsmid and the Secretary of the Royal Geo- 
 graphical Society I owe thanks for valuable suggestions in 
 regard to the transliteration of Arabic words, and for 
 permission to consult the library of the Society. To my 
 brother I am indebted for much arduous work in reading and 
 correcting manuscripts and proofs. 
 
 To the translation of parts of the sacred book of the 
 Yazidis contained in the appendix a melancholy interest 
 attaches. The original manuscript was in the hands of the 
 late Professor Robertson Smith, waiting to be translated, 
 when be died. Mr. E. G. Browne, Fellow of Pembroke 
 College, Cambridge, and lecturer in Persian to the Uni- 
 versity, kindly undertook the work of translation, which now 
 stands as a slight monument of love to the memory of a great 
 Orientalist. It comprises the most authentic copy yet 
 published of the sacred book of that strange people, with 
 whom all who have read the works of Sir Henry Layard will 
 be in part, at least, familiar. 
 
 I have been sparing of references to the many books which 
 I have consulted. The chief of these are the following : the 
 immortal history of Gibbon, to appreciate whose marvellous 
 and accurate learning there is no surer method than to 
 pursue some bye-path in the period of which he treats ; the 
 '^ Bibliotheca Orientalis'^ of the Assemanni, that storehouse 
 of Eastern ecclesiastical knowledge; Dr. Payne Smith's 
 translation of John of Ephesus, the gentle historian of the 
 
 sixth century; the works of Renaudot and Le Quien. Of 
 more recent books, Etheridge's - Syrian Churches,'' Badger's 
 ''Nestorians and Their Rituals/' Cutts' ^^ Christians under 
 the Crescent," Maclean and Browne's ^^ Catholicos of the 
 East and His People," Buckingham's ''Travels in 
 Mesopotamia," Palgrave's ''Central Arabia," Burton's 
 ^^'Pdgrimage to El Madinah and Meccah," Ainsworth's 
 '^Euphrates Exi)edition," Layard's three volumes on Nineveh 
 and Babylon, and the English collection of Dr. Noldeke's 
 essays, have been of most value. 
 
 For the map of the Jebel Tur district I am indebted to 
 Mr. Andrus, the agent of the American Congregational Board 
 of Missions at Midliiat. I have not thought it necessary to 
 insert a maj) showing my route through a country so well 
 known as Eastern Turkey. 
 
 In the difficult matter of the transliteration of Arabic words 
 I have mainly followed the system of the Royal Geographical 
 Society, as that which seems likely to win its way into most 
 general use. It assigns to all consonants the same value that 
 they have in English, to all vowels that which they have in 
 Italian. All double vowels, oo ee, are thus avoided. One 
 accent only, the acute, is used, to mark the emphasis of the 
 syllables. In general I have not used accents in the text, 
 but have marked each word with great care according to its 
 East Syrian i)ronunciation in the glossary. Several words, 
 commonly used in English, have been left in their usual form, 
 such as " Koran " ; others, the English spelling of which is 
 less defensible and the correct form less seemingly pedantic, 
 such as -harim" (harem), "bazar" (bazaar), "beg" (bey), 
 '^ Mohammed" (Mahomet), have been altered. But in so 
 difficult a matter, especially as regards vowels, it is scarcely 
 possible to avoid inconsistency. Of certain shortcomings, 
 for instance in the treatment of words having the definite 
 article prefixed, I am fully aware ; I must shelter myself with 
 the excuse that I am not a scientific linguist. Nor have I 
 made any attempt to reconcile the system I have adopted 
 
XVI 
 
 Introductioti. 
 
 with the far more scieiititic oue of Mr. Browne, wliich never- 
 theless I believe to be practically less convenient. 
 
 Since the above was written the chief fi^ifure in the Old- 
 Syrian Church has passed away. He had spent the summer 
 in the monastery Deir-el-Za'aferan, and, bein^r in unusual 
 health, rode back on October the Gth to Mardin. On reach- 
 ing his house he was seized by a sudden tit, and died at the 
 age of ninety-five. 
 
 His has been a stormy life since the time when he left his 
 mules and horses two-thirds of a century ago to follow the 
 way of the Church, and for the last twenty years to rule his 
 people. He has done a good work for his nation. Of a stern 
 and at times tiery nature, holding, too, a singularly autocratic 
 and isolated office, and living day by day far removed, in 
 virtue of his position, from the softening influence of familiar 
 intercourse with men, he yet, by the charm of a very tender 
 heart, won from manv the tribute of real and warm affection. 
 
 He has suffered much from harsh judgments; but for the 
 building up of his Church and opening the way to larger 
 light and fresher vigour he has done more than any who have 
 gone before liim. He rests in the mausoleum of the monastery 
 awaiting, like his great predecessor Bar Hebra^us, the day 
 when all these schisms shall be done, " when the Lord shall 
 be King over all the Earth, in the day when the Lord shall be 
 one and His name one." 
 
 -">O?*i«>0- 
 
 
 UHAl'TKU 
 
 
 I. 
 
 i 
 
 11. 
 
 
 III. 
 
 
 IV. 
 
 
 V. 
 
 
 VI. 
 
 
 VII. 
 
 •- 
 
 VIII. 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 IX. 
 
 K 
 
 X. 
 
 > 
 
 XI. 
 
 
 XII. 
 
 "; 
 
 XIII. 
 
 
 XIV. 
 
 
 XV. 
 
 
 XVI. 
 
 « 
 
 XVII. 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 } 
 
 XIX. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Throuoti the Syrian Gates . 
 From Aleppo to the Euphrates 
 
 « 
 
 BiRK.lIK TO DiARBEKR 
 DiARlJEKR .... 
 
 ^Iardin — THE Patriarch's Diwan 
 Mardin and its Syrian Inhabitants (i.) 
 Mardin and its Syrian Inhabitants (ii.) 
 Mardfn and its Moslem Inhabitants . 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan . . . • . 
 
 Life in the Monastery 
 Two Syrian Villages .... 
 Dara ....... 
 
 Jebel Tur — the Mountain Home of the 
 Syrians 
 
 BiSHERI, AND X'oRTHERN JeBEL TuR 
 MlDHfAT, AND DeIR-EL-OmAR . 
 
 Across the Plain from Mardin to Mosul 
 
 The Two Cities on the Tigris 
 
 Thh: Yazidis ...... 
 
 TiiK MowsTKi.'v OF Sheikh Mattha, and the 
 SviiiANs OF Mosul . . . . . 
 
 'P 
 
 n^ 
 
 PAGK. 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 21 
 
 38 
 
 57 
 
 73 
 
 84 
 
 92 
 
 103 
 
 121 
 
 141 
 
 169 
 188 
 20G 
 220 
 239 
 252 
 
 2(33 
 
 i 
 
XVIU 
 
 Contents. 
 
 THE OLD SYRIAN CHURCH. 
 
 THAPTER. 
 
 I. 
 
 11. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Church of Antioch .... 
 The Modern History of the Old Syrians 
 The Clergy and Churches of the Old Syrians 
 Customs and Condition of the People 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Yazidis of Mosul 
 
 Translation of an Arabic Manuscript 
 
 Itinerary 
 Glossary 
 Index . 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 270 
 301 
 314 
 330 
 
 357 
 367 
 
 389 
 391 
 395 
 
 -- ♦o^^'c^- 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan To face Title 
 
 The Syrian Gates To face 
 
 The Mosque of Abraham at Urfa . . . To face 
 
 The Patriarch of the Old Syrian Church 
 
 An Armenian Priest ....... 
 
 The Patriarch paying a State Visit .... 
 
 Door of the Mortuary Chapel of the Patriarchs at 
 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan .... 
 Church of Mar Yakob at Deir-el-Za^aferan 
 The Mosque of Kasmiyeh near Mardin . 
 A Kurdish Agha ..... 
 A Mountain Syrian .... 
 Roman Columns at Nisibin . 
 The Church of S. James at Nisibin 
 The Tigris at Nineveh .... 
 The Church at Hakh .... 
 Map of the District of Jebel Tur . 
 Ground-plans of Syrian Churches : — 
 
 Hakh ...... 
 
 Nisibis ...... 
 
 Salah 
 
 Deir-el-Omar ..... 
 
 To face 
 To face 
 To face 
 
 To face 
 * . 
 
 To face 
 . . 
 
 To face 
 
 PAGE 
 
 2 
 32 
 62 
 93 
 
 97 
 
 109 
 123 
 153 
 186 
 204 
 223 
 227 
 249 
 327 
 160 
 
 328 
 331 
 332 
 334 
 
 !ll 
 
 oo>^r.o- 
 
 
SIX MONTHS IN A SYRIAN MONASTERY. 
 
 >:«4o«>- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Theough the Syrian Gates. 
 
 It is a sad necessity that condemns the student of the 
 mysterious East to enter Syria by a seaport town. Nowhere 
 else may the ill results of inharmonious fusion be so clearly 
 seen, bringing into foremost view the characteristic evils both 
 of East and West. Alexandretta, the port of Aleppo, is no 
 exception to the rule, rich though it is in memories of the past 
 and signs of possible future greatness. The name of the town 
 and every neighbouring hill or village recalls a vanished faith 
 or empire. " Jacob's Well,'' ^^ The Pillars of Jonah/' Issus 
 Iskanderun, each echoes- the history of a long-passed age. 
 
 Over the ill-paved streets of the dirty town, one day early 
 m April, 1892, there rumbled a rickety cab drawn by four 
 half-starved horses, and containing two Europeans, one a 
 smart German commercial traveller, the other an Englishman 
 without apparent aim or occupation, out on to the broad level 
 plain that divides the range of Amanus from the Mediterranean 
 Sea. One age after another had marched by this same road 
 up to the '' Syrian Gates ''—or pass that leads through the 
 mountains— the armies of Cyrus, Alexander, and the Ptolemies, 
 the mercenaries of the Lower Roman Empire, and the fate- 
 inspired warriors of Islam. On either side was a row of 
 
 B 
 
Through the Syrian Gates. 
 
 wretched huts raised on piles above a f(etid marsh, soon giving 
 place to groves of mulberries and aloes and fields of newly- 
 sprouting corn. It was mid-day as we crossed the fertile 
 fever-stricken plain, and we were glad to reach the hills and 
 feel the air grow fresher as we neared the pass and village of 
 Beilan. The land was rich, but failed from lack of trees to 
 satisfy our European eyes. A palm tree here and there upon 
 the plain, and on the hill sides small groups of splendid pines, 
 gave some relief and shade, but all too few to overcome the 
 general sense of desolation. 
 
 On the road itself there was life enough with the strings of 
 Syrian camels — great tawny creatures with tufted necks and 
 shoulders, far fiuer to look at than the swift dromedaries of 
 the desert. They were a picturesque sight, but seemed to 
 express with their long upper lips unutterable sorrow, fore- 
 boding the day when they shall pass away and the Iron Horse 
 run where the Assvrian caravans have for three thousand 
 years trod slowly east and west. Then we passed a detach- 
 ment of Turkish soldiers marching in disorderly fashion with 
 their wives towards Aleppo ; and then came herds of sheep 
 and goats, bells tinkling and dogs barking, as they made their 
 slow way to some wayside fountain. Pedlars and beggars 
 that sat by the road exposing fearful sores to our charitable 
 gaze, even these, too, were new sights to us ; fresh pages of 
 the wonderful picture-book of the East. 
 
 Beilan was a pleasant little town, stretching right across 
 the gorge at the top of the pass and built on either side, house 
 above house, with mosque and church between. Just beyond 
 was an aqueduct, through breaks in which the water poured 
 with the sound of melody so sweet in a thirsty land. Towards 
 the sea to the west, and eastward over the plain of Antioch, 
 the views were magnificent. The snow was still upon the 
 mountains of Amanus and Taurus across the bay, and to the 
 north upon the hills about Marash. In the eastern plain lay, 
 like some mountain loch in Scotland, but many times larger, 
 the great white lake, " Bahr-el-Ajub," of Antioch ; and over 
 and beside it floated clouds of mist, like flocks of sheep, in 
 the heavy air. 
 
 
 
 
 1^ ^'^;; 
 
 i 
 
 Jk 
 
The Ah'ppo Bond. 
 
 Ihe road from this j.oint to Aleppo was not remarkaJjle 
 except for a fine causeway, built over the marshes by a certain 
 I'asha of blessed memory called Murad, and not hne since 
 restored with the road itself. A little village had sprung up 
 by the causeway, water being plentiful, and a small stall was 
 opened where forbidding and forbidden drinks were sold and 
 oranges from the groves of Tarsus. Turkeys and geese made 
 their several noises by the water-side, tended by small brown 
 children ; and some way off, close by one of the mounds that 
 are so abundant in this part of the country, was a group of 
 Aurdish teuts pitched there for the sake of the rich sprino- 
 pasture. A little beyond these stood a large farmhouse with 
 a village nestling round it, to cultivate the crops and gather 
 the wild liquorice that grows plentifully in these parts. Some 
 hot springs give the place the name of " Hammamat," and 
 cause It to be much visited for the cure of certain diseases 
 
 In the neiglibourhood may be seen traces of the once 
 extensive ruins of Dana, a town that lay on the high road 
 from Antiocli to the East, and the probable scene of the 
 defeat of Queen Zenobia, in whose dominion it was bv 
 Aureliau. Remains of cities of the Lower Empire lie scattered 
 on every hill; and not far to the south still stand the 
 monastery and church built to commemorate the most famous 
 
 i ', , /"^" ■^'''''^'' ^™^"° ^tylites, who, electing to 
 spend his hfe ,n eccentric solitude on the summit of a column 
 forty feet in heiglit, wielded an influence over Christians and 
 Arabs of which even the Emperor stood in awe * 
 
 The country was in itself not interesting, although in tlie 
 early morning there were fine views looking towards the 
 northern mountains with the sun cutting across the heavy 
 mist Ihe road into Aleppo was execrable, nor is it possible 
 to describe the misery of alternately bounding over loose 
 boulders and dragging through sloughs of gelatinous mud 
 Ihe caravan road was even worse, leading in parts over rocky 
 
 • He died A.D. 459, and was buried at Antioch. A popular acoouirtTThi^ 
 
 Thech '\ 'V'"..''"/'^'' -"-«-of P-f-Bor N.Ideke's Orient! eL";: 
 The ch„reh .8 described m De Vo^.^'s great work on the Syrian churohe. Zd 
 m tlie Introduction to Neale's '■ Patriarchate of Antioch.' ■ <="">•<">«- and 
 
 B 2 
 
Ah'ppo. 
 
 ground, in which the only track aviiilable for horses' feet was 
 from hole to hole tilled with thick soft soil. 
 
 Seen from the last hill-top on the north-west side, the city 
 of Aleppo forms a striking feature of the landscape, standing 
 in the centre of the. plain that stretches many miles to north 
 and ♦ ast and south. Of the town itself there is no need to 
 write much. The fine bazars, the beautiful mosque of 
 Zechariah, father of John of Damascus, with the strange 
 legend connected with its daily call to prayer, the refined 
 inhabitants of every creed and nationality, have all been 
 described often enough.* I was surprised to find myself in 
 a good hotel, strange confusion though it was of East and 
 West. There was a visitor's book and tahle dlwte, of Avhich 
 I partook in company with a loquacious Greek from Smyrna, 
 who drank more 'Sirrak'^ than coffee, and half a dozen 
 Turkish officers with sparsely buttoned hose, who sat silent 
 through a solid P]nglish meal for the honour and glory of the 
 thing. 
 
 Early the next morning a deputation of the Syrians of the 
 place came with their priest and a train of rustics to wait 
 upon me. At their head was the best of Orientals, Antonius 
 Azar, a member of one of the oldest awd most respected 
 families in Aleppo, to whom I had letters requesting him to 
 forward me on my way to Mardin. Nothing could exceed 
 his politeness and hospitality. On my return from ^lardin 
 some months later I stayed in his house ; but, as his wife 
 explained, they had thought that, though their house might 
 seem a pleasant place after living in the barbaric interior, yet 
 on arrival from England I should be *' ashamed " to stay in 
 such an uncivilized abode. 
 
 For some time the party sat round my room in awkward 
 silence, rolling cigarettes for each other, and occasionally 
 examining some of my possession. But the situation becoming 
 strained, Selim, Azar's son, who spoke some words of English, 
 suggested that I should go to his house and see the rest of 
 the family. I readily acquiesced, and we walked in imposing 
 
 * See especially a pleasant account in Cutts' "Cliriatiana under the Crescent." 
 
 An Aleppo Household, 
 
 procession through the streets. Arrived at the house and 
 seated in the " diwan,'' coffee, cigarettes, and slices of 
 preserved citron were handed round in filagree silver dishes, 
 and a long dull hour passed, such as is usual in a land ^vhere 
 the polite show their breeding on a visit by the observance 
 of a dignified silence. Such conversation as went forward 
 related to England and the few inhabitants of that country 
 of whom they had heard; or of the luggage I had brought 
 with me, and the price of the various things I wore. 
 This is the first and most polite question a Syrian can ask a 
 stranger. 
 
 Everyone in the room smoked, including Azar's wife, an 
 Armenian lady, who expelled both the smoke and the few^ 
 words of French she knew in the same mincing manner w ith 
 the tip of her tongue, as if they were gems of value which 
 she was loth to lose. She w^as, nevertheless, the most refined 
 native lady I met in Turkey, and a kind, considerate hostess. 
 Her four daughters sat ^vith her in the diwan, and shook 
 hands and talked in a rational manner, very different from 
 the custom of things further east, where women are treated 
 like dogs, and dogs like wild animals. No less noticeable was 
 the contrast of the simple dresses and sparse jewellery with 
 the wealth of silk and trinkets and gold coins worn by the 
 richer ladies of Diarbekr or Mosul ; of which contrast, no 
 doubt, the absence of railways and the ten days' journey 
 from town to town, is in great degree the cause. 
 
 The room, in Avhich we sat discussing the future of Turkish 
 trade and the price of eatables in London, was a pleasant, 
 airy diwan, decorated with green and white paint, and 
 furnished with handsome modern carpets and cushions. 
 There was a fine collection of old porcelain in the room, and 
 over the doors Avere flaunting oleographs of the Greek and 
 Russian royal families, with photographs of the Syrian 
 Patriarch and several of the leading bishops. Green and red 
 w^ere the prevailing colours here and in the courtyard, and 
 looked bright in the sun against the fine white plaster, for 
 which Aleppo and Diarbekr are famous. 
 
 A large diwan for receptions, another for the ladies' use, a 
 
6 
 
 An Aleppo House. 
 
 An Aleppo House, 
 
 dining room where everything was in a manner a la Frumja,- 
 formed, with the kitchens and a small summer diwan, the 
 suite of rooms upon the ground floor, ^i^he fourth side of the 
 court facing the north was occupied by a large open verandah 
 or ''aiwan," m which to sit on summer evenings. It was 
 covered by a lofty vaulted roof, supported on tall marble 
 pillars of Saracenic style, having rich capitals, and the wall 
 above decorated with graceful arabesque designs. The inner 
 walls were of stone, and the floor of flue marble in arabesques. 
 Everything else in the court, the fountain in the centre and 
 the pavement, were of Aleppo marble, wliich gains by 
 exposure to the air a lovely mellow tone, the colour of old 
 parchment. The court, with its ever-flowing fountain and 
 sweet orange trees, was only less delightful than the broad 
 flat roof, on which I walked at evening, and gave rein to idle 
 fancies about the ancient city hidden by roofs and porticos 
 below. 
 
 A walk round the chief buildings of the town brought us at 
 last to the humble little building which the Syrians call their 
 church. It was near the hour of evening prayer, so we sat 
 a short while with the priest, a simple, pious old man, who 
 made me write my name in his service book. It was most 
 pathetic to note the contrast between the fine churches of the 
 Roman, Greek, and Armenian communions of Aleppo and this 
 poor little place, which is all that remains to a community 
 that not long since numbered in the town three thousand 
 souls. Few of the worshippers seemed to understand the 
 words of the Syriac service, but there was no mistaking the 
 real, though ignorant, devotion of the worshippers, who 'came 
 week by week from the villages round, some many miles away, 
 to attend their fathers' church. There was one old woman' 
 wrinkled and with hair dyed scarlet, in the church, and a 
 score of. great village men, who, service ended, walked 
 reverently towards the altar to kiss the silver-bound Book of 
 the Gospels and receive, one by one, the blessing of the 
 priest before they left the church. 
 
 It was my first acquaintance with this Old Syrian church, 
 and details were marked clearly as they occurred. Perhaps 
 
 I expected too much, and had courted disappointment. And 
 yet there was something, too, in this bare little church and 
 this Ignorant worship, of which we have too little at home ; 
 more of simple trust and patient faith in Him who is the Head 
 of all the Churches. 
 
 I 
 
8 
 
 Getting tinder tcay. 
 
 Getting under way. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Fkom Aleppo to the Euphrates. 
 
 In a soothing atmospliore of cigarettes and coffee, heavy 
 with the sense of future baklishish, we sat, Selini Azar, myself, 
 and two stout sons of Anak, six foot four apiece, (U^terniining 
 the rate of a journey to Mardin. It was a long affair, as such 
 generally are ; for first the good men denied the possibility of 
 getting their animals in from spring pasture near the town at 
 the early hour of nine on Monday morning; this in view of 
 growing bakhshish. For Selim's sake, however, and the 
 honour of his house they would start at ten, and charge only 
 twice the regular fare. More coffee and cigarettes were 
 needed to reduce the price ; and after an hour we concluded 
 a bargain to pay half as much again as I j)aid on the return 
 journey. Neither in Turkey nor elsewhere is experience to 
 be had free. The muleteers then retired, paying, after the 
 strange manner of their kind, a certain sum to guarantee 
 their good faith, and promised to return at 8 a.m. on Monday; 
 '' upon their heads should it be." 
 
 By a great piece of fortune having heard that a French 
 gentleman, a government inspector, was starting that very day 
 for Saert, I lost no time in obtaining an introduction, and it 
 was arranged that we should travel together to Diarbekr, so 
 that I was saved the necessity of procuring an interpreter. 
 
 To western eyes there can be few stranger or more 
 picturesque sights than to watch the arrival of one's train at 
 the inn gates, attended by a crowd of interested spectators, 
 gay-petticoated, newly shaven, and well be-turbanded for a new 
 
 week. One of the sons of Anak appeared an hour late, very 
 differently apparelled to-day, in consideration of the journey 
 with one beast for my slender luggage, and another for m/- 
 self What a squeaking, and whinnying, and biting, and 
 kicking among the number of creatures belonging to this and 
 other -caravans ! Donkeys, mules, and thoroughbreds were 
 all in the highest state of excitement, with the men shouting 
 and using every abusive word they knew in all their three 
 languages. Bells clanged, and tin pots banged with coifee 
 plunders and kettles for use upon the road, until a re-echoing 
 bray from the chief donkey announced that the loads had all 
 been adjusted, and the caravan was ready to start. My 
 French companion was waiting all this time near the Serai 
 or government buildings just outside the town, and with him' 
 several gentlemen, Turkish and French, who had come out to 
 escort him for the first mile of the journey. 
 
 With fantastic gyrations of our Turkish companions, and 
 an unceasing flow of talk on the dangers of the road, to the 
 tune of the caravan bells some way behind, we filed out of 
 Aleppo along a route, called by courtesy a road, past the 
 Aqueduct, built by the Empress Helena on her way to 
 Jerusalem, and under the telegraph wire, until we reached the 
 last of the gardens, and an olive grove, out of which rode, like 
 an ancient knight of Arthur's court, our orderly, known in 
 Turkish as a "zaptieh." Here everyone dismounted, watered 
 his horse, and bade an affectionate farewell to his neighbour, 
 as to a dearest brother, and one half turned citywards^^ while 
 the rest started out towards the unknown country beyond the 
 Euphrates. 
 
 April 4.— The last cord was cut that bound us to civilization, 
 A wonderful sense of freedom came over us, and an invigorat' 
 ing buoyancy inspired by the Arab country giving us the power 
 to perform an unbroken ride of eleven days with enjoyment. 
 
 It was a remarkable company, our caravan. The Inspector 
 and I formed an advance guard with the zaptieh (him that 
 came out of the wood), riding some way ahead, as we were 
 light loads ; and some days, especially when wet, reaching 
 our night quarters two or three hours before the rest. This 
 
 J 
 
10 
 
 The Caravan. 
 
 much annoyed our '^ Katirjis/^ or muleteers, who were of 
 timid stock, and did not at all like to separate from our 
 doughty myrmidon, though the Spirit of brigandage only 
 knows what he would have done, had any occasion for his 
 services occurred ; most assuredly his place beside his wards 
 would have known him no more. A curious creature was 
 this zaptieh, in an ancient uniform, musty blue coat with tags 
 of cotton braid hanging promiscuously about it, and faded 
 trousers but ill-provided w^ith buttons to match : over all a 
 great coat, conglomerate of red and mustard yellow, njade, 
 it seemed, more to guide the rain to unprotected spots, than 
 keep it out. A revolver or two, a gun of enormous length 
 and curious construction, were combined with an evil look 
 about his eye to keep up an appearance of ferocity, which, 
 there is reason to think, would not have been maintained in 
 action. Further afield he improved ; a passable saddle, and 
 reins of string, led one to admire the really tine half-breed 
 that he rode. This horse had, perhaps, fared best of any in 
 the caravan, as his sleek sides showed; for whenever we 
 passed a good green cornfield, and that was often in this 
 springtime, he turned off, and browsed as long as he might. 
 Being an official person, with pay some months, perhaps 
 years, in arrear, the zaptieh used his prescriptive right to feed 
 at other people's expense. That there was any right or 
 wrong in this, did not appear to him ; and had not his father 
 done so before him ? Moreover, he w^as a pious Moslem, as 
 his devotions, morning and evening, with exact lavations 
 proved. His equipment was completed by a spotted red 
 handkerchief, called " kefiyeh," laid over his low '' tarbush," 
 and over it wound a twist of black camel's hair, the regular 
 Arab head-dress, and an admirable protection from the sun. 
 
 The zaptiehs belong to a large corps of mounted police or 
 orderlies, who do a great deal of courier work for the Govern- 
 ment, carry the post, and are supplied to travellers for 
 protection along the high roads. The Government are 
 obliged to give as many as are necessary to anyone who 
 bears the proper passports, and travels along the public road. 
 Doubtless they are not of much use in case of real danger ; and 
 
 Th 
 
 e Mounds of North Syria. 
 
 11 
 
 in unfrequented places it is better to travel without an official, 
 who only draws upon one the suspicion that the caravan is a 
 valuable one ; but in ordinary cases they guarantee that the 
 Government accepts the responsibility for any loss or robbery, 
 and ensure a polite, if unwilling reception into Kurdish vil' 
 lages. A good zaptieh may be extremely useful in small ways 
 when evening comes, and may take the place of an extra 
 servant, thoroughly earning the bakhshish which is his due. 
 
 Aleppo looked very picturesque, as we rode away in the 
 morning light, with the beautiful mosque of S. Zechariah in 
 front, and then the '' Serai,'' or Government buildings, with the 
 tower behind, lying round the high scarped rock of the citadel. 
 The country between Aleppo and the Euphrates is not 
 ordinarily interesting or beautiful, except for the splendid 
 ranges of snow all along the mountains of Kurdistan. Yet 
 once it was a land of great cities, the land of North Syria, of 
 Chalybonitis, of Augusta Euphratensis. We may still tr'acQ 
 Its former splendour in the mounds and ruins that lie 
 scattered over the plains, and make the heart sigh for what 
 It once was, and for what devastation has made it. Near 
 and far these mounds, ^oi/xara as Diodorus Siculus calls them, 
 meet the eye, generally in fertile places near a stream, or not 
 far from the foot of a hill, so that villages still nestle under 
 them, for the pasture of the fiocks, and the produce of a few 
 ploughed acres. Tel-Azaz, near the river Afrin, Arfad to the 
 north of Aleppo, Bashir near Nezib, the site of the famous battle 
 between the Turks and the Egyptians in 1839, Birejik, and 
 Baal Kiosk, the beautiful retreat of Jocelyn de Courtney, second 
 Count of Edessa, on the Euphrates' banks, are but a few of the 
 hundred mounds which mark the remains of ancient cities, 
 once Syrian, then Eoman, and now the shame of Turkey."^ 
 
 ♦ These sites are treated fully by W. F. Ainsworth. " Euphrates Expedition," 
 n. 407. Azas-Arsace, a mound 250 yards in circuit. Important when the 
 baracens conquered Syria; held by Robert of Flanders. In an Appendix on 
 Chalcidene, Ainsworth says : " In the time of the Romans and Palmyreans there 
 was no great Syrian desert .... it would have no existence, were it not 
 for the predatory dispositions of the Arabs, which, unrestrained by a feeble 
 government, render sojourn or even travel insecure .... all tells of the 
 past and present capabilities of this deserted region." ii. 423. 
 
12 
 
 Sheej) ((ud Goat 6. 
 
 Climate, and the permanency of site that is so strong a 
 feature of the East, to say nothing of the tendency of the 
 Moslems, nay, even the Christians in these lands, to let a 
 thing fall to ruins, but not often destroy it, have kept these 
 mounds as they have been for hundreds of years. " Thou 
 hast made of the city an heap, of the defenced city a ruin : a 
 palace of strangers to be no city ; it shall never be built.''* 
 
 For an hour or two as we left Aleppo, the low hills were 
 
 stony enough, except along the banks of the Kawaik,t where 
 
 herds of countless sheep and cattle feed and drink. Cows 
 
 these people set little store by, for pasture is hard to find in 
 
 summer, nor is their milk counted so wholesome as that of 
 
 goats. Sheep there are by thousands, not least valued for their 
 
 wonderful tails, the fat of which is so fine that it may be used 
 
 in place of butter for cooking. Their tails grow so large at 
 
 times that small wheeled carts are made to support them, 
 
 with shafts attached to the creatures' sides. Selection for 
 
 breeding has, of course, emphasized this peculiarity. But far 
 
 beyond all other creatures of the herd is the goat, the epitome 
 
 of all that in an animal is worth living for ; full of frolic when 
 
 a baby, and knowing nothing but to jump off small eminences, 
 
 and to cry mamma ; conceited and pugnacious in youth ; and 
 
 in maturity solemn to a degree that is at times exasperating. 
 
 After a long day's journey we would often sit and watch the 
 
 children bring the herds in at evening, shrieking with delight 
 
 as they seized the tail of this, and the hind leg of that bleating 
 
 imp. Then came solemnly in the goats ; and they were set 
 
 upon by the same company of boys and girls, hunting them 
 
 overruofs and through kitchens until all were milked by stalwart 
 
 dames, and then allowed the solace of their offspriug, about 
 
 which there was a good deal of quarrelling among the mothers, 
 
 until they had settled down, each with her own progeny. 
 
 After a short respite the kids were again seized ruthlessly, 
 
 * Not many years since, however, the builders in Aleppo began to take stone 
 from the wonderful churches in the neighbourhood for their own use. It would 
 be a pity if strong measures were not taken to prevent the continuance of this. 
 
 t Ainsworth i. 91, for the course and history of this river. The Chains of 
 Xenophon. 
 
 A Kurdish Village. 
 
 13 
 
 and cast into bell-shaped holes in the ground to work digestion's, 
 happy cure, until all goats and kids were collected, and driven 
 into the inmost chambers of the houses for the night. In these 
 villages the outer room is occupied by the men, an inner one 
 by the women, and a third one by the cattle, who have thus 
 to pass through the side of both rooms to reach their night 
 quarters. 
 
 This work over, the children collected to stare at us, and 
 the ladies to peep from behind corners, or prepare the evening 
 meals, or watch their lords at play under the walls of the 
 house. 
 
 These good people had been exercising the prescriptive- 
 right of Eastern males to do nothing in the spring, and those 
 who had not been watching us were engaged in playing a dull 
 game of knuckle bones, with eggs for stakes. These tall 
 Kurds formed a picturesque group sitting under the mud 
 walls, some in gay cloaks or ^' abbas," richly embroidered^ 
 others in short jackets, and all with the kefiyeh bound with 
 a cord of camel's hair round their heads, and long white 
 petticoats, with their boys standing round them. It was sad 
 to see the diseases, especially of the skin and eyes, from which 
 so many suffered, and towards which we could give little help,, 
 save by a general distribution of simple lotions. For the men 
 it seemed a not unpleasant life, mind not considered, with 
 plenty of wives and plenty of food ; but for the women, their 
 slaves, who knows ? They have little dignity or pleasure in 
 any sense, except with their children, while they have to do 
 all the hard work. Of religion, there is little enough either 
 for men or women, beyond the daily prayer-drill, led by the 
 village ^^ Mullah," on an open space some little way beyond the 
 houses. The sight of Moslems at prayer is impressive when 
 seen for the first time; but to see it day by day is to learn to 
 doubt whether it be, for most of them, more than a mere 
 exercise of drill ; certainly it does not teach them not to lie, 
 or cheat, or murder, nor, above all, to honour the wife as the 
 weaker vessel. 
 
 Towards evening of the first day, we came through richer 
 land, grassy, and with more ample crops, to the village of 
 
14 
 
 Akhterui. 
 
 Akhterin. It was a desolate place, being built of siui-burut 
 brick, and destitute of trees, while the groups of conical roofs, 
 constructed after the manner of the so-called treasuries of 
 Mycena?, gave it the appearance of a large rhubarb bed. We 
 Avere conducted through a filthy yard to the guest-room of 
 the head man's house, a fine, new room, with a ])latf()rm on 
 each side of the entrance, on which to sit and smoke or stand 
 and pray. On the opposite side of the yard, a huge fire 
 blazed in a corner just outside the stable, and on the third 
 side, were the rooms occupied by the family and their various 
 herds. Everywhere, except in our divvan, mud prevailed, 
 making very necessary the large wooden clogs that all donned 
 to cross the vard. Fortunately, the air was, as vet, too cold 
 for mosquitos and other insects, so that we enjoyed repose 
 unbroken, except by the music of donkeys and innumerable 
 cocks. 
 
 Our room was large and freshly decorated with rough 
 carving and gaudy paint of red and green upon all the wood- 
 work, and gay weapons of antique design ranged upon the 
 walls, with tinsel ornaments round a mirror, the most dis- 
 tortinor it has been mv fortune to behold. Near the door, a 
 wooden balustrade divided off a space some two feet l)elow 
 the level of the rest of the room, where Katirjis and women 
 might sit and gaze upon their lords. Down the two sides of 
 the upper portions two long felt rugs were laid, on which we 
 sat and took our ease until the appearance of supper. The 
 sole architectural feature of the room was a large round fire- 
 place, built half in, half outside the wall, serving well enough 
 in calm weather, but in a wind — well, the smoke did drive 
 the swallows out before bed-time came. There were windows, 
 but very small and high up, for safety's sake, so that all the 
 light there was came in at the door, which, as always in this 
 hospitable land, stood open from morning until night. No 
 one is refused entrance, who wishes to inspect, rob, or ask 
 rude questions of the traveller, drinking his coffee and smoking 
 his cigarette. Supper was a simple meal, h.nrd-boiled eggs, 
 bread, sometimes milk, every fourth day a starved old hen, 
 and a little wine, so long as good Madame Azar's Aleppo 
 
 Akhterin to Zambur. April 5. 
 
 15 
 
 store lasted, after which we had to rely upon the scant pro- 
 visions of the Kurdish villages. 
 
 Next morning, starting early on an ample breakfast of hot 
 milk and-bread, we soon overtook a party of Armenians wait- 
 ing to join our caravan. Great sallow-faced men with heavy 
 jaws and aquiline noses starting straight from their foreheads, 
 bushy eyebrows and coarse black hair, they did not prepossess 
 us in favour of their race. They all rode horses, either lame 
 or with frightful sores upon their backs, perched upon a 
 mountain of rugs and mattresses, like inverted snails set upon 
 their horses. Coats, kettles, tin pots, and other utensils hung 
 from every available point of the animals, or were piled upon 
 the saddle so that the whole erection reached not far from 
 ten feet high. 
 
 We were passing through country far richer than the 
 previous day, green valleys and hill slopes covered with 
 anemones and periwinkles. Down by the streams countless 
 goats and sheep fed, tended by shepherds of the old poetic 
 type. Over a green slope came an aged herdsman, ugly and 
 brown, seated on a tiny donkey that listened wrapt to the 
 mournful strains of the reed pipe he played. Then in pro- 
 cession came two great yellow dogs, crop-eared and solemn ; 
 and next, with the cares of many generations on his neck, the 
 father of the flock, followed close by a crowd of goats and 
 sheep and lambs and kids bleating fit to break their silly 
 hearts and drowning the quaint vagaries of the old man's 
 pipe. Further on was another scene of patriarchal memories, 
 a well with the stone rolled off the mouth, and children 
 pelting the cattle with stones to let the goats and sheep drink 
 their fill. Men were drawing the water in great skins to pour 
 into the troughs, while women saw fair play done among the 
 beasts. '^ And hither were all the flocks gathered; and 
 they rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the 
 sheep, and put the stone again upon the well's mouth in his 
 place." 
 
 In the evening we were to sup with our Armenian com- 
 panions. The less said of that meal the better, except that we 
 enjoyed one admirable dish of fine wheat boiled in milk. But 
 
f 
 
 16 
 
 Zambur to Birijik. April 0. 
 
 for the rest eggs swimming in brilliant yellow grease, none too 
 sweet, with sardines, and above all sardine oil, with the 
 flavour of the tin upon it, how they enraptured our hosts ! 
 
 Day followed day monotonously enough, nor did the 
 character of the country change much on the west side of the 
 river. The w^eather seemed set for an eternal summer, and 
 everything looked its best in the springtime of the year. 
 Only as we started at four or five o'clock in the morning did 
 we feel the cold, and caused much merriment among the 
 Kurdish villagers by our strange wide-awake hats, and the gay 
 rugs with which we kept ourselves warm. But as soon as the 
 sun was up we were plunged into summer warmth and, 
 hoisting umbrellas, began to look out eagerly for wayside 
 
 wells. 
 
 As we mounted the ridges that overlook the Euphrates 
 valley by gradual stages, the heat grew more intense than 
 ever, until my katirji, '' excellent minion '' that he was, as he 
 " mounted and marched '' just before me on his tiny donkey, 
 fell fast asleep. The heat overcame the donkey too, so that 
 suddenly, without any warning, she gave way and precipitated 
 the big man on his nose. His violent language was soon 
 drowned by the laughter of his fellow katirjis, delighted at 
 the discomfiture of a rival : and it was some time before the 
 caravan recovered its equilibrium, and was prepared to descend 
 the slopes that lead down to the river shore. 
 
 Thousands of goats and sheep were feeding along these 
 
 hills; and on the sandy shore were cranes and ibis, and 
 
 turtles basking by the pools into which they were ready to 
 
 slide at the sudden approach of a foe. The western shore is 
 
 about four hundred yards in l)readth ; but on the east the 
 
 rocks rise sheer above the water up to the platform on which 
 
 the town of Birejik is built.* This first view of Mesopotamia, 
 
 with its ancient frontier town, the Zeugma of the Lower 
 
 Empire, was exceedingly beautiful. The early evening light 
 
 illumined tlie massive ruins of the castle towards the north,. 
 
 * Ainsworth (i. 214) gives an admirable description of this town, as of all 
 the country between it and Antioch. The sculptures in the castle described 
 by Badger (i. 351) are no longer to be seen. 
 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 Crossing the Enjyhrates. 
 
 17 
 
 juttmg out upon a crest of chalk into the broad stream, and 
 southwards the long line of houses crowded in between the 
 water and the hills. Lower down among some palm trees 
 stood a grax^eful little minaret with a group of mosques and 
 lattice-wnidowed houses looking out upon the river. Every- 
 where there were trees, and higher up a cluster of tall pines 
 to which a flock of green ibis, that had been holding council' 
 on the western shore, disturbed by our approach had flown 
 oif to watch events from a safer and more dignified seclu- 
 sion. They, like the storks, hold an immemorial charter of 
 protection from the reverence of the Mohammedan inhabi- 
 tants of Turkey. Birejik is one of the most picturesque 
 and interesting places in Mesopotamia. It was a little way 
 below this town that the Euphrates Valley Expedition 
 started on its course, that was at one time to have opened 
 a new and important page of our Eastern history. But it 
 seems that that was all a dream, to die away within half 
 a score of years. 
 
 It took nearly an hour to collect our scattered caravan 
 upon the shore, ready to embark upon the most antiquely 
 fashioned barge this side of India. Half-a-dozen of these 
 huge arks were moored below the town, two of which soon 
 made their way across the stream to the place where we were 
 standing. The bows were lofty and massive, with a platform 
 upon which stood a man with an immense pole shaped at the 
 end for use as a rudder, and fastened at the nose of the ship 
 Embarkation was a work of some difficulty, for, although the 
 beam ends were cut down nearly level with the water, yet the 
 stern could only come within two or three yards of the shore 
 and everything, including the baggage mules, had to wade 
 and then make a gigantic leap or scramble up on to the plat- 
 form. One man seized the head, and another the tail of each 
 successive beast, the one to pull the other to keep him 
 straight ; everyone shouting and getting very wet, until with 
 a desperate effort and all the skin off his knees, the animal 
 plunged into the barge. The donkeys, who could scarcely do 
 more than see over the bar, came off the worst; but my 
 katirji carried his in ! Last of all the zaptieh, who m his 
 
 c 
 

 18 
 
 Cro.ssiny the Euphrates, 
 
 official soul thought to give himself airs, dashed iuto the water 
 like a second Cicsjir, deterniiued to scale the barge or die ; 
 but his horse, either having eaten too much green corn, or 
 wishing to spite the man, missed hohl of the beam and 
 getting entangled in the ropes, tunibk-d straight back, and 
 left hFs valiant rider in the stream clinging to the barge. 
 This damped his tine s])irit, and he submitted to be he1]ied up 
 by the two murky half-chul Armenians who guided the craft 
 behind. We humbler people were borne upon tlie backs of 
 other mermen, and deposited in doubtful safety between the 
 hoofs of our horses and the deep sea of the '^fouith river 
 which is Euphrates/' 
 
 It was like a dream, this passing of the Kuphrates, with all 
 the thoughts conjured up by the wonderful stream ; Abraham's 
 flocks may have crossed here, or Senacherib passed by here 
 with his hosts on the way to Jerusalem, and many a Pvoman 
 Emperor, and Persian King, Saracen Amir, :>ml ('nisading 
 Count ; but the first was the passing, on which (.ne preferred 
 to think, the passing of the great Patriarch, to wh-.m all the 
 country looks back as tu its father, the man of peace and of 
 submissive will, the ''Friend of God." 
 
 After a swing across and down the stream, we were towed 
 up by the Arabs who stood on the middle shallows, and then 
 swung right across down the full stream a hundred yards 
 below the landing place, to which we were again towed 
 and rowed, by men on shore and other^ :it the helm, one 
 with the great rudder, and a second with a monstrous 
 puQt pole, and both with countless imprecations, while the 
 rowers cried, ^'Ya Allah, ya Allah,"* keeping time to the 
 oar strokes. It was a perilous voyage, especially as the 
 zaptieh's horse had elected to make himself cons])icuous, 
 kicking all the other horses, and ridding liim>elf of his 
 saddle^ which fell into the foul bottom of the b..at. But 
 
 * I think I never heard a Moslem of the lower orders speak, but every other 
 sentence contained the name of the Almi-hty. The boasted ret,Mrd for His 
 power has a dark as well as a bri.^ht side, and a Christian cannot walk through 
 any Turkish town without being shockcl a hundred times a day l)y the reckless 
 use of this name. 
 
 Cros.s'i7ig the Euphrates, 
 
 19 
 
 at last it was all over, and, with sundry bakhshish, we 
 escaped up to M. I'lnspecteur's office, where coffee and 
 cigarettes awaiteil us. 
 
 After sittino- in .ilence for ,aore tlmn an liour on verv hard 
 
 «thc,al benches, the never-to-be-hurried Turkish clerk t^Uered 
 
 wjth ,nnuy salanvs and grovelling expressions of regard, and 
 
 some business was transacted. We retired to our khan to 
 
 ^ettle for the n,ght, until an invitation came to dine at the 
 
 bureau. This was pleasing news, nor did the dinner, a la 
 
 iHvca of course, disappoint us. We eujoved, for the first 
 
 time real po,...n J'Enphrnte and rice pilaf, arrowroot, and 
 
 chicken, crowned by a lordly dish of Icben, or curdled milk, a 
 
 dish for heroes on a hot day. All this we ate without knives 
 
 or forks, sitting on small string-covered stools at a hu-e tin 
 
 tray placed upon another such. The p.>stprandial°wash 
 
 followe.1, very desirably, and, last of all, very delicious coffee 
 
 and unlimited cigarettes. 
 
 After sitting another hour in ],olite silence we were glad to 
 In.l good-n,gl,t an.l find our way, under the guidance of our 
 new zaptieh u-ith his lantern, to our khan. No man of any 
 position walks abroad at night without a lantern, varying in 
 height according to his station, from one to three feet It 
 consists of a amp placed within a huge case of glass and tin, 
 and IS earned almost on the ground by a servant preceding 
 Ills mastei-. It is a necessary precaution in such rockv streets 
 as tjose o most Eastern towns, and e.xplains why the Psalmist 
 spoke ot I hy word a Inntern unto mv frot." We were not 
 long m tailing asleep, although in the" middle of the ni-^ht I 
 woke to hear M. I'lnspecteur's katirji complaining to the 
 moon how the custom-hou.se officer at the ferrv had robbed 
 }nm of thirty p„unds Turkish for conveyiog gunpowder 
 contraband ir.u. Aleppo to Mardin. When accused 'he wal 
 quite calm, and paid the money down like a man. But 
 refiection brought sorrow in its train ; not that he could not 
 afford the money as well as most muleteers in Turkev, but 
 he had been outwitted, and, all said and done, thirtv p'ounds 
 .« a goo,l round sum in Turkish gold. In conseqJence, he 
 never recovered his temper for the remainder of our journey. 
 
 c 2 
 
r'l 
 
 20 
 
 CrossvKj ll*' EnpliraU's. 
 
 Tlie rest of our company, the five Aniieiiiaus, wlmh' all 
 drunk, lmvin.^^ taken advanta^'e of an early arnval to 
 -make keif" in a liberal way durino- the evening. 1 hey 
 had thus celebrated the first stage of our journey, an(l 
 inaugurated the morrow's start to traverse the country ot 
 the common father, Abraham . 
 
 Bivfjik fo Shishan. Ajml 7. 
 
 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BiKEJIK TO DiARBEKR. 
 
 >>•;<: 
 
 Moke than usual bustle attended our departure from Birejik, 
 not only cm account of our katirji^s ill-humour^ but of the 
 very steep road that led up to the table-land above the 
 river. The road^ atrocious in itself, was rendered more so 
 by the network of streamlets that sought their way down to 
 the " Father of Rivers.'' It was occupied by crowds of 
 quarrelsome magpies, and a company of lordly Arabs, travel- 
 ling westward with long strings of camels and hungering 
 after our wealth. The cold air above, and a crying sense of 
 emptiness within, combined to make us thoroughly miserable. 
 But as the sun arose and we began again to descend to 
 ^smoother lands, matters improved, and the true beauty of the 
 province of Osroene, the kingdom of the Abgari of Edessa, 
 began to spread itself before us. 
 
 The country was, if anything, richer than before, and the 
 outlines of the snow mountains to the north still more beau- 
 tiful. But, as afternoon came on, and we were within a few 
 miles of our destination for the night, down came the rain, 
 with the suddenness that characterizes a break-up of fine 
 weather in the Hast. In ten minutes, those who had no 
 maekiutoshes -were wet through, and we had scarcely time to 
 dry ourselves in the sun that blazed out as soon as the rain 
 was over, when we found ourselves at the village of Shishan, 
 and soon after sitting round a blazing fire with bowls of rich, 
 bubbling goat's milk before us. 
 
 We were loth to leave these admirable quarters next 
 
22 
 
 ShisJuut fo Hnirak. April 8. 
 
 Ilaivak to Karajerun. Aj)ril 9. 
 
 23 
 
 day, and start on an eight hours' ride, during" wliicli the 
 rain poured without ceasing. It is impossible to imagine any- 
 thing more dreary than sliding along hour after hour at a 
 walking pace, while the raiu soaked slowly but surely through 
 one's clothes. The country for miles was enveloped in a grey 
 mist, through wliich appeared dimly, as at a great distance, 
 the other members of the caravan. All day long a gloomy 
 silence reigned, save for the monotonous patter of the rain, 
 and the sound of hoofs sliding in the mud. We rode over 
 low stony hills with intervals of rich pasture between, and 
 covered with carpets of flowers, orchids, anemones, peri- 
 winkles, narcissus, and iris, which would have made the 
 journey on a fine day really enjoyable. At mid-day, we rode 
 down into the loveliest valley that we ha<l yet traversed. 
 At the bottom was a small lake, round which crowded, fn- a 
 mid-day drink, countless sheep, cattle, and horses. Frogs, too, 
 in myriads, croaked at our unwelcome intrusion, and multi- 
 tudes of magpies, sparrows, finches, butterflies, and moths, 
 every imaginable kind of creature, made the place alive with 
 their protestations, a veritable eastern crowd. The sun came 
 out for a few minutes upon a scene almost tropical in its 
 brilliancy and multitudinous variety of life. So it a})i)eared 
 in spring. Were one to return in the late summer months 
 there would be, but for the whispering willows of the niar^h, 
 a silence like that of the Dead Sea. 
 
 But we, being very wet, and the day not being one on which 
 to enjoy watery places, were only anxious to reach a dry floor, 
 and a good fire. Yet, with the ill luck of a wet day, we took 
 twice the usual time to find quarters that night, being directed 
 first to a wretched hovel, scarcely ten feet square, and smelling 
 exclusively of cattle. Our next essay was crowned with 
 success, and we found a fine new diwau, furnished with large 
 windows, and an altogether unrivalled lire-place, to which we 
 were glad to escape out of the rain. 
 
 It was a stormy sun with wliich we rose the next 
 morninc^ crossed bv strong bars of black nnd purple, and 
 gilding murky clouds above it. But we had only one shower 
 all day, although it was a thunder shower, with pelting hail 
 
 and rain, that lasted half an hour. The atmosphere seemed 
 very clear, but everything looked dull and flat under the 
 direct glare of the sun, with no shadows, and nothing to 
 relieve the monotony except the lovely flow^ers that clothed 
 every hill. It was to be a very wet spring, w4th numerous 
 tliunderst(jrms, lasting right through ^lay, and we had little 
 enjoyment of any kind for the remainder of our journey, while 
 our ])oor Ai'inenian companions seemed still worse off, for 
 their bedding was very insufficiently protected. Arriving at 
 Karajerun, we found the Agha of the village engaged in 
 building himself a fine new house of two storeys, with 
 balconies for evening use. One of these rooms he gave up to 
 us, and we reached the door bv ridinof over the roof of another 
 house, and rLinning the gauntlet of half-a-dozen fierce dogs. 
 Outside the room was a group of splendid-looking Kurds 
 round a small boy, a son of the Agha, Avho had just come in 
 with his crop-eared greyhound, carrying a fine pair of blue 
 hares. He was swelling with pride, and impatient to see his 
 father, who was conducting us to our quarters. He received 
 all the praise he wished for, and soon started off to catch 
 more hares on the other side of the village. His father 
 looked proud, too, and turning to us said, " His mother is 
 dead, the one I loved, and 1 fear he may be captured if he 
 goes too far ; but I dare not send another with him ; he would 
 be angry if another shared his spoil. Allah guard his 
 head ! " However, the child returned safelv before dark, 
 bringing another hare, and spent the evening nestling by his 
 father near our tire. The Agha, in his zeal to make our room 
 cheerful, had ordered a fire to be lit, but the wind being in a 
 wrong (pmrter, and there being no windows, it was soon full 
 of smoke. The fire was of the animal fuel, so largely used in 
 villages where wood is scarce, of which the smoke is 
 peculiarly thick and unpleasant. It much disconcerted the 
 swallows, who had engaged spring quarters in the beams of 
 the newly- built room, and made matters so much worse by 
 their excited chatter that no one could hear his own proposals 
 for remedvins' the state of affairs, to say nothinsr of those of 
 his neighbour. At last a man of action arose, and suggested 
 
24 
 
 Ker(fjerum to Sew erek— April 10. 
 
 .Sewerek 
 
 <r 
 
 i 
 
 that the two lari^e stones closing the hokvs tluit served fur 
 windows in the wall should he knocked out, upon winch out 
 came smoke and swallows in a procession that la.^trd ms.rly 
 half an hour. We entered and took possession, but, in spite 
 of the hospitality of the worthy Agha, we di.l not sleep very 
 well that night ; there were too many swallows, not to mention 
 smaller creatures, about. 
 
 The Agha, whose house was, as usual among the Kurds, the 
 meeting place for the whole village after the sun went down, 
 entertained us hospitably, while a regular succession of small 
 coffee-cups was handed round by one of his sons. In these 
 rooms there is always a professional coffee maker sitting in 
 the middle serving out the beverage to anyone who comes 
 in, in number according to his degree. It was eleven o'clock 
 before the company broke up, the Agha retiring to his 
 "harim,'' and only a few strangers remaining in one room. 
 It is a' rule in tliese villages that every traveller can claim 
 hospitalitv at the house of the chief man, who receives a 
 certain amount from the other men of the village to mnmtain 
 
 the hospitalitv. 
 
 The next \lav after a ride in the ram over terribly 
 heavy crround, with the thermometer at 45«, and our tempers 
 nowheiT, we arrived at the town of Sewerc^k, of all ])laces I 
 visited the verv dirtiest and most odorous, always however 
 excepting, in the latter character, Mardin, that Cologne of 
 Mesopotamia. But the town contained several good khans, 
 in one of which, near the market-place, we established 
 ourselves, fortunate to have a good room, with glazed 
 windows, and the prospect of a more civilized meal than 
 those to which we had been lately accustomed. At this 
 time I did not know that there were Old Syrians m the 
 town, and therefore did not avail myself of the hos].itality 
 which in the absence of their Bishop they pressed upon me 
 at their church on my return journey. 
 
 In November I brought a letter from Diarbekr. ^Phe priest, 
 however, and some of the chief Syrians, entertained me 
 admirably, putting the Bishop's diwan at my disposal, and 
 providing an excellent supper. At the evening service, I was 
 
 a little startled during the singing of psalms to see the priest 
 suddenly dart out from his place, and summarily expel a 
 Moslem bov, who had come in to mock. Whether he would 
 have stayed to pray or not I do not know ; but he at any rate 
 had not the chance. The Bishop had come some months 
 since from Midhiat, a large village in Tebel Tur, in order to 
 superintend the building of this church, and was to return as 
 «oon as it was completed. 
 
 The Qaimakam, or governor of the town, on whom we 
 called in order to obtain a fresh zaptieh, was an intelligent- 
 looking Turk, dressed *' a la Franga," with his lower 
 garments attached in the usual precarious fashion. He sat 
 in a large diwan, attended by a great number of servants and 
 soldiers, and was inclined to be more or less polite in con- 
 sideration of M. I'Inspecteur's office. 
 
 But to return to our khan with the glazed windows. As 
 we sat there waiting for some supper, various persons entered 
 to transact business with my companion. Clerks and 
 inspectors came, all equally unpromising to look upon. One 
 came in who had an eye so forbidding that I felt nervous- 
 W.. rins])ecteur was as usual immovable, and, bearing the 
 frlare of the eve Avitli a fortitude worthy of the occasion, 
 motioned the man to a corner of our impromptu diwan. He 
 walked forward with a sickly obeisance, shed his shoes after 
 the manner of a snake, and sliding down on to his heels, sat 
 with a vacant stare awaiting his chiefs commands. The 
 latter was an honest man, and inspired fear in the bosom of 
 this clerk, a true type of many a minor official, mean, cruel 
 and cringing. Others came in to sit and talk, until our 
 sup])er arrived ; but none were so ill-favoured in face and 
 manner as this fellow. 
 
 There are the remains of a castle and a fine mosque in 
 Sewerek ; but we had no opportunity to visit them, nor was 
 my companion interested in anything of the kind. So we 
 retired soon after supper to sleep, in view of an early start 
 next dav for another eiofht hours in the rain. 
 
 About twenty miles south-west of Sewerek we passed a 
 large stone carved on its upper surface with a fine Maltese 
 
 \ > 
 
26 
 
 Sewereh to Kaintfk, April 11. 
 
 A Turkish Noad. 
 
 27 
 
 li 
 
 !l 
 
 \ 
 
 cross, a relic of the days when there were Christina Cuimts 
 of Edessa. Just outside ]^Iardin, again, there is a fine o hi . 
 Saracenic buihling, vaulted and pillared, seennngly a tountam 
 house; and across the wall of one room is a true nl.l 
 Plantagenet leopard, painted in black colour, some eight feet 
 loner, if fine memorial of the days when the cru>s was in the 
 
 ascendant in this land. 
 
 In the same district we saw remains of Roman lavement, 
 and a great many ancient stone wells and reservoirs, pointing 
 to former civilization of the province. 
 
 Leaving Sewerek, we passed out over a country of black soil, 
 well planted with wheat and grapes. Further out, where 
 habitations ceased, tlowers l)egan to al)Ound, marsh tulips, 
 and purple orchids lining every stream. The black stone, of 
 which the town is built, cropped up everywhere, and the way 
 was enlivened by multitudes of lovely birds. There were 
 numbers of the graceful little owls from Sewerek, attracting 
 notice bv the lovely rose tinge of their wings, black and white 
 tits, great hawks, yellow, white, and black, beside a host of 
 wagtails and hoopoes, and a Miiall bird not unlike a blackcap, 
 but" very distinctly marked with white and black. Down ])y 
 every stream was a heron or two, on every tree or ruined 
 buildincr a crane or stork, and always before us marched a 
 goodlv ^company of crested larks and magpies, with a dozen 
 more^beside. But there was little to enjoy in all this under 
 an unceasing downpour of rain, and all we could think of was, 
 how much further remained of the road to Diarbekr. 
 
 The road from Sewerek to Diarbekr is not a little thought 
 of by the great men of the earth in these parts, and 
 adequatelv represents its class. All that can be said of it is 
 that it is^not the worst in Turkey. Stones the largest and 
 roundest that could be found, collected from all round by tlie 
 forced and unpaid labour of the village people, were laid 
 promiscuouslv in muddv weather upon what was once a good 
 caravan track, so that it was hard to know whether to follow 
 a track upon the wilderness of boulders where each horse 
 placed his foot exactly where the one in front placed his, or to 
 wade through the marsh below. An especially aggravating 
 
 feature of this ro:id was, that in places where a little 
 engineering was required, eitlier to cut through a piece of 
 rock, or carry a bridge over a ravine or marsh, the good 
 l)uilders of it lost lieart, and, like a ghost that has been never 
 l;ii<l. or only badly laid, the road kept disappearing and 
 coming uj) again at irregular intervals. Imagine such a road 
 over the dreariest of hillsides, the lower spurs of the Karaja- 
 dagh, wliere ban-en trees clutched the thin soil, and the grey 
 rocks lay nboui like bones pushing through a half-starved 
 horse ; where the shrubs looked as if they grew there to spite 
 each other, the very evil spirits of dry oaks, withered, 
 bristling with a few scraggy branches just to boast their 
 nakedness. All this was a scene for Cliilde Roland : 
 
 *' I think I never saw 
 Such starved, ignoble Nature : nothing throve. 
 For flowers — as well expect a cedar grove I 
 But cockle, spurge, according to their law 
 Might propagate their kind, with none to awe, 
 Youd think : a burr had been a treasure trove." 
 
 TheiL' were t\vo halts between Sewerek and Diarbekr, of 
 wjiieh the first, Kainak, called from its boundless seas of 
 mud, wjis, of all the villages I lodged in, the foulest and 
 most ill-provided. It provided, however, three additions to 
 our })arty ; the one a very solemn young man, shoeless, with 
 lank Idack hair and red silk trousers, accompanied by a tiny 
 dcmkey, and an ancient man, his father. It was a nice little 
 donkey, and he was a nice old man, always looking at his 
 watcli for prayer time, which he observed most diligently. 
 But the young man was very dull ; I think he had once cut 
 off the doiikey^s tail in a rage, and never forgiven himself. 
 Regularly as clockwork he raised a long metal key, and 
 smote the little creature on the quarters, and each time the 
 ass gave a surprised reproving leap, as if it was his first 
 experience of the key, and subsided again into his former 
 measured tiead. 
 
 The last night was spent at a large khan, five hours from 
 Diarbekr. It was full of men and beasts of all kinds, amongst 
 wlu)m were some Xestorian priests on the way to Urmi. 
 
jT-y- 
 
 28 
 
 Sersink Khan to Bhtrhekr. April 13. 
 
 Abraham's Country. 
 
 29 
 
 \ 
 
 H 
 
 \{ 
 
 They luid been to Aleppo, and were glad tu meet an Knglisli- 
 man, before whom to parade the few words tliey had leai-ned • 
 of the hing-iiag-efrom the English missionaries to their Church. 
 They joined ^us for the last day, with another man, an 
 unfortunate with the whole of one side paralysed. We 
 gave him what we could to eat, and helped him ak^ng a 
 little. I saw him a week later in Mardin, while 1 was buy- 
 ing some embroideries. It was a heart-rending sight ; but 
 there are nmny such in Turkey, where such poor creatures 
 <^ afflicted of God" get little sympathy, being left to 
 wither in the streets, or find a last home, for some petty 
 
 theft, in prison. 
 
 Just as we were riding over the last hill into Diarbekr— 
 and a glorious view of the l^lack city, the Kara-Amid, 
 appeared across the plain— we met two other miserable men, 
 hurrying towards Sewerek. They begged some alms, and, 
 having got a few paras, hastened on, until a hapi)y tliought 
 seemed to strike the zaptieli. lie rode after them, and, 
 having asked some questions, finally assured^ himself that 
 they were prisoners escaped from Diarbekr. The righteous 
 indignation from the man of office rose to bursting; down he 
 bore°upon them, knocked them oil' the road, and threatened 
 to whip them to death if they did not immediately follow hnn 
 into the town. Down they went on their knees, with the 
 result that he nearly rode over them, and then tied. He 
 made as though he would shoot them, then remend)enng 
 that we were by, muttered that he would telegraph Imm the 
 next village to 8ewer(^k for police to catch them. Poor 
 wretches, we hoped they got away. 
 
 We rode slowly down towards a rich ])lain, along an afpie- 
 duct bringing the fresh water of Karajadagh down to the 
 city. Some good Pasha had made this channel, or, more 
 probably, restored a Roman work, covering it in with stone. 
 But thirsty travellers had broken it open, or, perhaps, wanton 
 Kurds, for every fifty yards it was open to the air, and usihI 
 not only for drinking', but the daily lavations of the Moslem 
 villagers. We were at the end of our journey, and glad of it, 
 consfdering the rain and the dithculty which 1 had in com- 
 
 municating with any member of the caravan, from M. 
 I'Inspecteur down to my great katirji. 
 
 Half way between Sewerek and the Euphrates a road leads 
 southwards from Karajerun to Urfa. Being anxious to visit 
 this city, hallowed in the minds of Syrians and Moslems alike 
 as the home of their father Abraham, I determined on my 
 journey homewards in November to choose this route, rather 
 than that by which I had travelled in the spring; the rather 
 as it was the seat of one of the chief Bishops of the Syrian 
 Church. I shall, perhaps, be excused, therefore, if I turn 
 out of my way to give some short account of this most 
 interesting and beautiful city before finishing my journey to 
 Diarbekr. 
 
 From Karajerun to Urfa was a long and tedious ride, made 
 more so by the early November rains, which had transformed 
 a hard and level caravan road to the semblance of a ploughed 
 field. Our katirji was, moreover, a bad-temi^ered man, and 
 loudly complained of the heavy loads, rendered doubly heavy 
 by the soaking rain. For the last two hours, during which 
 we ploughed through dense mud up the hill that leads to 
 Urfa, he never ceased from a low undertone of imprecations 
 on our heads and the heads of all European travellers. 
 Riding for tw^elve hours in such weather over such ground 
 was certainly trying to any man's temper, ours no less than 
 his ; but there was no help for it but to draw meagre comfort 
 from the " Kismat '' of Islam. 
 
 Passim' a larire encampment of camels we seemed to thread 
 interminable gardens before we found the Convent of St. 
 George, whither we had been directed. Late in the evening 
 we arrived and had some difficulty in awaking the old gate- 
 keeper, who slept in a room some way from the door, and in 
 revenge for the disturbance w^e caused, shoAved us a room 
 without volunteering any offer of supper. We made up some 
 sort of a fire, and, contenting ourselves with such food as w^e 
 had with us, retired early, to sleep off the effects of a very 
 tiring day. 
 
 The following day was Sunday, so, by force of habit, waking 
 early, I went into the church, where I found an old friend,. 
 
i 
 
 30 
 
 The Syriitn Bishop of Urfa. 
 
 The City of Urfa. 
 
 31 
 
 one of the monks of Deir-ol-Z;i'aferan, tlif niMiiastui-y iii which 
 I spent the summer, commencing the celehrntir.n nf the 
 Eucharist. It was a tine church, newly re-buih among the 
 o-ardens just outside the town to the south-we>t, where was 
 once a large monastery. The oidy adornment of the cliurch 
 consisted in some good coloured glass behind the altar ; all 
 else was white and hare.* The congregation was small, as 
 the church was at some distance from the town, and most of 
 the Syrians preferred to attend the large church in the 
 monastery within the town. There was, however, one little 
 o-roup of worshippers which attracted my attention — half a 
 dozen small boy-deacons, in long blue tunics, a uniform of 
 those who attended at the school by this church. As soon as 
 service, which lasted three hours, was over, we were con- 
 ducted by the chief deacon, a large nniu in an asti'akan coat, 
 to see the Bishop, whose diwan was attached to the church 
 within the town walls. 
 
 This church of the Syrians in Urfa is a large bniMinir, and 
 has a considerable number of rooms attached to it, some 
 of which form the house of the Bishop, and others a])art- 
 ments for clergy and visitors. Morning service had been 
 finished only a short time, and the .liwan was, in couse- 
 quence, full of people i)aying the n-gular Sunday visit to 
 the Bishop. From a broad balcony, reached by a liandsome 
 stone staircase, and with a fine balustrade of ItabaTi style, 
 we entered a pleasant n.om, to which the gaily-pa])ered 
 walls o-ave a most unusual appearance of comfort. At the 
 end of the room, seated on a low diwan was the Bishoj), 
 Georgios, an old man with a long white beard, and the 
 most kindly and intelligent face that one couhl wi-h to 
 see. A grey Angora cat sat cm his knee, enjoying the 
 hiirh honour of rep(jsing on his lurd>hip's silk Siin.l iv robe; 
 and a busy hum of talking was going on among the few 
 priests and laymen who sat at the top of the room. After 
 
 I If 
 
 * This church wan built about fifty years a<?o. and i< peculiar in havinjf 
 the women's gallery over the west door (so built at Dr. Badger'a suggestion), 
 instead of in one of the aisles. 
 
 the usual formaHties w^ere over, and it was understood that 
 I had been the l^itriarch^s guest at Mardin, the flow of 
 conversation continued. 
 
 There were few^ people wdiom I met among the Syrians w^ho 
 combined so much charm of manner with real intelligence and 
 kindliness as this old Bishop. He Avas a great favourite with 
 the Patriarch, and always has taken his place as his represen- 
 tative when the latter has been abroad. Urfa is_, moreover, a 
 more civilised and modern place than either Mardin or ^losul, 
 of which the evidence is manifest in the behaviour of its in- 
 habitants. 
 
 After an admirable breakfast, the Bishop deputed one of 
 his younger deacons to take us to see the tow^n, one of the 
 most picturesque in interior Turkey. 
 
 Being built half way up the Jebel Ximrud, on a hill above 
 a rushing torrent, it never lacks water, or the sound of the 
 perpetual fountain that gained for it in the old days the name 
 Callirrhoe. Water in basins, in drinking places, in small 
 mills, water in the torrents, in the springs, and down the 
 sides of streets, everywhere is heard the same bubbling 
 sound so dear to Oriental ears. And with it are trees innumer- 
 able, great forest trees in the gardens, with walnuts and 
 pomegranates, and fruit of all sorts ; gardens everyw^here, 
 within and without the town ; and, a thing seldom to be seen 
 in an p]astern town, the large court-yard of the Serai grass- 
 grown, with seats and spreading trees on either side. The 
 bazars, too, and the streets seem all to share in the charm 
 that water lends ; nowhere else are there such vaulted cor- 
 ridors, tall and airy, for the market, such splendid caravan- 
 serais, built by some munificent old Turk, of an order since 
 passed away ; and where, above all, can be matched the 
 exquisite Mosque of ^' Ibrahim-el-KhaliP^ — Abraham, the 
 Friend of God — with its stately minaret and marble court- 
 yards reflected in the silent, .^hady })ool ? 
 
 The city is walled, but the walls, which are in circuit 
 between two and three miles, do not enclose the citadel, nor 
 many other public bnildin.gs. .Masses of rock terraces appear 
 all round the gardens outside the tow^n, and amono- the 
 
 ^ 'r 
 
'*r 
 
 :ii 
 
 The Great Mosque. 
 
 \ 
 
 \ 
 
 y* 
 
 — TTTiu every direction, l.caring' 
 
 v.neyards eemotevies ^-^^f^^^^,,, i„ one of these vine- • 
 witness to the a„tuiu.t> of tho _ ^^^^^ ^^^^^_ .^_ ^^.,„^i, ^ 
 
 yavas .s a spru.g -'"■'>;•';, ^ .,^,,,1 voavin,^ and foam ; .t 
 Lvtain times k ,n>shes o t w th . ^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^i,,,, ,v.ue 
 supphe. the stream Da,.. u,-l- .__ ^,,„„„er forms 
 
 in the muiaie of the cty, auU 
 
 somewhat of a torrent ,^^ ^,,,, a glorious 
 
 From the citadel aboxe the to J^^^^^^^ j,,,. ..^nge ot 
 ,iew over the lower f^^^;^ ^^^.r.^ >eft .u th. >nniaing 
 Abd-el-A.,.. i^^"^^".^, c.vmthian cap.tals, and an o d 
 ,,,ept two columns ^^ \.,^^' ; ^ ,rence to H-^nan. The 
 Synac toscription, '='>"^'^"'"';. '^ ^i„ the ntoat, cut oat of 
 oLide ts more iuM^s.ng e^P > y ^^^ ^^^,_ ^,,,, ^y -i^Oft. 
 the living rock, satd by l)..Bad^ 
 
 deep. , ... ti,e " Olur Jamisi," had, hke the 
 
 The great mosque of ^^^-^'''^ Christian church, of wh>ch 
 n^osque at Diarbekr, been once a C ^ ^^^^^ ,__ ^,^^. ,^,^^,, 
 the nave has been tu.med ntto a ^o ^^.>^^^,^^,,,,,p,some ranged 
 n,any capitals and F "'^^-^^^^^^^^ ^ ,m hexagonal be fry at 
 round a fountain of later date ami ^^ ^^ ^ ^i.aret or the 
 
 the top of a square towet^ It- no ^^^^^.^^,^ ,^, 
 
 mosque, and is an o^je^jj., ^o a later date than the to^ 
 i,ox.v^'ou, which seems to belon„ 
 perhaps to that of the Crusades ^^^ , ,, 
 
 ^ But by far the --{.^^^^^tlw the western wall o the 
 ^^osqae of Abraham Dov^n b ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^, 
 
 citadel, over the stde f^ J ^ machtue with which Nttnrod 
 forming, report says, par of the ^^^ ^.__^^^^ ^ ^, ^i, 
 
 .urled Abraham dow-n .nto the^^^^.^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^ 
 spot, is a basm, bmt o ^^ ,ttle 
 
 eUty yards long. The ^^^f '^^ , J^^^, and filled with, as 
 Ih'e north, is of exqu-te -n^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ , 
 
 one traveller who '=°«>';^'l J^J^^ the fish that the great 
 and one fat carp, ^f ^e^J^^^; a^ns of pomegranates, 
 
 Patriarch loved I A 1 «>-^ J^^^f, gasin of Pomegranates 
 from which the pool s ca led ^^^^^ ^.^ich 
 
 and by the -ter's edg ^^.^^ J^ ^^^^ ^,y the ever 
 the pious may stand \veii f 
 
The Christians of Urfa. 
 
 33 
 
 present vendors, and pay honour to the ''Friend/' by feeding 
 his fish."^ 
 
 The great beauty of the Saracenic front to the mosque, with 
 its exquisite minarets and light arches, was further increased 
 by the groves of beautiful trees, just turning to autumn tints, 
 and the delightful sense of shade and coolness. A graceful 
 little kiosk stands at one end of the pool, and is connected 
 with the mosque by the buildings in which the teachers and 
 students of the place live. 
 
 The city contains about four thousand families of Armenians, 
 five hundred of Old Syrians, five hundred American, and a 
 few Latin converts. It is within the borders of the Armenian 
 country, and there is constant friction between them and the 
 Turkish officials, whose suspicions of the Armenians have 
 been, during the last few years, carried to an almost intolerable 
 point. t It was most remarkable to notice the change in 
 freedom of speech and general toleration of the Christians as 
 one came from Mardin — practically a Syrian town — to Urfa, 
 where Armenians form the bulk of the Christian population. 
 This has its effect on the Syrians, whom I found here far 
 more nervous and less ready openly to greet a stranger than 
 the inhabitants of cities further south. Nor were thev so 
 willing to show the books and other things contained in their 
 fine new church. The church is dedicated to S. Peter and 
 S. Paul, and is much larger than most, being, like that of the 
 Armenians, built more after the Western plan, with naves 
 and aisles quite separate. In the Armenian church is a 
 picture which the deacon hesitatingly shows as that which 
 was sent by our Lord to Abgarus-t It is a printed handker- 
 chief, with the head of Christ, of the late Renaissance type. 
 
 * Ainsworth considers these fish a remnant of the old fish- worship of Syria. 
 It is not impossible that the Christian symbolism of the fish is connected with 
 this worship, i. 199. 
 
 t This is strongly borne out by Dr. Badger, i., 329, who gives a rather full 
 account of his visit to Urfa. 
 
 X The original is said by tradition to have been sold by the Saracens to the 
 Court of Constantinople for 12,000 pounds weight of silver and the redemption 
 of 200 Moslem captives, and a perpetual truce for the province of Edessa. 
 
 D 
 
g^ Abraham's Country. ^^^^^ 
 
 More in.e..e.i„g is the pieto.e of the Ho,^ ^r^^ ' 
 Child, richly f-ned a..d -^^? Xe two churches 
 
 are among the veij *'"'^*\7" ^^^ ^,e^,, .vitness to the 
 
 church d>g"'tarie« of the place i ^^^ ^^^_ 
 
 for supper, and, having bade t^^-^^^e ^ 
 
 .alities such .^ P^^ S^ Xe'-^^.te'tdging. 
 t^ara^pi;:; nT plat ::S its gardens and fountains 
 and ve.ve!e sorry' to have to prepare for an early start 
 
 'Trt J'avt'ilv claim to he one of the most ancient cities of 
 Urtama^ 3'^ - home of Abraham and Laban, it rose 
 
 theworld^^ floHance fifteen hundred years later as a 
 again into impoitance n Antiochcca ad 
 
 Macedonian town under the name 
 
 "^trnaTerah took Abram his son, and Lot the sou of Haran 
 Ana iera dau<>-htei-in-law, his son Abram s 
 
 ^•V'^cUheT wen ortli with them from the Ur of the 
 ^tl^eTs t^'gTirthe land of Canaan ; and they came unto 
 
 ""Tbrfwt^J'ht miies south-west of Urfa, and ten miles 
 
 t nf Harr'i is the district of Seruj, well watered-a 
 
 ^est of Harran IS tn Assyrians, Greeks, and 
 
 tempting ^l^' 7°^^^7^;\l,, R^„,„ans as Batn*, or Batna 
 SrTJhe'r: B^- meaning, in its Syriac origimil " the 
 Sero , tnenam valley" Remains of colossal hons 
 meetmg of waters m a ^^"^^ ^.^^ ^^e district 
 point to its connection witli Assj i lan Kin^s. ^ 
 
 7', „„f have reference to the Armenians generally. The 
 * ™^ 'r: wUh retrd to th m aepends on local influences, and on 
 Impenal poUcy with regard to chrirtian.. 
 
 -fl»--^ "°\r""4U a „,rTn a n.„Jt interesting appendix, the whole 
 ^neltirr^Frthe^l^rorX^hani and h. .ene-gy with ^ .igniacanee 
 rthe name, scattered about this locality (cp. aUo Badger, .., 331). 
 
 Ahraham\s Country. 
 
 35 
 
 
 is perhaps most interesting as bearing the name of the graud- 
 father of Terah. Terah was the father of Nahor, and we find 
 in Genesis xxiv. 10, that Harau is called the city of Nahor. 
 Now Haran was the name of Abram's brother, and '' Haran 
 died before his father, Terah, in the land of his nativity in 
 Ur of the Chaldees^' (Gen. xi. 26). 
 
 There are, therefore, three sites— Urfa, Harran, and 
 Seruj — all bearing names that would lead one to identify this 
 country with the country where the Patriarchs settled after 
 leaving their ancient home in Chaldea. It is generally con- 
 sidered that the original Ur of the Chaldees was in the land 
 of Babylonia, and it has been identified with Warka in 
 Chaldea, as well as with Mukayir, '' the place of bitumen,'' 
 on the right, bank of the Euphrates, for we read how, 
 "journeying from the East, they found a plain in the land of 
 Shinar .... and they had brick for stone, and bitu- 
 men had they for mortar.'' (Gen. xi. 2.) And it was there 
 seemingly that Babel was built. 
 
 Apart from the identity of the names, local tradition is very 
 strong in identifying " Abraham's fatherland " with the dis- 
 trict round Urfa. Here are the fish beloved by him; here it 
 was that Nimrod cast him into the furnace. At a spot not 
 far below Birejik the Arabs assert that their great Father 
 lost many of his cattle in crossing the Euphrates. Again, in 
 the Old Testament narrative, it was to the city of Nahor that 
 Abram sent his servant to seek a wife for Isaac (Gen. xxiv. 10), 
 and hither it was that Jacob came, when he dwelt with Laban, 
 Rebekah's brother, in the land of Padan-Aram, or Mesopo- 
 tamia (Gen. xxviii. 7). When he fled from Laban's wrath he 
 passed over the great river, the Perath, or the Phrat, as the 
 Arabs still call the Euphrates; and Laban pursued him seven 
 days to Gilead, which is actually some 300 miles on the 
 direct way to the "South Country," that is, the country 
 south of Jerusalem, where Jacob dwelt. Now 300 miles 
 is just about the distance a man in great haste would be likely 
 to travel in seven days. Again, it was from Padan-Aram 
 that Jacob came to Shalem, in the land of Canaan (Gen. 
 xxxiii. 18). Thus it is that Dr. Ainsworth concludes that 
 
 D 2 
 
4 
 
 The Vnivernty of Edessa. 
 
 37 
 
 mstonj of Edesxa. 
 
 36 
 
 •. „f thi^ Lome of Abvaliain, and thus • 
 Urfa still n>arks the -^e of the ^^^^^ .^^ ^ ^ to the 
 
 ,e find that Eastern ^'•^'^^^'^^/^^^^/oW Testament.* 
 history related m the booU '^^^^^''^ ,-,on. of Urfa, or 
 Of the Macedonian and Roman occ p ^^^^^ ^^^^, 
 
 Edessa,t as its name ^^^^^^:'^^X,^;Zn: as Haran, great 
 here, at Charra", almost certainly the .a ^^_ 
 
 a^a^ter hefel ^. Koman ^J^^^^^::::,, ho rebuilt 
 came A.B.U) the eaW>.^.^^^ at Abgar Shat which 
 
 the city. J^lJf be Nisibis, and was the man who con- 
 has been t^-j*;°^^ o c— • I' -'^^ ^^^ ^"•^^^n"' 
 
 tributed to tl^e .d«*^^; ."l ,, „ widely-received story of a 
 of whom Eusebius relates thyvide^y ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^ 
 
 correspondence with our Lo d. j,.^„, ,^^, dead 
 
 Thaddasus. " that after Chi.st s lesi ^^^ ^^^_^^^^ 
 
 and his His ascent into I'--"'/' ^'j:^,. ixnis, who was 
 Apostles, under ^--^^jtv^nt disciples, to Edessa as 
 also numbered ^^'^"g.'^'^^^f;^; Gospel of Jesus Christ." 
 a preacher and evangelist of the lop ^^ ^^^^^^.^^^ 
 
 Caracalla sent the last of the pnnce > , ,ture of 
 
 ,. chains to Rome. La^ev the ;am^^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^,„ 
 
 Valerian by Sapurt^^ieF-tJuU ^^^^.^^^^^ ^^^^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^ 
 
 the hands of the Saiacens, an j ^ {^,,4 years 
 
 Moslems ever since, with tt« excepUo ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ 
 
 a ing wHeh J^--^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^, ,„,^„e, t the 
 
 Baldwin in 109 / a.d. > v a ^^^^^^^.^ Zenghis, 
 
 Saracens westwards Ed-- tell in ^^.^^^ ^.^ ^ .^^^^.^, .^ 
 
 Prince of the Atabaks of Sjria, wno ,,{ horror that 
 
 a frightful slaughter, thereby rous^i^ the p ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ 
 
 inspired the second C.usade Ag.n^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 devastation, on account ofitsj)r^^^___j^ 
 
 — ~~ Z^ e \-n-,\A\< in this district, 
 
 -^i, ren..rUab.eia connection with the .^^^^^^^^^^ ;^^^ ,„,., ^ 
 
 that the Arab, and other natjves ho Ul *» '- ^^, „f pi,g,image ; and 
 
 The Bir.Ajub, near *« south gate .s a jar ^ P^__^^^^^^ ,^^ ^^^ g^^,^, 
 
 '^''°'^' u . n -Roman colony in 216, under Severu.<. 
 
 f Edeasa became a Koman coiunj 
 
 '2 
 
 ravaged by Hulagu the Mogul, and the terrible Tamerlane 
 the Tartar. With its final conquest by the Seljukian Selim, 
 who restored the ancient name of Urfa, it attained a certain 
 respite from trouble, which it has enjoyed until the present 
 day. 
 
 Most interesting for us, however, is Urfa, as the seat of a 
 great university in the fifth century. Here it was that 
 Nestorius gained so many followers after his condemnation at 
 Ephesus ; and to such a height had his influence reached, 
 that in 489 the Emperor Zeno broke up the school. The 
 Bishop Rabulas, a strong adherent of Cyril, had done much, 
 some time before, to suppress the teaching, and had thereby 
 driven its authors into Persia, where it was freely tolerated. 
 The school, having been closed by Zeno, was transferred to 
 Nisibis, another great centre of religious teaching, which has 
 remained, with a small portion of its ancient glory, to the 
 present day. But both places have passed into the hands of 
 the Jacobite Syrians, and the Nestorians have practically 
 disappeared from this side of the Tigris. 
 
 Lastly, Edessa was the home of a greater than these, the 
 holy Efrem (Ephraim) the Syrian, a man beyond all others 
 since apostolic days honoured of the Syrian Church, which 
 sings his hymns, and reveres his writings to this day. Near 
 to Edessa on the south side he is said to be buried, and on 
 his tomb the holy Eucharist is consecrated by the Syrians. 
 Hence, too, came his beloved teacher, St. James of Nisibis ; 
 hence, too, another James, he who consolidated the old 
 Syrian Church in the sixth century. Strange that from the 
 same city should have come Ibas and Barsumas, the great 
 teachers of Nestorian doctrine to the East, and James 
 Bardoeus, raised to be Bishop of Edessa, Avho lived to be the 
 bulwark of a church that has ever claimed Cyril as one of its 
 greatest fathers. 
 
 -fxii^oo- 
 
I 
 
 38 
 
 Diarirekr. April 13. 
 
 An Escaped Thief. 
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 DiARBKKR. 
 
 It is time to resume our journey ou the road from which we 
 turned back to visit Urfa. It was the last stage on the road 
 to Diarbekr ; nor had we long left the khan of Sersiuk before 
 we caucrht sight of black walls about towers and domes that 
 gleamed in the rising sun. High above the Tigris rocks fifty 
 white-capped minarets stood clear against the sky ; and round 
 the walls for miles stretched groves and gardens, with here 
 and there a country lodge nesthng among them. 
 
 The old name of Black Amida has been changed to 
 Diarbekr, black from the basaltic rocks of which the walls and 
 houses are built. Splendid walls they are, like some old Greek 
 fortress, and thick enough to contain many a large chamber, 
 and form a fine road upon the top. The rain had cleared off, 
 and the sun came out in full brilliance as we approached the 
 town. It was early spring, and the contrast of the brilliant 
 green of the gardens with the gloomy walls, which they 
 encircle, was exceeding beautiful. Fruit wonderful in variety 
 and quantitv is grown in these gardens, in one of which Mr. 
 Palgrave has laid the scene of his faithful and romantic story 
 of P^astern life, '' Hermann Agha." 
 
 Past pools peopled by thousands of croaking frogs we rode 
 up to the - Bab-er-Rum,'' or great gate of Diarbekr. My 
 baggage mule, impelled by thirst or the Siren charms of the 
 frog's, rushed headlong into the water, and was rescued only 
 by the gallant efforts of my katirji upon his tiny donkey. A 
 dozen soldiers lounged about the gate, near which was once 
 
 the entrance to the great Syrian Monastery of the Virgin. 
 They were busy sunning themselves, and we had almost 
 passed into the town before one of their number, on whom 
 the lot fell to exert himself, came up and demanded our 
 '' teskerehs '' or passports. M. Tlnspecteur presented his 
 papers, and passed faithlessly on to lodge with the French 
 Consul. I unfortunately had no "teskereh'' ; for what with 
 my ignorance and the hurry at Aleppo, I had no time to 
 obtain this very necessary document, and had determined to 
 run the chance of possible difficulties, depending instead upon 
 my English passport. So far I had escaped ; but Diarbekr 
 being a town of military pretensions, the seat, too, of a 
 '' wali," or governor of a province, I w^as marched off without 
 ceremony to the police station. This was a gross breach of 
 etiquette, foreigners always having the right to be examined, 
 if necessary, at the house of their Consul. But being ignorant 
 of this I rode meekly after the soldier, who drew my attention 
 with evident pride, but in an unknown tongue, to the walls 
 and antique fortifications of the town, w^hich made up amply 
 in liis eyes for the entire abseuce of more modern means of 
 defence. We soon reached a large court before the '' Serai,'' 
 or government buildings, on one side of which was the police 
 station. Here sundry amiable officials strolled about in an 
 obsequious manner; one of whom asked for my passport with 
 the politest of bows. It was handed to him, and became the 
 object of extreme wonder; lions with tails like strawberry- 
 runners, one-horned stags with tails to match the lions, 
 curious pictures of Herculean men, samples of botany and 
 the musical art, and to crown all an official possessed of such a 
 multifarious designation as ''The most honourable the Marquess 
 of Salisbury.'' They turned it this way and that, looked at 
 it through magnifying glasses, and finally having found 
 nothing authentic upon it but a Turkish seal, which having 
 been affixed in London where Gladstone (not a popular 
 personage among the Turks) lives, was probably false, they 
 handed it back in despair, and sent a zaptieh to scour the 
 land for some one who could speak English, French, or German; 
 or, failing these, Latin, the last a forlorn hope indeed, for the 
 
40 
 
 A Syrian Biahop. 
 
 Sects in Turkey. April 13. 
 
 41 
 
 interpretation of a modern passport to a Turkish police-officer. 
 After half an hour a young Chaldean arrived, who had 
 learned some French in the Jesuit college of Beirut. With a 
 great effort I summoned all of that language that I knew, 
 and adjured him by the length of his father's beard to help 
 me to explain the mystery of the i-ampant lion and the 
 Herculean men, laying due stress at the same time on the 
 majesty of the name of Salisbury, than whom no European 
 inspires greater respect in the East. However the Chaldean 
 explanation failed to satisfy the official, for whose letter- 
 abiding mind it was enough that I had no teskereh. I heard 
 afterwards that a telegram had arrived from Aleppo, saying 
 that a prisoner had escaped thence, and gone towards 
 Diarbekr. Escaped prisoners do not generally have 
 teskerehs ; 1 had no teskereh; obviously, I was the fugitive ! 
 Could the case be clearer to a Turkish official with his mind 
 firmly fixed on possible bakhshish ? 
 
 After waiting another hour for something to turn up, no 
 
 one knew or cared quite what or whence, the welcome form 
 
 of Mutran Abdullah, Bishop of the Old Syrians in Diarbekr, 
 
 appeared. Having spent two years in England, he proved of 
 
 great service in explaining the situation, and was about to 
 
 carry me off to his house, when the servant of the British 
 
 Vice-Consul arrived, with an invitation to come direct to his 
 
 house. The Bishop was an exceedingly handsome and 
 
 refined-looking man, and the dignity of his appearance was 
 
 considerably enhanced by his long black cloak, purple cassock, 
 
 and silver-mounted ebony staff. He walked slowly up, pre- 
 
 ceded by the head priest of the Syrians, and said in fairly 
 
 correct English that he was delighted to see anyone from his 
 
 friends in London, but ''ashamed'' to find me in such circuni- 
 
 stances. Why did I not inform him of my coming that he 
 
 might send some of his people to meet and bring me to his 
 
 house ? 
 
 We threaded a dozen dirty narrow streets before we reached 
 
 the house of the Consul, whom we found with his kind 
 English wife sitting under a patriarchal fig tree, and prepared 
 with invitations for me to remain as long as possible in their 
 
 house. No doubt the arrival of a stranger from England is 
 a pleasant incident in the lives of exiles from their native 
 land ; but I cannot forbear to add my witness to that of 
 others, who record the uniform kindness and hospitality of 
 our consuls and other residents in these little-visited corners 
 of the world. Mr. and Mrs. Boyajian were no exception to 
 the rule, and several very pleasant days were passed in their 
 house, until the Bishop had made his preparations to receive 
 me at the church. The latter regretted the arrangement, but 
 I am afraid that I scarcely disguised my unwillingness to 
 leave a comfortable English house, when its hospitality was so 
 kindly pressed upon me. 
 
 I had been on one day in contact with four different 
 nationalities and churches, to say nothing of their Papal 
 and Protestant varieties, namely. Old Syrian, Nestorian, 
 English, and Armenian. Three Nestorian priests had been 
 our companions for the last day's journey into Diarbekr ; I 
 had brought letters of introduction to Giusep Efendi, a Papal 
 Armenian; the Consul was a Protestant Armenian; Mrs. 
 Boyajian, English; and our friend the Bishop, Old Syrian. 
 Talk of sects in England ; they are but a tithe of the divisions 
 of this land; there are enough to set a fire of odium 
 theologicxim ablaze all through Asia. God grant it may burn 
 for light and not for destruction. Yet, for all this, there is a 
 toleration among the sects, not of the doctrines, but of the 
 persons of others, that is truly edifying. It is most striking, 
 when one first visits the East, to find a mixed company 
 thoroughly enjoying each other's society, which, when 
 analysed, would be found to contain an Old Syrian or two, a 
 Protestant, half-a-dozen Moslems, and a substantial quota of 
 the Papal varieties. Yet they are all talking together in 
 perfect good-fellowship, smoking each other's cigarettes, and 
 discussing with quite marvellous tact the latest political news. 
 This in the towns; in the villages, knives are apt to come out. 
 But there is far more interchange of external politeness 
 between those that differ than we see at home, although 
 one may have an uncomfortable consciousness of sittinir 
 rather too near a volcano. 
 
 li 
 
42 
 
 Fashions in Hair, April 14. 
 
 Yakoh. 
 
 4S 
 
 It would not be liarcl to stir up a new crusade in Turkey, 
 were it not for the rivalry of long standing between the 
 various Christian bodies. Things are much as they were in 
 the quarrelsome times of the fifth and sixth centuries, many 
 of the old divisions and disputes still festering under the 
 Moslem rule. Strained relations between conqueror and 
 conquered have perhaps lessened these divisions, although the 
 feeling of nationality inherent in the idea of an Eastern 
 Church has not at all been crushed ; but men have learned 
 prudence, and, for the most, avoid scrupulously debateable 
 ground in conversation. It is but fair to the much-abused 
 Turk to add that in few countries is official toleration of all 
 sects and forms of religion so widely spread. Persecution 
 there is, as in all half-civilised countries ; but it is unofficial, 
 except in flagrant cases of idolatry or Atheism. 
 
 The day after our arrival was Holy Thursday, marked for 
 the English mind by Queen's pence and Westminster alms, 
 and in Austria by the ancient ceremony in which the Emperor 
 washes the feet of twelve poor men. In the morning the 
 Bishop sent his " peace '' to me by the mouth of a man called 
 Yakob, whom he placed at my disposal for as long as I 
 wished. He was a tall, fair-complexioned Syrian, with thick 
 hair, and a beard of five days' growth. Having been in New 
 York for nearly six years, earning money as a ribbon-weaver, 
 he spoke English fluently, but with the most unusual 
 grammar, and affected a good many mannerisms, which did 
 little credit to his American teachers. An incipient beard is 
 a matter of course in the middle of the week. Saturday is 
 shaving day, and on it the clergy have their heads and the 
 lay people their beards shorn ; for no layman, unless quite an 
 old man, wears hair on his chin, nor any of the clergy on 
 their heads ; but beards for the latter and moustaches for the 
 former are the inevitable rule. Some, too, of the laity shave 
 their heads in summer, but this fashion is going out, and 
 it is more usual to see the younger men with their heads 
 clipped, with a long wisp left in front just under the 
 '^tarbush.'' For this purpose a regular European clipping 
 machine is used. 
 
 The rule that clergy should shave the head is strictly ob- 
 served, and the Syrians look with as much horror on a priest 
 with the Roman tonsure, as one with a shaven chin.* No 
 one ever shaves at home ; and consequently the barber's 
 trade is a profitable one. 
 
 The charge for shaving is optional ; wealthy men generally 
 give a pound at the end of the year, or perhaps pay nothing, 
 in consideration of the prestige that their custom brings to 
 the barber ; others pay according to their means. The result 
 of the system is not altogether good ; for if a man misses the 
 Saturday or the day before a feast on which it is usual to be 
 shaved, he will go on to the next Saturday, with an incipient 
 growth, which makes a European long for something 
 definite, either a beard or a clean shaven chin. 
 
 Yakob was in his fifth day's beard, and, like so many of 
 his countrymen, terribly marked by smallpox, that scourge 
 of Eastern towns. But in spite of a not prepossessing 
 appearance, and a terrible affectation of European dress, he 
 turned out admirably. He was most devoted and faithful, 
 often under very difficult circumstances ; he had a perfectly 
 imperturbable temper and a very good heart, and he was for 
 an oriental, or indeed for a European, extraordinarily honest. 
 This became apparent whenever he had any purchases to 
 make, or bargains to conduct, wliicli he did with all the 
 zeal natural to a Syrian, and as if he were saving his own 
 purse instead of mine. 
 
 It is a charming illusion in Turkey the ease and mutual 
 accommodation with which bargains are begun; but this is. 
 only a cover under which to escape the obligation of naming 
 
 * Cp. Maclean and Browne, p. 96, where the same customs are noticed 
 among the Nestorians ; and it is wisely recommended that all missionaries in 
 Turkey should wear beards. In Jebel Tur, and in the country districts, men and 
 boys still shave the top of their heads, leaving long hair behind, as a protection 
 for the neck against the sun. One of the first things the Patriarch did when he 
 visited India was to insist that the tonsure should be abolished and their heads 
 shaved by the priests of his community. Maclean and Browne quote Is. vii. 20, 
 2 Sam. X. 4, 5, on which the modern custom is an interesting comment, for nO' 
 one in Turkey thinks of going without at least a moustache. 
 
 Is 
 
44 
 
 The Si/rian Church of the Vinjm 
 
 the price, in the hope that the other party will name one 
 hicrher or lower according to the case in hand. It is scarcely 
 necessary to add that one never pays more than half the price 
 asked, except for the necessaries of daily lite, whose price 
 generally varies only within a few piastres. Yakob had one 
 point greatly in his favour— he was not a professional drago- 
 man ; it was therefore not his interest to tell lies, except (a 
 reservation which at times caused me intense exasperation) 
 for what he really thought my or his nation's good ; then he 
 lied honestly, and to a good purpose, but not with the view of 
 obtaining bakhshish or a good testimonial. 
 
 My muleteer now had to be dismissed, and this caused some 
 delay. For not only did he insist on having English 
 sovereigns '' with a horse on them '' (perhaps a point of pro- 
 fessional honour), but he wanted one more tlinn he had 
 bargained for. It took three hours to settle the difference- 
 in his favour, for he was Armenian ; but he had to leave his 
 horse to follow with me to :Mardin in a week's time, and by 
 grasping lost all bakhshish. 
 
 This business kept us rather late, and when we reached the 
 Syrian church, we met the Bishop just coming out of his 
 diwan on his way to church. *^ Excuse me," he said; ^'to-day 
 Our Saviour washed his Apostles feet ; we do the same in His 
 memory to-day." He had some preparations to make, and 
 told us to follow him later, whenever we should be inrlined. 
 
 The church is dedicated to S. Mary, and before the nave 
 was destroyed, as the Syrians assert it to have been many 
 years ago, must have been a noble building. At present it 
 consists of a scjuare nave, and three sanctuaries, but the 
 Syrians say that this nave was formerly the sanctuary, and 
 the present sanctuary a mortuary chapel. For tin- statement 
 there seems little foundation, nor is it borne out by cuinparison 
 with other churches, which it closely resembles in ])lan. In 
 spite of the excessive flatness of the dome the whole etfect of 
 the church would be good were it not for the horrible daubs 
 painted on the walls. 
 
 The central altar is surmounted by a lar<^e baldachino of 
 painted wood, a very handsome piece of work ; a richly 
 
 The Symbol of the Crosb-. 
 
 45 
 
 embroidered linen cloth covers the altar, another is laid upon 
 the Book of the Gospels, a third upon the Cup and Paten. 
 Great folding doors of workmanship similar to that of the 
 baldachino stand always open between the beautiful marble 
 pillars that Hank the sanctuary arch. In the east wall of the 
 side sanctuaries, about fifteen feet from the ground, are built 
 tAVO very fine Greek capitals, whose origin no one seemed to 
 know. In the east wall of the centre sanctuary is the 
 " Treasury of the Cross," a hole in the wall, containing the 
 great silver cross that is brought out only on Good Friday. 
 Then all the people come and bow before it, and offer a special 
 prayer to the Redeemer. The reverence paid to the Cross by 
 all good Syrians is very noticeable. It is not of the nature 
 of worship, in spite of the extravagant language with which 
 it is at times addressed. For such language, it is almost a 
 common ])lace to say, has a very different meaning when 
 employed by the self-restrained piety of the West, or the 
 less temperate enthusiasm of the East."^ As in the earlier 
 days of Christianity, so now in a Moslem country, the sign 
 of the Cross is considered to have a special significance, 
 and by the more ignorant a certain efhcacy, and is used 
 on every possible occasion. During the daily services the 
 worship})ers continually kiss the Cross wherever it occurs 
 painted on the walls, or worked upon the hangings. So 
 the people sign themselves more than once during the 
 liturgy in the name of the Holy Trinity, and make the 
 sign over every meal of which they partake. One of the 
 chief insignia of the Bishop's office is the little silver- 
 gilt cross with which he blesses the congregation. In a 
 
 * Cp. Maclean and Browne, 23(3, who speak of this veneration being- partly due 
 to the absence of pictures among the Eastern Syrians. Tlie recent iutroducticni 
 of pictures among the Western Syrians of course weakens this statement. Cp. 
 the same, p. 276, where the sign is looked on as a charm even by Moslems. 
 Some of the Nestorians of Urmi count the " sign of the cross " as one of the seven 
 sacraments, p. -18. Its use argues no more superstition than the custom of 
 kissing tlie Patriarch's hand. Dr. Grant, the noble American missionary to the 
 Nestorians and a stauncli Protestant, bears witness to the harmless nature of this 
 practice : (" The Nestorians " p. 52, 62.) 
 
46 Wa'ihtiKj tlu' Bisriph's Feet on Hnh/ 'iJiiirsdaij. 
 
 Moliaramedan couiitrv it is straiiire t(^ find this symbol of 
 our faitli used to an extent that in Christian Europe might 
 seem extravas'ant. 
 
 The windows of the church are few, and confined to tlie 
 dome; wliereas most of the light enters througli th.- west 
 doors. There were at one time large windows in this .-ind iu 
 otlier churches, hut, whether fur protection against the cold 
 or for defensive reasons, they hav(> generally been blocked up. 
 Recentlv-built churches, however, frecpu'utly h;ivc larger 
 windows, which are often glazed. The very earliest churches 
 of all, however, sometimes have very small windows, perhaps 
 a relic of the primitive days when ChriNtian biiihlings were 
 seldom safe frc^m the attacks of the heathen. 
 
 The west door leads through a portico support(Ml hy h.-auriful 
 marble pillars into a courtyard, where there is usually a group 
 of women round the fountain, or of children wlio have just 
 run out to play from the school that occupies another side of 
 
 the sc[uare. 
 
 The main part of the service was ])refaced by the singing 
 of psalms and hymns in Syriac, interpersed with rea<lings 
 from the Bible iu Arabic or Turkish for the space of nearly 
 tw*o hours. A dais containing thirteen chairs, six on each 
 side and one at the east end, had been alieady placed 
 before the altni- rail < ; in which at five o'clock twelve 
 men, deacons and priests, took their ])laces to rejireseut 
 the twelve A])ostles. Each bore in his right hand a lighted 
 ta})er, and wore a white surplice with a stole tied crosswise 
 over his back and breast. 
 
 When the copper ewer had been brought with soap and 
 basin, the Bishop came down. Ids robes covered with n liTien 
 apron, and took his seat in the remaining chair, sayin<j- a 
 short prayer before he began to wash the feet of the twelve. 
 Silk napkin in hand he knelt before each disciple to wash and 
 dry his feet, while a little boy deacon hrld the ewer ;iiid 
 basin to bathe the feet in Turkish fasln'on. Tjast of all he 
 came to Peter, the head priest of the church, whom, n^ in the 
 gospel narrative, he rebuked foi' his remonstrance, and then 
 washed his feet. 
 
 TJte Sermon, 
 
 47 
 
 This ceremony over, all returned througli the two lines of 
 surpliced choir boys in the chancel to the sanctuary, and the 
 singing continued, until the Bishop came forw^ard to preach, 
 and then the service; ended. "^ The Bishop has a great reputa- 
 tion as a preacher, there being very few beside the Patriarch 
 who have any cajiacity or training iu such matters. How- 
 ever, since he visited England the Bishop has greatly 
 encouraged preaching. Every Sunday afteruoon a preacher 
 comes in from a village near Diarbekr, and there is a special 
 service, just like the University sermon. 
 
 Good Eridav at the heart of Islam ; it seemed a curious 
 mockerv ; and i^'reat swelling- thou(>-hts about the meanino* of 
 things, of the promise of early Christendom, the blight of 
 Eastern controversies, and the mysterious rise of the Crescent, 
 thrust themselves up in this land, where the streams of many 
 waters meet. 
 
 Mr. Boyajian was to preach at the Armenian Protestant 
 Church at six o'clock, a.m. I went with him, although I 
 understood not a word ; but 1 wished to contrast old and 
 new, and learn something of the effect that Xouconformist 
 teaching has had upon the members of the old Churches 
 of the East. 
 
 After breakfast several vounof Svrians, who had learned 
 English and other undesirable accomplishments in New York, 
 came to sliow me the town and its surroundings^ at the 
 Bisho])\s request. Through the gate of the police court by 
 the north walls, shady with budding fruit trees, the steep 
 cliffs above the Tigris, immediately outside the town, were 
 reached. The winter snows had not yet melted, so the river 
 flowed neither deep nor strong. The banks lay-broad and 
 sandv on either side, with a wide belt of trees and shrubs 
 under the rocks, rich with all manner of fruits. Across the 
 river a few villages stood under the hill crests, and beyond, 
 to north and west and east, rose ca]) after cap of snow on the 
 mountains of Kui'distan. A lovely sight it was in spring 
 
 * The same ceremony is maintained among the Armenians (cp. Mrs Bishop's 
 *' Journeys in Persia,'' i. 273). 
 
48 
 
 Out. side the IVtdLi 
 
 The Bishop^ s House. 
 
 49 
 
 time, before tlie lieat luul turned the leaves yell<»\v and the 
 grass dead brown, or the vaUeys were stripped of their 
 harvests, and the hillsides of their grapes. Bushes of lilac, 
 white and pink, gorgeous pomegranates, with sn<>wy chei-ry 
 trees and almonds bright against the glistening green (.f 
 walnut, ash, and po})lar, all gave promise of a fruitful summei-. 
 For miles the gardens stretched up and down the Tigris 
 shore, clind)ing the hills on either side, and giving })laee to 
 vineyards as they rose; while in mid-stream a single raft of a 
 hundred poles floated down on inflated skins to Mosul. 
 
 The forey-round of this scene was occupied bv a large 
 Government, and therefore Mohammedan, '^madrasah" nr 
 college overlooking the river. It is free to all subjects of the 
 Sultan, Moslem or Christian, but it will be readily guessed 
 that few of the latter avail themselves of an advantage 
 which subjects them to every insult from tlu'ir >b)slem 
 neighbours, and gives n.o opportunity for study in the sub- 
 jects that lie nearest to their hearts. Its luaiu attraction lies 
 in the fact that it is becoming the only road to the official 
 employments, which year by year are reserved more exclu- 
 sively fV)r Mohammedan subjects. 
 
 The College led my Syrian friends to express their views 
 on politics. Discoutent with the present state of affairs, and 
 the continually increasing strain of petty oppression, could 
 suo-o-est no remedv but the interference of Russia. The ex- 
 perience gained of the Russians during the war imprt ssrd the 
 natives of Armenia favourably, and it is to them, failing the 
 Eno-lish, that the Christians of Turkey look. France has 
 never gained much prestige in this part of the East, in spite 
 of all her diplomacy ; nor does her championship of Papal 
 interests find favour among the niend^ers of the old Churches. 
 England has given too little proof of her willingness to aid or 
 protect ; whik' her Philo-Turk policy in the war has luade 
 many look with suspicion upon her ; of Russia alone are they 
 sure, in spite of grim rumours that reach their ears of her 
 oppression and tyranny. It is a sad but certain truth that the 
 natives, both Christian and Moslem, of interior Turkey, seem 
 itnable to trust England. They would like to trust her, for. 
 
 to her honour be it said, she is ever regarded as the champion 
 of the ojipressed; but they can find no abiding surety of her 
 real sympathy either with the Turks as an imperial power, 
 oi' the Christians as co-religionists to be protected. 
 
 The 7nid-day call to prayer was sounding through the town 
 as we re-entered the gates, ami passed a ruined bath, whose 
 only patron was a stork, with a Avife and thriving family, 
 such {IS seem to claim a prescriptive right to all domes and 
 towei-s in Turkey. For some hundred and fifty yards from 
 the wall, in which the old cells may still be*^ seen, to the 
 present church of St. Mary, once stretched the great 
 monastery of the Syrians. Now only the church remains, 
 and a few houses, the rents of which accrue to the 
 Patriarch. 
 
 The streets and bazars were not crowded, as it was Good 
 Friday, so that we soon reached the gate of the church, and 
 found our way u|) to the I^ishop's diwan. The house was 
 built by the late Patriarch Yakob, and is the finest belonging 
 to any of the Syrian churches. From a fountain court on the 
 ground floor, a flight of outside steps leads up to a row of 
 monks' rootns, a large diwan for reception, and a smaller one 
 wliich formed tlie private aj^artment of the late Patriarch. 
 This last is now the only diwan in regular use, while the Bishop 
 has two small rooms upstairs for his private use. These 
 he has fitted with European windows and certain comforts 
 of which he learned the value in England, among them a 
 raised bed. 'V\\q house is built entirely of the dark basaltic 
 stone in common use in Diarbekr, relieved by various designs 
 in white i)laster of an exceedingly fine quality. Along the 
 top of the diwan, which we enter, and down the two sides are 
 broad benches cushioned and carpeted for the native manner 
 of sitting, and the floor between is covered with a fine Persian 
 carpet, on which inferiors squat and say their say. The 
 ceiling is of nnxml beams painted red and green, on which 
 are laid plaidvs of the same colour. At the top of the room, 
 beside a fine inlaid cabinet, that serves for all his writino- 
 purposes sits the Bishop, shoeless, in stockings of his own 
 making. He has on a i)ur])le cassock, a broad black o-irdle 
 
 E 
 
■1 
 
 •k 
 
 50 
 
 TliP Ilishop\s Hoiixe. 
 
 Diarhekr Street Life. 
 
 51 
 
 and a loim' 1)hick -own, u'ith the episcopal " nirhaiid '' mi lus 
 head His whole appearance speaks the man ul neat rehned 
 habits of mind and body, somethin- very diffeivnt from what 
 we expect to see in Central Ihirkey. One m tlu' mn.r 
 charmino- men it i> possible to meet, he unites all the polished 
 courtesy of the East with the mental refinement ;iml untirin^^ 
 <rood faith of the West-one of the few that contact with the 
 West has not spoibd. He is a man that has no enemies, and 
 to wln.se simple piety and learnin- members ot all creeds 
 bear witness. Hating the corruption and intrio-ue of politics, 
 he confines himself to the service of God, and of his flock. Tt 
 was a touchin- sight, day after day, to see him the resort ot 
 all that were in trouble, a indge and an adviser, protectmo; 
 the helpless, and o-.>inir from village to village, or from house 
 to house, ministerino- to the needs, and stirring n]) the 
 consciences, of his people. A true Bishop, and n most simple 
 God-fearing man, from whom one could h^ain wonderful 
 humilitv and goodness. 
 
 As we entered, he gave the u^nnl In^arty welcome, and 
 
 introduced me as the Moses and Joshua of his people to those 
 
 who were present. There was a brief contest of h.niour, and 
 
 shifting of positions in the diwnn, until our places were 
 
 satisfactorily settled, and we remained so until "a more 
 
 honouralde came,'^ and a fresh contest and adjustment took 
 
 place. The same ceremony was performed ns coffee was 
 
 served, and it got cold during the various ex])ivssi(ms of 
 
 unworthiness, but after a few minutes all settled .h,wn into 
 
 the post-salam tranrpiility of cigarettes. 
 
 Conversation ran on neutral subjects, a coni]):iny mixed in 
 creed and nationality always acting as a drng upon free talk- 
 so the formal visit being soon brought to an end, 1 was glad 
 to o-et a few (uiiet hours, such as I had not enjoyed since 
 arriving in Diarbekr. 
 
 Saturday morning was devoted to a stroll through the 
 bazars, and suk or markets. They are unusually good m 
 Diarbekr, especially for silks and fine cloth. For the 
 purchase of 1\irkish anticpiities, carpets, embroideries, or mlai.l 
 wood, and metal work it is a good place, being out of the 
 
 beaten track. People do not live at home much during the 
 day, so it is in the bazars that one sees the native life, in 
 the barber's sliop as in Roman days, or in the coffee 
 houses. These last, called " Qahwahs," often belie their 
 name, and are tlu^ headquarters of arrak-drinking, gossip, 
 and lounging, ai?d often worse things, being not unlike 
 certain Parisian houses of the same name. Thus it is easv 
 enough, without ever entering the house of a native, to 
 see much of Eastern life, and hear the dailv talk, if onlv 
 one dons a tarbush to avoid undue attention. Instead 
 of the semi-lMiro])ean refinement of Aleppo, Diarbekr 
 gives a far tria-r ring of the East. We miss the cosmo- 
 politan confusion of Smyrna and the sea ports, with 
 all its hateful accompaniments, and find, instead of the 
 insinuating (ireek, the heavy American, the polite Syrian, 
 the reserved and stately Turk. The native dress predominates 
 over the Levantine fashion of covering, and hats are unknown. 
 Europeans too are a rarity, coming at times on business, 
 commercial, arclueological, or diplomatic, and, casting- 
 shadows months long before them, obtain no slight considera- 
 tion in these parts. Arabs seldom penetrate further north 
 than this; nor an* many t(j be seen even here; one catches 
 sight now and tluMi of a little shock-headed scamp in a scant 
 and v(MW dirty shirt, darting among the flowing robes of 
 "mullas" and ''muftis^' on his way to some town friend of 
 his tribe ; or there is a dark son of Ishmael, swino-ingf stealthilv 
 along, switch in hand, or hooking out from under his eyebrows 
 as he sits in the stall of a friend. He is cautious, and 
 unobtrusive Inn-c* among the hated Turks; but meet him on 
 the plain, his eye gains tire there as he sits his darling mare, 
 and he looks one of Nature's princes. 
 
 It was ^' Eamadhan," the great Turkish fast, during which 
 no food or drink or smoke may touch a Moslem's lips from 
 sunrise to sunset. Fortunately, it fell early this year ; but it 
 may be imagined what that fast means when it falls about May 
 time and the days are long and hot. 
 
 It was amusing to sit and watch the fasting Turk from the 
 stall of a little old watchmaker, Vakob's uncle, which stands 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 Ramadhan. 
 
 facino- a corner and cnnimaiids a guud view down three streets. 
 In the luornino-, tew Moslems are to be seen, for they eat and 
 do their bnsiness at ni-'ht during this month, and sleep all 
 the morning. There are plenty of Christians bustling about 
 and wrangling; a few stray Kurds, too poor t<. keep fasts, 
 bent double under huge weights of mountain wood for burn- 
 ino-; an Arab or two, with a string of solemn, stupid camels, 
 fastened one to the other by cord and chain, causing a 
 stoppage of all traffic in the crowded street. 41ie scene of 
 crowd °and confusion, mud and noise, reminds one of the 
 dano-ers of Roman streets in the days of the Kmpire, so 
 vividly portrayed by Juvenal. 
 
 Towards evening Moslems resort much to the little glass 
 window of the watclnuaker, and l)ecoine very mipiisitive 
 about the time. Up goes the little pane as the ^' mufti," or 
 *' qadhi," sweeps by in green silk turband and long white 
 robe, and haughtilv asks the time to a second, lie is followed 
 bvan official, a sneaking, bullying kind of man, whom our 
 watchmaker answers with a tone of (luiet contem])t. Kattbng 
 his amber beads, he passes on, followed by a small son, the 
 miniature of his father's form and manner. Am..ng the rest 
 comes the '' dallal," a most useful person in the Kast, general 
 agent between all those who wish to buy or sell private 
 property. He generally has a small stock of old china, 
 carpets,' gems, coins, or embroideries, which he will sell nr 
 barter for other goods for which the purchaser has no need. 
 To-dav he brought a love-ly wooden l.nx inlaid with ivory. 
 A Turkish Beg wns bidding for it; but as he was at present 
 drunk and inc^apable at home, and the owner was not disposed 
 to wait, I secured the treasure. There are two ways of 
 buying 111 Turkey; either the owner gives a reserve pnre and 
 intencfing purchasers bid as at an auction, or a regular bargain, 
 in which°the buyer beats down the seller, is gone through. 
 Needless to say, the former is more satisfactory ; it is also 
 the method usually followed by the dallal. 
 
 There are several tine mosques and minarets in Diarbekr, 
 which give the town a most picturescpie appearance when 
 seen from below the walls. The chief of them is contained in 
 
 Tlw ''Great'' Mosque of Diarhpkr. 
 
 
 the great court of an ancient Christian church.* Three sid s 
 remain and enclose a space 230ft. by Uoft.; the southern 
 side has been destroyed. There are two arches in the centre 
 of the east and west wall; but they give no clue to the 
 original use of the building. Two rows of Corinthian pillars, 
 one above the other, run along the east and west sides, with 
 capitals and friezes of the richest workmanship imaginable. 
 The carving is all of the richest Roman-Bvzantine work, while 
 below the friezes carved with fruit and flowers run fine Cufic 
 inscriptions of Inter date. The arches of the north side are 
 lower and are singularly like those of the Ducal Palace at 
 Venice, both m design nnd in the wealth of their capitals. 
 The effect of the whole is astonishing, especially when we 
 remember that it is in the centre of Turkey, with its profusion 
 of marble ])illars, all colours, and a grandeur of proportion 
 woi^thy (»f the Greeks. There are a few more specimens of 
 such work scattered about, but nothino^ nearer than Palinvra 
 and P):ialb(»k so tine as this. 
 
 The mosque, of course, was not for us to enter ; for it was 
 Kaniadhan, and Turks, never friendly to Christians or 
 foreigners, become even more jealous than usual when they see 
 a heretic so near one of their treasures. Their savage looks 
 >varned us not to linger, or the children, perhai)s, who played 
 round the beautiful Saracenic fountain in the centre, half 
 drowning each other, might begin to pick up stones. It was 
 the wrong time of year, and midday prayer was soon to begin, 
 so without time to enter the mosque or examine even the 
 court in detail, we walked away. It is not as it is in the sea 
 towns of Turkey, where a few ])iastres will procure admission 
 into the holiest shrines; in the interior it is almost impossible 
 for a Christian to enter a mosque, and during all the time I 
 spent east of Aleppo, I was only once admitted into one. 
 
 * " Tlie ^'reat Church of Amitla," probably this building, was begmi in 
 629 A.D. by order of Heraclius, and finished 770 a.d. In 848 it was burned and 
 restored (cp. Badger, i. 38). The similarity to Baalbek argues that this is the 
 remains of a Roman temple. There are no traces of a sanctuary, nor of a 
 portico. It is not unlikely that it was a Roman temple adapted for use as a 
 rhurch (cp. the account of Nisibis). 
 
> ■ M- 
 
 •mtik iff^iyawiii 1 1 
 
 54 
 
 Baxter Vcj- 
 
 Easter Dav, the - great feast" of the Easterns, as Christmas 
 is the little feast, found everyone in ehureh at live o clock ... 
 the morning. No Syrian worth the name wuuhl dream ot 
 missino- this Easter celebration, so it maybe in.i.gined that 
 the church was crowded. When service wa. over, all the imm 
 came to the Bishop's diwan. Coffee, cigarettes, and - raliat- 
 el-lakum'' followed each other m rapid succession, ac- 
 companied bv frecpient salutations and healths, and by a 
 ^^ceneral post'' as soon as any fresh-comer arrived. Being 
 the Bishop's own guest there was a great stir when I arrived, 
 in order that I might have a seat at the top next to him ; 
 there was a general movement all round the room, ui.t.l every- 
 one had gone down one place. The Bishop looked dreadfully 
 tired; his strenoth was quite worn out b> the fatigue ot the 
 week's services, nor had he slept the previous night. Howev^er, 
 it was useless to say anything of the unnecessary strain that 
 the rules of his church put upon him and all the clergy during 
 
 Lent. , 
 
 The evenino- was spent at Yakob's house, to whose tender 
 care I had been confided by the Bishop. As we entered we 
 heard his small nephew of twelve years old reading aloud 
 with great dignity from a large Turkish Biblo the Gospel ot 
 the dav ; this was followed by a few prayers from one ot his 
 uncles,' and some of the indispensable but excruciating hymns 
 of Mar Ef rem and Mar Yakob. The boy was a great favourite 
 with the family, grandmother, uncles, and all, and was as 
 sharp as most of these Syrian boys are. He was, moreover, 
 chief coffee server, and lighter of cigarettes to the diwan an 
 office which he performed with a manner (pute inimitable, 
 lavin- his hand u])on his girdks and with the other touching 
 his heart and forehead, with a final grand swec-p of his who e 
 person as he received back the cup and he retired from each. 
 Servants do not as a rule perform this office, except in very 
 rich houses, a custom which i> much to be commended. Alter 
 a little general conversation on the English Church, and t he 
 Americans, T retired, to find my way back to my ro<.m in the 
 
 Bishop's house. r^^ - ,- f 
 
 Easter Monday is the great day among the Christians tor 
 
 Easter Moiday — A Roimd of Visits. 
 
 oo 
 
 paying coini)limentary visits. At ten o'clock the Bishop 
 sallied forth, robed in his best, a great silver-mounted ebony 
 staff in his hand, and attended by a deacon with a list of 
 persons to be called on, and one of the chief Syrians to 
 support hi in. The deacon knocked at the doors, and a small 
 boy, the Bishop's servant, dressed in his smartest clothes^ 
 carried the stall" while his master sat in the rooms. 
 
 They were all visits of state to the chief men of other 
 communities ; we had to swallow innumerable cups of coffee, 
 varying very much in flavour, and smoke a cigarette or eat 
 sweetmeats at each house. It was a most tedious affair both 
 for the Bishoj) and myself, and I am sure it was unwholesome. 
 The rooms were monotonous in their uniformity, except when 
 we came to the house of a Greek physician, or the Chaldsean 
 Bishop ; the only variety being afforded by the carpets and 
 china, or the i)aiticular royal personages, Greek, Russian, 
 English, or Italian, cased in hideous green frames, that the 
 householder affected. It was a noticeable fact that not one 
 contained any picture of the Sultan. Some of the houses, 
 especially those belonging to middle class people, contained 
 most gorgeous carpets ; but the majority prefer the new 
 fashions in weaving and colour, imported from Germany or 
 France. Among the houses that we visited was that of the 
 Armenian to whom I had brought a letter of introduction. 
 The court was full of servants and boys, through whom we 
 had to pass in order to reach the stone steps, Avith a fine iron- 
 wrought balustrade, leading to the diwan. Below was stand- 
 ing a handsome Arab horse, covered with silver-mounted 
 trapj)ings, on which the owner was about to pay a round of 
 visits, such as we were engaged in. Sleek servants lounged 
 about, and ladies came in and out of the room with quite 
 Euro])ean shamelessness. The diwan was a strange mixture 
 of East and ^Vest, Austrian wicker-chairs and aimless little 
 round tables of alarming instability took the place of the 
 usual comfortable cushions. The coverings blazed with livid 
 green, and carpets spotted with great pink roses, and fat 
 garland-encircled Cupids with background of yellow ribbons, 
 were the order, all in the brightest of aniline dyes, such as 
 
56 
 
 Eader Mondaij — A Round of Visits. 
 
 adorned Irlnglisli dniwing-roonis of twenty years ag-o. Tlie 
 coffee, as might be expected, was quite the worst we drank 
 that day. 
 
 A second house of similar tendency contained a most 
 pitiable old I^roadwood piano, which I, being English, was 
 bound to play. It had left its heart behind it, and uttered 
 fearful sounds, as if to bemoan its luckless exile. 
 
 Our poor little Mercury grew sleepier in each new house ; 
 he was tired of lakum, and his smart clothes ; so he clung to 
 the precious staff, and dozed, oblivious of everything, until 
 the offer of a cup of coffee aroused him into confused disgust ; 
 and he ran to the Bishop without a thought of etiquette, and 
 bursting into tears begged leave to run home. The omen 
 was accepted, for we were glad to accompany him back to 
 some dinner and rest, after the tedium of three hours' state 
 visits. 
 
 -00^*400— — 
 
 : 
 
 From DinrhpJir to Mardiu. 
 
 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Makdin— The Patriarch's D 
 
 I WAN. 
 
 EA.TKK was oyer, and the various Christians were settling 
 clown to business again, when we said good-bye to the Bishop 
 a.id started for .Mardin. Mutran Abdullah was lavish with 
 Oriental expressions of regret and regard, couched in terms 
 very confusing to modesty; but he was especially troubled to 
 think I should see the depression of his church, which he had 
 so little power to remedy. 
 
 About five o'clock we started from the Gate of the Romans 
 to the place where we were to find the caravan, outside the 
 walls and say good-bye to the Syrians collected there out of 
 official view. A monk stood in the middle of a number of 
 men, some of them Yakob's relations; and a group of women 
 covered entirely with white sheets, all except their eyes and 
 noses, stood a little aside, while a small boy of five with an 
 inexpressibly wicked expression was mounted on my horse 
 Ihe monk repeated the Lord's prayer, and then we said 
 good-bye, amid violent weeping from the women, and pro- 
 fuse kissing between the men who were brothers. Yakob's 
 mother and sister could not kiss him in public, so they stood 
 aside and wept. 
 
 In the spring, when grass is abundant, it is usual for 
 caravans to start late in the afternoon for a village a few 
 miles off, by that means securing a start at three o'clock the 
 next morning, and a long afternoon during which the animals 
 may graze. As the mornings are bitteriy cold, the misery 
 of alternate freezing and roasting may be easily imagined. 
 
58 
 
 The Pass of Kara] a Dagh. 
 
 An hour's ride dowu through the gardens to the river past 
 a fine old bridge^ across the Tigris, and between hedgerows 
 and cottages that whispered of England, brought us to the 
 village of Tcherukiyah. We lodged in the house of a Syrian 
 friend, from the roof of which we watched the sun go down 
 behind the yellow rocks and river, with ''Black Aniida'' 
 
 above. 
 
 Eain threatening all next day made still drearier a road 
 already dreary with a brigand reputation. There was little 
 danger, indeed, except for people carrying much ])roperty ; 
 but the place was ominous enough. The road differed little 
 from many we had already passed. Bleak sheep and goat 
 pastures alternated with well-watered, corn-growing valleys, 
 with here and there, perched above a pass, an ancient fort, 
 telling of Saracenic or later Kurdish chiefs. Past fiowery 
 meadows and streams or coppices, alive with the plash of cows 
 or scream of jays, the road led on to Mardin, crowded with 
 donkeys heavily laden with wood or charcoal, and noisy with 
 the talk of children and impertinent magpies. What a 
 contrast to the lung parched months that follow the short- 
 lived joy of an Eastern spring ! 
 
 A fearful jerry-built bridge led on to the so-called road 
 into Mardin, which had been built, as usual, for a few miles, 
 just to show what Turkish engineering could do, enticing the 
 unwary traveller out a certain distance from the town and 
 then suddenlv desertin^r him. There were the foundations of 
 a good road, which, under the force of winter storms and the 
 neglect that stifles all progress in this land, were going 
 rapidly to ruin. A strong guard of mounted zaptiehs was 
 driving at a cruel pace, like cattle, along the road to Diarbekr 
 a gang of escaped recruits ; some were old and grey headed, 
 others were young, and some had thought to escape service 
 by mutilation, all were half clad and famished, with 
 " Kismat " written in their eyes. It is not the Christians alone 
 that suffer from their masters. 
 
 First View of Mardin. 
 
 59 
 
 * Bar Hebraius speaks of the building of this bridge in 743 a.d. by the 
 
 Saracens. 
 
 The road rose gradually, until, turning the shoulder of a 
 ugh nil, we caught the first sight of Mardin and the bound- 
 ess plain hke a sea before. The snow and rain had washed 
 huge rocks and streams of lighter soil down below our feet 
 ^nd for ten miles stretched a valley up to the frontier hills upou 
 
 lyT.l aT I ''"'^ '■'"''' ^"'^ "'"'''''"^ ^"*h Kurdish tents 
 pitched l^ere for the spring grass, and near the town where 
 they could sell their milk. Past groups of children tendin.. 
 horses and cattle wound the road across the valley, then u^ 
 again to the town, perched on the other side of the highest 
 crest towards t le plain A few houses peeped round the side, 
 and on the north countless gardens covered the hills Above 
 all upon the small plateau stood the castle, like an cackle's 
 nest upon a crag. ° 
 
 It was a hard pull for the animals up the hill to Mardin 
 at the end of a long day. The castle was no doubt built 
 on the most commanding and inaccessible height in the 
 ue.ghbourliood, and the town grew up naturally below 
 It; otherwise it would seem that only a madman could 
 
 vol* " ^'^'' '° P'"'''""" ^'^ '"""' ^^''^^^ tlie 
 
 In the valley to the north a man would naturally build his 
 town in peace ul days; for there is every requisite, including 
 good water, whereas the people of Mardin have to depend for 
 their supply entirely on what is collected from the winter's 
 rain „, the wells. The castle is said to have completely 
 dehed lamerlane, who, after a siege of many weeks had 
 siicceeded in entering the large circuit of the town walls 
 1 he nmuber of caravans and droves increased as we mounted 
 he hil , past the old Saracen fountain with its Plantao-euet 
 leopards frescoed on the walls, and the portly Moslem coffee- 
 n.aker who drives a roaring trade in a shady khan beside the 
 i-oaa. At the top we came to the extensive premises of the 
 
 • One tradition does indeed explain tl,e namel^S^Zv^^T^T^^ 
 Mad,nan „ Town." It was here that Tamerlane captared Snltan E. Melek El 
 
 A.D. 132G Mardin was captured by Osman Beg. 
 
 A.D. i;{5(. Haliku, grandson of Zenghis Khan, attacked Mardin. 
 
60 
 
 The Church of the Arhain. 
 
 The Patriarch. 
 
 61 
 
 \iuerican Congrogatioiuil mission, close by the ruined western 
 crate of the city. A ride of a few minutes through breakneck 
 streetsbrought us to the church of the - Arbain," or Forty 
 Saints, and the house of the Patriarch. 
 
 Throuo-h a great gateway with doors plated thick with n.m 
 and covtn-ed with nails, appeared a large graveyard, with aii 
 ancient mulberry tree ui the middle just bur^tin- mto leaf 
 Across the vard was the church, and on the south and west 
 sides two Hue schoolrooms, llie north side was occupied by 
 the Patriarch's house, to which a tli-ht of strp> U-ads. One 
 of the first (iiiestions he asked was whether i had noticed 
 the cross on the arches above the steps; he laughed when 
 he said that he had put them there that all >roslems who 
 came to see him might have to pass beneath the symbol 
 of the Nazarenes.-^ A broad balcony ran ui front of his 
 Holiness's diwan and the guest room, which was to be my 
 home for some weeks. 
 
 There was, of course, some stir among the people and 
 bovs collected among the gravestones below just before 
 the evening service, as an old priest, in a long fur ch)ak 
 and red fez bound with a black turbaiid, came out to 
 conduct me into the diwan, which in the simplicity of 
 Eastern life satisHes h11 the requirements of the Patriarch 
 
 awake or asleep. 
 
 It was a well-furnished room with a long diwan down each 
 side, and at the top covered with line Persian carpets. A few 
 pictures. Her :Majesty at the age of twenty, the late Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, the Russian Royal Family, and some 
 photooraphs adorned the walls. One of the many recesses 
 in the^wall contained about fifty books neatly arranged, and 
 bound in old red leather, church histories, gospels, and 
 liturc>-ies, others were tilled with silver cups, ink stands, and a 
 vase°of anemones. Cio-arettes and other necessaries were, of 
 course, kept at the lower end. These little arched r(^cesses, 
 together with the larger canopy of Saracenic design at the 
 
 ! i 
 
 * Xasrani-a Nazarene -is the common term applied by Moslems to Christian., 
 conveying a reproach. 
 
 head of the room, are common to many houses in Mardin, and 
 give them an extremely picturesque appearance. The absence 
 of writing materials was remarkable ; but it is considered 
 derogatory for great men in Turkey to write with tlieir own 
 hands, all letters, unless of supreme importance, being com- 
 posed by the secretary in another room, and then brought in 
 to the Patriarch, read out to him, and sealed ^vith the large 
 seal of the Patriarchate, in the red ink which it is the 
 prerogative of royal persons only to use. A few letters lay 
 scattered about on the cushions at the head of the room, others 
 were bundled together with documents of all kinds in a large 
 cloth bag ; the Syrians have little idea of the importance of 
 such things, and do not often trouble to lock them up. The 
 room was about thirty feet long, and roofed by two vaults 
 according to the usual Mardin plan. An arcli divided the 
 vaults, richly carved, like every other space in the room that 
 gave an opi)ortunity, the wood-work of cupboards and the 
 barrier at the bottom of the room being painted in the usual 
 style, red and green. 
 
 Tt was atrue Eastern picture, especially as one's eyefell onthe 
 three mattresses covered with rugs and Damascene silk pillows 
 on which the aged Prince reclined like a lion, watching all 
 that passed. He smoked a ^^shibuk^' of beautiful M^'osul 
 workmanship, some six feet long, as he listened to the news 
 of his priests, or some tale of a mountain Syrian seeking 
 redress for robbery or murder. A more imposing sight it 
 would be hard to imagine than this head of a persel^uted 
 Church, the descendant of Ignatius, ^'Moran Mar Ignatius 
 Peter 111., exalted Patriarch of the Apostolic See of 
 Antioch, and of all the Jacobite Churches of Svria and in the 
 East.'' 
 
 The Queen, whom he had the honour of visiting twice when 
 he was in England, saw in him the embodiment of her idea of 
 Abraham ; such he looked with his ninety-four years, '' his 
 eye not dim nor his natural force abated.'' He sat' there 
 hc^aring every vvr.rd that passed, seeing to read as clearly as 
 men fifty years younger. Only his brow betraved many a 
 trouble gone through ; something too of the impatience as 
 
62 
 
 The Pati'utrch. 
 
 well as of tluMlignity and powcM- of the lion >1iuwlhI ilicrc. 
 But a peculiarlv soft smile overcame the slin-ht sIlhi nf pniiias 
 he rose to his full heio-lit of six foot nnd more, nml, stroking 
 
 The Patriarch. 
 
 his long silvery beard, spoke iu courtly Arabic his words of 
 welcoiire, leaning on his monk's shoulder as he paid the 
 delicate compliment of shaking hands. 
 
 His Holiness knows how great a line he represents and is 
 proud of his title. Nor is it an empty one ; for besides two 
 hundred thousand subjects of the Porte that acknowledge him 
 their head, he counts under his rule three hundred thousand 
 or more of the Queen's sul)3ects on the Malabar coast, and m 
 Ceylon. It is little enough that the majority know of him, or 
 he of them, for times are evil and communication slow ; but 
 there is enough of unity left to justify the hope that one 
 day we may again see a great and Apostolic Church acknow- 
 
 Tlit Patriarch. 
 
 03 
 
 lodging Antioch as its head, as one of the chief powers of the 
 Catholic communion in Christ.* 
 
 The Patriarch had been suffering acutely from influenza, 
 and was too tired to receive us for long. I took a seat near 
 to him, and Yakob next to me; for, having visited Jerusalem 
 and l)(vii tatooed with the sign of the cross at the Syrian 
 church, he was ;i llaji, and treated with a Haji's honour. A 
 large brazier stood in the middle of the room, into which a 
 deacon threw some broken berries brought from Antioch, and 
 smelling much like incense. Candied fruit was handed 
 round, followed by sherbet, cigarettes, and coffee; after 
 which we retired to my room to be received by the chief 
 Syrians of ]\[ar(lin. It is in Turkey a mark of politeness to 
 call on a newcomer as soon as possible, and stay as long as 
 you can ; also to hover about your friend when he departs, 
 impeding the packing and generally getting in the way. 
 ^Vhen practicable it is usual to ride out several hours to meet 
 or escort an arriving or departing friend, sometimes sleeping 
 a night away from home. 
 
 A solemn crowd of blue-robed dignitaries of the Syrian 
 Church sat round my room, and rose to salam, and welcome 
 the Patriarch's guest. They remained a long time, said a 
 great many polite and inquisitive things that I did not 
 understand, and after a tedious hour took their leave. I 
 then proceeded to make myself as comfortable as possible 
 with my rugs, travelling bed, and other ccmtrivances, until 
 supper arrived. This meal, like all others, was served in my 
 own room, and not with the Patriarch, who always eats 
 alone ; my meals being shared by Yjikob and occasionally a 
 guest. The room was large and airy, and not overburdened 
 with furniture. Only in a recess at the end decorated with 
 tawdry blue paper and Turkish flags, which the Patriarch 
 alone among the Eastern ecclesiastics of the empire is allowed 
 to fiy, stood the Tughra, a large design of gold on a red 
 ground displaying the Sultan's signature and various 
 
 * I would f^uard the.se words from misconstruction by referring- the reader ta 
 the account of the Syrian Church in the second part. 
 
62 
 
 Thr Futnarch. 
 
 TJtc Pdtridrch. 
 
 03 
 
 well as of the (lig-uity ami p.nvor of the limi showed iherr. 
 Bur a peeuliarlv soft smih> overeame tlie sli.o-lit si,o-ii nf pain as 
 he rose to his full height of six foot and more, and, stroking 
 
 The Patriarch. 
 
 liis long silvery heard, spoke in eourtly Arahie his words of 
 weleon^e, leaning on his monk's shoulder as he paid the 
 delicate compliment of shaking hands. 
 
 His Holiness knows how great a line he reprt'seuts and is 
 proud of his title. Xor is it an empty ime ; for besides two 
 hundred thousand subjects of the Porte that acknowledge him 
 their head, he counts under his rule three hundred thousand 
 or more of the Queen's subjects on the Malabar coast, and in 
 Ceylon. It is little enough that the majority know of him, or 
 he of them, for times are evil and C(jnnnunieation slow ; but 
 there is enough of unity left to justify the hope that one 
 dav we mav ao-ain see a great and Apostolic Church acknow- 
 
 i 
 ' 
 
 lodging Antioeh as its head, as one of the chief powers of the 
 Catholic communion in Christ.* 
 
 The Patriarch had l)een suffering acutely from influenza, 
 and Avas too tired to receive us for long. I took a seat near 
 to him, and Yakob next to me; for, having visited Jerusalem 
 and been tatooed with the sign of the cross at the Syrian 
 church, he was a Haji, and treated with a Haji's honour. A 
 large bra/ier stood in the middle of the room, into which a 
 deacon threw some brokt^i berries brought from Antioeh, and 
 smelling much like incense. Candied fruit was handed 
 round, followed by shei'bet, cigarettes, and coffee; after 
 which we retiivd to my room to be received by the chief 
 Syrians of Mardin. It is in Turkey a m;jrk of politeness to 
 call on a newcomer as soon as possible, and stay as lono; as 
 you can ; also to hover about your friend when he departs, 
 impeding the ])acking and generally getting in the way. 
 When practicable it is usual to ride out several hours to meet 
 or escort an ai-riving or departing friend, sometimes sleeping 
 a niu'ht awav from home. 
 
 A solemn crowd of blue-robed dignitaries of the Syrian 
 Church sat round my room, and rose to salam, and welcome 
 tlie Patriarch's guest. They remained a long time, said a 
 great many polite aiid inquisitive things that I did not 
 understand, and after a tedious hour took their leave. I 
 then ])roceeded to make myself as comfortable as possible 
 with my rugs, travelling bed, and other cimtrivances, until 
 su])per arrived. This meal, like all others, was served in my 
 own room, and not with the Patriarch, who always eats 
 alone; my meals being shared by Yakob and occasionally a 
 guest. The room was large and airy, and not overburdened 
 with furniture. Only in a recess at the end decorated with 
 tawdry blue pajier and 'i'urkish flags, which the Patriarch 
 alone among the Eastern ecclesiastics of the em])ire is allowed 
 to fly, stood the Tughra, a large desig-n of gold on a red 
 ground displaying the Sultan's signature and various 
 
 * I would ^niard these words from misconstruction by reforringr the reader to 
 the account of the Syrian Churcli in the second part. 
 
 / 
 
64 
 
 The Flit via re ha J Household. 
 
 benedictions on tlie heads of Lis loyal Syrian subjects, framed 
 in a massive gilded frame, and altogether prc'sentin.ir an 
 extremely magnificent appearance. It was considered 
 extremely fortunate to sleep under it ; but to confess the 
 truth I became heartily tired of the gaudy tiling before a week 
 was over. There was a plentiful supply of carpets, w lueh I 
 carefully sprinkled with a certain powder of magic rhnrm,and 
 by adding to the existing furniture a few of my own posses- 
 sions, my^'room presented quite a homelike appearance by the 
 time that supper arrived. 
 
 A visit of an hour or more to the Patriarch became part ot 
 every day's proceedings, and passed in general pleasantly 
 enough, as we talked of England, and the wonderful things 
 he had seen there, or discussed the current topics. From 
 morning till night men came and went, some with business 
 political or ecclesiastical to transact, others on visits of com- 
 pliment, Bishops of other communities, or Moslem officials of 
 the town. Then there was the set of men for whom the diwan 
 is the recognised place of meeting, the priests of the Church, 
 the deacons, and the chief men of the Syrian community. 
 Morning service over, several of them always came and sat 
 with the Patriarch for a time, gave him the news, discussed the 
 affairs of the nation, or if it was mail day, heard the contents 
 of his Holiness's correspondence; for there was little privacy 
 there, and everyone, except he were a :N[oslem or a mrmber 
 of a rival community, sat to hear the letters read aloud. 
 
 Of the more regular frequenters of the diwan the two priests 
 came first, with^one of whcnn, a ^^khuri,''* I came a good 
 deal in contact. 
 
 • Cp Maclean and Browne, p. 182. Probably short for chorepiscopus, an 
 office not existing among the Nestoriane since the 13th century. In Syria the 
 word seems to denote merely a parish priest, and is used by the Latins as 
 equivalent to the French cun: As seems to hav*^ been the case in the early 
 Church, they are not consecrated, as to a hi-her order, but hold the title as 
 parish priests with certain work as overseers superadded. 
 
 Bingham (i. 183), however, considers them to have been Bishops. Dr. Bright 
 (History of Ch. p. 6) speaks of them " as an inferior class of consocrate<l bishops." 
 They seem from the case of Armentarius, considered at the Council of liiez in 
 Nov., 439, to have been at any rate subordinate to diocesan bishops. 
 
 ) 
 
 The Patriarchal Housphold. 
 
 65 
 
 
 I 
 
 He wa.s the eldest Syrian priest in Mardin, and l,„ldin<. 
 ...ucl, the same position as a rural dean, carried a tall ebon; 
 st,ck ot office. Be.ug soniething of an antiquarian, he soon 
 found out I took an interest in his hobby, and brought in upon 
 me a flood of dealers offering everything from French coffee 
 cups to gold Roman corns at e-jnally exorbitant prices. To 
 tins day I cannot toll whether the old man wittin.Wy 
 defrauded me „, s,.lling three palpable forgeries. He tit 
 hem w.th me, say.ng I could take them to England, and sell 
 then, for hnn A week after I returned them, as worthless; 
 but untortunately he had paid the man who had brouc^ht them 
 and the latter had disappeared. I trusted the word" of the 
 holy man, and bought some wisdom rather dear 
 
 This is a bad introduction to our friend, who was an 
 excellent man, excepting the one whim, which is by fate 
 assigned to al the dwellers in Mesopotamia. I never met a 
 man there without one distinctive mark of this kind The 
 khun soon took me under his charge, made me sit next to 
 hm m the d.wan drew „,e out in conversation, took me to 
 call on th(. hons of .Mardm, and in general managed me It 
 was a bondage that had to be broken, but with discretion I 
 got a httle tired of the old man, and his continual wink 
 which seemed to say, "You and I know the world, let us 
 make ,t pay. One good characteristic he had, he was reallv 
 patnot.c, and desirous for the improvement of his people. 
 And J behove he would have sacrificed much for that 
 
 The second priest presented in every way a contrast to the 
 last, a quiet jiious man, spending all the time not occunie,] i„ 
 the service of the ,. Lurch and parish or in attendance at the 
 Pa narch s duvan, in the pursuit of the divine wisdom th.t is 
 embalmed m the great folios of the Patriarchal library Day 
 after day he was to be seen poring over the pages of Old 
 SyriMc, ,n winch he saw his beloved Church admonislu-d by 
 h. hfrem or S. James, and read their endless connnentaries on 
 (Tod s word. A most simple and withal a businesslike nn'nd 
 to whom the I'atriarcd, had committed the management of 
 .n..st of Ins accounts and affairs, trusting him more th.n anv 
 ot his brother ecclesiastics. 
 
66 
 
 The Tutrlarchiil Ilousehahl. 
 
 The ratr'uirrhnl Household. 
 
 67 
 
 Next to Qas Gibniil iu the Patriarcli's favour stood 
 *^Rahab" (monk) Elias, who witli l^iliab Efreiu acted as 
 steward of tlie small houseliold. To Hahal) Kfreiu, a ])lain 
 monk of Edessa to whom I owe thanks for continual kindness 
 and attention, was committed the charge of the cash box in 
 the absence of His Holiness. All money in the interior of 
 Turkey, where banks are things known only by report, and 
 considered mere concerns to (U^'raud people of their honest 
 gains, is stored in strong boxes, which stand in the inner 
 rooms of houses ; it is, of course, all in hard cash ; nor do its 
 owners look upon these stores as capital to be distinguished 
 from current income ; all is thrown in together, to be used 
 as the household requires. The Tatriarch had his boxes, like 
 other people, in his diwan, where he kept a jealous guard over 
 them; but when he was away, Kahab Kfreni slept in the 
 diwan and was not allowed to let the keys go out of his hand. 
 Several years ago, a secretary of the Patriarch having dis- 
 appeared with a large sum of money, His Holiness brought 
 an action. When, however, the judge asked how much had 
 been lost His Holiness could only i)lace one hand above the 
 other and say '' so much," about three inches depth of his 
 stron^j- box. This vague computation was determined to 
 represent about £300, which in tiuie was obtained from the 
 thief. An exact miud is not characteristic of the East. 
 
 Imagine a short stout man with a tendency to blink one 
 eye, adorned with monstrous silver-bound spectacles, a most 
 confidential manner and an inability to see a joke, combined 
 with a duck-like walk and a masterful tongue of which every- 
 one from the Patriarch to the small boys in the school below 
 stood a little in awe (for they knew him to be an honest 
 man), and Rahab Efrem stands in his shoes before you. His 
 companion was of an altogether different style, handsome, 
 suave, and inclined to follow the first speaker's lead. He was 
 a son of our old friend the Khuri, but a hundred times 
 the better man. Absolutely devoted to the Patriarch, it 
 was touching to see how ho watched every motion of the 
 old autocrat, smoothed his pillows, filled his shibuk, served 
 every morsel that was set before him, standing with arms 
 
 crossed upon Ins breast ready to bring the water and towel 
 as soon as he simple n.eal was done. Sometimes he wouh 
 not sleep all night, when His Holiness was unwell and It o 
 be more exacting tlian usual, and he nearlv alC 1 o'ked 
 tn.d; yet his devotion never slackened, although the onlv 
 Sr: "ti:; 1 ^"f -s the honourof earring the'patirarS 
 
 The Patriarch is allowed by the Government two Qawwases 
 or armed servants dressed in an official uniform, but piSe ^ 
 the services of these two monks, who add, if ^ot so^nud 
 pomp, at least more quiet dignity to his retinue 
 
 A -Slmmmas,- or deacon, performed the lower duties of 
 the household, and, with the cook and porter, completed the 
 ^nks :r^"' None received any pay except the'cook, th 
 monks of course, living on tlie presents tliey receive from 
 
 1 1!::^^'::? ;l SI " ^"^^'^^ i'^ ^^^'^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^-^^^-^ ^t 
 
 Msitois, and tJie Shammas on his prospects 
 
 open „,.le ,ny i^rn^ j,„,.^^ f„„^,^.^^ .^^^ ^^^^ ^_^^^^^ 
 
 d he . :7T"f/ n '°' ""'*' ''''' "'"'''''•'^ with 'various 
 dishe., ^^ll.le the Deacon walked behind with tea or wine 
 
 accord.ng to the tn„e of day. All stood as Yakob and I ate 
 
 an. the meal was enlivened by a rapid flow of conversation' 
 
 b.. en only ,,v a ra... of all three to fill n.v glass wiJh fS 
 
 brotht 1. ff "I"'. ""*'"• '" "^^'^ ^'- '-"ds was 
 
 brought, M,th coffee and cigarettes, unless the latter were 
 served in the Patriarch's diwan. 
 
 One morning, as Yakob lifted the heavy leathern curtain 
 
 1 urc '"If v7" r '°"" '•' '''' •^^^^'^"' - "' -• Italian 
 lunch, the Patriarch was opening a box that had arrived 
 
 rom lus people in India, containing some monev and a go d 
 cross of beautiful workmanship, set with gems ' ^ 
 
 The contents of the day's letters led naturally to a 
 d-scussion of the size of the Syrian community, but ^"t soon 
 became evident that His Holiness's information was neithe^ 
 very ample nor accurate. He had no idea how many subiec 
 he ruled in Turkey, putting their numbers, in fact, at threl 
 
 p 2 
 
 i 
 
(38 
 
 The Patriarchal Housrhold. 
 
 times the reality, and being (iiiite ignorant liow many ]n-iest3 
 or monks existed in the towns and vilhiges. The rongh 
 census that T was able finally to draw 14) was obtained from 
 u laro-e number of different people, and varying accounts 
 balanced one against another. The main renson thnt ])rev(Mits 
 not only the Patriarch from keeping any r.^l ^f Ins people, 
 but also the natives of any particular village from telling a 
 stranger their true number, i> to be found in the policy 
 univcTsallv pursued of giving false returns to the (;overn- 
 ment in order to escape full taxation. Hut of that more 
 hereafter. The continual migration from one eliinvh to 
 another, for ix.litical or religious reasons, ])resents another 
 difficultv in assigning their right numbers to native churches, 
 Romans or Protestants. However, by continual asking «)f 
 questions in the Socratic vein, some a])])roach to nccnracy is 
 
 attained. • t i i. i.i,- 
 
 Among other interesting letters that nn-ived about this 
 
 time was a letter from Lord Salisbury acknowledging the 
 
 Patriarch's condolences on the death of the Duke of Clarence, 
 
 and a note of invitation from the Old Catholic congress 
 
 which was to meet in Septend)c'r at Lucerne. This caused 
 
 a considerable flutter in the diwan, and the Pntriaivli was all 
 
 for going in person ; but it seemed impossible at his age, and 
 
 considering that he had only ju>t recovered from a sharp 
 
 attack of influenza, to nndertake so long a journey. It was 
 
 settled therefore that Mar Gregorius and a Pahab should go 
 
 as his delegates, collecting the necessaiy fund- fn.n: the 
 
 people. The people, however, failed to show adeipuite 
 
 enthusiasm, and the ])lan fell through; so that His Holiness 
 
 contented himself with sending a letter of sympathy with the 
 
 object of the congress and a copy of the creed in use in the 
 
 Svriaii Church. 
 
 As we sat, peo])le came in and out. Those of some degree 
 put off their shoes at the bottom of the diwan, and having 
 made their salam with their hand u]um the forehead and 
 breast and kissed the Patriarch's hand, sat down in a place 
 according with their rank. It was strange how each schemed 
 to have a recognised place, although at times a less freciueiit 
 
 The Patriarchal Hou.sehold. 
 
 69 
 
 . 
 
 visitor would enter, and would cause quite a commotion 
 among those already seated, until a short contest of politeness 
 found him his level. Often the Bishop of Deir-el-Za'aferan 
 would come in, but having been brouglit up from a ])oy at the 
 Patriarch's teet, would never take a seat until specially bidden. 
 Moslems would enter with the usual ofHcial salam, occupying 
 as by a prescriptive right the highest seats, while the best 
 cigarettes and preserved fruits would be served, sometimes 
 followed by tea, as for a most honoured guest. The tea was 
 of the w^eakest, and exceeding sweet, milk moreover w^as out 
 of the questi(m. 1 once watched the operation of making it. 
 f'ach time tea was needed, ;i few fresh leaves were sprinkled 
 over the old (mes already in the pot, and cold water added as 
 required; this was put on the charcoal fire and left to boil ; 
 sugar being added to suit the Moslem taste. The leaves were 
 cleaned out about once a week. 
 
 Monks, deacons, and those of lower degree would come to 
 the end of the diwan, and having made a very low obeisance 
 there, or come to kiss the Patriarch's hand, return, and stand 
 at the foot of the room, or sit bolt u])right, their hands upon 
 their knees and their legs tucked as far under the seat as 
 })ossible, on the very edge of the diw^au. Among these Yusef 
 Efendi, the I^^triarcll's secretary, generally found his place, 
 unless he stood reading, or sat writing at His Holiness's feet! 
 He was a straightforward, unassuming man, most useful when 
 anything had to be done with the officials, having once held 
 some minor post in the (Tovernment, and of a good nature 
 which it seemed iin])ossible to overtax. He had many a hard 
 half hum- with the rather varying moods of his master, but 
 always laughed them off as the whims of an old man, whom 
 sorrow and misfortune had made a little imi)atieut. This man 
 proved nf gr^at use to me more than once in smoothing 
 difficulties and warning me of possible storms. 
 
 Conversation seldom flagged; the Patriarch was full of 
 anecdotes gathered during his travels, with which to entertain 
 his guests; or there were matters of political or national 
 interest; or again he would be sternly rebuking some 
 misdemeanour among his people. 
 
70 
 
 The Fidrlarchol Hou-^elwld. 
 
 Visits of ceremony from Turkish officials occurred from 
 time to time, varying the monotony of provincial conversation 
 with discussion of Constantinople politics. Tlu' Patriarch has 
 not many friends among these Efendis, for he disapproves 
 thoroughly of the dissohite lives of most of them, and confines 
 liimself to an official banquet at the monastery once or twice 
 a year as a means of keeping ii}) goodwill. The advent of a 
 new official to fill any of the important posts— a pretty 
 frequent occurrence — is generally the occasion of a small feast 
 or entertainment at the monastery, or in the private house uf 
 a Syrian; hut they are very formal affairs, and do little more 
 than keep up appearances. 
 
 Last, hut not least, of the Patriarch's househohl, was a 
 beautiful Arab mare, bay coloured, that no one except His 
 Holiness and Rahab Elias, who exercised her, wa> ever 
 allowed to ride. Graceful as every w(^ll-bred Arab, with legs 
 like a doe and temper gentle (discreet, the Arabs say) as the 
 summer breeze. How she was petted and fondled, and how 
 she seemed to care for her aged rider as he rode along the 
 slippery streets ! But towards autumn she fell ill from a 
 severe kick, which led to inflammation, and, not receiving any 
 medicine, seemed likely to die. 1 had been away, and, coming 
 back, asked why she was left so. " It comes from God,'' said 
 the Patriarch, 'Sand if she dies, she dies." ^ It was obvious 
 to reply that all things come from (iod, but that God heli)s 
 him who helps himself; but the old man had other horses, 
 and if God willed that his beauty should die, who was he to 
 complain ? I suggested medicine, but the Patriarch dis- 
 approved of that, as usual, so I took nuitters into my own 
 hands, trave the case over to the kind American doctor, and 
 the mare was soon on her legs again, it is strange how this 
 fatalism, or perhaps it might be called resignation, reigns like 
 a spell over the East. When the Patriarch himself 1ny nenrly 
 dviniT for want of food and a little medicine, and scarcely 
 
 * A very common manner of speech iu the East (cp. Israel's words, Gen. 
 xliii, U : " If I am })ereaved of my children, I am bereaved "). The style is 
 therefore older than the fatalistic influence of Islam." 
 
 t 
 
 The Patriarchal Household. 
 
 71 
 
 V 
 
 able to lift his eyes from exhaustion, his Bishop and 
 attendants stood round, and merely said it was God's will if 
 he died, until one cup of tea and some toast restored the old 
 man. It makes the blood of a European boil to see such 
 things; the stupid helplessness, the waste of noblest powers 
 and thoughts that God has given man, and all because the 
 East lies under a spell that should have died two thousand 
 years ago, but for the dead hand of Islam. 
 
 As I left the diwan towards evening, the sound of chanting 
 from the church mingled strangely with other voices. Away 
 from the roof of some Moslem house cnme the sound of the 
 l)ipes and drums accompanying the mournful, stately wedding 
 dance, and of cymbals banging at intervals. Five hours they 
 had danced (for Kamadhan, the Moslem months of fasting 
 was over), and would dance three hours more. Then came 
 the gun from the Serai as the sun went down, and the cry 
 of the '^Miu'ddhin- was caught up from minaret to minaret 
 calling the faithful to prayer: ^' Great is Allah and Moham- 
 med, the prophet of Allah ! There is no God but Allah ! 
 Come to prayer." 
 
 The dancing goes on, but the patriarchal mulberry tree is 
 deserted, save by a monk or two, and the groom of His 
 Holiness's stable, for whom no one cares but two starving 
 cats that keep up a gay accompaniment to the Turkish pipes, 
 and anxious for their supper mew a mournful grace, rubbino^ 
 their skinny sides against his legs ; poor wretches, thev get 
 httle more from him than the half-starved dogs pick up in 
 the dirty streets behind the church. Moslems and Christians 
 are not often cruel to animals, but they neglect them shame- 
 fully ; yet It IS a sin to kill a dog, however ill or wounded 
 so that one sees at times sad sights about the market. 
 
 There was a very different scene in the morning, groups of 
 children chattering, or playing leap-frog round the c^'ourt, and 
 solemn gossips sj)inning or carding wool upon the tcmibstones ; 
 all gaily dressed, while the smaller ones, stout with well- 
 girdled i)etticoats, stalked about in an important manner, and 
 watched their elders. Now all have gone, and as the sun- 
 light fades away one can just make out the form of an aged 
 
72 
 
 The Patriarchal Household. 
 
 man, too helpless even to lift liis hand to eat, seated l)etween 
 two tombs, as if he would be near his last resting place, while 
 his wife places food between his toothless gums, then smoothes 
 his dress, and washes his face, laying liim gently down with 
 a handkerchief over his head to sleep among the graves. He 
 has been many years like this, growing weaker year by year, 
 and his wife's devotion never fails. Sometimes at night one 
 hears a doleful voice moaning'' O God, my (lod, J am dying, 
 take me home. Oh, let me come.'' lie seldom speaks, l)ut 
 loves to sit all dav there among those he knew and loved 
 twenty years ago, until he shall sleej) with them. At last 
 even him we can see no more, only the black mulberry tree 
 outlined ao-aiust the skv ; then stars blaze out one bv one, and 
 the fires light up all along the horizon where the Arabs burn 
 the Kali. Only the wedding drums are heard, and the 
 ^loslems go on dancing. 
 
 ^^i^c 
 
 y 
 
 i 
 
 The Plain from Mardin, 
 
 73 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Makdin and its Sykian Inhabitants. I. 
 
 Mardin is a large town, whose chief characteristic for an 
 unprejudiced stranger is the i)rominence of smells. As all 
 drainage is conducted, with an artless simplicity quite Oriental 
 from the courts of the houses straight into the streets, it may 
 be imagined that the raised pavements or stepping stones 
 that line them are not to be despised. 
 
 Away from the streets there was no lack of good air in 
 such an eyrie as Mardin ; and upon the Patriarch's balcony 
 there was always a fresh breeze blowing day and night from 
 far away across the plain. Except where the hills of Siniar 
 stretcli like a great arm across the level west of Mosul and 
 the low western ranges shut out the Euphrates, the plain lies 
 all along the soutli from the hills on which Mardin stands as 
 tar as the eye can reach, broken only by the old Assyrian 
 mounds dotted like mole hills over a field. Under many of 
 tJiem nestle villages, inhabited some by Arabs, others by 
 Syrians. May and June deck the plain with a carpet of 
 liowers, mallows, anemones, cornflowers, and balsams, which 
 splashed m rich sj^aces among the green or yellow wheat' 
 light u]) a view long to be remembered. The magnificence of 
 the scene may be imagined, when in May the thunderstorms 
 chase one another across the sky, venting their last fury 
 betore the summer, and, casting black shadows, fill up great 
 Jakes that enhance the brilliance of the plain. 
 
 The town stands about four thousand feet above the level 
 ot the sea, and presents a striking appearance when seen 
 
1 
 
 ». (1 
 
 74 
 
 Everyday at Mardui. 
 
 Everyday at Mardin. 
 
 from outside the walls ; for the houses are of t^ood limestone, 
 and well built ; while the designs of some, with their Jirched 
 and richly carved porticos and doorways are quite beautiful. 
 
 This is especially noticeable as one sees the town from the 
 gardens to the west, house rising behind house up the steep 
 hillside, so that every window that does not look on a court- 
 yard has the same glorious view across the plain. Three 
 minarets break the monotony of the fiat roofs, contrasting 
 with the domes below them, and the short but graceful bell- 
 towers that crown each Christian church ; behind all stands 
 the high rock with the castle on its top, yellow and grey 
 against the brilliant sky. Lower down the houses lose them- 
 selves in gardens and the tan yards, among which may be 
 seen many an ancient rock-cut tomb. As each house is over- 
 looked bv that above it, the roofs are less used in Mardin than 
 in other Turkish towns ; large balconies taking their places 
 for the purpose of sleeping and promenade. 
 
 Mardin contains about twenty thousand souls, and is the 
 centre of government for the " Mutserrafiyah " or division, 
 of which there are three in the province of Diarbekr, the seat 
 of the Wali or Governor. 
 
 Having fully established myself as the Patriarch's guest, 
 I soon fell into the ordinary routine of Eastern life. Rising 
 about 6.30 a.m., my room was open to visitors until breakfast 
 arrived, some time between eight and ten ; and, as my room 
 was a kind of ante-room to the diwan, all sorts and conditions 
 of men, women, and children, took advantage of occasional 
 delay in their reception by His Holiness to visit or inspect the 
 strange creature from Europe. 
 
 Some of the visitors came regularly three or four times a 
 week, among whom were the priests and rahabs above 
 described, the secretary, and several leading members of the 
 Syrian community. Of these there was one man, Abu-Selim, 
 known generally as Hawajah^ Abu, of whom it is hard to 
 
 * Hawajah, a term strictly applied to merchants, but commonly used a.s a 
 title of respect among Christiana in preference to Efendi. Europeans are 
 generally addressed by the title ; so too the American missionaries as a body 
 are called "the Hawajat." 
 
 75 
 
 speak. Among much that was so disheartening, and dis- 
 agreeable to look back upon, it will always be the intensest 
 pleasure to remember the loyal friendship, the perfect and 
 courteous hospitality, of this good Syrian. It is seldom given 
 to anyone to meet a man, to whom month after month under 
 most trying and difficult circumstances one can go and 
 converse, asking advice and getting full sympathy and help 
 in such a way as was possible with Abu Selim. For some 
 yearshe had been the representative of the Syrian people of 
 Mardin in the Government, and has always been treated with 
 the utmost trust by the Patriarch, to whom his perfect 
 uprightness and invincible loyalty have combined with 
 thorough good sense and a good knowledge of Syrian history 
 and language to make him invaluable. Jt was this man w^ho 
 became my best friend, and without whom life in Mardin 
 would have been far more difficult than it was. It required 
 wise help at times to avoid shoals and keep a clear course 
 through sundry intrigues and jealousies that are sure to fall 
 in the way of a European living as the guest of an Oriental. 
 
 One morning Abu came in to my room with his two sons, 
 to deliver a formal invitation to attend the celebration of the 
 Eucharist at the church on Mar Mikail on the following 
 morning, it being the feast day of the Saint. At the same 
 time it was requested that I should visit the school attached 
 to another of the Mardin churches, namely that of Mart 
 Shimuneh, and acquaint myself with the learning of the 
 Syrian boys. 
 
 The next day therefore, as the Celebration was to begin 
 according to the usual custom at a very early hour, we were 
 careful to rise almost with the sun ; nevertheless when we 
 reached the church we found the service already half 
 finished. The church is the oldest in Mardin, and, standing 
 just outside the walls, forms a conspicuous object in the land"^ 
 scape as the traveller approaches Mardin from the plain. 
 The Saint to whom it is dedicated is one of local fame, not 
 the S. Michael of the heavenly hierarchy. Little is known of 
 him, although his fanciful adventures form on holy days an 
 ample subject for the wayward eloquence of the parish priest. 
 
76 
 
 Everyday at Mardin, 
 
 Everyday at Mardin, 
 
 77 
 
 The church is strongly built for protection against Arabs, 
 and presents more the appearance of a fort than a place of 
 worship. A low door* on the west side, scarcely high 
 enough for a sheep to enter, leads into a courtyard, on the 
 south side of which is the church, on the north the few rooms 
 occupied by the priest, and one used as a meeting-room by the 
 committee of the church. We left a very large crowd of 
 people on the hillside outside the building, to find nearly as 
 many crowded in the little courtyard. 
 
 The feast of Mar Mikail is one of the few besides those of 
 the New Testament Saints which have not fallen into disuse. 
 The present Patriarch, who by his reforming tendencies at 
 one time nearly fell into disfavour with his people, has done 
 much good in disencumbering the Church of unnecessary 
 feast days and certain antiquated ceremonials, to which, how- 
 ever, the people cling witli considerable fondness. On this 
 account they make no small stir over this feast day, although 
 I think it is renowned more on account of the antiquity of 
 the church than the fame of the Saint, of whom I could gain 
 no surer information than that he rode a white horse and 
 fought against the infidels. It used to be said that what 
 with Fridays tor the Moslems, Sundays for the Christians, 
 and the countless holy days of Syrians, Armenians, 
 Romanists, and Moslems, scarcely a day remained on which 
 one could be sure of buying bread in the market. 
 
 The court was a pretty sight crowded with women and 
 children, all dressed in their gayest, for whom there was no 
 room in the church. It seemed like a fair, and the children 
 and babies seemed thoroughly to appreciate the scene and 
 their own fine clothes. When we had made our way through 
 these crowds into the church, a stool was placed for me among 
 a number of friends, and I watched the course of the service. 
 It did not vary from the usual Celebration, except that the 
 offertory plate was handed round more frequently. Ignorant 
 
 * These low doors are often found in the mountain churches, especially 
 among the Nestorians. The learned say that they teach humility ; the worldly 
 that they are so built to keep cattle out, or prevent the Kurds stabling their 
 horses inside. 
 
 
 of this I gave all my small donation at once and was surprised 
 when the verger wished to hand back the greater part of it 
 in small change, for refusing which I no doubt gained a con- 
 siderable reputation for bounty. 
 
 The offertory and hymns were followed by an Arabic dis- 
 course from the Priest, presumably ^^ fairy tales from the life 
 of Mar Mikail rather than sermony,"* as an eager little 
 Reformer described such exercises to me. That it met the 
 approval of the hearers was evident from the frequent 
 "Amens'^ and ^^God so award ^^ that greeted each period of 
 the preacher, a worthy, thoughtful man, but not endowed with 
 eloquence. It is worth noting here that this man, having 
 recently lost his wife, and thinking it unseemly for a widower 
 to visit the private houses of his parishioners, was intending, in 
 accordance with Syrian custom, to leave his parish with a 
 view to entering some monastery. 
 
 After the Celebration was over every man and boy came up 
 to the altar to receive the blessing of the priest and the sign 
 of the Cross with the holy water ; after which they kissed the 
 Book of the Gospels, partook of the '' Antidoron '' or blessed 
 bread, and went out. The women did not do this; for them 
 two small boys presided at a font of holy water outside the 
 door, and being left by the authorities to their own devices 
 enjoyed themselves not a little. During service the women 
 had sat behind a screen of trellis work that shut off part of 
 the north aisle, whose seclusion gave them an opportunity for 
 discussing affairs, of which, to judge from the noises which at 
 times proceeded from this sanctum, they were not slow to 
 take advantage. Their number, as usual in the native 
 churches, was far fewer than that of the men, although 
 at the Protestant service the proportions seemed to be 
 reversed. 
 
 Some finely inlaid woodwork, a ninth-century tomb of a 
 bishop, and a fine piece of Persian embroidery on the altar 
 were all the treasures of which the church could boast, 
 
 * Like the Pre-Reformation sermons in England described as being taken from 
 uncertain stories and legends " in the Sarum use. 
 
78 
 
 The Churches of Mar din. 
 
 The Churches of Mardin. 
 
 79 
 
 although is was said that there were many valuable things 
 stored in the house of one of the deacons, it being considered 
 unsafe to leave them in the exposed building. According to 
 the inscription on the tomb the church was built about the 
 year 155 a.d. (466 of the Seleucid era) ; but of the truth of 
 the tradition there were no means of judging except that the 
 date was several centuries earlier than that assigned to the 
 Patron Saint, Mikail. Having seen all there was to be seen 
 in the church, we were conducted to the large diwan on the 
 other side of the court, where coffee and cigarettes were 
 being busily circulated; but when we had enjoyed these for a 
 short time we took our leave, anxious to return to the church 
 of the Arbain and obtain a somewhat more substantial 
 breakfast. 
 
 The church of the Arbain is dedicated, as its name implies, 
 to forty saints, said in the oriental ''Acta Martyrum " to have 
 suffered in the thirty-sixth year of the great persecution 
 begun by Sapur the Great in 340 a.d. Their leaders were 
 S. Abde and S. Ebedjesu, who are celebrated on May 15 and 
 16. Nothing external shows the building to be a church, 
 except a graceful little campanile surmounted by a cross, 
 erected by the present Patriarch. By the great western door 
 there is also a finely sculptured tomb of a bishop. The 
 interior is divided into four aisles by three rows of four 
 massive pillars, directly from which, without any capitals, 
 about eight feet from the ground springs the vaulting of the 
 roof. The massiveness is demanded by the immense weight 
 which the pillars have to support, the whole space between 
 the vault and the flat roof being filled up with rubble, with 
 one good result at least, that the church is as warm in 
 winter as it is deliciously cool in summer. 
 
 Upon the altar, before which hangs a curtain of most 
 beautiful and rare Mardin silk, stands a fine casket of silver 
 repousse work, also made in Mardin, but spoiled by a slight 
 excess of gold and red tinsel. In a recess in the east wall of 
 the nave are preserved some of the bones of Mar Behnam, 
 the much-reputed evangeliser of Mosul, and son of King 
 Sennacherib (not the Assyrian monarch). It is hard to say 
 
 fi 
 
 to what part of the saint's body the treasures belonged but 
 their green colour clearly proved them to be the bones ^f a 
 saint; and, if a saint, why not Mar Behnam ? These were 
 the only relics that I saw in any Old Syrian church ; nor did 
 they seem to be the object of any particular veneration. 
 
 Ihe paintings with which the walls of some of the Syrian 
 churches have been of late years embellished are remarkable 
 less for beauty than for the characteristic realism with which 
 they are executed. Elijah's ascension is a favourite subject 
 for he is one of the most popular of Eastern saints, both with 
 Moslems and Christians, and the flames afford unrivalled 
 opportunities for scenic display. The Last Judgment, again 
 IS frequently pourtrayed, interesting for the varied studies of 
 character, which issue at times in grimly humorous results. 
 Ihe figures are as a rule treated, if not with accuracy, at 
 least with a certain stolid power and spirit, being all executed 
 m deadly earnest, despite the grotesqueness of the result 
 Another subject frequently recurring is the Beheading of 
 S John Baptist. It was generally realistic enough— the 
 bleeding head, the grimly delighted expression of Herodias's 
 daughter, the sorrow of the Disciples accumulated in one 
 massive tear upon the cheek of one sorrowing member of the 
 band, with, to prevent all possible mistake, the name of the 
 Baptist inscribed in large Greek capitals round the edge of 
 the plate which received the blood. 
 
 Of the remaining churches of Mardin, two only are of much 
 interest— one, a splendid old Roman basilica, built of stone 
 and having a brick dome, which belongs to the Chaldseans 
 or Papal Nestorians; the other, of the same type but later 
 date to the Papal Armenians. The Papal Syrians possess none 
 of the old churches or monasteries in or near Mardin, but 
 have built for themselves a fine church and patriarchal 
 establishment inside the town, as well as a large convent just 
 outside. Relations are, as is natural, strained between them 
 and the Old Syrians, while an old bishop, who belonged to 
 neither party, assured me that there is as much ill-feeling 
 between the various Papal communities as there is between 
 either the Papal and Syrian, or Protestant bodies. 
 
80 
 
 The Streets of Mardin. 
 
 As soon as our frugal breakfast was over, and Abu Selim 
 had finished his coffee and cigarettes, we started on our way 
 to the church of Mart Shimuneh, whose school we were that 
 morning to inspect. The streets were, as usual, busy, and 
 filled with the motley coloured Crowd that lends to the 
 dullest town of the East a peculiar beauty. Mardin, more- 
 over, like Diarbekr, Aleppo, and Urfa, presents, on account 
 of the fine stone of which it is built, a far less squalid 
 appearance than many Turkish towns. True, the outskirts 
 are as unpleasant as elsewhere, and the actual pavements 
 not inviting. Slimy pools and noisome dust-heaps abound, 
 into which some dashing equestrian may push you as you 
 walk. But this drawback is outbalanced by the pleasure 
 felt at the absence of European fashions, that have not had 
 hitherto a favourable effect upon Eastern towns. One may 
 see an officer lounging in semi-Russian uniform outside 
 a (so-called) coffee stall, or an orderly slouching along in 
 the uncouth, unbuttoned hose ordained bv the "Tanzimat.'^ 
 All else is indescribably Eastern. There passes a beautiful 
 white ass, with gorgeous trappings, led by a white-turbanded 
 slave, and bestrode by a shapeless mass enveloped in black 
 silk. The precious burden is betrayed by a slim ankle, green 
 clothed, and protected from the clumsy brass stirrup bv a 
 bright yellow slipper. Further on, small Arabs dart in and 
 out of groups of solemn blue-robed townsmen, resplendent in 
 gay girdles and heavy watch-chains. Presently we pass a 
 small procession escorting a bishop on a state visit, and all 
 give and receive " Peace, and the blessing of the Messiah.'' 
 He w^ears the head-dress peculiar to Armenian clergy — a dark 
 purple robe, on which a rich gold chain and cross glitter. 
 Beside him walk a black-robed monk, beariug his staff, and 
 a small boy with a huge umbrella for use in open spaces. 
 Then we reach the open market, filled with sellers of fruits 
 and vegetables ; beggars parading all manner of foul diseases ; 
 donkeys loaded with brushwood for buiiiing, ur to make 
 awnings before the shops ; boys bare-legged, and shouting to 
 their animals or friends in Arabic and Kurdish ; while some 
 magnificent Turk or proud Arab strolls, with a look of fine 
 
 A Syrian School. 
 
 81 
 
 lead., ao.„ an t^J^^y IZ. et --Zt J^^S 
 to a lower street, and thence we dived still further makiS 
 
 -all part, of the chief Tetberf TtJ: Z^^^:! ^J 
 escorted to the schoolroom below the diwan, buK co;:idef 
 
 'Af^^ llTu '°"'' ^""'•^ """'' ^' *° ^Pi«<^opal residence 
 After I had been conducted to a cushioned seat at the top of 
 iTZilf *o the teacher, the boys made all a sweeping 
 
 otT'the fono"" \ ' *' '''' ^""^^ °' *'"' T-k-1^ -tiona! 
 
 .song, the following hymn in my honour. A copy was handed 
 
 ^ me in an envelope addressed to "The Right Rev Jhe 
 Mister Master the Inspector," and was translated as follows 
 into hngl^h : " To my dear Sir the Mister Master. Wet me 
 my dear Sir, we are very happy to have you to this hour and 
 both much obliged by your visit to u.s, and verv elad of Tt 
 
 the happy health peace and prosperity to miss queen 
 Vehtorya, and many thanks, i am beg you to acceptm^ 
 best wishes on the present accasion. Ma^ God Westvou 3 
 
 f^r^^r' ''' ^^" ''^^''- ^'''-ea'rsSurto 
 
 a V of^-ts:^^^^^^ rtfr ' ?V^'°"' P^"^"" --i *^ke 
 V or 3 ourselt— . The Arabic, of which this was a transit 
 tion, was extremelv elea-ant Tho « ■ ^'*i' a uansla- 
 
 nat , and .^ . f ^lli Jt^S VbLaVrsTo' 
 
 originality, having been well educated ;T the plpa'is""' 
 school, and had a great enthusiasm for teachi g arcoiSZ 
 a_ble power of imparting knowledge. The levotion f Jj 
 T/eslZL ,T --^^---kable; all their holidly 
 Lnr r 1 ^f.P'"'^'*"'"^ ^^'"h him into the country, or games 
 
 wS ■ f 't°" ": " ^'■^^•^"^- ^^y --* had inspired ilm 
 with an absorbing desire to learn English, and t'le abov" 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 A Syrian ScJiool. 
 
 effusion was translated and written after only three or four 
 days' study. He would come, too, phrase-book in hand, and 
 insist on inflicting an English conversation extracted therefrom 
 on any luckless stranger with five words of English ai ins 
 
 command. 
 
 The interior of the school was a sight familiar to all who 
 haye visited the E.ast; at the top of the room a chair and desk 
 covered with red calico, at which the teacher sat, and a broad 
 low bench all round the walls, where the boys placed their 
 mats and sat on their heels behind the boxes, which contain 
 their books, and on which they write. Each had his own 
 brass ink-bottle with long pen-case attached, carried at other 
 times in the fold of their ample girdles. The whole effect of 
 colours was quite brilliant, the white })laster walls, the 
 teacher in his l)right yellow tunic, with long grey coat and 
 scarlet '' tarbush," surrounded by boys of various sizes 
 dressed in all the colours of the rainbow; while here nnd 
 there some small aristocrat blazed out in a paste ring or a 
 silver-mounted girdle, and a pale blue broadcloth jiicket or 
 frock coat. The boys were dressed precisely as their fathers, 
 and looked in many ways like little old men. Upon the floor 
 in front were placed rows of red slippers, into which the boys 
 snuffled, as they descended to say a lesson, or make a display of 
 alo-ebraic cryuuiastics upon the blackboard. In the middle 
 was a carpet spread, on which thu smallest boys, tor wliom 
 there was not room above, sat and twiddled their thundjs in 
 open mouthed awe at the learning of their elders, pretending 
 all the while to learn Mai- Efrem's Syriac hymns. It was ji 
 picturesque dress that tlu'y all wore, and serviceable in a 
 country where bright colour> harmonize well in the blazing 
 sun, and the heat makes stockings and tight waistcoats 
 intolerable. It was a little trying to have to listcMi to the 
 schoolmaster's effusion, especially when a hojielcss pronunci;i- 
 tion crowned the absurdity of the English. An irresistible 
 temptation to laugh at the mock solemnity of the whole scene 
 was disguised by a smile of imperial approval, which my close 
 connection with ''miss(pieen Vehtorya " sui-cly warranted. 
 Sherbet and cigarettes were brought to sustain us, w^hile the 
 
 A Syrian Sclioul. 
 
 83 
 
 parish fathers watclied intently to see the impression made 
 upon me by their boys' display of ability. ^ ^" 
 
 The good order of the boys, their general quickness and 
 eagerness to work, especially .hen the absence of al eon 
 petitive stimulus was taken into account, were quite as on^s^ 
 mg, and showed Mu'allim Ablahad to b^ a 21^^^^ 
 
 was only one ot a few exceptions to the general rule of 
 nKvbo.nry, ..eh as was found in most of the schools m vns 
 
 P si^'r^th ^t^%^-^^^^^^ %-n, and someW 
 sian are the subjects usually taught, with geoo-raphy 
 arithmetic, and a species of hisfnvA^ p r • ^ ^ ''1^^^^^ 
 
 the(;osnol ;. P^ci^''^^l^i;stoi;y. For religious teaching 
 
 tne Uobpel is read m a iierfunctorv wnv a...i -^ • 
 
 i.- ]"- ^ 1 "i-iLLoiy wa\, and. its memniMr 
 
 sometunes exponn.1.,1, wlnle all else is co.^pHsed ia a Zrt 
 Catechism lately printed at JJeir-el-Za'aferan 
 
 As soon as the fonnalities den.anded by the occasion had 
 l-een gone throuo.]., and sufficient polite speeches nlde we 
 |ve.-e escorted out into the street, aLl fonu'd o r w^; sL k! 
 back to the clinrch of the Arbain. ^ 
 

 84 
 
 The Bazar 
 
 CHAPTET^ VII. 
 
 Makdin, and its Syrian Inhabhants, IT 
 
 The chief fuiictiun to wliicli I was invited diiriim' my stay 
 in Mardin, was a dinner party given by the k-adiii-- Syrians 
 at the house of Abu Selini. I was sitting one nioriiing lu his 
 dukkan, wliich stands in the centre of the great bazar of 
 Mardin, when a formal invitation was presented, requesting 
 my company that same evening at twelve o'ch)ck a hi Turkoy 
 that is at sundown, to which time 1 deterniin^d, iu oi'der to 
 show my a])preciation of the honour, to be punctuah Mean- 
 time I satin thedukkaii and watched the progress of business. 
 The bazar is a hirge space about a hundred yards s(piare, 
 completely covered by very lofty vaiiltuig supported on scpnire 
 stone pillars. Between these are rows of dukkans, facing 
 each other, and divided by a narrow passage aluug which the 
 world may pass. It was mid-day and we found the ]ilace 
 crowded, for it is always very cool, ;nid dark; and ou the 
 small platform iu front of each store, which generally 
 measures about ten feet scpiare, lounged the gossips of tlio town 
 talking to the owners, who sat cross-legged displaying their 
 wares to some Turkish servant, or a stalwnrt unveiled durne 
 from the Kurdish mountains. The coffee seller passed up and 
 down as purchasers took theii' })laces to inspect the goods, 
 and were regaled with cigarettes and coffee at the merchant's 
 expense; and atone corner a tall Aruieuiau from Diarbekr 
 presided over an ice pail and a dish of maccaroons, while a 
 bov walked up and down crying out the chnrui^ of thi^ novel 
 
 ' 
 
 > 
 
 A a Enlujhtened Syrian. 
 
 85 
 
 hixury. The dukkans seemed to contain nothing but cloths 
 und calicos piled from floor to ceiling, mostly of European 
 manufacture, .Manchester cottons, and French muslins 
 Austrian broadcloths, such as Efendis love for their flowinc^ 
 robes, and the thick striped silks from Diarbekr or Aleppc^ 
 that are so much used for the tunics of men and boys. 
 
 'riiere was little air of business about the stalls, except 
 among those who were engaged in making up accounts. 
 J^or the most part no one seemed anxious to buv, nor did the 
 ordly merchants court custom. I have many a time sat an 
 hour 111 one of these dukkans, without seeing five customers 
 111 any of the neighbouring stalls. Gossip is always rife, and 
 very mteresting it is, as soon as familiarity has removed the 
 restraint imposed by a stranger's presence in this land of 
 suspicions. There are very few Moslems who do business in 
 these bazars, nearly all the trade being in the hands of the 
 Christians, who occupy various quarters of the buildino- 
 according to their church. Round Abu Selim's store wal 
 quite a group of others belonging to various members of the 
 bynan church. In one, belonging to .Alelki-Qas-Elias, who is 
 considered m virtue of his age to be the leading man in the 
 community, I spent several liours talking of politics, so far as 
 that was possible iu a public place, of education in Eno-Jand 
 and Turkey, of the Syrian Church and the prospects of 
 Christian and Moslem ; or at times the conversation would 
 turn on agriculture, in which .Afelki, who was a considerable 
 land owner, showed great interest, and being very anxious to 
 find the means of importing from England a steam plouo-h, 
 niade numerous inquiries as to its price and power of wwk' 
 1 ew men that I met in Turkey, showed so much appreciation 
 ot progress, or so good an idea of how it might and should be 
 advanced m Turkey. But alas ! such things seem at present 
 a dream. It was a pleasant place to lounge in, and hear the 
 news, eating slices of cucumber and sipping coffee ; and all 
 that made itself felt of the mid-day heat was a shaft of sun- 
 shine shooting almost perpendicular down through the grated 
 opening in the roof, and giving jnst light enough for the 
 transaction of the quiet business of the day. 
 
! H91. . vAf^Jl' tJ-!! 
 
 ■»»B!S?TK*-ei^_ %- ■ ^ J ^» 
 
 86 
 
 ^ ]f inner Parft/. 
 
 At six o'clock the same eveiiing Vakub ;in<l 1 were due nt 
 Abu Selim's house for tlio dinner party to which he had 
 invited us. Having- had a hint of the time over which snch 
 entertainments are spread, I arrived, in spite of my tm-mer 
 resohition, an hour late, and was a little surprised to find 
 myself even then almost the til•^t arrival. Others soon came, 
 and a feeble stream of conversation trickled on, nntd ilie 
 arrival of a tray full of glasses, containing a warm dilution of 
 a soft hrown colour strongly flavoured witli einnaiu.ai, and 
 very sweet. I was inexperienced enough to ask its stylo 
 and title, and was told with injured sur])rise that it was 
 tea, prepared a VAnglaisvy though that was one of the 
 last names with which I should have connected the beve- 
 rage. Tea is becoming a favourite drink in Turkey, nut 
 instead of coffee, but of the sherbet or cjokd drinks that 
 are handed to guests; it comes generally from Mussia, 
 and although a trifle dear on account of the carriage, is 
 extremely good, when properly made. And this was tea i 
 
 was drinking. 
 
 Abu Selim's house was comparatively new, ami rather 
 handsome, for he was a well-to-do man, and with his two 
 brothers kept a large establishment. It is curious how even 
 late in life the younger brothers generally continue to occupy 
 a position of inferiority in the house, unless they separate 
 from the paternal roof, and set u]) homes for themselves. 
 Selim's brothers were Jio exception, and were treated more 
 as upper servants, serving us as we sat at meals, and 
 takino- altogether a lower position in the diwan than our 
 host."" The families of all three lived in this one house, 
 and filled the five immense bedsteads that stood in the 
 
 balcony. 
 
 From the ground floor, containing the courtyard, entered 
 by a large iron-bound door, the stables, and kitchens, m 
 which the women sit during most of the day, cooking, wash- 
 ing clothes, or weaving, a narrow stair leads into a large open 
 ^^balakhana" (balcony) about fifty feet square, paved with 
 fine yellow limestone, and enclosed on the open side by a 
 beautiful stone balustrade, that lends a cpiite Italian character 
 
 A Dinner Party. 
 
 87 
 
 to the house. This court forms the chief living place during 
 the summer, being filled with large wooden beds for lounging 
 during the day and sleeping by night. The view, as From 
 all the open balconies of ^fardin, is glorious over the roofs 
 and across the boundless ])lain below. Into this court open 
 various rooms, in one of which, lately built in the handsomest 
 modern style, guests are received. Windows, doors, and 
 every spot that gives any opportunity to the ingenious 
 architect, are covered with a profusion of carving in rich 
 Arabesque design, good though somewhat lacking in 
 originality. Persian carpets enrich the room, and in an atcove 
 stands a magnificent wardrobe of walnut wood, inlaid wnth 
 ivory and olive wood, to contain the bedding during the day 
 time. Third-rate glass and crockery from France or Austria 
 bedeck the walls, ranged with gaudy prints of ballet dancers 
 and amiable Furopean sovereigns framed with their blue-eyed 
 progeny in German-gilt frames, and blazoned in all the glory 
 of Russian oleography. A photograph of the Patriarch and 
 another of a bishop complete the decorations ; for it is hard 
 so to classify the mirrors hung about the room, which betray 
 the self-satisfied witli reflections of weird distortion. The 
 other apartments that form the ordinary dwelling rooms are 
 far less elaborate, being arranged facing each other round a 
 square space, from which they are divided by a low wooden 
 balustrade. Here the ladies and children hide during an 
 entertainment, and engage in the mysterious concoction of 
 coflPee and other delights. 
 
 We sat down for some time listening to the apologies for 
 the inf(4'iority of Mardin to London, that pass for poHteness, 
 until cigarettes and coffee appeared, followed by a string of 
 guests with the usual train of servants and boys, who took up 
 their station at the lower end of the diwan, in expectatioQ of 
 the fragments that should fall to their lot from our table. It 
 IS usual, when one dines out, to be accompanied by a servant, 
 who carries the lantern through the streets, keeps the 
 narjilah full and lighted, fetches water, and makes himself 
 generally useful to guest and host, receiving in return a good 
 >^npper and an occasional glass of arrak. Last of all arrived 
 
88 
 
 Syricni Music. 
 
 I 
 
 the musicians, witli ii violin, cyniLals, and kanun"^; a fourth 
 Sana*, or ratlier emitted vocal sounds. Abu St'liui's son luid 
 been entertaining" us on the kanun fur some time, as well 
 as Yakob, who phiycd it uncommonly well. Selim, too, luid 
 sung some of his favourite hymns in a manner quite ex- 
 cruciatiner ; but his evident deliii'ht at thinkiniif that he 
 pleased us quite outbalanced the pain he caused. Such of 
 the Turkish tuoes that Yakob played, would have been 
 excellent, if one could get accustomed to the doleful system 
 of tuning the instrument in a minoi- key, and the frequent 
 use of quarter-tones. There was plenty of talking and 
 hiughing among the guests, about what I scarcely understood, 
 while Selim read to me extracts from a splendid co])y of 
 Bar Hebneus in his possession, and lold me how great a 
 calligraphist he himself was. He is, indeed, a most exquisite 
 penman of Syriac, and has writtrn some hundred copies, 
 chietly portions of the Scriptures, the Psalms, :\ud service 
 books, for difterent chui'ches. He was much troubled, 
 however, by the wretchud binding with which he has to be 
 contented; the pi-inting press at Beirut does admirnble work 
 in other departments, but there is still much to be desirt'd in 
 their book-binding. Nor do the Dominicans at Mosul, even 
 if Selim wouhl allow one of his ])recious manuscripts into 
 their hands, show nuich better results. An account of Mnglish 
 workmanshi[) in binding and printing only caused a hopeless 
 sigh, although Sc^lim has hopes that some day woi-k 7uay be 
 done on the Patriarch's press of which the Syri;in people 
 may be })roud. 
 
 After waiting two hours, su})])er began to cast its shadow 
 before it. A man came in and spread a gaily -printed cloth 
 upon the floor, while* another plac(Ml a low stool in the centre 
 for the monstrous metal tray that was rolled in after him by 
 tvvo boys. Others followed with eushions to recline on, a 
 profusion of towels, more or less discoh)ared, for napkins, and 
 baskets of bread cut into long, thick strips, which they placed 
 all round the tray for use, Vt^rgiliaii fashion, as plates or 
 
 * A kind of zither played with the finger tipped with metal. 
 
 > ? 
 
 A Dinner Party. 
 
 89 
 
 scoops for gravy. A few knives and forks to be shared 
 among the guests, and a number of wooden spoons, with 
 which to drink the sour milk, or leben, completed the 
 preparations. Then the chief guests were invited to sit down 
 to a succession of dishes, crowded one after the other on to 
 the tray, sweets and meats, regardless of any fantastic 
 aws ot order or digestion, and as rapidly swept off by jealous 
 hands to make room for other dainties. There was seldom 
 time for more than one mouthful from a dish, as the atten- 
 dants, who depended for their own supper on tlie amount 
 tliey could rob from us, stood over us like harpies, very 
 ravening, if the dish was savoury. One delicious compound 
 of almond paste and dates I retained by means of keeping 
 my knife in it, while its contents were ladled with a fork"^ 
 but not for long, fur it was soon snatched jealously away 
 by the hungry boys. 
 
 As disjies came and went, some of the guests grew freer 
 declaring tliat knives and forks were a vain invention, that 
 fingers were made first, and (^ther whimsical aphorisms. So 
 fingers took the place of forks, and i,lunged into the dishes, 
 winch, as they grew less to my taste, suited theirs the better,' 
 until tlie ai)i)earance of sour cream and garlic evoked a most 
 ecstatic grunt of delight, that warned me to forbear. Last 
 and ehief came the lamb, roast whole, in an enormous copper 
 cauldron swimming with rice and gravy, and stuffed with 
 every delicacy of the season. This is one of the Syrian ideals 
 of bliss; and as, by this time, all Frankish conventionalities 
 had been discarded, limb was torn from limb, until all that 
 remained to tell the tale were a few bones and a paltrv pile 
 of rice. ^ ^ 
 
 Rose water in a metal ewer and a large basin were welcome, 
 as we rose panting from the fray, which had lasted in all not 
 tnore than fifteen minutes. Nor were we sorry to drink some 
 iced water from a lovely little silver bowl as we settled down 
 again to cofPee, cigarettes, and quiet talk. ^^ Arrak,^^ a 
 liqueur distilled from grapes and very powerful, that forms a 
 .^ort of vade mecum of most Syrians, had been fl.nving most of 
 the time, and increased the general hilarity, and especially 
 
90 
 
 A Ih)i)if>y Pnrfjf. 
 
 i 
 
 that of the musicians, who liad kept u[) an appalling noi.se all 
 thron^'h dinner, except when relieved by a chorus of Syrian 
 hymns, led by a teacher in one of the schools and sustained 
 by small boys of the household. T had once told Abu Selini 
 that I was interested in these ancient hymns, with the result 
 that mv arrival was always a si<4"nal to the thout'-htful old man 
 to start a succession of them. But, to speak truth, there are 
 few thinofs more tryino- to Eno:lish ears. But the hvmns onlv 
 filled intervals between the performances of the professional 
 musicians. The violin was held u})side down, tuned in a 
 minor key without reference to fifths, and scraped with a bow 
 that had never known resin. The second in command beat 
 time with the cvmbals, which he sent out from time to time to 
 be warmed, in order that the tone miu'hl be sustained. The 
 performer on the kanun was the most tolerable, had it not 
 been for a most diabolical whistle, which he uttered occa- 
 sionally by way of a diversion, placinn" two tino'ei's in his 
 mouth and bringing the sound by slow and agonising degrees 
 down to a whisper. 
 
 Two of these men shared a cigarette between them, which :i 
 small boy ke])t alight, smoking it when it was not occupied, 
 and handinLi" it from one to the other as i-erpiired ; he was not 
 an accomplished smoker, swallowing niusL of the smoke, and 
 turning very pale. The vocalist, liowever, wns the most 
 noticeable of the musicians, but for his eye I'ather tlimi his 
 voice. As soon as he began to sing, his i-ight eye would 
 shoot to the right top corner, and his head begin to shake 
 in the most distressing manner, shaking his eye to its place, 
 if it did not go there at once. The louder he sung, the 
 more he shook, and the further went his (>y(% until at for- 
 tissimo, he had to hold his jaw with both hands to sustain 
 the effort. To this accompaniment conversation dragged 
 slowly on in the genei-al groove of politics and trude. 
 Much interest was aroused when someone asked how much 
 such a grand feast would cost in England,* or Tiondon, 
 which was satisfied when I i"e])lied S])hinx-like, tliiit London 
 
 * Enj]flan(l and London are interchan<jeable terni.s in Interior Turkey. 
 
 I 
 
 •1 Thinner Parfij. 
 
 91 
 
 was one i)lace and Mardin one p'^ace, and it would be hard 
 to obtain such a feast in my own country. It was now 
 past eleven o'clock, and as the little schoolmaster was walk- 
 ing solemnly up and down the room with a reed-pen in one 
 ear, and a lighted cigarette in the other, it was clearly time 
 to go to bed. 
 
 -OOJO^OO 
 
 I 
 
 ^HtmiiiimM 
 
92 
 
 21(r PajKiI Armenian Pr'utif. 
 
 CHAPTER \'lil. 
 
 ^Iakdin,, and its Moslem Inhabitants. 
 
 Ml 
 
 '• Whence comest thou ? 
 What is thj- country r and of wliat ])Cople art thou ? " — Jonah. 
 
 One day in May the city of Miutlin was iu a ferment uf 
 excitement owing to the exjiected Jirrival of ;i ]ierson who 
 was not only a General of the Turkish Army, but one of tlie 
 numerous brothers-in-law of His tSublimc Majesty tlie Sultan. 
 As much splendour^ therefore, as the place could command 
 had been arrayed to meet and du him hunuur. liut, unfurtu- 
 nately, just as the great man, with all his troops, wns half- 
 way between Diarbekr and Mardin, the rain began to pour in 
 the most pitiless and unreasonable manner, and continued to 
 do so for two whole days. 
 
 The Patriarch had borrowed a fine mare that I might go 
 out with the Bishop of Deir-el-Za'aferan and Khuri Ibrahim 
 and meet the !Mushir (for such was his military title) half- 
 way down the hill u})on the north side of the town — a 
 ceremony always demanded by the arrival, in official 
 character, of any personage of sufficient grandeur. 
 
 The hrst person I met in the crowd, into which we were 
 soon swept, was a Papal Armenian priest, who, ever since the 
 day that my muleteer brought him to my room at the church 
 after my arrival, had been a frequent visitor. Being a born 
 gossip, he spent all his time that was not occupied in the 
 daily services of the church conversing in the barber's 
 dukkan with other men who had plenty of spare time, or 
 calling on newly-arrived dignitaries from Europe or the 
 
 The Pajxtl Armenian Priest. 
 
 93 
 
 I \ 
 
 ♦ 
 
 \ 
 
 South. Ho spoke passiil.le Frencli, learued during a stay in 
 lans and, l.e,n<r a man of refinement, which found little "to 
 satisfy ,t m Mardni, ivhithor ho returned to make a home for 
 an unmnrned sister, loved to talk of Venice and his home 
 ar t!ie Armenian cnvent, or of the picture galleries and other 
 
 THji Armenian Priest. 
 
 wonders he .saw iu his travels. Among other accomplish- 
 ments, he had the art of making feeble cojiies of the old 
 masters, and adorned his little room with these-a stran<.e 
 contrast to the surroun.lings of an Eastern house. On tWs 
 •lay he was slipping along over the wet stones and drains in 
 
»*. i»<fc ni '^wdlMi 
 
 92 
 
 T]i( Pujxil Armenian I^rufif. 
 
 The Pajxd Armenian Priest. 
 
 93 
 
 CHAPTEK Vlll 
 
 !^fA[U)IN, AND ITS ^FOSLKM IXHAmTANTS. 
 
 " Whence ooniest thou ? 
 What is thy country ': and of what people art thou ? " — Jonah. 
 
 One day m ^\\\\ tlic city of Mardiii was iu a forinont nf 
 excitement uwiuii* to the ex])ected Jirrival of a ])ei\suii wlio 
 was not oulv a (Jeueral of the Tiirkisli Annv, but one of tlie 
 nnnierous brotliers-in-law uf His »Sublinie Majesty tliu Saltan. 
 As mucli splendour, therefore, as tlie phice could command 
 had been arraved to nioet and do him liouour. But, unfortu- 
 nately, just as the great man, with all his troops, was half- 
 way between Diarbekr antl Mai-din, the rain began to })our in 
 the most pitiless and unreasonable manner, and continued to 
 do so for two whole days. 
 
 The Patriarch had borrowed a fine mare that T miiiht o-q 
 out with the I^ishoj) of Deir-cl-Za'aferan and Khuri Ibrahim 
 and meet the ^lushir (for such was his militarv title) half- 
 way down the hill upon the north side of the town — a 
 ceremony always demanded by the arrival, in oHicial 
 character, of any personage of sutficieut grandeur. 
 
 The hrst person I met in the crowd, into wliich we were 
 soon swept, was a p!H)al Armenian ])riest, who, ever since the 
 day that my nudeteer brought him to my room at the church 
 after my arrival, had been a frecpient visitor. JJeing a boi-n 
 gossip, he spent all his time that was not occupied in the 
 daily services of the church conversing in the barber's 
 dnkkan with other men who had ]»lenty of spare time, or 
 calling on newly-arrived dignitaries from Kuroi)e or the 
 
 I 
 
 South. Ho spoke passul.le Frencli, learned during a stay in 
 li.ns,„nd, heniganian of reHnement, which found little "to 
 satish- ,t in :\rardni, wliithor ho returned to make a home for 
 nn unmarried sister, loved to talk of Venice and his home 
 at the Armenian convent, or of the picture galleries and other 
 
 
 
 - "* "-^ -^iJ*^ 
 
 ■k 
 
 Thk Armkxiax Priest. 
 
 wonders he saw in his travels. Among other accomplish- 
 •Monts, he had the art of making feel.le copies of the old 
 ■Masters, and adorned his little room with these-a stran-e 
 contrast to the surroundings of an Eastern house. On tin's 
 day he was .slipping along over the wet stones and drains in 
 
 i 
 
94 
 
 The MiLshir. 
 
 A Stirian Welcome. 
 
 95 
 
 his high-heeled polished goloshes, and had all ihe work he 
 could "iiianage in keei)ing up against the wind and rain with 
 his great maroon umbrella, and long crape veil upon his head. 
 He was very envious of those who were fortunate enough to 
 have horses, as he shouted after me to remind me of the 
 promise I had made to be at home the following day. 
 However, we had to leave him, to catch a sight as best he 
 might of the Mushir, and make our way through the dense 
 crmvd without any danger of l)eiug trodden under foot by the 
 excited Nizam (regular troops), or, as it is easy to do in 
 Mardin, falling down the chimney of an adjacent house. 
 
 The flat housetops were crowded, chiefly with wumen and 
 children, the former all in their long veils, if not too poor to 
 have them, or too old and ugly to need them, and the latter 
 in all the gaiety of their red tarbushes, strii)ed tunics, and 
 silver buckles, forming such picturesque groups as only the 
 Kast can afford, as they looked over uni' another's shoulders, 
 and enjoyed themselves in spite of the rain. 
 
 There were streams of people riding, or on foot, upon the 
 road for some distance from the town, until we reached two 
 companies of ragged police and soldiers lining the road in 
 readiness to salute His Highness. Soon we saw the Mushir 
 and his officers winding round the lower bend of the ruad, 
 where the coffee-house is, and the Saracen fountain-house 
 under the walnuts, and a few horsemen dashed u]) towards 
 us in an aimless way, followed by a motley com])aiiy of 
 cavalry. After them came a group of some dozen ofiicers, 
 gorgeously dressed, and among them the Mushir, conspicuous 
 by his plain, white astrachan cap, and jacket of Russian 
 fashion. It was a very pretty sight as the comi^any moved 
 slowly on, and man after man out of the crowd dismounted to 
 kiss his hand, and, retiring to mount again, fell intn the 
 disorderly cavalry behind. He was a young-lookin-- man, 
 verv handsome, and with a more Kiiroi)ean appuaianct' than 
 accorded with his company ; he had travelled a good deal, 
 and seemed prematurely grey. The bishop, foil.. win-- the 
 example of the others, dismounted to di-livtT a welcome from 
 the Patriarch, while I stood aside. We then mounted again, 
 
 
 \ 
 
 I 
 
 and fell into the miscellaneous guard, which was now difficult 
 to distinguish from the cavalry. Here I found the value of a 
 mare who would answer every vibration of the rein in a 
 motley crowd, scarcely half of which could do more than keep 
 their seats, for though these people are, from the nature of 
 the country, on horseback from children, yet it is the rarest 
 thing to find one who can ride even passably. Indeed, they 
 ride by the dim light of nature, on very small saddles, and 
 with their knees nearly level with their hips, and retain their 
 balance by means of the mane, bridles being usually con- 
 sidered superfluous ; so that they sway like poplars, and do 
 all the guiding ^vith a whip, seldom cantering more than a 
 few hundred yards without a fall. 
 
 The procession ended in a large number of half-breed Arab- 
 Kurds, enrolled at Diabekr as irregular cavalry, who were to 
 escort the Mushir down across the plain. They looked very 
 fine, for they were in themselves far more picturesque than 
 their companions, whom they despised as slaves; and were 
 upon horses that they rode well. As we drew near the 
 town we heard sounds of cheering, and general apprecia- 
 tion of the honour which was being done to Mardin; but 
 all was drowned by the ardour of the combined choirs of 
 the Syrian churches, who, all in their white surplices, and 
 gaily-coloured stoles, and undeterred by the rain, broke 
 out into a fine Arabic hymn in praise of Mushirs, Sultans, 
 Sultnns' brothers-in-law, and '' Tanzimat." This effusion 
 was composed by the Syrian teacher at the church of 
 Mar Shimunah, who had written the touching hymn for my 
 welcome, and was created Poet Laureate to the Syrians by 
 the Mushir on the spot. 
 
 At this point, owing to the narrowness of the street, I lost 
 the Bishoji, and got entirely entangled among the Arab 
 recruits; and, being unable to turn, was swept along until 
 we reached the open space before the Serai, where the Mushir 
 disappeared, and I had to ride back alone between the admir- 
 ing crowds that still lined the streets. Turning up the lane 
 lending to the church of the Arbain, I nearly rode over the 
 Armenian priest, who was in a terrible state of mind, having 
 
96 
 
 A State Visit. 
 
 A State Visit. 
 
 97 
 
 '. i 
 
 i 
 
 ir 
 
 gone by the wrong road, and missed the whole procession. 
 His only hope was to call immediately on the Mushir and give 
 him the welcome he felt was expected. T discouraged his 
 plan, and advised him to join our party the following day, 
 when the Patriarch would pay a state visit to the Mushir in 
 the Serai, and take some following with him. To this he 
 agreed, and I parted from him to go home and make myself 
 warm and dry. 
 
 There was always a good deal of stir in the Patriarch's 
 house when a state visit was in prospect ; so that the next 
 morning my room was turned into a sort of ante-room, and 
 crowded with those whom His Holiness refused to see. Great 
 preparations were being made ; the best robes were brought 
 out, a crimson tunic, bound with a white and gold embroidered 
 girdle, and a black satin '' Abba '' crossed by a long green 
 sash, on which were sewn the seven orders that the Patriarch 
 wore on such occasions. His beard had to be trimmed, 
 a ad such washings of hands gone through as made one feel 
 quite cool, and then the old man sat and had his breakfast 
 while his attendants prepared themselves, and adorned their 
 master's mare with the purple and silver trappings proper to 
 the day. 
 
 In the middle of the morning the procession started. First 
 walked two monks, Elias and p]frem, the one bearing the 
 Patriarchal staff, the other the cross ; behind them came the 
 Patriarch on his mare, with a deacon on each side to clear the 
 way, and keep beggars from hanging round the horse and 
 kissing the Patriarch's hand. A few piastres were distributed 
 to the poorest, to the rest the answer was continually given, 
 "God is beneficent," obviously implying that the Patriarch 
 was not. It is as much as to say to one who asks "l^akhshish," 
 " Mafish '' (I have not anything) ; only the Oriental has butter 
 under his tongue.^ Behind walked Yusef the "Katib" (secre- 
 tary), and then came a few Syrian elders mounted on mares, 
 with myself. It was curious to notice how magnificent an effect 
 was made by such a small procession in an Eastern town, as 
 
 everyone made way, or struggled up to kiss the hand of the 
 Patriarch, as splendid a figure on his Arab mare as could be 
 conceived, or obtain an " Allah Ma'kum" (God be with you) 
 as he passed. Through the bazar and up a narrow street 
 we came to the open square before the Serai, and found it 
 crowded with new recruits, zaptiehs, and soldiers, attendants 
 
 * See Burton, " Mecca and Medina," i. 8. 
 
 The Patriarch pays a State Visit. 
 
 (m the Mushir, or police of the town, who, for the time, 
 formed a guard of honour. Through the gateway of the 
 Serai officials and visitors were passing in and out as our 
 little procession stopped, and all dismounted to follow the 
 Patriarch into the hall and up to the room where the Mushir 
 held his diwan. 
 
 H 
 
06 
 
 A State Visit. 
 
 gone by the wrong roiul, and missed the whole procession. 
 His only hope was to call immediately on the Mushir and give 
 him the welcome he felt was expected. I discouraged his 
 plan, and advised him to join our party the following day, 
 when the Patriarch would pay a state visit to the Mushir in 
 the Serai, and take some following with him. To this he 
 agreed, and I parted from him to go home and make myself 
 warm and dry. 
 
 There was alwavs a good deal of stir in the Patriarch's 
 house when a state visit was in prospect ; so that the next 
 morning my room was turned into a sort of ante-room, and 
 crowded with those whom His Holiness refused to see. Great 
 preparations were being made ; the best robes were brought 
 out, a crimson tunic, bound with a white and gold embroidered 
 girdle, and a black satin '' Abba '' crossed by a long green 
 sash, on which were sewn the seven orders that the Patriarch 
 wore on such occasions. His beard had t(j be trimmed, 
 a ad such washings of hands gone through as made one feel 
 quite cool, and then the old man sat and had his breakfast 
 while his attendants prepared themselves, and adorned theii- 
 master's mare with the purple and silver trappings proper to 
 
 the dav. 
 
 In the middle of the morning the procession started. First 
 walked two monks, P]lias and Kfrem, the one bearing the 
 Patriarchal staff, the other the cross ; behind them came the 
 Patriarch on his mare, with a deacon on each side to clear the 
 way, and keep beggars from hanging round the horse and 
 kissing the Patriarch's hand. A few piastres were distributed 
 to the poorest, to the rest the answer was continually given, 
 "God is beneficent," obviously implying that the l\atriarch 
 was not. It is as much as to say to one who asks 'M^akhshish/' 
 "Mafish'' (I have not anything); only the Oriental has butter 
 under his tongue.^ Behind walked Yusef the ''Kjitib" (secre- 
 tary), and then came a few Syrian elders mounted on mares, 
 with myself . It was curious to notice how magnificent an effect 
 was made by such a small procession in an Eastern town, as 
 
 * See Burton, " Mecca and Medina," i. 8. 
 
 A Statr r7.v/7. 
 
 97 
 
 everyone made way, or struggled up to kiss the hand of the 
 Patriarch, as splendid a figure on his Arab mare as could be 
 conceived, or obtain an - Allah Ma'kum" (God be with vou) 
 as he passed. Through the bazar and up a narrow street 
 we came to the open square before the Serai, and found it 
 crowded with new recruits, zaptiehs, and soldiers, attendants 
 
 \ 
 
 The Patriarch pays a State Visit. 
 
 <m the Mushir, or ])olice of the town, who, for the time, 
 formed ji guai-d of honour. l^hrough the gateway of the 
 Serai officials and visitors were passing in and out as our 
 little procession stop])ed, and all dismounted to follow the 
 Patriarch into the hall and up to the room where the ^[ushir 
 held his diwan. 
 
I -l 
 
 \: 
 
 98 
 
 The Serai. 
 
 • 1 1 a notable crowd in the room, as we 
 TLeve was ^^^J ^ '^^ ^^ J,!^ the Patviarch " Peace," 
 entered, and one and f °^« ^"^ „f ^-^ ti^^ee and ninety 
 and the Mush,r to ead bn , >" ^j"; ^ ,^„j ,„„io one 
 
 ^^^^^' n/,;^: S- laid rtVrdoo^an'd we sat down, 
 more row by those aiitd ^y a p^ace "^ to everyone 
 
 1 ., fViP Patriarch but refused, and t^^axe me 
 was pressed on the t^atr arcn u ^ 
 
 ';r;:rit:; '.o' ".' s: :.:^ Vu™,. - 1--- 
 B,„ „,i. worth,, .«. »;ti _*:■*„ .. I ... a...... 
 
 on the ngW k"""' "' the Mi>»™. |„,, .vovls-. 
 
 — ced a viol.. a^K.. on ^r^^^^ ■'I ^^^^^^^^^ 
 
 The intense dishke /^l l^> - ' j^ .,„„y 
 
 as most conspicuous in the ni.tic i ol ii 
 
 veiled unde,. a ^"f ;--;j.,rL " ^res;....,:. I 
 
 r^^'wilTfre dl loXre else saw, th. perfid, 
 abused, witU a iieeuuiu nmralitir^, that 
 
 t,,e wordiness the ^'l^-'-^^f ^ / , V but admire 
 characterises her po -7 J^'^^^^^^^^,, ,.„,., ,„, ,.,Hce to 
 
 men ot all creeus H.uiid him. 
 
 her more for the obl.-ations In M sic U 
 
 , • ^ J' I . 0.1 ill-nmoned sound to nnn, i.i^i'oio 
 ^' Bulganstan ' has an ill-omenca 
 
 ~~ ~ ] 1 4. f ''t:.,ioTr. Woikum" (peace be upon 
 
 . At Mardin Christians ,ive ^^ ;'^:f'^^.^^U „f the Prophet, : in 
 youV and receive its answer, even '^"'^ ^"^%^^. ^^ i„ ,„„c towns the 
 Lother place ,t would be f^^^J't^V^ 1^: r:u:h.r t-t.lonr- n,ay not he 
 
 ::;t,;t\rt.:etXn.:":ti;irs:nea.ain' 
 
 shade.- Buckingham. -Travels in Me.opotamia, i. 324. 
 
 The Mntaerritf. 
 
 99 
 
 he hates. '' Of a truth they are Sheitans,^ these English ; '' 
 there is no trusting them. Russia they hate more, for they 
 are a more present danger. To Russia and England tlie 
 Christians look, to the former as the power which they believe, 
 to the latter as that which they hope, will come to possess the 
 land. England, and her great Queen, is everywhere the 
 protector of the oppressed, and it is wonderful the prestige 
 which England possesses among the people merely from the 
 rule of a Queen, who has sat fifty-five years on the throne, 
 without an attempt at her overthrow, or one outbreak of 
 disloyalty among all the nations she rules. AVe are too 
 occidental in our ways for the Easterns, but the great Quee n 
 is one of the elements that make us regarded by them. I 
 complained later of the tone in which the man spoke ; but 
 the Patriarch, to whom I mentioned it, merely shook liis 
 head, and said he was the '^ Father of disgust,'^ and had ^^o 
 '^Politika.^'t 
 
 l turned to my other neighbour, the '^Reis,'' or Mayor of 
 Mardin, a man of very different style, sitting in a most easy 
 manner, one leg curled up beneath him, and smoking a huge 
 ''narjilah.'' I discovered that he had been to England, seen 
 the Queen and a number of distinguished people, with none 
 of whom he cared to talk, as they could give him no coifee, 
 nndno rocking chair, such as the American missionaries had. 
 Tlie Queen had given liim one, and he sat in it before her ! 
 but he only saw the Queen for a shoi^t time ! " Slie sat like 
 a man, wlirn T was in the room,'' he said. Then he phiyed a 
 little with his ^'Tasbih" (beads) that indispensable plaything 
 of the East, and asked me whether I cared for t\ie colour of 
 his hair. Tt was a bright orange colour, having been that 
 morning freshly dyed with henna. T evaded the question 
 
 * Sheitan— a word without definition —explains itself. Our greatest oriental 
 diplomatist might he described as Sheitan. See Burton, " Mecca and Medina," 
 i. Ill, ii. 230. So Mrs Bishop, ''Travels in Persia," i. 19, 171. "England 
 talks and does not act " (cp. ii. 128, 272). 
 
 t A term ai»plied to all the arts that are comprised in our old English exi)res- 
 aion "A man of parts," as well as suggesting diplomatic ability and good 
 breeding. 
 
 H 2 
 
 \ 
 
'i' 
 
 I 
 
 100 
 
 The rrophef'^ Tlnir. 
 
 by savin? that we \v.u\ no custom to dye our hn,r. Ah 
 Sen "vonv women must have light hair s,.nu.t,nu.s ; y,.u hU 
 
 tf suppose, and l,hu> eyes ; ugh ! just like the .Vn.ev.kann. 
 I a.l'nnttei the soft impeachment, an.l p,-a,se,l the colouv 
 the Mufti's (doctor of law) hoard, which was l,hH'k All lie 
 
 nifti he i proud of his beard, and don't you kn...v > but 
 p a ; God. viu do know, as T, 'Hanulul-UUah,' learned some- 
 finie since ; he has. peace be upon hiui, and the -rcy of God 
 a hair of the blessed one, peace be upon hini, a hair of the 
 prophet's beard. ' Snbhaii Allah, ya iMigh. (gl-ry to G.xl 
 O !fn..li-hnian) '"; and he looked curiously at .... to see what! 
 thought of the hair. T.ruibling lest f should commit mysel 
 asked what he did with it. " Mash Allah' ,. .s lu.s star, h 
 'niblnh ' the li-ht of his dark nights; and, do you know, he 
 s r^:^: ;; l:. a-yea,. in a small ebony box, whi,.h the people 
 the faithful o,ies, kiss, peace be upo.i hcu and G >d 
 mercy, and f.^eedom f.'o.u tor.nent f.r over." 1 w„ndered at 
 the power of the hair, aiul was duiuh. , , . ^ , n 
 
 * The Mufti, who caused this digression, had just entere^ 
 and behind him the coffee, 'niose tor wh.uu thw was the 
 "co. d velav, drank their cup, and watched tluur „pportu,nty 
 or 1 mit of the .•oo.u like Imlting .-abbus. .her hands 
 l,,Hng a tattoo on the hea.-ts a.ul .-..vhoads, -"-;-- 
 de.sign;i to ci..cumven. the polite l-t, "h. > w, ,, - , 
 conduct them to the door. Hie Mutti uas suc.i .i 
 b Ibearded man as T never before saw, ami -^ .'- ^^ ^*^ 
 Qadhi (judge), who was distinguished by a baud ■> ^-'; ' ;-] 
 ,,uud L turbaud. The Muft. was gorgeous «tl g.ten 
 Z\u^ a lu,lv,nan and the possessor of the ban- „t .Nb.hanimod s 
 beard, and 'seemed to take little n<,tice of a.iyone ,n .he .-oom 
 except a reve.-end sheikh, likewise ar.-ayed ,n wh.te ...d 
 green, who occupied a seat of honour near .he M u.hn-. I h.s 
 Lu :vas one of seven b.-others, sheikl,. and oly .uen a , 
 another of whom was Slu-ikh of the anc.eut vdlage of Dai. 
 Zl Mardui. He was a man of most polished .nanners, and 
 
 * The colour j^ccn generally 
 being worn l\v Sharifs. 
 
 denotes a claim to aesceut truin the prophet, 
 
 : 
 
 The Qadhi. 
 
 101 
 
 talked pleasantly of things in general, and to me of thinog 
 Turkish and English, bewailing the state of affairs in Turkt^-, 
 and the leaden weight of custom that retarded progress! 
 AVith the Patriarch he seemed especially friendly, and spoke 
 in a way that betokened intimacy. 
 
 At last coffee was again served, and the Patriarch rose by 
 the help of Rahab Elias, and walked slowly to the d(K)r 
 accompanied by the .Mushir, and my friend the Reis. Thei-e 
 was one more visit to pay, to the Qadhi in his own diwan. 
 The same ceremonies were gone through, and the same coii- 
 versatioii followed, flavoured with inquiries as to custom.^^ in 
 England, especially the manner of conductiug hgid incpiirics. 
 I was, with i)ardonable pride referring to the well-known 
 integrity of our bench, when the Patriarch gave me a 
 warning look. I desisted and began to describe our courts 
 of law and juries. The warning was necessary, for in Turkey 
 law, except in mere matters of technical legalitv, has been 
 largely reduced to a matter of £. ,v. d., and a case is decided 
 by the extent of the douceur off'ei-ed. Bribes are received 
 from both parties to a suit as a matter of course, and the 
 award goes to the highest bidder; and the higher and more 
 unimpeachable the court, the higher the bid must be. The 
 administration of law is one vast system of bribery; and to 
 speak of the integrity of law courts is to provoke a smile of 
 pity from a Tui-kisli audience. 8uch a thing as impartial 
 judgment a])pears to them not only impossible, but foolish. 
 A man of law in Turkey depends on bribery for half his 
 income, and owing to the vile system of allowing men to hold 
 offices for a shoi-t time only, there is the ever present tempta- 
 tion to make hay wlnle the sun shines.* 
 
 This visit over, our little train once more sought the streets, 
 the Qadhi conducting the Patriarch and trying to make hini 
 accept a fiuely chased cigarette holder, which His Holiness 
 refused, saying that he would only have to give one more 
 
 * Mrs. Bishop'.s words apply equally well to Turkey as to Persia : •' There are 
 few men (in Persia) pure enough to judge their fellows, or to lift up clean hands 
 to heaven, and power and place are valued for their opportunities of plunder" 
 (cp. Maclean and Browne, p. 20, 128, &c.). 
 
 I • 
 
 ..i^L. 
 
102 
 
 The Qadhi. 
 
 handsoine in return ; besides which ln' cared little for 
 "fantasia."* The old mnn was very tired, for he had been 
 out four hours, a long tune for a man of ninety-three ; so we 
 mounted and rode in procession slowly ro the church. 
 
 The Mushir remained a week in Mardin enrolling fresh 
 recruits from the inhabitants of the plain, and then proceeded 
 to Nisibin. There he caught sight from his tent of the 
 Syrian church of St. James, the only building in the village 
 worthy of the name. Having expressed a desire to sleep 
 there, the large diwan over the church was prei)ared for him. 
 When night came on and his own devotions were done, being 
 of an inquiring mind, he requested the Bishop's servant to go 
 through the form of his evening worship, during which his 
 
 Kxcelfency fell asleep. He pronounced therefore in the morning 
 a favourable opinion on the man's devotion, and gained in the 
 eyes of the Bishop, a simple man, wdio was absent at the 
 time, the reputation of being a very Christian man, who for 
 
 the sake of his position professed the faith of the false 
 
 Prophet. 
 
 * A Avord descriptive of all kinds of ornament in words or thm^^. 
 
 >>«<o<^ 
 
 I 
 
 J^ 
 
 QaWat-el'Mara, 
 
 103 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan. 
 
 On to God's house the people prest : 
 Passing the place where each must rest, 
 And entered like a welcome g-uest. 
 
 Tennyson. 
 
 About five miles eastward of Mardin and lower down towards 
 the plain lies the monastery of Deir-el-Za'aferan. The ride 
 from tlie eastern gate of the town, along the ne^v Turkish 
 road, above the gardens of figs and almonds and numerous 
 vineyards, is one of extreme beauty. Not only is there the 
 view across the boundless plain, with its varying shades of 
 colour, its "tells'' and villages, but westwards are the lower 
 ranges of hills wdiich rise out of the plain and grow more 
 lovely as the sinking sun sharpens their outlines and throws 
 the long shadows one upon the otner. Eastwards are gardens 
 too, a '^ paradise '' with plane and walnut trees, stone-built 
 fountains, in which the water from the hills above is husbanded, 
 and where may usually be seen a group of w^omen washing 
 clothes, and boys who have galloped out their masters' horses 
 to water, or a jaded drove of mules and donkeys resting after 
 a weary journey from Mosul. A mile or more from the town, 
 under the high range that runs far eastward, a bridle path 
 leads off the road through vineyards to the village of Qala'at- 
 el-Mara. Here and there, among the vineyards, one may see 
 an erection of four poles roofed with brushwood, and a plat- 
 form of the same, on which those wdio guard the grapes may 
 take refuge from the noonday sun, and sleep safe from 
 

 104 
 
 QaWat-el-Mara. 
 
 scorpions and snakes, such a booth as Jonah made at Nineveh 
 and Isaiah often speaks of . The vilhige contains a flourisliing 
 community of Syrians, occupied chiefly in making wine and 
 weaving. They iwe ignorant, and therefore quarrelsome, 
 although there are among them a few men of enlighten- 
 ment, and one excellent priest. As is often the case, 
 the three other priests look wath little favour on their 
 more worthy and more popular brother, regarding his 
 continual visits to the private houses and diligent reading 
 of the gospels as an encroachment un their own rights. 
 It may be added that he was at one time attached 
 to the Congregational community; but leaving them he 
 was ordained priest at the urgent request of the village, 
 and combines with the true doctrines of his own church the 
 good he has learned from the American missionaries. His 
 popularity is a considerable proof of the Syrian affection for 
 the Bible. Within the last few years a large, handsome 
 church has been built by the exertions of the villagers. The 
 Patriarch gave a considerable sum towards the work, and, 
 much to the delight of the people, celebrated the Holy Com- 
 munion in the church one morning during last summer. 
 
 The name of the village is accounted for by the existence 
 of a ruined castle on the top of the high conical hill, at the 
 north foot of which the village stands. Who the lady or 
 princess was, to whom tradition says that the castle belonged, 
 it is impossible to tell. The natives of course say that she 
 was a daughter of Darius, king of Dara, and held the fort 
 successfully against Tamerlane. Perhaps the castle \vas, like 
 the tower that stands near Dara in the plain, a forcitication 
 of the Eomans or Persians; while, from the number of 
 &assanian coins found in the district, it would appear that it 
 was built by one of that dynasty. Little remains, how^ever, 
 from which to determine its date. 
 
 The path from the village leads across a stream, which like 
 the xapdSpa of Greece becomes a mere dry watercourse in 
 summer, to a rich plateau, half-way between the top of the 
 mountain and the plain, on which stands the picturesque 
 monastery of the yellow rocks or Deir-el-Za'aferan. The 
 
 I 
 
 Deir-tl-Za' iiferan. 
 
 105 
 
 building has called for little attention from various travellers 
 who have visited it, nor could it have merited much from 
 a casual observer, who perhaps w^ould not have been 
 permitted to see some of its most interesting contents. It 
 is ten years since the place was restored by the present 
 Patriarch, who obtained contributions for the purpose from 
 all his people; so that now it forms a really imposing building, 
 the additions being not only substantial but exceedingly 
 picturesque. 
 
 As this monastery formed my home for some five months 
 of the year, and also on account of its architectural 
 beauty and the interest connected with it as a type of an 
 eastern monastery and the headquarters of the Syrian 
 Church, a rather longer description than usual may not be 
 out of place. 
 
 High walls of massive masonry run all round the front that 
 faces the plain, and inclose a large court, half of which serves 
 as an inclosure for the mules, cattle, and goats, the other half 
 as an entrance and stableyard. Along one side of the latter 
 run the outer stables for the use of strangers ; while on the 
 north side steps lead up to the monastery. Before, behind, 
 aud on each side of the building are vineyards and gardens,' 
 with many a fruit tree and a pleasant reseivoir. The little 
 yellow figs are very abundant ; and as they fail and are dried 
 for winter use are succeeded by pomegranates and great juicy 
 almonds, pears, and walnuts. In a good year the almonds 
 and olives bring in a hundred pounds of revenue; but little 
 care is taken of them, except during the picking season, so 
 that they, like the grapes, do not yield half of what they 
 should. The wine of Deir Za'aferan is justly famous, although 
 few strangers are privileged to drink it ; for not only is very 
 little made, but the greater part of it is put aside for sacra- 
 mental use, the grapes for this purpose being pressed by the 
 hand instead of being trodden by the feet. As much, how- 
 ever, as remains over at the end of the year is used for general 
 consumption with the ordinary wine, although the monks 
 themselves are very abstemious all through the year, and 
 seldom touch either wine or '* arrak.^' 
 
100 
 
 Tht' Garden. 
 
 The kitchen-garden, well-stocked with lettuces, pumpkins, 
 cucumbers, and marrows, forms a delightful place in which 
 to spend the heat of the day. A stream of cold water is 
 collected iu a great tank that stands in the middle for bathing 
 and washing clothes, and runs from a marble mouth iuto the 
 great *^ aiwan," or covered court, so commonly used in the east 
 as a refuge from the sun. Mulberry and walnut trees form a 
 pleasant shade, and keep oif the mosquitoes ; while there is 
 always occupation, when needed, in killing off as many as 
 possible of the small locusts that infest the country in July. 
 To sit in such a garden as this, and hear the water trickle, and 
 eat fruit, is the eastern idea of bliss. The horses tethered just 
 outside cause an occasional diversion by stretching their cords 
 and getting within pawing distance of each other; or one of 
 the Syrians sets up one of those indescribably monotonous 
 songs, all nose and throat and quarter tones ; while the rest 
 smoke, and, especially if there are Moslem Efendis amongst 
 them, sip small glasses of " arrak." On these afternoons in 
 the garden, the small boys, after their work among the fruit 
 trees and sheep, or in the monastery, would rig up a swing, 
 and get really hot like English boys ; or they would bathe in 
 the pool, or sometimes play draughts with pieces of pome- 
 granate peel and a board improvised on a flat stone. In the 
 evening, when the daily service was over and the day's work 
 done, the Bishop would come down, and we would sit and 
 listen to old-world stories of the Syrians, or to the latest news 
 from Mardin. 
 
 Up the steps from the courtyard to the monastery we 
 pass through an immense pair of iron-bound doors into the 
 cloister that runs all round the inner quadrangle. To the 
 right of these doors and over the stables in the outer court 
 are the four new rooms built for the printing presses, at 
 which the Bishop spends most of his spare time. The door at 
 the end of this building leads on to the roof of the stables, 
 and there we sat, evening after evening, watching the 
 sun go down and the lovely lights succeeding each other, 
 chameleon-like, over the plain. One could conjure up 
 visions there of what this country had once been, and 
 
 The Courtyard. 
 
 107 
 
 dream of what it might once again be, until a boy came to 
 t'heirrser''' ""^ '''^^'' ^"^ *^' """^^'^^^ inspection of 
 Within the quadrangle is at all times a busy scene, but 
 especially towards evening; the deacons are preparing 
 the boiled wheat and fruit for the monks' supper upon I 
 raised stone dais in one corner; the boys are leading the 
 horses that have just come in up and down the pavement to 
 prevent them catching cold, and a group of monks sit reading 
 or talking, listening perhaps to the news of a stranger from 
 Mosul or Aleppo, or welcoming home a monk from travels 
 among the mountains. The cloisters are arched all round • 
 o he east is the great church of Mar Yakob, and to the 
 M of that the mausoleum of the Patriarchs and the 
 Bishops of the monastery. The former is a fine buildinc 
 nearly square, with immense walls, in the thickness of which 
 
 ehly but roughly carved, and a frieze of floral design runs 
 he wliole way round the church. The semi-domes over the 
 Icoves are filled with modern and very bad paintings, as are 
 the spandri s of the roof. There is also a dome, devoid of 
 ornanxent the outside of which is not circular, but a four- 
 sided pitched roof of tiles. The eastern part of the church's 
 ot course occupied by three sanctuaries, the centre one con^ 
 taming the high altar, the north being used as a chapel for 
 special occasions, such as the making of the oil of ordination 
 and baptism ; the south serves as a vestry and for the pre- 
 paration of the sacramental elements. These three chapels 
 are divided from each other and from the church by massive 
 walls, in which there are doors, and are all of different 
 shape. Against the wall, on the north side of the central 
 sanctuary, stands the Patriarch's chair, in which he is con- 
 secrated and which he always afterwards occupies. It has 
 the name of Peter and Ignatius written in gold upon the back 
 along the top and side of which runs a lovely design of 
 inlaid ivory and underneath is placed a card inscribed with 
 tne name of the reigning Patriarch. The chair is covered 
 ^^^th a valuable Persian carpet, and has a high wooden canopy 
 
108 
 
 The Church, 
 
 Almost the only other ornaments of the church are the few 
 altar vases, the Cup and Paten which always stand there 
 covered with an embroidered cloth, the Patriarch^s and 
 Bishop's staffs, the cymbals, the fans, and the candle- 
 sticks. On the reading desk before the altar is placed 
 the old manuscript Gospel^ and Bible, lections from which 
 form one of the chief parts of every service, and in the 
 body of the church a lectern is placed on either side, con- 
 taining the prayer and psalm books for the people's use. 
 On the south wall is the portrait of the founder, the only 
 original painting in the church. The Syrians never have 
 approved of picturest since the days of Jacobus Bardteus, 
 and these portraits are the only genuine paintings to be found 
 in their churches. 
 
 Morning and evening and at midday the bellj of the con- 
 vent sounds for prayer. The Bishop and all the monks 
 attend, as well as many visitors. An account, however, of 
 these services will be reserved for a fuller treatment as part 
 of the ritual of the Syrians. 
 
 The mausoleum that adjoins the church on the south side 
 contains little of interest, except the tomb of Mar Evgen 
 (Eugenius), a renowned Syrian saint, to whom the building 
 is dedicated. The tombs are placed in large recesses, of 
 which there are eight ranged round the walls, each containing 
 several Patriarchs or Bishops. Like the Patriarchs of Athens, 
 buried in the chamber on Mount Lycabettus, they are placed 
 in a sitting posture, side by side, some of the chambers con- 
 taining as many as ten. This manner of burial is not usual, 
 the ordinary clergy and laymen being interred outside the 
 
 * The gospel placed on this desk is always bound in silver, chased with a 
 representation of the Crucifixion, of Byzantine de:?ign. 
 
 t Ainsworth, ii. 343, is quite incorrect when he speaks of the Syrians as partial 
 to pictures. Such as they have, except of the kind mentioned in the text, are 
 undoubtedly due to the Papal influence. Many have also been sent from 
 Russia. 
 
 X The number of bells in the Syrian churches has considerably increased of 
 late years, many new belfries having been erected, and bells procured from 
 Europe or America. In some places the old ffi/xavSpo , or board, is still beaten 
 instead. At Deir Za'aferan it is used now only to call the monks to meals. 
 
/ 
 
 I 
 
 The Church. 
 
 109 
 
 church, and in the ..arr,e posture as is custo.nary in Endand 
 It ^., moreover, usual to place several bodies in thetnfe 
 
 f thf r;;,:^ :'t '^'i ^° ^" ^-^^^^"^^^ f-^ru 
 
 of w^rk ! vf"'"""^'' / "^ '""^y i'^^Se from the analogy 
 are Z i ^•''•^'^. '^"^ ^ara. Its characteristic features 
 allien: i:r ;:„:-;? «- -- used, and tl. shen 
 
 dlTfT!^ 'nonastery seem also to point to a Roman 
 
 date for the earher portions of the building 
 
 Beneath this church and that adjacent" to it is a most 
 e.traordmary underground chamber, if the use of whrcl^the 
 monks are perfectly ignorant, although they believe as u.ual 
 that U eontam, a large amount of treasure' Its Ixisten'et 
 
 C obab le ha f the entrance is to find; nor ,s it at all 
 iiui.iobable that treasure has been hidden there I was verv 
 anx.ous to search for books, for I am persuaded tha such '1 
 monast>.ry must contain books son.ewh'ere, and there are very 
 few above ground. But the Patriarch is very much aver "to 
 excavat,ons of any kind, and will not allow the earth, Xl i 
 
 «ei,hbou.ho„T„f Zdl Drr. zZ 7 Ti '"" ""'^■^' ""'^"^ ■" *"« 
 Bi»hop of Mardin, aboutTos bit Lv W Men . '■""'"'' "' ^"^'^'' 
 
 John, .Ho .ay, that ho was' ^no 1 oV^ rrEZnT' a^ain restored by 
 
 monks, and furnished with manv hnnl the monastery was adorned by the 
 
 eaints." Cp. A^tanrBi^J'^r^fj ,f 3; «" ^-- ^^ twelve thousand 
 
 paS:r7oh::;tLrLr;''ornarr^ "- - — -^- 
 
110 
 
 Deir-el-Za\ifera n . 
 
 The Knr.n. 
 
 piled up at two ends of the chamber, to be removed. The 
 ceiling, which supports the floors of the churches above, is 
 noticeable as being Hat and of stone ; it is still perfectly level, 
 which speaks wonders for the strength and symmetry of the 
 masonry. The resemblance between all the older masonry 
 and that of Dara is very striking, and is thought by Doctor 
 Badger to favour the tradition that assigns its foundation to 
 '' Mar Hananya of Kafr Jutha, a village in the ])lain, who is 
 said to have purchased the building fifteen centuries ago 
 while it was yet a castle, and to have converted it into a 
 monastery.''* 
 
 Under the eaves of the large church there is a frieze of 
 curious carving carried round the four sides. Its rather 
 uncouth designs, birds, flowers, mitres, and croziers, suggest 
 very forcibly a Byzantine influence, of which we shall find 
 later on very marked signs in Jebel Tur. The three remain- 
 ing sides of the quadrangle are occupied with chambers for 
 the monks, store-rooms, a large kitchen, and a third church. 
 This last is now quite dark and never used, except as a store- 
 house for grain. The chancels still contain their altars, and 
 are closed by doors of wood, beautifully inlaid, like some of 
 the doors to be seen in Mardin. But thev are chieflv remark- 
 able for containing the shattered remains of fine mosaic on the 
 floor, evidently of Roman workmanship. 
 
 At the south-west corner of the large church a turret stair- 
 case leads to a '^ balakhana," or terrace, that runs all round 
 the quadrangle above the cloisters. On to this opeu a 
 number of rooms, most of which are not very large ; at one 
 corner is the Patriarch's winter diwan, a large and pleasant 
 room, with a most glorious view to south and west across the 
 plain and up the Qala'at-el-Mara Valley. His summer room 
 is immediately below this, but it is older and less pleasant. 
 These two and the guest room are the only rooms, except 
 those containing the press, that are glazed. Last summer His 
 Holiness, having spent a week at the monastery and been 
 
 * The tradition is perfectly correct, although the date ia too early. John 
 speaks of Ananias as the second founder. 
 
 Ill 
 
 H 
 
 
 occupies during the winter at Mardin "'"""^ 
 
 These rooms, which are part of the building added by the 
 
 are b:iH 'on "^T'^ "'^'^"*'^> ^""^ -™^-^-b L '^Tht 
 Td bf,, ''"^^^^*''»'^' ^"'l ^rewell fitted with cupboards 
 
 carpet ?o fit' " •*'"* ' .T ^'''^' ^''"^ ^^^ ^^'P o^ a Tet 
 
 It only remains to notice the '^kursi^' n.. fi. 
 large .square chape,, containing ai'Xr T ^e"^ "ZLI 
 th.s ,s a marble altar piece, said to have been consecrated bv 
 St. Petor at Ant.och, and to have been brought to it tetnt 
 pos,t,on by the succes.sors of the ApostTe 'Vt 
 explanation of the curious desigl X d' upon it" "; 
 ong,nallv painted; two .sheep seet, to bol on Lh side of"! 
 
 rndmtes Th,s ,s framed by an arch, round which are carved 
 
 Z Zt "V "°'' '" ^'""'i -^^^^^'^ ^^^ «--^ conJis L ' 
 our Lord. Two more arches, one above the other rais^ fl, 
 
 whole to the height of about sixteen feet fr m the fl r I 
 few h.deous p,ctures of Russian workn,a„ship, and a t'on.t 
 contannng the bones of the 12,000 martyrs me, tioned above 
 comp ete the furniture of this neglected'iouse o God iT ,' 
 used for the final enthronement of a Patriarch, aft«-he has 
 been consecrated in the great church of the monaster 
 th,s ceremony of consecration the following is an account 
 contanied n a letter sent in 7«79 i ^i, account, 
 
 sent to us and reached us in Amid (DiarbeVrl Tl . ' 
 
 «.id, for our information, ^.^e h^^^ cht „ y^o^^te;;*:: 
 Patnarch.' And at that place n.e .-hiefs of Amid and al 
 other places received us AnH v^^ , ' 
 
 amid a v,.st concourse "'ouf ^eol nTotT""' '° ''T'^''^ 
 flio 1^; i IT ^1 '>"! P^*^P'^ and others, escorted bv 
 
 the K.ng s sold,ers, and in grand procession of numerous 
 

 112 
 
 The Patriarch' }< Consecration. 
 
 people, as if to testify to the greatness of the Lord and the 
 blessedness of the Holy Church. And in these days countless 
 people from Amid, Besanagari,^ Atliur,t and Gosaratha of 
 the Chald;v?ans,J the lands of Bissaria,§ and Tural)dien,|| and 
 Mardin and all its bounds to the deir of Knrknna^f came to 
 sing. And they said to us ' Thou art chosen by us as our 
 shepherd to make firm the whole Church/ and again all 
 shouted as from one mouth, by the act of God and by His love. 
 And after some days, when Pentecost drew near, there came 
 Kpiscopas, Rabbans (monk**) Kashishas (priests), and 
 Deacons ; and the King and his armies,*^ and the 
 lshmaelites,tt '"vinl tlie Armenians and the Chaldioans, who 
 were all more desirous to see than the Syrians themselves ; 
 and several nations of believers in Christ, men, women, young 
 men. boys, children, and virgins, in ])arties, in l)atches, in 
 lines, in crowds, in rows, and from all sides, and in several 
 colours. Great notice and great press ensued, such as has 
 never before been witnessed. And after matins and the holy 
 and divine mysteries, the consecration began. Then as the 
 time of the imparting of the Holy Spirit came, there arose of 
 one accord a terrific and shaking voice from all the Bishops, 
 from the vast numbers of Priests, from the Deacons, and from 
 all orders, and from the entire Church ; and they (the people) 
 from outside and inside shouted ' Auxios, Auxios, Auxios, 
 Mar Abuna, ^lar Ignatius ! 'JJ Surprise and excitement 
 overtook all ; a new song was nmde at the time, while the 
 ^[utrans and Kpiscopas chanted the Cadesa,§§ and the whole 
 
 * Unknown. 
 
 + Assyria or Nineveh. 
 
 X Unknown. 
 
 § District of Basra, once an important diocese. 
 
 jl The mountain of the monks, Jebel Tur, as it is called in Arabic. 
 
 ^ The Syriac name for Deir-el-Za'aferan. 
 
 ** It must be remembered that the writer wishes to impress the Bishop ; he 
 refers perhaps to the Wall and a few Zaptiehs. 
 
 ft Arabs. 
 
 %X " Worthy, worthy, worthy, is our father, the Lord Ignatius." Auxios is 
 the Greek A^tos. 
 
 H I.e., Holy, whether part of the Liturcjy, or some hymn peculiar to the 
 occasion, is not clear. 
 
 A Problem of Lanquayes. 
 
 113 
 
 * 
 
 1 
 
 concourse chanted Breec Ikkorac,* and the Deacons Eliup- 
 deacons, Koroyau.st and Msamrans,! sang praise in crowds. 
 And then I stood witli the Mutrans and Episcopas, and each 
 one held with his right hand the ebony staff that is bound with 
 silver of the Patriarch. And first, the chiefest among them 
 vowed the vow of his obedience to me, who held the lowest 
 p ace ; and he moved his hand below mine, and then the next 
 nil in order, testifying their obedience and love to their new 
 Patriarch. So men and women rejoiced; young men leaped 
 rejoicing, young women and virgins sang praises to the Lord 
 and boys and children clapped hands and rejoiced. Bells and 
 cymbals ivnt the air, and the King and his armies stood 
 grieving. They seixirated the crowds with clubs and blows 
 (Jthers than Christians in great numbers stood ama/.ed, and 
 in spite of themselves .sang praise to God. And thus the 
 <-rowds lived at the throne of Antioch for ten days, eatin<. at 
 the same table, filled with all good things and rejoicing."" 
 
 One Saturday evening, when the grapes were growin<^ 
 black and the sheathes of the almonds near to bnrstin.^ ! 
 sat with Rahab Ibrahim under a great walnut tree close" to 
 the monastery, and watched the people streaming up the 
 steep road to the gate. He had been speaking of the 
 language, and discussing the method to be pursued when 
 they began printing again at the Deir. Over a large area 
 inhabited by his people, Arabic is the language in common' 
 use ail through Syria, as far as Aleppo, from Mardin to 
 Mosul, m the northern part of .Tebel Tur, and again in Sert. 
 Turani, a corruption of the classical Syriac, is .spoken ohieflv 
 in .T(>bel Tur, while in the neighboirhood of Urfa, Diarbekr 
 and Kharput, Armenian and Turkish contend for supremacy! 
 In Diarbekr, these lingual streams meet, and a fine Babel is 
 the result. Bat everywhere the more educated use the 
 Synac character for writing the local language, a combina- 
 tion known as " rxarshuni," whereas the Rahab thought that 
 
 ty,l .^«""'', r°"'' "/'. "°* ^^"'■'"- ^" '^■■*''''=' *'"'^ »'?•" be intended to mean 
 the " Bnglitncss of shouting."' 
 
 f The readers. ;; 
 
 t Unintelligible, Mshamshann is a deacon in Syriac. 
 
114 
 
 A Problem, of Languages. 
 
 M 
 
 few even amoii^ the lii<z;liei' elergy understood the classieal 
 languatre well, although everyone could read it by rote. The 
 use of Syriac or Garshuni seemed best to meet the require- 
 ments of the printing press for two reasons : First, that the 
 people consider any attempt to tamper with the national 
 language as an attack on the nationality itself, and the 
 ancient hymns and psalms, translated, would no longer tit the 
 music of St. Efrem and his successors. An immense value is 
 attached to these hymns, and the tunes serve, no less than the 
 language in which they are written, as a great bond of the 
 people. Strange tunes they are, starting on a high note, and 
 coming down by gradual degrees through strings of appoggia- 
 turas to a quiet minor hum. Quarter tones are used with a 
 result strangely out of harmony with our ideas of music ; 
 but sometimes when one hears in the eveninix three or four 
 voices of monks that sit singing round the fountain in the 
 garden, the melancholy sound, softened by distance, has a 
 mysterious and not unpleasing effect. In fact, though the 
 music and the national language set to it deserve respect, yet 
 Rahab Tbrnhim had to admit that a language used chiefly for 
 church l)ooks and services could not be of much use except 
 as a subject of careful study in the schools, and that the chief 
 reliance must be placed on Garshuni. 
 
 Kaluil) Ibrahim was enthusiastic about the Deir; would it 
 not restore the glories of Edessa, and would not the spirit of 
 their blessed p]frem be upon it ? Then would Hebrew and 
 Greek again be learnt, as it was clearly learned by those wlio 
 wrote their old manuscripts, and then would the study of 
 piety and good literature Hourish again in the land. 
 
 We walked back by the garden, and went into the Court, 
 where the '' aiwan '' is, and the water collects in a larsre basin 
 for use in the garden. Old Yakob, the Patriarch's nephew, 
 the gardener here, was letting off the water by channels, and 
 leading it from terrace to terrace among the lettuces, and 
 bamiyahs [Hibiscus esculentus) and cucumbers and pumpkins. 
 Every evening he did this; but to-day he had to contend 
 with a dozen small Mardin boy*^, who were among the crowd 
 which had come over for Sundav. Thev wished to bathe, 
 
 HaMMMiBMBi 
 
 sae 
 
 mmmm 
 
 mii 
 
 An Eastern Garden. 
 
 m 
 
 and would block up his channel, until the old man, losing all 
 patience, called his son Sulaiman to guard one channel while 
 he was posted at another. So the boys gave up their bathe, 
 and made mischief by loosening the halters of donkeys left 
 at the gate by some women who had come to Avash their 
 Sunday frills, and a fight was the result. 
 
 We sat and watched these things, '^ making keif with 
 cigarettes and fruit, as though it was all done to anmse us. 
 One becomes very philosophic "making keif' in a hot 
 country; and I doubt whether we should have had energy 
 enough to interfere, if the boys had driven off the donkeys. 
 They were not our donkeys ; what did it matter ? 
 
 The aiwan close to which we sat, beneath a walnut tree, 
 covered one of those springs "whose waters fail not/' that are 
 the chief joy of the East. Its main use was to irrigate the 
 garden on the terrace below. This was done by planting the 
 vegetables in rows within the small square beds, and 
 surrounding each of the latter with a little ridge, through a 
 breach in which the water might be let, when required. In 
 this way the water may be controlled with the greatest ease, 
 and very little is wasted. 
 
 In the hill country, where the fields lie generally on the 
 slopes, down which the streams flow to the valleys, the water 
 is led off in channels dug parallel to the sides of the hills and 
 so used for irrigating the crops below. These channels are 
 often carried for great distances along the sides oi hills, and 
 are sometimes used to turn a mill wheel. It is in these places 
 that trees chiefly flourish, having their roots fed by the water, 
 just, as it is said, that the famous vine of Hampton Court owes 
 much of its fertility to the fact that its roots reach to the 
 Thames. AVhere rice is grown, or cotton, the irrigation is on 
 a very large scale, and is apt to render the neighbourhood liable 
 to fever through the large amouLt of water lying about and 
 the consequent unhealthy vapours that rise after sunset; but 
 these irrigated gardens are an exceedingly beautiful feature 
 of an otherwise dry country.* 
 
 * The method of irri|ration employed by the banks of rivers is well described 
 by Layard, i. 353. 
 
 I 2 
 
mmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmm 
 
 110 
 
 Ah Eai<tern Gdrdpi). 
 
 Eveniuij Prayer 
 
 117 
 
 I 
 
 ii\ 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 Old Yakob^s garden was a veiy fruitful plot, \]vauV< tn h\< 
 untiriiig zeal aud skill in tending it, so tlnit tliere was no lack 
 of the finest vegetables all the summer, except when the 
 locusts came and swept all the lettuces ofP the face of the 
 earth. 
 
 In one corner a little tobacco, or ^M iit un," was gn.wn for 
 
 the use of the monks, but it< (pmlitv was not good. All 
 
 round the garden were hedges of walnut trees, bearing fruit 
 
 fa J' larger than that of England, and rows of imme.oTanate 
 
 rrees, brilliant with their small scarlet flowers, an.l hiter in 
 
 the year with I'ich red leaves and russet fruit. Mulberries 
 
 red and white there were, magnificent fruit, and th(> nir was 
 
 heavy with myrtle and th(> pine trees. Lower down bel..w 
 
 the garden the flowers grew wilder, and amid clusters of 
 
 roses yell-.w and pink, the pale iris and flaming nnemone 
 
 dotted the ground among the vines; and further Mill were 
 
 gorgeous clumps of balsam and hollyhocks among the cnrn- 
 
 fields. 
 
 This beauty fled as the rains ceased; and when the 
 sun grew hotter, and the armies of locusts began their 
 invasion, there wns little of verdure or bright colour to be 
 seen round the Deir, except m Vakob's garden lu-l.-w the 
 aiu iin. 
 
 As we sat half (li-(-:imino- nii,b.r the wnlnut tree the bell 
 began t- toll, an.l everyone awoke, for it meant sunset, and 
 fhe evening prayer, which all atteml, if not to prav, at least 
 to swell the volume of the psnlm singing. We walked slowly 
 in, and entering the great gate found ourselves in the middle 
 of donkeys with jangling bells, screaming to one anuther, 
 horses whinnying for their food, or snorting for a ti--ht with 
 their nearest neighbour. The yard was strewn with packa<res, 
 mattresses, babies, panniers; all the paraphernalia of a night 
 (ucampment, so that it >eemed one mass of confusion. 
 A\uliinihe .>>ec(md court, thiiigs were little better, and the 
 way to Tny room was crowded with helpless women, drawing 
 water from the well or collecting firewood to cook the 
 evening meal. The poor old monks had fhul to their rooms, 
 and left the management of the thi-ong to the deacons, who 
 
 \t 
 
 helped everyone, settled one on the roof, another in the 
 aiwan, gave out mattresses, and pitchers, and corn, until order 
 was a little restored, and the bell ceased tolHng as the evening 
 I'trayer began. 
 
 The church was dark enough, except wdiere a boy held a 
 twist of tallow candle to light one of the great psalm books, 
 round which the chanters crowded. Such a shriekino- noise 
 was never heard in church, of boys outdoing each other in 
 zeal for psalmody, aud ])roud to show their knowledge of the 
 tune and words. A row of solemn monks stood before the 
 sanctuary, in low voice chanting the same psalms they knew 
 so well. The key in which they sang was quite different from 
 that chosen by the boys; nor indeed did fresh comers at all 
 concern themselves to discover anv kev alreadv in vo"-ue 
 provided they sang a similar tune, and introduced scale and 
 trill at the right place. Among the crowd assembled round 
 the lecterns strayed baby boys, or went from monk to monk to 
 doff their caps and kiss the old men's hands. Other bovs sat 
 against the wall and looked on quietly, while in a row by the 
 western door sat mothers and children, and here and thei-e a 
 white-veiled girl. It was a beautiful scene, and verv solemn, 
 these people at their evening prayer, pre])aringfor the Lord's 
 Day ; and tlu^ solemnity grew as the psalms ceased and the 
 candles all went out, except where two deacons held one on 
 each side of the Bishop, as from l)efore the altar he read in a 
 fine rich voice, first in Syriac, then in Arabic, the evening 
 lesson for the day."^ During this, all the men removed their 
 turbands, and stood intent, until, as the deacon pronouneed 
 the Gloria, they again covered their heads and returned to 
 the singing of psalms. The singing was, of course, anti- 
 phonal in a church looking to Ignjitius as one of its earliest 
 bishops; for it was he who is said to have invented the 
 practice common now to East and West ; and in nearlv everv 
 Syrian church stand two lecterns, one on each side of the 
 
 * Cp. Brifirlit's "History of the Church," p. 253, who recalls the tract of 
 Jerome a^'uinst VigilantiuH, who affirmed that throuo-jiout the East the lighting 
 up of tapers in broad daylight was a mode of welcoming- the reading of tiie 
 Gospel. Such is the case also at morning prayer. 
 
 i I 
 
mmmm 
 
 , h 
 
 118 
 
 Ereuiny Prdycr. 
 
 sanctnnry door, nniiid wliicli tlie people crowd, reading- as 
 
 easily upside down as any otlier way ; it seems in tact to make 
 
 no difference wliicli way tlicv i-ead Svri.ic or anv otlier 
 
 language. At one part of the service one inend>er from each 
 
 of the two gi-oii])s stood in front of the altai', and thei-e tlie 
 
 two chanted in anti])hon <e\t'ral ))sahns. Tliis sin«»-in<'- is 
 
 nuich admired among the Svia'ans ; nnd indccMl tlic cliant to 
 
 wliich the verses were sung was the pleasantest I heard, and, 
 
 wlien well sung, the efi'ect was beautiful. TIk" j)sahus were 
 
 followed by hymns of St. Efrem,in wliich all joined with that 
 
 heartiness which is so characteristic of the Syrian services. 
 
 Congregational they are in the fullest sense of the word. 
 
 Then came prayers and collects, followed by the evenin*-- 
 
 Psalm (xci.), and then th(^ l)isliop blessed tlu' {xM^ple, who 
 
 came one by one to kiss his hand before thev h»ft the 
 
 Church.* By some intuitive sense, peculiar to this ])eople, 
 
 each found his own shoes among the rows in whicli 
 
 tluy had been deposited on entering the church. Xo one 
 
 enters a church for ])rayei', or at least treads on the car- 
 
 })eted floor, with shoes upon his feet. The priests and 
 
 deacons, howevei-, wlio ministei- within the sanctuai-v <»vne- 
 
 rally wear yellow shoes, in place of the black oi* i-ed (.nes 
 
 worn in daily life, just as they weai- special garments durin 
 
 such ministrations. 
 
 The Di'ir was noisy enough for several hours after the sun 
 went down ; but gradually, as sup})er ended and ciirarettes 
 or sliibiiks began to glitter like glow-worms about the roofs, 
 the women prei)ared for sleep and the boys started the 
 nightly hunt foi- scorpions. This is a necessai-y precaution in 
 a place where everycme slee]is on the floor, and where 
 scorpions abound as they do at the monastery, and verv 
 exciting were these hunts with candle and lantern, and very 
 delighted were the boys when they caught a scorpion, and 
 fixing a candle-end on its back coolly watched it burn to 
 death. It is asserted on good authority that scori)ions will. 
 
 ( »• 
 
 o 
 
 * Tlie reader should refer to the very full account of the East Syrian services, 
 which are very similar, g'ivcn by Maclean and Hrowne, p. 212-2t2. 
 
 *■; 
 
 W Jilt- Sunday, 
 
 119 
 
 when tliey see themselves threatened wntli certain death, sting 
 themselves to death, as, for instance, when surrounded by a 
 wall of fii'C. There was little need for them to exercise this 
 ])rerogative in IJeir-el-Za'aferan. 
 
 The next day was Whit-Sunday, and it was the special 
 service for that day which had attracted such crowds to the 
 Deir. Almost before daylight the bell began to toll, and 
 the deacons had risen to prepare for the morning service. 
 Soon the chanting began, and family after family rose 
 and streamed into the church. The men stood or sat on 
 carpets in rows in the middle of the church, hosts of 
 small boys surrounded the lecterns, or busied themselves 
 with the deacons in. preparing the sanctuary. Behind, 
 against the west wall, the women congregated, for in 
 this church there was no divided aisle for them. Each one 
 entering put off his shoes and laid them on a rack placed 
 for that ])urpose by the door ; then walked to wdiere the 
 sign of the cross Avas carv^ed or painted on the wall, and, 
 having kissed it, retired to his place to join in the prayers 
 or })salms. 
 
 In addition to the men and boys crow^ding round the two 
 lecterns, there was another choir, similarly divided, that stood 
 within the sanctuary on each side of the altar to sing the 
 anthems during the celebration. The sanctuary ^yas therefore 
 very full, for besides the priests there was a large number of 
 deacons, both boys and men, who assisted in various ways at 
 the service. 
 
 The service of the previous evening was considered, in a 
 manner, connected with that of the morning,"^^ inasmuch as 
 all who came to the latter were supposed to have attended 
 the formei*. It is of course the rule that no one should 
 partake of food before the morning service. During the 
 pi-ayers that preceded the altar service or celebration, the 
 celebrant and a deacon prepared the new bread and wine. 
 
 * According to universal ecclesiastical custom, each day is supposed to begin 
 at sundown on the ])revious day, whether for feasting or fasting- : hence in 
 theory, the service of the previous evening is connected with the morning 
 celebration. 
 
 ;f 
 
riMMtl 
 
 na 
 
 m 
 
 1-20 
 
 Whit-Sunday. 
 
 "''^S ^ ^ 
 
 '} 
 
 lu this way no interval remains between the two services ; 
 and, in theory, there is none between the evening and 
 morning services, for the monks are su])posed to spend tlie 
 wliole night watching, praying, and repeating the psalms in 
 the chnrch. 
 
 A Syna7i School. 
 
 121 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ! 'I 
 
 Life in the Monastery. 
 
 -o-oj^oo- 
 
 I WAS not infrequently awakened in the morning by the 
 sound of Sulaiman, my small attendant's voice reciting a 
 chapter of the Syriac Gospel, or learning some psalm or hymn 
 of 8r. I'^frem by heart. There sat on the open space of 
 the balcony, on the opposite side of the court to my room, a 
 group of boys and deacons of the Deir around an elderly 
 monk named liahab Melki. This latter was a good, quiet man 
 who gave such time as could be sjiared from his devotions to 
 teaching this small band of eager learners the way of the 
 Gospels. There they sat in tlieii- white tunics and red caps 
 round the dark-robed monk, each with an ancient folio, as 
 heavy as he could carry, upon his knee, spelling out the words 
 or reciting in the loud and droning voice that soon became so 
 familiar to my ear. After a time, would follow a lesson in 
 chanting, far less pleasing to listen to, for all sang at once 
 and in diffc^rent keys. 
 
 One day there came a deacon, one Shammas Efrem, from 
 Kisibis, a man filled Avith zeal for education, bringing with 
 him a younger brother, whose wliole soul was absorbed in the 
 study of the ancient works of Syrian Saints, and teaching 
 them and the services of the Church to any boys he could 
 collect about him. Such a quiet little fellow he was, with 
 shaven head and great serious eyes, and it was wonderful to 
 see the eagerness with which, lying at full length upon the 
 floor before a huge folio, he taught some child, scarcely 
 
122 
 
 A kSijn'fui School. 
 
 smaller than liiiuself, who lay in the same position on the 
 other side of the book, to read and sing the contents. 
 Sometimes he would carry on his work of love late into the 
 night, with some wondering little boy, holding a roll of 
 candle that steadily dripped upon the parchment page. His 
 brother had a great scheme for opening a school at the village 
 in the mountains where he lived, and promised to build the 
 necessary rooms if a teacher could be provided, and help 
 gained for his maintenance from headquarters. He was one 
 of the most intelligent Syrians that I saw, and a man with 
 less idea than most of turning things to his own advantage. 
 Unselfishness is not a common Eastern virtue. The younger 
 brother was most eager to learn in the school at the monas- 
 tery, and made the best of his time learning from Kahab 
 ^lelki, and teaching others in his turn. 
 
 It was very touching to see the affection of pupils for 
 teacher in this little school ; for, while this feeling is usual, 
 yet the monk was a peculiarly lovable man, and the deacons 
 and boys would do anything for him, and could scarcely be 
 ])ersuaded to leave him in quiet. Not less remarkable was 
 their quickness, and the wonderful power they displayed of 
 learning by heart. This is a great peculiarity of the Easterns, 
 due rather to the absence of books than to any especial 
 ability, for in other ways their genius is not so noticeable. 
 In consequence of this, a large part of their lessons are 
 learned by rote, a habit most carefully and continually to be 
 guarded against. The quickness which characterises the 
 children is said, by those who know the Syrians, to fail in a 
 remarkable way soon after they reach the age of fourteen ; 
 but comes at the right time to be of value in the schools, for 
 few boys can afford to remain at their books, at least in the 
 country places, after the age when they can do useful work 
 in the fields. Schools, therefore, which may be filled up with 
 such boys in the winter, are apt in sunmier to fall to a small 
 number of children of a much lower age. 
 
 The power of reading a book, whichever way it is held, has 
 been already noticed. We may compare the numerous other 
 things, such as sewing and writing, which the Syrians do in 
 
Morning at the Monastery. 
 
 123 
 
 
 
 ^1 ' 
 
 ^^^&*i 
 
 an opi)osite way to ourselves. The great desire of most boys 
 and parents is to learn English, partly because of the success 
 so many of their people have had in obtaining work and 
 earning much money in Europe and America, and partly 
 because of the interest with which they regard English things, 
 and especially the English Church. It is, however, most 
 important to restrain this zeal, and in all things direct the 
 attention of the children to the perfecting of their native 
 manners, and the acquiring an education entirely befitting 
 their country and race."^ The subjects taught are very 
 limited in these monastery schools, few learning anything but 
 Syriac, and Biblical history. Some acquire a " beautiful 
 pen,'^ as the art of writing, so highly prized in this land of 
 manuscripts, is called, but most reach only the reading stage, 
 and learn only so much as may serve them to take their 
 proper share in the Church services. 
 
 The morning service in the Deir was generally ended soon 
 after sunrise, when the noise of the school w^ould awaken me, 
 and call me out to walk upon the roof and enjoy the lovely 
 morning air, until the heat drove everyone within doors. 
 Sulaiman, as soon as he saw me, would run to my room for 
 the water jars and carry them off to fill for my bath and 
 breakfast from the well in the court below. Old Yakob, the 
 cook, had then to be reminded in the midst of his boiling of 
 wheat for the Rahabs that I needed eggs or milk for my 
 more sumptuous meal ; and he would come passing all 
 obstacles to overwhelm my hand with morning dewy kisses, 
 in token of gratitude for medicme with which I had once 
 healed a bad scorpion bite. He was a curious old man, 
 rather the butt of the monks, being very slow of mind and 
 speech, and having the most sage notions as to the manner 
 of conducting the business of the Deir. But it was unsafe 
 to jest too far with him, for at times he w^ould refuse to 
 cook the w^heat, or give up the keys of the huge store room, 
 
 * Maclean and Browne have some valuable remarks on this subject, p. 170. 
 The neglect of the principle is a serious defect in the work of the American 
 Missions. 
 
124 
 
 Threshing Cum, 
 
 which he controlled, and then there were loud cries among 
 
 the monks. 
 
 At this hour of the morning most of the monks were 
 outside the monastery, and one might catch glimpses of them 
 superintending the picking of fruit, the loading of mules, and 
 grooming of horses. For the Deir was a busy place, even 
 when service was not going on ; and during this summer the 
 Bishop and monks had continually to ride over to a village 
 some six miles away, to inspect the building of a water mill 
 upon some property of the Patriarch. 
 
 Later in the summer the threshing of corn gave a busy look 
 to the great space between the vineyards and the back of the 
 Deir, and then the figs and almonds had to be picked, so 
 that the days seemed short enough, and passed ])leasantly for 
 one who cared to watch the work of the several seasons. The 
 threshing floor was a fine place, level and beaten as hard as 
 iron, and hither was brought load after load of wheat to be 
 threshed out and winnowed before it was stored in the granary 
 within the walls. 
 
 For some days there was always a busy crowd upon the 
 threshing floor. Boys were driving donkeys heavily loaded 
 with sheaves of corn, which they piled one after another 
 round a huge stake in the middle of the floor. Round and 
 round the stake through the livelong day another boy drove 
 four or six oxen yoked together to tread out the corn ; while 
 round another heap of sheaves a man holding an iron spike 
 or a goad drove a rough threshing machine consisting of a 
 wooden board heavily armed with spikes and nails,"^ on which 
 he sat to keep it firmly on the ground. Everyone sang to 
 urge the cattle on, snatches of Turkish popular songs, and 
 sometimes some old Syrian refrain. Whether in obedience to 
 the old Mosaic law or not, the oxen were not muzzled, but 
 snatched from the wheat so much as they wished. 
 
 * For these instruments see Deut. xxv. 4 ; Judjjes iii. 31 ; Isaiah xli. 15. 
 The last is used to cut up the straw into chaff or '* tibn," which, after it has 
 been trodden, is used in the place of hay for feeding cattle and horses, mixed 
 with oats. 
 
 Threshing Corn. 
 
 125 
 
 In another part women and children were gathering the 
 broken chaff in shovels, and heaping the wheat in long lines 
 exposed to the wind, while chaff and husks of corn were 
 flying from the winnowing fans that men and women tossed 
 in the air.* Others again swept up the winnowed corn and 
 chaff, leaving the former to lie until the Government assessor 
 of the tithes should come, and gathering up the chaff to be 
 stored within the monastery for winter use. Overlooking all, 
 and encouraging them in the work, stood Mutran Elias, the 
 Bishop; and a happy company they all were, toiling in the 
 sun, and undisturbed by village Aghas. 
 
 Within the monastery sat the women grinding day and 
 night wheat for the daily bread. How monotonous through 
 these months the sound became, of the two stones turning one 
 upon another ! for they grind slowly, and but small quantities 
 at a time, so that there it is seldom that the people can leave 
 grinding. In some places where water is plentiful there are 
 mills to grind the corn ; but the nearest one being built by 
 the Patriarch was five miles from the monastery, and was 
 not yet completed ; so that the women were kept hard at work 
 grinding between the millstones. t 
 
 The sun soon becoming too hot to allow us to stand idle round 
 the threshing floor, I would go back to the Deir, and spend 
 the remainder of a long morning reading and writing, or 
 teaching one of the monks out of my books. A '^ Shammas," 
 or Sulaiman would bring my morning dish of grapes 
 and figs, a dish I should blush to consume in England, and 
 little interruption occurred except from some boy compelled 
 by sunstroke to leave the threshing floor, or another suffering 
 from fever. But the Deir was a wonderfully healthy place, 
 free from fever, and therefore from one half of the trouble 
 which life in a semi-tropical country generally involves. 
 Still there were now and then calls for aconite or quinine, but 
 the majority of the cases which were brought to me were of a 
 
 * Isaiah xxx. 24; Matth. iii. 12. 
 
 t The Vrtlue set by millstones may be gathered from Deut. xxiv. 6 : "No man 
 shall take the nether or the upper millstone to pledge ; for he taketh a man's 
 life to pledge." 
 
126 
 
 Medicinr. 
 
 dittVrent kind. Scorpion stints, and cuts of all kinds, snsike 
 bites, and all manner of varieties of internnl pnins made tlie 
 chief demand (m mv medicine stock. Whatever was the 
 c(miplaint,it was necessary to feel the pulse, and examine the 
 t(m^nie,neither of which operations ever threw any light on 
 the niatter in hand. The second reipiirement was to ])rescnbe 
 diet^ which the natives, with sound omnnon sense, consider 
 a most important element of cure. While finally it was 
 necessary to measure out with great caiv drop by dr<»p, or 
 grain by grain, for to this great importance is attached, the 
 panacea provided. Not least necessary was it tlnit its taste 
 should be strong and bitter, a want easily su])plied by the 
 admixture of some quinine. 
 
 The Syrians love quackery, and the medicim^ man must not 
 despise externals. They have, too, some notable, if not com- 
 mendable, cures, which they borrow from the Arabs ; such 
 as the practice of sewing up a man with fever in the skin of 
 a lately killed sheep; the effect of which is rapid, if the pro- 
 cess be unpleasant. Cautery always a])peals to them, as do 
 all heroic measures, but it is curious that they havi' an 
 insurmountabU* prejudice against using cold water in illness, 
 or even washing cuts and sores ; so that wounds were often 
 brought to be dressed in a perfectly revolting state due to 
 their never having been washed. lVrha])s t\w commonest of 
 all complaints was the so-called Aleppo button, or date boil, 
 an excrescence like a large wart appearing on different parts 
 of the body, and very frequently on the face, which leaves 
 a mark for life, and lasts in its unhealed state for about 
 a year. Hence its native name of '' Senawiyah '' or year 
 spot. It has been often described elsewhere, and is pecu- 
 liar for the capricious way in which it prevails in some 
 places and not in others, although only a mile or two apart. 
 For instance, scarcely a child in Uiarbekr Mardin is free 
 from the scar, while in Mansuriyah, barely half a mile from 
 
 * Cp. Burton's Pil-rimage, i. 384, for some interesting notes on diseases and 
 their treatment among the Arabs ; where he says a good word for the practice of 
 dieting, foolishly derided by some practitioners in the East ; also see i. 52 for an 
 amusing account of the medical whims of the East. 
 
 Medicine. 
 
 127 
 
 Mardin, it is unknown. Its cause is jis yet unexplained, 
 and no remedy lias so far been discovered for it. The 
 American Doctor at Mardin has innoculated some cases, but 
 as yet without much result. The boil usually attacks every 
 one in the place, natives generally suffering while quite 
 y(mng children.* 
 
 Ophthalmia again is terribly common in the cities of the 
 East, and due largely to the reckless way in which refuse is 
 thrown in heaps about the streets, from which dust dried by 
 the sun, and containing germs of every disease, is blown 
 about by the slightest wind. In the plain, where there is less 
 filth to spread disease, the complaint is more rare. However, it 
 is not uncommon among the Moslems to court the loss of one 
 eye, as this deformity brings exemption from military service. 
 It is a good ])recaution in towns to wear glasses to protect 
 the eyes from dust, and always to keep a stock of nitrate of 
 silver, which forms the most valuable lotion. Nothing in my 
 store of medicines was so much in demand as this ; for the 
 natives have no specific for the malady, except that, when 
 they feel the i)ain in their eyes, they yield to the inevitable, 
 bind a cloth, generally not too clean, over their eyes and lie 
 with their faces upon a pillow, until the disease has run its 
 course, perhaps for a period of three weeks. 
 
 But enough of medicine, and let us go to our midday siesta. 
 When the sun is at its highest and the shadow on the north 
 nf my room not above a few inches broad, there is scarcely a 
 sound to be heard in the Deir. The threshers and winnowers 
 sleep under the booths, the shepherd has gathered his sheep 
 into the shade of the almonds, or if the flies be troublesome 
 has come to our old walnut tree. Down below in the court- 
 yard there may be a cat stirring, or one of the mares that 
 finding everything so still has strayed from her stall behind 
 the church. The monks have all retired to well-earned sleep, 
 and in the diwan-khana may be heard the measured snore 
 that tells that the Bishop is as blest as all the rest. Only old 
 Yakob, the cook, does not sleep. He is busy among his jars 
 
 * For a fuller account of the boil cp. Mrs. Bishop's Travels in Persia, i. 39. 
 
i 
 
 128 
 
 JOeir-el-Za^ aferan. 
 
 Deir-el-Za\tferan . 
 
 129 
 
 of '' Semn "^ and rice preparing for the midday meal, or 
 boilincr some fruit for me. He sees me watching him, and 
 rushes" up the stone steps, as usual, to kiss my hand, and 
 pour out abuse upon some blackguard Arabs, who had taken 
 advantage of the threshing time to come in and steal some 
 corn • '' might their countenances become cold, the sons of 
 strong odours." I bade the old man be calm and mind his 
 clarified butter in which the rice was simmermg, but he would 
 not hear of peace. - Aye, aye," he said ; - if Sayyidna 
 Batrik (our Lord Patriarch) were here, who would dare do 
 such things ? they are all sons of vile mothers, mules they 
 are," and he proceeded to vent his wrath on the unoffending 
 Sulaiman who stood smiling at his anger. . v j 
 
 I left the old man, and returned to read ; for being inclined 
 to be lazy in the morning, I felt no desire to sleep during the 
 day. An hour passed, I saw by my watch ; had I been 
 sleeping too ? Anyhow the shadow outside my door had 
 ^rown several inches, and the Bishop was crying out 
 - Skander, Skander ya hu (0 he)" in accents of some anger, 
 which aucnired ill for Skander, whom, a boy of fourteen, the 
 Bishop generally addressed with a polite -Ya Abui " (0 my 
 Father) But Skander was fast asleep, and had all sorts ot 
 evil things said about him, before he brought fresh water 
 from the well, and coffee for the Bishop. Gradually the 
 monastery awoke, and the threshing and winnowing began 
 again, while I drank coffee and smoked a quiet cigarette witli 
 the Bishop in the diwan-khana. 
 
 There was a good deal to discuss with him about the two 
 printing presses in the Deir. Daily it was expected that 
 news would come from Constantinople renewing permission 
 to work the presses. But no bakhshish had been forth- 
 coming to elicit the permission, and a long delay was the 
 consequence. For in this land the wheels of office require an 
 inordinate amount of oil. Skander had been over to Mardin 
 in the morniug, to take the Patriarch his daily supply ot 
 grapes and figs, and was now minutely questioned on the 
 
 news. This was an operation to be most warily performed. 
 The Bishop knew, and Skander knew better, that he was a 
 liar, as indeed are not a few of these '' sons of a short 
 shadow " (Southerners) ; he steered his course accordingly, 
 setting traps to catch an answer by implication, rather than 
 asking the question direct. To show a zeal for information is 
 the surest way to be deceived, and it is extraordinary how 
 much ingenuity an astute person like the Bishop could show 
 in conducting his inquiries. 
 
 It appeared that news had come from Constantinople, and 
 that the Patriarch was so pleased that he contemplated a 
 visit to the Deir the following day in order to set the press to 
 work, and see if fresh air would benefit his health, that had 
 been so failing all the year. 
 
 It was rumoured, too, that one of the Papal Syrian Bishops, 
 who was acting as head of that community since the death of 
 their Patriarch, was travelling in state from the capital, and 
 would stop some days at Mardin. We little thought at this 
 time w^hat this visit would bring forth. The rest of the day 
 had to be spent in preparing for the Patriarch, and putting 
 the presses into such order as should meet his Holiness' 
 approval. So, leaving the Bishop to superintend these 
 preparations, I retired to my room to wait until it was cool 
 enough to take my accustomed walk, and try for the 
 twentieth time to shoot a red-legged partridge with my small 
 revolver. Returning from this sport with a somewhat empty 
 bag, I heard the church bells ringing for evening prayer; I 
 found the great gateway blocked with sheep and cattle, being 
 driven in for refuge during the night. In the courtyard was 
 a crowd of monks and others waiting for the Bishop to begin 
 service. Service over, the " Semandro," or wooden board, 
 was beaten, and old Moksi* Yakob came out bringing plates 
 of boiled wheat and rice for the evening meal. I retired to 
 eat mine in my room, and watch from the roof the sun go 
 down behind the hills towards Mardin. 
 
 Then was the most glorious time of the whole Eastern day, 
 
 * Clarified butter. 
 
 * " Mukuddas," sanctified — one who has been to Jerusalem. 
 
mmmm 
 
 HHi 
 
 130 
 
 Milt ran Yunas. 
 
 a perfect calm and a wonderful glow, gradually giving way 
 to the night ; and star after star came out, great moons they 
 seemed in the clear air, and the fires, where the Arabs burned 
 " Alkali "* on the plain, glistened far away, as the talking 
 died away, and the inhabitants of the Deir spread out their 
 mats to sleep under the clear warm sky. 
 
 I left the upper roof, and joined the little group collected 
 on the Bishop's bed on the " balakhana'' above the cloisters. 
 It was a huge erection of wood some ten feet square, which 
 served as a pleasant lounge on the glorious evenings of the 
 summer, when the rest of the Deir was going to sleep. 
 There we would sit every evening after supper, and, with a 
 great dish of grapes and slices of melon before us, talk 
 and ^' drink " (as they say) cigarettes under the shadow of 
 the Church. 
 
 The last few days of my stay at the monastery were 
 enlivened by an occurrence which deserves narration, because 
 it illustrates so well the intrigue that has such an important 
 influence upon the relations between the various subjects of 
 the Sublime Porte. 
 
 Complaints have been made for many years by the members 
 of the Old Syrian Church against the appropriation of either 
 the whole or a part of their churches by the Papal Syrian 
 community, which, whatever its merits, cannot be considered 
 but in the light of a schismatic body, and therefore with no 
 right to the property which belongs to the Church from which 
 its members have seceded. 
 
 In one Turkish town, the Papal party had so gained 
 political ascendancy, owing to powerful influence at Con- 
 stantinople and locally, as to have obtained possession of 
 the most important church in the place. It had been largely 
 a matter of money ; and the Papal Syrians, being the richer, 
 had sustained the drain of bakhshish, which official integrity 
 required. In order to defend the rights of the Old Church, 
 Mutran Yunas, Bishop of the town, had been sent to 
 Constantinople to use all the influence ho could command by 
 
 t More properly spelt '• El-Qili." 
 
 
 i 
 
 Mutran Yunas. 
 
 131 
 
 personality and gold. But the Patriarch finding that money, 
 which was not plentiful, was being spent in vain, determined 
 to give up his claim, and direct his energies towards collect- 
 ing money to build a new church. A site was soon offered 
 by a native of the town, and sufficient money collected from 
 the whole people to commence building. 
 
 When, however, the necessary money was collected, news 
 suddenly came from the capital that Mutran Yunas had 
 at last found a man, w^ho undertook for a certain sum to 
 obtain from the Government the restoration of the church to 
 its former owners; in consequence of which the Patriarch 
 prepared to send the money required, and return the rest to 
 those who had subscribed for the building of the new 
 church. But, as chance would have it, while he was counting 
 out the gold, who should come in but one of the Papal 
 Syrian clergy, and ask the purpose of all this money ? To 
 which question his Holiness, whether deserted by his usual 
 tact, or forgetful of possible results, told the whole story. 
 It may be imagined that the latter lost little time in 
 returning to his house, and sending off to Constantinople a 
 telegram to inform the Government that one of its sub- 
 ordinates was being tampered with by a vile and treasonable 
 Jacobite Bishop. 
 
 Now, in every matter great and small, from the gift of. a 
 bowl of milk in the mountains to the conduct of a high 
 judicial suit, bakhshish is a universally recognised requisite. 
 But don't say so. Everyone knows it, but let it be publicly 
 proclaimed, and from that moment '^ instat crimen."* 
 
 So it was with Mutran Yunas, who employed the only 
 recognised means of procuring an award in his favour, and 
 everyone knew the fact. Positive and public accusation 
 was made, and the Bishop was condemned, disgraced, and 
 banished from the capital, while the award went by default. 
 Intrigue is a hydra, and the Bishop seemed pursued by fate. 
 
 *Mrs. Bishop's words ("Travels in Persia," ii. 257) might be applied with 
 scarcely a change to the state of affairs in Turkey. Well may she ask, " Who is 
 to cleanse the Augean stable?" 
 
 K 2 
 
 ^ 
 
 
132 
 
 Mnfran Yunaf*. 
 
 At the same time with his fall, came a letter to the Patriarch 
 from a secret enemy of the Bishop, making vile and false 
 accusation of plots against His Holiness, and of money spent 
 on luxury and fine living in the capital. 
 
 This the Patriarch weakly credited, Iw'ing by nature ready 
 to believe things good and bad, and mortified by the failure 
 which his own imprudence had partly caused. But for the 
 Bishop it came as a terrible disgrace, that he, the most trusted 
 of all the Bishops, should be degraded at the mere word of 
 an enemy. But all entreaties to be granted a hearing were 
 in vain; the Patriarch had made up his mind that the accusa- 
 tion was true, and nothing, not even twenty years of faithful 
 allegiance, could prevail to alter his mind. Mutran Yunas 
 was recalled, and ordered to remain in confinement in Deir- 
 el-Za'aferan until the Government was pleased to let him 
 go free. 
 
 It was perhaps little to be wondered at that the Bishop's 
 indignation led him to speak unwise words in the towns 
 through which he passed, inveighing against a Patriarch who 
 had treated his servant so ill. But this came also to the 
 Patriarch's ears, and made him only less inclined to relent. 
 The elfect on the condition of the peoj^le was disastrous, the 
 Bishop's town being divided into two hostile camps, and the 
 whole communitv was embittered by a quarrel, which 
 external foes were doing their best to foster. 
 
 Three years had passed since Mutran Yunas' return, and no 
 signs appeared of relenting on the Patriarch's part. The 
 Bishop lived, or "sat" (as they say) in the Deir, with no 
 occupation, and no honour, scarcely allowed to leave the 
 walls, and treated merely as a monk. 
 
 Later on he was allowed to exchange the Deir for the house 
 of one of the priests in Mardin. As time went by his i^pirit 
 chafed against the imprisonment, and thoughts occurred to 
 him of joining the Greek or Eoman communion. It was in 
 this frame of mind that I found him, and had all that I could 
 do to persuade him to cultivate patience, and wait until a 
 way of escape was opened to him. 
 
 This opportunity occurred in a most unexpected way. 
 
 A Papal Syrian Bishop. 
 
 133 
 
 Mardin was in a fiutter owing to the arrival of the Papal 
 Syrian Bishop, of whom mention has been already made. He 
 came with a large "nishan" or decoration from the Sultan, 
 to greet which symbol of supremacy all Mardin trooped out 
 on donkeys and horses on the day of his arrival. He was 
 moreover a rich man, and the head of a rich community, so 
 that he travelled with all the state consistent with his office. 
 I, hearing that he had visited England, went with the rest of 
 the world to call upon the dignitary, whom I found magnifi- 
 cently established in the Papal Syrian '^ Patrik-khana,"' or 
 Patriarch's house, in the centre of Mardin. 
 
 '^ Qawwases," gorgeous in red and gold, and wearing silver- 
 mounted swords and daggers, patrolled the courtyard, and 
 did the work of special messengers to the Bishop. Knots of 
 priests and monks stood about the doors, or went in and out 
 of the room where his Lordship sat to receive visitors, sur- 
 rounded by all that money and a not very numerous following 
 could afford to impress that most impressible of living 
 souls, the Syrian. In Mardin, however, the homage was 
 paid less to the man himself, than to the Order of which he 
 was the favoured bearer. 
 
 In the library, used as a diwau, sat the Bishop, attended 
 by his brethren of Mardin and Diarbekr, but rose, as I 
 entered, with all the courtesy and grace of a polished Oriental, 
 and greeted me in English, which he spoke with ease. I gave 
 '^ Peace " to the rest of the company, and received in return 
 " A thousand Peaces upon my head," and then began the 
 serious business of a visit, sitting with my hands upon my 
 knees, like an errand boy waiting in an office, until coffee and 
 cigarettes arrived. The Bishop talked affably of London, 
 Paris, and Rome, considering, doubtless in view of his visitor, 
 London to be far the most wonderful and beautiful ; '' so 
 rich," he orientally remarked. S. Peter's he had seen and 
 the Pope, the Louvre he had visited, but nothing was like 
 London and London Bridge. There was but one man in 
 England who impressed him. Lord Salisbury, and in Italy the 
 Pope ; these two seemed to him to rule the world — one the 
 land, and the other the sea. There was one place, too, which, 
 
134 
 
 An Intrigue, 
 
 An hitriguf'. 
 
 135 
 
 being a literary man, he admired more than any other, and 
 that was the library and reading room of the British Museum; 
 never had he seen so many slaves so perfectly trained to 
 serve so few masters. Truly we English were the "sons of 
 orderliness.'' He then spoke in general terms of the progress 
 made by Christianity in the East, and the gradual loosening 
 of the bonds under which it had so long laboured, and chief 
 of all the growing acknowledgment secured to the Holy 
 Father from a nation little inclined by faith or birth to 
 admire such a personality. 
 
 A pleasant half hour soon came to an end, and as the bell 
 sounded for evening prayer I started to ride back to the Deir, 
 thinking that I had been talking to a man who, if things 
 were as they should be, ought to have been born an English 
 duke or made an Italian cardinal. 
 
 There had been one man present, who showed no slight 
 impatience at my visit. I had witnessed some of the intrigues 
 that formed his chief occupation, and he took much pains in 
 my presence to deliver a circumstantial account of one of 
 these, casting imputations on members of the Old Church, and 
 letting me know that my interference would cost someone 
 dear. This man bowed me out with a frigid politeness that 
 scarcely disguised his dislike, and I felt the air clearer away 
 from his presence. 
 
 Some days afterwards, when the Patriarch had established 
 himself at Deir el Za'aferan, and I was spending a few days 
 in Mardin, I went to see Muti-an Yunas, who had scarcely 
 uttered his words of cordial welcome, when he poured out an 
 account of the perplexity, into which an offer from the Papal 
 Bishops had thrown him. He had been to call on the latter, 
 and received a visit in return, in the course of which a pro- 
 posal had been made in the most flattering terms that he 
 should join the Papal communion, and exchange his present 
 humiliating condition for freedom and high position with 
 them. The temptation to accept was the stronger, as an 
 order had just come from Constantinople, authorising the 
 Patriarch to use strong measures, if necessary, to restrain the 
 Bishop, even by the aid of zaptiehs, in the monastery. This 
 
 seemed almost more than he could bear ; for, though an able 
 and good Bishop, he was one of the haughtiest of men, and 
 unutterably galled by the news. Hence, when the chance of 
 escape came supported by offers of high place, although 
 among men whom he had formerly counted his bitterest 
 enemies, his mind was strongly shaken, and he requested 
 three days to consider his answer. 
 
 It was on the second day that I visited him, and listened 
 to his heartrending appeal for help and advice in this most 
 difficult ex])erience. He had seen no one else to whom he 
 dared confide his trouble, and I now felt the advantage I had 
 gained by making a friend of him before. I appealed to him 
 by all he held sacred — his religion, his Saviourj even by his 
 honour and ambition ; I spoke of the fourteen years 
 wanderings of Athanasius, the patience of Gregory, the 
 sufferings of the Saints of his own Church, and finally of 
 S. Paul, until in despair he cried out that he knew not what to 
 do. He had served his God, his Church, and his spiritual 
 Father; and after fifteen years of faithful service he was 
 turned away at the light word of an enemy, and condemned 
 unheard. I reminded him of the Patriarch's age, and that it 
 was not entirely his hardness, but the intrigues of designing 
 men, that had worked the evil. No, he said, he hates me; 
 even if the people cared the very least, he might have hope ; 
 but they cared for nothing, but sat at home, afraid to oppose 
 the Patriarch's will for fear they should call down a curse 
 upon their families. The old man might live for years and 
 not relent, for he took long to change his mind, while the 
 Bishop sat wasting away a valuable life in wretched idle- 
 ness. He had waited long and patiently, and now he was 
 weary of the heavy hand of his father, and would free 
 himself. 
 
 It was sad to see the great strong man bowed down by 
 trouble, and watch the agony of his face, as he fought with 
 the temptation ; sadder still it was to note how ambition 
 weighed in his mind. In the great perplexity I begged him 
 consider how he could possibly join those w^th whom he 
 never had nor ever could agree, and to ask the help of a 
 
 I 
 
 J 
 
 ( 
 
136 
 
 An Intrujiie. 
 
 greater Father than he whom lie thought was dealing so 
 unjustly with him. Finally 1 left him, having obtained a 
 promise that he would not make his decision until I saw 
 him again. 
 
 There was now hut one thing to do, with clearly no time to 
 lose ; so off I went with Yakoh, who had accom})anied me, to 
 take council with some trusted friends at the Church of the 
 Arhain. Abu Selim, the man we needed most, was not at 
 home, and an hour was wasted in looking for him. Then the 
 Avhole story was gone over, and the best means of awakening 
 the people discussed. It was plain that the one thing to do 
 was to induce them to besiege the Patriarch in sufficient 
 numbers to extort his forgiveness of the Bishop. This was a 
 matter of some difficulty, for the people, or rather the wives, 
 were in mortal fear of a possible curse, in spite of the ocular 
 proof afforded by a late Mutserraf of ^[ardin, whcjm his 
 Holiness had visited with the direct wrath of his curse, but 
 who yet lived to enjoy prosperity, and return again to rule the 
 citv of Mar din. 
 
 The contemplation of the fatal results to the Syrian people 
 of the secession of so important a Bishop persuaded our ally 
 that a great effort must be made, and he determined to start 
 that evening on a round of visits to the princij)al Syrians of 
 the town. Only he feared the people's jealous nature, which 
 scarcelv ever allowed them, even where their interests 
 pointed most clearly in the same direction, to ])ursue a 
 harmonious course. However, he was destined to be rewarded 
 for his pains beyond all expectation. 
 
 Selim, despairing of the people in his own quarter of the 
 town, went straight to the elders of the Church of Mar 
 Shimuneh, whom he knew to be more kindly disposed to the 
 Bishop than the Patriarch. His visit was a success, and on 
 the next morning, which was Sunday, the diwan was crowded, 
 as soon as service was over, with men discussing the course to 
 be pursued. The Arbain people chose as usual to abide by 
 the event, not interfering in the matter. Sunday passed in 
 the maturing of a plan, but I heard nothing more, until about 
 midnight there came a great knocking at the iron gate of the 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 Ail Intrigue. 
 
 137 
 
 Arbain, and Qas Gibrail arrived with a messenger from 
 Mar Shimuneh, to say that the people of that Church had 
 determined on sending him to Deir-el-Za'aferan to say that, 
 unless the Patriarch allowed the Bishop to go to his own 
 town, both he and they would join the Papal community. 
 The messenger brought a sealed letter, with a request that 
 Qas Gibrail, being highest in favour with His Holiness, would 
 undertake to deliver it at the monastery. After a hurried 
 consultation the priest prepared to start, so that he might be 
 ready to see the Patriarch as soon as he awoke, which he 
 ordinarily did very early, and have an interview before the 
 diwan was crowded. The Patriarch w^as furious when he 
 heard the contents of the letter, asking what it mattered to 
 him, whether these Papists intrigued with his Bishops ; he 
 was Patriarch of Antioch, and would have nothing to do with 
 such things ; let the Bishop and his friends go. But the 
 people were aroused, and would not be satisfied by such an 
 answer ; so the same day they trooped over some two hundred 
 strong to besiege His Hobness, and obtain the Bishop's 
 release. Yakob went with them to report on all that 
 happened, while I carefully avoided any interference. The 
 Patriarch took little care to conceal his wrath, and threatened 
 wholesale excommunication. But finding this of no avail, and 
 the people announcing that it was their intention to sleep in 
 the diwan if he would not relent before night, the Patriarch 
 after an eight hours' siege gave way so far as to promise to 
 see Mutran Yunas the following day. 
 
 On the morrow there accordingly marched over to the 
 Deir such a procession on horses, mules, donkeys, and bare 
 feet as that road had not seen since the day when the 
 Patriarch was invested twenty years before. The people of 
 Mardin were at a loss to guess the meaning of this immense 
 escort for a disgraced Bishop, and doubtless thought the 
 Syrians had gone mad. Arrived at the Deir, they all repaired 
 to the diwan, and the Bishop falling on his knees kissed the 
 hands and feet of the old man, imploring forgiveness. Five 
 hours passed before the latter gave way, and then a formal 
 reconciliation was made, and a promise given that the Bishop 
 
 \ 
 
 
138 
 
 Deir-eUZa^ tiferan. 
 
 Deir-el-Za' afe ran. 
 
 139 
 
 should be allowed to return to his diocese, provided he was 
 content to live for some time to come in a monastery and not 
 in the town. 
 
 A triumphal procession conducted the Bishop back to 
 Mardin, with wild gallopings of delighted horsemen, and 
 promiscuous firing of guns into the air to display the bound- 
 less joy of the people, that so grievous a quarrel had been 
 healed. As they drew near Mardin others came out to 
 meet them, and it seemed as though the whole place was 
 making holiday, and for once in a way a genuine holiday not 
 ordained by Government. They escorted the Bishop to the 
 Church of Mar Shimuneh, and there left him to take up his 
 quarters with some of the dignity befitting his position, of 
 which he had been so long deprived. The only people who 
 seemed discouraged were the Papal Syrians and the Arbain 
 elders, who had shown themselves so cowardlv all throujrh the 
 affair. Chief among the crowd that day was old Abu-Selim, 
 the author of the reconciliation, and it did one good to see his 
 kind face beaming with honest pleasure at the success he had 
 achieved, as he came into my diwan with Yakob to recount 
 the events of the day, and ready to kiss everyone he met for 
 joy. The following day was to be occupied by a council at 
 the Deir, to which I was invited, and at which it was hoped 
 some final arrangement would be made with regard to the 
 Bishop. 
 
 A few days later Yakob and I went again to the Deir to see 
 the Patriarch. We found a large company there, including 
 Mutran Yunas, who was negotiating with His Holiness for 
 the composition of a letter requesting from the Government 
 his freedom. We were most cordially received by the 
 Patriarch, who showed us, with almost childish delight, a 
 small silver bowl, which the Bishop had given him as a peace 
 offering. But he was still loth to grant a full pardon, being 
 inclined to throw back the responsibility for the Bishop's 
 imprisonment upon the Government, who had in the first 
 place ordered it. In fact it was to be some months before 
 the affair was finally settled. It was S. Michael's day, and a 
 holiday, w-hich brought great numbers of people to the 
 
 I 
 
 monastery, including Abu-Selim. It being, moreover, very 
 hot, it was proposed that, as soon as the sun should be less 
 scorching, we should all make our way up to the little 
 monastery of the Virgin, called " Deir-el-Seyyideh,'' and 
 " make keif '' in honour of the reconciliation. 
 
 We started, a motley crew, the Bishop, Abu-Selim, myself, 
 and a collection, such as the Deir and the day could provide, 
 of Rahabs, boys and men from town and village, to climb the 
 rocky path to the cave at the top of the mountain. The 
 excitement among the boys was intense, and not a little 
 dangerous to our no less excitable horses, who caught the 
 spirit of the occasion, and nearly upset half of us down the 
 rocks. However, we reached the cave in safety, and 
 collected under a great spreading mulberry tree just by the 
 fountain. This was a large basin cut out of the rock, and 
 kept full l)y the continual dripping from the roof of the cave. 
 The water was cold as ice, and supplied, to a large extent, 
 the deep well within the monastery. Round this basin we sat 
 to enjoy the cool air, and the delicious sound of dripping- 
 water, as we discussed the events of the last few days, and I 
 expressed a hope that the Bishop would soon be on his way 
 home. " Insh Allah ! Insh Allah ! " (please God) was echoed 
 twenty times, for I, with western profanity, had forgotten 
 this necessary part of speech ; and Abu-Selim went on 
 quietly repeating the words to himself, as he cut up 
 lettuces, leeks, and capsicum peppers, and squeezed sour 
 pomegranates to make a salad for our enjoyment. This he 
 handed round in spoonfuls, talking all the while to himself, 
 and then burst out in his dear cracked old voice into the 
 Syrian songs he thought I loved to hear as much as he to 
 sing them, until he was overtaken by an uncontrollable fit of 
 coughing, and handed on the song to someone else ; he could 
 not bear to let it stop, ''the 'Hawajah' (myself) liked them 
 so, peace be upon his head, and the mercy of the Lord." 
 And yet I would give much to hear his kind old voice, and 
 see his good face again ; for he, more than anyone in Mardin, 
 made life pleasant ; but I should like to see him away from 
 the jealousies and petty intrigues that forced a barrier of 
 
 
140 
 
 Beir-eUZa^oferiui . 
 
 reserve between every friendship. There was a feeling of 
 relief in this company that made this day and those that 
 folloAved some of the pleasantest spent at the monastery, and 
 made me look back from the plain as I rode towards Aleppo 
 with feelings of heartfelt regret. 
 
 Mart'Suriyah. 
 
 lU 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Two Syrian Villagks. 
 
 I 
 
 li 
 
 5>»i< 
 
 " On my word, a notable young baggage 1" 
 
 Sir Roger de Coverlet. 
 
 There are a few villages inhabited chiefly by Syrians, which 
 lie in the immediate neighbourhood of Mardin, and apart 
 from the large groups scattered through Jebel Tur. Of 
 these, two — Goliyah and Mansuriyah — deserve some de- 
 scription. 
 
 Mansuriyah is a small village on the north side of the hill 
 among the gardens, about half a mile from Mardin, which I 
 visited one day accompanied by Khuri Ibrahim, and a small 
 train of those people who in the East always attach to any 
 expedition, however small and unexciting. We arrived early 
 in the morning, and found every roof covered with women 
 weaving, or men carding the brilliant maroon cotton or wool. 
 It is a general characteristic of these villages that one may 
 walk from one end to another upon the roofs, to which the 
 whole population flocks, and stands in groups of most pictu- 
 resque form and colouring immediately that a stranger is 
 espied. It is there things are "preached or proclaimed.^'* "In 
 the time of persecution a man might run along the house tops 
 to the outskirts of the village, without waiting to go down into 
 his own house. "t Many were still green with the grass, that 
 "withereth afore it cometh up." J "In the summer everyone 
 
 * S. Matthew, x. 27 ; S. Luke, xii. 3. 
 
 t S. Matthew, xxiv. 17 ; Maclean and Browne, p. 54. 
 
 J Psalms, cxxix. 6. 
 
 \ 
 
U2 
 
 Feuda. 
 
 Marriaqe Customs. 
 
 143 
 
 sleeps on the roofs, which are approached by an inside stair- 
 case or by an outside bidder. . . . These roofs are made 
 curiously. The timbers are first firmly fixed into the walls, 
 and covered by transverse laths, and then ao-ain by mats. 
 On the mats is placed a layer of hay, and on the hay a great 
 quantity of earth ; the whole is then plastered down with a 
 composition of mud and chopped straw. The roof is made to 
 slant very slightly, so that the water may run ofF, jind spouts 
 are placed at intervals for the purpose.'' Great is the rolling 
 of roofs as soon as the first November rains come ; for the 
 long drought has made them crack, and the breaches 
 must be repaired, and all hardened down to resist the winter 
 rains. 
 
 Something has been already said of the frequency of small 
 feuds in the Syrian villages. This is no doubt due largely to 
 want of education; but it is a very distressing element, 
 especially in village life, and has done much to make more 
 easy a good deal of the oppression, of which in many places 
 the Christians complain. Not infrequently the Christians are 
 involved in the quarrels of their Kurdish masters, and it 
 becomes impossible for a man to cross a certain line of 
 country, because the Agha or chief of his district is at feud 
 with the Agha of the villages beyond, although the Chris- 
 tians of the two districts are on perfectly good terms w^itli 
 each other. But to the rule of internal quarrelsomeness 
 Mansuriyah was no exception. Two children had beeti 
 betrothed in early life and the time had arrived when they 
 should have been married. Early marriage is very common 
 in the villages, the boys of fourteen sometimes marrvino- o-irls 
 of twelve. But as a rule the husband is older, although at 
 Midhiat it is not uncommon for a woman of twenty-five to 
 take a boy of fourteen, and treat him as her special charge, 
 rather than as husband. Betrothal is a very ceremonious 
 affair, and almost as binding as marriage itself ; nor can boy 
 or girl earn greater disgrace than by deserting the mate that 
 has been chosen for him, and seeking another; while an 
 account of the whole ceremony, with the amount of dowries, 
 is most carefully written down, and sealed by impartial 
 
 witnesses. When a man seeks a wife there is no question of 
 wooing her, but only of obtaining her from her father, and 
 settling the terms of the bargain, generally through a third 
 person of some position. So Jacob asked for Rachel, and 
 Shechem for Dinah.* Hence conjugal life has as a rule little 
 of what we understand to be its real meaning, nor does the 
 wife stand in any higher position than as a good housekeeper, 
 the fruit of a careful bargain. 
 
 In the " Catholicos of the East ''f a charming illustration is 
 drawn from modern customs of the twenty-fourth chapter of 
 Genesis, the whole of which describes an episode that may 
 often be seen at the present time in the East, and expressed 
 in the beautiful language still to be heard. So true it is that 
 every day spent in the East presents a fresh picture of some 
 Bible story. 
 
 The boy and girl at Mansuriyah had been engaged for 
 seven years, and they were now twenty and fourteen years 
 old respectively, and in accordance with Syrian custom were 
 to be married. But, unfortunately, a handsome youth from 
 the village of Benabil had met the damsel, and, as will 
 happen even in this land of buying and selling in marriage, 
 .she had run away and married him. As usual, the callage 
 took sides, the girl's people heading one faction which was 
 contented with the outcome of the elopement, and the 
 aggrieved boy's people the other, claiming not only the money 
 originally paid by the boy, but the divorce of the girl, and 
 compensation in good Turkish gold for the scandal; for 
 scandal it was of a most grievous kind, and ouly thus to be 
 wiped out. The quarrel w^as taken to the Patriarch's diwan, 
 where it languished for months, varied only by skirmishes in 
 the courtyard, when the rival parties arrived the same day to 
 urge their claims. The Patriarch had delivered his verdict in 
 favour of the bride, who had obtained her parents' consent 
 for the new match ; but had balanced justice by ordering her 
 
 'I 
 
 * Gen. xxix., Gen. xxxiv. 4. 
 
 t "The Catholicos of the East and his People." By A.J.Maclean and 
 W. H. Browne. 
 
144 
 
 Marriage Cii-'<toms, 
 
 family to pay a fine to that of the atrgrieved bridegroom. 
 However, the parties were not satisfied, and insisted on going 
 also to the local secretary for civil affairs, a man friendly with 
 His Holiness and determined to abide by his decision. There 
 seemed no prospect of adjusting the quarrel for months, nor 
 did there seem much inclination among the people to put an 
 end to so diverting an episode; and in time a disturbance in 
 the Patriarchal court gained the synonym of a " Mansureti 
 business." Under these circumstances there could be no pro- 
 gressing with the village school, for which it was found hard 
 enough under the most favourable circumstances to raise the 
 six pounds needful for the teacher's salary. So the school 
 was closed, and the funds applied to the maintenance of the 
 
 war. 
 
 The two factions, who united for once in glorious emulation 
 to do me honour, seemed to have discordant notions as to the 
 number of the boys who had been in the school, some saying 
 tw^enty, others a hundred; and the schoolroom, which would 
 have held fifty boys at the most, nearly became the scene of 
 a fearful strife over this question. As I left the room I heard 
 an old man of the " bride faction '' furiously contending that 
 at least a hundred boys had sat there at the feet of his 
 honourable nephew, the teacher, a sickly youth, who looked 
 upon the quarrel with anything but equanimity. 
 
 The people, when not engaged in the question of marriage 
 and the school, were rational and entertained me hospitably, 
 although they were ready at a moment's notice to Hare up ; 
 but infiammability is a feature of most of these mountain 
 people, and tact as well as wit is required in dealing with 
 them. In matters, however, of large import, many years' 
 subjection has seemed to infuse into them something of the 
 " Kismat " of Mohammedans. 
 
 After sitting some time in a new and spacious diwan built 
 by the head man of the Christians, aud having been sufficiently 
 regaled with bad coffee and cigarettes, while a group of boys 
 and women gathered below the partition by the door to stare 
 at us, Khuri Ibrahim proposed a visit to the two churches — 
 most interesting rock chambers of early date. Such build- 
 
 %' 
 
 Rock Churches of Mansiiriyah. 
 
 145 
 
 ings are not uncommon in the neighbourhood, the rocks above 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan being honeycombed with them, but here was 
 the largest I had seen. The church was, as mi<>-ht be 
 expected, very dark, being cut from the living rock, and 
 built up at the soutli-west corner with stones. In accordance 
 witli the usual custom, the door was low and small, and as on 
 It the church, being without windows, depended for its licrht 
 the darkness grew as we approached the altar, before which 
 burned a dim light, scarcely sufficing to show the way. The 
 building consisted of two naves, each with a sanctuary at the 
 east end, the larger nave containing, as often in the villac^es 
 a good store of grain, kept there for safety's sake. On the 
 south side of the south altar was a low arch leading into a 
 small rock-hewn baptistery, where I was shown a large font 
 built into the wall and a smaller vessel, of the well-known 
 and precious blue Persian pottery, containing oil. 
 
 The second church was smaller, but of much finer 
 workmanship, pillars, screen, and altar being carved with 
 great accuracy from the living rock. At the side were 
 several chambers, apparently for the use of a priest, aud in 
 the centre of one of them a well full of clear water, formino- a 
 dangerous trap for the unwary. ^ 
 
 As I was leaving the village one of the chief men came 
 up, and said in a gratuitous way that Mansuriyah was a place 
 on no account to be despised in the matter of antiquities. Had 
 they not the Persian vessel in the church, and was there 
 not m his hand the most beautiful inkstand in Turkey? I 
 admired the treasure, and certainly it was beautiful. Was it 
 for sale ? Yes, a rich Moslem had offered two liras for it • 
 but how could a Syrian sell to a Moslem the work of a pious 
 monk some hundred years ago? But for all that the inkstand 
 was mine, and anything else I wished. This seemed well 
 enough so far, but was merely the artful beginning of a 
 bargain. I knew it would be impolitic to accept the inkstand 
 or offer a price at that moment ; so I refused politely and 
 
 waited until its owner should 
 
 ?ome among one of the 
 
 contending parties to the diwan. Before many days were 
 past he came, and was interrogated by Yakob as to the price 
 
 ( 
 
UG 
 
 Banjainnuj . 
 
 of the iiikstaiul. 1 was Christian, and niii^lit have it for a 
 lira and a half. Yakob offered twenty piastres, one seventh 
 the amount, and the matter was closed for some days. The 
 next visit hronp^ht some fifty piastres diminution; and at the 
 fourth visit the ])rice had dwindled to forty ]iiastres, ahout 
 seven shillin<2^s, for which I procured it ; and it was a good 
 bar^-aiu. The original Moslem buyer had either died, or was 
 a mvth. 
 
 This is l)ut one example of an Eastern bargain. Many men 
 s])end half their time in the pursuit, several hours always 
 being consumed in the purchase of any but the most ordinary 
 necessaries of life; but, as I was purchasing a good many 
 antiquities, I adopted the ])lan of ofFering one-tenth of the 
 amount asked, and waiting until the seller came to terms. It 
 saved a great deal of time, although I had a large number of 
 visits from dealers in all things, and a morning seldom passed, 
 but several of these people spent a few hours sitting at my 
 door, watching if I should relent, and rise in my price. I had 
 in this way the interest of keeping at times half a dozen 
 bart^-ains on mv books, few of which were completed in less 
 tlijui threo weeks. Another secret of success was that I never 
 conducted the harji:aining myself, hut always did it through 
 Yakob, a perfect and most honest adept in the art. 
 
 My purchase of the inkstand was, of course, irregular, and 
 more after the manner of David's purchase of Arauiuih's 
 threshing floor *. It is iinperative in good manners to saj- to 
 a possible buyer that one's house, and all things in it arc his 
 and his children's; but for all that a good ])rice is expected, 
 and real business begins only when a ])rice is offered. 
 
 It is, moreover, characteristic of these ))eople to avoid a 
 straight manner of dealing, if possibli, and of this the 
 following negotiation is a good example. Rulos thi> kntirji, 
 or mideteer, who conveyed me from Ale})po to Mardiu, was, 
 like many of his brethren an "unco crooked nuui." He 
 
 * 2 Samuel xxiv. 22, cp. Gen. .txiii. 15. " Anil Eiiliniii answered Aliraliam, 
 sayiuj; unto him, JI.v Lord, hearken unto me ; tlie land ia worth four hundred 
 shekels of silver ? What in that between me and tbeo? " 
 
 \ 
 
 Native EjrjmJients. 
 
 147 
 
 drove a thriving trade with a dozen beasts or more, donkeys 
 mules, and horses, and kej)t a man to tend them. Now it 
 chanced that he and his man fell out, and Bulos determined 
 to get nd of him ; but, it being impossible for him to 
 tell his .servant ,)lainly what lie wi.shed to do, he devised 
 instead a subtle i.lan. A lady of Mardin Jiad lately bought 
 from him a fine white donkey of the Mosul br'eed and 
 promptly pai,l the purcha.se money. Calculating from this 
 unusual occurrence that money was plentiful in that quarter 
 he wont again to the lady with a proposal that she should jrJ 
 through the form of buying the rest of his animals, and 
 receive a pretended receipt for them, undertaking their care 
 unt^l he should return for them. This propo.sal being met 
 witli lofty scorn, he went to some friends of liis own, who with 
 greater knowledge of the Turki.sh world, and an eye to their 
 own advantage, clo.sed with the bargain, and .soon had a 
 handsome receipt in hand, and twelve good beasts iu their 
 .stab es. Congratulating himself on his cunning, the muleteer 
 went to his servant, and said, " Father, where are my horses ? 
 Have I not sold them? What further need, then, for thy 
 service ? God is beneficent ; He will then reward thee ; here are 
 thy p,a.stre.s." "Aiwa; but this is a scurvy trick, thou cut-off 
 one! replied the man, and struck his master on the nose. 
 Way, but thou Shalt eat w.jod (get a thrashing;, thou father of 
 contuniaey," said Bulo.s, and being a monstrous body, laid 
 Imn low and tlireat.med revelations of past enormities to the 
 Government if the churl did not cease complaining and praise 
 Allah for his mercies. So the men parted, uttering fearful 
 things about ea.h other's relative.s, especially the female ones, 
 and avoided each other for several days to come 
 
 Bulos now went to his friends, and asked for his animals • 
 but never a hair of them could he see. " You .sold them to' 
 us, and ,.. not this the deed of sale ? " they .said. " Aiwa 
 Aiwa; but you never paid, you foxes!" "Who told you 
 that, and who will go bail for you ? " The man then thought 
 ruefully l,nw, ,„ his anxiety to avoid notice, he had obtained 
 no witne.sses, and eouhl therefore do nothing, when politely 
 but hniily uduiiued that "the river flows to-day and flows to- 
 
 L 2 
 
 (i 
 
 ( 
 
148 
 
 Goliyah. 
 
 morrow, for wliicli praise be to Allah.'' So the poor man lost 
 his animals, all to dismiss his servant, which ])roves that he 
 was an^nnco crooked mon.'' His friends kept the horses 
 all the spring and through the summer, until food hecame 
 scarce and traffic small ; then they returned them, with the 
 receipt, to the rightful owner, who, with little work, and 
 much food to pay for, had to keep them until the following 
 
 spring. 
 
 Goliyah, another important village, inhabited solely by 
 Syrians, forms a conspicuous object as one looks over the 
 plain from Mardin. It lies about six miles to the south, and 
 by it is a large pond, from which it takes its name, and where, 
 toward evening, gather crowds of children to bathe, or water 
 goats and cattle. A pretty scene it is, with the long grey 
 shadows thrown over the water, and the bi-ight dresses oi 
 women and children ; the prettier, too, for the abundance of 
 water, which adds a feeling of refreshment and content as 
 one looks across the thirsty land. 
 
 It was a glorious day in June when we started, ^lutran 
 Elias, Yakob, and myself, to spend some hours at Goliyah, 
 visiting on the way two villages, half ruined by the Kurds. 
 AYe rode mules, for the horses of the monastery were down at 
 o-rass, as is usual in the early summer, before the hay had 
 been all dried up. Before we reached the lower ridges of the 
 hills, the vineyards ceased, giving way to fields of grass, with 
 barley, corn, and beans, thickly interspersed with brilliant 
 clumps of balsams, hollyhocks, and anemones. From above 
 these flowers gave a glorious brillinncy to the plain, great 
 splashes of rich colour among the emerald crops, in a few 
 places the villagers were beginning to cut the bai-ley, but for 
 the most part the harvest work had not begun, and they were 
 sitting in groups upon the housetops, expecting the Bishop's 
 visit. As we got nearer, the small cliildren, who seemed to 
 live in the water of the lake, dashed out to announce our 
 arrival, and, doubtless warn the boys at school to be pre])ared 
 for emergencies ; while others, more amply clad than the 
 bathers, ran up, swarming round us to obtain })ossession of 
 the Bishop's hand, which, for the next half hrmr was the 
 
 A' 
 
 A Village School. 
 
 149 
 
 object of ceaseless kissing. It was not often that they had 
 sucli a visit, and it was made a great occasion, and great 
 things were preparing to regale us. Within the limits of the 
 houses were groups of men spreading mud bricks to dry, or 
 pihng up the cakes of animal refuse,^ which are used so 
 largely both for building and for fuel, while under the guard 
 ot great shaggy dogs were women spinning in the courtyard 
 sluide, and others sifting last year's wheat. 
 
 A large number of men had descended from the roof to 
 receive the Bishop, outside the courtyard of the church, and 
 having all duly kissed his hand, and received his ^^ Peace/' 
 they conducted us into a large room, where we found a young 
 man engaged in teaching some dozen small bovs the rudi- 
 ments of Arabic grammar. The village priest, who w^as 
 seated on an impromptu diwan, uttered a number of elegant 
 speeches, and asked if we should care to hear the powers of 
 his school. - For," he said, - though they say the Mardin boys 
 read {i.e., learn) well, yet our boys read as much in one day 
 as they do in three.'' There w^ere some sharp-looking boys in 
 the class, wliich had dwindled to a dozen for the summer 
 months, but in the winter numbered about sixtv. With a 
 good teacher— for I imagined the existing maii, with his 
 inttance of five liras a year, to be both ignorant and incapable 
 --much might l)e done with the boys. The priest was a most 
 nitelbgent man, and spoke in the beautiful wav these Syrians 
 so often do of the lack of water in this countrv, and hoV the 
 people thirsted, too, for a hcttev water— the \vater of life, 
 whu-h the clergy wuiv too ignorant to give them. ^^For what 
 clergy are we, men with neither education nor the powei" of 
 the Spirit, that should be the basis of our ordination ? " He 
 was, however, a man witli a good deal of education of a 
 certain kind, and much oppressed with the feeling of his 
 people's destitution in matters spiritual. From among a large 
 
 In pla.-os where wood is scarce this is the res-ular material for fires, and it 
 i« much value.1 . It jri ves a good heat for a short time, but has the disadvantage 
 Of hll.ng a room with smoke. Every village is. through the summer, supplied 
 with a hirge store of these cakes for winter use. 
 
 Cp. Maclean and Browne, 87, who compare Ezekiel iv. 12-15. 
 
 (i 
 
 ( 
 
II 
 
 150 
 
 ^- I 
 
 A Villm/e School. 
 
 store of aiR'ioiit litiirt>'ios and service books, u few of wliicli 
 wore on ])MrclinuMit, he showed us two with immense ])ride and 
 reverenee ; one,"^ a "Book of the Gospels," eontained in 
 the preface, or " History," as it is eaUed, an account of the 
 vilhiu'e wlieu it w^as a Hourishinii' phice, able to resist tlie Arab 
 inroads, and containing good scliools and fourteen ck^'gy. 
 Among the other books were the Order of marriage, baptism, 
 and ordination, a few on ])archment, l)ut tlie majority modern 
 and on })aper. These were all contained in a large box in 
 the chui'ch, and preserved chieHy by the dust in which 
 they slept. In tlie village were three churches, the one 
 already menticmed, a fine modern building, built about 
 150 yeais ago, but, as a precaution against the Arabs, 
 poorly su])plied with windows. The second church was 
 sonu' way off from the village, aud little used, while the 
 third was a ruin. 
 
 It was now tinu' to accept an elaborate invitation from the 
 head of the village to "eat bread ''t in his new diwau — a 
 pleasant room on the roof of his house, overlooking the lake. 
 Here were c-ollected a nund)er of the principal men to entei*- 
 tain us, and just outside the door elaborate ])reparati(ms foi- a 
 true desert meal were in ])rogress. Very deliciou> it was, f(»r 
 cream there was in plenty, fresh tiiat morning, tlie "kaiiTink " 
 of the Ai-nbs, with butter and honey, such as the liaptist ate; 
 butter, made from fresh milk, and not from cream alone, aud 
 spread u])on a shallow dish and honey poured iip»»n it. J 
 
 * This V ook was part of the Great Syriac Bible tailed of Bar Hebnuus, con- 
 taining' the commentaries of Mar Efrem Syrus, and Mar Vakob (probably 
 Jacobus BardoDus), a MS. on paper, in three columns, not dated. The second, 
 another fuller ropy of the same, wiitten bv the hand of Priest Ibrahim in the 
 year HMU of the Greek Era ( = 1.593 a.d.). 
 
 t "Eating' bread" is the regular expression for taking a meal. Cp. Gen. 
 xviii. 5. where Abraham entertains the angels, and Ju<lges xiii. 1«). 
 
 + Maclean and Browne think that by butter in the Bible, so often associated 
 with honey, the "leben" or "yaurt"^ that is, curdled milk — was intended. This 
 delicious drink I never saw mixed with honey, nor wouM it imitrove such a sour 
 dish. It is much more likely to be 'Zibde,' the Arab butter, nearly always eaten 
 with honey or ■' dibVuz " (molasses), that is a sort of treacle made by boiling 
 grai)es. Cp. 2 Samuel xvii. 29, Job xx. 17. Isaiah vii, 1.5-22, where butter is a 
 
 Coffee- in(tki}u/. 
 
 151 
 
 Fresh cheese, too, there was, from the store they are so busy 
 at this time in inaking for tlie winter use. It was agreeable 
 enough, but when it dries it gets a stronger flavour, and is 
 generally eaten with herbs. A man going on a journey will 
 always take a bag of this goat's cheese with him, beside his 
 dates, bread, almonds, and other relishes. 
 
 The Bishop, Yakob, and myself were the only ones who took 
 much account of the meal, although the priest, after much 
 pressing, consented to sit with us. However, his part in the 
 entertainment consisted mainly in rolling up attractive pieces 
 of honey or omelette in pieces of the flat bread, and handing 
 them to us to eat. This gift must never be refused, for it is a 
 sign of love; but it is not necessary to eat it. So it was that 
 Joseph sent "messes unto his brethren from before him; but 
 Benjamin's mess was five times as much as any of theirs.' ' 
 
 After a glass of wine, brought out to-day as on a great 
 occasion— for the Syrians, as is natural in a hot climate, drink 
 very little wine— we i)erformed the necessary ablutions, and 
 the Bishop j)ronounced a long grace. Then came cigarettes, 
 which youths had been preparing during our meal, and coffee 
 of a very fine cpiality, more ai)proachiiig true Arab coffee 
 than any that I had before tasted. 
 
 xNow, as Goliyah was a village of the ])laiii, it shared with 
 the Arab tents an all-])ervadiug sentiment of coffee. Here, 
 therefore, the rtrst thing we met on arrival, and the last thing 
 before we went away, was coffee. Coffee is to the people o'f' 
 the plain (as for the inhabitants of towns, they do not know 
 what coffee is) what tea is to Engli.^h ladies, and lying to the 
 Greeks ; in fact, it is their "craft," there being no'' other craft 
 worth mentioning. A very solemn matter it is, esi)ecially for 
 the tired guest, who enters the house oi- tent with parched 
 hps, and altogether with a hollow feeling. But politeness 
 and the exigencies of the " craft " demand patience. 
 
 sign of plenty. Later in the year milk becomes too scarce to be used for butter 
 but is all turned into - leben." and either eaten in its thick state with spoons or 
 mixe.l with water and drunk. That butter was brought in (2 Sam. xvii. 29) to 
 -Uayd an.l his people alone seems to show it was considered a delicacy, whereas 
 " leben ' is what everyone drinks. So, too. Judges v. 25, Gen. xviii. 8. ' 
 
 \l 
 
152 
 
 Gofec-mdkinij. 
 
 From a uiclie in tlir wall a larcro mortar, round, and 
 narrowed at tlio base, is brouo-l.t d^^vn ivady to grind the 
 coffee as soon as it is roasted. This is a matter of delicate 
 sinll, and is dime in a metal pan held ovei- a Nvo.»d, or, better 
 stdl, a charcoal fir(. ; but beware tluit the beans are not 
 scorclied or blackened, and sei- that their full richness is 
 brouo-ht out, shaking them gently the while, and watcliin.^ 
 them as you love good coffee. AVI,. ,, they begin to ^^vt lively 
 and 1(M,|) about, turn them into the mortar, and give them all 
 you ever learned with the pestle. Slowly, and witli quite 
 ex(pi,site precision, would an experienced cotlee-maker pound 
 them to the required fineness, but not too fine. This 
 ceremony is usually performcnl on tlie plain by the liost ; for 
 who else can be deemed really worthy of tlu- calliug of a 
 cofFee-pounder ? 
 
 After the pounding comes the boiling i,, such a dirty little 
 inm pot as you never beheld; thrcv linie> must th(.\.offee 
 simmer to the boiling point, for it is cold WMt(M- that is poured 
 upon the grains, and fhrci^ times sink again. At each boiling 
 a grain of cinnamon, or perhaps of all-spice, is dropped in, and 
 then the com-c is p^invd out of the iWvw pot into still dirtier 
 (•ni>s, and then your bliss is full, or, if not, do nut say so, for 
 you are among a ])eople of colfee-(b-iid.-ers. 
 
 Sometimes in the villages, in the towns alwavs, yon will 
 tind a l.i;./ier o^ (>legant, and often really beautiful worknuiii- 
 ship, where a small charcoal fire burns all d;,v, with .1 ])ot for 
 ^H>iling and sugar for spoiling just by. JJ.u ,vally guod 
 coftee x.ax will not hnd, miless you are lucky, or tlie gu(^st of 
 the Syrian l»atnarch, in the towns; fnr thVre coffee'" is only 
 five or ten n,innt(>s in tlu- niakin- whereas .m. the plain .-, n,;,n 
 gives his whole mill. I tn it U^r half ;iii li..iir <.r more; and 
 that half-hour yon aiv likely to find vorv dnll, especially if 
 you are alone with your liost. But tln.t is'not often the case, 
 forcoftee brewing has a magnetic influence, an<] everyone 
 knows that, if" he but arrives at the right moment he is 'sure 
 of his cup; and the l)etter the cup, the surer he is; for the 
 nobler Arab has the nobler coffee. Without coffee,\oo, and 
 the unfailing smoke, narjilah, shibuk, or cigarettes, n.. ])usiness 
 
 :ar- -"^\;V '. -^--raC - 
 

 .V 
 
 Nfwhj-enrolled Aruh-Knrd.o. 
 
 153 
 
 can ever be done, whetl.er it be the purchase of a house 
 u. the arrangenients of a daughter's marriage. There !' 
 2l :ht""'r •'■';: ^°ff— «king, that it.: quality o 
 
 at. r r/ ' f^'l'^'fg '^l^-^y^ the dirt, comes not from the 
 
 on te ph -t^ *°""' '^"^ "- '^-P- °f ^oats and bullo;!;: 
 
 While we were sipping thimblefuls of coffee a ereat 
 
 ■•nd spe.u.s filing slowly toward the village. It was soon 
 apparent who they were, the men of Ibrahim PashJSief of 
 » l.alf- breed tnbe of Arab-Kurds, that lived by the vil a" o 
 ^ eranshoher, and were encamped some distance to tl^e s!^th 
 
 then shee and horses. A large number of these had inst 
 .eon enrolled as irregulars by tie Mnshir, who td not C 
 Mnce arrn-ed „, Mardin, and were returnin-. under thf 
 command of their chief, lately invested with ^1 tSe c. 
 et£': :; ^•"•*-;; '"« villainies, wealth, and capab 1 • 
 nt- fll newh-f t T'''''' "' '''' government. They 
 wh t m, S r '' n*^"™-* --fl-^ and who knows 
 
 " ,..t m.,3 bt the outcome of this enrolment of wild and 
 rrespons,ble bashi-bazuks. However, they formed a mTst 
 ..eturesque company as they passed the 'lake, whh tie 
 ^es^ZT' ^^^-'^i™' riding on'fi\fe Itb 
 pTorgra^;; "■"•'' ™''^' ^■^•^ ''' ^^^ •^'^P-^-^^^ of a good 
 
 ro Ma.dm. After a short visit to the agent of the American 
 :\^«s,on, an nitelligent n,a„, with a ffw adherentt™..; 
 
 s™.l sS 00 d If""' "^'^ ™°'-^ ""'--^ "fatness L his 
 lent 1, 1 , ,™'"^' ''''' ^"^^'"'^'^ »P0" a long farewell 
 
 engthened nmch by continued kissing of the Bis3 
 
 .^'peor'U: r '''-■': ^^* ^^-^^^ ^^^^- ^^ «- --a 
 
 vilkge ' '"^«°™Pa"«>d "s nearly half a mile from the 
 
I '.JJl J i. ■ 
 
 l( 
 
 154 
 
 Neu'fy-enrolled Aralt-Kurds. 
 
 Just as we reached tlie town we met what seemed Ji perfect 
 embodiment of a Greek Faun, beautiful, with dark matted 
 curls, and wearing nothing but a cloth round his waist, an 
 unfortunate of a class only too common in the east, but of 
 which it is one of the boasts of Islam to take especial oare, as 
 of children afflicted of God. 
 
 -O0j©:;c>0- 
 
 A Kurdish Village. 
 
 loo 
 
 CHAPTPJK XII. 
 
 Da ra. 
 
 Indeed, the special marking of the man 
 Is prone submission to the heavenly will. 
 
 R. B. 
 
 At a distance of about five hours' ride to the south-east of 
 Mardin once stood under the western spurs of Jebel Tur the 
 famous city of Dara, of which the massive ruins remain to 
 this day. Of the power of the Sassanian kings and the 
 Roman conquerors who fortified the place there are signs, 
 not only here, but in numerous forts and castles, built about 
 the plain and above the village of Qala\at-el-Mara, near 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan, by the sons and daughters of the Persian 
 kings. 
 
 Hiding up to the Kurdish village built among the ruins, we 
 passed over the fragments of the southei-n gates, by a great 
 tower, crowned now by a stork\s nest, which with its fallen 
 comj^anion once guarded the entrance. Past great masses of 
 hewn rocks, the ruins of churches, baths, and palaces, we 
 reached a grassy court, shaded l)y figs and walnut trees, and 
 watered by two noisy, shallow streams, where pious Moslems 
 were performing their prescribed al)lutions. At one end of 
 the court stood a school, and at the othei- tlie mosque and 
 minaret, to w]iich as guests of the Sheikh we had been 
 directed. 
 
 There was a remarkable air uf neatness and cool quietness 
 about the place, especially wnthin the mosque, the only one in 
 interior Turkey that I was able to enter. The school upon 
 
 \ 
 
156 
 
 A KurdisJi Village. 
 
 The Sheikhas Photograph. 
 
 157 
 
 the other side of the laAvn was fronted by a hroad verandah, 
 built of pillars and capitals evidently taken from the Roman 
 ruins all around, and half overgrown with creepers and vines. 
 Through the large latticed windows could be seen some 
 twenty pupils of the learned Sheikh, reading and writing, 
 while some talked, or looked out at us. There we had a small 
 white-washed room assigned to us for as long as we should 
 wish to stay; and there we rested until a message arrived 
 from the Sheikh requesting that we should honour him by 
 taking breakfast in liis house. This we were only too ready 
 to do, for the room in which we had spent the night at the 
 village of Qasser, had been so inhabited by creeping things 
 innumeral)le, of all sizes and tastes, that Yakob had not slept 
 foi' half an hour, so busy was he in the slaughter, and we 
 had left early in the morning before having anything to eat. 
 The messenger guided us to a house overlooking the village, 
 and showed us into a room newly built, blazing in white 
 plaster, and green painted, such as the Moslem loves, where 
 sat the Sheikh, white turbanded and with long robes of rich 
 green silk, reading some serious book of Moslem piety or law. 
 Sheikh Mohammed Said we found to be a man of middle age 
 and great solemnity. He had a curious Kurdish face, bronze 
 coloured, with a fine nose, a broad, low forehead, and narrow 
 eyes. His broad, straight mouth and full lips wwe half 
 covered with a neatly trimmed beard of jet black ; and as we 
 made a profound obeisance, he greeted us with the most 
 charming Oriental courtesies, inquiring whence we came, and 
 hoping we should stay many days with him. He spoke of 
 Pairope and of civilization; and sighed as he expressed a 
 hope that some day his country might be blessed with a 
 better administration, and a civilization wisely introduced, 
 not as in Syria, where he heard that western influence had 
 brought little good, but in the way that a true Islam and a 
 true Christianity might join to bring it. He welcomed us for 
 all the world as if we had been Mullas, and said (sincerely, 
 too, as we afterwards learned) that by his interpretation of 
 the Prophet^s law, he knew neither Jew, nor Christian, nor 
 Moslem, but loved all in the spirit of the brotherhood he 
 
 taught. It was only perhaps because I had not as yet ex- 
 perienced this brotherly spirit in Islam, that I was at first 
 inclined to smile. 
 
 We had coffee and cigarettes, the latter of which he was 
 too strict a Moslem to touch, and admired his beautiful and 
 well-ordered village until breakfast arrived, and he left us to 
 enjoy his hospitality of leben, eggs, and honey in the comb. 
 After half an hour he returned, and said that he was sure we 
 should wish to see the antiquities of the town, but that, while 
 he sent for one or two of his best-informed pupils to act as 
 guides, he would show us his house, for his wife was not one 
 who kept her house as a prison, but entertained all guests that 
 were not quite new comers. We eagerly accepted so flatter- 
 ing an invitation, and were taken into several rooms, even 
 the ante-room of the harim, where, in the cool breeze, his 
 little black-eyed daughter, profusely adorned with gold, was 
 spelling out some chapter of the Koran before a solemn old 
 Mulla. Thence we passed into a yard, which had once been the 
 nave of a Christian church, but now served to keep chickens 
 and his wife's palanquin. Lastly, he showed us his state 
 diwan, hung with great banners of white and green, worked 
 with crescents, which are carried before him on festivals and 
 set upon the city walls on Fridays. Books, too, there were in 
 profusion, ranged in glass cases, with yellow, green, and red 
 bindings — books of law and religion. A very holy room it 
 was, where the green-white-turbanded man performed his 
 private prayers each Friday. 
 
 He was intensely interested, the more so, perhaps, that it 
 savoured of the forbidden thing, in my camera, which I 
 showed him; being, in fact, anxious to photograph him. 
 Knowing the fame of his piety, I did not dare to ask to take 
 his picture ; but when I had gone to my room, he sent word 
 to Yakob that he would again like to see the instrument. It 
 was clear what this meant ; he had discussed the matter with 
 some of his learned brethren, and concluded that, as neither 
 he nor any other of the Faithful were concerned in the making 
 of the picture, and as the Christians had no law in the matter, 
 and could do as they liked, there could be no sin in allowing 
 
 ir 
 
158 
 
 The Rains of Dam. 
 
 the operation. The method was so wonderful, that might it 
 not be also from God, to whom be praise ? At least, the 
 maker of the picture was one, and he whom it represented 
 another, and if the one stood here with a wonderful box, and 
 the other there among his mullas, what then ? His still holier 
 brother spoke in the same way in Mardin, and him, too, I 
 photographed. But I strongly suspect that on reflection he 
 repented, for when I sent him a copy of the photograph that 
 Yakob took, I received no message of thanks. 
 
 A similar method of argument was used in India, where a 
 photographic studio was opened and managed entirely by 
 Mohammedan ladies. It was excused on the ground that 
 Mohammed had received no inspiration with regard to photo- 
 graphy, and therefore did not include it in his rigid law, 
 which forbade the making the representation of any hunuiu 
 
 being. 
 
 By the time the operation was finished, our guides were 
 ready to conduct us round the ruins. All along the south- 
 east we saw the remains of massive walls, connecting the 
 principal entrance to the south with the great water-gate on 
 the north-west. By the latter the walls were in very good 
 condition, of enormous size and strength, and guarded by 
 frequent round or octagonal bastions. The western tower of 
 the main entrance was the more complete of the two ; and at 
 the south-east corner of the walls was another tower of later 
 date. North-west of the chief water-gate was a stone dam, 
 and a fine embankment to prevent the overflow of the stream, 
 and above that a reservoir protected by a wall. East of this 
 was the acropolis, the Cyclopean stones of which have been 
 largely used in the construction of the Kurdish village, built 
 mainly upon its western side, and stretching from here down 
 to the southern gate. The bastions were grouped chiefly 
 about the north-east corner, by the water-gate, which seems 
 to have been the point on which most labour was expended, 
 both to maintain the supply and prevent its use by the 
 enemy for the purpose of flooding the town. On the acropolis 
 there were some very curious cuttings upon a smoothed face 
 of rock, like intaglios engraved in the stone, as it were, for 
 
 The Ruins of Bar a. 
 
 159 
 
 seal dies. There were in all some two hundred of them, 
 in several clusters; and they seemed far too regular and 
 isolated to be by any chance the result of fossil formation. 
 The patterns were mainly spirals, shells, and curves. On 
 this acropolis were also reservoirs for the further storage of 
 water. 
 
 The water-gates, mentioned by Gribbon,"^ were most re- 
 markable, one at the north and another at the south, and 
 each with a reservoir for collecting the water. The stream, 
 one of those that joins the Mygdonius, had a full volume in 
 June, and came down through the hills until it was confined 
 by the embankment, and conducted from the reservoir through 
 a four-arched water-gate below the walls of the city. In spite 
 of the difficulties found by Dr. Ainsworth in Procopius^ 
 account of this water, which is said to have been so con- 
 ducted that the enemy could not cut it off, the facts seem 
 to explain it quite sufficiently, especially if, as is possible, the 
 volume was at that time greater than it now is. From these 
 gates the Avater was conducted into the city, distributed 
 through it, and again collected in the reservoir to the south, 
 before its egress. So substantial is the masonry, that all this 
 remains to the present day in almost perfect working order, 
 and consequently Dara is one of the best-watered villages of 
 Mesopotamia. 
 
 Within the walls we were shown several huge buildings, as 
 well as a number of ruined churches, all remarkable for the 
 Cyclopean character of the masonry, not dissimilar in style to 
 the older portions of Deir-el-Za'aferan. Of these remains the 
 largest and best preserved was a subterranean building. It had 
 a gallery running along one side, and vaulted, from one end 
 of which a narrow staircase led down into a huge chamber of 
 great height, and some eighty feet long,t divided into three 
 
 * See Gibbon, ch. xl., who gives an account of Dara, taken from Procopius, 
 Bell. Goth. iv. 7, cp. Ainsworth, ii. 340. 
 
 t The measurements are borrowed from Ainsworth, who, however, does not 
 clearly explain that there are three aisles, 15ft. 9in. broad (ii, 339). 
 
 It is 120ft. high. Badg. i. 308, who mentions that a subterranean passage 
 leads from one corner underneath the village. 
 
w* 
 
 160 
 
 The Ruins of Darn. 
 
 The Ruins of Dara. 
 
 Ul 
 
 aisles l)y massive sqiuive pillars, which supported the vault- 
 ing. The original use of the l)uil(ling was a mystery to my 
 guides, although it was traditionally said to he a granary. 
 Others said, however, it was used for storing water, or as a 
 prison, a treasure house, or even as a diwan. In proof of its 
 having been a prison, a hole in the wall was pointed out, 
 through which a desperate prisoner once cut his way to the 
 open Tir, some five feet above ! There were no means, however, 
 of ascertaining its actual use. 
 
 Another building, given over, like the last, to the swallows, 
 and of similar plan, lies rather more to the north. It is built 
 chiefly of brick, and seemed to have been a bath or a store 
 house for water. The ground plan pointed to the former use. 
 It was chiefly below ground, doubtless for the sake of cool- 
 ness, and had much of its roof destroyed by lightning. It 
 consisted once of ten parallel vaulted spaces, of which seven 
 now remain, in which the water was stagnant, and from the 
 vaults of which long stalactites hung. 
 
 Perhaps, however, the most interesting remains at Dara 
 were the numerous tombs and chapels that formed the 
 necropolis. They were mostly cut from the living rock, some 
 large enough to form sheep pens or refuges for the shepherds, 
 others again with space only for the repose of one body or 
 two. Most of the approaches were arched, and had legends, 
 entirely illegible, in Greek uncials. One of these chambers 
 measured over fifty feet each way, containing a gallery all 
 round with compartments for tombs. Below was another 
 gallery similarly treated. Greek inscriptions, much defaced, 
 and rude sculpture were to be seen on all sides, referring to 
 death and the dead. The building was, however, so full of 
 sheep and their invariable attendants that we scarcely 
 escaped from this most interesting building with whole skins. 
 In regard to the history of Dara, it is said by Procopius 
 that the Emperor Anastasius I., in fear of the encroach- 
 ments of the Persians under the daring Kabades, fortified 
 the village that existed on the spot.* Justinian then 
 
 increased its strength, and to him, doubtless, were due the 
 magnificent fortifications which (libbon, quoting Procopius, 
 describes as representing the military architecture of the 
 age. In 531 a.d., Chosroes the Great, called Nusherwan, 
 contemplated its destruction, but spared it on condition that 
 it should never again become the residence of the General 
 of the East. 
 
 Persian historians, however, ascribe its origin to Arsaces 
 Tiridates, who became King of Armenia in 286 a.d., and in 
 296 A.D. delivered Armenia from the Persian yoke. The 
 city belonged first to the one then to the other power, 
 until, in 590 a.d., it was restored by the great conqueror, 
 Chosroes II., to the Romans. It is natural, therefore, that 
 fire altars should be carved upon one tomb, and the Cross 
 within the circle of Eternity upon another, and " that 
 Byzantine sarco])hagi should be as frequent as Persian 
 grots. '^"^ 
 
 In history it is most interesting for its splendid defence 
 in 580 a.d. by Belisarius, the general of Justinian, against 
 forty thousand Persians, which contrasts but sadly with the 
 inglorious terms by which, in the next year, the Romans 
 purchased the safety of their outpost. 
 
 The glorious death struggle in which Heraclius led the 
 Romans for the recovery of the true Cross simply marks in 
 more glaring colours the break up of the empire that 
 preceded the rise of the Arabians and the loss of all these 
 frontier towns — Amida, Edessa, Nisibin, Dara, and Singara — 
 over which Persians and Romans had fought for five hundred 
 years. A younger and greater power was waiting to succeed 
 them and end the struggle for a boundary in which the two 
 powers — one following Darius, the other Alexander — had 
 engaged. The work of the old world was done, and a new 
 era began. 
 
 The sun was higli when we finished the exploration of Dara, 
 and, though I would gladly have spent some days in a more 
 exact examination of these most interesting ruins, it was time 
 
 * Gibbon, xl. 502 a.d. 
 
 * Ainswortli. -Travels in Asia Minor," ii. 117. 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 Christian and Moslem. 
 
 to return to Mardin. After a short farewell to the Sheikh, 
 and many expressions of our enjoyment of our visit, we 
 started, and arrived soon after dark at the house of the 
 Patriarch, who was delighted to welcome us, heing always 
 anxious whenever his guests were out of his sight. 
 
 My visit to Sheikh Mohammed made me realise for the first 
 time that many blemishes that appear most glaringly on the 
 forefront of Mohammedan life are not entirely the outcome 
 of Mohammedanism. It is important in Turkey to distinguish 
 the effect on the condition of the people of religion and the 
 government under which they live, although that government 
 be in fact a religious one, and the Sultan of the Turks also 
 the Khalif of Islam. The Sheikh, living in simple state, 
 shewed what the higher life of a Mohammedan may be ; that 
 in no way is his religion one that shuts the door to personal 
 holiness and the practice of those virtues which some would 
 so jealously claim for Christianity alone. I was fortunate 
 in meeting men of Moslem creed, pure and of a noble life, 
 men hating the corruptions of officialdom, and anxious to 
 purify the defects of popular Islam by perhaps an un- 
 conscious reference to Christian standards; men whose 
 notions of a brotherhood went out beyond the borders of their 
 creed, who saw that slavery and polygamy were blemishes 
 that it would be most surely in the spirit of their Great 
 Founder to modify now and in time abolish. The mills grind 
 slowly in the East and little good would be done by sudden 
 change ; but there is no doubt that polygamy is not cherished 
 by higher Mohammedans, nor has slavery the ghastly 
 features so indelibly stamped upon it in the South, and in the 
 Western hemisphere. The methods of securing slaves may 
 be what they may, but the conditions of slavery in the house 
 of a good Mohammedan in Turkey compares not unfavourably 
 with that of servants in many a European house. By no 
 means is it intended to deny the utter evils of polygamy, or 
 that the practice is condoned by the Koran. I^ut after all 
 it is the exception rather than the rule in Turkey, and, 
 I believe, in most Turkish countries; and in most cases 
 for the plain reason that it is an expensive luxury to 
 
 Chrisiian and Moslem. 
 
 163 
 
 have more than one wife. Slaves, and especially female 
 slaves, are not so uncommon, and that on the score of 
 economy, and it is impossible not to recognise the evil 
 attending this fact. Contrasting the life of the Sheikh of 
 Dara with that of our good friend Antonios Azar of Aleppo, 
 polished gentleman of a civilised town, and taking circum- 
 stances into account, there is not so much difference. 
 Antonios has two negro slave girls ; to a third he lately gave 
 her liberty. They are happy, having a good mistress, and not 
 being in the degraded position with regard to their master to 
 which the slaves of many a Moslem house are condemned, 
 and in time will earn their freedom. They cost forty liras 
 each, and are well worth it to their master. Mohammed, 
 however, keeps no slaves, and has but one wife, and for 
 servants has the ministers of the mosque. 
 
 Hard though it is to balance the character of Moslem and 
 Christian in Turkey, where the faults of each are accentuated 
 by their relative positions of conqueror and subject, yet there 
 are certain types which court comparison and seem' to show, 
 among much good and evil evenly distributed between the 
 two, a balance in favour of the Christian. There is little 
 enough to choose between the efendi, freshly sent from 
 Stambul to fill some minor post in a country town and import 
 all the vices which he has learned in that sink of Eastern 
 and Western iniquity, and the clerk, who, calling himself 
 Greek Orthodox, or, perhaps, Papal Armenian, spends 
 half of his day in the counting-house of a seaport Syrian town, 
 and the other half sipping arrak and gambling in a cafe. It 
 would be as hard to find viler specimens of humanity, presum- 
 ably civilised, than these two as to weigh their peculiar merits. 
 
 If, however, we contrast two representative men in another 
 rank of life, a difference will appear. There is a man lately 
 honoured with the title of Pasha for the boundless services 
 done to a grateful Government by devastating a hundred 
 villages and enriching some high official out of the proceeds, 
 to wit, the Kurd Mustafa, of whom more when we reach 
 Nisibin. Such a man compares but ill with the wealthiest 
 landlord of the Syrian community, one Abd-el-Messiah, who 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 Christian nrirl Moslem. 
 
 lives in a village north of tlie Tigris. It is true that 
 the old type of Kurdish heg, hy the witness of most travel- 
 lers, was, as a rule, a good landlord and a kindly man ; but 
 he has been exterminated by a nervous official policy ; and 
 such men as Mustafa now represent the Kurdish landlords, 
 but a poor contrast to Abd-el-Messiah, who lives among 
 his people, supporting and feeding them, maintaining from 
 his own purse a school and church, as his fathers did 
 before him, a man who is a by-word through Mesopotamia 
 for hospitality to all, noble oi)en-handedness, and simpleness 
 
 of life. oi -i 1 
 
 But with the best tvpe of a Mohammedan, such as hheikli 
 Mohammed, let us contrast the Syrian Bisho]), who is admitted 
 by all to rank highest both for simpleness and holiness as 
 well as for the life of active good to which he has devoted 
 himself. In the influence of Mutran Hanna's gentle life 
 none fail to recognise a spirit to which no ^Moslem d<)es or ever 
 can lay claim, a puritv of motive, a sacrifice of life's goods, a 
 simple trust in a God that is a Father, which is far removed 
 from the sublimest we can find in the hard iiKmotheism of 
 Islam; all this ccmibined with a hatred of intrigue and 
 "Polit'ika,'' as the arts of ])ublic life are admirably phrased in 
 Arabic, aiid a sim])le desire to further the good of his people. 
 One pictures readily the house of hospitality and almsgiving 
 that are connected with a true Moslem ; but where can we 
 find one like this good Bislio]) riding from house to house, 
 and village to village, preaching God's gospel and ccmifortmg 
 the comfortless, hearing the troubles and soothing the rpiarrels 
 of many a Syrian home? It is here the ])arallel fails. The 
 Moslem is charitable, as no other man is, for are not all of 
 the Faith brothers ? but he lacks the common love for a 
 Father which l)ids men be charitable in virtue of the Love 
 which sacrificed itself for men, and leads them to sacrifice all 
 to alleviate by but one jot the misery of life and advance the 
 glory of the kingdom of God. 
 
 Nor is it only in the higher paths that the one faith yields 
 to the other. Go into any house in an interior town, and in 
 one moment you will see whether it is Moslem or Christian ; 
 
 Chri.stian and Moslem,. 
 
 165 
 
 and that not so much by the wealth or poverty, the cleanliness 
 or dirt ; but in the one you will see women, perhaps unveiled, 
 who will be polite to you, and not fly as at the approach of a 
 wolf, and in the other is the solemn dryness that lacks the 
 element of female influence. Only too much room is there 
 for im})rovement in the Christian house, and thanks to the 
 good work of American missionaries there has been a very 
 great change, so that in a well-to-do house in Diarbekr the 
 ladies sit and talk with perfect equality with men in the 
 diwan, and that not in a ^' Protestant '' family. But in the 
 Moslem house there is all the seclusion, all the dense 
 stupidity, the bitter dissension, interwoven with the rule of 
 the liarim, which twelve centuries of Islam have been power- 
 less to amend. In the Christian house it is a far different 
 case ; and often there is more difference between elder brother 
 and younger than between younger brother and the women 
 of the house. Nothing is more remarkable in these towns 
 than the way in which the primitive purity of life has been 
 maintained by the Christian. The case is different where 
 there has been contact with the western cities. But in the 
 towns of the interior the standard of niorality is very high, 
 and admitted by most travellers to be so, forming perhaps the 
 strongest contrast of all between the manners of Moslem and 
 Christian. 
 
 Celibacy is not enforced among the clergy; indeed for 
 the parish priest it is forbidden; but there is celibacy for 
 monks and bishops, and it is wonderful how almost un- 
 heard of are the evils supposed to accompany a celibate 
 priesthood. So much so, that the Patriarch absolutely 
 refused to believe a very positive charge made against a 
 monk, and said that never in all his ninety-four years had 
 he heard of such a case, nor could he believe in his old 
 age that such a one had occurred. 
 
 It is hard to say how a conquered people would behave, 
 were its relation to its rulers reversed. The Syrians never 
 were a conquering nation, and perhaps will remain for 
 ever subject. They are a loyal people, industrious, peace- 
 ful, intensely patriotic, and tenacious of their creed and 
 
> 
 
 166 
 
 Christian and Moslem. 
 
 Christian and Moslem. 
 
 167 
 
 nationality. But they cherish no idea of rebellion, even 
 were it practicable, nor do they seem to realise any other 
 position for themselves than that of dependents. But one 
 can readily realise what an influence such a people, puri- 
 fied in their creed and imbued with a spirit of progressive 
 Christianity, may have upon rulers who never have regarded 
 them, nor do now regard them, with anything but friendliness 
 and toleration. In this respect they comj)are favourably with 
 all the other Churches under the Sultan. They are strong 
 enough, and live in civilised places enough, not to be a prey 
 to mountain robbers, like the Nestorians. They are not 
 powerful or ambitious enough to have any desire to shake off 
 the rule under which they live, like the Armenians. They 
 are not consumed by a hereditary feud with a neighbour like 
 the Maronites, nor objects of suspicion, as dependents and 
 spies of a foreign power, and doubtful worshii)pers of a 
 pure faith, like all the Papal Christians. So they stand 
 in a peculiarly favourable position, iuviting the help of 
 which they are worthy in order to render them able to 
 do that work which God has most certainly preserved them 
 to accomplish. 
 
 It is not to be denied that what has been said exhibits the 
 Syrians, as compared with their Moslem neighbours, in a 
 favourable light — eager for reform in the dark places of their 
 Church, eager for education, and eager, above all, to be 
 recognised as part of the Catholic Church of Christ, and to 
 regain some of the position which has been denied to them 
 ever since the sixth century. Mardin, too, and Diarbekr are 
 towns where life is very tolerable indeed, and where the 
 Christians are strong enough in numbers to stand firmly to 
 their rights. Further north and west matters are different, 
 owing to the complications due to the Armenian question, of 
 which one begins to feel the influence in Diarbekr. i^ut there 
 is no Syrian question ; and, in consequence, the Christians 
 of Mardin are well off with regard to the exercise of their 
 religion and freedom to trade and converse with the outer 
 world. But it is in the villages that we may find the shadows 
 with which to heighten the picture. Ride but thirty miles, or 
 
 I 
 
 even three miles, from Mardin, if you can find a village 
 where Christians live among Moslems, and the difference will 
 appear. Go to such a place as Saert, which is renowned for 
 the fanatical character of its Moslem inhabitants, and it is 
 literally true that, if a Moslem strike a Christian on one 
 cheek, he must straightway offer him the other also, and that 
 not for humility and the love of his Master, but because he 
 dare not do otherwise. 
 
 The year 1892 was a black-letter year in the history of 
 recent Turkish government in country places. For two years 
 the cords have been much tightened, and this combined 
 with the exactions of a syndicate formed in Diarbekr 
 for the collection of the corn-tithes, and containing, I 
 regret to say, some of the leading Armenians of the town, 
 have made it a very hard year for the village people. 
 The harvest, too, was bad, and the Kurd and Arab more 
 unruly than usual, so that as 1 passed from one village 
 to another the people cried that things could scarcely go 
 further, and it must be that God had turned away his face 
 and would not hear. 
 
 One day, as I arrived at a village in Jebel Tur, some thirty 
 miles from Mardin, an old man came in on his way to the 
 governor at Mardin. He had just arrived from the small 
 village of Ain Werdeh, of which he was the chief, and brought 
 a horrible tale of brutality. He had been for some years out 
 of favour with the Government, whether for good or evil I do 
 not know. 
 
 About a month since, mounted police had arrived in the 
 village for the purpose of collecting taxes. They were armed, 
 and carried their arms loaded, as they always do; they 
 demanded the taxes of the village, one hundred Turkish 
 pounds, which were promptly brought by the nephew and son 
 of the old man. As soon as they received the money, the 
 ])olice turned on the men, and said they must arrest them ; 
 but, as they gave no reason whatever for this, the men walked 
 away. One of the police slowly raised his gun and shot one 
 dead, and the second followed his example, and the other lay 
 by his side. Nine nephews, six sons, and five brothers had 
 
Chrisfion fn,d Moxh'w. 
 loo — - 
 - — — ' ,. c„ ^^» cciintJ to 
 
 Ae old man lost at the ^-^^ Z!;'Z redT.s« could be 
 Mavdin, and .tayed there. .u^nt^^^. ., ^,^^^. t., see 
 obtain. He can.e day aftei da , ^^^^.^^^^^ ^j„,.^„ v 
 
 xV^c 
 
 Jebel Tiir. 
 
 169 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Jebel Tur — THE Mountain Home of the Syrians. 
 
 And just as far as ever from the end ! 
 
 Nought in the distance but the evening, nought 
 
 To guide my footsteps further I 
 
 . • • • 
 
 For, looking up, aware I somehow grew, 
 Spite of the dusk, the plains had given place 
 All round to mountains .... 
 
 The middle of the third week of August had been predicted 
 as the time when the cool wind would come and put an end to 
 the tropical heat which the hot winds had ushered in at the 
 beginning of July. It was now time to prepare for an 
 expedition to the mountain country north-east of Mardin. it 
 required a fortnight to make the necessary preparations, 
 buying horses and those provisions for which it would be 
 unwise to depend on a district in which Midhiat was the only 
 village that boasted a regular bazar. 
 
 Yakob was to come with me, and in order to avoid the 
 trouble as well as the risk of a large caravan in a country 
 where there are plenty of Kurds, whose sole occupation is 
 robbery, we determined to content ourselves with two horses, in 
 spite of the derogation which my dignity might suffer from the 
 absence of a fitting train. But there was this advantage, that 
 one man can keep a secret better than two; and it is a golden 
 rule in out-of-the-way places never to let more people than 
 necessary know in w^iat direction one is travelling, nor on 
 what day. Guides are always procurable from day to day at 
 the villages, and have this in their favour, as compared to 
 
170 
 
 Jehel Tur. 
 
 Mardin to Ma^asirta. Sept. 
 
 171 
 
 Government police, that they do not attract attention or make 
 people think that there is money with the caravan. One reason 
 why the American missionaries travel with such complete 
 safety all over this country is that they make it a princij)le 
 never to carry money and are known never to do so ; secondly, 
 they always pay for what they have and bring no zaptiehs to 
 quarter themselves upon the villagers, who know the mis- 
 sionaries to be their friends and to come for their good. 
 
 The mountains of Jebel Tur occupy the north-east corner of 
 Mesopotamia, stretching eastward from Mardin to Jezirah, 
 with their southern and western spurs reaching down into the 
 plain all along the line that runs through Dara, Nisibin, and 
 Tchelagha. Northward, the bend of the Tigris shuts the 
 mountains in, while westward they run into the range of 
 Karaja-dagh. 
 
 It is a country of barren hills, containing here and there 
 valleys of rich pasture, and hillsides carefully cultivated for 
 vines and cotton. There was a time when it was not so; 
 when Nisibin and Hakh were capitals in a rich land, when 
 roads were there, and water in plenty, stored from the winter 
 rains; but now it is the same here as elsewhere. "The 
 highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth " ; " the land 
 it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein.'^ * 
 Truly may it be said " Wherefore hath the Lord done thus 
 unto the land ? what meaneth the heat of this great anger ? '' 
 So it is over most of this hill country ; the people are op- 
 pressed more by the Kurds than by the Government, and 
 partly too by themselves ; for it may be almost said that in 
 these wild places there is no government, except so much as 
 is represented by the mounted police that periodically visit it 
 to collect taxes. 
 
 The Mutserraf of Mardin I had already found to be of the 
 nature of a bear, not only rude, but disobliging ; and he was 
 the only official from whom I experienced nothing but dis- 
 courtesy. He refused to supply us with a zaptieh, on the 
 plea that we were not going the shortest way to Mosul (the 
 
 * Is. xxxiii. 8 ; Deut. xxix. 23. 
 
 end of our journey), but should follow the Nisibin road, which 
 led across the plain, and was almost without water. Besides 
 which, I had come without a zaptieh from Diarbekr, and had 
 no special passport for travel in the Walayet from the Wali, 
 although I assured him that I had sent especial word to the 
 Wali, who approved of my tour, and had said that no such 
 passport would be necessary. But the man was obdurate, 
 and we started alone. It was the last I saw of the man ; for 
 when I returned from Mosul, he had been dismissed by the 
 request of the whole town, in which he was very unpopular, 
 and a most excellent man from Northern Armenia reigned in 
 his stead. 
 
 It is always a troublesome affair starting on a journey in 
 Turkey ; adjusting the weights to the several capacities of 
 the animals, seeing that nothing is forgotten, and that there 
 are no sore backs or loose shoes among the horses. This, and 
 the obstinacy of the Mutserraf, delayed our departure until 
 four o'clock, so that we had to look forward to a ride over 
 unknown country for two hours in the dark. The only guide 
 we could procure was an aged man, who was ready to go any 
 distance at any pace for twenty piastres — a large price for a 
 day's journey ; but there was no time to bargain, so we took 
 him with us, and trusted to obtain a more serviceable man at 
 Midhiat. For an hour the old man — our " uncle,'^ as we 
 called him, being unaware of his name — kept up with us ; but 
 as dusk came on, and we rode at a very fast walk, we heard 
 sounds about a quarter of a mile behind us, on the opposite 
 side of a hill, as of a child whining. He thought he would be 
 lost, and judged himself scarcely better off, whatever we 
 thought of the matter, when we fell in with a party of boys 
 returning to the village of Ma'asirta, whither we were bound, 
 with half-a-dozen donkeys, which they had driven into 
 Mardin that morning loaded with grapes. Leaving the old 
 man to their mercy, of which he got a scant share, for the 
 boys were in a mischievous mood and delighted to have a butt 
 for their wit, which had been polished highly that day in the 
 markets at Mardin, we rode on, in the direction that the boys 
 showed us, through countless vineyards, until we reached 
 
 \ 
 
172 
 
 Mardiii to M(i\isirfa. Sept. 7. 
 
 A Grape Country. 
 
 173 
 
 
 Ma'asirta, the centre of a grape-growing district. There we 
 were to be the guests of the Syrian priest, who, like many of 
 the vilhige priests, added to his small stipend by following a 
 trade, namely, that of dyeing the rough mountain cloth. His 
 hands, stained a deep indigo, betrayed his occupation. As 
 our arrival was late, we had considerable difficulty in gaining 
 an entrance, for the priest was out attending to a small vine- 
 yard which he possessed just outside the viHage, and the rest 
 of the family were settled on the roof ready for their evening 
 meal, and not at all inclined to come down and be troubled 
 with importunate guests. It was a fine party that we found 
 on the roof, when we had settled our animals for the night, 
 and ascended by a rickety staircase to arrange our beils and 
 other matters for the night. There was the housewife and 
 her brother from a neighbouring village, together with a 
 miscellaneous collection of children, to say nothing of a tame 
 goat and great shaggy dogs that kept watch all night. 
 Before long the priest came in with a huge basket of luscious 
 grapes, which, with the melon we had brought, and the 
 excellent cakes supplied by the unfailing kindness of one of 
 the American ladies at Mardin, made an excellent supper. It 
 was a busy time of year, and the priest had much to talk 
 about with regard to the grape season, the harvest, and a 
 dozen other things, beside matters of ecclesiastical and 
 national concern, of which he eagerly enquired from us as 
 new arrivals from Mardin. But we were all tired and glad to 
 go to sleep; and for the first time I lay down upon an 
 Eastern roof, and looked at the stars until they twinkled me 
 to sleep, to the baying of wakeful dogs and the mournful 
 sounds of babies crying. 
 
 When we awoke early the next morning we saw all round 
 the signs that we were in the land of the vine. Ma'asirta is 
 famous all through Mesopotamia as the place where the best 
 grapes grow, and for miles round all the paths and roads lead 
 between vineyards, " a wall being on this side, and on that," 
 built of rough stones, and generally having a thick layer of 
 old vine-rods or brambles on the top to keep out foxes and 
 other pilferers. The people take the greatest care of these 
 
 " hedges," as they are called in the Psalms,"^ and their good 
 repair is one of the chief signs of prosperity and thrift about 
 a village. Thus Solomon says, "I went by . . . the vineyard 
 of the man void of understanding; and, lo, it was all grown 
 over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, 
 and the stone wall thereof w^as broken down." 
 
 Everv vinevard contains its "lodge," a cottage where the 
 family will spend some of the summer months, when the 
 grapes are ripening and afford tempting spoil to the passer-by. 
 Such w^as the "tower" in St. Matthew xxi. 33, and the 
 " lodge " in the garden of cucumbers in Isaiah i. 8. Beside 
 these are often erected booths of less substantial form, 
 being mere platforms of brushwood upon a framework of 
 wooden poles, where a boy or t^vo may w-atch during the day 
 under the shade of oak-branches, and the workers sleep at 
 night.f Careful though they w^ere in guarding the vineyards, 
 and strict as was the law of trespass among the Jews, yet the 
 traveller might always gather so much as he wished to eat, so 
 that he did not gather them into a basket ; just as a man 
 might pluck the ears of corn, but not enter another's corn field 
 with a sickle to reap.J Such provisions are doubly necessary 
 in a thirsty land, in which one may often travel hours with- 
 out coming to a house where water or food may be obtained ; 
 and often as we passed between the walls of a vineyard, ^ye 
 picked or asked for some bunches of the rich fruit. 
 
 Besides the lodge there is generally a wine press, such as 
 those which in Palestine mark the places where the vineyards 
 
 * Ps. Ixxx. 12. Such a passag-e as that of St. Matthew xxi. 33, together with 
 many others, may be literally illustrated from modern methods of vine culture. 
 Tlie same remark applies to almost all cultivation of the earth in the East. 
 Among other passages are Isaiah v. 1-6, Joel iii. 13, Isaiah xvi. 10, St. John xv. 2. 
 Isaiah xxvii. 4, may refer to the briars on the walls. It may be noticed that in 
 Surrey the word hedge is still commonly used for any bank, even without trees^ 
 that encloses a field. 
 
 t Job xxvii. 18 ; Isaiah i. 8, xxvii. 3. 
 
 + Exod. xxii. 5; Deut. xxiii. 24. Like this was the law forbidding to 
 •' wholly reap the corners of the field," or to "gather every grape of the vine- 
 yar<l.' " Thou shalt leave them for the poor, and the stranger." Levit. xix. 
 cp. Deut. xxiv. 19. 
 
 \ 
 
174 
 
 Ma*a,sirfa fn Midhlaf. Sej)t. 8. 
 
 The ^^ Kharbahs/' Our Horse f(. 
 
 175 
 
 once were, generally places dug out and cemented, or in rock 
 country cut from the hill side ; and lastly there is somewhere 
 in the inclosure, or perhaps in the village, a huge basin, some- 
 times cut out of the earth and cemented, with a space below 
 for fire, in which the " dibbiz " is made by boiling the common 
 grapes. It is a kind of thick syrup, like treacle, and is 
 largely used with rice and other plain food, as we use jam. 
 In the wine press, the grapes are generally troddc^n underfoot, 
 except those used for sacramental wine, which are pressed 
 in the hands. Of the dregs of the wine press is made arrak, 
 or mastik, a kind of fiery liqueur, which is the favourite beve- 
 rage of the Turkish official persons and of all those who take 
 their pleasure in gardens and so make keif. 
 
 Good reason had we to bless the grapes ; for the weather 
 was still hot, and everywhere throughout Jebel Tur is there 
 plenty of good grapes, although none so good as those of 
 Ma'asirta. 
 
 After an excellent breakfast of omelette and grapes, 
 supplied by the priest, a worthy man, but not remarkable for 
 religious fervour, we went to look at a church, newly built at 
 the Patriarch's expense, on the ruins of an ancient building. 
 There was nothing to be seen in the building, which was neat 
 enough, but the fine marble tomb of a young boy, discovered 
 when the foundations were dug out, and in virtue thereof 
 promoted to be a saint. 
 
 Our aged guide we dismissed with our blessing and half the 
 stipulated price, and started for Midhiat, under the escort of 
 the priest's brother-in-law. Everyone was busy in the village 
 boiling " dibbiz," or at the threshing-floor winnowing out the 
 chafF, while to and fro from the fountain under the rock came 
 women bearing pitchers, picturesque in their long maroon 
 dresses, and accompanied by little naked boys, and small girls 
 dressed in miniature like their mothers. Out past them we 
 climbed the hill and got among the vineyards, through which 
 we rode for some time, until rugged rocks and scraggy oak 
 trees took their place, and we came to a count i-y of ruined 
 towns. To each inquiry about the next village, we received 
 the answer that its name was " Kharbah,'' the ruin, and so 
 
 t4 
 
 we found village after village with buildings of the lower 
 Empire date, and all deserted since many a long day. 
 
 The paths were exceedingly bad and not at all clear ; nor 
 were matters improved by the behaviour of Yakob's horse, 
 who to-day gave samples of what he promised the day before ; 
 he fell twice, stumbled every twenty yards, and at stated 
 intervals threw out a fore leg sharply, tied up the rest in an 
 elaborate knot, and by a mighty effort threw himself out of it, 
 nearly landing himself on his back. No harm ever came of 
 this diversion, except that it filled Yakob with abject and, for 
 an unpractised horseman, not unreasonable terror. My own 
 mare had been more carefully chosen, a steady, middle-aged 
 lady, with immense walking power, who took no notice of her 
 companion's frivolities, beyond cocking one contemptuous ear 
 and taking advantage of the delay to increase her distance 
 from him. She was a good half-breed, used to mountain 
 work, and far more adapted to such travelling than a thorough- 
 bred Arab would have been. 
 
 At the first Kharbah that we reached our companion left 
 us, directing us to another a little further on, and thence by 
 signs, clear enough to one who knew the country but rather 
 uncertain to us, as far as Midhiat. The road, he said, was as 
 clear as a Kurdish Agha's conscience, and we should find it 
 as easily. The priest's brother-in-law, it seemed, was a witty 
 man. We had descended a valley, and climbed another hill 
 with such trust in our animal's intuition, for there was no 
 apparent path, that we might have been going with our eyes 
 shut, when in a wood we met two ferocious-looking ruffians, 
 armed with rifles and stuck all over with knives, who told us 
 that we were making good headway for a village some 
 fifteen miles north-west of Midhiat, a fact of which our 
 divergence from the telegraph line should have made us 
 aware. The men turned out to be the merest lambs in 
 wolves' clothing, one of them a Syrian, the other a Kurd. 
 Nevertheless, we were not sure that they were not misdirect- 
 ing us to serve some private end, until we again saw the 
 telegraph posts, and had exchanged some paras for a bundle 
 of delicious mountain cucumbers. Taking care not to lose 
 
176 
 
 Vi'Unqp Politicfi. 
 
 m 
 
 Village Politics. 
 
 177 
 
 sight again of the precious tek'grai)h, we soon inairlied bohlly 
 into the ^Foslem viHage of Absha, half-way to Midhiat. There 
 among half a dozen wells we came upon the pastoral scene so 
 comuKm in this dry country, hut which seems always to have 
 a fresh charm, the girls driving the sheep to water and the 
 boys and men keeping otf the cattle until the goats and sheep 
 had drunk. Upon the mouth of each well lay a stone; and, 
 when it was moved, one of the lads would let down a pitcher, 
 or a goatskin bound round the mouth with a wnthy, to fill the 
 trough, and then go again to the well and draw water. We 
 had to wait like the cattle until the sheep had drunk, and 
 then one of the girls " hasted, and let down her pitcher upon 
 her hand, and gave us to drink." 
 
 As wx- were near the village, I let the reins hang u])()n my 
 mare's neck, where they lay as she drank; however, for some 
 strange reason she chose to enter the village l)y a narrow lane, 
 roofed over about seven feet from the ground with vine- 
 withies. There was room for her, but not for me ; so that 
 while she went straight ahead, I was left swinging in the air 
 among the withies, not at all the most pleasant things to be 
 caught amongst. Unfortunately this carefully guarded lane 
 led to the Sheikh's harim, as I soon discovered from the yells 
 with which its polished inmates greeted me. My mare from 
 the nature of the case had a free passage, but I was left 
 swinging, until matters ex])lained themselves, and I obtained 
 a safe conduct to the village house of refreshment. Such 
 houses are generally to be found in every village, and are 
 maintained at the expense of the inhabitants for the purpose 
 of carrying out the law of hospitality so strongly insisted upon 
 by Mohammedan law as well as Christian charity. 
 
 I soon forgot my scratches in the enjoyment of a splendid 
 bowl of leben and a fine, juicy water-melon, which we ate 
 sitting under the shade of a snudl verandah in the Sheikh's 
 courtyard, and listened to the many inquiries of the village 
 worthies as to who we were and whither we were bound. Our 
 host was accustomed to entertain the American missionaries, 
 and was glad to welcome one of their number, as he thought 
 me to be° Of an English variety of that multiform religion 
 
 of Christianity he had never heard tell; nor, as he was a 
 Moslem, did it seem worth while to explain the distinguishing 
 features of our Church's creed; so we asked the news. This 
 was the signal for an aged sheikh, the gossip of the village, 
 to exalt his horn, and tell how some weeks before the Prince 
 of all the Protestants, one Mutran Mattha, had come to their 
 village on his way from Jezireh to Mardin, and filled them all 
 with wonder at his gracious manners and knowledge of things 
 ])olitical. Now this was our good friend the Papal Syrian 
 Jiishop of Mardin, whose most distinguishing character is his 
 ultramontane zeal ; so our host seized the opportunity of 
 displaying superior know^ledge, and delivered an oration upon 
 the various subtleties of Christian disagreement, in which his 
 experience entitled him to lay down the law. There was, of 
 course, a quarrel, in which I was appealed to, and told them 
 that 1 knew one faith only, that of God the Father, the Son, 
 and the Holy Spirit, and did not worship either the Bible or 
 the Virgin, to one of which they conceive that all Christians 
 paid homage. This they thought strange, for of the Christian 
 faith they had heard little, and doubted what this new form 
 of it could be, thanking God that they were Moslems and had 
 no need to trouble about religion so long as some of them 
 prayed morning and evening, and the rest gave praise to God 
 when the grapes w^ere plentiful or a son was born. 
 
 There w^as a matter of far more importance to relate. 
 Could I not help them to a new sheikh by my unbounded 
 influence at Mardin and the Courts of Europe ? The village 
 had taken sides in a furious feud caused by the late sheikh, 
 and half of them wished him to be suspended. This was a 
 delicate matter for interference, which might easily lead to 
 bloodshed, so I made an excuse to call the horses and get on 
 my way while daylight remained for the rest of our journey 
 to Midhiat. Such a state of division is normal in these 
 villages — Christian, I regret to say, as much as Moslem — and 
 is due to the absence of any Government authority in the 
 mountains. At the same time, it gives a tone to a life which 
 is, at the best of times, colourless. 
 
 Our host accompanied us to point out the way beyond the 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 Midhiat. 
 
 vineyards, in his last words praying us to remember about 
 the sheikh, that son of a bUick camel. In three hours we 
 reached Estel, a flourishing vilhige in the middle of a rich 
 valley, and supporting a large number of people by its 
 weaving and dyeing industry. But we stopped only for a 
 bowl of water, and made the best of our way to Midhiat, 
 being anxious to get in for the night, and make arrangements 
 for a^ride the following day to the river Tigris. 
 
 On reaching Midhiat, which stands in the middle of an 
 undulating valley stretching from the hills ten miles to the 
 west, to others four or five miles to the right, we soon found 
 the house of Hanna Sefr, to which we had been directed in 
 Mardin by Abu-Selim. He belonged to the chief Syrian 
 family in the place, and being a man fairly well-to-do, had a 
 good house built in the usual open-air fashion, with a strong 
 flavour of the farmyard, through which we entered, and where 
 dogs, cattle, sheep,"^ and horses wandered about in a friendly 
 ma'imer in and out of the open door among the servants and 
 children, making altogether an unparalleled scene of dirt and 
 confusion. There is plenty of colour everywhere in the East, 
 but more here than usual, thanks to the rich maroon, with 
 which the women dye their clothes, and the picturesque 
 dresses of boys and men; long white tunics with gaily striped 
 scarves round the waist, and gorgeous red and yellow head- 
 dresses, of which the ends of the kerchief are stuck up like 
 wings upon a Norseman's helmet. A very handsome set of 
 men they are, too, these mountain Syrians, something very 
 different from the courteous townsmen of Mardin, but no less 
 hospitable ; wilder and far more impetuous, but with a spirit 
 that seems capable of better things than the majority of their 
 more polished countrymen. In spite, however, of the joys of 
 the farmyard, we were glad to escape from the crowd of 
 animals, and the stare of the children, up on to the cool roof, 
 where coffee and a dish of grapes were awaiting us after our 
 
 journey. 
 
 An admirable supper of lamb and rice, with leben, milk, 
 and fresh cheese, ending with more grapes and coffee, 
 inclined us only too readily to sleep. There was a zaptieh 
 
 ...:l .,,_„.. 
 
 A Village Bimhashi. 
 
 179 
 
 with us on the roof, bound the next day to Kafr- Juz, a village 
 on our way, who promised to accompany us ; and we slept in 
 peace, thinking ourselves fortunate. After an hour's rest, 
 however, we were rudely awakened by the loud talk of a tall, 
 blustering man, demanding my passport. I suggested the 
 morrow as a more seemly season for such interruption; 
 but, discovering the man to be drunk, thought it wiser to 
 humour him, especially as he was '' Bimbashi,'' or head of the 
 police, in all the importance of Turkish officialism drunk. 
 We therefore held a parley, in the course of which he dis- 
 covered his first surmise to be true, and triumphantly pointed 
 to the lion on my English passport as a proof that I was a 
 Russian spy. As to the Turkish teskereh, that was nothing ; 
 I had stolen it. But there was the very language, and there 
 the very lion, tail and all, that he knew so well in Moscow. 
 Argument was palpably useless ; so off he rolled in a hic- 
 coughing fever of delight, with the poor old British lion, to 
 show to the Qaimaqam, the local governor, and prove his 
 l)enetration in the matter of Russian spies. He nearly fell to 
 the ground in his efforts to find the steps from the roof, nor 
 did anyone assist him. 
 
 We determined to get the start of him, and knowing that, 
 being drunk, he was unlikely to be up very early, hurried off 
 soon after daybreak to visit the Qaimaqam ; who, having been 
 lately summoned to Mardin to explain matters relating to the 
 murder at Ain Werdeh, had fallen suddenly sick, and retired 
 to one of the monasteries just outside Midhiat. So we .started 
 for the Deir, and found the great man certainly rather 
 feverish, and enjoying the beautiful air and an early smoke 
 in the best room of the place. His indisposition was fortunate, 
 allowing me to open business by prescribing a sure and 
 certain cure for his malaria. Nothing could* exceed his 
 gratitude, nor the badness of his coffee ; guests we were, he 
 said, and entitled to all the resources of Turkish civilisation. 
 After this auspicious beginning the Bimbashi arrived, and 
 received a chilling order to be less officious in future and to 
 pay suitable attention to distinguished strangers. He was 
 very sulky, especially when the passports, on which he relied 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 Midhiat to Hasan Kaf. Sept. 9. 
 
 for our conviction, were Landed back to me, immediately the 
 Qaimaqam had seen that they bore the proper signatures; 
 and he muttered that he had not been aware of our imperial 
 connections in Europe. 
 
 The Qaimaqam, to whom I showed my map, then discoursed 
 intelligently upon Turkish geography, but soon reverted to 
 his favourite science of medicine. " Scorpions ? Yes," he 
 said, '' they were plentiful in Jebel Tur ; and had I any means 
 of dealing with their stings ? '' On my suggesting hot water 
 to allay the pain, and stop the circulation; "Ah, yes," he 
 cried, with delight, '' the scorpion is a large microbe, its sting 
 a smaller one; apply hot water, and it acts as a true anti- 
 septeek !" He had read some translations of French medical 
 books, and was much pleased to display his knowledge, which, 
 however, went scarcely beyond these two terms, which he 
 applied to every form of disease and medicine. After some 
 more talk of this kind, and whole mouthfuls of polite speeches, 
 we bowed ourselves out of the room, with a hope that we 
 might find him still here, but better, on our return. A most 
 refreshing specimen of the Turkish official class, which is not 
 as a rule of a communicative turn, although he was described 
 by the American missionary at Midhiat as a bumble bee in a 
 
 bottle. 
 
 Leaving all the baggage behind that we did not require 
 in the mountains, we lost no time in getting the rest into 
 the "khurjes," or large travelling bags, that hang on each 
 side of the baggage animal, and starting on our way to 
 Hasan Kaf, a large village on the Tigris, where we were to 
 sleep. Our host found a guide who would take us as far 
 as Salah, a Syrian village two hours' ride from Midhiat, 
 where the Bishop would supply another to take us to Hasan 
 Kaf. Our way lay over downs, as bare of trees and rocky 
 as only downs in Turkey can be. Salah, however, stood on 
 a well-cultivated hillside, and was found to contain a church 
 of considerable interest, which had the rare advantage of 
 an inscription containing its date. The Bishop, however, a 
 bad-tempered, decrepit old man, excommunicated by the 
 Patriarch for ordaining unfit men to be priests and neglecting 
 
 Midhiat to Hasan Kaf. Sept. 9. 
 
 181 
 
 his people, added little dignity to the monastery. It was a 
 deserted-looking place, although it must once have been a 
 fine building. Round a small court were ranged various 
 rooms, and, from an arch leading into an inner court, 
 we climbed some steps to the roof, and reached a small 
 u])per room where the Bishop was resting from the mid- 
 day heat. 
 
 The fact that we came from the Patriarch produced little 
 effect upon him, but he put on his cloak and turband to show 
 us the church, and shouted to a boy to go and pick a good 
 basket of grapes and then find a guide for us in the village. 
 The church was much larger than those I had hitherto seen, 
 and approaching to the Greek type, common in Asia Minor, 
 rather than to the earlier buildings of Syria and Mesopo- 
 tamia. Its chief features were three high lancet windows 
 on the north and south of the nave, and a fine waggon-roof 
 of brick, arching the same from east to west, so that the 
 whole formed a great contrast to the low and badly-lighted 
 churches of most Syrian towns. The bricks of the roof had 
 gained the most lovely soft colours, and were arranged in a 
 design worthy of the finest Lombard work — three squares, 
 each formed of four triangles, meeting in a centre. Above the 
 sanctuary door, which was of fine design and roughly carved, 
 something in the same manner as the friezes of Nisibin, ran 
 an inscription, stating that the church was built a.d. 1109. 
 Other inscriptions there were, built into the walls inside and 
 out, in the Estrangeli character ; but I had neither the 
 time nor the means for making squeezes. Of a large store 
 of books, all that had escaped the ravages of time, the 
 Moslem, and the German collector, were the incomplete 
 leaves of a copy of the Gospels on parchment, of the same 
 date as the church. The poor old Bishop cared for none of 
 these things, and seemed only tired of being asked questions 
 which he could not answer. Nor was his temper improved 
 by the sting of an indignant baby-scorpion, whose sleep he 
 had disturbed while searching for materials with which to 
 make some rough sandals for our guide. We ate a good 
 dish of grapes, and, leaving the old man to bathe the sting 
 
182 
 
 Kafr Jitz. 
 
 A Weird Ride. 
 
 183 
 
 with that microbe-antisepteek, hot water, we started ofF at a 
 round pace towards Hasan Kaf. 
 
 Low, barren downs, always rising slightly towards the 
 north, our guide, quite an old man, traversed with the 
 agility of a hare. We passed little but Moslem villages, 
 Kurdish shepherds, and here and there a ruined rock-built 
 church, until we reached at last a height that commanded 
 one of the most glorious views in Mesopotamia. Straight 
 before us to the north stretched a plain some four miles 
 broad, and double that distance from east to west. Green 
 and fertile even in September, the valley was crossed by a 
 stream, belted thick with willow trees, and watering on the 
 hill slopes fields of cotton and maize. Further down was 
 tobacco, and every here and there were men and children 
 standing along the banks of heaped-up corn and throwing it 
 high in the wind to winnow out the chafF. Near them 
 were boys driving oxen round the threshing-floors and singing 
 as they drove, or bringing in the sheaves for threshing, while 
 girls and women walked behind gleaning what was left. 
 Northwards were the mountains shutting in the Tigris, 
 through which the pass we were to follow pierced, and down 
 which the stream came; westwards the hills that mount by 
 degrees to the Karajadagh ; and on the east the range that 
 stretches on to Kerboran. Over all these hills the late after- 
 noon sent shadow after shadow, while it filled the valley with 
 a warm, sunny glow. Just below us, near the foot of the 
 mountain on which we stood, was the prosperous village of 
 Kafr Juz, where dwelt a splendid Kurdish beg, with twelve 
 splendid sons, in three splendid houses. Away from towns 
 and interfering officials, these sons of Nimrod ply a pleasant 
 trade, and rule the valley, hampered though they are by 
 administrative reforms, slighted and belittled by a Govern- 
 ment, whose nervous policy has no other means of dealing 
 with an hereditary class, which they fear to use and cannot 
 abolish ; but whose services were once a bulwark of the 
 empire, the ancient landed gentry of Turkey. 
 
 Down in the plain we met one of these sons, a boy of about 
 fourteen, riding a fine mare and attended by an old servant. 
 
 1 
 
 i'4 
 
 He gave a salam worthy of a prince twice his age, and 
 courteously asked where we were going and whether we would 
 not tu rn aside and " eat bread '^ in his father's house. We 
 thanked him and said we had five hours further to ride, with 
 only three more hours of daylight, and must hasten on. Half 
 way across the valley we stopped to refresh ourselves with 
 grapes and biscuits at a spring, and then made the best of our 
 way up the road that led through maize and cotton fields into 
 the pass. The beauty of the place tempted us to linger in 
 spite of the late hour ; and as we reached the top of the pass 
 and entered the gorge that leads down towards the river the 
 tops of the eastern hills glowed for a few minutes a gorgeous 
 pink, and the sun went down suddenly, as it always does in a 
 south country, and especially among the mountains. 
 
 We now discovered our guide to be useless ; for he had 
 very bad sight, and the road was not clear. It grew darker, 
 and no moon rose ; while all we had to comfort us was the 
 dismal moaning of the old man, " Dark, dark,'' and calling on 
 the Prophet to help him. All I could do was gently to remind 
 him with my whip, that these noises suited neither time nor 
 place, in which it might be dangerous to attract attention ; 
 then, finding him hopeless, I dismounted, and setting him on 
 my mare, led her for the remaining two hours. Over rocks 
 and by a torrent, quite bad enough by day, but positively 
 terrifying by night, and down a gorge that seemed to our 
 fancy haunted by brigands, Yakob and I plodded along, with 
 nothing but the stars to guide us, leading our respective 
 beasts, and wishing it were day. Yakob was in a great fright, 
 although, being both armed, we were probably in little danger, 
 especially considering that we had passed two caravans 
 making a night journey to Midhiat, and that no one knew 
 that we were on the road. However, I cannot conceive how 
 we ever found the way among the confusion of rocks and 
 multitude of cross paths. The numerous streams and the 
 larger torrent were our chief danger, and more than once 
 we had narrow escapes over slippery boulders, and on the 
 edges of deep pools. 
 
 The perfect stillness among these mountains, broken only by 
 
 li 
 
 T'l 
 
 : (.u" !■.>. 'ijn<u 
 
184 
 
 Hasan Kaf. 
 
 Hasan Kaf. 
 
 185 
 
 I 
 
 the footsteps of our horses and the sound of falling water ; 
 the great naked rocks and ragged trees ; everything filled us, 
 ignorant as we were of people and country, with a certain awe, 
 and we were heartily thankful to hear the barking of dogs 
 and bleating of sheep, never before so grateful, which told us 
 we were not far from human habitations, perhaps the town. 
 Soon we reached a number of caves on eacli side of the ravine, 
 where were flocks of sheep, and hundreds, it seemed, of dogs, 
 almost more terrifying than the rocks we had left ; then 
 further on a straggling line of low-roofed houses by the water, 
 and as the pass grew broader rows of houses, one built above 
 another, half caves, half fortresses, upon the perpendicular 
 face of rock on either side. We went on until a ^losleui 
 directed us to the house of the head man of the Christians, an 
 Armenian, who we had been told would give us lodgin*:-. 
 However, he w^as in bed, so, after climbing up a winding path 
 cut in the face of the rock, we descended to the house of the 
 Congregational teacher, who met us on the way, and offered 
 all the hospitality his house could afford. He had only lately 
 come from the American high-scliool at Mardin, where I had 
 known him ; and he was most anxious to do anvthiny; he 
 could for a friend of the Americans. It was too late to get 
 any provisions, even water, every drop of which has to be 
 fetched from the river, or oats and clioj)ped straw for the 
 horses. This was worst of all, for they liad had a liard day 
 and we had brought very little uitli us. We were able to 
 content ourselves with cake and melon, and soon fell asleep 
 upon the platform just outside the house. Yakob spent some 
 time in praising God for our deliverance, and asking nuiny 
 questions about the scorpions, of which a very deadly species 
 abounds in Hasai\ Kaf. Their season was fortunately over, 
 so he slept in peace. 
 
 We rose early next morning, partly to obtain food for 
 the horses, and ]iartly becau.se the cocks, and dogs, and 
 donkeys drove away sleep. Never did 1 see such a curious 
 town, built all up the sides of the two perpendicular faces of 
 rocks which Hank the gorge as it comes down in ilie river, on 
 which the sunlight was gleaming. Down by the shores were 
 
 many houses of the Moslem.s, and among them two minarets 
 one very beautiful, and the other half ruined and crowned by 
 a great stork's nest. Near the latter were the remains of one 
 of those magnificent Saracenic bridges that the Turks have 
 allowed to fall to ruins, and on the other side a little Moslem 
 shnne, brdbant with blue Persian tiles inscribed with legends 
 from the Koran, but this, too, a ruin. The river at this time of 
 the yearwas fairly shallow, and could be forded about a hundred 
 yards above the bridge ; but in winter, when the rains begin 
 It soon swells, and in the summer when the snow comes down 
 .s often flooded; and then " kelleks," or rafts of wood floated 
 upon inflated skin.s, ply from side to side, and run from Hasan 
 Kaf down to Mosul or Baghdad. Just below the ferry is a 
 spnng under the bank of the river, and from here is drawn all 
 the drinking water, and carried up to the town by strings of 
 donkeys. Of the hou.ses, built like puffins' ne.sts along the 
 clifi^s, that in which we lodged was a good specimen. Three 
 rooms were carved out of the soft rock, and a front wall 
 made jiartly of the rock itself, partly built up with rubble 
 composite. In front of this ran a platform, on which two 
 small rooms were built, and a "gate-house," so common in 
 the East, in which to keep guard in times of danger, and 
 put the horses at night. Before long the Armenian, to 
 whom we had brought an introduction, came to call upon us, 
 and ask what he could do for us the next night, and whether 
 we should care to see the castle and the old fortifications. 
 llie castle was on the top of the north-west rock, and com- 
 manded tlie river and the ajijiroach to the town along its 
 southern shore. On that side the fortifications were of 
 immense .strength, but all in ruins, and approached only by 
 a narrow path up a bare face of cliff. There wa.s, too, a 
 curious bttle church built in the cliff, and accessible from the 
 patli below only by a ladder. 
 
 'i'akiiig a go(,d stock of grapes to eat by the way, we started 
 shortly before mid-day, and, having crossed the river, made 
 our way along its northern bank towards the western pass 
 tlirough the mountains that divide it from the plain of Bisheri 
 We were forced by the insecurity of the nearer pass across the 
 
 * * 
 
186 
 
 Hasan Kaf to Bisheri. Sept. 10. 
 
 mountains, due to the number of Kurds living amongst them, 
 to take the western caravan road, nearly double the distance ; 
 and it was four hours before we emerged from the hills and 
 saw before us the plain, at the north-east end of which stood 
 the monastery of Mar Quriaqos. At every village the people 
 were busy bringing in the corn, and the threshing-floors 
 everywhere were full of brilliant groups of men and women. 
 Two hours before sunset we passed the last of these, and as 
 
 t 
 
 i 
 
 M 
 
 Ali Aqha. 
 
 we rode towards the monastery through the long grass, dis- 
 turbed a large flock of wild turkeys. A few minutes more 
 and we were under the walls of the grim old " Dcir," and 
 soon settled in a comfortable diwan, sipping excellent coffee. 
 It was Saturday evening, and families were Hocking in from 
 the villages to spend the night and attend the early service in 
 the church. Among these was the " Agha " of the district. 
 
 A Kurdish Agha. 
 
 187 
 
 whom we had met, attended I,y half a dozen of his Kurds all 
 armed wuh xMa.tini-Henry rifles, stolen from the Government 
 just leavmg the Deir. He had been told by the Bishop of 
 Deir-el-Za aferan, who was staying in Bisheri, that I was 
 commg and that I had a photograpldc camera, and being of 
 all aghas the most conceited, was wild with desire to see his 
 own portrait. When I said that I was too tired to take his 
 photograph that evening, that the next day was Sunday, and 
 that on Monday I was going on a visit to a village to the 
 north, he replied that all that was nothing, and that either I 
 must photograph him or he would unwillingly shoot me. 
 After a httmg display of dignity, I therefore agreed to take 
 his portrait, thinking it would be better to have this warlike 
 person as a friend while in his territory, and promised to send 
 nun a copy. 
 
 It seemed a necessary precaution for him and his men to be 
 well armed, on account of the feuds that are continually rao-ed 
 between the Kurds. This very man's father and brotler 
 were at the time lying in prison at Diarbekr in consequence 
 of the bloody termination of a marauding expedition against 
 the mountain villages by the river, in which they had played 
 too conspicuous a part. Our friend Ali Agha should have 
 been in prison too, said the Bishop afterwards, for though in 
 some ways a good enough man, he had only killed eighteen 
 men, chiefly harmless Armenians, who had been pressed into 
 his rival s .service during the last raid. He was a handsome 
 man, and protected the Christian villages in his district in 
 return for tithes of corn and service in times of war • and 
 would, like the rest of his class, make a valuable ally' to a 
 (government that knew how to treat him. 
 
 »»i(. 
 
180 
 
 Hasioi Knf to Blslipri. Sept. 10. 
 
 mountains, due to the number of Kurds living amongst them, 
 to take the western caravan road, nearly double the distance ; 
 and it was four hours before we emerged from the hills and 
 saw before us tlie plain, at the north-east end of which stood 
 the monastery of ^lar Quriaqos. At every village the people 
 were busy bringing in the corn, and the threshing-floors 
 everywhere were full of brilliant groups of men and women. 
 Two hours before sunset we passed the last of these, and as 
 
 Ali Aoha. 
 
 we rode towards the monastery through the long grass, dis- 
 turbed a large flock of wild turkeys. A few minutes more 
 and we were under the walls of the grim old '^ Deir,'' and 
 soon settled in a comfortable diwan, sipping excellent coffee. 
 It was Saturday evening, and families were flocking in from 
 the villages to spend tlie night nnd attend the early service in 
 the church. Among these was the *' Agha " of the district, 
 
 A Kiinlish Agha. 
 
 187 
 
 whoni we had met, attended by half a dozen of liis Kurds all 
 armed with Martini-Henry riHes, stolen from the Government 
 just leaving the Deir. He had been told by the Bishop of 
 J3eir-el-/a aferan, who was staying in Bisheri, that J was 
 coming and that I had a ph<.tograplnc camera, and being of 
 ^dl aghas the most conceited, was wild with desire to see his 
 own portrait When I said that I was too tired to take his 
 photograph that evening, that the next day was Sunday, and 
 that on Monday I was going on a visit to a village to the 
 north, he rephed that all that was nothing, and that eitlier I 
 must photograph him or he would unwillingly shoot me. 
 After a fitting display of dignity, I therefore agreed to take 
 his portrait, thinking it would be better to have this warlike 
 person as a friend while in his territory, and promised to send 
 liim a co])_v. 
 
 It seeinod a necessary pieeauti<,u for him and his men to be 
 well armed, on account of the feuds that are continuallv ra.^ed 
 between the Kurds. This very n,an's father and brotl-er 
 were at the tnne lying in prison at Diarbekr in consequence 
 ot tJie bloody termination of a marauding expedition against 
 the mountam villages by the river, in which they had played 
 too cousp.cuous a part. Our friend Ali Agha should have 
 l)een in prison too, said the Bishop afterwards, for thouo-h in 
 some ways a good enough man, he had only killed eighteen 
 nieu, clMcHy harmless Armenians, who had been pressed into 
 his rival's service during the last raid. He was a handsome 
 man, and pr.Kected the Christian villages in his district in 
 return fur tithes of corn and service in times of war • and 
 would, like the rest of his class, make a valuable alh' to a 
 ('Overnment that knew how to treat him. 
 
 OKI 
 
188 
 
 Dpir Mar Quriaqos, 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BiSHERI AND NORTHEKN JeBEL TuK. 
 
 1 
 
 '• Thy shepherds slumber, O King of Assyria ; thy nobles shall dwell 
 in the dust ; thy people is scattered upon the mountains, and no man 
 gathereth them." — Nahum. 
 
 The monastery, in which we spent Sunday as quietly as the 
 continual influx of visitors would allow, was dedicated to 
 Mar Quriaqos, a boy who, with his mother Diuliti, suffered 
 martyrdom during the Persian persecutions of the fourth 
 century * It was a large building, dating apparently from 
 about the eleventh century, and, having fallen partly to ruin, 
 was restored by the efforts of a monk, the last head of the 
 monastery. The church and " house of the Saints,'' as they 
 call the burial chapel of the bishops, were fine specimens of 
 the same style as the church at Salah, and occupying 
 exactly the same position in the monastery as those at Deir- 
 el-Za'aferan. Its inhabitants consisted of three monks, and 
 a priest, besides half-a-dozen deacons and servants. Among 
 these was a blind deacon, reputed to be a great scholar, 
 who held a small school of boys from the neighbouring 
 villages, and taught them Syriac and Arabic. Kurdish was 
 the language spoken here, as through most of Bisheri ; but 
 
 a 
 
 Arabic was generally learned as a second language and 
 means of comnmnication with strangers, for no educated man 
 in Southern Turkey is ignorant of it. The monastery forms 
 
 * His festival is on July 15 in the East, and June 16 in the West. Ruinart, 
 in his " Acta Martj'mm Sincera " (p. 477), says that S. Cirycus and Julitta died 
 at Tarsus about 305 a.d. Maclean and Browno, p. 350. 
 
 A Village of Bisheri. 
 
 189 
 
 also the headquarters of the neighbouring Syrian villages 
 whose inhabitants congregate there on Sunday morning and 
 pay their tithes to the Patriarch through its head. 
 
 After the morning service in the church, my room the 
 large diwan or guest-room of the monastery, was crowded 
 with visitors anxious to see how Yakob and I ate and 
 slept, and drank our coffee. This continual visiting which 
 IS so marked a feature of Eastern life, makes one long for 
 the inside rooms and privacy of a European house, where 
 one IS not at the mercy of every unoccupied person who 
 chooses to intrude himself for two or three hours. Of 
 course, after a time one takes no notice of these impor- 
 tunate people, unless they have some business or come 
 really out of politeness. But to be continually watched 
 IS most unpleasant, and it takes a long time and much 
 patience to get accustomed to the inevitable.* I tried 
 going to sleep; the inquisitors snored too. I tried rude- 
 ness; they thought me mad. I walked about; they began 
 to examine my things, until at last I dared the extreme 
 step of walking out, and, when they had all come out and 
 dispersed, returned with Yakob and locked the door. I 
 thus procured a little time to read and write until lunch time 
 after which I had promised the chief man of a village just 
 across the plain, who had come to pay me a visit, to ride out 
 witli him and see his people and a fine new church that they 
 had newly built. It was one of the many built or restored 
 during the last thirty years, which have seen more work of 
 this kind than several hundred years previous. It has been 
 already mentioned that the raising of belfries and crosses 
 upon churches is one among many signs of increasino- 
 toleration of the native Christians by the Turkish Government 
 during the last fifty years. The new churches are witnesses 
 to the same fact ; and to evade the law against erecting new 
 buildings without the trouble of obtaining the necessary leave 
 by means of much bakhshish and red tape, the Christians 
 
 * See Burton, - Pilgrimage to Meccah," i. 36, who mentions some reasons why 
 continual society is as dear to the Eastern as it is hateful to the English. 
 
190 
 
 A New Syrian Church. 
 
 often rebuild a ruin, and meet their requirements by adding 
 largely to it in the process. Bad though the actual admini- 
 stration of good Turkish law is in the provinces, and though 
 complaints are frequent against Turk and Kurd, especially 
 against the Turk, for doing nothing to restrain the lawlessness 
 of the Kurd ; and though to these are now added constant 
 outcries against the tax-farming syndicates, rich men of the 
 towns, and often Christians, who squeeze the villages in order 
 to leave a good margin between their receipts and the amount 
 guaranteed to the Government ; yet things are a hundred 
 times better than they must have been fifty years ago. 
 Kurdish raids are less frequent, and appeals less often in vain, 
 while the flourishing Christian villages of Jebel Tur and 
 Bisheri, compared with the dirty, thriftless settlements of 
 Kurds or Arabs in the same places, show that things are 
 changing, and give good promise for the future.* 
 
 The church of Keferzo, standing on tlie top of a high 
 mound in the centre of the village, was a fine building, equal 
 in every way, taking the standard of house architecture into 
 account, to many of our village churches of F^ngland. It has, 
 too, in the matter of light, a great advantage over most of 
 the Syrian churches, there being less need now of precaution 
 against attack ; although it is not unusual, even in places 
 where no such precaution is necessary, to maintain the 
 practice of building the windows high and small, especially in 
 the sanctuary, thus fostering the idea of mystery so dear to 
 Oriental minds. At the west end were some grain and boxes, 
 stored there, as frequently, for safety, containing among other 
 things the tithe due to the Patriarch. To the east of this 
 space, where the women stand or sit, the church is divided 
 into a nave and two aisles, separated by two rows of marble 
 pillars. The sanctuary is, contrary to the usual plan, not 
 divided into three chambers, but the three altars stand in one 
 
 il 
 
 * Lest this should seem to contradict what has elsewhere been said, it is 
 necessary to bear in mind that improvement lies in the general toleration of later 
 years, as well as that in the past few years we have seen the development of 
 several causes, temporary and local, which have increased the -everity of the 
 Turks towards their Christian subjects. 
 
 ■V 
 
 •v' 
 
 A New Syrian Church. 
 
 191 
 
 large open space, a dome covering the centre one, while the 
 walls are decorated with considerable taste in the black and 
 white Arabesque designs common in this part of the country. 
 The people had determined to do their best with their 
 church, and had contributed liberally with money and labour, 
 much of which was freely given to the building. They had' 
 with unusual energy, quarried for the doors and pillars some 
 rough white marble, which had been found about two miles 
 from the village, so that the whole church presented an 
 appearance of great solidity. Numerous coloured prints of 
 wretched French and Russian manufacture adorned the walls, 
 much to the offence of the straiter of the Syrians, to whom 
 such things savour of idolatry; and to the side of the 
 sanctuary door was a beautiful piece of cyanite built into the 
 wall, which every Sunday morning, the priest told me, exudes 
 moisture. 
 
 Two priests lived in the village, to perform the daily 
 services, supplementing their meagre stipends by weaving, 
 and labouring in the fields. When I asked the most 
 intelligent of them, why he had no school for the children, he 
 replied indignantly, "Am I a deacon, that I should teach" 
 letters ? '' I said something of a greater Teacher, who 
 thought no service of man too mean ; and he thought that he 
 might do something in the winter, if the boys could be spared 
 from their work. After a few minutes spent in trying to read 
 some of the ancient inscriptions upon the tombs, we turned 
 down the path to the house of our host. 
 
 There we found a party of village magnates sitting as 
 they sit in English hamlets of a Sunday afternoon, with 
 cigarettes to inspire the discussion of harvest prospects. Ther 
 all rose at the approach of a stranger, and made room in the 
 broad gateway, where they sat. There was, however, a 
 constraint upon them, for just opposite me sat an official sent 
 fi-om Saert to superintend the gathering in of the harvest, 
 and see that the interests of a paternal Government did not 
 suffer. Although he was a miserable specimen even of a 
 Government clerk, none dared utter a single unweighed word 
 while he was by, and I had to put a strait guard upon myself. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 11 
 

 192 
 
 Has-Jias. A Syrian Couiitrij (hnitlemnn. 
 
 for an unwise word mio;ht seriously have damaufed my hosts. 
 After coffee had been served, and a basket of very fine grapes, 
 we rose to ^o^ and with much sahimintj:, and many pob'te 
 speeches, were accompanied to our horses, that had been eating 
 quietly in the court. It was, as usual, a sad thing to say 
 t»-ood-l)ve to the villaofe, and feel how little one could help 
 them. The grapes we had eaten came from the only garden 
 within miles ; for the fear of the Kurds ])revents the people 
 from planting the vines, unless, as at Keferzo, they are in 
 numbers sufficient to protect them. 
 
 Next day we had settled to ride to the village of Has-has, 
 that lay about four hours north of the monastery, in order to 
 visit a Syrian, a rather wealthy man, who had chosen, the 
 rarest of all things in this country, to live in an obscure 
 village among his tenants and workpeople. The advantage to 
 the villagers was evident, for they had to live amongst them 
 one of their own creed and nation, whose interests are the 
 same with theirs, and who could protect them, not only from 
 the surrounding Kurds, but also from official exactions. One 
 must admit that such a life as he leads cannot but be exceed- 
 ingly dull, with no company but his family, two priests, one of 
 whom is a tutor to his boys, and the Bishop when he comes 
 on one of his rare visits. 
 
 When we arrived at the end of our ride, we found no one 
 in the gate of the house, for the master was out looking after 
 the threshing, except a most villainous-looking Kurd, who lay 
 asleep upon the raised recess waiting for the mid-day meal. 
 This is a meal of which every traveller has a right to partake ; 
 but the obligation to keep open house in this way is a 
 considerable tRX, which must be patiently borne, especially 
 when officials are in question. The latt(M', being often 
 some months in arrear with their ])ay, generally adopt this 
 method of getting a meal for themselves and their servants, 
 and srain not a little in the matter of tobacco besides. Food, 
 however, is cheap in these parts ; nor have time or privacy 
 any marketable value in the East. But there is one decided 
 disadvantage in the fact that your guest may at any time 
 prove an informer, and lay to heart the utterances of 
 
 \ 
 
 TTos.has. A Syrian Gounlri, Grntle 
 
 'man. 
 
 193 
 
 "nK,.„.,l,..l M.uiMeuts. .Sl,„„nnas Khvm did not keep us lon^ 
 vn.tn,,., I...t s,.o„ ca.„e in, l,ke Boa., fron. tl>e threshin" S 
 
 s-n.nj. ,„ tl,e ,.ate. asked wl.etl.er M. n,en had broul u. 
 
 cffee and wate,-, with whatever else we required. After h in 
 •an,e a l.oy h,s hrothor's son, handson.ely dressed in the count v 
 
 taslnon, w,th Ion,, white tunie and rich helt, in whS wis 
 
 I ;;-f.;'thX '■''■? f r';""""^^-^ '^''«-^'--- ^^-^ -- ^ 
 
 ,r, ' S ''"■'",t'^'"«' '"-'' -'"' )'=«! qnan-elled with 
 
 n Inothe . .Son,e ,hff.nnu: had arise,,, and the youuKer 
 
 U.IS soon to leave the village and take with him half E 
 
 l..-o,.erty to another house. It was strange how often Lnd 
 
 lu. h.,use .l.v.ded against itself, the younger against the el 
 
 m th,s manner, w.th very sad results to the peace -.nd 
 
 ^ri-nt ''"""'■• '' '-' "" '-'''' i--'-^- '••"- 
 
 lu father, and jclousy ,s l.red if one succeeds better than 
 '""'I-'-; -• so- are horn to one, and not anoher o^ 
 lH.rha,,s there.sa quarrel over the division of the p o p^rtv 
 
 ^ ouls and ,l,oj.,,,s, „„i ,„t„,uated o,,,,,, that hung up„n 
 H. nails so , hat ,t all seon.ed like a vision of the IZ2 
 B.H<ler three undred years ago. Our n.eal in the. slaci^ 
 jra eway was shared l,y the Kurd, an official with Ins i^ 4 
 nho ate apart, a_ pleasant and refined n.onk fron, Deir-el 
 /. ah.ran, whon, I ha.l not previously n.et, and three pries 
 "" Synan and one an Arn.enian, the last sufferin- terrihlv' 
 t.-on,opl„hal„„a. Tl,.. K^n-d was the wickedest-lookm.. a 
 ■V- saw, and qu.te r..velk.d with delight when he ,:;"". 
 vvoivcM.. F took the precaution to ren>ove the cart rid".' 
 More hand,ug n to hin,, an.l wisely, for he kept pointing t 
 at n,^ face ,n the n.ost al.sent-nnn.led manner. Shammas 
 •'"•- -,s„ally nK.ntione.1 afterwards that he was In." t 
 
 ' ■>' " ..e I lu. n,onk was living in the village as tutor to tin 
 OS ot the house, teaching then. Syria., and Iral.ic, tog.^ In! 
 ".r Kd.le Instory and the. el..nu.nts of their Church's f.dth 
 
 -\tre.rtlu.s,n,ph.n,eal was over, Nhannnas Efrem asked 'us 
 to -UK. n,to tin. house and talk ovr the n.atters concerninl 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 if 
 
 .iff 
 
194 Hax-h.is. A Syrian Country (hnthvw,, 
 
 Hn,.h,„. A Syrian Country Gentlr 
 
 ■man. 
 
 195 
 
 his people, which has caused my visit. It was a -o.kI house, 
 with well-«la7.e.l windows, and l.uilt niore in the Kun,pean 
 stvie, with' rooms opening into a passa-e instead of the court- 
 yard We had not, however, much time to talk, as the 
 Armenian priest seenu-d to have divinc'd the presence o 
 .rrapes within doors, and .nade his way up to the pleasant 
 Httle roon, where we sat. Before we left the roon,, Ltren. 
 .rave me a large present ..f tobacco grown upon h,s proper y, 
 :nd said to be of the finest -luality in Turkey sell.ng for 
 about twelve shillings a pound in Constantnu.ple free o duty. 
 As I had n,vself no nse for it, I took it back to Mard.n, 
 where I presented it to my old friend, Abu Sebm. 1 Ctore 
 leaving the village, however, Efren, insisted that we should 
 see the church, a plain building, plastered outsule w,th n,u. 
 but displaying inside a goo.l deal of stone. It was w.. 
 roofed with timber, while at the east en.l was some sma 1 
 attempt at decoration with cheap wall papers, and the whoh- 
 was kept most scrupulously clean. Hfrem took nnmense 
 pride in the church, which he nuiiutaine.l at his own expense. 
 Of the school he could not speak so well. The people had so 
 much work, and could so ill spare their children, even n, the 
 winter, to learn that which .seemed to them of bttle value ; 
 and althouirh he had built a good room, and pa.d the 
 wa-'es of a capabh- teacher, very few boys wou d comi- 
 reg^ularlv beside his own. However, as s.,on as the press 
 of hardest work was done, he hnped, w.th the Kahab s 
 aid, to start again vvith greater success. It was not.ceable, 
 considering that this village was so far from any town, 
 to find so much zeal to obtain teaching tor the Syrian 
 
 '"^Two small bovs had accompanied ns fnun the " deir," as 
 guides; and, as the distance we had come was about sixteen 
 miles, it was ont of the question that they should return on 
 their own legs. So with one mounted behind me, and the 
 other behind Yakob, we started f.>r the monastery with three 
 hours of davlight before us. The way lay over parche.l hills, 
 and the dry" beds of winter streams, to the south of the great 
 Kurdish mountains, where even in the height of summer the 
 
 towaTt'l^'n '. "" '■" *'"'• ''°"'^"^^'- -'I back we rode 
 «.8heri. On the mud banks in tlie middle of the stream 
 grew great water melons; and as we cro.ssed we me the 
 
 the UigeU He asked us to wait, and go homo with him • 
 l.ut It was too late, and he rode far too slowl v LTtl ' 
 cWker, the boy who rode behind me be^l^to t^^:^Z 
 he songs of Mar Kfrem ; and soon a rival strain ;«« TL^ 
 froin his companion behind, who was a little older i tie 
 cracking stage, ami very untuueful to li.sten to. Itefore on 
 however, „e,r store of sacred song was exhausted, ad "fs' 
 exchanged for a Kurdish duet, a contest of h.n. ZZ 
 Rvery now and then a pause, followed by a rush of ai pa t' 
 ny ear, and a .sound like the cracking of thorns in the boy's 
 
 into song. Off started my mare in fair surprise, at which the 
 boy streamed all the louder, and dug his bare heels 1 h 
 unoffending sides, dinging with all his might to my coit 
 rhe burden o the song was the love these two sn 1! C: 
 had one for the other, interspersed witli the recita o loT 
 prose intervals, which told how little " Geriko "^y^ 1° ^ 
 foxes, hunted hares, and bearded the village LL T . 
 snigmg, which lasted until we readied the "deir,?' ^t ,i 
 furious baikmg among tl,e sheep dogs; for it wa .some time 
 a or dark, and the monks, having pi-epared an ex.^e 11 ! 
 s .per or us, were walking on the roof, 'wondering whet, . 
 we had been lost ujion the way. 
 
 Kariy next morning we awoke to find the Bishop of Deir-el 
 /a aferan had returned from his tour among the vilh...e viVh 
 ■■> pnest, the hcul of the ,leir. Tiiis man" was quit; vou 
 n.l according to the Eastern custom, which, putting a 'Si 
 •"-•Prc'tation upon the words of S. l^aul, forbids pri.st 
 
 nthon •"' T T*^™;""^ '' ■' ^'-'^''"■"' -d-hoodbv the 
 death of his wife only a few months after his niarriao,. ' He 
 
 t^..\ in admnable Older, and entering vorv eagerlv into th.. 
 proposed sdienie of forwarding edn^itioii: A ^'r^ZX 
 
 o 2 
 
 I 
 
 M-. 
 
 U 
 
II 
 
 100 
 
 Thr Atiliu's Phi>fo(ji'nph. 
 
 stiff knrr »?avo l.iiH an awkwnnl limp, and prrvcntcd l.ini from 
 sitting in tlio approved Turkish fasliion. ,• ^ . 
 
 Tlir fir^t (pu'stion \w asked of tlie monks was, wliat kind of 
 supper they had ^r\yv^^ ine. When they said that -rapes and 
 the fattest capons liad heen laid before me, ^ Why ! he said, 
 " was he not worthy of two sheep ? Kill two for tins evenm<r's 
 supper" Aeeordinolv two were slain with eonsideral.le 
 eeremonv in the court below, the l^ishop n.eanwhil(> com])hun. 
 iuo- with* a laucrli that he had not been thought worthy oi tw(. 
 ^heep and was heartily tired of e-^s, leben, and bruised meal ; 
 althou.ir^i the peaceful freech.m of the ].lace outbalanced a 
 <.ood many disadyanta.ires in the way of diet. 
 "^ About the middle of the mornin.ir we cau.irht sitrht of the 
 \crhaand his uien, (hn-ked .mt in their smartest clothes, ndm^ 
 from his yillau-e across the ]>lain, to haye his ],hoto-raph 
 t'lken There was cMisiderable trei>idati<m anion-- the 
 deacons, lest he should smell the blood of the shee]) and 
 in.i-t uJ)on carrying one oif tor his own supper. When he 
 had arrived, and was sitting- in the diwan, it was most 
 ;nnu.ino- to hear the way in which the Uislu.p half humoured 
 l^i.n half treated him as an interior. It appeared the Aoha 
 had a o-reat respect for the iiishoi*, who kept then- 
 ,H,,uaintance smooth by small presents of barley and other 
 produce, and had enabled him t.. have a picture taken. 1 he 
 photograph occupied a Ion- time, as the A-ha was not easily 
 satistied with his own a])pearance, and was most anxious that 
 nothinu- belon-inti- to him, even down to his ci-arette, should 
 be omitted. The whoh' business was however successfully 
 completed, and after a little more polite conversation the 
 Aoha bade his men h't off their -nns into the air by way 
 of makiiu»- an impression, and rode away. 
 
 A quiet afternoon ended in a stroll in the -ardcMi, where 
 lueh.ns and pnm]ddns -rew, and thence t,» the thresli in- floor 
 to see a hu-c snake which the watchman had killed the 
 ovenin- befc'.re u])on his bed. Such incidents as these form 
 the cldef topics of conversation in (piiet iilaces like the 
 nionasterv, unU'ss there has been a raid of i)olice or Kurds to 
 vary the nionotony. Towards evening the excitement m the 
 
 Bishri to Difnv. Sept. 14. 
 
 197 
 
 deir grew intense over tlie final roasting and disln'ng up of 
 the sheej); for it was montlis since a visitor liad arrived 
 whose ])osition deman(k'd sucli a slaughter; and tlie deacons 
 and servants had fasted all day in ])reparation for tlie feast 
 We ate our ])(,rtion of tlie ])easts sitting on tlie great bed upon 
 the roof, in whieli the l^ishop slept; and when it was finislied 
 and we had eaten our fill of grapes and melon, we sat smokin- 
 and listening to the progress of a ])argain, to wit, theexchan-e 
 of SIX fat sheej) for one of tlie monastic liorses, which two 
 travellers on their way to Mardin wished to compass. A 
 warm discussion between them and tlie head of tlie deir 
 ended in notliing, although it lasted two Jiours and cost thirty 
 cigarettes. '^ 
 
 The cliange of air and lifV, combined with freedom from the 
 intrigue wl.ic-h is generally attaclied to life in an Eastern 
 town, no less than tlie simple hospitality of the people^ and 
 the beauty of tlie country, made tliese days some of the 
 pleasantest I spent in Turkey. J^.it like all good things they 
 came to an (Mid, and early the next morning we were ready to 
 start on our way bac-k to ]VIidhiat, accompanied by a deacon, 
 ail old man, but one who knew the country well and was 
 accustomed to travelling. We returned to Hasan Kaf and 
 the Tigris by a mountain ])ath, shorter than that by which we 
 had conns but still three hours long(M- than the Kurd's way, 
 whieh was still more im])assnble from the Bisheri side than 
 from tlie Tigris, owing to the deadly feud existing between 
 the Agha of our acquaintance and the one Avho ruled the hill 
 country. Even tiiongh there was not niucli danger for us as 
 strangers, if we could hav(^ found the way, yet our -uide 
 behmging as he did, to the faction of the plain, would Almost 
 certainly have met his death ; nor would Ali Agha have dared 
 to venture his hc-ad into the noose always ready for him, as 
 soon as lio ])assed the last village of the plain. 
 ^ Onv road was very dry mid rocky until we reached the 
 Tigris, along tJie north shore of which we rode for two hours, 
 until we came to Hasan Kaf. Crossing the river we nearly 
 got into deep water, as Yakob's horse got excited, l)ut the 
 only result was a wetting for the load, by which the remains 
 
 
 ii 
 
 II 
 
 ii 
 
 • i 
 
 t 
 
 )i 
 
VJ8 
 
 Pi'ir-f'l-Mokhr. 
 
 t 
 
 of my Knrd-ontic'iii^- knivi's and scissors were ruined. How- 
 ever,\ve pushed on to l)eir-el-M<»klir, where we were to si)end 
 the iiiuht, 11 niiseriihle and dirty buildin": in a valley leadino; 
 <lown to the Tigris on the south side. There was no one in 
 the place except an ignorant '• rahab," with a she])herd and 
 his family. The rahah was full of talk, and asked many 
 (piestions^ihout Knuland, which he had visited lon^ a-;') with 
 his irreat-uncle, the Patriarch, recalling- all kinds of curious 
 littu'incidents, which one would not think to have made much 
 impressi(ui u])on him. Before we had time to un])ack our 
 thim^^s— which the monk immediately de])osited, nmch acrainst 
 <.ur wish, at the hack of the church, as the only place havinu; 
 a lock to it— we were surrounded by ])eo])le ])rayinir for eye- 
 lotions and (piinine, bu" the j.lace was rather malarious, and 
 here, as elsewhere, the dirty habits of the ])eoi)le encouraov<l 
 affections of the eyes. The monk, too, was suffering fron. 
 dr(»])sy ; and the only answer 1 could ovt to an incpiiry alx.ut 
 its orioin was that it came from (Jod. T told him that all 
 thinirs^came from God, and asked him the more immediate 
 cause, and what he did b.r himself. He re])eated his answer, 
 and then seemint^ sur])rised that anyone should take any 
 interest in his c(mdition, stopped a minute, and, entering into 
 all the symptoms of his disease, asked me what 1 could do b.r 
 him. yiy conscience rather smote me b.r havin*r shaken his 
 bn-mer notion (>[ohammedan th(.u,u-h it was), when I n.uld 
 do so little b.r him, beyond advisin<,^ him to seek the (b.ctorV 
 aid at Mardin. 
 
 The sore eyes and b'ver were more within the ranov ot 
 my medical skill ; but I piined little reputation by my answers 
 t<.*the rahab, if 1 had also little to lose. The rahab condnncd 
 with his iiupiisitiveness on all matters Kn«i-lish a considerabh' 
 taste bu- horsctloh, and had in the court beh.w a very beauti- 
 ful mar(^ and b>al. which he, of c(.urse, immediately offered to 
 exchanu'e with my unattractive hack, as soon as my admiration 
 was ex])ressed. This was merely a b.rm; and we ])roceeded 
 to eat our sup])er and ])re])are our beds b)r slee])intr u])on the 
 ro(.f; and there the barkin^- of dogs and the chatter of the 
 mt^i sot^i 1ii!1(m1 ns to rest. 
 
 1 
 
 
 i' 
 
 Drh-rl-MolcIn- to Delr-co-Salih. Sr/>K 15. 
 
 199 
 
 V .11 IXC. l.alt w.y tu tin. next .num.story. Tl.o r.,-,d w.. ll 1 l 
 
 - -t c...,.id ,.c, ,„> . ,,.„, ,..., ,.„ „„,;.,. ,, .zXu^z^^ 
 
 tlK ...Hi o s„„„,K.,- „.,,„i,.inK ea,v to avoid slippi,' ,„, , , ".^J 
 
 -leks. As soon as wo l.ft Dif.u, whe.-o tlo slo, 1 I 
 
 '.ns end, In.], .ocks, covered thick witl, ta„,.lod Lt ti m 
 
 he K.'apcs l,e,.c wc.-e v,.,,- Hu., and, as t.^vellea-s, ., co d 
 ^<n ,„clv hen. oa.selves. The h.ng cli.nl, „,, thv pass nd 
 
 ^oinci, and la\ there heb)]ess, until tJie ]n-uU l..wl n i 
 taken off and our un ted efforts h-ul nv t i- 
 
 1 /, . , itmaiiKici- ot our loui-nev Y-n.J,* 
 
 een,ed a )lon,.,sl,in«. villao., iniu.l.ited bv al ont l.„^, Z 
 
 •s of Moslen,s and Svnans, an.on,- whon, a natne ^'e t" 
 Ih An,er,can n„ss,„ns was c.n.a.vd in evanoehstic wo;! n 
 
 . stl .n t ,ea,.s a.o ,., s„n,e Kn.disl, chief, and"„owt 
 
 )rs;Jrw;;,;::r'^'^'''-^-^^^^^^ 
 
 Scavcely had we left the vinc-yards of Yar.li ,,efo,.e we met 
 
 fv::"f^';;;n,:;,r;J'!lr ;;;-!:£ 
 
 ^'It-ed on,, con.se, and took n. ,,,,.,,,,„,, ,,,,,^ ,;/-^^^^ 
 
 t 
 
 / 
 
200 
 
 I)eir-('s-Sa1i^> 
 
 I>nr-e.s.Sai;h. 
 
 201 
 
 H 
 
 P' 
 
 our way, ""'^/^''"^;^ !. ^yhon I iudi-nMntly .sk.-l wliv he 
 l-'^'^'r^-'^-^"^'? ,"V: th Uu. nsuM o^pU-tivcs, that if «>■ 
 
 '*^''"\";;;;;1.ve - -uhi .wivo^ if ..ot, th., (^...i .s 
 
 Mvrived tluit evtiuLij^, >*v ii..,t ^n were 
 
 Sn-at ! We .ere also haunted .y tiu- -l-;; , ; ; H, 
 
 ,,„.suod, continually imagmiu,. .n.ou.s "^ 'l'^ - 
 
 Us aud.hite -";;^^-"::;-^"::n;;^r: louhi n.. 
 
 ^^•'f^"::.:'''''4:::ei. '>;:,. \. l.n.a.<nec.k vide ..f a U-. 
 put do«n. ;\'^'^''";,.' ,. ..,„^..., ,.„veredwith .hvart oak 
 
 was a laro;o binklino; >nii in ^ /if .iw.-inliiu' aiul 
 
 ,,,„i,i„.,ts oH^inal ehavaete,- as " -I;.""' /; /' ' ,. n.v 
 
 S. im'^fannlies and their tloeks, who pay for ,he lod^u,, a 
 ^Mian lannm. a a ,„.i,.st hadliis loiiie anion<r 
 
 nominal rent to the Tatnareh. A pmst ha 
 them but, much to u.y ,lisa,n.o."tn,ent, was aW nt a 
 •::'.> that I nussed the chief ohject of n.y vjs, « ueh 
 l,een to sec a su.all collection of nuuu.scr.pts .hu 1 u 1 
 i. the church. All u.y entreaties, ''-^'-'/X ; , ''1, a 
 suade the people to l.rin.^ .u>t the hooks ; ""y ' ! f^. . ' , 
 
 that there were any 1 ks in the place, although -t^-^ > 
 
 the absence of the priest that made them -In so A> . , 
 ,.v never allowing it to be suspecte.l that 1 «- ' ^ ' ",. 
 any property beh.-o-iu, to the churches, 1 was euabl I t c 
 J2 than would have ,.therwise been P-^''^^ ; ^ ;.' ^ 
 ,„ n,e ravages of nu.seun. agents and <> 'l-^ ^ ° \ ^ 
 exceedingly cautious in displaying anythm- of ^■''"*/ ' _ 
 
 heTi-i-- 1" ^^^^ '" '"'^' ''''• ^"'"'"; ":;'::i,':.i ■ 
 
 Patri rch has been uttered aga.nst '-y""V ,', n Hrs 
 .ive away any pv.perty of the Synan Church. Lpon n,^ h,. t 
 
 . 
 
 vi.sit to Midhiat I was repeatedly assured that there were „<. 
 "MMv.s txcept two colossal codics f.f fl,^ r^ i 
 
 1 •ii>«.i> ui.ji iJiorc were sr»vf»rnl i^/wj, x* i 
 
 interest and value which .v """'' "'•^'"t"- 
 
 t'.e l.on,e of Bar Hebr..rs d B J S hL'* r™''f "'' 
 ">'«1 saints of the ,Svri„, r')„„ ^' ' '^''''>"«.* two doctors 
 
 'Ik. country seen 'd 1 ted t th"""' ''" '"""^■^^'•■••^■ 
 
 ■■"f - Malik Hauna, appa-'CnH? K, ,, t.nZ Z . '""'"' 
 "hose, conquests exten.le.l ove,: n,a„v mr ' M !'"""' 
 
 ;.^ ..y whose nan.es castles and ^.X If ZSk: 
 
 --t h.,.,.th hit upon a secluded .-oof « . .e\ I, ':i '":; 
 
 , Mf/i tiniu of Ins i„ei,^ was spendfno. the nUrhi „?. 
 
 feediuo- ,1,0 |,„:.„„ .,„, '"""'i' '"'t »t ourle.s.,re. Aftei- 
 "-•-ht we lef o M ' ■'';'" "'"■ ""■"^'■^ •''•'"'^d for the 
 
 <l.>tvv , 1 ^ : '" '•''"■■«"' «>«1 ^^'^Iked round the 
 
 ^I'ln und to call uj)oii the oTcat iiv.n Ti.. 
 
 ";t:;:;,n:iT::;;:;*^^^^^^ 
 ;;:::;'ir;x;''\'T'"\--'' "" ' 
 
 T Is r /" '-^-'•■'""^f-"' '^ l'""'l-"ne horse for .ny revolve 
 
 ,;i: rH;:4",:,i; r:ir;,; ;*:;:.;. t- :-;' "■" f 
 
 both ..evolve.- •,,„) 1 r ,"'"'' '"•^'^ "3 tl.e t.-ansactiou 
 
 >e^ohc■ a.Hl ),o,-sc, fo,- J.e would mo.st certainly have 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 . \ 
 
II 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 it'l 
 
 I)eu''eb-Salih. 
 
 Ifi 
 
 202 
 
 i. 1..,. T asilcpcl a lew questions, 
 stolen back the lattev the .ext dnj I/;\^;^.;^^,,,_V„. ^Uese 
 
 1 « . t.^.»nv as were not too peiauuni 
 and answered a. mans a. ^ j j,^^.„ ,,ti,.ed, pro- 
 
 L.™ tUat had ^o J^tJ'^Xrtrinrni'^^ 
 Then ^ye d.ued ^« ^^ ^" /^.^^ '.'";' .^ion on account of the 
 sugar, for soup was ou o ^J « ^/^^^ ^^^ ,.^f„,,a to drink, 
 fonhiess of the water .vh.h e^en '^^^^ ,,,^, ,,,,, 
 
 Next niorning, anxious though ^^e ^^ele to le i 
 
 .„.. departure was delayed by the -^-^^ f j^ ^ ,^;;: L 
 .ee my can.era, aud be f^^f^^^'^^^^^T^e IgWs 
 
 '■"^ ^T■^^::^r:d .., s ;;:nnf.d supples of ...pe. and 
 servants, an ho stenrea i ^ ^^^ ^ ^^,. 
 
 • T 1 ., 4^.. flip villai'"e 01 xlaivii. »> t; n 
 
 u-mdecl us to tue Mua^c •,,^,.^,.,1 hearin*' a stick 
 
 before a boy ca.ne running out of a vu eja.d, b.a.n 
 
 "1- ^^•^"^\^'""^' ^'f ;::tH: ^ut to c.;': heather's 
 
 grapes, and begged tor a l.ttlt n e.i c , ,,^„.,ij j knew 
 
 :yes. The old man was nearly bhnd ^^^^^ ^^^, 
 
 /ouid do little good, I i'-''-7^j;\,:;t]::t.nvhau.i, 
 
 nuMlicine 1 had by our guide ; and the boj .u 
 kissed it and covered it with tears so * -J ^ »-'\.^ * ,^.^ .,„,, 
 10 tell him that cure was not what I hoped toi, 
 -alleviation of the pain ,, ^.j,, ,,, 
 
 Three hours brought us to HAh u ^^^ ^^^^^ 
 
 ^ 1 T' 1 «,wl rinMstians, nut tlie simi?> «^'i 
 inhabited by Kurds and Uni t , _^, ^_^^__.^. 
 
 former greatness remained n. thi ."""^^' .,/ „„ a„„)„, 
 
 .hurches. One only had escaped ^"^-' ^y^J^t^^,, three 
 tothe reverence obtaining, even among ^ ^ ^ '^/^ ,,,, ,,„;„. 
 ki„..s to whose memory, or,as some ->' > j'^" ! „,^,, ;, ,,,. 
 It was disappointing to find ''- ;'"''';;/°.tee sufficient 
 ..possible to take any photo^.psm,..^^^^^^^^^^^_ ^_^^^ 
 
 louurant oUl ranan, mi ,> ,.. hmiioht n loads c»t 
 
 ;hile strings of giga-.tie >;- .^;;:: J f T " man was a 
 ..ommon gn.,,es to bo,l or dry to, " ^ \ ,.,„.a .,f his 
 
 little put out by our arnva , >""-;*;'*;„„ ,,„,t and 
 l„„.Uiful ehnreh not to do the 1"' j ' ' ^.^^ \,, „„„.,,,,„. 
 
 \Vl,;it» soTne e^''*'"s were trMUj:, lu un^v 
 cicerone. >> inie M)nit i^j-, 
 
 
 Hakh, 
 
 203 
 
 egends «t wonderful things that had liappened at Hakh, in 
 he ,me of the wise men, and Malik Hanna, and the saints- 
 
 ;:: j;^Tn 1 """'{.^?*;^''"'-* -^ ^'"^ '"'^dleof ins narratio.; 
 h the dibb,.," which he had forgotten for u few moments 
 to stir, boiling over the huge eartlien cauldron in the corner 
 of he court. There was a general stam],ede among the bov^ 
 ami young g,ant.s, who spent most of their time eating the 
 grapes tlu^- were supposed to dry ; and after some vigorous 
 .^t.rnngwith a ladle worthy of a Cyclops, the unwieldy mixture 
 was again reduced to its normal temper. 
 
 The freshly-dried raisins lay in heaps upon the floor of the 
 portico, and the j.ortion reserved for the Patriarch's tithe in 
 tiK' nave, the safest place in these wild villages. The fir.t 
 stei. after .ns,,ecting the church and eating our eg<.s was to 
 secure a guide back to Midhiat ; but this was nreasy task 
 owing to the feuds, not only between the Kurds, but also thj 
 Chnstians. Further difficulty was also caused bv the fact 
 
 «'ost of the inhabitants of Hakh, not having paid them, did 
 , not care to go too near a town in which Govermnent officials 
 
 w<.-e to be found. At last one of the young giants agreed to 
 come with us on condition that he might turn back as soon 
 as we got within sight of Midhiat. He was a fine .specimen of 
 a mountain Syrian, tall and muscular, with a head like a 
 crested eagle, as he woiv his scarlet katiyeh wound round his 
 
 W.ite ..kii 1 cap with the ends stuck up like wings. A Ion.. 
 
 inen slnrt reaching to his ankle.s, cut on both sides from tlu- 
 
 kn,.e downward and boun.l with a red .scarf round the wai.^t 
 
 b'nued Ins dmss, which a,.peared still more scantv when -irt 
 
 u|. to the gn-,1 e for fast walking. He was at first'lazy, a t'let 
 
 t.. which I inehned to attribute his reluctance to go as tar as 
 
 Mnllna ; but when at la.st, yielding to the request of the ol.l 
 
 rahab he actually .started with his long gun slung over hi. 
 
 shoulder, even my maiv had .some diffieultv in keeping np 
 
 witli Ills pace. " 1 ft I' 
 
 He soon became talkative, and told „s much of the moun- 
 <am be; how the very Agha whom we had ju.st left had 
 i"l.bed a brother of his of a hundred .shee,. because he had 
 
 ( 
 
204 
 
 Hahh 
 
 helped a friend, belonging to territory tliiit acknowledged the 
 authority of a rival Agha, to pass through his district. Many 
 a story he told of crime and oppression, until we reached the 
 Ao'ha's own village of Gashtarik, and later on the larger village 
 of Arnas. Here was another beautiful church, which we liad 
 too little time to examine, although the architecture was most 
 
 A Mountain Syrian. 
 
 interesting, and there were books of value in the church ; for 
 we were already late, and this part of the country Jwas one]of 
 the least safe for travellers at night. So we pushed /on [past 
 a pillar said to be the remains of a cross erected by the 
 Empress Helena, until our guide left us by the ruined [monas- 
 
 
 Hnkh. 
 
 Uryot Hadad, assunnj. u.s that we were only twenty minute, 
 on the stra.Kht road from Midhiat. We stun,l,led along h^v^ 
 ever for nearly an hour before we saw the lij-l,ts of the town 
 and then ,uade straight aero, country, regardless "^ ^Z^:, 
 and , oss.hle rayn.es, untd we reached the monasterv of Ma 
 
 d,fficult^ persuaded the suspicious old monks to admit us 
 We .vere tho,.oughly tired after our week of verv r ,ugh 
 
 <>t tlie (pnet old deir. 
 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 I I 
 
20t 
 
 Hah'h 
 
 U'ilh, 
 
 lK']])eil a fririid, l)rl<)n.ti-in.<i: U) territory that acknowlodirt'd tlie 
 authority of a rival A.ir]ia, to ])ass tlirontrh Ins district. Many 
 a story he told of crime and o]»])ression, until wc i-cachcd the 
 Au'ha'sown villao-eof Gashtarik, and later on the la r^^vr villa ^v 
 of Arnas. Here was another heautiful churcli, which we had 
 too little time to examine, althon*;h the architecture was most 
 
 A Mountain Syrian. 
 
 interestino-, and there were hooks of value iu the church ; for 
 we were already late, and tin's |iart of tlie cumitry was (>lle^>t 
 the least safe for travellers at iii.ulit. So wc iiiislied.'on [past 
 a pillar said to l)e the remains of a cross erected l)y tlie 
 Empress Helena, nntil mir guide left us l>y tlic ruinctl [monus- 
 
 ■205 
 
 tc-O- ol ll^Hlad, .ssurin.- us tl,at we were onlv twenty minutes 
 .... tl,e stra,,.l,t roa,l fron, Midlnat. We stumhl..] aion,, Cv- 
 
 :;;■;;••;'"■ "<- >■ -■ i-'"- •»■*-- «•.■ saw ,ik. lio.,,,. ..f ti,rt„wn, 
 
 •MH rl,cM made stnno-l,t across country, rco.,rdlcss of rocks 
 and possd.le raynu.s, until uc reaclu.] the n.onastcrv of AJa,' 
 Ahrahun,, ,n uh.ch uc had left the Qain,a,,an,, and after souk- 
 
 IHu-Mlty persuaded the suspicious old n,onks t hnit „. 
 
 A\ewere thorou.l.ly tir...l afte, r week of u.v ro„,.i; 
 
 <»« tlie (|uiet old de)i-. 
 
 / 
 
 
 i 
 
/ 
 
 20() 
 
 Mldhiaf. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MiDHIAT, AND THK MONASTERY OF DeIU-KL-OmAK. 
 
 I 
 
 II' 
 
 I 
 
 ^ i 
 
 Yakojj and \ had dt'ttM'iniiu'd, for several reasons, to stay 
 durino- this visit U) Midliiat at the monasterv just outsiih^ 
 the town ratlier than in the house in which we liad before 
 spent a ni^-ht, ])artly for the sake of ohtaininj^; a little 
 seclusion, and partly because, anionj^ these mountain ])eople, 
 one is apt to miss small articles of use, if not of value. Such 
 things as leather stra])s and knives seem to have a (piite 
 irresistible attraction for native tin^^ers. There was another 
 reason, ^lidhiat is not more free tlian other places from the 
 factions that are the curse of Eastern s\d)ject races, as wc 
 soon discovered on incpiiry of a house with which Yakob had 
 S(mie connections. My host, Aziz Hanna, had formei-ly 
 represt^nted the Syrians of the town in the o^overnment — that 
 is, in the *' majlis," or town council — and it was maintained 
 that his rival had sup]danted him by bribery and libel. 
 Hence a small eruption in the i)lace, and continiial dis])lays 
 
 of mutual jealousy. 
 
 On Saturdav n'lorninLi" we ])aid a visit to the Qaimaiiam, 
 who was still staying- in the deir, and enjoy in*;- much 
 better health, thanks to the excellent nu'dicine which lie had 
 received. He was most affable, and professed threat annoy- 
 ance that we had not asked him for a /aptieh to accom])any 
 ns to Bisheri, ])romisintr everythin<z: we could ])ossibly wish for 
 our journey to Mosul. He was as eloquent as ever on 
 nn'crobes and tocography, and extremely interested to hear all 
 that we had to sav of our travels in the mountains. He then 
 discoursed with great bitterness about the intrigues of a 
 certain Papal Syrian Bishop, who, he said, was turning the 
 
 "ll 
 
 MifJhiat. 
 
 207 
 
 wliole place upside down, and laiuented his inabilitv to 1,etter 
 the condition of Syrians and peaceful Kurds in the mountains 
 The Roman Catholics and the free-lance aglias were tlm 
 curse of the country. 1 concluded mv visit by nn'xino- ],ini 
 another large bottle of fever - antisepteek,- and then" bade 
 farewell in order to call upon our late host. Tliere, however 
 we found ourselves little w^elcome, for the house was full of 
 men discussing the means of dealing with the murder at A in 
 Wardah, and trying to comfort the old father. We therefore 
 made only a short stay, and asked our friend, the Deacon, to 
 take us to the l)azar, and show us another monastery on tlie 
 north side of the town. We sat in a stall in the l>azar 
 ookmg at conis and othei- antirpiities, which the people 
 brought for sal(> in large nund^ers, and then walked out past 
 a large threshing floor to the monasterv. It was in the 
 ])rocess of rebuilding, and the monks, taking advantao-e of 
 ])ei-mission to restore the place, were considerably enlargino-. 
 Mild, 111 fact, building Avliat constituted a new churcli. ^The 
 walls were built out of tlie living rock to the lieight of a few 
 feet, and higher u]) of w(>ll-eut square stcmes. ^ The wlnde 
 place was remarkably clean, and well built. WJien 1 
 sugg(vsted that it would suit admii-ablv for a school and 
 asked wliy the i)eoi)le could afford to build so fine a church so 
 tar away from the town, but yet couhl not have even one 
 good school m a town of over a thousand families, ^^ Well'' 
 said the l)eac(m, -our pc.ple do not km)w ; thev have not 
 got accustomed to know the value of schools yet. But it is a 
 shame to leave an ancient chiii-ch in ruins.''* • 
 
 This seemed the actual truth ; and the most important thino^ 
 when dealing with these people, is to inculcate the value of 
 true ivligious education, with a love of learninc. and dis. 
 sennnating the Faith of the Gospel. One onlv of the monks 
 
 Maclean and Browne, p. 3(14. say : - The Syrians look upon their cluirches 
 with the prreatest reverence, and the restoration of their villa-e church i.s one of 
 the very few thinj^s that will call forth their liberality. They are not at all 
 utihtanan and think it better to rebuild an old ruin in a place where there is 
 not a Hingle Syrian left, than to erect a new church in the uiiddle of a lar-o 
 population." The word., apply dually to the Syrian, of Mesopotamia 
 
 f 
 
 I 
 
,1/ 
 
 208 
 
 ViJIaye Cerevuni iaJ. 
 
 1 
 
 was at Lome, hut was voted l)y tlie rest of tlie ])arty too ])oor 
 and miserable to sit ii])on the same ear])et as sueli diirnitaries, 
 ill spite of frequent invitations from Yak(»l) and myself. 
 
 A short walkahout the fiehl before tlie evening* srrviee, liehl 
 in the open eourt of tlie ehurch, and attended hy the six 
 ])riests of the town and several hundred ])eoph>, ended the 
 dav's work ; nor were we sorrv to retire for some rest in the 
 room at the monastery, which the Qainuniam had just vacated. 
 
 The ])rosj)ect of a (piiet Sunday at the deir ])roved a 
 delusive drcnim ; for scarcely had 1 left church after the 
 morninu" celehrntion, than the Shammas arrived from Midhiat 
 to warn me that the church committee an<l a larj^c' hody of 
 leadiiu'* Svrians was ahout to i)av me the honour (jf a state 
 visit. 1 groMiied in spirit, for I knew it meant that I must 
 resio'ii nivself for the rest of the day. 'i'he j^-ood pe(j]»le soon 
 l)e^•^n to arrive, jiresentinij^ the most intricate com])liments 
 and most insinuating bows, before they ranged themselves 
 round the mom with all the minute regard for rank and cere- 
 monial that so horrifies the democratic American when first 
 he leaves his native land. Last of all came a detachnu'iit of 
 bovs bearino* a number of most excellent dishes; for the 
 people had rightlv guessed that we should not be overfed in 
 the deir, for the monks belonged to the straitest sect, and 
 never went bevond the simi)le diet of bread and herbs and 
 fruit (in consequence of which 1 was besieged by them for 
 cures of liver com])laints). 
 
 Conversation began with a ])ressing invitation to take uj) my 
 abode for ever at the church in Midliiat ; but knowing that 
 there 1 >hould be somewhat in the same condition as the 
 Bengal tiger at the Zoo, 1 tii-mly but politely explained that I 
 ])referred to stay with the holy shades of Mar Abrahum and 
 Mar Kvgen, who long ago spent lives of un])aralleled lioliness 
 upon two pillars near the church. 1 accejited gi-atefully, 
 liowever, the kind invitation to take my meals in the village, 
 in order to save the trouble of bringing all the food up to the 
 deir. 
 
 For about four hours the large room of the deir was 
 crowded with Syrians of all kinds, members of the Old Church 
 
 #' 
 
 
 1 I 
 
 M^I^^^JSt 
 
 An hujui.sitioH. 
 
 209 
 
 and adJierents of Pai)al and American missionaries. An 
 unceasing fire of questions was maintained by the two latter, 
 both being anxious to prove that in all things the position 
 of the Cliurch of PJngland was one with that of the American 
 missionaries. The members of the Old Church, being my 
 hosts, refrained from the discussion, not only seeing the 
 extreme bad taste of the incpiisitors, but being already 
 satisfied on all tlie points most disjmted. It may be imagined 
 that it was no easy matter in a mixed assembly to give such 
 answers as, translated by a second-rate interpreter, might 
 neither offend my interlocutors, nor compromise our Church's 
 creed in the opinion of the Syrians. It cannot be too strongly 
 insisted upon, that every Englishman travelling abroad, and 
 es])ecially in remote places, is to the people he meets England, 
 and the English Churchman the English Church. To give 
 some idea of the difficulties experienced in this way, the 
 English Church was voted to be Protestant, that is, to agree 
 with the Congregationalists, because it does not admit com- 
 pulsory confession nor practise the use of oil in baptism, and 
 because the ])riest administers the bread direct to the people, 
 iu stead of first handing it to the deacon.* 
 
 Tliis discussion, which it was most difficult to stop, did little 
 to edify anyone, and only set the people quarrelling over their 
 distinctive tenets and theological subtleties, as Orientals are 
 always so apt to do; a fact which makes strongly against 
 proselytism here even more than elsewhere, and reminds one 
 how important it is not t(» allow the theological form to 
 obscure the religious realitv. 
 
 It was a gi'eat relief to get away in tlie evening to a quiet 
 siqiper at the house of Naum Efendi, representative of the 
 Syrians in the government, successor of Aziz Hanna, our 
 former host, and therefore the unwilling head of one of the 
 tw^o factions in the village. The house was a great contrast to 
 that of his rival ; it was a neat building within a clean and 
 s])acious courtyard, and it is scarcely necessary to add that the 
 
 I 
 
 * I.e., the l)rea(l of the - antidoron." not the bread of communion. 
 locators confused the two. 
 
 My inter- 
 
 I 
 
/ 
 
 A 
 
 i. 
 
 1 
 
 Hi 
 
 f 
 
 210 
 
 Naum Efendi. 
 
 better dinner vcuicIuhI for the better manners of the host. 
 The absence of sheep and cattle in and about tlie liouse was no 
 less refreshing than tlie admirable yount*- chickens and rice 
 pudding, which is cooked to such perfection in Turkey. 
 Yakob Efendi had astonished me at the morning service at 
 the deir by acting tlie rathei' noisy master of ceremonies, and 
 directing the general conduct of affairs among tlie deacons 
 and choir bovs. He meant kindlv, but made 7ue exceediiiflv 
 uncomfortable, when he placed me in the most prominent 
 place in the church just before the sanctuary, considering 
 that I should be offended if given a position of less diiziiitv, 
 and commanding a less comj^lete and interesting view. 
 
 We sat down to supper, a ])arty of five — our host and a 
 priest, his uncle, Yakob, myself, and a servant, a sort of 
 Qawwas, who entertained us with the most amusing account 
 of n voyage in an English shi]) from Constantinople to Sj)ain, 
 dui'ing which he saw manv wonderful tliiuLrs, and, havinsr lost 
 his wig in the sea, returned, much to his own distress and liis 
 friends' amusement, with a new one of a totally different 
 colour. Conversation ranged through all the topics proper to 
 the occasion and finished with a verv serious tn1k on th(^ 
 future of the Church, a subject on which the })i"iest, an 
 ignorant but open-minded, devout old man, talked with great 
 zeal. As it grew late we returned to the nionasteiy, accom- 
 panied by four men with arms, so unsafe is the country, 
 especially near a large village, at any time after dark. 
 
 All through the following day similar hospitality had to be 
 undergone in the committee room of the church in Midliiat. 
 It was a big room, with a fine clock at one end, in which 
 practically all business relating to the Syrian people of 
 Midhiat, both civil and ecclesiastical, is transacted. Adjoining 
 was the schoolroom, so that between the noise of children 
 spelling out at the top of their voices tlie hymns of Mar 
 Efrem from huge manuscripts of the fourteenth century to 
 the deaf deacon who said he taught them, and the continuous 
 attentions of the committee, there was little peace. Much of 
 the time was passed in conversation upon the English Church, 
 comparing her uses with those of the Syrians, and setting to 
 
 
 Midhiat. 
 
 211 
 
 i-ight some misconceptions which remained in the minds of 
 certain brethren after the discussions of the previous day. 
 The minds of these people seemed, as usual, full of the 
 im])(,rtance of forms, but very dead to the facts and faiths 
 winch they symbolize. The number of psalms sung daily 
 and to what tune, the exact amount of oil used in baptism the 
 precise form of address in prayer, these were of all importance • 
 while the weightier matters of the law and life entered but 
 httle into their conceptions, if onlv a man lived honestly 
 providing well for his sons, and doing his obvious duty by his 
 neighbours. Not that in the least the importance of form 
 should be denied. Who knows but that God has i)reserved 
 a large measure of these forms— even call them formalities— 
 to serve as a protection through lono- seasons of trial and 
 isolation, that the true Faith might be kept sure and unchang- 
 ing by their means until the day dawn and a brighter season 
 come. 
 
 During th(^ afternoon all the manuscripts belonging to 
 the church were brought out, the ]ieople having satisfied 
 themselves that 1 did not wish to buy or steal them, and, in 
 consequence, admitting that they had previouslv lied when 
 they said that they had no books beyond what I had already 
 seen. One book at least was, if not of value, yet of consider- 
 able interest, being a manuscript on parchment of the ninth 
 century, containing a transliteration of the Greek Gospels in 
 the Syriac letters. This use of different characters for a 
 language is very common now ; but it was interesting to find 
 it in vogue at such an early date. It is hardly necessary to 
 say that the Syrians at Midhiat had no nJtion in what 
 language the book was written. 
 
 Two articles of great value and interest were also shown 
 to me, being the property of Deir Mar Abrahum ; one, a cope, 
 of a Persian woven design, some three hundred years old ; it 
 was of silk, and covered with pictures of tigers and monkeys 
 camels and leopards, with garlands of flowers, and beautiful 
 ladies looking sidelong out of lofty windows ; a piece of work 
 than which It would be scarcely possible to imagine anvthino- 
 more exquisitely beautiful in colour, design, and workmanship". 
 
 p 2 
 
 tl 
 
 ^ 
 
 
y 
 
 M 
 
 ( v! 
 
 212 
 
 Church Relics-. 
 
 The other treasure was a very ancient thurihle, wliich tin* 
 natives attribute to the time of S. James of Nisibis, wlience it 
 was said to luive come. It was of bronze, and rudely sculp- 
 tured with a representation of the nativity. 
 
 Whilst we were examining" these treasures, a Papal ])riest, 
 sent by the Bishop at Mardin to make Midhiat liis head- 
 quarters for propa^randist work in the uiountains, entered to 
 pay me a visit. He had received a note from the Kisliop, and 
 had been told to pay me all civility and at the same tinu^ kee]> 
 an eye upon me. When quite a young man he had been taken 
 from the mountains to be trained bv the Jesuits at Beirut. 
 He was not a pleasant, nor, I hope, a ty])ical specimen of his 
 class ; comparatively well educated, and with intellectual 
 tastes carefully encouraged, but most unsfru])ulous and iu- 
 sinuating. With a certain knowledge of Latin and (jlreek, 
 which I soon found to be limited in quantity and terribly 
 ecclesiastical in stvle, he disccuirsed on men nnd l)ooks with 
 much ardour, therebv astonishino; the natives most uuir- 
 vellously. "No lN)])ery" is a cry easily raised and i-eadily 
 taken up in this mountain town; and the present occasion 
 nearly saw a riot, caused by some uuotfeniling remark ol tiie 
 priest's with rt^irnrd to the books. H'»w(n-er, that was avoid(Ml 
 by an opportune proposal to take a walk betni-c the sun went 
 down and evening service began. Service took place ;is usual 
 in the o])eu court, and was ini])ressive, if not from tluMlevotion, 
 at least from the nundier of those present. The music seemed 
 to jar more than usual in tlie Syrinc psalms ; for the vii-tne of 
 it, the Syrian crowd understood little more of the language 
 than r (lid. 
 
 As it was our purpose to start the following day to ^losul, 
 it was necessary to call upon the Qaimaqam the same evening. 
 He was as affable as usual, sitting at his evening meal, only 
 asking that our request for the zaptieh, wliom he promised, 
 should be put into writing. This boded no good, and sim])ly 
 meant that he was not going to comply with our request, but not 
 wishing directly to refuse us uuide mv send in a request for 
 the zaj)tieh to the police, that is, to our friend the Bim-bashi. 
 The reason soon appeared. Yakob, having no road passport 
 
 
 Bed Tape, 
 
 213 
 
 of his own, had borrowed that of his brother ; but on present- 
 ing it at Midhiat, and requesting to have it renewed, he 
 received a reply that the official was not satisfied with it, and 
 that if he wislied for a new one the office would telegraph for 
 fuller information to IJiarbekr. Unfortunatelv, the man had 
 a reputation for honesty. It was said that his predecessor had 
 been a most '' convenient " man ; but he would not take a bribe, 
 at least they did not like to risk it. So Yakob withdrew his 
 request, and trusted that no more questions would be asked. 
 Yakob, in case the real state of affairs had been discovered, 
 would have been imj)risoned for six months and suffered a 
 heavy fine for not having his name duly registered in the 
 Government list. 
 
 The next thing was to get a clerk to write out my request 
 for a za])tieh. Not everyone in Turkey can write the official 
 hand, or the official language, and although it would seem not 
 such a difficult thing to find someone to put into writing the 
 fact that 1 was in need of a za])tieh, yet among dozens of men 
 speaking and writing the Turkish language in Midhiat, one 
 only was capable of inditing a Turkish e])istle, asking in due 
 terms for what was needed. Aud this man was drunk. He 
 was a young Syrian in Government employment, able but of 
 bad ehai'acter, who spent most of his evenings drinking arrak 
 and playing eards with the Government efendis and police. 
 
 After ;u\ lionr, however, he arrived, and was as affable as 
 most ])e()})le are under the same circumstances ; and then he 
 took another houi- to adjust his paper and ink and indite the 
 ej)istle ; and tluMi another hour passed while a stamj) was 
 procured (for it costs sixpence to make a request to the 
 Government). And theu tlie Serai was shut, and we dis- 
 covered the stamp to be a used one, and the boy who procured 
 it for us to have irrevocably fled. So we made up our mind 
 that the letter, like nearly all other things and men in Turkey, 
 must wait till the morrow\ 
 
 We quite expected to be disappointed, as the saying is, 
 about the zaptieh ; and so we were. We received a polite 
 answer from the Bim-bashi, that we had brought no zaptieh 
 from Mai'din, a fact of which we were alreadv aware : and 
 
 I 
 
 ►* 
 \ 
 
214 
 
 Df'ir-rJ-()}nnr. 
 
 I ^ 
 
 neither he nor his most fussy su])erior, the Qainiaqam, could 
 undertake tlie awful responsibility of doint^; what neither Pasha 
 nor Mutserraf had done. This was all very well, but why in 
 the name of the Turkish spirit of exasperation, could they not 
 have said so a week before ? 
 
 There was nothino* to be done, except to be angry, and 
 that did no more good than abusing the terrified Yakob for 
 not having got his name pro})erly registered before he left 
 Diarbekr. It was clear that it was all over with our visit to 
 Mosul for the present ; so 1 determined to console myself with 
 a visit to the great monastery called Deir-el-Omar, about four 
 hours' ride from Midhiat. I had intended to spend the night 
 there in any case ; and as I heard so much of its wonders^ 
 I determined at any rate not to miss the sight oi them. 
 
 'J'he road being one of the most infested by brigands in 
 the neighbourhood, we started from Midhiat with a guard of 
 four armed men over countrv Avhich, as soon as we left the 
 valley of Midhiat, looked all the evil things that were said of 
 it. We passed a few villages, mostly of Kurds, but the 
 greater part of our way h\y over bare grey hills, clad only 
 with dwarf oak trees : and wc were not sorry to see at 
 last the monastery lying before us in a slightly iTiore fertile 
 plain. It was indeed, as Lucretius says of -rEtna, well worth a 
 visit, if cmly for the sake of hearing the endless stream of 
 legends which the hos[)itable and garrulous old Bisho]) poured 
 forth, a> we went the round of ruined tomb and chapel, or 
 sat, as the sun went down, u])on the roof, b(*for(» a Cyclo|)ean 
 dish of luscious grapes. 
 
 The deir itself is one mass of broken walls, rebuilt out- 
 houses, and untended tig-gardens; for the rest a stately 
 echoing church, and half-a-dozen burial chambers. In the 
 days of Justinian the monastery ranked second in holiness to 
 Jerusalem itself, and pious men came from every nation to live 
 or die there ; and if that was not possible besought their 
 relatives to carry their remains and deposit them near the 
 bones of the thousand and one martyrs, or the eight hundred 
 devoted soldiers of the Egj-ptian princess. Now of this 
 princess a wonderful tale is told, the tale, moreover, of the 
 
 ■d 
 
 £is-~»'jr-. 
 
 Deir-el-Omar. 
 
 215 
 
 budding of the place. Mar Samuel, the pupil of a famous 
 Syrian saint Sham'un, dreamed a dream in the reign of the 
 Emperor Theodosius. The Angel Gabriel appeared to him, 
 and bade him build a great temple to the Lord, and a home 
 where his worshippers might dwell. As he spake, he showed 
 him a great stone, balanced between heaven and earth, in the 
 place where the keystone of the highest dome should be ; and 
 on the ground he traced the measure of the house and courts, 
 bidding the old man consider it well. Only, if any female 
 person came near to the place, then would the great stone 
 fall in pieces on the earth. 
 
 When the good man awoke he looked and saw the great 
 stone hanging as the angel said, so immediately he began to 
 build. Month by month the work went on with stone hewn 
 from the cpiarries, and gold and marble and precious stones 
 sent by all the princes of the earth; until the fame of it 
 reached the ears of the King of Egypt. Eager to do honour 
 to the Lord, he prej)ared presents of gold and of precious 
 marbles for the work. He had no son, only a daughter, most 
 eager to be the bearer of these offerings. But with the news 
 of the building came the warning that forbade the approach 
 of women. But the princess was desirous to go ; and, in spite 
 of all, determined to travel in the dress of a w^arrior at the 
 head of eight hundred men. After a journey of many weeks, 
 accomplislied in perfect safety owning to their sacred charge, 
 she and her train reached the rocky hills of Mons Masius' 
 aud came to where they saw the wonderful building rising up 
 to the great stone. But as she looked, that which the angel 
 prophesied took place, and the stone fell down with a crash, 
 breaking into many pieces. Then great fear fell upon the 
 buTlders, uTitil the princess, overcome with sorrow^, confessed 
 herself, and vowed to live a life of penance near the church. 
 And they built her a tower, and she lived therein, never 
 seeing the daylight again but when she went, closely veiled, 
 to sorrow in the church. And her tower stands there to this 
 dav. 
 
 Her soldiers stayed, carving stone and fitting marble in the 
 church, until the w^ork was done. And in due course they 
 
Ill 
 
 1 
 
 «.- 
 
 I 
 
 \U 
 
 216 
 
 The Dream of Mar (rahriel. 
 
 died, and were buried in a great cliamber that the monks 
 made for them. Outside the chamber are two tombs of two 
 cooks. These came with the princess; but her men, judging 
 it not seemly to be eight hundred and two, determined that 
 the cooks should die, which thev duly did, and were buried 
 with considerable pomp. 
 
 Time passed, and the golden house grew richer, and the 
 monks ever more holy, until the great wars with Persia, when 
 Nushirwan and Justinian fought together. Then it was that, 
 for some misdeed that the Syrians did, the P^mperor cut off all 
 their fingers; but, repenting of the deed not long after, he 
 made amends, and gave over the monastery to the Syrians for 
 ever; and thus it passed from the hands of the Greeks to those 
 of the Syrian people. 
 
 In later days Mar Gal)riel became head of the monastery, 
 he after whom the place is still sometimes called. He, too, 
 dreamed a dream that he walked in the streets of i^aolujacb 
 and as he walked he met u man ragged and lame. And it 
 was told him that he should be one day a king, and be an 
 instrument in the hand of God to destroy all nations. So 
 Mar Gabriel journeyed six days to the city of Nineveh, and 
 thence he was borne down upon a raft to J^aghdad. 
 
 There wandering in the streets he met a man, most 
 miserable to look upon, sitting upon a broken pillar outside a 
 rich man's gate. When he asked lodging of the man, '' Mine 
 uncle,'' he replied, ^' scarcely have I rice enough or room for 
 my own needs, and how can I give thee hospitality ? " " Is 
 not thy name Timur ? Then must I stay in thy house." So 
 the holy man went home with the beggar, and told linii what 
 he had seen in his dream. But Timur believed him not, and 
 lightly promised to spare the monastery of the Syrians for 
 the sake of him that brought the flattering news. 
 
 Some years passed, when one winter as the snow lay thick 
 upon the rocks of Deir-el-Omar, came the hordes of Tamerlane 
 sweeping the East like a whirlwind, and encamped about the 
 famous place, eager for plunder. The monks had heard 
 with terror the rumour of their coming, and, barring the doors 
 of the church, fled and hid themselves. 
 
 ' /t 
 
 The Gomhuj of Tamerlane, 
 
 217 
 
 The soldiers soon entered the monastery and lived there 
 many weeks through the winter, carrying on meanwhile the 
 work of demolition. Church and 'shrine and tomb were 
 stripped of precious stones and gold, until at last they reached 
 tlie sanctuary. And there they lit a fire to melt the gold from 
 off the ceiling, but suddenly the work was stopped, it is said, 
 by heavenly intervention. And only in the sanctuary are 
 there still remains of the riches of the church, in the fragments 
 of rich mosaic on the dome, vine and fig, and ears of wheat, 
 and the rich tesselated marble pavement round the high altar.^ 
 It IS said that Tamerlane took seventy mule loads of gold and 
 one hundred of silver, beside lead and countless ornaments 
 and embroideries, when he went away. 
 
 The monks, where were they meanwhile ? The soldiers 
 came, and fresh snow fell, and no one could tell where the 
 monks were hid. One day the monks, eager to know what 
 had befallen their beautiful church, sent one of their number 
 to see what the soldiers did. He saw the church, and re- 
 turned to tell the monks. But following his footsteps in the 
 snow, next day the soldiers traced him to a cave, of which 
 they had indeed heard that it was a place where spirits dwelt 
 beneath the earth, terrifying the people by terrible sounds at 
 night. Some, too, of the villagers lay hidden there; and on 
 this fatal day Tamerlane bade his men light great fires at the 
 cave's mouth, and, laying incense upon them, send up the 
 smoke of the lazy monks with their prayers to heaven. So 
 died Mar Gabriel witli all his monks by the hand of the man 
 w^hose greatness he had foretold. 
 
 Early in the morning, before we started back to Midhiat, 
 the old Bishop took us down to see the cave, and grope about 
 in the dark among the skulls and bones of the four hundred 
 monks that were slain. Near the entrance was the charred 
 skull of a child of six years old, the smallest victim of the 
 conqueror. It was a grim story and a ghostly place, which 
 we were no less glad to leave than the Bishop, who had sadly 
 
 ,( 
 
 * This beautiful tesselated work Dr. Badger dismisses with contempt as a 
 "pavement of Dutch tiles." 
 
218 
 
 Dfir-el-Oiuai 
 
 Deir-el'Omar. 
 
 21^ 
 
 bumped his shaven head aofaiust the low roof, being a tall 
 man, and afflicted with bad sight. 
 
 It is needless to add that the monks were sainted, and the 
 monastery known in days to come by the name of Mar Gabriel 
 the abbot. Of the former glories of the place little now 
 remains, but four old monks, ignorant and poor, one of them 
 a converted " Yazidi," or devil-worshipper, and the Bishop, 
 little more distinguished in mind or body than his com- 
 panions. The church contains little of interest except an 
 immense stone which stands before the sanctuary, and said to 
 have been cracked in half by a blow from the hand of 
 Tamerlane. On one side is a loug Estrangelo inscription, and 
 its present use is to carry the books of Psalms and hymns 
 chanted during the morning and evening prayer. The 
 tesselated pavement, and the mosaics of the roof, are but 
 gloomy memorials of what is gone for ever. 
 
 After visiting the marble tombs of the saints buried in the 
 church and the various cha])els built about the place, and 
 reported to contain the bodies of many thousand saints, we 
 lost little time in starting on our way to Midhiat. The Bishop 
 was mounted on a most lovely Arab mare, the present of a rich 
 uncle at Nisibin, and we were attended by four armed 
 Syrians, partly on account of the general dangers of the way, 
 but chiefly because the Bishop was the bearer of a most 
 important and ancient document dating back to the twelfth 
 century, which, in accordance with the law of Mohammed, 
 gave exemption from taxation to the property of all 
 monasteries. This year, however, the Government— of whose 
 ^'admirable internal administration, and consequently in- 
 creased revenues,^' we had lately heard so nmch in European 
 papers, but had learned in Turkey still more — had made the 
 attempt to exact tithes of all church property ; and on this 
 account the Patriarch, always ready to uphold the rights of 
 his people against exaction, had sent for the document. In 
 the middle of the day we reached Midhiat, and prepared to 
 make a long journey on the next day to Mardin. Half way 
 between Mardin and Midhiat, a hard ride of thirteen hours, 
 we met a small party containing Dr. Andrus, the American 
 
 missionary of Midhiat, and his wife. They were bringing a 
 large number of letters and papers, which had accumulated 
 during my absence from Mardin ; but I was exceedingly sorry 
 not to have seen him at home in his pleasant house, and learn 
 from him on the spot something of his work in that village and 
 the mountain district, of which he has the charge. 
 
 1 I 
 
■i 
 
 220 
 
 The Car(H'(tn. 
 
 The Caravan. Oct. 7. 
 
 221 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Across the Plain from ^Iardin to Mosul. 
 
 I HAD given up all idea of visitintjf Mosul, the more so ou 
 account of the fearful rumours that from time to time reached 
 Mardin concerning the doings of the Fariq, when suddenly 
 His Holiness asked why in the world I did not accompany 
 the American missionaries on their journey to their (piarters 
 for winter work in Mosul. I had been repeatedly pressed by 
 the hospitable Americans to form one of their party, and now 
 that the Patriarch himself suggested the plan, and thought 
 there would be no danger in undertaking the journey in their 
 company, I began to make arrangements to prolong my stay 
 in the country by a few weeks, and to prepare for a start in 
 four days. Yakob, who would be of no use to me on this 
 expedition, was to return to Diarbekr, and set the matter of 
 his passport right ; while I arranged with the Americans to 
 take one of their servants in his place. 
 
 It is a serious matter to start on a journey when the 
 caravan consists of twenty animals, and the travellers range 
 from two to forty years of age. What most of us looked upon 
 as most unpromising was an American wagon, which was to 
 give the children rest, and the ladies shade during the heat of 
 the day down in the plain. It took a week to get this con- 
 veyance into order, tmin an extra horse to it, and make a trial 
 trip to see if it could pass through the narrow streets of the 
 town. When at last the day of departure arrived, things 
 began to take shape. Allowing four hours for the start, I 
 arrived in readiness in the middle of the morninir, and reachinsr 
 the courtyard saw such a scene of confusion as would make 
 
 some men cry and others laugh. The ladies were all in a 
 piteous state of nervousness, the children thoroughly tired 
 before the start began ; the katirjis moved with jealousy of 
 each other, and all doing everything they knew to shift the 
 loads from animal to animal, so that their own particular 
 charge might be lightly weighted, and they might get a ride 
 from time to time. Then, as one of the children was four years 
 old and the other six, their muhaffahs^ would not balance, and 
 it took some time to determine between the various expedients 
 proposed to remedy the defect. The katirjis swore by all 
 their fathers' beards that no camel that breathed could carry 
 some of the loads ; our servants retorted that as many cats 
 could carry them to Canaan. The horses were too fresh, and 
 had to be quieted ; the mules fought, and the katerjis lost 
 their tempers; until at last, when the children had fallen 
 down a sufficient number of times, and shed a corresponding 
 (juantity of tears; when the horses had champed themselves 
 and each other into an almost uncontrollable state of excite- 
 ment; and, in fact, the only calm people within half a mile 
 were a large white Mosul donkey, the American doctor, prince 
 of caravan organisers, and the chief of the muleteers, an 
 official and ambrosial person, who never descended from the 
 Olympian heights of Turkish bumbledom— then the company 
 started. We mounted our steeds, and rode out of the gates, 
 followed by the chief groom of the party, Raphael, a large 
 and slowly-moving man, but withal the mainstay of his depart- 
 ment, and several others too. 
 
 I was the last to mount, and rode out on a horse which the 
 Doctor lent me in place of my own mare ; and the animal, a 
 fine thoroughbred, being accustomed to lead caravans when- 
 ever he bemeaned himself by accompanying them, nearly laid 
 me low as he gambolled over the slippery stones of the street, 
 neighing loud enough to awake all the dead bishops of Mardin. 
 Finally we emerged from the eastern gate of the town without 
 mishap, except that we met a high official, and were nearly 
 
 II 
 
 i ->.i 
 
 * A pair of wooden panniers, with a screen from the sun, balanced on eacli 
 side of an animal. 
 
 i 
 
222 
 
 The Camp at Tel Harnn. 
 
 suffocated by the crowd and the terrible scorn of the big man. 
 Then down the rocky road we rumbled for two hours, until we 
 reached the plain, and were not sorry to pitch an early camp, 
 two hours before sunset, near a village called Tel Harrin. 
 
 It was the fourth time that I had been down upon the plain, 
 and again I felt the indescribal)le exhilaration peculiar to the 
 life upon this open land. Here one seems truly free from all 
 the ties of civilisation ; and though at times an overpowering 
 sense of ennui comes over one, yet at tirst there is only 
 the exquisite feeling of independence, the wish simply to try 
 -one's freedom and ride away for days on the back of an Arab 
 mare right out into the infinite expanse of grass and corn and 
 sweet smelling tamarisks. Here one learns why the Arab, so 
 cramped in a town, as soon as he gets again upon the plain 
 bursts out into song and galops away with all his might just 
 for the love of it. Nowhere else does a man feel so well that 
 no man is his master and that he has here found his natural 
 life and that time is as nothing. It is a glorious life for a 
 short time until the inevitable cravings of a higher self 
 whispers that work is better than play, and that the secret of 
 the enjoyment is in the relaxation it brings. 
 
 A first night's camping is always a serious matter ; no one 
 knows exactly where the things all are, or who is to be 
 responsible for each department of the work ; so the servants 
 all quarrel, and things in general go crooked. The first thing 
 to be done was, of course, to tether the horses by halters, 
 fastened at equal distances from each other, to a long rope 
 secured by its two ends to pegs driven into the ground. 
 Their hind legs had then to be fastened by ropes and stakes 
 driven in behind them, so that they might stand straight and 
 not be able to turn every way and fight with each other, for 
 the Arab thoroughbred is all for destroying his neighbours. 
 While they were being groomed and curried, with loud 
 encouragements from the grooms and considerable clatter of 
 the currycombs, the tents had been put up, perfectly regard- 
 less of symmetry, for there were four men to each tent, and 
 each man had a special theory of his own to carry out. The 
 cook, too, had been preparing some supper, which it is the 
 
 11 
 
 i ! 
 
It 
 
 Tf'l Harrin to Nisibin. Oct. 8. 
 
 
 
 7H ■'^T^ Mil ; 
 
 
 i\ 
 
 y \ 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 .4 
 
 ■.■/; 
 
 
 % 
 
 . /Ml 
 
 w 
 
 
 228 
 
 pleasantest duty of each day to eat, seated round a tablecloth 
 at the door of the open tent, and watching all the various 
 diversions of a small camp meanwhile. An hour later the 
 neighing of horses, the conversation of the katirjis, mingling 
 with the crowing of cocks and the shouts of children from the 
 neighbouring villages, lulled us to sleep under the stars. We 
 awoke a little before sunrise, and started as soon as the 
 katirjis were ready. The day's journey was to take us as far 
 as Nisibin, from which point we hoped, if the Anizah Arabs 
 were not too far north, to make our way straight across the 
 plain, thus saving two days, instead of going eastwards across 
 the river. The scenery was dull now, as autuum was coming 
 on; and there were none of the sights to be seen which made 
 the plain so lovely and entertaining in the spring. The flowers 
 were withered, the grass and corn were cut or dried up, and 
 the countless groups of black tents were gone with their 
 whinnying horses and little brown urchins running in and out 
 or playing with woolly little puppies under the reed awning. 
 Nisibin I had visited in the spring, when the flowers were out 
 and the fathers and mothers of the brown children were just 
 preparing to cut their barley and oats. 
 
 For many years Nisibis formed the chief bulwark of the 
 Roman Kmpire against the attacks of the Persians upon their 
 eastern frontiers. Three times Sapur the Second, the great 
 rival of Constantius, Julian, and Valens, besieged the town 
 without success, for the last time in 350 a.d., ten vears before 
 the capture of Amida by the Persians. In this Mesopotamian 
 campaign Sapur drained his strength, and, in consequence, 
 abandoned his schemes of Western conquest. The tide of 
 war rolled backward and forward over this land, led 
 alternately by Julian and Nushirwan, Chosroes and Belis'arius, 
 until Anally came the death struggle of Heraclius before the 
 resistless flood of Arab conquest. In the third siege of 
 Nisibis, Theodoret tells how, when there seemed most danger 
 that the city would fall into the hands of the enemy. Mar 
 Kfrem besought the Bishop, Mar James,^ to prav that the 
 
 riij 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 'a fl 
 
 J 
 
 * S. James was one of the Fathers who sat at the Council of Nicsea. 
 
224 
 
 Nislbin. May 25 — Oct. 8. 
 
 NUihln. May 26— Oct. 8. 
 
 225 
 
 enemy might be foiled. So, arrayed in all his robes, the 
 Bishop went, and, standino^ on the walls, lifted up his hands 
 and prayed : " May they know by small insects the power of 
 the God of the Christians/' which, indeed, happened, for a 
 plague of flies came and so disturbed the Persians that they 
 raised the siege. Some say, however, that they thought the 
 Bishop to be the Emperor bringing fresh forces to aid the 
 besieged ; while Gibbon, leaving such questions to settle 
 themselves, remarks that the Persians were drawn off to 
 protect the Oxus against an invasion of the Messagetae. 
 Gibbon doubts whether the account of Julian, who describes 
 how, by damming the river below the town, engines were 
 floated right up to the walls, is to be believed ; however, 
 the size and rapidity of the Mygdonius, even in October, 
 would be quite sufficient for the purpose, especially if both 
 streams, the black and the white, were dammed. The river 
 has two sources, and flows in two streams past the town ; 
 one stream, the black, is said to be not drinkable, and is 
 certainly of a dark colour ; the other is purer in colour as in 
 taste. 
 
 The condition of the modern town is, like most others in 
 Asiatic Turkey, constantly changing. About 1838 some 
 large new barracks were built by Mirza Pasha, but they have 
 been since deserted, and Nisibin has been rejected as a 
 military centre. At })resent the place is growing ; mills are 
 being built, and cultivatiim is on the increase, in spite of the 
 atrocious system of tax-farming, by which the dues on 
 agricultural products for the province of Diarbekr are let to a 
 syndicate of men of that town. These men, partly Christians, 
 partly Moslems, exact so much that, instead of taking one- 
 tenth, by the time each of the collectors has his share, little 
 more than one-tenth remains to the poor growers. Con- 
 sequently, although the land here is so rich that it is said to 
 yield easily a hundredfold, scarcely more is cultivated than 
 will suffice for the yearly needs of the people. 
 
 The inhabitants consist of about three hundred houses of 
 Moslems, a hundred and fiftv of Jews, and some thirty 
 Svrian families, who cling to the beautiful old church of 
 
 ill 
 
 S. James, which, l)eing the seat of a Bishop, forms the 
 headquarters of the Syrians of the neighbouring villages. 
 The barracks to the north of the town have been deserted, 
 and the troops transferred to Mosul, while a Qaimaqam sits in 
 tlie seat of the former military commander. He seemed a 
 pursy, self-important kind of man, but, finding that I shared 
 his interest in antiquities, was very polite, and anxious that I 
 should accompany him on an archaeological visit to some 
 of the neighbouring mounds. He possessed a number of 
 Assyrian seals of little importance, but on which he set quite 
 American values, and inquired eagerly what I thought the 
 British Museum would give for them. 
 
 It seems strange that the Government should not use this 
 fine old garrison town to keep the irrepressible Arab in 
 order, and render the south country a little more safe. The 
 only drawback to the place is its malarious character, which 
 could, Avithout diflBculty, be remedied by planting trees and 
 draining the marshes east of the river. 
 
 Of tlie old Roman town, the headquarters of Severus and 
 Julian, there are considerable remains, most of which are 
 built into the walls of houses, or lie buried underground. 
 The only monuments of importance are five columns of the 
 old market place, still called in the Arabic, '' The Columns of 
 the Weighing,'' the top of the most commodious of which is 
 now occupied by a flourishing family of chattering storks.-*^ 
 In garden walls and mud built cottages columns of marble and 
 carved cai)itals appear, and the old twelve-arched bridge that 
 sj)ans the twin streams may date from Roman times. The 
 church itself must once have been a beautiful building, but 
 ruthless Vandalism has destroyed what time would only have 
 mellowed, and the whole west end and south aisle have gone, 
 to be repaired with rough walls and clumsy buttresses by the 
 modern Syrians. The ancient dome has been restored, but 
 
 * The accounts of Nisibin by Badger (i. 67) and Ainsworth (ii. 337) are 
 examples of how inaccurate the descriptions of accurate observers may be, when 
 the subject does not interest them. It would appear that neither traveller ever 
 saw Nisibin. Buckingliam gives a far better description. 
 
 i 
 
 ■I 
 
 
226 
 
 The CJifirch of S. Jamra. 
 
 The Tomb of S. James. 
 
 227 
 
 the windows, for safety's sake, blocked up, so tliat all 
 that remains to testify of the former beauty of the ])lace is 
 half the nave, the sanctuary, and part of the north aisle. 
 Three doors leading" from the nave into each aisle, of which 
 those to the south are now blocked up, contain some of the 
 loveliest carving to be found in Turkey. Those to the north 
 are still perfect, carved with a rich design of vine and the 
 flowers of the place; and the lintels are surmounted by an 
 arch in the usual Eoman manner. It is stran"re, how- 
 ev€»r, that this carving is not on the chancel side, but on the 
 side of the door which faces the aisles. Perhaps the most 
 noticeable thing for a building of the date is the exquisite 
 egg-and-dart moulding carved on the doors, and runnintJ* 
 above a rich cornice all round the apse. At the east are three 
 shallow apses, all open to the church, without any screen or 
 wall between them and the body of the church, except some 
 modern trellis work and a curtain, which mav be drawn 
 across the church in front of the altars in accordance with 
 modern Svrian custom. 
 
 Over the lintel of one of the south doors, and now open to 
 the air, is a Greek inscription, of which Badger and Fletcher 
 have given readings. A second inscription is in a vault 
 beneath the church. In this vault or crypt, which, with the 
 stairs that lead down to it, occupies a large ])()rtion of the 
 space beneath the church, cmce lay S. James of Nisibis, in a 
 large sarco])hagus of red marble. It is on his account that 
 the Moslems hold the church in such respect, telling terrible 
 stories of the judgments that have overtaken those wicked 
 pashas who stabled their horses in the church, or used it as a 
 magazine for corn and arms. All saints who died before the 
 coming of Mohammed are regarded with great reverence by 
 rightly thinking Moslems, and, in this case, the horns of the 
 crescent on the dome of the mosque, called Zein-ul-Abedin, 
 that stands opposite the church, are bent downwards towards 
 the church, in acknowledgment of the superiority of the 
 Christian iSaint. The tomb of S. James is quite plain, except 
 for a Greek cros^ carved at the head, which, though the body 
 has been taken away long since, every pious visitoi* kisses as 
 
 he prays for a blessing ; and above it always burns a small 
 lump filled with oil of sesame. 
 
 When the church was restored, apparently about thirty 
 years ago, a large quantity of earth was dug away from the 
 west end to make a space on the original level of the church ; 
 in other places the earth is still about twelve feet above itfi. 
 
 '< 
 
 )\ 
 
 i 
 
 1 1 
 
 Door in the Church of S. James, Nisibin. 
 
 original level. No doubt excavations here and elsewhere 
 about the town would yield many interesting remains of the- 
 lower Roman Empire. 
 
 At the east end are some steps leading up to the roof of 
 the church, on which have been built within the last few 
 years a large and very pleasant diwan looking over the plain, 
 
 Q 2 
 
22S 
 
 E.ecai'afi())i)< in Turket/. 
 
 Across the Plain. 
 
 229 
 
 and a iew other rooms for tlie Bisliop's use. Duriiiti^ my fii-st 
 visit I spent two iiit^lits in tliis room, and liad ])lenty of time 
 to wander among the ruins and listen to tlie Syrians discussing 
 thtMr prospects in these parts. 
 
 Their leader is a deacon who lives in a village in the hills 
 just above Nisibin, and whom I found to be one of tlie most 
 intelligent and capable men in the Church. Shammas Hanua 
 and his brother Gabiel, a boy of seventeen, were filled with 
 the idea of restoring their church and people, by obtaining 
 the much needed education and enlightenment. 
 
 The Bishop was a good-natured and very sim])le man, who 
 knew himself to be very ignorant, and lio})ed tluit as there 
 were few in his church in a much better condition, except a 
 small number of monks and deacons, help would be given 
 them from outside. He was entirely persuaded of the exis- 
 tence of countless manuscripts, church plate, and other objects 
 of value hidden beneath the ground; but having cmce, witli 
 the aid of a professional treasure finder, of whose dark 
 services he spoke with great contrition, undertaken a little 
 excavation on his ow^n account, was very promptly stopped by 
 the Government from attempting anything further in the 
 archa}ological line. For the Turkish Government, as those 
 who explored Nineveh have good reason to know, are 
 astonishingly jealous of those who would pry into the secrets 
 of the earth, whether to discover the remains of ancient ]ih\ 
 or to enrich themselves and others with the mineral treasures 
 of Northern Turkey. Consequently the pursuit of the digger 
 is a dark art, and confined to the magic operations of the pro- 
 fessional treasure finders, who with their squares and lines, 
 and mysterious signs iu books, are not difficult to find among 
 the credulous natives. 
 
 There was no official objection made when a miller decapi- 
 tated a year ago the fine human-headed bull that guards 
 the northern gate of Kuyunjik or Nineveh to mend his 
 mill ; but there is a fine outcry w^hen the foreigner comes 
 to take away these buried images to set them up in that 
 house of idols in which the natives believe that the Londoner 
 worships. 
 
 On the evening of October 8 we encamped on the ground 
 to the east of the River Mygdonius,* much in the same 2)osition, 
 no d()ul)t, as Sapur encamped before the city fifteen hundred 
 years ago. 
 
 From this point we hoped to be able to strike across the 
 })laiii to Mosul, hut, before going to sleep, we heard the 
 discomforting news that the Anizali Arabs, who occupy 
 the southern portion of the plain, had come right up into the 
 Shamuuir territory, through which we were to pass, and that 
 in consequence the Shamnuir escort, on which we w^ere 
 (lo]>ending, would be useless, even if we could obtain it ; for 
 wliat small l)arty of Shammar would care to face an onslaught 
 from the Anizah for a lot of pig-eating Nazarenes ? The 
 muleteers, consequently, having made up their minds that 
 they were not going to run any risk for anybody, but 
 intended to take the road nortliwards across the Tio-ris, took 
 care to oversleep themselves and ])revent an early start next 
 day. This was inconvenient, as it would be quite impossible 
 to take the wagon up and down the cliffs (m either side of 
 the Tigris. The Qaimaqam, too, being nothing but a man of 
 straw, refused positively to hazard the lives of his brave 
 za})tiehs in such a dangerous expedition, thereby drawing 
 upon his head reflections less polite than just as to the 
 caj^ability of his chiefs to manage their subjects. But that is 
 by the way, for all the world knows who holds sway 
 between the Tigris and Euphrates, to say nothing of the 
 country further east and south. Be that as it may, we were 
 all much relieved to see the Doctor's welcome form cantering- 
 with his two horses over the long l)ridge, for he alone of our 
 party had any good acquaintance with Arabic and govern- 
 mental ways, and possessed, too, that invaluable treasure in 
 this land, "khater" — that is, the favour which the ability to 
 kill or cure commands. He had been detained bv some 
 illness in Mardin, and had started the previous evening and 
 ridden for three hours before daybreak. He prepared 
 
 * Mygdonia, the name of river and province, was merely a corruption of 
 Macedonia, the town liaving been founded, or rather refounded, by Antiochus. 
 receiving the name of Antiochea Mygdonia. Strabo, xvi., 747 ; Polybius, v., 51. 
 
 J 
 
II 
 
 280 
 
 Acroftft the PJain. 
 
 A Sunday Camp. 
 
 231 
 
 iinmediiitely to 0*0 and ])t'ard tlie Qaimaqam, finally arrantjfinj^ 
 tliat we sliuiild skirt the north of the plain, kee])ing this side 
 of the river so as to avoid the Arabs, and takin^^^ two za])tiehs 
 with ns as a supposed })rotection. I was o^lad enough, on the 
 Doctor's arrival, to exchange horses, the animal which I had 
 been riding for the last two days being tlie most fidgety that 
 ever walked. He was a fine beast, and had that fashion of 
 well-bred Arabs, never to stop till they are dead. At 
 morning, noon, or night, he was ecpially ready for a galo]), 
 with the natural consecpience that when bed-time came he 
 rolled over with exhaustion, but it only required a new arrival 
 to bring him to his feet, snorting and whinnying enougli to 
 wake the whole camp. The colt that the Doctor brought was 
 more conformable, and soon showed tliat he was made to be a 
 first-rate traveller. 
 
 The Doctor found here as elsewhere former patients, who 
 hearing of his arrival flocked to the camp to obtain his 
 services for friends with sundry diseases most explicitly and 
 unpleasantly described ; so that it was some time before we 
 got wagon, loads, babies, servants and all under way in a 
 truly patriarchal procession to our next camping ground 
 about seven hours distant. We were not really in the 
 desert or near it ; but there was all the glorious feeling 
 of freedom and health which the exquisite air of the 
 open plain brings, seasoned deliciously with a slight tinge 
 of danger from the ])0ssible vicinity of Anizah Arabs. 
 To find the danger a real one it was only necessary to 
 stray fifty miles without an escort to the south ; but as 
 it was, we kept up near the villages, and on the beaten 
 track. 
 
 It was Saturday, and we pitched an extra tent in which 
 the Doctor and I might spend Sunday, and receive any choice 
 Arab spirits that chose to call. We encamped on a fine 
 grassy plot below a village, by the side of a good stream, 
 flowing full and deej) even in October, and with abundance 
 of melons, grapes, and mutton. Three tall trees threw a 
 pleasant shade over the tents, of which one, a gaunt old 
 walnut, supported an immense magpies' nest, as noisy a house- 
 
 hold as ever lived by thieving. It was a village of magpies, 
 parties of which strutted in Sabbatic pompousness all about 
 the grass or held indignation meetings in the trees, to the 
 delight of the children and the annoyance of the muleteers 
 whose handkerchiefs and beads they stole. Towards evening 
 the tinkling of a distant caravan came over the rising ground 
 from the west, succeeded by the growls of many a protesting 
 camel, as his driver *' nakVd ''^ him and loosed his load. 
 They had started several hours before we left Nisibin, and 
 made in two days what we had made in one, for camels are 
 slow going animals. As soon as the loads were all lifted 
 down, and laid in a circle round the lire where the men were 
 to sleep, Sayyid Mohammed, the head of the caravan, came to 
 call upon us, and propose that we should join him and his 
 camels, for our mutual protection in crossing the plain. We 
 were glad of the opportunity of cutting our journey shorter, 
 and settled to change our route, keeping away from the river. 
 Mohammed sat in the door of the tent smoking a short hard- 
 w^are ])ipe, of the sort they make in Mosul, and sipping 
 sherbat. " Haniya,'' "Your pleasure to it," we say, and he 
 duly answers " God give thee pleasure '' — "Allah yahannek '' ; 
 and then he talks of his camels, and the dangers of travelling 
 over the plain. Two " majids," a good six shillings, he has 
 to pay for each, toll to the Shammar Arabs ; and if he cross 
 the Anizah, who knows how much more ? " Far be such fate 
 from me and you who hear me ! " He had three hundred 
 camels loaded with goods of Aleppo and P^uropean manufac- 
 ture ; so there would be a handsome bill to pay in case of an 
 encounter. 
 
 Frogs there were by the score, growing very noisy toward 
 evening, and afPording great amusement to the children, while 
 we basked in our tent, and listened to the Arab's talk, and 
 the countless sleepy sounds to be heard in an encampment by 
 a village. Close by was a fresh spring, which helped to feed 
 the stream, having two basins separated by huge boulders ; 
 in one of which the women, red veiled and red cloaked, very 
 
 J 
 
 * The regular word for making a camel kneel. 
 
232 
 
 A Sunday Camp. 
 
 Acros.s the Plain. 
 
 shy of intruding campers, tiiid followed by little "iris tray 
 with necklaces of tawdry beads, washed and filled their great 
 water jars, and then filed off in strings like camels to their 
 homes. At the lower basins pious Moslems performed 
 ablations, and said their prayers at sunrise and at evening 
 upon a jutting plot of grass; and then sat down to smoke a 
 satisfied pipe or cigarette of peace, contented to have done 
 their duty by God and man. It was curious to watch them 
 standing in rows, the "leader of prayer'' a little in front, and 
 make their prostrations and observed forms of ritual like clock- 
 worked bodies, except where one younger than the rest 
 dragged behind from want of practice, or an old man's stiffei- 
 knees failed to wait upon his prayers so strictly. Our animals 
 spent a quiet day chopping the short grass, and our men lay 
 lazily about, or came to talk and listen at our door. One 
 following our example collected a few attentive spirits, and 
 led a small service of reading and prayer before the suu went 
 down. We sat quietly, and read of a land not so very far 
 from where we sat, which the Prophet likens, so rich* and 
 yet so barren, to a potsherd so broken that there is no 
 ])iece to gather coals from the fire or water from the jar ; 
 and, as will always happen out upon this ])lain, we set 
 to dreaming of what might be in store for this conntrv, 
 and what the mounds we see on every side could tell of its 
 past. 
 
 The next day afforded little variety on the last, except for 
 a chapter of accidents with our horses. The wav led over 
 gradually rising ground, long arms stretcliing out from the 
 hills down toward the south, and every now and then between 
 two of these a stream. The path was stony, sometimes rockv, 
 and gave the wagon party, to which I did not belong, nearly 
 as nmch trouble as did the various streams. One of these 
 I had just crossed, and halted on the grass that stretched up 
 the next rise, musing on the chances of human travel, and 
 the folly of travelling with wagons in Turkey ; when sud- 
 denly, without a sound of warning, I found myself sitting in 
 an alarmingly undignified position upon the green sward, 
 while my colt calmly trotted off to browse at ease. It 
 
 seemed that in their peregrinations my thoughts had not 
 chanced to turn to the proximity of the Doctor's servant 
 leading by a long rein his second horse, a fire-eating little 
 thoroughbred consumed with a continual desire to lame or 
 devour all his male neighbours. As he passed me, he had 
 swung suddenly round, and delivered an effective broadside 
 into the unoffending flank of my colt, with the result above 
 described. There was no damage done, and I easily caught 
 the colt, determining next day to ride the fire-ealtr, and have 
 my revenge. The very same evening, as we were descending 
 a high mound, on which a village stood, down to our camping 
 place on the other side, we saw the horse who was harnessed 
 as wheeler to the wagon suddenly take it into his head to be 
 offended because the horse, that was generally put in to help 
 him up these hills, was not taken out immediately the tup was 
 reached. He got up against the wagon, and began to display 
 all the temper and kicking he knew of, until there seemed 
 nothing left to kick. Heels Avere flying in every direction 
 over the board and up to the seat, until it seemed that the 
 only whole part was the Doctor, who sat like a rock in the 
 middle holding the reins. The animal seemed satisfied when 
 both shafts were broken, and the ladies nearly out of their 
 minds with fright ; and then he quietly submitted to be taken 
 out of the rags of harness, and marched off, and called for 
 his supper. The wagon of course suffered most, and needed 
 the new shafts which had been brought from Mardin. Some 
 of the iron-work was also twisted or broken, so that it 
 was ten o'clock btTore the ill-fated vehicle was restored 
 to service. There was fortunately a blacksmith in this 
 Kurdish village, but he had the spirit of a Kurd, and 
 would not be persuaded for a long time to spend an 
 hour or two of the night to assi^^t a traveller. The wagon 
 generally formed my bed; s) I fared badly, what with the 
 hammering and the lengthy discussion as to pay which 
 followed. 
 
 Early next morning the Mukhtar, or headof the neighbour- 
 ing village, came with his favourite son and almost more 
 favourite mare to call upon the Doctor, an old benefactor of 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
234 
 
 Camels. 
 
 Wild Game. 
 
 235 
 
 his. He was anxious to know wliat he couhl do for us ; but 
 was sorry, wlien he lieard wo were ^oing to cut straight 
 down to Mosul from this point, tliat he could not send his 
 men with us, for it would be unsafe for them to venture so 
 near to the Anizah ; for us, Allah knew ! So we determined to 
 content ourselves with the company of the camels, as we had 
 done for the last two days. What protection we really 
 afforded to each other it is hard to say ; for in case of attack 
 neither party was in the least prepared or able to defend the 
 other ; for which camels would have suffered more than we. 
 For they were open, in spite of toll already paid, to the chance 
 attacks of any private body ; while we were protected by the 
 mere fact that we were foreigners. We paid no toll; but the 
 extravagant fuss which inevitably follows any misha]) that 
 befalls an European is a wholesome check upon the marauding 
 instincts of the plain. A hundred Kurds may ])e slain in 
 silence, says the Kurdish ])roverb, but if one Frank, what 
 then ? 
 
 The camels generally started sonu> hours before we did ; 
 and as they travelled at a much slower pace, we overtook them 
 each day only to pass them in a very short time. This evening, 
 however, we encamped together, as the neighbourhood was 
 dangerous, and were consequently disturbed all night by the 
 growling of the camels and the not too polite language of 
 their drivers. Our supper of chicken and ])orridge over, we 
 crossed the stream that divided us from the camels, and went 
 to see them feed. The Arabs were highly delighted, and, 
 being proud of their camels as if tlu^y had been their own 
 children, told us this one's age, how much that one carried, 
 or what a voracious appetite others had, and how anothei* 
 had always to be tickled under the lip Avith a magpie's 
 feather before he would rise under his load, until we felt 
 really very wise about camels. The camels were swallow- 
 ing the dough balls on which they feed every evening, 
 taking in stock, and then ruminating all night on what 
 they had secured. These Arabs belonged to one of those 
 despised tribes that live in villages, and do not live free 
 upon the plain; they are, therefore, subject to the derision 
 
 and pillage of their more independent cousins further 
 south."*^ 
 
 They were curious beasts these camels, and it was interest- 
 ing to watcli the men loading and unloading, the camels 
 growling horribly at the loads, and making frequent attempts 
 to throw them ofF. 
 
 *^ Ikh ! " *' ikh ! " the men say, as they make the beasts 
 kneel, whether for loading or unloading; and as we passed 
 them on the road, we heard continually cries of " Hai ! hai ! '* 
 to warn the animals of dangerous ground, and the almost 
 continuous *' Yah, Yah," to urge them on. All this inter- 
 larded with rich address to the camels, ^^ Uncle of Ras-et 
 Ain''' and a hundred other a])()strophes, ranging from the 
 ])olite " O Uncle," or ^' O Father camel," down to abusive 
 onslaughts on their female relatives to very distant degrees. 
 It was wonderful to notice how these surefooted creatures 
 ])icked their way over stony or rocky ground, never slipping, 
 and seeming as much at home as upon the level plain, on 
 which their soft -padded feet can be used to most ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 During these days the quails were migrating southward. 
 Kach day some twenty flocks crossed our line of march, in 
 dense clouds, literally darkening the sky. They are lovely 
 little lu'rds, not unlike the Greek partridge, grey, mottled, 
 and red, and excellent for food. Had there been a gun 
 
 * The approximate loads and pace of beasts of burden in Turkey are as 
 follows : — 
 
 Post horses, changing every twelve hours, six to seven miles an hour, with 
 light weight. 
 
 Caravan horse, three to four miles an hour, 200 — 240 lb. weight, eight to ten 
 hours a day. 
 
 Caravan mule, three to four miles an hour, 240 — 300 lb. weight, eight to ten 
 hours a day. 
 
 Caravan donkey, two to three miles an hour, 75 — 150 lb. weight, six to eight 
 hours a day. 
 
 Caravan camel, two to three miles an hour, 360 — 480 lb. weight, four to six 
 hours a day. 
 
 Dromedaries will, of course, go further and faster. 
 
 In Turkey distance is always calculated by hours, that is, by distances varying 
 from two-and-a-half to four miles, according to the nature of the ground ; in 
 short, the Persian " Farsang," the Greek '• Parasang," or the German " Stunde." 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
236 
 
 Wild Game, 
 
 A Kurdish Pasha. October 13. 
 
 237 
 
 among our party we should have dined well every day, but 
 
 revolvers were incapable of doing much execution. Gazelles, 
 
 too, we saw in considerable numbers, but always at a distance, 
 
 shyly sniflSng the air among the long grass upon some rising 
 
 ground, ready to scamper off as soon as they caught sight or 
 
 wind of us. The Arabs hunt them with lynx or greyhounds 
 
 and hawks, which work together, the hawk striking and the 
 
 hound following to complete the work ; for the latter is 
 
 seldom fleet enough to catch the gazelle unaided. Gazelles 
 
 are often to be seen in private houses, caught when young, 
 
 and kept as pets or for eating. The Doctor had given to him 
 
 by various grateful patients, a bear, a lynx, and a gazelle, 
 
 which he kept about his establishment with considerable 
 
 trouble. Hares, too, are abundant in the long grass, and 
 
 many blue hares are to be seen, which afford good sport 
 
 to the children of the villages in the long summer 
 
 evenings. Larger game, too, abounds, but more toward 
 
 the south and east of Mosul; while further south again 
 
 are the wild asses, and from time to time a lion may be 
 
 seen. 
 
 Riding through the long grass some way below Tchel-Agha, 
 I was suddenly startled by my colt, who gave a violent plunge 
 and nearly fell. We were crossing a "Wadi,''* or gully 
 containing a dry water-course, and as we passed disturbed a 
 party of wild-boar, who were taking their midday nap among 
 the reeds. These wild boar, as well as turkeys, are very 
 common about this country, and would afford excellent sport 
 both for shot and ball. 
 
 The night was spent upon a grand plot of grass near a 
 ruined village, and flourishing cotton fields, by which some 
 Arabs were encamped. Down past our tents flowed a fine full 
 stream, on which a few hundred yards above us was built 
 mill. The neglect of such a place, and the ruined village, 
 were the marks of devastation caused by a certain Kurdish 
 chief already mentioned, who had risen to that rank by a 
 
 a 
 
 " oaHis," " wadi, 
 
 >i 
 
 * Cp. Burton i. 150, who describes the reul nature of 
 •' desert," and other geographical features. To denote such a hill watercourse 
 he naturalises the word " fiumara." 
 
 successful course of villainy and a judicious system of bakhshish ; 
 so that at last the authorities, tired of his wiles, created him 
 J*asha, and made him ruler over all the land from Aznaiir to 
 Jazirah. His wealth in cattle and sheep he maintains by 
 destroying every village. Christian or Kurdish, where he 
 desires pasture, and by exacting toll in return for protection 
 from all those whom it is not his interest to exterminate. We 
 were on the ancient royal road of Persia, now a mere 
 broad and level tract that leads to Mosul and Baghdad, with 
 nothing to notice on the way, except the ruins, overhanging 
 a tributary of the Tigris, of some barracks erected by the 
 Turks about a century ago. There we refreshed ourselves 
 with numerous melons, and saw the black tents of the Pasha 
 pitched some way to the north ; for he was on his slow way 
 southwards for the winter. 
 
 It was the last day's ride to Mosul, and was terribly 
 long over the same kind of country, diversified by no 
 events, except that we began to meet caravans starting 
 towards the north, and pass groups of Kurd or Arab en- 
 campments, v/ith goats and cattle feeding on the parched 
 grass. 
 
 Dark came on suddenly as it does in autumn in the South, 
 and we found ourselves nowhere near villages or water. So 
 I rode on with the cook and groom to find a camping place 
 in the direction which the Arabs, whom we passed, pointed 
 out, and found on the bank of the Tigris a fine camping 
 ground near a village. We unloaded, and having prepared 
 the tether for the horses, and procured some milk for the 
 children, sat down to await the rest of the party. But we 
 waited in vain, discharging our revolvers to let them know 
 where we were, until we determined that they must have gone 
 to the village of Hamadiyah, further south, and pictured to 
 ourselves the awful state they would be in without either cook 
 or groom to comfort man or beast. We found them on a much 
 inferior camping ground further from the river, and near a 
 ruined village full of thieves. There was also a party of 
 good folk, Mosulis of the Presbyterian persuasion, who 
 had journeyed out, native fashion, to meet the Americans 
 
 It 
 
 j 
 
238 
 
 Octoher 13 
 
 and escort them to the city. In spite of this, and the 
 noises in the camp, for the servants were growing cheei-y 
 with the prospect of arrival, we slept a righteous and 
 refreshing sleep, and rose to a leisurely breakfast at six 
 o'clock. 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 239 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Two Cities on the Tigris. 
 
 li 
 
 -<>o?*Co^ 
 
 •' Nineveh of old is like a pool of water. . . . Nineveh is laid waste ; 
 who shall bemoan her ? Whence shall I seek comforters for thee ? " — Nahum 
 
 THE ElKOBHITE. 
 
 By eight o'clock we had started, a strange assortment of 
 Westerns and Easterns of town and country, for a three 
 hours' ride into Mosul. Like most Oriental towns, Mosul has 
 a glamour of l^eauty spread over it by distance, especially 
 when one approaches from the low western hills toward 
 Haniadiyah ; and the minarets and domes crowning the vast 
 walls, and circled with gardens that stretch all round 
 the river, are bathed with the hazy light of morning. Out 
 to the east are mountains climbing higher and higher up 
 from Jebel Maqlub to the ranges of Hakkari on the 
 Persian borders. But the illusion passes, like a mirage on 
 the plain; and riding along the dusty road it becomes clear 
 that the walls are mouldy, and the gate half-ruined; until, as 
 we come to a small monument built just outside the western 
 gate of the Arabs by grateful Roman Catholics to a Moslem 
 benefactor, all the filth and squalor strikes one sensibly of 
 this meanest of rich and prosperous towns. For such it is 
 still, carrying on in its name, from which we have derived the 
 word for nuislin, formerlv one of its chief manufactures, the 
 tradition of wealth and magnificence in which it once rivalled 
 Baghdad. 
 
 The modern town of Mosul is the capital of a third-class 
 *' Walayat," the seat of a Pasha, or Wali, and contains a large 
 garrison. Its inhabitants, which number about seventy 
 
 ii 
 
240 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 Mosul, 
 
 241 
 
 thousand, or less, divide themselves as usual into Christians, 
 Jews, and Moslems. The former are subdivided into Old 
 Syrians, one thousand houses ; Chaldanins (Le., Papal Ncs- 
 torians), fifteen hundred; Papal Syrians, four hundred; and 
 adherents of the American Presbyterian Missions, thirty. 
 The rest are Jews, who live here in large numbers ; and 
 Moslems, either Turks, Kurds, or Arabs. The town lies on 
 the west shore of the Tigris, almost exactly opposite the 
 mounds that mark the site of Nineveh, or, rather, that part of 
 it which enclosed the palace of Sennacherib. 
 
 A few ragged zaptiehs lounged in the gate, a great 
 rambling place where people of all kinds sat and talked, 
 doing business or watching the world go by ; and they eyed 
 us suspiciously uutil they saw that we had men of worth in 
 our company, and among others a Hakim, name as of a golden 
 key in a land of ignorant practitioners. We passed the gates, 
 and entered the filthy streets, roofed over with oak branches 
 to keep off the scorching sun ; and as we rode, it seemed 
 we had never seen such mean and desolate buildings. With- 
 out a fine facade, or one really beautiful mosque, the only 
 feature of the town is its crowd of minarets, all but a very 
 few stripped of the blue tiles which once made them glitter 
 in the sun. One still stands covered with these lovely tiles : 
 and another there is, a monster built of stone, and faced with 
 fine bricks set in diamond and many another curious desi":n. 
 The story runs how a great and pious Moslem once built the 
 great mosque, and added the two-galleried minaret that 
 stands down by the river side of the town. It brought great 
 fame to the builder, who soon was asked to build another 
 more beautiful for the Pasha of the town. His friends said 
 no, he could not ; he was old, and his skill was gone ; but his 
 spirit was stirred, and he vowed he would build a fairer, and 
 that with his left hand. And this he did; but age was on 
 him, and in witness that the left was weaker than the right 
 hand, the minaret leaned a little toward the holy city of 
 Meccah, pointing the Qiblah fur all the town. 
 
 The whole appearance of the town is in fact spoiled by 
 the lack of good stone ; for the gypsum marble is seldom used 
 
 except for facing the inner walls of the courtyards. The 
 contrast, therefore, between the squalid exteriors and the 
 handsome, often luxurious, character of the courts is very 
 noticeable. The swarms of dogs that lie about the streets do 
 not add to the enjoyment of a walk. We fell upon puppy 
 davs in Mosul, and every corner was the temporary nursery 
 of a family of curs. Some were decently clothed with hair ; 
 others we longed to put out of their misery, were it not for 
 the strict law forbidding to kill these dogs, the only scavengers 
 of the streets ; for, foul as they often are, these dogs do good 
 service in keeping Mosul clean. Just outside the door of the 
 house of my kind American host was a bundle of these little 
 creatures, rather more respectable than usual, which the 
 children and I used to watch with some interest, as they 
 progressed in the art of walking across the street. There 
 were generally some small boys, too, from the neighbouring 
 houses, and girls, who fed them. People in Turkey are, as a 
 rule, kind to animals, even though they do not often make 
 pets of any but goats or lambs. 
 
 Let those who regret the good old days that preceded 
 railways experience the unloading of a large caravan ! Was 
 ever such confusion ? trains of muleteers all out of humour, 
 that awful wagon rumbling over the uneven pavement, and 
 followed by the white donkey and its burden of babies, and 
 a crowd of supercilious Arab boys jeering at the extraordinary 
 conveyance. Then strings of mules, with bells clanging, and 
 women screaming, and all the world crowding into the court- 
 yard to see what had arrived. 
 
 The day passed in all the agony of unpacking, and 
 receiving complimentary calls ; for it is a point of honour for 
 the natives to call as soon as the horses are in the yard, 
 giving all manner of advice, and getting generally in the way. 
 As these callers were not for me, I was glad to escape to my 
 private room, and avoid, except at meal times, all the hideous 
 exasperations of a Turkish decampment. 
 
 The house was one of those belonging to the American 
 Mission, a good specimen of what Mosul houses may become, 
 when improved by European adaptations, and comfortable 
 
 i 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
242 
 
 A 3Lus'f(l Uouae. 
 
 enough until the rain comes. Then, however, being built 
 round courtyards, they are like wells, and for want of sunlight 
 become very damp. One sees this clearly, lookiug down 
 from the roofs, which have here this peculiarity, that they are 
 enclosed by high parapets of cement or ])erforated tiles, 
 forming most delightful retreats, where the evenings and 
 nights may be spent. 
 
 The courtyard, entered by a narrow archway from the 
 street, was well paved, and coutained in the centre a small 
 plot of earth, where fond fancy might ])icture })alms or orange 
 trees, with groups of turbanded Turks and discreetly- veiled 
 ladies discoursing on the tales of Harun-Al-Rashid. Round 
 the court were ranged the living-rooms, alternating with cool 
 ** aiwans,'Mn which to receive visitors or sit and enjoy the 
 afternoon air. i^elow were the ** sardabs/' laryre undersTround 
 vaulted rooms for a refuge from the midday sun, whose lieat 
 in summer is almost intolerable. Above again were rooms 
 for guests ; and in two of these, with a pleasant balcony 
 between, running along one side of the court, the doctor and 
 I had quarters. Nearly the whole of the walls was faced 
 with the rough gypsum of the place carved in Hat reliefs with 
 various Arabesque designs. Three other features we here 
 noticed for the first time, the elegant coloured glass windows 
 of the Persian kind generally placed along the top of the 
 larger diwans, but now, I regret to say, going out of fashion ; 
 the exquisite plaster decorated with designs in blue with 
 which the roofs and walls are covered ; and the beautiful 
 mats, made from the river reeds, that cover all the floors. 
 
 Mosul is a very different place from Murdin, far more 
 trulv Turkish in many wavs, and far more conservative. It 
 is this, together with the occurrence of certain events during 
 my stay, that must be my excuse for lingering in a town 
 that has been before more fully and with greater vividness 
 described. The days passed by monotonously enough, 
 occupied at first with receiving and returning of sundry 
 official calls. Though I had come not intending, on account 
 of the disturbed state of affairs in the province, to pursue my 
 work in Mosul, nevertheless rumour travelled rapidly through 
 
 i 
 
 Mosul Day by Day. 
 
 248 
 
 the bazars, and 1 was soon beset by all the chief Syrians in 
 the place. 
 
 In the evening we generally rode out, a cavalcade of 
 horses and white donkeys, for a galop over the plain, or 
 round the battered walls to the north of the city, to the 
 river, and the sulphur springs. We would then return through 
 the large quarter made desolate by the ravages of the plague 
 many years since, sometimes having a hard run to reach the 
 gates before they closed at sunset. Sometimes we would 
 make trial trips in a carriage newly arrived for one of the 
 Americans. This conveyance caused the greatest excitement 
 m the niind of a certain Moslem magnate, late " Reis,'' or 
 mayor of xMosul. He was a man of much mechanical 
 ingenuity, and filled his backyard with all manner of rubbish, 
 being interested in every new scheme, whether for the more 
 rapid evolution of cart-wheels, or convenient drainage of the 
 sea. His house stood toward the south, outside the walls, 
 and we often passed the walls on our way to the 8erai or 
 river. 
 
 Along the road an unending procession went between the 
 river and the town ; for just down by the post office most of 
 the drinking water of the town is drawn. Sensitive sanitarians 
 should avoid the spot; for such is the result of centuries of 
 water drawing, that tobacco is an indispensible weapon of 
 defence. But it is a picturesque place, with the crowds of 
 men and boys in various fashions of head-dress, and with 
 long white shirts well tucked-u]) filling the water skins, or 
 taking horses out into the stream to wash or drink. On some 
 rocks just below were women boating out clothes as thev 
 washed them, and children pretending to do the same, or 
 teasing the donkeys. Just below was the telegraph, crossing 
 the river into the gai-dens, and passing through the walls and 
 over the mounds of Xineveh, a theme for moralisers. And 
 guarding the northern gate of the palace of Sennacherib still 
 stands the last remaining of the great winged bulls; and 
 beyond that is Jebel Maqlub, oldest of all in the jumble of 
 ages from the mountains to the donkey boys, Sennacherib's 
 bulls to the telegraph. And there stands like a funeral 
 
 11 
 
 i 
 
 R *j 
 
244 
 
 The Tigris. 
 
 A Syrian Wedding. 
 
 245 
 
 monumeut of the* city, whose doom he came to tell, the mound 
 of En-uabl)i Yiiuas, the Prophet Jonah; now it is a holy 
 " Ziyareh" of the Moslems, who have hiiilt long since a shrine 
 over the Prophet's grave, and marked him down in the roll of 
 the saints of Islam.* 
 
 Returning from the river we passed companies of solemn 
 water-loaded donkeys, and were met by as man^ more 
 galoping with empty skins and brown legged boys shritking 
 on their backs on the way down to the great river. Then w^e 
 left the donkey boys and reached the south gate of the city, 
 which faces the barracks and Serai. Here the camels are 
 unloaded outside the great arcades that stretch from within 
 the gates. Hard by is the horse-market, where some of the 
 finest animals in Turkevmay at times be seen. And here are 
 rows of vendors, under booths containing whole mountains of 
 native fruits, drapes are scarce in Mosul at the best of times, 
 and were dying out with the year; but what melons, musk 
 and water, all colours of the rainbow ! with j)umpkins and 
 pomegranates, and many another southern fruit. Only the 
 date had not begun its yearly exodus from Baghdad; for 
 Mosul is cold in winter, and palms do not flourish there. In 
 Mosul itself there is little to describe, except the wonderful 
 many - coloured crowds, white - turbanded Molla, black - 
 turbanded Habbi, dark-robed ])riests ; on these the changes 
 ring with bullying soldiers, lounging merchants, and careless 
 swinging Arabs. 
 
 From the first night that we spent in Mosul, our sleep was 
 disturbed bv shrill screams of women. It was the '* tahlil,'' 
 by which Eastern ladies are wont to signify great jov;t 
 
 * The Mosque containin«f the slirine is kei)t exceo(linf,''ly lioly. Mra. Rassam, 
 wife of the late En«:flish Consul, was one of the few who saw the interior ; for her 
 description, which led Dr. Badg-er to consider the building" to have been once a 
 church, see Badger, i. 85. 
 
 t Burton, •'' Pil<,Tnraage to Meccah," has the following note : — " The Lu lu lu, 
 or ' Tahlil,' is i)ecu!iar to women, and is formed by raising the voice to its hijrhest 
 pitch, vibrating it at the same time by rolling the tongue, whose modulations 
 express now joy, now grief. To my ear it resembled the brain -j)iercing notes of a 
 fife. Dr. Buchanan likens it to a servient uttering human sounds." (II. 15D.) 
 
 I 
 
 to me it signified intense pain. The cause for making night 
 thus hideous appeiired on enquiry to be the near approach of 
 a wedding among the Syrians, to which I received in due 
 course an invitation. The scented billet betrayed its contents, 
 written on jiale pink ])aper, and enclosed in a soft brown 
 envelope. I dreaded the event not a little, and feared how 
 long I should be expected to attend at a ceremony, which 
 lasts usually three days without a break, aud not many years 
 since was maintained for a whole week. An hour before 
 sunset a servant arrived to say that all things were ready, 
 and to escort me through the streets to the house of Malki 
 Abdullah, at whose house the wedding was. I took the pre- 
 caution, having learned wisdom by an em])ty stomach at other 
 ceremonies of this kind, to have some supper before starting, 
 and set forth prepared to sit any number of hours doing 
 nothing. 
 
 Two large diwans were prepared for the guests, they and 
 the whole courtyard being brillijinrly lighted with lamps and 
 Chinese lanterns. In one diwan the gentlemen, in another 
 the ladies, were received, and an entirely different programme 
 was arranged for the two parties, which did not meet until 
 next morning in church. Hour after hour passed, as fresh 
 guests arrived, each giving his salam, and disturbing the 
 whole diwan, until he found a place suited to his rank. 
 Nearly the whole company was Syrian, with the exception of 
 a few Chalda)ans, of the party called "the Cold," on account 
 of the indifferent zeal which they show towr.rds the Pope and 
 his propaganda. 
 
 Arrak flowed freely, and cigarettes were handed round in 
 appalling quantities, a son of the house informing me w^ith 
 family pride that he and his brother had during the week made 
 fifteen hundred for the guests' consumption. *'Haniyeh/' 
 ''Allah yahannek,'*' was frequently interchanged; one after 
 another the guests toasted each other and the bridegroom, 
 until I feared that there would be none left to support the 
 hero of the occasion to church. The diwan became more and 
 more crowded ; the grandees sat in rows along the cushions by 
 the walls, myself on an erection in the right-hand corner 
 
 111 
 
 f 
 
•246 
 
 A Syriati Weddint/. 
 
 A Syrian Wedding. 
 
 247 
 
 furthest from the door. On the ground in front sat boys by 
 dozens crackino- pistMcliio nuts, and listenino; to the scandal 
 talked by the elders; and further down toward the door w^ere 
 the professional musiciaus. Was ever such a solemn raerrv- 
 making ? We sat like mourning judges instead of jocund 
 wedding guests. The musicians added to the solemnity ; 
 their music nearly drove me into melancholic lunacy; such a 
 noise they made, and so intolerably untuneful, worse by many 
 degrees than the doleful dirges by which Abu Selim thought 
 at times to cheer my soul in Mardm. Truly the stranger 
 suffers many woes in a strange land ! not least that which 
 forces him in grievous pain to simulate consummate joy. 
 Such was my lot for eight long hours that night. 
 
 Hour after hour went by, spent in conversation on the 
 wedding or the " Fariq.'' Two people never talked together 
 during these days at Mosul for five minutes without reverting 
 to the subject of that unsavoury person. The beauties of 
 Mosul, and the prices of such entertainments as we were 
 enjoying in London, formed further topics for our talk. And 
 so, varying the talk with the consumption of sw^eets and nuts 
 innumerable, and racked by the torture of the musicians, we 
 sat until at eleven o'clock the real proceedings of the night 
 began. 
 
 About this time one of the Syrian priests of Mosul came 
 in, and the various wedding garments of the bridegroom 
 were brought for him to bless, as he sat at the top of the 
 diwan. Meanwhile a tight-collared, tight-breeched, exquisite, 
 something of the Stamboul Efendi type, had been making 
 himself conspicuous among the guests. For some reason or 
 other he seemed a personage of importance ; and why, it soon 
 appeared. A most important part of the wedding preparations 
 was the shaving of the bridegroom, and the general setting 
 in order of his head. A chair Avas placed upon a large cloth 
 in the centre of the diwan, to which the happy man was 
 conducted by the '' Qarib,'' or groomsman, to undergo an 
 hour's torture at the hands of the aforesaid exquisite. 
 Grimace and flourish, pious ejaculation and cosmetic, 
 occupied the two during this period, at the end of which 
 
 the bridegroom had not one disorderly hair upon his 
 head.* 
 
 Then came the friends of the bridegroom, all unmarried 
 men, to dress him with the garments just blest by the priest. 
 This was a dangerous matter; for all the married men, being 
 bound by the etiquette of the thing to consider the new 
 bridegroom as their natural foe, did their best to steal each 
 new^ garment that made its appearance. Against these 
 fearful onslaughts the '' friends" banded themselves, finally 
 achieving immense success, and seeing the bridegroom 
 arrayed like a king in gorgeous silk tunic, and rich Persian 
 girdle, over w^hich they placed a fur-lined cloak of Diarbekr 
 work, hkch of these garments had to be passed round the 
 bridegroom three times. Compared with the rest of the 
 evening this was quite an exciting hour, especially as the 
 Qarib, thinking to show his fine spirit, nearly cut the 
 bridegroom through the leg with the sword which, in right of 
 his high office, he carried. 
 
 Two more hours passed, while the same ceremonies were 
 performed in the ladies' divan, and then it was announced 
 that the horses had ari'ived to convey the company to church. 
 It was three o'clock in the morning when we started throuo-h 
 the streets. Bride and bridegroom were, according to 
 custom, on horseback, as well as the Qarib, and a few- near 
 relations. The others walked in a large procession behind 
 the horses. In front of all two brothers of the bridegroom 
 carried tw^o huge things like tinsel Christmas-trees, hung 
 about with candles, and in fact looking as gaudy and as 
 cheap as would suit any Eastern mind. The bride remained 
 closely veiled all through the ceremony, and for several days 
 after. 
 
 Arrived at the west door of the church, the bride and 
 bridegroom, with their relatives, were received by the priest, 
 who blessed them and led them slowly and with many prayers 
 up to the steps before the altar. Here incense was burned 
 
 * The barber's duty in tlie East is to remove every superfluous hair off the 
 heati. excepting moustache, ej'ebrows. and liair only. The effect on the subject 
 is one of displeasing smoothness. 
 
 I 
 
248 
 
 A Syrian Wt'ddimj. 
 
 while the Gospel was read, and then, accompanied by the 
 chanting of the choir, the priest Uiid the heads of the pair 
 together, and held a fan, haying a dove carved upon it, 
 behind their necks. After this he took two silver chains, 
 having each at the end a small cross, and passed them round 
 their heads, and bound one round the neck of each. Jncense 
 was again burned, and more ])salms chanted, while the 
 procession again passed out to be received in the courtyard 
 with a display of fireworks. I made my escape through fire- 
 disgorging dragons, and men who made as though they would 
 devour flaming swords, and retired more dead than alive, 
 after a ceremony of eleven hours, to get some slee[). The 
 rest of the procession went bjick to the bridegroom's house, 
 and inaugurated with an enormous wedding breakfast a 
 three-days' round of festivities. My share in these T con- 
 sidered to be ended with the ceremony in church, l^ut three 
 days passed, during which I believe that the merry-makers 
 never slept, and it seemed to us that the Tahlil of the women 
 never ceased morning or night. Ft was another week before 
 the bride and bridegroom saw one another face to face 
 unveiled, and had rest from the terrible ordeal to which those 
 must subject themselves who would take unto themselves a 
 husband or a wife in Mosul. 
 
 The mounds of Kuyunjik, which cover all of the palace of 
 Sennacherib that has not been destroyed or found its way 
 into the British Museum, need little description, even if I 
 were competent to give it, after the fascinating accounts of 
 Rich and Rawlinson, and chief of all Sir Henry Layard. 
 Ninirud Rassam, nephew of the late Knglish Consul and 
 his l)rother, who rendered such services to the British 
 Museum and the P]nglish nation by the work he did with 
 Layard, had promised to show me what there was to be seen 
 on the mounds; and early one morning he rode round to our 
 gate to call for me. 
 
 As we crossed the river everything was calm and beautiful, 
 bathed in warm autumn sunshine. The bridge was crowded 
 as usual, and on the further shore were ranged in rows gaily 
 coloured awnings and temporary booths of oak branches, 
 
The Ruins of Nineveh. 
 
 249 
 
 
 wliere sat Jew and Moslem vendors of fruit and all manner of 
 cheap goods ; sucli a blaze of colour as one must go to the 
 Kast to see. Under the now dry arches of the stone bridge, 
 donkeys and horses were tethered, whose masters were wait- 
 ing to gossip before they paid the piastre and crossed the 
 bridge; and among them were numberless children playing 
 about some old rotten boat, or helping their mothers to 
 wash clothes, or load donkeys with pumpkins, marrows, and 
 melons. 
 
 The present course of the Tigris is a mile and a half 
 west of the place Avliere it flowed in Assyrian times, wash- 
 ing the ramparts of Sennecharib^s palace ; but a galop over 
 the dusty ground soon took us to some almond groves, and 
 through the gap in the western walls of Kuyunjik, on the 
 north side of which are the remains of the palace, and on the 
 south the mound of En-nabbi Yunas. Though the mound 
 on which stands the mosque, which Badger thinks from the 
 interior arrangements nmst once have been a Christian 
 church, was probably the site of an Assyrian palace or fort, 
 yet so holy is the spot that no Christian can penetrate the 
 buildings, far less carry on excavations. The discovery of 
 the treasures buried in the great mound to the left of the 
 ga}) in the walls occupies a large part of the description 
 of Layard's explorations. The whole mound has not yet 
 beeu explored, but it is to be hoped that one day the oppor- 
 tunity for completing the work will occur. 
 
 The western walls stretch in a south-easterly direction for 
 rather more than two miles from the stream Khassar, that 
 flows beneath the walls of the palace, and in the opposite 
 direction, halt that distance. The inner north-western wall 
 extends about a mile, the distance between the north-eastern 
 and the south-western reaching in one place nearly a mile and a 
 half, and at the southern extremity, only 873 yards. Beyond the 
 north-eastern wall is an outer rampart formed by the hill that 
 shuts in the stream, and strengthened by artificial means. 
 Between the two, where the stream turns and enters the inner 
 wall, and along the south wall, is a ditch over a hundred feet 
 wide and very deep, to form a protection against the east. 
 
/ 
 
 250 
 
 Sf'Hiiacherlb^.s Vuliicf. 
 
 Sennach erih\s Palact' . 
 
 251 
 
 from which side the city wtis most easily attacked. These 
 walls doubtless surrouuded gardens as well as the palace of 
 the king, and not the whole city of Nineveh^ which Layard 
 c(jnsiders to have been contained within the parallelogram 
 enclosed by Nimrud, the original palace of Sardanapalus, the 
 later palaces at Keramles and Khorsabad built by Sargon,* 
 and Sennacherib's palace of Xuyunjik. These four points 
 supply the necessary lines enclosing a city of three days' 
 journey. For Kuyunjik is some eighteen miles from Nimrud, 
 and Nimrud twelve miles from Keramles, making in all the 
 sixty miles that form three days' journey in the Kast.f 
 Tnese facts make it unnecessary to explain the words of 
 Jonah as meaning that three days were needed to proclaim 
 the coming doom throughout the various quarters of the 
 citv. 
 
 Little renuiins above ground of the palace of Sennacherib. 
 One winged bull still guards the northern gate of the enclosure, 
 carved from a piece of marble twelve feet square, and until 
 lately in good condition ; but now its head has gone to mend 
 a neighbouring mill ! A slab carved with soldiers and a 
 sepulchral scene; another with the familiar subject of men 
 fighting among reeds, with backgrouuds of pigs and fishes, 
 and cranes flying over diminutive palm trees; these are all 
 that are to be seen above ground, but point to more treasure 
 below. I was perfectly ignorant of the archaeology of the 
 place, and had, therefore, no desire to take notes. This 
 secured, perhaps, a present of a small sculptured fragment 
 from the broken-down shanty that serves for a museum, but 
 which contains little beyond broken glass and pottery, where 
 many a lizard and scorpion finds shelter from the heat. The 
 old Arab who guards the place was not a little pleased to 
 have a visitor, and readily broke down the wall, in order to 
 let me in, climbing on to the roof, and clearing away the 
 stones from inside to make an opening. 
 
 * Layard, iii. 615 ; ii. 247. There were, of course, later kings who rebuilt or 
 added others to these palaces. 
 
 t Op. Layard, ii. 245, for a full discussion of the size of the city. Diodorus 
 drives 480 stadia. 90 x 150, as the circuit. Op. Jonah, iii. 3. 
 
 A late Wali of Baghdad, taking some interest in matters 
 archaeological, tried to induce the government to do something 
 for the preservation of the treasures of Assyria ; but after 
 contracting considerable expense on his part, and meeting no 
 encouragement from the government, he relinquished the 
 idea, and left the ruins to the protection of the Arab, who 
 readily sells Sennacherib's head for a small bakhshish, as he 
 plies round his solitary beat. 
 
 -oOjO^OO- 
 
 ltl 
 
 t 
 
252 
 
 The Yazidia. 
 
 CHAPTEK XV 111. 
 
 The Yazidis. 
 
 " An ancient tale of wrong', 
 Chanted from an ill-used race of men that till the soil. 
 Sow the seed and reap the harvest with enduring toil, 
 Storing yearly little dues of wheat and wine and oil ; 
 Till they perish " — Tennyson. 
 
 There is an old man, well-known to the few p]nglislnnen who 
 have visited Mosul, once an East-Syrian monk of the 
 Monastery of Rabban Hormuzd, now a deacon of the Presby- 
 terian community. He has a history which would be worth 
 writing, especially if he Avrote it himself ; for he has been a 
 traveller with the manners of an Englishman and the heart of 
 a Syrian ; and he has seen many troubles among his own 
 people, and changes in the country from Erzingan to Mosul. 
 But before all things he is a gossip ; if there is news from 
 Stamboul, Shammas is the tirst to retail it; for is not his 
 wife's third cousin third-division clerk in the telegraph office ? 
 Has the Mufti run off with a Mulla's wife ? Shammas was at 
 the bottom of it, and probably supplied from his own stud 
 (for he is a bit of a dealer in horse-flesh) the requisite barb. 
 He deals, too, in manuscripts and ancient books, Persian, 
 Arabic, Syriac; and once on a time over-reached himself in 
 this pursuit. Among some books, which I was examining, he 
 showed me one more especially commendable. Its actual 
 personality so shamelessly belied its decent age and virtue as 
 described by Shammas, that he drew forth a request that 
 even if he loved gold, he should spare my folly. But with a 
 candour, quite disarming rebuke, he drew out a letter, which 
 
 i 
 
 The Yazidis, 
 
 253 
 
 he regarded as a high testimonial to his integrity as a dealer 
 in palimpsests, but, in fact, containing so sound a rating of a 
 rascal, that it seemed to bear more on the subject than 
 perhaps the old man would have cared to acknowledge. Yet 
 he reads and understands English well ; truly these people 
 have a strangely twisted sense of straightness, or more dullness 
 than they get credit for. 
 
 Hcnvever, Shammas proved of considerable use. His 
 official duties, as purveyor of gossip, and representative of the 
 Presbyterians, were not heavy ; so that he was pretty well at 
 my disposal during my visit to Mosul ; and at small charges 
 of cigarettes and coffee, dealt out with a liberal tongue from 
 his stores of historv, ancient and modern. 
 
 It was on an evening some days before we left Mosul that 
 Shammas, almost bursting with some news of importance, 
 came into the courtyard, and made his way to the diwan, 
 where we were enjoying the evening air before supper. First 
 a Russian Consul was to arrive shortlv at Mosul, and would 
 be followed as a necessary corollary by an English Consul. 
 This he knew for a positive fact, though we were contented to 
 allow the fact to slumber on in the caves of rumour. But 
 that very afternoon he had been to the Serai, and there heard 
 from his wife's third cousin, and from his son-in-law's nephew, 
 who was secretary to the Fariq, that awful news had arrived 
 from the army in the Sinjar, and that in consequence the 
 band had ceased to play at evenings in the Serai. 
 
 This Fariq, Osman Pasha, Lieutenant-General of the 
 Turkish army, of whom we had heard such ominous rumours 
 in Mardin, had come witli a definite commission from the 
 Sublime Porte, so it was said, to perform three things in 
 the provinces of Mosul and Baghdad ; first, to collect twenty 
 years' arrears of taxes; second, to induce the Arabs to 
 exchange their nomad form of life for one more settled ; third, 
 to convert the Yazidis of Jebel Sinjar and Sheikhan from 
 their worship of devils. The first object was quite legitimate ; 
 the second harmless, because impossible ; the third was a 
 more serious matter, and with its attempted accomplishment 
 we are here concerned. 
 
25t 
 
 Fi(jlit'n}<j the Ydzidis, 
 
 The soldiers of the Fariq had been sent to the Yazidi 
 villaiyes on the h^wer slopes of the Sinjar moimtaius, and 
 were preparin^if to loot the houses, from which the inhabitants 
 had not had time to carry their property into security anion^ 
 the rocks, when some of the chiefs came with an avowal of 
 Islam, and with a promise, if their villages were spared, to 
 conduct the soldiers by night and surprise the villages higher 
 up. This was readily agreed to, and soon after nightfall a 
 start was made. What was the surprise of the soldiers when, 
 on entering a gorge half-way to the summit, they were 
 received by a rapid succession of volleys, while their treach- 
 erous guides hurried on to join their friends, between whom, 
 stationed in two companies on each side of the gorge, they 
 had led the soldiers. To make nuitters worse, the soldiers 
 found that very few of their own shots took effect, the 
 gunpowder in the cartridges having been secretly replaced 
 by dust. It may seem incredible, but it is said that not 
 infrequently peculating ofKcials take these means to enrich 
 themselves. At any rate the unlucky soldiers, unlucky, too, 
 that this persecution of the Ya/idis was little to their taste, 
 made the best retreat thev could, but found bv this time the 
 villages deserted and little left to eat. The belief that a 
 hundred were killed was confirmed by a soldier brought in 
 wounded to Mosul a few davs later. 
 
 Four days after the crisis came. A telegram arrived from 
 Stamboul demanding from the Wali a full explanation of 
 the conduct of the Fariq. If the news, which had reached 
 Stamboul, was true, who gave leave that the soldiers should 
 be ordered out without a notice to the Commander-in-Chief, 
 the Sar-Askar at Stamboul, and who would be responsible if 
 any of the troops or Imperial subjects were killed ? The 
 warrant had been to collect the taxes and convert the Yazidis 
 from worshipping devils ; if blood was shed, who was to 
 answer for it ? The Fariq recalled his son and the troops 
 from the Sinjar, and sat down to await the inevitable, to 
 wit, an inspector from Stamboul. Meanwhile he would 
 mature plans for hoodwinking him, or making it worth his 
 while to hoodwink the Government. A month later I met 
 
 Thf Fariq. 
 
 255 
 
 the inspector on his way from Aleppo to Diarbekr, so that 
 the Fariq had good time to weave his web. 
 
 The same evening that Shararaas brought his news, the 
 heavens declared against the outrageous Fariq. We heard 
 suddenly a great blowing of trumpets, beating of drums, 
 and general holloaing which soon drew us up on to the 
 roof. The moon was eclipsed, and it was the duty of all 
 men of sound faith and proper principles to assemble on 
 their roofs, and with fire and tongs, tin kettle and drum, 
 conspire to drive away the dragon that would otherwise 
 without doubt devour the gentle moon. It was a glorious 
 total eclipse, but the natives were far too busy with the 
 voracious dragon to think of the beauty of the sight. The 
 perfectly clear air and immense space of horizon, with all 
 the subtle beauty of an eastern night, combined to form 
 one of the most lovely sights imaginable. 
 
 To explain the significance of Shammas^ news, we must 
 retrace our steps and describe what had already happened at 
 Mosul. At first the Pasha, although a man of harsh manners 
 and harsher methods, won golden opinions. His victims, 
 Moslem and Christian, abused him equally ; for he favoured 
 no class or creed in his attempt to reform the financial state 
 of the Walayet. The magnitude of his task may be judged 
 from the fact that in one village a thousand houses figured iu 
 the revenue returns as three hundred ; in another four 
 thousand sheep dwindled down to three hundred. A worse 
 state of affairs occurs when, as not infrequently happens, a 
 prosperous village dwindles, and a population of three hundred 
 families is taxed according to a long obsolete assessment, 
 made when there were perhaps eight hundred families. This 
 is the normal state of things in some parts of Turkey, being 
 due partly to the bad distributing, partly to the bad method 
 of collecting the taxes. These things, however, have been 
 already dealt with ; so it remains only to tell how the Pasha 
 accomplished his task. Twenty years of taxes is a large 
 amount to pay at three months^ notice ; but it had to be done. 
 If any community failed to do so, its members were collected 
 in their church or mosque, and soldiers set to smear their 
 
vt 
 
 256 
 
 The '* Conversion'' of the Yazidis. 
 
 The " Conversion '' af the Yozldis. 
 
 lol 
 
 faces with honey, and drive them, with hands tied behind 
 their backs, through the streets, a prey to autumn swarms of 
 flies. Others were beaten, others imprisoned, or made to 
 undersfo every indignity, until each community had paid up 
 its full amount.* The last straw was laid on the camel, when 
 the Pasha attempted in Mosul, of all conservative and slowly- 
 moving places in this world, to fly in the face of ancient 
 Mohammedan custom, as had been done in Aleppo and other 
 towns, and tax the women. Here the soldiers themselves 
 refused to obey ; he had gone too far, and infringed the old- 
 established right of Moslems, that the harem should remain 
 exempt from the inquisition of tax-collectors. 
 
 This part of his work was reaching completion, and the 
 province was poorer to the extent of some thirty thousand 
 pounds, which, owing to the laxness of the Government, had 
 been allowed to fall into arrear, when Osman l^isha turned 
 his attention to the *' conversion " of the Yazidis. He had 
 signally failed to persuade the Shammar Arabs to give up 
 their nomad life; for having accepted his invitation to a parley 
 in Mosul, they had come in all the simple pom]) of the desert, 
 and after listening to the kindly proposals on their behalf, 
 wished him a polite " Peace,'' and galloped ofl" some hundred 
 miles to the south-west, muttering that the Pasha would need 
 rise very early in the morning to catch that Arab 'Hhe meek 
 in spirit ''t — and more regarding sleeping weasels. 
 
 The Yazidis, however, of whose history more in a subse- 
 quent chapter, were already a home-keeping people, frugal 
 and industrious, cleanly, and in every wa) but that of th(Mr 
 religion commendable subjects of the Porte. They, therefore, 
 had not the same means of escape. Invited to Mosul, forty 
 of their chief men came, and listened gravely to all the Pasha 
 
 * It has already been explained how in all such matters the Government 
 regards each community as a whole, and not each individual as a separate 
 person to be taxed. I am indebted to Mr. Hormuzd Rassam for the followinjf 
 note ; -" Formerly the people used to be taxed individually, Imt the different 
 communities elected to be taxed collectively, themselves levying rates on eaclj 
 person according to his person and income." 
 
 f A term of polite conversation referring to the sj)eaker — " El faqir." 
 
 had to s;iy. There was the council of the Province present, 
 many *' I'limas'' learned in the law, and some few Christians; 
 and in the presence of these men he tried to turn them from 
 the error of their ways. It was unseemly in the realm of the 
 Khiilifa that any should worship such a foul creed ; let them 
 turn, and high pl«ce would be theirs, please God, and wealth, 
 and titles, and mullas would be sent to bring up their children 
 in the way. None responded ; Christianity they were less 
 unready to jjccept ; tlie Christians were their friends and 
 fellow-sufFerei s ; Islain had always cursed and persecuted 
 them. Xo, they would live as their fathers had lived, 
 remainiug Yazidis, sons of Yazid. Let the Pasha remember 
 what freedom had been granted to them to worship according 
 to their own faith forty years before. 
 
 I cannot do better than relate the rest of this story in the 
 words of Shammas himself, only omitting" or correctinsr 
 what is plainly wrong or exaggerated. 
 
 '^ \Yhen Osman Pasha saw that they were firm in their 
 faith, he began to torture them, casting them into prison, 
 so that some died, others fled, and a few, through fear ot* 
 these tortures and a painful death, accepted the faith of 
 Islam; aj)pMrently, and not in truth; silently, not from love 
 of it ; and that is a lie and hypocrisy. Then he sent soldiers 
 to the villages, where the Yazidis dwell, and ordered them to 
 accept Islam or be slain. And under the commands of his 
 son, Osman Beg, the soldiers slew in all some five hundred 
 men ; so at least the Pasha confessed in his diwan, when he 
 upbraided their chiefs as the cause of death to so many of 
 their people. 
 
 *' The pretty women and girls he took captive, marrying 
 them by force to his soldiers. Some he took and cast into 
 prison, every day threatening and torturing them to become 
 Moslems. And one, Mirza Beg, the civil chief of the 
 Yazidis, shame be to him, forsook his faith, and from fear, 
 and to gain money and a title, became a Moslem. Of the 
 noble firmness of Ali Beg we will tell later. 
 
 '* And when Osman Beg came to Bah-Shika and Bahizani, 
 the chief villaofes of the Yazidis, that lie among the olive 
 
 S 
 
 1 
 
 * 1 
 
 I I 
 
256 
 
 The ^^ Conversion*' of the Yazidis, 
 
 faces with honey, anti drive them, with hands tied behind 
 their backs, through the streets, a prey to autumn swarms of 
 flies. Others were beaten, others imprisoned, or made to 
 unders^o every indignity, until each community had paid up 
 its full amount.* The last straw was laid on the camel, when 
 the Pasha attempted in Mosul, of all conservative and slowly- 
 moving places in this world, to fly in the face of ancient 
 Mohammedan custom, as had been done in Aleppo and other 
 towns, and tax the women. Here the soldiers themselves 
 refused to obey ; he had gone too far, and infringed the old- 
 established right of ^loslems, that the harem should remain 
 exempt from the inquisition of tax-collectors. 
 
 This part of his work was reaching completion, and the 
 province was poorer to the extent of some thirty thousand 
 pounds, which, owing to the laxness of the Government, had 
 been allowed to fall into arrear, when Osman Pasha turned 
 his attention to the *' conversion ^' of the Yazidis. He had 
 signally failed to persuade the Shammar Arabs to give u]) 
 their nomad life; for having accepted his invitation to a parley 
 in Mosul, they had come in all the simple pomp of the desert, 
 and after listening to the kindly proposals on their behalf, 
 wished him a polite " Peace,'' and galloped ofl* some hundred 
 miles to the south-west, muttering that the Pasha would need 
 rise very early in the morning to catch that Arab "the meek 
 in spirit ''t — and more regarding sleeping weasels. 
 
 The Yazidis, however, of whose history more in a subse- 
 quent chapter, were already a home-keeping people, frugal 
 and industrious, cleanly, and in every way but that of their 
 religion commendable subjects of the Porte. They, therefore, 
 had not the same means of escape. Invited to Mosul, forty 
 of their chief men came, and listened gravely to all the Pasha 
 
 * It has already been explained how in all such matters the Government 
 regards each community as a whole, and not each individual as a se])arate 
 person to be taxed. I am indebted to Mr. Hormuzd Rassam for the following- 
 note :-'* Formerly the people used to be taxed individually, Imt the dififerent 
 communities elected to be taxed collectively, themselves levying rates on eacli 
 person according to his person and income." 
 
 t A term of polite conversation referring to the speaker—" El faqir." 
 
 The ^^ Conversion " of the Ydzldls. 
 
 lol 
 
 had to s:iy. There was the council of the Province present, 
 many ''Ulinias'' learned in the law, and some few Christians; 
 and in the presence of these men he tried to turn them from 
 the error of their ways. It was unseemly in the realm of the 
 Khalifa that any should worship such a foul creed ; let them 
 turn, and high plnce would be theirs, please God, and wealth, 
 and titles, and mullas would be sent to bring up their children 
 in the way. None responded ; Christianity they were less 
 unready to accept ; tlie Christians were their friends and 
 fellow-sufferers ; Islam had always cursed and persecuted 
 them. Xo, they would live as their fathers had lived, 
 remaining Yazidis, sons of Yazid. Let the Pasha remember 
 what freedom had been granted to them to worship accordino- 
 to their own faith forty years before. 
 
 I cannot do better than relate the rest of this story in the 
 words of Shammas himself, onlv omitting^ or correctino- 
 what is plainly wrong or exaggerated. 
 
 '^ When Osman Pasha saw that thev were firm in their 
 faith, he began to torture them, casting them into prison, 
 so that some died, others fled, and a few, through fear of 
 these tortures and a painful death, accepted the faith of 
 Islam; apparently, and not in truth; silently, not from love 
 of it; and that is a lie and hypocrisy. Then he sent soldiers 
 to the villages, where the Yazidis dwell, and ordered them to 
 accept Ishim or be slain. And under the commands of his 
 sou, Osman Beg, the soldiers slew in all some five hundred 
 men ; so at least the Pasha confessed in his diwan, when he 
 upbraided their chiefs as the cause of death to so many of 
 their people. 
 
 *' The pretty women and girls he took captive, marrying 
 them by force to his soldiers. Some he took and cast into 
 prison, every day threatening and torturing tliem to become 
 Moslems. And one, Mirza Beg, the civil chief of the 
 Yazidis, shame be to him, forsook his faith, and from fear. 
 and to gain money and a title, became a Moslem. Of the 
 noble firmness of Ali Beg we will tell later. 
 
 '* And when Osman Beg came to Bah-Shika and Bahizani, 
 the chief villages of the Yazidis, that lie among the olive 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 The YazliU:^. 
 
 groves below Jebel Maqlub, he bade the public crier proclaim 
 
 through the streets that on the morrow the house of every 
 
 man refusing to accept the faith of Islam would be plundered, 
 
 the honour of his family, his wife and daughters, taken from 
 
 him by force, and he and his sons slain by the sword. Oh 
 
 what a night of sorrow ! What a bitter hour ! for the grief, 
 
 and the wailing, and the lamentations for fear of what was 
 
 come upon them ! Never was such calamity as now came 
 
 upon them. Morning canu', and those Yazidis that had been 
 
 wandering and in tlight, assembled, and for two hours of the 
 
 dav raised a sorrowful wailing, men and women, maidens and 
 
 voung men, casting dust and ashes on their heads. Seeing 
 
 this availed nothing, but that by force they must obey, they 
 
 went to the son of the Fariq in great per])lexity and sorrow. 
 
 And as they stood before him, he began to take their 
 
 declarations one l)y one, telling them, ' Say that you have 
 
 renounced the religion of Yazid, and taken that of Mohammed; 
 
 confess and say, " We testify that there is no god but God, 
 
 and Mohammed is the prophet of God ; ''* and say, " A curse 
 
 upon Satan, and upon the king of the Peacocks." ' So he 
 
 compelled them, and tore open the fronts of their shirts, in 
 
 token that they were ^loslems, and sent them to their homes. 
 
 '' Then he gathered their children, and placed them with 
 
 a mulla in the mosque to learn the Moslem faith. And he 
 
 ordered them to be present every day five times at prayers, 
 
 and wash themselves with the ordained ablutions, greater 
 
 and less.t From terror they did so, but during prayers were 
 
 reviling and in secret cursing. Then seeing that their 
 
 thou<^hts were still with their old creed, Osman Beg tore 
 
 down their shrines, which it is appointed for them to visit, 
 
 as on Fridays and at other set times, and light the lamps in 
 
 accordance with their faith. And the shrine of Sheikh 
 
 Mohammed, which is by the cucumbpr garden of Bahizani, 
 
 he demolished, and of Melki Miran, near the fountain of 
 
 * The " Kalimat Ij^lam," the recital of which implies the adoption of the 
 -creed and is irrevocable. 
 
 t For these Moslem customs see Lane or Burton, or any good authority. 
 
 The Yazidis. 
 
 259 
 
 running water; and the shrine of Esh-Shadak by the threshing- 
 rioor; and of Sheikh Hasan, between the Chaldsean church 
 and the olive-yards, where one enters coming from Mosul. 
 All these, and others, he destroyed, making of them a heap 
 of ruins. And he left in the villages soldiers, and mullas to 
 teach the children, if by any means he might i eally draw 
 them to the faith of the Moslems. 
 
 " \h\t Amir Ali Beg, their chief in religious and civil 
 affairs, after much imprisonment and torture did not obey. 
 When the Fariq saw him thus obstinate, clinging fast to his 
 religion, he was wroth ; for had he given way, then many 
 Yazidis would willingly have become Moslems ; then thinking 
 it better not to keep him as an example of firmness to his 
 people, he banished him with soldiers to Kastamuni, a fort 
 near Stamboul. 
 
 " But worst of all was wdiat happened to those who refused 
 to change their faith. The men were cruelly tortured, and 
 killed, the women taken away, outraged, or killed. One 
 Sheikh was cut into many pieces and thrown over a rock ; 
 another ground like corn between two mill-stones. The 
 women were at the mercy of the soldiers. Some fled, and to 
 escape dishonour cast themselves from a high rock and were 
 slain. 
 
 '' Then Osman Beg heard that a number of young girls 
 were hidden near the olive groves in some long grass; 
 savagely he ordered fire t(j be set all round, and with screams 
 too fearful to hear, they were all burned to death. A young 
 girl, soon to be a mother, was pursued to the Syrian church, 
 where the priest gave her refuge. There the soldiers found 
 her, and having committed unspeakable things, killed her 
 near the sanctuary. The Kurds and other robbers of the 
 mountains, encouraged by these things, came down, and 
 added much cruelty and outrage to what was already done. 
 
 '' Xow before this occurred the Fariq had sent w^ord to 
 Stamboul that all the Yazidis had willingly accepted the faith 
 of Islam, and other lies, as that the taxes were fully collected, 
 and the Arabs had submitted to the life of villages ; which 
 was all a lie and a delusion, by which he w^ould show his 
 
 s 2 
 
2GU 
 
 The *^C(nirrrsi<ni^^ oj thr y<i::!(lls. 
 
 IVlto is to Bid me ? 
 
 201 
 
 loyalty and service to tlie Knipire, such as no one Lefore luid 
 shown. But wlien he saw the Vazidis, indeed, not obeying;, 
 he charged some among the Moslems and Cliristians of the 
 town, writing that the Consuls and many important m<r>n liad 
 persuaded the Ya/idis to resist him. >[anv \\v imprisoned, 
 and some he tortured, gaining reproach from all good men. 
 So much he did, that the hazars were ch»sed, and tlie people 
 in uproar armed themselves and pre|)ared for hnttle. Fear- 
 ino- therefore what the ])eo])le would <lo, ho (irdered that a 
 hundred nndlas and efendis should become luiauis and 
 teachers for the Yazidis; for their own ])leasure smd advjintage 
 he did this, that in return they might praise him. Hut wlien 
 they went to the villages they found that all the Vazidis had 
 fled, or were slain, or were in j)rison. But giving heed to 
 their work, they brought children of the Kurds and of their 
 own people, so that they might earn their money. As the 
 Fariq deceived the (iovernment, so they deceived him. 
 
 " Still failing to attain his object, ;ind fearing the govern- 
 ment, whom he had deceived, he forbade any man to go to 
 the telegraph, and forbade the clerk in send any message 
 which he had not first seen. Then h(» by force took the 
 seals of the Council of the province*, an<l made them aflTix 
 them to a paper declaring how all the desires of the Sultan 
 were attained; and he forbade any man to visit the consuls, 
 using to them and towards the Americans most vile language, 
 saying that they encouraged the Yazidis-. So he deceived 
 the Sultan; but so ill at ease he was, and so fearful for his 
 life, that he ordered music to play continujdly for his relief, 
 and that he might escape the reproaches of his conscience. 
 
 " Thus have we written briefly an account of the.se most 
 detestable matters.'' 
 
 I have written a full account of these events for several 
 reasons; partly because the Yazidis are of considerable 
 interest in themselves; partly because these outrages far sur- 
 pass any that have been committed for many years, being 
 perpetrated, not only in the name of the government and by 
 a high official claiming direct authority from the Sultan, but 
 also in direct contravention to the firman of 1847 granting 
 
 the free exercise of their religion to the Yazidis. The 
 results, too, are far reaching. At least four hundred people 
 were killed; hundreds of acres left unsown; a whole province 
 drained of its resources, and crippled for years ; and all that 
 happens is that an inspector is sent, and the author of all 
 this brutality imprisoned. 
 
 Of the central administration in Turkey I know little and 
 say nothing. It is reported of it by some who know that it 
 is good. Fui'ther, I firmly believe his Majesty to have been 
 ignoi'ant, and purposely kept so, of what was being done in 
 his name. He is a humane Sovereign, almost superstitiously 
 averse to the shedding of blood ; nor do I believe any more 
 than the Moslems of Mosul, with w^hom I spoke frequently, 
 that his orders went beyond the establishment of legitimate 
 means of converting of Yazidis. 
 
 And the moral is this : England and certain other powders 
 find it U) their advantage to maintain Turkey in her present 
 position. This policy may be right, as I think that those who 
 best know Turkev aofree that it is. But this fact is clear : 
 that if we do so maintain a Mohammedan state in powder, it 
 is our duty to see she does not abuse it, and recognise that 
 influence must be maintained not by crying wolf at every 
 imaginary outrage, not by encouraging disloyalty, not by 
 idiotic abuse of the Turk and all his deeds, but by showing 
 tliat our Covernment is one that can be trusted, whether 
 Conservative or Liberal be in powxr, and that w^hatever we 
 do, we wn'll keep our treaties, and guard the rights wisely of 
 our fellow religionists in Turkey. 
 
 The truth is that here as elsewhere our economy has 
 made fools of us. An English consul is still looked on as a 
 repository of honour, and a support against oppression. Yet 
 we roam from Baghdad to Aleppo before we see a consul 
 worthy of the name. On the importance of guarding our 
 trade stress is not here laid, though it should be if that 
 iirgument will touch our shopkeeper pockets. We have a 
 higlier trust, and at times the traveller simply burns with 
 -shame to hear what men. Christian and Moslem, say of this 
 England, to w^hich they once looked with such faith. Men 
 
h 
 
 262 
 
 Who Is to Blanw ? 
 
 speak oi the time when the sword will pass on from the 
 Yazidi to the Jew, and from the Jew to the Christian ; and, 
 when that comes, perhaps someone will recommend a remon- 
 strance to the Sublime Porte, or send an nnpaid vice-consul 
 to Mosul. To the fact that there was no consul of the type 
 of the much-honoured Christian Hassam at Mosul at this 
 time, I beheve was largely due the outrages of which I was 
 the lielpless spectator.* 
 
 * The Appendix contains an account of the Yazidi people and beliefs, drawn 
 partly from the accounts of other travellers, i)artly from their own books. 
 Durinjj: the last year a member of the family of Kassam has l)een appointed 
 Her Majesty's Vice-Consul in Mosul. 
 
 -*o*»;c 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Moxasteky of Mar Mattha, and the Syrians of 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 I HAD hoped before I left Mardin that it w^ould be possible to 
 combine a visit to the headquarters of the Yazidis at Sheikh 
 A'di w^th ii stay at the Syrian monastery of Mar Mattha, 
 which lies nearer Mosul in the same direction. But circum- 
 stances had compelled me to relinquish the former plan, and 
 content myself with a visit to the monastery and, if possible, 
 a ride to the Assyrian sites of X^imrud and Khorsabad. Mar 
 Mattha is in general known b}' the name of Sheikh Mattai, 
 in accordance with the frequent custom of sheltering a 
 Christian saint beneath a Moslem title.* Before starting, I 
 called upon the French Consul, from whom letters of intro- 
 duction had secured much kindness and hospitality, in order 
 to ask his opinion whether the expedition would be safe. He 
 is a native of Damascus, brought up as an European, and a 
 very ardent Roman Catholic. The last is a necessary qualifi- 
 cation for consular service with a government that, fighting* 
 with the Church and religion at home, considers priests and 
 Jesuits as valuable articles of export to lands w^here their 
 beliefs will make thera useful propagandists. The Consul is 
 a great student of Cufic, and has lined his library w^ith big 
 
 * Elijah is known as Al Khudhr, the ^reen one. S. George is also known by 
 this name, probably to hoodwink the Moslems. It is hard to imagine why Elijah 
 should be such a popular Saint all through northern Turkey, unless he has 
 usurped some of the regard paid to S. George. 
 
I 
 
 2») I. 
 
 Mtus'uL 
 
 black inscriptions, looking nearly as grim as the brass rubbings 
 with which antiquarian country clergy in England make their 
 halls re})ulsive. He showed me a pretty little collection of 
 antiquities, chiefly Babylonian, besides some beautiful 
 specimens of Persian and Arabic caligraphy, among which 
 was a magnificent copy richly illuminated of SaMi's poems, 
 and one of the small octagon Korans so prized by col- 
 lectors. 
 
 In answer to my incpiiries about the mountains, he assured 
 me that there was no danger, although, like a true Oriental, 
 he would not like to take the responsibility of advising me to 
 go there. However, I deternn'ned to brave the risks, and 
 went ofP to see the Wali, and get pei'inission to go, and a 
 giuird of ])olice to take with me. Such a ])roceeding was 
 (piite unusual, and only necessitated by the state in which all 
 that part of the country had been thrown by the late pt^rsecu- 
 tions. I found the Wali in the best of liumours, making liis 
 connnou old jokes and wagging his empty old head, so that the 
 two zaptiehs were easily secured, without the usual reference 
 to the '^ Fariq ; " and I prepared to start early the next 
 morning for a tliree days' excursion on the eastern side of the 
 Tigris. 
 
 Xext morning only one zaptieh arrived, with whom I 
 started without waiting for the second. A driving* wind had 
 set up the river, stirring u]) (piite a little sea, and making the 
 bridge of boats rock and creak as we passed over it. This 
 bridge is made half of boats and half of stone, the river being 
 too rapid in winter to allow a stone bridge to be built across 
 mid-stream, either by the Turks, or the French, who last 
 made the attem})t. 80 a number of great clumsy boats are 
 fastened side by side, covered witli poles and brushwood, and 
 firndy beaten down with earth on the top ; and this mass is 
 allowed, when the flood time comes, to swing right round 
 along the shore, so that all the traffic has to be performed by 
 means of rafts that ply endlessly backwards and forwards 
 across the swollen river. 
 
 The zaptieh secured us from any inquiries at the custom 
 house or from the guards who lounged at the town end of the 
 
 A Greaf Hiyhway. 
 
 205 
 
 bridge, and we passed in safety the long strings of camels 
 and crowds of country people who all day long are crossing 
 and re-crossing the bridge. It was a glorious view down the 
 great river^ towards the south, with swelling domes, and 
 half-ruined khans and coffee house stretching along its 
 banks ; and in the water crowds of men and women and boys, 
 .some drawing water, others performing matutinal ablutions, 
 others playing in full enjoyment of the foetid smells that 
 haunt the river shore. A little w^ay down some men were 
 loading half-a-dozen donkeys with melons and pumpkins 
 they had floated down the river; and there in mid-stream 
 was one of those great '^ kelleks," rafts floated on numerous 
 skins, that have borne the trade from Nineveh to Basra since 
 the days of Cyrus and Herodotus. 
 
 As soon as we had crossed the river, we were nearly 
 blinded by the dust, of which the air was so full that it 
 was impossible to see more than a few yards ahead. This 
 lasted for about an hour, until we were past the mounds and 
 through the walls of Nineveh, and out upon the level country 
 under Jebel Maqlub. There were numerous groups of black 
 tents, with their accompanying sheep and horses tended by 
 the little urchins of the tribe, some belonging to Arabs, and 
 others to the *^ Kochers," as the nomad Kurds are called. 
 Beyond these was nothing but broad fields, all bare and 
 unj)loughed this year on account of the persecutions. We 
 passed a few ruined Yazidi shrines and a large village 
 before we reached the rising ground and the dark olive 
 groves under the hills. It is said that olives do not flourish 
 out of reach of sea air ; but here were magnificent groves, 
 heavy with fruit, and more carefully irrigated and tended 
 than any trees I had yet seen. Many belong to the monas- 
 tery, others to the Syrian Mosulis, who owm the Christian 
 houses in the villages of Bah-Shikah and Bahizani. As we 
 rode through the former, marks of the late onslaught were 
 traceable on every side. Heaps of stones and plaster, and 
 
 ■( 
 
 * The Tigris is called by the Arabs, " Shat " the Arrow, from the extreme 
 rapidity of its current. 
 
266 
 
 De ir-e,s- She ikli Ma ttal. 
 
 De Ir-es- Sh eikJi Matta i. 
 
 267 
 
 here and there a broken wall, were all that renniined of 
 the Yazidi shrines aud houses. The chief feature that former 
 travellers remarked in these villages, the little clusters of 
 conical white shrines, the Yazidi " Sliaqs," was gone ; and 
 in their place stood a new white-plastered mosque, looking 
 ghastly out of the ashes from which it had risen. Thirty or 
 forty soldiers lounged about the village, reminding the 
 people how noble a thing it is to be a Moslem, and slay 
 professors of a foreign creed. Even the Christians did not 
 seem happy, but looked at us in a cowed way, while Yazidis, 
 thinking it was some government inspector, slunk away into 
 the shelter of the houses. The Syrians, who number about 
 thirty houses in this village, were busy building a new church. 
 They were very proud of it, aiul pressed me to stay a night 
 with them, saying how mnch their landlord, Abdunnnr, 
 did for them, and that a friend of his would be doubly 
 welcome. But thinking that I should do neither them nor 
 myself any good by remaining in the village, filled as it was 
 with soldiers, I mounted and made my way on towards the 
 Deir. 
 
 It was rough riding across the spurs of the hills to Kopan, 
 and thence to Malleh, a village at the base of Jebel ^laqlub, 
 on the almost perpendicular face of which was built the 
 monastery, clinging like a swallow's nest against a wall. 
 From the village it seemed scarcely credible that there could 
 be any w^ay up the rock, nor was any visible. And when we 
 reached the path, it had much the appearance of those that 
 lead up to hillside pagodas on antique china plates, scooped 
 out and banked up on the rocky side of the steep. As we 
 neared the top, leading our horses in Indian file, two monks 
 looked out over the high wall upon us straight below them, 
 w^iere they could have dropped a stone upon our heads ; and 
 half "feared when they saw the zaptieh that they were 
 honoured by an official visit, to demand the taxes, which the 
 Fariq was threatening to extort for the convent sheep. There 
 were two monks in the monastery, one old and rather deaf, 
 who had spent most of his life in Midhiat, and had come to 
 pass his remaining days at Mar Mattha. The second was a 
 
 young man, ordained Rahal) only two years since, but 
 being a trustworthy and well-educated man, was obtaining 
 considerable influence, and had almost the entire manage- 
 ment of the place, even when the Bishop was there. 
 For it is part of the mismanagement of things among the 
 Syrians that the small diocese of Mosul has two Bishops, 
 while the jrreat Jebel Tur district has onlv the same 
 number. 
 
 As soon as we had been greeted with an "Upon my head 
 you come in peace ! '' and the younger man had reverently 
 kissed the Patriarch's letter, we went to feed our horses, and 
 house them comfortably for the night. The monk then led us 
 to a pleasant diwan at the very top of the building, where 
 water was brought, aud grapes, while he disappeared to 
 prepare the customary cup of coffee. A servann then came 
 up w^ith a hen, which he had with difficulty caught, and 
 proceeded to slay and pluck just outside our door in view of 
 the evening meal. Refreshed with grapes and coffee, I then 
 went out with the younger monk to see the monastery and its 
 surroundings. It was a strange place indeed, almost inacces- 
 sible, with a few trees, mostly figs and apricots, and pasture 
 h(^re and there among the rocks enough to feed the convent's 
 flock of four hundred sheep. None but a recluse could have 
 chosen such a spot, although the air is glorious, and even in 
 summer, when Mosul is intolerable, one may be as comfortable 
 here as on the hills about Mardin. During the hottest 
 months many Mosul families find their way hither, to escape 
 from the heat of the town, and make keif in the monastery or 
 at the grotto just beside it. For this purpose several of the 
 richer Syrians have combined to rebuild the monastery, but 
 in a manner more adapted to family life than the require- 
 ments of a place of retreat. Nevertheless, the place has 
 benefited in so far as it is no longer a ruin, but a very 
 comfortable abode ; and only in the hot weather does it at all 
 serve the purpose of pleasure-makers, such as love to frequent 
 Deir-el-Za'aferan. The situation requires that the rooms be 
 built on terraces one above another, giving the whole a very 
 irregular appearance. It is built ahnost entirely of the rough 
 
 '} 
 
*)<; 
 
 208 
 
 Deir-es-Sheikh Maftui. 
 
 coucrete commoiilv used in Musul, iiisteud of the bard stone 
 of which the mountain is formed. Outside it looks rough, 
 and likely to fall to pieces ; but it is well built, and the rooms 
 within are clean and comfortable.* 
 
 A little to the west of the great gate is a lai-ge cave, from 
 the roof of which water continually drips. Here is the 
 great place for nuiking keif, for bei ug in itself very cool, 
 and thickly shaded in front by fruit trees of all sorts, planted 
 on the level grass before the opening, it forms a delicious 
 retreat. There was a little garden, where leeks and lettuces, 
 and even ii little tobacco grew ; and on one side was a 
 flourishing row of beehives, made, as usual in these parts, of 
 huge earthenware pots sealed up at both ends with mud, 
 which could be broken away w hen the honey was to be taken. 
 Under one of the dripping stones was a large basin cut out of 
 the rock, in which the water collected; it had a strong mineral 
 taste. 
 
 Far over the plains, storms were sweeping in (piick 
 -succession from the east, where the Gumar winds down to the 
 Khazir, until both together meet the Great Zab, and 
 fall below Ninirud into the Tigris. Westward, over 
 the setting sun, all was clear, and the hills of the 
 Sinjar stood out clear above the plain. Bad weather 
 seemed to be coming. The whole scene reminded me irre- 
 isistibly of Scott's magnificent description of a storm at the 
 Convent of Mont Saint Victoire, just such a place as this, 
 where the mi.se en 8ce)ie serves to heighten the tragic fate of 
 Queen ^[argaret of England. It was a glorious view ; Mosul 
 lay like a small village, in spite of all its domes and minarets 
 on the banks of the Tigris, which curled serpent-like dowu to 
 the sea. Behind were the Sinjar hills and the limitless extent 
 of blue, and ruddy plain. A thin rain came on as the sun 
 went dow n ; and instead of the crier calling the faithful to 
 prayer, a little bell kept tinkling for the monks and scanty 
 shepherds to attend vespers. 
 
 * About 1830 the place wa.s plundered by the Kurdish Pasha of Ruwanduz, 
 and has only lately been restored. 
 
 The Tomh of Bar IIeh\TAis. 
 
 20^^ 
 
 The church is a large plain building, chiefly interesting as 
 containing the tomb of the great Bar Hebra)us,* known in 
 the west more* generally as Abulfaragius, who, ordained at 
 Tripolis, and wandering betw^een Malatia and Antioch, became 
 in 12()4 A.I)., Metropolitan of Mosul. The number of his 
 writings is great, and varying in kind from a treatise on bells 
 to an universal history of mankind. Some books in his own 
 handwriting are said still to exist at Jazirah; and every 
 monastery of the Syrians contains some copies of parts of his 
 numerous works. There is jin interesting story of how, being 
 greatly in favour w^ith ITulaku Khan, he went to Baghdad ; 
 and there on the occasion of his visit, the P]ucharist was 
 celebrated on l']aster-day by the united clergy of Jacobites 
 and Nestoiians. He lies buried wn'th his brother Barsome in 
 the '^ Beit Qadishe '^ of the church, and over them is placed 
 the inscription: 
 
 '^ This is the grave of ]\[ar Gregorios John, and of Mar 
 
 Barsome, his brother, the children of the Hebrew^, on 
 
 Mount P]lpep." t 
 
 "In his life, he was an elegant writer of the Syriac and 
 
 Aral)ic tongues, a poet, physician, and historian, a sul)tle 
 
 ])hilosopher, aiid a moderate divine. In his death, his funeral 
 
 w^as attended by his rival, the Nestorian Patriarch, with a 
 
 train of Greeks and Aruienians, who forgot their disputes, 
 
 and mingled their tears over the grave of a rival." i 
 
 The church is peculiar in having the *^^ Beit Qadishe '^ 
 within the church, and not joined to the south wall, as is 
 inore usual. It contains, too, a kind of double chancel of an 
 unusual plan, there being two sanctuaries instead of the more 
 usuiil thi-ee; for the space generally occupied by the third 
 aisle and sanctuary on the north, is here taken up 
 by empty rooms and the " Beit Qadishe." Near the 
 
 * In A.D. 1244, Bar Hehneus went from Malatia on the Euphrates, at that 
 time the seat of the Patriarchate, to Antioch. 
 
 In A.D, 1000, John Ebn Abdon. Patriarch, removed from Antioch to Malatia. 
 
 t Cp. Badger. 1 97. Elpep, the Syriac name of Jebel Maqlub. He was born 
 1225 A.D. 
 
 J Gibbon, ch. xlvii. 
 
t>70 
 
 Deir-es-SheikJi Muttai. 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 271 
 
 cluii'cli was auutlier building where many of the Syrian 
 Bishops are buried ; and in a grotto just below the 
 monastery, the Eahab pointed out the place where lived M«r 
 Behnani, the son of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who slew 
 both his son and his daughter Sara for embracing Christianity. 
 The portrait of '^ Sittna " Sara is still to be seen painted life- 
 size upon a large pillar in the church of the monastery of ^lar 
 Behnam, near Xinirud, now the property of the Papal 
 Syrians. 
 
 Thi' Kahabs talked very eagerly about the prospects of 
 opening a school for the Syrians of Mosul, and were anxious 
 that it should be established at the monastery, away from the 
 interference of outsiders, and in a quiet place where the youth 
 could learn more readilv the " wav of the Church.'* This, no 
 doubt, was a monk's view of the mattei- ; but, after all, it 
 would be a gloomy place for a lot of boys. 
 
 It was a splendid night, with a bright moon ; but the 
 lightning played all along the horizon, threatening rain. 
 Early next morning a fine rain began to come down, and 
 seemed likely to increase. The threatening weather, com- 
 bined with the dangerous condition of the country, which the 
 monks said that even our zaptieh would not counterbalance, 
 made me determine to ride straight back to Mosul. With 
 many regrets at the shortness of our visit, the monks bade us 
 good-bye, expressing hopes that something would be done to 
 help their poor neighbours the Yazidis, the worst accounts of 
 whose treatment they amply confirmed. 
 
 It was still harder work going down the mountain path 
 than it had been to ascend, and we were heartily glad to 
 reach the village Malleh, and the stream below. The zaptieh 
 was in the worst possible temper, for he had brought an 
 unshod colt to ride, not knowing that we were going up the 
 mountain, and the animal had been little benefited by the rocky 
 climb. A profusion of oleanders were just coming into blossom 
 along the stream, and my servant told me how, if a horse eats 
 of the leaves, he will certainly die, unless he immediately 
 drinks of the water running through the roots. It sounded 
 like some old Odyssean myth ; but the man had his instance 
 
 ready, to wit, that the horse of his late master, having eaten 
 of the dangerous leaf, and scorned the cure provided by God, 
 dropped down within an hour dead. 
 
 Back through the villages and olive groves we retraced 
 our steps, and in a few hours found ourselves once more 
 riding through the walls and standing beneath the mounds of 
 Xineveh. Then passing the tomb of En-nabbi Yunas, we 
 reached the river, and, crossing the bridge, threaded the 
 squalid streets until we came to the house where I had found 
 a temporary home. 
 
 Mosul has been chosen by the proprtgandists of Rome as 
 the strategic point from which to conduct operations in the 
 East. It is here, therefore, that one may see most clearly in 
 practice those principles which have been already enumerated 
 as underlying their dealings with the natives. I had thus 
 expected to find considerable state and magnificence sur- 
 rounding the two chiefs of the Roman adherents in Mosul. 
 With one of these men, Mutran Behnam Benni, Bishop of 
 the Papal Syrians, I had already become acquainted ; the 
 other, the self-styled patriarch of the Chalda3ans, had only 
 just returned from a visit to the mountain Nestorians. He 
 had undertaken the mission in the hope of persuading the 
 East -Syrian patriarch, Mar Shamun, to submit to the in- 
 evitablc; and acknowledge the Papal supremacy. He had 
 sent messengers to announce his visit, and had started some 
 days on his journey to the patriarchal headquarters at Kud- 
 chanes, when he received an answer, saying that the Patriarch 
 had no time, and could not manage to receive his brother of 
 the Roman Communion. So the Chaldaean returned in high 
 dudgeon to Mosul, being baulked of his purpose; and in 
 consequence of his journey and the rebuff which he had 
 received was indisposed for several days. We called upon 
 him in the splendid new house which his Italian superiors 
 have built for him, and found him not at all inclined to be 
 gracious to a member of the same Church, to which the men 
 belonged, to whose efforts on behalf of the native Church he 
 may have attributed his failure. On this account, and because 
 the diwan was crowded, conversation was general. 
 
1 
 
 07> 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 MosuL 
 
 273 
 
 Tt lias been aliojidv exj)lained that the Roman ])()licy is to 
 
 gain adlu^ronts among tlu» important lionses, and j)nt its 
 
 memluM's in positions of trust. It is thus that the hisliops of 
 
 the Uniat faitli are inthiential men ; win'lc* at the same tinu' 
 
 they are almost entirely under the direct control of l?ome. 
 
 Nevertheless, there remains among the Papal Uniats in 
 
 ^fosul a considerable party of those who would irhidlv ex- 
 
 change their present yoke for their ancient freedom. It was 
 
 niv business to avoid interference in matters of tins kind ; but 
 
 a ijood many facts forced themselves on tuv notice in the 
 
 ordinary course of ccmversation. This party had been headed 
 
 for many years by Mutran Klias, with whom T bad formed a 
 
 very intimate friendship in Afardin. H(» was, too, a great 
 
 friend of the Syrian Patriarch, and, haviniif irrovvn old in the 
 
 contest against uncMpial odds, had accepted the fat(» which 
 
 he deemed inevital)le, and, joining the Papal Party, found a. 
 
 resting place as Bishop of the small Chaldiuan diocese of 
 
 ^Fardin. His supj>orters followed his example, but are 
 
 by no means contented, and look to some o])])ortunity in 
 
 the future for recovering the heritage which tlu^y have 
 lost. 
 
 The Bishop of the Papal Syrians in Mosul, Mutran Hehinim 
 Benni, held an important position in Mosul during the in- 
 terregnum caused by the death of the late J^atriarch, until the 
 Pope should be pleased to apj)oint a '^ Patriarch of Antioch.*' 
 What a position for the Church of Antioch, to accept a 
 Patriarch onlv at the hands of the Patriarch of Kome ! This 
 Bishop 1 found to be a man of most courteous European 
 manners and of genuine cordiality. He was also the most 
 learned and capable jirelate whom I had the fortune to meet 
 in Turkey, contrasting in many ways ])leasantly with some of 
 his brethren. He had built in Mosul, in addition to the 
 churches taken from the old Syrian community, a fine new 
 church in the Italian style, well stocked with blue and tinsel 
 ^ladonnas and tortured saints, that harmonise ill with the 
 calmer, severer air of Assyria. 
 
 One morning I donned my blue spectacles and hoisted my 
 white umbrella, and sallied forth to visit the Bishop in the 
 
 beautiful garden where he has built for himself a fine house. 
 Past a picturesque five-domed mosque, through broad fields 
 of beans and other vegetables, we came to one of those 
 clumsy machines with which the water is drawn from the 
 river level to the fields. Two aged mules went solemnly up 
 and down the shoot, delivering pail after pail into the irriga- 
 ting canal. The creaking wheels were heard a long way off, 
 and much disconcerted our horses. But some coaxing 
 persuaded them to pass the wheels and enter the farmyard 
 of the Bishop. It was crowded with screaming geese and 
 chickens, sheep and white turkeys, not to mention small 
 boys and the Jiishop's two qawwases, only lately stripped of 
 the swords which they had previously worn. This was done 
 by order of the Fariq, who failed to see why bishops should 
 assume civil or military prerogatives, and made no secret of 
 his dislike for this one, whose garden he much wanted for a 
 new cavalry exercising ground. 
 
 In the middle stood the Bishop himself superintending the 
 breakfast of some favourite pigeons. He led the way through 
 a second court, where grew orange, palm, and many another 
 ornamental tree and fiower, to a row of buildings containing 
 his library, chapel, and bedroom. The library was such a 
 room as scarcely exists elsewhere in Mesopotamia, handsomely 
 furnished in the English style, and stocked with some two 
 thousand volumes. There were a few pictures and pieces of 
 choice china, and a marble head of Roman workmanship 
 brought from Antioch. He was immensely proud of the 
 room, and told me in good English how he had adopted 
 various plans from libraries which he had seen when he 
 visited London to study the Syriac manuscripts of the British 
 Museum. He would not have been a Syrian had he not told 
 the price of everything, and that was a good sum; but he 
 comes from a fairly rich family, and Papal Bishops in the 
 East have not left their old churches for nothing. The chapel 
 was plain, excepting the altar, which was tawdry ; the bath 
 was all that could be desired. My visit was a long one, and 
 the conversation of this cultivated man most interesting; but 
 somehow, perhaps because we both felt that our real sym- 
 
h 
 
 274 
 
 The Old Syrians of Mosul. 
 
 II 
 
 pathies scarcely coincided, free discussion of the most 
 important questions seemed impossible. 
 
 Of the real rulers of both, these sects, the Chal(li\3ans and 
 the Papal Syrians, the Dominican mcnks of Mosul, and the 
 Papal Legate, something will be said later. The Dominicans 
 have a large establishment, with an oratory, and an admirable 
 printing-press, managed by the Padres for purposes of educa- 
 tion and conversion. Writing fifty years ago of Mosul, Mr. 
 Fletcher says : " Perhaps the next fifty years may render the 
 names even of the Jacobites and Nestorians a matter of 
 historv.'' His w^ords have not been iustitied, in spite of the 
 mao-nificent array with which the Church of Rome has 
 garrisoned this outpost in the East. Moreover, in Mosul 
 there remain some thousand houses of Jacobites, far out 
 numbering their Papal rivals. To this body let us therefore 
 
 turn. 
 
 In Mosul, as in many other towns, the Syrian house w^as 
 divided against itself. The two chief men, it is true, came to call 
 upon me on the same day ; but I suspect the meeting was 
 accidental, for there was clearly a mine always ready to burst. 
 The Patriarch's visit during the previous year had not been 
 conducive to peace. People who desired the welfare of their 
 nation were discouraged, while the professional mischief- 
 makers had a busy time fomenting ill-feeling between the 
 Patriarch and their OAvn chief men. 
 
 Thus the people were distrustful of each other, not liking 
 to lay the blame for the turn events had taken on any 
 individual, but secretly hinting that matters had been mis- 
 managed at headquarters as elsewhere. They had in Mosul 
 a Bishop, who enjoyed the soubriquet of "The Bishop of 
 Sheep," and that in no Biblical sense ; for he was a stupid, 
 ill-educated old man, fit rather to control the lower depart- 
 ments of a monastery than sit in the seat of the late Bishop, 
 an able man, it seemed, under whom schools had grown, and 
 a strong stand been made against Papal encroachment. 
 
 Several times I went to the Bishop's diwan on weekdays, 
 or on Sunday mornings after the celebration of the Eucharist. 
 But instead of the crowd that is wont on Sunday mornings to 
 
 Last Thoughts. 
 
 275 
 
 flock to the diw^an and receive a blessing on their week, there 
 were just one or tw^o who came to drink coffee, and a priest, 
 who did forbear to order the old man about in my presence, 
 but scarcely concealed the contempt which he felt, and at 
 another time freely confessed. Poor man ! he was a piteous 
 sight as he sat there smoking his shibuk, and longing to 
 return to the convent, whence he had been summoned to 
 guide the sinuous courses of the Mosul flock. He was daily 
 troul)led by calls for the taxes of the community, and the dues 
 demanded by the new Pasha on the sheep of the monastery. 
 Twice one Sunday morning the tax-collector came in, and wa6- 
 told to come later; this he did, but only to receive the same 
 answer. In truth, the Bishop had no taxes to pay, the 
 Patriarch having clearly and with perfect right refused to 
 pay for monastic property, appealing to an ancient charter 
 granting exemption for all such from taxation. 
 
 I had been some time in Mosul before I could speak in 
 confidence with any ti-ustworthy Syrian. Such an one w^as 
 Melki Abdullah, to whom 1 had letters of introduction, and 
 with him 1 had long and earnest conversation. He was the 
 head of one of the oldest houses in Mosul, which in his father's 
 and uncle's time had been wealthy, and renowned for learning. 
 He, too, had a good library of Syrian theology. But the 
 death of the fathers brought ill-feeling betw^een the sons, and 
 things did not go smoothly between Melki and his cousin. 
 Melki blamed him for neglecting business, and squandering 
 on pleasure the money that should have helped his people. He 
 himself had offered large sums of money to build a new church, 
 and maintain a school in the house, Avhich his father had built for 
 the purpose. He was enthusiastic over the notion of a school, 
 such as was contemplated at Deir-el-Za'aferan ; but raise 
 hopes of a restored church as he would, he met everywhere 
 the dull indifference that the quarrel seemed to have bred. 
 Then there was the continual cry for material aid. It is a 
 legacy of the oppression of a thousand years, and perhaps too 
 a taint in the Syrian character, that this cry ever comes 
 before the desire for a purer faith, and less contentious way 
 
 of life. 
 
 T 2 
 
Il 
 
 276 
 
 Ln.st Thoughts. 
 
 So it has been for years ; and thin^rs have been made far 
 worse by the presence of proselytizing bodies in the Church's 
 midst. The earlier American missionaries, to whose honour 
 be it said, that they have ever determined to stand Hrm 
 against anything that might obscure the purely spiritual aim 
 of their work, turned with tears in their eyes from the town 
 in which seven of their number had lost their lives. It is 
 perfectly certain that were this not so, and substantial help 
 and protection were given to their native brethren, the 
 position of the American missionaries would be stronger, and 
 their adherents far more numerous. Those that know the 
 East, know the temptation there is to use these means, and 
 will admire, without stint, the spirit which foregoes every 
 advantage, rather than weaken a right principle. This 
 temper in the American I have frequently seen, and am glad 
 to bear witness to it. It is the same as ever it was, this love 
 of temporalities ; and it will be a hard task to remove the 
 canker, before the wound can be truly healed. God forbid 
 that they will not one day see clearly through the mist, and 
 find the truth enshrined in the system and ritual of their own 
 church, for it is written, " In the morning sow thy seed, and 
 in the evening stay not thy hand; for thou knowest not 
 which shall prosper, either this or that." 
 
 Such thoughts were forced upon one by all that one heard 
 said, and those who have followed the course of events in 
 recent East or West Syrian history will forgive the despondent 
 tone. Yet for all this I found many both among priests and 
 people yearning for a more lively faith and zealous hierarchy. 
 I no longer wondered at the tone of sadness in which Mutran 
 Abdullah and Mutran Yunas always spoke of their people; 
 but I found comfort in the thought that if there was not 
 much here to encourage, yet in every other town or village of 
 Syrians there was so much to counterbalance the state of 
 things in Mosul. 
 
 It was our last Sunday at Mosul, and 1 went as usual to 
 the early celebration at the Syrian church of Mar Thnma 
 close by. It was the most orderly service, and the most 
 hearty, that I had seen in Turkey. There was an 
 
 Mosul. 
 
 211 
 
 evidence of training in the choir, and reverence both in 
 celebrant and congregation that was not common. I heard 
 the time-honoured sermon of the poor man entering the 
 room, and the rich man with a ring upon his finger, so full of 
 application to this people, but with all the power dried out of 
 it by constant repetition. The blest bread was distributed, to 
 myself a double portion, and a few remained behind to receive 
 the full sacrament, while the rest disbanded, and I went out 
 to the diwan to say farewell to his lordship, the '' Bishop of 
 
 Sheep." 
 
 Again it was evening, and I stood once more upon the 
 roof of my kind host's house, watching the sun go down. 
 Over the parapet I saw the horses munching their evening 
 meal, and the white donkey by their side. Suddenly the bell 
 of the Dominican church rang out. It was twelve o'clock, 
 and strange it sounded over the sleepy town. It seemed 
 like some old Italian city, until I looked eastward, and there I 
 seemed to see great palaces rise upon the mounds, with the 
 river flowing beneath them, and the quiet hum of the streets 
 sounded quite as far off as they. And as this faded, I lifted 
 my eyes and caught sight on Jebel Maqlub of the old Syrian 
 monastery, carrying my thoughts on to Christian times, and 
 the day when the great Jew's son, Bar-Hebraeus, fore- 
 shadowed in his funeral the time when these bitter dissensions 
 shall be done. And then my thoughts went further out to 
 the scene of the horrible deeds so lately done out beyond the 
 mountains, reminding me of the rulers that be, and the 
 present fear of Islam. And at last I awoke from the strange 
 magic of the scene, as the old man walked out of his door on 
 to the gallery of the nearest mosque, followed by his cat with 
 tail erect ; and echoing from dome to dome and minaret to 
 minaret, fell on my ear for the last time in Mosul the daily 
 cry that "Allah is great, and Mohammed the Prophet of 
 God; come, come to prayer." Truly may Islam pray, if 
 such a hard fate can pray. The cannon boomed from the 
 Serai, and darkness stole rapidly on, until one long streaky 
 glow was all that remained to tell where the sun went 
 down. 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 278 
 
 MoshL 
 
 r 
 
 ii 
 
 The next day we started on our return journey to Mardin. 
 There I said farewell to our kind Doctor and liis friends. I 
 lingered some time about the church of the Arbain before 
 the Patriarch would let me go, so overjoyed was he at my 
 safe return from that '^ City of Abominations," and feared 
 that if I went no one would come to take my place. Abu 
 8elim grew very despondent, and on the day of my departure, 
 after I had once more receiv^ed the Patriarch's blessing and 
 kissed his hand, rode out to say farewell on the road to 
 Diarbekr. It was the last I saw of Mardin, Abu 8elim 
 riding slowly back up the winding road ; he was too sad to 
 sing that day, and so was I. 
 
 -oo>»;e 
 
 THE OLD SYIUAN CHUIICH 
 
 >o^«;o« — 
 
 CHAPTKK 1. 
 
 TiiK Church of Antkx'h. 
 
 *'Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Paul; and 
 when he had found him he brought him unto Antioch. And 
 it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves 
 together with the Church and taught much people. And 
 the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." 
 Thus was formed the earliest Gentile Church, which was 
 through its sons to extend its influence over the whole East, 
 and suffer more from persecutions and contentions than any 
 
 other in the world. 
 
 The Apostle St. Peter was universally recognised by the 
 early Church as the first Bishop of the see, or as the Eusebian 
 chronicle more accurately says 6 Kopv^aros rrjv Iv 'Avrtoxeta 
 TrpwToi/ 6'c/>i€\two-tts iKKX.r)(TLai', and it is to him that the Patriarchs 
 of Antioch have always looked back as the first of the line 
 which they claim to represent.* 
 
 Of the wonderful spread of the Gospel towards the East, 
 of the work of Thadda3us at Edessa, of Maris his successor 
 —called the Second ^^ Catholicos of the East," of Ignatius 
 
 * Cp. Neale, "Patriarchate of Antioch;" Etherid^e, " The Syrian Churches;" 
 for accounts of the early years of the Church. 
 
I! 
 
 280 
 
 The Primltirr Church. 
 
 '' Tlieopliorus the borne of God," — every history gives ample 
 accounts. " I am the corn of God; I must bo ground by the 
 teeth of beasts, that I may bo found the pure bread of God.'' 
 So said Ignatius, the first in this Church of that great army 
 of martyrs, whose zeal sowed the " seed of the Church '' so 
 richly through the East. Ignatius died 111) a.d., and nine- 
 teen years later Judas, the last of the Circumcision, followed 
 him. There were many churches now organized : Ca^sarea, 
 to which Jerusalem still owed allegiance; Seleucia, whose 
 Catholicos came for consecration to Antioch ; Edessa, Damas- 
 cus, Tyre, and Apama3a. All these acknowledged the primacy 
 of Antioch; but it w^as not until the Council of Nica^a that 
 her exarchal authority was confirmed throughout the East. 
 
 The Church of Antioch boasts a long roll of martyrs 
 saints and doctors. Theophilus, the opponent of Marcion, 
 published a famous defence of Christianity in 181 a.d. 
 Serapion defended the faith against Montanus, and was 
 succeeded by Alexander, by whom Origen was ordained, and 
 who, having died in prison, is counted a martyr. Babylas, 
 his successor, suflfered a martyrdom (251 a.d.), which aroused 
 the enthusiasm of Chrysostom, himself a Syrian. Under 
 Demetrian (252 a.d.),* the next bishop but one, was held the 
 first Council of Antioch to condemn the heresy of Novatian 
 of Kome. But on his death Antioch herself fell into heresy, 
 first of all the Churches, and for many years suffered the 
 immoral rule of Paul of Samosata, the instructor of Zenobia. 
 After two councils he was deposed, and succeeded by 
 Domnus (270 A.D.).t 
 
 During the episcopate of Cyril the great tenth persecution 
 was commenced by the edict of Diocletian and Valerius 
 (303 A.D.). Among others Pamphilus, the learned doctor of 
 Caesarea and friend of Eusebius, suffered; while the pages 
 of the historians are full of the glorious sufferings of the 
 martyrs of the Church, which had peace only when the 
 Edict of Milan was proclaimed (313 a.d.), giving freedom of 
 worship to the Christians. 
 
 The Arian Era. 
 
 281 
 
 The Edict of Milan marks the beginning of a better-known 
 period of the Church's history, the era of Constantino and 
 the Council of Nicaea, during Avhich the See of Antioch was 
 filled by a succession of bishops illustrious throughout the 
 Church. Some years previously Gregory (297 a.d.), a prince 
 of the royal house of Tiridates, who was restored to his 
 Armenian kingdom by the Roman arms, was converted. He 
 suffered persecution in his own land, then received consecra- 
 tion as Bishop from Leontius of Ca3sarea in Cappadocia, and 
 finally became known as the " Illuminator of Armenia." 
 
 The episcopate of Eustathius is marked by the great 
 struggle with Arianism (325 a.d.). S. Jerome speaks of him 
 as the '' resounding trumpet that first gave the alarm against 
 Arius." He was deposed by Constantino through the 
 intrigues of the Arians (331 a.d.), and died in exile at 
 Phili])pi (380 A.D.). Many troubles followed his deposition. 
 For sixty years Arian bishops filled the see; and under the 
 auspices of the Arian Emperor Anastasius a remarkable 
 council was held at Antioch (341 a.d.), at which a basis of 
 communion was established* between the Catholics, Semi- 
 Arians, and Arians. The quarrels rife at this time in the 
 Patriarchate of Antioch are a saddening spectacle ; but it is 
 to be remembered that while the quarrels between sects 
 obtain necessarily a foremost place in history, yet the quiet 
 growth of the Church goes on unrecorded, because it is 
 peaceful ; while the men who do this peaceful work are those 
 who, after the great champions of the Faith, a Chrysostom or 
 an Augustine, earn the truest glory by their lives. Hilarion 
 (b. 292 A.D.) — the founder of monasticism in Palestine — 
 Efraim of Nisibis (d. 378 a.d.)— the "sweet singer'' of the 
 Syrians — with a countless throng of martyrs, bear living 
 witness to the reality of the Church's growth; while the name 
 of the great Athanasius stands out as of a man who to all 
 succeeding ages has shown in the highest light the heroism 
 and the profundity of the Christian ideal. 
 
 * Eu8. vi. 46. 
 
 t Eu8. vii. 30. 
 
 * Some valuable canons were the result of this Council. 
 by the sentence of deposition passed upon Athanasius. 
 
 Bat it is tainted 
 
282 
 
 The Srhism at Antioch, 331— *539 a.d. 
 
 The Council of Ephesaa, 431 a.d. 
 
 283 
 
 fr 
 
 For a time it seemed as if Arianism was to triumph 
 over the Catholic faith, spreading under imperial favour 
 throughout the whole Church. In Antioch, the Catholic 
 supporters of the deposed Eustathius held together under 
 the leadership of two laymen, Flavian and Diodorus.* 
 Athanasius visited and encouraged them, and when asked 
 by the Emperor Constantius to grant to the Arians a 
 church in Alexandria, "willingly,'' he replied, " if Leontiusf 
 will give one in Antioch to be the property of the 
 Eustathians.'' 
 
 The Ariaus and semi- Arians were still struggling for 
 supremacy at Antioch (354 a.d.), when the orthodox Meletius, 
 one of the noblest of her bishops, was appointed to the See. 
 It was an epoch of great Bishops, Cyril at Jerusalem, Basil 
 and Gregory of Nanzianzen in Asia Minor ; but in Antioch 
 Meletius, in spite of his universally recognised holiness, was 
 unable tu make peace between the combatants. He was three 
 times banished through the intrigues of the Arians, and at 
 last died (381 a.d.), while the Second General Council, of 
 which he was President, was sitting at Constantinople. 
 Athanasius in vain attempted from Alexandria to heal the 
 divisions at Antioch. John of Constantinople, ever claimed 
 as one of themselves by the Syrians, and called by the Syriac 
 equivalent for his Greek name Chrysustom, was more 
 successful, and reconciled Rome and Alexandria to Flavian, J 
 the Catholic Bishop of Antioch. He saw, too, the final 
 triumph of Christianity, which may be dated from the death 
 of Julian and the succession of Theodosius to the rule of 
 the entire Empire. He ako saw complete peace restored 
 at Antioch by the Patriarch Alexander § before he died in 
 exile (407 a.d.). 
 
 In the middle of the fifth century, the names of three 
 great men come into prominence, Cyril Patriarch of Alex- 
 
 * Theodoret H. E. ii. 24. 
 t Arian Patriarch of Antioch, 345 -350 a.d. 
 + Patriarch, 381—404 a.d. 
 
 § Theodoret, v. 35. Patriarch either 408 —418 a.d. (according to Eastern 
 tradition), or 413—123 a.d. according to Le Quien, Or. Chr. ii. 718. 
 
 andria,* John of Antioch, f and Nestorius of Constantinople,^: 
 with whom is connected the history of the struggles, which 
 resulted in the condemnation, first, of Nestorius, at the Council 
 of Kphesus ; secondly, of Eutyches, at that of Chalcedon, and 
 thirdly, in the secession of the two churches of Syria and 
 Persia, which followed the teaching of the two great 
 heresiarchs. The See of Seleucia, no longer dependent on 
 Antioch for the consecration of its Catholicos, adopted the 
 heresy of Nestorius, which taught substantially the existence 
 of two personalities in our Lord, and consequently refused to 
 the Virgin Mary the title of Theotokos. Nestorianism became 
 the recognised form of Christianity in Persia ; and the 
 Catholicos, encouraged by the Persian Emperor to adopt a 
 doctrine that would estrange his Church from that of his rivals 
 in the West, assumed the title of Patriarch; while Persia 
 became the refuge of many who held the same opinions from 
 the rigour of Justinian.§ 
 
 John of Antioch had been delayed on his way to Ephesus, 
 and the Council, which condemned Nestorius, was held with- 
 out him under the presidency of Cyril. As soon as he 
 arrived, John, vexed that the Bishops had not waited five 
 days longer for him, held a second Council, and condemned 
 Cyril for the use of phrases that savoured of heresy in the 
 direction opposite to that in which Nestorius had erred. But 
 after the first heat of controversy mutual explanations and a 
 more careful adjustment of phrases on the part of Cyril 
 
 * 412 
 
 -444 a.d. 
 
 t 428- 
 
 -440 A.D. 
 
 X 428- 
 
 -431 A.D. 
 
 The Patriarch of Antioch was now the recognised Metropolitan of the fifteen 
 provinces of the Eastern Church. At the Council of Ephesus, however, John 
 received a check to his claim to jurisdiction over Cyprus. It was an age when 
 Patriarchs were inclined to extend their power, and it would have been well had 
 others besides John borne this check in mind. 
 
 § Circa 498 a.d. 
 
 In 489, the famous school of Edessa, founded by Efraim of Nisibis, was 
 closed by the Emperor Zeno, because it had become a stronghold of Nestorianism. 
 In connection with the favour shown to Nestorianism in Persia, it must always 
 be remembered, how large a share politics have had in the ecclesiastical affairs 
 of the East. 
 
h 
 
 284 
 
 The Council of Chalcedony 451 a.d. 
 
 The Council of Chalcedon, 45] a.d. 
 
 285 
 
 effected the reunion, which both seem really to have desired. 
 Nevertheless, Cyril had used expressions which, if they did 
 not justify, at least gave colour to the doctrine, which Euty- 
 ches, an Archimandrite of Constantinople, promulgated in 
 alarm at the spread of Nestorianism in the East. John of 
 Antioch had been a man of peace, and had used all his 
 influence to urge Nestorius to modify his dangerous language. 
 But Eutyches had no such adviser. It seemed that with the 
 death of John of Antioch and Sixtus of Rome in 440 a.d., and of 
 Cyril four years later, that the Church was losing her great 
 champions ; but the same Providence that raised up Athana- 
 sius against Arianism and Cyril against Nestorianism, called 
 to the seat of Rome one of the greatest Bishops of that 
 greatest of sees, Leo the Great, to combat the error of 
 I]utyches. 
 
 Eusebius of Dorylaeum, a man, it seems, with a keen 
 scent for heresy, having been the first to attack Nestorius 
 nine years before, suddenly denounced Eutyches, an ignorant 
 but worthy monk, more zealous to defend the unity of our 
 Lord's person than mentally capable of defining it. Flavian, 
 the gentle Patriarch of Constantinople, counselled peaceful 
 remonstrance ; but Eusebius was resolute, and a Council was 
 summoned. It is not surprising that Eutyches resented this 
 treatment, and doubtless he was confirmed thereby in his 
 opinion, refusing to answer the charge before a personal 
 enemy, such as he knew Eusebius to be. On the other hand 
 his stupidity lessens our sympathy, especially when we con- 
 sider the gentleness wnth w^iich he was treated by the Bishops 
 assembled by Flavian at Constantinople. Matters might 
 have ended with the explanations there given, had not 
 Dioscorus, the successor of Cyril at Alexandria, vi..lently 
 espoused the cause of Eutyches, and held the Council knowa 
 ever since as the Robber Council of Ephesus (a.d. 449), over 
 the scene of which it is best to draw a veil. The injuries 
 received there caused the death of Flavian. A general 
 Council was now a necessity, and it was convened at Chalce- 
 don by the Emperor Marcian on October 8, 45L After seven 
 sessions Dioscorus and Eutyches were condemned, and exiled 
 
 to Paphlagonia. The answer of Dioscorus was a denunciation 
 of the Council, and a protest that it disannulled the faith of 
 Nicsea, as upheld by Cyril. 
 
 However much we may regret many of the circumstances 
 connected with this Council of Chalcedon, the tyrannical 
 behaviour of Eusebius that preceded it, and the lamentable 
 schisms that followed it, it must remain a matter of thankful- 
 ness that it called forth the great " Tome " of Leo, which 
 determined for ever the language in which may be expressed 
 all that we can know of our Lord's nature, and added the 
 coping stone to the dogmatic structure of our creeds. But 
 the native Churches of Syria, Armenia, and Egypt, have 
 never accepted the Council, and for these reasons, that it 
 seemed to throw doubt and dishonour upon the sainted 
 Cyril, and was the result of a desire to enforce the authority 
 of Constantinople and Rome upon the patriarchates of Alex- 
 andria and Antioch. With the doctrines of the Council no 
 fault is found, in so far as they agree with the Nicseans and 
 Cyril, by the Egyptians, Syrians, or Armenians. But it is 
 impossible that they can stand in a completely satisfactory 
 relation to the Catholic Church, until the Council be ac- 
 cepted as setting forth by the mouth of the great Leo the 
 one formula that can express the nature of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ.^ 
 
 That they do not hold, nor ever have held, as a body, pure 
 Eutychianism, will appear later. But we must leave this 
 subject to describe the steps by which the final separation 
 between the Greeks and the Syrians was brought about. It 
 
 * The Council condemned Eutychianism as '' o-vyxvaiv Kal Kpaaiu," the 
 monstrous doctrine that the Divine nature of the only begotten Son was a 
 commixture capable of suffering. It confessed one Christ " eV 8vo <\>v<t^(tiv (not 
 only e'/c hvwv (pvaewv) aa-uyxvToos arpeTTTus aSiaipeTws axoopiarws yuupi^ofievoy." 
 The phrase of Cyril, recalling that of Apollinaris, (- The one incarnate nature 
 of Christ") was much fought over. It was "The one Divine Nature of God 
 Incarnate." This was the watchword of the Eutychians who " used some of 
 the words of Cyril, and those in a sense not intended by him. From real, 
 though erring reverence, they wished to honour Christ and to bar out a profane 
 heresy by regarding His manhood as absorbed in His Godhead." Bright's 
 "Hist, of Church," p. 378. 
 

 286 
 
 the ''Henotlcon;' 482 a.d. 
 
 3 ] "^ 
 
 i 
 
 is not an edit'vincr spectacle, the Church at war during 
 these hundred years, but it is necessary to consider it in 
 order to rightly understand the present position of the two 
 parties. 
 
 The chief scene of the struggle, heralded by the Council 
 of Chalcedon and the deposition of Dioscorus, was Alexandria. 
 A Catholic Patriarch was appointed, to fall a victim almost 
 immediately to the friends of Dioscorus, who raised Timothy 
 "the Cat " to the throne. That city is described as full of a 
 diabolical frenzy, upon which it is needless to dwell. At 
 Antioch, Peter the Fuller, an ardent anti-Chalcodonian, was 
 raised to the Patriarchate, twice deposed and as many times 
 restored. He was the tirst to introduce into the ancient 
 hymn to the Trinity known as the " Trisagion '' the expression 
 " Who wast crucitied for us,'' in order to emphasise his belief 
 in the unity of our Lord\s natures and his opposition to the 
 decrees of Chalcedon.* The expression became the badge of 
 party in the Capital ; and the weak Emperor Anastasius was 
 powerless to check the violence of the green and blue factions, 
 who displayed their theological and political sympathies by 
 chanting in the churches the hymn with or without the addition 
 so hateful to the Catholics. Actual war broke out in 514 ad., 
 when the Count Vitalian espoused the cause of those whJ 
 supported the Synod against the blasphemy of its opponents, 
 and won the day. 
 
 In the reign of Zeno, an attempt was made to assuage the 
 violence of the storm by the publication of an edict called the 
 '' Henoticon '' or Concordat.f All mention of Chalcedon was 
 carefully omitted, although all doctrines contrary to the Synod 
 were condemned. But the extreme Monophysites, no less 
 
 * The phrase did not refer to the wliole Trinity, but was intended to empha- 
 sise tlie fact that He who was crucified for us was verily one of the divine 
 Trinity. But the plain outcome of the position was one which, nevertheless, no 
 coanti-Synodite " would recognise, namely that God died. 
 
 t The •■ Henoticon " is generally admitted to be free from heresy (Asseman, 
 B. O. i. 343: Pagi. iii. -411). But it was a political move to j^ain peace, rather 
 than a real attempt to adjust differences with a view to final unity ; an<l this was 
 no reason for mere compromise. Cp Evagrius, H. E. iii. 13. 
 
 Th' '' Three GhapterxJ' 
 
 287 
 
 than the orthodox Romans, refused to accept it, the first 
 because it did not condemn, the last because it did not enforce 
 the decrees of the Chalcedon while both parties anathematized 
 Peter Mongus, the Monophysite Patriarch of Alexandria, and 
 Acacius of Constantinople, for accepting a well-meant, but 
 ill-advised compromise. The extreme Monophysites separated 
 from their brethren (484 a.d.), and being without Bishop or 
 Emperor, were known for many years as the '' Acephali '' or 
 headless party.* 
 
 The divisions, which Zeno and Anastasius had vainly tried 
 to heal, were only widened by the religious differences between 
 the orthodox Justinian and his heterodox queen Theodora. 
 The Council of Constantinople succeeded at last in introdu- 
 cing peace, by ruling that the obnoxious addition to the 
 '' Trisagion '' expressed only the truth, '' that one member of 
 the holy and consubstantial Trinity was crucified ; " an 
 explanation which, it may be thought, might with advantage 
 have been made at an early stage of the quarrel. But the 
 addition, even so explained, was never adopted by the 
 orthodox, who continued to look upon it as a badge of 
 Monophysite sympathies. 
 
 The Council had been made necessary by the attempt of 
 Justinian to make peace between the contending parties, by 
 enforcing the condemnation of the famous '' Three Chapters.'' 
 These chapters were the writings of three men formerly 
 accused of Nestorianism ; (1), Theodore of Mopsuesta; 
 (2), Theodoret of Cyrus ; (3), Ibas of Edessa; but as the two 
 latter had been acquitted of heresy at Chalcedon, the edict 
 was only the signal for another outburst of religious zeal. It 
 was essentially a disingenious attempt to discredit Chalcedon. 
 The Western Churches fought for the honour of Leo and 
 Chalcedon, vigorously denouncing the Emperor ; but their 
 cause was weakened by the simoniacal and cowardly Pope 
 
 * Cp. John Eph.. v. 6, for their subsequent history, as for an account of the 
 numerous sects which prrew from them. •• Some are altogether imaginary ; some 
 diffe-ent. not in reality, but only in terms ; some were distinguished, not by their 
 doctrine, but by some external rites, and other outward ceremonies.'" Mosheim, 
 ii. v. Thirty-six sects of Monophysites are enumerated. 
 
ii^**s«<j^#*!^**i*»*«i*l«M- 
 
 288 
 
 Sever us, Patriarch of Ant loch. 
 
 John Scholasficus and the Imprisoned Bishops. 289 
 
 :H!. 
 
 Mi 
 
 
 Yigilius, then in Constantinople. Africa, too, condemned the 
 Emperor; and a Council was summoned at Constantinople 
 (a.d. 553). Little was gained by the Council's confirmation 
 of the edict condemning the Chapters, and the quarrel was 
 left to linger for a hundred years and die a natural death. 
 
 At Antioch meanwhile there had been no peace since the 
 Synod. Peter the Fuller was a man of war and eagerly 
 opposed the " Synodites," as his party called the Greeks. 
 But he, no less than Severus, his successor, anathematized 
 Eutyches and Dioscorus as heretics. Severus now headed 
 the jVioderate Monophysites, aided by the learned and power- 
 ful Philoxenus, whom Peter had consecrated Bishop of 
 Hierapolis. Their efforts succeeded in the expulsion of the 
 vacillating Flavian (512 a.d.). and the appointment of 
 Severus to the See of Antioch by the influence of the Mono- 
 physite Emperor Anastasius. Severus was a native of 
 Sozopolis in Pisidia. He studied law and was baptized by 
 one of the Orthodox in Beirut ; but soon after he joined the 
 '^ Acephali,'' denounced the Catholics as Nestorians, and 
 entered a Monophysite monastery at Gaza, where he was 
 consecrated Bishop.* Passing from one place to another he 
 became first an extreme Eutychian, and denounced Peter 
 Mongus of Alexandria and all who accepted the '^Henoticon '' 
 of Zeno j then, charged with stirring up tumult at Alexandria, 
 he fled to Constantinople, where he was received with honour 
 by Anastasius (491 a.d.). On being raised to the See of 
 Antioch he recanted his extreme Monophysite views ; but 
 bemg charged with cruel persecution of the orthodox in his 
 diocese, a sentence of deposition was drawn up against him 
 (518 A.D.), and ratified through the influence of the orthodox 
 Scythian Count Vitalian. Irenaeus, Count of the East, was 
 commissioned to cut out the tongue of the heretic ; but he 
 escaped to Alexandria, where he received protection from the 
 Monophysite Patriarch Timothy. Not long afterwards 
 Philoxenus was murdered by the "Synodites'^ in Paphlagonia, 
 and Antioch ceased to be in the hands of the Monophysites 
 
 * Evagrius, iii. 33. 
 
 until, on the death of Severus in Egypt,* Paul the Black, 
 the gentle and much persecuted Monophysite Patriarch,' 
 was appointed to the See. 
 
 The death of Severus (542 a.d.), the deposed Patriarch of 
 Antioch, may be taken to mark the beginning of a new period 
 in the history of the Syrian Church ; for from this date the 
 double succession to the See has been maintained to the 
 present day. 
 
 Theodosius, the Monophysite Patriarch of Alexandria, had 
 found an honourable refuge in Constantinople under the 
 favour of the Empress Theodora until his death (567 a.d.). 
 Justinian, influenced perhaps by his wife, had gradually 
 towards the end of his reign came to look with favour on the 
 Monophysites, who for a time were free from persecution. 
 But with the death of Justinian (565 a.d.), and the succession 
 of Justin, the violent supporter of the orthodox believers, 
 more troubles were in store for them, chiefly at the hands of 
 the implacable John Scholasticus, of Sirmin^ who in the same 
 year succeeded the mild Eutychius in the Patriarchate of 
 Constantinople. John began by an attack on the convents in 
 the Capital, where Theodora has given a refuge to the 
 persecuted nuns of Antioch and Asia Minor. This he 
 followed up by obtaining the imprisonment of four leading 
 Bishops of Asia, who stood out against Chalcedon : John of 
 Ephesus, the historian, Stephen, Metropolitan of Cyprus, Paul 
 ''the Black," Patriarch of Antioch, and Elisha, another 
 Bishop in Asia Minor. A fifth Bishop,t Paul of Aphrodisias, 
 Metropolitan of Caria, he had already arrested, and deprived 
 of his orders as an opponent of Chalcedon. He forced him to 
 sign a recantation which he never read, and reconsecrated 
 him Bishop of Antioch in Caria. "And this became a 
 mockery and a derision to the actors themselves, and to his 
 own people ; and his clergy called him the double-dyed." J 
 
 The same course was pursued with regard to the imprisoned 
 Bishops, whose ordination John wished to annul, and so 
 
 * Evagrius. iv. 11. Cp. Gibbon, iv. 382. 
 t John Eph. ii. 42. 
 :;: John Eph. ii. 41. 
 
 U 
 
 iH. 
 
^^^^^SiXM 
 
 S"'^fe%SK^.. 
 
 290 
 
 The I mpr 160)16(1 Bishops. 
 
 extend his own jurisdiction. The persecution dra^^ged on, 
 the Patriarch insisting on the acceptance of Chalcedon, and 
 re-ordination, and the Bishops urging the thirty-six com- 
 munions in which he himself had previously joined with them. 
 Finally, the mediation of Justin induced them to give way, 
 and, on the understanding that Chalcedon should be rejected, 
 consent to communicate twice. The Pati-iarch prevaricated 
 when the time came to anathematize Chalcedon ; the Bishops 
 withdrew, and, an inquiry having been made by Justin's 
 orders, they were banished each to a separate exile, "so that 
 neither friend nor stranger should see them any more." 
 
 The ^lonophysite Bishops formally renounced all connection 
 with the " Synodites," and thus cut themselves off from the 
 communion of the Church of Constantinople. But the exile 
 of the Bishops did not content the " Synodites,'' or 
 " Melkites," as their opponents contemptuously called the 
 servants of the im[)enal power. Paul the Black, imprisoned 
 in a monasterv, was used with everv brutalitv for darino* to 
 occupy his time in writing an account of the events he had 
 witnessed. Stephen of Cyprus had been more discreet ; and, 
 having been convinced of the soundness of Chalcedon, 
 obtained at Constantinople considerable influence over the 
 weak Emperor Justin, who sup])orted him against the ambi- 
 tion of the Patriarch John. This he utilised on behalf of 
 Paul, who was summoned to Constantinople. But Paul had 
 no desire to stay in the capital ; and before long, John 
 Scholasticus, fearing that his influence with the Emperor 
 might grow, connived at his escape to Mesopotamia, where 
 he found refuge with ^fondir, the son of Harith, the Christian 
 King of the Tayan Arabs. Stephen had no greater success 
 with John of Ephesus, and was the unwilling but helpless 
 witness of the sufferings which the good Bishop so touchingly 
 describes in his history. 
 
 Orthodoxy was u])hel(l and extended by the cruelties of 
 Justin and John, who took decisive steps to undo the work 
 which the influence of the Monophysite Empresses Theodora 
 and Sophia had dune. There is no reason to doubt the sub- 
 stantia! truth of John of l^phesus, although a partisan of the 
 
 M 
 
 The Imprinoned Bishops. 
 
 291 
 
 persecuted, ,„ his account of the outrnges, for which he saw 
 a judgment in the terrible disease which overtook both 
 hmperor and Patriarcli, and finally caused their death 
 
 rhe incapacity of Justin, that came of his disease, caused 
 libenus Caesar* to be appointed Regent (574 a.d.), who 
 proved himself later (578 a.d.) to be one of the noblest 
 Kmperors that occupied the throne. He immediately rebuked 
 the Patriarch John, whose venom seemed'only to be increased 
 by his malady, and commanded peace to be kept towards the 
 Eastern Bishops. Urged by Tiberius to tell what fault he 
 found with the " Diacrinomeni"t John could bring no definite 
 charge of heresy, but only repeated that they abhorred the 
 Lounc.l of Chalcedon and the two natures, and would not 
 communicate with the " Synodites." "Why then," said 
 I .benus "do you urge me to be, like Diocletian, a persecutor 
 o_f Chri.stians Tiberius was no less firm with Eutychius 
 
 10,7 A.D.), who on the death of John was restored to the 
 patriarchate of Constantinople, and wished to involve the 
 orthodox " + ,n the persecutions which the Emperor coun- 
 tenanced against the Arians and other heretics; while the 
 death of Eutychms, and the succession of the tolerant John 
 the 1 aster, brought complete relief to the persecuted " Anti- 
 oynodites." 
 
 It is necessary now to retrace our steps, in order to follow 
 the course of events in the Bast which led to the consolidation 
 ot the Jacobite Church. About the year 540 the Bishops 
 imprisoned at Constantinople were delighted, just at the time 
 wlien their cause seemed liopeless, by the arrival of a monk 
 ot the monastery of Phasil, near Edessa, named James 
 known later as Barda3us § or Zanzalus. He was the son of 
 
 * The heirs to the Byzantine throne adopted the title of Cs'^ar 
 
 § Called by the Syrians •• El Barda'ani,- from the rags in which he dre.sed 
 His history may be read in John of Ephesus, in Asseman B.O. i. 424 ii 62 '■ Le 
 
 Te7 m;n''l i ' ^""^ '^"""'°'^ *^"'"''- '^"^ *^''"^'''''' '^ " *'«= ^''''''ie called 
 
 ii; 
 
 u 2 
 
-- ^.^""WiK'^^--'^".-*'"-,^!!:^.-^:^ 
 
 292 
 
 Jacobus Biirdmus, 
 
 Jacobus Bardams. 
 
 293 
 
 11' 
 
 11 
 
 It 
 If 
 
 ? 
 
 Theophilus-Bar-Munu, a priest of Tela Mauzalat (Constan- 
 tina), in the same province, and was sent to plead the cause 
 of the Monophysites at the capital. He was accompanied by 
 another monk, Sergius, and remained some fifteen years at 
 Constantinople, devising means for restoring the ''orthodox" 
 faith in Asia. James was consecrated Metropolitan Bishop 
 by the imprisoned Bishops, and returned to Syria to take the 
 lead of the Monophysites. There he had strong supporters 
 in Harith and his son Mondir, kings of the Tayan Arabs. 
 On the death of Severus he consecrated his friend Sergius to 
 the See of Antioch ; and, when Sergius died, appointed Paul 
 the Black, one of the Bishops imprisoned at Constantinople, 
 to fill his place * (545 a.d.). James thus continued the succes- 
 sion of Patriarchs, which began with Severus, at Antioch, and 
 has lasted unbroken down to the present day.t 
 
 It has been mentioned that Paul the Black had gone to 
 Constantinople in 571, and comnuuiicated with Stephen of 
 Cyprus and John Scholastius, thinking thus to promote 
 unity. Three years after his flight and repentance he was 
 received into coiinuunion by James Barda3us. But Peter of 
 
 * Dionysius Chron. quoted by Asseman B.O. ii. 16. 
 
 t Renaudot (Lit. Or. i. 365), relying on the Htatement of Maris and Amnis, 
 for which no proof is given, says that James was never more than a priest. 
 Asseman (B.O. i. Introd.) affirms his belief in his valid consecration, because 
 Kome recognises Syrian orders as well as Greek. He quotes a letter written by 
 Andreas Masius to Moses Mardenus, a Jacobite who in 1552 visited Rome, 
 telling him that he was mistaken in thinking that his or<lers were not recognised 
 at Rome. Nor is it conceivable that at a time when exact and valid consecration 
 was so much insisted on (as is clear from the pains which were taken to secure 
 proper consecration for Theodore, Monophysite Patriarch of Alexandria, in 
 568 A.D.), that James should have afterwards, without any apparent remon- 
 strance, consecrated two Patriarchs, eighty-nine Bishoi)s, and ordained an immense 
 number of priests, if he in reality was no more than a priest. Theodosius of 
 Alexandria, Anthimus of Constantinople, both deposed patriarchs, John of 
 Egj-pt, and Constantius of Laodicea, are named as his consecrators in 541 a.d. 
 It was for want of duly consecrated Bishops that Tritheites died out. Bar 
 Hebrieus asserts (ap. Asseman B.O. ii. 327) that he was not Bishop of Edessa, 
 as generally supposed, but " (Ecumenical Metropolitan," with no fixed See, but 
 with Metropolitan authority over all his followers in every place. He mentions 
 two Bishops of Edessa— Theodore 540 a.d., Thomas 542 a.d.— during the 
 episcopate of James. Cp. Bar Salib in Asseman, ii. 424. 
 
 Alexandria accused Paul ot having helped to consecrate 
 Theodore, without the knowledge of the people, to the See of 
 Alexandria, and pronounced his deposition from the See of 
 Antioch. The result was a bitter schism between Alexandria 
 and Antioch, which was not healed until after the death of 
 James in 578. Since the deposition of the Patriarch Theodo- 
 sius in 538 there had been no peace in Alexandria. Egypt 
 was Monophysite almost to a man, and the Catholic Patriarchs, 
 Paul of Tanis (5:38) and Apollinaris (551), like Proterius 
 (4,)1) the succ(5ssor of the heretic Dioscorus, were obliged to 
 maintain their position by the aid of the Imperial guards. 
 Gibbon draws a grim picture of the horrors of the times, and 
 speaks with relief, if also with contempt, of the milder efforts 
 of Kulogius and John the Almoner a few years later to main- 
 tain the faith of Chalcedon against overwhelming odds in 
 Alexandria. '' A thousand years had now elapsed since Egypt 
 ceased to be a kingdom. . . . The conflict of zeal and 
 persecution rekindled some sparks of their national spirit. 
 They abjured with a foreign heresy the manners and even 
 language of the Greeks ; every Melkite, in their eyes, was a 
 stranger, every Jacobite a citizen.'' 
 
 In addition to their hatred of the Greeks, the Egyptians 
 were divided among themselves, one party supporting Peter 
 and the other Theodore, the two Monophysite Patriarchs. 
 James had until 576 upheld Theodore, but in an evil moment 
 he was persuaded to go to Alexandria, and not only com- 
 municate with but draw up articles for union with that same 
 Peter, whom he had but lately anathematised as an adulterous 
 intruder* in the See of Alexandria. He was persuaded to 
 agree moreover to the deposition of Paul of Antioch, but not 
 to his excommunication. The immediate result was a violent 
 schism in Syria, which spread all through Asia and Armenia. 
 " Even of heathens and Jews and heretics, no one, however 
 fierce and savage, would venture to speak so reproachfully as 
 the believers did of one another ; at the very time when in 
 
 • So in the ecclesiastical phraseolopry of the day was an intruded Bishop 
 spoken of. 
 
■■-■»*e!^»i„ 
 
 291. 
 
 Tlie Death of James, 578 a.d. 
 
 M 
 
 I 
 
 ■1 
 
 matters of faith there was no difference or dispute between 
 them." * In vain Paul desired to confer with James ; tliere 
 were those whose interest it was to keep them apart, ^ilondir, 
 the Arab, of his own accord, and urged by Paul and others, 
 attempted in vain to mediate between his two friends, Paul 
 and James. Longinus, Bishop and evangelizer of Xubia, 
 added his entreaties to those of Mondir; but a kind of mad- 
 ness was in the disputants, prompted, says John, by no one 
 but Satan ; and the country presents a universal spectacle of 
 mtestme war. Suddenly all were overawed by the sudden 
 end of James. Peter of Alexandria having died scarcely 
 a year after his election, James, without making known his 
 object, set out on a visit to his successor Damianus. But as 
 he and his attendants arrived at the monastery of Cassianus, 
 on the borders of Kgypt, the whole number died one after 
 another. " And astonishment seized all men because of 
 these things, and wonder that the blessed James and his 
 company should so suddenly be snatched away. And many 
 concluded in themselves that possibly he was about to do 
 something strange, and likely to increase the troubles of the 
 Church ; or that he was even purposing to make a Patriarch 
 (of Antioch) ; and so God took him to himself, that the soul 
 of the pious old man might not suffer loss.'' f So died the 
 eonsolidator of the Syrian Church, a man deserving pitv 
 rather for his weakness, and love for his gentle goodness, than 
 censure for the unwise course into which he was driven. 
 
 It may not be out of place here to add the just and kindiv 
 words with which John of Ephesus praises the virtue and 
 mourns the weakness of his beloved James. It has been the 
 fate of the Eastern Churches now out of communion with the 
 Greeks, to have been led by ignorant or weak men ; for such 
 were Nestorius Eutychesf and James. "Of the simplicity and 
 innocence of the old man Jacob may be said that which is 
 
 * John Eph. iv. 19. 
 
 + John Eph. iv. 33. 
 
 X It must on no account be iraa^ined that Copts or Syrians acknowledge 
 Eutyehes. Both sternly anathematize him. although he was the original cauao 
 of the quarrel which led to their excommunication. 
 
 { 
 
 The Death of James. 
 
 295 
 
 written in the Scriptures, concerning the brethren in the days 
 of the blessed Apostles, 'that in singleness of their heart they 
 praised the Lord.' For he, like them, to simplicity and 
 innocence joined great spiritual zeal, and from his youth, 
 even unto old age, was indefatigable in his exertions and 
 labours for the Church. He was, however, too much under 
 the influence of the crafty and designing men about him, who 
 turned him every way they chose, and used him as a means 
 of establishing their own power, swaying him now in this 
 direction, and now in that, like a child.''* 
 
 It is clear from this and other passages that John considered 
 most of the troubles that vexed his party in the Church to 
 have been due to the weakness of the pious Bishop James. 
 His influence was doubtless immense, and in spite of every 
 sympjithy which one may have with the cause of orthodoxy, 
 one cannot but regret that there was not a stronger man to 
 lead the Monophysites, and bring them, perhaps, to some 
 nderstanding with the '' Melkites," for which we may see 
 that the reign of Tiberius afforded ample opportunities. 
 
 'Hie quarrel dragged to its close. Where the Ambassadors 
 of Tiberius to the Persians failed to reconcile the opponents, 
 '' neither side being able to persuade the other, but parting 
 with mutual annoyance," the haughty Eutychius was not likely 
 to succeed by summoning them to Constantinople (a.d. 580). 
 Mondir and John, our historian, were scarcely more successful, 
 although the former came all the way to the capital to 
 establish peace. Meanwhile fresh sedition had been caused 
 at Antioch by the visit of Damianus of Alexandria, and his 
 attempt to consecrate, as a parallel to himself, a new Patriarch 
 of Antioch. A hollow peace was made with his opponents, 
 wliich Damianus did not hesitate to violate on his return to 
 Alexaiidriji. At the same time Peter Callinicus was intruded 
 
 * John Eph., iv. 15. John of Ephesus may. I think, be implicitly followed 
 in his account of their quarrels, of which he. belonging to neither party, was the 
 unwilling spectator, labouring to unite the disputants. 
 
 Book iv. 12, is a very remarkable commentary on the history of the 
 times, and tills the reader with admiration for the good and gentle old Bishop of 
 Kphesus. 
 
 ) 
 
296 
 
 The Coming of Mohftynmrd. 
 
 ') 
 
 ii 
 
 1 
 
 
 against his will by the opponents of i*aul into the See of 
 Antioch, and P^aul, *' the Patriarch of evil days," retired to 
 coQcealment and death in Constantinople. There he was 
 secretly buried in a convent ; and Peter, feclin<^ himself now 
 lawful Patriarch, made further attempts at union with 
 Alexandria. Two years later John the Faster succeeded to 
 the See of Constantinople ; persecutions ceased, and with the 
 death of Paul of Antioch, and Theodore of Alexandria, the 
 dissensions between the two Sees began to heal. 
 
 The second era in the historv of the See of Antioch was 
 closed, and the dawn of a third was breaking, heavy with 
 the signs of an Empire's fall and the birth of a new religion. 
 The seventh century closed alike on the wonderful missionary 
 exploits of the Eastern Church in Persia, and the triumph of 
 the Islam that came like a scourge upon a people drunk with 
 dispute. 
 
 The death of the f]mperor Maurice ((302 a.d.), and the suc- 
 cession of his murderer IMiocas, gave the signal for the 
 Persians to ravage the Koman dominions. Hitherto Mesopo- 
 tamia had been the arena of war between the rival powers, 
 and Dara Amida and Xisibis the keys of possession. But 
 Heraclius came to the throne in 602 a.d. to find all Syria in 
 the hands of Chosroes. First Damascus, then the Holy City 
 itself fell before the Persian general Shahrbarz (614 a.d.), and 
 the Patriarch Zacliarias of Jerusalem was carried off with the 
 true Cross itself, to grace the intideFs triumph. Never since 
 Constantinople was built has there been such a disaster ; and 
 at Chalcedon itself, almost opposite the very walls of the 
 capital, the Persians were encamped, stretching out their 
 hands to the Slavs and Avars, who threatened the city on the 
 north side of the isthmus^ and inviting them to join in its 
 destruction. 
 
 An insulting and blasphemous letter from the Persian king 
 aroused the Emperor and all Christendom ; while from 
 Constantinople to Arabia the Church poured forth her 
 treasures of plate and money to help in the crusade. Con- 
 stantinople was fortified, and with a gigantic effort, worthy of 
 the great conquerors of the world's history, Heraclius drove 
 
 .1 'i 
 
 The Comiyuj of Mohammed. 
 
 297 
 
 back the Persians, cutting them off in Cilicia, and forcing 
 them finally to make an abject appeal for mercy in the very- 
 royal palace of Dastagerd itself. Chosroes had been already 
 murdered by his son, who submitted to Heraclius (628 a.d.). 
 The Emperor returned, leaving the East in peace, to restore 
 the Cross in its place in Jerusalem. 
 
 Meanwhile in an obscure corner of the empire a greater 
 than Heraclius had been born, and in this very year sent a 
 letter round demanding for a new creed the submission of 
 the kings of the earth. '' The year of flight'' (622 a.d.) had 
 passed, and Mohammed was at the head of a devoted band of 
 followers, ready to conquer Arabia and perhaps the world. 
 It was an epoch of the world's history, and twice the 
 Patriarchs of Jerusalem saw the abomination of desolation 
 standing in the holy place, and thought the end of all things 
 at hand. Ten years after Shahrbarz (637 a.d.), when the 
 glories of Heraclius paled before the storm of Arab conquest, 
 Sophronius the Patriarch, and Omar the Arab, stood side by 
 side at the altar of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 East of the Mediterranean the Roman Empire had given 
 way for ever, and the Arab arms now ruled the Churches that 
 the Councils of two centuries before had cut off from the 
 orthodox communion. For the future it was not the Melkite 
 or Imperialist to whom the Eastern Churches were to acknow- 
 ledge an unwilling homage, but to the sword of Islam. 
 Byzantine history now affected them little, for the successors 
 of Heraclius had enough to do to keep the Saracen fleets 
 away from the capital.* 
 
 The famous '^ Iconoclastic '' controversy, begun by Leo 
 the Isaurian, was continued for near a hundred years 
 (72o — 802 a.d.) by his successors, desirous of checking the grow- 
 ing tendency of which the Christians of the day seem to have 
 been truly in danger, to magnify the importance of those 
 rites, legends, and observances, which are apt to spring up 
 
 * Leo the Isaurian did more than any of the Byzantine emperors to save 
 Europe from the Saracens, by his bold opposition to the Ommiade Suleiman, 
 717— 718 A.D. 
 
 
**<@#%M*^. 
 
 298 
 
 Mohammed. 
 
 iti 
 
 ! 
 
 \> 
 
 r 
 
 nmiid reliti'ion in a sn])erstiti<)us n^^v. The (juarrel is uwule 
 famous by one great name, Jolin of Damascus, the boUl 
 opponent of the Emperors ; but it is chieHy to be remembered 
 as an ill-advised attempt to stem an evil when the time had 
 n'one by in which it might have been cured. The opposition 
 to the Imperial policy was fostered by the feeling, natural to 
 many a sincere Christian, that the Km})erors were leagued 
 with the Mohammedan to destroy all outward expression of 
 their faith. 
 
 How little the second great controversy of the times affected 
 the Syrians may be judged by theii- own language in regard 
 to the ** IVocession of the Holv (ihost.'' The words inserted 
 in the creed by the Western Church were the occasion of the 
 rupture, for which the rival claims of Gregory of Rome and 
 John Scholasticus of Constantinople liad paved the way ; and 
 the ninth century witnessed the unseendy recriminations and 
 the final break between the two great coninnmions. 
 
 Manv of the Churches of the Kast still remain uncU'i- the 
 
 ft. 
 
 domination of the Mohammedans. It is a cheap criticism to 
 speak of Mohammed as the '^ arch-impostor/' the ^' self- 
 deceived fanatic," for such are the terms in which he is too 
 often spoken of. It is clear to anyone who glances even 
 cursorily over the pages of Hastern Christian history at this 
 tinu», that a time for judgment had come. Christians had 
 forgotten, in their quarrels over the right expression of their 
 faith, the spirit of charity which should hav' e made them one; 
 and a lesson was needed to tell them how they had abused 
 their birthright. No man can doubt that in the u'ind of the 
 (Ireat Ruler the birth and life of Mohanmied were conceived 
 to call men back to contemplate His unity, and to purify 
 seven times in the fire of sufFeritig the Churches which are 
 one day to rise again to fulfil the mission of their Founder. 
 Xor is it less probable that under the rule of an alien, and, as 
 it officially now most assuredly is, tolerant rule, the unicm of 
 the various divided Churches may be consummated, iliaii were 
 the Mohammedan yoke removed, and, with the division of 
 the empire among Christia!i races, the national distinctions 
 and antipathies brought more into prominence and perhaps 
 
 i 
 
 k 
 
 Later History of the Church. 
 
 299 
 
 opposition. It cannot be too often repeated that the Churches 
 of the East are essentially national Churches, kept separate 
 to a large extent by their differences of language, and still 
 less likely to unite, were the bond of a common submission 
 removed. When the Churches begin to contemplate unity, 
 then will the work of Mohammed perhaps be done. 
 
 In the seventh century the Syrian Christians fade from the 
 general history of the Church. The Arabs were inclined to 
 favour them as rivals of the Greeks, and early in the eighth 
 century Walid secured the entry of their Patriarch into 
 Antioch, whence they had beeii driven by the Greeks since 
 the death of Jacobus BardaBus. But he remained there only 
 a short time, nor were his people free from the persecutions 
 which Abdelmalik and Yazid ordered against the Christians ; 
 while in 771 a.i>. the Khabf Abdullah took a census throuo-h- 
 out Syria and Mesopotamia, ordering all Jews and Christians, 
 especially at Jerusalem, to be branded on the necks and 
 foreheads. A short-lived union between the Syrians and 
 Armenians (720 a.d.) was followed by persecution at the 
 hands of the (irreeks (750 a.d.), who took away many Syrian 
 and Armenian slaves from Mesopotamia to the West. Two 
 centuries later Nicephorus Pliocas, anxious to unite Christen- 
 dom against the Arabs, caused John Sarighta, the Patriarch 
 of the Syrians, to be brought to Constantinople, there to 
 discuss with Polyeuctus, Patriarch of that city, the differences 
 that divided them. In the letter written by John to Mennas 
 of Alexandria, we perceive how much the controversy had 
 become a mere matter of verbal expression, and how the 
 Syrians clung to the words which Greek tyranny had made 
 the badge of a rival party. The imprisonment of John added 
 to other acts of tyranny confirmed their hatred of the Greeks, 
 and made them prefer even the domination of the Moslem. 
 
 A few leaders of the Syrians deserve mention; Michael I., 
 who enjoyed the favour of the Turks, and restored the 
 monastery of Barsum near Malatia (1167 — 1200 a.d.), which 
 John Sarighta had built in the tenth century, did much to 
 increase the power of his people. Dionysius IV. had left 
 Malatia, liitherto the seat of the Patriarchs, in 1034, and 
 
 I 
 
M iiiftrtlrimiru 
 
 300 
 
 Bar Hehrseiis. 
 
 II 
 
 u 
 
 v> 
 
 t 
 
 I 
 
 : \ 
 
 settled in Amida, in order to be out of Greek territory ; and 
 Michael in turn went to Deir-el-Za'aferan near Mardin, which 
 has been ever since the head quarters of the Syrian 
 Patriarchs.* This monastery had been restored by his pre- 
 decessor John the Great (1125 — 1165), and was again 
 enlarged and beautified by Ignatius XI. in 1484 a.d. 
 
 In 1226 A.D. was born the one Bishop of the Old Syrians, 
 who, besides great writers like Dionysius Bar Salib, has 
 gained any notoriety outside his own Church. He was 
 nephew of the Patriarch Michael, and a native of Malatia. 
 At the age of twenty he was consecrated Bishop of Tripoli, 
 twice transferred to other Sees, and finally made Mafrian or 
 Metropolitan of the Eastern provinces. His history has been 
 written by himself, and he has earned the admiration of the 
 impartial Gibbon by the generous toleration of his views, and 
 the learning which his numerous writings display. He died 
 in 1280, lamented and followed to the grave by members of 
 all the Christian communities of Mosul, affording a proof of 
 the power for unity w^hich one strong and tolerant man may 
 possess. 
 
 * In the summer of 1246, dnring the occupation of Antioch by the Franks, 
 the Patriarch Ignatius David resided there for a short time. 
 
 -oO>^C. 
 
 The Ttoman Catholic Mission. 
 
 301 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Modern History of the Old Syrians. 
 
 The history of the old Syrians during the last three centuries 
 is to be gathered almost entirely from the records of Roman 
 Catholic or American travellers and missionaries. English 
 travellers have been, as a rule, too callous or too prejudiced 
 to be of much value as witnesses, considering the Syrians 
 either in the light of fanatical heretics, or professors of a 
 degraded Christianity. That neither light is the true one 
 has been, I hope, already proved. 
 
 I. To trace the progress of Roman Catholic claims in the 
 East would be a long matter, requiring a careful discussion 
 of the quarrels between Constantinople and Rome from the 
 middle of the sixth century. Even then Papal supremacy 
 was no new dogma, and Gregory^ only carried out what 
 Leo instituted. But a new state of things began with the 
 political fall of old Rome, and the consequent rise of the 
 Papal power. The period of crusades that give the high 
 water mark of Papal influence, may be taken as that in 
 which Rome found men to give most practical expression to 
 her claim. 
 
 The unwilling homage that Alexius Comnenus exacted from 
 the first Crusaders (a.d. 1095) served only to show the Franks 
 the tempting prize that a century later fell into the hands of 
 their degenerate descendants (a.d. 1203). The Byzantine 
 
 * 590 — 604 A.D, Stephen was the first Pope actually to break off from the 
 authority of the Emperors of Constantinople, when in 750 a.d. he called in Pepin 
 tlie Frank against the Lombards. 
 
 
 i 
 
302 
 
 The Boman Catholic Mitmion. 
 
 Empire may have fallen low, but all agree in stigmatizing the 
 fifty-eight years of Frankish rule in Constantinople as the 
 blackest era in the fortunes of that city. The Holy Orthodox 
 Church, defiled by ribald Frankish soldiery and a sack of 
 unparalleled brutality, provoked the J'ope's disapproval, 
 " while the Greeks saw the eye of the world, the ornament of 
 nations, the fairest sight on earth, the mother of Churches, 
 . . . draining the cup mixed for her bv the hand of the 
 Almighty." "Meanwhile a Venetian prelate was appointed 
 Patriarch of Constantinople, and news was sent to the Pope 
 that the union of the Eastern and Western Churches was 
 accomplished."* As things were at the Capital, so in the 
 provinces ; and Aleppo, Damascus, and Edessa were centres 
 for the no less vigorous i)ropagation of Papal power. Never- 
 theless, when the Jesuits came to Mesopotamia in LUO they 
 found a more tractable field among the Nestorians than the 
 Jacobites, whose position was more securely guaranteed by 
 the Turk, and whose Patriarch held a high position in the 
 Empire. The Roman missionaries succeeded so far with the 
 Nestorians that in ItiSO the Chaldean, or Papal Nestorian sect, 
 was definitely formed under the approval of Pope Pius XI t 
 
 What induced the several Jacobites to send in confessions 
 to Kome, such as that sent by Moses Mardenus to Julius I] I 
 m lo52, and some others it is hard to tell ; J at any rate these 
 reconciliations" were none of them permanent, and the 
 Romanizing party among the Western Syrians was finallv 
 given a separate existence. But, though the Roman poww- 
 increased steadily until in the year 1850, the effects of the 
 t rench and Italian revolutions were seriously felt in the with- 
 drawal of public support by those two countries. 
 
 . * •^°'''"- Byzantine Empire (Story of the Nations), p. 292. A not dissimilar 
 history belongs to Papal .Supremacy in Malabar '""■■•■m.la. 
 
 Si„ot f/"'"f ' f°»"'> 'n 1837 the convent of the Dominicans in Mosul deserted 
 Smce then they have returned to carry on their work with redoubled energy 
 sent* .^^'■"""f ;*'-/- disavowed by the Patriarch. A similar confession was 
 
 of Tv'e bl TT "^"'r"' *" ^"«<"^ ^'"- *"-"«" I— rd, Bishop 
 MoWnld « n '"""'• ^''"*''" ^'""''^'^''' ^'«'-^- -ho had become 
 
 Mohammedan, finally went over to Rome. Asseman, vol. ii., de Syris JacobitisT 
 
 The Roman Catholic Mission. 
 
 303 
 
 Mosul has for many years been considered as the strategic 
 point for Papal missions in this part of Turkey. It is a quiet 
 corner of the world, Avhere for several centuries Rome has 
 had things a good deal her own way. Aleppo and Damascus 
 perhaps contain more Roman adherents, but they are chiefly 
 drawn from the Greek and Armenian community. 
 
 All that can attract the inclinations or overawe the senses 
 is gathered about the Papal organisation at Mosul. It is the 
 seat of a '' Qassid,'' or Legate, who occupies the finest palace 
 in the city, and of the Patriarch of the Chaldean (Papal 
 Nestorian) body, whose new mansion is scarcely less splendid 
 according to PJastern ideas. The Bishop of the Papal 
 (Western) Syrians is a man of culture, surrounded by all the 
 luxuries the East can afl:brd ; and none of these three digni- 
 taries ever goes from his house without his sword-bearinp- 
 '' Qawwases.'^ ^ 
 
 In the same way the churches are made as imposing as 
 possible ; and the tower of the Dominican Oratory in M^'osul 
 is conspicuous among the Mohammedan minarets. The 
 churches are built on a magnificent scale, and decorated in 
 such a way as to combine the peculiarities of Syrian and 
 Roman tradition. Often do the Syrians of a town or village 
 say to the American missionaries : '' Build us a church finer 
 than that of the Latins, and we will all become Protestants.'' 
 Such is the value of display. The same principle guides the 
 authorities in the selection of the higher clergy, who are 
 drawn almost exclusively from the more patrician or wealthy 
 houses, and thus attract their iufluential relations, and bring 
 the immense influence that belongs to rich houses to the 
 service of their adopted Church. For most of the poorer 
 inhabitants of towns and villages are dependants or tenants 
 of the wealthy houses. Nothing is spared to make these 
 ecclesiastics capable in themselves to fulfil their oflSce, or 
 imposing in their surroundings, and it is hinted, too, that it 
 thus becomes less difficult for them to make or approve altera- 
 tions in the canons of the old Churches. The propaganda of 
 Rome is liberal in dealing with the native clergy. As many 
 men as possible are sent to receive a good education at the 
 
 h 
 
304 
 
 The Roman Catholic Mission. 
 
 % 
 
 The Roman Catholic Misd 
 
 •Stan. 
 
 30; 
 
 ') 
 
 Jesuit's College in Beirut, while those who show special 
 promise are seut on to Home or elsewhere in Europe. Of a 
 man, whom the authorities think will repay the outlay, they 
 spare neither trouble nor expense to make a perfect tool. So, 
 loo, when a prize is captured, like the nephew of the late 
 Syrian Patriarch, he is treated according to his worth, and 
 every effort is made to make him all that Home can make him. 
 In this particular case his father is maintained in Mardin in 
 comfortable ease at the Church's expense, in consideration of 
 
 the family influence. 
 
 Of the' Latin missionaries themselves, with several of whom 
 the writer was on intimate terms, and from whom he always 
 received great kindness, there is little but jiraise to be spoken. 
 They are noble, self-sacriticing men, who have done and are 
 doing an immense amount of good in educational aud religious 
 ways, whatever others may think of the final end they have 
 in view, or the means at times adopted to attain it. Their 
 policy has been, in the main, to find good strategic points 
 from which to work, massing their strength at such places as 
 Mardin and Mosul. One seldom hears of the "Padres" 
 travelling from place to place ; they are content to stay at 
 headquarters, quietly directing the government of the various 
 bodies under their control, keeping a firm hand and watchful 
 eye upon the higher clergy, and superintendiug— the most 
 important of all— the town schools. Of these they are very 
 wary of letting a stranger, unless of their own communion, 
 see the inside. It will be seen that they do not thrust them- 
 selves to the front, but prefer to do everything through the 
 native clergy, a wise policy in a country where foreigners are 
 
 disliked. 
 
 The conditions required of converts are not hard, little at 
 first beyond the acceptance of Papal supremacy. The 
 native clergy, too, are to a large extent supported by the 
 money derived for the masses said for the " faithful " de- 
 parted in France and Austria. Often exemption from taxes 
 is held out as an inducement to join the Romans, and freedom 
 from a large part of the dues nghtly levied by the authorities 
 of the native Churches. If to these facts be added the 
 
 certainty of political ])i'otection by means of the wealthy 
 members of the commuuity and the French consuls, and 
 above all through the immense influence exercised at the 
 Porte by the Papal Legate, to say nothing of the Austrian 
 and the French Ambassadors, the only wonder is that the 
 Propaganda has not swept all before it. 
 
 The proof of the Papnl ])ower lies in the fact of its influence 
 with a Mohammedan powei-, although no good Moslem can 
 regard with anything but abhorrence their seemingly 
 idolatrous worship, and their free introduction of not only 
 pictorial, but even sculptural re])resentation of the human 
 and divine form. Hut in Turkey gates are seldom closed to 
 the golden key. 
 
 Nevertheless there remain large bodies, in fact the ma- 
 jority, m the native churches, that resist the Pope to the last 
 breath, aud this for several reasons. Many years of persecu- 
 tion have strengthened patriotic feelings ; and, while the 
 spirit of religion has gradually faded, there has been fostered 
 an almost pathetic clinging to the form and shell. Many 
 there are who would gladly embrace any opportunity to 
 return from the foreign rule to the communion of their 
 restored mother Church. 
 
 Papal supremacy suffered a severe shock when infallibility 
 was broached. Pome was at best an unwelcome refuge for 
 proud Syrians, and her yoke had grown heavy enough 
 to nearly snaj) the tightly drawn cords. Her special dogmas 
 had never found such favour in the primitive Eastern 
 mind, savouring as they did of Protestantism and innova- 
 tion, that they could win their way by reasonableness 
 alone, unassisted by considerable guarantees of temporal 
 l)rotection and material comfort. Yet for all this Rome is 
 very strong in Turkey, and prepared to maintain her position 
 by all means. She does noble work, and her missionaries 
 are noble men ; the issue lies beyond us, whether she shall 
 prevail or not, and it is an issue in which with very little 
 doubt Russia will ])lay a part. 
 
 II. During the present century missionary efforts have been 
 vigorously directed towards Turkey by the two great mission- 
 
 H\ 
 
 « 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
3UG 
 
 The American Missions. 
 
 The American Missions. 
 
 307 
 
 ary bodies of the Congreo;ationalists and Presbyterians of 
 America. That the ditterence in faith between them involves 
 no disagreement as to their method of dealing with the 
 native Churches is clear from the transference two years 
 since of the station of Mosul from the agents of the former 
 to the latter.* The whole country is parcelled out into 
 stations between the two bodies, although they may be said 
 to have no definite mission to either the Syrians or Armenians, 
 but to all the inhabitants of the places where the missions are 
 stationed. 
 
 The Americans, both in books and conversation, frequently 
 refer to the policy of their predecessors, who repudiated 
 proselytism and interference with the existing organisation of 
 the Churches, so long as it was evangelical. As might be 
 expected, they soon found themselves at issue with the 
 heirs of a primitive Church as to what was or was not 
 evangelical ; and before long it was found impossible for men 
 believing in the organisation only as a convenient form to 
 work in harmony with men who saw in it signs of its Divine 
 institution. t 
 
 The Americans came with a Gospel true in itself, in fact 
 containing the very essence of that soul- winning message, 
 but so rudely shorn of the garb in which the Eastern 
 Christian had been wont from time immemorial to see it 
 clothed, that his sensibilities were shocked and his national 
 instinct aroused by what seemed sacrilege. It was natural 
 that men who talk of the native Syrians as "so-called 
 
 * I must here take the opportunity of recording the liberal and charitable 
 spirit with which I always met in the American Missionaries in Turkey, hoping 
 that none of their number, who may peruse these pages, will consider anything 
 here said, except in the light of fair and sympathetic criticism. Of the personal 
 kindness received from the missionaries at Mardin and Mosul, enough is said 
 elsewhere. 
 
 t Two instances will illustrate this. In 1831 a well known American 
 Missionary spoke of the Armenian Episcopal Government as a harmless 
 institution, an outwork to be allowed to remain if the citadel could be reached 
 in spite of it. In 1833 the Armenians of Smyrna were highly indignant when a 
 Bishop, who had married contrarj- to the rule of the Church, was accepted by the 
 American.-*. 
 
 Christians, and place them in thought on a par with or 
 be ow then- Moslem brethren, should be asked for the creden- 
 tials of doctrines that ne.er saw the light until their own 
 Church was sixteen hundred years old; it was natural that 
 the Syrian should ask who it was that helped to build the 
 farst Chris lan Church, witnessed the very writing of the 
 Uspel I self, and sent missionaries with that Gospel to the 
 shores of the distant West. It was a poor gratitude to come 
 and charge these men's children with the ignorance and want 
 ot life that centuries of oppression had conferred as their 
 accustomed lot This is what many a fair-minded Syrian 
 does say though quite acknowledging the personal worth and 
 piety of the missionaries, and the valuable work done by their 
 schools; but fan-minded Moslems equally admit this. What 
 the Syrian does complain of is the ignorance most of the 
 missionaries display of their Church's history, and the small 
 allowance maae for a conquered people. There are some 
 among the American missionaries who have acquired dis- 
 tinction as Oriental and ecclesiastical students;* but in 
 genera they disregard the early history, the study of which 
 IS involved in the general axiom that missionaries should know 
 so much as will give them .sympathy with those among whom 
 they labour as If the charge made against Protestants were 
 really true, tha Church history begins for them with Luther 
 This tendency has blinded the Americans to many of the 
 virtues of the Syrians, in regard to whom it is much to be 
 regretted that they have not discriminated more between 
 excusable ignorance and deliberate wrong - thinking • f 
 or perhaps no missionaries would have opened out a certain 
 side light on the Gospel so well as these noble men have 
 
 Dr Shedd of Urm., and Dr. Vandyok of Beirut, need only be mentioned 
 amon^ others. Some of the earlier Americans in Turkey, to say nothW o the 
 present generation, were heroes of the mission field ^ 
 
 yelthoZutrTr^" ■'^'"^"""^ ^" '''"'™*" missionary, who for twelve 
 ,ea« thought the w1>ole Synan Church services were conducted in the ancient 
 
 Z^2 r 1 •■ ": ■' '""*^^^*™^^^ of ">e People." The Patriarch introduce! 
 Arabic largely in the services fifteen years ago. i^roaucea 
 
 X 2 
 
 
308 
 
 The Amprican Missions. 
 
 The American Missions, 
 
 309 
 
 Nothing strikes a stranger visiting tlie American stations so 
 much as tlie apparent disregard for native habits or customs. 
 Nevertheless he must remember tliat the American has 
 no mission directly to the Syrian Church. He sees the 
 apparatus of a Far West School transphmted into the midst 
 of a people whose habits contrast almost ludicrously with 
 those of the stranger. Jt is true, doubtless, that the natives 
 are of all things imitative; and that five years would certainly 
 find, in spite of any care of the missionaries to prevent it, k 
 considerable modification in the direction of the foreio-n 
 manner of life. But this is no reason why such a cliange, 
 certainly not in itself desirable, should be actually encouraged. 
 The missionaries bring with them all that is portable of the 
 democracy which is their boast at home, and display it 
 bravely before the pitying conservatism of the East. This 
 is done, I believe, deliberately. Not only is it a struggle for 
 the American to attune himself to the unchanging eticpiette 
 of the Orientals, and an overpowering temptation to teach a 
 more excellent way, but it is a matter of principle to ex- 
 emplify and gain converts to the religious and civil life Of 
 democratic bHss. Little regard is paid to the conventionalities 
 of the "diwan," and all natives are treated with an equality 
 which is to many an Eastern no less a mark of ignorance than 
 insult. But this policy has two bad results ; in the first place 
 it is fatal to many customs of daily life, which few who have 
 visited the East desire to see die out; secondly, the P]asteni 
 is not as a rule ripe for the change, even with the long and 
 careful training from the Westei-n teachers which some 
 obtain. The fatal veneer of Western civilisation has only 
 to be seen to l)e deplored; and in considering the good 
 specimens of the training, one must bear in mind others of 
 a different kind which a similar contact has produced 
 nearer the coast. The mental and spiritual danger is more 
 serious. Men, especially young students, taught to sub- 
 stitute for the authority of Church and Bishop an appeal 
 to their own conscience, are apt to become their own 
 Bishops, and running into the extremes of private judg- 
 ment, or even rationalism, clamour for the abolition of all 
 
 restraint^ of thought or action. And here one word as 
 to schism. If in the West we find schism bred by schism, 
 and that liberty of thought has not fulfilled all that was 
 predicted of it, what shall we say of the East ? Not only 
 is the unity, which is the bond of peace, not the most 
 striking feature of the new independent communities, but 
 the establishment of missions, Papal or Protestant, which 
 are avowedly proselytising, cannot but give an oppor- 
 tunity to the worst fault of the Syrian, material cupidity, 
 and the desire to play off one mission against another. This 
 is the great weakness of proselytism all over the world ; but 
 how fatal must it be when it is attempted in the case of an 
 ancient Church, which it is our duty not to weaken, but 
 rather strengthen by all the aid that a foreign and friendly 
 Church can supply. 
 
 Some Americans reluctantly admit much of what I have 
 said, and regret that means were not found to keep on good 
 terms with a Church that claims for the Bible all that the 
 extremest Protestants claim, and welcomed originally the 
 Americans as protectors against Roman intrusion. 
 
 Of the manner of life among the missionaries it would be 
 impertinent to say anything, since that is a matter that 
 concerns themselves alone. AVhere it can be afforded, it is a 
 good thing to have married men among these Easterns, one of 
 the great lessons which they have to learn being the respect 
 due to women. The natives do undoubtedly look on the 
 missionaries as not living a very self-denying life ; but people 
 who think life in their own Mardin the acme of human bliss, 
 would not appreciate the privations of exile, to say nothing of 
 other things. Reports are often heard of the luxury of the 
 missionaries; they may be absolutely denied, except in the 
 case of those who have private means, and cost the mission 
 nothing. 
 
 Lastly, I would say that I do think the Americans pursue 
 a wrong policy, even granting for a moment that schism is 
 not a Avron g act in itself. Missionary expediency — the only 
 
 * The danger is a very real one. especially among Armenians. Hence the 
 popularity of the Plymouth doctrines for certain American converts. 
 
 f 
 
 ( 
 
 
 II 
 
310 The True Method of Treating the Church. 
 
 The True Method of Treating the Church. 311 
 
 argument which will be heard, and the liberal courtesy and 
 spirit of Christian charity with which the Americans listen to 
 it, should be carefully remembered — should lead them to 
 appreciate the evil results of weakening existing Churches. 
 The education which they give is the best in Turkey, and 
 it is scarcely fair to treat with little but abuse men who 
 undertook the w^ork which the Church of Enj?land left 
 untouched during fifty years of piteous appeal. 
 
 III. If existing agencies have failed in their dealings with 
 the Old Syrian Church, it is reasonable to inquire what agency 
 and what methods are more likely to succeed. The urgent 
 requests of the Patriarch himself, and the many expressions 
 from others in the Church, answer the former question. To 
 obtain full materials for answering the second, the journey of 
 which the present work gives a sketch was undertaken on 
 behalf of the Society that has been working quietly for the 
 last twenty years to help the Patriarch in carrying out his 
 scheme of education and renovation. That no interference 
 with existing organisation or practices which were not opposed 
 to Catholic principles should be conteinplated, seemed a first 
 principle. To renew and strengthen the Ancient Church 
 was the aim, and the method seemed to be that of supplying 
 to the Patriarch the means of starting a school of religious 
 teaching for his clergy. This should be the starting point, 
 and from it it may be that work might expand in many 
 streams. For this school there is the monastery called Deir- 
 el-Za'aferan, capable of holding a very large number of 
 students, over the teaching of whom an Englishman might 
 preside. Before all things it is necessary to emphasize the 
 need of pure religious and moral teaching, all experience 
 agreeing as to the importance among this people of tlie 
 precept to '' Seek first the Kingdom of God.'' Any suspicion 
 that the English Church has views of wide acquisition and 
 proselytism in the East can only be removed by experience, 
 and those who have charge of the work should be careful to 
 show themselves helpers first and teachers afterwards. In all 
 things it should be borne in mind that the people are patriotic 
 to the core; superstitious perhaps in their clinging to old 
 
 ways ; but above all do they claim to be members of the old 
 Syrian Patriarchate of Antioch, of whom it may be said that 
 it is a miracle that their loyalty has withstood so firmly the 
 disintegrating forces of three hundred years. 
 
 Again, it is clear from all evidence that Christian effort 
 among the Moslems is at present impracticable. The extreme 
 efforts required, the infinitesimal results, and the fearful 
 persecution consequent on conversion, have persuaded even 
 the most sanguine that the times are not ripe for the w-ork. 
 What then can be wiser than to turn the attention to those 
 Churches, who, if in the future they do not co-operate in the 
 work of Mohammedan conversion, will be the greatest 
 hindrance to it ? The Moslem w411 for ever see in them a 
 proof that Christianity can outlive itself, as he points the 
 finger of scorn and says, " I'hysician, heal thyself.'' Who, 
 on the other hand, would be better qualified than the Syrian 
 to deliver the Gospel, which he once delivered to us, to the 
 sons of the apostates of his own land ? for on the difference 
 between Eastern and Western character all are agreed ; and 
 few deny the hopelessness of really reaching the one through 
 the other. Nor can the debt we owe to the Eastern Churches 
 be better repaid than by helping to renew- the spirit of their 
 faith, w^hich they have so largely lost, and teaching their 
 children to understand the meaning of those truths which 
 long darkness has obscured."^ 
 
 * I cannot refrain from quoting? from a paper lately issued by the English 
 Bishop in Jerusalem, to corroborate what is here said with the words of one 
 wliose words are weighty. 
 
 " The Churches of the East are aware that one day they must become the 
 
 missionaries to the East, the Jew and the Moslem The Churches 
 
 are at present under the most numbing oppression that ever weighed upon 
 Christianity. They are not allowed to do missionary work, yet the very life of a 
 Church depends on its being missionary. They are not aided or encouraged in 
 education, conseciuently ignorance degrades them, with much of the vice that 
 
 follows upon ignorance The spread of education will mean the 
 
 revival, already stirring, of spiritual life in the Churches. It is renovation rather 
 than reformation that they need ; some are separated by a false, others by a 
 nominal rather than a real charge of heresy. They need but a sister Church 
 who, as a common friend, may bring together those whom pride mainly severs 
 from those whose orthodoxy is unquestioned." 
 
 fl 
 
 
 (I 
 
812 
 
 The True Method of Treatimj the Church, 
 
 To conclude, from only one direction does tlie Syrian 
 Church discern the possibih'ty of gaining disinterested help 
 to resist the inroads made upon her, which it is surely'uot the 
 duty of the English Church to tacitly encourage by neglecting 
 such an opportunity of furthering the cause of the Catholic 
 Church. For seventy years the Syrian Church has been 
 crying for someone to come over and help her. She cannot 
 stand aloue as yet; and it is tinie something was done to 
 redeem the long period of callousness and neglect during 
 which her cry has been unheard. Something has been done 
 through the untiring exertions of a few devoted friends ; would 
 it not be a neglect, that might have some day to l>e answered for, 
 if the F]nglish Church does not follow up these exertions, and 
 show that our true claim to a primitive faith and catholicity 
 lies not so much in lavish indulirence of sentimental taste at 
 home, as in the extending of a hand of sympathetic charity to 
 distressed sister Churches in the East ? Intercommunion 
 with a Church excommunicated by the Holy Orthodox Church 
 is for us out of the question, until the faith as expounded at 
 Chalcedon be formally acknowledged by her. May it not be 
 hoped that by the aid of a friend to both Communions the 
 breach between the Greek and Syrian may be healed ? The 
 charge of heresy there is good reason to believe is a formal 
 one, and it will be no unworthv deed if the English Church 
 shall so use her intercession and hel]) that at some future 
 date there may be one Patriarch of Antioch, both for Greek 
 and Syrian ; aud not only a source of weakness be removed 
 with the division, but a step taken towards that universal 
 union of Christendom for which all loyal Christians pray. 
 That the union would have to be based on an explanation 
 from the Greek side of the doctrine of Chalcedon, which we 
 too acknowledge, and a readiness from the Syrian side to 
 accept the language which enshrines ;i truth which they are 
 among the foremost to declare, is the most reasonable hope 
 to express. Perhaps it is an event far in the distance, but 
 it is no impossible dream to conceive the day when all these 
 churches shall once more practice in general and authoritatively 
 the intercommunion which is in cases of extremity allow^ed ; 
 
 The True Method of Treating the Church. 318 
 
 and is it too fond an affection for our loved English Church 
 that sees in her the instrument by which it is possible that 
 this unity may be accomplished ? It was with a belief in its 
 possibility that the work of the above-mentioned society was 
 inaugurated by the late Archbishop of Canterbury; the 
 success of which work is a sure ground of hope that the 
 means will be found to carry it to its end. 
 
 oo^Qfc^Oo- -■ 
 
i 
 
 314 
 
 The Patriarch. 
 
 The Patriarch. 
 
 315 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I 
 
 The Clergy and Churches of the Old Syrians. 
 
 The official title of the chief of the Old Syrian * Church is 
 '' His Holiness Moran Mar Io:natius Peter III., Exalted 
 Patriarch of the Apostolic See of Antioch and of all the 
 Jacobite Churches of Syria and in the East.^^ He has some- 
 times been called " Papa Orientis/' ^' Patriarcha theopolis 
 Antiochiie totiusque Orientis ; '^t but the first is the title most 
 generally used. He is the absolute chief, spiritual and tem- 
 poral, of his people, the Porte finding it convenient to deal 
 with its Christian subjects through a chief directly responsible 
 to Constantinople ; nor is it long since, to balance this 
 authority, the Patriarch was liable to be called upon to 
 answer in person for the crimes committed by any of his 
 people. The present Patriarch has obtained, by strenuous 
 exertions, the right to be directly represented at Constan- 
 tinople, instead of the mere right to appeal through the 
 Gregorian-Armenian Patriarch. He has now a Bishop at 
 Constantinople, with the right of audience of the Sultan. 
 Since 709 a.d. the Patriarchs have been in the habit of 
 
 * This name is adopted as that by which the people are spoken of by them- 
 selves and their neighbours in the East. It distinguishes them (1) from the 
 Greeks of Palestine by the word Syrian, (2) from the Latin proselytes by the 
 word old, (3) from the Assyrians or East Syrians by the same words. No theory 
 is propounded or maintaineil by this use of this title ; nor has any consideration 
 weighed but that of custom and convenience. 
 
 t Renaudot, Liturg. Orient, i. 37.5. 
 
 receiving diplomas from their infidel rulers. Walid gave to 
 Elias, the then Patriarch, such a diploma (in 711 a.d.) two 
 years after his consecration, and ordered him to enter 
 Antioch, whence the Syrians had been driven by the 
 Greeks, and there build a Church. The various rulers of 
 Armenia, the Tartars, and the Arabs, have given this 
 diploma to subsequent Patriarchs ; and at the present 
 tiine there hangs in the Patriarch's guest room at Mardin 
 a '' Nishan '^ or ^^ Tughra,'' a great order framed upon the 
 wall, as a visible token of the recognition of the Sublime 
 Porte. 
 
 The Patriarch acknowledges no control from any of his 
 clergy when once consecrated, except in the case of heresy, 
 when the Bishops may depose him, as was done in the case of 
 Paul the Black in 574 a.d.* He may also be deposed by the 
 unanimous vote of the whole people. This authority he wields 
 in virtue of the right, which he alone possesses, of consecrating 
 the sacred oil necessary for the consecration of all clergy. 
 For many years he has had the sole right to consecrate all 
 Bishops of the Church, but there is good reason to believe 
 that this has been arrogated contrary to original custom. 
 'J^he first Patriarch to claim the right was Theodore, in 
 649 A.D., when he ordained the Mafrian Denha; and Bar 
 Hebraeus speaks of it as having been the general rule for 
 many years, although the consent of the Bishops of the 
 Eastern province was necessary before consecration by the 
 Patriarch of Bishops for that province was possible. t The 
 Mafrian, during the Patriarchate of Dionysius (835 a.d.), is 
 especially mentioned as having consecrated oil for use in the 
 Eastern province, and there have been instances, notably 
 that of Jacobus Bardieus in the sixth century, of Metro- 
 
 * Uncanonical cases did occur, as of Bar Wahib in 1493, and John XI. Abdon, 
 who was four times deposed, and died 1077. 
 
 t Bar. Hebr. ap. Asseman II., 380. In 668 a.d., a schism was caused by 
 the Bishops claiming the right to ordain in their own dioceses in accordance 
 with the canon of Nicaea, without reference to the Patriarch. It must be added, 
 however, that this action of the Patriarchs has been partly caused by the auto- 
 cratic power given him by the Turkish and other Governments. 
 
 I 
 
31<> 
 
 The Pdtriarrh. 
 
 The Mafrian. 
 
 317 
 
 ])()lit«iiis possessiiiu^ this jxnver. Tliuro are, no doubt, 
 (lisadvaiita^^es in such an alisolutc autocracv, l)ut it will 
 be readily believed that in a country like Turkey the j)ositi<)n 
 nf the Patriarch has l)een of great value to his people in 
 times of peculiar difficulty, while the harsher features of it 
 are considerablv softened bv the entire freedom of speech 
 allowed in his diwan."^ 
 
 The Patriarch is elected by the vote of the whole peopk' ; 
 if the votes are evenly balauccd. tlie election is decided by 
 lot in a long service conducted by the Bishops. The election 
 must tlien receive the a])])roval of all tlie Hisliops of other 
 communities resident in Mardin.t The Patriarch should be 
 chosen from a rank below a i^ishop, from the monks, or even 
 deacims. The parish ])riests, being married, are not eligible 
 for the Patriarchate. There is one instance even of a 
 layman, Dionysius I., in 8 18 a.d., being chosen Patriarch, and 
 receiving all the preliminary priestly orders. The first 
 Bishop consecrated Patriarch was Severus Har Maske, Hisho]> 
 of Amida, in 077 a.d. In 1222, Ignatius David was raised 
 from the Mafrianate to be Patriarch, aud for numy years this 
 custom has been followed. There is, indeed, no canon 
 forbiddinir translation in the Old Syrian Church, but their 
 writers sliow tlie dislike felt for tlie custom, as being a kmd 
 «)f bigamy or re-baptism, especially as a new titular name 
 was given to the Patriarch on consecration. All the 
 Bisho])s must be present, if possible, at the consecration, 
 especially the Mafrian, who actually consecrates the 
 Patriarch. In old davs the senior Bishop of the Western 
 province performed this duty, but since 1077 it has belonged 
 to the Mafrian, except when the Mafrian himself has been 
 
 * The power of excommunication is the chief weapon in hin hand, and there is 
 no fear upon his people so great as the danger of invoking his curse, which gains 
 power from the rarity of its utterance. 
 
 t Asseman 11. 381. Dean Maclean (Catholicos of the East, p. 187) upholds 
 the hereditary episcopate prevalent amongst the East Syrians. Tlie Old Syrians 
 have always strongly repudiated it ; nor does the contrary system work so badly 
 as he surmises that it would among Orientals. The custom of Bishops 
 nominating young nephews as coadjutors was abolished by Athanasius. Patriarch 
 (1139-11G6). 
 
 elected.^ On assuming the office of Patriarch or Bishop, a 
 titidar name is taken. Ignatius is the title of the Patriarch, 
 and was first assumed in 1293 A.i>. by Bar Wahib. It was 
 not always taken by his successors, and, by some old Syrian 
 writers is condemned as a sort of re-baptism, especially in the 
 case where a l^isho]) l)ecomes Patriarch. 
 
 Th(^ office of Mafrian is peculiar to the See of Antioch, and 
 represents the independent authority formerly granted to the 
 Catholicos of the East. The first Mafrian was Achudemes, 
 consecrated by Jacobus Barda;us in view of the heresy of the 
 l^ersian Church ; but the first generally recognised was 
 Maruthas, since he first occupied the fixed See of Tegritf in 
 ()29 A.D. In 991 A.u. Tegi'it was confirmed as the seat of the 
 Jacobite Mafrian, and Baghdad of the Nestorian Catholicos 
 by order of the Khalifa. But in 1089 Tegrit was destroyed 
 by the Arabs, and John Salib the; Mafrian consequently 
 moved to Mosul. Hf)wever, a quarrel with the Metropolitan 
 of the Monastery of Mar Mattha near Mosul caused the 
 Mafrian Dionysius (1112 — 1134) to return to Tegrit and 
 there rebuild the church. In 1153 a council was called by 
 John, Bishop of Mardin, and confirmed in 1155 by the 
 I^atriarch Athanasius, which formed the diocese of Mosul, 
 containing Mosul Tegrit and the monastery of Mar Mattha, 
 and ordained that Mar Mattha should be the seat of the 
 Mafrian. Previously a Metropolitan Bishop had resided at 
 the monastery, consecrated by and holding the next place to 
 the Mafrian, according to the Nicene Canon. The Mafrian 
 was in early days consecrated by all the Bishops of the 
 Kastern province, over which he was to rule. In time his 
 jurisdiction grew to be very 'extensive, reaching eastwards 
 to Urmi and Tabriz, and southwards to Baghdad ; so 
 that, especially at the time of the Arab and Mogul in- 
 vasions of Persia, during which many Jacobites were taken 
 
 * This rule was confirmed by Dionysius, Patriarch 835 a.d., and by the 
 Council of Capartuta3 in 869. 
 
 t Bar. Hebr. Ass. II., 414, 419, 441, 448. Asseman identifies Martyropolis 
 with Tegrit. It is most generally supposed to be Meiafarkin, near Diarbekr. 
 Cp. John Eph. vi. 20. Le Quien, Or. Christ, ii. 1533. 
 
318 
 
 The Bishops. 
 
 with the invaders, there were more Jacobites in the Eastern 
 than the Western province. The Mafrian became practically 
 independent of the Patriarch, ordaining, consecrating oil, 
 and forming new dioceses all through the East ; while during 
 the period 935 — 1345 a.d. some Mafrians consecrated as many 
 as fourteen Bishops. Bar Hebraeus, himself Mafrian (1264 — 
 128(3), says, " In this my diocese I live, by the Grace of God, 
 in much quietness, and in it I lack nothing which should 
 induce me to leave it for another, like those of my predecessors 
 who are departed. . . . Even were I ambitious of the 
 Patriarchate, as some men, yet when I behold the Western 
 dioceses, how wasted they are, what remains in them that I 
 should desire them ? " Of all the power little now remains. 
 One small diocese, that of Mosul, is left from the numerous 
 divisions of the Eastern province, and the Mafrian retains no 
 authority except that of an ordinary Bishop, although the 
 first of the Bishops, and holds that authority direct from the 
 Patriarch.* 
 
 The Bishops are divided into two classes; those chosen 
 from among the monks, who are called " Mutrans," and those 
 chosen from parish priests who have lost their wives, and 
 have so become eligible for the Episcopacy. These are 
 called " Askof (Episcopi). The Greek custom of con- 
 secrating a priest to the Episcopacy and sending his wife 
 into a convent, is unknown. The Askof rank a little below 
 the Mutrans, and are eligible neither for the Metropolitan nor 
 Patriarchal dignity. 
 
 The duties of the Bishops are nearly as much civil as 
 religious ; they are the chiefs and overseers of their diocese, 
 and to them the people come to have all kinds of cases 
 judged, whether of theft, or divorce, or even murder. It 
 is a frequent sight to see in the Bishop's diwan a poor 
 widow seeking aid against an oppressor, or two parties 
 settling, without the great expense of the civil courts, some 
 
 \i\ 
 
 ♦ The name Mafrian is derived by Bar Hebraeus from the root " Afran," 
 fruitfulneas, and means "Father of fathers." Hia other title is " Metropolita 
 Magnus Orientis." He also claims the title of Catholicos, but this is denied him 
 by the Nestoriana. 
 
 
 The Bishops, 
 
 319 
 
 quarrel that has occurred. The priests, monks, and deacons 
 are as a rule ordained by them, only a few being ordained 
 by the Patriarch ; but the Bishops have not the duty of 
 confirmation, that rite being joined with the baptismal 
 ceremony performed by the priest. 
 
 The Bishops are much looked up to by the people, w^io 
 address them as " Sayyidna," my Lord, or if intmiate, 
 " Abuna,'' my Father. " Sayyidna '^ is also the form of 
 address to the Patriarch, w^hile strict formality imposes all 
 sorts of complimentary forms, the recognised one being 
 " Sa'adatkum,'' " Your happiness, or beatitude,'^ or more 
 rarely '* Qudsakum," your Holiness.* Christmas and Easter, 
 the great and the little Feast, are the special " diwan '' 
 days of Bishops and Patriarch, when the people crowd 
 to visit them, bringing their small offerings tow^ard their 
 maintenance. These bring in no exorbitant incomes, the 
 expenses of the Patriarchal diwan being little over £100 
 a year, and the income of a Bishop £40, if he be very 
 " discreet.'^ The various duties of a Bishop, and the time he 
 must spend in travelling from village to village, prevent him 
 from undertaking any secular Avork, such as is done by some 
 priests. 
 
 The dress of Patriarch and Bishop is similar, being nothing 
 but a modification of lay attire, with a special turband. Over 
 the tunic, reaching to the feet, one of rich material and colour 
 being used on high days, is worn an ordinary cloak or "abba^^ 
 of black or coloured cloth. The Patriarch's state dress 
 consists of a tunic of scarlet silk, bound at the girdle with a 
 scarf of white and gold Baghdad embroidery, over which he 
 wears a black satin cloak. Generally, however, he dresses as 
 simply as his clergy, reserving the other dress for high occa- 
 sions, on which he wears his gold cross upon his breast above 
 his orders, and is preceded by his monks. The turband 
 proper to the Episcopal order is a large round headdress 
 upon a card or canvas frame, covered with black cloth in 
 
 * The title :Mar, prefixed to the names of all Bishops, as well as the Saints, 
 means " My Lord," being strictly an Episcopal title. 
 
 f 
 
320 
 
 TJie Bishoptf. 
 
 line folds, wliicli is, as far as 1 know, peculiar to the Old 
 
 Syrians. 
 
 " When a Bishop receives consecration he stands at the 
 door of the altar, while the Patriarch says, ' I call you in the 
 name of the Holy Ghost,' three times. Then the other will 
 kneel, and respond to the call. He will then be taken to the 
 Sanctuary, and many prayers will be said. After that the 
 vestments belonging to the office will be taken and given to 
 the man by the Patriarch, who will himself dress him in the 
 ' Pathrasinom ' and will place the head-dress upon him. 
 After crying ' Auxios '* three times he will call the Bishop 
 l)y his titular name. Then more prayers are said by the 
 Patriarch, during which he places his hand upon his 
 head.'^t 
 
 The Bishops wear neither mitre nor ring, the sign of their 
 office being the gold or silver-gilt cross with which they bless, 
 and the silver-gilt statt' surmounted by two serpents, which 
 also is carried before the Patriarch when he rides out. Each 
 Bishop on consecration receives one of the titles given below, 
 which belong to the various Sees. This is in accordance with 
 a custom begun by Bar Wahib, as mentioned above ; but as 
 Bishops are not infrequently translated from one See to 
 another, it now happens that more than one Bishop has the 
 same title ; for instance, the late and the present Bishop at 
 Jerusalem are both called Gregorius. With the decadence 
 of the Church dioceses have of course become confused, 
 only the greater Sees of Jerusalem, Amida, Damascus, 
 Mardin, Mosul, Edessa, and Nisibis, remaining in their 
 
 ancient condition. 
 
 For the consecration of a Bishop, the presence of three 
 Bishops is necessary, and by them the whole service is con- 
 ducted. The ceremony begins ^vith a profession of faith, 
 proclaimed by one of the Bishops, and signed by the Bishop 
 elect. The Gospel is read by the Patriarch and held o\)eu 
 above the head of the elect. After he has given him his 
 
 * i.e. &^ios — he is worthy. 
 
 f From the description of a Bishop from Malabar. 
 
 i\ 
 
 The Bishop.s, 
 
 321 
 
 vestments and pastoral stafp, the Patriarch signs him on 
 the forehead in token of liis consecration, enthrones him, 
 and then reads a second section of the Gospel.* 
 
 At different periods of the Church's history there were 
 
 The foUowuig is a table of the Old Syrian Bishops and their Sees. 
 
 See. 
 
 I. Antioch 
 
 Title of 
 BrsHOP. 
 
 Ignatius 
 
 Present 
 Bishop. 
 
 Peter III. 
 
 II. Jerusalem 
 
 III. Damascus 
 (Homs). 
 
 Greg-orius 
 
 Grejforiu^ 
 
 Georjrius 
 
 Abd-el-Messiah 
 
 IV. Edessa 
 (Urfa). 
 
 V. Amida 
 (Diarbekr). 
 
 Severus 
 
 Titnotheus 
 
 Abdullah 
 
 Georgius 
 
 The merely nominal seat of the 
 Patriarchate since Paul the 
 Black; Elias lived there in 
 711 : later Athanasius VII. 
 and Ignatius David (1246 circ.) 
 spent each a short time there. 
 In 1134 the four sees of Syria, 
 Jerusalem Damascus Tri- 
 poli and Emesa, were reduced 
 to two, Jerusalem and Da- 
 mascus. The Bishop of 
 Jerusalem holds in theory 
 the position of the fifth Patri- 
 arch, as in the early days^ 
 but his diocese is very small. 
 That of Damascus or Homs 
 (Emesa) contains about ten 
 thousand Old Syrians. To 
 Ignatius Komanus, of the 
 monastery of the Magdalene, 
 Bishop 1140—1185, Bar- 
 Salib sent a commentary on 
 the Eucharist. 
 The home of Jacobus Bardgeus, 
 Dionysius, Bar Salib, and 
 many other famous Syrian 
 writers and leaders. Still an 
 important See. 
 Always a separate diocese from 
 Mardin, and dating from the 
 time before the Council of 
 Nicaea. Acacius, Bishop of 
 Amida, was famous for having 
 sold the plate of the Church to 
 redeem 7,000 Persian captives 
 taken by Theodosius, a.d. 421. 
 
 f 
 
II 
 
 322 
 
 The BishopR. 
 
 many otber Sees formed; but these twelve alone remain.* 
 The'translaticm of Bishops has created great confusion in 
 their titles; for instance there are two Gregorius' ; Abdullah 
 now Bishop at Diarbekr has been twice translated, first 
 from Jerusalem, then from Kmesa ; and Georgius, now at 
 Urfa, has the title of the See of Diarbekr, whence he was 
 
 translated. 
 
 In addition to the Bishops above mentioned there are six 
 
 See. 
 
 VI. Mardin 
 
 Title op 
 Bishop. 
 
 Athanasius 
 
 VII. NiHhu 
 
 Athanasius 
 
 VIII. Maiferncfdi Ivaniiis 
 (Farkin). 
 
 IX. Mosul 
 X. Maadan 
 
 XI. Aleppo 
 XII. Jazireh 
 
 Basilius 
 Kurillos 
 
 XIII. Tumbdien 
 
 Dionysius 
 
 Present 
 Bishop. 
 
 The Patriarch 
 
 Yohanna 
 
 Elias 
 
 Behnam 
 
 Bebnam 
 
 Several metro- 
 politans in the 
 monasteries 
 
 The Bishop sometimes resided 
 in the monastery of Carta- 
 inina, close to the city, 
 founded before 500 A.D. 
 
 The seat of the famous S. James 
 in the fourth century. At one 
 time iinited with Mardin, but 
 now a separate See. The first 
 Jacobite bishop since the 
 Nestorian schism was Abra- 
 ham Jacob in 631. 
 
 Asseman (II. 334) says it was 
 sometimes joined with Te^it. 
 He seems to have confused 
 the two, applying the ancient 
 name Martyropolis wrongly to 
 Tegrit. 
 
 The seat of the Mafrian. 
 
 This See includes the district 
 north of the Tigris and east 
 of Diarbekr. Now joined to 
 Farkin. 
 
 On the Tigris sixty miles north 
 of Mosul, called Bezabde by 
 Ammian (20. 15). Its Bishops 
 were subject to the Mafrian. 
 
 The district of Jebel Tur ; whose 
 Bishop resided sometimes at 
 Salah, sometimes at Hakh. 
 
 * Other titles belonging to ancient Sees are Georgius, Dioscorus, Clemens 
 Philoxenus, Anthimus, Eustathius. 
 
 ^i 
 
 77/ r Blshopa, 
 
 328 
 
 (rcuinenical Bishops, that is. Bishops residing in monasteries, 
 witliout regular Sees. These are : 
 
 Askof Efrem, at Deir-el-Omar in Jebel Tur. 
 
 Mutran Elias, at Deir Mar Mattha near Mosul. 
 
 Askof Ablahad, at Deir Salib in Jebel Tur. 
 
 Mutran Sham'un, at Deir Mar Jacob at Salah. 
 
 Mutran Denha, at Deir Mar Abrahum at Midhiat. 
 
 Askof Bulos, at Constantinople. 
 The first man consecrated Bishop of a monastery without a 
 See, '^ honoris causa," was John, Bishop of the monastery of 
 Cartamina, in Mardin (d. 578). 
 
 The canonical age for consecration is thirty-five; but the 
 rule has for long been laxly kept. Bar Hebneus became 
 Bishop of Tripoli s at the age of twenty.^ In the same way 
 deacons are often ordained at ten years old instead of the 
 canonical age of twenty ; but no one may be ordained to any 
 holy office until he can read at least the Psalms. Physical 
 defects do not in any way necessarily debar from ordination, 
 even to the episcopacy, unless they prevent a man from doing 
 his work, such as blindness, deafness, or dumbness. 
 
 Of the priestly order there are three divisions, the monks, 
 the priests, and the cliorepiscopi. 
 
 The monks, though higher in the hierarchy than the secular 
 priests, yet being poor, receive as a rule less respect from the 
 people, who are less dependent on them than on the priests, 
 unless they are men of distinguished learning or piety, two 
 qualities highly esteemed among the Syrians. A.s from them 
 the Bishops are chosen, their lives are spent in the monasteries 
 i-ather than in the towns, and are given up to the study of 
 God's word, and the practice of self-denial. Attendance at 
 service three times a day occu])ies much of their time, while 
 in the autumn they are sent by the Patriarch to collect tithes 
 of corn and money throughout the villages, and report on the 
 state of the Patriarchal property. 
 
 Their asceticism, if we remember that we are considering 
 the East, where wants are few, is not at all excessive, while 
 
 * Bar. Hebr., Ap. Assem. B.O. ii. 332. Sozomen mentions the custom with 
 approval. H.E., vi., 32. 
 
 Y 2 
 
 f 
 
I»»%-.*.'-" 
 
 824 
 
 The Parish Priests. 
 
 TJte Parish Priests. 
 
 325 
 
 at the tsaiiie time it is very real. In a country, moreover, 
 where provision for travelling is very meagre, their untiring 
 hospitality and kindness in all the monasteries, and without 
 any thought of return, is beyond all praise. They are, as a 
 rule, frugal, self-denying men ; and the sociable nature of the 
 monasteries does away with many of the abuses with which 
 such men are generally charged. 
 
 The Priests, on the other hand, being engaged entirely in 
 parish work, are obliged to marry before ordination is per- 
 mitted. A priest, whose wife dies, if he does not become an 
 Askof, generally retires to a monastery, since the people have 
 a strong feeling against an unmarried parish priest, and the 
 canons forbid their second marriage. There is, too, an 
 interesting office for the ordination of the priest's wife, now 
 uufortunately seldom used, but which thus provides for a 
 kind of order of deaconess. In villages where there are no 
 priests, the church is served by a monk from the nearest 
 
 monastery. 
 
 The priesthood carries with it exemptions from some of the 
 taxes, and being also a position of great honour, is much 
 coveted. It thus hap])ens that in some villages there are far 
 too many priests, as for instance Midhiat, a village of three 
 thousand inhabitants, which has a Bishop and eight priests, 
 besides monks and deacons innumerable. This is an abuse 
 which the present Patriarch has done his best to prevent, by 
 io-noring the custom which forbids priests to leave their native 
 villao-e and distributino; those whom he ordains in villages 
 where they are really needed. 
 
 In a village the priest is a great man, although, chiefly on 
 account of the church council of laymen and deacons, which 
 he is bound to consult, the people are in no way '' priest- 
 ridden.'' He sits in the chief seat, which he will yield only 
 to the Bishop or a guest, and is beloved by the Hock which 
 has chosen him its pastor. There is no rule requiring priests 
 to be sons of priests, nor are they generally so ; but when a 
 village requires a priest, the church council selects the most 
 suitable, for piety, learning, and good influence, and sends his 
 name to the Patriarch, wht) then commissions the Bishop to 
 
 ordain him. The priest is dependent on his people for his 
 stipend, and in the villages will generally eke out the produce 
 of the small church-fees by labour in the field or house. It is 
 a pleasant and a usual sight in the country to see the priest 
 winnowing the corn Jimong the village men and women, with 
 cloak off, and wearing over his tunic only the short jacket 
 common to all classes. The only distinction in dress is that 
 a cloak of a dark colour is generally worn, and a black 
 '' kafiyah " is worn round the turband. All the clergy are 
 bound to shave the whole of the head and allow the beard to 
 grow.* The title of " Khor-Episcopus '' is generally given to 
 the leading priest in any large town. He has the duties of a 
 lesser Bishop, corresponding roughly to an English Eural 
 Dean ; but he has no right of ordination, and ranks as a 
 
 priest. 
 
 All monasteries are under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of 
 the diocese, or an oecumenical Bishop ; and those, in which 
 Patriarchs or Mafrians are buried, are directly under the 
 Patriarch or Mafrian. No Bishop may, however, ordain 
 mcuiks without the advice of the Archimandrite.t Of 
 the four divisions of monks, Ca3nobites, Eremites, Stylites, 
 Inclusi, only the first and last now remain. The Stylites, 
 who lived on the tops of i)illars, died out in the eleventh 
 century ; of the Inclusi there are still a few, living 
 in cells among the mountains, devoted to monastic 
 exercises. 
 
 The last, but by no means the least important order is that 
 of the Deacons, of whom a large number will be found in 
 every village, occupied either with secular business or in the 
 service of the Church. Education being entirely connected 
 with the Church, it happens that nearly all those who study 
 
 * Maclean and Browne, p. 204, say that the Eastern Syrians adopted the custom 
 of shaving- only the middle of the head to distinguish themselves from the 
 Western Syrians, who practise the so-called '• Tonsure of S. Paul.' The tonsure 
 of the monks is performed as a religious ceremony by the Archimandrite of their 
 monastery. 
 
 t Bar. Hebr. Nomo. Canon, 7, 10. The monks are not necessarily ordained : 
 some are lay brethren, or perhaps deacons. 
 
 f 
 
' 'I 
 
 326 
 
 The Deacons. 
 
 at a school, whether in church or monaster}', until the age of 
 fifteen, are ordained deacons. Some are ordained quite as 
 children; others who find' themselves called to the ministry 
 later in life remain deacons until then. But of the ordinary 
 
 • 
 
 students who are ordained, the lar^i^er number return to the 
 business of their fathers, and renuiin deacons all their lives ; 
 and being proficient in the classical Syriac language, and 
 well versed in the Bible and their history, become great 
 pillars of the village church, and of no slight assistance to 
 the priest or Bishop. One Syrian of Mardin, a merchant, 
 has w^ritten no less than thirty maniiscri])ts for the use 
 of various churches, portions of the Bible or the daily 
 services ; and it is from him more than any one else in the 
 church, that the Patriarch seeks advice on every possible 
 subject. It may well be imagined that this order is one 
 of great value to the Chnrch, comprising so large a number 
 of men occupied in secular business, yet with considerable 
 learning and a large interest in everything that concerns the 
 Church. 
 
 Other deacons there are, who remain deacons to be teachers 
 in the monasterv schools : while others are ordained to the 
 priesthood. It is a far more real order than with us in 
 England, and the step to the priesthood is regarded as very 
 important. In the services of the Church the deacon has a 
 part almost as indispensable as the priest ; the exhortations, 
 the ejaculations, and the psalms are said by him ; he prepares 
 the holy bread, swings the censer, and gives the holy elements 
 from the priest's hand to the people. 
 
 The lesser orders, the Psaltes, the Reader, the Hypo- 
 diaconus, are almost obsolete, the offices being performed by 
 deacons. Deaconesses also had ceased to exist by the time of 
 Michael I., Patriarch 1180 a.d. They might perform all the 
 part assigned to the deacon in the Eucharist for women and 
 small children, and in nunneries might administer the 
 consecrated Eucharist in the absence of a priest. They 
 were not allowed to marrv after ordination, and their chief 
 duty was to assist at the baptism and unction of adult 
 women. But as adult baptism ceased to be customary, and 
 
 The Syrian Churches. 
 
 327 
 
 nunneries to exist, the office became obsolete,* and has been 
 replaced by the ordination of the priests' wives mentioned 
 
 above. 
 
 It may not be deemed out of place to give here some account 
 of the many beautiful churches scattered among mountains 
 
 y^ 
 
 r_ *>^'.-^-^ 
 
 V '*4i; 
 
 Church of S. Mary The Virgin at Hakh. 
 
 inhabited by the Syrians. Foremost in interest as in beauty 
 comes the church of Hakh, a village situated in the centre of 
 Jebel Tur, about fifty miles due east of Mardin. Of this 
 church the story goes how at the Saviour's birth not three 
 only, but twelve wise kings came from the far East through 
 Nineveh to Jebel Tur, and there rested at the great town of 
 Hakh on their way to pay homage to the Holy Child. At 
 Hakh nine of them remained, while three continued on their 
 
 * The orders are thus enumerated in the Syrian Pontifical (Ap. Assem.) :-- 
 Minores : Psaltes, Anagnostes, Hypodiaconus. Majores : (1) Diaconus, Archi- 
 diaconiLs; (2) Presbyter, Chorepiscopus, Periodeutes; (3) Episcopus, Metro- 
 polita, Patriarcha. Janitor, Acolyta, Exorcista. are included under Hypo- 
 diaconus. 
 
 r 
 
 / 
 
328 
 
 TJi e iSi/ria }i ( 7< k rrh fy. 
 
 The Syrian Churches. 
 
 329 
 
 h 
 
 journey to the Holy Land. Now as they rested in the 
 evening, and washed the cloths of their turhands and dried 
 them by the fire, for it was winter time, the cloths fell all 
 upon the ashes of the fire ; and when they took them up, 
 behold on each was printed the image of a king. Such a 
 wonder demanded that a church should be built to preserve 
 the cloths; and on that very day the people set themselves to 
 
 □ 
 
 □ 
 
 e:! 
 
 » r 
 
 a 
 
 o Nf 
 
 H ■ '' ■ H 
 
 CHURCH OF S. MARY THE VIRGIN, AT HAKH, JEBEL TUR. 
 
 B 
 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 Sanctuary containing High Altar, and 
 
 Stalls for Bishop and Clergy. 
 Side Altar. 
 
 Modern Stone Screen. 
 
 E Line of Vault supporting Dome. 
 
 F GallerieB in the Narthex. 
 
 G Modern I'ortico. 
 
 H iloilem Chainbere. 
 
 I Lecterns. 
 
 build the first church in Hakh,^ being converted to the faith 
 of the new-born Saviour. And they built it there to the 
 memory of the nine wise kings, and to the glory of the Virgin 
 Mother of the Lord. And there stands the church until this 
 day; but the wonderful cloths have gone, the spoil of time 
 or of the infidel. So the priest told me ! and who will sav 
 
 • Tradition says that the Magi built tlie church of Mart Miriam in Urmi.— 
 Maclean and Browne, p. 301. 
 
 that the tale is one whit less true than the legends told at 
 many a European shrine ? 
 
 The church was small, ])ut exceedingly beautiful both in 
 ornament and proportion. With the three arms of a cross, 
 and a vestibule at the west taking the place of the fourth, it 
 follows a plan of design similar to that of the domed 
 Byzantine churches. The east arm is semi-circular, and forms 
 an apse; the south and north are square upon the ground 
 plan, but semi- vaulted like the east end, so that the roof is 
 all symmetrical. On each side of the apse is another 
 sanctuary, with a door, evidently original, leading to the 
 central altar ; but it was interesting to note that while the 
 side sanctuaries (such being the purpose for which they are 
 now used) are entered by a door from the body of the church, 
 the stone screen, through which a curtained door leads to the 
 chief sanctuary, is palpably of modern date. The plan shows 
 a transition from the plan of the earlier church at Nisibis, 
 where the sanctuaries are all quite open to the church, and 
 are distinguished merely by shallow apses round a raised 
 space at the east end, and that of the church at Arnas, where 
 there are three sanctuaries, those on each side being separate 
 chambers entered by a door, and the central one raised and 
 shut off by a screen of four open pillars and arches. The 
 existing screen at Hakh was a heavy^ wall, and quite spoiled 
 the beauty of the sanctuary within. 
 
 Behind the altar in the apse were built five stalls, carved 
 with simple leaves upon the capitals at the sides, and canopied 
 with the beautiful shell design that was such a favourite in 
 later Roman work. Here doubtless sat the Bishops and 
 clergy. It was their usual place of old ; and we read* in his 
 own words how S. Athanasius, when pursued by the Arians 
 at Alexandria, rose up from behind the altar in the church 
 of S. Theonas, and bade the people listen to the hundred 
 and thirty-sixth Psalm, and then save themselves from the 
 five- thousand armed men who were seeking for him. Over 
 the doors leading into the side sanctuaries were canopies 
 
 * Athan. : Apolog. de fuga, 24. a.d. 355. 
 
330 
 
 The Syrimi (churched. 
 
 The Syrian Chiirche.s. 
 
 331 
 
 i , 
 
 aUo of the same style, and above all ran a lovely moulding 
 of four-fold plait design. On the capitals were carved gar- 
 lands of leaves that grow among the hills ; and these were 
 continued all round the church, as a cornice below and above 
 the now blocked windows. The space of the vault above 
 the altar was tilled by a great Greek cross spreading its arms 
 over the whole, and above the top of it was carved a dove. 
 Such is the most extreme symbolism of which true Syrian 
 ornament admits. To the west were three doors, the centre 
 one large, and finely carved ; flanked by Roman columns and 
 surmounted bv an elaborate cornice. These led out into a 
 portico running the whole breadth of the church, and 
 waffon-roofed like the church at Salah alreadv described.* 
 It had also at each end a gallery, of which I could not 
 discover the use. From this portico, in which were the 
 tombs of many Bishops, another door led into a large square 
 porch added later. 
 
 Not the least beautiful part of the church was the roof. 
 From the arc of the vaults, which cover the four sides 
 and the four corners, rose eight walls, and from that again 
 an octagon dome, built of thin Honum bricks. Such was the 
 most beautiful church in Mesopotamia; for it was also the most 
 complete, whereas the church of S. James at Nisibis, although 
 in the detail of its carving much finer, was so ruined and 
 restored, that it was difficult to form an opinion of its original 
 
 beaut v. 
 
 From the ground plans ot* the several churches it will be 
 seen that they represent various modifications of one design, 
 that common throughout the East, a temple divided into 
 three parts, the sanctuary, the nave, and the narthex. 
 Sometimes there is a fourth division forming a portico, 
 or part of a cloister, known as the "exo-narthex," and 
 *'pronaos,'' either within or without the west wall of the 
 church. 
 
 The churches of Syria, as many as 1 saw, face east 
 and west according to the custom of the fifth and following 
 
 centuries ; ^ that is with the door at the west and the altar at 
 the east end. The western doors are in the older specimens 
 three in number, the central one being according to invariable 
 custom the largest of the three, and most profusely decorated, 
 the two side doors standing '^ guards for it, as for a queen. ''f 
 This is well exemplified at Hakh. 
 
 The '' TrpoVaos/' or vestibule, called also by Eusebius " to. 
 IvhoraTa irpoirvXa" may have occupied the space now covered 
 by the modern portico at Hakh ; while at Deir-el-Omar, and 
 at Salah, there still remains a cloister. 
 
 CHURCH OF S. JAMES, NISIBIS, 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 D 
 
 High Altar. 
 
 Raised portion of Chancel, lour feet, 
 
 enclosed by modern Wood Screen. 
 Side Altar. 
 Xave. 
 
 E Steps down to Tomb of S. James. 
 
 F Font made from broken pillar. 
 
 G Eichly Carved Doorways. 
 
 H Doorways now blocked up. 
 
 Scale IGft. to lin. 
 
 Entering the great west door we stand in the narthex, which 
 at Nisibis seems to have been formed of two divisions, like 
 that of the church described in the Hellenic journal, these 
 two divisions being, it is suggested, adapted for the 
 
 * See p. 181. 
 
 * Cp. Kraus Real Encyclopoodie, s. v. Orientierung. Up to the end of 
 the fourth century the altar stood at the west end the door being, as in the 
 Grtek and Roman Temple, at the east end ; during the fifth century the later 
 custom became fixed. Cp. Headlam, '• Supplementary Papers of Hellenic Soc, 
 1892," No. i., p. 18. Cp. Euseb., x. 4, 38. 
 
 t Euseb. X. 4, 41. 
 
 -4c, 
 
•K *"■ 
 
 111 
 
 332 
 
 The St/rian Clt birches. 
 
 '' audientes '^ and "substrati," wliose position was just within 
 the building.* The west end of the narthex at Hakh and 
 Salah is occupied by the tombs of bishops and clergy, for 
 whose burial there was no special building, as was the case in 
 some churches. There seems to have been no especial i*ule as 
 to the burial place; at Deir-el-Za^iferan all the Patriarchs are 
 buried in a separate chamber, and this rule is followed in 
 most monastic buildings. At Deir-el-Omar, besides the 
 
 CHURCH OF MAR YAKOB, AT SALAH, NEAR MIDHIAT. 
 
 A Sanctuary containing High Altar. 
 B Side Altar. 
 C »i »' 
 
 D Inscription on wall, 1470 Greek Era = 
 1159 A.D. 
 
 E Remuins of tine polished plaster on 
 
 walls. 
 F Narthex. 
 G Tombs of Bishojis. 
 H Lectern. 
 
 Scale ir.ft. to lin. 
 
 various burial chambers scattered about the monastery, there 
 are tombs in the recesses all round the church ; so, too, in the 
 church of the Monastery of Mar Mattha, near Mosul, where 
 Gregory Bar Hebraeus lies in the north chamber of the 
 chancel. S. Gabriel lies in a similar position at Deir-el-Omar, 
 from which it seems that, according to his repute for holiness, 
 
 J 
 
 TJte Syrian Chid'ches. 
 
 333 
 
 a place of burial was assigned to a saint or bishop. On each 
 side of the narthex at Hakh and Salah is a gallery, for which 
 the purpose was not obvious, unless it were for the women ; 
 but in none of the churches did I see such a gallery in the 
 aisles of the nave. Women were little considered, if this was 
 all the space assigned to them ; but it is well known that in 
 most early churches there was a gallery for them. At Salah 
 and Hakh very handsome doorways lead into the nave; at 
 Xisibis a low wall that once ran between the two westernmost 
 pillars has been succeeded by a wooden rail. The absence of 
 a narthex from the church at Deir-el-Omar mav be accounted 
 for by the fact that it is a monastic church : but it is scarcely 
 probable that here any more than at Deir-el-Za'aferan, where 
 there is also no narthex, but only an external cloister, all the 
 pilgrims who doubtless visited the place would be permitted 
 to penetrate into the nave. 
 
 The naves ^ appear to be of three types: one domed like 
 the conventional Byzantine church, as at Nisibis and Hakh ; 
 a second vaulted north and south, as at Arnas; a third having 
 a wagon-roof from east to west instead of cross-wise, as at 
 Salah. The materials are of three kinds — wood, stone, and 
 brick. The roof of the church at Deir-el-Oniar, being of the 
 third type, and having to span a great space, seemed, as far 
 as could be judged from the ground, to have been formed of 
 a rough composite laid over beams of wood, this then being 
 coated with fine plaster, and covered with mosaic. The roof 
 at Salah is built of bricks, formed in three squares, after the 
 manner of parquet flooring. At Hakh the same method is 
 used for the roof of the narthex ; and for the octagon dome, 
 which has been described, bricks are also used. 
 
 The nave is naturally the place of those worshippers who 
 have attained a knowledge of the Gospel faith, of which 
 the four pillars that support the dome are typical. It 
 contains, in general, nothing but the carpet on which the 
 worshippers sit or kneel, and the lecterns round which they 
 
 * Headlam, ibid., p. 14. 
 
 * Called (vKT-f)piov rou \aoO in a letter of Valentinian and Theodosius. — Head- 
 lam, ibid., \). 15. 
 
884 
 
 y/if fSt/rian (Jliiirrhes. 
 
 
 stand to chant the pstihns or hymns during morning and 
 evening prayer. The latter are generally substantial wooden 
 stands, on which are placed various books of hymns and 
 psahns, and contain underneath a cupboard where other 
 books are stored. The only picture strictly allowed in Syrian 
 cliurches is a portrait of the Founder frescoed on a wall, as 
 at Deir-el-Za'aferan and the church of Mar Behnani, near 
 Mosul. Most churches contaiii other pictures, either framed 
 
 CHURCH IN THE MONASTKRY CALLED DAIR-EL-OMAR, NEAR MIDHIAT. 
 
 A Hijfrh Altar. 
 B Side Altar. 
 
 D Barial Chamber. 
 
 E Tomb of Mar Oabriel. 
 
 F Stone. 
 
 Q Tombs. 
 
 H Vestibule, 
 
 Seale IHft. t<> lin. 
 
 importations or frescoes ; but these are modern, and treated 
 with little of the reverence they obtain among the Greeks. 
 Whether this is due to Mohammedan influence, or a remnant 
 or the Iconoclastic controversy, it would be hard to decide. 
 
 A glance at the plans will show how the stereotyped plan of 
 the east-end has developed out of the primitive form. In 
 modern Syrian churches there are invariably, as far as I 
 knoAv, three altars, each generally in a separate chamber. 
 
 Thf Syrian Churches, 
 
 835 
 
 Occasionally there is one large open space containing 
 all three, although a distinct dome for each marks their 
 separation. 
 
 The name for the whole sanctuary is in Syrian "Madbkha" 
 the place of offering, in Arabic " El Heikil '' the temple, 
 or '' Quds-el-Qudas " thv holy of holies; but the word 
 " Madbkha," in Arabic '' Mudhbah,'' is not infrequently 
 restricted to the altar, and the baldachino which covers it. 
 
 Three chapels, or sanctuaries, are supposed to prove a late 
 date for a church ; an internal apse an early one. At Hakh 
 and Nisibis we have both characteristics. It will be seen, too, 
 that the earlier churches have no stone wall in the original 
 plan, in front of the altar; the later ones have either a door 
 or a screen. Thus at Nisibis, Deir-el-Za'aferan and Hakh 
 we find examples of the earlier type ; at Arnas there is to be 
 seen a transition in the columns that form an open screen ; at 
 Salah and Deir-el-Omar we find the fully developed chamber. 
 At the present time, the practice is uniform of having a large 
 curtain across the entrance, which is drawn when the sanctuary 
 is not in use; the same being the case with the side chapels. 
 In cases where there was originally no screen, there has been 
 raised some sort of barrier ; at Hakh, a wall pierced by a 
 large door has been built ; at Nisibis, a wooden trellis-work, 
 .such as Eusebius says was placed round the altar at Tyre, 
 stretches in front of the altar ; and at Deir-el-Za'aferan and 
 Diarbekr, large folding doors stand open, never used, as far 
 as I know. Curtains are universal. Out of the centre 
 sanctuary a dooi- leads into each of the side chapels, whose 
 arrangement is precisely similar to that of the central one. 
 The south chapel not infrequently contains the font in a recess 
 in the walls ; but its more usual position is just outside the 
 chapel."^ In this chapel all preparations for the celebration 
 are made. 
 
 * Maclean and Browne, p. 291. mention that among the Nestorian^, this 
 chapel is >x>th sacristy and baptistry. The south chamber is generally 
 called the •• diaconicum " and used for a vestry, the north the '• prothesis " in 
 which the elements are laid. The use seemed to vary in different Syrian 
 churches. 
 
830 
 
 The Syrian (JIturchc.s. 
 
 The beautiful stalls behind the altar in the church of Hakh 
 have already beeu described.* The custom of so placing 
 them seems to have died out with the open sanctuaries. 
 
 The Church of Deir-el-Omar displays most completely the 
 final development in the arrangement of the three sanctuaries, 
 and it is interesting to note that tradition says that the church 
 was built by a Greek Emperor. In the early days none but 
 the sanctified were admitted into the interior parts of the 
 church, the rest having a place provided for them without. It 
 may be that as the churches became more frequented by all 
 kinds of men, and it was thought unfitting that impious eyes 
 should behold so plainly what was done at the Holy of Holies, 
 as well as from a growing desire to distinguish clergy and 
 laity, it became customary to enclose the sanctuary. 
 
 The altar itself, the actual " Holy of Holies,'' the 
 "Throne,'' or "Place of Offering," is generally contained 
 within a small sanctuaryt of wood or cement set round it, and 
 domed above. This is formed of four pillars with lattice work, 
 variously decorated at the back and sides, and with a curtain, 
 sometimes of exceedingly beautiful work, to draw across the 
 front, when it is not in use, and during the preparation of 
 the elements. It is similar to an Italian baldachino, and 
 may be well realised by those who have seen the canopy of 
 the altar at S. Mark's church in Venice. On the altar 
 itself there is nothing but the Book of the Gospels, and the 
 sacred vessels, which always stand there. These stand on 
 rich embroideries, or common printed calico, according to 
 the means of the congregation. On the rear-altar, formed 
 sometimes of three or four tiers one behind the other, stand 
 several crosses, with vases and candles. Two candles always 
 stand one on each side of a cross on the lowest tier. The 
 side altars are adorned with the same or greater simplicity. 
 
 ii . 
 
 * Op. Headlam, p. 17, the remains of the Biahop's chair, and seats of the 
 Presbyters are still to be seen at Koja Kalessi. Cp. Eus. x., iv. 44. 
 
 t Called " ciborium." " S. Chrysoatom uaes the word to explain the silver 
 shrines of Diana in the Acts. Subsequently the name was given to the Pyx 
 erected under it for the reservation of the Host." Payne Smith on John Eph., 
 ii. 30. 
 
 The Syrian Churches. 
 
 387 
 
 In front of the altar at the top of the steps which lead 
 down to the nave stands the wooden lectern, and on it the 
 Book of the Gospels bound in leather, and with the front 
 overlaid with a silver representation in the Byzantine stvie 
 of the Crucifixion.* On each side, or below in the nave, 
 stands one candlestick or more, at the side of which hangs 
 the thurible. A small stock of books, and the chair of the 
 Bishop just within the door, complete the furniture of the 
 sanctuary. In the north chapel are kept the oil and 
 ''morone" used in the baptisms and ordinations of the 
 Church. The valuable property of the Church, such as silver 
 vessels or ancient books, is generally kept in a recess in the 
 wall behind the high altar, called the treasury. 
 
 BiAN Manuscripts at Deir-el-Za'aferan. 
 
 Commentary on Bible, compiled from works of St. James 
 
 (of Nisibis or Bardaeus) and St. Efrem by John, 
 
 Bishop of IVfardin. 
 Commentary on tlie Gospels by Philoxenus and Abraham 
 
 of Malatia (on the Euphrates), containing hymns of 
 
 St. Efrem and St. James. 
 Copy of Gospels, written by John, Bishop of Deir Mar 
 
 Gabriel (Deir el Omar). Ornamented margins. 
 
 Copy of the Gospels, written by Shammas Peter, who 
 was killed by the Moslems, containing full-page paint- 
 ings of the Virgin, St. John, St. James, Mar Baraom, 
 Mar Georgios. 
 
 Smaller copy of the Gospels, exceedingly finely written, 
 but containing no date. 
 
 Syrian treatise on the Nestorian controversy, containing 
 no date. 
 
 List of Eastern Bishops at Council of Epheaus. Greek 
 words occur in the margin frequently. 
 
 Some writings of Bar Hebraeus. 
 
 Part of the writings of St. Chrysostom. 
 
 A calendar dating from the tenth century, treating of 
 political and ecclesiastical events. 
 
 ; Badger, i. 51. 
 
 
 Note on Sy 
 
 1. 
 
 1156 A.D. Three 
 
 
 columns parch- 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 2. 
 
 1001 A.D. Two 
 
 
 columns parch- 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 3. 
 
 1044 A.D. Two 
 
 
 columns parch- 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 4. 
 
 1055 A.D. Two 
 
 
 columns parch- 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 5. 
 
 
 6. 
 
 
 7. 
 
 
 8. 
 
 
 9. 
 
 
 10. 
 
 
 Cp. Ainsworth, ii. 345 
 
 * Theodoret, v. 3, speaks of the reverence paid to the Book of the Gospels in 
 early time. Its position in the Church is significant, the most conspicuous 
 object in the building. Cp. Bright, 162. 
 
 Z 
 
 ' i'/ 
 
I 
 
 338 
 
 'fhe Syricni Churches. 
 
 Most of these books are kept in a cupboard in the lower diwan of the 
 monastery, others in the Patriarch's house at Martlin. It is probable that more 
 might be found hidden in the chambers below the church. 
 
 Midhiat was the only other place containing a library that I had any 
 opportunity of visiting, although there are said to be small but interesting 
 collections of liturgical Iwoks at Deir-el-Salib and Enhal. The latter I could not 
 visit ; I foimd the priest had left the former for a journey, and taken the key of 
 his room with him. 
 
 The most i nteresting book at Midhiat is a small copy of the Gospels in most 
 exquisite Estrangeli character, but in the Greek language, which is valuable as 
 showing that the present custom of writing the current language in Syriac 
 character is an old one. The book belongs to the ninth century, and is 
 written on fine vellum : it contains many words, on whose transliteration the 
 writer was doubtful, in Greek letters on the margin, and would form a valuable 
 guide to the pronunciation of Greek at that date. 
 
 There is another small copy of the Gospels, dated 929 a.d., being a translation 
 from the Greek : besides two large copies of the version made by Thomas of 
 Harkel, and dated 1530. 
 
 The few books of interest that ever existed at Mosul seem to have been sold 
 or lost. A small collection still remains at Diarbekr, but I had no opportunity 
 of examining them. Their existence there as elsewhere is kept a secret, in order 
 to escape the ravages of Moslems and collectors. 
 
 -i»0>^*<>- 
 
 k«\. 
 
 -v 
 
 Thf" ^^yrifoi Eucharist. 
 
 339 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Customs and Condition of the Old Syrians. 
 
 I. Tlie Litnr<ify in use aiiiung the Old Syrians is that of 
 S. James, of which translations are given in several English 
 books.* Certain peculiarities of this Church may, however, 
 here be noticed. 
 
 The celebrant, after his preparation, retires to the south 
 sanctuary to vest himself. Returning thence to the central 
 altar, he sets ready the sacred vessels, and lights the tapers. 
 During this the curtain is draw^n across the front of the altar, 
 and an antiphou sung l)y two of the deacons. 
 
 The prayers of the oblation from before the altar are pro- 
 nounced after the curtain has been withdrawn, and are 
 folhjwed by the censing of the altar and the elements by the 
 priest, and of all the Church by a deacon. Three or four 
 boys meanwhile recite several psalms in succession. 
 
 The Trisagion, '' Holy art Thou, God, Holy, Mighty, 
 Holy, Immortal," is remarkable as containing the much 
 contended expression, ^* Who wast crucified for us;" but that 
 it refers only to God the Son is laid down very emphatically 
 in the Old Syrian profession of faith. The lections follow, 
 
 * The bread used for the Eucharist is leavened, and made of the finest flour. 
 The wine is made of the best grapes, pressed by hand instead of the feet. The 
 leaven used is mixed with leaven said to have been handed down from the first 
 ages, a portion being always retained from each baking. For this custom and the 
 tradition connected with it compare Maclean and Browne, p. 248. 
 
 Salt and oil are also mixed with the bread (Cp. Asseman, B. O., ii. 182). The 
 bread must be baked fresh for each celebration, and not reserved, " as the manna 
 in the wilderness. ' 
 
 z 2 
 
 ^ ./J 
 
:iW 
 
 The Si/n'mi Eucluivlst. 
 
 V 
 
 first from the Old Testament, then fn^m tlie K})istk's, then 
 from the (rospel. The celebrant reads the last from tlie tj^reat 
 Book bound in silver, wliich stands before the altar; while on 
 each side of him stands a deacon, holdini^: a lighted taper. 
 All stand bare-headed, until the Gospel is finished. The choir 
 fills up every interval with singing, and the deacon assisting 
 at the altar utters .many ejaculations explanatory of or 
 calling attention to what is read by the priest. 
 
 With prayers uttered by the priest and the recital by all of 
 the creed, the chief piirt of the Liturgy begins [i.e. the 
 Missa Fidelium), in which it is not ])erhaps necessary to 
 mention more than the *' Kiss of peace" given near the end. 
 The deacon approaches the celebrant, and having taken the 
 tips of his two hands between his own, pass his hands down 
 over his face. Another deacon then receives the hands of the 
 first in the same way, and so the kiss is passed from one to 
 another through the whole Church. 
 
 The ''^Ter-Sanctus," the words of Institution, and the 
 Invocation of the Son and Holy Spirit are followed by a xt^ry 
 long prayer of intercession for the " Whole estate of Christ's 
 Church,'^ and the commemoration of all its greatest members 
 living or dead, and of the Patriarch in especial. Then the 
 curtain is again drawn, and the celebrant comes down to the 
 entrance of the sanctuary and preaches a sermon in Arabic. 
 The same sermon is preached again and again, of the poor 
 man and the rich man with a gold ring. The people seem to 
 have heard it too often to listen. 
 
 Again the Celebrant returns to the altar, and when the 
 curtain has been withdi-awn, with his right hand on the altar, 
 and the other uplifted towards the people, pronounces the 
 blessing. Then, having broken and signed the bread with 
 the cross, he pronounces the Lord's Prayer, and taking the 
 sacred vessels in his hands comes westward toward the people. 
 During this, as at other times, the boys or deacons about the 
 altar beat cymbals, and shake the fans (long staves with a 
 round plate at the top encircled with bells). 
 
 The priest then returns to the altar to give thanks and 
 dismiss the people. All crowd up to kiss the Gospels and the 
 
 The Sj/rion Enchavixt. 
 
 U\ 
 
 priest's hand and receive the blessed bread^ before leaving 
 the church. A few remain to receive Communion after the 
 rest have gone. 
 
 On Whit-Sunday a curious ceremony occurs after the 
 sermon. The deacons begin to chant, but suddenly stop, as 
 everyone pretends to be asleep. Then each man taps his 
 neighbour's shoulder to awake him, Avhile the priest prays and 
 scatters water with an almond bi'anch over the people. This 
 is repeated three times, and explained to signify the gift of 
 the Holy Spirit, synibolised by water to the sleeping members 
 of Christ's Church. 
 
 Since in the Old Syrian Church baptism and confirmation 
 are administered together, children communicate from quite 
 an early age; and it is very touching to see the women bring 
 their little ones to share with them the Body and Blood of 
 Christ. 
 
 F'rom each celebration a porti(m is reserved for the com- 
 muni(m of the sick ; but if it is not used, it must be eaten 
 by the priest ; for it is strictly forbidden to leave the con- 
 secrated elements upon the altar from one day to another. 
 
 A number of the small cakes of blessed bread, called the 
 " antidor(m,"t are generally taken to the Patriarch or Bishop 
 at the monastery or church, and distributed by him to those 
 who come to visit him after service. 
 
 Of the dress worn during the services, the girdle is necessary 
 for all who take any part within the sanctuary. In the daily 
 services no other special garb is worn, except a stole by the 
 ])riest who reads the Gospel, and the deacons who recite the 
 psalms before the altar. 
 
 During the celebration all the deacons and the choir wear 
 white surplices, with gaily coloured stoles tied cross-wise 
 before and behind. The celebrant wears a special alb with a 
 
 ♦ The " Pain beni ' of France, where the custom of blessing bread to be 
 distributed amonj? the people still remains. This bread, like that consecrated in 
 the Eucharist, is baked into small round cakes about two inches in diameter, 
 covered with small crosses impressed on them by a wooden die. 
 
 t Syriac " Burctho," = EuAoy/a : " kvri^upov " is the Byzantine word for the 
 same. 
 
 m 
 
 '. II 
 
rn 
 
 342 
 
 The Syrian Eucharist, 
 
 Syricm Baptism. 
 
 343 
 
 iM 
 
 coloured irii'dlc, and over this a chasuble split (h»\vii tlie front, 
 and fastened at the neck l)v lai'^-e silver buckles. Over tlie 
 sleeves of his alb he wears lont^^ richly-embroidered gauntlets, 
 and over his head he draws from time to time the top part of 
 a veil that hanufs over his back, like a kind of amice. He 
 has on his head besides this only a skiill-cap of the same sort 
 as generally worn under the turl)and, but nioi-e richlv em- 
 broidered with white crosses on a black ground. Under the 
 chasuble he wears an undivided stole, like a scapulary, and 
 «ui his feet the vellow shoes alwavs exchanjred within the 
 sanctuary for the usual black or red ones. 'J'he vesting is 
 performed not before the great altar, but in the south sanc- 
 tuary, where the preparations are made for the celebration. 
 
 In the daily celebrations the Saints that are departed, 
 especially those most honoured by the Old Syrians, such as 
 Athanasius and Cvril, and their Patriarchs are commemorated, 
 and prayer is likewise offered for the Patriarch. Before 
 communion confession is recommended bv the canons, but 
 it is now almost obsolete, while it is doubtful if it ever implied 
 more than a formal confessicm of sin and absolution. This is 
 probable, for it is the custom where confession is made, for 
 several to confess together at the steps of the altar.^ It is 
 said, too, that bathing was a necessary preliminary to con- 
 fession. 
 
 Of baptism, marriage, and funeral customs among the 
 Syrians there is little to relate, being the customs rather of 
 Eastern Churches in general than the Old Syrian Church in 
 particular. Baptism is foi-biddcn in ])rivate houses, and 
 for the ceremony it is necessjiry to have, in addition to 
 water, the '^sythe'' or olive-oil, and the " moron " or holy 
 oil prepared by the Patriarch year by year, with which the 
 " sythe 'Ms consecrated. t With '* moron '' the child is first 
 
 * Aaseman, in his account of the Syrian customH, laments the ab.sence of clear 
 teaching on confession. Biblioth. Orient, ii. intr., from which it is clear that 
 the practice was not very general in the twelfth century of which he writes. 
 
 t The preparation of the •' moron " is an important ceremony, and the dependence 
 of various Churches, as in Ceylon and Malabar, for its supply upon the Patriarch, 
 signifies their obedience to his supremacy. It is made chiefly of balsam. 
 
 signed with the sign of the cross upon the forehead, before 
 being baptised. He is then anointed all over with the conse- 
 crated olive oil, and dipped up to the neck in the water of the 
 font, which has been also consecrated with " moron." This 
 is done three times in the name of the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost ; after which the child is again clothed, and 
 taken to the sanctuary for confirnuition by the priest. 
 
 The names given to children are in general Biblical — Peter, 
 Paul, James, Nahuni, Isaiah and such like ; but it is not 
 unusual to find men and women with names of a more 
 Mohammedan sound, Aziz, Abd-el-Kahman, Amin, Abd-el- 
 Karim ; while others again have names of Christian origin 
 formed on the Mohammedan system, such as Abd-el-Messiah, 
 servant of Christ. Abdullah is, of course, a name common to 
 both creeds. Women frequently have the Biblical names, nor 
 is it rare to find such names as '' Werdeh '^ (Rose), or "Luleh" 
 (Pearl). One never hears, however, a Christian called by 
 such a name as Omar or Mohammed, or in fact any name 
 which directly implies Mohammedan faith ; Mohammedan 
 names, when borne, being due generally to a loyal regard for 
 Sultans and beneficent Pashas. Children in general receive 
 the mimes of their grandparents rather than their parents, and 
 for surnames call themselves "of the house of such an one," or 
 the " son of such an one." Actual surnames are now more 
 common, taken either from a common family name, or the 
 district where the father lives. 
 
 The marriage customs of the old Syrians are described 
 elsewhere; it remains to add a few words on those of funerals. 
 There are numerous services, differing in various ways, accord- 
 ing as it is for the burial of a Patriarch, a Bishop, a Priest, a 
 layman or a child; and for all the service is of great length, 
 and very impressive even to one who does not understand 
 what is said. A death in a Syrian house is a terrible thing 
 for a Western to witness. Even during the most extreme 
 sickness, the room is never quiet ; for it is the bounden duty 
 of relations and friends to crowd in, and standing about the 
 bed, condole with or comfort the dying and bereaved. Many 
 an illness is thus handed on from dying to living, and the last 
 
J 
 
 344 
 
 Funeral Gusfoms, 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 hours of many are hastened or disturbed by what seems to us 
 unseemly intrusion. But it is their custom, and custom is tlie 
 heaviest weiorht of all that lies u])on the Kast, and its trans- 
 gression is scarcely so easily pardoned as many a graver fault. 
 But when life has actually departed, it is hard to describe the 
 terrible outburst of grief from relations and friends, some of 
 whom, perhaps, scarcely knew him who has gone, but under 
 the influence of those who were nearer, break out into uncon- 
 trollable lamentations, throwing themselves on the bed, and 
 crying aloud on the dead and on God to restore him to the 
 bereaved. 
 
 This grief, though excessive according to our ideas, is in- 
 telligible j not so the hiring of mourners, and the practice of 
 placing women to weep for hours at the grave, lamenting 
 their loss and recounting the good qualities of the dead. 
 
 The scene in the church and churchyard is very impressive. 
 Large crowds form in the procession behind the women 
 mourners, who are veiled in black ; and chants are sung as the 
 procession passes through the streets, and between the church 
 and the grave. There are cemeteries round most churches, 
 where the laity are buried ; only Bishops and very holy men 
 being ever buried within the church walls, or in the mortuary 
 chapels of the monasteries. At the grave prayers are said and 
 the Gospels read, while drums and cymbals are beaten. After 
 the body has been laid in the grave and the earth filled in, 
 the clothes of the dead are placed on the top and the women 
 sit down to mourn, beating their breasts, and wailing. Then 
 the relatives gather at the head of the grave near to the 
 priest, and all the rest pass by in order, kissing the hands of 
 the latter, and touching those of the former, as they utter 
 some words of comfort and peace ; and leave the courtyard 
 for the house of the deceased, where they again mourn \nd 
 take some food. 
 
 On the third, the ninth, the thirtieth, and the fortieth day, 
 there is a ceremony in memory of the departed ; and once 'a 
 year, on the day on which he died, there is another service 
 and celebration in the church. The mourning is renewed on 
 each of these days, but has been curtailed by the present 
 
 Fasts. 
 
 345 
 
 Patriarch, who has strictly forbidden such excessive display 
 of gi'ief as was common, and limited the duration of these 
 services. Finally a stone is laid upon the grave, generally a 
 stone covering the whole grave, about three feet high, and 
 ornamented with carving and inscriptions relating to the 
 dead. Upright stones are very rare, that being the form 
 used by the Moslems ; but sometimes a large tablet of stone 
 will be placed in the wall within or without a church to 
 commemorate a holy man, or a Bishop. Some of these stones 
 and tablets are of very great beauty, and carved with very 
 elegant designs. 
 
 There are five fasts observed among the Syrians. The 
 " Great Fast '' of Lent begins on the Monday forty-nine days 
 before Easter, and must be strictly observed by all. The 
 " Little Fast " of Advent begins for strict observers on 
 November 15, lasting forty days. The seculars of the 
 Western, or Patriarchal province, we are told by Bar 
 Hebraeus, fasted only for two weeks from December 10, 
 while those of the Eastern province, that of the Mafrian, 
 fasted from December 1. The fast of Nineveh is observed 
 for three days from Monday in the third week before Lent. 
 The Westerns used to fast five days. This fast commemorates 
 the preaching of Jonah. The Fast of the Apostles lasts fifty 
 days after Pentecost; the Easterns beginning on the first, 
 and the Westerns on the second Monday after that Sunday. 
 The Fast of the Virgin Mary is observed from August 1 to 15. 
 All over twenty years of age are obliged to fast on Wednes- 
 day and Friday, beginning at sunset on the previous day. 
 On Saturdays the fast may be broken at midday, on 
 other days at the ninth hour. On ordinary fast days, eggs, 
 milk, and cheese, are entirely forbidden; during Lent not 
 even oil may be touched ; from which it maybe gathered that 
 fasting among the Syrians is no light burden. 
 
 II. The Syrian people — or '' nation,'' as they love to call 
 themselves — that acknowledge the supremacy of the Patriarch, 
 Ignatius Peter III., inhabit chiefly the tract of land known 
 as Mesopotamia or " El Jazirah '' (the Island)^ between the 
 rivers Tigris and Euphrates. In Syria proper there are some 
 
 n 
 
 II 
 
 I I 
 
346 
 
 Distrihiition of the People. 
 
 ten thousand Old Syrians in the villages scattered about 
 Horas and Damascus, Saddud (Zedad), a well-known Biblical 
 town, containing about three thousand. In Aleppo almost all 
 the Syrians have followed the example of so many Greeks 
 and Armenians, and joined the Roman Communion. A few 
 have joined the Americans, while one man of influence 
 remains loyal to his nation, and acts as agent to the Patriarch 
 in that town. 
 
 Passing eastward, Urfa, known better by its classical name 
 of Edessa, is the first town where many Syrians are to be 
 found. It is pleasant to find the ancient seat of a great 
 University, and the home of St. Efrem and St. James of 
 Nisibis, still containing a good number of members of the 
 old Church, besides as many as four thousand houses of 
 Armenians. Xorth and east towards Kharput and Diarbekr 
 are scattered many Syrian villages, while south-east their 
 numbers increase in the mountains between Mardin and the 
 Tigris known as Jebel Tur or Mons Masius, among which are 
 many churches and monasteries, and probably as many as 
 forty thousand Christian inhabitants. Round Mosul there are 
 villages containing a good number, bringing up the whole to 
 something between one hundred and fifty and two hundred 
 thousand. 
 
 The inaccuracy of the census, due partly to a desire on 
 the part of all the Christians to lessen their numbers on 
 account of the poll-tax levied on all males in lieu of military 
 service, and partly to the extreme laxity on the part of the 
 Government officials, makes it extremely difficult to obtain 
 correct statistics. The number of inhabitants of a village 
 can often be only ascertained in a secret way, or on the 
 absolute assurance that no detrimental use will be made of 
 the information. It may therefore be taken for granted 
 that the actual population considerably exceeds the numbers 
 given. 
 
 The Syrians in the towns generally follow some trade, most 
 frequently that of cloth merchants ; in the villages they are 
 agriculturists. In general, their means are small. There are, 
 of course, some rich, and a few liberal men. But apart from 
 
 
 The Syrian CJirisflans in India. 
 
 347 
 
 the tendenc}' to hoard and hide money in order to escape the 
 exactions of officials, the Syrians are not an open-handed 
 people. Moreover, the very large majority of them are 
 exceedingly poor; and although in the open-air life of a warm 
 country poverty does not pinch as it does in the north, yet 
 the means of supporting even the simplest life, to say nothing 
 of the higher needs of education and religion, are often 
 wanting. The few men of means have to pay the taxes of 
 their poorer brethren in addition to their own. For instance, 
 in Diarbekr there are about six families of some means, and 
 two hundred wretchedly poor, whose taxes the former have to 
 pay ; for taxes are collected not from each member of the 
 community individually, but from the whole body together. 
 In the country villages matters are far worse, and the taxes 
 exacted with nmch cruelty and oppression. While the fiscal 
 policy of the Porte weighs much more heavily on agriculture 
 than on the trade of towns, the country people are much less 
 able to defend their interests. 
 
 An important part of those who acknowledge the Syrikn 
 Patriarch of Antioch is resident on the Malabar coast of 
 India. Some three hundred thousand Syrians trace their 
 origin to Syrians from the West, and their present sul)- 
 jection to Antioch demands a short account of the events 
 which led them to exchange a Nescorian for a Jacobite 
 supremacy. Eastern tradition is unanimous in assigning 
 to the Syrian Church a very early origin, whether or not 
 its foundation was actually due to S. Thomas the Apostle, 
 Panttenus of Alexandria (200 a.d.), or to Nestorian mission- 
 aries of a later date from Persia. It is certain from the 
 testimony of the Xestoriau Cosmas (522 a.d.), an Alexandrian 
 merchant who sailed to India early in the sixth century, that 
 there was in existence at that time, on the Malabar Coast, a 
 Church headed by a Metropolitan appointed by the Catholicos 
 of Persia. 
 
 The Christians of Malabar are called Syrian, not so much 
 because they are so by race, although two immigrations (745 a.d.) , 
 one of Christians from Baghdad Nineveh and Jerusalem 
 under Thomas of Cana, and another from Persia (822 a.d.) 
 
 '\ 
 
 w 
 
 . i. ''I 
 
348 
 
 The Syricni Christians in India. 
 
 hi 
 
 under two Nestoriau priests, Mar Sapur and Mar Peruz, are 
 recorded in the traditions of tlie Indian Churcli, but because 
 their Christianity and their Bible were received from those 
 to whom, as to all who at one time acknowledged the 
 supremacy of Antioch, Syriac was the ecclesiastical, if not 
 the national, language. For some years Malabar was under 
 the rule of Christian Kings, known as the Perumals ; but on 
 the death of Cheraman, the power ])assed into the hands of 
 the neighbouring Rajah of Cochin, to whom, and to the 
 Rajah of Travancore, the Syrian Christians have since been 
 subject. 
 
 Early in the fourteenth century Jordanus, a Dominican 
 missionary, visited India, and reported Malabar to be a 
 fruitful held for Roman enterprise ; but it was two centuries 
 before an active campaign was entered upon in India. The 
 way was prepared by the Portuguese; and in 1560 the 
 lufpiisition was established by the favour of John III. of 
 Portugal in Goa, for two hundred and fifty years^ the centre 
 of tyranny and cruel persecution throughout the Eastern 
 dominions of Portugal. 
 
 The crisis of the dealings of the Romans with the 
 Syrians (1.599 a.d.) came when Don Alexo Menezes, Arch- 
 bishop of Goa, summoned the Synod of Diamper with a 
 view to reforming the abuses of the Syrians, and inducing 
 them " to return to the allegiance of Rome, from which for 
 twelve hundred years they had fallen away." " The most 
 cruel of the Synod's proceedings was the making the decree 
 about the celibacy of the clergy retrospective. 
 Hut what history will least willingly forgive this notorious 
 Synod is its wanton destruction of books. The liturgies 
 were either destroyed or altered beyond recognition, and 
 there is probably no entire copy now in existence which was 
 used by the Syrians in Southern India before 1599."t 
 Menezes then made a tour among the Syrian Churches '* to 
 
 * In 1812 the Inquisition was abolished by order of Dor Jose, Prince Regent 
 at Rio Janeiro. 
 
 + '• The Syrian Church in India," by C. Mihie Rae. p. 251. 
 
 The Syrian Christians in India. 
 
 349 
 
 secure peace by reconciling it with the Mother Church of 
 
 Rome." 
 
 In 1G63 the Dutch dealt the death blow to the Portuguese 
 power in India by the ca])ture of Cranganore and Cochin, 
 and inaugurated an era of toleration for the Syrians. 
 Ten years earlier a large number of the Syrians had risen 
 against the Roman tyrants, and sworn at a huge assembly 
 round the Coonen Cross near Cochin to rid themselves of the 
 Portuguese usurpers. Of this meeting the immediate cause 
 was the murder by the Romans of Theodore, a Bishop who 
 had been sent from Babylon to rule over them. It was now 
 necessary at all hazards to obtain a Bishop from one of the 
 Eastern Patriarchs in the place of the priest Thomas whom they 
 had elected from themselves to rule over them. Soon after the 
 conquest of tlie Dutch, Gregorius, Bishop of Jerusalem, came 
 from the Syrian Patriarch at Mardin (1665 a.d.), and being re- 
 ceived with unbounded joy, consecrated Thomas, and remained 
 to rule jointly with him until his death in 1672. From this 
 point the Syrians began to look to Antioch for the consecra- 
 tion of their Metropolitans, in place of Babylon, the supremacy 
 of whose Catholicos they had for so many years acknowledged. 
 Nestorian Bishops did indeed continue to come to Malabar ; 
 in 1700 Mar Sham'un came to the East to restore his 
 authority, and five years later another Bishop, Mar Gabriel, 
 came for the same purpose. But the majority of the Syrians 
 adhered to Antioch, which they regarded with gratitude as 
 the source of their deliverance from the Romans, and in 1751 
 the Syrian Patriarch of Antioch sent at their request three 
 Bishops to India. Up to the present day there has been a 
 growing regard for Antioch ; but of the history of these 
 years it is not proposed to say more here than will explain 
 the relation of the present Patriarch to the Syrians (.f 
 Malabar. 
 
 A recent trial in the Courts of Travancore decided that, 
 whether or not each individual Metropolitan of the Malal)ai* 
 Syrians owed his consecration directly to the Patriarch at 
 Mardin or his delegates, that Patriarch was regarded since 
 the year 1665 as the legitimate head of the Syrian Church in 
 
 k: 
 
r 
 
 350 
 
 The Syrian Christians in India, 
 
 India."^ In tlit* be^iiinino- of the ct'iiturv, Kn^i^lish inissioiiaries 
 began a praisewortliy attempt to infuse life into the Malabar 
 Christians. For some years their efforts were crowned with 
 success, due partly to the excellence of their plan of vvoi'k, 
 partly to the influence, avowedly immense, exercised by the 
 British Resident in the cause of progress. The distance of 
 Mardin placed a difficulty in the way of secui-ing direct con- 
 secration of the Metropolitan by the Patriarch. This was 
 increased on the death of Thomas IX. in 1825, when the 
 Resident caused one Philip])us Malpan, elected by lot to 
 succeed him, to be proclaimed by a Royal decree head of the 
 Church. Com])laints were sent to the Patriarch, who in 1827 
 sent two men, Athanasius and Abraham, to take charge of the 
 Church ; and ten years later the Syrians ended their brief 
 connection with the English missionaries, after the emissaries 
 from Mardin had been forcibly, and against the wish of the 
 people, deported by the Government of Travancore. Con- 
 tinual appeals were made between 1825 and 1842 to the 
 Patriarch, who took advantage of the visit to Mardin of (jne 
 Matthew to consecrate him Metropolitan of Malabar with the 
 title of Athanasius. But infornuition was sent to Mardin, 
 representing Matthew in so bad a light, that the Patriarch 
 sent Bishop Mar Kurillos to nuike inquiries on the spot, with 
 power to supersede Athanasius, if found guilty of heresy or 
 misconduct. Kurillos had undoubted right, in virtue of the 
 authority vested in him by the Patriarch, to supersede 
 Athanasius as he then did, whether or not the charges against 
 him of making false representations at Mardin were proved. 
 In 1865, the Patriarch consecrated another Metropolitan, 
 called Dionysius Joseph, in place of Athanasius, whom he had 
 excommunicated in 1846. Athanasius, however, did not 
 acquiesce in this arrangement, and led a violent opposition to 
 Dionysius. Dionysius appealed to the Government of Madras, 
 which, avowing to him its policy of strict neutrality in 
 
 * The supposition that the apostolic succession of the Syrian Patriarch is 
 null, and that, even were this not so, his authority in India is usurped (two of 
 the merest suppositions, it may be added), vitiates the conclusions of the writer 
 of the above quoted book to a deplorable degree. 
 
 The Syrian Christians in India. 
 
 351 
 
 accordance with the rule of the Honourable Court of Directors 
 in London, at the same time handed over all the money lying 
 in the Resident's treasury to Athanasius Matthew, who, 
 although excomnmnicated by the Patriarch in 1846, was 
 su})ported by the very men, who, many years before, had 
 dismissed him from their college as unfit for the ministry, and 
 had been proclaimed Metropolitan by the Government 
 in 1852. 
 
 Matters came to a head when in 1874 the Patriarch 
 Peter III. came to England by invitation of the late Arch- 
 bishop Tait of Canterbury, and having been honourably 
 received by the Queen and the authorities at the Indii Office, 
 sailed to India again on their urgent advice to settle the 
 dispute between Athanasius and Dionysius Joseph, whom the 
 previous Patriarch James had consecrated in 1865 at Mardin. 
 'i'he withdrawal of the royal proclamation made in favour of 
 Athanasius in 1852, proved that the Government thought it 
 to have been illegally made, and the law of strict neutrality 
 transgressed. 
 
 In 1877 Athanasius Matthew died, and was succeeded bv 
 Athanasius Thomas, whom he had been careful to consecrate 
 as far l)ack as 1868. With this man as defendant, Dionysius 
 Joseph, in accordance with the advice given to the Patriarch 
 in England, entered upon a suit for the recovery of Church 
 property, in which after ten weary years of litigation he 
 obtained a favourable award, and secured the legal acknow- 
 ledgement of the Syrian Patriarch of Antioch as supreme head 
 of the Church in Malabar since the year 1665, and of himself 
 as lawful Metropolitan of Malabar."^ The Patriarch returned 
 to Mardin in 1876, having held a meeting of the Syrians to 
 
 * I have dealt with the whole question of this quarrel with as little detail as 
 possible ; but in justice to the Patriarch, of whom the author of the above quoted 
 book speaks in a tone of extreme dislike, I have thought it necessary to sketch 
 an outline of the events from another point of view. I will only call attention 
 to three facts : (1), The royal proclamation as to Athanasius was in itself illegal ; 
 (2), He was already excommunicated by his own acknowledged superior ; (3), The 
 Patriarch was invited to England to treat of matters entirely different from 
 those in India, whither he went, not by his own wish, but on strong advice given 
 him in England. 
 
 ii" 
 
 M 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
352 The Theological Beliefs of the Old Syrians. 
 
 The Theological Beliefs of the Old Syrians. So:^ 
 
 determine the organisation of the churclies, and theii- rehitioii 
 to himself. His visit had succeeded in all respects, and it is 
 much to be regretted that good men, and zealous for the 
 welfare of this Church in India, were not enabled to see the 
 justice of his position. Even were all the personal charges 
 made against the Patriarch true, the strength of his position 
 as the Syrian Patriarch of Antioch and, therefore, the head of 
 the Syrian Church in India, would be in no way weakened. 
 The Patriarch rules over some three thousand people in India; 
 but the number of his adherents seems to be growing both 
 there and in Ceylon, where, not long since, a large number of 
 Roman Catholics left their adopted connnunion to join with 
 the Syrians of Malabar from whom they had separated. 
 
 III. The Church of the Old Syrians has from early times 
 based its belief in regard to the Person of Christ on the doctrine 
 laid down by Cyril of Alexandria. At the same time it has 
 been forward in anathematizing the doctrine of Eutvches, 
 who, thinking that he emphasized that of Cyril, in reality 
 erred as far on one side of the truth as Nestorius did on the 
 other. Having already given an account of his teaching, it 
 is necessary, before saying anything as to the present belief 
 of the Old Syrians, to give a short account of the doctrine 
 taught by the books of their doctors. 
 
 Even before the time of Eutyches, language had been used 
 by other fathers than Cyril, which they would have repudiated, 
 had the doctrine of the nature and person of Christ been 
 more clearlv defined.* 
 
 1. Philoxenus, Bishop of Hierapolis, and the friend of 
 Severus, the Patriarch of Antioch, is regarded by the Old 
 Syrian writers as expressing their belief as to the Incarna- 
 tion. He taught one nature constituted out of two, divine 
 and human, but without fusion of the two, or conversion or 
 absorption of one into the other; and it w^s Christ in this 
 unified, complex nature that lived and died for us, although 
 
 ^ E.g., Gregory's zeal to insist on the unity of Christ led him to use language 
 which at a later time was condemned a.< unorthodox. Cp. Article of Monophy- 
 sites in Diet, of Bibl. Biog. iv. 308. 
 
 the divine nature did not suffer, nor were His human nature 
 and His death merely visionary, as the followers of Julian of 
 Halicarnassus asserted. 
 
 2. The teaching of Severus was not dissimilar, although he 
 agreed more nearly with Cyril. '' We discern mentally two 
 natures in the Christ, the one created, the other uncreate; 
 but the Synod of Chalcedon having defined two natures in 
 the case of Christ, and two activities of them after the 
 ineffable union . . . divided Christ into two persons, for 
 an impersonal nature is never active.'' ^o the whole com- 
 pound nature shares all His actions ; '' but so far as He was 
 God, the Emmanuel suffered only in seeming." In harmony 
 with this doctrine Peter the Fuller had previously inserted 
 the additional words into the '' Trisagion,'' as has been already 
 mentioned. 
 
 3. Now it will be clearly seen that this attempt to deny the 
 confusion of natures which yet become one nature is impos- 
 sible ; and that between the orthodox view which maintains^ 
 two natures in one person, and the Eutychian or Julianist 
 view which admits the absorption or fusion of the human into 
 the divine nature, there can be no middle way. " One nature 
 consisting of two natures, but not in two natures,'' is a contra- 
 diction in terms; while that the doctrine has been maintained 
 by so many teachers in the Old Syrian Church can only be 
 due, as Asseman says, to a confusion between the meaning of 
 the words "nature" and "person." This confusion is made 
 in a letter written by Theodosius, Patriarch in 853 a.d., who 
 speaks of " one person from two persons, one nature from two 
 natures;" and in 9G9 a.d. John, Patriarch, insists on "one 
 nature composed of two," without trying to explain how that 
 could be, in a discussion with Polyeuctus, Patriarch of 
 Constantinople. 
 
 4. This confusion between nature and person lies at the 
 root of whatever misunderstanding may at the present time 
 exist in the mind of the Old Syrians in regard to the doctrine; 
 and it may be reasonably believed that, were an attempt made 
 by a party against whom the Syrians would not be prejudiced 
 by national or political feelings, the diff'erence based mainly 
 
 A A 
 
 m 
 
 I i 
 
 I I 
 
 ^s 
 
;354 The Theohijii'iiJ Bdufs of the Old SyritDi.^. 
 
 oil adluMvnce to a party badire and the wroiijjr verbal expres- 
 sion of a rioflit belii'f vvonld be removed. I have ])urposely 
 *;aid nothintr here about the pobtieal elements whieh had so 
 hu'tro a sliare in eausiniz; tlie se])aration of the Ohl Syrians 
 from the Cathobc Church, as they have been amply dwelt on 
 i'lsewhere ; but I will enumerate a few reasons why the hope 
 above expressed is not a vain one : — (n) Tlie confusion 
 between person and nature cannot but l)e recoii'nised and 
 avoided, if «luly and charitably explained to tlie Old Syrians. 
 (/>) The nieanini^" of the word nature to the Syrians includes 
 far more than it does in English, being most strictly translated 
 '' essential being.'' (c) The Old Syrians are ])erfectly ready 
 to accept the orthodox dorfrine, if the technical language be 
 avoided."^ Unorthodox technical language is used both by 
 themselves now and in their books, and the mental constitu- 
 tion which they share with other Orientals makes it often 
 impossible to obtain an accurate definition of their thoughts; 
 while seeintr that their maintenance of the doctrine of tlie 
 one nature is largely bound u]) with a misunderstanding of 
 the actual meaning of that word in the ])lain Greek ''(^I'o-i?," 
 and that, in spite of the language in which the doctrine has 
 been clothed by many of them, they do actually hold the 
 orthodox doctrine, there is no reason to suppose that in time 
 the Old Syrians may not be induced to acce])t the wording 
 confirmed by the Catholic Church as expressing the faith 
 which the Old Syrians agree with her in actually holding. 
 
 I will complete this section with a quotation from a book 
 to which I am indebted in much that I have Avritten, " The 
 Catholicos of the Hast." " It may be remarked that the 
 subject should not be approached, as has too often been the 
 case, with a desire to ])ick holes in every loose statement, but 
 in a spirit of charity which coni})ares one thing with another, 
 
 * The Patriarch, no les.s tlian a Bishop who visited Engrhin-i in 1888. in spite of 
 long and frequent examination from good theologians and Oriental scholars, such 
 as Dr. Liddon, Dr. Bad'jrer. Dr. Irons, gave ahsohitely no grounds for the suppo- 
 sition that they held anything hut the orthodox view. These learned men 
 absolutely acquitted the Old Syrian Chnrcli. to far as they were aide to judge it, 
 of actual heresy. 
 
 The Theoloii'ical Beliefs of the Ohl Si/rians. :355 
 
 and where necessary presumes the better and not the worse 
 interpretation of ambiguous language." 
 
 The Old Syrians hold in regard to the "Procession of the 
 Holy Ghost'' a position half way between those of the Gret^ks 
 and Romans, that " He j)roceeds from the Father and receives 
 from the Son." Some of their writers have evenacknowledo-ed 
 His procession from the Son ; while none of them liave shared 
 the strong feeling of the (rreek Church against the AVestern 
 insertion. 
 
 In the Eucharist they assert not the identity of the Sacred 
 Elements with the Body and Blood of Christ, but only a 
 hypostatic union of the Word with the Bread and Wine. 
 
 Compulsory confession i.<; and always has been repudiated 
 by them and their writers, although Dionysius Bar Salib late 
 in the twelfth century jileaded for its introduction. In regard 
 to the dead they hold that they await in Paradise or Hell the 
 common resurrection, and in no sense accept the doctrine of 
 imrgatory, as set forth by the Church of Rome.^ 
 
 * John of Dara: " De Resurr. Corp.." 4. 20. Bar Hebraeus : '-Lib. 
 Radiorum," 7. 5. 2. 
 
 ■^xjXXoo- 
 
 A A 2 
 
 l\ 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Jj^oo- 
 
 The Yazidis of Mosul 
 
 The iiuiims(ri[)t from wliic-h the followin*,^ translation is made was 
 written hv a native of Mosul, who has enjoyed peculiar opportunities 
 for obtaining information concerning the Yazidis. His chief sources 
 were (1), The " Kitab-el-Aswad " (The Black Book), a manuscript 
 dating from tlie tentli century, and containing indications of 
 Mohammedan influence and censorship ; for instance the word 
 "Sheitan" is systematically erased, hence its name; (2), " Kitab- 
 el-Jilwa" (The Book of [Divine] Effulgence), ascribed to Sheikh 
 A'di himself, dating from the twelfth century; (3), A history of 
 Mosul, written about a hundred years ago; (4), The statements of 
 an Old Syrian priest, for thirty years resident among the Yazidis. 
 Unfortunately the writer did not s|)ecify whence each jjarticular i>art 
 of his information was obtained. 
 
 A short summary of the history of the Yazidis may conduce to a 
 better \uiderstanding of the manuscript itself. Several writers have 
 left accounts of this most interesting peo[>le, and have borne unani- 
 mous witness to their bravery and hospitality. I can only sketch 
 by their heli> a few of the more salient features of their life and creed.* 
 
 * The following is a list of books treating of the Yazidis. (1), Layard's 
 "Nineveh and its Remains," and "Nineveh and Babylon." 1853: (2). Badger's 
 '* Nestorians and their Rituals," 1852; (3). Ainssvorth : "Transactions of the 
 Ethnographical Society, ' vol. i., 1861 ; (4), Buckingham's " Travels in Mesopo- 
 tamia," 1827 ; (5), Baillie Eraser's •' Mesopotamia and Assyria" : (6). Xiebuhra 
 "Turkish Travels"; (7), Richs '"Kurdistan": (8), Forbes' "Account of the 
 Yazidis of Jebel Sinjar," in the " Transactions of R. G. S.. ' vol. ix. ; (9). Haxthau- 
 sen's " Transcaucasia," containing an account of the Yazidis in Russian territory : 
 (10), Several Papers by M. Siouffi, French Consul at Mosul, in the "Journal 
 Asiatique," series 7, vol. xv., p. 78; (11), Menants '• Les Yezidis," published 
 in the popular series of the Mus^e Guimet. 
 
 To (1), (2), (10), I am most indebted, as the writers witnessed what they describe. 
 
 } 
 
35« 
 
 History of the Yazidis. 
 
 The BeUefi of the Yazidis. 
 
 Sb\) 
 
 (I.) The Yazidis are divided iuto live tril)es, accordiii;,^ to 
 districts, namelv, those of Russia, Khaktiyah, Alei)i)0, the Shijar 
 hills, and Sheikhan. Khalatiyah iiuludes all the district north and 
 north-east of the Tiirris ; Aleppo all west of the Eiiphrat^^s. The 
 head-quarters of the i>eoi>le are in Sheikhan, the district to the 
 north-east of Mosul, where their chief resides, and the annual 
 festival is celebmted at the shrine of Sheikh A'di. The Yazidis of 
 this district were anciently called '* Da'aseni," a name of which thev 
 can yfive no account, although it may be recoj^mised as the same an 
 that of the oM episc;>pal diocese. A Kurdish tril)e of this name is 
 mentioned l»y Layard as living near Sulimaniyah. 
 
 The recent history of the Yazidis has been one of jiersec-ution. 
 Fifty years ago the prosi>erity of the Yazidis of Sheikhan aroused 
 the cui)idity of the bnital Pasha of Mosul, Inji Beirakdar. In 
 1844. they suffered cnielly at the hands of the famous Kurdish Beg 
 of Ruwanduz. when the moimds of ^Nineveh opposite Mosul gained 
 the name of • Kuyunjik " (The Slaughter of the Sheep), from the 
 horril>le massaere which he there inflicted on them. Mohammed 
 Rashid Pasha, and Hatiz Pasha of Mosul, did their best to exter- 
 minate these hated '^ People without the Book," while Pashas of 
 Mosul l>egan generally to look upon an annual hunt of Yazidis as a 
 legitimate recreation, and a cliea]) means of reciiiiting their revenue. 
 Nor did Bedr-khan-lK'g, the notorious author of the Nestorian 
 atrocities, find them a less fruitful source of plunder. It was little 
 to be wondered at that the Yazidis then cai»tured and tortured or 
 murdered ever>' Moslem who fell into their hands, just as thev did 
 after the lu'utal onslaught of 1892. 
 
 Various attempts have l)een made by the Turkish Government to 
 subject the Yazidis to the military service require<J from all 
 Mohammedans. The double injustice of forcing them to iK.-iform 
 a service required by law only from Mohammedans, and to under- 
 take the performance of several actions reiiugnant to their religion, 
 caused Lord Stratford in 1847 to obtain in Constantinople a pn)i>er 
 recognition of their religion, and exemption from military service. 
 In the face of this the - conversion " already described was 
 undertaken by order of the Government; while the fact that 
 the recognition was ol)tained by our Aml)assador should stir 
 up some sympathy in England for the fate of this ill-treated 
 sect. 
 
 (II.) The Yazidis hold that the God who created all things and 
 permeates all things, created seven spirits by a kind of emanation. 
 
 ** as a man lighteth one lam]) from another," each of which is to 
 reign ten thousand years. Of these Malak Ta'us (Angel Peacock) is 
 the first, and the present ruler of this world, having fulfilled already 
 six thousand years of his reign. In some way these seven spirits 
 seem to l)e connected with the heavenlv bodies. The sun and moon 
 have a large i)lace in the religious system of the Yazidis, as appears 
 from the importance of the shrine of Shams-ed-din, the sacrifice of 
 white bulls, the adoration of the sun and moon at their rising and 
 setting, and the burial of the dead towards the rising sun, or 
 jjerhaps the North-pole. Sheikh Shams-ed-din is the name of one 
 of the spirits, Azazil ; and these spirits are also the creators of the 
 heavenlv bodies. While sheei) are commonlv sacrificed among the 
 Yazidis over the graves of distinguished men, and the blood of 
 sheep is used by the chief Sheikh and the Pirs in the exercise of 
 their supernatural powers of healing, and the dung of the same 
 animals laid on the graves of the dead, the sacrifice of white oxen 
 seems connected exclusivelv with the ceremonies at the shrine of 
 Sheikh Shams-ed-din.* It is said that Yazidis will never spit int;^ 
 the fire, although this may be from reverence not so much for the 
 fire as for the place where it is kindled. 
 
 The numl^er seven hc>lds a no less prominent place in the Yazidi 
 religion than in the Chaldt3ean, Hebrew, and Sabsean systems. The 
 seven altars of Balaam, the seven offerings made to ratifv a 
 covenant, the seven lamps of the golden candlestick in the temple, 
 the seven angels and their seven triunpets, readily suggest them- 
 selves in writings of the Old Testament. t Among the Chaldaeans 
 we read of the seven stages of the Bal)y Ionian temples, dedicated to 
 the seven planets, and coloured in accordance with the rules of 
 Sabaean astrology ; and the Birs-Nimrud, near Babylon, has seven 
 stages. So, too, Ecbatana had seven walls, and the temple built by 
 Behram Gur was seven-bodied, as is related by Nizami in the poem 
 of Haft Peiker. In the Koran (Sura 23), generally free from 
 Sabaean influence, the seven heavens are spoken of, in reference 
 
 * "DerTempel de.s Sheikhs Sham.s ist ohne alien Zweifel ein Sonnen-Tempel, 
 der eo gebant ist, dass die ersten Strahleii der Sonne so haiifig als miiglich auf 
 ihn fallen." Chwolson : " Die Ssabien," xi. 2%. Southgate visited in 1837 a 
 tribe called Sliam^iyah in the hills near Mardin. They called themselves " Sons 
 of Ishniael.' doubtless to evade the suspicion of the Mohammedans. I could 
 mnther hear nor see anything of these people. 
 
 t See Numbers xxiii., 2 Chr. xxix. 21, Tobit xii. 15 ; and cp. Rev. vii. 2. i. 4, 
 iv. 5. 
 
 l! 
 
360 
 
 Malik Ta'us. 
 
 Sheikh A'di. 
 
 361 
 
 either to the paths of the seveu i>hinets, or to the seven storeys into 
 which Moslems })elieve heaven to l)e divided. 
 
 The honour paid to Malik Ta'us, or Azaziel (which appears also 
 as a name of Satan in the Bible), the first created of the seven 
 Spirits, and the present vicegerent of the Almi^rhtv, is the most 
 prominent feature of the Yazidi creed. Proi>itiat ion enters lar-ely 
 into his worship, as amonir the Sal)aeans and Marians. He is'^the 
 author of all those thing's called by the j.rofessors of other reli^rions 
 evil, just as God (- Khuda " in Persian) is the author of all good; 
 hut the Yazidis avoid all reference to such words as imply or call to 
 mind his evil nature. It is possil>le to trace here the principle 
 according to which evil has no positive existence, hut only the 
 negative quality necessary to the reality of good, a principle 
 common to Plato, the Sahdeans, and the modern Sufis of Persia. 
 
 The -Sanjaks" (banners), or syml)ols which reja-esent Malak 
 Ta'us and the other spirits, have been amplv described, with the 
 ceremonies connected with them, by Lavard and Badger. The 
 Yazidis deny that any reverence is i»aid to them except as to the 
 symbol of their chief, by means of which he collects his dues 
 Nevertheless, they kiss devoutly the cloth that covers them, and take 
 the utmost care to prevent them falling into the hands of the 
 Moslems. During the recent i>ersecutions the Moslems l,oasted to 
 have gained possession of several, but they were found to l»e coi.ies 
 made to deceive them, while the real images were safely l)uried. 
 
 Both Layard and Badger draw attention to the "- lyn^'es " or 
 golden images of birds in the palace of the king of Babvlon said 
 to be powers animated by God, and used in consequence for divina- 
 tion. It may be only a coincidence that the Yazidi legend relates 
 how God at the Creation i>hiced the i»earl mentioned in the teyii on 
 the l>ack of a bird called " Angliar " or " Anghas." But at least 
 the impersonation of Azazil by a ],ird, and tlie similaritv between 
 the sanjaks and the lynges, are remarkable. Nt)r is it inipossible 
 that these sanjaks are used for the divination whicli the Amir of 
 the Yazidi practises. Lastly, we mav notice the -Ferouher" of 
 the Zoroastrian system, and the fact that among the Parsis the 
 attendant of the evil spirit is called Izid Fei-fer.* 
 
 In addition to the ratlier confused accounts given in the te\i of 
 Sheikh A'di himself, it is necessary i»erhaps onlv to ad<l that the 
 tenth century saw the final success of the attemjis made since the 
 
 seventh century to crush Magism. The Mohammedan religion is 
 entirely alien from the mystical teaching of the Magians ; nor is it 
 impossible that the Yazidis may have taken advantage of the 
 similaritv between their own name and that of several of the 
 Omayyad Khalifs to screen themselves from the destruction which 
 orthodox Moslems meted out to followers of Magian and kindred 
 creeds. It is unlikely that the Yazidis, whose sympathies would be 
 with the less orthodox Shiites rather than the Sunnis, had any real 
 (connection with the Ommayad house, ever cursed by true Shiites as 
 the murderers of the sainted Hosein and Hasan. Yet even so the 
 name would l)e a l)etter protection for a semi-Magian sect, which 
 chose to borrow^ from eminent Sufis names more congenial with 
 which to disguise their saints. If, as they themselves assert, they 
 are called Yazidis because they are the worshippers of Yazdan (the 
 Persian name of God), they may have gladly welcomed the similarity 
 to the name of an enemv in order to secure a more effectual disguise. 
 There seems no particular reason to doubt that Sheikh A'di was 
 an actual i)erson, who lived at the date specified, which suits well 
 with what we know of the history of Magism in the tenth century ; 
 while his alleged migration from the West is in harmony with the 
 fact that Haran was a great centre for such worship, and that the 
 neighbourhood of Aleppo is still inhabited by many who profess a 
 similar creed.* 
 
 (III.) Seven orders of priests are enumerated among the Yazidis. 
 Of these two seem merged in the remaining five, to wit the 
 '' Kuchak," whose office seems identical with that of the Amir, and 
 the " Mulla," who has no duties assigned to him, except those of 
 teacher, which are held also by the " Qawwals," and of " keeper of 
 the affairs of the nation," a fine but vague Oriental hyperbole. 
 
 The Amir, religious and political head of the i>eople, called also 
 the Khalifa, holds his office l>y inheritance, the most worthy and 
 not necessarilv the eldest son succeeding his father. He should be 
 leader in prayer *' Pish-namaz " ; Imt as this duty involves the 
 wearing of a i>eculiar dress, which, owing to the frequent inter- 
 course between the Amir and the Turkish authority, might so fall 
 
 Ainsworth, 41. Badger, i. 127. Cp. Deut. iv. 16, 17. 
 
 * With the .«tory told of Yazid'a birth in the text it is interesting to compare 
 t'je Sabs&an legend, according to which Mande-de-hajje. the good principle, 
 caused Inochwei, the a'^ed wife of Saona. to drink water, and conceive a child of 
 I>romise. whose name was Yahya. Cp. " A Pamphlet on the Sabaeans." by 
 M. Siouffi. 
 
 
 I 
 
8(52 
 
 Tlie Priestly Orders. 
 
 Be I Igio us Pnict ices . 
 
 S6-6 
 
 into the hands of the enemy, one of the most reverend Sheikhs 
 officiates for him. The Amir enjoys with the chief Sheikh the 
 highest priestly prerogatives, which include a power of excommunica- 
 tion as severe as has ever been exercised among Christians. He has 
 powers of prophecy, and alone of the Yazidis mav marrv in the 
 month of April. He is the official puhlic intercessor* for tht- 
 lx?oi>le, from whom he receives tithes each year. 
 
 The Sheikhs as a priestly order must be carefully distinguished 
 from the so-called Sheikhs l)y whose names the seven great spirits 
 are called. As servants of Sheikh A'di they guard his tomb, keep 
 the holy fire, and provide for those who dwell within the precincts 
 and for pilgrims of distinction, taking charge of all offerings made, 
 and sellmg the clay l)alls and other relics from the shrine. They 
 are the only class among the Yazidis with anv claim to learnin^r 
 being acquainted with Arabic, the language in which the sacred 
 liymns are writt^^n. The chief Sheikh of the district of Sheikhan 
 has a primacy above the others, being a kind of national high 
 priest, and wearing as insignia a white turl)and and a girdle of 
 small copi^er rings, in which he carries a small axe. He is\elieved 
 to have sui»ernatiiral powers of prophecv and of curing epilepsy 
 and making the barren fmitful, in which offices he uses as charms 
 the blood of sheep and sacred clay from the shrine of Sheikh A'di 
 During the minority of the Amir he acts as his representative. He 
 IS bound, according to the iiile that holds for al! classes of the 
 Yazidis, to marr^^ one of his own order. 
 
 The " Qawwals " K^ong all to one familv, and are under the 
 direct control of the Amir, whose tithes thev collect, and for whom 
 they generally act as emissaries. Thev dwell almost exclusivelv in 
 the viUages of Bah-shika and Bahizani. Thev are the musicians 
 at the yearly festivals, playing, dancing, and chanting at everv 
 ceremony, and conduct the funerals of the Yazidis. j, laving and 
 pouring water into the mouth of the dead. 
 
 The " Pirs " do not, according to Ainswoith, form a separate 
 order or have any special duties, but are men canonised durin- 
 life on account of i>eculiar holiness. The word signifies in 
 Persian an old man. and is thus identical with " Sheikh " 
 They are said to have si>ecial powers of healing and interceding 
 for others. 
 
 To the - Faqirs " belong the various menial duties connected 
 With the Yazidi shrines, such as trimming the votive lami»s and 
 keeping clean the sacred i>recincts. Thev dance during the 
 
 ceremonies, and teach dancing to the children. Their dress is 
 a black or dark-l)rown tunic of coarse cloth reaching to the 
 knee, and tight-fitting, with a black turbaiid bound hy a red 
 handkerchief, from which they have the name " Karabash," or 
 black-heads. 
 
 (IV.) Prayer and fasting are but little accounted of by the 
 Yazidis. The Qawwals are the professional offerers of prayer for 
 the i>eople who do not understand them. One member of a family 
 may fast for the rest, on the same principle, no doubt, as that on 
 which some Bedawin tribes on reaching a town, send one of their 
 numln^r to a mosque to pray for them all. It is probable that they 
 do not like to neglect a custom so prevalent among their neighbours, 
 but that their own tendeiicv is to condemn fasting, as Zoroaster did, 
 as the impious refusal of God's good gifts. 
 
 Circumcision is usual among the Yazidis, being performed with 
 bai>tism about seven days after birth ; if ]>ossible, at Sheikh A'di in 
 the water of the sacred spring ; if not, the ceremony is postponed 
 until the arrival of a Qawwal with a skin of the holy water. But 
 circumcision is not obligatory, nor in the Sinjar and the Armenian 
 district even customary. Baptism seems to be far more intimately 
 connected with Yazidi belief. The practice recalls immediately the 
 strange sect of so-called " Christians of S. John," still to be 
 found in some numbers between Baghdad and Basra, to whose 
 ancestors there mav l>e a reference in the dwellers near Ephesus 
 "who knew only the baptism of John." The great number of 
 springs held sacred l)y the Yazidis in the district of Sheikhan, the 
 l>ractice of throwing money into some of them, which has attracted 
 the cupidity of several Pashas of Baghdad and Mosul, the festivals 
 connected with some of these springs, notal)ly that called Ain Safna 
 near Bahizani, the customs of lighting lamps at them, or in some 
 adjacent niche or cave, all point to a peculiar reverence for the 
 element of water. No Yazidi will ever enter a Mohammedan bath, 
 or eat any produce of the water, fish being considered " mubarak," 
 sacred. Connected with this regard is the story told in the text of 
 the Sufi-saint Maiisur-el-Hallaj. It has often been remarked that a 
 si)ecial origin need not be sought for ceremonial lustrations in a hot 
 country ; it is therefore impossible to argue from their prevalence 
 among the Yazidis to any consequent connection with Mohammedan 
 or Christian traditions. Baptism is repeated at each visit to the 
 shrine, all new garments being at the same time baptized. The 
 " Sanjaks " of the seven spirits must also be baptized once a year 
 
 I 
 
364 
 
 Itiffuence of Chrusfiatiifij. 
 
 Marrinye Customs. 
 
 3(55 
 
 in ** sumaq " water at Sheikh A'di.* The sacred water at Sheikh 
 A'di, within the shrine, is believed to have been brought from Meeea 
 by Sheikh A'di, and is consequently called " Zamzam." f 
 
 The Yazidis, like many Moslems, consider the sign of the cross to 
 be a valuable charm. Christ, they say, was a great angel, who took 
 the form of man ; he did not die upon the cross, but ascended to 
 heaven to apjKear again with Imam Mahdi. For the Bible they have 
 some regard, but consider it to have l>een corrupted l)y false 
 teachers. The Russians hold Christ to l)e the Son of God and of 
 Mary, but not to l>e divine; Imt the confession of "Malik Esa," 
 Esa son of Mary, is less defined among tliem than among the 
 Moslems. There is a strange tradition among the Yazidis with 
 regard to the Crucifixion. " When Christ was on the Cross, in the 
 absence of his friends, Satan came in the fomi of a danveish and 
 carried him to heaven. The Marys soon came, and seeing the 
 Lord not there, inquired of the danv.'ish where He was. Thev 
 would not l)elieve his answer, but promised to do so if he would 
 take the pieces of a cooked chicken and bring the bird to life. He 
 consented to the proposal, and bringing back bone to bone, the 
 
 * Among the HemerobaptiBts, a Jewish sect near Ephesus in the first century. 
 S. John Baptist was held as the chief prophet in place of Messiah, and baptism 
 was held to be the great ordinance of religion, - a daily-recurring atonement for 
 sin and sanctification of the person.' Lightfoot. Colossians. p. 402. Norberg 
 quotes the '• Recital of Conti the Maronite." 1650, that a Johannine sect had 
 migrated from Galilee to Mergab in the Lebanon about 1500, and holding S. John 
 Baptist as their founder, used locusts and wild honey as their sacrament, while 
 their priests wore turbands and garments of camel hair. Their four annual fasts 
 commemorated the birthday of S. John, the institution of baptism, the lamenta- 
 tion for the death of S.John, the slaying of the dragon by S. John. These customs 
 do not exist among the Mendteans or the inhabitants of the Hauran. 
 
 Mohammed-ibn-Ishac (987 a.d.) .speaks of the Sabians as - El Moghtasilah," 
 those who purify themselves by washing, while Chwolson (xxii. 17) derives 
 •■ Sabiaii " from a Hebrew root •• to dip.' 
 
 Origen speaks of Elcha.sai, the name by which the Hemerobaptists were known, 
 as a man who repudiated asceticism and sacrifice, recommending baptism as a 
 purification from sin, and delivering his revelations to one Sobai. This Elchasai 
 or *HA|ai' {i.e., Svvaimis K(Ka\viJ./x€vrj), was connected with the Ebionites and 
 Sampseni, and held Gnostic views in regard to our Lords Incarnation. Cp. Hip- 
 polytus, adv. haereses. ix. 8. 15. Epiphanius. adv. hiereses. xix. 1. 
 
 t The '• Hukama.' or rationalists of El Lslam. who invariably connect the rites 
 of their faith with the worship of the heavenly bodies in general and of Venus in 
 particular, derive Zamzam from the Persian, and make it signify • The Great 
 Luminary.' Burton, '• Pilgrimage to Medinah,'" ii. 162. 
 
 cock crew. The darweish then announced his real character ; they 
 expressed their astonishment by a burst of adoration. Having in- 
 formed them that he would henceforth always api>ear to his beloved 
 in the shape of a beautiful bird, he departed."* 
 
 At a marriaoe the bride is bidden by the Yazidi law to visit a 
 Christian church, if there be one on the way, and the *' Shuqus."t 
 So Ainsworth relates that " when Yazidis come to Mardin, or any 
 other town, they kiss the hands of the priests, and receive the 
 Sacrament from them, suffering not a drop of wine to fall to the 
 ground, or even on their beards." By others they are asserted to 
 
 observe Easter. 
 
 The use of certain words is strictly prohibited by the Yazidis. 
 Reverence for Malak Ta'us for])ids all reference to his evil nature, 
 and to words of similar sound, such as " keitan "a thread, '' sliat " 
 an arrow, " sharushat," all derivatives of the root " la'n " 
 (curse), and even " na'l " (horse shoe), " na'l-l)and " (farrier), 
 which contain the same letters. These all approximate in sound 
 to " Sheitan " ; nor can anything shock a Yazidi more than the 
 utt**rance of the Tartar curse " Na'alat-es-Sheitannak." Layard 
 gives an amusing description of the consternation he caused by 
 uttering half the word '* sheitan " (applied commonly to a clever 
 fellow or rascal) during a Yazidi feast. It is as if we avoided the 
 word evil because of its similarity to devil. 
 
 Tlie marriage rites of the Yazidis are very simple, and include 
 clav from the tomb of Sheikh A'di, a loaf of bread, a small stone, 
 and a visit to a church. The Amir, or the chief Sheikh, probably 
 as his proxy, sometimes marries persons of rank, l)ut ordinary 
 l>eople are satisfied with the Qa^v-wal, who ascertains mutual 
 consent, breaks l)read between them, and gives them of the sacred 
 clav. Intermarriage of the several orders is forbidden, and the 
 nuiuber of wives limited, except for the Amir, to six; divorce being 
 moreover as easy amongst them as amongst the Moslems. Mo- 
 nogamy is, however, the rule, doul)tless on the score of economy, 
 although the Amir has generally a large number of wives. The 
 chief Sheikh is apparently condemned to celibacy. After marriage 
 the bride remains in her liusl)and's house, but does not see him for 
 three days. When they meet bread is again broken over her 
 head, and the bridegroom strikes her with a small stone in token 
 
 % 
 P 
 
 I 
 
 » Quoted by Ainsworth from Mr' Lobdel. an American Missionary, 1852. 
 t Perhaps the keeper of the '' Shaqs,'" or shrine. 
 
 / 
 
366 
 
 Mil triage Customs. 
 
 Tia)islati(ni of Arabic Hisfori/ of Yezidis. 
 
 367 
 
 i,-( 
 
 of the marital prerogative. Daueiiit,', man and woman to<,'etlier, 
 is usual among the Yazidis, a strange custom in the East, where 
 " promiscuous whirlings " are looked upon with as much horror 
 as by the pious Scot. They form part of the ceremonies at Sheilch 
 A'di. 
 
 The bride is looked upon as a i)roj>ei-ty for purchase; and Layai-d 
 describes the desi>erate state of the Qawwals at the time oi his 
 visit, because they could not afford the price demanded. Some 
 travellers have maintained the charge made by the Moslems that 
 the Yazidis i»ractice vile rites in connection witii the ceremonies at 
 Sheikh A'di. It is a charge commonly made against the professors 
 of a secret creed ; but both Ba<lger and Layard. who were eye- 
 witnesses of the ceremonies, acquit the Yazidis of all of the 
 charges made. The Yazidi law is plain, f(jr]>idding man-iage 
 during the mouth of the feast and on Wednesdays and Fridays, 
 as well as within the sacred precincts of Sheikh A'di. 
 
 The funeral are as simple as the marriage rites. Water and 
 
 sacred clay jJaced in the mouth of the dead, and clay upon his face, 
 
 bathing the body in nuining water, and burying it to face the 
 
 Noi-th Star, complete the ceremonies. The Qawwals lead the i)ro- 
 
 cession burning incense, and the relatives, male and female, continue 
 
 to do the same for some days after the funeral. It ai»i>ears from 
 
 the custom of the Kuchak to prophesy of the dead, whether he 
 
 shall return to earth or go to another world, that the transmigiii- 
 
 tion of souls is held no less than the i)enneation (►f all things by 
 
 God, two doctrines common to the Sa])aeans also. The Yazidis hold 
 
 that none will ]>e eternally condemned, but all will sj»end an 
 
 expiatory i>eriod in hell; while the dead have communion with the 
 
 living, by which the good souls dwelling in the sky make revelations 
 
 to their brethren ujK>n earth. 
 
 The Yazidi year begins on the first Wednesday in A[a-il, called 
 *• Sar-Sali," and is kept as an annual feast, l>eing the dav on which 
 God detennines the course of events for the year. Feasts of the 
 various Sheiklis are kept throughout the year, that of Sheikh A'di, 
 the chief of all, in Octoljer. Wednesday and Friday are always 
 kept holy, the Qawwals assembling at sunset on the previous days 
 to bum incense and watch at the shrines. Layard lias given two 
 descriptions of the festival held at Sheikh A'di' in 1846 an<l 1849; 
 a third, of the festival of Sheikh Mohammed at Bahshikah, comes 
 from the diary of Mrs. Badger. Preparation is made on the first 
 day of the year for coming feasts of the various Sheikhs ; sheep 
 
 are slain, flowers — especially scarlet anemones * — are placed on the 
 courtyard gate, while the Amir receives the pilgrims, already 
 purified by bathing in the sacred springs. All feed without cost at 
 the feasts. For the details of the feasts the reader may be referred 
 to the aini>le accounts of Layard and Badger. 
 
 Such are, in short, the main features of the Yazidi creed. At 
 present, their origin and the history of their V)eliefs are shrouded in 
 mystery, awaiting the arrival of one who can bring a deep know- 
 ledge of Eastern mystic creeds, and a profound sympathy with a 
 much suffering ijeojjle, to the task of unravelling the thread that 
 binds the Yazidis to the peoples of 2^i't;-Islamic times. 
 
 [Translation of Arabic MS. History of the Yezidis]. 
 
 We pnrpose to write the history of the Yezidi sect dwelling round 
 about the City of Mosul, together with somewhat from their Book 
 entitled ^^ Jilica,^' and other matters. 
 
 And first of all — 
 
 In the time of the Calii>h el-Muqtadir Bi'llah, a.h. 295,t there 
 apjjeared Mansur el-Hallaj ("the Wool-carder "),:J: and Sheykh 
 'Abdu'l-Qadir of Gilan,§ and Sheykh 'Adi from the mountains of 
 Hekkarivva, who was originallv from the countrv round about 
 AlepfK) and Ba'1-bekk, whence he came and settled in the mountain 
 of Lalesh,|| distant from Mosul al)Out eleven hours' journey. 
 Some, however, assert that he was of the people of the Hawran, and 
 
 * Ostrich feather.^ dyed scarlet are aUo worn during the dancing at the feast. 
 The Parsis and Hindus liang leaves across their doors at the New Year. 
 
 t A.D. 907-8. This is the date of el-Muqtadirs accession. He reigned till 
 A.H. 320 (A.D. 932). 
 
 * Huseyn Mansur. the Wool-carder, a celebrated Persian mystic, revered as a 
 saint by the more advanced Sufis, was put to death with great cruelty at Baghdad 
 in A.H. 309 (A.D. 921-2), on a charge of heresy and blasphemy, because he had 
 cried out in one of his ecstasies " Ana'l-Haqij," " I am God 1 " One of the oldest 
 accounts of his life, doctrine, and death, is that given in the Fihrist (ed. Flugel, 
 p. 190, and notes), but he is mentioned in nearly all Biographies of Sufi saints 
 Faridu'd-Din 'Attar. Hafiz, and Jami. all speak of him with admiration and 
 respect. 
 
 § Sheykh Muhiyyu'd-Din 'Abdul-Qadir of Gilan (in Persia), the founder of the 
 Qadiri order of dervishes, was born, according to Jami (Xafahat, ed. Lees, p. 587), 
 in A.H. 471 (A.D. 1078-9), and died a.h. 561 (a.d. 1165-6). 
 
 II Ya<iut calls it Lailesh or Lelesh. Cf. Hoffmaim s " Ausziige aus Syrischen 
 Akten Persischer Martyrer,"' p. 197, and note 1508. 
 
 h H 
 
368 
 
 trnuslafion of Arnhir MS. 
 
 H'iHtory of thf^ Yezidls. 
 
 369 
 
 n 
 
 was descended from Menvan ihn el-Hakuin. His full name was 
 Sharafu 'd-Din Aim '1 Faza'il 'Adi ihn Musafir ibn Isma'il il.n 
 Musa ihn Merwan ihn el-Hasan ihn Merwan. He died in the year 
 A.H. 558 (A.D. 1162-3). and his tomh is still known and visited near 
 the village of Ba'Idri.* The Yezidis are the progenv of those who 
 were the muruh, that is, the disciples, of Slieykh 'Adi, though 
 others trace them to Yezid ibn Mo'awija.t and others again ^to 
 Hasan of Basra. J 
 
 Now they (i.e. the Yezidis) are divided into seven classes, whereof 
 each class has a si)ecial function assigned to it to the exclusion of 
 the others, who cannot and may not i)erform it : § 
 
 First, the Amir, who must needs be of the i-ace of Yezid. And 
 in the hands of these is a i)edigree ascending through sires and 
 grandsires up to Yezid ; and in them are vested the administrative, 
 political, and aristocratic functions. 
 
 Secondly, the Sheykh, who is the sei-vant of Sheykh 'Adi's shrine. 
 He has insignia which he wears ; on his bodv 'somewhat of the 
 nature of a girdle, || and on his hand a net like 'the head-netting of 
 a camel. And when he api)ears amongst them (i.e. the Yezidis) tliev 
 do hmi reverence in all humility and resj^ect and self-abasement. 
 
 Thirdly, the Qawwal, to whom is delegated the duty of shrouding 
 the dead and chanting religious litanies. 
 
 Fourthly, the Pir, whose function is [to superintend] fasts, and 
 festal displays, and the breaking of the fast. 
 
 Fifthly, the Knchak, to whom is assigned the service of the 
 cymbals, and celebrations, and sonir. 
 
 Sixthly, the Faqir, whose duty it is to assemble the boys and 
 girls, and to instruct them in playing the cymbals, and in religious 
 dancing and merrv-makinj^. 
 
 Seventhly, the Mulla, who is entnisted with the instruction of the 
 children, and the guardianship of the Book and the mvsteries of 
 religion, and the affairs of the community. 
 
 The Sheykhs pretend to prophetic gifts, and the Amir exercises 
 control over their i)erst)ns and their affairs. 
 
 * See Hoffmann, op. laud, p. 197, and note 1561. 
 
 t The second Omayyad Caliph, reigned a.d. 680-683. 
 
 i A celebrated theologian, who died in October, a.d. 728. His life i.s given at 
 pp. 370-372 of de Slane's translation of Ibn Khallikan. 
 
 § Cf. Menant'a Yezidi.^ (Paris, Leroux, 1892), pp. 54-64. 
 
 II Zunnar, the girdle worn by the Brahmins and Zoroaatrians, and, as the 
 Mnshms suppose, by the Christians also. 
 
 [Of their uljservances] they have taken fasting and sacrifice from 
 Islam ; baptism from the Christians ; prohibition of [certain] foods 
 from the Jews ; their mode of adoration from the Idolators ; dis- 
 simulation of doctrine * from the Rafizis [i.e. the Shi'ites] ; human 
 sacrifices from ancient [Arab] Paganism, and incarnation and trans- 
 migration from the Sal)eans. For they say that when the spirit of 
 man goes forth from his body, it enters into another man,t if it be 
 just ; but if unjust into an animal. They worship the sun and 
 moon, and their elders sell unto the common folk a place in paradise, 
 and that for money. They have a l>ook called Jilwa, which they 
 ascril)e to Sheykh *Adi ; and they suffer no one who is not of their 
 sect to read it or look upon it. It contains many absurd fables and 
 strange stories, foreign to all other religions, and remote from their 
 traditions. Thus it is said therein that there exist seven gods, each 
 of whom controls the universe for a i»eriod of 10,000 years. J And 
 one of these seven gods is Lucifer, the chief of the fallen and 
 rebellious angels, whom they call Mahd' Ta'us. And they make an 
 imag*' of him of molten copper in the likeness of a bird, resembling 
 most closely the ordinary domestic cock, and they offer adoration to 
 it, and cele]>rate its i>raises, and beat the cymbals before it. And 
 by some artifice and cunning they make it dance, as though it too 
 were rejoicing with them when they assemble round it in the towns 
 and villages. For they carry it about unceasingly [from place to 
 l»lace], and collect money from the common folk who come to visit 
 it, I)ecause these suppose that if this his image enters any house, 
 that house I)ecomes blessed and honoured. 
 
 Now some of them would ascribe Divinity to Sheykh 'Adi, while 
 others say, " Nay, but he is to God like a powerful and trusted 
 minister, agreeably to whose advice and arrangement all things are 
 done." Likewise they say that- the Primal Cause is the Supreme 
 (rod, who, ere He created this world, brooded alone over the seas ; 
 and in His hand was a great [)earl wherewith He played. Then 
 He cast it, of set purpose, into the sea ; and from it the world was 
 j)roduced. 
 
 Furthermore, they suppose themselves not to be of mortal seed 
 
 * Mukhalafat appears to have this meaning, but it may also signify "opposi- 
 tion to constituted authority." 
 
 t Fi (jhnyri rn^ax, which should properly mean "into other than a man ; " 
 but I fancy that it is intended to have the meaning given in the text : unless, 
 indeed, it signifies ''into a superhuman being.'' Cf. Menant's Yezidis. pp. 79, 87^ 
 
 X Cf. Menant's Yezidis, p. 87. 
 
 B B 
 
 MwHBSI&MMi 
 
370 
 
 Tranalafion of Arabic MS. 
 
 Hib'fory of the Yezidis. 
 
 371 
 
 like the rest of mankiiul, but that a son was l>oni to Aaani of his 
 spittle, and that they are U-otten of this son. For this cause do 
 they imagine their nature to Ix^ more refined, nol)ler, and more 
 acceptable to the gods than others. 
 
 A period of 6,000 years of the turn and cycle of control of Malak 
 la us has elapsed, and the control will continue in his hand for 
 another 10,000 years \sic MS.-^ 4000^ And when these 10,(K)0 
 years be fulfilled, another god will ]>egin to govern the world for 
 another 10,000 years ; and so on for ever. And amongst these 
 seven gods there subsists j perfect accord. 
 
 It is related by them that once God Almightv invited Shevkh 
 'Adi to heaven, together witli his murich, that' is, his disciples- 
 and there was in heaven no chaff wherewith thev might feed their 
 horses Thereuix)n Sheykh 'Adi bade his di'sciples bring chaff 
 trom his threshing-floors ; and whilst thev were conveving the chaff 
 some of It fell, and the token thereof remains in the kv until this 
 our time,* and is known as - the Way of the Chaff," or - the Ram's 
 Tongue" [h], stretching from the East to the West, and clearlv 
 visible during almost the whole vear. 
 
 They likewise suppose that prayer must l)e of the heart, and not 
 outwardly jxiionned ; for there is laid upon them no command or 
 mjimction to prav. 
 
 Some of them assert that Sheykh -Adi went to visit Mecca in 
 company with Sheykli -Ahau'I-Qadir of Gikn. and alH>de there 
 for four years ; and that some wliile after his dejwirture the Devil 
 assuming his form and hkeness, told them that Shevkh ' \di liad 
 returned from Mecca, instmcted them and gave th;m a code of 
 laws, and then disapjjeared from amongst them. Then, when Shevkh 
 •Adi returned after four years, thev treated him with contempt 
 gave him the he, and drove him fcmh, saving that Sheikh "Adi had 
 some while since lKH?n taken up into heaven. But after his deatli 
 the Devil again ap,jeare<l to them, and said, •• This was indeed 
 Sheykh 'Adi. So they l.uried him. and made his tomb a place of 
 pil^image, which, in their oinnion, is more excellent than Mecca 
 And It is incumlient and binding on everv Yezidi to visit it once at 
 least every- year ; and he who cannot visit it gives, instead of his 
 visitation, a sum of money to the servants [of the shrine, placin.' 
 It] in the hands of their elders in the presence of the image of 
 
 In their estimation the Mountain of Lalesh is more excellent 
 than the Ka'ha. Thev say that on the Resurrection-dav Shevkh 
 'Adi will carry in a tray on his head all the Yezidis, and will cause 
 them to enter into Paradise without anv reckonini,^ or written 
 l>ermit, or judgment. Sheykh 'Adi was the first who took to him- 
 self disciples and imposed on them a discii>liiie,* and from him did the 
 institution of spiritual direction take origin. He was remarkable 
 for devoutness and assiduity in spiritual exercises. He used to 
 hear the preaching of Sheykh 'Abdu'l-Qadir of Gilan in Baghdad, 
 he himself l)eing [at the time] in Mount Lalesh. And he would 
 draw a circle on the ground, and say to his disciples, " Whosoever 
 will hear the preaching of El-Gilani, let him enter this circle." 
 From this originated a custom which exists even to the present 
 day amongst the Yezidis, namely that Avhen a quarrel arises, or 
 any difficult case requiring the taking of an oath, the Sheykh draws 
 a circle [on the ground] and causeth him who shall take the oath 
 to enter therein. 
 
 They will not eat lettuce (khaf^s), Ixcause, as they allege, Sheykh 
 *Adi one day passed by a garden, and when he asked of it, and 
 received no answer, he said, " Come away (his) ! " 
 
 They say that Ramadhan was a deaf man, and that when God 
 enjoined the fast on Christians, Muslims, and others. He likewise 
 commanded the Yezidis to fast thirtv davs, but Ramadhan under- 
 stood it as three days only. Wlierefore they fast but three days in 
 the month of Ramadhan. 
 
 Round about [the tomb of] Sheykh 'Adi are many domed 
 shrines, each of which they associate with one of their elders — 
 Sheykh 'Abdu'l-Qadir of Gilan,t Sheykh Qadliibu'1-Ban,: Sheykh 
 Shamsu'd - Din,§ Sheykh Mansur- i - Hallaj,|| Sheykh Hasan of 
 
 * Le„ the Milky Way, which is called in Persian Keh-keshan, - the chaff -carriers." 
 
 * Literally. •' prave them a path," or " rule of conduct." 
 
 f See note at the foot of p. 367 supra. 
 
 X Sheykh Qadhibul-Ban of Mawsil (Mosul) was a contemporary of Sheykh 
 
 Abdu'l-Qadir. Some account of his life is given at pp. 608-9 of Jami's 
 
 Nafahatu'l Uns (ed. Lees). Ibn Khallikan (De Slane's translation, vol. ii., p. 
 
 651) says that his tomb lay near the Meydan Gate of Mawsil. De Slane {loc. cit., 
 
 n. 5) declares himself to have been unable to find any notice on this Sufi saint. 
 
 § There are so many Shamsu'd-Dins that, in default of fuller particulars, it is 
 impossible to identify the person to whom allusion is here made. The most 
 celebrated of them was Shamsu'd-Din of Tabriz, the friend and spiritual guide 
 of Jalalud-Din Rumi, who flourished during the first half of the thirteenth 
 century of our era. 
 
 j| See note at the foot of p. 867 ftupra. 
 
 B B 2 
 
 -'B»^^v*fl^^Hti- - 
 
 / 
 
372 
 
 Tnnhslation of Arabic MS. 
 
 .y 
 
 Basm,'^ I'i.e. On each of these domes thev i )hice a fla<^ of <nveii or velh >w 
 cotton, that is to say, an ensi«,'nof vietorv and trinniph, and the like 
 
 They will not eat the flesh of the ^^azelle, l>ecause, according to 
 their assertion, its eves are like the eves of Shevkh 'Adi. 
 
 They i)elieve that in the UpiJer World there will Ix? eating and 
 drinking, and enjoyment of carnal and coriMjreal pleasures. 
 
 Some of them say that the government of Heaven is in God's 
 hand, and the goveniment of the eai-th in the hand of Shevkh *Adi 
 or of Malak Ta'iis. 
 
 When the soul of Mansur-i-Hallaj went forth from his body 
 (when the Cxovernor of Baghda<l sentenced him to death) it 
 hovered over the waters. And it chanced that his sister came with 
 her jar, at the time of [drawing' water, and tilled it with the water 
 of the Tigris, and knew not of the siml [of her brother' when it 
 entered the jar. So she brought it home, and, i)eing affected with 
 thirst, drank it unwittingly. Thus did the soul of the al>ove- 
 mentioned [Mansur] enter into her, and, k'ing her brother bv 
 birth, l)ecame her son by imjmtation. Wherefore thev [the 
 Yezidis] use not drinking vessels with narrow mouths, unless these 
 be provided with [a covering of] net-work to guard them, in 
 reverence to Sheykh Mansur. When thev cast his head into the 
 water it lioiled, and Ijecame possessed of a voice and a nuirnuir. 
 Some of them imagine that a Proj)het will arise from amongst the 
 Persians, and will abrogate the law and religion of Muhammad. 
 
 In the year [a.d.] 1389 the Imperial Ottoman Government 
 wished to draw soldiers from them for the army, as from their 
 Musubnan sul>jects. But they all declared and advanced sundry 
 reasons which prevented them from this :~F{r>ffhj, that it was 
 incumbent on every Yezidi to visit the image of Malak Ta'us three 
 times in each year, namely, in the months of NimVy Eylnl, and the 
 itecond Teshritt.f Secondly, that it was obligatory on every Yezidi 
 to visit the tomb of Shevkh 'Adi once everv vear, in the month of 
 Eylul. Thirdly, that every Yezidi was bound to kiss daily the 
 hand of his brother, i.e., his spiritual brother (I mean the sers'ant 
 of the Mahdi), and the hand of his Sheykh, and his hand. 
 Fourfhfy,l that the Yezidi cannot hearken to or tolerate the prayers 
 
 * See note at the foot of p. 368 stipm. 
 t i.e., Ai)ril. SeptemV)er. and November. 
 
 J The MS. has ''Jifthbj.'' omittinor '' fonrthhj " entirely, and continuing 
 '^sixthly,' "seventhly," &c. 
 
 ,m,sa»~i 
 
 History of the Yezidis. 
 
 373 
 
 of the Muslim, because [in the course of his prayersj the latter 
 savs - I tal-e refuge with God from Satan the stonedr hearmg which 
 the Yezidi is bound bv his religion to kill the sayer, or else to kil 
 himself Fifthly, that, when one of the Yezidis dies, his spiritual 
 brother, his Sheykh, and his Pir must be at his side, as likewise a 
 Qainval [reader or reciter] to recite over him three sentences, 
 which are these : - Amjel ^Ahfans! This man dies in our faith. 
 He hath never believed in any religion but this, nor accepted such 
 Sixthly, with us are the blessings of Sheykh 'Adi, by which I 
 mean the earth from his tomb, which every Yezidi must have with 
 him, and whereof he must eat at the inevitable and appointed 
 time *-an <»bsen^ance obligatory upon us. Seventhly, every Yezidi 
 must, wlien he fasts, be in his own house, and must go every 
 mornino- of the fast to his Sheykh and his Pir,f at whose hands he 
 a<.cepts'^the fast, an<l at whose hands he breaks it with consecrate^d 
 wine Eiqhihlu, when a Yezidi continues absent from his house tor 
 a vear, his wife bec^mies unlawful unto him, neither will they give 
 him another wife. Ninthly, it is necessary that every Yezidi should 
 have the collar of his shirt, when it is new, opened by his spiritual 
 brother or sister. Tenthly, every Yezidi must dip his new clothes 
 in the water of Shevkh 'Adi. Eleventhly, a Yezidi must not wear 
 dark: raiment; nor dress his hair after the fashion of the 
 Muslims, Christians, or Jews; nor shave his head with the razors 
 (.f these Tn-elfthly, a Yezidi entereth not the [places of j puritica- 
 tion or baths 'of the Muslim, nor eateth food that hath been 
 prepared bv a Muslim, nor drinketh the drinks of other i^oples 
 [than his own\ Thirteenth! y, the Yezidi may not eat fish, nor 
 cucuml>er, nor bamiyya,^ nor French beans, nor cal>bage, nor lettuce 
 \khass in &c. So when thev had adduced these ol)3ections to their 
 enterin- the armv, the government began to levy on them army-rates 
 such as'it levies on the Christians and Jews, which practice subsists 
 to the present dav, namely, the year 1300 of the Flight (a.d. 1882-3). 
 
 • i.e., the time of death. 
 
 + Cf i>. '-^^^ supra. , , , .1 
 
 - KM of the colour of the k«hl. ov antimony, usod to blacken the eye- 
 
 lasl.es and eyebrows. The Yezidis are sai.l always to wear white g"-^"*^^^"'' 
 to hold the colour tUe in particular aversion. Cp. Meuant s - Yez.dis. p^85. 
 
 « An edible legunnnous plant, identified by Schlimmer (Termuwlog^e M.rf.co- 
 pLmaceutive Fmnraise-Per.me. ,.. 1) with Abelmosch,.s (mbiscu.) esc«,lent„s 
 {Gombo). 
 
 il See p. 371 sHjn'a. and cp. also Menant s Yezidi>^, p. 6b. 
 
 .j 
 
374 
 
 Translation of Arabic MS. 
 
 Uidory ([t the Yezidis. 
 
 375 
 
 
 I 
 
 Every vear the Yezidis -atlier at the shrine of] Slievkh 'Adi 
 aiid this -atherin- they eall "the General As.senil)lv " (Jimn^hn,,) 
 Dunn^r a i>eriod of ei,<,ht days they sj^^nd tlieir time in eatin ^ 
 drinkinir, sports, and tlie like. 
 
 They say that Sheykh 'Adi was so strenuous in God's servi.-e and 
 so pious, that even serj^ents, reptiles, and l>easts of prev used to 
 eonsort with him ; and he used to disclose to his diseiples revela- 
 tions, mysteries, prophecies, and knowled^- of the uns»vn Even 
 at the present day certain of their elders lav claim to this power 
 They say also that Sheykh 'Adi used to dwell in the sixth island of 
 the Circumaml>ient Ocean, and that he would command th,. wind 
 and it wouM l>e still, or he would do the converse of this 
 
 ''From the hnnk - Jihro,' 
 
 which existed he/ore all creatures. 
 
 •• Malak Ta'us sent 'Ahta'us into this world to warn and separate 
 
 Ins chosen i>eople from error ; ^/r/-./, I,y [teachin- them 1 i-esi-nation. 
 
 secondly hy this book -Jihrar which it is not i^ennitted to 
 
 strangers to read or to look upon. 
 
 First Section. 
 " I was, and am now, and will continue unto eternitv, rulin- over 
 all creatures and ordering the affairs and deeds of tii(»se who are 
 under my sway. I am presently at hand to such as trust in me 
 and call upon me in time of need, neither is there aiiv place void 
 of me where I am not present. I am thine evil in all those events 
 which strangers name evils l>ecause thev are not done according- to 
 their desire. Every age has a Eegent,* and this ]>v mv coumsel 
 Every generation f changes with the Chief of this World, so that 
 each one of the chiefs in his turn and cycle fulfils his char-e I 
 grant indulgence according to the [just] merits of those qualities 
 wherewith each disposition is l)y nature endowed. He who opi,osetli 
 me vexeth and grieveth the other gods, to whom it is not -iveii to 
 interfere in my business and work : whatsoc^ver I determiner that is 
 '' The Scriptures which are in the hands of strangers, J even 
 though they were written by prophets and apostles, yet have these 
 
 * Mudabbir. 
 
 t Or race, or age (jerjl). 
 
 t le., those of other rehgions (el-Khar ijun). 
 
 turned aside, and rebelled, and perverted them ; and each one of 
 them confuteth the other and abrogateth it. Truth and Falsehood 
 are distinguished by proving them at the time of their appearance. I 
 will fulfil mv proniise to those who put their trust in me, and will 
 l»erform mv covenant, or will act contrary to it, according to the 
 jiKlgment of those wise and discerning Eegents to whom I have 
 delegated mv authority for determinate periods. I take note of all 
 affai'i's, and jiromote the ijerformance of what is needful in its due 
 tim(^ I direct and teach such as will follow my teaching, who find 
 in their accord with me joy and delight greater than any joy where- 
 with the soul rejoiceth. 
 
 Second Section. 
 " I reward and I punish this progeny of Adam in all different 
 wavs of which I have knowledge. In this my hand is the control 
 of the earth and what is al)ove it and beneath it. I undertake not 
 the assistance of other races,* neither do I withhold good from 
 them ; much less do I [grudge it] to those who are my chosen 
 people and obedient servants. I surrender active control into the 
 hands of those whom I have proved, who are, in accordance with 
 my will, friends in some shape and fashion to such as are faithful 
 and abide bv mv counsel. I take and I give ; I make rich and 1 
 make poor ; ' I Jnake happy and I make wretched, according to 
 environments and seasons, and there is none who hath the right 
 to interfere, or to withdraw any man from my control. I draw 
 down pains and sicknesses upon such as strive to thwart me. He 
 who is accounted mine, dieth not like other men. I suffer no man 
 to dwell in this lower worfd for more than the period determined by 
 me ; and, if I wish, I send him back into this world a second and a 
 third time, or more, by the transmigration of the soul, and this 
 1)V a universal law." 
 
 Third Section. 
 - I guide without a [revealed] book ; I point the wav by unseen 
 means'^unto mv friends and such as observe the precepts of my 
 teaching, which is not grievous, and is adapted to the time and 
 
 * 'Airalhn I here translate " races ' not - worlds " ; for I suppose that Malak 
 Taus (or whoever may be the speaker) intends to say that he is responsible for 
 the Yendis only, who, as it appears, regard themselves as a race apart from the 
 rest of mankind, descended indeed from Adam, but not from Eve. 
 
37(5 
 
 Trail si nfiui, of Anihir J/.V. 
 
 co.Klit.ous. I i.umsh sud, a.s .outravene my laws iu otlier worlds. 
 The .AilJreu ,.t this Adam kiu-w lu-t those thiu-s which are deter- 
 mmed, wherefore thev oft-times fall iuto error. The l«.asts of the 
 he.d am of heaven, and the fish i.f the sea. all of them are iu mv 
 hand and under my control. The treasures and hoards l.urie.l in 
 the heart of the earth are known to me, an,l I cause one after 
 .mother to mhent them. I make manifest mv sijjns an.l wonders 
 to such as will receive then, and seek them from me in their due 
 season. The anta-on.sm and oj^i-osition of stran^^ers to me and mv 
 tollower.s do but injure the authors thereof. lM..,-ause thev know n,;t 
 that might and wealth are in my hands, and that I lH.>stow them on 
 such ot Adam s progeny as are deserving of them. The orderin- of 
 the workLs the revolution of ages, and the changing of their regents 
 are mine from eternity. And wh,.so,.ver walketh not ui.ri.ditlv 
 hen-in, him will I chastise in mv own a,,,,oi„,ed time, a.i.rturn 
 '>dck to his toniuT chiuvf." 
 
 Fourth Serf ion. 
 
 ■• The sea.sous are four, and the elements are four; these have I 
 
 vouchsafed to meet the needs of my creatures. The scrii.tures of 
 
 strangers are acc-epted l.y me in so far as thev accord and agree 
 
 with my ordinances and run not ..mnter to them ; for thev have 
 
 lml"tW ' '""* rr, •'■"'■'■'"'• ^'"■^^' *''"•'■ '"•'' "I'l'->««l"to me. 
 and three names do T hate. To such as kee,, mv sem-ts shall mv 
 
 I.n>mises be fulfilled. All th,.se who have ilndergone tri.iti^m, 
 
 to, my sake, will I nrom,.ense without fail in one of the worlds. 
 
 I desire all my followers to be united in one fold on a.count of 
 
 those who are antagonists and strangers to them. O ve who 
 
 ol>sen-e my injunctions, n>ject such sayings and tea.hing.s" as are 
 
 not from me Mention not my „ame or mv attributes, as 
 
 th3.-' • "* •"' '"■ '"'"'•■ "'■ ■^'"- *'"• ■- '""•^' '- knowledge 
 
 Fifth Section. 
 "Honour my symbol and image, for it will remind vou of what 
 ye have neglected of my laws and onlinances. Be ol^.dient to my 
 secants and act with sincerity towards them. , in gratitude] foV 
 
 whth if-' '•°"""""'«^*^' *•' ^•"" "f tl"^t knowledge of the uns«.n 
 Avhieh thev receive from me." 
 
 * I.e., of such as are not of the Yezidi faith. 
 
 Ulsbn'u of the Yezidis. 
 
 377 
 
 Another Account. 
 
 " 111 the l>e.y:iniiiiij^ God created the White Pearl out of His most 
 precious Essence ; and He created a bird named Anghar. And 
 He jjlaced the i>earl upon its back, and dwelt thereon forty thousand 
 vears. On the first dav, Sundav, He created an angel named 
 'Azozil, which is Ta'ui< M(((ak (*the Peacock Angel 'j, the chief of 
 all. On M(aidav He created Dardail, which is Shevkh Hasan.* 
 
 ft *' 
 
 On Tuesday He created UrafiL who is Sheykh Shams [-nd-Din]. 
 On Wednesday He created MihaiU who is Shevkh Abu Bekr. On 
 
 ft *' 
 
 Thursday He created 'Azrail, who is Sajadin. On Friday He 
 created the angel ShemnaiU ^vllo is Nasiru'd-Din. On Saturday 
 He «reated the angel iV// /•(?'//. who is of the religion of Malak Trf '?/.** ; 
 and him He made chief over them.t Afterwards He created the 
 form of the seven heavens, and the earth, and the sun, and the 
 moon. [Afterwards I J He created mankind, and animals, and 
 birds, and beasts, and placed them in the folds of His mantle, and 
 arose from the Pearl, accomi)anied hy the angels. Then He cried 
 out at the Pearl with a loud cry, and forthwith it fell asunder into 
 four pieces, and water gushed out from within it and ])ecame the 
 sea. The world was round Avithout corners [r]. Then He created 
 Gabriel in the form of a bird, and committed to his hands the 
 deposition of tlie four corners. Then He created an ark (r) and 
 abode therein thirtv thousand vears, after which He came and 
 
 ft • 
 
 dwelt in Lalesh. He cried out in the world, and the sea coagulated, 
 and the world became worms wliich continued to wriggle. Then 
 He commanded Gral)riel to take two of the pieces of the White 
 Pearl, one of which He placed under the earth, while the other 
 rested in the Grate of Heaven. Then He placed in them the sun 
 and the moon, and created the stars from their fragments, and 
 suspended them in heaven for an ornament. He also created fruit- 
 lu^aring trees and plants in the earth, and likewise the mountains. 
 
 * PresumaV)ly Sheykh Hasan of Basra (see note on p. 3G8 supra), who would 
 consequently seem to be regarded as an incarnation of this angel. 
 
 f Cf. Menants Yezidis, p. 84. where the names of the Seven Angels are 
 somewhat differently given. 
 
 X The manu8crii)t has here Fakhrutl-din khalaqa'l-ins. . . . "Fakhrud- 
 din created mankind,' &c. The text seems to be corrupt ; we should, perhaps, 
 read Fnkhran Itd-din, '"for a glory to the religion," and take these words with 
 what precedes instead of with what follows. It would, however, appear, from 
 pp. 378 and 387, that Fakhru*d-Din is identified with the god Chemosh. 
 
378 
 
 Translation of Arabic MS. 
 
 to embellish the earth. He treated the Throne over the Cari>et.* 
 Then said the Mi-:hty Lord, ** O An^-els. I will create Adam and 
 Eve, and will make them human hein^^s, and from them Uvo shall 
 arise, out of the loins of Adam [Shehr ibn Jehr ?] ; and from Adam 
 [alone] shall arise a sinj^le i»eople on the earth, the i>eople of 
 'Azazil, to wit of Tans Malak, which is the Yezidi i^eople.' Then 
 He sent Sheykh *Adi h. Musafir from the land of Syria, and he 
 came and dwelt in Lalesh. Then the Lord descended to the Holy 
 Land, that is Jerusalem (el-Qnds), and commanded Gabriel to take 
 earth from the four corners of the world : earth, air, fire, and water. 
 He made it [man], and endowed it with a soul by His power. 
 Then He commanded Ga])riel to enter Paradise and to eat of the 
 fruit of every <rreen herb, only of wlieat should he not eat.f After 
 a hundred years Taus Malak said to God, * How shall Adam 
 increase and multiply, and where is his offspring ? ' God said to him, 
 ' Into thy hand have I surrendered authority and administration.' 
 Then He came and said to Adam, ♦ Hast thou eaten of the wlieat ^ * 
 He answered, ' No, for God hath forladden me so to do, and hath said, 
 " Thou shalt not eat of it." ' [3Ialak Tii\ci<^ said to him, '[Nay, but] 
 all shall -:o better with thee.' But, after he had eaten, his l>elly 
 swelled up, and Taus Malak drove liim forth from Paradise, and 
 left him, and ascended into heaven. Then Adam suffered from 
 [the distension of] his l>elly, l)ecause it had no outlet. But God 
 sent a l>ird, which came and heliied him, and made an outlet for it, 
 and he was relieved. And Gabriel continued al)sent from him for a 
 hundred years, and he was sad, and wept. Then God commanded 
 Gabriel, and he came and created Eve from under Adam's left 
 ai-m-pit. Then Malak Ta'us descended to earth for the sake of our 
 Ijeople— I mean the much-sufferin<,' Yezidis— and raised up for us 
 kings Ix^side the kings of the ancient Assyrians, NesrnkhX (who is 
 Nasim'd-Din), and KamnshX (who is King Fakhni'd-Din), and 
 Artimus (who is King Shamsu'd-Din). And after this we had two 
 kings, the first and the second Shajair, whose mle lasted one 
 hundred and fifty years, and from whose seed are our Amirs until 
 the present day; and we became divided into four Septs. § To us 
 it is fi^rbidden to eat lettuce (Mox«)— l)ecause its name resem])les 
 
 * By "the Throne* ('arsh) U meant -the Throne of God," and by *• the 
 Carpet" (farsh) the Earth. 
 
 t Wheat, according? to the Mohammedan belief, wa.s the forl)idden fruit. 
 X The gods Nisrocli and Chemosh of Scripture. 
 § Cf. Menant's Yezidis, pp. 117-118. 
 
 Hiiitory of the Yezidis. 
 
 379 
 
 that of our pro^ihetess Khassa^ — and haricot beans; also to dye 
 [our garments] dark [blue] ; f neither do we eat fish, out of respect 
 for Jonah the prophet ; nor gazelles, Ixicause these constituted the 
 flock of one of our prophets. The Sheykh and his discijjles, 
 moreover, eat not the flesh of the cock, out of resi>ect for the 
 l>eacock ; for it is one of the seven gods X before mentioned, and 
 its image is in the form of a cock.§ The Sheykh and his disciples 
 likewise abstain from eating [the flesh of] hornless beasts. It is, 
 moreover, forbidden to us to make water standing, or to put on our 
 clothes sitting, or to cleanse ourselves in the privy as do the 
 Midiammadans, or to ijerform our ablutions in their baths. 
 Neither is it permitted to us to pronounce the name of Satan 
 (l)ecause it is the name of our God), nor any name resembling 
 this, such as Kitan, Sharrj Shatt \\ ; nor any vocable resembling 
 wirt/'wn [in sound, such as] wci'Z, or the like. Before . . . ^our 
 reliirion was called idolatrv ; and the Jews, Christians, Muslims, 
 and Persians held aloof from our religion. King Ahab and 
 Anion (r) were of us, so that they used to call the God of Ahal) 
 Beelzebub, whom they now call amongst us Pir-htih. We had a 
 kinir in Babel whose name was Bukhti-Nossor,** and Ahasuerus in 
 Persia, and in Constantinople Agricola. Before heaven and earth 
 existed, God was over the waters in an ark in the midst of the 
 waters. Then He was wroth with the pearl which he had created, 
 wherefore he cast it away ; and from the crash of it were produced 
 the mountains, and from the clang of it the sand-hills, and from 
 its smoke the heavens. Then God ascended into heaven, and 
 condensed the heavens, and fixed them [in their jdace] without 
 supports, and enclosed the earth. Then He took the pen in His 
 hands, and l>egan to write down [the names of] all His creatures. 
 
 * Cf. p. 371 supra, where a different reason is given. 
 
 t Cf. note on p. 373 supra. 
 
 + I.e., Malak Ta'us, " the Peacock Angel." 
 
 § This image is figured at p. 99 of Menant's Yezidis. 
 
 |[ Cf. Menant, loc. cit., pp. 80-82: 'Aussi, en parlant d'une riviere, ils ne 
 diaent jms Shatt, parcec^ue ce mot a trop de rapport avec la premiere syllabe du 
 nom Satan, •• .S7iei7a», le Diable," mais ils emploient I'expression JVa/o*. C'est 
 pour la meme raison (juils ne se servent pas du mot Keixtan "fil " ou " frange:"' 
 Nanl " fer a cheval." et Naal-hend " marechal," sont des mots defendus qui 
 rappellent I'expression Lann " malediction," et MaJoun " maudit."' 
 
 f The text of the first part of this sentence iss so corrupt that I cannot even 
 conjecture its meaning. 
 
 ^* Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
SbO 
 
 'TrandlatioH of Arahic MS. 
 
 From His essence and light He ereuted six gods, wliose creatiou 
 was as one lightetli a lamp from another lamj*. Then said the first 
 god to the seeond god, ' I have ereated heaven ; ascend tliou into it, 
 and create something else.' And when he ascended, the sun came 
 into l)eing. And he said to the next, * Ascend ! ' and the moon 
 came into l^eiug. And the third jmt the heavens in movement, and 
 tlie fourth [created] the stars, and the tiftli created eUKnratjJi (r) — 
 that is to say, the Morning Star; and so on." 
 
 Another Airoutit. 
 
 The Yezidis sav that there are seven gods, one of whom descended 
 to earth and created hell and paradise. After this he created Adam 
 and Eve and all animals. And Adam and Eve disputed and were 
 vexed with one another as to the generation of the human race, each 
 (►ne of them saying, "From me shall it l>e begotten." And they 
 saw the l)easts mating, and the male pairing with the female, and 
 how they l)rought fortli their young. Then each t>ne of them jait 
 their seed (some say their spittle) into a jar; and they closed the 
 mouths of the two jars with their seals. And after nine months 
 they oi)ened their jars ; and in Adam's jar they saw a pair of 
 children, exceeding fair; Imt in Eve's jar only two white worms. 
 Then God created paps for Adam wherewith he suckled them ; and 
 thev were male and female. an<l from these tw(> was the Yezidi 
 pe(^>ple l)egotten. After this Adam knew Eve, and children were 
 born of them, and from these sprang the Jews, the Christians, the 
 MusHms, and the rest of the human race. But Seth, Enoch, Noah, 
 and other good men are of us — us, the Yezidis ; from Adam alone 
 are tliev descended, and ni»t from Eve. At that time arose strife 
 and enmitv l)etwixt the man and liis wife. And when thev came 
 l>efore a just man for arbitration, he decided l>etween them and 
 sent them awav. And the caViSe of this f strife^ was that the 
 man would sav, *' She is mv wife," and the woman would sav, 
 " He is not mv huslmnd." Therefore were the dnim and horn 
 introduced [at the marriage ceremony], in order that whosoever 
 lieard the sound of them might imiuire and know that such an one 
 was wedded to such an one. and that they [who heard] might be 
 witnesses against them when one of them denied the rights of the 
 other. 
 
 Thev sav also that the Deluye of Noah was the last flood in this 
 wiirkl ; ani:l that the Yezidi jieojile descend and spring from a noble 
 jiersonage, the Kinj; of Peai-e. whose name is Nu'iiKt. whom thev 
 
 Hixtorij of thr Yezidix. 
 
 381 
 
 now .all Mollk Mimn ; and that the rest of mankind are from the 
 seed of Ham, who moeked his father. 
 
 Thev likewise sav that God Ahniffhty talked with our f|ither 
 Adam' in the Kurdish tonjfue. which was the first tongue and was 
 from <,f old in the world ; and that the Ark of Noah rested once ui 
 the villa.'e ,.f • Avn Sifui.* whieh is near to Sheykh "Adi. and 
 distant al.out seventeen hours from Nineveh. Men are wieked 
 l,ecause thev condemn and des,.ise our religion ; wherefore God 
 sent against' them the seeond dehv.-e. And when the Ark of Noah 
 rose and floated on the water, it drifted and passed onwards to the 
 Mountain of Sanjar. whieh is distant about eighteen hours from 
 Mosul; and there it struck ,.n a roek whieh pierced it and the 
 seriK.nt coiled itself up. and pushed itself into the hole and stopi>ed 
 the leak- Then the Ark halted and stood still over the Mountain 
 of Ju,li. which is distant about twenty-four hours fro.n Mosul 
 And when the race of serpents multiplied. Noah caught them and 
 burned them, and from their bones fleas Avere in-odticed. 
 
 Prom the Deluge until now about seven thousand years have 
 elapsed, and ever^- thousand years one of the seven gods descends to 
 earth bringing signs and wonders, and ascends again into heaven. 
 The Holv Temple and other sacred siwts are ours, and m the 
 hands of our' iH^ople. At this time Allah-Yezid descended to teach 
 and confirm us. For Muhammad the Prophet of God. whom God 
 illuminated, had a servant by name Mo'awi.t And he O.e. 
 Muhammad) walked not in the way of God uprightly, wherefore 
 he was afflicted with pain in the head. One day hc^said to his 
 servant Mo'cri. •' Scarifv my head, for it pains me." But when he 
 scratched it too violently the blood flowed from it whereupon he. 
 that is Mo'ord. licked it with his tongue. And when Muhammad 
 perceived this, he said to him. " What hast thou doner For ^uowj 
 from thee shall come forth a people and a nation w-luch sh^ll vex 
 and hurt mv jK^^ople.'- Then .1/./".,-/ answered. •• Then will I not 
 wx-d. so that I mav have no ,.ttspriiig." But after a while Mc a^a 
 fell sick, until at length the physicians agreed that he must either 
 mVLVW or die. So thev married him to an old woman aged seventy 
 vears; and he lav wi'th her. And next morning, behold, she was 
 "a vouii-' -irl of iwentv-five. and she conceived and brought forth 
 Yezid our -od. Those of other faiths and races say that when 
 
 * See Hoffmann, (o.-. !aiirf.. p. 19". 
 f Sic, apparently for Mo'awiya. 
 
382 
 
 Translation of Arahic MS. 
 
 Hisforij of the Yezidis. 
 
 883 
 
 n\ 
 
 our ^od desteuded to earth, he was east out and eut off from tlie 
 Great and Ahiiii,dity God ; wherefore they hlasplieineand revile him. 
 lu this they err and ^'o astray. Wlien he descended to tliis earth, 
 he j^^ave us banners, and tokens, and si*,'ns ; then he ascended into 
 heaven. Hell was created in the first davs of Adam. At that 
 time, too, he bei^^at a son called l\n''u[ As^^'har. an<l for him he 
 created companions. For a jjeriod of six years he was afflicted in 
 his eyes; and his nose, hands, and feet ached. And he had a 
 little ewer, and into this ewer his' tears ran whenever he wept, until 
 it was filled. Then he emptied it and poured its contents over hell, 
 and the fire thereof was quenched. Thev say that each of tlie 
 seven ^'ods made for him a banner, that is to say a fiai,' f(>r a token ; 
 and these were for a time in the keepin*; of Solonum the Wise, who 
 bequeathed them after his death to (>\ir kini^'s. And when our 
 god was born, he took them and j^ave them io (nir Ainir, and thev 
 have remained in our hands till now. And they carry them in pro- 
 cessions and recite praises before them in the Kiu'dish tcjngue, with 
 mumblings of uncouth words, such as " Ha In m ma halahiy' and the 
 like. Every year they deiK>sit a pledge of money with the Amir, 
 the chief Sheykh, the Vakil, and the rest, and sen<l one [of the 
 flags] to Khalatiyya (which is the name of a district), and another 
 to Aleppo, and another to Masquq, and another to Sanjar. These, 
 after dei)Ositing this pledge, they take to Sheykh 'Adi, where they 
 wash them with acid sumac-juice. Then they dij) them in water, 
 and send with each one a handful of earth from the tomb of Shevkh 
 
 ft 
 
 •Adi. And this earth they make into little i)ellets like gall-nuts, 
 which thev hawk about and sell for monev as amulets for the dead 
 
 • ft 
 
 and those newly married. And when the standard apj>roaches any 
 town or village, they first send a herald in advance to announce its 
 arrival. Then all the Yezidis who dwell there go forth to meet it 
 with cymbals and flutes, and bring it in to the largest and noblest 
 house, which giv^s a sum of money in honour of its entrv. Here 
 
 * ft 
 
 the i)eople assemble to pay their resi)ects to it, and make offerings 
 to it of silver, gold, arms, clothes, and the like. The remaining 
 three banners (for there are seven in all) they keej) in their holy places, 
 two at Sheykh 'Adi and one at Bakhmfi ; and every four months they 
 carry round in procession each of them in turn through the Amir's 
 diocese. And each of them has its a]>pointed chaml)er, wherein 
 they place a lamp in which they bum olive oil. Their most solemn 
 festival is in the month of Nisan (April), during the first four days 
 of which there must l)e meat in the house of every Yezidi, an<l 
 
 their maidens gather roses and other flowers, which they place at 
 the gates of their courtyards as a token of rejoicing for the feast. 
 Their women send food an<l provisions to the tombs at sundown, 
 and wavfarers, the ]»oor. and the destitute eat thereof; and this 
 
 ft * 
 
 they do for other than their own dead. And the Kuchak mutters (r) 
 as though he were i)raying over the tombs, and [for this] receives 
 money; and so, likewise, the Qaunval plays shrill music on his 
 flute, and invokes mercy on them [the dead], for which he receives 
 money as remuneration for his lal)our. On the first day of the 
 year, which they call Sar-sali, they refrain from playing on 
 cvmbals. dnuns. or flutes, because [on that day] God sits on His 
 tiirone arranging the decrees for the [coming year], as to whom He 
 shall send, and how He shall send him, and whither He shall send 
 him, and so on. They imagine that God does not require them to 
 fast or i)ray, but only to give alms, and to do good works, and act 
 u]»ri<ditlv. And when one of their Kuchah^ is fasting, if one of 
 the common i)eople comes and otters him food he at once breaks his 
 fast, and eats. Their elders intimidate and threaten them, if they 
 fail to give gifts and alms as it l)ehoves them to do, with chastise- 
 ments, such as plague, fever, famine, and divers pestilences and 
 ]»ains, or with the triumph of their enemies over them. Every 
 Fridav thev must bring one load of food and drink to each sanjaq* 
 and, when one of them arrives, he cries out in a loud voice on the 
 terrace, saving, "An invitation to the sons of so-and-so," men- 
 tioning the name whereby the mnjaq is called. And, when they 
 hear, they kiss the stones and earth about the place where they are 
 standing, as they do at the rising and setting of the sun and moon. 
 " Our i)ooks are our hearts," say they, " for they announce and 
 foretell to us what hath l>een and shall be, and the like." [Where- 
 fore] want of agreement and discord [sometimes] subsists amongst 
 their Kvchahf^, who, as they say, speak and prophesy as it is 
 revealed to them in visions and dreams in the night. Accordingly 
 the Knchak is as a ])rophet in their eyes, so that one of them will 
 say, " I was in Jonah's ship, and with my hands did I cast him 
 into the sea ; and Jonah remained in the bosom of the deep forty 
 days and nights." And another will say, " I was in the council- 
 chaml)er of God when He sent Christ into the world; and He 
 disclosed to our Church seven treasures, which are now^ deposited 
 
 * Flag, banner : or the district governed by eacli of the^^e banners, 
 the precedin<? page, about the middle. 
 
 See 
 
884 
 
 Translation of Arahic MS. 
 
 and hidden in Shevkh 'Adi. Stranyfers, that is to sav the Jews, 
 Christians, and Muslims, do not presence the order of their descent 
 as we do ; that is to say, ^with iis^ Sheykh is the son of Sheykh, 
 Kut'hak of KuchaJc, Qaivwal of Qaiviral, and so on; and none 
 mames save with liis own order, and kind, and sept, contrary to 
 the custom of the Christians, with whc)m it is possible for one to l)e 
 a i)nest whose father was not a priest, and so in the case of the 
 [Muhammadan] nndla, i<:c." The Qnwirah suffer not the razor to 
 pass over their faces. At their marriai^es they take cakes of thin 
 bread from the lioiise of the Ktichak. half of which thev i^rive to 
 the hridej^'room and half to the bride ; and also a little earth from 
 the tomb of Sheykli *Adi, which brim^^s l)lessin^^ and is a jjei-fectini^ 
 of the marriaw rite in their eves. And in everv house there must 
 l>e a little earth from the tomb oi Shevkh *Adi a^rainst the time of 
 
 ft «^ 
 
 necessitv. 
 
 WTien one of them wrongs the wife <>f another, he nuist 
 make com|»ensation in money, or surrender u]» [to the other] his 
 sister, or his mother, or his dauirhter, or his wife. It is unlawful 
 and forbidden to them to marry in the month of Ninon (April). 
 l>ecause it is the l>eginnin<,' of the year ; * to all, that is to sav, 
 except the Kuchak, who is exempted from this rule, and may marry, 
 if he list, even in the month of Nisan. Each one of them, if he 
 desire it, may take to himself any numl>er of wives up to six. An 
 exception is made in favour of the Amivj to whom is brout^ht what- 
 soever woman he desireth. With them the daughter has no share 
 of inheritance from her father, but is accounted as an estate which 
 the father can sell if he will. And, therefore, if a daughter does 
 not w4sh to marry, she must pay her father a sum of money earned 
 by the labour of her liands, her craft, or her gains. On the occasion 
 of a marriage they drink intoxicating liquors to celel)rati' the union, 
 except the Kuchah and three of the Shei/Hs. And it is in'rmitted 
 to them to dance together, men and women alike. And the bride, 
 ere she depart to the house of the bridegroom, must visit the 
 l»ersonages [revered bv the Yezidis],f that is to say their shrines, 
 and likewise any church of the Christians which hapi>ens to lie on 
 her way. And when she reaches the l»ridegroom's house, he strikes 
 
 * That is, I suppose, of the old Persian solar year, the beginning of which is 
 marked by the entry of the Sun into the Sign of Aries. 
 
 t The MS. has Shvqiis, for which (as it seems to give no intellipble meaning) 
 I read Shukhus, "personages," or "images." 
 
 Hifitonj of the Yezidis. 
 
 385 
 
 her with a little stone, to indicate that she is subject to his 
 authority. Then they l)reak a roll of ]>read over her head, to 
 indicate that she shall be merciful and compassionate towards 
 the poor, and needy, and indigent. On the eves of Friday 
 and Wednesday it is forbidden to marry, or to lie with the 
 bride. 
 
 When a Yezidi dies, they jilace a little earth from [the tomb of] 
 Sheykh 'Adi in his mouth and on his face, and lay jxillets of sheep's 
 dung on his grave. The Kuchah recites prayers over the dead man, 
 and describes by inspiration what hath befallen him after his death, 
 whether he shall return again to this w^orld, or hath not returned, 
 and, if he has returned, what form or whom [his spirit] inhabits. 
 For the souls of tlieir just ones pass by metempsychosis into human 
 forms, but the wicked into animals. And there are found some 
 amongst them who bury money and other things in the ground, 
 and there conceal it, that it may be a provision for their second 
 advent into this world. They further suppose that the spirits of 
 their just ones dwell in the air, and disclose secrets, and hidden 
 things, and visions, to those who dwell in this world of ours. And 
 the Kuchak * can cause to die or give life. 
 
 Behind the Mountain of Sheykh Matta t lies the shrine of a 
 l>erson % named Muhammad Rashshan, wdio is greatly venerated by 
 them, so that in disputes and quarrels amongst themselves, his 
 name is used as the final adjuration. 
 
 When one among them falls sick, he seeks healing at a Khasin,^ 
 that is to say, a shrine, which exists [at] || Sitt Nafisa, and is an 
 elm-treeT in the village of Ba'ashika** (called l)y others 'Abdi-Rash, 
 which is on the stone), or at an elm-tree in the village of Kliarabak. 
 And when one among them is sick with the jaundice, he goes to a 
 si)ring called Kana-zar ; wdiile he who is afflicted with the dropsy 
 goes to the house of a Plr who dwells in the village of Mam- 
 Rashshan. 
 
 * That is, I suppose, his spirit, after his death. 
 
 t Jahal Matta. See Hoffmanns Akt. Pers. Mart., p. 176, note 1373. 
 
 X Again the MS. has Sliaqs. for which I again read Shakhs. 
 
 § This appears to be the Kurdish word kJmsin, a corruption of the Arabic 
 khazina, a treasury. Cf. Jabas Diet. Kurde • Franrais, published by 
 Justi, p. 155. 
 
 il The wordy? (in, at) seems to be needed here to make sense of the sentence. 
 
 % Tusha, api)arently for tnsa. 
 
 ** See Hoffmann, op. laud. p. 184, notes 6 and 7. 
 
 c c 
 
386 
 
 Trandation of Arnhic MS. 
 
 During their assemblies at [the shrine of] Sheykh 'Adi, it is not 
 Ijermitted to any of them to cook food, but all must eat from the 
 table of Sheykh 'Adi alone. Stones * are sj>ecially allotted to each 
 Kuchah and PiV, beside which they are wont to sit, as though 
 praying, and which the common folk visit witli presents of money, 
 in order that these may make intercession for them. To these 
 stones also thev vow offerings of cattle, sheep, and the like, in 
 order that their aspirations and aims may l)e fulfilled ; and each 
 one offers [at least] the equivalent of what he eats at [the shrine 
 of] Sheykh 'Adi.f 
 
 To Sheykh 'Adi, and Sheykh Shamsu'd-Din, and King Fakhm'd- 
 Din are assigned certain days called Walaim.X during which they 
 {i.e. the Yezidis) eat without payment, in consideration of their 
 guaranteeing from year to year a fixed sum of money [to defray the 
 expenses of these feasts]. The retainers of their Amir, together 
 with ont^ of their Sheykhs, go about amongst them at these 
 assemblies to prevent any theft, or murder, or disjmte. The con- 
 summation of marriage at the shrine § is not permitted, l^ecause in 
 their eves it is a holv ]>lace. When thev have eat^n the Gavdu)ih,\\ 
 by which I mean the flesh of the consecrated ox, they afterwards 
 bathe in the water of the Zamzam which flows beneath one of the 
 shrines of Sheykh 'Adi. They keep the flesh which has l)een placed 
 in the cauldron and boiled therein ; and there are some of them who, 
 when they are Imrnt, lay it upon their sores. They ascend the 
 mountain firing off' their guns, and each one of them takes a little 
 earth from [the tomb of] Sheykh 'Adi ; after which they turn back 
 and put on the Barshiki ['r],1' that is to say the girdle consecrated 
 with the holv water, Sic. One of them, who is named the Chaivush** 
 wears a girdle woven with goat's hair, and holds in liis hand a 
 Kabala, that is to say, a plaited cord, about nine spans in length, 
 woven of fine goat's wool, and dyed with Barknmk, that is, bla<*k 
 
 * Hijar. Perhai)s. however, this is a clerical error for hujar, •' cells," 
 " shrines,' which seems to give a better sense, 
 t See supra. 
 
 X Plural of Willi ma, a banquet, feast. 
 § Again shaqs, for which it seems necessary to substitute x/«afc?w, " person," 
 
 " image. 
 
 I| A corruption of the Persian gnv-gusht? 
 
 f[ I can find no trace of this word, and am (piite uncertain as to its etymolofjy 
 meaning, and proper pronunciation. 
 
 ** A Turkish word, signifying a sergeant, or herald. 
 
 History of the Yezidis. 
 
 387 
 
 dye. He likewise carries freshly-cut branches.* And when their 
 visitation is duly accomplished and concluded, they bring the money 
 which they have collected before the Amir, who gives to each 
 according to his function, and keeps for himself whatever remains 
 
 over. 
 
 There are two [annual] gatherings, one at the Feast of the 
 Pilgrimage, on which occasion they ascend the Mountain of Arafat, 
 whence they race to [the shrine of] Sheykh 'Adi.f And he wdio 
 outruns the rest is accounted most honourable amongst them. The 
 second gathering is called " the Way of the KaivwaWt and on this 
 occasion they bind roix^s about their necks, go up into the mountain, 
 collect fire- wood, and carrv it to Shevkh .'Adi to seethe meat (w^hich 
 they call simat) for the Amir. 
 
 Now they suppose that they have had their kings from of old in 
 all the world, in Europe, Asia, and elsewhere : Ahab, king of the 
 Children of Israel ; Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon ; Ahasueras, 
 King of Persia ; and Agricola, King of Constantinople. These, and 
 others, as they say, were in their time their kings : Beelzebub, w^ho 
 if Pir Buh ; Nesrukh,§ who is Nasrud-Din ; Kamush,§ who is 
 Fakhrn\l-Bin; Artemis, who is Sha mm d-Di7i ; and, in later days, 
 of the progeny of Shapur and Bahram,|'| who have continued and 
 l)egotten offspring without interruption unto this our time, which is 
 the year 2202 of the Greeks, or 1892 of the Christian era. And 
 thev keep the water wherewith they have w^ashed their idols, and 
 o-ive it to drink to the sick, and unto their w^omen, for their evil 
 purposes. 
 
 * The MS. has shanashiU which I suppose to be a mistake for shamashil an 
 .\rabic form of plural from .><hemshal. See Jaba's Did. Kurde-Franrais, 
 p. 261 : and VuUers' Persian Le:''icon, s. v., .^^himshar.) 
 
 t This ceremony, as well as the names 'Arafat, Zamzam, &c., seems to be a 
 mere copy of the Mecca Pilgrimage. 
 
 J Tariqul-Qawwalin. 
 
 § See note on p. 378, supra. 
 
 I The MS. has Ynram, which is an easy corruption of Buram, which, in 
 turn, I suspect to be a corruption of Bahram. 
 
 3»<< 
 
 c 2 
 
ITINERARY. 
 
 I.— From Alexandretta to Mardin. 
 (Caravans generally travel from three to four miles an hour.) 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 Alexandretta — 
 
 Beilan ^h 
 
 Khan-el-Diarl:)ekrli . . . • 3^ 
 
 Bridge of Mm-ad Pasha 2 
 
 El Hammamat . . . • 3| 
 Afrin Khan ion river 
 
 Afrin) 1 
 
 Tarmannin ^2 
 
 Aleppo '4 
 
 Akhterm " 
 
 Ayash ^^4 
 
 River -4 
 
 R. Sajur U 
 
 Zanibur ^4 
 
 Kasandash 11 
 
 River ''^ 
 
 Euphrates ^ 
 
 Birejik ^ 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 . 12 
 
 03 
 
 Charmalik . 
 
 Mardin — 
 
 Tel-Harrm 
 
 Qala'at 
 Stream 
 Dara . . 
 Sarjkhan . 
 Khsisser . 
 
 Nisihis . 
 
 Kerasin . 
 Hajikhan . 
 Stream 
 Aznaur 
 
 n 
 
 Ui-fa 
 
 Karajerun . . . • • 
 
 Mishmishin 
 
 Sewerek " 
 
 Village Ijy a broken 
 
 bridge -i 
 
 Utchkuah 1 
 
 Kainak "^ 
 
 Karabaksha . . • 
 
 Sarsink .... 
 
 Khan of Sarsink 4^ 
 
 Diarl^ekr "♦s 
 
 Cherukiyah ^k 
 
 Khan Akhbiii-ah ... 41 
 
 Ford . 1^ 
 
 Ford 13 
 
 Khaniki li 
 
 Sheikh '^h 
 
 01 
 •>5 
 
 Mardin 
 
 Ij._Mardin to Mosul. 
 
 k 
 4 
 
 Buwardah . . • 
 
 Atba 
 
 Deiriineh . . . ♦ 
 
 KanigJir .... 
 
 Shuswadiyah .... 
 
 Stream 
 
 Stream 
 
 Ruined barracks . 
 
 % 
 
 River 2 
 
 Hajiluk I4 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 I 
 4 
 
 .5 
 
 21 
 
 3i 
 
 Hamadiyah ^ 
 
390 
 
 Itinerary. 
 
 n. — Mardin to Mosul. — Continued. 
 
 HOURS. 
 
 Mosiil 3^ 
 
 TelKaif 3^ 
 
 Stream o| 
 
 Mill 3| 
 
 Samil 3 
 
 Gars 4| 
 
 Kanigsir j 
 
 HOl'RS. 
 
 Marsi 1 
 
 Feishkhabur ...... 5^ 
 
 Ruined village .... 3 
 
 Ruined village .... 1 
 
 Stream IJ 
 
 Tclielagha ij 
 
 Deirunali 3 
 
 III. — Jebel Tur. 
 
 Mardin — 
 
 Rishmil 
 
 Ma'asii*ta 
 
 Kli.irbat-el-Qala'atah 
 
 Klijirbat-el-gms . . 
 
 Absha 
 
 Midliiat 
 
 Salah 
 
 Darindab 
 
 Kafr Jiisen . . . . 
 
 Ain 
 
 Eidadiiwah . . . . 
 Hasan-el-Kaf 
 
 Saiir 
 
 Village 
 
 Tuni from river . . 
 
 Mamiinah . . . . 
 
 Baleidr 
 
 Deir Mar Quriaqos . . . 
 
 Janaskar 
 
 Mai Radwan . . . 
 
 Khopa 
 
 Paloni 
 
 3i 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 21 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 i 
 
 k 
 
 h 
 
 *k 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 \ 
 
 ij 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 li 
 
 Has- has 
 
 Deir Mar Quriaqos 
 Bar- rose 1 . 
 Shinariyali 
 Mamunah 
 Ain . . . 
 The Tigris 
 Hasan-el-Kaf 
 
 Deir Mar Mokhi 
 Difna . . 
 Ain Rusii . 
 Tarda . . 
 Harmuis . 
 
 Deir Mar Salib 
 Pakubu 
 Hakh . . 
 Hastarik . 
 Halakh 
 Anias . . 
 
 Midhiat . . . 
 Mazirzakh 
 Deir-el-Omai 
 
 
 n 
 
 \ 
 
 n 
 1 
 
 i 
 n 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 1 
 
 li 
 
 li 
 
 u 
 
 >j*io<^ 
 
 GLOSSARY. 
 
 Abba .... 
 Abd .... 
 Ab .... 
 Abuna . . • 
 Agha . . . 
 Ain .... 
 Aiwa .... 
 Aiwan . 
 
 Allah . . . 
 
 Allah ma'kum 
 
 Amir .... 
 
 Antidoron 
 
 (Greek) 
 
 Arba'm . . . 
 
 An-ak . . • 
 
 Ask of . . . 
 
 Auxios (Greek) 
 
 Bakhshish . . 
 
 Bala khana . 
 
 Bamiyah . . 
 
 Bashi-bazuk 
 Batrik . 
 Bazar . 
 Beg . . 
 Beit . . 
 Bim-bashi 
 Dallal . 
 Darweish 
 Deir . . 
 Dibbiz . 
 Diwan . 
 Dukkan . 
 Efendi . 
 Fantasia 
 Faqir 
 Fari'q 
 Haj . . 
 
 Cloak. 
 
 Servant. 
 
 Father. 
 
 Our Father. 
 
 A Turkish title. 
 
 Fountain. 
 
 An exclamation. 
 
 Open coui-t. 
 
 God. 
 
 God be with you. 
 
 A title (Lord). 
 
 Blest bread. 
 Forty. 
 A liquem-. 
 Bishop. 
 Worthy. 
 Present. 
 Upper room. 
 Hibiscus esciilen- 
 
 tus. 
 Irregular troops. 
 Patriarch. 
 Covered shops. 
 Turkish title (Sir), 
 
 House. 
 
 Police officer. 
 
 Auctioneer. 
 . Derwish. 
 . Monastery. 
 . Molasses. 
 . Reception room. 
 . Shop. 
 . Gentleman. 
 . Ornament. 
 . Poor. 
 
 . A military title. 
 . Pilgrimage. 
 
 Haji . . • 
 
 Hammam . 
 Haniyah 
 
 Harim . . 
 
 Hawajah 
 Heikel . 
 Hiji^ah . 
 
 Hosh . . 
 Inuim 
 Insli- Allah 
 Islam 
 Jazi'rah . 
 Jel>el . . 
 Jilwah . 
 Kaimak 
 Kali . . 
 Kalimat 
 Islam . 
 
 Kanun 
 
 Kargh 
 
 Katib 
 
 Katirji 
 
 Kefiyeh 
 
 Keif . 
 
 Kellek 
 
 Khalifa 
 
 Khalil 
 
 Khan 
 
 Khater 
 
 el- 
 
 Pilgrim. 
 
 Bath. 
 
 May it be pleasant 
 
 to you. 
 Women's apart- 
 ments (the 
 closed). 
 
 Sir. 
 
 Temple. 
 
 The Flight (of 
 Mohammed). 
 
 Court yard. 
 
 Leader. 
 
 Please God I 
 
 Submission. 
 
 Island. 
 
 Mountain. 
 
 Effulgence. 
 
 Cream. 
 
 Alkali. 
 
 Word of submis- 
 sion (the Mo- 
 hammedan Pro- 
 fession of faith). 
 
 Zither. 
 
 Pole-star. 
 
 Scribe. 
 
 Miileteer. 
 
 Kerchief. 
 
 How. 
 
 Raft. 
 
 The Religious 
 Head of Mo- 
 hammedans. 
 
 Friend. 
 
 Inn. 
 
 Favour. 
 
392 
 
 GlO'^sary. 
 
 (rlifssdvy. 
 
 398 
 
 Khiirj 
 Kibib . 
 Kismat . 
 Koran 
 
 Kursi 
 Leben . 
 Mjidhbklia 
 M/idmsah 
 Mafi . . 
 Mafrian 
 Majid . 
 
 Majlis . 
 Malik . 
 Mar . . 
 Mara . . 
 Mashallah 
 
 Masti'k . 
 
 Minjirah 
 
 Moi-an (Sjriac 
 
 MuMUim 
 
 Mudhbah 
 
 Miidi'r . 
 
 Mueddhin 
 
 Mufti . 
 
 Miihaffah 
 
 Mujahid 
 
 Mukhtar 
 Mulla . 
 Mushir . 
 Mutran . 
 
 Miitserrafiyah 
 
 Mutsen-af . , 
 
 Nabbi . . . 
 Narjilah . . 
 Nai-thex 
 
 ' Greek ) 
 
 . Saddle-bag. 
 
 . Book. 
 
 . It is fated. 
 
 • Reading (the sa- 
 
 ci-ed book of Mo- 
 hammedans). 
 Throne. 
 Sour milk. 
 Kitchen. 
 . School. 
 There is not. 
 Metropolitan. 
 
 • Twenty-piastre 
 
 piece. 
 
 Council. 
 . King. 
 
 Lord. 
 
 Lady. 
 
 Expression of 
 wonder. 
 . Liqueur. 
 . Minaret. 
 1 Lord. 
 
 Teacher. 
 . Altar. 
 
 Treasui-er. 
 
 Prayer-caller. 
 
 Law-teachers. 
 
 Panniers. 
 
 Fighters in a holy 
 war. 
 
 Head of a villay:e. 
 
 Teacher. 
 
 General. 
 
 Bishop. 
 f Second division of 
 C the empire. 
 r Governor of se- 
 j cond division of 
 V empire. 
 Prophet. 
 Water-pipe. 
 
 Vestibule of! 
 church. 
 
 Nakh . . . 
 
 Nishsin . . . 
 
 Nizj'im . . 
 
 Pam . . . . 
 
 Pasha . . . 
 Piasti-e . . . 
 Pronaos 
 ! (Gi-eek) 
 
 Qaddi'she 
 
 (Syi'iac) 
 Qadhi . . . 
 
 Qaimaqam . . 
 
 Qarib 
 
 Qala'at 
 Qas . 
 Qjissar 
 Qawwas 
 Qi}>lah . 
 
 Quds . . 
 Rafidhi'yah 
 
 Rahab . 
 R a h a t - e 1 
 
 lakum 
 Rahman 
 Ramadh?in 
 
 Ramniiin . . 
 Reis . . . . 
 Sa'adat-kum . 
 Salani aleikum 
 
 Salib . . . 
 Sanisker . . 
 
 Sardab , . . 
 Sarj .... 
 Ssiyid . . . 
 Semn . . . 
 
 Make to kneel. 
 A decollation. 
 Regidar soldiers. 
 A foi-tieth part of 
 
 a piasti-e. 
 Governor. 
 Two pence 
 
 Coui-t of church. 
 
 Holy. 
 
 Judge. 
 
 Governor of divi- 
 sion of mutser- 
 mfiyah. 
 
 Groomsman 
 ( near). 
 
 Castle. 
 
 Priest. 
 
 Foi-t. 
 
 Orderly. 
 
 The direction of 
 prayer. 
 
 Holy. 
 
 Desei-ters. Sec- 
 tarians. 
 
 Monk. 
 
 Turkish delight. 
 
 Merciful. 
 
 Ninth month in 
 
 Mohammedan 
 year. 
 
 Pomegmnate. 
 
 Head. 
 
 Yom- Beatitude. 
 
 Peace be upon 
 
 you. 
 Cross. 
 Commander - in - 
 
 chief. 
 Cellar. 
 Saddle. 
 Lord. 
 Chirified l>utter. 
 
 Senawi'yah 
 Senjak . 
 Serai 
 Shammas 
 Shaqs. • 
 Sharif . 
 Shat . . 
 Sheikh . 
 Sheitan . 
 Sherl^et . 
 Shibuk . 
 SimandroiGk.* 
 
 Sitna . . . 
 Subhan- Allah. 
 
 Suq .... 
 Sura .... 
 Sytha . . . 
 Tahlfl . . . 
 Tanzimat . 
 
 Tarbiish 
 Tasbi'h . 
 Ta'iis 
 Teskereh 
 Tibn . . 
 
 Year spot; a boil. 
 
 Banner. 
 
 Palace. 
 
 Deacon. 
 
 Shrine (?). 
 
 Noble. 
 
 Arrow. 
 
 Old man. 
 
 Clever fellow. 
 
 Drink. 
 
 Pil)e. 
 
 Boar<l beaten in 
 
 pi a CO of Ml. 
 Our Lady. 
 Praise lye to God- 
 Market. 
 Chapter. 
 Holv oil. 
 
 ft/ 
 
 Cry of joy. 
 
 Regulation (espe- 
 cially the re- 
 forms of 1841). 
 
 Fez. 
 
 Rosary. 
 
 Peacock. 
 
 Passport. 
 
 Chopped straw. 
 
 Tughra . 
 Tiu'iini . 
 Turband 
 Tutun . 
 Ulima . 
 
 Uzbashi 
 
 (Turkish) 
 Wadi . . . 
 
 Wakil . . . 
 
 Wali. . . . 
 
 Walayat . . 
 
 Wardah . . . 
 
 Wazfr . . . 
 Ya'urt 
 
 (Turkish! 
 
 Za'aferan . . 
 Zamzam 
 
 Zsiptieh . . 
 Zibde . . 
 Ziyarah . . 
 
 >>eiOO- 
 
 Order. 
 
 Dialect of Syi-iac. 
 
 Head-dress. 
 
 Tobacco. 
 
 Body of men 
 
 learned in the 
 
 law. 
 
 Head of police. 
 
 A valley through 
 which water 
 flows in winter. 
 
 Deputy. 
 
 Governor of a 
 province. 
 
 Province. 
 
 Rose. 
 
 Minister. 
 
 Curdled milk. 
 
 Saft'ron. 
 
 Murmur (the sa- 
 cred spring at 
 Mecca). 
 
 Mounted police. 
 
 Butter. 
 
 Place of pilgrim- 
 age. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abdelmalik. 299 
 
 Abdullah, Mutran, 40 
 
 Al>dullah, Khalifa, 299 
 
 Abgarus, 36 
 
 Abraham, Mosque of, at Ui-fa, 32 
 
 Abulfaragius : see Bar Hebra^us 
 
 Ain Wardah, 167 
 
 Akhterin. 14 
 
 Aleppo, 4 
 
 Syiians, 5 
 Chiu-ches, 6 
 Ohi-istians, 5 
 House at, 5 
 Button, 126 
 Alexandretta, 1 
 Anianus, 1 
 
 American missions, 306 
 Amida : see Diarbekr 
 Amir, of Yazidis, 361, 386 
 Anizah : see Ai*abs 
 Antidoron, 77, 341 
 Antioch, 281 
 
 Antiquities, 25, 145, 211, 225 
 Arabs, 150, 153 
 Rise of, 297 
 Anizah, 229 
 Shammar, 229 
 Arba'in: see Chm-ch 
 Arius, 283 
 Amas, 204, 329 
 Ari-ak, 89, 174 
 Arsaces, 161 
 Askof : sec Bishop 
 Assyrian moimds, 11 
 
 Bahizani, 266, 362 
 
 Bahshikah. 266, 362 
 
 Balakhana, 86, 130 
 
 Baptism, 342 
 
 Baptism among Yazidis, 364. 36f» 
 
 Bargaining, 8, 43, 52, 145, 197 
 
 Bardaius : see James 
 
 Bar Hebra^us, 269, 300 
 
 Bar Salib, Dionysius. 300, 355- 
 
 Barsum, 300 
 
 Bashibazuks, 153 
 
 Batna? Seruji, 34 
 
 Bazar, 51, 84, 86 
 
 Beilan, 2 
 
 Bells, 108 
 
 Birds, 22, 26 
 
 Birejik, 16 
 
 Bisheri, 188 
 
 Bishops, Syrian : 
 
 Consecration, 32() 
 Dress, 320 
 Duties, 318 
 List of, 321 
 Titles, 320 
 Books. 150, 200, 211. 337 
 Bribery, 131 
 Building, 190, 207 
 Butter, 150 
 
 Caesar, Byzantine title, 291 
 CaUirrhoc, 31 
 Camels, 2, 231, 234 
 Caravans, 9, 235 
 Ceylon, Syi-ians in, 352 
 Chalcedon. Council of. 286 
 Chorepiscopus, 64, 325 
 Chosroes, 161, 296 
 
39r> 
 
 Tuih.k 
 
 Christians, sects of, 41 
 and Moslems, 165 
 Civilisation, 309 
 Treatment of, 'X\ 167 
 of St. John. 383 
 
 Clnirch, of Arba'in, 6(1, 78 
 of Ai-nas, 329 
 of Deir el Omar. 214, 334 
 of S. Mary in Diarl)ekr, 44 
 the Gi-eat, in Diarl)ekr, 03 
 of Hakh, 203, 327 
 of Nisibis, 225, 331 
 of Mansurijah, 145 
 of Mar Mikail, 75 
 of Mar Shimnneh, 80 
 of Salah, 181, :J,32 
 Services, 6, 30, 75. 116 
 Burial in, :«2 
 Nai-thex, 331 
 Nave, :33 
 Roof. ;«o 
 
 Sanctuary, 329, 335 
 Ceremonies, 211 
 Vestments, 339, 341 
 
 Coffee, 24, 150 
 
 Communion, 75, ;339 
 
 Confirmation, .*U3 
 
 Cross, reverence of. 45. 119. 364 
 
 Crusades, remains of, 25, 32 
 
 Cyril of Alexandria, ;J52 
 
 Damascus, fall of, 296 
 Damianus, 295 
 Dana. 3 
 Dara, 155-160 
 Deir el Omar, 214 
 
 es Salib, 200 
 
 el Za'afei-an, 103 
 
 es Sayyideh, 139 
 
 Mar Mattha, 267 
 
 Mar Quriaqos, 186 
 
 Mokhr, 198 
 Diarbekr, 38 
 
 Bazars of. 43, 51 
 
 Christians of, 3:3, 41 
 
 Churches of, 44, 5;} 
 
 Diacrinomeni, 291 
 Difne, 199 
 
 Dionysius IV., Syrian Patnarch. 
 ' 299 
 
 Diosconis, 286 
 Doors, 75 
 
 Easter Monday, 54 
 
 Edessa: see Ui-fa 
 
 Education, 113, 207 
 
 Efrem. 37 
 
 England and Russia, 48, 98 
 
 English Church, relation to Eastern 
 
 Churches, 310 
 Ennel)hi Yunas, 244 
 Ephesus, Council of, 285 
 Eucharist. 75. 339, aSS 
 Eulogius, 293 
 Euphrates, 18 
 Eutyches, 286, :352 
 Eutychianism, 353 
 Eutychius, 295 
 Excavations, 228, 248 
 
 Family Life. 86 
 
 Fariq. the, 246 
 
 Fasts, 345, 363, 383 
 
 Fatalism, 71 
 
 Flocks, 15 
 
 Fuller. Peter the, 288 
 
 Funeral : see Syrians, Yazidis 
 
 Gardens, 105, 115 
 
 Garshuni, 118 
 
 Gashterik, 204 
 
 Gazelles, 236 
 
 Goliyah, 148 
 
 Good Friday, 45 
 
 Gospel, Book of, 117, ^37 
 
 Grapes, 173, 199 
 
 Gi*eek8, Relations with Syrians, 
 
 290, 293, 299, 355 
 Gregorius, Mar, 40 
 Gi-egory. the Illuminator, 283 
 
 ' Hadad, 204 
 
 Inde.i\ 
 
 397 
 
 Hair, 42, 246 
 Hakh, 203, 329 
 Hammamat, 3 
 Harith, 292 
 Harmuis, 2(X) 
 Hasan Kaf, 184 
 Hasan of Basra, 368 
 Has-has, 192 
 Hawak, 22 
 Hemerobaptists, 364 
 Henoticon, 288 
 Heraclius, 161, 296 
 Hiji-a, 297 
 Holy Thiu'sday. 42 
 Honey, 150 
 Houses, Syrian, 5. 86 
 Hulagu. 136 
 Hunting. 23, 236 
 
 Iconoclast controversy, 297 
 Ignatius, the Martyr, 281 
 
 XI., Patriarch, 300 
 
 Title of, 317 
 Irrigation, 115 
 Iskanderun, 1 
 Issus. 1 
 lynges. 360 
 
 Jacobites : see Syrian 
 James. Barda^us, 291-294 
 
 of Nisibis, 227 
 Jel)el Maqlub. 266 
 Jebel Tui-, 169 ff 
 Jerusalem, captured ]>y the Arabs. 
 
 296 
 Jesuits, in Syria, 302 
 John, the Almoner, 293 
 
 of Damascus. 298 
 
 of Ephesus, 289 
 
 the Faster, 296 
 
 the Great, 300 
 
 Sarighta, 299 
 
 Scholasticus, 289 
 Julian of Halicarnassus. 353 
 Justin, Emperor, 289 
 Justinian, Emperor, 289 
 
 Kafr Juz. 182 
 
 Kainak, 27 
 
 Kara- Amid : see DiarV>ekr 
 
 Karajadagh, 28 
 
 Karajerun. 23 
 
 Keferzo, 189 
 
 Kelleks, 185 
 
 Kharbah, 174 
 
 Kismat, 71 
 
 Kiss of peace, 340 
 
 Kopan. 266 
 
 Kuchak, 361. 383, 385 
 
 Kurds, 10, 23. 128, 156, 157. 164, 
 
 177, 186, 193. 196. 201. 237 
 Kuyunjik, 248 
 
 • Languages in use. 113 
 
 Lanterns, 19 
 . Leo, the Great. 286 
 ' the I saurian. 297 
 
 Longinus. 294 
 
 Mafrian of Syrians, jurisdiction. 
 
 317 
 Magism. 361 
 
 Malalmr. Syrians of, 347. 349 
 Malak Ta'us. 359, 360, 369. 377 
 Malatia. Retreat of Syrians to, 299 
 Mallah. 266 
 
 Mansur-el-Hallaj. 363. 367. 372 
 Mansuriyah. 141 
 Manuscripts. 150. 211. 337 
 Mardin. 74. 59 
 
 Syrians of. 73 
 
 Moslems of. 92 
 Mar Gregorius. 40 
 Mar Mattha. 267 
 Man-iage customs. 142. 365. 373. 
 
 383 
 
 ; Maurice. Emperor. 296 
 
 ' Meals. 19. 89. 150. 157 
 
 ' Medicine. 443. 126. 180, 198 
 Melkites. 290. 293 
 Mennas of Alexandria. 299 
 Michael I., Syrian Patriarch. 299 
 
 ; Midhiat. 178. 206 
 
508 
 
 Index. 
 
 Milan, Edict of. 282 
 Mohaiuiiied, Rise of, 297 
 
 Character of, 298 
 Mohaminedanisiu, lt>2 
 Mondir, 295 
 Money, 66 
 Monks. 325 
 
 Monophysitisni, 289. 353 
 Mosul. Excavations at. 248 
 
 Syrians of. 273 
 Miishir. 92 
 
 Nestorius. 285 
 Nicephorus Phocas, 299 
 Nineveh, 248 
 Nisibis, 223 
 
 S. James of. 227 
 
 Church of. 331 
 
 Oiiuir, 297 
 
 Deir-el. 214 
 Ophthalmia, 127 
 
 Passpoi-ts, SS, 179, 213 
 Patriarch of the Old Syrians, 314 
 Power, 315 
 Election, 316 
 Title, 317 
 Consecration, 111 
 Peter III., house in Mardin, 62 
 Visit to England, 351 
 to Malabar, 349 
 Paul the Black, 292, 296 
 Persian and Roman wars, 161, 224, 
 
 297 
 Peter of Alexandria. 293 
 Callinicus. 295 
 the Fuller. 288 
 Pliasil. Monastery of, 291 
 Philoxenus of Hierapolis. 352 
 Pictiu'es, Syi'ian feeling towards, 
 108, 334 
 
 Mohammedan feeling towards, ; 
 158 I 
 
 Polyeuctus of Constantinople, 299, 
 353 ' 
 
 Priests, parish, 323 
 
 Man-iage. 324 
 
 Position, 325 
 Pi-oselytism, 209, 303. 306 
 Protestants, 209 
 
 Qala'at-el-Mani, 103 
 Qawwals, 368, 387 
 Qawwas, 67 
 Quails, 2:3.5 
 
 Rabulas of Edessii, 37 
 Ramadhan, 52, 371 
 Red wan, 195 
 Roads, 26 
 Roman Catholics. 301 
 
 in Midhiat. 212 
 
 in Mosul. 271. 3()3 
 
 in India. lUS 
 Roofs. 130, 141 
 Russia. 48. 98 
 
 Salah, 180, 332 
 
 Sanjak, 360, 363, 382, mi 
 
 Saracenic architecture. 185 
 
 Schools. 81, 122, 149 
 
 Scorpions, 118 
 
 Semandro, 129 
 
 Sergius, 292 
 
 Seiiij, 34 
 
 Sevenis, 289, 353 
 
 Sewerek, 24 
 
 Shahrlmrz, 296 
 
 Shams-ed-din, 359, 371 
 
 Shaqs, 266, 371 
 
 Sheep, sacrifice of, 359 
 
 Flocks of, 12, 15 
 Sheikhs of Yazidis, 362, 368 
 Sheikh A'di, 361, 367, 370, 374 
 Sheikhan, ^58 
 Shishan, 22 
 Simeon Stylites, 3 
 Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusa- 
 lem, 297 
 
 Lidex. 
 
 399 
 
 Stephen of Cyprus. 289 
 
 Syrians. Old. character, 129, 13b, 
 
 ' 142, 274 
 
 Beliefs, 352 tt". 
 Clergy. 150. 326 
 Condition. 165 
 Fasts, 345 
 Houses, 5, S6 
 Funeral customs. ^344 
 Marriage customs, 142, 244 
 Names, 343 
 Numl)ers, 68, 34«> 
 Quarrels, 142, 196, 206 
 Relations with English 
 
 Church, 311 
 Relations with Gi-eek Church, 
 
 299, 355 
 
 in India. 347 
 
 History, 281 
 Syrians, Papal. 129 
 Syrian Gates, 1 
 
 Tahlil. 244 
 Tamerlane. 37, 216 
 Taxation. 218. 224. 253, 255 
 
 Tea, 69. 86 
 
 Teherukiyah, 58 
 
 Tela Manzalat, 291 
 
 Tel Harrin. 222 
 
 Teskereh. 39, 178, 213 
 
 Theodore of Alexandria, 293 
 
 Theodosius of Alexandria, 289 
 
 of Antioch, 353 
 Til^erius, Emperor, 291 
 Tigris. 263 
 Trade, 85 
 
 Travels, hints on, 170 
 Trisagion. 288 
 Turks. Army, 95 
 Justice, 101 
 Manners, 25, 98 
 Toleration. 42. 189 
 Treatment of Christians, 
 
 167, 298, 
 
 of Yazidis, 257, 372 
 
 Women, 13 
 
 Ui-fa, 29 
 
 Syrians of, 33 
 Christians of, 30 
 Mosque of Abraham, 32 
 Great Mosque, 32 
 Churches, 29. 34 
 Roman remains. 32 
 History, 34 
 School of. 37 
 
 Vineyards. 173, 199 
 
 Wadi, 236 
 Walid. 298 
 
 Whitsunday. 119, 341 
 Woman, 13 
 Writing. 86 
 
 Yardi, 199 
 
 Yazid, 299, 368, 381 
 
 Yazidis, 252 
 
 History, 357, 378 
 
 Angels. 377, 380 
 
 Baptism, 363. 369 
 
 Beliefs, 358 ff. 
 
 Circumcision. 363 
 
 Connection with Christianity, 
 
 363, 364 
 
 with Islam, 370, 372, 381, 
 
 386 
 with Magism, 361 
 with Sabianism, 359, 375 
 Ceremonies, 367 ff, 382, 387 
 Funei-al customs, 366, 383, 
 
 385 
 
 MaiTiage customs, 365, 373 
 
 380, 384 
 Festivals, 366, 383 
 Fasts, 363, 369, 373, 383 
 Prayer, 363, 383 
 Priestly orders, 367, 368 
 Transmigration of souls, 375, 
 
 385 
 Regard for water, 363, 373 
 Regard for fire, 359 
 Story of Creation, 377, 380 
 
400 
 
 Index, 
 
 Yazidis — [cont.) 
 
 Storyof Flood, 38U 
 
 Sacrifices. 3.59 
 Zacharias, Patriarch of Jenisaleiu, 
 
 29t) 
 Zaiuzain, 364 
 
 Zanzaliis: aee James Barda?u8 
 Zaptiehs. 9. 229 
 Zein-el-Abedin. 227 
 Zenghis Klian, S6 
 Zeno, Emperor. 37. 288 
 Zeugma. 1(> 
 
 >j«ioo- 
 
 
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