The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1870-12-24
untIl the conquest Of Persia by Abu.Dckr's Moslen

hign places.n Well, this fortified "hlgh
on wa az 70 90
IN llelr possession must have contained q select
place. ace Of Worship. Fancy some centuries hence ira:
2 Protestant church there. Employing that fact az
e oise o. lo,s npohess ,ha The British occuped
| Jerusalem built solely for the Jewish worihipy Il
Fortress Monroe, because it contains chapel, con-
suucteu solely Tor religious purposesr
Another wrlter-Sr Robert kcr Perter-calls
Alesh KUN ''an artificial mounts' Ifit Is ian arti.
Monnlans are Just as ariilcal. Ouseley says OF It.
"a mVuhtaln, ave or six miles distant iron Is.
very ancient but occupying as tradition relates,
tle site OF ruined IRE icmple.n Evidently Mr..
the hill "mountain, aud he had not aid Il was
mot very ancientn Morier says or il that 10 is
M ni distinct. seen rom a,ar, called the
OF several strata OF rock, aud lts best ascent Il by
pai,h 70 ,,e eastward UPON 10 sgmmit are scnio
the sun, but OF q very large size, between which
are layers of reeds alone, without any apparent
Were the works of the Gnebers. Mr. Morier has
been on the top evidently He IS right when he says
tnat there are some ruins oil mud buildings on It's
summit also when ne says the best ascent Is by the
eastward. DO not know whether no is right when
ne says IL is 'iranguar;' IL may be that the straw
l saw are merely .Iceds,' bur he Is very simple
when he says that 'he persans say that these build.
| In y the works OF the CueDers.p lie does not
mention the strong walls which mark the hill as
| being fort, the only features OF 1t which should
indeed give |, celebrity; neither DO the other
| wI!ters whom have quoted.
ON the highest portion OF the conical hill is an
octaisniaf oslnllig once covered by enpola
OF ispaan ana It's surrounding plains AID hllls iaay
| be obtained.
THE ROCKING mlNARErs.
There Is another oh Get OF curiosity mentioned by
| almost every traveller, about ten mites from Atash
| Run. rms IL an insignificant mesdicd, or mosque
which has Two ''rocking mnaretsn There Is t,tlo
ior you 70 awaken curiosity most Observation-Disclosures
mat rock or SHAKE The leaning tower OF Pisa, the
Syene ohellsa, yet PROSTATE; the Strasbourg
cathedral tower, the famous La Grada" OF
Seville not one OF those carries such significance
WIN IFS name as these .'rockng miparets' o. the
| MeSdJed or jun jun. You WILL suppose not unna
,ulaliy, that they shake Of their own accord or ut
| least mat there IL something wonderful about
tnem-ke the Cradle ROCK near the Escufial Ia
Spain or the trembling rock near Ieheran In tho
Shchiilam district, or the revolving pillar IN the
| Mosque Of Mohamned All al Cairo. No writer has
been generous enough TO describe this rocking or
| "siaking" OF the mlnars or Jun jam, TO satisfy a
| curiosity which becomes prunent upon the mention
OF the ute. But consider IL my duty to the HEaALD
| ami us hundred thousand subscribers 10 describe
this curiosity and to say whether Is q phcAomenon
most mysterious or whether ii IS trick
We dsmounied at inc gate OF The mosque. and
several boys rushed out from behind the hut around
promising young inca came our OF the court OF The
MesdJeu 70 greet rs with gracious 'saiaams'--a
lnins Often done before to curious Feringnees
way through the gate into the mosque.
The full front OF the mosque was open IN
BRICK dome. AT The back OF the mosque was a
tomb, ana about II ami on the walls were hung
bits oil rags. ravclngs Of carpets, rams tails and
other heterogeneous aad illthY things After exam
ining the precious interior we aseended By a spiral
staircase one OF The two stuhled towers which
llan&el the mestiel ana rose above the dome ABOUT
Twelve ieet 70 Inc loo TWO OF TIE foor youths
lans tnen ascen led tic mluar,. one up each mlnar.
ANA having arrived at the top We saw them sway
tncir bodies backwards AMI forwards, which caused
the slight shells Of brick IN which they were 20
shake also. THIS explains the shaking Of the
miiaiets suifcienly. but VIII give few more &C.
tails which viii quite explain the ''n,ystery.r
The brick towsr rise WE'VE feet agove The roof OF
but of the thickness one brick, that they are
mere shells. a narrow staircase III each affords
plenty OF space Tor tie passage OF u gaunt bodied
chant his warning OF the hour OF prayer,
OF New no nnrand cona Thcac spn,cH pot Su are
built from the roof oil the iGesded on two islaped
scantlin-s placed transyerseiy Which lnt out from
muddy mortar Is laii over them and between each
brick. They arc thns rendered very fran and unsta-
bic, which makes 1t easy or tic swaying weight OF
a man not only TO make them viuratc. which vipra
!on Is conveyed TO the entire body Of the mosque
but to shake them totally over, and the to Ger
tam dc truction. Thus Is the great "niysfery eX
planned; nevertheless the noilais eudeayor make
which becomes RESTLESS and some travellers are silly
enough, verify believe to put faith IN the story
otherwise while me i0ning the "r0cking m!narcts''
IL were only courteous TO Their readers to eadcavor
to explain the causes or boldly STATE it to be phe-
noilenon.
CEMETERY OF THE DEAD
I we VIII now go to Takht-Poulad, where the Per.
|
little about their ordinary dead less even than the
New Orleans people DO, who clear out their vaults
and smash the skulls with maltock and shovel
ana Dnrn The glasfly reuse To make for
the later coners There is something incxprcssibly
touching in the respect which Turks have for the
dead. The tombs OF BenIiassan, Hcrmopoiis anu
koorpeh tell rs Of The fond affection which the
Egyptians manifested for the departcl; so do the
countless stiles wept over by som nrous groves OF
cypress near the sweet waters OF Job and the hlls
behind STEAMBOAT the myriads OF graves in Asa
Ia II "A aIf
French peasants which we see hung over the head
stones IN Pr Ia Cnase. so 20 the toInbs and vaults
III English churchya besreav the unlying love Tor
dead friends ana relatives which the English people
have, and nothing Is 50 tender and touching rs the
wood Cemetery for those who and are gone irom
among Us. Other than THIS is dcmoralNng-nay,
brutal and extremely callous; and possibly this
may explain the unenviabe Character OF New
orleans Just rs much as The bloody scenes Of the
span.ards plunge their long nayaia s' into Sn ous
| another New Orleans people VIII say, OF course,
that because ), their eliy lies ma swamp
suburb of Algicrs ties opposite. Let them make the
Mississippi another styx, and let their modern
Takht-!-Pou!ad is 4 most curious feature of Tspa-
han, II lies on the western bank Of the Zandcrood,
below saalehabad ('Residence OF Felclty'') to the
| right Of the HIATT Best the ''Scventh Ha.n 1t is
| vast Held OF small cupolas, resting on insulated
great blocks Of Jag Ike soncs Of Gmmc " 81
| mounds OF queer stone lions ana stone rams and
stone nondescripts indicating the resting places of
these are the distinguished takicks-tombs OF holy
men-and several mausoleunls The cemetery Il
very much neglected. AMI paths, traversed by stray
| animals ana caravans, cut through the extensive
| graveyard so that many hundreds are trodden out
OF recognition and there Is such look OF desolation
over the place, bat half dozen expresses to he
seen over field two miles square. IL looks so for
| gotten, deserted a. II ruin had taken firm hold Of
every memorial and was crushing every and each TO
powder mat IS quite woful To see.
The philosopher OF Chelsea, before he had written
his Hero Worship ought to have travelled in
| Persia as he n.ght then have aided scores OF in
stances where common clay worships the refined
material even in death. Just at Kerbela, and
| Koum and alesched OF KhorassaD, whittier the dead
SheeaDs are carried by thousands TO lie LAID the
sacred dGst Of Al-iiussein, aud Fauna, and Abdul
| Azzlni aud Imaum Iieza do the dead seek as close
contact as possible to the lesser Saints which lie
| eatombed In Takht-iPoulad Cemetery. Here lies the
famous deryish Babanouk, under q conspicuous
dome, lacauercd as usual, surrounded by hundreds
OF dead parasites; ana not far on Mollab Hussein's
,Ic nrndiD lnrn irn nirn