The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-04-30
TOMB OF THE PROPHET DANIEL.
To Judge From It's Size the Great
Man Was Eighty Feet Tall.
From the Revue des Deux Mondes.

From the Revue des Deux Mondes.
Since Samarcand has been portion of
the Russian dominions it has become easy
to visi t. The travellers from Europe can
reach the old capital of Tamerlane by the
Transcaspian railway, which the Russian
government has constructed across the
Turcoman deserts with so much bold
ness, and which was finished as far as
Samarcand six years ago. Less than
three miles to the northeast of
Samarcand, and outside of the ex-
IRENE limits of the ancient city, is tomb
which is called Khodi a-Daniar. This
tomb, according to the Mussulman le-
gends, is the burial place of the Prophet
Daniel The spot where this tomb stands
is called Afrousiab, and there are seen
ruins which are very probably those OF
the ancient city of Maracanda,
destroyed by Alexander the Great. This
was an immense town, whose walls, we
arc told, had a compass of ninety stadia,
or about ten miles. 1t is Sepa-
rated from Samarcand by naked hill,
the soil of which is one vast
cemetery. The sepulcher OF Khodja-
Daniar is built on d sort of terrace or
corniCe A half dozen great masts, from
the tops of which hang some sacred rags
or tougs made of horse tails, and the
hight of which is proportional to the i'm
portance of the saint, rise above the sar-
cophagus, which stands in the open air,
sheltered by no building of any kind.
This Sarcophagus is constructed with
heavy masonry The saint who repOses
there is, beyond a doubt, really dead, but
his mode of behavior is more than curious
since, though dead, he continues to grow
constantly in his sepulcher.
Every two or three years the mOllahs,
who are the guardians of the place, de-
termine by a learned calculation, the
data of which | was not able to learn,
how much it is proper to lengthen the
sepulchre in order to make its dimen-
sions correspond to those of its tenant.
To judge from the present length of the
tomb, the hight of the Prophet Daniel
was, or should have been, at the date OF
my visit in 1884, about so feet. His hight
observed that the growth of the saint IS
in length only and not in breadth. The
development of the breadth of his shout
ders is not in proportion to that OF ms
hight. There exist in other parts OF
Islam other tombs of the Prophet
Daniel, Of these others one of the
most celebrated is at Cairo. This
Mussulmans admit without hesitation
the duplication or even indefinite multi
plication of the bodies of holy persons
without their veneration for each Of the
remains being diminished in the least. IL
is worth noting that the nature OF the
honorary qualifications accorded to the
same saint varies in different countries.
Thus, for example, this same Daniel has
at Cairo the name of Nebbi-Danial, that IS
they give him the title of prophet, as being
at the same time that which suits him
best, and is the most honorable they can
confer. In Algeria or Morocco, feudaI
countries, the title they give to saints IS
Sid, which signifies Lord, which is also
the title there of military and political
chiefs, In Central Asia they give to those
canonized persons whom they respect moss
as to the Prophet Daniel, the' title OF
the Khodia, which means in ARABIC
writer or lettered.