The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09
THE OLDEST CITY.
Notes of "a Recent Visit to the Most
FamOu of Oriental Capitals.

London Mail.
The seventy-mile railway journey from
Beyrout to Damascus is covered in some
thing like ten hours. There are twenty
two stations en- route, and the greater part
of the road consists Of a steep zigzag as
cent, rising gradually from hill to hill untI
a height of some five thousand feet above
! sea level is attained. The scenery on both
sides Of the line is simply superb, the mag
nificent panorama OF the Lebanon unfold
ing itself in all it's wildness and beauty.
He who gazes upon the city OF Damascus
from the heights of Salhujeh will we'll un-
derstand the enthusiasm which prompted
the Prophet Mahommed, on seeing 1t Tor
the first time, to exclaim: Man can nave
only one paradise. and my paradise is fXed
above" The Arabs call this most Oriental
of all Eastern cities Dimeshesh-Sham ana
allude to it as one of the four paradises OF
the earth and as a pearl set in emeralds.'
Truly, there is but very little eXaggeratlon
in these e~Xtravagant sounding titles, tor
the appearance of this ancient city, with
It's glittering domeS, tapering minarets and
white stone dwellings, is calculated TO
arouse the enthusiasm of even the most
blase of sightseers.
According to an old tradition Damascus
occupies the site of the biblical Garden Of
Eden. The luXuriance of verdant Vegeta-
ton is due to a great extent to the tertll-
izing influence of the River Barada, which.
coming from the Antt-Lebanon, waters me
plain, and then. dividing into seven as
tinct &rlnS or rivulets, flows through the
very heart of the city. finally losing itself
in the Bahr-el-Atebe morass.
Damascus is the oldest city in the world,
and as such it's history is almost neces-
Sarlly a long ana eNentIuJ one. Inc blbS
references TO it are numerous, and we md
its name occurring repeatedly IN the OId
Testament. To-day It is the, capital OF me
vilayet of Syria and the residence Of RaoQf
Pasha, the Vail, whose authority extends
over the whole of eastern Palestine an9
Syria. It's population exceeds 10000, OF
which $50. 900 are Moslems and the remain
der mostly Christians and Jews.
All its paradisaical attributes however
vanish on closer acquaintance for on en-
tering the city we find the usual character
istics of an Eastern ~town-neglect, attn ana
uncomeliness. The streets are crooked,
cramped and roughly paved, and the ma
si%vely-built houses, with their whitewashed
or plastered walls, have the usual ungalnIL
wooden lattice-work projections in front or
nearly every window. A typical street is
the Darb-el-Mostakin. or the Street calico
Straight" which contains the reputed
houses of Judas and Ananlas, and Is aisO
intimately connected with the doings OF St'
Paul. Winding between high, MASSIVE
looking walls, and partly arched overhead,
the street is bathed III a KIND OF mysteIlv19
gloom that appeals strongly TO the magma
ton and invests it with a halo Of the past
From the COURTYARD of the Hotel DematI1
one of the oldest and best in Damascus
it is interesting to watch the Votar1es OF
Islam crowding past in their picturesque
costumes, or squ8tting about IN ODD cor
ners. enjoying that dolce far niente exist
ence in the manner so peculiar TO the tLt-
entail. Damascus simply teens WIN
mosques, of which the Dsham-el-UmaWl
the largest and most interesting. 1t Vas
originally a Christian PLACE OF worship,
presumably built by Arcadius on the site
of an ancient heather temple. Besides l1e
famous tomb of Saladin, the mosque also
contains, inclosed in a golden box, the sup
posed head of John the Baptist, which IS
said to nave been found in one of the OLD
crypts of the temple.
The baZars of Damascus are perhaps the
most genuinely Oriental IN the East. ana
consist. for the greater part. of an lntrl-
cate labyrinth of alleys, each of whlch-as
is almost invariably the case in Eastern
cities-is confined to the sale of one partic-
ular class of goods or products only. mus
we have the slipper bazaar, saddlers pazaI'
fEIr hav d nHlann haxnH am EaNnF1l DIV
ers. In walking through these bazars one
is reminded of some huge fair. with we
difference that the silk stuffs, hligree WORE
Damascus blades and weapons, are thot-
oughly genuine and of considerable mtrii-
sic value, and have not Originated Is
the case with a great part OF the so"uS
in the Constantinople and Cairo baZaFS-
in some European workshop. The morse
market IS generally filled with a NOISY
crowd of Bedouin Arabs. Syrians, Druses
and many others, and IS usually the scene
of considerable excitement and activity
In the center OF the city we see the eta
del and not far off the spot where the con-
version of st. Paul is supposed 10 nave
taken place. and which, IN 1900 was ~
scene of a most atrocious massacre OF the
Christians. During these fearful massacfts
the streets in the Christian quarter are sald
to nave literally flowed with blood. pa
cism. and until quite recently it was UNSAFE
for any foreign Christian TO show hlmseA
alone in the streets of the city.
Among the many other interesting sights
of Damascus are the numerous coHeV
houses dotted ABOUT the town, ahu. pdtHCus
larly those that are built on the banks OF
the Barada. II you drop into one or an
evening you find the rooms lit up by nun
dreds OF little oil lamps, while a curious
mingling OF Orientals. in their multi-eoI
ored costumes, are seen either silently
smoking or grouped round little tables play
ing cards, chess or other games. Negroes
fit TO and fro with dimiautive cups or ira
grant coffee or with glowing Goals for hsn.-
ing the cigarettes and narghilehs OF tho
moker The cafes in the northeastern
parts of the town. outside the Bah Iuna,
on the Palmyra road, are trequented ptlh~
cipally by Christians.