Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-07-07
MARrs OF pHoEhIcIA.
William E. Curtis Visits Ruins of the
Ancient Cities Of Tyre and Sidon.


Lloyd packets that stop at the small
ports. run only once fortnight. An
old proverb advises us always to
speak well of the ship that carries us
over. and we are under many obliga
tions to the Prince George a little
boat of ony 100 tons which served us
safely that day. We were not very
= uncomfortable, although it rolled and
pitched, and indulged in certain cen
trifugal motions that were decidedly
disturbing to the inner man. 1t ap-
peared to be trying to show us how it
could describe the trail of corkscrew
without turning over and succeeded
much better than the average imita-
tor. An ambitious boat and con-
trary sea can accomplish more eccen-
tric curves than the men who make
the crazy posters you see sometimes
in dreams and poster collections. But
worse things might have happened: !:
we might have been drowned or cast
away upon desert island. for exam
pie, and ought to be duly thankful
There are worse things than being
seasick.
Perhaps our safety. if not our dis
comfort was due to the piety of our
captain and his crew, who were de-
vout Mohammedans and when the
proper hours came at 9 in the morn
ing. at noon and at o'clock in the
ternoon. they spreaed their coats upon
the deck because they had no prayer
rugs, turned their faces toward Mecca
and went through their devotiors with
zeal and solemnity that was a re-
buke to all Christendom. | do not
know Methodist or Presbyterian or
Baptist sailor who would drop his
work in the middle of the day and
kneel down before the crew and pas
sengers of ship ard say his prayers
as regularly as those Moslems did
>When the hour came around, West
Indian negro. who could talk English
and admitted that he had no religion,
although he wore beads to protect
him from the evil eye, took the wheel
so that the captain might say his
prayers. and the latter solemnly went
through his devotions on the deck out
side the pilot house
The ancient town of Sidon. is TWEEN
ty-scven miles south o. Beirut, and at
present is place of small Importance
compared with its former prestige.
Tyre. the far-famed capital cf the an
cient Phoenician empire is twenty
two miles farther down TIE coast.
Both by reason of their Biblical and
historical associations are among
among the most interesting places in
Palestine, but for lack of steamship
facilities. the average tourist usually
o..
commercial rivals. Both were cele-
brated for their commerce, their lux
ury and their vices, and both sank I'M
der the burden of the Word of the
Lord, for the Lord hath spoken it."
Tyre not Only contributed to the Tenn
pie of Solomon and to the luxury and
wealth of all the world but Tvrian
purple was worn by every king Aga
memnon. the king of kings, and
Achilles. the German Miles of the
Trojan war. wore armor manufactured
in Sidon. for the Sidonians were cum
ming artisans in metal and fabrics as
well as bold mariners and enterprising
merchants.
We read of both critics in the Iliad
and the Odyssey. They We're famous
exodus of the Israelites Their wealth
exposed them to invasions from the
Assvrians, the Persians, the Greeks,
the Egyptians and the Romans. and
Sidon YVES quite destroyed 1900 years
before Christ, by the Askalonites.
In 720 b. C. the Sidonians assisted
Shalmaneser, King of Assyria. to over
come Tyre, and several centuries lat
er Tyre returned the compliment by
joining Artaxerxes, King of Persia
and assisting to slaughter 10000 of
the inhabitants of Sidon. Alexander
the Great besieged both cities; thu
Egyptian Pharoahs came up and loot
ed both cities on sevral occasions. and
the Roman emperors robbed them
again and again. On the wayside in
the suburbs of Sidon is a large granite
column bearing an inscription by
which those two mighty emperors,
Sepitmus Severus and his son, Mar
Gus Aurelius Antonius, endeavored to
immortalize themselves by informing
postel..y that they mended the road.
Christianity took root at Sidon early
and Christ visited the coast, although
we have no record in the New Testa-
ment of his preaching in either city.
Paul stopped at Sidon on his way to
Rome, and other of the apostles came
here frequently. Both cities were
fought over during the Crusades, and
Sidon was the headquarters of the
Knights Templars for many years but
was finally captured by the Saracens.
and the whole coast has since been
subject to the Moslems.
1t is one of the local traditions that
sugar cane originated here; was car
ried to Europe by the returning Cru
saders and when America was dis
covered was introduced into the West
= Indies by the Spanish monks. The
people do not make sugar, however
any longer; they still grow cane, but
cut it up into short lengths and sell it
in bundles to the peasants, who chew
it for the Juice.
A series of ruined towers all along
the coast are said to have continued
from Jerusalem to Constantinople, in
sight of each other and, according to