Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-15
Burned Up the Priests.

At another time in. war with. the
Turks. Tamerlane captured the city of
Damascus and the narrative continues:
After he had taken the city, there came
to him the Geit. that Is as much as to
say a bishop, and fell at his feet, and
begged mercy for himself and his priests.
Tamerlane ordered that he should 60 with
his priests into the temple: so the priests
took their wives, their children and many
others, into the temple for protection. UNI
til there were thirty thousand young and
old Now Tamerlane gave orders that
when the temple was full. the people in
side should be shut up dn II. This was
done. Then wood was placed around the
temple. and he ordered It to be ignited,
and they all persisted in the temple. Then
he ordered that each one Of his soldiers
should bring to him the head OF a man.
This was done, and it took three days;
then with these heads were constructed
three towers, and the city was pillaged.'
In several accounts of the life of Ia
merlane it Is represented that when he
captured Bajazet, the Sultan OF Turkey,
1t the battle Of Nicopolis, he placed his
prisoner I'm an iron cage and fof several
years thereafter carried him around in
hat way, as a qualification to his pride
and warning to his enemies. This sem
sational story has also been denied as
falsehood originating with a Persian
wri.er. who is plainly prejudiced and
tluulCtiNc I'LL Ills ulSpOSlIlOn toward ram.
erlane. AS Schiltberger was captured at
the same battle with his royal master
ajazet, and remained at the headquar-
ters OF Tamerlane continuously for six
years after. it is significant that he makes
no mention of the matter in his nara
tive. He certainly would have done so If
the story Is true.
However. we get the best and broadest
lew of Timour the Tartar--the Great
Khan of Tartary, as Tamerlane was OFF,
iQtiV called-fron1 rho a of
Don Rue Gonzalez de Clavijo. who was
sent in May. 14G3. as an ambassador from
he King of Spain to the court at Sam
irkand. Upon his return in l4O5. after
careful. and we may believe accurate,
account of his journey and his experience
which was published In Spanish at Sc
Vile in the year 1852, and translated by
Royal Geographic Society, London. and
printed by the Hakluyt Society in 1859.
Story of Wonderful Journey.
He tells a wonderful story, for the
journey he made from Cadiz, Spain. to
the interior of Asia was never surpass-
ed, except by Marco Polo in his trip
from Venice to China.
Clavijo sailed the whole length of the
Mediterranean sea in small ship called
a carrack. with a crew of five men. He
visited Greece and several OF the islands
of the Aegean sea and arrived at Con-
stantinople October "a. 1903. after
cruise of five months He describes his
xp,rience at the capital of Cllristendom-
for Cons antinople had not yet been cap
tured by the Turks-in graphic language
He received great deal OF attention
from the Byzantine emperor, Constantine
XII. and the nobility.
He took ship from Constantinople to
Trebizond. where the emperor. Manuel
II. who paid tribute to Timour, received
him with great cordiality and furnish I'd
him horses and vehicles to continue his
Journey through Armenia. He visited
Mount Ararat and great city called
Calmarin. about six leagues from the
great mountain on which the ark of
Noah rested after the flood. This CITY,
he explains, was the first city that was
built In the world after the food, and
1t was built by the lineage OF Noah."
He probably refers to Erivan. which is
now the capital OF Russian Armenia.
or perhaps to Nakhitcheyan. now a
humble village. which according to tra-
ditionf occupies the spot where the ark