Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-10-24
Believes Alexander Built Wall.

ments of Alexander i'll that part Of the
world
Believes Alexander Built Wall.
Dr.. Jackson tells me that he feels con-
fident that ne has established the fact
that Alexander built the wall between
the Caspian sea and the Caucasus noun
| tainS. He has been convinced OF this by
certain inscriptions upon tablets attached
to the wall. which attribute its crea ton
! to the first wOrld-conqueror. And they
confirm Il belief which is always cher
. ished.
| But in his Investigations near Baku'
the Caspian oil district he met with
surprise from which it is difficult to re-
cover.
In my letters from Baku last summer
! described the ruins of temple or the
fire worshipers near that city. 1t Is sup
posed to have been erected IN ahtienl
| times by pilgrims who were attracteu "
the banks of the Caspian because or the
naphtha springs that were burning alohs
! it's western coast.
1t is one OF the most striking and inter
esting of all the ruins in that country.
The ancients supposed that these flres
We're natural and worshped them from
the earliest times.
They built an imposing temple around
them. and. with great ingenuity. CONDUCT
ed the fires through pipes of cane sheatli-
cd with clay. to the tops of towers erect
ed over the gates and at the corners OF
the Enclosure. These fires were kept up
by Parsees from Bombay descendants OF
the ancient Worshipers of Persia, until
early in the eighties, when the owners OF
a concession from the Russian govern
ment to develop the oil deposits seized
the place and built refinery.
Fire Temple Modern.
81 always supposed that this fire tenn
pie was built by Zoroaster or some of his
collo ooIrc
much shocked when / discovered that II
is a modern institution, although l still
cling to the belief that it may have been
a place of worship for the Persian hre
! worshipers from the earliest times.
''In a careful examination of the ruins
at the temple at Surakhany, near Baku, l
found seventeen Inscriptions. some OF
them in excellent condition. and was able
! to make a photograph of them all Six
of them are on the outside and nfteen on
| the inside of the wall.
They are all dated in the eighteenth
century A. D., instead of sixth or eighth
century B. c., as l have always suppos-
ed. There is question about it.
The temple is not only modern, but 1t
was built by Hindu fire worshipers-
Brahmins from the Punjab-survivors OF
ably Hindu merchants at Baku. and were
reminded of the faith and the forms of
worship of their ancestors by finding
these flaming springs.
correspond closely with those ! have
seen at kanzra, in northern India
| 1T has always been mystery why
| there is no mention of this temple in
| ancient Greek and Roman accounts OF the
| Caucasus and the Caspian country. which
| have frequent references TO the burning
springs of naphtha. Nor do any early
| MOhammedan writer's mention the
| temple.
| 'The first we hear of it is about the
beginning of the eighteenth century In
| a narrative Ola London merchant. named
| Hammay, who went over to that coun
| try on a trading expedition. and wrote
| book about the Caspian sea and the sur
rounding country. He describes the
temble and the fires and gives some
Interesting information concerning both.
| 'Gibbon, in his history. describes the
temple and says it was destroyed by
Heracius. the Christian emperor of
Byzantium in the seventh century. That
| II have been able to locate most Of the
| places identified with the campaigns of
| Alexander of Macedon," continued Prof.
| Jackson, land 1t has been an exceeding
| ~ interesting task
Derbent's Ancient Greatness.
81 have been able to trace back the
| history Of the city of Derbent for
| several hundred years before Christ
| notwithstanding its location on the
| shores of the Caspian sea, far
|
been the scenes of human activity. at
! that period 1T has had an important and
| busy place in history.
Frequently it is referred to by writer's
| in ancient days. For example. Tacitus
tells us that Alexander quartered his
invalid soldiers there in 1920. B. c.
! Il have not been able to decipher the
inscriptions upon the tablets I found in
| the temple Of the fire worshipers at
| Surakhany. I cannot read the language
| In which they are written, and l don't
know anything about them. One of
! these days We hope to make them clear"
Senior Don Ruy Gonzalez de Claviio,
chamberlain OF the most high and puts
SAINT Lord Don Henry. third of that
name. King of CASTLE and Leon" who
visited the court of the great Tamerlane
| ambassador in 1903. refers to these iron
gates in the wall at Derbent He speaks
also OF others in the mountains which
| separate China and Turkistan.
| There is a pass leading up BY ra-
vine which looks as If 1t had been arti-
| ficially cut" he says. The hills rise to
a great height on either side. and the
pass is smooth and deep. In the center
of the PASS there is a village and the
| mountain rises to a great height behind.
| This pass is called the gates of iron
| In all the mountain range there is no
other pass. so that it guards the land
of Samarkand in the direction Of India.
| These gates of iron produce a large
revenue to the lord Timour Beg All
merchants who come from India pass
this way.
'"rimour Beg is also lord of the other
| gates OF iron near Derbent leading
| to the province of Tartary. in the city of
Caffa. which are also i'm lofty mountains
between Tartary and the land of Der
| bent. facing the sea of Bakou. The
people OF Tartary are obliged to use that
| pass when they go to Persia. The dis
tance from the gates of iron at Derbent
to those in the land of Samarkand is
| 1.M0 leagues.
| Say if great lord. who is master
OF these gates Of iron. and of all the la md
that is between such as Timour Beg. is
not mighty prince.
! Derbent is very large city with q
| large territory. They call the gates of
| iron by the names of Derbent and Ter
| init. AT this house they made the am
| bassadors a present of horse, and the
horses or this country are much praised
| for their great spirit.
! These mountains of the gates of iron
are without woods, and I'm former times
| they say that there were gates covered
| with iron placed across the pass so that
| no one could pass without an order