The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1923-03-30

Prepared BY the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, d. c.
Eastern dispatches are coming to
carry more and more often the name
Of Aleppo, little known 20 the ears oG
the present generation. But the name
was once more familiar TO westerR
ear than that Of almost any other
city Of the Near East save Constan-
tineple itself, and 1t is probably dee
tined To be great again when its pOr-
ton Of the world settles down.
-Four thousand years ago when
Abraham moved to Palestine there was
an established caravan route north
and south through Syria from Egypt
toward Babylon. And at least from
the time Of PhOenician greatness there
was Il similar route between the coast
cities on the west and ASSyria and
BaDIlOnia 10 the east. The oasis near
which these great trade routes joined
became the site of one Of the worlds
first crossroads towns" and since
then, whenever the world about ii has
enjoyed peace and carried on trade. it
has reaped the benefits in prosperity
and importance.
It's own world Sufiiced for many cen
turtles to keep AleppO a thriving city
into which scores Of long camel cara
vans came yearly. The Crusades did
not greatly Interfere with this pros
perity, for the successes Of the CRU
saders stopped literally at Aleppo's
walls. Antioch, on the Mediterranean,
barely 10 miles away, was the first
Syrian stronghold 10 be captured by
the Christian knights and the last TO
be surrendered; but they were never
able 10 subdue Aleppo, which stood
for 300 years as IA bar to Christian
advance inland. This MOhammedan
city, 50 close To the Crusaders strong
hold, became Saladin's capital, and it
was from there that the Christians
were finally driven out Of the country.
After the CrusadeS Europe demand
ed an ever-increasing supply Of spices
and other products from the Far East,
and AleppO, near the western end Of
the land route over which such goods
came, became more and more prosper
Gus. Nearly all the western trading
nations established representatives
and warehouses in the city. The es-
tabliShment Of q sea route around At
RIGA To the East injured Aleppo some
what, and the opening Of the SueZ
canal almost dried up its stream Of
east-west trade and brought up the
pessimiStic picture of q time when
camel-trains might be a curiosity.
Now a Railway Junction.
But the railroad locomotive which
westerners nickname 'the steel horse"
has proved Aleppo's steel camel" and
is bringing the city back to its old
place of Importance. The famous Bag
dad railroad, which connects the
mouth Of the Euphrates with the Bos-
porus and Europe, dips TO AleppO al
most exactly at It's mid-pOint and
meets the railway which now extends
from Egypt northward through Syria.
The old important camel trails have
thus given way to more important
trails Of steel, and where the n con-
latter may yield the equivalent Of
dollars. AleppO is. In a fair way to
become "the Chicago OF the Near
East"
The AleppO of today may be COM
pared in some ways to Damascus, 200
miles TO the south. Both, on GASES,
are well watered by streams that lose
themselves in the desert-or more
properly are made to transform them
selves into delightful orchards and
gardens through ancient irrigation sys-
TENS. Both are made up Of white,
fat-tOpped houses punctuated by the
tall, slender towers Of mosques. Both
have their crowded, narrow streets
surging with a motley mixture Of
many Arabs, Jews and Armenians, and
representatives OF almost every other
people Of the Near East. Now that
Syria Is under French mandate, there
is as well I'm Aleppo's crowded streets
a s~prinkllng Of the Latins who tried
vainly to penetrate there during the
Crusades.
Most interesting of Aleppo's sights,
fttingly enough in a city built by com
merce, are its huge covered bazaars,
hardly to be matched elsewhere in the
world. These arched rooms of sub
dued lights are stocked with almost
every conceivable ware from crude
/, pottery To handsome Chinese vases,
! from iron nails To golden chains Of
the finest workmanship, and from
| coarse cloths to the most superb prod
net of the r~ug-weaver's art. In the
meat bazaar one may choose a steal:
of beef, camel or horse and have II
! roasted 10 Il turn while he looks d.,