The Name Of Sheriat, Is First Applied To The United Streams Near
Szamme.
From thence it flows in a deep bed of tufwacke; and its banks
are cultivated by the Arabs Menadhere (sing.
Mandhour), who live under
VALLEY OF THE GHOR.
[p.274]tents, and remove from place to place, but without quitting the
banks of the river. They sow wheat and barley, and cultivate
pomegranates, lemons, grapes, and many kinds of fruit and vegetables,
which they sell in the villages of the Haouran and Djolan. Further to
the west the Wady becomes so narrow as to leave no space between the
edge of the stream, and the precipices on both sides. It issues from the
mountain not far from the south end of the lake of Tabaria, and about
one hour lower down is joined by the Wady el Arab; it then empties
itself into the Jordan, called Sheriat el Kebir, at two hours distant
from the lake; D'Anville is therefore wrong in making it flow into the
lake itself. The river is full of fish, and in the Wady its course is
very rapid. The shrub called by the Arabs Defle [Arabic], grows on its
banks; it has a red flower, and according to the Arabs is poisonous to
cattle. The breadth of the stream, where it issues from the mountains,
is about thirty-five paces, its depth (in the month of May) between four
and five feet.
We had now entered the valley of the Ghor [Arabic], which may be
compared to the valley of the Bekaa, between the Libanus and Anti-
Libanus, and the valley El Ghab of the Orontes. The mountains which
enclose it are not to be compared in magnitude with those of the Bekaa;
but the abundance of its waters renders its aspect more pleasing to the
eye, and may make its soil more productive. It is one of the lowest
levels in Syria; lower than the Haouran and Djolan, by nearly the whole
height of the eastern mountains; its temperature is hotter than I had
experienced in any other part of Syria: the rocky mountains
concentrating the heat, and preventing the air from being cooled by the
westerly winds in summer. In consequence of this higher degree of heat,
the productions of the Ghor ripen long before those of the Haouran. The
barley harvest, which does not begin in the upper plain till fifteen
days later
SZAMMAGH.
[p.275]we here found nearly finished. The Haouran, on the other hand,
was every where covered with the richest verdure of wild herbage, while
every plant in the Ghor was already dried up, and the whole country
appeared as if in the midst of summer. Volney has justly remarked that
there are few countries where the changes from one climate to another
are so sudden as in Syria; and I was never more convinced of it than in
this valley. To the north was the Djebel El Sheikh, covered with snow;
to the east the fertile plainsof Djolan clothed in the blossoms of
spring; while to the south, the withered vegetation of the Ghor seemed
the effect of a tropical sun.
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