To The E. Of The Village Is The Gateway Of Another Public Building, The
Interior Of Which Has Been Converted Into Private Dwellings; This
Building Is In A Better Style Than Those Above Described, And Has Some
Trifling Sculptured Ornaments On Its Gate.
On the wall on the right side
of the gate is this inscription.
[Greek]
There are many private habitations, principally at the S. end of the
town, with inscriptions over the doors; most of which are illegible. The
following I found in different parts of the village, on stones lying on
the ground, or built into the walls of houses.
Over the entrance of a sepulchral apartment,
[Greek]
[p.63]I observed a great difference in the characters in which all the
above inscriptions were engraved. That of S. Georgius is the best
written.
In the evening I went to water my horse with the priest's cattle at the
spring of Geratha, one hour distant from Ezra, N. by E. I met there a
number of shepherds with theyr flocks; the rule is, that the first who
arrives at the well, waters his cattle before the others; several were
therefore obliged to wait till after sunset. There are always some stone
basins round the wells, out of which the camels drink, the water being
drawn up by leathern buckets, and poured into them: disputes frequent1y
happen on these occasions. The well has a broad staircase leading down
to it; just by it lies a stone with an inscription, of which I could
make out only the following letters
[Greek]
This well is called Rauad.
November 12th.--I left Ezra with the Greek priest, to visit the villages
towards the mountain of the Haouran. I had agreed to pay him by the day,
but I soon had reason to repent of this arrangement. In order to
protract my journey, and augment the number of days,
KERATHA.
[p.64]he loaded his horse with all his church furniture, and at almost
every village where we alighted he fitted up a room, and said mass; I
was, in consequence, seldom able to leave my night's quarters before
mid-day, and as the days were now short our day's journey was not more
than four or five hours. His description of me to the natives varied
with circumstances; sometimes I was a Greek lay brother, sent to him by
the Patriarch, a deception which could not be detected by my dress, as
the priesthood is not distinguished by any particular dress, unless it
be the blue turban, which they generally wear; sometimes he described me
as a physician who was in search of herbs; and occasionally he owned
that my real object was to examine the country. Our road lay S.E. upon
the borders of the stony district called Ledja; and at the end of two
hours we passed the village of Bousser [Arabic] on our left, which is
principally inhabited by Druses; it lies in the War, and contains the
Turkish place of pilgrimage, called Meziar Eliashaa. Near it, to the S.
is the small village Kherbet Hariri. In one hour we passed Baara, a
village under the control of the Sheikh of Ezra; and at half an hour
farther to our right, the village Eddour [Arabic]. The Wady Kanouat, a
torrent which takes its rise in the mountain, passes Baara, where it
turns several mills in the winter season; towards the end of May it is
generally dried up. At one hour from Baara is the Ain Keratha, or
Geratha, according to Bedouin and Haouran pronunciation [Arabic]. At the
foot of a hill in the War are several wells; this hill is covered with
the ruins of the ancient city of Keratha, of which the foundations only
remain: there had been such a scarcity of water this year, that the
people of Bousser were obliged to fetch it from these wells. A quarter
of an hour E. of them is the village Nedjran [Arabic], in the Ledja, in
which are several ancient buildings inhabited by Druses. In the Ledja,
in the neighbourhood of Keratha,
MEDJEL.
[p.65]are many spots of arable ground. Upon a low hill, in our route, at
an hour and a quarter from the Ain or well, is Deir el Khouat [Arabic],
i.e. the Brothers' Monastery, a heap of ruins. From thence we travelled
to the south-eastward for three quarters of an hour, to the village
Sedjen [Arabic], where we alighted, at the house of the only Christian
family remaining among the Druses of the place. Sedjen is built, like
all these ancient towns, entirely of the black stone peculiar to these
mountains.
November 13th.--We left Sedjen about noon; and in half an hour came to
the spring Mezra [Arabic], the water of which is conducted near to
Sedjen by an ancient canal, which empties itself in the summer time into
a large pond; in the winter the stream is joined by a number of small
torrents, which descend from the Djebel Haouran between Kanouat and
Soueida; it empties itself farther to the west into the Wady Kanouat.
Above the spring is a ruined castle, and near it several other large
buildings, of which the walls only are standing; the castle was most
probably built to protect the water. There is a tradition that Tamerlane
filled up the well; and a similar story is repeated in many parts of the
Haouran: it is said that he threw quick-silver into the springs, which
prevented the water from rising to the surface; and that the water
collecting under ground from several sources near Mezerib, at length
burst forth, and formed the copious spring at that place, called Bushe.
From Mezra to Medjel we travelled E.N.E. one hour. It rained the whole
day. On arriving at Medjel I alighted to copy some inscriptions, when
the Druse Sheikh immediately sent for me, to know what I was about. It
is a general opinion with these people that inscriptions indicate hidden
treasure; and that by reading or copying them a knowledge is obtained
where the treasure lies.
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