In the plain, to the
westward, upon a hillock one hour distant, was the village Rima el
Khalkhal, or Rima el Hezam [Arabic] (Hezam means girdle, and Khalkhal,
the silver or glass rings which the children wear round their ankles.)
Our road from Saleim lay S. by E. over a stony uncultivated ground, till
within one hour of Soueida, where the wood of oaks terminates, and the
fields begins, which extend up
[p.80]the slope of the mountain for half an hour to the left of the
road. From Saleim to Soueida is a distance of two hours and three
quarters.
Soueida is situated upon high ground, on a declivity of the Djebel
Haouran; the Kelb Haouran, or highest summit of the mountain, bearing
S.E. from it. It is considered as the first Druse village, and is the
residence of the chief Sheikh. To the north, and close to it, descends
the deep Wady Essoueida, coming from the mountain, where several other
Wadys unite with it; it is crossed by a strong well built bridge, and it
turns five or six mills near the village. Here, as in all their
villages, the Druses grow a great deal of cotton, and the cultivation of
tobacco is general all over the mountain. Soueida has no springs, but
there are in and near it several Birkets, one of which, in the village,
is more than three hundred paces in circuit, and at least thirty feet
deep: a staircase leads down to the bottom, and it is entirely lined
with squared stones. To the S. of the village is another of still larger
circumference, but not so deep, also lined with stone, called Birket el
Hadj, from the circumstance of its having, till within the last century,
been a watering place for the Hadj, which used to pass here.
To the west of Soueida, on the other side of the Wady, stands a ruined
building, which the country people call Doubeise: it is a perfect square
of thirteen paces, with walls two feet thick, and ornamented on each
side with six Doric pilasters, sixteen spans high, and reaching to
within two feet of the roof, which has fallen down, and fills up the
interior. No door or opening of any kind is visible. On the wall between
the pilasters are some ornaments in bas-relief.
On the N. wall is the following inscription, in handsome characters;
[p.81] [Greek].
Soueida was formerly one of the largest cities of the Haouran; the
circuit of its ruins is at least four miles: amongst them is a street
running in a straight line, in which the houses on both sides are still
standing; I was twelve minutes in walking from one end to other. Like
the streets of modern cities in the East, this is so very narrow as to
allow space only for one person or beast to pass. On both sides is a
narrow pavement. The great variety seen in the the mode of construction
of the houses seems to prove that the town has been inhabited by people
of different nations. In several places, on both sides of the street,
are small arched open rooms, which I supposed to have been shops. The
street commences in the upper part of the town, at a large arched gate
built across it; descending from thence I came to an elegant building,
in the shape of a crescent, the whole of whose front forms a kind of
niche, within which are three smaller niches; round the flat roof is
written in large characters:
[Greek].
On a stone lying upon the roof [Greek]. Continuing along the street I
entered, on the left, an edifice with four rows of arches, built with
very low pillars in the ugly style already described.
Upon a stone, built upside down in one of the interior walls, was this;
[Greek].
[p.82] [Greek] [The fourteenth Legion was surnamed Gemina. See several
inscriptions in Gruter. Ed.]
At the lower end of the street is a tower about thirty feet high, and
eighteen square.
Turning from the beginning of the street, to the south, I met with a
large building in ruins, with many broken pillars; it seems to have been
a church; and it is joined to another building which has the appearance
of having once been a monastery. In the paved area to the S. of it lies
a water trough, formed of a single stone, two feet and a half in
breadth, and seven feet in length, ornamented with four busts in relief,
whose heads have been knocked off.
In a stony field about three hundred yards S. of the Sheikh's house, I
found engraved upon a rock:
[Greek].
KANOUAT.
[p.83]Round a pedestal, which now serves to support one of the columns
in the front of the Sheikh's house, is the following: [Greek]. On the
side of the pedestal is a figure of a bird with expanded wings, about
one foot high, and below it is a man's hand grasping at something.
Near the Sheikh's house stands a colonnade of Corinthian columns, which
surrounded a building, now entirely in ruins, but which appears to have
been destined for sepulchres, as there are some small arched doors,
quite choaked up, leading to subterraneous apartments.
November 17th.--We rode to the ruined city called Kanouat [Arabic], two
hours to the N.E. of Soueida; the road lying through a forest of stunted
oaks and Zarour trees, with a few cultivated fields among them. Kanouat
is situated upon a declivity, on the banks of the deep Wady Kanouat,
which flows through the midst of the town, and whose steep banks are
supported by walls in several places.
