The small ancient village contains nothing remarkable except
a church, supported by a single arch which rests on pillars much higher
than those generally seen in this country. At the
SHMERRIN.
[p.105]foot of the hill are several wells. We found here a great number
of mushrooms; we had met with some at Szalkhat; my guides taught me to
eat them raw, with a morsel of bread. The quantity of Kattas here was
beyond description; the whole plain seemed sometimes to rise; and far
off in the air they were seen like large moving clouds.
W. of Houshhoush half an hour, in the plain, are Tel Zakak and Deir
Aboud; the latter is a building sixty feet square, of which the walls
only are standing; they are built with small stones, and have a single
low door. From this place W.S.W. three quarters of an hour is Tahoun el
Abiad [Arabic] i.e. the White Mill, the ruins of a mill on the banks of
the Wady Ras el Beder, which I noticed in speaking of Zahouet el Khuder.
S.W. from Tahoun, three quarters of an hour, is the ruined village Kourd
[Arabic], and W. from it one hour, the village Tellafe [Arabic]. Our way
from Deir Aboud lay W.S.W.; at one hour and a half from it is the
considerable ruined village Keires [Arabic], on the Wady Zedi, the
largest of all the Wadys which descend from the mountain into the plain.
The soil of this uncultivated district is of a red colour, and appears
to be very fertile. From hence I proceeded towards Boszra, which I
observed at the distance of half an hour, from the high ground above
Keires. The castle of Boszra bore W.S.W. that of Szalkhat E.S.S., and
the Kelab Haouran N.E.; I was near enough to distinguish the castle, and
the mosque which is called by the Mohammedans El Mebrek, from the lying
down of the Caliph Othman's camel.
Turning from hence, in a N.W. direction, we came to the ruined village
Shmerrin [Arabic], about three quarters of an hour from Keires. Over a
door in the village I read:
[xxxxx].
Near the village stands an insulated tower, with an Arabic inscription,
AAERE.
[p.106]but so high that I could not copy it; above it in large
characters is [Greek] [of Felix. Ed]. The Wady Zedi passes close to this
village, where a bridge of three arches is built over it; I was told
that in winter the waters often rise over the bridge. Farther to the
west this Wady joins that of Ghazale.
From Shmerrin we travelled to the northward; about an hour and a half to
our left was the village Kharaba. We were now upon the Hadj route
formerly pursued by the pilgrims from Damascus through the Ledja to
Soueida and Boszra. The road is still marked by stones scattered over
it, the remains, probably, of its pavement.
Thee quarters of an hour from Shmerrin, close to the right of the road,
stands Deir Esszebeir [Arabic], a ruined village with a building like a
monastery. At sunset we reached Aaere, two hours and a quarter from
Shmerrin.
November 24th and 25th.--I remained at Aaere these two days, during
which the Sheikh continued his friendly behaviour towards me. It was my
wish to make an excursion towards the western parts of the plain of the
Haouran, in order to visit Draa, and the ruins of Om Edjemal and Om
Ezzeroub, distant one day's journey from Draa, which, judging from all
the information I had received, seemed to be well worth seeing. I
offered to any person, or company of men, who would undertake to guide
me to the spot, thirty piastres, a large sum in these parts, but nobody
was to be found. The fact was that the road from Aaere to Draa, as well
as that from thence to Om Edjemal, was infested by a party of Arabs
Serdie, the brother of whose chief had recently been killed by the
Pasha's troops; and besides these, it was known that numerous parties of
Arabs Sheraka made incursions in the same direction I
THAALE.
[p.107]was therefore obliged to give up my project, but with the
intention of executing it at a future period.
November 28th.--I left Aaere in the company of a Druse; at parting the
Sheikh made me promise that I would again visit his village. The
direction of our route was to the N.W. In an hour and a quarter, over a
plain, in most parts cultivated, we reached El Kenneker [Arabic], a
solid building upon a hill, with a few habitations round it; all the
villages in this part are inhabited; we saw the traces of the Wahabi in
a burnt field. E. from hence one hour is Deir Ettereife [Arabic]. N.E.
half an hour, the village Hadid [Arabic]; half an hour farther passed
Ousserha [Arabic], a village with a copious spring. One hour and a half
E. we saw Walgha [Arabic]. Just before we reached Ousserha we passed the
Wady El Thaleth, which I have mentioned between Soueida and Zahouet.
Continuing on the side of the Wady for three quarters of an hour, we
came to Thaale [Arabic], where there is a Birket: here we stopped to
breakfast. It is inhabited by Mohammedans only.
In a building now used as a mosque, within which are four arches, and
three short pillars in the vestibule, I copied the two following
inscriptions placed opposite each other.
[Greek][A.D. 683, the twenty-third year of the Emperor Heraclius.].
On a long wall of a building entirely in ruins:
