[Greek].
There is a salt-petre manufactory in the town; the earth in which the
salt-petre is found, is collected in great quantities in the ruined
houses, and thrown into large wooden vessels perforated with small holes
on one side near the bottom. Water is then poured in, which drains
through the holes, into a lower vessel, from whence it is taken, and
poured into large copper kettles; after boiling for twenty-four hours,
it is left in the open air; the sides of the kettles then become covered
with crystals, which are afterwards washed to free them from all
impurities. One hundred Rotolas of saline earth give from one to one and
a half Rotola of salt-petre. I was told by the Sheikh of the village,
who is the manufacturer
MISSEMA.
[p.115]on his own account, that he sends yearly to Damascus as much as
one hundred Kantars. Here is also a gunpowder manufactory.
December 2d.--The Greek priest, who had not ventured to accompany me
into the Ledja, I found again at Shaara. I wished to see some parts of
the northern Loehf, and particularly the ruins of Missema, of which I
heard much from the country people. I therefore engaged a man at Shaara,
to conduct me to the place, and from thence to Damascus. We set out in
the morning, proceeded along the limits of the War, in an easterly
direction, and in three quarters of an hour came to the sources of water
called Sheraya [Arabic]; they are five or six in number, are situated
just on the borders of the War, and extend as far as Missema, watering
all the plain before them. Here, in the spring, the people of Shaara
grow vegetables and water melons, and in summer the Arabs of the Ledja
sometimes sow the neighbouring fields with wheat; but the frequent
passage of the Bedouins renders the collection of the harvest somewhat
precarious. Missemi, or Missema, is situated in the Ledja, at one hour
and a half from Shaara; it is a ruined town of three miles in circuit.
Over the door of a low vaulted building I read the following inscription
in well executed characters:
[Greek]. [Helvius]
The principal ruin in the town is a temple, in tolerable preservation;
it is one of the most elegant buildings which I have seen in the
Haouran. The approach to it is over a broad paved area, which has once
been surrounded by a row of short pillars; a flight of six steps, the
whole length of the façade,
[p.116] leads up to the portico, which consists of seven Doric columns,
but of which three only are now standing. The entrance to the temple is
through a large door in the centre, on each side of which is a smaller
door; over the latter are niches. There are no sculptured ornaments on
any part of the great door: the temple is sixteen paces square within.
Four Corinthian columns standing in a square in the centre of the
chamber support the roof. About two feet and a half under their capitals
is a ring; their pedestals are three feet and a half high. Opposite the
entrance is a large semicircular niche, the top of which is elegantly
sculptured so as to resemble a shell. On either side of the niche is a
pilaster, standing opposite to one of the columns. At the door are two
pilasters similarly placed, and two others upon each of the side walls.
Projecting from the bottom of each of these side walls, are four
pedestals for busts or statues. The roof is formed of several arches,
which, like the walls, are constructed with large stones. On either side
of the interior niche is a small dark room. The door of the temple faces
the south, and is almost completely walled up with small stones. Over
the pedestals of two of the remaining columns of the portico are the
following inscriptions:
[Greek].
Over the great door:
[Greek]
MISSEMA.
[p.117] [Greek].
In larger characters immediately under the former.
[Greek] [Legionis tertiae Gallicae. Ed.].
On one of the jambs of the door;
[Greek].
Upon a broken stone in the portico: [Greek].
[p.118] [Greek].
On the pedestal of a statue in the temple:
[Greek].
On another pedestal:
[Greek][Tribunum ([Greek]) Legionis Flaviae firmae. This was the 16th
legion, as appears from the two following inscriptions. The 16th has the
same title in an inscription in Gruter (p. 427). Ed.].
Under the niche to the left of the great door:
[Greek].
Under that to the right:
[Greek].
There are several other public buildings at Missema; but in no way
remarkable for their architecture. I had been told that in one of these
buildings was a large stone covered with small Greek characters. I
sought for it in vain. Missema has no inhabitants; we met with only a
few workmen, digging the saline earth: there are no springs here, but a
number of cisterns. E. of Missema are no inhabited villages, but the
Loehf contains several in ruins.
MERDJAN.
[p.119]From Missema our way lay N.N.W. over the desert plain, towards
Djebel Kessoue. This route is much frequented in the summer time by the
Aeneze, who pass this way to and from the Haouran. The plain is
intersected in every direction by paths formed by camels, called Daroub
el aarb [Arabic]. At the end of two hours we saw to the left, in the
mountains, the ruined village Om el Kezour; and one hour eastward from
thence, in the plain, an insulated pillar called Amoud Esszoubh
[Arabic], i.e. the Column of the Morning, on which, as I was afterwards
told, are several inscriptions.
