Pen Pictures of the Holy Land: I. The Damascus of Today

Pen Pictures of the Holy Land, b'rom Dan to Beersheba. BY HAMILTON GARDNER. I. — The Damascus of Today. Damascus is called the oldest city in the world. From the time of Abraham, whose servant Eliezer was a native Damascene, it has played an important role in Oriental history. At one time the home of Syrian kings, who fought David and Solomon and other Israel- itish monarchs, it later became the most widely famed seat of learning in the East, and for hundreds of years was the capital from which powerful Arabian caliphs ruled the surrounding lands. For Christians, the history of Damascus is of considerable import- ance, because of its connection with the conversion and first missionary labors of the Apostle Paul. Today, Damascus offers to the visitor many sights of absorbing inter- est. Of all the cities in the Holy Land usually visited by tourists, none has retained its strictly Oriental char- acter so much as this. The distinct- ive coloring and charm of Eastern life, the customs and habits of the THE HOUSE OF ANANIAS.

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. people, the Oriental manner of living and thinking can be seen here, with the minimum of Western influence. Add to this the places of Biblical interest, and the value of a visit to this ancient city is apparent. Usually, the first place a visitor looks up in Damascus is the "street which is called straight." At the present time it could not even be called straight. It will be remembered that Judas, to whose house Anan- ias was directed to find Paul, lived near this street. The "straight street"' it remains to this day, but that is its only reminder of the past; and it in no way diff^ers from other dirty, crooked streets in the city. The house of Ananias has been located by tradition, and its cellar serves as a chapel, where pilgrims are supposed to pray devoutly, and tourists to give the at- tendant a liberal tip. One other place con- nected with Paul's sojourn is shown, and that is the hole in the city wall through which he escaped at night by being let down in a basket. Only one little discrepancy could be found with regard to the exactness of this location; namely, that the wall was built by the Turks eleven hundred years after Paul's death. But our guide thought that such a shght technicality as this should not lessen our awe of so holy a place. Far surpassing these somewhat doubtful Biblical locations, in attraction and interest, are the streets and bazaars of Damascus. A walk through these furnishes a veritable succession of pictures ' 'the street which is called straight " From the minaret of a nearby Mosque, Damascus.

10 IMPROVEMENT ERA. of Oriental life, unsurpassed, perhaps, anywhere in the world. Ma-as-salameh, 0 reader, peace be with thee! Wilt thou go with me, 0 unknown one, on a short visit through the bazaars and street' of Damascus? As we walk down the middle of the street— there are no side- walks—we must keep our wits about us; for the thoroughfare is crowded with almost every kind of conveyance. Poor people on little donkeys ride side by side with Turkish effendis, on richly ca- Photo bv the Author. ARAB TYPES. parisoned horses, and both must get out of the way of the strings of camels that are continually going by. Carriages and carts pass to and fro, while the loud and insistent clanging of a bell pro- claims that the electric tramway has invaded these time-honored domains of the primitive methods of travel. Occasionally a herd of donkeys, with jingling bells on their necks, trot rapidly past, and innumerable dogs, belonging to no one, slink through the crowds in search of stray morsels of food. But jast notice the types of people going by. You cannot mistake that Arab yonder. The dress he wears— a long striped cloak of dull brown, with a thin, bright-colored piece of cloth held on the head by two coils of black goat's hair— is the garb worn by these children of the desert from time immemorial. The poorly dressed women you see, with foreheads, lips and cheeks tatooed.

I'EK PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAKD. 11 are Bedouins. Their more favored sisters go veiled, and com- pletely envelop themselves in a loosely fitting robe of black, which successfully hides whatever grace of form or feature they may have. The men you notice with long, fur cloaks, and white cloth wrapped around their heads, are Mohammedan priests. The poorer class of Moslems wear a short jacket, a wide belt of cloth, highly colored, and absurdly baggy trousers. The richer ones dress in European style, but all wear the conventional Turkish "fez." A RAISIN MERCHANT AND HIS CUSTOMERS, DAMASCUS. Intermingling with all these people are travelers from almost every country of Europe and America. Truly a cosmopolitan collection. Let me take you now into some of the Damascus bazaars. You must remember that each profession or handicraft has its own particular district. Thus the saddlers have a bazaar of their own, the goldsmiths another, the sellers of spice another — in fact, the business district of the city is simply made up of the bazaars of these different guilds. These streets are all covered and the shops line both sides. We will walk rapidly through some of them, but stop only in the most interesting. This one, where the men are hammering lustily away, is the coppersmith's market. Some beautiful beaten brass-work can be obtained here. Notice that Bedouin who is purchasing a platter about four feet in diameter. His whole family, and also his

12 IMPROVEMENT ERA. guests, will dine from that one dish. He believes the extent of his hospitality will be judged by the size of the platter; and according to that standard he is certainly generous. The next bazaar we happen to pass through seems to be filled almost entirely with women, and is apparently the Oriental sub- stitute for a bargain counter sale. Can't you easily guess what is sold here? Silks and draperies, of course. The women go from one stall to another, examine countless pieces of cloth they have no intention of buying, chatter and bargain incessantly over ridicu- lously small sums, and sometimes, to win their point, coquettishly pull aside their veils and smile at the merchant. But, according to Mohammedan etiquette, it is strictly improper for an infidel dog of a Christian to see a Moslem woman's face, so we must move on. Here, in the shoemaker's bazaar, we see the long, sharp- pointed, red and yellow shoes the natives wear, and the wooden slippers, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, which Turkish ladies use in the bath. Some beautiful inlaid furniture can be seen in the wood- turner's street, but the workmen themselves are more interesting. Observe how this one uses his lathe. Sitting down in front of it, he furnishes the motive power by means of a bow-like contrivance in his left hand. With his right he uses his cutting chisel, and steadies this with the toes of his left foot. Before we go into the next bazaar, let me advise you to be decidedly careful of your money. It is called the Greek bazaar, and is the headquarters for Oriental goods and trinkets of the kind that tourists buy. Of all the shrewd and crafty merchants of the East, the Greek far surpasses all others in the art of separating innocent and unsuspecting tourists from their money — hence my warning. You see, they even stand out in the middle of the street to try to entice us into their shops. And persistence! It's no use telling this fellow that we do not need anything. The only way to get rid of him is to look at his goods. Some of these Per- sian carpets he is showing you are really genuine, but those knives he says are real Damascus blades were more than likely made in Solingen, Germany. And don't believe a word he says about the sofa cushion he is displaying having been made by some favorite in the Sultan's harem. If the truth were known, it was probably

PEN PICTURES OF THE HOLY LAND. 13 woven in England. And so he continues. As he shows you lace, beads, shawls and trinkets, he has an exaggerated story to tell of each one. As the most tempting thing in his store, he saves for the last a collection of what he says are old Greek and Roman coins. He is willing to swear to their age and genuineness, but it would not be at all surprising if he had buried them himself a month before. If you do finally decide to purchase anything, give only about one-fourth of the price asked; and even then your con- science need not worry you about cheating the wily Greek. If our walk through the bazaars has made you thirsty, a drink of one of the many kinds of lemonade, cooled with snow from Mount Lebanon, will allay the feeling. You can obtain it right here in the street. Public drinking fountains are found in Damascus in the shape of the water-carrier, who, with goat-skin slung over his shoulder, and to the loud rattle of two brazen cups, distributes his liquid coolness to the thirsty. Water, flavored with licorice root and raisins, is -sold in the same way. In the baker's shops can be seen a tempting array of sweetmeats, many of them in honey, of which the Moslem is very fond; but I should advise you to taste them before you see how they are cooked. While not approaching the completeness of a modern Ameri- ^^^mEnjMQL^ ^B^^Hl i-£ ijy ^^Jj 1^ : ^^B^^Bw^^^^^E^^Hyj^S/^ ! 1 y.vMKBwtr^ ^■^^Hp^^Bn^ZjBHS^^^^^K'^^^B^H^lKj ^m Photo by the Autlior. A SYRIAN MARKET.

14 IMPROVEMENT ERA. can department store, still the streets of Damascus are head- quarters for almost everything that the man of the East could possibly desire. Peddlers there sell all kinds of fruits, nuts, vege- tables, foodstuffs, sweetmeats, clothes, weapons, grass and grain for horses, second hand goods, flowers, and other things too nu- merous to mention. Each one proclaims, at the top of his voice, that his wares are infinitely superior to all others, so the result is a babel of noise and confusion. Added to this din is the rattle of coin, by which the money-changers advertize their business; the cries of the public letter-writers, inducing people to dictate their letters to them; the sharp shouts of the carriage-drivers; the plaintive moaning of the beggars; and sometimes the humming, droning voices of school boys, as they sit cross-legged on the floor and recite verses from the Koran. More powerful than these, and at the same time more euphonious and musical, are the cries of muezzins, as they ascend the minarets of the mosques five times a day and call the people to prayer. Listen, now, as the call in Arabic resounds from one minaret to the other all over the city: "Allah is great. I testify that there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Prophet of Allah. Come to prayers." The character of the Damascenes furnishes as interesting a study as their customs and habits. Naturally imbued with the intense fanaticism of the Moslems, they have, in addition to this, a deep pride in their city, and an intense jealousy of Occidental ideas. To them Damascus, with its verdant gardens and sweetly scented orchards, appears as a representation of what heaven will be. Accustomed, as some of them are, to life in the Arabian desert, it is no wonder that this view is held. "Come to Damas- cus," they say, "and live in paradise." Dost thou, 0 reader, share this sentiment? Ma-as-salameh ! Lehi, Utah