LI. On the accession of Omar, the sword of God was re- CHAP. moved from the command; but the caliph, who blamed the rashness, was compelled to applaud the vigour and conduct, of the enterprise. Another expedition of the conquerors of Damascus Fair of will equally display their avidity and their contempt for Abyla. the riches of the present world. They were informed that the produce and manufactures of the country were annually collected in the fair of Abyla, about thirty miles from the city; that the cell of a devout hermit was visited at the same time by a multitude of pilgrims; and that the festival of trade and superstition would be ennobled by the nuptials of the daughter of the governor of Tripoli. Abdallah, the son of Jaafar, a glorious and holy martyr, undertook, with a banner of five hundred horse, the pious and profitable commission of despoiling the infidels. As he approached the fair of Aby.la, he was astonished by the report of the mighty concourse of Jews and Christians, Greeks and Armenians, of natives of Syria and of strangers of Egypt, to the number of ten thousand, besides a guard of five thousand horse that attended the person of the bride. The Saracens paused: "For my own part," said Abdallah, "I dare not go back: our foes are many, our danger " is great, but our reward is splendid and secure, either ❝in this life or in the life to come. Let every man, ac"cording to his inclination, advance or retire." Not a Musulman deserted his standard. "Lead the way," said Abdallah to his Christian guide," and you shall "see what the companions of the prophet can perform." They charged in five squadrons; but after the first advantage of the surprise they were encompassed and almost overwhelmed by the multitude of their enemies; and their valiant band is fancifully compared to a white spot in the skin of a black camels. About the hour of sunset, when their weapons dropped from their hands, when they panted on the verge of eternity, they discovered an approaching cloud of dust, they heard the wel 64 Dair Abil Kodos. After retrenching the last word, the epithet, holy, I discover the Abila of Lysanias between Damascus and Heliopolis: the name (Abil signifies a vineyard) concurs with the situation to justify my conjecture (Reland, Palestin. tom. i. p. 317. tom. ii. p. 525. 527). 65 I am bolder than Mr. Ockley (vol. i. p. 164), who dares not insert this figurative expression in the text, though he observes in a marginal note, that the Arabians often borrow their similes from that useful and familiar animal. The rein-deer may be equally famous in the songs of the Laplanders. LI. CHAP. come sound of the tecbir, and they soon perceived the standard of Caled, who flew to their relief with the utmost speed of his cavalry. The Christians were broken by his attack, and slaughtered in their flight as far as the river of Tripoli. They left behind them the various riches of the fair; the merchandises that were exposed for sale, the money that was brought for purchase, the gay decorations of the nuptials, and the governor's daughter, with forty of her female attendants. The fruits, provisions, and furniture, the money, plate, and jewels, were diligently laden on the backs of horses, asses, and mules; and the holy robbers returned in triumph to Damascus. The hermit, after a short and angry controversy with Caled, declined the crown of martyrdom, and was left alive in the solitary scene of blood and devastation. A. D. 635. Sieges of Syria, one of the countries that have been improved Heliopolis and Eme- by the most early cultivation, is not unworthy of the preference. The heat of the climate is tempered by the vicinity of the sea and mountains, by the plenty of wood and water; and the produce of a fertile soil affords the subsistence, and encourages the propagation, of men and animals. From the age of David to that of Heraclius, the country was overspread with ancient and flourishing cities: the inhabitants were numerous and wealthy; and, after the slow ravage of despotism and superstition, after the recent calamities of the Persian war, 66 We heard the tecbir; so the Arabs call Their shout of onset, when with loud appeal They challenge heaven, as if demanding conquest. This word, so formidable in their holy wars, is a verb active (says Ockley in his index) of the second conjugation, from Kabbara, which signifies saying Alla Acbar, God is most mighty! 67 In the geography of Abulfeda, the description of Syria, his native country, is the most interesting and authentic portion. It was published in Arabic and Latin, Lipsix, 1766, in quarto, with the learned notes of Kochler and Reiske, and some extracts of geography and natural history from Iba Ol Wardii. Among the modern travellers, Pocock's description of the East (of Syria and Mesopotamia, vol. ii. p. 88—209), is a work of superior learning and dignity; but the author too often confounds what he had seen and what he had read 68 The praises of Dionysius are just and lively. Kathy (Syria) on201 Texas on Bios avdpes exov (in Periegesi, v. 902. in tom iv. Geograph. Minor. Hudson). In another place he styles the country Tokiy diav (v. 898). He proceeds to say, Πασα δε τοι λιπαρή τε και εύβοτος έπλετο χαρη Μήλα σε φερβεμεναι και δενδρεσι καρπον αεξειν. ν. 921, 922, This poetical geographer lived in the age of Augustus, and his description of the world is illustrated by the Greek commentary of Eustathius, who paid the same compliment to Homer and Dionysius (Fabric. Bibliot. Græc. I. iv. c. 2. tom. iii. p. 21, &c.) LI. Syria could still attract and reward the rapacious tribes CHAP. of the desert. A plain, of ten days' journey, from Damascus to Aleppo and Antioch, is watered, on the western side, by the winding course of the Orontes. The hills of Libanus and Anti-Libanus are planted from north to south, between the Orontes and the Mediterranean, and the epithet of hollow (Coelesyria was applied to a long and fruitful valley, which is confined in the same direction by the two ridges of snowy mountains. Among the cities, which are enumerated by Greek and Oriental names in the geography and conquest of Syria, we may distinguish Emesa or Hems, Heliopolis or Baalbec, the former as the metropolis of the plain, the latter as the capital of the valley. Under the last of the Cæsars, they were strong and populous: the turrets glittered from afar: an ample space was covered with public and private buildings; and the citizens were il lustrious by their spirit, or at least by their pride; by their riches, or at least by their luxury. In the days of paganism, both Emesa and Heliopolis were addicted to the worship of Baal, or the sun; but the decline of their superstition and splendour has been marked by a singular variety of fortune. Not a vestige remains of the temple of Emesa, which was equalled in poetic style to the summits of mount Libanus70, while the ruins of Baalbec, invisible to the writers of antiquity, excite the curiosity and wonder of the European traveller". The measure of the temple is two hundred feet in length, and one hundred in breadth: the front is adorned with a double portico of eight columns; fourteen may be 69 The topography of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus is excellently described by the learning and sense of Reland (Palestin. tom. i. p. 311-326). .......Emese fastigia celsa renident 70 Nam diffusa solo latus explicat; ac subit auras Cor studiis acuit. . . . Denique flammicomo devoti pectora soli Vitam agitant. Libanus frondosa cacumina turget, Et tamen bis certant celsi fastigia templi. These verses of the Latin version of Rufus Avienus are wanting in the Greek original of Dionysius; and since they are likewise unnoticed by Eustathius, I must, with Fabricius (Bibliot. Latin. tom. iii. p. 153. edit. Ernesti), and against Salmasius (ad Vopiscum, p. 366, 367, in Hist. August), ascribe them to the fancy rather than the MSS. of Avienus. 71 I am much better satisfied with Maundrell's slight octavo (Journey, p. 134-139), than with the pompous folio of Doctor Pocock (Description of the East, vol. ii. p. 106-113); but every preceding account is eclipsed by the magnificent description and drawings of M. M. Dawkins and Wood, who have transported into England the ruins of Palmyra and Baalbec. CHAP. counted on either side; and each column, forty-five feet LI. in height, is composed of three massy blocks of stone or marble. The proportions and ornaments of the Corinthian order express the architecture of the Greeks; but as Baalbec has never been the seat of a mon rch, we are at a loss to conceive how the expense of these magnificent structures could be supplied by private or municipal liberality". From the conquest of Damascus the Saracens proceeded to Heliopolis and Emesa: but I shall decline the repetition of the sallies and combats which have been already shewn on a larger scale. In the prosecution of the war, their policy was not less effectual than their sword. By short and separate truces they dissolved the union of the enemy; accustomed the Syrians to compare their friendship with their enmity; familiarised the idea of their language, religion, and manners; and exhausted, by clandestine purchase, the magazines and arsenals of the cities which they returned to besiege. They aggravated the ransom of the more wealthy, or the more obstinate; and Chalcis alone was taxed at five thousand ounces of gold, five thousand ounces of silver, two thousand robes of silk, and as many figs and olives as would load five thousand asses. But the terms of truce or capitulation were faithfully observed; and the lieutenant of the caliph, who had promised not to enter the walls of the captive Baalbec, remained tranquil and immoveable in his tent till the jarring factions solicited the interposition of a foreign master. The conquest of the plain and valley of Syria was achieved in less than two years. Yet the commander of the faithful reproved the slowness of their progress, and the Saracens, bewailing their fault with tears of rage and repentance, called aloud on their chiefs to lead them forth to fight the battles of the Lord. In a recent action, under the walls of Emesa, an Arabian youth, the cousin of Caled, was heard aloud to exclaim, Methinks I see the black-eyed girls looking upon me; "one of whom, should she appear in this world, all man 72 The Orientals explain the prodigy by a never-failing expedient. The edifices of Baalbec were constructed by the fairies or the genii (Hist. de Timour Bec, tom. iii. l. v. c. 23. p. 311, 312 Voyage d'Otter, tom. i. p. 83). With less absurdity, but with equal ignorance, Abulfeda and Ibn Chaukel ascribe them to the Sabæans or Aadites. Non sunt in omni Syria ædificia magnificentiora his (Tabula Syriæ, p. 103). LI. "kind would die for love of her. And I see in the band CHAP. of one of them, an handkerchief of green silk, and a "cap of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls "out, come hither quickly, for I love thee." With these words, charging the Christians, he made havock wherever he went, till, observed at length by the governor of Hems, he was struck through with a javelin. ber. It was incumbent on the Saracens to exert the full Battle of Yermok, powers of their valour and enthusiasm against the for- A. D. 636, ces of the emperor, who was taught by repeated losses, Novemthat the rovers of the desert had undertaken, and would speedily achieve, a regular and permanent conquest. From the provinces of Europe and Asia, fourscore thousand soldiers were transported by sea and land to Antioch and Cæsarea: the light troops of the army consisted of sixty thousand Christian Arabs of the tribe of Gassan. Under the banner of Jabalah, the last of their princes, they marched in the van; and it was a maxim of the Greeks, that, for the purpose of cutting diamond, a diamond was the most effectual. Heraclius withheld his person from the dangers of the field; but his presumption, or perhaps his despondency, suggested a peremptory order, that the fate of the province and the war should be decided by a single battle. The Syrians were attached to the standard of Rome and of the cross; but the noble, the citizen, the peasant, were exasperated by the injustice and cruelty of a licentious host, who oppressed them as subjects, and despised them as strangers and aliens73. A report of these mighty preparations was conveyed to the Saracens in their camp of Emesa; and the chiefs, though resolved to fight, assembled a council: the faith of Abu Obeidah would have expected on the same spot the glory of martyrdom; the wisdom of Caled advised an honourable retreat to the skirts of Palestine and Arabia, where they might await the succours of their friends, and the attack of the unbelievers. A speedy messenger soon returned from the throne of Medina, with the blessings of Omar and Ali, the prayers of the widows of the prophet, and a reinforcement of eight thousand Moslems. In their way 73 I have read somewhere in Tacitus, or Grotius, Subjectos habent tanquam suos, viles tanquam alienos. Some Greek officers ravished the wife, and murdered the child, of their Syrian landlord; and Manuel smiled at his undutiful complaint. VOL. VI. Y Y |