. The land of Gilead, with excursions in the Lebanon . ty * Canon Tristram seems to have been the first to discover this interestinccspecimen of Byzantine architecture only a few years ago, but I am at a loss tounJerstaud how it can have escaped the observation of previous travelers. RUINS OB A MM OK 227 yards in circumference and about thirty feet deep ; and I alsosaw the remains of a well. The view from the citadel wasneither very extensive nor interesting, beyond affording one abirds-eye view of the ruins in the valley below ; the rest of thelandscape was so nearly on a level with the fortr
. The land of Gilead, with excursions in the Lebanon . ty * Canon Tristram seems to have been the first to discover this interestinccspecimen of Byzantine architecture only a few years ago, but I am at a loss tounJerstaud how it can have escaped the observation of previous travelers. RUINS OB A MM OK 227 yards in circumference and about thirty feet deep ; and I alsosaw the remains of a well. The view from the citadel wasneither very extensive nor interesting, beyond affording one abirds-eye view of the ruins in the valley below ; the rest of thelandscape was so nearly on a level with the fortress that it wassomewhat circumscribed. No trees were visible in any direc-tion ; and the rolling prairie, though affording good pasture,was bare-looking enough. The hillsides in every directionwere honeycombed with caves, which in former days doubtlessformed the dwelling-places of a very considerable of these under the citadel apparently extended for somedistance, but we had neither the time nor the lights to enableus to explore RABBATH-AMMON. It would take days to do justice to the ruins of Ammon ;notwithstanding the examination to which they have alreadybeen subjected, there can be little doubt that a little excavationwould unearth interesting results, and that under the heaps ofdebris that strew the valley lie buried antiquarian treasures. 228 THE LAND OF GILEAD. The stream, now alive with fish, once evidently flowed betweenmassive masonry embankments, and in places was coveredover, for the single arch which now spans it has rather the ap-pearance of having once formed a portion of this tunnel thanof a bridge. Near it stand the lofty walls of the grand basilica,its arched entrance leading into a court, now giass-grown,where once the worshipers assembled. We found, when we returned to our tent, the Sheik Diab,who had accompanied us from Kalat Zerka, in close confabula-tion with old Suleiman, the impenitent zaptieh, who was evi-dently tampering with him,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectsyriade, bookyear1881
