Pertinax, lying by the wayside. The inscription has been several times copied; among others by Monconys and Maundrell. The path led for a time along an avenue of large acacias and still larger tamarisks (Türfa), which are common in this region; and we rode for the whole way among gardens and country seats, until at 5.50 we reached the southern part of the city. Wishing to encamp outside, we kept along the eastern wall, passing by one gate, and seeking for a convenient spot to pitch our tent in the open ground adjacent. This has many trees, and at a distance seemed inviting; but on approaching nearer, it turned out to be occupied in great part as a cemetery; while in the open places were many soldiers, and the whole was so public, that we concluded to enter the town and find a lodging there. We came therefore to the gate near the northeast corner; but were again stopped by a quarantine guard, who would listen to nothing until the head of the quarantine was called. Meantime, leaving Mr Smith to adjust this matter, we looked further, and found at last a place for the tent, near the shore, at the distance of fifty or sixty rods northeast from the city. The chief health officer having been sent for, came himself to the gate, and proved to be a personal friend of Mr Smith, a Christian of some education, who had formerly been employed in the schools of Beirut. He was greatly rejoiced at thus meeting his friend; and gave at once the necessary orders to the guard, to let us pass in and out at our pleasure. The delay to which we had been subjected, was the more to be regretted; because the day was now far spent, and it was already too late to see much of this ancient place. I can give therefore only the impression received from a hasty view. We called upon our friend in his office; and found him busily engaged in making out bills of health for several small vessels, which were about to leave the port for Beirût and Egypt. He sent with us his father-in-law, to show us the port and the chief buildings of the city. We afterwards called upon the American consular agent, Ibrahîm Nükhly, a wealthy Greek Catholic, to whom we desired to pay our respects. His house was a large one, built upon the eastern wall of the city; the rooms were spacious, and furnished with more appearance of wealth, than any I saw in the country. An upper parlour with many windows, on the roof of the proper house, resembled a summer palace; and commanded a delightful view over the country towards the east, full of trees and gardens, and country houses, quite to the foot of the mountains. Ibrahîm was a man of middle age, of dignified appearance and manners; and gave us the usual Monconys' Voyages Tom. II. p. 332. Maundrell under March 20. 1 pressing invitation to lodge at his house; but we were already provided for. Several of his neighbours were present or came in; and quite a divan assembled around us. In one of the rooms, open to all comers, a daughter five or six years old, lay dangerously ill. The little creature was evidently wasting away under a slow fever, and was indulged in eating everything it chose to call for; indeed all sorts of delicacies were proposed, in order to excite its appetite. The father was in great alarm, and evidently much affected; there was no physician in all the place in whom he could put confidence; and he besought us pressingly to examine and prescribe for his child. Never did I more long for the possession of some degree of medical knowledge; for the poor child was evidently going down to the grave, in the absence of all judicious treatment. It was late when we left the house to return to our tent. The gate of the city was already closed, and could not be opened without an order from the military commandant; but he was near, and in five minutes we were enabled to pass out. Saida, the ancient Sidon, lies on the northwest slope of a small promontory, which here juts out for a short distance obliquely into the sea, towards the southwest. The highest ground is on the south, where the citadel, a large square tower, is situated; an old structure, said by some to have been built by Louis IX., in A. D. 1253. A wall encloses the city on the land side, running across the promontory from sea to sea; it is kept in tolerable repair. The ancient harbour was formed by a long low ridge of rocks, parallel to the shore in front of the city. Before the time of Fakhr ed-Din, there was here a port capable of receiving fifty galleys; but that chieftain, in order to protect himself against the Turks, caused it to be partly filled up with stones and earth; so that ever since his day only boats can enter it. Larger vessels lie without the entrance, on the north of the ledge of rocks, where they are protected from the southwest winds, but exposed to those from the northern quarter. Here, on a rock in the sea, is another castle of the time of the crusades, the form of which is in part adapted to that of the rock; it is connected with the shore at the northern end of the city, by a stone causeway with nine arches, lying between the inner and outer port.3 The streets of Saida are narrow, crooked, and dirty, like those of most oriental cities. The houses are many of them large and well built of stone; and the town, in this respect, presents This seems to be the story of the French residents, and may perhaps be well founded; Nau p. 535. Pococke II. i. p. 87. Turner's Tour II. p. 87. Yet D'Ar vieux in 1658 makes no mention of the D'Arvieux Mém. I. p. 298. 1 a strong contrast to modern Tyre. Those especially along the eastern wall, are distinguished for their size and height; they are built directly on the wall, so as to constitute a part of it; and enjoy a pure air and a pleasing prospect of the fields and country. Within the city are six Khâns, called by the Arabs Wekaleh, for the use of merchants and travellers. The largest of these is the Wekâleh formerly belonging to the French factory and consulate, and still called the French Khân; a large quadrangle of about one hundred and fifty feet on a side, with a fountain and basin in the middle, and covered galleries all around. It was erected by Fakhr ed-Din early in the seventeenth century; and is minutely described by D'Arvieux, who resided here for several years as a merchant, soon after the middle of the same century. The taxable males of Saida, as we were told, amount as registered to seventeen hundred; which, according to the usual proportion, would indicate a population of nearly seven thousand souls. Yet Ibrahim, who certainly had the best opportunities of information, estimated the whole number of inhabitants at not over five thousand. About two thirds of the whole are Muslims; one eighth part Jews; and the remainder Greek Catholics and Maronites in about equal proportions, with a very few Arab Greeks. The commerce of Saida, which five and twenty years ago was still considerable, has of late years fallen off, in consequence of the prosperity of Beirût; the latter having become exclusively the port of Damascus. The chief exports from Saida are silk, cotton, and nutgalls. Indeed, we had now begun to enter upon the region, in which silk is extensively cultivated; as is indicated by the orchards of mulberry trees around the villages. The earthquake of 1837 threw down several houses in Saida and injured many others; but only a few persons were killed.3 The beauty of Saida consists in its gardens and orchards of fruit trees, which fill the plain and extend to the foot of the adjacent hills. The city and the tract around, are abundantly supplied with water, by aqueducts and channels which conduct it from the Auwaly and other smaller streams, as they issue from the mountains. The environs exhibit everywhere a luxuriant verdure; and the fruits of Saida are reckoned among the finest of the country. Hasselquist enumerates pomegranates, apricots, Turner ib. p. 87. For the Wekâleh, see Lane's Mod. Egyptians, II. p. 8 sq. This name is sometimes falsely written Okella Turner ib. p. 88. 'Mr Thomson's Report in the Missionary Herald for Nov. 1887, p. 434. 4 Berggren Reisen II. p. 217. Hasselquist describes the ancient aqueduct which still supplies the city, as bringing the water from the mountains, a distance of two German or Swedish miles, i. e. some four or five hours; Reise p. 192. figs, almonds, oranges, lemons, and plums, as growing here in such abundance as to furnish annually several ship loads for export; to which D'Arvieux adds also pears, peaches, cherries, and bananas, as at the present day.' At the foot of the hills, are many ancient excavated sepulchres." Saida was at this time the point, from which travellers were accustomed to make an excursion to the residence of Lady Hester Stanhope, about three hours distant in the mountains. We had letters to her; but pressed as we were for time, in the hope of still being able to visit Ba'albek, we felt no disposition to avail ourselves of the introduction. Her career was at least an extraordinary one; and whether she acted from the promptings of a noble or a wayward spirit, death has now closed the scene, and cast his pall over her virtues and her follies. Sidon was the most ancient of all the Phenician cities; and is mentioned both in the Pentateuch and in the poems of Homer; which Tyre is not. In the division of the Promised Land by Joshua, Sidon is spoken of as a great city, and was assigned to Asher; but the Israelites never subdued it." In later ages, the younger Tyre outstripped Sidon in the career of prosperity and power; but both were equally renowned for their commerce, their manufactures, and the cultivation of the fine arts, as well as for the luxury and vices usually attendant upon commercial prosperity. When the Assyrian Shalmaneser entered Phenicia, about 720 B. C. Sidon and the rest of Phenicia, except insular Tyre, submitted to the conqueror, and remained long under the dominion of the Assyrians and Persians. Under Artaxerxes Ochus, about 350 B. C. Phenicia revolted from the Persian yoke; and Sidon was captured and destroyed by that monarch. Yet it was soon built up again; and in 332 B. C. opened its gates to Alexander the Great, on his approach. 1 D'Arvieux Mém. I. p. 332. Hasselquist Reise p. 188. Besides these fruits, Hasselquist mentions also the numerous mulberry trees, the Cordia Sebestena, from whose berries bird-lime was made and exported, and sumac (Rhus). He says the vine was not cultivated around Saida; yet D'Arvieux, who resided here a century earlier, describes the vine as very abundant, yielding grapes of great perfection, and a strong though delicate white wine; Mém. I. 328. p. Described by Maundrell, April 22d. Hasselquist Reise p. 189. Pococke II. i. p. 87. Gen. 10, 19. 49, 13. Hom. Ilias 6. 289. ib. 23. 743. Odyss. 15. 415. ib. 17. 424.-The Heb. name 1177 signifies "a fishing, fishery;" and such is the ancient etymology preserved by Justin; 18. 3. But Josephus derives it from Sidon the eldest son of Canaan, Gen. 10, 15. Joseph. Ant. 1. 6. 2. Josh. 19, 28. Judg. 1, 31. 10, 12. Jos. Ant. 15. 4. 1, èx «poyóvwv ¿evDépa. Is. 23, 2. Ez. 27, 8. See too the Homeric passages cited in note 3. Virg. En. 4. 75. Diod. Sic. 16. 41, 45. Strabo 16. 2. 24. p. 757. Plin. H. N. 36. 66. The Sidonian architects were also in request; 1 Kings 5, 6. 1 Chr. 22, 4. Ezra 3, 7. Strabo (1 c.) attributes to the Sidonians great skill in philosophy, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, navigation, and all the liberal arts. • Menander in Joseph. Ant. 9. 14. 2. Diod. Sic. 16. 42 sq. 45. After Alexander's death, Sidon continued alternately in the possession of the Syrian and Egyptian monarchs, until it came at last under the Roman power; at this time it was still an opulent city. This was during the times of the New Testament, when our Lord visited the territories of Tyre and Sidon; and Paul afterwards found here Christian friends on his passage to Rome. There doubtless was early a Christian church and bishop at Sidon; though the first bishop, whose name is preserved, was Theodorus, who was present at the council of Nicea, in A. D. 325. In the same century, Eusebius and Jerome still speak of Sidon as an important city; but we know little more of it until the time of the crusades." 2 The original host of the crusaders, in their progress from Antioch towards Jerusalem, in A. D. 1099, marched along the whole Phenician coast, leaving the strong cities of Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, 'Akka, and others, unmolested, so far as the latter suffered them to pass by without hindrance. Their first and grand object was the Holy City. The Muslim commander of Sidon, however, then subject to the Khalif of Egypt, at first opposed himself to their progress; but his troops were driven back into the city by the pilgrims; and the latter then rested for several days in the rich environs, where their light troops brought in much booty from the vicinity. Not until A. D. 1107, were the crusaders able to undertake in earnest the reduction of Sidon; and even then, at first, the inhabitants succeeded in purchasing from king Baldwin I. a reprieve, with gold. Yet they themselves proved faithless; and in the next year (1108) Baldwin formally laid siege to Sidon; but, after great efforts, was obliged to abandon the enterprise. In A. D. 1111, the siege was again renewed, with better success; and after six weeks, king Baldwin had the satisfaction of seeing the city surrendered into his hands, on the tenth day of December. It was bestowed as a fief on the knight Eustache Grenier." Sidon remained in the possession of the Christians until A. D. 1187, when it fell into the hands of Saladin, without resistance, immediately after the battle of Hattin. The Sultan appears to 1 Pompon. Mela 1. 12, "adhuc opulenta Sidon, antequam a Persis capta, maritimarum urbium maxima." Matt. 15, 21. Mark 7, 24. Acts 27, 3. * See the list of bishops, Reland Pal. p. 104. Le Quien Oriens Chr. II. p. 811 sq. Onomast. art. Sidon, “urbs Phoenices insignis." See generally Reland Palæst. p. 1010 Bq. Cellarius Notit. Orb. II. p. 379 sq. Winer Bibl. Realwörterb. art. Sidon. Rosenmüller Bibl. Geogr. II. i. p. 20 sq. • Will. Tyr. 7. 22. Wilken Gesch. der Kr. I. p. 267.-In some of the writers of that age, Sidon appears as 'Sagitta;' Alb. Aquens. 10. 3, 8, "urbs Sagitta, quæ est Sidon." Marin. Sanut. pp. 155, 245. 'Albert. Aquens. 10. 3, 4, 8, 45-50. ib. 11.31-34. Will. Tyr. 11. 14. Wilken ib. II. pp. 213, 216 sq. 221 sq. Bohaed. Vit. Sal. p. 72. Abulf. Annal. A. H. 583. Reinaud Extr. p. 202. Wilken ib. III. ü. p. 295.. |