'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎527] (618/905)

CHAP. XX.]
DAMASCUS.
527
till Odenathus, and afterwards his widow, Zenobia, as Empress Fail of Pai-
of the East, attempted to throw off the Roman yoke: the lattery-
being signally defeated near Hums, the capital was desolated
by Aurelian, and its commercial prosperity was at an end.
In the sixth century Justinian fortified Palmyra, probably the
western part, as an advanced post against the Persians ; and
in 634 it was taken, and the ancient name restored by the
Khaliph Abu Bekr, whose death took place soon after he had
accomplished his grand object of mastering the capital of
Syria.
Both as regards ancient and modern times, Damascus, the City of Da-
place now about to be noticed, claims even a higher interest mascu8:
than Palmyra itself, being one of the oldest cities in the
world, and perhaps the only one which has continued to
flourish from its very foundation.
This city, to which are applied the epithets Eden of the its situation
Muslim, one of the Gates of the Kaaba, and the Eye of the arid envi,0 " , •
East, occupies the centre of a tract of productive fields and
luxuriant garden ground. Like a pearl in the desert, it is
situated near the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon, and its
territory forms the principal part of the territory of El Gutha, a
district containing about 80 villages, which probably represents
the ancient and limited kingdom of Aram or Syria of Damascus.
With the exception of the suburb of Salahiyah, a mile and a
half to the north-west,, the City of Praise, and the City of
Joy, 1 as it has been designated, occupies level ground; and the
view from the suburb, as well as that from the opening of the
hills beyond, is strikingly beautiful. The mass of the town
forms a triangle, one side of which extends nearly three miles
N.W. by W. from Salahiyah; and another almost an equal
distance N.E, by N.: it is surrounded by the remains of its
ancient walls, and within is a castellated citadel, besides the
usual proportion of khans, baths, serais, sparkling cupolas, and
tapering minarehs ; it is embosomed in flower and fruit
gardens, dotted here and there with numerous kiosks shaded
with trees; the whole forming a wooded belt at least 30 miles
1 Jer., chap. XLIX., v. 25.