Page:From Constantinople to the home of Omar Khayyam.djvu/132

 60 OFF TO DERBENT

out the invading hordes that came around the Caspian from the north. These were the ravaging bands variously known as Scythians, Huns, Alans, Turks, or Khazars. It is no marvel that ages of service have made the walls and their armored breastplate of stone look battered and worn.

The range of the Caucasus itself forms a natural bulwark across the country between the Black and the Caspian seas ; and through it there are only two famous openings which allow an ingress for an army invading from the north. One of these defiles is the well-known Darial Pass, between Vladikavkaz and Tiflis. The other is at Derbent, being the narrow opening left between the easternmost spur of the Caucasus and the waves of the Caspian. ^ Here lies the 'Gate of Gates' — the very key to Persia in ancient times, and we can well under- stand that when Peter the Great returned from his Persian campaign and entered Moscow in triumph, there was no more precious trophy carried in pomp before him than the keys of the city of Derbent. ^

The name Derbent,^ as it is commonly pronounced, is really

1 Both of these natural gateways Magog ' is expressly attributed to Alex- were strongly fortified in ancient times, ander by the Arab (Persian) writer and the natural rampart of the moun- Tabari (838-923 a.d.) in his Chronique tains was strengthened by carefully (tr. Zotenberg, 3. 498-501), and it constructed massive walls. The tradi- appears in Marco Polo (ed. Yule, 1. tion that Alexander (or more probably ch. 4) and elsewhere. See, further- some of his generals) built the fortifi- more, the dissertation by De Goeje, cations in the vicinity of the Darial De muur van Gog en Magog, in Ver- Pass (if not also at Derbent) was cur- slagen en Mededelingen d. k. Akad. v. rent as early as Josephus (37-c. 100 Wetensch., Afd. Letterk., 3. reeks, A.D.) in his De Bello Jud. 7. 7. 4, and Deel V, pp. 87 ff.; and for other refer- is found likewise in Procopius, De ences consult the article ' Gog and JBeZZoPersico, 1. 10 (ed.Haury,!, p. 46, Magog' in Jewish Encyclopedia^ 6. Leipzig, 1905 ; ed. Dindorf, 1, p. 48, 19-20, New York, 1904. 11. 15-19), who accompanied the Roman 2 qi^ Hanway, 1. 369, n. 1. general Belisarius on a campaign in ^ j h^ve chosen the spelling Der- these regions (528-532 a.d.). This bent on account of the modern pro- shows that the fortifications in the nunciation in Eussian, although the passes existed prior to Anushirvan the older form is Derbend (Darband), as Just, i.e. Chosroes I (531-579 a.d.). the etymology shows. See next note. The great wall called that of ' Gog and

�� �