Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/53

 J/ CHAPTER IL NORTHERN SYRIA EASTERN HITTITES. § I. — Boundaries and Character of the Country occupied by the Hittites. The vast region once under Hittite sway seems carved out by- nature to hold an important place in the history of man. The length of line of its coast is protracted far inland by numerous arms of the sea, the most important, perhaps, being the Cillclan bay to the north-east of the Mediterranean. Here, amidst unhealthy lagoons, rises Alexandretta or ''small Alexandria," with a cross communication of three highways ; one leading to Constantinople by an oblique cut across Asia Minor, the second coasting the sea to Arabia and Egypt, whilst the third takes the caravans to the Orontes, following its banks for awhile, until at the height of Antioch it strikes out to meet the Euphrates at the long curve it describes towards the Mediterranean above Issus Bay, as though for the very purpose of irrigating this part of Syria.^ Were we to take the whole line of country which extends between Alexandretta and the delta, it would be impossible to name a spot to equal the solitude and dreariness of the small flat level which begins at Alexandretta and stretches to the foot of the Amanus range, or an area of the same dimensions where the presence of man is so rarely seen. Notwithstanding its many disadvantages, its deadly climate, which renders the place unfit for human habitation during six months in the year — notwithstand- ing its lack of roads and insecure harbour, through the eternal fitness of things, Alexandretta is destined, sooner or later, to draw to itself the tide of human activity. Even now the number of camels that yearly travel between it and Aleppo averages io,cx>D ; ^ Reclus, Nouvelle Ghgi'aphic^ loni. ix. pp. 766, 767.