Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/53

Rh Alexander. The following is a correct sketch of one of the principal tombs, which I take the liberty of copying from Ainsworth.

Strabo, who as is well known was born at Amasea, has left us a faithful description of that city. The natural features of the place remain as they were when he wrote, but the splendid monuments of art which once ornamented his native town have long since disappeared. A French writer suggests the following as a principal cause of this destruction: "To say nothing of the ravages of war and barbarism, there is another species of devastation which goes on from day to day, owing to the general custom prevalent in Anatolia, of constructing the houses with flat mud roofs, which serve as yard, garden, and sleeping apartment, to the inhabitants during the hot season. These being split into a thousand cracks from exposure to the sun, would serve as a poor protection against the rains of winter, if the occupiers did not take the precaution of constantly rolling them with a large cylinder, which unfortunately is not taken from the quarry, but from the ancient edifices and tombs. If we calculate that Amâsia contains about six thousand of these terraces, and that each terrace has its roller, it is easy to conceive what ruin this cause alone has wrought."

Amâsia is governed by a Mutsellim, or deputy governor, appointed by the pasha of Siwâs, to which pashalic it belongs, and may be reckoned one of the most flourishing towns in this