Page:The Nestorians and their rituals, volume 1.djvu/74

40 Besides the above there are some fine specimens of Cufic inscriptions, and several rude figures of birds and lions engraved upon the city walls. Numerous fragments of pillars of black basalt, especially capitals, are also to be found in every street of the town. These are of the same material as well as order with those so common in the north of Syria, especially about Aleppo and Mumbej, the ancient Hierapolis.

The modern town, which is about four miles in circumference, is of a circular form, and is surrounded with a good wall fortified by several hundred turrets. In this are four gates facing the cardinal points of the compass, viz., Bâb-ool-Jebel, Bâb-Mardeen, Bâb-ool-Jedeed, and Bâb-oor-Boom. The environs on the northern and western sides are covered with graves, to the east flows the Tigris, and on the south are some extensive and pleasant gardens. Many of the houses are well built, and some of the entrances to the numerous mosques are fine specimens of elaborate Saracenic architecture. There is also a large Khan in the city, known as Hasan Pasha's, and now formed into a barrack for the troops. The khan is constructed of alternate layers of rectangular blocks of white and black stone, and is deservedly admired for its size and the symmetry of its parts. Many of the common dwellings, however, are built of rough stone overlaid with mud, and the streets are generally narrow and dirty in the extreme. The citadel and palace are situated to the northeast, and are separated from the rest of the town by a mud wall; the former is nothing more than a heap of rubbish, and the few cannon which defended it seemed totally unfit for use. The enclosure, besides the private residence of the pasha, comprises a mosque, several sumptuous tombs, and the ruins of an ancient church which now serves as a magazine.

The same cause which has turned the current of trade from Tocât has also operated to deprive Diarbekir of much of its former importance as a commercial city; nevertheless it appeared to be in a thriving state. Provisions of all kinds are cheap, and fruit abundant, especially melons, which attain to so large a size that two sometimes form a mule-load. I was not a little surprised during my second visit to see in the bazaar large piles of vegetable rhubarb, which is used here as an acid in cookery. Mrs. Badger could not resist her home associations, and deter-