Aleppo

“ If there be a better gate to Asia than Aleppo, I do not know it. A virile population, a splendid architecture, the quickening sense of a fine Arab tradition have combined to give the town an individuality sharply cut, and more than any other Syrian city she seems instinct with an inherent vitality. ”

“ Modern Aleppo is obviously an Arab city, the language is Arabic, French has not yet displaced it as at Beyrouth, while it possesses a few broad streets, where the badly written French signs of Greek, Armenian, and Syrian shopkeepers, photographers and hotel-keepers hang. The majority of its ways are stone-paved alleys between high walls, with the lattice-windows always associated in the Western mind with Aleppo. ”

“ Aleppo was one of the few fortresses that made a respectable defence against the Moslems at the time of their first irruption. None of the great frontier towns to the eastward,—Edessa, Amida and Dara—so much as stood a real siege. Such was the bitterness of party strife, both civil and religious, within the Byzantine Empire at that period, that the Arab invaders were welcomed rather than resisted in these lands. ”

“ OLD is Aleppo, mother of cities and father of thieves. Time has brought to its streets in turn the changing peoples of the earth, the Indian, the Parsi, the triumphant Israelite—saints and pharisees, princes and lepers—and the conquering Moslem. Each built upon the ruins of the other, and made of the city a labyrinth where alleys ran underground and bathing wells were the cisterns of former palaces. And where the caravans came, thither came the thieves.
Hither had come the old Arab who had stolen Michael of Rohan, and the boy Hassan, the Arab’s son. ”

“ Aleppo is built on the eastern slope of a shallow upland basin, through which flows the little River Koweik. There are low hills to the north and south, between which the country falls into a wide, monotonous plain, extending unbroken to the Euphrates. The city is from eight to ten miles in circuit, and, though not so thickly populated, covers a greater extent of space than Damascus. The population is estimated at 100,000. In the excellence (not the elegance) of its architecture, it surpasses any Oriental city I have yet seen. ”

“ In command of this city is a pasha, to whose fingers stick the red gold and the gleaming jewels that pass through Aleppo. This pasha is Sidi Ahmad.”
“True, ataman,” observed Balaban readily. “My silver girdle against your scabbard that you do not come upon Sidi Ahmad unaware.”
Demid looked at his men thoughtfully.
“It is far to Aleppo. We do not know what we will find on the way. For some of us there will be a grave dug; others will taste of the torture stake. God only knows who will see the Siech again, or when.”
The warriors nodded, stroking their mustaches, and eyeing Demid expectantly. ”

“ Damascus is the capital of the desert, Aleppo of the fertile plain. Damascus is the city of the Arab tribes who conquered her and set their stamp upon her; Aleppo, standing astride the trade routes of northern Mesopotamia, is a city of merchants quick to defend the wealth that they had gathered afar. So I read the history that is written upon her walls and impressed deep into the character of her adventurous sons.
At Aleppo the current of the imagination is tributary to the Euphrates. ”

“ One hundred thousand women and children were sold into slavery. The walls of Aleppo were leveled, its mosques were demolished, its gardens uprooted and ruined. One month later on the citadel yielded. The victors found immense booty in the stronghold and also many artisans whom they spared for captivity.
Prince Nassir was in his camp at Berze near Damascus, when he received news of the sack of Aleppo. His general advised to retreat upon Gaza and implore the Sultan Kutuz for assistance. ”

“ The scenery along the railroad in the Amanus Range and in the plain on the way to Aleppo is much like that of the Taurus Mountains and of Cilicia Campestris, where one can truly say with the poet Bryant
There is a smile on the fruit, and a smile on the flower,
And a laugh from the brook that runs to the sea. Everywhere one comes upon places that are famous in history, both sacred and profane. Everywhere one passes through lands that during thousands of years, witnessed the devastations of Assyrians and Hittites, Persians and Greeks, Romans and Parthians, Mongols and Saracens and Turks. ”

“ Aleppo is an important consular station for all European powers, the residence of the Greek and Armenian Patriarchs of Antioch, and of Jacobite and Maronite bishops, and a station of Roman Catholic and Protestant missions. It is the emporium of N. Syria, and manufactures textiles in silk, cotton and wool, carpets and leather commodities, besides being the centre of a large district growing cereals, pistachios and fruit. The Turks regard it as one of the strongholds of their dominion and faith, and a future capital of their empire should they be forced into Asia. ”

“ But, successful in passing the gates of Aleppo, where no other Christians were suffered to enter except as slaves, he was now in the center of a fanatical mob that would tear his limbs apart at a slip of the tongue or a false move.
All at once Michael was aware that Demid had seen him. The gaze of the aga had passed over the slaves and lingered a second on the cavalier. Tossing some silver toward the clamoring Arab younglings he rode on without a sign of recognition. ”

“ With the arrival of the 15th Brigade and the Arabs, General MacAndrew deemed himself strong enough to take Aleppo. He ordered the 15th to advance early next morning, through the hills west of Aleppo, via Turmanin, and get astride the Aleppo-Alexandretta road, while the Arabs and the armoured cars attacked from the east and south respectively. During the night of the 25th, however, the Arabs, assisted by friends in Aleppo, succeeded in entering the city. They enjoyed a first-rate, old-fashioned, hand-to-hand fight with the Turks, and beat them decisively. ”

“ Within ten years--in fact, since the Allied Powers drove Ibrahim Pasha out of Syria--the trade of Aleppo has increased, at the expense of Damascus. The tribes of the Desert, who were held in check during the Egyptian occupancy, are now so unruly that much of the commerce between the latter place and Baghdad goes northward to Mosul, and thence by a safer road to this city. The khans, of which there are a great number, built on a scale according with the former magnificence of Aleppo, are nearly all filled, and Persian, Georgian, and Armenian merchants again make their appearance in the bazaars. ”

“ It is impossible for anyone to number the [Pg 25] camels that kneel in the markets of Aleppo. The water is sufficient; no one ever dies of thirst in Aleppo. How many children shall be born in this great city is known only to Allah the compassionate, the merciful. ”

“ Aleppo is located in Northern Syria about 4 hours’ drive from Antioch. It is very hot in summer, but colder in winter as it lays slightly higher up than Beirut. The surrounding nature is barren. In the vicinity of Aleppo, there are many Muhammadan villages where fellachas, Turkomans and Arabs live. Since the Armenians are largely farmers - 80 percent of them were farmers in their homeland - many of them had to go to the villages. ”

“ Aleppo is one of the largest cities in Syria, and a most important commercial center. It is nearly the most northern point for the use of the Arabic language, as Turkish becomes the general medium of communication one day's journey farther north. Being so near the Turkish district, [Pg 54] there are many Turkish-speaking people in Aleppo, but the city as a whole is essentially an Arabic-speaking place. The American Board had a Turkish congregation connected with their mission and maintained church and school work in Aleppo for the Turkish-speaking strangers resident in the city. ”

“ Here is the natural centre of commerce for the north of Syria and a great part of Western Asia. So, instead of being a peasant village upon a nameless stream, Aleppo has grown to be one of the fairest cities of the East. Local industries have developed, adding to its resources. Its stone-built houses and public places, its groves and fruit-gardens, as well as the hearty spirit of its people, are the tokens of its prosperity. Another town of considerable interest and importance is Killiz, on the border of the plain, midway between Aleppo and Aintab. ”

“ Aleppo lies on the inner edge of a great desert amphitheatre, which is buttressed by the Lebanon, the Taurus and the mountains of Kurdistan, and slopes very gradually south-eastward towards the alluvial lowlands at the head of the Persian Gulf, while southward it passes insensibly into the high desert lands of the Arabian Peninsula. This region presents a sharp climatic contrast to the tablelands of Anatolia and Armenia, which are the native country of the Armenian race. ”

“ At the northern limit of the enclosure stands a high square tower, up which, if you would know Aleppo, you must climb. From the muedhdhin’s gallery the town lies revealed, a wide expanse of flat roof covering the bazaars, broken by dome and minaret, by the narrow clefts of streets and the courts of mosque and khân. The cypresses of Abu Bekr stand sentinel to the north; from that direction Tîmûr entered through the Bâb el Ḥadîd. In the low ground beyond the Antioch Gate, the armies of the Crusaders lay encamped; the railway, an invader more powerful than Baldwin, holds it now. ”

“ It would not do at all, he reflected, for the Cossacks to make trouble for the tribe of Sivas.
“It is quite clear to me,” he said, “that the noble sir does not know Sidi Ahmad at all. Except only the Sultan Mustapha, himself—may the dogs litter on his grave—the pasha of Aleppo is the greatest of Moslems. He has a heavy hand and a quick wit, and his treasury is full as a squirrel’s nest in autumn.”
Here Ibnol Hammamgi sighed, thinking of the vast wealth of the pasha. ”

“ The city of Aleppo is situated in the plain that stretches from the Orontes to the Euphrates in the northwestern extremity of the Syrian desert. It rises in the middle of an oasis on the eight little hills, and is watered by the Kouik. ”

“ During this season in Midwinter, the caravan trade from India, Persia and Arabia came partly overland to the Euphrates, but mainly up that river, through Baghdad. Then—the passes of the Caucasus being under deep snow—it was born over the desert from Baghdad to Aleppo, thence to the ports in the Levant. ”

“ Feb. 24.—We have just heard, by a letter that came from Aleppo by way of Merdin and Mosul, that the caravan which left this place more than three months ago, entered Aleppo about thirty days ago. They remained in the desert till the Pasha of Aleppo had quitted that place on his expedition against the Pasha of Bagdad, from the fear, that if they entered the town he would seize their camels for the use of his army. Much alarm is entertained here by the inhabitants as to the result of this attack. From past experience they are led to expect great lawlessness, from both friends and foes. ”

“ The neighbourhood of Aleppo has been infested since spring, until about a month ago, by great numbers of Aenezy Arabs, who had declared war against the towns people as well as against the Manali Arabs, who are looked upon as the hereditary friends of the Aleppo government. The Aenezy have ruined about forty villages, have eaten up the whole harvest of the open country, and have rendered the roads so insecure that nobody dares travel but in the company of a large caravan. ”

“ For a time I feared the king of kings, who made gifts of a dagger’s point to other pashas of Aleppo, but to me he sent a damsel who is like the moon.”
The astrologer frowned.
“Why did the dog of a kazak burden himself with the maiden?”
“She was the surety of his mission—it would have put the shadow of doubt on his tale had he appeared in Aleppo without the woman.”
Sidi Ahmad fingered the scar on his cheek thoughtfully.
“Before the night is past my men will have thrust a spear into every corner of Aleppo, and the dog will be brought to me. He has not escaped the walls.” ”

“ The English ambassador at court knew of this, and Sir Michael had urged him to demand justice from the Sultan for the robbery. But the ambassador was afraid to act, aware that Sidi Ahmad, the pasha in question, was the favorite of Mustapha and the most powerful noble among the Moslems.
“There are eyes and ears hidden about the Imperial City,” grunted Demid, “and they reach even to here. Have you been in Aleppo?”
Sir Michael shook his head.
“No Christian can pass the gates.”
“Hearken, Frank: Have you a master? Whom do you serve?” ”

“ Accordingly, the spáhís were sent into the territories of Damascus, and the Salihdárs to Tripoli, in Syria. The janissaries remained with the commander-in-chief at Aleppo, and the troops of Romeili, of Anatolia, and of Caramania were allowed to return to their respective countries.
In Aleppo the serdár and his janissaries spent the six months of winter in every sort of pleasure and festivity. Rebels, from one hundred to two hundred, were every day brought to Aleppo and there executed without compassion or commiseration. ”

“ In the centre of the city rose a steep, abrupt mound, crowned with the remains of the ancient citadel, and shining minarets shot up, singly or in clusters, around its base. The prevailing hue of the landscape was a whitish-gray, and the long, stately city and long, monotonous hills, gleamed with equal brilliancy under a sky of cloudless and intense blue. This singular monotony of coloring gave a wonderful effect to the view, which is one of the most remarkable in all the Orient.
Chapter XV. Life in Aleppo. ”