Ghor

“ At present the name Arabah is simply attached to the southern half of this valley, between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea; whilst the northern part, between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee, is called el Ghor; though Abulfeda, Ibn Haukal, and other Arabic geographers, extend the name Ghor from the Lake of Gennesaret to Aila (cf. Ges. thes. p. 1166; Hengstenberg, Balaam, p. 520; Robinson, Pal. ii. p. 596) . ”

“ Passing this mountain the seventh district is entered—a broad valley extending from near Fusâil to ’Osh el Ghŭrâb, north of Jericho. In this region the Ghôr itself is five miles broad, west of the river, and rather more on the east; the lower trench or Zor is also wider here and more distinctly separated from the Ghôr. A curious geographical feature of this region was also discovered by the Survey party. The great affluents of the Fâr’ah and ’Aujeh do not flow straight to Jordan, but turn south about a mile west of it, and each runs, for about six miles, nearly parallel with the river ”

“ When they heard the Wazuli's tale, they returned with all haste to Ghor, and we saddled our steeds and girt our swords!"
"And what do you fools mean to do?" demanded the Cimmerian.
"To avenge our brothers!" they howled. "Death to the Kshatriyas! Slay him, brothers, he is a traitor!" ”

“ How that one man escaped, I do not know, nor did he; but I knew from his maunderings that Conan of Ghor had been in Khurum with his royal captive. And as we made our way through the hills, we overtook a naked Galzai girl bearing a gourd of water, who told us a tale of having been stripped and ravished by a giant foreigner in the garb of an Afghuli chief, who, she said, gave her garments to a Vendhyan woman who accompanied him. ”

“ He was, in fact, the first to bring the existence of this southern valley to the notice of the civilized world. The valley of the Jordan, as he describes it, widens about Jericho, where the hills which border it, join the chains of mountains which inclose the Dead Sea. At the southern extremity of the sea they again approach each other, leaving between them a valley or Ghor, similar in form to the northern Ghor, through which the Jordan flows; though the southern valley, from want of water, is a desert, while the Jordan and its tributaries make the other a fertile plain. ”

“ A plan of the hill has been made by Major Kitchener, and drawn for me by Mr. Armstrong (Fig. 16) .
On descending from the ruins for the last time down the mountain side, we were treated to a display of the gorgeous colouring characteristic of the eastern side of The Ghôr, when lit up by the slanting rays of the western sun. The evening had been cloudy, and some rain had fallen. Suddenly the sun burst forth through a gap in the clouds, and lighted up the cliffs along the northern side of the valley with tints of surpassing richness and brilliancy. ”

“ In the southern Ghor, the rivulets which descend from the mountains are lost in the sand and gravel which form their beds, long before they reach the valley below. The valley itself, therefore, is entirely without water, and is, consequently, barren and desolate. The whole plain, as Burckhardt viewed it, presented the appearance of an expanse of shifting sands, the surface varied with innumerable undulations and low hills. A few trees grow here and there in the low places, and at the foot of the rocks which line the valley ”

“ It now appears that we did not get out of The Ghor at all too soon. I learn, through Major Kitchener (letter dated Abbassiyeh, March 21) , that Sheikh Arari of Petra is at war with Ibn Mujelli of Kerak, and the battleground is doubtless the neighbourhood of Es Safieh. Had this war broken out when we were there our position would not have been pleasant. As neutrals we should have been regarded by both parties with suspicion; and possibly have been treated as they treat the Ghawarneh. ”

“ The capital of the kingdom of Ghor, when its princes were rising to dominion in the 12th century, was Firoz Koh, where a city and fortress were founded by Saifuddin Suri. The exact position of Firoz Koh is difficult to determine, unless it be represented by the ruins of one or other of the ancient cities in the upper Murghab valley, the habitat of the Firoz Kohi section of the Chahar Aimāk, which were visited by the surveyors of the Russo-Afghan boundary delimitation of 1884-1885. ”

“ It is no new thing for kings to make war on their neighbours, but barbarity like yours is unknown to the brave, and such as none have heard of being exercised towards princes. You may therefore be assured that God has forsaken you, and has ordained that I, Allah-ud-din, should be the instrument of that just revenge denounced against you for putting to death the representative of the independent and very ancient family of Ghor. ”

“ And God help me, through me they succeeded where otherwise they had failed.
"For my lord Gerard was honorable beyond all men. When in peace, and at Nureddin's invitation, he visited El Ghor, he paid no heed to Yulala's blandishments. For according to the commands of her masters, which she dared not disobey, the girl allowed Gerard to look on her, unveiled, as if by chance, and she pretended affection for him. But Gerard gave her no heed. But I--I fell victim to her charms."
Cormac snorted in disgust. Michael clutched his arm.
"Cormac," he cried, "bethink you--all men are not iron like you! ”

“ The climate is naturally good, but continued neglect of sanitary precautions has made the city unhealthy. During the summer months the heat is tempered by a fresh sea-breeze, and there is usually a sharp fall of temperature at night; but in spring and autumn the east and south-east winds, which blow across the heated depression of the Ghor, are enervating and oppressive. ”

“ The water of the lagoon south of the Lisan peninsula is only slightly over 30 feet deep, and the channel between the Lisan and the west shore only 29 feet deep. It is quite probable that within historical times the south end has been dry land, and physically possible that tradition is
238 THE HANDBOOK OF PALESTINE
correct when it fixes the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah beneath the oily waters of the Dead Sea.
The Ghor is still in a youthful condition. Its walls are still precipitous; tributaries have succeeded in excavating only narrow canons, down which they plunge in waterfalls. ”

“ The asphaltum (Arabic) , Hommar, which is collected by the Arabs of the western shore, is said to come from a mountain which blocks up the passage along the eastern Ghor, and which is situated at about two hours south of wady Modjeb. The Arabs pretend that it oozes from the fissures in the cliff, and collects in large pieces on the rock below, where the mass gradually increases and hardens, until it is rent asunder by the heat of the sun, with a loud explosion, and falling into the sea, is carried by the waves in considerable quantities to the opposite shores. ”

“ Night is not far away; mayhap we can gain through to the interior of the castle--there--"
His big hands clenched into iron sledges and his terrible eyes blazed; in his whole bearing there was apparent a plain tale of fire and carnage, of spears piercing bosoms and swords splitting skulls.
Chapter IV: The Faith of Cormac When Cormac FitzGeoffrey took up the trail to El Ghor again, one would have thought at a glance that a Turk rode with him. Michael de Blois rode the bay Turkoman steed and wore the peaked Turkish helmet. ”

“ A small rapid, the river running from left to right, across the valley. On the right, a round point with an Arab encampment upon it, the population in an uproar; men, women, and children shouting, and running down to the landing-place; passed a small island just below.
At 3:15, a long reach in the river; the first straight line we have seen in its entire course, thus far. Passed the territory of the tribe Es Sukr el Ghor, 500 fighting men. ”

“ But what was still more novel, were the evidences of human industry which we encountered as we approached Es Safieh. We passed over several open spaces where men were ploughing with a yoke of oxen; many trenches had been dug for irrigating purposes, and we were soon to witness the systematic manner in which irrigation is carried on by the industrious inhabitants of this part of The Ghôr.
Proceeding onwards in single file, we found ourselves within the village of the Ghawarneh. ”

“ The Ghorkas are the conquerors of Nepaul, and now compose the army; they have grants of land called jaghires, on which they live when not actually on service. They are a handsome and independent race, priding themselves upon not being able to do anything but fight; and in their free and sometimes noble carriage often reminded me of the Tyrolese. ”

“ On Wednesday, the 26th, I encamped in the garden of Sardār K͟hān, which he had made in the neighbourhood of Peshawar. I walked round Ghorkhatrī, which is the worshipping-place of the jogīs in this neighbourhood, with the idea that I might see some faqirs from association with whom I might obtain grace. But that was like looking for the phœnix or the philosopher’s stone. A herd without any religious knowledge came to my view, from seeing whom I derived nothing but obscurity of mind. ”

“ Arus was fortunate in being thrown in with a chief of more than usual intelligence—Gorm by name. Gorm cannot be explained, any more than Genghis Khan, Othman, Attila, or any of those individuals, who, born in naked lands among untutored barbarians, yet possess the instinct for conquest and empire-building. In a sort of bastard-Bossonian, the priest made the chief understand his purpose, and though extremely puzzled, Gorm gave him permission to remain among his tribe unbutchered—a case unique in the history of the race. ”

“ Lifting his head and raising his arms toward the silent form on the dais, Gorulga cried in the deep, rich resonance that was the natural attribute of the Keshani priest: 'Oh, great goddess, dweller with the great one of darkness, let thy heart be melted, thy lips opened for the ears of thy slave whose head is in the dust beneath thy feet! Speak, great goddess of the holy valley! Thou knowest the paths before us; the darkness that vexes us is as the light of the midday sun to thee. Shed the radiance of thy wisdom on the paths of thy servants! ”

“ I said, speaking slowly. “Let the tale be told from village to village, from camp to camp, from tribe to tribe, so that men may know that not man nor beast nor devil may prey in safety on the golden-haired people of Asgard. Let them build me a cairn where I lie and lay me therein with my bow and sword at hand, to guard this valley for ever; so if the ghost of the god I slew comes up from below, my ghost will ever be ready to give it battle.”
And while Grom howled and beat his hairy breast, death came to me in the Valley of the Worm. ”

“ Mhor and his delight over a burn of his own, and a garden that grew red puddock-stools, had made up his mind for him. He would never be the angel with the flaming sword who turned Mhor out of paradise. He had not known that a boy could be such a pleasant person. ”

“ Not even among the fairest daughters of the Aesir have I seen such hair, by Ymir!"
"Who are you to swear by Ymir?" she mocked. "What know you of the gods of ice and snow, you who have come up from the south to adventure among strangers?"
"By the dark gods of my own race!" he cried in anger. "Have I been backward in the sword-play, stranger or no? This day I have seen four score warriors fall, and I alone survive the field where Mulfhere's reavers met the men of Bragi. Tell me, woman, have you caught the flash of mail across the snow-plains, or seen armed men moving upon the ice?" ”

“ To fields of the dead she comes, and shows herself to the dying! Myself when a boy I saw her, when I lay half-slain on the bloody field of Wolraven. I saw her walk among the dead in the snows, her naked body gleaming like ivory and her golden hair like a blinding flame in the moonlight. I lay and howled like a dying dog because I could not crawl after her. She lures men from stricken fields into the wastelands to be slain by her brothers, the ice-giants, who lay men’s red hearts smoking on Ymir’s board. Amra has seen Atali, the frost-giant’s daughter! ”

“ Only this can save Keshan from the doom the demons of the night have plotted. Take the Teeth of Gwahlur and go: return instantly to Keshia; there give the jewels to Thutmekri, and seize the foreign devil Conan and flay him alive in the great square.'
There was no hesitation in obeying. Chattering with fear the priests scrambled up and ran for the door that opened behind the bestial god. Gorulga led the flight. They jammed briefly in the doorway, yelping as wildly waving torches touched squirming black bodies; they plunged through, and the patter of their speeding feet dwindled down the tunnel. ”

“ Listen, the might of the Nine-bow barbarians rolls up the eastern branch of Sihor. But one day’s march from On the mountains run down to the edge of the river, and those mountains are pierced by a rocky pass through which the foe will surely come. Set thou thy ambush there, Wanderer, there at Prosopis—so shalt thou smite them. Farewell. I will seek out the Hathor if in any way I can come at her, and tell her all. But of this I warn thee, the hour is big with Fate, and soon will spawn a monstrous birth. Strange visions of doom and death passed before mine eyes as I slept last night. ”

“ This rough, stern, blind, and stricken giant was a divine being to the poor child of the woods. In a vague way Nial thought of Màm-Gorm as God: like Màm-Gorm, God could provide, could at rare times be tender and pitiful, could be stern, morose, forbidding, terrible in wrath, of a swift avenging spirit, could strike, bruise, drive forth, kill.
When Sorcha had left at sunrise she knew that her father had the gloom upon him. In vain she looked here and there for Oona. ”