Hama

“ So having arrived at Sulaimania I had to send Hama back, for the time was near when the Jew should return, and my man must be there to receive the merchandise and arrange transport. Hama, however, had not liked the idea of going to Halabja empty-handed; like all Kurds who have come in contact with trade and business, he was keen to experiment. So after a consultation with Matti and Habib Badria, the former of whom did not quite like the idea, it was arranged that he should take with him a load of shoes and a few odd things, for sale to the shopkeepers of Halabja. ”

“ Its imports through Aleppo have been on the increase, and the place is rising in commercial significance. Killis is of less account, but has a large market for animals.
Hama, which is the chief town of a thriving agricultural district and has a well-established textile industry, is now more dependent on Aleppo for imports than on Beirut. A large trade is done with the Beduin tribes to the east, Hama being one of the principal recipients of their produce, especially wool and butter. ”

“ Hama, any thing which is prejudicial, disease, complaint, indisposition. Hama běurěum, the red disease. Hama putih, the white disease, two diseases which attack the blades of young growing paddy. (Ar. حم humma, laboravit febri?)
Hama-an, troubled with some disease.
Hamat, a designation for a quantity of paddy, of a weight varying in different parts. The people inland of Batavia do not count by Hamats. ”

“ The Jordan in the far south, the Leontes, which flows into the Mediterranean between Tyre and Sidon, and the Orontes in the north—these complete the tale of Syrian rivers, and Hama is the only city in the country whose stream appears as a prominent feature in the landscape. It winds and twists so that you meet it at almost every turn of the street. Along one bank, a line of closely latticed windows mark the harems of the wealthier citizens ”

“ CHAPTER XIII
LIFE IN SULAIMANIA (continued) During this time Hama had returned once with a large number of mule-loads of “run” from Halabja, and was great with projects of a journey to Bagdad to buy sugar. ”

“ As the Christians form a quite insignificant minority of the population of Hama, they receive a degree of consideration from their Moslem neighbors such as is not granted in cities where the two religions are more nearly balanced and where jealousy and hatred consequently lead to frequent reprisals. ”

“ The inhabitants of Hama, fully persuaded that we were utterly exterminated, no longer sent us those occasional supplies of provisions which, coming at our utmost need, had hitherto preserved us from starvation. At length the Drayhy, finding his misfortunes accumulate, assembled his chiefs, and addressed them thus: “My friends, it now becomes necessary that we should [Pg 160] make a last effort. To-morrow we must either conquer or die. To-morrow, by God’s permission, I will destroy the enemy’s camp: to-morrow we will feast upon its spoils.” ”

“ Hrædas: the Goths.
121. The struggle between the Goths and the Huns did not actually occur in the Vistula wood, but after the Goths had left the Vistula.
124, 130. Wudga and Hama. The typical outlaws of German tradition. Hama appears in Beowulf (v. 1198) as a fugitive who has stolen the Brising necklace and fled from Eormanric. Wudga, the Widia of Waldhere (B, vv. 4, 9) came finally to be known for his treachery. He was connected with the court of Theodoric and received gifts from him, but he is later represented as having betrayed the king. ”

“ She was Togan Timur’s favorite wife, and mother of the heir apparent. Hama applied himself quickly also to serving the worst inclinations of his sovereign, and peopled the palace with his creatures, youthful debauchees given to every disorder, and Tibetan Lamas, who practised all sorts of magic, and held immensely grotesque superstitions. At this man’s instigation the censors of the Empire accused Toktagha of taking for his own use, or giving to his favorites, funds intended for war and public service. ”

“ Hama, whose edification at meeting so virtuous a man was considerable, accepted the amulets with a gratitude not quite free from a certain awkwardness noticeable about the simpler Kurd whenever he comes in contact with any of the stock-in-trade of religion. ”

“ It is bounded on the south by a mountain, on the north by a great lake, beyond which is an open and fine country. The river that comes from Hama runs alongside the walls. Almost all the inhabitants are Turcomans or Arabs, and their profession is breeding cattle, such as camels, goats, cows, and sheep. The goats are, for the most part, white, and the handsomest I have ever seen, not having, like those of Syria, hanging ears ”

“ We arrived in safety at the tents of the Grand Emir, Mahannah el Fadel, who gave us a fine Arab feast, and killed a camel, of which we partook. At two hours from Hamah, we were met by a corps of Delibashes, who were sent as a complimentary escort by Moli Ismael, a man of great note in Syria, who conducted us to his house, where dinner was prepared for 300 people, and [257] corn provided for all the Arab mares. Within a mile of Hamah, full 10,000 people were assembled out of curiosity, half of which were women, and many women of distinction, with Nasif Pasha’s children carried by slaves. ”

“ Hamah forms a part of the province of Damascus, and is usually the station of three or four hundred horsemen, kept here by the Pasha to check the Arabs, who inundate the country in spring and summer. Few rich merchants are found in the town; but it is the residence of many opulent Turkish gentlemen, who find in it all the luxuries of the large towns, at the same time that they are in some measure removed from the extortions of the government. ”

“ Hamath (now Hama) is on the Orontes, see note on xviii. 5. The entering in of Hamath is to be identified with the Beḳā‘a, a broad valley between Lebanon and Anti-Libanus watered by the Orontes, Bädeker, Palestine5, p. 372. It is mentioned as on the northern frontier of Israel in Joshua xiii. 5; 1 Kings viii. 65, and elsewhere.
6And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, the Lord that sitteth1 upon the cherubim, which2 is called by the Name. ”

“ No Pasha has ever yet succeeded in cutting off this man’s head, though many have tried; but he is too powerful, and the Arabs are too fond of him. He has taken refuge amongst them twice, and he now feeds every Arab who comes into Hamah, as a mark of his gratitude.
B. is in very good health, and means to write to you; the doctor is curing Arab chiefs somewhere about Palmyra. ”

“ The governor, or motsellem, of Hamah, was a certain Abdallah Bey, the son of a pasha: for Hamah is a city of the third rank, and generally has a distinguished person to rule over it. His predecessor was named Yahyah Bey, who had been carried off prisoner to Damascus, upon a suspicion of malversation, a few days before. [43] He was said to be one of the most artful men in Syria. Relying on his spies and his own [171] acuteness, he had for a long time, without being in open rebellion, set the Porte and the pasha at defiance. ”

“ Muley the King is afield, but sick to the death.
Borne on a litter he lies, his blood on fire, his eyes
Flaming with fever light.
Hamah Tabah the Captain, stands by the curtained bed,
Telling him news of the fight—how the waves roll and
rise, and clash and mingle and seethe.
And Hamah bends to the scene. He peers under archéd hand—
As an eagle he stoops to the field. One hand on the hilt
Is white at the knuckles, so fiercely gripped ”

“ This Haman, who now, in a time of profound peace and full security—while both races were exiles from the land of their fathers—had plotted the ruin of their nation, the total extermination of their race; who had doomed the feeble and helpless, the little one and the aged, to perish with the strong man in his might; this Haman was the son of those who fell upon the tribes, faint and weary, in the wilderness ”

“ The lowly child of old Hammedetha
Is first among the servants of the king.
Ah, Mordecai, you did not know I am
An Agagite, who fed upon the breast
Of unrelenting hate toward every child
Of Israel, who will not bend the knee
Save to the God of Abraham. Oh, do
[Wailing in Street.]
You, Zeresh, hear that wail of anguish? Love,
I know that you are proud to be the wife
Of him who can direct such music.
Zeresh
I
Am proud of Haman's power.
Haman
Go call our friends. ”

“ Hamah (45) , the Hamath of the Bible, an ancient city of Syria, on the Orontes, 110 m. NE. of Damascus; manufactures silk, cotton, and woollen fabrics; is one of the oldest cities of the world; has some trade with the Bedouins in woollen stuffs; during the Macedonian dynasty it was known as Epiphania; in 1812 Burckhardt discovered stones in it with Hittite inscriptions.
Haman, an enemy of the Jews in Persia, who persuaded the king to decree the destruction of them against a particular day, but whose purpose was defeated by the reversal of the sentence of doom. ”

“ From the low situation of the city, the air is bad, and autumnal diseases are here often very fatal, always very common; but the climate is mild beyond measure in the winter. Seen from the neighbouring hills, Hamah presents one of the most beautiful prospects I ever beheld, arising from the joint effect of the windings of the river through the straggling streets, the noble arcades, the great wheels, and the rich foliage of its orchards. ”

“ Hamah is a large but straggling city on the Aâsy or Orontes, which may be here from twenty to thirty yards broad. It is built in a bottom between two hills. There is a conical mound, evidently the work of human hands, upon which once stood a citadel, although now one stone is not left on another. Nor could this elevation, since the invention of cannon, have served for defence, as its highest part is only on a level with the downs which surround the city. The streets are filthy and stinking both in winter and summer; and, as they are not paved, the winter rains render them almost impassable ”

“ There is one trifling inconvenience which arises from this mode of excluding the light. In the middle of the day, when the glare of the sun is almost intolerable, on entering these rooms, one seems for a moment in total darkness. I cannot but suppose that this sudden abstraction of light must in some degree enfeeble the organs of vision. Hamah, indeed, like Damascus, abounds in one-eyed and blind people.
The dress of the poor female inhabitants may be said to consist of four pieces ”

“ I secured your release from your tormentors on the one condition that, should I learn where your money was hidden, I should tell Khaled your enemy. You have suffered greatly, and are paying with your life for your determination not to let your treasure fall into your enemy's hands; let it lie unknown in the ground, it will keep silence!" Whilst I was talking, Hamada held my hand ”

“ The various companies of hamals are as jealous of their claims upon a particular locality as are the dogs of the quarter. They may carry a load in a district not their own, only if the load is taken up first in their own quarter. Any attempt to commence work in another company’s territory results in a fierce fight between the parties concerned, and exposes the articles in dispute to serious damage. The Moslem hamals are very attentive to their religious duties.211 It is often impossible to get them to attend to your wants at the hours of prayer. ”

“ The derivation of the names of Haman and Vashti is less certain, but some high authorities are disposed to accept the view of Jensen that Haman is identical with Humman or Homman, the national god of the Elamites, and that Vashti is in like manner an Elamite deity, probably a goddess whose name appears in inscriptions. ”

“ It happened that the Badjoura people, and their Shekh Ismael, were upon indifferent terms with Hamam, and his men of Furshout, and being desirous to get a triumph over their neighbours by the help of their friar Christopher, they continued to eat, drink, and smoke, two days after the conjunction.
The moon had been seen the second night, by a Fakir [1] , in the desert, who had sent word to Shekh Hamam, and he had begun his fast. But Ismael, assured by friar Christopher that it was impossible, had continued eating. ”

“ HAMAH. [p.146] called El Shyhy [Arabic] , was to our right; at three hours, we passed the village El Djadjye [Arabic] , distant from the left of the road a quarter of an hour; and near it the village El Kasa. The fertile soil now begins to be well cultivated. In four hours we reached Hamah, where we alighted, at the house of Selym Keblan, one of the Mutsellim's secretaries, the most gentlemanly Levantine I had yet known.
Hamah is situated on both sides of the Orontes; a part of it is built on the declivity of a hill, and a part in the plain ”

“ On the south, the tribe of Kaszas (قصاص) who people the country on the west banks from Thebes to near Esne, and to whom belong the inhabitants of Gourne, Orment, and Reheygat (all celebrated for their bold plundering enterprises) were their determined enemies; although both these and the Howara report that they have the same origin from Barbary. When, after Aly Beg, the Mamelouk power had increased in Egypt, the Hamams were attacked by them, and defeated in several bloody encounters, and the chief Hamam being wounded, fled to Esne, where he died. He was buried at Nagady opposite Kous. ”

“ In October, 1862, the Arabic official newspaper in Beirût, contained a letter from Hums which illustrates this fact. A fanatical wretch from Hamath, one of the infamous Moslem saints, set up the claim that he had received the power to cast out devils by divine inspiration. He found credulous followers among the more ignorant, and went to Hums to practice his diabolical trade. A poor woman had lost her reason through excessive grief at the death of her son. The husband and others of her relatives went to consult the new prophet. ”