Hauran

“ The plain of Jaulan appears in the distance like the continuation of Hauran (Robinson, App. 162) ; it has much bush-land in it, but the climate is not so healthy as in Hauran (Seetzen, i. pp. 353, 130, 131) . “In general, Hauran, Jaulan, el Botthin, el Belka, and Ejlun, are the paradise of nomads, and in all their wanderings eastwards they find no pasture like it” (Seetzen, i. p. 364) . מקום, a locality, or district. מקנה מאום = מקנה ארץ (Num 32:4) , a district adapted for grazing. ”

“ In all the larger works of travel on Palestine and Syria, we find it recorded that Haurân is there called Job's fatherland. In Hauran itself the traveller hears this constantly; if any one speaks of the fruitfulness of the whole district, or of the fields around a village, he is always answered: Is it not the land of Job (bildâd Êjûb) ? Does it not belong to the villages of Job (diâ' Êjûb) ? Thus to Seetzen [180] Bosrâ was pointed out as a city of Job; and to Eli Smith [181] even the country lying to the east of the mountains was called the land of Job. ”

“ Many now emigrate, when occasion offers, to America.
Meanwhile, the Hauran, the old seat of the Shehab family and Hermon Druses, had been steadily receiving a Druse influx, since the day of Ain Dara (see above) . Towards the close of the 18th century some 600 families left Lebanon for the Hauran, in discontent with the rule of the Shehab dynasty, and their place and property were taken by 1500 families driven out of Jebel Ansarieh by Topal Ali in 1811. The Hauran Druses increased by the middle of the 19th century to 7000 souls. ”

“ It is a matter of dispute whether Hauran should be included within Palestine proper, accepting its definition as the “ancient Hebrew territory.” It is a large volcanic region, entirely covered with lava and other igneous rocks. Two remarkable rows of these run in lines from north to south, through the region of the Jaulan parallel to the Ghor, and from a long distance are conspicuous features in the landscape. The soil is fertile, and there are many remains of ancient wealth and civilization scattered over its surface. ”

“ There is little water to be found in the Hauran in summer, and less food, and not a single tree and scarce a human habitation soften the desolation of this horrible region.
The 5th Cavalry Division reached Sasa at about eight on the morning of the 30th, and there received a message from an aeroplane that a large body of the enemy, which was, in fact, the leading portion of the IVth Army, was approaching Kiswe, along the Deraa-Damascus road. The 13th Brigade, followed by the 14th, was at once despatched to try and intercept this force. ”

“ A very ancient and plausible Christian tradition, which since the rise of Islam has also been accepted implicitly by the Moslems, identifies the Hauran with the “Land of Uz” where dwelt the patriarch Job. Three towns on the western slopes of the Druse Mountain perpetuate his story. Bishop William of Tyre, writing in the twelfth century, mentions the popular belief that Job’s friend Bildad the Shuhite dwelt at Suweida, and the inhabitants of this village boast that the patriarch himself was their first sheikh. ”

“ It is they who attacked Hauran, put the inhabitants to flight, and up to the present moment they have conquered seventeen villages. They provoke quarrels and massacres for the most trivial causes, in order that they may be able to lay hands on other villages in succession. ”

“ Although the nation may be said to be divided into three sections, of which one—by far the largest—occupies the mountains of the Hauran, known as the Jebel Druse, another the mountains of the Lebanon, and the third and smallest the hills of northern Galilee, they keep up a close contact with each other, and meetings such as these afford opportunities for them to hold counsel in regard to the political fortunes and condition of the nation. ”

“ All is done by forced labour. A certain length of road is allocated to each town or village in the district concerned, and this the inhabitants are bound to construct themselves, or pay for its construction. The stone-laid patches represent the diligence and promptitude of some villages; the intervals suggest the evasions of work, in the practice of which the Arab is an adept.
The country now becomes more open. The view stretches far in front over the waving grain-fields which have given Haurân its fame. ”

“ The second is now confined to the southern Lebanon, and even there is greatly outnumbered by Maronites, who, in the whole “Mountain,” stand to Druses as 9 to 2. The third is counterbalanced everywhere by a large population of Moslem and Orthodox Syrians. The Hauran, therefore, has become the stronghold of the Druses, offering nowadays the best field for studying their peculiar customs and religion; and the group there still increases at the expense of the other groups, despite efforts on the part of the Ottoman government to check Druse migration by both conciliatory and repressive measures. ”

“ There seems, however, nothing to support it beyond the fact that the people in the region beyond the Jordan seem all and always to have been of Hamite or Turanian blood, and therefore likely to adopt this mode of burial whenever it may have been introduced, in spite of the colonization of two tribes and a half of Israelites, who could do but little to leaven the mass. I am afraid that, like the theory which identified the Roman cities of the Hauran with the giant cities of Og, king of Bashan, and his tall contemporaries, this hypothesis will not bear examination. ”

“ Nay, they are lucky if they escape with a whole skin.
"I sense your incredulity, good Alcemides; you will fear that I exaggerate conditions in Khauran. Such conditions would be unthinkable in any of the Western countries, admittedly. But you must realize the vast difference that exists between West and East, especially this part of the East. In the first place, Khauran is a kingdom of no great size, one of the many principalities which at one time formed the eastern part of the empire of Koth, and which later regained the independence which was theirs at a still earlier age. ”

“ Supposing that the troops sent to safeguard the security of the Empire were sufficient to end the whole affair, it is certain that the continuation of the conflict between the Druses and Hauranians could have no good result to the Empire. Consequently the best means, in our opinion, by which to put an end to this affair, consist in postponing the subjection of the Druses until the period of the complete re‐organisation of the vilayet, and we must resign ourselves to acting solely as arbitrators between the Druses and Hauranians, to bring about an amicable arrangement. ”

“ Löytved of Bayrut has found, amongst the Hauranic inscriptions, one in pure Naskhi, dating A.D. 568, or fifty years before the Hijrah; and it is accepted as authentic by my learned friend M. Ch. Clermont-Ganneau (p. 193, Pal. Explor. Fund; July 1884) . In D'Herbelot and Sale's day the Koran was supposed to have been written in rude characters, like those subsequently called "Cufic," invented shortly before Mohammed's birth by Murámir ibn Murrah of Anbar in Irák, introduced into Meccah by Bashar the Kindian, and perfected by Ibn Muklah (Al-Wazir, ob. A.H. 328=940) . We must now change all that. ”

“ In Hōrai nothing is hidden but grief, because there is no reason for shame; — and nothing is locked away, because there could not be any theft; — and by night as well as by day all doors remain unbarred, because there is no reason for fear. And because the people are fairies — though mortal — all things in Hōrai, except the Palace of the Dragon- King, are small and quaint and queer; — and these fairy-folk do really eat their rice out of very small bowls, and drink their wine out of very, very small cups. ”

“ Those are the glimmering portals of Hōrai the blest; and those are the moony roofs of the Palace of the Dragon-King;—and the fashion of them (though limned by a Japanese brush of to-day) is the fashion of things Chinese, twenty-one hundred years ago...
Thus much is told of the place in the Chinese books of that time:—
In Hōrai there is neither death nor pain; and there is no winter. The flowers in that place never fade, and the fruits never fail; and if a man taste of those fruits even but once, he can never again feel thirst or hunger. ”

“ For really there are no enchanted fruits which leave the eater forever satisfied,—nor any magical grass which revives the dead,—nor any fountain of fairy water,—nor any bowls which never lack rice,—nor any cups which never lack wine. It is not true that sorrow and death never enter Hōrai; neither is it true that there is not any winter. The winter in Hōrai is cold;—and winds then bite to the bone ”

“ El–Haurá, like most of the ruined settlements upon this coast, shows two distinct “quarters;” a harbour-town and what may be called a country-town. The latter, whose site is by far the more picturesque and amene, lay upon a long tongue of land backing the slope of the sea-cliff, and attached to the low whitish hillocks and pitons rising down south. It is now a luxuriant orchard of emerald palms forming three large patches. Behind it swells a dorsum of golden-yellow sand; and the horizon is closed by ranges of hills and highlands, red and white, blue and black. ”

“ The father knew also that the Varangian Guard, though hated by the people, held to one another like a band of brothers; and that any one brought up among them would be sure of plenty of fighting and plenty of gold,—the two things most prized by early Norsemen. For ordinary life, Harald's chief duties would be to lounge about the palace, keeping guard, wearing helmet and buckler and bearskin, with purple underclothes and golden clasped hose; and bearing as armor a mighty battle-axe and a small scimitar. ”

“ Then suddenly, like a great oak tree, too large to be cut with the ax and therefore possible only to split by the use of fire, the giant seemed to make a sudden effort, he moved, he staggered, he fell dead at their feet.
What is the deeper meaning of this terrible poem, founded upon an historical fact? Simply that moral pain is much more powerful than physical pain—that it is capable of breaking down any strength. Harald could not be killed in battle under ordinary circumstances; fighting could not even tire him, it only made him hungry and thirsty. ”

“ Even so, Haurd again broke through them, killing three more. Ref again caught him, yet dared not meddle with him, though he now had Helge on his back, until the others made a ring about him with the aid of a spell. There was nothing for it but to drop Helge and save him from his enemies by killing him. Haurd was enraged because he knew that a spell was being used on him; he was so fearful to look at that no one would go for him until Torfe had promised Haurd’s ring to the man who did. Almost a dozen set on him together to earn the ring. ”

“ When the warriors drank too much, it was not a time for women to be present.
This is the substance of the first part of the poem. Observe that Harald is never spoken of as having been fatigued by his battle; fighting only makes him hungry. This is a giant and probably a kindly giant in his way; we see that he is fond of his young wife. But he cannot retire from the banquet according to the custom of his people. He must drink with everybody after the great victory. And he drinks so much that he remains like a dead man for three days. ”

“ Though you are her enemy, she admires you as a soldier.”
These flattering words were pleasing to Harun. He walked to and fro in front of his tent and then spoke again to the ambassadors.
“Tell the Empress,” he said, “that I will spare Constantinople if she will pay me seventy thousand pieces of gold as a yearly tribute. If the tribute is regularly paid Constantinople shall not be harmed by any Moslem force.”
The Empress had to agree to these terms. She paid the first year’s tribute; and soon the great Moslem army set out on its homeward march. ”

“ But the other brethren trembled and returned, leaving Hiouen-thsang alone. Yet India was still more than a thousand miles distant, by the way of the caravans.
Only the men of the last watch-tower would not allow Hiouen-thsang to pass; but he escaped by them into the desert. Then he followed the line of the caravan, the prints of the feet of camels and horses leading toward India. Skeletons were whitening in the sands; the eyeless sockets of innumerable skulls looked at him. The sun set and rose again many times; the sand-sea moved its waves continually with a rusting sound ”

“ And the khalif answered, that he believed he had enough of his own proper men. And then said Halaon, "Thou wert as a god of the Saracens; and [242] it is convenient to a god to eat no meat that is mortal; and, therefore, thou shalt eat only precious stones, rich pearls, and treasure, that thou lovest so much." And then he ordered him to prison, and placed all his treasure about him; and so he died for hunger and thirst. And then after this Halaon won all the Land of Promise, and put it into the hands of the Christians. ”

“ When the spies were come back even into the town brought they intelligence that the chief of the Vaerings lay sick, & for that cause had they not advanced on the town. As time waxed big grew the strength of Harald small, and his men became sorrowful and were heavy of heart. ¤ Now of all this had the townsfolk full knowledge. ¤ To such a pass came it that the sickness pressed Harald hard and his death was told throughout the whole host. Then went the Vaerings to speak with the townsmen, telling them of the death of their chief, & praying the priests to grant him a tomb in the town. ”