Latakia

“ The Laodicean wine was from Laodicea on the Syrian coast, some 60 miles south of Antioch, the modern Latakia. Strabo (XVI, II, 9) says: "it is a very well-built city, with a good harbor; the territory, besides its fertility in other respects, abounds with wine, of which the greater part is exported to Alexandria. ”

“ The city contained 3,000 to 4,000 inhabitants, consisting of Mahometans, Christians, and a few European families. The Greeks had five or six churches, eight curates, and a bishop. There was a monastery for the Franciscans, a solid piece of masonry; [72] but there were no friars: and it was then occupied by the French consul, who let out the lower part as a caravansery. The few catholics who lived here were French and Italian. There was an English agent. Latakia is a dirty town. It was governed by a motsellem. ”

“ Our first Sabbath, on this journey, found us at Latakia, where we spent the day with our neighbors and fellow workers of the Reformed Presbyterian mission. This mission was started especially to reach the Nusairiyeh people of north Syria. Because of the persistent interference of the Turkish Government, their work has been greatly hampered and their efforts largely restricted to the training of boys and girls in the boarding institutions in the city, and ministration to the sick in the hospital. ”

“ Latakia is famous in America because it gives to us some of the finest tobacco in the world, used to flavor American brands.
The Oldest City in the World. Back of the Lebanon Mountains, to the east, is a wide valley, and back of that the Anti-Lebanon range, marking the end of the fertile coastal section and the beginning of the desert. But here, like a "green island" in the desert, is Damascus, reputed to be the oldest city in the world, dating back to more than 2,000 years before Christ. ”

“ The greatest seafaring and trading nation of ancient times, and the earliest of Mediterranean sea-powers. A branch of the Canaanite stock of the Semitic family, they inhabited the Mediterranean coast between Latakia and Acre, their chief cities being Tyre and Sidon. They possessed a remarkable polytheistic religion, disfigured by human sacrifices. They were an inventive race, to whom we owe glass and Tyrian purple. ”

“ Here, Wapping and the East India and Commercial and Victoria Docks spilled over with taverns and sailors' boarding-houses and ship-chandlers' and second hand stores where every last mildewy curio a sailor, for reasons only known to himself, packs in his dunnage, from Korean brass to broken bits of Yunan jade, from white Gulf corals to bundles of yellow Latakia tobacco leaves, can be bought. Too, men from all the corners of the globe ”

“ The coast-line of Syria from the Gulf of Alexan dretta to the Egyptian frontier runs in general from north to south. In northern Syria naturally good harbours are few, except in the Gulf of Alexandretta, where secure anchorage may be found at all seasons. Latakia and Tripoli are comparatively open and exposed, and Beirut depends largely on artificial protection. ”

“ The city lies by a lofty mountain, which is compassed by a wall. At the top of the mount there is a well, from which a man, appointed for that purpose, directs the water, by means of 20 subterranean passages, to the houses of the great men of the city. The other part of the city is surrounded by the river. It is a strongly fortified city under the sway of Prince Boemond Poitevin, surnamed le Baube, and ten Jews dwell there engaged in glass-making. Thence it is a two-days' journey to Lega, which is Latakia. ”

“ Baalbec, the flower of all Eastern ruins, eighteen hours, and Latakia, whither we are bound, five days. These distances may be accomplished in less time; they are here given at the calculation of a walking pace, as the roads, or rather paths, are for the most part steep and difficult; and the baggage-horses, at all events, can seldom advance more rapidly. One word more of dry detail, and we shall put ourselves en route for the mountains of the Ansayrii and the further East. ”

“ There is a rock which projects into the sea south of the harbour, and to which the natives of Latakia give the name of Seyd Lexis. It has several marks of either having been quarried or else of having served for baths, tanks, &c. There are still some salt tanks on it, which are used for the evaporation of the sea-water. Two or three poor men gain a livelihood by them, in conjunction with the occasional gains of angling, in which they employ their hours of watching. ”

“ Sir James Porter, in his Letters from the Levant, speaking of the importation of silk during the time of plague (page 446) , says: “We may safely affirm that the plague scarce ever rages in those parts of the country where silk is—namely, at and about Antioch, at Tripoli, and Latakia. An accident may indeed appear once in fifteen or twenty years.” Is it possible that an ambassador, residing in the capital of the empire, and enabled by his situation to procure every kind of information he might desire, should yet have taken up with notions so diametrically opposite to the truth! ”

“ As soon as we return from the Desert, we purpose taking refuge at Latakia, as being the most convenient situation in every respect: but if, unfortunately, the plague should come there before we can arrive, in that case we shall only have the alternative of retiring into the mountain, or of shutting ourselves up in Aleppo. Lady Hester dislikes the latter place. [45] [179] She seems to have the same horror against the Franks as against the butter. [46] We must, however, hope for the best, and, like the Turks, submit with patience to the will of God. ”

“ One of these, in the Phoenician character, is read as l’Ladika am b’Canaan, i.e. “of Laodicea, a metropolis in Canaan,” and seems to show that the city claimed not only to be independent, but to have founded, and to hold under its sway, a number of smaller towns.4102 It may have exercised a dominion over the entire tract from Mount Casius to Paltos, where the dominion of Aradus began. Laodicea is now Latakia, and is famous for the tobacco grown in the neighbourhood. ”

“ The town has several times been almost destroyed by earthquakes—in 1170, 1287 and 1822.
The people are chiefly employed in tobacco cultivation, silk and oil culture, poultry rearing and the sponge fishery. There is a large export of eggs to Alexandria; but the wealth of the place depends most on the famous “Latakia” tobacco, grown in the plain behind the town and on the Ansarieh hills. There are three main varieties, of which the worst is dark in colour and strong in flavour; the best, grown in the districts of Diryus and Amamareh, is light and aromatic, and is exported mainly to Alexandria ”

“ Latakia and Saida are on much the same level, and serve only local needs. The former is best known for the black tobacco which it exports to England and Egypt. Saida, besides oranges, eggs, figs, &c., exports a little bitumen from Hasbaya, on the slopes of Hermon.
Of the minor ports, Akka and Gaza are visited by steamers after the harvest for the export of grain. Akka has no natural advantages compared with the adjacent Haifa, with which it is now connected by rail, and which is likely future to handle the Hauran cereals, of which there has been some export via Akka in the past. ”

“ Barker had, at my request, hired me an Armenian servant at Aleppo, who arrived at Latakia on the 28th of May; and, my little establishment being now complete, I was careless whether we embarked for Europe or remained some time longer in this pleasant climate. The Armenians who live towards the Euphrates generally emigrate in their youth with a view to serve in the large cities. There they earn and lay by a little money, with which they return to their native villages. ”

“ Laodicea (Lā-od-i-cē' ä) , Latakia. An ancient village of Anatolia, northeast of Konieh, with a population of 22,000. The so-called Ladik rug comes from here.
Laristan (Lär-ǐs-tän') , see Niris. A mountainous province in Western Persia.
Lule (Lū' lā) . A corruption of the Persian word "roulez," meaning "jewel." A term frequently applied to Bijar rugs.
Luristan, see Laristan.
M
Madder. A dye made from the root of the "rubia tinctorum." From it are made a multitude of reds.
Mahal (Mä' häl) . A name given to a class of rugs from Sultanabad. See Persian classification. ”

“ In his way overland he stopped at Aleppo, where he married Miss Hayes, the English consul’s daughter: in consequence of which connexion he was made English agent at Latakia, to forward government and other despatches to and from India.
After a lapse of some years, he formed a connexion with one of his maid servants, who became pregnant by him: when, to avoid the reproaches of his wife, he turned Mahometan, obliged his maid servant to do the same, and then married her [25] according to the Turkish law. ”

“ They then jar the floor by jumping or stamping on it, and wherever a pile falls there is the hole, because the jar is felt only where there is a hollow.
[67] This fact, and what occurred to me at Latakia, will enable travellers to judge when and where they can smoke openly in Ramazán time.
[68] This slave was bought in Upper Egypt and cost fifty dollars—four dollars were paid as dues at the towns coming down the Nile, and two at Cairo: making the total cost fifty-six. ”

“ After a futile siege of Arqah he was joined by Baldwin's brother Godfrey of Bouillon, who had followed the coastal route south. They struck the coast at Tortosa and made contact with the Italian fleet. The re- united Crusaders avoided Latakia, which was being occupied by naval forces of the Byzantines, who had become alienated from the Latins. In Batrun the Crusaders established con- tacts with the Maronites, 'a stalwart race, valiant fighters', who provided greatly needed guides. ”

“ The Blue Priest of El Hamra was preaching a new jehad, but, unlike others of his kidney, he was a born organizer. Instead of stirring up a minor rebellion which would be snuffed out either by the Sultan of Morocco or by one of the European powers, he was gradually making himself known throughout the length and breadth of the land. In his own stronghold of Lektawa, on the very confines of the Great Desert, he was building up an army of fanatics. Meanwhile, his repute was such that he levied heavy contributions in money and kind on the more fertile seaboard provinces. ”

“ Like their neighbours the Bari and Shilluk tribes, they despise clothing, though the important chiefs have adopted Arab attire. Their country is fertile, and they cultivate tobacco, durra and other crops. Their villages are numerous, and some are of considerable size. Tarangole, for instance, on the Khor Kohs, has upwards of three thousand huts, and sheds for many thousands of cattle. The Latuka are industrious and especially noted for skill as smiths. Emin Pasha stated that the lion was so little dreaded by the Latuka that on one being caught in a leopard trap they hastily set it free. ”

“ The population of Katar is not large; its principal town is Bedaa’. All the inhabitants live from the sea by pearl-diving and fishing, and in the season send out two hundred boats. The whole peninsula with its wild Bedouin population is claimed by Turkey and is the dread of the miserable soldiers who are sent there to preserve peace and draw precarious pay while they shake with malaria and grow homesick for Bagdad. The Arabs are always at feud with the government and it is very unsafe outside the walls after sunset. ”

“ We had chosen a time when the light was doubtful in order that we might avoid the tourists, but as we approach the funeral dwelling of Sultan Barkuk, the assassin, we see, issuing from it, a whole band, some twenty in a line, who emerge from the darkness of the abandoned walls, each trotting on his little donkey and each followed by the inevitable Bedouin driver, who taps with his stick upon the rump of the beast. They are returning to Cairo, their visit ended, and exchange in a loud voice, from one ass to another, more or less inept impressions in various European languages. ”

“ But since at that time the people of God were one, and in one nation only, Egypt only was smitten. But now, because the people of God are collected out of all languages, and dwell among all nations, and are oppressed by those bearing rule over them, it must come to pass that all nations, that is, the whole world, be beaten with heavenly stripes, that the righteous people, who are worshippers of God, may be set free. ”

“ Thirteen miles from Latome is Tarrangolle, the largest Latooka village, where Moy, the chief, resides. Here Ibrahim stopped to collect his ivory and slaves. Crowds came out of the village to meet us, but their chief attraction was Mrs. Baker and the camels. These Latookas are, doubtless, the finest made savages in all Africa. They are tall, muscular and beautifully proportioned. They have high foreheads, large eyes, high cheek bones, small mouths, and full, but not thick lips. Their countenances are pleasing, their manners civil. They are frank but warlike, merry yet always ready for a fight. ”

“ The bazaars of Cairo and even Assuan seemed tame and sophisticated compared to this wild market of the Sudan, where half the men, and all the bread-selling women who were old enough, had been the Khalifa's slaves.
With Slatin Pasha we went to the Khalifa's "palace" to gaze at the "saint's" carriage, the skeleton of Gordon's piano, and scores of ancient guns which had cut short the lives of Christian men. Slatin's house we saw, too, and the gate whence he had escaped: the Mahdi's shattered tomb, and the famous open-air Mosque. ”