SYRIA
THE LAND
OF
LEBANON
By LEWIS GASTON LEARY
- The Real Palestine of To-Day
- Andorra, The Hidden Republic
- The Christmas City
- Syria, The Land of Lebanon
Evening in the harbor of Beirut
SYRIA
THE LAND OF
LEBANON
BY
LEWIS GASTON LEARY, Ph.D.
FORMERLY INSTRUCTOR IN THE AMERICAN
COLLEGE, BEIRUT, SYRIA
Author of The Real Palestine of To-day,
Andorra, the Hidden Republic, etc.
NEW YORK
McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY
1913
Copyright, 1913, by
McBride, Nast & Co.
Second Printing
January, 1914
Published, November, 1913
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
TO HIM WHO FIRST TURNED MY THOUGHTS
TOWARD SYRIA
MY FORMER PRECEPTOR AND ALWAYS
LOYAL FRIEND
GEORGE L. ROBINSON
PREFACE
Although Syria possesses a rare natural beautyand boasts a wealth of historic and religious interest,its fame has been so overshadowed by that of theneighboring Land of Israel that most travelers arecontent to take the easy railway journey to Baalbekand Damascus, and know nothing of the wild mountainvalleys and snow-capped summits of Lebanon orthe many ancient shrines of a country whose historyreaches far back of the classic days of Greece.
It is therefore with great pleasure that I accedeto the request of the publishers of my “Real Palestineof To-day” and supplement the earlier work bythe present companion-volume on Syria; so that,though the books may be read independently, thetwo together may give a complete view of the landsof the Bible.
The chapter on Palmyra is from the pen of ProfessorHarvey Porter, Ph.D., of the Syrian ProtestantCollege; and for many of the hitherto unpublishedphotographs I am indebted to other membersof the faculty of that institution. Grateful acknowledgmentis also made to The World To-day,The New Era, The Sunday School Times, The Newark(N. J.) News, and especially to Travel andScribner’s Magazine, for permission to include materialwhich originally appeared in these publications.
In the writing of Arabic words, my aim has beensmooth reading, rather than a systematic transliterationof the numerous sounds which are not found inEnglish. As an aid to pronunciation, it should benoted that the stress always falls upon a syllablebearing a circumflex accent.
It will be se