THE SONS OF THE SERPENT TRIBE

The Knight of the Brazen Serpent

The Knight of the Brazen Serpent (25° AASR)

"Man had fallen, but not by the tempting of the serpent. For with the Phoenicians, the serpent was deemed to partake of the Divine Nature, and was sacred, as he was in Egypt. He was deemed to be immortal, unless slain by violence, becoming young again in his old age, by entering into and consuming himself. Hence the Serpent in a circle, holding his tail in his mouth, was an emblem of eternity. With the head of a hawk he was of a Divine Nature, and a symbol of the sun. Hence one Sect of the Gnostics took him for their good genius, and hence the brazen serpent reared by Moses in the Desert, on which the Israelites looked and lived." - Pike, M&D, p. 278 - lower. (Lecture of the 18th Degree.)

"The Phoenicians regarded the God Nomu (Kneph or Amun-Kneph) by a serpent. In Egypt, a Sun supported by two asps was the emblem of Horhat, [.'.] the good genius; and the serpent with the winged globe was placed over the doors and windows of the Temple as a tutelary God. Antipater of Sidon calls Amun 'the renowned Serpent,' and the Cerastes is often found embalmed in the Thebaid." - Ibid, p. 496, upper. (Lecture of the 25th Degree.)

"The Serpent entwined round an Egg, was a symbol common to the Indians, the Egyptians, and the Druids. It referred to the creation of the Universe. A Serpent with an egg in his mouth was a symbol of the Universe containing within itself the germ of all things that the Sun develops.

"The property possessed by the Serpent, of casting its skin, and apparently renewing its youth, made it an emblem of eternity and immortality. The Syrian women still employ it as a charm against barrenness [note: even today? in 2003 c.e.?] , as did the devotees of Mithras and Saba-Zeus. The Earth-born civilizers of the early world, Fohi, Cecrops, and Erechtheus, were half-man, half serpent. The snake was the guardian of the Athenian Acropolis. NAKHUSTAN, the brazen serpent of the wilderness, became naturalized among the Hebrews as a token of healing power. 'Be ye,' said Christ, 'wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.'" - Ibid., 496-497.

"If the details of their doctrines as to the soul seem to us to verge on absurdity, let us compare them with the common notions of our own day, and be silent." - Ibid., 522.

INTRODUCTORY

THIS degree, we have come to understand, according to our own self-initiation into the Mysteries of the High Degrees, comes third after the two Tabernacle degrees, the 23° and the 24°. This may be considered spurious by the purists, but we must remind: For too long have these things resided in the hands of inept persons, unable to interpret the runes, they mistake them for symbols, rather than the living Ideas that they Are.

Is this degree relevant to the concept of Ophiolatreia, or Serpent-Worship? Is this a residue of the Serpent-Cult, found in the bosom of High-Grade Freemasonry? Wouldn't the Anti-Masons love it, were we to answer in the affirmative. The only thing, is this: We must ask the reader to form his/her own conclusions, by studying the materials available. We would like to be able to include the entire chapter 25 from Morals and Dogma, in a text only file, but the collection of chapters from M&D that is generally available online does not include this important chapter. This may change. Also, we will include the other items, from the Pike version of the Degree, that we have in our possession, and we may do it all one better: by developing it into our version of the Symbolism. Only time will tell.

Certainly the concept of the Serpent of Brass in the Wilderness is a potent symbol, used particularly in the New Testament in reference to Christ Jesus. And, in a greater context, utilized during the early Messianic movement, to refer to He who was to Come.. This was used during the Dosithean movement particularly, for as Moses raised up the Serpent in the Desert, so was Dositheos, the Samaritan Messiah.

This is a rather peculiar degree in Pike's version of the Rite, because of the manner in which the ritual's legend and action relates to the Legenda of the degree. The subject matter of the Legenda for the 25° belongs more properly with the ritual of the 22°, the Knight of the Royal Axe, or Prince Libanus. At least on the surface, since the Druzes are discussed in that degree and in the Encyclopaedias. The Knight of the Royal Axe will be discussed in depth in the next segment of this work, The Old Battle-Axe, but we may share a few words presently. The Ritual has to do with the Builders / Tree-fellers in the Lebanon, who were responsible for cutting down the sacred trees for use in the building of Solomon's Temple. At the time of the Crusades, the Templars encountered these ancient builders, aka the Tsidonians, who were to be identified with the Druzes, and this is, supposedly, how the Authentic Tradition of the Gnosis passed from the Near East to Western Christendom.

Now, we state, supposedly. When we get to the Knight of the Brazen Serpent, we get the story about the afflicted ones in the desert during the final year of the wanderings in the Wilderness. That is when the Brazen Serpent is raised in the desert. It is the Court of Sinai, supposedly, or at least, the Court of the Israelites in the Wilderness. In the North we are told, is the Mountain itself, with the tents of the Hebrews in the foreground.

This sounds all good and well, you say? What happens when we get to the discourse in the Legendas? Something different. Something entirely different that opens doorways that lead us to see that our Thesis is not necessarily mere conjecture. But, it presents problems for those who continue to exist under the pretension that the three religions of the Book are exclusive entities that have little or nothing to do with one another, except fight each other! As we have said several times before, WAKE UP!

One clue before we divulge it all later on in this piece: Chapter 25 in Morals and Dogma deals almost entirely with the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris, of Cycles, such as the Precession of Equinoxes, of the mysteries of the stars which our predecessors the Sabians occupied their time with; and, too, the mysteries of the Saba-eans of Arabia and Ethiopia. Quite a varied tapestry even for Albert Pike. A lot of this material will appear to be by several others, and it is. However, we are putting all of these materials so that we can present something new, based upon the symbolism, that leads to some interesting historical conclusions, at least by way of our slagheaps of conjecture method! And the slagheap resembles Gebel- el -Druz in the Hauran!

THE LEGEND OF THE DEGREE

FROM THE MASONIC ENCYCLOPAEDIAS

Mackey's Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry

Knight of the Brazen Serpent. (Chevalier du Serpent d'Airain.) The Twenty-fifth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. The history of this degree is founded upon the circumstances related to in Numbers ch. xxi. ver. 6-9. "And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned; for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee: pray unto the Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." In the old rituals the Lodge was called the Court of Sinai; the presiding officer was styled Most Puissant Grand Master, and represented Moses; while the two Wardens, or Ministers, represented Aaron and Joshua. The Orator was called Pontiff; the Secretary, Grand Graverl and the candidate, a Traveler. In the modern ritual adopted in this country, the Council represents the Camp of the Israelites. The first three officers represent Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, and are respectively styled Most Puissant Leader, Valiant Captain of the Host, and Illustrious Chief of the Ten Tribes. The Orator represents Eleazar; the Secretary, Ithamar; the Treasurer, Phinehas; and the candidate an intercessor for the people. The jewel is a crux ansata, with a serpent entwined around it. On the upright of the cross is engraved ytlx , khalati, I have suffered, and on the arms Nt#wxn , nakhushtan, a serpent. The French ritualists would have done better to have substituted for the first word yt)+x , khatati, I have sinned; the original in Numbers being wn)+x , Kathanu, we have sinned. The apron is white, lined with black, and symbolically decorated.

There is an old legend which says that this degree was founded in the time of the Crusades, by John Ralph, who established the Order in the Holy Land as a military and monastic society, and gave it the name of the Brazen Serpent, because it was a part of their obligation to receive and gratuitously nurse sick travelers, to protect them against the attacks of the Saracens, and escort them safely to Palestine; thus alluding to the healing and saving virtues of the Brazen Serpent among the Israelites in the wilderness.

This is rather interesting. In particular, the reference to the founding of the Order at the Time of the Crusades: A military and monastic society. There is nothing that says that the Knights Templars were the only such Order at the time, but... what if department... stay tuned!

From Macoy's Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Freemasonry:

"The camp, standards, and tabernacle, with its court, are arranged as in the 23rd and 24th Degrees."

So, that complies with what we write concerning these three degrees being related.

From The Compleat Rite of Memphis by Allen H. Greenfield:

PASSWORD: I. N. R. I.
COVERED WORD. JOHAN RAPH (sun, to heal).

What is important about this? INRI, of course is an important word at the Rose+Croix Level.

RAPH: To Heal. Raphadon, a word of importance in the Knight of the East (15°). Rephaim, of course. Also the Essenes were known as Healers, as were the Therapeuts.

JOHAN: This touches upon the Johannite theme. Stay tuned as we piece together a Crusades oriented legend for this degree, by the time we wrap up this segment of the work.

FROM WAITE'S NEW ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FREEMASONRY.

The seven planets of old astronomy illuminate the Court of Sinai, according to the symbolism of this Grade, and in its centre is the Burning Bush. There are also twelve pillars, in correspondence with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The High Priest Aaron is dead, but Moses the Lawgiver is still in the manifest land of the living and is represented by the Master of the Lodge. The Mount of Sinai is shewn on a Tracing-Board in the North, but an illuminated transparency in the East exhibits a Tau Cross, encompassed by a serpent. The planetary lights are referred to traditional angels in the following order: (1) The archangel Saphael is the president of the Moon, and he is termed the Messenger of God; (2) the healing influence of God is represented by Raphael, whose rule extends over Mercury; (3) Hamaliel is the governor of Venus, and he is called the merciful kindness of God; (4) The Sun is emblematic of the Good Principle, a reflection and image of the Divine, and its archangel is Zerachiel, understood as the uprising of God and the Sun of Righteousness; (5) Auriel is in correspondence with the fire and light of God, and it is he who is Lord of Mars; (6) Jupiter is under the obedience of Gabriel, the strength and might of God; (7) Saturn is under the rule of Michael, who is described as the semblance or image of God. Attributions of this kind are drawn in most cases from the dregs and lees of Kabalism and differ in every text.

Procedure of the Grade. - The Candidate is presented in the guise of a wayfarer and he is promptly loaded with chains, though he comes as a son of the Tribe of Reuben, announcing a great misfortune which has befallen the people of Israel and imploring relief in need. They are fleeing before venomous serpents, sent in punishment of their sins. He has withstood the stiff-necked generation on his own part when they rebelled in the wilderness against the long exile therein, against the burdens of forty years, against the manna which was given them when they called aloud for bread. But he is now an intercessor for his people, in humility before the face of their leader, and seeing that he has done well, remembering his duty to God, he is relieved of his yoke of manacles, while the Grand Master as Moses retires to call upon God, that He may have mercy on those whom He has chosen. The Master returns bearing a symbol of salvation, being a Brazen Serpent entwined about the Tau Cross. It is presented to Eleazar - the High Priest in succession - who is told to erect it in sight of the people, that they may look thereon and live. It is given thereafter to the Candidate, as a symbol of faith, repentance and mercy. Such is the sense of the Grade, as represented by Pike's codex: it will be seen that it is without title to existence, asa mere replica of the Scripture narrative, though in the mania of the scheme it is communicated under solemn pledges of secrecy and with heavy penalties attached. It is the Twenty-fifth Degree of the SCOTTISH RITE and is supposed to inculcate the doctrine of liberty, equality and fraternity, but under veils that are past removing;. A French codex belonging to the first half of the nineteenth century is consecrated to civil freedom, a subject which does not seem to arise out of the narrative in Holy Scripture. There is finally an ORDER OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT, which is a chivalry referred to Crusading times, and is so distinct from other degrees existing under this title that I have dealt with it in a separate notice. See KNIGHT OF THE SERPENT.

FROM CROSS' TEMPLAR'S CHART

Jeremy Cross was associated with Cerneau Masonry. Therefore, in the eyes of the AASR he was a heretic, and in a lot of cases he was a bit of a bungler, but the guide to the Ineffable Degrees is s priceless gem. It is a supplement to the Templar's Chart.

KNIGHTS OF THE BRAZEN SERPENT.

Decorations.

The Lodge is festooned with red; above the throne is a transparency resembling the burning bush, and the All Seeing Eye.

In the centre of the Lodge is a cone representing a mountain, on which is a cross with a serpent entwined thereon, over which are the letters V and C. At the food of the mountain a lamb. The Lodge is lighted by a single flambeau.

The Chief Officer receives the appellation of Most Powerful Grand Master. The Wardens are called Ministers, and the Brethren, Knights. There is also an Inspector, the candidate a traveller.

Clothing.

A scarlet sash, on which is painted or embroidered the motto, - Virtue and Courage. The jewel is a serpent entwined around a rod terminating in a T; it represents the serpent that Moses set up in the wilderness in the camp of the Israelites, by looking upon which they were healed of the wounds caused by the serpents that had pursued them in the Desert.

The brazen serpent was afterward carefully preserved in the Temple, but as it finally became an object of idolatry to the Jews, Hezekiah, king of the Jews caused it to be broken in pieces.

FROM OTHER SOURCES

Such as: Father of Lies, by Warren Weston.

25. Knight of the Brazen Serpent. (Num. xxi, 6-9). Legend: Moses placed brazen serpent on tau-cross: all looked at it and said, 'Hatatha' ('I have sinned'). Hangings are red and blue. A transparency depicts the burning bush with the Incommunicable Name in centre behind the Throne. Only one light; in centre of room, a mount with 5 steps; on summit is placed the Brazen Serpent. Lodge is called 'Court of Sinai.' Most Puissant Grand Master is Moses. Jewel is serpent entwined around tau-cross standing on a triangle bearing four letters of Tetragrammaton; worn suspended by red ribbon.

THE SERPENT NEHUSHTAN

Biblical.

[All quotations from the Bible are from the RSV Ecumenical Edition.]

And the people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food."

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.

And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

And the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and every one who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live."

So Moses made a bronze serpent, and set it on a pole; and if a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live. ~~~ Numbers 21:5-9.

ALSO THIS:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, That whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ~~~ John 3:14-15.

Possible Sources for this Symbol

The following comes from Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary Political and Religious History The Archaeology Geography and Natural History of the Bible, by T. K. Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black. Volume III. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1902.

NEHUSHTAN

Name

2 K. 18:4b is rendered thus in EV, 'and he brake in pieces . . . Nehushtan' (with two marg. rends., 'Or, it was called,' and 'That is, a piece of 'brass'). The implication is that when HEZEKIAH [q. v] destroyed this idolatrous object, he called it 'a mere piece of brass (bronze).' ...

To suppose that those who offered sacrifices [... see INCENSE, §1] to the brazen serpent called it 'Piece of Brass,' is surely absurd. Still, the grammatical structure of the sentence favours the view that a statement respecting the name given by the worshippers is intended, and the question arises whether ]nun1 represents correctly the name given by the worshippers to this sacred object. The theory which is archzologically the most defensible as to the religious significance of the brazen serpent has suggested to the present writer that the original word may have been Ntywl, Leviathan, and that the deuteronomist, who (probably) adopted 2K. 18:4-5a from the royal annals, out of a religious scruple changed Ntywl into Nt#xn, which of course involved interpreting wl-)rqyw 'and he (Hezekiah) called it.' [1]

Origin and Meaning

The early writer from whom the deuteronomist draws in 2 K. 18:4 brings Nehushtan (?) into connection with the brazen serpent ... mentioned in Nu. 21:9. Combining these two passages we are justified in supposing that in the regal period the superstitious Israelites sacrificed to the idol to obtain the recovery of their sick (cp SERPENT). It would not, however, follow that a healing virtue had always been supposed to be inherent in this sacred object. The fact (as we may venture to regard it) that the brazen oxen in I K. 7:25 were really copies of the oxen which symbolised Marduk in Babylonian temples (from which the brazen 'sea,' also symbolic, was probably derived) suggests that for an explanation of Nehushtan we should look to Babylonia (see CREATION, §§ 13, 19, 22). Now, it is certain from very early inscriptions (KB 31, p. 143; 32, pp. 21, 35, 73j that Babylonian temples contained, not only brazen oxen, but also brazen serpents. Some of these (see e.g, KB 22, p. 35) may have been protective serpents, such as were worshipped in the larger Egyptian temples; but when, as in Solomon's temple, only a single one is mentioned, it is reasonable to suppose that it is the 'raging serpent' ( i e . , Tiamat) that is meant, as in the inscription of king Agum-kakrimi (KB 31, p. 143). If so, the brazen serpent (more properly called LEVIATHAN, see above, I), which Solomon adopted with the brazen 'sea,' and the brazen oxen from Babylonia, was originally a trophy of the Creator's victory over the serpent of chaos.

In later times it is very probable that the true meaning was forgotten ; it appears from Am. 9:3 (see Serpent, § 3f) that the prophet Amos had heard only an echo of the old dragon-myth. A new meaning would therefore naturally become attached to the venerated synibol-the meaning suggested above, which is supported by the etiological story [2] in Nu. 21 (cp Baudissin, Stud. Sem. Rel. 1288).

A less probable theory of the brazen serpent must not be unrecorded. UT. K. Smith thought (J. of Phil. 9-99) that 'Nehushtan' represented the totem of the family of David, and was worshipped by members of that stock in the manner described in Ezek... This theory, however, is based on the traditioual text of 2 S. 17:25 (see NAHASH), so that the totem-theory needs some modification in order to become plausible. Hence Renzinger has suqgested that there may have been a serpent-clan among the tribes which united to form the Israelitish people cp Gen. 49:17, of which Nehushtan may have been the sacred symbol just as the ARK [q.v.] may have been that of the tribe of Joseph. It is very doubtful, however, whether the so-called 'serpent-names, NAHASH, NAHSHON, NUN, and NEHUSHTA are textually sound; all are in various degrees suspicious.

Was the brazen serpent in the temple really of primitive origin? We may well doubt it. The presumption is that it was neither more nor less ancient than the other sacred objects of Babylonian affinities in the temple of Solomon (cp CREATION, § 19). [3] TKC

NOTES

[1] Or else ywl in Ntywl fell out owing to the preceding wl, and #xn was inserted by conjecture for the missing letters. This approaches Noldeke's suggestion, ... (ZDMG, 1888, p. 482 n. 1). But the combination of these two terms for 'serpent' could not have been original. Klost is also at any rate on the right track; he explains (Nty #xn), 'ancient serpent.' See SERPENT.

[2] The view here taken of Nu. 21:5-9 is not disproved by W. H. Ward's discovery of a 'Hittite' cylinder on which worship is apparently represented as offered to a serpent on a pole. Indeed, such a representation helps us to understand how the story came to arise (cp SERPENT).

[3] The writer has maintained these theories for several years, nor is he under obligations to other critics. Only after writing the above did he observe Stade's combination of suggestions in CVZ 1467, one of which is that the idol Nehushtan might be connected with the cultus of the sky-serpent.

Our Comments Here

This Encyclopaedia article reminds us of some interesting passages we found recently in Sayce's Hibbert Lectures, relating to Tiamat. Also, if the Hebrews went via the Sinai Peninsula, as is the orthodox viewpoint, they might have come in contact with Serabit al-Khadim, which is a Hathor Temple / Turquoise and Copper Mine located on the western Sinai peninsula. There She was worshipped as the Serpent Woman.

THE INITIATION RITUAL

Description. / Decorations / Layout of Ritual Space.

North or Winter. (Blanchard.)

The Lodge, in this Degree, is styled The Council; and represents that held near Mount Sinai; when the New Moon occurred at the Vernal Equinox, in the last year of the journeying of the children of Israel in the desert. The hangings are red and blue. In the East is a throne, over which is a transparency; and on that is painted a burning bush, having in its centre the word hwhy . Besides this transparency, the Lodge has seven lights, extending from East to West, and the centre one being a great globular light in the centre of the room, representing the sun. The other lights are of wax, three on each side of the central light; and over the seven are suspended the following emblems, arranged from East to West;... ... Saturn ... Jupiter ... Mars ... The Sun ... Venus ... Mercury ... The Moon. Around the Lodge are twelve columns, each having on its capital one of the zodiacal signs, commencing in the East with Taurus, and going round by the North, West and South in regular order.

In the North is a painting, representing Mount Sinai, with the tents of the Hebrews in the foreground. The Lodge is supposed to be in the open air, at daybreak, in front of the Tent of Moses, where he gave audience to the people who came to prefer their complaints and grievances. The arched ceiling overhead should represent the morning sky.

Over the seat of the Presiding Officer is a winged globe encircled by a Serpent; and on each side of him is a short column on which is a Serpent, his body coiled in folds, and his head and neck erect above the folds. - Magnum Opus.

The Lodge, in this Degree, is styled The Council. It represents the Camp of the Israelites at Punon, on the eastern side of the mountains of Hur, Seir, or Edom, in Arabia Petraea on the confines of Idumaea, after the death of Aaron, when the new moon occurred at the Vernal Equinox, in the fortieth year of the wandering of the children of Israel in the Desert. The Camp, Standards, and Tabernacle with its Court, are as in the two preceding Degrees. In the East is a transparency on which is painted a cross, with a serpent coiled round it and over the arms.

On the right of the presiding officer is a short column, on which is a winged-globe encircled by a serpent. On the left of the Senior Warden and right of the Junior Warden are similar columns, on each of which is a serpent or basilisk, his body coiled in folds, and his head and neck erect above the folds. The globe and all the serpents are gilded. - Liturgy.

The scene of this Degree is the long since ruined city of Kanout... - Legenda.

This Lodge is styled the Court of Sinai. The hangings are red and blue. Over the throne in the East is a transparency, on which is painted a burning bush, and in the centre the word hwhy . The lodge is illuminated by seven lights extending from East to West, the centre a burning bush, one being a large globular light representing the Sun. Over these lights are suspended the signs of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon. Around the Lodge are twelve columns, each having on its capital one of the zodiacal signs, commencing in the East with Taurus and going round by the North, West and South in regular order.

In the North is a painting representing Mount Sinai, with the tents of the Israelites in the foreground. Over the seat of the presiding officer is a winged globe, encircled by a serpent. On each side of him is a short column on which is a serpent, his body coiled in folds and his head and neck erect above the folds. (Blanchard.)

Officers

These Brethren are all styled 'Respectable', and the other members are addressed as 'Brother and Knight A," or 'B'. - Liturgy.

Regalia etc.

The order is a crimson ribbon, on which are embroidered the words, one under the other, ... OSIRIS ... ORMUZD ... OSARSIPH ... MOSES ... and under them a Bull, with a disk, surmounted by a crescent, between his horns. This is worn from left to right: and across it, from right to left, is worn a broad, white, watered ribbon; on which are the words ... ISIS ... CERES ... over a dog's head and a crescent. On the right breast, on the left breast, and at the crossing of these orders is a star of gold. Under that on the right breast is the letter A (for Aldebaran); under that on the left breast the letter A (for Antares); and under that at the crossing of the orders , the letter F (for Fomalhaut). On the crimson cordon is the word hrwbg [GBURH - Valor]; and on the white, Nw) [AUN - Virtus] ... meaning Active Energy, or Generative Power and Passive Energy or Capacity to produce.

The jewel is a Tau Cross surmounted by a circle - the Crux Ansata - round which a serpent is entwined. On the cross is engraved the word ytlx [KhaLaTI; He has suffered or been wounded], on the upright part of the cross; and on the arms the word Nt#xn , [NeKhuShTaN. . . the Brazen Serpent].

The apron is white, lined and edged with black; the white side spotted with golden stars, and the black side with silver ones. Those on the white side represent, by their positions and distances, the Pleiades, the Hyades, Orion, and Capella. Those on the black side represent the stars of Perseus, Scorpio and Bootes. In the middle of the white side is a triangle in a glory, in the centre of which is the word hwhy. On the flap is a serpent in a circle, with his tail in his mouth, and in the centre of the circle so formed, a scarabaeus or beetle. Over this is a star of gold, with the letter R (Regulus) over it; on the right side of the apron another, with the letter A (Aldebaran) over it; on the left side another, with the letter A (Antares) over it; and at the bottom of the apron another, with the letter F (Fomalhaut) over it.

The Battery is 9 - by 5 slow; 3 quick and 1 by itself. - Magnum Opus.

The only major difference in this section of the Liturgy is:

Those on the black side [of the apron] represent the stars of Perseus, Scorpio, and Ursa Major.

The HOUR, for opening: Is the Dawn of the morning of the Vernal Equinox.

For Closing: The evening twilight.


 Opening

MP = Most Puissant. SD = Senior Deacon. JD = Junior Deacon. JW = Junior Warden, SW = Senior Warden. A = Archer. E = Examiner. O = Orator. CH = Commander of Host. LC = Lieutenant Commander.

MP: Brethren, Princes of the Tabernacle and Knights of the Brazen Serpent, if the day and the hour have arrived, I propose to open here a Council of Knights of the Brazen Serpent, for mutual instruction and the performance of the necessary duties. Be clothed; and await, each in his place or station, the customary orders.

[The brethren are clothed, and the officers assume their stations].

MP: Brother Examiner, it is our first duty to see that we are secure from intrusion. See that the guards are set, and inform them that we are about to open this Council, that they may keep watch and ward as they should do.

SD: Brother Archer, set the guards without the doors of the Council, and advise them that it is about to be opened; that they may keep watch and ward as they should do, and allow none who are not entitled to approach.

[The Archer goes out, returns, gives the alarm of the degree, which is answered from without, and reports]:

JD: Most Respectable Examiner, the guards are posted, and duly informed as to their duties; and we are secure against intrusion.

SD: MP Leader, the guards are posted, and duly informed as to their duties; and we are secure against intrusion.

MP: Brother LC, are all present Knights of the Brazen Serpent? Be certain of that, by receiving the pass-word from each.

[The Junior Warden goes round, receives the pass-word from each Brother, returns to his place, and says]:

JW: MP Leader, all present have the Pass-word, and I recognize them as Knights of the Brazen Serpent.

MP: Thanks, my Brother! Brother Commander of the Host, what is the hour?

SW: Most Potent Leader, It is the Dawn, if the morning of the Vernal Equinox. The God-like child sits upon the waters in the gates of the Orient, not yet arisen; while the Earth awaits to rejoice at the blessing of his smiles. The Circle surmounted by the Crescent shines in the Heavens; and is the sign of the Celestial Bull, House of Venus and place of the Moon's Exaltation; the Sun, mighty with a new life and the New Moon are in conjunction, and open the New Year and the Chaldaean Saros; while, blushing and reluctant, the beautiful Star Amalthea rises with the Sun in the East.

MP: If that be the hour, it is time to open this Council. Whom does our brother Eleazar represent here?

SW: ORION, whom Zoroaster dying invoked; Trita Aptya, and Tistrya, in whose belt glitter the three Kingly Stars, known of old time to mariner and husbandman; Orion visible to all the habitable world.

MP: Whom does our brother Caleb represent here?

SW: SIRIUS, called by the Egyptians SOTHIS, and by the Hebrews CALEB ANUBACH; who, as the Sun meets the joyous Pleiades, sweet Virgins of the Spring, rises with the King of Day, and doubles the activity of his fires.

MP: And whom do you, my Brother, represent here?

SW: HORUS, the Son of ISIS and Osiris; before whom Typhon, the malignant Serpent of the Northern Pole, flees aghast, and sinks in the dark Western Ocean, as Aldebaran leads the starry armies of Heaven up the sky's eastern slope, and the dogs of Orion climb upward, while the foul Scorpion shudders on the world's western edge.

MP: Whom does the Most Potent Leader represent?

SW: Osiris, King of the Starry influences of Light and Life; Ahura Mazda, Great Principle of Light and Good; Moses, Attys, Adonis, Dionysos, Bacchus, Apollo - all Personifications that in all ages have represented with most feeble the Divine Principle of Good, the Eternal, Infinite, Incomprehensible Self and Source of Light and Life.

MP: Alas! I am nis most feeble and inconsiderable creature; and even as I am, so is the Sun of Spring, that the Ancients deemed a God and the Source of life and generation; and so were Osiris and Ormuzd, Atys, Saba-Zeus, Bel and Amun, and all the mighty Deities imagined by those who watched the stars in Ethiopia and Egypt, on the Chaldean plains and upon the slopes of the Himalayan Mountains. I am but a poor, feeble, erring, fallible man, who need your aid, my brethren, your countenance, your encouragement, your counsel, to enable me to perform aright the duties that here devolve upon me. Brother Commander of the Host, are you a Knight of the Brazen Serpent?

SW: MP, I know the meaning of the Cross around which twines the Serpent, and of the coiled basilisc.

MP: Where obtained you that degree?

SW: In a legal Council of Knights of the Brazen Serpent, held in a place representing the open space in front of the Tent of Moses near Mount Sinai.

MP: When was the first Council of Knights of the Brazen Serpent held?

Answer: In the fortieth year of the journeying the people of Israel, at the Vernal Equinox, when the days of Moses were almost an hundred and twenty years, and the end of his pilgrimage drew nigh; and when the people of Israel murmured and complained that he had brought them up from Egypt to die there in the wilderness.

Question: At what hour?

Ans.: At the dawn of day; when Aldebaran, preceded by Orion and his dogs, led up the glittering host of Heaven in the East, and Capella gleamed also on the Eastern margin of the Desert; while low in the West Antares shone malignant, and Fomalhaut in the South looked calmly on the land of Idumaea: when the people were gathering the manna, and the cloud still rested on the Tabernacle.

Q: What are your duties, as Knights of the Brazen Serpent?

Ans.: To purify the soul of its alloy of earthliness, that through the gate of Capricorn and the Seven Spheres it may at length ascend to its eternal home beyond the Stars; and to preserve and perpetuate the Great Truths enveloped in the symbols and allegories of the Ancient Mysteries.

MP: That we may perform these duties, Valiant Commander of the Host, it is my pleasure that this Council be now opened. This you will make known to the Exc.'. Lieutenant Commander, and he to the Knights, that all may have due notice.

SW: Exc.'. Lt.'. Commander, it is the pleasure of the MP Leader, that this Council be now opened, in order that the duties incumbent upon us here may be performed. This you will make known to the Knights, that they, having due notice, may aid in opening the same.

JW: ¶¶¶¶¶ ¶¶¶ ¶ Knights and Masons, you will be pleased to give due attention, while the MP Leader with our aid opens this Council; that we may here proceed to perform the duties that devolve upon us.

MP: Let the Seven Mystic Lights dispel the darkness of the Council!

[JW lights in succession the three lights on the west of the Central Light, saying, as he lights each, beginning on the West, as follows]:

JW: The Moon shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Tsaph-AL; the messenger of God;
= Mercury shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Reph-AL; the Healing Influence of God;
= Venus shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Khmali-Al, the Merciful Kindness of God.

[SW then lights in succession the three lights on the East of the Central Light, saying, as he lights each, beginning in the East, as follows]:

SW: Saturn shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Mich-AL; the Semblance and Image of God; = Jupiter shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Gebir-AL; the Strength and Mightiness of God; = Mars shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Auri-AL; the Light and Fire of God.

[The MP advances and lights the Central Light, saying]:

MP: The Sun, newly risen Osiris, the beneficent Ormuzd, Type of the Principle of Good and Light, and feeble and imperfect image of the Deity, shines in our Council; and over it presides the Archangel Zerekhi-AL, the Rising of God, the Sun of Righteousness.

[Then the MP returns to his place, and says, "The Sign, My Brethren!" All give the sign; then the MP raps ¶¶¶¶¶ slow, ¶¶¶quick, and ¶ by itself, and each Warden does the same in succession; and the MP declares the Council to be Duly Opened].

Reception

The Candidate is prepared in the ante-room, by being dressed in a plain garb, without insignia or jewel, and loaded with chains.

The Examiner (having first satisfied himself as to his proficiency in the preceding degrees), accompanies him to the door of the Lodge, and gives the alarm [ ¶¶¶¶¶ slow; ¶¶¶ quick, and ¶ by itself]; which is answered by one rap [¶] from within, and the Archer opens the door and asks:

A: Who comes here, and upon what mission?

E: One of the people of Israel, to announce to the MP Leader a great misfortune that has befallen the people; and to implore at his hands relief and assistance.

A: Who is the applicant, and by what right does he claim admission here?

E: Eliab, the son of Pallu, of the Tribe of Reuben; loaded with chains; in token of the penitence of the People, who flee in terror before the venomous springing serpents that Adonai hath sent to punish them.

[The Archer directs the Candidate to wait a time, until the MP Leader is informed of his request, closes the door, and reports to the Lt. Commander, who reports to the MP , who directs that the applicant be admitted. He enters, and is led up in front of the MP, where he kneels, and the Examiner answers for him].

MP: Who art thou that comest thus, loaded with chains?

E: Eliab, of the Tribe of Reuben, sent in behalf of the People, who dare not come before you, Adonai being angered with them.

MP: AH! disobedient and stiff-necked people! How have they again tempted His anger?

E: MP Leader, the soul of the People was much discouraged, because of the way, journeying from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom; and coming hither to Punon, they spake against Adonai, calling him the Power of Evil, and against you, saying: 'Why hath Al-Schedi and his servant Moses brought us up out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness? There is no bread, nor any water, and our souls loathe this unsubstantial manna. We go to and fro, lo! now almost these forty years, and as Aaron, who gave back to us the worship of the celestial Bull hath died in the Desert, so also shall we all die here. Let us put trust in Adonai no longer; but let us call on the Great Gods Amun and Astarte, Osiris and Isis, to deliver us from this bondage of misery.' And as they cried aloud on those Gods, and many among them invoked Typhon, the Power of Darkness and Evil, lo! Adonai sent venomous springing serpents among them, who dart upont he people, curling round and biting them, and by their venom much people of Israel hath already died. And those that remain have repented, and say, 'We have sinned; for we have spoken against Adonai and his servant Moses.' And they said unto me, 'Put heavy chains upon thy neck to token of our penitence, and go for us unto Moses our Leader, and beseech him to pray unto Adonai that he take away the serpents from us;' and I have done as they desired.

MP: Hast thou also murmured, and called upon the false Gods of the Egyptians and Phoenicians?

E: Because I refused, and withstood the people, and rebuked them in the name of Adonai, Lord of Tsbauth, they sought to slay me; but repenting they sent me hither, because I had not sinned like them.

MP: Thou hast done well, arise! Relieve him of his chains, and give him a seat of honour, for that he hath not forgotten his duty to his God. Life is a war, in which one must prove his soldiership, in order to rise in rank. Force is not given. It has to be seized.

He only is worthy of initiation in the profounder mysteries who has overcome the fear of death, and is ready to hazard his life when the welfare of his country or the interests of humanity require it; and to die even an ignoble death, if thereby the people may be benefited.

And ye, my Brethren, remain here with patience, until I pray unto the God of Israel again to forgive and save his People that he hath chosen.

[The MP , who represents a very feeble old man, rises, assisted by two brethren, and is absent for a time. When he returns, he brings with him a serpent of brass entwined round a Tau Cross, with his head elevated above it; and after taking his seat, he says]"

[SLOW AND PLAINTIVE MUSIC]

MP: I have prayed for the People, and Adonai hath said unto me: "Make thee an image of a venomous springing serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." Take thou, therefore, Eleazar the High Priest, this Serpent and Cross, and give it to the Prince of the Tabernacle, who now waits in the West. Let him place it upon a pole, and go forth to the congregation, barefoot, and clothed in a white robe, and set in the middle of the camp, and make proclamation that everyone that is bitten, when he looketh upon it shall live; for the LORD is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and has forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.

[MUSIC]

[Eleazar takes the serpent, and goes out. After a time he returns and says]:

O: MP Leader, great is ADONAI, AL-KHANAN, the God of Mercy; for he hath mercy on his people Israel. This Prince of the Tabernacle hath gone fearlessly into the midst of the camp, among the fiery serpents, bearing the Brazen Cross and Serpent, symbols of everlasting life; and every one that hath beheld the serpent, owning his sin and doing homage to the Most High, is healed, and liveth; and the plague of the serpent is stayed.

MP: Praise ye the Lord, Adonai, AL hwhy L'AL ALIUN, my children, the Supporter of the Heavens and the Earth! - for He is Great, and His Mercy endureth forever, and He hath forgiven His people Israel.

[TRIUMPHANT MUSIC]

MP: The plague of Serpents is stayed; and as they have fled to their caves in the rocks, so the Celestial Serpent flees, with the Scorpion, before the glittering stars of Orion. The great festival of the vernal equinox approaches, my Brethren, and it is time to prepare ourselves by purification for the passover. Light will soon prevail once more over darkness; and the pulses of life again beat in the bosom of earth, long chilled by the wintry frosts. My brethren, what signs indicate the approach of the Great Festival?

CH: The twenty-seven stars of the Husbandman, by the mystic numbers, one, two, and three, have disappeared during the glancings of the Dawn. The Celestial Ram, clear in the East at the morning twilight, announces the approaching entry of the Great Light of Heaven into Taurus; and the Celestial Twins, chief Cabiri of Samothrace and Gods of Mariners, plunged in the solar fires, accompany the sun across the upper Heavens, and go down with him into the dark bosom of the waters when he sets.

LC: The Pleiades prepare to lead up the Sabaean year: the Heavenly Watchers, Succoth-Benoth, Virgins of Spring and daughters of Atlas and Hesperia, whose lost sister, wedded to a mortal lover, weeps with dishevelled hair, afar off in the Heavens.

O: The Sun, flushed with victory, and marching towards the Celestial Lion of the Summer Solstice, will to-morrow meet the new Moon in the Sign of the Celestial Bull, and Earth will rejoice and thrill with happiness through all her veins and arteries, at the new life which the fortunate conjunction promises. To-morrow with him will rise the Pleiades, and the rainy Hyades, in whose van marches the brilliant Aldebaran, Leader of all the Heavenly armies.

CH: With him will rise Orion's Dogs - Sothis, the Star of Isis, whose light glitters many-coloured, like that of the diamond, and whom Ormuzd set over the celestial host; and Procyon, both straining at the leash up the blue slope of Heaven; and behind them Orion, known to the Assyrians as Nimrod, who taught mortals the chase and to worship the eternal fire: Orion, before whom Perseus far to the westward flees; and who with his bright stars glittering on his shoulders and in his belt will unite with Horus, and rising heliacally with the Celestial Bull, will conquer Typhon, and plunge him in the dark western ocean over which ever broods eternal night.

MP: Thus shall Osiris conquer Typhon, and Ormuzd, Ahriman. Thus again, in the ever-revolving circle of change, shall the Empire of Light prevail against that of Darkness, and the Principle of Evil flee before the Principle of Good. And evermore through the bright gate of Capricorn shall the souls of men ascend to their old starry home; until the final victory of Light, when Winter and Darkness and Evil shall be no more forever; but in all God's universe, as now among the stars that circle around His Throne in solemn harmony, eternal Light, undying Happiness, and everlasting Spring. Therefore, my children, prepare by continence and fasting and the proper purifications, as the soul is prepared to ascend to Heaven, for the Great Festival of the Passover, which and the opening spring it celebrates are types to us and to all initiates of the Sacred Mysteries, of that eternal spring of Light and Happiness, which God has promised, and for which we humbly but confidently hope.

LC: Most Potent, what shall be done with the brazen image of the Serpent and the Cross, which thou didst cause to be set up before the people?

MP: I give it to you, my Brethren, that it may be evermore a symbol of Faith, Repentance and Mercy; which are the great mysteries of man's destiny. And lest the knowledge of its true symbolic meaning should be lost, and the people of Israel should hereafter, following the example of the Egyptians and Phoenicians, imagine this mere emblem and symbol of healing and divination to be a Divinity, and invent for it a history, and make of it a new God, as they are ever prone to do, ye shall perpetuate the remembrance of this day's occurrences, and the true meaning of the Serpent and the Cross, and of our other symbols, and of the fables of Osiris and Ormuzd, as a part and the last degree of those Sacred Mysteries which Joseph, the son of Jacob, like myself, learned from the Egyptians; and which I have taught to you, such as our forefathers, before the days of Abraham and the Pharaohs, practised them upon the plains of Chaldea.

Kneel, therefore, my children, and with me swear, in the presence of the Most High God, faithfully to keep and perpetuate the true meaning thereof, and the secrets of the last degree of these our Mysteries; and to teach and practise the virtues which our symbols illustrate and represent.

[All kneel, including the Candidate; and all repeat the following]

Obligation

I do solemnly promise and swear, before the Most High God, by His names, Adonai, Lord of Heaven and Earth, and Al-Khanan, a God full of Mercy and Compassion, that I will never reveal the secrets of this Degree of Knight of the Brazen Serpent, nor by my presence aid in revealing them, to any person who shall not be entitled to receive them, by having passed through all the previous degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; nor without due authority lawfully obtained.

I furthermore promise and swear that I will perpetuate the true meaning of the Tau Cross entwined with a Serpent, and of the other symbols of Masonry, and of the ancient fables of Osiris and Ormuzd, so far as I may be capable of doing so; and will prevent them, if in my power, from being the occasion of the worship of new idols and images, visible or mental.

I furthermore promise and swear that I will at all times earnestly endeavour to practise all the virtues which the symbols of Masonry represent and illustrate; and repenting of my sins, my errors and my vices, I will strive to reform whatever in my conduct and conversation may be amiss.

And should I wilfully and knowingly fail or neglect to keep and perform any part of this my obligation, I consent to be deemed unworthy of Divine mercy or human kindness; and that the fiery serpents of remorse and an accusing conscience shall torture me forever. So help me God, and aid me to keep these promises!

[The MP then takes his seat, and says:]

Secret Work

MP: My son Eliab, approach and receive the Signs, Words and Tokens of this Degree.

[The Candidate is caused to approach the East by [z] [z may equal 9] serpentine steps, advancing first the right foot; and the MP then communicates to him the Signs, Words, and Tokens.]

Due-Guard: Incline the head, and with the forefinger point at some object on the ground... or, extend the right hand and arm to a distance before you, looking forward, as if descrying some object afar off, and pointing to it.

First Sign: Place the left wrist in the right hand, forming a cross; then lay both on the stomach and bow.

Second Sign: Place the left hand over the heart, inclining the body to the same side, as if you felt a sharp pain there.

Third Sign: Make the sign of the cross on yourself as a Catholic does.

Token: Place yourself upon the right of the person to be examined, and take his left wrist with your left hand.

Answer: He takes your right wrist with his right hand.

Second Token: Clench the fingers of each other's hands, and put the thumbs against each other, so as to form a triangle.

Pass-Word: Khalati

Sacred Word: Al-Khanan.

Sepher ha-Debarim notes:

HOLATI:
hlx , Kholah, 'was sick, afflicted, infirm.' ytilx, Kholaiti, 'I was sick, afflicted;' the first person perfect in Kal, yt being the pronominal suffix, I. And as lwx, Khul, or Khol, means 'being in pain' the first vowel is o or u, and Holati or Kholatai is correct. 'I was sick or wounded.'

EL-HANAN; or AL-HANAN:
Nnx-l) , Al-Khanan, Al the merciful.

The Covered Word, the old Rituals say, is John Ralph, who was the Founder of the Order.

Secret Lecture - Legenda

MP: May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, provide a man that may be over this multitude; that may go out and in before them, and lead them out and bring them in; lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a shepherd.

And the Lord said to him, Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and put thy hands upon him! and he shall stand before Eleazar, the priest, and all the assembly of the people, and thou shalt give him precepts in the sight of all, and part of thy wisdom, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may hear him.

[Legenda proper follows here.]

[The MP then invests the Candidate with the apron, collar, and jewel of the Degree, saying]:

MP: I now accept and receive you a Knight of the Brazen Serpent; and I invest you with the apron, collar and jewel of this Degree. Their blazonry, so far as you do not already understand it, will be fully explained in the lecture of this Degree, which you will receive from the Brother Orator, to whose seat you will now repair.

Lecture - Morals and Dogma

[Download this important lecture here....]

Closing

MP: Brother LC, what is the hour?

LC: MP Leader, the twilight after Sunset. The Pleiades and Aldebaran and the Three Kings of Orion have sunk in the Western ocean, and Perseus rises with the Scorpion in the East.

MP: Then it is time to close this Chapter, until Light, ever alternating with Darkness, as Good with Evil, and Happiness with Sorrow, in this world, again obtains the mastery. How shall we be safe while Evil and Darkness frown from their gloomy thrones upon the Earth?

LC: By faith in God's Providence, repentance of our sins, and reformation.

MP: Right, my son! Brother Commander of the Host, give notice that this Council is now about to close, in order that the Brethren may rest from their labours.

CH: Brother LC, make known to the Brethren that the MP Leader is now about to close this Council; that, while the Scorpion domineers in Heaven with the Serpent, they may rest from their labours.

LC: Brethren, the MP Leader is about to close this Council, that while the Scorpion and Serpent domineer in Heaven, you may rest from your labours. Rest, therefore, until Aldebaran again leads up the Hosts of Heaven.

[The SW and JW and the Master, each in succession, rap, as in opening:

¶¶¶¶¶ ¶¶¶ ¶

The sign is given, and the MP declares the Council closed.]


THE LECTURES ON THE DEGREE

There are several different Lectures for the 25°, as well as several works which were intended to supplement the Initiate's knowledge of the mysteries and symbolism of the Degree. One such work, of course is the Lecture given as Chapter 25 in Morals and Dogma. Another, of course, is the Legenda for the degree. Also, we find works, such as William R. Singleton's Serpent Worship, serialized in an old Masonic Periodical, to be appropriate reading for this Degree. Stay tuned: We have a new edition of this crucial work coming out this year. Then, of course, we have other works, such as Hargrave Jennings' Ophiolatreia, which is now available online: HERE. That work is on the Curriculum. We have noticed already, Henry Clausen's abridged version of the Rite, and his notes on this degree. Now we pay attention to the Legenda, which we originally planned to run in our discussion on the Druzes in the next major segment, The Old Battle-Axe.

This is how the Legenda for the 25° opens:

"The scene of this Degree is the long since ruined city of Kanout, in the Anti-Libanus, situated on the deep river of that name, which flows between steep banks through the middle of the city. It has been calculated that the extent of the city along the river, following a bend of it, was between two and three miles. To the southwest was a copious spring, standing by which, one has an extensive and uninterrupted view of the beautiful plains of the Houran or Hauran, bounded on the opposite side by the snow-capped mountains of the Haish. The Prophet Ezekiel refers to these fertile plains in his vision respecting the borders of the land (xlvii. 16-19), 'Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Houran and from Damascus.'

"The Romans called the Houran, 'peraea,' and divided it into six cantons, the most northern being that of Abilene, between Lebanon and the Anti-Libanus.

"The mountain Gebel al Sheik, in the Anti-Libanus, due west from Damascus, is supposed to be the highest of that region, its summit being perpetually covered with snow.

"In approaching from the sea the ancient city of Sidon, one beholds, of a summer's morning, one of the most magnificent and inspiring pictures ever looked upon by mortal man, prominent in which is the snow-capped peak of Lebanon, covered with the golden glories of the Dawn. The land promised to Abraham and his seed forever lies in full view, high mountains with snowy tops sparkling in the morning sunlight, marking a bold outline against an intensely blue sky. On the summits and in the valleys and dells of these mountains the people known as the 'Druses' dwell, a people isolated from all others in the matter of faith and doctrines and in regard to the hopes and fears which are connected with the unknown land into which the dead enter." - Legenda 25, [First Edition, pages 27-28.]

Compare this with the information we are given in the Liturgy for the 25°:

"The Lodge, in this Degree, is styled THE COUNCIL. It represents the Camp of the Israelites at Punon, on the eastern side of the mountains of Hur, Seir, or Edom, in Arabia Petraea on the confines of Idumaea, after the death of Aaron, when the new moon occurred at the Vernal Equinox, in the fortieth year of the wandering of the Children of Israel in the Desert." - Liturgies of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite (Kessinger Edition, p. 111).

Punon is a long way away from Kanout, is it not? True, it is adjacent to yet another Bozrah, but it cannot even come close to Kanout. What is taking place in this material? Pike's Ritual in Magnum Opus, simply states that the Lodge represents that held near Mount Sinai and nothing more. We get nothing more in the Book of the Words. In the Blanchard ritual we get nothing at all that gives us any idea where the ritual is supposed to take place.

So, it is clear to us, that if the Degree takes place in Kanout, or Qanawát, then the Israelite material is used in an allegorical sense, much like it is in the AASR. There was undoubtedly no such thing as Knighthood at any time in those ancient days. Knighthood is something that came about in the centuries prior to, concurrent with, and following, the Crusades. Realistically speaking, what else can we say? It is necessary to look up what we can on the town itself. It was an important place at the time of Herod, when Herod was conducting missions against the Nabateans. It was one of the Nabatean towns, one of the towns of Roman Arabia, and was not considered very important after the Islamic expansion, or so we are told. At least it was a good place to go into hiding with the Tradition, evidently. We present some maps, first from Burckhardt, which shows the general region, the river itself which flows through the lava beds. Also, it shows Bosra and other important towns. Important: a road does connect Bosra with Kanout, or Kanouat, as in the map. It is possible, too, that the degrees 23 - 30 represent an initiatory cycle communicated by the Ancient Order back in those times. Now, do not mistake what we say: We are not saying that this Ancient Order practiced the rites given in the AASR, as they are presented to us in these old books. We are saying that the Primitive Initiation, that was preserved in the Gnosis, was given in these places, and represented as the Court of Sinai in the AASR rituals.

Here is Burckhardt, from his Travels, describing the visit to Kanout/Qanawat/Kanouat:

[Travels In Syria And The Holy Land; by JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT. (LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, 1822), pdf edition, missing some of the inline graphics in Arabic, and the plates which we have in another version. See the Readings section below for the whole section that this was taken from.]

November 17th. - We rode to the ruined city called Kanouat (.....), two hours to the N.E. of Soueida; the road lying through a forest of stunted oaks and Zarour trees, with a few cultivated fields among them. Kanouat is situated upon a declivity, on the banks of the deep Wady Kanouat, which flows through the midst of the town, and whose steep banks are supported by walls in several places. To the S.W. of the town is a copious spring. On approaching Kanouat from the side of Soueida, the first object that struck my attention was a number of high columns, upon a terrace, at some distance from the town; they enclosed an oblong square fifteen paces in breadth, by twenty-nine in length. There were originally six columns on one side, and seven on the other, including the corner columns in both numbers; at present six only remain, and the bases of two others; they are formed of six pieces of stone, and measure from the top of the pedestal to the base of the capital twenty-six feet; the height of the pedestal is five feet; the circumference of the column six feet. The capitals are elegant, and well finished. On the northern side was an [p.84] inner row of columns of somewhat smaller dimensions than the outer row; of these one only is standing. Within the square of columns is a row of subterraneous apartments. These ruins stand upon a terrace ten feet high, on the N. side of which is a broad flight of steps. The pedestals of all the columns had inscriptions upon them; but nothing can now be clearly distinguished except ,6 JT< 4*4T< "<,206,< upon one of them.

Two divisions of the town may be distinguished, the upper, or principal, and the lower.

The whole ground upon which the ruined habitations stand is overgrown with oak trees, which hide the ruins. In the lower town, over the door of an edifice which has some arches in its interior, and which has been converted in modern times into a Greek church, is an inscription, in which the words [xxxxx] only, were distinguishable.

A street leads up to this building, paved with oblong flat stones placed obliquely across the road in the same manner which I have described at Shohba. Here are several other buildings with pillars and arches: the principal of them has four small columns in front of the entrance and an anti-room leading to an inner apartment, which is supported by five arches. The door of the anti-room is of one stone, as usual in this country, but it is distinguished by its sculptured ornaments. A stone in this building, lying on the ground, is thus inscribed: [xxxxx].

[p.85] The principal building of Kanouat is in the upper part of the town, on the banks of the Wady. The street leading up to it lies along the deep bed of the Wady, and is paved throughout; on the side opposite to the precipice are several small vaulted apartments with doors. The entrance of the building is on the east side, through a wide door covered with a profusion of sculptured ornaments. In front of this door is a vestibule supported by five columns, whose capitals are of the annexed form. This vestibule joins, towards the north, several other apartments; their roofs, some of which were supported by pillars, have now all fallen down. The abovementioned wide door opens into the principal apartment of the edifice, which is twenty-two paces in breadth by twenty-five in length. From each side of the entrance, through the middle of the room, runs a row of seven pillars, like those described above; at the further end, this colonnade is terminated by two Corinthian columns. All the sixteen columns are twenty spans high, with pedestals two feet and a half high. In the wall on the left side of this saloon are three niches, supported by short pillars. To the west is another vestibule, which was supported by five Corinthian columns, but four of them only are now standing. This vestibule communicates through an arched gate with an area, on the W. side of which are two Corinthian pillars with projecting bases for statues. On the S. side of the area is a large door, with a smaller one on each side. That in the centre is covered with sculptured vines and grapes, and over the entrance is the figure of the cross in the midst of a bunch of grapes. I observed similar ornaments on the great gate at Shakka, and I have often seen them since, over the entrances of public edifices. In the interior of the area, on the E. side, is a niche sixteen feet deep, arched at the bottom, with small vaulted rooms on both its sides, in which there is no other opening than the low door. [p.86] On the S. and W. sides, the building is enclosed by a large paved area.

At a short distance from thence is another building, whose entrance is through a portico consisting of four columns in front and of two others behind, between two wings; on the inner sides of which are two niches above each other. The columns are about thirty-five feet high, and three feet and a half in diameter. Part of the walls only of the building are standing. In the wall opposite the entrance are two niches, one above the other. Not far from this building, toward its western side, I found, lying upon the ground, the trunk of a female statue of very inelegant form and coarse execution; my companion the priest spat upon it, when I told him that such idols were anciently objects of adoration; by its side lay a well executed female foot. I may here mention for the information of future travellers in these parts, that on my return to Soueida, I was told that there was a place near the source of spring water, where a great number of figures of men, women, beasts, and men riding naked on horses, &c. were lying upon the ground.

Besides the buildings just mentioned, there are several towers with two stories upon arches, standing insulated in different parts of the town; in one of them I observed a peculiarity in the structure of its walls, which I had already seen at Hait, and which I afterwards met with in several other places; the stones are cut so as to dovetail, and fit very closely.

The circuit of this ancient city may be about two miles and a half or three miles. From the spring there is a beautiful view into the plain of the Haouran, bounded on the opposite side by the mountain of the Heish, now covered with snow. There were only [p.87] two Druse families at Kanouat, who were occupied in cultivating a few tobacco fields. I returned to Soueida by the same road which I had come. - pp. 84-88.

Here are some maps: 1.) -- taken from Burckhardt's Travels, and marked up, adjusted a bit. 2.) -- Taken from Roman Arabia, by G. W. Bowersock.

We now proceed to the Lectures of the Degree. See the next section for more, dealing with the ultimate conclusions of this line of research. We start with a more exoteric explanation of the Degree, but not without its own key points. This is from Clausen's Commentaries on Morals and Dogma, (1981) by Henry C. Clausen, former Sovereign Grand Commander of the Rite:

 

CLAUSEN'S ABRIDGED INTERPRETATION OF THE DEGREE

Summary:

We tackle here the concept of the pure, celestial, eternal soul of man. It is a belief of great antiquity that the soul existed before union with our bodies; else, argued most philosophers, how could the soul exist after the body if it did not exist before and independent of the body. Such was the teaching in the Mysteries. The serpent was regarded with reverence in olden days as the author of the fate of souls. In coil, with head erect, it was used in the royal ensign of the Pharaohs and was consecrated in the ceremonies and the Mysteries and by the Hebrews and the Gnostics. In rituals of the Bacchus Saba-Zeus, the serpent was flung into the bosom of the Initiate. We of the Scottish Rite teach with vigor the lessons of many philosophies and religions, recognizing the unanimity of aims, ideals, and moral lessons, especially a similar mystical death which symbolized the descent of the soul into the infernal regions and then its resurrection to the grandeur of light, truth and perfection.

Commentary:

The history of this Degree is founded upon the story in Numbers XXI:6-9. The Lord sent fiery serpents among the rebellious Israelites and caused them to repent their sins and ask Moses to intercede. He prayed and was told to put a fiery serpent upon a pole and that those who looked upon it, when bitten, would live. So he made a serpent of brass, set it upon a pole and every person who looked on it, when bitten, was saved from death.

The action is in a desert camp of the Israelites among the neighboring Ishmaelites, who were Arabs and descendents from Abraham through his son, Ishmael, and his handmaiden, Hagar. The candidate passed through the houses of the earth, planets, sun, moon and light. In the course of so doing, he succeeded in achieving personal betterment. Then there was revealed the Old Testament symbol of a 'brass serpent' upon a tall column.

We are again reminded that the Mysteries taught the doctrine of our divine nature, the nobility of the immortal soul and the grandeur of its destiny. The serpent was used among the symbols. In some quarters the reptile was considered the author of the fate of souls. In the Mysteries of Bacchus and Eleusis, it was consecrated. It is found in Mithraic monuments and was used in the royal ensign of the Pharaohs. It was as often a symbol of malevolence and evil, according to Hebrew writers and in the Indian and Persian mythologies. Every devout follower of Zoroaster was obliged to exterminate serpents.

We know that repentance for sins committed possibly may prevent a repetition, but it never will redeem what has been done. The relentless hand that smites us is our own. The offense and the punishment are the same in the domain of eternal justice. He who wrongs another only, in fact, injures himself. He sinks the dagger into his own heart. But we still have under our control the remedy of evil, and the increase of good. We can implement the powers of love, purity and spirituality. This Degree is therefore philosophical and moral, teaching not only repentance, but also reformation. It is devoted also to an explanation of symbols of Masonry, especially those connected with the ancient and universal legend of death and restoration of life. A deeper meaning is that the rule of darkness and evil is only temporary and that light and good shall be eternal.

We must sow carefully, therefore, if we would reap a harvest of happiness. Our Philosophical Degrees impart - and each of our degrees from the First to the Thirty-second teach by ceremonial and instruction - that the noblest purposes and duties of man in life are to struggle and overcome and win mastery over the material and sensual, to reach the spiritual and divine within himself. There is in him, as in the universe, God's harmony and beauty and equilibrium. This laudable aim requires a knowledge that man is possessed of a spiritual nature - an eternal soul advancing ever nearer and nearer to perfection and the light of the Divine Presence - He of omnipotence and onmiscience - infinite in power and wisdom and mercy, with love and infinite pity for the frail and imperfect creatures of His creation.

While we have dealt with the Lesser and Greater Mysteries that have come down to us over the long centuries from ancient times, the truths they impart are as pristine pure and as timely to us as our modern civilization. We can look at the creative purpose behind the universe in many ways, rejecting idolatry, superstition and infantile fantasies. We can refuse to believe in a capricious Deity that metes out favors and punishments according to rules and regulations. The Scottish Rite does not insist upon following man-made dogmas as a necessary step toward eternal salvation. Our teachings are relevant to contemporary problems and to our social and moral obligations.

We stress that it is God who gives us good, freedom, love, reason, moral choice and identity. Those are things for which we can ask and pray. They are synonymous with God if we condemn evil and strip from all religions their orthodox tenets, legends, allegories and dogmas. And, since religions proclaim the Omnipotence of God, so also are the basic characteristics omnipotent that are synonymous with God. A definition of omnipotence may be 'the infinite, unlimited source of all power.'

It follows then that if we have faith in those basic characteristics of God, if we reflect them in our lives, and if we think those thoughts and exclude from our consciousness the opposite, we have within us an infinite, unlimited source of power. This requires conscious rejection of the opposites, a blotting-out from the mind of despair, forebodings, self-pity, fear and anxiety, and filling the vacuum with thoughts of harmony, health, perfection, faith and courage.

What a world this would be if all nations would practice that philosophy. We would have achieved a true New Age. No more wars, no more crime; Brotherly Love and life would be lived in all God's glory. That age was foreseen when Henry James told us in his autobiography:

"Were half the power that fills the
earth with terror,
Were half the wealth bestowed in
camps and courts,
Given to redeem the human mind from error,
There were no need of arsenals or forts."

Perhaps the stars in transition have a message for us, as the world plunges through space into the Age of Aquarius. The astronomers point out that the celestial motion of our galaxy completes an orbit every 26,000 years. This can be divided into twelve divisions, or some 2,100 years of space. These events are related to Masonry. We celebrate the feasts of the equinox and of the solstice. Our altar is in the East. Lights, furniture and symbols refer to the heavens.

Having in mind, as Einstein demonstrated, that matter and energy are interchangeable, so that actually everything is material or vice versa, we know that the new division we are entering will bring new energies. These may have tremendous effects upon us, our civilization and our earth, just as sunspot cycles are related to weather changes and economic cycles.

H. G. Wells, in his novel, 'In the Days of the Comet,' told of a world beset with warfare, treachery and intrigue, over which a mysterious comet discharged a gigantic green cloud. It put everyone on earth into a strange sleep. Then they awoke to an encouraging change. Anger and mistrust were gone. In the calm of genuine human understanding, soldiers threw down their weapons and, in the fullness of peace, greeted as friends the former objects of hatred. So, also, an eventually awakened mankind will reject material ambition for a conquest of self in the new age of happiness.

Diogenes and Thoreau, each in his day, were exponents of the contented life. Diogenes declared 'you lose the elusive object of your search when you scramble for the luxurious life.' One day Alexander the Great went to where huge crowds were waiting to hear him speak. But Diogenes stayed home. Noting the absence, Alexander asked, 'What can I do for you?' Diogenes replied, 'Just one thing. Stand aside; you are blocking my sunlight.'

We may find some contradictions when we get to Pike's materials, from which Clausen derived a lot of his material from the Rite. Particularly in the second part of the Legenda for the Degree.

MORALS AND DOGMA

Click HERE

THE LEGENDA

"The scene of this Degree is the long since ruined city of Kanout, in the Anti-Libanus, situated on the deep river of that name, which flows between steep banks through the middle of the city. It has been calculated that the extent of the city along the river, following a bend of it, was between two and three miles. To the southwest was a copious spring, standing by which, one has an extensive and uninterrupted view of the beautiful plains of the Houran or Hauran, bounded on the opposite side by the snow-capped mountains of the Haish. The Prophet Ezekiel refers to these fertile plains in his vision respecting the borders of the land (xlvii. 16-19), 'Hazar-hatticon, which is by the coast of Houran and from Damascus.'

"The Romans called the Houran, 'peraea,' and divided it into six cantons, the most northern being that of Abilene, between Lebanon and the Anti-Libanus.

"The mountain Gebel al Sheik, in the Anti-Libanus, due west from Damascus, is supposed to be the highest of that region, its summit being perpetually covered with snow.

"In approaching from the sea the ancient city of Sidon, one beholds, of a summer's morning, one of the most magnificent and inspiring pictures ever looked upon by mortal man, prominent in which is the snow-capped peak of Lebanon, covered with the golden glories of the Dawn. The land promised to Abraham and his seed forever lies in full view, high mountains with snowy tops sparkling in the morning sunlight, marking a bold outline against an intensely blue sky. On the summits and in the valleys and dells of these mountains the people known as the 'Druses' dwell, a people isolated from all others in the matter of faith and doctrines and in regard to the hopes and fears which are connected with the unknown land into which the dead enter.

The Druses are supposed to be the descendants of those Hivites among whom the Hebrews dwelt in the time of Joshua, and afterward, upon Mount Lebanon. They never adopted the Hebrew religion, but they were compelled, ages afterward, to accept that of Mohammed, although they continued to worship in secret caverns and solitudes, according to the faith of their fathers, which was a mixture of various beliefs, of legends and superstitions.

The Druses on the Lebanon are estimated to amount to about 29,000 souls.

According to their own traditions, the Druses believe that their ancestors originally dwelt upon that range of mountains which is situated between Laodicea and the extensive plains of the Amuk, now exclusively inhabited by fierce and little known Ansyrii tribes.

Though not the most numerous, the Druses are acknowledged to be the most warlike and courageous people inhabiting the Lebanon. Occupying all the southern portion, the western slope of Anti-Lebanon, and Gebel al-Sheik, they have upward of forty large towns and villages inhabited exclusively by themselves, and nearly two hundred and thirty villages occupied by a mixed population of Druses and Christians; while in Anti-Lebanon they are also possessed of nearly eighty exclusively Druse villages.

Some of their Akals or Ockals say that the name Druse is derived from the Arabic word durs, which signifies 'clever, industrious;' others, that it is from the Arabic word turs, 'shield'; and that they are called by it, because in the time of the Crusades they were selected by Nur-eddin and Salah-eddin to watch and defend the line of the coast from Beyrout to Sidon.

The cities Ammatam and Bachlin are sacred to the Druses of Lebanon. They are rallying points, where, in time of trouble and warfare, the tribes meet and swear allegiance to each other and to their cause, standing in their Khalué or Mosque, where all the books of their faith are guarded religiously, and with jealous zeal. In Anti-Lebanon the cities Hasbeya and Rosheya answer the same purpose; and whenever anything is astir, going wrong or suspicious, the news is telegraphed from these points through the Druse Districts with startling rapidity, by means of bonfires lit at various points; and the scene then presented by the mountains is there wild and picturesque beyond description.

The Druses adhere to their old faith, being honest and earnest in what they believe, and proving that there is nothing more beautiful than human nature, when not tainted by the vices of doctrinal discipline.

In many villages of the Anti-Libanus, the Druse inhabitants appear strictly to adhere to the tenets of the Mohammedan law, being srupulous in their attendance to rites and ceremonials, observing rigidly the Ramazan; but in this they only obey the precept of their own faith, which in secret they devoutly cherish.

******************************

The Khalués, or edifices erected for worship, are simple, differing but little from the Druse houses generally; are whitewashed or plastered with lime, usually set apart from the villages upon commanding positions, where, by means of sentries stationed, they are secure against interruption or the prying propensities of the inquisitive, while engaged in performing the secret duties of their religion. The floors are covered with rush mats and there is always a basin, filled by a running stream.

All the Khalués have property attached to them, the revenues of which are consecrated to the relief of the poor and the demands of hospitality. Two or three are dedicated to the Prophet Ayub, and in the one at Neeha, in the district of the Shoof, which stands on a lofty escarped rock, a lamp is kept burning night and day.

The clergy and the learned doctors and the elders, constitute the class of Akals among the Druses. They superintend the ordinances of worship, and instruct the children in the elements of their religion. Their dress is extremely simple, and they are forbidden to wear any article of gold or silk.

The word 'Akal' means 'sober,' or 'quiet', and the whole lives of the Akals are devoted to doing good. They desire to detach themselves, as much as possible, from the ordinary pursuits of mankind. They lead a life of the strictest devotion, passed in prayer and profound contemplation of the mysteries of religion; and are held in the highest respect and esteem for their amiable manners and virtuous lives by the whole of the people.

They are more especially regarded as ministers of peace. Their very presence banishes discord, and whenever a Druse peasant meets an Akal, he salutes him as one who is the harbinger of peace and happiness, and kisses his hand with reverence and affection.

They exercise great influence in temporal matters, for no one would think of entering any place or conducting an affair without consulting the Akals. Nothing of importance would be attempted, even by a Sheik, without their advice and approval; and altogether , they exercise a general control and supervision over the manners, morals and proceedings of the Druse people, which has a most beneficial effect. [NOTE: Think about it folks! Freedom or No Freedom; Liberty or no, that's the way it is!"]

Highly reverenced during their lives, they have all honour paid them when death has summoned them to another world. At an Akal's funeral the whole village accompanies the body to the grave, and the last rites are solemnly performed. Sums of money, pieces of cloth and numerous presents are given by the villagers to be deposited in the grave or vault of the deceased Akal; and all the virtues and good actions which have distinguished him in life are described on his tomb with affectionate fidelity.

The Akals do not in the least resemble a priesthood. They are the wiser and more sober of the Druses, who meet in privacy and simplicity at certain intervals, to cultivate the spirit of brotherly love and union, to inspire each other with a solemn regard for the strictest principles of moral virtue, and with a holy and untiring zeal for the faith and doctrines which they firmly believe the Deity has communicated to them by the first glorious emanation of His mysterious and indescribable essence, the Universal Intelligence.

[NOTE TO THE ABOVE: We can relate. Not only that we see a definite parallel between the Akals and the Upper Management Level of the Essene Hierarchy, as well as that which we are in contact with, namely, our SELVES.]

**************************

The passages that here now follow, are extracted from the Druse books without comment.

When men were created, they knew not the origin of their existence, nor did they seek God by their works.

Wherefore He impressed upon their souls convictions of truths, and the knowledge of truth, so that they knew and acknowledged Him. He manifested His Self unto them, by His works; and by His revelations of Himself in Nature taught them His greatness, and made them to know His unity, so that they said, 'God is great: There is no God but God.' Thus He called them unto Him, saying, 'Am I not your God?' and they believed in the unity of the Most High.

It was the Most Wise Intellect which was standing with God in the place of a priesthood, inviting the people to know their Creator, the Most High, and His Unity. And this Intellect taught the people the arts and sciences, aided by the Creator, who gave him wisdom and spiritual sovereignty and potencies, and made him Priest, Prophet, Aider, Director and Adviser.

And this Intellect gave to men the faculty to distinguish between what is right and good and wise, and what is wrong and bad and foolish, enabling them to avoid excesses and follies and evil deeds. And the benediction of the Lord God Almighty was over all the earth.

May God make us and all our Brethren disciples of the true Faith, and deliver us from doubts after having attained to the truths! Amen!

The Paradise of the Creator was then extended over all the earth, and the disciples of Truth dwelled therein; but there grew up disciples of Falsehood, deniers of the unity of God, who misled men, so that they fell in many ways into sin, permitting that which in their nature they were in common with the animals, to overcome and be master of that in which they were not animal or material, but rays of the Intellect and Soul.

And the Divine Wise Intellect sent teachers unto men, whose minds were of Him and in whose words He spoke, one after another, during many ages, Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses the Son of Imran, and the Prophets, and Pythagoras and Plato, and Jesus the son of Joseph, the Lord, the Messiah, and his Apostles, and after these Mohamed the Son of Abdalla, with his law, which is the law of Islam; and the disciples of truth followed the law of Islam; and Ali Ebn Abi Taleb, and Mohamed Ebn Ismail the Prophet, whose law is the final of all laws, inciting to the right path; and he is from the seed of Ali Ebn Taleb.

And it is certain that Mohamed Ebn Ismail is a prophet, and that God has sent him an evident book, and he has an open law and a secret law; and his works are the works of the eloquent ones who have passed before him.

And in all these the perfect Intellect was manifested.

And last of all Hamza Ebn Ali established the order of Truth in his faith, and ordered Hakem to proclaim the Unity of God and the Godhead.

The Creator, the Supreme, produced all things.

That which He first produced was His Minister, the Universal Intellect, to which He imparted power to create, classify and arrange all things.

This Intellect is 'The Virgin of Power,' 'The Receiver of Revelation,' 'The Knower of Desires,' 'The Explainer of Commands,' 'The Spring of Light,' 'The Will whence Production proceeds,' 'The Chosen of the Creator.'

This Intellect, manifested by these attributes, fashioned and arranged the Universe.

He is the Pen, and the Tablet it writes upon is the Soul.

He is a perfect Being, capable of acting and having free will. Yet all that He ordains or creates is ordained or created in accordance with the will of the Creator.

When the Creator created this Intellect, He gave him power to separate from Himself, or to remain and dwell with Himself.

And He created for him a helpmate, Universal Soul.

And He inspired Intellect, and Intellect inspired Soul, and created the Word.

And the Word could do good or evil.

Then the Word created the 'Preceding,' and the 'Preceding' created the 'Following,' and the 'Following' created the Heaven and the Earth, and all that is therein.

When the Universe was created, it was created at the will of the Creator, who called it 'The World of Souls.'

And these souls are masculine or feminine.

All the Spirits created were produced out of the Intellect immanent in the Creator.

The Creator is the source from which these Sprits emanate. Next to the Creator is Intellect, and next to Intellect, Soul.

All Souls are essentially incorruptible and unchangeable, each distinct and different from the other, and each always continuing to be what it was at first.

There are seven laws by which every Akal will observe, while the ray of the Divine Light within him is not withdrawn from him, leaving to him only his animal nature.

The first is that of the Truth of the Tongue. It is the belief in the presence of the Word in Humanity; the belief in all those who in different ages have taught men the truth; the belief in that wisdom which is the Religion in which alone is safety; the belief in the goodness of God, and in another life after this, and the reward or punishment that will there be decreed.

The second is that of the preservation of Friendship among Brethren; to remember them in their needs and sorrows, and to love them whether they be near unto or far from us; to respect with manly self-respect our Superiors; to be gracious and kind to those who are below us, and sustain them both secretly and publicly, giving them their due rights, whether temporal or spiritual, and proving ourselves to be their true friends.

The third is that of the abandonment of the worship of idols, formed in the mind by false and distorted conceptions of God, and seen with slavish superstition in the symbols which have usurped the places of the things symbolized, and become the objects of an ignorant reverence, and the fruitful source of false and impure religions. It is also that of the abandonment of the doctrine of those who believe in legends and fables, and of those who say that God is not present everywhere, in sympathy with His creatures, but somewhere remote from them, where He looks unconcernedly on, and sees the action of the Universe, and its forces, both of matter and intellect, proceeding under the operation of 'laws' enacted by Him, which make His personal intervention and concern and interest unnecessary. It is also that of the abandonment of the doctrine of those who believe in traditions and babble nonsense, and say that God is not one.

The fourth is that of the disbelief in Evil Spirits in rebellion and antagonism against the one God.

The fifth is that of implicit truth and confidence in God, as infinitely merciful and loving, and of that worship of Him which has rested in every age and generation on the belief that He has personality by Unity of Will and Wisdom, but without body, form or shape, or confinement within limits; by imagining which men make a God after their own image, conceiving of themselves as infinitely magnified, and fancying this conception to be God.

The sixth is that of being satisfied with the acts of God, whatever they may be, not endeavoring to avoid the operation of His laws, or condemning as wrong or criminal anything whatsoever that is done in obedience to them, as they appear and act in Nature and Humanity.

And the seventh is that of resignation, cheerful and implicit, to His will, even when He afflicts us with sorrows and what seem to us cruel and unnecessary desolations and deprivations. For in adversity we cannot know what evils and miseries prosperity might have brought upon us, what enmities and slanders, what moral and mental and physical diseases; nor from what extremities of shame and agony and suffering and sorrow He may have rescued by death the loved ones whom He has taken from us.

The Truth of the Tongue is better than clamorous and complaining prayer; the preservation of friendship among Brethren, than ceremonial observances; the abandonment of the worship of idols, than fasting; the disbelief in evil spirits, than the wrath against sinfulness and against error in doctrine, that makes men intolerant and sour; the worship of God, than reluctant performance of duty and mortification of the flesh, out of fear of punishment and hope of remuneration in another life; to be satisfied with the acts of God, than warfare for the conversion of heathen and the propagation of religion by force; and resignation to His will, than belief without examination or knowledge, in articles of faith that are incomprehensible.

The conclusion is, that whosoever knows and believes as the Seven Laws require, and is sound of mind and body, and of full age, and free from servitude, may be of those who are destined to the ranks, and entitled to be present at the private assemblies, at which whosoever is present must revere God and be true and generous to his Brother, and whosoever is absent with right to be present will repent it.

When you shall see faith become rare among men, and pious men reviled and scorned, when the teachers of religion shall bring it into contempt, and it shall be a subject of jest and ridicule, when it shall persist in demanding that men shall believe what they cannot believe, when long prayers shall be written and delivered like orations; and sermons shall be political harangues, religion will have fallen into decay and the day of reckoning will be at hand.

Look on the fields, for they are already white to the harvest, and he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; for the Sign of the Holy Doctrine has appeared, and the day of its manifestation is at hand.

Watch, Brethren, for the time of the coming draweth nigh; cleave to the faith, and be a separate and peculiar people, for the Sign of the Truth is about to appear, and the veil which concealed it will be withdrawn.

**************************

"These were the teachings of the Druses. Hear now the words of an adept of a later age.

"The Father sends fiery serpents to sting and to slay his children. Yet He commands us to forgive those who trespass against us. And this law is not the mandate of His WILL, but the expression of His NATURE.

"Who will explain this great mystery?

"One serpent, the Sarap, on the Earth, is the Minister of Death. The image of another, Nakhish, lifted on high heals, and averts death.

"The first Sages who sought for the cause of causes saw Good and Evil in the world: they observed the Shadow and the Light; they compared Winter with Spring, Old Age with Youth, Life with Death: and said, 'The First Cause is Beneficent and Cruel: It gives life and destroys.'

"'Are there, then, two contrary Principles, a Good and an Evil?' cried the disciples of Manes.

"No! the two Principles of the Universal Equilibrium are not contrary to each other, though in apparent opposition; for it is a Single Wisdom that opposes them one to the other.

"The Good is on the right, The Evil on the left; but the Supreme Good is above both; and makes The Evil subserve the triumph of The Good, and The Good serve for the reparation of The Evil.

"The human equilibrium requires two feet: the worlds revolve by means of two forces: generation requires two sexes. Such is the meaning of the arcanum of Solomon, figured by the two columns of the Temple.

"The equilibrium is the resultant of two Forces.

"If the two forces are absolutely and always equal, the equilibrium will be immobility, and consequently non-life. Movement is the result of an alternating preponderance.

"The impulse given to one scale of a balance necessarily determines the movement of the other. Contraries thus act upon contraries, everywhere in nature, by correspondence and analogical connection.

"The whole of life consists in an inhalation and expiration of the breath. Creation is the sub-positing of a Shadow, to serve as a limit for the Light; of a void, to serve as a receptacle for the plenitude of Being; of a passive Principle impregnated, to support and manifest in reality the inherent power of the active generating Principle.

"All nature is of both sexes: and the movement which produces the appearance of life and death is a continual generation.

"The occult laws are often diametrically opposite to the ordinary ideas. Thus, for example, the vulgar believe in the sympathy of those who are alike, and the antagonism of the unlike; while the exact contrary is the real law.

"It used to be said: 'Nature has a horror of a vacuum.' It should have been said: 'Nature is amorous of the vacuum;' if vacuum were not, in physics, the most absurd of fictions.

"God loves the Void, which He has made that He may fill it; Knowledge loves Ignorance, which it enlightens; Force loves Weakness, which it sustains; the Good loves the Apparent Evil, which makes it glorious; the Day is amorous of the Night, and incessantly pursues it around the world. Love is at once a thirst, and a fullness that must flow forthabroad. Whatever gives movement receives it; and whatever receives it gives it. It is a perpetual exchange.

"There are in nature four movements, produced by two forces, which sustain each other by their tendencies in opposite directions. And the law that rules bodies is both analogous and proportioned to that which governs Spirits; and the law which governs Spirits is the very manifestation of the Hidden Self of Deity; that is to say, of the mystery of Creation.

"To know the law of this interchange, of the alternating preponderance or simultaneous proportion of these Forces, is to be in possession of the first principles of the Grand Secret, which constitutes the true human Divinity.

"It is for you to discover this Law and this Secret for yourself. The Initiate learns by reflection; and not, like the children, by committing words and definitions to memory.

"The Divinity, One in its Essence, has two essential conditions, as fundamental bases of its Being ~~ Necessity and Liberty.

"It could not not have been. It could not have been other than it is.

"The Laws of the Supreme Reason necessitate, in God, and regulate, Liberty, which is necessarily reasonable and wise.

"To make Light visible, and for that only, God has subjoined shadow.

"To manifest the Truth, He has made doubt possible.

"Shadow is the foil of Light; and the possibility of Error is necessary, for the temporal forth- showing of Truth.

"If the buckler of Satan did not stay the flight of Michael's lance, the power of the Archangel would be lost in the void, or would necessarily display and manifest itself by an infinite destruction, directed from above to below.

"And if the foot of Michael did not arrest Satan in his ascent, Satan would go to dethrone God, or to lose himself in the abysses of height.

"Satan is then necessary to Michael, as the pedestal to the statue; and Michael to Satan, as the brake to the locomotive.

"In analogical and universal dynamics we rest only on that which resists.

"Wherefore, as we have said before, the Universe is balanced by two forces, which maintain it in equilibrium; and the force which attracts, and that which repels. This is the equilibrium of the mountain of gold, which the Gods on one side, and the Demons on the other, hold tied by the symbolic Serpent of India; and its scientific reality is demonstrated by the phenomena of Polarity, and by the universal law of Sympathies and Antipathies.

"Two affirmations make possible or necessary two corresponding negations. 'EXISTENCE IS,' is an averment that 'NON-EXISTENCE, or NOTHING, IS NOT.' The affirmation, as WORD, [or the thought uttered,] produces the affirmation as Realization or Incarnation of the Word; and each of these affirmations corresponds to the negation of its contrary.

"So it is that, according to the expression of the Kabalists, the name of the Deity, regarded as Evil, is composed of the letters upside down [hwhy upside down] of the Very Name of the Deity as Good [hwhy ].

"This Evil is the lost reflection or imperfect mirage of the Light, in the Shadow.

"What is in visible nature reveals, as we already know, by the one dogma of the Kabalah, that which is in the realm of invisible Nature; or second causes at all points proportioned and analogous to the manifestations of the FIRST CAUSE.

"Wherefore this FIRST CAUSE has always revealed Itself by the Cross; - the Cross, that One composed of two, each of the two divided, so that they constitute four; - the Cross, that key of the mysteries of India and Egypt, the TAU of the Patriarchs, the divine symbol of Osiris, the Stauros of the Gnostics, the Keystone of the Temple, the symbol of the Divine Wisdom, the Divine Word, the Divine Power and Divine Sovereignty, radiating from one centre, manifested in the Universe of truth and intelligence; the Cross, that central point of junction of the right angles of four infinite Triangles; the four-in-one of the Divine Tetragram." - pp. 27 - 45.

 

PARALLELS TO THE ANGEL CULTS AND TO OPHIOLATREIA

So, from all the preceding, we get a description of the area that appears to be an inspiration for Albert Pike's description of it. Even if it wasn't exactly that, it is close enough to give us some corroborations.

The Lectures for the Degree appear to have absolutely nothing to do with the action in the Ritual, or the Legend that it is based upon. That means that it must have been utilized as an allegory, which is very possible. Also, pay attention to the concept of looking at the brazen Serpent while adoring the Most High God. Hmmm...

For example, the Israelites going into the Promised Land could actually be the Crusaders arriving in Palestine and establishing the Latin Kingdom. We do know that the Crusaders were in the region in the early years of the foundation of the Knights Templars. And, from what we are getting from this, they might have actually met up with a survival of the Johannite Gnostics, using layers of interpretation to conceal the truths, and render them accessible to the minds of the Warrior Monks.

One thing for sure, is that this particular region, where Qanawát is located, is in SAFAitic territory. That is, territory corresponding to the Nabatean tribe of SAFA. What does this mean for us? Well, that is fairly self-explanatory, is it not? The Brethren of Purity, or the Ikhwan as-Safa were also known as the Pure Brethren of Bosra (uncorrectly associated with Basra, Iraq sometimes). We know that the Rasa'il Ikhwan as-Safa was an influence on the Picatrix and related works of esoteric philosophy, and these are the kinds of teachings that are expounded in the 25th Chapter of Morals and Dogma. We also know that the Harranians are said to have influenced the material that went into the Picatrix. Until we possess copies of both Picatrix, and Rasa'il Ikhwan as-Safa, we cannot say for sure. Though it is fair to say that the Magnum Opus of Agrippa, the Three Books of Occult Philosophy, judging by a comparison of the tables of contents, tells us that there are plenty of similarities.

One other thing we know, is that the Ikhwan as-Safa or Pure Brethren of Bosra were associated with the Isma'ilis. We also know that some of the earliest forms of the Angel Cultus to exist, the Nusairi were associated with the Isma'ilis, much as the Druzes are associated with the Fatimites.

We are also fairly certain that both the Yezidis and the Isma'ilis (via the Batiniyya of Abd 'Allah ibn Maymun al Qaddah) were associated with the Daisaniyya, or Bardesanites. Bar Daisan is said to have been a pupil of Valentinus, or a student of his works; some have him as a Christian heretic, and, too, we've noticed that he is regarded as paying reverence to the Seven, i.e, the Planetary influences. This is one of the features of the Angel Cultus, and of the various strands of Magism that exist, be they Persian, Babylonian, or Chaldean.

And, for no extra cost, we know that the Hauran region was one of the gathering places for Jewish Christians, most of whom possessed mystical propensities, and Gnostic speculations, after the Movement was sabotaged and subverted by the "Orthodox" Party, in the earliest years of its existence. This we shall pick up in Book Two, Part Four, "Ormus and the Grail Chalice."

 

CONCLUSIONS/RECAPITULATION

SO, ultimately, what does this have to do with the ancient Serpent Cult, the Serpent Tribe? The degree, perhaps is only a hint or a clue as to the real significance, as we can see from the Encyclopaedia Bibliaca article, and as we discovered when looking for Kanout on the map. The Druzes, in Pike's Legenda, were said to have been descended from the Hivites, and these, according to several 19th Century sources, were the Serpent Tribe, or a branch of it. They, and the Cuthim, for sure, were branches of the Serpent Tribe. What does it all matter today? The world we find ourselves alive in can serve as the answer. The impossible situations in the Middle East will have to be rectified sooner or later, and we see no reason why it has to be so one sided. The Serpent Tribe exists within all ethnic and racial groups. Not merely one.

What would it have been like, if some Crusaders arrived in Bosra, Syria; or, perhaps some Knights Templars, arrived there, or were injured in the vicinity, and brought into a camp of Initiates of the Disciples of Truth (otherwise known as the Brethren of Purity, Pure Brethren of Bosra, etc.)? What if, too, the Brethren saw a golden opportunity to inculcate some of their lofty philosophy into the thoughts and future actions of the gallant, but wounded Knights?

What better method than to dope them up, and convince them that they were Israelites in the Court of Sinai? Much like the horticulture club meeting in The Manchurian Candidate. Well, it didn't exactly work out to the better, you protest? This is merely a conjecture, but one that is more like an educated guess.

UP NEXT: The Old Battle-Axe, and the conclusion to The Sons of the Serpent Tribe.

READINGS

[Travels In Syria And The Holy Land; by JOHN LEWIS BURCKHARDT. (LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, 1822), pdf edition, missing some of the inline graphics in Arabic, and the plates which we have in another version.]

November 12th. - I left Ezra with the Greek priest, to visit the villages towards the mountain of the Haouran. I had agreed to pay him by the day, but I soon had reason to repent of this arrangement. In order to protract my journey, and augment the number of days, [p.64] he loaded his horse with all his church furniture, and at almost every village where we alighted he fitted up a room, and said mass; I was, in consequence, seldom able to leave my night's quarters before mid-day, and as the days were now short our day's journey was not more than four or five hours. His description of me to the natives varied with circumstances; sometimes I was a Greek lay brother, sent to him by the Patriarch, a deception which could not be detected by my dress, as the priesthood is not distinguished by any particular dress, unless it be the blue turban, which they generally wear; sometimes he described me as a physician who was in search of herbs; and occasionally he owned that my real object was to examine the country. Our road lay S.E. upon the borders of the stony district called Ledja; and at the end of two hours we passed the village of Bousser (....) on our left, which is principally inhabited by Druses; it lies in the War, and contains the Turkish place of pilgrimage, called Meziar Eliashaa. Near it, to the S. is the small village Kherbet Hariri. In one hour we passed Baara, a village under the control of the Sheikh of Ezra; and at half an hour farther to our right, the village Eddour (.....). The Wady Kanouat, a torrent which takes its rise in the mountain, passes Baara, where it turns several mills in the winter season; towards the end of May it is generally dried up. At one hour from Baara is the Ain Keratha, or Geratha, according to Bedouin and Haouran pronunciation (.....). At the foot of a hill in the War are several wells; this hill is covered with the ruins of the ancient city of Keratha, of which the foundations only remain: there had been such a scarcity of water this year, that the people of Bousser were obliged to fetch it from these wells. A quarter of an hour E. of them is the village Nedjran (.....), in the Ledja, in which are several ancient buildings inhabited by Druses. In the Ledja, in the neighbourhood of Keratha, [p.65] are many spots of arable ground. Upon a low hill, in our route, at an hour and a quarter from the Ain or well, is Deir el Khouat (...... ...), i.e. the Brothers' Monastery, a heap of ruins. From thence we travelled to the south-eastward for three quarters of an hour, to the village Sedjen (...), where we alighted, at the house of the only Christian family remaining among the Druses of the place.

Sedjen is built, like all these ancient towns, entirely of the black stone peculiar to these mountains.

November 13th. - We left Sedjen about noon; and in half an hour came to the spring Mezra (....), the water of which is conducted near to Sedjen by an ancient canal, which empties itself in the summer time into a large pond; in the winter the stream is joined by a number of small torrents, which descend from the Djebel Haouran between Kanouat and Soueida; it empties itself farther to the west into the Wady Kanouat. Above the spring is a ruined castle, and near it several other large buildings, of which the walls only are standing; the castle was most probably built to protect the water. There is a tradition that Tamerlane filled up the well; and a similar story is repeated in many parts of the Haouran: it is said that he threw quick-silver into the springs, which prevented the water from rising to the surface; and that the water collecting under ground from several sources near Mezerib, at length burst forth, and formed the copious spring at that place, called Bushe. From Mezra to Medjel we travelled E.N.E. one hour. It rained the whole day. On arriving at Medjel I alighted to copy some inscriptions, when the Druse Sheikh immediately sent for me, to know what I was about. It is a general opinion with these people that inscriptions indicate hidden treasure; and that by reading or copying them a knowledge is obtained where the treasure lies. I often combated this opinion with success, by simply asking them, [p.66] whether, if they chose to hide their money under ground, they would be so imprudent as to inform strangers where it lay? The opinion, however, is too strongly rooted in the minds of many of the country people, to yield to argument; and this was the case with the Sheikh of Medjel. Having asked me very rudely what business I had, I presented to him the Pasha's Bouyourdi; but of twenty people present no one could read it; and when I had read it to them, they refused to believe that it was genuine. While coffee was roasting I left the room, finished copying some inscriptions, and rode off in a torrent of rain. On the left side of a vaulted gate-way leading into a room in which are three receptacles for the dead is this inscription: [xxxxx] And opposite to it, on the right side of the gate-way, in large characters, [xxxxx] Over the eastern church, or mosque gate, [xxxxx]. [p.67] On the northern church gate, [xxxxx]. On two stones built into the wall of a house on the side of the road, beyond the village, [xxxxx]. There are two other buildings in the town, which I suppose to have been sepulchral. In one of them is a long inscription, but the rain had made it illegible. We rode on for three quarters of an hour farther to the village Kafer el Loehha (..... ...), situated in the Wady Kanouat, on the borders of the Ledja. I here passed a comfortable evening, in the company of some Druses, who conversed freely with me, on their relations with their own Sheikhs, and with the surrounding Arabs.

November 14th. - the principal building of Kafer el Loehha is [p.68] a church, whose roof is supported by three arches, which, like those in the private dwellings, spring from the floor of the building. Upon a stone lying near it I read [xxxxx]. Not far from the church, on its west side, is another large edifice, with a rotunda, and a paved terrace before it. Over the gateway, which is half buried, is the following inscription: [xxxxx].

From Kafer el Loehha we rode N. forty minutes, to a village called Rima el Loehf, (..... ....) inhabited by only three or four Druse families. At the entrance of the village stands a building eight feet square and about twenty feet high, with a flat roof, and three receptacles for the dead; it has no windows; at its four corners are pilasters. Over the door is this inscription: [xxxxx] The walls of this apartment are hollow, as appears by several [p.69] holes which have been made in them, in search of hidden treasure. Beneath it is a subterraneous apartment, in which is a double row of receptacles for the dead, three in each row, one above the other; each receptacle is two feet high, and five feet and a half long. The door is so low as hardly to allow a person to creep in. I copied the following from a stone in an adjoining wall: [xxxxx] This village has two Birkets, or reservoirs for water, which are filled in winter time by a branch of the Wady Kanouat; they were completely dried up this summer, a circumstance which rarely happens. Near both the Birkets are remains of strong walls. Upon an insulated hill three quarters of an hour S.E. from Rima, is Deir el Leben (..... ...), i.e. Monastery of Milk; Rima is on the limits of the Ledja; Deir in the plain between it and the mountain Haouran. The Deir consists of the ruins of a square building seventy paces long, with small cells, each of which has a door; it contained also several larger apartments, of which the arches only remain. The roof of the whole building has fallen in. Over the door of one of the cells I read the following inscription: [xxxxx] [FN#3]

Half an hour E. of Deir el Leben lies a ruined, uninhabited village upon a Tel, called Doubba (....); it has a Birket and a [p.70] spring. To the N.E. of it is the inhabited Druse village Bereike (....). We advanced half an hour E. to the village Mourdouk (....), on the declivity of the Djebel Haouran; it has a spring, from whence the Druses of Rima and Bereike obtain their daily supply of water. From the spring we proceeded to the eastward on the side of the mountain. At our feet extended the Ledja from between N.E b. N. where it terminates, near Tel Beidhan, to N.W. by N. its furthest western point, on the Haouran side. Between the mountain and the Ledja is an intermediate plain of about one hour in breadth, and for the greater part uncultivated. Before us lay three insulated hills, called Tel Shiehhan, Tel Esszoub, which is the highest, and Tel Shohba; they are distant from each other half an hour, the second in the middle. One hour and a half to the S.E. of Tel Shohba is one of the projecting summits of the mountain called Tel Abou Tomeir.

From Mourdouk our road lay for an hour and a half over stony ground, to Shohba (....), the seat of the principal Druse Sheikhs, and containing also some Turkish and Christian families. It lies near the foot of Tel Shohba, between the latter and the mountain; it was formerly one of the chief cities in these districts, as is attested by its remaining town walls, and the loftiness of its public edifices. The walls may be traced all round the city, and are perfect in many places; there are eight gates, with a paved causeway leading from each into the town. Each gate is formed of two arches, with a post in the centre. The eastern gate seems to have been the principal one, and the street into which it opens leads in a straight line through the town; like the other streets facing the gates, it is paved with oblong flat stones, laid obliquely across it with great regularity. Following this street through a heap of ruined habitations on each side of it, where are many fragments of columns, I came to a place where four massy cubical structures [p.71] formed a sort of square, through which the street runs; they are built with square stones, are twelve feet long by nine high, and, as appears by one of them, which is partly broken down, are quite solid, the centre being filled up with stones.

Farther on to the right, upon a terrace, stand live Corinthian columns, two feet and a quarter in diameter, all quite entire. After passing these columns I came to the principal building in this part of the town; it is in the form of a crescent, fronting towards the east, without any exterior ornaments, but with several niches in the front. I did not venture to enter it, as I had a bad opinion of its present possessor, the chief of Shohba, who some years ago compelled M. Seetzen to turn back from hence towards Soueida. I remained unknown to the Druses during my stay at Shohba. Before the above mentioned building is a deep and large reservoir, lined with small stones. To the right of it stands another large edifice of a square shape, built of massy stones, with a spacious gate; its interior consists of a double range of vaults, one above the other, of which the lower one is choaked up as high as the capitals of the columns which support the arches. I found the following inscription upon an arch in the upper story: [xxxxx]. Beyond and to the left of this last mentioned building, in the same street, is a vaulted passage with several niches on both sides of it, and dark apartments, destined probably for the reception of the bodies of the governors of the city. Farther on are the remaining walls of a large building. Upon two stones, close to each other , and projecting from the wall, I read the following inscriptions: [p.72] On the first, [xxxxx]. On the second, [xxxxx]. To the west of the five Corinthian columns stands a small building, which has been converted into a mosque; it contains two columns about ten inches in diameter, and eight feet in height, of the same kind of fine grained gray granite, of which I had seen several columns at Banias in the Syrian mountains.

To the south of the crescent formed building, and its adjoining edifice, stands the principal curiosity of Shohba, a theatre, in good preservation. It is built on a sloping site, and the semicircle is enclosed by a wall nearly ten feet in thickness, in which are nine vaulted entrances into the interior. Between the wall and the seats runs a double row of vaulted chambers one over the other. Of these the upper chambers are boxes, opening towards the seats, and communicating behind with a passage which separates them from the outer wall.

The lower chambers open into each other, those at the extremities of the semi-circle excepted, which have openings towards the area of the theatre. The entrance into the area is by three gates, one larger, with a smaller on either side; [p.73] on each side of the two latter are niches for statues. The diameter of the area, near the entrance, is thirty paces; the circle round the upper row of seats is sixty-four paces; there are ten rows of seats. Outside the principal entrance is a wall, running parallel with it, close to which are several small apartments. To the S.E. of Shohba are the remains of an aqueduct, which conveyed water into the town from a spring in the neighbouring mountain, now filled up. About six arches are left, some of which are at least forty feet in height. At the termination of this aqueduct, near the town, is a spacious building divided into several apartments, of which that nearest to the aqueduct is enclosed by a wall twelve feet thick, and about twenty-five feet high; with a vaulted roof, which has fallen in. It has two high vaulted entrances opposite to each other, with niches on each side. In the walls are several channels from the roof to the floor, down which the water from the aqueduct probably flowed. On one side of this room is an entrance into a circular chamber fourteen feet in diameter; and on the other is a similar apartment but of smaller dimensions, also with channels in its walls; adjoining to this is a room without any other opening than a very small door; its roof, which is still entire, is formed of small stones cemented together with mortar; all the walls are built of large square stones. The building seems evidently to have been a bath.

On a stone built in the wall over the door of a private dwelling in the town, I copied the following: [xxxxx]. [p.74] To the margin of the third line the following letters are annexed: [FN#4].

The inhabitants of Shohba fabricate cotton cloth for shirts and gowns. They grow cotton, but it is not reckoned of good quality. There are only three Christian families in the village. There are three large Birkets or wells, in two of which there was still some water.

There is no spring near. Most of the doors of the houses, are formed of a single slab of stone, with stone hinges.

November 15th. - Our way lay over the fertile and cultivated plain at the foot of the Jebel Haouran, ina north-easterly direction. At a quarter of an hour from the town we passed the Wady Nimri w-el Heif (...... .... ), a torrent coming from the mountain to the S.E. In the winter it furnishes water to a great part of the Ledja, where it is collected in cisterns. There is a great number of ruined mills higher up the Wady. Three or four hours distant, we saw a high hill in the Djebel, called Um Zebeib (.... ..). Three quarters of an hour from Shohba we passed the village Asalie (......), inhabited by a few families; near it is a small Birket. In one hour and three quarters we came to the village Shakka (...); on its eastern side stands an insulated building, consisting of a tower with two wings: it contains throughout a double row of arches and the tower has two stories, each of which forms a single chamber, without any opening but the door. Upon the capital of a column is: [xxxxx]. [p.75] Adjoining the village, on the eastern side, are the ruins of a handsome edifice; it consists of an apartment fourteen paces square opening into an arcade, which leads into another apartment similar to the first. In the first, whose roof has fallen down, there are pedestals for statues all round the walls. On one side are three dark apartments, of which that in the centre is the largest; on the opposite side is a niche. The entrance is towards the east. To the south of these ruins stood another building, of which the front wall only is standing; upon a stone, lying on the ground before the wall, and which was probably the architrave of the door, I found the following inscription: [xxxxx]. Opposite to these ruins I copied the following from a stone built in the wall of one of the private dwellings: [xxxxx] and this from a stone in the court-yard of a peasant's house: [xxxxx]. [p.76] On the north side of the village are the ruins also of what was once an elegant structure; but nothing now remains except a part of the front, and some arches in the interior.

It is thirty paces in length, with a flight of steps, of the whole length of the building, leading up to it. The entrance is through a large door whose sides and architrave are richly sculptured. On each side is a smaller door, between which and the great door are two niches supported by Ionic pilasters, the whole finely worked. Within are three aisles or rows of arches, of which the central is much the largest; they rest upon short thick columns of the worst taste.

At some distance to the north of the village stands a small insulated tower; over its entrance are three inscriptions, of which I copied the two following; the third I was unable to read, as the sun was setting before I had finished the others: [xxxxx]. [p.77] There are several similar towers in the village, but without inscriptions.

The inhabitants of Shakka grow cotton; they are all Druses, except a single Greek family. To the S.E. of the village is the spring Aebenni (....), with the ruined village Tefkha, about three quarters of an hour distant from Shakka. E. b. N. from Shakka one hour lies Djeneine (.....), the last inhabited village on this side towards the desert. Its inhabitants are the shepherds of the people of El Hait. Half an hour to the north of Djeneine is Tel Maaz (... ..), a hill on which is a ruined village. This is the N.E. limit of the mountain, which here turns off towards the S. behind Djeneine. At three quarters of an hour from Shakka, N.N.W. is El Hait, inhabited entirely by Catholic Christians. Here we slept. I copied the following inscriptions at El Hait: From a stone in one of the streets of the village: [xxxxx] From a stone over the door of a private dwelling: [xxxxx].

Upon a stone in the wall of another house, I found the figure of a quadruped rudely sculptured in relief.

On the wall of a solid building are the two following inscriptions: [xxxxx] On the wall of another building: [xxxxx] East of El Hait three quarters of an hour lies the village Heitt (...).

November 16th. - We returned from Hait, directing our route towards Tel Shiehhan. In one hour we passed the village of Ammera. From Ammera our way lay direct towards Tel Shiehhan. The village Um Ezzeitoun lay in the plain below, one hour distant, in the borders of the Ledja. Upon the top of Tel Shiehhan is a Meziar. Tel Szomeit (....), a hill in the Ledja, was seen to the N.W. about three hours distant; Tel Aahere (.....), also in the Ledja, to the west, about four hours distant.

The Tel Shiehhan is completely barren up to its top: near its eastern foot we passed the Wady Nimri w-el Heif, close to a mill which works in the winter [p.79] time. From hence we passed between the Tel Shiehhan and Tel Es-Szoub; the ground is here covered with heaps of porous tufa and pumicestone. The western side of the Tel Shohba seems to have been the crater of a volcano, as well from the nature of the minerals which lie collected on that side of the hill, as from the form of a part of the hill itself, resembling a crater, while the neighbouring mountains have rounded tops, without any sharp angles.

We repassed Ain Mourdouk, and continued our way on the sloping side of the mountain to Saleim, a village one hour from the spring; it has been abandoned by its former inhabitants, and is now occupied only by a few poor Druses, who take refuge in such deserted places to avoid the oppressive taxes; and thus sometimes escape the Miri for one year. They here grow a little tobacco. In the village is a deep Birket. At the entrance of Saleim are the ruins of a handsome oblong building, with a rich entablature: its area is almost entirely filled up by its own ruins. Just by is a range of subterraneous vaults. The Wady Kanouat passes near the village. The day was now far gone, and as my priest was afraid of travelling by night, we quickened our pace, in order to reach Soueida before dark. From Saleim the road lies through a wood of stunted oaks, which continues till within one hour of Soueida. We had rode three quarters of an hour when I was shewn, E. from our road, up in the mountain, half an hour distant, the ruins of Aatin (....), with a Wady of the same name descending into the plain below. In the plain, to the westward, upon a hillock one hour distant, was the village Rima el Khalkhal, or Rima el Hezam (...... .... .. ...... ....) (Hezam means girdle, and Khalkhal, the silver or glass rings which the children wear round their ankles.) Our road from Saleim lay S. by E. over a stony uncultivated ground, till within one hour of Soueida, where the wood of oaks terminates, and the fields begins, which extend up [p.80] the slope of the mountain for half an hour to the left of the road. From Saleim to Soueida is a distance of two hours and three quarters.

Soueida is situated upon high ground, on a declivity of the Djebel Haouran; the Kelb Haouran, or highest summit of the mountain, bearing S.E. from it. It is considered as the first Druse village, and is the residence of the chief Sheikh. To the north, and close to it, descends the deep Wady Essoueida, coming from the mountain, where several other Wadys unite with it; it is crossed by a strong well built bridge, and it turns five or six mills near the village.

Here, as in all their villages, the Druses grow a great deal of cotton, and the cultivation of tobacco is general all over the mountain. Soueida has no springs, but there are in and near it several Birkets, one of which, in the village, is more than three hundred paces in circuit, and at least thirty feet deep: a staircase leads down to the bottom, and it is entirely lined with squared stones. To the S. of the village is another of still larger circumference, but not so deep, also lined with stone, ca1led Birket el Hadj, from the circumstance of its having, till within the last century, been a watering place for the Hadj, which used to pass here.

To the west of Soueida, on the other side of the Wady, stands a ruined building, which the country people call Doubeise: it is a square of thirteen paces, with walls two two fwo feet thick, and ornamented on each side with six Doric Pilasters, sixteen spans high, and reaching to within two feet of the roof, which has fallen down, and fills up the interior. No door or opening of any kind is visible. On the wall between the pilasters are some ornaments in basrelief.

On the N. wall is the following inscription, in handsome characters; [p.81] [xxxxx]. Soueida was formerly one of the largest cities of the Haouran; the circuit of its ruins is at least four miles: amongst them is a street running in a straight line, in which the houses on both sides are still standing; I was twelve minutes in walking from one end to other. Like the streets of modern cities in the East, this is so very narrow as to allow space only for one person or beast to pass. On both sides is a narrow pavement. The great variety seen in the the mode of construction of the houses seems to prove that the town has been inhabited by people of different nations. In several places, on both sides of the street, are small arched open rooms, which I supposed to have been shops. The street commences in the upper part of the town, at a large arched gate built across it; descending from thence I came to an elegant building, in the shape of a crescent, the whole of whose front forms a kind of niche, within which are three smaller niches; round the flat roof is written in large characters: [xxxxx]. On a stone lying upon the roof [xxxxx]. Continuing along the street I entered, on the left, an edifice with four rows of arches, built with very low pillars in the ugly style already described.

Upon a stone, built upside down in one of the interior walls, was this; [xxxxx]. [p.82] [FN#5] At the lower end of the street is a tower about thirty feet high, and eighteen square. Turning from the beginning of the street, to the south, I met with a large building in ruins, with many broken pillars; it seems to have been a church; and it is joined to another building which has the appearance of having once been a monastery .In the paved area to the S. of it lies a water trough, formed of a single stone, two feet and a half in breadth, and seven feet in length, ornamented with four busts in relief, whose heads have been knocked off.

In a stony field about three hundred yards S. of the Sheikh's house, I found engraved upon a rock: [xxxxx]. [p.83] Round a pedestal, which now serves to support one of the columns in the front of the Sheikh's house, is the following: [xxxxx]. On the side of the pedestal is a figure of a bird with expanded wings, about one foot high, and below it is a man's hand grasping at something.

Near the Sheikh's house stands a colonnade of Corinthian columns, which surrounded a building, now entirely in ruins, but which appears to have been destined for sepulchres, as there are some small arched doors, quite choaked up, leading to subterraneous apartments.

November 17th. - We rode to the ruined city called Kanouat (.....), two hours to the N.E. of Soueida; the road lying through a forest of stunted oaks and Zarour trees, with a few cultivated fields among them. Kanouat is situated upon a declivity, on the banks of the deep Wady Kanouat, which flows through the midst of the town, and whose steep banks are supported by walls in several places. To the S.W. of the town is a copious spring. On approaching Kanouat from the side of Soueida, the first object that struck my attention was a number of high columns, upon a terrace, at some distance from the town; they enclosed an oblong square fifteen paces in breadth, by twenty-nine in length. There were originally six columns on one side, and seven on the other, including the corner columns in both numbers; at present six only remain, and the bases of two others; they are formed of six pieces of stone, and measure from the top of the pedestal to the base of the capital twenty-six feet; the height of the pedestal is five feet; the circumference of the column six feet. The capitals are elegant, and well finished. On the northern side was an [p.84] inner row of columns of somewhat smaller dimensions than the outer row; of these one only is standing. Within the square of columns is a row of subterraneous apartments. These ruins stand upon a terrace ten feet high, on the N. side of which is a broad flight of steps. The pedestals of all the columns had inscriptions upon them; but nothing can now be clearly distinguished except ,6 JT< 4*4T< "<,206,< upon one of them.

Two divisions of the town may be distinguished, the upper, or principal, and the lower.

The whole ground upon which the ruined habitations stand is overgrown with oak trees, which hide the ruins. In the lower town, over the door of an edifice which has some arches in its interior, and which has been converted in modern times into a Greek church, is an inscription, in which the words [xxxxx] only, were distinguishable.

A street leads up to this building, paved with oblong flat stones placed obliquely across the road in the same manner which I have described at Shohba. Here are several other buildings with pillars and arches: the principal of them has four small columns in front of the entrance and an anti-room leading to an inner apartment, which is supported by five arches. The door of the anti-room is of one stone, as usual in this country, but it is distinguished by its sculptured ornaments. A stone in this building, lying on the ground, is thus inscribed: [xxxxx].

[p.85] The principal building of Kanouat is in the upper part of the town, on the banks of the Wady. The street leading up to it lies along the deep bed of the Wady, and is paved throughout; on the side opposite to the precipice are several small vaulted apartments with doors. The entrance of the building is on the east side, through a wide door covered with a profusion of sculptured ornaments. In front of this door is a vestibule supported by five columns, whose capitals are of the annexed form. This vestibule joins, towards the north, several other apartments; their roofs, some of which were supported by pillars, have now all fallen down. The above-mentioned wide door opens into the principal apartment of the edifice, which is twenty-two paces in breadth by twenty-five in length. From each side of the entrance, through the middle of the room, runs a row of seven pillars, like those described above; at the further end, this colonnade is terminated by two Corinthian columns. All the sixteen columns are twenty spans high, with pedestals two feet and a half high. In the wall on the left side of this saloon are three niches, supported by short pillars.

To the west is another vestibule, which was supported by five Corinthian columns, but four of them only are now standing. This vestibule communicates through an arched gate with an area, on the W. side of which are two Corinthian pillars with projecting bases for statues. On the S. side of the area is a large door, with a smaller one on each side. That in the centre is covered with sculptured vines and grapes, and over the entrance is the figure of the cross in the midst of a bunch of grapes. I observed similar ornaments on the great gate at Shakka, and I have often seen them since, over the entrances of public edifices. In the interior of the area, on the E. side, is a niche sixteen feet deep, arched at the bottom, with small vaulted rooms on both its sides, in which there is no other opening than the low door. [p.86] On the S. and W. sides, the building is enclosed by a large paved area.

At a short distance from thence is another building, whose entrance is through a portico consisting of four columns in front and of two others behind, between two wings; on the inner sides of which are two niches above each other. The columns are about thirty-five feet high, and three feet and a half in diameter. Part of the walls only of the building are standing. In the wall opposite the entrance are two niches, one above the other. Not far from this building, toward its western side, I found, lying upon the ground, the trunk of a female statue of very inelegant form and coarse execution; my companion the priest spat upon it, when I told him that such idols were anciently objects of adoration; by its side lay a well executed female foot. I may here mention for the information of future travellers in these parts, that on my return to Soueida, I was told that there was a place near the source of spring water, where a great number of figures of men, women, beasts, and men riding naked on horses, &c. were lying upon the ground.

Besides the buildings just mentioned, there are several towers with two stories upon arches, standing insulated in different parts of the town; in one of them I observed a peculiarity in the structure of its walls, which I had already seen at Hait, and which I afterwards met with in several other places; the stones are cut so as to dovetail, and fit very closely.

The circuit of this ancient city may be about two miles and a half or three miles. From the spring there is a beautiful view into the plain of the Haouran, bounded on the opposite side by the mountain of the Heish, now covered with snow. There were only [p.87] two Druse families at Kanouat, who were occupied in cultivating a few tobacco fields. I returned to Soueida by the same road which I had come.

November 18th. - After having made the tour of the city, I took coffee at the house of the Sheikh, whose brother and sons received me very politely, and I visited some sick people in the village, - for I was continually pressed, wherever I went, to write receipts for the sick, - I then left Soueida, with the intention of sleeping the following night in some Arab tent in the mountain, where I wished to see some ruined villages. The priest's fear of catching cold prevented me from proceeding according to my wishes. Passing the Birket el Hadj, we arrived in an hour and a quarter at a miserable village called Erraha (.....); twenty minutes farther we passed the Wady el Thaleth (...... ....), so called from three Wadys which,higher up,in the mountain unite into one. Here were pointed out to me, at half an hour to the N.E. on the side of the Wady in the mountain, the spring called Ain Kerashe, and at half an hour's distance, in the plain, the Druse village Resas. In a quarter of an hour from Thaleth, we reached Kherbet Rishe, a ruined village, and in one hour more Ezzehhoue (......), where my companion insisted upon taking shelter from the rain.

November 19th. - A rivulet passes Ezzehhoue, called Ain Ettouahein (........ ...); i.e. the Source of the Mills, which comes down from Ain Mousa, the spring near Kuffer, and tlows towards Aaere. Ezzeihhoue is a Druse village, with a single Christian family. I was not well received by the Druse Sheikh, a boy of sixteen years, although he invjted me to breakfast with him; but I was well treated by the poor Christian family. When I left the village there was a rumor amongst the Druses, that I should not be permitted to depart, or if I was, that I should be waylaid on the road, but neither happened. The people of the village make coffee mortars out of [p.88] the trunks of oak trees, which they sell at twenty and twenty-five piastres each, and export them over the whole of the Haouran. At three quarters of an hour from Ezzehhoue, to the left of our route, is the Tel Ettouahein, an insulated hill in the plain, into which the road descends at a short distance from the village. Near the hill passes the Wady Ezzehhoue, a winter torrent which descends from the mountain. Two hours from Ezzehhoue is Aaere (....), a village standing upon a Tel in the plain.

Aaere is the seat of the second chief of the Druses in the Haouran: he is one of the most amiable men I have met with in the East, and what is still more extraordinary, he is extremely desirous to acquire knowledge. In the conversations I had with him during my repeated visits at Aaere, he was always most anxious to obtain information concerning European manners and institutions. He begged me one day to write down for him the Greek, English, and German alphabets, with the corresponding sound in Arabic beneath each letter; and on the following day he shewed me the copy he had taken of them. His kindness towards me was the more remarkable, as he could not expect the smallest return for it. He admired my lead pencils, of which I had two, but refused to accept one of them, on my offering it to him.

These Druses, as well as those of Kesrouan, firmly believe that there are a number of Druses in England; a belief originating in the declaration of the Christians in these countries, that the English are neither Greeks, nor Catholics, and therefore not Christians. Upon a stone in the village I copied the following; [xxxxx].

November 20th. - Being desirous of visiting the parts of the Haouran bordering upon the desert, of crossing the Djebel Haouran, or mountainous part of the district, and of exploring several ruined [p.89] cities which I had heard of in the desert, I engaged, with the Sheikh's permission, two Druses and a Christian, to act as guides. As there was considerable risque of meeting with some hostile tribe of Arabs on the road, I gave my purse to the Greek priest, who promised to wait for my return; he did not keep his word, however, for he quitted Aaere, taking my money with him, no doubt in the view of compelling me to follow him to his village, from whence he might again have a chance of obtaining a daily allowance, by accompanying me, though he well knew that it was my intention to return to Damascus by a more western route; nor was this all, he took twenty piastres out of my purse to buy straw for his camels. On his repeatedly confessing to me, afterwards, his secret wishes that some Frank nation would invade and take possession of the country, I told him that he would by no means be a gainer by such an event, as a trick such as that he had played me would expose him to be turned out of his living and thrown into a prison. "You must imprison all the people of the country then," was his reply; and he spoke the truth. I have often reflected that if the English penal laws were suddenly promulgated in this country, there is scarcely any man in business, or who, has money-dealings with others, who would not be found liable to transportation before the end of the first six months.

Our road lay over the plain, E.N.E. for three quarters of an hour; we then began to mount by a slight ascent. In an hour and a quarter we came to two hills, with the ruins of a village called Medjmar (.....), on the right of the road. At a quarter of an hour from thence is the village Afine (.....), in which are about twenty-five Druse families; it has a fine spring.

Here the ascent becomes more steep. At one hour from Afine, E. b. S. upon the summit of the lower mountain, stands Hebran (.....). Here is a spring and a ruined church, with the foundations [p.90] of another building near it. Withinside the gate is the following inscription: [xxxxx]. On the eastern outer wall: [xxxxx]. In a ruined building, with arches, in the lower town; [xxxx]. Upon a stone over a door, in a private house: [xxxxx].

The mountain upon which Hebran stands is stony, but has places fit for pasturage. The plain to the S. is called Amman, in which is a spring. That to the E. is called Zauarat, and that to the S.W. Merdj el Daulet; all these plains are level grounds, with several hillocks, and are surrounded by mountains. There are a few families at Hebran.

Proceeding from Hebran towards the Kelb (dog), or, as the Arabs here call it, Kelab Haouran, in one houre we came to Kuffer (...), once a considerable town. It is built in the usual style of this country, entirely of stone; most of the houses are still entire; the doors are uniformly of stone, and even the gates of the town, between nine and ten feet high, are of a single piece of stone. One each side [p.91] of the streets is a foot pavement two feet and a half broad, and raised one foot above the level of the street itself, which is seldom more than one yard in width. The town is three quarters of an hour in circumference, and being built upon a declivity, a person may walk over it upon the flat roofs of the houses; in the courtyards of the houses are many mulberry trees. Amongst several arched edifices is one of somewhat larger dimensions, with a steeple, resembling that at Ezra; in the paved court- yard lies an urn of stone. In later times this building had been a mosque, as is indicated by several Arabic inscriptions. In the wall within the arched colonnade is a niche elegantly adorned with sculptured oak-leaves.

We dined in the church, upon the Kattas (...) which my guides had killed. These birds, which resemble pigeons, are in immense numbers here; but I found none of them in the eastern parts of the Djebel Haouran.

To the N.E. of Kutfer is the copious spring already mentioned, called Ain Mousa, the stream from which, we had passed at Ezzehhoue. There is a small building over it, on which are these letters: [xxxxx]. We arrived, after sunset, in one hour from Kuffer, at an encampment of Arabs Rawafie, immediately at the foot of the Kelab; and there took up our quarters for the night. The tent of our host was very neat, being formed with alternate white and black Shoukes, or cloth made of goat's hair. I here found the Meharem to the right of the man's apartment. We were treated as usual with coffee and Feita. I had been rather feverish during the whole day, and in the evening the symptoms increased, but, cold as the night was, and more especially on the approach of morning [p.92] when the fire which is kept up till midnight gradually dies out, I found myself completely recovered the next day. This encampment consisted of ten or twelve tents, in the midst of the forest which surrounds the Kelab.

November 21st. - The Kelab is a cone rising from the lower ridge of the mountains; it is barren on the S. and E. sides, but covered on the N. and W. with the trees common to these mountains. I was told that in clear weather the sea is visible from its top, the ascent to which, from the encampment, was said to be one hour. The morning was beautiful but very cold, the whole mountain being covered with hoar frost. We set off at sun-rise, and rode through the forest one hour, when we breakfasted at an encampment of Arabs Shennebele, in the midst of the wood. From thence I took two Arabs, who volunteered their services, to guide me over the mountains into the eastern plain. We soon reached the termination of the forest, and in half an hour passed the Merdj el Kenttare (....... ...), a fine meadow (where the young grass had already made its appearance), in the midst of the rocky mountain, which has no wood here. A rivulet called El Keine (......), whose source is a little higher up in the mountain, flows through the meadow. Three quarters of an hour farther, and to the right of the road, upon a hill distant half an hour, are the ruins of the village El Djefne; to the left, at the same distance, is Tel Akrabe. We passed many excellent pasturing places, where the Arabs of the mountain feed their cattle in the spring; but the mountain is otherwise quite barren. Half an hour farther, descending the mountain, we passed Wady Awairid (..... ....), whose torrent, in winter, flows as far as Rohba, a district so called, where is a ruined city of the same name, on the eastern limits of the Szaffa.[FN#6] Our route lay to the north-east; we [p.93] descended by the banks of the Wady into the plain, and at a short distance from where the Wady enters it, arrived at Zaele (....) in two hours and three quarters from the Arab encampment where we had breakfasted.

Zaele owes its origin to the copious spring which rises there, and which renders it, in summer time, a much frequented watering place of the Arabs. The ruined city which stands near the spring is half an hour in circuit; it is built like all those of the mountain, but I observed that the stone doors were particularly low, scarcely permitting one even to creep in.

A cupola once stood over the spring, and its basin was paved. I found the following inscription upon a stone lying there: [xxxxx]. And another above the spring, upon a terrace adjoining the ruins of a church: [xxxxx] The spring of Zaele flows to the S.E. and loses itself in the plain. [p.94] One hour and a half to the eastward of Zaele stands Tel Shaaf (...), with a ruined city. E. four hours, Melleh (...), a ruined city in the plain; and upon a Tel near it, Deir el Nuzrany. The plain, for two hours from Zaele, is called El Haoui. Towards the E. and S.E. of Zaele are the following ruined places: Boussan (.....), at the foot of the mountain; Khadera (.....); Aans (...), Om Ezzeneine (....... ..); Kherbet Bousrek (..... ....); Habake (....).

The great desert extends to the N.E.E., and S.E. of Zaele; to the distance of three days journey eastward, there is still a good arable soil, intersected by numerous Tels, and covered with the ruins of so many cities and villages, that, as I was informed, in whatever direction it is crossed, the traveller is sure to pass, in every day, five or six of these ruined places. They are all built of the same black rock of which the Djebel consists. The name of the desert changes in every district; and the whole is sometimes called Telloul, from its Tels or hillocks. Springs are no where met with in it, but water is easily found on digging to the depth of three or four feet. At the point where this desert terminates, begins the sandy desert called El Hammad (......), which extends on one side to the banks of the Euphrates, and on the other to the N. of Wady Serethan, as far as the Djof.

I wished to proceed to Melleh, but my Druse companions were not to be prevailed upon, through fear of the Arabs Sheraka, a tribe of the Arabs Djelaes, who were said to be in that neighbourhood. We therefore recrossed the mountain from Zaele, and passed its southeastern corner, on which there are no trees, but many spots of excellent pasture. In two hours from Zaele we came to a spring called Ras el Beder (..... ...), i.e. the Moon's Head, whose waters flow down into the plain as far as Boszra. From the spring we redescended, and reached Zahouet el Khudher (..... ....), a ruined city, standing in a Wady, at a short distance from the [p.95] plain. One hour from these ruins a rivulet called Moiet Maaz (....) passes through the valley, whose source is to the N.W. up in the mountain, one hour distant, near a ruined place called Maaz. This is a very romantic, secluded spot; immediately behind the town the valley closes, and a row of willows, skirting both banks of the rivulet in its descent, agreeably surprise the traveller, who rarely meets in these districts with trees raised by the labour of man; but it is probable that these willows will not long withstand the destroying hands of the Arabs: fifteen years ago there was a larger plantation here, which was cut down for fire wood; and every summer many of the trees share the same fate.

Zahouet el Khudher was formerly visited by the Christians of the Haouran, for the purpose of offering up their prayers to the Khudher, or St. George, to whom a church in the bottom of the valley is dedicated. The Turks also pay great veneration to this Saint, so much so that a few goats-hair mats, worth five or six piastres, which are left on the floor of the sanctuary of the church, are safe from the robbers. My Druse guides carried them to a house in the town, to sleep upon; but returned them carefully on the following morning. The Arabs give the name of Abd Maaz to St. George. The church has a ruined cupola. On the outer door is this inscription: [xxxxx]. On an arch in the vestibule [xxxxx].

[p.96] Within the church: [xxxxx]. Upon elevated ground on the W. side of the Wady stands the small ruined town of Zahouet, with a castle on the summit of the hill. I could find no legible inscriptions there.

We had reached Zahouet after sunset; and the dread of Arabs, who very frequently visit this place, made us seek for a night's shelter in the upper part of the town, where we found a comfortable room, and lighted a still more comfortable fire. We had tasted nothing since our breakfast; and my guides, in the full confidence of meeting with plenty of Kattas and partridges on our road, had laid in a very small provision of bread on setting out, but had brought a sack of flour mixed with salt, after the Arab fashion. Unluckily, we had killed only two partridges during the day, and seen no Kattas; we therefore had but a scanty supper.

Towards midnight we were alarmed by the sound of persons breaking up wood to make a fire, and we kept upon our guard till near sun-rise, when we proceeded, and saw upon the wet ground the traces of men and dogs, who had passed the night in the church, probably as much in fear of strangers as we were ourselves.

November 22d. - I took a view of the town, after which we descended into the plain, called here Ard Aaszaf (.... ...), from a Tel named Aazaf, at half an hour from the Khudher. The abundant rains had already covered the plain with rich verdure. Our way lay S. At the end of an hour and a quarter we saw to our left, one mile distant from the road, a ruined castle upon a Tel called Keres (....); close to our road was a low Birket. To the [p.97] right, three or four miles off, upon another Tel, stands the ruined castle El Koueires (.......). From Keres to Ayoun (....), two hours distant from Zahouet el Khudher, the ground is covered with walls, which probably once enclosed orchards and well cultivated fields. At Ayoun are about four hundred houses without any inhabitants. On its west side are two walled-in springs, from whence the name is derived. It stands at the eastern foot of the Szfeikh (....), a hill so called, one hour and a half in length. I saw in the town four public edifices, with arches in their interior; one of them is distinguished by the height and fine curve of the arches, as well as by the complete state of the whole building. Its stone roof has lost its original black colour, and now presents a variety of hues, which on my entering surprised me much, as I at first supposed it to be painted. The door is ornamented with grapes and vine leaves. There is another large building, in which are three doors, only three feet high; over one of them are these letters: [xxxxx]. Over an arch in its interior is this: [xxxxx].

From Ayoun ruined walls of the same kind as those we met with in approaching Ayoun extend as far as Oerman (.....), distant one hour and a half, in the open plain. Oerman is an ancient city, somewhat larger than Ayoun. In it are three towers, or steeples, built in the usual mode, which I have described at Kuffer. On the walls of a miserable building adjoining the S. side of the town are the following six inscribed tablets, built into the wall; the second is inverted, a proof that they have been placed in this situation by modern barbarians as ornaments: [p.98] [xxxxx]. [p.99] [xxxxx].

Between the first and second inscriptions is a niche in the wall, about four feet high; resembling the annexed figure: [xxxxx]. Over a door in the western part of the town is the following: [xxxxx].

Oerman has a spring; but my guides, afraid of prolonging our stay in these desert parts, denied its existence when I enquired for it. I was informed afterwards that a large stone, on which is an inscription, lies near it. There are also several Birkets.

From Oerman we proceeded one hour and a quarter, to the town and castle called Szalkhat (....): the intermediate country is full of ruined walls. The soil of the desert, as well here [p.100] as between Zahouet and Oerman, is black; and, notwithstanding the abundant rains, the ground was intersected in every direction by large fissures caused by the summer heat. The castle of Szalkhat is situated upon a hill at the southern foot of the Szfeikh.

The town, which occupies the south and west foot of the castle hill, is now uninhabited; but fifteen years since a few Druse and Christian families were established here, as well as at Oerman: the latter retired to Khabeb, where I afterwards saw them, and where they are still called Szalkhalie. The town contains upwards of eight hundred houses, but presents nothing worthy of observation except a large mosque, with a handsome Madene or Minaret; the mosque was built in the year 620 of the Hedjra, or A.D. 1224, as appears from an inscription upon it; the Minaret is only two hundred years old. But even the mosque seems to have been nothing more than a repaired temple or church, as there are several well wrought niches in its outer walls: and the interior is vaulted, with arches supported by low pillars similar to those which have been before described. Several stones are lying about, with Greek inscriptions; but all so much defaced as to be no longer legible. Within the mosque lies a large stone with a fleur-de-lis cut upon it. In the court-yards of the houses of the town are a great number of fig and pomegranate trees; the former were covered with ripe fruit, and as we had tasted nothing this day but dry flour, we made a hearty dinner of the figs. There is no spring either in the castle or town of Szalkhat, but every house has a deep cistern lined with stone; there is also a large Birket.

The castle stands upon the very summit of the hill, and forms a complete circle; it is a very commanding position, and of the first importance as a defence of the Haouran against the Arabs. It is surrounded by a deep ditch, which separates the top of the hill [p.101 from the part immediately below it. I walked round the outside of the ditch in twelve minutes. The upper hill, except in places where the rock is firm, is paved with large flat stones, similar to those of the castle of Aleppo: a number of these stones, as well as parts of the wall, have fallen down, and in many places have filled up the ditch to half its depth. I estimated the height of the paved upper hill to be sixty yards. A high arched bridge leads over the ditch into the castle. The wall of the castle is of moderate thickness, flanked all round by towers and turrets pierced with numerous loop holes, and is constructed of small square stones, like some of the eastern walls of Damascus. Most of the interior apartments of the castle are in complete ruins; in several of them are deep wells. On entering I observed over the gate a well sculptured eagle with expanded wings; hard by, on the left of the entrance, are two capitals of columns, placed one upon the other, each adorned with four busts in relief projecting from a cluster of palm leaves. The heads of the busts are wanting; the sculpture is indifferent. A covered way leads from the inside of the gateway into the interior; of this I took a very cursory view, as the day was near closing, and my companions pressed me very much to depart, that we might reach a village three hours distant; there being no water here for my horse, I the more readily complied with their wishes. Over the entrance of a tower in the interior I read these two lines:

..... ..... ... ...... .. . .... .... ... ...
.... ... .. ... ... . ..... .... . ... .. …

"In the name of God, the merciful and the munificent. During the reign of the equitable king Saad-eddin Abou-takmar, the Emir --- ordered the building of this castle;" which makes it probable that it was erected for the defence [p.102] of the country against the Crusaders. In one of the apartments I found, just appearing above the earth, the upper part of a door built of calcareous stone, a material which I have not met with in any part of the Haouran: over it is the following inscription, in well engraved characters: [xxxxx]. Upon the architrave of the door, on both sides of the inscription, are masques in bas-relief.

In an apartment where I saw several small entrances to sepulchres, and where there are several columns lying about, is this: [xxxxx]. And, on a stone in the wall of the same apartment: [xxxxx].

The hill upon which the castle stands consists of alternate layers of the common black tufwacke of the country, and of a very porous deep red, and often rose-coloured, pumicestone: in some caverns formed in the latter, salt-petre collects in great quantities. I met with the same substance at Shohba.

S.W. of Szalkhat one hour and a half, stands the high Tel Abd Maaz, with a ruined city of the same name; there still remain large plantations of vines and figs, the fruit of which is [p.103] collected by the Arabs in autumn. Near Abd Maaz is another ruin called Deffen. S. one hour is Tel Mashkouk (.....), towards which are the ruins Tehhoule (.....), Kfer ezzeit (..... ...), and Khererribe (.....).

We left Szalkhat towards sunset, on a rainy evening, in order to reach Kereye, a village three good hours distant. In one hour we passed the ruined village Meneidhere (......), with a copious spring near it. Our route lay through a stony plain, and the night now becoming very dark, with incessant rain, my guides lost their way, and we continued for three hours uncertain whether we should not be obliged to take up our night's quarters in the open plain. At length, however, we came to the bed of a Wady called Hameka, which we ascended for a short distance, and in half an hour after crossing it reached Kereye, about ten at night; here we found a comfortable Fellah's house, and a copious dish of Bourgul.

November 23d. - Kereye is a city containing about five hundred houses, of which four only were at this time inhabited. It has several ancient towers, and public buildings; of the latter the principal has a portico consisting of a triple row of six columns in each, supporting a flat roof; seven steps, extending the whole breadth of the portico, lead from the first row up to the third; the capitals of the columns are of the annexed form; their base is like the capital inverted. Behind the colonnade is a Birket surrounded with a strong wall. Upon a stone lying upon the upper step, in the midst of which is an excavation, is this inscription: [xxxxx].

[p.104] To the S. and E. of Kereye are the ruins called Ai-in (....), Barade (.....), Nimri (....), Bakke (...), Hout (...), Souhab (....), Rumman (....), Szemad (....), and Rafka (....). Kelab Haouran bears from Kereye N.S.E. Kereye is three hours distance from Boszra (....), the principal town in the Haouran, remarkable for the antiquity of its castle, and the ancient ruins and inscriptions to be found there. I wished very much to visit it, and might have done so in perfect safety, and without expense; but I knew that there was a garrison of between three and four hundred Moggrebyns in the town; a class of men which, from the circumstance of their passing from one service to another, I was particularly desirous of avoiding. It was very probable that I might afterwards meet with some of the individuals of this garrison in Egypt, where they would not have failed to recognize my person, in consequence of the remarkable circumstance of my visit to Boszra; but as I did not think proper to state these reasons to my guides, who of course expected me to examine the greatest curiosity in the Haouran, I told them that I had had a dream, which made it advisable for me not to visit this place. They greatly applauded my prudent determination, accustomed as they had been to look upon me as a person who had a secret to insure his safety, when travelling about in such dangerous places. We therefore left Kereye in the morning, and proceeding N.E. reached in three quarters of an hour Houshhoush (....), after having crossed the Wady Djaar (....), which descends from the mountain. Houshhoush is a heap of ruins, upon a Tel in the plain, and is famed over all the Haouran for the immense treasures said to be buried there.

Whenever I was asked by the Fellahs where I had been, they never failed to enquire particularly whether I had seen Houshhoush. The small ancient village contains nothing remarkable except a church, supported by a single arch which rests on pillars much higher than those generally seen in this country. At the [p.105] foot of the hill are several wells. We found here a great number of mushrooms; we had met with some at Szalkhat; my guides taught me to eat them raw, with a morsel of bread. The quantity of Kattas here was beyond description; the whole plain seemed sometimes to rise; and far off in the air they were seen like large moving clouds.

W. of Houshhoush half an hour, in the plain, are Tel Zakak and Deir Aboud; the latter is a building sixty feet square, of which the walls only are standing; they are built with small stones, and have a single low door. From this place W.S.W. three quarters of an hour is Tahoun el Abiad (..... .... ) i.e. the White Mill, the ruins of a mill on the banks of the Wady Ras el Beder, which I noticed in speaking of Zahouet el Khuder. S.W. from Tahoun, three quarters of an hour, is the ruined village Kourd (....), and W. from it one hour, the village Tellafe (....). Our way from Deir Aboud lay W.S.W.; at one hour and a half from it is the considerable ruined village Keires (....), on the Wady Zedi, the largest of all the Wadys which descend from the mountain into the plain. The soil of this uncultivated district is of a red colour, and appears to be very fertile. From hence I proceeded towards Boszra, which I observed at the distance of half an hour, from the high ground above Keires. The castle of Boszra bore W.S.W. that of Szalkhat E.S.S., and the Kelab Haouran N.E.; I was near enough to distinguish the castle, and the mosque which is called by the Mohammedans El Mebrek, from the lying down of the Caliph Othman's camel.

Turning from hence, in a N.W. direction, we came to the ruined village Shmerrin (.....), about three quarters of an hour from Keires. Over a door in the village I read: [xxxxx]. Near the village stands an insulated tower, with an Arabic inscription [p.106] tion, but so high that I could not copy it; above it in large characters is [xxxxx]. The Wady Zedi passes close to this village, where a bridge of three arches is built over it; I was told that in winter the waters often rise over the bridge. Farther to the west this Wady joins that of Ghazale.

From Shmerrin we travelled to the northward; about an hour and a half to our left was the village Kharaba. We were now upon the Hadj route formerly pursued by the pilgrims from Damascus through the Ledja to Soueida and Boszra. The road is still marked by stones scattered over it, the remains, probably, of its pavement.

Three quarters of an hour from Shmerrin, close to the right of the road, stands Deir Esszebeir (...... .. .), a ruined village with a building like a monastery. At sunset we reached Aaere, two hours and a quarter from Shmerrin.

November 24th and 25th. - I remained at Aaere these two days, during which the Sheikh continued his friendly behaviour towards me. It was my wish to make an excursion towards the western parts of the plain of the Haouran, in order to visit Draa, and the ruins of Om Edjemal and Om Ezzeroub, distant one day's journey from Draa, which, judging from all the information I had received, seemed to be well worth seeing. I offered to any person, or company of men, who would undertake to guide me to the spot, thirty piastres, a large sum in these parts, but nobody was to be found. The fact was that the road from Aaere to Draa, as well as that from thence to Om Edjemal, was infested by a party of Arabs Serdie, the brother of whose chief had recently been killed by the Pasha's troops; and besides these, it was known that numerous parties of Arabs Sheraka made incursions in the same direction I [p.107] was therefore obliged to give up my project, but with the intention of executing it at a future period.

November 26th. - I left Aaere in the company of a Druse; at parting the Sheikh made me promise that I would again visit his village. The direction of our route was to the N.W. In an hour and a quarter, over a plain, in most parts cultivated, we reached El Kenneker (......), a solid building upon a hill, with a few habitations round it; all the villages in this part are inhabited; we saw the traces of the Wahabi in a burnt field. E. from hence one hour is Deir Ettereife (....... .. .). N.E. half an hour, the village Hadid (....); half an hour farther passed Ousserha (.....), a village with a copious spring. One hour and a half E. we saw Walgha (....). Just before we reached Ousserha we passed the Wady El Thaleth, which I have mentioned between Soueida and Zahouet. Continuing on the side of the Wady for three quarters of an hour, we came to Thaale (....), where there is a Birket: here we stopped to breakfast. It is inhabited by Mohammedans only.

In a building now used as a mosque, within which are four arches, and three short pillars in the vestibule, I copied the two following inscriptions placed opposite each other. [xxxxx][FN#7]. On a long wall of a building entirely in ruins: [xxxxx].

From Thaale one hour S.W. is Tel Sheikh Houssein, with the village Deir Ibn Kheleif; to the W. of which is El Kerak. We [p.108] proceeded from Thaale in a W. direction, half an hour, to Daara (.....), a village with a Birket. On the wall of the mosque I read as follows: [xxxxx].

One hour to the W. of the village is Rakham. Travelling from Daara N.W. we reached in one hour and a quarter the village Melihat Ali, to the S. of which, half an hour, stands Melihat el Ghazale. In one hour and a quarter from Melihat Ali we reached Nahita (.....), where we slept. On the S. side of the village, near a well, now filled up, stands a small square tower, built with large stones; there is a long inscription over its entrance, but illegible.

November 27th. - In a ruined arched building I copied the following: [xxxx]. and over a door as follows: [xxxxx]. This village has a large Birket, and contains a ruined tower, with vaulted buildings adjoining.

We proceeded one hour to Melihat el Hariri, so named from [p.109] its Sheikh being generally of the family of Hariri; the proper name of the village is Melihat el Atash. I there copied the following, over a door: [xxxxx].

From thence, in one hour and a quarter, I reached Ezra, and alighted at the house of the priest. I again endeavoured to visit Draa, but no body would undertake to act as my guide except a peasant, in whose company I did not think that I should be sufficiently secure; for it had been a constant rule with me, during this tour, not to expose myself to any hazard, well knowing that this was not the place, where duty and honour obliged me to do so; on the contrary, I felt that I should not be justified in risking my life, in this quarter, destined as I am to other, and it is hoped, more important pursuits.

November 28th. - I left Ezra this morning with the priest, to visit some villages in the northern Loehf, and if possible to enter the Ledja. We rode one hour to Keratha, close to which is a spring. From Keratha, in an hour and a quarter, we came to Mehadje, whence I saw Tel Shiehhan bearing E.S.E. To the east of the road from Ezra to Mehadje on the Ledja are the ruins of Sour and Aazim. From Mehadje we entered the Ledja, and continued in it, at half an hour's distance from the cultivated plain, in the direction N.E., till we reached Khabeb (...), at the end of two hours. Between Tebne and Khabeb lies the village Bossir. From Khabeb the Kelab Haouran bears S.S.E. This is a considerable village, inhabited for the greater part by Catholic Christians, who, as I have mentioned above, emigrated from Szalkhat. The Sheikh is a Druse. I met here a poor Arab, a native of the country three days journey from Mekka; he told me that the [p.110] Wahabi had killed four of his brothers; that he fled from home, and established himself at Dael, a village in the Haouran, which was ransacked last summer by the same enemies, when he lost the whole of his property. This man corroborated what I have repeatedly been told, that a single person may travel over the Wahabi dominions with perfect safety.

November 29th. - I here took two Druses to conduct me into the interior of the Ledja. The Arabs who inhabit that district pay some deference to the Druses, but none whatever to the Turks or Christians of the neighbouring villages. In one hour we passed the two ruined cities Zebair (.....) and Zebir (....), close to each other. At the end of two hours and a quarter, our road lying in the direction of the Kelab Haouran, we came to the ruined village Djedel (....). Thus far the Ledja is a level country with a stony soil covered with heaps of rocks, amongst which are a number of small patches of meadow, which afford excellent pasture for the cattle of the Arabs who inhabit these parts. From Djedel the ground becomes uneven, the pasturing places less frequent, the rocks higher, and the road more difficult. I had intended to proceed to Aahere, where there is a fine spring; but evening coming on we stopped near Dhami (....), three hours and three quarters from Khabeb, and two hours distant from Aahere. It appears strange that a city should have been built by any people in a spot where there is neither water nor arable ground, and nothing but a little grass amidst the stones. Dhami may contain three hundred houses, most of which are still in good preservation. There is a large building whose gate is ornamented with sculptured vine leaves and grapes, like those at Kanouat.

Every house appears to have had its cistern; there are many also in the immediate vicinity of the town: they are formed by excavations in the rock, the surface of which is supported by props [p.111] of loose stones. Some of them are arched. and have narrow canals to conduct the water into them from the higher grounds. S.E. of Dhami half an hour is Deir Dhami (....), another ruined place, smaller than the former, and situated in a most dreary part of the Ledja, near which we found, after a good deal of search, an encampment of Arabs Medledj, where we passed the night.


FOOTNOTES TO BURCKHARDT:

[FN#3] Hence it appears that Rima has preserved its ancient name. Ed.

[FN#4] Legionis Decimæ Flavianæ Fortis. Ed.

[FN#5] The fourteenth Legion was surnamed Gemina. See several inscriptions in Gruter. Ed.

[FN#6] The Szaffa (.....) is a stony district, much resembling the Ledja, with this difference, that the rocks with which it is covered are considerably larger, although the whole may be said to be even ground. It is two or three days in circumference, and is the place of refuge of the Arabs who fly from the Pasha's troops, or from their enemies in the desert. The Szaffa has no springs; the rain water is collected in cisterns. The only entrance is through a narrow pass, called Bab el Szaffa, a cleft, between high perpendicular rocks, not more than two yards in breadth, which one ever dared to enter as an enemy. If a tribe of Arabs intend to remain a whole year in the Szaffa, they sow wheat and barley on the spots fit for cultivation on its precincts. On its E. limits are the ruined villages of Boreisie, Oedesie, and El Koneyse. On its western side this district is called El Harra, a term applied by the Arabs to all tracts which are covered with small stones, being derived from Harr, i.e. heat (reflected from the ground.)

[FN#7] A.D. 683, the twenty-third year of the Emperor Heraclius.


[Unexplored Syria, by Sir Richard Francis Burton, 1872. Volume I. ]

On Friday, May 26, we ascended the quaintly-fashioned tumulus of clay, or rather indurated sand, suggesting that volcanoes like those of Krafla may here have existed: the surface was sprinkled over with scoriæ. It is called by the people Tell Shayhán, from the Wali[FN#13] or Santon, equally respected by Druzes and Moslems, whose rude conical dome of basalt, carefully whitewashed to resemble a pigeon-house, and springing from an enceinte of the same material, natural colour, crowns the summit. Here, when taking a round of angles, we remarked for the first time that local influences greatly affected the magnetic needle; and subsequently, on the Tulúl el Safá, one reading showed an error of ten degrees. I could only regret that the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund had refused the loan of a theodolite to one of their best observers, simply because his name did not conclude with the mystic letters R.E.

The ridge-like summit of Tell Shayhán - whose altitude is 3750 feet, and whose trend is north to south, with a slight deviation from the meridian - shows no sign of crater. In this matter it contrasted sharply with the neighbouring features - mere barrows pierced at the top, truncated, straight-lined cones, like the 'Bartlow Hills,' and similar formations in England. It was not till we had ridden round to the south-west, the route for Kanawát, that we sighted the huge lateral gash, garnished with stones, bristled with reefs, and fronted by heaps and piles of broken and disjointed lava, whence all the mischief had come. From the road its general appearance was that of a huge legless armchair. The first glance showed us that the well-known Leja, the Argob of the Hebrews, and the western Trachon of the Greeks and Romans, famed in these later days for the defeat of the Egyptian Generalissimo Ibrahim Pasha, is mostly the gift of Tell Shayhán. It is, in fact, a lava bed; a stone-torrent poured out by the lateral crater over the ruddy yellow clay and the limestone floor of the Hauran Valley, high raised by the ruins of repeated eruptions, broken up by the action of fumaroles or blow holes, and cracked and crevassed by contraction when cooling, by earth-quakes, and by the weathering of ages. This, the true origin of the Leja, is not shown in the maps of Mr. Cyril Graham and of Dr. Wetzstein (ll. cc.); and where they nod, all other travellers have slept soundly enough. In Jerusalem Recovered (p. 413), however, the Count de Vogüé, who visited Sí'a viâ Kanawát, suspected the source of the Leja to be from a mountain near 'the city of Schehbah;' the name is not given, but it is apparently Tell Shayhán. 'Tel Shiehhan' is distinguished by Burckhardt from 'Tel Shohba,' but he does not perceive the importance of the former. Dr. Wetzstein, on the other hand, rightly defines the limits of the pyriform 'Mal paiz,' placing 'Brâk' town (Burák, the Cisterns) on the north, at the stalk of the pear; Umm el Zaytún on the east; Zora' (Dera'áh, before alluded to), at the westernmost edge; and to the south, Rímat el Lohf[FN#14] (Hillock of the Lip), a village visited by Burckhardt. His Leja receives a 'grosser lavastrom,' proceeding in an artificially natural straight line from Jebel Kulayb, and flowing from south-east to north-west. We therefore determined to inspect that feature. How far 'abroad' other travellers have been in the matter may be seen by the example of the Rev. Mr. Porter (Five Years in Damascus, p. 282). 'The physical features of the Lejah are very remarkable. It is composed of black basalt, which appears to have issued from pores in the earth in a liquid state, and to have flowed out until the plain was almost covered. Before cooling, its surface was agitated by some powerful agency; and it was afterwards shattered and rent by internal convulsions and vibrations.' The author, however, probably thinking of the Giants' Causeway, 'did not observe any columnar or crystallised basalt;' whereas both forms are common; the former imperfect, but the latter unusually well marked.

Two whole days (May 27, 28) were spent in studying the remains of Kanawát - the ancient Canatha and Kenath, a 'city of Og' - meaning the underground aqueducts: these bald ruins[FN#15] are intricate, and they have been very imperfectly described. Burckhardt found only two Druze families in the place; now there are as many hundreds. We here, for the first time, remarked the 'beauty of Bashan,' in a comparatively wellwooded country, contrasting pleasantly with treeless plains and black cities of the Haurán. We copied many inscriptions, and found a few broken statues in the so-called Hippodrome: Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake fortunately secured a stone, which is evidently the head of an altar, with central bowl for blood, small horns at the four corners, and holes in the flat surface for metal plates. Upon opposite sides appear the features of Ba'al and Ashtarah of the 'two cusps' (Karnaim),[FN#16] boldly cut in high relief upon the closest basalt, with foliage showing the artistic hand, here unusual. We then travelled along the western folds of the celebrated Jebel Kulayb, and visited the noble remains of Sí'a (... flowing - water or wine), a temple whose acanthus capitals, grape-vine ornaments, and figures of gazelles and eagles, all cut as if the hardest basalt were the softest limestone, showed the ravages of Druze iconoclasm. The blocks reminded me of the huge cubes of travertin, said to be entirely without cement, which mark the arch of Diocletian at Rome, ruined in A.D. 1491 by Pope Innocent VIII. Here we met with three Palmyrene inscriptions, which were sent for decipherment to Professor E.H. Palmer: it is curious to find them so far from the centre, and they prove that the Palmyrene of Ptolemy, and other classical geographers, extended to the south-west, far beyond the limits usually assigned to it by the moderns. Otherwise, as a rule, these Tadmoran remains are not very ancient, and they have scant interest. The name of an Agrippa occurs in the Greek legends at Sí'a.

Travelling from Sí'a to Sahwat el Balát, the village of my influential friend Shaykh Ali el Hináwí, a Druze 'Akkál or Illuminatus of the highest rank, we crossed three considerable 'Stenaás' - stone floods, or lava beds - whose rough and rugged discharge glooms the land. The northernmost flows from the Tell el Ahmar, a fine landmark; and the two others trend from the western slopes of Jebel Kulayb; all three take a west-south-westerly direction, and end upon El Nukra; for an explanation of which term see Dr. Wetzstein (p. 87): this flat bounds the southern and the south-western lips of the Leja. Thus we satisfactorily ascertained that the 'grosser lavastrom' is not in existence. Had it been there, we must have crossed it at right angles.

 

FOOTNOTES TO BURTON:

[FN#13] Usually written Wely. A curious misuse of this word has crept into general Anglo-Oriental use. It literally means a favourite, or a slave; hence, a slave of Allah, a saint. Saints are mostly buried under buildings of four walls, supporting a dome: the splendid building which covers the Sakhrah or rock in the Haram Sherif of Jerusalem is a well-known instance. The traveller would point to such a structure and ask its name. Házá Wali - that is a Santon! - would be the native answer. Hence, we read of a 'little whitewashed Wely,' the receptacle being confounded with the inmate, who probably never required such civilised operation. I observe that 'Nabi' (prophet) is about to share the same fate, the contenu being confounded with the contenant. Similarly, a popular modern book on Syria explains Tell (mamelon, hill, or hillock) by an 'Arab village,' because in Syria villages are usually built upon mamelons, hills, or hillocks.

[FN#14] It is thus distinguished from Rímat el Hezám (of the Girdles), Rímat el Khalkhal (of the Bangle), and a dozen other Rímats.

[FN#15] The traveller fresh from Europe is immediately struck by the absence of ivy, which beautifies decay as far south as Portugal; and on his return to England is agreeably impressed by the difference. The plant is once mentioned in Scripture (2 Macc. vi. 7); but is it the true Hedera helix? I have nowhere seen it in Syria or Palestine, except at B'lúdán, where Mr. Consul R. Wood planted two stems near the western wall of his summer quarters. The plants did not die; but they would not grow; the cause might have been the normal pest, goats; or possibly a northern instead of the western presentation would have given better results. As will be found, however, in Vol. II. Chap. II., my friend and fellow-traveller found ivy growing in wild luxuriance upon the northern slopes of the Libanus.

[FN#16] Murillo's celebrated Virgin absolutely reproduces the idea of Ashtarah Karnaim. This fine relic was deposited at the Anthropological Institute, exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries, and forms the frontispiece of this volume.

[The foregoing have been extracted from editions found at the following address: http://www.xs4all.nl/~nizaar/Index.htm]

[CONTENTS] | [PREVIOUS] | [NEXT]