Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/1095

SYRIA. appears near Ayas, and again in larger masses at some little distance from the NE. side of the chain. ... Southward oi Beilan the chain becomes remarkable for its serrated sides and numerous summits, of which the Akhma Tagh shows about fifteen between that place and the valley of the Orontes." The sharp ridge oiJebelRhoms terminates in the rugged and ser- rated peaks of Cape Khanzir, which overhangs the sea, and separates the G'ii//'q//5Z;o??f7e7'«« from tvi Bay of Anlioch. South of this is Jehel Mtisa, the Blons Pieria of classic writers, a limestone offset from Mount Ehoms, and itself imperfectly connected with the other classical mount, Casius, by the lower range of Jebel Simdn. A little to the south of the emhoiiclmre of the Orontes, Slount Casius reaches an elevation of 5699 feet, composed of supra-cretaceous limestone, on the skirts of which, among the birch and larch woods, are still to be seen tlie ruins of the temple, said to have been con- secrated by Cronus or Ham (Ammianus Marcell. sxii. 14), while the upper part of its cone is entirely a naked rock, justifying its native modern name Jehd-el-Ahra (the bald mountain). From this point the mountain chain continues southward, at a much lower elevation, and receding further from the coast, throws out its roots both east and west, towards the Orontes on the one side and the Jledi- tenanean on the other. This range has the general name of Jchd Anzai'ieli from the tribe that in- habits it, but is distinguished in its various parts and branches by local names, chiefly derived from the towns and villages on its sides or base. The simthern termination of this range must be the in- tervening plains which Pliny places between Libanus aiid liargylus (" interjacentes campi "), on the north of the former. (Plin. v. 20.) These plains Shaw finds in the Jeune (^fruitful), as the Arabs call a compai'atively level tract, which " commences a little south of Maguzzel, and ends at Smiirah, ex- tending itself all the way from the sea to the east- ward, sometimes five, sometimes sis or seven leagues, till it is terminated by a long chain of mountains. These seem to be the Mons Bargylus of Pliny." Sumrah he identifies with Simyra, — which Pliny places in Coelesyria at the northern extremity of Mount Libanus, — but remarks that, as Sumrah lies in the Jeune, 2 leagues distant from that mountain, this circumstance will better fall in with Area, wJicre Mount Libanus is remarkably broken off and discontinued. (Shaw, Travels in Syria, pp. 268, 269, 4to ed.) We here reach the confines of Phoe- nicn, to which a separate article has been devoted, as also to Mount Lebanon, which continues the coast- line to the southern extremity of Syria. 2. Coelesyria, and the valley of the Orontes. — Although the name of Coelesyria (Hollow Syria) is sometimes extended so as to include even the coast of the Jlediterranean — as in the passage above cited from Pliny — from Seleucis to Egypt and Arabia (Strabo, ut infra'), and especially the prolongation of the southern valley along the crevass of the Jordan to the Dead Sea (see Keland, Palaestina, pp. 103, 458, 607, 774), yet, according to Strabo, the name ]iroperly describes the valley between Libanus and iuilibanus (xvi. 2. § 21), now known among the i. itives as El-Bukaa (the deep plain), "tinder this name is embraced the valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, from Zahleh southward ; in- cluding the villages on the declivities of both moun- tains, or rather at their foot : for the eastern de- clivity of Lebanon is so steep as to have very few SYPJA. 1071 villages much above its base ; and the western side of Anti-Lebanon is not more inhabited. Between Zahleh and its suburb, Mu'allahah, a stream called El-Burdony descends from Lebanon and runs into the plain to join the Litany. The latter river di- vides the Bukaa from north to south ; and at its southern end passes out through a narrow gorge, between precipices in some places of great height, and finally enters the sea north of Siir, where it is called Kdsimeyeh" [Leontes]. To the south of the Bukaa is the ilerj ^Ayun (vieadow of the springs), " between Belad Besharah and Wady-et- Teim, on the left of the Litany. Here Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon come together, but in such a manner that this district may be said to separate rather than to unite them. It consists of a beautiful fertile plain, surrounded by hills, in some parts high, but almost every where arable, until you begin to descend towards the Litany. The mountains farther south are much more properly a continuation of Lebanon than of Anti-Lebanon." (Dr. Eli Smith, in Biblical Researches, vol. iii. Appendix B. pp. 136, 140.) This then is the proper termination to the south of Coelesyria. The Merj 'Ayiin terminates in the Erd-el-Euleh, which is traversed by the several tri- butaries of the Jordan, and extends as far south as the Bahr-el-Hzileh. [Samachonitis Lacus; Pa- i^VESTiNA, pp. 521, 522.] To return now to the watershed. Baalbek gives its name to the remainder of the Bukaa, from the village of Zahleh northward (Smith, ut sup. p. 143), in which direction, as has been stated, the re- motest sources of the Orontes are found, not far from Baalbek, which lies in the plain nearer to the range of Antilibanus than to Lebanon. [Orontes; Heliopoms.] The copious fountain of Labweh is about 10 miles north-east of Baalbek ; and this village gives its name to the stream which runs fur 12 miles through a rocky desert, until it falls into the basin of a much larger stream at the village of Er-Ras or 'Ain Zerka, where is the proper source of the Orontes, now EVAzi. The body of water now " becomes at least threefold greater than before, and continues in its rugged chasm generally in a north-easterly course for a considerable distance, until it passes near Ribleh," then runs north through the valley of Horns, having been fed on its way by numerous streams from the slopes of Lebanon aiul Antilibanus, draining the slopes of Jebel Anzerieh, and forming as it approaches Horns the Buhr-el- Kades, which is 6 miles long by about 2 wide. ( Chesney, ut sup. p. 394 ; Robinson, Journal of the R. G. S. vol. xxiv. p. 32.) Emerging from the lake, it waters the gardens of Horns about a mile and a half to the west of the town, then running north to Er-Rustan, where is a bridge of ten arches, it is turned from its direct course hy Jebel A rbiiyn on its left bank, round the roots of which it sweeps almost in a semicircle, and enters Hamah, where it is crossed by a bridge of thirteen arches. It now continues its course north-west for about 15 miles to Kalaat-cs-Sejar (Larissa), then due west for 8 miles, when it turns due north, and so continues to the Jisr Hadid mentioned below. About 20 miles below Larissa it passes Kahiat-cm-Medaik (Apa- meia) on its right bank, distant about 2 miles; a little to the north of which it receives an aflluent from the small lake Et-Taka, remarkable for its aburidance of black-fish and carp (Burckhardt,<'v/riff, p. 143: Chesney, p. 395), then, running through Wady-d-Ghab, enters the Birkd-el-Uoicush, 8 miles