The Holy Land and Syria

by Frank G. Carpenter

The harness shops are twelve feet deep and each is a little factory where two or three saddlers are at work. In some places they are making harness of wool and in others trappings of leather beautifully decorated.

A little farther on we come to a bazaar selling panniers for camels and donkeys, while not far away is a street where they handle nothing but shoes. The cobblers are turning out footgear of wood, wool, and leather. They are cutting out sandals somewhat like the rain shoes of Japan. The finer ones, which are beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl, are for the better class women. Such shoes are used at home and when madame goes to the bathhouse. They are worn without stockings. In another place the merchants are selling shoes of red leather such as are used by the country people and the poorer Damascenes. They are of goatskin, camelskin, or cowhide, and have no heels. The leather is not very well tanned, the shoes being kept on the lasts until sold.

The average shoe shop is about fifteen feet wide, ten feet deep, and twelve feet in height. The stock is hung to wooden nails driven into the walls both in and outside the shop. The men customers stand in the street and try on the shoes without the assistance of the merchant. The women examine the shoes through the eye slits of their veils and guess at the sizes.

A very odd boot is that worn by the Bedouins. It is of goatskin dyed yellow or red and has heels of camelhide with an iron strip running round each of them. This boot reaches half way to the knee. None of the shoes is made by machinery, and most of them are sewed rather than pegged.

How would you like to have your hat blocked, ironed, and brushed for a cent? That is what you can do in Damascus. The hat bazaar has scores of shops for the purpose. The most common cap is the red fez, a round felt bowl which fits tight around the head without rim or brim. It is about five inches high, and must be pressed every few days to keep it in shape. The hatter has a zinc-covered table in which are several small holes filled with fires of burning charcoal. He has brass frames or blocks over which the caps fit, and shells of metal which may be clamped upon them to hold the fez in form. After this the frame is laid over one of the fires, and in a moment the heat gives the cap the latest and most fashionable shape.

Other bazaars are devoted to the selling of silks and still others to the finest of cloths. The wealthier Mohammedans have their long robes made of the best possible stuffs, for they delight in rich garments. The women shop in these bazaars. They peep out through their veils as they examine the goods and will bargain an hour in buying a needle. I am told that they sometimes raise their veils to entice the merchants to lower their prices, but if so, I have not seen them, and I have been told by my guide that if I wish to keep my head on my shoulders I had best turn my eyes in another direction.

There is one Damascus bazaar where I walk carefully, and as far as possible keep in midstreet. It is called the Louse Market, and you may know why when I tell you that it is devoted to second-hand clothes. The bazaar is just back of the citadel and not far from the Straight Street. From morning until evening it is filled with customers and dealers; auctioneers walk back and forth through it, each carrying a garment which he holds up, asking for bids. He praises his goods to the skies and tells the crowd that he is willing to sell them for a song.

Yesterday I spent a short time in the booksellers’ bazaar, but my guide Shammas dragged me away, fearing that we might be insulted and mobbed. The dealers are such strict Mohammedans that they do not wish even to sell to the Christians. The shops are near the gate of the Great Mosque and among their wares are many copies of the Koran. Picking one up, I asked the merchant the price.

He scowled and angrily exclaimed: “Put it down! Put it down! We do not sell our holy books to the Christians.”

Thereupon, as I saw he was growing angry, I dropped it, saying: “We Christians are glad to give or sell our Bibles to any one, and as for your Korans, I can buy them by the ton in New York or London.”