During his stay in this city, which was a very protracted one, Burckhardt laboured assiduously in fitting himself for the honourable performance of the task he had undertaken. His Arabic studies were uninterrupted. Besides seizing eagerly on every opportunity of improving himself by conversation with the natives, he laboured at an attempt to transform “Robinson Crusoe” into an Arabian tale. He moreover succeeded in making the acquaintance of several sheïkhs, and other literary men, who honoured him occasionally with a visit; a favour, he says, which he owed principally to Mr. Wilkins’s “Arabic and Persian Dictionary.” The ordinary lexicons of the country being very defective, the learned Turks were often obliged to have recourse to Wilkins, whose learning and exactness sometimes compelled them to exclaim, “How wonderful that a Frank should know more of our language than our first ulmas!”
In the month of July, 1810, Burckhardt departed from Aleppo under the protection of an Arab sheïkh, of the Aenezy tribe, who undertook to escort him to Palmyra, and thence through the Haurān to Damascus. On the way they were attacked, while the sheïkh was absent at a watering-place, by the hostile Marváli Arabs, by whom our traveller was robbed of his watch and compass; after which he pushed on into the desert to rejoin the chief. Contrary to the well-known faith of the Arabs, this man transferred to another the protection of his guest, thereby exposing him to be robbed a second time, at Palmyra, where the bandit in authority, finding that he had no money, contented himself with seizing upon his saddle. Returning from these ruins, he found at Yerud a letter from the sheïkh, forbidding him to proceed towards the Haurān, because, as the writer asserted, the invasion of the Wahabis had rendered that portion of the country unsafe, even to himself and his Arabs. In consequence of this fraudulent conduct of the sheïkh, for the excuse was a fiction, he found himself necessitated to take the road to Damascus; disappointed in part, but upon the whole well satisfied with having beheld those magnificent ruins in the desert which have charmed so many strangers, and with having at the same time enjoyed so many occasions of observing the Bedouins under their own tents, where he was everywhere received with hospitality and kindness.
The rich and well-cultivated environs of Damascus, which all travellers, from Mohammed to the present day, have admired, appeared to great advantage to the eye of Burckhardt, accustomed to be sickened by the signs of misery which surround Aleppo. “The unsettled state of the government of Damascus,” says he, “obliged me to prolong my stay there for upwards of six weeks. I again left it in the middle of September, to visit Baalbec and Libanus. My route lay through Zahle, a small but prosperous town on the western side of the valley Bekan, the ancient Cœlosyria, and from thence to Baalbec, where I remained three days; then to the top of the Libanus, the Cedars, and Kannobin, from whence, following the highest summits of the mountain, I returned to Zahle by the villages called Akoura and Afki.”
After proceeding southward to the territory of the Druses, and Mount Hermon, he returned to Damascus; whence, after a short stay, he made an excursion into the Haurān, the patrimony of Abraham, which four years before had been in part visited by Dr. Seetzen, previous to his tour round the Dead Sea. “During a fatiguing journey of twenty-six days,” says Burckhardt, “I explored this country as far as five days’ journey to the south and south-east of Damascus; I went over the whole of the Jebel Haurān, or mountain of the Druses, who have in these parts a settlement of about twenty villages; I passed Bozra, a place mentioned in the books of Moses, and not to be confounded with Boostra; I then entered the desert to the south-east of it, and returned afterward to Damascus through the rocky district on the foot of the Jebel Haurān, called El Leja. At every step I found vestiges of ancient cities; saw the remains of many temples, public edifices, and Greek churches; met at Shohbe with a well-preserved amphitheatre, at other places with numbers of still standing columns, and had opportunities of copying many Greek inscriptions, which may serve to throw some light upon the history of this almost forgotten corner. The inscriptions are for the greater part of the lower empire, but some of the most elegant ruins have their inscriptions dated from the reigns of Trajan and M. Aurelius. The Haurān, with its adjacent districts, is the spring and summer rendezvous of most of the Arab tribes, who inhabit in winter time the great Syrian desert, called by them El Hammad. They approach the cultivated lands in search of grass, water, and corn, of which last they buy up in the Haurān their yearly provision.”
Having to a certain extent satisfied his curiosity respecting this obscure country, he returned by way of Homs and Hamah towards Aleppo, where he arrived on the New-year’s day of 1811. He now meditated an excursion into the desert towards the Euphrates, but was for some time prevented from putting his design in execution by the troubled state of the country, two powerful Arab tribes, the one inimical, the other friendly to the Aleppines, having been for many months at war with each other. Burckhardt at length succeeded, however, in placing himself under the protection of the Sheïkh of Sukhne, and set out towards the desert: but his own account of this journey was lost, and all that can now be known of it is to be gathered from a letter from Mr. Barker, the celebrated British consul at Aleppo, to whose princely hospitality so many travellers of all nations have been indebted. “One hundred and twenty, or one hundred and fifty miles below the ruins of Membigeh, in the Zor,” says this gentleman, “there is a tract on the banks of the Euphrates possessed by a tribe of very savage Arabs. Not far from them is the village of Sukhne, at the distance of five days from Aleppo, and of twelve hours from Palmyra, in the road which Zenobia in her flight took to gain the Euphrates. The people of Sukhne are sedentary Arabs, of a breed half Fellah and half Bedouin. They bring to Aleppo alkali and ostrich feathers. It was upon one of these visits of the Sheïkh of Sukhne to Aleppo, that Burckhardt, after some negotiation, resolved to accept the protection of the sheïkh, who undertook, upon their arrival at his village, to place him under the protection of a Bedouin of sufficient influence to procure him a safe passage through the tribes of the country which he wished to explore. Burckhardt had reason to be satisfied both with the Sheïkh of Sukhne, and with the Arab whom he procured as an escort, except that, in the end, the protection of the latter proved insufficient. The consequence was, that poor Burckhardt was stripped to the skin, and he returned to Sukhne, his body blistered with the rays of the sun, and without having accomplished any of the objects of his journey. It was in this excursion to the desert that Burckhardt had so hard a struggle with an Arab lady, who took a fancy to the only garment which the delicacy or compassion of the men had left him.”
After his return from this unfortunate journey, Burckhardt was delayed for a considerable time at Aleppo by incessant rains; but at length, on the 14th of February, he bade this city a final adieu, and hastened once more to Damascus. He was desirous, before quitting Syria, of performing another journey in the Haurān. This he completed, and having transmitted to England an account of his discoveries in this extraordinary region, he departed on the 18th of June for the Dead Sea. The reader will not, I imagine, be displeased to find the description of this journey given in the author’s own words: having reached Nazareth, “I met here,” says he, “a couple of petty merchants from Szalt, a castle in the mountains of Balka, which I had not been able to see during my late tour, and which lies on the road I had pointed out to myself for passing into the Egyptian deserts. I joined their caravan; after eight hours’ march, we descended into the valley of the Jordan, called El Gor, near Bysan; crossed the river, and continued along its verdant banks for about ten hours, until we reached the river Zerka, near the place where it empties itself into the Jordan. Turning then to our left, we ascended the eastern chain, formerly part of the district of Balka, and arrived at Szalt, two long days’ journey from Nazareth. The inhabitants of Szalt are entirely independent of the Turkish government; they cultivate the ground for a considerable distance round their habitations, and part of them live the whole year round in tents, to watch their harvests and to pasture their cattle. Many ruined places and mountains in the district of Balka preserve the names of the Old Testament, and elucidate the topography of the province that fell to the share of the tribes of Gad and Reuben. Szalt is at present the only inhabited place in the Balka, but numerous Arab tribes pasture there their camels and sheep. I visited from thence the ruins of Amān, or Philadelphia, five hours and a half distant from Szalt. They are situated in a valley on both sides of a rivulet, which empties itself into the Zerka. A large amphitheatre is the most remarkable of these ruins, which are much decayed, and in every respect inferior to those of Jerash. At four or five hours south-east of Amān are the ruins of Om Erresas and El Kotif, which I could not see, but which, according to report, are more considerable than those of Philadelphia. The want of communication between Szalt and the southern countries delayed my departure for upwards of a week; I found at last a guide, and we reached Kerek in two days and a half, after having passed the deep beds of the torrents El Wale and El Mojeb, which I suppose to be the Nahaliel and Arnon. The Mojeb divides the district of Balka from that of Kerek, as it formerly divided the Moabites from the Amorites. The ruins of Eleale, Hesebon, Meon, Medaba, Dibon, Arver, all situated on the north side of the Arnon, still subsist to illustrate the history of the Beni Israel. To the south of the wild torrent Mojeb I found the considerable ruins of Rabbab Moab: and, three hours’ distance from them, the town of Kerek, situated at about twelve hours’ distance to the east of the southern extremity of the Dead Sea....
“The treachery of the Sheïkh of Kerek, to whom I had been particularly recommended by a grandee of Damascus, obliged me to stay at Kerek above twenty days. After having annoyed me in different ways, he permitted me to accompany him southward, as he had himself business in the mountains of Djebal, a district which is divided from that of Kerek by the deep bed of the torrent El Ahhsa, or El Kahary, eight hours’ distance from Kerek. We remained for ten days in the villages to the north and south of El Ansa, which are inhabited by Arabs, who have become cultivators, and who sell the produce of their fields to the Bedouins. The sheïkh, having finished his business, left me at Beszeyra, a village about sixteen hours south of Kerek, to shift for myself, after having maliciously recommended me to the care of a Bedouin, with whose character he must have been acquainted, and who nearly stripped me of the remainder of my money. I encountered here many difficulties, was obliged to walk from one encampment to another, until I found at last a Bedouin who engaged to carry me to Egypt. In his company I continued southward, in the mountains of Shera, which are divided to the north from Djebal by the broad valley called Ghoseyr, at about five hours’ distance from Beszeyra. The chief place in Djebal is Tafyle, and in Shera the castle of Shobak. This chain of mountains is a continuation of the eastern Syrian chain, which begins with the Antilibanus, joins the Jebel el Sheïkh, forms the valley of Ghor, and borders the Dead Sea. The valley of Ghor is continued to the south of the Dead Sea; at about sixteen hours’ distance from the extremity of the Dead Sea its name is changed into that of Araba, and it runs in almost a straight line, declining somewhat to the west as far as Akaba, at the extremity of the eastern branch of the Red Sea. The existence of this valley appears to have been unknown to ancient as well as modern geographers, although it is a very remarkable feature in the geography of Syria and Arabia Petræa, and is still more interesting for its productions. In this valley the manna is still found; it drops from the sprigs of several trees, but principally from the Gharrab. It is collected by the Arabs, who make cakes of it, and who eat it with butter; they call it Assal Beyrook, or the honey of Beyrook. Indigo, gum-arabic, and the silk-tree, called Asheyr, whose fruit encloses a white silky substance, of which the Arabs twist their matches, grow in this valley.”
In this valley, about two long days’ journey north-east of Akaba, is a small rivulet, near the banks of which Burckhardt discovered the ruins of a city, which he conjectured to be those of Petra, the capital of Arabia Petræa. No other European traveller had ever visited the spot, though few places in Western Asia seem more curious or deserving of examination. The red rocks composing the flanks of the valley contained upwards of two hundred and fifty sepulchral chambers, adorned with Grecian ornaments. Besides these there were numerous mausolea, some in the Egyptian style, with obelisks, others in the chaste manner of the Greeks; and among the latter there was one in perfect preservation, and of vast dimensions, with all its apartments, its vestibule, its peristyle, &c. cut out in the solid rock. On the summit of the mountain which forms the western boundary of the valley is the tomb of Aaron, which the Arabs, who are great Scriptural antiquarians, hold in extraordinary veneration. Our traveller, however, to his great regret, was necessitated to abandon to some more fortunate visiter the thorough examination of this interesting region, at which circumstances allowed him merely to cast a glance as he was hurrying along with his Bedouin conductor towards the Red Sea. In proceeding from this place towards Akaba he encountered a small party of Arabs who were conducting a few camels for sale to Cairo, and uniting himself to this little caravan, performed the remainder of the journey in their company. “We crossed the valley of Araba,” says he, “ascended on the other side of it the barren mountains of Beyane, and entered the desert called El Tih, which is the most barren and horrid tract of country I have ever seen; black flints cover the chalky or sandy ground, which in most places is without any vegetation. The tree which produces the gum-arabic grows in some spots; and the tamarisk is met with here and there; but the scarcity of water forbids much extent of vegetation, and the hungry camels are obliged to go in the evening for whole hours out of the road in order to find some withered shrubs upon which to feed. During ten days’ forced marches we passed only four springs or wells, of which one only, at about eight hours east of Suez, was of sweet water. The others were brackish and sulphureous. We passed at a short distance to the north of Suez, and arrived at Cairo by the pilgrim road.”
On his arrival at Cairo, Burckhardt’s first employment was to draw up a detailed account of his journey through Arabia Petræa: he then turned his attention to the means of fulfilling the great design of his mission; but no opportunity of penetrating into the interior of Africa occurring, he undertook, in order to fill up the interval thus created, a journey into Nubia. During his residence at Cairo, and on his journey up the Nile to Assouan, he beheld the principal ruins of Egypt. His preparations for the Nubian excursion were soon made. He purchased two dromedaries, one for himself and the other for his guide, for about twenty-two pounds; provided himself with letters of recommendation, and a firman from the pasha; and leaving his servant and baggage at Assouan, set out with his guide on the 14th of February, 1813, carrying along with him nothing but a gun, a sabre, a pistol, a provision-bag, and a woollen mantle, which served by day for a carpet, and for a covering during the night.
Their road lay along the eastern bank of the Nile; they passed Philæ (where, a few days before, a pregnant woman had been killed in a fray, as the softer sex always mix in the battles in which their husbands are engaged, which had created a deadly feud between the hostile villages); and then pushed on with rapidity towards Derr. The Mameluke chiefs, with their desperate followers, were at this period roaming about Nubia, amusing their imaginations with vain projects for the recovery of Egypt.—Every person coming from the north was of course an object of curiosity, if not of suspicion, to these baffled soldiers, as it was possible he might be the bearer of tidings of events upon the results of which their fate depended. Such was the state of things when Burckhardt entered Nubia. Everywhere reports calculated to create alarm were circulated. To-day it was said that the Mamelukes had descended, like famished tigers, from the mountains, and were about to deliver up the whole country to plunder and devastation; to-morrow they appeared to have passed away, like a thunder-cloud, towards Dongola and the desert, leaving behind them that sort of uneasy satisfaction with which we behold the quelling of unruly elements.