(Note the cylindrical hat and cover).
From here the western edge of the Qurt Dagh range descends abruptly to a broad and marshy valley, shut in, on the other side, by the Giaour Dagh. The land is flat, and the streams, after descending from the mountains, mostly stagnate in marshes overgrown with reeds and scrub. From the middle tract egress is almost wholly shut off, by ridges and outliers from the hills. Such water as escapes either flows northward to join the Pyramus or southward to form the Kara Su. Though now pestilential with malaria and sparsely inhabited, this valley is naturally very fertile; and numerous mounds which dot the surface are indicative of extensive ancient settlement.[13] Among these are the sites of Sinjerli and Sakje-Geuzi, which provide us with our most complete architectural monuments of the Hittites on this side of the Taurus. Here there seem to have been a series of petty states or principalities,[14] consisting of groups of towns clustering round the palace of the local king, fortified strongly with stone walls and towers. We do not yet know what may have been the precise relations of these elements of the population to one another; but it is clear that in the days of Hittite supremacy they must have been amongst those tribes who shared in the confederacy.[15] It is also obvious that no people could hope to defend themselves in this valley who did not hold the passes of the mountain-ranges on either side.
PLATE VI
BOGCHE: THE VILLAGE WHICH GIVES ITS NAME TO A CHIEF PASS OVER THE AMANUS MOUNTAINS
The westerly chain of the Giaour Dagh, indeed, was readily defensible. Except for a few local tracks available only in the summer, there are but few passes over its unbroken mass, and these are well defined. This splendid range of mountains, better known as Mount Amanus, forms a main branch of the Taurus system, from which it is divided only by the valley of the Pyramus. It separates Syria from Cilicia on the west, and touching the sea near Alexandretta follows the coast south-westward, until arrested by the broad valley of the Orontes. The average height of the chain is from four to six thousand feet, while some of its peaks reach almost to the snow-line.[16] Of the several passes that traverse it, that which leads transversely from Marash into Cilicia presents the easiest gradient, and is much used by caravans, though impassable by carts. The central pass above Bogche, however, is better known, being the direct line of communication between Cilicia and the East. Bogche itself is reached from Osmaniyeh on the eastern borders of the Cilician plain by a path which, while generally following the valley of the Bogche Su, traverses also some outlying ridges. The village is thus found picturesquely situated in an open and fertile spot among the hills. The long ascent thence continues up to one of the main sources of the same stream until the watershed is crossed, whence the descent is steep and rugged to the valley. The track then heads directly by Sakje Geuzi over the Qurt Dagh to Aintab, and so eastward to the crossing of the Euphrates. Though direct and not very difficult, this route is not yet made passable by carts, and perhaps for this reason the mail from Adana and the West takes the coast route, on mule pack, round to Alexandretta,[17] whence rises the main road to the interior. The Beilan Pass, as it is called, above Alexandretta, is by far the easiest, and the steep gradient on either side is so nicely engineered that it is hardly realised in passing where the watershed is crossed. Leading down directly to the fair seaport on the Mediterranean, this route for centuries has been a main channel of commerce between Europe and Asia; and until the railway connecting Aleppo with Beyrout diverted a large part of the traffic, caravans consisting of hundreds of laden camels in long procession could be seen daily, bringing out the merchandise of the East, and taking back the manufactured products of the West.
The mountain-chain now turns south-west, and terminates abruptly in the rocky point called in Arabic Ras El Khanzîr, ‘The Pig’s Head,’ while its southern slopes descend steeply to the estuary of the Orontes. Beyond, the mountainous character of the coast is continued south in the Jebel Ansarîa (or Bargylus Mountains), which hold on until broken by the broad rift which divides them from the Lebanon. Hugging the eastern side of this range the Orontes River comes northward, and turning sharply where the mountains break, it flows past Antioch south-westward to the sea. At the bend it is joined by the Afrîn River and the Kara Su in a broad and swampy hollow almost shut in by the mountain-ranges and the eastern plains.
The sources of the Orontes are found in the northern region of the Anti-Lebanon, and here the southern limit of the Hittite monuments is reached.[18] In this vicinity was Kadesh, the frontier fortress of the Hittites that figures so prominently in the battle-scenes of Egypt. Here, too, is Homs, now a remarkable Arab city, at the junction of the main routes from Damascus to Aleppo, and from Palmyra to Tripolis on the sea. Further north is Restan, strongly placed at a bend of the river on a steep and naturally defended knoll. Further again is Hamath, where the main road and the river separate, the latter turning westward to seek its green bed below the mountains, and the former holding on directly towards Aleppo across the plains. Here, at Hamath, were found the hieroglyphic inscriptions which first gave rise to systematic Hittite studies. Here, too, types of people are found strongly reminiscent of the past, like living models of the ancient sculptures.[19]
PLATE VII
