Travels in Syria and the Holy Land

by John Lewis Burckhardt

The present village of Bysan contains seventy or eighty houses; its inhabitants are in a miserable condition, from being exposed to the depredations of the Bedouins of the Ghor, to whom they also pay a heavy tribute. After waiting here some time for the arrival of the caravan, we rode across the valley, till we reached the

VALLEY OF THE JORDAN

[p.344] banks of the Jordan, about two hours distant from Bysan, which bore N.N.W. from us. We here crossed the river at a ford, where our companions arrived soon afterwards.

The valley of the Jordan, or El Ghor (Arabic), which may be said to begin at the northern extremity of the lake of Tiberias, has near Bysan a direction of N. by E. and S. by W. Its breadth is about two hours. The great number of rivulets which descend from the mountains on both sides, and form numerous pools of stagnant water, produce in many places a pleasing verdure, and a luxuriant growth of wild herbage and grass; but the greater part of the ground is a parched desert, of which a few spots only are cultivated by the Bedouins. In the neighbourhood of Bysan the soil is entirely of marle; there are very few trees; but wherever there is water high reeds are found. The river Jordan, on issuing from the lake of Tiberias, flows for about three hours near the western hills, and then turns towards the eastern, on which side it continues its course for several hours. The river flows in a valley of about a quarter of an hour in breadth, which is considerably lower than the rest of the plain of Ghor; this lower valley is covered with high trees and a luxuriant verdure, which affords a striking contrast with the sandy slopes that border it on both sides. The trees most frequently met with on the banks of the Jordan are of the species called by the Arabs Gharab (Arabic) and Kottab (Arabic) [The following are the names or the rivulets which descend from the western mountains into the Ghor, to the north or Bysan. Beginning at the southern extremity of the lake of Tiberias are Wady Fedjaz (Arabic), Ain el Szammera (Arabic), Wady Djaloud (Arabic), Wady el Byre (Arabic), and Wady el Oeshe (Arabic). To the south of Bysan are Wady el Maleh (Arabic), Wady Medjedda (Arabic), with a ruined town so called, Wady el Beydhan (Arabic), coming from the neighbourhood of Nablous, and Wady el Farah (Arabic). On the east side of the Jordan, beginning at the Sheriat el Mandhour, and continuing to the place where we crossed the river, the following Wadys empty themselves into it: Wady el Arab (Arabic), Wady el Koszeir (Arabic), Wady el Taybe (Arabic), Wady el Seklab (Arabic), which last falls into the Jordan near the village Erbayn, about one hours distance north of the place where we crossed. This Wady forms the boundary between the districts; called El Koura and El Wostye.

On the west side of the river, to the north of Bysan, are the following ruined places in the Ghor: beginning at the lake, Faszayl (Arabic), El Odja (Arabic), Ayn Sultan (Arabic). Near where we crossed, to the south, are the ruins of Sukkot (Arabic). On the western banks of the river, farther south than Ayn Sultan, which is about one hour distant from Bysan, there are no ruins, as far as Rieha, or Jericho, the yalley in that direction being full of rocks, and little susceptible of cultivation.].

[p.345] The river, where we passed it, was about eighty paces broad, and about three feet deep; this, it must be recollected, was in the midst of summer. In the winter it inundates the plain in the bottom of the narrow valley, but never rises to the level of the upper plain of the Ghor, which is at least forty feet above the level of the river. The river is fordable in many places during summer, but the few spots where it may be crossed in the rainy season are known only to the Arabs.

After passing the river we continued our route close to the foot of the eastern mountain. In half an hour from the ford we crossed Wady Mous (Arabic), coming from the mountains of Adjeloun. In one hour and a quarter we passed Wady Yabes, and near it, the Mezar, or saints tomb called Sherhabeib (Arabic). In two hours we came to a stony and hilly district, intersected by several deep but dry Wadys, called Korn el Hemar (Arabic), the Asss Horn. Our direction was alternately S. and S. by W. Here the Jordan returns to the western side of the valley. The Korn el Hemar

ABOU OBEIDA

[p.346] projects into the Ghor about four miles, so that when seen from the north the valley seems to be completely shut up by these hills. From thence a fertile tract commences, overgrown with many Bouttom (Arabic) or wild pistachio trees. Large tracts of ground were burnt, owing probably to the negligence of travellers who had set the dry grass on fire. At the end of six hours, and late at night, we passed to the right, the ruins of an ancient city standing on the declivity of the mountain and still bearing its original name Amata (Arabic). My companions told me that several columns remain standing, and also some large buildings. A small rivulet here descends into the plain. In six hours and a half we reached the Mezar Abou Obeida (Arabic), where we rested for two hours. The tomb of the Sheikh is surrounded by a few peasants houses; but there are no inhabitants at present, except the keeper of the tomb and his wife, who live upon the charity of the Bedouins. It appears from the account given by the great Barbary traveller, Ibn Batouta, that in the sixteenth century this part of the Ghor was well cultivated, and full of villages.

The valley of the Jordan affords pasturage to numerous tribes of Bedouins. Some of them remain here the whole year, considering it as their patrimony; others visit it only in winter; of the latter description are the Bedouins who belong to the districts of Naszera and Nablous, as well as those of the eastern mountains. We met with several encampments of stationary Bedouins, who cultivate a few fields of wheat, barley, and Dhourra. They are at peace with the people of Szalt, to many of whom the greater part of them are personally known; we therefore passed unmolested; but a stranger who should venture to travel here unaccompanied by a guide of the country would most certainly be stripped.[For the names of the Bedouin tribes see the classification, in the Appendix.]