Chapter XVIII: Dead Sea Fruit (2)

=Vilayet.= The province under the jurisdiction of a =Vali=.

=Yezidi.= See chap. iv, pp. 87-110.

=Zaptieh.= A policeman of the Turkish constabulary. See p. 47.

=Ziaret.= A Moslem place of pilgrimage; usually the tomb of a saint.

INDEX

A

Abbassides, Khalifs at Baghdad, 4, 115-6 _n._, 349;
their last living descendant, 132

Abdi Agha (of the Sindiguli Kurds), his stronghold at Tanina, 311-2;
his "hint" to the men of Amadia, 325-6

Abdul Hamid II, Sultan of Turkey, incidents of his rule, 37, 38;
arms the Kurds as _Hamidié_ irregulars, 168;
countenances the Armenian Massacres, 232, 292;
his deposition deplored in Mosul, 79;
his reverence for Sheikh Abd-l-Kadr of Kirkuk, 343;
his endorsement of Ali's _Firman_ at Adeljivas, 243;
_lèse-majesté_ in the expression, H_{2}O., 226

Abdurrahman the Kurd, his robbery of our messenger, 331;
his imprisonment and release, 331-3

Abgarus, King of Osroëne, legend of, 18-9

Ablahad the Deacon, his exploits and death, 192-4

Abraham the Patriarch, claimed as tutelary saint of Urfa, 22-3;
teaches his descendants to offer sacrifices, 187

Adeljivas, the Armenian priest of, and his hereditary privilege, 242-3

Akra, 128-33; 401-2

Aleppo, 1-7;
origin of name, 22 _n._

Alexander the Great, his victory at Arbela, 115;
his design to fix his capital at Babylon, 356-7;
his theatre there, _ib._

Ali (the fourth Khalif), his _Firman_ to the family
of the Armenian priest at Adeljivas, 242-3

Ali Beg (Mira of the Yezidis), 93;
his castle, 106-7;
his authority over his followers, 107-8;
murdered by his successor, 108-9

Ali Ihsan, Turkish General, 382-3

Ali Riza (_Vali_ of Van), interviewed by David, the Fedai informer, 252;
his steps to suppress the Fedais, 252-7

Alkosh, 116-7

Amadia, 43-4, 321-33, 337;
_Kai makam_ of, endeavours to expel us from Sapna, 324-5;
our dealings with him concerning Abdurrahman the Kurd, 331-3

Amida, _see_ Diarbekr

Anastasius, Emperor, gives orders for the building of Daras, 49

Antioch, 5;
seat of Patriarchate, 44-6

Arabs, costume of, 9-10;
encampment of, 65-7;
unruliness of, 65, 85-6, 99, 399-401

Aram, chief of the Fedais at Van, captured, 256-7;
Amnestied, and let loose again, 258-9

Ararat, Aghri Dagh, 25, 335

Archbishop's Assyrian Mission, _see_ Preface;
_also_, 153, 262, 271, 321

Armenians, their national characteristics, 237-9;
their conquest by the Turks, 238;
their condition under the Turks, 35-6, 239-45;
their perverseness, 240-1;
massacred in 1895 at Urfa, 17 _n._;
also at Diarbekr, 34-6;
and elsewhere, 244-5;
escape their pursuers in the Chokh Mountains, 231-2;
sheltered by Zohar Agha, 232;
Their revolutionary organizations, 245-7;
their outbreaks at Mush and Van in 1905, 247-51;
their arsenals betrayed, 252-3;
their murder of the informer, 254;
their leaders captured, 255-7;
and amnestied at the Revolution, 257;
impracticability of their Programme of "Reform," 257-9;
massacres in the Great War, 360, 363-4, 383, 385, 387-91;
resistance of their fighting units, 378, 382

Assur, _see_ Kala Shergat

Assyrian Empire, 39, 122-4;
its final fall, 83-4, 114;
its conquest of Urmi, 200;
of Urartu, 236-7;
and of Babylon, 121, 352-3

Assyrian remains, at Nineveh, 69, 83-5, 114;
at Bavian, 121-4;
at Amadia, 320-1;
at Kala Shergat, 343-6

Assyrians, the East Syrian Highlanders supposed
to be descended from them, 112, 168;
their share in the Great War, 359-387;
under British protection at Baqubah, 392-400;
difficulties of re-settlement, 400-415, _see also_ East Syrian Christians

Assyrian contingent, formation, 393-4;
exploits, 394-5, 399-400;
disbandment, 396;
re-embodiment, 399;
dissolution under Petros Agha, 404-5;
re-constitution under Iraq government, 408

Avalanches, 285-6;
escapes from, 278, 285-6;
Armenian escape through, 231-2

B

Babylon, 350-7;
destroyed by Sennacherib, 121, 352-3;
rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar, 352-4;
chosen by Alexander the Great as the capital of his empire, 356-7

Babylonian charms, still in use, against the evil eye, etc., 329 _n._

Babylonian remains, at Samarra, 348-9;
at Babylon, 350-7

Baghdad, 349-50

Baghdad Railway, progress of, at Aleppo, 1-2;
at Mosul, 85;
at Baghdad, 349-50

Bajan, Malik of Balulan, his exploits and death, 189

Baldwin I and II, Counts of Edessa in the Crusades, 20-1

Bar Soma, Bishop of Nisibis, founds the University of Nisibis, 58

Baqubah, formation of refugee camp, 386, 392, 396;
attacked by revolted Arabs, 399-400

Barzan, the Sheikh of, 134-54;
his country, 134-7;
his "palace," 137-8;
his fair treatment of his subjects, 138, 153-4, 312-3;
devotion of his clansmen, 141, 143-5;
his war with the Government, 139-41, 143-5;
his reception of us at Suryi, 142-3;
his quashing of Tettu's _Jehad_, 143-4;
his request for medical assistance, 146-7;
his "score" off the Heriki Kurds, 149-51;
put to death by Turks, 369;
storming of Barzan village, 403

Bashkala, 226-7, 231;
postal arrangements at, 226-7

Bathing _al fresco_ in the mountain districts, 294-5

Bavian, Assyrian sculptures at, 121-4

Baz, 167, 303 _n._, 366, 370, 381

Bazaar, humours of, at Akra, 132-3;
Persian, at Urmi, 196-7

Bedr Khan Beg, Mira of Bohtan, his massacres of
the Syrian Christians in 1845, 37, 279, 338;
banished to Candia, 37 _n._;
reproved by his brother, 318

Bedr Khan Beg, grandson of last, suppressed by the Government, 37

Bedr Khan Beg, of the Begzadi Kurds, his dark and sunny sides, 190, 193-4

Begzadi Kurds, 189

Belisarius wins the battle of Daras, 52-3;
his previous escape, 56

Berwar, 311, 319-20;
Jewish village raided on Good Fridays by the Tyari Christians, 304;
misdeeds of Mira Reshid, 311-16;
in the Great War, 366, 369, 404;
resettlement in, 409

Bibaydi, building of English Mission House, 321 _et seq._;
its conversion into British military post, 395-6;
selection as the seat of the Patriarchate, 411

Blood money, awarded in expiation for murder, 303

Blood offerings, practised by Abraham, 187;
by the Yezidis at Sheikh Adi, 101, 104;
by the Christians at Mar B'Ishu, 187-8;
and at Mar Sergius and elsewhere, 205-6;
by Moslems at the Feast of Bairam, 187;
by all creeds at Noah's Altar on Judi Dagh, 335

Bohtan, _see_ Bedr Khan Beg, tale of the Christian Captive, 337-8

Bridges--at Shuster, said to have been
built by the captive Emperor Valerian, 16;
at Dara (Roman), 52 _n._;
at Nisibis (Roman), 59;
at Mosul, 82-3;
near Suryi (the "Bridge of Rocks" erected by the Heriki Kurds), 149;
in the mountain districts, 288;
at Chumba, 296;
at Lizan, held against the Kurdish raiders, 315

British Consul (from Van, 1909), affronted by Sheikh Musa of Neri, 165-6;
attacked by escort in Gawar, 179-82;
entertained by an ingenuous Agha between Urmi and Van, 228-9;
(from Tabriz) at Urmi on the frontier commission, 219-20;
hears of our murder, and arranges for our funeral, 225-6;
(from Mosul) canvasses Abdi Agha in our interest, 325-6;
visits us at Amadia, 326, 331;
his interview with the Servian prophetess, 326;
(from Van, 1902) attacked by Kurds in Sapna, 329-30

British Consulates--at Diarbekr, 40-1;
at Mosul, 69-70, 75, 340;
its establishment the cause of a mild religious riot, 79-80;
at Van, a good point for seeing the fight between
the Government troops and the Fedais, 253-4;
at Baghdad, 350

British influence, a waning quantity, 40-1;
exerted on behalf of the Yezidis, 107;
to secure fair usage for the Sheikh of Barzan, 140;
and on behalf of the East Syrian Christians, 272;
a valuable factor for the prevention of oppression, 41, 263-4, 321, 324

British invasion of Mesopotamia, 379, 382-4, 386-7

Browne, the late Rev. W. H., incidents of his life at Qudshanis, 271-3;
his perilous predicament in the hands of the men of Tkhuma, 299-300

C

Capital punishment, as carried out at Mosul, 77-9;
as left in abeyance at Van, 244

Carchemish, 13

Cave monasteries, at Urfa, 18 _n._;
at Dara, 54-5;
at Rabban Hormizd, 117-20;
at Bavian, 121;
at Maragha, 185 _n._

Censorship of books in Turkey, 226

Census taking in the mountains, 174-5

Châl, raided by the Tyari men, 297-8;
sacked by Assyrians, 377, 404

Châl, The Agha of: _mudir_, murderer, and Jew farmer, 317;
joins coalition against Assyrians, 366;
reconciled to British authority, 404;
Tabriz' vendetta against him, 410

Chaldæan Christians (Uniat Nestorians), 80-1;
in the monastery of Rabban Hormizd, 118-9;
proposal to eliminate them in Tal, 303-4;
their bishop in Sapna, his medæival methods of controversy, 321-3

Charrae, Crassus' defeat at, 16;
Valerian's defeat at, _ib._;
its identity with Abraham's Haran, 22 _n._

Chokh Dagh, the road across, 231;
escape of Armenian fugitives in its gorges, 231-2

Chôl, the, 61-8

Cholera, at Urmi, 207

Chosroës I., king of the Sassanid Persians, his siege of Edessa, 31 _n._

Chosroës II., king of the Sassanid Persians,
his capture of the "True Cross," 188;
his defeat by the Emperor Heraclius at Nineveh, 115;
his palace at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, 354

Churches--at Dara, in the Cave Monastery, 55;
at Deir el Za'aferan, 44;
at Erdil, Oramar, 154-5;
at Rabat, Tal, rebuilt by the villagers, 302-3;
at Rabban Hormizd, 119-20;
at Shwawutha, 263, 274 _n._;
at Urfa, scene of the Armenian massacre, 17;
of Mar Abd' Ishu, Tal, 306-7;
of Mar B'Ishu, Gawar, 185-8;
of Mar Giwergis, Lizan, 315;
of Mar Sergius, Urmi, 205-6;
of Mar Shalitha, Qudshanis, 273-6;
of Mar Zeia Jilu, 171-3;
sack of, 370;
of Mart Miriam, Urmi, 202;
of Mart Miriam, Walto, 291;
of St. James at Nisibin (fourth-century Roman), 59-61;
of SS. Peter and Paul at Van, its property registered
in the names of the patron saints, 241

Commandeering of our horses by Sheikh Musa at Neri, 165-6;
of an English traveller's horses by soldiers at Diza of Gawar, 182-3

Constantius, Emperor, fortifies Amida, 30

Costume, of Arabs and Kurds, 9-10;
of the upper official classes, 10;
of the Yezidis, 92, 106-8;
of Syrian and Kurdish mountaineers, 112-3, 143;
of Syrian women, 152;
of Persians at Urmi, 197;
of Seyyids at Urmi, 209;
in Mar Shimun's _Diwan_, 276

Cox, Sir Percy, Chief Commissioner of Mesopotamia, 399, 411 _n._

Crassus, defeated by the Parthians at Charrae, 16

Crusaders, employed as captives to build Aleppo citadel, 3;
their capture and loss of Edessa, 20-1

Cyaxares, king of the Medes, captures Nineveh, 83

D

Dara, anciently Daras, the building of the city, 48-9;
its ruins, 48-52;
the battle, 52-3;
the ancient quarries, 54-5

David d'Mar Shimun, his leadership during the war, 366, 377, 381;
his escape at the murder of the Patriarch, 380;
his son elected to the Patriarchate, 400

David, the Armenian informer, betrays the rebel arsenals at Van, 252-3;
murdered, 254

Deir el Za'aferan, 44-6

Derceto, worshipped at Edessa, 23

Devil worship, _see_ Yezidis

Dhuspas, _see_ Van

Diarbekr, anciently Amida, its walls and monuments, 26-9;
its siege by Sapor, II, 30-1;
by Kobad, 31-3;
and by Farzman, 33-4;
massacre of the Armenians at, 34-5;
British Consulate at, 40-1;
massacres during the Great War, 389

Diz, the _Qasha_ and the looted cow, 291-2;
during the war, 365, 372-4

Diza of Gawar, 179, 180-3, 185

Donkeys, regarded as _infra dig_ by the _Ashirets_, 288-9;
their use on _Kelegs_, 348 _n._

E

East Syrian Christians (Nestorians), 80-1, 112, 118-9;
origin and former importance of their church, 19, 264-5;
its present condition, 150-3, 202-4, 265;
their patriarch and hierarchy, 264-8, 112-3;
their churches, rites and ceremonies, 185-8, 274-6;
their constancy to their religion, 154, 177, 337-8

Eden, traditional site of, 26, 235, 264

Edessa, _see_ Urfa

Enver Pasha, invades Trans-Caucasia 361-2;
his responsibility for Armenian massacres, 387, 391

Episcopate in the East Syrian Church, hereditary, 266-8

Erdil, 147-57

Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, 122, 353;
his palace at Nineveh, Nebi Yunus, 84-5

Euphrates River, crossing of, 12-3

Evil Eye, belief in, and charms against, 328-9

F

Farzman, recaptures Amida from the Persians, 33-4

Fasting, as a religious observance, importance of,
in an Oriental's eyes, 259, 277-8, 338, 342;
the "Rogation of the Ninevites," 85 _n._;
strictness of the Nestorian Lent, 303; 405 _n._

Fedais (Armenian Terrorists), their methods and organization, 245-7;
their outbreak at Mush, 247-50;
their exploits there, 247-9;
their strongholds, 249-50;
their incursion into Van, 250-1;
their arsenals betrayed, 252-4;
their leaders captured, 255-6;
and amnestied, 257;
their proceedings since the Revolution, 257-9

Ferries, across the Euphrates near Birijik, 12-3;
across the Tigris at Mosul, 82;
across the Zab at Barzan, 136-7

Feuds, general conduct of, 167-9, 292-4;
dormant in the "Apostles'" house, 292;
composed by the Patriarch's intervention, 268-70, 298;
by payment of blood money, 303;
feuds between Christians and Kurds in Tergawar, 189-90, 192-4;
the author unwittingly involved, 223-5;
feuds between the men of Châl and Tkhuma, 143, 297-8;
between Reshid Beg and the men of Lizan, 314-5

Fire worship, traces of, 101, 199-200

Fishing, by dynamite, 229;
in the river-bed after an avalanche, 286

Fountain worship, traces of, 100, 101

G

Gawar, 176-85;
oppression of the Christian inhabitants, 177-9;
attacked in the marshes by our own escort, 179-82;
state of the Government, 182-3;
the Cave of the Jann, 183-5;
massacres during the war, 362, 372;
proposed resettlement of Assyrians in, 397-8, 401-5

German excavators, at Kala Shergat, 343-7;
at Babylon, 352-7

Ghara, 311;
Reshid Agha wishes to be enrolled as a British subject, 323-4

Ghufas, in use on the lower Tigris, 347-9

Goblins, etc., belief in, 183-4, 333-5

Gregory the Illuminator, Saint, converts the Armenians, 238-9

H

Haidar Beg, Vali of Mosul, his murder of Hormizd, 368;
of the Sheikh of Barzan, 369

Haji Kas, and how his own son bought him, story of, 210-4

Hakkiari, _see_ Barzan, Jilu, Neri, Oramar, Tkhuma, Tyari, etc.

Hassan and Hosein, sons of Ali, the mourning
for them at Urmi (Mohurram), 207-8;
tombs of their comrades at Samarra, 348;
Pilgrimage to Hosein's tomb at Kerbela, 220, 350-1

Hassan Beg, of the Marku Kurds, Governor of Urmi, 214-5

Heraclius, Emperor, his victory over the Persians at Nineveh, 115

Heriki Kurds, their migrations and depredations, 127-8, 159-60;
their original home, 162-3;
their tribal palladium, _ib._;
their encounter with the Sheikh of Barzan, 149-51;
their orisons at the shrine of Mar Sergius, 206;
"Hermit Crab Act" (so-called) 177-9;
plundered of their sheep by Assyrians during the war, 377

Hermits' cells attached to churches, 206, 275 _n._

Herodotus, inaccuracies in his description of _kelegs_ and _ghufas_, 348 _n._;
of the walls of Babylon, 351-2;
and of the Babylonian temples, 354-5

High places for worship, 3, 62, 233-4, 343

Hittites, traces of their empire, 13-4, 344

Hormizd d'Mar Shimun, murdered by the Turkish government, 368

Houses, at Diarbekr, 28;
at Mosul, 70-1;
identical with the plans of the ancient houses at Assur, 346;
at Akra, 129, 131;
in the mountain districts, 142 _n._, 153

I

Inns and lodgings, on the plains, 8-9, 109, 125-6;
in the mountains, 152-3, 155

Invulnerability, reputations of, 189, 329-30

Ishtar, Temple of, at Babylon, 354-6

Ismail, Malik of Chumba, protects the
Turkish soldiers who seek refuge with him, 296-7

J

Jacobites, Monophysite Christians, 44-46;
at Deir el Za'aferan, the seat of their Patriarch, _ib._;
at Nisibin, 61;
at Mosul, 80-1;
at Sheikh Mattai, 118;
in Sapna, 312;
formerly at Tekrit, 347;
massacres during the Great War, 364, 391

Jaffar Agha, murdered by the Shah at Tabriz, 216

James of Nisibis, Saint, his defence of Nisibis, 57;
his church and tomb, 59-61

Jebel Maklub, 116;
monastery of Sheikh Mattai, 118

Jebel Sinjar, 67;
Yezidi stronghold, 90, 102, 154 _n._

Jebel Tur, a district full of ancient monasteries, 42-3, 46

Jevdet of Ghara, his difficulties as to the marriage of his daughter, 330-1

Jevdet Bey, Vali of Van, his massacres of Assyrians, 383;
and of Armenians, 389, 390

Jews at Mosul, claiming descent from the ten tribes, 81-2;
in Berwar, making the same claim, 304;
at Bashkala, 226;
suspected of ritual murder, 88 _n._;
raided by the Tyari Christians on Good Fridays, 304;
farmed by the Agha of Châl, 317;
and by other Kurdish Aghas, 317-8;
their pilgrimage to Nahum's tomb at Alkosh, 116;
and to Noah's altar, 335

Jilu, 167-76;
wandering habits of the tribesmen, 169-71;
their Church of Mar Zeia, 171-3;
the _Diwan_ of their bishop, 173-4;
troubles of a census taker, 174-5;
during the war, 366, 370, 377

Job, said to have dwelt at Urfa, 22 _n._

Jonah the Prophet, his reputed tomb at Nineveh, 84-5;
his fast, 85 _n._;
his estimate of the size of Nineveh confirmed, 114

Judi Dagh, the traditional resting-place of the Ark, 335-6

Julian, Emperor, defeated by Sapor II, 57-8, 348

Justinian, Emperor, attempts to suppress the Jacobites, 45;
his castle between Dara and Nisibin, 56

K

Kala Shergat, anciently Assur, excavations, 343-6

Karaja Dagh, 25-6

Kelegs, on the Tigris, 70, 340-2, 347;
on the Zab, 136-7;
employed for transporting the Assyrian sculptures, 122

Kerbela, 220, 348, 350-1

Khoja Nazr-ed-din and the Seyyid, story of, 209

Khosbaba of Lizan, his leadership during the war, 371, 374, 381

Khoshab Kala, 232-3

Kirkuk, 343

Kobad, king of the Sassanid Persians, captures Amida, 31-3;
sends his queen on pilgrimage to the monastery at Dara, 54 _n._;
defeats Justinian's army, 55-6

Kouyunjik, _see_ Nineveh, origin of name, 102

Kurds, their origin, 39 _n._; 111;
their costume, 9-10, 112-3;
their toughness and hardihood, 133, 168-9, 173-4, 278, 329-330;
their turbulence and plundering, 39-40, 216-8, 222-4, 263-4;
their oppression of Christians, 177-8, 279, 319, 337 _n._;
and of Yezidis, 99-100, 102;
favoured by the Government to its own detriment, 38-9, 178-9;
_see also_ Barzan, Begzadi, Châl, Heriki, Neri, Sapna,
Reshid Agha, Zohar Agha, &c.; in the Great War;
acquiescence in Assyrian repatriation, 409

L

Labaree, the Rev. Benjamin, of the American
Mission, murdered, 191 _n._, 224 _n._

Languages of the various tribes, 10, 111-2, 265, 289

Legends, of the Roman columns in Urfa Citadel, 18 _n._;
of King Abgarus of Osroëne, 18-9;
of Rabban Ephrem of Urfa, 21-2;
of Abraham at Urfa, 22-3;
of Sheikh Adi and Melek Taüs, 105;
of Rabban Hormizd at Sheikh Mattai, 117-8;
of the woman of Sat and the Devil, 160-1;
of the True Cross, 188;
of St. Thomas walking across Lake Urmi, 201;
of the Wise Men of the East, 202;
of Prester John, 262;
of the hoopoe, 283;
of the Tyari man and his father, 308-9;
of the Tyari men searching for the sun, 309-10;
of Noah and the Deluge, 90, 335-7

Liturgy of the East Syrian Christians, 270 _n._, 275-6

Lizan, raided by Mira Reshid of Berwar, 314-5;
the defence of the bridge, 315;
during the war, 366, 371, 374

Lyke-wake for the dead, 278-9

M

Madness, as treated at "Churches of Name," 120, 206;
by the Tyari men, 308;
and by the Archbishop's Mission, 327-8

Mardin, 42-6

Mar Dinkha, Bishop of Tergawar, 191;
his martyrdom; 362

Marku Kurds, 214, 218

Marriage, inadmissible when the best man has been smoking, 277 _n._;
marriage problems submitted for our solution at Amadia, 330-1

Mar Sergius, Bishop of Jilu, 172-4

Mar Shimun (Benyamin), Patriarch of the East Syrian Christians, 262, 264;
his temporal authority, 262, 265-6, 279-80;
his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, 262, 266-7, 271, 273-4;
his youth, 266-8;
his reputation among his people, 141, 268;
his interventions as peace-maker 268-70, 298;
his _Diwan_, 276-9;
his leadership of his people during the Great War, 359-81;
his personal heroism, 368, 371;
murder by Simko Agha, 380-1

Mar Shimun (Ishai), his election to the Patriarchate, 400;
his resettlement at Bibaydi, 411

Mar Shimun (Polus) his election to the Patriarchate, 381;
his death, 396-7

Mawana, siege and relief, 192-3.

Massacres, of the Armenians at Urfa, 17 _n._;
at Diarbekr, 34-6;
in Van _Vilayet_, 231-2, 244-5, 250, 254;
of the East Syrian Christians by Bedr Khan Beg, 37, 279;
of the Yezidis, 99-100, 102;
by Kobad at Amida, 32-3;
by Timour in Mesopotamia, 4-5, 265;
in the Great War, 360-4, 368, 372, 383-91

Medical treatment, as suggested by a Yedizi _hakim_, 146;
as practised by a Syrian _hakim_, 174;
and by the Archbishop's Mission, 146-7, 173-4, 327-30, 332-3

Mejid-es-Sultaneh, Governor of Urmi, 215;
administration of his estate, 221-3;
conduct during the war, 361, 385

Melek Taüs, Satan, the Yezidi deity, 90-106

Mergawar, 188, 360

Mesopotamia, 16, 42, 61-4, 341-9;
irrigation scheme, 357-8;
British administration of, 373, 392-3, 396-9, 405-8, 412-15

Mindan, refugee camp at, 398, 400, 406, 408-10

Mohammed the Prophet, his reputed _Firman_ to
the Church of Mar Zeia, Jilu, 172-3;
and to the Patriarchal Church at Qudshanis, 279

Mohammedans, mission work among, 204

Mohurram, at Urmi, 215

Money, in Turkey, 14-5

Mosul, 69-83, 85-6, 340-1;
description of city, 69-72;
incidents of life in it, 72-83

Murderous attempts upon Europeans, upon the author
and the British Consul in Gawar, 179-82;
upon the author between Urmi and Van, 223-6;
upon the Rev. Benjamin Labaree (American),
murdered in 1905, 191 _n._, 224 _n._;
upon an Englishman in Hakkiari, 277 _n._;
upon Capt. Maunsell, R.A., British Consul at Van in 1902, 329

Mush, Armenian outbreak, 247-50;
exploits of the Fedai parties, 247-9

N

Nabopolassar, Allied with Cyaxares against Nineveh, 83;
begins to rebuild Babylon, 352

Nahum the Prophet, his tomb at Alkosh, 116-7

Nazim Pasha, _Vali_ of Baghdad, at Mosul, 70;
makes peace with the Sheikh of Barzan, 140

Nebuchadnezzar, his victory at Carchemish, 13;
his rebuilding of Babylon, 352-4;
claimed as an ancestor by some Mountain Syrians, 112

Neri, the Sheikh of, 163-7;
Sheikh Obeid Allah, 163;
Sheikh Saddik, his tobacco smuggling, 163;
his banking account in London, 163-4;
his oppression of Christians, 164;
his judgment concerning the inspired cock, 164-5;
Sheikh Taha, 165;
his dispute with his uncle Abd-l-Kadr, 166-7;
his brother's (Sheikh Musa's) affront to the British Consul, 165-6

Nestorians, _see_ East Syrian Christians

Nimrud Dagh, 25, 235;
Fedai stronghold in crater, 249

Nineveh, site of the city, 83-5, 114-5;
its size, 114;
its fall, 83-4;
battles upon the site, 115

Niphates mountains, the modern Hakkiari, 135, 235

Nisibin, anciently Nisibis, 56-61;
captured by Lucellus, 56;
besieged by Sapor II, 57;
ceded to Persia by Jovian, 57-8;
Bar Soma's University, 58;
Church of St. James, 59-61

Noah, building of the Ark, 90;
voyage of the Ark, 335;
the Ark rests on Judi Dagh, Noah's Altar, tomb, and vineyard, 335-6;
the Ark represented as a _Ghufa_, 347-8

O

Old manuscripts, rumours of their existence, 154, 228

Omar, second khalif, supposed to have granted
toleration to the Nestorians, 172, 279

Omayyedes, Khalifs at Damascus, 103 _n._, 115-6 _n._

Oramar, 148-57;
Agha of, joins coalition against Assyrians, 366;
betrays Cossack re-inforcement, 369;
his stronghold sacked, 377

Osman Bey, _Vali_ of Mosul, his massacre of the Yezidis, 99-100

Osroëne, _see_ Abgarus

P

Persian officials at Urmi, their impotence, 194, 208, 214-8;
their attempts to put down the Seyyids, 214-5;
and to remedy disorder by assassination, 215-6, 217-8, 378, 380;
conduct during the war, 360-2, 375-6, 379-80, 410

Pennington, Capt., R.A.F., his flight from Miani to Urmi, 384

Petros Ello of Baz, his youthful rogueries, 218;
his leadership of the Assyrian armies, 381-6;
his impracticable pretensions since the armistice, 394, 397-8, 407-8, 411;
his futile irruption into Hakkiari, 401-5

Prester John, legend of, 262, 265

Prisons in Turkey, 151, 331-2;
easy-going confinement of prisoners, 75, 243-4;
rumours of the employment of torture, 256;
escape of Qasha Tuma and his deacon, 301-2

Q

Qashas (priests), married men, 113;
usually non-combatants in fights, 190

Qudshanis, 264-80;
site of village, 264, _see also_ Mar Shimun;
deserted by Patriarch, 364;
burned by Kurds, 366;
"Waters of Qudshanis," 374

Qurbana (the Eucharist), among the East Syrian Christians, 275-6, 338;
a Jacobite monk's query respecting it, 46

R

Rabat, building of the church, 302-3

Rabban Ephrem of Urfa, legend of, 21-2

Rabban Hormizd, legend of, 117-8

Rabban Hormizd, the Cave Monastery, 117-20

Rabbans and Rabbantas, 113, 270-1

Rabban Werda, 113;
at Sheikh Adi, 97-8;
at Rabban Hormizd, 118-9;
at Bavian, 123;
his journey to Bohtan, 337-8

Raids, general theory and practice, 39-40, 167-9, 291, 323;
women not molested formerly, 168, 292;
raids by the Kurds on Urmi plain, 216-8, 223;
at Shwawutha, 263-4;
by Mira Reshid on Lizan, 314-6;
by the Tkhuma men on Châl, 297-8;
by the Diz men, 291-2;
by the Tyari men on Berwar, 304;
by the Kurds on the Yezidis, 99-100, 102;
_see also_ Bedr Khan Beg, Heriki Kurds, etc.

Reshid Agha, of Ghara, his fifteen murders, and his
wish to become a British subject, 323-4

Reshid Beg, Mira of Berwar, his brigandage, 311-3;
his profits as a tax-gatherer, 313;
his _Jehad_ against Lizan, 314-5;
his evasion of punishment, 316;
joins coalition against Assyrians, 366;
recognized as representative of British authority, 404

Revolution in Turkey, general results, 38, 130-1, 257-61

Ritual murder, charged against Jews and Yezidis, 88 _n._

Roads, 16-7, 41-2, 47, 231

Roman remains, near Aleppo, 7-8;
at Urfa, 17-8;
at Diarbekr, 26-9;
at Deir el Za'aferan, 44;
near Mardin, 48;
at Dara, 48-51, 54-6;
at Nisibin, 56-61;
between Urmi and Van, 227-8

Rowandiz, Beg of, massacres the Yezidis, 102

Russia, her support courted by Kurdish intriguers, 37, 139;
intervenes in the Tergawar frontier dispute, 195;
occupies Urmi, 208, 220;
the asylum of the Armenian revolutionists, 245-6;
evacuates Urmi, 360-1;
returns, 362, 375;
relieves Van, 365, 390;
invites the Assyrians to join in the war, 365;
accords them slight support, 366, 368-9, 371, 376-7;
collapses, 377-80

S

Sabonji Pasha, the "Tammany Boss" of Mosul, 73, 85;
foments the war with the Sheikh of Barzan, 139, 140 _n._

Sakkiyehs, on the Tigris banks, 343

Saladin, 21;
builds the citadel at Aleppo, 3;
owner of Khoshab Kala, 232-3

Salmas, 371-2, 374, 376

Samarra, 348-9

Sapna, eastern portion, _see_ Barzan, 135-8;
anarchy in western portion, 311-3;
the Chaldaean bishop and his intrigues, 321-3;
during the war, 366;
re-settlement schemes, 395-6, 411

Sapor I, king of the Sassanid Persians, defeats the Emperor Valerian, 16

Sapor II, king of the Sassanid Persians, captures Amida, 30-1;
repulsed at Nisibis, 57;
defeats the Emperor Julian, 57-8, 348

Sargon, king of Assyria, leads the ten tribes of Israel captive, 81-2, 304

Sassanian Empire, _see_ Chosroës, Kobad, and Sapor;
_also_ Bar Soma

Sassanian remains, at Urfa, 18;
at Seleucia Ctesiphon, 354

Sat, tale of the woman of Sat, 160-1;
the forgotten _Mudir_, 161-2;
the Heriki Valley, 162-3

Savage and Scott-Ollson, Capts., 14th Hussars.
Rescue of Assyrian refugees, 386

Second sight, instances of, 304-6, 326-7

Seleucid Empire, 343

Seljuk sultans, 21, 132

Seljukian remains, 232

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, his destruction of Babylon, 121, 352-3;
his palace at Nineveh (Koyunjik), 83-4;
his quarries at Bavian, 121-4

Serpent worship, traces of, 101

Seyyid Ullah, of Mosul, his burglaries and smuggling, 74-5

Seyyids, at Urmi, their insolence, 208-9;
attempts to deal with them by Governors of Urmi, 208-15;
and by Bedr Khan Beg, 190-1;
_see also_ Khoja Nazr-ed-din, and Haji Kas

Shamashas, deacons, in the East Syrian Church, 112, 190, 192-4

Shamsdin, _see_ Neri

Sheikh Adi, the Yezidi Prophet, 104-5

Sheikh Adi, Yezidi Temple, 90-101

Sheikh Mattai, monastery, 117-8

Shwawutha, raided by Kurds during author's stay there, 263-4;
church, 274 _n._

Simko, Agha of the Shekak Kurds, 216, 370;
allies himself with the Assyrians and Armenians, 378-9;
turns traitor and assassinates Mar Shimun, 380-2;
his present predominance at Urmi, 412

Sindiguli Kurds, 311-2

Sinsariskun (Sardanapalus), king of Assyria, his death, 83;
his temple at Assur, 344

Sipan Dagh, 25, 335 _n._

Stones, set up as votive monuments, 15, 233;
as sepulchral cairns, 15-6

Sun worship, traces of, 101;
_see also_ High Places

Superstitions, of Jann, goblins, etc. 183-4, 277, 333-5;
of the _Hiblabashi_ or vampire, 333-4;
of the _Khwarha_, 306;
of unquiet spirits, 319;
_see also_ Second sight, Evil eye, and Yezidis

Surma, sister of Mar Shimun, 270-1;
installed in charge of magazine, 376-7;
her mission to England, 400-1

Suryi, 142-7

T

Tahir Pasha, _Vali_ of Mosul, 76-8;
on the frontier commission at Urmi, 218-20;
_Vali_ at Van during Armenian outbreak, 251;
death, 368

Tal, the rebuilding of Rabat Church, 302-3;
proposal for eliminating Chaldaean intruders, 303-4;
shrine of Mar Abd' Ishu, 306-7;
during the war, 371-4

Talaat Pasha, his massacres of Armenians, 387-91

Taxes, 14-5;
corrupt assessments, 38-9

Tax-gathering, by the _Malmudir_ at Akra, 129-31;
in the mountain districts, 161-3, 175 _n._;
by the sheikh of Barzan, 150-1;
by Mira Reshid of Berwar, 313-4

Tekrit, 347

Tendurek Dagh, 235;
Fedai stronghold, 249-50

Tenure of land, in Turkey, 14;
in Persia, 221-2

Tergawar, 188-95;
turbulence of the Christian tribesmen, 189-90, 192;
their chief, Bajan, 189;
their bishop, Mar Dinkha, 191;
their defence and relief of Mawana, 192-3;
driven from their homes by the Ottoman occupation, 194;
enlisted as garrisons by the villages near Urmi, 218, 223;
installed in Mejid-es-Sultaneh's villages, 220-3;
return to their homes, 194-5;
driven out in Great War, 360

Tettu Agha, suppressed by the Sheikh of Barzan, 143-4

Thaddeus, Saint (Mar Adai), the Apostle of the East, 18-9, 104

Thomas, Bishop of Amida, 34;
builder of Daras, 49

Thomas, Saint, the Apostle of India, 18-9;
legend of his walking across Lake Urmi, 201

"Three Children," the, their burial-place, 343

Tigris River, at Diarbekr, 26-7;
at Mosul, 69-70, 82-3, 114;
Mosul to Baghdad, 340-9

Timour the Tartar, his ravages in Mesopotamia, 4-5, 265;
his repulse from the citadel of Mardin, 44

Tiridates, king of Armenia, his palace at Amida, 29;
his conversion to Christianity, 238-9

Tkhuma, 143, 284;
fighting reputation of the clansmen, 293;
their views on frog-eating, 289;
their raid on the Kurds of Châl, 297-8;
their readiness to resent a slight, 298;
their treatment of a tackless teetotaler, 298-9;
and of an intrusive ethnologist, 300-1;
the Rev. W.H. Browne in a dangerous predicament among them, 299-300;
during the war, 366, 369-71, 404-6

Travelling, on the plains, 6-7, 41-2, 47-8;
across the Chôl, 61-4, 339-40;
in the mountain districts, 111, 113-4, 124-5,
134-6, 138, 147-9, 155-9, 287-8;
by _keleg_ down the rivers, 341-2

Tree worship, traces of, 100, 127 _n._, 205

True Cross, a Legend of the, 188

Tuma, Qasha of Tyari, volunteers to kill the Rev. W. H. Browne's enemies, 273;
imprisoned at Amadia, and breaks out, 301-2

Turkish officials, their courtesy, 161, 179, 243;
their corruption and laziness, 38-9, 73-6, 130-1,
178-9, 180-2, 239-40, 313, 315-6;
their occasional outbursts of ferocity, 34-6, 244-5;
individuals under the thumb of local chiefs, 163, 312;
or forgotten in remote corners, 161-2;
the prospect under the new _régime_, 38, 130-1, 259-61, 357-8;
_see also_ Tahir Pasha, a Sabonji Pasha, and Amadia, _Kaimakam_ of

Turkish soldiers, their ill-treatment by Government, 38, 229-31;
their good behaviour, 229-31, 253

Tyari, 284-8;
prejudices of the clansmen, 288-90;
their _amour propre_, 290;
their fighting reputation, 293;
their feuds and raids, 273, 290-4;
their representatives volunteer to aid the
British Army in South Africa, 272;
their primitive habits, 294-5;
their chivalry, 295-7;
their skill in prison breaking, 301-2;
their devotional raids on the Jews of Berwar, 304;
their reputation of being "all mad together," 308, 309 _n._;
their treatment of lunacy, 308;
their former method of dealing with old age, 308-9;
their exploits in the Great War, 366, 370, 385, 403-6

U

Urfa, formerly Edessa, 17-23, 27, 389

Ur of the Chaldees, site of, 22

Urartian remains, at Firek Gol., 123 _n._;
at Khoshab, 233;
at Van, 236-7, 253

Urartu, ancient empire of, 236-7

Urmi, 196-7, 205-20;
vicissitudes during the Great War, 360-2, 369, 371-2, 375-6, 379, 381-5;
conditions since the war, 412-3;
difficulties with the Urmi Christians, 394, 397, 403-4, 407, 412-3

Urmi, Lake, 200-1

V

Valerian, Emperor, defeated by Sapor I, 16

Vampires, belief in, 333-4

Van, anciently Dhuspas, 245-61;
capital of the Empire of Urartu, 236-7;
Armenian outbreak at, 250-7;
its fate during the war, 365, 383, 389-90

Van Lake, 235-6;
curative properties of its waters, 236

Volcanic districts in Kurdistan, 24-6, 41-2, 235, 249-50, 340

W

War song of the Assyrians, 365-6

Wild animals, 63-4, 126, 155, 280-3

Wilson, Sir Arnold, Acting Chief Commissioner, Mesopotamia, 396 _n._, 398-9

Wise men of the East, legend of the, 202, 413

X

Xenophon, his fording of the Euphrates, 12;
his march up the banks of the Tigris, 342 _n._, 347;
and across the site of Nineveh, 114;
his encounters with the Carduchi, 39 _n._

Xerxes, trilingual inscription at Van, 236-7

Y

Yailas, defence and evacuation of, 370-4

Yezidis, 87-100;
their belief, 88, 98-9, 100-6;
their temple at Sheikh Adi, 91-100;
their stronghold on Jebel Sinjar, 89-90, 102, 154 _n._;
their Mira, 106-9;
their ill-repute among their neighbours, 88-9;
oppressed, proscribed, and massacred, 99-100, 102, 109;
the Yezidi _hakim_ at Barzan, 146;
immunity from massacre during the war, 391;
proposal to enrol in a contingent, 408 _n._

Z

Zab, River, in eastern Sapna, 135-7, 142;
at the "Bridge of Rocks," near Suryi, 149;
its sources, 177;
identified with the Pison, 264;
its gorges in Tyari, 284-9;
at Lizan bridge, 315;
scene of operations in the Great War, 368, 372, 374, 400, 403-4

Zab River, Lesser, 343

Zanghi the Atabek captures Edessa, 21

Zaptiehs, as escort to European travellers, 46-7, 61, 67;
their opinion of Yezidis, 89;
considered _de trop_ in the Sheikh of Barzan's country, 135-6;
refuse to act against the Sheikh of Neri, 166;
attempt to shoot us in Gawar, 180-1

Zibari Kurds, 403-4

Ziggurats, at Kala Shergat, 344;
at Samarra, 348-9

Zohar Agha of Zirnek, preserves the fugitive Armenians, 232

Zoroaster, the Prophet of the Fire Worshippers, 199-200

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] The direct journey across the desert occupies about ten days, and this is the route followed by the Government pack mules which carry the mails; but we diverged slightly to the northward in order to visit Urfa, Diarbekr, and Mardin.

[2] _Yaili_ is really a Turkish word meaning "springy."

[3] Hierapolis, _alias_ Bambyce, or Bembij, was sacred to the worship of Astarte. Here one of the most notable remains is a great underground conduit, with deep circular inspection pits descending into it at frequent intervals. An American lady inspecting these pits observed artlessly that "now she understood where all those columns came from." Apparently she imagined that they had been extracted like so many corks!

[4] A _Khanji_ keeps a _khan_ (an inn), just as an _Arabaji_ drives an _araba_ (a carriage), or a _Katarji_ a _katar_ (a mule). The _ji_ is simply a suffix meaning a worker.

[5] It may be said that the Government revenue is entirely derived from the land; and it is at least quaint to observe that the pet ideal of our own extremest Radicalism is at present actually realized (of all places in the world) in Turkey!

[6] An English cheque in Turkey will often pass from hand to hand like a banknote, and may be current for months before it reaches the bank. Indeed a cheque is more readily accepted than a banknote. It is more familiar to the money-changers. Also, if it gets purloined in the post, the loss is more easily recoverable.

[7] Weights and measures are in a similar state of chaos: _e.g._ each village has its own "stone" (a real material stone varying in size and weight _ad libitum_), and will sell its produce by no other standard.

[8] The bridge is now broken; but enough of it remains to reflect great credit on its builder, whether he was actually the Emperor Valerian or no.

[9] This church was the scene of one of the most fiendish incidents in the terrible Armenian massacres of 1895. Over two thousand refugees of all ages and both sexes had crowded into the sacred edifice to seek sanctuary from their pursuers. The Moslems thrust through the doors and windows fragments of broken furniture and carpets saturated with paraffin, and burnt or suffocated every soul.

[10] A legend attaches to these columns which should make a strong appeal to anyone with gambling instincts. One of the two is full of gold and silver; the other acts as stopper to a prodigious fountain of water which is capable of producing another Noachian flood. He who pulls down the former will win wealth beyond the dreams of avarice; but if he touches the latter he will eliminate mankind. Which is which no one can tell, for the two are precisely similar, and consequently nobody hitherto has had courage to risk the attempt.

[11] There are many tombs and hermits' cells in the hill which faces the castle, similar to the combs and cells of Dara, which will be described in chap. iii. One of the tombs near the moat has a door formed of a great stone disc running in a groove and socket. Of this type in all probability was the tomb of our Lord.

[12] The inhabitants of Osroëne might be quite correctly described as "Greeks"; that word being often used in the New Testament as merely equivalent to "Gentiles."

[13] "They have continued Christian to this day," writes Eusebius; a statement which is not quite accurate, for Paganism was re-established later. Yet there were undoubtedly a large number of Christians in Edessa in Eusebius' day.

[14] Many of the Crusaders had married Asiatic wives, and the children of such ill-assorted marriages were generally a pretty poor lot. This fact contributed very sensibly to the fall of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem.

[15] The true Ur of the Chaldees was either Erech or Tel Mugayir in Babylonia; but Haran, Abraham's later home, lay a considerable distance further north. Local traditions identify it with Harran (Carrhæ) about twenty-five miles south of Urfa, the proudest boast of whose inhabitants is the possession of Rebekah's Well. Other corroborative traditions assert that the Patriarch lost many cattle in fording the Euphrates near Birijik; and that the Arabic name of Aleppo (Haleb, "milk")was bestowed upon it in compliment to his pedigree cow. Jacob was certainly journeying northwards when he fled from Beersheba to Bethel; but this fact does not necessarily favour the Urfa tradition, for his direct line to Babylonia would cross an impassable desert. The Ibrahim of Urfa was perhaps some local hero who has got credited with his namesake's deeds. It may be added that a further tradition asserts that Urfa was the home of Job.

[16] A multitude of basalt boulders covering quite a considerable area lie in the midst of the alluvial levels a little to the east of Nisibin. These are, of course, obviously volcanic, but it is not quite obvious how they get there: for Karaja and Nimrud, the nearest admitted craters, are each a hundred miles away.

[17] It is said that they were cleared away once; and that the inhabitants promptly replaced them, lest they should lose the fees that accrued to them for helping carriages along the road!

[18] The spacing of the towers also is just about the same as at Lugo and Astorga; but the irregular outline of the works is less usual, the Romans generally adopting a more formal plan.

[19] The walls of Constantinople had similar double banquettes. In this case the walls were double; and the two walls, taken together, must have made a stronger defence than the single wall at Amida. But neither of the two, taken separately, was quite so formidable in itself.

[20] The whole is built of basalt with yellow marble columns, and yellow marble bands here and there.

[21] The science of war has made little progress in these parts since the days of the Assyrians. To this day a Kurdish chieftain, when besieging his rival's castle, will endeavour to force an entry by mining the walls with picks.

[22] Zachariah of Mitylene.

[23] Chosroes employed the same device in his siege of Edessa a little later. In this case the mine was fired prematurely and (lest the smoke should betray them) the defenders pelted the mound with fireballs so that the Persians never suspected that the real danger was under ground. Presently the fire got beyond all quenching, and the mound was destroyed completely; the smoke of its burning being visible fifty miles away. Such counter-strokes were rather dangerous, as sometimes the wall itself burst with the heat of the bonfire; but the basalt walls of Amida were doubtless pretty well inured.

[24] Kobad's losses had amounted to 50,000, so there were plenty of _manes_ to appease.

[25] We may quote a parallel incident which occurred in India soon after the Mutiny. An old cultivator was being examined as witness with regard to the outbreak in his town. He had heard a great row, he explained, but at first he took no notice. He thought it was "only the Rajah plundering the bazaar." But soon the riot came nearer, and he could distinguish the shouts of "Allah." And at that word he grew frightened. It must mean real mischief when the mob invoked the name of God!

[26] See pp. 227, 338. Bedr Khan Beg's massacres of the mountain Christians occurred in 1843, and are described by Layard in his "Nineveh and its Remains." Under pressure from the British Ambassador, Bedr Khan and his family were eventually banished to Candia--"a totally inadequate punishment."

[27] Or rather, he has now written the Code Napoleon side by side with this system, and left authority to take its choice between the two, and to apply the code that is least trouble in each case!

[28] The Kurds are a very ancient people, no doubt identical with the "Carduchi" who gave so much trouble to the Ten Thousand in the Anabasis. Their modern Russian name "Kurdischi" is a transliteration of the Greek.

[29] These oppressed nationalities cherish pathetically futile hopes of British intervention, recognizing rightly that England is the only disinterested power. But the only power ever likely to interfere effectively is Russia; and though those who have tried Russian rule have found themselves bitterly disillusioned, it must be admitted that the Russians preserve better order than the Turks. What the country needs is a set of self-sacrificing administrators, with no axe of their own to grind, who will devote themselves solely to the good of the people. No other nation can furnish such administrators as England: and no other nation so obstinately refuses to recognize their worth.

[30] These monasteries have been visited and described by the Rev. O. H. Parry and Miss G. Lothian Bell.

[31] _i.e._ "Believers in one nature"; the name was given them because they rejected the technical term enforced at Chalcedon, which declared that Christ existed "_in two natures_," the Divine and the Human.

[32] It is a remarkable proof of the persistency of Eastern conditions that, up to the commencement of the present century, 1 piastre (2_d._) was still regarded as the regular day's wage.

[33] The Chronicler also alludes to the baths as a monument fit to rank even with the granary and the cistern; but the limited time at our disposal did not allow us to identify these. The bridge and the river embankments are, however, conspicuous works.

[34] The establishment of this hermit monastery must have followed immediately upon the building of the city: for it is written that in 526 the Queen of King Kobad, being possessed by a demon, and having sought relief in vain from her own magicians, sorcerers, and soothsayers (who only succeeded in "introducing more demons into her") came hither to consult a certain holy hermit named Moses, and was duly healed by his prayers. Kobad was, of course, officially a Zoroastrian (and privately, of all incredible things, a Communist); but even to this day the mountain Moslems not infrequently go on pilgrimage to Christian shrines.

[35] Justinian, it may be noted, had equipped this army with such a plethora of commanders that their defeat can hardly cause surprise.

[36] The snowfall on this occasion was even more prodigious in the mountains. The valley of Amadia was buried under an _average_ depth of fourteen feet, and not a man could stir beyond his own village for a period of fully four weeks! Fortunately the villagers had their winter stock of provisions and fuel, and so did not suffer like the nomads; but the hares and partridges were exterminated, and have only just begun to reappear.

[37] The driving belt also formed part of the loot, and this was a good, useful bit of leather; so the game was generally voted quite worth the candle after all.

[38] See p. 81 for an explanation of these terms.

[39] The terms are not technically correct, but are used for clearness' sake.

[39a] The terms are not technically correct, but are used for clearness' sake.

[40] Jonah is still a great personage in the district. The Fast which he is said to have instituted, now known as the "Rogation of the Ninevites," is still observed annually by the members of all religious denominations--an extraordinary survival even in this extraordinary land.

[41] Thus they are even charged with human sacrifices; and it is said that, when a Yezidi falls ill, his relatives seek to propitiate the Power of Evil in his favour by murdering a Christian or Kurd. The charge is widely believed, but quite unsupported. It reminds one of the old accusation of ritual murder which was so often brought against the Jews in mediæval Europe; and which, by the way, is still devoutly believed by the Syrians--"Surely you would not eat Jews' bread, Rabbi? How can you be sure it is not made with the blood of a Christian child?"

[42] This is really the same word as Amir. The title is also given occasionally to some of the local Kurdish chiefs.

[43] Mascot means simply a temple, and is used by the Yezidis for mosques and churches as well as for their own shrine. Etymologically it is no doubt identical with _masjid_, _mezquita_, mosque.

[44] When approaching a village by night it is considered correct to give warning, either by sending a messenger ahead, or by firing a gun as one draws near, so that the villagers may be prepared for visitors. Otherwise it is not at all improbable that the intruders may be saluted with a fusillade!

[45] The Yezidis all agree that their temple was built by Christian workmen, and the monks at Rabban Hormizd even went so far as to say that it was once a Christian church. The former statement is possibly true; but the latter highly improbable. Sheikh Adi must have been a holy place long before the days either of Christians or Yezidis; and that Christian monks may have occupied it for a time in the days of the Roman Empire is about the utmost that we can reasonably concede.

[46] A hatchet forms part of the Mira's insignia when he is fully arrayed for performing religious rites; and a comb has also certain magic properties, as instanced on p. 306.

[47] The Christians always remove their shoes in their churches, in addition to uncovering their heads.

[48] Another chamber, now used as an oil store for the temple lamps, opens out of the sanctuary to the westward. It is conceivable that this may have been the original nave, following the true lines of Orientation; and that the naves on the south side were added subsequently when larger accommodation was required.

[49] The Yezidis are so careful on this point that they even avoid words which are at all similar in sound to Sheitan, such as _shat_ an arrow and _keitan_ a thread.

[50] _i.e._ "Standards."

[51] They also act medicinally; the water in which they are washed being a great specific against every kind of disease.

[52] When Mrs. Badger visited Sheikh Adi the priest showed her an image which they said was that of _Melek Taüs_. But this was almost certainly a bronze lamp in the form of a bird, which they produced to appease her importunity. We are informed, however, that a later visitor has actually seen and photographed one of the _sanjaks_.

[53] These practices, of course, did not originate in the Mosaic ritual, and the Yezidis may possibly have borrowed them direct from a yet older source.

[54] This owes its name to the fact of its having contained the word, Sheitan--now in every instance carefully erased.

[55] It is possible that the Yezidis themselves at one time encouraged this misconception; for, so long as the Ommayedes were on the throne, Yezid's name may have helped to gain them toleration.

[56] In this legend we meet with the only official explanation to account for _Melek Taüs_ being represented as a peacock. When the Marys came to the empty tomb and found no body within it, _Melek Taüs_ (says the legend) appeared to them as a Dervish and related what he had done. To rebuke their doubts, he took a cock which had been killed, cooked, and dismembered, and restored it to life in their sight. He then vanished; first informing them that henceforth he would choose to be worshipped in the form of the most beautiful of birds. The representation of Deities under the form of birds was familiar to the ancient Babylonians.

[57] The duty of hospitality is incumbent upon all Eastern monasteries; and often where the monastery has become extinct this duty has passed to the present tenants of its lands.

[58] From the days of "the Great Elchi" onward the English Ambassadors have interfered occasionally, and with some success, in favour of the persecuted Yezidis; and this fact explains their gratitude towards the English race.

[59] "Divine right" is an axiom in the East; and the Khalifate soon became hereditary, though at first it was endeavoured to make it elective. To this day at Constantinople, though a Sultan may be deposed or murdered, it is always a member of the House of Othman who is appointed in his room.

[60] Not the same nephew that we had met at Sheikh Adi.

[61] This was really rather a bit of cheek. It would be thought presumptuous even in a Kurd.

[62] A coarse local kind of Anise

[63] See, for instance, the head on the title-page--a portrait of a Syrian priest, the late Qasha Khoshaba, who might have been a reincarnation of Sargon.

[64] These caps are precisely of the shape which we see on Assyrian bas-reliefs.

[65] A clean-shaven man in the East is regarded as something emasculate, and in order to escape reproach one must wear at least a moustache. Laymen often shave the beard and whiskers, but a bishop or priest never shaves; and to shave a priest is esteemed as practically equivalent to unfrocking him.

[66] Gibbon takes the "six-score thousand persons who could not discern between their right hand and their left" as referring only to the children, and thus calculates the total population of Nineveh at 700,000 souls. Taking a line from Mosul we might estimate that about 150,000 could actually be housed within the walls.

[67] Chosroës had sent him forth with the significant instruction: "If you cannot conquer, you can die."

[68] On the same ground in 750 was fought the great battle which transferred the Khalifate from the dynasty of the Omayyades to the Abbassides. There can be few spots on the earth's surface which have seen three such decisive days.

[69] One of these marshy valleys is known locally as the Dungeon of Solomon, that potent necromancer having here imprisoned the rebellious Jann, by pegging them into the mud.

[70] The monastery of Sheikh Mattai, perched high up on the southern slopes of Jebel Maklub, is very similar to Rabban Hormizd in general situation, but consists of buildings, not of caves.

[71] Of course he was: though physically (and we hope morally) the accuracy of the description was not so striking as might be wished.