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| Title | Picturesque Palestine, Sinai, and Egypt, Vol. 2 |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Publisher | D. Appleton and Company |
| Date | 1883 |
| Description | Index: Phoenicia and Lebanon / by the Rev. H. W. Jessup -- The Phoenician plain / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- Acre, the key of Palestine, Mount Carmel and the river Kishon, Maritime cities and plains of Palestine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Lydda and Ramleh, Philistia / By Lt. Col. Warren -- The south country of Judaea / by the Rev. Canon Tristram -- The southern borderland and Dead Sea / by Professor Palmer -- Mount Hor and the cliffs of Edom, The convent of St. Catherine / by Miss M. E. Rogers -- Sinai / by the Rev. C. P. Clarke -- The land of Goshen, Cairo, Memphis, Thebes, Edfu and Philae / by S. Lane-Poole. |
| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Location | DS107 .W73 v.2 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b1703789~S11 |
| Digital Collection | Exotic Impressions: Views of Foreign Lands |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/exotic |
| Repository | Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://info.lib.uh.edu/about/campus-libraries-collections/william-r-jenkins-architecture-art-library |
| Use and Reproduction | No Copyright - United States |
| Identifier | exotic_201304_015 |
| Title | Page 87 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | exotic_201304_015_104.jpg |
| Transcript | ACRE, THE KEY OF PALESTINE. 87 important of the modern structures owe their origin to Ahmed Pasha, surnamed Jezzar (the Butcher), who died in 1804, and who has been compared to Herod for his cruelty, as well as for his delight in building. The great khan of Jezzar Pasha occupies the site of a Dominican convent; the galleries surrounding it are supported by ancient columns of red and grey granite, hence it is known as Khan el Amid (Khan of the Columns). The great mosque of Jezzar Pasha, which has been restored again and again (the present buttressed dome having been erected since 1863), occupies the site of a cathedral. It is formed chiefly of ancient materials, the columns of various coloured marbles and granite having been brought from Caesarea and Tyre. It is an elaborate but not a beautiful structure. It stands, however, in the centre of a magnificent quadrangular court, planted with cypress and palm trees and flowering shrubs, which shelter some tombs of white marble. This court is surrounded by cloisters supported by ancient columns, and divided into apartments for the accommodation of the mosque attendants and pilgrims. The domed roofs of these retreats may be distinguished in the illustration on page 76. The doves hovering over the great dome and settling upon it are characteristic of the place, for these birds are always safe within the precincts of a mosque, and this gives rise to the Arabic expression, " As safe as a dove in the Haram " (the sacred enclosure). The ramparts of 'Akka, to which access can only be gained by special permission of the Pasha, form a pleasant and interesting promenade, and though the battered walls bristle with cannons and mortars (among which are some of those which Sir Sydney Smith captured from Napoleon's transport ships), yet the place looked peaceful enough when I last walked there, for many little wild plants were growing out of the crevices, and there were some fine specimens of the acanthus in full blossom. SKETCH OF THE EARLY HISTORY OF 'AKKA. It is recorded in Judges i. 31, 32, that the tribe of Asher, to whom the city of Accho, la? ('Akka) was assigned, did not succeed in driving out its inhabitants, " the Canaanites," but "dwelt among them." The fragments of buildings which have been found here, formed of small and highly sun-dried bricks with a mixture of cement and sand, characteristic of structures of the remotest ages, may be regarded as relics of this period. No further mention is made of Accho in the Old Testament, but it is occasionally alluded to by classic authors as Ake, a city of Phoenicia, and mention is made of it by Menander as having yielded to Assyria when Tyre was attacked by Shalmanasar. Akkon is its Assyrian name. That this city was a place of importance when Alexander the Great, B.C. 333, wrested Syria, Palestine, and Egypt from Persian rule, is proved by the existence of numerous very fine gold and silver coins of the Macedonian monarch struck at 'Akka. When Alexander's vast dominions were divided among his generals, who were his successors, Egypt fell to the share of Ptolemy, who subsequently acquired 'Akka, b.c. 320. For a long period the city was under |