SYRIA THE LAND OF LEBANON _By LEWIS GASTON LEARY_ THE REAL PALESTINE OF TO-DAY ANDORRA, THE HIDDEN REPUBLIC THE CHRISTMAS CITY SYRIA, THE LAND OF LEBANON [Illustration: Evening in the harbor of Beirut] SYRIA THE LAND OF LEBANON BY LEWIS GASTON LEARY, PH.D. FORMERLY INSTRUCTOR IN THE AMERICAN COLLEGE, BEIRUT, SYRIA Author of _The Real Palestine of To-day_, _Andorra, the Hidden Republic_, _etc._ [Illustration] NEW YORK McBRIDE, NAST & COMPANY 1913 Copyright, 1913, by MCBRIDE, NAST & CO. _Second Printing January, 1914_ Published, November, 1913 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED TO HIM WHO FIRST TURNED MY THOUGHTS TOWARD SYRIA MY FORMER PRECEPTOR AND ALWAYS LOYAL FRIEND GEORGE L. ROBINSON PREFACE Although Syria possesses a rare natural beauty and boasts a wealth of historic and religious interest, its fame has been so overshadowed by that of the neighboring Land of Israel that most travelers are content to take the easy railway journey to Baalbek and Damascus, and know nothing of the wild mountain valleys and snow-capped summits of Lebanon or the many ancient shrines of a country whose history reaches far back of the classic days of Greece. It is therefore with great pleasure that I accede to the request of the publishers of my “Real Palestine of To-day” and supplement the earlier work by the present companion-volume on Syria; so that, though the books may be read independently, the two together may give a complete view of the lands of the Bible. The chapter on Palmyra is from the pen of Professor Harvey Porter, Ph.D., of the Syrian Protestant College; and for many of the hitherto unpublished photographs I am indebted to other members of the faculty of that institution. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to _The World To-day_, _The New Era_, _The Sunday School Times_, _The Newark_ (N. J.) _News_, and especially to _Travel_ and _Scribner’s Magazine_, for permission to include material which originally appeared in these publications. In the writing of Arabic words, my aim has been smooth reading, rather than a systematic transliteration of the numerous sounds which are not found in English. As an aid to pronunciation, it should be noted that the stress always falls upon a syllable bearing a circumflex accent.