IA CHAPTER OF GEOGRAPHY
At the outset of our undertaking we are faced by a considerable perplexity, in that the land we are setting forth to examine is practically undefined. We are guided indeed by vague and scanty historical references towards the north of Syria and the east of Asia Minor, but for a wider and surer delimitation, however incomplete, we must rely on the evidence afforded by the disposition of the Hittite monuments themselves. These cannot fix for us any certain boundaries, nor does the area throughout which they have as yet been found coincide with any great natural landmarks such as are wont to form the frontiers of nations. On the other hand, their curious disposition, and the very disunity of the tract they indicate, awaken our interest by a suggestion of unusual circumstances that could weld together, in political unity, peoples whose conditions of life so differed. And though mostly in the heart of a peninsula washed by the blue waves of two great inland seas, no part of the long coast-line can be included, upon present evidence, in our territory. Maybe the cause is only that the conditions there are not favourable to the preservation or recovery of monuments; but none the less it is to be noted that no trace of Hittite handiwork has yet been found around the coast, whether along the wooded shores of the BlackSea in the north, on the fertile inlets of the west,[1]or on the rocky passes of the Syrian seaboard; nor has any clear connection yet been shown between the Hittite confederated peoples and those sea-rovers who, from their harbours under the southern shelter of the Taurus, made piratical descents upon the Egyptian Delta in the thirteenth centuryB.C.[2]
Thus we see the Hittites as a purely inland people, not taking to the sea more kindly at any rate than do the Turkish peoples of to-day. The centre of their monuments is the mountainous region of the Taurus and Anti-Taurus systems, whence on the one hand they lead us down to the hot plains that lie between the right bank of the Euphrates and Mount Amanus (the Giaour Dagh), with a continuation to the south by the valley of the Orontes as far as its sources in the Lebanon; and on the other hand widen out to embrace not only the northern fringe of the Taurus Mountains, and the basin of the Halys River, but practically the whole broad tableland of Central Asia Minor, with one finger pointing down the Hermus valley past Sardis to the west. The inference to be derived from these preliminary considerations will receive confirmation as we proceed with our inquiry, when we shall find reason to believe that the peoples whose land we are trying to map out were of mountain origin. The problem of their settlement, however, remains obscure; we must await the results of further investigations to determine whether it was a combined movement of peoples, bringing with them the elements of their civilisation,like the Turks in modern history, or whether for ages they endured the rigours of mountain life before they became strong enough to descend upon the hospitable plains below.
The wilder mountains of Greater Armenia, east of the head-waters of the Euphrates, show no definite sign of Hittite settlement;[3]but they form a distinctive boundary to our region, being the culmination of the system of which the Taurus are a part. Here too is the centre of mountain-ranges which, like the rivers rising in their heights, descend in several directions. To the north the towering peak of Ararat, seventeen thousand feet in height, looks down upon the green upland valleys of the Caucasus. Towards the east, the range which skirts the Caspian Sea connects beyond with the systems of Central Asia. Towards the south, another chain holds up as it were the highlands of Asia, on the one hand, giving way on the other to the basins of the Euphrates and the Tigris, and touching eventually the eastern waters of the Persian Gulf.
The Taurus system is another such chain trending westward, dividing Asia Minor from the rest of Asia, skirting the southern coast-line, then breaking and scattering as the level falls towards the west until it descends below the sea, where its hilltops, still projecting, form the Ægean archipelago, until drawn together it rises to dry land on the soil of Greece. In the heart of these mountains, the two main sources ofthe river Euphrates flow in a westerly direction until they unite above Malatia;[4]thence twisting and turning ever, in its search for a passage through the rocky ramparts that oppose it, the great river makes an easterly contour until nearing the plains. Before reaching Gerger, however, its direction is changed once more, turning westward in a long curve past Samsat towards Aintab, and southward to the latitude of Aleppo: from here its course becomes more tranquil and direct towards the Persian Gulf.
The bend of the Euphrates below Malatia marks for the present the boundary of the Hittite country on the east. The whole mountainous region lying to the west of this landmark is divided by the gorges of the Pyramus, comprising the bleak easterly heights of the main Taurus range on the one hand, and the more broken but less barren regions of the Anti-Taurus which lie within. From the Taurus numerous torrents fall southward to join the bend of the Euphrates, while the northern slopes of the same range look down on the deep valley of the Tochma Su. This river, flowing eastward, is another main tributary of the Euphrates, which it joins not far from Malatia, and it forms our present boundary to the north in that direction.[5]Its sources are found high up past Gurun in the main watershed, from which some rivers flow southward to the Cilician plain, others north-west to feed the Halys.
PLATE IIA VALLEY IN THE TAURUS (Seep. 5.)HEAD-WATERS OF THE HALYS NEAR SIVAS (Seep. 26.)
PLATE II
A VALLEY IN THE TAURUS (Seep. 5.)
HEAD-WATERS OF THE HALYS NEAR SIVAS (Seep. 26.)
The routes connecting the north of Syria with Asia Minor make use of these natural channels of approach. Thus the main road from Aintab northwards, after reaching the Pyramus near Marash, follows that riverclosely to Albistan, whence the bed of a stream leads up to the divide that gives way to the valley of the Tochma Su beyond. Derendeh is thus gained; and up this new valley the road passes by Gurun northward, and so over the watershed to Sivas in the valley of the Halys. From Albistan another route leads eastward to Malatia; and westward a path passing by Izgîn rises over the mountains to the interior.[6]A more direct route, however, from Aintab and Marash leads by the side of streams that feed the Pyramus north-westward up to Shahr (the classical Komana), on the sources of the Cilician Sarus; thence, by one of several passes, among which is the Kuru-Bel, the head-waters of the Zamanti Su are reached, so leading down to Cæsarea at the foot of Mount Argæus. The last-named river is tributary to the Sarus, passing by Ekrek, Tashji, and Fraktin on its course.
It may be judged that a region so broken up by mountain-streams is not altogether barren or inclement. Its very altitude, averaging six thousand feet above the sea, gives respite from the summer heats that make life burdensome upon the Syrian plains. Green patches nestle under the shelter of its heights, protected thereby from the severity of winter blizzards when the mountain-passes may be filled with snow. And in its deeper valleys, though the actual banks are mostly rocky, yet the broad slopes on either side are generally favourable to the cultivation of cereals and other necessaries. The numerous fair towns that have sprung up in favoured spots, mostly upon Hittite sites, with their gardens and vineyards, fruit and oliveplantations, their industries in weaving and embroideries, reveal to us something of its attractions and the possibilities of ancient settlement.
Just as the roadways of this region converge upon Marash, so from this centre other lines of communication spread out into the regions of the south. On the one hand the valley of the Pyramus leads down to the Cilician plain; on the other the road to Aintab, which we now follow, brings us to the northernmost parts of Syria, historically the scene of the struggles of the Hittites with the Pharaohs and with Assyria. The whole tract before us as far southward as Aleppo is of twofold character: on the east are the great plains that lie away to the Euphrates, while on the west two mountain-ranges intervene between these and the sea, lying parallel with one another and with the coast.
The plains are really an apex to the Syrian desert, themselves watered sparsely by winter streams flowing to the Euphrates, with some independent rivers which, failing to find an exit, resolve themselves into small salt lakes and swamps. There are no trees or other protection against the withering sun, and the surface is broken only here and there by low ridges and the mounds which mark the sites of ancient settlements.[7]The people are mostly Kurds, mingled with the settled descendants of northern Bedouins, using a primitive Arab speech. Their life is arduous: their crops are parched before they can be reaped; but none the less out of generations of experience they find the means to live and feed their flocks. Except for local routes, the only roads which cross this desolate tract leadfrom Aleppo and from Aintab to the crossing of the Euphrates now found at Birejik, not far from the site of ancient Carchemish at Jerablus.[8]
PLATE IIIALEPPO: VIEW OF THE CITY FROM THE CITADEL: THE KONAK IN THE FOREGROUND (Seep. 7andPlate xxxviii.)
PLATE III
ALEPPO: VIEW OF THE CITY FROM THE CITADEL: THE KONAK IN THE FOREGROUND (Seep. 7andPlate xxxviii.)
Aleppo itself must be classed as a city of the plain, though its economy is different. Here is the natural centre of commerce for the north of Syria and a great part of Western Asia. So, instead of being a peasant village upon a nameless stream, Aleppo has grown to be one of the fairest cities of the East. Local industries have developed, adding to its resources. Its stone-built houses and public places, its groves and fruit-gardens, as well as the hearty spirit of its people, are the tokens of its prosperity. Another town of considerable interest and importance is Killiz, on the border of the plain, midway between Aleppo and Aintab. In approaching this place the road passes through miles of olive-groves, which form long lines of dark green upon the red loamy soil.
From Killiz as we turn westward the character of the landscape is immediately changed; the plains are left behind, and the mountain country is entered that lies between them and the sea. Of the two ranges mentioned previously, the Qurt Dagh, which is first encountered, is less bold than its western neighbour, and also less continuous, giving way gradually towards the south. It is wild and varied enough, however, to provide a series of memorable panoramas of mountainscenery. Northward the head-waters of the Afrîn[9]River have scoured deep gorges in its wooded heights; and the main stream, flowing southward in a wild and sparsely cultivated valley, has hewn for itself a rocky bed through which it swirls until the hills are left behind, when turning westward it flows on to join the Orontes near to Antioch. In such a country it is not surprising that no Hittite monuments have been placed on record. It is in contact, nevertheless, on either hand, with places where some of the most instructive Hittite works have been discovered; and we are tempted therefore to linger somewhat in this unfamiliar region, seeking in the life and features of its people for living witness of the ancient civilisations in which it must have shared.
The population is naturally scanty, and varies racially according to its disposition. On the basalt plateau which forms the eastern boundary to the valley, leading down to Killiz and Aintab beyond, several villages of Kurdish families are found. Here communication with the towns is frequent, and mingling is not uncommon accordingly with other elements of the Turkish people. The houses are often well constructed of masonry, for stone is plentiful; indeed, the whole plateau is so thickly strewn that even the pathways are difficult and narrow, while before the plough can be put to the land a space must first be cleared at considerable labour. Consequently the amount of cultivation is small, and even the sparse grain that grows wild over thousands of acres remains unreaped. In addition to the settled villages, and the tumbled ruins of many deserted hamlets, this high ground is freely sprinkled in the summer-time with the tents of nomads,either seeking refuge temporarily from the eastern plains, in accordance with a common practice, or halting for a brief season on their endless journey.
PLATE IVKARAKUL: A KURD FAMILY AT HOMEHusband, wife, child of an elder wife; two brothers, left.
PLATE IV
KARAKUL: A KURD FAMILY AT HOME
Husband, wife, child of an elder wife; two brothers, left.
The rocky edges to this plateau on the western side are broken ever and again by rifts, down which a more copious supply of water tumbles from above, opening out into little nooks under the shelter of the heights before joining the main valley of the river below. In such places a village may be found amid a patch of comparatively luxurious cultivation, well illustrated by the vines and mulberries of Rowanduz. This pleasant spot lies at the foot of the steep descent from Karakul upon the plateau, and is marked by the ruins of a fine mediæval castle crowning a prominent cone-like hill.[10]The groves and gardens are watered by a primitive system of irrigation. The rich soil readily repays the labour bestowed upon it in however simple fashion.
Lower down, in the main valley and nearer the river’s bed, the aspect of the country is generally savage and neglected. A short withered scrub speckles the surface of the ground, which is reft in every direction by the dry gullies of winter torrents. The main routes, here as elsewhere, keep consistently along the higher levels, crossing the rifts near their beginnings, before they have become too rough and too steep to scale. Other tracks are found naturally along the river’s bed, which they cross and recross, scaling the cliffs where the water has laid bare the rocks, and at other times passing through more open spaces cheered by narrow strips of corn-land and the rich bloom of a myriad oleanders, wherever the steep banks recede a little way on one side or the other. These lower tracks, however, are never easy to follow, even under favourable conditions,on account alike of the numerous scrambles over cliffs often shaly and precipitous, where a false step of horse or man might lead to disaster, and also of the numerous crossings of the river, often deceptive to any one unfamiliar with the fords. The latter obstacle becomes a grave danger after mountain storms which may have passed almost unnoticed in the valley. Even in summer-time thunder-clouds from time to time collect above the heights, and amid a gorgeous display of lightning and reverberating thunder a torrential rain transforms in a few minutes the rocky basin of the river. The dried-up gullies are now alive with splashing streams, and the slumbering rivulets become foaming torrents, the sudden uproar of scurrying streams and newly born cascades striking the ear with curious strangeness and foreboding.[11]In an hour or two the streams are once more tranquil and the sun has reappeared; but the river below has received nearly all the water that has fallen, and swirls on deep and dangerous. Fords that have little changed their appearance are now impassable, and none but the stranger will attempt to cross them.
Even without such temporary dangers, the unwary traveller in such a country, trying maybe to force a march when unacquainted with the village tracks and local landmarks, will surely come to grief; and though within an hour or two of some village where loyal, if frugal, hospitality awaits him, will find himself lost, with little means of knowing how to direct his footsteps. For the village which he would gain lies hidden out of sight in some sheltered nook, or behind a bend in the river, or beyond a rise of ground. Yet even though he reach the village by night, whether as anarmed party or as a benighted wanderer, his welcome is secure, and his life is sacred. No questions will be asked him, nor will any demand the reason of his coming. Warm milk and home-made bread-cakes, and sometimes honey, will be offered him as refreshment; and after a few simple courtesies the best room will be put at his disposal. In the morning the ‘swash-swish’ of the churn, an inflated goatskin, will tell him that the housewife is busied with his breakfast: soon the door is opened and he recognises in his attendant, who lays the round tray before him, none other than his host, the headman of the village. His horse is fed and saddled, and the chief’s son is his guide.
In the main valley, however, we have not found that which we seek. Pushing on then up one of the sources of the river we reach Kartal, in a green dell begirt with wooded hills. Though off the beaten track this place is only one day’s journey by mountain-path from Aintab. Perhaps on this account the people here are freer. Their simplicity of life is the same, but their curiosity is greater and their restraint is less. Here we are soon friends; and have opportunity to study their manners and their features. Their houses are partly hollowed in the hillside as in many parts of Asia Minor, alike for economy in construction, and for better protection against rain and cold. The roofs are built of timber, and so covered with earth that it is difficult in descending from above to distinguish them from the surface of the ground with which they are continuous. The chief industry of the villagers, in addition to the tending of their fields and flocks, is the making of butter and dairy produce, which is sent to the market at Aintab. They are said to be Turkomans, descendants of wanderers from the East who settledhere many generations back, and now an element of the Turkish people. But there is something in their faces reminiscent of Hittite portraits, suggested generally in the women, and marked strongly in some of the men, though in others not at all. This glimmer seems to be due to mixture in past times with a pre-existing population; for in the hills above there are settlements of woodmen whom even these villagers regard as a somewhat strange and different people. Here, at last, we come face to face with that remarkable type portrayed so clearly on Egyptian sculptures, and suggested also in the Hittite monuments themselves, characterised by the strong nose in line with the receding forehead, the round protrusion of the head behind, the heavy lips and beard, and the stolid look. The figure is short and thickset, betokening stamina and strength. Our photograph[12]was obtained at Kuchuk Kizil-Hissar, nearer to Aintab, but it is clear that the home of this type is now the mountainous country, where it has persevered in seclusion and still survives.
Our wanderings in this district have not then been fruitless. The traveller may be rewarded also by a picture of wonderful beauty to be seen at sunset from the wooded heights near the sources of the Afrîn River and the Kara Su. Pen cannot describe the delicacy and harmony of the colours in the trees, with the effects of light and shade among their leaves and in the shadows of the foreground; nor could brush composethe majesty and depth imparted by Nature to the distance of this scene. Ridge beyond ridge, of varied forms and softening colours, leads back to where beneath the reddening glow the bold ranges of the Amanus chain are seen purple, even while the snow-clad peaks of far-distant Taurus in the north still gleam in the last lingering rays of light.
PLATE VKARTAL: VERANDAH OF A HOUSEChurning, left; crushing grain with a wooden mallet, right back.KARTAL: GROUP OF TURKOMAN WOMEN(Note the cylindrical hat and cover).
PLATE V
KARTAL: VERANDAH OF A HOUSE
Churning, left; crushing grain with a wooden mallet, right back.
KARTAL: GROUP OF TURKOMAN WOMEN
(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 theconfederacy.[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 VIBOGCHE: THE VILLAGE WHICH GIVES ITS NAME TO A CHIEF PASS OVER THE AMANUS MOUNTAINS
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 theEuphrates. 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 ArabicRas 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 Riverand 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 VIIBEILAN: VIEW OF THE VILLAGE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE PASS (Seep. 15.)
PLATE VII
BEILAN: VIEW OF THE VILLAGE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE PASS (Seep. 15.)
This district, in the head-waters of the Orontes, was not only the Hittite frontier, but was such as the Hittites in the period of their settlement seem to have delighted in. Here their walled towns and citadels sprang up, in the midst of a land well watered and reasonably fertile, under the shadow of mountainswhich cut them off from the sea and from their enemy of the South; while behind the road was open to call up in necessity the assistance of the northern branches of their people.
From the Taurus we descended firstly to the north of Syria, because in the development of Hittite studies this region first attracted attention through the references to it in Egyptian and Assyrian history. But modern research has added to our knowledge of the Hittite lands a wider and different territory on the other side. There the descent to the interior of Asia Minor from the mountains is not so marked, for even around the foot of snow-capped Argæus, the most advanced pinnacle of the system, the plateau is still four thousand feet above the sea. The level falls gradually towards the west, but rarely much below three thousand feet; while on the other hand the numerous minor ranges that break the surface of the interior attain a considerably greater height. This tableland is almost enclosed by ridges of mountains: on the north and south these descend directly to the coast; on the west they are more broken and less bold, but they constitute none the less a great obstacle between the plateau and the green valleys of the Ægean coast.[20]On the east, as we have already seen, are the Anti-Taurus ranges, backed by the Armenian hills beyond. The upland area thus enclosed is from two to three hundred miles across according to the direction taken, for its form is irregular. Only to the south is the boundary sharply defined, where the range of Taurus forms a mighty wall, which in the middleturns almost a right angle in direction, running north-eastward and north-west. The whole plateau may be regarded as irregularly five-sided.
The interior varies greatly in its features, the chief agent being the peculiarities of its river systems. Shut in as it is, many rivers fail to find an outlet to the sea: this is especially the case in the plain which lies at the foot of the western ranges of the Taurus, where the waters stagnate, forming salt lakes or marshes. This plain is green around Konia, but its extensions to the north and east are practically desert, being parched and barren in the summer months. On its north-east, in the centre of the peninsula, its boundary is the largest salt lake of the interior, which is fed likewise by several minor inland streams. There are some rivers, however, which find an outlet even through the Taurus ranges, but such are more common towards the west and north-west. The districts which these water are consequently among the most attractive of Asia Minor, with areas of natural woodland and green pastures, as well as fertile soil for cultivation.
But the greatest river and most important landmark of the interior is the Halys, which describes a broad circuit through the heart of the plateau, enclosing towards the north-east a tract about a hundred and fifty miles across which mostly lies in the basin of the river, well watered by its many tributaries. This region is one of the most important in our subject. Though not extensively cultivated, for the stable population even here is relatively small, it is none the less highly fertile. Its hills and slopes are mostly green with pastures, and in the flat valleys are long reaches suitable for the plough. Another favoured district lies southward from the Halys, passing by Mount Argæus,skirting the eastern edges of the plain, and watered by streamlets from the Anti-Taurus. Here in the vicinity of Tyana are wide acres of corn-land, gardens are plentiful, and even trees abound.
PLATE VIIIWOODLAND ON THE SOUTH SLOPES OF TAURUS (See pp.19,47.)
PLATE VIII
WOODLAND ON THE SOUTH SLOPES OF TAURUS (See pp.19,47.)
Woodland is rare in the interior, but highland trees grow in profusion on the mountain-sides. The middle heights of the Taurus are covered with virgin forest, especially on the southern aspect, where every variety of European tree is found; and the pine-woods of Phrygia in the west have been a feature of the country throughout its history.[21]The slopes overlooking the Black Sea, however, catch the chief share of the northern rains, and here consequently forest-land is plentiful,[22]and nearly continuous along the coast. The interior is almost rainless in the summer-time,[23]and relies chiefly for its water supply on the winter storms, and later melting of the mountain snows. Owing to its high elevation above the sea the cold season is severe and persistent: the bleak winds from southern Russia sweep across its plains and open spaces, driving the population of the exposed areas for shelter into houses either sunk below the surface of the ground or hollowed in the banks of streams. The compensation for this inclement season is ample in the summer weather, when the warm sun shining down from blue skies is tempered by refreshing breezes which the altitude produces—features of climate that distinguish this tableland from the southern coasts, and from the plains of Syria.
Such in brief are the striking features of this portionof the Hittites’ land. On these breezy highlands the ancient people found all the elements of contentment: hunter, woodman, shepherd, and peasant found each his home, in which Nature provided him with all the ordinary requirements of his life. Nor was the development of his civilisation to be arrested by his settlement: the resources of his country were inexhaustible; mines of useful and precious minerals are not uncommon;[24]and the means of providing other commodities was at hand, for the walls of the plateau were not without openings to foster some relations with the coast and so with other lands. But, on the whole, the uplands which he had occupied were economically self-contained; and for the stimulus to his civilisation we look naturally to the East, and especially to the old-established culture on the Euphrates, the communications with which, by the nature of his settlement, were open and in his power.[25]
In the foregoing general view of Central Asia Minor we have seen that the interior tableland may be divided conveniently for description into five main regions, not for the most part separated from one another by any definite boundary, but each characterised by some special feature. These are, in the south, the plains that lie northward and eastward from Iconium; in the west, the pine-clad hills and verdant pastures of Phrygia, where several great rivers rise that descend in different directions; in the north, the upland but not highland country aroundAngora, in which also is the divide between some tributaries of the Sangarius and of the Halys; in the north-east, the broad tract enclosed by the convex curve of the Halys River, to which we shall presently return; and, in the south-east, the tract of which Tyana is the centre, with which we shall include the eastern portion of the plain of Konia and the range of Taurus that bounds it on the south. Of these regions, the two latter may be regarded as an eastern or inner group as opposed to the three former lying to their west, from which they are physically separated, more clearly, at any rate, than the components of either group from one another, by the broad expanse of desert, the great central lake, and especially by the middle course of the Halys. This distinction between eastern and western will be found to have a real significance as our story develops: it is clear from the outset, however, that the former group would first receive and longest retain contact with Eastern civilisation, whether by the natural approaches over the watershed between the Euphrates and the Halys, or by the several crossings of the Anti-Taurus which converge upon Cæsarea, or by what is now the chief channel of communication through the Taurus Mountains by way of Cilicia. This distinction will be found further emphasised by the comparative plenty of Hittite monuments on the one side, and their paucity in the west. On the southern plains, indeed, skirting the main range of Taurus, westward progress was less restrained;[26]but that the Halys in the north presented a real barrier[27]is borne out by the fact that when theLydian Crœsus crossed the Halys in the sixth centuryB.C.he found a strange and presumably non-Aryan people surviving upon the eastern side, who were indeed, according to Herodotus,[28]called Syrians by the Greeks, and by that historian spoken of as Syro-Cappadocians.
With our two eastern divisions we must include the plain and district westward of Cæsarea, a tract which on the north lies partly in the basin of the Halys, and on the south is practically continuous with the plains of Tyana, from which it is separated only by a low ridge of hills. Towards the west are the remarkable troglodyte villages,[29]where, probably from remote antiquity, the inhabitants have hewn out their dwellings in the soft surface rock and conical mounds which are the peculiar feature of the locality. There is little evidence as yet, however, to make this region of importance in our subject, and it is only recently that Cæsarea has yielded trace of Hittite handiwork.[30]None the less the continuation of exploration will certainly bring to light new monuments, for the district lies in the heart of the Hittite country; and Old Cæsarea (Mazaca) was the residence of Cappadocian kings.
PLATE IXCÆSAREA: CLOISTER OF A SCHOOL, WITH THE CITADEL BEYOND
PLATE IX
CÆSAREA: CLOISTER OF A SCHOOL, WITH THE CITADEL BEYOND
The position of Cæsarea is geographically of great importance, and from Roman times at any rate has marked the focus of the trade and traffic, and consequently of the road-systems, of the interior. The soil locally is of great fertility, owing to its volcanic nature. Vines and fruit-trees grow and thrive luxuriantly. The middle heights of slumberingArgæus are covered thickly with pine-woods. The snow-capped peak of this mountain towers in the heavens, the conspicuous feature of the horizon and the landmark for two days’ journey on every side. Its form is conical: to the west and south, where it rises directly from the plain, its base is washed by great lakes and marshes of variable extent. Towards the east it is connected up by broken ridges with the Anti-Taurus system. On its northern slope is Asarjik, overlooking Cæsarea, which lies at the foot of the mountain on that side. The site of the ancient city (Mazaca) is probably that marked by the ruins of Græco-Roman times, to be found in the vineyards on a low spur of the mountain about a mile south of the modern town.[31]Here is a spot that will one day reward excavation by a volume of unsuspected history. In the modern town, apart from its bazaars and industries and its splendid mediæval remains,[32]one of the most interesting sights is the ever-changing stream of human faces to be seen in its streets, for its traffic and position bring to it daily caravans from every side. In its resident population there are considerable Greek and Armenian elements; but there may be noticed as specially of interest to our subject the Jewish families,[33]in which the dominant features of face and stature recall again the type previously noticed at Kartal in Northern Syria. Main roads radiate from Cæsarea in all directions: towards the north-east to Sivas by the valley of the Halys; to the north by Yuzgat, crossing the river, which is five hours distant from Cæsarea, by a remarkable bridge of many spans(hence calledChok-Geuz Keupru); to the north-west by way of a lower bridge (called in contrastBir-Geuz, or One-span Bridge), heading thence directly for Angora by the bridge at Cheshme Keupru; to the west across the plains to Konia by Sultan Han, skirting the southern border of the salt lake (Tuz Geul); to the south by Injesu and Tyana, and so to the Cilician Gates, or by a western branch to Eregli. An alternative route from Cæsarea to the Cilician Gates, shorter but impassable by carts, leads through defiles of wild beauty through the outlying ridges of the Anti-Taurus. South-east there are several well-established mountain tracks, like those to Fraktin and Ekrek, but there is one of special interest and antiquity, to which we have already alluded, heading directly for Marash by way of the high pass of Kuru-Bel,[34]and passing hence by Komana. Of the other routes enumerated there is one which was already of importance on general grounds before a recent discovery gave to it a special historical interest. This is the main road north and south, passing through Yuzgat, which in antiquity connected Boghaz-Keui with the east by way of Tyana and the Cilician Gates. This is clearly a southerly stage of the Royal Road of the Persian period, but whether it is the main route is not determinable from the description of Herodotus.[35]It has, however, now been traced for several miles between Injesu and a ford of the river near Bogche,[36]by the ruts scored deeply and over a broad track on the surface rock, exactly like the section previously traced through Phrygia by Sir William Ramsay.[37]It is significant thatthis route did not touch Cæsarea, to reach which a considerable détour must be made around the foot of Argæus, so much so that even now an optional route is in use from Injesu to Chok-Geuz Keupru. The old route was, if anything, even more direct, for from Injesu, near which it is traceable, it headed for the river in due line for Boghaz-Keui. The Hittite inscription overlooking the river at Bogche, the continuous signs of the road approaching Injesu from this direction, the Phrygian inscription found on the site of Tyana,[38]and the Hittite inscriptions from the same vicinity,[39]are evidences of the antiquity of this road analogous in every way to those which have been accepted as identifying it in the Phrygian country, from Bey-Keui to Doghanlu. Incidentally we find light in this discovery on the historical antiquity of the Cilician Gates as the main channel of communication with the east. Later in these pages[40]we shall find reason to believe that the western part of the great Royal Road, which led the Persian posts in crossing Asia Minor to make the wide détour by way of Pteria (even though the city was in ruins),[41]had been made and established by the Hittites in the thirteenth centuryB.C., when the stone walls of their capital crowned the hilltops of Boghaz-Keui. Possibly the earliest communication with the East was by way of the valley of theTochma Su,[42]or by Marash; but the development of this southern branch of the main chariot-way cannot well be later than the tenth centuryB.C., when the second kingdom of the Hittites grew prominent with Tyana (or maybe Cæsarea) as its centre.