The private houses of Damascus share, with the plain, the admiration of all visitors. No contrast could be greater than that between the outside and inside. The rough mud-walls and mean doors give poor promise of taste or beauty within. The entrance is always through a narrow winding pas sage—sometimes even a stable-yard—to the outer court,' where the master has his reception-room, and to which alone male visitors are admitted. Another winding passage leads to the Harlin, which is the principal part of the house. Here is a spacious court, with tesselated pavement, a marble basin in the centre, jets d'eau around it, orange, lemon, and citron trees, flowering shrubs, jessa mines and vines trained over trellis-work for shade. The rooms all open on this court, intercommunica tion between room and room being almost unknown. On the south side is an open alcove, with marble floor and cushioned dais. The decorations of some of the rooms is gorgeous. The walls of the older houses are wainscotted, carved, and gilt, and the ceilings are covered with arabesque ornaments. In the new houses painting and marble fret-work are taking the place of arabesque and wainscotting.
The principal building of Damascus is the Great Mosque, the dome and minarets of which are seen in the accompanying engraving. It occupies one side of a large quadrangular court, flagged with marble, arranged in patterns, and ornamented with some beautiful fountains. Within the mosque are double ranges of Corinthian columns supporting the loaf, in the style of the old basilicas. The walls were once covered with Mosaic, representing the holy places of Islam ; but this is nearly all gone. In the centre is a spacious dome. The building was anciently a temple, with a large clois tered court, like the Temple of the Sun at Pal myra. In the time of Constantine it was made a church, and dedicated to John the Baptist, whose head was said to be deposited in a silver casket in one of the crypts. In the 7th century the Mus lems took possession of it, and it has since remained the most venerated of their mosques. It is a sin gular fact, however, that though it has now been for twelve centuries in possession of the enemies of our faith, though during the whole of that period no Christian has ever been permitted to enter its precincts, yet over its principal door is an inscrip tion embodying one of the grandest and most cheering of Christian truths. It is as follows :-11 Xe rcivrcup rwv alciwoo Kra Sco-rorela eov ev ro',077 eyErEa: Kal yrvEce--` Thy king dom, 0 Christ, is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion is from generation to generation' (Ps. cxlv. 13).
The Castle is a large quadrangular structure, with high walls and massive flanking towers. It is now a mere shell, the whole interior being a heap of ruins. The foundations are at least as old as the Roman age. It stands at the north-west angle of
the ancient wall.
The traditional Holy Places of Damascus are scarcely worth notice. Not one of them except the street called Straight,' already alluded to, has even probability in its favour. The house of Judas is shewn, but it is not in the street called Straight (Acts ix. I ; and the house of Ananias is also pointed out. It is a cellar or vault. The guides point out the place on the wall from which Saul was let down in a basket (Acts ix. 25), but the masonry at that place is manifestly Saracenic. About a mile east of the city, beside the Christian cemetery, is now shewn the place of Paul's conver sion ; but the scene was removed to that locality only about two centuries ago. Previously tradition located it on the west of the city, on the road leading to Jerusalem.
The climate of Damascus is salubrious except during the months of July, August, and September. Fevers and ophthalmia are then prevalent, but they are chiefly engendered by filth and unwhole some food. The thermometer ranges from So° to 87° Fah. during the summer ; and seldom falls be low 45° in winter. There is usually a little snow each year. The rain commences about the middle of October, and continues at intervals till May. The rest of the year is dry and cloudless.
A full description of Damascus, with historical notices, plans, and drawings, is given in the writer's Five Years in Damascus,' to which the reader is referred. The following works may also be consulted ; Robinson's Biblical Researches ; Wil son's Lands of the Bible ; Addison' s Damascus and Palmyra ; and especially Pococke's Description of the East.—J. L. P.
DAN (11, Sept. Aciv), son of Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maid. As in the case of jacob's other children, the name ' Dan' Dias given to him on account of the peculiar chat stances under which he was borne—`And •Bilhah bare Jacob a son. And Rachel said, God hath judged me (4n1), and hath also heard my voice, and bath given me a son ; therefore called she his name Dan' (i. e., `judging' or `judge;' Gen. xxx. 6). There is a characteristic play upon the name in Jacob's blessing (Gen. xlix. 16) : ' Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.' Though Dan was the founder of one of the twelve tribes, we have no particulars of his personal history. He had but one son called Hushim or Shuham (Gen. xlvi. 23 ; Num. xxvi. 42) ; yet at the exodus the tribe con tained 62,700 adult males, ranking in numbers next to Judah (Num. i. 39). It increased slightly in the wilderness ; and at the census taken on entering Palestine it still held the second place among the tribes (xxvi. 43). It is remarkable that so power ful a tribe always remained in a subordinate posi tion. It appears never to have attained to even a moderate amount of influence.