Historic«,' tlnhM, «With tlje furroynding province of Irak Ar;abl, Became fubj«,£t tot
Ep°c"i* <the Turks' in fdft.' Tlie ^efentlinlxt^feenKtp have been fixedfb^BS* :
treaty between-ike Porto and Perlk, 1736; fince whidk.' period fhe.
Turks have been 'chiefly occupied irtnheir jown defence againftthe
Ruffians y but their afcendancy over Perfia had been fucla^ thatifc 1727
they had acquired the territory from' Erivan.to Tauris j\.qrTebriz, and
thence Hamadan,- « ‘-Boundary which teems-“ indfeed ‘more -precifely
marked by nature than the prefent. ----- •• &.n>
Antiquities. --ThTi antiquities Of Afiatie!;Turkey, «rceitle chofen .teat ;of the. arts,
are numerous," and important,‘but have .been* fo , repeatedly idefcrjbed
as to have - become • trivial thCmesV even to 4rhe::geneml reader.!: The,
fplehdid pubKcadonsbyriie fociety ofUalettanti, and tbeaefcpptiohTof
Balbge and Palmyra, «wiil Convey a
HiaihS than thc^meft elaborate idcferiptfon. *
■ are thofe'of Palmyra,-or Tadmor in’the defert, about 150 mile? tq j the.
S. K. of Aleppo, at the northern .ektrethity of Xheilfandyo waftes:#f
Arabia. It is conceived, with;fome' probability5; that the^Ta-nds muft
here have encroached upon
no river the fixation remains equally ft lurprifin^fpr- aieap|tal,' qfiffich
, opulence. It is now tmderftood that this city owed its Iplehdnur: tj^thq
Indian trade, eOndu&ed by eafavarfe to the mercantile fhores>of Syria.,
Balbee, the ancient Heliopolis, is about 50 miles .to.fh'eriN^W. -of
Damafcus; the moil remarkable ruin being that of a'temple,: fuppofed j
to have been dedicated to the fun. !
Recent inveftigation hgs • difclofed another remarkable icene.bf antiquities,
in the fite and celebrated plain of Troy, which have been exhibited
by Mr. •-Merritt, nnd' *>ther ^ e B ^ -
claffi’cal lo re . ‘Tbe-Siihois Is now demonfirated t o be 'la
dream, which runs into the
Cattles conftrudted under the order bf Tott; The Scam.ander,- which -
formerly flowed into the-weftern fide.of the SimOis, haying been ^
verted by fhe Romans into a. diferenfi c b a p n e l i : c i r c u i r i f
d a n c e not a little baffled: antiquarian refeardn The tombs of remote
antiquity having been conftruaed like the large-barrows of our anceftors,
ceftors, in the lading form of fmallhills, they withftood the aflaults of Historic«,
time,- of avarice; and ,qult:dtravjB®^andij^te', fwith Tome plaufibility, -
that or$Ie£torl behind the, fite df,Trov ^tl^pfe of Achilles, and Patro-
clus orf the fhore; and, a lew others of the fiomeric heroes'.*
* Sec Morritt’ s vindication of Homer, &c. ‘ 1798, 4*0; Dallaway’ s Confcntinoplgjjfland
UalzelvM-nftiflatioii of \Cljjg|^er’\meift6iK lTlfeTUap&fDalkway is ifife^br 6o.that of Momtty
but adds a few modrirti nanjes. Araura$i genetal'jmap of,the Trqdd, Hell^fpont, $cc,_ m aybe" .
' Ppqagei,’^om}^rawingj,of ,j:be'pfiin o fy io y taken Jn, i«ra»EX| the direJHon of tSe jCq^jjt
•-©ftifeiB' GqiJffir,. 1 eSleffinf! inaptpenefi^r
dtjM. jjjpjftythe-,
is yet wanted' airi^a&tranflatmn,; .
' ftqCesil or tlK^^^flef«fpfiw'%. - afti n^d^iplgipi^cordiiigf
toithae.HefQriyftiVnvOT)uttRflfeage that in his opinion ne\V, ;Iihimb(iitI the, .very;
. fiteiofia&iehtSiijoy, S3'Strabo Jfay s ifc, ftopd upon, a ^height, wipa^qon^pquds^ith.theAflfeof.
" Bounar-Bachi. ".The rivulet ofbSk&BHkiler, he agrees is iIie"Scamander of Homer; puiuup-
feStl^r8^|^lied'that SlinSls^® IfoMefl fifeT
near th«.'fu“fe4t e f .Idai aqd-is now called; MeP8et®"S?fe r ' "
VOL. II* D