Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Five – Driving along with Abdu
In Hamah, I decided that my next stop will be Palmyra….And if it had to be- then I was giving myself a very little time to see a lot of near by places… Apamea, Krac De Chevaliers, Misyaf and few other places en-route.
Abdullah suggested me to take a taxi by myself and start very early in the morning to see
My driver was an elderly man named Abdu…he will be forever etched in my memory. When I paid 46 US Dollars to Abdullah for arranging a taxi- all I sought was touring around all the above places… but what I got, instead, was a friend- who not only showed me all these places- but also showed me many other places en-route, told me the history and sociology behind it all… and when I offered a baksheesh for his service, he smiled and hugged me and said- I would not take anything extra, for you are my friend. He instead gave me a scrap book- in which I wrote "Today I had one of the most beautiful day of my life…Syria and Abdu will be forever etched in my heart, and if I do come back… which I will, of course- I will again contact you Abdu and this time go to even beautiful locales".
Back last evening, while visiting the parks around the Norias- I saw a lot of families enjoying themselves… I could not, but, appreciate the beauty of Syrian women… by all standards- they are very beautiful… without an iota of making up for it. It was not only the fairness, the features, the body structure- tall and sleek but also the mannerisms, the grace, the feminine demeanor that lent them an air of elegance. In comparison to Hamah,
Seeing Norias in the morning is magical… with few people around, and yet the wheel turning relentlessly with creaking sounds that is not lost in the cacophony. This creaking sound with the burbling of the rivulet causes a beautiful music.
Abdu drove me to the biggest Noria in the town, called Al Muhammadiya… which is located in the northern outskirts of the town…it has a 21 meters diameter and was constructed in 1361. In yesteryears it used to supply water to a mosque that was located on a raised platform and also used to run an olive press and a flour mill. Much of its utility has dissipated and yet the Noria runs continuously to echo the history that shaped it and history that it shaped.
En route to Apamea, we came across Al Malik citadel… a huge citadel constructed by Noorudin Zaki, who was the teacher of Salahuddin- often celebrated by Muslims as the liberator of
When contrasted with today, it makes me sad that contemporary Islamic scholars have closed their eyes to science and technology- dubbing it as western and therefore not worth emulating… they fail to understand that Science has no nationality and it is just a matter of current trend that major scientific developments are happening in the West, there was a time when all the major scientific discoveries were happening in the Middle East, before that in India and China… Contrast it to the era of Crusades, when out of superstition, the Christians were busy making army of children to re-claim
Al Malik Citadel has been continuously inhabited since its construction in 12th Century… it has a huge historical value and therefore plans are afoot to shift the entire population of this citadel to a new township. A small museum displaying the archaelogical finds of the citadel is also there, though not much of an interest.
On leaving Al Malik citadel and moving towards Apamea, one comes across sight of a beautiful valley… from a distance and a height it looks like a locale, absolutely out of a fairy tale … verdant green with a backdrop of hills…chequred fields… water and crops around. The Al-Gaab valley.
Wadi Al Gaab is a depression which used to remain perennially flooded with the spill over from River Orontes and other nearby water bodies… with time it became a huge swamp land…. In 1950, the government constructed a huge dam to keep away the water from flooding the depression and reclaimed the entire Wadi… and what resulted was the most fertile land in the entire region… Abdu told me that as of today, the Wadi provides third of all agriculture produce of
Further ahead, one starts seeing ruins all around… heralding the advent of Apamea… a huge Roman city constructed by Seleucus Nicator about 2400 years ago... who married his daughter to Chandragupta Maurya and sent Megasthenes to his court...
Apamea is located on a raised plateau…an entire city so magnificent that one just needs to see the ruins and close his eyes to feel the magic of the place, engulfing him all over. It has a two kilometers long row of colonnade pillars… The entire city was struck by a huge earthquake some 800 years ago… yet this massive colonnade columns survived to bear the testimony of the wonder it was.
Standing amidst those columns made me feel insignificant yet important… insignificant in front of human achievements… and important because of human achievements… it was an indescribable rush of emotions…the last time I had it while standing infront of the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi…
My trance was broken by a man, who claimed to sell the coins from yesteryears… I showed my disinterest… later while walking towards the other end of the colonnade column row… I met an old Australian couple… the man was a professional Photographer and the lady was a bored housewife… We spoke with each other for half an hour about their experiences in
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