The Monastery of Simon

The Monastery with pillar leftover at center.

This place was constructed in 490 BC- at the time it was the largest church in the world. Eventually, it was fortified into a castle(surprise, surprise) and was a major stronghold for Christians when Islam came to Syria. And it all started with the life of an eccentric man.

Simon was a shepherd's son who moved into a monastery at a young age. As he became more and more pious, he became greatly annoyed with people and distraction. First he moved into a cave, but when people came on pilgrimmages to see this holy man, he became more agitated and then he began with the building of his pillars.

He started with a 10 foot high pillar, which he lived on. He wanted to be closer to God, and further from people. After 40 years of living on pillars, his last being almost 40 feet high, he became one of the most famous people of the 5th Century. People would come from miles away to see him and ask him questions. Sometimes he would answer, but mostly he just prayed, ate the food that people gave him, and pooped in the hole in the center of his pillar. And they praise him for this....

This stone is all that is left of Simon's 18 meter tall pillar. The monastery was built in the shape of the cross with the pillar at its center. Even though it is in ruins, the grandeur of the place still lasts.

The monastery takes up an incredible area. I tried to imagine the whole thing roofed. It must have been a sight.

And the view is not half bad either.

The Dead Cities

A ruin of a villa in the Dead City of Serjilla. Serjilla is one of the best preserved of all the Dead Cities.

There are many Dead Cities from Turkey to Aleppo to Lattakia- a triangle that contains a different ruin every 2 miles. What is a Dead City, you ask? Well, let me try to tell you.

These cities were developed during the 4th Century AD. Though they were quite small by our modern standards, they were cities, or big villages. They were Christian originally, had churches, and beautiful villas- or big homes with gardens. Grapes and olives were abundant, so wine and olive oil were too.
Not much went into the protection of the cities so they were easily taken over by invaders of the Muslim and Crusader type. Too much wining and dining, I guess.

This is one of the olive oil production areas. The tools and containers were cut right into the rock. Here is the stone and press(in the bottom right), the two first filters(top left, with water), and the secondary collection tank(top right).







The remains of a very large villa- possibly the mayor's house, or something. All the buildings are built with limestone which is a soft rock. Therefore there were many beautiful carvings in the pillars and throughout the city. And the limestone quarry could always be turned into a bath house, or a mousaleum, or other such 'thing'.
Gotta love a city based around wine and olive oil- wait a minute, that sounds like the country of Italy. What a country! Let's toast.

The Citadel

In the middle of Aleppo, just by the Souk, is this huge 'thing'. The site itself, a natural "mound", has been used since around the 10th century BC- most likely as a holy place. The first fort construction happened somewhere in the 4th century BC and was an important Muslim fort during the Crusades(AD 12th Century). Throughout the ages it has been built up and re-fortified many times. It still holds a lot of the power it had in the past.
Pictures can only do so much justice but I'll try and convey the image of this place.

This is the keep- the entrance of the Citadel. Sure, its daunting enough....











....but you have to cross the big moat first. Notice the busy street to the right- the citadel is just off of the giant souk(shopping place) that is just frickin' crazy.






This Citadel is pretty damn big. It was a whole separate city- able to withstand an attack, so it has the works: housing, bathing areas(hammams), mosque, and all else it takes to have a small city.

I can't tell if this is the throne room or the inside of the mosque. I think its the mosque- anyway, its very nice.









Kind of peaceful from up here- overlooking the hub of Aleppo.

Jordan: A Tease and a Sneeze

A graveyard in Petra, Jordan- and the most sunshine I saw while I was there.

Tartus, Syria- Tuesday, February 22nd, 2006:

I'm on the Mediterannean Sea again and boy did I smell it when I got off the microbus. Nice to be back on the sea. As Syria's second port, Tartus seems to be a popular get away for local tourists. I'm just using it to see a castle dating back to the Crusades. More on that later.

Staying true to form this update will just touch on Jordan. Petra turned out to have good "sniffles" weather so I never saw the ruins. Rain, hail, and snow kept me indoors but I shall return to visit the site of Petra. Insha'alah, as they say in Arabic- it translates to, "if God wills it." We non-commital tourists just use it as way to say, "I hope" or "maybe"- especially when dealing with the salespeople and guides.


Syria is just a lovely country. So much ancient shiite here. The people are genuinely nice, too, once you get away from the tourist sharks. But I'll try to let the pictures do most of the talking- course I must have a touch of commentary to go along with.

Enjoy Syria.

Jordan

The desert in Wadi Rum. Notice the red, orange, yellow, and white sands.

This is Jordan. Big, beautiful, and inspiring(kind of like Jordan, my former travelling companion) it is a place to come camping in the desert. So, that's what I did- and may do more of. Its colder and wetter than Egypt but absolutely gorgeous. I spent a night with a man named Mohammed (please, no jokes) in his home/hostel and a night in the desert. Stayed in a Bedouin tent, ate a Bedouin meal cooked in Bedouin style- that's by digging a hole in the sand, getting a good amount of hot coals in the bottom, and putting the chicken, potatoes, rice, onions, etc. in pans over the coals, and then covering the hole with a lid and finally sand. Pretty damn good, too.


This(at right) is referred to as Lawrence's house. The name is misleading, however, as only the movie, not the man, used this site. The brick structure(located on the bottom right) is left from an ancient tribe. Lawrence, the man, did not stay here, but the filmmakers used the site for a panorama of the desert.




Here is the tent site with cooking pit in the foreground. That old jalopy is somehow running-don't ask me how. They cross wires to start it and drive it like criminals on the run. All the loose metal and missing parts make it LOUD- rattling, banging, burning, stinking. While cruising at about 40mph across scrubland, the driver, a 20 year-old Bedouin named Tesser, pumped hard at the break about five times, and nothing happened. While I was trying to figure out if it was really the clutch, he smiled at me, and explained easily, festively really, as if admitting his love of music, "No work, no work." Ohhhh, the exhiliration.

Another glorious shot of Wadi Rum.

More Egypt, I say

Near Hatchepsut Museum. Luxor, Egypt

Petra, Jordan- February 14th, 2006

So, here I am, in Jordan- updating with pictures of Egypt- a move so typical of me. I was always a little behind in class, if you know what I mean. I arrived here three days ago. After a quick jaunt through Wadi Rum(made famous by the film Lawrence of Arabia) including 2 nights in the desert, I've made my way here, to Petra. Haven't seen anything here yet, so that'll be later.

Jordan is much more expensive than Egypt- but not so bad, really. Guess I've been a bit spoiled- instead of falafel for 2o cents, I have to pay about 75 cents. Still, I always want the best deal. The people seem just as nice as the Egyptians and the desert is gorgeous. Three different color sands(at least) with mountains, canyons, and a few natural springs.

Anyway, here's some more pictures of Egypt. Enjoy.

Dive site: Moray Gardens. Its about a 20 minute ride in our taxi(the white truck above) and a great place for corals and fish. Its low season here in Dahab so the three other divers and I had the place pretty much to ourselves, save for a few Germans(what the f_ck is wrong with German people?). So so so so so nice.

This is Dahab, too. Red Sea is right there. Tide is out.