DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5504#0071
In 181/, and 1818. 159
We cleared with the rapidity of lightning the space of
eighteen miles lying between Jabena and Madjedal. This
handet, distant two miles from the ruins of Ascalon, (in Arabic,
Azgalan,) and from the sea, is situated in a fine plain, sur-
rounded by a rampart of palms and large aloes. The hedges
are formed of hornbeam and the prickly pear interwoven, and
are more impenetrable than the thickest wall. It was here, in
the plains of Ascalon, that the Crusaders obtained a signal vic-
tory over the army of the Sultan of Egypt, the loss of which
was immense. This memorable battle is thus charmingly de-
scribed by Jean Baptiste Rousseau :—
La Palestine enfin, apris tant dc ravages,
Vitfuir ses commit, comme on voit les nuages
Dans le vague des alrsjuir devant Vaqvilon ;
El des vents du midi la devorante halcine
N' a consume qu'a peine
Lenrs ossamens blanchit dans les champs d'Ascalon.
I repeated these verses with still more delight, because other
Frenchmen, who came to seek new dangers, were encamped,
a few years ago, on this spot. A plain leads to the ruins of
Ascalon : this city, which is now without a single inhabitant,
is situated on a high hill, in the fomi of a semi-circle : the de-
clivity is almost insensible on the land side; but there is a con-
siderable slope towards the sea, which forms the chord of this
arch. The ramparts and gates are standing, and the turret
awaits the watchful sentinel. The streets lead to two squares;
and over a flight of steps, in the interior of a palace, the ante-
lope bounds : in the vast churches not any echo is to be heard,
save that of the cry of the jackal: large flocks of these animals
are assembled in the great square, and they are at present the
only rulers of Ascalon.
The Arabs, by whom it is named Djaurah, without doubt
impressed by its gloom and awful stillness, make it the abode
of evil spirits: they assert that, during the night, lights are
often seen passing along, and innumerable voices heard, toge-
ther with the neighing of horses, the clashing of arms, and the
tumultuous shouts of the embattled hosts.
Not far from the Gothic monuments of Ascalon are to be
seen the extensive ruins of a temple of Venus: forty lofty
columns of rose granite, and capitals and friezes of the finest
marble, rise from a deep vault half laid open. A well, having
an immense aperture, descends into the bowels of the earth : a
part of this great wreck is concealed by fig-trees, palms, and
sycamores. What a picturesque and philosophical contrast is
that of these Greek ruins, of matchless elegance, with the
We cleared with the rapidity of lightning the space of
eighteen miles lying between Jabena and Madjedal. This
handet, distant two miles from the ruins of Ascalon, (in Arabic,
Azgalan,) and from the sea, is situated in a fine plain, sur-
rounded by a rampart of palms and large aloes. The hedges
are formed of hornbeam and the prickly pear interwoven, and
are more impenetrable than the thickest wall. It was here, in
the plains of Ascalon, that the Crusaders obtained a signal vic-
tory over the army of the Sultan of Egypt, the loss of which
was immense. This memorable battle is thus charmingly de-
scribed by Jean Baptiste Rousseau :—
La Palestine enfin, apris tant dc ravages,
Vitfuir ses commit, comme on voit les nuages
Dans le vague des alrsjuir devant Vaqvilon ;
El des vents du midi la devorante halcine
N' a consume qu'a peine
Lenrs ossamens blanchit dans les champs d'Ascalon.
I repeated these verses with still more delight, because other
Frenchmen, who came to seek new dangers, were encamped,
a few years ago, on this spot. A plain leads to the ruins of
Ascalon : this city, which is now without a single inhabitant,
is situated on a high hill, in the fomi of a semi-circle : the de-
clivity is almost insensible on the land side; but there is a con-
siderable slope towards the sea, which forms the chord of this
arch. The ramparts and gates are standing, and the turret
awaits the watchful sentinel. The streets lead to two squares;
and over a flight of steps, in the interior of a palace, the ante-
lope bounds : in the vast churches not any echo is to be heard,
save that of the cry of the jackal: large flocks of these animals
are assembled in the great square, and they are at present the
only rulers of Ascalon.
The Arabs, by whom it is named Djaurah, without doubt
impressed by its gloom and awful stillness, make it the abode
of evil spirits: they assert that, during the night, lights are
often seen passing along, and innumerable voices heard, toge-
ther with the neighing of horses, the clashing of arms, and the
tumultuous shouts of the embattled hosts.
Not far from the Gothic monuments of Ascalon are to be
seen the extensive ruins of a temple of Venus: forty lofty
columns of rose granite, and capitals and friezes of the finest
marble, rise from a deep vault half laid open. A well, having
an immense aperture, descends into the bowels of the earth : a
part of this great wreck is concealed by fig-trees, palms, and
sycamores. What a picturesque and philosophical contrast is
that of these Greek ruins, of matchless elegance, with the