DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4752#0085
II. THE WAY HOME 75
The afternoon was spent looking for new inscrip-
tions; a few new things had turned up since my last
visit, but nothing of importance rewarded our efforts.
Synnada lies high, about 3700 feet, under the lofty
ridge of volcanic mountains that stretch south from
Kara-Hissar, at the west end of a fine fertile valley,
which stretches out before the city for seven or
eight miles (exactly as Strabo describes it).
Turkish towns are generally placed where a
copious supply of running water is available with
little trouble. In some large towns, the water
flows continuously through most of the streets ; and
in almost all there is abundance of fountains run-
ning constantly. The ancient cities, on the other
hand, were placed rather with a view either to con-
venience of trade or to military strength; and, as
there was far greater engineering skill among the
ancients, they did not shrink from the task of con-
ducting an artificial water-supply to their cities
from a considerable distance. Tchifut-Kassaba
seems, however, to stand actually on part of the
site of Synnada ; and the acropolis of the ancient
city is at the edge of the modern. There are nu-
merous fountains, which pour an abundant supply
of water through the town. The water is brought
in underground channels from the hills near the
city on the west side. There are Greek workmen
in Turkey who still possess some considerable skill
The afternoon was spent looking for new inscrip-
tions; a few new things had turned up since my last
visit, but nothing of importance rewarded our efforts.
Synnada lies high, about 3700 feet, under the lofty
ridge of volcanic mountains that stretch south from
Kara-Hissar, at the west end of a fine fertile valley,
which stretches out before the city for seven or
eight miles (exactly as Strabo describes it).
Turkish towns are generally placed where a
copious supply of running water is available with
little trouble. In some large towns, the water
flows continuously through most of the streets ; and
in almost all there is abundance of fountains run-
ning constantly. The ancient cities, on the other
hand, were placed rather with a view either to con-
venience of trade or to military strength; and, as
there was far greater engineering skill among the
ancients, they did not shrink from the task of con-
ducting an artificial water-supply to their cities
from a considerable distance. Tchifut-Kassaba
seems, however, to stand actually on part of the
site of Synnada ; and the acropolis of the ancient
city is at the edge of the modern. There are nu-
merous fountains, which pour an abundant supply
of water through the town. The water is brought
in underground channels from the hills near the
city on the west side. There are Greek workmen
in Turkey who still possess some considerable skill