It Is Limited On One Side By The Eastern Part Of The Anti-
Libanus, Called Here Djebel Zebdeni.
Its cultivable ground is waste till
near the village of Beroudj [Arabic], where I saw plantations of
mulberry trees, which seemed to be well taken care of.
Half an hour from
Beroudj is the village of Zebdeni [Arabic], and between them the ruined
Khan Benduk (the bastard Khan). Zebdeni is a considerable village; its
inhabitants breed cattle, and the silk-worm, and have some dyeing
houses. I had a letter for the Sheikh of Zebdeni from a Damascene; the
Sheikh ordered me an Argile[Argile--A Persian pipe, in which the smoke
passes through water.] and a cup of coffee, but went to supper with his
household, without inviting me to join them. This being considered an
insult, I left his house and went to sup with the muleteers, with whom I
slept upon an open piece of ground before a ruined bath, in the midst of
the village. The inhabitants of Zebdeni are three-fourths Turks, and the
remainder Greek Catholics; it is a place much frequented by those
passing from Damascus to the mountain.
September 24.--Left the village before day-light and crossed the Anti-
Libanus, at the foot of which Zebdeni lies. This chain of
EL KANNE
[p.4] mountains is, by the inhabitants of the Bekaa and the Belad
[Belad--District, province.] Baalbec, called Djebel[Djebel--Mountain.]
Essharki (or the eastern mountain), in opposition to Djebel el Gharbi,
the western mountain, otherwise called Djebel Libnan (Libanus); but that
part of it which lies nearer to Zebdeni than to the great valley, is
called Djebel Zebdeni.
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