BSY_FB_28-077

March Saturday 18 1905

Ḥalbân 7:30 A.M. Temp. 48 ° approx Baro L. 28.10
haze & light fog - calm.

Broke camp 8:30 il-Mishrifeh 8:41 to 9:22 then going E. gradual
descent, desert, 10:50 ir-Ruḥaiyeh see B. - 8 G. inscr. 373. 529. 556
564 A.D. & 1 Syriac 528 A.D. a small village uninhabited except
perhaps at certain season - about 3 inhabitable houses, 1 Kubab,
and owned by Djumlân tribe of Beduins who had their tents pitched
nearby. P.L. & B. spent approx 2 hours here. N. wet on N without
stopping around at summit of Tell ir-Ruḥaiyeh, 11:30 and isolated
hill rising some 150 to 200 ft. above a level country & having its summit
enclosed by a rubble wall of large stones, Basalt wall 10 ft. think. Inside of the
wall is complete ruins of a small town. The Tell is the boundary line
between the vilayets of Damascus & Allepo - no inscriptions.
Took Latitude & sights. All met a Tell and lunched, leaving at 2:43
over rolling desert arrived 3:07 a small village
of 3 or 4 families - well - and a few acres of plowed fields
passed through without stopping arrived 4:05 id-Dabbāghîn a
ruined site to E. of two hills - some isolated door jambs and
lintels of cut stone basalt. Town evidently was built of rubble, mud
and sun dried bricks. 2 Gr. Ins. no date. Left 5:00 over rolling
desert arrived Ḳaṣr Ibn Wardân 6:30. Fine time inspecting ruins
in moonlight. 2 Soldiers from Hamā left us at Tell ir-Ruḥaiyeh
for il-Ḥamrah. While we were at id-Dabbāghîn 2 other soldiers
galloped up and joined us. One of them dismounted, sallouted?, gave
his horse to a Beduin, layed his rifle on the ground in front of him
faced the S. & neeling? down & prayed - the Moslem afternoon prayer.