SHAKKA.
74
EOELTWTUE  HETEYEOT  ETAHMMUT  PXEYI
*
To  the  margin  of  the  third  line  the  following  letters  are  annexed  :
AIAAOO
AARANOT
The  inhabitants  of  Shohba  fabricate  cotton  cloth  for  shirts  and
gowns.  They  grow  cotton,  but  it  is  not  reckoned  of  good  quality.
There  are  only  three  Christian  families  in  the  village.  There  are
three  large  Birkets  or  wells,  in  two  of  which  there  was  still  some
water.  There  is  no  springnear.  Most  of  the  doors  of  the  houses,
are  formed  of  a  single  slab  of  stone,  with  stone  hinges.
November  15th.—Our  way  lay  over  the  fertile  and  cultivated  plain
at  the  foot  of  the  Djebel  Haouran,  in  a  north-easterly  direction.
At  a  quarter  of  an  hour  from  the  town  we  passed  the  Wady  Nimri
w-el  Heif),  a  torrent  coming  from  the  mountain  to  the
S.  E.  In  the  winter  it  furnishes  water  to  a  great  part  of  the  Ledja,
where  it  is  collected  in  cisterns.  There  is  a  great  number  of
ruined  mills  higher  up  in  the  Wady.  Three  or  four  hours  distant, -
  we  saw  a  high  hill  in  the  Djebel,  called  Um  Zebeib
).  Three  quarters  of  an  hour  from  Shohba  we  passed  the
village  Asalie  (),  inhabited  by  a  few  families  ;  near  it  is  a  small
Birket.  In  one  hour  and  three  quarters  we  came  to  the  village  Shakka -
  (az);  on  its  eastern  side  stands  an  insulated  building,  consisting ¬
  of  a  tower  with  two  wings:  it  contains  throughout  a  double
row  of  arches  and  the  tower  has  two  stories,  each  of  which  forms  a
single  chamber,  without  any  opening  but  the  door.  Upon  the
capital  of  a  column  is  :
..  APEHBGOCII  I1....  CPIC
*  Legionis  Decimæ  Flavianæ  Fortis.  Ed,