Tues May 16. [16 May 1911] At 5 Temp 61 Bar 28.25. Off at 5.35 and
over the same barren hills. At 8 we reached the two ruins known as
Kasr el Buit[?] and Kasr Antar, the first to the S, a square stone
fortress, the latter apparently a town, partly round outside, inside
something like this [sketch] traces of Corinthian capitals. I should
think the 2 are part of Justinian's fortifications. It is the place Opp.
[Oppenheim] calls Tell Sahal. We got to Sha'ib Shahr at 9.30, a very
large ruined town, stone built with lots of caves (inhabited by Jann)
some tombs, some houses. There was a building that looked like a
church with aisles but no apse at the E end, though it was oriented.
Stone dwelling houses in 2 storeys like the N. Syrian building. It was
all full of dead sheep belonging to the Karagetch. At 11 we came to a
larger encampment of the Jais who go from here to Urfa [Sanliurfa
(Edessa)], and have crops in the plain. We stayed till 1.10 to feed the
horses and I lunched under a scrap of rock, read and slept. Very hot.
So on, gradually upwards in the company of 2 Jais coming in to sell
at Urfa. We bought semneh from them. Rescued a puppy which was
dying of thirst and carried him down to the first village. At 3.55 we
came to the edge of the Jebel Tektek [Tektek Daglari] (but we had
begun to drop before that) and saw the big plain strewn with mounds
and mud villages and the Urfa hills beyond. In the middle the big
Harran [Altinbasak (Carrhae)] mound with its minaret. At 4.30 villages
to R and L (Tell el Chema and Abu Khazzaf. The slope of the hill
covered with shih; then crops but very bad. At 5.10 Resm ej Jibbun.
Umm Besagh to L and Tell el Ghanam further SW. Juru[?] Abu Zaid
5.25, Shukur[?] 5.50, Tantaneh 6, Harran 6.50. Great stone wall and all
inside ruins. We pitched camp in the mosque. There is nothing here
but 2 mud villages of the Beni Zaid. Strong hot E wind. At 8.15 Temp
78 Bar 28.5.