3-053-586 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Giant Cities of Bashan - Salkhad, 1873. 'From Busan to Salchat Dr. Parry was guided along the eastern side of the mountain by a horseman carrying a spear about 15 ft. long. Salchat lies on the south side of a detached circular hill, a few hundred feet high, probably an old crater, at the southern extremity of the mountain range. The houses were found to be particularly ruinous, and the large reservoirs to be full of dirty water. On the summit of the hill, beyond a very deep ditch, which entirely separates the summit from the lower part, a ruined castle of very imposing appearance stands. The outside is, for the most part, built of bevelled stones, but is thought to be no older than the Mohammedan Conquest. The inside is full of ruins, many of which are much older. Over a gateway in the interior there is a spread eagle, and on an adjoining slab a vine-branch, beautifully sculptured. From the top there is an extensive view eastward and westward. On the east side, as far as the eye can reach, is seen, as straight as an arrow, the old Roman road to the Euphrates...Salchat was the frontier town of the Giant Og's kingdom, and is spoken of in the Scriptures as the eastern limit of the land of Bashan'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.