Druze Hospitality
HEBER-PERCY, Algernon. A Visit to Bashan and Argob … With prefatory Note by Canon Tristram. London, Religious Tract Society, 1895.
Small 4to. Original green cloth, illustrated and lettered in gilt, bevelled edges, all edges gilt, patterned endpapers; pp. 175, highly illustrated after photographs and drawings, sketch map of the journey; light fading and spotting to cloth; internaly very good.
Rare first edition, inscribed inside front cover Oct 14th 1895 To Sybell from the writer.
This is a scarce travelogue of a journey on horseback by a British major with his wife and sons from Beirut to Damascus and then, that is where the travel narrative begins, to the Golan Heights, sometimes with armed Druze escorts. The traveling party enjoyed Druze hospitality. 'Every Druze village has its menzul, where all travellers can find shelter, food and accommodation, free of cost. The traveller is attended to, and the menzul is kept clean, by the nahtour, a man appointed for the purpose, the cost being defrayed by a subscription from the villagers' (p. 30).This book was privately printed and beautifully produced by the RTS for the author and does not contain any religious undertones at all.
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