volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

32 Ihn Bat4tah's Description of MSsul.
intervals, which resembled those of Delhi, in India.
Mosques, baths, khans, and bazars were numerous, and
he admired the famous iron railings that surrounded
the mosque built by Marwan II, and the benches overlooking
the river. In the mosque built by Nur ad-Din
was an octagonal marble fountain resting on a marble
pillar, and the jet of water in it played to the height of a
man. The Maristan, or hospital, was in front of this
mosque. The bazar, or "Kaysariyah," had gates made of
iron, and shops and rooms, one above the other, ran round
all sides of it. Between the new mosque and the bridge
gate was the little mosque containing the tomb of Saint
George, who was revered by Muslims and Christians alike.
" Across the river is Tall Yunis, on whom be peace ! and
about one mile from it is the 'Ayn, or healing spring,
which is called ' The Fountain of Yunis.' It is said that
Jonah called upon the Ninevites to cleanse themselves
in its waters, and that when they had done so they went
up on the hill, and he prayed with them, and God averted
the punishment from them which they deserved. On
the Tall is a large building containing many chambers
and haUs, and places for ablutions, and fountains, and all
these are shut in by a single door. In the middle of
this building is a chamber with a silk curtain over it, and
it has a door inlaid with precious stones. It is said that
Yunis used to live in this place, and that the Milirab of
the shrine which was in this building is the place where
he used to pray. Near Tall Yunis is a large village, and
close by it is a mass of ruins which is said to be the site
of the well-known city of Nineveh, the city of Yunis,
on whom be peace ! The remains of the wall which
encircled the city are visible, and the places where the
gates were in it can be plainly seen."^ Mukaddasi, who
wrote in the latter half of the tenth century, calls ' Jonah's
Hill' the 'Hill of Repentance' (Tall at-Tawbah), and
says that " Jonah's Fountain is half a parasang distant,
and that by it are a mosque and the ' place of the gourd
plant of Yunis' (Shajarah al-Yaktin)."^ It is interesting
^ Ibn Batutah, Voyages, iv, p. 135 ff.
^ Mukaddasi, p. 146.