The inns or caravanserais of the east, in which travellers are
accommodated, are not all alike, some being simply places of rest, by
the side of a fountain, if possible, and at a proper distance on the
road. Many of these places are nothing more than naked walls; others
have an attendant, who subsists either by some charitable donation, or
the benevolence of passengers; others are more considerable
establishments, where families reside, and take care of them, and
furnish the necessary provisions. “Caravanserais,” says Campbell, “were
originally intended for, and are now pretty generally applied to, the
accommodation of strangers and travellers, though, like every other good
institution, sometimes perverted to the purposes of private emolument,
or public job. They are built at proper distances through the roads of
the Turkish dominions, and afford to the indigent or weary traveller an
asylum from the inclemency of the weather, are in general built of the
most solid and durable materials, have commonly one story above the
ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and serves for warehouses to
store goods, for lodgings, and for stables, while the upper is used
merely for lodgings; beside which they are always accommodated with a
fountain, and have cooks’ shops and other conveniences to supply the
wants of lodgers. In Aleppo, the caravanserais are almost exclusively
occupied by merchants, to whom they are, like other houses, rented.” “In
all other Turkish provinces,” observes Antes, “particularly those in
Asia, which are often thinly inhabited, travelling is subject to
numberless inconveniences, since it is necessary not only to carry all
sorts of provisions along with one, but even the very utensils to dress
them in, beside a tent for shelter at night and in bad weather, as there
are no inns, except here and there a caravanserai, where nothing but
bare rooms, and those often very bad, and infested with all sorts of
vermin, can be procured.” “There are no inns anywhere,” says Volney,
“but the cities, and commonly the villages, have a large building called
a kan or kervanserai, which serves as an asylum for all travellers.
These houses of reception are always built without the precincts of
towns, and consist of four wings round a square court, which serves by
way of enclosure for the beasts of burden. The lodgings are cells, where
you find nothing but bare walls, dust, and sometimes scorpions. The
keeper of this kan gives the traveller the key and a mat, and he
provides himself the rest; he must therefore carry with him his bed, his
kitchen utensils, and even his provisions, for frequently not even bread
is to be found in the villages. On this account the orientals contrive
their equipage in the most simple and portable form. The baggage of a
man who wishes to be completely provided, consists in a carpet, a
mattress, a blanket, two sauce pans with lids contained within each
other, two dishes, two plates, and a coffee pot, all of copper, well
tinned, a small wooden box for salt and pepper, a round leathern table,
which he suspends from the saddle of his horse, small leathern bottles
or bags for oil, melted butter, water, and brandy, if the traveller be a
Christian, a tinder box, a cup of cocoa nut, some rice, dried raisins,
dates, Cyprus cheese, and, above all, coffee berries, with a roaster and
wooden mortar to pound them.” The Scriptures use two words to express a
caravanserai, in both instances translated inn: “There was no room for
them in the inn,” καταλύματι, Luke ii, 7; the place of untying, that is,
of beasts for rest. “And brought him to the inn,” ϖανδοχεῖον, Luke x,
34, whose keeper is called in the next verse ϖανδοχεὺς. This word
properly signifies “a receptacle open to all comers.” “The serai or
principal caravansary at Surat,” observes Forbes, “was much neglected.
Most of the eastern cities contain one, at least, for the reception of
strangers; smaller places, called choultries, are erected by charitable
persons, or munificent princes, in forests, plains, and deserts, for the
accommodation of travellers. Near them is generally a well, and a
cistern for the cattle; a brahmin, or fakeer, often resides there to
furnish the pilgrim with food, and the few necessaries he may stand in
need of. In the deserts of Persia and Arabia, these buildings are
invaluable; in those pathless plains, for many miles together, not a
tree, a bush, nor even a blade of grass, is to be seen; all is one
undulating mass of sand, like waves on the trackless ocean. In these
ruthless wastes, where no rural village or cheerful hamlet, no inn or
house of refreshment, is to be found, how noble is the charity that
rears the hospitable roof, that plants the shady grove, and conducts the
refreshing moisture into reservoirs!”
accommodated, are not all alike, some being simply places of rest, by
the side of a fountain, if possible, and at a proper distance on the
road. Many of these places are nothing more than naked walls; others
have an attendant, who subsists either by some charitable donation, or
the benevolence of passengers; others are more considerable
establishments, where families reside, and take care of them, and
furnish the necessary provisions. “Caravanserais,” says Campbell, “were
originally intended for, and are now pretty generally applied to, the
accommodation of strangers and travellers, though, like every other good
institution, sometimes perverted to the purposes of private emolument,
or public job. They are built at proper distances through the roads of
the Turkish dominions, and afford to the indigent or weary traveller an
asylum from the inclemency of the weather, are in general built of the
most solid and durable materials, have commonly one story above the
ground floor, the lower of which is arched, and serves for warehouses to
store goods, for lodgings, and for stables, while the upper is used
merely for lodgings; beside which they are always accommodated with a
fountain, and have cooks’ shops and other conveniences to supply the
wants of lodgers. In Aleppo, the caravanserais are almost exclusively
occupied by merchants, to whom they are, like other houses, rented.” “In
all other Turkish provinces,” observes Antes, “particularly those in
Asia, which are often thinly inhabited, travelling is subject to
numberless inconveniences, since it is necessary not only to carry all
sorts of provisions along with one, but even the very utensils to dress
them in, beside a tent for shelter at night and in bad weather, as there
are no inns, except here and there a caravanserai, where nothing but
bare rooms, and those often very bad, and infested with all sorts of
vermin, can be procured.” “There are no inns anywhere,” says Volney,
“but the cities, and commonly the villages, have a large building called
a kan or kervanserai, which serves as an asylum for all travellers.
These houses of reception are always built without the precincts of
towns, and consist of four wings round a square court, which serves by
way of enclosure for the beasts of burden. The lodgings are cells, where
you find nothing but bare walls, dust, and sometimes scorpions. The
keeper of this kan gives the traveller the key and a mat, and he
provides himself the rest; he must therefore carry with him his bed, his
kitchen utensils, and even his provisions, for frequently not even bread
is to be found in the villages. On this account the orientals contrive
their equipage in the most simple and portable form. The baggage of a
man who wishes to be completely provided, consists in a carpet, a
mattress, a blanket, two sauce pans with lids contained within each
other, two dishes, two plates, and a coffee pot, all of copper, well
tinned, a small wooden box for salt and pepper, a round leathern table,
which he suspends from the saddle of his horse, small leathern bottles
or bags for oil, melted butter, water, and brandy, if the traveller be a
Christian, a tinder box, a cup of cocoa nut, some rice, dried raisins,
dates, Cyprus cheese, and, above all, coffee berries, with a roaster and
wooden mortar to pound them.” The Scriptures use two words to express a
caravanserai, in both instances translated inn: “There was no room for
them in the inn,” καταλύματι, Luke ii, 7; the place of untying, that is,
of beasts for rest. “And brought him to the inn,” ϖανδοχεῖον, Luke x,
34, whose keeper is called in the next verse ϖανδοχεὺς. This word
properly signifies “a receptacle open to all comers.” “The serai or
principal caravansary at Surat,” observes Forbes, “was much neglected.
Most of the eastern cities contain one, at least, for the reception of
strangers; smaller places, called choultries, are erected by charitable
persons, or munificent princes, in forests, plains, and deserts, for the
accommodation of travellers. Near them is generally a well, and a
cistern for the cattle; a brahmin, or fakeer, often resides there to
furnish the pilgrim with food, and the few necessaries he may stand in
need of. In the deserts of Persia and Arabia, these buildings are
invaluable; in those pathless plains, for many miles together, not a
tree, a bush, nor even a blade of grass, is to be seen; all is one
undulating mass of sand, like waves on the trackless ocean. In these
ruthless wastes, where no rural village or cheerful hamlet, no inn or
house of refreshment, is to be found, how noble is the charity that
rears the hospitable roof, that plants the shady grove, and conducts the
refreshing moisture into reservoirs!”