Screen Traveler: Damascus and Jerusalem (1936)

[Music] our first impression of Damascus is one of surprise as we notice the modern appearance of the Sarah Square in the center of the city but our opinion soon changes as we step a few Paces away of the 300,000 inhabitants about 80% are Muslims and there are naturally many places of worship the largest and most important The Masque of omay yads is open not only to the faithful but to the non-believer as well all must remove shoes before [Music] entering [Music] Damascus is a hot and dry City the many vendors of cool Sweet Water do a thriving business they clap the little brass bowls to make their presence [Music] known at this open air Grill tasty tidbits of goat are served perhaps not sanitary but no doubt to the damascan very delicious cheap soap but from the appearance of the people there's little demand for it Syrian oranges are delicious and inexpensive too they are sold by weight and a dozen large ones cost only a few pennies headdresses which remind us of biblical [Music] characters a new rug from Persia and here's another way to display a rug an Auctioneer carrying it over his shoulders solicits bids as he walks about Damascus is at the end of the Caravan routes from Persia and Mesopotamia during the day many camel trains from the East enter the city and Trail through the winding [Music] streets the narrow Bazar streets are covered by high arched metal rooms the name of this one is familiar to all of us the biblical street called [Music] straight we stop at a small Outdoor Bakery for the strange manner in which bread is baked interest us the ball of dough is twirled when it is large enough it's placed over a pillar and thrust into the oven a gentle Pat causes it to cling to the hot walls and the pillar is removed the handful of straw is for the Fire Let's watch it again no the baker's not wearing [Music] gloves the bread is fresh when bought over the counter but from a merchant it's generally after much handling and when many flies have sampled [Music] it Damascus has long been famous for its many Oriental coffee houses where men Gather in the evening and smoke the Nagi a Turkish water [Music] pipe but the backer is placed in the metal top and kept burning by a small piece of charcoal the smoke is cooled by being drawn through the water in the [Music] [Music] bowl we look upon the walls of Old Jerusalem walls with which have been destroyed and rebuilt many times there is a modern Jerusalem with many fine buildings and spended streets and boulevards but on this visit our interests lie within the old city and here we shall devote all our time at the japa gate an officer directs a strange assortment of traffic no vehicles are permitted within the wall City so all trucking must be done on the backs of animals amen [Music] [Music] [Music] aah the finest gate of Jerusalem is the Damascus gate in the north wall so named because through it passes the old road to Damascus beneath the gate a man of the desert reads Fortunes in the sand the streets of Jerusalem have changed little with the passing of time and present today very much the same appearance they did 2,000 years [Music] ago the narrow David Street is the chief business start Affair of the Old Town it leads from the Jaffa gate down one of the hills upon which the city is built and ends at the west gate of the harames [Music] Shar money changes are still found in the marketplaces small boys with large baskets act as Messengers and for a few pennies carry packages for Shoppers a quarrel over candy it's going to end with smiles when they notice someone from whom they can beg bakes a [Music] gift a new use for old automobile tires crude but serviceable shoes many of the streets of Jerusalem are altered dark and dirty the so light comes from small openings in the top and only in the middle of the day does any sun penetrate casting as it does a strange light on the passers by Jerusalem sacred to the three Chief religions of the world is one of the holiest of cities to the Christian the Mount of Olives where is the Garden of gemane the Via doosa root of suffering over which Christ is said to have borne the cross from Pilot's house to golgatha and the Church of the Holy sepher are shrines to visit the tomb of Christ we enter first the courtyard of the church that still has the foundation pillars and massive walls built by the Crusaders beneath the dome in the center of the Renda is the Chapel of the Holy Seer over the housetops of the city we see the Haram Sharif the ancient site of the Hebrew Temple and now a shrine of the muhammadans to reach it we pass first along the street of the Christians and then down the lower end of David Street on our way to the noble Sanctuary we recall that on its sight King David erected an altar King Solomon built his Palace and Temple King Herod built a third Temple and Justinian a basilica to the Virgin Mary today the site belongs to the Muslims where stands the famous Dome of the Rock also called the musk of Omar that covers the Stone from which Muhammad is said to have been carried into Heaven by his miraculous Steed Burak from here we pass along a narrow Street to another place of sanctity the Jews who never enter the Haram propa for fear of desecrating the holy of holies come here to its walls which are said to be part of the foundation of Solomon's Temple since the Middle Ages they have come from all over the world to this The Wailing place and have stood before these stones to pray and to lament the downfall of Jerusalem the venerable capital of the Israelite [Music] Empire [Music]