Five Years in Damascus Author:Josias Leslie Porter Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: About eighty paces from the gate, at the south-eastern angle of the wall, are the remains of an ancient tower. Until the time of Ibrahim Pasha's dominion in Syri... more »a it was perfect, but it was then destroyed, and the materials used in the erection of barracks. It was remarkable as having the fleur-de-lis and two lions sculptured in relief over the entrance doorway. One of the lions may be seen on a slab in the wall close by. I have not found any statement in history that would tend to throw light on this rather singular piece of sculpture. Tcit Front Elevation of East Gate, Damascus. The wall here turns to the south-west, and runs in a straight line to a gate now walled up, said to be the spot where the Apostle Paul was let down in a basket. A glance at the masonry of the gate and tower adjoining is sufficient to show that both are of Saracenic origin, and that not even the foundations date back to the Roman period. In front of the gate is a small cupola of wood, covering a tomb, said to be that of St. George the Porter, who aided the apostle in his flight. His memory and his sepulchre are still venerated; and the body of every Christian who dies in the city, before it is consigned to its final resting-place, is brought to this spot, and prayers offered up for the soul of the departed. Half a mile eastward are the Christian cemeteries, beside which the Damascus priesthood have, within the last century, located the scene of Paul's conversion. In the days of the Crusaders, the scene of the miracle was believed to be near the village of Kaukaba, about six miles west of the city, on the road to Jerusalem; and the tradition remained undisturbed for more than five centuries. This spot being too far distant for pilgrims to walk, or holy fathers to conduct them, and the whole ...« less