_ 143 _ A league from this caravanserai to the north is a large city called [Sarmin], inhabited by similar people. It is from here that an abundance of those soft nuts called pistaches, which are very plentiful here, are sent to Cyprus and Venice. We left here on Monday in the early morning across the same plains and passed through a place called [Caferdab] peopled by similar Arab Moors. Farther on, we put up at a large caravanserai called Khan Sheikhun, “old caravanserai”, because it is very ancient. On the next day, we passed over similar plains and at midday crossed a long, low bridge over the river which comes from Hamah. Along the river there is a beautiful place peopled by similar Moors called [Daharya] with many other people; there are many waterwheels which are turned by the river. In the afternoon, we put up in Hamah. Item: Hamah is a large and ancient city encircled by a strong, fine stonework wall, with towers, which has many black rocks inserted into it in the manner of good masonry. There were other towers built in rough stone, which looked well, but everything was much destroyed and damaged. It is situated to the north, in a fertile area between two ranges of mountains, one to the east, one to the west. One is rolling, but the other is flat-topped and dotted with many villages and settlements of Nestorian
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