_ 335 _ a village called Batman, peopled by Kurdish Moors, poor people who live by cultivation and the rearing of livestock. On the Saturday morning we took the road again and at almost midday we passed a very ancient city, surrounded by a very strong, broad ashlar wall, with good towers, but broken down and ruined in many places. It is called Murfagum, and is peopled by Armenians, Jacobites and Kurdish Moors, few people for its size, because much of it has been destroyed. It was built by Greeks, and the nobility of its buildings made this seem so. The great Tamerlane destroyed it, having first besieged it for a long time. A short distance to the north of this city is a hermitage of Our Lady, where many miracles are performed. The fondness the Turks had for Carahemite was the reason for the neglect and ruin of this city, for they hold the opinion that it is not good to ennoble and fortify two large cities which are close together. When the Turk went into Persia against Shah Tahmasp, he went by another route without seeing this city, but if he had seen it, well-situated as it is, and with the strength and breadth of the wall, I do not believe he would have permitted it to be neglected. The Moors say of it that the time will come when
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