As Vahram grew up, his sister would tell him "We are not really Muslims, we are Christians" but he did not understand what a Christian was, all he knew about religion was the Muslim prayers and outlook. One night some years later, Vahram's sister woke him up and told him to dress quietly, they were going to run away. It appears that she had contacted a rescue organisation specialising in helping Armenian people who had been victims of the Turkish massacre. So they escaped to an Armenian Christian community in Istanbul and eventually reached Beirut . Vahram's sister worked for the American Hospital until she died soon after of tuberculosis.

I learned a very important concept from Vahram. He said that no person or nation had a monopoly of good or bad Somehow that statement coming from a person who had every reason to hate the Turks, had added significance for me. Vahram taught me a Muslim prayer and how to kneel down facing Mecca and pray to Allah. Imagine my surprise when, at the time of the sacred Muslim Ramadan festival, I went up to my room to find Vahram on the roof kneeling facing Mecca and bowing down in earnest prayer to Allah. He claimed to be a committed Christian. Was he saying a Muslim prayer just in case he had offended the Muslim God? Was he playing it safe by complying with both religions? As I quietly slipped away I wondered how many so called Christian people comply with the teaching just in case there could be an after life and a heaven or hell.

A missionary doctor from New Zealand , Dr. Blakelock and his friend. Dr. Spinney, decided I needed a holiday. They invited me to accompany them to see the ancient Roman city of Jerash which is north of Amman , the capital city in the kingdom of Jordan . The Jerash of Roman times is now totally destroyed except for some paved roads and over 200 columns of stone which indicate the expanse of the city. The city had been surrounded by walls 2.4 metres thick with a total circuit of 2750 metres. There had been six gates and a triumphal arch some metres from the south gate-Amphitheatres and Roman engineering achievements still standing in the Middle East prove the bygone power, imagination and influence of the Roman empire.

As we drove over the Jordan River , 1 was surprised how small and murky it was. At most times of the year, we would call it a stream in New Zealand but it does flood during winter. The Jordan River largely starts as snow on the Hebron mountains of Syria . It flows down into the fresh water sea of Galiiee and on into the Dead Sea , which is the lowest part of the earth. It can go no further Over millions of years, the evaporation of water equals the amount of inflow, thus maintaining a fairly constant lake level. Evaporation leaves behind the mineral salts which have accumulated massively to form the Dead Sea where no living thing can grow.

The Dead Sea is a stretch of water 75 km. long and 16 km. at its widest part. It lies about 396 metres below the Mediterranean . Its greatest depth is a further 390 metres down. While the ocean has a salinity of 4% to 6%, the Dead Sea has a concentration of 23% to 25% salt. The water is pumped from deep down in the lake where the salt is more concentrated, to drying pans prior to processing.

I have swum in the Dead Sea on many occasions. On the drive down from Jerusalem one's ears pop with the increased air pressure. It is impossible to sink in the Dead Sea , You will become buoyant before the water reaches the lop of your shoulders. But you must swim carefully so as not to splash. The water is so salty that it stings one's eyes and if you do not shower after swimming a deposit of salt will appear on your skin. Swimming in the Dead Sea is a novelty and pleasantly warm but not much fun as activity is restricted due to its intense salinity.

My parents and I went for a holiday to Lebanon . We travelled by car to the ancient Arab port of Jaffa where ships anchor out at sea and cargo is transported by lighters skilfully and noisily handled by seamen. The famous Jaffa oranges sold in England and Europe got their name from this port. Jaffa is joined cheek by jowl to the modem Jewish city of Tel Aviv , On we drove through the orange groves and the fertile coastal plains to the port city of Haifa . Mt. Carmel rises close to the southern edge of Haifa . The Bahai religion has a beautiful narrow and long garden in Haifa which commences at the foot of Mt. Carmel and goes straight up the mountain side to a small temple. I have walked up and down several times. From the summit a beautiful view spreads itself before one. The slow northern curve of Acre Bay can be seen to end at the ancient Phoenician port and fortress of Acre .

The mixed population of both Jews and Arabs living in Acre now numbered over 3,000 persons.* This port was mentioned in Egyptian records dating back to 1,500 B.C. Acre has been fought over and at least partly destroyed many times. It was well known by the Greeks and the Crusaders. The armies of Richard 1 of England and Philip IV of France fought for possession of Acre in 1189. Before the First World War the Ottoman empire used Acre as a military fort. Bahaullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, spent his closing years there and is buried nearby at Bahja.

Passing through the Syrian border, we next came to Tyre , population now over 8,000. The city of Tyre has an interesting history. About 1,000 B.C. Hiram the king had commercial dealings with the Old Testament King Solomon of the Jews. He supplied skilled labour and materials for the erection of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem . In 332 B.C., Alexander the Great swept down the Phoenician coast and called on the cities to

* I have given recent population numbers from the tourist guides to give a comparison of sizes. Populations would have been much smaller in the 1930s

open their gates. Tyre refused, whereupon Alexander laid siege to the old city- New Tyre had been built on an island less than a kilometre from the mainland. Not having a fleet, Alexander demolished the old city and used the debris to buiid a causeway almost but not quite, to the island. That causeway is used today. The defenders fought back with pots of burning naphtha and sulphur among other tactics. Finally Alexander built floating batteries upon which rams were mounted and forced his way into the harbours. It took seven months for him to take the island.

It is claimed (perhaps exaggerated) that eight thousand of the citizens were slaughtered, a further two thousand were crucified and thirty thousand sold into slavery. Such was the viciousness and cruelty at the time of Alexander the Great. Is the world more socially conscious today?

Further up the coast we passed through Sidon , a prosperous city now numbering 15,000 persons. Sidon trades in fish and agricultural produce. As with all of the eastern Mediterranean coast, many conquering armies have passed through the land. They include the Assyrians, Babylonians, Philistines, Persians, Crusaders, Mongols, Franks, Muslims and others. Sidon submitted without resistance to Alexander the Great and was spared the kind of punishment meted out to Tyre .

Continuing north we discovered that after the First World War, Beirut had became one of the fastest growing religious, cultural and trade centres in the Middle East . It has a large, protected harbour and good roads to other trade centres. There was a large American mission hospital and university there. About a third of the people were Muslim. Most of the others were Roman Catholic or belonged to the Armenian, Greek or Russian Orthodox Churches .

For the next few days we rested in a little village among the cedars of Lebanon north east of Beirut . A beautiful spring of clear water gushed out of the ground. There is nothing quite like clean cool air and the smell of pines to revive one. We walked, talked, slept and read the days away. Then we came down to Baalbec to see the temple of Jupiter built about A.D.60 and the temple of Bacchus built A.D. 150-200 These immense structures of Roman architecture are awe inspiring. One solid hewn rock still in the quarry is 18.3 metres long and weighs 1,500 tons (see picture). How did they place similar sized blocks high up in the walls? The remaining six standing columns of the temple of Jupiter are 19,8 metres high and 2.13 metres in diameter (see picture). These columns are perfectly joined on top by huge ornately carved pieces of rock and they have been standing there for over nineteen hundred years! All the blocks fitted closely and perfectly together. There was no evidence of plaster jointing anywhere although there is a hole in the centre of the columns where dowels could have been fitted.

Back home again in Jerusalem , I continued to leam Arabic and Hebrew. For a while I went to Hebrew evening classes where the teacher spoke only in Hebrew. The only thing the students needed to know before starting the lessons was the Hebrew alphabet. The teacher gave the greeting "Shalom" (peace), which is a greeting every Jew would know. He pointed to himself and said "Anni ha morrai" (I am the teacher) and wrote it on the blackboard. He pointed to the class and said "Ahtem Talmedeem" (you are the students) and wrote that on the blackboard. He picked up a chair and said "keesay" writing each new word in Hebrew. He sat on the chair and wrote on the black-board. Thus he built up the language and the grammar. It was surprising how quickly lessons progressed. The whole society seemed to speak two or more languages.