The city of gods

DR SHAHID QAYYUM writes about the amazing life in Greece

Athens, named after the Greek goddess Athena, has been a popular destination for travelers since antiquity. This bustling cosmopolitan city is one of the oldest in the world with a recorded history of over 3000 years of inhabitation. My recognition of Greece dates back to the early childhood days when I read the story of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian prince, who tamed the famous strong headed stallion as a young boy and later set out to conquer the world. In fact it was only after Alexander assumed power that the city state of Athens and the neighboring principalities conglomerated to form the country now called Greece. Alexander brought Greek ideas, culture and life style to the countries that he conquered and the marks he left behind during his conquest of the subcontinent are amply visible in Taxila which I happened to visit as a school boy.

I was lucky to visit Greece more than a couple of times and every time it was an experience of sorts, as the places transform for the better over the years. The first time that I visited the Balkan Peninsula was in the mid 1970s. It was the month of April and it was pleasantly cold out there in the open. We were told the metropolis had its first snowfall in forty years which was still visible on the top of Mount Lycabettus, in central Athens. The subsequent visits years later, in the months of July and August, were different in the way that summers had set in and the day time temperatures were some what uncomfortable. It was hot according to the European standards. Located between Mediterranean and Alpine climatic zones the city enjoys typical Mediterranean climate. The northern mountainous suburbs are usually cooler than the southern tip surrounded by the sea.

Ancient Athens was a powerful city state and a centre for arts and philosophy. It was known as the cradle of Western civilization and birth place of democracy. The heritage of classical era is portrayed through a number of ancient monuments and art works, the most famous being Parthenon and Acropolis, standing as the epic land marks. There are a vast variety of Roman and Byzantine monuments as well, the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arc to name a few. All these monuments are located within a radius of two km along with new structures like the Greek parliament, Panathenaikos stadium and the former Royal palace, all built in the 19^th century. Ottomans, the last of the foreign rulers, did not leave too much of noticeable heritage and it was after their departure that the country became independent under a monarch, to be followed by a democratic set up in the times to follow.

During one of my visits to Athens I met a Greek lady, secretary to the District Manager PIA, who looked after me during his absence. She was there to help me receive my family on arrival from Pakistan. After we were through with our snacks she asked me about my choice of tea or coffee and my opting for Turkish coffee made her look visibly upset. Finding it difficult to control her feelings she very politely told me that in her country they called it Greek coffee, only to make me realize that with the long history of Turkish subjugation there was no love lost between the two neighboring countries. In Pakistan the Two Nation theory seems to have evaporated with the signing of (useless) confidence building measures and we are now bending over backwards in a bid to please our erstwhile hostile neighbours..

Athens is a lovely place...(to be continued) 

City of Wonders (continued)

The most memorable thing that I saw in Damascus was the mausoleum of Sultan Salahuddine Eyyubi (E. Saladin) who fought and defeated the famous Christian crusaders; King Philip of France, Richard the lion hearted from England and Frederick 1 of Rome. This mausoleum is located in a garden near the northwestern corner of Umayyad mosque. We offered fateha at the tomb of the great Muslim warrior, who was a fierce leader, a great tactician and a Muslim liberator. Sultan Sahuddine Eyyubi, born in Iran, hailed from Tikrit in Iraq and grew up and was educated in Syria.  Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Hejaz and Yemen were all under his domain. He fought the third crusades, also known as the Kings’ crusades’ and recaptured Jerusalem. Germany donated a marble sarcophagus for the burial of Salahuddin Eyyubi’s mortal remains but it lies unused in his tomb as Sultan’s body was buried in a wooden box. His statue stands on a pedestal in front of the historic Citadel of Damascus. The tomb of Zainab bint Ali is a few miles from the capital, off the main road to Damascus International Airport, and is visited by hundreds of thousands of Shia Muslims every year.

Historical Souk Hamiddya is just a few minutes walk from Umayyad mosque and Sultan’s mausoleum. It is an old fashioned Arab market with not much to boast about. It is a dirty conglomeration of variety of stores with small time shop keepers catering to lower income group of customers. Haggling is a usual feature of these markets. Parks and café culture is very common in the metropolis. People while away their time having ice cream or their all time favourite Turkish coffee. The Ottoman Turks have left behind in their former domains, besides their buildings and monuments, the Turkish coffee as a lasting legacy. Its flavour is really delightful and if you develop a taste for it you cannot leave ever.

Damascus is a city of 4.5 million people but the transportation network is obsolete. Like in Pakistan the Damascenes use buses and mini buses for daily commuting. The mini buses, similar to our Suzuki vans, are gaudily decorated, just like our highway freight trucks, whose model was also given as a souvenir to Queen Elizabeth 2 on her last trip to Pakistan. A retired piece of the same is on display in the premises of Lok Virsa  (National Heritage) museum in Islamabad. I wonder why we have become aesthetically so bankrupt. Damascus has a large number of these mini buses plying on the city roads and one can visualize the eye catching view which these moving pieces of art must be presenting with over flowing passengers clinging to the outside of the vehicle. Corruption is wide spread like in any other third world country. Political hierarchy is confined to one family for the last over three decades. Syria is ruled by Assad dynasty in the garb of democracy. The country has one party system.

Syria is predominantly a Muslim majority country with only 10% non-Muslims to account for. 75% of the population is sunni Muslims. The number of mosques in Damascus are well over two thousand, the most famous being the Umayyad mosque. There are some Christian districts where there are more churches than the mosques. It was interesting to know the origin of the name of this capital city. Damashaq, in local dialect, means a fast moving camel and as the city was built very swiftly it was given this name. The other theory is that it is named after Damashaq, the great grand son of Noah, who according to the legend built this city. This later theory sounds more hypothetical.