The site of a station on the Beirut-Damascus railway line.

The train was a product of the industrial revolution and was first created to transport goods, which was its main purpose in Lebanon when the railway was first built. During the Ottoman empire, it was necessary to connect Damascus to the coast. Beirut, with its brand new port, benefited from the project, which was carried out by the French. The British wanted to build a railway between Jaffa and Damascus to bypass the Beirut line, but the project was never carried out.

Sam and companions camped at Janin September 21, 1867 and departed the next morning at 2:00am. Mark Twain Project: Quaker City Itinerary

Sam and companions camped at Nazareth September 20, 1867. They departed at 7:30am September 20 for Janin.
Mark Twain Project: Quaker City Itinerary


See Bædeker (1876) Route 18 Nazareth

See Bædeker (1898) Route 28 Nazareth

See Bædeker (1894) Route 25 Nazareth

Murray Route 22 page 359

Sam and companions camped here the night of September 13, 1867. They traveled to Damascus in the morning. Mark Twain Project: Quaker City Itinerary


From Bædeker:  54 M. Sarghdyd {Zerghaya; comp. p. 368), on the watershed.
This is the highest point (4610 ft.) attained by the line in the AntiLibanus and commands a fine mountain-view. The railway descends towards the S.W. to (20 min.) —


...at the village of Surghâya, in a verdant but confined situation.

Tiberias (/taɪˈbɪəriəs/ ty-BEER-ee-əs; Hebrew: טְבֶרְיָה, Ṭəḇeryā; Arabic: طبريا, romanized: Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron, and Safed. In 2021, it had a population of 46,698.

Twain writes in chapter 42 as if this is the first camp site upon leaving Beirut but the Quaker City Itinerary places this on September 12, breaking camp on September 13 at 6:30am. The camping site may actually be further east.

From an entry in MTDBD: "Passed up the Valley & camped on l. side under the dews of Hermon. –first passing through a dirty Arab village & visiting the tomb of Noah, of Deluge notoriety [MTNJ 1: 417]."


From Bædeker: Route 30, 1876