In Travelogues and Literary Texts


“Our setting is simple. Land and water. A river's edge, or, perhaps, a riverfront, -a waterfront. The audience is complex. Flowing streets, towering buildings, unfiltered smoke, unmuffled noise.'
Several infamous literary and visual artistic works make reference to the Orontes River. We are going to discuss several artistic representations that were located and mentioned the Orontes river

Boiler Passing the Orontes, F.R. Chesney and James Fitzjames 1835

Excerpt of their passing the Mouth of the Orontes,  from Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition in 1835, Carried on by Order of the British Government During the Years 1835, 1836, and 1837 and Led by F.R. Chesney

It is important to note that the expedition was unsuccessful, as their vessel was wrecked in a hurricane, killing more than half of the crew in May 1836



Syria, the Holy Land, Asia Minor, &c illustrated-John Carne 1836 


In a series of pieces for the "New Monthly Magazine," Carne chronicled his adventures. These articles were subsequently collected in a single book. From 1829 until his untimely death in 1844, he was active in literary groups, released seven additional multi-volume works, mostly literary texts, and was preparing to travel to the Mediterranean.  

His travels consisted of the Holy Land, Lebanon, Damascus, Rhodes, Syros, Alexandria, Tripolis, Aleppo in Syria, Cilicia, and other Christian and Muslim pilgrimage sites in the Eastern Mediterranean .Carne published accounts of his travels in a series of articles in the "New Monthly Magazine", which were later published in a single volume. He frequented the literary circles of his time and published seven more multi-volume works, mainly literary texts, from 1829 until his sudden death in 1844, while planning another trip to the Mediterranean. 

He depicted imageries of his trip through the banks of the Orontes river

Un jardin sur l'Oronte 1922

Au milieu de pelouses parfumées de lis, de cassis, de narcisses  et de violettes, rafraîchies par des ruisseaux dérivés de l’Oronte, et ombragées de cédrats, d’amandiers, d’orangers et de pêchers en plein vent, étaient dispersés de légers kiosques, tous ornés de soies d’Antioche et de Perse, de verreries arabes et de porcelaines chinoises."
Amid lawns scented with lilies, black currants, narcissus and violets, refreshed by streams derived from the Orontes, and shaded by citrons, almond trees, orange trees and peach trees in full wind, were scattered light kiosks, all adorned with silks from Antioch and Persia, Arab glassware and Chinese porcelain. 

Paris. Javal et Bourdeaux. 1927. 1 volume in-4, en feuilles, couverture illustrée de l'éditeur, sous chemise et étui éditeur passés et légèrement frottés. [4] ff. ; 123 pp. ; [5] pp.‎ Reference : 26792


Un jardin sur l'Oronte (A Garden on the Orontes) , a novel by Maurice Barrès, which was first published in 1922 by Plon-Nourrit. Barrès purportedly transcribed in it a story which an Irish archaeologist had translated to him from a manuscript one evening of June 1914, at a café in Hama by the Orontes River.  
Barres describes the landscapes along the river in details, recording the agricultural detailing of the river in the  1920s through storytelling and narration.