Kitap 16
2.24
Tyre is distant from Sidon not more than 200 stadia. Between the two is situated a small town, called Ornithopolis, (the city of birds); next a riverNahr-Quasmieh. which empties itself near Tyre into the sea. Next after Tyre is Palae-tyrus (ancient Tyre), at the distance of 30 stadia.Vestiges of the ancient city still remain. Here was the celebrated temple of the Phoenician Hercules, founded according to Herodotus, ii. 44, before 2700 B. C.
2.25
Then follows Ptolemaïs, a large city, formerly called Ace.Acre. It was the place of rendezvous for the Persians in their expeditions against Egypt. Between Ace and Tyre is a sandy beach, the sand of which is used in making glass. The sand, it is said, is not fused there, but carried to Sidon to undergo that process. Some say that the Sidonians have, in their own country, the vitrifiable sand; according to others, the sand of every place can be fused. I heard at Alexandria from the glass-workers, that there is in Egypt a kind of vitrifiable earth, without which expensive works in glass of various colours could not be executed, but in other countries other mixtures are required; and at Rome, it is reported, there have been many inventions both for producing various colours, and for facilitating the manufacture, as for example in glass wares, where a glass bowl may be purchased for a copper coin,Letronne estimates this at a penny. and glass is ordinarily used for drinking.
