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Photograph is in a book with a description beneath ; printed description: "(II.Chronicles, xxviii:23.)--'For he sacrificed
unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him.' Ahaz was the son of Jothan and the twelfh king of Judah. He reined sixteen years,
from B.C. 726 to B.C. 742. He introduced new sanctuaries and strange altars in Jerusalem, and burned incense in the temple
courts to the heavenly bodies. He erected a new altar after the pattern of one he had seen in Damascus. He is said to have
introduced the sun dial, which is about the only useful thing he contributed to his time. We give a picture above of a coffee
garden in one of the suburbs of Damascus. The city was, perhaps, in the days of Ahaz, very much what it is to-day. It owes
its existence to the Abana river, and has always been noted for its beautiful gardens filled with flowering shrubs. Damascus
has always been a wicked city. People here have lived for pleasure, and the gods of Damascus to which Ahaz sacrificed were
the ruin of him and of his people."
Trees on the banks of the river; an outdoor, covered area with seats
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