ion 
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3 1924 086 199 555 
 
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LATER 
 
 BIBLICAL RESEARCHES 
 
 nr 
 
 PALESTINE, 
 
 AND IN THE ADJACENT EEGION 
 
 A 
 
 JOUKNAL OF TRAVELS IN THE YEAR 
 
 1852. 
 
 BY E. EOBfflSOK, E. SMITH, ASD OTHEES. 
 
 DBAWK np FROM THE OBIQIKAI. DIABXES, WITH HISTOKICAL IliCSTEATlONS, 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD gOBmSON, D. D. LL D. 
 
 PBOrSSSOB OF BIBLIOAL L X T S B A T IT B B IN THB TT H I O H THXOLOOXOAL 
 SBKIHABT, saw TOBK. 
 
 WITH KEW MAPS AND PLANS. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLISHED BY CROCKER AND BREWSTER, 
 
 No. 47 WAsmNQTON Stbxst. 
 
 LONDON JOHN MUBRAT. 
 
 BEBLIN a. BEIMBB. 
 
 1867. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1656, 
 
 By EDWARD EOBINSON. 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Sonthem 
 
 District of New Tort. 
 
 JOHX F. TEOW, 
 
 PSIHTEB, 8TZKE0TTPSB, AND SLKCTBOTn'ZS, 
 
 S7T ASD 879 BBOASWAT, H, T. 
 
TO 
 
 CHARLES BUTLER, ESQ. 
 
 OF 2fX7 TOBK, 
 
 KMUTEST FBOMOTEE OF CHRISTIAN LEABNCia AND OF CHBISTIAN ENTERPBISI^ 
 
 A FBISND OF MAHT TEABS STAITDIKO, 
 
 TO WHOSE EH CO UK A QEUBNT AND AID 
 
 m THIS SECOND JOITKNET TO THE HOLT I.AND 
 
 THE AUTHOB HAS BEEN O B E A T I. T IHOEBXBD, 
 
 THIS TOtUMB 
 
 IS OBATSTITLLT IHBOBXBBD. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 The occasion and plan of this second joumej in the Holy 
 Land are set forth in the beginning of the introductory Section. 
 
 During the more important part of the journey, my com- 
 panion in travel was, as before, the Eev. Eli Smith, D. D. He 
 went with me to Jerusalem and the vicinity of Hebron ; and 
 thence northwards as far as to Hasbeiya. From Hasbeiya the 
 Kev. "W". M. Thomson accompanied me to Banias and back ; 
 and then, on the way to Damascus, until within a day's journey 
 of that city. From Damascus, the Eev. S. Eobson became my 
 companion to Ba'albek and around the northern end of Leba- 
 non to the cedars, and so to Beirut. 
 
 That very much of the success and comfort of the journey 
 depended on the long and familiar acquaintance possessed by 
 my companions with the language and character of the people, 
 I need not here repeat. Each of them kept his own separate 
 journal of daily occurrences and observations. These were 
 kindly left in my hands ; and have been freely used in the pre- 
 paration of this volume. To these friends, the public, as well 
 as myself, are under lasting obligations. 
 
 The present volume is strictly supplementary to the former 
 BrBLicAii Eeseaeches ; and is published in connection with the 
 new edition of that work. It is also issued separately, for the 
 convenience of those who already possess the first edition of the 
 Researches. 
 
 The observations made during this second journey, rendered 
 necessary a new construction of the Maps of Palestine. This 
 has been done by Kiepert of Berlin, with his accustomed scien- 
 VoL. III.— A* 
 
VI PEEFACB. 
 
 tific skill. It will be seen, that the routes of the different years 
 very rarely coincide. — ^The other maps also are republished; 
 tliat of Sinai with some corrections ; and the interior of Je- 
 rusalem is given according to the Plans of Tobler and the Eng- 
 lish engineers. 
 
 In the Index of Arabic Names and "Words, the Ai-abic letters 
 have not been employed. These are sometimes important to 
 the scholar ; but never to the great mass of general readers. 
 Yet the system of notation in respect to Arabic names will be 
 found sufficient, in nearly every case, to indicate to scholars the 
 proper Arabic letters ; and this is strictly aU that is required. 
 This notation, however, is fully carried out only in the Index 
 of Arabic Names and "Words. — ^The slight variations which 
 occur in the spelling of several names, have arisen from like 
 variations in the popular pronunciation. 
 
 For an exposition of the system of notation above-mentioned, 
 the reader is referred to the specifications immediately follow- 
 ing the Preface in the new edition of the former Researches, 
 Vol. I ; as also to Dr Smith's Essay on the Pronunciation of the 
 Arabic, in the Appendix to the first edition. Vol. Ill, pp. 89-111. 
 
 "With this volume closes, of course, the record of my per- 
 sonal observations in the Holy Land. The principles according 
 to which it has been prepared, are the same with those, which 
 lie at ^he basis of my former work. If it shall be deemed a 
 worthy supplement to that work, I shall be satisfied. To these 
 my Biblical Reseaeches in the Holy Land, the fruit of thirty 
 years of preparation, and of personal travels in 1838 and 1852, 
 I can hope, to add nothing more. The work is now published 
 as a whole, and in a permanent form. 
 
 The great object of all these travels and labours has been, as 
 formerly announced, to collect materials "for the preparation 
 of a systematic work on the physical and historical geography 
 of the Holy Land." To this work, so much needed, shoidd my 
 life and health be spared, I hope speedily to address myself. 
 
 "With the renewed expression of humble gratitude to God, 
 the author here takes leave of his work ; praying that He, who 
 has thus permitted it to be completed, will continue to make it 
 useful for the furtherance of His truth. 
 
 New Yobk, July, 1856. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Pbbpaoe, 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 luTEODUOTioir. — ^Beietit and the Vionmrr. 
 Pages 1-32. 
 
 Motives and plan of a second jonmey in Palestine, 1, 2. Occasion, 2. London, 
 Berlin, 2. Route to Trieste, 2. Fine scenery along the railway, 2, 3. Embark at 
 Trieste, 3. Straight conrse to Corfu, 3. Meleda, not Mclita, 3. Course around 
 Greece, 3. Syra, 3. Delay at Smyrna, 3. Antiquities, 4. American missionaries, 4. 
 Embark at Smyrna, i. Crowded with deck passengers, i. Patmos, the Sporades, 
 coast of Asia Minor, 5. Ehodes, 5. Our track the same as St. Paul's, 6. Cyprus ; 
 Baffa, Pap&», 6. Lamaka, Citivm, 7. 
 
 Beikdt. Landing, 7. At home with Dr E. Smith, 7. Plans, 7, 8. Movement 
 among the Dmzes, 8. Prospect, Lebanon, 8, 9. The weather, storms, 9. Beirut 
 prosperous, 9. Its commerce, 9, 10. Antiquities, 10. Hills around the city, 10. 
 Roads, 10. Sand-hills, 11. Cape Beirut, 11. Mosk, sarcophagi, 11, 12. 
 
 Excursion to Nahr el-Kelb, 12. Nahr Beirut and bridge, 12. Way along the 
 shore, 13. The pass, 13. Bridge and aqueduct, 13. 
 
 Excursion to Deir el-Kiil'ah, 13. Rugged ascent of Lebanon, 14. The many ter- 
 races, 14. Gorge of Nahr Beirut, ancient aqueduct, 14. Site of the convent, 14. 
 Extensive view, 15. Basin of Nahr Beirut, 15. District el-Metn, 15. Sandstone and 
 pines, 15. Damascus road and Bhamdun, 15. Remains of an ancient temple, 15, 16. 
 Inscriptions, 16, 17. Maronite monks, 17. Beit Miry, horseshoeing, 17. Ancient 
 aqueduct with tubular stones, 17, 18. Brammana, Nahr el-Mant, 18. 
 
 Excursion to 'Abeih, 18. Solitary place of many sarcophagi, 18, 19. 'Aramon, 
 'Ain Kesur, 19. Boys' school of the American mission, 20. Examination, 20. Site 
 of 'Abeih, 20. Basin of the Nahr DSmur, 20, 21. Return to Beirut by Shemlan, 21. 
 The priest Flaminius, 21. Wady Shahrur, its fertility, 21, 22. Traces of the ancient 
 aqueduct in the plain, 22. 
 
 Meeting of the Syrian mission, 22. Letter and invitation from Dr Perkins, 22. New 
 Arabic version of the Scriptures by Dr Smith, 23. Protestantism in the Turkish em- 
 pire, 23. Three successive ordinances in that behalf, 24, 25. The mission encour- 
 aged, 25. Native churches, 25. Chapel in Beirut, services, 25, 26. The mission 
 cemetery, 26. Grave of Lieut. Dale, 26, 27. 
 
Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 Native literary Societies, 27, 28. Foreign consuls, 28, 29. Meet onr former ser- 
 vant Komeh, 28. Arrangements for our jonmey, 29, 30. Preparations, 30, 31. 
 Turkish post, 32. Lines of steamers, 32. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Fbou Bkieut theotjgh GtAijlke to 'AinrA. 
 Pages 33-101. 
 
 AprU 5th. Departnre from Beirfit, 33. Nahr Ghndir and Nahr Yabis, 33. Khan 
 Khulda, ffeldua, 33. Many sarcopha^, 33. Nahr Damnr, Tamtfras, 34. Ras Sa'diyeh, 
 Platmaim, 34. Koman road, 34. Neby Ynnas, el-Jiyeh, Porphyreon, 34, 35. — AprU 6rt. 
 Onr tent blown down at night, 35. Early start, Roman road, 35. Sidon, honse of 
 Mr Thomson, 36. Antiquities, 36. Tnm east towards Lebanon ; character of the 
 region, 36, 37. 'Way leads by Haret Saida, 37. Deir Mnkhallis, 38. Encamp at 
 Kefr Falus, 38. 
 
 AprUlth. Tokensof rain, 38. Start for Rum, valleys, 38, 39. Rain ; take refnge 
 at a goat-honse, 39. Proceed to Rum ; the road bad, 39. Village of Rum, 39. Take 
 refuge in a peasant's house, 39. Honse described, 39, 40. Furniture and food, 40. 
 Set off in the rain for Jerju'a, 40. Difficult road ; lose the way, Eaituleh, 40, 41. 
 Jeba'a, 41. Arrive at Jerju'a ; lodge in a peasant's house, 42. — April ith. Village of 
 Jerju'a, 42. Wide view, 42, 43. Chasm of the Zaherany, Jebel Rihan, Wady Jer- 
 muk, 43. Neby Safy, Neby Sijud, Kul'at esh-Shuklf, 44. House described, 44. Our 
 host a potter, 44. The old priest, 45. No antiquities, 45. Visit the fonntaiu of the 
 Zaherany, 45. Ancient aqueduct to Sidon, 45, 46. Sculptured tablet and inscrip- 
 tion, 46, 47. 
 
 April 9th. Set off for Kul'at esh-Shuklf; 47. Long descent ; 'Arab Salim, 47, 
 Bridge over the Zaherany, 47. TeE Habbush, 47, 48. Nebatiyeh, horseshoeing, 48, 
 Way to Amun, 48, 49. Village of Amun, 49. Ascend to the castle, Sdjbrt, 49. 
 Site and prospect, 49—51. The fortress, 51. Bevelled stones, 52. Dimensions, 52. 
 Older than the crusades, 52, 53. Way to bridge of Ka'ka'iyeh, 53. Chasm of the 
 Litiny, and bridge, 53. — April 10th. Way up Wady Hujeir, 54. Turn up W. Seluky, 
 to reach Kubrikhah, 54. Splendid fields of wheat ; tares, 55. Kesaf, Achshaph, 55. 
 Temple-ruins at Kubrikhah, 55, 56. Tulin, Khirbet Silim, 56. Remains, 56, 57. Onr 
 guide a horse-thief, 57. Tibnin, castle and village, 57. Visit to the castle. Sheikhs, 
 58. A fortress of the crusaders on older foundations, 58. Statistics, 59. Sculptures 
 on the way to Tyre, 59. — April 11th. High wind; we leave our tent for a house, 59, 
 60. Easter Sunday ; our host secretary of the Beg, 60. House described, 60, 
 
 April 12th. Way to Haris; brow looking towards Tyre, 61. Wady el-'-\y^; 
 torn up to Yatir, towards Tyre, 61. Antiquities, 61, 62. Return, and follow up 
 Wady el- Ayun to Hazireh, 62. Arch and other antiquities, 62, 63. Not Hazor o5 
 Scripture, 63. Turn S. W. to Rameh, Ramah of Asher, 63. Sarcophagi, 64. — AprU 
 13A. Ciy of jackals, 64. Ascend the high hill Belit, 64. Ancient remains ; a tem- 
 ple? 64, 65. View towards the west, 65, 66. Region rarely visited, 66, 67. Kul'at 
 Kurein, 66, 67. A hunter of partridges, 67. Way by 'Aiteh to Wady el-'Aynn and 
 Enmeish, 67, 68. Adjacent valleys, 68. Way to Kefr Bir'im ; cold, 68. We lodge 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 in the priesf s house ; described, 69. The village ; the night, 69. Eemains of tw» 
 Jewish synagogues, 70, 71. A place of Jewish pilgrimage, 71. 
 
 ^pril lith. Way to Meiran, 71, 72. Wadys, Jebel Jermfik, Jebel 'Adathir, 72. 
 Meirdn, ancient, 73. Tombs, 73. Ancient synagogue, 74. Ancient towns near, 74. 
 Way to Beit Jenn, across the mountain, 75. Village of Jermuk, 75. Descent and 
 ascent to Beit Jenn, 75, 76. The village, etc. 76. A gorge through the moimtain to 
 el-Bukei'a, 76. Jews there, 76, 77. Head branches of Wady el-Kiim, 77. Mountains 
 not the Asanum of Josephus, 77. Way to Rimeh, 77, 78. Fine prospect, 78. Plain 
 of Rameh, 78. Descent to E4meh, the Rumah of Naphtali, 79. Way to MughSr, on 
 S. E. side of TeU Hazfir, 79, 80. The village, 80.— J.^ 15tt. Visit Klurbet Hazfir 
 and Tell Hazur, 80, 81. Not Hazor of Scripture, 81. Yakuk, nuOxik, 81. Wady 
 and Khirbet Sellameh, ancient Sdarmx, 82. Deir Hanna, 84. 'Arrabeh, Ardba of 
 Josephns, 83. — ApiH 16^. Remain at 'Arrabeh, 84. 
 
 AprH Vlth. Set off for 'Atka, 84. Sukhnin, anc. Sogane, 85. Way to Kiibarah, 
 85 86. Deep Wady Sha'ah, 85, 86. Ascend to Kubarah, anc. Gabara, 86. Re- 
 mains, 86, 87. Return and foUow down Wady Sha'ab, 87. Arab pio-nic, 87. Kabul, 
 anc. Cabul, Chdbolo, 88. Birweh and Tell Birweh, 88. Plain of 'Atta, 88. Reach 
 •Akka ; lodge with Mr Jemal ; his house and family, 88, 89. Sabbath, 90. View 
 from housetop, 90, 91. — Features and statistics of 'Akka, 91, 92. 'Akka, Accha, Plole- 
 mcds, 92. Historical Notices, 92-97. Jezzar Pasha, his history and cruelties, 97, 98. 
 Siege of 'Akka by Bonaparte, 98. Taken by Ibrahim Pasha, 99. Bombardment in 
 1840, 99. Few antiquities, 100. 
 
 Haifa, anc. Sycandman, 100. Notices, 100. 
 
 CoHVEHT OK Casmel, 100. Site and notices, 101. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Fbou 'Akka tbbottoh Galilee and Samabia to Jsbusalem. 
 Pages 102-160. 
 
 April 19A. Set off from 'Akka across the plain towards 'Abilln, 102. Hay- 
 making, 102. Noble crops, 102. TeU Kison, view, 108. 'Amkah, not Beth^-emek, 103, 
 Tell Da'fik, 103. TeU Knrdany, source of Nahr Na'man, the Sdas, 104. Bir Tireh, 
 104. Tumrah, 104. Ascent, Kaukab, 104. Wely Neby Said over Nazareth, 105. 
 Head of Wady 'Abilin, hiU of Deidebeh, 105. TeU Jefat, Jatapala, 105-107. Valley 
 of Jiphthah-et, Wady 'AbUin, 107. Valley miming from Jefat to el-Buttanf, 108. 
 Eana, Kbirbet Eana, Carta of Galilee, 108. Kefr Menda, 109. Rummaneh, Eimmon; 
 Bjimeh, Aunto, 110.^^^20ia. TeU Bedawiyeh, 110. Plain of Zebulun, of Asoohi^ 
 110,111. City jliocAij, Kefr Menda? 111. Seffiirieh, ;ScRpAori», 111, 112. Ancient 
 tower, 112. Fonntain of Sefiurieh, 112. Way to Beit Lahm, BeOdehem of Zebulun, 
 112, 113. Semmj^nieh, Sirrumiaa; Jebatha, Gdbaiha, 113. Jeida, 113. TeU Sham- 
 ing, in plain of Esdraelon ; encamp, 113, 114. Carmel, roads on its eastern side, 114. 
 TeU Kaimdn, Cammona, Johneam, 114, 115. 
 
 April 2lst. yfaj over the great plain ; only partly tiUed, 115, 116. Cross the 
 Mnkiitta', Kishon, 116. TeU el-MutselUm, prospect, 116, 117. Ta'annuk, Taanach, 
 117. Lejjiuii, stream, Elian, and ruins, 117, 118. The same as ancient Legio and 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 Megiddo, not Maximianopolis, 118. Way over the hills to the plain on the coast, 119- 
 Fork of ancient road, to Nazareth, Tabor, and Jczroel ; Maximianopolis on latter road, 
 119. No trace of ancient pavement, 119. Turn off to Um el-Fahm, 120. Way to 
 Ya'bnd, 120, 121. YaTjud lies on a ridge; fine plain, 121. Kubadeh, 121. Kefr 
 Kud, Caparcotia, 121. 'Arrabeh, 121. Tell Dothan, Bothan, 122. Itoad from Beisan 
 and Jezreel to Egypt passes here, 122. Joseph carried away, 122. Roman road 
 from Cassarea to Scythopolis, 122. Parties in Ya'bnd, 123. — April 22nd. Pass down 
 southwest along the ancient road, 123. Leave it east of Zeita, and go to 'Attil, 124. 
 Turn np the mountain on the Nabulus road, 124, 125. Deir el-Ghiisiin, Wady Mussin, 
 125. Wady Sha'ir, 'Anebta, 125. Tul Keram ; route from Nabulus to Ramleh, 126. 
 Follow up the vaUey ; ancient road from Caesarea, 126. Ramin, situation, 126. Ba- 
 sin of Sebustieh, 126. People would not sell bread, 127. 
 
 AprU 23i Way to Nivbulus, 127. Ancient site, Dibbarieh, 128. Strike our 
 former route, 128. Deir Sheraf, Tell Rafidieh, 128. Lodgings in Nabulus, 128. Our 
 host a leading Protestant, 129. Samaritan priests, 129. Visit them in their syna- 
 gogue, 129, 130. Their commentaries and literature, 130. Loan of a volume to 
 Dr Smith, 130. Others have also manuscripts; some sold, 131. Their Sabbath, 131. 
 Many fountains ; Gerizim and Ebal alike cultivated, 131. Few antiquities, 131. 
 Visit to Jacob's well, 132. Belitah ; road along the plain, 132. Joseph's tomb, 132. 
 'Askar, not Sychar, 133. — April 2Uk. Set off on the road to Ramleh, 133. R.",fidieh, 
 133. Villages ; pass around the shoulder of the monutnin, 134. Make of the coun- 
 try; Kuriet Jit, Gitta, 134. Fer'ata, PiraOum, 134. Funduk, Kefr 'Abbfish, Wady 
 Kanah, SrooiiCanaA, 135. Wady and village 'Azzun, 135,136. Hableh, 136. Vil- 
 lages ; course of W. 'Azzun in the plain, 136. Encamp in low groimd south of Hab- 
 leh, 136. Our road to-day ancient, 136. Many ancient cisterns, 136, 137. Sarco- 
 phagi, 137. Ancient wine-press, 137. Wely and view, 137, 138. Kefr Siba, Ajiti- 
 patris, 138, 139. Jiljulieh, Galois, Gilgal, 139. 
 
 AprU 26tJt. Set off on the way to Ludd, 139. Wady Kanah, 139. Wady Ribah 
 coining from 'Akrabeh, 140. Ras (Kul'at) el-'Ain, head of the 'Aujeh, 140. Mejdel 
 Ylba, 140. Wady Kurawa, 140. Damascus road, Neby Thary, 141. Renthieh, not 
 ArimcOhea, 141, 142. Ludd, I^dda, 142. Set off for Yalo by way of el-Kubab, 143. 
 Wady 'AtaUah, 143. el-Kubab, on first hiUs, 143. 'Annabeh, Bethannaba, 144. Yalo, 
 belongs to the family Abu Ghaush, 144. The Meij Ibn 'Omeir, drained by W. 'Atal- 
 lah, 144, 145. Fine crops, 145. Yalo is ano. Aijalon, 145. Beit Nuba, Nobe, Beih- 
 anaaia ? 145. Ke^, Ch£phirak, a ruin in the mountains, 146. 
 
 April 21(h. Start for Sfira, 146. 'Amwas, EmTnam, Niccpolis, 146. Is this the 
 Emmaus of the New Testament? 147—150. el-Latrun, a mined fortress, Castellum 
 Emmaus v. ioni Laironis, prob. Modin, 150-152. Wady 'Aly, 152. Basin among bills, 
 152. Noble fountain, 153. Women bearing water, 153. Sur'a, Zorak, Samson's 
 birthplace ; lies high, 153. View, 153. Wadys coming from the mountains, W. Ghn- 
 rab and W. Isma"!!; form W. es-Surar, 153, 154. Villages; Kesla, Chescdm, 154. 
 Several roads to Jerusalem ; we decide to go by Kesla and Soba, 154. Descend and 
 cross W. Ghurab to 'Artfif, 154, 155. Turn back by Yeshu'a, 155. Mihdr, 155. Way 
 to Saris, 155, 156. Saris, Sores, 156. Jerusalem road, stony and bad, 156. Kuriet 
 el-'Enab, JKr/att^earim, 156, 157. Family of Abu Ghaush, 157. Way between Beth- 
 shemesh and Kirjath-jearim ? 157. Beit Nukkaba, 157. Kustiil, 168. Descent into 
 the great valley, 158. Kulonia, Koa'on, Culm, 158. 'Ain Karim, 158. — April 28th. 
 Way to Jerusalem; Lifta, 158, 159. Convent of the Cross, 169. Reach Yifa gate, 
 159. Hotel, Briiderhaus, 159. Mules pressed by government, 160. — Results of our 
 journey, 160. Way from Ramleh to Jerusalem by Beth-horon recommended, 160. 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 JkBUBALEM.— InOIDENTB AMD OBSBBTATIOTTa. 
 
 Pages 161-202. 
 
 Appearance of the city ; signs of change and improvement, 161. Influx of Franks, 
 161, 162. American mission withdrawn, 162. Still an oriental city ; its influence 
 Dpon the world, 162. — AprU28th. Letters; Mr Finn the British consul ; DrMcGowan, 
 163. Jews' wailing place ; remains of the arch, 163. Southwest comer of Haram ; 
 Dung-gate half open, 164. City wall and its junction with the Haram wall, 164. 
 Measurements, 164. — April 29th. Lodgings in the Bruderhans, situation, 164. Mr Van 
 de Velde, 164. Open lot and column, 165. Briiderhaus, mission, 165. Bazars, three 
 parallel streets, 165. I'lace of Hospital of the knights, 166. Streets excavated, 166. 
 Bazars the same with the ancient market, 166. Roman portal, St. Mary de Latina, 
 166. Bnins of Xenodochium, 167. Palace of knights Hospitalers, remains, 167. 
 Fragment of a pier, etc 167. Covered street further north, 167. Granite columns 
 near by, once belonging to the Propyhea of Constantine's Basilica, 168. The covered 
 street is a hollow way, 169. A ridge of rock extends down below the church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, 169. Via dolorosa, not known to the crusaders, 170. The alleged 
 Porta judidaria, 170, 171. Street leading to St. Stephen's gate, ascent, 171. The 
 Ecce Homo, 171, 172. Supposed ancient tower, 172. The great reservoir, 172. Mus- 
 lim tombs outside, 173. Eastern wall of Haram, described, 173, 174. Southeast cor- 
 ner, curved stones, 174. Wall very irregular, 175. Measurements, 175. Southern 
 wall of Haram, described, 175, 1 76. Gateway, walled up, 175, 176. Measurements, 
 176. Church of St. Anne, 176, 177. 
 
 AprUZQlh. Dr Barclay's house on Zion; view of the Haram, etc. 177. The 
 causeway, south side, 177. Damascus gate, 177. Bezetha and the grotto of Jeremiah 
 never one ridge, 177, 178. A valley enters the city east of these hills, 178. Thin 
 ridge along the city wall north of St. Stephen's gate, 178. A Birkeh on the north, 
 and another near St. Stephen's gate, 178. Search ia vain for traces of second wall, 178. 
 English cemetery, 178, 179. American cemetery ; grave of Prof. Fiske, 179. Traces 
 of ancient third wJill, 179, 180. Church of Holy Sepulchre ; crypt of Joseph and Nico- 
 demus, tocafi, sarcophagi, 180. Its date? 180-182. Literary Society, 182. Letter 
 from the Samaritan priest, 182. Latitude and longitude of Jerusalem, 183. 
 
 May Is*. Kain, 183. Dr McGowan accompanies us to various places, 183. Deep 
 excavation through rubbish, 183. The Serai or barracks ; view from the roof, 183, 
 
 184. Visit the K&im Makam, 184. Mosk el-Mulawiyeh on Bezetha, noble view, 184. 
 Convent of St John the Baptist ; subterranean chapel uncovered, 184, 185. Accumu- 
 lation of rubbish, 185. House of the Prussian ' Diakonissinen,' 185. Jewish hospital, 
 
 185. Honse of Abu Sa'ud on the Haram wall, 1 85, 186. West wall of the Haram straight, 
 
 186. 187. Ground at northeast corner of Zion, 187. The causeway, sewers, 187. — 
 May Zrd. Ancient wall west of Damascus gate, 188. Fragments of third wall, 188. 
 Tombs of Absalom, James, and Zacharias, 188. East wall of Haram irregular, 189. 
 Snoam, 189. Measnrement of chaimel probably wrong, 189. Scarped rocks along the 
 lower 'TyropceoD, 189. Ascent of streets towards the north, 190. Wall east of Damas- 
 cus gate, 190. West side of Bezetha steep, 190. Ancient second wall, probable 
 course here, 190, 191. Ecce Homo, 191. 
 
 May ith. Ground east of Damascus gate outside, 191. Grotte de Coton, cavern, 
 191, 192. Birket el-He^eh, 192. Ancient southern gate of temple, inscription, 192, 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 193. View throngh -window, 193. Visit the motmt of Olives, 193. KiiTat el-Jalud 
 in N. W. comer of the city, 193. Visit at the Greek conyent, 194, 195. Eleuthero- 
 polis, 194. Chapel of Constantine and Helena, 195. Dome of the chnroh decayed, 
 195. — 3fay Bih. Ground aronnd the Yafa gate, 196. Not admitted to Hippicus, 196. 
 — Mia/ 6tA. Waters at Damascus gate, common cisterns, 196, 197. Eumonr of run- 
 ning water, 197. Cistern in church of the Flagellation, 198. Convent of Copts and 
 Abyssinians, 198. Ahyssinian priest, 199. Cistern of Helena, 199. Small ancient 
 arch on brow of Zion, 199. Porta ferrea, 199, 200. German travellers, 200.— Mag 10th. 
 Visit the mounds of ashes north of the city, 201. Are they ashes from the ancient 
 temple ? 201, 202. 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 JeEUSAIKM. — ^TOPOGKAPHT AND ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 Pages 203-263. 
 
 Object in entering upon the discussion, 203. Diversities of opinion, 204, My own 
 view the earliest one, 204. Scholars who have adopted it, 205, 206. Points admit- 
 ted, 206. 
 
 I. The Tykopoeon and Akea, 207. Language of Josephus, 207. Inferences, 207 
 Nature of the Tyropoeon, 208. Place and nature of Akra, 208, 209. Steps down into 
 the valley, 209. City like an amphitheatre, 210. Objection, 'two hiUs,' 210, 211. 
 
 n. Bezetha, 211. Josephus' description, 211. Inferences, 212. 
 
 HL The Gate Gennath, 212. Same as 'Garden gate,' 213. Probably near 
 Hippicus, 213. This was the natural position, 213. The north side of Zion was cov- 
 ered by the second wall, 214, 215. This shown also from the monument of John ; 
 inferences, 215-217. 
 
 IV. Course of the Second Wai,!, 217. Not a straight course, 217. New 
 hypothetical course, not admissible, 218. Probable course from Hippicus to the Da- 
 mascus gate, 219, 220. From the Damascus gate to Antonia, 220. 
 
 V. SoDTHZEN PORTION OF THE Haram abea, 220. WaiUng place and south- 
 weat comer ancient, 220, 221. Ancient southern gate, 221. The ancient arch and 
 bridge, 221. Passages of Josephus which refer to the bridge, 222-224. Writers who 
 identify the bridge, 224. Objections answered, 225, 226. The bridge had no con- 
 nection with the present causeway, 226, 227. Probable antiquity of the substructions, 
 228. Antiq^uity of the arch, 228, 229. Bevelled stones, a Phenician feature, 229, 230. 
 
 VI. The Fortress Antonia, 230. Earlier fortress Boris, 230. Rebuilt by 
 Herod as Antonia, 281. Described, 231. Its acropolis, 231-233. Extent of the 
 temple and Antonia, 233. Antonia probably occupied the whole northern side of the 
 temple area, 233, 234. Its fosse was the present deep reservoir, 234, 235. The north 
 part of the eastern Haram wall belonged to it, 235. Also the Golden gate, 235. Sev- 
 eral things explained by this view, 236, 237. Objections considered ; north wall of 
 temple held not to be covered, 237. Sieges of the temple were all from the west and 
 northwest, 238-241. Northern portico as a point of defence, 241-243. 
 
 Vn. Waters of Jerusalem, 243. Gihon was on the west, 243-245. Well near 
 the Haram, 245. Explored by Woloott, 245, 246. By Tobler, 246. By Dr Barclay, 
 
CONTENTS. XUl 
 
 246. — The Aqueduct, 247. Subterranean reservoir, 248. — Upper Fountain, 248, 249. — 
 CcataU or Seuiers, 249-251. 
 
 VIII. Sepdlchres,251. Tomlb of ^efena, 251, 252.— Tomtsoftlie Propfeis, 253, 254. 
 
 IX. The Holy Sepulchee, 254. Present state of the question; topographical 
 evidence, 255. Historical testimony, 255-259. Archseological argument, 259. Crypt 
 of Joseph and Nicodemus, 260. Long tradition is of no avail, 261. Like tradition as 
 to Stephen, 261. The two compared, 262. Mr Fergnssou's hypothesis, 263. No 
 tradition of any value in itself, 263. 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 EXOUESIONS FROM JeETJSALEM. 
 
 Pages 264-285. 
 
 I. ExctmsiON- TO Wadt Bithb. — May 5th. Convent of the Cross, 264. Schools, 
 etc. 264. Malihah, Wady el-Werd, 265. Cultivation of roses, 265. 'Ain Yalo, 265. 
 Wady Ahmed, 265. 'Ain Haniyeh (St. Philip's), 265. Welejeh, 266. "Wady Bittir, 
 266. Bittir, £<ether, 266. Tell of Bittir, Khirbet el-Yehud, 266, 267. Was this Tell 
 the site of Bether ? 267. Historical notices of Bether, 267, 268. Not at Betamm, 268. 
 Probably not here at Bittir, 269, 270. Was it at Bethel ? 270, 271. — Return by We- 
 lejeh, 271. Jaura, 271. 'Ain Karim, Kca-em, Carcem, 272. Reach Jerusalem, 272, 
 
 n. ExcDRSioN TO NEAR Hebkon. — May 7th. Road to Bethlehem and Beit Jala, 
 272. el-Khamis, not a Ramah, 273. Rachel's tomb, 273. Ancient aqueduct, perfo- 
 rated stones, 273. Aqueduct from the Pools, 273. Urtas, Etam, 273. Meshnllam's 
 tillage, 274. Americans, 274. Solomon's pools, 274. Hebron road, 274, 275. Be- 
 reikiit, Berachah, 275. Wady 'Arrub, Kufin, 275. Our road the same as formerly^ 
 276. Ascend a Tell, 276. Beit Sur, Seth-zur, 276, 277. 'Ain edh-Dhinveh, 277, 
 278. A traditional St. PhUip's, 278. Proceed to er-Rlmeh, not Eamah of the aouCh, 
 278-280. Immense foundations, house of Abraham, 278-280. Beit 'Ainun, Beth- 
 anoth, 280, 281. Way to Halhul, fine tillage, 281. Halhal, ffalkul, 281, 282.— J% 8th. 
 Way by Beit Ummar, 282, 283. Jedur, Gedor, 283. Wady 'Arrub, Wady Shukheit, 
 283. Beit SakSrieh, Beth-zacharia, 283, 284. Way to el-Khudr (St. George), 284, 
 285. Branch convent, 285. Way to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, 285. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 FsoM Jertjsaleu to Beisan. 
 Pages 286-385. 
 
 May 10th. Departure firom the city, 286. Valley of Jehoshaphat and first ascent, 
 narrow plain, 286. Second ascent, Scopvs, 286. Reflections, 286. Tuleil el-Ful, 
 Gibeah, 286. Ruined Khan, er-Ram, Samah, 287. 'Almit, Alemeth, 287. Hizmeh, , 
 Kubur el-'Amaiikah, 287, 288. Khirbet el-Haiyeh, 288. Jeba', Geba, 288. Wady 
 Suweinit, scene of Jonathan's adventure, 289. Mokhmas, Michmash, 289. — May Wth. 
 Way to Rummon, 289. Rummon, Rimmon, 290. Way to Taiyibeh, 290. Deir Jerur, 
 
 Vol. III.— B 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 290. Unexplored region; way to Kefr MaUk, 290, 291. Kefr Malik, 291. Wady 
 Mahamy or 'Anjeh, 291. Samieh, 291. el-Mughaiyir, 292. Danmeh, Edumia, 292, 
 293. View oyer the Ghor, 293. Kum Surtabeh, 293, 294. VaEey of the Jordan, 
 wild hills 298, 294. 
 
 May \2th. Way to Mejdel, deep Wady Bursheh, 295. Mejdel, Magddl-serma, 295. 
 'Ain Tana, Thanalh, 295. 'Akrabeh, Acrdbi, 296. Lies on a water-shed, 296. Yanun, 
 Jamm, 297. Way to Nahulus, 297, 298. Beit Dejan, Beth-dagm, Salim, 298. Plain 
 of Salim, 298, 299. Water-bed of the Mukhna enters it, 299. Defneh and other 
 fountains, 299. Mounds of ashes, 299. Character of the region just explored, 299, 
 300. Meet with Mr W. Dickson, 300. Mr Van de Velde, 300. 
 
 May lith. Plan to visit the Ghor, Mr Van de Velde travelling with us, 300. 
 'Askar, 300. Villages, 301. Northern prolongation of the Mukhna, 301. Wady 
 Bidan, deep valley and chasm, 301. Basin of the Fari'a, 301. Ascend to TuUuzah, 
 riraoA, 302, 303. Way to Burj el-Faifa, old mUl, 303. Region of the Fari'a, well 
 watered and fertile, 304. Tell 'Abd el-Kadir, ArdieUas, 304. Reach Tubls, Thebes, 
 305. 'Ainun, not ^nm, 305. Way to Teyasir, 306. Jewish sepulchre, 307. Teya- 
 sir, 306. Roman road, 306. — May 14<S. Troubled for a guide ; Sheikh from Tubas, 
 307. Kusr el-Malih, 307, 308. Overagainst Kul'at er-Kubud, 308. Warm salt 
 springs, 308. Eliirbet Malih, Coabis ? 308, 309. Wady and ruin esh^Shukk, 309. 
 Gentle descent to the Ghor, lines of hills, 309. Sakut, Suceoth, 309, 310. Tells in 
 sight, fountain, 310. Notices, 310-312. Way through the Ghor, fertility, 312, 313. 
 'Ain el-Beida, 313. Land tilled by the people of Tubas, 313. Berdela, 314. 'Ain 
 Mak-huz, harvest scene, 314. Wadys and ruins in Gilboa, 314. Arrangements for 
 an excursion to Pella, 315. 
 
 Mca/ 15th. Early start; way to the Jordan, 315, 316. Ford of the Jordan, island, 
 316. Way to Wady Yabis, 316. Surrounded by armed peasants from Farah, 316. 
 Visit their encampment, breakfast, 317. Cross Wady Yabis, and ascend by a smaller 
 Wady, 317. Oaks of Bashan, 317. Wide view, 317, 318. Noble fields of wheat, 
 318. Kefr Abil, 318. Ruins el-Maklub and ed-Deir on Wady Yabis, 319. The lat- 
 ter probably Jdbesh-gilead, 319. Notices, 319, 320. Way down the mountain, 320. 
 Ruins of Fahil, Fella, 320-322. Notices, 322-324. Tubukah, terrace, 321, 325. 
 Fording places of the Jordan ; guide leads the horses, 325. Way to Beisan, 325, 326. 
 People of Beisin oppressed by the Bedawin, 326. 
 
 Beisan, situation on brow between the Ghor and valley of Jezreel, 326, 327. Four 
 brooks of water, 327. Region volcanic, 328. Ruins extensive, many columns, 328. 
 The Tell, 328, 329. Anc. Beth-shean and ScytAopolis, 329, 330. Source of the latter 
 name, 330. Historical Notices, 330-332. 
 
 Saum and Mso^, not found, 333. — The Ghob, general character, 333, 334. Di- 
 vided by Kum Surtabeh, 334. The northern portion well watered and cultivated in 
 parts, 334, 335. 
 
 SECTION VIII, 
 
 Frou Beisait to Easbeiyeh. 
 Pages 336-383. 
 
 May nth. Tell of Beisan, 336. Way to Beit Ufa ; many water-conrsea, 33S. 
 A marsh ? 336. Beit Dfa, not Betylua nor Bethulia, 336-338. Sweep of the monntaina, 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 336, 837. Sarcophagi, 337. Judeideh, 'Ain Judeideh, 337. No great road across the 
 mountain to Jenin, 337. Notices of Betylna, 337, 338. Arab encampments in the 
 plain, 338. Channel of the Jalud ; difficnlty of crossing, 338. Kumieh, position, 389. 
 Other villages in sight, 339. Na'urah, threshing-floors, 339. Line of hills, 339. 
 Tumrah, 340. View of plain of Esdiaelon, 340. Endnr, &<for, 340. Pass down to- 
 wards eastern base of Tabor, 340. Meet travellmg Jews, 340. Wady Sheriir at south- 
 em base of Tabor, 340, Another Wady at the eastern base coming from Khan et- 
 Tnjjar, 340. The two unite and form Wady el-Bireh, 340. Follow up the valley to 
 the Khan, 340, 341. Arabs Subaih, 341. Way to Lubieh ; by mistake we make a 
 circuit, 341. 
 
 May 18i4. Sheikh of Lubieh goes with us as guide, 341. Basin, Ard el-Ahmar, 
 341: Hajar en-Nusrany, 342. View, villages and Wadys, 342. Not the place visited 
 by Arcnlfus, 342. Irbid, BtsOi-ArM, Ariela, Jewish architecture, 342, 343. Wady 
 el-Hamam, its deep chasm, 343. Fortified caverns, Kul'at Ibn Ma'An, 343. Other 
 caverns, 343. Our path of 1838 ; the Bound fountain, 344. Wadys, plain el-Ghu- 
 weir, Khan Minych, 344. 'Ain et-Tin, fertile tract, clover, 344. Ruins near by exten- 
 sive, 345. Pass over the point of the promontory, ancient aqueduct, 345. et-Tabighah, 
 immense fountains, 345. Ancient reservoir for raising a bead of water, 345, 346. 
 Arab encampment, 346. Tell Hum, overgrown with thistles, 346. Principal ruin a 
 Jewish synagogue, 346. Turn up west almost without path, 346. Clusters of black 
 volcanic rocks, like ruins, 347. Bir Kerazeh, and slight ruins, 347. Not Chorasin, 347. 
 
 Capernaum, probably situated at Khan Minyeh ; arguments, 347-354. Views of 
 early travellers, 354-358. — Bethsaida, probably at et-Tabighah, 358, 359. — Choradn, 
 probably at Tell-Hum, 359, 360. 
 
 We pass up by our former path to the Damascus road, and then go north, 361. 
 Ja'uneh, high site, 361, Ard el-Khait, lake of the Huleh, 361, Sm.—May mh. Our 
 road high along the declivity of the western mountain, 362. Fir'im, village and Wady, 
 362. Mughar, 362. Kuba'a, and Wadys, 363. Kasyun, ruin, 363. Descend to 
 mouth of Wady Hendaj and plain, 364. Road to Kedes ; ascend the hills, 364. Turn 
 off to Tell Khureibeh with ruins, 364. High and sightly position, 364. Probably the 
 site of flazor of Naphtali, 365. Historical Notices, 365, 366. — Pass on to Kedes, 366. 
 Position, fountains, 366, 367. Plain has no outlet, 367. Eastern declivity of the 
 whole region descends by four plateaus, 367. Antiquities ; Jewish structwes, large 
 sarcophagi, 367, 368. Kedesh of Naphtali, 368. Historical Notices, 368, 369. Pass 
 on to Meis el- Jebel, 369. 
 
 May 20th. Way from Meis northwards, 369, 370. Western view, Tibnin, 370. 
 Eastern view, the Huleh, 370. Hunin, position, ancient fortress, 370, 371. Probably 
 Beth-BaluA, 371, 372. Pass along on high ground, 372. Abil, anc. Aid, on right, 
 372. el-MutuUeh, 373. Kefr Kily on left, 373. Brow of Merj 'Ayun, 373. Way 
 through the Merj, 373, 374. Ploughing and pastures, 374. Fountain of .the Merj, 
 374. Strike across to Tell Dibbin, 374. Probable site of Ijon, 375. Pass on towards 
 Hasbeiya, small plain, 375. Ibl, 376. Valley of the Hasbany, 376. Lower ridge of 
 Hermon, 376. Gorge of Wady Shib'a, 376. Ruined Khin in the valley, 376. The 
 ford ; Wady Bfisis, 376. Ascend the Wady to Hasbeiya, 377. Mr Thomson awaiting 
 ns ; he becomes my companion, 377 John Wortabet, 377. 
 
 Dr Smith returns home, 377. My illness, 377. Cream-coloured pigeons, 377. — 
 Public worship, 377, 378. Missionary station, 378. — Visit the great fountain, beauty 
 of the spot destroyed, 378. No stream above in summer, 378. The bitumen pits, on 
 the we-stem declivity, 379. Resemble wells; nses of the bitumen, 379. View of 
 Hasbeiya and of Jebel esh-Sheikh, 379, 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 Wady et-Teim the earliest seat of the Drtizes, 380. Position of Hasbeiya, amphi- 
 theatre of hills, 380. Views of the town, 380, 381. Vineyards, Dibs, process of 
 making, 381. The Emir, 381. Druze KhCilwat el-Biyad on southern hill, 381, 382. 
 'Aiu Kunyeh, 382. Shuweiya, 382. Other villages, 382. Elevation of Tarious 
 points, 383i 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 Fkom Hasbeiya. to Banias and back. 
 Pages 384-418. 
 
 Unquiet state of the Dmzes, reports of robberies, 384. Obtain letter and men from 
 Druze Sheikh, 384. — Mat/ 25th. Tokens of rain, slight showers, 385. Way by Eau- 
 kaba to Biirghuz, 385. Low swell or spur from Lebanon, through which the Litany 
 breaks by a chasm above Burghiiz, 385, 386. Way to Belat, along the chasm of the 
 river broken through another spur; exciting lide, 386. Belat and chasm adjacent, 
 386, 387. The Webr, hyrax Syriacus, coni/ of Scripture, 387. The Khutweh, 387. 
 Neby Haskin, 387. Jndeideh, 388. Revisit Tell Dibbin and ascend to Khiyam, 388. 
 View, 388. 
 
 May 26ih. Way to the Huleh, 388, 389. Steps or offsets in the northern plain, 389. 
 Deep channel of the Hasbany, Luweizeh, and fountains, 389. Basalt region, 389. 
 el-Ghujar, 390. Tell el-Kady, 390-393. Large fountains and stream, 390, 391. Po- 
 sition and form of the Tell, S91. Not a crater, 391. Traces of ruins, 392. Stream 
 is called Ledd5n, perhaps fi-om Dan, 392. This the site of Dan ; Historical Notices, 
 392, 393. Villages in sight, 393. Parched grain, 393. 
 
 The Huleh, excursion into, 393-396. Difneh, Daphne, 393. Large oak full of 
 birds' nests, 394. el-Mansury, 394. Many canals from the Leddln, mills, many bees, 
 394. Ford the Banias river, and the Leddln, 394. Junction of all the streams, 395. 
 Relative size, 395. Character of the plain and marsh, 395, 396. Return to el-Man- 
 sury, 396. 
 
 Way to Banias, 396. Country around, 396. We meet no robbers, 396, 39T. 
 Terrace of Binias, 397. Jebel Heish, 398. 
 
 May 27th. Excursion to the lake Phiala, 398. Wady Za'areh, 398. 'Ain Kun- 
 yeh, 398. Goat-viUage Mesady, 399. Lake Phiala; character, stagnant waters, 
 frogs, leeches, 399. No ground for supposing a connection with the Jordan, 400. Now 
 called er-Ram and er-Ran, 400. Small lake high on esh-Sheikh, 400. n. Merj Ya- 
 fury, 400. Mejdel Shems, 400. Way to Sheikh 'Othman Hazury, its oaks, 401. 
 Chasm above Jubbaia, head of Wady Khiishabeh, 401, 402. Ruin HJzury, not Sa:or 
 
 402. Kul'at Subeibeh, a great and well preserved fortress, 402-404. Inle.ior citadel, 
 
 403. R turn to Baniis, 404. 
 
 Banias, position beautiful and unique, 404, 405. Wild animals, 405. Three 
 Wadys, 'Asal, Khushabeh, and Za'arah, 405, 406. Great fountain, not from under 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh, 406. Ancient Panium, 406. Inscriptions, 407. Ancient legend of 
 a connection with Phiala, 407. Another fountain near, 408. — Village of Banias, 408. 
 The citadel, 408, 409. Ancient Paneas, 409. Historical Notices, 409-412. 
 
 Sources of the Jordan, and streams above and in the Huleh, 412. Not the re> 
 motest, hut the largest foimtains, regarded as the source 413, 
 
CONTENTS. Xvii 
 
 Mag 28<A. Way to and up Wady et-Teim, 413. 'Ain Khtirwa'ali, 413. Visit to 
 Kul'at Bustra, temples, a riddle, 414. "Wady and 'Ain Seraiyib, 415. Wady Khn- 
 reibei, 415. Rasheiyet el-Ffikhar, 415, 416. Its pottery, 416. Way to Hibbariyeh, 
 415. Great Wady Shib'a, 416. Village Shib'a, its many goats, 416. Hibbariyeh ; 
 ancient temple, measurements, 417. 'Aiu Jiirfa, 418. Reach Hasbeiya, 418. Eleva- 
 tion of various places, 418. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 Fkom Hasbbita to Damascus. 
 Pages 419-472. 
 
 Routes to Damascus, 419. — May S\st. Our party, delays, 419. Cross Wady et- 
 Teim ; fountains on western declivity, 420. Ridge ed-Dahar, separating the Hasbany 
 and the Litany, 420. Road along the top, 420. Wall of Lebanon, Taum Niha, 421. 
 Lower ridges at the base of Lebanon, 421. Chasm of the Litany, 421. Arrive at 
 Yiihmur, 422. The Kuweh, a natural bridge, 422. Wild scenery, 422, 423. The 
 bridge, 423. Proceed towards Neby Silfaj country around, 424. Top of ridge ed- 
 Dahar, 424. Meij Shemiseh and environs, 425. Libbeiya, 426. Neby Siifa, called 
 also Thelthatha, 426. Ancient temple, measurements, 426. Upper basin of Wady 
 et-Teim, 426, 427. 
 
 June \st. Way from Neby SiSfa towards Dahar el-Ahmar, fountain, 427, 428. — 
 Information obtained : Muhaiditheh, 428. Line of hills and side valley from head of 
 Wady et-Teim to the Buka'a at 'Anjar, 428. Places along the western hills, 428, 429. 
 Places along the foot of Anti-Lebanon, 429. Great Damascus road, 429, 430. This 
 valley from Wady et-Teim almost unknown, 430. Ridge ed-Dahar not a spur, 430. — 
 We turn off to Rasheiya, 430. Its position, 431. Jebel esh-Sheikh near at hand, 431. 
 Its lower western ridge, and valley above, 431. Summit visited by Rev. Mr Porter, 
 ruins, 432. Its elevation, 432. — Damascus road from Rasheiya, 432. 'Aiha, scattered 
 remains of an ancient temple, 433. Route by Kefr Kuk, 433. Fine basin, often a lake, 
 433. Elevation ; Kefr Kuk, 434. Road by Deir el-'Ashayir ; ascend a ridge, 434. 
 Druze horseman, story of robbers, 434. Turn off to Rukhleh, 435. Ancient temple, 
 measurements, 435, 436. Burkush and its ruins not visited, 436. Return north 
 through the mountains, 436, 437. View of the plateau of Zebedany, 437. Deir el- 
 'Ashayir ; ancient temple, measurements, 437, 438. Hermon girded with temples, 438. 
 
 Jyne 2nd. Mr Thomson returns to Hasbeiya, adventure, 438, 439. Our way to 
 Dimas, 'Ain and Wady Meithelun, Dimas, 439. The Sahra, desert plain, 439, 440. 
 Fine fountain, el-'Arrad, 440. Ridges and valleys, 440. View of Damascus and its 
 plain, 441. Descend to el-Mezzeh, 441. — Eastern declivity of Anti-Lebanon, its char- 
 acter, 441. — Approach to the city, avenues, earth-walls, 441. Canals, 442. Bab es- 
 Snrijy, 442. Lodge with Rev. Mr Robson, 442. Protestant missions, 442. My occu- 
 pations, 442. Public worship, 442, 443. Dr Meshaka and Anton Bnlad, 443. 
 
 DAMABO08. 
 The Piain, el-Gbdtah. — Bouvdaries. Western ridge, Jebel Kasyfin, Jebel Teni- 
 yeh, 443, 444. Jebel Aswad and Jebel Mani'a on the south, 444. On the east, lakes 
 and mountains, 445. — DiviaUms, 445. — Telk, 445, 446. — Soil, 446. 
 
 Vol. hi.— B* 
 
XVm CONTENTS. 
 
 Rrrarss and Foustaiss, 446. The Barada, 446. Its canals on the north and 
 sonth, 446, 4;47. Is the ancient Chrysorrlwas, 447. Probahly also the ATnana (or 
 jMima), 447. — 'lie A'waj, probahly the ancient PAorpar; its course, 447, 448. — Vari- 
 ous fountains, 448, 449. Artificial fountains or wells, for irrigation, 449, 450. 
 
 The Lakes, 450-452. The two northern fed by the Barada, 450. Extent and 
 character, 451. The third or southern lake receives the A'waj, 451. Villages, 451. 
 Ruins east of the lakes, 452. 
 
 AoBicDLTORE, Fruits. — ^Varfous products, 452. Trees and fruits, 452. 
 
 The Crrr. — Geogr. position, 458. Population, 453, 454. Lies mostly south of 
 the river; its form, 454. The streets, 454. Houses; the interior sometimes splendid, 
 455. House of the British consul, 455, 456. The castle, mosks, Khans, 456. Ba- 
 zars, 456, 457. Manufactures, commerce, 457. Baths, 457, 458. Coffee-houses, 458. 
 Mound before the eastern gate ; wide view, 458. The Meidan, 459. The Merj and 
 its streams, 459. Hospital for pilgrims, 459. Horse bazar ; wild horses, 459. Huge 
 plane tree, 459, 460. Dogs, their habits, 460. Abundance of water ; evUs, 460. All 
 jealous of their rights, 460. Mosquitos, dampness, 460. High clogs or pattens, 460, 
 461.— Churches, 461. 
 
 Antiquities. — The castle, 461. The ancient wall, 461, 462. Church of St. John, 
 now mosk of the Ommiades, 462. Many ancient columns, 463. The street called 
 ' Straight,' 463. The canals ancient, 463. No aqueducts, 463. Coins, 464. 
 
 HiSTOKY. — Damascus in the Old Testament, 464, 465. Under the GreelvS and 
 Syro-Greek dominion, 465, 466. Under the Romans, in the New Testament, and 
 later, 466, 467. Under Muslim rule, 467, 468. 
 
 Places near Damascus. — Salihiyeh, 469. — Kubbet Seiyar, celebrated prospect, 
 469, 470. — Helbon, position and description, 471, 472. Probably the Belbon of Scrip- 
 ture ; its wine still famous, 472. — Hureiry, 472. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 From DAMASctrs to Ba'albek. 
 Pages 473-527. 
 
 Third portion of the journey ; Mr Robson becomes my companion ; arrangements, 
 473. — Jwnelth. Setting off; Mr Porter accompanies us for some distance ; custom-house 
 officers, 473. Kubbet Seiyar and its magnificent prospect, 473, 474. Meet the British 
 consul, 474. Dummar ; roads, 474. Way to Bessima, whitish hills, the Sahra, 474. 
 Bessima, 474, 475. Long ridge extends to Menin, 475. Course of the Barada, roads, 
 villages, 475. Below Bessima is a tunnel, hut no road, 475. Perhaps for irrigation, 
 475. Road above Bessima, chasm, small fountain, 476. Fijeh and great fountain ; 
 remains of temples, 476, 477. Stream is larger than the Barada above; reckoned as 
 the s^rurce of the Barada, 477. Valley and adjacent ridges, 477, 478. Villages ; el- 
 Kefr, ruins of a temple, 478. Suk Wady Barada, 478. Narrow pass, bridge, 478. 
 Remains of an ancient city, necropolis, ancient excavated road, 479, 480. Latin in- 
 scriptions, 480, 481. Wely ofNebyHabil(Abel),481. Site of ^iifa, 482. Historical 
 Notices, 482-484. — -Ascend the valley to south end of the plain of Zebedjny, and en- 
 camp, 484, 485. Again on plateau of Deir el-'Ashayir, 485. Ridges adjacent, 485. 
 
CONTENTS. XIX 
 
 Jvave 8«i. Gardens of Zebedany, 485. Bludin and villages, 485, 486. Character 
 of the plain, 486. Loftiest peak of Anti-Lehanon proper near Bludan, 486. Plain of 
 Siirghaya, Wady Yahfufeh, 486. 'Ain Hawar and stream, 486, 487. Bludan and 
 mountain, 487. Attempt to cross the plain ; turn back, 487. Take guide, and cross 
 higher up, 487, 488. Source of the Barada, 488. Batruny, 488. Ascend a spur ; top 
 of high western ridge, 488. View back ; country towards Helbon, 489. View south, 
 and west, 489. Wady el-Kiim and road from Damascus to Beirut, 489, 490. Descend 
 into and join the Beirut road in the Sahil Judeideh, 490. Its position and desert na- 
 ture, 490, 491. Series of ridges and plateaus behind us, 491. Wady Za'i-ir, 491. 
 Becomes Wady Harir, and extends to the Buka'a, 491. Small Kh&n, 492. Line of 
 hills and side valley connecting with Wady et-Teim, 492. Mejdel ; adventure of mule 
 and dogs, 492. Ancient temple, its striking position, 492, 493. Described, 493, 494. 
 Another temple at Zekweh, 494. View from temple at Mejdel, 494, 495. Course of 
 the Beirut road, 495. Ruins of 'Anjar, 495, 496. Plundered by the crusaders, 496. 
 Ancient C^o/cis WTKfer ZcJoTwn, 497. Great fountain, Neba' *Anjar, 498. Intermitting? 
 498. Beckoned as the source of the Litany, 499. Alluvial plain of the Buka'a, 499. 
 Is a vast mountain cleft, 499. 
 
 Jume. 9th. Keep along the base of Anti-Lebanon, 499. Neba' Shemsin, 500.' High 
 Tell, and a further line of hills, forming a side valley, 500. Roads from Zebedany, 
 villages, 500, 501. Deir el-Ghuzal; remains of anc. temple, 501. Masy, ruins; 
 Wady and village Yahfufeh, 501. Neby Shit, 502. Main road from Zebedany to 
 Ba'albek, 502. Here western ridge of Anti- Lebanon terminates, 503. The Buka'a 
 further north, 603. Way to Ba'albek ; villages ; upper road from Zebedany, 503. 
 We pass down by 'Ain Burday, 404. Another road from Masy northwards lies in the 
 great plain, 504. Ancient quarries ; enormous stone, 505. Position of the temples 
 of Ba'albek; ancient city wall, 505. Fountain of Ba'albek, 506. Elevation, 506. 
 Encamp near the temples, 606. 
 
 The Temples. 
 
 General remarks, 507. Want of preparation in travellers, 507. Plan and out- 
 line, 508. 
 
 The Great Tempij;, 509-514. Portia), 509. Inscriptions, 509. Pavilions, 509. 
 Great portal, 609. — Hexagon, court, 510. — Great Quadrangle, 510. Exedrffi, etc. 510, 
 
 511. Peristyle; number, order, and size of the columns, 511. Columns broken away 
 
 for the iron cramps, 511. Walls on which the columns stand, 511, 512. Striking 
 remains, 512. — Substructions, 512-514. On the west, the enormous Trilithon, 512, 513. 
 On the north, 513. Vaulted passages, 513. Face of the northern wall, 513, 514. 
 
 Lessee Temple, 514-516. Its position, 514. Measurements and columns, 514, 
 615. Sculptured ceiling of colonnade, 515. Great portal, its exceeding beauty, 515, 
 
 516. The cella, its interior described, 616. 
 
 General Features, 516. Present entrance, 516, 517. Wonderful symmetry, 
 
 517. Compared with temples of Athens and Thebes, 517. 
 S.MALL CiRcnLAB Temple, 517, 518. 
 
 History, 518-527. Heliopolis, 'City of the Sun,' 518. Not Baal-gad, nor 
 Baalath, 519. Prob. the Bikath Aven of the prophet Amos, 519, 520. Coins of the 
 city, 520. Great temple referred to Antoninus Pius, 520. Testimony of coins, 521. 
 Was a Pantheon, 521. The martyr Gelasinus, 521, 522. Constantine destroys the 
 temple of Venus at Afka, and establishes a church and bishopric at Heliopolis, 522. 
 Return to heathenism under Julian, 522, 523. Christianity restored, 523. Muham- 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 medan conquest, 523. The city first appears as Ba'albek and as a fortress, 524. No- 
 tices by Arabian writers, 52i-526. Ba'albek unknown to the earliest Frank travellers, 
 526. Later notices, 526, 527. Great work of Wood and Dawkins, 527. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 Fkom Ba'albek bt Kibleh to el-Htjsit. 
 
 Pages 528-569. 
 
 North of Ba'albek the Buka'a changes its character, 528. — Jiaie 10th. Departure, 
 cemetery, 528. Immense slope extending down west from Anti-Lebanon, 528, 529. 
 Nahleh, ancient temple, 529. Sepulchres, 529. Ancient aqueduct, 530. Way to 
 Wady Yunin, 530. Lone column in the plain, 530. Northern portion of the eastern 
 declivity of Lebanon, 530, 531. Names of northern Lebanon, 531. Resm el-Hadeth, 
 
 531. Higher tract, water-shed of the Buka'a, 531. Lebweb, fountain, basin, village, 
 
 532. Ancient Libo or Lt/bo, 533. 
 
 June 11th. Follow the canal for a time ; turn up to 'Ain, not the Jim of Scripture, 
 
 533. 534. Deep ravine and brook, Fikeh, 534. View of lake, 534. BSs Ba'albek, 
 
 534. A poor village, once an important place, 534, 535. Ruins of churches, 535. 
 Probably ancient Conna^ 535-537- Way to the fountains of the Orontes, desert tract, 
 537. Chasm of the Nahr Lebweh, 537, 538. Fountains at the base of Lebanon, on 
 the east of the stream, 538. Historical Notices of the fountains, 539. The Monks' 
 cavern, Deir Mar Maron, 539, 540. Monument of Hurmul, singular and inexplicable, 
 540—542. Sculptures, hunting-scenes, 541. View from it, 542, Way to Ribleh, 
 desert and covered with loose trap, 542, 543. Ribleh at the elbow of the Orontes, 543. 
 The ford, the village, 543. View ; termination of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, Hiir- 
 mul, 544. Ancient lUblah, 544. Historical Notices, 544—546. 
 
 The Biika'a, its character, Cales^/ria, 546. — Lebanon, character of its eastern de- 
 clivity, summits and elevation, 456, 547. Anti-Lebanon, its character, elevation, 
 lidges, 547. Plains or basins, lakes, 547. In Lebanon only one lake, Birket Yem- 
 moneh, 548. Traces of volcanic agency more abundant in Anti-Lebanon, 548. — 
 Valley of the Orontes, its character, 548, 549. Lake of Kedes or' Hums, 549. Cities: 
 ApoTneOj now at Kul'at el-Mudik, 550. Larissa^ now Seijar or Sheizar, 550. Mamalh^ 
 now Hamah, 551. ATeOaum, now Restun, 551. Eviesa, now Hums, 551-553. Its 
 mound or Tell, 553, 554. Laodicea in Lebanon, now at Tell Neby Mindau, 554, 555. 
 J^aradisuSj now old Jusieh, 556. 
 
 Jjine 12th. Reasons for not proceeding further north, 556, 557. Set off for el- 
 Husn, around the north end of Lebanon, 557. Plain well tilled, 'Ain et-Tannur and 
 stream, 557. Buweidah, volcanic region, 557. Gradual ascent, view of Hums and 
 lake, 558. Character of the region, 558. Ruined villages, 558. Singular tomb, 557, 
 558. Descend into Wady Khalid, fine brook, 559. Proceed down the fertile valley, 559. 
 Arab cemeteries, 559. Extreme northern point of Lebanon, 559, 560. Fine plain or 
 basin, el-Bukei'a, 559, 560. Nahr el-Kebir, 560. Roads, and bridges over it, 560. 
 Marshy ground; we make a circuit towards the north, 561. Ruined villages, cattle, 
 buffalos, 561. Fountains, road from Hums to Tripoly, 561. Tillage, noble fields of 
 tvheat, 561. Encamp at the foot of the castle hill, 561. Cheapness of provisions, 561. 
 A ruin near our tent, 561, 562. Character of the region we had passed over, 562. 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 June Xiih. The fortress el-Husn, its position commands an important pass, 563. 
 Described, 562, 563. View from it east and west, lake of Hums and the Mediterra- 
 nean, 563, 564. Also Buij Safita, 564. Villages in sight, 564. Visited only hy 
 recent travellers, 565. Present structure not older than the times of the Saracens, 565. 
 Historical Notices, 566. Perhaps the Mamouga of Ptolemy, 566, 567. 
 
 Thk 'Water-shed, east of el-Husn, 567. The Orontes might be brought across 
 it, 568. 
 
 The Enteking dt of Hamath, was this great depression between Lebanon and 
 the Nusairiyeh mountains, 568, 569. 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 Feom el-Httsn by way of the Oedaes to Beirut. 
 Pages 570-626. 
 
 Plan to go from el-Husn by 'Akkar to the cedars, frustrated, 570. — Jxme \ith. 
 Leave el-Husn, 570. Notch and valley northwest, 570, 571. Convent Mar Jirjis, 
 much frequented, 571. Proceed down the valley, 572. Large intermitting fountain, 
 the Sabbatical river of Josephus, 572. March of Titus, Arcsea ('Arka), and Eapha- 
 naea, 572-574. Reeling silk, 574. Leave valley, go southwest ; Tell el-Haush, 574. 
 Neba' el-'Arus, 574. Lower fertile plain, 574, 575. Villages, 575. Eoad from Hums 
 comes in, 575. Nahr el-Kebir and Jisr el-Abyad, ancient Eleutherus, 575, 576. Way 
 towards Heitela, 576. No road to 'Akkar ; we turn off towards Sheikh Muhammed, 
 
 576. Nahr 'Akkar, 577. Encamp below Sheikh Muhammed, 577. White oleanders, 
 
 577, 578. 
 
 June 15th. Disappointment; proceed towards Tripoly, 578. Villages on hills on 
 the left, 578. 'Arka and its Tell, 578, 579. Ancient Area, seat of the Arhkes, 579. 
 Historical Notices, 579-581. Streams north of Tripoly, 582. Leave the road to Tri- 
 poly, and go east of Jebel Turbnl, 582. Villages, 582. Nahr Barid, ford ; deep and 
 rushing current, 582. Its source, 582. Region between Jebel Turbul and Lebanon, 
 
 583. Wady Halan and village, 583. 'Ayun 'Ashash, 583. Another road to Tripoly ; 
 turn off again near Erdy, 583, 584. Ford the river Resha'in, 584. Zugharta, 584. — 
 Strike the great road from Tripoly to the cedars and Ba'albek, 584. Wady Ju'ait, 
 
 584. Chasm through lowest ridge of Lebanon, 584. Villages, 584. First plateau of 
 the mountain, 584. View ; plain along the base of Lebanon, separated from the sea 
 by a ridge, 584, 585. Gorge of Wady Haruna, 585. Way almost impassable, 585. 
 'Ain Haruna, encamp, 685. View; delightful evening, 585, 586. 
 
 June 16<A. Still in the chasm, 586. Higher plateau of the mountain, 586. Well 
 watered, crops backward, field of potatoes, 586. Ehden, fine fountain ; not Eden, 586, 
 587. Way to the cedars, fountains, 587. Gulf of the Kadisha, 587, 588. 
 
 The Cedars, 588. Situation and character of the grove, 588. No two travellers 
 count the trees alike, 588, 589. Number of old trees constantly diminishing, 589. 
 The spot held sacred, altars, chapel, 589, 590. The cedars stand in a vast amphithe- 
 atre, 590. Elevation, 591. The cedar of Lebanon celebrated in Scripture ; its uses, 
 691, 592. Ancieiit cedar forests destroyed, 692. Still many tracts of cedars further 
 north ; Ehrenberg's testimony, 592, 593. — Name of the ridge above the cedars ; not 
 Jebel Makhmel, which is known only in Tripoly as a name for the highest peak, 593. 
 
XXU CONTENTS. 
 
 Leave the cedars; gnlf of the Kadisha, 594. Three branches ; cross two and tnm 
 back, 594. Road along the chasm to Bsherreh, 594, 595. Position, fertility, female 
 beggars, 595. Fertility of Lebanon caused by the abnndance of waters, 595. Way 
 across the chasm ; convent Mar Serkis, Seetzen, 595, 596. Deep gorge now on our 
 right; convent, villages, 596. Other fields of potatoes, 596. Hasrun, encamp, 596. 
 Position, new church, 596, 597. Splendid view of the deep gorge and its upper por- 
 tion, 597. 
 
 June 17ih. Ringing of bells, 598. Set off on road towards Hadith, 598. Convents 
 and villages, 598. Deir Kanobin, 598, 599. Leave road to Hadith and ascend south- 
 west, 599. Table land ; chasm of Wady Duweir, 599. Lower ragged ridge of Leba- 
 non, 599. Wady Harisa, 599. Alpine pass ; snow, 600. Wady Tannurin and vil- 
 lages below on the right, 600. Wady Bushrikh, Ard 'Akluk, 600. High region, fine 
 views ; narrow rocky plain, 600. Patches of snow ; Arabs, 601. Battlemented hill 
 and snow, 601. A road just north leading over to Ba'albek, 601. Lofty spur and 
 brow over 'Akurah ; Jebel Sunnin, 601, 602. Descend into the great Wady el-Mu- 
 gheiyireh, and reach 'Akurah, 602. Village ; road to Ba'albek, inscriptions, 602. 
 Character of this Wady, 603. Leave 'Akurah, shallow cavern and fountain, 603. 
 Peculiar formation of vaEeys with a terrace on each side, 603. Pass down southwest 
 on left hand terrace, 603. Turn southeast into Wady el-Muneitirah ; village of same 
 name, wine-press, 603. Notices of the village, 604. Route to the Buka'a, 604. Up- 
 per recess of the valley ; cavern, fountains, 604, 605. Waterfalls, 605. Ruined tem- 
 ple opposite. Syenite columns, 605, 606. These the sources of the Nahr Ibrahim, the 
 ancient Adonis ; and this the temple of Venus at Apheca, 606. Historical Notices, 
 606, 607. Pass on to Afka, Apheca; encamp, 607, 608. 
 
 Jrnie 18th. Visit ruins at Zawarib, 608. Noble view, 608, 609. Return to road ; 
 ascend high ridge on our left, 609. Descend and follow down Wady Shebruh, 609. 
 BasLo of the Nahr el-Kelb, 609, 610. Neba' el-'Asal, 610. Chasm of Neba' el-Leben ; 
 natural bridge, 610. Stream under it from fountain, 610, 611. Arch of the bridge 
 and measurements, 611. Way to Fnkra ; water-shed and canal, Nahr Salib, 611, 612. 
 Ruins at Fukra, 612. Ancient temple, singular tract of rocks, 612, 613. Other en- 
 closures, 613. Way to Mezra'ah, 614. Cross the deep and romantic gulf of the 
 Salib, 614. Sun rising in the west, 615. Villages and mulberry orchards ; way to 
 'Ajeltun ; encamp, 615. 
 
 June 19tk. Kesraw3n, its character, thriit, and quiet, 616. Shuweir, 616. — Last 
 day of travel ; view of the sea, 616, 617. Way to the coast ; villages and convents, 
 617. 'Ain Turah, Zuk el-Khurab, 617. Descent to the river ; the bridge, 617. — 
 Pass of Nahr el-Kelb ; earlier and higher road, 618. Inscriptions and sculptures, 
 618-624. Latiu inscriptions, 618, 619. The nine tablets described, 619, 620. Views 
 of Lepsius and Layard, 621. Great antiqiuty, 622. DifBoulties, 622. Noticed only 
 in modem times, 623, 624. — Pass on rapidly to Beirut. — Western declivity of Lebanon, 
 its basins and streams, 624. Numerous ancient temples, 625. 
 
 Voyage to Smyrna, 625, 626. Stay at Bournabat ; illness, 626. Voyage to 
 Trieste ; join my family at Salzburg, 626. Voyage to New York, 626. 
 
CONTENTS. ifnn 
 
 liTOTES. 
 
 Note L Commebcb of Beikct, ..... 627 
 
 n. Itinerakt fbom 'Akka to Ttke, . . . 628 
 
 IIL Statistics of the Pbotcnce of 'Akea, . . . 628-630 
 
 rV. The TrROPOBON and cektain Beuains in jEBDSAiiEH, 
 
 Letter of Mr "WHting, .... 631-633 
 
 v. Deuze Letter of Pbotection, .... 633 
 
 iTCtEBABT, ........ 636—642 
 
 Index L Aeabio Names and Woeds, .... 643-657 
 
 II. Ancient Geography, ANTiQnrnES, etc. . . 658-662 
 
 in. Passages op Scbiptdbe Illcsteated, . . . 663, 664 
 
FOR THE HEADER. 
 
 The references made to Vol. I, and VoL II, are to the new editioa 
 of the former Biblical Eesearches. They are followed, in each case, by a 
 reference In brackets to the first edition. 
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 Page 275. The rnin Beit F^ghflr is probably the Phagor (*aymp) of the 
 LXX and Jerome ; see p. 156, n. 3. It is also mentioned by Eusebius and 
 Jerome in the Onomasticon, as Phogor, situated near Bethlehem ; Onomast. 
 art. Fogor. 
 
 Page 370 sq. H<in!n is mentioned by Bohaeddin dnring the crnsades, 
 and also by Abulfeda. See Bohaed. Vit. Salad, p. 75. Ibid. Excerpt, ex 
 Abnlf. p. 63. Schnlt. Ind. Geogr. art. Bbnainum. 
 
 Page 306. Teyasir is doubtless the Aser of the Onomasticon, a yiUage 
 situated fifteen Roman miles from Neapolis towards Scythopolis, on the public 
 road. 
 
 Pages 310, 314, 329. Eahab is not improbably the Sooh of the Onomasticon, 
 situated four Boman miles &om Scythopolis. 
 
ADDITIONAL -W^OKKS ON 
 
 PALESTINE, JEEUSALEM, Etc. 
 
 MOSTLT RECENT. 
 
 This list compnees only the more important or popular works. 
 
 I. Itinehaeies, Journals, Tkatbls, etc. 
 
 By actaal Besidents or Trayellerai 
 
 * e. 1190. La Cites de Jherusalem, etc. This is a topographical descrip- 
 idon of Jerusalem, as it was when Saladin. wrested it from the Franks. First 
 published in Connt Beuqitot's Assises de Jerusalem, Paris, 1843. Tom. II. p. 
 531 sq. Eeprinted in the App. to Schnltz' Jerusalem, Eine Vorlesung, Berlin, 
 1845, p. 107 ; Williams' Holy City, 1849, VoL I. App. p. 134. Also in the 
 new edition of Bibl. Ees. Vol. 11. App. 11. 
 
 * 1314r-22. EsTHOEi B. Mose ha-Paecht, Khaftor va-ferach, in Eab- 
 binic, Venice, about 1549. Parchi was a very intelligent Jewish Kabbi ; and 
 his work is perhaps the best of aU the Jewish Itineraries. The topographi- 
 cal portions are mostly translated by Dr. Zunz, in Asher's Benj. of Tud. II. 
 p. 397-448. 
 
 To the thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centu- 
 ries belong the seven Jewish Itineraries published by Carmoly in the follow- 
 ing work: E. Oabmolt, Itineraires de la Terre Sainte, Bruxelles, 1847. 
 
 1802. Lt. Col, Squiee, Travels through parts of the ancient Gcele- Syria ; 
 in R. "Walpole's Travels in various Oountiies of the East, Lond. 1820, pp. 
 239-352. 
 
 * 1803-10. TIleich Jacob Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien, Faldstina, etc. 
 3 Bde, Berlin, 1854-55. These volumes comprise all Seetzen's journals until 
 his arrival in Egypt. 
 
 1836-38. Joseph Busseggbe, Reisen in Europa, Asien, und Afrika. 
 Stuttg. 1841-49. 8. 4 Vols. The author travelled mainly as a geologist His 
 notices of Palestine are contained in the first and fourth volumes. 
 
 1842-43. Eev. Samuel Volcott, Notices of Jerusalem ; anExcfursion to 
 Sebron and Sebbeh orMasada; and Journey from Jerusalem northwards to 
 Beirut, etc. In Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, pp. 17-87. 
 
"XXTl ADDITIONAL "WORKS ON PAIESTINB. 
 
 1842-43. Rev. Geoege Wihiams, The Eoly City, Lond. 1845. 8. Sec- 
 ond edition, Lond. 1849. 8. 2 Vols. — Mr WUliams stands forth as tte cliam- 
 pion of all ecclesiastical and other tradition. 
 
 * 1842-47. Eenst Gustav SoinjLTZ, Jerusalem, eine Yorlesung, Berlin 
 1845. — Mittheilungen uber eine Reise dutch Samarien unci Galilda [in 1847]. 
 In Zeitschr. der morgenl. Ges. 1849, III. p. 46 sq. — Scbultz was Prussian consul 
 at Jerusalem, with some interruptions, from 1842 till 1851 ; in which latter 
 year he died. He was not always an exact observer, and his judgments vrere 
 sometimes hastily formed ; but bis bearing was ever kind and gentlemanly. 
 
 1842-52. Col. Chceohill, Mount Lebanon, a ten years' Residence, from 
 1842 to 1853, etc. 3 Vols. Lond. 1853. 8vo. This work has many off hand 
 stories and statements, which are not to be relied npon. The map of Leba- 
 non professes to have been taken from the surveys of the English engineers ; 
 but it is fuU of mistakes. 
 
 * 1842-53. W. H. Baetlett, Walks about the City and Environs of Je- 
 rusalem [ire 1842], Lond. 1844; also in a second edition enlarged. — The Nile 
 Boat, or Glimpses of the Land of Egypt [m 1845], Lond. 1849. — Forty Days 
 in the Desert, in the Track of the Israelites \in 1845], Lond. no date. — Jemi- 
 salem Revisited {in ] 853], Lond. 1855. — Mr Bartlett was an artist ; and the 
 main purpose of his journeys was to obtain artistic illustrations of the places 
 visited. In this respect his works are of high value. His descriptions also 
 are written with taste and good sense. 
 
 1843. Eev. Eli Smith, A Visit to Antipatris [in April 1843]. Also: 
 Account of an ancient temple on Mount Lebanon [Deir el-Kiil'ah]. Biblio- 
 tbeca Sacra, 1843, pp. 478 sq. 557. 
 
 * 1843. Eev. John Wilsost, D. D. Lands of the Bible visit-ed and de- 
 scribed, Edinb. 1847. 8. 2 Vols. 
 
 1843-45. Eev. "Wm. M. Thomson, The Sources of the Jordan, etc. as 
 visited in 1843 ; in Bibhoth. Sacra, 1846, pp. 184 sq. — Tour from Beirut 
 through Northern Syria to Aleppo and back, in 1847; in Biblioth. Sacra, 
 1849, pp. 1, 243, 447, 663. 
 
 1845. "W. Keafet, Bie Topographic Jerusalem^, Bonn 1846. 
 
 * 1845-6. Titus Toblek, M. D. visited Jerusalem at this time, and has 
 published the following six works relating to the Holy City and its environs : 
 1. 5««AZeA«OT, St. Gallen 1 849.— 2. (SoifiroJ/^a, St. Gallon 1851.— 3. Bie Siloah- 
 quelle und der Oelberg, St. Gallen 1852. — 4. Benibldlter atts Jerusalem, St. 
 Gallen 1853. — 5. Topographie ton Jerusalem und seinen Umgebungen, 2 Bde, 
 Berlin 1853—54. — 6. Beitrag zur medicinischen Topographie von Jerusalem, 
 Berlin 1855. 
 
 1847. H. Gadow, Ein Ausflug von Jerusalem uber Jericho an den Jordan, 
 das todte Meer, und nach Mar Sdba ; in Zeitschr. der morgenl. Ges. 1848, 11. 
 pp. 52 sq. — Mittheilungen Uber die gegenwdrtigen Terrainverhdltniase in und 
 urn Jerusalem ; ibid. 1849. Ill p. 35 sq. 
 
 '' 1848. "W. E. Ltnoh, Commander, Official Report of the United States' 
 Expedition to explore the Bead Sea and the River Jordan ; published at the 
 National Observatory, Washington, 1852. 4. Appended is the extensive and 
 valuable geological report of Dr H. J. Andeeson, Geological Reconnaissance 
 
ADDITIONAL WORKS ON PALESTINE. '•^XXVU 
 
 of part of tfie Soly Land. — This official work was preceded by a more popu- 
 lar one : Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the Moer Jordan and 
 the Dead Sea, Phila. 1849. 8. 
 
 1849-50. H. A. De Fobest, M. D. Notes of a Tour in Mount Lebanon 
 and to the eastern side of Lake Huleh ; in the Journ. of the Amer. Orient 
 Soc. Vol. II. p. 237 sq. — Notes on Ruins in the BuTca'a and in the Beldd 
 Ba'albeh ; ibid. Vol. III. p. 351 sq. 
 
 1849-51. A. VON Kbemee, Mittel-Syrien und Damascus, "Wien 1853. 
 8vo. — Also, Topographie von Damascus, 2 Th. Wien 1854-55. 4to. — Of little 
 value. 
 
 c. 1850. 77ie true Site of Calvary; in the Museum of Classical Litera- 
 ture, 1853. Vol. II. p. 311^76. 
 
 1850-51. F. De Sattlct, Voyage autour die la Mer Morte et dans lea 
 Terres Bihliques, 2 Vols. Paris 1853. 8. Also English: Narrative of a Jour- 
 ney round the Dead Sea and in the Bible Lands, 2 Vols. Lond. 1853. — The 
 English title, at least, is a misnomer ; the author travelled only around the 
 south end of the Dead Sea. My references to this work are all to the Eng- 
 lish edition. 
 
 1851—52. 0. W. M. Van De Velde, Narrative of a Journey through 
 Syria and Palestine, 2 Vols. Edinb. and Lond. 1854. 8. 
 
 1852-54. Kev. J. L. PoETEE, Excursion to the Summit of Hermon ; in 
 Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, p. 41 sq. — Excursion to the Lahes east ef Damasois, 
 ibid. p. 342 sq. — Excursion from Damascus to Ydbritd, etc. ibid. p. 433 sq. — 
 Notes of a Tour from, Damascus to Ba'albeh and Sums, ibid. p. 649 sq. From 
 these papers much information has been extracted relative to the environs of 
 Damascus ; as also much was received orally from the author during my visit 
 to that city. To him I was also indebted, in 1852, for a copy of his map of 
 the course of the Barada from its source in Anti-Lebanon. — The substance of 
 the above papers, as also an account of his residence in Damascus, a journey 
 into Haur&n, and other excursions, has been since published by Mr Porter 
 under the title : Five years in Damascus, 2 Vols. Lond. 1855. This work 
 reached me too late to be of service in preparing my own account of that 
 city and region. 
 
 1853. Arthue Penehtn Stanley, Sinai and Palestine in connection 
 with their History, Lond. 1856. 
 
 II. Additionai Wokks on the Geography op Palestine, etc. 
 
 £7 writers who had not tbemselres visited that coontr/, 
 1. PALESTINE. 
 
 * 1835. Gael von Kaitmee, Paldstina, Leipz. 1835. 8. Third edition, 
 enlarged and mnch improved, Leipz. 1650. — The work is compiled with great 
 diligence, and forms an excellent Manual. 
 
*XXVIU ADDITIOKAL WOEKS ON PALESTINE. 
 
 1841. J. KiTTO, Palestine, iU Physical and Bible History, 2 Vols. Lond. 
 1841. 
 
 1841. S. Mttstk, Palestine : Description OiograpTiique, Eistorique, et 
 Areheologigue, Taxis 1841. This work was published before the author had 
 access to- the Bibhcal Researches ; and, being stereotyped, all later editions 
 remain without change. 
 
 * 1848-56. Gael Kittee, Yergleichende Erdhande der Sinai-Eallin^el, 
 von PalastinAi und Syrien, 4 Bde. Berlin 1848-55. These volumes constitute 
 a part of the second edition of the author's great work : Die Brdhande, etc. 
 viz. Th. XIV, XV. i. ii, XVI, XVU. i. ii.— This is a vast storehouse of all that 
 relates to the geography of Palestine and Syria. 
 
 2. JEBPSAT.EM. 
 
 1847. James Eergttbson, An Essay on the anient Topography of Je/rutOf 
 lem, Lond. 1847. 
 
 1852. Faixmeeatee, Denkschrijt iiber Golgotha und das Heilig-Orab, in 
 Abhandlungen der K. Bayer. Akademie der Wissensch. HI. 01. VI. Bd. 
 m. Abth. Published also separately, Munich 1852. 4to. 
 
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS 
 
 m THE FOEMEE EDmOK OF THE BEBLICAI, EESEAECHES. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. I. pp. 154, 155. A note is added at the end of the volame 
 (Note XIV), assigning reasons, why the tract on the south of Jehel Musa 
 cannot ■well have heen the position of Israel hefore the mount. This follows 
 too from the rough and impassable nature of the ground ; of which a descrip- 
 tion is given. See new Ed. Vol. I. pp. 105, 688. 
 
 Edit. 1. VoL I. pp. 174, 175. A note on Serial is added at the end of 
 the volume (Note XVI) ; in which an attempt is made to meet the arguments 
 of Lepsius, who regards this mountain as the Sinai of Scripture. See new 
 Ed. Vol. I. pp. 118, 590. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. I. p. 655. An addition is made, bringing down the infor- 
 mation respecting the Sinaitic inscriptions to the present time. The latest 
 discussion is by Prof. Tnch, in Zeitsohr. d. Morgenl. Ges, 1849, HI. pp. 129- 
 216. The results of his investigations lead to the conclusion, that the in- 
 scriptions were the work of heathen Arab tribes then inhabiting the penin- 
 sula. These were accustomed to convene at certain seasons, in order to 
 celebrate a festival and offer sacrifices upon an altar of stone, mentioned also 
 by DiodoruB Sicnlus, 3. 42, 43. These gatherings or pilgrimages gave occa- 
 sion for the inscriptions. The latter extend from before the time of Diodorus 
 Siculus down to the third or fourth century. See new Ed. Vol. I. pp. 128, 
 129, 595. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. n. p. 114. Jeba' is the representative of the ancient Oeba. 
 See new Ed. Vol. I. p. 440. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. n. p. 124. Taiyibeh answers to both the Ophrah and 
 Ephron of the Old Testament ; the two names being probably identical. It 
 therefore corresponds to the Ephraim of the New Testament. See new Ed. 
 Vol. I. p. 447. 
 
 Edit. 1. VoL H. p. 306. A new marginal note ^ves the suggestion of 
 Seetzen, that the place which he heard of, called by him Mkauer, may per- 
 haps be the ancient fortress Machcerus, where John the Baptist is said to 
 
"XXX ADDITIONS AND COKBECTIONS. 
 
 have been beheaded. It is the ruin of a fortress situated on the north end 
 of Jebel 'Att&rds, overhanging the southern bank of the Zerka Ma'in. See 
 new Ed. Vol. I. p. 570. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. II. pp. 218, 223, 225, 261. A note is added at the end of 
 the volume, (Note XXX,) referring to the subjects of these pages, and giving 
 the main results of Lieut. Lynch's Official Keport, relative to the Dead sea 
 and Jordan vaEey. See new Ed. Vol. I. p. 613. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. n. p. 317. The isolated hiU called Tuleil el-FM, north of 
 Jerusalem, marks the site of Gibeah of Benjamin ; which in the former edi- 
 tion was referred to Jeba'. See new Ed. Vol. I. pp. 577-579. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. II. p. 420. A paragraph is added, giving the decisive his- 
 torical testimony discovered by Kodiger, to the identity of Eleutheropolis 
 and Beth Gubrin, now Beit Jibrin. See new Ed. Vol. II. pp. 65, 66. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. n. p. 611. A new marginal note enumerates some of the 
 reasons, why'Kadesh is not to be sought for at 'Ain el-KudeirS.t, as pro- 
 posed by Mr Eowlands. See new Ed. Vol. II. p. 194. 
 
 Edit. 1. Vol. n. p. 625. The village el-Ghuwein is to be referred to the 
 ancient Anim, rather than to Ain. See new Ed. Vol. II. p. 204. 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 INTEODUCTION. BEIKUT AND THE VICINITY. 
 
 The preparation of tlie former Biblical Eeseaeches in 
 Palestine, combined with the results of personal observation, 
 awakened in the author's mind a more lively sense, than he had 
 ever felt before, of the deflciencies yet remaining in our knowl- 
 edge of the Historical Geography of that sacred land. Ques- 
 tions not imfrequently arose, which personal inquiry on the spot 
 might have solved in half an hour ; but to which no amount of 
 reading or investigation at a distance could ever afford an 
 answer ; inasmuch as they had never been brought before the 
 mind of any traveller. In this way the idea and the desire of 
 once more visiting the Holy Land became fixed in the author's 
 mind. 
 
 Not that the proper exploration of that land is a thing to 
 be accomplished during one visit, or by repeated visits, of a few 
 months at a time. Nor can such an exploration be regarded as 
 within the power and opportunities of any single individual. 
 To cultivate aright the particular field of historical topography, 
 would require a residence of several years, and a visit to every 
 town and village, to every mountain and vaUey, to every trace 
 of antiquity and ruin. And when we further take into account 
 how little is yet known of the vicissitudes of the climate and 
 seasons, of the agricultural products, and generally of the geolo- 
 gy, botany, beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects ; and consider 
 too the importance of a familiar acquaintance with the language 
 and habits of the people, as the only means of holding direct 
 and satisfactory intercourse with them ; we shall soon become 
 aware, that neither by one traveller, nor by many, in our day, 
 will all the questions relating to the Holy Land be fiilly solved. 
 
 In my own case, I proposed nothing further on a second visit, 
 than to investigate anew certain points, as to which doubts had 
 been expressed ; and to examine some of those portions of the 
 
 Vol. ni.— 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. [Sec. I. 
 
 country not included in our former routes. Such were Galilee, 
 and the regions east and west of the great northern road leading 
 from Jerusalem by Nabulus. I was willing to leave it to circum- 
 stances, whether to enter again the southern desert and per- 
 haps ascend Mount Hor ; as also whether to extend my journey- 
 ings northwards as far as to Antioch, or eastwards into Haurdn. 
 Nor was I disappointed in being unable, from want of time and 
 other hindrances, to accomplish anything in respect to either of 
 these latter particulars. It was enough, to be permitted once 
 more to contribute my mite for the illustration of any portion 
 of that land, towards which the attention and affections of the 
 Christian world have been now for eighteen centuries so earnestly 
 directed. 
 
 Although I had thus for a long time cherished the idea of 
 such a journey, it was not until the summer of 1851, that there 
 appeared any immediate prospect of its being realized. In the 
 autumn of that year, the Directors of the Theological Semi- 
 nary with which I am connected, took up the subject of their 
 own accord ; and passed resolutions cordially authorizing me to 
 undertake the journey, and granting me the necessary leave of 
 absence. Accordingly I embarked at New York on the 20th of 
 December, 1851 ; was in London on the 1st of January ; and, 
 after a fortnight spent in that metropolis, proceeded to Berlin, 
 where my family were already residing. Here I was greatly in- 
 debted to the ready kindness of Eitter and Lepsius ; not to speak 
 of various interviews with Humboldt, Buch, and other veterans 
 of science. 
 
 From Berlin to Trieste my route in February 1852 was the 
 same as in November 1837, by way of Halle, Dresden, and 
 Vienna. At that time the journey was slow, dreary, and very 
 fatiguing. Now, thanks to the completion of most of the rail- 
 way lines, the traveller is carried forward with speed and com- 
 parative comfort ; though in Austria, neither the speed nor the 
 comfort of the trains is equal to what is common in Prussia and 
 Saxony. The aspect of the country in winter was of course 
 not otherwise than dreary. The railway over the Semmering 
 was not yet completed ; nor that between Laibach and Trieste ; 
 so that these intervals had still to be traversed by diligences 
 sufficiently uncomfortable. Along the whole of the latter dis- 
 tance, which includes also the Karst, the remarkable tract of 
 high table land near Trieste, we had torrents of rain. On my 
 return in the month of July, I was greatly struck with the pic- 
 turesque beauty and general fertility of Carniola and Styria ; 
 and with the appearance of prosperity and abundance which 
 everywhere prevailed. No railway has anywhere laid open finer 
 scenery, than that along the valleys of the rivers Sann and 
 
SecL] teieste. syra. 3 
 
 Save, between Cilly and Laibach ; where these streams have 
 rent for themselves a passage through the ridges of the Julian 
 Alps. The same is true of portions of the valley of the Mtirz. 
 
 At Trieste I embarked, Thursday, the 12th of February, on 
 board of the steamer Africa for Smyrna. This was one of the 
 new and swifter vessels of the Austrian Lloyd ; and was capable 
 of an average speed of eleven or twelve miles the hour in 
 smooth water ; the older steamers not usually exceeding about 
 eight miles the hour. Yet the times of departure along the 
 route remained for the most part unchanged ; so that the gain 
 at the end of a voyage was in general inconsiderable ; • unless 
 where the last run was a long one. Instead of touching, as for- 
 merly, at Ancona, we now kept a straight course down the 
 Adriatic, passing on the east of the large island Lissa and other 
 smaller ones. We thus saw Meleda on our left, which has some- 
 times been erroneously held to be the Melita of the New Testa- 
 ment, the scene of Paul's shipwreck. High winds and frequent 
 rain made the voyage unpleasant as far as to Corfu ; where we 
 cast anchor for several hours. Afterwards the weather cleared 
 up ; and we proceeded under bright G-recian skies and with soft 
 breezes. We passed at evening through the narrow cliff-bound 
 channel between Ithaca and Cephalonia ; touched for half an 
 hour at Zante ; and next morning were abreast of Navarino 
 and Modon. We now had upon our left the snow-clad peaks 
 of the ancient Taygetus ; until in the afternoon we rounded 
 Cape Matapan, and just at evening Cape Malio ; and then took 
 a straight course for Syra. The scenery and impressions of the 
 whole voyage varied little, of course, from what I saw and expe- 
 rienced in 1837. 
 
 We dropped anchor a^ Syra on Tuesday morning. This is 
 still the central port, where the different lines of steamers meet, 
 coming from Europe, Constantinople, and Athens. At this 
 time the days of both the Austrian and French lines happened 
 to coincide ; so that no less than six steamers were anchored 
 together in the harbour. Here we lay thirty-six hours, tiU. 
 Wednesday afternoon ; from no necessity whatever, except to 
 await the time of departure fixed years before for slower vessels. 
 We reached Smyrna early on Thursday morning, Feb. 19th ; 
 having accomplished the whole voyage in somewhat less than 
 seven days ; while the running time was less than five days. 
 
 The steamer of the regular line from Smyrna to Beirut was 
 to leave on the following Monday ; but a vessel on the route to 
 Constantinople had just been disabled, and replaced by the one 
 destined for Bein\t ; and it was now necessary to await the arri- 
 val of another. I was thus detained a week in Smyrna, in the 
 estimable family of my fiiend and former pupil the Eev. E. 
 
4 INTRODUCTION, [SecL 
 
 Eiggs. Tlds delay gave opportunity to visit again, and with 
 more leisure than formerly, the massive, but not very extensive 
 remains of antiquity in and around the city. The most impor- 
 tant of these is the ancient fortress on the hill which rises 
 southeast of the city, and on the slope of which the city is 
 partly huilt. Traces of the ancient wall run along the crest of 
 the ridge for a considerahle distance. Not far helow this wall, 
 in a depression of the hUl, is the site of the ancient stadium, 
 where Polycarp is supposed to have suffered martyrdom. On 
 the steep slope below the fortress are massive remains of an an- 
 cient theatre ; and in the same quarter, within the city, are 
 several columns still standing, which once belonged to an exten- 
 sive temple. 
 
 The population of Smyrna is now reckoned at aboiit 150,000 
 souls ; of whom nearly one half are Muhammedans. The Chris- 
 tian quarter has of late years increased rapidly. 
 
 Smyrna was the seat of one of the seven churches of the 
 Apocalypse ;' but is not elsewhere mentioned in the New Testa- 
 ment. The great apostle of the Gentiles would seem not to 
 have visited Smyrna ; although he abode so long at Ephesus.^ 
 His journeys between the latter city and Troas or Macedonia, 
 were probably made by sea, leaving Smyrna far on the right. ^ 
 
 Of the three American missionaries residing at Smyrna at 
 the time of my visit, Messrs Eiggs, Benjamin, and Johnston, 
 the two former were mainly occupied with the Armenian press ; 
 and Mr Riggs was engaged in a laborious revision of the mod- 
 em Armenian version of the Scriptures. Both of them were 
 afterwards transferred, with the press, to the mission at Con- 
 stantinople ; while Mr Johnston has returned to the United 
 States. 
 
 In the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 26th, I went on board 
 the steamer Stamboul, one of the older and slower vessels, 
 somewhat the worse for wear. Hitherto we had had no deck 
 passengers ; but now the quarter deck was divided longitudi- 
 nally in the middle by a fence, leaving only one half free to the 
 cabin passengers. The other half was covered by a low awning ; 
 and was crowded with passengers of various nations, all huddled 
 together like sheep in a fold. Here, and also scattered midships 
 and forwards, were Eussians, Poles, Wallachians, Greeks, Ar- 
 menians, Jews, and Turks ; men, women, children, and slaves ; 
 all bound for Beirut, and most of them for Jerusalem, against 
 the approaching Easter. Most of them rarely changed their 
 place, or came out from their stalls. The filth which accumu- 
 lated, especially during sea-sickness, and the odours diffused 
 over the ship, may be better imagined than described. Nor was 
 
 • Eev. 1, 11. 2, 8. ' Acts 19, 8. 10. = Acts 20, 1. 6. 13-16. 
 
Skc. I.] SMYRNA. PATMOS. RHODES. 5 
 
 the main cabin quite free from similar drawbacks. But, after 
 the first nigbt, the goodnatured steward took pity on me ; and, 
 as there were no ladies on board, he gave me one of the state- 
 rooms of the ladies' cabin, where I made myself quite comfort- 
 able. Similar scenes of deck travel occurred also on my return, 
 as far as to Syra.' 
 
 During the early part of the night we had high winds and a 
 rough sea, with much sea-sickness. We passed Scio (Chios) 
 about midnight ; and at sunrise had entered the Icarian sea, hav- 
 ing Samos behind us in the north, and Icaria in the northwest. 
 Distant in the southwest, and partly seen over intervening 
 islands, was Patmos, the scene of the glorious visions of the be- 
 loved disciple ; while nearer at hand lay the main hne of the Spo- 
 rades, including Lepsia, Leros, Kalymnos, and others. The coast 
 of Asia Minor on our left was a succession of mountain promon- 
 tories and jagged ridges, with deep bays and inlets running up 
 between. These islands, the Sporades, are the picturesque tops 
 of similar mountains, whose bases are submerged ; gems of 
 beauty strewed upon the placid bosom of the .^gean sea. The 
 morning was without a cloud, rejoicing in the brightness of an 
 oriental sun ; and the scattered islets appeared as if lifted out 
 of the water and suspended in the air. 
 
 Soon after noon we approached Cos (Coos), which seemed to 
 He across our course. The vapours driven up by the south wind 
 from the sea beyond, gathered along the summit of its mountain 
 ridge, and produced slight showers. We left the island with its 
 white town on our right ; and passing near the long and lofty 
 promontory on which Cnidus stood of old, we laid our course, 
 still among noble islands, for Ehodes. It was nightfall before 
 we approached that island ; and as the haven is narrow and 
 difficult, our captain preferred to anchor for the night in a small 
 land-locked bay on the opposite coast, once guarded by a small 
 fortress. 
 
 On the morning of Feb. 28th, we came in an hour to the re- 
 nowned city of Khodes, where we again dropped anchor. We had 
 time to walk through the streets, and visit the chief points of in- 
 terest. Every thing wears the aspect of neglect and consequent 
 decay. There is little left for the massive fortifications to protect ; 
 they seem almost as if built without an object. The harbour is 
 diminutive and unsafe. The present town occupies but a small 
 portion of the ancient site. The houses are mostly of stone ; but 
 low and mean, threaded by narrow lanes. The main street is nar- 
 row and straight, running up from the port. It is the " Street 
 
 ' I know of no more life-like descHp- Mr Thaokera/s " Trip from Comhill to 
 tioos of such deck scenes, and generally of Cairo." 
 first impressions in the east, than those in 
 
 Vol. III.— 1* 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. [Sec. I. 
 
 of the Knights ; " and on tlie fronts of tlie low stone houses are 
 still seen the escutcheons of some of the noblest families of 
 England and France. But the houses are now the home of the 
 Turk ; grass springs up in many of the streets ; and although 
 the soil of the island is fertile, and the climate the finest in the 
 Levant, yet intolerance, indolence, and thriftlessness, are pro- 
 ducing their legitimate effects ; commerce is dying out ; and 
 decay and ruin everywhere prevail. 
 
 The interest of this voyage had been greatly enhanced, not 
 only by the distant view of Patmos, but also by the circum- 
 stance, that for most of the distance our track was nearly the 
 same as that of the apostle Paul on his last return from Mace- 
 donia to Syria.' He had gone afoot from Troas to Assos ; there 
 embarking he came with his companions to Mitylene, and the 
 next day overagainst Chios. Thence their course seems to have 
 been around the eastern end of the island of Samos to the town 
 of the same name, and so to Trogy Ilium opposite, in one day ; 
 and in another day to Miletus, where Paul held his last affecting 
 interview with the elders of Ephesus. " From Miletus they came 
 with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto 
 Ehodes." The apostle was thus at least five days in passing 
 over a route, which we traversed in little riiore than twenty-four 
 hours. From Ehodes he sailed eastwards to Patara on the 
 coast of Lycia ; and thence on a direct course to Tyre, leaving 
 Cyprus on the left hand. 
 
 We left Ehodes in the afternoon of the same day, and laid 
 our course for Cyprus. The rugged coasts of Lycia were 
 visible on our left, until hidden by the shadows of evening. The 
 next morning, Feb. 29th, the mountains of Cyprus were rising 
 on the horizon ; but it was afternoon before we approached the 
 western end of the island, and passed along not far distant from 
 the coast. We thus had a view of the great plain, lying be- 
 tween the mountains and the sea ; which Pococke describes as 
 about fifteen miles long by three broad.° It seemed fertile, and 
 was covered with groves of olive trees. We could see several 
 villages ; the largest being Baffa, the representative of the 
 ancient Paphos, once the chief city of this part of the island 
 and the residence of a Eoman proconsul. 
 
 Here too the apostle Paul once preached the gospel in 
 eompaey with Barnabas, on their first missionary journey. Em- 
 Ijarlong at Seleucia near the mouth of the Orontes, they had 
 landed at Salamis, on the eastern coast of Cyprus ; the ruins of 
 which town are still seen about four miles north of Famagusta 
 on the aorth side of a smaU stream.^ From this place they 
 
 ' Acta 20, 13—21, 3. ' Acts 13, i. 5. Pococke ib. p. 216. 
 
 ' ttorer. <af the Eaet, n. i. p. 225. 
 
SKa I.] CYPEUS. BEIRUT. 7 
 
 passed througli the island to Paphos ; where the proconsul, 
 Sergius Panlu's, became a believer ; and the sorcerer Elymas 
 was smitten with blindness.' — Old Paphos, with the celebrated 
 temple of Venus, lay sixty stadia further south, and ten stadia 
 distant from the shore.* 
 
 It was towards evening when we rounded the long, low, 
 narrow point of Cape G-atta, and bore away for Larnaka, where 
 we anchored in the open roadstead early in the morning of 
 March 1st, This is now the chief place of commerce on the 
 island, and the residence of the foreign consuls. The Marina 
 or port is at the landing-place ; while the smaller, but more 
 aristocratic village, where the consuls reside, is a mile or more 
 from the shore. The place is unhealthy. The houses are 
 mean, and the surrounding country poor. 
 
 In the open space between the two portions of the town, 
 the frequent traces of foundations and fragments of walls indi- 
 cate here an ancient site. So numerous indeed are these remains, 
 that the ground is still occasionally dug up in various places, in 
 order to obtain the stones for building. The town which of old 
 stood here was Oitium, a city of some note, the birthplace of 
 the philosopher Zeno. It was probably a Phenician colony ; as 
 is evinced by the thirty-three Phenician inscriptions (Inscrip- 
 tiones Citienses) foimd here and reported by Pococke in 1738.' 
 
 We remained at Larnaka until the afternoon ; and then 
 laid our course direct for Beirdt. We reached that port very 
 early in the morning of Tuesday, March 2nd ; and our eyes, as 
 we came on deck, were greeted with the sight of " that goodly 
 mountain, even Lebanon," whose, loftier peaks were now wreathed 
 in snow. Mr Hurter, the missionary printer, was soon on board 
 to welcome me, and to conduct me through the noisy crowd. 
 After brief delay at the custom house, and a ride on horseback 
 of a mile or more, I found myself at home in the house of my 
 tried friend and former companion in travel, the Kev. Eli Smith, 
 D.D. It was a real pleasure thus to meet him again in Beiriit, 
 and find him surrounded by an affectionate family. His house is 
 on the high ground southwest of the city, among the mulberry 
 orchards. The house in which Mr Hebard formerly lived, with 
 whom I resided in 1838, is quite near the southwestern gate of 
 the city ; and is how occupied by the missionary chapel and 
 press. 
 
 The annual meeting of the Syrian mission, comprising the sta- 
 tions of Beirut, Sidon and Hasbeiya, 'Abeih, Tripoly, and Aleppo, 
 was to be held at Beirut, beginning on Thursday, the 18th of 
 
 ' Acts 13, 6-13. 212, 213. Gesenii Mommi. Script. Lin- 
 
 » Strabo 14. 5. 1 sq. p. 683 sq. guaeqne Phcen. p. 122-153. Niebnhr, 
 
 ' Pococke Descr. of tiie East, JX L p. Keisebeschr. IIL p. 21 sq. 
 
8 
 
 BEIRUT. [Sec. L 
 
 March. At this meeting I desired to be present. In the regular 
 course of the steamer, I ought to have arrived, and was ex- 
 pected, on the morning of the preceding Saturday. To fill up 
 the time before the meeting, it had been arranged that Dr Smith 
 would go with me on Tuesday to Sidon ; whence I would then 
 accompany Mr Thomson to Hasbeiya, where he was to pass the 
 next Sabbath. The following week we proposed to spend in 
 visiting the region of Bani§,s, the plain of the Hiileh, the chasm 
 of the Litany, and other objects of interest in the neighbour- 
 hood ; and then return to Beirut. But this plan was frustrated, 
 partly by the three days' delay in my arrival, and partly by other 
 more important hindrances. 
 
 The Turkish government had been for some time endeavour- 
 ing to extend their system of military conscription, so as to 
 include the warlike tribes inhabiting Mount Lebanon and the 
 country east of the Jordan. In this they had not yet been 
 fally successful ; and the Druzes especially threatened a most 
 determined resistance. A crisis had arisen ; and just at this 
 moment intelligence reached Beirilt, that the Druzes were pass- 
 ing over by thousands from Lebanon to Hauran ; where, in the 
 fastnesses of the Lejah and with the aid of the Druzes of that 
 region, they would be able to defy the Turkish power. The 
 route of these wanderers was by Hasbeiya and down Wady et- 
 Teim. At one time more than two thousand of them were in 
 Hasbeiya. They often travelled in straggling parties ; and 
 deeds of lawlessness and violence, committed by them or in their 
 name, -were not unfrequently reported. The region was regard- 
 ed as unsafe for travellers ; and even Mr Thomson, whose busi- 
 ness was important, did not venture to set out, until he had 
 obtained more exact information. I gave up unwiUingly the 
 idea of accompanying him, and had no reason to regret it after- 
 wards ; although the excursion, had it been practicable, would 
 have spared me a week or ten days of precious time at a later 
 and more favourable season. 
 
 During the first week after my arrival, the weather was de- 
 lightful. The thermometer ranged from 60° to 80° Far. The 
 skies were cloudless ; the atmosphere mild and balmy ; and the 
 oriental sun poured his genial beams over a prospect by sea and 
 land of surpassing beauty. The house of Dr Smith commands 
 a view of the roadstead and its vessels, and of Lebanon and the 
 Syrian coast almost to Tripoly. The house itself has two 
 stories, with the usual flat roof of the country, which requires 
 frequent repairs. The middle portion of the upper story forms 
 a terrace, open toward the north, with rooms upon each side. 
 The windows have only been glazed since the house was first 
 occupied by Dr Smith, some twenty years ago. At that time 
 
Sec. L] the DEUZES. THE SEASON. 9 
 
 glazed windows were rare in Beirut ; and close shutters afforded 
 the only protection against storm and wind. — From this terrace the 
 eye took in the whole extent of the prospect ; and, in my own 
 case, was " never satisfied with seeing," nor with gazing upon the 
 scenery of the glorious mountain. Near at hand was Jebel 
 Sunnin, one of the loftiest summits, decked for some distance 
 down his sides, with light snows ; while below arid around could 
 be traced the deep gorges of the mountain traversed by rushing 
 streams ; and numerous villages were seen scattered upon the 
 heights. 
 
 The next week there was a change ; not in the scenery, but in 
 the weather. For five days, from Monday untU Friday inclusive, 
 there was rain ; on some days heavy and with little interruption, 
 and accompanied by high wind ; on other days alternating with 
 pleasant intervals of sunshine and clear sky. The storm was so 
 violent, that some of the vessels dragged anchor ; and all left 
 the roadstead and retired to the inner corner of the bay. Snow 
 fell extensively upon the mountains ; and also in the region of 
 Hasbeiya. The weather on Saturday and for several following 
 days was again splendid ; but afterwards became variable with 
 occasional heavy rain, for nearly three weeks longer, untU the 
 close of the first week in April. These were the " latter rains " 
 of Scripture ; which thus continued this season for nearly a 
 month later than usual. One result of these late rains we 
 afterwards saw on our journey, in the very abundant crops of 
 winter grain. They served also to reconcile me at last to my 
 unanticipated sojourn for so long a time in Beirut. 
 
 The city of Beirut had lost nothing of its prosperity since 
 my former visit ; but had gained immensely. True, it had 
 been subjected to bombardment by the British and Austrian 
 fleet on the 10th and 11th of September, 1840 ; by which 
 many houses were laid in ruins, and many lives destroyed. But 
 the injuries were speedily repaired ; and the chief traces of the 
 bombardment now remaining were the marks of balls on the 
 old castle in the harbour. The streets have been repaired in a 
 better style ; and the deep channels in the middle have disap- 
 peared. The population was reckoned in 1838 at about 15,000 
 souls ; it is now estimated at more than double that number. 
 A new suburb of streets has spread itself out on the southeast 
 corner of the walled city ; and the gardens and mulberry or- 
 chards on the hills in the south and southeast, are now ftdl of 
 dwelHngs. From the roof of the house occupied by the mis- 
 sion press, a wide and pleasing view is enjoyed of the city and 
 its environs, with Lebanon beyond. 
 
 The commerce of Beirut has increased greatly. The various 
 lines of French, Austrian, and English steamers which visit the 
 
10 BEIKUT. [Sec. I. 
 
 port, and the many sailing vessels, occasion a bustling activity ; 
 and a spirit of business and enterprise has been awakened, 
 especially among the Christian ^population of the city and the 
 mountains. This is also fostered by several European estabUsh- 
 ments in the mountains for the reehng of silk ; some of them 
 by the aid of steam.' 
 
 The antiquities in and around Beirut are not numerous ; 
 though there are more than have been usually reported. The 
 many columns lying as a foundation beneath the quay which 
 forms the usual landing place, and the way cut through the rock 
 outside of the southwestern wall, I had seen on my former visit. 
 Besides these, there are within the city, near the southern waU 
 and just east of the second gate from the American cemetery, 
 three large granite columns stiU standing, and the base of a 
 fourth ; the remains probably of an ancient temple. Outside 
 of the same wall a little further east, and on the south side of 
 the open area, are strewed ten or twelve other columns, some of 
 granite and some of limestone ; but whether they ever had any 
 connection with those inside of the wall, it is difficult to say. 
 Along the shore on the west of the city, on the way leading to 
 the Locanda Belvidere, are likewise traces of ancient walls and 
 foundations, on and among the rocks at the edge of the water. 
 Here, at some distance from the city gates, is a little Mina or 
 port, in which boats and very small vessels lie in comparative 
 safety. The rocks around it appear in some parts to have been 
 hewn away. — In digging over a garden near Dr Smith's house 
 not long before, there were found several sarcophagi or coffins 
 of pottery ; in which were also lachrymatories and other articles 
 of glass. Some of these, and likewise fragments of the coffins, 
 have been preserved by Dr De Forest. 
 
 In the open place before the southwestern gate of the city, is 
 a deep fountain with a flight of steps, covered over with solid 
 masonry of recent erection. This is said to be fed by an ancient 
 subterranean aqueduct, which was discovered accidentally a few 
 years ago. The arches and other remains of another large aque- 
 duct, by which the city was anciently supplied with water from 
 Lebanon, are still to be seen ; and wUl be again mentioned fur- 
 ther on. 
 
 The low hOls which surround Beirut are mostly of reddish 
 sand, interspersed with rocks, and covered with a light soil. 
 They rise to an elevation varying from two hundred to three 
 hundred feet in different parts. Koads radiate from the city in 
 various directions upon and across the hills. These roads, hke 
 all others in Syria, are merely bridle-paths ; not a wheel or car- 
 
 ' For a statement of the amount of im- 1853, in vessels of various nations, sec 
 ports and exports at Beirut during the year Note I, end of the volume. 
 
Sec. 1.] ANTIQUITIES. ENVIRONS. H 
 
 riage of any kind being known in the country. They have oc- 
 cupied apparently the same track for centuries ; for in most 
 places, where there is no substratum of rock, they are worn deep 
 into narrow hollow ways, with banks on each side, sometimes 
 higher than a rider's head. The borders of the roads are in 
 many parts hedged with the prickly pear. Cactus indicus. 
 
 AH the roads from the city, not leading along the coast or 
 directly towards the mountains, come out upon the moving 
 sand-hills mentioned in our former journey. These are driven 
 up from the southwestern shore of the promontory ; and are 
 continually advancing by slow degrees northwards. Their course 
 is inland ; for the western extremity of the promontory is rocky, 
 as also the shore for a considerable distance towards the south. 
 Yet half way between the city and the cape, a broad line of 
 sand-hills has been drifted up,j which are continually encroach- 
 ing more and more upon the cultivated fields. In. some places 
 mulberry trees are still seen half buried. The attempt has 
 been made occasionally to stop the progress of the sands, by 
 sowing upon them grass and plants which thrive on sandy soils ; 
 but hitherto without much success. The government also have 
 recently taken pains to sow the cones of the pine (Pinus halepen- 
 sis) ; and the young pines are seen springing up in some parts. 
 The extensive pine grove planted by Fakhr ed-Din on the south 
 of the city was probably for the same purpose ; although 
 D'Arvieux regards it as having been intended to purify the air. 
 This Emir, the same writer says, looked upon the territory of 
 Beirut as his pleasure garden." 
 
 I twice visited Cape Beirut, passing over the broad tract 
 of loose sands west of Dr Smith's house. The land shelves 
 down gradually to the rocky point ; and the rocks along the shore 
 are much worn by the action of the waves. Just south of the 
 point a small bay has been washed out, leaving a perforated 
 rock and another large fragment standing isolated in the midst 
 ot it. These are a great resort of sea-fowl ; and the dashing 
 of the waves in a storm is here very striking. On the point is 
 the square foundation of a former edifice ; probably the site of 
 the tower mentioned here by D'Arvieux in 1660, where a guard 
 was kept to give notice of the approach of vessels. The same 
 writer speaks of five or six towers between the cape and the 
 city.'* On our return we picked up a fragment of sculptured 
 marble on the height of land, with three or four letters inscribed 
 upon it. We visited likewise the mosk situated about the 
 
 ' D'Arvieux Memoires, 11. pp. 333, 337. cotemporary with the Emir, there seems 
 
 — I heard it questioned in Beirut, whether no good reason to doubt his testimony, 
 
 the grove of pines was actually planted by See in Vol. II p. 490. n. [iii. 436. n.] 
 
 Fakhr ed-Din. But as D'Arvieux was " D'Arvieux Mem II. p. 340. 
 
12 
 
 BEIRUT. [Sec. L 
 
 middle of the southwestern coast. This too seems to be the one 
 spoken of by D'Arvieux as being on the cape, and much resorted 
 to by the Muhammedan women.' At present, families from the 
 city are said to take up their abode here during the summer 
 months. The object of our visit, however, was not the mosk, , 
 but a ledge of rocks just north of it and near the shore, in 
 which are seen quite a number of ancient satcophagi. They 
 are all excavated in the rock, and once had lids ; but these have 
 all disappeared. The excavations are larger in some cases at 
 the bottom than at the top. In this respect these sarcophagi 
 differ from all others that we met with. 
 
 Half way between the mosk and the cape is a fine fountain 
 near the shore, from which many families in Beirdt obtain their 
 supply of water during spring and summer. It is brought to 
 the city in jars on the backs of donkeys. 
 
 On the day after my arrival at Beirut, I rode out with Mr 
 Hurter and Eev. Mr Eddy, who also had recently arrived, to the 
 celebrated pass at the mouth of Nahr el-Kelb. The way leads 
 from the city along the foot of the hills, with a plain of some 
 breadth on the left towards the sea. The road was most execra- 
 ble and fall of deep mud. A mile or more from the city are the 
 remains of an old building of brick, which is brought into con- 
 nection with the legend of St. George and the dragon. Some 
 say the dragon was killed here ; others, that the dragon was 
 kUled at a place nearer the sea, and St. George afterwards washed 
 his hands at this spot. Monconys in 1647, and D'Arvieux in 
 1660, both speak of a chapel of St. George in this quarter, which 
 the latter says had been converted into a mosk ; but neither of 
 them specifies the exact site.' Were these remains perhaps con- 
 nected with that chapel ? 
 
 Half an hour from the city brought us to the Nahr Beirut ; 
 which issuing upon the promontory from its mountain gorge, 
 turns northwards to the sea. There is here a broad tract of low 
 ground, between the hills on the west and the foot of Lebanon, 
 extending apparently 'quite across the promontory. This has 
 given rise to a common impression, that the higher portion of 
 the promontory, further west, was once an island ; the strait 
 which separated it from the coast having perhaps been filled up 
 by the drifting sands. 
 
 The river at that season was of moderate size. It is crossed 
 by a bridge of seven narrow arches, with very broad piers be- 
 tween them. The top is flat, with a steep ascent to it at each 
 end ; and is paved with large irregular stones, forming a slip- 
 
 ' D'Arvieux Mem. II. p. 340. cooke, H. i. p. 90. See VoL II. p. 492. n. 
 
 ' Monconys L p. 334. D'Arvienx II. p. 3. [iii. 439. n. 3.] 
 373. So too Maimdrell, March 17tli. Po- 
 
Ssal.] EXCURSION TO NAHB EL-KELB. 13 
 
 pery and dangerous patli for animals. D'Arvieux says the bridge 
 was built by Fakbr ed-Din.' 
 
 From the bridge to the Nahr el-Kelb is a ride of two 
 hours. For the first fifteen minutes the path continues over wet 
 and marshy ground among trees and bushes, until it emerges 
 on the shore of the bay, still some distance from the southeast 
 corner. From this point to the comer, and thence nearly to the 
 pass, the road lies along the sandy beach, upon which a light 
 surf is constantly breaking. Near the corner of the bay comes 
 in the little stream of Nahr el-Maut, Kiver of Death, which has 
 its source below Brummana. It is supposed to be so called from 
 the stagnant and unhealthy tract near its mouth. Further 
 north the Nahr Anteliyas is forded, a somewhat larger stream, 
 having a longer course, and taking its name from the village 
 which lies straggling along the foot of the mountain. Before 
 reaching the pass the sandy beach is interrupted by a rocky tract ; 
 and the waves break continually upon beds of rock half covered 
 by the water, and worn away into singular forms. The high ridge 
 of naked honeycombed rocks, which forms the southern wall of 
 the valley of Nahr el-Kelb, protrudes itself towards the north- 
 west into the sea. The road is carried around and over the 
 point, at an elevation of about a hundred feet above the water. 
 Another more ancient road is seen still higher up. The present 
 one is paved in some places with large irregular stones ; and we 
 found it advisable to dismount in descending the steep northern 
 side. At that time the path seemed to me to be as rough and 
 difficult as possible ; but in returning this way from the cedars 
 in June, after traversing the heights and steeps of Lebanon, this 
 pass of Nahr el-Kelb had apparently changed its character, and 
 become a very tolerable mountain road. — The bridge, situated 
 five minutes up the valley, is of recent construction. The river 
 itself is usually fordable. Beyond it is an aqueduct apparently 
 ancient, by which the water of the river, after driving several 
 mills, is carried around to irrigate the plain of Juneh. — Looking 
 up the narrow vaUey, walled in by almost perpendicular ridges 
 of rock, I was strongly reminded of the similar, though less 
 magnificent scenery along the river Lehigh above Mauch Chunk 
 in Pennsylvania. 
 
 The various tablets and inscriptions which give such historical 
 interest to this pass, I examined at more leisure on my later 
 visit in June. An account of them is therefore deferred imtil 
 that time." 
 
 On another beautiful day, March 13th, in company with 
 Dr De Forest and Mr Eddy, I made an excursion to Deir el- 
 Kul'ah, a Maronite convent on Lebanon, east of Beirtit ; where 
 
 ' Mem. It pp. 377, 378. ' See under June 19tli. 
 
 vot. m.— 2 
 
14 BEIRUT. [SecL 
 
 are the remains of an ancient temple, probably Pheuician. 
 Passing over the liigher ground southeast of the city we forded 
 Nahr BeirM at some distance south of the bridge ; and crossing 
 two low ridges, which here he between the river and the foot of 
 the mountain, we began to ascend along the projecting buttress 
 or angle of the mountain, formed between the western declivity 
 and that towards the south along the deep gorge of the Beirut 
 river. The way led up by el-Mansuriyeh and some other smaller 
 villages. It was steep, rough, and difficult, passing often over 
 tracts of naked rock, sometimes smooth and slippery, sometimes 
 rising by steps and layers. In some places the road was a nar- 
 row lane between parallel walls, filled in nearly or quite to the 
 top with loose round stones, and presenting the worst possible 
 footing for the horses. Such roads are not unfrequent in 
 Lebanon ; but we nowhere found them worse. 
 
 The sides of the mountain are laid off into terraces, wherever 
 there is soil enough to permit it ; and even where only a few feet 
 of soil can be scraped together, it is cultivated. Tracts of land, 
 which at first seem wholly covered with stones and rocks, are 
 thus reclaimed ; and the rude narrow terraces, rising in steps and 
 covered above with strong mountain sod, become verdant with 
 grain and the foliage of mulberry and fig trees. These terraces 
 constitute a very striking feature in the agriculture of the 
 mountains. They prevail especially along the western slopes 
 of Lebanon, and mark these as the home of a hardy, industrious, 
 and thrifty population. 
 
 The gorge of the river was on our right, as we continued to 
 ascend ; and we could see in it the remains of an ancient aque- 
 duct along its southern side, by which the water of a large 
 fountain not far above was once conveyed to Beirut. At one 
 point the aqueduct crossed a branch of the gulf in a double tier 
 of arches ;' and further down is said to have been carried for 
 some distance through a tunnel in the rock. A few days later, 
 in returning firom 'Abeih, we saw the continuation of this aque- 
 duct stretching across the plain towards the city. 
 
 The convent stands on the top of this buttress, where the 
 sides rise for a time still more steeply in order to form the crest. 
 This part is too steep for any path. We wound around the 
 western slope, and ascended with difficulty from the northwest 
 to the top of the ridge, five minutes back of the convent. Here 
 the traveller finds himself on the crest of a thin ridge of Leb- 
 anon, lying in front of the interior basin and chasms of Beiriit 
 river. This ridge is broken through, or rather terminated, by 
 the gorge through which the river issues upon the plain. The 
 
 ' According to Callier, there were originally three tiers of arches ; Eevne Ar- 
 ched. Mai 1846, p. 83. 
 
Sec I.] EXCURSION TO DEIS EL-KUL'AH. 15 
 
 convent stands upon the high extremity, at an elevation of 2200 
 feet above the sea. 
 
 The view from this point is extensive and interesting. To- 
 wards the west it commands the city of Beirut and its whole 
 plain with the Mediterranean beyond. Probably the island of 
 Cyprus is visible in clear weather ; but it did not occur to us at 
 the moment to look for it. On the south, beyond the gorge, the 
 view takes in the districts of the Upper and Lower Ghurb. 
 Towards the east are seen the two branches of the river in rocky 
 valleys, which coming from the east and northeast meet below 
 in a chasm so deep and precipitous, that the eye cannot reach 
 the bottom ; and so wUd and inaccessible, that leopards are said 
 still to haunt it. The tract along and between these branches 
 is the district el-Metn, one of the richest portions of the moun- 
 tain. Beyond are the snowy summits Sunnin and Kuneiseh, 
 standing out upon the high crest of Lebanon. The aspect of 
 the mountain, as it then appeared, was dark and dreary. The 
 verdure of the trees and fields was not yet sufficiently advanced 
 to overcome the effect of the vast masses of rock, much of 
 which in these parts is dark sandstone. It is only in connection 
 with this sandstone, that the pine (Pinus halepensis) is found on 
 Lebanon ; and orchards of this tree are seen along the branches 
 of the river and throughout the Metn.' The river itself is not 
 visible in the depths of the valleys ; and the huge walls of rock 
 rise up from below, hke immense bastions. 
 
 The road from Beirut to Damascus and also to Ba'albek 
 passes up on the south side of Beiriit river, between its sources 
 and the head waters of the Damur ; and then crosses the high 
 ridge of Lebanon just south of Jebel Kuneiseh. A little on the 
 south of this road, between the basins of the two rivers, lies the 
 village of Bhamdtin, the summer residence of Dr Smith and 
 other American missionaries. It is not in sight from the Deir. 
 Many villages of the Metn, however, were before us ; and one of 
 the largest, Eas el-Metn, was directly opposite, on the high 
 point above and between the forks of the river. The region is 
 rich and prosperous, especially from the culture of silk. — On the 
 north, this basin is separated from that of Nahr et-Kelb by an 
 elevated ridge. 
 
 The remains of the ancient temple at Deir el-Ktsrah were 
 fiilly described by Dr Smith several years ago.' They measure 
 106 feet long from southeast to northwest, by 54 feet broad. 
 The front was towards the northwest, looking down upon the 
 plain and sea. Here was a portico 29 feet deep, consisting 
 
 • For the character of the sandstone of ' See an article in the Bibliotheca Sacra, 
 this region, see Dr Anderson's GeoL Report, 1843, pp. 55 7-563. 
 p. 100 sq. 
 
16 
 
 BEIKUT. ("Sec. I. 
 
 of two rows of columns, four in each row. Portions of four 
 columns, and the pedestal of a fifth, are still in place ; but 
 no corresponding capitals are found. The columns measure at 
 their base nearly six feet in diameter ; the height of one of them 
 is still 18^ feet. Of the body of the temple, only the founda- 
 tions 'and portions of the lower courses remain ; and among 
 these are stones of 12 and 14 feet long by 5J and 4 feet broad. 
 The lower course, as it Hes, has a bevel along the top ; but not 
 at the ends of the stones. The convent church is built on and 
 within the old foundations at the northwestern part ; and its 
 roof affords the finest view of the noble prospect.— Ancient 
 sarcophagi are found back of the convent, and also below it. 
 
 Scattered about on stones built into the walls and other 
 parts of the convent, are not less than eight or ten Greek 
 and Latin inscriptions. Most of them obviously mark votive 
 offerings, such as tablets, altars, or stelce, consecrated to the god 
 of the temple. Their present position, and the circumstance 
 that the inscribed face is on the outside, are merely accidental ; 
 and not improbably other stones in the wall bear inscriptions on 
 the inner surface, whch are thus hidden from view. One of the 
 longest of the Greek inscriptions is on the fragment of a square 
 pillar or altar, which now forms the comer of the raised hearth 
 in the kitchen. Another fragment ending with TAflP, the con- 
 tinuation apparently of the same inscription, (the letters are of 
 the same form and size,) is built into the outside of the south- 
 em wall of the convent. One is on a pier between two arches 
 in the court ; another on the threshold of an inner door ; an- 
 other upon a cylindrical hollow stone, now used for watering 
 cattle ; and so of the rest.' 
 
 The chief point of historical interest brought to light by 
 the inscriptions, is an epithet of Jupiter or Baal not found 
 elsewhere. In the long Greek inscription, now in the kitchen, 
 
 he is addressed as BAAMAPKilG KOIPANE KflMSlN 
 
 AEOnOTa, Balmarhos, Sovereign, Lord of Sports ; the lat- 
 ter words being apparently a translation of the name.^ In a 
 shorter Latin inscription we find the dative : lOVI BAL- 
 MAECODI. As now, in the Old Testament, Baal is mentioned 
 as an object of worship among the heathen of Canaan, under 
 the titles Baal-berith (Lord of the covenant), and Baal-zehub 
 
 ' These inscriptions, or some of them, sq. So too hy Kraffl in 1845 ; Topogr. 
 
 were copied by Seetzen in 1805 ; Reisen I. Jemsalems. They were also published by 
 
 p. 257. They were first published by Bceckh, mainly from Wildenbruch's copies, 
 
 Francke, BerL 1830 ; see Letronne in the in his Corpus Inscriptt. Tom. III. p. 2i3. 
 
 Eevne Archeol. Mai 1846, p. 78. They ' Boeckh reads by conjecture : BoAfiop- 
 
 were again copied in 1843, by Dr Smith, Kds, Koipave, kw/xuv Koi KKifiaris trov S4- 
 
 E G. Schulz, and Mr Wildenbruch ; see a-noTa. But this affords no clew to the 
 
 Biblioth. Sacra I. c. Monathsbericht der epithet contained in BaA/xapKiis. 
 Ges. fur Erdkunde in Berlin, 1843, p. 144 
 
Sec. I.] EXCURSION TO DEIK EL-KUL'AH. 17 
 
 (Lord of flies);* so here tMs noble temple, crowning a height 
 of Lebanon, was consecrated to Baal-markos, Lord of sports or 
 revels." It was one of the " high places " of Phenician idol- 
 atry. Many similar temples are found in and around Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon ; and this was the first of thirteen which I 
 visited, besides the larger ones at Ba'albelc. 
 
 The convent is occupied by twenty-eight Maronite monks. 
 They received us very courteously, and gave us all the information 
 in their power. As we sat down among the rocks to take our 
 lunch, they brought us red mountain wine, olives, and sweetmeats ; 
 the latter we found quite a delicacy. But they declared us at once 
 to be heretics, because we were eating meat in Lent. The superior 
 of all the Maronite convents happened to be present ; and with 
 him Dr De Forest bargained for the two stones with the parts 
 of the Greek inscription. He made no objection to selling 
 them ; fixed a fair price ; and promised that they should be de- 
 livered ia Beirut shortly. But they never came. 
 
 We returned home by another route ; passing first to Beit 
 Miryj a large village just back of the Deir northeast, on a higher 
 point of the ridge. It lies in part straggling upon the steep 
 eastern side, looking down into the deep gulf below. Across 
 this gulf, the inhabitants are able to make themselves heard by 
 the people of the villages on the other side in the Upper Ghurb ; 
 a distance of nearly or quite two miles in an air line. A portion 
 of the village lies in a saddle of the ridge, beyond the higher 
 point just mentioned. Here we were obliged to apply to the 
 Bitar or horse-shoer of the village, to fasten the shoes of one of 
 our horses. This was done in a primitive way. The hoof is 
 pared by an instrument drawn towards the operator ; and the 
 nails clinched after first placing the animal's foot firmly upon a 
 smooth flat stone. The Bitar is strictly a horse-doctor, who 
 iucludes shoeing as a portion of his art. He is not a black- 
 smith ; but procures the shoes and nails from the latter. 
 
 Beyond Beit Miry we came upon the remains of an ancient 
 aqueduct, which ran along the saddle above mentioned, and 
 also along another stDl lower neck or saddle nearer to Brum- 
 mana. In some parts it is like a wall of large stones, laid up in 
 an orderly manner to cover and protect a line of perforated 
 stones or tubes, through which the water flowed. Some of these 
 perforated stones remain along the way. They are about two 
 feet long, with a hole nearly a foot in diameter. By this con- 
 
 • Judg. 9, 4. 2 K. 1, 2. Phenician remains ; bnt it occurs in 
 
 ' From the form of the dative MAR- Chaldee and Syriac. In the former yre 
 
 CODI, the root would seem to have been have the participle Ip'lO a dancer. The 
 
 a Phenician verb corresponding to the Heb. heathen dances were truly revels, (cai/toi.— 
 
 1^:^7 to leap, to skip, to dance. No other See Biblioth. Sacra 1. c. 
 trace of this root has yet been found in the 
 Vol. m.— 2* 
 
18 BEIE0T. [Sec. L 
 
 trivance, tlie water was conveyed across the low neck to the 
 higher site of Beit Miry ; precisely as the Croton aqueduct is 
 carried over the Harlem river on the high bridge. Whether the 
 water was anciently carried beyond Beit Miry to the temple, is 
 doubtful. Similar perforated stones are said to have been found 
 nearer the convent ; but this needs confirmation. There is 
 nothing now in or around the ruins, that indicates a former 
 abundant supply of water." — The water was brought from the 
 great fountain 'Ar'ar near Mar Musa, two hours distant in the 
 northeast. 
 
 Brumm§,na is also a large village, lying upon the crest of 
 the ridge, with a wide prospect west and east. An immense 
 oak tree in the middle of the village, and the palaces of the 
 Emirs, are seen at a great distance in all directions. — ^From this 
 village we descended by the road to Beirtit, along the north side 
 of the gulf of the Nahr el-Maut. The road led by several lesser 
 villages ; and was rocky, slippery, and difficult. It was dark 
 when we reached the foot of the mountain, at the corner of the 
 bay ; whence we had to grope our way as we could along the 
 still muddy and rough roads. 
 
 On the next Tuesday, the usual examination of the boys' 
 seminary was to be held at 'Abeih, preparatory to the annual 
 meeting of the mission. On Monday, therefore, Dr De Forest 
 took us thither by a less usual route, in order to visit on the 
 way some remarkable ancient sarcophagi. The direct road to 
 'Abeih is for most of the distance the same with that to 
 Deir el-Kamr. We, however, kept along the coast road 
 leading to Sidon nearly an hour and a half, leaving Burj el- 
 Burajineh and Shuweifat on our left, to a small deserted buildiog, 
 called (I believe) Dukkin el-Kusis, about half an hour short of 
 Kh^n Khulda. Here we turned off by a pretty direct route 
 through 'Aramon to 'Abeih in the upper Ghvirb. A valley here 
 comes out from the mountains ; and the road passes up along 
 the high ground on its southern side. 
 
 We kept along the bottom of this valley for a time, to a 
 point where its two branches unite ; and then ascended the 
 ridge between the forks. This ridge is strewed over with huge 
 isolated rocks ; and we had not far to go, before we came upon 
 the object of our search. Here on the summit of the ridge, in 
 two main groups, we counted thirty-five large sarcophagi ; and 
 there seemed to be others further up. A large rock was 
 
 ' The words lEPOAPOMON TAnP, in arches and ran along the snrfaoe of the 
 
 the second part of the long Greek Inscrip- ground ; hut rather to the one in the gulf 
 
 tion, have been read by Pres. Woolsey and below, leading to Beirut, which still has in 
 
 Letronne as diepoSpifioy SStap, and referred one place two or three tiers of arches. See 
 
 to on aqueduct. They are, however, not Letronne's Letter to T. D. Woolsey, in Kevue 
 
 applicable to this aqueduct, which had no ArohSoL Mai 1846, p. 78. 
 
Sec. I.] EXCURSION TO 'aBEIH. 19 
 
 selected ; the body of tlie sarcopiiagus excavated in it ; and 
 then a heavy hd fitted to it ; without any hewing away of the 
 rock outside. The hds were roof-shaped, with a projecting knob 
 left at each corner for ornament. On two hds we saw like knobs 
 in the middle. One lid measured eight feet long by about three 
 feet broad ; and was nearly two feet thick. There is no regu- 
 larity in the position of the sarcophagi ; and the lids have all 
 been displaced. 
 
 In the midst of the sarcophagi and surrounded by them are 
 the foundations of an ancient edifice, 94 feet long by 32 feet 
 wide, with several partition walls within ; but with nothing to 
 mark its date or purpose. There are also two cisterns near by, 
 cut in the rocks in the form of a dome. To the eastward of the 
 foundations, some Arabs, who came along, pointed out on a loose 
 stone a Latin inscription, of which there remained only the letters 
 ARAMRE. 
 
 It would be useless to speculate upon the ancient character 
 of this spot ; further than to suppose it was a solitary place of 
 burial, perhaps for a race of nobles. The huge scattered rocks 
 show that it was never inhabited by the living ; though not im- 
 probably the foundations may indicate a temple or other erec- 
 tion, in some connection with the dead. Ancient sarcophagi are 
 found scattered in all parts of the country ; but nowhere else, 
 unless perhaps at 'Kh&n Khulda, did we meet with so many 
 together. — The place is now utterly lonely and desolate ; except 
 a few small patches of winter grain among the rocks. 
 
 In order to regain the direct road to 'Abeih, we had now 
 to cross the narrow gulf on the south. Under the guidance 
 of an Arab we led our horses with great difficulty down the 
 steep descent. This dechvity was not rocky ; but in some 
 few places patches of wheat had been sown upon it. The as- 
 cent on the other side was eq[ually steep and more rocky ; but 
 a goat-path helped us to surmount it. Our road now continued 
 to ascend gradually, southeast, until we came out upon the brow 
 of a ridge, looking down iato another deep valley before us. To 
 reach 'ArSmon we had to pass high up along the side and 
 around the head of this valley. This part was laid ofi" in ter- 
 races, and presented thus the appearance of a vast amphitheatre 
 with its rows of seats. 
 
 'ArdmSn lies also on the steep side of a valley with a stream. 
 Between this village and 'Ain Kesur we lost our way, and 
 wandered for a time among blind and rocky paths. We passed 
 five large sarcophagi on our right, excavated in large isolated 
 rocks, and utterly lonely. At 'Ain Kesur we fell into the usual 
 road from Beirut. The village stands on a broad layer of bare 
 rock, which extends far towards the south ; and on the north 
 
20 BEIEUT. [Sec. I. 
 
 breaks down in a precipice. Here along the edge of the preci- 
 pice, are several sarcophagi sunk in the flat surface of the rock. 
 
 Between 'Ain Kesur and 'Abeih the road passes around the 
 head of another valley, which runs down on the north of the 
 latter village. This is likewise laid off iu terraces ; and forms a 
 pretty amphitheatre. It was now evening and almost dark ; 
 and on our way we fell in with an immense flock of storks on their 
 migration northwards. They were lighting down for the night 
 on the few trees scattered over a large tract. We reached 
 'Abeih at 7^ o'clock, and found a welcome in the hospitable 
 dwelling of the Kev. Mr Calhoun, the head of the seminary. 
 
 The examination took place maiuly the next day. The 
 school consisted at that time of nineteen boys, from thirteen to 
 twenty years of age, who were lodged and boarded in the 
 mission premises. They were from various sects, Greeks, Greek 
 Catholics, Protestants, and Druzes ; at the moment there were 
 no Maronite boys. Besides the principal, Mr Calhoun, there 
 were two promising native teachers, Michael and Asaad ; and 
 two of the older pupils sometimes heard the' younger classes. 
 Many of the pupils had an air of great intelligence and bright- 
 ness. The examination was very thorough ; and embraced both 
 the elementary and more advanced study of the Arabic lan- 
 guage, with written exercises ; arithmetic, algebra, geography, 
 the outlines of astronomy ; and especially lessons in the history 
 and doctrines of the Bible. The answers were in general given 
 with promptness, and with as much intelligence as in the higher 
 schools of my own country and Europe. The English language 
 is not taught, except as a matter of privilege to some of the 
 more advanced pupils ; it being justly deemed important, that 
 the elements of religious truth and knowledge should be lodged 
 in their minds through the medium of their own native tongue. 
 
 Quite a number of people from the village were present ; 
 and one or two of high rank. In listening to the examination 
 they were greatly troubled at the idea of the earth's rotation ; 
 and one of them laid his difficulties on that point fuUy before 
 some of the missionaries. 
 
 'Abeih lies high upon the western slope of Lebanon, at an 
 elevation of 2300 feet above the sea. It commands of course a 
 wide view of the western declivity, and a distant one of Beirut, 
 Back of the village the ascent continues for half or three quar- 
 ters of a mile to the summit of a ridge, whence one looks down 
 into the great valley and basin of the river Damur. On the 
 highest point of the ridge are the ruins of a Khulweh, a chapel 
 of the Druzes. The three great branches of the river are seen 
 coming down in their deep valleys from the northeast ; all of 
 them having their heads near the Damascus road. Below their 
 
JEXCUESION TO 'aBEIH. 21 
 
 junction the stream is crossed by the Jisr el-KMy on the road 
 leading to Deir el-Kamr. This great ^valley has not the preci- 
 pices of the Beirut river ; and we co'uld everywhere trace the 
 course of the stream worn deep in the solid rock. The aspect 
 of this vast basin was much less dark and desolate, than the 
 view had been from Deir el-Kul'ah, where tracts of sandstone 
 are prevalent. There was here less of nakedness and more of 
 verdure. All the slopes were terraced ; and the round heads of 
 the shorter valleys appeared like graceful amphitheatres. Deir 
 el-Kamr itself was not visible ; it lies beyond the crest of the next 
 ridge, overlooking a more southern branch of the river. The 
 large village of B'aklin, which lies overagainst Deir el-Kamr 
 towards the south, was in sight. In the east the lofty unbroken 
 crest of Lebanon rose in majesty beyond the village of Biruk ; 
 from which it there receives a local name. 
 
 We returned on Wednesday to Beirut by the usual route, 
 under the guidance of the Rev. Mr Whiting. This falls into 
 the road from Deir el-Kamr some distance north of 'Ain Kesur. 
 The latter path was formerly cleared of stones and made com- 
 paratively good by the late Emir Beshir ; but it was now again 
 stony and much washed. The missionaries having to pass often 
 between 'AbeUi and Beirtit, have for some years employed 
 children and idlers along the road every spring, at a small 
 expense, to remove the stones and mend the paths. They find 
 the benefit of this small outlay in the saving of an hour or two 
 of time in every such journey. The same is done with like 
 advantage on the road to Bhamdim. 
 
 At 'Ainab we took the road by Shemlan, where we stopped 
 for an hour in the hospitable dwelling of Mr Scott. He is the 
 proprietor of an extensive establishment for reeling silk by 
 steam ; and was now enlarging his premises in order to increase 
 his business. The cocoons are purchased from the people of 
 the neighbouring villages. Besides other similar English estab- 
 lishments in the mountains, large quantities of cocoons are 
 exported to France to be there reeled. They are first pressed 
 and thus brought into a small compass ; and they afterwards 
 swell out again on being thrown into hot water. 
 
 We passed down from Shemlan by a very steep descent to 
 'Ain 'Anub on the main route. Near the foot of the mountain 
 the road lies just above a Greek convent, remarkable only as the 
 residence of the priest Flaminius, who a few years since travelled 
 in the United States and collected funds in order to open schools 
 among his people. He has been long at home ; but the schools 
 have not yet been heard of. Just north of Kefr Shima the 
 Wady Shahrur comes out from the lower part of the mountains ; 
 a deep gorge 'Celebrated for its fine climate and fruits, and 
 
22 BEIRUT. [Sec. L 
 
 abounding in figs, olives, and grapes. It had now a full stream ; 
 and nearer the sea takes the name of Nahr Ghudir ; but dries 
 up in summer. 
 
 After crossing this stream, we left the direct road to Beirtit, and 
 kept more to the right just under the village of el-Hadeth, in 
 order to follow the traces of the ancient aqueduct. We found it 
 stretching across the plain towards Beirut ; mostly along the 
 surface, though sometimes carried for a short distance below it ; 
 and presenting the appearance of a wall of large squared stones, 
 enclosing apparently a line of tubular stones like those back of 
 Deir el-Kul'ah. We traced it for some distance up the gentle 
 slope of the high ground southeast of the city. In many spots 
 the large stones had been recently dug out and carried off, to be 
 used for building. 
 
 The next day, Thursday, March 18th, the annual meeting 
 of the Syrian mission was opened at Beirut, All the mission- 
 aries except one were present from the stations at Beirut, 
 'Abeih, Sidon and Hasbeiya, and Tripoly. On Friday morning, 
 Mr Ford of Aleppo, and Mr Marsh of Mosul, arrived in twelve 
 days from the former city. They came in drenched with rain ; 
 and had also been out in all the heavy storm of the preceding week. 
 Near the close of the meeting Mr Schneider likewise arrived from 
 Aintab, on his way to Smyrna with his family ; where the 
 latter afterwards embarked with Mr Marsh for Boston. 
 
 This is not the place to enter into details, respecting the 
 business of the mission. A brief account of -this general meet- 
 ing is given in the annual report of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions, for the year 1852.' Suffice 
 it to say, that many important topics were discussed under a 
 feeling of great responsibility, and with a spirit of Christian 
 forbearance, which could only lead to harmonious results, and to 
 wider and more efficient activity. In aU these matters I could 
 not but feel a deep interest ; both as a member of the Board at 
 home, and because among the ten ordained missionaries pres- 
 ent, no less than five had been respected and beloved pupils of 
 my own. 
 
 At this time, too, I received an affectionate letter from the 
 Rev. Dr Perkins of the Nestorian mission, inviting me in the 
 name of himself and other pupils, to visit them also in Persia ; 
 and proposing to meet me at Mosul, in order to escort me 
 through the Kurdish mountains. But as this was a journey of 
 at least forty days, I was compelled to reply, that the sole object 
 of my present journey was Palestine ; and that the brief re- 
 mainder of my life must be spent rather in training missionaries 
 at home, than in visiting them in their fields of labour. 
 
 ' Page 78 sci. 
 
Skc.1.] meeting of the stkian mission. 23 
 
 To the Syrian mission as a body, and to its members indi- 
 vidually, I would here express my grateful acknowledgments 
 for their fraternal kindness and welcome towards myself person- 
 ally ; as also for their prompt arrangements in behalf of my 
 undertaking ; by which I was assured of the companionship and 
 aid of some one of their number during the whole journey. 
 
 One topic on which much attention was bestowed, was the 
 new version of the Scriptures into the Arabic tongue, now in 
 progress, under the care of Dr Smith and two native helpers. 
 At that time they were just completing the Pentateuch ; and 
 the book of Genesis had been printed as a specimen, and sent 
 for corrections and remarks to scholars, both in Asia and 
 Europe. The printing of the Pentateuch has since been ordered 
 by the American Bible Society ; and the translators afterwards 
 passed to the New Testament. This has since been completed ; 
 and they are now going on with the remaining portions of the 
 Hebrew Bible. No Arabic version has ever been executed 
 under auspices so favourable. The translator in chief, after a 
 thorough biblical training at home, has resided nearly thirty 
 years in the east ; where, besides the daily use of the spoken 
 Arabic, he has spent much time in the theoretical study of the 
 grammar and rhetoric of the literary language, with the aid of 
 the best native teachers, and in correspondence with leading 
 orientalists of Germany. One of the two native assistants was 
 educated at the Maronite college at 'Ain Warkah ; has been 
 long connected with the missionaries ; and has a good knowl- 
 edge of the Greek and Hebrew. The other, to whom is in- 
 trusted the last revision, is widely known as the most learned 
 Arabic grammarian and critic in Syria. From the joint labours 
 of them all, a far more correct and acceptable Arabic version 
 may be expected, than yet exists. 
 
 In April 1838, I was present at the annual meeting of the 
 same mission, held that year at Jerusalem. In describing that 
 meeting I referred to what was then the effort of the American 
 missionaries in the Levant, as being " not to draw off members 
 of the oriental churches to Protestantism ; but to awaken them 
 to a knowledge and belief of the Gospel truth in the purity and 
 simplicity of its original scriptural form."' Their hope was, 
 that in this way a leaven of the truth might be diffused through- 
 out those churches, and thus by degrees work out their resuscita- 
 tion. But since that time a great change has taken place. 
 "What the missionaries did not then seek, has been thrust upon 
 them by the force of circumstances ; and especially by the spirit 
 of persecution manifested towards their hearers by the oriental 
 churches. Persecutions were carried on, particularly by the 
 
 ^ See Vol. I. p. 225. [L 332.] 
 
24 BEIRUT. [Sec. I. 
 
 Armenians in Constantinople and elsewhere ; and also hj the 
 Greeks in Hasbeiya. In Syria this was already known to he 
 illegal ; as there existed a Fetwa (opinion) from the chief 
 Mufti, pronouncing all non-Muhammedans to he alike infidels in 
 the eye of the law, and therefore all to have the like claim to 
 toleration and protection, even in passing from one sect to 
 another.' 
 
 In Constantinople things came to such a pass, that the British 
 ambassador was induced to interfere ; and in November 1847, 
 an order of the Grand Vizier, Eeshid Pasha, was issued on the ap- 
 plication of Lord Cowley, formally recognising the Protestant 
 subjects of the empire as constituting a separate and independent 
 religious community, and giving them all the rights and privi- 
 leges of the most favoured of the Christian denominations in the 
 empire." It was of course not to be expected, that under so 
 weak a government, and throughout so many distant provinces, 
 the abuses complained of would at once cease, although the 
 complaints themselves were listened to by the Porte. Nor was 
 there any thing in the order of the Grand Vizier, which would 
 necessarily survive a change of administration. After three 
 years, therefore, in November 1850, by the intervention of Sir 
 Stratford Canning, an ordinary Firman was obtained from the 
 government with the imperial cipher, directed to the Prefect of 
 the police in Constantinople, by which the Sultan granted to 
 the Protestants, in their civil organization, all the rights and 
 privileges enjoyed by the older Christian communities in the 
 Turkish empire. This document was justly regarded as a 
 charter of toleration and religious liberty to the Protestant 
 subjects of the Porte ; though no one anticipated, but that 
 many years would probably elapse, before it could be carried into 
 complete operation and effect.' 
 
 The later demands and aggressions of Kussia against the 
 Porte, proved favourable to the interests of the Protestants. In 
 June 1853, the Sultan issued a special Eatti-sherif, that is, a 
 Pirman bearing his own imperial autograph, to each of the dif- 
 ferent classes of his Christian and Jewish subjects, pledging to 
 them fall protection in all their privileges, and placing them on 
 the same footing with Muhammedans in respect to tJie right of 
 public worship. To the Protestants, more than to any other 
 community, was this measure important ; inasmuch as they 
 were the youngest and feeblest of all, and more exposed to 
 
 ' See in full in Bibliotteca Sacra, March, Report of the A. B. C. F. M. for 1848, pp. 
 
 1846, pp. 390-397.— See also a case de- 141-143. 
 
 cided at Beirut, Ann. Eep. of the A. B. C. ' See Miss. Herald, April 1851, p. 114. 
 
 F. M. for 1847, p. 108. Ann. Report of the A. B. C. F. M. for 
 
 ' See this vizierial order in full in the 1851, pp. 71, 224. 
 Miss. Herald, for March 1848, p. 98. Ann. 
 
Sec. I.] PROTESTANTS. 25 
 
 annoyance and persecution. The instrument in question is 
 superior to the former in the following particulars : It bears the 
 Sultan's own autograph, which is attached only to documents 
 of the very highest force and of unchanging perpetuity. It 
 was addressed directly to the public agent of the Protestants, 
 and not to a Turkish officer. It was officially promulgated by 
 the government throughout the empire, accompanied by Firmans 
 to the different Pashas specially enjoining its execution. Thus 
 Protestantism, by this imperial instrument, was established in 
 perpetuity in Turkey, with the highest sanctions known to 
 Muhammedan law. ' 
 
 The number of Protestants actually enrolled from among 
 the Armenians, was in 1852 supposed to be about two thou- 
 sand. The number in Syria is not fully known ; but cannot 
 well be much less than half as many. Of all these very many 
 have never come at all under direct missionary influence. 
 
 Thus assured of toleration and protection from the Turkish 
 government, the missions both to the Armenians and in Syria 
 have been greatly encouraged and strengthened. In the latter 
 country native churches have been gathered at Beiriit, Hasbeiya, 
 'Abeih, and Aleppo, by the missionaries of the American Board ; 
 and also one in Damascus by missionaries of the Irish Presbyte- 
 rian and American Associate Eeformed churches acting in uni- 
 son. There are also regular preaching stations in some of the 
 larger villages around Beirut, 'Abeih, and Hasbeiya, as also in 
 Sidon ; and it is nothing unusual for the missionaries to receive 
 invitations to establish schools or preaching in other places, where 
 a portion of the inhabitants have already declared themselves 
 Protestants, or are ready to take that step. 
 
 The newly organized native church in Beirut is distinct- 
 from the mission church ; which latter has existed ever since 
 the establishment of the Syrian mission. The chapel of the 
 mission is devoted to public worship both in English and Arabic. 
 It is conveniently situated near the southwestern gate of the 
 city, overlooking from the west the large open area outside of 
 the southern city wall. It had recently been commodiously fit- 
 ted up with seats, chiefly by the liberality of the American 
 consul and other Frank residents. The service in English on 
 Sunday was held in the forenoon at lOJ o'clock ; and was con- 
 ducted by the missionaries. The audiences which I saw there, on 
 several of these occasions, numbered on an average jfrom fifty to 
 sixty persons ; several of them being Arabs who understood 
 
 ' See for this Hatti-sherif and other Joum. of the Am. Oriental Soc. Vol. IV. 
 
 docnments, Dwight's Christianity in Tur- p. 443. The Turkish original with a 
 
 key, Boston 1854, p. 330, and App. G. German translation is found in the Zeit- 
 
 Also Miss. Herald, April 1854, p. 106. schrift der morgenl. Ges. IX. p. 843 sq. 
 
 Vol. III.— 3 
 
26 BEIRUT. [SsaL 
 
 English. In Arabic there were two services ; one at 9 o'clock 
 in the morning, and the other in the afternoon. The morning 
 service was usually conducted by a native helper ; that in the 
 afternoon, by one of the missionaries. In the Arabic services a 
 separation was still made between the sexes according to the 
 national custom. The females sat in a recess having a different 
 entrance, with a curtain drawn before them ; yet so that they 
 could see the preacher. There were usually from thirty to forty 
 ■men in attendance ; and quite a number of females behind the 
 screen. The appearance at aU times was one of quiet and de- 
 vout attention. 
 
 The chapel is on the ground floor of the house occupied by 
 the mission press ; and in a large upper room in the third stoiy 
 of the same building the work of translating the Scriptures is 
 carried on. In this room too were held the sessions of the annual 
 meeting. Its windows command a pleasing view of the city 
 and the adjacent country, with Lebanon in the background. 
 Close at hand below is the American cemetery connected with 
 the mission premises. At the time of my former visit, it was 
 " by the way side ;" but is now surrounded with houses. The 
 principal graves at that time were those of Pliny Fisk and Mr 
 Abbot the former British consul ; but the number has since 
 been greatly increased. It is perhaps worthy of note, that no 
 ordained missionary from the Syrian field had in this interval of 
 fourteen years been called to his rest ; with the exception of 
 Mr Hebard, who died at Malta, June 30th, 1841, on his way to 
 the United States. But of the wives of missionaries several 
 had fallen ; and one reads upon their lowly monuments the 
 names of Mrs Hebard, Mrs Smith, Mrs Wolcott, Mrs Robson 
 of Damascus, and others. And later, on our return from Jeru- 
 salem in June, another newly made grave met our eyes ; that of 
 Miss Whittlesey, a teacher in the female boarding school of 
 the mission. She had been suddenly snatched away during our 
 absence, just as she had become mistress of the language and 
 qualified for her work ; on which she had entered with great 
 devotedness, and with the prospect of doing much good. To 
 this sad list must now be added the name of the Eev. George 
 B. Whiting, one of the earliest members of the mission ; who 
 died at Beirut of cholera, Nov. 8th, 1855. He was a good man 
 and a devoted missionary, wise in counsel, and faithful and discreet 
 in action. 
 
 Here too lie buried quite a number of British officers and 
 marines, victims of the war of 1840. Particular interest at- 
 taches itself also to the last resting place of Lieut. Dale, the 
 scientific second officer of the American Expedition to the Dead 
 Sea and Jordan. Worn down by the cares and fatigues of the 
 
Sec. I.] THE CEMETEHY. XITEKAET SOCIETIES. 27 
 
 survey, lie was seized ■with the symptoms of a nervous fever soon 
 after the return of the party to Beirut. He was ahle to reach 
 the summer residence of Dr Smith at Bhamdiin ; where, 
 after an iUness of eleven days, he died on the 24th of July, 
 1848. He had scarcely reached the age of thirty-five years ; 
 was a man of fine appearance and elegant manners ; and had 
 been selected for his post because of his experience as an engi- 
 neer both by sea and land. I had enjoyed much friendly inter- 
 course with him in New York before the departure of the expedi- 
 tion ; and then little thought that it would ever be my lot to visit 
 his grave upon this distant shore. A plain monument, erected 
 by a family friend, now marks the spot.* 
 
 Among the indirect, but natural efiects of the labours and 
 example of the missionaries in this region, has been the waking 
 up of the Arab mind in a partial degree, to inquiries and 
 efforts of its own. From such influences there has arisen in 
 Beirut a native " Society of Arts and Sciences." It was formed 
 early in 1847, with the co-operation of some of the missionaries, 
 in consequence of the urgent sohcitation of intelligent natives, 
 chiefly young men, desirous of knowledge and intellectual im- 
 provement. A part only of these young men had been educated in 
 the mission seminary. They meet semi-monthly ; when literary 
 information is communicated ; papers are read ; questions dis- 
 cussed ; and occasionally lectures are dehvered. During the first 
 year of its existence the society had collected a library of more 
 than 750 volumes ; among which were 527 Arabic and Turkish 
 manuscripts and 229 printed books in various languages. Of 
 the manuscripts 514 were purchased in one collection for 7000 
 piastres, or about 280 dollars. Many of these are very old ; 
 some of them dating back seven or eight centuries. This 
 library belonged to a noble family so reduced as to be obliged to 
 sell. It is particularly rich in Muslim theology, law, grammar, 
 rhetoric, and logic ; with a fair proportion of mathematics, 
 medicine, history, and philosophical works.* 
 
 It was my privilege during my stay in Beirilt to attend on 
 two occasions the meetings of this society. At the first the 
 regular order of the eveniag was a discussion of the question : 
 " Are aU men capable of civilization ? " Quite a number were 
 present besides the members. With one exception the speakers 
 were aU natives ; and, so far as manner was concerned, acquitted 
 themselves well. I have heard much worse speaking before 
 Literary Societies in London and New York. As an officer of 
 
 ' See letters announcing the decease of Zeitschrift der morgenl. Gesellschaft, B. 
 
 Lient Dale, in Biblioth. Sacra, Nov. 1848, II 1848, p. 378-388. Journ. of the Am. 
 
 pp. 769, 770. See also Lynch's Official Oriental Soc. Vol IIL p. 477-486. Comp. 
 
 Eeport, 4to. p. 45. Narrative etc p. 506. Biblioth. Sac. 1848, p. 203. 
 
 ' See on this Society and its library, 
 
28 BEIRUT. [Sec. L 
 
 the American Oriental Society it was gratifying to me to bring a 
 salutation to this young sister, the daughter of the east ; and I 
 could not help expressing a hope and confidence, that the efforts 
 of this little band may yet be greatly instrumental in bringing 
 in a better day for Arabic literature and science throughout the 
 Arabian world. 
 
 On the other occasion the evening was devoted to a public lec- 
 ture from Michael 'Araman, the senior native teacher in the 
 seminary at 'Abeih. His subject was : " The cultivation of 
 the mechanic arts in Syria." The lecturer dwelt upon these as 
 connected with a higher development of social life ; and pointed 
 out as the best means of their dissemination, the introduction 
 of schools, literary societies, religious teaching, and female educa- 
 tion. Michael is quite popular among his fellow-townsmen of 
 Beirut ; and they justly expect much from him in his future 
 career. The room was crowded almost to suffocation ; and the 
 audience was larger than had ever before attended a meeting of 
 the Society. 
 
 Other smaller circles have also been formed among the 
 native young men, for the discussion of questions and mutual 
 improvement ; but with these the missionaries have had no con- 
 nection. The members of aU these literary societies are mostly 
 from the Christian population. 
 
 Beirut as the chief port of Syria, is the residence of the for- 
 eign consuls ; and is of course frequented by travellers. This is 
 seen, too, in the increased number of hotels. The largest is the 
 Locanda Belvedere, situated on the shore half a mile or more 
 west of the city. The regularity of the steamers in the Medi- 
 terranean has added so much to the facility and certainty of travel 
 in the east, that the number of travellers is very greatly in- 
 creased. From the United States alone, not less than from 
 fifty to a hundred are said to pass though Syria every year. 
 Indeed, it was a frequent remark, that for the last two or three 
 years American travellers had outnumbered the English. — In 
 calhng one day on a friend in the hotel, I met there our old at- 
 tendant Komeh, who accompanied us in 1838 from Cairo quite 
 round to Beirut ; and who has since, in consequence of our favour- 
 able notice, been somewhat in demand among travellers. He 
 was now in attendance on a Scotch gentleman ; but having 
 learned some English, he more usually undertakes to conduct 
 parties as a " dragoman." His appearance was not much 
 changed ; and his English was not particularly intelligible. He 
 did not recognise me at first ; and his last request, as I turned 
 to leave him, was in the spirit of his trade, that I would give 
 him " a recommendation." Two months later, during our stay 
 in Jerusalem, he came in again from Egypt with the family of 
 
SLaL] TRAYELLEKS. CONSULS. 29 
 
 an English clergyman, from whom he was said to receive fifteen 
 pounds sterling a day for the journey ; but this included (it was 
 said) ,an extra camel or two through the desert, to carry water 
 for the daily bath of a child. 
 
 To the American consul, J. Hosford Smith Esq. and to his 
 estimable family, I was greatly indebted for their daily courte- 
 sies and kind offices. Mr Smith enjoyed the confidence and 
 sincere regard of the missionaries ; while his prompt attentions 
 and acts of kindness to his numerous traveUing countrymen, se- 
 cured for him their grateful respect. Of his manly and upright 
 bearing in his official duties, and its influence upon the local 
 government and upon the people, I need not here speak ; it 
 was known and appreciated by all. 
 
 Mr Moore also, the British consul-general, tendered every 
 facility in behalf of my undertaking ; and I almost regretted 
 my being unable to profit by his kindness, because every thing 
 was so fully provided for by other friends. The Prussian consul, 
 Mr Weber, I saw several times. He is a relative of Dr Schulz, 
 late Prussian consul in Jerusalem, who had died there a few 
 months before, in the autumn of 1851. From him I learned, 
 that no note or memorandum whatever had been found among 
 the papers of Schulz, relating to his travels and observations in 
 the Holy Land. All that he ever wrote upon the subject, had 
 been transmitted to Germany before his decease. Mr Black, a 
 resident British merchant, connected by marriage with the 
 family of Mr Thomson, exerts a wide and good influence. He 
 acts as the banker of the American mission ; as also of that at 
 Damascus. At Beirlit, I made likewise the acquaintance of Dr 
 Paulding of Damascus, returning from a journey to Cairo and 
 Sinai. A few days later we had also a visit from the Eev. Mr 
 Porter of Damascus ; to whom I was afterwards so much 
 indebted in that city. 
 
 It had been arranged, that Dr Smith would accompany 
 me to Jerusalem ; taking the route through southern Leba- 
 non and G-aUlee, and along the western border of the hills of 
 Samaria and Judea ; and returning along the eastern border 
 of the same to the lake of Tiberias and Hasbeiya. We pur- 
 posed to travel leisurely ; and turn aside to examine every 
 point of interest along the route. At Hasbeiya Mr Thomson 
 would take me up ; and after exploring with me the plain of 
 the Hiileh, the region of Baniis, and the rugged chasm of the 
 Litany, would bring me forward to Damascus. From thence 
 Dr De Forest proposed to go with me through the Bflk^'a to 
 Ba'albek and farther north ; but this purpose was frustrated by 
 the subsequent decease of Miss Whittlesey, which threw upon 
 
 Vol. UL— 3* 
 
30 
 
 BEIRUT. [Sec. I. 
 
 him the whole care of the female boarding school. His place 
 "with me was supplied by the Eev. Mr Eobson of Damascus. 
 
 The spring was now advancing ; but the latter rains had not 
 yet ceased ; and Dr Smith, who was to be my companion, was 
 suffering from the effects of a fever, which had prevented his 
 attendance for much of the time on the sessions of the annual 
 meeting. Could I have foreseen while at Smyrna, aU these 
 causes of delay, I would gladly have remained over one trip of 
 the steamer and visited Constantinople. Or could I have gone 
 up to Jerusalem and returned before the meeting of the mission, 
 my time might perhaps have been employed to more purpose. 
 Yet this was utterly out of the question ; although the distance 
 does not exceed 150 miles ; which however ordinarily occupies 
 six or eight days of travel. Just here the difference of the 
 orient and Occident stands out in startling contrast. The like 
 distance of 150 miles between New York and Albany is run 
 every night by swift steamers in little more than eight hours ; 
 and every day by railway trains in five or six hours. The 210 
 miles between Liverpool and London I had just before traversed 
 in Sj hours. So true it is that days of travel in the east are 
 to be reckoned as less than hours to the iron horse. 
 
 The meeting of the mission, which heretofore had seldom 
 continued more than a week, was this year extended to a 
 fortnight ; the closing session having been held on the evening 
 of Wednesday, March 31st. As however the weather still re- 
 mained unsettled, there was no reason on my part to regret this 
 further delay. 
 
 Our preparations were seasonably begun and completed. As 
 the missionaries are under the necessity of journeying more or 
 less every year, their travelling equipage is usually on hand. Dr 
 Smith decided to take along his own large tent, very similar to 
 the one we had used upon our former journey ; and there was 
 the usual supply of bedding for each, with a large piece of 
 painted canvas to spread it upon by night, and to roll it in by 
 day. Each of my successive travelling companions took along 
 his family servant, who acted also as cook and purveyor, and 
 relieved us from all petty bargainings by the way. As second 
 servant, we hired a young man, Besharah, from 'Abeih, who 
 proved very faithful, and continued with me the whole time. 
 
 As my companions would all ride their own horses, I pre- 
 ferred also to purchase one ; as I could thus secure a good horse 
 for the journey, instead of being exposed to the chances and 
 difficulties of hiring. A horse was hired for Rashid our head 
 servant ; on which he carried in a Hurj, or large saddle-bags, 
 the provisions and stores for the day. In this way we could 
 make excursions, or take a more circuitous route ; leaving the 
 
SEaL] PEEPAEATIONS. MODE OF TRAVELLING. 33 
 
 baggage animals to go on directly to our night-quarters. "We 
 afterwards found this to be a very convenient arrangement. 
 Two mules would have sufficed us ; but we took three ; in order 
 that Besharah might ride a part of the time and so come in 
 fresh at night, when his services were most wanted. Each mule 
 was followed by its master ; two from 'Abeih and the other 
 from 'Arim6n ; one a Maronite and two Druzes. The Maro- 
 nite had along a little donkey, on which occasionally he could 
 rest his legs by way of change. 
 
 The more usual mode of travelling in Syria at present, is 
 for a party to put themselves into the hands of a dragoman, a 
 native who speaks more or less of English, French, or Italian. 
 This person undertakes to provide for them provisions, ser- 
 vants, tents, bedding, animals, and all the equipage of travel, for 
 a stipulated daily sum ; which is seldom if ever less than a 
 pound sterling a day, for each person ; and is often more. 
 
 We found the expenses of travel on this journey compara- 
 tively less than on the former one under the Egyptian rule. 
 The wages of the head servant were about five dollars a month 
 and those of the second about three ; besides presents to both.. 
 For each mule we paid ten piastres a day (instead of fifteen as 
 formerly) while travelling, and half price for the days we lay 
 still. Our daily purchases too, being all made by native servants 
 on whom we could rely, and who were acquainted in the country, 
 were very reasonable. In this way our daily expenses were less 
 than a pound sterling, for the whole party. 
 
 We took with us no weapons whatever ; and never for a 
 moment felt the need of any. Each of us had a Schmal- 
 kalder's compass ; with which most of the bearings were taken. 
 We had also a pocket-compass, measuring tapes, and thermom- 
 eters ; but no barometer. The measurements with the aneroid 
 given in the following work are due mainly to Dr De Forest. 
 Besides the books mentioned in my former work, I had with me 
 the first two parts of Kittek's great work on Palestine ; and the 
 sheets of the third part, as far as to the description of 'Akka, 
 with which the author had kindly fiimished me in advance of 
 publication. We were well suppUed with the latest and best 
 maps, including the large route-map of the Dead Sea Expedi- 
 tion ; but found them all, of course, defective in the parts of 
 the country which we traversed. 
 
 Through the kindness of the Hon. Gr. P. Marsh, then Ameri- 
 can minister at Constantinople, we each received an imperial 
 Firman for the journey. It is usual also for the traveller to 
 take a Tezkirdh from the authorities of Beirilt, in which ser- 
 vants and muleteers are included. From the custom-house in 
 Beirut, which controls aU others in Syria, we obtained a paper 
 
32 BEIRUT. Csec. r. 
 
 exempting our effects from any examination at the gates of cities. 
 These papers were of course enougli for all purposes ; yet after- 
 wards, in 'Akka and Jerusalem, we obtained a Buyuruldy from 
 the Pasha in each of those cities ; in, order that they might 
 thus be made directly responsible, should any thing untoward 
 take place within the limits of their respective provinces. 
 
 The Turkish government has wisely continued and extended 
 the system of posts, introduced into Syria during the Egyptian 
 dominion. At present a post travels every week to and fro 
 between Beirilt and Jerusalem by way of T^fa. Another passes 
 northwards weekly to Tripoly and LMakiyeh, and thence to 
 Aleppo. The communication with Damascus is twice a week. 
 From Aleppo and Aintab a land post goes regularly through 
 Asia Minor both to Constantinople and Smyrna. The trans- 
 mission of letters on aU these routes is tolerably rapid, and not 
 expensive. 
 
 At the time of my visit, an Austrian steamer from Smyrna 
 arrived at Beirut every fortnight, and returned after three or 
 four days. — Twice in each month a French steamer came in 
 from and returned to Alexandria, until midsummer ; when a 
 new arrangement went into operation. This was a line of 
 French steamers to ply between Alexandria and Smyrna at 
 intervals of twenty days, touching at Beiriit and other Syrian 
 ports. — Up to the spring of that year, an English maU-steamer 
 had run once a month from Alexandria to Beirut, and back : 
 but was then discontinued. 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 FROM BEIRUT THROUGH GALH-EE TO 'AKKA. 
 
 Our departure from Beirut was at last fixed for Monday, the 
 5t]i of April, 1852. On the morning of that day the French 
 steamer arrived from Alexandria, bringing letters and news from 
 Europe and the New World. We sent off Besharah with the 
 mules and luggage ahout 11 o'clock ; intending to pitch our 
 tent for the night at Neby Yunas. 
 
 We left the house of Dr Smith at 12.45 ; and stopping a 
 moment at the houses of friends to bid adieu, we took the road 
 to Sidon. In crossing the sand hills, we noticed again the sur- 
 face rippled by the wind, like the sea when calm. During high 
 winds, the sand moves forward in wavy lines ; and sometimes 
 rises and fills the air. At 1.50 we reached Nahr Ghudir, coming 
 down from Wady Shahrtlr ; now a considerable stream flowing 
 through the sands. Later in the season it dries up. At 2.10 we 
 were at the deserted Dukkan el-Kusis, where we had turned off 
 on our way to 'Abeih. Dulckom, is the appropriate name for the 
 small stations or shops along the way, where food, fodder, and 
 the like are sold, in distinction from the larger Khans. A few 
 minutes further was the Nahr Yabis, now dry. It is regarded 
 as the southern boundary of the promontory of Beirut ; the 
 Nahr el-Maut being the northern one. As we passed along, the 
 village of Burj el-Burajineh was on our left in the low plain ; 
 and the larger Shuweifat in three divisions on the roots of the 
 mountain. 
 
 We came to Khin Khulda at 2.50, the Heldua of the Jeru- 
 salem Itinerary. Here are two or three small buildings (Duk- 
 kins), only one of which was occupied. It is reckoned three 
 mule hours from Beirut. We examined the sarcophagi on the 
 side of the hill on the left a few minutes beyond. They have a 
 general resemblance to those we saw on our way to 'Abeih ; except 
 that here the lids were mostly fitted on with grooves ; and some 
 of the sarcophagi are hewn also on the outside ; there is a large 
 number of them. We could find no inscriptions. This spot too 
 
34 
 
 FEOM BEIKUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 was apparently the last resting-place of an honoured race ; but 
 all record of its history has perished. 
 
 We started again after ten minutes ; and came at 3.20 to 
 Dukkan el-G-hufr. Just north of it was the Wady now dry, 
 coming down from 'Abeih, and entering the sea on a projecting 
 point. As we proceeded several villages and convents came 
 in sight upon the sides of Lebanon. We passed a Muhammedan 
 at his solitary devotions by the way side ; and at four o'clock 
 stopped for five minutes to take the bearings given in the note. ' 
 
 We reached the Nahr Dsimur at 4.20, in winter one of the 
 most furious torrents of Lebanon. The ford is quite near its 
 mouth, where we took bearings f and just above are three large 
 ruined arches of a lofty bridge, with small arches at the sides. 
 There was now a considerable and rapid stream ; the water reach- 
 ing above the bellies of the horses. The road soon leaves the 
 sand, and passes along the side of the declivity to Eas Sa'diyeh. 
 This point is about halfway between the Damur and Neby Yti- 
 nas ; and there is no second point beyond, as marked on the 
 maps. This cape was the site of the ancient Platanum.^ On 
 both sides of this point for a long distance, are the traces of the 
 ancient Roman road, extending from near the Damur almost to 
 Neby Ytmas, with slight interruptions. The ancient pavement 
 is mostly worn or torn away, and the path is on the surface of 
 the rock below ; but the wall or masonry along one side or the 
 other of the road is everywhere visible. We reached Neby Yu- 
 nas at 5\ o'clock, in four hours and twenty-five minutes from 
 BeirM, instead of the usual six hours. 
 
 Here our troubles for the night began. We had sent off our 
 muleteers early from Beirut, in order that they might arrive be- 
 fore us, and have the tent ready on our arrival. But they had 
 played the laggard ; and we had passed them not far south of 
 Khan Khulda. It was long before they came up ; and then it 
 was difficult to find a spot on the sandy soil round about, where 
 the tent-pins would hold. But the difficulties were at length 
 overcome ; the tent was pitched ; we were safely housed beneath 
 it, and partook of our first meal, which Rashid had prepared. 
 We were left to ourselves ; and then it was that the idea of the 
 present and the past came over us with an overpowering feel- 
 ing. Here we were once more, in our tent, not the same indeed 
 as formerly, yet so like it as hardly to be distinguished ; the 
 furniture and aU our travelling equipments were similar ; several 
 
 » Bearings at 4 o'clock : 'Ateih 80°. N. 75° E. Ehulweh of Ba'winteli N. 60° 
 
 VvU. D4mur 86°, dist 2 m. en-Na'meh E. Deir en-Na'meh N. 35° E. el-Mn- 
 
 35° Deir en-Na'meh 42°. el-Mu'allakah aUakah N. 35° E. ed-D&mur N. 50° E. 
 
 54°, dist. 1 m. ed-Dilkemiyeh sonth of river S. 65° E. 
 
 " Bearings at month of the D5mur : el- Cape es-Sa'diyeh S. 60° W. 
 
 Bum E. Course of river S. 80° E. 'Abeih = See Vol U. p. 488. [iii. 433.] 
 
Ape. 6.] NEBT TUNAS. HIGH WIND. 35 
 
 articles were tlie very same ; and our places in the tent were as 
 of old. It was as if we were continuing a journey of yesterday ; 
 and the intervening /bwr^eera years seemed to vanish away. And 
 when we reverted to the reality, we could not but gratefully 
 acknowledge the mercy of God in preserving our lives, and per- 
 mitting us once more, after so long an interval, to prosecute 
 together the researches which we had together begun. We could 
 not but regard it as a high and certainly an unusual privilege, thus 
 after fourteen long years again to take up the thread of our in- 
 vestigations, at the very point where they had been broken off. 
 
 This place, el-Jiyeh, or Neby YUnas, is the site of the an- 
 cient Porphyreon.' At the fountain of the village there is a 
 large ancient sarcophagus now used as a trough, with a rude 
 ornament sculptured on its front and end. The people knew 
 nothing of where it came from ; but said it was there wlien 
 they were bom. In one of the lanes Hes a column of grey granite, 
 ten feet long. These seem to be the only visible remains of Por- 
 phyreon. — Near Berja, a village some two miles distant ia the 
 mountain, are sepulchres excavated in the face of the rock, with 
 upright doors, and sculptured ornaments. These my comijaniou 
 had formerly visited.' 
 
 Tuesday, April 6th. — The experience of yesterday was not 
 to be the end of our troubles at Neby Yunas. The evening had 
 been mild and pleasant ; the thermometer at 72° in our tent ; 
 and we had flattered ourselves with the idea of a peaceful night. 
 But after midnight a strong Sirocco wind arose ; and about 3 
 o'clock a violent puff tore up the tent-pins from the sandy soil ; 
 and threw down the tent upon us as we slept. For a time we tried 
 to sleep on beneath the fallen canvas ; but the flapping in the 
 wind was too great ; and we were compelled to rise. The day 
 was beginning to break in the east ; and we therefore decided to 
 take an early start, rather than try to raise the tent. We ac- 
 cordingly breakfasted by the dim mingled light of the grey dawn 
 and the pale moon ; and at 5.10 were again on our way. 
 
 The road led for a time along the sandy shore ; and then 
 higher up on the rocky declivity. Here we again fell in 
 with traces of the ancient Koman road ; which continue for 
 most of the way to Sidon. At 5.40 we were on the highest 
 point of KSs Jedrah, which projects between the cove of JSTeby 
 Yun^s and the smaller one of Kumeileh. Half an hour later 
 we crossed WMy Shehim coming down from Jun, now dry, and 
 having on it the abutments of a Eoman bridge. The village of 
 Kumeileh is on the ridge which runs down and terminates in a 
 
 ' See VoL II. p. 487. [iii. p. 431.] Lands of the Bible, It p. 211 —Bearings 
 
 = See VoL U. p. 487. [iii. p. 432.] These from Neby Ytoas : Berja S. 50° E. 2 m. 
 sepulchres were also visited by Dr WilsoD, Ba'sir S. 80° E. 2 m. 
 
36 FEOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [SecIL 
 
 point called K^s Eumeileh. This we reached at 6.35 ; and had 
 a noble view of Sidon, still three quarters of an hour distant. 
 Instead of continuing along the ancient and modem road to the 
 bridge over the Auwaly, we struck down to the sands ; and at 
 6.55 forded that stream near its entrance into the sea. The 
 road by the bridge is fifteen minutes longer. The river was here 
 larger than the Damiir ; but was running over shallow pebbly 
 rapids ; so that the ford was less difficult. At 7.20 we reached 
 the eastern gate of Sidon. 
 
 The house of the Kev. Mr Thomson, in whose kind family 
 we spent much of the day, (Dr Van Dyck and his famUy being 
 absent,) is just north of this gate, within the city, and adjacent 
 to the eastern wall. When he took the house, it had fallen into 
 great decay ; but has been fitted up by him, and now forms a 
 commodious dwelling, with a wide prospect over the rich envi- 
 rons of Sidon, extending quite to the mountains.' A large 
 room with a dome forms an excellent chapel. Here, in some of 
 the rooms, the windows were still unglazed, as formerly in Beirut. 
 As we were to leave in the afternoon, the time was mainly occu- 
 pied in gathering information as to the best routes, and the 
 objects to be examined along our way. In this we were assisted 
 by the American consular agent, Ibrahim Nukhly, who called 
 upon us ; the same mentioned in connection with our former 
 visit. 
 
 The remains of antiquity in and around Sidon are few. 
 Several granite columns are strewed on the east of the city ; 
 another forms the threshold of the gate by which we entered ; 
 and quite a number are said to be buUt into the walls of the 
 island castle.^ 
 
 We left our kind friends at 3 o'clock, and turned our faces 
 eastward ; intending to visit the southeastern portions of Leb- 
 anon. I had already obtained a view of the inner basins and 
 gulfs of the Beirdt river and the Damur ; and desired now to 
 get a like general view of the upper gulfs of the Auwaly. This 
 stream, coming from above el-Baruk, is called the river of Bariik 
 imtil it turns westward at almost a right angle. Here it is 
 joined by the river of Jezzin, coming down from the south, in 
 nearly an opposite direction, on the east of the northwestern 
 
 ' Bearings from Sidon : el-Mugdusheli place of tliresliing-floors, a large and re- 
 
 164°, dist. 3 m. Miyeh wa-Miyeh 135°, markable sarcophagus of a king of Sidon, 
 
 l|m. Derb es-Sin 170°, 2^ m. Haret having upon it the longest Phenician iii- 
 
 Saida 107°, 1 na. el-Helallyeh 75°, 1^ m. scription as yet discovered. The sarco- 
 
 Berimiyeh 61°, 3 m. Rum 100°. JeM'a phagus has been transported to Paris. See 
 
 126°. Dietrich, Zwei Sidonisohe Inschriften, Mar- 
 
 " In January, 1855, there was disin- burg 1855. Eoediger in Zeitschr. d mor- 
 
 terred, at a point about one mile southeast genl. Ges. IX, p. 647 sq, Journ, of the 
 
 from the south end of Sidon, and as far Am. Oriental Soe. Tol. V. pp. 227-259. 
 southwest from Haret Saida, near an old 
 
Apr. 6.] SIDON. 37 
 
 brancli of Jebel Eitan. This latter ridge terminates towards 
 the north in a lofty bluff, which occupies the angle between the 
 streams below their junction ; and on it is the conspicuous 
 Wely of Neby Mishy. The united stream here first takes the 
 name of Auwaly, and flows for a time through the fine alluvial 
 tract called Merj Bisry. A little west of the bluff of Neby 
 Mishy is the high conical point of Kuweiset Rtm, south of the 
 Auwaly, overlooking its deep valley, and commanding likewise 
 a view up the river of BSriik. This spot we therefore proposed 
 to visit. 
 
 The western ridges of Lebanon, and indeed its great western 
 plope, may be said to terminate at the Auwaly. The high crest 
 or backbone of the mountain lying east of the rivers of B4ruk 
 and Jezzin, continues on southwards, though sometimes broken 
 into lesser ridges, and throwing up the twin peaks of Niha (T6m 
 Niha), until at length it ends in the ridges of Jebel Rihan north 
 of the fortress esh-Shuklf, between the Litany and Wady 
 Jermvik. The name Jebel Eihdn (Myrtle mountain) is applied 
 to the whole southern extremity of Lebanon south of Kefr 
 Huneh ; including also the high ridge or hook running out on 
 the west -of the river of Jezzin. 
 
 The country between Sidon and Jebel Eihan is rolling and 
 uneven, with rounded hills and broad valleys, but no mountains. 
 Deep valleys have their beginnings on the flank of Eihan ; and 
 high ridges run out between them, forming huge buttresses in 
 front, which gradually sink down to the level of the open 
 country. 
 
 Ten minutes after leaving the city gates we began to ascend 
 the first hill or broad sweU near the village Hdret Saida. The 
 weather was delightful ; and we had a fine view towards the 
 south across a fertile region, as far as to the hills and point of 
 Siirafend or Sarepta.' We reached the top at 3.45 ; having the 
 village of Mejdel Yun just on our right.'' The country in sight 
 was hilly, with a whitish clayey soil, in which the olive tree seems 
 to delight. There was much verdure in view ; and the whole 
 aspect is altogether different from that of the region further 
 north. Passing on, we came at 4.10 to the eastern brow of the 
 same swell, overlooking a fine plain and basin lying between us 
 and the mountains.^ There was now a long descent ; and after- 
 
 ' Bearings on the wav : At 3.25, Kurei- 6°. Skanderuna 39°. Shehim51". Bkua- 
 
 yeh S. 35° E. 2 m.— At 3.35, 'Ain ed- tah 52°. 
 
 Dilb S. 12° E. IJ m.— At 3.40, 'Abrali " Beaxings at 4. 10 : Kerkliah 56°, 2 m. 
 
 N. 15° E. i m. Shuwalik 82°. Lib'ah 103°. Kefr Falu» 
 
 ^ Bearings at Mejdel Yun : 'Ain Ijn 106°. Rum 96°. Jeba'a 135°. Kefr Jerrah 
 
 181°. Tamburit 192°. Mughdusheh 211°. 163°, Im Jinsiniya 175°, 1^ m. Serbab 
 
 Miyeh wa-Miyeh 217°. Sidon 275°. 158°- Kefr Hatta 156°. Kefr Milkeh 
 
 'Abrah 335°. — -The following lie north of 143°. — North o the Auwaly : Shehim 
 
 the Auwaly, here running west : 'Almon 37°. Wely of 'Ainut 48°. 
 
 Vol. II.— 4 
 
38 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [SecIL 
 
 wards tte great convent Deir el-Mukhallis came in sight in tlie 
 northeast beyond the Auwaly.' Losing ten minutes on the way, 
 the village Lib'ah was close on our left at 4.50, on the western 
 brow of a deep valley with a brook, running into the Auwaly 
 south of Bkustah. We reached the opposite brow of the valley 
 at 5.10 f and then continued along a gradually ascending tract, 
 until at 6.25 we came to Kefr Falus, which was to be our night 
 quarters. Our muleteers had already arrived ; and the tent was 
 soon pitched in the midst of an olive orchard.^ 
 
 Kefr Fahis is a large and thrifty village with much cultiva- 
 tion round about. It lies near the outskirts of Jebel Eihan ; 
 which extend down in the form of high and steep hills and 
 rockj ridges. Higher up were the conical bulwarks of Kum and 
 Euweiset Eum. The whole region is full of tillage, with many 
 villages. 
 
 We had with us from Sidon, as a guide for this and the next 
 day, a very intelligent young man, who had lived long in the 
 district we were about to visit, as a collector of taxes and other 
 revenues which his father had formerly farmed. 
 
 We were here told that the southern boundary of the Akhm 
 et-Tuffah, to which this village belongs, is the river Zaherany. 
 All north of the Senik belongs to the Druze mountain, and is 
 inhabited only by Christians ; except the village of Haret Saida, 
 the people of which are Metawileh. 
 
 Wednesday, April 1th. We had a night of sweet and 
 sound sleep ; and awoke greatly refreshed. An owlet in the 
 neighbourhood kept up all night his single jiote, a sort of whistle. 
 The morning gave tokens of rain. The wind was in the south- 
 west, the rainy quarter ; and clouds, heavy though broken, hung 
 over the mountains and horizon. Still, as the season was so far 
 advanced, we hoped there would be nothing more than occa- 
 sional showers ; and concluded to set forward. 
 
 Starting at 7, we descended to a low ridge between the heads 
 of two valleys at 7.10 ;* one running southwest to the Senik ; 
 the other, Wady Kuban, passing off on a course ]S[. 25° W. to 
 the Auwaly. The path now climbed a high rocky ridge before 
 us ; and then continued northeast along the top ; till again 
 descending it passed along another neck between two valleys, 
 running to join the two former ones. Beyond this neck was the 
 village 'Ainfin. Instead of keeping upon the ridge, we struck 
 
 ■ Bearing at 145: Deir el-Mukhallis 178°. Beisur 216°, 1 m.— North of the 
 
 N. 35° E. dist. about 4 m. This is the Auwaly : Deir el-Mukhalhs 19°. Shehim 
 
 largest of the Greek Catholic convents. 15°. 'Ainut 29°. Wely of 'Ainut 32°. 
 Dr Smith had visited it in 1844. ' Bearings at Kefr Falus : Eum 86°. 
 
 " Bearings at 6.10 : Lib'ah 290°. Ker- Deir el-Mukhallis 7°. 
 khah 320°. Marus 66°, l^m. Sefarein73°, * Bearing at 7.10: Berteh S. 10° W. 
 
 2 m. 'Ainan 85°. Jeba'a 150°. Serbah 1 m. 
 
Apb. 7.] BAINY DAT ON LEBANON. 39 
 
 down by a very steep descent to the bottom of tbe deep valley 
 on the right at 7.45, Wady Shemm^s, running S. 30 W. to join 
 the Senik. In ascending the opposite acclivity we came again 
 into the road to Kiim, reaching the top at 8 o'clock. 
 
 It now began to rain ; and at 8|- we stopped for an hour at a 
 MerEih or goat house. We had seen several of these along the road. 
 They consist of a large yard, inclosed by a wall of stone like a 
 house, eight or ten feet high ; a portion being covered with a 
 rude flat roof. In the present instance, the single doorway was 
 so low, that our horses could not enter. We therefore took 
 refuge under the high northern wall ; and managed to keep off 
 the rain with our umbrellas, as well as we could. As, however, 
 it seemed to have set in for a rainy day, we started again at 9^, 
 in order to reach Kum, and find the shelter of a house. The 
 road was bad. The latter portion of it wound around and up the 
 southern side of the steep conical hill on which Eum is situated. 
 At one spot the guide's horse, in clambering up a ledge of rocks, 
 fell over backwards ; but without injury. We all dismounted, 
 and reached Hum at 9.40 ; where we remained for two hours. 
 
 Rrim is a large village ; situated on the eastern side of its con- 
 ical hill, near the top. The hill, but not the village, is seen con- 
 spicuously from Sidon. Two thirds of the inhabitants are Chris- 
 tians ; the rest Met^wileh. The former number 120 males, aU 
 Greek Catholics, with the exception of three or four Maronites. 
 The Metawileh had recently been subjected to the conscription ; 
 but the names of only three persons were drawn, whom nobody 
 cared for ; and one of these was absent. The conscription 
 throughout the mountains was imderstood to have been made 
 much in this way. 
 
 We stopped at the house of a Christian, which was one of 
 the better class of houses. It stood on sloping ground ; so that 
 while the chief room was entered in front by stairs on the out- 
 side, it was in the rear on a level with the ground. The lower 
 story was occupied by stables, where our horses found shelter. 
 The outside stairs led up to a rickety platform before the door of 
 the large room, in which we were received. Connected with this 
 was another room, where the famUy, or at least the women, 
 dwelt. The flat roofs of the houses in this region are constructed 
 by laying, first, large beams at intervals of several feet ; then, 
 rude joists ; on which again are arranged small poles close 
 together, or brushwood ; and upon this is spread earth or gravel 
 rolled hard. This rolling is often repeated especially after rain ; 
 for these roofs are apt to leak. For this purpose a roller of stone 
 is kept ready for use on the roof of every house. Grass is often 
 seen growing on these roofs. 
 
 The floors are laid with a composition of clay, straw, and 
 
40 FROM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. H 
 
 sawdust. It becomes quite hard ; and in summer is polished 
 by rubbing with a stone. In winter this is neglected ; and the 
 floor looks uneven and dirty. There is no chimney ; and often 
 no place of escape fdr the smoke except the doors and windows. 
 The fireplace may be in any part of the room. It is a mere in- 
 dentation in the floor, like a pan or basin, to hold the ashes. On 
 one side of it, there are usually laid up a few stones in the form 
 of a horseshoe, open in front, on which a kettle may be set to 
 boil, a part of the fire being made under it. A few mats are 
 spread near ; and often a piece of carpet as the place of honour. 
 On these the guests take their seats in tailor fashion. 
 
 The house in which we now were, was obviously the abode of 
 a peasant of some property. In the room were several taU jars 
 for oil or dibs ; ' also a pile of many trays or dishes in which the 
 silkworms are kept while feeding, made of straw and cowdung ; 
 and a sort of bin or press for grain, consisting of a framework 
 of wood fiUed in with canes and plastered over with clay or 
 mortar. There were also rude posts in different parts of the 
 room supporting the roof. Like the houses of most orientals, 
 high or low, there was here no lack of fleas and other vermin. 
 
 The owner was kind ; received us hospitably ; made us a 
 good flre ; and seemed desirous to render us as comfortable as he 
 could. He said he was able to get about a pound and a half of 
 flesh in a year ; the usual articles of food being mainly olives, 
 lentiles Qadas), grapes, cracked wheat, bread, etc. 
 
 It had been our plan for the day to proceed from Kum to 
 Euweiset Eum ; then to ascend and travel southwards along 
 the high ridge of Jebel Eihan, until we should strike the road 
 leading over it from Jezzin to Jerju'a, and so descend to the lat- 
 ter place. We had accordingly sent off" our muleteers from 
 Kefr Falus by a direct road to Jerju'a, there to atrait our 
 arrival. Had they now been with us, we should have stopped at 
 Bum for the night ; but under the circumstances we were com- 
 pelled to go forward ; and had no alternative but to take the 
 nearest route by way of Jeba'a to Jerju'a. After a couple of 
 hours the rain seemed to hold up ; and taking advantage of the 
 luU, at 11.40 we again set off. 
 
 Our course at first seemed to be about northeast, and then 
 southeast around the heads of deep valleys, to reach the western 
 flank of Jebel Kihdn. The rain soon began again, with some wind ; 
 and we could see nothing around us. As the fog or clouds occa- 
 sionally lifted, we could perceive, that we were travelling along 
 high up on the sides of very deep valleys ; and anon climbing over 
 a mountain ridge from the head of one vaUey to another ; often, 
 
 ' The Arabs give this name (dibs) to by boiling. The same word in Hebrew 
 the syrup made from the juice of grapes signifies honep. 
 
Apr. 7.] peasant's HOUSE. JEBA'a. 41 
 
 also, along the summit of precipices. In this darkness our guide 
 became confused and lost the way. At a fork of the path we 
 unfortunately took the right hand, and wandered on along a 
 ridge covered with pines, and down a descent, until we saw 
 high on a hill on our left, the village of Kaituleh ; near which, 
 though on the other side, we knew that the right road passed. 
 To reach it we had to cross a deep and difficult valley, a tribu- 
 tary of the Senik. We got down very well ; but the ascent on 
 the other side was so very steep, and in one place so utterly im- 
 practicable, over a ledge of sandstone rocks, as to show that the 
 slight path was not for horses, but only for footmen and goats. 
 We all dismounted ; and it was with much difficulty, that the 
 horses could be induced to scramble up the rocks.. Had we not 
 lost our way, we should have passed around the head of this 
 valley. We reached the village at 1.15 ; but stopped only long 
 enough to find a guide, to put us into the right road. The rain 
 had again partially ceased. 
 
 We were soon upon the way to Jeba'a. The rain had made 
 the road as wet and bad as possible ; and our progress was 
 sufficiently uncomfortable. The sandstone and sandy soil was 
 often worn into deep gullies, rendering our path difficult and 
 sometimes dangerous. The road lay high along the flank of 
 Rihan, above most of the valleys, and the spurs running out 
 between them. At 2.10 we passed the small village Zehilteh, 
 at the head of another tributary of the Senik. We came at 
 2.45 to the head of Wady Jeba'a, which passes down on the 
 north of that village, and unites with Wady MUkeh above 
 Jurneiya. The united Wady was said to go to the Senik. 
 Here JebS,'a itself came in sight, situated on a broad isolated 
 hill surrounded by deep valleys, except a narrow neck on the 
 east, which connects it with Jebel Eihan. At 3.15 we were at 
 the neck, opposite the village ; but passed on, leaving it five 
 minutes on the right. A short valley on the south runs down to 
 Wady Mnkeh. The hill on which Jeba'a lies, is well cultivated, 
 with many fruit trees ; and the landscape has much verdure and 
 beauty. The sun now broke out occasionally for a few moments ; 
 and we could see, that while the mountains were wrapped in 
 clouds and rain, the plains below were rejoicing ia the sunshine 
 of a fair day. 
 
 Jeba'a is a large village of the MetawUeh ; and was formerly 
 the chief town of the district et-Tuffah. It has in it a castle or 
 palace, now in ruins ; but formerly occupied by the Sheikhs who 
 governed the place. The palace covers the top of an eminence 
 projecting from the main hill. At present the governor of the 
 district is a Turk ; who has his head quarters at Ghaziyeh. The 
 elevation of Jeba'a, as noted by Dr De Forest, is 2486 feet. On 
 
 Vol. II. -4* 
 
42 FROM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. H. 
 
 account of its general salubrity and convenient position in respect 
 to Sidon, it was selected by Messrs Thomson and Van Dyck 
 in 1852, for the residence of their families during the hot season. 
 They obtained a comfortable habitation by repairing some por- 
 tions of the ruiaed palace.' 
 
 Ten minutes from the neck opposite Jeba'a, brought us to 
 the top of the next ridge ;^ beyond it is the head of Wady 
 Milkeh, which runs down north of Serbah. Here, on the left, at 
 3.30, was a small hamlet, Beit el-Kerakeh. On this part of 
 Jebel Eihan, black walnut trees are found in great abundance. 
 The rain now came on again. At 3.50 we struck the road from 
 Jezzin to Jerjti'a ; and, five minutes later, were at the highest 
 point of the road between Jeba'a and Jerju'a, an elevation of 
 4835 feet. Passing the head of another valley, which goes to 
 the Zaheriny, we reached Jerju'a at 4.15 ; and were glad to take 
 refuge in a peasant's house. Here Besharah, who had come on 
 with the muleteers, had already procured a room, and kindled a 
 good fire. For the first time, we now set up the hght wooden 
 bedsteads we had brought along. Our clothes were wet from 
 the rain ; yet less so than we had anticipated ; and we suffered 
 no evil consequences from the exposure. 
 
 Thursday, April 8th. — The morning was dark and lowering, 
 with occasional rain ; although the wind had changed to north- 
 west, and the clouds were occasionally broken. As the rain had 
 made the roads very muddy and difficult, we decided not to set 
 forward. This was the only time that we suffered from rain, or 
 were delayed by bad weather. 
 
 The village of Jerju'a is large and flourishing ; and is one of 
 the most prominent places in this part of the mountains. It 
 lies upon a broad buttress or short spur, running down southwest 
 from Jebel Eihan between the valley of the Zaherany and the 
 next valley north, and forming part of the northern wall of the 
 great chasm of that river. The northern valley joins that of the 
 Zaherany further down. The village lies high ; the elevation 
 being 2486 feet, the same as Jeba'a. The broad, uneven, rocky 
 surface of the hill is everywhere cultivated ; the sides drop down 
 steeply to the adjacent valleys. Around the village are orchards 
 of fig trees and olive trees ; and besides the many ploughed 
 fields, there were several plats of grass, looking more like meadows 
 than anything I had yet seen. 
 
 The view from this elevated spot was very extensive ; and 
 we enjoyed it after the clearing away of the clouds in the after- 
 
 ' From Jeba'a, the bearing of Sidon is Rum 12°. Serbah 263^°. Khirbet ShaJdr 
 
 307°. 291°. Jumeiya292°. Kefr Milkeb 296°. 
 
 " Bearings from this ridge taken by Dr 'Ankun 315°. — North of the Auwaly: 
 
 Smith in 1844 : Jeba'a 5°. Raweiset Deir el-Mukhallis 3484°. Shehim 354i°. 
 
.\pR 8.] jerju'a. the zaherant. 43 
 
 noon, and also tlie next morning. The range of hills, which 
 further north lies west of Eihan, including Kum, Kuweiset Ktim, 
 and others, is here no longer seen. The region in the west and 
 south Ls open and rolling, a wide and varied tract of arahle coun- 
 try, now full of green fields as far as the eye could reach. The 
 view extends from the mouth of the Auwaly to KSs el-Abyad 
 south of Tyre ; and embraces the districts of Kharntib, Tuffdh, 
 esh-Shakif, and BeshSrah, as well as the coast. The deep and 
 narrow valleys, and the steep hills and rocky ledges, by which 
 the surface of this region is often broken up, could not, of course, 
 here be distinguished. 
 
 But the main feature in the position of Jerju'a, is the view 
 towards the other side, up the wild and narrow chasm of the 
 Zaher^ny. That stream has its remotest sources around and 
 beyond Kefr Htineh, a village on the southern road from Jezzin 
 to Hasbeiya. From thence it breaks down through this north- 
 western ridge of Jebel Rih^n, cleaving the mountain to its base, 
 and forming a gorge, than which there are few deeper or more 
 savage in Lebanon. The mountains on each side rise almost 
 precipitously to the height of two or three thousand feet above 
 the stream ; that on the northern side being considerably the 
 highest, as we afterwards saw. Looking up the immense ravine, 
 we could see the rocky peaks around and beyond Kefr Huneh. 
 That village was said to be an hour and a half or two hours 
 distant. The steep sides of the southern mountain (Eihan) are 
 clothed with shrub oaks and other dwarf trees. The river 
 descends in its chasm in a course S. 50° W. and, opposite 
 Jerju'a, turns around the precipitous corner or bastion of the 
 southern Eihan, into a straight vaUey, which runs nearly due 
 south along the western base of that mountain, quite to the 
 LitAny. This valley, called Wady Jermuk from a village of 
 that name, has, along its whole western side, a low ridge. After 
 flowing down the valley for twenty or thirty minutes, the Zahe- 
 TsLny suddenly turns west ; breaks through the low ridge by a 
 narrow ravine ; and pursues its way to the sea. The water-shed 
 in Wady Jermuk is only five minutes distant from this bend of 
 the ZaherSny. Below it are several fountains in the valley, and 
 a stream flowing to the Litany. It would seem as if this valley 
 had been originally formed to be the bed of the Zaher^ny 
 throughout, and conduct it likewise to the Litany. Only a low 
 swell now intervenes to stop its course and turn it westwards. 
 According to Dr De Forest, the removal of some thirty feet of 
 earth at the water-shed would enable the Zaherany to continue 
 in a straight course, down Wady Jermuk to the Litany near the 
 bridge of Khurdela. " This sudden change in the course of 
 streams," he remarks, " which seem to wander as if they had 
 
44 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 lost their way in rade glens, is an interesting feature in the 
 scenery of these regions."' 
 
 On the northern mountain, far ahove Jerju'a, is a Wely called 
 Neby Safy. On the opposite high corner of the southern moun- 
 tain is another, hearing the name of Neby Sijud. These both 
 serve as landmarks. Looking down Wady Jermuk, we had in 
 full view, just on the right of the junction of this valley with 
 the Litany, the great fortress esh-Shukif, standing alone on 
 a ridge, and conspicuous in every direction. It here bore nearly 
 due south. Between it and us, on the low ridge west of Wady 
 Jermuk, was the Wely called Neby 'Aly et-Tahir, also a land- 
 mark. The httle village 'Arab Silim is on the same ridge north 
 of where the Zaherany breaks through it. After the weather 
 became clear, we obtained here many important bearings. Sidon 
 . bears from Jerju'a 318° ; and the direct distance is reckoned six 
 hours.' 
 
 The house in which we occupied a room at Jerju'a was quite 
 inferior to the one we had seen at Etim. Like all the other houses 
 of the village it had but one story. We first entered from the 
 street the room of the family ; adjacent to which, and without 
 a partition, was the stable. Passing on we crept through a very 
 low doorway or passage to another room, the floor of which was 
 a little higher than that of the other. This was our abode for 
 a day and two nights. It had a rickety door on one side into 
 another street ; but this door had to be reached by several steps 
 on the inside. There was no window ; and no light except 
 from the door. The fireplace was in the middle of the room, 
 with a small hole in the roof as a vent for the smoke. There 
 was here also a Tannur for baking. A hole sunk in the floor is 
 lined with pottery ; this is then heated by a fire kindled within 
 it ; and the dough is plastered on the sides, and so baked. 
 There were trays for silkworms in plenty; and several bins for 
 grain. The roof was of the usual kind, supported by rude props. 
 It rained heavily during the night ; and the water found its way 
 through upon us. Quite early in the morning we heard our host 
 at work rolling the roof ; and saw the same process going on 
 with other houses. Goats, also, were cropping the grass growing 
 on several roofs. All the goats we had yet seen, were black, 
 with long pendulous ears. 
 
 Our host was a potter ; and wrought at his trade in his own 
 
 ' Ms. Journal, May 1852. Shilba'l 248°. Deir ez-Zaherany 258°. 
 
 ° Bearings from Jerju'a : Neby Sijud Serbah 304°. 'Ankiin 310°. Rumin 289°. 
 
 109°, l^m. Kul'at esh-Shukif 179°. Neby Ras el-Abyad 231°. Mputh of Zaherany 
 
 'Aly et-Tahir 185°. Nebativeh el-F6ka 291°. Sidon 318°. Jiimeiya 319°. Mouth 
 
 198°. Nebatiyeh et-Tahta 20"r°. Shukiu of Senik 310°. 'Arab Salim S. 15° W. 
 
 211°. Tell Habbush 219°. Kefr Jauz IJ m. 
 217°. ed-Duweir 240°. el-Biyad 244°. 
 
Ape. 8.] JEKJU'A. PEASANT'S HOUSE. 45 
 
 house. His jars were decorated witli rings and other ornaments, 
 and exhibited some very neat work. We found every thing at 
 Jerjvl'a dear ; partly from scarcity, and partly because we were 
 Franks. We had to send to another village for barley for the 
 horses. Our guide and servants were quartered in the room with 
 the family. The former we here sent back to Sidon. 
 
 The Sheikh of the village, who was a brother of our host, 
 called to pay his respects ; as did also the old priest. The latter 
 was 71 years of age ; was married and had been here 35 years ; but 
 except his blue turban and gray beard, there was notblng to dis- 
 tinguish him from the other men of the vUlage. He had suffered 
 a whole generation to grow up around him without teaching 
 them even to read. There is no school ; and only four or five 
 can read at all. The village numbers 94 males, all Greek 
 CathoHcs ; and six families of Metawileh.— There are no re- 
 mains of antiquity in the village. In the rocks just above it are 
 two or three excavations, which may have been sepulchres. 
 
 In the afternoon, the weather ha-^dng partially cleared up, 
 we rode out, under the guidance of our host, to visit what he 
 said was the highest perennial source of the Zaherany, some dis- 
 tance up the great chasm. We descended northeast very steeply 
 to the bottom of the valley ; where the swoUen river was brawl- 
 ing and foaming along its course, through tracts of green grass, 
 shaded by black walnut trees, with two or three mills, along the 
 stream ; a spot of sweet beauty in the midst of wild grandeur. 
 Passing up the valley the way became more difHcult. We soon 
 came to a spot, where the rocks had been cut away to form a 
 passage ; and there was an ancient pavement laid in cement. 
 At first sight it seemed doubtful, whether this had been a road 
 or an aqueduct ; but it soon proved to be the latter. After 25 
 minutes from the village we reached the source, a fine large 
 fountain bursting forth with violence, and with water enough for 
 a mill race. Here we found a channel cut in the solid roclt, 3 feet 
 8 inches wide, and nearly as deep, plastered with cement on the 
 sides, with stones above laid in the same cement, as if the chan- 
 nel had been once covered. It was the statement of our host and 
 others, that above, this fountain the stream dries up in summer ; 
 but never below it. 
 
 In returning we traced the course of the aqueduct for a con- 
 siderable distance along the steep declivity ; either as hewn in 
 the rocks, or built up on one side with masonry ; always with 
 its cemented pavement, sometimes in two layers. We kept 
 along the declivity below the village ; and could see the aque- 
 duct carried in a channel around the precipitous face of a pro- 
 jecting point of rock further down ; after which it turned north- 
 westwards, and was conducted along the surface as before. At 
 
46 FROM BEIKUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. II. 
 
 one point, in a field on the south of the village, we found the 
 ancient wall remaining, which had been huUt up for it against a 
 steep part of the hill. The further course of the aqueduct was 
 already known in part, as far as to Kefr MOkeh on the direct 
 road from Sidon to Jeba'a, an hour and a quarter from the latter 
 place. Dr De Forest, in passing over that road a few weeks 
 later, found on the hill just east of Kefr MUkeh, the bottom of 
 the ancient water-course laid, in cement ; and saw further on 
 where the aqueduct had been carried around the summits of two 
 hills ; and also on arches over a deep gorge, half an hour or 
 more northwest of Jeba'a. The abutments of the arches are 
 still visible." 
 
 Although these more western traces of the aqueduct were 
 already known, I am not aware that its commencement at the 
 fountain in the gorge of the Zaher^ny had as yet been dis- 
 covered. It must have been constructed in order to convey the 
 water of this source to Sidon for drinking. The Sidonians had 
 aqueducts and water for irrigation, in abundance, from the Au- 
 waly, much nearer ; but even now the water of the Auwaly is 
 not regarded as good for drinking ; and families in the city are 
 supplied from fountains an hour or more distant. The supply 
 from this head of the Zaherany was good and abundant. 
 
 On our return, we ascended to the village from the south. 
 This brought us to the large fountain of the village, which bursts 
 out some distance below it ; and led us also by the threshing- 
 floors, where is a fine point of view. 
 
 While engaged in tracing the aqueduct south of the village, 
 our guide brought us to a tablet of sandstone lying in a 
 ploughed field ; which he said had been found the preceding sum- 
 mer in the aqueduct. It was 29 inches long by 14 inches broad, 
 and on it was sculptured the figure of a man in a tunic, in high 
 relief ; the back only being attached. The head had stood out 
 free ; but was broken off in digging, before they knew what the 
 stone was. At the upper right hand corner of the tablet was 
 the following imperfect Grreek inscription ; the letters in small 
 type being doubtful. 
 
 ANTA2 
 
 nEPi 
 
 OinEPIEamj; 
 
 EKTQN . . . 
 
 KATEYXE 
 
 ANESH 
 
 Kav 
 
 » Ms. Jonmal, May 1852. 
 
Apr. 9.] JEKJU'A. INSCRIPTION. 47 
 
 There was some appearance as if the right hand side of the 
 tablet had been cut away ; thus destroying perhaps some part 
 of the inscription. — We bargained for this tablet, to be delivered 
 to the Eev. Mr Thomson in Sidon, at the price demanded. It 
 was never delivered ; but subsequently an offer came to Sidon, 
 to bring it down for the double of the price agreed upon. As 
 this last demand amounted only to twenty piastres, there would 
 have been no difficulty, had Mr Thomson been at home. The 
 demand, however, shows a trait in the character of the people. 
 
 Friday, April 9iA. Our first object to day was to visit the 
 great fortress esh-Shukif, which stood conspicuous before us in 
 the south, at the distance of more than three hours. The direct 
 road descends at once from Jerjii'a to the Zaherany, in 40 min- 
 utes ; thence along the stream 20 minutes to the ford just where 
 the stroam turns west ; and afterwards along Wady Jermuk to 
 Arntin. This route was afterwards followed by Dr De Forest ; 
 but as the river was now swollen and the ford difficult, we pre- 
 ferred to cross by a bridge on the way to Nebatiyeh. 
 
 We set off at 7.25 ; the Sheikh of the village accompanying 
 us on foot for some distance, as a mark of courtesy. The 
 descent toAvards the south was steep and long, but not difficult. 
 We could here look down along Wady Jermvik ; and see the 
 bend of the river, as it turns westward into its lesser chasm. 
 The bottom of the valley presented a fine green level basin 
 among the cliffs. Dr De Forest stopped in this basin for lunch ; 
 and " found abundant shade under the black walnut and other 
 trees. Large wild grape vines and small creepers swung from 
 tree to tree ; and a thick shrubbery lined the banks. An old 
 mill was by the side of the stream ; and there was a rude foot- 
 bridge. The scenery was wild and interesting." Below this 
 basin is Wady Jermuk. 
 
 At 8 o'clock we were opposite 'Arab S^lim with its large 
 white dome ten minutes oh our left. It stands on the precipi- 
 tous western bank of the valley, some 400 feet above the 
 ZaherSny, and twenty minutes north of the bend and chasm. 
 We now kept more to the right, descending along the right hand 
 slopes of a lateral valley, which brought us at 8.30 to the Zaherany, 
 here running N. 55° W. The stream was swollen ; but was not 
 so large as the D^mur at its mouth. It was tumbling rapidly 
 along a pretty valley, skirted with oleanders. The bridge was 
 five minutes further down ; a rude modern structure. The 
 descent to it from Jerju'a is more than 1000 feet. 
 
 The road now ascended gradually to the higher rolling tract 
 in the south. At 8.55 we were opposite Tell Habbush on our 
 right ; to which we turned aside. It afforded a fine back view 
 of Jerju'a and the mountain beyond. That village lies conspicu- 
 
48 FEOM BEIEXTT TO 'AKKA. fSKcn. 
 
 ously on tlie shoulder of the high ridge (Eihan) north of the 
 great chasm of the ZaherSny; and we could mark our course of 
 Wednesday, in Fhe rain, along the steep declivity of that ridge. 
 Beyond and above the immense gorge were seen the higher peats 
 of Lebanon ; while in the southeast, coming out from behind 
 the southern extremity of Jebel Eihan, the lofty snow-capped 
 summits of Jebel esh-Sheikh, the ancient Hermon,. began to 
 appear. This was a side view ; and presented two summits, of 
 which the northeastern is considerably the highest. The snow 
 on esh-Sheikh extended for some distance down the sides ; while 
 on the peaks of Lebanon opposite there was none. — The village 
 Habbush lies a mile or more distant, about W. S. W. The Tell 
 has upon it no ruins.' 
 
 Keturning to the road, we set off again at 9.20. Our guide 
 soon turned to the left, to a road leading direct to esh-Shukif, 
 instead of bringing us to Nebatiyeh, where our muleteers had 
 been ordered to meet us. It was some time before we dis- 
 covered the mistake ; and then ten minutes were lost in getting 
 back across the fields to the right road. The country was roll- 
 ing, and mostly cultivated. We reached Nebatiyeh at 10 o'clock, 
 a large village in a broad open fertile valley or basin drained 
 northwest to the Zaherany. It is a market-place ; and a fair is 
 held every Monday. There is a Khan, so called, consisting 
 merely of two or three rows of stone arches, low and very shal- 
 low, so as hardly to cover a horse's length ; much on the plan of 
 a range of New England horsesheds. Two only of the houses 
 of the village had two stories. One of these belonged to the 
 Sheikh of the district Belad esh-Shukif, who was now absent at 
 Beirut ; the other to a rich peasant. The Sheikh was said to 
 have a council, composed of members from the different sects. 
 As the shoes of some of our animals required fastening, we stop- 
 ped here for more than an hour. The smith was an active, handy 
 fellow, and did his work well. Several horses were standing 
 about, and very many donkeys ; these kept up a constant bray- 
 ing. — Nebg,tiyeh is midway on the road between Sidon and Has- 
 beiya, six hours fi:om each.^ 
 
 At 11.10 we proceeded by a level and easy road towards the 
 castle, now directly before us at the distance of an hour and a 
 half After fifteen minutes we were opposite the upper Neba- 
 tiyeh, a much smaller village on higher ground at our right. 
 Directly in our road was a rude cemetery ; and the graves were 
 trodden down by the passing animals.^ As we advanced the 
 
 ' Bearings at Tell Habbush : Humia Nebatiyeh : Zebdin 268°, f m. Kul'at 
 
 15°. Neby Safy 33°. 'Arab Salim 51°. esh-Shukif 147°. 
 
 Ncby Sijud 55°. Kul'at esh-Shukif 161°. = Bearings at 11.30: Nebv'Aly et-Taliir 
 
 Lower Nebatiyeh 192°. Habbush 241°. S. 80° E. 2 m. Upper Nebatiyeh N. 80° 
 
 ^ Bearings from the village of Lower W. ^ m. 
 
Apr. 9,] JEBEL ESH-SHEIKH. AENUN. 49 
 
 fields and pasture became richer ; and the ground was covered 
 with clover, daisies, anemones, and the like. Hermon, too, was 
 ever before us, towering in majesty. A pond of water was on 
 our right at 12.5.' We passed some persons, who had pitched a 
 tent, and had a large number of horses tethered and feeding. 
 At 12.20 we reached Amtn, near the foot of the ridge on which 
 the castle stands." This ridge begins at Wady Jermuk, and 
 runs southwesterly along the course of the Litany. The road 
 from Sidon to Hasbeiya passes more to the left ; and descends 
 into the lower part of Wady Jermuk, north of the ridge, and so 
 to the Jisr Khurdela. The distance from Arntin to the bridge 
 is 50 minutes. 
 
 Arnun is a small and miserable village. Its name is only 
 known, as used by Arabian writers to mark the adjacent fortress, 
 esh-Shukif Amtin, in order to distinguish it from the other castles 
 called esh-ShuMf, but of less note.' We stopped for lunch 
 beneath a spreading tree, surrounded by scattered rocks. In two 
 of these sarcophagi had been excavated, with grooves for the 
 lids ; and one of them was rounded at the ends. 
 
 Between the village and the foot of the castle ridge, is a 
 lower meadow-like tract, about ten minutes broad ; and then 
 the direct ascent is very steep. We rode to the top in twenty 
 minutes from the village. An easier path leads up from the 
 southwest. On the way up we passed what may have been a 
 tank for water ; the front was built up with solid masonry, 
 while the back part was excavated in the steep slope. We came 
 out on the southwest of the fortress ; passing among the ruins of 
 a village in that quarter once belonging to the castle, and sur- 
 rounded by a wall with two round towers. Here the crest of the 
 ridge for some distance has been levelled off, perhaps as a parade 
 ground, and forms still a solitary but magnificent promenade. 
 Approaching the eastern brink, we looked down suddenly, and 
 almost perpendicularly, upon the Litany in its narrow valley 1500 
 feet below, as determined later by Dr De Forest. The height 
 of the ridge on the other side, above Arnun, is less than 500 
 feet. The elevation above the sea is 2205 feet. 
 
 We now had close before us the massive remains of the 
 ancient castle, the Belfort of the crusaders ; and all around us 
 a prospect of great extent and grandeur. The isolated ridge of 
 the castle is entirely naked ; and being higher than aU the 
 neighbouring ridges and the adjacent country, except Jebel 
 Eihdn, the fortress stands out as a conspicuous landmark, visible 
 
 • Bearings at 12.5 : Kefr Tibnit E. i m. ' One of these, called esh-Shflkif Tlrfin, 
 ShuMn W. 3 m. was near Tyre ; see Schulteu's Index in 
 
 ' From Arnun, Neby 'Aly ct-Tahir bore Vita Salad, art. Sjakyfian. 
 N. 5° W. 
 
 Vol. m.— 5 
 
50 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. II. 
 
 at a great distance in all directions. Towards the east were the 
 snowy heights of Hermon, sometimes called also Jebeleth-Thelj, 
 " Snow mountain ;" and far in the E. N. E. was another lofty 
 peak with snow, the highest in Anti-Lebanon, on the east of 
 Zebedany. Looking northeast, the eye took in the outlines of 
 the BtikS'a, the great valley between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. 
 Between northeast and )iorth the southern ridges of Lebanon, or 
 Jebel Eihan, came tumbling down in dark heavy masses between 
 the Litany and Wady Jermuk, filling up the whole interval quite 
 to the fork. From thence, an hour or more above the fork, a 
 broad, rocky, and much lower ridge, is thrown off towards the S. 
 S. E. and through the whole of this ridge the river breaks its way 
 very obliquely by a deep and singular chasm. The same ridge 
 divides beyond the Litany ; one branch continuing along near 
 the river, and forming the eastern wall of its valley and the 
 western side of Merj 'Ayun ; the other uniting with the ridge on 
 the east of Merj 'Ayun, and separating it from Wady et-Teim. 
 This latter ridge we could now see, across the former, and stiU 
 further beyond was "visible the great castle of Banias. In the 
 S. S. E. were the higher hills on the west of the Huleh. The 
 deep vaUey of the Litany below the castle is " a great gulf " 
 there fixed ; which forms an almost impassable barrier between 
 the regions on each side. One of the most frequented places of 
 passage is the bridge of Khfirdela, at the mouth of Wady Jer- 
 muk ; just above the castle, but not visible from it. The bridge 
 has pointed arches ; and was formerly defended by a tower at 
 the west end, now in ruins. The castle ridge, with its western 
 slope, continues on towards the south ; but after half ah hour 
 the river suddenly turns west, almost at a right angle, opposite 
 Deir Mimas, and breaks through the ridge by a narrow chasm ; 
 leaving the ridge and slope running on still further beyond, as 
 if nothing had happened. The river contiuues to flow along a 
 deep and narrow ravine through this region of table land, until 
 it enters the sea, as the Kasimiyeh, north of Tyre. The steep 
 sides of its ravine are mostly clothed with shrubs ; and so narrow 
 is the chasm, and so even and unbroken the land on either side, 
 that the traveller comes out unexpectedly upon the brink of this 
 precipitous gulf. ^ 
 
 In the north is Wady Jermuk, shut in on the east by the 
 high wall of Jebel Eihan ; and on the west by a much lower 
 ridge, which on its other side rises but little above the tract of 
 table land that we had passed over. Below the water-shed near 
 the angle of the Zaherany, the valley spreads into a plain, per- 
 haps twenty minutes in width by an hour or more in length. 
 Ten minutes from the water-shed in the plain, is a fountain, 
 Neb'a el-MMineh, the head of a small stream called the Zu- 
 
Apk. 9.] kul'at esh-shukif. 51 
 
 reikin. Tbis is joined fifteen minutes farther down by another 
 from ITeb'a Shukkah, on the side of Jebel Eihan. After another 
 quarter of an hour is the scLualid village of JermClk with its 
 fountain and stream, situated at the foot of Eihan. Further 
 down, the valley contracts to a narrower and steeper glen, and 
 descends to the LitEiny. TQmrah, the ruin of a modern village, 
 is situated directly in the fork ; and is one hour distant from 
 Jermuk, and twenty minutes above the Jisr et-Khurdela. The 
 valley is everywhere fertile with tillage and pasturage ; but the 
 plain is said to be unhealthy. It belongs to the Druze Sheikhs 
 of the JembMt family. Wady Jermuk is the boundary between 
 the district of esh-Shukif and that of Jezzin on Lebanon. In 
 like manner the Zaherdny separates Belad esh-Shukif from et- 
 Tuffah on the north. 
 
 The aspect of the vast and lofty masses of southern Lebanon, 
 or Jebel Eihtn, here seen as shut in and distinctly bounded by 
 the Litany and Wady Jermuk, is dark, rugged, and grand. . Its 
 southern point slopes off gradually down to the fork of the two 
 valleys ; and though there must probably be upon it arable land, 
 yet -there is no village of any size in the whole tract south of Kefr 
 Huneh. Jermuk is supposed to be the largest.' 
 
 We now entered the fortress. The main approach is from 
 the south ; and here was a fine reservoir for water, in connection 
 with the moat. This latter was cut in the solid rock along the 
 western side and southern end of the castle ; the other quarters 
 being in themselves inaccessible. The crest of the ridge is very 
 narrow ; and the castle occupies its whole breadth, and more. 
 The approach was by a drawbridge on the south ; and was then 
 carried along upon a lower ledge on the east, thirty feet or more 
 below the main body of the fortress. Here are the remains of 
 buildings, perhaps stables, erected by the crusaders, on what 
 would seem to have been earlier platforms or abutments resting 
 on lower projecting rocks. Near the northeast corner, massive 
 erections lean upon the upper castle ; and through these was the 
 main entrance. The whole approach, therefore, was perfectly 
 commanded by the castle. The surface of the declivity between 
 the lower ledge and the upper castle, where not of itself so steep 
 and smooth as to-be inaccessible, is covered with fine sloping 
 masonry. This was now gay with a profusion of anemones. 
 
 The form of the castle was controlled by the ground on 
 which it stands. It is therefore long and very narrow ; the 
 length being greatly disproportioned to the breadth. The east- 
 ern side seems to have been chiefly built up by the crusaders ; 
 
 ' BearingsfromKnl'atesh-ShatlfiNeby 268°. el-HiSmrah 273°. Shukin 302°. 
 
 Sijnd6°. Chasm of Litany 44°. Kula'at Meifidhun 302°. Amun 332°. Kefr Tibnit 
 
 83°. Khiyam 91°. el-Khirbeh 103°. Kiil'at 332°. Neby 'Aly et-Tahir 347°. 
 Banias 120°. Deir Mimas 160°. Zautar 
 
52 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 with the exception of the sloping work outside. Here, about 
 the middle, is the Latin chapel, with groined ceilings, and a 
 fine Gothic portal opening into the inner court. But along the 
 whole western side, including the comers on the north and the 
 southwest, it needs but a glance to perceive, that this whole 
 portion belongs to a period far earlier than the crusades. This 
 part still forms the main body of the building ; and exhibits 
 very few traces of the work of the middle ages. It is built 
 throughout with bevelled stones ; not large stones like those at 
 Jerusalem, nor with a bevel so regular as is found even in the 
 tower of Hippicus ; but yet of the same general character ; left 
 rough in the middle, and coarser. The stone is also softer ; and 
 consequently more weather-worn. There are here several square 
 projecting towers, with substructions sloping upwards from the 
 moat, which may be said to be almost facsimiles of Hippicus. 
 On the southwest is a round comer tower, having also its round 
 sloping substructions ; the whole producing a fine effect. East 
 of this was a small portal, having a round arch of stones hewn 
 smooth and fully bevelled ; presenting an ornamental appearance. 
 
 The walls are very solid and lofty, rising sixty or eighty feet 
 above the trench. The length is given at about 800 feet ; the 
 breadth is variable, but nowhere exceeds 300 feet. The repairs of 
 the crusaders are everywhere easily to be distinguished ; they have 
 a character totally different from the rest. This great fortress 
 is now whoUy deserted and in ruins ; and its vaulted stables and 
 priucely halls serve only as a shelter for the goat-herd and his 
 flocks. 
 
 Although there can be no doubt that this fortress existed 
 long before the time of the crusades ; yet I am_not aware of 
 any historical notice respecting it earlier than, the twelfth cen- 
 tury.' Perhaps some notice of the kind may yet be discovered, 
 to fix the date ; but at any rate it cannot be later than the 
 times of the Byzantine or Roman dominion in Syria ; if not 
 indeed earlier. Here was always an important pass from Sidon 
 towards the east. The Sidonians early had possession of the 
 country around BeiniEls and of the plain of the Huleh, which 
 Josephus speaks of as " the great plain of Sidon ; "^ and their 
 only direct access to that region, the only point where they could 
 well cross the Litany to reach Merj 'Ayun and the Huleh, was 
 by this pass. Here too is stiU found the easiest of the great 
 roads from Sidon to Damascus, avoiding entirely the steeps .and 
 the rough places of Lebanon. That ia the prosperous times of 
 
 ' For notices of esh-Shilkif during the " Jos. Ant. 6. 3. ], rh ]i.iya irtSW 2i- 
 crusades and later, see Vol. IL pp. 453, 454. Sairoj ir((A«i«. Comp. judg. 18, 7. 10. 
 [iii 380.] 27. 28. 
 
Ape. 9.] ESH-SHUKIF. BEIDGE OF THE LITANY. 53 
 
 Phenician commerce, there should not here have been a fortress 
 commanding this important pass, can hardly be supposed. 
 
 We returned from the castle to Arntin ; and left that village 
 at 2.20 on our way to the bridge over the Litany at Ka'ka'iyeh. 
 The road led through a rich and beautiful tract, without wood, 
 to el-Humrah ; which we reached at 2.50. ' Here the back view 
 of the great gorge of the Zaherany and the adjacent peaks of 
 Bihan, was very fine ; and showed the mountain on the north 
 of the gorge to be the highest. Passing on through rich fields 
 and over a swell of ground,' we saw a boy alone with two camels 
 and a donkey, which he was tethering out for pasture, singing in 
 the mean time with might and main. At 3.15 we came to the 
 eastern village of Zautar ; and ten minutes later to the western 
 Zautar. Between them was an encampment of gypsies, with 
 tents and horses, in a field. Here we could look down into the 
 deep gulf of the Litany on our left, running west ; its steep 
 sides were covered with shrubs. We soon began to descend a 
 side valley running down almost parallel to the Litany, called 
 Wady 'Ain 'Abd el-'Al. As we passed down we could see the 
 course of the LitSny for some distance below the junction ; 
 where the river at last enters a narrow chasm between very high 
 banks. The wooded sides of its chasm above and below the 
 bridge, cannot be less than from 500 to 800 feet in height. We 
 came down to the river and bridge at 4.25 ; and pitched our 
 tent for the night on the north bank, amid the long grass of a 
 meadow close by the bridge, in the bottom of this deep valley. 
 During the night the dew was very heavy ; so that the tent was 
 wet through. 
 
 The river was here running close under the high southern 
 bank ; the stream swollen, larger than any we had yet crossed, 
 and rushing on over a rocky bed with many rapids. A smaller 
 northern branch enclosed an island ; and across this the bridge 
 is built ; the middle part being a causeway. The abutments 
 and the two northern arches of the northern part of the bridge, 
 are of very high antiquity ; all the rest is modern ; and the 
 whole is rickety and covered with an execrable pavement.' At 
 the bridge are two large mills ; and one further down. These 
 are not used until later in the season ; when the water of the 
 mills on other streams, fails. 
 
 There are only two or three houses near the bridge. The 
 village Ka'ka'iyeh lies high on the northern hill side, at our right 
 as we came down, at least a mile distant. On the high point 
 
 ' Bearings at el-Humrah : Shukin N. ° This bridge over the Litany was nn- 
 
 35° W. Meifidhun N. 30° W. known to Frank residents at the time of 
 
 ' Bearings at 3 : et-Taiyibeh 152°, 8 J our former journey. It was first brought 
 
 m. Deir es-Siriyan 153°, 2^ m. Both to notice by Mr Wolcott in 1842; sea 
 
 these places are south of the Litany. Bibiiotheca Sacra, 1843, p. 82. 
 Vol. m.— 5* 
 
54 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA, [Sec. H. 
 
 between Wady el-'Ain and tlie Litany, was the little village 
 Judeideh. Beyond the river, we could look up along Wady 
 Hujeir, coming down from near Tibnin. On tbe point above its 
 junction with the Litany, was ez-ZukMyeh ; and at a distance 
 on its high eastern bank, the village of Kuseir was in sight. 
 The river separates the two districts, BeMd ShQkif and BelM 
 Besharah.' 
 
 Saturday, April lOth. — Our plan for to day was to visit 
 Kubrikhah and Khirbet Silim, where we had heard of ruins and 
 columns ; and then reach Tibnin. "We took as guide an old 
 man named Muhammed, with one eye and a sinister look, but 
 intelligent ; who lived at the bridge, and had supplied us with 
 provisions for the day. 
 
 We forded the northern branch of the river ; and thus escaped 
 the worst portion of the bridge and the causeway. Leaving the 
 bridge at 7.30, we soon entered and passed up Wady Hujeir in a 
 general direction about S. by E. the usual road to Tibnin. The 
 valley is narrow, with very high banks ; which prevent the trav- 
 eller from seeing any thing, except now and then a village on 
 their brow. The steep slopes on each side were beautifully 
 wooded with the Butm, the oak, a species of maple, laurel, and 
 occasionally a carob tree. As we advanced, the path was skirted 
 with flowers, as anemones, a pea with purple flower, small red 
 poppies, yellow daisies, and others. A lively limpid brook was 
 flowing down the valley, turning at short intervals not less than 
 six miUs, and there was the ruin of a seventh. These were 
 now grinding for the people of the region ; but later in the 
 season the stream partially dies away ; and then the large mills 
 at the bridge are put in motion. As we went on, Kashid 
 plucked for us the green pod of a carob tree ; which must 
 therefore have blossomed very early, probably in February, like 
 the almond. The whole valley presented a scene of sweet rural 
 beauty.^ The air too was full of the songs of the lark and 
 many other small birds. The note of one much resembled that 
 of the bluebird. 
 
 We came at 8.45 to 'Ain Hujeir ; above which the water- 
 course sometimes becomes quite dry in summer. At 8.50 we 
 turned to the left up Wady Seluky, which comes down from the 
 southeast. Here we met a man with a large drove of horses 
 and cattle. We had before seen in Wady Hujeir quite a 
 number of camels ; and among them a young one already with 
 a saddle on its back. After fifteen minutes we began to cHmb 
 
 ' Bearings from Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh : Village ' Bearings at 8 : ez-ZiikWyeh N. 10° E. 
 
 of Ka'ka'iyeh N. 15° W. 1 m. Judeideh el-Kantarah S. 45° E. Ij m. on W. bank. 
 
 N. 50° E i m. ez-Ziikkiyeh S. 70° E. i 'Aidib S. 10° W. 4 m. on W. bank, 
 m. Kuseir S. 45° E. 2 m. 
 
Apk. 10.] TEMPLE AT KTTBRIKHAH. 55 
 
 tlie steep soutliem tank, in order to reach KQbrikhali. The 
 way was little more than a goat path, leading up over rocks and 
 among bushes, and very difficult. The ascent was not less 
 than from 700 to 800 feet. The guide probably mistook the 
 way ; since it is scarcely possible that there should not be an 
 easier path between the village and its mills. We came out on 
 the brow at 9.30 ; and saw Ktlbrikhah before us S. 40 E. a 
 quarter of an hour distant. Our path now lay through fields of 
 wheat of the most luxuriant growth ; finer than which I had 
 not before seen ia this or any other country. 
 
 Among these splendid fields of grain are still found the tares 
 spoken of in the New Testament.' As described to me, they 
 are not to be distinguished from the wheat until the ear appears. 
 The seed resembles wheat in form ; but is smaller, and black. 
 In Beirut poultry are fed upon this seed ; and it is kept for 
 sale for that purpose. When not separated from the wheat, 
 bread made firom the flour often causes dizziness to those who 
 eat of it. All this corresponds with the lolium temulentum, or 
 bearded darnel." 
 
 We reached Kubrikhah at 9.45. It is a miserable vUlage, on 
 the southern brow of the deep Wady Seluky, commanding a 
 wide view on the east as far as to the ridge in the west of the 
 Hiileh ; and on the north into BeMd Shitkif The sea was 
 visible ; also Jebel Rihan and Jerju'a ; wMle Kul'at esh-Shukif 
 on its naked ridge appeared as if on the southeast border of a 
 large plain, alone in a vast basin. Jebel esh-Sheikh was perfectly 
 clear ; and glittering with its snows. Wady Seliiky was said to 
 have its beginning near 'Aithertin, between Bint Jebeil and 
 Kedes. It drains the whole intervening region. Beyond the 
 valley there was pointed out to us a large tree, N. 65° E. at the 
 distance of some two miles ; around which were said to be a few 
 ruins bearing the name of Keself This name corresponds to the 
 Achsha-ph of the book of Joshua, a city on the border of the 
 tribe of Asher ; whose king is twice mentioned in connection 
 with the king of Hazor.' As Hazor was situated somewhere on 
 the west of the Hiileh and overlooking it, there is nothing im- 
 probable in the idea, that the true site of Achshaph may have 
 thus been perpetuated under the name Kes^f* 
 
 On approaching the village, we came upon the ruins of 
 dwellings, some of them of hewn stones ; and I afterwards found 
 among them a curved stone of an arch, with a projectiag shoul- 
 
 ■ Matt. 13, 25 sq. Hm. Deir Siriyan 46°. Kul'at Shukif 42°. 
 
 ' " Infelix lolium," Virg. Geor. 1. 154. 'Atshith 32°, 1^ m. el-Kantarah 359°, 1 m. 
 
 Gr (iCivia. Arab. Zawan. Sliukin 3°. Zautar (west) 3°. Kilseir 
 
 " Josh 19, 25. ib. 11, 1. 12, 20. 350°, 3 J m. Tulin 267°. el-Burj, west of 
 
 • Bearin£?s at Kubrikhah : Tiillusiyeh W. Hujeir, 286°. Tibnin 223°. es-San- 
 
 142°. Merkebeh 139°. Beni Haiyon 122°, waueh 236°. Kesaf 65°. 
 
56 FROM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 der, sucli as is seen in the remains of the theatre at Smyrna. 
 The rains we had come to examine are in the village itself. 
 They consist of two rows of columns of an ancient temple, ex- 
 tending from east to west. The columns are of a whitish lime- 
 stone. Of the northern row there are four standing in place, 
 two prostrate, and fragments of two others. Of the southern 
 row, three are standing and two are lying. One of the upright 
 columns has an Ionic capital with dehcate tracery-work below 
 the volutes. Its height in aU. is about twelve feet. Many large 
 hewn stones are built into the walls of hovels around and among 
 the columns ; but there are none that seem to be in place. 
 That here was an ancient heathen temple, there can be little 
 doubt ; but whether it was of Phenician, Greek, or Eoman 
 origin, there exists no historic trace whatever, to afford light or 
 reward inquiry. 
 
 We set off again at 10.35 ; and bent our course nearly west 
 towards Tulin. The way was uneven ; crossing shallower valleys 
 and low ridges between them. Our guide lost the road ; and 
 thus delayed us some ten minutes. We reached Tulin at 11.25, 
 situated on a high chff looking down into Wady Hujeir on the 
 west ; it is here a deep precipitous valley with a bend towards the 
 east.' The village has no traces of antiquity. Quite a herd of 
 young cattle, as also horses and donkeys, were shut up together 
 in a large enclosure. Among those who came to gaze at us, was 
 a woman spinning, twirling her spindle in her hands. We had 
 yesterday seen an old man occupied in the same way. 
 
 To reach Khirbet Silim we had to make a great circuit by 
 way of Sauw4neh around the head of a valley towards the left. 
 Setting off at 11.35, we returned five minutes on our road ; and 
 then struck first southeast, and afterwards southwest, reaching 
 Sauwaneh at 12.25 ; although the direct distance from Tlilin is 
 not more than a mile and a half. The village is a miserable 
 nest ; surrounded, like the others we had seen, by heaps of stones, 
 the remains of peasants' houses. We here struck a side valley 
 running down southwest to Wady Hujeir ; and came to the 
 Tibnin road along the latter at 12.45. We turned down this 
 valley for ten minutes ; and so arrived at Khirbet Silim, situated 
 on the left side of the valley, on a high, thin, sharp ridge of rock 
 between Wady Hujeir and a small parallel side valley. 
 
 On the northern and higher end of this thin ridge, is the 
 village of Khirbet Silim ; its houses piled one upon another to 
 the top, apparently without streets or open ground ; a most 
 comfortless looking place. South of the village, where the ridge 
 
 ' Bearings from Tulin: Tibnin 205°. 184°.— West of Wady Hnjelr: Khirbet 
 es-Sanwaneh 184°, H m. Kul'at Shiikif Silim 213°, 1^ m. Kalawe'ih 293°, 1 m. 
 52°. Mejdel SiHm 145°, 2im. Jumeijimeh el-Buij 310°, 1^ m. Thenfeh 317°. 
 
Apr. 10.] KHIEBET SILIM. TIBNIK. 57 
 
 is lower, is a level area or natural platform of rock. In the 
 middle of tliis stands a lone column ; and another column and 
 two or three pedestals form part of a low wall on the west. 
 There are no capitals. Wherever the surface of the rock was 
 uneven, it has heen fiUed out with pavement. The columns are 
 of the common limestone ; and much ruder than those at Kii- 
 brikhah. Here too probably once stood a heathen temple. 
 
 We took our lunch on the platform, in the shade of the low 
 wall. While thus occupied, the Sheikh of the village came to 
 pay us his respects. He was an elderly man, and quite respectable 
 in his appearance. There was something unusually constrained 
 in his salutation of our old guide. Kashid afterwards learned, 
 that Muhammed had formerly stolen three horses from the 
 Sheikh ; and for this had received two hundred blows of the 
 bastinado, and been fined. Fortunately we had now done with 
 our respectable escort. 
 
 The distance from Khirbet SHim down Wady Hujeir to the 
 Litany is a little less than three hours.' 
 
 Leaving this place at 1.30, we again followed up Wady 
 Hujeir. The fine brook had disappeared ; the sides were less 
 high and less wooded ; though stiU our path was often skirted 
 with flowers. At 2.15 we were at the head of the valley, on a 
 low ridge, from which we descended into another vaUey, Wady 
 'Ain el-Mizrab, so called from a fountain here, the nearest one to 
 Tibnin. The valley has its head branches near Haddathah and 
 Haris in the southwest. It here sweeps round the northeastern 
 end of the ridge on which Tibnin is situated, and passes down 
 westwards to join Wady 'Ashur in the direction of Kana. We 
 ascended rather steeply along the ridge on the southern slope of 
 the valley ; and at 2.40 came to Tibnin. The castle stands on 
 the highest point of the ridge, looking down into Wady el-'Ain 
 in the north, and out over the basin drained by it in the south- 
 east and south. The large village of Tibnin is in a lower saddle 
 of the ridge, southwest of the castle. The pubHc cemetery lies 
 between the village and the castle ; many paths cross it ; and 
 the graves are continually trodden under foot. We pitched our 
 tent on the grass by the threshing-floors, in a fine sightly spot, 
 just below the castle on the south. 
 
 While pitching our tent a good-looking man approached us ; 
 whom we found to be a Christian, and the household steward of 
 the family of Sheikhs residing in the castle. He came to invite 
 us to take up our quarters at his own house in the village. He 
 said the Sheikhs were all absent ; but had given charge, that if 
 any Franks came along, they should be treated with respect. 
 
 ' Mr Woloott in Biblioth. Sac. 18i3, p. 82. 
 
58 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Seo. II. 
 
 We desired to rest awhile ; and made an appointment to visit 
 tlie castle afterwards. The Sheikh of the village also called. 
 
 At the time fixed, several persons accompanied us to the 
 castle. The entrance is from the southwest ; and is reached by 
 a steep ascent. The present walls are mostly of modern patch- 
 work. Only the earlier stately Gothic portal remains, with its inte- 
 rior vaulted passages. Over these, and higher than the walls, one 
 of the leading families of the Sheikhs of the Metawileh, that of 
 'Aly es-Sughlr, had built themselves a house, in which they reside 
 in a kind of shabby state ; they and their attendants being the 
 only inhabitants of the castle.' We were conducted into the 
 house, and to the audience hall of the family. This occupies 
 the whole breadth of the house ; and from its high position 
 commands a noble prospect. Towards the southwest it has a 
 large projecting window or balcony, overlooking the village and 
 the country around. As we reclined in this window on the once 
 splendid, but now faded carpets, we could look through the 
 opposite window towards the northeast, where the view took ia 
 J ebel esh-Sheikh and Kul'at esh-Shukif.* Here sherbet (sugar- 
 water) was brought to us by a boy with a napkin thrown over 
 his shoulder, on which the guest wipes his mouth after drinking. 
 Coffee with sugar followed, and pipes ; after which a still larger 
 company attended us around the fortress, to poiat out to us the 
 various objects of interest. 
 
 The fortress of Tibnin is a work of the crusaders. They 
 gave it the name of Toron (Toronum) ; but the name Tibnin 
 was of earlier date.' The castle was dismantled in the thir- 
 teenth century ; and would seem never to have been restored 
 as a place of strength. The walls may have been built up again 
 at different times ; they are now in great decay, and in many 
 parts seem ready to tumble down. Long before the time of the 
 crusaders, however, there must have been a fortress on this spot ; 
 and they built upon its ancient foundations. These are still to 
 be seen in some parts of the wall outside, consisting of stones 
 like those of the castle esh-Shukif, not faUy bevelled, but hewn 
 smooth at the edges, and left rough and sometimes protuberant 
 in the middle. Many such stones are also seen on the inside, 
 not in place, but scattered about or built in singly in different 
 
 'In tie first edition of the Biblical higliestpoint64°. Jeriu'a24° el-Yehudiyeh 
 
 Researchej, the residence of this family 326°, fm. es-Sauwaneh 32°. Tulin 25°. 
 
 •was by mistake assigned to Kiilat esh-Shii- Kubrikhah 42°. el-Kantarah 32°. 'Almon 
 
 klf. See VoL II. pp. 450, 451. [iii. 376.] 23°. Deir Siriyan 44°. Shukin 18°. Zau- 
 
 ' Bearings from the castle of Tibnin : tar, west, 22°. Zautar, east, 26°. Khirbet 
 
 Haddathah 219°. 'Aithat ez-Zut 195°, 2 m. Yanuh, on a hill above Haddathah, 225°. 
 Beitahun 171°. Bei'ashit 129°. Shukrah 'Will. Tyr. 11. 5, "nomen prisonm 
 
 95°, 8 m. Safed 81°, 1 m. Jumeijimeh 66°, Tibenin." See the further historical no- 
 
 2 m. Huleh 83°. el-Mansurah, aruin 183°, tices of this fortress, in Vol. II. p. 451- 
 
 2 m. Kiil'at Shiikif 42°. Jebel esh-Sheikh, 453. [iii 377.] 
 
Apr. 11.] FOETEESS OF TIBNIN. 59 
 
 parts of the later work. The wall encloses an area, nearly- 
 square, of more than an acre of ground. This was apparently 
 once crowded with houses and other buildings of stone, now 
 broken down and strewn about in shapeless ruin. There is at 
 present nothing standing within the enclosure, except the dwell- 
 ing of the Sheilths and its appurtenaiices. 
 
 We were told that the ruling Sheikh or Beg, receives a salary 
 of 750 piastres a month as governor of the district. He employs 
 three scribes at 300 piastres a month each ; and allows his 
 steward 1500 piastres a year and food. There is no freehold in 
 the province ; all lands being held of the government. The land 
 tax or rent is reckoned by yokes of oxen. The village of Tibnin 
 has 380 male inhabitants ; of whom 130 are Christians, and 250 
 Metawileh. There are further 24 yokes of oxen. They pay a land 
 tax of 12,000 piastres. There is also a poU tax of 2100 piastres. 
 Another tax of 2300 piastres had been remitted by the Sultan, 
 not long ago ; but the Beg continued to exact it, and appropri- 
 ate it to himself. Besides all these, there are other minor taxes 
 and presents. The Sheikh has no freehold property ; but when 
 Suliman Pasha took Tyre and Eels el-'Ain away from the 
 family of 'Aly es-Sughir, he a,ssigned to them the revenue of six 
 villages in the district of Shumar ; which the Sheikhs still con- 
 tinue to receive. In this connection too, it was reported, that 
 Keshid Pasha of Constantinople had farmed Kas el-'Ain and 
 the district irrigated by its waters, for the purpose of planting 
 mulberry trees extensively for the culture of silk. The works 
 were said already to have been commenced. 
 
 We heard also of figures sculptured in the rocks on one of 
 the roads to Tyre. At Hanaweih, near Kana, are three images 
 of men carved on a tablet in the face of a rock ; the middle one 
 higher, and seated in a chair ; but the whole much injured by 
 the weather.' At Mezra'ah in Wady 'AshUr, about an hour from 
 Kana, are similar figures in a cave entered by a door ; here they 
 are well preserved, and have upon the head a conical cap. We 
 were unable to visit these sculptures ; but they deserve the at- 
 tention of future travellers. 
 
 Sunday, April Wth. About midnight a strong wind arose 
 from the southeast, which continued to increase, until there was 
 great danger that the ropes of our tent would be broken, or the 
 tent-pins be torn out. The flapping and shaking had long 
 banished sleep ; and as the exposure was every moment greater, 
 
 ' This would seem to be the tablet de- which is nearly obliterated. Above the 
 
 scribed by Monro, as a kind of window, a figares, he says, is the winged globe. See 
 
 yard square and as much in depth, high his Summer Ramble, II. p. 23. — These 
 
 up in the rocks on the right of a Wady, sculptures need further and more careful 
 
 near the lower extremity of its precipitous examination, 
 banks. He speaks oi four figures ; one of 
 
60 FEOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [SecH. 
 
 we sent off KasMd about 4^ o'clock to procure for us a place in 
 the village. He soon returned with the offer of a room from 
 the Beg's steward, who had been with us yesterday. We im- 
 mediately removed thither. The wind continued as a strong 
 sirocco, filling the air with a haze ; while on Jebel Eihan we 
 could see occasional showers. In the afternoon, the wind 
 changed to the southwest, the rainy quarter ; and we expected 
 it would bring rain during the night. But the sun went down 
 in a haze, without clouds ; and the wind died away. 
 
 It was Easter Sunday ; and at midnight the fast had ceased, 
 and the people had begun again to eat meat. There was of 
 course great feasting. Hence it was, that Rashid had so readily 
 found for us a room. Our host was absent at church when we 
 took possession. He came to us afterwards ; and excused 
 himself for the day, as his business confined him to the castle. 
 He called again at evening ; and his whole deportment was 
 courteous and respectful. There is in the village a Christian 
 priest ; but no church building. We found here likewise, quite 
 unexpectedly, a shop with many European wares for sale ; 
 among the rest very good lump sugar. 
 
 The house of our host had been built apparently at different 
 times, around a small court. There was only one story ; but 
 some of the rooms were higher than others. Hence the different 
 ' portions of the flat roof were of different elevations ; and each 
 had its separate roller. There were two family rooms, a kitchen, 
 stable, and other appurtenances. The room we occupied was 
 the best. It had a hearth in one corner, with a funnel over it 
 for the smoke ; in another corner was a wide framed divan or bed- 
 stead ; and along the back of the room was a range of small 
 niches, apparently for receiving jars. An arch of stone spanned 
 the middle of the room from wall to wall ; on which the beams 
 and joists rested. These were covered over with small branches 
 and brushwood ; and as usual with earth rolled hard above. 
 
 In our room was a single wooden chair, of the rudest and 
 most ordinary kind ; a wonder in this region, and probably pro- 
 cured with a view to the entertainment of Franks. In the 
 house and around the court were many dovecotes ; and the yard 
 was often full of doves. We had here several times before our 
 eyes the model of the celebrated Vase with doves drinking ; but 
 the vase was in this case nothing more than a rude washbowl 
 of stone in the middle of the yard. 
 
 In the village many houses stand upon the hill-side ; so that 
 some streets are skirted on one side with houses of fuU height, 
 while on the other side they are on a level with the roofs of the 
 houses fronting on another street below. Croats and donkeys 
 were feeding on these roofs ; and in some cases a foot-path led 
 over themu 
 
Apr. 12.] TIBNIN. TATIE. 61 
 
 The boys in tlie street were rude and noisy ; and old men 
 twirled their spindles. But we had a day of quiet rest. 
 
 Monday April 12th. We engaged a guide for Eameh, 
 named Isma'il, a dependent of the Beg and a Mutawaly. He 
 proved faithful and intelligent. When the time came, he 
 " arose and saddled his ass," and went with us. His beast was 
 large and strong, and travelled well. 
 
 Leaving Tibnin at 8.30 for H^ris, we descended obliquely 
 into Wady 'Ain el-Mizrab, here coming down from the south- 
 west. At 8.55 we reached the bottom ; which is broad, weU 
 tilled, and tolerably fertile. We followed up a main branch 
 quite to its head ; and at 9.20 came out upon our former road 
 from Bint Jebeil to Tyre, just opposite Hdris.' This village 
 was here five minutes distant, bearing S. 60° W., while Tibnin 
 bore N. 60° B. We turned to the right for five minutes, on our old 
 road, to the sightly brow overlooking all the plain and region of 
 Tyre, with that city in the distance. The morning was misty, 
 with showers in the west ; so that the view was less extensive 
 than when we formerly saw it. The head of Wady 'Ashutr was 
 directly below us.^ 
 
 We returned, and passing Hdris at 9.40, proceeded along 
 the right side of a valley, called further down Wady Seribbin, 
 which we followed to its junction with the great Wady el-'Ayun. 
 The village Ershaf soon came in sight on the hills across the 
 valley. We rose along the right hand declivity to the village 
 Seribbin at 10.25.^ Continuing on the declivity, we came, at 
 10.40, opposite to the junction with Wady el-'Aylin ; where the 
 latter coming down from the S. S. E. turns at an acute angle 
 about southwest. The road from Kumeish to Tyre comes down 
 Wady el-'Ayun ; and here ascends and crosses the ridge in the 
 northwest. The villages Kauzih and Salihany were in sight, 
 high up on the left side of Wady el-'Ayun ; as also Beit Lif on 
 the same side in the valley.* 
 
 We now turned up on the road to Tyre about N. N. 
 W. by a winding path ; and after ascending for fifteen min- 
 utes came out upon the eastern brow of the broad ridge 
 of table land.' Traversing this we came at 11.25 to YS.tir, 
 an old village near the western brow, commanding a view of 
 Tyre and its plain. Here are some few remains of antiquity. 
 In the yard of a hovel and stable we were shown a stone 
 
 ' The name of this Tillage was given to ' Bearings at Seribbin : Ershaf S. -} m, 
 
 us wrongly by our ignorant guide in 1838, Rameh S. 55° W. 
 
 as Hadith. 'Aithat ez-Zut he also mis- * Bearings at 10.40 : Ershaf S. 50° K 
 
 named Hulieh. Kauzih S. 25° W. Beit Lif S. 55° W. 
 
 '■' Bearings on the brow near Harts: Tyre Salihany S. 65° W. Kameh S. 50° W. 
 
 303°. Deir 'Ammis 302°. el-Biyad 302°. ' Bearings at 10.5.5, on eastern brow: 
 
 Kefra 252°, 1 m. Tibnin N. 75° E. See Ershaf 119°. Sa'sa' 165°. Kanzih 197°. 
 
 Vol II. pp. 454, 455. [uL 382, 383.1 Rameh 221°. Beit Lif 220°. Yaron 149°. 
 
 Vol. III.— 6 
 
62 FEOM BEIBUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 about two feet square, with sculptured ornaments ; but much 
 defaced. In a ledge of rocks soutb of the village there are 
 two excavated chambers ; one of them with two recesses for 
 dead bodies. The rocks round about are much cut away. 
 From the highest point of this ledge, we could see Kul'at Shema' 
 on the mountain south of Tyre, and Eds el-Abyad beyond. 
 The village Teir Harfa was visible far down towards en-Naku- 
 rah. Not far distant from us was a Tell called Meryamin, with 
 ruins near it. On a TeU half a mile south of us were said to be 
 columns, probably of an ancient temple.' 
 
 We were told, that at Kuneifidh, lower down the mountain 
 near the plain, there is a cave with two marble sarcophagi having 
 sculptures upon them. At Beit Lif there was found last year a 
 quantity of gold coin ; which was taken to Beirut and given 
 to the Pasha. We took our lunch here. Quite a number of 
 men were ploughing round about the village ; each carried in 
 his hand a goad some ten feet long, with a spike at the end. 
 The ploughing at this season was for millet and tobacco. 
 
 Leaving Yatir at 12.40 we returned to the fork of the roads ; 
 and thence descended very steeply for ten minutes into Wady el- 
 'Ayun, at the junction of Wady Seribbin, where the former turns 
 southwest. The valley, after following this course for a short 
 time, with the ridge of Kauzih on the left, again turns between 
 west and northwest ; issues from the mountains by a deep gorge ; 
 and as Wady el-'Azziyeh skirts the northern base of the moun- 
 tains to the sea near Kas el-Abyad. We now, at 1.20, proceeded 
 up Wady el-'Ayun S. S. E. on the Eumeish road ; until at 2 
 o'clock we came out into a fine basin among the hills. The vil- 
 lage of Dibl was on one of the left-hand hills, half a mile 
 distant, N. 60° E. On the right the plain stretched off much 
 further in the south and southwest. At 2.5 a path from Dibl 
 to Kameh crossed our road, and by it we sent off our muleteers 
 to- the latter place. After another five minutes, we bore more to 
 the right, across the fields ; and at 2.20 came to the arch of 
 Huzziir, with the ruins of Hazireh around it. The spot is a 
 gentle acclivity a little south of the Eumeish road." 
 
 Here is a rather extensive tract of ruins ; with many hewn 
 stones ; and in one place a few stones coarsely bevelled, as at 
 esh-Shukif. There are several cisterns ; one of them large and 
 open, with two small fig trees growing in it. But the chief 
 object of interest is the arch or vault called Hflzzlir, standing 
 on a flat rock over the entrance of an excavated sepulchre. 
 The arch is round ; the stones rather large but not bevelled ; 
 
 ' Bearings at Yatir : Teir Harfa 253°. Yaron 147°. Sa'sa' 161°. Kanzih 173°. 
 Kffl'at Shema' 271°. Mejdel Zun 273°. ' Bearings from HazSreh : Kauzih N. 
 
 Meryamin 266°. Tyre 321°. Deir Kanon 60° W. 1 m. Ershaf N. 25° E. Hanin 
 
 319°. Kana 339°. Kas el-'Ain 318°. S. 80° E. 2 m. Dibl N. 40° E. J m. 
 
Apr 12.] HAZIREH. KAMEH. 63 
 
 and the whole bears tlie marks of extreme antiquity. Beneath 
 the vault the flat rock is cut away to form a sloping passage 
 leading down to the sepulchre. This passage is 4 feet wide, 12 
 feet long, and at the lower end 5J feet deep. Here is a low portal 
 leading into an excavated chamber with a sarcophagus. The 
 vault above is 6 feet broad by 12 long and 9^ high. There is 
 another sepulchre southwest of this and similar to it, excavated 
 in a flat rock ; but having now no vault over it. This place 
 was first found by the Eev. W. M. Thomson, who directed our 
 attention to it ; and had been visited by him and others. The 
 name suggests at once the Hazor of the book of Joshua. But 
 that city, as we shall see hereafter, was near the Htileh and in 
 the territory of Naphtali ; while this spot is remote from the 
 Hiileh and in the tribe of Asher.' No historical notice has yet 
 been discovered, bearing upon the true name and character of 
 this ancient site. It may well have been an ancient Hazor ; 
 though none is mentioned in Asher. 
 
 Setting off at 2.45, we turned southwest and regained the 
 road to Rameh. Many cattle were feeding in the plain ; and 
 many were collected to drink at a pond of water. The plain 
 contracted as we advanced ; and at 3.15 we reached its head 
 and rose upon a low ridge.'' Beyond the ridge was the head of 
 another valley running off in the opposite direction, called Khullet 
 el-Werdeh ; it was said to unite with Wady el-Kurn. We bore 
 more to the right ; and ten minutes later Rameh came in 
 sight ; as also 'Aiteh, beyond the Wady just described.' We 
 proceeded to Rameh, descending and afterwards ascending its 
 isolated hill, along a road bearing the marks of great antiquity, 
 and probably trodden for many centuries. We came to the 
 village at 3.45 ; and pitched our tent on one of the grassy ter- 
 races just below the village towards the southwest. 
 
 ESmeh stands upon an isolated hill, in the midst of a basin 
 with green fields, surrounded by higher hUls. The southwestern 
 portion of the basin has no outlet for its waters ; which therefore 
 collect in a shallow marshy lake, that dries up in summer. 
 There is a gap in the ridge on the northwest, leading through to 
 Wady el-'Ayiin ; but a low bar or water-shed in it prevents the 
 water from flowing off. On the northeast of the village a similar 
 gap breaks down to Wady el-'Ayun ; and drains that part of the 
 basin. The inhabitants were now supplied with water only from 
 the lake ; and this was brought up in jars by females upon their 
 heads. The distance was about three eighths of a mile ; mostly 
 up a steep ascent. In summer, when the lake fails, they bring 
 water on donkeys from a fountain several miles distant. 
 
 ' Josh. 11, 1. 10. 19, 36. ' Bearings at 3.25 : Eameh N. 60° W. 
 
 " Bearings at 3.15 : Djbl 72°. 'Ain Ibl 'Aiteh S. 30° Kim. 
 91°. 
 
64 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. 
 
 [Sec. n. 
 
 We came upon an ancient sarcoplaagus at tlie foot of the 
 Mil ; and saw others on the way up. On the top near the 
 village are two very large ones. One of the lids measured 7^ 
 feet long by 2 feet broad, with nearly the same thickness. In a 
 field below our tent, about midway of the hill-side, were others 
 of an unusual character. In a large isolated rock were excavated 
 no less than three sarcophagi, side by side ; and then the 
 exterior of the rock was hewn away, and the corners rounded off. 
 Around each sarcophagus a ledge was left, for a corresponding 
 groove iQ the lid. The whole is a striking monument of anti- 
 quity. 
 
 There is no room for question, but that this village represents 
 the ancient Ramah of Asher.' But apart from the identity of 
 the name, there is no evidence for its antiquity, except the sar- 
 cophagi above described. No trace of it exists in any historical 
 record, later than the time of Joshua ; except the bare mention 
 of the name by Eusebius and Jerome.' 
 
 West of Kameh, beyond the basin, is a lofty hill called 
 Belat ; the highest point, indeed, in all that region. On it are 
 ruins ; and we could distinguish a row of columns, still support- 
 ing in some parts an architrave.^ — The direct distance from Tib- 
 nin to Eameh is about three and a half hours. 
 
 Tuesday, April 13iA. — During the night, the northwest 
 wind became strong and cold. For the first time in my life, I 
 heard the cry of the jackal ; resembling that of a child, or 
 rather the yelping of a young dog. It came from the southern 
 hills and was heard also by the servants. 
 
 We had concluded over night to visit the ruins of Belat ; and 
 then to leave it to circumstances, whether or not to proceed 
 further west, perhaps as far down as to Kul'at Shema'. The 
 morning was cold and cloudy. Taking a guide, who rode his 
 own horse, we started at 7.15 ; and passing down along the 
 north side of the marsh, and then up an open valley on the south 
 of the hill of Belat to its southwestern flank, we ascended 
 without a path, and with some difficulty for the horses. We 
 reached the top at 7.45, in just half an hour from Eameh. The 
 direct distance, therefore, cannot well be over three fourths of a 
 mUe. The wind was high and cold ; the thermometer standing 
 at 56° Far. The view was extensive and grand ; and while my 
 companion was sifting the guide in order to find out the names 
 of places and take their bearings, I turned my attention to the 
 ruins. 
 
 Here was once a temple of some sort ; of which ten columns 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 29. Kanzih 69°. Seribbin 47°- Haris 46°. 
 
 » Onomast. art. Rama. Khirbet Yaniih 54°. Belat 286°, |m. 
 
 ' Bearings from Kameh: 'Aiteh 130°. 
 
Apb.13.] rameh. belat. 65 
 
 are still standing. From the northern end, its sides have the 
 direction S. 20° B. On the eastern side, near the south end, four 
 columns stiU bear their architraves ; as also three at the north- 
 west comer, that is, the corner pillar and one on each side of it. 
 AU the columns are of the common limestone of the region, with 
 imperfect capitals resemhling the Doric. They are about 12 
 feet high. If feet in diameter, 5^ feet in circumference, and 
 stand 7J feet apart. The length of the whole edifice is about 
 90 feet by 22 feet broad. The pillars at the four comers are 
 square on the outside ; but on the inside, each corner of the pillar 
 is so rounded off as to give the appearance of a sort of double 
 column. The two columns in the middle of the eastern row 
 are also square on the outside, and round within ; they served 
 apparently to form the portal. On the west side are remains of 
 a platform on which the edifice stood, extending seven feet 
 beyond the row of columns. The whole area is now full of fallen 
 columns, architraves, and the like ; but there does not appear to 
 have been any interior building or fane. The stones are exceed- 
 ingly worn by the weather ; and there is the appearance of great 
 rudeness of architecture. No sculpture is to be found except the 
 columns ; nor any trace of inscriptions. There is a cistern 
 roughly hewn, in which we found water. Some traces of a small 
 village are seen near by ; and a few hewn stones. We saw 
 also a single sarcophagus sunk in a rock, with a rudely formed 
 Hd. 
 
 This is a singular ruin, and hard to be accounted for. It has 
 no resemblance to the heathen temples in Lebanon and Anti- 
 Lebanon, of which I afterwards saw so many ; nor yet to the 
 remains we had so recently visited at Kubrikhah. In some 
 points, especially in the form of the capitals, and of the pillars at 
 the four comers, there was a resemblance to the remains of Jewish 
 edifices of the early centuries after Christ, which we afterwards 
 saw at Kefr Bir'im, Kedes, and elsewhere. But it is difficult to 
 conjecture for what purpose the Jews of that day should have 
 erected such a structure here ; inasmuch as the days of idolatiy 
 and high places among them had long since passed away. 
 
 The western view from this spot took in the whole coast, 
 from Tyre and its plain on the north to 'Akka and Carmel on 
 the south. We could see the great chasm by which Wady el- 
 'Azziyeh passes out of the mountains to the plain. North of 
 this, are Zibkin with ruins and Meryamin. Mejdel Zun and 
 Korat Shema' are on the most northern ridge of the mountains, 
 which ends in E^s el-Abyad. The fortress is apparently one 
 of the many castles of the time of the crusaders. Below us 
 was the head of the shorter Wady Hamul ; which likewise 
 breaks down through the mountain by a narrow gap to the coast 
 
 Vol. m.— 6* 
 
66 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 north of en-NakArah. On it are the ruins of a town of the 
 same name, HSmul ; which possibly may he the site of the 
 ancient Hammon of Asher. ■ Further south was the higher ridge 
 extending up from Eas en-Ntkurah, and separating the tracts 
 drained by Wady Hamtil on the north and Wady el-Kurn on the 
 south. We could distinguish the general course of this latter 
 valley ; which having its main heads in the Wadys coming 
 down from Bukei'a and Beit Jenn, cleaves the whole region as 
 a deep chasm, and descends to the coast on the south of Eas en- 
 Nakurah. On its high southern side the large village of Ter- 
 shlha was visible. Ikrit is a Christian village on the border of 
 the same valley, on a TeU that seems ancient. This Wady was 
 described, and appeared, as the great valley of the district el- 
 Jebel. Our guide said it was so deep and precipitous as to be 
 impassable ; and even eagles could not fly across it. On an 
 isolated cliff in this valley is situated the fortress of Kurein, 
 the Montfort of the crusaders ; now in ruins and almost inac- 
 cessible. — In the east, the mountains of Jermtik, towards Sa- 
 fed, were conspicuous ; in and around these lie the sources of 
 Wady el-Kurn.^ 
 
 The whole prospect was that of a mountainous region ; a sea 
 of rocky hills and deep precipitous valleys, mostly wooded ; but 
 without many villages, and given over to Arabs of the tribe el- 
 Musy. It is a wild district ; though with much tillage, and 
 more pasturage ; and the butter of its flocks and herds is cele- 
 brated. The northern part, chiefly drained by Wady Ham (A, is 
 called the Shab ; and is a subdivision of Belad Besharah.' 
 
 The region thus spread out before us in the west, has been 
 until recently almost a terra incognita. No great road passes 
 through it in any direction, except along the coast ; and hence 
 few travellers have ever penetrated its recesses. The crusaders 
 had various fortresses in the parts nearer the sea, belonging to the 
 Teutonic knights ; but the country is too broken for military 
 operations ; and the historians of those times had therefore little 
 to relate concerning it. In 1754, Stephan Schulz went from 
 'Akka to Y^ntik ; and afterwards visited Tershiha, Bukei'a, 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 28. This suggestion was son spent some days in this region, and 
 
 made by E. G. Schuk ; Hitter Erdk. XVI. visited the ruins of Kdl'at Kurein. In a 
 
 L p. 778. No great stress can be laid letter dated shortly afterwards, he thus 
 
 upon it. writes : " This region abounds in wolves, 
 
 " Bearings from Belat : Tershiha 195°. hears, panthers, hyenas, jackals, foxes, 
 
 Bkrit 203°. Terhikhah 185°. 'Aiteh 120°. hares, conies (hyrax Syriacus), jerboas, and 
 
 Rameh 104°. 'Ain Ibl 96°. Kauzih 85°. many other animals. The whole hill of 
 
 'Akka 230°. Tyre 336°. Zibkin 243°. the castle (Kurein) was ploughed over by 
 
 Gap of Wady el-'Azziyeh 327°. Mejdel wild swine. Gazelles and partridges were 
 
 Zun 308°. iCul'at Shema' 300°. Jibhein seen in abundance." He also descrihis 
 
 286°. Jijin 278°. Gap of Wady Hamul the ruins of the great fortress. See Bib- 
 
 278°. Miryamin 17°. Sa'sa' 138°. lioth. Sac. 1855, pp. 828 sq. 830. 
 
 ' In Not' 1854, the Eev. W. M. Thorn- 
 
Apu. 13.] BELAT. PROSPECT. 67 
 
 Beit Jenn, and Sa'sa'.' About ten years later Mariti likewise 
 penetrated to Knl'at Jedin * and TersMha ; and returned by way 
 of Wady el-Kum and the fortress Kurein.' The route-map of 
 Callier in 1830-31 exhibits a route from 'Akka by Jedin and 
 Tershiha to Eumeish ; but it is accompanied by no description. 
 In 1844, Dr Smith and Mr Calhoun passed up from near 'Akka 
 by 'Amkah and Suhm&ta to Eumeish and so to Kedes and BaniSs. 
 The journal of this important route is now in my hands ; but 
 has never been published. Three years later, in 1847, E. Gr. 
 Schulz, Prussian consul at Jerusalem, visited KQl'at Jedin 
 and Kurein ; and went also from Safed by Eumeish to Tibnin. 
 His manuscript journal has been used by Eitter in his great work.* 
 The weather was so cold, and the wind so violent, that we 
 gave up our purpose of proceeding to Ktal'at Shema' ; and 
 returned to Eameh. Setting off again at 9.50, with the same 
 guide, we went back on our road of yesterday twenty minutes to 
 the fork, where a road leads off to 'Aiteh. We met on the way 
 a hunter of partridges, bearing a light frame of cane, on which 
 to stretch a screen painted in stripes, with only a hole for his 
 gun. Hid behind this screen he approaches the birds ; which 
 are said to be attracted by the bright colours. Leaving the fork 
 at 10.10, we struck down across the head of Wady Khullet el- 
 Werdeh mentioned yesterday, about S. E. by S. and entered the 
 mouth of a lateral Wady coming in from under the south side 
 of the hill of 'Aiteh. Very soon, however, we turned up another 
 Wady coming down on the north and west of the same hiU ; 
 and at 10.35 entered a small basin with a pond of water. Here 
 a road from Dibl to 'Aiteh crossed our track ; and the latter 
 village was now on our right. We continued to ascend gradual- 
 ly ; and at 10.45 came out into a larger basin, a fine tract of tilled 
 land ; forming the water-shed between the branches of Wady 
 Khullet el-Werdeh going to Wady el-Ktirn, and another Wady 
 before us descending to Wady el-'Aytin.' Our general course re- 
 mained about S. E. by S. On the further side of the plain was a 
 fine pool at 10.55 ; at the entrance of a Wady which we followed 
 down. It soon became a rocky glen ; in the left side of which 
 was a sepulchre, a low door with an excavated chamber. Below 
 the glen the valley turns more to the left tor a few rods, and 
 joins Wady el-'Ayun, here again contracted. We kept on over 
 a low ledge with a Tell on the left in the fork of the two val- 
 leys, on which are the small ruins of Kurah. Here at 11.10, we 
 
 " Leitungen des Hochsten, Th. V. p. Van de Velde, whom we met in Jerusalem, 
 
 271 sq. Paulus' Sammlung, Th. VIL p. had visited Belat a few weeks earlier, and 
 
 96 sq. also KuFat Kurein. Dr De Forest has 
 
 ' Sometimes called also Jiddin. since examined the latter. Mr Thomson 
 
 ' Mariti Voyages, IL p. 136 sq. was there in Nov. 1854. 
 
 * Eitter, Erdk. Th. XVI. i. pp. 780- ' Bearings at 10.45 : Kanzih N. 10° E. 
 
 782.— Wc learned afterwards, that Mr 'Aitheh N. 75° W. 
 
68 FKOM BEIBUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. H. 
 
 entered Wady el-'Ayiln, whicli immediately expands into a large 
 and beautiful plain, surrounded by distanb hills. Eumeish bore 
 S. 10° E. in the southern part of the plain. We came to it at 
 11.30. 
 
 Eumeish is a large Maronite village ; its population includ- 
 ing 200 males by the census. It is surrounded by fertile fields ; 
 and seemed well supplied with their products. We purchased 
 dried figs and other articles ; as also barley for our horses, which 
 was not to be had at Eimeh. There were several ponds of 
 water round about the village ; some natural, and others artifi- 
 cial. Twenty goats had been stolen from the village the night 
 before, and the loss was charged, as usual, upon wandering 
 Arabs. 
 
 Three valleys enter this part of the plain, converging from 
 different points. The middle one comes down from the S. S. E. 
 and up this passes the road to Sa'sa', Kefr Bir'im, and Safed.' 
 Another comes from the southwest, and along it lies the road 
 from Suhm^ta. The third has its head near Bint Jebeil, where 
 we had formerly seen it as Wady Eumeish ;" thence it descends 
 as a winding wooded valley to this village, and unites with the 
 others to_ form Wady el-'Ayun, whose water-course passes off 
 through the plain. The route of my companion in 1844, from 
 Suhmata to Bint Jebeil, had been along these last two valleys. 
 
 We now took a guide on foot, for the remainder of the day. 
 Leaving Eumeish at noon, over what seemed to be the general 
 dunghill of the village, we entered the middle valley upon the 
 Safed road. We were at first undecided, whether to go to 
 Sa'sa', or to Kefr Bir'im ; but finally concluded to stop at the 
 latter village for the night, and make an excursion to the 
 former ; for which there was ample time. This latter purpose, 
 however, was frustrated by the violent wind and cold. The val- 
 ley was fertile and well tUled, though not wide ; with high hills 
 on each side. Its name we did not note. At 12.25 a lofty point 
 was on our right, with a ruin, called Biyad. Hereabouts the 
 Sa'sa' road went off on the right, up a side valley. At 1 o'clock 
 Kefr Bir'im came in sight up the valley on a hill ; and imme- 
 diately afterwards Sa'sa' also was seen through a gap on the 
 right.' The hiUs became more rocky, and the valley narrower ; 
 but further up there was again more tillage. At 1.25 we reached 
 Kefr Bir'im, climbing the high hiU. on which it stands on the 
 east side of the valley. 
 
 The high wind and cold prevented us from pitching the 
 tent ; the thermometer stood at 51° Far. We were therefore 
 taken to the house of the priest, Elias, an old man of some sev- 
 
 ' From Eumeish, Sa'sa' tore 159°. ' Bearings at 1 : Kefr Bir'im S. 70° E. 
 
 ' See Vol. IL p. 447. [ia 372.] Sa'sa' S. 10° W. 
 
Ajpr. 13.] KUMEISH. KEFB BIS'lM. 69 
 
 enty years ; who had been tlie priest of this Maronite village 
 for forty-five years. His house was a large one ; and he had 
 twenty-five persons in his family, including women and children. 
 The ground floor was occupied by the family rooms, and stables ; 
 and there were other stables around the yard. Dismounting in 
 the court, we entered by a small and low door, and crept up a 
 low and very narrow flight of steps in the wall to the large upper 
 room, which served as parlour and guest-chamber. It occupied 
 the whole upper floor ; and was spanned by three arches, on 
 which rested the beams of the roof. It had three windows, but 
 without glass ; and the shutters of two were kept closed on ac- 
 count of the wind ; thus rendering parts of the room quite dark. 
 There were fires in every room ; in ours, the hearth was in the 
 middle of the floor, and was made of clay in the form of a pan 
 or basin. On one side were carpets and cushions, where we, as 
 guests, were seated or stretched ; on the other side and around 
 the fire sat our host, the Sheikh of the village, and other neigh- 
 bours. There was, of course, no thought of our being left alone. 
 They watched rather closely, and with some amusement, the 
 process of shaving ; and wondered afterwards at our writing. 
 They all remained while we took our dinner ; which our host 
 helped out by bringing us bread, leben, and butter. The latter 
 was from goats' milk ; but we also saw a girl milking a cow. In 
 one of the lower rooms was a child's cradle of the usual European 
 form ; they were said to be common. 
 
 We took a walk about the village ; and examined the remains 
 described below. It occupies a sightly spot ; and its population, 
 Maronites, includes 160 males by the census. The castle of 
 Sa'sa' is in fuU view in the southwest, half an hour distant by 
 the road, but hardly a mile off in a direct line. It stands on a 
 prominent hUl ; and has an old look. It was said to be now in 
 ruins ; and is supposed by E. G. Schulz to be the ' Castellum 
 Regis' of the crusaders.' In the east is seen the village of 'Alma, 
 mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela and other Jewish travellers, as 
 containing the tombs of several holy men." Other places along 
 our former route were also visible.' 
 
 At night we once more set up our bedsteads, to prevent 
 intruders. The old priest slept in the room, wrapped m a 
 blanket, with only a thin mattress on the floor. Otherwise we 
 were left to ourselves. The yard at night, as a place of safety, 
 was filled with horses, cows, young cattle, calves, mules, donkeys, 
 dogs, and camels ; to say nothing of cats and poultry. 
 
 ' Eitter. Erdk. XVI. i. p. 802. Steph. ItinSraires de la Terre Sainte, pp. 135, 184, 
 
 Sohnlz, Leitungen des Hoehsten, Th. V. 263, etc 
 
 pp. 295, 300. Paiilus" Sammlung Th. VII. = Bearings at Kefr Bir'im : Yaron 13 . 
 
 pp. 112, 116. Maron 27°. 'Alma 88°. Ras el-Ahmar 
 
 » Benj. of Tndela, I. p. 82. Carmoly 100°. el-Jish 127°. Sa'sa' 232°. 
 
70 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. H, 
 
 The chief objects of interest at Kefr Bir'im are the remains 
 of two structures ; which at first were to us inexplicable. One is 
 in the northeastern part of the village, consisting of the front of a 
 building which faced towards the south, with two rows of lime- 
 stone columns before it belonging to a portico. The front wall 
 is of stones hewn smooth ; some of them of considerable size. 
 In the middle is a portal of good size and proportions ; with 
 sculptured side posts and lintel ; the latter having in its middle 
 a wreath. Over this is a cornice ; and then a well formed round 
 arch ornamented with a sort of wreath around it. On each side 
 of this portal is a smaller side door ; each with a cornice of 
 different sculpture. Above each of these side doors is a 
 smaller window, capped with an ornamented stone. The col- 
 umns of the outer or front row are mostly standing. The 
 capitals look at first like Doric ; but are formed of rings, that 
 is, are tapered down to the shaft merely by successive smaller 
 rings. Some still bear their architraves. The whole portico is 
 sunk in rubbish. The main body of the building has been torn 
 away ; and a hovel, entered by one of the side doors, now occu- 
 pies a portion of its area. One or two columns are still erect in 
 this area ; which seem to mark an inside row or rows of columns. 
 A corner piRar is also standing further back, square on the out- 
 side, but on the inside rounded into a double column, like those 
 at BeMt. 
 
 The other ruin is a quarter of a mile distant in the fields 
 northeast. The edifice was obviously similar to that above 
 described ; but all is fallen and gone, except the middle portal 
 with its ornamented side posts and lintel. This last is sculp- 
 tured ; has the wreath in the middle ; and in a long and narrow 
 space at the bottom, bears an inscription in the common Hebrew 
 letters, or square character. But the letters are so much defaced 
 by the weather, and the wind was so strong and cold, that we 
 could not undertake to copy it. The first word, cibia ' peace,' and 
 that only, was quite distinct. We had already seen two copies 
 of the inscription, made by Mr Thomson and Mr Van de 
 Velde ; but they differed much from each other ; and neither 
 Mr Nicolayson nor other Eabbinic scholars had been able to 
 make out the meaning. We afterwards learned from Mr 
 Finn, British consul at Jerusalem, that he had visited the spot 
 in company with the chief Eabbi of Safed, under favourable 
 circumstances ; and that the Eabbi could only determine, that 
 the inscription invokes ' peace' upon the founder of the edifice, 
 but without any legible name or date. I examined particularly, 
 whether perhaps the inscription might not have been added at a 
 later period ; but there is every appearance of its having been 
 coeval with the sculpture above it. 
 
Apk.14.] kefk bik'im. synagogues. 71 
 
 As tTiese remains were the first of the Mnd that we had yet 
 Been ; and were of a style of architecture utterly unknown to us ; 
 we were at a loss for some time what to make of them. They were 
 evidently neither Greek nor Roman. The inscription, if authen- 
 tic, obviously marks both structures as of Jewish origin ; and as 
 such, they could only have been synagogues. We were, however, 
 not satisfied on this point, until we found at Meiron the same spe- 
 cies of architecture, in the acknowledged remains of an ancient 
 Jewish synagogue.' We afterwards found the ruins of like 
 structures at Irbid, TeU Hum, Kedes, and perhaps other places 
 in Galilee ; all marked with the same architectural peculiarities. 
 The size, the elaborate sculptured ornament, and the splendour 
 of these edifices, do not belong to a scattered and down-trodden 
 people ; such as the Jews have been in these regions ever since 
 the fourth century. These costly synagogues, therefore, can be 
 referred only to the earlier centuries of the Christian era ; when 
 Galilee was the chief seat of the Jews ; and Jewish learning 
 and schools flourished at Tiberias. AU these circumstances 
 would seem to mark a condition of prosperity and "wealth and 
 influence among the Jews of Galilee in that age, of which 
 neither their own historians, nor any other, have given us any 
 account.' 
 
 Kefr Bir'im was for many centuries a place of Jewish pil- 
 grimage. Benjamin of Tudela, indeed, although he speaks of 
 neighbouring places, makes no mention of this spot. But in the 
 Itinerary of Samuel Bar Simson in 1210, Kefr Bir'im is twice 
 spoken of as containing the tombs of Barak, Obadiah the pro- 
 phet, and of several Jewish Rabbis ; and also a beautiful 
 synagogue erected by R. Simeon Ben Jochai, whose tomb is 
 shown at Meiron.' In two later Itineraries of 1561 and 1564, 
 several other sepulchres are likewise specified ; among them that 
 of queen Esther. The earlier one speaks also of two syna- 
 gogues in ruins ; while the other relates, that the Jews of Safed 
 made an annual pilgrimage hither at the festival of Purim, and 
 were accustomed on this occasion " to eat, drink, and rejoice."* 
 All this has now passed away. 
 
 Wednesday, April 14ih. — We left Kefr Bir'im at 7.10 with 
 a guide for Meiron. We kept along on the high ground above 
 
 ' We were not then aware, that this specimens of the sqnare character extant, 
 
 place had been visited in 1839 by Messrs It is generally held that this character was 
 
 Bonar and M'Cheyne of the Scottish de- in use in the time of Christ, if not earlier, 
 
 putation. They heard from both Jews See Gesenius Gesch. d. Ileb. Syr. p. 156 
 
 and Maronites, that these were Jewish sq. Hupfeld in Theol. Studien u. Krit. 
 
 synagogues ; and that the Jews sometimes 1830, 4tes H. p. 288. Winer Realwb. art 
 
 go there to pray. See their Narrative, SchrHbkunsi. Comp. Matt. 5, 18. 
 
 June 11th. ' Carmolv Itin. pp. 132, 136. 
 
 = See Vol n. p. .391. [iii. 269.]— The < Carmoiy 1. c. pp. 380, 455. 
 inscription is probably one of the earliest 
 
72 
 
 FROM BEIRUT TO AKKA. [Sec. 11 
 
 the valley, -whicli we had ascended yesterday ; and soon camo 
 upon the ridge between it and another valley, Wady NSsir, 
 running down N. 60° E. to joia the great Wady Mu'addamiyeh. 
 This ridge therefore forms the water-shed between the Jordan and 
 the Mediterranean. Here was a glorious view of Jebel esh- 
 Sheikh, perfectly clear and bright in the morning sun ; while 
 Jebel Jermuk on our right was- shrouded in clouds ; which, 
 however, soon vanished. Sa'sa' was in full view on our right. 
 We reached the bottom of Wady N^sir at 7.45 ; and in five 
 minutes more were on the next ridge.' Here we looked down 
 into a second parallel vaUey, Wady Khilil SebS.', coming down 
 from the northwestern side of Jebel Jermuk, and spreading out 
 into a plain at the northern base of that mountain. It then 
 passes down into Wady N^sir ; and the united Wady en- 
 ters the Mu'addamiyeh half an hour below el-Jish.' This 
 village was here in sight ; as also Safed on its lofty hill. We 
 now descended into Wady KhilSl ; and crossing its bed rose 
 gradually ;' until at 8.30 we were upon the summit of the low 
 ridge, which here runs out from the northeastern angle of Jebel 
 Jermuk. 
 
 The highest peak of all this mountain is here at its north- 
 eastern corner ; which now rose Hke a bastion close on our right. 
 In the northwest, but still on the high land that separates the 
 waters of the Huleh from those of the Mediterranean, is an 
 isolated conical peak, called Jebel 'Adathir, on the left of Sa'sa', 
 and bearing from Eumeish directly south. It was used by my 
 companion as a landmark during his journey m 1844.'' On our 
 left was the fine plain or basin extending towards el-Jish ; but 
 drained in its southwestern part towards the lake of Tiberias, 
 through Wady et-Tawahin and Wady el-'Amtid. Our road 
 now gradually descended, and led along the eastern base of the 
 mountains ; the line of which runs nearly due north and south. 
 At 8.40 Sifsaf, a small hamlet in the eastern part of the plain of 
 Jish, was in sight ; it is mentioned in the Talmud.' We passed 
 first over a very rocky tract ; and then through a cultivated 
 region with many very old olive trees. At 9 o'clock a fork of 
 the path led more to the right to Meiron. The straight road 
 keeps on to Semil'y ; and so around the southeastern flank of 
 the mountain to er-ES,meh. It was said to be comparatively 
 level and easy. 
 
 ' Bearings at 7.50 : Sa'sa' N. 50° W. Schvdz as Adater, V. p. 300. Paiilus 1 .-. 
 
 Jish E. Vn. p. 116. 
 
 = See Vol. IL p. 446. [iu. 370.] ' The NSIOED of the Talmud, near 
 
 = Bearings at 8.15 : Safed 124°. Eas gafed and Meiron ; see Schwarz Palest, p. 
 
 el-Ahmar 54°. Jebel esh-Sheikh 49°. jgo Bearings at 8.40 : Sifsaf N. 50° E. 
 
 Sa'sa' 319°. _ jish N. 25° E. Meiron S. 15° E. 
 
 * This monntaia is mentioned by Steph. 
 
Apr. 14.1 MEIKON. TOMBS. 73 
 
 We turned up to Meiron, a very old looking village situated 
 on a ledge of bristling rocks near the foot of the mountain. 
 The ascent is by a steep and very ancient road. Below the 
 callage on our right, were sepulchres in the rocks ; in one place 
 four arches or vaults excavated side hy side in the face of the 
 rock, each with a sarcophagus placed across it, and the vault 
 just deep enough to receive the sarcophagus. One of them had 
 two sarcophagi. These differed from all the sepulchres we had 
 yet seen. There were two other similar ones a little higher up. 
 We reached the village at 9.10. It is small, and inhabited only 
 by Muhammedans. A fine plain lies under it in the east, lower 
 than that towards Jish, and drained off in the southeast to a 
 Wady southwest of Safed. This latter place was in foil view, 
 reckoned two hours distant. South of Meiron in the valley, we 
 were told of a large fountain.' 
 
 There seems to be no reason for question, but that this place 
 is the Meiron of the Talmud ; several times there mentioned 
 along with Oush Haldb, now el- Jish. ^ It is also most probably 
 the Mero or Meroth of Josephus ; one of the places fortified 
 by that leader in Upper Gralilee, in connection likewise with 
 Giscala or el-Jish.' It has ever maintained a strong traditional 
 hold upon the affection of the Jews, as containing the sepul- 
 chres of some of their most celebrated scholars and holy men. 
 Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelfth century, mentions here in a 
 cave the tombs of the great teachers, Hillel and Shammai, 
 with twenty of their disciples and other Eabbis.* . The Itine- 
 rary of Samuel Bar Simson, half a century later, adds the sepul- 
 chres of R. Simeon Ben Jochai and his son E. Eleazer.' The 
 annual pilgrimage of the Jews at the present day to this place 
 was alluded to in the account of our former journey.® 
 
 Our object here was not to visit the sepulchres ; but being 
 here we went to those below the village on the south. These 
 are surrounded by a square enclosure ; the inside of the wall 
 being built up with stalls in the manner of a KhS.n, for the con- 
 venience of men and horses. The tombs are under low domed 
 structures ; which are usually shut and locked ; and the keys 
 kept at Safed. The enclosure was now open ; but we could not 
 enter the tombs. Every thing here was clean, and the domes 
 whitewashed. This is now the chief point of pilgrimage ; and 
 here are the reputed tombs of E. Simeon Ben Jochai and his 
 
 « Bearings from Meiron: Safed 111°. ' Benj. of Tnd. I. p. 82. 
 
 Kadditha 51°. Jish 11°. SifsiLf 14°. ' Carmoly Itin. 1. c. pp. 133, 260. 
 
 ' Heb. "(IT'S ; see the references in ' See Vol. II. p. 431. [iii. p. 334 sq.] 
 
 Li'^htfoot 0pp. 11. p. 593. Reland Pal. p. See also Elliott's Travels, 11 p. 355 sq. 
 
 gjS Narrative of the Scottish Deputation, Jnly 
 
 ' Jos B J. 2. 20. 6. Vit. § 37. Reland ^^th. Wilson's Lands of the Bible, II. p. 
 
 Pal. p. 181. ^^^ ^■ 
 Vol. hi. -7 
 
'?4 FROM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec.IL 
 
 son ; as also those of Hillel' and Shammai and their disciples. 
 But there is at present no appearance of antiquity. 
 
 We felt more interest in the remaios of the ancient syna- 
 gogue. The site is an area, artificially levelled off, on the eastern 
 side of a huge overhanging rock. The edifice fronted toward 
 the south ; and here too only the fine portal and a portion 
 of the front wall (including a side door) is standing. The 
 architecture is almost precisely like that of the remains at Kefr 
 Bir'im ; but of more massive proportions, larger stones, and 
 richer sculpture. Some of these stones are 4^ feet long by 2^ 
 feet thick. The portal is nearly ten feet high by 5^ feet wide. 
 Its side posts are each of a single stone, elaborately sculptured. 
 The sculptured lintel projects somewhat beyond the side posts ; 
 and is without inscription and without the wreath. The portico 
 is wholly gone ; except a comer pedestal fitted inside for a 
 double column. Some fragments of columns and sculptured 
 entablatures are scattered around. The area of the interior 
 is empty. An old Jew said it was the synagogue of the 'just,' 
 who were buried below. — This synagogue is not alluded to by 
 E. Benjamin ; but R. Samuel in 1210, and Jacob of Paris in 
 1258, make mention of it.' 
 
 Here then was the counterpart of the remains we had seen 
 at Kefir Bir'im. Looking at the historical evidence in respect to 
 Meiron, there was no reason to call in question the tradition, 
 that these were the ruins of an ancient synagogue going back to 
 the earliest . centuries of the Christian era. We no longer hesi- 
 tated to regard those at Kefr Bir'im, as having the same charac- 
 ter ; and our curiosity was somewhat excited in anticipation, to 
 ascertain, whether the ruins at Tell Hum, which formerly had 
 so much puzzled us, would not turn out to be of like origin. 
 
 Josephus relates, that, besides Giscala, he caused to be forti- 
 fied, in Upper Galilee, the towns of Seph, Jamnith, Meroth, and 
 the rock of the Achabari.^ Giscala and Meroth are identified 
 with el-Jish and Meiron ; Jamnith is unknown ; and the rock 
 of the Achabari is to be recognised in the modern 'Akbarah of 
 our lists, mentioned also in the Talmud. This village we did not 
 get sight of ; but it is understood to lie south of Meiron and 
 southwest of Safed.^ As to the Seph of Josephus, it seems not 
 improbable, that it may have been identical with the modern 
 Safed ; but as there is no direct mention of the latter name 
 
 * Cannoly L o. pp. 134, 184. southwest of Safed ; which accords toler- 
 
 " 'Ax'^P^po'" ■"^rpav, Jos. B. J. 2. 20. 6. ably with Parchi ; Descr. of Palest, p. 188. 
 
 ' 'Aibarah, according to E. Parchi, is E. G. Schulz, on the other hand, speaks of 
 
 one honr south of Meiron ; see Zunz in it as being one hour south of Safed ; 
 
 Ashei's Benj. of Tad. IL p. 427. Schwarz Zeitschr der D. morgenl. Gesellsoh. Bd. 
 
 places it an English mile and a half west III. p. 52. 
 
Apr. 14.] MEIEON. CROSS THE MOUNTAIN. 75 
 
 until the middle of the crusades, it could hardly have been 
 earlier a place of much importance.' 
 
 Our further plan was to go from MeirSn to Kamah of 
 Naphtah. This could be done, either by keeping along the road 
 in the plain to Semu'y, and then on the road from Safed to 
 Edmeh around the southeastern flank of Jebel Jermuk ; or by 
 ascending and crossing the main ridge of the mountain to Beit 
 Jenn. We chose the latter course, as affording a better view 
 both of the mountains and of the adjacent country. There was 
 here some difficulty in finding a guide ; but at last we obtained 
 an old man on foot. Setting off at 10 o'clock, we soon began to as- 
 cend steeply along a ravine, on a course about N. 60° W. After 
 twenty minutes a fork of the road went off to the right across 
 the ravine, leading to the village of Jermuk. We now climbed 
 out of the ravine towards the . left ; and at 10.30 reached the 
 brow of the steep ascent.^ Here were five very old olive trees. 
 Still ascending gradually, we had a view of the lake of Tiberias ; 
 and came out at 10.45 upon a high tract of table land. Here 
 was a pond of water, called Birket Zibud, from a ruin not far 
 off. Hence the mountain is Hkewise sometimes called Jebel 
 Zibud. 
 
 Proceeding across this plain, we reached at 11 o'clock the 
 western brow of the ridge ; and looked down into the deep and 
 vast valley before us, running off northwest to Wady el-Ktirn ; 
 with Beit Jenn beyond it midway on the mountain side. The 
 Druze village of Jermuk was also in view on our right, on the 
 high ridge beyond the head of a shorter valley running down 
 northwest to the former one.' This village, an hour distant 
 from Meiron, was visited by Messrs Bonar and McCheyne in 
 1839 ; it is situated on the level western brow of the mountain, 
 and enjoys a view of the lake of GralHee. It was said to be at 
 present almost deserted.* 
 
 We now began to descend towards the great valley. The 
 path led down for a time along the right side of a long lateral 
 vaUey ; then crossing more to the right it continued down the 
 left side of a shorter and very steep Wady. We reached the 
 bottom of the great valley at 11.40 ; here running N. 45° W. 
 We did not learn its name at this point ; though in all probabil- 
 ity it is called Wady Beit Jenn ; lower down it takes the name 
 of Wady Habis. Turning a little down the valley, we passed 
 
 » Jos. B. J. 2. 20. 6. The Talmndic Jish 39°. Ras el-Ahmar 39°. Kadditha 
 
 nSS Tsefath, once mentioned in Rash Ha- 60°. Teitabeh 59°. Delata 60°. 'Ain 
 
 shanah c. 2, can hardly be pressed as iden- ez-Zeitun 95°. Safed 106°. 
 tical with Safed. — Ritter also seems to re- ' Bearings at 11, on brow : Jermuk N. 
 
 gard Seph as representing Safed, Erdfc. 10° W. 1 m. Beit Jenn S. 70° W. 2 m. 
 XVI. L p. 759 ; but comp. ib. p. 687. ■* Narrative etc. July 13th. 
 
 " Bearings at 10. 30 : Jish 26°. Birket 
 
"76 FEOM BEIKUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec.H, 
 
 around a point into tte mouth of a small and almost parallel 
 side ravine with a fine brook ; and began at 11.50 to ascend 
 steeply towards Beit Jenn, which we reached at 12.15. 
 
 Beit Jenn is a large and well built village. The houses are 
 of the common limestone of these mountains ; but on the roof 
 of one of the houses I noticed a roller of black volcanic stone, 
 which must have been brought from a distance. The population 
 comprises 260 males ; and aU are Druzes. There is no appear- 
 ance of antiquity ; except a single sepulchre on the south of the 
 village, much like those at Meiron. — Beit Jenn was visited in 
 August, 1754, by Stephan Schulz, coming from el- Bukei'a. He 
 speaks of the inhabitants as occupied in manufacturing water- 
 skins ; and describes the grapes of this region as particularly 
 large and fine ; the clusters weighing each ten or twelve pounds.' 
 Yet the aspect of these mountain ridges and rocky declivities, 
 as seen from Beit Jenn in April, was bald, barren, and desolate 
 in the highest degree. 
 
 Below the village, in the southwest, is a small deep basin 
 with a pond of water. A narrow vaUey breaks down from it, 
 through the western ridge, to the plain of el-Bukei'a beyond. 
 North of this valley a road crosses the ridge from Beit Jenn 
 to the larger Druze village of el-Bukei'a, situated in that 
 basin. Stephan Schulz describes the plain as being about an 
 hour long by half an hour broad ; the longer direction being 
 nearly from south to north ; and shut in by elevated hills. ^ A 
 brook runs through it, which has its source in the fountain of 
 the village. This latter stands in the southern part of the plain, 
 in a well cultivated tract. From it the bed of Wady el-Bukei'a 
 runs down through the basin, and passes out to the westward 
 through a deep gorge separating Suhmata from Tershiha. The 
 banks of this ravine are very high ; and in some places precipi- 
 tous.' The village of Bukei'a is a good hour distant from 
 Suhmata. The population are mainly Druzes ; but Schulz found 
 there in his day some ten families of Jews ; and these remain 
 at present, to the number of about twenty persons.^ They 
 were said to till the ground, like Fellahs ; and this was 
 afterwards confirmed to us by the Eev. Mr Reichard, whose 
 acquaintance we made in Jerusalem ; and who had recently 
 visited the place. This is the only instance known in Palestine 
 of Jews engaged in agriculture. For this reason these Jews of 
 Bukei'a are supposed by some to be a remnant of the ancient 
 
 1 S. Sehnlz Leitongen etc. V. p. 281 See S. Schulz I o. V. p. 279. Paulns L c. 
 Panlus' Sammlnng etc. VII. p. 106. VII p. 103. 
 
 ' Hence the Arahic name el Bulcf^n ' ^ ^™'* '^^ Journal, 1844. 
 
 Mence tne Arabic name e«-i<«Ae8 a, <$ Schulz 1. c. Bonar and McCheyne 
 
 the diminutive of el-Bulca'a ; in Heb. risp3 heard of them at Jermufc ; Narrative, July 
 
 a cleft, valley, plain, etc. between hills. — 13th. 
 
Apk. 14.] BEIT JENN. WADT EL-KUEN. 77 
 
 Jewisli inhabitants of the land, who have never been driven out 
 by the later masters of the country, whether Christians or 
 Muhammedans. They say their fathers always dwelt there. 
 Nor is it an improbable supposition, that they may have thus 
 remained undisturbed in this nook of their mountains, remote 
 from the routes of war and travel, as also from the sites of 
 Jewish pilgrimage. 
 
 At Beit Jenn we were thus among the head branches 
 of the great Wady el-Kum, which, descending from these 
 mountains, drains the whole district of el-Jebel. The main 
 ridge of Jebel Jermuk is that which we had crossed in its 
 lowest part. In the north it rises into the highest peak of 
 Galilee ; and towards the south rises also, but not so high. Its 
 whole length is hardly two hours. It separates the districts of 
 Safed and el-Jebel. Southwest of Safed and near Semu'y it 
 drops down towards the south to a lower ridge, which shuts in 
 the plain of Kameh on the east. But the main ridge turns 
 westward at a right angle, and as a high mountain skirts the 
 plain of Rtlmeh on the north ; the highest indeed of aU the 
 parallel ridges of Lower Galilee. It thus lies between the dis- 
 tricts of -el-Jebel and esh-ShaghHr. Far up in the interior 
 recesses of the southeastern angle of this mountain, the great 
 valley of Beit Jenn has its beginning ; and runs down northwest 
 to unite, as Wady Habis, with Wady el-Bukei'a, beyond the 
 termination of the ridge which separates them in the south. 
 The junction takes place at some distance below Suhmata. 
 Before the junction, Wady Habis receives the shorter Wady 
 Birzeh from the left ; and from the right the deep Wady 
 Harfeish coming down from under the village of Jermuk.' The 
 ridge between Beit Jenn and Bukei'a may thus be said to divide 
 the interior right angle of the mountain into two acute angles ; 
 each drained by a main branch of Wady el-Kflrn. On the 
 north the district el-Jebel is separated from Belad Besharah 
 by the high land running up eastward from Eas en-NS,ktirah. 
 
 This cluster of mountains has been sometimes regarded as 
 the Asamon of Josephus, to which on one occasion seditious 
 persons and robbers fled from Sepphoris. But that mountain 
 was in the very middle of Galilee, and over against Sepphoris ; 
 a description which applies better to the broken and double ridge 
 skirting the Buttauf on the north.* 
 
 Setting off from Beit Jenn at 12.45, we took the road for 
 ESmeh, with a new guide on foot. The way led at first along 
 a low ridge between the small valley by which we had ascended, 
 
 ' E. Smith, Ms. Jonmal, 1844. &VTiKpvs t^s 2eir^iipcas. Comp. Ritter 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 2. 18. 11, '\<ia)x^v ...rh Erdk. XVL i. p. 774. 
 
 Vol. ni.— 7* 
 
78 FEOM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [SecIL 
 
 and the little basin in the southwest ;' afterwards it verged more 
 west, along a depression or saddle in the mountain. The gen- 
 eral course was about S. S. E. At 1.15, half an hour from Beit 
 Jenn, we came out suddenly upon the brow of the high precipi- 
 tous mountain, here running from east to west, and overlooking 
 a vast and beautiful region extending from the bay of 'Akka to 
 the lake of Tiberias ; with Carmel in the distance on one side, 
 and Mount Tabor on the other. To get the fiill view we had to 
 go on five minutes further, and pass around a projecting chff. 
 Before us was now the district of xShaghtir, made up of plains 
 extending from east to west, and separated by parallel ridges of 
 high rocky hills ; but none so high as that on which we stood. 
 Some 1500 feet immediately below us was the rich and well 
 cultivated plain of Rameh ; with the village of that name on the 
 lower slope of the mountain. Through this plain passes the road 
 from 'Akka to Safed, and also that to Damascus by way of Khan 
 Jubb Yilsuf and the Jisr. On the next parallel ridge rose a 
 very prominent Tell a little east of south, called Tell Hazur ; 
 and beyond was a second plain divided by a transverse ridge. 
 Another parallel ridge followed, skirting the great plain el- 
 Buttauf beyond it ; and then another shorter ridge east of 
 Seffurieh, between the Butfauf and the plain of Tur'an. 
 
 The plain of Rameh is shut in on the east by the low ridge 
 extending south from the corner of Jebel Jermuk ; and on the 
 west by the rocky and precipitous hills which overlook the plain 
 of 'Akka. There is a gap at the western end, as if a ravine 
 passed out ; but it serves only for a road, and has no water-course. 
 The eastern part of the plain, as far as to Etmeh, is drained by 
 the head water-course of a Wady called Sellameh ; it sweeps 
 round from the east and passes out by a gap in the southern 
 ridge just west of Tell H^zur. Then, as Wady SelMmeh, it 
 turns eastward through the next plain, and runs to the lake of 
 Tiberias. The fine western basin of the plain of Eameh is 
 drained by the beginnings of Wady Sha'ab ; which in like 
 manner passes off through another gap in the southern ridge ; 
 and then turns west to the plain of 'Akka ; in which its water- 
 course ultimately unites with the river Na'man. In the plain 
 beyond this southern ridge, and to the left of the gap last men- 
 tioned, are the villages of 'Arrabeh and Sukhnin ; the latter the 
 chief place of the Sh^ghiir." 
 
 The view from this brow is one of the finest and most exten- 
 sive in all Palestine. We met with none to be compared with 
 
 ■ Bearmga at 12.50 : Jermuk N. 30° K Tabor 18.3°. Ferrady 122°. Tell Hazfir 
 
 Beit Jenu N. 30° W. 170°. er-Rameh 230°. Nuhf 261°. Deir 
 
 ^ Bearings from the brow above Rameh: el-As'ad 263°. 'Arrabeh 219°. Sukhnin 
 
 Kefr 'Anaa 139°. Kum Hattin 163°. 227°. West end of Carmel 256°. 
 
Apr. 14.] EAMAH OF NAPHTALI. 79 
 
 it during the whole of our present journey. This ridge also 
 forms a very definite boundary between Upp6r and Lower Gali- 
 lee. ' 
 
 Setting off again at 1.35, we began the long and very steep 
 descent towards the village. On the way one of the mules fell, 
 and had to be unloaded before he could rise. After thus losing 
 ten minutes, we reached ESmeh at 2.45 ; the descent having 
 occupied just an hour. The village lies upon the lower culti- 
 vated slope of the mountain, still several hundred feet above the 
 plain. It is a large village, well built and apparently wealthy ; 
 and is inhabited by Christians and Druzes. The former are 
 Greeks and Greek CathoUcs ; and constitute about two thirds 
 of the population. The place is surrounded by extensive ohve 
 orchards. Several of the men of the village were sitting on the 
 ground near the entrance ; and seemed little disposed to trouble 
 themselves even to answer the inquiries of strangers. Mean- 
 time, as our horses' shoes needed fastening, our servants succeeded 
 in finding a very good smith." 
 
 E,ameh has no traces of antiquity within or around it, so 
 far as we could see or hear. Yet it is, without doubt, the an- 
 cient Ramah of the tribe of Naphtali ;^ the Eamah we had 
 visited a few days before, being unquestionably that of Asher. 
 Both are merely enumerated by Eusebius and Jerome.* The 
 present Eamah is mentioned by Brocardus ; but he puts it two 
 miles south of Cana ; and his whole account of this region is 
 confused. Adrichomius places it near Safed.' No modern travel- 
 lers seem to have traversed this great route between 'Akka and 
 Damascus ; but E^meh was visited by E. G. Schultz, passing 
 northwards, apparently in 1847. My companion heard of it in 
 1844 as near the beginning of Wady Sha'ab.^ 
 
 Learning that there was a ruin Hfiztir in connection with the 
 Tell of that name, we concluded to visit it ; and, in the mean time, 
 take up our quarters for the night at Mughir, a village on the 
 southeastern declivity of the Tell. The usual road from Eimeh, 
 which we followed, passes around the Tell on the east ; though, 
 as we found afterwards, we might perhaps have saved some 
 time had we taken a less frequented path around its western 
 side. Leaving Eameh at 3.10, we struck down on a south- 
 easterly course into the plain. The bottom was undulating and 
 variegated ; and fuU of old olive trees, formiag an immense 
 
 " Joseph. B. J. 3. 3. 1, 2. Eeland Pa- ' Josh. 19, 36. 
 
 lasst p. 127, 180 sq. Ritter Erdk. XVI. ' Euseb. et Hieroa Onomasticon, axt 
 
 i pp. 685, 757. Comp. Euseb. et Hieron. Eama. 
 
 Onomast. art. GaVlcea. ' Brocardus o. 6. Adrichomius p. 123. 
 
 ••' Beariiigsfromer-Rameh: Seijur 217°, " Eitter 1. c. p. 772. E. Smith, Ms. 
 
 1^ m. Nuhf 270°. Deir el-As'ad 267°. Journal, Ap. 22, 1844. 
 TeU Hazur 150°. Deir Hamia 188°. 
 
80 FROM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. II. 
 
 grove, like those near Gaza and Beirfit. These old trees, as we 
 found in various parts of the country, are called by the people 
 Bumy i. e. ' Greek ; ' from an indefinable impression, that they have 
 come down from a time earlier than the Muhammedan conquest. 
 At 3.25 we struck the Damascus road ; from which, five 
 minutes later, the Safed road went off more to the left, to cross 
 the low ridge near the mountain. At 3.45, our path separated 
 from the Damascus road ; we turned more to the right, and 
 soon crossed a water-course now nearly dry. All this part of 
 the plain is drained off southwest to Wady SeUameh, through 
 the gap west of Tell Haz^ir. The plain is here exceedingly 
 fertile ; the soil a red loam. Our path lay along up a dry water- 
 course. At 4.10 we came to the top of the ridge on the east of 
 the Tell ; and looked down into the plain of Wady Sellameh 
 before us. We now had to work our way along the southeastern 
 flank of Tell Haziir, at about the same level. The path was 
 little travelled, and led over slippery rocks in several places ; so 
 that our progress was slow and difficult. We reached Mugh^r 
 at length at 4.50 ; and pitched our tent on the east of the 
 village. 
 
 This is a large place, situated midway up the steep declivity 
 of the Tell, and looking toward the S. S. E.' The houses and 
 streets rise one above another in steps or terraces. Many of the 
 houses have upon the flat roof a place for sleeping in summer ; 
 which I saw here and at KSmeh for the first time. There 
 seemed to be a floor or platform of stone or mortar, with a screen 
 of wicker work around it. We afterwards, in other villages, 
 found these screens constructed of green boughs and brushwood. 
 The inhabitants of Mughar are two thirds Druzes. and one third 
 Greek Catholics and Muslims ; the two latter farming and pay- 
 ing their taxes together. The extensive olive groves which cover 
 also the plain of Wady Sellameh belong to the government ; 
 and for each tree an annual tax of five piastres is exacted. 
 The land tax of the village is 40,000 piastres. 
 
 There are here no remains of antiquity ; except two sarco- 
 phagi sunk in a rock on the north of the village. On the same 
 side further up, are also several caverns in a ledge of rocks ; but 
 they do not seem to be artificial. Yet Mughar probably repre- 
 sents an ancient Meardh^ of which no mention has come down 
 to us. 
 
 Thursday, April 15th. We took a guide, and set off at 8.25 
 to visit Khirbet H^zrlr and the summit of the Tell. We kept 
 along the declivity westwards at the same level and without a 
 
 • Bearings from MiJghar: Khirbet Mim- ' Heb. nisa cavern; comp. Josh, 
 la 145°, 3^ m. 'Ailebun 190°. Deir Hanna 13 4 " ' 
 
 236°. Kum Hattin 159°. ' ' 
 
Apk. 15.] MUGHAB. TELL HAZUE. 81 
 
 path, until we struck a shorter road coming from Eameh on the 
 west side of the Tell. Following this, we came at 9 o'clock to 
 Khirbet Hazur at our right, on the northwest flank of the Tell, 
 about on a level with Mughar, and directly overagainst Eameh. 
 The ruins are merely those of a common village ; with one bro- 
 ken cistern.' 
 
 We now rode to the summit of the Tell, from the northwest, 
 in 20 minutes ; without a path, but without much difficulty. 
 There are no ruins on the summit ; and nothing to lead to the 
 supposition, that it was ever built upon. The view was exten- 
 sive and fine ; taking in the lake of Tiberias and the mountains 
 of Hauran beyond ; Tabor and the intervening plains ; Carmel 
 and the bay of 'Akka. Below us was the plain of Wady Sella- 
 meh covered with olive groves ; with an ancient site of the same 
 name. This Wady runs to the lake of Tiberias through the 
 plain north of Mejdel, as Wady er-Riibudiyeh. West of the 
 gap by which it enters from the plain of Eameh, a transverse 
 ridge crosses obliquely to the next parallel ridge, in a direction 
 southeast. The plain west of this transverse ridge connects with 
 Wady Sha'ab, which comes also from the plain of E&meh by a 
 more western gap ; and passes down to the plain of 'Akka. In 
 that direction the country looked full of hills and ridges.^ 
 
 This was the second place we had now visited, bearing a 
 name which might correspond to the ancient Hazor. But here 
 was no proximity to the lake of the Huleh ; the ruins had no 
 antiquity, and were not those of a city ; and the Tell itself had 
 no trace of fortifications nor of buildings of any kind. Here, 
 then, was not the Hazor of the book of Joshua. 
 
 More probable is the identity of Ysikuk, a village which we 
 saw from this spot, with the ancient Huhkoh.^ This latter is 
 enumerated in the book of Joshua as belonging to Naphtali ; 
 though in the later Chronicles it is spoken of as in Asher.* Eu- 
 sebius and Jerome place it on the borders of these two tribes.* 
 The identity was recognised by E. Parchi in the fourteenth 
 century ; and the Jews placed the tomb of Habakkuk at 
 
 • Bearings at Khirbet Hazur : 'Arrabeh although unusual, is not without example ; 
 
 233*. Siikhnin 249°. Seijur312°. Eameh e. g. Din or cm, cnn, i. q. oiijCB^; 
 
 326°. Ferrady50°. Kefr 'Anan 53°. __ see Gesen. Thesauj. p'. 558.— Hnkkok was 
 
 '■' Bnarings from Tell Hazur : Safed 53°. identified in our former lists ; see BibL 
 
 Ferrady 40°. Yakiik 106° ; oomp. Bib- Reg. gj-st Ed. Vol HL App. p. 138. 
 lioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 80. Kelb Hauran t josh. 19, 34. 1 Chr. 6, 75 [60]. In 
 
 107°. Abu Shusheh ? 122°. Kum Huttin tjjis last passage Hukkok is spoken of as a 
 
 158°. 'Ailebun (Christian) 186°. Tabor city of refuge in Asher ; but in the corres- 
 
 187°- Deir Hanna 220°. 'Arrabeh 239°. ponding passage. Josh. 21, 31, it is Hel- 
 
 Sukhnin 254°. West end of Carmel 263^°. jj^tb, comp. Josh. 19, 25 ; the other cities 
 
 Khirbet Sellameh 240°. Eameh 327°. being the same in both lists. The present 
 
 Seijur 315°. reading in Chronicles is therefore perhaps 
 
 " This implies an interchange of the ^^ ^^^^^ of copyists, 
 letters Heth (n) and Yod (M ; which, ' Onomast art. Icoc. 
 
82 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 YaWk.' The village lay from us about E. by S. on the north- 
 ern border of the plain of Wady SeMmeh, at the foot of the 
 ridge running east from where we stood.' 
 
 We descended from Tell H^ztir on its southeastern side ; and 
 returned, to Mughir in 30 minutes, by a path higher up than 
 the one of yesterday. Leaving the village again at 11.10 with 
 a guide on foot, we descended southwesterly into the plain on 
 our way to 'Arrabeh. The descent was long, and in some places 
 steep. We passed through portions of the grove' of olive trees. 
 The soil under them had been ploughed over, in order to loosen 
 it, for the benefit of the trees. We waited here ten minutes for 
 our lagging muleteers. At 11.50 we came to the channel of 
 Wady Sellameh, with a smaU stream of water just ready to dry 
 up. Here the site Khirbet Sellameh was seen up the Wady N. 
 30° W. half a mile distant. This is doubtless the ancient 
 Selamis, a town of Lower Galilee fortified by Josephus.' It 
 was recognised by B. G. Schultz in 1847.^ 
 
 Before us was now the transverse ridge, separating the east- 
 ern plain from the western. We began to ascend gradually a 
 few minutes beyond the water-course. On our left along the 
 slope was a tract of rich pasturage, apparently unappropriated ; 
 belonging to the government, but farmed by no one, and run- 
 ning to waste. At 12.15 we reached the top of the ridge ; and 
 looked down into the western plain.^ The eastern part of this is 
 not drained at all ; and a pond of water was yet standing in it. 
 There is a slight swell between it and the western portion ; 
 which last is drained off to Wady Sha'ab. Deir Hanna was a 
 mile distant in the southwest, on a lower ridge in front of the 
 higher line of hills in the south, between us and the plain el- 
 Buttauf. 
 
 We sent our muleteers by the direct road through the plain 
 to 'ArrS.beh ; while we kept along on the ridge to Deir Hanna ; 
 which at a distance has the appearance of a fortified place. 
 Before coming to it we passed in succession two towers on the 
 ridge, apparently intended as outposts ; one half a mUe, and the 
 other a quarter of a mile distant from the village. We reached 
 Deir Hanna at 12.40. It stands upon a higher point of the 
 ridge ; and was once surrounded by a wall which is now much 
 fallen down.* There are no traces of antiquity ; and the wall, 
 though obviously intended for miHtary defence, had no character 
 of strength or durability. We learned afterwards that these 
 
 ' R. Parchi in Aster's Benj. of Tud. II. ' 2eXo^(j, Jos. Vita § 37. B. J. 2. 20. 6. 
 
 p. 421 sq. Carmoly Itin. pp. 385, 455. ' Zeitsishr. i morgenl. Ges. HI. p. 53. 
 
 " Mr Woloott, in 1842, passed five min- ' Bearings at 12.45, on tidge : Deir 
 
 utes east of Yakuk, on his way from Ti- Hanna S. 45° W. el-Mughar N. 65° E. 
 
 berias to Safed; see Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, Siikhnin S. 75° W. 
 
 p. 80. ' From Deir Hanna, Siikhnin bore W. 
 
Apr. 15.] DEIK HANNA. 'AKKABEH. 83 
 
 fortifications were the work of the noted Dhaher el-'Omar, about 
 the middle of the last century. After his death, his son 'Aly 
 held possession of Deir Hanna ; where he was besieged in 1776 
 by Jezzar Pasha, but escaped.' 
 
 We now descended obhquely along the southern declivity 
 of the ridge towards the southwest. On this side also are two 
 towers or outposts, at similar distances. Beyond the termination 
 of the ridge our road turned to the left around a projecting hill ; 
 and we came at 1.15 to 'Arribeh, situated in a nook of the hiUs 
 connected with the southern ridge. The hills around this nook 
 shut out all view, except towards the west and northwest.'' 
 
 Here we stopped for the day ; partly on account of the 
 lameness of one of our horses ; but more for rest and quiet to 
 my companion, whose health was suffering from a temporary 
 local disease. On account of the high wind, our tent was pitched 
 in the court of a ruined house within the village. We found 
 our position sufficiently uncomfortable. It seemed as if most of 
 the men and women, and all the boys, were collected around our 
 tent ; and the boys especially were noisy and rude. Swarms of 
 flies annoyed us by day, and mosquitos by night. The village 
 is half in ruins. There are some traces of antiquity, such as a 
 few hewn stones and fragments of columns ; but none which 
 mark a place of importance. The inhabitants are Muslims, 
 with only three or four families of Christians. 
 
 The day was spent in making inquiries as to the adjacent 
 region. The people knew Jefat among the hills in the south- 
 west. On the hills north of Sukhni.n, they said, are ruins called 
 Kfibarah ; which we decided to visit if possible. — At the east 
 end of the Buttauf is a ruin, with columns standing, called ITm 
 el-'Amad, about an hour west of Hattin. Further west in the 
 Buttauf is another site of ruins called 'Ain Natif ; also with 
 columns standing. At the foot of the hills on the north of the 
 Buttauf is a ruin called Um Selakhit. — In the region east of 
 Mughar, they likewise spoke of two ruined places ; one called 
 Sebana, and the other er-Kubudiyeh on the Wady of that name. 
 This last is already on the maps. 
 
 At 'Arrabeh, we could not but recognise in this name the 
 ancient Araha of Josephus ; from which the town of Sogane 
 was twenty stadia distant.' This latter town was also here to be 
 
 ' Volney Voyage, II. p. 125. See the no- of 'ApiPav, and this reading has been 
 
 ticeofDhaherinVoLII. p.393sq. [iii.273.] adopted in the editions; hut errone- 
 
 ' Bearings from 'Arrabeh: "Siikhnin ously, as now appears; Reland Palffist. 
 
 293°. Deir As'ad 381°. Gap in hills to p. 771, 1021. E. G. Schultz was at 'Arra- 
 
 Wady Sha'ab 331°. heh in 1847, an<i, suggested the necessary 
 
 ' Gr. "ApaPa. — Joseph. Vit. 51, vphs correction ; in respect to which, however, 
 
 :Saydyr}y Kii/iity ■ . ■ 'Apdfiay air^xovaav Gross and Ritter seem to hesitate ;Zeitschr. 
 
 eT/coo-i ariSia, to the village Sogane . . . der morg. Ges. IlL pp. 50, 60. Ritter L 0. 
 
 distant from Araba twenty stadia. Re- p. 768 s^. 
 lund proposed to read here TaPipuv instead 
 
84 FROM BEIRUT TO 'aKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 recognised in Sukhnin, lying atout W. N. W. at the estimated 
 distance of an iour ; though we afterwards travelled it rapidly 
 in forty-five minutes. The coincidence is therefore unusually 
 exact. That a village named Araba anciently existed in this 
 quarter, we know, independently of Josephus, from the testi- 
 mony of Eusebius and Jerome.' In the sixteenth century it 
 was visited by the Jews as a place of pilgrimage.' 
 
 Friday, April 16th. The wind to-day was from the south- 
 west, the rainy quarter ; and there were occasional showers. 
 The illness of my companion continued ; and we therefore 
 decided to remain through the day at 'An-abeh. 
 
 On the side of the hill a short distance east of the village, is 
 a ledge of rocks ; in the face of which are several holes like 
 caverns. They may be natural ; but seem too many for that. 
 If sepulchres, they must be much broken away. — As we sat in 
 our tent, a huge centipede came deliberately marching along the 
 middle of the floor. The bite is poisonous and troublesome ; 
 but not fatal. — A single palm tree is found in the village. 
 
 We made several attempts to engage a guide to take us 
 across the hills to Jefat and Kana. These all failed, owing to 
 the laziness of the people and their exorbitant demands. We 
 usually found these two traits existing together. 
 
 Saturday, April 17th. The morning was bright and beau- 
 tiful ; and the aspect of the country brilliant. Failing still to 
 obtain a guide for Jefat, and the lameness of our horse contin- 
 uing, we concluded to turn down to 'Akka in order to hire 
 another ; visiting also Kubarah on the way. Setting off there- 
 fore at 7.15, without a guide, we followed the road across the 
 fine plain towards Sukhnin. In a few minutes, a modern reser- 
 voir with broken walls was on our right, belonging to 'Arrabeh. 
 Traversing the plain, we came at 7.55 to another large artificial 
 pond with a high mound, belonging to Sukhnin. Here 
 women were bearing away jars of water on their heads to the 
 village. We reached Sukhnin at 8 o'clock, situated on a round 
 isolated hill near the southern ridge, in the southwest part of 
 the plain. It is marked by the conspicuous white dome of a 
 mosk or Wely ; and there is another near the bottom of the hill. 
 Here too was a single palm tree. In a piece of modern wall we 
 noticed several ancient and regularly bevelled stones, from three 
 to four feet long, with the surface smooth throughout. Of 
 course, they were not in their original position. We saw no 
 other marks of antiquity. The inhabitants are chiefly Mus- 
 lims ; with twenty or thirty families of Greek Christians. Sukh- 
 
 ' Onomast. art. Araba : " Porro est et ' Carmoly Itineraires de la Terre Sainte, 
 alia villa Araba nomine in iinibus Diocse- p. 383, 453. 
 sareaB," i. e. Sepphoris. 
 
Apr. 17.] AKEABEH. SUKHNIN. 85 
 
 nin is tlie chief village of the Shaghtir ; but the districts of the 
 Shaghur and Jebel were now under one governor, and the seat 
 of government had not yet been fixed. 
 
 We had already recognised Sflkhnin as the Sogane of Jose- 
 phus, twenty stadia distant from Araia.^ It seems to be the 
 same town spoken of frequently in the Talmudic writings, as 
 Sichanin.^ It is mentioned by Jewish travellers in the four- 
 teenth and sixteenth centuries, and was a place of Jewish pil- 
 grimage.' It stands in the lists collected during our former 
 journey ; and was visited by E. G. Schultz in 1847.' 
 
 At Sflkhnin we had no difficulty in obtaining a guide on foot 
 to take us to Kubarah, and also to the foot of the mountain on 
 our way to 'Akka. He proved to be intelligent and faithful. 
 The direct road to 'Akka goes by way of Mi'ar, a village on the 
 western brow of the mountains overlooking the great plain 
 along the coast. We left Stikhnin at 8.10 ; and followed 
 down a road more to the right, on a northwest course, along a 
 basin which is drained off northwards by a chasm in the hills to 
 Wady Sha'ab. Our road had every appearance of being a very 
 old one, with rocks laid along on each side. At 8.30 there was 
 a large ancient cistern, but broken ; and five minutes later 
 another, with steps, from which women were carrying water on 
 their heads to the village. Soon afterwards we lost the old 
 road ; which probably followed dowri the valley on our right to 
 Wady Slia'ab and so direct to Kubarah ; while we made a cir- 
 cuit towards the west. We now rose upon the ridge by a rocky 
 path ; and when on the top at 9.10 had the deep Wady Sha'ab 
 before us. The direction of Kubarah was pointed out beyond 
 the vaUey ; it may have been a mUe and a half distant at the 
 most.' Wady Sha'ab, as we had before learned, drains the west- 
 em part of the plain of Eameh ; and having passed through its 
 gap, receives the narrow gorge running down from the plain 
 around Sflkhnin. 
 
 We now kept along stOl towards the left, and by a mere 
 goat path, around a TeU on the ridge ; and then descended 
 northwest along its shoulder very steeply and with difficulty to 
 the bottom of Wady Sha'ab at 9.35 ; called also Wady Haila- 
 
 ' See above, p. 83. Joseph. Vita 51, ' R. Parchi in Asher's Benj. of Tui II. 
 
 62. B. J. 2. 20. 6. Betiveen the forms p. 442. Carmoly Itin. pp. 382, 453. 
 
 ^aiyivri and Sukhnin, there is the inter- * BibL Ees. 1st ed. III. App. p. 133. 
 
 change of y and kh, Heb. n, which is not Zeitschr. d. morg. Ges. III. pp. 50, 60.— 
 
 nnusual : see Gesen. Thesanr. p. 252. In There was another •S.ayivr, in Gaulonitis, 
 
 Hebrew the name was probably written sometimes confounded with this one m 
 
 •it _ ^ ...t, i i N „i • I, v uaulee ; Jos. B. J. 4. 1. 1 : corap. Vit. 37. 
 
 with D Csee the next note), which has b t, ' • -j ... n in c-ii, • 
 
 ^ , ^' ., Bearings on ridge, at 9.10 : Sukhnm 
 
 passed over into the guttural ii:A«; see 143- 'Arrabeh 123°. Kubarah (?) 18°. 
 
 Thesaur. p. 647. 23^;^ el-As'ad 2°. Seijur 49°. 'Akka 288°. 
 
 ' Tahn. ■,-':2iD; seeEelandPalast, p. Birweh 290°. Sha'ab 286'. Ml'iir 256°. 
 
 1003. Tell Tanun 287°. 
 Vol. m.— 8 
 
86 TBOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sec. H. 
 
 z6n. From this point there -was a good and level road along the 
 valley and across the plain to 'Akka ; and we therefore sent off 
 our muleteers ,at once for that city. To reach Kubarah V7e now 
 had to climb the high and steep northern side of the valley ; 
 and as my companion was still suffering, he preferred to remain 
 here, while I with Kashid and the guide should explore the site 
 of Kubarah. 
 
 Setting off at 9.45, we turned up the Wady for a short 
 time ; and then rose very obliquely along its steep northern de- 
 clivity. We came out at 10.15, upon a tract of table land 
 forming the broad top -of the ridge. Here was a pond of water, 
 and several men ploughing. We kept on towards the north ; 
 and at 10.30 came to the ruins of Kubarah. They are situated 
 on the northern brow of this tract of table land, looking down 
 upon the southwestern part of the plain of ESmeh ; that village 
 being in fall view, bearing N. 75° E. The general features of that 
 plain we had correctly recognised from the mountain above E^- 
 meh ; but I could here see more fully the gap or Wady which 
 breaks down from the western end towards 'Akka ; through 
 which passes down the Damascus road, but apparently no water 
 from the plain, or at least only from its western extremity.' 
 
 On approaching Kubarah from the south, there appeared to 
 be a square green Tell or mound, some 15 or 20 feet high. 
 This proved to be the remains of an ancient building, overgrown 
 with grass and rank weeds. It measured 30 paces on the 
 southern, and the same on the western side. The walls which 
 remain are four feet thick ; constructed of large and rudely hewn 
 stones on the outside and inside, and filled in with smaller stones. 
 The walls on the northern and eastern sides are mostly gone. 
 The whole formed a square enclosure, of about 100 feet on each 
 side. Parallel to the southern wall, at ten paces north of it, is 
 another of like thickness ; and the interval is covered over by a 
 round arch, extending the whole length ; thus forming a long 
 and regular vault. It had been broken away in some places ; 
 and repaired at a later period. It serves now as a fold for goats. 
 In the northeast comer of the large enclosure, is another similar, 
 though smaller structure ; also vaulted. These seem to be the 
 ruins of a fortress, or large castle, of high antiquity. 
 
 On the southwest of this ruin are two ancient cisterns ; and 
 on the east, two others ; all large, good, and still unbroken. 
 Hewn stones are strewn around in all directions over the extent 
 of an acre or more ; hardly as many, perhaps, as we should ex- 
 pect on the site of a large city ; but yet apparently more than 
 are to be found at SeffurieL It must also be borne in mind, 
 
 ' Bearings from Kubarah : Mejdel Ke- el-Ba'neh.N. 15° W. er-Rameh N. 75° K 
 rum N. 60° W. Deir el-Ais'ad N. 20° W. Nuhf N. 45° E. Mi'ar S. 55° W. 
 
Apr. 17.] KUBARAH, GABAKA. 87 
 
 that the ground among the ruins has heen ploughed over for 
 centuries. 
 
 The name Kfibarah corresponds to the Gabara or Gdbaroth 
 of Josephus.' Tiberias, Sepphoris, and Gabara were the largest 
 cities of GaUlee.* The latter lay north of Sepphoris and of 
 Jotapata. The envoys sent from Jerusalem to intrigue against 
 Josephus in Galilee, proceeded northwards from Xaloth (Iksal) 
 by way of Japha (Y^fa), Sepphoris, and Asochis, to Gabara.' 
 Vespasian marching from Ptolemais ('Akka), and entering the 
 borders of Galilee, took Gabara by assault ; and then sat down 
 before Jotapata, approaching it from the north.* All these 
 circumstances, in connection with the name, serve conclusively 
 to establish the identity of Knbarah with the ancient Gabara.' 
 
 The ancient road from Sogane to Gabara probably followed 
 down the side valley running to Wady Sha'ab ; and struck that 
 "Wady at a point considerably further east than our route ; where 
 the descent and ascent are of course shorter and less steep. 
 After spending three quarters of an hour among these hitherto 
 unvisited ruins, I returned to my companion by a route lying 
 more to the right. This took me down to Wady Sha'ab, 
 along a steep and narrow side ravine, by a blind road more 
 difficult and dangerous than any I had elsewhere encountered. 
 Kiding was out of the question ; for the path led over long 
 tracts of slippery sideling rocks, with frequent steps of two or 
 three feet descent. 
 
 Setting off again at 12.25, we now followed down the valley, 
 along its level bottom, which was cultivated in spots. Before 
 coming to the village of Sha'ab, we stopped for ten minutes to 
 obtain water. A family party of peasants were seated under 
 the olive trees enjoying a sort of pic-nic. They had made a fire 
 in a hole in the ground ; and were roasting Ful or beans. They 
 sent a boy to bring us water from a considerable distance. At 
 1.5 we had the small vUlage of Sha'ab on our left, at the f jot of 
 the southern mountain. Mi'ar was visible on the western brow 
 
 ' Gr. rdffapa v. Va^apdiSr, the two forms Gabara is to be read in Jos. Vita 15. — 
 
 being used interchangeably in Jos. Vita Reland understood Josephus as saying (Vit. 
 
 § 45. — The identity with Kiibarah implies 45), that the distance between Gabara and 
 
 merely the interchange of two palatals, y Jotapata was 40 stadia ; PaliEst. p. 771, 
 
 and Koph, Heb. 1 and p, which is not in- 867. But this seems rather to be the dis- 
 
 frequent; see Gesen. Thesanr. p. 252. ^.°f ^^'T'^'" ^''?^°^°J'"'^ Jotapata; so 
 
 ' Josenh Vita 25 Ritter Erdk. XVI. i. p. 761. The direct 
 
 " Jos Vit 45 " distance between Jotapata and Gabara, i. 
 
 * Jos! B. J. 3.' 7. 1. This passage now f^ ^^^ ^f Kubarah, isfrom 2^ to 3 hours 
 
 reads ,rrfx« rZ, raSap4o,y, i. e. oldara; *»' -f. ^''°"' .^O *» 60 stadia, or from b 
 
 but, as Reland suggests (p. 771), the whole to 8 Roman miles. . ^ , 
 
 context necessarily requires Tr6\is To/So- Gaiara is elsewhere mentioned only 
 
 ptW, L e. Gabara. A copyist would easily m Joseph. Vit. 10, 40, 46, 61. Gabarotk 
 
 thus put a known name in the place of one occurs, ib. 45, 47 bis. 
 comparatively unknown. In Uke manner 
 
88 FKOM BEIRUT TO 'AKKA. [Sbc- H. 
 
 above.* Fifteen minutes later we had on our left Tell Ydntln, 
 ■with slight ruins. The valley had become wider and wider ; and 
 now opened out into a broad plain. But ridges and rocky hiUs 
 ' continued to extend out on each side from the mountains, sink- 
 ing down gradually into the great plain further west. The ridge 
 on the north of us makes a bend to the south at its western end ; 
 and our course lay along close under it. Above, upon its angle, 
 was seen the village of Birweh. On our left was Damon, near 
 the low end of the southern ridge. Beyond this, and more to 
 the left, apparently on a rocky hUl of one of the next ridges, the 
 village of Kabul came in sight for a short time.'' 
 
 In this name Kabtil, we may recognise an ancient Cdbul ; 
 probably that once mentioned in the book of Joshua as on the 
 border of Asher ;' and certainly the Cliabolo of Josephus, a village 
 on the confines of Ptolemais, forty stadia west of Jotapata.* 
 Here Josephus lay for a time encamped, as a convenient post 
 from which to make incursions into Gralilee. A Cabul is like- 
 wise once or twice spoken of in the Talmudic writings.' But 
 no further mention of it seems to exist until the fourteenth and 
 fifteenth centuries ; when Kabul was a place of Jewish pil- 
 grimage.* It strangely escaped the notice of Jacotin and the 
 French in 1799. My companion, who passed through Damon 
 in 1844, travelling northwards, saw Kabiil from a more northern 
 point, took a bearing of it, and recognised it as the Cabul of 
 Joshua.' In 1847 E. G. Schultz also compared it with the 
 Chabolo of Josephus.^ 
 
 Proceeding over the plain, we came at 2 o'clock to the 
 channel of Wady Sha'ab, with water standing in it, and tending 
 towards Nahr Na'man. At 2.15 we were at the base of the 
 northern hills, as they bend round towards the south. Here was 
 a fountain ; and women from Birweh were carrying off water 
 on their heads. Five minutes later 'Akka came in sight in the 
 northwest. At 2.25 we reached the end of the northern line of 
 hills. They terminate here in a low and singular Tell, having 
 a flat top and rounded sides ; and appearing as if cut off from 
 the hill back of it, with a passage between almost like a broad 
 artificial trench. It is called Tell Birweh. The route of Dr. 
 Smith in 1844 led from this Tell northwards along the foot of 
 the hills ; until he struck the road from 'Akka to 'Amkah and 
 Suhmata. The line of hUls on the south of Wady Sha'ab 
 
 ' From Sha'ab, Mi'ar bore S. 10° W. ' R. Parchi in Asher's Benj. of Tni H. 
 
 = Bearings at 1. 35 : Birweh N. 60° W. p. 428. Carmoly Itiu. pp. 453, 482. 
 
 Damon S. 55° W. Kabul S. 5° E. ' E. Smith's Ms. Journal, iq^4, April 
 
 » Jodi. 19, 27. 22d. 
 
 * Joseph. Vita 43—45. Reland Pal. p. " Zeitschr. d. morg. Gesellsch. HI. pp. 
 
 701. 49, 60. Bitter 1. c. p. 761. 
 
 ' Eeland pp. 668, 701. 
 
Apk. 17.] KABUL. APPEOACH TO 'aKKA. 89 
 
 terminates at DSm6n ; west of whicli, in the plain, stands the 
 isolated Tell Kis6n ; wliicli we afterwards visited. 
 
 The plain now widened out on the north, to the next and 
 longer line of hills running down on the north side of the next 
 Wady coining from the direction of the plain of Eimeh. The 
 plain of this Wady is narrower than that we had traversed ; and 
 looking up it we could see Birweli on the southern ridge. At 
 12.30 there was a well, with watering-troughs of stone forming 
 two sides of a square. The well was furnished with a wheel ; 
 and two men were drawing water hy treading the wheel ; illus- 
 trating, perhaps, the ancient mode of " watering with the foot."' 
 At 3.15 we were opposite to the end of the northern hills ; and 
 the eye now wandered over the great plain unhindered, quite to 
 the promontory of Rds en-Nakurah, the Scala Tyriorum. An 
 extensive low hill, shaped on this side like a fortification, was on 
 our right at 3.45, lying along on the east of the city. At 3.50 
 there was another public well with a wheel ; soon after which we 
 came out upon the beautiful beach of hard sand, with the light 
 waves of the Mediterranean rippling at our feet. At 4 o'clock 
 we reached the only land-gate of 'Akka, on the southern shore ; 
 and ten minutes later were welcomed at the house of the Ameri- 
 can consular agent, Mr. Jirjis JemS,l. Here we remained until 
 Monday. 
 
 A visit to 'Akka was not included in our original plan ; we 
 came hither for a single definite object ; and so soon as that 
 could be accomplished, after the rest of Sunday, we desired to 
 hasten away. To effect this, arrangements were begun on Sat- 
 urday afternoon, and completed early on Monday morning. 
 
 The house in which we lodged was not far from the middle 
 of the city, towards the southwest. It was one of the better 
 class, two stories high ; and furnished in some of the rooms 
 with glazed windows, in others not. Here, as in Smyrna, 
 Bein\t, and other oriental commercial cities, the family occupied 
 the upper floor ; while the rooms below serve as stables and 
 storehouses. The house, as usual, enclosed a court ; small on 
 the ground, but larger above as a sort of terrace. A broad stair- 
 case of stone came up in the middle of this terrace ; with a thin 
 breastwork around it above, decorated with pots of flowers. 
 The floor of the terrace was of stucco, laid with pebbles of 
 diff'erent colours, arranged in ornamental figures. The principal 
 rooms were at the four corners, with smaller rooms and ofiices 
 between. At the west end, the space between the corner rooms 
 was covered by the roof, with windows looking out upon the 
 Mediterranean and Carmel ; but on the inside not enclosed. It 
 afforded a pleasant retreat ; and I gazed here many times upon 
 
 ' Dent 11, 10. See YoL H. p. 22. [E 351.] 
 Vol. III.— 8* 
 
90 'aKKA. [Sec. TL 
 
 the blue waters of the sea and bay ; upon the long ridge of 
 Carmel rising suddenly from the waves, with the convent and 
 church upon its extremity ; as also upon Haifa, at the base of 
 Carmel, and rising along the foot of its slope. According to the 
 custom of the country, we set up our own beds in the room 
 assigned to us. 
 
 Our host's family consisted of his widowed mother, a younger 
 brother, and two sisters, all unmarried. An older sister is the 
 wife of the British consul at Y^fa. Both the sons had been 
 educated at the seminary connected with the mission at Bei- 
 rut ; and the youngest sister had likewise just completed the 
 full course in the female school of the same mission. They all 
 (except the mother)' spoke English to some extent ; and ex- 
 hibited the intelligence and ease acquired by mingling in good 
 society. They were originally of the Greek church, and from 
 Beirut ; but were now Protestants. The youngest sister, in her 
 desire to impart the good which she had herself received, had 
 opened a small school for young girls ; in which, at first, the 
 teaching did not go far beyond knitting, sewing, and reading. 
 Yet even these humble efforts had been publicly denounced in 
 the Greek churches ; though only two pupils had been taken 
 away. — The family lived with simplicity and good taste. The 
 parlour table exhibited quite a show of good English books. 
 The meals were served in Frank style ; possibly in part on our 
 account ; and the females all partook with us. Our host was 
 turning his attention to commercial pursuits ; and manifested 
 an intelligent acquaintance with the public affairs of his own 
 and other countries. 
 
 We had here a pleasant and quiet Sabbath. The weather 
 could not be finer ; and the beauty of Carmel stood forth re- 
 vealed. Many of the leading inhabitants, friends of the family, 
 called ; and my companion found many opportunities for reli- 
 gious conversation. 
 
 Early on Monday morning our friend took me to the flat 
 roof of the house, which affords a view of 'Akka and the region 
 around it. On the south, at the distance of eight or ten miles, 
 is Carmel with its long level ridge ; on the east the hills and 
 mountains of Galilee at nearly a like distance ; the intervening 
 great and fertile plain stretches away in the north to B^s en- 
 Nakurah ; beyond which we could see the White cape, KS.s el- 
 Abyad, running down to the sea. On the right, and south of the 
 ridge of en-Nakurah, the great chasm of Wady el-Ktim was 
 seen breaking down through the mountains to the plain. StiU 
 south of this, on the northern side of a deep and shorter val- 
 ley, Wady Jedin, a ruined fortress was conspicuous, Kfl'lat 
 Jedin ; apparently the Castellum Indi of the Teutonic knights.' 
 
 ' Brocardus c. 4. So Mariti. II. p. 144. 
 
Sec. U.] THE CITY. VIEW. 91 
 
 The SaM, or plain itself, teems with, fertility, wherever tilled • 
 and yields the finest grain and most delicious fruits. Cotton 
 has also long been cultivated.' But, like the adjacent though 
 smaller plain of Esdraelon, it lies ia great part neglected. Yet 
 there are here more villages.* 
 
 'Akka itself is little more than a fortress in the sea. The 
 plain here throws out a low triangular projection, forming the 
 northern limit of the great hay ; and this is covered by the city. 
 From the southwestern extremity the remains of a former mole 
 run out towards the coast ; and here was the ancient harbour. 
 It is now shallow and unsafe ; and vessels usually lie in the road 
 of Haifa opposite, under Carmel. Massive fortifications guard the 
 city towards the sea on both sides. The thick walls and bas- 
 tions might furnish a noble promenade ; but it is not open to 
 the public. In the northeast corner an old castle was still in 
 ruins from the bombardment of 1840. On the land side there 
 is a double rampart ; of which the exterior one was constructed 
 by Jezzfi,r Pasha, after the retreat of the French in 1799.^ The 
 low broad hill on the east of the city, which was on our right as 
 we approached, seems to have been the Turon of the crusaders ; 
 on which king Gruido of Jerusalem pitched his camp during the 
 siege of 'Akka ;* and where too the French in 1799 erected their 
 batteries. 
 
 The streets of 'Akka are much wider than those of Beirut ; 
 and the town more open. The court of the great mosk built by 
 Jezzar, looked pleasant with its trees and fountains, as we passed 
 by. An aqueduct from the northeast, built originally also by 
 JezzS,r, usually supplies the city with water ; but it was now 
 out of repair, and water was brought in from a fountain a mile 
 distant. 
 
 I was disappointed in the extent of 'Akka. The area on 
 which it stands is small. The present population, according to 
 our host, is reckoned at only 5000 souls ; although the census 
 gives 3171, as the number of males. Of these there are 2378 
 Muslims and Druzes ; and 793 Christians and Jews. 
 
 'Akka at the present day is the seat of a Turkish Pasha ; 
 whose jurisdiction extends over the districts of the Sahil, the 
 Jebel, the Sh3.ghur, Shefa 'Omar, Safed, Tiberias, Nazareth, and 
 Atlit and Haifa. The chief exports are grain and cotton. The 
 place is visited by French, Italian, and Austrian vessels ; but by 
 few from Great Britain.^ Vessels of much size anchor at Haifa. 
 
 ' Sandysmentions,thatinliisday(1611) ' Marmont's Voyage, etc. HI. p. 79. 
 
 cotton grew " abundantly in the country * G. de Viiiisauf I. 26, 32 ; in Bohn's 
 
 adjoining ;" p. 160. Chronicles of the Crusades, pp. 104, 112. 
 
 ° Along this plain lies the great northern For other names of this hill, see WUkeu 
 
 road to Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut. I sub- Gesoh. d. Kreuzz. IV. p 255. n. 
 
 join an Itinerary of the route between ' Bowring's Report on the Commercial 
 
 'Akka aud Tyre by Capt. Newbold. See Statistics of Syria, pp. 52, 58. 
 Note n, end of the volume. 
 
92 'akka. [Secii 
 
 We were indebted to Mr Jemal for a document giving the 
 statistics of the province of 'Akka, viz. its population, yokes of 
 oxen, villages, taxes in money and produce, its productions, and 
 the number of mosks, churches, and synagogues. This docu- 
 ment is given in fuU at the end of the volume.' 
 
 This city is the Accho of the Old Testament ; from which 
 Asher did not drive out the Canaanites.* It would hence 
 appear to have lain in the territory of that trihe ; although not 
 mentioned in the distribution of Joshua.' Afterwards it took 
 the name of Ptolemais, probably from one of the earher Ptolemys 
 of Egypt ; though the occasion is unknown. It is referred to 
 in the New Testament, as visited by Paul on his way to Jerusa- 
 lem.* Several times it is mentioned as Ptolemais in the books 
 of the Maccabees f and also frequently by Josephus, who cor- 
 rectly describes its position, and assigns it to Galilee.^ Strabo 
 speaks of it as a great city ; of which the Persians availed them- 
 selves as a point from which to attack Egypt.^ By Pliny it is 
 called a colony of the emperor Claudius ; and it bears the same 
 appellation on coins.' In the early centuries of the Christian 
 era, it is mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome ;' and was the seat 
 of a Christian bishopric. This latter, however, seems to have 
 possessed no extensive influence ; since no historical notice of it 
 has come down to us, except the names of five or six of the 
 incumbents ; and that only in the signatures of councils.'" 
 Upon the capture of Jerusalem by the Khalif Omar, ia A. D. 
 
 637, his victorious armies followed up the conquest of Pales- 
 tine ; and after the surrender of Caesarea, the other cities, in- 
 cluding Ptolemais or 'Akka, yielded without resistance, in A. D. 
 
 638, to the summons of the invaders." 
 
 Little more is known of the city until the time of the cru- 
 sades. Among the inhabitants of the land its Greek appella- 
 tion, as in BO many other instances, was forgotten ; and Arabian 
 writers know the place only as 'Akka. With the crusades 
 began a comparatively brief but pahny period of prosperity and 
 renown. The first host of pilgrims in 1099, in their haste to 
 
 ' See Note III, end of the volume. ' Strabo 16 2. 25. p. 758. 
 
 ' Judg. 1,31. Heb. 131 ; Sept. 'Axxd ; ' ^^'"7 ^- N- 5. 17, colonia Olaudii 
 
 also Gr. "Aicr,, Jos. Ant 9. 14. 2. Diod. Cmsaris Ptolemais. uu<b quondam Ace 
 
 Sic. 19. 93; Lat. Ace, Plin. H. N. 5. 17. ^omp. 36 6o.— tor the coins, see Reland 
 
 See Reland p. 534 sq. P f^. Earlier coins, struck under Alcx- 
 
 •1 T T. in oj oi rr.t • ander the Great, see in Gesen. Monumm. 
 
 Josh. 19 24-31— The name is now pj^^^_ 269, and Tab. 35. 
 
 commonly held to be imphed m the form „ Onomast art. Accho. Hieron. Comm. 
 
 13= , fon=S3 , Mic. 1, 10. ^ Am. i. 2. 
 
 * Acts 21, 7. '" See the names in Reland, p. 542, Comp, 
 " 1 Mace. 10, 39. 56 sq. 11, 22. 24, etc. le Qnien Oriens Christ III. p. 775. 
 
 2 Mace. 13, 24. 25, etc. " Gibbon, History of the Decline andFall 
 
 • Jos. B. J. 2. 10. 2. ib. 2. 18. 5 ; also of the Eomaa Empire, oh. 51. 
 Antt. 12. 8. 2. ib. 13. 2. 1. ib. 13. 4. 1, 2, etc. 
 
SecIL] historical notices. 93 
 
 reacli the Holy City, left 'Akka as well as other cities in the 
 hands of the Muslims as they hurried by ; receiving from the 
 governor of 'Akka a pledge to surrender to them the city when 
 they should have captured Jerusalem, unless he should be re- 
 lieved.' This promise was of course not kept. In 1103 king 
 Baldwin I, with an army of five thousand men, sat down before 
 'Akka. The possession of the place was regarded by the Latins 
 as of great importance, on account of the good and secure har- 
 bour ; which at this time was enclosed by the walls of the city.* 
 For five weeks the Christians carried on a vigorous siege ; but 
 drew off their forces on the arrival of a fleet from Tyre and 
 Tripoly for the rehef of the garrison.' The next spring, however, 
 in 1104, king Baldwin renewed the siege with the aid of a 
 Genoese fleet ; and pressed it with such vigour and success, that 
 after twenty days the city was delivered over to the Christians.' 
 
 'Akka speedily became to the crusaders, next to Jerusalem, 
 the most important city of the Holy Land ; and ultimately the 
 residence of the Christian sovereigns. To its port came the 
 fleets of the Pisans, Genoese, Venetians, and others, laden with 
 crusaders and pilgrims, and also with stores, wares, and merchan- 
 dise.' These circumstances account for the massive fortifica- 
 tions and the numerous palaces, hospitals, arsenals, and ware- 
 houses, which now gave strength and importance to the city. In 
 1148 a grand council assembled here to deliberate upon the 
 affairs of the kingdom of Jerusalem. Three sovereigns took 
 part in the council ; Conrad III. of Hohenstaufen, Louis VII. 
 of France, and Baldwin III. of Jerusalem ; besides many prin- 
 ces and barons, spiritual and temporal, including the Grand 
 Masters of the two great orders of Templars and Hospitalers.^ 
 Yet with aU its wealth and splendour and might, the accumu- 
 lated results of more than fourscore years of prosperity, 'Akka, 
 in 1187, two days after the disastrous battle of Hattin, surren- 
 dered without resistance on the approach of Saladin. The booty 
 was immense.' 
 
 But the possession of 'Akka, as the entrance and key of 
 Syria, was too essential to the Christians, for them to suffer it to 
 remain long in the hands of the infidels, without an effort to 
 recover it. Near the end of August, 1189, king Guido, with a 
 force not exceeding ten thousand men, pitched his camp upon 
 the hill Turon on the east side of 'Akka. The city, which in 
 
 ' Raim. de A", in Gesta Dei, p. 173. " Fulcher. Cam. c. 30. Alb. Aq. 9. 27- 
 
 Wilken, I. p. 267 eq. 29. WilL Tyr. 10. 26. Wilken H. p. 
 
 = Fulcher. Cam. c. 30, " nobis valde 195 sq. 
 necessaria, qnoniam inest ei portus adeo ^ Corap. Benj. of Tud. I. 63 sq. 
 ntllis, ut intra mcenia secnra naves qaam ' See a list of those present, WilL Tyr. 
 
 plurimas sane concipere valeat." 16. 1. Wilken III. i. p. 236. n. 
 
 ' Fulcher. Cam. c 23. Albert. Aquens. ' Bohaed. Vita Salad, p. 71. Geof. Vini- 
 
 9. 18. Wilken IL p. 194. sanf I. 5, 6. Wilken ill. iu p. 292. 
 
94 'aKKA. [Sec. H. 
 
 the mean time Saladin liad taken the utmost pains to fortify, was 
 immediately invested ; while a Pisan fleet shut it in also by 
 sea. Saladin, who was occupied with the siege of Kul'at esh- 
 ShQldf (Belfort), hastened to the relief of 'Akka ; but could 
 only hover upon the outskirts of the Christian host. The siege 
 continued with variable fortunes ; until after almost two years, 
 the arrival of Philip Augustus, king of France, in April, 1191, 
 and of Kichard of England in the June following, with fresh 
 forces, inspired the besiegers with new confidence, and fiUed the 
 besieged with despondency. On the 12th of July, 'Akka was 
 again delivered over to the Christians, with all its treasures of 
 gold and silver, its stores of arms and provisions, and all the 
 vessels of war and merchantmen lying in its port. • 
 
 The city now remained for a century in the possession of the 
 Christians. It suffered greatly from an earthquake in May, 
 1202 ;^ and became in 1229 the chief seat of the kingdom of 
 Jerusalem and the rendezvous of the crusaders.^ Along with 
 the court followed also the great orders of the knights ; and. 'Akka 
 became henceforth the head-quarters of the order of St. John of 
 Jerusalem, of the Templars, and of the Teutonic knights. The 
 former took now the style of St. John of 'Akka ; which, in the 
 French orthography, St. Jean d'Acre, became the current appel- 
 lation of the city in the European world.* The Teutonic knights 
 acquired extensive lands and many fortresses in the mountainous 
 districts in the northeast of 'Akka ; some of which may be re- 
 cognised at the present day.' 
 
 The early religious zeal of the crusaders, had long since de- 
 generated into what was little more than political and personal 
 ambition ; and 'Akka, as the place where the varying interests 
 of different sects, orders, and nations, were all concentrated, 
 became the scene of bitter strife and open feuds. Between the 
 Pisans and Genoese in 1192, and between the latter and the 
 Venetians in 1256, disputes ran so high as to result in bloody 
 warfare.' The great orders of the Hospitalers and Templars were 
 ever at variance ; to say nothing of the personal enmities and 
 intrigues existing among the princes and nobles of every name. 
 The Christian inhabitants of the city, generally, had likewise 
 acquired the unenviable renown of dealing more favourably with 
 the Saracens than with their Christian brethren ; of being 
 given over to falsehood and wickedness ; and of habitually prac- 
 
 ' See the history of this siege, and the the old German poem " Freydank,*" as 
 
 authorities, in Wilken IV. pp. 253-357. quoted by Wilken, VI. p. 515. Benjamin 
 
 ' "VVillten VI. p. 6. of Tudela already wrote "'"'pS, though 
 
 ' Wilken VL p. 515. ,,iti, g, inrong Hebrew letter ; Asher's 
 
 * The crusaders appear early to have g^t, I p. 63; Heb. p. 31. 
 corrupted the Arabic form 'Akka into s Ritter Erdk. XVI. i. p. 782. 
 Acker; or, as written in French, Acre. See « wilken. IV. p. 473. VIL p. 396. 
 
Sho. n.] HISTORICAL NOTICEg. 95 
 
 tising deceit, fraud and treacbery.' Along with all these evils, 
 the increase of wealth, splendour, and luxury, was enormous. 
 The city was the centre of intercourse between the east and the 
 west ; wealthy nobles from the other cities of Syria and from 
 Europe took up here their abode ; merchants of all countries, 
 from the west and from the east, established themselves in 
 'Akka, and filled their warehouses with the products of every 
 clime ; and all external circumstances testified to the activity, 
 the extent, and the prosperity of commercial enterprise. 
 
 Such was 'Akka, when, on the 5th of April, 1291, the Sul- 
 tan Melek el-Ashraf, the son of Kalawun, with an immense host 
 of Saracen warriors, sat down to invest it.^ After various con- 
 flicts and impetuous assaults of the besiegers, and a brave, but 
 not united defence on the part of the besieged, the city was at 
 length taken by storm on the 18th of May. The Christian 
 inhabitants in great numbers, were treacherously massacred ; the 
 place after being given over to plunder, was set on fire in every 
 part ; the walls, the churches, and the strong palaces, were de- 
 molished ; and the whole city was levelled to the ground.' The 
 crusaders immediately withdrew from aU the other cities ; and 
 such was the end of the Christian dominion in Palestine. 
 
 Fifty years later, Ludolf von Suchem tells us, that the work 
 of demolition was continued through many years ; and was not so 
 complete, but that the churches, walls, towers, and palaces, might 
 under better fortunes be again restored. In his day, 'Akka was 
 still empty and desolate. The place swarmed with doves and 
 partridges. About sixty Saracens stiU lingered there, to guard 
 the place and the port ; who got their living from these bu-da 
 and from the culture of silk.'' 
 
 Other travellers of the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth 
 centuries, appear not to have visited 'Akka ; and those who 
 mention it, speak of it only from hearsay, or as seen from the 
 vessel as they sailed by.' Sandys, in 1611, was four days at 
 'Akka : and speaks of the remains as still exhibiting the utmost 
 massiveness and strength.' Only two or three hundred inhabi- 
 tants dwelt among the ruins. There were also Frank merchants, 
 dwellino- in a strong square cave, and freighting their ships with 
 
 ' Wilken VL p. 515. nnder those divers secret posterns. You 
 
 ' Wilken VII. p. 736. would think by the ruines, that the city 
 
 ' Wilken VII. pp. 760-770. rather consisted wholly of divers conjoyn- 
 
 * Ludolf de Such. c. 26. ing castles, than any way mixed with pri- 
 
 ' So Breydeubach (1483) in Reyssb. p. vate dwellings ; . . . the huge walls and 
 
 118; Zuallart (1586) "V. c. 3; Cotovicua arches turned topsie-turvy, and lying like 
 
 (1598) p. 125. rocks upon the foundation." — Sandys refers 
 
 ' Sandys' Travels, pp. 159, 160: "The to no particular ruin, except "a goodly 
 
 carkass shews that the body hath been temple " of the Hospitalei-s near the south 
 
 strong, fortified with bulwarks and towers ; side of the city ; p. 160. 
 
 to each wall a ditch, lined with stone ; and 
 
96 
 
 'aKKA. [Sec. IL 
 
 cotton, which grew abundantly in the country adjoining. Eu- 
 gene Roger in 1645, Doiibdan in 1652, and D'Arvieux in 1658, 
 describe in h'ke manner the desolation of 'Akka ; and enter into 
 more specifications.' The latter speaks of the place as a vast 
 heap of magnificent ruins, partly covered by the sand driven up 
 by the winds.^ There were many large and fine vaults, which 
 once served as cisterns or as magazines ; but being now full of 
 stagnant water, they added to the unhealthiness of the place. 
 D'Arvieux specifies the remains of five structures as then exist- 
 ing, all of them from the time of the crusades ; viz. the 
 church of St. Andrew, the Marine arsenal, the • hotel of the 
 knights Hospitalers, the palace of their Grand Master, and the 
 church of St. John connected with it.' The Emir, Fakhr ed- 
 Din, had erected a large and convenient Kh^n ; but, at the 
 same time, had filled up the port, as in the case of Sidon and 
 other cities.* In this . Khan the Frank merchants were now 
 lodged ; and here, in July, D'Arvieux and most of the others 
 fell sick of fever ; which he ascribes to the noxious qualities of 
 the atmosphere.' 
 
 For almost another century the leading travellers in Pales- 
 tine add little to our knowledge of 'Akka ; as Nau in 1674, 
 Maundrell in 169'7, and Pococke in 1737.' But about 1749, a 
 new era began for the desolated city. The noted Sheikh Dhaher 
 el-'Omar, whose history has been glanced at in a former volume 
 of this work,'' had now taken possession of 'Akka. His story is 
 told with some fulness by Niebuhr, and especially by Volney.' 
 He was master of Safed, Tiberias, and all Galilee ; and made 
 'Akka his residence ; professing to hold all as a fief from the 
 Pasha of Sidon,' yet maintaining himself for many years as an in- 
 dependent chief, against the attacks and intrigues of neighbouring 
 Pashas and of his own family. The walls and fortifications were 
 early built up ;'° the population greatly increased ;" the admin- 
 istration of justice was praiseworthy ; '^ and the Sheikh took 
 
 ' Eug. Roger, La Teire Sainte, pp. 44- ' Mariti II. p. 96. 
 
 46. Doubdan p. 545 sq. D'Arvieux M6- '" Stephan Schulz was at 'Akka in 1754. 
 
 moires, I. p. 269 sq. Dhaher had already completed his own 
 
 ' D'Arvieux ib. pp. 270, 279. castle, on the site of the hotel of the 
 
 ' D'Arvieux ib. pp. 272-275. knights of St. John ; and the wall of the 
 
 * D'Arvieux ib. p. 278. Mariti, II. p. 84. city on the land-side ; using for that pnr- 
 
 ° D'Arvieux ib. p. 292. pose the stones of one of the old churches. 
 
 ' Nau Voyage, 5. c. 19. Maundrell The Sheikh gave Schulz letters to two of 
 
 under March 21st, "Besides a large his sons, then governors in Tiberias and 
 
 Khan, in which the French factors have Safed. See Schulz Leitnngen eta V. pp. 
 
 taken up their quarters, and a mosque, 181, 187, 227. Paulus' Sammlung. Th. 
 
 and a few poor cottages, you see nothing VII. pp. 40, 45, 72. 
 
 here hut a vast and spacious ruin." Po- " I find no estimate of the population at 
 
 cocke II. i. p. 61 sq. this period ; but Niebuhr says that " the 
 
 ' See Vol. II. p. 393 sq. houses are here high, and the place popu- 
 
 " Niebuhr (1766) Eeisebeschr. Ill p. lous;" ib p. 72. 
 
 72 sq. Vokiey (1783) Voyage c. 25. Tom. " Mariti ib. p. 98. 
 
 n. p. 84 sq. 
 
SecH.] recent histoet. jezzak pasha. 97 
 
 great pains to revive and extend commerce. In this he was 
 successful ; and in Mariti's time (1760), consuls from several 
 European powers had been established at 'Akka. One of the 
 principal exports was cotton.* In 1775, when nearly ninety- 
 years old, the Sheikh was entrapped and slain by the emissaries 
 of the Sultan ; and his head sent to Constantinople." He was 
 succeeded by the still, more notorious Ahmed, surnamed eZ- 
 Jezzdr ' the Butcher.' 
 
 This remarkable and ferocious personage was a native of 
 Bosnia. While still young, he sold himself to a slave-merchant 
 in Constantinople ; and, being purchased by 'Aly Bey in Egypt, 
 he rose from the humble lot of a Memluk slave, to the post of 
 governor of Cairo.' Volney relates,* that in 1773, the Emir of 
 the Druzes, Ytisuf, placed Jezzar, a creature of the Turks, in 
 command at Beirrit. He first took possession of fifty thousand 
 piastres belonging to the Emir ; and then declared, that he ac- 
 knowledged no superior but the Sultan. Yusuf applied to the 
 Pasha of Damascus ; who disavowed Jezzar, but did not dis- 
 place him. Piqued at this neglect, Ytisuf now made common 
 cause with Sheikh Dhaher of 'Akka ; and, aided by a Russian 
 fleet, they made a successful attack upon Beirut. Jezzelr was 
 compelled to capitulate ; he betook himself alone to DhS.her, and 
 followed him to 'Akka ; but soon escaped. On the death of 
 Dhaher, he was made Pasha of 'Akka and Sidon ; took up his 
 residence in the former city ; and was for some years occupied 
 in subduing and destroying the sons of Dhaher, and securing for 
 himself their territories.' In Volney's time, 1785, his Pashahk 
 embraced the whole country between the Nahr el-Kelb and 
 Caesarea along the coast ; extending inland to Anti-Lebanon and 
 the upper Jordan ; and including also Ba'albek.* 
 
 At this time 'Akka had become one of the chief cities along 
 the coast. The Pasha had already erected his splendid mosk,. 
 the covered bazaar or market, and the fine aqueduct bringing 
 water across the plain from the northeast, with its noble foun- 
 tains. In all these and other works, Jezzar was his own engi- 
 neer and architect ; himself directing and superintending their 
 progress. The fortifications, though built with great care, were 
 of little value.'' In like manner. Brown in 1797, describes the 
 wall as " of very moderate strength ; " while the arbitrary 
 caprices of Jezzar had injured commerce and agriculture ; bo 
 that his chief source of revenue and wealth was now the district 
 
 ' Mariti ib. p. 102 sq. Clarke's Travels in the Holy Land, Load. 
 
 ' Niebuhr ib. p. 76. Volney ib. p. 120. 1812, 4to. c. 12. pp. 364, 365. 
 
 ' These particulars are stated by Dr E. * Voyage, II. p. 112 sq. 
 D. Clarke on the authority of Jezz5r him- ' Volney, ib. II. p. 125. 
 self. How far they accord with exact ' Volney, ib. II. p. 164 sq. 
 verity, is another question. See E. D. ' Volney, ib. 11. p. 209 sq. 
 
 Vol. III.— 9 
 
98 'akka. [Sec.il 
 
 of Damascus. In 1791 he had quarrelled with the French fac- 
 tories at 'Akka, Sidon, and Beirtit ; and expelled the merchants 
 from his territories on three days' notice. He had early con- 
 ceived an enmity against that nation ; which the events of his 
 subsequent history did not tend to allay.' 
 
 Such was the general position of 'Akka, when on the 20th 
 of March, 1799, it was invested by the French army under 
 Bonaparte. The English admiral, Sir Sidney Smith, had ar- 
 rived two days before, with two ships of war ; and had aided Jez- 
 zar hastily to put the fortifications in a state of preparation for 
 an attack. A fleet of transports, bringing stores and heavy 
 ordnance from Alexandria for the French, had been captured by 
 the English ; and were now turned against the iavaders. As 
 this celebrated siege is a matter of recent history, we need here 
 only remark, that after eight deadly assaults, in which the 
 French were repulsed by Arab valour aided by English slrill ; 
 and notwithstanding the intermediate victory of Mount Tabor ; 
 the invaders after sixty days gave up the siege on the 20th of 
 May, and commenced their retreat. Here first waned the star 
 of Napoleon's fortunes.^ 
 
 The fortifications of 'Akka were afterwards strengthened by a 
 second rampart and ditch on the land side.^ Jezzar died in May, 
 1804, after an illness of nine months, in the seventy-fifth year 
 of his age, and thirtieth of his rule as Pasha.* His cruelty 
 and atrocities briag vividly to mind the like characteristics of 
 the first Herod ; and it is remarkable, that two such monsters 
 in human form should die in their beds, and not be cut ofl' by 
 the vengeance of their outraged subjects. According to Dr 
 Clarke, Jezzar was his own " minister, treasurer, and secretary ; 
 and not unfrequently both judge and executioner in the same 
 instant." Of his attendants, " some were without a nose ; 
 others without an arm, with one ear only, or one eye ; marked 
 men, as he termed themf" ' As late as 1815, it was not un- 
 common to meet in the streets of 'Akka men who had been de- 
 prived by Jezzar of an eye, an ear, or part of the nose.* On 
 one occasion, he put to death seven of his wives with his own 
 hand.' 
 
 The successor of Jezzar was Isma'il ; and he again after a 
 few years was succeeded by SuleimSn ; under whose peaceful 
 rule the city and district recovered their prosperity.' Such is 
 
 ' Brown's Travels, c. 23. pp. 366-370. ' E. D. Clarke's Travels in the Holy 
 
 ' Thiers Hist, de la Revolution, X. pp. Land, 4to. p. 362 sq. 
 
 402-410. Sir Walter Scott's Life of Na- • Turner's Tour in the Levant, H. p. 
 
 poleon, I. c. 29. 114. 
 
 = Marmont, HI p. 79. Irby and Man- ' Clarke ib. p. 363. 
 
 gles, p. 195. [60.] ' Buckingham ib. pp. 84, 86. 
 
 * Buckingham, Palest 4to. p. 80. 
 
SKalLJ EECENT HISTORY. 99 
 
 the general testimony of travellers at this period ; who, however, 
 differ greatly in their estimates of the population.' In 1820, 
 Abdallah became Pasha of 'Akka ; but soon fell into strife with 
 the Porte and the neighbouring Pashas ; and was besieged for nine 
 months in vain.* He at last made his peace through the me- 
 diation of Muhammed 'Aly of Egypt. In 1829 he had become 
 jealous of this powerful neighbour ; ' and was making every 
 preparation for a vigorous defence.^ Nor were his fears ground- 
 less ; for on the 27th of November, 1831, Ibrahim Pasha with 
 an Egyptian army sat down before 'Akka. Without engineers 
 to carry on the siege in that scientific manner, which ensures 
 success within a certain number of weeks or days, Ibrahim 
 occupied the time in a furious bombardment. More than thirty- 
 five thousand shells were thrown into the town ; not a habitation 
 escaped uninjured ; and whole streets were blocked up with half- 
 demolished houses. Yet no breach was made in the walls ; and 
 the ramparts remained with little damage, and almost untouched. 
 Wearied at the delay and loss of time, as also at this waste of 
 munitions without result, Muhammed 'Aly sent to the siege a 
 Neapolitan engineer who was in Egypt, named Eoset. He set 
 on foot regtdar approaches ; and at the end of fifteen days, the 
 city was taken. Marmont remarks, that the same result would 
 probably have been gained at the outset, had the attack been at 
 first directed by skUftil engineers. As it was, the siege continued 
 six months ; the city having been taken by storm on the 27th 
 of May 1832. It was given over to pillage, and the place was 
 left a shapeless mass of ruins.* 
 
 Yet by reason of that tenacity of habit or affection, with 
 which orientals cling to their hearths and homes, 'Akka speedily, 
 though partially, recovered from its overthrow ; the walls and for- 
 tifications were renewed ; " the streets and dweUings reappeared ; 
 and commerce once more revived.' But again, in the autumn 
 of 1840, the city was subjected to bombardment by the com- 
 bined fleets of England, Austria, and Turkey ; and on the 3d 
 of November the explosion of the powder magazine destroyed 
 in a moment more than two thousand Egyptian soldiers, and 
 put an end to the contest. The remnant of the Egj'ptian troops 
 retired from 'Akka during the next night.' The bouses and 
 
 ' In 1815, Tomer gives the population * G. Robinson's Travels, I. p. 197. 
 
 at from seven to eight thousand ; IL p. ° See generally, Hogg's Visit etc. II. p. 
 
 111. In the same year 0. v. Eichter states 159 sq. Marmont Voyage III. p. 84 sq — 
 
 the number at 15,000 ; p. 68. Mr Connor, The Egyptian bulletin on the occasion, seo 
 
 in 1820, specifies 10,000 ; see Jowett's in Hogg, I. p. 153 sq. 
 
 Chr. Researches p. 42.3. Berggren, in 1821, " Marmont ib. p. 79. Bowring's Re- 
 
 again has 15,000 ; Reisen IL p. 225. The port, p. 28. 
 
 account of Turner is probably nearest the ' Bowring's Report, pp. 52, 58. 
 
 truth. ° Nautical Magazine, Jan. 1841. Wil- 
 
 ' Conversations-Lexicon der Gegenw. son. Lands of the Bible, XL p. 236. Dur- 
 
 1839, art Ibrahim Pasha. bin's Observations in the East, IL p. 39. 
 
 ' Prokesch, pp. 146, 147. 
 
100 'akka. [Seo. n. 
 
 other buildings of the city suffered of course great damage ; 
 and in 1843 many workmen were employed in repairing them, 
 as well as the fortifications, under the direction of Turkish, 
 officers.' 
 
 These efforts have been in the main successful ; and 'Akka, 
 as we saw it, bears few traces of having been a desolated city ; 
 at least not more than the other cities of the country, among 
 which it is still the strongest. Yet among the many devasta- 
 tions and renovations which the place has undergone, it is easy 
 to conceive, that the remains of edifices from the times of the 
 crusades should have become less and less distinct. Of the five 
 structures of which D'Arvieux speaks,' a French traveller, De 
 Mas Latrie, who in 1845 searched here expressly for the monu- 
 ments of the crusades, found only three ; viz. the church of St. 
 Andrew, of which, however, there now remains only a small 
 chapel near the sea ; the hotel (Hopital) of the knights Hos- 
 pitalers, now the military hospital ; and the church of St. John.' 
 Many fine relics of an earlier, and probably of Greek and Eoman 
 antiquity, are seen built into the walls of public edifices and other 
 works ; consisting of the shafts and capitals of granite and other 
 columns, fragments of antique marble, masses of the verd an- 
 tique breccia, and of Syenite. But the splendid columns and 
 marble decorations of Jezzdr's mosk, and of his palace, were 
 brought by him from the ruins of Caesarea.* ^ 
 
 Haifa, as I had occasion to state in a former volume, is 
 the Sycaminum of Greek and Eoman writers.^ This is ex- 
 pressly affirmed by both Jerome and Eusebius, who lived in the 
 country ; the latter near by at Ccesarea ; and the authority of 
 these fathers, in such a case, is too great to be called in question.* 
 It is several times spoken of in the Talmudic writings under 
 both names. '^ The traveller Ssewulf mentions it ; as also R. 
 Benjamin and R. Parchi.' In A. D. 1100, Tancred besieged it, 
 and took it by storm.' Arabian writers also often speak of it.'" 
 In the times of the crusades, it was sometimes mistaken for the 
 ancient Porphyreon ;" which, however, as we have seen, was at 
 Neby Tunas between Sidon and Beirut. 
 
 The present convent on Mount Cakmel is an edifice of quite 
 
 ' Wilson ib. p. 236. dem pergentibus super mare propter mon- 
 
 ' See above, p. 96. tem Carmelam, Ephe ('H</)a) dicitur." 
 
 » See his Letter in Archives des Mis- ' Keland, pp. 699, 819, 1024. 
 
 sions Scientif. et Lit. Fevr. 1850, p. 105. " Ssewnlf, Bohn's edition, p. 48. Asher'a 
 
 Eitter Erdk. XVI. i. p. 736. Be j. of Tud. I. p. 64. IL p. 429. 
 
 * Clarke's Travels, ib. pp. 381, 382. » Alb. Aquens. 7. 22-26. Wilken II. pp. 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 27. Jos. Ant. 13. 12. 3. 71, 72. 
 
 Itin. Antonini, p. 149. Itin. Hieros. p. '° Edrisi par Jaubert, I. p. 348. Schul- 
 
 584. See Vol. II. p. 340. [iiL 194.] tens Ind. in Vit. Saladin, art. Chaipha. 
 
 ° Onomast. art Japhic : " Oppidum, " See Will. Tyr. 9. 13. Jac. de Vitr. p. 
 
 Sycaminum nomine, de Ceesarea Ptolemai- 1067. 
 
Sec XL] HAIFA. CONVENT ON CABMEL. 101 
 
 recent date. The site is very conspicuous ; and therefore is 
 most probably that of the heathen altar where Vespasian sacri- 
 ficed, and the priest foretold his future fortunes.' The mountain 
 was early the resort of hermits dwelling in caves and grottos ; 
 many of which are stiU extant.^ This continued in the time of 
 the crusades.' In A. D. 1180, Phocas speaks of the ruins of 
 what he calls a large monastery, on the extreme point of the 
 promontory, towards the sea.* A century later, when Brocardus 
 wrote, the order of Carmelites occupied the mountain ; and 
 about 1340, in the time of Ludolf von Suchem, they had on it a 
 fine claustrum built in honour of the virgin ; and fifteen clatis- 
 tra in the Holy Land generally.^ In the days of Quaresmius, 
 about 1620, there existed upon the summit of the mountain, 
 only the ruins of a large church.^ Thirty or forty years later, 
 Doubdan and D'Arvieux both speak of the massive remains as 
 those of an ancient monastery ; which the former refers to 
 Helena, and the other to St. Louis, king of France ; and both 
 with eq^ual probability.' At this time the monks dwelt in ex- 
 cavated grottos ; and had also an excavated chapel. AU this, 
 according to Mariti, continued in the same state in 1760.' At 
 some later time, a regular convent was erected ; as to which I 
 find no historical notice ; but it was used by the French army 
 in 1799 as a hospital ; and was afterwards desolated by the 
 Turks.' In 1821, AbdaUah, Pasha of 'Akka, totally destroyed 
 this building." The present structure has been since erected by 
 the persevering efforts of a single monk. The history of the 
 enterprise is given by Schubert and Wilson." 
 
 ' Tacit. Hist 2. 78. Sneton. Vesp. c 5. ° Quaresmius, IT. p. 893. b. 
 
 ' In some of these Sohok found early ' Doubdan, p. 500. D'Arvieux Mfim. 
 
 Greek inscriptions ; which, from the form IL p. 306. 
 
 of the letters, he refers to the early centu- ° Mariti Voyage. II. pp. 126, 130. Po- 
 
 ries of the Christian era ; Eeise, pp. 151- cocke, II. i. p. 56. 
 
 154. ° Turner, II. p. 117. 0. v. Richter, p. 
 
 » Jac. de Vitr. c. 52. p. 1075. 65. Wilson, I. p. 244. 
 
 * Phocas in L. AUat. Symmikta, p. 45. '° Document in Wilson, II. p. 244. 
 
 ' Brocardus, o. 10. Ludolf de Such. c. " Schubert, III. p. 210 sq. Wilson, IL 
 
 28. p. 243 sq. Bitter Erdk. XVL L p. 718 sq. 
 
 Vol. m.— 9* 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 FEOM AKKA THROUGH GALILEE AND SAMAEIA TO JEKUSALEM. 
 
 Monday, April l^th. HaviBg this morning succeeded in 
 luring a horse, and our host having obtained for us a Buyu- 
 ruldy from the Pasha, we left the gate of 'Akka at 10.20, set- 
 ting our faces again towards Galilee, and intending to proceed by 
 the route of Wady 'Abilin, 
 
 Our road for half an hour was the same by which we had 
 approached the city on Saturday. Here a fork went off in a 
 more southeasterly direction, which we took. It led us at once 
 into a low, broad, miry tract, which had quite recently been a 
 wide marsh ; but was now dry enough in most places to sustain 
 the horses. Earlier in the season this part of the road must be 
 impassable. The path even now was blind ; and we lost twenty- 
 five minutes in seeking for it, and in waiting for our muleteers ; 
 who seemed ever to have a special faculty for taking the wrong 
 road. Through this low tract passes the water-bed of Wady 
 Sha'ab or Hailazon, on its way to unite with the river N a'man 
 near the mouth of the latter. 
 
 Beyond this depression in the plain, we soon came to rich 
 pastures ; where many cavalry horses were tethered out to graze, 
 watched by soldiers, whose tents were near at hand. Large 
 numbers of camels were also feeding. In one place the soldiers 
 were regularly mowing and making hay ; the only time that I 
 saw this process in Palestine. The hay, when dry, was twisted 
 into ropes for easier transportation. Then followed, nearer the 
 mountains, fields covered with splendid crops of wheat and 
 barley ; the latter in the ear. As we rode along, a hill with 
 two sharp points rose apparently directly in front of the gap, 
 which comes from the plain of Kimeh ; and it was difficult to 
 tell on which side of it the valley actually descends. As we 
 advanced, however, we could see the gap on the south side of 
 
Apr. 19.] TELL KISON. 'AMKAH. 103 
 
 the hill ; on which side also the Damascus road passes up. We 
 came at length to the northern foot of Tell Kison ; which we 
 had seen at a distance on Saturday. Here was a well or foun- 
 tain, with a low building over it ; hut no water. Two men were 
 asleep on the top ; one of whom, from Tumrah, we engaged as 
 a guide. He proved to he the best we had yet found. We 
 reached the summit of the Tell at 12.30 ; the muleteers having 
 been sent forward to await us at Kefr Menda. 
 
 Tell Kison stands in the plain, directly in a range with the 
 low spur, or line of hills, which runs down west from the moun- 
 tains to Damon. It is nearly two miles distant from that vil- 
 lage.' It is high and regular ; but has no traces of any ruin 
 upon it. Here many villages were in sight, mostly lying higher 
 or lower upon the eastern hiUs. Nearly in the south was Shefa 
 'Omar, on a ridge overlooking the plain. It is a market town, 
 now the head of a district, with streets of shops frequented by 
 the neighbouring peasants. Here is a large castle or palace, 
 built by a son of DhSher el-'Omar, but now deserted.'' 'Abilin 
 was before us and nearer at hand, perched upon a high and 
 sharp hill,- on the south side of the Wady of the same name ; 
 also looking out over the plain.' Still nearer to us were Tumrah, 
 Euweis, DSmon, and Birweh ; as also Mfar on its higher moun- 
 tain brow. Kabul was not here visible ; being hidden by inter- 
 vening hills. In the northeast, along the hills, we could still 
 distinguish, among others, KOFat Jedin and Yerka ; while 
 'Amkah, which we had seen from the road further north, was 
 now concealed. 'Amkah is on the south side of the deep 
 Wady, on the north of which is situated Kul'at Jedin. The 
 name suggests the Beih-emeh of Asher, but the position does not 
 seem to admit of their identity ; since the latter is mentioned as 
 near the valley of JipJithah-el, on the border between Asher and 
 Zebulun.* 
 
 In the plain, still a mile or more west of TeU Kison, was another 
 similar mound called Tell Da'iik, said to have remains upon it.' 
 More towards the southwest, perhaps two miles distant from us, 
 
 ' The name of TeU Kison has a resem- * Josh. 19, 27 ; comp. v. 1 4. — Bearings 
 
 blance only in English to that of the river from Tell Kison : 'Akka 310°. Kul'at Je- 
 
 JCiehon. In Arabic the letters are different din 32°. Yerka 39°. Abu Sinan 44°. 
 
 (Kaph and Kopli). The Tell has no con- Birweh 43°. Damon 87°, 1|- m. Mi'ar 
 
 nection with the river. 93°. Ruweis 115°, IJ m. Tumrah 120°. 
 
 ' E. Smith, Ms. JonmaJ, Apr. 20th, 'Abilin 150°. Shefa 'Omar 172°. Tell 
 
 1844. Clarke's Travels, p. 396. Mod. Kurdany 238°. West end of Carmel 261°. 
 
 Traveller in Palest, p. 329.— Mentioned Tell Da'uk 271°, 1 m. Bakhjeh 330°. 
 
 also by R. Parchi, as SJiefaram, Asher's This latter is a country seat of 'Abdallah, 
 
 Benj. of Tud. 11. p. 428. former Pasha of 'Akka, in the plain north 
 
 " Comp. Pococke, II. i. p. 61. Lynch's of the city. 
 
 Official Report, p 13. It is mentioned ' Dhouk, with niins, in Pococke XL i. p. 
 
 also in a Jewish Itinerary of the fourteenth 60. 
 century ; Carmoly, p. 255. 
 
104 FROM 'AKKA to JEKUSALEM. [SBc7nL 
 
 was^ likewise Tell Kurdany, nearly in the middle of the plain. 
 It is large and regular ; and near its base on the north, is a 
 village and the perennial source of the Nahr Na'man ; with a 
 dam and several mills. This stream is necessarily the river 
 Belus of antiquity ; celebrated for the accidental discovery of 
 the art of maMng glass. ' It runs about E". N. W. through the 
 plain ; and enters the sea twenty minutes south of the gate of 
 'Akka. According to Strabo, the sand from the mouth of this 
 river was carried to Sidon to 1)0 melted for glass. Pliny speaks 
 also of a marsh, called Cendevia, as the source of the Belus.' 
 In this he probably refers to the waters at the base of Tell 
 Kurdany. 
 
 Leaving Tell Kis6n at 12.50 we came at 1.10 to another low 
 rocky ridge running down into the plain. There was a fork of 
 the road going off to Tumrah on the left. Our guide, finding 
 that we desired to visit Jefat, proposed to take us thither on a 
 more direct route. We therefore took the Tumrah road, along 
 the northern base of the low ridge ; and came in ten minutes to 
 Bir Tireh. Here was a well ; and a camel was drawing water 
 by dragging off a long rope. On the ridge, just by the weU, is 
 a ruin; but the present village of Tireh is a quarter of a mile 
 further south.' After five minutes we proceeded ; and at 1.33 
 had Euweis and DimSn in a line on our left ; the former an 
 eighth of a mile distant, and the latter three quarters of a mile. 
 Tiimrah lies on a low hUl, encircled by a valley on the south. 
 Instead of ascending the hill to the village, we kept along 
 around it in the vaUey ; and at 1.55 were opposite the village. 
 Ten minutes later the village was behind us a quarter of a nule 
 distant. 
 
 We now ascended gradually, about E. N". E. by a blind and 
 bad path, very little travelled. At 2.30 we came out on the top 
 of the first ridge ; affording a noble view of 'Akka and its bay, 
 and of Carmel and the plain.* Another ridge was before us, 
 beyond a broad shallow valley, running down southwest to Wady 
 'Abilin. On the top of this second ridge at 2.50, we came out 
 upon table land, tilled and with fields of grain ; with the 
 village of Kaukab in the southeast, to which we came at 3.15. 
 It stands on a rocky TeU in the southeast part of the table land, 
 with a deep valley on the east and south. The place has an old 
 look ; but we could find no trace of antique remains. It has an 
 
 ' The chief authority here is Pliny: ° Bearings from the ridge at Bir Tireh ^ 
 
 " Belus, Titri fertiles arenas parvo litori Tumrah S. 65° E. Tireh S. 5° E. J m. 
 
 miscens," H. N. 5. 17 ; and more fully, ib. Ruweis N. 55° E. ^ m. Damon N. 35° E. 
 
 36. 65 sq. Comp. Tacit. Hist. 5. 7. Strabo Tell Kison N. 35° W. 
 16. 2. 25. p. 758. Jos. B. J. 2. 10. 2 — * Bearings at 2.30, from ridge : Tell 
 
 The river was also called Pagida, Plin. Kison 297°. Tell Kurdany 284°. 'Abilin 
 
 6. 17. 231°. Shefa 'Omar 232°. 'Akka 303°. 
 
 ' H. N. 6. 17. ib. 36. 65. Kaukab 129°. 
 
Apr. 19.] THE BELUS. JEFAT. 105 
 
 extensive prospect towards the west, south, and southeast. 
 Directly east of us, looking across a hasin and up a short vaUey, 
 was Jefat, surrounded by high hnis. In the southeast, the 
 Wely on the hill above Nazareth was visible ; here known as 
 Neby Sa'id, though called Neby Isma'il at Nazareth. ' 
 
 We now descended into the fine fertile basin, full of olive trees, 
 on the east and northeast of the village. This is strictly the head 
 of Wady 'Abilin, which sweeps off south and southwest around 
 the high tract on which Kaukab stands ; and afterwards runs 
 down northwest to the western plain. We passed up a short 
 side valley coming down from the east ; having its head at a 
 broad ridge which crosses from the northern hill to the higher hill 
 on the south, called Deidebeh, and said to have remains upon 
 it. Beyond the ridge another /valley runs off E. S. E. and very 
 soon sweeps around the southern base of the Tell of Jefit. We 
 reached this latter place at 4 o'clock. 
 
 It is a singular spot. The high round Tell is perfectly reg- 
 ular and isolated ; except that it is connected with the northern 
 hUls by a low ridge or neck. On the west side of the neck a 
 deep Wady begins and sweeps around its western and southern 
 base. On the east of the neck a Wady has its head further 
 north ; and runs down along the eastern base to join the former. 
 The united valley now continues for a short distance south ; 
 and then turning E. S. E. runs to the Buttauf. From the Tell, 
 looking west, one sees Kaukab and the high tract around it ; on 
 the other side, looking down the valley, is seen a small strip of 
 the plain el-Buttauf.^ Otherwise, the place is wholly shut in 
 by mountains ; having on the north a range of high hills be- 
 tween it and Siikhmn ; and on the south the still higher ridge 
 of Deidebeh, between it and the Buttauf. Or, we may regard 
 the broad ridges between Sukhnin and Kefr Menda, as here cleft 
 longitudinally by these valleys ; and thus enclosing Jefit within 
 their hidden recesses. 
 
 We approached by the neck. On its northern part are the 
 remains of an ancient place, with many hewn stones as of houses ; 
 extending also somewhat up the slope of the northern hill. 
 The whole surface of the top of the Tell itself is flat naked 
 rock ; with two or three ordinary cisterns sunk in it, now used 
 for watering flocks. Around, and just below the brow of the 
 Tell, on all sides except the north, are many caverns, which 
 hardly seemed all to be artificial ; though in some of the 
 smaller ones there were steps cut to descend into them, perhaps 
 either for water or as habitations. Or, did some of them perhaps 
 
 ■ Bearings from Kantab : 'Akka 307°. ' Bearings from Jefat : Kaukab 271*. 
 Jefat 91°. 'Ailut 180°. Neby Sa'id 164°. Ba'ineh 114°. el-'Ozeir 135°. 
 See Vol. n. p. 386. [iiL 189.] 
 
106 FROM *AKKA TO JERUSALEM. [Sec. HL 
 
 lead to passages underground ? There is on the Tell no trace 
 of any fortress, nor of dwellings ; and nothing to show that any 
 ever existed. We searched in vain for any remains or appear- 
 ance of a wall ; either around the summit of the Tell or on the 
 sides lower down. Not a stone nor a fragment marks the Tell 
 itself as having been an ancient site. 
 
 Yet the conclusion is irresistible, that this was the site of 
 Jotapata, the renowned fortress of Galilee ; which, under the 
 command of Josephus himself, so long held out against the 
 assaults of Vespasian ; and where the historian was taken pris- 
 oner after the downfall of the place.' The only traveller who has 
 visited the spot in modem times, was E. G. Schultz in 1847.° 
 It lies at a distance from all the ordinary roads of the country ; 
 a circumstance which readily accounts for its long concealment. 
 
 The minute description of Jotapata by Josephus, would of 
 itself go far to establish the identity of this place ; even had 
 the name been wholly lost. According to him, it was sur- 
 rounded by a precipice, except in one part ; with deep and steep 
 valleys on aU the other sides. It was accessible only from the 
 north ; and here the city extended out upon the sloping extrem- 
 ity of the opposite mountain. This mountain Josephus in- 
 cluded in the wall, when he fortified the place ; that its top 
 might not be seized upon by the enemies. The city was hidden 
 on all sides by other mountains ; and could not be seen at aU, 
 until one came close upon it.' There was no fountain in the 
 place ; but only cisterns ; so that the besieged suffered for want 
 of water,* There were also caverns, and subterranean recesses ; 
 in which Josephus and many others hid themselves after the 
 place was captured.' No description of the external features 
 could be more exact at the present day. 
 
 As to the name, Eeland long ago remarked, that the Gopa- 
 tata of the Talmudic writings was sufficiently like to Jotapata, 
 to be regarded as the same ; and that form we may stiR recog- 
 nise in the modem Jefdt.^ The Greeks, who in the travesty of 
 foreign names were the French of antiquity, seem to have pre- 
 ferred a corrupted form as easier of pronunciation.' The dis- 
 tance of Gopatata from Sepphoris is given by the Rabbins at 
 three miles f the true distance is between four and five English 
 mUes. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 3. 7. 3-36. -Heb. NnnsiS, Eeland Falsest, pp. 
 
 ' Zeitsohr. der morgenl. Ges. IH. pp. 816, 867. 
 61, 61. ' Not improbably tbe same interchange 
 
 " Jos. B. J. 3. 7. 7. The fortification and transposition already existed in the 
 
 of Jotapata by Josephns is mentioned, B. corrupt dialect of Galilee ; we find once 
 
 J. 2. 20. 6. Vit. § 37. nSlli , probably the same name ; Eeland 
 
 • Jos. B. J. 3. 7. 12. p. 868. 
 
 ' Ibid. 3. 7. 35, 36. ib, 3. 8. 1. » Eeland, p. 816. 
 
Apr. 19.] JEFAT, JOTAPATA. 107 
 
 Against historical evidence so strong, tlie absence of all 
 traces of ancient fortification on the Tell, as it seems to me, has 
 comparatively little weight ; although it is utterly unaccount- 
 able. We know not what causes have been at work in later 
 ages, to remove such remains. The account of Josephus is in 
 some respects doubtless exaggerated and hyperbolical ; as where 
 he speaks of the sight failing to reach the depth of the valleys ; 
 his estimate of more than forty thousand persons destroyed 
 during the siege of forty-eight days ; and the manner of his 
 ■ own surrender to the Eomans.' Indeed, the thought stole over 
 my mind, as we stood upon the spot, whether the historian had 
 not here given himself up to romance, in order to laud the valour 
 of the Eomans, of the Jews, and especially of himself Yet this 
 idea was rebutted, except as to general exaggeration, by the 
 minute and striking accordance of his description with the phys- 
 ical features of the place. 
 
 In the Old Testament we find mention of a valley JipMhah- 
 el,^ on the border of Zebulun and on the border of Asher ; that 
 is, on the confines of these two tribes. The question naturally 
 arises, whether this name has any affinity with the names Jota- 
 pata, Oopatata, Jefdt ? and also whether we may look for the 
 valley in this neighbourhood ? At first view, there seems, in- 
 deed, to be little resemblance between the pure Hebrew form 
 Jiphihah and the later names ; and yet, when we take into ac- 
 count the corrupt dialect of Gralilee, which often confounded 
 different gutturals and other letters, such an affinity is not at 
 all impossible.' This view is strengthened by the probable 
 place of the valley. The plain el-Buttauf^ as we shall see, was 
 in Zebulun ; and the northern border of that tribe is described 
 as running apparently westwards to the valley of Jiphthah-el.* 
 Again, the western or southwestern border of Asher is said to 
 pass from Carmel to Zebulun, then to the valley of Jiphthah-el, 
 and so to CabuL' It seems probable, therefore, that the line of 
 hills between Sukhnin and Kefr Menda formed the boundary 
 between Asher and Zebulun in this part ; and that the valley 
 of Jiphthah-el was no other than the great Wady 'Abilln, which 
 has its head in those hUls near Jefat. This valley, therefore, 
 may have given its name to the place, or vice versa ; and the 
 
 ■ Jos. B. J. 3. 7. 7. it. 3.7.33,36. Thesanr. pp. 252, 557.— The GalUeandia- 
 
 ib. 3. 8. 6. lect confounded also different gutturals 
 
 ' Heb. bxTinS"' iJ, Josh. 19, 14. 27. and letters ; as n and M, 5 and S, etc 
 
 ' Heb. nnsi. Nnnsia, mni"', etc. See Lightf. Hor. Heb. in 0pp. fol L p. 
 
 6r. •la.T<£rraTa; 'Eeland Patest. pp. 816, 232. Schcettg. Hor. Heb. I. p. 235. 
 
 867 .-iq. Compare the ancient Iturea and ' Josh. 19, 14. 
 
 the modem Jeidmr ; and for the interchange = Josh. 19, 26. 27. 
 
 of Yod and Crimel (p , i) see Gesenius 
 
108 FEOM 'AKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. HI. 
 
 early fonn have become afterwards thus variously corrupted in 
 the dialect of the Galileans.' 
 
 If the preceding view be correct, it follows, that the Beth- 
 emek of Asher, which lay on the south side of the valley of 
 Jiphthah-el,' cannot be represented by the modem 'Amkah, 
 which lies much further north near Wady Jedin. 
 
 We left the neck below the Tell of Jefg,t at 4.20 ; and pro- 
 ceeded down the eastern valley without a path for twenty min- 
 utes. Here we struck a path, apparently leading from Sukhnin 
 to the Buttauf. The valley, which thus far runs south, here 
 turns S. 65° E. and continues nearly in a straight line to the 
 Buttauf at Kana, which was in sight. As we passed down the 
 valley, vast quantities of wild fennel were growing aU around, 
 filling the air with its fragrance. There were also rich tracts of 
 white clover ; some of it nearly two feet high. We reached 
 Kana at 5 o'clock. 
 
 Kana, called also Khirbet Kdna, is known by these names 
 to all the inhabitants of the region round about, both Christians 
 and Muslims. It is situated on the left side of the Wady 
 coming from Jefat, just where the latter enters the plain el-Bfit- 
 tauf, on the southern declivity of a projecting Tell, and over- 
 looking the plain. ^ The situation is fine. It was once a con- 
 siderable village of well built houses now deserted. Many of 
 the dwellings are in ruins. There are also several arches, 
 belonging to modern houses ; but we could discover no traces of 
 antiquity. — In a former volume I have stated the grounds, which 
 render it certain that this village, and not Kefr Kenna, was the 
 Cana of the New Testament, where our Lord wrought his first 
 miracle in Galilee ; and that it was so regarded down to the 
 beginning of the seventeenth century.* 
 
 ' The identity of Jiphthah-el and Jefat therefore can only mean Cana the Great. 
 
 has been before suggested ; bat merely on But had M. de Saulcy turned to his Arabic 
 
 the ground of a conjectured affinity of the New Testament, he would have found, not 
 
 names ; Keil's Comm. zn Josua, p. 346. only that Galilee (VaXiKaia) is always ren- 
 
 Kitter Erdk. XVL p. 768. dered by el-Jelil ; but also that Cana of 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 27. Galilee (Kaj-S rfis Ta\i\aias), wherever it 
 
 * Bearings from Kdna: Ba'ineh 112°. occurs, is uniformly given by Kana el- 
 
 el-'Ozeir 145°. Mmmaneh 173°. Khirbet /effi; John 2, 1. 11. 4,46. 21,2. The 
 
 Kumah 200°. These are all on the oppo- other argument asserts, that at the time of 
 
 site side of the Buttauf. — el-Meshhed 172°. the wedding, "Jesus was travelling on 
 
 Neby Sa'id 184°. Seffilrieh 202°. foot with his mother, his disciples, and his 
 
 ' John 2, 1-11. 4, 46. See Vol. IT. p. cousins, from Nazareth to Capernaum ; 
 
 346. [iil p. 204.] — M. de Saulcy takes and nobody can reasonably conceive, that 
 
 ground against this Kana as represent- with such an object, under such circum- 
 
 ing the ancient Cana ; and pronounces in stances, he should have made a circuit of 
 
 favour of Kefr Kenna ; Narrative, II. p. at least thirty English miles ; " p. 420. To 
 
 417 sq. His arguments axe two. One is, this it may be replied, that the passage in 
 
 that the Greek name Cana of Galilee question (John 2, 12) gives no intimation 
 
 could never have been expressed by Kana that Jesus went directly from Cana to Ca- 
 
 el-Jelil; since JelU is an adjective mean- pemaum ; and further, that even had he 
 
 ing great or illustrious ; and that phrase been thus on his way from Nazareth to 
 
Apr. 19.] CAKA OP GALILEE. KEFK MEND A. 109 
 
 Leaving Kana at 5.20, and crossing the mouti of the valley 
 from Jefat, we came to a fountain or cistern, at the foot of the 
 Mils, where the flocks and herds were gathering for water at 
 evening. We now proceeded along the base of the northern 
 hills on a course about west ; having the glorious plain upon our 
 left. On our right was the high ridge and point of Deidebeh. 
 The whole eastern portion of the plain has no outlet, being 
 shut in on the east by hills ; so that in winter it becomes a lake, 
 extending sometimes as far west as to the road between Kana 
 and Ktimmaneh. On the south of this part of the plain rises 
 a steep and almost isolated ridge, dividing it from the plain of 
 Tu'r^n and Kefr Kenna beyond. This ridge ends on the west 
 not far from Eummineh ; and the plain of Tu'r^n is drained 
 by a Wady passing down through uneven ground into the south- 
 western part of el-Buttau£ This latter again is drained off 
 southwest to the great Wady Melik. 
 
 We reached Kefr Menda at 6 o'clock. Not finding our tent 
 and luggage as we expected, we had nothing left, but to push on 
 to Seffurieh. After about a quarter of the way, we met the 
 muleteers coming from that place. They had again taken the 
 wrong road, and gone to Seffurieh unwittingly. It was after 7 
 o'clock before the tent was pitched, near the large weU of Kefr 
 Menda. We had done a hard day's work. 
 
 Kefr Menda is a considerable village at the foot of the northern 
 hills ; the summit Deidebeh impending over it, a little towards 
 the east. On the west the road to 'Akka crosses a low swell, 
 and descends into Wady 'Abilin as it passes down from Kaukab. 
 Among the people of the village are some of the descendants of 
 Dhaher el-'Omar. The great well of the village was said to be 
 fourteen fathoms in depih, besides seven fathoms of water. 
 Around it lay three ancient sarcophagi as drinking-troughs ; one 
 of them sculptured on the side with rather elegant festoons. 
 Two lids of sarcophagi were also built into or upon the wall of 
 the reservoir above ; and near by was a small ancient basin of 
 variegated limestone. These were all the traces of antiquity 
 that we saw ; but they sufficiently mark the place as ancient. 
 Van Egmond and Heyman speak of it in their day as walled 
 and defended by several small forts.' 
 
 From this village there is an extensive view over the whole 
 great plain of el-Buttauf and its environs. At the west end of 
 
 Capernaum, there surely was, in the de- visit the more northern Kana ? And if 
 
 sire to be present at the wedding, a mo- not, do not his remarks fall back upon 
 
 tive sufficient to induce him to make the himself? 
 
 circuit; which said circuit, moreover, does '- Van Egmond and Heyman, 11. p. 15. 
 
 not amount to one half of the alleged Lond. — Kefr Menda is also mentioned in 
 
 thirty miles. M. de Saulcy expresses great the Jewish Itineraries after the crusades ; 
 
 regret and some complaint (pp. 420, 421), Carmoly, pp. 255, 383, 455. 
 that I did not visit Kefr Kenna. Did he 
 Toi,. III. -10 
 
110 FROM 'AKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. ni. 
 
 the plain and overlooking the whole, is a large Tell, called el- 
 Bedawiyeh. Nearly south of us was Sefftirieh with its ancient 
 tower ; and beyond it, the Wely Neby Sa'id above Nazareth, 
 In the southeastern part of the plain were the villages Ba'ineh 
 el-'Ozeir, Kummaneh, and Khirbet Kumeh. In Rummaneh we 
 have, in all probability, the Eimmon of the tribe of Zebulun.' 
 Eumeh is on a low Tell further west ; and may well represent 
 the Ruma of Josephus, mentioned in his narrative of the siege of 
 Jotapata." Whether the Eumah once named in the Old Testa- 
 ment was the same, we have no means of determining.' 
 
 Tuesday, April 20th. We set off from Kefr Menda at 8.15, 
 for Seffurieh, without a guide, along the beautiful plain. The 
 fields were every where covered with a low wild plant, with large 
 serrated leaves ; which the Arabs called 'Akub. At 8.40, Tell 
 Bedawiyeh was close on our right ; having at its foot a ruined 
 Khan of the same name, and a well. Here comes in the road 
 from 'Akka to Seffurieh by way of 'AbOin ; and the Khan was 
 doubtless erected for the benefit of travellers and caravans pass- 
 ing from 'Akka to Tiberias or to the bridge of the Jordan below 
 the lake. This Tell is mentioned by Pococke ; who speaks of a 
 village on the summit, which we did not notice.* Just beyond 
 the Khan we crossed the water-bed of the plain, with small 
 pools of water. It is here called Wady Bedawiyeh, and passes 
 down southwest as a not wide plain between low ranges of hiUs ; 
 those on the right of the Wady being covered with olive trees, 
 and those on the left with oaks. Further down, it is called 
 Wady KhuUadiyeh from another TeU ; and runs to Wady 
 Melik. — In the plain, above the Khan, it receives the Wady 
 coming from TQr'an, which passes down west of the intervening 
 ridge, through the hills between Seffurieh and Eummdneh. 
 As the water-shed in el-Biittauf is nearly on a line between Kefr 
 Menda and Eummaneh, it foUows, that the head of Wady 
 Mehk, by which aU this district is drained, is strictly above 
 TQr'an, not far from Liibieh. 
 
 At 9.5 there was a fork of the roads ; one leading direct to 
 Seffurieh, and the other lying more to the right along a valley 
 towards Bethlehem. Here we waited five minutes for the mules 
 to come up. 
 
 We now took leave of this noble and extensive plain ; which 
 of old belonged to the territory of the tribe of Zebulun.' It 
 may, without hesitation, be regarded as the " great plain" called 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 13. 1 Chr. 6, 77 [62]. See ' 2 K 23, 36. 
 
 Vol. 11. p. 340. [iii. 195.] * Pococke, II. i. p. 61. The well is 
 
 ' Gr. 'Povfid, Jo3. B. J. 3. 7. 21. Ritter also spoken of by Van Egmond and Hej- 
 
 Erdk. XVI. i. p. 760. — It is mentioned man, II. p. 15. Lond. 
 
 also in the Jewish Itineraries ; Carmoly, pp. ' Rummaneh, the Rimmon (or Jiemmon) 
 
 186, 383, 454. of Zebulun, is in this plain. Josh. 19, 13. 
 
Apr. 20.] PLAIN OF ZEBULUK. SEFFUEIEH. Ill 
 
 Asochis, spoken of in this region by Joseplius ; so named from 
 a city Asochis, where the Jewish leader for a time had his resi- 
 dence.' But in respect to the city Asochis, the case is not so 
 clear. The only data for judging as to its position are, first, the 
 obvious presumption that it was in or near the plain which bore 
 its name ; and then the circumstance, that it was apparently on 
 the direct road between Sepphoris and Gabara.^ Both these 
 data point very decisively either to Tell el-Bedawiyeh or to Kefr 
 Menda. Each of these places occupies a conspicuous position 
 on the western border of the plain, and might well give name to 
 it ; and each lies directly on the way between SefFurieh and Ku- 
 barah. But Tell el-Bedawiyeh has no appearance, so far as we 
 saw, of being an ancient site ;' while Kefr Menda is doubtless 
 ancient, and has been a strong place. Colild we certainly as- 
 sume, that the term Kefr does not imply an ancient name ; 
 or that the place might once have borne two names ; the bal- 
 ance of probability, so far as the facts are yet known, would 
 seem to preponderate in favour of the identity of Kefr Menda 
 and the ancient 'Asochis.* 
 
 We followed the Sefi'urieh road ; and, soon crossing a low 
 ridge, descended into a valley coming down from the right. We 
 were now at the foot of the hill on which Seffurieh is situated. 
 Here were fragments of columns and sculptured entablatures 
 built into the walls of the fields along the road ; and also a num- 
 ber of sarcophagi sunk in the rocks. At 9.30 we reached the 
 village, a collection of mean and miserable houses, lying on the 
 southwest declivity of the hill, not far below the ancient tower 
 that crowns the summit. In the open place, as we rode up, lay 
 a large double column ; which probably once belonged to the 
 early cathedral. Just east of it are the remains of the Gothic 
 church, often mentioned by travellers as marking the house of 
 Joachim and Anna, the reputed parents of the Virgin. The 
 high arch of the middle aisle, and the lower ones of the side 
 aisles, are still standing ; but the eastern end appears to have 
 
 ' Jos. Vit. 41, /tcya ircSioy, iv $ SUrpi- travellers, to examine this Tell more par- 
 
 00V 'AiTfflx^s i<mi' ivoina tovtw. Comp. ticularly, in reference to this very qnea- 
 
 §§ 45, 68. B. J. 1. 4. 2. Ant.'lS. 12. 4. tion. 
 
 — The phrase ^e7o ireBfov in Josephns is * Gr. 'Acraixfj, 'Afuxir, 'Acraxfi, the 
 
 nsually applied to the great plain of Es- latter in a few manuscripts ; Reland Pa- 
 
 draelon ; as Ant. 5. 1. 22. ib. 8. 2. 3. etc. Isest. p. 605. Suidas has a form 'Acrojx'Pi 
 
 But here the context definitely limits it to which Reland regards as a mere error ; p. 
 
 el-Biittauf; and Josephns himself likewise 606. But E. G. Schultz adopts it, and 
 
 employs the same epithet (^e'70 irtStoc) in compares with it the name el-'Ozeir; and 
 
 speaking of the plain of the Jordan around thus assumes the identity of that village 
 
 Jericho ; B. J. 4. 8. 2. Zeitschr. d. morg. with Asochis. This is rightly rejected by 
 
 Gesell m. p. 59. Gross ; and is but one of the many in- 
 
 ' The Jewish legates went from Seppho- stances of haste and rashness exhibited by 
 
 ris to Asochis, and thence to Gabara; Schultz, in his comparison of names; 
 
 Jos. Vit §45. Zeitschr. d. morg. Ges. ILL pp. 52, 62. 
 
 ' It will be worth the attention of future 
 
112 FROM 'aKKA to JEBUSALEM, [Sec. in. 
 
 been wholly destroyed ; and is now built up by a common mod- 
 ern wall, like those of the houses around.' 
 
 The tower or' fortress on the summit of the hiH is of ancient 
 date. It is a square of about fifteen paces (say 60 feet) on each 
 side. The lower courses of stones all around it are regularly 
 bevelled ; and most of them are dressed smooth. One stone on 
 the east side is six feet long by three high ; and there are others 
 nearly as large upon the south side. Here, on the south side, 
 the traces of antiquity are the most extensive ; and yet the 
 fragment of a column is built in crosswise in the upper part of 
 the wall. On the south, too, is a later portal, with a Gothic 
 arch. The corners of the tower, for several courses at the bottom, 
 are square ; but higher up are rounded off. 
 
 The historical notices of Seffurieh, once the strongest place 
 of all Galilee, have been given in a former volume ; and I deem 
 it unnecessary to add anything further here.' 
 
 We could here look out over the plain of Tu'rin and Kefr 
 Kenna ; and could see the course of the Wady by which it is 
 drained into el-Buttauf The whole tract immediately around 
 SeffCirieh appears to be drained off in the same direction.^ 
 
 We did not visit the great fountain of Seffurieh, about 
 half an hour distant on the way to Nazareth, and celebrated in 
 the history of the crusades.^ The people of the village get 
 their supply of water from it ; and it is copious enough to drive 
 eight pairs of millstones within a short distance. I regret that 
 we did not pass that way. 
 
 We left Seffurieh at 9.55 ; taking with us a guide, who did 
 not " saddle " his ass, but rode his beast without a saddle. We 
 passed down the hill southwest ; and then pursued a general 
 course of S. 80° W. At 10.30 we crossed Wady Seffurieh, 
 coming from the great fountain on our left, and here forming a 
 fine basin with a stream flowing through it. The valley sweeps 
 round to the W. S. W. and we followed along its left side for 
 fifteen minutes ; when it turned W. N. W. the stream still 
 flowing in it. We stiU kept along it among fine fields of grain 
 till 11 o'clock ; and then began to diverge from it, rising along 
 the low rocky slope on our left. This was covered with shrubs 
 of oak and many fine oak trees, with rich pasturage among 
 them ; and such was the character of other hills and the rolling 
 region round about. At 11.15, being still near the brow of the 
 
 ' Manndrell, Apr. 20th. Pocooke, 11. i. ' See Vol. II. p. 344 sq. [ia 201 sq.] 
 p. 62. Hasselquist, Reise p. 177. Clarke's ' Bearings from Seffiirieh : Kefr Menda 
 
 Travels in the Holy Land. 4to. p. 407 sq. 349°. Khirbet Rumeh 23". Riimmaneh 
 
 To judge from his description, Dr Clarke 42°. Kurun Hattin 78°. Tell el-Bedawiyeh 
 
 must have looked at these ruins with sau- 335°. 
 
 cer eyes. See also above, VoL II. p. 346. ■" See Vol. n. p. 345. [iii. 202.] 
 [iii. 203.] 
 
APB.20.J BETHLEHEM OF ZEBULUN. 113 
 
 valley below, we were opposite the valley or narrow plain coming 
 from Tell el-Bedawiyeh. That TeU was in sight ; as also Tell 
 el-Khulladiyeh in the Wady, more than a mile distant from us. 
 That valley is here called Wady Khulladiyeh. It unites with 
 Wady Seffurieh ; and farther down the united valley takes the 
 name of Wady Melik. The village of el-Musheirefeh, appar- 
 ently surrounded by a wall, was not far distant on a hill south 
 of the Wady.' 
 
 We now proceeded across the rolling tract, covered with 
 oaks and fine pasturage ; and came at 11.45 to Beit Lahm, the 
 Bethlehem of Zebulun.'' It is a very miserable village ; we saw 
 none more so in all the country. We could find no trace of 
 antiquity, except the name. This occurs but once in Scripture ; 
 is simply mentioned in the Onomasticon of Eusebius and Je- 
 rome ; and has ever since been forgotten. The French in their 
 survey in 1799 overlooked the place ; and, although travellers 
 have often passed near it, none has noticed it, except K. Joseph 
 Schwarz in 1845.' 
 
 We here came in view of the two villages Semmunieh and 
 Jebatha, which we had seen in our former journey ; correspond- 
 ing to the ancient Simonias and Gabatha.* 
 
 Leaving Bethlehem at 12 o'clock, we came at 12.40 to Jeida, 
 also a miserable village, with no traces of antiquity. It Kes 
 upon a low swell running out into the great plain of Esdraelon, 
 and sinking gradually to the level of the latter. It is on the 
 route between Haifa and Nazareth ; and has therefore sometimes 
 been mentioned by travellers.' We halted here for lunch ; 
 though we found no shade. Meantime a train of baggage- 
 animals, with the baggage of a party of French travellers, 
 coming from Haifa, passed up the valley on the northwest of the 
 village.' 
 
 We set off again at 1.35 for TeU ShemmSm in the great plain, 
 lying nearly in a direct line towards Lejjiin. As we advanced, 
 we found the plain ploughed in some parts, with much fine pas- 
 turage ; but the greater portion was lying waste. The soil here 
 was a red sandy loam, like that of el-Buttauf We came at 
 
 » Bearings at 11.45 : Tell el-Bedawiyeh ' E. g. ty Schubert HI. p. 204. 
 
 41°. Tell el-Khulladiyeh 37°, IJ m. el- ' Bearings at Jeida : Sheikh Bnreik 
 
 Mnsheirefeh N. 75° W. 1 m. 270°. Tub'un 301°. Kuskiis 317°. Um 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 15. el-'Amad 9°. These four are on the 
 
 ' Descript. of Palest. Philad. 1850, p. hill or swell beyond the western valley. — 
 
 172. — ^Bearings at Beit-Lahm: Seffurieh Zebdeh 89°- Semmunieh 96°. Jebatha 
 
 80°. Semm&eh 150°. Khnneifis 158°. 131°. Beit Lahm 30°. Khuneifis 135°. 
 
 Jebatha 161°. Zebdeh 178°. Jeida 211°. Mujeidil 117°. Tell esh-Shemmam 203°. 
 
 Sheikh Bureik 240°. TeU Kaimon 227°. TeU el-Mutsellim 179°. TeU Kaimon 237°. 
 
 Um el-'Amad 264°.— The people of Beth- TeU el-Kusis 254°. TeU eth-Thoreh 185°. 
 
 lehem said there were no columns at Um These five TeUs are in, or connected with 
 
 el-'Amad. the great plain. 
 
 ♦ See Vol n. p. 344. [iiL 201.] 
 Vol. m.— 10* 
 
114 FROM *AKKA TO JERUSALEM. [Sec. m. 
 
 2.30 to Tell eslx-Shemmam, a hamlet upon a low Tell in the 
 plain, about one third across in the direction we were travelling. 
 There is no other village in the vicinity. We encamped here 
 thus early, because there is no inhabited village at or near Lejjiin, 
 where we could pitch our tent in security. The people here 
 probably have little to do with passing travellers. We had been 
 encamped just outside of the village for half an hour, before they 
 seemed to be aware of our arrivaL First came some of the 
 boys ; then all the dogs of the viUage, with a general bark ; 
 and afterwards women and children, — all to stare at us. The 
 people were civil ; and said they came hither from Hauran. 
 Although the village is so small, yet its tax was said to be farmed 
 by a man in Nazareth for 10,000 piastres. The men drawn as sol- 
 diers here, as in most of the villages along our way, were said 
 to have fled. The soil around this hamlet is black loam, and so 
 in some other parts ; but the greater portion of the plain is 
 covered with a rich and fertile soil of a reddish hue.' 
 
 We were here opposite the middle of Carmel ; or rather 
 opposite to a spot somewhat north of the middle ; Tell Kaim6n 
 being almost directly west of us. The course of the mountain 
 is about from S. S. E. to N. N. W. The river Mukutta' 
 (Kishon) reaches its base not far north of Tell Kaimon ; and 
 then the valley of that stream continues along between the 
 mountain and the low hiUs of GaKlee, to the plain of 'Akka. 
 From the southern end of the mountain, and along its eastern 
 base, comes down a narrower valley, Wady el-Milh, which sep- 
 arates Carmel from the lower rounded hills, that stretch off 
 southeast as far as to Lejjun. Up this valley lies the road from 
 'Akka to Eamleh, on the east of Carmel ; it is the proper east- 
 ern pass of Carmel, and by it the French army approached in 
 1799. The pass at Lejjiin lies merely through the lulls ; it has 
 no connection with Carmel, and nowhere approaches that moun- 
 tain. The road through Wady el-MUh runs near Um ez-Zenat 
 and Subbarin ; another branch lies further east. Carmel was 
 here before us in all its beauty ; sprinkled over with noble oaks, 
 and rich in pasturage. The southeastern hiUs, on the contrary, 
 were naked, though now green; presenting in their appearance 
 a strong contrast with the mountain. 
 
 TeU KaimSn is on the eastern side of Wady el-Milh, at its 
 mouth as it enters the plain ; and is the northwestern termina- 
 tion of the hills which stretch off southeast. The position is 
 conspicuous and important ; commanding the main pass from 
 the western portion of Esdraelon to the more southern plain. 
 
 » Bearings from Tell Shemmam : Khu- Tell Kaimon 267°. Tell Kusis 39(5°. Sheikh 
 neifisl02°. Jebatha89°. Duhy 111°. Tell Bureik 330°. Tub'on 346°. KiiskiSs 367°. 
 eth-Thorah 158°. Tell el-Mutsellim 168°. 
 
Apb.21.] caemel. tell kaimon. 115 
 
 The name refers us at once to the Oammona of Eusebius and 
 Gimana of Jerome, situated in the great plain, six Eoman nules 
 north of Legio, on the way to Ptolemais.^' This is precisely the 
 position of Tell Kaim6n. But a further question arises, whether 
 this may not be the site of a still earlier city ? The inquiry 
 was started by my companion when passing near the Tell in 
 1844, whether this Tell may not represent the ancient Johneam 
 of Carmel ? There dwelt one of the Canaanitish kings ; and 
 before it was a river, which could well be no other than the 
 Kishon.* The same was also a Levitical city ; and is farther 
 mentioned as on the west of the great plain.' The position is 
 sufficiently important for the site of a kingly city ; and, although 
 at first view, there seems little affinity between the names 
 Jokneam and Kaim6n, yet a little reflection will show, that the 
 latter may well be a corruption from the former.^ I cannot 
 therefore help regarding the site of Jokneam as identified ; 
 and that with as much probabihty as can be expected in simi- 
 lar cases.' 
 
 Wednesday, April 21sf. — In April 1844, my companion, in 
 crossing over from Tell Kaimon to Sheikh Bureik, had found 
 the ford of the Mukutta' so miry as to be almost impassable. 
 There was therefore reason to fear, that we might find difficulty 
 in crossing the same stream to day. The men of the village 
 said the ford on this route was tolerably good ; but we took with 
 us a guide on horseback, to lead us to the right spot. 
 
 We left Tell Shemm5,m at 7 o'clock ; and had immediately 
 to cross a small channel with water and deep mud, coming from 
 the north. Twelve minutes later there was another like channel 
 nearly dry, coming from the northeast. Tabor came soon into 
 view ; and at 7.25 we passed close to Tell eth-Thorah on the 
 left hand. It is a low isolated mound ; with marshes and several 
 small ponds of water near it. At 7.40 we stopped for five 
 minutes, and took bearings.^ Only portions of the plain were 
 
 ' Onomast. art. Camon. 6r. Ka/t^mi/a. and 'Ukjui^v, also OSSp"' , 'UKKo/jLd/i, are 
 
 Josh. 12, 22. 19,11. represented by the present Arabic ^<mW71. 
 
 Josh. 21, 34. 1 K. 4, 12. In this The Yod of the Hebrew is dropped, as in 
 
 last passage the Heb. is DSap; Jbfoneom; Zer'm {or Jezreel ; the tenacious guttural 
 
 but the reference to its position, as on the Koph is retained ; while the Ayin may 
 
 opposite end of the great plain from Beth- well have disappeared through the medium 
 
 shean, is so obvious, that the English trans- of the Galilean dialect, which confounded 
 
 lators have not scrupled to write it Jok- Alepk, ffeth, and Ayin; see hight&iot Of p. 
 
 neam in their text. fol. I. p. 232. 
 
 ' Heb. DSSp"'; for which aSTSp^ IK. ' Eusebius and Jerome refer to Jokneam 
 
 4, 12, is probaljly a later corruption. For simply as a city of the Old Testament near 
 
 these forms we find in Sept. Josh. 12, 22 Carmel ; its name and site were then un- 
 
 'Uk6/i Vat. 'UKom/i Alex. 19, 11 'Ux/xdi' knowa Onomast. art. Jeihonam, Gx. 
 
 Vat. 'UKvcifi Alex. 21, 34 'Exyi/i Alex. 'UKKovi/u 
 
 1 K 4, 12 'Uxfiadv Alex. marg. Jeanaan ' Bearings at 7.40 : Khuneifis 75°. Sem- 
 
 Vulg. Eusebius has also 'lexKO/id/i. munieh 37°. 'Ain el-Beida, a smaE Tell 
 
 Among these various corruptions, 'letc/idv on the north side of the plain, 42°. Tell 
 
116 FROM 'aKKA to JERUSALEM. [SkcIIL 
 
 under tillage ; and these were covered ■with the richest crops of 
 wheat and barley. The rest was mainly left to run to waste, 
 producing for the most . part only rank weeds ; which die and 
 decay, and thus keep up the fertility of the soil. In some places 
 there was white clover nearly or quite two feet high. 
 
 At 7.50 we reached the river Mukfltta', winding through the 
 plain in a deep and tolerably wide channel, sunk fifteen or twenty 
 feet below the level of the plain. It is indeed nothing more than 
 a deep gully worn in the earth by the action of a torrent. The 
 stream was not large ; the water scarcely reaching the fetlocks 
 of our horses. It was just here limpid, and flowing over a bed 
 of fine gravel ; but a little farther above there were standing 
 pools and mud. The gravel here, the guide said, was only a few 
 inches in thickness ; and, in the rainy season, the stream could 
 not be crossed at this spot. We had been told at Tell Shem- 
 mam, that the horses would sink perhaps up to their bellies ; 
 and we now rejoiced greatly at our easy passage. 
 
 The plain continued of the same general character on the 
 south of the stream. At a distance on our right we could see 
 the tents of nomadic Arabs, and the men ploughing in the 
 fields. The Arabs Turkman are permitted to encamp here, 
 and pasture their flocks and till the ground ; but only on the 
 south of the Mukfltta'. Here also were occasional fountains, 
 forming small ponds and marshes. At 8.15 we crossed a small 
 stream of water coming firom the southwest ; and three minutes 
 later there was another similar channel, now dry, coming from 
 the south ; these have their sources doubtless at some of the many 
 fountains scattered along the base of the hills. In a depression 
 of rich black mould we passed quite a large field of onions ; 
 which a man was watching. As we advanced, the plain rose 
 gradually and gently towards the southern hills. At 8.50 we 
 reached el-Mensy, a ruined village on the road from Haifa to 
 Nabulus, which passes along near the hills. Here was a ceme- 
 tery ; and just by a pretty fountain on the left, from which a 
 riU went off into the plain. 
 
 Tell el-Mutsellim was now just before us on the right ; and 
 turning off to it, we reached the top at 9 o'clock. The line of 
 hills, which beginning at Carmel thus far skirts the plain, here 
 makes an offset towards the southwest ; and then runs on again 
 as a tract of lower hills, to Jenin or beyond. In front of this 
 offset a low ridge extends out for some distance, leaving a nook 
 behind it, in which are the remains of Lejjun. This ridge is 
 merely the projecting southeast corner of the line of hills. In front 
 
 esh-Shemmam 341°. Tell el-Mutael- ruins on the southwest side of the plain : 
 lira 173°. Urn ez-Zendt, on a. southern el-Kireh 273°. Ahu Zureih 260°. Kuleileb 
 spur of Carmel, 275°. — The following are 225°. el-Mensy 173°. 
 
Apr. 21.] NAHR MUKUTTA'. TELL MUTSELLIM. 117 
 
 of it, naar its termination stands Tell el-Mutsellim. This Tell 
 is quite regular in its form ; with a flat summit, containing four 
 or five acres, now covered with a fine crop of wheat. On its 
 northwest quarter are two fountains. 
 
 The prospect from the Tell is a noble one ; embracing the 
 whole of the glorious plain ; than wMch there is not a richer 
 upon earth. It was now extensively covered with fields of 
 grain ; with many tracts of grass, like meadows ; but still, a 
 large portion of it was overrun with weeds. Zer'in (Jezreel) was 
 distinctly in view, bearing S. 74° E. Looking in the direction 
 of Iksal, we could perceive, that a low swell runs through the 
 plain in that direction ; through which the Mukutta' and aU the 
 waters running to it must find a channel ; while it would seem 
 to form the water-shed near Fuleh, to turn the waters in that 
 neighbourhood towards the valley of Jezreel and the Jordan. 
 Nearly in the south, a little village, Zelafeh, was perhaps a mile 
 and a half distant ; and also, more to the left, the TeU on the 
 southeast side of which stands Ta'annuk, the Taanach of Scrip- 
 ture. As we stood upon the noble Tell, with the wide plain 
 and Taanach thus before us, we could not but feel, that here 
 had been the scene of the great battle of Deborah and Barak, 
 "in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo."' A city situated 
 either oh the Tell, or on the ridge behind it, would naturally 
 give its name to the adjacent plain and waters ; as we know 
 was the case vrith Megiddo and Legio." 
 
 The TeU would indeed present a splendid site for a city ; 
 but there is no trace, of any kind, to show that a city ever stood 
 there. Legio, as we shall see, was situated on a different spot.^ 
 
 We left TeU el-Mutsellim at 9.15 ; and, descending on the 
 southeast side, passed around the end of the ridge, on a course 
 about S. W. by S. and came at 9.30, to a very old bridge over 
 the stream of Lejjun. Here, on the higher southern bank, are 
 the ruins of the large Khan of Lejjun ; which in Maundrell's day 
 was stiU in good repair.* The great road from Kamleh issues 
 from the mouth of a vaUey in this nook, and immediately 
 divides ; one branch, going to Nazareth, passes down by the 
 Khan and bridge ; the other, leading to Tabor and Damascus, 
 lies about forty rods east of the Khan. The stream comes down 
 from the southwest by a winding course ; and passes off towards 
 
 ' Judg. 4, 19. taken in 1844 : Jenin 145°. Wezar 116°. 
 
 ' Judg. 5, 19. 2 Chr. 35, 22. Reland el-Mensy 353°. Kaukab 92°. 
 Falsest, pp 873, 893. ' Maundrell, March 22nd. — Bearinga 
 
 ^ Bearings from Tell el-Mutsellim : from tlie Khan of Lejjun : Zelafeh S. 15° 
 
 Sheikh Bureik 342°. Semmunieh 16°. E. 1^ m. Mr Wolcott, in 1842, has the 
 
 Iksal 65°. Duhy 81°. Zer'in 106°. Ta'an- following : Zelafeh S. 7° E. Salim S. 22° 
 
 nuk 160°. Khimeifis 28°. Jehatha 20°. E. Zer'in S. 77° E. Tahor N. 63° K 
 — ^The following additional hearings were 
 
118 FROM 'AKKA to JEEITSALEM. [Sec. HL 
 
 the northeast into the plain ; running here along the southwest- 
 ern hase of the projecting ridge above described. This stream, 
 though now not very full, is much the largest which enters the 
 plain on this side ; and is the principal arm of the Muktttta' in 
 connection with the plain. It was still sufficient to drive two 
 or three mills ; one of which is under the bridge. On the south- 
 eastern bank, just by the water, is a ruin of some size ; possibly 
 that of a larger mill. 
 
 The remains of the ancient Legio are not extensive. Maun- 
 drell speaks of them as " an old village."' They lie mainly on the 
 eminence north of the stream. " Among the rubbish are the 
 foundations of two or three buildings, with limestone columns 
 mostly worn away ; and another with eight or ten polished 
 granite columns still remainiug, and others of limestone among 
 them." In the foundations of the ruin at the brook are two 
 marble columns with Corinthian capitals, and several of granite, 
 all mingled indiscriminately.* We noticed also a column stand- 
 ing before the door of a mill. All these circumstances with the 
 name Lejjun, serve to fix this spot indubitably, as that of the 
 ancient Legio. 
 
 In a former volume, I have set forth the grounds for assum- 
 ing the identity of Legio with the more ancient Megiddo of the 
 Old Testament.' Our visit only strengthened this conviction ; 
 and I have here nothing more to add ; except the fact, that the 
 same identity was held to by E. Parchi, the cotemporary of 
 Abulfeda, as early as A. D. 1322.* Another hypothesis has since 
 been brought forward, namely, that Legio represented, not 
 Megiddo, but MaxiniianopoUs ; which latter is twice mentioned 
 by Jerome, as a later name for the earlier Sadadrimmon? 
 The reasons assigned by Eaumer for this hypothesis I have at- 
 tempted to meet in another place.' His main reason, however, 
 depending on the supposition, that the ancient Eoman road from 
 Csesarea to Jezreel passed by way of Lejjtin, is without founda- 
 tion ; as we shall see, a little further on.' Maximianopolis 
 most probably lay somewhat further south ; and perhaps more 
 in the plain.' 
 
 There were quite a number of men ploughing in the adjacent 
 fields ; and others at work or lounging in the mills ; but we 
 
 ' Manndrell, March 22nd. that the Romans should give to one and 
 
 '■' Eev. S. Wolcott, in Biblioth. Sacra, the same ancient place, Hadadrimmmi, 
 
 1843, p. 77. and at the same time, the two later inde- 
 
 ^ See Vol. IL pp. 328—330. [iii. pp. 177— pendent names, Legio&nA.Maximianopolia. 
 
 ISO.] Probably no similar instance exists. 
 
 * See in Asher's Benj. of Tad. II. p. 433. » Zech. 12, 11, " Hadadrimmon in the 
 
 ' Raraner's PaUstina, p. 402, 3d edit, valley of Megiddo." Hieron. in loc. 
 
 comp. Reland, p. 891. "Hodie vocatur Maximianopolis in campo 
 
 ' Bibliotheca Sacra, Feb. 1844, p. 220. Mageddon." Lejjun is not in the plain, 
 
 ' It certainly is not probable in itself, but on the hiUa. 
 
Apr. 21.] LEJJUN, LEGIO, MEGIDDO. 119 
 
 tried in vain to obtain one of them as a guide. We left tlie 
 bridge at 10.20 ; and took the great Damascus road towards 
 Ramleli. Passing out of the nook, it follows up a narrow wind- 
 ing valley among rounded naked hills, about S. W. by S. We 
 came out at 10.45 at the top of this valley on a ridge ; and at 
 once descended steeply into another valley coming down before 
 us in the like direction (from the S. W. by S.) and bending round 
 here to the east to reach the great plain. We were at the bot- 
 tom at 10.55. A small brook was flowing along the valley and 
 to the plain, not half as large as that at Lejjun. A road also, 
 coming down before us, here went off eastwards along the same 
 valley to SS,lim and the plain, a part of which was visible. 
 
 Here, of course, was the natural fork of the ancient road 
 from Cfesarea to Jezreel ; leaving Legio half an hour on the 
 left hand. The road to Tabor and Nazareth naturally continued 
 on till it divided near Lejjun ; but to a person going to Jezreel 
 this fork down the valley would save a considerable circuit, as 
 well as the steep and difiScult hill, which we had just descended. 
 In all probability therefore, Maximianopolis lay upon this road, 
 near the borders of the great plain ; and not at Lejjun. In 
 that case, this valley in which we now were, might well lower 
 down be the vaUey of Hadadrimmon.' 
 
 We followed up this valley for five minutes ; when it and 
 the brook bent off, and came from a northwesterly direction. 
 We crossed the stream, and proceeded up a side valley on the 
 same course, about S. W. by S. At 11.15 a miserable hamlet 
 was on our right, called Mushmush. We came to the top of 
 the pass at 11.30 ; where the road at once descends into the 
 head of another valley with wooded sides, running down in the 
 opposite or rather a more westerly direction, to the great plain 
 along the coast. 
 
 As this has been for many ages a great military and caravan 
 road, we expected at every moment to find traces of an ancient 
 pavement ; but nothing of the kind appeared. It is however not 
 infrequent, where the road passes over flat limestone rocks lying 
 even with the surface of the ground, that the seamy nature of 
 the rock presents at first view the appearance of a pavement ; 
 and it sometimes requires a close scrutiny to distinguish between 
 the two. Such appearances we found here, and often elsewhere ; 
 and by these travellers have probably sometimes been misled.^ 
 
 Five minutes below the top of the pass on the other side is 
 
 ' See on p. 118. seen no such ancient road, any more than 
 
 ' Von Wildenbmch, in travelling this ourselves. See Monathsber. der Geogr. 
 
 road, speaks of reaching Ehan el-Lejjun Ges. Berlin, N. Folg. I. p. 233. Prokesch 
 
 along a 'Via Romana * in a good state of pp. 125-129. Ensssgger, Vol. HI. p. 123 
 
 preservation. Prokesch and Kussegger, who sq. Bitter Erdk. XVI. p. 593 sq. 
 travelled the same route, appear to have 
 
120 FEOM 'aKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. HI. 
 
 tlie mouth of a lateral valley on tlie left, coining down nearly 
 .from, the south. We entered and followed this up to its head in 
 a pretty and well cultivated hasin among the hills. On the 
 steep declivity and ridge ahove it in the southwest, is situated 
 the large village Urn el-Fahm ; to which we came at 12 o'clock. 
 The ridge is narrow ; and south of it a deep valley runs out to 
 the western plain. The side valley which we had ascended, is 
 likewise separated from the valley we left only by a ridge ; on 
 the southern end of this latter is the village. It thus overlooks 
 the whole country towards the west ; with a fine prospect of 
 the plain and sea, and also of Carmel ; with glimpses of the 
 plain of Esdraelon, and a view of Tabor and Little Hermon 
 beyond. There was, however, a haze in the atmosphere, which 
 prevented us from distinguishing the villages in the plain.' 
 
 There were said to be in Um el-Fahm twenty or thirty fami- 
 lies of Christians ; some said more. Outside of the village, near 
 the western brow, was a cemetery. Here too was a threshing- 
 sledge ; in form like the stone-sledge of New England ; made of 
 three planks, each a foot wide ; with holes thickly bored in the 
 bottom, into which were driven projecting bits of black volcanic 
 stone. , The village belongs to the government of Jenin. They 
 had hitherto paid their taxes at so much a head ; but the gov- 
 ernor had recently taken an account of their -land, horses, and 
 stock ; with the purpose, as was supposed, of exacting the 
 tithe. Twenty-five men had been taken as soldiers under the 
 conscription. 
 
 Having obtained a guide with some difficulty, we left Um 
 el-Fahm for Ya'bud, at 1 o'clock, after passing through the 
 whole length of the village. It was our general purpose, to 
 keep along on the western part of the hills of Samaria, either 
 above or below the brow, as the case might be ; and holding 
 ourselves ready to turn aside to any place, to which a visit might 
 seem desirable ; especially to Nabulus. We made a large circuit 
 towards the east, in order to pass round the broad head of the 
 Wady, that runs down west on the south of the village ; and 
 then rose along its southern side to higher ground ; where Um 
 el-Fahm was still in view, and we saw also Kiibatieh at a dis- 
 tance at the foot of a line of hills.* We now descended again 
 slightly into a basin, on a general course S. S. E., and then rose 
 along a gradual acclivity. At 1.55 we came out upon the top 
 of a flat rocky ridge, and kept along it to the right ; in order 
 to pass around the broad head of a Wady running down north- 
 easterly to the plain of Esdraelon. 
 
 ' Bearings at Um el-Fahm : es-Sin- ' Bearings at 1.20 : Um el-Fahm N. 5° 
 
 dianeh 293°. Um ez Zenat 336°. Tabor W. Kubatieh 152°. el-Yamon 130°. 
 55°. Duhy 63°. 
 
Apk. 21.] TJM EL-FAHM. Ta'BUD. 121 
 
 As we reached the southern side of this head or basin, we 
 found ourselves upon the water-shed between the two great 
 plains, Esdraelon in the northeast, and that along the coast in 
 the west ; with valleys running down to each, and varying views 
 of both. The rocky hills and tracts, over which our road led, 
 were sparsely covered with stunted trees, chiefly oaks. At 2.20 
 we came upon the brow of a somewhat lower tract ; from which 
 we saw Ya'bud (S. 20° E.) and had a view towards the southeast 
 into the interior of Samaria. The hills in this direction seemed 
 to rise higher, and were like mountains ; those around Nabulus 
 forming the highest nucleus. Descending gradually we now 
 crossed the large basin or lower table land above mentioned ; 
 which is drained by a short Wady towards the western plain. 
 At 2.50 we came out upon its eastern brow ; and were in sight 
 of 'Arr4beh and Ya'bud.' The latter was beyond a valley, upon 
 a ridge running from east to west. Descending into the head of 
 this valley, we reached Ya'bud, high on the opposite side, at 3J 
 o'clock. 
 
 The ridge, on the northeastern part of which Ya'bud is sit- 
 uated, rises to a higher point or TeU. further in the southwest, 
 about half a mile distant ; and soon after sinks down to the 
 level of the plain. On the north is the valley running down 
 west, the head of which we had just crossed. Towards the 
 northeast, east, and southeast, the village looks down upon 
 another of those beautiful plains, of which we had now seen so 
 many. Across this plain, about E. S. E. in an offset running 
 up among the hills, lies Kubatieh. At the northern end of the 
 plain, nearly west from Jenin, is the village of Burkin ; and 
 half an hour west of Burkin, in an offset or valley among the hills, 
 is Kefr Kud, the ancient Caparcotia.^ Not far distant from it 
 in the plain is a well, called Bir Hasan, which is the well of 
 Kefr Kud. This fine plain sweeps around the hill on which 
 Ya'bud lies, towards the S. S. W. and is drained off in that 
 direction by a valley, called at first Wady el-Wesa', and fiirther 
 down Abu Nar. South of this plain is another ridge or line of 
 hills, lying between it and the narrower valley north of Fen- 
 dektimieh. On one of these southern hills, overlooking the 
 northern plain, is 'Arrabeh, not here visible ; but it sometimes 
 gives its name to the plain ; as does also Ya'bud. Another 
 of the same hills, further west, was pointed out to us as that of 
 Fahmeh, which is situated on its southern declivity, and was 
 not here in view. The Wady Abu Nar, and the Wady Mussin, 
 the latter coming from towards Fendekumieh, were said to unite 
 
 'Bearings at 2.50: 'Arrabeh 155°. its position, see S. Woloott in Biblioth. Saa 
 Ya'bnd 180°. 1843, p. 76. 
 
 ' See Vol. IL p. 317. [iii. 158.] For 
 Vol. III.— 11 
 
122 FROM 'AKKA TO JEBUSALEM. [Sbc. III. 
 
 after reaching the great western plain ; and then to run to the 
 sea between the hay of Abu Zabtirah and Csesarea. This ac- 
 count seemed, however, to rest upon report, rather than on per- 
 sonal knowledge. 
 
 But what most interested us in connection with this fine 
 plain, was a green and well-marked TeU in its southeastern 
 part (S. 55° E.) at the distance of three or four miles, bearing 
 the name of Dothan. At the southern foot of the Tell is a 
 fountain called el-Htif ireh. Here then was the ancient and long- 
 sought Dothain or Dothan, where the sons of Jacob were pas- 
 turing their father's flocks, when they sold their brother Joseph 
 to the Ishmaehtes of Midian, passing by on their way to Egypt.' 
 Eusebius and Jerome place it rightly at twelve Eoman miles 
 north of the city of Samaria.' Just in that very situation, the 
 name thus stiU exists in the mouths of the common people ; 
 although overlooked by all modern travellers, as not being on 
 any usual road ; and especially by the crusaders, who thought 
 they found Dothan at the Khan Jubb Yusuf, southeast of 
 Safed.^ R. Parchi notes it correctly in the fourteenth century.* 
 
 We learned also at Ya'bud, that the great road from Beisan 
 and Zer'in (Jezreel) to Eamleh and Egypt, stiU leads through 
 this plain ; entering it on the west of Jcnin, passing near the 
 well of Kefr Kud, and bending southwestwards around the hill 
 of Ya'bud to the great western plain. It is easy to see, there- 
 fore, that the Midianites to whom Joseph was sold, coming from 
 Gilead,' had crossed the Jordan near Beisan ; and were pro- 
 ceeding to Egypt along the ordinary road. It could not have 
 been diflicult for Joseph's brethren to find an empty cistern, in 
 which to secure him.* Ancient cisterns are very common, even 
 now, along the roads and elsewhere ; and many villages are 
 supplied only with raia water. 
 
 It may also be remarked of Joseph's brethren, that they 
 were evidently well acquainted with the best tracts of pasturage. 
 They had fed their flocks for a time in the plain of the Mflkhna 
 by Shechem (Nabulus) ; and had afterwards repaired to the still 
 richer pasturage here around Dothan.' 
 
 The Peutinger Tables mark a military road from Oaesarea by 
 Oaparcotia to Scythopolis. As Kefr Kud is not far north of 
 Ya'bud, it would seem not impossible, that this road passed near 
 the latter place and so along the plain ; while beyond Kefr Kiid 
 it led directly over the mountains of Gilboa to Beisan ; or else 
 
 ' Gen. 37, 17-36. 2 K. 6, 13. Men- 434.— We learned afterwards from Mr Van 
 
 tioned also in the bopk of Judith, 3, 9. 4, de Velde, that he too had tinexpeotedly 
 
 6. 7, 3. 18. lighted upon Dothan a few dajs earlier. 
 
 ' Onomast art. Dothaim. ' Gen. 37, 25. 
 
 ' See VoL n. p. 419. [iiL p. 316 sq.] ' Gen. 37, 24. 
 
 * See in Asher's Benj. of Tudela, n. p. ' Gen. 37, Vi-VJ. 
 
Apr. 22."] TA'bUD. DOTHAN. 123 
 
 made a detour by way of Zer'in. At any rate, this route must 
 Lave been more circuitous than the one further north, by way of 
 Maximianopolis and JezreeL' 
 
 Ta'bud is a large village ; but now contained only five or six 
 families of Christians. The rest are Muslims, divided into two 
 hostile parties, occupying different quarters of the village ; one 
 called the 'Abd el-HMy, and the other Beni Tilkan. We had 
 pitched our tent on the east of the village, near the quarter of 
 the latter. They received us very kindly ; and several of their 
 chief men spent the evemng in our tent. These two parties divide 
 the whole district ; the latter (Beni Ttikan) embracing, as they 
 said, all the old families, viz. Tilkan, Jerar, Berkamy, and 
 Jem'iny. Up to the last summer they were often at war with 
 each other ; and indeed the district of Nabulus has long had the 
 reputation of being the most disorderly and unsafe region in the 
 whole country. But last year Muhammed Pasha seized no less 
 than eight of their leaders, and sent them to Constantinople ; 
 whence they were banished to Trebizond. At present, Mahmud 
 'Abd el-Hady is governor at Nabulus. A short time since, a 
 number of the opposite party went to Beirut, as a delegation, to 
 complain of his oppressions. He however anticipated them, by 
 transmitting a bribe of 40,000 piastres. On their arrival, thej 
 were thrown into prison for twenty-five days ; and were then 
 sent back with the assurance, that MahmM himself would ex- 
 amine into their complaints. 
 
 Thursday, April 22nd. — ^We took a guide for 'Attil ; and 
 rode first to the TeU fifteen minutes W. S. W. of Ya'bud, 
 where we had a wide view towards the west.^ Leaving the Tell 
 at 7.30, we descended in the same direction, about W. S. W. 
 in order to faU into the Ramleh road. After twenty minutes, we 
 were at the bottom, in a shallow Wady, or narrow plain, coming 
 down from the left ; but not connected with the larger eastern 
 plain. The Wady Wesa', which drains the latter, lies further 
 south, behind a ridge ; making with its continuation, Wady Abu 
 Nir, a large bend towards the south, which the Eamleh road 
 does not follow down. The shallow Wady, which we here 
 crossed, unites with that on the north of Ya'bud ; and so passes 
 off northwesterly to the great plain. It may perhaps have been 
 the track of the ancient road from Csesarea above mentioned. 
 
 Our path now led across an uneven tract of tilled ground ; 
 and hereabouts we struck the Ramleh path. We were thus 
 
 ' The distances given in the Petitinger reel), 10 ; to Soythopolis, 12 ; in all 39 
 
 Tables are : From Csesarea to Caparcotia E. miles, p. 586. 
 
 28 Roman miles ; to Scythopolis, 24 ; in ' Bearings from the Tell near YaTjtid : 
 
 all 52 K. miles. — ^The Itin. Hieros. gives Berta 306°. Zebdeh 291°, Ij m. Ferasin 
 
 on the other rente: From Caesarea to Max- 256°. Nezleh 241°. Saida 218°. Zeita 
 
 imianopolis 17 E. miles ; to Stradela (Jez- 244°. Hill of Fahmeh 172°. 
 
124 FROM 'AKKA TO JERUSALEM. [Sec. HI. 
 
 upon the very road, by which Joseph was carried down to Egypt. 
 At 8.15 we came upon open ground, affording views of the 
 western plain, still far below us. At 8.30 we were on a rocky 
 brow ; ' and began to descend gradually along a broad shallow 
 rocky Wady or basin. The village of Ferasin was close on our right 
 at 8.50, on a rocky Tell. A few minutes later the Wady became 
 narrower, and turned more northwest . towards the plain. We 
 rose from it towards the left ; and at 9.05 were on the low ridge 
 between it and the next valley. Our road thus far had lain 
 chiefly among inconsiderable and inarable hills. 'Attil here 
 came in sight, bearing S. 25° W. We turned in that direc- 
 tion ;' and descending gradually came at 9.40 to Wady Abu 
 Nir, the outlet of the plain of 'Arrabeh, with a deep water- 
 bed.' It here takes this name from a Wely on a hill upon the 
 right. It comes down on the north of Nezleh ; and passes off as 
 a broad fertile valley, on the north of Jett and south of the 
 two Bakahs, to the western plain. 
 
 . We now rose along the somewhat higher ground on the left 
 of the valley ; and kept along towards Zeita. At 10 o'clock we 
 left the Kamleh road, which proceeds by way of Zeita ; and 
 turned directly south towards 'Afctil.* 
 
 We were now nearly or quite down the mountain ; and 
 almost on a level with the great plain. The region round about 
 us was an open rocky tract or basin, with low rounded naked 
 hiUs, shut in from the western plain by the low broad rocky 
 ridges in front, on which the villages of Jett and Zeita are situ- 
 ated ; the former on a marked Tell. All the valleys and 
 outlets which run to the great plain, have very little descent. 
 We crossed a fine level basin in order to reach 'Attil ; the soil 
 was stony, but strong. We came at 10.40 to that village, 
 situated on a hill with plains on the north and south. It is a 
 considerable village ; and in the street we noticed a large frag- 
 ment of a double column.' 
 
 A horseman from Zeita had overtaken us, and kept us compa- 
 ny until our roads parted. He was very civil, and gave us a good 
 deal of information. It appears, that the land in the district of 
 Nabulus including the plains, is generally freehold ; and the 
 taxes are mainly paid in the form of a poU tax. 
 
 From 'Attil we now turned again up the mountain, follow- 
 
 ' Bearings at 8.30 : Ferasin 266°. Ba- Zeita 237°, 1 m. Jett 282°, li m. Ba- 
 
 tah, West, 26i°. Jett 253°. Zeita 241°. koh, West, 325°. Bakali, East, 16°. Fe- 
 
 Nezleh 232°. Saida 197°. Kakon 244°. rasin 52°. Nezleh 67°. "Ellar 130°. 
 
 Ya'bud, atout N. 65° E. Saida 107°. 
 
 " Bearing at 9.25 : Saida S. 35° E. ' Bearings from 'Attil : Deir el-Ghusun 
 
 = Bearings at 9.40 : Jett S. 75° W. U 170°, 1 J m. 'Ellar 97°. Bakah, East, 1°. 
 
 m. Zeita S. 50° W. 1^ m. Nezleli E. 1 m. Bikah, West, 338°. Jett 319°. Saida 76°. 
 
 * Bearings at 10 : Deir el-Ghiisun 172°. Southern end of Carmel 8°. 
 
Ap?. 22.] 'attil. 'anebta. 125 
 
 ing the direct road to Nabulus ; and taking a guide for Kamin. 
 Leaving the village at 11.15, we descended into the southern 
 basin, and then entered a long shallow valley running up on the 
 right of Deir el-Ghusun and its hill. A string of ten camels, 
 led by donkeys, was slowly climbing the hill to that village. 
 At 11.50 we were at the top of the valley ; Deir el-Ghusun 
 bearing N. 70° E. half a mile distant. The region is full of 
 olive trees. A valley comes down from the south nearly to the 
 village, and then sweeps round to the west. This we crossed, 
 and then rose upon sloping ground on our left. At 12.05 we 
 came out upon the brow of the deep Wady Mflssin, coming 
 from the plain of Fendekumieh ; it is said to unite with Wady 
 Abu NSr in the western plain beyond Jett.' We reached the 
 bottom of the valley at 12.20 ; and noticed its deep water- 
 channel, now dry. — The road thus far from 'Attil was evidently 
 very old ; but we saw no appearance of pavement. Whether 
 this was the ancient way from Cassarea to Sebaste may be 
 doubted ; since a more feasible route exists from the plain along 
 the great Wady Sha'ir, which comes down from Nabulus, and is 
 the next valley south of Wady Mfissin. 
 
 We now followed up the latter valley, which is narrow, and 
 winds a good deal. At 12.40 we were passing among the olive 
 trees of Bela', which was on our right, but not in view. We 
 somewhere lost the main Wady, that comes from Fendekumieh, 
 probably supposing it to be a side Wady coming in on the left ; 
 for we now found ourselves passing up a smaller Wady with few 
 marks of water ; and at 1 o'clock we came out at its head upon 
 the ridge between it and Wady Sha'ir, coming from Nabulus. 
 Looking back down the Wady we had ascended, its course was 
 about N. 70° W. Before us now was the deep basin of Wady 
 Sha'ir, full of old olive trees, here too called Eumy, as in Gali- 
 lee ;' further up was the village of 'Anebta in the valley ; and 
 E^min beyond on a high Mil on the north side of the Wady.' 
 
 A very steep descent now took us to the bottom in twenty 
 minutes ; and in twenty more we came to 'Anebta, at 1.40. 
 A few minutes before reaching the village, there were two cis- 
 terns by the way side, filled with rain water from the road, at 
 which women were filling their jars. There was now a small 
 brook in the valley, which seemed just about to dry up, and 
 then the water of cisterns becomes the sole dependence of the 
 village. About half an hour below the village, in the valley, ia 
 a Tell of considerable size, called Na'rabeh. 'Anebta is large 
 
 ' Bearings at 12.05, on north trow of ' Bearings at 1 o'clock, on brow of Wady 
 
 Wady Miissin: Deir el-Ghiisun N. Kefr Sha'ir : Kefr el-Lebad 173°. 'Anebta 150°. 
 
 el-Lebad? 181°. Eamln 142°. Kefr Eiimmon 116°. 
 
 ' See above, p. 80. 
 
 Vol. III.— 11* 
 
126 FEOM 'aKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. IIL 
 
 and well built ; and has two mills on tlie stream, now stopped 
 for want of water. The race of one of them is carried over the 
 road on arches. Here were many camels, apparently resting ; 
 and we learned, with some surprise, that the great camel road 
 from Nabulus to Yafa and Kamleh passes down this valley by 
 'Anebta and TM Keram to the plain. This latter village was 
 said to be in the valley, on the north side, about two hours 
 below 'Anebta. This route is certainly circuitous ; but it 
 affords an easier ascent and descent of the mountains, than any 
 other. A similar instance is the camel road firom Jerusalem to 
 Kamleh by el-Jib. 
 
 Setting off from 'Anebta at 2.15, we proceeded up the fine 
 valley, amid its rural scenery. The air was full of the songs of 
 larks and other small birds ; and we heard also the note of the 
 mourning dove. The little stream was flowing along the bottom. 
 There were also two more mills, not running ; and the people in 
 summer, it was said, had always to go to Nabulus to get their 
 grain ground. We were now necessarily upon the ancienl; way 
 from Csesarea to Sebaste and Neapolis ; and there were evident 
 traces of antiquity along the road ; but we saw no pavement 
 in this valley. 
 
 Kamin was before us, on the high northern shoulder or but- 
 tress, which bounds the valley as it issues from the basin of 
 Samaria. We ascended towards it gradually ; and reached the 
 village at 3.15. Here, at once, we overlooked the whole northern 
 portion of the great basin around Sebustieh ; this northern part 
 being drained by a Wady, which unites with Wady Sha'ir just 
 at the foot of the hill of Ramin. A low rocky ridge lies 
 between the two above the point of junction. It needed but a 
 few moments to assure us, that the observations made on our 
 former journey in this region were wrong in several particulars, 
 in consequence of the ignorance of the guide who then accom- 
 panied us.' We therefore now took the more pains. 
 
 Wady Sha'ir comes down from Nabulus along the southern 
 part of the basin of Sebustieh ; and issues from its northwestern 
 quarter between high hills. Eamin is on the first or corner hOl 
 on the right side ; while Kefr Lebad is on the left, on the second 
 bin down the valley.* We could here see Burkah upon our former 
 route ; and could also distinguish with our glasses the ancient por- 
 tal west of Sebustieh, and some of the columns of the colonnade. 
 The basin of Sebilstieh has been celebrated by others, as well as 
 by ourselves.' It is beautiful ; but we had now seen so many fer- 
 tUe regions, that it seemed to lose in the comparison. It is sur- 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 311 sq. [iiu 150.] we could never have seen; it lies far down 
 
 ' The position of these two villages was the valley, below 'Anebta. 
 reversed on our former map. Tul Keram ^ See VoL II. p. 307. [iii. 144.] 
 
Apr. 23.] EAMIK. WADT SHA'ik. 127 
 
 passed in ricliness and beauty by the plains of Kameb, of el- 
 Buttauf, and of Ta'bud ; to say nothing of the larger plains of 
 'Akka and Esdraelon.' 
 
 "We pitched our tent on the east of the village, after some 
 trouble ; where the hill falls off towards the lower ground by 
 terraces. On this side is the cemetery. The people seemed 
 kindly disposed ; but some were rude and intrusive. In the 
 Sh%hur and ever since, we had found the peasants refusing to 
 sdl bread ; regarding it as a disgrace to do so. In the best 
 houses, there are rooms for strangers ; where food is provided for 
 them without charge. As we lodged in our own tent, we had 
 to buy flour, and get it baked. Here in Kamin they would take 
 no pay for wood, which they gave us ; and they lent us a jar, 
 that we might fetch water for ourselves, instead of paying them 
 for bringing it. The village is supplied wholly with rain water 
 from cisterns. These are quite numerous ; not only in this and 
 other villages, but along the roads. Provisions and articles sold 
 were here dear. Poultry, for which the usual price was 2| or 3 
 piastres a piece, cost here 4 piastres. 
 
 Friday, April 23d. — We set off from Eamin for Nabulus at 
 7 o'clock ; and descended obliquely and steeply into the valley 
 coming from the northern basin. For some reason, the great 
 road here passes up this Wady rather than the other ; and then 
 crosses obliquely the low ridge between the two, opposite SebCis- 
 tieh. At 7.30 we were on the top of this ridge or swell ; with 
 Sebustieh not far off on the left, and the ruins of a village, called 
 'Asltin, close upon our path. We now entered the southern 
 basin ; and at 7.45 struck again the little brook of yesterday, 
 here running with a fuller stream. We followed up its right 
 side through the broad basin ; and then ascended to cross the 
 point of a rocky ridge running down southwest ; while the valley 
 bends off to the south around the point. In the plain we met 
 several strings of camels, hardly fewer than a hundred in all, 
 laden with soap, on their way from Nabulus to Gaza and Egypt. 
 The soap of Nabulus is regarded as the best in the country ; it 
 is manufactured on a large scale, and thus exported. It is put 
 up in large bales ; of which a camel carries two, slung across 
 its back. One party of these animals was loaded with bales of 
 cotton in like manner. Each string of camels was led off by a 
 little donkey, hardly equal to the fifth part of a camel in size 
 or weight. 
 
 On the top of this ridge, at 8 o'clock, we found very distinct 
 
 ' Bearings from Ramin: 'Anebta 313°. Sha'ir: Beit Uzin 138°. Beit Iba 141°. 
 
 Kefr Rumm-.n 332°. Bizzarieh 36°. Bur- Keisin 154°. Kuiyet Jit 174°. Tell el- 
 
 kah 70°. Sebustieh 109°. Sheiltb Sha'- Kerkef, a large Tell ia the south part of 
 
 leh 114°. en-Nakurah 119°. Nabulus the basin, 189°- Beit Lid 221°. Kefr el- 
 
 125°. — The following are south of Wady Lebad 294°. 
 
128 FROM 'AKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. HI. 
 
 traces of the ancient road, with walls along the sides, and the path 
 sometimes sunk bglow the adjacent surface. Here were also the 
 remains of an ancient place, with hewn stones and the fragments 
 of two columns. It is now called Dibbirieh. In the valley below 
 was a mill ; and these now became frequent along the brook all 
 the way to Nibulus. Some of the mUls are large ; and to most of 
 them the water is brought in at the top, in long races resting 
 on arches. In the basin we had just left, many of the olive trees 
 have misletoe growing upon them, called by the Arabs Suffcir. 
 
 After passing the ridge, one road ascends the hiU. to the 
 village Deir Sheraf ; while another goes round the hiU on the 
 south. We kept the latter ; and at 8.10 were opposite the 
 village. A brook soon came in from a broad side valley on the 
 left. At 8.40 we came to the road from Nabulus to SebOstieh, 
 our former route ; and here was still Eichardson's famous 
 "ancient bridge," across the valley, namely, an Arab mill-race.' 
 Overagainst us, on the flank of the southern mountain, around 
 which the valley here niakes a bend, were the three villages, 
 Juneib on the top, Beit Uzin lower down but in the same line, 
 and Beit Iba still lower and further west. At 8.55, Zawata 
 was above us on the left. At 9.15 the green Tell of Rafidieh, 
 below the village of that name,- was close on our right across the 
 brook. We came to a fork in the road at 9.35 ; and waited 
 fifteen minutes for the mules to come up. Here, while waiting, 
 some eight or ten Sheikhs from the country passed us, on their 
 way to visit the governor of Nabulus, on his invitation. They 
 had on their gala dresses ; and rode spirited horses. 
 
 We were told, that both roads were equally good ; and took 
 the upper or left hand one ; but soon came to a tract of rocks, 
 very difficult for the horses to pass over. We therefore turned 
 down by the next by-road, and crossed over to the road on the 
 other side of the brook. This brought us at 10 o'clock to the 
 western gate of the city. As the weather threatened rain, and a 
 mist was already falling, we went directly to the house of a 
 Protestant, named 'Audeh, who was accustomed to receive 
 Frank travellers. The house was situated nearly midway in the 
 city ; so that we had to traverse several of the narrow streets. 
 In some of these a stream of water was flowing ; and a number 
 were arched over. 
 
 The entrance to the house was by a low gateway, and then 
 by a dirty passage among stables to a small court. From this a 
 narrow stairway led up outside to a terrace, upon which the 
 family rooms opened. There were two large rooms ; one of 
 which was given up to us ; and some English travellers, who 
 arrived later, took possession of the other for the night. Our 
 » See Vol IL p. 303. [iii. 137.] 
 
Apr. 23.] KABULUS. — PKOTESTANTS. SAMABITANS. 129 
 
 room was tolerably furnislied in the usual oriental style, with 
 divans and carpets ; and there were also a table and a few rude 
 chairs for Frank visitors. Here we took our meals, which were 
 provided by the family and served up by Kashid ; and here too 
 we slept, setting up again our own bedsteads. The accommo- 
 dations were, at least, much superior to the peasants' houses, in 
 which we had before taken refuge. 
 
 Our host, 'Audeh, was a good-looking intelligent person ; 
 and one of the leading men among the Protestants of Nabulus. 
 He seemed also to be an active business man, and was at his 
 place of business in the city when we arrived ; so that we did 
 , not see him till towards evening. We found in the house a 
 young man, Ya'kob el-Miisa, the teacher of the school recently 
 established by the Church Missionary Society, a pleasant and 
 intelligent young man, speaking a very little English. He 
 showed us every attention, and did the honours of the house. 
 
 The Protestants in Nabulus had at this time an order from 
 the Pasha of Jerusalem, authorizing them to be publicly ac- 
 knowledged as a Christian community ; but this they had not 
 yet presented to the governor of Nibulus. Quite a number had 
 united in the original application ; but of these only seven or 
 eight were now prepared to give in their names. The leader of 
 the movement, named DaM, and his party, were holding back. 
 Only two, 'Audeh and Ya'kob, had been admitted to the com- 
 munion in the English church at Jerusalem. Indeed, the whole 
 movement seemed to stand in connection with the efforts of 
 the English missionaries and bishop in the Holy City. The 
 school established under their patronage was still small ; but 
 promised well. Dr Smith spent much of the evening in con- 
 versation with the two persons above named ; and was pleased 
 with their intelligence and spirit. They urged us to remain 
 with them over Sunday, so that my companion might conduct 
 public worship in Arabic ; a privilege which they had never yet 
 enjoyed. At their request our evening worship was held in 
 Arabic. There were said to be in Ndbulus about 122 taxable 
 male Christians. 
 
 As we rode up to the gate of the house, we had met the 
 younger Samaritan priest coming out ; he having been on a 
 visit to Ya'kob respecting his school. As we afterwards desired 
 to visit the Samaritans, Ya'kob went to give them notice of our 
 coming. The same priest returned with him, to welcome us ; 
 and, after sitting some time, we all went together to their 
 Keniseh ; putting off our shoes as we entered. Here the elder 
 priest, Selameh, also came to us ; he seemed in a measure su- 
 perannuated ; and the son was now the chief man among his 
 people.' The room was the same that we visited in 1838, 
 
 ' See VoL H. p. 280 sq. [iii 104.] 
 
130 
 
 FROM AKKA TO , JERUSALEM. [Sec. EI. 
 
 ■with the recess towards the left hand ; the whole as plain and 
 ordinary as possible. The floor on the side of the room opposite 
 the recess is higher by a step than the rest. The whole floor 
 was covered with mats and ancient rugs, not always very clean. 
 The place seemed to be used hkewise as a school-room ; and 
 several books were lying about on the raised portion of the floor. 
 
 The priest was courteous and communicative ; and showed 
 us the manuscript treasures of their Hterature, such as it is. 
 Besides their manuscripts of the Hebrew and Samaritan Pen- 
 tateuch, they have several copies of an old Arabic version of the 
 same, which they prize highly. One of the best of these the 
 priest consented to loan to Dr Smith, to take with him to 
 Beirtit, for the purpose of using it in has own version. It was 
 very neatly written ; and originally the heads of the sections 
 were inserted in the Samaritan language and character ; but aU 
 these had been carefully covered by pasting paper over them. 
 Such an act of courtesy was something before unheard of ; and 
 excited the wonder of 'Audeh and others. Dr Smith, however, 
 had already obtained a less correct copy of the same work from 
 Damascus, which probably had been handed down from the for- 
 mer Samaritan colony in that city.' 
 
 An ancient commentary on the Pentateuch, in. the Samari- 
 tan character, was also laid before us ; held to have been com- 
 posed by Marky, who is said to have lived about a century 
 before Christ. It is in Hebrew and Samaritan, in parallel col- 
 umns, covering about 700 pages in octavo ; and the copy exhib- 
 ited was said to have been made more than four centuries ago.' 
 They have also several partial commentaries in Arabic, covering 
 together the whole of the Pentateuch. But the commentary of 
 Marky is the great one, on which they rely. The priest offered 
 to dictate a translation of this latter in Arabic to Ya'kob, to be 
 written down by him for Dr Smith, at an expense of about 375 
 piastres. But he would not (or did not) consent to part with a 
 copy of the original at any price ; saying it was against their 
 religion, to let any book in the sacred language and character go 
 into the hands of strangers and foreigners. Perhaps the time 
 may come, when the offer of a high price will remove their 
 scruples. 
 
 We saw also their book of Joshua, existing only in Arabic ; 
 being merely a collection of legends, and of Httle value. They 
 have likewise, professedly, a history of their nation in Arabic, 
 from the Exodus to Muhammed. Their prayers are in Hebrew, 
 and fill twelve volumes. We did not learn that they have any 
 hymns now in use in connection with their Hturgy. 
 
 • The first copies of the Samaritan Pen- Valle at Damascus; see VoL II. p. 297 
 tateuch, likewise, were purchased by Delia sq. [iiL 129.] 
 
Ara. 23.1 NABULUS. — THE SAMARITANS. 131 
 
 It appears, that individuals of the community, hesides the 
 priests, have copies of perhaps all these manuscripts in their 
 possession ; and from them books have been purchased, and may 
 doubtless hereafter be obtained.' This fact implies, that many 
 of them are able to read. There was talk also, that Bishop 
 Gobat was desirous of establishing a school among them, in 
 which the younger priest was to be employed as the teacher. — 
 The priests seemed stiE to suppose, that there are Samaritans 
 in other parts of the world ; for example in Bombay ; and they 
 referred to Dr Wilson as having told them, that the Black Jews 
 employ the written character of the Samaritans. They inquired 
 also, with some degree of earnestness, about Genoa. 
 
 The next day, Saturday, was of course the Sabbath of the 
 Samaritans. Their morning Sabbath worship begins at day- 
 break ; and continues an hour after sunrise. It consists in a 
 liturgy, and the reading of the Pentateuch. They keep their 
 Sabbath very strictly ; doing no work at all, and remaining 
 secluded. When 'Audeh heard, that the priest had promised to 
 my companion the loan of his Arabic Pentateuch, he hurried off 
 at once to fetch it before sunset ; since after that time he would 
 not be able to find the priest. 
 
 For other particulars respecting the Samaritans, as well as 
 for their history, the reader is referred to the account of our 
 former visit, in 1838.* 
 
 The region around Nabulus, within the valley, is full of 
 fountains. They seem to break out in all directions ; and water 
 from some of them runs through the streets of the city. We 
 examined again, particularly, the question as to the compara- 
 tive fertiHty of the two mountains, Gerizim and Ebal ; but with 
 the same result as formerly, viz. that we could perceive no 
 difference, except in the Wady which descends from Gerizim, 
 where there are fountains. The broad terraces rising along the 
 flanks of both mountains, are all alike cultivated. 
 
 The antiquities of Nabulus are few. The ancient city may 
 have extended itself much fuixher east ; but we saw no remaining 
 traces of any such extension, either formerly or now. Several 
 sepulchres are excavated along the base of Mount Ebal. As 
 we approached the city from the west, we came upon some 
 remains of a very ancient wall ; which probably mark an ex- 
 tension of the ancient city towards the west. In the same 
 quarter we saw also the lid of an ancient sarcophagus, finely 
 sculptured. 
 
 ' Wilson, Lands of the Bible, H. p. 296. ' Vol. H. pp. 273-301. [iii. 97-134.] 
 
 In Jerusalem we learned, that a consider- See also the very full and particular ac- 
 
 able number of volumes had in this way count in Wilson's Lands of the Bible, IL p. 
 
 been recently purchased for the British 45 sq. 687 sq. 
 Museum. 
 
132 FKOM 'aKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. IIL 
 
 Towards evening, my companion being otherwise occupied, 
 I rode with Kashid to the mouth of the valley, to visit Jacob's 
 well. The distance was just half an hour. The well is on the 
 end of a low spur or swell, running out from the northeastern base 
 of Gerizim ; and is still fifteen or twenty feet above the level 
 of the plain below. The mouth of the well was stopped with 
 several stones, which could easUy be removed. Several men 
 gathered around us, who said there was now much water in it. 
 The depth of the well as now ascertained is about seventy-five 
 or eighty feet.' The remains of the ancient church are just 
 above the well, towards the southwest ; merely a shapeless mass 
 of ruins, among which are seen fragments of gray granite col- 
 umns, still retaining their ancient polish. Under the hill, a few 
 rods distant, is a mill ; the copious stream of which comes from 
 the fountain of Defneh above in the valley. Above and around 
 the mill are the houses of the village BeMtah, now mostly 
 deserted.' — I was glad once more to visit this undoubted scene 
 of our Lord's conversation with the Samaritan woman ; and to 
 yield myself for the time to the sacred associations of the spot. 
 I was glad, too, to look out again upon the plain of the Mukhna ; 
 although, after having now seen so many noble plains, this one 
 struck me as less broad and comparatively less fertile, than I 
 had been wont to regard it. The mountains on its eastern side 
 seemed higher, and were more naked and rocky, than I remem- 
 bered them. 
 
 A travelled road runs along the plain in front of the mouth 
 of the valley, at some distance from the well. The men said it 
 led to Jenin. It passes probably through the upper part of 
 Wady Firi'a and so on the east of Sanur. The more usual 
 road, at the present day, goes to the city of Nabulus ; and then 
 crosses the western shoulder of Mount Ebal, to Jeba' and Sani\r. 
 The distance must be about the same on both the roads. 
 
 The Wely marking the place of Joseph's tomb is in the 
 valley, midway between the base of Gerizim and that of Ebal. 
 We rode to it ; and found it to be merely an enclosure of plas- 
 tered walls, without roof, and with a door in the northern side. 
 We then proceeded to a site of ruins, situated low down on the 
 southeast shoulder of Ebal, yet high enough to overlook the 
 plain and the valley, and called 'Askar. The ruins are merely 
 those of a village. There is among them a fine limpid fountain, 
 issuing from under a low arch into a broken reservoir. This 
 seemed to be the only trace of antiquity. 
 
 ' See VoL II. p. 284. WUsod, Lands of Asher's Benj. of Tnd. II. p. 426.— It is 
 
 the Bible, II. p. 57. mentioned likewise by later Jewish travel- 
 
 " This village is mentioned by E. Parchi lers; as Gerson de Scarmela in 1561, and 
 
 in the fourteenth centniy, as Balta. He Uri de Biel in 1564 ; see Carmoly pp. 386, 
 
 holds it to be the site of the ancient 445. 
 Sichem, distinct from Nabulus. See in 
 
Apr. 24.] NABULUS. JACOB'S "V^ELL. 'ASKAB. 133 
 
 This name, 'Askar, has been compared with the Sycliar of 
 the New Testament, and the inference drawn, that a Sychar 
 existed here of old distinct from Sicliem or Neapolis.' With 
 this accords the language of Eusehius and the Bourdeaux pil- 
 grim ; while Jerome pronounces Sychar to be an erroneous read- 
 ing for Sichem.=' I have elsewhere stated the grounds for 
 believing that Sychar and Sichem were identical.' It may here 
 be added, that the name 'Askar, in its present form, begins with 
 the letter 'Ain ; and this circumstance at once excludes all 
 idea of affinity with the name Sychar.* But even granting for 
 a moment, that Sychar was a distinct city, and stood upon this 
 spot ; the difficulties of the general question are in no degree 
 lessened. The woman would have had to cross a mill stream in 
 order to reach the weU ; and it remains just as inexplicable, why 
 the well should ever have been dug. The easiest solution of this 
 latter difficulty, is the hypothesis, that the fountain De&eh, 
 from which the miU stream comes, may be of later date than the 
 well ; the effect, perhaps, of earthquakes in this abundantly 
 watered fegion. 
 
 From 'Askar to Nabulus we returned in 25 minutes. 
 
 Sahcrday, April 24d,h. — We concluded to take the direct 
 road leading from Nahulus to Kamleh, by way of Kuriet Jit and 
 'Azziin, and left the western gate of the city at 7^ o'clock. 
 Before this gate is a large cemetery, tolerably well kept, but 
 without trees. The road keeps along high up on the flank of 
 Gerizim. One of the Protestants of Nabulus accompanied us 
 as far as to Eafidieh, in order to procure for us there a guide. 
 He seemed to hold in remembrance, with great respect, the for- 
 mer American missionaries in Jerusalem. 
 
 We came to Eafidieh at 7.55. It lies in a depression which 
 here rutis down the side of the mountain ; and was partly in 
 ruias. It contains about two hundred Christian men ; and only 
 some half a dozen Muslims. We learned afterwards from our 
 guide, that for the last two years a school had been kept in 
 Eafidieh, taught alternately by the two priests, at the expense 
 of the Greek convent in Jerusalem. This was supposed to have 
 been done in order to forestall the Enghsh. We here noticed a 
 mode of irrigation of which we had also seen a good deal yester- 
 day. The ground was divided off into beds, sis or eight feet 
 long by three or four wide ; and these were surrounded by a rim, 
 like pans, to receive and retain the water. This mode is used 
 especially for garden vegetables. We stopped here ten minutes 
 for a guide ; and obtained a very good one for 'Azzun.' At 
 
 ' John 4, 5. See Raiuner's Falsest, ed. sometimes prefix an Alef to foreign names, 
 
 3, p. 146. e. g. Iksal ; bnt never 'Ain. 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 292 sq. [iiL 120.] * Beariug from Rafidieh: Zawata N. 
 
 ' Vol. n. ibid. 25° W. 
 ♦ Gr. 'S.uxip, John 4, 5. The Arabs 
 Vol. III.— 12 
 
134 FEOM 'aKKA ,T0 JEKUSALEM. [SecIIL 
 
 8.20 Juneid was on our left, a quarter of a mile above us ; here 
 we turned off a little to a brow on our rigbt for bearings ; and 
 were detained fifteen nunutes in all.' At 8.40 Beit Uzin was 
 on the right below us, a quarter of a mile off ; ' and five minutes 
 later Beit Iba was half a mile below us.' We now began to 
 pass round the shoulder of the mountain, where the vaUey below 
 (Wady Sha'ir) trends more west for a time ; having Kuriet Jit 
 and other villages before us, coming into view. The mountains 
 here were tilled to their tops ; and there was a valley at some 
 distance before us breaking down from the south to Wady Sha'ir. 
 At 8.55, on a hill before coming to the said vaUey, we stopped 
 five minutes for bearings." As we descended, there was a foun- 
 tain with a drinking-trough by the way side ; a provision for 
 the traveller which we had as yet seldom found ; though the like 
 occurs more frequently further south.' We reached the bottom 
 of the valley, Wady Sherak, at 9.25, running down to the right 
 to join Wady Sha'ir ; ^ and at 9.40 there was a smaller parallel 
 Wady ruiming to it along the eastern foot of the hiU of Kuriet 
 Jit. 
 
 We came at 9.50 to the top of the ridge of Kuriet Jit. 
 That village was just above us on the left, on a Tell ; and has 
 the appearance of a large and old place. This is doubtless the 
 Gitta of the province of Samaria ; mentioned by several ancient 
 writers.' Descending westwards immediately into another small 
 valley, we kept along it in that direction, until it entered a 
 larger one, Wady Sheikh 'Aly, coming from the south.' We 
 were here among rounded naked hills ; and were shut out from 
 all further view of Wady Sha'ir. At 10.15 we were on the top 
 of the next low ridge ; and saw Funduk before us, S. 50° W. 
 A Wady came down before us from that village ; and this we 
 afterwards followed up.' At 10.30 Fer'ata was about a mile and 
 a half on our left, on a Tell. This place represents the Pi- 
 rathonoi Scripture and Josephus.'" A Wady coming from that 
 
 ' Bearings at 8.20, below Jnneid : Ra- ' Bearings at 9.10 : Till S. 25° E. 1^ 
 
 fldieh 112°. Zawata 19°. 'Asireh 58°. m. Surrah S. 20° W. f m. 
 
 Sheikh Sha'leh 351°. Deir Sheraf 320°. ' Bearing at 9.25 : Keisin N. 20° W. 
 
 Beit tTzin 313°, fm. Bizzarieh 333°. Ka- ' Gr. riVro, see Reland Falsest, p. 813 
 
 min 318°. Kefr el-Lebad 31 1°. Beit sq. See Vol 11. p. 307. n. [iii. 144. n.]— 
 
 Lid 299°. Keisin ? 296°. Shufeh 297°. Bearing from Knriet Jit: Keisin N. 20' E. 
 
 Kur 280°. Jnneid 222°, J m. — 'Asireh ' Bearings at 10.10: Kuriet Hajja S. 
 
 was north of Mount Ebal, and only its 80° W. IJ m. Bakah S. 85° W. IJ in. 
 
 olive groves conld be seen. ° Bearing at 10.20 : Kefr Kaddum N. 
 
 ' Bearings at 8.40 : Kuriet Jit S. 70° W. 35° W. 1 m. 
 
 '' Bearmgs at 8.45 : Beit tba N. 20° W. '" Judg. 12, 15. 1 Mace. 9, 50. Jos. Ant. 
 
 ^m. SiSrrah 230°, 1 m. Fer'ata 231°. 6. 7. 15. ib. 13. 1. 3. See Reland p. 956. 
 
 * Bearings at 8.55 : Burkah 359°. Se- Eaumer Pal. p. 142. It is mentioned by 
 
 biistieh 354-. Deir Sheraf 344°. Bizza- R Parchi in the fourteenth century ; Benj. 
 
 rieh 344°. Shufeh 300°. Beit Lid 305°. of Tud. by Asher, 11. p. 486.— Bearings 
 
 Kuriet Hajja 255°. Kuriet Jit 250°. Ba- at 10.30: Fer'ata S. 60° E. 1^ m. Um- 
 
 kah 257°. Ramin 323°. mateia S. 60° E. 1 m. 
 
Apr. 24.] KUEIET JIT, GITTA. WADY KAN AH. 135 
 
 direction crossed our patli towards the right ; all the valleys thus 
 far running towards Wady Sha'ir. 
 
 The small and poor village of Funduk was close on our left 
 at 10.45.' We kept along beyond it up a slope of cultivated 
 ground ; and at 11 o'clock, on the top, had the small village Jins 
 Sifut on our left, directly south, half a mile distant, across the 
 head of a vaUey running down S. S. W. to Wady Kanah. 
 Keeping to the right we came five minutes later upon a low 
 ridge ; " and at 11.15 looked down into a deep valley on our 
 right, coming from the region of Kuriet Hajja and passing down 
 to the western plain. — Thus far the country was mostly under 
 cultivation; with many vUlages and olive trees,; the hiUs mostly 
 round and naked, and the soil chalky. Here we began to have 
 glimpses of the great western plain ; there was little cultivation 
 and few villages along the slope ; the region was sterile ; the 
 hills and valleys more rugged ; and there were many stunted 
 trees, chiefly oaks. 
 
 Our road continued high above the valley ; and led us, at 
 11.30, around the northern shoulder of a high and rocky TeU ; 
 with the village Kefr 'Abbiish on our right not far distant.' We 
 now came out, southwest from the Tell, upon a broad tract of 
 table land, rocky and sterile, with a gentle descent towards the 
 west, between the valley from Kuriet Hajja on the north, and 
 Wady Kanah on the south. In this latter valley we have with- 
 out doubt the river (brook) Kanah of the book of Joshua, the 
 boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh.* It was here very 
 deep and rugged, with water running in it. A man from Kefr 
 K^sim afterwards assured us, that it comes from the plain el- 
 Mukhna, from a fountain of that name. Near Deir Estieh 
 several fountains spring up in it ; and the valley is there wide 
 and cultivated. It enters the western plain just south of 
 Hableh ; where we afterwards crossed it, bearing a different 
 local name. 
 
 Upon this table land, as we advanced, there were, at 11.45, 
 evident remains of an ancient paved road. At 12 o'clock" we 
 were on the brow of a shallow rocky basin, forming the head of 
 Wady 'Azzun ; which thus divides the broad ridge towards the 
 west. At 12.25 the valley became narrower ; we left the great road 
 along its bottom, and rose obliquely upon its right bank to the 
 village 'Azzun at 12.45. This village does not lie high ; it con- 
 
 ' Bearings from Fnndnk: Wely of Farisy 102°. Kuriet Hajja 42°. er-Eas 
 
 Sheikh Salmon el-FSrisy, high and distant, 330°. Kefr 'Abbush 277", IJ m. 
 
 110°. Fer'ata96°. el-'Arak 81°. Kuriet < Heb. n:pi>n:, Ut Wady Kanah, 
 
 Jit 65°. Josh. 16, 8. 'l7, 9." 
 
 ' Bearings at 11.06 : Deir Estieh, dis- » At 12 o'clock, es-Sennarieh bore S. 
 
 tant, 163°. Jins Safut 134°. Fer'ata 82°. 20° W. It is a ruin in the south of Wady 
 
 ' Benrings at 11.30 : Sheikh Salmon el- Kanah, and distant. 
 
136 FBOM 'AKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. IH. 
 
 tains a population of 290 males ; all of them Muslims, except 
 one family of Christians. The head of this family had resided 
 in the place for thirty years, and was universally respected. As 
 ■we stopped here for lunch, he did the honours of the village ; 
 brought us coffee ; and afterwards accompanied us for some dis- 
 tance on our way.' 
 
 Leaving 'Azzun at 1.40, we descended obliquely and by a 
 side valley to the larger Wady, and struck the great road again 
 at 2 o'clock. Our way now led down this winding valley, shut 
 in on both sides, and with nothing visible but its rugged walls, 
 formed of horizontal strata of flinty rocks, with stunted trees and 
 shrubs sparsely scattered upon them. We overtook and passed 
 a large drove of horses, apparently on the way to market. At 
 3 o'clock the valley opened to a wider cultivated tract ; and 
 continued to expand towards the plain. At 3.30 we reached 
 Hableh, on the low rocky ridge along its southern side, and near 
 the extremity towards the great plain. It overlooks the plain 
 extensively, although not high above it. Directly in view and 
 not far distant, are the three villages, Kilkilieh, Kefr Saba, and 
 Jiijulieh ; and further south is Has el-'Ain. Wady 'Azz^in, 
 which we had followed down, passes just under Kilkilieh, leaving 
 it on the right ; and then sweeping round to the S. S. W. leaves 
 Kefr Saba also on the right, and runs to the 'Aujeh. 
 
 The ground around Hableh was so rocky, that we found no 
 place to pitch our tent on the hill. We therefore descended 
 to the low ground between the village and a Wely on another 
 rocky point a quarter of a mile further south ; and there pitched 
 near a cistern, to which the women came for water. Here we 
 remained over Sunday. 
 
 The road, which we had now travelled, is evidently an an- 
 cient one, leading from Neapolis to Joppa, Gaza, and Egypt, as 
 is evinced by the remaius of pavement mentioned above. The 
 descent of the mountaius is quite gradual, with no steep pass 
 whatever ; being very different in this respect from the region 
 further south. Indeed, so far as we had yet seen, the whole 
 western descent from the higher tracts of Samaria, is a very easy 
 one through valleys among hiUs. 
 
 During aU our journey through the district of Nabulus, there 
 was much talk about a new inventory which the government had 
 caused to be taken, of lands, houses, and live stock. The object 
 was not yet known ; though every one supposed, that it fore- 
 shadowed an increase of taxation. 
 
 Our tent, as said above, was in the low tract between the 
 village and the Wely, about sixty rods from the former. We 
 
 ' Bearings at 'Azzun : Jeiyus N. 30° W. On the south side of the Wady is a ruin 
 2 m. el-Mudahdirah, distant, 350°.— called Kefr Thulth. 
 
Apr. 24.] HABLEH. WINE-PHESS. ' 137 
 
 were here surrounded by cisterns dug out in solid rocks, mostly 
 ■with a round opening at the top. Some ■were entirely open. 
 One of them, seven feet long by five broad and three deep, was 
 merely sunk in the rock, with two steps to descend into it. 
 Another one, of similar dimensions, had but one step left. A 
 larger cistern was near the water-course ; it was twelve feet long 
 by nine broad, and about eight feet deep ; two rude and very 
 flat arches were thrown over it ; and on these rested the covering 
 of flat stones, some of which still remained. All these excava- 
 tions were evidently ancient ; and were thus numerous just here 
 in the low ground, because of the greater abundance of water in 
 the rainy season. Only one of them seemed to be now in use. 
 
 Another excavation near by was at first more puzzling. Its 
 appearance was like a sarcophagus, regularly hewn on the out-, 
 side. On going to it, the interior proved to be only five feet long 
 by twenty inches broad ; but this was merely the entrance to an 
 arched vault beneath, all hewn in the solid rock. The interior 
 was now filled with stones. It was doubtless a sepulchral ex- 
 cavation ; it could not have been a cistern, for no water could 
 have run into it. I afterwards found seven similar excavations 
 on the southern hill not far beyond the Wely ; all in one large 
 flat rock. The entrances of these were level with the surface of 
 the rock, and there were also traces of grooves for lids ; though 
 no lids are now to be found. 
 
 Still another excavation, close by our tent, which interested me, 
 was an ancient wine-press ; the first I had ever seen. Advantage 
 had been taken of a ledge of rock ; on the upper side, towards 
 the south, a shallow vat had been dug out, eight feet square and 
 fifteen inches deep ; its bottom declining slightly towards the 
 north. The thickness of rock left on the north was one foot ; 
 and two feet lower down on that side, another smaller vat was 
 excavated, four feet square by three feet deep. The grapes "were 
 trodden in the shallow upper vat ; and the juice drawn off by a 
 hole at the bottom (stUl remaining) into the lower vat. This 
 ancient press would seem to prove, that the adjacent hills were 
 once covered with vineyards ; and such is its state of preserva- 
 tion, that were there still grapes in the vicinity, it might at once 
 be brought into use without repair. I would have given much 
 to have been able to transport this ancient relic in natura to 
 London or Kew York. 
 
 From the Wely there was an extensive view of the plain. 
 Here I spent several hours, at various times, beneath the shade 
 of a spreading tree ; and here our bearings were taken.' The 
 
 ' Bearings from the Wely near Hatleh : Mirr and mills 231°. Bir 'Adis 271°. 
 
 ez-ZakuT 160°, H m. Mejdel Yaba 196°. JiljuUeh 256°. Eefr Saba 307°- ElkiKeh 
 
 Eamleh 207°. Kul'at el-'Ain 220°. el- 344°. 
 YoL. III.— 12* 
 
138 
 
 FROM AKKA TO ■ JERUSALEM. [SecIIL 
 
 rain of ez-Z&kdr in the S. S. E. seemed extensive and old. 
 Further off was Mejdel Ydba ; and, in the plain, Eds el-'Ain, or 
 Karat el-'Ain, as it is called from its castle. Far in the 
 S. S. W. the tower of Kamleh was visihle. On the 'Aujeh, 
 , further west, was the village el-Mirr, with several mUls. Nearer 
 at hand, about a mile distant, was Jiljulieh S. 76° W. said to he 
 now almost a ruin, and having in its southern part a large KhSn 
 similar to that at Kamleh. , Then followed Kefr SS.ba N. 53° W. 
 distant from us about two miles, in full view ;' and lastly Kilki- 
 lieh, N. 16° W. also about two miles distant. The plain in the 
 west and northwest is uneven ; rising beyond Kefr Saba and 
 towards the coast into low hills or swells, some of which are 
 wooded. 
 
 The chief interest in this prospect is connected with Kefr 
 S^ba, as the representative of the Antipatris of the New Testa- 
 ment ; whither the apostle Paul was sent off from Jerusalem 
 by night, on the way to Csesarea, in order to save him from a 
 conspiracy of the Jews." Josephus relates, that the first Herod 
 built here a city, on a site formerly called Capharsaha, in a fertile 
 spot, where a river encompassed the city, and there were also many 
 trees. ^ He speaks of it also as near the mountains ; and tells 
 us, that Alexander Jann^eus drew a trench with a wall and wooden 
 towers from Antipatris to the coasts of Joppa, one hundred and 
 fifty stadia in length, in order to prevent the passage of Anti- 
 ochus.^ Two military roads led from Jerusalem to Antipatris, 
 and so to Cassarea ; one by way of Gibeon and Beth-horon ; the 
 other by way of Gophna.' By which of these roads Paul was 
 conducted, we have no means of determining. Antipatris is 
 mentioned by Jerome and the Bourdeaux pilgrim ; * a bishop of 
 Antipatris was present at the council of Chalcedon held A. D. 
 451; and it continued to be inhabited by Christians in the 
 middle of the eighth century.' From that time onward, as in 
 so many other instances, the later Greek name (Antipatris) has 
 disappeared in history ; while the earKer Kefr Saba has retained 
 its hold upon.the hps of the common people even unto this day. 
 
 ^ Yet V. Wildenbnich, when passing this tmless the trench was drawn very obliqnely, 
 
 way several years after the visit of Dr or perhaps along the river *Aujeh. 
 
 Smith, conld find no trace of the name ' The road by Beth-horon was followed 
 
 Kefr Saba. Monatsber. der Geogr. Ges. by Cestins in the flight of his army, Jos. 
 
 in Berlin, N. F. I. p. 233. Bitter Erdk. B. J. 2. 19. 8, 9. That by Gophna was 
 
 XVI. p. 572. traced in 18i3, by Dr Smith, to the 
 
 ' Acts 23, 31 ; comp. v. 12. 23 sq. neighbom-hood of Mejdel Yaba ; many por- 
 
 ' Gr. Kaipapffafid, Joseph. Antt 16. 5. tions of the road being still in good pre- 
 
 2 ; comp. 13. 15. 1, Xa$apCa0d . . . fi vvv servation ; see Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 481 
 
 ^AvTVKaTpls KoXetTcu. sq. 
 
 * Jos. B. J. 1. 4. 7; comp. Antt. 13. 15. • Hieron. Epit. Pante, p. 673. ed.Mart 
 
 1. The direct distance from Kefr Saba to Itin. Hieros. p. 600. 
 
 the coast is not over ten or twelve miles. ' Reland Falsest, pp. 568-570. Theo- 
 
 There mnst therefore be some error in the phaiL Chron. p. 358. 
 number of 150 stadia (18| Roman miles^ ; 
 
Apr. 26.] KEFK SABA, ANTIPATBIS. 139 
 
 The present Kefr Saba is a village of some size ; tlie houses 
 are built of mud, as in most of the Tillages of the plain ; and 
 there are no relics of antiquity visible. A well just east of the 
 houses is fifty-seven feet deep to the water, and is walled up 
 with hewn stones. The village stands on a low eminence near 
 the western hills ; but is separated from them by a smaller 
 Wady or branch of the plain.' There seems to be no valid 
 reason for questioning the identity of this spot with Antipatris. 
 The ancient name itself is decisive ; while, in the rainy season 
 and spring, the Wady coming from the mountains would suffi- 
 ciently correspond to the river described by Josephus. The 
 distance from Lydda is also tolerably near to the ancient specifi- 
 cation of ten Roman miles." 
 
 The name Jiljulieh seems to correspond to an ancient Gilgal; 
 and Eusebius and Jerome mention a village Galgulis situated in 
 the sixth mile north of Antipatris.' As there is now no such 
 village known in the north of Kefr Saba ; * and as Jiljulieh Has 
 short of that distance in the opposite direction ; it may well be 
 a question, whether perhaps a slip of the pen may not have 
 given rise to the reading north instead of south. Eusebius 
 must have known the place ; as he often travelled between 
 Caesarea and Jerusalem. This Galgulis may, or may not, have 
 been the same with the Gilgal mentioned once along with Dor 
 in the book of Joshua.^ 
 
 Monday, April 26th. — Refreshed after the day of rest, we 
 started from the Wely at 6.45, for Mejdel Yaba ; without a 
 guide, as the way was plain, and we were likely to fall in with 
 persons, of whom we could make inquiries. At 7.05 we crossed 
 the deep and broad water-bed of Wady Kanah coming from E. 
 S. E. It is here known as Wady Zakur, from the ruin of that 
 name on its northern side, half a mile on our left ; and is also 
 called Wady Khureish, from another ruin on its southern bank. 
 It runs off just south of Jiljulieh to the Wady which comes 
 from Kefr Saba ; and thus goes to the 'Aujeh. At 7.10 the 
 ruin Khureish was on our left, not far from our path. At 7.35 
 we crossed a smaller Wady, with a ruin on its southern bank, 
 called Kefr Hatta ; consisting of a few walls partly standing, a 
 reservoir, and a sarcophagus used as a driuking-trough. Our road 
 led along the low rocky hills as they jut out into the great plain ; 
 in some places just crossing their extremities. At 8.05 we came 
 
 ' See "Visit to Antipatris" by E. cording to the nsnal rate of moles, it 
 
 Smith, in 1843 ; in Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, would not exceed ten miles, 
 
 p. 492 sq. Ritter Erdk. XVI. p. 569 sq. ^ Onomast. art. Gelgel. 
 
 ' Itin. Hieros p. 600. The distance * The name Kilkilieh has no affinity 
 
 from Kefr Saba to Lydda, according to our with the name Gilgal ; nor is that villago 
 
 ownobservation,isaboutfourhours; which, in any sense in the sixth mile north of 
 
 at our rate of travelling, would not vary Kefr Saba, 
 
 much from 12 Roman miles : while ac- ' Josh. 12, 23. 
 
140 
 
 FROM AKKA TO JERUSALEM. [Sec. IIL 
 
 to the broad channel of Wady EibSh, coming down from the 
 east on the north of Mejdel. According to an informant from 
 this village, it has its head near 'Akrabeh/ and passes down near 
 ez-Zawieh. It runs north of Karat el-'Ain, and so to the 
 'Aujeh. On this Wady, just within the hUls, is situated Kefr 
 KSsim, not here visible ; but appearing like an old place, as we 
 saw it afterwards from the plain. 
 
 As we passed along our road, Kul'at el-'Ain lay below us on 
 the right, in a depressed part of the plain. On a low mound is 
 a structure in the form of a long parallelogram, said to have 
 been once a fortress. At the foot of this mound, on the west, 
 is the great fountain of the river 'Aujeh ; one of the largest in 
 Palestine. It forms a marshy tract, covered with reeds and 
 rushes. This fountain and others below furnish, at this season, 
 the whole supply of water for the river ; which is nearly as large 
 as the Jordan near Jericho. The water has a bluish tinge ; and 
 the current is usually sluggish.'' The river sweeps off about W. 
 N. W. until it reaches the hills or higher plateau ; and just here 
 are the mills, at el-Mirr, about a mile from the source. The 
 stream then passes on about W. by S. under steep banks 
 formed by low cliffs. 
 
 We came, at 8.30, to Mejdel Ydba ; situated on a rather 
 steep declivity on our left, with a Sheikh's house or palace over- 
 looking the rest of the vUlage. The place has an old look ; but 
 we saw few definite traces of antiquity. The Sheikh's palace is 
 large and high ; it had recently been built up ; for when my 
 companion passed this way in 1843, it was in ruins.' Its 
 owner, Sheikh Sa,dik el-Jema'iny, was now in banishment. In 
 a field in the lower part of the village we noticed two sarco- 
 phagi ; the isolated rocks had been hewn away outside, perhaps 
 with vaults below, like those at Hableh. We were delayed here 
 ten minutes in trying to obtain a guide ; but without success.* 
 
 From Mejdel we turned our course towards the plain, S. 67° 
 W. in order to enter the great road from Damascus to Eamleh. 
 Descending from the village, we struck at 8.50 the deep channel 
 of Wady Kurawa, the continuation of Wady Belat ; ' and 
 followed down its right side for fifteen minutes ; when we crossed 
 it. We could see a bridge with three arches about half a mile 
 below, on the Damascus road. This Wady must drain a large 
 region of country. It was now dry ; and runs to the 'Aujeh on 
 the west of the Kul'ah. At 9.15 we struck the Damascus road, 
 
 ' See under May 12th. Ieh212°. Renthieh 22i°. elMiir 316°. 
 
 ' E. Smith in Bibliotheoa Sacr. 1843, p. Ras el-'Ain 322°. — The following are on 
 
 491. the western side of the plain : el-Yehudt- 
 
 ' E. Smith, ibid. p. 488 sq. yeh 233°. el-Fejjeh 282°. el-Mulebbis 
 
 * Bearings from Mejdel Yaba: Kefr 291°. 
 Saba N. Jiljulieh 258°. Lndd 204°. Ram- » See Vol. U. p. 266. [iii. 82.] 
 
Apr. 26.] EENTHIEH, NOT AKIMATHEA. 141 
 
 called es-Sultana, at a Wely named Neby Tliary, situated on a 
 low Tell, with a pond of clear water on the north of it. Here 
 we stopped ten minutes.^ 
 
 We now proceeded along the Sultana towards Ludd and 
 Kamleh. After five minutes the road crossed a Wady with 
 dirty standing water ; and then rose to a higher tract in the 
 plain, with a more gravelly soU. At 9.45 we came to Eenthieh, 
 close upon our left hand ; situated on an isolated ledge of rock, 
 which here protrudes in the midst of the plain. It was once 
 apparently a place of some size ; but is now a miserable hamlet." , 
 
 The name Eenthieh (or Eemthieh, as we sometimes heard 
 it) is sufficiently near in form, to suggest an identity with the 
 Arimatkea of the New Testament.' In a former volume, I 
 have given reasons for regarding Arimathea as having no con- 
 nection with Eamleh, but as probably situated on some one of 
 the hills in the east or northeast of Lydda.* The same general 
 grounds hold good against the idea of seeking Arimathea at 
 Eenthieh ; and I may here subjoin a few additional remarks. 
 
 Josephus mentions in the north of Judea four toparchies, 
 named from their chief towns, viz. Acrabatene, Gophna, Thamna, 
 and Lydda. These towns are now all known ; Thamna having 
 been discovered in 1843 by Dr Smith, under the present name of 
 Tibneh, on the way from Gophna to Mejdel Yaba.' The 
 nature of the country shows, that these toparchies probably 
 formed long parallelograms lying parallel to each other, extend- 
 ing in length from north to south. The first occupied the east- 
 ern side of the water-shed on the mountains ; the second, the 
 western side of the same, still upon the mountains ; the third, 
 that of Thamna, lay along the western slope of the mountains ; 
 while the last, that of Lydda, comprised most of the plain. 
 South of the Thamnitic toparchy was that of Emmaus ; while 
 Joppa and Jamnia had jurisdiction over the towns adjacent to 
 them.* Now as Arimathea was situated in the Thamnitic dis- 
 trict ;' and this included the western declivity of the mountains 
 and probably the adjacent hills ; we certainly cannot well look 
 for Arimathea either at Eamleh or at Eenthieh, which are both 
 
 ' Bearings from Nety Thaty : Mejdel of Eshmiskui. This would seem to show, 
 
 67". Kul*at el-'Ain 10^. Fejjeh 318". Ren- that the name can have no necessaiy con- 
 
 thieh 193°. Kefr Kasim 48°. el-Mnzei- nection with the form Arimathea. 
 
 ri'ah 136°. KUy 145°. These last three * See Vol H, pp. 239, 241. [iii. 40, 44.] 
 
 are on and among the lower eastern hills. ' E. Smith in Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 
 
 ' Bearings at Eenthieh: Kiily 106°. 484. 
 
 Mnzeiri'ah 83°. Mejdel Yaba 45°. el- ' Jos. B. J. 3. 3. 5. Antt. 14. 11. 2. 
 
 Yehudiyeh 250°, 1^ m. Kamleh 206°. Plin. H. N. 5. 15. 
 
 Ladd 200°. Deir Abu Mesh'al ? 114°. ' Onomast. " Armaiha Sophim...ia 
 
 Deir Tunf 167°. et-Tireh 147°. — These regione Tamnitioa juxta Diospolim, unde 
 
 last two are at the foot of the eastern hills, fuit Joseph qui in Evangeliis ab Arimathia 
 
 ' There is however another RemtlteTi, esse scribitur." 
 east of the Jordan, on the Haj road south 
 
142 PKOM 'AKKA to JERUSALEM. [Sec. TO. 
 
 in the middle of the plain, and naturally within the district of 
 Lydda. 
 
 The same result seems to foUow from a notice of Jerome. 
 That father, in describing the journey of Paula, represents her 
 as passing from Antipatris to Lydda ; thence, not far from that 
 city, to Arimathea and Nohe ; to Joppa also ; and then, turn- 
 ing back, to Emmaus or Nicopolis ; whence she took the route 
 by the two Beth-horons to Jerusalem.' All this serves to show, 
 first, that Arimathea was not Renthieh, which lies directly on the 
 road between Antipatris and Lydda ; and, secondly, that it 
 probably did lie somewhere between Lydda and Nobe, now Beit 
 Nuba, a mile northeast of Yalo. Perhaps it is not too much to 
 hope, that the ancient site of Arimathea may hereafter be dis- 
 covered somewhere in that region ; which, as yet, has not been 
 fully explored. 
 
 Leaving Renthieh at 10 o'clock, we proceeded towards Ludd. 
 The ground soon sinks again to the lower plain, level and rich, ex- 
 tending towards Yafa, lying back of the hUls that are on the west 
 of Fejjeh. In that direction several vUlages came in sight as we 
 passed along ; the names of which we lost for want of a guide. 
 In the same direction the large Wady just north of Ludd runs 
 to the 'Aujeh.^ At 10.25 we had a distant view of Yafa, bear- 
 ing N. 78° W. We crossed a Wady at 10.40, having a bridge 
 with two arches and a pool of water under them.^ At 11 
 o'clock there was a ruin on the right ; apparently once a Khan. 
 At 11.20, Berfilieh was in sight, S. 60° E. on the summit of 
 one of the eastern hills, apparently a ruin. We came at 11.30 
 to a noble bridge of three or more arches, spanning the great 
 Wady which encircles Ludd, and passes off northwest to the 
 'Aujeh. This bridge is one of the best in the country, well built, 
 of twice the usual width, and stm tolerably paved. All these 
 bridges and Khans along the Sultana show how important this 
 road once was, as the great line of communication and commerce 
 between Egypt and Damascus. 
 
 We reached Ludd at 11.45 ; and stopped for lunch on the 
 northeast corner of the town outside. The Eamleh road lies 
 a little further west ; and our mules and muleteers (par nohile) 
 took it into their heads to keep on towards that place. We had 
 nothing left, but to send Eashid after them to bring them back ; 
 and this detained us here for nearly two hours. There was a 
 
 ' Hieron. in Ep. 86 ad Enstoch. Epit. atque inde proficiscens ascendit Bethoron 
 
 PauliE, p. 673, " et Lyddam -versam in inferiorem," etc. 
 
 Diospolim (vidit) . . . hand procul ab ea ^ At 10.15, the village et-Tireh bore S. 
 
 Arimathiam vioulum Joseph, qui Dominum 45° E. l\m. 
 
 sepelivit ; et Nobe urbem saoerdotum ... 'At 10.50, Deir Turif bore S. 60° E. 
 
 Joppen quoque . . . repetitoque itinere Ni- 2 m. 
 copolim, quae prius Emmaus vocabatur . . . 
 
Apb. 26.] LTDDA. 143 
 
 large muster of camels in tlie open gromid near us ; many of 
 them young. Among the houses in this quarter were several 
 large buildings, said to be in use as soap factoiies. The houses 
 of Ludd, though numerous, are in general small and mean. 
 Here our eyes were again greeted with the pleasant sight of a 
 number of palm trees. 
 
 We engaged a guide for Yalo ; and before leaving, he took 
 us to the ruins of the old church, in the southwest quarter of 
 the town. Instead of passing through the streets, he led us 
 around on the outside towards the south ; where we entered by 
 another gate not much frequented. These are noble ruins ; but 
 were now, by daylight, less majestic and imposing, than as we 
 saw them formerly, by moonhght. The historical notices of the 
 church, and of Lydda, I have elsewhere given.' 
 
 Leaving the gate at 1.55, we took the road for Talo by way 
 of el-Kubab, at first S. 26° E. After fifteen minutes we crossed 
 obliquely Wady Harir, coming from the S. S. W. and uniting a 
 little further north with Wady 'Atallah, to form the great water- 
 course on the north of Ludd. Here were pools of stagnant 
 water ; from which women were filling their jars, and bearing 
 them away on their heads. The ground now became higher ; 
 and at 2.20 there was a ridge or sweE, with an extensive view.* 
 After another reach of the plain, we came at 2.45 to the water- 
 bed of Wady 'AtaUah, coming down by Kubab from the Merj 
 Ibn 'Omeir. We followed up this valley ; and ten minutes later 
 Kubab came in sight, S. 35° E. We afterwards rose upon the 
 western side of the valley along the plain ; and at 3.10 had 
 several villages in sight.' Among them was Abu Shusheh on 
 the western end of a range of hills in the south ; also 'Annabeh, 
 a vUlage of some size on the north of the Wady. We here dis- 
 missed our guide, who had given us little satisfaction. 
 
 Keeping along the edge of the plain, we at length climbed the 
 steep hill of Kubab, and reached that village at 3.55. This hill 
 may be regarded as one of the northern extremities of the range 
 runniug out N. N. W. from Zorah ; or rather perhaps, as a 
 northeastern spur of the same. The village is of considerable 
 size ; but has no marks of antiquity, nor any historical impor- 
 tance. As we passed up along its southwestern side, we had 
 some difficulty to pick our way among the numerous openings, 
 like small wells, leading to subterranean magazines for grain. 
 The people were quite civil. We found that having no guide 
 we had come out of our way in ascending to the village ; inas- 
 
 ' See Vol. 11. pp. 244-248. [iii. 49-55.] it issnes from the eastern hnu into the 
 
 ' Bearings at 2.20 : Jinizu 106°. Earn- plain, 
 leh 264°. Ludd 334°. Neby Danial 116°. ' Bearings at 3.10: Abu Shusheh 198°. 
 
 el-Hadltheh 43°. This latter is a large el-Birriyeh S. 50° W. 1^ m. el-Kubab 
 
 village just at the mouth of a Wady, as 148°. cl-'Annabeh 82°, 2 m. 
 
144 
 
 FROM AKKA TO JEKUSALEM. [Sbc. IIL 
 
 mucli as our proper road lay along tte bottom of the valley on 
 the north ; and we now had some difficulty in descending the 
 very steep declivity on that side to regain it. Here Wady 'Aly, 
 coming from Saris and LS,tr6n, unites with Wady 'Atallah com- 
 ing from the Merj.' 
 
 The large village 'Annabeh was here in the north beyond the 
 valley. The name suggests the Bethoanndba or Bethannaba of 
 Jerome ; which according to him was in the fourth mile from 
 Lydda ; though many said it was in the eighth mile." This 
 seems to imply, that, even thus early, the names of 'Annibeh 
 and Beit Nliba were sometimes confounded ; the specifications 
 of four miles and eight miles from Lydda being still applicable to 
 these villages respectively. 
 
 Leaving Kubab at 4.15, we descended towards the northeast, 
 crossed Wady 'Aly, and proceeded up Wady 'AtaUah towards 
 YS,lo. The position of this place was pointed out to us, as on the 
 north side of a spur or ridge running out west from the moun- 
 tains on the south of the Merj ; but it was not visible from 
 Kubab. Our road led along the broad open valley, about S. 
 70° E.' After half an hour our course became about E. S. E. 
 and at 5 o'clock we reached the western extremity of the spur. 
 We soon turned up along the hiU side ; and after a while passed 
 a small Wady running down north, with a little fountain on its 
 further side by the path. At 5.40 we came to Yalo. 
 
 This village is situated midway up this northern declivity, 
 between two ravines running down to the plain below ; it thus 
 overlooks the beautiful meadow-like tract of the Merj Ibn 'Omeir. 
 There is a fountain in the western ravine, which supplies the 
 village. The place has an old appearance ; and in a cliff beyond 
 the eastern ravine are several large caverns in the rocks ; which 
 may be natural, but have probably been enlarged. The village 
 belongs to the family of the Sheikhs Abu Ghaush, who reside at 
 Kuriet el-'Enab. One of the younger of them was now here, 
 and paid us a visit in our tent. The people of Y^lo were well 
 disposed, and treated us respectfully. 
 
 The fine plain or basin, Merj Ibn 'Omeir, which now lay 
 spread out before us, stretches in among the hills quite to the 
 base of the steep wall of the mountains ; on the top of which 
 are situated Upper Beth-horon and Saris. South of it is the 
 ridge of YS,lo ; and on the north and northwest are lower hills. 
 
 " Bearings at Kubab : Eamleb 314°. tur Bethoannaba. Plerique autein affir- 
 
 'Aimabeh N. el-Latron 151°. 'Amwas raant in octavo ab ea milliarlo sitam, et 
 
 135°. Selbit 91°. Saris ? 130°. Beit appellari Betbarmabam." 
 Nuba 107°. ^ Bearings at 4.40 : el-Lfitrcn S. li m. 
 
 ' Onomast. art. Anob : " Est nsque ho- 'Amwas S. 25° E. 1 m. Selbit N. 4° E. 
 
 die villa jnxta Diospolim quasi quarto 1 m. This last is a ruin north of the 
 
 miUiario ad orientalem plagam, qiue voca- Wady. 
 
Apk. 26.J TALO, AIJALON. 145 
 
 The name Ibn 'Omeir belongs to a district, and not specially to 
 the plain. In our former journey we had looked down upon this 
 fine tract from the high position of Beit 'Ur el-F6ka ; and the 
 description then given we now found to he correct ; with the 
 single exception, that, as seen from so high a point, the basin 
 seemed to be drained off more in the southwest towards Ekron ; 
 whereas, as now appears, it is drained by Wady 'Atalleh to the 
 'Aujeh.' In and around the plain are several villages. From 
 Yaio we could see Beit Nuba in the plain ; Beit Lflkieh at the 
 foot of the northern hiUs ; Kummaneh, a ruin, on the top of the 
 mountain ; also Ras Kerka' and JemmS,la on the lower parts of 
 the mountain further north, in the district of the Simhan 
 Sheikhs, who live at Eas Kerka', and are Keis.' Could we have 
 taken a direct route from Mejdel Yaba to Talo, more towards 
 the east, it would have brought us through a tract as yet Httle 
 visited, containing apparently many villages. 
 
 The whole of the Merj, and indeed very much of the great 
 plain through which we had passed to-day, was now covered with 
 heavy crops of wheat and barley. The Merj, especially, reminded 
 me in this respect of the rich harvest I had seen a year before in 
 Lincolnshire, in passing from London to Scotland. The barley 
 was now in the ear ; and would soon be ready for harvesting. 
 Many tares were mingled with the grain. The dry season, too, 
 had already commenced ; the grass in many places was beginning 
 to lose its green ; and in two or three weeks the present verdure 
 of the fields would be no more. 
 
 In a former volume I have stated the reasons for regarding 
 Yalo as the ancient Aijalon ; and the fine basin below as the 
 valley of Aijalon, over which Joshua commanded the moon to 
 stand stiU.' The place had always interested us ; and we were 
 gratified in being able to spend a night in it. So far as I know, 
 it had as yet .been visited by no modern traveller.* 
 
 Beit Niiba, which lay below us in the plain, about a mile 
 distant, with a large olive grove beyond it, we may regard as the 
 representative of the Nobe of Jerome ; and was also in his day 
 regarded by some as a Bethannaba.^ The historical notices are 
 given in a former volume.' This plain was selected by Eichard 
 of England as the place of his long encampment, doubtless on 
 account of its convenience and fertility. 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 253. [iii. 63.] three villages, 'Amwas, Beit Nuba, and 
 
 ' For the two great parties, Keis and Yalo, from the Jerusalem road near La- 
 Yemen, see in Vol. II. p. 17. [ii. 344.] — tron. This would not be possible, I think, 
 Bearings at Yalo : Beit 'tJr el-F6ka 64°. as to Beit Nuba, and certainly not as to 
 Beit Nuba 41°, 1 m. Beit Liikieh 59°. Yalo. Lands of the Bible, II. p. 266. 
 RiimmaDeh 86°. RSs Kerka' 59°. Jemmala ' Hieron. in Ep. 86 ad Eustoch. Epit. 
 35". PaulsB, p. 673 ; see above, p. 142. n. 1. — 
 
 ' .Josh. 10, 12. See Vol. II p. 253 sq. Onomast art Anob ; see above, p. 144. 
 
 [iii. 63.] n. 2. 
 
 * Dr Wilson speaks of having seen, the ' Vol IL p. 254. [iii. 64.] 
 
 VojL. III.— 13 
 
146 FKOM 'akKA to JEKTJSALEM. [Sec. in. 
 
 At Talo we were told of a ruin in the mountains on tie 
 east, said not to be far off, called Kefir. It was, however, now 
 too late for us to visit it from Yalo; nor were we able after- 
 wards to make an excursion to it from Jerusalem. But, in the 
 name Kefir, it is impossible not to recognise the ancient Che- 
 pliirah, a city of the Gibeonites, afterwards assigned to Benja- 
 min ; and, after the captivity, again inhabited by the returning 
 exiles.' From that day till this, it has remained unknown. 
 When ascertained, it will complete our knowledge of the four 
 cities of the Gibeonites ; the other three, Gibeon, Beeroth, and 
 Kirjath-Jearim, having already been recognised in el-Jib, el- 
 Bireh, and Kuriet el-'Enab. 
 
 Tuesday, April l^tli. — The morning opened with an appear- 
 ance of rain, and a slight shower fell ; but the clouds soon broke 
 away, and the day became fine. We broke up from Yalo at 
 6.55, with a guide for Sur'a. At first we returned on our road 
 of last evening for ten minutes, and then kept still high along 
 the declivity, about N. 65° W.= At 7.25 we turned to the left 
 around the shoulder of the ridge ; and had 'Amwas and Latron 
 before us in a line, S. 47° W.^ 
 
 Descending gradually we came at 7.40 to the village of 
 'Amwas, lying on the gradual western declivity of a rocky hill, 
 sufficiently high to have an extensive view of the great plain. 
 It is now a poor hamlet consisting of a few mean houses. There 
 are two fountains or weUs of living water ; one just by the vil- 
 lage, and the other a little down the shallow valley west. The 
 former is probably the one mentioned by Sozomen in the fifth 
 century, by Theophanes in the sixth, and again by Willibald in 
 the eighth, as situated in a spot wbere three ways met {in trivid), 
 and as possessing healing qualities.' 
 
 We noticed also fragments of two marble columns ; and 
 were told of sarcophagi near by, which had recently been opened. 
 But the chief relic of antiquity consists in the remains of an 
 ancient church just south of the village, originally a fine struc- 
 ture, built of large hewn stones. The circular eastern end is 
 still standing, as also the two western corners ; but the inter- 
 vening parts lie in ruins. Such is the present state of the 
 ancient -Nicopolis.' 
 
 That 'Amwas represents the ancient Emmaus or Nicopolis, 
 situated at the foot of the mountains, and according to the Itin. 
 
 ' Josh, 9, 17. 18, 26. Ezra 2, 25. Neh. Vita S. WiffibaMi ab anon. § 13. The 
 
 7, 29. fame of this fountain seems to have been 
 
 ' Bearings at 7. 10 : el-Buij 15°. Eubab spread abroad, as healing both man and 
 
 299°. beast ; see Eeland Pal. p. 759 sq. 
 
 ' Bearings at 7.25: Knbah 304°. Abu 'Bearings at 'Amwas: Kubflb 314°. 
 
 Shusheh 283°. Khiildeh 256°. Beit Jiz Ramleh 314°. Abu Shusheh 289°. Beit 
 
 235°. Latron 227°. 'Amwas 227°. Jiz 234°. 'Annabeh 333°. 
 
 * Sozom. H. E. 5. 21. Theophan. p. 41. 
 
Apk. 27.] 'amwas, emmaus. 147 
 
 Hieros. twenty-two Eoman miles distant from Jerusalem, and 
 ten from Lydda, I believe no one doubts.' The name does not 
 occur in the Old Testament ; hut from the first hook of Macca- 
 bees and from Josephus we learn, that here Judas Maccaheeus 
 defeated the Syrian general Gorgias; ° that Emmaus, having 
 been dismantled, was afterwards fortified by the Syrian Bac- 
 chides ; ' that under the Eomans it became the head of a 
 toparchy ; was afterwards reduced to slavery by Cassius ; and 
 at last was burned by order of Varus just after the death of 
 Herod the G-reat.* The place appears not to have received the 
 name Nicopolis until the third century after Christ ; when it 
 was again rebuilt by the exertions of the writer Julius Africanus, 
 who flourished about A. D. 220.= This name, along with 
 Emmaus, it continued to bear during the centuries of the 
 crusades.' Yet the writers of that epoch, and later travellers, 
 who speak of a Castellum Emmaus (from the Vulgate), evidently 
 had in view, as we shall see further on, the fortress at el-Latron, 
 a mile distant, on the Jerusalem road.' The village 'AmwSs, 
 though in sight from that road, would seem hitherto to have been 
 actually visited by no traveller. 
 
 A question of a good deal of historical interest connects 
 itself with this place ; viz. whether it stands in any relation to the 
 Emmaus of the New Testament, whither the two disciples were 
 going from Jerusalem, as Jesus drew near and went with them, 
 on the day of his resurrection ? ' As the text of the New Tes- 
 tament now stands, the distance of the place from Jerusalem is 
 said to have been sixty stadia ; which, if correct, of course 
 excludes all idea of any connection with the present 'Amw^s ; 
 the latter being at least one hundred and sixty stadia distant 
 from the Holy City.' 
 
 Yet there can be no doubt, that in the earliest period of 
 which we have any record, after the apostolic age, the opinion 
 prevailed in the church, that Nicopolis (as it was then called) 
 was the scene of that narrative. Both Eusebius and Jerome, in 
 
 ■ Hieron. ad. Dan. c. 8 et 12 : " Emaus, Paschal, ad A. D. 223. See Reland p. 759. 
 quae imnc Nicopolis . . . nbi incipiunt mon- ° Will. Tyr. 7. 24. ib. 8. 1. Brocardns 
 
 t^a Judaese consurgere." Itin. Hieros. p. u. 9. 10. 
 600. ' Here the first host of crusaders en- 
 
 ^ 1 Mace. 3, 40. 57. 4, 3. 14. 15. Hieron. camped for the last time before reaching 
 
 ad. Dan. u. 8. Jerusalem ; Will. Tyr. 7. 24. 
 
 ' 1 Mace. 9, 50. Jos. Antt. 13. 1. 3. » Luke 24, 13-35. 
 
 * Jos B. J. 3. 3. 5.— Antt. 14. 11. 2. » The Itin. Hieros. gives the distance of 
 
 ib. 17. 10. 9. Nicopolis from Jerusalem at 22 E. miles. 
 
 ° Hieron. in Catalog. Scriptor. Eccles. But the specifications of that Itinerary as 
 
 " Julius Africanus, cu jus quinque de tem- to distances are only general, and can 
 
 poribus extant volumina, sub Imperatore never be taken as exact. The traveller 
 
 M. Aurelio Antonino . , . legationem pro now occupies from six to six and a half 
 
 instauratiouc urbis Emmaus suscepit, quae hours between 'Amwas and Jerusalem, 
 
 postea Nicopolis appellata est" ChrorL over a very had road. 
 
148 FROM 'akKA to JERUSALEM. [SecIIL 
 
 the fourth century, are explicit on this point ; the one a leading 
 hishop and historian, the other a scholar and translator of the 
 Scriptures. ' Indeed, they seem to have known of no other in- 
 terpretation ; nor is there a trace of any other in any ancient 
 writer. The same opinion continued general down through 
 succeeding ages until the commencement of the fourteenth 
 century ;^ when sh'ght traces begin to appear of the later idea, 
 which fixed an Emmaus at Kubeiheh ; a transfer of which there 
 is no earlier vestige, and for which there was no possible ground, 
 except to find an Emmaus at about sixty stadia from the Holy 
 
 Thus, for thirteen centuries did the interpretation current 
 in the whole church regard the Emmaus of the New Testament 
 as identical with Nicopolis. This was not the voice of mere 
 tradition ; but the well considered judgment of men of learning 
 and critical skill, resident in the country, acquainted with the 
 places in question, and occupied in investigating and describing 
 the scriptural topography of the Holy Land. — The objections 
 which lie against this view have been well presented by Eeland 
 and others ; and are the four following : * 
 
 First. The express statement of Luke, that Emmaus was 
 distant from Jerusalem sixty stadia.' Such is indeed the pres- 
 ent reading, as found in all the editions and in most of the 
 manuscripts of the New Testament that have come down to us. 
 But it is no less true, that several manuscripts and some of 
 them of high authority, read here one hundred and sixty ; and 
 thus point to Nicopolis.^ This may then have been the current 
 reading in the days of Eusebius and Jerome. There seems 
 indeed, to be a strong probability that it actually was so ; since 
 otherwise, those fathers in searching for the Emmaus of Luke, 
 had only to seek at the distance of sixty stadia from Jerusalem, 
 in order to find it. We therefore, may draw at least this defi- 
 nite conclusion, viz. that in their day such an Emrriaus was un- 
 known ; and, also, that probably their copies read one hundred 
 and sixty stadia. — It may have been that the word or numeral 
 letter signifying a hundred had early begun to be dropped from 
 
 * Onomast. art. Mmaus ; here Jerome, 'Enab to have been earlier regarded as 
 translating Eusebius, -B-rites : " Emaus, de Emmans ; of which there is not the slight- 
 quo loco fuit Cleophas, cujus Lucas memi- est vestige in history or tradition. Churches 
 nit Evangelista. Hsec est nunc Nicopolis in Palestine, no. 1. p. 7 
 insignis civitas Palsestinse." * Reland Pal. p. 426 sq. Raumer PaL 
 
 " So Sozomen H. E, 5. 2L Theopban. p. 169. Edit. 3. 
 
 p. 41. Vita S. WilUbaldi ab anon. § 13. <• Luke 24, 13. 
 
 W^ill. Tyr. 7. 24. Jac. de Vitr. 63. p. 1081. ° Two uncial manuscripts have this 
 
 Brocardus c. 10. reading, viz. K, or Cod. Cyprius ; and N, 
 
 ' Sir J. Maundeville; Voiage p. 94. or Cod. Vindobonensis ; besides several 
 
 Ludolf de Suchem § 43 ; in Reissb. p. 8.50. cursive manu-scripts. See the critical 
 
 See more in "Vol. IL p. 255. n. 4. [iii. editions of Wetstern,Griesbach,Tischendorf, 
 
 66.] — Mr Williams supposes Kuriet el- etc. 
 
Ape. 27.] 'AMWAS, EMMAUS. 149 
 
 the text by a lapse of transcribers ; and that this was increased 
 as copies were multiplied in other lands, by copyists who knew 
 nothing of Palestiae ; until at length hj degrees the omission 
 became current in the manusciipts. Indeed, few if any of the 
 manuscripts now extant, were written in Palestine. There exist 
 likewise in the New Testament other examples of erroneous 
 readings, which liave doubtless, in like manner, crept in through 
 the error of transcribers.' 
 
 Second. Josephus relates, that Vespasian (or Titus) assigned 
 in Palestine a place of habitation for eight hundred men, whom 
 he had dismissed from his army ; it was called Emmaus, and 
 was distant from Jerusalem sixty stadia." This, it is said, con- 
 firms the present reading of the New Testament. But since, as 
 is well known, the works of Josephus were copied in a later age 
 almost exclusively by Christian transcribers, this passage would 
 very naturally be conformed to the current reading in Luke ; 
 while it is also true, that several manuscripts of Josephus still 
 read here thirty stadia.^ This at least shows the reading to be 
 variable, and therefore doubtful ; so that it can have no weight 
 in determining the text of the New Testament. Indeed, the 
 original of it may just as well have been one hundred and sixty. 
 
 Third. The Emmaus of Luke and Josephus, it is said, is 
 called a village; * while Nicopolis was a city. But the word 
 employed by Luke signifies strictly a toion without walls, a 
 country-town, as distinguished from a fortified city ; and that used 
 by Josephus denotes a place, and is also put for a fortified post 
 or town. Emmaus had been laid in ashes by Varus shortly 
 after the death of Herod, and would seem not to have been 
 fully rebuilt until the third century ; when it received the name 
 of Nicopohs. When Luke wrote, therefore, it was probably 
 stm a place partially in ruins and without walls ; a fitting post 
 for a colony of disbanded soldiers. 
 
 Fourth. The distance of Nicopolis from Jerusalem is too 
 great, it is said, to admit of the return of the two disciples the 
 same evening, so as to meet the assembled apostles. This how- 
 ever would depend, not so much upon the distance, as upon the 
 time when they set off. They " rose up the same hour,"= and 
 
 ' Thus in John 19, 14 it is said that = Jos. B. J. 7. 6. 6.— Both De Wetto 
 Jesus was sentenced by Pilate at the sixth and Meyer, on Luke 24, 13, refer to Jo- 
 hour- while according to Mark 15, 25 he sephus as placing this Emmaus on the 
 was crucified at the third hour ; which last north of Jerusalem. But neither Josephus 
 alone accords with the circumstances of nor any other writer says one word as to 
 the crucifixion. A transcriber probably its direction from the Holy City, 
 mistook /' for r'. See the author's Gr. ' See note on Joseph. L c. ed. Haver- 
 Harm, p. 226. — Another instance is Acts camp. Rbdiger in Allg. Lit. Zeit Apr. 
 7, 16, where Abraham is put for Jacob ; 1842, no. 72, p. 576. 
 comp. Gen. 33, 18. 19. — A third is the in- * Luke 24, 13 kcsJ^t;. Jos. B. J. 7. G. 6 
 eertion of the name Jeremiah, Matt. 27, x"?^""- See the Lexicons. 
 9 ; comp. Zech. 11, 12. 13. ° Luke 24, 33. 
 Vol. III.— 13* 
 
150 FROM 'AKKA to JEETTSALEM. [Sec. ni. 
 
 naturally returned in haste, to n;iake known their glad tidings ; 
 although with all their haste, they could not well have traversed 
 the distance in less than five hours. It was not yet evening 
 when they arrived at Emmaus ; ' and if they set off to return 
 even as late as six o'clock, which at that season would be about 
 sunset, they might reach the city by eleven o'clock. The apos- 
 tles were assembled and the doors were shut " for fear of the 
 Jews ; " ' they had indeed partaken of an evening meal, but this 
 had already been long ended ; for Jesus afterwards inquires, if 
 they have there any food.' It was evidently late. There is 
 therefore nothing impossible or improbable in the supposition, 
 that the two had hastened back a long distance, late at night, 
 perhaps with much bodily effort, to declare to their brethren the 
 wonderful things of which they had been witnesses. A like 
 amount of travel, on an extraordinary occasion, would be noth- 
 ing strange even at the present day. 
 
 The case then may be thus presented. On the one hand, 
 the reading of good manuscripts gives the distance of Emmaus 
 from Jerusalem at one hundred and sixty stadia ; at which 
 point there was a place called Emmaus, which still exists as the 
 village 'Amwds ; and all this is further supported by the critical 
 judgment of learned men residing in the country near the time ; 
 as also by the unbroken tradition of the first thirteen centuries. 
 On the other hand, there is the current reading of sixty stadia 
 in most of the present manuscripts, written out of Palestine ; 
 supported oidy by a doubtful reading of Josephus ; but with no 
 place existing, either now or at the end of the third century, to 
 which this specification can be referred. So far as it regards 
 the New Testament, it is a question between two various read- 
 ings ; one, now the cunent one in manuscripts and editions, but 
 with no other vahd support ; the other supported in like manner 
 by manuscripts, as also by facts, by the judgment of early 
 scholars, and by early and unbroken tradition. — ^After long and 
 repeated consideration, I am disposed to acquiesce in the judg- 
 ment of Eusebius and Jerome.* 
 
 Leaving 'Amwds and proceeding along the declivity, which 
 here falls off gradually towards the west, we came in twenty 
 minutes to the Jerusalem road, and to el-L^tron situated close 
 
 ^ Luke 24, 28. 29. merely conformed to the prevailing tradi- 
 
 ' John 20, 19. tion; Kninol Coram, ad Luc. L c. Bnt 
 
 ' Mark 16, 14. Lnke 24, 41. in this case, there was and is an Emmaus 
 
 * See also Rodiger in AUg. Lit. Zeit. 1. actually existing at the distance specified ; 
 
 c. Ritter Erdk. XVL p. 545 sq. — It may in the other, at sixty stadia, there has been 
 
 he said, and has heen said, that the Mss. no trace of an Emmaus since the doubtful 
 
 which read " one hundred and sixty," were reading of Josephus. 
 
Apr. 27.] LATRON. 151 
 
 upon its southern side. This is a conical Tell, commanding a 
 wide prospect ; and crowned with the ruins of a large and 
 strong fortress. We rode to the summit ; from which we could 
 see Tell es-SS.fieh in the southwest, and also Ysifa and the 
 Mediterranean.^ The ruins consist of walls of large stones weU 
 hewn ; with numerous interior divisions, and many vaults. 
 The remains are chiefly from the middle ages ; and pointed 
 arches are everywhere found in the best preserved portions.* 
 But the substructions are older and apparently Eoman ; espe- 
 cially on the west. Here the lower portion of the wall is built up 
 for some distance with sloping work ; though the slope is less 
 than at Jerusalem or Kul'at esh-Shukif. Towards the south, the 
 Tell looks down into Wady 'Aly ; which descending from Saris 
 here sweeps around the Tell, and passes off on the north of 
 Kubab. The Jerusalem road ascends the mountain along this 
 Wady. 
 
 This place is very obviously the Castellum Emmaus of the 
 crusaders and later travellers ; which they speak of as identical 
 withNicopolis.^ The fortress was evidently erected to command 
 the approach to Jerusalem ; and, in consequence of its nearness 
 to Emmaus or Nicopolis, it may have served also as a bulwark 
 of that city. In this way the Eoman substructions may be 
 accounted for ; as also, perhaps, Jerome's rendering, Castellum 
 JEmmaus, in the Vulgate.* But when the tradition had gradu- 
 ally changed, and Emmaus was transferred to Kubeibeh, we 
 find this ruin, in the latter part of the sixteenth century, known 
 as Gastrum v. Castellum honi Latronis ; this name, as was held, 
 being derived from the legend, which made this the birthplace 
 of the penitent thief.' This seemg to have been the probable 
 origin of the present Arabic name. 
 
 But in whatever relation this fortress may later have stood 
 to Emmaus, it seems not improbable, that this spot was the site 
 of the ancient Modin, the residence of the Maccabees ; at least 
 its position and elevation correspond, better than any other 
 place, with the circumstances narrated of Modin. In that town 
 
 ' Bearings from el-Latron : Tell es-Sa- Vitr. 63. p. 1081. Brocardns c. 9. Tuclier 
 
 fieh 227^. Beit Jiz 239°. Khuldeh 264°. in Reissb. p. 658. Breydenbach ib. p. 105. 
 
 Ramleh 320°. Yafa 323°. Knbab 336°. — Some quite recent travellers still speak 
 
 'Annabeh 343°.— From Tell es-Safieh, in of this place as Emmaus ; e. g. Prokesch 
 
 1838, we took the bearing of el-Latron N. p. 39. Barth in Eitter Erdk. XVI. p. 546. 
 
 49° E. The people there gave it the name * Luke 24, 13. The earlier Itala reads 
 
 of 'Am was ; see in Vol. U. p. 30. £ii. here municipium ; Blancbini Quat. Evang. 
 
 363 sq.] II. p. 298. Comp. also Reland Falsest p. 
 
 ' Quaresmius and others mention among 429. 
 
 these remains, in their day, the ruins of a 'So Zuallart, Fr. ed. liv. 3. p. 16. Coto- 
 
 large church ; Quaresm. EC. p. 12. F. vicns p. 143. Quaresmius IL p. 12. This 
 
 Fabri in Keissb. p 241. Cotovicns p. 143. latter writer has a strong array of antiho- 
 
 " Bernard, c 10. Fulcher Carnot. 18. p. rity, to show that the thief in question was 
 
 396. WiU Tyr. 7. 24. ib. 8. 1. Jac. de not bom here, but in Egypt. 
 
152 FROM *AKKA TO JEEUSALEM. [Sec. m. 
 
 the Maccabees lived and were buried ; and there Simon erected 
 a lofty monument, with seven pyramids, to their memory.' 
 Modin lay adjacent to the great plain ; and the monument was 
 visible to all who sailed along the sea.= Eusebius and Jerome 
 hkewise testify, that Modin was not far from Lydda ; and that 
 the sepulchres remained in their day.^ The writers of the times 
 of the crusades speak indefinitely of Modin, as somewhere in this 
 vicinity ;* while Brocardus already seems to fix it at Soba.' To 
 all the circumstances thus enumerated the elevated and isolated 
 Tell of Latron well corresponds.* 
 
 Leaving Latron at 8.15, we struck down at once by a steep 
 descent to the bed of Wady 'Aly, where a brook was flowing ; 
 and then, ascending again, were at the top of the acchvity at 
 8.35. We were here on a broad ridge, overlooking a lower tract 
 among hills in the south, and having Si5r'a in sight before us.' 
 This place is situated towards the southwestern extremity of the 
 high ridge, which skirts Wady es-Surar in the north ; from which 
 extremity another ridge or line of hills runs off about N. N. W. 
 in the direction of Khtildeh and Kub&b. Between these two 
 ridges, and that on which we now stood south of Wady 'Aly, 
 is an extensive open tract, comprising the heads or cultivated 
 rocky basins of no less than three Wadys, which run westwards 
 and unite towards the plain ; and then apparently pass down to 
 Nahr Eubin by an outlet among the western hills. Of these 
 basins, one was next the ridge on which we now were ; another 
 was adjacent to the ridge running northerly from Sur'a ; and the 
 third, between the other two ; all separated from each other by 
 lower projecting ridges. — On our former journey we had seen 
 Siir'a from the south, on a high point of the ridge overlooking the 
 fine plain of Beth-shemesh ; we now approached it from the 
 north, on which side the elevation seems not much more than 
 half as great. 
 
 Descending and crossing the first Wady we rose upon the 
 ridge beyond f and came at 8.55 to Beit Susin, a small village, 
 looking old and miserable. Descending again, we came in seven 
 minutes to an ancient well of large diameter and some twenty 
 feet deep, walled up with hewn stones. Passing over the low 
 
 ' 1 Maco. 2, 1. 15. 13, 25—30. Jos. — Quaresmius and some earlier travellers 
 
 Antt 13. 6. 5. speak of the remains of a church, once 
 
 " 1 Mace. 16, i. 5. 13, 29. dedicated to the Maccabees, a stone's 
 
 ^ Onomast. art. Modim : " Vicus juxta throw from Latron on the north of the 
 
 Diospolim, unde fnerunt Machahiei, quo- road; Quaresm. II. p. 12. Zuallart 1. c. 
 
 rum hodieque ibidem sepulchra monstran- p. 16. Cotovic. p. 143. AVe noticed no- 
 
 tur." thing of the kind ; nor do I find it men- 
 
 * Win Tyr. 8. 1. Jao. de Vitr. 63. p. tioned in later travellers. 
 
 1081. ° See also Ritter Erdk. XVI. p. 546. 
 
 ' Brocard. c. 10. p. 186. On the ab- ' Bearings at 8.35: Siir'a 180°. el- 
 
 surdity of connecting Modin with Soba, Latron 8°. 
 
 see above, in Vol II. p. 659. [ii. 328 sq.] » At 8.50, Beit Jiz bore N. 80° W. 
 
Ape. 27.] SUB' A, ZOKAH. 153 
 
 end of the second ridge, we struck at 9.15 the bed and brook of 
 the third Wady, coming down from the direction of Sflr'a ; and 
 followed it up through rich fields of grain. After eight minutes 
 we reached the main source of the brook in a noble fountain, 
 walled up square with large hewn stones, and gushing over with 
 fine water. This is the fountain of Zorah, and as we passed 
 on, we overtook no less than twelve females toiling upwards 
 towards the village, each with her jar of water on her head. 
 The village, the fountain, the fields, the mountains, and the 
 females bearing water, all transported us back to ancient times ; 
 when, in all probability, the mother of Samson often in like 
 manner visited the fountain, and toiled homeward with her jar 
 - of water. — It is inconceivable, why the people do not generally use 
 donkeys for this service ; as one of these animals wiU carry four 
 jars of still larger size. We saw this done only in a very few 
 instances. 
 
 Another eight minutes brought us to the foot of the sharp 
 point or TeU, on which Sur'a is situated ; as steep and regular 
 almost as a volcanic cone. We ascended on the northeastern 
 side, and passing through the village, which lies on this side just 
 below the brow, came out upon the open summit at 9.40. It is 
 a miserable village, exposed on this high point to the burning 
 rays of the sun without a trace of shade. This shoulder of the 
 mountain, at the angle of the two ridges, shoots up into four 
 sharp points ; of which Sur'a occupies the easternmost. There 
 are no traces of antiquity about the village itself ; except that 
 the rocks on the summit have been hewn away in several places. 
 But with the exception of one cistern with steps, we could not 
 make out for what purpose this was done. The Wely just by 
 the village has several large tombs in its court. Sur'a is in 
 the district of Eamleh ; but belongs feudally to the Luhham 
 Sheikhs, who live at Beit 'AtS,b, and are Keis. 
 
 This place we saw from a distance in our former journey ; 
 and recognised it as the Zorah of the Old Testament, the birth- 
 place of Samson. The few historical notices connected with it, 
 are given in a former volume.' 
 
 Our chief object in visiting Zorah, was to obtain a view of 
 the country between it and Jerusalem ; and especially to ascer- 
 tain, if possible, the general course of the great valleys. The 
 prospect from the summit of Zorah is extensive and fine. It 
 does not reach far into the great plain ; but takes in the district 
 towards Beit Nettif, and especially the plain of Wady SQrar 
 directly beneath. 'Ain Shems, the ancient Beth-shemesh, was 
 before us, a noble site for a city ; a low plateau at the junction 
 of two fine plains. The plain of the Surar extends up east and 
 » Judg. 13, 2. See Vol II. pp. 12, 17. [ii 337, 840.] 
 
154 FROM 'aKKA to JEKUSALEM. [Sec. HL 
 
 northeast far into the mountains ; where its upper part is almost 
 shut in by lofty precipitous ridges. Just at its extremity is the 
 village of Yesht'a (here pronounced Eshwa') N. 78° E. A 
 little further east comes in the deep and narrow chasm of Wady 
 Ghflrab, which, as we afterwards saw, has one branch coming 
 from Saris, and another from beyond Kuriet el-'Enab. Further 
 south, with a high intervening ridge, was seen the mouth of the 
 great Wady Isma'il, coming from Kulonieh, the continuation 
 of Wady Beit Hanina. The large water-courses of these two 
 Wadys unite to form Wady Surar, and the channel thus formed 
 runs down north of 'Ain Shems. The plains thus shut in are 
 beautiful and fertile. 
 
 A number of villages were in sight ; some of which we 
 recognised as old acquaintances of our former journey. Yeshu'a 
 and 'Art'uf were in the basin below us ; the latter on the low 
 ridge running oiit between the water-courses of the Wadys 
 G-hurab and Isma'il. The large village Deir Aban is on the 
 foot of the mountain, south of Wady Isma'il. Deir el-Hawa is 
 on the summit of the mountain, south of the same valley. We 
 saw also Kesla, on a high point of the lofty ridge between the 
 Ghflrab and Isma'il.' It probably represents the ancient Ohe- 
 salon on the confines of Judah ; where the border passed from 
 Kirath-jearim to descend to Beth-shemesh.^ 
 
 We wished to proceed to Jerusalem by the shortest route ; 
 and, if possible, by way of Soba. The easiest routes were said 
 to be quite circuitous ; one on the right by way of Beit 'Atab, 
 and another on the left along the slope of the mountain to 
 Wady 'Aly and so by Saris. Between these two, we were told 
 of three others ; one up Wady Isma'il to 'Ain Karim, which 
 was bad ; another on the ridge between that Wady and Wady 
 GhurSb by way of Kesla and Soba ; and the third for some 
 distance along the slope of the mountain, and then by Mihsir to 
 Saris. The men of the place said the middle route by Kesla was 
 the best and most direct ; but no one would go with us as guide. 
 We therefore retained our guide from Yalo, who professed to 
 know the way ; though it turned out that he had never been ia 
 that region. 
 
 Having decided to go by way of Kesla and S6ba, we left 
 Sur'a at 10.30 for 'Artuf, the first village in that direction. 
 Descending the TeU in five minutes to the low saddle in the 
 eastern ridge, we then struck down the declivity into the plain 
 of Wady Ghflrab, and came at 10.45 to its bed and brook. 
 
 ' Bearings from Sui'ah : Yeshu'a 78°. of Wady Ghiirab 84°. Monti of Wady 
 
 'Artuf 118°. Deir Aban 148°. Deir el- Isma'il 117°. 
 
 Hawa 121°. 'Ain Shems 199°. Beit ^ Josh. 15, 10. See Vol. II p. 30. 
 
 Nettif 178°- Beit el-Jemal 193°. Kesla n. 2. [ii. 364.] 
 88°. Kas Kerka' 36°. Knbab 349°. Mouth 
 
Ape. 27.] "AETUF. MIHSIR. 155 
 
 Ascending gradually on the other side, we reached 'Artuf at 11 
 o'clock, a poor hamlet of a few houses. Here we discovered that 
 our guide knew nothing of the road ; and we therefore inquired 
 for another. This brought out, after some parleying, one of the 
 Beit "Atab Sheikhs, who happened to be there. He and all the 
 rest declared the road by Kesla to be impassable with horses, 
 as also that up Wady Isma'il ; and advised us to go to SS,ris 
 by Mihsir, or better by Wady 'Aly. We chose the former.' 
 
 Turning our course from 'Artuf, at 11.15, in the direction 
 of Yeshu'a, we descended and crossed obliquely the plain of 
 Wady Ghurab, until we struck a road passing up the valley to 
 that place. At 11.30 we passed close on the left hand of the 
 village ; which seemed large, with weE. tilled fields and many 
 fruit trees around it. We kept on up a small open valley, -on a 
 course about north ; reaching the head of the valley and then 
 crossing a low swell at 11.50 ; after which we passed around the 
 open basin or head of a Wady running down' westwards. This is 
 the road leading along the declivity of the mountain to Wady 
 'Aly. At 12.5 we left the road ; turning at right angles to 
 ascend the mountain directly to Mihsir. The path lay along a 
 steep, narrow, rocky, and desolate Wady ; up which our animals 
 clambered only with great exertion. At 12.25 we came out 
 on the southern brink of a deeper valley, also running down 
 west ;^ and still continued to ascend. The badness and difficulty 
 of the road are not exceeded in the roughest parts of Mount 
 Lebanon. 
 
 At length, at 12.40, we reached the large village of Mihsir, 
 situated just below the western brow of the mountain ; and 
 stopped for a time for lunch. We were saluted by a general 
 bark of all the dogs of the village, and a visit from many of the 
 men. The place seemed flourishing ; and, for a wonder, had 
 one or two new houses of good size. It lies at an elevation of 
 at least 1500 feet above the sea ; and commands a most exten- 
 sive view over the whole plain of Yafa and Gaza, with the 
 Mediterranean beyond. Although situated on this rocky ridge, 
 there is some tillage, and many olive orchards. Indeed, the 
 hiUs around, rocky as they are, are planted with olive trees.' 
 
 We left Mihsir at 1.10, for Saris, an hour distant on the same 
 ridge, on a general course E. N . E. We kept along on the 
 southeastern brow of the ridge, looking down into the deep 
 northwestern branch of Wady Ghurab, which has its beginning 
 in this quarter. Our path led along the connecting ridges and 
 saddles between the rugged points, which compose the main 
 
 ' Bearings from 'Artuf: 'Ain Shems S. ' Bearings from Mihsir: Kubab 321°. 
 
 40° W. Deir Aban S. 10° E. Yeshu'a SiVa 251°. Beit 'Atab 173°. Kesla S. 
 
 N. 20° E. 50' E. Deir esh-Sheikh ? S. 
 
 " At 12.25, el-Litron bore 313°. 
 
156 FEOM 'aKKA to JEEUSALEM. [SecUL 
 
 ridge.' The hills around were rocky and desolate. At 2.10 we 
 reached Saris, a small village still on the ridge, just south of the 
 gap hy which Wady 'Aly descends ; one of the heads of which 
 lies in the east helow the village.^ 
 
 In the list of the cities of Judah in the book of Joshua, the 
 Septuagint has an interpolated passage, containing the names 
 of eleven cities, between Eltekon and Kirjath-jearim ; and the 
 same list is also mentioned by Jerome.' The village Saris is 
 probably the 8ores or Boris of this passage ; but whether it is 
 also the Saris of Josephus, to which, according to that writer, 
 David fled, is from the position very doubtful.'' David would 
 appear to have kept himself rather in the south of Judah. 
 
 Leaving S&ris, we descended into the head of Wady 'Aly, 
 and fell into the Jerusalem road. This road then winds up and 
 over a ridge on the north to the southern brow of a second 
 Wady ; and then along and around its beginning to the head 
 of a third ; and then again to a fourth still larger and deeper ; 
 all running down on the left towards the western plain ; but 
 whether uniting to form Wady 'Aly, or running to the plain 
 separately, we could not learn. The road is bad ; and the whole 
 region rocky, desolate, and dreary. The badness of the road 
 arises mainly from the great number of loose stones, which have 
 been suffered to accumulate in the path. Were these removed, 
 the road would be a good one for the country ; just as the mis- 
 sionaries residing in summer at 'Abeih and Bhamdun have 
 caused the stones to be removed every year from the roads 
 between those places and Beirut, and have thus reduced the 
 distance in time by a whole hour. The former American consular 
 agent at Yafa, the elder Murad, once caused this road to be thus 
 cleared of stones, and made it all the way comparatively good. 
 But such public-spirited individuals are rare ; the government 
 does nothing at all ; and the road is now again as bad as ever. 
 
 Passing up steeply around the head of the valley last men- 
 tioned, we came at 2.55 to the brow looking down upon Kuriet 
 el-'Enab ; and at 3 o'clock reached that village. It is prettily 
 situated in a basin, on the north side of a spur jutting out from 
 
 ' Bearings at 1.40 : Kesla S. 10° E. 2 duntasat Interpretes in Jesu Naue, nbi 
 
 m. — ^At 2 o'clock : Kiistul 92°. Soba 103°. tribus Judse urbes et oppida describuntur, 
 
 el-'Amun 92°. The latter is a village on inter csetera etiam hoc scriptum : Thacco et 
 
 the northern declivity of Wady Ghiirab. Ephratha, hcec est Bethleem, et Phxigor et 
 
 ' Bearings from Saris : Soba 109°. Kils- ^tham et Culon et Tami et Boris et 
 
 tul 91°. Caram et Cfallim et Bather et Manocho, 
 
 ^ Joah. 15, 59 Sept. QeKSb Kol *E(^pa&£2, civitates midecim et vicnli earuni ; quod 
 
 avTii eVrl 'BaiSrK^fi., KaX ^ayi>p koI AiT&y neo in Hebraico nee apud alium invenitnr 
 
 [al. AiTo^] Kol KovKhy Kal lara/j. Kol 0a- iuterpretem, etc." See especially Reland 
 
 fi^s [aL 2wp7)j] Kal Kape/a Kal Tahe/i Kol Falsest, pp. 643, 988. Wilson, Lands of 
 
 0ea»)p [aL Bat&jjp] xal W.avoX'!' • v6Keis the Bible II. p. 266. 
 HvSeKa KoX ai K(ifiai avrwv. Hieron. ad * Jos. Antt. 6. 12. 4. Reland p. 988. 
 Mich, o 5, "Legimns juxta Septuaginta 
 
Apk. 27.] SAEIS. KUEIET EL-'ENAB. 157 
 
 the western hill. There are quite a number of well-built houses 
 belonging, to the family of the Sheikhs Abu Ghaush. The only 
 remnant of any antiquity is the fine ruined church, now used 
 as a stable. We rode into it, to get a view of the interior. It 
 presents a singular mixture of architecture ; its pointed Gothic 
 portal and aisles contrasting strongly with its rows of windows 
 with round arches. It is obviously of the times of the crusades, 
 and is more perfectly preserved than any other ancient church in 
 Palestine.' 
 
 This village has long been noted as the residence of the 
 family of Sheikhs named Abu Ghaush ; who for the last half 
 century, by their exactions and robberies, have been the terror of 
 travellers.* They are quite nimierous ; amounting now, as we 
 were told, to sixty or seventy males. The tardy vengeance of 
 the Turkish government has at length overtaken the heads of 
 this lawless and rapacious house. Several of them were seized 
 late in 1846, and sent to Constantinople.^ The further fortunes 
 of some of them were related to us by the young member of 
 the family, whom we met at Yalo. One had died in banish- 
 ment ; another was still in exile in Bosnia ; and a third, after a 
 banishment of five years spent at Widdin, had returned home 
 the last year. 
 
 In a former volume I have stated the grounds for regarding 
 Kuriet el-'Enab as occupying the site of the ancient Kirjath- 
 jearim ; * and most subsequent writers have concurred in adopt- 
 ing this view.' Monkish tradition calls this the church of St. 
 Jeremiah; and long regarded the village as Anathoth, the birth- 
 place of that prophet. This latter even Quaresmius calls in 
 question.^ In regard to the transfer of the ark from Beth-shemesh 
 to Kirjath-jearim,'' we made it a point to ascertain, whether 
 there was any direct road between the two places ; and indeed 
 this was one main object of our visit to Zorah. A pretty direct 
 route from Beth-shemesh would pass up on the east of Yeshu'a 
 and along Wady GhCirab ; but no such road now exists, and 
 probably never did ; judging irom the nature of the country. 
 In all probability, the ark was brought up by way of Saris. 
 
 Passing on from Kuriet el-'Enab, we had on our left, at 
 3.20, two pieces of columns of rose-coloured limestone, built 
 into the fragment of a wall at the angle of a rotid leading up 
 to the hamlet Beit Nukkaba, situated on the left hand decliv- 
 
 * Bearings from Kuriet el-'Enal) : Sota Ranmer Falsest Ed. 3, p. 179. Wilson 
 S. 20° E. Kustul S. 65° E.— Twenty mi- Lands of the Bible, II. p. 267. 
 
 nates later, Soba bore S. 10° W. " Adrichomins p. 14. Cotoviens p. 146. 
 
 » Ritter Erdk. XVI. p. 547 sq. Qnaresmius DL p. 15. See VoL I. p. 437. 
 
 ' Wilson Lands of the Bible, H. p. 267. [iL 109.] 
 
 * Vol n. pp. 11, 12. [ii. 334-336.] ' 1 Sam. 6, 21. 7, 1. 2. 
 » Ritter Erdk. XVI pp. lOS sq. 547 sq. 
 
 Vol. III. -14 
 
158 FEOM 'akka to JEETJSALEM. [SEcm. 
 
 ity, a quarter of a mile distant. At 3.25, we struck and crossed 
 the bed of the main Wady, ■which goes to form the Ghiirib ; it 
 comes from some distance further north. Just below, on our 
 right, was an ancient bridge over it, having a round arch ; with 
 a road leading from it up the hill south of Kustul. We here 
 entered a side valley coming from the east, and followed it up 
 to its top ; where, at 3.45, we came out on the brow of the great 
 Wady KaloDia, which further down takes the name of Isma'il. 
 We were here in a notch in the ridge ; with Kustul on a high 
 point just on our right, distant a quarter of a mile. This name 
 would seem to be derived from some Castcllum, probably of the 
 crusaders ; of which no historical trace remains.' What is now 
 seen, we were told, is merely the ruins of a tower of the family 
 Abu Grhaush, where formerly they sometimes took refuge. It 
 may very probably have been built on earlier foundations. Soba 
 stands upon the same lofty ridge between the Wadys Isma'il 
 and Ghurab ; and Neby Samwil was now in view on the left.' 
 
 We began immediately to descend into the great valley, 
 along a side ravine. The descent was steep and long. Two 
 thirds of the way down there was a small fountain by the way side, 
 which had been carefully built up for the traveller ; but not for 
 his horse. At 4.15, before quite reaching the bottom of the val- 
 ley, we were opposite Kulonia, lying high up on the northwestern 
 declivity ; and here, leaving the great road, we ascended to the 
 village, and encamped for the night. We were much exhausted ; 
 for the way had been long and wearisome. I have travelled in 
 my day many dreary roads ; but none more uninteresting and 
 desolate than this, the great avenue to the Holy City. 
 
 K'ulonia is not a large village ; the houses stand in terraces 
 along the declivity. The people have the name of being great 
 thieves ; but we were not troubled by them. The narrow bottom 
 of the valley below was filled with orchards of fruit trees of 
 various kinds, as figs, pomegranates, quinces, pears, etc. The 
 name of the village suggests a former Colonia of the Eomans ; 
 but more probably it comes from the ancient Koulon or Culon 
 of the Septuagint and Jerome.^ 
 
 From our tent we could see 'Ain Kirim down the vaUey, in 
 a recess of the eastern mountain, half way up. We saw it a 
 fortnight later more fully.* 
 
 Wednesday, April 28th. — We returned to the spot, where we 
 
 ' Forthe name Castellum Pisanum there Jerome woiild probably have given that 
 
 seems to be no authority whatever. Bitter form in full, rather than Culon. The 
 
 Erdk. XVI. p. 549. name is found in the time of the crusades ; 
 
 ^ Bearings from brow, at 3.45: Kulonia WUkenGesch derKrenzz.IV.509, 510. 
 
 E. Neby Samwil N. 20° R * Bearings from Kulonia : 'Ain Karim 
 
 » Gr. Kov\6y, see above, p. 156. n. 3. 186°. Kustiil 275°. Jerusalem road S. 
 
 Had there been here a known Colonia, 80° E. 
 
Ape. 28.] KULONIA. JERUSALEM. 159 
 
 last night left the great road ; and set off thence at 6.30. Five 
 minutes further down, and just before reaching the bed of the 
 valley, there was a quadrangular ruin, with bevelled stones at the 
 corners ; the middle portions of the walls being of less careful 
 work.' A paved modern bridge, with pointed arches, crosses the 
 water-bed of the valley. The path immediately ascends a side 
 valley, rocky and narrow ; which, at 7.15, brought us out at its 
 head on the border of a tract of table land. Here several points 
 which we had formerly known, came in sight ; as Neby Samwil, 
 TuleU el-FlU, Beit Iksa, Beit Stirik.' We now kept along upon 
 the table land ; and almost immediately a short shallow Wady 
 on our left descended northwest to the great vaUey ; where, at 
 the junction, on the eastern shoulder, we saw below us the vil- 
 lage of Lifteh. 
 
 Another shallow Wady now went off south ; and then 
 another, now green with fields of grain, in which at 7.25 we saw 
 the convent of the Cross, distant half a mile directly south. 
 Another low swell being surmounted, the Mount of .Olives and 
 the Holy City burst upon our view, S. 75° E. In the south 
 was the plaia of Eephaim and its valleys ; while beyond towered 
 the high ridge west of Beit Jala, between Wady Ahmed and 
 Wady Bittir. Leaving on our right the cemetery and upper 
 pool, we reached the Yafa gate at 7.55. 
 
 The approach to the Holy City on this side affords no view 
 of the interior ; which is hidden both by the slope of the ground 
 eastwards and the high western wall. The view as one ap- 
 proaches from the north is very much to be preferred. As we 
 drew near, some traces of improvement were visible around the 
 city. On the low hill beyond the upper part of the valley of 
 Hinnom, south of the upper pool, a large garden of several 
 acres had been laid off in terraces, and planted with fruit trees ; 
 it was said to belong to the Greek convent. The narrow strip 
 of ground adjacent to the western wall of the city, which for- 
 merly was open, was now walled in and sown with grain. Just 
 by the TSfa gate, also, a long narrow structure had been erected 
 against the wall, in which were coffee-houses. 
 
 We entered the city, and took lodgings for the day at one of 
 the hotels. We afterwards engaged private rooms in the Ger- 
 man Briiderhaus, to which we removed next morning ; and 
 remained there during our sojourn in the city. This arrange- 
 ment was not only much less expensive than living at a hotel ; 
 but gave us the entire control of our time. We had our own 
 beds ; and our servants provided our meals, as usual Our 
 
 • Is this perhaps the " forsaken church " ' Bearing at 7.15 : Kiistiil 280°. Neby 
 of Eulonia of which Dr Wilson speaks ? Samwil 348°. Beit Iksa 342°. Beit Sunk 
 lauds of the Bible H p. 267. 351°. — At 7.20 : Lifteh N. -J m. 
 
160 JEEUSALEM. [Sec. ID. 
 
 mtileteers went out of the city to find pasture for their beasts ; 
 but soon came back -with rueful countenances, saying their 
 niules had been pressed for the service of the government. An 
 application from the American consul, who just then arrived 
 from Beirtit, speedily set the matter right ; but the muleteers 
 did not again venture their animals out of our immediate pro- 
 tection. 
 
 We thus reached the Holy City on the twenty-fourth day 
 after our departure from Beirut ; a slow rate of travel certainly ; 
 but we had explored with some minuteness the middle portions 
 of Galilee, and parts of Samaria, which as yet were little known. 
 We were greatly struck with the richness and productiveness of 
 the splendid plains especially of Lower Galilee, including that 
 of Esdraelon. In these respects that region surpasses all the 
 rest of Palestine. In the division of the country among the 
 tribes, Judah was the largest, and took the largest territory. 
 But broad tracts of its land were rocky and sterile, and others 
 desert ; while even its great plain along the coast was and is less 
 fertile than those further north. Zebulun and Issachar, appa- 
 rently the smallest tribes, had the cream of Palestine ; while 
 Asher and Naphtali, iurther north, possessed the rich uplands and 
 wooded lulls of Galilee, still rich and abundant in tillage and 
 pasturage. 
 
 Most travellers in passing up from Yafa and Eamleh to 
 Jerusalem, follow the direct road by Saris. On this route they 
 see no scriptural places, except the fortress of Emmaus and 
 Kirjath-jearim ; they traverse a dreary and desolate region ; 
 and the approach to the Holy City itself presents no feature of 
 interest. I woiild venture to recommend, (and I know that my 
 companion agrees with me,) that the traveller should take the 
 camel road from Eamleh to Jerusalem ; or, rather, the road 
 lying still further north by Beth-horon. In this way he will pass 
 near to Lydda, Gimzo, Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Gibeon ; 
 he will see Eamah and Gibeah near at hand on his left ; and he 
 may pause on Scopus to gaze upon the city from one of the 
 finest points of view. The distance by this route is somewhat 
 greater ; but the traveller wiU find himself amply repaid, in the 
 better country which he traverses, in the more numerous scrip- 
 tural associations, and in the far more striking approach to the 
 Holy City. 
 
SECTION ly. 
 
 JERUSALEM. 
 
 INCIDENTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 As we thus again looked atroad upon the Holy City, after 
 an interval of fourteen years, sighs of change and a measure of 
 general improvement were everywhere visible. The city, like 
 the whole country, had long since reverted to the direct sway of 
 the Sultan ; and the various civil and political reforms of the 
 Ottoman empire had here also been nominally introduced. A 
 powerful foreign influence had been brought in, and was still exert- 
 ed, by the establishment of the Anglo-Prussian bishopric and the 
 other enterprises connected with it. The erection of the Protes- 
 tant cathedral on Mount Zion, as part and parcel of the English 
 consulate ;' the opening of the Jewish hospital also on Zion, 
 under the auspices of the English mission ; and likewise of the 
 Prussian hospital under the care of the Grerman "deaconesses" 
 so called ; the establishment of schools, and the introduction 
 of agricultural labour in connection with them ; aU had served 
 to increase the circulation of money, and to stimulate the native 
 mind to like efforts. The convents had erected several large 
 buildings, and established schools ; and there was a process 
 going on in Jerusalem, of tearing down old dwellings and 
 replacing them by new ones, which reminded me somewhat of 
 New York. There were at this time more houses undergoing 
 this transformation in the Holy City, than I had seen the year 
 before in six of the principal cities of Holland. As a natural 
 result, there was more activity in the streets ; there were more 
 people in motion, more bustle, and more business. 
 
 Along with all this there was a greater influx of Franks, 
 both as residents and travellers. The members of the London 
 
 ' Permission to erect the cinrch was db- of the Romish see ; which tolerates Pro- 
 tained only on condition of its being thus testant worship in Rome itself, only in the 
 connected with the cousolate. Herein the house of an ambassador. 
 Turkish government imitated the policy 
 Vol. m.— 14* 
 
162 JEKXTSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. 17. 
 
 mission to the Jews had mostly fixed themselves on Zion, in the 
 vicinity of the Anglican church and near the Jewish quarter. 
 The German residents were chiefly in the same neighbourhood. 
 For the accommodation of travellers there were now two exten- 
 sive hotels, (a third had heen for some time closed,) which 
 furnished plentiful tables and tolerable beds, at about the New- 
 York prices of that date. There were also several private lodg- 
 ing-houses, nearly upon the London plan, in different parts of 
 the city. The number of Frank travellers was said to have 
 greatly increased ; and it was a frequent remark, that there 
 were more visitors from the American States than from Great 
 Britain. 
 
 The American missionaries, with whom we found a home 
 in 1838, withdrew from the city in 1843 ; it having been 
 deemed advisable to concentrate the labours of the mission more 
 in Lebanon and northern Syria.' The house in which we had 
 lodged was afterwards occupied by Mr Schultz, the Prussian 
 consul ; whose lamented decease took place in the autumn of 
 1851. At this time, Dr Valentiner, the chaplain of the Prussian 
 consulate, was residing in it ; the newly appointed consul, Mr 
 Rosen, not having yet arrived. There was now but a single 
 American resident in the city, Dr Barclay of Virginia, with his 
 estimable family ; a physician and missionary of the CampbeH- 
 ite persuasion. 
 
 Notwithstanding this appearance of change, and in so far of 
 improvement, Jerusalem is still in all its features an oriental 
 city ; in its closeness and filth, in its stagnation and moral 
 darkness. It was again difficult to realize, that this indeed had 
 been the splendid capital of David and Solomon, in honour of 
 which Hebrew poets and prophets poured forth their inspired 
 strains ; where the God of Israel was said to dwell on earth, 
 and manifested his glory in the temple ; where He, who is 
 " Head over all things to the church," Kved and taught in the 
 flesh, and also suffered and died as " the Lamb of God that 
 taketh away the sin of the world." Tet it was even so ; 
 and from this now inconsiderable place, thus degraded and 
 trodden down, there has gone forth in former ages upon the 
 nations an influence for weal or wo, for time and for eternity, 
 such as the whole world beside has never exerted. 
 
 As our time was limited, it was necessary for us to improve 
 every moment. Our observations were of course in a measure 
 desultory ; and consisted more in examining again what we had 
 seen before and what others had since brought into notice, than 
 in searching for new discoveries. These latter can hardly be 
 
 ' Mr Whiting was now stationed at ing failed, he returned home ; and is now 
 Beirilt The health of Mr Lanneau hav- the pastor of a church in Georgia. 
 
Apr. 28.] CHANGES. JEWS' WAILING PLACE. 163 
 
 hoped for to any great extent, until there shall be opportunity for 
 extensive excavations. An outline of our proceedings ■will be in 
 place here ; before entering upon what I may have to say further 
 concerning the ancient topography of the Holy City. 
 
 We reached the Holy City, as before related, on the morning 
 of Wednesday, April 28th; and after fixing ourselves for the 
 day at the hotel, our first care was to obtain the letters from 
 Europe and America, which had been awaiting our arrival. 
 The perusal of these, with the necessary time for reading and 
 rest, mainly occupied the forenoon. 
 
 We sallied forth at last ; and paid our respects first to Mr 
 Finn the British consul, residing under the roof of the Anglican 
 cathedraL To him and his accomplished lady we were indebted 
 for many acts of attention and kmdness during our stay in the 
 city. In the afternoon we called also on Dr McGowan, who has 
 charge of the hospital for Jews, and passed a pleasant hour. 
 He occupies a new house situated on the northern brow of Zion ; 
 and his windows afford one of the best views of the interior city. 
 Dr McGowan's kindness and attentions were afterwards un- 
 wearied ; and to his exertions and influence among the natives 
 we were indebted for the opportunity of prosecuting some of 
 our most important inquiries. Bishop Gobat was already on 
 his way to England on a visit ; and I had to forego the pleasure 
 of making his acquaintance. Mr Nicolayson, whom we saw 
 here on our former journey, was likewise absent on a visit to 
 England. He is now rector of the Anglican church ; and his 
 place was temporazily supplied by the Eev. Mr Keichardt from 
 London. A nephew of the latter, Mr H. C. Reichardt, who 
 had already been for some time in the Holy City, gave us much 
 valuable information and aid. 
 
 In the course of the afternoon we walked out to examine 
 the remaias of antiquity around the southwest corner of the 
 Haram area. We came first to the wailing place of the Jews ;' 
 and then tried to examine the wall between this spot and the 
 remains of the ancient arch. In this we did not succeed. 
 There is in one place a window through the wall, through 
 which my companion had once been able to look in upon the 
 dark interior ; but it was now closed by a shutter. In respect 
 to the remains of the arch, I have nothing to add to my former 
 description.* But we were both more strongly impressed than 
 ever with the fact, that the architecture of this portion of the 
 wall, and that at the Jews' wailing place, are one and the same 
 
 " See Vol. I. p. 237. [i. 349 sq.] and Modem Jerusalem ; " and also by 
 ' See Vol. I. p. 287 sq. [L 424 sq.] — A Tipping among his Plates to Traill's Trans- 
 view of the arch is given by Bartlett lation of Josephus, Vol. I. 
 in his " Comparative Views of Ancient 
 
164 
 
 JERUSALEM. — INCIDEKTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 in style and age ; and that both belong to the very oldest 
 remains of the ancient substructions of the temple. This is a 
 matter of the senses and of common sense; and no one who 
 visits the place without theory or prejudice, wiU be Hkely to 
 have any doubt.' 
 
 The approach to the southwest comer and the wall further 
 east had become still more difficult than formerly, by reason of 
 the growth of the cactus by which it is bordered. We passed 
 across the adjacent field to the Bib el-Mugharibeh, the Dung 
 gate of travellers, in the city wall. Here two men were at 
 work, and the inner door of the gate was open ; so that we 
 could look in upon the space or chamber within. Ascending to 
 the walk upon the wall, we passed round upon it to its junction 
 with the building covering the south entrance of the Haram, 
 under el-Aksa. Here I got down ; and by a considerable detour 
 among the cactus entered the building. The interior however 
 was too dark to distinguish anything accurately. — We measured 
 along the city waU, from a point in a line with the western side 
 of the Haram, eastward, to the angle of the city-wall, two hun- 
 dred and ninety six feet. This gives proximately the length of 
 the southern Haram wall within the city ; but there is probably 
 an element of error in the circumstance, that the southwest 
 angle of the Haram area is not precisely a right angle, but 
 somewhat more; and this would throw our starting-point too 
 far eastward, and make our measurement too short. The 
 thicket of cactus prevents all measurement along the wall itself. 
 Our measurement of the rest of the southern wall will be given 
 further on. 
 
 The evening was spent in the society of fellow travellers 
 from the old world and the new. We called also upon the 
 American consul and his family, who had just arrived from 
 Beirut. 
 
 Thursday, April 2^tli. The morning was occupied in 
 removing to our rooms in the Briiderhaus, and in various calls ; 
 one of them on Mr Van de Velde from Holland, and two friends 
 from London, who had pleasant lodgings not far from the 
 Damascus gate. The former gentleman had been in the coun- 
 try since November, travelling in different parts, and taking 
 bearings for the purpose of constructing a new map. 
 
 Our own lodgings were in the same quarter of the city, north 
 of the Via dolorosa and west of the main street leading south 
 from the Damascus gate. The place was approached by a lane 
 
 ' " We need hardly point out, that the various places all along this side of the 
 masonry of this wall [at the wailing place] wall of the enclosure, as was discovered 
 is the same as that close to the bridge ; as by Mr Catherwood on his survey." Bart- 
 will he seen by comparing the two views, lett, Walks, etc. p. 142. See also Tobler, 
 * • * The same masonry still exists in Topographic, I. p. 469. 
 
Apk. 29.] SOUTH WALL OF HAKAM. GERMAN MISSION. 165 
 
 running up very steeply from the latter street, and then bend- 
 ing towards the left till it is joined by another coming north 
 from the Via dolorosa.^ The house is on the northwestern side 
 of this irregular block, in a court ; and south of it the interior 
 of the block is an open field extending quite to the Via dolorosa 
 and the street of the Damascus gate ; except that there is a 
 narrow and in some parts sunken line of houses bordering those 
 streets ; the surface of the field at the corner of the two being 
 several feet higher than those streets. In the same comer of 
 this field stands the single column said to have belonged to the 
 legendary Porta judiciaria ; to which we thus had access from 
 our lodgings. — The Briiderhaus was so called, as having been 
 occupied by four missionary Bretliren, mechanics, sent out in 
 1846 and 1848 by the exertions of Spittler of Basel.' The 
 general idea was, that, living here together unmarried, and 
 teaching native youths mechanical arts and trades in connection 
 with religious instruction, they might gain the confidence of the 
 people and exert an influence as Christians, both by precept and 
 example. But their hopes had not been fulfilled ; and three of 
 the brethren had already left and gone into other employments, 
 where they might labour more effectively, and without the re- 
 straint of celibacy. One of them was now connected with the 
 English schools, and another with the English farm. The one 
 who remained, Mr Mtiller, our host, was from the Schwarzwald ; 
 and had the simple piety of southern Germany, as well as the 
 mechanical skill of his native region. He had two or three 
 Arab boys in his workshop below ; while the large upper rooms 
 were hired out. He too seemed to have the conviction, that he 
 could probably labour to more purpose in some other sphere. 
 
 After completing our arrangements, we went out in the fore- 
 noon to examine the antiquities along the street of the bazar. 
 This street extends from about midway of the Yafa Gate street 
 northwards in a direct line to the Damascus gate. It is crossed 
 at about half way by the Via dolorosa ; and its northern portion 
 is referred to above, and may be caUed for shortness the Damas- 
 cus Gate street. — At the southern end, close upon each side of 
 this street, is a shorter parallel street ; that on the west extending 
 north to the southern line of the church of the Holy Sepulchre or 
 thereabouts ; while that on the east reaches only about half as 
 far. These three streets, so far as they are thus parallel, are 
 covered by flat roofs, with openings left for light. Along their 
 sides are arched spaces or vaults, which serve as the shops of 
 
 ' These two lanes are not marked in oar as also on Tobler's, and on that of the 
 
 former plan of Jerusalem, which was English survey. 
 
 copied mainly from that of Mr Gather- ^ Wolff p. 100. Tobler, Topographio L 
 
 wood. They are found on our new Plan, p. 395. 
 
166 JEETJSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 merchants and artisans. The middle one is the principal 
 bazar ; and it would seem as if the other two had been con- 
 structed later, ia order to enlarge the extent and capacity of 
 this market-place. — On the west of these bazars is the higher 
 ground, on which once stood the hospital of St. John with its 
 appurtenances ; and on the eastern side, the ground is also 
 higher than the roofs of the bazar ; so that one can cross above 
 from one side to the other upon the flat roofs, almost without per- 
 ceiving that there are streets below. It seems very evident, that 
 aU these streets have been, for at least a portion of the way, 
 excavated through what was then higher ground, which thus now 
 remains on either side ; and that the shops or vaults along them 
 were in like manner excavations. At any rate, the latter were 
 obviously not first built up, and then covered over with earth 
 from elsewhere. 
 
 All these streets have the usual character, a deep square 
 channel in the middle, just wide enough for animals to pass each 
 other. In the middle bazar this channel is laid, through most 
 of its length, with large antique stones, forming the covering of 
 a sewer, which is drained towards the south. These stones ex- 
 hibit no trace of a bevel ; if one ever existed, it has been com- 
 pletely worn away. 
 
 There seems to be no reason for question, but that these 
 bazars occupy the identical place of the market mentioned by 
 Eusebius in the fourth century ; close upon which were the 
 splendid Propyl<ea of the Basilica of Constantino, immediately 
 on the east of the Holy Sepulchre.' The monk Bernard, who 
 was at Jerusalem about A. D. 870, and lodged in the hospital 
 of Charlemagne adjacent to the church of St. Mary, remarks, 
 that in front of the same was a forum or market ; and every 
 one doing business there paid yearly two gold pieces." This was 
 probably the annual rent of a vault or shop. 
 
 Just at the north end of the bazar, a street comes up from 
 the southeast ; and another goes off westwards, ascending grad- 
 ually to the court on the south of the church of tlie Holy Sepul- 
 chre. This latter street affords the only access to that church 
 from this quarter. On the south side of the same, before 
 reaching the said court, there is a beautiful Roman or Byzantine 
 portal, with a round arch, and ornaments of delicate and elab- 
 orate sculpture. This leads into an open place on the south of 
 the precincts of the Holy Sepulchre, where once stood the church 
 of St. Mary de Latina.^ The eastern end and arched recess of 
 this or of some like building, stiU remain. Adjacent to these 
 
 ' Euseb. Vit. Const. 3. 39 ^ir* ainrts tians anno solvit dnos anreos illi qui iUnd 
 
 liftrris TrKaretas ayopas. providet." See Vol. I. p. 392 sq. [ii. 42.] 
 
 » Bernard. 10, "Ante ipsum hospitale = See VoL I. p. 391. [ii. 44.] 
 est forum, pro quo uuiusquisque ibi nego- 
 
Apr. 29.] THE BAZAES. PALACE OF THE KNIGHTS. 167 
 
 on the south, is the ruin of a structure resemhling a Khdn, 
 obviously once the Xenodochium, which was connected with the 
 church.' — Passing in at the said portal, and ascending around the 
 eastern side of these ruins, the cradle of the knights Hospital- 
 ers, we looked at the ground further south, now an open field or 
 pasture, and compared its elevation with the streets below on 
 the south and east. ' Those on the east are the bazars just 
 described ; that on the south is the street from the Tafa gate, 
 and is not less than twelve or fifteen feet lower than the open 
 ground above. Along this latter street, westward fi-om the 
 bazars, is a line of pointed arches or vaults extending nearly to 
 the next corner ; they are larger and finer than those along the 
 bazars ; and are now, like the latter, occupied as shops by 
 artisans. Just at the corner of the bazars is a short tract of 
 wall built up of bevelled stones. Some of the work here looks 
 ancient at first, the stones being much decayed ; but on com- 
 paring them with some of those in the pointed arches of the 
 adjacent vaults, they are seen to be of the same character, soft, 
 and easily worn away by the weather. Both the corner and the 
 arches are of the same style of architecture ; and both obviously 
 stood in connection with the great palace of the knights of St. 
 John.^ 
 
 On the elevated plot above mentioned, immediately adjacent 
 to the western bazar, and just south of the middle point of the 
 same, is seen a fragment of masonry, perhaps a pier or the corner 
 of a projection in the eastern wall of the same palace. This 
 has sometimes been referred to a high antiquity. Some of the 
 stones are indeed much decayed ; but on examination they are 
 at once seen to be of the same kind with those in the pointed 
 arches along the street on the south ; many of which are in like 
 manner decayed. There is indeed here no trace of an antiquity 
 greater than that of the palace ; to which the fragment obviously 
 belonged. It may have been one of the piers of a portal ; but 
 a strong imagination is needed to make out any trace of an 
 arch. These remarks are the result of repeated examinations.' 
 
 From the north end of the bazars to the Damascus gate the 
 street is single, and for most of the way uncovered. But from 
 the comer of the street leading down by Helena's hospital, so 
 called, quite to the Via dolorosa, it is again roofed over, with 
 openings for light, as before. The roof here, as elsewhere, is 
 high enough for loaded and mounted camels to pass along with- 
 
 ' See Vol. L p. 394. [ii. 45.] Tfrongly two pillars ; tnt properly rejects 
 
 " So too Mr WhitiDg ; see in Note IV, the antiquity of the fragment. So too Mr 
 
 end of the volume. Whiting, Note IV, end of the volume. 
 
 ' Holy City II. p. 57. Schnltz p. 61. Tobler, Topographie I. p. 101. 
 
 Erafft p. 29. This latter writer has 
 
168 
 
 [Sec IV. 
 
 out difficulty. This covered way also is used as a bazar for 
 workshops ; though now comparatively deserted. 
 
 In the open street or place between the bazar and this cov- 
 ered way, on the west side, under the high bank, are seen three 
 columns of grey granite ; one lying just at the entrance of the 
 covered way, and two still erect further south. These columns 
 are directly on the line of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 A fourth, once perhaps connected with these, h'es at the en- 
 trance of the middle bazar on the south. Just at the left of 
 the erect columns, a blind path begins and winds up the steep 
 bank behind them ; and so leads up to the court on the north 
 of the present Coptic and Abyssinian convent. This court is 
 east of the church of the Holy Sepulchre ; and is over the sub- 
 terranean chapel of Helena so called, and that shown as the 
 place where the cross was found ; the convent being on its 
 southern side. ' From the court one looks up at the eastern end 
 of the Greek portion of the great church. Just on the north is 
 the entrance to the immense underground cistern, sometimes 
 called the Treasury of Helena. 
 
 Two other columns, both of limestone, are still standing at 
 the northern end of the western bazar ; one built into the wall 
 on the eastern side ; the other taller, but so surrounded by 
 houses, that only its top is seen. These of course stood in no 
 connection with the granite columns. 
 
 Amid the very many objects which called for examination 
 during our former visit to Jerusalem in 1838, our attention was 
 not directed to these granite columns ; which had stood unnoticed 
 for centuries. They were first brought to the notice of the 
 public by Schultz in 1845 ; and made to do duty as remains of 
 the ancient second waL.' In the following year (1846) I ven- 
 tured to express the opinion, that these columns had originally 
 made part of the splendid Propylcea on the east of the great 
 Basilica erected by Constantine.^ According to Eusebius this 
 Basilica was separated from the Holy Sepulchre by an open 
 court ; and beyond it, (on the east,) was another open court 
 towards the entrances, with cloisters {yroai) on each side, and 
 gates in front ; " after which, in the very midst of the street of 
 the market,^ the beautiful Propylcea (vestibule) of the whole 
 structure presented to those passing by on the outside the won- 
 derful view of the things seen within.^" At the very point 
 
 ' Prof. Willis in Holy City, II. p. 224. Valesius ; and because this accords best 
 
 ' E. G. Schnltz, Jerusalem, p. 60. with the oharaote of the ground. Prof. 
 
 ' See Biblioth. Sacra, Aug. 1846, p. Willis renders: "middle of the broad mar- 
 
 456 sq. ket-place;" which certainly is justified by 
 
 * Euseb. /aty fij^ir" auT^SyiiecrriJTrXoTEf- the absence of the article before ayopas, 
 
 OS oyopSj, Vit. Const 3. 39. I have ren- but not by the place itself. This could 
 
 dered this by " street of the market," in not well have been broader than the street. 
 accordance with tho version and note of ' Euseb. Vit. Coniit. 3. 3S). According to 
 
Apr. 29.] COLUMNS. COVERED STREET. 169 
 
 where, according to this description, the Propylcea must have 
 been situated, are still seen these granite columns ; and I have 
 been gratified to find my own opinion sustained at a later day 
 by the more competent authority of Prof. Willis. ' At present 
 these columns are much lower, than the ground on the west ; and 
 it is not improbable, that originally a flight of steps led up from 
 them to the gates of the court above. 
 
 Keturning to the covered way, the important point to be 
 noted is, that the street is here carried along a hollow way, exca- 
 vated through the ridge running down eastward by the church 
 of the Holy Sepulchre. The rise of ground on the western side 
 to the court of the Coptic convent, has been already mentioned ; 
 and the surface a little further north is still higher ; so that 
 there is quite a descent from the houses standing over the great 
 cistern of Helena to the roof of the covered street. On the 
 eastern side of the covered way, and on a level with the roof, is 
 the garden of the house in which we formerly lodged, now the 
 residence of the Prussian consul ; with cypresses and other large 
 trees growing in it, and at least one immense cistern underneath.^ 
 Beyond the house towards the east the ground descends again 
 more steeply. 
 
 It matters little here, whether this ridge be of earth or 
 of rock. I suppose it, however, to be mainly the latter; al- 
 though it is very possible that the passage may be lined with 
 masonry. The chapel of the cross, under the court above men- 
 tioned, is understood to be excavated in the rock.^ The cistern 
 of Helena, further north, is certainly thus excavated ; and the 
 houses over it stDl stand upon the crust of rock, which is con- 
 siderably higher than the said court. On the east of the street 
 are still cisterns in the rock; while below the consulate the 
 rocky ridge comes out, and crosses very obliquely the street lead- 
 ing down by Helena's hospital. Here the path is actually carried 
 down by steps cut in the rock. The house of the Prussian consul 
 is entered from this street by a covered passage, from which 
 there is an ascent by several steps to an open court ; under which 
 is a large cistern hewn in the rock. Thence several more steps 
 lead up to the garden and main dwellings.' 
 
 Areulfiis, the Basilica itself stood over the an opportunity for personal inspection, 
 
 spot where the cross was found; Adamnan. Prof. WUlis has fallen into an error as to 
 
 1. 7. the relative elevation of the site of the 
 
 ' Holy City, H. p. 250. Lond. 1849. church of the Sepulchre and of the bazar 
 
 ' See VoL I. p. 324. [i. 480.] — The street ; as also in respect to the nature of 
 
 largest of the cisterns there mentioned is the ridge above described. He supposes 
 
 under this garden. " that the pavement of the rotunda lies at 
 
 " Holy City, II. p. 222. So too the about the same level as the street of St. 
 
 flight of steps leading down to the chapel Stephen " or bazar street (Holy City, IL 
 
 of Helena, and perhaps also part of that p. 238) ; and, farther, that the rise of 
 
 chapel itself; ibid. p. 220. ' ground behind the granite columns is "a 
 
 * It is to be regretted, that for want of bank of earth (not of rock)," while the 
 
 Vol. III.— 15 
 
170 
 
 JEBUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 Towards the north the covered way ends at the point where 
 the street is crossed by the Via dolorosa. I have formerly made 
 the remark, that the Via dolorosa seems to have been first got 
 up during or after the times of the crusades ; and that the 
 earliest allusion to it I had been able to find, is in Marinus Sanu- 
 tus in the fourteenth century." ' This writer merely enumer- 
 ates for the first time the legendary sites along the street ; but 
 has not the name. The opinion which I thus ventured to 
 advance, has since been confirmed by a document of the 
 twelfth century, first published in 1843.^ From this document 
 it plainly appears, that iq the twelfth century no street in Je- 
 rusalem bore this name. The one now so called by the monks 
 had at that time two names in different parts. West of the 
 street of the bazar it was called la rue du Sepulchre ; while 
 east of the same, quite to the gate leading to the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat, it was known as la rue de Josaphat.^ In the 
 highest part of the said street of Jehoshaphat, overagainst the 
 temple, there was at that time a gateway, called Fortes 
 doulereuses.* The ground of this appellation is unknown. The 
 gateway would seem to have been the present Ucce Homo ; ' and 
 the name being gradually transferred to the street, the latter 
 became the Via dolorosa. 
 
 At the crossing of this latter street and that from the bazar, 
 on the northwest corner, considerably above the street, is seen 
 the single column said to mark the place of the supposed Porta 
 judiciaria. It is of limestone; and of course stands in no 
 connection with the granite pillars further south. Only the top 
 of the column is seen from without ; the bottom is in the back 
 wall of a cofiee-roaster's shop below, where there is no appearance 
 of a pedestal.' 
 
 It is an obvious remark, that a single column famishes in 
 itself no evidence of a gate ; otherwise we might find many gates 
 all over the city. Nor can the tradition of a former gate upon 
 this spot, be traced back among the Latins further than the end 
 of the crusades ; while the Greek church is said to have no such 
 tradition at all.' Brocardus, in 1283, is the first to mention a 
 
 covered way too is carried through " raised Tom. II. p. 531 sq. Eeprintcd in Schnltz, 
 
 ground ;" ibid. pp. 240, 241. This latter App. p. 107 sq. Holy City 1 p. 133 sq. 
 
 statement is corrected in the text ahove. Also in Vol. II. of this work, App. II. 
 
 The pavement of the rotnnda cannot well, ' La Citez de Jherus. § 5—7. 
 
 at the very least, he less than from twenty ' Ibid. § 7. 
 
 to thirty feet higher than the street of the ' So too Sehnltz, Jems. p. 120. 
 
 bazar. " Tobler, Topographie L p. 253. 
 
 ' See Vol. I. pp. 233, 252. [i. 344, 372.] ' Tobler, ibid. p. 253. According to 
 
 Marin. Sanut. 3. 14. 10. p. 257. this writer, the Greeks regard the column 
 
 ' See ' La Citez de Jherusalem,' a de- as that on which Peter's cock crew ; while 
 
 scription of Jei-usaleminoldFrench, of the another Greek authority notes it as the 
 
 t«%lfth century, first published in Ben- column on which the sentence of Jesua 
 
 gnot Assises de Jerusalem, fol. Paris 1843, was posted up. 
 
Apk. 29.] VIA DOLOROSA. ECCE HOMO. 171 
 
 Porta judiciaria ; of which he says there were vestiges in the 
 old wall of the city ; though in his day the gate of that name 
 was in the northwestern part of the modern wall, leading out to 
 Shiloh (Neby Samwil) and Giheon.' He gives no clue to the 
 position of the supposed ancient gate. F. Fabri in 1483 is 
 somewhat more exphcit ; passing down from the Holy Sepulchre 
 and along the street of the bazar northwards, he saw the 
 ancient gate, of which half an arch of thick wall remained ; and 
 leaving this on the right hand, he came afterwards to the house 
 of Veronica, so called, now shown on the east of the bazar 
 street.' This would bring the gate somewhere into the vicinity 
 of its present site ; but would place it at least on, or near, the 
 opposite southeast corner of the crossing. A century later the 
 gate was dejBbaitely fixed ia its present position, and with the 
 one column.^ 
 
 So much for this " traditionary gateway ; " which, like the 
 granite columns turther south, has been referred to as a remnant 
 of the ancient second walL* 
 
 The places and objects thus far enumerated were all visited 
 and examined during the forenoon of this day. But in order to 
 avoid repetition, I have also incorporated the results of repeated 
 subsequent examinations. 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, we went out again along 
 the street leading eastward to the present St. Stephen's gate, for 
 the purpose of examining and measuring the eastern wall of the 
 Haram. In this street, on the east of the street which comes down 
 southeast along the low ground from the Damascus gate, there is 
 at first a very considerable rise as far as to the Serai, the 
 residence of the Kaim Makam or military governor, used also as 
 barracks. The same is the legendary house of Pilate. On the 
 north of the street is the line of precipitous rock. Afterwards 
 the ground descends again, until it becomes level along the north 
 side of the great Birket Israil. 
 
 At the highest part of the street, overagainst the northwest 
 comer of the governor's house, stands what is now known as the 
 arch Ecce Homo. This is pointed out in monkish tradition, 
 as the place where Pilate brought forth Jesus to the people, 
 saying, "Behold the man!"' It appears as a lofty gateway, 
 with a narrow gallery or chamber on the top. 
 
 The first notice we have of this arch or gateway is in the 
 description of Jerusalem in the twelfth century, referred to 
 
 ' Brooardns o. 8. p. 183. Marinns Sa- ' F. Fabri in Eeissk p. 251. 
 ntitns speaks also of a Porta judiciaria; ° Znallart 3. p. 117. 
 meaning evidently that of the outer wall ; ' Holy City, II. p. 53. Sohultz p. 60. 
 
 3. 14. 10. He says nothing of any gate KrafFt, p. 31. 
 along the Via dolorosa ; alSiongh he de- ' Jolm 19, 5. 
 scribes minutely the various other objects. 
 
172 JERUSALEM. INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV, 
 
 above. It is there called Fortes doulereuses. ' Marinus Sanutus 
 in 1321 speaks here of a lofty arch, against the stones of which 
 our Lord rested, as he bore his cross.^ A century later it had 
 become the place of the Ucce Homo;^ and such it remains to 
 this day. About 1620 Quaresmius speaks of it as " nearly 
 fallen down from age." * It seems to have been repaired ; and 
 again, in 1821, Berggren mentions it as having been recently 
 repaired and whitewashed.* The account we ourselves heard, 
 was, that the present arch (not the piers) was built about thirty 
 years ago, within the recollection of some of Dr McGowan's 
 acquaintances ; before which time, according to them, there was 
 no arch. This tallies with the statement of Berggren. 
 
 But the gateway itself is evidently older than the tradition. 
 As seen at present, the arch rests on each side on a pier, which 
 has all the appearance of antiquity. There is likewise an orna- 
 mented cornice. The masonry of these piers may perhaps be 
 referred to the epoch of Hadrian, or possibly to that of Herod ; 
 but there is nothing in the size of the stones or in their charac- 
 ter to carry the work back any further.' I may perhaps again 
 recur to this gateway. 
 
 Passing on eastward down the street, we stopped to look at 
 what has at first the appearance of an ancient tower on the 
 north side, at some distance beyond the barracks, and nearly 
 opposite the first entrance to the Haram. As a work of anti- 
 quity, however, it does not bear examination. The stones indeed 
 are many of them bevelled, and apparently ancient ; but they 
 are not large, and there are chinks and interstices filled in with 
 thin pieces and smaller stones ; showing that the bevelled 
 stones are not in their original position. Looking in at a 
 window, we perceived that the interior is now a Sheikh's tomb ; 
 and could see part of a fiuted granite column, and also the 
 stump of another not fluted. I do not remember to have seen 
 another instance of a fluted column in the Holy City. We 
 tried in vain to obtain admission. 
 
 We looked also, in passing, at the great reservoir. Its 
 southern wall is covered with cement ; and the small stones 
 seen are only attached to the wall as a portion of this covering. 
 The wall and arches at the west end are likewise built of small 
 stones ; and although the arches are round, yet the whole work 
 has the appearance of no great antiquity.' 
 
 ' See above, p. 170. only the piers, but also the arch itself as 
 
 ' M. Sanut, 3. 14. 10. ' Roman ; II. p. 327. 
 
 ' Gumpenberg, A. D. 1449, in Eeissb. ' See Vol I. pp. 294 sq. 330. [i. 434, 
 
 p. 462. 489 sq.] "The southern vault extends 
 
 ' II. p. 207, " prsB vetustate paene demo- one hundred and thirty feet ; and the other 
 
 Ktas." apparently the same. At *he extremity 
 
 ' Berggren, Reise IH. p. 35. of the fornaer was an opening [above] for 
 
 • M. De Sauloy seems to consider, not drawing up water. The vaults are stuc- 
 
Ape. 29.] ECCK HOMO. EASTERN HAEAM WALL. 173 
 
 We now went out throngli St. Stephen's gate ; and, passing 
 along southwards among the Muslim tombs, examined the wall 
 of the Haram quite to the southeast comer. Many Muhamme- 
 dan women were among the tombs ; it being the eve of Friday, 
 their Sabbath, when they are accustomed to visit the sepulchres 
 of their friends. They had left the spot before we returned ; and 
 we were thus able to measure the length of the waU, as we came 
 back, without interruption. 
 
 Beginning at the northeast corner of the Haram area, we 
 have first what would seem to have been the waU of a corner 
 tower or bastion, extending 83 i feet, and projecting at the 
 south side 7J feet beyond the general line of wall. The bevelled 
 stones of this tower are many of them of large dimensions, up to a 
 considerable height in the wall ; and similar large stones are seen 
 also as carried around the corner in the northern wall within the 
 city. I measured one stone at the southeast corner, which forms 
 the projection ; it was 23 feet 9 inches long, 3 feet high, and 5 
 feet 2 inches vride. This tower is obviously an ancient work ; 
 although the stones are less smooth and the masonry less elabo- 
 rate, than at the wailing place of the Jews. 
 
 Next follows a line of wall or curtain, extending to the 
 north side of the Golden gate, 373 feet. Here are large stones 
 in some parts in the lower courses ; but they are irregular, and 
 it is very doubtfdl whether any are in their original place. The 
 whole aspect of this part is that of a wall rebuilt out of former 
 materials, irregularly thrown together. 
 
 The Golden gate is in a projection 55 feet long, and stand- 
 ing out six feet before the wall. It is a double gateway, hav- 
 ing two round arches side by side of fine Koman work and orna- 
 mented. The wall forming this projection, on each side of the 
 gateway and above, has been built up anew, 4 feet 8 inches wide 
 on the north side, and 4 feet on the south. 
 
 After this all is later wall for 110 feet 8 inches, to another 
 small projection of two feet. I say later wall; because, al- 
 though some of the stones in the lower courses are large, they are 
 neither hewn smooth nor do they apparently occupy their origi- 
 nal places. About midway of this interval is a small passage or 
 postern through the wall, now filled up. It belongs obviously to 
 the later wall.' 
 
 From the small projection a long reach of 839 feet brings us 
 
 coed ; and were probaWy constructed when them ; Traill's Josephos L p. xliv. De 
 
 the fosse was converted into a reservoir ; " Sanlcy II. p. 109. The latter writer re- 
 
 S. Woloott in Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 33. gards this as " the gate of Jehoshaphat," 
 
 ' Havinc failed at the time to note the spoken of in La Citez de Jherusalem. Thia 
 
 exact place of this postern, I have given is manifestly an error ; see Vol. II. p. 562. 
 
 it in the text from the statements of Tip- Schultz p. 114. Holy Cily L App. pp. 139, 
 
 ping and De Sanlcy, so far as I understand 140. 
 Vol. III.— 15* 
 
174 
 
 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 to a slight break or crevice in the wall, ■which has been sometimes 
 regarded as another projection. The wall in the northern part 
 of this interval is obviously late. In the more southern part are 
 many large and antique stones ; but they have only the edges 
 made smooth, while the middle portions are rough and project- 
 ing; thus difiFering very much jfrom the large stones at the 
 wailing place and elsewhere. They are also laid up very irreg- 
 ularly ; and obviously did not belong to the earliest wall. 
 
 The supposed projection here seems hardly to admit of that 
 name. At the bottom, indeed, the lower courses of the next 
 reach do indeed project about six inches ; but this is not seen 
 higher up in the wall. This point is 68 feet 4 inches north of 
 the southeast corner. It is very possible, that originally there was 
 here a corner tower or bastion of that extent, which projected 
 several feet at this point, like that at the northeast corner ; and 
 that, in rebuilding the wall the latter was brought out into a 
 line with the face of the comer tower. At least the perpendic- 
 ular crevice running up through all the antique courses and 
 above them, can hardly have been a part of the original plan.' 
 
 In the long reach of wall just described, besides the other 
 irregularities, are seen the ends of quite a number of columns, 
 which have been buUt in horizontally and transversely. On one 
 of these, projecting more than the rest, Muhammedans believe 
 their prophet is to sit to judge the nations gathered in the val- 
 ley of Jehoshaphat. — ^At the south end of the line, near the 
 supposed projection, the stones, though large, are very rude ; 
 and there is an appearance in two of them of a curve, as if for 
 an arch. But an arch in this spot, similar to that near the 
 southwestern comer, is inconceivable ; since the ground falls off 
 at once and very steeply into the valley below.^ Besides, on 
 close inspection, the stones underneath the two in question are 
 seen not to be in their original place ; they are laid very irregu- 
 larly, and one of them projects ten or twelve inches. The 
 curved stones, therefore, are either accidental, or were so dressed 
 for some other place and purpose.^ 
 
 In the interval between the supposed projection and the 
 southeast comer, measuring 68 feet 4 inches, we have evidently 
 a, portion of the very earliest and most elaborate masonry of 
 which any fragments remain. There are here fifteen or sixteen 
 courses. The stones are very large, bevelled, and hevFn smooth 
 throughout ; except that in some of them there has been left on 
 the face, near the middle, a projecting mass eight or ten inches 
 
 ' See Tipping's fine plate, Haram Wall, perpendicular ones directly over them, but 
 
 Southeast Corner, in Traill's Josepliua, higher up in the wall, the fancy of M. De 
 
 VoL I. Saulcy finds a double window and balcony 
 
 ' Bitter Erdk. XVI. i. p. 333. of the time of Solomon. II. p. 113. 
 
 * In these curved stones and in some 
 
Ape. 29.] EASTERN HARAM WALL. 175 
 
 high and as many in diameter. This may have had something 
 to do with the moving of the stones. Some of the comer stones 
 are twenty feet long ; and the like stones and masonry are 
 carried around the comer and along the southern wall.* 
 
 With the exception of the tower or bastion at the northeast 
 corner, and also the probable one at the southeast corner just 
 described, it seemed to us very doubtful, whether any continuous 
 portion of the rest of the wall belongs to the most ancient work. 
 There are indeed many large stones, both towards the south, and 
 also north of the Golden gate ; but they are rough and unfin- 
 ished ; and appear as if thrown irregularly together. At one 
 spot north of the said gate, they project out of line more than a 
 foot ; as also under the supposed curved stones. This general 
 irregularity of the wall (except near the corners) we afterwards 
 noticed very distinctly, in passing along the bottom of the valley 
 below. 
 
 BECAPITULATION. 
 
 Beginning at the Southeast Corner, 
 
 Eng. Feet 
 
 From southeast corner to supposed projection, . 68i- 
 
 To small projection of two feet, . . 839 
 
 To the Golden gate, south side, . . 110| — 1018 
 
 Golden gate, to north side, ... 55 
 
 To the projection of northeast tower, . . 373 
 
 To northeast corner of Haram, . . 83i — 511i 
 
 15291- 
 
 The result of our measurement of the same line of walls in 
 1838, was 1528 feet." 
 
 For the sake of more convenient reference, I insert here Hke- 
 wise our measurement of the southern waU of the Haram, which 
 was not actually taken until the following Tuesday. 
 
 The stones of the southern Haram wall adjacent to the 
 southeast corner, are large, finely bevelled and faced, correspond- 
 ing to and connected with those already described at this point in 
 the eastern wall. There are about the same number of courses 
 still remaining. They are obviously of the same epoch, and 
 part and parcel of the same work. The same order of stones con- 
 tinues much of the way further west, for at least one course, and 
 sometimes two or three courses, at the bottom ; aU these stones 
 being apparently in their original places. At about 90 feet from 
 the corner is a small gateway with a pointed arch, now waUed 
 
 ' " I consider this to be the finest speoi- builder, it mnst have produced the effect 
 
 men of mural masonry in the world. The of gigantic rilieuo panelling ; " Tipping in 
 
 joints are close ; and the finishing of the Traill's Josephus, I. p. xlv. 
 bevelling and facing is so clean and fine, '' See Vol. I. pp. 268, 284. [i. 396, 419.3 
 that, when fresh from the hands of the 
 
176 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Saa IV. 
 
 up. After another like interval there are three lofty gate- 
 ways side by side, with round arches, now likewise walled^ up. 
 These may not improbably be referred tc/ the age of Justinian ; 
 and once formed a broad entrance to the vaults beneath the 
 Haram.' The style of their architecture differs entirely from 
 that of the earlier work. The junction of the city wall with 
 the southern wall of the Haram is made by a low square building, 
 or rather two buildings, forming two projections in the external 
 angle. — A comparison of the antique portions of the southern 
 waU with the masonry of the Jews' wailing place, and that at 
 the southwest and southeast corners, left upon our minds the 
 strong impression, that instead of this portion of the substructions 
 being of later date than those further north, these remains of the 
 southern wall and southeast comer present decided evidence of 
 higher antiquity, than almost any other portions. 
 
 SOUTHEKN WALL. MEASUREMENT. 
 
 Beginning at the Southwest Comer. 
 
 En{^ Feet 
 
 From BOTithwest corner to angle of city wall, meaa- 
 
 nred along the city wall ; see p. 164, . . 296 
 
 Thickness of city wall, .... 3 
 
 First offset of building in the angle, . . .31 
 
 Second offset " " ... 27^ 
 
 To southeast corner, ..... 550 
 
 907^ 
 
 I have already referred to an element of error in the first of 
 these measurements within the city f and was therefore not 
 surprised to learn from Dr Barclay, who had measured on a line 
 nearer to the Haram, that he had found the length of the whole 
 wall to be 926 feet.^ 
 
 Eetuming through the gate of St. Stephen, we went to the 
 church of St. Anne, which stands on low ground just north of 
 the street within. It is now a deserted mosk. On its eastern 
 side is the southern end of a ridge of higher ground ; and here 
 there has been such an accumulation of rubbish against the wall 
 of the church, that there is easy access to its roof and dome. 
 This high .ground extends quite to the northeastern angle of the 
 city wall. Indeed, the eastern wall is carried along on this 
 
 ' These were not the openings seen by . . « ^"S- Teet ■ 
 
 ManndreU ; for the latter were within the 1- Mr Catherwood a in 1833, from 
 
 city waU ; Matmdrell Apr. 5th. ™s notes, 932 
 
 " See above, p. 164. 2. That of Wolcott and Tippmg 
 
 ' My measurement in 1838 was 955 m 1842; see BibUoth. Sacr^ 
 
 feet: an error certainly, bnt I know not ^ h & ^\ . ^^^ 
 
 how it arose. The foUowing are more 3. Rev. K Smith in 1844, 906^ 
 
 trustworthy : ^"^ latter was made along the city wall. 
 
Apr. 30.] SOUTHERN HABAM "WALL. ST. ANNE'S. 177 
 
 ridge ; rising on the inside very little above the ground ; while 
 on the outside it is from twenty to thirty feet high, and rests in 
 part on scarped rock. — We met at the church a descendant of 
 the prophet in a green turban, who courteously gave us informa- 
 tion on various points. 
 
 Friday, April 30^A. — We this morning returned a caU from 
 Dr Barclay. He had recently removed to a house on the 
 eastern brow of Zion, on the very edge of the precipitous rock, 
 and nearly opposite the fragment of the ancient arch. From 
 his roof one could look over into the Haram, and see the various 
 buildings, as well as portions of the grass-plot and the many 
 trees. Nearly opposite to us, within the Haram area, in a 
 narrow court along its western wall, two cypress trees were 
 growing ; these formed a convenient landmark to determine the 
 exact line of the Haram area in this part, when looked at from 
 a distance. It needed but a glance from this spot to perceive, 
 that the whole western waU of that area, from the northwestern 
 to the southwestern corners, runs in a straight line. This, how- 
 ever, we saw still more definitely on the following day. Dr 
 Barclay was also making arrangements, to obtain a plot of 
 ground at the foot of the cliff and directly opposite the arch, as 
 a garden, in order to be able to dig in search of a possible western 
 abutment or termination, corresponding to the arch. Whether 
 any such will ever be found, seems very problematical. 
 
 Here too we could look down upon the south side of the 
 causeway leading across the valley below to the gate of the 
 Haram. There are two or three open spots on this side, where 
 it seemed as if there were vaults extending underneath the 
 causeway. Our friend thought he could obtain further informa- 
 tion on this point among his Muslim acquaintances ; but was 
 not successfid so long as , we remained in the city. Yet we 
 learned something more the next day. Dr B. was also working 
 at a large plan of the city from actual survey ; which latter had 
 been nearly completed. 
 
 Returning home, we went out again to the Damascus 
 gate ; and there looked once more at the ancient room built up 
 of massive stones on its eastern side. Then, mounting upon the 
 wall, we kept along it quite to the northeast comer of the city ; 
 and thence southwards to near the gate of St. Stephen. Our 
 object was to examine the general make of the ground. 
 
 Stopping for a time on the highest point of the wall, where 
 it crowns the summit of the hiU which I regard as Bezetha, we 
 looked at the isolated hill further north, under which is the 
 grotto of Jeremiah, so called. The opposite fronts of these 
 two hills are precipitous rock ; and naturally suggest the idea, 
 that the two hills may once have been united by a ridge, which 
 
1V8 
 
 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 taving been used as a quarry has since disappeared. It struck 
 me now as more probable, that this break is not artificial ; but 
 that this eminence, with Bezetha and Moriah, belonged to a 
 ledge of rock rising up at intervals into these hills.' 
 
 Directly on the east of this northern hiU a small valley or 
 depression comes from the north ; and, entering the city just east 
 of Herod's gate, so called, passes down in a southeasterly direc- 
 tion near the church of St. Anne, and between the eastern slope 
 of Bezetha and the high ground along the eastern waU described 
 yesterday. It has here a broad level bottom ; and traces of it are 
 seen extending through beyond the eastern waU of the city, where 
 it forms a slight depression outside, just south of St. Stephen's 
 gate. 
 
 The ridge of higher ground lying along the city wall on the 
 north of St. Stephen's gate, is at the northeast comer cut 
 through by the trench of the city wall. The ground is here not 
 so high as farther south ; and further north it spreads out 
 into a broad low swell of land, which cannot properly be called a 
 hill. In the depression east of Herod's gate is a reservoir in the 
 city trench, where we saw men drawing water in skins, and 
 transporting it into the city on donkeys. It is filled in the rainy 
 season by the water which flows down the vaUey. It might 
 seem, from some of the maps, as if the water passed along the 
 trench from _this reservoir to the small tank near St. Stephen's 
 gate ; but such is not the case. The- water from the latter 
 reservoir supplies a bath in the city, just by the street south of 
 the church of St. Anne.' 
 
 As we returned home along the street from St. Stephen's 
 gate, we looked again at the supposed ancient tower already 
 described ; ^ and also sought for traces of an ancient wall coming 
 perhaps from some point near Herod's gate to the Haram at this 
 spot. Nothing however of the kind was to be discovered. The 
 only structure, which might possibly at first admit of such a 
 suggestion, is the mosk el-Mamuniyeh, formerly the church 
 of Mary Magdalen, of the time of the crusades.* Its walls do 
 not indicate antiquity. 
 
 In the afternoon we rode out to the new English cemetery, 
 situated on the southwestern flank of Zion, below the brow, and 
 overlooking the valley of Hinnom. Here were formerly terraces 
 
 ' This suggestion of a former junction parallel strata of which Schultz and Ga- 
 
 of the two hiUs was perhaps first made by dow speak, the latter (Tobler) could not dis- 
 
 myself ; see VoL I. p. 234. [i. 345.] It tinguish. 
 
 has been more distinctly assumed by the * Comp. Vol. I. p. 328. [i. 486.] 
 
 author of the Holy City, II. p. 428 ; by ' See above, p. 172. 
 
 Schnltz, p. 86 ; by Gadow in Zeitschr. d. * Quaresmius IL p. 98. Tobler Topogr. 
 
 morgenl. Ges. III. p. 39 ; and by Tobler, L p. 441. 
 Topogr. I. p. 50. But lie corresponding 
 
Apr. 30.] CEMETEKIES. PEOF. FISKE. 179 
 
 for cultivation ; and these liave been converted into one broad 
 terrace, on wbich the cemetery is laid out. In doing this, the 
 slope beneath the brow was dug away ; and thus there has been 
 uncovered a large tract of scarped rock, which served as the 
 foundation of the ancient city wall in this part. Some frag- 
 ments of the wall itself were still to be seen upon the rock. 
 Quite a number of bevelled stones had been dug out, and were 
 lying scattered about. Some arches and several cisterns had 
 likewise been uncovered. In one place a flight of thirty-six 
 steps, cut in the scarped rock, led down to what was apparently 
 the surface of the ground outside. The cemetery was not yet 
 completed, and there were not many graves. That of the late 
 bishop Alexander had as yet no monument. 
 
 We now rode to the American cemetery.' It is a small plot 
 on the summit of Zion, about the middle of the tract outside of 
 the city wall, and soutla of the Latin and Armenian cemeteries. 
 It is now surrounded by a high and substantial wall ; with a 
 door under lock and key. The surface has been levelled, and 
 was now covered with green grass ; which, however, was already 
 beginning to show signs of withering under the rays of an orien- 
 tal sun. There are here but three graves of Americans ; those 
 of Dr Dodge and Mrs Thomson, missionaries ; and that of 
 Prof. Fiske of Amherst College, who died here in May, 1847. 
 One Englishman, Mr Waite of London, also lies buried here. 
 
 Prof. Fiske was an old and cherished friend of mine, of five 
 and twenty years' standing. He had long suffered from feeble 
 health ; and when he was wavering as to his journey to the east, 
 my persuasions had not been wanting to encourage him. He 
 accompanied the Eev. Dr Smith and his wife on their voyage to 
 Beirut, and could have had no better introduction to the Holy 
 Land. Mr Whiting travelled with him to Jerusalem. Here 
 he became affected by an acute disease ; but they started for 
 Beirut, and had already advanced a day's journey, when the 
 progress of the disease compelled them to return to Jerusa- 
 lem. After lingering for nearly a fortnight in the house of Dr 
 McGrowan, he died peacefully. May 27th.'' His body lies here 
 upon Mount Zion ; but his spirit hves in the celestial Zion. A 
 neat monument, erected by his friends in Amherst College, with 
 an appropriate Latin inscription, marks the spot. 
 
 We sought, and with some difficulty found again, the grave 
 of Bradford, in the Latin cemetery.^ 
 
 Passing around the city on the west, we examined the traces 
 of the ancient third wall on the northwest and north of the city.* 
 
 • See Vol. I. p. 230. [i. 340.] ' See A'ol. I. p. 229. [i. 338.] 
 
 ' See " Memoir of Eev. N. W. Fiske, by ' Vol. I. pp. 314, 315. [ i. 465-467.] 
 H. Humplirey, D. D." Amherst 1850. 
 
180 JEBUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. ' [Sec. IV. 
 
 For a considerable distance they are very distinct ; and he must 
 be committed to some preconceived theory, who would deny 
 them. Especially is this the case with the southern portion, the 
 towers, and the massive stones among the ohve trees towards the 
 northeast. They quite correspond to the description by Jose- 
 phus, of the general course of the third wall. 
 
 At a later hour we went to the church of the Holy Sepulchre ; 
 mainly in order to look at the tomb of Joseph and Nicodemus, 
 so called. This is on the western side of the rotunda ; not the 
 exact western door, but the one next north, which is usually 
 open. I had taken the precaution to bring along a candle ; and 
 it was well ; for the lamps afforded only the least possible light. 
 The entrance from the door leads through the chapel on the left, 
 that of the Syrians ; and thence into the crypt, which is beyond 
 it. This crypt is very small.' The front is built up with 
 masonry, apparently a portion of the circular wall behind the 
 galleries, on which the dome rests. The back wall, which is curved 
 and irregular, the roof, and the floor, are solid rock. This small 
 crypt has evidently been excavated in and under the rock ; but 
 without any regularity of form. Towards the southwest are tw^o 
 low open niches for bodies cut in lengthwise ; and towards the 
 northwest is the appearance of two others now closed up, as 
 if bodies were in them. In the floor, and occupying almost the 
 whole floor, is excavated the upper portion (towards the head) 
 of a small sarcophagus ; which then is farther excavated 
 (towards the feet) under the floor. A lid once covered this 
 upper part. The length of- the whole sarcophagus is only four 
 feet. At right angles to this, on the east, a similar and still 
 smaller sarcophagus is sunk in the floor, and extends under 
 the wall in front. 
 
 That here is a rock-hewn sepulchre, there can be no doubt ; 
 but, how far its date is to be carried back, is a very different 
 question. It has been quietly assumed, that this tomb existed 
 here before our Lord's crucifixion ; and that therefore the spot 
 was outside of the second wall of the ancient city.' But even 
 granting that the tomb existed before the erection of Constan- 
 tine's church, we are by no means warranted to infer, that it 
 goes back beyond the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. Eock- 
 tombs continued to be excavated around the city apparently 
 after that event. The monolithic tombs in the valley of Jeho- 
 shaphat are hardly earlier than the Christian era ; and the sepul- 
 chres with Greek inscriptions and crosses and with paintings, 
 
 ' Schnlte rightly says, that a man can ' Schultz, Jemsalem p. 96. Ritter Erdk. 
 
 hardly stand npright in it; and that it can- XVI. i. p. 434. Williams Holy City, II. pp. 
 
 not hold more than three persons at once ; 194, 195. 
 p. 96. So too Qnarcsmius, II. p. 568. 
 
Apr. 30.] HOLY SEPULCHRE. CKYPT OF JOSEPH. 181 
 
 south of the valley of Hinnom, testify to their Christian origin, 
 or at least to their use by Christians.' It certainly is no impos- 
 sible supposition, that, during the two and a half centuries which 
 intervened before Oonstantine's undertaking, this tract lay 
 desolate, and thus sepulchres might have been excavated in it. 
 Indeed, there would seem to be a probability, that it was thus 
 desolate ; for had it been covered with dwellings, we can hardly 
 suppose it would have been at once received as the place of the 
 crucifixion ; which according to express Scripture was without 
 the city.'' 
 
 But there is no need of any such hypothesis ; for there 
 is apparently no good reason for referring this tomb even to 
 so early an age as that of Constantino. This is obviously 
 true in respect to the sarcophagi sunk in the floor. No other 
 instance will be found, I think, of like excavations in the 
 floor of a crypt. They are also smaller than usual, and differ 
 in form from all other sarcophagi. It may however be said, 
 and it has been said, that these two excavations are a later 
 work ; while the crypt itself and the niches perpendicular to 
 the side are ancient.' But here too a like difficulty meets 
 us. In all other tombs, where such niches or loculi are found, 
 they are either in the sides of regular apartments, as in the 
 tombs of the Kings so called, and of the Judges, and elsewhere ; 
 or in the side of a long passage, as in the tombs of the Prophets 
 on the Mount of Olives. They exist nowhere else in a crypt so 
 low and small, so irregular in form, and in which too every 
 thing is so crowded together. Further, the nuisierous sepulchral 
 chambers around Jerusalem are all excavated horizontally in th& 
 natural or artificial face of the rock ; * with the exception of the 
 tombs of the Prophets, which differ from tHs,. as well as from all 
 others. The entrance is always at the side, and Bever from 
 above. But the crypt in question is nearly or quite oa a tevel 
 with the pavement of the rotunda ; and whHe,. therefore, it 
 could readily be excavated in the rock adjacent to the church ; 
 yet it is at least eighteen or twenty feet lower than the ground 
 in the street outside ; where too there has been little or no ac- 
 cumulation.' If therefore the crypt existed here before the 
 church of Constantino, it was a deep subterranean excavation, 
 made apparently from above ; and quite unlike all the sepul- 
 chral chambers which are still so numerous around the city. 
 
 ' See Vol. I. pp. 351 sq. 354, 356. [i. * See Vol. L p. 852. [i. 522.] 
 
 521, 524, 526.] ' This estimate accords with the judg- 
 
 ' Heb. 13, 12. John 19, 20. ment of several gentlemen long resident in 
 
 ' So Schnltz, who admits, that these the city. Prof. Willis says " from twenty 
 
 sarcophagi in the floor may be later, per- to twenty-five feet ; " Holy City 11. p. 
 
 haps of the age of the crusades ; p. 97. 238. 
 
 Ritter. XVI i. p. 434 sq. 
 Vol. m.— 16 
 
182 JERUSALEM. — IKCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 I have thus brought forward the circumstances, which go to 
 show a probahility strong enough at least to counterbalance the 
 mere assumption in behalf of this crypt, that it is of high anti- 
 quity. To these may be added the destruction of the church by 
 order of the Khalif el-Hakim in the eleventh century ; when it 
 ■was razed to the very foundations. That an earlier sepulchre 
 lite this would be left unharmed, is hardly probable. 
 
 To what period then may this crypt be referred ? The 
 practice of interring the dead in churches reaches back beyond 
 the age of the crusades. The two brothers, Godfrey and Bald- 
 win, the first Frank kings of Jerusalem, were both buried in 
 the church of the Holy Sepulchre.' It was not unnatural in 
 the crusaders and holy men of that period, to desire that their 
 own bodies might repose within those sacred precincts.^ It is 
 easy to conceive, that out of such a feeling in individuals or a 
 family, a crypt like this should have been constructed in that or 
 an earlier age. To do this in the least space possible, in order 
 not to encroach upon the church, what better device than to 
 imitate the ancient sepulchral chambers by which they were 
 surrounded ? The facility of the work from within the church, 
 the irregular form and contracted space, and the crowding 
 together of the loculi ; all favour this supposition. In this 
 aspect, the tomb, even if we suppose it unaffected by the deso- 
 lations of el-Hakim, cannot have been constructed earher than 
 the seventh or eight century ; for before the labours of Modestus 
 no church existed over the Holy Sepulchre itself. — There may 
 have been other hke tombs within or connected with the church, 
 which have disappeared in the revolutions to which the edifice 
 has been subjected. Even the present crypt has been en- 
 croached upon by the wall in front. 
 
 Thus far I have discussed the question of this sepulchre 
 upon its own merits, independently of all topographical and his- 
 torical considerations. Hereafter I hope to show, upon the 
 ground of these latter, that its existence can have no weight 
 in determining the course of the ancient second wall. 
 
 The evening of this day was spent by invitation at a meeting 
 of the Literary Society of Jerusalem, held at the rooms of Mr 
 Finn, the British consul, its founder and chief supporter. The 
 paper of the evening was read by Mr Finn, on the Eamah of 
 Samuel. An Arabic letter was also read from the priest of 
 the Samaritans at Nabulus to Mr Finn, inviting him and his 
 family to be present at their sacrifice of the Passover on the fol- 
 lowing Monday. It was a singular document ; not so much 
 
 ' Holy City I. pp. 397, 404. Heiligen Grates l)eisetzenliessen;"Scliultz, 
 
 ' "Es ist allerdings wahr, das3 die Jerusalem p. 97. 
 Kreuzfahrer sich gem in der Kirche des 
 
Mat 1.] CETPT. VIEW FROM THE SEEAI. 183 
 
 towever for the style, as on account of the person and the 
 occasion. 
 
 Mr Finn also communicated to the Society the following as 
 the most recent statement of the latitude and longitude of the 
 Holy City, obtained by him through the Foreign Office from 
 the Admiralty in London : 
 
 Lat. N. 31° 46' 35" 
 
 LoNG.E. 35° 18' 30" from Greenwich.' 
 
 Saturday, May 1st. This was to us a busy day. It was 
 likewise to some extent a rainy day. The weather throughout 
 yesterday had been hazy and lowering. The same continued 
 this morning ; and at about 10 o'clock it began to rain, which 
 is very unusual at this season. It held up after 3 o'clock ; but 
 during the ensuing night there was heavy rain. 
 
 Dr McGowan had kindly made arrangements to accompany 
 US to several points of interest and importance. Indeed, for 
 admittance to one or two of these we were indebted to the 
 respect and confidence with which, as a physician, he is regarded 
 by the native population. 
 
 Soon after 9 o'clock Dr McGowan called, accompanied by 
 Mr Caiman and bringing with him his dragoman, a native 
 Greek Christian. We first went to a place near our lodgings, 
 on the west of the street leading to the Damascus gate, where a 
 house had been torn away, and excavations were made for the 
 purpose of laying new foundations. They had dug a hole like a 
 well nearly fifty feet deep ; and at this depth had found substruc- 
 tions and an arch. These had been seen by our friends a few 
 days before ; but we were now unfortunately too late, as the 
 hole had been partly filled up. 
 
 We went next to the Serai or barracks at the northwest 
 corner of the Haram area ; which we also visited on our former 
 journey." We were at once admitted, and went upon the roof. 
 Besides the general view which I have formerly described, our 
 attention was specially directed to the following three particu- 
 lars, viz. 
 
 That the scarped rock, at the northwest corner, extends for 
 some distance along both the western and northern sides, being 
 
 ' The anthority on which this statement Graves, in his letter to me from Malta of 
 
 rests, is unknown to me. The latitude Dec. 1842, that he had carried to Jerasa- 
 
 is six minutes less than the mean lati- lem three excellent chronometers ; hnt 
 
 tude assumed in VoL I. p. 259. [i. 381.] that accidents had happened to two of 
 
 It is also one minute greater than that them ; so that he could only send me the 
 
 found by Niebnhr; ibid. — The following result of the remaining one. And that, 
 
 extract of a letter from Sir F. Beaufort corrected as carefully as he could, gave the 
 
 to the author, dated Dec. 13, 1855, gives longitude of the Casa Nnova of the Latin 
 
 another authority for the longitude : " It convent, at 35° 18' east of Greenwich, 
 appears from the account given by Capt. " VoL I. 244 sq. [i. 360 sq.] 
 
184 JEEUSALEM. — ^INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 on the west side six or eight feet high ; and, further, that the 
 whole area at the northwest corner and in the northern part 
 presents a surface of rock, which has evidently been cut away to 
 its present level. ^ The scarped rock along the northern side 
 near the corner is apparently higher ; indeed it is reported as 
 being from twenty-five to thirty feet high." 
 
 That the western wall of the Haram area runs in a straight 
 line from its northern to its southern extremity. This was 
 obvious ; we now stood at the northern end, and looked along it 
 unobstructedly for two thirds of its length ; while beyond that 
 distance, and directly on the same line, were seen the two cypress 
 trees adjacent to its southern end, which we noticed yesterday 
 from the house of Dr Barclay. 
 
 That between Zion and the ridge on which the church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre stands, there is a visible and very considerable 
 depression. 
 
 In passing down again from the roof, we paid our respects to 
 the Kaim Makam in his public room. He was an elderly mild 
 looking Turk, with courteous manners ; and he improved the 
 opportunity to elicit a little medical advice in behalf of a daugh- 
 ter. We sat a few minutes, and took our leave. 
 
 We stopped a short time at the church of the Flagellation, 
 so called, in the same street ; and then ascended to the mosk el- 
 Mulawiyeh, which crowns the very summit of Bezetha, and com- 
 mands a noble view of the whole city. Here we were freely 
 admitted, both to the mosk below, and to the rooms which have 
 been added above. These latter are occupied as a dwelling. 
 The original structure below was once a small church, known to 
 the crusaders as that of St. John.^ 
 
 We now turned along the street of the bazars ; examining 
 the various columns on the way, and also the corner wall and 
 arches of the palace of the knights along the street from the 
 Yafa gate. These have been already described.^ West of this, 
 on the lower comer of the next street, which runs north along 
 the west, side of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, is the Greek 
 convent of St. John the Baptist. It occupies a square plot at 
 the angle of the two streets ; in the centre of which is the 
 church. This had been rebuilt within the last few years.' On 
 digging to lay new foundations, a vaulted room or chapel was 
 
 ' See Vol. I p. 244. [i. 361.] Gather- ' La Citez de Jherus. 7. Tobler Topogr. 
 
 wood in Bartlett's Walks, p. 162. Krafft I. p. 607 sq. 
 
 p. 12. Totler Topogr. I. p. 460 sq. ' See above, p. 167. 
 
 " Krafft p. 12. There is here not im- ' According to Tobler the rebnilding 
 
 probably some exaggeration.— The author of this church belonging to the convent of 
 
 of the " Holy City " says 20 feet, and re- St. John, was begun in 1840 ; Topogr. L 
 
 fers to Bartietf s Walks ; where, however, pp. 284-286. 
 I find no such specification. 
 
MatI.] convent of ST. JOHN. HOUSE OF ABTT SA'uD. 185 
 
 discovered underneath, entirely filled up witli rubbish, and for- 
 gotten. On clearing away the rubbish, it was found to be an 
 earlier Greek chapel ; measuring from north to south along the 
 cross forty feet or more ; and regularly furnished with doors and 
 windows, showing that it once stood wholly above ground. 
 From the bottom to the ceiling is at least twenty feet ; and this is 
 about the level of the court of the convent. This court again is 
 four or five-feet lower than the street outside. This subterra- 
 nean chapel still remains open ; and we descended into it and 
 examined it.' 
 
 The entrance to the convent is on the west, from the street 
 running north by the church of the Holy Sepulchre. At the 
 southern part of this street there has been of course a great 
 accumulation of rubbish. Near the entrance of the convent 
 is an elevated spot, from which the street descends towards the 
 south into that from the Yafa gate ; and towards the north as 
 far as to the lane leading down east to the court of the Holy 
 Sepulchre. In this part there is little or no accumulation; as 
 is shown by the pool of Hezekiah close at hand, which is cut in 
 the rock. Down this lane flows all the water from this portion 
 of the street, as well as from further north, where the street rises 
 again towards the Via dolorosa eight or ten feet. Just opposite 
 the church it is nearly level. 
 
 We now repaired to the house of the Prussian " Diako- 
 nissinen" on Zion, where we were courteously received, and were 
 struck with the neatness and order which prevailed. Our next 
 visit was to the English school ; and we afterwards went through 
 the Jewish hospital. This belongs to the mission of the London 
 Jews' Society ; and is under the" medical care of Dr McGowan. 
 Every thing was neat, and appeared comfortable. It was the 
 day on which the friends of the patients were admitted ; and 
 there were quite a number of Jewish females in the rooms. 
 
 In the afternoon we went first to the house of Abu Sa'tid, 
 which joins upon the Haram area on the west, and indeed ex- 
 tends within the wall, between the Jews' wailing place and the 
 remains of the ancient arch. This house we desired to inspect, 
 as forming one of the supposed angles said to be made in this 
 part by the western wall. While yesterday hesitating how he 
 might best apply for admission, Dr McGrowan had been sent for 
 by the family to visit a sick child ; and thus the way was 
 opened to us, not only without difficulty, but by a courteous 
 invitation. We were received with great friendliness by a young 
 man, one of the family of brothers who now occupied the house, 
 and were led into the upper part and within the Haram. Here 
 
 ' This is the chapel referred to in Mr Whiting's letter ; see Note IV, end of tho 
 volume. 
 
 Vol. III.— 16* 
 
186 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 the house has a narrow court of its own on the south, along the 
 inside of the western wall of the Haram area ; and separated on 
 the east from the Haram proper by a thin wall of its own. In 
 this narrow court are the two cypress trees already men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Towards the south this court has connection with the build- 
 ings which fiU up the whole southwestern comer of the Haram 
 area. Here is the mosk of the Mughiribeh or Western Africans, 
 into which we were conducted.' In one of the rooms the first 
 Kibla erected by 'Omar was pointed out to us, bearing still a 
 Cufic inscription. The large room which occupies the southwest 
 comer has windows on its eastern side, through which we looked 
 along the double row of vaulted cloisters leading along the 
 southern wall to the mosk el-Aksa. 
 
 Keturning to the house, we were led to an upper comer room, 
 with windows towards the east and north. Here we looked direct- 
 ly out upon the Haram. Through the middle of the room, from 
 north to south, there was a depression of a few inches, imme- 
 diately over the Haram wall, and serving as a dividing line 
 between what was within the Haram and what was without. 
 The famUy live and sleep outside of this line ; but repeat their 
 prayers on the inside ; because one prayer or genuflexion within 
 the Haram is of more avail than five hundred outside. Here 
 too we could see that tie western wall of the Haram area is 
 straight throughout. We were now at the cypress trees, and 
 could see the minarets upon or next the wall further north, all in 
 a Hne with the spot where we stood. The very intelligent heads 
 of the family, one of whom was a Secretary of the government, 
 gave also their testimony, that the western wall is straight ; 
 and has no projections or angles like the eastern. 
 
 Another brother came in ; and the two had much conversa- 
 tion with my companions. They had visited the vaults existing 
 beneath el-Aksa and further east ; but had no knowledge of any 
 vaults west of el-Aksa. After coffee we went to the room of the 
 second brother, outside of the Haram ; where sherbet was served. 
 In descending the second . flight of stairs from the top of the 
 house, we passed through the Haram wall not less than three 
 times ; flrst out, then in, and then out again. This is of course 
 the upper portion of the wall ; and is whoUy of modern con- 
 struction. 
 
 We took our leave, much pleased with our visit, and grateful 
 to Dr McGowan for having procured for us the opportunity. 
 This was the first time the house had been entered by Franks ; 
 and our visit aided to settle the question in respect to the course 
 of the western wall. We had thus seen it from the house of Dr 
 
 ' See Mejr ed-Din in Fnndgr. des Orients, H. p. 86 sq. 
 
Mati.] house or ABU sa'ud. the causeway, 187 
 
 Barclay on the eastern brow of Zion ; we had looked along it 
 from its northern extremity, and now again from near its south- 
 em end ; and in each case with the like result, viz. that it is 
 straight throughout its whole course.' 
 
 In returning towards the Yafa gate, we examined the ground 
 near the northeast comer of Zion and the west end of the 
 causeway. There seems to be no direct connection between the 
 two. The causeway and the street upon it pass along on the 
 north of Zion, and do not now touch its northeast comer; 
 although -the aqueduct from Solomon's pools is understood to 
 bend around from Zion so as to be carried along the causeway. 
 If the latter ever formed a junction with Zion in this part, it 
 could have reached only to the foot ; never to the brow. Just 
 within the street leading down from the causeway northwards, is 
 a stone in the wall of a house, with a Greek inscription inverted. 
 It seems to be merely ecclesiastical, A Greek cross is on one 
 side ; and the name IflANNHS occurs twice." 
 
 Turning up the first steep lane on this corner of Zion, we 
 called upon an intelligent Mussulman, an acquaintance of our 
 friends, living in a house on the very northeast brow of Zion. 
 He was a man of some learning ; and had a manuscript of the 
 work of Mejr ed-Din, from which he read to us. We asked him 
 respecting the causeway ; in which, he said, he had seen exca- 
 vations made. According to him, the great sewer, which drains 
 the whole city north of Zion, begins on the east side of the 
 vaUey not far above the causeway;' and is continued along 
 under the causeway and making part of it, westwards, till it 
 turns south and is carried out under the city wall. It is very 
 large ; so that he thought a man could enter it on horseback. 
 Another smaller sewer, he said, coming from the west, is carried 
 along under a portion of the causeway, and enters the larger 
 sewer. The aqueduct from Solomon's pools, which passes under 
 his own house, is carried (he thought) along the south side of 
 the causeway ; but of this he seemed less certain. These state- 
 ments probably have some foundation in fact ; but the true state 
 
 ' So too Schnltz in Holy City II. p. 323. southern portion of the snbstruotions of the 
 
 Tobler Topogr. I. p. xcvi, and in Zeitschr. Haram area ; Holy City II. pp. 322, 398, 
 
 d. Deutsch. morgenl. Gesellschaft VII. p. 400. — Dr McGowan had received a letter 
 
 226 sq. — This question as to the course of from Prof. Willis, asking information on 
 
 the western wall of the Haram is in itself this very point ; which our observations of 
 
 of little importance ; but has been made to-day enabled nim to communicate. Mr 
 
 prominent from the fact, that on the Plan Bartlett came to the same result the next 
 
 of the English engineers (Aldrich and year, 1853 ; Jerusalem Revisited pp. 74r- 
 
 Symonds} it is laid down with two o£fset3 76. 
 
 or retiring angles in its southern part ; and ^ This inscription was copied by Krafi^ 
 
 this error agaiu has been assumed as fur- No. 7. 
 
 oishing evidence of the later date of the " Comp. Tobler Topogr. I, p. 20. 
 
188 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC, [Sec. IV. 
 
 of the case wiU hardly be known, till there shall be opportunity 
 for extensive excavations.' 
 
 We dined at 6 o'clock with Dr Mc Gowan and his lady ; 
 and spent the evening at their house in a party of friends and 
 travellers from various parts of the world. 
 
 Sunday, May 2nd. — The day was cloudy, with one or two 
 showers of rain. There was service in the English church at 
 10 o'clock ; after which the Lord's Supper was administered. 
 In the afternoon the service is regularly in German ; the Kev. 
 Mr Keichardt and Dr Valentiner at that time officiating alter- 
 nately. Many strangers were present. 
 
 Monday, May 3rd. — The clouds and showers of the pre- 
 ceding days were over ; the sky was serene, and the weather 
 delightful. 
 
 About 10 o'clock we rode out through the Damascus gate, 
 and looked at the fragments of a former wall half way between 
 that gate and the northwest corner of the city. At this spot 
 there are several traces of old wall, indicating a tower or angle, 
 with tolerably large bevelled stones and a trench. They seemed 
 to me to have once belonged to the wall that was superseded by 
 the present wall ; which latter here stands vnthin the other. 
 Nevertheless, this former wall may very probably have been 
 itself a portion of the ancient second wall, or built upon its 
 foundations. 
 
 We now rode off northwards among the olive trees, seeking 
 for further traces of the ancient third wall, which had been 
 mentioned to us by resident friends as existing among the trees 
 in a line with those formerly seen by us.° We found these 
 latter ; but did not fall in with any others. We then rode 
 along the brow of the valley of Jehoshaphat to St. Stephen's 
 gate ; but saw no traces of ancient foundations. Descending 
 and crossing the bridge in the valley, we passed along by Geth- 
 semane, now enclosed by the Latins with a high and strong 
 wall, and converted into a pleasant garden, which is kept locked. 
 The three monuments in the valley, viz. those of Absalom, 
 James, and Zacharias, so called,^ have each of them in front 
 two corner pillars attached, and two others in the middle. 
 These, with their capitals, in the northern and southern monu- 
 
 ' A passage in Mejr ed-Din refers per- the Mihrab of David. It still exists ; and 
 
 haps to these sewers; and very possibly partsof it are sometimes uncovered. It is 
 
 the testimony in the text rests mainly on a gallery solidly vaulted." Fundgr. des 
 
 his authority. He is speaking of the street Or. IL p. 126 — For a later remark of D 
 
 of David, i. e. the street leading down from Barclay, see Sect V. below, under " Waters 
 
 the Yafa gate ; and says it was so named of Jerusalem, the Aqiteduct.^ 
 " from a subterranean gallery which David " See Vol. I. p. 315. [i. 465sq.J 
 caused to be made from the gate of the ' See VoL I. p. 349 sq. [i. 517 sq.] 
 Chain [in the Haram] to the castle, called 
 
May 3.] REMAINS OF THIRD WALL. SILOAM. 189 
 
 ments, are nearly of tlie Ionic type ; in the interverdng tomb 
 they are nearest Doric. 
 
 As we passed down the valley in this part, and looked up at 
 the Haram waU above us, the irregularity of its construction 
 was seen very distinctly. Except at the southeast corner the 
 large stones are carelessly laid up. At the upper fountain there 
 seemed to be no change. We drank again of the water 5 and 
 recognised the same peculiar taste as formerly.' Here and 
 further south we had above us, on the left, the village of Selwan ; 
 the houses of which are mostly built each in front of a sepul- 
 chral excavation. 
 
 At the fountain of Siloam, likewise, we remarked no change. 
 Women were washing their clothes lielow the fountain, and 
 spreading them upon the rocks to dry. The rill from the foun- 
 tain is brought along by a deep cut into and under the poiat 
 of rock, which forms the southern end of Ophel ; and just here 
 is the washing place and a watering place for animals. A broad 
 wall or causeway, with a path upon it, is carried, near by, across 
 the Siloam valley to the tree of Elijah so called. It may once 
 have been a dam to collect the waters from above ; but there are 
 now no traces of any side walls or of an upper wall, as of a re- 
 servoir. 
 
 In formerly passing through the subterranean channel, which 
 connects the upper and lower fountains, we had measured its 
 length, 1750 feet ; while above ground the distance from the 
 upper fountain to the point of rock near Siloam was only 1100 
 feet.' We now measured this external distance again, and 
 made it 1200 feet ; but the variation probably arose from some 
 change in fixing the two ends of the line. At any rate, the 
 difference between the internal and external measurements is 
 still too great ; so that I am compelled to suppose some error 
 in the former, made as it was under circumstances of incon- 
 venience and difficulty. 
 
 From Siloam we ascended the valley above, the lower Ty- 
 ropoeon, to the city waU near the small gate Bab el-Mugha 
 ribeh. As we rode along I noticed on the left, just above Siloam 
 and also further up, tracts of scarped rock along the hill-side, 
 as if once belonging to an ancient wall. In the upper part, 
 likewise, similar scarped rocks are seen on the east side. All 
 these would seem to be traces of an ancient wall along the east- 
 ern side and brow of Zion ; and not improbably also of one on 
 the western brow of Ophel. ^ 
 
 In the afternoon, taking with me our servant Eashid, I went 
 out to examine the tract of the city lying east of the bazars. 
 
 ' See Vol. T. p. 340 sq. [i. 504 sq.] ' See Vol. I. p. 312. [ i. 461.] 
 » See Vol. I. p. 339. [i. 503, 503.] 
 
190 JERUSALEM. — INCIDEHTS, ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 My chief object was to ascertain, how far there are in this part 
 any traces of the ridge of ground running down eastward from 
 the church of the Holy Sepulchre. I first passed down the 
 street leading by the TeMyeh, or Helena's hospital so called. It 
 descends along the crest of the said ridge ; and in the lower 
 part crosses it very obliquely, and is carried down steeply along 
 its northern side by steps cut in the rock. I then turned to 
 the right along the street at the bottom of the depression or 
 valley ; and proceeded in this street to the causeway. Here, for 
 several rods from the causeway, the street descends northwards ; 
 and the water is apparently drained off by the great sewer spoken 
 of yesterday, which begins just here.' 
 
 Turning back I now entered the street on the left, between 
 the causeway and that by which I first came down. Its course 
 at first is west, ascending for a short distance very steeply ; then, 
 after the first comer, and for a longer distance, north, ascending 
 about as steeply ; and afterwards again westerly, still ascending 
 gradually. Here another street, below the bazars, comes up and 
 joins it from the south, which also has here a rather steep ascent. 
 From these facts it follows, that there stiU exists in this part a 
 broad termination of the said ridge, lying about on a fine drawn 
 between the church of the Holy Sepulchre and the great mosk. 
 
 Afterwards I went with Rashid to the Damascus gate ; and 
 mounting the wall on the east, passed on as far as to the highest 
 point of Bezetha. My object was to look for the probable course 
 of the ancient second wall, between the said gate and the fortress 
 Antonia. That gate we had formerly recognised as ancient, 
 and as in all probability belonging to the second wall. The 
 problem has been, so to draw the line of that wall, as to leave 
 the hill Bezetha outside, and yet provide for the security of the 
 city. The wall must obviously have run to the northwestern 
 part of Antonia, equivalent to the western end of the present 
 barracks ; but whether it was probably carried along the foot or 
 the brow of Bezetha, there were no data to determine. 
 
 The western declivity of Bezetha is comparatively short,but very 
 steep. The northern wall rises steeply from the Damascus gate ; 
 and is carried over the top of the hill upon the rock, which is here pre- 
 cipitous towards the north ; the hill having either been cut away 
 or exhibiting a natural break. Where the highest part of the 
 wall, the highest tower, is now found, there the precipice of rock 
 also is highest. This spot is upon the very crown of the ridge 
 of Bezetha ; and just here also the ridge drops off on the east 
 by a perpendicular ledge of rock eight or ten feet high, and then 
 elopes down gradually eastward. If now we may suppose an 
 ancient comer tower or bastion on the wall at this high point ; 
 
 ' See above, p. 187. 
 
Mat 4.] SOUTHERN DESCENT OF STREETS. SECOND WALL. 191 
 
 then the wall might readily he carried from it in a southeasterly 
 direction along the crest of the ridge of Bezetha, quite to the 
 northwest corner of the Haram or near it ; leaving the sightly 
 mosk el-Mulawiyeh just on the west. Such a course would 
 bring the steep and short western slope within the city ; whUe 
 the great body of the hill itself, the more level, extended, and 
 habitable part, would remain on the outside. 
 
 Something of the like kind, though on a much larger scale, 
 is stiH seen in the ancient fortifications of the city of Smyrna. 
 On the hill bordering the city on the southeast are the remains 
 of the immense fortress ; from which the city wall was carried, 
 for a long distance toward the southwest, along the very crest of 
 the thin and level ridge. 
 
 It is likewise worthy of remark, that such a course of the 
 wall being supposed, the present arch Ecce Homo, the piers of 
 which we have seen to be probably ancient, would fall directly 
 upon its line.' Was this structure, perhaps, originally erected 
 in some connection with such a wall ? 
 
 Tuesday, May 4th. We rode out after 9 o'clock by the 
 Damascus gate, and looked at the outside of the waE on the 
 east of that gate, as also at the nature of the ground. A few 
 rods out of the gate, at the left, is a well, stoned up only in part. 
 Just east of the gate, in the former trench of the city, is a deep 
 cistern or reservoir, now broken and dry.^ The trench was here 
 cut in the rock ; and beginning from the west, now extends to 
 the point where the precipitous rock with the wall upon it is 
 highest ; the broken reservoir occupying its eastern end. There 
 are at present no traces of its having been cut through the rock 
 further eastward. If a fosse ever existed beyond this point, it 
 is now completely filled up. None certainly was needed ; for 
 the rock above is sufficiently elevated for the security of the 
 wall without a trench. — This circumstance, that the trench thus 
 apparently ends underneath the highest part of the rock, seems 
 to confirm the view I took yesterday, viz. that here was probably 
 a high corner tower or bastion of the second wall ; which then 
 ran from this point along the crest of Bezetha to the northwest 
 corner of Antonia. 
 
 A few steps beyond the broken tank, but still under the high 
 part of the rock, is seen the mouth of a cavern now waUed up. 
 From it a long subterranean passage leads under the city to an 
 unknown distance. This is obviously the Grotte de Colon of 
 Mejr ed-Din ; which he briefly mentions as a cave under the 
 
 ' See above, pp. 171, 172. Erdk. XVI. i. pp 385, 392. Singularly 
 
 ' This reservoir has sometimes been con- enough both Schultz and Krafft confound 
 
 founded with another just at the entrance it with the Grotte de Colon mentioned 
 
 of the gi-otto of .Jeremiah, described by further on ; Schultz p. 36. Erafft p. 131. 
 
 Schultz, pp. 36, 37, comp. p. 35. Kitter Kitter ibid. p. 392 sq. 
 
192 JERUSALEM. — ^INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sec. IT. 
 
 northern wall of the city, extending, as some supposed, as far as 
 under the great mosk' The following was related to us in Jeru- 
 salem, respecting this grotto. It was said to have been open for 
 a short time in the days of Ibrahim Pasha ; "and rumour 
 affirmed that his soldiers entered and found water within. A 
 year or two since it was again open ; and Mr Weber, Prussian 
 consul at Beirut, with the Mussulman whom we visited on Zion, 
 and another, went in and followed the passage a long way ; 
 but as they had neither lights nor compass they could not be 
 sure of the direction nor of the distance. A few days after- 
 wards, when they attempted to repeat the visit with lights, they 
 found the entrance walled up. The Mutsellim had learned that 
 Franks had entered the grotto. This account was afterwards 
 confirmed to me at BeirCit by Mr Weber himself.' 
 
 Passing down by the Birket el-Hejjeh, where men were 
 drawing water to carry into the city, we came to the northeast 
 corner of the city wall. The fosse begins again at or near the 
 Birkeh ; and, as it approaches the corner, is cut through the nar- 
 row ridge along the eastern wall north of St. Stephen's gate ; 
 the ground here outside being about half the height of the wall. 
 In the eastern wall, next to the comer, there is nothing special 
 to remark ; except the fosse still dug in the rock ; some reaches 
 of scarped rock on which the wall is built ; and some rather 
 large stones. 
 
 We now repaired to the southern end of the Haram : looked 
 at the southern wall ; and took the measurements already given 
 above.' We also examined that portion of the ancient southern 
 gateway, which is visible from the outside, just at the junction 
 of the modem city wall. Uppermost is seen the eastern end of 
 what appears as a very flat arch, resting upon a large bevelled 
 stone now broken. Just east of the arch is a stone with an 
 inverted inscription, which has been several times copied. The 
 following is the copy and translation of De Saulcy : 
 
 TITO AEL HADRIANO 
 ANTONINO AVG PIO 
 PP PONTIF AVGVR 
 D D 
 
 " To Titus ^lius Hadrianus Augustus Pius, Father of his country, High 
 Priest, Augur, erected by the Decurions." 
 
 ' In Fundgr. des Orients, II. p. 134. 162. The cavern, Dr Barclay says, " va- 
 
 Holy City I. App. p. 163. ries in width from twenty to one or two 
 
 " Early in 1854, an entrance to this ca- hundred yards, and extends ahont two 
 
 vem -was accidentally discovered by Dr hundred and twenty yards in the direction 
 
 Barclay, who explored it with lights ; and of the Serai [barracks], terminating in 
 
 wrote a brief notice of it for Mr W. H. a deep pit." 
 Bartlett, under date of March 1st, 1854 ; ' See above, pp. 175, 176. 
 see Bartlett's Jerusalem Eevisited pp. 161, 
 
Mat 4:.] GATEWAY UNDEE EL-AKSA. 193 
 
 The inscription refers without doubt to the emperor Anto- 
 ninus Pius, the successor of Hadrian, whose name he also hore. 
 De Saulcy supposes, that it was originally affixed to the base of 
 a statue, erected in honour of that emperor on the temple area 
 above ; and was inserted in its present place when the foundation 
 walls of Justinian's church were built up. This seems not an 
 improbable hypothesis.' 
 
 Below all this, and apparently attached to the outside of the 
 wall, is a portion of the round arch of a gateway, covered with 
 florid ornament. This gateway is now walled up, with a grated 
 window near the top. By clambering up with difficulty and 
 sitting in the window, one can look through the wooden lattice ; 
 and after a while, when the eyes have become accustomed to the 
 darkness, he can discern two or three like arches further back, 
 and can see the light streaming in from a crevice beyond, appa- 
 rently at the entrance in front of el-Aksa. — For the whole inte- 
 rior of this gateway, however, we must for the present rest satis- 
 fied with the description of Mr Wolcott, and the fine drawings 
 of Mr Tipping ; who together gained access to these vaulted re- 
 cesses in January, 1842.^^ 
 
 We visited Siloam ; and, returning, I took Besh^rah and 
 rode alone by way of Gethsemane to the summit of the mount 
 of Olives. The view of the Dead Sea and vaUey of the Jordan, 
 as seen from the Wely beyond the village, impressed me anew 
 with its dreariness and lonehness. That of the city also, as seen 
 from the village, struck me more favourably than formerly. 
 The depression between Zion and the ridge at the Holy Sepul- 
 chre was very perceptible. The north side of the Golden gate, 
 as here seen, appeared about in a line with the north side of the 
 platform of the great mosk. 
 
 After returning home I walked out with Besh§,rah to the in- 
 terior northwest corner of the city ; and there looked again at 
 the remains of the old tower, called Ktil'at el-Jalud, which we 
 had seen on our former visit.' It is very large ; and must have 
 been the comer bastion of the city in the days of the crusaders. 
 But the remarkable point is that which I have formerly men- 
 tioned, viz. that this bastion was erected upon an earlier wall (or 
 comer) of large bevelled stones ; three courses of which are still 
 seen at its southwest angle running into the mass diagonally. 
 Whether these stones are a fragment of the ancient ihird or 
 
 ' De Saulcy IL p. 117. — This inscrip- ' Wolcott in BiWioth Sacra, 1843, p. 
 
 tion was copied by DrK.Smitli, and pub- 17 sq. Tipping's many drawings, with 
 
 lished in the Bibliotheca Sacra, 1843, p. notes by Isaac Taylor, are found in Traill's 
 
 662. Also by Kraffl: in 1845, p 73. De Josephus, mostly in Vol. I. 
 Saulcy in 1851, as above. ' Vol. I. p. 318 [ i. 471.] 
 
 Vol. III.— 17 
 
194 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sko. IV. 
 
 second wall, it may be difficult to determine ; that they belonged 
 to one of them can hardly admit of question.^ 
 
 A young friend from Kamleh, Murtus, a son of the former 
 American consular agent at that place, had several times called ; 
 and had made himself useful to us in various ways. Being a 
 member of the Greek communion, he invited us to visit with 
 him the large Greek convent, situated west of the church of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, across the street, and connected with that church. 
 He made arrangements accordingly at the convent ; and in the 
 afternoon we accompanied him to the place. We were ushered 
 into the reception room, fitted up with much elegance for this 
 country, and having divans around the whole, except a lower space 
 by the door. Here we were soon joined by the preacher of the 
 convent, a well looking and very intelligent man ; then by the 
 scribe ; and afterwards by the Wakil (deputy) of the patriarch, 
 the acting head of the convent. A good deal of conversation 
 took place between them and my companion. They complained 
 of the incoming of the English ; and said that now whole vil- 
 lages, unless they could have their own way, were prone to 
 threaten, that they would leave the Greek church and turn 
 Protestants. When reminded that the Greeks had long had the 
 like difficulty with the Latins, they said the Latins gave them 
 much less trouble ; they were a small fiddle and made little 
 noise ; but now a big bass-drum had come, with its unceasing 
 bum, bum, bum I — Their schools were also spoken of, which Dr 
 Smith afterwards visited and found to be large and well con- 
 ducted. The head teacher had been educated at one of the 
 German universities. 
 
 We had some curiosity to ascertain the opinion of learned 
 ecclesiastics of the Greek church, as to the position of the 
 ancient Eleutheropolis. In our former journey, we had identified 
 it on topographical grounds with Betogabra, the present Beit 
 Jibrin ; but at that time no data had been found, by which to 
 connect the two names historically.' The link thus wanting 
 had since been discovered by Prof. Eoediger. In the Acta Sanc- 
 torum of Assemani, published in Syriac, Greek, and Latin, the 
 martyr Peter Abselama is said in the Syriac to have been born 
 at Anea, which lies " in the district of Beth Chibrin ; " while 
 the Greek and Latin accounts both read, " in the district of 
 Eleutheropolis."^ We had a desire to learn whether this iden- 
 
 ' Besides the layers of large stones spo- ' See VoL 11. p. 58 sq. [ii. 405 sq.] 
 
 ken of in the text, Messrs Wolcott and ' Assemani Acta Sanctor. Martyr. Ori- 
 
 Tipping found " a doorway in the north- ental. XI. p. 209, coll p. 207. Allgem. 
 
 west corner, leading into a small room, in Lit. Zeit. 1842, No. 72. Biblioth. Sacra, 
 
 which are four similar layers;" Biblioth. 1844, p. 217 sq. 
 Sacra, 1843, p. 30. 
 
Mat 4.] VISIT TO THE GREEK CONVENT. 195 
 
 tity was known and received by tlie Greek church in Palestine 
 at the present day.' 
 
 Indeed, we had already requested Murkus, a day or two 
 before, to make inquiries on the subject ; and had given him 
 simply the name " Eleutheropohs," desiring him to find out at 
 the convent where it was situated. He reported to us, that he 
 had applied to the scribe of the convent ; he took down an old 
 book and searched, and then said it was the metropolis of a 
 bishop, and was situated between Gaza and el-'Arish. The 
 young man told him, that we supposed it was between Gaza and 
 Jerusalem. No, he said, it was south of Gaza. The present 
 Arabic name he did not then know ; but promised to look fur- 
 ther. We now recurred to this topic ; and the scribe repeated 
 what he had before told Murkus. But neither of the three 
 knew any thing more of Eleutheropolis ; nothing at all. Yet 
 they were the chief authorities of the Greek church in Palestine. 
 So much for the " continued tradition" of that church, on this 
 point, " written and unwritten." 
 
 We were treated with great courtesy. During the inter- 
 view, which lasted for nearly an hour, sweetmeats were first 
 presented ; of which each person took a teaspoonful and then a 
 drink of water. Next followed 'Arah sweetened with jelly ; and, 
 later, coffee was served with sugar. We afterwards walked out 
 upon the buildings, and through the gallery over the street, which 
 connects the convent with the church of the Holy Sepulchre 
 opposite. This gallery is so constructed and shut in, that we 
 did not perceive when and where we crossed the street. They 
 took us first to the Greek chapel of Constantine and Helena, as 
 distinguished fi-om that of the Latins. It is on an upper floor, 
 on the southwest of the large dome, between it and the street. 
 From it we looked down through a grated window, directly upoi; 
 the sepulchre itself. Here are several paintings in a better style 
 than that of ordinary Greek pictures. One especially glittered 
 with gold and jewels ; while, by a contrast not unusual, before 
 it stood a taper in a common tin candlestick. Afterwards we 
 passed out eastward upon the roof of the Greek church and 
 beyond its dome, in order to enjoy the noble view of the city 
 there presented. The great dome over the sepulchre was covered 
 only with boards, and these again with sheet lead. The lead 
 was now in great part stripped off, and the boards rotten ; so 
 
 ' This is asserted by tlie author of the Beit Jibrin does represent the Betogahra 
 
 Holy City, II. p. 6: "Meanwhile I had of Ptolemy, and the Elentheropolis of eccle- 
 
 discovered from a veiy intelligent Greek siastical history, and that they had no 
 
 priest in the convent at Jemsalem, that doubt of the fact. This placed the matter 
 
 the contrnned tradition of his chnrch, beyond all question in our minds." 
 ■written and unwritten, had delivered that 
 
196 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [SialV. 
 
 that in winter the rains fell thick and heavily within the rotunda 
 below. 
 
 Wednesday, May 5th. — This day was chiefly occupied by au 
 excursion to Wady el-Werd and Bittir ; for an account of which 
 the reader is referred to Sect. VI. We reached the city again 
 at 3 o'clock. 
 
 Later in the afternoon I walked out alone to look at Hippicus 
 and the ground around the Yafa gate. The tower of Hippicus 
 stands out alone, gray with antiquity, among its younger com- 
 peers. We had formerly been admitted to examine it, and 
 would now gladly have visited it again. Bi^t when Dr McGowan 
 made application in behalf of several other travellers as well as 
 ourselves, the answer of the Kaim Makam was, that he had no 
 orders from the Sultan to admit foreigners into the citadel. So 
 we desisted. The Yafa gate is situated in a depression between 
 the citadel on the south and the hill on the north, as if in the 
 head of a valley ; which indeed is actually the case. The 
 ground on the south rises to Zion ; that on the north rises also 
 steeply, so long as one goes in a northerly direction. Wherever 
 the direction of a street verges towards the east, there of course 
 the ground begins to descend. 
 
 Thursday, May 6th. — The younger Mr Eeichardt having 
 kindly offered to accompany us to day to several places of inter- 
 est which we had not yet examined, we went out with him 
 first to the Damascus gate. 
 
 In recent discussions respecting Jerusalem, it has been a 
 prominent endeavour to show, that the lower portion of the city 
 and the Haram were supplied with water by means of a sub- 
 terranean channel passing in under or near this gate.' A large 
 cistern has been spoken of just outside of the Damascus gate 
 towards the east, said to be never exhausted, although used by 
 the many soldiers who guard the gate ; and therefore probably 
 fed with living water.* Another like " abundant well of water" 
 has been said to exist in the church of the Flagellation.' Much 
 stress has likewise been laid upon the supposed fact, that the 
 water of both these cisterns has the pecuhar taste which marks 
 the water of Siloam ; and the inference has been drawn, that 
 the supposed living water which feeds these cisterns, flows 
 through the city to the Haram, and thence descends to the 
 fountain of the Virgin so called.^ 
 
 We looked first for the "large cistern" just outside of the 
 Damascus gate towards the east. There is no cistern here, 
 
 ' Kraffi p. 131 sq. Holy City IL p. ' Holy City II. p. 461 sq. 
 469 sq. Bitter XVI. L p. 392 sq. * Krafit, ib. Holy City II. p. 469 sq. 
 
 " Krafft, ibid. Kitter, ibid. Bitter, ib. p. 395. 
 
Mat 6.] WATER AT THE DAMASCUS GATE. 197 
 
 except the broken reservoir in tlie city fosse already mentioned ; ' 
 and this is always empty and can hold no water. But just by 
 the very doors of the gateway, and almost overshadowed by the 
 projecting portal, is an ordinary cistern on each side. Each of 
 these has two openings ; one for drawing up water ; and the 
 other further north for receiving the rain water as it flows along 
 the ground. The farrows or channels which had served to conduct 
 the water to these openings from the road and the fields farther 
 north, still remained ; and these we saw. The officer of the 
 guard, who was present, had himself caused them to be made. 
 In each cistern the water was now about six feet deep. How 
 large they were in circumference, the officer could not tell. We 
 tasted the water of both. That on the east was not unlike in 
 taste to that of Siloam ; but was less marked. That on the 
 west was offensive, and nearly putrid ; thus proving that the 
 two cisterns are not connected together. The officer said the 
 soldiers stationed at the gate did not commonly use this water ; 
 but were supplied from the cisterns of the Haram ; meaning, 
 perhaps, those of the barracks adjacent to the Haram. But the 
 water of these cisterns is kept for the soldiers, in case the other 
 should fail. 
 
 During our former visit to the Holy City, it was spoken of 
 as a common report among the inhabitants, that at a certain 
 spot near the Damascus gate, in a still time, by putting the ear 
 to the ground, one can hear a trickling or murmur as of a sub- 
 terranean water-course. So little stress did we lay upon this 
 story, that I did not even record it in my former work.^ Four 
 years later Mr Wolcott met with the same report with the 
 addition, that the -sound could be heard only at night.' The 
 descendant of the prophet, whom we had met a few days previ- 
 ously at the church of St. Anne, repeated to us the same story ;* 
 but said the trickling could be heard only at noon on Friday, 
 the Muslim Sabbath. At that time, he said, if one put his ear 
 to the groimd at the gate, he would hear the water ; and the 
 same also at the Haram. But we never found a person, who 
 professed that he himself had heard this trickling ; neither a 
 native, nor much less a Frank. Yet there may well be occasion- 
 ally some foundation for such a report ; seeing, there are the two 
 large cisterns just described close by the gate. AU this however 
 furnishes a very narrow and legendary basis, on which to rest the 
 hypothesis of an underground channel of living water in this 
 q[uarter.^ 
 
 ' See above, p. 191. Kitter XVI, i. p. 386. — ^A similar rnmour 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 28. (if it be mere rumour) was current in the 
 
 s Ibid. sixth century as to the sound of water at 
 
 * See above, p. 177. Golgotha. Antoninus of Placentia, speak- 
 
 ' Krafft p. 130. Holy City IT. p. 470. ing of that spot, says : " Juxta ipsum 
 
 Vol. III.— 17* 
 
198 JEKUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [Sna IV. 
 
 We went now to the churcli of the Flagellation so called, on 
 the Via dolorosa nearly opposite the eastern end of the barracks. 
 It took us long to gain an entrance. After knocking a long time, 
 a boy came out from the street next west, and went for the key. 
 He brought a wrong one ; but a man followed with the right 
 key, and we went in. In the outer court is a large cistern, which 
 receives the water from the adjacent roofs and court. It was 
 now full of rain water, sweet and good ; as we ascertained by 
 tasting. In the smaller inner court is another reservoir. This 
 the attendant said, was a well of Hving water which was never 
 exhausted, and in which the water was never higher nor lower than 
 we now saw it. On being questioned, however, as to whence 
 the water came, he pointed to the adjacent roofs and the chan- 
 nels by which the rain water is conducted into the cistern. A 
 bucket of the water was drawn up ; we tasted it, and found 
 again the Siloam flavour. But upon inspecting the water in the 
 bucket, we perceived that it was full of the minute wriggling 
 worms and other animalculse usually found in impure rain water. 
 Here then was another ordinary cistern, and the peculiar taste 
 was accounted for. 
 
 This taste, in both the instances above described, is simply 
 that of impure rain water. It is not, however, improbable, that 
 the water of the wells in this region, which is always spoken of 
 as bad, may be found to exhibit something of the like taste, 
 derived from the Hmestone soil and rock. Indeed, it is very 
 possible that the flavour of Siloam itself may have a like origin. 
 
 Passing into the street of the bazar, we turned up the path 
 back of the columns of the Fropylcea, and came again to 
 the court adjacent to the Coptic and Abyssinian convent, Deir 
 es-Sultan, already mentioned.' The Copts have a smaller con- 
 vent of St. George on the west of the pool of Hezekiah ; adja- 
 cent to which, during the Egyptian rule, they began to Ijuild a 
 larger convent or rather Khan, which was abandoned by them 
 when Ibrahim Pasha withdrew from the country, and has since 
 been used as barracks by the government.' — The Deir es-Sultan 
 is now a partial ruin ; its arches are round, but without distinc- 
 tive features. It is not referred to an earlier date than the first 
 part of the sixteenth century.' 
 
 altare est crypta, tibi ponis aurem et andis ' See above, p. 168. 
 
 flumina aquarum ; et jactis pomum ant ' Holy City II. p. 567. Ritter ib. p. 
 
 alind quod natare potest, et Tadis ad Siloa 498 sq. — For the antiquities discorered in 
 
 fontem, ubi illud recipies ; " see in Acta digging for the foundations of this con- 
 
 Sanctor. Maii, T. II. p. x, etc. Ugoliiii vent, see Vol. I. p. 329 sq. [i. 488] 
 
 Thesaur. Tom. VII. p. mccxvi. — Jewish ' Holy City, II. p. 566. Ritter ib. p. 
 
 writers also relate, in the sixteenth cen- 499. Tobler separates the Copts and 
 
 tury, that near Hippicus there was heard Abyssinians ; Denkblatter aus Jerusalem 
 
 " a strong subterraneous rushing of run- p. 337. 
 ning water;" Scbwarz p. 267. 
 
May 6.] ABYSSINIAN PBIEST. CISTERN OF HELENA. 199 
 
 Mr Reichardt was acquainted witli the Abyssinian priest, a 
 young man of pleasing address and some learning. On sending 
 in for leave to visit the great cistern of Helena, he came out to 
 us ; very kindly granted our request ; and himself sent for the 
 key and tapers. The entrance is beyond the lane on the north 
 side of this court ; and is of course considerably distant from 
 the convent itself. A descent of thirty-six steps below the sur- 
 face, first towards the north, then east, then south, and then 
 north again, brought us to the water, which appears almost like 
 a subterranean lake. It was rain water, sweet and pure, collected 
 from the adjacent roofs and courts. The whole cistern seems 
 hewn out of the solid rock, with some portions filled in with 
 masonry ; and the sides are covered with cement. The excava- 
 tion seems to be of great extent ; but how far it reaches no one 
 knows. The light of our tapers did not penetrate to the ex- 
 tremity. It lies of course somewhat north of a line drawn east 
 from the church of the Holy Sepulchre. — The surface of the 
 ground directly over the cistern is covered with houses, which 
 stand high, as on a ridge ; and have openings, like wells, to draw 
 up water from the cistern below.' 
 
 Following now the street of the western bazar southwards, 
 and crossing the street coming from the Yafa gate at the break 
 or angle which it here makes, we kept on a few steps further up 
 the ascent of Zion. Here, on the left hand, just at the corner 
 where the street turns westerly, is seen the crown of a small round 
 arch, apparently ancient, fronting towards the west, and now rising 
 only just above the ground. We endeavoured to gain access to it 
 from the rear ; but without success. The stones of the arch 
 are small, rudely cut, and without any trace of bevelling. It 
 may have belonged to a small gateway, perhaps in the wall of 
 a dwelling or a court. It more resembles the rude entrance of an 
 aqueduct or sewer. A glance only is needed at its appearance 
 and position, to show that it could never have had connection 
 with any city wall. So trivial, indeed, is the whole fragment, 
 that not a legend even of monkish tradition has attached itself 
 to it." 
 
 Another fragment, though without an arch, is the Porta 
 ferrea, so called by the monks ; which we now visited. Until 
 recently, it is said to have been marked by two columns.' One 
 
 ' The Itin. Hieros. speaks of excepturia ' Yet it has heen held to be possibly 
 
 at the side of Constanfjiie's church ; but the gate Gemath of Josephus ! Schultz p. 
 
 the form of expression would hardly seem CI sq. Lord Nugent, Lands Class, and 
 
 to include this immense cistern : " Ibidem Sacr. IL p. 54 sq. — This idea is justly 
 
 modo jusso Constantini imperatoris basilica made light of by Tobler, who describes 
 
 facta est, id est Dominicum, mirse pulchri- the arch ; Topogr. I. p. 106 sq. 
 
 tudinis, habens ad latus excepturia unde ' Holy City n. p. 56. According to 
 
 aqua levatur, et balneum a tergo, ubi in- Quaresmius, it wa.« marked in his day only, 
 
 fantes lavantar." by the base or fragment of a marble co- 
 
200; JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTS, ETC. [SkcIV. 
 
 of these has since disappeared ; and the other, which formerly 
 stood in the street hy Dr McGowan's house, is now built into 
 the wall of the hospital opposite ; where it may still be seen, 
 bearing certainly no trace of ever having belonged to a city gate. 
 It is sixty paces, or more than ten rods, distant from the arch 
 above described, in a west-southwesterly direction. This porta 
 too has been of late regarded by some as the veritable gate of 
 Gennath in the first wall of Josephus ; from which the second 
 wall had its beginning, and ran northwards (as they suppose) 
 along the street of the bazars.' Not to urge here the trivial 
 character of the fragment itself, there are two considerations 
 arising from its position, which may be urged, at least against the 
 consistency of the advocates of this view. First, it is so far 
 distant from the brow of Zion, that it must have fallen within 
 (on the south of) the first wall, in any probable course which 
 may be assigned to the latter ; while secondly, it stands ten rods 
 or more west of the point of beginning ascribed by them to the 
 second wall. This last circumstance is of course fatal to the 
 whole hypothesis." 
 
 In the afternoon we had a pleasant call from two German 
 travellers just arrived from Egypt, Count Schliefien and Baron 
 Mtinchhausen, both of Silesia. They were endeavouring to make 
 arrangements to visit Jerash ; but were ultimately compelled to 
 give up their purpose, because of the extravagant demands made 
 for an escort. This was understood to arise, partly from the 
 circumstance, that the Sheikhs with whom they treated had 
 themselves neither authority nor power to take them to Jerash ; 
 and partly from the high prices paid two years before by M. de 
 Saulcy in his journey around the south end of the Dead Sea. 
 Indeed, at this time, the coimtry east of the Jordan seemed 
 inaccessible from Jerusalem, except at enormous rates. ^ 
 
 We afterwards made various calls ; and passed the evening 
 with several friends at the house of the Eev. Mr Keichardt. 
 
 Friday, May 1th, and Saturday, May 8th, were occupied by 
 an excursion to the vicinity of Hebron ; which is described in 
 Sect. VI. 
 
 lumn ; II. p. 95. — Whoever desires to from the letter of a New York friend, who 
 
 study the wanderings of this traditional also visited Syria in 1852 : " M. de 
 
 gate, may consult Tobler, Topogr. I. p. Saulcy, I am afraid, has seen what no one 
 
 413 sq. else has seen or can Bee. He certainly 
 
 ' Holy City, impliedly, II. p. 56. Schultz has not benefited science in establishing 
 
 p. 61 sq. Krafft p. 27 sq. the precedent of high prices ; where he 
 
 ^ See the beginning and course of the ought, with his armed company, to have 
 
 second wall as indicated in the Plan of enforced moderate terms, for the good of 
 
 Aldrich and Symonds ; Holy City Vol. I. those who should foUow him. In your 
 
 — The course of the first wall is there car- forthcoming work, do allude to this sub- 
 
 ried too far south, in order to meet the ject ; that more may have the opportunity 
 
 porta ferrea, so called. of seeing those countries, so interesting 
 
 * In Has connection I insert an extract from their associations." 
 
May 10.] MOUNDS OF ASHES. 201 
 
 Monday, May IQtJi. — This was the day fixed for our final 
 departure from the Holy City. The morning was passed in pre- 
 paration ; and we afterwards called on various friends to hid 
 farewell, whose kind attentions had made our visit pleas- 
 ant, and secured to us opportunities for investigation. We 
 regretted to find Dr Barclay and several of his family ill with 
 fever and ague. The day was hot and sultry ; the wind from 
 the southwest bordered on a Sirocco ; and the thermometer 
 stood at about 90° Far. 
 
 We left the Damascus gate at 12 o'clock, accompanied by 
 Mr Caiman, who desired with us to look at the large mounds 
 of ashes on the north of the city. In order to reach them, we 
 took a path branching off on the left of the direct northern road ; 
 and were struck, as often before, with the great number of 
 ancient cisterns still seen in this quarter, indicating beyond all 
 question that this whole tract was once covered by the streets 
 and dwellings of the city. Just by our path were seen in one 
 place the massive foundations of a thick wall, on a line with the 
 traces of the third wall, which we had formerly found. We were 
 told also of other similar foundations on the swell of ground 
 south or southeasterly from the Tomb of Helena, or Tombs of 
 the Kings, so called ; but these we were unable to visit. 
 
 The mound of ashes , to which we first came, extends from 
 north to south, and is quite high and long. We turned east- 
 ward to a second mound, still larger, higher, and longer, ex- 
 tending east and west. There is still a third, lying north of the 
 one first mentioned. These mounds have usually been regarded 
 as formed by the deposits of ashes formerly made from the soap- 
 works of the city. At the present day, it is said, those ashes are 
 aU employed in the preparation of cement for roofs, and other like 
 uses. 
 
 Quite recently the idea has been started, that this is the place 
 to which the ashes from the altar of the ancient Jewish temple 
 were carried forth;' and that the spot is therefore necessanly 
 without the former limits of the city, and beyond the third wall. 
 These mounds are said to be mentioned by K. Parchi, as far back 
 as A. D. 1322." On examination, we saw nothing to change 
 our former impression, that they are merely accumulations of 
 ashes from the soapworks, deposited here during several cen- 
 
 ' Lev. 6, 10. 11; oomp. Lev. 4, 12. probable. It is quoted and translated 
 
 ' The original work of Parchi I saw in by Zunz in Asher's Benj. of Tnd. IL 
 
 the possession of the younger Mr fieichardt p. 398 : " Outside of the gate of Jerusalem 
 
 in Jerusalem ; and to his testimony and called the gate of the Tribes, and which 
 
 that of Mr Caiman I am indebted for the lies in a northeast direction from the 
 
 statement in the text. Not having access mount of the temple, the ground is of an 
 
 to the work at present, I cannot say whe- ashy nature ; perhaps this is the ' valley 
 
 ther the passage referred to by them is the of ashes,' mentioned Jer. 31, 40." 
 same with the following ; though it seems 
 
202 JERUSALEM. — INCIDENTSj ETC. [Sec. IV. 
 
 turies. A subsequent inspection of the like mounds at Nabulus, 
 ■where the ashes from the soapworks are still daily thrown out, 
 only served to confirm the same view. 
 
 Indeed, a single historical circumstance would seem to put 
 the matter at- rest. From the time of Solomon to the Christian 
 era, the city was bounded on the north by the second wall ; and 
 it is quite improbable, that the ashes of the altar would have 
 been daily carried forth so far beyond that wall, as the distance 
 of the present mounds from the Damascus gate. The third 
 wall was not built until after A. D. 41 ; ' and the destruction of 
 the city and temple, when the sacrifices finally ceased, occurred 
 in A. D. 70. Hence these vast mounds, if composed of ashes 
 from the altar, must have been accumulated within a period of 
 about thirty years. This, probably, few would be disposed to 
 maintain.^ 
 
 We now turned further eastward; and looked for a few 
 moments at the tomb of Helena. Mr Caiman returned to the 
 city ; and at 12.25 we proceeded on our journey. 
 
 Such is the record of a brief but busy sojourn of twelve days 
 in the Holy City. Two of these days were the Christian Sab- 
 bath, and three others were mainly devoted to more distant 
 excursions ; so that there remained to us only seven days for 
 inquiry and observation in and around the city. But we did not 
 come as strangers ; and were therefore able to lay our plans and 
 execute them without delay or hindrance. The preceding pages 
 ■will show, I trust, that we at least endeavoured to make good use 
 of our time and opportunities. 
 
 ' See VoL I. p. 31i. [i. 465.] found in the ashes of flesh or hones. Small 
 
 ^ Since the above was written, a letter particles of bone were detected ; and Mr 
 
 from Mr Finn has appeared in the London W. Dickson found larger pieces (Ath. May 
 
 Athenseran (April 21, 1855, p. 464), giving 5, 1855, p. 521). — Yet two small speci- 
 
 the information, that two specimens of mens would seem hardly sufficient to de- 
 
 these ashes, taken from near the top and termine the character of the whole mass 
 
 bottom of the largest mound, have been of these immense mounds; and the pre- 
 
 analyzed in the laboratory of Prof. Liebig, sence of bones of animals might very 
 
 and found to be chiefly of animal and not easily be accidental. — See also Journal of 
 
 of vegetable origin. There is also a small Sacred Literature for July, 1855, p. 477— 
 
 percentage of silicic acid, which is never 479. 
 
SECTION y. 
 
 JEEUSALEM. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY AND ANTIQUITIES. 
 
 In entering once more upon the consideration of the topogra- 
 phy and antiquities of the Holy City, I desire it to be under- 
 stood, that I am about to take up only those topics, in respect 
 to which there has been more or less discussion since the pub- 
 lication of my former volumes. Such discussion has arisen, 
 mainly, in regard to the views supported in that work ; and this 
 is a sufficient reason, if there were no other, why I have preferred 
 to let the statements and considerations there presented remain 
 in their integrity, rather than subject them to any important 
 change. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of that work 
 in itself, it has at least been the occasion of calling public atten- 
 tion to the subject of Biblical Geography in general, and the 
 ancient topography of the Holy City in particular, to an extent 
 far beyond what could have been anticipated ; and has given rise 
 to an amount of literature upon the latter topic withia the last 
 ten or twelve years, probably much greater than has appeared 
 during any other whole century since the Christian era. For aU 
 this I can only be thankful. 
 
 I entered upon my researches, not in order to support a 
 favourite theory, for I had none ; and I have continued them, I 
 trust, without prejudice or prepossession. My object throughout 
 has been, and still is, " the truth, the whole truth, and nothiug 
 but the truth ; " the truth, I mean, as it has come down to us, 
 and is still confirmed to us, through the evidence of recorded 
 history and topography. If, in the course of prolonged investiga- 
 tions, I came to lay less weight, than some may desire, upon 
 mere ecclesiastical or other tradition unsupported by any further 
 evidence, this was a result forced upon my conviction by the 
 
204 JERUSALESt. — TOPOGBAPHT. [Sec. V. 
 
 nature and circumstances of the case ; and my judgment in the 
 matter has been approved by the highest names in science. In 
 this particular, and indeed in all the general principles which 
 lie at the basis of my former work, I as yet see nothing to alter 
 or retract. Here, as elsewhere, " the truth is great, and will 
 prevail ;" and so long as truth is established, and the interests of 
 science and religion promoted, it matters little by whose instru- 
 mentaUty the work has been accomplished. As I have no 
 interests to subserve but those of scientific and religious truth, 
 so I have no fears as to the result. 
 
 In the discussions that have taken place, the chief diversities 
 of opinion have arisen in endeavouring to apply the descriptions 
 of Josephus to the present physical features of the Holy City. 
 Thus it is the valley of the Tyropoeon, the hills Akra and Beze- 
 tha, the course of the second waU, the place of the ancient 
 bridge, the extent of the temple area, and the relation to it of 
 the fortress Antonia, — ^it is these which have formed the chief 
 topics of inquiry, and the themes of disquisition sometimes any- 
 thing but tranquil. Nor is it wonderful that the subject should 
 be environed with difficulties. Ever since Jerusalem became the 
 capital of the chosen people, she has been subjected to calam- 
 ities, to revolutions, to overthrows, almost without number. 
 Even of old, in the time of the exile, it was predicted, that 
 '■' the city should be builded upon her own heap ; " ' and how 
 often has she since been thus rebuilded ? Her walls and dwell- 
 ings, her fortresses, palaces, and temple, have been laid in ruins 
 and have crumbled into dust. The ruins and rubbish of nearly 
 thirty centuries are strewed over her surface ; and no wonder 
 that her hollows and ravines are filled up, and her hills made 
 low. It is therefore only by a careful consideration of all the 
 particulars specified by Josephus, and by a cautious comparison 
 of each with the features of the surface as still seen or as known 
 from history, that we can hope to arrive at legitimate and trust- 
 worthy conclusions. By no law of language or of logic can it 
 be justified, that one part of the historian's description should be 
 followed, and another part left out of view. 
 
 My own investigations in respect to the Tyropoeon and the 
 hills Akra and Bezetha led me to adopt the view, which has 
 been the prevailing one among travellers and scholars ever since 
 the time of the crusades ; if not earlier. It regards the Tyropoeon 
 as beginning near the present Yafa gate, and miming down 
 along the northern side of Zion ; after which it turns south and 
 extends down to Siloam. Akra, on the north of Zion, was the 
 ridge on which now stands the church of the Holy Sepulchre ; 
 
 ' Jer. 30, 18. 
 
Sec. v.] DISCUSSIONS. JOSEPHUS. 205 
 
 wMe Bezetha was the hill on the north or rather north-north- 
 west of the present Haram area. 
 
 The earliest writer on Jerusalem, so far as I have been able 
 to discover, who makes any allusion to the. descriptions of Jose- 
 phus, is the monk Brocardus, about A. D. 1283 ; to whom we 
 are indebted for the topography of the Holy Land and Holy 
 City, according to the views current in the time of the crusades. 
 He describes a valley descending from the tower of David 
 [Hippicus] along the northern side of Zion quite to Moriah, 
 where it turned and separated Moriah from Zion, and was ex- 
 tended quite down to the Kidron. This valley in its upper part 
 was already filled up ; yet there remained vestiges of its former 
 concavity. On the north of this valley was the rock called by 
 Josephus Arra, i. e. Akra.' 
 
 The next writers who refer to Josephus, are Adrichomius 
 and the Jesuit ViUalpandus, near the close of the sixteenth 
 century ; both of whom adopt the like view in respect to the 
 Tyropceon and Akra.* From them probably the same passed 
 over to the traveller Sandys, who was at Jerusalem in A. D. 
 1611.^ About the middle of the seventeenth century, Lightfoot, 
 by a wrong interpretation of a passage in the Psalms, and by his 
 reliance on the Eabbins, was led into the error of placing Zion 
 on the north of the Holy City, and Akra on the south ; in which 
 he was followed by Cellarius.* This hypothesis was rejected by 
 Dapper as early as A. D. 1677 ; but it was left for Keland in 
 the following century to furnish a terse and conclusive refuta- 
 tion.' Keland in the same connection gives his own views in 
 full, on the authority of Josephus ; assigning to Akra its place 
 on the north of Zion and west of Moriah, and to Bezetha a 
 position on the north of the temple.* Next came the geographer 
 D'AnvHle, who, commenting upon Josephus, adopts very de^ 
 cisively the same conclusions as Eeland.' The like view is 
 
 " Brocardus c. 8 : " Proinde vallis qasd his Plan of Jerusalem, on wliioli Bezetha 
 
 a tnrri Dafid descendehat contra latus is marked on the north-northwest of the 
 
 Aquilonare montis Sion usque ad montem temple ; p. 145. — ^ViUalpandus, Apparatus 
 
 Moria, et reflectitur in Orientem [Aus- Urbis etc. in Pradi et YiUalp. in Ezech. 
 
 tram], separabat montem Moria * * a Explanationes, Kom. 1604, fol. Tom. III. 
 
 monte Sion, et totam inferiorem civitatem, p. 22. B, " Mons igitur hie [Acra] ad 
 
 extendebaturque usqne ad torrentem Ce- Aquilonem situs Sioni, ad Occidentera 
 
 dron, per locum ubi nunc est porta aqua- Moriae, describitur a Josephi his verbis, 
 
 rum inter montem Sion et palatium Salo- etc." 
 
 monis, quod asdificatimi fuit in parte Aus- ' Sandys Travailes, p. 122. 
 
 trail montis Moria. * * Vemm nunc ' Lightfoot, Cent. Chorogr. Matthseo 
 
 vorago ipsa tota repleta est ; reliciis iamen prasm. 22, 23. His error was founded on 
 
 v&stigiis prioris concavitatis. * * Rupes Ps. 48, 2. — Cellarins, Notit. Ofbis, II. p. 
 
 eminens, quam Josephus Arram appellat." 457 sq. 
 
 The reading Orientem for Anstrum is ob- ' 0. Dapper, Palestyn p. 327. — Keland 
 
 viously an error, probably bv a transcriber. Palsest. p. 846 sq. 
 
 ^Brocardus does not mention Bezetha. ' Palsest. pp. 850-853. 
 
 ' Adrichom. Theatr. pp. 151, 152 ; also ' Dissertat. sur I'^tendue de I'ancienne 
 
 YoL. III.— 18 
 
206 JERUSALEM. — TOPOGBAPHT. [Sec. V. 
 
 presented also by the leading sacred geographers of the present 
 century, as Eosennaueller and Eaumer.' 
 
 The preceding evidence, derived from witnesses scattered 
 over no less than seven centuries, I have adduced in order to 
 demonstrate, that the views which I have formerly maintained 
 as to the course of the Tyropoeon and the position of Akra and 
 Bezetha, were not novel, and did not rest merely upon my own 
 authority. The writers, who during so many centuries have 
 given the same interpretation of Josephus, were among the 
 ablest scholars of their times ; nor have they perhaps been 
 surpassed in discernment, learning, and good sense, by those who 
 have become their successors at the present day. 
 
 Amid the many diversities of opinion which have of late 
 been advanced, it is gratifying to find a few points yet unassailed, 
 and which in general are still admitted by most writers. Such 
 especially are the four following : 
 
 1. That Zion was the southwestern hill of the city ; and 
 still terminates towards the north, as of old, in a steep declivity 
 adjacent to the street leading down from the Yafa gate.'' 
 
 2. That Moriah, the site of the Jewish temple, was the place 
 now occupied by the Haram or grand mosk, on the east and 
 northeast of Zion.^ 
 
 3. That the ancient tower just south of the Yafa gate is the 
 Hippicus of Josephus ; from which the first ancient wall ran 
 eastward along the northern brow of Zion to the temple enclo- 
 sure.* 
 
 4. That the ancient remains connected with the present 
 Damascus gate, are those of an ancient gate upon that spot, 
 belonging to the second wall of Josephus.^ 
 
 The importance of the points thus generally admitted, will 
 be seen as we advance. 
 
 In now turning to the consideration of particular localities, 
 I may be permitted to express the hope, that the reader wiE not 
 expect me to examine every view which may differ from my own, 
 nor even to notice every objection which foregone hypothesis or 
 controversial sMll may see fit to propose. It is an old maxim, 
 that " the best way to preach down error, is to preach the truth." 
 
 J^rasalem, Paris 174:7 ; reprinted in the 268, Ed. 1. — Schultz p. 29, oomp. p. 28. 
 
 Appendix to Chateaubriand's Itin^raire ; — EraSt pp. 3, 4. 
 
 see p. 331 : " La seoonde coUine [Aora] ' Holy City I. p. 14. — Sohnltz p. 29. — 
 
 a' ^levoit an nord de Sion, faisant face par Erafit pp. 4, 5. 
 
 son c6t6 oriental an mont Moria." — See ' Holy City H. p. 14 sq. The author 
 
 also the Plan of Jerusalem on D'Anville's prefers another tower within the citadel. — 
 
 Map of Palestine ; in which Akra and Be- Schultz p. 57. Krafft pp. 13, 14. — Mr 
 
 zetha are rightly laid down. Ferguson finds Hippicus in the KAsr el- Ja- 
 
 = Eosenm. BibL Geogr. H. IL p. 210 sq. lud ; pp. 36, 37. 
 — See also Raumer's Palastina, Ed. 3. p. ' Holy City H. p. 35. Schultz p. 60. — 
 
 312 sq. Krafft refers the gate rather to the third 
 
 ' Holy City, I. Snppl. p. 21 ; also p. wall ; p. 42 sq. 
 
Sec. v.] POINTS ADMITTED. THE TTROPCEON, ETC. 207 
 
 If, therefore, I shall he ahle to present, with clearness and 
 hrevity, the main arguments in support of the views adopted by 
 the scholars of former centuries as well as hy myself, I venture 
 to hope that these will commend themselves to the judgment of 
 the reader ; and that I may he excused from drawing other 
 matters into discussion. 
 
 I. THE TTEOPCEON AND AKBA. 
 
 As we are dependent on Josephus for all our knowledge 
 respecting these two features of the ancient city, I insert here 
 his description.' 
 
 " The city was fortified by three walls, wherever it was not encircled by 
 impassable valleys ; for in that part, there was but one wall. It was built, 
 one part facing another, upon two hills, separated by a valley between ; at 
 which, one upon another, the houses ended. Of these hills, the one having 
 the Upper City was much the higher, and was straighter in its extent. * * * 
 The other hill, called Akra, and sustaining the Lower City, was gibbous. 
 Overagainst this was a third hill, by nature lower than Akra, and formerly 
 separated by another broad valley. But afterwards, in the times when the 
 Maccabees ruled, they threw earth into this valley, desiring to connect the 
 city with the temple ; and working down the height of Akra, they made it low- 
 er, so that the temple might appear above it. The valley called the TyropcBon, 
 which we have said separated the hill of the upper city and the lower hill, 
 extends down quite to Siloam. * * * But from without, the two hills of the 
 city were encompassed by deep valleys ; and because of the steep declivities 
 on both sides, there was nowhere any approach." 
 
 From this passage of the Jewish historian the following 
 inferences are definite and necessary : 
 
 First. That a valley or ravine (^dpa^^), and only one, the 
 Tyropceon, separated the hiU Akra, with the lower city, from 
 Zion. 
 
 Second. That Akra was gibbous in form ; and was situated 
 between the Tyropceon and another broad valley. 
 
 When the traveller first enters Jerusalem, with the description 
 of Josephus before his mind ; and sees the most marked valley 
 of the city to be that extending southwards from the Damascus 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 4r. 1 : Tpiffl 5e uxvpotixej/ri ye /x^y Ko^' otts ol ^ A.<rafiavatoi XP^^^^^ 
 
 Teixf<rti' ri WXu, Ka.^a fii) Tois aPirois i^aaiXevov, tIiv re tpipayya ex'"o''"'> cvvi- 
 
 tpApay^iv iKvK\ovTO ' ravrri yap ets ^v ne- if'Oi ^ov\6iievoi rip Up^ rijy irSXiyj Kol ttjs 
 
 pt^o\os. AuT^ fiev virep 5uo \6<l}ay avrt- "AKpas Karepyatrdfieyoi rh v^os eiroi'fjtray 
 
 wpSffUTTos eKTiffTO, fieff^ (l}Apayyt Sirtprjfie- x^^i'^'-^^'^^P^^t ^* virep<paiyoiTo koX TavTTjs 
 
 vwy, fis %y ^ir(£\Xr;\oi KaTeKtjyoy al oIkIcu. rh hp6y. ij Se rSiy Tvpoiroiwy ifpoaayo- 
 
 TUy 5e K6ipay & /ley, rijy &ya} 'k6\iv ix^^i pevo^eyrj tpdpay^^ ^y tfpafxey r6y re Tr)s &y(o 
 
 &>p7i\6Tepos iroAAy Kal rh fiijKOS i^Arepos v6\€tiis KaX Thv Ktira K6(poy StaffTeXA.eii', 
 
 ^c • * * S,Tfpos Se 6 KaKoi/teyos "Axpa, Kal Ka^Kei ti^xpi SiKadfi, * * ^Jw&ev Se ol 
 
 tV KiTct Tt&Kiv i<p€<rr<is, a/KplievpTos. Toi- rrjs iriXeais Svo \6^oi Pt^^elais (fidpay^i 
 
 TOW 5^ avriKph rplros ^y hStpoSf ratreiySre- ireptelxoyrOj Kal dtci- robs €Ke.Tepoi^ey Kp^i^ 
 
 pis re ipiaei riis 'tiKpas, Kal ir\oTe/? ipa- fiyobs itpoairhy oiiSaiiS^ey ?iy. 
 payyi Sieipyiiteyos £aAi) irpSrepoy ai&is 
 
208 JERUSALEM. — TOPOGEAPHT. [Sec. V. 
 
 gate to Siloam ; he ifs naturally led, at the first glance, to inquire, 
 whether this valley is not the Tyropceon. Such was my own 
 experience ; and has douhtless been that of very many others. 
 But when one comes to look for the hills on each side of the 
 Tyropceon ; and finds the northern side of Zion terminating at 
 the street leading down from the Yafa gate ; and perceives 
 further, that the position thus assumed for the Tyropceon would 
 require Akra to he on the north of the temple, and would separate 
 it from Zion, not by a single valley only, hut by two large de- 
 pressions with a rocky ridge between ; he is at once driven to 
 the conclusion, that all this is irreconcilable with the description 
 of Josephus, aad that the beginning of the Tyropceon must be 
 sought near the Yafa gate ; in which case the rocky ridge 
 between the two depressions becomes Akra. And this is just the 
 view, which has been current for centuries, and has been contro- 
 verted in favour of the other, for the first time, I believe, 
 within these last few years. 
 
 The Yafa gate, as we have already seen,' stands in a 
 depressed spot between the citadel and the hill on the north. 
 The street leading down from it occupies, along the foot of Zion, 
 the lowest line of depression between Zion and the ridge of the 
 Sepulchre. Judging from the nature of the ground, there was 
 probably here, at first, a narrow ravine immediately under the 
 steep northern side of Zion ; serving as a drain for the waters 
 falling on the adjacent part of Zion, and also for those on the 
 southern declivity of the ridge in the north. In process of time 
 this ravine has become gradually and almost wholly filled up. 
 It was so already in the days of Brocardus, as we have seen 
 above ; though there remained traces of its former concavity.'' 
 That the ground here was once much lower, is demonstrated by 
 the recovered chapel of St. John already described ; the floor of 
 which is some twenty-five feet below the level of the adjacent 
 street ; * as also by the excavations for laying the foundations of 
 the large new building overagainst Hippicus on the north, which, 
 were made to a depth of thirty or forty feet through rubbish.* 
 There is therefore certainly nothing impossible nor improbable 
 to be encountered, in assuniing this as the general line of the 
 Tyropceon ; while this, and this alone, accords with the descrip- 
 tion of Josephus.^ 
 
 So soon as the place of the Tyropceon is determined, that of 
 Akra is also fixed. It is the end of the broad swell of ground 
 
 ' See above, p. 196. ' Those who make the Tyropceon begin 
 
 ' See above, p. 205. at the Damascus gate, deny of course the 
 
 ° See above, pp. 184, 183. existence of any valley here ; a denial 
 
 * See Mr Whiting's letter in Note XV, which no man ever thought of until within 
 
 end of the volume. Gadow in Zeitschr. der the last fifteen years ; see Holy City II. p. 
 
 morg. Ges. m. p. iS. 29 sq. Sohultz pp. 28, 54. Krafft p. 4. 
 
Skc. v.] THE TTROPCEON. AKKA. 209 
 
 on the nortliwest of the city,wliicli extends down into the city as a 
 rocky ridge, terminating in a rather hroad point overagainst the 
 place of the ancient temple. It is accurately descrihed as " curved 
 on both sides, or gibbous," like the end of the gibbous moon ;' 
 falling off steeply towards the north into the valley and basin 
 around the Damascus gate ; and on the south, more gradually 
 towards Zion.'' It is situated therefore between two valleys, the 
 Tyropceon which . divides it from Zion, and the deeper one 
 coming from the Damascus gate, which separates it from Moriah. 
 Here then, in like manner, and here alone, we find an Akra cor- 
 responding to the description of Josephus. 
 
 It follows, therefore, that so long as the northern side of 
 Zion remains undisturbed, the place of the Tyropceon and of 
 Akra can only be adjacent to it on the north. 
 
 When the historian speaks of the Maccabees, as "throwing 
 earth into the [lower] valley, desiring to connect the city with the 
 temple," this may signify one of two things, viz. either that by 
 fiUing in earth they raised the general level of the valley ; or 
 that they built a mound or causeway across it. The former, as 
 we shall see, is the more probable meaning.' 
 
 The same general result follows also from another passage of 
 Josephus, where he is describing the gates on the different sides 
 of the temple enclosure. It is as follows : ' 
 
 " In the western parts of the enclosure stood four gates ; one leading over 
 to the royal palace, the valley hetween being Intercepted to form a passage ; 
 two leading to the suburb ; and the remaining one into the other city, being 
 distinguished by many steps down into the valley, and from this up again 
 upon the ascent ; for the city lay over against the temple in the manner of a 
 theatre, beiBg encompassed by a deep valley on all its southern quarter." 
 
 The mention here of ' steps ' down into the valley, shows con- 
 clusively that this gate was the one next north of that leading to 
 Zion ; for here if any where the valley was stiU deep, as it is at 
 the present day. Further north it was less deep by nature, and 
 had moreover been filled in by the Maccabees.' The two more 
 northern gates needed therefore no descent by steps, just as there 
 is none at the present day. They led, probably, by a street along 
 
 ' Gr. aii^lKvpros. See in Vol. I. p. 278. Tijy h jifatf <pdpayyos els SloSov ctireiXij/i- 
 
 [ i. 410.] Reland Pal. p. 852. fLfvris • at Sh Si!o els rh TTpoiareiov • r/ \oi- 
 
 ^ For the general descent of the streets ir^ Be els t^v ^AA.tjv 'ir6\iv, ^a^fuirt Tro?J^a?s 
 
 in this part towards the south, see above, Kara tc els rijv (jxipayya Siei\Ti/i/ievTi, Koi 
 
 pp. 166, 190, 196. For the n(^« of Akra, &iri rairris &yoi irihiv M ri)v irpi(r$a(rty, 
 
 see p. 169. avriKph yh,p ri ir6\is lieetTo rov lepov, &c«- 
 
 * The historian nowhere intimates, even rpoeitiis oica, irepiexon-epTj fia^elt^ (l>dpayyi 
 by a word, that the valley was so filled up Karci irav rh v6rioy KKijxa. 
 
 as to be obliterated, and the two hills made ' See just above. It would seem, from 
 
 one ; see Holy City II. p. 27. this descent and ascent by steps, that 
 
 * Jos.Antt. 15. 11. 5: iySerotseinreptois at this time, long after the Maccabees, 
 liepe<n tow ireptp6\ov iruAai Teaaapes i<pe- there Was no mound leading from the tem- 
 OToaav • 71 (ley els rci, PaalXeia Teivovira, pie to the lower city. 
 
 Vol. III. -18* 
 
210 JERUSALEM. TOPOGKAPHT. [Skc.V. 
 
 or near tlie valley, to the ancient gate now known as that of 
 Damascus ; and so conducted to the suburb beyond, or also to 
 Bezetha on the right. The gate with many steps led to "the 
 other city ; " which, as thus mentioned after the royal palace on 
 Zion, can only be the lower city or Akra. Here then we have 
 direct testimony by the Jewish historian, that Akra formed 
 part of the general acclivity on the west of Moriah ; and the 
 whole city, upper and lower, Zion and Akra, rose like an amphi- 
 theatre overagainst the temple ; and was terminated on the 
 south by the deep valley of the sons of Hinnom. It is easy to 
 see, that this description is in no way applicable to any part of 
 the city, except to Zion and the adjacent tract and ridge on the 
 north. 
 
 The main objection, and perhaps the only one, which can be 
 taken to the preceding interpretation and application of the lan- 
 guage of Josephus, arises from an expression at the close of the 
 passage first above quoted, viz. that "from without, the tioo hills 
 of the city were encompassed by deep valleys." This expression 
 I have formerly referred to, in the followiag manner : ' "If the 
 historian here means the two particular hills of Zion aud Akra, 
 (as the insertion of the Grreek article might seem to imply,) the 
 language is not literally exact ; but if, as is more probable, this 
 is a mere form of expression intended to embrace the whole city, 
 then it presents no difficulty." That this is the true view, and 
 that " the two hills" are here put by synecdoche for the whole city, 
 I am the more persuaded ; because in the very beginning of the 
 same passage, the one hill, Zion, stands in like manner for the 
 whole city, which is there said to be " fortified by three walls, 
 wherever it was not encircled by impassable valleys." But Zion 
 only was ever thus fortified ; the lower city had but two walls. 
 So too at the end of the same passage the historian adds, that 
 " because of the steep declivities on both sides, there was nowhere 
 any approach." Here again it is the city as a whole, to which 
 there is no approach ; not the two particular hills. To the same 
 effect is still another passage, where Josephus relates, tha,t "a 
 broad and deep valley encompasses the city, comprehending with- 
 in it the temple, which was very strongly fortified with a wall 
 of stone." " The city as a whole is here said to be thus encom- 
 passed ; although, in point of fact, there is no valley on the 
 whole northern and northwestern quarter. — The historian was 
 probably led to speak in this way of " the two hiUs," because he 
 had just before described them, and had expressly said, that THE 
 City was built upon two hiUs. 
 
 ' See Tol. I. p. 281. [i. 414.] hTroXafifiivovaa rb Upiv, XtStlvif ir(pifi6\<f 
 
 ^ Jo2. Antt. 14. 4. 1 : Treptepx^rat yhp Koprepas vdyv Teretxtffficyoy, 
 oJtJic <f>ipay^ eipeii re koI fia^eia, imhs 
 
Sec. v.] AKKA. BEZETHA. 211 
 
 But the difficulty, if there be one, is not removed, hj as- 
 signing to Akra any other possible position. If the hill east of 
 the Damascus gate he taken, that lull too does not extend to the 
 vaUey of Jehoshaphat. ; but there intervenes the rocky ridge 
 upon and along which the eastern wall is built ; while on the 
 northern quarter there is no valley at all. In this and every 
 other possible case, therefore, the same synecdoche has to be 
 resorted to. Hence it is better, and more in accordance with 
 all right principles of interpretation, to let the clear and explicit 
 declarations of the historian have their fuU force, rather than to 
 seek to modify them by what is in itself doubtful, or at any rate 
 includes a like figure of speech.' 
 
 II. BEZETHA. 
 
 The position of the hill Bezetha is described in two passages 
 of Josephus. The first and longest is as foUows : " 
 
 _ " This [third wall] Agrippa put around the new-built city, which was 
 quite naked. For the city, overflowing with the multitude, had by little and 
 little crept beyond the walls ; and uniting with itself the parts on the north 
 of the temple at the hill, had advanced not a little ; so that a fourth hiU, 
 called Bezetha, was now dwelt around, lying overgainst Antonia, and sepa- 
 rated from it by a deep fosse. For a trench had here been cut through on pur- 
 pose ; lest the foundations of Antonia, being joined to this hill, should be 
 easily accessible and less lofty. And thus the depth of the trench added very 
 much to the height of the towers. This new-built part is called in our lan- 
 guage Bezetha ; which being interpreted in the Greek tongue would be Caeno- 
 ^olis, New Oity." 
 
 The second passage makes reference to the first, and is as 
 follows : ^ 
 
 " The hill Bezetha was separated, as I said, from Antonia ; and, being the 
 highest of all, it was built up adjoining to a part of the new city, and alone 
 overshadowed the temple on the north." 
 
 From these two passages the following seem to be necessary 
 inferences, viz. 
 
 ' I have dwelt the longer on this point, as, avoTefivS^eyos Se opiyfiart ^tx^et^ Jie- 
 
 because Rltter has made it prominent ; ratppei/^ yhp iirlTTjSeSf ws fi^ to? \6tpcp 
 
 taking up only the beginning and end of cvvaTTTovTss ol ^efie\toi ttjs 'AvTuvias, eu- 
 
 the passage first above quoted, and omit- vp6(riToi re eter, koL ?ttov i^riXai. Sib SJ) 
 
 ting all notice of the intervening defimte KaX irKslffTov v^os rots iripyots vpoffeStSou 
 
 specifications. Ei-dk. XVI. i. p. 407. rh 0ii^os t^s Td(j>pov. iicKiiSni Si iirixa- 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 4. 2 : toOto ttJ TrpoffKri- pias Befe&cfc rh v^6ktuttov fi^pos^ ft /ze- 
 
 <r&cf<r7j ir<!A.fi irepie&Tj/ccv 'Aryplinras, %T£p dep/niyev6fievoi' 'EAAaSi y\<i<rirri Katvi) Ae- 
 
 tJi' Tratra yvfijrfj • xA.^^« yap uirepxeOjUe'iTj, yoiT* tiv ir6\is. 
 
 Kara fwephv i^eTpire tZv ■tr(pip6Kav, Kol ' Jos. B. J. 5. 6. 8 : ri Beftfti Je k6^os 
 
 Tov.iepov Tct irpoffdpKTia Trphs T^ KStfitij irvfi- diT^pijro fiev, &s etprjv, &Trh rris 'Avraplas' 
 
 voKl^oyreSf eir* oiiK oXiyov ttoo^A^oj', /cal Tcdvroty he {v^ri\6raro5 &v fi4pGi rrjs Kaunjs 
 
 Tcraproy irepioiKTj^rivat \6(poyj hs KaKeiraL TrrfXews irpoa't^KifTTOf Kol /i6yos t^ Up^ Kw^ 
 
 Be^e&<£, Keliievos /ihv avTiKpi) TJjy 'kjiTavl- &pKTOv iirurK6Tei. 
 
212 JERUSALEM. — TOPOGBAPHT. [Skc. V. 
 
 First That Bezetha was a higli liill on tlie northern quar- 
 ter of Antonia and the temple. It alone overshadowed the 
 temple on the north. 
 
 Second. That being separated from Antonia by a deep artifi- 
 cial trench, it could only have been a hill immediately adjacent. 
 
 These characteristics are found, and found only, in connec- 
 tion with the elevated hill lying east of the Damascus gate, and 
 northerly from the northwest corner of the Haram area ; where 
 of old stood the main fortress of Antonia.' Hence this hiU has 
 always been regarded as the Bezetha of Josephus, from the first 
 notice we have of it down to the present time ; with the excep- 
 tion of one or two quite recent writers.' 
 
 The historian describes the hill Bezetha as " the highest of 
 all." But he cannot here mean all the four hills of the city ; for 
 of the four, Zion is the highest. He. had just spoken of the 
 temple as the fortress of the city (exclusive of Zion), and of 
 Antonia as the fortress of the temple ; and he then goes on to 
 speak of Bezetha as being the highest of all these, viz. the lower 
 city, Moriah, and perhaps the rock of Antonia. Even with this 
 restriction, this mention of Bezetha as the highest hill limits it 
 conclusively to the hiU above described.^ 
 
 III. THE GATE GENNATH. 
 
 Josephus mentions the gate Gennath only once by this 
 name ; and this, where he is describing the beginning and course 
 of the three walls, which encompassed the city on the north.' 
 The first or innermost of these walls began at the tower Hippi- 
 cus and ran eastward along the northern brow of Zion to the 
 Xystus, and so to the western side of the temple enclosure. 
 " The second wall had its beginning from the gate called Gen- 
 nath, belonging to the first wall ; and encircling only the tract 
 on the north, it extended quite to Antonia."* The third wall 
 began also at Hippicus ; and running north to the tower Psephi- 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 5. 8. the new city, or at least the latter as con- 
 
 ^ Holy City II, p. 52. — It is singular, nected with the former ; B. J. 2. 15. 5. 
 
 that Ritter, in his account of the topogra- ib. 2. 19. 4. But more commonly he gives 
 
 phy of Jerusalem, nowhere makes the to the new city its distinctive appellation ; 
 
 slightest reference to Bezetha or to its posi- as ^ Kaiv^ itSkis, B. J. 5. 5. 8. ib. 5. 8. 1 ; 
 
 tion; Erdk. XVL i. pp. 406-416. or Kaii'6vo\is, ib. 2. 19. 4. Also ri koto- 
 
 ' In the first passage cited above, Jose- repa KaiyitroMs, ib. 5. 12. 2. 
 phus calls this fourth hiU Bezetha, and ex- * Jos. B. J. 5. 4. 2. ' 
 
 plains the word as meaning the Nevj City. ' Ibid. Ti Se Seirepov tJ)v liiv apxh" 
 
 In the second passage he distinguishes be- ctirh Tri\iis flx^v, V TewoS- IxaKovy, toO 
 
 -tween the two, and speaks of the hill Be- irpciTov relxovs ovtray, KvKXovfxeyoy Se rh 
 
 zetha as joined to a part of the New City. irpoffdpKTtov KA.(jua iJ,6i'ov avijei. jue'jyji t^j 
 
 He elsewhere twice uses the name Bezetha 'Avrayias. 
 apparently as including both the hill and 
 
SbcV.] the gate gennath, 213 
 
 nos, thence swept around overagainst the tomb of Helena, and 
 BO to the brow of the Kidron valley. 
 
 The name Gennath signifies a garden ;' and implies here a 
 gate leading out to a garden or gardens ; equivalent to Garden 
 gate.^ Not improbably there were gardens of old in the upper 
 portion of the valley of Hinnom, towards the Birket el-MamiUa ; 
 ■where to this day the shady olive trees afford a place of recreation 
 for the females of Jerusalem.' At any rate, the gate Gennath 
 led out of Zion to the country ; and not into the lower city.' 
 
 The position of this gate and the beginning of the second 
 wan, have for centuries been regarded as near to Hippicus ; and 
 this view I have followed in my former volumes. "It must 
 have been on the east of Hippicus, for the third wall began at 
 that tower. It could not however have been far distant ; 
 because that part of Zion was then high and steep."^ But by 
 the hypothesis of recent years, the gate Gennath has been 
 removed indefinitely towards the east ; and the second wall 
 made to begin overagainst the southern end of the western bazar, 
 more than forty rods east of Hippicus. I have already referred 
 to the very legendary and trivial character of the fragments of a 
 supposed gateway, which it is thus sought to identify with the 
 gate Gennath ; and also to the inconsistency involved in the 
 very hypothesis.* 
 
 That the earlier view, which fixes the position of Gennath 
 near to Hippicus, is the only correct one, wOl appear, I think, 
 from the following considerations. 
 
 I. The natural place for a gate in the first wall leading out 
 from Zion into the country, is near to Hippicus, not far south or 
 southeast from the present Yafa gate. Here the descent from 
 Zion is, and must always have been, comparatively small and 
 gradual. Further east, the steepness and apparent elevation of 
 this northern declivity of- Zion increase at every step ; and in 
 this part, in ancient times, stood the towers of Phasaelis and 
 Mariamne, built in the first wall and connected with the royal 
 palace. Josephus speaks of Zion in this part as high ; and 
 
 ' Gr. Tewiia, Heb. nSJ nSS , Aram. ' Such a garden cannot well have been 
 
 „„.. . . . „„ „j lt„ f'' „„j. ;_ within the walls, either of Zion or the 
 
 KRSS . — ^An instance oi the trequent m- . ' 
 
 • : ■ - „ ». , TT -1 lower city. The population was too 
 
 accm-acy of Krafft oconrs here. He cites „owded ; and the analogy of the king's 
 
 (p._28), as from" distinguished" manu- g^dens below SUoam is agd^'st it. 
 
 scripts, the readings yvi?, and yv^iv, ; ^ ^^ j^ ^eitschr. d. morgenl 
 
 which he then connects etymologically „ -„ t^ ,* ' 
 
 with Goath axii Golgotha; and refers to .'„,,, i ^•, -i-r -.rr o i. t^ 
 
 Havercamp's Josephus, Tom. H, Variae * So too Holy City H. p. 17. Schultz 
 
 lectt. ad librnm de B. J. p. 39. But on P- °2. 
 
 turning to the place, the readings are ' See Vol. I. p. 312 and n. 7. [i. 461, 
 
 found to be yevviSi and yevvaStiv, tie syl- 462. n.] 
 
 lable yev being written with the usual con- 'See above, pp. 199, 200. 
 traction. 
 
214 
 
 JERUSALEM. — TOPOGEAPHT. [Sec. V." 
 
 mentions the old or first wall along its brow, to say nothing of 
 the towers and palace, as rising still thirty cubits above the hiU. ' 
 To assume therefore a gateway, leading out of Zion into the 
 country, at any point not near to Hippicus, would be against 
 probability. 
 
 II. Josephus relates, that " the city was fortified by three 
 walls, wherever it was not encircled by impassable valleys ; " ' 
 that is to say, upon its whole northern q^uarter. But if the gate 
 Gennath, at which the second wall began, was not near to Hip- 
 picus ; and, especially, if it was so far distant as to be opposite 
 the western bazar ; then all that tract of the upper city from 
 Hippicus to the said gate, was fortified only by a single wall 
 before the time of Agrippa ; and by only two walls (instead of 
 three) at the time of which Josephus was writing. The tract 
 thus unprotected extended for more than seven hundred feet, or 
 nearly forty-five rods ; amounting to more than one half of the 
 entire northern side of Zion, and to nearly one half of the whole 
 length of the first wall. 
 
 That all this, however, was not so, and that Zion was 
 actually protected on the north, by three walls, appears further 
 from the fact, that in every siege of Jerusalem reported by 
 Josephus, (the approaches being always and necessarily made 
 on the north or northwest,) no attack or approach is ever de- 
 scribed as made against the upper city of Zion, until after 
 the besiegers had already broken through the second wall, and 
 had thus got possession of the lower city. But if the sec- 
 ond wall began near the bazars, then more than one half of 
 the northern brow of Zion was not protected by it at all ; and 
 the possession of the lower city was not necessary in order to 
 make approaches against the upper ; and that, too, at the most 
 accessible point, — the very point, indeed, near to Hippicus, 
 where Titus actually made his assault after he had taken the 
 second wall.' The historian narrates three such sieges of Jeru- 
 salem, viz. by Herod, Cestius, and Titus.* 
 
 Herod reduced the city about the year 3*7 B. C, nearly eighty 
 years before the third or Agrippa's wall was built.' The outer 
 (afterwards the middle) wall was taken by him with great diflS- 
 culty after forty days ; the next, or exterior wall of the temple 
 area, after fifteen days more. In the words of Josephus, " the 
 exterior temple and the lower city being thus captured, the Jews 
 fi^d together into the inner temple and the upper city."^ These 
 were afterwards taken by assault. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 4. 4 : ^i/>' i^iiK$ \6<p(f. ' Jos. Antt. 14. 16. 2 ; comp. B. J. L 
 
 ' B. J. 5. 4. 1. See above, p. 207. ' 18. 2. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 8. 1. ib. 5. 11. 4. ib. 6. 8. 1. ' Ibid. yprijJi.evov Be tou ?|h)&ei/ lepou Kol 
 
 • Pompey laid siege only to the temple, t^j k^tu ird\€<i)j, eis t!> iaa^ev iephv koI 
 
 the rest of the city having been opened to tV oya x((\u' 'louSaioi avvi(pvyov. 
 him ; B, J. 1. 7. 2. Antt. 14. 4. 2. 
 
Skc. v.] the gate gennath. 215 
 
 Cestius marclied against Jerusalem atout A. D. 46, some 
 years after tlie completion of Agrippa's wall.' He entered the 
 gates of the new city with his army, and apparently those of 
 the lower city also, without opposition ; the insurgents yielding 
 the external parts of the city, and withdrawing themselves into 
 the inner city and the temple.' Cestius set fire to Bezetha and 
 the new city, as also to the timber market ; and then, " coming 
 to the upper city, he took a position overagainst the royal palace ; 
 and had he heen willing in that very hour to have forced his way 
 within the walls, he might have taken the [upper] city at once, 
 and have put an end to the war." Instead of this he hesitated ; 
 and, after an unsuccessful attack, turned aside to assault the 
 northern quarter of the temple. Here the soldiers formed with 
 their shields a testudo ; under cover of which they undermined 
 the wall, and came near to set fire to one of the temple gates. 
 This circumstance likewise shows, that the Eomans were in fuU 
 possession of the lower city.^ 
 
 In regard to the siege by Titus, the details are more full and 
 decisive.* He first took the outer wall ; then broke through the 
 second wall into the lower city ; was driven back, but speedily re- 
 gained his footing ; and then, and not till then, " he laid his plans 
 to assault the third wall ; " ^ that is to say, the third in the order 
 of attack, being the inner or old wall on Zion. Having now 
 possession of the lower city, he divided his forces against Antonia 
 on the one hand, and the northwestern part of Zion on the other, 
 overagainst the royal palace.'' This was obviously the most 
 feasible point of attack in respect to the ground, notwithstanding 
 the great strength of the three towers Hippicus, Phasaelis, and 
 Mariamne, by which it was defended ; and here it was that the 
 Eomans, in consequence of a panic among the Jewish leaders, 
 finally made their way by a breach into the upper city.' 
 
 These historical facts furnish strong and almost conclusive 
 evidence, that the second wall protected the whole northern 
 side of Zion ; and consequently the gate Gennath, at which it 
 began, must have been near to Hippicus. 
 
 III. The same result is brought out still more conclusively, 
 by comparing together the notices of the monument of the high 
 priest John, which Josephus mentions several times, in his nar- 
 
 ' Jo3. B. J. 2. 19. 4-7. tress Antonia, it was at any rate made in- 
 
 ' lb. § 4 : iis BJ riiv ivioripav Koi rh accessible by the deep fosse, now the Bir- 
 
 lepbv hvex<ipovv. The places of refuge here ket Isrmi. 
 
 specified seem to be the same as in the * Jos. B. J. 5. 7. 2. ib. 5. 8. 1, 2. 
 
 siege by Herod, as above. ' lb. 5. 8. 2 nit. t$ rpWtf irpo<r;3(ixXci» 
 
 ' That the northern wctll of the temple iirev6ei. 
 
 cannot be here intended appears from the ' Ib. 6. 8. 1 : Karlt rh irphs Svffiy K\(ua 
 
 fact, that there were no gates in it ; and Tr)s TrdK^tcs &yriKpvs rijs fiafftXiK^s auA^y, 
 
 because, if not wholly covered by the for- ' B. J. 6. 8. 1, 4. 
 
216 JERUSALEM. — TOPOGEAPHT. [Sec. V- 
 
 ration of tlie assaults made by Titus upon the three walls suc- 
 cessively. 
 
 The Eoman general decided to make his attack upon the 
 outer wall at the monument of the high priest John; ' "because 
 in this part the first [outer] fortification was lower, and the 
 second did not join on/ they having neglected to build up the 
 wall in those parts, where the new city was not thickly inhabited ; 
 but rather there was an easy approach to the third [inner] wall, 
 through which he thought to take the upper city." 
 
 After Titus had taken the outer wall^ and thus got possession 
 of the new city ; and was now about to assault the second wall ; 
 Simon and his party, who held Zion and Akra, " took for their 
 share the point of attack at the monument of John, and 
 strengthened the fortifications quite to the gate by which water 
 was brought into the tower Hippicus."^ This passage seems to 
 imply, that a portion of the second line of fortification, lying 
 between the monument of John and the tower Hippicus, was in 
 a state of neglect or dilapidation ; and it thus throws light upon 
 the passage quoted in the preceding paragraph. 
 
 Titus took the second wall, and was driven back from it. 
 Again he got possession of it ; destroyed the northern portion ; 
 stationed guards in the towers of the part towards the south ; 
 and afterwards planned his attack upon the third or inner wall.* 
 For this end he raised embankments at the monument of John, 
 " intending here to get possession of the upper city."^ In 
 speaking elsewhere of these embankments, Josephus describes 
 one of them as at the pool Amygdalon, now the pool of Hezekiah 
 so called ; and another as being thirty cubits distant at the 
 monument of the high priest.^ And again he testifies, that these 
 works were in the western quarter of the upper city, overagainst 
 the royal palace ; where stood also the three towers Hippicus, 
 Phasaelis, and Mariamne, connected with the palace.' 
 
 A comparison of these three different notices of the monu- 
 ment of John, brings out clearly the following inferences : 
 
 First. The monument itself was situated between the outer 
 and second wall, in the new city, so called. It was near enough 
 to the two walls, to mark the point of attack on each. It was 
 near enough to the old wall on Zion, to mark the position of an 
 embankment raised against that wall. Another like embank- 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. 6. 2. * Jos. B. J. 5. 8. 1, 2. 
 
 ^ lb. Kol t)) ^eirepov ov (rvj/Tjirrey. ^ lb. 5. 9. 2, ravT'tj fiev r^v &v(a tt&Kiv 
 
 ^ Jos. B. J. 5. 7. 2, 3: r^iivrapkrh'laiv- alp^ffciy eirimiiy. Comp; ib. 5. 11. i, ib. 
 
 yov fxvtifxetov ifi^o\-ijv 5:a\aj8(iyTes, itppti^av- 6. 2. 10. 
 
 TOiiexfitirvXTjsKa.y ^vrhvBwpeirlrhv^lTnri- ° Ib. 5. 11. 4. 
 
 Kl>y iripyoy Eitr^KTo. — As to Simon and the ' Ib. 6. 8. 1, 4 ; comp. 5. 4. 4. 
 
 position of his followers, see ib. 5. 6. 1. 
 
SEa v.] GENNATH. SECOND WALL. 217 
 
 ment was thirty cubits distant at the pool Amygdalon. Hence, 
 the interval between the outer and second wall could not have 
 been great ; and the monument was not more distant from Zion, 
 than was the pool. It was therefore on the west of the pool, 
 between the two walls. 
 
 Second. As the place of assault against Zion was on the 
 west of the pool Amygdalon^ and included the three towers 
 Hippicus, Phasaelis, and Mariamne ; it follows, that these towers 
 and the royal palace were all on the western part of the wall of 
 Zion, and above the point opposite the said pool. 
 
 Third. In respect to the second wall, we have a twofold 
 description, referring to its course in opposite directions ; once, 
 as beginning at the gate G-ennath and running northwards by 
 the monument of John ; and again, as running southwards from 
 the monument of John to " the gate by which water was 
 brought into the tower Hippicus." ' This gate was of course 
 near Hippicus ; and the inference is conclusive, that the gate 
 Gennath and the gate by Hippicus were identical.* 
 
 IV. COURSE OF THE SECOND WALL. 
 
 The only description given by Josephus of the course of the 
 second wall, is brief and general. It has been already quoted 
 above, as follows : ' " The second wall had its beginning from 
 the gate called Gennath belonging to the first wall ; and, encir- 
 cling only the tract on the north, it extended quite to Antonia." 
 The gate Gennath, as we have seen, was near to the tower 
 Hippicus. 
 
 In the absence of all definite data, it has been the usual 
 view of former centuries, that the second wall ran in a straight 
 course, or nearly so, from near Hippicus to the fortress Antonia, 
 at the northwest corner of the temple area. To this view I felt 
 myself compelled, in my former volumes, to object, for the four 
 following reasons,* viz. that according to the language of Jose- 
 phus the said wall had a circuitous course ; that, otherwise, the 
 pool of Hezekiah, which lay within the ancient city, must have 
 been excluded ; that the whole space included in the lower city 
 would by a straight course be reduced to a small triangle, of 
 about 600 yards on the south side and some 400 yards on the 
 east side ; and, lastly, that this wall, buUt for the defence of the 
 
 ' See above, pp. 212, 216. of the most frequented entrances of the 
 
 " Shonld any one hesitate as to the pro- city. 
 
 bability of a public gate being thns near, ^ Jos. B. J. 5. i. 2. See above, p. 212, 
 
 or perhaps leading through, the royal pa- where the original Greek is quoted in 
 
 lace, it is only necessary to refer to the full. 
 
 £urg or imperial residence in Vienna ; ' See Vol. I. p. 312. [L 462.] 
 through which is carried, by archways, one 
 Vol. III.— -19 
 
218 JEEXTSALEM. — TOPOGKAPHT. 
 
 [SkcV. 
 
 lower city, would thus liave passed obliquely across tlie lower 
 part of the ridge Akra, and have been overlooked and com- 
 manded on the west by every other part of the same hill. 
 
 Another circumstance, however, which was brought to light 
 at the same time, has served to change the whole aspect of the 
 question. The discovery of the ancient remains at the gate of 
 Damascus, which have been generally recognised as belonging to 
 an ancient gate upon the same spot, and this a gate of the 
 second wall, has set aside the former hypothesis of a direct 
 course to Antonia ; and this latter view is no longer urged. 
 The question at present may be divided into two parts, viz. iirst, 
 the course of the second wall from its beginning to the Damas- 
 cus gate ; and, then, its course from the Damascus gate to 
 Antonia. 
 
 I. In regard to the first portion of the wall, as far as to the 
 Damascus gate, the view recently brought forward is, that 
 beginning at a point in the old wall on Zion south of the west- 
 ern bazar, it ran along that bazar northwards, and so on a direct 
 course to the Damascus gate.' But to say nothing here of the 
 gate Grennath, this new hypothetical course of the second wall is 
 liable in a still stronger degree to aU the objections urged against 
 the earlier view.' It proposes a direct line, while the language 
 of Josephus requires a circuitous course. It leaves the pool of 
 Hezekiah outside of the lower city. It reduces the whole space 
 included here within the second wall to a narrow strip or paral- 
 lelogram of less than three hundred and fifty yards in width ; 
 being only a few yards broader than the present Haram area. 
 Such a space would be far too confined to accord either with 
 probability or with any of the historical representations of an- 
 cient Jerusalem ; and would also present a form most singular 
 and unaccountable in any city. And, still further, this wall 
 built for defence, would thus be carried along midway upon a 
 declivity, so as to be overlooked and commanded on the west by 
 higher ground in every part. 
 
 We have seen too above, ^ that the monument of John stood 
 between the second and outer wall, so near to each as to 
 mark the point of attack on both ; a circumstance incompatible 
 with a course of the second wall along the bazars. — To aU this we 
 may add, that the true position of the gate Gennath, as above 
 determined, is of itself fatal to the whole hypothesis.^ 
 
 ' Holy City IT. pp. 64-58 ; also the been considered and shown to be without 
 
 Plan. Schnltz p. 59 sq. Kxafli p. 24 sq. any weight ; e. g. the legendary iron gate, 
 
 " See Vol. I. p. 312. [i. 462.J See also and the old arch on Zion, see above, pp. 
 
 on p. 215. 199, 200 ; the remains of a pier or corner 
 
 ' See above, p. 216. of the palace of St. John, p. 167 ; the 
 
 * The supposed ancient remains, which columns of the JPropylcea, pp. 168, 169 ; 
 
 have been referred to this hypothetical and the legendary Porta judiciaria, pp. 
 
 course of the second wall, have already 170, 171. 
 
Sec. v.] COURSE OF THE SECOND WALL. 219 
 
 But we are not left to mere hypothesis. We have some 
 definite data; though comparatively few. We have already 
 seen, that the second wall, beginning from the gate near Hippi- 
 cua, ran northwards near to the monument of John, and of 
 course on the west of the pool.' — Again, in an angle of the 
 present wall near the Latin convent, are "the remains of a wall, 
 built of large hewn and bevelled stones ; and near by are blocks 
 so large, that we at first took them to be the natural rock ; but 
 which on closer examination appear to have been bevelled, 
 though now dislocated. An unusual proportion of the stones in 
 the present wall between the northwest corner of the city and 
 the Damascus gate, as also of those in the adjacent buildings, 
 are ancient and bevelled ; and we could hardly resist the impres- 
 sion, that this had been nearly the course of some ancient wall." * 
 Further down towards the Damascus gate, we ourselves ex- 
 amined the remains of what appears to have been an ancient 
 wall, connected perhaps with the wall of the middle ages.' StUl 
 nearer towards the gate, and for about three hundred feet west 
 of it, Dr Wilson remarks, " that the wall for some extent above 
 its foundation, bears in the magnitude and peculiarity of its 
 stones the evidence of great antiquity ; " and he refers this por- 
 tion to the ancient second wall.* 
 
 We thus find the second wall running from near Hippicus 
 northwards to the monument of John ; and again, we find 
 traces of an ancient wall running from the Damascus gate, 
 which was in the second wall, to a point near the Latin con- 
 vent. There can be little question but that these traces are 
 those of the second wall. To fill up, the interval between the 
 monument of John and the Latin convent requires but a com- 
 paratively short reach of wall; and there is little room for 
 theory or imagination. — According to this general view, the 
 course of the second wall followed nearly the street which 
 leads northwards from the citadel to the Latin convent ; de- 
 flecting perhaps a little on the east or on the west of that 
 street ; while from the convent to the Damascus gate, it lay 
 along or near the course of the present city wall.' 
 
 The course thus proposed for the second wall answers to the 
 description of Josephus, that it " encircled only the tract on 
 the north ; " ° meaning perhaps the tract adjacent to Zion, in 
 distinction from the much wider tract encompassed by the third 
 
 ' See above, pp. 210, 217. neer, who himself has been in Jerusalem, 
 
 ' So Woloott and Tipping ; see Woloott he gave it as his opinion, that this would 
 
 in Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 29. be a good line of wall in a military point 
 
 ' See above, p. 188. of view; though not so good as that of the 
 
 • Lands of the Bible, I. p. 421. third wall. A line along the street of the 
 
 ' On submitting this course of the sec- bazar would never be selected for defence. 
 
 ond waU to a distinguished military engi- * See above, p. 217. 
 
220 
 
 JEEUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [SecV. 
 
 wall. We thus have also the required circuitous course. — ^In 
 this way, too, the language of Josephus becomes appropriate, 
 when narrating the siege of Jerusalem by Antiochus Pius 
 (Sidetes) about B. 0. 130, long before the building of Agrip- 
 pa's wall. He there speaks of the tract on the northern part of 
 the wall as a plain; and here Antiochus erected a hundred 
 towers against the city.' 
 
 II. The course of the second wall from the Damascus gate 
 to Antonia, has attracted much less attention.'' It was not 
 brought into discussion in my former volumes ; nor was the 
 problem at that time fully solved in my own mind. For this 
 reason the subject received a more careful examination during 
 the present visit. Our first search was unsuccessful.^ Qn a sub- 
 sequent visit alone to the wall along Bezetha, I was able to 
 arrive at a more definite conclusion. According to my present 
 view, the wall probably ran from the Damascus gate, as now, to 
 the highest point of Bezetha ; and thence southerly along the 
 crown of the ridge to Antonia. Such a course is elucidated by 
 a reference to the ancient wall and castle of Smyrna. The piers 
 of the arch Ecce Homo, if regarded as ancient, may once have 
 had some connection with such a wall. For the fuUer details, 
 the reader is referred to the preceding section.* 
 
 v. SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE HAEAM AREA. 
 
 On beholding the immense stones and the elaborate masonry 
 of some of the lower portions of the exterior wall around the 
 present Haram enclosure, the traveller receives at once the con- 
 viction, that they are of earlier date than the rest of the wall, 
 and that he has before him the massive substructions of the 
 ancient Jewish temple. This is true especially of the Jewish 
 waiHng place and the southwest corner ; of large portions of 
 the southern wall, as also the southeast comer on its two sides. 
 Such has been the impression received by travellers for centuries ; 
 and such it wiU probably continue to be, so long as these remains 
 endure. 
 
 Indeed, it is only in respect to the southern portion of the 
 Haram area, that a question has ever been raised, as to its early 
 date and connection of some kind with the ancient temple ; and 
 this only by a single writer.' Even he acknowledges the massive 
 
 ^ Jos Antt. 13. 8, 2, KOTO 5^ t5 pSpeiov City assigns to it a more definite course, 
 
 /xe'poj ToB relxous, KaSt' i ffmipaiveii mrh nearly coincident with that proposed in the 
 
 KoX ^TTiireSoi' etvaij irvpyovs ayaffr-^tras eKa- text. 
 
 T6y kt\. ' See above, p. 178. 
 
 " It is spoken of only in general terms, * See above, pp. 190, 191 ; comp. pp. 
 
 Holy City II. p. 55. Schnltz p. 62.— In a 171, 172. 
 
 note (n. p. 429), the author of the Holy ' Holy City II. p. 360 sq. 
 
Sec. v.] SOUTHERN PART OF THE HARAM AREA. 221 
 
 wall at the wailing place as pertaining to the temple.' Now it 
 is worthy of remark, that all those portions above mentioned, - 
 which afford the most striking indications of high antiquity, lie 
 further south than the wailing place itself; and thus afford 
 conclusive evidence, that if the latter belonged to the temple, 
 just so much and even more did the whole southern part of the 
 present area form part and parcel of the ancient temple enclosure. 
 I have already had occasion to refer to our strong impression on 
 this point, derived from a careful examination ; nor do I fear the 
 result of a like examination upon aU unprejudiced minds.^ 
 
 Were there need of multiplying proofs, I might also refer to 
 the testimony of Josephus, that the southern face of the temple 
 precincts "had also gates about the middle."^ An easy and 
 natural explanation of this language is, that there existed a 
 double gateway in the middle part of the southern wall, in the 
 manner of the Golden gate now seen in the eastern wall. Ac- 
 cordingly, the grand subterranean entrance still existing beneath 
 the mosk el-Aksa, first explored by Catherwood, and since visited 
 and described by Wolcott and Tipping, is a double gateway, 
 having two arches and a middle row of columns extending up 
 through the whole passage.* This coincidence with the notice 
 of Josephus is quite too stiiking, to be the result of accidental 
 circumstances in the erections of J'ustinian five centuries later. 
 
 More massive, however, and more imposing than aU the rest, 
 when once its true character is understood, is the immense frag- 
 ment of an ancient arch in the western wall of the Haram 
 enclosure, near the southwest corner. The circumstances under 
 which I first became acquainted with this fragment, during my 
 former visit to the Holy City, and the discovery of its historical 
 importance as a remnant of the ancient Bridge, which, according 
 to Josephus, connected the temple with Zion, are fully narrated 
 in a former volume ; where also a description of the remains is 
 given.' The existence of this fragment of the ancient bridge 
 settles the question as to the antiquity of the whole southern 
 portion of the Haram area. The proof indeed is so overwhelm- 
 ing, that it can neither be gainsayed nor evaded ; except by 
 denying the connection of this arch with the bridge mentioned 
 by Josephus. It becomes important, therefore, to look at the 
 testimony of that historian. 
 
 ' Holy City, II. p. 398. not be pressed as meaning the exact middle. 
 
 ' See above, p. 176. For the remains * Catherwood above, in Vol. I. p. SOi, 
 
 at the southwest comer, see p. Ifi3 ; for [L 450.] Wolcott in Biblioth. Sacra. 1843. 
 
 the southeast comer, see p. 174 ; and for pp. 19, 20. See especially Tipping's fine 
 
 the southern wall in general, see p. 175 sq. plates of this entrance, with the accompa- 
 
 ' Jos. Antt 15. 11. 5, rh fieTonroy rb nying notes, in Traill's Josephus, mostly 
 
 irphs /letniiifiptav elx^ /i^" ical airh irv\as in Vol. I. 
 
 Kara iiitrov. The phrase Kark ixiaov need ' VoL L p. 287 sq. [i. 424 sq.] 
 
 Vol. in.— 19* 
 
222 JEEXJSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 The mention whicli Josephus makes of the hridge, is every- 
 where incidental ; but occurs directly in five different passages ; 
 besides two others in which a bridge is implied. Of these pas- 
 sages, five are found in his history of the Jewish "Wars, and two 
 in the later Antiquities.' 
 
 The earliest mention of the bridge is in the account of 
 Pompey's siege of the city, about B. C. 63 ; which is narrated 
 in both works. In the Wars it is said : " The vanquished party 
 of Aristobulus withdrew into the temple ; and, having cut off 
 the bridge joining it to the city, they prepared to hold out to 
 the last."* The same is thus related in the Antiquities : " These 
 pre-occupied the temple ; and cut off the bridge extending from 
 it to the city ; " and in the same paragraph it is further said : 
 " The parts [of the temple] towards the city were also abrupt ; 
 the bridge being broken down at the quarter occupied by Pom- 
 pey."^ Expressions like " cutting off" and " breaking down" or 
 subverting, can of course apply only to a bridge in the usual 
 acceptation of that word. 
 
 The next passage is connected with the speech of Agrippa, 
 dissuading the Jews, who were excited against Florus, from 
 entering upon a war with the Romans : " Having called the 
 multitude together into the Xystus, and having placed his sister 
 Bernice in a conspicuous position upon the palace of the Macca- 
 bees, — ^for this was above the Xystus at the further part of the 
 upper city, and a bridge joined the temple to the Xystus, — he 
 spoke thus."' The Xystus was apparently an open place, 
 perhaps with a colonnade, extending along the eastern brow of 
 Zion from the old or first wall to the bridge.^ It must have 
 included a considerable area, in order to serve as the place of 
 meeting for a popular assembly." 
 
 The third occasion on which the bridge is mentioned, is after 
 Titus had got full possession of the temple and its precincts. 
 Desiring to hold a parley with the Jews on Zion, he " placed 
 
 ' B. J. 1. 7. 2. ib. 2. 16. 3. ib. 6. 6. 2. 4v irepitJimj) r^y a5e\(p^t' BepviKTjv iirl t^s 
 
 ib. 6. 8. 1. Antt 14. 4. 2. Also indi- 'Atro/toira/wi' oi/cfa;, aurij yap ^v iirdya rod 
 
 rectly B. J. 6. 3. 2. Antt. 15. 11. 5. ^uctov irphs rh tripav t^s &vta ttiJXcws, koI 
 
 ' B. J. 1. 7.2, TiTT(t)iJ.€yoy Se rh 'Apitrro- yetjyvpa t^ ^vffr^ ri Upiy avvrtimv, cAc^e 
 
 fiouKou fiepos els t^ lephy ayej(<iipci, Koi T^y TotdSc. 
 
 truvdwTovaay &3r* avrov t^ 'jr6Kei yc^vpay ^ B. J. 5. 4. 2. 
 
 oiroKi(i|'a;'T6s &yTi(rx«J' e<s eaxo^ro" itape- ° The name Xystus was strictly applied 
 
 (rK€vaiovTo. to a court or area with a colonnade in a 
 
 ' Antt. 14. 4. 2, (p^dirayres Se otroi rh gymnasinm ; or to a terrace in a garden. 
 
 lephy KaraKauPdyovm, Kol t)\v -rdvovaay See Smith's Diet, of Antt. arts. GymMosiMm 
 
 oTT* avrov yefpvpay els T^y ir6\iy eKo^ay, — p. 680, and Hortus. — In 1 Mace. 1, 14, we 
 
 Ibid. kireppdyyeL Koi to, irphs r^y Tr^Kty^ ttjs read that certain men built a gymnasium 
 
 ye(p6pas ayarerpafifiiytis i([>' ov dtiiye IIo/i- in Jerusalem according to the customs of 
 
 vSjios, the heathen. But this can hardly have 
 
 * B. J. 2. 16. 3, Tpo<rKtt\e<rdiicyos !)) els been the Xystus of Josephus. 
 rhv ^vtrrhy rh irKTJ^oSf koI TrapcurrTjffdiJieyos 
 
Sec. v.] THE ANCIENT BRIDGE. 223 
 
 himself on the west side of the outer temple ; for in this part 
 there were gates [leading] over to the Xystus, and a bridge 
 joining the upper city to the temple ; this then was interposed 
 between the tyrants and Caesar."' 
 
 In a fourth notice the historian is describing the position of 
 the Roman forces during the siege. Four legions had charge of 
 the works on the northwestern part of Zion, overagainst the 
 royal palace. " The auxiliaries and the rest of the troops [were] 
 towards the Xystus, and thence towards the bridge and the 
 tower of Simon, which he, warring against John, had buUt as a 
 guard-post for himself." " This tower was at the western end of 
 the bridge ; inasmuch as it was raised against John, who at the 
 time of its erection held the temple.^ Titus now had possession, 
 not only of the temple, but also of Akra and Ophel, which he 
 had burned the next day after his parley.* Of course the tract 
 between the two, the valley between the temple and Zion, was 
 also in his power ; and here he stationed his troops against the 
 Xystus, extending from the old wall to the bridge. 
 
 Two other passages refer evidently to the bridge ; although 
 it is not directly named ia them. 
 
 One of these is in the Wars, where mention is made of " the 
 tower of John, which he built in the war against Simon, above 
 the gates leading out over the Xystus." ° These were gates of 
 the temple ; as appears from another passage, where John, 
 having possession of the temple, is said to have erected four 
 towers for its defence ; one of which " overlooked the Xystus." * 
 This tower of John at the temple gates corresponded to the 
 tower of Simon (above mentioned) at the Xystus ; and between 
 them was the bridge. 
 
 The remaining notice, and the latest of all, is found in the 
 Antic[uities, and is likewise indirect. It occurs where Josephus 
 is describing the four gates on the western side of the temple 
 enclosure, " one of them leading to the royal palace, the inter- 
 vening valley being intercepted for a thoroughfare." ' 
 
 The preceding are aU. the passages yet known in the writings 
 of Josephus, which have a bearing upon the bridge in question. 
 They would seem to leave no room for doubt as to the nature of 
 
 ' B. J. 6. 6. 2, uTTOToi KOTO T^ TTphs iiaiv * B. J. 6. 6. 3. 
 fi^fios rov ^aStev Upov • toiJtj) yap ivep ' B. J. 6. 3. 2, fifxpi rov 'luivvou iripyov, 
 
 Ttiv ^vat'bv \aav TtiXai, Koi yeipvpa avv- %v ineTyos iv rif irphs 2/juaiya TroKtiicf Kare- 
 
 diTTOVira t^ UpS r^v &va> ir6\iv • aSrr] t6- axiiaatv, \nrep ras i^ayoiaas iirep rhv 
 
 Te fleet) Tuv TvpAvvtav KoL rov Kaitrapos. ^vffrhv iru\ay. 
 
 '■■ B.J. 6. 8. 1, rh Si tru/i/iaxtithv ■>r\rjdos ' B. J. i. 9. 12, rhy Se toS ^virrov KtAi- 
 
 KaX 6 Konrbs tjx^os KOTcfc rhv ^virriv, e'l o5 Viphev. 
 
 Koi T^iv yiipvpav Koi rhy 'Sl/j.ayos iripyoy, ' Antt. 15. 11. 5, ^ /xej/ els to; PaffiKeta 
 
 hy cfKoS6fi.ri<''e irphs 'ladyyjiy voheiiSy iav- reiyovaa, rris iy /icViji (pdpayyos els StoSoy 
 
 T(0 ti>po6pioy, a.TTetX'ijp.nevTjSf 
 '' B. J. 4. 9. 12. 
 
224 JEBUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sna V. 
 
 the structure referred to ; a bridge, -which could be cut off or 
 cut away, broken down or subverted, leading from the temple to 
 the Xystus, not at or along the old wall from Zion to the temple, 
 but further south.' And so strongly does the massive fragment 
 of an arch yet remaining suggest of itself such a bridge ; and so 
 thoroughly does it correspond in character and position with the 
 notices of Josephus ; that all those travellers who may be re- 
 garded as the best judges on such a subject, artists, architects, 
 and engineers, and who have as yet made public their views, 
 have with one voice united in identifying this arch with the 
 bridge of Josephus. 
 
 Thus Mr Bartlett, who perhaps has sketched more of ori- 
 ental structures and ruins than any other artist, remarks : 
 "Nothing can square more exactly with this [narrative] than the 
 position of the arch ; which is precisely in that place, and in no 
 other, where we should have looked for it, viz. on the west side 
 of the temple area, at the nearest point to the steep cliffs of Zion. 
 Had no account of it existed in Josephus, we should still have 
 inferred its obvious purport from the nature of the ground. 
 What, in fact, could it have been, if not a viaduct ? " '^ In Kke 
 manner Mr Catherwood, a practical architect, though unac- 
 quainted at the time with the testimony of Josephus, writes to 
 the same effect : "I had no doubt, from the moment I saw it 
 [the arch], that it had formed part of a viaduct and aque- 
 duct ; but I was totally ignorant of its historical importance." ' 
 Equally explicit is the testimony of De Saulcy, whose judgment 
 as a military engineer is certainly of weight : "I have no hesi- 
 tation in saying, that though the dimensions are sufficiently im- 
 posing, and denote architectural knowledge of a very advanced 
 kind, they have absolutely nothing in them to call into doubt 
 the existence of a bridge, which consisted probably of two 
 arches, and joined at this spot the platform of the Moriah upon 
 which the temple stood, to the hill of Zion." * — These citations 
 express the judgment of intelligent and impartial observers, 
 men of practical experience, who wrote after personal inspection 
 upon the spot ; and they took ample time for reflection before 
 publishing their views to the world.' 
 
 ■ See the preceding page. * De Sunlcy, Narrative, II. p. 127. — ■ 
 
 ° Walks etc. Ed. 2. pp. 139, 140, note. To the same effect, I am permitted to add 
 
 Mr Bartlett adds : "It seems surprising, the oral testimony of Capt. Cullum, Prof. 
 
 that any dispute should arise as to the im- of Engineering in the U. S. Military Aca- 
 
 port of this fragment." — Mr Tipping has demy at West Point ; who was in Jerusa^ 
 
 given a conjectural view of the viaduct ; lem in 1851. 
 
 see Traill's Josephus, Vol. II. ' The like view appears to have heeu 
 
 ^ See Mr Catherwood's letter in Note held by Schultz ; p. 92, and Plan. So too 
 
 XXVTI, end of Vol. I. Biblioth. Sacra, Wilson, Lands of the Bible I. p. 468 sq. 
 
 1844, p. 797. — The like view is expressed See also Eanmer, Palastina p. 393, Third 
 
 by Mr Fergusson, also a practical architect ; edition. 
 
 Essay, etc. p. 10 sq. 
 
Seu v.] the ancient beidge. 225 
 
 Others have taken a different view. Leaving this immense 
 fragment of an arch, the most imposing of all the ancient 
 remains within the Holy City, to stand here alone, unexplained 
 and unaccounted for,^ they have chosen everywhere to refer the 
 language of Josephus respecting the bridge, to the mound or 
 causeway further north, on which both the aqueduct from Solo- 
 mon's pools and the street from the Yafa gate are now carried 
 from the northern base of Zion across the low ground to the 
 Haram area.^ — To such a view the following considerations seem 
 to present insuperable objections. 
 
 First. The Greek word for bridge (yi(f}vpa), although in 
 Homeric and early poetic usage it is sometimes employed in 
 speaking of a causeway, signifies nevertheless in the Attic and 
 later usage of prose writers always and only a bridge. It is 
 elsewhere so used by Josephus himself, as also the corresponding 
 verb, in speaking of the passage of Israel over the Jordan.' 
 
 Second. In order to prevent the approach of Pompey to the 
 temple, the insurgents "cut off" the bridge; or also "over- 
 turned" or subverted it.< This language is applicable only to a 
 bridge, and not to a causeway. A breach in the latter would 
 only compel the enemy to pass around it along the bottom of 
 the valley. 
 
 Third. At the east end of the bridge, the tyrant John, who 
 held the temple, built a tower for defence against Simon, who had 
 possession of Zion. In like manner, at the west end, Simon 
 erected a tower against John.' Such a proceeding with refer- 
 ence to the present causeway, would have been utterly without 
 motive or fruit. The towers guarded a bridge or place of transit 
 between the two, which was accessible only at each end. 
 
 Fourth. The present causeway is the continuation of the 
 street leading down from the Y4fa gate along the northern base 
 of Zion ; and seems to have no direct junction with the north- 
 east corner of Zion.' At any rate, whatever connection there 
 may be, is and was with the base of Zion ; never with the brow. 
 The distance of this point, too, from the Haram gate is nearly 
 
 ' I speak here advisedly ; for although regards tie arch as the fonndatiou " on 
 
 there have been two suggestions to account which the many steps led down into the 
 
 for the arch, they are inconsistent with Tyropoeon ; " Krafft p. 60. 
 
 each other, and both have too much of ' Holy City 11. p. 392 sq. Krafft pp. 
 
 hap-hazard to deserve the name of expla- 16, 18, 59, 61. Tobler Topogr. I. pp. 477, 
 
 nation. One writer referring to the vaults 478. 
 
 within the walls of the Haram, goes on to ^ Jos. Antt. 5. 1. 3. See the Greek 
 
 say : " To these vaults, whatever was their Lexicons. 
 
 original design or present use, I would ' Gr. li,iroii6\j/ames, fKmjiav, yt^ipas 
 
 propose to add another arcade at the hvaTCTpafifiepTis. See above, p. 222, n. 2, 
 
 western extremity, in order to bring in 3. 
 
 this arch ; " that is to say, a huge arcade ' Jos. B. J. 6. 3. 2. ib. 6. 8. 1. Sea 
 
 outside of thg Haram waU and above above, p. 223. 
 
 ground ; Holy City IL p. 390. Another ' See above, p. 187. 
 
226 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 twice as great as ttat between the fragment of tlie arch and the 
 opposite cliff of Zion. So that, at this point, where the aque- 
 duct enters upon the mound, the elevation of Zion is much 
 greater than just opposite the arch, where the aqueduct is now 
 carried along midway of the cliff.' 
 
 Fifth. The old wall along the northern brow of Zion must 
 have crossed the Tyropceon valley to the temple, either on the 
 present mound or on the south of it ; and, in either case, the 
 mound cannot have been the bridge of Josephus. 
 
 It has been held by several, that the first wall of Josephus 
 probably did thus cross the valley upon the mound.^ In such 
 case, it is supposed by some, that a part of the mound not occu- 
 pied by the wall, and of course on the south side of the wall, 
 served also as the bridge or passage. But, granting for the 
 moment, that the wall did thus cross upon the mound, there 
 would seem to be a strong probability, that with its great 
 thickness and its massive towers it must have occupied the 
 whole breadth of the present causeway, and thus have left no 
 room for a thoroughfare along its base. Nor, further, would it 
 be according to analogy, to find the opposite gates in the temple 
 wall and the Xystus directly adjoining upon the old wall from 
 Zion. At any rate, in such a case, it is hard to account for the 
 fact, that John and Simon erected towers of offence and defence 
 at these gates ; which would naturally have been protected by 
 the towers of the old wall.^ 
 
 There would seem to be, however, a greater probability, that 
 the wall did not thus cross upon the mound. In the first place, 
 there is no analogy for such a basis of the wall in other parts of 
 the circumference of the city ; where in like manner the wall 
 must have crossed a valley ; as, for example, near Siloam at the 
 mouth of the same TyropcBon. Further, the causeway does 
 not lie in the natural course of the wall ; but is further north. 
 The wall, as we know, ran along the northern brow of Zion 
 quite to the Xystus and the northeast corner; and was then 
 
 ■ The attempt has heen made to connect palace," as also " harps and psalteries for 
 this causeway with what the English singers, "were made of the precious "algum 
 Bible translates as Solomon's " ascent by trees," which Solomon imported from 
 which he went up to the honse of the Ophir. — Besides, these passages all speak 
 Lord," (Heb. nbis , iris ,) 1 K. 10, 5. o"Iy of »" " ascent" to the house of the 
 2 Chr. 9, 4 ; and also 'with "the cause- I-^^! '•^^^^ ^^'^^ causeway presents no- 
 way of the going up," (Heb. n>T» niOB,) ^^';,^/°y '"'"^'' ^"* ™'y "" continued 
 
 }.^r^J%}^- ^J- i° ^,nX ^''^T,"l S?- '"Holy City II. p. 397. Krafft, perhaps, 
 
 42, 396, 601. Kraffi p. 109 sq. But the ^ ^^ -Ver^sson Jerus. p. 37. Wilson, 
 
 plural mspa in 2 Chr. 9, 11, is ren- Lands of the Bible, I. p 476. Tobler, 
 
 dered in the same version by terraces, with Topogr. I. 83, 479. 
 
 the marginal reading " or stairs." This last » Of these massive towers the old or first 
 
 is doubtless right ; for these nifeoa "to wall had sixty in its whole extent; Jos. 
 
 the house of the Lord and to the king's B. J. 5. 4. 3. 
 
Sec. v.] the ANCIENT BRIDGE. 227 
 
 carried througL. tlie valley to the council-liouse, and was com- 
 pleted at the western portico of the temple.' This council- 
 house must have been situated in the valley, perhaps not far 
 from the present Mekemeh or court-house of the Kady, just 
 south of the gate at the end of the causeway. But the mound 
 comes from the foot of the street leading along the north base 
 of Zion, and is the prolongation of that street. The wall there- 
 fore would seem to have crossed on a line south of the present 
 causeway ; and probably ran along the bottom of the valley, 
 with a gate for passage up and down the latter. Of this gate 
 and the whole low tract, as we have seen, Titus had possession at 
 the time of his parley across the bridge ; he set fire to the same 
 the next day, and afterwards posted there his troops against the 
 Xystus and the tower of Simon.^ 
 
 The waU. therefore would seem to have crossed the valley, 
 not on the mound, but further south. The Xystus began at the 
 waU, and extended south along the brow of the cliff. Titus 
 posted his troops " towards the Xystus, and /rom thence towards 
 the bridge and the tower of Simon." ^ 
 
 All the preceding considerations go to show very clearly, 
 that tlie bridge described by Josephus could have had no con- 
 nection with the causeway. 
 
 Indeed, in the absence of all historical notices, it is difficult 
 to assign to the causeway so high an antiquity as the time of 
 Josephus. So long as the old wall remained along the brow of 
 Zion, it is not probable that a street ran, as now, along the foot 
 of the declivity ; nor that the steps which of old led down from 
 a gate of the temple on this side, and again up the ascent west- 
 wards, were in a line with the present street and causeway ; but, 
 rather, further north.^ At a later period, however, when Jerusalem 
 was rebuilt, and both the upper and the lower city became united 
 in one, a street would very naturally come to be built along the 
 present course ; and then too, it would be natural to extend it 
 across the low ground to the temple area. The aqueduct, like- 
 wise, which, if ancient, was not improbably at first carried along 
 the bridge, would now, after the destruction of the latter, be 
 likely to be brought round by the causeway. But when all this 
 may have taken place, — whether under Adrian, or Constantine, 
 or Justinian, or 'Omar, or even later under the Egyptian Khalif 
 who caused the aqueduct to be rebuilt,' — can probably never 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 5. i. 2, KcH Siarctyov iirt rhy ' Jo3. B. J. 6. 8, 1, Karh rhv |uirT<Jv, 
 
 Iwo-t!)!' Xiyiiisvov, iiretra rp $ov\ri aw- il ol KaX tV 'y^(j>vpai/ xal riy Slfuevos 
 
 ivrov, e'lrl tV kairepiov to'S Upov ffroha) iripyov- See above, p. 223. 
 
 iirnpTiC^To. This jSouX^ is probably the * See above, p. 209. 
 
 same with the fiovKevT^piov, which Titus ' An Arabic inscnption upon the aque- 
 
 cauaed to be burned ; B. J. 6. 6. 3. duct in the valley of Hinnom, refers it to 
 
 " B. J. 6. 6. 1 3. ib. 6. 8. 1. See the Sultan Muhammed Ibn Kalawun, one 
 
 above, p. 223. ' of the Baharite dynasty in Egypt, who as- 
 
228 JEKtrSALEM. ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 be determined, because of the entire silence of all earlier his- 
 tory. ' 
 
 It may not be out of place here, to dwell for a moment upon 
 the probable antiquity of the immense exterior substructions, 
 which we have been considering, as well as of those interior 
 massive vaults, first brought to light by Mr Catherwood, and 
 presented to the eye in the fine drawings of Mr Tipping.^ I 
 have elsewhere remarked,' that these external remains are prob- 
 ably to be referred to a period long antecedent to the days of 
 Herod ; inasmuch as the magnitude of the stones, and the 
 workmanship, as compared with other remaining monuments of 
 Herod, seem to point to an earlier origin. There is, therefore, 
 little room for hesitation, in referring them back, if not to the 
 time of Solomon himself, yet perhaps to the days of his succes- 
 sors ; who, according to Josephus, built up here immense walls 
 '' immovable for all time ; " in which works " long ages were 
 consumed." ^ The language of the historian strongly implies, 
 that the substructions .of the temple, of which he was thus 
 speaking ; those existing in his day and which he himself beheld 
 with so much admiration ; were the same that had been built up 
 during those long ages after Solomon. The feeble band of exiles, 
 who returned with Zerubbabel from Babylon, could hardly have 
 accomplished works like these ; and the glory of the temple 
 which tliey erected, was as nothing in the eyes of those who had 
 seen the former house.' And as to Herod, there is no intimation 
 in the various accounts of Josephus, that this monarch had any- 
 thing to do with the. vast substructions of the outer enclosure, 
 laid during the "long ages" after Solomon. Indeed, the lan- 
 guage of the historian, expressing his own admiration of those 
 immense ancient works, implies the contrary.^ 
 
 Still, should it turn out to be a fact, that the use of the 
 arch cannot be traced back to so high an antiquity as the days 
 of the successors of Solomon ; a position, which, though often 
 asserted, has not yet (I believe) been proved, except as to Greek 
 and Eoman, and perhaps Egyptian architecture ; then it might 
 certainly be conceded, that Herod may at least have rebuOt these 
 
 oended the throne A. D. 1294 ; Deguignes = See Vol. I. p. 289. [i. 427.] 
 
 Hist. I. p. 322, Germ. D'Herbelot, p. 616, * Jos. Antt. 15. 11. 3, SlkivIitovs t^ 
 
 fol. Schultz p. 92. Holy City II. p. 498. iracrl XP'^vv- B. J. 5. 5. 1, eis i /xaKpol fiiv 
 
 ' For a tank and vaults under the i^avTjKcti^aray aluyes avTo7s, 
 
 causeway, and their bearing upon its an- ' Hag. 2, 3. 
 
 tiquity, see below, under " Waters of Je- ' Josephus does indeed speak in one 
 
 rusalem, t?te Agweduct." place of Herod as " removing the old 
 
 ' Catherwood in Vol. L p. 302 sq. [ i. 447 foundations and laying down new ;" but 
 
 sq.] also in Bartlett's Walks, etc. p. 156 here it is expressly said, that these were 
 
 sq. Tipping in the Plates and Notes to the foundations of the va6s or fane itself; 
 
 Traill's Josephus, mostly in Vol. I. See Antt. 15. 11. 3, aveKbiv Se tovs apxo-'^ovs 
 
 also Woloott in Bibliotheca Sacra 1843, de/jieXlous, KaTaPa\6/j.eyos eTcpous, e-n' 
 
 p. 17 sq. aiiTwy rhy yaby ^yeipe. 
 
Sec. v.] SITBSTRirCTIONS. THE AECH. BKTELLED STONES. 229 
 
 vaxilts and substructions upon more ancient foundations. In 
 tMs way, if necessary, most of the present appearances might 
 doubtless be satisfactorily accounted for. Yet the bridge, at 
 least, between the temple and Zion, is first mentioned during the 
 siege by Pompey, twenty years or more before Herod was made 
 king. 
 
 The discoveries at Nineveh have also thrown new light upon 
 the history of the arch. That city was destroyed B. C. 606 ; 
 less than a century and a half after Kome was founded ; and 
 only about three years after the decease of Josiah king of Judah. 
 Yet the arch is found in various parts of the ruins. There 
 exist a vaulted chamber and several vaulted passages ; and 
 " arched gateways are contiruially represented in the bas-re- 
 liefs." ' It is also related by Diodorus Siculus, that the tunnel 
 from the Euphrates at Babylon, ascribed to Semiramis, was 
 vaulted.^ It follows, that the arch was well known in the east 
 long before the period of the Jewish exile ; and at least seven or 
 eight centuries before the time of Herod. And although, among 
 the ruins of Nineveh, it is less frequent and less massive and 
 elaborate than at Jerusalem ; yet this may perhaps be suffi- 
 ciently accounted for, by the absence of like appropriate ma- 
 terials, and by the very different character of the Assyrian 
 architecture in general. 
 
 In respect to the huge bevelled stones, which are seen in the 
 most antique portions of these temple substructions, as also in 
 the massive ancient chambers adjacent to the Damascus gate, I 
 have elsewhere ventured to ascribe to them a Jewish origin, and 
 to regard them as exhibiting a peculiar style of Jewish archi- 
 tecture. ' The same feature is very strikingly displayed in the 
 walls of the great Haram at Hebron.* Bevelled stones of the 
 like character have since been brought to light in the vast 
 ancient ruins of Ba'albek and other temples of Lebanon ; " in 
 the earliest substructions and walls of the great fortresses of 
 esh-ShuMf, Hunin, and Banias ; " in the old wall of Tyre ; '' and 
 in the antique remains at Jebeil and on the island Euwad, the 
 
 ' Layard's Nineveh, U. pp. H, 260 and ' For esi-Shiikif, see above, p. 52. 
 
 note. Discoveries at Ninevehi and Baby- For Hiinia and Banias, see below, tmder 
 
 Ion, pp. 163, 164. So too De Sauloy's May 20tli and 27th. See also W. M. 
 
 Narrative etc. II. p. 131 ; where it is re- Thomson in Bibhoth. Sac. 1846, pp. 193, 
 
 lated, that a vanlt twelve yards high un- 202, 207. 
 
 der the key-stone had been discovered at ' Not long before my visit to Pales- 
 Nineveh a few months before by M. V. tine, excavations had been going on along 
 Place. the eastern side o the peninsula of Tyre. 
 '■' Dioi Sic. Hist. 2. 9. I was informed by the Rev W. M. Thom- 
 ° See Vol. I. p. 287. [ i. 424.] son, who had visited the worts, that the 
 ' See Vol. II. p. 75. [ii. 434.] ancient wall of the city in that part bad 
 ° For Ba'albek, see below, under June thus been brought to light ; and that it 
 9th. For the temple at Mejdel, see below, was built with beveUed stones, like the 
 tmder June 8th. wall at Jerusalem. 
 
 Vol. III.— 20 
 
230 JEEUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 ancient Aradus.' All these circumstances go to show, that this 
 was a feature of architecture common in those ages throughout 
 Palestine and Phenicia ; but which, so far as appears, has never 
 been found in any country west of Palestine, nor elsewhere in 
 any connection with the early architecture of Egypt, Greece, 
 or Kome.^ It may have been Phenician in its origin, and in- 
 troduced among the Jews by Hiram or other architects from 
 Tyre ; but that it was a peculiarity in the architecture of the 
 country, there would seem to be little reason 'to doubt. It 
 therefore may have its appropriate place, in estimating the age 
 and character of ancient remains. 
 
 VI. THE FOETEBSS ANTONIA. 
 
 In respect to Anton ia, the problem is, to find for it a place 
 on the northern part of the present Haram area, where the 
 tolerably fuE. description of Josephus shall be in accordance with 
 the actual physical and archaeological features of the ground. 
 
 The earhest notice of a fortress on this quarter of the ancient 
 temple enclosure, is in the book of Nehemiah ; where " the 
 Birah pertaining to the house" or temple is incidentally men- 
 tioned.^ In this word we have apparently the origin of the 
 later Greek name Baris (Bapis), applied to the fortress erected 
 (or rather rebuilt) before the time of Herod on the north of the 
 temple enclosure. It is thus described by Josephus : * " On 
 the northern side, a quadrangular acropolis had been built 
 up ; well fortified, and distinguished for its strength. This the 
 kings and high priests of the Asmonean race, who preceded 
 Herod, had erected and named it Baris; in order that there the 
 priestly robes might be laid up, which the high priest wore only 
 when he offered sacrifice." By which of the Maccabees this for- 
 tress had been bmlt up, we are not informed. We have only the 
 incidental notice, that Judas " built walls aroimd the city, and 
 
 ' For Jebeil, see Wolcott in Biblioth. whole temple. The primary idea is pro- 
 
 Sao. 1843, p. 85. For Ruwad, see W. M. bably a fortified temple, or " temple for- 
 
 Thomson in Biblioth. Sao. 18i8, p. 251. tress." See Gesen. Heb. Lex. sub voo. 
 
 = The TTjsiic architecture under the later * Jos. Antt. 15. 11. 4, KaTiSerVjSiJpeiov 
 Koman emperors, is different. It is in xXevpaf, aKp6iTo\is iyyivios evepxiis ire- 
 some respects an exaggeration of the be- reixurro, Suifopos oxvp6TT]Ti. Tair-nv oi 
 veiled style ; and may possibly have been ^pi 'HpiSov tov •Aaajiovaiay yhous fiaai- 
 borrowed from the east— It would be a x^ts koI apxtepeh ^)co5<f^7,(rw, Kal Bdpiv 
 matter of some interest to ascertain, whe- iicd\e(rav, i>s ^ksi tV Upa-TiKhv avrois hro- 
 ther any traces of the beveUed style exist Keicr&ai aroXiiv, %y oVo)/ Sej, ftiieiy, rrfre 
 among the remains of Carthage, the f^^mv 6 kpxiipehs S^u^iewuTai.— The name 
 daughter of Tyre. -aipis is found also Antt. 13. 11. 2. ib 14 
 
 = Neh. 2, 8 n^ab iffii); rriiart . in 16. 2. ib. 18. 4. 3. B. J. 1. 3. 3. ib. 1, 
 
 the address of David, 1 ■Chr.'29, 1. 19, 5. 4. ib. 1. 18. 2. 
 comp. 22, 5, the word niia refers to the 
 
Sec. v.] FORTRESS ANTONIA. 231 
 
 lofty towers, against the incursions of the enemy ; " ' and also 
 that Simon " strengthened still more the hill of the temple, that 
 was near by the Akra."^ His son Hyrcanus likewise added still 
 further to its construction.' This Baris then, this strong fortress, 
 existed upon the north of the temple, when Pompey afterwards 
 besieged the latter ; * and when too Herod broke into the lower 
 city and outer temple, and took the rest by storm.^ 
 
 When Herod undertook the rebuilding of the temple, he re- 
 built also the fortress Baris ; and called it henceforth Antoiiia, 
 after one of his friends.' It stood upon the north side of the 
 temple enclosure ; ' was quadrangular, with towers at the four 
 corners ; ' and was built up at great expense and in a manner not 
 inferior to a royal palace.' Antonia was the fortress of the 
 temple ; as the temple was that of the city." 
 
 A more specific description of Antonia places it, or rather its 
 main citadel (<i/»-p67roX,ts), " upon a rock at the northwest corner 
 of the temple enclosure, fifty cubits high.'" The interior of the 
 fortress had all the extent and arrangements of a palace ; being 
 divided up into apartments of every kind, and courts surrounded 
 with porticos, and baths, and also broad open places for encamp- 
 ments ; '^ so that, as having everything necessary within itself, 
 it seemed a city, while in its magnificence it was a palace. 
 Where the fortress joined upon the northern and western porti- 
 cos of the temple, it had flights of stairs descending to both. 
 We have seen above," that Antonia was separated from Bezetha 
 on the north by a deep artificial trench, lest it should be ap- 
 proachable from that hill ; and the depth of the trench added 
 grea,tly to the elevation of the towers. 
 
 The Antonia on the rock at the northwest corner of the tem- 
 ple area, was apparently a main acropolis or citadel, within a 
 larger waUed fortress bearing the same general name. Indeed, it 
 is expressly called an acropolis {aKpoTroKf^), situated at this very 
 point.'* At this point, too, it is once mentioned as a tower. ^^ 
 On the other hand, Antonia as a whole is never called a tower ; 
 but is spoken of only as a fortress," presenting, as is once said, a 
 
 » Jos. Antt. 12. 7. 7. 'B.J.I. 21. 1. 
 
 ° 1 Maco. 13, 52 koX irpoiraixipoxre t5 '° Ibid. 6. 5. 8. 
 ipos TOv Upov rh irapa r^v'^AKpav, ** Antt. 15. 11. i. 
 
 " Antt. 18. 4. 3, irXitaiov rf- Upv Bipir " B. J. 6. 5. 8. 
 KaTOffKevairiiifvos. " lb. /col (TTpaTOireSaiv av\as ir^areias. 
 
 * Jos. Antt. 14. 4. 1-3. Comp. B. J. 1. If any one prefers here to render arpaTO- 
 
 7. 2—4. neSay by /losts, armies, or even by troops, 
 
 ' Antt 14. 15. 14. ib. 14. 16. 1. B. J. I do not object. The word is a general 
 
 I. 18. 2. one. 
 
 ' B. J. 1. 21. 1. ib. 1. 5. 4. Antt 15. " B. J. 6. 4. 2. See above, p. 211. 
 
 II. 4, Hn. " Antt. 15. 11. 5. B. J. 5. 5. 8. 
 
 ' B. J. 1. 5. 4, ^poipiov S" ^v T$ Poptitp '° B. J. 5. 5. 8, irph rris toC nipyov 5o/i^ 
 
 IcKifiari TOV Upov irpoffKetfievoy, ffeas, 
 
 ' Ibid. 5. 6. 8, irupyociSJji Sf ovaa rh tray " Gr. (ppoiptoy B. J. 1. 5. 4. ib. 1. 21. 
 
 (Txvixa, Kvrct ytoylav riffiraptTaf irepots Sui- 1. Antt, 18. 4. 3. 
 Atjitto vipyois. 
 
232 JEKUSALEM. ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 "tower-like" appearance.' The rock on which the acropolis 
 stood is described as fifty cubits high ; a statement which can only 
 be regarded as a loose estimate of the historian after years of 
 absence ; and which, judging from the high ground now on the 
 north, must be taken with considerable allowance.^ This rock 
 could not have had a very great lateral extent ; for it was cov- 
 ered over from the base to the top with hewn stones, both for 
 ornament and to render the ascent more difficult to assailants.^ 
 Upon this rock thus encased was situated the acropolis, which 
 would in this way itself be " tower-like ; " but could hardly be 
 expected to have other towers at the four corners, still fifty and 
 seventy cubits high ; nor to comprise within itself " broad open 
 places for encampments." 
 
 The same distinction between the acropolis and the fortress 
 in general, is implied by several other circumstances narrated 
 by the Jewish historian. When Titus, in the course of his as- 
 sault upon Antonia, had by the power of his engines made a 
 breach in the wall, the ardour of his troops was dampened by 
 the sight of another wall which the Jews had built up within.'' 
 And when the Romans had surprised the acropolis by night, 
 and Titus himself had been among the first to ascend into it, 
 many of the Jews, in fleeing away to the temple, fell into a 
 mine that had been dug by the tyrant John. The. Romans also 
 XTished forward, and strove to enter the temple area with the 
 Jews ; but were repulsed after many hours of hard fighting. 
 This combat Titus looked down upon from the acropolis.' Still 
 further, when the Roman army, after seven days of labour, had 
 by order of Titus razed the very foundations of the acropolis, 
 and so formed a broad approach against the temple, Titus is still 
 represented as taking his station in Antonia, in order to overlook 
 the assault and direct the further efforts of his troojDS." 
 
 From all these circumstances it seems evident, that the acro- 
 polis, standing at the northwest corner and encased with a facing 
 of hewn stone on every side, probably of sloping work, was 
 nevertheless separated from the temple area by a considerable 
 interval. This interval was a part of the onter fortress, enclosed 
 by the wall which on the south divided Antonia from the tem- 
 ple ; so that the acropolis rose " tower-like " within this outer 
 fortress in its northwestern part, and was enclosed by it. Nor 
 is such an arrangement of a fortress without analogy, even at 
 the present day. The great castle el-Husn, at the north end of 
 
 ■ Gr. nvpyo^L^s B. J. 5. 5. 8. ' B. J. 5. 5. 8. 
 
 ^ Josephus was naturally tempted to ex- * B. J. 6. 1. 3, 4. 
 aggerate in all that related to his own ' lb. 6. 1. 7, S. 
 
 countrymen ; and also in respect to the ° B. J. 6. 2. 1, 5, 7. Also B. J. 6. i. 
 
 strength of fortifications, which Koman i, 5. 
 valour had overcome. 
 
Secy.] toeteess antonia. 233 
 
 Lebanon, stands upon a high ridge, commanding a view both of 
 the lake of Hums and of the Mediterranean. It is nearly square, 
 and of great extent, surrounded with lofty walls. In the mid- 
 dle of it, another interior citadel, more than a hundred paces iu 
 length by seventy in breadth, and surrounded by a moat with 
 water, rises to the height of sixty or seventy feet. This acro- 
 polis is built up with sloping work of hewn stones, as if encas- 
 ing a mound or rock within ; not merely, as is now seen at Jeru- 
 salem and elsewhere, so as to form the foundations of the towers, 
 but carried up between the towers and nearly to the same height. ' 
 This castle, with its interior citadel, all bearing the name el- 
 Husn, seems to me to illustrate, in some degree, the plan of the 
 fortress Antonia with its acropolis. 
 
 Along with the preceding description of Antonia, it is likewise 
 to be borne in mind, that the area of Solomon's temple was origi- 
 nally a square, measuring a stadium on each side or four stadia 
 in circuit ; which circuit was enlarged by Herod to six stadia, 
 including Antonia ; thus enclosing double the former area, or 
 two square stadia instead of one.'' From this account it would 
 strictly follow, that the area of Antonia also was a square 
 measuring a stadium on each side. But as Josephus was writing 
 at Eome, without actual measurements and after an absence of 
 many years from Jerusalem, the statement can be regarded only 
 as a general estimate expressed in a popular form. It may also 
 be remembered, that, according to the measurements already 
 given, ^ the present Haram area is 1529 feet in length from south 
 to north, by about 925 feet in breadth ; thus leaving on the 
 north an extension of about six hundred feet more than a square. 
 It is not necessary, however, to suppose that the temple enclo- 
 sure formed an exact . mathematical square ; for in an area of 
 such extent, even if the length were much greater than the 
 breadth, it would still in popular language be called a square. 
 
 From all the various considerations thus far presented, it is 
 at least not a hasty conclusion to infer, as was done conjecturally 
 in a former volume,* that the fortress Antonia occupied perhaps 
 the whole northern part of the present Haram area. That is to 
 say, it occupied the tract on the north of the proper temple 
 square, whatever it might be, extending from south to north 
 
 ' See below, under June 14th. Burok- XaixPavon4fi)SKa\rT\s''AvTuviae,Va.'i..2l.l, 
 
 hardt's Trav. in Syr. p. 158. — A like in- koI tV "'f/'l ouriy [rhv vabv] aversixiffaro 
 
 terior citadel within an outer fortress, is X'^P"-"') ''■')* oianis Snr\curiav. — The Talmud 
 
 seen in the great castle es-Subeibeh near in like manner speaks of the temple enolo- 
 
 Banias ; see under May 27th. sure as a square, measuring five hundred 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 15. 11. 3, TOuToSe^j'TbirSv cubits on each side; Lightfoot Descr. 
 
 irepiffoXos, Terrdpav (rraSiav rhv KiKKou Templi, c. 2. 0pp. ed. Lensd. I. p. 554. 
 
 ?X(ui', IkcJo-tjjs yavtas ari^iov /irjKos avo- ' See above, pp. 175, 176. 
 
 haiiPavoia-ns. B. J. 5. 5. 2, i 5e iras icixXxis * See Vol. I. p. 292 sq. [ i. 432 sq.] 
 aiiT&y eis e| ffraSlovs ffuyefierpeiiro^ irept- 
 
 YoL. m.— 20* 
 
234 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 some five hundred or six hundred feet, and from ■west to east 
 about nine hundred and twenty-five feet. And, further, it may 
 be inferred, that the inner citadel or acropoHg was in the north- 
 western part, upon a projection of rock extending from Bezetha 
 into the said area, and separated from the said hill by a deep 
 trench. Very possibly also, while such a projecting rock formed 
 the foundation of the acropolis, there may yet have been built 
 up thereon a mound of earth, enclosed and supported by the 
 facing of sloping work of hewn stone ; as is apparently the case 
 in the present fortress el-Husn. Indeed, such a mode of con- 
 struction would account for the apparent facility, with which the 
 troops of Titus were able, in seven days, to overturn the very 
 foundations of the acropolis, and form a broad approach against 
 the temple.' 
 
 The site thus proposed for Antonia in its full extent, accords 
 well with the description and various notices of Josephus ; and 
 enables us to understand and apply all his specifications in a 
 natural manner and without any violence. It affords ample 
 space for all the " apartments of every kind, and courts sur- 
 rounded with porticos, and baths, and broad open places for 
 encampments."^ It leaves room for the square form of the 
 temple area proper, as specified by Josephus and the Talmud ; ^ 
 and although we d.o not now find the whole area, inclusive of 
 Antonia, to be full six stadia in circuit, yet the actual diffetence 
 is not greater than might be expected in a merely popular estimate. 
 
 The same view in respect to Antonia enables us to account 
 for the very remarkable excavation on the north of the present 
 area, still more than seventy-five feet in depth and one hundred 
 and thirty feet in width ; which tallies so strikingly with the 
 fosse mentioned by Josephus on the north of the temple and 
 Antonia, or rather of JBaris, and described by him as of " infinite 
 depth." * This is probably, even now, the deepest excavation 
 of the kind known. If it be said, that this very depth mihtates 
 against the idea of its having been intended for defence, and 
 that therefore it was probably at first a mere reservoir for water ; 
 then the reply is, that on this latter supposition the great depth 
 is still more anomalous and inexplicable. As a military fosse 
 we have the express testimony of Josephus, that its depth was 
 " infinite ; " and that, too, during the siege by Pompey, many 
 years before Herod had given to the fortress the form and name 
 of Antonia.' Herod very probably enlarged the former fosse 
 along the eastern part of the fortress, and perhaps deepened it 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 6. 2. 1, 7, fiiiepais eirra ' See the preceding page. 
 
 KaraffTpe^a}xevt] to\)s t^s 'AvTWfias ^e/ieA- * Gr. 5ii ^d^os &TretpaVj B. J. 1. 7. 3. 
 
 iovSj fJ'^XP^ "^^^ iepov irXaTetav i.yo5ov Aatt. 14. 4. 2. 
 
 ebTpitri<ravTO. ' See the preceding note. 
 
 ' See above, p. 231. 
 
Sec. v.] FORTRESS ANTONIA. 235 
 
 still more. At a later period, apparently, it was converted into 
 a vast reservoir for water ; for whicli it has evidently been used 
 at some former time.* But it is not necessary to suppose, 
 that the "deep trench"^ between Antonia and Bezetba, was 
 carried through, the rock of Bezetha at the same depth or of the 
 same width, as is now found in the great reservoir. Indeed, it 
 may not be improbable, that the inner citadel of Antonia stood 
 mainly upon the rock and site now covered by the Serai" or 
 barracks ; and that the trench, by which it was separated from 
 Bezetha, was cut through the rock, deep indeed, but not ne- 
 cessarily wide, not far south of the line of the present street 
 in that part. That is to say, that the lofty acropolis, faced to 
 the top with sloping work of hewn stone, stood out further north 
 than the main body of the lower fortress, and so as possibly to 
 be on the west of the present deep excavation. 
 
 The like extent of Antonia seems further to be indicated by 
 the features of the present eastern wall of the Haram area. At 
 the northern end, as we have seen,^ we find what seems to have 
 been the wall of a corner tower or bastion, measuring about 
 eighty-three feet ; and then again the projection of which the 
 Golden gate forms part, extending fifty-five feet, and which ap- 
 parently was once the base of another tower. From the southern 
 side of this last projection to the southeast corner is a distance of 
 1018 .feet ; and to the northeast corner is about 516 feet. A line 
 drawn from this point of division westward across the Haram area, 
 would fall about 150 feet north of the great mosk.* We thus 
 should have the present area divided into two portions ; the 
 southern portion measuring 1018 feet by 925 feet, would then 
 represent the square of the ancient temple.' The northern 
 tract, having the same breadth, and measuring about 516 feet 
 from south to north, would in this way be left for the extent of 
 Antonia. To this last may then be added the site of the present 
 Serai, if occupied of old by the inner acropolis ; thu^ increasing 
 the area of the whole fortress to the extent of some 150 feet 
 towards the north on the northwestern part. These estimates, 
 of course, require the language of Josephus to be taken in a 
 popular sense ; and there is no ground for assigning to it any 
 other. The Golden gate, according to this view, was near the 
 southeastern angle of the fortress ; and led out from Antonia 
 into the country at this sheltered spot, where no enemy could 
 
 ' See above, p. 172. Also Vol. I. pp. projection next further south, would take 
 
 293 sq. 330 sq. [i. 434, 489 sq.] from the southern part about ] 10 feet, and 
 
 ' Gr. upvy/ia /3a.^, B. J. 5. 4. 2. add it to the northern tract ; thus making 
 
 ' See above, pp. 173, 175. ti>e former to be about 908 feet by 925 
 
 • See the measurements referred to in the feet, or nearly an exact square. But such 
 
 preceding note. a line would leave too little space on the 
 
 ' A line drawn across the area from the north of the mosk. 
 
236 
 
 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 successfully assail it. The elaborate architecture of this gate is 
 usually referred to the time of Herod ; ' and the rougher courses 
 of the corner hastion in the northeast may well belong to the 
 same epoch, although they are more massive than any other of 
 the remaining works of Herod. 
 
 The same general position of Antonia furnishes an easy 
 explanation of some other circumstances connected with the 
 temple. 
 
 One of these is the fact, that Josephus, in describing the 
 gates of the temple leading to the city and suburb, speaks only 
 of the four upon the west and one in the southern side ; thus 
 affording strong ground for the inference, that there were none 
 upon the north. If now Antonia with its lofty citadel and deep 
 fosse lay along upon the whole of this northern side, we have at 
 once a sufficient reason for his silence. 
 
 Another circumstance, which may thus be readily explained, 
 is the Rabbinic statement, that the holy house itself stood in the 
 northwestern part of the outer court or temple area. According 
 to the Talmud : " The greatest space was on the south ; the 
 next on the east ; the next on the north ; and the least on the 
 west." ' That is to say, the building was in the northwestern 
 part ; but its length being from west to east, the space left next 
 the western wall or portico was less than that on the north. 
 The like position seems to be implied in the account given by 
 Josephus, that Titus cast up one of his mounds and brought 
 forward his engines "overagainst the northwest corner of the 
 inner temple ; " ' it being obvious that the Romans made their 
 assaults upon the wall of the temple area, whether from the city 
 or from Antonia, at or near the northwest corner. If, therefore, 
 the rock es-Sukrah, now beneath the mosk of Omar, which the 
 Jews in the fourth century were accustomed to wail over as 
 marking the site of their former temple, does thus mark some 
 point in the true site, (which I am not disposed to call in ques- 
 tion),* then the position thus indicated by this rock accords well 
 with that above described by the Rabbins ; provided the temple 
 area was in popular language a square, and the tract further 
 north was occupied by Antonia. 
 
 In the same way we perceive a satisfactory reason for the 
 historian's application of the celebrated oracle, that " the city 
 and temple would be captured, when the temple should become 
 four-square." ' He asserts that " the Jews, at the time of th 
 destruction of Antonia, made the temple four-square ; " and thus 
 
 Catherwood in Bartlett's Walks, Ed. • B. J. 6. 2. 7. ib. 6. i. 1. 
 
 2, pp. 158, 159, 161. ■• See Vol. I. p. 300. [i. 444.] 
 " In Lightfoot, Descr. TempU Hieros. e. ' B. J. 6. 5. 4. 
 
 3, 0pp. ed. Lensd. I. p. 556. 
 
Si£C. v.] FORTRESS ANTONIA. 237 
 
 the oracle received its fulfilment. Previously, then, the temple 
 {lepov) was not a square ; because it comprised. Antonia as a 
 part of itself It was an oblong, and perhaps irregular ; espe- 
 cially if we regard the citadel as making a projection towards 
 the north. This oblong, by the destruction of Antonia, was 
 reduced to the square of the temple area proper. 
 
 Such are, in general, the grounds on which, in my former 
 work, I ventured to bring forward, hypothetically, and with 
 some hesitation, the view which assigns so great an extent to the 
 fortress Antonia. Kepeated subsequent examination has only 
 served to render those grounds more definite and clear ; and thus 
 far to give confirmation to the hypothesis. 
 
 According to the earlier view, the citadel or acropolis at the 
 northwest corner of the temple area, constituted of itself the whole 
 fortress Antonia. This view is still preferred by several writers. 
 But they thus overlook the extent assigned by Josephus to 
 Antonia ; its city-hke character ; and the " apartments of every 
 Mnd, and courts surrounded with porticos, and baths, and broad 
 open places for encampments." And further, they are com- 
 pelled, either to set aside the testimony of the historian as to the 
 square form of the proper temple area ; ' a course which I do not 
 feel at hberty to follow ; or else to deny the antiquity of the 
 southern, portion of the present Haram area.'' The strong 
 reasons against this latter course have been already enumerated.^ 
 
 The chief reason assigned against the view proposed by me, 
 is the alleged fact, that " the whole of the north wall of the 
 temple was not covered by the fortress in question," * In support 
 of this allegation, reference is made to the various sieges of the 
 temple, in connection with the city, as narrated by Josephus. 
 Of such sieges no less than five are described, and another is 
 spoken of as planned. Three of them took place while the 
 fortress still bore the name of Baris, viz. those by Aretas, Pom- 
 pey, and Herod. The other three, those by Florus (intended), 
 Cestius, and Titus, occurred long after the reconstruction of the 
 fortress by Herod as Antonia. 
 
 About the year 63 B. C. or shortly before Pompey's arrival, 
 Aretas, king of Arabia Petr^a, as the ally of Hyrcanus against 
 Aristobulus, " made an assault upon the temple and beleaguered 
 Aristobulus ; the people supporting Hyrcanus and assisting him 
 in the siege, while only the priests continued with Aristobulus." ' 
 
 ' Thus Mr Catherwood expressly rejects 648. Also Museum of Class. Antiq. May 
 
 the testimony of Josephus as to the square 1853, p. ii5. 
 
 form of the temple area ; Bardetf s ' Jos. Antt. li. 2. 1, S Sh t&v 'ApdPav 
 
 Walks, Ed. 2. p. 165. $a(ri\iis . . . irpofffiaKiiv r^ lep^, rhv 
 
 " Holy City, II. pp. 353, 360 sq. 'Apt<rTi0ov\ov iiro\i6pKft, irpoim&e/tc'j/ow 
 
 " See ahove, p. 220 sq. Se rov Siijiov rif "Cpxav^ Kol irvfuiro- 
 
 * Holy City, II. p. 348. KrafFtp. 74 Xio/jkowtos outw, ii6vay Se ray hpeav 
 
 eq. Comp. ToWer, Topogr. I. pp. 636- 'ApurrofioiXtf irpo(rit.ev6i>Tiiiv 
 
238 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 The siege was afterwards raised by the Koman general Scaurus. 
 As there is in this account no allusion whatever to the point of 
 assault upon the temple, the passage can have nothing to do 
 with the matter now before us. ' 
 
 The siege by Pompey took place in the year 62 B. 0. That 
 general, advancing from Jericho upon the Holy City, found it 
 strongly fortified on all sides except the north ; " for a broad and 
 deep valley encompasses the city, comprehending within it the 
 temple, which was strongly fortified round about with a wall of 
 stone ;" "so that the city being taken, this would be a second 
 place of refuge from the enemy." ^ The inhabitants were divided. 
 The partisans of Hyrcanus opened the gates to Pompey, and 
 delivered over to him the city and the royal palace. On the 
 other hand, the adherents of Aristobulus retired into the temple ; 
 and having cut off the bridge leading to the city, prepared to 
 hold out till the last. Piso was now sent in with a body of 
 troops ; he stationed guards in the city and the royal palace, and 
 fortified the houses towards the temple and the parts without 
 around the temple. " Pompey then took a position within, on 
 the northern quarter of the temple, where it was assailable. 
 There too stood lofty towers, and a trench had been dug ; and 
 it was encompassed by a deep valley ; for the part towards the 
 city was also abrupt, the bridge being broken down." ^ The 
 Eomans cut down aU the trees round about ; and " filled up in 
 the northern quarter both the trench and the whole valley." * 
 But this was done with difficulty, the trench being of immense 
 depth.^ The engines were at length brought up ; and, the 
 largest of the towers having been thrown down, the temple was 
 carried by storm." 
 
 Now it is obvious, that the valley (^(pdpaj^) mentioned in this 
 account, can only be the valley on the west of the temple ; just 
 as it is also clear, that the artificial trench was that on the 
 north. The circumstance so distinctly stated, that Pompey 
 filled up both the vaUey and the trench shows definitely that he 
 
 ^ It is indeed a-ssumed, that Aristobulus T07re5ei5eTa£, Karic rh ^6peioy rod Upov jue- 
 
 had " also the city In his power ; " and pos, o^ev ^r M/iaxoy. aveaTiiKicav Si 
 
 hence it is inferred, that the assault on the koL ivrav^a ^eydkoi irvpyoi, Kol Td<f>pos Se 
 
 temple was from the north ; Holy City, II. optipuKTO, Kal jSod-e/ot irepieix^TO (pdpayyu 
 
 pp. 348, 351. But the fact that the people aireplxiyet yap (col to vphs Tiiv irdAiv, Trjs 
 
 aided Hyrcanus, and only the priests re- ys^vpas kvnTerpaiiiieirns. 
 
 mained with Aristobulus, shows conolu- * B. J. 1. 7. 3, aurbs Se /cori tIi irpoircip- 
 
 sively that the latter was shut up in the ktiov KKl/j-a riiv te T&ippov ex"" "al tV 
 
 temple and Bans ; and therefore the as- <pdpa.yya iraffaVy iS\'ijif ffvfitpopovtryjs ras 5u- 
 
 sault on the temple may have been from i/dfieas. 
 
 •within the city. ' Antt. 14. 4. 2, irepiT^ii.vivTavT^iviripi^ 
 
 ^ Antt. 14. 4. 1-4. B. J. 1. ,7. 1—4. '\j\yfv 'Pa/iaiuv , , . /ndKis ir\7j(r&ef(rrjs t^s 
 
 These two accounts are, in part, combined rdcjypou Sia $d^os &ireipoy. 
 
 in the text. ' Antt. 14. 4. 4. 
 
 ' Antt. 14. 4. 2, no/iTT^ios Si (<ruder <rrpa- 
 
Sec. v.] ANTONIA. SIEGES. 239 
 
 made his approaches on the northwest corner, both from the west 
 and from the north. And this was natural ; for there, on the 
 north, is the higher ground of Bezetha, overlooking the temple 
 and its precincts. But in that northwest corner stood the 
 fortress or rather acropolis of Baris ; so that it was this citadel, 
 the fortress of the temple, that Pompey chose as his main point 
 of attack ; just as Titus, more than a hundred and thirty years 
 later, made his chief assaults upon Antonia from the same quar- 
 ter. The fortress Baris was necessarily within the trench ; and 
 being the acropolis of the temple, in which the robes of the 
 high priest were laid up, it was reckoned as part and parcel of 
 the temple and its precincts, without being specified by name. 
 The towers belonged doubtless to Baris ; for none are ever men- 
 tioned in connection with the wall of the temple proper. The 
 trench was that on the north of the acropolis, separating it from 
 Bezetha. 
 
 Herod's siege of Jerusalem took place in the year 37 B. C. 
 or twenty-five years later than that by Pompey. The city was 
 then held by Antigonus. Herod being joined by the Eoman 
 general Sosius " pitched his camp near to the northern waU ;" ' 
 or, as the other account says, " approaching , the city where 
 it was most assailable, he pitched his camp before the temple, 
 having determined to make an assault, as Pompey had formerly 
 done." For this end he " sat down along the north wall of the 
 city."^ The siege would seem, at first, not to have been pressed 
 with much vigour. Herod himself was absent at Samaria for a 
 time ; nor did all the troops arrive before his return. The city 
 is said, in one place, to have held out five months.' In another 
 place we are told, that the first (or outer) wall was taken after 
 forty days ; and the second (or temple) wall after fifteen days 
 more.^ This last account refers, apparently, to the commence- 
 ment of the more vigorous assault or storming of the wall. 
 Herod thus broke through the outer wall (the second of Jose- 
 phus) into the lower city ; and then through another (interior) 
 wall into the temple ; that is to say, he assailed the temple from 
 the lower city. After he had thus got possession of it, Antigo- 
 nus, who still held out in Baris, descended from the acropolis 
 and yielded himself to Sosius.^ 
 
 Such were the three sieges of the temple, while its fortress was 
 yet known as Baris. The others were much later. In the in- 
 terval, both the temple and the fortress had been rebuilt by 
 Herod ; and Agrippa had erected the third wall of the city. 
 
 ' B. J. 1. 17. 9. ' B. J. 1. 18. 2. 
 
 ' Antt. 14. 15. U. ib. 14. 16. 1, * Antt. 14. 16. 2. 
 
 Sifxd^riyTO irpbs T^ fiopela teix« t^s ' B- "J- !• l^- 2, Kdreiffi /lin carh rrjs 
 
 v:6\ias. ' Bdpeas. Antt. 14. 16. 2. 
 
240 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 It was about A. D. 65, or not long before the siege by 
 Cestius, tbat Florus, the last procurator of Judea, during a 
 tumult in the city, sent troops to get possession of Antonia and 
 the temple. In this he was foiled ; and then the insurgents, 
 " fearing that Floras would again come and seize upon the tem- 
 ple through Antonia, went up and cut off the continuous porticos 
 of the temple towards Antonia." ' This led Florus to abandon 
 his purpose. — The passage obviously has no bearing upon the 
 question here at issue. 
 
 The insurrectionary spirit of the Jews brought Cestius, then 
 proconsul of Syria, with an army, to Jerusalem in A. t>. 66. 
 He entered the city without opposition ; " and after various 
 delays, made an attack with chosen troops " upon the temple" 
 in its northern quarter. But the Jews fighting from the portico 
 " kept them off, and several times drove them back as they ap- 
 proached the wall." ' The Eomans now formed with their 
 shields a testudo ; " and the soldiers, being now unharassed, 
 undermined the wall, and made ready to set fire to the gate of 
 the temple."* Here the circumstance, that the troops could 
 approach and undermine the wall, and set fire to a gate of the 
 temple, is conclusive evidence that the' attack was made from 
 the lower city at the northern part of the western wall of the 
 temple. Just there, too, some years later, the troops of Titus, it 
 is related, attacking the temple from the west, " undermined the 
 foundations of the northern gate." ^ All the circumstances are 
 incompatible with the idea of an approach from the north ; 
 where the wall was rendered inaccessible by the very deep and 
 broad trench. 
 
 In the description of the final siege and destruction of the 
 city and temple by Titus, in A. D. 70, there are only two cir- 
 cumstances, which need here to be taken into account. The 
 Jews during the siege were divided into two factions ; one of 
 which, under Simon, had possession of the upper and lower city ; 
 while the other, under John, held " the temple and the tract 
 around it to no small extent." * Titus, after taking the outer or 
 third wall of the city, pitched his camp within it, and pressed 
 the attack on the second wall. The Jews, still in two factions, 
 bravely repelled the Eomans from this wall ; " those with John 
 fighting from Antonia and the northern portico of the temple, 
 
 ' B. J. 2. 15. 5, 6, 01 Se crafftoffTaij del- elfryoy, Kot iroAXaKis fi€jf aTrcKpovffavro tovs 
 
 travres jut* irdMv eTreA^ii' d *ASpos Kpar^i- Tip Tsixst irpotreAjS-fJvTas. 
 
 ffT) rod hpov Sici rris 'AvraiyiaSy ayafidyres * Ibid. fn}dev Be ol (TTpariuTai KaKov/xeyoi 
 
 ev^eas Tcfcs cruj/exetJ aro^s tov hpov Trphs rb ruxos vTfdipvffixoy, koX tov tepov r^y irv- 
 
 T^v 'AvTuyiay SieKoyl/ay, Ktjv vTronifnrpayai TrapeffKevd^oyro. 
 
 ' B. J. 2. 19. 5. See more folly above, ' B. J. 6. 4. 1, koto t-V ka-nipioy i^eSpav 
 
 P- 215. rov effw^ey Upov . . . t5)s Se flopelov iruAris 
 
 ^ Ibid. Kara rh irpoffdpKTioy iirixeipei k\1- vircxtpvTTOy erepoi tovs ^e/xsKious, 
 
 fia ry Upff. 'loviaioi Je air)) t^s uroas " B. J. 5, 6. 1. 
 
Sec. v.] ANTONIA. SIEGES. 241 
 
 and also before the monument of king Alexander." ' Now as 
 tlie Eomans were not • yet in the lower city, but still outside of 
 the second wall, it is obvious that a defence made from the 
 north portico of the temple could be directed against the enemy 
 only as approaching from the north or northeast quarter ; that 
 is to say, on the east of the acropolis of Antonia, and of that 
 portion of the second wall, which ran down to join the fortress. 
 Does this necessarily imply, that the northern portico of the 
 temple was carried along close upon the trench ? ^ 
 
 In respect to the difficulty supposed to be here involved, 
 several explanations may be given. One is, as I have formerly 
 suggested,^ that the Jews of John's party, after being driven in 
 from the third wall, may have now made the fortress Antonia 
 and this northern portico their Jiead-quarters, from which to 
 conduct their further defence. A second, proposed by Schultz,^ 
 regards here " the northern portico" as signifying " the portico 
 which ran northwards ; " that is, the eastern portico, from which 
 the defence would naturally be conducted against the Eoman 
 troops on the mount of Olives. Now as the enemy would not 
 unlikely make attempts upon the gate leading out from Antonia 
 in this quarter, it would be natural for the Jews to fight against 
 them, at this point, both from the eastern and northern porticos. 
 A third explanation, which I would here suggest, depends upon 
 the elevation of the northern portico. 
 
 Herod built up all around the holy house immense porticos, 
 more costly than the former ones ;' though it appears elsewhere, 
 that the eastern portico was not rebuilt, but was still looked 
 upon as the work of Solomon.'' These porticos formed each a 
 double colonnade ; the columns of which were five and twenty 
 cubits high.' That on the south had three colonnades ; of 
 which the two outer ones were each more than fifty feet high, 
 and the middle one double that height. The northern portico 
 of the temple, then, with its roof, we may assume to have had an 
 elevation of not less than fifty feet. As we have seen above,' it 
 was probably distant from the south side of the great fosse about 
 516 feet ; and from the northern side about 646 feet or some 215 
 yards. The wall on this part of Antonia, within the fosse, would 
 not necessarily or probably be higher than at present, some 
 twenty or twenty-five feet. Hence it would be no difiicult 
 matter for the Jews, stationed on the much loftier roof of the 
 
 ' B. J. 5. 7. 3, oi/i6>'ireplTiy'I<oa>W)i'aw(( ' Antt. 15. 11. 3, ireptsKd/iPave Sc Kcd 
 
 re TTis 'hvTwvias Kol t?s irpoffapKriov aroas aroaXs (leyiaTais rhy vabv vmavra, . . . «al 
 
 ToS Upov Kol jrph Tar 'AXf|ovSpou tou Pa- Toj Sairiyas rmv irpiv iiTepPa)A6ii.iVos. 
 trOteus fiy7}fietay fiax^f^^yoi. Antt. 20. 9. 7. 
 
 ^ Holy City, II. pp. 350, 353. ' B. J. 5. 5. 2. 
 
 » Biblioth. Sacra, 1846, p. 628 sq. " See above, p. 235. 
 
 * Schnltz, p. 69. 
 Vol. III.— 21 
 
242 
 
 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sko. V. 
 
 northern portico, to throw missiles from their hows and engines 
 across the whole breadth of the lower Antonia and the fosse, so 
 as effectually to assail enemies approachiag from that quarter. 
 According to the ancient accounts, stones were sometimes thrown 
 by the hcdistce more than a quarter of an English mile, or double 
 the distance above specified.' — A due consideration of the cir- 
 cumstances, therefore, seems to show, that the supposed diffi- 
 culty has no foundation in fact. 
 
 The other circumstance during the siege by Titus, referred to 
 above, occurred after the Eomans had broken through the second 
 wall, and got possession of the lower city. Titus now relaxed 
 his efforts for a little while ; and meantime paraded his troops in 
 battle-array, with much pomp and splendour, in order to terrify 
 the Jews. " The whole old wall [on Zion] and the northern 
 quarter of the temple were full of spectators ; and one might 
 see houses full of those looking on ; nor did any part of the city 
 appear, which was not covered by the multitude." ^ Here it is 
 not the northern portico, but the northern quarter of the temple ; 
 and as both the old wall on Zion and the houses of the city are 
 likewise mentioned, the allusion is probaUy to the northwestern 
 part of the temple and the acropolis of Antonia, as affording a 
 view of the parade. Here too, Antonia, as the temple fortress, 
 is apparently comprised under the general appellation of the 
 temple. 
 
 The above review of the sieges enumerated has shown, as 
 it appears to me, that the objection thence raised against 
 the proposed extent of Antonia is without vahdity. The whole 
 discussion respecting the fortress may perhaps seem long and 
 out of place. Yet the subject has a deep historical interest ; for 
 Antonia was the "castle" into which Paul was carried, after 
 having been dragged out of the temple ; and from the stairs 
 the great Apostle addressed the tumultuous throng below.' 
 
 At what time, or in what way, the ancient precincts of the 
 temple assumed the form and extent of the present Haram area, 
 is unknown. Titus left the whole a mass of scorched and 
 smoking ruins. Half a century later Adrian rebuilt the city ; 
 and apparently gave to its walls their present course and circuit. 
 ■ At the same time, he erected a temple to Jupiter on the site of 
 the former Jewish temple ; and decorated the area with statues 
 
 ' See the acootint ty Josephus of the ri re lipxalov retxoi ciirav (col toD hpoS rh 
 
 siege of Jotapata ; where, in one instance, $6petoi^ K\i/Ma, rds re otKias ficffras ^y trpo- 
 
 the head of a man is said to have been KvwrSvrav xmepiSuv, koI t^j iriiAewj ovSev 
 
 taken off by a stone, and carried a dis- % /iii KeKoAwrro ir\^&ei SieKpalyero. 
 
 tance of three stadia; B. J. 3. 7. 23. " Acts 21, 31-40. In the N. T. the 
 
 Comp. Procop. Bell. Goth. 1. 21, 23. fortress is called ^ irapinPoKij, Acts 21, 
 
 Smith's Diet, of Antt. art Tormentum. 34. 37. 
 
 ' B. J. 5. 9. 1, KOT«r\^(r&7) yap atpopdmray 
 
Sec. Y.] ANTONIA. GIHOK. 243 
 
 of himself, one of them equestrian ; which last was standing in 
 the days of Jerome, late in the fourth century. Since that time, 
 there is no reason to suppose, that any important change has 
 taken place in the extent or limits of the area ; and its present 
 form, therefore, may be referred hack in all probability to the 
 times of Adrian. The rocky surface in the northwestern corner 
 of the area still testifies that this portion has been artificially 
 levelled. Here stood the acropolis.' In the process of razing 
 the foundations of Antonia, the trench between it and the higher 
 part of Bezetha would naturally be filled up ; while the eastern 
 portion still remains and is without a parallel, whether regarded 
 as a military defence or as a reservoir.^ 
 
 VII. WATEKS OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 The various ways in which a supply of water was of old fur- 
 nished to the Holy City have been fully treated of in a former 
 volume.^ It remains here only to notice such information as has 
 since come to light, and some views which have been put 
 forward. 
 
 GiHoN. — In a former volume I have adduced all the evidence 
 extant relating to this fountain.* The result seemed to be, that 
 Gihon was on the west of the city, in the basin or head of the 
 valley of Hinnom ; siace it is narrated of king Hezekiah, that 
 he " stopped the upper water-course [outflow of the waters] of 
 Grihon, and brought it down on the west to the city of David." = 
 It was thus stopped, perhaps, like the fountain near Solomon's 
 pools ; and the waters thus brought down by subterranean chan- 
 nels, in order to preserve them to the-city in case of siege. The 
 pool of Hezekiah so called, was probably thus fed ; and also, as 
 some suppose, the deep fountain or weU near the Haram. We 
 learn too from Josephus, that an aqueduct conveyed water to 
 the tower of Hippicus ; and one is Ukewise spoken of in connec- 
 tion with the royal palace on Zion.' The water here must have 
 come from Gihon. 
 
 The general correctness of the preceding view has since been 
 singularly attested by the discovery of an "immense conduit" 
 beneath the surface of the ground on Zion, brought to light in 
 digging for the foundations of the Anghcan church. This edi- 
 fice occupies apparently a portion of the ancient site of the royal 
 
 » See above, p. 231 sq. ' See in Ml, Vol I. pp. 323-349. [L 
 
 ' Some remarks upon the snpposed 479-516.] 
 identity of the fortress Baris with the * Vol. L p. 346 sq. [i. 612 sq.] 
 Alera of Antiochiia Epiphanes, which gave ' 2 Chr. 32, 30. 
 name to the lower city, see in BibliotSeca ' B. J. 5. 7. 3. ib. 2. 17. 9. 
 Sacra, Nov. 1846, pp. 629-634. 
 
244 JEEUSALEM. ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 palace ; it being not far from the northern brow of Zion, nor 
 also from Hippicus, towards the east. On sinking a shaft, the 
 workmen at the depth of more than twenty feet came upon the 
 roof of a vaulted chamber of fine masonry and in perfect repair. 
 Under this they found "an immense conduit partly hewn out of 
 the solid rock ; and where this was not the case it was solidly 
 built in even courses, and cemented on the face with a hard 
 coating of cement, about one inch thick, and was covered over 
 with large stones. The direction of this aqueduct was east and 
 west." Mr Johns, the architect of the church, to whom we are 
 indebted for this account, traced it eastward for more than two 
 hundred feet. In respect to the chamber and aqueduct, he fur- 
 ther says, " there is no doubt on my own mind, that they have 
 been used for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants with 
 pure water." This indeed is shown by the cement ; as also by 
 there being several apertures at intervals, apparently for drawing 
 up water.' 
 
 Here then is the aqueduct, in all probability, which we know 
 existed in connection with the royal palace on Zion.* Not un- 
 likely it was the continuation of that, by which water was con- 
 veyed to the tower Hippicus.^ It could thus be brought into 
 Zion from the upper basin ; but not from any other quarter. 
 Indeed, the small rude channel, which stiU comes from the upper 
 pool, enters the city apparently at a higher level.* 
 
 But notwithstanding all this testimony in respect to Gihon as 
 being situated on the west of the city ; supported as it is by the 
 actual existence of water in that quarter, and the fact that it 
 was formerly, and is still, conducted into the city ; some writers 
 have chosen to transfer the position of Gihon to the north of the 
 city, beyond the Damascus gate and towards the tombs of the 
 Kings so called.^ Against this view there is not only the direct 
 testimony of Scripture, that the water was brought down from 
 Gihon to the city on the west f but the nature of the ground on 
 the north of the Damascus gate shows, that no sources of living 
 water ever existed there. Nor were there large reservoirs in that 
 quarter ; and the supply was only from a few wells and many 
 private cisterns. As to the other argument, the alleged exist- 
 ence of " a large cistern fed with living water " at the Damas- 
 cus gate, and of " an abundant well of water " in the church of 
 
 ■ See " The Anglican Cathedral Church as a sewer ; II. pp. 31, 44, 489. Ho also 
 
 on Mount Zion, by J. W. Johns," pp. 9. argues, without evidence, that it runs to 
 
 10. Bartletf s Walks, Ed. 2, pp 82-84. the sewer under the bazar. 
 
 ' B. J. 2. 17. 9, Te ipxt^p^vs 'Avavlas ' Holy City, II. p. 474 sq Krafft, pp. 
 
 vepl Thv rris PatnMKrjs av\rjs evpiirov Sia- 95, 121 sq. 132 sq. 140. — Sohultz rightly 
 
 XavStdvaj/ aKiarxerai. regards Gihon as on the west ; p. 79. 
 
 ^ The'^'author^'of the Holy City affects ' ^^^- "'"l^ '''^>, "^nSO 2 Ohr. 82, 
 to speak of this aqueduct on Zion always ""• 
 
Sec. v.] GIHON. WELL NEAR THE HAKAM. 245 
 
 the Flagellation, both of them having the taste of the water of 
 SHoam ; we have already seen that both are merely ordinary cis- 
 terns of rain water, ■which had become impure.' 
 
 A comparatively modern tradition has given to the ridge 
 or swell of land, on the north and northeast of the western 
 basin, the name of Mount Gihon ; but this, as I have formerly 
 said, seems not to go back further than the time of the crusades, 
 being first mentioned by Brocardus about A. D. 1283.' It has 
 recently been suggested, tjiat a passage in the second book of 
 Chronicles, as found in the English version, mentions Gihon in 
 such a way, as to imply that this hill was intended.^ But a 
 slight change in the rendering of the passage, as in the note 
 below, removes the difficulty ; and leaves the name Gihon in its 
 usual application.^ 
 
 Well near the Haram. — I have formerly given an account 
 of this well ; and of our unsuccessful effort to obtain permission 
 to descend into it and explore the fountain.* The attempt was 
 afterwards repeated by Mr Wolcott with better success. The 
 depth of the well is 82^ feet ; and its distance from the adja- 
 cent entrance of the Haram, according to Mr Wolcott, is 124 
 feet. 
 
 By a private arrangement with two of the Arabs employed 
 about the well, Mr Wolcott descended into it on the evening of 
 January 5th, 1842.= Several feet above the water are four 
 arched recesses in the rock, opposite one another, each about 
 two feet deep, six high, and four wide. A little lower, six feet 
 above the water, is a small doorway leading to an arched chamber 
 excavated in the rock, about fifteen feet long, ten feet broad, 
 and only three or four feet high. The ceiling was overlaid with 
 stucco ; but the chamber did not • seem to be constructed with 
 any reference to the water. Directly opposite to this doorway 
 was the passage or channel for the water ; and these two were 
 the only openings from the well. Their direction Mr Wolcott 
 was unable to ascertain, because of an accident to his compass. 
 
 The depth of the water ia the weU and in the passage was 
 
 ' See fully above, pp. 196-198. the Hebrew may just as correctly bo trans- 
 
 ' See Vol. I. p 265. p. 391.] Brocardus lated thus, as is done indeed by Luther : 
 
 c. 9. Pococke Descr. of the East. IL i. " Now after this he bnilt the outer wall of 
 
 pp. 10, 15, 28. Sandys' Tray. pp. 158, the city of David, on the west, towards 
 
 160. etc. Gihon In the valley, etc." Mauasseh pro- 
 
 ' See Mnsenm of Classical Antiquities, bably rebuilt the whole wall around the 
 
 Vol. IL ] 854, pp. 349, 428. south of Zion as far as to the fish gate on 
 
 * 2 Chr. 33, 14, " Now after this he the east aide of the city ; see Eodiger in 
 
 [Manasseh] built a wall without the city Gesen. Thesaur. p. 1460. b ; and Lex. art. 
 
 of David, on the west side of Gihon, in "iSttJ no. 1. b. 
 
 the vaUey, even to the entering in at the fg^^ y^^j j 343-345. [508-512.1 
 
 fish gate." Here, if the allusion is to a , .1. r n _.. r in- ntr 1 ^ • 
 
 mouTt Gihon, the wall must have been in . Se« the fuU report of Mr Wolcott in 
 
 the valley; Aich is inconceivable. But t^« Bibhotheca Sacra, 1843, pp. 24-28. 
 Vol. in.— 21* 
 
246 JERUSALEM. ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 about four and a half feet. The entrance to the latter was more 
 than ten feet high ; and just within this was an open space or 
 chamber twenty feet high, and perhaps as long and broad. It 
 had once been walled, and covered with an arch of hewn stone. 
 Beyond this, the passage was two or three feet wide, and about 
 five feet high, covered with stones laid transversely. These were 
 without order ; and were evidently from the ruins of some other 
 structure. There were ordinary hewn stones ; then shafts of 
 polished marble, half a foot in diameter, some of them square 
 and fluted ; and then again a larger granite column. 
 
 The passage terminated at a well or basin ; beyond which 
 was seen the wall of rock. But the space above the water, 
 which nowhere had been more than a few inches, was here not 
 enough to reach and explore the opposite side. One would 
 naturally infer, that this was the fountain head ; but there was 
 no appearance in the water to indicate it. The distance back 
 to the well was found by careful measurement with a rule to be 
 eighty feet. 
 
 Such is the sum of Mr Wolcott's report. He was alone, 
 and was subjected to many untoward circumstances, which give 
 to his undertaking an air of romantic adventure. It was Hke- 
 wise the rainy season ; when of course there was more water in 
 the passage than at other times. 
 
 Eour years later, March 16th, 1846, Tobler in like manner, 
 after some higgling with the men drawing water, was permitted 
 to descend by the bucket ' He found a boy already below with 
 a light, in order to bring out water from the passage. This he 
 did by lading it up from the farthest basin into the channel at 
 the bottom of the passage ; along which it then flowed to the 
 basin of the well. The water now stood in the passage not 
 more than an inch deep. The direction of the passage from the 
 well is southeast seventeen paces ; and then south twenty-five 
 paces. The basin at the end seemed to be round, some six feet 
 in diameter ; but the bottom could not be seen, nor was there 
 any bubbling or motion of the water. Near this basin the bottom 
 of the passage itself was about three feet lower than further 
 north. The basin seemed to be merely roughly cut in the lime- 
 stone rock. The quantity of water was said to vary with the 
 rains above ; so that after a long and heavy rain, the water of 
 itself flows out into the well. The temperature below was 
 warm, and the air pure. 
 
 During the year 1853, Dr Barclay also succeeded in descend- 
 ing into the well. He followed the stream (as he calls it) nearly 
 dne south for 105 feet ; when aU further progress was cut off by 
 
 * See the fall account in Towel's Denkblatter etc. p. 73 sq. 
 
Sec. v.] WELL NEAR THE HAEAM. 247 
 
 the roof of the passage suddenly declining and coming in contact 
 with the water.' 
 
 Such is aU the information, that we are likely to have for 
 many years in respect to this well. The main point settled 
 seems to be, that the farthest basin is not under the Haram, and 
 probably had no connection with the temple. It may turn out, 
 as is suggested by Dr Barclay, that the well has likewise no 
 connection with Gihon or with any other reservoir ; but is itself 
 an independent natural fountain, which has been enlarged at the 
 bottom from time to time, and especially in seasons of drought, 
 merely to increase the internal area from which the water slowly 
 trickles. In this way the horizontal passage may have been exca- 
 vated along a fissure in the rock, in the hope of reaching a more 
 abundant source. Something of the same kind exists in con- 
 nection with the well of Job. Besides ornamental masonry on 
 the sides of the well, an Arabian writer relates, that, in its lower 
 part, there is in like manner a side grotto or chamber, from 
 which the water strictly comes." I heard also a similar report 
 of a deep well in the house occupied by the French consul on 
 Bezetha, which was said to have passages at the bottom. But 
 it was then too late to make farther inquiry. 
 
 The Aqueduct. — The course of the aqueduct was described 
 in my former work, from the point where it crosses the valley 
 of Hinnom on low arches, and " is then carried along and around 
 the southwestern part of Zion above the valley, till it comes 
 out again high up along the eastern slope, and enters the city." 
 Further than this we did not trace it.^ In 1842, Mr Wolcott 
 found that the aqueduct passes under the city wall at a point 
 further east than that marked on our former plan ; and is then 
 carried along the steep eastern declivity of Zion ; partly by a 
 passage excavated for it in the rock, and partly as supported by 
 a wall of masonry some fifteen feet high against the face of the 
 rock. The northern portion of the excavated passage Mr 
 Wolcott entered and penetrated for a distance of 140 feet ; but 
 was then stopped by some modern masonry, under which the 
 pipes continue. This was near the northeast corner of Zion ; 
 from which point the aqueduct is understood to be carried along 
 the causeway to the Haram.^ 
 
 ' Ms. Letter dated Dec. 6th, 1853. along the east border of Zion to the cause- 
 
 " Mejr ed-Din in Fnndgr. des Or. IL p. way ; and then adds : " By another branch 
 
 130. See in Vol. I. p. 382. [ i. 492.] the water was led along the north border of 
 
 ' See Vol. L pp. 265, 347. [i. 390, Zion, towards the west, to the palace of 
 
 5] 4.1 Herod, or specially to the tower Hippicus ;" 
 
 * See the full account by Mr Wolcott, pp. 112, 189. Now the aqneduct, even 
 
 Biblioth. Sao. 1843, p. 31 sq. Comp. To- where it crosses the valley of Hinnom, is 
 
 bier, TopooT. L p. 474. — An instance of not less than sixty feet lower than Hip- 
 
 Krafft's not nnfrequent inaccuracy occurs picus ; see above, Vol L p. 273 sq. [i. 
 
 in reference to this aqneduct. In two 403.J 
 places, he describes it rightly as carried , 
 
248 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sbc. V. 
 
 In some connection with this aqueduct, and supposed to have 
 been fed from it, is a large subterranean reservoir adjacent to the 
 outside of the western wall of the Haram, under and just north 
 of the house of the Kady. Tobler is the first to give an account 
 of it.' The entrance is through a vault or passage from the 
 court or garden between the wailing place and that house. The 
 tank is 84 feet long by 42 broad, with a vaulted roof some 24 
 feet high. Its eastern side is formed by the wall of the Haram. 
 At each end, south and north, is a doorway about six feet above 
 the bottom ; that on the north being now waUed up. A little 
 water was percolating through the western wall. There is a 
 square opening above, for the purpose of drawing up water. At 
 the time there was almost no water. Adjacent to this tank, on 
 the west, are other smaller subterranean vaults ; the entrances 
 of which are reported as exhibiting pointed arches. 
 
 This reservoir has also been visited by Dr Barclay.' He 
 found in it no water, but not a little mud. The Haram wall 
 in this part is composed of large blocks of stone, similar to those 
 at the wailing place. He did not notice the aqueduct ; although 
 it evidently passes immediately in the vicinity of the tank. The 
 footsteps of persons walking overhead were distinctly heard. 
 
 According to his measurements, Dr Barclay found the tank 
 to be under the northern portion of the Kady's house, and also 
 under the causeway, and extending as far as to the minaret a 
 few yards north of the Haram gate. Tobler regards the smaller 
 vaults on the west as substructions or supports for the causeway. 
 Should this turn out to be so ; and especially if they exhibit 
 pointed arches ; it would seem to bring down the causeway, as 
 also this part of the aqueduct, to the times of the Saracens.^ 
 
 Upper Fountain. — This has been commonly known as the 
 fountain of the Virgin. Of its irregular and intermitting flow 
 we formerly were witnesses ; and we also passed through the 
 subterranean channel by which its waters are conducted to 
 Siloam. All this is fully described in a former volume.^ 
 
 The inquiry was there started,^ Whether perhaps this irregular 
 flow is to be explained by some connection with waters from the 
 temple or Haram above, the taste of which was found to be the 
 same ? On this point nothing new has since come to light ; 
 except that the exploration of the well west of the Haram has 
 
 ' Tobler, DenbW. p. 41 sq. Schwarz hear, the elevated street is a mere hank of 
 
 speaks of this tank as discovered by the earth, with the exception of the space oc- 
 
 Muslims in 1845; p. 269. cnpied by this tank; the sewer passing 
 
 ^ Ms. Letter, Dec. 6th, 1853. transversely beneath it north and south ; 
 
 ^ See above, pp. 227, 228. — I add here and a small sewer, probably once a water- 
 
 an extract from the lett«r of Dr Barclay conduit, perforating it longitudinally from 
 
 referred to above : " Has this any decisive the west" 
 
 bearing upon the causeway question ? * Vol. L pp. 337-343. [ i. 498-508.] 
 From all that I have been able to see or ' Ibid. p. 342. [ i. 507.1 
 
Sec. v.] TJPPEE FOUNTAIN, BETHESDA. 249 
 
 shown, that at least those waters apparently have no outflow 
 either towards the Haram or the valley. The likeness of taste, 
 therefore, is prohahly to he ascribed rather to the like soil and 
 rock through which the waters of both fountains percolate. 
 
 Whether any communication whatever exists with the 
 Haram above, is a matter yet to be determined. The present 
 popular report of such a connection, like that respecting running 
 water at the Damascus gate, is too indefinite and legendary to 
 be of any weight. Yet the writers of the Talmud have re- 
 corded the tradition of their day, that the blood from the great 
 altar was drained off by a subterranean channel into the val- 
 ley of the Kidron ; where it was sold to the gardeners for 
 manure. ' 
 
 In respect to the suggestion formerly made by me, as to the 
 possible identity of this intermitting fountain with the pool of Be- 
 thesda, I may now venture a somewhat more definite statement.^ 
 The irregular flow certainly corresponds perfectly well with the 
 "troubling" of the water. When it is said, that "an angel 
 went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the 
 water," probably there is no one who would hold, that on every 
 such occasion there was the visible form and appearance of an 
 angel. This mysterious motion of the waters, of which none 
 could comprehend the cause, the people ascribed to the direct 
 supernatural agency of an angel ; and this in accordance with 
 the general principle, that God administers the laws of the uni- 
 verse through the agency of the angels, his messengers.^ Again, 
 when it is said, that " whosoever then first after the troubling of 
 the water stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he 
 had," it is evident that the healing power was held to he, not in 
 the water itself, but in the circumstance oi first stepping in. 
 This of course is contrary to the analogy of all medical waters ; 
 as is also the other circumstance, that the power extended to the 
 healing of all kinds of diseases. In these particulars we have 
 the unerring marks of a current popular behef; which the 
 EvangeHst has chosen to make the basis of his representation. 
 The same was sometimes done by an authority higher than 
 John.' 
 
 Canals oe Sewers, etc. — Of the channel for water on Zion, 
 
 ' Joma, fol. 58. 2 ; see Lightfoot Hor. scend into the canal, etc." Comp. Holy 
 
 Heb. 0pp. II p. 20. ed. Leusd.— In the City II. p. 342. 
 
 tract Middoth, 3. 2, 3, it is also related, " John 5, 2-7. See in Vol. I. p. 342. 
 
 that " at the southeast comer of the altar [i 507.] 
 
 were two openings, through which the ° Comp. Heb. 1, 7. 14. 
 
 blood was collected into the canal, and so * See especially our Lord's parable of 
 
 carried off into the Kidron ;" and further, the Rich Man and Lazarus, founded on 
 
 that " in the floor at the same comer was the Jewish popular belief as to Hades and 
 
 a place a cubit square, covered by ii mar- the state of the dead ; Luke 16, 19 sq. 
 
 ble slab with a ring, where one could de- comp. Luke 23, 39 sq. 
 
250 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 and the sewer along the bazar, as also those reported to exist ia 
 connection with the causeway, I have already spoken. ' It remains 
 only to add a few words respecting two other subterranean 
 
 One is outside of the Bab el-Mugharibeh or Dung gate, near 
 the bed of the Tyropoeon. This I have formerly mentioned.^ 
 A low arch here forms the present outlet of a large sewer from 
 the city. This was pointed out to us in 1838, as the sewer by 
 which some of the leaders of the FeUahin, in their siege of 
 Jerusalem in 1834, passed in and got possession of the city.^ 
 Dr Barclay informs me, that he recently attempted to explore 
 this deep channel, in the hope of finding some communication 
 between it and the causeway or the sewers above ; but having 
 approached within twenty or thirty yards of the causeway, the 
 passage became so low and choked with mud, that he was com- 
 pelled to return.^ Tobler also appears to have had no better 
 success.' 
 
 The mouth of another subterranean passage is seen on the de- 
 chvity above the upper fountain, a little southwestwards from the 
 same. This canal is mentioned by Schultz ; but appears to have 
 been first explored and described by Tobler.* According to him, 
 so far as he could follow it, the passage runs up first N. 20° W. 
 for 480 feet ; and then west, 142 feet. The greater part is 
 walled with small stones laid in mortar ; and the bottom is flagged 
 with square stones. For 113 feet, the canal is cut through the 
 limestone rock. The width is about 2^ feet ; the height varia- 
 ble, sometimes low and sometimes rising to eight feet. The 
 whole is now entirely dry, and the air pure. 
 
 The same canal was again explored in 1853 by Dr Barclay. 
 Taking with them lights, tape-line, and compass, they penetrated 
 more than six hundred feet ; when it became too much choked 
 to proceed farther. On plotting their measurements upon the 
 map, Dr Barclay found that the passage had taken them to the 
 path within a few yards of the Bab el-Mugharibeh or Dung 
 gate ; where they distinctly heard the peculiar tread of donkeys 
 overhead. From this point it runs farther due west. 
 
 This excavation is held to have been a sewer ; and if so, it 
 was not improbably a branch of that coming down from the city 
 near the same gate, as above described. There is nothing to 
 identify it with the " canal" mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela, 
 
 ' For the channel on Zion, see atove, pp. pogr. I. p. 92. Schultz refers their en- 
 243, 2ii. For the sewer nnder the hazar, trance to the other passage mentioned he- 
 see p. 166 ; and for those said to he under low. 
 the causeway, see pp. 187, 190. * Ms. Letter of Dec. 6th, 1853. 
 
 « Vol. L p 265. [ i. 390.] ' Topogr. I p. 90 sq. 
 
 ' So we were distinctly informed hy ' Schultz p. 41. Tohler Topogr. I. p. 
 
 those who knew ; and so too Tobler, To- 93 eq. 
 
Sect.] sewers, sepulchkes. 251 
 
 near wMcli tlie sacrifices were slaughtered in ancient times, and 
 where all Jews inscribed their names on an adjacent wall.' 
 This latter was obviously within the temple enclosure ; which in 
 Benjamin's day was in possession of the Christians, and to 
 which the Jews then had access." 
 
 VIII. SEPULCHKES. 
 
 I have here only to present a few additional remarks upon 
 the Tomb of Helena and the Tombs of the Prophets,. so called ; 
 both of which are treated of in my former work.^ 
 
 Tomb op Helena. This remarkable excavation, commonly 
 known to travellers as the tombs of the Kings, we examined in 
 1838, as Irby and Mangles had done before us, to ascertain 
 whether there might not exist an entrance at the north end of 
 the portico, similar to that now open at the southern end. We 
 however found nothing.* The attempt was renewed by Messrs 
 Wolcott and Tipping in 1842. Ytisuf, who had been with us, 
 was employed, and two other men. They reached the block of 
 stone described by Irby and Mangles ; it was three or four feet 
 square, and seemed to have been broken away from the front of 
 the portico. They removed it, but found no opening beneath ; 
 and laid bare the rock for several feet, without discovering any 
 trace of a passage. None probably ever existed. Indeed the 
 rock on that side is less firm and compact, and less sui ted for 
 excavation.' 
 
 In a former volume I have likewise brought forward the evi- 
 dence, which goes to show, that this sepulchre was that of 
 Helena, queen of Adiabene ; as suggested by Pococke. This is 
 mentioned as on the north of Jerusalem by Josephus and 
 Jerome ; and also generally by Eusebius and Pausanias. The 
 evidence may be reduced to three heads : 
 
 First. According to Josephus, the sepulchre was constructed 
 with three pyramids at the distance of three stadia from the 
 city, overagainst a gate of the third wall ; which wall is also 
 said to have passed overagainst the sepulchre.^ These pyramids 
 Eusebius calls stelcB or cipjoi; and speaks of them as extant 
 and famous in his day.^ 
 
 Second. Jerome, in describiag the journey of Paula from 
 
 ' Benj. of Tud. by Asher, I. p. 36. 2, tlie way, the passage turns due west ; ' 
 
 Heb. and. p. 71, Transl. Letter of Dec. 6th, 185.3. 
 
 ' The author of the Holy City has no ' Vol. I. pp. 356 sq. 364. [i. 528 sq. 
 
 doubt, that the canal above described, is 539.] 
 
 " the termination of the drain of the great ' See Vol. I. p. 360, [ i. 533.] 
 
 altar ;" IL p. 453. Dr Barclay remarks : ' See Wolcott in Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, 
 
 " In this supposition he is entirely mis- p. 35 sq. 
 
 taken ; for at the terminus of onr peregri- " Antt. 20. 4. 3. B. J. 5. 2. 2. ib. 5. 4. 2. 
 
 nation, which was already too far out of ' H. E. 2. 12, (Tt^Acu Suupave7S' 
 
252 JEEtrSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. T. 
 
 Lydda to Jerusalem, saya she ascended by Beth-horon and 
 G-ibeon, passed near Kamah, and stopped a little at Gibeab ; she 
 then entered Jerusalem, leaving the mausoleum of Helena on 
 the left Tiand.^ Since the appearance of my former work, the 
 site of aibeah of Saul has been definitely identified with the 
 Tuleil el-Ful, which rises some distance south of Eamah,_and 
 close on the east of the great northern road. This road is at 
 present unquestionably the same that it ever was ; and Paula 
 proceeding from Gribeah to Jerusalem would have, as now, this 
 sepulchre on her left.' 
 
 Third. The testimony of Pausanias estabKshes the remarka- 
 ble character of the sepulchre of Helena ; which he names, 
 along with that of king Mausolus in Caria, as being particularly 
 worthy of admiration.^ He makes allusion, exaggerated and 
 legendary indeed, to the singular doors ; and these, as also the 
 splendid marble sarcophagi, are found in no other sepulchre 
 around Jerusalem. All the circumstances of elaborateness and 
 splendour, which mark this sepulchre, and this alone, made it 
 famous in the days of Pausaruas and Eusebius ; and still distin- 
 guish it above all others. 
 
 All these points of evidence, taken together, seem to me to 
 prove, beyond all reasonable question, the identity of this sepul- 
 chre with that of Helena. The three pyramids were probably, 
 slender cippi of a pyramidal form, erected on the level ground 
 above the portal, not unlike to those surmounting one of the 
 rock-hewn tombs at Petra.* 
 
 In view of the preceding considerations, the attempt of 
 Schultz and De Saulcy to transfer the tomb of Helena to a sep- 
 ulchre far in the northwest of the city, and north of the Birket 
 Mamilla, can only be regarded as against all the evidence.'" Es- 
 pecially so, since the latter writer admits ofhis own accord, that 
 the tomb proposed " is of such coarse workmanship, as to pre- 
 sent a striking contrast with the magnificent carvings of the 
 tombs of the Kings."' 
 
 ' Hieron. Epitaph. Paulse : " In Gataa one ; Wilson Lands of the Bible, I. p. 
 
 nrbe usqne ad solum diruta panlulum sub- 429. But these very pyramids are called 
 
 Btitit. . . Ad Isevam mansoleo Helenae de- by Eucebins (rr^Aai, and could not there- 
 
 relicto, . . . ingressa est Jerusolymam fore have been large. The whole work is 
 
 urbem." 0pp. T. IV. ii. p. 673, ed. Mar- called by Pausanias Tripos, and by Jerome 
 
 tianay. a mausoleum ; neither of which terms is 
 
 " M. De Saulcy asserts, that Paula came well applicable to three separate cippi or 
 
 " from the direction of Jaffa." II. p. 199. even three pyramids. Indeed the very ex- 
 
 ' Pausan. Grseo. Desor. 8. 16 fin. pression of Josephus implies the same 
 
 * See Vol. II. p. 129, comp. p. 126 sq. thing. We can hardly suppose that the 
 
 [ii. 515, eomp. p. 510.] — It is objected, hones of Helena would literally be depo- 
 
 that according to Josephus the bones of sited in three pyramids ; but rather in a 
 
 Helena were to be buried in the pyramids sepulchre constructed with three cippi. 
 
 (Std'pai 4y reus irvpap-icrtp) which she had ' Schultz p. 65. De Saulcy II. p. ICO. 
 
 erected ; Antt. 20. 4. 3. Hence it is in- * M. De Saulcy has a long and elabo- 
 
 ferrcd, that her tomb was not an excavated rate argument, covering more than fifty 
 
Sec. v.] tomb Or HELENA. TOMBS OF THE PROPHETS. 253 
 
 Tombs of the Pkophets. — These are near the top of the 
 mount of Olives, not far south-southwest of the village. They 
 are mentioned in my former -work ; but we did not ourselves 
 then visit them ; nor had they at that time been described by 
 others.' This deficiency has since been abundantly supplied; 
 and I give here a plan and brief description.^ 
 
 
 The entrance is through a hole in the rock, with a blind 
 stair, which leads down into a circular apartment about ten 
 feet high, and twenty-one feet in diameter. This is excavated 
 in the rock. From this chamber, two parallel galleries, ten 
 feet high and five wide, are carried southwards through the 
 rock for about sixty feet. A third gallery, on the left, di- 
 verges southeast, and extends for about forty feet. These 
 
 pages (n. pp. 162-215), by which he at- 
 tempts to prove that the tombs of the 
 Kings, so called, are the veritable sepulchres 
 of David and his successors. So sanguine 
 is he, indeed, that he actuaHy assigns the 
 several chambers and niches to the bodies 
 of the individual kings ; ib. p. 183 sq. 
 The argument will probably convince no 
 one, who has regard to such passages of 
 Scripture as 1 Kl 2, 10. 11, 43. 2 Chr. 
 28, 27. 32, 33. Acts 2, 29; see also. 
 Vol I. p. 361 sq. [i. 535.] With these 
 passages the statements of Josephus are 
 in perfect accordance ; even upon M. De 
 Saidcys own showing. — The argument is 
 veiy similar to that by which Dr E. D. 
 
 Vol. ni.— 22 
 
 Clarke persuaded himself, that the sarco- 
 phagus brought home by him had been the 
 veritable resting-place of Alexander the 
 Great ; see his Tomb of Alexander, 4to. 
 Camb. 1805. 
 
 '■ Vol.I. p. 364. [i. 539.] 
 
 ' The account in the text is drawn 
 chiefly from Wolcott, Bibliotheca Sacra, 
 1843, p. 36 ; and from Tobler, Siloah n. 
 Oelberg, p. 250 sq. The plan is that of 
 Tobler. — These tombs are also described 
 by Lord Nugent, 11. p 73 sq. ; by Schultz 
 p. 42 ; by Kraffl p. 202 ; by the author of 
 the Holy City, H. p. 447; and by Do 
 Saulcy, 11 p. 215 sq. Comp. Ritter Erdk. 
 XVI i. p. 473. 
 
254 JEEUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 three passages are connected by two cross galleries in concentric 
 curves ; one at their extreme end, the other in the middle. 
 Kunning between these latter is a fourth shorter gallery ; lying 
 on the east of the middle one of the first three. Niches for 
 dead bodies, thirty-two in number, are seen along the farther side 
 of the outer curved gallery, on a level with the floor. Two 
 small chambers, each having two or three niches, open into the 
 same passage, opposite the ends of the two westernmost galleries. 
 The western end of the middle curved passage is carried round 
 in a semicircle beyond the western gallery ; and here are also 
 several niches. The straight passages,- and also the middle 
 curved gallery, have no receptacles for bodies. From the eastern 
 part of the same curved gallery, an irregular passage is carried 
 eastward for more than a hundred feet ; where it terminates in a 
 clayey friable soil. This was probably the reason why it was 
 not continued. Along this last passage, there are two or three 
 quite small chambers, and a few niches.. The air is everywhere 
 pure. 
 
 These singular sepulchral galleries, so different in their plan 
 and character from all other sepulchres around the Holy City, 
 are as yet an enigma to travellers and antiquarians. All that 
 can be definitely affirmed is, that they have nothing to do with 
 the "tombs of the prophets" mentioned by the Evangelists.' 
 
 IX. THE HOLT SEPULCHKE. 
 
 Having thus completed what I have to say respecting the 
 topography and antiquities of the Holy City in the times of the 
 New Testament and of Josephus, I turn for a few moments to 
 another monument of later celebrity ; first known indeed to 
 history in the fourth century ; but ever since that time overshad- 
 owing in importance all other monuments, in the estimation of 
 much of the Christian world. I mean the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 It will not be denied, that since the publication of the Bib- 
 lical Kesearches in 1841, this topic has been discussed with great 
 fulness ; and, in some parts, under a new aspect. My purpose 
 
 ' Matt. 23, 29. Ltike 11, 47.— Solnittz see Smith's Diet, of Antt. art. Funus, p. 
 
 connects tMs excavation with' "the rook 561. But there was nothing of that kind 
 
 Peristereon " mentioned hy Josephus (B. here ; nor does it appear that the Greek 
 
 J. 5. 12. 2) ; to which ran the wall of word was ever thus applied. The language 
 
 Titus along the mount of Olives. He sup- of Josephus, too, implies a prominent rock, 
 
 poses ir€picrT€pe<iy to be here put for colum- Further, if the Bomans brought their wall 
 
 barium, in the signification of a sepulchre thus near to the top of the mount, they 
 
 with many niches ; p. 72. So Kraffl p. voluntarily subjected themselves to the toU 
 
 203. De Sanlcy, II. p. 221. The word and trouble of lengthening it by at least 
 
 columbarium (dovecote) was indeed in a half a mile, without necessity or motive ; 
 
 late age applied to a sepulchre filled up and all this in a work accomplished by the 
 
 with niches to receive the funeral nms ; army in three days. 
 
Sec. v.] the HOLT SEPULCHRE. 255 
 
 here is simply to ascertain, in brief, what progress may have been 
 made towards a final determination of the question, whether the 
 present site is the true one. 
 
 The evidence on which the whole question turns, is of two 
 kinds, topographical and historical. The particulars of this evi- 
 dence, so far as then known, were given in my former work ; and 
 the result which seemed to me to follow, was against the au- 
 thenticity of the present site. '■ 
 
 I. In respect to the topographical evidence, we have already 
 seen, that the discovery of the ancient chambers at the Damas- 
 cus gate, and the general recognition of them as belonging to an 
 anciwit gate of the second wall on that spot, has wrought a 
 change in the mode of treating of the second wall, among the 
 advocates for the authenticity of the sepulchre.'' The course of 
 that wall is now laid down by them along the street of the 
 bazar to the Damascus gate ; and for this purpose the gate 
 Gennath is held to have been opposite to that street on the 
 northern brow of Zion. Both of these new positions, I have 
 endeavoured to show, are untenable.' I have also brought 
 forward facts and evidence, stronger than before, which demon- 
 strate, that the second wall must have run considerably on the 
 west of the sepulchre ; and which show also, that its probable 
 course was near the street leading northwards from the castle to 
 the Latin convent.* 
 
 So far, then, as the topographical evidence is concerned, it ap- 
 pears to be incompatible with the idea of the authenticity of the 
 present site of the sepulchre. Hence have arisen, apparently, 
 the efforts made to transfer the Tyropoeon and Akra to another 
 part of the city ; in order to get rid both of the ancient reservoir 
 now known as the pool of Hezekiah, and also of the waters of 
 Gihon on the west. Hence too the theory of sources, which do 
 not exist, on the northern quarter of the city. 
 
 II. In respect to the historical testimony, there has likewise 
 been some change in the manner of bringing it forward. Instead 
 of the plausible d, priori statement of Chateaubriand, we have 
 had from one writer " an antecedent probability ; " and from 
 another the " strong presumption in favour of a right conclu- 
 sion."' But the actual historic facts remain for the most part 
 unmodified. 
 
 The precise and main point of inquiry in relation to this 
 topic is : Did there exist, in the time of Constantine, any such 
 historical evidence or tradition respecting the place of our Lord's 
 
 • See Vol. I. pp. 408-418. [it 64-80.] ' See above, pp. 199 sq. 218 sq. 
 The reader is referred to that discussion ; * See above, pp. 218-220. 
 as it lies at the basis of the farther remarks ' Newman, Essay on Miracles, pp. 143 
 
 in the text. sq. 153 sq. Holy City 11. p. 74 
 
 ' See above, p. 218. 
 
256 JEEUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [SbcV. 
 
 sepulchre, as to lead to the selection of the present site as the 
 true one P Here Eusehius is the first and chief witness. No 
 earlier father or writer makes even the slightest allusion to the 
 sepulchre as then existing ; nor to any tradition respecting it. 
 Nor does any later writer speak of the circumstances attending 
 the discovery of the site, until seventy years after the event. 
 The Bourdeaux pilgrim in A. D. 333, and Cyril, a deacon under 
 Macarius, and a few years afterwards bishop of Jerusalem, are 
 utterly silent. Eusehius, therefore, the cotemporary and an 
 actor in these transactions, the friend and agent of the emperor 
 Constantino in Palestine, is the sole writer who bears testimony 
 to the historical facts as an eyewitness. 
 
 This father, writing ten years or more before the alleged dis- 
 covery of the sepulchre, speaks of crowds of pilgrims, who 
 flocked to Jerusalem to pay their devotions on the mount of 
 Olives, where our Saviour taught his disciples and then ascended 
 into Heaven.' He speaks also of the place of our Lord's nativity 
 at Bethlehem ; which indeed was marked by a still earlier tra- 
 dition. ° Now had there been, in like manner, a definite tradition 
 as to our Lord's sepulchre, it is hard to conceive, how these 
 crowds of pilgrims, who were eager to seek out even the most 
 trivial scriptural localities, should have neglected to ascertain 
 and visit the sacred spot ; and also, how Eusehius should have 
 omitted to allude to the fact, when speaking of the two other 
 collateral traditions.^ 
 
 Indeed, the language of Eusehius would seem rather to imply 
 the non-existence of any such tradition. He relates,^ that after 
 the council of Nicea (A. D. 325), the emperor Constantino 
 became desirous of " performing a glorious work in Palestine, by 
 adorning and rendering sacred the place of our Lord's resurrec- 
 tion." This was undertaken by him, not without a divine 
 admonition, but as moved thereto in spirit by the Saviour him- 
 self^ "For hitherto impious men, or rather the whole race of 
 demons through their instrumentality, had made every effort to 
 deliver over that illustrious monument to darkness and oblivion." 
 Such language, certainly, would hardly be appropriate, in speak- 
 ing of a spot definitely known and marked by long tradition. 
 
 * Euseb. Demonstr, Et. 6. 18. p, 288, " tte idol-fane [[over the sepulchre] as yet 
 
 Colon. 1688 : twc eis Xpurrbv ireTTHrTCuKd- excited the horror, and forbade the devo- 
 
 raJua-ir^PTcoviravTax^^^i'yTis ffvyTpex^yruy tions of the early Christians;" Holy City 
 
 . . . [e;/€/ca] T?js €7rl rh Spos tuv *EAai«y II. p. 440, comp. p. 73. This statement 
 
 TrpoffKvv^ffeas . . . ^y&a [rov A6yov] Tois assnmes, that they and Eusehius. knew the 
 
 kavTOv fitt^TaTs i-Trl rijs aKpatpeias rod rwv spot. If so, what motive existed for his 
 
 *EKatay vpovs ra Trepl r7}s <rvvTe\eias jiv- and their silence ? Why not speak of the 
 
 (TT^pta irapaSeStaKSros, im-ev^ey re r^v els "horror" thus excited ? 
 
 ovpavovs &yo^oy ireironifievov. Comp. in * Euseh. Vit. Const. 3. 25^ 26. 
 
 VoL L p. 416. [ii. 77.] ' Ouk a^tel rovr' iv Siamla PoKdy, 
 
 ' See Vol. I. p. 41 6. [ii. 78.] aW' uw" auroS rod Smr^pos i.vaKivri^els 
 
 ^ It does not lielp the matter to say, that r$ vvevit,art. ib. 3. 25. 
 
Seo. v.] THE HOLT SEPULCHRE. 257 
 
 Indeed, Eusebius expressly affirms, that tte discovery of the 
 sepulchre was " beyond all hope." ' In like manner the emperor 
 himself, in his letter to Macarius preserved by Eusebins, regards 
 the discovery of " the monument of the Saviour's most sacred 
 passion, which for so long a time had been hidden under ground," 
 as " a miracle beyond the capacity of man sufficiently to cele- 
 brate, or men to comprehend." * The mere removal of obstruc- 
 tions from a well known spot, could hardly have been described 
 as a miracle so stupendous. Indeed, as I have elsewhere re- 
 marked, the whole tenor of the language both of Eusebius and 
 Constantine shows, that the discovery of the sepulchre was held 
 to be the result, not of a previous knowledge derived from 
 tradition, but of a supernatural intimation.^ 
 
 Great stress continues to be laid upon the circumstance first 
 reported by Eusebius, that the same " impious men," after cover- 
 ing over the sepulchre with earth, had built upon it " a dark 
 retreat or cavern for the lascivious demon Venus." * Nothing is 
 here intimated as to the time of its construction. Jerome, some 
 seventy years after the discovery, places a marble statue of Venus 
 on the " rock of the cross " or Golgotha, and an image of Jupiter 
 on the place of the resurrection ; and affirms that they had been 
 upon the spot from the time of Adrian.^ There is here a dis- 
 crepancy between this account and that of Eusebius ; and the 
 Latin father must be in the wrong ; for Eusebius was an eye- 
 witness, and Jerome not. The historians of the next century, 
 too, adopt the account of Eusebius, and say nothing of Adrian 
 in this connection.'' What then is the amount of all this testi- 
 mony ? Why simply, just what I have formerly stated,' that 
 writers ex post facto have mentioned such a temple or idol as 
 standing, not over the sepulchre hnown of old as that of Christ, 
 but over the spot fixed upon by Constantine as that sepulchre. 
 There is no reason to doubt, that a temple and idol stood upon 
 that spot ; but this fact in itself has no bearing to show that 
 the place was the true sepulchre. Indeed, the two parts of the 
 argument are inconsistent with each other. If the pagan temple 
 
 ' Euseb. Vit. Const. 3. 28, ri ffcfivlv Kal on Miracles p. 146. So too Mr Taylor, 
 
 travikyiov TrfS txarrtplov hvaffrdffetiis fiaprv- Anc. Christianity, Pt. VIL p. 296. 
 
 pioy Trap' iKiriSa vaaav ave<balv€TO. ^ Comp. above, VoL I. p. Hi. [ii. 74, 
 
 ' Enseb. Vit. Const. 3. 30, rh ykp rh 75.] 
 
 yvipiffpia TOv aytarirov iKeivov W*o«s Ciri * Vita. Const. 3. 26, veKpav elS^\av ffK6- 
 
 ry yii ir&Kai Kpvirriii^vov, roa'airais iray riov 'A<ppoSiTris i,KO\iaTip Saiiiovt livxjbv 
 
 irepi6Sois \aAew . . . irmray ^mrA.rjJo' oAt)- oiKoSop-rifftiiievot. 
 
 »5i iirepPahci, ktX.— There is a question _ ' Hieron. Ep. 49, ad Panlin. 0pp. IV, 
 
 here as to flie word yv^piafia, whether it ii. p. 564. ed. Mart 
 
 refers to the sepulchre, or to the true cross ° Socr. H. E. 1. 17. Sozom. 2. 1. 
 
 alleged to have been discovered at the same Theodoret is silent as to any temple or 
 
 time. It makes no difference with the ar- statue. 
 
 gument, whichever way it is understood. ' See Vol. I. p. 413 sq. [ii. 73 sq.] 
 
 Mr Newman understands the cross; Essay Comp. Biblioth. Sac. 1843, p. 183 sq. 
 
 Vol. ni.— 22* 
 
258 JEKUSALEM. ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 had thus actually marked the place of the sepulchre as a 
 " lasting record " from the days of Adrian, or for any period of 
 time, then this site was a definite and well known spot. Yet, 
 according to Eusebius and the later writers, the sepulchre had 
 been consigned to utter oblivion, and its discovery was the result 
 of a divine warning, accompanied by diligent inquiry.' 
 
 In respect to what is usually and appropriately termed the 
 invention of the true cross,^ which historians of that and the next 
 century narrate as part and parcel of the discovery of the 
 sepulchre, the advocates of tradition seem at present disposed to 
 say as little as possible.' As to the cross, Eusebius is silent. 
 Yet in less than twenty years we find Cyril, and afterwards 
 Jerome, speaking of its existence as a public and well known 
 fact ; and such not improbably is the import of the epistle of 
 Constantine.^ So that I may still say, as before, that there is 
 hardly any fact in history better accredited, than this alleged 
 discovery of the true cross. The discovery of the sepulchre, and 
 the discovery of the cross, belong historically and appropriately 
 together.' 
 
 Thus a consideration of the cotemporary historical evidence 
 goes to show, that in the selection of the present site there was 
 neither any prior tradition, nor any direct probability, to guide 
 the choice.' 
 
 We are now prepared to advance a step further and take the 
 position, that even had there existed such an earlier tradition, it 
 could have had no authority in opposition to the clear and defi- 
 nite topographical evidence. This latter rests, not only upon 
 recorded historical facts, but also upon archasological remains 
 and the physical features of the ground. A tradition may have 
 had its source in error ; and then it only serves to perpetuate 
 that error. Thus in the parallel example of the reputed place 
 of the ascension on the mount of Olives, there was actually an 
 earlier tradition ; and the spot was early visited by throngs of pil- 
 grims. Such is the testimony of Eusebius ; who also relates, that 
 Helena founded there a chuj-ch in honour of our Lord's ascension, 
 and another in Bethlehem over the place of his birth.'' Yet, 
 notwithstanding this weight of testimony and tradition, the site 
 
 ' Comp. Vol. I. pp. 373, 374 [ ii. 14.] ' See ftilly on the cross, Vol. L pp. 373- 
 
 " Holy City II. p. 223. 375. [ ii. 14-16.] 
 
 ' Except Mr Newman ; Essay on Mir. ' Hence the very logical position, that 
 
 p. 143 sq. The author of the Holy City " the more improbable the supposition, the 
 
 gives a brief statement as to the cross in better reason must there have existed for 
 
 his first edition, p. 303 sq. But in the se- marking this as the spot ;" Holy City II. 
 
 cond edition, where its corresponding place p. 4. 
 
 would be in Vol. n, after p. 73, it is wholly ' Euseb. Demonstr. Evang. 6. 18. p. 
 
 omitted. 288. Vita. Const. 3. 34. Comp. above 
 
 * Th yytipKr/xa rov aytoiTaTov Trd&our, p. 256, 
 See the preceding page, n. 2. 
 
Sbc. v.] THE HOLT SEPTTLCHEE. 259 
 
 assigned by it as the scene of our Lord's ascension, must be 
 regarded as wrong ; since it is in contradiction to the express 
 declaration of Scripture. According to Luke in his Gospel, 
 Jesus led out his disciples " as far as to Bethany," and blessed 
 them ; and " while he blessed them, he was parted from them, 
 and carried up into heaven."' Language cannot be more defi- 
 nite ; and in entire accordance with it the same writer relates in 
 the book of Acts : " Then returned they [the Apostles] unto 
 Jerusalem from the mount called Ohvet, which is from Jerusa- 
 lem a sabbath day's journey."^ Bethany is a part of the mount 
 of Olives. It lies upon the eastern slope, at the distance of a 
 mile or more below the crest ; so that in order to return to Jeru- 
 salem, it is necessary to cross the ridge, and the most direct 
 path leads over the main summit.^ Further, if this summit was 
 the true place of the ascension, then our Lord was taken up, 
 and the cloud received him, in fiill view of all the inhabitants of 
 Jerusalem ; a circumstance not hinted at by the sacred writers, 
 nor at all in accordance vrith the life and character of the 
 Saviour.^ 
 
 As subsidiary to the supposed testimony of tradition, there 
 has recently been brought forward what may be termed the 
 archaeological argument ; which treats of the original form 
 and character of the tomb, and of the changes which it has 
 subsequently undergone. This argument, so far as it is an 
 argument, has been first elaborated in the valuable memoir of 
 Prof. Willis.' It assumes, that the tomb in question was origi- 
 nally an excavated sepulchre ; although Eusebius speaks of it as 
 an antrum or cavern.* The architects of Constantine doubtless 
 gave it the appearance of a sepulchre ; either by paring down 
 the rock into the foi-m of an isolated monolithic tomb or cedi- 
 cula f or by constructing with masonry an artificial imitation 
 
 ' Luke 24, 50. 51. sure to acknowledge the conrteons and 
 
 ' Acts 1, 12 ; oomp. Luke 19, 29. candid tone of this memoir ; so strikingly 
 
 ' Matthew and Mark speak of Jesus, in contrast with the spirit of the work iu 
 
 during the week of his passion, as going which it is printed. 
 
 out to lodge at Bethany ; while Luke says ' Gr. t^ ivrpov, which usually implies 
 
 expressly that he spent the nights going a natural cavern, rather than an excavated 
 
 outinto the mount of Olives; see Matt, tomb; Vit. Const. 3. 25, 28, 33, etc. 
 
 21, 17. Mark 11, 11. 19. 20. Luke 21, So Eusebius himself speaks of the cave of 
 
 37, the Nativity at Bethlehem, rh t^j yevvii- 
 
 * Comp. the author's Harmony, p. 235. atas &vTf>ov, which has never been regarded 
 
 Quart. Review, Vol. 93. p. 447. — Such an otherwise than as natural ; Vit. Const. 3. 
 
 exhibition might be open to the charge of 43. Comp. above. Vol I. p. 416. [ ii. 78.] 
 
 leaning towards the spirit of Satan's sug- — The word used by the Evangelists is 
 
 gestion, that Jesus should cast himself mostly ixv-qnttov. Matt 27, 60. 28, 1 sq. 
 
 down from the pinnacle of the temple ; Mark 15, 46. 16, 2 sq. Luke 24, 2. John 
 
 Matt. 4, 6. Luke 4, 9. 19, 41. 20, 1 sq. Matthew calls it also 
 
 ' " The architectural History of the ra(pos, 27, 61. 28, 1. eto. 
 Church of the Holy Sepulchre ;" Holy ' Comp. Prof. Willis, in Holy City H. 
 
 City n. pp. 129-294. It gives me plesi- p. 172. 
 
260 
 
 JERUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec.V. 
 
 of sucli a tomh. Whether this remained unharmed in the 
 destruction of the church hy the Persians in A. D. 614, is un- 
 known. Adamnanus relates from Arculfus, ahout A. D. 697, 
 that in his day the interior of the monument exhibited " the 
 marks of the workmen's tools, by which it was excavated. The 
 colour of the rock of the monument and sepulchre," he says, " is 
 not uniform, but a mixture of red and white." ' Now as the 
 native rock of that locality is grey limestone, it is a necessary 
 conclusion, that the sepidchre to which this " mixture of red 
 and white " belonged was artificial. Perhaps it was the work of 
 Modestus.^ 
 
 More definitely is it assumed, that the sepulchre of Joseph 
 and Nicodemus so called, now within the church, was "formed 
 long before the church was built ; " and therefore " affords im- 
 portant collateral evidence for the genuineness" of the Holy 
 Sepulchre.^ That crypt I have already described ; and have 
 endeavoured, at the same time, to meet this very argument.' 
 The character of that excavation, its rude and irregular form, its 
 contracted space and the crowding together of the loculi, furnish 
 strong evidence against its high antiquity. Or, admitting for the 
 moment, that it is possibly older than the church, there is noth- 
 ing unnatural in the supposition, that it and other tombs might 
 have been excavated in this ledge of rock during the two and a 
 half centuries next after the destruction of Jerusalem ; when 
 this tract not improbably was unoccupied by dwellings. Or, 
 to go back still further, and even admitting that it was perhaps 
 " an old Jewish sepulchre of an age prior to the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by the Eomans ; " * the conclusion by no means fol- 
 lows, that, inasmuch as there could have been no sepulchre 
 within the city, therefore the second wall must have been carried 
 along below this spot. As a general rule, this exclusion of sep- 
 ulchres from the interior of the city undoubtedly prevailed. Yet 
 when the third wall was erected, the sepulchres that were en- 
 closed within it, like that of John, were not removed. The 
 tombs of the kings were on Zion itself ; and later Jewish writers 
 speak also of the sepulchres of the children of Huldah the 
 prophetess, as having been originally within the city, and after- 
 wards transferred to the mount of Olives ; where they were stiU 
 shown in the fourteenth century.^ All this, however, is unneces- 
 
 ' "Pertotnm ejus cavaturam ferramen- ' Prof. Willis, in Holy City U. p. 194. 
 torum ostendit vestigia, quibus dolatores ° See above, pp. 180-182. Tothatdis , 
 
 sive excisores in eodem usi snnt opere ; cnssion tbe reader is specially requested to 
 
 color ver6 illius ejusdem petrse monumenti refer. 
 
 et sepulori non unus sed duo permixti vi- * Prof. Willis from Schnltz, Holy City 
 
 dentur ; ruber utique et albus, inde et II. p. 194. Schultz p 97. 
 bioolor eadem ostenditurpetra." MabiUon ' See Ligbtfoot 0pp. II. p. 200. ed. 
 
 Acta Sanctor. Sseo. 3. P. 2. p. 504. Comp. Leusd. Parchi in Aster's Benj. of Tud. 
 
 Dublin Univ. Mag. Sept. 1845, p. 273. II. p. 399. Carmoly Itin. p. 238. 
 Mns. of Class. Antt. Apr. 1853, p. 357 sq. 
 
Sec. v.] THE HOLT SEPULCHRE. 261 
 
 sary ; for, as we tave already seen, the whole' character of the 
 sepulchre of Joseph and Nicodemus affords a strong archasologi- 
 cal' presumption against its high antiquity. 
 
 Thus we are brought at last to the conclusion, that the 
 genuineness of the present site of the Holy Sepulchre is sup- 
 ported neither by well authenticated historical facts, nor by prior 
 tradition, nor by archaeological features. The question, therefore, 
 after all, " must principally be determined by topogkaphical 
 considerations." ' 
 
 The fact, that an unbroken tradition of fifteen centuries 
 now testifies to the alleged discovery of the Holy Sepulchre, has 
 no bearing to show the genuineness of the spot thus fixed upon. 
 The tradition may have had its origin in error ; and in that case 
 the only effect of its long continuance has been to fasten that 
 error the more firmly upon the world. The similar tradition in 
 respect to the place of Stephen's martyrdom, which sprung up a 
 century later, is too instructive on these points to be wholly 
 passed over. 
 
 It is matter of more than mere tradition, that after three 
 centuries of oblivion the burial-place of Stephen was held to be 
 revealed, and his body recovered in December, A. D. 415. This 
 event was accompanied by visions and miracles ; in which the 
 chief actor was Lucian a priest. The bones of the proto-martyr 
 were transferred with solemn rites to Jerusalem, and deposited for 
 a time on Zion ; but were afterwards removed to a magnificent 
 church on the north of the city, erected on the supposed place 
 of his martyrdom by the empress Eudocia, wife of Theodosius 
 the younger. The church was dedicated in A. D. 460 ; and 
 appears to have had a monastery connected with it. The 
 empress herself was buried in the church.* 
 
 The narrative of the discovery and removal of the body of 
 St. Stephen was written by Lucian himself ; and the authority 
 of it is attested by Augustine, the great theologian of that and 
 later ages, and also by Gennadius of Marseilles, whose work was 
 continued by Jerome.' Augustine likewise testifies largely to 
 
 ' I am happy to find myself sustained gentune one, would liave selected one "which 
 
 in the very words of this conclusion, by was at variance with the gospel account;" 
 
 Prof. Willis, who thus writes : " Through- Holy City IL p. 195 — This last point is 
 
 out this discussion I have applied the term the very question at issue. In all the rest 
 
 Holy Sepulchre to that which is exhibited of this extract I entirely concur, 
 
 ■under this name in the church ; without ' On the church built by the empress 
 
 intending to assume its identity ynth the Eudocia, and the accompanying circum- 
 
 sepulchre of the gospel narrative ; which stances, see Tillemont M^moires etc. U. p. 
 
 must principally be determined by topogra- 24. Also his Hist, des Empereurs, VL p. 
 
 phical considerations. To show that the 86. 
 
 arrangements of this sepulchre are not in- ^ The tract of Lucian is found in Au- 
 
 consistent with sacred history, may afford gustini 0pp. ed. Benedict. Tom. Vll, Ap- 
 
 some slight arguments in its favour; but pendix. Prefixed to it are some of tho 
 
 it could hardly be supposed, that those testimonies of Augustine and that of Gen- 
 
 who first asserted this cave to be the nadius, as well as references to later writers. 
 
262 
 
 JEEUSALEM. — ANTIQUITIES. [Sec. V. 
 
 the many miracles wrought by relics of the martyr, which were 
 possessed by his own church at Hippo ia Africa, and by neigh- 
 bouring churches. • Sozomen, the cotemporary historian, speaks 
 of the recovery of the body as an event most extraordinary and 
 wholly divine.' 
 
 All these circumstances present many points of analogy, both 
 in the alleged facts and in the testimony, with the accounts we 
 have of the similar discovery of the Holy Cross and Holy Sepul- 
 chre in A. D. 325, less than a century earlier. The erection of 
 a splendid church fixed the place of Stephen's martyrdom, as 
 having been outside of the present Damascus gate ; which, for 
 that reason, long bore the name of St. Stephen's gate.' For ten 
 centuries an unbroken tradition continued to mark this spot as 
 the true one ; and such too was the unanimous and unquestioned 
 belief of laity and clergy, of bishops and councils and popes ; 
 yea, of the church universal. Yet, in the middle of the fif- 
 teenth century, we find this long and venerated tradition aban- 
 doned ; the former belief of the whole church given up ; and the 
 place of martyrdom actually transferred to the east side of the 
 Holy City ; where too we now find the gate of St. Stephen.'' 
 
 Here then we have two like traditions, of high and almost 
 equal antiquity, attested in like manner by the acknowledgment 
 of sovereigns and councils and the erection of splendid churches, 
 and both moving on together with equal credit and like undoubt- 
 ing faith for more than a thousand years. Why should it be, 
 that at the end of this period, the one should be dropped, and 
 the other continue with increasing pretensions ? What element 
 of testimony is wanting in the one, as compared with the other ? 
 Yet so it is, that after ten centuries the one tradition comes to 
 an end ; whUe the other stiU exists for five centuries more ; and 
 this fact of its continuance is now urged as a high claim to be 
 received with an undoubting faith. Can five additional cen- 
 turies add strength to the original evidence ? Is this latter now 
 better attested ? Is it more clear, more consistent, more con- 
 vincing, than it was five hundred years ago ? 
 
 I have thus placed these two traditions side by side ; because 
 the comparison affords a lesson on the general subject of the 
 value of all tradition.' 
 
 ' August, de Civitat. Dei, lib. 22. 10-22. See Reisslj. des heiL Landes, pp. Hi, 
 
 ' Sozomen H. E. 4. 16. 665, 111, 252.— Maundeville, about A. D. 
 
 ' Adamnan. 1. 1. Will. Tyr. 8. 2, 5. 1325, speaks already of a church of St. 
 
 Brooardus o. 8. fin. La Citez de Jherus. Stephen upon the east of the city, by the 
 
 in Vol. IL pp. 559, 560, 561. In the vaUey of Jehoshaphat ; p. 80. So too 
 
 time of Ludolf de Sachem this church had Ludolf de Suchem ; Itin. p. 83. The tra- 
 
 disappeared ; p. 83. Stuttg. 1851. dition had begun to waver. 
 
 * So in the journals of Steph. v. Gum- ' In connection with this tradition re- 
 
 penberg, A. D. 1449 ; Tucher, A. D. 1479 ; specSng the place ef Stephen's martyrdom, 
 
 Breydenbach. and Fabri, A. D. 1483, etc. there occurs an amusing instance of the 
 
Sec. v.] the HOLT SEPTJLCHEE. 263 
 
 In the particular instance of the Holy Sepulchre, prohably 
 no one at the present day, except Mr Fergusson and his followers, 
 supposes there has been any transfer of the site, since it was 
 originally fixed in the fourth century.' The theory of that 
 writer assumes, that the church erected by Constantine was the 
 present grand mosk es-Sukhrah in the middle of the Haram area. 
 His position is very ingeniously elaborated and sustained ; but 
 is directly contradicted, as it seems to me, by the historical 
 evidence. I need only refer to two witnesses. The pilgrim of 
 Bourdeaux in A. D. 333, a cotemporary writer, relates, that 
 " those going from Zion to the gate of Neapolis . . . have on 
 the left hand the hillock Golgotha, where the Lord was cruci- 
 fied ; and a stone's throw off the crypt where his body was laid, 
 and rose again on the third day ; and there also, by order of the 
 emperor Constantine, a church has been erected of admirable 
 beauty." ^ Here the gate of Neapolis can only be the present 
 Damascus gate. In like manner, Eusebius, who also was a co- 
 temporary, relates, that the splendid Propylcea of the Basilica 
 of Constantine extended on the east of the same to the midst 
 of the street of the market ; which can be referred to nothing 
 but the present street of the bazars.^ The two witnesses thus 
 accord together, and sustain each other. 
 
 Thus in every view, which I have been able to take of the 
 Holy Sepulchre and its traditions, I am led to hold fast the 
 position, which I have formerly laid down, viz. " That all ecclesi- 
 astical tradition respecting the ancient places in and around 
 Jerusalem and throughout Palestine is of no value ; except 
 so far as it is supported by circumstances known from the Scrip- 
 tures, or from other cotemporary testimony." * 
 
 consistency of a main champion of tradi- thousand years, is of any avail, against 
 
 tion. In the first edition of the Holy City, the preconceived views of this staunch 
 
 the author writes, p. 364, " It is an un- stickier for all tradition. In the second 
 
 happy, circumstance, that the site of the edition of his work, all this is silently 
 
 proto-martyr's suffering was found for many dropped; Vol. II. p. 432. 
 
 years without the Damascus gate ; he- ' Essay on the ancient Topography of 
 
 cause, but for this fact, there would he Jerusalem, by J. Fergusson. Lond. 1847. 
 
 little difficulty in fixing it to the neighbour- p. 76 sq. 
 
 hood of this [gate], which now hears his ' Itin. Hieros. p. 693, " inde ut eas 
 
 name," i. e. the eastern gate. " And what foris murum de Sion euntibus ad portam 
 
 is more provoking, is, that the empress Neapolitanam . . . i sinistra parte est 
 
 Eudocia had erected a large church to the monticulus Golgotha, etc." 
 
 memory of the saint, at tiae supposed place ^ Euseb. Vit. Const. 3. 39. See above, 
 
 of his martyrdom, without the Damascus p. 168 sq. 
 
 gate, as early as the fifth century." That * See Vol. I. p. 253. [i. 374.] 
 
 is to say, no tradition, contiaued even for a 
 
SECTIOI YI. 
 
 EXCUKSIONS FEOM J E K XJ S A L E M . 
 
 I HAVE already mentioned, that, during our sojourn ia the 
 Holy City, we devoted one day to an excursion to Wady Bittir ; 
 and two other days to a like excursion to the neighbourhood of 
 Hebron. The present Section comprises a narrative of these two 
 excursions. 
 
 I. ESCUKSION TO WADT BITTIK. 
 
 Wednesday, May 5th. — We left the Y&fa gate at 8.10 ; ac- 
 companied by Dr Barclay and his son, and taking with us only 
 our servant Rashid. Our course was about west, on the road to 
 the convent of the Cross, leaving the upper pool on our right. 
 Crossing the swell of land beyond, which here marks the water- 
 shed between the waters flowing east to the Dead Sea, and those 
 flowing west to the Mediterranean, we descended gradually into 
 another wide basin, forming the head of an open valley running 
 off a little south of west. At 8.30 the convent of the Cross was 
 on our right, a few rods distant, in its green shallow valley, as we 
 had seen it on our approach to Jerusalem the week before.' A 
 large buUding was now in the process of erection, intended for a 
 school or college. The great Greek convent in the city, as we 
 have seen, has likewise established a large and good school ; and 
 the Latins were said to be about to open schools in their new 
 buildiag near the Tifa gate. All these, it was understood, had 
 been set on foot in consequence of the schools established by the 
 English missionaries. It was also reported, that the Greek 
 convent in the city was buying up aU the land they could get 
 hold of, both in the city and the adjacent country, even whole 
 villages ; and this for the supposed purpose of counteracting 
 
 ' See above, p. 159. 
 
Mat 5.] WADT EL-WEKD. FOUNTAINS. 265 
 
 and keeping out tlie English. That they are jealous of English 
 influence, we have already seen.' 
 
 We kept on down the valley, after the junction of that in 
 which the convent stands, about west by south. At 9 o'clock we 
 had sight of Malihah, occupying a Tell among the hills on our 
 right.' Ten minutes later, the broad and shallow Wady from 
 the plain of Eephaim, coming down on the west of Beit Sufafa 
 and north of Sherafat, joined the one we were in. The latter 
 now takes the name of Wady el-Werd or Valley of Eoses ; not 
 as a mere fancy name, but from the fact that roses are here ex- 
 tensively cultivated. The gardens or rather fields of roses, 
 among olive trees and vineyards, commence above Malihah and 
 continue nearly to 'Ain Yalo. The ground is ploughed over ; 
 and the rose bushes are planted quite far apart. We met twenty 
 or more women with loads of the blossoms on their heads, going 
 to market in the city ; where the roses bring about four piastres 
 the roil, and are used for making rose water. 
 
 We were now upon the Gaza road ; along which were many 
 marks of antiquity, though we noticed no traces of ancient 
 pavement. At 9.15 Sherafat was still nearer to us on the left ; ' 
 and also a Tell on the same side called Beit Mirmil. Here the 
 valley becomes contracted between rocky ridges on each side. 
 At 9.20 we came to 'Ain Yalo, a small fountain on the left hand, 
 considerably above the bottom of the valley. The issue of 
 water is quite small, and not very cold. From this fountain 
 Malihah gets its supply of water. Here is a small heap of ruins, 
 perhaps of a former chapel, with two or three small columns. 
 We stopped five minutes. 
 
 The path continues along the bed of the valley, on a course 
 about west, to 'Ain Haniyeh. At 9.30 Wady Ahmed came in 
 on the left, from the north side of Beit Jala ; a deep valley, down 
 which comes a road from Beit Jdla and Bethlehem. Afterwards 
 the valley opens a Little ; and the path lies along above the bot- 
 tom on the left. At 9.45 there was an excavated sepulchre by 
 the way side above us. We came at 9.50 to 'Ain Haniyeh, 
 known to the Latins and to travellers as the fountain of Philip. 
 This is somewhat larger than 'Ain Yalo. It is in like manner 
 on the hill-side above the road ; and waters extensive gardens of 
 vegetables in the valley below. Here, too, are a few columns in 
 a field near by ; and at the fountain is seen an immense block, 
 like a fragment of the shaft of a very large column. These are 
 probably the remains of a chapel.* The fountain and gardens 
 
 ' See atove, p. 194. was yet standing ; Quaresm. II. p. 697. 
 
 ' Bearings at 9 o'clock : Malihah, W. J Pocookell. 1. pp. 45, 46 — As to the fe- 
 rn. Sherafat S. Beit Siifafa S. 45° E. gend, which makes this the fountain where 
 
 " Sherafat here hore S. 50° E. Philip baptized the eunuch, see helow nn- 
 
 * In the days of Quaresmius, and even der May 7th. 
 80 late as Pococke, a nart of this chapel 
 Vol.. III. -23 
 
266 EXCUKSIONS FEOM JEBTJSALEM. [Sec.VI. 
 
 belong to the village of Welejeli ; thougli tliat village itself is 
 supplied by a fountain within it. Here again we stopped five 
 minutes. ' 
 
 The path soon descends to the bed of the valley ; and is 
 sufficiently rough and difficult. At 10.10 the village Welejeh 
 was high on our right, three eighths of a mile distant, on the 
 west side of a short and steep side Wady.^ We came at 10.30, 
 by a steep ascent, to the village of Bittir, placed at a consider- 
 able elevation on, or rather just beyond, the western flank of Wady 
 Bittir, which here comes in from the southeast. Its head is 
 near el-Khudr (St. George). As it here enters the Wady which 
 we had followed down, its sides are high, steep, and rugged ; and 
 from this point the united valley is called Wady Bittir. In front 
 of the village the whole Wady turns short to the right ; and 
 then sweeps around again to the left in almost a semicircle ; 
 enclosing a large and high Tell, which is connected by a lower 
 narrow ridge with the table land on the south. At the village, 
 which thus stands in an angle, is a fine fountain, larger than 
 both those we had already seen, and with water enough to turn 
 a miU. Below the fountain are extensive gardens on terraces. 
 There are marks upon the steep rocks near by, as if a channel 
 had once been carried along them ; perhaps for a miU. The 
 village is not large ; and seemed poor and dirty. It is probably 
 the Bcether of the Septuagint and Jerome.^ 
 
 Taking an old man as guide, and leading our horses with 
 difficulty up the steep and slippery rocks along the path, we 
 ascended northwest to the summit of the Tell in fifteen minutes 
 from the village. T|ie top of the connecting ridge or neck is 
 narrow and rocky. Where it joins the steep southern side of 
 the Tell, it has apparently been cut through ; and thus a wide 
 trench formed, above which the summit of the Tell rises some 
 forty feet. This wide trench may possibly be artificial ; but its 
 width and the height of the Tell above it would seem rather to 
 indicate the contrary. On the declivity of the TeU towards the 
 village, east of the neck, are three excavated caves of some 
 extent ; perhaps sepulchres. The top of the Tell has an area of 
 five or six acres ; the northern part being somewhat lower than 
 the southern ; and the whole is more or less ploughed and cul- 
 tivated. The soil is very stony ; and the stones have been 
 gathered and thrown together in many unmeaning heaps. We 
 
 ' From tlie fonntain, Bittir bore S. 45° the valley for fifteen minntea, and then as- 
 
 W. ' cending. II. p. 697. Pococke 11. i. p. 46. 
 
 '■' This is the village known to the Latins ' See note on p. 156, above. Jerome 
 
 as " Villa Sancti PhiHppL" It is correctly has Bmther for the QiStiip of the Septua- 
 
 desciibed by Quaresmius as on the hill- gint, doubtless from the reading Bai&^p. — 
 
 side, and reached by crossing the valley Pococlje writes the name Betur, and sup- 
 
 &om the fountain ; that is, by descending poses it to be for Beth-zur ; IL i. p. 46. 
 
Mats.] BITTIE. TELL OF BITTIE. 267 
 
 saw one or two squared stones on tte southwest side. Otherwise 
 there is no trace of ruins ; except upon the highest point, 
 towards the northeast, where are the remains of what was once 
 apparently a square tower, of perhaps forty feet on each side. It 
 was built of stones broken to a rough surface ; and the whole 
 was of the very rudest construction. There is no water nearer 
 than the fountain at the village below ; nor is there any trace 
 of cisterns. The spot is now called Khirbet el-Yehud, ' Euins 
 of the Jews.' 
 
 From this summit we saw upon the southern hills the vil- 
 lages Htisan and el-Kabu ; and on the northern, beyond Wady 
 Bittir, the ruins of Kuriet el-Sa'ideh. We could also distinguish 
 the point where the Wady Bittir unites with the great Wady 
 from Kulonieh, near the village 'Akur ; perhaps an hour and a 
 half distant from where we stood. Near it is a place called Deir 
 esh-Sheikh.' 
 
 This Tell, from its strong position and proximity to the vil- 
 lage of Bittir, has, on the strength of the latter name, been of 
 late years assumed as the site of the ancient Bether ;" the scene 
 of the last great catastrophe of the Jews in their war against 
 Hadrian under the leadership of the famous Bar-cochba, " Son 
 of a Star." ^ To enable us to form a judgment on this point, it 
 wiU. be necessary to bring together the few historical data which 
 have come down to us. 
 
 The writers of the Talmud place Bether at four miles from the 
 sea.^ Eusebius, on the contrary, speaks of it as a city strongly 
 fortified, and not far distant from Jerusalem.' This slight notice 
 from the father of ecclesiastical history, is aU that we have 
 relating to Bether, except from Jewish writers. The name Be- 
 ther or Beth-Tar ' seems not to have been ancient ; but to have 
 become known only after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. 
 It is rendered domus inquisitoris vel explorationis ; because, 
 after the overthrow of the Holy City, watchmen are said to have 
 been posted there to spy out those going up to visit the ruins, 
 and inform against them.' If any stress can be laid upon this 
 etymology, it would seem to imply that Bether was on the north 
 
 ' Bearings from the Tell : Bittir S. 45° vias 'ASpiivov Kara ^i^&ripa ir<!\iv, ?Jtij 
 
 E. HflsSn 186°. el-Kabu 265°. Kuriet ^jy oxop^TiiTri, rmy 'lepoaoXiinmv ou iT<j)6Spa 
 
 es-Sa'ideh 352°. Junction of Wady Bittir ir6p^a> Su(rTii<ra. 
 etc. 300°. • Heb. usnallj 1ni2. apparently for 
 
 •Se%S!^:?:'36r[1?;6.] Manter ^n n^= I - Lightfoot 0pp. ed. Leusd. IL 
 
 JiidischerKrieg,etc.§20. Translated by P- 208. Eusebius writes B/aa„pa, as in the 
 
 W. W. Turner in BibKoth. Sacra, 1843, p. preceding note. Lat. Bether, Bethar, Be- 
 
 438 sq, 
 
 tkara, Biter, etc. 
 
 Reland Falsest, p. 639. ' Munter Jud. Krieg § 20. n. AJso in 
 
 ' Enseb. H. E. 4. 6, kKniaavros Se toS Biblioth. Sac. 1843, pp. 439, 457. Light- 
 iro\e/iou irons oKTaKaiSeKdrov rrjs riye/io- foot 0pp. ed, Leusd. II. p. 209. 
 
268 
 
 EXCUKSIONS FEOM JEEUSALEM. [Sec. VI. 
 
 of Jerusalem ; since the greater number of Jewish visitors would 
 naturally come from that quarter ; where a very large population 
 of Jews continued to reside undisturbed in Gahlee and the adja- 
 cent region. 
 
 Jewish writers describe Bether as a city of great extent and 
 a vast population ; but their accounts are highly exaggerated. 
 It had, they say, from four hundred to five hundred synagogues ; 
 in each four hundred teachers ; and in the smallest four hundred 
 scholars. ' Jerome speaks of the " many thousands " of Jews who 
 had taken refuge there from the Eomans.' The siege continued 
 for three and a half years ; and the city was captured with great 
 bloodshed towards the end of the eighteenth year of Hadrian, in 
 A. D. 135.^ The Talmudists relate, that eight hundred thou- 
 sand persons were slain in Bether ; that the horses waded up to 
 their mouths in blood ; and that the blood of those that fell 
 roUed along in its current stones of four pounds weight.^ How- 
 ever exaggerated all this may be, it seems a necessary conclusion, 
 that Bether was a city of some size and strength. 
 
 Where then was this city situated ? Not at the Betarum 
 of the Itineraries, on the way from Csesarea to Antipatris and 
 Lydda ; ^ although the name accords sufficiently well. This too 
 would nearly agree with the testimony of the Eabbins, that 
 Bether was four Koman miles distant from the sea. But Beta- 
 nmi was apparently nothing more than a village or station on 
 the great road, and must have been well known to Eusebius ; 
 who nevertheless testifies, that Bether was a strong city near 
 Jerusalem.'' The reputed origin of the name Bether or Beth- 
 Tar, as above given, imphes that it was near Jerusalem, and 
 probably on the north. And further, the many captives taken 
 in the final catastrophe of this war, were exposed for sale at the 
 Terebinth, or house of Abraham, near Hebron ; afterwards at 
 G-aza ; and then those remaining were transported to Egypt.' 
 Now if Bether was near Jerusalem, the removal of the captives 
 in this direction was natural and obvious ; while, if it lay upon 
 the plain and near the sea, such a course was unnatural and 
 improbable. — Yet a Jewish traveller of the fourteenth century 
 finds Bether on the way between Samaria and Arsuf, at a place 
 of ruins then called Bether. This was probably the earlier 
 Betarum ; and seems to mark a Jewish tradition of the over- 
 throw of Bar-cochba as connected with that spot.' 
 
 ■ Munter 1. c. and in Biblioth. Sac. 1843, ' Itin. Antonini et Hieroa ed Wesseling, 
 
 p. 439. pp. 150, 600. 
 
 ° Comm. in Zach. viiL 19. ' See the preceding page, n. 5. 
 
 ° So according to tlie best accounts, ' See fully in VoL I. p. 369. n. 3. [ii. 7. 
 
 Munter 1. c. Others make it A. D. 143. n. 3.1 
 
 * See Valesius' Note on Euseb. H. E. 4. » Ishafc Chelo in A. D. 1334 ; Carmoly, 
 
 6. n. 4. Munter 1 c. BibHoth. Sac. 1843, Itin. p. 252. 
 p. 440. 
 
Mat 5."] BITTIEj NOT BETHER. 269 
 
 Nor can Bether have been situated at Beth-horon, nor at 
 Bethleliem, as has been supposed by some. There is no affinity 
 between the names ; nor is there any other circumstance to 
 suggest an identity.' 
 
 Was then the city of Bether identical with the Tell now 
 known as Khirbet el-Yehtid, near the village of Bittir ? The 
 names, though not the same, are yet sufficiently in accord.' 
 The place also is strong ; and it is not far from Jerusalem. 
 But, on the other hand, the mere name cannot here determine 
 the question ; any more, indeed, than in the case of Betarum, 
 which we have just considered. Then, too, according to the 
 reputed origin of the name, we should look for the city on the 
 north of Jerusalem, rather than on the west. And, further, the 
 absence of all traces of ancient fortifications, of ancient dwellings, 
 and of any supply of water, puts it beyond any conceivable 
 possibility, that this could ever have been the site of a strong 
 and populous city with its many synagogues ; which sustained a 
 siege of three and a half years ; and where tens of thousands of 
 Jews, if not hundreds of thousands, were slain or led away into 
 captivity. The name does not require, nor do the circumstances 
 admit of such a supposition. 
 
 The name Bittir, as I have said, is in itself no more decisive 
 than the name Betarum • strengthened, too, as the latter is, by 
 a Jewish tradition. Nor can the name Khirbet el-Yehud (Euins 
 of the Jews) well be regarded as otherwise than modern. Of 
 course it did not come from the Jews themselves ; and therefore 
 marks no tradition of theirs. In the first quarter of the fourteenth 
 century, E. Parchi, the best of the early Jewish travellers, speaks 
 of a Bether as three hours west by south of Jerusalem ; referring 
 doubtless to this spot.^ But he mentions neither ruins, nor 
 name, nor tradition, as connecting the place with the history of 
 Bar-cochba. Yet he was a zealous searcher after Jewish anti- 
 quities ; and, had the name Khirbet el-Yehud been at that 
 time extant, he would not have been likely to pass it over with- 
 out notice.* 
 
 The only remains of masonry, which can be regarded as having 
 
 • Cellarius and others refer to Beth-ho- 212, " The Sheikh pointed to the hills he- 
 ron; an opinion refuted by Eeland. See hind the modem village, rising to about 
 Reland Palaest. p. 639. CeUarii Not. the same height as diat [of the Tell] on 
 Orbis, n. p. 450. — Baronins assumed which we stood, and remarked, ' They shot 
 Bethlehem, " audaoi manu," as Lightfoot at them from that hill.' ' Who shot at 
 has it ; 0pp. ed. Leusd. 11. p. 143. whom .' ' I inquired. ' Oh ! I don't know,' 
 
 = FortheEahbinicnn ni3, "inia,we he replied; ' it was a long while ago. How 
 
 should expect at least the Arabic syllable f""ld I know ? » This is gravely brought 
 
 £eU, as in Beit Jala ; but the Arabic name forward, as a trustworthy popular tradifaou 
 
 SUtlr is not so written or pronounced. «? ^^^ "^ge and capture of Bether by the 
 
 = Benj. of Tud. by Asher, H. p. 438. Eomans, more than seventeen hmidred 
 
 * The following passage is characteristic 7®*" ^°» 
 of the author of the Holy City; II. p. 
 
 Vol. III.— 23* 
 
270 
 
 EXCURSIONS FROM JERUSALEM. [SBC.VL 
 
 belonged to a fortification, are those of the square tower on the 
 highest point, already described. It was huilt of small stones 
 roughly broken, if broken at all ; and was of the rudest con- 
 struction. Hence it bears mudh more the appearance of having 
 been built as the stronghold of some Arab robber chief; like 
 that now seen at Kustul, where the family Abu Ghaush some- 
 times took refuge.' 
 
 It may be said, that in other instances, as at Jotapata, all 
 traces of former fortifications have vanished, and yet no one 
 doubts the identity of the site. But ia the case of Jotapata, 
 the place is at once recognised by its correspondence with the 
 minute description of Josephus. And although the fortifications 
 have disappeared, yet the foundations of the town are still seen ; 
 and the cisterns and caverns of the fortress remain.^ So too in 
 respect to the ancient strong place Beth-Zacharia, which we 
 visited four days later ; although its walls and defences are 
 gone, yet the foundations, and the columns, and the cisterns still 
 remain ; and they leave no room to doubt of its identity, nor of 
 its ancient importance and strength.' 
 
 From all these considerations, it would seem to follow that 
 we cannot as yet definitely assume, that the great and strong 
 city of Bether was situated on or around the Tell of Bittir. 
 
 I venture here to repeat a suggestion which I have formerly 
 made ;* and which I desire to have regarded only as a sugges- 
 tion, to be hereafter perhaps received or rejected, according as 
 new facts and circumstances shall be discovered. It is simply 
 the inquiry. Whether after all Bether may not have been the 
 same with Bethel ? The change from ? to r is a common one 
 in all languages. It is, too, a circumstance to be remarked, that 
 all the later Jewish writers, who alone speak of Bether, seem to 
 make no mention of Bethel whatever, as then existing ; and speak 
 of it only in connection with its history in the Old Testament.^ 
 The Talmudists, writing in Galilee and Babylon, far from Judea 
 and forbidden to set foot upon its soil, might easily lose sight of 
 the identity of the two names. That the name Bethel was 
 actually changed, and that the form Bethar did for a time pre- 
 vail, appears fi-om the language of the Bourdeaux pilgrim ia 
 A. I). 333. In going from Neapolis to Jerusalem he saw, on 
 the left hand, twelve or thirteen Eoman miles from the latter 
 city, a "villa," called Bethar.^ This corresponds precisely 
 with the position of Bethel. And Jerome expressly refers the 
 
 ' See above, p. 158. 0pp. IL p. 185. ei Leusd. Eeland Pa- 
 
 ' See above, pp. 105, 106. Isest. p. 636 sq. 
 
 " See below, under May 8th. " Itin. Hieros. p. 588 sq. " inde [a Nea- 
 
 * See more in Bibliotbeca Sacra, 1843, polQ millia xxviil enntibus Hierusalem in 
 
 p. 458 sq. parte sinistra est villa quae dicitair Bethar. 
 
 ' See Lightfoot in Ms article on Bethel; . . . Inde Hierusalem millia xii." 
 
May 5.] BITTIK, NOT BETHER. 271 
 
 catastrophe of the Jews under Hadrian to Bethel; showig 
 apparently that he regarded this as the Bether of the Eabhins.' 
 If this view be well founded, we have a site not far distant 
 from Jerusalem, near the great road on the north, with extensive 
 and important ruins still remaining ; and occupying a position not 
 so strong indeed as the Tell of Bittir, but yet far stronger than 
 the site of Eleutheropolis. It might throw light upon the ques- 
 tion, were travellers to examine further the ruins of Bethel ; and 
 ascertain, whether or not among them there are perhaps traces 
 of that Jewish synagogue architecture, of which we found so 
 many remains in Galilee.'' 
 
 We returned to the village of Bittir, and took our lunch at 
 the fountain, under the shade of a wide-spreading mulberry tree. 
 Our purpose was to return by a different route ; so as to pass iu 
 sight of 'Ain K^rim. Setting off at 12.10, we first followed up 
 the valley, and came at 12.30 to the fork at the side Wady of 
 Welejeh. A path leads up on the east side of this Wady; but 
 we missed it, and clambered the steep hiU among the rocks for a 
 time without path ; thus losing ten minutes. At length we 
 found a man in the fields, and took him as a guide. He soon 
 brought us into the pilgrims' road leading over from St. Philip's 
 fountain to St. John's in the Desert. It was sufficiently rugged 
 and bad. At 12.45 we were opposite Welejeh, a quarter of a 
 mile distant.^ Our course was about north to the top of the 
 ridge between the two great valleys. This we reached at 1.0.5 ; 
 and looked down into the Wady Beit Hanina, coming from 
 Kulonieh. Here we stopped for ten minutes. 
 
 At our feet was the small village of Jaura in a short side 
 valley or nook. Further down the great valley, on the other side, 
 was Sdtaf ; opposite to which, our guide said, is the fountain and 
 ruined convent called el-Habis, the native name for St. John's 
 in the Desert, about an hour from 'Ain Karim.* In the south, 
 on the western brow of the mountains, nearly in a line with 
 Jedur, but less distant, was pointed out Beit SakS.rieh, which we 
 visited afterwards. 'Ain Kslrim was not here visible ; but Soba 
 was in sight, as also Kulonieh, Neby Samwil, and other places.^ 
 
 ' Hieron Comm. in Zach. viii. 19, writers. Jerome himself apparently men- 
 
 " Capta nrbs Bethel, ad qnam multa millia tions Bittir as Bcether ; see on p. 266, n. 3 
 confugernnt Judasorum : aratmu templum ' E. g. at Kefr Bir'im, Meiron, Irbid, 
 
 in ignominiam gentis oppressse, a Tito Tell Hiim, Kedes, etc. We did not revisit 
 
 Annio Eufo." The mention of Titus An- Bethel ; and I regret that the thought of 
 
 nius (Turanus) Rufus shows, that Jerome further examination did not occur to me, 
 
 is here speaking of events that took pl.ice while I was in a situation to realize it. 
 under Hadrian. — Tillemont suggests that ' Bearings at 12.45 : Welejeh 185°, J 
 
 Bethel is here a false reading for Bether ; m. Hnsan 203°. 
 
 Hist des Emp. II. p. 309. But there is ' Tobler Denkbl. p. 658. Prokesch, p. 
 
 no trace of any various reading; nor is 120. See Quaresmius II. p. 707. 
 Betli£r the form usually found in Latin ' Bearings at 1.05 : Jaura N. 35° K ^ 
 
272 
 
 EXCUESIONS FROM JERUSALEM. [SecVL 
 
 Starting again at 1.20, we struck the road from Jaura to 
 Jerusalem ; and kept upon it along the brow above the great 
 vaUey about N. E. by N. At 1.40 'Ain K^rim was below us on 
 the left ; a large and flourishing village, with the Franciscan 
 convent of St. John the Baptist in the midst. There is also a 
 fountain. The village was below in a nook or recess from the 
 great vaUey ; and was about half a mile distant from us.' It is 
 doubtless the Karem or Garcem of the Septuagint and Jerome." 
 
 We now kept along the usual road, which passes just north 
 of Malihah, on a course about east. At 2.10 we crossed an 
 indentation of the ridge ; having Malihah on a TeU just on our 
 right. In five minutes more we struck again our road of this 
 morning ; but almost immediately left it by a fork on the right, 
 leading through the northern part of the plain of Eephaim. At 
 2.30 we came out upon the low ridge on the west of that plain.^ 
 Here we could distinguish the valley running out from its south- 
 west part ; and could see beyond the plain the convent of Mar 
 Elias and its green Tell. Passing on now by the direct road, 
 we reached the Yafa gate of Jerusalem at 3 o'clock. 
 
 II. EXCURSION TO THE VICINITY OF HEBRON. 
 
 Friday, May ^ih. — As we expected to be absent over night, 
 we took with us both of our servants, and all our mules, with tent 
 and beds. We left the Yafa gate at 7.35, on the Bethlehem 
 road ; and reached Mir Elias at 8.25. Here at the well were 
 several men, Grreek Christians, from Beit Jala. We inquired 
 of them about a Eamah in this region ; but they knew of none. 
 We engaged one of them as a guide ; and turned more to the 
 right, on the road to Beit Jala. A low ridge on the right is called 
 Tubulyeh ; and after five minutes was a hill on the left, called 
 Kas Elias. Here too was a large sarcophagus turned partly 
 over on one side, called Mary's cradle ; with small heaps of stones 
 around it. ' The road from Mar Elias to Bethlehem runs along 
 the dividing ridge, between the deep valley on the left running 
 eastwards, and the long basin of Wady Ahmed, which runs off 
 northwest under Beit JS,la to Wady Bittir. One of the branches 
 of the latter begins not far from Mar EliSs in the southwest. 
 
 m. Sataf N. 25° W. Kiistul 2°. Kulo- Sarawil 1 7°. 'Ain Kiirim 9°, J m.— Comp. 
 
 nieh 24°. Neby Samwfl 25°. Beit Iksa Tobler Denkbl. pp 660, 730 sq. 
 
 29°. Beit Surik 35°. Beit Lahm 138°. " See above, p. 156, n. 3. Sept 
 
 Beit Jala 141°. Beit Sakarieh 199°. Kape/i, Jerome Cferoem. — For the acconnt 
 
 Husim 201°. Soba 335°. — The villages of given by the Latins respecting the house 
 
 Beit Lahm and Beit Jala were not dis- of Elisabeth, the convent and church of 
 
 tinctly visible ; they stand upon the eastern the Nativity of John the Baptist, and the 
 
 slope of their hills, and were thus not ac- fountain of St. Mary, so called, see Qua- 
 
 tiiaUy in sight. resmius II. pp. 709-712. 
 
 '. Bearings at 1. 40 : Soba 315°. Neby = Herethe Mountof OHvesboreN. 65° E. 
 
Mat 7.] EACHEl'S TOMB. UKTAS. 273 
 
 Turning from the road a little towards the left, we came at 
 8.50 to el-Khamis, or Khirbet Khamis. , Here are cisterns, a 
 few hewn stones, and some fragments of columns, marking a 
 small ancient site. The guide said there were also sepulchres, 
 and the door of a church ; but the latter proved to be merely 
 three or four rather large hewn stones thrown together, one of 
 which was grooved.' This place is pointed out by the Latin 
 monks at the present day, as the Eamah mentioned by Matthew, 
 supposed to be near Rachel's tomb.^ We had heard of this in 
 Jerusalem ; and also, that some of the recent Latin converts in 
 Beit Jala now spoke of this spot as Ramah. But the Greeks 
 know nothing of it ; nor does Quaresmius or the earlier travellers 
 speak of it. Yet Busebius and Jerome assume a Ramah near 
 Bethlehem, in order to afford an explanation of the language of 
 Matthew.^ This however is quite unnecessary. In the original 
 passage of Jeremiah, Rachel, the ancestress of the tribe of 
 Benjamin, is poetically introduced as bewailing the departure 
 of her descendants into exile, from Ramah of Benjamin, their 
 place of rendezvous.* 
 
 Ten minutes brought us to Rachel's tomb. This had been 
 enlarged since our former visit, by the addition of a square court 
 on the east side, with high walls and arches. Beyond the road 
 which passes here, and northeast from the tomb, we looked at 
 the traces of an ancient aqueduct, which was carried up the slope 
 of the hill by means of tubes or perforated blocks of stone, fitted 
 together with sockets and tenons, and originally cemented. We 
 saw other like traces further up the hill the next day; but 
 stones of this kind are seen nowhere else in this region. 
 
 We left Rachel's tomb at 9.15 for Urt^s ; at first along the 
 camel road to Hebron, which passes on the west of Bethlehem. 
 At 9.30, we turned more to the left, in order to gain the path 
 along the aqueduct. This we struck at 9.40, and followed it. 
 There are frequent openings in the aqueduct ; and the stones 
 adjacent to them seem to be hollowed out ; but the aqueduct in 
 this part is later, and is mostly laid with tubes of pottery. By a 
 mistake of our guide we turned down the steep slope on the left too 
 soon ; and after a very difficult descent reached Urtas at 10.5, 
 some hundred and fifty feet below the aqueduct. This is prob- 
 ably the Etam of the Scriptures.* 
 
 Here is a large and noble fountain with the remains of an 
 ancient reservoir. The ruins of a former village are scattered 
 among the rocks on the declivity of the northern hill. The 
 
 ■ Bearings from el-Khamis : Fureidis ° Matt. 2, 18, quoted from Jer. 31, 11 ; 
 
 150°. Convent of Bethlehem 157° Beit comp. Jer. 40, 1. — See Onomast. art JJo- 
 
 JMa 233°. Kiibbet Kahil 133°, \ m. male. Reland Pal. p. 964. 
 
 " Prokesch p. 110. Salzbacher EL p. * Jer. 31, 11 ; comp. 40, 1. 
 164. See Vol. I. p. 477. [ii. 168.] 
 
2'4 EXCURSIONS FROM JERUSALKM. [Sec. VL 
 
 level land at the bottom of the valley has been leased by Mr 
 Meshullam, a convert from Judaism ; who formerly kept a hotel in 
 Jerusalem. He had now brought it under tillage for three years, 
 and raised fruit and vegetables for the Jerusalem market. The 
 fields are all irrigated from the fountain ; and in this country 
 everything thrives with water. As seen from above, the bottom 
 of the valley, thus cultivated, presented a beautiful appearance. 
 There was nothing of the scientific tillage of western Europe ; 
 yet such is the strength of the soil and the abundance of water, 
 that the returns are larger, and (as MeshuUam said) remunera- 
 tive. 
 
 We met here seven or eight Americans, men and women. 
 Seventh Day Baptists from Philadelphia and the vicinity. They 
 bad come out as missionaries to introduce agriculture among the 
 Jews ; but being unacquainted with the language and customs 
 of the country, and therefore helpless, they had been taken by 
 MeshuUam into his employ ; where they found at least food and 
 shelter. They did not, however, appear satisfied ; and seemed 
 to us likely to leave the place so soon as they could help them- 
 selves. Indeed, in the course of the following winter, a quarrel 
 arose between them and MeshuUam, and they removed to the 
 neighbourhood of Yafa. They told us they had brought out 
 with them American ploughs ; but could make no use of them 
 for want of stronger teams. A similar colony of Germans had 
 been in like manner employed by MeshuUam two years before ; 
 a glowing report from whom is given by Ritter. But they too 
 had become dissatisfied ; and were now dispersed.' It is hardly 
 necessary to remark, that the idea of speedily converting the 
 Jews, living as strangers in Palestine, into an agricultural people, 
 is altogether visionary. 
 
 Leaving Urtas at 10.55 we came at 11.20 to el-Burak, the 
 castle at the Pools. On the way were some traces of an ancient 
 road. At this time the lower pool was empty ; in the middle 
 one the water covered only the bottom ; while the upper one 
 was fuU or nearly so. A Uttle streamlet from above was running 
 into the middle pool at its upper end.* After a stop of five 
 minutes we took the Hebron road ; and at 11.35 were on the 
 top of the southern hill. Along the ascent are traces of an 
 ancient paved road ; but no ruts. The village and convent of 
 St. George (el-Khiidr) were visible in the north, beyond the vaUey 
 of the Pools. ^ On the left below us was a short Wady, with a 
 side aqueduct. We now kept along on high ground ; and soon 
 
 ' Ritter, Erdk. XVI. p. 282. E. el-Burak N. 40° E.— For the stitsequent 
 
 " For a full description of these pools, route, see also in Vol I. pp. 216, 217. [i. 
 
 see Vol L p. 474 sq. ^ii. 164 sq.] 319-321.] 
 ' Bearings at 11.35 : el-Khudr N. 5° 
 
Mat 7.] UETAS. BEEACHAH. KUFIN. 275 
 
 had on our left the deep Wady BiySr, here a narrow gorge, 
 running off ahout N. 75° E. with another side aqueduct, and a 
 square ruin on the further side, called Deir el-BenS,t. We soon 
 descended a little (at 11.50) into the small cultivated plain from 
 which the Wady issues. In this plain several Wadys unite, 
 coming from various directions. We followed up a shallow one, 
 S. 35° W. formerly named to us Wady Tuheishimeh ; and at 
 12.5 saw on our right the ruin of Beit Faghur, half a mile 
 distant, having a Wely and a fountain.' Beaching the head of 
 the valley at 12.30, we came out upon level land ; and then at 
 12.40 rose to a higher tract of table land. Here Beit FejjSr 
 was visible on high ground at a distance in the southeast ; ^ 
 while nearer to us, but hidden by a ridge, was said to be the ruin 
 of Bereikut. Ten minutes later, the ruin Bereikut was just 
 visible over a depression in the ridge, bearing 116°. This form 
 corresponds to an ancient Berachdh, which gave name to a valley 
 in the south of Tekoa, the scene of Jehosaphat's thanksgiving.' 
 We heard of it on our former journey ; but it was first visited 
 by Mr Wolcott.'' The ruins lie on the west side of the valley, 
 on a small eminence ; and cover three or four acres. The Wady 
 is not now called after the ruins, except just opposite to them; 
 but bears lower down the name of Wady Khanzireh. 
 
 We came at 12.55 to the brow of a long descent, looking out 
 over a lower tract of country on the south. Here Halhul came 
 in sight, and several other places.' Half way or more down the 
 long declivity is a cistern and Kibleh or praying-place ; where at 
 1.10 we stopped for lunch. Here Merrina, a small ruin was 
 visible, bearing 256°, at the foot of the hills beyond the green 
 Wady. We set off again at 1.40, and descended into the broad 
 and fertile plain of Wady 'Arrub running off southeast ; and, 
 after crossing a low swell, came to another like valley bearing 
 the same name, and uniting with the former one just below. 
 The united Wady runs to Wady Jehir south of Tekoa, and so 
 to the Dead Sea.' Beyond, on the left, at 2 o'clock, we had a 
 ruin called Beit Za'ter. At 2.10 we reached the reservoir of 
 Kufin ; the village being a quarter of a mile distant on the 
 right.' It is inhabited ; and has in it a large ruined buildiag, 
 which makes quite a show at a distance.' 
 
 ' Bearing of Beit Faghfir, N. 75° W. i ' See Vol. I. p. 491. [ii. 189.] Wolcott 
 
 m. in Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 43. Comp. 
 
 ' Bearings at 12.40 : Beit Fejj4r 153°. Wilson, Lands of the Bible, I. p. 386. 
 
 Beit Ummar 230°. Beit Siwir, a ruin, Eitter Erdk. XV. i p. 635. 
 
 331°, i m. — Instead of Beit Fejjar, Dr ' Bearings at 12.55: Beit Ummar 230°. 
 
 Wilson writes BeitHajar; but erroneously. Halhul 202°. Kufin 217°. Shiyukh 172°. 
 
 My companion, Dr Smith, took special " See Vol. I. p. 488. [ i. 185.1 
 
 pains to day, to verify the name. Lands ' Bearings at the tank of Kufin : Beit 
 
 of the Bible, I p. 386. Eitter XVL p. Feijir 88°. Beit Za'ter 59°. Beit Kheiran 
 
 270. 195°. Kufin 275°, i m. 
 
 ' 2 Chr. 20, 26, comp. 20. ' Kufin is the place erroneously named 
 
276 EXCURSIONS FROM JERUSALEM. [Sec. VI. 
 
 After five minutes more we were in another shallow Wady, 
 coming from the south and passing off northeast to Wady 
 'Arrub. We followed it up, or a branch of it ; and at 2.35 
 came out on a low ridge looking into a like parallel Wady on 
 our left. Beyond this latter, on a hill, was the ruin Beit 
 Kheir^n, half a mile distant.' The road then descends a little, 
 and passes along on the west side of this Wady here running 
 north. 
 
 Thus far we had followed from the Pools the same road 
 that we travelled in 1838, on our first approach to the Holy 
 City, and our first day in Palestine. We had then heen com- 
 pelled, wearied and exhausted as we were from our long journey 
 in the desert, to hasten over the tract between Hebron and 
 Jerusalem without a guide. Hence, on some points we obtained 
 no information, and on others were misled. I had ever re- 
 garded that day as in some respects the least satisfactory in 
 all our former journey ; and was not sorry now to retrace the 
 road. — The main features of the country,' thus far, consisted of 
 low rocky hills with intervening valleys, uninteresting, unculti- 
 vated, and the hills thinly covered with bushes, chiefly shrub oaks. 
 Beyond this point, towards the south, there is more cultivation ; 
 and the hills are more naked of bushes, being tilled often to lhe 
 top. 
 
 We now turned from the Hebron road more southwesterly ; 
 along a low neck which separated the Wady on our left from 
 Wady Eishrdsh on our right ; the latter descending rapidly 
 westwards towards Wady es-Siir, as was said. Our purpose was 
 to ascend a high rounded Tell just on the west of the Hebron 
 road, in the hope of finding ruins. We reached the top at 
 3 o'clock ; but found nothing. The tower of Beit Sur was 
 before us, on another lower Tell in the southwest.'^ After a 
 delay of ten minutes, we struck down across the intervening val- 
 ley through the fields, without a path ; and came at 3.20 to the 
 tower of Beit Sur. From this place 'Ain edh-Dhirweh, on the 
 Hebron road, bore N. 80° E. 
 
 This tower we saw and noted on our former journey ; but, 
 in consequence of our having no guide, we did not hear the 
 name, and therefore failed to fully identify the place. Yet from 
 its position and other features I was even then inclined to regard 
 it as the ancient Beth-zur ; and it was so inserted on our map.' 
 
 to us in our former journey as Abu Fid. ^ m. Halhul 191°. 'Ain edh-Dhirweh 
 
 We had then no guide except a Nubian 210°. Tell near by, 222°. 
 camel driver from Dhoheriyeh. No such ' Bearings at 3 o'clock, from the Tell , 
 
 name as Abu Fid exists anywhere in the Beit Ummar 7°. Jala, a Wely, 326", 
 
 region, so far as we could learn. Beit Siir216°. Halbull64°. ShiyukhllS', 
 ' Bearings at 2.35, opposite Beit Khei- ' See Vol. I. pp. 216, 217. u. [i. 31U, 
 
 ran : Beit Fejjir 64°. Beit Kheiran 141°, 320, n.] 
 
Mat .7.] BEIT SUB, BETH-ZUK. 277 
 
 The name Beit Siir was heard first by Mr Wolcott ; ' and we 
 now heard it from people in the fields. This name, and the an- 
 cient remains, leave no doubt as to the identity. — The principal 
 ruin is the tower ; of which only one side is now standing. It 
 was perhaps some twenty feet square. At its southwest corner 
 are a few bevelled stones, not large. These mark its foundations 
 as ancient ; though its upper portion was more probably of the 
 time of the crusades. There are hewn stones scattered about, as 
 also some fragments of columns, and many foundations of build- 
 ings ; but no traces of a wall on the south, where the Tell con- 
 nects with the range of hills. In the eastern declivity, below 
 the tower, are two or three excavated sepulchres. It must have 
 been a small place ; but occupied a strong position, and com- 
 manded a great road. Josephus speaks of it as the strongest 
 fortress in Judea.' 
 
 Beth-zur is mentioned in the book of Joshua as between 
 Halhul and Gedor ; ^ and it still lies here between the two, not 
 far from the former. It was fortified by Eehoboam ; and its in- 
 habitants aided in building the walls of Jerusalem after the 
 exile.* Judas Maccabseus here defeated Lysias, and" strength- 
 ened the fortress against the Idumeans.' It was besieged and 
 taken by Antiochus Eupator ; made stronger and held by Bac- 
 chides ; until at length Simon Maccabaeus got possession and 
 further fortified it.° Beth-zur is mentioned by Eusebius and 
 Jerome ; and also by the Bourdeaux pilgrim.' These writers 
 all regard it, or rather the fountain not far ofi", as the place 
 where Philip baptized the eunuch. To this tradition we shall 
 speedily recur again. 
 
 We now turned down to 'Ain edh-Dhirweh on the Hebron 
 road ; which we reached in seven minutes. Here, on the east of 
 the road, is a low ledge of rocks running off northeast, with a 
 perpendicular face towards the northwest, ten or twelve feet high. 
 In some parts the rocks appear to have been hewn away ; and 
 there are also sepulchres excavated in them. By the roadside, 
 near these rocks, is the fountain. It is small, and issues from 
 beneath a wall of large hewn stones into a driuking-trough. On 
 the west of the road is a fine little tank hned with cement ; and 
 another, larger and ruder, without cement. On the east of the 
 fountain is the ruin of an ancient church or chapel ; between 
 which and the fountain was an enclosed court. The road just 
 here has marks of an ancient pavement ; and we had before 
 
 ■ Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 56. ' 1 Mace. 4, 29. 61. 2 Maoc. 11, 5 ; 
 
 ' Anbt 13. 5. 6. comp. Jos. Antt. 12. 7. 6. 
 
 ' Josh. 15, 58. See generally, Reland ' 1 Maoc. 6, 31. 50.— ib. 9, 52. 10, 14. 
 
 Falsest p. 658 sq. Rauiner Palast. pp. — ib. 11, 65. 66. 14, 7. 33 
 
 163, 164. ' Onomast. art. Sethsur. Itin. Hierosw 
 
 * 2 Chr. n, 7. Neh. 8, 16. p. 599. 
 Vol. IU.— 24 
 
278 EXCURSIONS FEOM JEETJSALEM. [Sec. VI. 
 
 noticed several similar traces along the way ; but nownere any 
 appearance whatever of ruts.' 
 
 This then is the fountain, which a tradition earlier and in so 
 far better than that connected with St. Philip's fountain near 
 Welejeh, once marked as the place where Philip baptized the 
 eunuch on his way from Jerusalem to Gaza.'' Both Eusebius 
 and Jerome, and also the Bourdeaux pilgrim, speak of Beth-zur 
 as the scene of that transaction.' What grounds those fathers 
 had for connecting it at all with Beth-zur, we know not ; but 
 the Scriptures certainly contain no hint to that effect. There 
 was here no desert ; and, further, the circumstances that Philip 
 was afterwards found at Azotus (Ashdod), far away in the plain, 
 is strongly against the view in question. I have elsewhere 
 assigned reasons, which stiU seem to me valid, for seeking the 
 place of the baptism in the plain, on the way from Eleuthero- 
 pohs to Gaza, perhaps in Wady el-Hasy.'' 
 
 From the fountain we sent Eashid with the mules and luggage 
 directly up to Halhul ; in order that he might pitch the tent and 
 make his preparations, while we should go on as far as er- 
 Eameh and return. The guide, whom we had taken at Mar 
 Eli^s, we found well acquainted with the country ; he having 
 often been at Halhul, where he had been accustomed to farm 
 vineyards. But here his knowledge of the road was at an end ; 
 and we therefore engaged another guide for er-Eameh. 
 
 Leaving 'Ain edh-Dhirweh at 3.35, we followed the Hebron 
 road, about south ; still ascending and crossing the swell, which 
 more to the left forms the broad ridge on which Halhlil stands. 
 The road then keeps along on the west of the basin of Wady 
 'Ain 'Asy, which runs off IST. 75° E. as a branch of the Wady 
 southeast of Halhul. We were in this basin at 3.55. Then, 
 crossing another lower swell, we came at 4.05 to the head of Wady 
 Beit Haskeh, which runs down westwards towards Terkumieh. 
 Eising gradually from this, we turned at 4.15 to the left at a 
 right angle ; and came in seven minutes across the fields to the 
 immense foundations, which we had formerly visited.' They 
 are known to the Jews as the House of Abraham ; and are 
 sometimes called by the natives Bir el-Khuhl, from the well 
 connected with them. These inexplicable walls remain as when 
 we saw them in 1838 ; except that the covering above the well 
 was gone. This well is of large circumference, and about ten 
 feet deep to the surface of the water ; it is said to be strictly a 
 fountain. The course of the longest wall by compass is S. 80° 
 
 ' See genr. Kraflt, in Hitter's Erdk. ' See above, Vol. JL pp. 41, 48, and 
 
 XVI. p. 266 sq. Note XXXII, end of Vol. II. [u. 380, 390, 
 
 ' Acts 8, 38 sq. and Note XXX.] 
 
 = Onomast. art. Bethsur. Itin. Hicros. ' Vol. L pp. 215, 216. [L 317, 318.] 
 p. 599. 
 
Mat 7.] BEIT SUE. ER-EAMEH. 279 
 
 E. These foundations are regarded by tlie common people as 
 .belonging to the ruins of er-Eameh, which cover the hiU on the 
 north, and extend down to this spot. Hence the name R^meh 
 el-KhQlll, which we formerly heard applied also to the founda- 
 tions. 
 
 We now turned up the hUl er-Eameh, and reached the top in 
 six minutes. Here and on the slope are the remains of a large 
 village. The ground all the way is strewed with ruins of dwell- 
 ings, covering some acres, with hewn stones among them. 
 There is on the top a cistern excavated in the rock. Mr Wol- 
 cott noticed some fragments of columns, a few bevelled stones, 
 and many tesseree ; and speaks also of the Mediterranean as 
 visible through a gap in the hills in the northwest.' Several 
 places were here again in sight, which we had seen or visited in 
 1838 ; as Dtira in the southwest, Beni Na'im ia the southeast, 
 and Beit 'Ainun nearer at hand." 
 
 To what ancient place and structure are all these remains to 
 be assigned ? To this question no satisfactory answer has yet 
 been given ; and perhaps never will be. Yet several items of 
 ancient testimony go far to show, that this spot, now called er- 
 Rameh, is that which in the early centuries of the Christian era 
 was held, whether truly or falsely, to be the site of the terebinth 
 of Mamre, near Hebron, where Abraham long pitched his tent.' 
 The testimony of Eusebius and Jerome in the fourth century 
 shows, that the place was then pointed out near Hebron ; while 
 from that of Josephus, of the Itin. Hieros. in the fourth century, 
 of Sozomen in the fifth, and of Adamnanus in the seventh, it 
 is clear that it lay not far from Hebron towards Jerusalem.* 
 The Itin. Hieros. and Sozomen agree in placing it two Roman 
 miles from Hebron ; while Josephus says it was only six stadia 
 distant from that city. As the place during those centuries was 
 well known and frequented ; and as the specification of two miles 
 agrees well with the actual distance from Hebron ; there can be 
 little doubt that the notice of Josephus, though intended to refer 
 to the same spot, is erroneous.' 
 
 Admitting, then, that this was the reputed place of Abra- 
 ham's terebinth, we can account perhaps for the extensive 
 vestiges of an ancient site. Eusebius relates, that the terebinth 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sacra, 1843, p. 45. Hieros. p. 599. Sozom. H. E. 2. 4. Adam- 
 
 » See VoL I. p. 489. H. p. 214. [i. 186 nan. ex Arou]fo, 2. 11. 
 
 Bq. ii. 214.] — Bearings at Eameh : Shi- ' Tlie sia; ftl) stadia may be an error of 
 
 yukh 67°. Beit 'Ainun 81°. Beni Na'im transcribers for sixteen (i^xalSeKa) ; espe- 
 
 134°. Dura 238°. Beit Sfir 351°. Hal- cially as numbers were usually written by 
 
 hnl 9°. • signs. Thus it here needed only to drop an 
 
 ' Engl. Vers, plain of Mamre. Gen. 18, iota, and write r instead of ir. Or it may 
 
 18. 18, 1. have been merely a loose estimate on the 
 
 * Euseb. et Hieron. Onomast. arts. Ar- part of Josephus, after many years of ab- 
 
 boch, Drys. Jos. B. J. 4. 9. 7. Itin. sence. 
 
280 EXCUESIONS FROM JERUSALEM. [Sec. VI. 
 
 of Abraham, wliicli was still remaining in his day, had become 
 an object of worship to Christians ; as also to the Gentiles round 
 about, who had set up here an idol and altars. To break up 
 this idolatrous worship, the emperor Constantine gave orders to 
 erect on the spot a Basilica or church ; the oversight of which 
 was entrusted to Eusebius himself.' In the same connection it 
 is likewise related, that this had long been the seat of a cele- 
 brated mart or fair, whither the people of the country far and 
 wide resorted to buy and sell ; and that after the final overthrow 
 of the Jews in the war with Adrian, A. D. 135, a great multi- 
 tude of captives of every age and sex were here publicly sold as 
 slaves.^ These facts serve to show, that not long after the time 
 of Josephus, and for several subsequent centuries, this was a 
 well known and greatly frequented spot ; and they are also 
 sufficient to account for the existence here of a large town, the 
 actual vestiges of which are still extant. 
 
 In respect to the immense walls, which form the most impos- 
 ing feature of the place, I find as yet no satisfactory explanation. 
 They seem not to be Jewish ; for they bear no resemblance to the 
 walls of Jewish structures at Hebron or Jerusalem. If a church 
 was actually erected here in accordance with the orders of Con- 
 stantine ; as indeed the testimony of later writers seems to 
 imply ; we should most naturally regard these as its foundation 
 walls. Yet they exhibit none of the tokens of ecclesiastical 
 architecture, and do not of themselves suggest a church.^ 
 
 Another question arises, as to the present name er-Eameh. 
 At first, and naturally, it suggests the Ramah of the south, which 
 belonged to Simeon, and is mentioned twice in the Old Testa- 
 ment.* But the order and manner in which that place is named, 
 seem to imply, that it was quite in the south of Judah, and 
 apparently further south than Hebron. The manner too in 
 which the terebinth of Mamre is spoken of in the Old Testa- 
 ment and by the later writers, excludes the idea, that it was 
 identical with that Eamah. Yet as the Hebrew Ramah, sig- 
 nifying a height, was not unfrequent as a proper name ; it is not 
 improbable, that this hill was anciently one of the many 
 Eamahs of Palestine, of which we have no account ; and that 
 the name has in modern times become extended, so as to include 
 the site and remains which lie in the neighbourhood below. 
 
 The ruins of Beit 'Ainun, which we saw from er-Esimeh, 
 
 ' Onomast. 1. c. Enseb. Demonstr. also the account in Vol. I. p. 349. [ii. 
 
 Evang c. 9. Vita Const 3. 53. 7.] 
 
 ' Sozom. H. E. 2. 4. Hieron. Comm. ' Snch too was the judgment of Mr Tip- 
 in Jes. c. 31. Comm. in Zaoh. 11, 4. Ping! Bibhoth. Sac. 1843, p. 45. 
 Chron. Paschal, p. 253 Par. p. 474 Dind. * Heb. 253 nan Josh. 19,8; Dy niaT 
 Comp. Relaud Falsest, pp. 711-715. See 1 Sam. 30,27. 
 
Mat 7.] ER-EAMEH. HALHUL. 281 
 
 were visited in 1842 by Mr Wolcott.' They lie mainly on the 
 lower part of the southern slope of a hill or promontory, appa- 
 rently in the fork between two valleys. The area is about half a 
 mile long, and half as broad. The principal ruin is a building 
 eighty-three feet long from north to south, and seventy-two feet 
 broad, but the ends of broken columns built into the walls, and 
 other circumstances, show that this is not the original structure. 
 The remains of the town lie on the gentle slope above (north of) 
 this edifice. The foundations remain ; and the streets and forms 
 of the dwellings can still be traced. The largest hewn stones 
 were six feet long by three broad, and bevelled. There are three 
 or four cisterns in the upper part ; but the fountain was of 
 course the main reliance. The probable identity of this place 
 with the Beth-anoth of the book of Joshua, was suggested by Mr 
 Wolcott. The two names, though by no means the same, are 
 yet perhaps sufficiently alike ; and the mention of Beth-anoth 
 along with HaUiul and Beth-zur goes far to establish the iden- 
 tity of the place." 
 
 We left er-Eameh at 4.45 for Halhtil, descending the hill 
 towards the north. At the foot was an excavated cistern now 
 dry, with steps to descend into it. A fertile plain was before 
 us, sloping very gently eastwards to a Wady. Passing this 
 plain, and crossing a low water-shed, we descended into the deep 
 Wady Kabun, here running northeast under Halhul ; but 
 further down sweeping around to the southeast to the great 
 Wady which lies towards Beni Na'im ; ^ and having the ruins 
 of Beit 'Ainun on its left side, apparently near the junction. 
 Ascending again the opposite slope through extensive and well 
 cultivated fields, we reached Halhul at 5.10 ; and found our tent 
 pitched on the summit of the ridge, not far from the sightly mosk. 
 
 Everything around Halhill looks thrifty ; fine fields, fine 
 vineyards, and many cattle and goats. Especially is the east- 
 ern slope fertile and well tilled. The village is just below the 
 eastern brow ; and thus is not visible from the Jerusalem road. It 
 is the head of a district. The people were barely civil ; and would 
 not answer many of our inquiries, especially as to sepulchres. 
 The old mosk or Wely of Neby Yunas is a poor structure. It 
 has a tower or minaret ; which makes it look at a distance like 
 a New England church on a hill. We thought at first it might 
 have been perhaps originally a church ; but there are no tokens 
 of it. It lies so high, and is seen so far, that we supposed many 
 villages would be in sight from it ; but in this were disappointed. 
 We were not allowed to enter the mosk.* 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sacra, pp. 57, 58. * Bearings from Halhul : Beit Ummar 
 
 » Josh. 15, 58. 59. 359° Beit Kheiran 10°. 
 
 • See Vol, 1 p. 489. [iL 186.] 
 YoL. m.— 24* 
 
282 EXCUKSIONS FROM JEEUSALEM. [Sec. VI. 
 
 The ancient Halhul of the book of Joshua, to which this 
 place corresponds, is mentioned also in the Onomasticon of Je- 
 rome.' A Jewish traveller of the fourteenth century speaks of 
 it as containing the sepulchre of Gad the seer.'_ The identity 
 of no ancient site is more undisputed ; though it seems not to 
 have been recognised before our former journey.^ 
 
 Saturday, May 8th. We left Halhiil at 6 o'clock, and 
 descended the slope to 'Ain edh-Dhirweh in twelve miautes. 
 Here we sent off Besh§,rah with the mules and luggage direct to 
 Jerusalem, retaining only Easbid ; in order ourselves to pro- 
 ceed more rapidly by way of Beit Ummar and so along near the 
 western brow of the mountains. 
 
 Setting off agaia at 6.20, we came in ten minutes to the 
 tbrk of the road leading to Beit Ummar. Here Wady Eishrash 
 was on our left, breaking down as a deep ravine to the western 
 plain ; with the Wely of Jala on its northern side, on an almost 
 isolated hill, a high and strong point ; and Bukkar on the south 
 side op]Dosite, an old site marked by two trees. We took the 
 road to Beit Ummar, leaving that to Jerusalem on the right ; 
 and ascended gradually, till at 6.40 we were at the top.^ Five 
 minutes later Kufin was in sight, N. 45° E. We were here 
 surrounded with the clucking of partridges ; of which the bushes 
 seemed to be full. Passing at 6.50 the head of the Wady which 
 runs down westwards on the south of Kufin, we reached Beit 
 Ummar at 7.10, a miserable mass of rubbish and ruins. It lies 
 high ; and having an old mosk with a tower, and also another 
 shabby tower, it makes quite a show at a distance. I saw no 
 village apparently more wretched in all Palestine. Yery few 
 women were to be seen. The men were surly and suspicious ; 
 and would give us no information. We learned that they had 
 now been at war for a year with the village Surif below the 
 mountains, with which they had a feud of blood. A man was 
 stationed upon the tower of the mosk, to watch against the ap- 
 proach of the enemy. 
 
 After some difficulty, we at last found a woman, who 
 answered our inquiries intelligently.' On the north of Jala runs 
 down Wady Muzeiri'ah from between Beit Ummar and Jedtir. 
 Kusbur appeared like a village ; but is a ruin, separated from 
 Bukkar by Wady esh-Sheikh. Min'in appeared like an in- 
 habited place. By going three minutes northwest, we saw the 
 
 ' Josh. 15, 58. Onomast. art. JSlul. ' Bearings at 6.40 : Halhul 179°. 
 
 •■' 1 Sam. 22, 5. 2 Sam. 24, 11 sq.— Bukkar 285°. Beit Sur 203°. Beit Um- 
 
 Ishak Chelo in 1334, Carmoly p. 242 ; mar 2°. 
 
 comp. pp. 388, 435. It is also merely ' Bearings at Beit Ummar : Beit Nettlf 
 
 mentioned by E.Parohi a few years earlier; 315°. Jala 269°. Um Burj 269°. Min'in 
 
 Benj. of Tud. by Asber, IL p. 437. 211°. Bukkar 231°. Kusbur 231°. Beit 
 
 » See Vol. I. p. 216. [i. 319.] Fejjar 91°. Jedur N. 35° W. f m. 
 
1Ut8.] BEIT UMMAR. BEIT SAKAEIEH. 283 
 
 site of Jediir three quarters of a mile distant. It is merely a 
 small ruin marked by a tree, on a point or Tell projecting from 
 the brow of the mountain. We had it afterwards somewhat 
 nearer on our left as we passed along. Jedur is the ancient 
 Gedor of Judah.' 
 
 Leaving Beit Ummar at 7.35, on a course about N. 20° E. 
 we descended gradually to the green basin and bed of the south- 
 ern branch of Wady 'Arrub. This Wady has its head here 
 near the western brow, just under Jed^r ; and passes down across 
 the whole mountain tract to the Dead sea. On its northern side 
 we rose again obliquely to the top of the ridge (at 8.5), here of 
 considerable height.'' Descending again we came into the north- 
 ern branch of Wady 'Arrilb ; in which at 8.15 we stopped a 
 moment at a well of living water near the slight ruins of 
 Merrina, which we had seen yesterday across the valley. We 
 now took a direction N. 15° E. up a side valley called Wady 
 Shukheit ; which is straight and shallow. We followed it quite 
 to its head. At its mouth, on our right, were the slight remains 
 of Um el-Meis. Further north it is open and arable ; and 
 several persons were ploughing. At 8.45 we reached a tree at 
 the head of the valley, on the water-shed ; it marks likewise the 
 boundary between the provinces of Jerusalem and Hebron, as 
 also between the Yemen and the Keis.^ Here we stopped for five 
 minutes. Beit Sakdrieh was now in view before us, on an almost 
 isolated promontory or Tell, jutting out northwest between two 
 deep valleys ; and connected with the high ground south by a 
 low neck between the heads of those two valleys. These run off 
 to Wady Musfirr below. We descended, crossed the neck, and 
 at 9.5 reached the top of the Tell. 
 
 As we came to the neck, a large column lay just by the 
 path ; perhaps quarried there. On the neck and all the way up 
 the ascent were many hewn stones, some of them large, lying 
 scattered, and also in walls and foundations. The summit is 
 rather extensive, not less than two or three acres. There are 
 several ancient cisterns ; also fragments of columns. Towards 
 the northwest are two sepulchres, with upright doors, in the 
 scarped face of a sunken rock. There is an old Wely under a 
 tree, called Abu Zakary. There were at the time only a few 
 families sojourning here temporarily. Two women were churn- 
 ing with goatskins, in the manner formerly described.^ The 
 land round about had been farmed by MeshuUam of tJrtas, for 
 the purpose of planting sea-island cotton.^ 
 
 ' Josh. 15, 58. Onomast. art. Ocedur. Beit Ummar 208°. Beit Sakarieh 21°. 
 
 " Bearings at 8.5, from top of ridge : Soba 7°. 
 Beit Ummar S. 20° W. Kufin S. 20° E. ' BibL Ees. I. p. 485. [ii. 180.] 
 
 ' Bearings at 8.45, at tree : Shiyuth ' Bearings at Beit Sakarieh : Beit Um- 
 
 167°. Halhul 193°. Beit Sur 200°. mar 208°. Hiibaleh, a ruin, 260°. Jeb'ah 
 
284 EXCURSIONS FROM JERUSALEM, [Sec. VI. 
 
 Here then we have the almost impregnable position of a 
 strong fortress ; and the name, Beit Sakarieh, identifies it with 
 the ancient Beth-zacharia ; ' where Judas Maccabteus was 
 defeated by Antiochus Eupator.' The Syrians having besieged 
 Beth-zur, Judas abandoned his investment of the citadel in 
 Jerusalem ; and pitched his camp at Beth-zacharia, seventy 
 furlongs distant from the enemy. Here Antiochus attacked and 
 routed his forces. It follows that Beth-zacharia was between 
 Beth-zur and Jerusalem, and seventy furlongs distant from the 
 former. We had travelled this morning from 'Ain edh-Dhirweh, 
 the fountain of Beth-zur, to Beit Sakarieh, two and a quar- 
 ter hours, at a more rapid rate than usual. Assuming four 
 Roman miles the hour as our rate, which can vary little from 
 the truth, the coincidence is quite exact ; and the identity of 
 the names serves to remove every shadow of doubt. ^ 
 
 We left Beit Sakarieh again by the neck, the only place of 
 exit ; and came in seven minutes to the point where we had 
 quitted the Jerusalem road. Leaving this spot at 9.35, we had 
 in five minutes on our right the little basin at the head of Wady 
 Biyar, which runs down on the south of Beit Fighlir and of 
 the Pools. This basin is southeast from the Tell of Beit 
 Sakarieh. A road passes down the valley to the Pools and 
 Bethlehem. We kept more to the left, around the head of the 
 deep valley on the east of the TeU, and overagainst the ruins, 
 on a course about N. E. by E. until 10 o'clock ; here that valley 
 turned more west.* After five minutes, we proceeded on the 
 same general course ; and passed around the head of another like 
 deep Wady, which sweeps off in a similar curve, first north, 
 then northwest, and at last west. Just beyond this, we had at 
 10.35 an extensive view over the region of hills below us in the 
 west. Nuhhalin is in the bottom of Wady el-Musi3rr, on its 
 southern side. This Wady seemed to pass just under Jeb'ah, on 
 the north ; and uniting with Wady es-Sur from the south, it 
 becomes the broad Wady es-SOmt, now appearing as a beautiful 
 and cultivated tract between Beit Nettif and Shuweikeh.^ 
 
 Turning now E. N. E. we rose in ten minutes to the top of 
 the mountain ridge, and came at 10.50 to the eastern brow, 
 
 291°. Sunasin 309°. Beit 'Atab 325°. bron, falls to the ground ; Hitter's Erdk. 
 
 Deir el-Hawa 32.5°. Soba 6°. Hfisto XVI. pp. 205-207. 
 
 H°. Neby Samwil 20°. Beit Nettif 290°. * Bearings at 10 o'clock : Beit Sakarieh 
 
 Head of Wady Biyar 125°. 238°. MhliSlin 310°, 2 m. Husan N. 
 
 ' Gr. BeS)(axapia, 1 Maco. 6, 82. 33. Euriet es-Sa'ldeh N. Soba N. 
 
 Jos. Antt. 12. 9. i. ' Bearings at 10.35 : Beit Sakarieh 
 
 ' 1 Maco. 6, 32 sq. Jos. Antt. 12. 9. i. 219°. Hubaleh 231°. Jeba' 262. Niih- 
 
 B. J. 1. 1. 5. Reland Falsest, p. 660. halin 264°. Siinasin 281°. Beit 'Atab 
 
 = Hence tbe argoment of Krafft to prove 306°. Deir el-Hawa 31 6°. Kesla 322°. 
 
 that Beth-zacharia was situated at the el-Kabu 339°. Husan 345°. Soba 356°. 
 
 Tillage edh-Dhoheriyeh southwest of He- Weleieh 7°. 
 
Mat 8.] BEIT SAKAEIEH. EL-KHUDK. 285 
 
 where Bethlelieni and the Mount of Olives were in sight.' 
 Before us was the head of a Wady running down to Wady 
 Biy^r south of the Pools. Our road kept along high on the 
 northern declivity of this valley, until at a low spot it crossed 
 over the ridge towards the left ; and then continued in like 
 manner on the southern slope of the parallel Wady, running also 
 down to the Pools. This latter valley is broad, and was full of 
 vineyards and fig orchards. Beyond it, el-Khudr was in view. 
 When opposite that place, we turned down into the valley at 
 11.10 ; and crossing it, afterwards rose a little, and reached the 
 village at 11.25. Here is a branch of the great Greek convent 
 in Jerusalem ; and to it belong most of the vineyards and 
 orchards of fruit. The village is small, and wholly dependent on 
 the convent. The people came hither a few years ago, a colony 
 from Welejeh. The place is on the water-shed, between the 
 valley going to the Pools and the head of the deep Wady Bittir 
 running off northwest. We stopped for lunch in a field just out 
 of the village. 
 
 Starting again at 11.55, we had before us the high ridge 
 between Wady Bittir and Wady Ahmed. We took the Beth- 
 lehem road ; which passes along by the head of Wady Bittir ; 
 and crossing the ridge leaves Beit Jila on the north. Both 
 declivities of the ridge are thickly strewn with large rocks. At 
 12.10 we were on the summit, and looked down into the basin 
 of Wady Ahmed. A small Wady went ofi" just on our right to 
 the Pools ; the rest of the tract being all drained to Wady 
 Ahmed, here running towards the north. Our guide. now left 
 us, to return to his home in Beit Jila. We had found him 
 intelligent and faithful ; and I trust he retains a pleasant re- 
 membrance of his excursion with us. 
 
 Crossing the basin of Wady Ahmed, we struck at 12.40 the 
 camel road from the Pools to Jerusalem, just above the bed of 
 the valley, and back of Bethlehem. Following it we were at 
 12.55 opposite Eachel's tomb ; and saw again the perforated 
 stones of the aqueduct described yesterday. The same ancient 
 aqueduct crossed a saddle in the ridge just north, in a mass of 
 large hewn stones, which yet remain. Still further north the 
 present aqueduct is seen east of the road, winding along the steep 
 slopes south of Mar Elias, and passing around to the eastward 
 of the higher hills. We now rode rapidly. At 1.15 we were 
 opposite MS.r EMs ; and at 1.55 reached Jerusalem at the Yafa 
 gate. 
 
 Bearings at 10.50: Mount of Olives 48°. Bethlehem T9°. 
 
SECTION YII. 
 
 FEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. 
 
 Monday, May \Oth. — ^We left Jerusalem as related at the 
 end of Sect. IV ; and having examined the mounds of ashes, 
 and looked for a moment at the Tomb of Helena, we set off 
 from the latter at 12.25. Crossing the valley of Jehoshaphat, 
 we rose upon the first ascent heyond, to a narrow plain running 
 down eastwards and terminating in a small Wady, which enters 
 the valley of Jehoshaphat at the northern extremity of the Mount 
 of Olives. The ascent to the next brow is steeper ; and the 
 paved way may perhaps in part be ancient. This brow is the 
 ancient Scopus, where Titus obtained his first view of Jerusa- 
 lem. This we reached at 12.40 ; and I recalled anew the 
 emotions I had formerly felt upon this spot, in taking leave of 
 the Holy City, as I then supposed, for the last time.' Fourteen 
 years meantime had rolled away ; changes many and great had' 
 taken place in other things ; but' Aere everything was the same, 
 and the physical and historic features all remained unchanged. 
 And now the feeling came over me with a deeper consciousness, 
 that I was indeed looking upon this scene of beauty and historic 
 glory for the last time on earth. 
 
 Five minutes farther north a path goes off on the right over 
 the hill to Hizmeh ; and at the same point begins on the left a 
 side Wady descending westwards to the Wady Beit Hanina. 
 At 12.55 Sha'fS,t was on our left, a quarter of a mile distant ; 
 and at 1.05 Tuleil el-Ful was close upon our right, marking the 
 site of the ancient G-ibeah of Saul." The road now descends grad- 
 ually ; and seven minutes more brought us to the foundations and 
 remains called Khirbet el-Kflta', directly upon the path. These 
 proved to be smaller and less important than I had anticipated ; 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 261. [iii. 74.] 
 
 * See VoL IL pp. 577-579. Bibliottieca Sacra, 1844, pp. 598-602. 
 
Mat 10.] SCOPUS. EE-RAM, KAMAH. 287 
 
 ttey are likewise too distant perhaps from the base of the Tuleil 
 el-Ful to be decidedly regarded as the remains of Gribeah. Yet 
 the town may well have extended down thus far. Possibly some 
 traces of the ancient city may yet be discovered around the base 
 of the hill on the east or northeast ; though we perceived 
 nothing of the kind on our visit to the Tell in 1838.' 
 
 The camel road to Kamleh went off on the left at 1.18 ; the 
 village er-ES.m being now in sight upon its conical hill, over- 
 against TuleU el-FM in the north. At 1.40 we came to the 
 ruined Khan known as KhurS,ib er-Ram, with a cistern at 
 which women were drawing water. Just south of this spot is a 
 small mound called Kabr el-'Amalikah, " Tomb of the Amalek- 
 ites." This is worth notice only as showing the facility, with 
 which high-sounding names are applied by the common people. 
 After a delay of five minutes, we turned off directly to er-Ram ; 
 which we reached at 1.55. Here are broken columns, a few 
 bevelled stones, and some other large hewn stones. There is 
 also an ancient reservoir of tolerable size towards the southwest. 
 The village was now nearly deserted.^ 
 
 We now took a guide ; and leaving er-Ram at 2 o'clock, 
 turned eastward upon the road to Hizmeh. The path lies high 
 along the north side of Wady 'Aiyad, which further down 
 becomes Wady Farah. Opposite to us was a low Tell called 
 Khirbet Erhah ; which at 2.10 bore S. 25° W. At 2.25 we 
 had in sight 'Anata, Hizmeh, and also 'Almit, a low naked Tell 
 beyond the Wady which runs down south of Hizmeh.' This 
 name, -Almit, had already been found by Mr Finn, and compared 
 with Alemeth, one of the priests' cities of Benjamin enumerated 
 in the Chronicles ; but which in Joshua is called Almon.* The 
 name of itself would perhaps not be decisive ; but the mention of 
 that city between Greba and Anathoth speaks strongly for the 
 identity. 
 
 Leaving the road to Hizmeh, which crosses the valley to 
 reach that village, we kept along on the north side ; and 
 descending to the broad, level, and apparently fertile tract 
 which here skirts the water-course, we came at 2.55 to what 
 our guide called Kubur Isra'tn, but which the Sheikh of Mukh- 
 mSs afterwards named to us Kubur el-'Amilikah. These are 
 the " Tombs of the Amalekites," so called ; first seen and 
 described by Capt. Newbold, in terms somewhat overdrawn.' 
 There are four of these structures, merely long low rude paraUel- 
 
 ' See Vol. L p. 577 sq. [u. 317.] « Heb. nai>S Allemeth 1 Chr. 6, 45 
 
 ■vr \ ^°' Tj°^f- 1f« n*° ''"^'""' "^ [60] ; |ia^s" Almon Josh. 21, 18. 
 Vol, I. p. 576 sq. [ u. 315.] u j > p : - ' 
 
 ' Bearings at 2.25 : 'Anata 171°. 'AI- ' Lond. Athenaeum, 1849, No. 1124. p. 
 
 mit 145°. Hizmeh 136°. TuleU el-Ful 491. Eitter Erdk. Th. XVL p. 522. 
 
 220°. 
 
288 
 
 TBOM JEKUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VH. 
 
 ograms of rough broken stones, laid up with no great regularity. 
 The largest is 102 feet long by 21 feet broad ; the next has a 
 length of 98 feet. The average height is from three to five feet, 
 except where the ground is less elevated. About the middle 
 of the eastern side of the largest, is a square hole or doorway 
 leading to a small square chamber covered with longer stones. 
 Towards the south end of the same parallelogram is a small 
 opening like a well, extending to the ground. The other struc- 
 tures are smaller ; and have neither chamber nor well. The 
 work is all of the rudest kind. There is nothing about them to 
 suggest the idea either of sepulchral monuments or of any 
 remote antiquity. They are such as the Arabs may well have 
 thrown together in no very distant times ; but the purpose of 
 them is inexplicable.' 
 
 We now at 3 o'clock struck up out of the valley obliquely, 
 about E. by N. The tract we were passing over had some 
 excellent soil ; but much of the surface was naked rock* At 
 3.30 we reached Khirbet el-Haiyeh (Euins of the Serpents) on 
 a low Tell looking down into Wady Suweinit, which unites fur- 
 ther below with Wady Farah. The remains are those of an 
 ordinary village, with a cistern in the middle. There is no 
 appearance of a wall, nor of hewn stones ; except a few of small 
 size lying around the cistern, and once belonging to an arch. 
 Neither the name nor the remains suggest any great antiquity.^ 
 
 We were here told of similar ruins further down, at or near 
 the junction of the two Wadys, called Kula'at Tuweiy. 
 
 We now took the road to Jeba', N. 65° W. crossing midway 
 a ridge of some elevation ; the top of which we reached at 
 3.50.* The fields were well tUled and green ; but the crops were 
 much lighter than those we had seen in Galilee. We came to 
 Jeba' at 4.15. This is the ancient Geba, several times men- 
 tioned in Scripture, and situated at the northern extremity of 
 the kingdom of Judah.^ 
 
 After a stop of ten minutes, we proceeded towards Mukh- 
 
 ' From this spot, Hizmeh bore S. 30° spot is at least nearly three hours distant 
 
 W. dist. \ m. It was now deserted on ao- from Bethel, and the deep and difficult 
 
 count of the conscription. Wady es-Suweinit lies between. There is 
 
 ' Bearings at 3.15 : 'Almit 200°. Hiz- here no valley whatever on the west ; ex- 
 
 meh 245°. Tuleil el-Ful 248°. cept the low open plain we had traversed. 
 
 '■' We had come to this spot, because, on See Krafft Topogr. Jems. p. ix. Ritter 
 
 account of the name (which Krafft writes Erdk. XVL p. 527 sq. — Bearings from 
 
 JfedJMSi (7Aai), it has recently been brought Kh. el-Haiyeh: 'Almlt 223°. Hizmeh 
 
 forward as the site of ancient Ai. But 251°. T. el-Ful 251°. Taiyibeh 8°. 
 there is no affinity between the two names; * Bearings at 3.50, on a ridge : Kh el- 
 
 for Ai contains the tenacious letter 'Ain, Haiyeh S. 65° E. Jeba' N. 65° W. Hiz- 
 
 which the other does not. The latter is meh S. 55° W. 
 
 also a regular plural form, signifying ser- ' For Jeba' (Geba) and our former visit 
 
 pents. And further, Ai was near to Be- there, see Vol I. p. 440 sq. [ii. 113 sq.] 
 thel, and of easy access from it ; but this 
 
Mat 11."] jeba'. mukhmas. 289 
 
 mds, descending immediately by a very steep and ruggea path 
 into the deep Wady es-Suweinit. The way was so steep, and 
 the rocky steps so high, that we were compelled to dismount ; 
 while the baggage-mules got along with great difficulty. The 
 bottom of the great Wady is here broad and uneven ; the main 
 branch comes down between Bethel and Bireh. Here, where 
 we crossed, several short side Wadys came in from the south- 
 west and northwest. The ridges between these termiaate in 
 elevated points projecting into the great Wady ; and the east- 
 ernmost of these bluffs on each side were probably the outposts 
 of the two garrisons of Israel and the Philistines. The road 
 passes around the eastern side of the southern hill, the post of 
 Israel ; and then strikes up over the western part of the north- 
 ern one, the post of the Philistines, and the scene of Jonathan's 
 adventure. These hiUs struck us now, more than formerly, as of 
 sharp ascent, and as appropriate to the circumstances of the 
 narrative. They are isolated hills in the valley ; except so far 
 as the low ridges, at the end of which they are found, connect 
 them back with the higher ground on each side.' 
 
 After crossing the western part of the northern hUl, the path 
 descends again into the side Wady which here comes in ; and 
 then winds around eastward in ascending to the village. We 
 reached Mukhmas at 5.10 ; and pitched our tent in the fields 
 on the northeast of the viUage. The day had been exceedingly 
 hot and sultry ; the thermometer rising to 95° in the afternoon. 
 Here at 7 o'clock in the evening it stood at 83°. 
 
 East of Mukhmas and on the north side of Wady es-Suwei- 
 nit, are two sites of ruins. One of them was in sight on a high 
 round Tell, called Kubbeh ; ^ the other, further down, is called 
 Duweir. 
 
 Tuesday, May Wth. Our course of yesterday was taken, in 
 order to visit particular localities, which seemed to need further 
 examination. To day our purpose was to explore the country 
 further north, keeping as near as possible to the brow of the 
 Jordan valley ; and then find our way afterwards to Nabulus. 
 , We set off at 6.05 for EQmm&n with a guide ; and ascend- 
 ing the shallow Wady on the east of Mukhmas, took from its 
 head a course IT. 50° E. At 6.15 some ruins appeared on a hiU 
 at our right, called TeU 'Askar. Our way lay across small 
 plains and heads of valleys running southeast to the Suweinit. 
 At 6.45 we crossed the road by which we had formerly travelled 
 from Jericho to Deir Duwan ; leaving now the remains of Abu 
 
 ' 1 Sam. 14, i sq. See VoL I. p. 441. Farah ; where we heard of a site called 
 
 [ii 116.] Kula'at Tuweiy. He also regards it as the 
 
 ' This Kvbbeh is doubtless the Gobah ancient Gibeah of Benjamin. Topogr. 
 
 of Krafft ; which he places on the south Jeras. p. ix. Ritter XVI. p. 528. 
 Bide of the vaUey at its junction with Wady 
 Vol. III.— 25 
 
290 TEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VII. 
 
 Subbah on onr left out of sight. The place is so called from a 
 family that lived in it awhile ; but its proper name is Kefr 
 Nata.' From this point Kummon bore directly north. We 
 here met, for the first time on our present journey, flocks of 
 sheep and goats mingled together ; on our former journey we 
 saw them often. Here too we found mandrakes ; and partridges 
 were frequent. There were also many fields of grain. 
 
 After descending gradually by a side valley, we came at 7.15 
 to the bottom of the great Wady el-'Asas, under Rummon. 
 Further down it is called Wady es-Sik ; and afterwards becomes 
 Wady en-Na'imeh. By a circuitous route we rose again, steeply 
 at first, then up a gradual slope through fields of wheat, and 
 then still more steeply, to Eummon, which we reached at 7.55. 
 It lies high, on a rocky Tell, with a deep valley op the north 
 running southeast into the deeper 'Asas. The place has an old 
 look ; and there is a deep tank cut in the rock on the northeast 
 quarter. There seems to be no reason for doubt, but that this 
 place represents the rock jRiTntnon, where the remnant of the 
 Benjamites took refuge.' 
 
 Several military ofiicers were here, taking a new list of houses 
 and property. They were reported to have received bribes, to 
 the amount of 2000 piastres, in the district of Beni Salim. 
 
 At 8 o'clock we proceeded towards Taiyibeh, which bore 
 E". 1° E. Here again the path led over small plains and 
 heads of valleys running southeast. These tracts have more of 
 good soil than one would anticipate in so rocky a region. There 
 are no trees nor bushes. At 8.40 we were at the foot of the 
 high Tell on which Taiyibeh is situated ; here is the head of a 
 valley called Wady Eubeiyeh, which runs down S. 10° E. to the 
 'Asas on the east of Eummon. Instead of ascending to the 
 town, we turned to the left along the foot of the Tell, and so 
 along its western side, which rises from the Wady Kiisis ; this 
 latter extending (as Wady el-'Ain) to the 'Asas opposite Deir 
 Duw^n.^ We thus passed round to the slope of the basin on 
 the north of Taiyibeh, and came at 9 o'clock to Deir Jerur ; 
 from which Taiyibeh bore S. 5° E. 
 
 Deir Jerur is a village of some size, facing towards the south, 
 on a point between two Wadys ; which here unite and form 
 Wady Habis, running down to the GrhSr between Dftk and 
 'Aujeh. We sought to obtain here a guide ; but after consider- 
 able delay, were obliged to depart without one. 
 
 We were now entering upon a region which had been seldom 
 traversed ; and was, as yet, comparatively a blank upon the 
 
 ' See Vol 1 p. 573. [ii. 311.] » See Vol. I. p. 444. [ii. 120.]— For our 
 
 ' Judg. 20, 45. 47. See more in Vol I. former visit to Taiyibeh, see ibid. [ ii. 121 
 p. 440. [ ii. 113.] sq] 
 
Mat 11.] KIMMON. KEFK MALIK. 291 
 
 maps. Leaving Deir Jerflr at 9.15, we followed up the Wady 
 which comes from the north ; and came in ten minutes to a cis- 
 tern, where women were washing. We needed water for our 
 beasts ; at first they denied that there was any, but afterwards 
 let us draw. Here we stopped ten minutes. We ought now to 
 have ascended the eastern hill or ridge, on the road to Kefr 
 Maiik ; but being without a guide, we kept on up the valley till 
 10 o'clock ; ' when some boys tending goats set us right, and we 
 then ascended the hill by a more difficult path, and came at 
 10.10 into the right road. It Ues along the top of what proved 
 to be a high ridge ; the highest ground, indeed, that we passed 
 over.' Kurn Surtabeh was in the northeast below us ; and be- 
 fore us was a very deep and broken gorge running down to the 
 Gh5r. Our course was now about N. 55° E. We soon began 
 to descend very steeply ; and at 10.45 came to Kefr Mailik, a 
 village of good size, situated on a ridge projecting towards the 
 northeast, between two valleys running down to the deep Wady 
 Muhamy. 
 
 From this point Khirbet Jeradeh was seen on a Tell in the 
 valley, about a mile and a half distant nearly north ; and further 
 on, beyond a hill, was said to be the plain of Turmus 'Aya.^ 
 The direction of Samieh was pointed out to us, about east. 
 Above it were said to be the ruins of a castle, called el-Mer- 
 jemeh.* 
 
 We rested and took our lunch at Kefr-Malik ; and started 
 again at 12.30 with a guide for Daumeh. Descending steeply and 
 slowly into the western valley, we passed down it in a north- 
 easterly direction ; and at 12.55 were at the mouth of the Wady 
 HUmar coming down on the south of Khirbet Jeradeh.' The 
 hills (or rather mountains) round about were rocky and naked ; 
 except where occasionally olive trees had been planted among 
 the rocks. Five minutes later we turned up Wady Sh^m north- 
 west ; and afterwards followed up a branch of it northeast. 
 The great Wady formed by the junction of aU these and others 
 is here called el-Muh£imy ; and lower down Wady es-Samieh. 
 At 1.30, near the head of the side valley, the ruins of Si'a were 
 on a hill close on our left. Five minutes later we came out upon 
 a high ridge ; and looked down on the east into a deep valley 
 running south. Down this valley we could see the position of 
 Stimieh, some two and a half miles distant, in the main 
 valley ; its rich plain covered with fields of onions, and watered 
 by its fountains. Samieh was now a ruin ; its castle was not 
 
 ' Bearings at 10 : Deir Jerur S. 35° E. * Bearings at Kefr Malik : Abu el-'Anf 
 
 Taiyibeh 167°. 335°. Khirbet Jerade'li 355°, U m. el- 
 
 " Bearings at 10.10 from top of ridge: Mughaiyir 53°. 
 
 Kiim Si-rtabeh 55°. el-Mughaiyir 54°. ' Here Khirbet Jeradeh bore N. 10° W. 
 
 • See VoL H. p. 268 [iii. 85.] 4 m. 
 
292 FROM JEETJSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. TH. 
 
 V 
 
 here visible. Below the village the 'Wady turns east and de- 
 scends to the plain as Wady 'Aujeh, next north of Wady 
 Nuwa'imeh. At some distance beyond Samieh is a high conical 
 mountain called Nejemeh.' 
 
 Ten minutes later we descended a little into the eastern part 
 of a fine plain, mostly covered with wheat, extending two or 
 three miles from east to west, and perhaps a mile wide ; drained 
 apparently towards the southeast by the valley above described. 
 At 2 o'clock we saw towards the north, on the summit of the 
 hills, an old site called Kulason, about three quarters of a mile 
 distant. We now rose gradually from the plain, at its north- 
 eastern corner, through another narrow plain ; and came at 2.15 
 to Mughaiyir, a village of considerable size, and built of hewn 
 stones. The people were quite civil, and readily answered all 
 our inquiries.' 
 
 Setting off again at 2.30, we descended considerably into a 
 beautiful plain, where we rode through extensive wheat fields, 
 on a course about N. N. E. The crops here, however, were 
 much less heavy than those we had seen further north, and 
 especially in Galilee ; and this remark was applicable throughout 
 all Judea. The plain lay long and narrow from southwest to 
 northeast ; and our course being rather diagonal to it, we rose 
 after a time on the left to a higher rocky terrace, skirted by 
 rugged hiUs or mountains towards the west. Here we crossed 
 a ravine coming from these hills, called Wady Eeshshash, 
 descending east through a deep narrow chasm to the Grh&r, 
 where it unites with Wady Fusail. The fine plain above men- 
 tioned is drained into it ; and we could see that the cultivation 
 was continued for some distance down the mountain. We here 
 got into a wrong path and wandered about for some time ; losing 
 fifteen minutes. We crossed at 3.20 another Wady from the 
 northwest, a branch of the former, with a ruin called Mer^jim 
 on its high western bank, a quarter of a mile distant. Following 
 up a shallow side Wady towards the northeast, we came out 
 upon the ridge, or rather the high table land, which forms the 
 brow of the mountain overlooking the Ghor ; and at 3.30 reached 
 the village of Daumeh. 
 
 ' Bearings at 1.35: KMrtet Jeradeh S. Vol. 1 p. 569. [ii. 305.] Bitter 1. c. p. 
 
 85° W. es-Samieh S. 25° E. 2| m. Ne- 465 sq. The name es-Samieh stands 
 
 jemeh S. 25° E. — This es-Samieh is pro- in onr former lists. — Earth seems also to 
 
 bably the place called Ssamifeh hy Barth, speak of a castle called Nejemeh ; ih. p. 
 
 who passed from Jericho to Nabnlus in 464. 
 
 Feb. 1847 ; see Ritter XV. i. p. 465. But ^ Bearings at Mughaiyir: Kiilason 321°. 
 
 it is not the same with the Snmrah, of el-Mejdel 6°. — This seems to be the Mreir 
 
 which we heard at Jericho; which is a of Barth, also built of hewn stones ; Ritter 
 
 ruin in the Ghor, about three quarters of XV. i. p. 467. The place stands in our 
 
 an hour north of 'Ain es-Sultan. It was former lists ; Bibl. Res. first edit III. App. 
 
 visited by my companion in 1844. See p. 128. 
 
Mat 11.] DAUMEH, EDUMIA. 293 
 
 This is an old place, answering to the Eclumia or JEdomia of 
 Eusebius and Jerome, which they fix at twelve Eoman miles in 
 the east from Neapolis, and erroneously assign to the tribe of 
 Benjamin.' There are ancient sepulchres round about the 
 village. It has also a fountain, which we did not visit ; but 
 'were glad to drink of its waters, after another day of oppressive 
 heat, during which we had thus far found only rain water from 
 cisterns. I do not find that this village had before been visited 
 by any traveller. 
 
 Five minutes east of the village is a more elevated point, 
 affording an unobstructed view over this part of the Ghor and 
 towards Ktirn Sflrtabeh. Opposite this point a broad offset 
 from the Ghor runs up between Kurn Surtabeh on the north, 
 and a lower projection on the south called Miiskurah. In this 
 offset is the site of FflsSil, the ancient Phasaelis ; and the 
 projecting point Muskurah separates it from the smaller offset 
 of 'Aujeh on the south.^ There was a sirocco haze in the atmo- 
 sphere, so that we could not view the various objects with entire 
 distinctness ; but we could see the outline of the great offset 
 below, running up among the mountains ; though FusS,il itself 
 was just out of sight under the mountain on which we stood.' 
 The general course of the Jordan was visible ; but the mountain 
 range beyond was only dimly seen. The long, high, rocky ridge 
 of Surtabeh was overagainst us on the left, beyond the offset, 
 running down from northwest to southeast, and extending far into 
 the Ghor. Towards the extremity and on its highest part is the 
 horn (KOrn), not unlike that of a rhinoceros in form. Beyond 
 this is a large shoulder ; and then a low rocky ridge reaching 
 almost to the Jordan. Indeed the valley of the Jordan is here 
 contracted to its narrowest limits ; and the ridge of Ktirn Sur- 
 tabeh may be said to divide it into the lower and upper Ghor ; 
 the former mostly desert, and the latter fertile and in many parts 
 cultivated. The valley at this point appears also higher than 
 further south ; a low ridge or hill seeming to extend across it from 
 the foot of SiJrtabeh to the base of the eastern mountains. Where 
 the Jordan finds its way through this higher tract, the latter is 
 broken up into labyrinths of deep ravines with barren chalky 
 sides, forming cones and hills of various shapes, and presenting 
 a most vsdld and desolate scene.* These wild hills we could now 
 see ; as also the course of the Jordan among them. 
 
 ' Onomast. art. Sdomia. tions of houses, and of walls perhaps for 
 
 ° The plain of 'Aujeh is in like manner gardens, with remains of conduits. M^. 
 
 separated from the tract of Wady Nuwa- Journal. 
 
 'imeh, further south, by another low pro- * This description is taken from the 
 
 jecting point, called 'Esh el Ghiirib. E. manuscript journal of Dr Smith, who trav- 
 
 Smith Ms. Jonm. Apr. 17th, 1844. elled up the Ghor from Jericho to Wady 
 
 ' The site of Fiis&il was visited by Dr Fari'a in April 1844. 
 Smith in April 1844. There are founda- 
 VoL. 111.— 25* ' 
 
294 
 
 FEOM JESDSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. YIL 
 
 The deep cliasm we had seen before reacliing Daumeh, and 
 another one now north of us, run together below, and take the 
 name of Wady Fusail, as they pass that site. Still further north, 
 and along the base of the ridge of Surtabeh, comes down Wady 
 Ahmar ; one head of which is at 'Akrabeh, and another in the 
 small plain east of Nabulus. It is said to join Wady Filsail 
 before reaching the Jordan.' The tract in the offset watered by 
 'Ain Fusail is cultivated by the people of Daumeh and Mejdel. 
 The high brow on which we stood is not very much lower than 
 the water-shed at "Akrabeh ; and the mountain masses thus 
 tumbling down to the Ghor with an immense descent, presented 
 a magnificent scene. Even Surtabeh itself is hardly higher than 
 the brow on which we now were ; and consequently is not visible 
 in the vicinity of Nabulus. The western end of its ridge is the 
 highest ; higher perhaps than the horn itself ; and breaks down 
 at once towards the west, so as to appear as an isolated ridge, 
 only slightly connected with the high western region. As we 
 afterwards saw it, more in the direction of its length, it appeared 
 as a mass of naked jagged ridges huddled together, with one 
 main backbone running through the whole. The people here 
 and elsewhere spoke of ruins somewhere on Surtabeh, and a 
 reservoir for water ; to which there was formerly an aqueduct 
 from Nabulus ! I examined the summit long and carefully with 
 one of Plossl's FddstecJier ; but could discover no appearance 
 of ruins ; more especially not upon the horn. The distance on 
 an air liue could hardly have been more than two or two and a 
 half mUes.^ Surtabeh is mentioned in the Talmud, as the station 
 nest after the mount of Olives, where signal torches were lighted 
 and waved to announce the appearance of the new moon.^ 
 
 The general course of the Jordan, or rather that of its 
 green border of vegetation, as seen from this point, would not 
 be regarded as winding ; but as tolerably direct. The many 
 windings of the river, therefore, as laid down on the map of 
 Lieut. Lynch, would seem to be in great part those of the 
 channel along the lowest alluvial valley and among the trees, 
 rather than those of the lower valley itself. 
 
 In our former journey we had visited the Ghor at Jericho ; 
 and there took bearings of Kurn Surtabeh as seen in the north. 
 We now had the mountain near at hand ; and looked down the 
 great valley. This completed my view of the lower Ghor ; 
 while my companion had travelled through it* 
 
 ' E. Smith, Ms. Joum. Ap. 17, 1844. * Bearings, 5 min. east of Daumeh : el- 
 
 ^ Schultz heard also of ruins on Surta- Mughaiyir 208°. Mejdel 353°. Jib'itl91°. 
 
 beh ; and thought he could discern them Kurn Surtabeh 68°. Fiis4il about 99°. 
 
 with his telescope ; Kitter XV. i. p. 453. Station of E. Smith 97°.— This station of 
 
 ^ Talm. saaiO , Ilosh Hashana c. 2. Dr Smith, on his journey from Jericho 
 
 Keland Palest, p. 346. Kitter ib. p. 454. ^""S ^^^ ^''^^^ "» ^844, was half an hour 
 
May 12.] KUEN SUETABEH. MEJDEL. 295 
 
 Wednesday, May 12th. We were detained tliis morning 
 nearly an hour, trying to find a guide ; and finally, at 6.55, left for 
 Mejdel without one. Our way lay through another narrow plain 
 of wheat fields, drained to the southern gorge, through the valley 
 by which we approached Daumeh yesterday. Not far beyond 
 the plain we came out upon the brink of a deep narrow chasm, 
 which seemed impassable ; it is called Wady Bursheh, or also 
 "Wady Nslsir, and breaks down through to Fusail ; where it 
 unites with the southern chasm, and becomes Wady FiSsail. It 
 was here very deep, precipitous, and descended with great 
 rapidity. By following a path westwards along its steep south- 
 western side, we came on the same level to its bed at 7.20, at a 
 point where it breaks down at once a hundred feet or more. 
 We now ascended on the north, and at 7.35 reached Mejdel. 
 
 This place also lies on the high brow overlooking the Ghor. 
 It is higher indeed than Daumeh ; and affords a nearer view of 
 the valley below. It is perhaps the nearest point, from which 
 to overlook the ridge of Kurn Sflrtabeh. The main features of 
 the view, however, are the same as at Daumeh. There was stiU 
 a haze in the atmosphere ; so that we saw nothing as distinctly 
 as we could have wished.' 
 
 Mejdel has the air of an ancient place ; there are sepulchral 
 excavations and many cisterns hewn in the rock. Most probably 
 it is the Magdal-senna of Eusebius and Jerome, which they 
 place on the border of Judea, seven miles north of Jericho. 
 The name and position accord well ; and in a part of the coun- 
 try so little freq[uented, the specification of distance might easily 
 be too small.^ 
 
 Among the places seen from Mejdel was 'Ain TSna, N. 28° 
 E. This would seem not improbably to be the ancient Thanaih 
 or Thenath of Eusebius and Jerome, situated ten Eoman miles 
 east of Neapolis, on the way to the Jordan.' I have no note 
 of its distance from Mejdel ; nor did we see it again. It is not 
 probable that it had any relation to the Taanath-shUoh of 
 Scripture, as some have supposed.^ 
 
 east (87°) of Fusail, just on the low ridge 'louSaiaj, as he also writes it in the case of 
 
 running out from Surtabeh. 'Akrabeh ; Ononi. art. Aorahi. The fact 
 
 ' Bearings at el-Mejdel : 'Akrabeh about that Aorabi and Magdal-senna were both 
 
 352°. Yanun N. 'Ain Tana 28°. E. in this region on the northern border of 
 
 Smith's station in Ghor 114°. Judea, shows their proximity to each other, 
 
 ' Onomast. art Senna. Reland Falsest, and points decisively to the present Mejdel. 
 
 p. 884. — The Greek of Eusebius now reads ' Onomast. art Thenath. So too Pto- 
 
 yieyi.K-1] %ivva, instead of MaySoX Sewa, lemy, @riva, Reland Falsest, pp. 461, 1032, 
 
 as Jerome has it. Jerome calls it " ter- 1034. Schultz therefore errs in placing 
 
 minus Judas," for which we ought doubt- this Thana near Beit Furik ; Zeitschr. d. 
 
 less to read " terminus Judsese," as it morgenl. Ges III. p. 48. 
 
 stands in his account of 'Akrabeh. In like * So Bonfrere, Onomast. art. Thenath ; 
 
 manner the text of Eusebius now reads also Gross, in Zeitsclir. d. m. Ges. IIL p. 
 
 ipiov T^s 'VSovfi.a.ias, evidently for t^s 55. 
 
296 FEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAK. [Sec. Til. 
 
 We found a guide at Mejdel ; and left again at 7,50 for 
 'Akrabeh, on a general course about N. by W. The road at 
 first descended a little, and then passed through another not 
 large plain, covered with wheat. It was matter of surprise to 
 us, to find here in this great hreah down of the mountains so 
 much good land ; so many fine and arable, though not large 
 plains. We next wound around the side of a low hill on the 
 left ; and came out at 8.15 upon an open uneven tract, extend- 
 ing from southeast to northwest, with higher hills on each side. 
 On the southern hills was seen the village of Jtirish ; while 
 more in the west was Ausarin.' Our course lay along this tract. 
 At 8.40 we saw far in the distance the high Wely of Sheikh 
 Salmon el-Farisy, with which we had become acquainted on our 
 way from Nabulus to Hableh.^ At 9 o'clock we passed into the 
 broad meadow-like valley of 'Akrabeh ; ' and reached that place 
 at 9.1.5. 
 
 'Akrabeh is a place of considerable size and importance. It 
 has a mosk with a regular dome ; and is now, as of old, the 
 chief town of the district. Its position is fine. It lies on the 
 lower slope of the northern hill, overlooking the fertile strip of 
 plain on the south ; which here, as at Nabulus, is actually the 
 water-shed between two valleys running in opposite directions. 
 The one, called Wady Bir Jenab^ runs westward by Kubalan 
 and south of the Mukhna, and descends to the western plain as 
 Wady Eibah north of Mejdel Yiba.* The other is one of the 
 heads of Wady Ahmar, which descends rapidly to the Gh6r 
 along the southern base of Surtabeh. We saw in the town 
 several capitals of columns. There is an ancient reservoir near 
 the foot of the slope ; the lower side is quite high ; the walls 
 are buUt up of broken but unhewn stones. It is now in ruins. 
 
 There is no question, but that this is the Acrahi of Euse- 
 bius and Jerome, situated nine Eoman miles eastward of Nea- 
 polis, on the way to the Jordan and Jericho, in the district called 
 Acrabatene.^ Nothing more is known of the place itself ; but 
 the toparchy to which it gave name is often mentioned.* It 
 was the easternmost of the four toparchies, which here lay side 
 by side between the Jordan and the Mediterranean.' How far 
 
 ' Bearings at 8. 15 : Jurish 286°. Au- ' Onomast. art. Aorabi ('AKpafi$elv) : 
 
 sarin 311°. 'Akrabeh 341°. A ruin 293°, "Est autem et vieus hucusque grandis 
 
 -J nj. novem milibus ii Neapoli contra orientem 
 
 '^ At 8 .40, the hearing of Sheikh Sal- descendentibus ad Jordanem et Hierico, per 
 
 mon el-Karisy was 306°. See aboTe, p. earn quaa appellatur Acrabitene." 
 
 135. ° Acrabatta or Acrabatene, Josephns, B. 
 
 = Bearings at 9 : Jurish 233°. Ausarin J. 3. 3. 5 ; also ib. 2. 12. 4 ; 2. 20. 4 ; 2. 
 
 281°. 'Akrabeh 328°, i m. Kiirn Sur- 22. 2 ; 3. 3. 4. Plin. H. N. 5. 15. By 
 
 tabeh 108°. Eusehius and Jerome, Ouom. arts. £!do- 
 
 * See above, p. 140. See also VoL n. mia, Janon, Selo. 
 
 pp. 272, 273. [ia 91, 92.] ' See above, p. 141. 
 
Mat 12.] 'akrabeh, aceabi. tanun. 297 
 
 it extended on the south, cannot well be determined. The region 
 continued to bear the name Acrabatene, at least until the time 
 of Jerome in the fourth century ; but neither this name, nor 
 that of the chief town, seems to be any where mentioned since 
 that time, until the present century. We heard of 'Akrabeh 
 in our former journey, as others had done before us ; ' but it 
 was first visited by E. G. Schultz in 1847.= 
 
 We sent off our muleteers by the direct road from 'Akra,beh 
 to Ndbulus ; while we ourselves took a more circuitous route 
 towards the north, by way of Yanun. Setting off at 9.25, we 
 took a road along the slope of the hill towards the east about on 
 the level of the village ; which brought us in ten minutes to 
 the end of the hill, around which we turned northwards. Here 
 again we could look down upon Surtabeh and the Gh6r ; every 
 thing, the Kurn and all, was now below us. We saw here 
 the vOlage el-Ifjim on an open tract through which Wady 
 Ahmar passes, near the bottom of the mountain. Southeast of 
 Ifjim is a lower step of the mountain, forming an extensive 
 plain covered with wheat. ^ Our course was now N. 30° E. At 
 10 o'clock we crossed the deep bed of a Wady said to come 
 from the neighbourhood of 'Awertah, and descending to join the 
 Ahmar. 
 
 Five minutes later (at 10.5) we reached Yantn, a village 
 mostly in ruins, with a few houses inhabited, and one new 
 house. We now proceeded up a fertile valley on the same 
 course (N. 30° E.) and came at 10.25 to 'Ain Yanun, a small 
 fountain of bad water in the valley, feeding a small tank, but 
 not rising above the ground. Here we stopped five minutes.* 
 On the hill above the valley in the northeast, and very near, is a 
 ruin called Khirbet Yanun. 
 
 The name Yanun obviously corresponds to the ancient 
 J anon of Eusebius and Jerome, a village in Acrabatene, twelve 
 Koman miles east of Neapolis ; which however these fathers 
 strangely confound with the Janoah of NaphtaH.' Whether 
 the ancient name was applied to the present village, or to the 
 ruin upon the hill near the fountain, cannot well be determined. 
 
 Leaving the fountain at 10.30, we at once struck obliquely 
 up the northwestern hill, by a bhnd path very little frequented ; 
 and at 10.45 came out on the top 6i what proved to be a narrow 
 
 " See Vol. II. p. 280. [iii. 103.] 0. v. " Zeitschr. d. morgenl. Ges. in. p. 47. 
 
 Eichter, passing northwards along the Ritter XV. i p. 456. 
 great road, says Akrabi lay on his right, ' Bearings at 9.35, ten minutes east of 
 
 hut he could not have seen it; Wallfahr- 'Akrabeh: el-Ifjim S. 70° E. Yaniin N. 
 
 ten p. 55. Scholz also has the name ; p. 30° E. 
 
 267. Irby and Mangles, on their route * Bearing from 'Ain Y^6n : Yantln S. 
 
 from the Jordan to Nabulns, heard of a 30° W. 
 
 village " Agrarba ; " which perhaps was ° Onomast. art. Janvn, Euseh. 'lavdJ. 2 
 
 Akrabeh ; p. 327 [100]. K. 15, 29. 
 
298 FROM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VH 
 
 strip of liigli table land ; from which we looked down into the 
 plain of Saiim, which lies east of Nabulus. It was a sightly spot. 
 Mounts G-erizim and Ebal were in full view ; the former with its 
 Wely of Sheikh Ghanim ; the latter apparently the highest by a 
 hundred feet or more. Several villages were in sight ; as also 
 the Wely Neby Belan, conspicuously situated on the mountain 
 east of the valley which descends jfrom the Milkhna to Wady 
 Fari'a.' 
 
 Having stopped five minutes for bearings, we began to 
 descend by a steep and difficult path, along a rugged ravine, 
 towards the plain of Salim, on a general course towards Nabulus, 
 N. 52° W. We soon got sight of Beit Dejan at the eastern end 
 of the plain ; probably a Beth Dagon of antiquity, of which 
 no mention has come down to us. A feature of the plain also 
 came into view, which I here saw for the first time ; though I 
 afterwards found the same on a grander scale in the Buka'a 
 between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Near the southern side of 
 the little plain, a low ridge of rock runs for nearly its whole 
 length parallel to the southern hills ; and thus forms between it 
 and them a narrow strip of plain, or rather a valley. In this is 
 a water-shed nearly opposite to Beit Dejan ; where is the head 
 of Wady Humra descending on the east to Wady Ahmar ; 
 while towards the west the narrow plain runs down to Beit 
 Furik, and is thence drained, like the whole plain, northwards to 
 Wady Fari'a. Our path led along the declivity of the southern 
 hnis ; at 11.20 we stopped to take bearings." Still keeping on 
 the south of both the plains, we came at 11.40 to the small 
 village of Beit Furik, situated in a nook in the southern hills, 
 which here retire in almost a semicircle. 
 
 The village of SaKm is directly north of Beit Furik, on a 
 low hill on the north side of the plain. It was said to have two 
 sources of living water ; one in a cavern, and the other a running 
 fountain called 'Ain Kebir. 
 
 Setting off at 12.25, we passed to the right around the end of 
 the low rocky ridge, which shuts in the strip of plain, and which 
 terminates just below Beit Furik. A road from Nabulus here 
 enters the narrow plain ; and following it up into Wady Humra, 
 finds its way across to the lower part of Wady Fari'a north of 
 Siirtabeh ; and thus connects Nabulus with the KQrawa, as the 
 fertile tract is called at the mouth of Wady Fari'a. This road 
 we now kept, along the south side of the pla,in ; and at 12.40 
 had Kefi: Beita, a ruin, on our left. Irby and Mangles speak 
 
 ' Bearings at 10.45, on high ridge: " Bearings at 11.20: Slicikh GhSnim 
 
 Mejdel 181°. Tell 'Asftr ? 205°. Sheikh 302°. Tulluza 341°. Neby Belan 352°. 
 
 tih'anim 801°. Neby BeLln 346°. Salim Salim 347°. Beit Furik 311°. Beit Dejan 
 
 336°. Tulluza 336°. Nabulns 308°. Ju- 48°. Head of Wady Humra 72°. 
 i-ish 206°. 
 
MA.T 12.] SALIM. NABULTTS. 299 
 
 of sepulclires near this site.' The water-course of the plain 
 bends more to the north and passes beyond a round hill, which 
 thus stands out isolated, while the channel continues on towards 
 the northwest corner of the plain. 
 
 As one looks towards the plain of Salim from the west, a low 
 rocky ridge is seen running across its western end, separating it 
 from this part of the Milkhna. We had always taken it for 
 granted, that the water-course of the Mukhna passed on the 
 west of this ridge ; and it was therefore with some surprise, that 
 we found that channel entering the plain of Salim by the gap at 
 the southwest corner ; and, after uniting with the channel of 
 the little plain, passing out again at the northwest corner to the 
 prolongation of the Mukhna, and so to Wady Fari'a. At 1.10 
 we crossed the large water-course coming in from the Mukhna, 
 having now some water in it. At 1.25 we were opposite Jacob's 
 well and the ruins of Belatah, on our right ; having crossed 
 some twenty rods further east the road leading northwards 
 through the plain. Ten minutes later we were at 'Ain Defneh ; 
 and at 1.50 reached the eastern gate of Nabulus. Passing around 
 outside of the city, we encamped in an olive orchard, near the 
 large fountains which burst forth below the city on the west. 
 
 Nibulus is furnished with water in singular abundance in 
 comparison with the rest of Palestine. On the east is the large 
 fountain of Defneh, running off east and turning a mill. On 
 the west are the similar fountains by which we were en- 
 camped. In the higher part of the city itself are two large 
 fountains, and another in the ravine above on the side of Mount 
 Gerizim. The water of these three flows off west, partly along 
 the streets of the city, and partly in a canal from which gardens 
 are irrigated and several mills supplied. This western stream 
 we had formerly fallen in with far down the valley. 
 
 Close upon the city are several large mounds of ashes, thrown 
 out by the extensive soap factories of Nabulus. They are similar 
 to those on the north of Jerusalem, and some of them are nearly 
 as large. An examination of both localities convinced us, that 
 those of Jerusalem can have no claim to high antiquity.' 
 
 The last two days had brought us through a tract of country 
 hitherto in a great measure unexplored, and which has usually 
 been regarded as one of the wildest and most lawless portions of 
 the Holy Land. We had been agreeably surprised, to find so 
 much fertile and cultivated soil, thriving villages, and the people 
 kind and courteous. Every village we pjissed, with hardly an 
 exception, has around it many olive trees. Our route led us 
 across the basins of, or rather the tracts drained by, the three great 
 
 » Travels p. 328. [100.] ' ' See above, pp. 201, 202. 
 
300 FKOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VIL 
 
 valleys, the Naw^'imeli, 'Aujeh, and Fflsail. All tnese and their 
 branches form deep precipitous chasms, hy which the whole 
 region is broken up into steep ridges and hills. Such is the 
 general character of the western wall of the Jordan valley, south 
 of Kurn Surtabeh; North of that mountain, as we shall see, 
 the country assumes a different aspect. 
 
 We had an agreeable surprise this evening, in a call from 
 Mr William Dickson of Edinburgh at our tent. While in 
 London I had corresponded with him ; and it had been arranged, 
 that he would endeavour to reach Beirut in season to join me on 
 the journey to Jerusalem. Not being able to do this, he first 
 visited Constantinople ; and was now on his way alone from 
 Damascus to the Holy City. Aided by the suggestions of Dr 
 De Forest at Beirut, he had followed a route of great interest ; 
 and had seen much more of Palestine than falls to the lot of 
 most travellers. I called at his tent the next morning, a little 
 out of the western gate, and saw him start for the Holy City ; 
 but heard nothing more of him, until we casually met in the 
 diligence at Trieste, as we both were setting off for Laibach and 
 Vienna. These unexpected encounters of friends form oases, in 
 what some might call the desert of oriental travel. 
 
 We here fell in again with Mr Van de Velde, whom we had 
 met in Jerusalem ; and who had left that city a few days before 
 us. He had made an excursion to the Kurawa in the Ghor, 
 under the guidance of a Sheikh whom the governor of Nabulus 
 had provided. After two or three days, the Sheikh refused 
 to accompany him any further ; and he had now returned to 
 Nabulus to make complaint against his guide before the gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 Thursday, May 13^A. — Our further plan now was to pass on 
 to Tuhuzah and Tiibas ; then to descend to the northern Ghor, 
 and, if possible, cross the Jordan and search after the site of 
 Pella ; returning to Beisan. A main object in our own minds 
 was also, to make all possible search for Salim and the ^non 
 near by, where John is recorded as baptizing.' 
 
 It was arranged that Mr Van de Velde would accompany 
 us ; and for several days, therefore, the two companies travelled 
 together, and encamped side by side. He had already engaged 
 from the governor an armed horseman, (not a soldier,) of whose 
 presence we too had the benefit. The man was good-natured 
 and intelligent, and able to give much information about the 
 country ; the local guides we ourselves furnished in all cases. 
 
 Leaving the eastern end of the city at 8.50, we came in 
 twenty-five minutes to 'Askar, with its fountain and broken 
 
 = John 3, 23. 
 
Mat 13.] NABULTJS. TILLAGES. 301 
 
 reservoir.' The view is pretty, and several places were in 
 sight ; as 'Azmtd, and Deir el-Hatab on the north side of the 
 plain of Salim ; and especially Neby Belan, on the summit of 
 the northwest buttress of the mountain, which lies north of that 
 plain. This continued to be a high landmark for the whole 
 day.» 
 
 Our course now became about N. 35° E. along the western 
 side of the prolongation of the Mukhna. This name I have 
 used for the whole extent of the large plain as far north as to 
 the foot of Mount Ebal ; although strictly, it was said, the name 
 Mukhna belongs only to the southern part, beyond the water- 
 shed. North of that point the plain slopes eastward ; and its 
 water-course lying along near the eastern hills, enters the little 
 plain of Salim, as we have seen, and again issues from it at the 
 northwest corner. Thence it still hugs the eastern hills in a 
 deep channel ; and the narrower prolongation of the Mukhna 
 becomes steeply sloping in that direction. Upon this we were 
 now entering. 
 
 After half an hour, at 9.45, the three villages, 'AzmM, Deir 
 el-Hatab, and S^lim, were aU seen in one Hne, bearing S. 40° E. 
 At 9.50 we came to the spot, where the narrow sloping plain or 
 vaUey breaks down at once by an abrupt descent towards the 
 Fiii'a ; forming a deep and steep valley, called Wady Bidin, 
 with a still deeper chasm as the water-bed skirted by rugged 
 jagged rocks, the strata of which were very greatly dislocated. 
 Near the same point the road forks ; one branch, going to T^bas, 
 descends along the valley ; the other, which we took, continues 
 high along the steep side of the western hill ; which here, in 
 fact, is the northeastern flank of Ebal. At 9.55 there was a 
 small fountain above us, sending its gushing little stream down 
 the declivity. At 10.15 we were opposite the angle of the valley 
 below, where it opens out into the wide plain of the Fari'a ; and 
 where its deep bed suddenly takes a course N. 80° E. stUl close 
 under the southern mountain, and goes to join the main channel 
 of the Firi'a a long distance below. We could see in it further 
 down a stream of water and several mills.' The mountain buttress 
 in the angle is crowned by the Wely Neby BeMn. The region of 
 the Fari'a was now before us ; an open tract or basin of rolling 
 plain, intersected by deep water-courses, which ultimately unite 
 and flow to the Grh&r by a very gentle descent. The western 
 wall of the Jordan valley has here lost its precipices ; and its 
 " rough places " have become comparatively " plain." * 
 
 • Not Si/char; see above, pp. 132, 133. ' Bearings at 10.15 : Bnrj el-FS.ri'a 48°, 
 
 ' Bearings at 'Askar: Kaujib 179°. Sa- Neby Belan 114°. 
 lim 108°. Deir el-Hatab 95°. 'Azmut 75°. * Is. 40, 4. 
 Neby Belan 57°. 
 Vol. III.— 26 
 
302 FKOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAK. [SecVIL 
 
 The road we had thus far followed, continues on apparently 
 across the upper part of the tract of the Fari'a, perhaps to the 
 plain of San-ftr beyond. We turned off at this point to the 
 left ; and taking a nearly northwest course proceeded towards 
 TuUuzah. Ten minutes brought us to the bottom of a deep 
 side valley, going down towards the right to the one we had just 
 left. We now climbed with difficulty, and almost without a 
 path, a very steep and long ascent ; and reached TuUtizah on 
 the top at 11 o'clock. The town is surrounded by immense 
 groves of olive trees, planted on all the hills around ; mostly 
 young and thrifty trees. It lies high, as approached from the 
 east ; though it was very obvious that the way by which we had 
 reached it was not the usual one. Towards the west one looks 
 out over the high table land spreading out north from Mount 
 Ebal ; and on that side apparently is the ordinary road from 
 Nabulus. 
 
 Towards the east TulMzah overlooks the whole district 
 drained by the Ffi,ri'a and its branches, an extensive tract of 
 arable and fertile land, but destitute of villages. The region 
 called el-Kurawa at its mouth is cultivated by the Arabs 
 Mas'iidy, a nomadic tribe ; who sometimes also visit the higher 
 parts of the valley for pasture.' The main branch of the Fari'a 
 was seen coming down from the direction of Neby Bdyazid in 
 the northwest ; it passes at some distance north of Ttilluzah. 
 The highest point of Mount Ebal bore S. 31° W. Jebel esh- 
 Sheikh was also visible, like a white fleecy cloud, in the N. N. E.* 
 
 Here at TuUtizah, if any where, is the " break down" between 
 the upper table land and the Grhor. But here it is the descent 
 from the table lands of Ebal and Gerizim to the adjacent plains ; 
 and manifestly has no connection whatever with the precipitous 
 regions south of Kurn Surtabeh. 
 
 The town is of some size, and tolerably well built. We saw 
 no remains of antiquity, except a few sepulchral excavations 
 and some cisterns. We were admitted to the top of a Sheikh's 
 house, in order to take bearings. The house was built around a 
 small court, in which cattle and horses were stabled. Thence a 
 stone staircase led up to the roof of the house proper ; on which, 
 at the northwest and southeast corners, were high single rooms 
 like towers, with a staircase inside leading to the top. 
 
 In my former work the question was suggested,' whether 
 perhaps this TuHfizah may not be the representative of the 
 
 ■ In April 1844, my companion found 28°. Tumm6n 80°. Neby Belin 139°. 
 
 them encamped on the ridge between the Beit Fuiik 164°. 'Asireh 235°. Neby 
 
 tipper Fari'a and the plain of Sanfir. Ma. Bayazid 303°. Yasid 338°. Highest 
 
 Jonm. point of Ebal 211°. Burj el-Fari'a 74°. 
 
 ' Bearings at TuHuzah : Mount Hermou ' BibL Kes. first edition, III. p. 158. n. 
 
Mat 13.] TULLUZAH, TIRZAH. BUKJ EL-FABI'a. 303 
 
 ancient Tirzah, the seat of a Oanaanitisli king ; ' and afterwards 
 tlie residence of the kings of Israel, from Jeroboam to Omri, 
 who transferred the seat of the kingdom to Samaria.' The 
 change of r into I is very common, the harder letter being 
 softened, especially in the later Hebrew books and the kindred 
 dialects,^ The place lies in a sightly and commanding position ; 
 though the change of royal residence to the still more beautiful 
 and not distant Samaria would be very natural. On the whole, 
 I am disposed to regard TuMzah as the ancient Tirzah ; espe- 
 cially as there is no other name in all the region which bears 
 the slightest resemblance to the latter. This also is doubtless 
 the place which Brocardus speaks of as Tkersa, situated three 
 leagues or hours east of Samaria.^ He probably recognised the 
 change from rtol; if indeed it had then taken place. TQlluzah 
 had since been visited by no traveller. 
 
 We left TQlluzah at 11.50, byway of Burj el-Fari'a (K 74° 
 E.) for Tubas. We immediately began to descend the slope in 
 a northeast direction, and then struck and followed a steep side 
 Wady, which brought us at 12.15 to the main channel of the 
 Fari'a. This was here a narrow gorge between precipitous rocky 
 sides, with an immense water-bed ; showing that a great volume 
 of water passes down at some seasons. Its general course was 
 here northeasterly. At 12.35, there was a large fountain bursting 
 forth in it, called Eas el-Fari'a. It sent a fine stream down the 
 valley ; and the channel was now skirted with oleanders in 
 blossom. These were said to be still larger and more frequent 
 further down towards the Gh6r. In one place the stream sud- 
 denly disappeared, and then after some fifteen minutes broke 
 out again larger than before. The rocky sides of the valley 
 gradually became lower and grassy ; and the Wady becomes in 
 this part a deep channel running through the rich, elevated, and 
 cultivated plain above. 
 
 Our path now left the main channel, and led across the plain 
 to a side Wady coming down from the northwest under Burj el- 
 Fari'a, and soon joining the main branch. This vaUey had also a 
 fine stream, and a mill just below the Burj. This we reached at 
 10 o'clock, and stopped for lunch under the shade of the mill. 
 Here were immense deposits from the water on the rocks, show- 
 ing that a mill had probably stood here for ages. Nowhere in 
 Palestine, not even at Nabulus, had I seen such noble brooks of 
 water. The Burj itself is an insignificant square tower, on a 
 small TeU a few rods north, where a dry side Wady comes in 
 
 ' Heb. nsin , Josh. 12, 24. Chald. lett. h , p. 727. Heb. and English 
 
 ' 1 K. 14,' i7. 15, 21. 33. 16, 8-24. Lexicon, p. 499. 
 
 See also Cant. 6, 4. * Brocardus o. 7. Breydenbaoh merely 
 
 ' See Gesea Thesaur. Lingnae Heb. et copies from Brooardns ; Eeissb. p. 127. 
 
304 FROM JEEUSAIEM TO BEISAN. [Sec.VIL 
 
 from the northeast. It has no importance except as a land- 
 mark. ' 
 
 The day was warm ; the sun poured his heams fiercely upon 
 the broad basin ; and notwithstanding the presence of water, we 
 found our resting place sufficiently uncomfortable. 
 
 This tract of the Fari'a, from el-Kurawa in the Ghor to the 
 rounded hills which separate it from the plain of Sanur, is justly 
 regarded as one of the most fertile and valuable regions of 
 Palestine. In 1844, my companion had passed up through it 
 from the Ghor to Sanur ; and found it in April every where full 
 of the most luxuriant pasturage, where not covered with fields of 
 grain. Yet, like the great plain of Esdraelon, it is without vil- 
 lages ; and is mostly given up to the nomadic Arabs of the 
 Mas'udy. Further down the valley is a beautiful basin of mea- 
 dow land, two or three miles in diameter ; through which the fine 
 stream meanders between banks covered with a thick growth of 
 oleanders. This spot is called Fersh el-Musa. Not far above it 
 the stream again disappears for a time ; and below the Fersh 
 the valley is shut in by a spur of the hills on the north, and a 
 projecting rock on the south, forming a narrow gorge or door. 
 This point is more than an hour from the line of the Ghor ; and 
 the general direction of the valley is S. 55° E. The extreme 
 eastern point of the northern hills, forming the bluff in the 
 angle between the Fari'a and the Ghor, is called Makhrud ; and 
 appeared to have caves in it. This we afterwards saw from the 
 northeast beyond the Jordan. In the broad plain between this 
 and the ridge of Surtabeh, on the south of the stream and not 
 far from it, is a Tell, with foundations around it, evidently the 
 former site of a town. On the north side of the Tell is the 
 white dome of a saint's tomb, called 'Abd el-Kadir, which now 
 gives name to the place.' This is not improbably the site of 
 the ancient Archelais, built by Archelaus the son of Herod ; 
 which the Peutinger Tables place at twenty-four Koman miles 
 north of Jericho, and therefore north of Phasaehs ; the two being 
 . several times mentioned together. Josephus speaks of it as a 
 village in the plain, like Phasaelis, and surrounded by palm 
 trees.' It is also mentioned by Ptolemy and Pliay.'' 
 
 ' Mr Wolcott reports having taken on of 1847, heard from some ■western Arabs 
 
 Mount Gerizim the bearing of Burj el- the name Bassaliyeh applied apparently to 
 
 Fari'a N. 42° E , and that of Tubas N. 41° this TelL But he did not visit the spot ; 
 
 E. But neither of these places can possi- and that name would seem to be unknown 
 
 bly be visible from Gerizim, on account of to the Arabs of the Ghor. Zeitschr. d. 
 
 intervening mountains. And further, he morgenl. Ges. HI. p. 47. Ritter XV. i. p. 
 
 gives the bearing of Neby Belan (on Jebel 457. 
 
 Bidan) at N. 53^° E. showing that the = Jos. Antt. 17. 13. 1. ib. 18. 2. 2. See 
 
 other two points marked by him lay much Beland Patest. p. 576. The identity with 
 
 farther west than the true position. Archelais is suggested by Schultz, L c. 
 
 ^ The above description is taken from Ritter 1. c. p. 457. 
 
 the Ms. Journal of the Rev. Dr Smith, * Reland Falsest, p. 462. Plin. H. N. 
 
 April 1844. — E. G. Schultz, in the autumn 13. 9. 
 
May 13.] EL-FAE1'A. TUBAS, THEBBZ. 305 
 
 The whole of the FSri'a is occupied hy the Arabs Mas'iidy, 
 numbering in 1844 a hundred horsemen and a hundred foot. 
 North of them, in the Ghor, are the Ghuziny, mustering three 
 hundred horsemen and as many foot. 
 
 Setting off from the mill at 1.45, and passing up on the 
 right of Burj el-Fari'a, we followed up the dry and chalky 
 side Wady about N. 70° E. with no very steep ascent, until 
 2.35 ; when we came out upon the top of the swelling ridge, 
 and to cooler breezes. Here we looked down into the fine basin 
 of Ttibas. Turning now N. 20° B. we came at 2.50 to the 
 large village of Tubis, on the western slope of the basin, with 
 a beautiful plain in front, and large groves of olive trees ; forming 
 one of the prettiest tracts we had seen. It lies of course higher 
 than the plain of the Fari'a ; and is drained (I believe) to the 
 latter ; though of this I am not certain. There are here only 
 a few families of Christians ; the rest being Mushms ; and the 
 whole population was said to be divided into three hostile 
 parties. The village has only rain water in cisterns ; and when 
 this fails, they bring water from the stream of the Fari'a an hour 
 distant. In the southeastern part of the basin, S. 43° E. and 
 less than a mile distant towards Tummon, is a small TeUwitha 
 ruin upon it, called 'Aintin.' Here is precisely the name >Sjnon ; 
 but unfortunately there is no Sahm near, nor a drop of water. 
 
 There is little room for question, but that Tub4s is the 
 modern representative of the Thebez of Scripture ; where Abi- 
 melech of Shechem, during a siege, was killed by a stone 
 thrown down upon him by a woman.' Eusebius and Jerome 
 place Thebez at thirteen Roman miles from Neapohs on the 
 way to Scythopolis, now Bedsan. Allowing for our circuit to 
 TuUuzah, it took us four hours to pass over the intervening dis- 
 tance ; and this at a more rapid rate than usual, having sent 
 our luggage ahead. This gives a very exact coincidence as to 
 the distance ; and we shall see evidence farther on, going to 
 show that a Eoman road between N^bulus and Beisfi.n passed 
 this way. — Berggren, in 1821, travelling by an unusual route from 
 Nazareth to NSbulus, spent the night at Tilbas ; but its 
 relation to Thebez does not appear to have occurred to him.' 
 The first suggestion of the identity of the two, was made (I 
 believe) in the Biblical Eesearches.* Since then the place had 
 apparently been visited by no traveller. 
 
 The Sheikh who met us and did the honours, was at once 
 
 ' Gr. Alviiv for the Aram. plur. 'jU^S , This appendix of routes is not given in the 
 
 /oureioins, John 3, 23. " ' German translation —The writers specifi- 
 
 ^ cation of valleys on this route, I am not 
 
 ■ Heb. yzn, Jndg.9,60. 2 Sam. 11, 21. ^ble to foUow; it seems to me confiised 
 
 ' Berggren Kesor etc. Del. III. Bi- and incorrect. 
 
 hang p. 18. Reisen (Germ.) n. p. 266. * Vol. U. p. 317. [iii. 158.] 
 
 Vol. III.— 26* 
 
306 FROM JEEUSAtEM TO BEISAJT. [Sec. VII; 
 
 ready to furnish us with a guide to Tey&sir, the next village. 
 The road led across the basin, and over the low ridge heyond, at 
 a depressed point. Leaving Tubas at 3.10, we reached this 
 point in twenty minutes ; from which Tub^s bore S. V5° W. 
 and 'Ainun S. 15° B. We immediately began to descend along 
 a shallow open Wady about N. 5° E. At 3.50 there was close 
 upon our right a sarcophagus hewn in a large rock, with a 
 sculptured lid ; and just by it a small edifice, apparently of 
 C[uite ancient construction. It was a square building of hewn 
 stones, each side measuring about twenty-two feet ; with an 
 ornamented marble portal towards the north, and square pro- 
 jecting pilasters at the corners and sides. Around the base also 
 is an ornamental projection. The stones are not bevelled. The 
 style of architecture and ornament reminded us of the Jewish 
 works at Kefr Bir'im and Meiron ; and I have since been struck 
 with its general resemblance to the sepulchres of Jewish saints, 
 as rudely depicted in some of the Jewish itineraries.' The 
 interior seems to show, that it was erected as a sepulchral vault, 
 probably in memory of some Je-wish saint, whose name has 
 perished, and whose last resting place is now in ruins. I have 
 not been able to identify the spot with any historical notice. 
 
 In five minutes more, at 3.55, we reached the little village 
 of Teyasir, of which we had never before heard. It stands close 
 on the east side of the Wady, which here sweeps round north- 
 east and then southeast towards the Ghor. This was said to be 
 the head and longest branch of Wady Malih (Salt), so called 
 from the warm salt springs found in it below ; and having near 
 it a castle called Kusr el-Malih. As the Wady sweeps around 
 the village, it leaves on the east of the latter a fine and fertile 
 plain of some extent. The hills around are rocky, but not 
 high. The village is wholly dependent on rain water, and has 
 no other resource nearer than Wady Furi'a. 
 
 Here the Kul'at er-Kubud, beyond the Jordan, which we 
 had before seen so often, came again into view, nearly east. It 
 is also called Kul'at Ibn Fureih. Northwesterly from the vil- 
 lage is a naked hill, with a ruin, called Selhab.^ 
 
 Before reaching TiibSs we had fallen in with a trace of an 
 ancient Roman paved road ; and likewise met with another on 
 our way to Teyasir. Just east of the latter village there lies 
 also an ancient milestone. All this shows, that a Roman road 
 passed this way from Neapohs to ScythopoHs. The present 
 road from TeyEisir descends northeast gradually through Wady 
 Khushneh to the Gh6r, and then lies along the rich plain to 
 
 ' So in the tract "Jicliiis ha-Abot," ' Bearings at Teyastr : Kul'at er-Eubiid 
 Connoly p. 433 sq. 97i°. Selhab N. 35° W. 3 m. 
 
Mat 14.] ' TETASIB. KUSR EL-MALIH. 307 
 
 Beis^n. This course is perhaps as short as any between Nahulua 
 and Beisan ; and has no steep ascents nor difficult places. 
 
 As Teytsir was the last village on our route towards the 
 Grh6r, and there was no good camping place beyond, we pitched 
 our tent here, thus early, for the night. 
 
 Friday, May lAth. — We found ourselves in trouble this 
 morning in respect to a guide. We had learned, that there were 
 two roads by which we cotild reach the Gh&r ; one direct through 
 Wady Khushneh, and so to Beisan ; the other, following down 
 Wady Malili by the castle and salt springs, led also to Sakvlt 
 (Succoth), but was circuitous. We chose the latter ; but the 
 Sheikh of the village succeeded in persuading us, that it was 
 very long and very bad ; and then extorted from us a high sum 
 for a guide by the direct way, and to the Gh6r only. The guide 
 came, and proved to be a mere boy, the Sheikh's own son. Just 
 at the last moment a Sheikh from Ttibas came along, named 
 Ibrahim 'Amad, well mounted, and on his way to the Gh6r, 
 where the people of his village were now harvesting. He was 
 ready at once to take us down through Wady Malih to Sakut, 
 and thence to the harvest encampment of his people. We 
 therefore sent off our muleteers with the boy guide through 
 Wady Khushneh, to await us at the fountain where the people 
 of T^ibSs had their head-quarters. 
 
 Starting at 6.20 we passed through the plain on the east of 
 the village, covered with wheat, and having many olive trees, on 
 a course S. 50° E. The wheat here was yet green, and not ready 
 for the harvest. On the north and south were low mountains not 
 far distant. The' bed of Wady Malih was at some distance on 
 our left. At 7.05 we were among low rolling hiUs beyond the 
 plaia ; here the Kusr came in view.* At 7.15 we came down to 
 the large channel of Wady M^lih, which we crossed obliquely ; 
 and at 7.25 were under the western side of Kusr el-MS,lih. 
 Turning short to the left we rode with difficulty up the steep 
 acclivity, and reached the ruins at 7.35. 
 
 The castle is situated on the sharp point of a thin ridge 
 running from northwest to southeast, just where it breaks down 
 suddenly to a deep notch or saddle, from which then a lower 
 ridge runs on southeast for two or three mUes. The channel of 
 Wady Malih lies along under its western side for perhaps a mUe 
 or more, and then breaks through the ridge at a right angle. 
 Beyond, in the south, a Wady is seen coming down as if to meet 
 Wady Malih ; but it turns east and probably joins the latter 
 lower down. The fortress was only of moderate size ; and is 
 now wholly in ruins. It was built of stones imperfectly squared 
 
 ' Bearings at 7.5 : Kiisr el-M41ih 91°. Kiil'at er-Eubud 95°. Yerzah, a rain marked 
 ty a tree, 170°, 1^ m. 
 
308 PEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VII. 
 
 and not large. A few bevelled stones testify to the antiquity of 
 its substructions. There are also a few round arches ; but these 
 seem to belong rather to the later dwellings, which had been 
 erected within the walls. No cisterns were anywhere visible. 
 The southern wall of the fortress (a later one) is built along the 
 brow of the perpendicular rock. The spot affords a wide and 
 ■fine view of the Ghor and the adjacent region, including the 
 southeastern part of the lake of Tiberias ; but not many definite 
 places were to be seen.' 
 
 The position of the castle is directly west of the Ktil'at er- 
 Eubud ; the two being in full view of each other on opposite 
 sides of the Jordan. There is a ford of the Jordan directly 
 between them, near S^kiit. Had they ever, perhaps, a coimec- 
 tion or relation with each other .? I have not been able to find 
 any historical notice of either ; except that Abulfeda merely 
 mentions the latter as the castle of 'Ajlun, then recently built." 
 
 We led our horses down the steep descent to the same point 
 in the road, where we had turned off ; and set off again at 8.15. 
 The road, instead of following the channel of the Wady, crosses 
 over through the notch ; and strikes the channel again further 
 down. Five minutes brought us to the notch, and in ten more, 
 we were at the bottom of the descent ; our course being about 
 E. S. E. Here was an open tract, with a small brackish foun- 
 tain ; near which were a few booths of the people of Teyasir, 
 who were now here harvesting. At 8.35 the chasm by which 
 Wady Mdlih breaks through the ridge was on our right, a quarter 
 of a mile distant. We soon struck the channel, and came at 
 8.45 to the rather copious salt springs which give name to the 
 valley. The water is warm, about blood-heat (98°) ; and so 
 salt, that our horses, though thirsty, would not drink.it. The 
 Arabs told us, that animals do sometimes drink of it, and that 
 the water is used for irrigation ; which, however, we did not see, 
 A fetid odour is perceptible around the springs. Just by the 
 .springs, on the northern slope of the valley, are the ruins of a 
 former town of • considerable extent. They seem to be the 
 remains of ordinary dwellings, except some large hewn stones 
 in the eastern part. The site is called Khirbet Malih, but I 
 have met with no historical notice connected with it.^ 
 
 ' Bearings from Ktisr el-Malib : el- arehitectare, witli an Arabic inscription ; 
 
 Hendekuk 106|°. Kul'at er-Rubud 90i°. which according to Burckhardt records 
 
 Kefr Abil ? 66'. Yerzah 226°. Selli'ab SaJadiu as the builder of the castle. It 
 
 294°. Jebel esh-Sheikh 21°. commands a most extensive view of the 
 
 ' Comp. Vol. I. p. as. [il 121.] — See plain of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and 
 Tab. Syr. ed; Kohler, p. 92. Schultens lake of Tiberias, and a vast tract of conn- 
 Excerpt p 63 ; et Ind. geogr. art. JSsjlou- try in every direction. Travels p. 306. 
 num. — Irbyand Mangles visited the KriFat [93.]' See also Bnrckhardt p. 267. 
 er-Riibiid, and examined it fhlly. They de- ^ Had this site and the adjacent KQsr 
 ecribe it as entirely of Turkish [Saracenic] el-Malih any connection perhaps with the 
 
Mat 14.] WADT MALIH. THE GHOE. 309 
 
 Setting off again after five minutes, we left Wady Maiih, 
 and struck upon a course about N. E. over the low ridge. 
 Entering immediately the head of a shallow Wady, called esh- 
 Shukk, we followed it down on the same course, till we came at 
 9.15 to a spring of pure though warm water ; with the , ruin of 
 a village on the left bank, also called esh-Shukk. Here we 
 stopped for ten minutes. Proceeding down the valley, our course 
 soon became E. by N. and the Ghor began gradually to open before 
 us ; so that at 9.40 we stopped for five minutes for observation 
 and bearings.' About 9.55 Wady Malih again came in from 
 the southwest under a low ridge like a windrow, after a long 
 circuit among the hills. It here had a small stream of water, 
 which seemed to flow on quite to the Jordan. The Wady esh- 
 Shukk is of course one of its tributaries. 
 
 The hills and ridges along the valleys had gradually, as we 
 advanced, become lower and lower, and also grassy. There was 
 nothing to be called a mountain ; except perhaps the ridge at 
 Kusr el-Malih. At about 9.50 the hills on our left (towards the 
 north) terminated ; but a broad swell runs down from them 
 across the Ghor almost to the Jordan. The hills on the right 
 (on the south of Wady M^lih) keep on, at a greater elevation, and 
 also run down to the Jordan, where they terminate in a bluff ; 
 the river in this part being driven quite to the eastern side of 
 the Gh6r. Between this line of hills and the broad swell above 
 mentioned, the deep channel of Wady Milih runs to the 
 Jordan. The eastern dechvities of the mountains of Gilboa, as 
 we afterwards saw, lie much further back ; and these hills and 
 this swell jut down beyond them into the Ghor, rendering it 
 here quite narrow. 
 
 We passed down along the southern slope of the swell, 
 having the channel of Wady Malih about three quarters of a 
 mile distant on our right. On the very eastern point of the 
 swell, which here forms a low bluff not far from the lower valley 
 of the river, we came at 10.20 to Sakflt. Here is seen merely 
 the ruin of a common village, a few foundations of unhewn 
 stones. The eastern bank of the lower Jordan valley opposite 
 to us was precipitous, apparently nearly a hundred and fifty or 
 two hundred feet high ; and the river was ruiming close under it 
 about half a mile distant from us. The water of the river was 
 not in sight, because of the bushes and trees ; but we afterwards 
 saw it from a point a little farther north. 
 
 Ooabia of tie Pentinger Tables, situated ' Bearings at 9.40 : Kefr Abtl ? 65°. 
 
 on the military road between Jericho and Deir Abu Humeid 98^°. This is a sum- 
 
 Scytbopolis, twelve Roman miles distant mit of the eastern mountains, without 
 
 from the latter ? The distance at least buildings, and perhaps misnamed, 
 coincides well. 
 
310 FEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VIL 
 
 Quite a number of places and objects were visible from 
 Sakiit ; some of which were already known to us. Tabor and 
 Duhy we could see, as we looked up through the great valley of 
 Zer'in ; while in the north Kaukab was visible on its bluff, and 
 far beyond, the snows of Hermon. In the eastern mountains, 
 Wady Yabis was overagainst us ; and the great break of Wady 
 Zerka or the Jabbok was also in view. Many Tells were 
 scattered in the Gh6r. Thus, Tell es-Sa'idiyeh is near the Jordan, 
 at a ford crossing over to 'Abu 'Obeida. Hendekfik is a hill 
 near the east side of the Ghor. Tell el-Mu'ajjijeh is in the lower 
 vaUey of the Jordan, which is there wide. In the plain, in the 
 direction of Wady Zer'in, were TeU Urn el-'Ajra and Tell 
 Eidghah.' 
 
 Near the foot of the low bluff of Sak6t, towards the east, 
 there breaks out a beautiful fountain of pure and sparkling 
 water, under the shade of a thicket of fig trees. Here we took 
 our lunch, and enjoyed both the water and the shade. In this 
 deep shade and by this bubbling fountain, the thermometer at 
 11^ o'clock stood at 92°. 
 
 Burckhardt was the first to hear of the name Sakut in this 
 region ; but he did not himself see the spot." So far as the 
 name is concerned, it seems obviously to be the representative 
 of the ancient Succoth, where Jacob "built him a house, and 
 made booths for his cattle," on his way returning from Mesopo- 
 tamia.' But the ancient specifications as to the position of 
 Succoth have in them so little that is definite, that interpreters 
 are not yet agreed as to its true site. 
 
 Jacob with his family and flock, moving southwards, crossed 
 the Jabbok, now Wady Zerka ; and, having met his brother 
 Esau, he "journeyed to Succoth."^ This seems at first sight to 
 imply, that Succoth was on the south of the Jabbok ; but does 
 not determine on which side of the Jordan it lay, whether 
 perhaps in or overagainst the Kurawa. It belonged to tlie tribe 
 of Gad ; but this again does not settle its position as to the 
 river, for the territory of Gad included the Jordan quite up to 
 the lake of Tiberias.' The same indefiniteness exists in respect 
 
 ' Bearings from Salc&t : Tabor 343°. Lynch and Ms party encamped jnst above 
 
 Duhy 342°. Kaukab N. Jebel esh-Sheikh Sak6t, opposite to Wady Yabis ; and 
 
 19°. Tell el-Mu'ajjijeh 27°. Deir Abu heard of Succoth as " about five miles 
 
 Humeid 108° Hendek^ 141°. Mount nearly due west from the camp;" Offic. 
 
 Gilead, highest point, 162°. TeU es- Report, 1852, p. 25. 
 
 Sa'idiyeh 170°. Tell el-Humra 336°. > Heb. mso , Sept. :iKrivat, booths, 
 
 S^^^^.^.^°-o-'3[f ''^-^''^Siah339°. TeU Gen. 33, 17. Josephus also Sk,,™/, Antt 
 
 Lmel-Ajra340 . i 21. 1. So too Eusebins and Jerome, 
 
 ' Burckhardt forded the river opposite who meiely refer to Genesis ; Ouomast. 
 
 Beis&n ; and merely says : " Near where art. ScencB, 
 
 we crossed, to the south, are the ruins of * Gen. 33, 17. 
 
 Sukkot ;" Travels in Syr. p. 345. u. Lieut. ' Josh. 13, 27. 
 
Mat 14.] THE 6H0E. — SAKUT, SUOCOTH. 311 
 
 to Gideon's demand upon the inhabitants of Succoth ; for 
 although it is first said that he came to Jordan and passed over, 
 yet his demand on Succoth is narrated in the very same connec- 
 tion.' The mention by the Psalmist of the valley of Succoth 
 seems merely to refer to the adjacent tract of the Ghor." Thus 
 far, then, we have only the apparently definite fact, that Succoth 
 was somewhere south of the Jabbok ; but on which side of the 
 Jordan, is not said. 
 
 Other passages however seem to give it a more northern 
 position, which might readily be identical with Sakut. Thus, 
 even as to the incidents of Gideon's demand, above referred to, 
 his great battle took place in the valley of Jezreel ; ^ whither 
 the Midianites had come over by these fords from beyond Jpr- 
 dan ; and in their flight they would naturally seek again the 
 nearest fords, as also Gideon in his hot pursuit. One or more 
 of these is near S^kut. Again, when Solomon prepared the 
 vessels and utensils for the temple, he is said to have cast them 
 " in the plain of the Jordan, in the clay ground between Suc- 
 coth and Zarthan."* But Zarthan, as we learn from the same 
 writer, was near by Beth-shean or Scythopolis, the present 
 Beisdn.^ From this passage, then, it would seem to follow, that 
 Succoth was probably on the west of the Jordan ; and therefore 
 might well be at Sdkut. The only other notice is by Jerome, 
 who says that in his day there was a town called Sochoth in the 
 district of Scythopolis.* This too implies a northern position ; 
 since the territory of Scythopolis cannot well have extended 
 much further south than Sakut, because of the ridges which there 
 protrude into the Ghor. On the other hand Jerome says ex- 
 pressly, the town was " beyond Jordan ; " by which is more gen- 
 erally understood a position east of that river. This is the only 
 testimony, which at all goes to fix Succoth on the east of 
 Jordan. 
 
 These seeming discrepancies in the testimony have led 
 Eitter to assume two Succoths ; one south of the Jabbok, and 
 the other near Scythopolis.' But is this necessary ? 
 
 When it is said in Genesis,^ that Jacob, after his interview with 
 Esau, "journeyed to Succoth," may it not be that he journeyed 
 toward the north ? When his brother left him, it was with the 
 distinct promise on Jacob's part that he would " lead on softly"' 
 until he came unto Seir, the abode of Esau. He thus deceived 
 Esau ; and what more natural than that he should at once 
 
 ■ Judg 8, 5. 6, 14-16. Est autem usque hodie civitas trans Jor- 
 
 ' Ps. 60, 8 [6]. 108, 8 [7]. danem hoc vocabulo in parte Soythopoleos." 
 
 ' Jndg. 6, 33. 7, 1. Opp ed. Mart. Tom. II. col. 537. 
 
 * 1 K. 7, 46. ' Erdk. XV. i. p. 447. 
 ' 1 K. 4, 12. • Gen. 33, 17. 
 
 • Quaest in Gen. 33, 17: "Sochoth. ' Gen. 33, 14. 
 
312 FROM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VU. 
 
 retrace his steps, and cross the Jordan by the ford near Sakttt ? 
 If this suggestion be admitted, then the whole question as to a 
 Succoth south of the Jabbok falls away. 
 
 In respect to Jerome's phrase "beyond Jordan," we may 
 bear in mind, that it is a Hebrew idiom, and must therefore be 
 interpreted with the same latitude as in Hebrew.' It is no 
 doubt true, that this phrase more commonly refers to the coun- 
 try east of the Jordan ; inasmuch as the writers or speakers mostly 
 lived in Palestine proper, on the west of that river. Yet in some 
 passages it is also used to denote the west of the Jordan ; either 
 where the speaker was actually in the eastern country, or trans- 
 ports himself and readers thither in thought, or sometimes even 
 without any such assignable reason." The same remark holds 
 true likewise in regard to the phrase " beyond the river," mean- 
 ing the Euphrates ; which is used also of provinces on the west 
 of the Euphrates.^ — In the present instance, Jerome had been 
 commenting quite at length upon Jacob's wrestling with the 
 angel and his interview with Esau, both of which took place on 
 the east of the Jordan ; he then turns to speak of the house and 
 the booths which Jacob built ; and immediately goes on to say, 
 that in his day there was a town called Succoth (booths) on the 
 other side of Jordan in the district of Scythopolis ; that is, on 
 the west of Jordan, the other side from that where the wrestling 
 with the angel and the meeting with Esau had taken place, of 
 which he had just been speaking.* 
 
 It may also be said, that the district of Scythopohs probably 
 lay wholly on the west of the Jordan ; since on the east of the 
 river, and still nearer to it, was the city of Pella, which had its 
 own district. 
 
 If the preceding views are correct, we may rest in the result, 
 that the present Sakut represents the name and site of the an- 
 cient Succoth. 
 
 We left Salrfit at 11.45, for the place where we were to meet 
 our muleteers and baggage, on a course about N". 35° W. We 
 now passed obliquely along the northern slope of the same broad 
 swell ; where the ground was covered only by a thick crop of 
 
 ' Heb. l^'lTl "GS Sept. irepov tov Gesen. Thesaur. p. 986. Heb. Lex. art 
 
 'loptivov, Vulg. trans Jordanem, Gen. 50, ">?? • 
 10. Deut 1, 1. 5. al. ^ E. g. 1 K. 6, 4 [4, 24], where the 
 
 ■■• E. g. Dent. 3, 20. 25, where Moses is English version does not hesitate to render 
 
 east of the Jordan. So too 1 Sam. 31, 7 ; "l^?'"! 1?? . o» this side the river; and 
 
 where no reason can well be assigned, so in Ezra 8, 36. 4, 10. 16. Neh. 3, 
 
 Sometimes, in order to make the phrase 7. See more in Gesen. Thesaur. p. 986. 
 
 definite, the word westward is added. Josh. Heb. Lex. art. ^3S . 
 5,1. 12,7. 22, 7; »\ao eastward 'Sum. ■" Hieron. QuEesUn Gen. 32, 24-33, 17. 
 
 32, 19. In aU these passages we have Qpp. ed. Mart. U. col. 536, 537. See 
 
 Heb. "13? , Sept irepay, Vulg. trans. See note 6, on the preceding page. 
 
May 14.] THE OHOE. — 'AIN EL-BEIDA. 313 
 
 thistles. Here a large tract had been burnt over, prooably 
 during winter or early in the spring. On our right was a region 
 of lower ground, to which we gradually descended ; full of grass, 
 wild oats, and thistles, with an occasional thornbush. The soil 
 was like that of an 01 do bottom. The grass intermingled with 
 tall daisies, and the wild oats, reached to the horses' backs ; 
 while the thistles sometimes overtopped the riders' heads. All 
 was now dry ; and in some places it was difficult to make our 
 way through this exuberant growth. At last we came to the 
 cause of this fertih'ty, a fine brook winding along the bottom. 
 We crossed it at 12.20 ; and passed up again obliquely over 
 another like swell, covered as before only with thistles. Here 
 was an ancient oil vat, very large and of a single stone ; it was 
 evidently brought hither, and indicates the former growth of 
 the olive in these parts. At 12.35 we struck the same stream 
 again at its source, called 'Ain el-Beida, a large and fine foun- 
 tain, surrounded with gardens of cucumbers, and watering an 
 extensive tract.' 
 
 "We were here on the edge of the higher portion of the 
 Ghor ; where low ridges and swells project out from the foot of 
 the western mountains, and form a rolling plain or plateau ; 
 which is well watered, arable, and very extensively cultivated 
 for wheat. The tract further east, whach we had no^ crossed, 
 may be said to extend to the high bank of the lower Jordan 
 valley. It is less elevated ; is more generally level, though 
 crossed by low swells between the water-courses ; and has little 
 tillage. — The inhabitants of Tubas, as we have seen, are divided 
 into three hostile parties ; and they carry their divisions into 
 their agriculture in the Ghor. One party sows at 'Ain el-Beida, 
 where we now were ; another around 'Ain Mak-hliz, more in the 
 north ; and the third at Kidghah, SS,kut, and further south. 
 The people of TeySsir also sow on the south of the Malih ; the 
 water of which is used for irrigation. The whole tract north of 
 Wady Malih was said to be farmed from the government by 
 one of the Sheikhs of the Jen^r family, who live at Jeba' and 
 in its neighbourhood. By him it is again let to the different 
 villages. 
 
 Our guide, the Sheikh from Tubas, belonged to the party at 
 'Ain el-Beida ; and supposed that, as our muleteers were sent 
 down Wady Khushneh, they would follow its stream down into 
 the plain. We therefore went on about northeast, and came at 
 1.10 to the water of the Khushneh, about a mile from where it 
 issues from the mountains. Here, on both sides of the stream, 
 are the remains of a considerable town, consisting of little more 
 
 ' From 'Ain el-Beida we saw Tell el- the western mountaims, half a mile distant, 
 Himmeh, a large Idgh Tell at the foot of bearing S. 46° W. 
 Vol. III.— 27 
 
314 FROM JEETJSALEM: to BEISAN. [Sec. VU. 
 
 than the foundations ; and these mostly upon the southern side 
 of the Wady. The site is called Berdela.' Here we stopped, 
 hoping to find our baggage. In this we were disappointed ; and 
 had no resource but to go on to the quarters of the other party 
 from Tdb^s, at 'Ain Mak-hi^^z. We proceeded, therefore, at 1.35, 
 on the same course ; passed the threshing floors of the northern 
 party on a low brow overlooking the lower plain ; and reached 
 'Ain Mak-huz at 1.55. Here again nothing had been heard of 
 our muleteers ; and Rashid was therefore dispatched to seek for 
 them at a fountain higher up, in the mouth of Wady Khushneh. 
 There he found them ; the boy guide having left them there, 
 instead of bringing them to tliis place. But ere they could 
 reach us, and before we could obtain information to regulate 
 our further plans, it had become so late, that we concluded to 
 encamp for the night. The thermometer was now at 93°, with 
 a strong northwest wind. 
 
 'Ain Mak-huz is not as large as several of the other foun- 
 tains ; but the water is good. It was the seventh fountain or 
 stream, to which we had come to-day ; and all but two of them 
 in the Ghor itself. This abundance of water was quite unex- 
 pected to us ; and accounts perhaps sufficiently for the greater 
 fertility of this region. Yet along with the supply of water 
 may be taken into account also the warmer climate of this 
 depressed valley. Without any great apparent descent, we had 
 passed from the fields of wheat yet green at Teyasir in the 
 ■ morning, to the harvest home and threshing floors of the Ghor 
 at midday. 
 
 The people of Tubas encamped around 'Ain Mak-hiiz were 
 now in mid-harvest. They were dwelling in tents and booths, 
 with their women and children, horses and donkeys, dogs and 
 poultry ; the latter, probably, that they might thrive on the 
 scattered grain. We pitched our tent by their side, and enjoyed 
 the lively scene. The people were kind and hospitable. 
 
 We could here see Wady Khushneh coming down through 
 the mountains, in a northeast course ; and thus forming an almost 
 direct route from TubS,s to Beistn. North of it, another valley, 
 Wady Ktib6sh, comes down from towards the village Jelkamus 
 in a like direction, just under the southeastern flank of the 
 mountains proper of GUboa. In its mouth is a fountain, and 
 a ruin called Ka'un. About two hours south of Beisan, at the 
 foot of the same mountains, is also a fountain and the ruin of 
 
 ' Bearings at Berdela on the north side : 84°. Deir Ahu Humeid 111°. Tahor 
 
 Kaukah 15°. Tell el-Humra 18°. Tell 350°. — Duhy was shut out from view by 
 
 Um 'Ajra 18°. Eahab 18°. Tell Ridghah Jebel Jelbon. 
 80°, Kefr Aba ? 80°. Tell el-Mu'ajjijeh 
 
Mat 15.] THE GHOK. 'aIN MAK-HTJZ. 315 
 
 Mujedda'.' Beisan and its dark Tell we had not yet teen able 
 to make out, because of intervening swells of land.^ 
 
 In tbe course of the afternoon, Dr Smith was able to make 
 an arrangement with two young Sheikhs of the party here 
 encamped, the Sawafita, to take us on an excursion for a day 
 beyond the Jordan. They were vigorous, active, and intelligent 
 young men ; and agreed to accompany us for forty piastres each. 
 We accordingly laid our plan to go to Kefr Abil, supposing we 
 should naturally ascend along Wady Y^bis and so could search 
 for Jabesh-gilead ; and then return direct to Beisan, visiting on 
 the way the ruins called Tubukat Fahil, described by Irby and 
 Mangles. The main point was, to ascertain (if possible) the 
 distance between those ruins and Jabesh-gilead, and thus deter- 
 mine whether the former are the remains of Bella ; since, 
 according to Eusebius and Jerome, Jabesh was six Boman miles 
 distant from Bella on the way to Gerasa.' At our invitation 
 Mr Van de Velde concluded to accompany us. His armed 
 horseman decided not to go ; lest, should anything adverse 
 occur, he might be censured for going beyond the limits of his 
 district, the province of Nabulus. He was left therefore to 
 accompany the muleteers to Beisdn, there to await the return 
 of our party.* 
 
 Saturday, May 15th. — We rose at half past 2 o'clock, ex- 
 pecting to start at 4 o'clock ; but some delay on the part of the 
 guide, who was to take the muleteers to Beisan, made it 4.20 
 before we set off. Our Sheikhs were well mounted, and in high 
 spirits. Our course was about E. by S. towards a ford a little 
 north of S^ktit ; and at 4.50 we came to Tell Eidghah in the 
 plain, with a few old foundations upon it. At its foot, on the 
 north, is a pleasant fountain, and a Wely called Sheikh Salim, 
 with a few huts around.' As we advanced, the rays of the 
 morning sun began to gUd the tops of the mountains of Grilboa. 
 behind us. At 5.25 we crossed a large brook, coming from a 
 fountain in the plain, called ed-Deir. Our path lay, as yesterday, 
 for the most part, through a tall and rank growth of grass, wild 
 
 ' This is mentioned by E. G. Schnltz ; panied ns, at our invitation. He had no- 
 Eitter Erdlc XV. i. pp. 423, 446. He thing whatever to do either with the plan, 
 speaks also of a Wady Mujedda' ; probably the arrangement, the expense, or the re- 
 ft small one, or else perhaps another name suits of the excnrsioa 
 for Wady Kubosh. ' Bearings at Kidghah : Tell Abu Feraj 
 
 " Bearings at AinMak-hfiz: Tell Humra 2°. Kaukab 3°. Tell el-Mu'ajjijeh 89°. 
 
 8 '. Rahab 10°. Tell Um 'Ajra 10°. el-Hujeijeh, a Tell and ruin on the lower 
 
 Kaukab 12°. Wady Yabis 103°* Deir declivity of the eastern mountain, 135°. 
 
 Abu Humeid 116°. Tabor 348°. Wady Wady Kubosh 284°. Tell Humra 332°. 
 
 Kfibfish N. 75° W. Wady Khushneh S. Tabor 343°.— Ridghah is also mentioned 
 
 65° W. by Bertou ; Bull, de la Soo. Geogr. de 
 
 ' OaoraBSt.B.Tts. Asirotk,JMs-Oalaad. Paris, 1839, T. XII. p. 156. Ritter XV. 
 
 * Circumstances render it proper to say i p. 441. 
 here, that Mr Van de Velde simply accom- 
 
316 FKOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VH. 
 
 oats, thistles, and other herbage. We came at 5.30 to the brow 
 of the lower Jordan valley, here perhaps a hundred and fifty 
 feet above the river ; ' and began immediately to descend along 
 a small Wady. 
 
 We now crossed the narrow alluvial plain forming the bottom 
 of the valley ; which our guide said was never overflowed. ^ In 
 it are two former channels of the river, now fuU of tamarisks 
 (TQrfa), the most common tree just here ; and through these 
 channels the river still sends its waters in the rainy season. It 
 thus appears, that the river sometimes changes its bed ; and that 
 the islands in its stream are variable. At 5.50 we reached the 
 bank of the river at the ford f which proved to be over a long 
 narrow island. The western and smaller channel was crossed 
 without difficulty ; though the stream was very rapid. The 
 island is of considerable extent, alluvial, with an exceedingly 
 rich soil, covered with tall grass and the rankest vegetation. 
 The many tamarisks upon it were fuU of birds ; and here, for 
 the first time this year, I heard the song of the nightingale. 
 
 The eastern channel was twice as broad and deeper, with a 
 swift stream ; the ford beiag on a bar, over which the water 
 breaks into a rift or rapid. Here there was some need of pre- 
 paration ; our saddle-bags were taken before us ; shoes and 
 stockings were stripped off, and pantaloons rolled above the 
 knees. We thus got over very weU. The water came up high 
 on our horses' sides ; it was q^uite warm, and had a bluish 
 tinge. 
 
 At 6.20 everything was again in order, and we were off ; 
 our Sheikhs telling us, for our comfort, that at the ford near 
 Beisan the water was still deeper. We immediately began to 
 rise along the high and steep bank of the lower valley, under 
 which the river here flows ; and soon came out upon the more 
 elevated Ghor above, which is here narrow, and at first dry and 
 desert. We struck across it obliquely, about E. by N. towards 
 the mouth of Wady Yabis, as it issues from the mountains. At 
 6.30 we crossed the road leading from Beisan to 'Abu 'Obeida 
 and es-Salt ; being that travelled by Burckhardt.^ Nearer the 
 hiUs the surface of the ground is lower ; and a small fountain, 
 with a marsh and a brook, gives occasion for a fertile tract. 
 Looking back, a single horseman was seen in the plain, appar- 
 ently following us ; but our guides paid no regard to him. 
 
 At 6.45 we reached the foot of the first hills ; and, as we 
 began to rise a little, found ourselves suddenly surrounded by 
 twenty or thirty armed men. They proved to be FeUahin from 
 
 ' Bearings at 5.30 : Wady Kubosh N. kab 356°. Sakut 229°. These may serve 
 70° W. Wady Yabis E. to fix the place of the ford. 
 
 ' Bearings at the ford of Jordan : Kau- ' Trav. in Syr, p. 345. 
 
Mat 16.] FORD OF THE JOEDAN. -WADT TABIS. 317 
 
 Fdrai, a ,village higher up in the mountain. The people of that 
 village cultivate the arable ground at the mouth of Wady 
 TS.bis ; and were now here encamped in booths to gather in the 
 harvest. Along with the other inhabitants of Jebel 'Ajltin, they 
 had recently combined to prevent Muhammed Pasha from 
 enforcing the conscription ; and they had now been watching us, 
 thinking we might perhaps be coming from the governmejit on a 
 like errand. They were acquainted with our Sheikhs ; and 
 finding all right, they took us to their encampment just by, on 
 the south bank of Wady Yabis. Their booths stood on the site 
 of a small ruined village ; and, like our friends from Tiabas on 
 the other side of the Jordan, they formed quite a colony, having 
 brought with them all their households, including dogs and 
 chickens. They invited us to breakfast, which we declined ; but 
 our guides accepted, and made their repast on bread, leben, and 
 oil. Afterwards coffee was brought, of which we all partook. 
 Here we got sight of the singular Tell of Beisan, to which all 
 our bearings for that place refer.' 
 
 Five minutes from the encampment brought us to the bottom 
 of Wady Yabis, which we reached at 7.40 ; it has a stream of 
 the finest water and a mill. Our guides were about to proceed 
 up this valley, and so we had expected and desired ; but a 
 man at work in the fields told them the way to Kefr Abil lay up 
 along another Wady. So we turned more north, and began to 
 ascend by a smaller Wady called Kaud Abu el-Khuraz ; along 
 the northern side of which our way went on winding and climb- 
 ing steep grassy hills one after another. At 8.05 a small ruin, 
 called el-Kurkumeh, was pointed' out on the south of Wady 
 Y3,bis, on a small green plain sown with wheat." At 8.30 the 
 hills became higher and greener ; and oak trees began to appear, 
 the oaks of Bashan, (Arab. Mellul,) scattered here like orchards 
 upon the hiUs, much like the olive trees on the west of the 
 Jordan. 
 
 At length, at 8.55 we came out upon a prominent point, 
 affording an extensive view over the whole northern Gh6r, from 
 KOrn Surtabeh to the lake of Tiberias. Here, far below us, the 
 eye took in the opening of Wady Fari'a between the ridge of 
 Surtabeh and the opposite lower bluff el-MakhrM ; Kusr el- 
 Malih, and the Wadys Malih, Khushneh, and Kibosh, as they 
 left the western hills and extended to the Jordan ; the picturesque 
 mountains of Gilboa ; while, looking up the broad valley of 
 Jezreel, Carmel and then Tabor came into view. A large por- 
 tion of the lake was visible, in its southern and western parts. 
 
 ' Bearings at the mouth of Wady Yabis: Dflhy 323°. Tell Beisan 331°. Tabor 
 Sakfit237i°. TeU Ridghah 280°. Tell el- 335°. Kaukab 348°. 
 Mu'ajjijeh 299°. Tell Abu el-Feraj 304°. " At 8.5 Kurkumeh bore S. diet. 2 m. . 
 
 Vol. III.— 27* 
 
318 FROM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VII. 
 
 It was a noble prospect ; and I rejoiced in being thus able to 
 survey tbe whole Gli6r on the north of Kurn Surtabeh, as 
 fuUy as I bfefore had viewed the portion on the south of that 
 mountain. The day was fine, and the atmosphere perfectly 
 clear. ' 
 
 This high point proved to be the brow of the first plateau of 
 the mountain. Setting ofi" again at 9.10 on a course about 
 northeast, we continued to ascend quite gradually over a gentle 
 slope, through a beautiful region of country. The fields were 
 covered with a noble crop of wheat ; than which we had seen 
 none heavier or better." It was not yet ripe for the harvest. 
 The land not thus occupied, was covered with splendid pas- 
 turage. The orchards of oak were now more frequent. At 9.25 
 we saw the inhabited village of Helaweh about two miles distant, 
 south of Wady Yabis, bearing S. 50° E. At 9.40 Kul'at er- 
 Rubfid came in sight in the southeast, stiE high above us ; it is 
 also known as Kd'at Ibn Fureih.' At 10 o'clock we were in 
 sight of Kefr AbH ; and here another less prominent brow 
 afforded us still a wide prospect.^ 
 
 We came to Kefr Abil at 10.10 ; a mean village, without a 
 trace of antiquity. It stands near the eastern part of the first 
 plateau, not far from the next line of steep ascent ; from which 
 it is separated by an open cultivated Wady, running south along 
 the foot of the higher slope to Wady Yabis. We found the vil- 
 lage nearly deserted. When Muhammed Pasha recently came to 
 take soldiers, the people all fled ; and now, having seen us Franks 
 approaching at a distance, they had done the same. None 
 showed themselves tiU 'it was known who we were. They were, 
 however, not far off, and soon returned ; while some came from 
 other villages to inquire our object. The people seemed to be 
 much the same in character with those on the other side of the 
 Jordan. We judged the village to be not much less than two 
 thousand feet above the river. Three other villages were in 
 sight a little higher up, Beit Idis, Kefr 'A wan, and Judeita.* 
 
 In the higher ridge, towards the south-southeast and hardly 
 a mile distant, we could see a deep glen, by which the Yabis issues 
 from that ridge, and then sweeps off more to the south, beyond 
 
 ' Bearings at 8.55, on a high point : ' Bearings at 9.40 : KWat er-Ettbiid 
 
 Kurn Surtabeh 209°. el-Mak£r6d, end 146J. Deir Abn Humeid 164°. 
 
 203°. Sakut 243°. Mouths of three " Bearings at 10 : Kurn Surtabeh 211°. 
 
 Wadys at Jordan, viz. W. Malih 236°. W. Kiisr el-Maiih 247°. DQhy 311°. Kankab 
 
 Khnshneh 258°. W. Kfibosh 282°.— Kusr 330°. Deir Abu Humeid 1T4°. Kefr 
 
 el-Malih 246.° Kuikumeh 213°; North AbU E. 
 
 foot of mount Gilboa 318°. North end of * .Bearings at Kefr Abil : Kfil'at er-Ru- 
 
 Carmel 311°. Duhy 317°. BeisSn 318°. bud 156°. Beit tdis N. 50° E. 1 m. Kefr 
 
 Tabor 329°. Kaukab 340°. Deir Abu 'Awau N. 70° E. J m. Judeita S. 75° E, 
 
 Humeid 151^°. — ^Not in sight, but direction | m. 
 pointedout: Heliweh 138°. Farah 169°. 
 
Mat 15.] KEFR ABIL. JABESH-GILEAD. 319 
 
 a rather tigli hill in the south of Kefr Abil. In that glen, it 
 was said, are the ruins of a town called el-MaklUb, as having 
 been " overturned ; " but there are no columns. Further west, 
 on the south side of Wady Yabis, beyond the high hill just 
 mentioned, and on a similar hill, we were told of another ruin 
 called ed-Deir, having in it columns, and situated on the road 
 leading from Beisan to Helaweh and Jerash. We could hear 
 of no other ruins in the vicinity ; and of no place whatever 
 bearing the name of Yabis. That name now exists only as ap- 
 plied to the Wady. 
 
 Our main object in this excursion to Kefr Abil was to search 
 for the site of Jabesh-gUead ; in the hope of thus finding a 
 definite point, from which to determine the position of Pella. 
 In this we found ourselves partially disappointed ; since it was 
 not now in our power, for want of time, to visit the above sites 
 of ruins. Had we possessed all this information beforehand, 
 our proper course would have been, to have ascended by Wady 
 Yabis to ed-Deir and Maklub, and thence have taken the 
 direct route to Tubfjkat Fahil and BeisS,n. We might even now 
 have visited these sites of ruins, had we known all the circum- 
 Btances ; but a long route was laefore us to Beisan through an 
 unknown region ; our guides were eager to return ; and we now 
 found, that they knew nothing of Tubflkat Fahil. 
 
 It is difficult to arrive at any very certain conclusion in such 
 a case, solely upon the testimony of Arabs ; yet there seems here 
 to.be little reason for doubt, but that the ruin ed-Deir corre- 
 sponds to the site of Jabesh-gilead. The name ed-Deir (signi- 
 fying a convent) is often given to ruins of which the Arabs can 
 make nothing else ; while the existence of columns, and the 
 position upon the road from Beisan to Jerash, are circumstances 
 of great weight. The distance too of six mUes from Pella, 
 as specified by Eusebius and Jerome, seems entirely applicable to 
 ed-Deir.' 
 
 Jabesh-gilead is first mentioned in the book of Judges," as 
 the only city which did not join in the war against the tribe of 
 Benjamin ; for which reason the inhabitants were destroyed, and 
 their daughters given as wives to the surviving Benjamites. 
 Afterwards, when the city was besieged by Nahash king of the 
 Ammonites, Saul hastened to its rescue.' It was probably in 
 grateful remembrance of this deliverance, that later, when the 
 bodies of Saul and his three sons after the slaughter of Gilboa 
 were fastened by the Philistines to the walls of Bethshean, the 
 
 ■ • Onomast. art JabU-Galaad, "Nunc ' Jndg. 21, 8. Jos. Antt. 5. 2. 11 
 
 est vicus trans Jordanem in sexto miliario 'IcCj3iiros. 
 
 oivitatis Ptllse, super montem euntibus ' 1 Sam. 11, 1-11. Jos. Antt, G, 6, 1 
 
 Gerasam." See also art Asiroth, 'la$is. 
 
320 FEOM JEEUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. VII. 
 
 inhabitants of Jabesh-gUead " went all night " and carried the 
 bodies away to their own city, and there burned them and buried 
 their bones.' For this they received the thanks of David ; who 
 afterwards removed the bones. ^ Jabesh is not farther mentioned 
 in Scripture ; but it still existed in the days of Busebius and 
 Jerome, whose testimony is cited above. But from that time 
 onwards until now, no traveller had ever sought for its site. An 
 ocular examination is stOl needed ; may we not hope, that it 
 will not be, long delayed. 
 
 Having made up our minds with regret to go direct from 
 Kefr Abil to Beisan, we computed, that if the remains at Tubfl- 
 kat FahU were those of Pella, the distance could not be much 
 less than six Koman miles ; and therefore we might expect to 
 reach the spot in a time varying from an hour and a half to two 
 hours. Setting off at 11.15, we struck down a deep ravine on 
 the north of the road by which we came, on a general course 
 about northwest ; and kept along in the ravine, shut out from 
 all view, until at 12.10 it turned more to the left, and we 
 ascended the steep hill on the right, reaching the top at 12.15. 
 Here we passed into another valley on the same general course, 
 and followed it down till it also turned to the left, when we 
 again turned up the ridge on the right, and were on its top at 
 12.35.^ Still ascending a gradual slope, there was on our left 
 at 12.45, a higher point, with the appearance of ruins upon it. 
 Our guides hesitated ; but at last said this was Tiibukat Fahil. 
 We went to the top, and had a wide prospect ; but found no 
 ruins.* 
 
 Starting again at 1.15, we descended continually and rapidly 
 over open grassy hills. At 1.30 we were on what seemed to be 
 the last brow or promontory towards the Gh6r. Below, on our 
 left, on a low mound in a nook among these higher hills, we now 
 saw, hardly a mile distant, (S. 35° W.) a site of ruins which 
 our guides knew only as el-Jerm. We were at this time just an 
 hour and three quarters from Kefr Abil, and this distance 
 accorded weU with Pella ; but the ignorance of our Sheikhs, 
 who were ever hurrying on, and the apparent insignificance of 
 the ruins as here seen, led us to keep on our way and descend 
 the hiU. Here, however, we could hold out no longer ; and at 
 1.40 turned short off to the left, followed by only one of the 
 guides, through a narrow plain covered with rich fields of ripe 
 wheat. Crossing a ravine in the plain, we came in fifteen nm'n 
 
 ' 1 Sam. 31, 8-14 Jos. Antt. 6. 14. 8 * Bearings at 12.45 : Kankab 332°. 
 
 'U^iaais. Beisj'm 300°. Duhy 309°. Saminyeh 270°. 
 
 = 2 Sam. 2, 4-7. 21, 12-14. Tell Um 'Ajra 276°. Zer*!!! 296°. Jebel 
 
 ' Bearings at 12.35 : Sakut 225°. Kau- Jermuk 346°. — Samiriyeh is a ruin on the 
 
 kab 332°. Tabor 323°. Duhy 309°- west side of the Ghor near the movmtda.' 
 
May 15.] PAHIL, PELLA. 321 
 
 utes to the ruins of Fahil ; for so the name was given to us by 
 people on the spot. 
 
 The low flat Tell or mound on which the principal ruins are 
 situated looks out westward upon the narrow plain, which also 
 runs up on the north side, between it and the projecting hill 
 from which we had descended. On the south is a ravine ; and 
 beyond it the narrow plain extends somewhat further. Behind 
 are the higher hills, which shut down and enclose the spot. 
 One singular Tell is on the southeast quarter, just by the low 
 neck which joins the mound to the hill back ; it looks almost 
 as if cut away by art in order to form an acropolis for the city. 
 Directly under its southwestern base is the head of the ravine, 
 which runs off southwest ; and just there, in its head, is a large 
 and noble fountain, which sends off a mill stream down the val- 
 ley. This latter was now almost a marsh, overgrown with 
 tamarisks and oleanders. The fountain is called Jerm el-Mauz ; 
 and the valley breaks down, as Wady Mauz, to the bottom of the 
 Ghor and the Jordan, half an hour soiith of the ford to BeisS,n.' 
 We could now understand the ignorance of our guides as to the 
 name Fahil.' 
 
 The whole narrow plain, as we afterwards saw, which thus 
 lies west of the ruins and along the hills, is in the nature of a 
 high plateau, or terrace, standing out in front of the hills, 
 several hundred feet above the valley of the Jordan below. 
 Hence the name Tubukat Fahil, signifying ' Terrace of Fahil.' 
 It is cultivated by the people of Kefr 'Awan, and needs little 
 if any irrigation. The tract through which we descended is 
 also theirs ; but is too rugged to admit of much tillage.' 
 
 As we approached from the north, there were in the low 
 plain and on our left numerous foundations with many broken 
 columns. Ascending the mound of the city from the east, we 
 came at once to the remains of a building, of which the portal 
 was broken down and scattered around ; within were three 
 granite columns. Before it lay a sculptured slab of Hmestone, 
 having the name QflMAS (Thomas) rudely inscribed upon it ; 
 apparently a later scrawl. The edifice may have been a temple, 
 or perhaps a church. The surface of the hill is a level area of 
 four or five acres in extent, covered with the foundations of 
 houses, and with heaps of hewn stones intermingled with frag- 
 ments of colurnns. We saw no bevelled stones. On the south- 
 ern side the descent towards the ravine is quite steep ; and here 
 the houses seemed to have been built on terraces one above 
 
 ' Burckhardt Trav. in Syr. p. 345. From Mauz ; Trav. among the Arab Tribes pp. 
 
 Wady Mauz to Wady Yabis is three qnar- 10, 138. 
 
 ters of an hour ; ibid. ' Bearings from Fahil : Duhy 311°. 
 
 ' Buckingham speaks of having heard Kaukab 336°. Beisin 304°. Tell Um 
 
 both names, Tubukat Fahil and Jerm el- 'Ajra 278°. 
 
322 FKOM JEKUSALEM TO BEISAN. [Sec. YH. 
 
 anotiier, quite to the bottom. The fountain is under the south-' 
 east quarter ; and near it are still standing two columns, as of 
 a small temple. Towards the west, also, in the plain, we saw 
 foundations and ruins ; showing that the city covered a large ex- 
 tent of ground. We noticed no traces of city walls. 
 
 The spot was first visited by Irby and Mangles, March 12th, 
 1818.' They approached it from the west ; and found there in 
 the plain " the ruins of a square building, with a semicircular 
 end, which appears to have been surrounded by columns." On 
 the hUl, they speak of the ruins of a modern village. Of this 
 we saw nothing ; though it is possible, that occasional huts may 
 have been constructed out of the scattered stones. Amongst 
 the columns they discovered the three orders, Doric, Ionic and 
 Corinthian ; and at the fountain they speak of " a fine temple." 
 Crossing the rivulet, and following a path to the southward, 
 they came to a small plain very thickly set with herbage, and 
 particularly the mustard plant, reaching as high as the horses' 
 heads ; here towards the east were several excavations in the 
 side of the hills, which they supposed to be the sepulchres 
 which they heard of in this vicinity. Finding no path in this 
 direction, they recrossed the rivulet, and descended to their for- 
 mer road along the Grhor.' 
 
 Such are the ruins and the main topographical features of 
 Fahil ; but on what grounds can the site be identified with the 
 ancient Pella ? In thejirst place, we know that Pella was one 
 of the cities of the Decapohs,' east of the Jordan, and on the 
 northern border of Perea.* Indeed, Pompey proceeding from 
 Damascus into Judea, marches by way of Pella and Scytho- 
 polis.'' It follows that the two cities were not far distant 
 from each other ; and Josephus several times mentions them 
 together.'' We now had Beisan (Scythopolis) in view beyond 
 the river. Secondly, Eusebius and Jerome inform us, that from 
 PeUa to Jabesh-gilead was six Koman miles on the road across 
 the mountain to Gerasa.' We had now come from Kefr Abil, 
 about a mile north of the ruin ed-Deir on Wady Yabis, to a 
 point the same distance north of Fahil, in an hour and three 
 
 ' Travels, pp. 304, 305. [92, 93.] ' Enseb, et Hieron. Onomast. art, Decct- 
 
 ' As early as Feb. 1816, Buckingham polia. PUn. H. N. 5. 16. Eeland Falsest 
 
 in passing this way from Nazareth to es- p. 203. 
 Salt was told of this place ; but " as it ■* Jos. B. J. 3. 3. 3. 
 was on an eminence difficult of access, we ° Jos. Antt. 14. 3. i. B. J. 1. 6. 5. 
 [he] did not go up to it" He again heard ° Jos. Antt. 14. 4. 4. B, J. 1. 7. 7. 
 
 of it at Kefrenjy. Trav. among the Arab ib. 2. 18. 1. 
 
 Tribes, pp. 10, 138.— In the summer of ' Onomast. arts. Jabis-Galaad ani Asi- 
 1842, Eev. G. Williams, searching for roth; see above, p. 319. u. 1. The Ono- 
 Pella in the vicinity, heard of these ruins ; masticon of these writers contains no fur- 
 but " could not turn aside to examine ther notice of Pella, except its name in 
 them ;" Holy City L p. 201. the art. Deeapolis. 
 
May 15.] PAHIL, PELLA. 323 
 
 quarters ; a coincidence more tlian ordinarily exact. Thirdly, 
 Pliny enumerating the cities of tlie Decapolis speaks of Pella as 
 "abundant in waters;"' and the noble fountain within the 
 precincts still testifies to the truth of the description. Fourthly, 
 the names Fahil and Pella have a strong affinity ; whether we 
 regard the former as derived merely from the G-reek Pella, or as 
 representing an earlier Aramean form which the Greeks cor- 
 rupted into Pella. 
 
 After completing our examination of the remains, in view of 
 these considerations I ventured to express to my companions on 
 the spot the opinion, in which they concurred, that we were 
 standing amid the ruins of the long lost and long sought Pella. 
 It is at such moments that the traveller has his reward. 
 
 The idea, however, that these remains mark the site of Pella, 
 was not to me a new one. True, no such idea had been suggested 
 to the minds of Irby and Mangles, the discoverers of the ruins ; 
 and no Frank traveller had since visited the spot. But as long 
 ago as 1839 or 1840, when preparing in Berlin the manuscript 
 of my former Researches, I had by me a copy of their volume ; ° 
 and was struck with the probable identity of this site of ruins 
 with Pella. The same idea was entertained by Kiepert ; who 
 likewise used the volume in making out the maps for my work. 
 By which one the suggestion was first made to the other, it may 
 now be difficult to determine. At any rate, Kiepert proposed to 
 insert the name Pella in those maps in connection with this 
 spot. It was not done, however ; because I desired, that the 
 maps should contain nothing, which had not been actually 
 verified. But in Kiepert's own later map, published in 1842, 
 Pella was thus inserted for the first time with a query ; and 
 from that time onwards the suggestion has been public pro- 
 perty.' 
 
 A writer of the fifth century tells us, that Pella was also 
 called Butis.^ A much later assertion affirms, that the city was 
 built, or at least inhabited, by Macedonian veterans, from the 
 armies of Alexander the Great, who settled down here under 
 his successors in the kingdom of Syria ; and hence the name 
 
 ' Plin. H. N. 5. 16 (18), " Pellam aquis 1, Vol. III. App. p. 165. This supposed 
 
 divitcm." Kefr Bil Eitter takes to lie the same 
 
 " From the library of the Royal Geogr. with the " ruins of a modem village " 
 
 Soo. ill London, through the kindness of spoken of by Irby and Mangles at Fahil ; 
 
 the then Secretary, Capt. Washington, E. and thence argues the identity of the latter 
 
 N. No other copy was known to be in with Pella. His position is right ; but is 
 
 Berlin at that time. hnilt upon erroneous premises. — On the 
 
 ' Eitter also fully assumes the identity same authority of Irby and Mangles, Mr 
 
 of these ruins as those of Pella; Erdk. Williams also is "disposed to think, that 
 
 XV. ii. pp. 1023-28, Berl. 1851. In our Pella must be looked for in this locality ;" 
 
 formerlists the name KefrAbil was wrongly Holy City, 1st. edit. Lond. 1846, p. 127. 
 written JK^efr Ml, and in this form was * .Steph. Byzant. IlEWa ir6\is koImii 
 
 compared with Pella ; Bibl. Kes. edit. Svplas ^ BoSrii \ey.Ojj,eyti. 
 
324 FEOM JERUSALEM TO BEISAIT. [Sec. VII. 
 
 Pella, in honour of the Macedonian Pella.' In support of this 
 idea it is alleged, that Pella was one of the cities destroyed by 
 the fanatical Jews under Alexander Jannaeus, because the 
 inhabitants refused to conform to the Jewish rites and customs ; 
 showing that these inhabitants were heathen and foreigners.^ 
 Whether all this, however, is anything more than a modern 
 hypothesis to account for the name Pella, may be doubtful.^ 
 But however all this may be, we learn from Polybius, that 
 Antiochus the Great of Syria, after getting possession of Mount 
 Tabor and other places in the year 218 B. C. crossed the Jordan 
 and captured Pella, Kamlin, and Gephriis.'' The more impor- 
 tant notices given by Josephus have already been referred to. 
 Pella with other cities was taken by Pompey from the Jews, 
 and restored by him to their own inhabitants.' Afterwards Pella 
 became the head of a toparchy." 
 
 The name Pella does not occur in Scripture ; but the city 
 is celebrated in ecclesiastical annals, as the place whither the 
 Christians of Jerusalem withdrew, before the siege and destruc- 
 tion of the Holy City by Titus. Eusebius relates their 
 removal ; and that it took place in consequence of a divine 
 admonition.^ The time of their return is nowhere specified.' 
 From the coins of Pella it appears, that the city continued to 
 flourish under the reign of Heliogabalus, A. D. 217-222 ; ' and 
 the language of Eusebius and Jerome, more than a century 
 later, seems to imply that Pella was not theny deserted.'" Indeed 
 it is enumerated among the episcopal cities of the Second Pales- 
 tine, along with Scythopolis ; and the names of three of its 
 bishops are recorded between A. D. 449 and 536." The city 
 would seem, therefore, to have remained nearly, and perhaps 
 quite, until the time of the Muhammedan conquest. 
 
 Leaving PeUa at 2.10, we returned northwards to the point 
 where we had turned off from the road. Eeaching this at 2.25, 
 we kept on our course about northwest ; and in five minutes were 
 
 ' Adrichomius p. 92. Bonfrere in Ono- ' Euseb. H. E. 3. 5, Kwri riva xpV'I'-hy 
 
 mast. ed. Cleric, p. 122. Eitter XV. ii. pp. toTs aiiT6At Soxl/iots Si' aTroKaKinjieas So- 
 
 1025,1027. — Idonotiindtliisideabroached Aivra irph rod ■iro\eij.ov. The same is af- 
 
 much if any before the time of Adricho- firmed by Epiphanius, who alone speaks 
 
 mius, in the sixteenth centiuy. of their return ; de Mensurib. et Pond. 
 
 ^ Jos. Antt. 13. 15. 4. B. J. 1. i. 8. 15. p. 171. ed. Petav. 
 
 ib. 2. 18. 1. » Comp. VoL I. p. 371. [ii. 10.] 
 
 ' Yet Strabo relates, that Apamsea on ° Eckhel Doctr. Nummor. III. p. 350. 
 
 the Orontes (now Kul'at Mudik) was some.- Mionnet MM. Antiques. V. p. 329. Suppl. 
 
 times called PeUa nnder the earlier Syrian VIII. p. 232. 
 
 kings, because many of the Macedonian " Onomast. arts. Asiroth, Decapolis, 
 
 veterans dwelt there ; Strab. 16. 2. 10. p. Jabis- Oalaad. 
 
 752. " Reland Palsest. pp. 215, 226. Le Quien 
 
 * Polyb. 5. 70. 12, Kol irpoaywv iro^t'^ojSe Oriens Christ. III. col. 697. — Hitler has 
 
 TlfWav Kal Kafiovv Kal Te(j>povv. apparently overlooked these notices : Erdk. 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 14. 4. 4. B. J. 3. 7. 7. XV. ii. p. 1028. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 3. 3. 5. 
 
Mat is.] PELLA. FOBD TO BEISAN. 325 
 
 at tlie brow of the steep descent from the Tubukah or terrace. As 
 we descended, a small Wady, called Abu Seiyad, was on our right. 
 The whole descent is not less than some six hundred feet ; we 
 reached the bottom at 2.40. The declivity hence to the river, to 
 which we came at 3.10, is gradual, without any high bank. There 
 are strictly three fording-places leading to Beisan ; we had come 
 to the middle one. One of our Sheikhs, throwing off his light 
 garments, waded in, and found the water deep and the bottom 
 bad, because of many and large stones. Another ford is consid- 
 erably further up the stream. We now turned down the river 
 about S. S. W. and came in fifteen minutes to the lower ford, 
 called Tumra, at 3.35. A low Tell and Wely are on the oppo- 
 site side, a third of a mile below, called Sheikh D3,M.' The 
 same guide again waded through, and gave a favourable report. 
 The two Sheikhs rode through first ; the current was strong, 
 and the water came up high on the horses' sides, and to the tops 
 of their tails behind. We now made our arrangements for crossing, 
 as in the morning. Sheikh Kasim, who had shown himself by far 
 the most courteous and obliging, proposed to wade and lead our 
 horses through one by one. To this we gladly assented ; and so 
 came safely over, with a slight wetting of some of the saddle- 
 bags, but without injury to anything. — The ford, both here 
 and above, lay across a bar in the stream, on the brow of 
 a rapid, as in the morning. The river was deeper and broader, 
 measuring one hundred and forty feet in width.' 
 
 We started again at 4.05 ; and at 4.10 reached the top of 
 the high bank of the lower valley.' Looking back, we had here 
 a fine view of the Tubukah^ a vast 'terrace' built up against the 
 eastern hills, with the narrow but fertile plain on the top, and fall- 
 ing off suddenly and steeply to the Gh6r below. It seems to be 
 the only one of the kind. At 4.20 we crossed a fine brook, said 
 to come from the fountains at Beisan. The whole plain was 
 now so full of fountains and rivulets, as to be in some places 
 almost a marsh. It was everywhere fertile and well watered ; 
 in some parts cultivated, but mostly neglected. As we passed 
 on, Mount Hermon was seen up the Ghor, as if at its head, 
 towering in majesty. All the way we had before us the black 
 Tell of Beisan, rising alone in the distance near the north side 
 of the broad opening of the valley of Jezreel. At 5.05 we 
 came to the foot of the declivity, by which the plain of that 
 valley drops down to the level of the Ghor ; and at 5.20 reached 
 the village situated just on the brow of that declivity. We 
 
 ' Mentioned also by Irby and Mangles, one hundred and forty feet." Travels p. 
 
 p. 304. [92.] 304. [92.] 
 
 ■ Irby and Mangles crossed here. "We ' Bearings at 4.10 : Kaukab 348". Tell 
 
 measured the breadth, and found it to be Beisan 298". 
 
 Vol. 111.-28 
 
326 BEISAN. [Skc. Vn. 
 
 ascended along a full stream of water, wliich came tumbling 
 down the descent, having a dark tinge and an odour of sulphur. 
 Here we met apparently all the neat cattle of the village, some 
 two hundred in number. Our tent was pitched in a breezy spot 
 near water, on the south of the village ; and we were right glad 
 to take possession of it. 
 
 We could hardly have had a more favourable day for an 
 excursion across the Ghor and Jordan. A fine northwest wind 
 prevailed the whole day, with a pure and brilliant atmosphere ; 
 so that the rays of the sun were at no time oppressive. It was 
 our hardest day's labour in Palestine ; having been at work for 
 thirteen hours, mostly in the saddle. 
 
 Our Sheikhs returned to the tents of their people. We paid 
 to each his forty piastres ; and added twenty more as a hahh- 
 shish, mostly to Kasim, who had shown himself the most obliging. 
 Such was the special expense of identifying Pella. 
 
 Sunday, May 16th. The day of rest and devotion was 
 grateful to us all. The weather was warm, but not oppressive. 
 Swarms of flies annoyed us, probably occasioned by the vicinity 
 of so many cattle. We were a good deal interrupted by visits 
 from the Sukr Arabs, who have possession of the Ghor. The 
 village was full of them. Our servants said there were not less 
 than fifty horseinen there, living for the time upon the inhabi- 
 tants. Several of them called on us, and sat long beneath our 
 tent. I had been using my pocket-knife, and laid it for a 
 moment by my side on the foot of the bed, near the door. It 
 disappeared ; and has probably served a Bedawy as a memorial 
 of his visit to the Franks. 
 
 In the course of the day we strolled out in various directions. 
 I tried to trace the upward course of some of the streams ; but 
 without success. In the afternoon we visited the TeU and adja- 
 cent remains, half a mile north of the village. We took no 
 observations ; but mused among the ruins on the vicissitudes of 
 human things. 
 
 I bring together here the results of our observations at 
 Beis^n, some of which were made on Monday morning ; and 
 also what remains to be said of the Gh6r, of which we here took 
 leave. 
 
 The village and ruins of BeisSn are situated on the brow, just 
 v^here the great valley or plain of Jezreel drops down by a rather 
 steep descent some three hundred feet to the level of the Gh6r. 
 This plain is here from two to three miles broad, between the 
 northern hiUs and the mountains of GUboa on the south. The 
 northern hills reach quite down to the Gh6r, and are tame. 
 
Sec Vn.] SITE. STKEAMS OF WATEE. 327 
 
 The southern mountains do not extend so far east ; and a strip 
 of the plain of Jezreel runs down along their eastern hasc, there 
 forming a higher plateau along the G-h6r. These mountains 
 are bold and picturesque, and sweep off southwards in a grace- 
 ful curve ; forming no projecting corner or angle where the val- 
 ley meets the Grhor. The village and ruins are near the north- 
 ern hills. 
 
 Through the great valley comes down the stream J^lud, 
 which has its sources at 'Ain Jfi.lild and around Zer'in.' Just 
 here it flows under the northern hills, and breaks down by a 
 ravine to the Gh6r. This ravine is joined by another, much 
 broader, from the southwest. Between the two, at the point of 
 junction, rises the steep and sombre Tell, directly north of the 
 village. South of the Tell is a low open tract in the last-men- 
 tioned valley, in which are many ruins. Between this low tract 
 and the other ravine, there is on the west of the Tell a low 
 saddle, which serves to isolate the Tell. On this also are impor- 
 tant ruins. Going southwards from the low tract around the 
 Tell, one ascends to the level of the great plain ; and here are 
 other ruins and the modern village. The site in this part is not 
 much less than three hundred feet above the level of the Ghor. 
 The Tell rises somewhat higher ; and standing out alone is 
 visible for a great distance towards the east and west. We 
 had formerly seen it from Zer'in.^ 
 
 Not less than four large brooks of water pass by or through 
 the site of Beisan. The first and northernmost is the J&lud, 
 coming from Zer'in, and washing the northern base of the TeU ; 
 its water is brackish and bad. The other three come from the 
 southwest, in which direction there seems to be a marsh, and 
 perhaps ponds. One flows through the side Wady into the 
 JilM just at the TeU ; another passes just on the south of the 
 village and descends the slope eastward to the Gh6r, where we 
 ascended ; while the third rushes down the same declivity stiU 
 further south. Half way down it has a perpendicular fall of 
 some twenty-five feet, and turns a miU. The water of both 
 these southernmost streams has a slightly darkish tinge, and an 
 odour of sulphur. This would seem to indicate a difierent 
 source from that of the brook in the side Wady ; otherwise it 
 would be easy to suppose, that they originally flowed down the 
 same Wady, and were turned into their present channels for the 
 purposes of irrigatioa' 
 
 ' See VoL II. p. 323 sq. [iiL 167 sq.] ing to Irby and Mangles, " two streams 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 320. [iii. 163.] run throngh the rains of the city ; almost 
 
 ' Burckhardt speaks here of a " river insulating the acropolis " They perhaps 
 
 which flows in different branches towards examined only the northern portion of the 
 
 the plain ;" Trav. in Syr. p. 343. Accord- site. Trav. p. 302. [92.] 
 
328 BEISAN. [SkcVIL 
 
 The whole region here is volcanic, like that around and aboTO 
 the lake of Tiberias.' All the rocks and stones round about, as 
 also the stones of the ruins, are black and basaltic in their char- 
 acter. The TeU, too, is black and apparently volcanic ; it 
 resembles much in its form and loose texture the cone of a 
 crater. 
 
 The most important ruins are near the Tell ; but the ancient 
 city evidently extended up towards the south, and included the 
 tract around the present village. Its circumference could not 
 have been less than two or three miles. The whole brow round 
 about the village is covered with ruins, interspersed with frag- 
 ments of columns. Near by is the Kusr, so called, which is 
 merely a ruined Muslim fort. There is also a deserted mosk and 
 minaret. 
 
 Scythopolis must have been a city of temples. One or more 
 stood on the saddle on the southwest of the Tell ; here I counted 
 eight columns still standing together. Another temple was in 
 the low area south of the TeU ; and the traces of several are 
 seen in various directions. There remain standing some twenty 
 or thirty columns in all.'' All the edifices were apparently built 
 of black basaltic stones, except the columns. We saw no 
 bevelled stones. 
 
 The most perfect of the ruins is the amphitheatre, described 
 bylrbyand Mangles.' It is south of the Tell, near the opposite 
 side of the low area ; and in this fertile soU is overgrown with 
 rank weeds. It is built of the black stones ; and measures 
 acros the front of the semicircle about one hundred and eighty 
 feet. All the interior passages and vomitories are in almost per- 
 fect preservation. According to the travellers just named, it has 
 one peculiarity, which Vitruvius says was found in few of the 
 ancient theatres, viz. oval recesses half way up, intended to con- 
 tain brass sounding-tubes. 
 
 Over the chasm of the Jalud, just below the TeU and the 
 junction of the other stream, is thrown a fine Roman arch, with 
 a smaller one on each side, resting upon an artificial mound. 
 The middle arch is too high for a bridge. Possibly the city wall 
 was carried over upon the mound and arch ; though for that, too, 
 it appears too high. It would seem also quite problematical, 
 whether the waU ever crossed the stream.* 
 
 The ascent to the TeU is from the saddle on the west ; from 
 which an easy path leads to the top. Here are seen traces of 
 
 ' Seo also Vol. II. -p. 416. [iii. 313.] * According to Irby and Mangles, these 
 
 ' Burckhardt says : " I saw only a arches " appear to have formed a bridge ; 
 
 single shaft of a colnmn standing;" Trav. and on the outside the wall of the cily was 
 
 p. 343. continued on the edge of the bridge ;" p. 
 
 ' Trav. pp. 301, 802. [92.] 303. [92.] 
 
Sec. VIL] THE TELL. BETH-SHEAN. 329 
 
 the thick walls, which once surrounded the summit, a level plot 
 of considerable extent. The heavy portal is still half standing. 
 Connected with it are some quite large blocks of limestone, and 
 also a beautiful Corinthian capital, built in among the common 
 black stones. One of the large blocks is bevelled. 
 
 From the Tell there is a wide view. On the west it includes 
 the whole great valley of Jezreel'to Zer'in, with Kumieh on the 
 northern hills. In the plain, W. by N. we noticed a bridge with 
 Roman arches over the J^lud ; and beyond it, according to Irby 
 and Mangles, may be seen the paved way which once led to 
 'Akka.' Just beyond the stream, and northwest from the Tell, 
 is a large Khan on the road to Nazareth.' Towards the east the 
 eye takes in the whole breadth of the Grh6r, including SS,ktit and 
 the various Tells ; as also the eastern mountains, which we had 
 just visited ; on which the Kul'at er-Rubud forms here too a 
 conspicuous object.' 
 
 Beyond the stream and northeast from the Tell, in the face 
 of the northern hill, which just there is high and steep, are the 
 excavated sepulchres of the ancient city. They were examined 
 by Irby and Mangles ; who found sarcophagi remaining in some 
 of them ; also niches of a triangular shape for lamps ; and same 
 of the doors still hanging on the ancient hinges of stone, in 
 remarkable preservation.* 
 
 The site of the ancient city, as of the modern village, was a 
 splendid one, in this vast area of plain and mountain, in the 
 midst of abundant waters and of exuberant fertility. There is 
 no doubt but that the present Beisan represents the Beth-sJiean 
 or Beth-shan of the Old Testament ; ' a city which lay within 
 the borders of Issachar, but belonged to Manasseh, though not 
 at first subdued.' After the catastrophe of Saul, when he and 
 his three sons were slain upon the adjacent mountains of Gilboa, 
 their bodies were fastened by the Philistines to the wall of Beth- 
 shan. Thence they were taken by the men of Jabesh-gHead, 
 who " went aU night," and carried away the bodies to their own 
 
 ' Trav. p. 303. [92.] This we did not Tell el-Mu'ajjijeh 157°. Salcut 169^°. 
 
 see. The ancient Roman road led rather Eahab 190°. Tell Um 'Ajra 190°. Tell 
 
 to Zer'in ; whence it branched off in va- esh-Shak 265°. Tell esh-Sheikh Hasan 
 
 rions directions. 298. Zer'in 294}°. Duhy305i.° Kflmieh 
 
 ' Mentioned also hv Burckhardt, who 308°. Kaukab 4°. Roman bridge 288°; 
 
 says it is nsed by caravans which take the Khan N. 47 W. Beisan, village, S. i m. 
 
 shortest route from Jerusalem to D.imas- ^*- ^ r^„ -, 
 
 cus ; Trav. p. 343. He probably refers to Travels p. 802. [92.] 
 
 the route by way of Zer'in, Beisan, and ' Heb. -|Sli:-n''a Josh. 17, 11 ; 1BJ-n"'a 
 
 the bridge el-Mejami'a two hours south of i gam. 81, 10 ; id'fl^S 2 Sam. 21, 12. 
 
 the lake. See also Vol. I. p. 538. [ii. 259, j„ q^^ Arabic form Beisan, there lies » 
 
 260.J rather unusual contraction. 
 
 " Bearings from Tell Beisa,n: Kul'at er- « Josh. 17, 11. 16. Judg. 1, 27. 1 
 
 Rubud 137°. Deir Abu Humeid 144°. Chr. 7, 29. 
 
 Vol. hi.— 28* 
 
330 BEISAK. [Sec. VII. 
 
 city, and burned them and buried tbeir bones.' Betb-sban is 
 further mentioned in Scripture only as a part of tbe district of 
 one of Solomon's purveyors." 
 
 After tbe exile, under tbe Greek dominion, tbe city received 
 the Greek name of ScythopoUs, 'City of the Scythians;' by 
 which it was known for several centuries.^ The origin of this 
 name has not yet been satisfactorily accounted for. Many sup- 
 pose that a colony of Scythians actually had possession of the 
 place, and so gave occasion for the name. Herodotus indeed 
 relates, that during tbe reign of Psammeticbus, the cotemporary 
 of Josiah, tbe Scythians made an incursion through Palestine 
 into Egypt.* Near the close of the eighth century, the historian 
 George Syncellus also writes, that the Scythians entered Pales- 
 tine and took possession of Bethsan, which they called Scy- 
 thopohs.^ But this is very late authority for so definite a fact ; 
 and looks much more like an hypothesis to account for the name. 
 Hence Reland and others regard Scythopolis rather as a com- 
 pound from tbe name Succoth, as if for SuccothopoUs.^ But it 
 is hardly probable, that the most important place in the region 
 would take its name from one comparatively unknown ; nor was 
 it tbe habit of the Greeks to engraft foreign names into their 
 compound words without translation. The Greek and Latin 
 name for Succoth, was Scence ; and the composite name thence 
 resulting, would have been ScenopolisJ Perhaps after aU, the 
 term Scythians is here to be taken, not in its literal application, 
 but as put generally for any rude people, barbarians.^ In this 
 sense it might well be applied to the wild nomadic tribes, who 
 of old, as now, appear to have inhabited tbe Ghor ; and seem 
 often to have had possession of this city, and to have made it 
 their chief seat. 
 
 However this may be, tbe city was known as Scythopolis as 
 early as the times of Judas Maccabaeus ; and was then not a 
 Jewish city. Jews indeed dwelt there, but not as citizens ; and 
 
 ' 1 Sam. 31, 8-13 ; comp. 2 Sam. 21, tero Patre, sepnlta nutrice ibi.) ScytMs 
 
 12. deductis." But he here manifestly alludes 
 
 ' 1 K 4, 12. to the sacrifice of Nysa by Iphigenia in the 
 
 ' Bri^ffdvri, koAou/icvt/ vphs 'EMJivav Scythian or Tanric Chersonesas, ri '^Zku^m^ 
 
 :iKvd6Tro\is, Jos. Antt 12. 8. 5. ib. 13. 6. Xfp(r6ini(ros, Strabo 7. 4. 1. p. 308. See 
 
 I. Written also :SKuS)av ir(f\ij Judith 3, Bitter Erdk XV. p. 432. 
 
 II. 2 Mace. 12, 30. Polyb. 5. 70. 4.— ' Eeland, Falsest, p. 992. Geaenius, 
 The Sept. likewise, in Jndg. 1, 27, has Notes to Burcfchardt, II. p. 1058. Bitter 
 Bai^trav, 51 iffn ^KvSiciy ir<JXis, but this is XV. p. 432. 
 
 justly regarded by Beland as a later gloss ; ' Gr. Sioivoi, Lat. Scenas, Jos. Antt. 1. 
 
 Palaest p. 992. 21. 1. Onomast. art. Scen(e. 
 
 ' Hdot. 1. 103-105. Comp. Chron. ' See the Greek Lexicons ; also Eosenm. 
 
 Paschale, p. 121 Par. p. 225 Dind. BiW. Geogr. I. i. p. 272. Comp. Col. 3, 11. 
 
 ' G. SynceU. Chron. p. 214 ed. Par. I. 2 Maco. 4, 47. Joseph, c. Ap. 2. 37. 
 
 p. 405 ed. Bonn. — Pliny also says, H. N. Lncian, Tox. 5 sq^. 
 6. 16 " Scythopolin, (antea Nysam a Li- 
 
Sko. Vn.] SCYTHOPOLIS. 33X 
 
 tbey are expressly distinguislied from tlie inhabitants proper.' 
 Indeed, this held true at a much later period ; and even during 
 the Roman wars the Jews sacked Scythopolis ; wMle, not long 
 after, the inhabitants treacherously massacred the Jewish resi- 
 dents to the number of thirteen thousand, according to Josephus.* 
 Hence it was not xmnatural for the Talmudists to speak of 
 Bethshan or Scythopolis as not a Jewish, but a heathen city ; 
 which their fathers did not subdue after their return from the 
 Babylonish exile.' 
 
 According to Josephus, Scythopolis was on or near the 
 southern border of Galilee. It was the largest city of the 
 Decapolis ; * and the only city of that district lying on the west 
 of the Jordan. Here Alexander Jannseus had his interview with 
 Cleopatra.' Pompey took Pella and Scythopolis in his way, on 
 his march from Damascus into Judea ; and he subsequently 
 restored Scythopolis and several other cities to their own inhab- 
 itants.' The city was rebuilt and fortified by Gabinius.'' It 
 was long after this time, under Floras, the last Roman procurator, 
 about A. D. 65, that the massacre of the Jews above referred to 
 took place.' 
 
 In the fourth century Scythopolis is mentioned by Eusebius 
 and Jerome as still a ' noble ' city." It was already the seat of 
 a Christian bishop ; and the name of Patrophilus, its earliest 
 recorded bishop, appears at the council in Palestine in A. D. 
 318 ; and again in the first Nicene council, A. D. 325, as well 
 as elsewhere.'" : Itwas reckoned to Paleestina Secimda, of which 
 it became the chief see ; and the names of several of its bishops 
 are preserved." One or more convents had also been established, 
 with many monks ; and continued to flourish for several cen- 
 turies. The monks of Scythopolis were represented in the 
 council held at Constantinople, A. D. 536.'* The city was the 
 birthplace of Basilides and Cyril, each sumamed Scythopoli- 
 tanus ; the latter known as the author of a life of St. Sabas, 
 and also of St. Euthymius, in whose monastery he resided, 
 between Jerusalem and Jericho. '^ 
 
 According to the historian Sozomen,'* this region in the fifth 
 
 ' 2 Mace. 12, 30. Comp. Jos. Antt. '" Eeland, Falsest, p. 996. Le Qnien 
 
 12. 8. 5. Oriens Christ. HI. p. 683. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 2. 18. 1, 3, 4. " Reland ib. pp. 215, 216, 223, 225. 
 
 • Lightfoot 0pp. ed. Leusd. foL Tom. Le Quien ib. 682-694. 
 
 II. p. 418. " Sergius, a monk and deacon of the 
 
 • B. J. 3. 3. 1. ib. 3. 9. 7. monastery of St. John, subscribed in behalf 
 ' Antt. 13. 13. 2. of all the monks of Scythopolis, ivep 
 ' Antt. 14. 3. 4. ib. 14. 4. 4. irivTioy tS>v uirk 'ZKu^6tto\iv /ioyaxciv. See 
 ' Antt. 14. 5. 3. B. J. 1. 8. 4. Eeland Pal. p. 976. 
 
 ' B. J. 2. 18. 3, 4. " In Cotelerii Monum. Eocles. Grseo. 
 
 • Onomast. art. BetTisan, " Nunc appel- Tom. II, III. — Fleischer in Zeitschr. d. 
 latnr Scythopolis, urbs nobilis (liriVji/tos) morgenl. Ges. I. p. 152. 
 
 Palaestinse." " Sozom. H. E. 8. 13. 
 
332 BEisAN. [Sko. vn. 
 
 century was fall of palm trees ; of which there is now not a trace. 
 The monks here (as well as in the monastery of St. Sabas) were 
 accustomed to weave the palm leaves into cowls and habits for 
 themselves, as also into baskets and fancy fans, which were sold 
 at Damascus.' 
 
 In the time of the crusades the city was known both as 
 Scythopolis and Bethsan. It is described as a small place, 
 with extensive ruins of former edifices and many marble remains." 
 The Franks transferred the episcopal see, as an archbishopric, to 
 Nazareth ; which thus first became the seat of a bishop.' 
 Beisan, though weak, was gallantly defended by its inhabitants 
 against Saladin in 1182 ; although the very next year it was 
 deserted on his approach, and, after being plundered by him, was 
 consigned to the flames.'' It is subsequently mentioned by other 
 writers ; and E. Parchi resided there for several years, early in the 
 fourteenth century.' But it seems not again to have been visited 
 by travellers ; until Seetzen in 1806 made an excursion hither 
 from Jenin,' and Burckhardt ia 1812 took it in his way from 
 Nazareth to es-Salt.' 
 
 , Seetzen, whose journals have only recently been published, 
 describes BeisS.n as the most wretched village he had seen. 
 Even then its inhabitants were composed of Egyptians, Arab 
 peasants, and Bedawin.' Burckhardt speaks of the few inhabitants 
 in his day as " in a miserable condition, from being exposed to 
 the depredations of the Bedawin of the GrhSr, to whom they also 
 paid a heavy tribute." ' Irby and Mangles in 1818 describe them 
 as " a fanatical set ; " and to Richardson, the same year, the 
 village is nothing better than " a nest of ruffians," containing 
 about two hundred inhabitants.'" 
 
 The village is now of considerable size, the population 
 amounting perhaps to five hundred souls. The present inhabit- 
 ants are a colony of Egyptians, who were said to have come 
 hither before the time of the Egyptian rule, and to have received 
 accessions since. Being strangers, they were the more exposed to 
 the exactions and depredations of the neighbouring Arabs, 
 especially the Bedawin of the GhQr.'' For this reason many 
 had left the place, and gone to other parts of the coimtry. 
 
 • See the anthorities quoted in Eeland 7. p. 17G. Marin. Sanut. p. 247. Sir J. 
 Palp. 977. Maundeville, Lond. 1839, p. Ill,— Zonz 
 
 ' Will. Tyr. 22. 26 " nunc vero ad nihi- in Asher's Benj. of Tud. II. pp. 261, 402. 
 lum redaota raro incolitnr habitatore." ° Seetzen's Eeisen, II. p. 159 sq. Berlin 
 
 = Will. Tyr. 8. 4. ib. 22. 16. Jac. de 1854. 
 Vitr. 56. p. 1077. Both these writers ' Travels in Syr. p. 343. 
 ■wrongly assign Scythopolis to Falcestina ' Eeisen ih. I. p. 163. 
 Jertia. ' Travels in Syr. p. 343. 
 
 * Will. Tyr. 22. 16. Wilken Gesch. der "• Irby and Mangles p. 303. [92.] Ri- 
 Kr. m. ii. p. 210.— Will. Tyr. 22. 26. Bo- chardson's Travels, II. pp. 420-422. 
 haed. Vit. Sal. p. 53. Wilken ib. p. 230. '' See above, p. 326. 
 
 ' Abnlf. Tab. Syr. p. 84. Brocardus c 
 
Sec. VII.] SALIM AND JSNON. THE GHOE. 333 
 
 Salim and ^non. — One of our main objects in visiting the 
 G-hSr, as is said above/ was to make search after the JSnon 
 and Salim mentioned in connection with John the Baptist. I 
 regret to have to say, that our search was fruitless. 
 
 We learn from the Scriptural narrative, that John the Baptist 
 was " baptizing in ^non, near to Salim, because there was much 
 water [many waters] there."' Salim therefore was the more 
 important town ; and JEnon, apparently, a place of fountains 
 near by. 
 
 According to Jerome, both iEnon and Salim were situated 
 in this part of the Ghor, eight Eoman miles -south from Scy- 
 thopolis.^ They were probably at a considerable distance from 
 the Jordan; otherwise- the Evangelist would hardly have men- 
 tioned the abundance of water. In another passage Jerome 
 regards this Salim as the residence of Melchizedek ; and affirms, 
 that in his day the palace of Melchizedek was stiU shown, which 
 by the magnitude of its ruins attested the ancient magnificence 
 of the work.* 
 
 It was natural to infer, that of such extensive ruins, some 
 traces might yet remain. Our inquiries were constant and perse- 
 vering ; but we could obtain no trace of corresponding names or 
 ruins. As to names, the only approach to similarity was in the 
 name Sheikh SMim, the Wely at the base of Tell Eidghah ; = 
 but this is a circumstance in itself too frequent and trite to be 
 taken into account. As to ruins, if there still exist any remains 
 of Salim, they must probably be sought near the foot of the 
 western mountains. 
 
 It may further be remarked, that so far as the language of 
 Scripture is concerned, the place near which John was baptizing 
 may just as well have been the Salim overagainst Nabulus ; 
 where, as we have seen, there are two large fountains.' 
 
 The Ghob. — This great valley is the 'Arabah of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, and the Ghor of Arabian writers, extending from the 
 gulf of 'Akabah to the lake of Tiberias, or strictly to Banias. 
 These names have been tuUy treated of in a former volume.' By 
 
 ' See atove, p. 300. * Ep. ad Evang. 0pp. Ih 573. ed. Mart. 
 
 ' John 3, 23 PmrTt^iev iv AXv6v, iyyi/s " Salem autem non ut Josephus et nostri 
 
 roS SoAe/jU, oti SSarairoWh ^v ixel. The omnes arbitrantnr esse Jerusalem, . . . sed 
 
 nameAjV:4;/^mo»i8theChald.plur. •)la''» oppidtun juxta Soythopolim, quod usque 
 
 fountains; Bust. Lex. IGOl. It was' ob- hodie appellatur Salem ; et ostenditur ibi 
 
 viously a place furnishing an abundant palatmm Melchizedek, ex magmtudme 
 
 supply of wlter, for the usi of the crowds ™narum, vetens opens ostendens magnifi- , 
 
 who followed John. centiam." 
 
 ' Onomast. art .^Enon: "Ostenditur , ^ "^°^^' ^' ooa 
 
 usque nunc locus in octavo lapide Scytho- , o tt 7*'t? niio iot r- ^i^t 
 
 poleos ad meridiem iuxta SaUm et Jorda- „„„ fee Vol. II. pp. 1»3-187. [u. 694-- 
 
 nem."— Art. Salem: "In octavo quoque 600.] See also Gesen. Heh. Lex. Bost 
 
 lapide h Scythopoli in campo vicus Salu- 18C4, art. f13^S . 
 mias appellatur." — See also Judith 4, 1. 
 
334 THE GHOR. [SecVH. 
 
 Eusebius and Jerome it is called the Aulon ;^ and is described 
 as stretching from B^ni^s and Lebanon to the desert of Pharan, 
 and containing Tiberias and its lake, Scythopolis, Jericho, and 
 the Dead Sea. At the present day all the southern portion of 
 the great valley, lying beyond the cliffs on the south of the Dead 
 Sea, is called by the Arabs Wady el-'Arabah ; while the 
 northern portion, extending to the lake of Tiberias, bears the 
 name of el-Ghor. Above the Jisr-Benit Ya'kob, the broad 
 valley with its lake takes the name of the lake and plain el- 
 Huleh. The present 'Arabah is described as a desert in a former 
 volume ; the plain of the Huleh, with its lavish fertility, I after- 
 wards visited with Mr Thomson.' 
 
 The Ghor proper is divided into two parts by the protrusion 
 into it of Kurn Surtabeh. The southern portion I had formerly 
 traversed in its lower parts, and viewed it from the heights above 
 'Ain Duk ; and now I had again looked down upon it from 
 Daumeh and Mejdel. My companion meantime had passed 
 through its whole length. It is shut in on the west by a lofty 
 wall of precipitous mountains ; through which the lateral valleys 
 break down in deep chasms. It is in itself a desert ; except where 
 large springs bursting forth at the foot of the mountains give 
 fertility to the adjacent tracts. Such are the fountains at Jericho 
 and Duk, at 'Aujeh and Fusail, on the west ; and in the Wadys 
 Hesban and esh-Sha'ib (Nimrin) on the east of the Jordan. 
 The appearance of the Jordan and its border of trees in this 
 part, has been already noted. ^ 
 
 North of Kurn Surtabeh the character of the Gh6r is 
 entirely changed ; and the general sterility of the southern 
 portion is succeeded by an abundance of water and luxuriant 
 fertility. First is the Kur^wa, described as extremely rich and 
 productive ; upon which issues the broad and meadow-like 
 Wady F^ri'a with its beautiful stream. Between this and 
 Wady Malih the western hills jut down and contract the valley ; 
 but further north it again spreads out into the broad and fertile 
 plain or plateaus, which we had several times traversed during 
 the last two days. This whole tract north of Kurn Surtabeh 
 we saw from the eastern mountains,^ stretching quite to the lake 
 of Tiberias ; much of it apparently cultivated and yielding rich 
 crops ; and the whole enlivened by the very many windings of 
 the Jordan, as it meanders from side to side through the broad 
 valley. The appearance of the river here, as seen from the 
 
 ' Gr. A.{i\tiv, Onomast. art. Anion. See the Greek Lexicons, e. g. Passow, Pape, 
 
 Jerome affirms that Aulon is not a Greek, Liddell and Scott, etc. 
 
 hiat a Hebrew word. In this he is wrong ; ' See Vol. II. p. 183 sq. [ii. 594 sq.] See 
 
 for the Hebrew contains no such word or also below, under May 26th. 
 
 form ; while the Greek avKiv signifies any ' See above, pp. 293, 294. 
 
 deep tract (or valley) between, mountains. * See above, pp. 317, 318. 
 
SKaVn.] THE GHOB. 335 
 
 heights, is quite different in this respect from its lower portion. 
 The wall of mountains on the west has also disappeared ; and 
 the valleys descend to the Grhor, not as deep and wild chasms, 
 but as fertile plains or openings. 
 
 In the region of Beis^n the G-hSr stands in connection with 
 the great plain of Esdraelon, by means of the broad valley of 
 'Jezreel. In this part there may be reckoned three different 
 levels or plateaus, as belonging to the Gh6r, viz. first, the low 
 valley of the Jordan proper ; then, the broad luxuriant plain 
 extending from the preceding to the slope which ascends to 
 BeisSn ; and lastly, the plain back of Beisan, which is the open- 
 ing of the valley of Jezreel, and which also extends south in 
 front of the western mountains for several miles. The Ghor is 
 here not less fruitful than the plain of Esdraelon ; and has a 
 much more abundant supply of water. But it lies some five 
 or six hundred feet lower, and has a hotter climate ; so that its 
 harvests are earlier. Wheat also, we were told, would not grow 
 well in it without irrigation ; which is not required in the plain 
 of Esdraelon, nor even on the high terrace around Bella. 
 
 The fertile portions of the Ghor are tiUed, as we have seen, by 
 the people of the villages situated in the higher districts on 
 each side. The rest of the land is given up to the various 
 tribes of Bedawln Arabs dwelUng in tents. The Sheikhs of 
 these Arabs are usually hired to take travellers across the Jor- 
 dan ; but each tribe have their own limits, beyond which they 
 ordinarily dare not venture. By taking Sheikhs from Tub§,s as 
 our guides, we traversed the Ghor and completed our excursion 
 without seeing a single Bedawy. As we returned, there were a 
 few tents at Sheikh DaM, near the ford ; but we saw none of 
 the people. 
 
 This broad valley, the Gh&r, Josephus sometimes -speaks of 
 as the Great Plain ; and describes it as extending from the lake 
 of Tiberias to the Dead Sea.' The same appellation, however, 
 is more frequently given by him and others to the plain of Es- 
 draelon. 
 
 ' Meya neJfoi/, Jos. Antt. 12. 8. 5 ; calls it irESiii imyiKi) M/jltikos, Onom. art. 
 espec. B. J. 4. 8. 2, 3. Eusebius also Aulon. See Belaud Falsest, p. 860 aq. 
 
SECTION YIII. 
 
 FKOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. 
 
 Eefeeshed and strengtliened by tlie rest and quiet of a 
 Sabbath spent in the midst of Scriptural scenes not ordinarily 
 visited, we prepared to set off early, and press on rapidly to 
 Hasbeiya. 
 
 Monday, May Vlih. We rode this morning first to the 
 Tell of Beisain, half a mile distant from the village, due north ; 
 and there completed our observations and took the bearings 
 recorded above. 
 
 Leaving the Tell at 6.45, we turned our course towards the 
 place called Beit Ilfa, at the foot, of the mountains of GrUboa, 
 •N. 76° W. After ten minutes there were foundations on our 
 right. As we advanced, we became entangled among many 
 water-courses. If yesterday the region had seemed to us well 
 watered, how much more now ? We crossed not less than fifteen 
 or twenty fine brooks, running north to the Jalud ; all coming 
 apparently from an extensive marsh on the southwest of Beisan ; 
 the border of which seemed to be close at hand, though hidden 
 by the clumps of bushes. We now wished to obtain a guide, 
 and tried some reapers on our right ; but no one would go. At 
 7.30 we crossed the last and largest of the streams ; the ancient 
 bridge being now not far distant on the right. At 7.60 there 
 was a low Tell by our path ; this we ascended, losing ten min- 
 utes. Soon afterwards we crossed a small rivulet coming from a 
 fountain on the left, near the foot of the mountains, and flow- 
 ing to the Jalud. At 8.30 we reached the site of Beit Ufa, at 
 the very foot of the mountains, on a gentle slope running out in 
 front of a small ravine. 
 
 The mountains of Gilboa, instead of running down from 
 Zer'in to the Ghor in a straight line, and then forming an angle 
 with the Ghor, here sweep round in an arc of a circle ; so that 
 
May 17.] BEIT ILFA. 337 
 
 BeisSn, althougli seeming, as seen from farther west, to occupy 
 the middle of the plain of Jezreel, is in fact much nearer 
 (indeed quite near) to the northern hills. It is just at this 
 point, where the sweep of the mountains begins, that Beit Ufa 
 is situated. We first came upon two sarcophagi, hewn and 
 sculptured on the outside, standing alone in the fields quite near 
 the foot of the steep ascent. Just around and below them there 
 are very few remains or marks of any place ; but further down, 
 below the present road, there is a considerable tract strewn with 
 roughly squared stones, broken but not hewn, and none of them 
 larger than a foot and a half in length. This is absolutely all.' 
 
 On a small plateau of the steep mountain side, some two 
 hundred feet directly above the sarcophagi, are the remains of 
 a village called Judeideh. Just west of these in the ravine is a 
 small fountain, called 'Ain Judeideh ; but there was now no 
 water in the ravine below. We did not ascend to these remains. 
 From Beit Ufa the village of Kumieh on the north side of the 
 valley bears N. 24° W. — We had supposed, that a road led from 
 this place across the mountains direct to Jenin ; but it needed 
 only a glance at the rocky and precipitous acclivity before us, to 
 show that no great travelled road ever passed that way.'' Beit 
 Ufa was first visited by E. G. Schultz, in 1847.' 
 
 Schultz held Beit IKa to be the BeilmUa (more properly 
 Betylua) of the apocryphal book of Judith ; and in this he has 
 been followed by Kitter and others.* But the alleged resem- 
 blance of the name seems hardly admissible ;" while all the 
 topographical considerations are against the identity. 
 
 AU that we know of Betylua is from the book of Judith ; a 
 book now very generally regarded as not historical, but rather as a 
 Jewish romance ; in which both the events and the topographi- 
 cal notices present insuperable difficulties.* One place named in 
 it is Bothan, the situation of which is now known ; and as this 
 is mentioned in connection with Betylua, it is important for 
 
 ' Bearings at Beit Ilfa ! Duhy 332°. Deir Ghiizal. Between these two routes, 
 
 Tabor 355°. Kumieh 336°. en-Na'urah there would seem to be no feasible road. 
 348°. Shuttah 5°. Khan 97°. Tell Beisan ♦EitterLc. Gross InZeitschr. d. morg. 
 
 104°. Kankab 50°. Tell esh-Sheikh Ges. L o. pp. 58, 59. 
 Hasan 313°. ° The name Is strictly Beit Ufa ; and 
 
 ° Yet Liebetrut appears to have as- is so written with Arabic letters by Schultz 
 cended by this path to Jilbon, half an hour himself. Between this and the Greek 
 beyond the highest point towards Jenin, BervXxiia, it is hard to make out much st- 
 and half an hour east of Fuku'a ; Beise milarity. But Schultz writes the name 
 L p. 253 sq. with Roman letters several times Beitilua ; 
 
 ' Zeitschr. d. morgenl. Ges. III. pp. 48, and thus creates a resemblance. This 
 
 49. Ritter Erdk. XV. p. 423 sq. From is wholly unwarranted ; and belongs to the 
 
 Jenin Schultz crossed the mountain, and lie uses in which Schultz was too apt to 
 
 descending on the eastern side, south of indulge. 
 
 Mujedda', followed the base of the moun- " De Wette Einl. ins A. T. §§ 307, 30& 
 
 tains to Beit Ilfa ; and afterwards re- Winer Realw. art Judith. 
 crossed them by way of 'Arubboneh and 
 Vol. III.— 29 
 
338 TEOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VHI. 
 
 determining the position of the latter.' It is quite evident, 
 that Betylua is described as lying south of the plain of Esdrae- 
 lon not far from Dothan ; as commanding one of the passes 
 from that plain into the hill country ; and as itself situated on a 
 mountain, with a fountain or fountains at the foot.' All these 
 circumstances forhid us to seek for it at Beit Ufa. 
 
 We had intended to strike from this point northwards, and 
 cross the hiUs somewhat east of Kumieh, leaving that village on 
 our left. But the part of the plain which we should thus 
 traverse, was now full of the hlack tents of three encampments 
 of the Arabs Sukr. Among them our baggage might, or might 
 not, have been safe ; and we therefore chose rather to take the 
 road for Kumieh, which carried us further west and beyond aU 
 the Arabs. 
 
 Leaving Beit Ufa at 8.40, we came in fifteen minutes to a 
 fork in the road. Here Mr Van de Velde parted from us ; he 
 going to Zer'in, and we to Kumieh. Soon afterwards we crossed 
 a mill stream, coming down on the north side of Tell Sheikh 
 Hasan, near the mountains, from a place with mills, called 
 er-Kahhaniyeh, further west. It runs to the Jalud. Passing 
 on through the plain or broad valley, and leaving a low Tell on 
 our right, we came at 9.35 to the Jalud, which here flows in the 
 northern part of the plain. The channel was in this part deep 
 and narrow, with a muddy bottom full of flags and reeds ; not 
 differing in appearance from the canals drawn from it to water 
 the valley. We got our riding horses over with some difficulty ; 
 and then called to a reaper near by, to point out the best spot 
 for the loaded mules. After several attempts to cross, we had to 
 unload them ; and the baggage was carried over on the backs of 
 the muleteers. AU got safely through at last ; except that the 
 donkey stuck fast, and had to be dragged out by force, to the 
 great amusement of us all. We were thus detained half an 
 hour.^ 
 
 The average breadth of the valley we estimated to be about 
 two or two and a half miles. It is very fertile ; and is mostly 
 
 ' Judith i, 6. 7, 3. 18. to besiege Betylua, in order to seize upon 
 
 ' In Judith 4, 6 we read : BETv\oi!a koI the passes to the hill country (ava^aircu ttjs 
 
 Berofieff^alfi, tJ iffriy a.ir4va.vri 'EtrdpriKiiv o^eiv^s); he encamps in the valley near 
 
 Kara irpSaavov rov TreSiov irXtiffiou Aw^afju. Betylua, at the fountain ; and his host is 
 
 In V. 7 these two places are spoken of as spread out in breadth unto Dothan and as 
 
 commanding the passes into Judea, tos far as to Belthem, and in length from 
 
 laia^iireis t^s opeivijs. But when it is Betylua to Kyamon, which is 'bveragainst 
 
 said that the pass was " strait for two men Esdraeloa SchuJtz assumes Kva/itiy to be 
 
 at most," this belongs to the romance. In the present Eumieh ; which is doubtful. 
 
 0. 6, 11. 12, the servants of Holofemes See Sept. ed. Tischendorf, Lips. 1850. 
 bring Achior " out of the plain into the ' Bearings at the ford of the Jalud : 
 
 hill country," to the fountains under Be- Tell es-Sheikh Hasan 175°. Zer'in 157°. 
 
 tylua, which itself is on the summit of a Kumieh 353°. 
 mountain. — ^In c. 7, 1-3, Holofemes wishes 
 
Mat 17.] KUMIEH. 339 
 
 cultivated, even to the top of tlie northern hills eastward of 
 the Little Hermon. The southern side is every where shut in 
 by the bare rocky wall of Gilboa. 
 
 Starting again at 10.05, we passed up gradually through 
 fields of ripe wheat, enlivened by companies of reapers, until we 
 struck the straight path from Ktimieh to the Jaltd ; whence 
 the people .bring their supply of water. A large herd of neat 
 cattle were going down to drink. At 10.30 we reached Kfimieh, 
 on the summit of a hiU or TeU southeast from Dflhy. This 
 hill is quite isolated ; on the north and east is a fine cultivated 
 basin extending almost to Kaukab, and drained to the Jalud 
 by a valley west of the hill of Kiimieh. The village is not 
 large, and has no marks of antiquity. The people were harvest- 
 ing in the fields below ; and the threshing floors around the vil- 
 lage were in fuU operation.' 
 
 Several villages were here in sight.^ Taiyibeh is in the basin 
 northeast of Kumieh. Murussus is on the line of hills which 
 separate that basin from the valley of Jezreel. Shuttah is on 
 lower ground north of the Jalud. Wezar was also in view, on 
 one of the western peaks of Gilboa.' 
 
 Leaving Kilmieh at 10.45, we descended into the basin ; 
 and having crossed the water-bed running westwards at 11.05, 
 we came at 11.45 to Na'urah, situated on a rise of ground in an 
 angle near the northern hills. This range extends eastwards 
 from the Little Hermon, and terminates at Kaukab. At 
 Na'urah the threshing floors were in fuU operation ; on one, two 
 boys mounted on horses drove round before them three donkeys. 
 Here, as well as at Kftmieh, the black volcanic stones continue ; 
 though less abundant and less black than at Beisan. Here we 
 stopped to lunch.* 
 
 Mounting again at 12,20, and descending a little, we came 
 in eight minutes to the well of the village, in a small valley. 
 We now rose gradually upon the hills ; which here were grassy 
 or else covered with fields of wheat quite to the top. At 12.45 
 
 ' Schultz held Kumieh to be the Kva- ' Bearings at Kumieh : Duhy 327°. en- 
 
 fuiv of the book of Judith ; Zeitschr. d. Na'urah 2°. Tabor 2°. Taiyibeh 53°. 
 
 morg. Ges. HI. p. 48. But this is hardly Shuttah 119°. Tell Beisan 127°. TeU 
 
 consistent with the right position of Bety- Um 'Ajra 145°- Tell Sheikh Hasan 174°. 
 
 lua, south of the plain of Esdraelon and er-Rahhaniyeh 190°. Zerin 268°. Kau- 
 
 heyond Dothan. — This name Kua/j.tii' kab 78°. Murussus 98°. Wezar 223°. 
 
 (Judith 7, 3) is found no where else. May See the next note. 
 
 it perhaps be merely a translation of the ' Not Mezar, as Schultz writes it erro- 
 
 earlier name (Heb. and Chald. bl'D, b>\3j neonsly; see Kitter XV. p. 422. My 
 
 corresponding to the Arabic TWeh, on the companion again verified the name at Ku- 
 
 eastern side of the plain of Esdraelon ? mieh. See Vol II. pp. 316, 319. [iii. 157, 
 
 AU these forms (as also Kva/uiy) signify 160.] 
 
 a bean,place of beans. The crusaders speak * Bearings at Na'urah: Kaukab 104°. 
 
 of Fuleh as the castle of Faba ; in French, Kdmieh 183°. Wezar 202°. 
 la Feve. See in Vol IL p. 328. [iii. 176.] 
 
340 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. Vin. 
 
 ■we came out upon the summit of the ridge ; having the poor 
 village of Tumrah a fevs^ minutes distant on our right. This 
 ridge lies between the basin of Na'urah and the northeastern 
 arm of the plain of Esdraelon. Here the view of this noble 
 plain burst suddenly upon us, looking green and variegated, like 
 a carpet ; and whoUy different in this respect from the Ghor 
 and the valley of Jezreel, which we had just left, where the 
 hotter climate had already made all things dry. Beyond was 
 Mount Tabor. On our left, a mile or more distant, was Endur, 
 the ancient Endor, now deserted ; it lies on the northeast 
 shoulder of Little Hermon, which projects somewhat into the 
 plain, and breaks down steeply below the village.' 
 
 Our course now lay towards the eastern base of Tabor. The 
 road kept high along the northern declivity of the ridge, with a 
 very gradual descent, and having the glorious plain below us on 
 the left. After some time we met here a party of about thirty 
 Jews, men and women, on horseback, with bag and baggage, 
 travelling from Tiberias towards Jerusalem. The women were 
 all riding astride. This is probably the nearest route between 
 Tiberias and Zer'in. Near the bottom of the descent a path 
 went off to Deburieh and the west side of Tabor. 
 
 At the southeastern base of Tabor, a deep Wady coming 
 from the west, called Wady Sher^r, breaks down through what 
 here appears as table land around the base of the mountain ; 
 and runs off in a southeasterly direction. Its sides are from one 
 hundred and fifty to two hundred feet high ; while the apparent 
 table land through which it thus breaks down, is strictly the 
 level of the plain on the west and on. the north. There was 
 now a stream of running water in the valley, and a mill ; to 
 which we came at 1.40. Rising upon the northern side, we ex- 
 pected to come out upon the high plain ; but found ourselves, 
 after ten minutes, on the top of a ridge with another deep 
 similar valley before us, coming down along the east side of 
 Tabor from the Khan et-Tujjar, and uniting just below with 
 Wady Sherir. We were merely crossing the ridge, which occu- 
 pies the fork between the two. The united valley, as we could 
 see, breaks down in a deep and sharp chasm to the Jordan val- 
 ley ; which it enters not far below the Jisr el-Mejami'a. It is 
 the Wady el-Bireh of our former journey ; " and is the boundary 
 between the provinces of Jerusalem and 'Akka. 
 
 We now descended into this northern valley, and followed it 
 up to the Khin ; which we reached at 2.40. A fine stream was 
 flowing along the valley; and the bottom and sides were cultivated. 
 
 ' Bearings on ridge, near Tumrah : 298°, 1 m. Iksal 310°. Deburieh 341°. 
 Wezar202°. Nuris202°. Kumieh 189". Tabor 357°. 
 Na'firah 205°. Murussus 143°. Endur ' VoL II. p. 355. [ui. 217.] ' 
 
Mat 18.] TABOR. LUBIEH. 341 
 
 The latter rose at first a hundred and fifty or two hundred feet ; 
 but grew lower as we advanced. At the Kh&n it is an open 
 shallow Wady ; which comes out from among the hills north of 
 Tabor. The Khdn itself is described in a former volume.' — As 
 we approached the Khan, the hiUs on the east were covered with 
 the tents of the Arabs Subaih, who are enemies of the Sukr. 
 Wady Sher3,r is the boundary between them. 
 
 We intended to proceed to Lubieh by the direct road, which 
 we had followed in 1838 : but being misdirected by a man who 
 was repairing a cistern, we kept on upon the Damascus road 
 towards Kefr Sabt. Perceiving that we were wrong, we turned 
 off at 3.10 short to the left ; and at 3.25 struck the direct road 
 from the Khdn to Liibieh, as it enters the low fertile tract formerly 
 described.* Crossing now the low plain and ascending the hill, 
 (where the basaltic stones are no longer seen,) we came at 4.05 
 to Lubieh on its elevated plateau. A Wady having its head on 
 the north of LUbieh runs off through the southern Buttauf by 
 Tur'^n.^ We could here see, that the eastern end of the 
 northern Buttauf is shut in by a low ridge ; which causes the 
 eastern part of the plain to become a lake in winter, as has been 
 already described.^ 
 
 Tuesday, May \B>t]i. — An elderly intelligent man, of grave 
 deportment, who appeared to be the Sheikh of the village, sat 
 with us last evening, and gave us information respecting the 
 country round about. Learning that we purposed visiting KhSn 
 Minyeh and Tell Hftm, he offered to accompany us, and be our 
 guide to various places of interest. 
 
 As we were making our preparations early this morning, the 
 Sheikh joined us on horseback. We sent off our muleteers by 
 way of Mejdel to Kh^n Minyeh ; there to await our arrival. 
 Starting at 5.45, we followed for a time our former road, N. E. by 
 E. towards Hattin ; but soon diverged from it more to the right 
 in order to visit the Hajar en-Nusr4ny, or stone of the Christians. 
 On our right was the lower tract of fertile land, formerly de- 
 scribed, called Ard el-Ahmar ; which is cultivated by the people 
 of the vUlages around it.' It seems quite deep, though some 
 hundreds of feet above the lake. At its opposite extremity, S. 
 40° E. appeared the opening of the valley, which drains it into 
 the Jordan south of the lake. At 6.10 we were in a small Wady 
 running to el-Ahmar. Five minutes later we crossed the road 
 from Nazareth to Tiberias. At this point are two cisterns, 
 
 ■ Vol. n. p. 368 sq. [iii. 236.] li m. The former is on a declivity across 
 
 ' See VoL IL p. 369. [iiL 237.] lower ground, facing Lubieh. For Kefr 
 
 " For L&hieh and its environs, see Vol. Sabt, see Vol II. p. 369. [iii. 237.] 
 
 II. pp. 369, 370. [iii 236-238.] ' See VoL H. p. 369. [iii. 237.] Burck- 
 
 * See above, p. 109. — Bearings from hardt gives the name of this tract aa Ard 
 
 Lftbieh : Nimrin, N. 2 m. Kefr Sabt, S. el-Hamma; Trav. in Syr. p. 333. 
 
 Vol. III.— 29* 
 
342 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VHI. 
 
 covered witli large perforated stones, nmcli worn hj the friction 
 of ropes. We were now south of the eastern summit of Ktirlin 
 Hattin ; and at 6.25 crossed a Wady coming down from just west 
 of it, and forming one of the main heads of the tract el-Ahmar. 
 Our path now kept along nearly parallel with the Tiberias road ; 
 and brought us at 6.55 to, the Hajar, on the brow of the broad 
 ridge between el-Ahmar and the plain of Hattin. Here is a 
 cluster of large, black, basaltic stones ; one of which the guide 
 pointed out as especially venerated by the Christians. Here, 
 according to legendary tradition, our Lord fed the five thousand.* 
 
 The spot overlooks the plain of Hattin and the lake beyond ; 
 while Safed, Tell Hfiztir, and Mughar, which we had recently 
 visited, were also in sight. The tract between Safed and Meiron 
 is drained by Wady et-Tawahin, which nearer the lake is called 
 Wady el-'AmUd. Wady SeUameh, south of Kamah, descends 
 to the lake as Wady er-Eubudiyeh. A shorter Wady which 
 takes its rise further south, in the hills east of 'Arrabeh and 
 Deir Hanna, enters the plain of Hattin ; and, at a point nearly 
 opposite the village, breaks down through to the lower plain west 
 of Mejdel, by the deep and singular chasm of Wady el-Hamim. 
 The southeastern portion of the plain of Hattin is drained to 
 the lake by a small Wady, called Abu el-'Omeir ; down which 
 the Damascus road descends to the fountains on the shore north 
 of Tiberias.'' 
 
 We had come to the Hajar, thinking it might possibly be 
 the spot visited by Arculfus in the seventh century, as the place 
 of feeding the five thousand. But that place, as shown to him, 
 was a level grassy plain, with a fountain, and was on the way 
 from Tiberias to Capernaum along the shore of the lake. It 
 could not, therefore, have been the present spot.^ 
 
 Leaving the Hajar at 7.25, we struck down through the -fields 
 direct towards Irbid, situated in front of the great chasm of 
 Wady el-Hamam. After twenty minutes we crossed our former 
 road from Hattin to Tiberias. The plain here is thickly strewn 
 with black stones ; but is fertile and well tiUed. We reached 
 Irbid at 8.10, on the brow overlooking the deep Wady el- 
 Ham§,m and its chasm. Here are heaps of ruins of ordinary 
 houses, the stones squared though not hewn ; but nothing of 
 special interest, except the remains of a single edifice. This was 
 a Jewish structure, precisely in the same style of Jewish archi- 
 tecture, that we had seen at Kefr Bir'im and Meiron.' There 
 
 ' See Vol n. p. 371. n. 1. [iiL 240.] ' Adanmanns ex Arculfo, 2. 24, 25. 
 
 ' See Vol. II. p. 396. [iii. 276.]— Bear- Wrigiif s Early Travels in Palestine, p. 9. 
 
 ings at Hajar en-Nusrany : Kurn Hattin See also in Vol. H. p. 371 sq. [iii. 240 
 
 (eastern) 295°. Safed 8°. Tell Hum 45°. sq.] 
 
 Mnghar 328°. Wady et-Tawahin 359°. * See above, pp. 70, 71, 74. 
 "Wady Abu el-'Omeir N. 65° E. 
 
Mat 18.] IKBID. "WADT EL-HAMAM. 343 
 
 is a portal with sculptured ornaments towards the east. One of 
 the interior columns is standing ; as also a double or corner 
 column, that is, two columns in one block, one in each direction, 
 while the back is square. Several columns are prostrate ; and 
 there is likewise a fine Corinthian capital.' I have formerly- 
 presented the evidence, which goes to show, that Irbid is the 
 Arbda of Josephus, and probably the Beth-Arhel of the prophet 
 Hosea.* 
 
 In our wanderings among the ruins, we started a wild swine, 
 which had made the place its home. 
 
 Leaving Irbid at 8.15, and descending steeply iato Wady 
 el-Hamam, we reached the bottom at 8.30. Here was only 
 space enough for a small brook, which disappeared and again 
 appeared several times as we advanced. The sides of the chasm 
 in this upper or southwestern portion are precipitous rock, from 
 five hundred to six hundred feet in height. The length of the 
 chasm is over a mUe ; its course about northeast ; and it 
 becomes gradually wider towards the lower end. About midway 
 of the passage, there are caverns in the clifis on each side, half 
 way up the precipices ; though fewer on the left. On the right, 
 several of these caverns are walled up in front ; and these our 
 guide called KiSrat Ibn Ma'an. We could perceive from below 
 no way of approach to them ; except perhaps upon a narrow 
 projecting ledge of rock, which runs along from the southwest just 
 below them ; having much the appearance of an aqueduct, as if 
 water might once have been brought by it to the caverns. These 
 appear to be the caverns described by Burckhardt, as quoted in a 
 former volume. They were visited by Dr Wilson in 1843.' 
 Further down, at the mouth of the chasm, where the perpendic- 
 ular precipices above sweep off in an arc of a circle to form the 
 southwestern side of the plain, there are many smaller excava- 
 tions in these upper cliffs on both sides of the ravine. Some of 
 these, particularly on the south, are one above another, as if 
 forming different stories ; and some have been walled up in front, 
 leaving doors and windows. These are " the curious old con- 
 vents " of Irby and Mangles.* The only path we could discover, 
 
 ' Bearings from Irbid; Kum Hattin 398. [iii. 280.] Wilson Lands of the 
 
 267°. Hajar en-Nusrany 174°. Safed 8°. Bible, II. p. 307 sq. — The fortification de- 
 
 '^ See Vol. n. p. 378 sq. 398. [iiL 251, scribed by Irby and Mangles seems to be 
 
 280 sq.] This place is also mentioned as on the northwest side of the lower end of 
 
 Arbel in several Jewish Itineraries ; e. g. the chasm, and to have no connection with 
 
 by K. Parchi, Asher's Benj. of Tud. IL p. caverns ; Trav. pp. 298, 299. [91.] Po- 
 
 425. Oarmoly pp. 131, 185, 384, 448. cocke mentions the same ; and refers it 
 
 One writer in the fourteenth century, with little probability to Fakhr ed-Din; 
 
 speaks of the ruins of the synagogue ; ib. Descr. of the East, II. i. p. 67. 
 
 p. 259. ■* Travels, p. 299. [91.] 
 
 = Burckh. Syr. p. 331. See VoL H. p. 
 
344 
 
 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sko. VIIL 
 
 led up to these last excavations, on the southeast side ; and from 
 these Dr WUson reached the other caverns. 
 
 At 8.50 we were at the end of the perpendicular cliffs ; 
 which here are twice as far apart as at the upper end of the 
 chasm. At 9.10 Wady el-Ham^m opened out wide into the 
 plain. Here were extensive fields of cucumbers. At 9.25 we 
 were at the southeastern poiat of the last projecting lull on our 
 left. Our guide spoke of a ruin on the hiUs to the west, called 
 Nukb. Mejdel was now a mile distant, S. 15° E. situated just 
 where the hills reach down to the lake. Here we struck again 
 our path of 1838 ; and came at 9.30 to 'Ain el-Mudauwarah, 
 " the Eound Fountain," described in a former volume.' Besides 
 the many oleanders in full bloom, there was now an abundance 
 of purple morning glories. 
 
 Passing on along our former path, we came at 9.45 to Wady 
 er-ECibudiyeh, the continuation of Wady Selldmeh. A fine 
 mill stream issues from it, which serves to water all the southern 
 part of the plain ; a portion of it being actually carried along 
 the slope above the Eound Fountain, and so to the tract beyond.* 
 — ^Further north the plain, which bears the name of el-Ghuweir, 
 was at present without water. We now took a direct course 
 to Khan Minyeh. At 10 o'clock a low Tell, called Serreman, 
 was on our left, with a few black stones upon it. Five minutes 
 later we crossed the dry bed of Wady el-'Amud, the contiimation 
 of Wady et-Tawahin, coming from the region between Safed and 
 Meiron. We did not now notice the lone prostrate column ; it 
 being probably upon a different track. ^ We came at 10.25 to 
 Khan Minyeh ; and passing on dismounted on the green carpet 
 around 'Ain et-Tin. 
 
 The ruined Khan is situated close under the northern hUl, 
 just where the Damascus road ascends ; some thirty or forty 
 rods from the shore of the lake.* The fountain, 'Ain et-Tin, is 
 a beautiful one, with an abundance of sweet and pleasant 
 water, and not warm.' The lake when full, as now, sets up 
 nearly or quite to the fountain. Around the latter and along 
 the shore was a tract of luxuriant clover, of a freshness and 
 verdure such as I saw nowhere else in Palestine. It was a 
 luxury to rest in it. Burckhardt testifies to the same fertility : 
 "Near by are several other springs, which occasion a very 
 
 ' Vol. n. p. 400 sq. [iii. 283 sq.] under the name of Gesenius, p. 558. It 13 
 
 ' See VoL II. p. 400. [iii. 283] there spoken of as "eine Quelle heisse-t 
 
 • See Vol. II. p. 402. [iii. 286. J Wassers " The English original has : " a 
 
 * This place is mentioned under the rivuletof swceiwater;" p. 319. The trans- 
 same name, Minyeh, by Bphaeddin in the lator (Dr Rienecke) doubtless wrote susses ; 
 eleventh century ; p. 98 bis. which in German chirography is not very 
 
 ' A singular typographical error in re- unlike heisses. The error has never been 
 lation to this fountain occurs in the Ger- corrected. Raiuner makes it the basis of 
 man translation of Burckhardt^ published an argument; Palast. p. 118. 3d edit. 
 
Mat 18.] KHAN MINYKH. ET-TABIGHAH. 345 
 
 luxuriant herbage along the borders of the lake. The pastures 
 of Minyeh are proverbial for their richness." ' 
 
 We here took our lunch. Before leaving, I rode out upon 
 the site of ruins lying south of the Kh3,n, and extending down 
 to the little bay along the shore. They were now covered with 
 a field of wheat nearly ripe. The remains are strewed around 
 in shapeless heaps ; but are much more extensive and consider- 
 able than my former impression had led me to anticipate. 
 Indeed, there are here remains enough not only to warrant, but 
 to require the hypothesis of a large ancient place." That no 
 definite traces of public edifices now appear, is readily accounted 
 for by the neighbourhood of Tiberias, whither the stones may 
 easily have been carried off by water ; and also by the fact, that 
 for centuries the place has been subjected to the plough.^ 
 
 On the question, whether this is the probable site of ancient 
 Capernaum, I shall have something more to say in the sequel. 
 
 We now sent forward our muleteers to await us at the Khan 
 Jubb Yusuf ; and setting off at 10.55, we struck up over the 
 rocky and precipitous point of the hill above the fountain, 
 towards the northeast. There is no passage along its base, which 
 is washed by the waters of the lake ; and therefore in our 
 former journey, we had made a circuit on the Damascus road. 
 A path has been cut in ancient times along the rock, some 
 twenty feet above the water ; and we found no difficulty in 
 passing. One feature of the excavation surprised us ; namely, 
 that for most of the way there is a channel cut in the rock, 
 about three feet deep and as many wide, which seemed evidently 
 to have been an aqueduct once conveying water for irrigating the 
 northern part of the plain el-Ghuweir. There was no mistaking 
 the nature and object of this channel ; and yet no waters were 
 near, which could be thus conveyed, except from the fountains 
 of et-Tabighah. Descending and crossing the mouth of an open 
 Wady, we reached the latter place at 11.10. 
 
 Here are the immense brackish fountains, and the mills, 
 formerly described ; as also the Tannllr Eyub.^ The fountains 
 issue from under the hill, just back of the village. We went 
 thither, and found built up solidly around the main fountain an 
 octagonal Roman reservoir, now in ruins. Like those at Eds el- 
 'Ain near Tyre, it was obviously built in order to raise the water 
 
 ' Trav. in Syr. p. 319. sought there for roins ; and of conrso 
 
 ' Quaresmius in speaking of Khdn Min- found none. Narrative, p. 468. 
 yeh (which he writes MenicK), says : " in ' For a fuller description of the plain, 
 
 illius situ mult«B ruinae cernuntur." Vol and the tract around Ehan Minyeh, see in 
 
 IL p. 868.— Lieut. Lynch, speaking of Vol. IL pp. 400-403. [iii. 282-288.] 
 •Ain et-Tin, says : " Upon the cliff above * See Vol. II. p. 405 sq. [iii. 296 sq.] 
 Dr B. places the site of Capernaum ! " fie 
 
346 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VIIL 
 
 to a certain heiglit for an aqueduct.' Tlie kead of water was 
 sufficient to carry it to the channel around the point of the 
 opposite hill into the plain el-Ghuweir ; hut whether this was 
 done by a canal around the sides of the vaUey, or by a temporary 
 aqueduct direct, or whether even it was done at all, there are 
 now no further traces from which to form a judgment. The 
 water has a saltish taste, but is not unpalatable. 
 
 Setting off again at 11.15, we soon had on our right an 
 encampment of Arab tents upon the shore. The naked and 
 half-naked children came out to gaze upon the Franks, and the 
 women did the same from their doors. At 11.50 we came to 
 TeU Hum. At the time of our former visit the site was com- 
 paratively clear from obstructions, and some excavations had 
 been made ; so that access was feasible to all parts of the ruins. 
 Now however the heaps of desolation, and indeed the whole 
 site, were overgrown with tall grass and a luxuriant crop of 
 thistles ; so that we made our way with difficulty to the princi- 
 pal ruin, which had puzzled us so much on our former visit, 
 and which had never yet been explained.^ 
 
 Indeed, it was mainly on account of this structure, that we 
 had again come to Tell Hum. Ever since we had seen the 
 Jewish remains at Kefr Bir'im and Meiron, and now again at 
 Irbid,^ the idea had arisen in our minds, that very probably we 
 had found the key to the structure at Tell Hum. And so it 
 proved. It needed but a glance to show us, that we had before 
 us here a building of the same kind, though of far greater 
 dimensions ; exhibiting the same profusion of like sculptured 
 ornaments, the same double columns on a single block, and 
 indeed the same general architectural features throughout. 
 The portal and some of the friezes were entirely covered with 
 such sculptures. The edifi.ce therefore was once a Jewish syna- 
 gogue, apparently of unusual size and magnificence ; surpassing 
 everything of the kind, which we saw elsewhere ; though some 
 of the structures at Kedes equalled it perhaps in sjilendour. 
 
 Our Sheikh had told us last evening of a site of ruius not 
 far from Tell Hum, called Kerazeh ; and a main object of his 
 accompanying us to-day was to conduct us to that place. Ac- 
 cordingly we now turned our horses' heads that way ; and at 
 11.55 began to foUow up a shallow Wady, which comes dovra 
 from the northwest just beyond the ruins. A path scarcely per- 
 ceptible led up the valley, crossing and recrossing the water-bed, 
 and often lost among the large volcanic stones and rank grass. 
 As we were slowly picking our way, the guide being in advance, 
 
 ' Onr attention had been drawn to tMs ' See Vol. II. pp. 406-408. [iii. 29&- 
 reservoir by the Kev. W. M. Thomson, who 300.] 
 had visited it. ' See above, pp. 70, 74, 342. 
 
Mat 18.] TELL HUM. KEBAZEH. 347 
 
 a man met us and began to demand hahhsMsh. No notice 
 being taken of him, he suddenly seized hold of the bridle of Dr 
 Smith's horse. This drew down upon him the wrath of Kashid, 
 under which he slunk away. 
 
 After about forty minutes the vaUey bent more to the left ; 
 and we ascended obliquely the northern slope on the same 
 course as before. Here was no path, and our progress among 
 the volcanic stones was more difficult than ever. On the hills 
 around were seen clusters of larger black volcanic rocks ; which, 
 at a distance, bore a striking resemblance to sites of ruined 
 towns. We reached at length the top of the ascent, and 
 looked down before us into a shallow side valley descending 
 southwest to the main Wady. In this side vaUey, in a little 
 basin, we came at one o'clock to a small fountain of bad water, 
 called Bir Kerazeh. The ruins we had been told of lie on the 
 west side of this same valley, a quarter of a mile southwest, 
 near its entrance into the main Wady. They consist simply of 
 a few foundations of black stones ; the remains evidently of a 
 poor and inconsiderable village. They are known as Khirbet 
 Kerazeh. We did not go to them, as there was no path ; and 
 because they were in full view. Their distance from Tell Hum 
 must be reckoned at about three mUes. 
 
 We had come to this spot, because the name Kerazeh bears 
 a degree of resemblance to the Chorazin of the New Testament ; 
 and we hoped to find, in the ruins or the situation, something 
 which might determine the position of that ancient place. In 
 this we felt ourselves disappointed. The remains are too trivial 
 to have ever belonged to a place of any importance. Chorazin, 
 too, according to Jerome, lay upon the shore of the lake ; ' but 
 this site is an hour distant, shut in among the hills, without any 
 view of the lake, and remote from any public road whether an- 
 cient or modern.'' 
 
 Here we parted from our Sheikh, who returned to his home ; 
 while we proceeded on our way. 
 
 Having thus completed our re-examination of the western 
 shore of the lake, let us pause for a few moments, to consider 
 how far the facts and circumstances, as also the historical notices, 
 aid us in determining the position of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and 
 
 ' Hieron. Comm. in Esa. ix. 1. p. 83 ei to have heard the name KerAzeh, which he 
 
 Mart. " Lacum Genesareth, in cnjus litore writes Gerasi ; Vol. II. i p. 72. The 
 
 Capeniaum et Tiberias et Bethsaida et place was visited in 1843 by the Eev. Mr 
 
 Chorozaim sitae sint." Keyes, then one of the American mission- 
 
 " Pococke, inqiiiring for Chorazin, seema aries at Beirut. 
 
348 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VIH. 
 
 Chorazin. Of these Capernaum was the most important, and 
 demands our chief attention. 
 
 It is worthy of remark, how rarely the Evangehsts connect the 
 narrative of our Lord's hfe and actions with the mention of any 
 definite place ; except generally Gahlee and Jerusalem. In the 
 interior of Galilee only Nazareth, Cana, and Nain, are named ; 
 the former as the place where Jesus was brought up, and the two 
 latter as the scenes of special miracles. On the shore of the 
 lake, we hear only of Capernaum, where Jesus dwelt ; of Beth- 
 saida and Chorazin, where many of his mighty works were done ; 
 of Magdala, as the residence of Mary Magdalen ; and incidentally 
 of Tiberias, which only just then had been built up by Herod 
 Antipas, and was beginning to rise into importance and notice.' 
 It was doubtless for this reason, that other towns along the lake 
 became more conspicuous than Tiberias, for the frequent pres- 
 ence, the teaching, and the miracles of our Lord. 
 
 Capernaum. — In a former volume, after an attentive con- 
 sideration of the subject, I expressed the opinion, that the site 
 of Capernaum was most probably near to Kh§,n Minyeh.' This 
 opinion has been controverted by Dr Wilson, who fixes Caper- 
 naum at Tell Hiim.' In this he has been followed by Eitter.' 
 In reviewing the subject, I have endeavoured, for years, to hold 
 my mind open to conviction, whatever might seem to be the 
 balance of evidence. But after a further examination of the 
 ground, and a careful weighing of the historical notices, I see no 
 vahd reason for recalhng my former judgment. On the contrary, 
 that judgment appears to me to be strengthened by several con- 
 siderations not formerly taken into the account. Let me be 
 permitted to give here a brief statement of the evidence, in the 
 form of a few propositions. 
 
 I. The land of Gennesaret,' so called, was, in the days of 
 our Lord and Josephus, a definite and well known district. 
 
 From the New Testament we learn only that this tract was 
 on the west side of the lake.' Josephus describes it as extending 
 along the lake, and as being of wonderful fertility. It had all 
 kinds of trees, as walnuts, fig trees, olives, and also pahn trees. 
 It likewise produced the principal fruits all the year round, and 
 grapes and figs during ten months of the year.' 
 
 Making all due allowance for a touch of exaggeration in this 
 description, no one has ever questioned the identity of this 
 Gennesaret with the present plain el-Ghuweir. According to 
 the latest observations, the level of the lake is at least six or 
 
 ' See VoL IL p. 389. [iu. 266.] ' Gr. ^ 7? Vevin\aappr, Matt. 14, 34. 
 
 ' See Vol. II. p. 403 sq. [Hi 288 sq ] Mark 6, 53. 
 
 " Lands of the Bible, IL p. 143 sq. ° Matt. L 0. Mark. 1. 0. comp. John 6, 24. 
 
 • Erdk. XV. p. 339 sq. ' B J. 3. 10. 8. 
 
Mat 18.] SITE OF CAPEENAUM. 349 
 
 seven hundred feet below tliat of the Mediterranean ; ' and the 
 climate therefore, like that of the GrhSr, is somewhat Egyptian. 
 Even now the little plain " has every appearance of fertility ; 
 and, when kept in order and properly laid out, would be truly 
 beautiful and delightful. At present it has some rich pasturage 
 and cultivated fields, bearing luxuriant crops of corn [grain], 
 and rice, and vegetables. Wild figs and quantities of the Nubk 
 tree are stiU found growing in it in several places. Various lines 
 of oleanders, particularly along the streams which run through 
 it, add to its beauty. The soil is much of a dark alluvial loam ; 
 and contains the debris of the basaltic rock in the neighbour- 
 hood." » 
 
 This tract is definitely bounded by the hills which run down 
 to the lake on the south and north of it, at Mejdel and at Kheln 
 Minyeh. Josephus says : " The length of this tract extends 
 along the shore of the lake for thirty stadia ; and its breadth is 
 twenty; " ^ that is, three Roman miles and three quarters in 
 length by two and a half in breadth. Travellers of the present 
 century give the length of el-Ghuweir at one hour with horses, 
 or about three English geographical miles; a very exact coinci- 
 dence.* Dr Wilson remarks : " It struck us, that the account 
 which Josephus gives of the dimensions of the valley [plain] is 
 tolerably correct." ' 
 
 II. The cities of Capernaum and Bethsaida were situated 
 in, or adjacent to, the tract of Gennesaret. 
 
 The truth of this proposition appears clearly from incidental 
 notices in the Grospels. After the violent death of John the 
 Baptist, our Lord withdrew with his disciples by water to a 
 solitary place on the northeast part of the lake of Tiberias, iq 
 the region of Julias, the northern Bethsaida." Hither the people 
 followed them ; and here our Lord miraculously fed the five 
 thousand in the afternoon.' Towards evening Jesus directed the 
 disciples to enter the boat, and pass over the lake before him to 
 Bethsaida, as Mark says ; but to Oapernamn according to 
 John.* The wind was high and contrary ; they toiled in rowing, 
 and the boat laboured.' During the whole night they made 
 little progress ; until in the fourth watch, (after daybreak,) Jesus 
 came to them walking on the water. They took him into the 
 
 ' Lynoli Official Report, Transverse Sec- ' Ibid. p. 138. 
 
 tion, opp. p. 43. " Matt. 14, 13. Mark 6, 32., John 6, 
 
 ' Wilson Lands of the Bible, IT. p. 137. 1. For the neighbonrhood of Bethsaida, 
 
 — The Talmudists likewise speak of the see Lnke 9, 10. 
 
 great fertility of Gennesaret, and place it ' Matt 14, 15 sq. Mark 6, 35 sq. 
 
 near Tiberias. See Lightfoot Opp. ed. Lnke 9, 12 sq. John 6, 5 sq. 
 
 Lensd. II. p. 22r. " Mark 6, 45. John 6, 16. 17. Comp. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 3. 10. 8 fin. Matt. 14, 22. 
 
 ' Burckhardt p. 320. Wilson Lands of • John 6, 18. Mark 6, 48. Matt 14, 
 
 the Bible, II. p. 138. 24. 
 Vol. III.— 30 
 
350 FEOM BEISAN TO HASBEIYA. [Sec. VIH. 
 
 boat ; ' and immediately, John says, " the boat was at the land 
 whither they went ; " while, according to Matthew and Mark, 
 " they came into the land of Gennesaret." ' The next day, the 
 people whom they had left behind, " took other boats, and came 
 to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus." They found him at Caper- 
 naum, where he immediately teaches in the synagogue.^ 
 
 This testimony shows, that the disciples left the northeast 
 quarter of the lake to go to Bethsaida or Capernaum ; that by 
 the violence of the wind and waves they were driven out of their 
 course, and landed early next morning ia the tract of Gennesaret, 
 or, as John says, " the land whither they went ; " and that 
 during the day Jesus repaired to Capernaum, where the people 
 who had followed, found him.^ It follows as a necessary conclu- 
 sion, that Capernaum and Bethsaida were situated near to each 
 other, on the shore of the lake, and in or adjacent to the plain 
 of G-ennesaret. It follows also, from the circumstances, almost 
 as conclusively, that they were on the northern border of this 
 tract. 
 
 This conclusion I hold to be incontrovertible. It is likewise 
 urged with brevity and force by Lightfoot.' Dr Wilson likewise 
 gives his assent to the conclusion ; ' though with a reservation, 
 which I shall notice further on. Singularly enough Bitter makes 
 no allusion whatever to this whole argument. 
 
 III. The fountain KapJiarnaum of Josephus, in the tract 
 Gennesaret, was probably the 'Ain et-Tin ; and the village 
 Ktpharnome, mentioned by him, was apparently at the site of 
 ruins near by. 
 
 Josephus, after describing the fertility of Gennesaret, as 
 above, goes on to say : " It is also watered by a most potable 
 [or fertilizing] fountain, which the people of the region call 
 Kapharnaum. This some have thought to be a vein of the Nile ; 
 because it produces fish similar to the Coracinus of the lake 
 near Alexandria." * 
 
 There are in the Ghuweir, as we have seen, two large foun- 
 tains, 'Ain et-Tin and the Round Fountain. In a former volume 
 I have related, with what eagerness I sought on the hill adjacent 
 to the latter for traces of ruins, in the vain hope that it might 
 turn out to be the site of Capernaum.' Besides these fountains, 
 
 ' John 6, 21. Matt. 14, 34. Mark 6, 53. tirbem banc in Gennesaritide sitam fuissa 
 
 " John 6, 22-25. 59. claram faoiunt Evangelistse collati. 
 
 ' During the early part of the day, Jesus ' Vol. II. p. 145. 
 
 healed many, apparently hefore reaching ' Jos. B. J. 8. 10. 8, koI irrryy SidpSprat 
 
 Capemanm ; Matt. 14, 35 sq. Mark 6, jroTi/iaiTOTj; [al. 7oyi;iio)ToTji], Ka^apvaobn 
 
 54 sq. The people from the other side avr^y oi tirix^fnoi koKoviti ktA. — Both 
 
 ■woold hardly reach Capernaum before Pliny and Strabo speak of the Coracinits 
 
 afternoon ; as the boats came first from as found in the Nile. Plin. H. N. 32. 19. 
 
 Tiberias ; John 6, 23. Strabo 17. 2. 4. p. 823. 
 
 ' 0pp. ed. Leusd. H. p. 227, "Nam ' See Vol IL p. 401. [iii 284.]— Yet 
 
Mat. 18.] SITE OF CAPERNAUM. 351 
 
 the plain is also watered by streams from the Wadys el-Ham^m, 
 er-Rubudiyeh, and at some seasons el-'Amud ; the stream from 
 Wady er-RflbQdiyeh, being much the largest. ' Josephus there- 
 fore, in mentioning the fountain Kapharnaum, could hardly refer 
 to it as the main source of fertility to the plain ; for this is true 
 only of the streams from the Wadys. More probably, he in- 
 tended to speak of it as a source of sweet and potable water, as 
 contrasted with the other warm and brackish fountains along 
 the shore.* This consideration removes the objection raised 
 against 'Ain et-Tin, as not irrigating the plain. It does however 
 occasion a luxuriant verdure in its vicinity and along the shore ; ^ 
 while the northern part of the plain, further back, was appar- 
 ently fertilized by water brought by the ac[ueduct around the 
 point of the northern hill. 
 
 More decisive, however, is the circumstance, that the fountain 
 Kapharnaum was held to be a vein of the Nile, because it pro- 
 duced a fish like the Goracinus of that river. This might well 
 be the popular belief as to a large fountain on the very shore ; 
 to which the lake in some seasons sets quite up, so that fish 
 could pass and repass without difficulty. Not so however with 
 the Bound Fountain, which is a mile and a half from the 
 shore ; and which could neither itself have in it fish fit for use, 
 nor could fish of any size pass between it and the lake. These 
 considerations seem to me to estabhsh the identity of the fountain 
 Kapharnaum with 'Ain et-Tin. 
 
 Josephus further speaks of a village Kepliarnome ' in this 
 vicinity ; which in all probability, and according to all analogy, 
 must have been adjacent to the fountain.' This at least is the 
 prima facie view, and seems to me the correct one. During a 
 
 notwithstanding my vain search and the ports a profuse herbage, especially near 
 
 absence of all traces of a site, M. De the shore ; " II. p. 138. 
 
 Saulcy, without any personal examination, * Gr. Keipapviiit), Jos. Vit. § 72. Here 
 
 authoritatively pronounces that spot to Josephus gives the name a Greek form ; 
 
 have been the site of Capernaum ! Credat but in Kcupapyaoin he merely writes the 
 
 Jndcms. Narrat. Vol II. p. 471. — M. De Hebrew form in Greek letters ; B. J. 3. 
 
 Saulcy also finds ruins all the way from 10. 8. 
 
 the Round Fountain to Abu Shusheh. ' The language of Ritter implies too 
 
 There are indeed many large volcanic much, when he says : " The name of the 
 
 stones • but no ruins. fountain Kapharnaum is not necessarily 
 
 ' Dr Wilson says the stream from Wady connected with the name of the city, which 
 
 el-Hamam is the most important ; 11. p. might lie in a wholly different place ; since 
 
 138. As we saw them, that from Wady such appellative names are often repeated 
 
 er-Rubiidiyeh was at least ten times larger in Palestine ; " Erdk. XV. p. 339. It 
 
 than the other. would be difficult, I think, to find in Pa- 
 
 = Hence in Joe. B. J. 3. 10. 8, the read- lestine a town and fountain both bearing 
 
 ing voTiariTTi is to be preferred, and is the same name, which are not connected 
 
 given in the earlier editions. and adjacent to each other; and especially 
 
 ' See above, pp. 344, 345. Dr Wilson so, as would be the case here, (if the city 
 
 also says: "'Ain et-Tin . . . which, with were at Tell Hfira,) to find them an hour 
 
 several attendant rills rising from less apart and with other fountains and a town 
 
 copious sources in the neighbourhood, sup- between. 
 
352 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEIYA. [Sec. VHL 
 
 skirmish near the Jordan, at the north end of the late, the horse 
 of Josephus had sunk in a marsh, by which he was injured in 
 the wrist, and was therefore conveyed to the village Kepharnome. 
 There he remained the next day in a feverish state ; and at 
 night, with the consent of the physicians,' was conveyed to 
 Tarichsea at the southern extremity of the lake. 
 
 Josephus at this time was the leader of the Gahlaeans, who 
 were in a state of revolt against king Agrippa and the Romans. 
 His head-quarters would seem to have been at Tarich^a ; at 
 least he was frequently there, and once escaped thither by water 
 as to a place of security.^ Tiberias vibrated between the two 
 parties.' A detachment of the king's troops under Sylla, had 
 pitched five miles from Julias, the northern Bethsaida. Against 
 these Josephus had sent two thousand of his followers, who in- 
 trenched themselves near the Jordan, a furlong distant from Ju- 
 lias. These were joined by Josephus himself with three thousand 
 troops ; and the next day the skirmish took place, during which 
 occurred the accident to their leader, as above related/* Subse- 
 quently other troops were sent by water from Tarichsea to 
 Julias.^ 
 
 The troops of Josephus, hearing of his accident, turned back 
 from the pursuit. It would seem that both he and they feared, 
 that his injury was much greater than was actually the case. 
 It was not unnatural, therefore, that he should desire to be con- 
 veyed, probably by water, to his quarters at Tarichsea ; nor 
 that, wearied and feverish, he should stop for the day at Kephar- 
 nome ; whence, after consulting the physicians, he proceeded the 
 next night.* — I have said he was probably conveyed by water ; 
 since, as we have seen, boats were frequently passing upon the 
 lake, and would be at his command. But even if we supposed 
 him to have been carried by land, we can conceive of many 
 reasons, why he might prefer to proceed to Kepharnome at two 
 hours' distance, rather than stop an hour short at the place now 
 known as Tell Hum. At the former he may have had warmer 
 adherents, more friends and acquaintances, better physicians, 
 greater security from an attack of the enemy, or other like 
 reasons. If the object in conveying him after his injury to 
 Kepharnome was merely to bring him to the nearest place of 
 covert, why was he not rather carried to Julias, which was but 
 a furlong distant .^ The circumstances seem to show, that he 
 was on his way to Tarichsea.' 
 
 ' Vita § 72, ScJfio'Te rots larpois. of course, not to the place wLither ho 
 
 ' Vita 54 bis, 59. should be conveyed, but to the propriety 
 
 ' Ibid. 62, 68, 69. of removing him at all. 
 ' lb. 71, 72. ' " The object of carrying Josephus to 
 
 ' Ibid. 73. Capernaum was not ... to carry him a 
 
 ' The opinion of the physicians referred stage on his way to Tarichsea ; but to con- 
 
Mat 18.] SITE 01" CAPEENAUM. 353 
 
 I see no difficulty, therefore, in regarding Kepharnome as 
 adjacent to the fountain Kapharnaum in the plain of Genne- 
 saret. 
 
 IV. The circumstances which fix the site of Capernaum 
 within the tract of Grennesaret, show conclusively that it could 
 not have been situated at TeU Hilm. 
 
 The limits of Gennesaret, as we have seen, are definitely 
 assigned by Josephus, and assented to by Dr Wilson as " tolerably 
 correct." ' Its northern border is at Khdn Minyeh ; while Tell 
 Hilm is situated an hour distant northeast. — Eemarking upon 
 my former conclusion drawn from a comparison of the Evange- 
 lists, " that Capernaum lay on that part of the western shore 
 known as the region of Gennesaret," ^ the same writer says : 
 " With this inference I agree ; though I beg to remark, that it 
 throws no light on the extent of the region of Gennesaret, or 
 the exact situation within it of the town of Capernaum."^ This 
 is indeed true in the literal sense of the words ; but when 
 the extent of the region is definitely settled by other testimony, 
 and assented to by the objector himself, I submit, whether it is 
 any thing more than an evasion of the argument, to suggest 
 (without venturing to affirm) a wider extension of the region. 
 Yet such is all the notice and all the reply, which that main 
 argument has ever received.* 
 
 Again, there is at or near Tell Hiim no fountain whatever ; 
 the ancient town upon that spot having had its supply of water 
 solely from the lake. This too is incompatible with the testi- 
 mony of Josephus.' 
 
 An argument in favour of Tell Hum has been drawn from 
 the language of Mark, when narrating that Jesus and his disci- 
 ples departed in a boat to the desert place where he fed the five 
 thousand : " And the people saw them departing, and many 
 knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent 
 them, and came together unto him."' Here, it is said, " it is 
 much more difficult to see, how they could get on foot to the 
 east of the lake, before the arrival by ship of Christ and his 
 apostles, after a passage of which no adverse circumstance is 
 related, if we suppose them to start from the Kh^n Minyeh, 
 than it is if we suppose them to start from TeU Htm."' This 
 
 vey him after his injtuy to a place of co- * Ritter, as we have seen, passes over 
 
 vert ; " Wilson Lands etc. II. p. 146. This this chief argument without notice ; soa 
 
 is the main argument to those who find above, p. 350. 
 
 Capernaum at Tell Hum. ' See above, p. 350, also p. 351. n. 6. 
 
 ' See the first proposition above, pp. ° Mark 6, 33. Comp. Matt. 14, 13. 
 
 348, 349. Luke 9, 11. John 6, 2. 
 
 ' See the second proposition above, pp. ' Lands of the Bible II. p. 145. Ritter 
 
 349, 350. Erdk XV. p. 341. 
 ' Lands of the Bible IL p. 145. 
 
 Vol. III.— 30* 
 
354 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VIII; 
 
 again is true in the letter ; but I must confess myself unable to 
 see its bearing upon tbe present question. It assumes, that our 
 Lord and bis disciples set off from Capernaum, which is neither 
 said nor intimated by any Evangehst. The circumstances make 
 it more probable, that Jesus and the twelve were on the north- 
 western part of the lake ; and that, wishing to retire to a solitary 
 place on the northeastern shore, where there would be no boat,' 
 they preferred to take with them a boat, in which they might 
 afterwards pass over directly to Capernaum. They naturally 
 rowed along near the northern shore ; and the people were able 
 to keep pace with them, and even to outgo them.^ 
 
 V. A train of historical notices, extending down to the 
 seventeenth century, seems to fix continuously the site of Caper- 
 naum at Khan Minyeh. 
 
 The earhest mention is by Eusebius and Jerome ; from 
 which we only learn, that Capernaum in their day was still a 
 town on the lake of G-ennesaret.' In another place Jerome says, 
 that " Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, were 
 situated on the shore of the lake." * Of course he does not here 
 name the towns in their order, for Tiberias was the southern- 
 most of all. The church mentioned by Epiphanius must have 
 existed at that time.' 
 
 Antoninus Martyr visited Capernaum about A. D. 600. His 
 mention of it is very brief From Tabor he went to Tiberias ; 
 then to Capernaum, where was a Basilica including the house 
 of Peter ; and from thence through encampments, or villages, 
 or cities, to the two sources of the Jordan.' All this is of little 
 importance for determining the specific site of Capernaum ; but 
 it shows, that the town as mentioned by Jeroine, and probably 
 the church spoken of by Epiphanius, still existed some two 
 centuries later. 
 
 The next notice is more important. Arculfus the French bish- 
 
 ' JoLn 6, 22. is in ruins ; but there is no trace of a Tell. 
 
 ^ Another supposed coincidence urged in The name, too, is first heard of iu the 
 
 favour of Tell Hum, I cannot but regard-as seventeenth century, 
 
 fiinciful, viz. that in the name Tell Hum we ^ Onomast. art. Capharnaum. Eu.sebi- 
 
 have a trace of the ancient name Caphar us calls it a village, Kiiiari ; Jerome, qppi- 
 
 Nahum, i. e. Nahum's village ; so Roedi- dum. 
 
 ger in AUgem. Lit. Zeit. April, 1842, p. * "Laoum Genesareth, in cujus litore 
 
 581. Ritter XV. p. 341. The first sylla- Capernaum et Tiberias et Bethsaida et 
 
 ble of Nahum might indeed possibly be Chorazaim sitae sint ; " Hieron. in Esa. ix. 
 
 dropped ; although there is no analogy for 1. p. 83. ed. Mart. 
 
 it. We might also admit the substitution ' See in Vol. II. p. 391 sq. piL 290, 
 
 of Tell for Caphar, if there were any pro- 292.") 
 
 bable grounds for it ; just as in the case ' " Delude verdmus in civitatem Tiberia- 
 
 of 'Ain Shems for the Egyptian Beth- dem. . . . Deinde venimus in Caphar- 
 
 ehemesh, where thefountainremainsthough naum in domum beati Petri, quae est in' 
 
 thecityisdestroyed;seeVol.I.p.25.[i 37] Basilica. Inde venientes per castra, vel 
 
 But here at Tell Hum there is nothing to vicos, vel civitates, ad duos fontes venimus, 
 
 lead to such a change. The place indeed scilicet Jor et Dan." Anton. Mart. 7. 
 
Mat 18.] SITE OF CAPERNAUM. 355 
 
 op visited Palestine towards the close of tlie seventli century, and 
 related his observations to Adamnanus. In connection with the 
 lake of Galilee, he speaks of " the level and grassy plot, where the 
 Saviour fed the five thousand ; where was also a fonticulus or 
 small fountain ; the place was on this side of the lake, looking 
 towards the city of Tiberias, which was in the south." ' He 
 then goes on to say, that " those coming from Jerusalem, who 
 desire to go to Capernaum, proceed by the direct way through 
 Tiberias ; thence along the lake of Galilee, and through the place 
 of benediction before described ; from whence, along the margin 
 of the same lake, by not a long circuit, they arrive at Caper- 
 naum upon the shore." ' Here "the place of benediction" can 
 only be the place of feeding the five thousand just before men- 
 - tioned ;■ which is thus definitely fixed, as we have seen above, 
 upon the shore of the lake.' The term fonticulus could hardly 
 be applied in strictness either to 'Ain el-Barideh or to th^ 
 Round Fountain ; and might seem rather to refer to some small 
 source on the shore, not far perhaps from Mejdel. But no such 
 fountain is reported by modern travellers ; and, so far as we now 
 know, the plot around 'Ain el-Barideh best corresponds with the 
 circumstances described. From that plot, wherever it was, a 
 circuit along the lake brought the traveller to Capernaum ; 
 obviously the first town upon the shore, and therefore answering 
 to Khan Minyeh. 
 
 Arculfus did not himself visit Capernaum ; but he describes 
 the place as he saw it from a neighbouring hill : "It had no 
 wall ; and being Confined to a narrow space between the moun- 
 tain and lake, it extended a long way upon the shore from west 
 to east, having the mountain on the north and the lake on the 
 south." * The hill or mountain, from which Arculfus had this 
 prospect, is unknown. It was, however, not the mount of the 
 Beatitudes so called, nor the Hajar en-Nusr&ny ; for he nowhere 
 makes the slightest allusion to either of these.^ But as he 
 actually visited the place on the shore north of Tiberias, where 
 the five thousand were supposed to have been fed, the probability 
 
 ' At that time, as now, the popular be- cnitu Caphamaum perveniunt m,aritimain ;' 
 
 lief held the miracle to have been wrought Adamuan. 2. 25. 
 
 on the west of the lake : " Qui locus oibra ' See above, p. 342. 
 
 mare Galilaeae est, respiciens civitatem Ti- * " Quse, ut Arculfus refert, qui earn de 
 
 beriadem ab australi plaga sibi occnrren- monte vicino prospexit, munmi non ha- 
 
 tem ;" Adamnan. '2. 24. The site of the bens, angnsto inter montera et stagnnm 
 
 miracle was later changed to the Hajar coartata spatio, per illam maritimam oram 
 
 en-Nusrany. longo tramite protenditur, montem ab 
 
 ' "Qui ab Hierosolymis descendentes aquilonali plaga, lacum vero ab australi 
 
 Caphamaum adire cupiunt, per Tiberia- habens, ab oocasu in ortum extensa diri- 
 
 dem via vadunt recta: delude secus lacum gitur;" Adamnan. 2. 25. 
 
 Galilsese, looumque superius memorabe ' The sermon on the mount had not yet 
 
 benedictionis pervium habent: a quo per been connected with the Kurun Hatt^; 
 
 marginem ejusdem stagni non longo cir- see in Vol II. p. 371 sq. [iii. 240 sq.] 
 
356 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [SEcVin. 
 
 is, that he ascended an adjacent hill near the lake for the very 
 purpose of gaining a better view of Capernaum. From that 
 quarter the view would he as he describes it ; embracing the 
 mountain behind the town, and the little bay on the south of 
 the promontory ; by reason of which, and of the general curve 
 by which the shore here trends northeast, the lake appears to lie, 
 and actually does lie, on the south of the promontory. The cor- 
 rectness of these remarks will be apparent on consulting not 
 only Kiepert's map, but more especially those of Lieut. Lynch 
 and of M. Isambert.' All these considerations seem to me to 
 render it more than probable, that the Capernaum of Arculfus 
 was at Khan Minyeh. 
 
 This again is strongly confirmed by the narrative of St. 
 Willibald, who visited the Holy Land about the middle of the 
 eighth century, some fifty or sixty years after Arculfus. From 
 Tiberias he proceeded along the lake by Magdala to Capernaum, 
 where was a house and a great wall. Thence he went on to Beth- 
 saida, where was a church ; and remaining there one night, he 
 came in the morning to Chorazin, where also was a church. 
 His next stage was the sources of the Jordan." This narrative 
 gives us distinctly the order of the towns along the lake ; and 
 thus fills out and confirms the accounts of Jerome, Antoninus, 
 and Arculfus. The Capernaum of them all was obviously at 
 Khan Minyeh. 
 
 No further notice of Capernaum occurs until late in the 
 time of the crusades, when the Kflrun Hattin had now become 
 the mount of the Beatitudes, and is usually mentioned in con- 
 nection with Capernaum. Thus Eugesippus, who wrote not 
 earher than about the middle of the twelfth century, says that 
 " the descent of that mountain, where our Lord preached to the 
 multitudes, was two miles from Capernaum."' Here he under- 
 states the distance between Khan Minyeh and the mouth of 
 Wady el-Hamam ; yet in so doing he leaves no doubt but that 
 he regarded Capernaum as situated at the former spot. 
 
 Of the like tenor is the language of Brocardus near the end 
 of the thirteenth century. Having spoken of the mount of the 
 
 ' The latter in the Bulletin de la Soc. . . . ibi fait domus et mnms magnus . . . 
 
 de Geogr. Janv. 1854:. — It is true, that Et inde pergebant ad Bethsaidam ... ibi 
 
 Tell Hum, as seen from a distance, seems est nunc ecclesia. Et iUic manentes nnam 
 
 to have a mountain behind it ; but it is noctem, mane pergebant ad Corozaim 
 
 only a very gradual acclivity, which ... ibi fuit ecclesia Christianorum, 
 
 reaches its elevation a mile or two beyond, etc." Vita St. Willibaldi §§ 16,17. See 
 
 At Khan Minyeh the steep wall rises im- also in Wrighf s Early Travels in Palestine, 
 
 mediately, and leaves hut a narrow space p. 16 sq. 
 
 between it and the bay. ' " Secundo milliario a Caphamanm, 
 
 " " Et inde (sc. Tiberiade) ibunt circa descensus illius montis est, in quo sermo- 
 
 mare, et pergebant secus vicumMagdalenEB. cinatus est ad turbas ;" Eugesipp. in L. 
 
 Et veniebant ad ilium vicum Capharnaum Allatii Symmikta p. 109 
 
May 18.] SITE OF OAPEENAUM. 357 
 
 Beatitudes, he goes on to say, that " at its foot rises a fountain ■ 
 which some dream to he a vein of the Nile." He regards it as 
 the source mentioned by Josephus ; hut whether he has in view 
 the Bound Fountain or 'Ain el-Barideh, it is difficult to say ; 
 for he immediately adds, that at twenty paces from the fountain 
 and by the lakej is the place where Jesus appeared to his dis- 
 ciples after his resurrection. " From that place easterly after one 
 league (hour) is the city of Capernaum, formerly glorious ; hut 
 now a humble village, containing scarcely seven fishermen's 
 huts." ' This again is decisive as to the position of the Caper- 
 naum of that day at KhSn Minyeh. 
 
 Nearly forty years after Brocardus thus wrote, Marinus 
 Sanutus (A. D. 1321) presented to the pope his plan for the 
 recovery of the Holy Land, including a description of the coun- 
 try. He copies almost Mterally what Brocardus says of the 
 mount where our Lord preached ; and of the fountain at its 
 foot, which Marinus says was thirty paces from the lake.'' 
 Then, referring to his map, he proceeds : "In no. xxi. is 
 Capernaum, near the northern side of the lake of Gahlee, at 
 two leagues' (hours') distance ; " meaning obviously two hours 
 from the northern end.^ This again fixes the Capernaum of his 
 day at Khan Minyeh. 
 
 The testimony of Quaresmius, about A. D. 1620, is brief, 
 but decisive ; since he names the place. On the site of Caper- 
 naum, he says, are many ruins, and a miserable diversorium 
 (Khan), called in Arabic Menich (Minyeh), six miles distant 
 from the place where the Jordan enters the lake.^ This ex- 
 plains also the "two leagues" of Marinus Sanutus. 
 
 It is not necessary to proceed further. The amount of all 
 this series of testimony, fairly considered, is to show, that from 
 the time of Eusebius and Jerome down to Quaresmius, the site, 
 of Capernaum was regarded as known ; and, by the better class 
 
 ' " Ah hoc fonte si ieris per yiginti of language to place the ierminua A quo 
 
 pastsus supra mare Galilseffi, est locus ubi at the base of the mcuntain or near it ; if 
 
 Christus, etc . . . Ab eo loco orientem so meant, the clause would have been pre- 
 
 versus per unam leucam est Capernaum, ceded by inde or the like, as elsewhere.— 
 
 civitas quondam gloriosa, sed nunc vicus Dr Wilson appeals to the map of M. Sa- 
 
 humilis, vix septem habens casas piscato- nutns. This is rather unsafe ground; since 
 
 rum ;" Brocardus c. 4. p. 173. on his map he puts the mount of Beati- 
 
 " " Ad pedem ejus oritur fons, juxta tudes at quite a distance tiorl/i of thu lake, 
 
 mare Galilsese ad xxx. passus; quam dionnt It seems very doubtful whether Sanutus 
 
 venam Nili." Marin. Sanut. 3. 14. 3; p. ever saw the lake. 
 247. * "In prassentia in illius (so. Caphar- 
 
 ' "In xxi. est Caphamanm, prop^ latns naum) situ multae ruinse cernuntur, et mi- 
 
 flquilonare maris GaliteaB, ad duas leu- serabile diversorium ... A loco undo Jor- 
 
 cas ; " ibid. 3. 4. 7. p. 247. The phrase danis influit in mare Galilaese distat ad sex 
 
 " ad duas lencas " here refers to prope ; milliaria. Arabice Menich nuncupatur." 
 
 just as iu the preceding note " ad xxx pas- Quaresm. II. p. 868. 
 BUS " refers to juxta. It is against the hiws 
 
358 FEOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. YHI. 
 
 of pilgrims at least, was held to be in the northern end of the 
 plain el-Ghuweir. 
 
 In conclusion, let me recapitulate the points which I have 
 endeavoured to maintain, viz. 
 
 That Grennesaret was a known and limited tract. 
 
 That, according to the EvangeKsts, Capernaum was situated 
 in or near that tract. 
 
 That the circumstances mentioned by Josephus go to fix it 
 near 'Ain et-Tin. 
 
 That down to the seventeenth century it was recognised 
 there by all the more intelligent travellers. 
 
 It was apparently during the same seventeenth century, that 
 the tradition began to waver, and to transfer the site of Caper- 
 naum to Tell Hum. The latter is first mentioned by Nau, 
 about A. D. 1674.' 
 
 Bethsaida. Besides the general inference from the name 
 and other circumstances, that Bethsaida was on the shore of the 
 lake, not far from Capernaum, we have (I think) already dis- 
 covered' some data, by which to assign for it a more specific po- 
 sition. 
 
 When our Lord sent away the disciples from the place where 
 he had fed the five thousand on the northeast quarter of the 
 lake, Mark relates that they entered into a boat in order to cross 
 the lake to Bethsaida ; while John says, they departed for 
 Capernaum. Being driven out of their course by the wind and 
 waves, after daybreak Jesus comes to them walking on the 
 water ; they land in the tract Gennesaret, and repair to 
 Capernaum." 
 
 Here the apparent discrepancy between Mark and John dis- 
 appears at once, if Bethsaida lay near to Capernaum, and if the 
 disciples perhaps intended first to touch at the former place, 
 before landing at the latter. As they were driven out of their 
 course towards the south, and came to Capernaum from that 
 quarter, it would seem most probable that Bethsaida lay north 
 of Capernaum. 
 
 This view is strengthened by the language of Jerome, 
 where he says that " Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and Cho- 
 razin, were situated on the shore of the lake." ' He probably 
 here names Capernaum first, as the most important ; and then 
 Tiberias, the southernmost, as more important in his day than 
 the two remaining places ; one of which, at least, was then 
 deserted. As neither of these two towns are ever spoken of, in 
 
 ' Nan, Voyage p. 572. See above, in ' See above, p. 354. n. 4. — Onomast 
 
 Vol. n. p. 408. [iil 300.] art. Bethzaida : " Civitas est Galilaeae . . . 
 
 ' Mark 6, 45. John 6, 17. — Mark 6, propfe stagnum Genesareth." Eusebiiu 
 
 63. Matt 14, 84. John 6, 24. 25. says : itphs t§ rcviitrapliri Xl/ivji. 
 
Mat 18.] BETHSAIDA. CHORAZIK. 359 
 
 Scripture or elsewhere, as in any connection witli tte tract of 
 Gennesaret, they are more probably to be sought as before, on 
 the north of Capernaum. 
 
 To all this comes the direct testimony of St. Willibald 
 already quoted.' He passed from Tiberias along the lake by 
 Magdala to Capernaum ; and thence to Bethsaida, where he 
 remained over night. This accords with and confirms the infer- 
 ence above drawn from Scripture and the language of Jerome. 
 
 We have found Capernaum at Khan Minyeh ; and the 
 problem now is, to find a place corresponding to Bethsaida, on 
 the shore north of the Khan, and not far distant from it. 
 Such a place is et-Tabighah, situated on the shore about two 
 thirds of a mile north of the Khan, and presenting the evidence 
 of its antiquity in the massive Roman reservoir above described, 
 and in other less important remains.' 
 
 There seems good reason, therefore, for fixing upon et-TS- 
 bighah as the ancient Bethsaida of G-alilee.' 
 
 Chokazin. — I have already related the circumstances, which 
 forbid me to regard the trivial remains at Kerfizeh as repre- 
 senting the site of the ancient Chorazin.* 
 
 On the other hand, both Bethsaida and Chorazin appear to 
 have been places of importance. Bethsaida is expressly called 
 a city? Chorazin is mentioned but twice in the New Testa- 
 ment ; and, on the first occasion, it is said that our Lord 
 "began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works 
 were done." ° These cities, both there and in the other passage, 
 were Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. In the same con- 
 nection, Chorazin and Bethsaida are contrasted with Tyre and 
 Sidon ; showing not indeed that they were large cities like 
 those, but that at any rate they were not merely inconsiderable 
 villages. It would seem, that the three, Capernaum, Bethsaida, 
 and Chorazin, were at that epoch, and before the building up of 
 Tiberias, the chief towns along the lake ; and our Lord, residing 
 in Capernaum, showed forth his mighty works chiefly in those 
 three places, lying in the neighbourhood of each other. 
 
 ' See above, p. 356. te of nrach weight. And further, it 
 
 ' See above, pp. 345, 346. does not appear from Seetzen's narrative, 
 
 - Eitter places Bethsaida at Khan Min- that he learned this name from his guides 
 
 yeh ; chiefly on the authority of Seetzen, at aU. More probably he obtained it from 
 
 who is supposed to have heard there the the Greek bishop of Tyre and Sidon, with 
 
 name B&t-Szaida from his guides ; Erdk. whom he lodged at Hasheiya ; from whom 
 
 XV. pp. 333-335. See above, Vol. H. p. too, doubtless, he learned that Tell Hum 
 
 405. n. 3. [iii. p. 296.n.] — The suggestion, waa Capernaum, and that Chorazin was 
 
 that the testimony of those guides, who cast of the lake ; Reisen, Berl. 1 854, Bd. 
 
 came from the eastern side of the lake, I. pp. 344. 345, comp. pp. 323, 327. 
 might rest on ancient tradition, which had * See above, p. 347. 
 been for centuries lost among the people ' John 1, 45. 
 on the west of. the lake, is too fanciful to ' Matt 11, 21 ; comp. Luke 10, 13, 
 
360 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VIII. 
 
 Eusfetius and Jerome merely speak of Ohorazin in their day 
 as deserted ; it lay two Eoman miles from Capernaum, but the 
 direction is not given." But Jerome elsewhere says expressly, 
 that all these towns lay upon the shore of the lake ; • and he 
 apparently names Ohorazin as the northernmost.' To the same 
 purpose is the testimony of St. Willihald already quoted above.' 
 He passed from Tiberias by Magdala to Capernaum, Bethsaida, 
 and Chorazin in succession ; and thence to the sources of the 
 Jordan. The slight mention of Chorazin by Brocardus likewise 
 places it on the northeast of Capernaum, towards the entrance 
 of the Jordan into the lake.^ 
 
 In view of all the preceding considerations, and regarding 
 the site of Capernaum as at Khan Minyeh, I am unable to 
 resist the conclusion, that the site of Chorazin is to be sought at 
 TeU Htim. It was a Jewish city ; and the remains of its 
 splendid synagogue testify to its ancient importance, even as 
 contrasted with Tyre and Sidon. 
 
 Thus with the remains of the three ancient sites still seen 
 along the shore, Khan Minyeh, et-Tabighah, and Tell Hum, we 
 are able, on something more than merely probable grounds, to 
 connect the names of the three lost ancient cities, Capernaum, 
 Bethsaida, and Chorazin.^ 
 
 Should any one still be disposed to lay weight upon the name 
 Kerazeh, as having some possible connection with the ancient 
 Chorazin ; let him consider, whether, after the destruction of the 
 town upon the shore, a portion of the inhabitants may not have 
 retired to that spot, and there built up a village bearing the same 
 name. A complete analogy for such an hypothesis exists in the 
 case of the ancient Zarephath or Sarepta, on the shore between 
 Tyre and Sidon. The remains of the ancient site are still seen 
 on the plain near the sea ; while its modern representative, the 
 
 * Onomast. art. Chorozaim, As in the which is not Galilee, but was "beyond Jor- 
 case of Capernaum, Eusebius here calls dan ; B. J. 2. 9. 1, *0 p.ev (^iXiinros') . . , 
 Chorazin a village, Kd/iti ; Jerome, oppi- Kri^ei Kaurdpeiav, k&v rrj Kdrai ravKaviTiKy 
 dum. — The reading of the Greek is erro- 'lov\idSa. In like manner Pliny and Je- 
 neously twelve (iff) miles; while that of romebothspeakof Julias as east of the. Jor- 
 Jerome, on any of the Tarious theories, dan; e. g. Plin. H. N. 5. 15, "Jordanes 
 can only be regarded as an approximation in lacnm se ftmdit . . . amoenis circnmsep- 
 to the truth. turn oppidis, ah oriente Juliade et Hippo." 
 
 " Hieron. Comm. in Esa. ix. 1, p. 83, ed. Hieron. Comm. lq Matt. xvi. 13, " Philip- 
 Mart. " Lacum Genesareth, in cujus litoro jius ... ex nomine fili« ejus (Angusti) 
 Capernaum et Tiberias et Bethsaida et Juliadem tram Jordanem extruxit." But 
 Chorozaim sitse sint." M. De Sauloy in a slashing style of oriti- 
 
 ' See above, p 356. cism extends Ganlonitis to the west of the 
 
 * " Proinde k civitate Corozaim et ostio lake ; thinks Pliny was mistaken ; and re- 
 fluvii Jordanis contra aquilonem," etc. fers the Julias of Jerome to Herod's Julias 
 Brocardns o. 4. p. 173. iu Perea, although Jerome is expressly 
 
 ' M. De Sauloy assumes, that Tell Hum speaking of that built by Philip. See 
 
 was the site of Julias, the northern Beth- more above in Vol. U. p. 313. n. 3. [iii. 
 
 saida ; Narrat. 11. p. 489 sq. But Jose- 808. n. 8.] 
 phus places Julias in lower Gaulouitis, 
 
May 18.] ' KBEAZEH. JA'dNEH. 361 
 
 village Surafend, lies at a distance upon the Mils back of the 
 plain.' 
 
 We set off from Bir Kerazeh at 1.40, tating a course ahout 
 N. 30° W. in order to strike a road leading from the north end 
 of the lake to Safed. This was said to pass not far from Jubb 
 Yiisuf, where our muleteers were to wait for us. We would 
 gladly have taken the route by the ruins, and so up along the 
 main valley ; but there was no trace of a path in that direction. 
 We rose gradually as we advanced ; and at 1.55 came out upon 
 the higher open region.' At 2.10 we came to our former road 
 (in 1838) from the lake to Safed, and turned into it on a course 
 about ]sr. 70° W. At 2.25 we crossed one of the heads of the val- 
 ley we had ascended from Tell Hum, here running about S. 20° E. 
 and ten minutes later descended into the other and main head, 
 coming down from the very base of the higher Safed hills. Rising 
 upon the other side we came at 2.55 to the Damascus road, 
 which comes up from Khin Minyeh by Kh^n Jubb Ytisuf, and 
 passes on to the bridge below the Huleh. Here we waited fifteen 
 minutes, while a messenger brought up the muleteers from the 
 KhS.n, some half a mile distant. 
 
 At 3.10 we set off again on the northern road. The path to 
 the bridge soon diverged on the right. We kept along on a 
 direct course near the higher hills ; and, recrossing the main 
 head of the valley above mentioned, had it upon our left as we 
 gradually ascended. It here has the Safed mountain for its 
 western bank.^ As we reached the higher tract, we had again 
 traces of a limestone formation ; almost the only stones not vol- 
 canic, which we had seen since Lubieh, except the precipices of 
 Wady Hamim. Near the highest poiat we feU in with a large 
 black snake, three feet or more long, the only one I saw in the 
 country. 
 
 On coming in view of the lake of the Htileh, the road descends 
 gradually to the plain along its shore. After following this road 
 for a time, we turned more to the left, and ascending reached at 
 4.20 the village of Ja'aneh. It lies nearly midway up the de- 
 clivity of the western mountain ; and is one of the four villages, 
 which occupy this declivity, overlooking the Ard el-Khait and 
 the lake of the Huleh beyond. Here, indeed, we could overlook 
 both the lakes ; and could see that the Huleh was the highest 
 by some hundreds of feet, as it seemed. The village of Ja'uneh 
 
 ' See Vol. II. pp. 474, 475. [m. 412, Hattin 223°. We were now upon high 
 
 413.] table land. 
 
 ' Bearings at 1.55 : Tiberias 195°. Bir = Bearings at 3.45 : Tiberias 184°. 
 
 Kerazeh 217°, i m. Mejdel 212°. Kiim Khan 192°. 
 Vol, III.— 31 
 
362 FEOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. VHI. 
 
 is still south of the upper lake. A Wady with a small stream 
 descends on the south of the village. Another village, Fir'im, 
 lies on the north, about a mile distant, with a Wady of the same 
 name just beyond, which descends to the lake. Jebel esh-Sheikh 
 was here seen in all his majesty. The snows and ice upon his 
 crown were much diminished, since we last saw him in April.' 
 
 In one of the lanes of Ja'uneh I came upon the broken shaft 
 of a granite column, still standing. On a garden wall near by 
 was a capital of limestone, of the Jewish type, that is, a sort of 
 Doric with parallel rings. It once belonged, probably, to a syna- 
 gogue. 
 
 In the Khait there is an encampment of Turkmans, chiefly at 
 el-Muntar ; they are said to have remained here from former 
 times, and keep themselves distinct. There is also an encamp- 
 ment of Kurds. Besides these, there are the various tribes of 
 Arabs dwelling in tents. — The Jisr Benit Ya'kob seemed to be 
 about five miles distant. It was not here visible, nor its Khan ; 
 but we could see the road passing up from it, and leading across 
 the country beyond the Jordan. 
 
 Both yesterday and to day we passed several fields of grain 
 in the process of harvesting, while others near by were yet quite 
 green. This was said to be in consequence of the earlier sowing 
 of the former. The earlier the seed-time, the earlier the harvest. 
 
 During the day I had found myself quite unwell, and 
 reached Ja'uneh in a state of great exhaustion. The complaint 
 increased from day to day ; and afterwards detained me for 
 several days at Hsisbeiya. 
 
 Wednesday, May l^tli. — We sent off the muleteers by the 
 road along the plain ; intending ourselves to take a route lying 
 above the foot of the mountains along the line of villages. Our 
 object in this was to visit a site of ruins, called Kasyiin, of 
 which we had several times heard, even as far back as at Kefi* 
 Bir'im. 
 
 Leaving Ja'iineh at 6.20, we came at 6.45 to the channel of 
 Wady Fir'im ; the village being above us on the left, about a 
 quarter of a nule distant. On the way we started up an immense 
 hawk or vulture, with yellow breast and black wingp, as large as 
 a middle sized dog. Our Arabs called it Atah. At 7 o'clock 
 we were at Mughar, the third village ; and passed directly under 
 it. We saw here columns in a wall, and sepulchral excavations. 
 Here Jebel Sunnin came in sight ; having on it apparently more 
 snow than Hermon." At 7.15 was the fountain of the village ; 
 
 ' Bearings at Ja'uneh : Fir'iin 5°. Mu- ' Bearings from Mughar : el-Mankiili- 
 
 ghar 25". Southend of lake 54°. Tell el- beh 155°. el-Muntar 109°. Tellel-Feras 
 
 Feras, beyond the Jordan, 95". Jebel esh- 100°. South end of lake 60°. North end 
 
 Sheikh 36°. el-Muntar 88°. of lake 30°. Jebel esh-Sheikh 36°. Jeb- 
 
Mat 19.] ja'tjneh. kasyttn. 363 
 
 lying nearer indeed to the next village, but used only by 
 Mughar. 
 
 We came at 7.25 to Kuba'a, tbe largest of tbe four villages, 
 situated on a projecting point between two small Wadys. We 
 passed back of it, wbere on the ridge was a small pond of water 
 collected from a fountain. At 7.37 was the fountain of Kubi'a, 
 and a sepulchre in a large rock near by. We now came to the 
 deep Wady Lauz, and descended its steep grassy declivity, 
 crossing the water-bed at 7.45. It seemed to be connected with 
 a ravine, which was seen crossing the plain towards the south end 
 of the lake. After ascending the northern bank, we almost 
 immediately descended again into Wady 'Amilkah, a deep 
 ravine coming down from S. 70° W. and uniting just above us 
 with another one on the north. On its northern side, a little 
 east of us, was a Tell called Mughr en-Namar, from caves near 
 it. Crossing the water-bed at 8.07, we ascended and kept along 
 as before, over low spurs and shallow Wadys. At 8.35 we 
 reached Marus, the ruin of a small village built of unhewn 
 stones, like those behind us, with a tank now dry. A few olive 
 trees and fig trees around it seemed to show, that it had not 
 been long desolate. There was here also a small arable tract. 
 We were now nearly opposite the south end of the lake, which 
 bore N. 87° E. 
 
 Passing on and crossing another ravine, we saw at 8.50 two 
 sepulchres hewn in the rocks ; and came at 9 o'clock to the site 
 ' called Kasyttn. Having so often beard of these ruins, we were 
 disappointed in finding only the remains of a common town, 
 larger indeed than Martis, but like it built of unhewn stones, 
 and now thickly overgrown with thistles. There was also a 
 tank now without water. The declivity in front descends to 
 Wady Hendaj, here coming out from the W. N. W. of which in- 
 deed it forms the high southwestern side. The Hendaj is joined 
 not far above by Wady 'Uba, which is just north of Kasyun.' — 
 I afterwards learned from the Rev. Mr Porter of Damascus, that 
 he and Dr Paulding once passed up from the mouth of Wady 
 Hendaj to Safed. After ascending for nearly half an hour, they 
 came to a site of ruins on the southern side, for which they 
 heard no name ; but found columns as of a temple, and also an 
 upright stone three feet high with a Greek inscription, which 
 they did not copy. This spot could only have been Kasyun ; 
 thouo-h we saw there no columns nor inscriptions. The col- 
 umns, not improbably, may have been those of a Jewish syna- 
 gogue. 
 
 Around Kasyttn is an arable tract larger than that at 
 
 el Sunnin 20°. Tell el-HurrAweh, just ' Bearings at Kasyun: Marus 191°. 
 over 'Ain MellAhali, 19°. South end of upper lake 95°. 
 
364 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEIYA. [Sec. VHI. 
 
 Marts. Our ride thus far to-day liad been quite an uncomfort- 
 able one, mostly without a path and through tracts rendered 
 almost impassable by the many thistles. The region is one of 
 hills and spurs, considerably elevated above the plain, but having 
 much higher mountains towards the west. 
 
 There being no road to the north across Wady Heudaj, we 
 now, at 9.10, turned down eastward into the mouth of that 
 valley, descending first over a gentle cultivated slope and then 
 by a very steep declivity ; in all not less than from three hun- 
 dred to four hundred feet. We came to the bottom at 9.35, 
 and found a fine limpid stream of water. Farther up, the Wady 
 is called el-Mu'addamiyeh, and has its beginning near el-Jish.' 
 We followed down the brook to the plain. A travelled road 
 passes up the valley, coming apparently from the Jisr Benat 
 Ya'kob. Crossing the point of the left hand hiU at 9.55,' we 
 turned to the left on a northern road ; and at 10 o'clock came 
 to a fork where it is crossed by a road from the Jisr to Kedes. 
 Here our muleteers were waiting. We followed the Kedes road ; 
 and at 10.10 began to ascend the hills, which here again ran 
 quite down to the lake.' Our course was about northwest. 
 The plain along the lake is fertile, and differs from the Ghor in 
 being productive without irrigation. 
 
 In ascending the hills, we rose first to a small fertile plain ; 
 and then again to another larger ; forming two steps of the 
 ascent. The second is drained by a Wady, which breaks down 
 to the Huleh through a gap ; this at 11 o'clock bore east, 
 and is a little south of MeUahah. Here we began to climb 
 the still higher hills in the northwest ; from ^hich, as we 
 ascended, there was a fine view of the southern part of the 
 lake. At 11.15 we came out upon the high plain or plateau of 
 Kedes ; and had on our left, S. 60° W. a prominent Tell with 
 ruins, called Khuraibeh. We turned off, without a path, to 
 visit it. 
 
 On approaching the foot of the TeU we came upon an oil- 
 press of former days. We ascended from the north ; and here, 
 not far above the base, was an ancient sepulchre in good preser- 
 vation. The lower (northern) side of a sunken rock had been 
 laid bare, and hewn so as to form a perpendicular surface ; in 
 this was a door, with an inclined plane leading down to it ; 
 while upon the rock above was a cyclopean wall. We saw 
 no other tombs. We reached the top at 11.40. The place is 
 high and sightly ; overlooking the deep and rugged Wady 
 
 ' See Vol. n. p. 446. [iii. 370.] Bedawy rums along the low Lflls which 
 
 ' At 9.55, el-Hurraweh bore 12°. bound the bottom laud of the plain on the 
 
 » Bearings at 10.10: Chiftlih 144°, 3 south. 
 Wukkas 172°, 2 m. These are two 
 
May 19.] TELL KHUEAIBEH, HAZOK. 365 
 
 Henddj on the south, and the plain of Kedes towards the 
 north, -with a fine view of the lake and the plain of the Hiileh 
 north of it. Wady Hendaj breaks down just ahove between lofty 
 precipices. At the foot of the Tell on the north, is a strip of 
 lower plain, about a quarter of a mile wide, and some fifty feet 
 or more below the plain of Kedes. It has on the north a rocky 
 eminence, and is drained to the Hendaj by a Wady on the west 
 oftheTeU. 
 
 On the summit of the Tell are many large heaps of stones. 
 Some of the stones are large and squared, but not hewn. We 
 saw neither bevelled stones, nor columns. Most of the stones, 
 apparently, had often been built up into houses of different 
 epochs. Here also were two oil-presses ; ov, rather, one of them 
 was perhaps the vat for receiving the oil ; it was round and deep, 
 and lower and smaller than the press. These presses show, that 
 the olive was once extensively cultivated here ; whUe now not 
 an olive tree is se^n. Many oaks (Baluta) are scattered round 
 about.' 
 
 This TeU had been seen and noted by Dr Smith when at Kedes 
 in 1844 ; and I had formerly suggested the inquiry, whether it 
 might not possibly be the site of the ancient Hazor of Naphtali.' 
 We had now come hither to examine this point upon the spot. 
 The Hazor of Naphtali ' was obviously the Hazor of Jabin ; who 
 gathered many kings together against Joshua to the waters of 
 Merom, the present lake of the Hfileh ; but was discomfited by 
 that leader, and Hazor burned with fire.'' This account pre- 
 supposes that Hazor lay in the vicinity of the lake ; and Jose- 
 phus says expressly, that it " lay over the lake Semechonitis," as 
 he names it.° At a later period another Jabin of Hazor op-, 
 pressed Israel, whose armies were discomfited by Deborah and 
 Barak.' The same Hazor, apparently, was fortified by Solomon.'' 
 We read, further, that under Pekah king of Israel, " Tiglath- 
 pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon, and Abel-beth- 
 Maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Grilead, and 
 G-aKlee, all the land of NaphtaK, and carried them captive to 
 Assyria." ' Tiglath-pileser came from the north, and Ijon, 
 Abel, Kedesh, and Gilead, are mentioned in the order in which 
 they are known to lie, from north to south. Hence arises a 
 very strong presumption, that Hazor, being mentioned next to 
 
 ' Bearings from Tell Khuraibeh : Kedes * Josh. 11, 1-13. 
 
 4°. el-Hurraweh 67°. Tell el-Feras 1 17°. ' Jos. Aatt. 6. 6. 1, ^| 'Acr^pov v6\fas 
 
 North end of lake 87°. South end of lake , . . airii Si iitepKtiriu t^i Sc/tcxuWriSai 
 
 116°. 'Alma 242°. Wady Hendaj, course \iiun]s. 
 
 above, 242°. ' Jndg. c. 4. 
 
 » See Biblioth. Sacra, 1847. p. 403. ' 1 K. 9, 15. 
 
 Comp. BibUoth. Sac. 1846. pp. 212, 213. " 2 K. 15, 29. 
 
 • Josh. 19, 36. 
 
 Vol. m — 31* 
 
^^Q FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Skc. VUL 
 
 Kedesh, was not far distant from it towards the south. This 
 again is strengthened by the enumeration of the fenced cities of 
 Naphtali in the reverse order, from south to north, viz. " Ham- 
 math, Eakkath, and Chinnereth, and Adamah, and Eamah, and 
 Hazor, and Kedesh." ' There is no further mention of this 
 Hazor after the invasion of Tiglath-pileser, except historically 
 by Josephus as above cited. 
 
 So far as the situation is concerned, no spot could correspond 
 more completely to the data above collected, than this Tell. It 
 overlooks the lake and plain of the Huleh, being nearly opposite 
 the northern extremity of the former ; it is distant one hour 
 from Kedes towards the south ; and is in itself a position of 
 great strength. The present indefinite name ' Kuins,' affords 
 no clew. The main objection is perhaps the absence of all ap- 
 pearance of fortifications and of large structures ; but it should 
 be borne in mind, that the place was destroyed before the Jewish 
 exile, and never afterwards built up ; except, according to what 
 now appears, as an agricultural village. That it was once a 
 large place, is evident. The sepulchre marks high antiquity, 
 wealth, and probable rank ; while the structures which now give 
 distinction to Kedes are of a far later date. I am therefore led 
 to lay no great stress upon this objection ; and am disposed to 
 rest in the conclusion, that this spot was the site of the Hazor 
 of Naphtali. 
 
 Should any one object, that in this way the regal cities' of 
 Hazor and Kedes would be brought too near each other, let 
 him remember the analogous cases of Taanach and Megiddo, 
 Gibeah and Kamah, Bethel and Ai. 
 
 We had already examined two places, bearing names some- 
 what similar to Hazor, and we afterwards visited a third on the 
 east of Binias.' But neither of them correspond at all with the 
 historical notices, which must determine the site of Hazor. 
 
 Leaving the summit of the Tell at 11.55, we descended 
 towards the northwest, and continued on in that direction tiU 
 we struck a road to Kedes on the west of the rocky eminence 
 above mentioned. We now kept on through the plain, and at 
 12.50 dismounted at the northern fountaia of Kedes. The 
 village was west of us, on its hOl ; and we did not ascend to it. 
 
 Kedes is situated upon a rather high ridge, which juts out 
 about E. S. E. from the western hills. Towards the south this 
 ridge is separated from the high plain by a Wady or strip of 
 lower plain ; in which, under the village, is a copious fountain 
 of limpid water. The village stands upon the highest part of the 
 
 ' Josh. 19, 35-37. 81. For the Wely of Sheikh Othman el- 
 
 ' See ahove for Hazzur, pp. 62, 63. For Hazuiy, see under May 27th. 
 Khirbet Hiizur and Tell Hazur, see p. 
 
Mat 19.] KEDES, KEDESH OF NAPHTALI. 367 
 
 ridge, a sort of Tell. East of this tliere is an oifset in tlie ridge, 
 and then another lower Tell ; and stUl a low ridge runs out from 
 the foot of the latter, ending in a rocky bluff in the middle 
 of the plain further east. The whole plain north and east of 
 the village, and for some distance also towards the southeast, is 
 lower than the plain further south by some fifty feet or more. 
 The fountain at which we stopped is north of the ridge, on a 
 tract a little elevated above the lower plain. The latter is shut 
 in by low hills on the east. At a point nearly east of the village, 
 a Wady seems to break down through them to the Htleh ; but 
 my companion, who was here in April 1844, passed that way, 
 and found that the plain has no outlet. That portion of it 
 was then covered with water, which seemed to be fast drying 
 up. ' This line of hills shuts out Kedes from any view of the 
 Htileh ; but we could see over them the extensive table land of 
 Jeidur beyond the Htileh ; while Jebel esh- Sheikh rose in fuU 
 grandeur before us.' 
 
 The whole eastern declivity, from the high region east of 
 Bint Jebeil to the Htileh, is understood to descend by four steps, 
 with three intervening plateaus. The first of these latter is the 
 valley or plain at the head of which is 'Aitheriin, and which is 
 drained to the Litany. The next is the plain north of Mali- 
 kiyeh, said to be drained to that of Kedes. The third is the 
 plain of Kedes itself; from which there is a great and steep 
 descent to the Htileh. 
 
 The site of Kedes is a splendid one, well watered and sur- 
 rounded by fertile plains. But there seemed to be a general 
 impression among the people of the region, that the water of 
 both the fountains is unwholesome. At the time of our former 
 journey, in 1838, the village was said to be deserted. In 1844 
 Dr Smith found it occupied by people from HaurSn, who had 
 moved over a few months previously. In the village he saw one 
 or two prostrate columns ; but it seems to contain no other traces 
 of antiquity.' 
 
 The remains of antiquity lie mainly on the plain below the 
 village, in the vicinity of the northern fountain. Bound about 
 the fountain itself are quite a number of sarcophagi, some of 
 which are used as drinking-troughs. They are all hewn smooth, 
 both inside and outside, but not sculptured. East of the 
 fountain are the remains of two ancient structures, built of 
 hewn stone, and of good workmanship. The easternmost is the 
 largest. Its walls are standing ; and in its eastern front is a 
 
 ' E. Smith in Biblioth. Sac. May 1849, 63°. Tell el-Feras 122°. el-Khnraibeh 
 
 p. 376. 186°. Bentt 195°. 
 
 » Bearings from Eedes, taken in 1844 ! ' Biblioth. Sao. ib. p. 375. 
 Jehel csh-Sheikh 50°. Castle of Bani£is 
 
368 FEOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sbc. VIII. 
 
 large portal, witli smaller side portals. We saw no columns, 
 but noticed Corinthian capitals among the ruins. The whole 
 character of this structure and of its architecture is decidedly 
 Jewish ; resembling entirely that of the edifices we had seen at 
 Kefr Bir'im, Meiron, Irbid, and TeU B-tm. It was once a syn- 
 agogue. 
 
 The western edifice is smaller, and built on a different plan. 
 It is square, perhaps twenty-five feet on each side, with an orna- 
 mented portal towards the south. From this portal a vault with 
 a round arch runs through the building to the north wall ; and 
 another similar one crosses it at right angles. Whether there 
 was once a dome, we could not determine. At the side of the 
 portal is a small niche. This structure, too, I was led to regard 
 as probably Jewish ; both from the general style of the architec- 
 ture, and from its resemblance to some of the delineations we 
 have of Jewish tombs.' 
 
 Between these two structures are several large and remark- 
 able sarcophagi. They stand parallel to each other on a raised 
 pedestal or platform, five or six feet high. That on the west is 
 double ; that is, two sarcophagi are excavated side by side in 
 one huge bloct, having a single cover for both, which is sciilp- 
 tured to represent scales. That on the east is precisely similar 
 in its general form. The third is single ; and probably a fourth 
 once occupied the space now vacant. The outside of these sarco- 
 phagi was once elaborately sculptured with figures ; but the 
 action of the weather has so worn upon the stone, that the 
 figures cannot now be made out. I cannot resist the conviction, 
 that these likewise were Jewish tombs. 
 
 Kedesh is first mentioned as the city of a Canaanitish king, 
 subdued by Joshua ; it was assigned to the tribe of Naphtali, 
 and became one of the cities of refuge.' It was the birthplace 
 of Barak ; and being captured by Tiglath-pUeser, the inhabi- 
 tants were carried away into captivity.' After the exile it is 
 mentioned in the apocryphal books, as still existing ; ^ and 
 Josephus speaks of it, under the name Cydoessa, as a strong and 
 populous inland town of the Tyrians.' Eusebius and Jerome 
 call it Cydissus ; and place it twenty Koman miles from Tyre 
 and near to Paneas.' 
 
 We hear no more of Kedesh until the times of the crusades, 
 when it was visited by Benjamin of Tudela. He found here no 
 Jews ; but several sepulchres of Jewish saints ; and among them 
 that of Barak.' Later Jewish itineraries place here also the 
 
 ' EspeciaEy in ' Jiclius ha-Abot,' Car- ' Judg 4, 6—2 K. 15, 29. 
 
 moly p. 433 sq. * 1 Mace. 11, 63. 73. Tob. 1, 2. 
 
 " Josb. 12, 22. — Josb. 19, 37. Joseph. ' Gr. irpbs Kviaia-a-ois, Jos. B. J. i. 2. 3. 
 
 Antt 5. 1. 24.— Josb. 20, 7. 21, 32. 1 ' Onomast. art. Cedes. 
 
 Chr. 6, 76. ' Benj. of Tud. 1. p. 82. 
 
Mat 20.] KEDES. MEIS EL-JEBEL. 369 
 
 tombs of Deborah and Jael.' Brocardus speaks of Kedesb in 
 terms appropriate to tlie present day.* I am not aware that it 
 has since been visited by Frank travellers, until the present 
 century. We heard of it in 1838, when at Benlt ; and were 
 told, that it had been visited by Lady Hester Stanhope a few 
 years before.^ Bertou was there the same year, soon after we 
 left Syria.^ Major Kobe passed this way in 1841, and Dr Smith 
 in 1844.^ But none of these, except the latter, have given any 
 description of the place. 
 
 Setting off from the fountain of Kedes at 2.20, we went 
 north through the low plain, by a road much obstructed by 
 thistles. We came at 2.40 to the hills, among which we 
 entered by a Wady coming from a little west of north. Five 
 minutes within the Wady was a well with water. At 2.55 the 
 main branch of the valley came down from the left ; and at a 
 bend, on its high western side, facing us, was the village of 
 Buleida. This branch was said to drain the whole tract lying 
 east of the valley descending from 'Athertin. We now ascended 
 out of the vaUey, very steeply, on the west of a smaller branch ; 
 and came out at 3.05 upon a fine arable tract of table land, near 
 to several very large and fine Butm trees." We continued 
 ascending gradually through this tract towards the north ; and 
 then descending a little came at 3.40 to the extensive village of 
 Meis, called also Meis el-Jebel. The road from 'Akka to Has- 
 beiya passes through this place, faUing into ours a little on the 
 south of the village. 
 
 The village is separated into two parts, west and east, by a 
 shallow depression, in which we pitched our tent. Southwest of 
 the village was a fine pond of rain water, at which the herds 
 were drinking. This M'ater is used also by the inhabitants ; 
 though there was said to be a good fountain in a valley north of 
 the village. The whole region is a beautiful tract of country, 
 lying east of the district around Tibnin, and connected with it. 
 The village too is large, and looked thrifty ; and the people 
 seemed comparatively comfortable. 
 
 Thursday, May 20th. — We left Meis at 6.10, going down 
 immediately into a small plain or basin on the north, extending 
 from west to east ; which was said to have no outlet, and to 
 become a lake in winter. It was now under cultivation. The 
 
 ' Carmoly, pp. 264, 378, 450. ' Biblioth. Sacr. 1843. p. 11.— Ibii 
 
 ' Brocard. c. 7. p. 173, "Cedes Neph- 1849, p 374 sq. 
 
 talim, quae . . . abundat omnibus bonis. ' Bearings at 3.05 : el-HurrSweh 154°. 
 
 Monstrantnrilliomagn8eruinae,etsepnlchra Tell el-Feras 127°. Kedes 180°. Khu- 
 
 puleherrima ahtiquorum." raibeh 183°. Muheibib 305°. Buleida 
 
 ' See Vol. II. p. 43tf. [iii. 355.] W. i m.— Bearing at 3.20: Muheibib W. 
 
 * Bua de la Soc. de G^ogr. Sept. 1839, —At 3.35, Khuraibeh bore 181°. 
 p. 144. 
 
370 FSOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. YIII. 
 
 region here is high, and too cold for the raising of cotton. The 
 hills before us were covered with oak trees. At 6.30 and 6.35 
 we passed the heads of two Wadys, going westward to another, 
 called Wady el-Jemal, which runs to the Litany. At 7 o'clock 
 we had an extensive prospect towards the west, including the 
 fortress of Tibnin.' Continuing to ascend, we came at 7.15 to 
 the brow south of Hunin, commanding a wide and noble view 
 of the Huleh below us on the right. ' 
 
 The prospect was a splendid one. In the far distance Jebel 
 Sunnin was visible, with much snow still upon it. Near at 
 hand, overagainst us in the northeast, was Jebel esh-Sheikh, 
 having strips of snow and ice running down from the summit, ap- 
 parently in ravines. 
 
 The whole plain of the Huleh was before us, cultivated quite 
 down to the marsh ; and more extensive than both marsh and 
 lake together. We thought we could here trace clearly the 
 various streams flowing through the plain, and distinguish 
 accurately their points of junction. These I carefully noted ; 
 but the subsequent result taught me a lesson in respect to judg- 
 ments formed under such circumstances ; I mean, when looking 
 down from a. lofty point of view upon an extensive tract of 
 country below. A few days afterwards, when I came to traverse 
 the Huleh, and follow the streams to their junction, most of my 
 notes proved to be entirely wrong. Here too, Hunin, Abil, and 
 Mutulleh, were in sight before us on the western hills. 
 
 Setting off again at 7.30, and descending, we reached Hunin 
 at 8 o'clock. Here are the ruins of a large fortress, with a poor 
 village adjacent to it on the south. The place is in a notch of 
 the mountain, running northwest and southeast, and cleaving 
 the mountain nearly half way to its base. In this notch is a low 
 and broad Tell, on which the ruins and village are situated. 
 The narrow valley towards the northwest runs to the Litany. 
 On the east there is a small shallow Wady descending steeply 
 towards the Huleh. Hunin belongs to the district of BelM 
 Besharah ; and a branch of the family of the ruling Sheikhs 
 formerly resided here. But since the great earthquake of Janu- 
 ary 1837, no part of the castle has been habitable ; and these 
 feudal chiefs have all settled in and around Tibnin.' 
 
 The more ancient fortress occupied a large area, including 
 the greater part of the ground now covered by the village on 
 the south. The later Turkish fortress, also now in ruins, with 
 nine or ten round towers, took in only about a third part of the 
 
 ' Bearings at 7 : Tibnin 274°. MSron tulleh 25°. Kfil'at es-Subeibeh, near Bk- 
 
 225°. Muheibib 219°. el-MalJkiyeh 200°. nias, 74°. AbU32°. 
 Meis 211°. = W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 
 
 » Bearings at 7.15 : Hunin 5°. el-Mn- 1846, p. 203. 
 
Mat 20.] HUNIN, BETH-EEHOB. 371 
 
 same area on the north. At the northwest comer and along the 
 whole of the northern side, the solid rock of the foundation is 
 cut away, forming a fosse in some parts twenty feet deep and 
 nearly as many broad ; close upon the inside of which the wall 
 is built. On the east the wall is carried along the brow of the 
 Tell. In this northern and later portion no remains of antiquity 
 are visible, except a few small bevelled stones on the eastern 
 side, and also near the Turkish portal in the south side. Here 
 is a bevelled stone of larger dimensions. A few other bevelled 
 stones are found in different parts ; and some are built into the 
 walls of the houses of the village. In the village, outside of 
 the later fortress, is a fine ancient portal nearly complete, built 
 of large bevelled stones still in their place, with grooves for the 
 doors ; it is the finest fragment among all the remains. A 
 peculiar feature of this ruin consists in several pieces of ancient 
 wall buHt of unhewn stones ; that is, of stones broken to a 
 smooth face, but not squared, and laid up in this rude irregular 
 manner. Such fragments of wall are found in several parts of 
 the fortress. J do not remember to have seen the like elsewhere. 
 The fortress must anciently have been a place of great strength ; 
 but its present appearance disappointed us, as not equal to the 
 reports we had heard respecting it. From it the northeastern 
 part of the lake is visible.' The place was visited in 1843 by 
 the Kev. W. M. Thomson.' 
 
 It is difficult to account for the position of this ancient 
 fortress, except as commanding the plain of the Huleh below. 
 That it must have existed in the days of the Israelites, seems 
 hardly to admit of question. Yet I am not aware of any place 
 named in the Old Testament, with which it can be regarded as 
 corresponding, with any degree of probabihty ; unless it be Beth 
 Behoh, called also Behoi, a city and perhaps a district not far 
 from the city Dan. Six hundred Danites, it is said, came to 
 Laish, to " a people quiet and secure," far from Sidon, and in 
 the valley (deep plain) " that is by Beth-Kehob ;" ' there they 
 built a city and called it Dan. But the city Dan, as we shall 
 see, was situated at Tell el-Kady.* The same Kehob is 
 probably meant, when it is said of the spies sent from Kadesh- 
 barnea, that they searched the land " unto Rehob, as one goeth 
 to Hamath." = It is hardly probable that the spies went beyond 
 the usual northern limit of Palestine at Dan ; and from that 
 point the direct way to Hamath is up through the Wady et- 
 
 ' Bearings from Hunin ; Kul'at Biliiias ' Het. SinTn^ai IlIJK paSa Jndg. 
 
 81°. TeU el-Kndy 77°. TeU el-feras 18, 28 ; comp. v. 11. '29. ■' " ' " ' 
 
 138°. N. end of lake 154°. •< See under May 2Gth. 
 
 = See Biblioth. Sacra, 1846, p. 201 sq. ' Heb. nan Nab =Pn-n5, Niun. 13, 
 
 Eitter Erdk. XV. p. 242 sq. 21. t . . . 
 
372 FROM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [Sec. Till. 
 
 Teim and tlie BOka'a.* To all these circumstances the position 
 of Hunin well corresponds ; and we shall perhaps not greatly 
 err, if we regard it as representing the ancient Beth-Kehob.' 
 
 We set off again from Hunin at 8.35 ; and crossing a de- 
 pression we struck up northeast between the mountain and a 
 lower hill on the right through a wooded tract. We came at 
 8.50 to the top of the ascent; and then descended for a time in 
 the same direction, through a narrow valley with green bushes 
 and strips of wheat not yet ripe. Afterwards we kept on at the 
 same level along the declivity, considerably above the plain ; the 
 trees having ceased as we descended. We crossed several spurs 
 and Wadys; one of the latter descending towards Abil, to_the 
 Derdarah. Climbing the steep northern declivity, we had Abil 
 on our right at 9.30, a little below us. It lies on a marked 
 Tell ; which, below the summit, has an offset towards the south. 
 It is situated upon the east side of the Derdarah, the stream 
 coming from Merj 'Ayun. Abil is inhabited by Christians. We 
 could here see the chasm by which the stream comes down, very 
 narrow and deep, almost as if artificial. It issues from the Merj 
 on the east of el-MutuUeh ; then makes a deep turn westward 
 between the two villages ; and continues down on the west of 
 Abil. The latter is called also sometimes, on account of its fine 
 wheat, Abil el-Kamh. 
 
 This Abil may well be regarded, as representing the ancient 
 Abel or Abel Beth Maachah of this region, known to us in 
 Scripture. It probably had the latter name, as lying near Beth 
 Maachah ; from which it is also distinguished.^ Once it is 
 called Abel-maim.'' It is twice mentioned with other places in 
 the order from north to south ; once, " Ijon (Heb. 'lyon, Arab. 
 'Ayun), Dan, Abel, and all Cinneroth ; "^ and again, " Ijon, 
 Abel, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead." ' These notices all cor- 
 respond well to the position of Abil. — That this place is the true 
 Abel of Scripture, rather than Ibl el-Hawa, situated on the 
 ridge between Merj 'Ayun and Wady et-Teim, is probable for 
 two reasons. The former Hes on a Tell like most of the ancient 
 strong cities ; and, further, its situation is such, that the series 
 " Ijon, Dan, Abel," as above, is not unnatural ; which would 
 
 ' So too " the Syrians of Beth-Rehob,'' ' There -was another Rehob in the tribe 
 
 spoken of in 2 Sam. 10, 6, are in v. 8 of Asher, further west ; Josh. 19, 28. 30. 
 
 called " the Syrians of Rehob." Comp. 21, 31. Judg. 1, 31. 
 
 RitterXV.p. 218.— The phrase nan siab s 2 Sam, 20, li. 18. 
 
 seems in Num. 13, 21, to be taken in its < g Chr. 16, i ; comp. 1 K. 1.5 20. 
 
 strict meanlnc;, "as men come fKol to «,t7-,,.oi\ ^ i,^r.in< -r 
 
 Hamath ;» soihe English version. ^ fc aU V ^< ^l' ^ V"'" ^""f' h ^^^ f ' o*^^ 
 
 other passages the ph?ase refers to a point ^J^""^ ^'^ ^^""^ *« corrupted form 'A0A. 
 
 in the extreme northern border of Pales- '^'""'* 
 
 line ; so Judg. 8, 3. 1 K. 8, 65. eta. See ° 2 K. 15, 29. 
 below, at the end of Sect. XIL 
 
May 20.] ABIL, ABEL. MERJ 'aYUN. 373 
 
 not be the case with Ibl el-Hawa, lying as it does northeast of 
 Ijon.' 
 
 The village el-MutuUeh is inhabited by Druzes ; and is the 
 most southern spot occupied by that portion of the sect which 
 clusters around Jebel esh-Sheikh. It and Abil are also the 
 most southern villages of the district Merj 'Ayun. MutuUeh lies 
 upon the hill bordering upon the Merj, through which the Der- 
 dirah breaks down ; and enjoys a commanding view of the 
 great basin of the Huleh. Hence its name, which signifies ' a 
 look out,' or rather ' a look down.' But from most of the Merj 
 itself the village is not visible. Its site is more than two hun- 
 dred feet above the Merj. 
 
 While thus in view of Abil and el-MutijUeh, we were upon 
 a small elevated plain, drained towards the northwest by a 
 Wady in that quarter. We were now approaching the end of 
 the mountain on our leftj and at 9.40 could look across the 
 Litany and up Wady Jermuk to the high region around Jerju'a. 
 Very soon also the castle esh-Shukif came out from behind the 
 mountain, perched high upon what appeared from this side like a 
 lofty wall. The Wady which drains the little plain soon opens 
 out into a broad valley or cultivated tract, extending to the 
 Litiny at a point not far south of the castle. It was full of 
 wheat fields and olive groves ; and in it on the southern side 
 was the large village of Kefr Kily, which at 9.50 bore N. 35° W. 
 half a mile distant. Further down, on the same side, where the 
 higher ground descends towards the Lit&ny, stands the larger 
 village of Deir Mimis, which we had before seen from the 
 castle. — At this valley the mountains on the south terminate ; 
 further north are only the lower hUls around the Merj. 
 
 There was now a gentle descent ; and at 10 o'clock we 
 reached the brow- of the Merj, and looked down upon it in its 
 whole extent. It is a beautiful oval plain, surrounded by not 
 high hills ; its longest diameter beiog from N. N. W. to S. S. E. 
 about three mUes, with a breadth of about two miles. It is 
 separated from Wady et-Teim on the east, and from the valley of 
 the Litetny on the west, only by these lines of hills. The whole 
 plain is level like a floor ; and is well watered and mostly 
 under cultivation. A portion of it is pasture ground, to which 
 we came afterwards ; and beyond the middle is a grove of trees 
 and bushes. — Here we stopped some twenty minutes for rest. 
 
 We now, at 10.25 descended into the Merj ; and at 10.40 
 crossed the great road leading from the Huleh by Mutiilleh to 
 the Jisr el-Khurdela near the castle. The road we were follow- 
 ing led directly to Khiyam on the northeastern hills. At 10.55 
 
 ' The like -view is given by W. M. comp. 213, 214. E. Smith in Ms. Jour. 
 Thomson, in Biblioth. Sacr. 1846. p. 204, April 25, 1844. Eitter Erdt. XV. p. 241. 
 
 Vol.. in. -32 
 
374 TBOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA. [SraVni. 
 
 we crossed a small stream coming from the west ; and at 11.10 
 came to the- principal stream of the Merj. It was now stopped 
 hy a dam just helow the path, for the purpose of irrigation ; 
 and men were washing sheep in the pond thus formed. The 
 water was too deep to he forded at the road ; and we therefore 
 struck up along the west bank of the stream, through fields in 
 which many people were ploughing. We found at last a good 
 crossing-place ; the stream was not large, but the channel is in 
 many places miry. We came into our road again at 11.30, 
 having lost ten minutes by our circuit ; and stopped immedi- 
 ately at a small fountain for lunch, under fig trees. 
 
 Opposite to us, on the left, were the pastures of the Merj ; 
 where at this time many horses were tethered, belonging proba- 
 bly to the government. There were several tents for their 
 keepers. We had crossed' a portion of the tract, and admired the 
 luxuriant pasturage ; the white clover being in some parts eight 
 inches high. We had seen the same yesterday around Kedes. 
 In this region, for the first time, we fell in with the tall silver 
 poplars, so common in the neighbourhood of Damascus. 
 
 Setting off again at 12.30, we soon diverged from the 
 Khiyam road towards the left, on a road leading to Judeideh, 
 in order to visit the large, Tell at the northwestern extremity of 
 the Merj. In ten minutes we were opposite, as we supposed, to 
 the great fountain of the Merj, situated (as we had heard and as 
 Dr Smith had been told on a former journey ') in the northern 
 part of the grove of trees on our left. But at 12.50 there was 
 on our left a large reservoir, or rather a solid wall or dam, now 
 broken, below large fountains issuing from under a low bank ; and 
 evidently intended to raise the water to a sufficient height for 
 mills or for irrigating the whole plain. When I passed this way 
 again the next week with Mr Thomson, we understood that this 
 was the main fountain, the true Birket Derdirah, 
 
 In a few minutes more we struck across the fields without a 
 path, directly towards the Tell. At 1.05 we crossed with some 
 difficulty a rivulet from a narrow arm of the plain running up 
 northeast ; and at 1.10 reached the foot of the Tell. It is 
 usually known as Tell Dibbin, from a village not far distant ; 
 and is also called Tell Nfima. In the plain, on the north and 
 northeast, at the foot of the Tell, are traces of ruins ; among 
 which we found fragments of columns. The ascent of the TeU 
 is very steep on this side. The top is a level tract of consider- 
 able extent, under good cultivation, with a few traces of heaps of 
 stones, as of former buUdings ; and perhaps of walls on the east 
 and west. The height of the Tell above the plain is one hun- 
 dred and ten feet, according to the measurement of Dr De 
 
 ' Ms. Joum. AprU 25, 1844. 
 
Mat 20.] MERJ 'ATUN. TELL DIBBIN. 375 
 
 Forest.' Along its eastern foot runs tlie great road from Sidon 
 to Hasbeiya and Damascus, coming up from tlie Jisr el-Khflr- 
 dela. This is the most level and feasible of aU the routes 
 between Damascus and the coast ; and perhaps the only one on 
 which a carriage road could weU be constructed.^ 
 
 The plain of the Merj at this upper end is 1822 feet above 
 the sea, according to Dr De Forest. Although the plain 
 appears so level, it yet declines greatly towards the south ; being 
 some 330 feet lower in that part, towards Muttilleh. 
 
 This Tell Dibbin is a noble site for a city ; overlooking as 
 it does, the whole plain of the Meij, and commanding one of the 
 great roads between the seacoast and the interior. Unmistalia- 
 ble traces likewise show, that in very ancient times the place 
 was occupied by a city. Shall we perhaps be wrong in regard- 
 ing it as the site of the ancient Ijon (Heb. lydti), the name of 
 which has been perpetuated in the Arabic 'Ayun ? ^ We have 
 a like analogy in the case of Jabesh-gilead ; where its name as 
 a city has perished, but has been handed down in connection with 
 the valley, Wady Yibis. Ijon is twice mentioned as the north- 
 ernmost of the cities in this region ; once where Benhadad, at the 
 call of Asa, ravages " Ijon, Dan, Abel, and all Cinneroth ; "* and 
 again when Tiglath-pHeser invaded the land, and carried away 
 into captivity the inhabitants of " Ijon, and Abel, and Janoah, 
 and Kedesh, and Hazor."^ After the captivity Ijon is no more 
 heard of ; and its Tell and a few fragments are all that remain 
 to mark its probable site.* 
 
 We left the foot of the Tell at 1.15, by the Sidon road and 
 hastened on towards Hasbeiya '; passing up northeast through 
 the long narrow arm of the plain, before mentioned. In it was 
 the brook we had crossed ; which seemed at one place on our 
 right to have once had a large dam, now broken. At 2 o'clock 
 we rose from the extremity of this arm upon a small higher 
 plain.' This we now crossed towards the ridge which separates 
 it from Wady et-Teim. The plain terminated at 2.15 ; and 
 
 ' Bearings ■from Tell Dibbin: el-Jodei- " The possible identity of ^on, and 
 deh N. Tanm Niha 11°. Khiyam 137°. 'Ayun was suggested by the reviewer of 
 el-Hurraweh 189°. Meshhad 211°. el- Raumer's Palastina in the Munchner GeL 
 Khureibeh 228°. KuU'at 241°. — Meshhad Anzeigen, 1836, p. 902. He writes how- 
 is a summit with a Wely north of Hunin, ever Adsckun. The same suggestion was 
 overlooking the Merj. made independently in my former work, 
 
 ' Comp. W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. edit. 1, Vol. HI. p. 346, and App. p. 136. 
 
 Sacr. 1846, p. 207. The identity is assumed by W. M. Thom- 
 
 » Heb "ii'N pr. ' a ruin,' 1 K. 15, 20. son in Biblioth. Saxs. 1846, p. 204 ; comp. 
 
 2 K. 15, 29. ■ 2 Chr. 16, 4. Sept Al^y P- ^l*- ^i'ter Erdk. XV. p. 241 sq. 
 
 2 Chr. 16, 4. Josephus Ai<5c, Antt. 8. ' Bearings at 2 o'clock : KhQlwat cl- 
 
 12. 4. The Arabic 'Ai/un has changed Biyad 72°. Ibl 136°. Tell Dibbin 224°. 
 
 the ul^e/" to '^i», and signifies 'fountains.' el-Khureibeh 226°. Kula'at 231°. el- 
 
 * 1 K. 15, 20. 2 Chr. 16, 4. Judeideh 262°. Neby Sijud ? 324°. 
 
 ' 2 K. 15. 29. 
 
376 FKOM BEISAN TO HASBEITA [Sec. VHI. 
 
 just there a Wady breaks down through the ridge to the Nahr- 
 Hasbdny. Its high southern declivity is prettily wooded.' The 
 path keeps along high on the northern side ; and at 2.30 we 
 turned north around the shoulder of the mountain. 
 
 The Hasb^ny was now deep below us in its narrow dell ; 
 while immediately overagainst us Jebel esh-Sheikh towered in 
 grandeur. Here for the first time I became aware of the lower 
 parallel ridge along the western side of Hermon, perhaps two 
 thirds as high as the main ridge ; and separated from the latter 
 by lofty and almost inaccessible valleys. This lower ridge has 
 been mentioned by no traveller." Opposite to the point where 
 we now were, an enormous gorge, Wady Shib'a, breaks down 
 through this parallel ridge ; and, crossing an open slope at its 
 foot, cleaves again the line of rocky hiUs which border the 
 stream of Wady et-Teim. Further north, this valley of the 
 Hasbsiny, here so narrow, opens out into a fine basin of cul- 
 tivated land ; the bottom of which is covered with ohve and 
 mulberry trees, and the western slope tilled to the top ; while 
 the eastern side is too rocky for tillage, except in patches. 
 
 We now descended very steeply towards the north into this 
 basin ; and reached, at 2.45, the large ruined Khan at the 
 foot of the hill. This was a quadrangle eighty paces square ; 
 with ornamented entrances from the east and west. It is now 
 only a place for holding a great weekly fair on Tuesdays ; at 
 which the peasantry collect from all the region round about, to 
 buy and sell whatever they have need of, or wish to dispose of. 
 The Khan, it seems, was not sufficiently capacious for the 
 venders to expose their wares ; and hence some sixty stalls, 
 arranged in rows, have been erected for that purpose on the 
 slope of the hiU south of the Khdn.^ 
 
 ■ Keeping the road on the west side of the stream, we had at 
 3 o'clock the village of Kaukaba high above us on the left hand 
 slope, three quarters of a mile distant. At 3.25 we reached the 
 northern part of the basin, where the vaUey again becomes 
 narrow. Here we forded the river, a fine large full stream from 
 the great fountain not far above ; and having at this point a 
 mill-race and mill on its western bank. From the ford we pro- 
 ceeded up the valley eastward to Hisbeiya. The valley is called 
 Wady Busis ; it is at first quite open and broad ; then narrow 
 
 ' South of this wooded tract, on the top " It is described in the valnable Geolo- 
 
 of the lidge, lies Ibl ; from which the fol- gical Report of Dr Anderson, published 
 
 lowing bearings were taken in 1844 : Ju- later in the same year, appended to Lieut, 
 
 deideh 291°. Kbiyam 210^°. Meshhad Lynch's report ; see Lynch's Official Ke- 
 
 222°. Tell el-Hiirraweh 196°. Kefr Shuba port, 1852, p. 112 sq. 
 
 H8i°. Kefr Hamam 108°. Rasheiyet " See W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 
 
 el-Fukhar 95^°. 'Ain Jiirfa 65°. Abu 1846, p. 186. 
 Kamhah 52°. Neby Sijud 325°. 
 
Mat 21, 23.] NAHB HASBANT. ARRIVAL. 377 
 
 and rocky, and the road everywhere most execrable. The 
 stones are volcanic. At 3.55 we were opposite the western part 
 of the town ; and passing stiU up the valley around the project- 
 ing hill on which the city lies, we came at 4.05 to the mission 
 house in the eastern part. 
 
 Here we found the Kev. Mr Thomson of Sidon, who had 
 been awaiting our arrival for two or three days. The house was 
 occupied by John Wortabet, a pupil of the missionaries ; Who 
 already had charge of the recently formed Protestant church in 
 Hasbeiya, of which he has since been ordained and installed as 
 pastor. His mother and sister were residing with him ; the 
 latter likewise educated in the missionary schools. In this 
 welcome home I was detained for four days, by the illness which 
 still hung upon me. To the inmates of that home I owe many 
 thanks for their kind offices and unwearied hospitality. 
 
 We paid off our muleteers, who had been hired only until we 
 should reach this place. They had often quarrelled among 
 themselves, so that I had no desire to retain them longer ; more 
 especially as there was a prospect of being detained here for 
 several days. One only was kept to accompany Dr Smith to 
 Beirut. 
 
 Friday, May 2\st. Dr Smith and Kashid left very early 
 for Sidon, which they reached at evening ; and arrived at Beirut 
 early in the afternoon of the next day. Of aU our former com- 
 pany, only Besharah was now left to me ; and he remained 
 faithful, active, and obliging to the end. Mr Thomson took 
 henceforth the place of Dr Smith, and had brought with him 
 his head family servant ; so that all our travelling arrangements 
 continued as before. 
 
 Both this day and the following I remained quiet, and 
 mostly in bed. Mr Wortabet had studied medicine under the 
 three missionary physicians then in the country ; ' and to his 
 advice, coupled with rest, I owe my speedy recovery. The time 
 did not pass heavily ; as I was interested in this near view of 
 native manners and customs, and also of the daily experience 
 of the missionaries in their intercourse with the people. 
 
 A cage with a pair of cream-coloured pigeons from Damas- 
 cus hung in the piazza. They were of the species called by the 
 Arabs Ta Karim, from the reputed sound of their cooing ; but 
 this sound is very difficult to be made out by Franks. The 
 swallows too made themselves quite at home; and built their 
 nests even in the kitchen. 
 
 Sunday, May 23d. Public worship was held forenoon 
 and afternoon in the large parlour of the mission house, which 
 
 ' He has since received the honorary degree of M. D. from Tale College. 
 Vol. UL— 32* 
 
378 
 
 HASBEITA. [Sec. Vm 
 
 served as a cbapel. Mr Wortabet preached in the morning, 
 and Mr Thomson in the afternoon. The audience numbered 
 from thirty to forty ; and sometimes amounts to a hundred. I 
 tried to be present ; but a faintness coming over me, I was com- 
 pelled to retire to my bed. — A subscription was already on foot 
 for erecting a Protestant church in Hasbeiya; and a building 
 sufficiently large for the wants of the community has since been 
 completed. 
 
 This missionary station has long been under the supervision 
 of Messrs Thomson and Van Dyck, who reside at Sidon, but 
 frequently visit Hasbeiya for days and weeks at a time. The 
 history of the Protestant movement in Hasbeiya is one of great 
 interest ; but is too well known to be repeated here. ' 
 
 Monday, May 24th. Having regained my strength in part, 
 I rode out towards evening with Mr Thomson to visit the foun- 
 tain of the Jordan. The road leads down along the northern side 
 of the valley to the bridge over the stream, a strong stone struc- 
 ture, nearly half a mile north of the ford by which we crossed on 
 Thursday. The fountain is some thirty rods north of the 
 bridge. Here, at the end of the ridge running down on the 
 north of Hasbeiya, is a volcanic bluff called Ras el-'Aujeh ; at 
 the foot of which the fountain bursts forth in the very channel 
 of the valley." It sends forth at once a large volume of water ; 
 and is called Neba' el-Hasbany, or also Ras en-Neba'. A 
 strong and permanent dam is thrown across just below the 
 fountain. A head of water is thus raised and a small pond 
 formed, from which the water is turned into a wide mill-race. 
 In this way all the beauty and romance of the spot is destroyed. 
 The fountain, as such, is not visible ; except that just above 
 the dam the water is seen boiling up on the surface of the pool, 
 and quite across it. There are a few trees along the bank, and 
 a large rock rises on the east side of the pool. 
 
 This fountain is the furthest perennial source of the Jordan. 
 We passed on up the valley for some distance ; but found at this 
 season only a small stream coming down from above, said to be 
 the product of small fountains higher up. Indeed, when we 
 crossed the valley a few days afterwards not far above, there was 
 at first no stream visible. Yet during the rainy season a great 
 body of water descends from the upper part of Wady et-Teim 
 and the heights of Jebel esh-Sheikh around Rasheiya, causing a 
 formidable torrent along the valley. For some miles above the 
 
 • See the Annual Reports of the Ame- yam 221°. Meshhad 223J-°. Eaukaba 
 
 rican Board of Commissioners for Foreign 257°. Hasheiya 156°. 'Ain Kiinyeh 121°. 
 
 Mission.s, for several years past ; also the Mimis 76°. Kufsir 69°. Dhuneibeh 51°. 
 
 volumes of the Missionary Herald. Lihbeiya 35°. Course of the Wady above, 
 
 ' Beariijigs from Eas el-'Aujeh, above 58". 
 the grtfat fountain, 1844 : Ibl 225°. Khi- 
 
May 24.] GREAT FOUNTAIN. BITUMEN PITS. 379 
 
 fountain the valley is narrow, with a rocky bed ; but still higher 
 up it again spreads out into a broad rolling basin. 
 
 We now proceeded to the famous bitumen pits, situated on 
 the western declivity, opposite the ford and about a quarter of an 
 hour distant from the latter. The surface at the wells is a 
 gentle slope of indurated marl, with nodules of flint ; but 
 nothing to indicate bitumen. There are some twenty or thirty 
 wells ; some of them fifty feet deep. New ones are often 
 opened ; and old ones, which have been abandoned, are some- 
 times sunk deeper. The strata of mineral at the bottom are 
 then worked horizontally, and the product drawn up by a wind- 
 lass. The bitumen is hard, and is regarded as of the finest 
 quality. The tract and the wells belong to the government, 
 and are farmed by those who desire to work them. The work- 
 ing for the year had ceased a few days before. The bitumen is 
 sold chiefly at Damascus. It is mainly used on vines, to keep 
 off insects which destroy the grapes. It melts with a strong 
 heat, and being then mixed with a little oil, is daubed upon the 
 vine near its root.' 
 
 From the bitumen pits there is a good view of the west side 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh, and of its lower parallel ridge. The lofty 
 main ridge, as here and elsewhere seen from the side, has two 
 summits ; of which the northeastemmost is much the highest, 
 perhaps by a thousand feet. Both of these were now marked 
 with strips of snow and ice radiating down their sides.'' The 
 parallel ridge is some two or three thousand feet lower ; and runs 
 the whole length of esh-Sheikh, from near Kasheiya to the 
 southern end over BS,nids. It is unbroken, save once near the 
 village of Shib'a ; where the high upper valley beginning near 
 the northeastern end breaks down through to Wady et-Teim.' 
 Not far south of that point is a water-shed in the lugh valley ; 
 which then again declines towards the southwest, and descends 
 to the southern plain, not far west of BS.nias, through the deep 
 gorge of Wady el-'Asal, on the east of a high conical peak. 
 
 From the weUs there is a view of the higher parts of the 
 town of Hasbeiya. We returned home by way of the ford. 
 
 ' See also Seetzen's Reisen, I. pp. 324, from telow. He speaks of the ridge run- 
 
 325, 329, 330. Burckhardt Trav. in Syria ning out towards Banias as nraoh lower 
 
 p. 34. Dr Anderson's Geol. Report, in than that summit. Probably in looking 
 
 Lynch's Official Report, 1852, p. 116. down upon it longitudinally, the lower 
 
 ' The Rev. J. L. Porter of Damascus summit mentioned in the text did not pro- 
 visited the summit of Hermon in the au- minently strike the eye. See Biblioth. 
 tumn of 1852. He describes the highest Sacra, 1854. p. 55. 
 peak as composed strictly of three peaks, ' See above, p. 376. 
 GO near each other as to appear only as one 
 
380 
 
 HASBEITA. [SecVIH. 
 
 The important valley^ Wady et-Teim, was the refiige of 
 Derazy, the founder of the Druze religion, early in the eleventh 
 century ; and is therefore connected with the earliest history of 
 that singular race.' In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, 
 the valley is mentioned by Abulfeda and edh-Dhahiry.° 
 
 The short valley, in which Hasheiya almost lies hidden, 
 commences at no great distance east of the town.^ The head of 
 it is in a remarkable amphitheatre, enclosed on three sides by 
 high hUls, terraced and covered with vines, fig trees, and olive 
 trees, to their top. The western part is formed by the rocky lull 
 on and around which the city is bmlt, projecting from the south- 
 ern hills, and confining the valley to a narrow deU along its 
 northern side ; thus almost completing the circle of the amphi- 
 theatre. The hills on the north and south of this head of the 
 valley rise not less than six or seven hundred feet above it. The 
 eastern side is stUl higher ; the western much lower. The top 
 of this lower projecting hill, above the narrow valley, is occupied 
 by the palace (so called) of the Emir and its appurtenances. 
 Below the palace, on the western declivity, is the Jewish quarter. 
 Back of the palace, towards the south, are the houses of the 
 town rising far up along the side of the higher hill, and covering 
 a large space. They extend also down the northeastern side of 
 the lower projecting hill, quite to the bed of the valley. Indeed, 
 they have already begun to spread across the channel towards 
 the northeast ; where, on account of the steepness af the ground, 
 the buUdings stand as high as in the old part of the town. The 
 Busis, after leaving its dell, soon expands ; and its channel, 
 passing through a wide open tract, enters the Hasbciny a little 
 above the ford. 
 
 A good view of Hasbeiya is obtained from the northern hill, 
 on the road leading to the bridge, which we followed on Monday. 
 This is the near view, looking down upon the whole town. The 
 houses are seen extending far up towards the south and south- 
 west of the Emir's palace ; and then on the east down to the 
 water-course and across it. This last is the Protestant quarter. 
 Another beautiful view of the town and amphitheatre is from 
 the little village of 'Ain Kunyeh, directly east of Heisbeiya, 
 
 ' See De Sacy Expose de la Relig. des ral weeks in the place in 1844. — ^The ear- 
 
 Druzes, I. p. ccclxxiii, sq. Biblioth. Sacra, lier travellers seem not to have visited 
 
 1843, p. 220 sq. Wady et-Teim. Purer von Haimendorf 
 
 ' Abulf. Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 20. passed along it from the Huleh to tf e 
 edh-Dh4hiry speats of Wady et-Teim as a Buka'a and Ba'albek in 1566 ; p. 280, 
 district in the province of Damascus, con- Numb. 1646. Seetze.n visited and de- 
 taining 360 villages ; see Kosenm. Analect. scribed the region in 1806 ; Reisen, Berlin 
 Arab. III. p. 22. Lat. p. 46. 1854, 1, p. 323 sq. Zach's Monatl. Corr. 
 
 ' In describing Hclsbeiya and the region XVIII. pp. 340-344 Then followed 
 
 around, I have the benefit of a manuscript Burckhardt, Trav. in Syr. pp. 82-43. Gomp, 
 
 journal by Dr E. Smith ; who spent seve- Ritter Erdk. XV. p. 152 sq. 
 
Sec. Vm.] SITUATION. VINEYARDS. 381 
 
 and half an hour distant, on the very brow of the amphitheatre. 
 A third and more distant view is in the opposite direction, from 
 the high ridge west of Wady el-Teim. Looking from this point 
 about E. S. E. up the Wady Basis, the eye takes in the whole 
 valley and amphitheatre with the town. Here especially the 
 amphitheatre is seen to be a deep basin sunk in the midst of a 
 broad ridge descending from Jebel esh-Sheikh westwards ; which 
 basin the narrow valley drains to the Hasb^ny. The latitude 
 of Hasbeiya, as determined by Lieut. Lynch, is N, 33° 25' 13". 
 
 Large quantities of grapes are raised around Hasbeiya ; the 
 southern hill is covered with vineyards. The grapes are mostly 
 eaten or made into raisins ; while some are trodden and the juice 
 boiled down to form the syrup called Dibs. Walking out one 
 afternoon with Mr Wortabet, along the upper water-course in 
 the northeast quarter, we came upon a press for the preparation 
 of Dibs. There were two shallow vats side by side, in which the 
 grapes were trodden. From these the juice was drawn off into 
 a small channel outside, and conducted into three smaller and 
 deep vats, where it was left to settle and become clear. All these 
 vats were excavated in the solid rock. The juice was then con- 
 veyed to a large boiler just below, where it was boiled away to 
 the proper consistence ; and then, lastly, was put to cool in two 
 or three still smaller vats. 
 
 The Emirs of Hasbeiya are a Muslim branch of the house of 
 Shehab ; distinct from those who have so long ruled in Mount 
 Lebanon. The head of the house is the hereditary governor of 
 the district of Hasbeiya ; but dependent of course upon the Pasha 
 of Damascus. The palace, so called, is a shabby concern ; but 
 covers a large plot of ground, and is the dwelling of various 
 branches of the family. The present Emir was regarded as a 
 weak and faithless man, blowing hot and cold with the same 
 breath. He was at this time rather favourably disposed towards 
 the missionaries, and Mr Wortabet was acting as his family 
 physician. Yet he was ever ready to vex the Protestants ; and 
 was even now refusing to let them pay their taxes except as 
 members of the Greek church ; directly in the face of the law 
 and of the practice every where else. 
 
 The highest point of the hill above HS,sbeiya on the south, 
 is crowned by a Druze place of worship, or collection of chapels, 
 called KhulwSt el-Biyad. These Khulwehs are generally situ- 
 ated quite alone, on the top of a hill, on the brink of a precipice, 
 or the borders of a forest ; and from this their solitary position 
 they take their name, signifying ' solitude.' They are hardly 
 distinguished in size and structure from common dwelling 
 houses. The Khulwit el-Biyad is the most celebrated of all the 
 sacred places of the Druzes. It was plundered in 1838, after 
 
382 
 
 HASBEITA. [Sec. VIII. 
 
 the decisive battle of Shib'a ; the secret adytum was entered ; 
 and the sacred books contained in several chests were scattered 
 throughout the country and the world.' 
 
 The Khtilwat el-Biy£id is distant about twenty minutes from 
 Hasbeiya ; and is situated a few rods west of the road leading to 
 'Ain Jurfa and Hibbariyeh. The position commands a view 
 over the Merj 'Aytin and the district of Shnkif, nearly to the 
 sea ; and the view towards the south takes in the Htileh. For 
 extent and beauty of prospect few places equal it.^ 
 
 The little village of 'Ain Kunyeh, half an hour east of Has- 
 beiya, has been already mentioned. From a fine fountain there, a 
 small aqueduct conveys water to the palace of the Emirs below. 
 Hence the name of the village.' 
 
 Another village, Shuweiya, lies fifteen minutes from 'Ain 
 Kunyeh higher up, in nearly the same direction from Hasbeiya. 
 It is inhabited by Druzes, and is about half an hour distant 
 from the Khulwat el-Biy^d. It lies on another peak among this 
 amphitheatre of hills. This point is higher than either of the 
 preceding, and the prospect more extensive, but less interesting. 
 Towards the north the village of 'Ain 'Ata, marked by a white 
 dome, is seen high up near the base of Jebel esh-Sheikh, in the 
 district of Kasheiya. From it a high ridge extends down to the 
 Hasbany, and forms the boundary between the two districts of 
 Easheiya and Hasbeiya ; or, as they are called, upper and lower 
 Wady et-Teim. Between this ridge and the Busis, two Wadys 
 descend to the Hasbany. The northernmost has the large 
 Christian village of Kufeir on its northern declivity ; and the 
 vDlage called Khulwet el-Kufeir on its southern. The southern 
 Wady is much the broadest ; and indeed may perhaps be re- 
 garded as divided into two by a low ridge, on which stands the 
 village of Mimis. Higher up, on its northern side, is the village 
 of 'Ain Tinta. Kaukaba, Libbeiya, Neby Sufa (or Thelthatha), 
 and Muhaiditheh, are places on the eastern declivity of the ridge 
 which borders the vaUey of the Hasbany on the west. Above Shu- 
 weiya, towards the east, only a narrow ridge separates the valley 
 of Mimis from that of Shib'a ; and connects the hill of Shuweiya 
 
 ■ E. Smith in Miss. Herald, 1845, p. 46. Tell el-Hurraweh 203°. Khiyam 229°. 
 
 The same writer says further ; " Women Ibl 238°. Jndeideh 256°. Kiji'at esh- 
 
 are universally excluded from residing in Shukif 24&°. Kaukaba 298°. Neby 'Aly 
 
 Khiilwehs ; hut the occupants often have et-Tahir 264°. Neby Sijud 301°. Lib- 
 
 their families in some adjacent building, beiya 27°. 'Ain Kunyeh 67°. 'Ain 'Ata 
 
 At Kliulwat el-BiySd, we were told, that 63|°. Shuweiya 80°. Hibbariyeh 147°. 
 
 women only came up from the town [Has- 'Ain Tannurah N. el-Muhaiditheh 38°. 
 
 beiyaj in the morning, to cook and clean ' Bearings at 'Ain Kunyeh, 1844 : Mu- 
 
 and keep house for the men, and went haiditheh 34°. Khulwat el-Biyad 245°. 
 
 down again to their houses in the city in Kul'at esh-Shukif 248°. Hasbeiya 270°. 
 
 the evening, not being allowed to lodge on Neby Syud 292°. Tanm Niha, S. peak, 
 
 ihe hill;" ibid. 329^°. 
 
 a 
 
 Bearings at KhiEwat el-Biyad, 1844: 
 
Sec. VIII.] ENVIKONS. 383 
 
 ■with, the mountain back. Along this ridge passes tne road from 
 HS,sbeiya to Shib'a ; from which also there branches off a summer 
 road to Damascus.' 
 
 The ridge extending down from 'Ain Kunyeh, on the north of 
 Hisbeiya, separates Wady Busis from the valley of Mimis ; and 
 has at its lower extremity the bluff called Eas el-'Aujeh, already 
 mentioned. The elevation of several points in and around 
 H^sbeiya was determined by Dr De Forest the same year, yith 
 the aneroid barometer, as follows : 
 
 
 Eng. Feet 
 
 KhSrn, .... 
 
 1609 
 
 Ford, .... 
 
 1654 
 
 Fountain of the Hasbany, . 
 
 1700 
 
 Hasbeiya, Palace, . 
 
 2160 
 
 Koad near Kbulwat el-Biy&d 
 
 2711 
 
 ' Bearings at Shuweiya, 1844 : 'Aia 2784^. Judeideli 257°. Kul'at esh-Shukif 
 
 'Ata56°. 'AinTmta35i°. Libbeiya 11^°. 251°. Ibl 246^°. Khiyam 239°. Mesh- 
 
 Dhu=eibeh 20^. Mimis 5°. Neby Sufa had 2334. Hibbariyeh 214°. el-Ferdls 
 
 204°. el-Muhaiditheb 32°. Kaukaba 247°. 'Ain Jtirfa 251°. Hasbeiya 281°. 
 
SECTION IX. 
 
 The state of agitation and disquiet among the Druzes of 
 Lebanon, already alluded to, had not yet been wholly allayed. 
 Straggling bands of that people, or of those acting under colour 
 of their name, were often heard of in these regions, as commit- 
 ting deeds of violence and robbery. Such rumours reached us 
 almost daily at Hasbeiya ; lying as it does on one of the main 
 roads between the Druzes of Lebanon and those of Hauran ; 
 and itself too numbering many Druzes among its inhabitants, 
 some of whom are men of influence.' 
 
 "What more directly affected our plans was the report, that a 
 party of fifteen or twenty Druzes from the Metn had posted 
 themselves in a wood near Bsinids, and were robbing whomsoever 
 they pleased ; though not all that passed that way. A Jew had 
 been robbed on Saturday, and several peasants on Sunday. 
 But on Monday, an English gentleman with his family, including 
 three ladies, came through from BS,nias to Hasbeiya without 
 seeing any one. It was said the party had sent defiance to the 
 Emir of HSsbeiya, as the governor of the district. At any rate, 
 that functionary was cowed, and took not a single step against 
 the marauders. All the roads to Damascus were regarded as 
 unsafe. 
 
 As we purposed to set off for B^nias, if possible, on Tuesday, 
 we took the precaution to obtain a letter from the chief Druze 
 Sheikh of the region, residing in Hasbeiya." He gave it with 
 readiness ; and also agreed to send with us two of his own people 
 armed. We engaged likewise three Druze muleteers for the 
 excursion. 
 
 ' See more on this subject, p. 8, atove. translation is subjoined in Note V, end of 
 ' As this letter is a model in its way, a the volume. 
 
May 25.] THE DEUZES. BRIDGE OF BURGHUZ. 385 
 
 Tuesday, May 25th. — This morning, to the astonishment of 
 every one, the weather threatened rain ; and two slight showers 
 actually fell. As my strength was now partially restored, we 
 concluded to set off and travel leisurely. Our party consisted 
 of Mr Thomson and myself, our two servants, the three Druze 
 muleteers, and the Sheikh's two armed retainers. An active 
 young man, desiring to go to BS,nias on business, asked permis- 
 sion to join us ; and made himself quite useful during the ex- 
 cursion. We sent forward the muleteers and baggage to Judei- 
 deh, with one of the armed men ; we ourselves proposing to go 
 with the other by way of Burghuz and the chasm of the Litany. 
 
 We left the mission house at 11 o'clock ; reached the ford 
 of the Hasbany in forty minutes ; and turning to the left, came, 
 at 11.50, to the fork of the road to Kaukaba, We passed in 
 sight of the Khin, where there was this day a regular fair. This 
 is much frequented by the people of Lebanon, the Hlileh, Wady 
 et-Teim, and even from Haurin. The hght showers to day had 
 thinned the number somewhat ; yet we saw and fell in with 
 many. At 12.05 we passed just under Kaukaba lying high on 
 the western slope ; and stopped five minutes under the olive 
 trees on account of another sprinkling of rain. The village, as 
 usual, looked much the best when seen from a distance. 
 
 A broad and deep valley, well cultivated, extends up west- 
 wards from the Khfin, breaking through the western ridge and 
 cleaving it more than half way to its base. The ascent in it from 
 the HasbSny is gradual and gentle ; but on the western side, 
 towards the Litany, it descends suddenly and steeply to the river 
 just below the bridge of Burghflz. Through this notch passes 
 the road from the Khan to that bridge ; and thence up the side 
 of Lebanon along Wady Sifsaf to Kefr Huneh and Jezzin.^ The 
 valley of this notch is understood to separate Merj 'Ayun from 
 the district of Hdsbeiya ; and is of course the dividing line, in 
 this quarter, between the Pashaliks of Sidon and Damascus. 
 
 We kept along from Kaukaba high up around the shoulder 
 of the northern hill ; and then descended gradually to join the 
 road from the Kh^n upon the water-shed. This we struck at 
 12.30, and began immediately the steep descent towards the 
 bridge. At 12.50 we stopped on the plateau of the little Druze 
 village of Burghuz ; the latter being about forty rods north of 
 us, and the river and bridge still two hundred feet or more below 
 us. The bridge is said to be Koman. We here could see the 
 character of the river and its chasm for some distance above and 
 below. 
 
 Immediately north of BQrghuz, a broad low spur or swell of 
 
 ' Comp. Wilson Lands of the Bible, II. p. 192 aq. 
 Vol. III.— 33 
 
386 FROM HASBEITA TO BANI*S. [Sec. IX. 
 
 ground is thrown off from the base of Lebanon across the river to 
 the eastern ridge. This swell is a mile or more in width. The 
 river breaks down through the whole distance by a singular 
 chasm, very narrow and winding, with banks from three hundred 
 to five hundred feet high and often approaching the perpendic- 
 ular. Much of this chasm we were here, or afterwards, able to 
 overlook. It makes many short turns and sharp angles. We 
 could see the river at the bottom, like a small mountain brook, 
 tumbhng, foaming, and roaring along its steep rocky bed. South 
 of Burghtiz, for a short distance, the ground is lower, and the 
 valley of the river broader ; and advantage is taken of this for a 
 road do'wn the steep banks, and a bridge over the stream. Just 
 below the bridge the river turns westwards for a little ; and then 
 again towards the south. 
 
 We stopped here near Burghuz for twenty minutes, partly on 
 account of another slight shower. But this was the last ; and 
 the afternoon was clear and cool. 
 
 We set off again at 1.10, for Belat ; not by the usual road, 
 but keeping along through the fields, without a path, as near as 
 possible to the chasm, which the river has here cut through 
 another ridge extending out from Lebanon towards the south. 
 This ridge is obviously a prolongation of the southern foot of 
 Lebanon itself, passing over into the lower ridge on the east of 
 esh-Shuklf. The river strikes and enters it very obhquely not far 
 below the bridge of Burghuz ; and cleaves it lengthwise, but 
 nearest the eastern side ; until just below Belat the stream turns 
 almost at a right angle, and cuts through the ridge to its western 
 side. Here, issuing into a more open tract, it turns south again, 
 and flows under esh-Shukif. The ridge thus left upon the 
 eastern side is very thin, sharp, and steep. We kept along near 
 its summit ; sometimes looking down into the abyss of the tor- 
 rent on our right ; and sometimes passing around on the eastern 
 side of high sharp peaks. It was a dizzy and dangerous path, 
 and the ride highly exciting. ' 
 
 The general course of the chasm from near Jisr Burghuz to 
 Belat, is from about N. E. by N. to S. W. by S. The depth 
 varies, according to the hills on each side, from eight hundred to 
 twelve hundred feet. The chasm is thus far tolerably straight ; 
 except one obtuse angle towards the south in approaching BeMt. 
 The sides are very steep, but not perpendicular, and are covered 
 with shrubs ; resembling the high banks of the same river east 
 of Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh ; though the chasm is here narrower and 
 deeper." 
 
 We came to the little village of BeMt at 2.25, situated on 
 
 ' Bearings at 1.30 : Burghuz N. 75° E. ' See atove, p. 53. 
 esh-ShuHf S. 30° W. 
 
Mat 25] CHASM OF THE LITANY. BELAT. 387 
 
 the eastern side of the chasm, with a hroad tract of high ground 
 behind it. From the village we descended five minutes to reach 
 the brow of the chffs. Here, just before the gulf turns west, 
 the sides become more perpendicular, or at least exceedingly- 
 precipitous. Eagles were soaring over the chasm, having their 
 nests in the western cliffs. At the bottom, just north of the 
 village, is a mill ; and a dizzy path leads down to it. The depth 
 of the chasm on the eastern side is seven hundred feet ; as ascer- 
 tained with the aneroid by Mr Thomson and Dr De Forest a few 
 days previously. The village hes still some two or three hundred 
 feet higher ; and the hills further north are yet loftier. The 
 western cliff is not less than some nine hundred feet above the 
 stream ; and its top is apparently a fine level plateau of green 
 grass studded with small oak trees. The bottom of the chasm is 
 quite narrow, and is wholly filled by the stream. It was a rude 
 scene of wildness and grandeur, never to be forgotten. I know 
 of nothing similar to it, unless perhaps the celebrated chasm of 
 the river Salzach at the Pass Lueg, on the way from Salzburg 
 to Gastein. 
 
 In the sides of the chasm, opposite to Belat, there house 
 great numbers of the little animal called Webr, the Shaphan or 
 coney of Scripture, the Hyrax Syriacus of naturalists. Mr 
 Thomson in his former visits had seen them coming out of the 
 clefts and holes of the rocks ; in winter at midday ; in summer 
 only towards evening.' 
 
 We left Belat at 2.55. for Dibbin and Judeideh, on a general 
 course south. At 3.05 we were opposite the bend in the chasm 
 of the river, and could look down its westerly course. The sides 
 are here nearly perpendicular, and the chasm still narrower. At 
 the western end is a spot called the Khutweh, where the river is 
 said to be more compressed than at any other point. The stream 
 has worn itself a deep channel or flume in the rock ; so narrow, 
 it was said, that one can step across it.^ 
 
 The place where we stood is an ancient site, now called Neby 
 Haskin. Here were fragments of two columns, and also two 
 sarcophagi cut in an isolated rock. A small Wady comes in 
 here from the south, draining a pretty plain lying towards Judei- 
 deh. This plain is parallel to the arm of the Meij which we 
 
 ' See more on this animal, Gesen. Heb. if in torture and hastening to escape from 
 Lex art. ".B-a Thesaur. p. 1467. See- so narrow and rough a bed. At one place 
 tzen in Eitter's Erdk. XV. p. 596. Wilson t^e width is barely three feet The swift- 
 Lands of the Bible n p. 28 sq. Fresnel f«^. °f the cn^ent prevented our asoer- 
 in Journ. Asiat Ser. IH. Tom. V. p. 514. ^"""g '*« depth. A pole e;ght feet long 
 
 = This chasm had been visited by Dr d|d not reach the bottom ; and broke short 
 
 De Forest a few days before, who thus ^ '° *« current on a second attempt. 
 
 ; ^ .. ,, t;. „i„„ oKt\ V..of tho ri The Khutweh is the western tennmation 
 
 speaks of It : " F"' ^^? ^^f/f *^"; of this remarkable pass ; the banks below 
 
 ver runs through a strait, witn a varying . if i « »«■ t 
 
 width from six to twelve feet, writliing as ^''^g a more gentle slope." Ms. Joum. 
 
388 FBOM HASBEITA TO BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 ascended on Thursday last ; and is separated from the latter 
 only by a small ridge. At 3.20 we passed Dibbin in the plain ; 
 and at 3.35 reached Judeideh, on the western side of the head of 
 the plain.' 
 
 Here we rested for a time, and then sent on the muleteers by 
 the direct road to Khiyam ; while we proceeded by way of Tell 
 Dibbin, in order to look for some excavated sepulchres we had 
 heard of Leaving Judeideh at 4.45, we came at 5.10 to the 
 west side of the great Tell. Finding nothing here, we returned 
 on our path a little, to a knoll, where is a mere excavation, which 
 may, or may not, have been a sepulchre. We now at 5.15 
 struck across the fields southeastward to the road in the Merj, 
 which we had left on Thursday in order to reach the Tell ; and 
 followed it till 5.45, when we were opposite the broken dam and 
 reservoir of the great fountain.* We here turned to the left, 
 and ascended the long declivity to Khiyam, which we reached 
 at 6.15. The direct distance from Judeideh is about three miles. 
 We pitched our tent among the threshing floors of the village. 
 
 Khiyam is the chief town in the district of Merj 'Ayun ; and 
 is reckoned at five hundred men, indicating a population of about 
 two thousand souls. The inhabitants are mostly Metawileh, with 
 some Greeks and Greek Catholics. There are a few Protestants 
 from the latter sects ; and a Protestant school had been opened. 
 
 We could here look down upon both Merj 'Ayun in the west, 
 and Wady et-Teim in the east. The descent into the latter is 
 gradual and easy ; the valley is broader, and the hiUs in it 
 lower, than further north. Indeed, at this point the hUls nearly 
 cease. Quite a number of villages were hkewise in sight.' 
 
 The evening was beautiful. The moon, just in her second 
 quarter, shone brightly in a cloudless and serene sky ; and the 
 heavens were studded with innumerable stars. 
 
 Wednesday, May 26th. The sun rose in purest splendour 
 from behind the loftiest peak of Hermon. The mountain lay 
 before us in all its grandeur, presenting a fall view of its west- 
 ern side from the base to the summit. 
 
 Leaving Khiyam at 7.10, we bent our course towards el- 
 Ghujar and Tell el-Kady. Keeping at first along the brow of 
 the ridge, we had at 7.30 from a projecting point a view of the 
 whole of the Huleh, lake and all. The marsh seems to extend 
 up on the western side further than in the middle. We soon 
 
 ' Bearings at Judeideli : Dibbin N. 15' Tibnin 265°. Kul'at esh-Shukif 271". 
 
 E. Ibl S. 70° E. Khiyam S. 20° E. 3 m. Kuli'at 271^°. Tell Dibbin 313°. Ju- 
 
 ' See above, p. 374. deideh 335°. Cburcb in do. 330°. Neby 
 
 ' Bearings at Kliiyam : Ibl 30^. 'Ain Sijud 330J°. Taum Nilia (soutb peak) 
 
 Kiinyeh 65°. Khulwat el-Biyid 50°. 15°. Jebel Siinmn 37°. Tell el-Kudy 
 
 Rasheiyat el-Fukhar 73°. Kefr Hamam 176°. 
 
 96°. Kefr Shuba 106°. el-Marieh 123°. 
 
Mat 26.] KHIYAM. -WADT ET-TEIM. 389 
 
 began to descend obliquely and rather steeply towards the 
 Hideh, by a rocky path ; and at 8.10 were at the foot of the 
 declivity and upon the plain. At 8.15 the ruin of Serada was 
 on our right, just above the base of the declivity, a quarter of a 
 mile distant from us. It has several excavated sepulchres, now 
 used as storehouses for grain. The ruins of a former village are 
 seen around and below the caverns.' 
 
 Nearly opposite Khiyam the hills within Wady et-Teim dis- 
 appear ; and the valley opens out towards the south into a wide 
 and tolerably level plain, extending from the bottom of the 
 western ridge to the very base of Jebel esh-Sheikh. But this 
 plain in the north is much higher than the region around Tell 
 el-Kidy ; and the latter again is considerably higher than the 
 lower plain of the Huleh. In passing to Tell el-K^dy we 
 descended no less than three steps or offsets, here running in the 
 direction from northeast to southwest. Tell el-Kady itself is 
 connected with a fourth like offset ; and there are still two 
 others further south. The line of these last three offsets runs 
 more from east to west. The difference of elevation between 
 one plateau and another is in general not less than fifty feet ; 
 and sometimes more. 
 
 We were now upon the first and highest plateau, here called 
 Ard Serada ;'and kept on across it in the direction of the vil- 
 lage el-Ghujar, marked by the white dome of a Wely. The 
 region is volcanic. Towards the eastern side of this plateau the 
 Hasb^ny has its course, in a deep and precipitous gulf At 
 8.50 we came to the deserted village of Luweizeh, on the west 
 bank of the gulf ; and descended steeply and with difficulty 
 among the trap boulders and globular basalt to the river at 
 9 o'clock. It is here larger than at H^sbeiya, having received 
 the stream coming from 'Ain Seraiyib, under the western base 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh. 
 
 Five minutes below the ford is the great fountain called 
 Luweizany, bursting forth under isolated strata of limestone 
 rock on the western margin of the stream. Thickets of olean- 
 ders, and marshy ground, prevented our reaching the fountain ; 
 but the size of the stream below was evidently very much 
 increased. The source was said to be as copious as the Neba' 
 Hasbdny, and less fluctuating. The bottom of the valley 
 seemed here Ml of springs ; and several small ones were burst- 
 ing forth upon the east side. 
 
 Starting again at 9.35, we immediately ascended the eastern 
 bank very obliquely, and by an easier road than that on the 
 western bank. Here again was the globular basalt. Tor a 
 
 ' Seetzen speaks of Serada as in his day inhabited by Christians and Druzes; Eei- 
 sen I. p. 332. 
 
 Vol. m.— 33* 
 
390 PROM HASBEITA TO BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 part of the way the path runs along the hrink of a precipice, 
 and is dangerous. We could now look down upon the short 
 limestone strata over the fountain ; all the rest is trap. Indeed, 
 the river has worn for itself this chasm in the hard trap rock. 
 The depth is from two to three hundred feet ; the chasm is 
 quite narrow, with very steep, and in some places perpendicular 
 banks. It is remarkahle, that the Hasbany on issuing from its 
 mountain glen, nearly opposite Khiyam, into the great volcanic 
 plain towards the Huleh, does not follow the lowest part of the 
 plain ; but keeps along in its deep chasm through the western 
 and highest plateau. 
 
 As we approached el-Grhnjar, situated on the eastern hank 
 of the gulf, we struck down through the fields towards the left, 
 in order to avoid the village and gain the road leading from it to 
 Tell el-Kady. The inhabitants of Ghujar, like those of 'Ain 
 Fit and Za'tira, are Nusairiyeh ; and these three villages contain 
 the only people of that sect in all the region. At 9.45 the vil- 
 lage with its white dome, was close on our right, some forty rods 
 distant. It lies just on the brow of the first offset, between the 
 highest plateau and the next lower. The bridge known as Jisr 
 el-Ghujar, is at a considerable distance below the village. • On 
 each of the two next lower plateaus was a small stream running 
 through it. On the third was a much larger stream, to which we 
 came at 10.15 ; it comes from a fountain at the foot of Jebel 
 esh- Sheikh, and falls into the river that issues from Tell el- 
 Kfldy. The path led along through wheat fields and among 
 heaps of black basaltic rocks. We reached the Tell at 10.35, 
 and rested beneath the shade of the noble Sindian. 
 
 On approaching Tell el-Kady from this quarter, the first 
 object which strikes the eye is an immense stream of the most 
 limpid water pouring from its western side. The Tell is oblong ; 
 its greatest length extending from west to east. Its height, on 
 the northern part, is some thirty or forty feet above the plain. 
 The western end appears as if built up with large trap boulders ; 
 and through these the water gushes out several feet above the 
 base. It forms a little lake at the bottom, and then rushes 
 down a steep channel to the next lower plateau. This is one of 
 the largest fountains in the world ; the stream that issues from it 
 being not less than four times as large as the Hasbany, even 
 after all the accessions which the latter receives. 
 
 Not all the water, however, from the interior of the Tell, 
 
 ' Somewhere sonthwest of el-Ghfljar, nified into the ruins of an immense city, 
 
 and not far from ez-Zuk, on the edge of his Hazor; Narrative 11. pp. 516-520. Wc 
 
 the upper plateau, would seem to lie the saw many such tracts hearing a striking 
 
 tract of volcanic stones and rooks, which, resemblance to ancient ruins ; but never 
 
 as it would seem, M. De Saulcy has mag- thought of making of them mined cities. 
 
Mat 26.] TELL EL-KADT. 391 
 
 escapes in this way. In the surface of the Tell directly ahove is 
 a cavity of some extent, into which the water also rises ; and runs 
 off, as a considerable stream, through a break in the edge of the 
 Tell, tumbling down its southwestern side. This stream drives 
 two mills, and furnishes water-power enough for any number. 
 It then goes to join the other river. This of itself would be 
 regarded as a very large fountain. Just in the break of the Tell 
 stands the noble oak (Sindian) under which we rested. Its vast 
 boughs spread widely around ; though its trunk is not as large 
 as some "we had seen. Beneath it is the grave of a Muhamme- 
 dan saint, a parallelogram of stones clumsily laid up, with many 
 rags hanging upon the branches above. There are also smaller 
 trees scattered upon the Tell, and the mills are almost buried 
 beneath the luxuriant vegetation. 
 
 The Tell is situated about a mile and a half, a little west of 
 south, from the southwest corner of the mountains, nearly in a 
 line with the western base of Jebel esh-Sheikh. It is about 
 midway of the Huleh from west to east. It stands connected 
 with the step or offset between two plateaus ; so that the south- 
 ern side of the Tell is twice as high as the northern, rising above 
 the plain at its southern base not less than eighty or ninety feet. 
 The form, though oblong, is irregular. The top is an area of 
 several acres, perhaps fifty rods in length, and somewhat highest 
 towards the east. It is in part cultivated, and there were now 
 patches of wheat upon it ; but the greater portion was given up 
 to rank grass, weeds, thistles, and brushwood ; so that it could 
 be examined only with difficulty. Singularly enough, this Tell 
 and offset form the dividing line between the volcanic and lime- 
 stone formations. The Tell and all the plain north are volcanic ; 
 while all the plain of the Huleh south, as far as our examination 
 extended, is limestone. 
 
 The elevation of this spot above the sea, is six hundred forty- 
 seven feet, as determined by Dr De Forest a few days before. 
 
 Mr Thomson was the first, I believe, to regard this Tell as 
 the crater of an extinct volcano,' in which he has been followed 
 by others. As the region is volcanic, and as the lake Phiala is 
 held by all to be an ancient crater, there is no lack of analogy 
 or of probability in supposing this Tell to be of the same char- 
 acter. Still, Dr Anderson, the geologist of the Dead Sea Ex- 
 pedition, saw here " no evidence of the former existence of a 
 crater." = 
 
 ' In 1843 ; see Bibliotheca Sacra^ 1846, " The Tell seems to have had some volcimio 
 
 p. 196. I find the same idea expressed in origin ; but we did not notice upon it any 
 
 Dr Smith's Ms. Journal in 1844. appearance of a, crater;" Lands of the 
 
 = In Lynch's Official Report, p. 108; for Bible, II. p. 174. 
 Phiala see p. 110. Dr Wilson also says: 
 
392' FROM HASBEIYA TO BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 On the Tell, near tlie upper fountain, are some remains of 
 houses, apparently not ancient. But the chief ruins are on the 
 southern declivity of the Tell. Here are many heaps of stones, 
 most of them volcanic and of good size. Among them are 
 mingled hlocks of limestone squared ; one of these is very long, 
 and has a groove along the middle. The town which stood here 
 was douhtless huilt mainly of the volcanic stones of the region ; 
 and these remain, and are some of them quite large. Burckhardt 
 was told of foundations a quarter of an hour further north; hut 
 we did not look for them.' 
 
 This great fountain and stream is now called el-Leddan ; 
 which may possibly be a corruption from the name Dan? Jose- 
 phus, while he assumes the fountain at BaniSs as the main 
 source of the Jordan, perhaps on account of its somewhat longer 
 course, speaks also of the fountains of " the lesser Jordan" at 
 Dan.' Of the identity of these with Tell el-Kady, there can be 
 no question. 
 
 The city of Dan, too, was situated at these fountains ; and 
 the sHght ruins upon the Tell are apparently its only remains. 
 The testimony of Josephus is explicit.^ Eusebius and Jerome 
 describe Dan as being four Eoman miles distant from Paneas on 
 the way to Tyre ; and here too, they say, the Jordan breaks 
 forth.^ The Targum of Jerusalem likewise writes ' Dan of 
 Gaesarea ;' implying its vicinity to Csesarea Phihppi.* Against 
 all this testimony, a single indefinite remark of Jerome, in which 
 he might be supposed to confound Dan with Paneas, can have 
 no weight.' 
 
 The story of the founding of Dan is given in the books of 
 Joshua and Judges. Originally belonging to Sidon, under the 
 name of Lesem or Laish, it was seized and named Dan by a 
 warlike colony of Danites.* It became afterwards a chief seat 
 
 ' Trav. in Syr. p. 42. sur ; teing just a repetition of the same 
 
 ' Burckhardt heard only the name preposition and article, which have already 
 
 Dhan ; Trav. p. 42. Dr Smith in his Ms. been incorporated into the word. 
 Jounial, 1844, writes thus : " First, ed- ' Jos. B. J. 4. 1. 1, irTjyas, aH Tpe<pov(Tat 
 
 Dan, by treating the article as part of the rhv fiiKphv KaXoijx^vov 'lopSwijy imh 
 
 word, may have become Eddan ; then with riy rris ^pvffyjs ^ohs vediv, iTpoarirefnroviri 
 
 the article again prefixed, it would be el- rdS fieydKa. Antt.-1. 10. 1. ib. 5. 3. 1. 
 
 Eddiln. Join the I of the second article, ib. 8. 8. 4. 
 
 and it becomes Ledd.in ; and finally prefix * Jos. Antt. 1. 10. 1, Trepl Aaivoj/' ovrtos 
 
 the article again, and yon have el-Leddan. yap rj erepa rod 'lopSduou irpoffayopeireTot 
 
 A similar case, very much to the point, is iniyli. ib. 5. 3. 1. ib. 8. 8. 4. B. J. 4. 
 
 'Assur, the name of a public promenade 1. 1. 
 
 just outside the wall of Beirut. Its origin ' Onomast. arts. Dan, Laisa. ^ 
 
 is 'Ala es-Sur, 'at or upon the wall;' " Targ. Hieros. Gen. 14, 14. 
 *.iLZa es, by a common contraction, becomes ^ Hieron. Comm. in Ezech. xlviii. 18, 
 
 'As, and being then joined with the word, " Dan . . . nbi hodie Paneas ;" i. c in the 
 
 forms 'Assur. Now every day you hear vicinity. Comp. Gesen. Notes on Burok- 
 
 'Ala el-'Assiir ; which, by a usual contrac- hardt p. 494. Reland Palasst p. 921. 
 tion of 'Ala el, into 'Al, becomes 'Al-As^ " Josh. 19, 47. Judg. 18, 26-29. 
 
May 26.] TELL EL-KADT, DAN. 393 
 
 of Jerolwam's idolatry, where one of the golden calves was set 
 up ; was conquered with other towns by the Syrians ; and in the 
 days of Eusebins was still a small village.' The name, however, 
 is perhaps best known, in the almost proverbial expression, 
 " from Dan to Beersheba," as denoting the whole length of the 
 Promised Land." 
 
 Quite a number of places were visible from the Tell ; many 
 of which we knew already, and others with which we became 
 acquainted afterwards. Sid Dahlid is a Wely on the margin of 
 the Huleh, towards the foot of the eastern hills. 'Az^riyit is a 
 high Tell with trees upon it, on ground descending towards the 
 Huleh. The exact position of Sin Ibl I do not remember ; nor 
 was Banifi-s yet in sight. ^ 
 
 We stopped for two hours under the splendid oak, rested, 
 and took lunch. Our muleteers gathered the stalks and ears of 
 wheat, nearly ripe, but not yet hard ; bound them into small 
 wisps ; and roasted them over a blazing fire. In this way is 
 prepared a sort of parched grain, which is palatable, but not as 
 good as that roasted on an iron plate.* 
 
 Finding that one of the Druze attendants, sent with us by the 
 Sheikh in Hasbeiya, was a native of the Huleh, and perfectly 
 acquainted with it, we determined to make an excursion into the 
 lower plain, and visit, if possible, the junction of the various 
 streams, which pour their waters into the Huleh. We therefore 
 sent off our muleteers to await us on the road to Bani&s, near the 
 foot of the hills. Mounting at 12.35, and descending along the 
 south side of Tell el-KMy, we were surprised to find ourselves 
 again upon a limestone formation, and also upon firm dry groimd 
 instead of a marsh. At 1 o'clock we came to a low mound of 
 rubbish with cut stones, evidently the remains of a former town, 
 now covered thickly with thistles. It is called Difheh ; and 
 probably marks the site of an ancient Daphne, mentioned by 
 Josephus as near the source of the lesser Jordan and the temple 
 of the golden calt^ Here are three or four old orange trees ; 
 
 'IK. 12, 28. 29. 15, 20. Onomast nearly west ; Trav. in Syr. p. 42. Irby 
 
 art. Dan. and Mangles did not visit the spot. Rich- 
 
 ' Jndg. 20, 1. 1 Sam. 3, 20. 2 Sam. ardson was there ; but it is rather difB- 
 
 17i 11. cult to recognise Tell el-Kady in his Fil el 
 
 = Bearings from Tell el-Kady in 1844: Katliri; Trav. II. p. 449 sq. The best 
 
 Sin Ibl 44°. Mouth of Wady 'Asal 80". published account is by Mr Thomson, 
 
 Castle of BSnias 89°. 'Ain Kunyeh 105°. BibUoth. Sac. 1846, p. 196 sq. Comp. 
 
 'AinFit]24°. Za'urah 126°. 'Azariyat Wilson Lands of the Bible II. p. 170 sq. 
 157i°. Sid Dahud 174°. Difneh 202°. ' Josephus says, B. J. 4. 1. 1, that the 
 
 Abil 287'. Meshhad 287°. el-Ghujar marshes of the lake extend up /ic'xp' 
 
 316°. Serada 319°, Ibl 353^°. A(£<()i/7)s x""?'"" • • • mrycis exoi'Tos, oi rpe- 
 
 * Tell el-Kady is slightly mentioned by (pouffai rhv fiutphv KaAov/ievoi/ 'lopSii-^v 
 
 Seetzen, Reisen I. p. 337, comp. pp. 321, inrh Thi> t^s xP'"'Vi Pohs vedv kt\. Here 
 
 323. Borckhardt visited and describes it ; Havercamp and Reland (p. 263) propose 
 
 but, by an error of the pen or press, it is to read Adinis for A(i<pini5, which however 
 
 put down as N. E. of Banias instead of is unnecessary. The present existence 
 
394 FEOM HASBEITA TO BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 several stumps of palm trees ; and also some pomegranates and 
 fig trees looking very old. 
 
 The tract tor some distance south, is called Ard Difneh. It 
 was now covered with glorious fields of wheat, cultivated by 
 people from Hasheiya ; and was everywhere studded with noble 
 oaks and other trees. Five minutes south of Difneh was a 
 magnificent Mellum or red oak, the branches of which were fuU 
 of bird's nests ; a peculiarity which even Mr Thomson had never 
 before seen in Syria. Just here was another step or ofi"set to the 
 next lower plateau. Streams of water, some of them of con- 
 siderable size, were every where flowing in great abundance ; 
 being mostly canals drawn from the Leddan southeastward 
 towards the river of Banias. In like manner many canals are 
 also led out from the Hasbany, for the purpose of similar irriga- 
 tion. 
 
 At 1.20 we reached a place called el-Mansiiry, at the last 
 step or offset down to the lowest plain. This is a station of the 
 fixed Ghawarineh ; who dwell in tents, but do not move about. 
 They have a few magazines with mud walls and roofs of straw, 
 where they store both grain and straw, but chiefly the latter. 
 The wheat is mostly carried to the villages, or sold. Some fine 
 trees mark this place also ; and there are two or three mills 
 driven by a stream from the Ledd&n, which is brought down the 
 offset. There were said to be not less than fifteen or twenty 
 such streams drawn from that river. Here too were many bees. 
 The hives are merely cylinders of wicker work coated with mud, 
 and laid up together in a sort of pyramidal stack, protected by a 
 rude thatch or an old tent-mat. We saw many hundreds of 
 these hives in the plain. The ever flowering Huleh is a fine 
 range for the bees, and large quantities of honey are here 
 gathered. 
 
 We were now upon the lower plain of the Huleh, and could 
 see the stream from Bdnias meandering on our left, and not far 
 distant. At 1.40 we came upon it and forded it ; and ten min- 
 utes later forded it again. Just here, on its elevated right bank, 
 is a rather conspicuous Wely called Sheikh Hazaib, with trees 
 and a few tents near it ; another fixed station of the Ghawarineh. 
 Passing on we had at 1.55, close on our right, the main stream 
 from Tell el-Kady, running parallel to that from B^niS,s, with a 
 swift current, in a deep narrow channel, fifteen or twenty feet 
 below the level of the plain. It was almost wholly concealed by 
 the canes and bushes that line the banks. At 2 o'clock we came 
 to the junction of these two streams, in a broad open area, where 
 the river spreads itseK out. We here forded the Leddan ; the 
 
 here of the name Difneh supports the com- Targ. and Vnlg. Num.34, 11; probahly 
 mou reading. — A Daphnis is read in the a cormption for 'Ain. 
 
May 26.] PLAIN AND STEEAMS OF THE HULEH. 395 
 
 water coming nearly up to the horses' bellies. At 2.10 we 
 struck a smaller branch from the Tell, taken out for the purposes 
 of irrigation, and very turbid. It is called Bureij. We forded 
 it, and went on. 
 
 At length, at 2.20, we came upon the Hasbany at its junc- 
 tion with the other united streams. This spot is a third of a 
 mile north of Tell Sheikh Yusuf, the southernmost Tell in the 
 middle of the plain.^ The distance from Tell el-Kady is about 
 five mUes. From the junction the united stream passes down 
 on the west side of Tell Sheikh Y-Cisuf, and pursues its course 
 southward through the flat marshy plain of the lower Huleh to 
 the lake. Above the' junction the streams were all running 
 swiftly in channels fifteen or twenty feet below the level of the 
 plain. 
 
 The relative size of the three streams we estimated as 
 follows. That from B^nias is twice as large as the Hasbi,ny ; 
 while the Leddan, including its branch the Bureij, is twice if 
 not three times the size of that from Binias. The river below 
 the junction is apparently about as large as the Jordan at the 
 JisrBenat Ya'kob. 
 
 The stream from Banias is here the clearest of all, being 
 less used for irrigation ; and is crowded with fish. The water 
 of the Leddan is of a turbid ash colour. That of the Hasbany 
 is muddy and of a dark yellow. At the junction, as it entered 
 the main stream, its yellow waters were crowded to the western 
 bank, as far as we could see ; forming a narrow strip not wider 
 than a sixth part of the whole. 
 
 The Derddrah, coming from Merj 'Aytm, we did not see ; 
 nor did we here gain any information respecting it. As we saw 
 it the week before from the high point south of Hunin, it appeared 
 to wind through the western part of the plain, and unite with 
 the Hasbany, probably above the main junction. As however 
 this stream dries up in summer, and cannot therefore be 
 reckoned among the perennial sources of the Jordan, we did not 
 take it into account in our examination.* 
 
 From Sheikh Hazaib southwards the plain of the Huleh 
 appears as a dead level quite down to the lake ; a distance of 
 six miles or more. On the west side, the marsh extends up 
 north as far as the junction of the streams, or even farther ; 
 while on the eastern side the land is tilled almost down to the 
 lake. The rich soil is everywhere a deposit, which has been 
 formed as the lake and marsh have been gradually filled up, by 
 
 ' Bearino-s from the jnnotion of the fountains of Mellahah and Belat, at the 
 
 streams in°the Huleh: Hunin 307°. Tell foot of the western hills. For these sea 
 
 el-Kady 27°. Castle of Banifls 55°. Vol. H. pp. 435, 436. [iii. 341.] W. Thom- 
 
 " Nor did we, of course, visit the large son in Biblioth. Sac. 1846. p. 199. 
 
396 FROM HASBEITA TO BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 the annual contributions of the different streams during the 
 winter and spring floods. Mr Thomson compared it with the 
 soil of the lower portion of the Mississippi. It is extremely 
 fertile ; and all kinds of grain grow in it abundantly. Large 
 crops of wheat, barley, dhurah (maize) yellow and white, simsim 
 (sesame), rice, and other plants, are obtained with very little 
 labour. Eice is sown on the hard and chapped ground ; and is 
 merely flooded with water. The yield is good, but the quality 
 inferior. 
 
 This region still merits the praise accorded to it by the 
 Danite spies : " We have seen the land, and behold, it is very 
 good, .... a place where there is no want of anything that is in 
 the earth." ' The climate, however, is hot and too unhealthy for 
 any inhabitants, except the Ghawarineh. But their horses, 
 cattle, and sheep, fatten on the rich pastures ; while large herds 
 of black and almost hairless buffalos (of which we saw many) 
 luxuriate in the streams and in the deep mire of the marshes. 
 
 Thus another problem of physical geography was now 
 determined. The upper branches of the Jordan unite and flow 
 to the lake of the Huleh as one stream.^ 
 
 We returned by the same way to el-Mansury. From 
 thence, at 3.30, we struck off to the right towards the northeast, 
 to gain the road from Tell el-Kady to Banias near the foot of 
 the hills, where our muleteers were waiting. The lofty masses 
 of Hermon were now directly before us. Overagainst us came 
 down the vast gorge of Wady el-'Asal, seeming to cleave the 
 mountain almost to its base, and issuing from it between two 
 high bulwarks. It separates the lower western ridge, already 
 described, from the loftier central ridge and summits of the 
 mountain. More to the right the castle of Banias towered in 
 its strength. We kept on through the fields, sometimes without 
 a path, and fording several streams from the Leddan. Many 
 herds of cattle were at pasture in the fields ; and at one of the 
 fords a large herd was crossing. On our right, at the distance 
 of a mile or two, was a large Wely with windows, looking like a 
 dwelling house ; a place of pilgrimage for the Muhammedans at 
 certain seasons. I suppose it to be the Sid Dahud mentioned 
 above. — At 4.15 we joined our muleteers, upon the Banias road. 
 
 Between this point and Baniis lay the supposed danger of 
 
 ' Jndg. 18, 9. 10. the districts which had belonged to Zeno- 
 
 ' See more on the region of the Huleh doms, lying between Traohonitis and Gali- 
 
 in Vol. n. pp. 435, 436. [iii. 341-343 ] lee, viz. Paneas, and Ou\aSra, and the re- 
 
 The name el-Huleh was already applied to gion round about. To this OuAo^a, and 
 
 the district which contains the lake, by to the situation, the modern Huleh well 
 
 Bohaeddin, in the twelfth century ; Vita corresponds. Jos. Antt. 15. 10. 3 ; cornp. 
 
 Salad, p. 98. But the name saems to have B. J. 1. 20. 4. Tnch in Zeitschr. d. morg. 
 
 existed also in ancient times ; for, accord- Ges. IL p. 428, note, 
 ing to Josephus, Augustus gave to Herod 
 
iuy26.] the huleh. teerace of banias. 397 
 
 Druze rotbers. We were now eleven persons in all ; a mule- 
 teer from Sidon having joined us. Six were armed, and five 
 were themselves Druzes. My companion now searched for our 
 lettet of introduction from the Druze Sheikh, and discovered 
 that he had left it at Hasbeiya in the pocket of another coat. 
 But we went on gaily ; and neither saw nor heard anything of 
 robbers so long as we remained in the neighbourhood of B^niis. 
 
 Mounting at 4.30, we turned off a few steps on the right, to 
 look at a Khan called Duweir, with a few rude buildings, erected 
 out of the materials of an earlier place now ia ruins. These 
 are at the foot and on the slope of the hill. 
 
 We immediately ascended the steep slope, and came out at 
 the top upon the beautiful terrace on which Banias is situated. 
 Passing on among fine copses of trees, and splendid fields of 
 wheat, and water-courses drawn from the noble fountain, we 
 came at 5.05 much exhausted to the village in the angle of the 
 mountains. ' Here we pitched our tent beneath the shade of the 
 spreading terebinths so often mentioned by travellers.' 
 
 This terrace of BS,nias was to me an entirely new feature in 
 the region ; no traveller had ever mentioned it." Towards the 
 north it abuts upon the flank of Jebel esh-Sheikh, between the 
 gorge of Wady el-'Asal and the angle of the mountain with the 
 eastern hills ; on the east it lies against the declivity of the 
 same range ; while on the south it runs together and mingles 
 with the gentler slopes of the same hills. It is thus nearly trian- 
 gular ; is highest towards the north ; and slopes very gently 
 towards the south.' The elevation at Bani&s, in the interior 
 northeastern angle, is eleven hundred forty-seven feet above the 
 sea ; being five hundred feet higher than Tell el-Kady, In this 
 angle the great fountain bursts forth ; and sends its waters down 
 a ravine of its own, southwest to the plain of the H61eh. Yet 
 they are also drawn off over the whole surface of the terrace ; 
 and are even carried down its western declivity, to irrigate 
 portions of the plain below, to which the waters from Tell 
 el-Ka.dy cannot be conducted. 
 
 The formation of the terrace is wholly limestone ; but at 
 Banias the igneous rocks again present themselves.^ 
 
 The wall of hills on the east of the H^eh, is much lower 
 than the mountains which shut in the lake and plain on the 
 
 » Seetzen, Reisen I. p. 334. E. Smith plain ;" Biblioth. Sacra, 1846, p. 187. But 
 
 in Ms. Joura. 1844. W. M. Thomson In this gives no idea of the reality. 
 
 Biblioth. Sacra. 1846, p. 188. De Sauloy ' Except in form, this terrace has a 
 
 Narrative II. p. 534. general resemblance to that at Pella ; seo 
 
 = The only allusion to it is by Mr Thorn- above, pp. 32 1, 325. 
 
 eon : " The platform, or terrace, upon * Dr Anderson in Lynoh's OiEcial Ee- 
 
 which Banias is buUt, may be elevated port, pp. 108, 109. 
 about one hundred feet above the extensive 
 Vol. III.— 34 ? 
 
398 BANIAS. [Sbc. IX. 
 
 west. It rises gradually and brokenly to table land on tbe 
 top ; on which, at some distance back, are seen a line of Tells 
 extending from north to south ; the southernmost of which is Tell 
 Feras. This broad ridge is thrown off from the southeastern 
 base of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; and extends southwards until it is 
 lost in the table land on the east of the lake of Tiberias. We 
 took pains, both here and afterwards, to learn the name of this 
 ridge among the people ; but could hear it spoken of only as 
 Jebel Heish. 
 
 Two principal Wadys come down from the east upon the 
 terrace near its angle. The northern one is Wady Khushabeh, 
 on the north of the fountain and the castle ; the other is Wady 
 Za'areh on the south of the Tillage.' 
 
 During the evening we received a note left for us by Dr De 
 Forest and his party, who had spent a night at Binias a week 
 previously. We thus learned the result of his observations with 
 the aneroid, as given above. 
 
 Thursday, May llth. — We had planned for to-day an excur- 
 sion to the lake Phiala ; to return by way of the castle on the 
 mountain. I defer therefore, for the present, the more detailed 
 account of the fountain and village of Banias. 
 
 The general direction of that lake from Bjiniis is a little 
 south of east. Setting off at 8 o'clock, we passed out of the 
 village at the southeast corner, without crossing the brook of 
 Wady Za'areh. This Wady comes down steeply through open 
 ground from the southeast, around the southwest end of a high 
 ridge ; the other side of which is skirted by the same Wady 
 running southwest. As the Wady thus sweeps around the end 
 of the ridge, and reaches the western base of the higher hills, it 
 is apparently cut off and covered over by a sloping plain or 
 gentle declivity of arable land ; through which, however, it 
 breaks down by a very deep and narrow chasm in the underlying 
 volcanic rock, with jagged perpendicular sides. This chasm 
 extends almost down to Binias ; and is so narrow, as hardly to 
 be noticed until one comes quite near to it. Our course lay 
 more to the left. We crossed a small Wady and brook ; then 
 wound to the right up a steep hill ; and at 8.50 came to a 
 fountain below 'Ain Kflnyeh. At 9 o'clock we reached that 
 village ; from which Hiinin bore due west. 
 
 We now struck up over the high ridge, around the south- 
 western end of which Wady Za'ireh comes down. The ascent 
 was very steep. Beaching the top at 9.20, we kept along high 
 on the southeastern side of the ridge, having Wady Za'Sreh at 
 
 ' So written ty Dr Smith. Mr Thom- Kyd ; Trav. pp. 38, 40. We could not 
 son writes Sa'ary. This is the ravine spo- hear of any such name, 
 ken of by Burckhardt as Wady Kyb or el- 
 
May 27.] EXCURSION TO PHIALA. 399 
 
 first deep below us, here running southwest. Descending very 
 obliquely and gradually, we came at 9.45 to the channel of the 
 Wady with its pleasant stream. Here was also a pretty cascade, 
 the water falling over a rook ten feet high, along three crevices, 
 presenting the appearance of three white ribbons of loam. On 
 the south bank of the Wady is a Mezra'ah or goat village, called 
 Mesady ; consisting of a dairy hut or two, where the goats, 
 which . range these hills in summer, are gathered at night and 
 milked. Below this point the brook descends rapidly by a wild 
 volcanic gorge, until sweeping around the end of the ridge it 
 turns northwest towards Banias. 
 
 Crossing the brook, we bent our course a little more south- 
 east ; and at 9.55 reached the brink of the lake on its north 
 side. In seven minutes more we rode down the steep declivity 
 to the margin of the water. From the brow above, the village 
 of Mejdel Shems bore N. 20° E. distant about two miles. 
 
 The lake hes at the bottom of a deep bowl, apparently an 
 ancient crater ;' not less than from a hundred and fifty to two 
 hundred feet below the level of the surrounding tract. The form 
 is an irregular circle ; the diameter of the water being a mile 
 and perhaps more. It made upon me the impression of a larger 
 lake than I had anticipated. The tract around is high table 
 land, rising on the south of the lake almost at once into wooded 
 or bushy lulls ; and skirted at some distance on the east likewise 
 by a wooded range. The declivities of the basin itself are 
 dreary and desolate, with only an occasional shrub and a few 
 patches of tillage ; but the country around, though not fertile, 
 is more cultivated. 
 
 The water of the lake is stagnant and impure, with a slimy 
 look. Just at the margin it was muddy for a few feet ; and did 
 not seena to be clear and pure in any part. At a short distance 
 from the shore was a broad belt of water plants, now turned 
 brown, and in some places resembling islands. The middle of 
 the lake was free. Wild ducks were swimming in different parts. 
 A large hawk was sailing above them, and occasionally swooping 
 down to the surface of the water, as if to seize a duck or a frog. 
 Our Druzes fired at him, and broke his whig ; he fell among the 
 water plants, and could not there be reached. Myriads and 
 myriads of frogs lined the shores ; and it was amusing to see 
 them perched thickly along the stones, as if drawn up in battle 
 array to keep off intruders. It is the very paradise of frogs. 
 The lake supplies the whole country with leeches ; which are 
 gathered by men wading in, and letting the leeches fasten them- 
 selves upon their legs. The ground along the margin is mostly 
 
 • So Dr Anderson in Lynch's Off. Hep. p. 110. 
 
400 
 
 BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 without reeds or rushes ; and is covered with small hlack volcanic 
 stones. The shores and sides of the crater exhibit everywhere 
 Bmall glistening black crystals, resembling hornblende.' 
 
 There seems no room for question but that this lake is the 
 ancient Phiala described by Josephus ; so called from its bowl- 
 like form, and situated on the right of the road leading from 
 Caesarea Philippi to Trachonitis.'' But the position and every 
 circumstance go to show the absurdity of the popular legend, 
 which made this lake a feeder of the fountain at Banias.' Not 
 only, in such case, must its waters pass under the brook of the 
 Za'areh ; but the supply of such a fountain would in one day 
 exhaust the lake. The bright, limpid, sparkling waters of the 
 former can have no connection with the dark, stagnant, slimy 
 masses which fill the latter. 
 
 Seetzen heard of the lake, but did not visit it.* Burckhardt 
 makes no allusion to it. It was first examined by Irby and 
 Mangles, in passing from Damascus to Banias in 1818.^ Of late 
 years it has been several times visited.' The present name is 
 usually given as Birket er-Eam ; but we heard distinctly the 
 pronunciation Birket er- Kan ; and so Seetzen heard it and gives 
 it in Arabic letters.' 
 
 We left the upper brow of the lake at 10.25, on a course 
 about N. N. W. m. order to go directly to the oaks of Sheikh 
 Othman el-Hazury. We crossed the fields without a path, and 
 came after ten minutes to the Wady Za'areh higher up than 
 before. We found it here a narrow but very pretty meadow-hke 
 plain^ with a fine brook. A little farther up, on our right, was • 
 a Wely in the valley, called Sheikh Yaftiry ; from which this 
 upper part of the valley takes the name of Merj Yafury.' We 
 could here see it coming down quite from the southeastern base 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; the mountain rising at once out of this 
 little plain to an elevation of four thousand feet or more above it. 
 
 • Dr Anderson 1. c. p. 110. 1844 ; Biblioth. Sao. 1846, p. 191. Capt. 
 ' Jos. B. J. 3. 10. 7. All this oorres- Newbold, about the same time ; Jonrn. of 
 
 ponds exactly ; and there is no other body E. Asiat. Soc. XVI. p. 8. Dr Anderson 
 
 of water in the region to which the de- in 1848 ; see Lynch's Off. Rep. p. 110. 
 
 scription is at all applicable. Two circnm- See Eitter XV. p. 174 sq. — Mr Tipping 
 
 stances show, however, that Josephus him- visited also a Birkeh " north of Jubbata, 
 
 self had not seen the late. He says it is very high, in the centre of a small oblong 
 
 a hundred and twenty stadia from Caesarea ; plain, under Jebel esh-Sheikh, with muddy 
 
 while in fact it is little more than half water, filled by the melting of the snow, 
 
 that distance. He speaks also of the wa- It nearly dries up in summer, and is about 
 
 ter as always up to the brim, and never 260 feet in diameter." ibid. According to 
 
 running over. Capt Newbold this is called Birket el- 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. ibid. Merj el-Man, and flows to Wady el-'Asal ; 
 
 * Reisen, I. pp. 334, 335. Journ. of R Asiat Soc. XVI. p. 16 sq. 
 ' IVavels p. 287. [»7.] ' Eeisen I pp 334, 335. 
 
 " By Mr Tipping in 1842 ; Biblioth. Sac. ' This is the little plain and tomb men- 
 1843, pp. 13, 14. Mr Thomson about tioned by Irby and Mangles ; p. 286. [87.] 
 
Mat 27.] PHIALA. SHEIKH OTHMAN HAZUET. 401 
 
 It is the lower soiith-western peak of esh-Sheikli, whicli is liere 
 seen, radiant with its icy crown. 
 
 Beyond this plain, on the east, a spur is thrown off from esh- 
 Sheikh, that is, from below the saddle between the two peaks, 
 much lower than the mountain, though still high ; which how- 
 ever soon sinks down towards the south into wooded hUls of no 
 great elevation. These form the line of Tells already spoken of 
 as ending in Tell el-Feras. This is strictly the Jebel Heish. 
 The Damascus road passes out of the little plain over a notch 
 in this ridge ; and so down the other side by way of Beit Jenn. 
 The ridge which we had crossed on our way up, was now before 
 us, skirting the little plain or valley on the northwest. It has its 
 beginning in like manner, at the base of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; 
 where, west of the little plain, the large village of Mejdel esh- 
 Shems lies among the hills. Near that village a valley on the 
 other side of the ridge has its head, and passes down westward. 
 on the north of the castle. We crossed the brook and plain ; 
 and ascended the ridge, reaching the top at 10.55. Here both 
 the great fortresses of Banias and esh-Shukif lay before us.' 
 
 We now kept along on the northwestern side of the ridge, 
 descending gradually and obliquely ; and crossed the Damascus 
 road, which here passes along on the declivity of the ridge to 
 Mejdel. The Wady below on our right opens out into a small 
 basin, partially cultivated. About 11.40 the ridge on our left, 
 now high above us, apparently a spur or point of that adjacent 
 to Merj YafClry, suddenly terminated in a high bluff ; while a 
 low ridge from its foot ran off northwest towards the castle. 
 We kept along the latter ; and at 11.55 came to the tomb of 
 Sheikh 'OthmS,n Haziiry, on a knoll or hummock upon the ridge. 
 The knoll is covered with a copse of noble oak trees, forming a 
 truly venerable grove, with a deep religious gloom. The Wely 
 is in the midst of the grove, merely a common Muslim tomb 
 surrounded by a shabby stone wall. Just below, on the south- 
 west, is a small fountain, 'Ain el-Hazury ; and here too is the 
 head of the open Wady, which runs down on the south of the 
 castle. — Around the Wely are no remains whatever ; and none 
 have ever existed there. The castle bore N. 75° W. about three 
 eighths of a mile distant. Between this point and the castle 
 was another like point or knoll, about equally high. 
 
 From Sheikh 'Othmanel-H^zury we could look up along the 
 great Wady or chasm, which comes down from the very base of 
 the southwestern peak of Jebel esh-Sheikh to the village of Jub- 
 b&ta, situated on its eastern brink. Up through this chasm we 
 
 ' Bearings at 10.65, on ridge : Castle of North side of lake Phiala 157°, dist about 
 B&nias 282°. KWat esh-Shukif 296°. IJ mile. 
 
 Vol. in.— 34* 
 
402 ^ BANIAS. [SbcDC 
 
 could see the snows of the summit. Below Jutbata the chasm 
 hecomes narrower and deeper ; and, turning more west, it cuts 
 off from the very flank of esh- Sheikh the thin sharp ridge on 
 which the castle stands. This is Wady KhttshS-heh ; and passes 
 on down to Banids on the north of the fountain. Just above 
 the castle it is joined by the Wady from Mejdel, now also 
 become a chasm. 
 
 Leaving the Wely at 1.20 we came in seven minutes to the 
 next knoll ; on which are a few remains called Hazllry. There 
 are here some trivial foundations, but no masses of ruins. 
 Possibly a small outpost of the castle may have stood here ; but 
 the remains are more like those of a Mezra'ah or goat village. This 
 is doubtless the site of which Burckhardt heard ; but which by 
 some mistake he reports as " the ruins of a city called Hazliry 
 one hour to the north" of Sheikh 'Othman el-Hazury.' This 
 distance would remove the ruins to some point among the inacces- 
 sible steeps of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; where certainly no such city 
 ever existed. It is therefore an error, when Ritter assumes, 
 that in this quarter was situated the ancient Hazor of the books 
 of Joshua and Judges.' — This was now the third Haztir or 
 Hazury that I had visited ; neither of which can be regarded 
 as the Hazor of Scripture. 
 
 Leaving Hazury we descended to the deep saddle between it 
 and the castle ; and, cUmbing a very steep and difficult ascent 
 to the latter, we kept along the southern wall, and reached, at 
 1.50, the only entrance, through one of the southern towers. 
 Here we found ourselves within the most extensive and best pre- 
 served ancient fortress in the whole country.^ It stands upon 
 the eastern and highest point of the thin ridge sliced off (as it 
 were) from the flank of Jebel esh-Sheikh by the Wady Khti- 
 shabeh ; and which is connected only with the ridge of Hazury 
 towards the E. S. E. by the saddle just mentioned. The castle 
 covers this high thin point ; and follows its irregularities. We 
 estimated its length from east to west at eight hundred or a 
 thousand feet ; its breadth at each end being about two hundred 
 feet ; while in the middle it is only from one half to two thirds 
 as broad. The direction of the ridge is from E. N. E. to 
 W. S. W.* 
 
 The interior of the fortress is an uneven area of four or five 
 acres. In some parts the rock still rises higher than the walls ; in 
 others the ground was now ploughed and planted with tobacco 
 and other vegetables. Here are also several houses, forming a 
 
 ' Bnrckhardt, Trav. p. H. which however seems less ancient Abul- 
 
 • Krdk. XV. p. 260 sq. comp. p. 206. feda Tab. Syr. p. 106. 
 
 ' Mr Thomson was disposed to except * The castle bears from Banias K. 71' 
 
 perhaps the Kul'at el-Merkab, north of E. and this Is about the line of the ridge, 
 
 Tortusa, ^nown also as Balnias or Belinas; 
 
Mat 27.] THE GREAT CASTLE. 403 
 
 Bmall village. The fortress was dependent for water wholly on 
 its cisterns. One of these, in the open area near the western 
 end, is of immense size ; and even now ' contained much water. 
 Others are fomid in different parts. Besides these, there exists a 
 large reservoir outside of the castle in the saddle below the east- 
 ern end. 
 
 The western and lower end of the fortress, which overlooks 
 the whole region helow, exhibits in some parts specimens of the 
 heaviest and finest work. At the northwest corner especially, 
 large stones lie scattered, which are six or eight feet in length, 
 finely wrought, and bevelled. Several of the towers along the 
 southern wall are in like manner finished with superior bevelled 
 work. In particular, one round tower, with fine sloping work 
 below, presents a finished bevel at least not inferior to that of 
 the tower Hippicus at Jerusalem. 
 
 The eastern end of the ridge is the highest ; and this was 
 taken advantage of, to form an upper citadel, commanding the 
 rest of the castle. It is separated from the lower western por- 
 tion by a regular interior cross wall, with towers and trench ; 
 and is without entrance or approach, except through the lower 
 fortress. Here, more than anywhere, the beetling towers and 
 ramparts impend over the northern precipice, and look down 
 into the chasm of Wady Khushabeh six or seven hundred feet 
 below. Within this citadel are the loftiest and strongest towers ; 
 and this portion is the best preserved of all. Not less than one 
 third of it is ancient bevelled work ; exhibiting a better and 
 more finished bevel, than is perhaps elsewhere found out of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 The Saracens and crusaders made no additions to the for- 
 tress. They did nothing in the citadel, but patch up a few por- 
 tions of it, where this was necessary for defence ; leaving aU the 
 rest as they found it. Their repairs are everywhere quite dis- 
 tinct and visible. Nor did they do much more in the lower or 
 western part. Tet there are quite a number of Arabic inscriptions, 
 mostly dated about A. H. 625 equivalent to A. D. 1227, 
 recounting that such and such a prince, with a long pedigree, 
 built up this or that tower at a certain time. 
 
 There are numerous subterranean rooms, vaults, passages, 
 and the like, which we did not visit. At the western end is a 
 stairway cut in the rock, descending at an angle of forty-five or 
 fifty degrees. This my companion had formerly entered for a 
 few steps, and found it choked up with rubbish. Popular belief, 
 nevertheless, regards it as extending down to the fountain of 
 Banias. ' 
 
 ' BibUoth. Sao. 1846, p. 193. 
 
404 BANIAS. [Sec. IX 
 
 The fortress is not less than a thousand feet or more above 
 the town of Banias ; and. is therefore about equal in elevation to 
 the Kul'at esh-Shukif, which towers in full view overagainst it.' 
 The prospect over the' Htileh and the mountains opposite is 
 magnificent, though indefinite.* 
 
 The whole fortress made upon us a deep impression of 
 antiquity and strength ; and of the immense amount of labour 
 and expense employed in its construction. It has come down to 
 us as one of the most perfect specimens of the military architec- 
 ture of the Phenicians, or possibly of the Syro-Grecians ; and 
 whoever will make himself acquainted with the resources and 
 the prowess of those ancient nations, must not fail to study the 
 ruins of this noble fortress. 
 
 Situated more than two miles distant from Banias, the castle 
 could never have been built for the protection of that place ; and 
 is not improbably older than the city. It was doubtless erected 
 in order to command the great road leading over from the Huleh 
 into the plain of Damascus. It may have been a border fortress 
 of the Sidonians, to whom this region early belonged.' 
 
 The fortress is now ordinarily known to travellers as the 
 castle of Baniis ; but such is not its specific name. Arabian 
 writers speak of it as the Kul'at es-Subeibeh ; but it is rarely 
 mentioned by them, and mostly in connection with the neigh- 
 bouring city.* 
 
 We left the cskstle at 3.10 ; and descended at once, and 
 without path, the steep declivity immediately below the en- 
 trance. By this means we saved ten or fifteen minutes in 
 distance ; but the descent was not without danger. We then 
 kept along the southern base of the ridge, and reached our tent 
 beneath the terebinth in Banias at 4 o'clock. 
 
 The situation of Banits is unique ; combiniag ia. an unusual 
 degree the elements of grandeur and beauty. It nestles in its 
 recess at the southern base of the mighty Hermon, which towers 
 in majesty to an elevation of seven or eight thousand feet above. 
 Its terrace I have already described ; ' over which the abundant 
 waters of the glorious fountain spread luxuriant fertility and the 
 
 ' The elevation of Banias, as we have " See Judg. 1 8, 7. 28. 
 
 seen, is 1147 Engl, feet; p. 397. That ' Abulfed. Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, pp. 19, 
 
 of esh Shukif is 2205 feet above the sea ; 96. Wilken Gesch. d; Kreuzzuge, II. p. 
 
 p. 49. ' 569. VII. p. 328.— On u former journey 
 
 ° Bearings from the castle by Wilden- Mr Thomson speaks of two encampmen's 
 
 bruoh, see Ritter XV. p. 237 : Mejdel N. of Arabs within Wady el-Teim, called es- 
 
 72° E. JubbataN. 71i° E. 1 hour dist. Sab^ and es-Subeih. But these names 
 
 Hazury (ruin) N. 87° E. 'Ain Kunyeh would seem to have no connection with the 
 
 S. 10° W. — According to Dr .Smith, the castle. See Biblioth. Sacra, 1846, pp. 187, 
 
 direction of Banias is S. 71° W. Tell el- 193. 
 
 Kady S. 89° W. Humn S. 81° W. Kul'at ' See above, p. 397. 
 esh-Shukif N. 60° W. 
 
Mat 27.] SITUATION. THREE WADTS. 405 
 
 graceful interchange of copse, lawn, and waving fields. The 
 situation is charming. Lying too so high ahove the Hiileh, its 
 atmosphere partakes of the salubrity of the adjacent mountains. 
 The vicinity of the mountain, the many woods, and the rich 
 fields of grain around Banias, make it the resort of an abundance 
 of game. Panthers and wolves are on the mountain ; wild swine 
 and gazelles luxuriate among tjhe grain. Many of the swine are 
 killed by the peasants, who watch their fields by night. Wild 
 ducks, partridges, snipe, and other birds, are in plenty. ' 
 
 Of the three Wadys which form so prominent a feature in 
 the region of Banifis, two are wild ravines in Jebel esh-Sheikh. 
 Wady el-'Asal, as we have seen,* issues from its deep gorge 
 immediately on the west of the terrace. It has its beginning a 
 little south of the village of Shib'a, about four hours N. N. E. 
 of Bini&s ; and forms the mighty cleft between the lower and 
 upper masses of Hermon. It is without a village or hamlet in 
 its entire extent ; nor are there in it any fountains. It is a wild, 
 thickly wooded, solitary mountain range, the abode of wolves 
 and panthers ; ' frequented only by the shepherds of Shib'a and 
 the burners of charcoal for the Damascus market. A rugged 
 mountain path leads from Shib'a along the eastern side of this 
 vaUey and so around to Jubbdta and Mejdel.* 
 
 Both the other Wadys descend from the east, and issue upon 
 the terrace itself. Wady Khushabeh, as we have seen,' begins 
 at the very base of the southwestern peak of esh-Sheikh, and ex- 
 tends down the steep declivity southwest to Jubb&ta ; below which, 
 turning W. S. W. it severs from the body of the mountain the 
 thin ridge on which the castle stands. In the rainy season, and 
 at the time of the melting, of the snows on Hermon, an immense 
 volume of water must rush down this chasm ; but at this season 
 it was wholly without water. It extends down to the level 
 ground of the terrace ; and then its rocky water-bed turns S. S. 
 W. around the lower end of the ridge thus cut off by it, and 
 goes to join the channel from the fountain, at the northwest 
 corner of the city fortress. 
 
 The third valley, Wady Za'ireh, has already been described 
 as coming from the base of Hermon beyond Mejdel, taking a 
 course southwest through the Merj Yafury and a wild ravine ; then 
 sweeping around northwest and descending to Bslnias.^ It enters 
 upon the terrace a few rods south of the lower end of the castle 
 ridge ; and passing down along the south side of the city fortress, 
 
 ' W. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac, 1846, p. route. It was also followed by Dr Ander- 
 
 1 88 sq. Irby and Mangles p. 290. [88. | son ; see his geological account of the 
 
 ' See above, pp. 396, 397. whole tract, in Lynch's OS. Rep. pp. 111- 
 
 " Comp. Seetzen, Eeisen L p. 326. 114. 
 
 Burokhardt, p. 45. ' See above, pp. 401, 402. 
 
 * Mr Thomson had once passed by that ° See above, pp. 398, 399, 400. 
 
406 
 
 BANIAS. [Sec. IX 
 
 unites its pretty brook just telow with the stream from the great 
 fountain. 
 
 Within the angle thus formed on the terrace itself, between 
 the channels of these two Wadys, are situated the great fountain 
 and the modern village of Banias. 
 
 The position of the fountain has never been fully described. 
 It bursts forth from under the western end of the high ridge of 
 the castle, which (as we have seen) is severed from the flank of 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh by the deep Wady Khushabeh. The fountain 
 therefore is wholly on the south of that Wady ; and has no 
 visible connection whatever with the mountain. The ridge 
 terminates here in a precipice of limestone rock/ the strata of 
 which incKne towards the west at an angle of about 45°. There 
 would seem to have been a great breaking down of the rocks and 
 strata from the front of the precipice ; leaving on the north a 
 lower projection jutting out, on which is perched the small Mus- 
 lim Wely of Sheikh Khudr.^ The main precipice is south of 
 this, facing about S. W. by W. and rising from a hundred to a 
 hundred and fifty feet above the water of the fountain. Near 
 the angle formed by the projection, there would seem to have 
 been anciently a cavern, from which the water probably issued ; 
 but it would also seem, that the rock above the cavern had been 
 broken away probably by earthquakes ; so that the former front 
 of the cavern is now filled up by the fallen rocks and stones 
 {debris) which also extend out for some distance before it. 
 Through the bottom of this mass of rocks and fragments the 
 water now gushes forth. But further towards the south, also, 
 where apparently there was no cavern, there is the same heaping 
 up of debris before the foot of the precipice ; and through this 
 too, in like manner, the water issues less abundantly, spreading 
 itself perhaps from the cavern. 
 
 This spot and cavern was anciently called Panium, and 
 would seem to have been consecrated to the god Pan ; though 
 there is no historical mention of any temple of Pan.' The 
 temple which Herod the Great erected was in honour of Augus- 
 tus.* In the face of the precipice south of the cavern, and now 
 
 ' The fountain "issues from Ibeneath of Zenodorus, near the place called Pa«iM?». 
 
 the limestone, where it is joined by basal- This is a fine cave in a mountain ; under 
 
 tic rooks ;" Dr Anderson in Lynoh's Off. which there is a great cavity in the earth ; 
 
 Eep. p. 109. and the cavern is abrupt, and very deep, 
 
 " The Mar Jigis of the Greeks, and St and full of still water. Over it hangs a 
 
 George of the Latins. vast mountain ; and under the cavern rise 
 
 ' Comp. Philastorg. Hist 7. 3. Belaud the springs of the river Jordan Herod 
 
 Pal. p. 918 sq. adorned this place, which was already a 
 
 * Jos. Antt. 15. 10. 3, " Herod having very remarkable one, still further by the 
 
 accompanied Caesar [Augustus] to the sea, erection of this temple, which he dedicated 
 
 and returned home, erected to him a beau- to Caesar." Comp. Jos. B. J. 1. 21. 3. 
 ti&l temple of white marble, in the country 
 
Mat 27.] THE rOUNTAIN. INSCKIPTIONS. 407 
 
 only just atove the debris, thougli once probably higb above tbe 
 ground, are several votive nicbes with inscriptions. The north- 
 ernmost niche is large and deep, with a smaller one above it. 
 Three others further south are smaller and low down ; and still 
 others may exist beneath the stones. Some of the niches are 
 beautifully finished at the top in the form of a shell or pecten. 
 
 The longest inscription is over the small niche on the south ; 
 and contains the designation of the person who consecrated it as 
 lEPEYS ®EOY riANOS, ' priest of Pan,' implying here a tem- 
 ple of that god ; with also a pro salute for the reigning em- 
 perors. It has been several times partially copied ; but is 
 much defaced.' Another inscription quite high up on the south, 
 appears to contain the name of an Agrippa, with the title 
 APXON ET0Y2, perhaps ' archon of the year.' It has also been 
 copied.^ 
 
 The spot is now called by the people Mugharat BaniS,s or 
 Mughirat er-ESs en-Neba'. From beneath and through the 
 mass of rocks and stones, which fill up and hide the entrance of 
 the cavern, gushes forth the Nahr Banias, a full and rushing 
 river, twice as large as the stream from the fountain near Has- 
 beiya. The water is of the purest and finest quality, limpid, 
 bright, and sparkling. Gathering to itself the other streams just 
 below the village, and yet itself distributing its waters over the 
 terrace and portions of the western plain for the purposes of 
 irrigation, it rushes onward in a ravine of its own, with swift 
 course, towards the southwest down to the lower plain, and so to 
 the lower Huleh. It is the most beautiful of all the streams of 
 the Jordan. 
 
 The ancient popular belief recorded by Josephus, that this 
 fountain had some connection with the lake Phiala, we have 
 already seen to be without foundation f notwithstanding the 
 experiment of the tetrarch Philip, who caused chaff to be 
 thrown into the lake, which was said to have appeared again at 
 Panium. StiU more absurd is the popular hypothesis at the 
 present day, that this stream comes ultimately from a fountain 
 near Shib'a, four or five hours distant, and lying very high on 
 the northwestern side of Jebel esh-Sheikh.* There is indeed near 
 Shib'a such a fountain ; but its stream flows down westward 
 to the Hasbany. More in accordance with fact would it be, to 
 regard the brook, which comes down from Merj Yafury through 
 Wady Za'areh, as the remote source of the Nahr Banias. But 
 
 ' First by Seetzen, though only recently Thomson, published in the Biblioth. Sao. 
 
 published, Eeisen I. p. 333. Then by 1846. p. 194. 
 
 Burokhardt, p. 39. Also by Mr Thomson, " Jos. B. J. 3. 10. 7. See above, p. 400. 
 
 Biblioth. Sac. 1846. p. 194. By Dr Wil- * W. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 1846. 
 
 son, Lands of the Bible, IT. p. 176. pp. 190-192. Dr Andersou in Lynoh'a 
 
 " By Seetzen, Eeisen I. p. 336. By Mr OS. Rep. p. 109. 
 
"^08 BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 tliis rivulet apparently dries up in summer ; and is never 
 reckoned as a source of the larger stream. 
 
 In the rocky channel of Wady Khushaheh, as it issues upon 
 the terrace of Banias, and nearly opposite Sheikh Khudr, 
 another fountain bursts forth, which anywhere else would be 
 regarded as large ; though here it has been hitherto entirely 
 overlooked. It is apparently on a level with the great fountain, 
 and would seem indeed to be a branch of the latter. A stream 
 flows from it, which joins the larger one at the northwest corner 
 of the city fortress. 
 
 The present village and the ancient fortress of the town are 
 situated between the stream from the great fountain and the 
 Wady Za'areh. The village is a wretched one. Travellers vary 
 in their accounts of the number of houses, from twenty up to one 
 hundred and fifty. There will be no great error in estimating 
 them at fifty or sixty.' Two of three of the houses have two 
 stories ; especially one built upon the ruin of the northeast 
 tower of the fortress, which serves as a basement. The houses 
 are mostly within the fortress, in its eastern part ; a few only 
 are outside upon its northeast quarter. 
 
 This fortress, the citadel of the ancient city, still exists in 
 its outline. It was an irregular quadrangle or trapezium, with 
 massive walls and heavy towers at the corners, and also others 
 intermediate upon the walls. The interior area is perhaps three 
 or four acres. On the east, south, and west, the walls are still 
 standing for some feet above their foundations ; and some of the 
 towers are still higher. The southern wall runs along the rocky 
 chasm and brook of Wady Za'areh ; the northern and western 
 walls are still washed by the stream of the great fountain ; 
 while on the east a trench, cut through to Wady Za'areh, was 
 doubtless fiUed from the stream of the same fountain. The corner 
 towers were round, and built of large bevelled stones ; some of 
 the work is very massive. In the middle of the southern side is 
 a tower, with a gateway or portal leading through it, which 
 bears marks of ancient origin ; though it Tias been built over 
 by the Saracens as recorded in an Arabic inscription. From it 
 a stone bridge, also in part ancient, leads across the Wady to 
 the opposite bank. At its northern end, broken granite columns 
 are laid horizontally in the wall. Below the citadel, the rush- 
 ing waters from the fountains meet, after driving two or three 
 mills, and hasten away towards the Huleh. Just by the bridge, 
 too, is another mill ; to which the water is conveyed from the 
 
 ' Mr Thomson has fifty ; Biblioth. Sao. Hanoi in Zeitsohr. der morgenl. Ges. II. p. 
 
 1846, p. 188. Dr Wilson, sixty; Lands 431. Bnrokhardt, on the contrary, has 
 
 of the Bible, II. p. 176. — But Seetzen has one hundred and fifty; p. 38. 
 only twenty, Keisen. I. p. 336; and so 
 
May 27.] THE CITADEL. PANITJM. 409 
 
 fountain by a covered canal through the citadel. — Along the 
 street leading north from the bridge and portal, are seen among 
 the houses several Eoman arches, now only just above the 
 ground. 
 
 This fortress appears to have stood in the northeastern part of 
 the ancient city ; a large portion of which was evidently situated 
 on the south of Wady Za'areh, and extended a quarter of a mile 
 from it. The ground is here somewhat higher, jutting down a 
 little from the eastern hill. A long reach of the ancient south- 
 ern city wall stiU remains, running down obliquely W. N. W. 
 to the brook. On the west also of the citadel, far along the 
 roads leading to Tell el-Kady and Hasbeiya, there are traces of 
 houses and temples. Columns and fragments of columns are 
 scattered in all directions. 
 
 Near the old city wall, in the southeast, is a natural pond of 
 considerable size, apparently of rain water gathered from the 
 hiUs. It has no connection with any of the other waters of the 
 terrace. 
 
 The best view of Banias is from the little Wely of Sheikh 
 Khudr, near the great fountain.' 
 
 From the name of the grotto, Panium, the transition is 
 easy to Paneas, as the name of the ancient city. Neither of 
 these names, however, can be historically traced back much if 
 any beyond the time of the first Herod. No allusion to them is 
 found in the Old Testament ; although other places are spoken 
 of in the immediate neighbourhood. Was this remarkable spot 
 wholly overlooked ; or did it then perhaps bear some other 
 name ? 
 
 In' the book of Joshua, the promised land, as subdued by 
 that leader, is described as extending " from the mount Halak 
 [bald mountain], that goeth up to Seir, even unto Baal-gad in 
 the valley of Lebanon under mount Hermon." * Again, the 
 portion of the land not subdued by Joshua is spoken of as reach- 
 ing "from Baal-gad under mount Hermon unto the entering 
 into Hamath ; " and in another parallel passage we find Baal- 
 hermon instead of Baal-gad.^ It would seem, therefore, that 
 Baal-gad and Baal-hermon were different names of the same 
 place ; that this place was in a valley under Hermon ; * and that 
 
 ' Bearings at B^niSs, from the sontteast * Called indeed "lisabn tlSpa valley 
 
 comer tower, in 1844: Castle of B. 71°. of Lebanon ; bnt not the Buki'a,' which is 
 
 'Am Kiinyeh 111 . Zaurah 157 . Am not tinder Hermon. So too Gesenius Thc- 
 
 Ftt 162°. Hunin 263°. Abil 282°. Mesh- ^„,,, „ „„„ „ , ^ . o..* -,.«-,-, 
 
 b f? 28«l° sanr. p. 2b^. Heb. Lex. art. nSp3. 
 
 *> Josh! 11, 17; and so, in reversed or- ^iner Realw. art iejanon IL p. 25.3te 
 
 der Josh 12 7 Ansg. — Jerome also places Baal-gad " ad 
 
 "' Josh! 13,' 5'; comp. Jndg. 3, 3. See ™^^f^ ,"">°*is ^rmon;" Onomast. art 
 
 too 1 Chr. 5, 23.— For " the entering into •^o«'5""»- 
 Hamath," see below, at the end of Sect. XIL 
 Vol. in.— 35 
 
410 
 
 BANIAS. [Sec. IX. 
 
 it here served to mark tlie northernmost limit of Palestine, to 
 which the conquests of Joshna extended ; just as, at a later 
 period, after the city of Dan had been built, that place is always 
 put as the northern limit. The name Baal-gad (god of fortune) 
 implies a place of heathen worship ;' which apparently took 
 also the name of Baal-hermon from its connection with that 
 mountain. 
 
 All these considerations go to make it probable, that Baal-gad 
 was no other than this romantic spot, this secluded grotto at the 
 fountain of Jordan, where the Phenicians or Syrians had estab- 
 lished the worship of one of their Baals. ^ In process of time 
 this was supplanted by the service of the Grecian Pan ; and 
 thus the name Panium was introduced, and the earlier one 
 forgotten. 
 
 The name Panics is merely the Arabic pronunciation of the 
 ancient name Paneas. I have already allude^ to the temple 
 built at the fountain by the iirst Herod in honour of Augustus.' 
 Whether the adjacent town already existed, or sprung up after- 
 wards, is unknown. At a later period, the place made part of 
 the territory of Philip, tetrarch of Trachonitis ; was enlarged 
 and embellished by him ; and named Ceesarea Philippi, in dis- 
 tinction from the Osesarea of the sea-coast.* Under this name 
 it appears in the New Testament, and was visited by our Lord.'' 
 Agrippa afterwards gave it the name of Neronias for a time ; 
 Yespasian visited it ; and Titus, after the capture of Jerusalem, 
 exhibited here public spectacles, in which the captive Jews were 
 compelled to fight with one another or with wild beasts, and 
 many perished." Coins of Csesarea-Paneas, as it was also called, 
 are still extant.^ In the fourth century, it was already a bishop- 
 ric of Phenicia under the patriarchate of Antioch ; its bishop 
 Philocalus was present at the council of Nicea in A. C 325 ; 
 and another, Olympiug, at the council of Chalcedon in A. D. 
 451.' In the days of Eusebius and Jerome, the earlier name 
 Paneas was again predominant, and has continued current 
 under the Mohammedan dominion to the present day.' 
 
 ' Baal-gad, ' god of fortane,' is referi-ed ' See above, p. 406. 
 
 ty Gesenius to Jupiter, Thesaur. p. 264 ; * Joseph. Antiq. 18. 2. 1. B. J. 2. 9. 1. 
 
 by Movers to Venus, die Phonizier I. pp. * Matt. 16, 13. Mark 8, 27. 
 
 636, 650. ' Joseph. Antiq. 20. 9. 4. B. J. 3. 9. 
 
 = So Gesenius Thesaur. p. 225. Eaumer 8. ib. 7. 2. 1. 
 
 Palast. ed. 3. p. 215. n. — Others suppose ' Eckhel Doctr. Numm. III. p. 339. 
 
 Eaal-gad to have been HeliopoUs, now Mionnet Medailles Ant. V. p. 311 sq. The 
 
 Ba'albek ; but there is no evidence nor coins extend from Augustus to Heliogaba- 
 
 probability, either- that Joshua's conquests lus. 
 
 extended so far ; or that Ba'albek was ° Labb. Concil. Tom. II. coL 51. Le 
 
 ever regarded as the northern extremity of Quien Oriens Chr. 11. p. 831. 
 
 Palestine; or that the neighbouring por- ' Euseb. Hist. Ecc. 7. 17. Hieron. 
 
 tion of Anti-Lebanon was ever called Her- Comm. in Ezech. xxvii. 18, " Dan . . . ubi 
 
 mon. Bitter Erdk. XVII. p. 229 sq. hodie Paneas, quae quondam Csesarea Phi- 
 
Mat 27.] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 411 
 
 During tlie crusades, BSnias was the scene of various changes 
 and conflicts. It first came into the possession of the Christians 
 in A. D. 1129 or 1130, along with the fortress es-Subeibeh on 
 the mountain ; being delivered over to them by its Ismaelite 
 governor, after their unsuccessful attempt upon Damascus in 
 behalf of that sect. The city and castle were given as a fief to 
 the knight Kayner Brus.' In A. D. 1132, during the absence 
 of Kayner, Binias was taken after a short assault by the Sultan 
 Isma'il of Damascus.'' It was recaptured by the Franks, aided 
 by the Damascenes themselves, in A. D. 1139 ; the temporal 
 control restored to Rayner Brus ; and the city made a Latin 
 bishopric under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Tyre.' 
 Bani§,s fell afterwards by inheritance into the possession of the 
 constable Honfroy, who called in the aid of the Hospitalers for 
 its protection ; in A. D. 1157 it was besieged by the formidable 
 Nureddin, , who succeeded in taking and' burning the town, 
 but was not able to master the fortress situated in the city 
 itself^ The place was relieved, and the fortifications imme- 
 diately rebuilt, by king Baldwin III. But in A. D. 1165, Nu- 
 reddin again attacked Banias during the absence of Honfroy, and 
 with better success ; after a short siege it surrendered, and never 
 came again into the power of the Franks.^ 
 
 In A. D. 1172, king Amalric besieged Banias for fifteen days 
 in vain.* The place, with others, was dismantled by Sultan 
 Mu'adh-dhem in A. D. 1219.' The Christians once more in 
 A. D. 1253 made an expedition from Tyre against Banias, under 
 the command of the Seneschal Joinville, and got possession of 
 the town for the moment ; but not being able to subdue Kul'at 
 es-Subeibeh on the mountain, they immediately abandoned their 
 conquest, and retired to Sidon." 
 
 Benjamin of Tudela mentions Banias and the grotto of the 
 
 lippi vooabatnr." Ensebins relates (1. c.) ib. pp. 684, 687 sq. Le Quien Oriens 
 
 from tradition, that this was the place Christ. III. p. 1335. 
 
 where our Lord healed the woman with an * Will. Tyr. 18. 12. Wilken ib. lU. ii. 
 
 issue of blood. Matt 9, 20. He says, that pp. 43, 44. Keinaud Extr. p. 107. 
 
 as a monument of that miracle, there was ' Will. Tyr. 19. 10. Reinaud Extr. p. 
 
 the brazen statue of a man in a mantle, 121. Wilken ib. p. 92. — In another place 
 
 with a woman kneeling before him as a Wilken mentions a Banias as having been 
 
 suppliant This he had himself seen. It captured by Saladin in A. D. 1188. But 
 
 was probably set up in honour of one of the the place there meant, is the city Balnias 
 
 emperors. See Gieseler KG. I p. 79. [66.J and the fortress el-Merkab, on the sea- 
 
 Keland Falsest, p. 922. coast north of Tortosa. See Wilken ib. 
 
 ' Abnlfed. Annal A. H. 523, Tom. HI. "VII. p. 327. n. Keinaud Extr. p. 225. 
 
 p. 432. WilL Tyr. 13. 26. ib. 14. 19. Schultens Index in Vit. Salad, art. J/ario- 
 
 Wilken. Gesch. der. Kr. IL p. 669. Id. bum. Brocardus c. 2. p. 171. 
 
 Comm. de BelL cmc. p. 68. ° Will. T^t. 20. 23. Wilken ib. HI. ii 
 
 ' WilL Tyr. 14. 17, 19. Wilken ibid. p. 153. 
 
 p. 612 sq. ' Wilken ibid. VI. p. 236. 
 
 ' Will. Tyr. 15. 9-11. Eeinaud Ex- " WUken ibid. VIL p. 827 sq. and Join- 
 traits des Hist. Arabes, p. 70 sq. Wilken Tille as there cited. 
 
412 
 
 BANIAS. 
 
 [Skc. IX. 
 
 Jordan ; but in such terms as to leave it doubtful, whether he 
 ever visited the spot.' He ^speaks of it under the name of 
 Belinas, a name which was current also among the crusaders.' 
 Brocardus has a notice of the place ; and Ahulfeda describes it 
 and the castle es-Subeibeh.^ But since the time of the crusades, 
 I find no account of its having been visited by any Frank trav- 
 eller, until Seetzen took it in his way from Damascus to Tiberias 
 in A. D. 1806.* 
 
 We now had visited the sources of all the streams, which go 
 to form the upper Jordan, above the lake el-Huleh. Three such 
 streams enter or spiing up in the region of the Huleh, from the 
 north ; of which only the two eastern are mentioned in history, 
 as the sources of the greater and lesser Jordan. Hence the 
 later groundless etymology of the name Jordan, as if compounded 
 of Jor and Dan, the supposed names of the two sources.^ The 
 western and longest stream of all, coming from Hasbeiya, 
 although unquestionably its waters constitute the remotest head 
 of the Jordan, appears never to have been historically included 
 under that name.* Why this was so, we are nowhere informed ; 
 and it behooves us to rest satisfied with the usage of so many 
 The attempt to introduce a change at this late hour, 
 
 ' Benj. of Tnd. by Aster, I. p. 82. 
 
 " WiU. Tyr. 19. 10. Jac. de Vitriae. c. 
 35. p. 1070. Brocardus c. 3. p. 172.— 
 This name seems to have arisen from con- 
 founding the two Arabic names Banias and 
 Balnias or Belinas. See p. 411. n. 5. 
 Keland Pal. p. 920. Schultens Index in 
 Vit. Salad, art. Markabum. Wilken ib. 
 VII. p. 327. n. 
 
 ' Brocardus 1. e. Abnlfedse Tab. Syr. 
 p. 96. Schultens Index in Vit. Salad, art. 
 Paneas. 
 
 * Sir J. Maundeville and W. de Balden- 
 sel, about A. D. 1336, both speak of Be- 
 linas (Banias) ; but they both in travelling 
 to Damascus crossed the Jordan by the 
 bridge below the lake of Tiberias. Maun- 
 dev. Travels p. 115. Lond. 1839. W. de 
 Baldensel in Basnage Thesaur. IV. p. 355. 
 So too, probably, Ludolf de Suchem, § 
 43 ult. Furer von Haimendorf passed 
 along the Huleh and up Wady et-Teim in 
 1566; but did not visit Banias; p. 280. 
 Sandys speaks of the castle of Banias as 
 occupied in his day by f akhr ed-Din ; p. 
 165. 
 
 ' The absurdity of this etymology is 
 obvious ; for the name Jordan is merely 
 the Greek form ('lopSoyTji) for the Hebrew 
 1^^-) lO'f^ih which has no relation to 
 the name Dan. Further, the name Jor- 
 dan was applied to the river from the ear- 
 
 liest times ; and we have it constantly in 
 the Scriptures in the time of Abraham, at 
 least five centuries before the name Dan 
 was given to the city at its source. Yet 
 this etymology goes back at least to the 
 time of Jerome ; Comm. in Matt. xvi. 13, 
 " Jordanes oritur ad radices Libani ; et 
 habet duos fontes, unum nomine Jiyr, et 
 alterum Dan ; qui simul mixti Jordanis 
 nomen efficiunt." Hence it was copied by 
 Adamnanus de Loc. Sanct. 2. 19 ; by 
 "William of Tyre 13. 18 ; by Brocardus c. 
 3. p. 172 ; by Marinus Sanutus on his 
 map ; by Adrichomius p. 109, etc. etc. 
 The same traditional etymology seems also 
 to he current among the Christians of the 
 country ; for Burckhardt was told, that 
 the ancient name of the fountain of Ba- 
 nias was Jur ; and the source at TeU el- 
 Kady, he says, was still called Dhan ; mak- 
 ing together the name Jordan. All this 
 was doubtless derived by him from the 
 Greek priests ; and is quite similar to our 
 experience at Taiyibeh. See Vol. I. pp. 
 448, 450. [il 126, 128.] Burckhardt pp. 
 42, 43. Comp. Gesenius Notes on Burck- 
 hardt, p. 496. 
 
 ° The earliest notice of this stream seems 
 to be by Furer von Haimendorf in A. D. 
 1566, in travelling up Wady et-Teim to 
 the Buka'a and Ba'albek ; p. 280. Niimb. 
 1646. 
 
Mat 28.] SOURCES OF THE JOKDAN. 413 
 
 would be alike unnecessary and futile. As well might we require 
 the majestic floods of the Mississippi and Missouri to exchange 
 these names above their junction ; inasmuch as the latter is, of 
 the two, by far the longer and mightier stream. 
 
 But whatever may have been the cause of this silence in re- 
 gard to the longest stream and remotest source of the Jordan, 
 the like analogy is found in the case of the other three Syrian 
 rivers, which take their rise in the Buka'a and Anti-Lebanon ; 
 the Barada, the LitUny, and the Orontes. Thus the proper head 
 of the first is in the plain south of Zebedany, in the highest part of 
 Anti-Lebanon ; while Abulfeda expressly says, that " the source 
 of the river of Damascus" is at the great fountain of Pijeh, half 
 way down the mountain.' The Litany has one of its heads in 
 the fine stream at Ba'albek ; yet the great fountains near 
 'Anjar are usually spoken of as its source. In like manner the 
 large fountain at Lebweh is the true head of the Orontes ; yet 
 what are known as the sources of that river, are the abundant 
 fountains near Hurmul. 
 
 The idea which in all these cases lies at the foundation, would 
 seem to be, to regard as the source of a river, not its remotest 
 head, but its most copious fountains. 
 
 Friday, May 2,81%. — We left Banias for Hasbeiya at 7.10, 
 by a road lying north of that which leads to TeU el-KMy. Fif- 
 teen minutes brought us to the western brow of the terrace. 
 Here on our right a higher ridge ran along the very brow, shut- 
 ting out any view of Bani&.s from the west. We descended 
 along rivulets carried down from the fountain to water the lower 
 plain. At 7.37 we crossed the deep and dry water-bed of Wady 
 'Asal ; which issues from its great mountain chasm in the angle 
 between the terrace and the mountain. Our course was now 
 northwest, directly towards el-Ghujar audits white-domed Wely ; 
 and this is here the general direction of the base of the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 At 8 o'clock the road forked, and we began to turn around 
 the angle of the mountain into the plain of Wady et-Teim. As 
 we kept near the base of the mountain, on high ground, the 
 plain on the left was below us. A fountain was on our left below 
 at 8.20 ; apparently the source of the stream we had crossed on 
 Wednesday, running to TeU el-Kady. Our course along the 
 base of the mountain became now N. 10° E. At 8.35 we 
 stopped at a small fountain by the road, called Khurwa'ah, 
 opposite to a small Arab village on the foot of the inountain. 
 This spot afforded a fine view of the plain of et-Teim and of the 
 Htileh beyond. 
 
 ' Abnlfeda Tab. Syr. ed. KsUer, p. 15. 
 Vol. ni.— 35* 
 
414 FROM BANIAS TO HASBEITA. 
 
 [Sec. IX. 
 
 We here took 9, guide to conduct us up the steep mountain 
 side to Kul'at Bustra, a tract of ruins lying opposite to us, on 
 the brow of an ahnost precipitous projecting shoulder or terrace 
 of the mountain, at least a thousand feet above the plain. It 
 took us nearly fifty minutes to ascend to the top, by a path as 
 steep as can well be climbed by horses. At thirty minutes, on 
 a lower projecting point, were some ruins, with a tank and 
 cistern. We could not make out the character of the remains ; 
 except perhaps traces of the four walls of one building, and of a 
 small room laid up with mortar. The spot seemed to us to 
 have been merely a small hamlet or suburb dependent on the 
 place higher up ; but far less extensive and less perfectly pre- 
 served. 
 
 The summit of the projecting shoulder is crowded with 
 ruins of edifices, built indeed of hewn stones, but without archi- 
 tectural ornament, and laid up coarsely without cement. It 
 seemed to have been a site of temples. We were able to make 
 out not less than four with certainty, and probably more ; hav- 
 ing grooved portals of hewn stone, and rows of rude columns in 
 the interior. Many squared stones, and not a few hewn, lay in 
 heaps round about, all of limestone, and all leaving an impres- 
 sion of rudeness. The temples were from thirty to fifty feet in 
 length, and of proportionate width. — The place could never 
 have been either a fortress or a town. It seemed rather a spot 
 consecrated to religious worship. Perhaps the priests and their 
 families resided at the hamlet lower down. 
 
 The ruins are on the projecting point ; back of which is a 
 small space or plateau before the mountain rises again. Here 
 are two small tanks ; and among the ruins is a cistern vaulted 
 and cemented. The mountain tract rises into the high bulwark 
 on the west of Wady 'Asal. The summit of Hermon is not here 
 visible. A ■ deep rugged gorge, called Wady Nemur (Panther 
 valley) has its head east of the hiU of Kul'at Bustra, and 
 passes down to the plain about a mile further south. High up 
 on the opposite side, southeast of the ruins, is a Mezra'ah (goat 
 vUlage) of shepherds belonging to Shib'a, the highest village of 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh, whose thousands of goats range these rugged 
 mountains for fifteen or twenty miles south of Shib'a. The land 
 round Kul'at Bustra belongs to Kefr Shtiba, a village further 
 north upon the mountain. 
 
 The remains at Kul'at Bustra present a riddle, which I am 
 not able to solve. There is no mark of Christianity about them ; 
 they could have been neither churches nor convents. The whole 
 collection greatly resembles, in location and arrangement, the 
 Khiilwat (chapels) of the Druzes, like that of el-BiySd on the hill 
 south of HSsbeiya. The work however is heavier, the stones 
 
May 28.] KUL'aT BUSTKA. 415 
 
 larger, and tlie establislimeiit altogether tnore extensive than a 
 place of Druze Khulwat.* The ruins may be of high antiquity ; 
 as the stone is so compact and so impregnated with metal that 
 time scarcely produces any change upon it. This may perhaps 
 have been one of the "high places" consecrated by the Syrians 
 or Phenicians to the worship of their Baalim. 
 
 The spot had before been visited by no Frank traveller 
 except Burckhardt.'' The prospect is exceedingly beautiful ; 
 though hardly more extensive than from the fountain below.' 
 
 We descended again to 'Ain Khurwa'ah in forty-five min- 
 utes ; and set oflf thence at 12.35. After half an hour hills 
 began to rise along the middle of Wady et-Teim ; that is, in the 
 interval between Jebel esh-Sheikh and the ridge on the west of 
 the plain ; our road keeping along, on the east of these hiUs. At 
 1.15 we came to Wady Seraiyib, with a fine stream which comes 
 from a large fountain at the foot of Jebel esh-Sheikh. This 
 fountain is regarded as one of the main feeders of the Hasb^ny. 
 It is said to intermit in summer, and return in its full strength 
 in winter ; perhaps nothing more than as affected by the differ- 
 ent seasons. As we now saw it, there was said to be not more 
 than one. fourth part of its usual supply of water ; and it cer- 
 tainly was not a quarter as large as the Hasbany. The water 
 is limpid and beautiful. 
 
 A ridge on the north of this Wady connects on the left, at 
 right angles, with another long hill, running north parallel with 
 the Hasbany. Crossing the said ridge we descended gradually 
 towards the basin of Wady Khureibeh, having on our left at 
 1.35 the vUlage of Khureibeh, situated on the said long 
 hiU, about a mile distant. Wady Khureibeh comes down 
 W. S. W. from the mountain, and forms a pretty plain or basin 
 on the northeast and north of the village and its hill. Here the 
 usual road to Hasbeiya passes down towards the left to the Has- 
 bany, which it follows up quite to the KhSn. 
 
 We kept on more to the right ; and after crossing the bed 
 of Wady Khureibeh at 1.45, we climbed a very long ascent to 
 the large village of Eisheiyet el-FukhSr, to which we came at 
 2.20. It lies very high, on a broad ridge running down 
 W. S. W. from Jebel esh-Sheikh, between Wady Khureibeh 
 
 ' The resemUance to a place of Dmze some of the stones. Several other mins 
 Khiilwat, is very striking ; except in the of a like character are reported in this part 
 particulars specified in the text ; see above, of Hennon. The most noted is at a place 
 pp. 381, 382. May it perhaps have been called Sid Dslna, northeast of Mutaleih, 
 snch a spnt, pertaining to the earlier history ' Trav. in Syr. p. 41. 
 of the Druzes, and now forgotten ? — There ° Bearings from Kiil'at Bnstra : Tell el- 
 is said to be a collection of similar ruins at Kady 207°. Hunin 242°. el-Ghiijar 252°. 
 Mutaleih, a much higher point E. by N. of K. esh-Shiikif 29.3°. Khiyam 317°. Chasm 
 Basheiyet el-Ffikhar. It is called ed-Deir ; of Jordan and lake of Tiberias beyond, 
 and the Greek cross is said to be seen on 192°. 
 
416 FROM BANIAS TO HASBEITA. [Sec. IX. 
 
 and the great open tract below Wady SMb'a. The village is 
 celebrated for its pottery ; for the manufacture of which it is one 
 of the chief seats. There are many large dome-shaped furnaces 
 for burning the ware ; and many specimens were standing outside 
 of the houses ; such as furnaces (Tannur), tail jars, and the like. 
 This pottery ware is sent around to all the fairs of the country, 
 and far into Hauran ; as also to Hums and Hamah. — Although 
 the place lies so high, yet it is so shut in by mountains and hills, 
 that few villages are visible from it. The two places Kefr 
 Hamam and Kefr Shuba are seen in a line in the southeast, 
 beyond Wady Khureibeh, on the mountain side, at different 
 heights ; Kefr Shtiba being the highest." 
 
 From Kfisheiyet el-Fukhar the usual road to Hisbeiya passes 
 down through el-Furdis, situated in the lower gap of Wady 
 Shib'a. We took a road more to the right, in order to visit 
 Hibbariyeh. It led us along on the high ground and around the 
 shoulder of the hill, overlooking the open tract of Hibbariyeh ; 
 until at 2.45 we began to descend, by a very long and steep 
 declivity, directly towards that village, N. 75° E. Far below us 
 on the left, was el-Furdis, in the lower part of Wady Shib'a, as 
 it goes to the Hasbany. , Furdis is directly east of Kaukaba, 
 and about a mile and a half distant from it. — On a high point 
 of the ridge back of Hibbariyeh is said to be the ruin called 
 Deir Mutaleih, mentioned above. 
 
 We now approached the great Wady Shib'a ; which here 
 breaks down by an enormous gorge through the western ridge of 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh. At the base of the mountain it expands into 
 a broad open tract of several hundred acres of tolerably smooth 
 though rocky land, having a considerable slope towards the west. 
 Through the middle of it runs the deep water-bed of the Wady, 
 a rocky chasm, with a turbid brook, gathered from the snows of 
 Hermon. It sometimes dries up in September and October. 
 The tract is separated from the Hasbany by hills connected with 
 the ridges on the north and south ; and through these the Wady 
 finds its way down to the river. In this part is Furdis ; and on 
 the northern hiU is 'Ain Jiarfa. In the high upper portion of the 
 Wady, above the western ridge of Hermon, where, coming from 
 towards Easheiya, it still runs southwest, lies the viUage of 
 Shib'a, an hour and a half distant from HibbS,riyeh. It is the 
 highest village of the mountains ; and is said to own five and 
 twenty thousand goats, which range over the higher parts of tha , 
 mountain as their pasture. The people of Shib'a send large 
 quantities of cheese and dried leben to Damascus and other 
 places. Near Shib'a a decisive battle was fought in 1838, 
 
 ' Bearings at Kasheiyet el-Fukhar : Kefr Hamam S. 40° E. 1 m. Kefr Shuba S. 
 40° E. 2 m. 
 
May 28.] WADT SHIB'A. HIBBAEITEH. 417 
 
 between the Egyptian army and the Druzes ; in which the latter 
 were defeated. 
 
 We reached Hibbiriyeh at 3.25. Just before coming to it, 
 there was on our right a remarkable circular cavity in the hme- 
 stone rock, with perpendicular sides, some fifty feet deep and 
 twenty rods in diameter ; as if the interior area had sunk down 
 perpendicularly. The bottom was tilled, and planted with olive 
 trees. The village lies c|.uite on the upper (eastern) side of the 
 open tract, just at the opening of the great gorge of Wady 
 Shib'a, and south of the water-bed.' 
 
 The only point of interest in the village, apart from its re- 
 markable position, is the beautiful ruin of an ancient temple, now 
 standing in a ploughed field. It fronts directly upon the great 
 chasm, looking up the mighty gorge, as if to catch the first 
 beams of the morning sun rising over Harmon. The walls are 
 standing, except on the north side. The whole length of the 
 edifice is fifty-eight feet from east to west ; and its breadth, 
 thirty-one feet. At the corners are square pilasters, with Ionic 
 capitals. Between these, in the eastern front, were two round 
 columns, forming the portico. The walls are six feet thick. 
 The stones are many of them large ; one measured fifteen feet 
 long by about two feet nine inches square. Some of them are- 
 partially bevelled ; though not in so finished a manner as at 
 Jerusalem or in the castle of Binias.^ Along the wall, tear the 
 foundation, is an ornamented ledge ; and above, at the eaves, a 
 double cornice, with a line of roimded stones between. At each 
 end is a noble pediment. Inside of the portico are ornamental 
 niches. The dimensions of the temple had previously been taken 
 by Mr Thomson as foUows : 
 
 Length 
 Breadth 
 Portico, der>th 
 " width 
 Body, E. to W. 
 
 This is one of the best preserved and most beautiful speci- 
 mens of the many ancient temples, with which Lebanon, Anti- 
 Lebanon, and the valleys between, are thronged. Their number 
 is not yet known ; but I visited no less than thirteen during my 
 present journey ; and that without varying my intended course 
 except slightly in one or two instances. They are found in all 
 situations ; crowning hiUs and mountain tops ; or secluded in 
 
 • Bearings from Hibbariyeh : Course my recollections, and according to my 
 
 back towards Easheiyet el-Fukhar S. 75° notes made at the time. Mr Thomson has 
 
 W. 'Ain Jurfa N. 40° W. 1^ m. again visited the temple, and reports the 
 
 ' The above statement is according to stones as not bevelled. 
 
 58 feet. 
 
 Body, N. to S. . 
 
 23 feet 
 
 3X " 
 
 Eecess at W. end, length 
 
 19 " 
 
 15i « 
 
 " " depth 
 
 11 " 
 
 23 " 
 
 Height of wall . 
 
 32 " 
 
 21f " 
 
 Thickness of do. . 
 
 6 " 
 
418 FROM BANIAS TO HASBEITA. 
 
 [Sec. K. 
 
 valleys and deep gorges. The founders and worshippers have 
 disappeared for unknown ages ; whether they were Phenicians or 
 Grseco-Syrians we cannot tell ; they have left behind no trace 
 but these their works ; and no record to show how or why these 
 works were erected. 
 
 We left Hibhariyeh at 3.45, on a direct course for 'Ain Jurfa, 
 in order to reach again the road to H&sbeiya. At 4 o'clock we 
 crossed the deep chasm and brook of Wady Shib'a ; and at 4.15 
 reached the low ground or Wady at the foot of the western hill. 
 The ascent to the village was quite steep, rough, and very zig- 
 zag. We reached 'Ain jQrfa, a small and unimportant place, at 
 4.30 ; and turned more north along the road to Hasbeiya, con- 
 tinuing to ascend in the general course of the valley of the 
 Hasbany. We reached the top of the ascent at 4.45 ; and came 
 out upon the cultivated table land on the ridge south of Has- 
 beiya. We were ten minutes in crossing this tract with its 
 vineyards ; having the Khulwat of el-Biyad a short distance on 
 our left. ' From thence a long and steep descent brought us to 
 the upper part of Hasbeiya ; and at 5.10 we reached our home 
 in the mission house. 
 
 The elevation of the following points upon our route of 
 to day, had recently been determined by Dr De Forest with the 
 aneroid." 
 
 Eng. feet 
 
 Plain at S. "W. angle of J. esh-Slieikli . . 855 
 
 Bridge of Nahr Seraiyib . 
 
 Easheiyet el-Fukhar 
 
 Eoad K E. of do. . 
 
 Hibbariyeh 
 
 Foot of ascent to 'Ain Jurfa 
 
 'Ain Jurfa 
 
 Eoad near Khulw4t el-BiyM 
 
 Hasbeiya, Palace 
 
 1237i 
 
 2475 
 
 2554 
 
 2261 
 
 1721 
 
 2374 
 
 2711 
 
 2160 
 
 It hence appears, that from the foot of the hill of 'Ain Jfjrfa 
 we ascended nine hundred and ninety feet in thirty minutes ; 
 and again descended five hundred and fifty-one feet to Hfisbeiya 
 in fifteen minutes. 
 
 Saturday and Sunday, May ZOth and Zlst. — We remained 
 in Hasbeiya, and had two days of rest and quiet. The usual 
 exercises of public worship were held on the Sabbath ; and this 
 time I had the privilege of being present. 
 
 » See above, pp. 381, 382. ' See also above, p. 383. 
 
SECTION X. 
 
 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 Several routes lead from Hfisbeiya to Damascus. The 
 shortest ascends by Shuweiya, and so across the mountain south 
 of Easheiya ; this is a summer road.' A second crosses the hill 
 north of Hasbeiya, and passes through Mimis and Kufeir to 
 Rasheiya. A third joins the great Sidon road at the fountain 
 of the Hasbany ; and, foUowiag up the valley, either turns to 
 Rasheiya ; or, continuing on as far as Muhaiditheh, thence 
 ascends the eastern mountain by Wady 'Arab and Bekka. The 
 first two routes approach Damascus by way of Katana ; although 
 a less travelled branch goes off from Rasheiya to Dim^s. The 
 third route likewise goes to Dimas, uniting near the ruined 
 Khan Meithelun with the road coming from Beirtit. 
 
 As we desired to visit several points of interest, we concluded 
 to take a route more circuitous than any of the above, and bend 
 our course first to the Kfiweh or natural bridge over the Litdny. 
 
 Monday, May 31st. — We were ready for an early start. Mr 
 Thomson was stUl to accompany me ; and Mr Wortabet con- 
 cluded to make his first visit to Damascus. Nasif, the WaMl 
 of the Protestants in Hasbeiya, likewise joined us ; having to go 
 to Damascus on business for his people. The Emir had re- 
 fused to let the Protestants pay their taxes, except as members 
 of the Greek church ; a procedure directly contrary to the law 
 and to the practice everywhere else. This could be resisted only 
 by an appeal to the government at Damascus. A number of 
 persons also called, professing their desire to become Protestants, 
 and desiring the counsel of Mr Thomson. AU this detained 
 us. 
 
 Having sent off our muleteers to await us at Neby Sufa, we 
 
 » See above, p. 383. 
 
420 
 
 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 started at 8 o'clock ; and striking up the northern hill, had a fine 
 view of the town hehiod us. Our course was now N. 25° W. de- 
 scending to the channel of Wady et-Teim ; which we reached at 
 8.25. It here ran W. S. W. was narrow, and without water. We 
 followed it down for ten minutes, and then crossed it ; there was 
 here a little water percolating among the stones. We now began 
 the long ascent of the western ridge, on a course about W. S. W. 
 On our left, just west of the great fountain, was the small source 
 'Ain Tannurah, watering an enclosed tract of orchards and gar- 
 dens belonging to the Emirs of Hasbeiya. Fifteen minutes 
 further up, on our right, was another similar fountain and 
 irrigated tract, called 'Ain el-Bdrideh. Turning a little to the 
 left, and climbing around a projecting Tell, we came out at 
 9.10, upon the summit of the ridge. 
 
 This ridge is called ed-Dahar. North of Kaukaba its course 
 is nearly from northeast to southwest ; and it alone lies between 
 Wady et-Teim and the chasm of the Litany. Its course is 
 almost a straight line as far north as to Muhaiditheh. South of 
 Kaukaba it turns S. S. W. or S. by W. and has between it 
 and the Litany the whole of Merj 'Ayun. The whole region — 
 streams, valleys, ridges, and all — sinks down very rapidly 
 towards the south. The ridge ed-Dahar, from the point where 
 we stood, rises much towards the north ; but is perhaps nowhere 
 higher tlian here above the valley. This spot affords the distant 
 view of Hasbeiya, already referred to.' We stopped here for five 
 minutes.* 
 
 We now turned northeast along the top of the ridge for 
 an hour ; passing over some low summits, and around others. 
 This is one of the roads leading from the Huleh to the Bflka'a. 
 At 10.15 we came to a well, called Bir ed-Dahar. The decliv- 
 ities of the ridge on each side, though high and steep, (the 
 eastern being the steepest,) are chalky and smooth, in great part 
 arable, and not much broken by ravines and ledges of rock. As 
 we travelled along the top, we had on our right the whole extent 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh, with its icy crown above, and its dark 
 masses of limestone rocks below, broken up by numerous deep 
 ravines descending from the lofty sides to the Hasbany. Below 
 the highest point, the western ridge of the mountain begins to 
 decline northwards ; and sinks down towards Kasheiya to the 
 level of the adjacent ridges and hiUs. Wady et-Teim continued 
 thus far narrow and shut in by lower hills ; but further north it 
 opens out again into a rolling basin, several miles long by some 
 two miles broad, and running in among the eastern hills. 
 
 ' See above, p. 381. 116°. Hasbeiya 123°. el-Biyad 151°. 
 
 ' Bearings at 9.10 from the ridge ed- RSsbeiyet el-Fukhar 177°. Chasm of 
 
 Dahar: Kufeir 78|-°. Mimis 84°. Jebel Jordan below the Huleh 190°. Kaukaba 
 
 esh-Sheikh, highest point, 94°. Shuweiya 227°. Kul'at esh-Shiikif 236°. 
 
May 31.] BIDGE ED-DAHAE. CHASM. 421 
 
 On our left, teyond the valley and chasm of the Litany, was 
 the high unbroken wall formed by the highest ridge or backbone of 
 Lebanon. On this side it is in most parts precipitous ; and seems 
 to be not more than half as high as when viewed from the west, 
 where the mountain rises in successive plateaus. Its steeps also, 
 as here seen, are dark, and in some parts wooded, with occasional 
 ravines. The Taum Niha (Twins of Niha), two sharp and 
 towering pyramids, appear to stand in connection with this high 
 ridge ; though the line between them would seem to lie a little 
 farther west. Their declivities on this side extend quite down to 
 the eastern valley. The main ridge runs on further south as 
 Jebel Rihdn ; towards the north there are in it two or three 
 lower spots or gaps, through which roads cross over. — Nearer at 
 hand, along the base of this main ridge, runs a line of lower 
 hills, appearing like thin, sharp ridges, partly grassy and still 
 green ; and about as high as the Dahar on which we were now 
 travelling. Behind these hills a northern branch of Wady Sif- 
 saf runs down northeast to the Litany, issuing by a break in 
 the line of hills nearly opposite the Ktiweh. Further north the 
 hUls are lower ; and behind them is likewise a valley running 
 down northeast to the Litany, in which is the large village of 
 Meshghurah surrounded by trees and gardens.' 
 
 We have already seen,^ that just north of Burghiaz a broad 
 low spur or swell of land is thrown off from the base of Lebanon 
 across the valley of the Litany, quite to the eastern ridge. 
 Through this broad swell the river breaks in its deep, narrow, 
 almost perpendicular chasm ; the lower portion of which we 
 had seen at Burghuz. North of this swell is a lower tract or 
 basin, with some arable land. In this part stands the little 
 Met^wileh village of Kilya, quite on the eastern brink of the 
 chasm ; which here also is deep and narrow. On the opposite 
 brink is another small village called Lusah. The inhabitants of 
 these two villages can converse with each other across the 
 chasm ; and, notwithstanding the steepness of the banks, they 
 have a footpath leading down them on each side. On the north 
 of this basin a still higher and broader spur is thrown off from 
 the base of Lebanon across the vaUey ; and through this too the 
 river breaks by a similar but still deeper chasm. On this broader 
 ridge is situated the village of Yuhmur, on the east brink of the 
 chasm ; and beyond it in the chasm is the Kuweh. 
 
 - Abulfeda speaks of the 'city' Mesh- 21. 11. It is also mentioned near the end 
 
 ghurah, as one of the pleasantest in the of the crusades, in the thirteenth centnry ; 
 
 country, situated in a valley rendered Wilken Gesch. der Kr. VI. p. 155, n. 
 
 beautiful by trees and streams of water ; " See above, pp. 385, 386. — This region 
 
 Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler p. 93. In A. D. was extensively explored in 1844: by the 
 
 1176, king Baldwin IV. made an excursion Rev. Dr Smith, of whose manuscript jour- 
 
 from Sidon to the B&ka'a, and came first nals I have here made use. 
 to ifcMaara, i. c. Meshghurah ; Will. Tyr. 
 Vol. Ill —36 
 
422 FEOM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 Througli toth these broad spurs and the intervening basin, 
 as far down as to Burghuz, the river everywhere thus flows 
 between the same precipitous banks, varying from a hundred to 
 a thousand feet in height. There is about the chasm this pecu- 
 liarity, that for most of the way there is no depression of the 
 ground on approaching the banks, the undulations of surface on 
 each side being the same ; so that whenever one loses sight of 
 the chasm, he would not suspect, that the whole tract was not 
 one continuous surface. 
 
 From Bir ed-Dahar we now (at 10.15) turned more to the 
 left and nearly north towards Yflhmur, descending obliquely and 
 gradually along the western declivity, and crossing several 
 small ravines running to the Litany. Just south of that village 
 is a very deep gorge, cut down in the left bank by a short 
 Wady. Ascending from it we reached Yuhmur at 11.30. It 
 stands among rocks on a high point on the brink of the chasm ; 
 the inhabitants are Metawileh. Here was a winepress hewn in 
 the rock, possibly ancient. The banks of the chasm at this place 
 are perhaps higher than at any other point ; we judged the depth 
 to be not less than a thousand feet. The rock is less compact 
 than lower down the stream, and has in many places been 
 worn away or has slidden down ; thus widening the chasm above, 
 and varying its character below. The chasm is here deeper and 
 narrower than at Belat. The foaming silvery stream at the 
 bottom rushes on from rapid to rapid, decked with the gay 
 blossoms of the oleanders along its margin. 
 
 We continued our way northwards till 11.45 ; when we 
 began to descend into the chasm to reach the Kuweh. The 
 adjacent land here spreads out into an open tract, rocky and 
 partially sloping, but cultivated and in some parts green ; the 
 eastern ridge retiring in almost a semicircular sweep. A small 
 Wady breaks down by a leap to the river below. Along this we 
 began to descend ; but soon turned to the left around the high 
 rocky clifP, and descending obliquely along the precipice south- 
 west, reached the Kuweh at the bottom at 12 o'clock. The 
 path is steep, and in some spots runs along the brink of the 
 precipice ; but is not difficult, except in one place of slippery 
 rocks, where we dismounted in going down, but rode up the 
 whole distance in returning. This is a regular public road, 
 though not much travelled, leading over the Kuweh and up 
 into Lebanon to Jezzin and other places. As we afterwards 
 left the bank above, we saw a party descending from the moun- 
 tain to the bridge on their way to Damascus, as we afterwards 
 learned. 
 
 The scenery of the chasm is in the highest degree wdld, 
 picturesque, and grand. In descending, as one looks down into 
 
Mat 31.] CHASM OF THE LITANY. THE KUWEH. 423 
 
 the stream far below, lie sees immense caverns and arclies in the 
 opposite wall of rock ; and above them are other caverns partly 
 artificial, which are said to have been formerly the haunt of 
 robbers. When at the bottom, the traveller is completely shut 
 in by the perpendicular jagged walls of the chasm, rising 
 from four to five hundred feet above the bridge. Eocks from 
 above in ancient times have fallen into the stream, confining it 
 to a narrower channel, and in some parts covering it quite 
 over. Upon these rocks, in the course of time, there has accu- 
 mulated a covering of earth, forming a broad bridge over a very 
 contracted channel. In the northern part the covering is not 
 quite complete ; a very narrow and ragged fissure being left, 
 which is now filled and covered with fig and other trees and 
 shrubs. The road-way, in the middle of the bridge, is ten feet 
 wide, and like a chauss6e in form. South of this is a lower 
 terrace, some fifteen or twenty feet wide. The following meas- 
 urements had already been made by Mr Thomson : 
 
 Breadth of the channel 
 
 22 feet 
 
 Whole width of bridge 
 
 68 " 
 
 "Width of roadway .... 
 
 10 " 
 
 Height of road above the water . 
 
 . 105 " 
 
 Thickness of the bridge or arch . 
 
 90 " 
 
 The opening towards the north, by which the stream enters, 
 is covered and hidden by trees and bushes ; as is also the south- 
 em exit, except as viewed from a point on the left bank below 
 the bridge. As there seen, the rocks appear to form an angle 
 over the channel, like the sharp roof of a Dutch house. This 
 too is mostly covered with fig trees. The river tumbles, foams, 
 and roars over the rocks in its steep and rugged channel in the 
 most picturesque manner. The high walls of the chasm are 
 mostly naked ; but at the bottom, along the margin of the 
 water, are many trees, and among them fig trees and vines, 
 intermingled with the gay blossoms of the oleander. 
 
 It is difficult to reach the water below the bridge, where 
 the chasm presents its grandest and most romantic features. 
 To do so one must scramble along on the western side for a con- 
 siderable distance, and pass under huge rocks of the overhanging 
 strata, forming a large cavern, and declining towards the south. 
 With some hazard one reaches the water, just where further 
 progress is arrested by perpendicular cliffs. Here the channel of 
 the stream is contracted to twelve or fifteen feet ; and through 
 it the water pours with great impetuosity. Just below, a rock 
 has fallen nearly across the narrow channel, and another projects 
 from the eastern side, leaving only a passage of two or three feet, 
 and forming almost another natural bridge. The scenery just 
 here is magnificent. 
 
424 rSOM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 Such is the Kuweh ; which has remained wholly unknown 
 to traveUers, until visited by Dr Smith in 1844.' 
 
 Leaving the brow above the Kiiweh at 2.15, we returned for 
 ten minutes towards Yuhmur, and then turned to the left across 
 the fields, to cut off an angle and gain a road to Neby Sufa. 
 Many of the fields were strictly vineyards ; the stocks of the 
 vines were not fastened upon posts, but laid regularly on the 
 ground, or sometimes trained along the sides and over the tops 
 of large rocks. We struck the road at 2.35, about half a mile 
 northeast of Yuhmur. 
 
 At this point Suhmur was visible, another Metawileh village 
 on the left bank of the river, an hour higher up. Two or three 
 trees also marked the direction of Meshghurah ; and 'Aitenith 
 was likewise in sight, a village next north of Meshghurah on the 
 eastern foot of Lebanon.' The mouth of Wady Sifsaf was 
 opposite to us beyond the Litany, opening at a considerable 
 height, just south of where the road ascends from the Kuweh. 
 Not far north of us the ground began to descend ; this being the 
 northern part of the broad swell which here crosses the LitS,ny. 
 At the bottom the land is considerably lower, but ascends 
 gradually further towards the north. The open tract on the east 
 continues for some distance ; the ridge on our right gradually 
 sweeping round again to near the river just above Suhmur. At 
 this village the chasm of the river continues ; but is less deep. 
 A good hour above Suhmur is the bridge of Ktir'un, which crosses 
 the Litany on six arches of stone ; the river here having an 
 alluvial margin. The bridge is named from the village of 
 Kiir'un, lying about half a mile nearly east of it. Over this 
 bridge passes the road from Sidon to Damascus followed by Maun- 
 drell in A. D. 1697. It comes down by Meshghurah, passes on 
 by Jubb Jenin and 'Aithy, and ascending Anti-Lebanon joins the 
 road from Muhaiditheh by Bekka, before reaching Dimas.' 
 
 Keeping on our way about E. by N. we rose gradually over 
 the low rocky broken ridges and hiUs, which fill up the interval 
 towards the eastern ridge. The path became at last so blind, 
 that we lost it ; and, having no guide, we continued our course 
 as we best coidd, without a path. At length, about 3.20, we 
 reached the top of the ridge ed--Dahar, which here proved to be 
 
 » See Biblioth. Sacra, 1849, p. 373.— ' Maundrell, April 24-26tli. — Maua- 
 
 Some of Lieut. Lynch's party visited the drell speaks of crossing on Anti-Letanon 
 
 place in 1 848 ; Narrative p. 480. It was a small rivolet called " Ayn Yentloe," per- 
 
 also visited in 1850 by Graf v. Schlieffen ; haps as coming from the village of Yuntah, 
 
 Eitter XVII. pp. 333, 335. near which is a fountain. See J.L.Porter 
 
 = Bearings at 2.35 : Suhmur 27°. Yuh- iii Bihlioth Sac. 1854, p. 42.— Burokhardt 
 
 mur 210°. S. peak of Niha 296°. Trees took the same route from Jubb Jenin to 
 
 of Meshghurah 340°. 'Aitenith N. — Damascus in 1812, a journey of two days 
 
 These bearings were taken in 1844. For for caravans ; Trav. p. 208. 
 Meshghurah, see above, p. 421. 
 
Mat 31.] MEEJ SHEMISEH. 425 
 
 quite broad. Just at this point it begins to fork, so as iurtlier 
 north to form two ridges, enclosing between them the pretty 
 bowl-like basin or plain of Merj Shemiseh, into which we now 
 looked down on our left. It is entirely shut in by the hills ; is 
 fertile and cultivated, but without inhabitants. It is drained 
 in the northwest by Wady Mishk ; which runs to the Litany in 
 a direction N. 65° W. about half an hour north of Suhmur. 
 Several small Wadys extend up from the little plain ; one 
 towards the northeast ; another on the north of Kefr Mishky, a 
 village overlooking Wady et-Teim ; another south of that vil- 
 lage towards Neby Sufa ; and a main one runs up south in the 
 fork of the ridge. Down this latter comes the road from the 
 south along the top of the Dahar. After crossing the plain, this 
 road ascends the northern hill to Mejdel Belhis on its top ; and 
 thence passing on descends to Kamid el-Lauz in the plain of 
 the Buki'a. Another road from Neby Sufa joins it in the Merj ; 
 and a road leads down Wady Mishk and so to the bridge of 
 Kur'un. The little hamlet of Shemiseh, from which the Merj 
 takes its name, is on the hOl at the left of the opening by which 
 Wady Mishk issues from the plain. 
 
 On the north of Merj Shemiseh the land rises again : and 
 seems to assume the character of a broad uneven elevated tract, 
 occupying the whole space between Wady et-Teim and the 
 Litany, except a strip of plain along that river ; and extending 
 north nearly to Wady Faluj. On its southeastern part is 
 Mejdel Belhis overlooking the Merj. Towards the west it 
 presents a broad front, of naked aspect. The villages of 
 Kur'un, Ba'lula, Lala, and Jubb Jenln, lie along its base from 
 south to north. The first and last are large places, quite down 
 on the edge of the plain ; the other two are higher up. Jubb 
 Jenin is at the northwest angle ; and near it is another bridge over 
 the LitfLny.' From this angle a low line of hills extends quite 
 across the Litany to the foot of Lebanon. Through these hills 
 the river breaks by a chasm, not deep indeed, but otherwise simi- 
 lar to that through which it flows further down. These hills 
 and this broad high tract constitute the southern boundary of 
 the great plain of the Buka'a. Between Jubb Jenin and Wady 
 Faluj there extends up southeast an offset of the Bflka'a, in 
 which is the once large town of Kamid el-Lauz." 
 
 We crossed the Wady and road in the fork near its head at 
 3.25.' Climbing a rocky ledge before us, we reached the top of 
 the easternmost ridge at 3.30. This portion is still broad ; and 
 
 ' Burckhardt Trav. in Syr. p. 207. ' Bearings at 3.25 : Conrse of the Wady 
 
 ' Abulfeda mentions the 'city'Kimid 46°. Mejdel Belhis 36°. South peak of 
 
 as having been once the chief place of this Niha 293°. 
 
 region ; Tah. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 93. 
 Vol. IIL— 36* 
 
426 FEOM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X 
 
 the surface is thickly strewn -with large rocks. Crossing it we 
 came at 3.45 to Libbeiya, a small village on the eastern brow, 
 OTerlooking Wady et-Teim.' Here is an ancient sarcophagU3 
 of large dimensions. After stopping for five minutes, we kept 
 along the eastern brow of this rocky ridge, on a northeasterly 
 course, and came at 3.45 to Neby Sufa. The place lies in a gap 
 of this ridge, between Wady et-Teim and Merj Shemiseh ; but 
 still quite elevated above Wady et-Teim. Here we found our 
 muleteers, and pitched our tent in a field below the village. 
 Near by were two large sarcophagi lying side by side, with the 
 cover of one of them standing up on end. 
 
 The proper Arabic name of the village is Thelthatha ; and 
 so it is given in our former lists. The name Neby Sufa is 
 understood to come from a Wely. 
 
 The main object of attention and attraction at this place, is 
 another ancient temple in ruins. It stood here facing the east, 
 directly overagainst Hermon in his most imposing aspect. The 
 temple was larger than that at Hibbariyeh ; the stones not 
 bevelled and not as large, though three feet thick ; the entabla- 
 ture less heavy ; the pediment more elegant ; and the general 
 character of the architecture lighter and more graceful. It is 
 however in a very dilapidated state ; only a part of the northern 
 wall is standing. The northeast corner, with its pilasters and 
 entablature and a fragment of the pediment, remains yet erect, 
 and towers above all the rest. Standing thus alone, it forms a 
 very striking and picturesque feature. The altar at the western 
 end has under it a vault, with steps leading down to it. In the 
 eastern front were columns, probably of a portico now broken 
 down. The wall exhibits thirteen courses of stones, each three 
 feet thick ; the entablature being four and a half feet. — The fol- 
 lowing measurements were made by Mr Thomson on a former 
 visit. 
 
 Length, from E. to W. . . . 72^ feet. 
 
 Width, from N. to S. . . . 35 •' 
 
 Height of wall . . . . 43^" 
 
 Columns, diameter .... 3 " 
 
 From Neby Sufa the basm or plain of the upper Wady et- 
 Teim is seen extending far to the N. N. E. The highest point 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh bears S. E. by S. The mountain did not 
 here impart such an impression of loftiness, as from some other 
 points of view. Only a portion of the main ridge was in sight ; 
 the lower masses of the mountain being hidden by the less 
 
 ' Bearings at Litteiya in 1844 : Bek- 'Ata 138°. Khulwet el-Kufeir 1741-°. 
 kifa85°. BeitLeliya90°. Kunnabehl09°. Mimia 194°. Shaweiya 190J°. Khulwat 
 Dhuneibeh 137°. Sefineh 159°. 'Aia el-Biyad 208°. KMyam 217°. 
 
JcNK 1.] NEBT SUFA. ANCIENT TEMPLE. 427 
 
 elevated ridges along its base. The great western ridge is seen 
 declining towards the northeast. A large Wady issues from 
 behind it, and sweeping around its northern end turns southwest 
 to Wady et-Teim. Just north of this are the ends of two or 
 three short ridges, which run off E, N. E. among which is sit- 
 uated the town of Easheiya, not here visible. These ridges 
 seemed to lie transversely to the western declivities of Anti- 
 Lebanon, on the left ; and to be only thus far connected with 
 them. From the high point of Jebel esh-Sheikh, a ridge runs 
 down E. N. E. seeming hardly to connect with Anti-Lebanon at 
 aU, but rather to sink down towards the plain of Damascus. 
 
 Tuesday, June 1st. — We set off at 7 o'clock ; intending to 
 proceed directly to Kefr Kuk, and thence choose our road to 
 Damascus according to circumstances. We had a long and steep 
 descent to the basin of Wady et-Teim ; and reached the Da- 
 mascus road at 7.25, near a fountain and tank ; having on 
 our right a fine Tell, called Tell et-Tiny, and by some Tell ez- 
 Zeituny. Here the Christians of Hasbeiya and the lower Wady 
 et-Teim were attacked by the Muslims and Druzes in 1845, as 
 they were fleeing to Zahleh. South of the Tell is a fine plain. 
 Further north, the bottom of the wide valley, which from above 
 looked like a level plain, is seen to be uneven, rolling, and 
 interspersed with low broken hills. 
 
 Our course was now about IST. E. by N. parallel to the western 
 hiUs, for about an hour. At 8.20 there was a small dry water- 
 course on Gur right; and the tract beyond it was volcanic. 
 Here, opposite to Kefr Mishky, we turned more to the right, 
 crossed the water-bed, and rose upon an extensive plateau of 
 trap formation. Our course was N. E. by E. At 8.50 we 
 reached the brow of a descent, on the eastern side of the plateau, 
 into the main channel of the wide basin. A low column was 
 on the brow. Five minutes brought us to the water-bed ; from 
 which we rose to the eastern bank. We could see the open 
 valley extending up beyond Muhaiditheh towards the Buka'a, 
 with low hills on the western side ; the hills appearing low, 
 because the basin of the Wady is here very high. The whole 
 region has few trees and is bleak. On our right we could now 
 see the short ridges running E. N. E. between us and Jebel esh- 
 Sheikh, having no direct connection with Anti-Lebanon. At 
 Neby Sufa we had only seen their western ends, appearing like 
 bluffs. Here too we could see the great ravine coming down from 
 behind the western ridge of esh-Sheikh, and sweeping round 
 southwest into the plain ; after being joined by other ravines 
 from the northeast. 
 
 We now wound up gradually among low hUls, still N. E. by 
 E. to a higher plain, and came at 9.20 to a fine fountain ; 
 
428 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 taving before us tlie large -village of Dahar el-Ahmar, half a 
 mile distant. Here the houses of Kiisheiya were visible, a mile 
 and a half on our right, on the east end of a ridge, high above 
 the plain, and bearing S. 25° E. Muhaiditheh bore from here 
 about N. 18° W. 
 
 The -following is the information obtained, relative to the 
 northern part of Wady et-Teim, and its connection with the 
 Buka'a.' 
 
 The large village of Muhaiditheh, usually contracted to 
 Muhaiteh, inhabited by Greek Christians and Druzes, stands 
 upon a projection from the western Hne of hiUs, at the point 
 where these hills, making a considerable angle, turn more directly 
 northward.'' The plain also continues towards the north, bounded 
 by these hills on- the west, and by the base of Anti-Leljanon on 
 the east ; and being about three quarters of a mUe in width. 
 The western line of hiUs runs on thus parallel to Anti-Lebanon, 
 almost without interruption ; rising in one part into a high point, 
 on which is the village of Sultan Ya'kob ; and then gradually 
 declining, until they are lost in the great plain a little north of 
 Mejdel 'Anjar. The interval between this line of hills and Anti- 
 LelDanon retains the same general form of a valley, until it meets 
 the Buka'a at Neba' 'Anjar. But the highest part of Wady 
 et-Teim, and its proper water-shed, is about an hour north of 
 Muhaiditheh, and half an hour south of 'Ain (or Neba') Faluj. 
 
 I afterwards crossed the northern part of this intermediate 
 valley at Mejdel 'Anjar ; and found it there sloping upwards 
 towards the south.' This rise continues, however, only as far as 
 to Sultin Ya'kdb ; where the bottom of the valley is quite as 
 high as the head of Wady et-Teim further south. The inter- 
 vening tract, about an hour in length, is depressed, forming a 
 deep arable basin in the valley, with an outlet from it through a 
 gap in the western hills into the Buka'a. This outlet is called 
 Wady Faluj ; and on its southern side is the fine fountain, 
 'Ain Faluj." The distance through the hills is about half a 
 mile. 
 
 The following places, from Neby Sufa northwards, are situated 
 
 ' In 1844 Dr E. Smith examined this Kasheiya 161°. Dahar el-Ahmar 145°. 
 
 region carefully as far as to 'Ain Faluj. Kefr Dinis 100°. Ehirbet Euha 72°. Mc- 
 
 His notes are before me ; and to them I am dukhah 52°. 
 
 greatly indebted. ' See below, imder June 8th. 
 
 ° Bearings at Muhaiditheh in 1844: ' ' Bearings from 'Ain Faluj in 1844: 
 
 Kefr Mishky 227°. Kaukaba Abu 'Ara- Sultan Ya'kob 31°. HCmmarah 61J°. 
 
 beh 227°. Kunnabeh 208°. 'Ain 'Ata Kiisr Hiimmarah 59°. Bekka 106°. 
 198°. Beit Lehya 192°. Tannfirah 190°. 
 
JdneI.] 
 
 "WADY ET-TEIM AND THE BUKA'A. 
 
 429 
 
 on or in connection with the western line of hills, at the specified 
 
 intervening distances.' 
 
 From Feby Sufa 
 
 
 Kefr Mishky 
 
 1 hour. 
 
 Kaukaba Abu 'Arabeh 
 
 
 Muhaiditbeh, (from Kefr M.) 
 
 14 » 
 
 Eafidh 
 
 
 Bireh 
 
 
 Watershed, (from M.) 
 
 1 " 
 
 'Ain (or Keba') FalDj 
 
 4 " 
 
 SultaaYa'k6b 
 
 4 " 
 
 'Ain es-Saweireh. 
 
 1 " 
 
 Mejdel 'Anjar 
 
 4 " 
 
 The following are on the eastern side of the valley, along 
 the foot of Anti-Lebanon. Khirbet Ruha is on the south side of 
 Wady 'Arab as it enters the plain, bearing from Muhaiteh N. 
 72° E. High on the mountain is seen the village of Bekka. A 
 little further north comes down another Wady from N. 75° B. 
 the most remote tributary of Wady et-Teim. On its north- 
 western side, on the declivity of the mountain, is the village of 
 Mediikhah. Overagainst Sultan Ya'kdb is 'Aithy, situated ten 
 minutes up a valley which here enters the plain." Twenty-five 
 minutes further north is Hummarah, with the ruins of an old 
 castle, Kasr Hummarah, just above it on a hill projecting from 
 the eastern mountain. Opposite 'Ain es-Suweireh, is the village 
 of the same name, one hour south of 'Anjar. Just south of 
 Sultdn Ya'kob is a gap or low saddle in the hUls, called 'Akabet 
 Kamid. Through it passes the road coming from Jubb Jenin 
 and Kamid el-Lauz to 'Aithy ; being part of the northern road 
 between Sidon and Damascus.' 
 
 From Muhaiteh the Damascus road crosses the plain of 
 Wady et-Teim obliquely, and enters the mouth of Wady 'Arab. 
 Half an hour higher up is an open meadow-like tract, with 
 water oozing up in many places. A large village, 'Ain 'Arab, 
 lies on the southern margin of the meadow ; from which the 
 valley takes its name. Several mills along its lower part indi- 
 cate, that in winter it is the channel of a considerable stream. 
 Higher up, the valley takes the name of Wady Bekka. A good 
 hour above 'Ain 'Arab is the little village of Bekka, on the top 
 
 ' The distances are given (except Kefr 
 Mishky) from the manuscript notes of Dr 
 Smith, as far as to 'Ain Faluj. The rest 
 are from Barckhardt, Trav. in Syr. p 32. 
 From a comparison of distances, it appears, 
 that Burckhardt's el-Embeite and el- 
 Heimte are one and the same place, and 
 identical with el-Muhaiteh. His distaaoes, 
 
 however, are here not fully to be relied on. 
 This was his first reported journey ; and 
 falls far short of that fiilness and accuracy 
 of observation, for which he was after- 
 wards so distingnished. 
 
 " Dr De Forest in Jonm. of the Am. 
 Oriental Soo. Vol. IH. p. 363. 
 
 ' See above, p. 424. 
 
430 FEOM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. XJ 
 
 of a rocky ridge, at the higtest point of the road as it crosses 
 the mountain.' Towards the west nothing impedes the prospect. 
 The place has traces of antiquity ; especially the ruins of a 
 small Grecian temple, with the walls partly standing, and frag- 
 ments of columns and a Corinthian capital. Bekka is on the 
 high ground IST. N. E. from Kefr Kuk. A little further on, and 
 half a mile on the north of the road, is the village of yQntah." 
 The tract around is irregular and broken ; and is drained towards 
 the southwest by a Wady running to the basin of Kefr Klik. 
 
 The great valley, which thus forms the prolongation of Wady 
 et-Teim into the Buka'a, has been hitherto unknown to Frank 
 travellers. Burckhardt is the only Frank, who is known to have 
 passed through it ; ' and his account is so very imperfect, that 
 no person, who has not visited the region, can recognise its 
 features. Dr Smith in 1844 advanced from the south as far as 
 'Ain Faluj. The great road from Damascus to Beirut issues 
 from Anti-Lebanon opposite to Mejdel 'Anjar, and crosses the 
 lower end of this side valley. Beyond the fountains of 'Anjar, 
 a similar line of hUls rises again, forming a like valley along the 
 base of Anti-Lebanon, extending quite to Ba'albek. In this 
 vaRey, too, the water flows in some parts towards the south and 
 in others towards the north. This latter valley I afterwards 
 traversed in its whole length.* 
 
 From the preceding statements it appears, that the ridge 
 intervening between Jebel esh-Sheikh and the southern part of 
 Lebanon, known by the general name of ed-Dahar, is not prop- 
 erly a spur diverging from Anti-Lebanon and running diagonally 
 to meet the spurs of Lebanon, as I have formerly represented it.^ 
 It may rather be said to commence in the line of hills at Ba'al- 
 bek ; which run on with some interruptions, parallel to the base 
 of Anti-Lebanon ; and at the head of Wady et-Teim become a 
 ridge, the Dahar, lying between et-Teim and the Litany, and 
 rising further south into the mountains of Hunin and Safed. 
 
 From the fountain where we had stopped, the road continues 
 on by Dahar el-Ahmar direct to Kefr Kuk, and thence to Da- 
 mascus by way of Dim&s. We concluded to turn aside to 
 Easheiya, which was here in sight. Leaving the fountain, 
 therefore, at 9.25, we struck across the plain S. 25° E. and at 
 
 ' Bearings from Betka in 1844: Snltan ' Fiirer von Haimendorf may have 
 
 Ya'kob 319°. Med^ikhah 293°. Wady passed this way in A. D. 1566 ; but it 
 
 Faluj 293°. Mnhaiditheh, direction about does not appear from his language ; p. 280. 
 
 250°. Narnb. 1646. 
 
 ' Comp. J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac * See below, under June 9th. 
 
 1854, p. 42 sq. » Bib! Ees. 1st edit. III. pp. 844, 346. 
 
JuOTt 1.] BASHEITA. 431 
 
 9.45 reached the bottom of the very steep ascent. Twenty min- 
 utes brought us to the top, and to the eastern part of the town. 
 It lies on the eastern end of a ridge, which here sinks down 
 at once to a narrow plateau, some eight hundred or a thousand 
 feet above the plain we had crossed. On this plateau the eastern 
 part of the town is built. The houses of the western part rise 
 to the top of the ridge, and face towards the southwest. On 
 the south of the place is a pretty valley. The palace of the 
 Emirs, a branch of the house of Shehab, is in the higher part 
 of the town.' 
 
 Rslsheiya is the chief town of the district of the upper Wady 
 et-Teim. It seems to be about half the size of Hasbeiya ; and 
 may contain some four thousand inhabitants. Its elevation 
 cannot be much (if any) less than four thousand feet above the 
 sea. It commands a vast and varied panorama of elevated 
 valleys, plains, and mountain ranges, towards the west, north, 
 and east. The whole eastern face of Lebanon is in sight from 
 the Twins of Niha to Jebel Sunnin with its snows. The western 
 side of Anti-Lebanon and the adjacent plain are not in view, 
 being intercepted by intervening ridges ; but the intermediate 
 hills and plains between the two great ranges, and the wild and 
 confused fines and peaks of inner Anti-Lebanon, are embraced 
 in the view. Jebel esh-Sheikh is near at hand. The highest 
 point, with its crown of radiant stripes, is directly south of the 
 town. We were probably nearer to it here than at any other 
 point ; yet as we were now so high, and one low ridge still inter- 
 vened between us and its base, the impression of its altitude 
 was less imposing than often before. The water south of the 
 town and from all the northwestern and northern sides of Jebel 
 esh-Sheikh, is drained off through a deep gorge southwest of 
 Easheiya into Wady et-Teim ; the main channel of which 
 passes down between Sef inch on the east and Dhuneibeh on the 
 west, and reaches the Hasbany at the great fountain. These upper 
 channels were now all dry ; but in winter a large volume of 
 water is gathered and sweeps along them. 
 
 The lower western ridge of Jebel esh-Sheikh, of which I have 
 already several times spoken, extends aU the way from this 
 northern end of that mountain near E&heiya, to the southern 
 termination of Hermon at Bani^s ; a distance of ten or eleven 
 hours, or about thirty miles. The only break in it is made by 
 the Wady Shib'a. Wady el-'Asal drains aU that part of the 
 high vaUey south of Shib'a to the Hftleh near Binids. A portion 
 further north is drained by Wady Shib'a ; and the water from 
 the remaining and most northern part passes down through the 
 gorge below Basheiya. 
 
 ' Bearings from Easheiya : Muhaiditheh N. 19° W. Kefr Kuk N. 60° E, 
 
432 FEOM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 On fhe last day of the following August, 1852, the Kev. 
 J. L. Porter of Damascus, with a party, ascended Jebel esh- 
 Sheikh from Kasheiya, and spent the night near its summit.' 
 He describes the highest point as composed of three separate 
 adjacent peaks, two on the east and one towards the west ; but 
 so near each other as from below to appear but as one summit. 
 On the southeastern of these peaks are some interesting remains. 
 Eound about a rock some fifteen feet high, are the foundations 
 of a circular wall, sixty feet in diameter, formed of stones care- 
 fully hewn, and apparently of great antiquity. In the centre 
 of it, and of the interior rock, is a rude excavation eight feet 
 deep, and open above. On the south, within the enclosure, and 
 on the very brow of the precipice, are large heaps of hewn stones, 
 some of them bevelled. Here also are the foundations of what 
 appeared to be a small temple. No columns nor inscriptions 
 were seen. The ruin is called Kul'at 'Antar. Here then was 
 probably another seat of the ancient Syrophenician worship. 
 The whole of Hermon was girded with temples. This sanctuary 
 upon its summit is mentioned by Jerome ; and the whole moun- 
 tain itself was revered as a holy place by the neighbouring Syro- 
 phenician tribes.^ 
 
 Large banks of snow were lying in the ravines around the 
 summit. In ancient times Tyre, and doubtless also Sidon, was 
 supplied in summer with snow from Hermon ; as Beirut is now 
 supplied from Jebel Sunnin.^ 
 
 Through a defect in his barometer, Mr Porter was unable to 
 determine the height of Jebel esh-Sheikh. Kussegger estimates 
 it at nine thousand feet ; which, in comparison with Sunnin and 
 the peaks above the cedars, Mr Porter regards as too low.* 
 
 From Easheiya the main road to Damascus proceeds by 
 'Aiha and Etikhleh to Katana ; and this, of all the travelled 
 roads, passes nearest under the higher parts of the mountain. 
 Another branches off to Kefr Kuk and DimS,s. Leaving Ea- 
 sheiya at 10.10, we took the former road in order to visit 'Aiha. 
 It leads across the narrow plateau, and keeps high along the 
 northern declivity of the last ridge which here lies along the base 
 of Hermon. After fifteen minutes we could look down on our 
 
 ' Mr Porter has described this excursion, ° Hieron. in Onomast. art. .Mnriom : 
 
 and the view from the mountain, in the " de quo nunc sestivse niyes Tymm ob 
 
 Bibliotheca Sacra, Jan. 1854. See espe- delicias feruntur." 
 
 oially p. 48 sq. See also above, p. 379. * Eussegger's Reisen I. pp. 717, 718. 
 
 '•" See Movers die Phonizier I. p. 668. Biblioth. Sacra. 1854, p. 54. Lynch's es- 
 
 Eusebius, in Onomast. art. ^rmon, says: timate is about 9000 feet; Narrative, p 483. 
 
 (pool 5e %n vvv 'Aep/iiiy Spos oyo/id^eir^at. On Petermann's map, 1851, it is marked 
 
 Ka\ ws hphy Tifiaff^ai inrh ray i^yuy. This at ten thousand feet ; but on what au- 
 
 Jerome thus renders : " diciturque esse in thority I do not know. It may safely be 
 
 vertiee ejus insigne templum, quod ab regarded as higher than Sunnin, 
 ethnicis cultui habetur." 
 
Junk 1.] JEBEL ESH-SHEIKH. 'AIHA, 433 
 
 left into a low, circular, pleasant plain, two miles or more in 
 diameter, shut in by mountain ridges on the north, east, and 
 south ; and in the west by a lower ridge running out N. N. E. 
 from near Kasheiya. Towards the eastern part of this fine plain 
 lies Kefr Kilk, on two low hills ; and a road to Damascus is 
 seen beyond it passing over a low place in the mountain. 
 
 We reached 'Aiha at 10.40, half an hour from Easheiya. 
 The village is still high up on the declivity of the ridge next to 
 esh-Sheikh. The road passes on by the village, and soon ascends 
 obliquely through a ravine descending from the same ridge, 
 which there bends more to the northeast. Then crossing an 
 elevated tract, with the steeps of Hermon towering on the right, 
 the road descends to Eiikhleh, where we shall again meet it. The 
 village of 'Aiha is small and mean ; but is the site of another 
 ancient temple, now utterly destroyed, and the stones mostly 
 built into the hovels of the village or buried under rubbish. The 
 stones are tolerably large, well hewn, but not bevelled. The 
 structure would seem to have been of greater dimensions than 
 that at ISTeby Sufa. 
 
 We left 'Aiha at 10.50, taking a direct road to Kefr Klik, 
 N. 20° E. We had still a steep descent into the circular plain ; 
 which we reached at 11.05. On the way down is a magnificent 
 oak tree, one of the very largest in the country, with the tomb of a 
 Muslim saint beneath it. This plain is entirely level, and has no 
 outlet for its waters ; as we ourselves could see. During the rainy 
 season, the water spreads over it and forms a lake. Indeed it is 
 said, that in winter a vast fountain bursts up from below, in the 
 northwest part of the plain, through a fissure in the rock, and 
 aids to form the lake. A similar, though smaller fountain is 
 said to issue likewise in the southeast part. As the spring 
 advances, the water subsides, and at last disappears (it is said) 
 at the same places. The land is then ploughed and sown or 
 planted with summer crops. At the bottom of the main fissure 
 a stream is always flowing, according to the testimony of those 
 who are said to have been let down into it by ropes. The people 
 here suppose, that this stream is the same with that which issues 
 at the fountain of the Hasb^ny ; and the ancient story of casting 
 chaff into lake Phiala is still current in respect to this chasm and 
 fountain. When the winter rains are abundant, the lake is 
 many feet deep ; as we could see by the water-marks upon the 
 rocks and along the margin. There have also been seasons, 
 when the lake did not dry up during the whole summer. If, on 
 the other hand, little rain falls, the lake is low, and sometimes 
 does not rise at all. Such had been the case the present season. 
 There are several similar, though smaller depressions in Anti- 
 Lebanon ; from which the water has no outlet, but gradually 
 
 Vol. m.— 37 
 
434 FROM HASBEIYA TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 [Sec. X. 
 
 dries away or sinks into the earth. One of these is near Deir el- 
 'Ashfi,yir, to which we came at evening. 
 
 This plain is elevated three thousand five hundred English 
 feet above the sea, as determined by the Eev. Mr Porter ; the 
 elevation being a hundred feet less than that of the plain of 
 Zebedany.' It is pretty ; but did not seem particularly fertile. 
 We came at 11.20 to the southeastern orifice, whence the water is 
 said to issue. It was a round cavity, some fifteen feet in diam- 
 eter, and eight or ten feet deep, with no appearance of water at 
 the bottom. 
 
 We reached the large village of Kefr Klik, situated on two hUls, 
 at 11.45 ; nearly an hour from 'Aiha. We passed through the 
 village on the northern hUl, where we noticed several columns in 
 difierent parts, and a mutilated G-reek inscription on a door post, 
 which Mr Thomson afterwards copied. We also heard of two 
 or three others. These remains prove the antiquity of the place. 
 We kept on by the public fountain and large reservoir, which 
 also exhibits traces of antiquity ; and stopped for lunch under 
 some large walnut trees beyond. — Rasheiya is here seen lying 
 high among the mountain ridges overlooking the plain, and on 
 the eastern end or bluff of the ridge next but one to the base of 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh. The snows of the summit were here visible, 
 seen over that last ridge, and appearing near, but not particu- 
 larly elevated.^ 
 
 From Kefr Kuk two roads lead to Damascus, both of them 
 by way of Dimas. One crosses the mountain towards the 
 northeast, and joins the road leading by Bekka and Ytinta. 
 The other lies more to the south, ascending the steep ridge east 
 of the village, and then proceeding by way of Deir el-'Ashayir 
 to Dimfi,s. We chose the latter road, and took a guide from the 
 village. Setting off at 2 o'clock, we began after ten minutes to 
 climb the steep ascent, on a general course E. N. E. 
 
 We reached the top at 2.35, and continued the same course 
 across the high broken plateau, full of low rocky hills and ridges. 
 The last ridge between us and Hermon was still on our right ; 
 and we were tending obliquely towards it. The road by 'Aiha 
 had already crossed it, and passes along on its southeastern 
 side. Here we met a Druze horseman, who informed us, that 
 twenty D razes had stationed themselves on the road below 
 Eukhleh, and were plundering all who passed that way ; they 
 had wounded a man yesterday, and robbed three to day. As all 
 this did not interfere with our plans, we kept on, after a stop of 
 ten minutes ; and heard no more of robbers. 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. 44. W. dist. 2 m. Rasheiya S. 60° W. 3 m. 
 
 ' Bearings at Kefr Kuk : 'Aiha S. 20° Northern Damascus road N. 45° E. 
 
Jdnb 1.] KEFK KUK. RUKHLEH. 435 
 
 At 3.10 we struck the foot of the ridge on our right. Here 
 was a depression, the ground sinking so as to form a little basin 
 with no outlet, except perhaps a fissure in the ground. It 
 appeared as if often covered with water. At 3.20 there was a 
 very marked water-shed, almost like a wall built across the head 
 of a valley ; and east of it all the waters go to the plain of 
 Damascus, where they are absorbed. From this point the 
 descent about E. N. E. was very rapid ; and the Wady soon 
 widens to a narrow desert plain. In this plain were traces of a 
 Roman road for a considerable distance ; showing this to 
 have been anciently a pass between Damascus and Wady et- 
 Teim. 
 
 We kept on down the valley till 3.45, when it turned north- 
 east and we sent on our muleteers along it directly to Deir el- 
 'Ashayir, an hour distant, there to await our arrival. We now 
 struck up over the ridge on our right steeply and sharply ; again 
 descended and followed up a shallow Wady about S. S. E. to its 
 head ; and then went down another in the same direction tiU 
 4.15, when we struck at right angles the Damascus road coming 
 from 'Aiha and Rasheiya. Turning up this road W. S. W. for 
 five minutes, we came to Ettkhleh and its ruined temple, after 
 passing two sarcophagi by the way side. 
 
 The place is situated in the bosom of the mountains ; and 
 one looks up the vast gorge southwesterly into the very recesses 
 of Jebel esh-Sheikh. Towards the east all prospect is cut off by 
 a lower ridge thrown off northeast from the eastern point of the 
 high mountain. A deep and winding gorge passes down south- 
 east through this ridge ; but it does not afford even a glimpse of 
 the great eastern plain. A fountain at Eukhleh gives fertility 
 and verdure to this wild recess. 
 
 The temple is on the eastern quarter. It was larger, more 
 massive, and yet simpler, than any I had yet seen, indicating 
 perhaps a higher antiquity. Its massive walls and noble col- 
 umns have been wholly overthrown ; and the huge blocks of 
 stone lie scattered around in utter confusion. The front was 
 westwards, towards the snows of Hermon. Here was a middle 
 portal, with smaller side doors. At the eastern end was a semi- 
 circular projection, like that in Greek churches. From this, on 
 the inside, a double row of columns with Ionic capitals extended 
 through the body of the temple to the entrance. The stones 
 were large, and well wrought ; and everything, though simple, 
 had the appearance of careful finish. The two stones spoken of 
 by Burckhardt, lying near the gate, and having upon them the 
 figure of a bird with expanded wings, we did not notice. The 
 following are the dimensions as measured by us : 
 

 Feet In. 
 
 82 8 
 
 
 57 
 
 
 19 4 
 
 
 21 8 
 
 _ 
 
 102 
 
 
 18 1 
 
 _ 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 436 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sso. X, 
 
 Body of the temple, length 
 
 " " breadth 
 
 Semicircular projection, depth 
 " " chord 
 
 Whole length of temple . 
 Columns, length of shaft . 
 " capital, height . 
 
 " diameter of shaft 
 
 This temple has one pecuKarity, which has not as yet been 
 brought to notice in any other. On the outside of the southern 
 wall, near the southeast corner, and just above the ground, is a 
 large block of stone six feet square, having sculptured upon it 
 an ornament hke a huge medallion. It consists of an external 
 circle or ornamented border in relief, five feet in diameter ; 
 an inner circle or border in higher relief is four feet in diameter. 
 Within these is a finely carved front view of a human counte- 
 nance, in still bolder relief. The length of the face from the 
 chin to the top of the hair is three feet four inches ; the width 
 two feet four inches. The features have been purposely dis- 
 figured, but are still distinct and pleasing. At the first glance 
 it seemed as if intended for the sun ; but the border does not 
 represent rays. It may have been a Baal worshipped in the 
 temple. 
 
 On a knoll northeast of these ruins was another very small 
 temple, now wholly overthrown and prostrate.' 
 
 Although Eukhleh thus lies upon the great road between Ed- 
 sheiya and Damascus, few travellers have noticed its antiquities. 
 Seetzen passed this way and mentions the ruins ; but evidently 
 did not examine them.*" Burckhardt visited them on an excur- 
 sion from Damascus.' Richardson was here ; but his account is 
 quite imperfect.* 
 
 We would gladly have proceeded to Burkush, an hour or 
 more southwest of Eukhleh, high on the side of Hermon ; 
 where are the remains of another similar temple, and the ruins 
 of a castle on a high point of the mountain. They have been 
 described only by Burckhardt.' The day, however, was closing ; 
 and we had to turn our steps towards Deir el-'Ashayir. 
 
 Leaving Eukhleh at 4.45, we went back upon the Damascus 
 road for eight or ten minutes, and then turned on a general 
 course nearly north. Here for a time we were in a wild and 
 desolate tract ; on our right was a very rocky ridge, shutting 
 
 ' Burckhardt speaks of another edifice, ' Keisen I. 316. 
 
 ■with many small broken columns, a few ' Travels in Syria, p. 49. 
 
 hundred paces to the south ; p. 49. Our * Travels, 11. p. 456. 
 
 guide also spoke of another temple some ' Travels in Syr. p. 50. 
 ways down the valley. 
 
JintEl.] EUKHLEH. DEIR EL-'ASHATIR. 437 
 
 out all view towards the east ; and on our left were the broken 
 ridges and hills, among which we had been travelling. At 5.15 
 we began to descend rapidly along a narrow valley running 
 north, fuU of pretty purple flowers. It was a wild mountain 
 path, known to our guide, but very rarely traversed. In this 
 part we thought we saw some traces of an ancient road passing 
 down the vaUey. Below the steep descent the narrow valley 
 opened out into a pretty plain extending from south to north, 
 and shut in by mountains on each side. 
 
 Here, being still high, we had at 5.30 a view towards the 
 north over the whole plateau and plain of Zebediny ; towards 
 which we were now descending. On the left, in the distance, 
 was Jebel Zebedany so called ; and on the right the mountains 
 of Bltiddn, the highest part of Anti-Lebanon ; with the beauti- 
 ful recess or plain running up between. Nearer at hand the 
 plateau was rolling and broken ; it slopes gently eastward with 
 low ridges in it, and is crossed by deep valleys. It was still 
 green and beautiful, retaining in part the verdure of spring. 
 
 We kept on north along the plain, between the high rocky 
 ridges on each side. At 6 o'clock we turned northeast, around 
 the shoulder of the eastern ridge, which here bends off for a 
 time, and then turns north again, enclosing a wider and more 
 rolling tract. We came at 6.30 to Deir el-'Ashdyir, situated on 
 the eastern slope of a higher part of the open tract ; having a 
 lower plain towards the east, and a small lake with no outlet 
 just at the foot of the eastern mountain. The position is a fine 
 one, surrounded by fertility ; but not another village is any where 
 in sight. We encamped near a fountain, on grass still green. 
 The few inhabitants are Druzes and Christians ; and have rather 
 a bad character. They did not, however, molest us. 
 
 Here again are the ruins of a large and once splendid temple, 
 fronting towards the east, and differing in some respects from 
 any we had yet seen. It stands upon an elevated platform of 
 masonry, extending from the building twenty-four feet and a 
 half in front, about twelve feet on the other three sides, and 
 varying in height according to the ground. The platform itself 
 is ornamented with a cornice around its upper part, and a similar 
 one inverted lower down. The stones of the temple are not 
 bevelled. At the comers were pilasters with Ionic capitals. 
 There would seem to have been no columns in front of the por- 
 tico ; at least none are now found. The walls are mostly stand- 
 ing, though some portions are broken down ; so that some of 
 the pilasters at the corners now stand out alone. The colour of 
 the stone is darker than elsewhere, and the work less sharp and 
 delicate than in the other temples. There was an entrance under 
 the platform at the east end, where it is nearly twenty feet high ; 
 
 Vol. III.— 37* 
 
438 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 over which lies a large stone as a lintel. Our measurements 
 were as follows : 
 
 
 Feet 
 
 la 
 
 Platform, length . 
 
 126 
 
 
 " breadth 
 
 69 
 
 
 Temple, whole length inside 
 
 88 
 
 9 
 
 " , " breadth inside 
 
 35 
 
 3 
 
 Altar recess, length" 
 
 27 
 
 8 
 
 Body, from altar to portico 
 
 46 
 
 7 
 
 Portico, including back wall of 3 feet 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 Large stone as lintel, length 
 
 12 
 
 5. 
 
 " " breadth 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 " « thickness . 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 Height of the wall, estimated 
 
 54 
 
 
 Just southeast of the temple, and on the same general slope 
 or terrace of ground, are other extensive ruins of apparently 
 similar character and age. They are however so thoroughly 
 thrown down, and scattered, and huilt upon by the houses of the 
 village, that it is very difficult to make them out. Several short 
 columns are here seen in different parts. The idea suggests 
 itself, that possibly this may have been an extensive court con- 
 nected with the temple above ; or perhaps here stood another 
 larger temple. The former supposition seems to me the more 
 probable. The stones in this part are large, well cut, and laid 
 up without cement. 
 
 I have said above, that " the whole of Hermon was girded 
 with temples." ' We had now visited the Panium at Banias ; 
 the rude fragments at Kul'at Bustra ; the stately remains at 
 Hibbariyeh, Neby Sufa, 'Aiha, Eukhleh, and Deir el-'Ashfi.yir ; 
 and there have likewise been mentioned the ruins at Bekka and 
 Burkush. Mr Thomson had heard of like remains at 'Ain 'Ata, 
 'Ain Hershy, and several other places. These all lie directly 
 upon and around Hermon. The Buka'a and its borders are full 
 of hke edifices ; to say nothing of the crowning glory of the 
 temples at Ba'albek. Who were the founders of all these costly 
 and magnificent structures ? 
 
 Wednesday, June 2nd. — This morning Mr Thomson left me 
 to proceed with John Wortabet to Damascus, while he returned 
 with his servant by the direct road to Hisbeiya ; a long day's 
 ride, which he accomplished in ten hours. In the wildest part 
 of the mountain he was met by two marauders of the Beit el- 
 Kantar. Ascertaining who he was, they let him pass, and even 
 offered to turn back and guard him through the mountains. 
 They were armed to the teeth ; and were returning from an 
 attack upon Kur'un in the southern part of the Bflka'a. Mr 
 Thomson was happy to dispense with their company, and reached 
 
 • See above, p. 432. 
 
Jmra:2.] DEIB EL-'ASHATIK. DIMAS. 439 
 
 Hasbeiya in safety ; although a division of the same gang of 
 robbers were plundering along the road from Easheiya to His- 
 beiya, and almost to the very entrance of the latter place itself. 
 
 As Mr Thomson departed towards the west, we set our faces 
 towards the east ; and leaving Deir el-'AshSyir at 7.10, we 
 descended into the lower plain, with its little lake on our right. 
 This has no outlet, and was said to dry up later in the season. 
 Our general course was E. N. B. At 7.35 we came to the north- 
 west shoulder of the mountain, which here sinks down in a bluff 
 over the lake. Here was a low water-shed ; and then we 
 entered a shallow open valley with rolling hills on each side. 
 About 8 o'clock the road from Jubb Jenin and Bekka joined ours 
 from the left ; and then at 8.10 came in also the usual road from 
 Beirlit descending from a hill on the left. Here at the junction 
 of these roads is a fine fountain in the valley, called 'Ain Meithe- 
 Itin ; and near by are the foundations of a large ruined Khdn. 
 The Wady likewise bears the same name below. Our course 
 now became E. by S. As we advanced, the Wady grew narrower 
 and deeper, and the sides high and rocky, forming a mountain 
 pass, along which the brook from the fountain continued to flow. 
 Afterwards the country became undulating and hilly. At 8.50 
 the Wady and brook made a circiut towards the right ; while we 
 ascended obliquely the left slope, and winding around and up 
 the south side of a hill, reached Dimas at 9 o'clock. It is a 
 large village lying high up on the southeastern side of the hUl ; 
 and is a usual stopping place for travellers and caravans. In the 
 upper part of the village is a long vault with a round arch, built 
 of large stones, and seemingly ancient. 
 
 We had now passed over and through the broad elevated 
 tract, which here connects the mountain ridges on the south and 
 east of Deir el-'Ashayir with the loftier range of Bludan in the 
 north ; thus forming the ridge which separates the plateau of 
 Deir el-'AshSyir and ZebedSny from the next lower plateau on 
 the eastern declivity of Anti-Lebanon. 
 
 This next lower pl^eau, which was now before us, had 
 evidently a great slope towards the east ; and was at first un- 
 even and rolling. At 9.15, going still E. by S. there was a fork 
 of the road, and we took the left around a hUl, in order to avoid 
 a very steep descent on the other branch. At 9.35 we again 
 struck Wady Meithelun and its brook, and crossed to its right 
 side. It was here running northeast ; and continues in that 
 direction to join the Barada near Judeideh. Ascending now 
 long and gradually, we came out at 9.50 upon the great desert 
 plain of es-Sahra, here three thousand four hundred feet above 
 the sea, according to Mr Porter. It is indeed a desert, wholly 
 barren and uncultivated. It extends up southwest to the very 
 
440 FROM HASBEITA TO DAMASCUS. [Sec. X. 
 
 base of Jebel esh-Sheikli ; and is shut in on the southeast by 
 another line of hills, or ridge, that of Dummar and Silihiyeh, 
 which comes down from the end (or rather from under the end) 
 of esh-Sheikh itself The desert plain also extends northeast for 
 a long distance beyond the Barada ; the chasm of the latter 
 being bordered with hills. Far in the north and northeast, 
 beyond the vaUey of Helbon, a mountain range appeared to run 
 down from west to east, with picturesque forms.' 
 
 Our course across the Sahra was about S. E. by E. Soon 
 after entering upon it, at one hour from Dim&.s, the road forks. 
 The left leads to the Barada and the bridge of Dummar, and 
 crosses the ridge back of Salihiyeh, commanding the view of the 
 plain of Damascus, which is so celebrated. We had intended 
 to follow this road ; but our muleteers, who alone were ac- 
 quainted with the region, either through misunderstanding or 
 mulishness, took the other path ; and when we discovered the 
 mistake, it was too late to rectify it. Desolate and dreary as 
 possible was the way for an hour and .a half The Barada with 
 its sweet valley was not far off on our left ; but no trace of it 
 was visible. Hardly a tree or shrub appeared, on mountain, 
 hill, or plain. Far on the right, in the desert plain not far from 
 the next range of hills, was the miserable hamlet of Stibburah, 
 bearing from the fork S. 61° W. directly towards the snows of 
 Hermon. No other village was in sight ; and all was indeed a 
 desert. 
 
 At 10.45 there was on our right a small brook winding 
 through the plain. We descended at 10.55 to its bed, where 
 bursts forth a large and fine fountain, called Neba' el-'Arrad. 
 Its flow is said to be periodical, it being at some seasons entirely 
 dry. Near by are the foundations of a ruined Khan, bearing 
 the same name. The stream winds off northeast to the Barada 
 near el-Hamy, and takes the name of Wady Ya'fiir ; having in 
 it a still larger fountain further down, and its borders covered 
 with poplars. 
 
 Beyond the fountain the Sahra becomes a rolling tract of des- 
 ert hills. At 11.15 we came upon the head of a deep valley run- 
 ning down northeast to the Barada west of Dummar. The river 
 was now not distant ; and we could see the trees along its course. 
 Passing to the right around the head of the valley, we came at 
 11.35 to the top of the ridge beyond, through which the river 
 breaks. Before us lay another parallel ridge, with a deep valley 
 between ; the two ridges being merely a fork in the one main 
 ridge. After a steep descent and long ascent, we reached the 
 top of the latter ridge at 12.15 ; and here Damascus and its 
 magnificent plain began to come in sight. Here was a fork of 
 
 ' See more on the Sahra, under .June 7th. 
 
JDim2.] THE SAHBA. EL-MEZZEH. 441 
 
 the road ; we kept on east, and descended considerably, till at 
 12.25, from a projecting point, there was a noble view of the 
 vast plain with its immense groves of fruit and other trees, and 
 of the city almost hidden by their foliage. But the view from 
 the Wely back of Salihiyeh is still more magnificent. The air 
 was hazy ; and the distant lakes were not visible. A long and 
 steep descent now brought us at 1 o'clock to the village of 
 Mezzeh,' at the foot of the naked and arid limestone ridge, and 
 also just at the mouth of the deep, precipitous, jagged, and very- 
 narrow chasm, by which the Barada issues upon the plain. This 
 chasm is very striking ; it is broken straight down ; and the 
 strata are very much dislocated. — Here we stopped for lunch, in 
 a garden of tall fruit trees, by the side of the first canal taken 
 from the river on the south. 
 
 We were now at the eastern base of Anti-Lebanon, having 
 traversed all the ridges and plateaus of its southern portion. 
 The basin around Kefr Kuk, although without outlet, and 
 although nearly as high as the plain of Zebedany, seems 
 decidedly to belong to the western declivity of the mountain. 
 The high water-shed which we crossed further east, runs on 
 northeast through the elevated tract around Yuntah, and forms 
 at length the Jebel Zebedany. This latter separates the plain 
 of Zebedany from the desert basin of Judeideh on the west ; 
 this last corresponding in position to the basin of Kefr Kuk, 
 but higher, and drained eastward through the ridge by the Wady 
 el-KCirn. North of Rukhleh we struck and followed down the 
 fork which cleaves the ridges, that further north border the 
 plateau of Deir el-'Ashayir and Zebedany. Passing through the 
 next ridge we came to Dimas and the broad Sahra ; and now 
 the descent of the last ridge of SaHhiyeh had brought us to the 
 margin of the great plain. North of the Barada, as we shall 
 see, the division is less regular ; and especially the ridge sepa- 
 rating the plateau of Zebediny from the Sahra spreads out into 
 a broad mountainous tract. 
 
 Setting off from el-Mezzeh at 2.05, we went directly east 
 towards the city, through the immense groves of every species 
 of fruit trees which cover the plain. The avenues leading to 
 the city are tolerably wide, and everywhere shut in by mud 
 walls five or six feet high. These walls are constructed of large 
 masses of earth compacted, like unbumt brick, two feet or more 
 square, resembling the adobes of Mexico. These are made 
 upon the spot which each is to occupy, by placing a wooden 
 frame, filling it firmly with earth rammed hard, and then 
 removing the frame. These walls usually last several years. 
 
 ' This village is mentioned by Edrisi ; L p. 350, ei Jaubert. 
 
442 DAMASCUS. 
 
 [Sec. X. 
 
 "Water is carried everywhere, along the roads and through the 
 fields. Between Mezzeh and the city we crossed three canals 
 from the Barada, and there is a fourth on this side ; those on 
 the north side are larger. Everything indicated our approach 
 to a great city. 
 
 We came at 2.40 to one of the southwestern gates, Bab es- 
 Surijy. Here were no custom house officers. We entered and 
 wound our way along narrow streets and lanes through the city 
 to the Christian quarter ; which occupies the whole eastern part. 
 We were all strangers, and inquired for the house of Dr 
 Paulding, whom I had known in Beirut ; hut meeting an ac- 
 quaintance of our Hasbeiyans in the street, he informed us, 
 that the matter was all arranged ; and that we were to go to the 
 house of the Rev. Mr Eobson, who was expecting to accompany 
 me on my further journey. This was welcome intelligence. At 
 3.10 we dismounted at Mr Eobson's door ; and in his widowed 
 dwelling I found a welcome home during my brief sojourn in 
 Damascus. 
 
 The city was now occupied, as a Protestant missionary field, 
 by missionaries of the Irish Presbyterian Church, and of the 
 Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States. 
 From the former were the Kev. Messrs Eobson and Porter ; and 
 from the latter, Eev. Messrs Bamett, Fraser, Lansing, and Dr 
 Paulding as physician. They were acting in entire concord, 
 and as one mission, in everything, except in their relations to 
 the societies at home. Mr Eobson was the earliest resident, 
 having been here during eight years. He and Mr Porter were 
 both at home. Most of the Americans had gone to prepare 
 their summer residence at Bludan, a village lying high up on the 
 lofty ridge east of Zebedany, and overlooking that fine plain. 
 But Dr Paulding returned on Saturday ; and I had the pleasure 
 of intercourse with him and Mr Eraser. 
 
 I remained in Damascus until the following Monday morn- 
 ing, four days. During this interval, Messrs Eobson and Porter 
 were unwearied in their kind offices ; and conducted me to the 
 various points of interest within and without the city. The first 
 day, Thursday, was mainly spent in writing letters, and in rest, 
 of which I still had great need. On Friday we took a long walk 
 through the interior of the city, and examined its antiquities 
 and other objects of curiosity. On Saturday, Mr Porter rode 
 with me around the city on the outside ; and also through some 
 of the streets which I had not yet seen. 
 
 The usual religious services were held on Sunday, in the large 
 room of Dr Paulding's house, which had been fitted up, and 
 formed a commodious mission chapel. In the forenoon there was 
 a service in Arabic at 8 o'clock by Mr Wortabet j one in English 
 
SsaX.] INCIDENTS. THE PLAIN. 443 
 
 at 11 o'clock by Mr Eraser; and another at 4 o'clocli: in the 
 afternoon by Mr Kobson. The number in attendance was from 
 twenty-five to thirty. I took tea and passed the evening with 
 Dr Paulding and his very intelligent family. 
 
 On Saturday I also had the pleasure of calling on Dr 
 Meshaka, the very active and intelligent native physician, whose 
 name has become widely known in connection with the Protest- 
 ant movement. He wields a ready and powerful pen ; and his 
 writings are doing much in preparing the way for the spread of 
 Gospel truth. He knows only the Arabic language ; his mind 
 seems ever at work ; and he spoke fluently on a variety of topics 
 quite unusual for an oriental. 
 
 Another literary person, of a different stamp, whom I met at 
 Mr Eobson's, was Anton Bulad, a learned Greek monk, passion- 
 ately devoted to the topography and statistics of Damascus and 
 its environs. He had taken the trouble to copy out with his 
 own hand all the lists of Arabic names in the appendix to the 
 first edition of the Biblical Kesearches ; and had likewise pro- 
 cured for Mr Porter lists of the villages around Damascus and 
 throughout the plain. 
 
 Learning, however, is in general at a low ebb among the 
 Damascenes of the present day ; although the city has been 
 formerly renowned as the home of many distinguished Arabian 
 writers and scholars.' 
 
 DAMASCUS. 
 
 A full account of the topography and history of this an- 
 cient city, would of itself require a volume. During my brief 
 sojourn, I could of course receive only general impressions ; and 
 these are all that I can now communicate to the reader. My 
 purpose is to relate only what I saw myself, or learned on good 
 authority. 
 
 The Plain. — Boundaries. — We have seen above, that the 
 last and lowest ridge of Anti-Lebanon towards the east, has its 
 beginning under the eastern end of Jebel esh-Sheikh itself.' It 
 runs on in a general course northeast, a naked limestone ridge, and 
 is broken through at Mezzeh by the chasm of the Barada ; and 
 at Burzeh, two hours further northeast, by the lesser chasm of a 
 Wady coming down from Menin and Helbon. The ridge takes 
 
 ' Bo w'ring reports, that he could not find 270. — Of conrse Tolumes can now only 
 
 a bookseller in Damascus or Aleppo ; nor be purchased from the private owners ; 
 
 could a scribe now get his living by copy- comp Seetzen, ibid. In this way the mis- 
 
 ing manuscripts ; Report p. 109. Seetzen sionaries are able, occasionally, to pick up 
 
 found three Muslim booksellers ; of whom rare and valuable manuscripts. 
 
 two were also bookbinders ; Reisen I. p. ' See above, p. 440. 
 
444 DAMASCUS. [Sko. X. 
 
 different names in different parts. South of the chasm of the 
 Barada it is called KalabSt el-Mezzeh ; between that chasm and 
 the one at Burzeh it is known as Jebel Kasyun ; ' farther north 
 it has the name of Jebel Kalamtin, as far as to the lofty project- 
 ing pyramid of Jebel Tiniyeh ; beyond which the ridge bends 
 E. N. E. and stretches off eastward to the desert near Palmyra.' 
 This long ridge everywhere forms the western and northern 
 boundary of the great plain of Damascus. 
 
 North of the chasm of the Barada, the middle portion of Jebel 
 Kasyun rises' to a loftier point, about sixteen hundred feet above 
 the plain, crowned by a Wely, and commanding a very extensive 
 prospect.^ About a mile southeast from the base of this high 
 point, and a mile and a half east of where the Barady issues 
 from its chasm, runs the western wall of the city of Damascus ; 
 all the city, except a small portion, lying on the south cf the 
 river. Directly at the base of Jebel Kasyiln extends the long 
 village of Salihiyeh. — From the city the icy crown of Jebel esh- 
 Shoikh is seen, far overtopping all the ridges of Anti-Lebanon, 
 and bearing S. 8.5° W. 
 
 Looking southwest towards the high portion of the plain 
 around the eastern foot of Jebel esh-Sheikh, a line of low hills is 
 seen commencing there and running off eastward. They become 
 higher as they advance ; and terminate as a range of low moun- 
 tains at Nejha, from two to three hours southeast of Damascus. 
 This range is called Jebel el-Aswad, and forms the southern 
 boundary of the plain. Its greatest elevation above the plain 
 does not exceed five hundred feet.* Beyond this hue of hills 
 lies the valley of the river A'waj, skirted on the south by the 
 more elevated range of Jebel Mani'a ; the highest peaks of which 
 lie eastward of Kesweh, and are seen extending to the left 
 beyond those of Jebel el-Aswad. On the left of all these 
 mountains, the view stretches over an unbroken plain of vast 
 extent, quite to the mountains of Hauran, which are dimly seen 
 upon the horizon. 
 
 ■ So called also hj Abulfeda ; Tab. Syr. gives the distances on the Palmyra road as 
 
 ed. Kohler, pp. 100, 164. Is this perhaps follows: From the base of Jebel Tiniyeh 
 
 an ancient Mo-ns Casius ? northeast to Jerud, 3^ hours ; thence to 
 
 ' The great northern road to Hums, Kuryetein 11 hours; thence to Palmyra 
 
 Hamah, and Aleppo, crosses this ridge just IS^- hours. 
 
 at the northeastern base of Jebel Tiniyeh. ' This is not the point of view so justly 
 
 Beyond are several other similar ridges celebrated by travellers. The latter is at a 
 
 running out from Anti-Lebanon into the less elevated Wely, on the south end of 
 
 eastern desert. At Kutaifeb, beyond the Jebel Kasyun, on the very brink of the 
 
 first ridge, 5^ hours from Damascus, the chasm. — Abulfeda mentions Jebel Kasyun; 
 
 road branches off to Palmyra, and lies the and speaks also of the Muhammedau le- 
 
 whole distance along a broad plain skirted gend, that there Cain slew Abel ; Tab. Syr. 
 
 by ranges of hills. See J. L. Porter in ed. Kohler, p. 100. 
 
 Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, pp. 444, 449, 450, ■* J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sao. 1854, 
 
 681 sq. — In a manuscript note, Mr Porter j». 343. 
 
Sec. X] THE PLAIN. — DIVISIONS. 445 
 
 On the east, the plain of Damascus extends to the three 
 lakes towards which the waters of the Barada and A'waj flow ; 
 and of which I shall speak hereafter. Beyond the lakes the 
 plain spreads out again for three or four hours ; or rather slopes 
 up gradually to the base of a range of conical hills extending three 
 or four hours from north to south, and called et-TeUul (the 
 Tells), or also Jebel Aghar. The central and highest of these 
 conical peaks is called Tell Dukweh. As seen from Damascus 
 they bound the horizon. From the southern extremity of the 
 Tellul, a vast plain stretches away to Jebel Haur^n. On the 
 north, too, a plain extends eastward as far as the eye can reach.' 
 
 Divisions. — The distance from Damascus to the lakes is reck- 
 oned at six hours, or about twenty miles from Silihiyeh. The 
 greatest breadth of the plain from north to south is about seven 
 hours ; but it becomes narrow towards the southwest. Such are 
 the general dimensions of the plain of Damascus. It is divided 
 into five districts. The Ghtitah comprises the western portion, in- 
 cluding the city, and reaching about two hours fiirther east. On 
 the south it extends only to a line drawn about E. by S. from 
 the southern extremity of the Meidin. It is divided by the 
 Barada into the North and South Ghtitah. East of this is the 
 Merj, reaching to the lakes, and running down somewhat further 
 South than the Ghutah. It is in like manner divided by the 
 Barada into the North and South Merj. AU the southern por- 
 tions of the plain, between these districts and Jebel el-Aswad, 
 as also the valley of the A'waj, are comprised in the district 
 called Wady el-'Ajam. Beyond this latter are the district of 
 Haurin in the southeast, and Jeidtir, the ancient Iturea, in the 
 south. 
 
 The number of villages in these districts, with their popula- 
 tion, as taken from the government books, is as follows. But 
 the estimate of the population is regarded by the missionaries, as 
 being at least twenty per cent, below the truth. 
 
 North Ghutah 
 South Ghutah 
 North Merj . 
 South Merj . 
 Wadj el-'Ajam' . 
 
 VillBgei 
 '. 11 
 
 23 
 30 
 51 
 
 PopnlaHon. 
 16,806 
 
 2,370 
 
 4,176 
 
 6,170 
 
 18,178 
 
 Total ... 134 . . 47,700 
 
 This is exclusive of the population of the city itself. 
 
 Tells. — The surface of the plain is level throughout. Here 
 and there are scattered a number of small TeUs or mounds in 
 
 * J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac. 1854, p. ' Including, I suppose, the valley of tbe 
 333 sq. 338, 451. AVaj. 
 
 Vol. III.— 38 
 
446 
 
 DAMASCUS. [Skc. X 
 
 various parts. Most of them are probably the heaped up remains 
 of former villages ; the mud-built dwellings of wMch have 
 successively crumbled away, and others of fresh materials been 
 built up in their stead ; by which process a mound has in time 
 accumulated, as in the case of the villages of Egypt. Some of 
 these Tells are perhaps artificial, the work of a people of a 
 former age. That of Salihiyeh, three and a half hours east of 
 the city, is one of the largest in the plain. Beside it Mr Porter 
 found a slab of limestone with an Assyrian bas-relief upon it ; 
 and at a spot where the waters of the Barada have carried away 
 a portion of its side, layers of sun-dried bricks are stUl visible.' 
 
 Soil. — The soil of the plain of Damascus is a rich sandy 
 loam. The substratum is conglomerate, composed of smooth 
 rounded pebbles and flints, with sand. A considerable portiuu 
 of Wady el-'Ajam is volcanic rock, hard and black. Jebel el- 
 Aswad is almost wholly so. The limestone of the higher dis- 
 tricts of Anti-Lebanon is compact ; and, when struck, has a 
 metallic ring. Near Damascus, it is white and soft. In the 
 soft rock of Jebel Kasyun are fine ammonites. 
 
 Sivers and Fountains. — The main source of the beauty 
 and fertility of the plain of Damascus, is the river Barada, the 
 Chrysorrhoas of the ancients. It rises in the high plain south of 
 Zebedany on Anti-Lebanon, where I afterwards visited its foun- 
 tains ; and rushes in a southeasterly course down the mountain, 
 till it issues at Mezzeh from its chasm upon the plain. Here it 
 turns eastward, and flowing along the north wall of the city, 
 takes its way across the plain to the two northern lakes. It is 
 difiicult to estimate the quantity of water brought down by this 
 river to the plain ; but it is very great. It is a deep, broad, 
 rushing, mountain stream ; and although not less than nine or 
 ten branches are taken from it, some of them quite large, for the 
 supply of the city and the plain, yet it still flows on as a large 
 stream, and enters the middle lake by two channels. The water 
 is limpid and beautifiil. 
 
 The two largest .canals are on the north side, the Tezid and 
 the Taurah ; the former taken out above Dummar near el- 
 Hamy, and the latter a little below Dummar ; and both brought 
 along side by side through the narrow chasm. The Yezid sup- 
 plies Salihiyeh and the fields of two or three other villages on 
 the north of the city. The Taurah is the largest branch of all ; 
 is carried below Salihiyeh ; and waters an extensive tract on 
 both sides of the great northern road, as far as to 'Adrah, four 
 and a half hours from the city. There it turns southeast, and 
 goes to the northern lake.' A third smaller canal on the north 
 
 » Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, p. 679. Jonm. ' Biblioth. Sac 1854, p. 455. 
 of Sac. Lit. Jan. 1855, p. 469. 
 
Sec. X.] THE PLAIN. — RIVEKS. 447 
 
 tegins just east of the city, and fumisliea a supply for several 
 villages. 
 
 On the south side are several smaller canals ; one taken out 
 above Dummar ; another helow that village ; and a third in the 
 chasm. The first two are carried to villages in the plain ; while 
 the third supplies the gardens in that quarter, and also the south- 
 ern portion of the city. A fourth canal, the Bani^s, is the 
 largest on this side ; it begins not far above the city, and fur- 
 nishes the main supply of water for the inhabitants. A fifth, 
 the 'Akrabany, is also carried through the city to the village of 
 'Akraba ; and a sixth is taken out just below the city, and sup- 
 plies several villages further east. Still further down the river, 
 several other canals are led off to water the lower parts of the 
 Ghutah and the Merj.' 
 
 This river, as I have already said, is the Ohrysorrhoas of the 
 ancients. Pliny speaks of it as the source of fertility to Da- 
 mascus ; =• and Strabo describes it as almost exhausted by its 
 canals.^ In the fifth century Stephen of Byzantium calls it 
 Sardines; implying that the name Barada was already current 
 among the -people.* Of the two rivers of Damascus mentioned 
 in Scripture, the Amana (or Abana) and the Pharpar, the 
 Barada is probably the Amana ; ' siace the largest and more 
 important stream would naturally be named first ; and because 
 too a part of Anti-Lebanon adjacent to Hermon is likewise 
 called Amana, corresponding to the portion of the mountain 
 where the Barada has its sources." 
 
 The second river, the Pharpar, would then be the A'waj ; ' 
 which indeed is the only other independent stream of any size 
 within the territory of Damascus. It is formed by the junction 
 of several smaller streams at or near Sa'sa'. One of these comes 
 from the fountain near Beit Jenn on the way from Sa'sa' to 
 Banias ; and receives further down a branch coming from the 
 great fountain at Menbej.' Another and larger branch has its 
 
 ' The same names of most of the canals iif<riyeios, Svep^fv toivliciis, ircpl riy Bap- 
 axe given by Ibn el-Wardi in the fourteenth Styriv voTa/i.6i'. Cellarins suggests a doubt 
 century ; see App. to Abulfed. Tab. Syr. as to the genuineness of the text ; Notit. 
 ed. Kohler, p. 174 sq. — Edrisi in the Orb. II. p. 373. But see Vitriugo on Isa. 
 twelfth centmy has among others the c. 17, init. iv. 
 
 names Berid (Yezid), Burah ('laurah), ' 2 K. 6, 12. The reading of the He- 
 
 Kaniit el-Marah (el-Mezzeh), Banas. But brew in Keri is Amana, which stands also 
 
 it will he seen, that these variations (ex- in the margin of the English version. This 
 
 cept the last) arise from a mere change in is doubtless the better reading. 
 
 the dots attached to the Arabic letters; ° Cant i, 8. — See generally, Biblioth. 
 
 Edrisi par Jaubert, I. p 350. Sac. 1849, p. 370 sq. 
 
 ' Plin. H. N. 5. 16, " Damascum ex ' This suggestion, so far as I know, was 
 
 epoto riguis amne Chrysorrhoa fertilem." first made by Monro ; Summer Kamble, 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 16. p. 755, c'ts toj oxe- etc. II. p. 54. 
 
 relas iya?d(rKfTai (rx^Sivri, ' Visited arid described by Rev. W. M. 
 
 * Steph. Byz. Aa/iaa-Kds, v6\ts Svplas Thomson, Biblioth. Sao. 1849, p. 368. 
 
448 DAMASCUS. [Sec. X 
 
 sonrces in the northwest, among the ravines of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; 
 it comes down from the village of 'Amy and passes on the north 
 side of Kefr Hauwar.' From Sa'sa' the AVaj at first runs 
 northeast towards Damascus, " a small hvely river ; " ' it then 
 bends around nearly E. by S. and flows in a serpentine course as 
 far as to Kesweh, situated on its northern bank ; beyond which, 
 sweeping gracefully around the last high peaks of Jebel Mani'a, 
 it meanders through the meadow-like plain to enter the southern 
 lake not far south of the village of Heijany. Its waters, how- 
 ever, do not always reach the lake. In November, 1852, its 
 channel was entirely dry below the peaks of Mini'a.* Above 
 Jun a large canal is taken out on the left bank of the A'waj, to 
 irrigate the fields of that and other villages.* Another is led off 
 on the right bank at Kesweh, to water the gardens and orchards 
 of 'Adaliyeh and Hurjilleh below.' The upper part of the 
 A'waj runs " in a deep bed of the Hauran black stone ; " ' but 
 the trap rock formation terminates at Jun.'' 
 
 No other important stream passes through the plain. Vari- 
 ous smaller streams enter it from the ravines and fountains on 
 the west and north ; but they are all speedily absorbed and 
 exhausted in fertilizing the soil. Such is a small rivulet, ■which 
 flows down from the Wady in which is situated the village of 
 KQl'^t Jendal, beyond Katana.' Another comes from a fountain 
 near Mar'aba, in the valley below Menin and Helbon ; this runs 
 down to Burzeh, watering that village and some portion of the 
 plain below.' A third begins at a fine fountain near the httle 
 village of Hafeiyer in the northern Sahra, and passes down by 
 a deep gorge into the plain of Damascus ; where however it is 
 soon absorbed. An ancient aqueduct is still seen in the plain 
 along the base of these lulls, running apparently towards Da- 
 mascus, -which would seem to have once derived its supply of 
 ■water from that stream.'" Still a fourth stream enters quite the 
 northeast part of the plain, coming from a fountain at Ruhaibeh 
 in the plain of Jerud. It is called Nahr el-Mukubrit (sulphur- 
 ous river), though the water is sweet and good. This is a fine 
 stream ; it passes through Makstirah, and waters the plain 
 
 ' This seems to be the stream called ' W. M. Thomson, ibid. p. 367. — Dr 
 
 also the Sabirany, from the village of Beit 'W^ilson says : " The basaltic and cretaceous 
 Subir. Burekhardt gives that name erro- ■ rocks meet at it [the AVaj] on the same 
 
 neonsly to the npper portion of the A'waj ; level The first of these forms its right 
 
 p. 312. bank, and the second its left. The basalt 
 
 ' Schnbert IIX p. 271. ceases where the Damascus road leaves it." 
 
 " J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. Lands of the Bible, IL p. 324. 
 
 839. Comp. generally, pp. 62-65, 344. ' J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac. 1854, p. 
 
 * ■W.M.Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 1849, 65. 
 
 p. 367. ' The same ; Ms. note. 
 
 > J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. " The same ; Biblioth. Sac. 1864 p. 
 
 844. 692. 
 
 « Bnrckhardt, p. 312. 
 
Sbc. X.] THE PLAIN. — IKBIGATION. 449 
 
 beyond. In summer its waters are wholly absorbed ; but during 
 winter they fall into the northern lake. 
 
 There are likewise, occasionally, natural fountains in the 
 plain itself. Such is perhaps the one a quarter of an hour west 
 of Katana ; which supplies the village, and is exhausted in the 
 fields some distance below. It does not flow eastward across and 
 beyond the Haj road, as represented on the map of Burckhardt. ' 
 Another is 'Ain el-Kuseir, situated in the plain near the base of 
 the northern hUls, thirty-five minutes N. N. B. from Duma. 
 There are three sources close together ; and the stream waters a 
 large tract of fields and vineyards. The surplus falls into the 
 Taurah. A ruined village, el-Kuseir, is twenty minutes below 
 the fountain. The ancient aqueduct above mentioned runs 
 above the fountain, and has no connection with it." The largest 
 fountain in the plain is 'Ain Harush, an hour and a half S. E. 
 by E. from Damascus. A fine stream flows from it eastward, 
 which is absorbed in watering five large village^ with their gar- 
 dens and fields.' 
 
 Another species of artificial irrigation is also very extensively 
 practised in the plain of Damascus ; as also in those of Jerild 
 and Kuryetein on the way to Palmyra. In those portions of 
 the plain which cannot be reached by canals from the river or 
 other streams, artificial fountains are constructed in the following 
 manner. A well or pit is dug, and water found ; usually at the 
 depth of twenty or thirty feet. Then, following the slope of the 
 plain about E. S. E. another circular pit is dug at the distance 
 perhaps of a hundred feet or more, and connected at the bottom 
 with the former, so that the water will just flow into it. A suc- 
 cession of such pits or wells is thus dug and connected ; until at 
 length the water is brought to the surface and becomes a running 
 stream, which is then distributed over the fields. This happens 
 after half a mile or a mile, according to the declivity of the 
 plain. In this way, a portion of the water which has been once 
 used and absorbed in irrigation, is again recovered and employed 
 a second time. 
 
 These subterranean canals may be traced along the plain by 
 the long ranges of circular mounds around their openings. Some 
 ranges of this kind are seen beginning even near the MeidSn. 
 In passing south along the Haj road, about an hour from the 
 city, is a small stream in a deep artificial channel formed in this 
 way. A quarter of an hour further is another similar stream, 
 called Nahr Sabineh, as watering the village of that name a 
 little further east. Ten minutes further, and at the like distance 
 
 ' J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. ' The same ; Biblioth. Sac. 186*, p. 
 66. 332 
 
 ' The same ; Ms. note. 
 Vol. Ill— 38* 
 
450 DAMASCUS. 
 
 [Sbc. X. 
 
 from tlie foot of Jebel Aswad, is a larger stream, called el- 
 Berdy, collected in the same manner ; the head 6f its canal 
 being twenty minutes west of the road, and five minutes beyond 
 the Druze village of Ashraf iyeh. It waters the village of Bu- 
 weidah about an hour east of the road ; and is exhausted in the 
 gardens and fields below it.' In the northeastern part of the 
 plain, beyond Makslirah, two similar canals are mentioned.' It 
 is also said, that between the city and the lakes there are several 
 series of these canals ; one range commencing where the waters 
 of a preceding one begin to be dispersed over the surface.' 
 
 Many of these canals are now choked up with rubbish and 
 earth, and are no longer in use ; though they may stiU be traced 
 by their mounds. The amount of time and labour, of ingenuity 
 and expense, which the various contrivances for irrigating the 
 plain have cost, is incalculable. It would appear, that for many 
 centuries past, as at the present day, the inhabitants have been 
 Hving upon the industry of their forefathers. 
 
 The Lakes. — The plain of Damascus slopes gently towards 
 the east, or rather E. S. E. for about twenty miles ; where it 
 reaches its greatest depression in a broad basin containing three 
 lakes. Beyond these the plain gradually rises again, for twelve 
 or fifteen miles, to the range of the Tellul. The lakes and the 
 great basin have no outlet ; and are the natural receptacle for 
 the waters of aU the rivers and fountains of the plain of Da- 
 mascus. 
 
 These lakes have hitherto been comparatively unknown.* 
 No traveller had visited them. One or two of the missionaries 
 had passed in the neighbourhood of them ; and my journal con- 
 tains notes of aU the information they could afford me. But in 
 November of the same year, (1852,) Messrs Eobson, Porter, and 
 Barnett, made an excursion expressly for the purpose of exploring 
 them ; a full account of which, drawn up by Mr Porter, has 
 been published.' It is only necessary here to present a brief out- 
 line of the results of their examination. 
 
 The two northern lakes receive the waters of the Barada, 
 and of all the northern portion of the plain. The southernmost 
 of these, called Bahret el-Kibleh, ' South lake,' lies more towards 
 the west than the other, which is hence called Bahret esh-Shiir- 
 kiyeh ' East lake.' They are nearly of the same size ; not 
 
 ' J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac. 1854, p. ' The same ; commnnicated in amanu- 
 
 342, 343. — Yet on the map to Burckhardt script Note. 
 
 the Berdy is pnt down as rising near Ka- * Even Abnlfeda speaks of them only as 
 
 tana and flowing to the lakes ; in that of one lake ; Tab. Syr. SnppL ed. Kohler, p. 
 
 Berghans it rises high tip on the side of 157. 
 Hermon. It never flows to the lakes. ' Bibliotheca Sacra, April 1854, pp. 
 
 • The same ; in BibUoth. Sac. 1854, p. 829-344. 
 454. 
 
Sko. X] THE THREE LAKES. 451 
 
 varying much from six or seven miles in diameter, and about 
 twenty miles in circumference. They are separated by a tract of 
 higher solid ground nearly a mile in width. The surface of the 
 lakes is covered partly by tracts of clear water ; and partly by 
 vast thickets of tall reeds or waving canes, from ten to twenty 
 feet in height. The western side of the Bahret el-Kibleh runs 
 from Judeidet el-Khas in the southwest to 'Ataibeh in the 
 northeast, about two hours. Into this lake two main branches 
 of the Barada empty themselves ; one just south of 'Ataibeh, 
 the other some distance still further south. The universal tes- 
 timony of the people of the region is, that the Barada always 
 thus flows into the lake ; and, also, that the lake itself never 
 becomes wholly dry. If there are exceptions to this statement, 
 they must be in years of uncommon drought, and very rare. 
 Into the eastern lake flows another arm of the Barada, north of 
 'Ataibeh. It receives likewise the surplus waters of the Taurah ; 
 and ' also in winter the Nahr el-Mukubrit coming down by 
 Maksiirah. But its main supply is said to come from the surplus 
 waters of the other lake during the winter season ; which flow 
 to it through a deep and wide trench near its southwestern part, 
 so regular that it might seem to be artificial ; though it is not 
 so. When the waters are high, the two lakes are said to ap- 
 proach nearer to each other in several places ; and in one narrow 
 Wady even to meet. But this is not usual ; and for the most 
 part the tract between them varies from half a mUe to a mile 
 in breadth. 
 
 From these lakes the markets of Damascus are said to be 
 supphed with fresh fish to some extent.' The reedy thickets 
 are the favourite retreat of wild swine. 
 
 The third lake hes south and southeast of the village of 
 Heijaneh ; whence it takes the name of Bahret Heijaneh. It 
 is separated from the Bahret el-Kibleh by a tract of higher 
 ground an hour in width ; and has no connection with that lake. 
 It is smaller than the other lakes ; the diameter being some five 
 miles, and the circumference not much more than fifteen. The 
 river A'waj enters its northwest corner, about twenty minutes 
 distant from the village Heijaneh. In November 1852, both 
 the river and the lake were entirely dry ; but the waving reeds 
 and the colour of the soil marked distinctly the limits of the 
 water of the lake during the winter. The neighbouring inhabi- 
 tants said that it rarely dries up wholly. A winter torrent, 
 called the Liwa, coming from the south, enters the lake at the 
 southwest corner. 
 
 The three easternmost villages of the plain of Damascus, 
 
 ' Seetzen, Eeisen I. p. 304. 
 
452 DAMASCUS. [Skc. X. 
 
 Makstrah, 'Ataibeh, and HeiJEtneh, lie iu a direct line, bearing 
 from the latter N. 27° E. The whole of the immense tract on 
 the south and east of the lakes, is now without any settled 
 inhabitants. In the autumn it is parched and desolate. But 
 in the spring it yields excellent pasturage ; and is then covered 
 with the wide-spreading flocks of the Beai Sukhr and Wulid 
 'Aly. 
 
 On the rising plain beyond the lakes, midway between these 
 and the TeUul, are seen three, ruins, apparently of large struc- 
 tures, several miles apart, called by the Arabs Diyura (convents); 
 They have never been visited, nor is their origin or character 
 known. Possibly they may be the " places that protect from 
 an enemy," or fortified posts, spoken of by Abulfeda in connec- 
 tion with the lakes.' 
 
 Ageicultdeb. Fetjits. — The portions of the plain adjacent 
 to the city, are mostly devoted to the culture of fruit and garden 
 vegetables. In the remoter parts, aU the various species of grain 
 for the use of man or beast are raised in profusion.- Tobacco, 
 cotton, flax, hemp, madder-roots, ricinus, are also cultivated to 
 a considerable extent. But of tobacco only a smaH part of the 
 quantity consumed is thus supplied ; and the madder-plant is 
 much more cultivated in the plain of Nebk.' 
 
 Of trees, the olive is the most abundant, and the orchards 
 furnish about one fourth part of the oil consumed at Damascus 
 for eating, burning, and soap-boiling.' The tall and slender 
 poplars too are seen in many parts with their silvery foliage, 
 especially along the valley and streams of the Barada ; they 
 furnish almost the only timber used for building. For fuel the 
 wood of the olive and apricot is mainly used.* A few palm 
 trees, cypresses, and plane trees are occasionally seen. But the 
 glory of Damascus are its gardens and forests' of fruit trees, 
 which surround the city for miles, and almost hide it from view. 
 Vegetables of all kinds are abundant and cheap. The profusion 
 of water is favourable to their cultivation ; and also especially to 
 the growth of fruit trees. Almost every species of fruit is pro- 
 duced around Damascus ; either in the plain Or in the valley of 
 the Barada. Besides the olive, we either saw or heard expressly 
 named the following, viz. oranges, lemons, citrons, (in the courts 
 of the houses,) apples, pears, quinces, peaches, apricots, almonds, 
 plums, prunes, grapes, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, walnuts, 
 hazel-nuts, pistachios, etc' The wines of Damascus are among 
 
 • Tab Syr. Suppl. ed. Kohler, p. 157. Also von Troilo p. 440. — According to 
 ' Bo-wring's Report, pp. 17, 18, 93. Schubert, the most common fruit tree is 
 " Ibid. p. 16, 92. the apricot ; its fruit is delicious, and ia 
 
 ♦ Seetzen, Reisen, I p. 29. often eaten by the inhabitants green ; 
 » Comp. r^ands of the Bible, H. p. 326. Eeiee IIL p. 284 sq. 
 
SEa X.] AGBICDLTDEE. THE CITY. 453 
 
 the best of Syria. Grapes ripen early in July ; and are said to 
 be found in the market during eight months.' Such is this 
 splendid plain, the seat of this great oriental city. Well might 
 Abiilfeda say of it : " The Grhfttah of Damascus is one of the 
 four paradises, which are the most excellent of the beautiful 
 places of the earth. They are the Ghtitah of Damascus, the 
 She'ab of BauwAn, the river of Ubulleh, and Soghd of Samar- 
 kand. The Ghutah of Damascus excels the other three." ' In 
 like manner Julian calls Damascus "the eye of the whole 
 east." ' 
 
 The City. — Thus embosomed in a wide forest of fruit trees, 
 intersected and surrounded by sparkling streams, in the midst 
 of an earthly paradise, lies the far-famed Damascus, one of 
 the oldest cities of the world. The approach to it is most beau- 
 tiful, whether from the ridge of Anti-Lebanon, or by the great 
 northern road from Hamah and Aleppo, or also from the eastern 
 desert. 
 
 The city, as I have already said, lies about a mile from the 
 base of Jebel Kasylin. Its geographical position does not vary 
 much from Lat. 33° 32' 28" N. and Long. 36° 20' E. from 
 Greenwich.* — The elevation of the site above the sea, according 
 to Schubert, is 2186 Paris feet,* equivalent to about 2330 English 
 feet. 
 
 The name Damascus is from the ancient Hebrew appella- 
 tion, Dammeseh.' In the Arabic form Dimeshk, this name is 
 found only in geographical writers.' In popular usage the city 
 is known only as esh-Shdm, the general name for Syria, signify- 
 ing the left or north.' 
 
 By far the largest portion of the inhabitants of Damascus are 
 Muhammedans. It is indeed a chief city of the Muslim faith ; 
 where the Syrian Haj is gathered and takes its departure every 
 year. The population of Damascus and the adjacent village of 
 Salihiyeh, as taken from the census of the Egyptian government 
 in 1838, is as follows : 
 
 ' Seetaen, Reisen I. p. 140. 2304 Par. feet ; Eeisen I. p. 729. Mr 
 
 » Abulfeda, Tab. Syr.ed.K6hler,p. 100. Porter's result was 2200 Eng. feet. The 
 
 * Epist. 24, ad Serapion. average is just Schubert's measurement — 
 
 * This is the position assigned by Berg- According to Mr Porter, Jebel Kasyun is 
 haus, (Mem. on his Map. p. 28); and I 3814 Eng. feet above the sea; or 1614 
 amVot aware of any later or better speci- feet above the plain. Ms. note, 
 fication yet published. The longitude is ' Heb. pB5S •] , later piaa^l! , Gr. Ao/ia- 
 of course only an approximation by means irK^s. 
 
 of itineraries ; and Kiepert, on his new ' Abulfeda Tab. Syr. p. 100. Schultens 
 
 map, has placed it one or two minutes fur- "Vita Salad. Ind. art. Damateus. 
 ther west. The latitude is from observa- " So Cairo is Arab. el-Kahirah ; but is 
 
 tions by Seetzen and Cony ; see Berghaus universally known only as Must, the ge- 
 
 L 0. neral name of Egypt ; see above, VoL I. 
 
 * Eeise III p. 283. Russegger has p. 23. [i. 35.] 
 
454 
 
 DAMASCUS. 
 
 [S 
 
 Muslims and Drnzes 
 
 
 74,964 
 
 Jews .... 
 
 . . • 
 
 4,630 
 
 Christians : 
 
 
 
 Greeks 
 
 5,995 
 
 
 Greek Catholics 
 
 6,195 
 
 
 Syrians 
 
 260 
 
 
 Syrian Catholics 
 
 350 
 
 
 Maronites 
 
 405 
 
 
 Armenians 
 
 405 
 
 
 Armenian Catholics . 
 
 235 
 
 
 Latins . 
 
 no 
 
 13,955 
 
 Slaves and servants . 
 
 4,000 
 
 
 Soldiers 
 
 6,000 
 
 
 Strangers and proteges 
 
 5,000 
 
 15,000 
 
 Total 
 
 108,549 
 
 But these numbers are regarded as being mucb below the truth. 
 In 1852 the population of Damascus alone was generally esti- 
 mated at 150,000 souls.' 
 
 The ancient city lay wholly on the south of the Barada, 
 which flowed along its northern wall. In modern times a small 
 suburb has been extended across the river on the northwestern 
 quarter. A much larger suburb has grown up on the southwest 
 and south ; and then the Meid^n has been built up along the 
 Haj road southwards. Hence, instead of the ancient oval form 
 of the city, it now resembles a large polygonal kite, with a long 
 tail extending towards the south." A modern wall surrounds 
 the whole ; while the old southern wall is still seen sweeping 
 around through the middle of the city to the castle. The cir- 
 cumference of the city along the modern external wall is about 
 four miles. ^ 
 
 Some of the streets of the city make a good impression ; but 
 in general they are mean and dirty, and also narrow and crooked. 
 They are paved with basalt in the oriental manner, having a lower 
 channel or passage in the middle. In some there are pits or 
 sinks of filth, so large and deep as hardly to be passed without 
 danger.* The principal street of the city extends from the 
 eastern gate, in a tolerably straight direction, quite through the 
 city to one of the western gates. It usually presents a busy 
 scene of comers and goers, and of oriental commerce. This 
 
 ' The estimates in Bowring's Report are 
 lower; pp. 4, 7. 
 
 ' The Meidjn was built np during the 
 last century. Maundrell, in 1697, describes 
 the city as " of a long straight figure ; its 
 ends pointing nepr northeast and southwest. 
 It is very slender in the middle ; but 
 swells bigger at each end, especially at 
 that towards the northeast." Journey etc. 
 April 27th. — Niebuhr's plan of Damascus 
 
 is exceedingly defective and unlike : Eeise- 
 beschr. H. PI. LI. 
 
 ' Dr Wilson rode around the walls in 
 an hour and twenty minutes ; Lands of the 
 Bible II. p. 364. Seetzen gives the dia- 
 meter of the city from the eastern gate to 
 the western at 30 minutes ; from north to 
 south one hour ; Reisen I. p. 277. 
 
 * Comp. Bo?mng's Report, p. 98. 
 
Skc. X] POPULATION. THE STREETS. 455 
 
 street has various names in different parts among tHe Muslim 
 inhabitants ; but the Christians regard it as " the street which is 
 called Straight " of the New Testament ; in which Paul so- 
 iourned. ' It is reported and believed, that a colonnade, or row 
 of columns on each side, formerly ran along the whole extent of 
 the street ; and the remains of the columns are said to be still 
 found within the adjacent houses. If all this be true, there 
 may be some foundation for the hypothesis ; but I could hear of 
 no one who had actually seen the columns. 
 
 Many of the streets are closed by gates, as at Cairo. 
 These are shut every night an hour and a half after sunset ; but 
 are opened to any one wishing to pass, on payment of a few 
 paras. The external gates of the city are quite numerous ; there 
 are said to be not less than thirty or forty in all. Some of the 
 principal ones are : Bdb esh-Shiirky, the eastern gate ; Bdb 
 Tiima (Thomas) on the northeast ; Bab es-Salam, on the north ; 
 Bab es-S^lihiyeh, on the northwest ; Bab es-Surijeh, on the 
 west ; B^b AUah, gate of God, at the south end of the Meidan, 
 where the Haj passes out. 
 
 The Christian quarter occupies the whole eastern portion of 
 the city. The Jewish quarter is adjacent to it on the west ; but 
 lies mostly on the south of the principal street, the ' Straight.' 
 The rest of the city, with the suburbs on the northwest and south, 
 is inhabited by the Muhammedans. 
 
 The houses along the streets are in general built with a 
 framework of timber, fiUed in with the clayey soil of the plain. 
 The better sort have at the bottom a few courses of stone. 
 With great care these houses are tolerably durable, and last for 
 many years ; but if neglected, they soon tumble down. The 
 houses of the wealthy are externally not less mean and unattrac- 
 tive than the rest ; while the interior of very many is higlily 
 decorated, and the courts furnished with gushing fountains and 
 flowering shrubs. 
 
 We called at the house of Mr Wood, the British consul, 
 who was also acting as American consular agent. I had letters 
 to him ; but he was absent at Bludan, preparing a summer 
 residence. His lady received us, and we spent a pleasant hour. 
 The consul was residing in the Muslim quarter, in one of the 
 better class of Muslim houses. In its external appearance, next 
 the street, it did not differ from others. The entrance was so 
 constructed, as to prevent any one outside from looking in. 
 There was a very large interior court, surrounded by the lofty 
 and decorated walls of the house. Here were two immense tanks 
 of flowing water, and also two smaller ones. In the court was 
 
 • Acts 9, 11. 
 
456 
 
 DAMASCUS. [Skc. X. 
 
 a profusion of trees and flowering shrubs, the orange, citron, and 
 the like. Among the shrubs the oleander was conspicuous ; and 
 there was one rare specimen of the white oleander, which had 
 been procured with difficulty. On the south side of the court was 
 the open arcade or alcove, where the family pass the day in hot 
 weather. Adjacent to it was the salon of reception. This last 
 had also its fountain in the lower part, with a floor of marble ; 
 and the high walls were gorgeously decorated in the oriental 
 style. This was said to be a good specimen of the best Damas- 
 cus houses ; perhaps in this case with some European improve- 
 ments. The court was indeed most beautiful. The houses of 
 the wealthy Hebrew merchants are likewise described as being 
 very sumptuous inside.' 
 
 The walls of the houses are decorated with inscriptions from 
 the Koran or the Scriptures, according as the owner is a Mu- 
 hammedan or a Christian. 
 
 The castle is situated in the northwestern part of the old 
 city, on the Barada, which flows along its northern wall. It is 
 a large and high quadrangular fortress, with towers ; and is 
 surrounded by a fosse. It is said to be within like a little town. 
 In its present form, it probably dates from the middle ages ; 
 though in some portions it exhibits traces of higher antiquity, 
 which will be described further on. 
 
 There are numerous mosks ; the number is said to be over 
 eighty." Their domes and minarets give variety and beauty to 
 the aspect of the city ; and some of the latter are very tasteful. 
 The principal mosk, that of the Ommiades, was anciently a 
 church of St. John the Baptist ; and as such will be further 
 described among the antiquities of the city. The churches of 
 the Christians are comparatively very few ; and still fewer the 
 Hebrew synagogues. 
 
 The largest and most splendid of the many KJians in 
 Damascus, is that of Asad Pasha, erected about the middle of 
 the last century.' It has a noble dome ; and its architecture is 
 hardly surpassed in lightness and elegance. These Khans are 
 frequented by merchants from other cities and distant lands ; 
 and, on the arrival of the caravans, present an appearance of 
 great bustle and business. 
 
 The bazars are one of the curiosities of Damascus. They 
 are aU in one quarter of the city ; but are separated according 
 to the difierent wares sold, or the different trades carried on in 
 them. They are usually covered arcades, with a row of narrow 
 
 ' Lands of the Bible, II. p. 338 sq. ney. Ho held the office of Pasha for fifteen 
 
 ' Rnssegger, I. p. 730. Seetzen reports years ; and was distinguished as an up- 
 
 H3 as the nnmher; Reisen, I. p. 270. right man and public benefactor. Volne/s 
 
 ' The history of Asad is given by Vol- Voyage, etc .II. p. 234. 
 
Sup. X.] MOSKS. BAZAES. COMMERCE. 457 
 
 shops on each side. Some of the bazars are quite extensive ; as 
 those of the goldsmiths, druggists, pipemakers, dealers in 
 clothing, hardware, cotton stuffs, etc. Indeed there is a separate 
 bazar for almost every commodity of trade, from the most sump- 
 tuous articles of luxury down to the most ordinary necessities 
 and conveniences of common life. The multitude of merchants 
 and artisans, the moving throng of purchasers and loungers, and 
 the many confectioners and dealers in ices and sherbet threading 
 their way among the crowds, generally in various and often in 
 splendid costume, talking, bargaining, disputing, and sometimes 
 swearing, at the top of their lungs ; all these produce a confu- 
 sion and present a scene, which belongs only to oriental charac- 
 ter, and can be found only in a great oriental city. 
 
 With the bazars and KhSns stand connected the manu- 
 factures and commerce of the city. The former are still exten- 
 sive ; though less renowned than in former days. The cele- 
 brated Damascus sword-blades are found no more. The da- 
 mask stuffs, which already in ancient times took their name 
 from the city, ' are still woven here ; though surpassed by the 
 similar fabrics . of western Europe. The number of looms in 
 Damascus for mixed stuffs of silk and cotton, is reckoned at 
 four thousand ; for cotton alone, four hundred.' Gold and 
 silver thread is also manufactured to a considerable extent ;' as 
 also gold and silver work in general, elegant saddlery and 
 trappings, delicate oils, perfumes, balsams, articles for the 
 toilet, etc. Soap is made in considerable quantity for honie 
 use, and is not exported.* 
 
 The commerce of Damascus is mainly either with Europe 
 through its port Beiriit ; or with Bagdad, from which it receives 
 the products of the east. The foreign houses are chiefly in 
 Beinit ; there being no English house in Damascus itself. 
 There is a large number of merchants, both Muhammedan and 
 Christian, who thus trade with Europe ; and also more than 
 twenty Jewish houses, which are in general the most wealthy.* 
 Between Damascus and Bagdad, there is a large caravan once 
 and sometimes twice or more in a year, consisting of fifteen 
 hundred or two thousand camels. The route is by way of Pal- 
 myra, and thence eastward, till it joins the caravan road from 
 Aleppo to Bagdad. The Euphrates is crossed at Hit.' 
 
 The baths of Damascus are justly famous for their architec- 
 
 ' Am. 3, 12 Heb. and Vulg. See Gesen. pp. 364, 365.— Early in June, 1843, Dr 
 
 Lex art i3BO^ AVilson saw the Bagdad caravan just ar- 
 
 " BowringV ileport, p. 20. . 7?'^ at Damascus, and unloading in the 
 
 ' Thid T) 21 plain outside of the eastern gate. It con- 
 
 4 J. -n' ^' jq' sisted of 4500 camels, loaded principally 
 
 • Ibid n 94* ^'''^ spices, tobacco, and a, variety c^ 
 
 •Ibid." p.' 45.' Lands of the Bible, n. Indian goods. Ibid. 
 Vol.. III. -39 
 
458 
 
 DAMASCUS. [Skc. X. 
 
 tural splendour, their neatness, convenience, and luxury. In 
 this particular, Damascus, fi-om the abundance of its waters, 
 may well surpass all other oriental cities.' 
 
 Coffee-houses exist ia great number, and are often described 
 by travellers in extravagant terms.' They usually include a 
 court with trees and fountains. The largest and most fre- 
 quented are situated on and over the Barada, as it flows through 
 the northwestern part of the city. One of these I visited. A 
 balcony extended out over the stream, and was embosomed in 
 trees and foliage. Great numbers of small glass lamps were 
 everywhere suspended ; and at night, when these are all lighted, 
 the whole effect must be magical. Unfortunately I was there at 
 mid-day, when the aspect of everything was shabby and dirty. 
 Smoking, and sipping coffee, sherbet, or ices, are the chief em- 
 ployment of the visitors.^ Sometimes however the oriental 
 story-teller is still found in them ; who understands both how to 
 secure the attention of his hearers, and to draw upon their loose 
 change.* 
 
 On Saturday I rode out with Mr Porter through the eastern 
 gate of the city. Just outside and near by is a mound of 
 rubbish of considerable elevation ; from which there is a good 
 view of the general features of the surrounding mountains and 
 of the plain. In the south are the ranges of Jebel Mani'a and 
 Jebel el-Aswad, between which flows the A'waj. Towards the 
 southwest are the ridges of Anti-Lebanon, and Jebel esh-Sheikh 
 rearing his glittering crown far above them all. On the west is 
 the naked and desolate ridge of Jebel Kasyun, resembling the 
 mountains of Egypt, with its lofty summit and Wely. More to 
 the south is seen the chasm of the Barada, and the road from 
 Salihiyeh winding up its northern side to the Kubbet en-Nusr, 
 so famous for the beauty of its prospect. Further to the right is 
 the chasm of the valley coming from Helbon ; and beyond it the 
 sharp conical lofty peak of Jebel Tiniyeh. StiU more to the 
 right, the ridge trends eastward and is lost in the deserts 
 south of Palmyra. A second ridge is visible beyond its western 
 part, which also runs out eastwards into the desert.' Far in 
 the east, beyond the lakes, and ten or twelve hours distant, are 
 dimly seen the forms of the Tellul. 
 
 We now rode along the south side of the city to the Meiddn. 
 
 ' Comp. Schnbert, III. p. 301. times, as also at Sidon. Pococke IL i. p. 
 
 ' Seetzen gives the nnmber at 119, in 125. 
 
 his day ; Keiseu I. p. 270. * Pococke IL I p. 122. 0. t. Eichter 
 
 ' Comp. Lands of the Bible, IL p. 327. pp. Ul, 153. 
 — The ice or snow for the use of these es- * For these and other ridges thus mn- 
 tablishments is said to be brought from ning out from Anti-Lebanon, and crossed by 
 Jebel esh-Sheikh ; but I did not learn the the road to Hums, see J. L. Porter in Bib- 
 particulars. In Pococke's day also this liotheoa Sacra, 1854, pp. 685-693. 
 was the case ; and probably too in ancient 
 
Sbc. X] COFFEE-HOUSES. THE MEEJ. 459 
 
 After looking at the broad street tlirougli whicli the Haj passes 
 out and enters, and along which this suburb has grown up, we 
 struck through the city northwest by the green minaret, ' and by 
 the immense barracks, to the Merj on the west of the city, a 
 tract somewhat lower than the adjacent plain. It is an open 
 and beautiful spot, appropriately called Merj ; for it is truly a 
 verdant ' meadow,' with the Barada and several of its branches 
 meandering and babbling through it.' Here we saw where two 
 large streams are taken out on the south side. One, the 
 Bsinias, branches off in the western part, and goes to supply 
 the fountains and gardens within the city. The other, the 
 'Akrabany, is led off lower down, and within the line of houses, 
 if I remember right ; and being also carried through the city by 
 a covered channel, it goes to water the fields around the village 
 of 'Akrabeh an hour beyond. 
 
 The Merj is the rendezvous of the Haj ; and here is situated 
 the Tekiyeh, or hospital for the pilgrims. It is a large quad- 
 rangular enclosure, divided into two courts. In the southern is 
 a large and fine mosk, with its dome and two minarets. Around 
 the wall of the court runs a row of cells, with a portico or 
 gallery of columns in front. Over each cell is a small dome, 
 and another over the portico in front of it ; forming thus two 
 rows of small domes around the court. The appearance is 
 singular. The other court is similar, except the mosk. Here 
 poor pilgrims are lodged and fed ; especially those going to, or 
 returning fi-om Mecca with the Haj. This hospital was founded 
 by Sultan Selim I, about A. D. 1516, for this specific purpose ; 
 and was endowed by him with a revenue of seven thousand 
 ducats from lands and villages ; hke the Tekiyeh at Jerusalem.' 
 There are likewise hospitals in various parts of the city ; and 
 among them three for leprous persons.^ 
 
 We followed down the open stream of the Barada, crossing 
 and recrossing its limpid waters, until it enters that part of the 
 city, which Mes north of the ancient wall. On our way home 
 we found ourselves compelled to make a circuit, because one of 
 the streets through which we were to pass, near the horse bazar, 
 was entirely obstructed by a crowd of wild horses just brought 
 in from the desert. In those uninhabited tracts, these horses, it is 
 said, are left to run wild till the age of three or four years ; after 
 which they are caught and brought to the city for sale. 
 
 We also took in our way the enormous plane tree, Plata- 
 
 ' Comp. Pococke II. L p. 121. " v. Hammer's Geschr. d. Osman. Reiohs, 
 
 ' Comp. Seetzeh Eeisen I. p. 282. O. v. II. p. 488. See above, Vol II. p. 3. [it 
 
 Eichter pp. 149, 150.— The earlier travel- 322.]— Comp. Seetzen Reiseu I. p. 282. 
 
 lers speak of the Merj as Ager Damasee- 0. v. Riohter p. 150. 
 
 nt«; so. V. TroUo p. 443. Mamidrell Apr. * Seetzen Eeisen I. p. 277. 
 
 29th. etc. etc. 
 
460 DAMASCUa [Sec. X 
 
 nus orientalis, which is one of the lions of the city.' The trunk 
 measures twenty-nine feet in circumference. How many are the 
 vicissitudes and revolutions of the city, which it has witnessed 
 in its day ! 
 
 The streets of Damascus are full of dogs, homeless and 
 without a master. By day they lie and sleep anywhere, and 
 trouble nobody unless provoked ; seeming to act on the principle 
 of " live and let live." But let a strange dog make his appear- 
 ance, and all the dogs of the quarter set upon him at once. I 
 was amused at seeing a dog following two soldiers on horseback ; 
 some twenty or thirty dogs were after him, yelling with all the 
 strength of their lungs ; while the stranger, as if conscious of 
 his military protection, kept quietly along by the side of his 
 master's horse." 
 
 The abundance of water furnished by the Barada, which 
 alone gives fertility and beauty to the city and plain, and which 
 adds so greatly to the convenience and comfort of the inhabi- 
 tants, is nevertheless not without its drawbacks. Where every 
 one desires to have as much as possible, all are of course jealous 
 of their rights. The Christians of the city complain that the 
 Muslims take more than their share ; and as the latter are on 
 the west, and first receive the water, the complaint may well 
 have some foundation. AU the villages and gardens of the 
 plain have their prescribed rights upon the water. These are of 
 long standing, and have often been judicially decided. Indeed, 
 the regulation of the water, so as to satisfy these prescriptive 
 rights and claims, is in the hands of the government. And 
 thus it may be truly said, that every drop of the water of the 
 Barada has to run according to law. 
 
 The presence of such immense quantities of water, with so 
 many reservoirs and fountains in the courts and parlours, refresh- 
 ing as it is during the heat of summer, has yet its disadvantages 
 at other times. Later in the season myriads of mosquitos 
 throng the houses, and are exceedingly troublesome.' Also in 
 autumn and winter, the courts become wet, and the houses very 
 damp ; giving occasion for ague and rheumatism. Hence, in 
 general, the lower rooms of the houses are damp and cold in 
 winter ; and the upper rooms are hot in summer. Tamilies, 
 therefore, so far as they are able, live below in summer, and 
 above in winter. 
 
 From this general humidity of the courts and houses has 
 probably arisen the custom, so often mentioned by travellers as 
 
 ' Comp. Russegger I. p. 738. them throngh the mob of city dogs. Rei- 
 
 2 Russegger gives an amusing account sen I. p. 727. 
 
 of his entrance into the city with two ^ Russegger speaks thus of them, from 
 
 large shepherd dogs from Mount Taurus, experience, in the last days of October ; 
 
 It was with difficulty, that he could bring Reisea L p. 737. 
 
Sec. X.] ABUNDANT WATEB. ANTIQUITIES. 461 
 
 prevailing among females, of walking upon high clogs or pattens. 
 But the practice is not confined to females, high or low ; it is 
 followed also occasionally by gentlemen, and also by men servants. 
 Even now, in June, the servants in Mr Robson's house, went 
 about on clogs from four to six inches high. 
 
 The Christian churches, of which there are said to be seven 
 in Damascus, I did not visit. Two or three of them belong to 
 the Latin convents.' The Spanish Franciscan convent of the 
 Terra Santa has been until recently, and is perhaps stiU, the 
 chief resting place for Frank travellers.' At the time of my 
 visit, however, there was already a large hotel. 
 
 Antiquities. — The remains of antiquity in Damascus are 
 not extensive ; though more than I had expected to find. They 
 have, for the most part, been so wrought over, and are so much 
 covered by the works of later ages, that they do not prominently 
 strike the eye of the traveller ; but require rather to be sought 
 out with some painstaking. 
 
 1 The castle, situated in the northwest quarter of the city, on 
 the south bank of the Barada, although doubtless in its present 
 form a work of the middle ages, yet reaches back in its founda- 
 tions and its materials to a much higher antiquity. The southern 
 part is built up of very small stones very rudely bevelled. Fur- 
 ther north, and especially at the northeast corner tower, the 
 stones are larger, have a much better bevel, and are obviously 
 ancient. The walls of the fortress having been rebuilt in Sar- 
 acenic times, these small stones on the south were probably in 
 like manner ancient materials ; or, if not, they were perhaps 
 dressed in this way in order to match the rest in some degree. 
 
 The wall of the ancient city, starting from the castle, may 
 still be traced in nearly or quite its whole extent. It runs east- 
 ward along the south bank of the Barada ; then sweeps round on 
 the eastern side by the Bab esh-Shurky ; afterwards turns 
 southwest and west and runs into the modern city ; and at last 
 bends obliquely northwest to the castle again. In its lower 
 portions and towers there are many large and evidently ancient 
 stones, and the place of the wall is doubtless that of ancient 
 times ; but it exhibits tokens of having been several times re- 
 built, probably after the desolations of sieges and earthquakes. 
 South of the eastern gate^ especially, there is a stretch of large 
 and heavy work ; and some of the stones have a partial though 
 rude bevel. The old waU is here open to the country for a con- 
 
 ' Comp. Seetzen Eeisen I. p. 269. I. p. 728. Scliubert III. pp. 275, 288. 
 
 Rnsscgger I. p. 737. Stephen Sohnlz, in 1755, was refused ad- 
 
 ' So Lieut. Cols. Squire and Leake, in mittance ; Leitungen Tli. V. p. 426 sq. 
 
 Walpole's Travels in the East, etc. p. 317. Paulus' Sammlung VIL p. 171 sq. 
 Irby and Mangles p. 282. [86.] Eussegger 
 Vol. III.— 39* 
 
462 DAMASCUS. 
 
 [SecX 
 
 siderable distance. Here too are the public cemeteries, which 
 are better kept than those of Smyrna and Constantinople ; but 
 have no cypress trees. 
 
 The eastern gate itself also exhibits remains of ancient 
 Eoman work. There is a large middle portal with an ornament- 
 ed round arch ; and a like smaller portal on each side. These 
 are now walled up ; and the entrance to the city is on one side. 
 
 The most imposing of all the remains of antiquity in Da- 
 mascus, is the great mosk of the Ommiades ; which, as aU 
 relate, was before the Muhammedan conquest a Christian church, 
 dedicated to St. John the Baptist." The two generals of 'Omar, 
 by whom the city was captured, Kalid and Ibn 'Obeideh, divided 
 the possession of the church between the Muslims and Christians. 
 But 'Abd el-Melik, the fifth Khahf of the house of Ommiyah, 
 who ascended the throne in A. D. 705, violated the capitulation, 
 which had been held sacred for more than half a century ; 
 expelled the Christians from their portion of the edifice ; and 
 converted it into one of the masterpieces of Arabian architecture 
 and splendour. Thither the pious Muslim was wont to repair, 
 " to venerate the tombs of the saints, to admire the magnificence 
 of its columns, the infinite number of its domes, the elegance 
 of its inscriptions, and the multitude of its altars." The most 
 sacred portion of the mosk is the chapel, which according to 
 Muhammedan tradition contains the head of John the Baptist.* 
 
 The entrance to the mosk is from the great bazar ; and one 
 can so far look in, as to see the splendid columns, and the foun- 
 tains in its courts. The length is said to be about four hundred 
 feet. Through his acquaintance with a Maronite silversmith, 
 Schubert was able to clamber over the roofs of adjacent houses, 
 and approach so near to the entablature and Corinthian capitals 
 of the columns, as to reach them with the hand. He was con- 
 vinced, that at least a large portion of the building was not 
 originally a Christian church ; but a magnificent temple of 
 Juno. This was shewn by the remains of a Koman inscription 
 upon the entablature itself; as well as by several groups of 
 columns now standing separated from the edifice.' 
 
 ' Eeiske refers it to John of Damascns ; greatly to be regretted, that Schnbert did 
 
 ■who, however, did not flourish till a century not copy the inscription. — M. De Saulcy 
 
 after the conquest; Ahulfed. Annal. I, appears to have clambered over the same 
 
 note 195. roofs to the exterior of the mosk. Accord- 
 
 ' See V. Hammer's Gesch. d. Osman. ing to him, it was " originally a Christian 
 
 Eeichs, II. pp. 483-487. This mosk is like- church, of the period of Justinian, which 
 
 wise described in glowing terms by fidrisi ; had taken the place of a Pagan temple, 
 
 L p. 351, ed. Jaubert; also in Abulfed. and afterwards became a mosk in its turn." 
 
 Annal. I. pp. 428, 432. Ejnsd. Tab. Syr. He found a Greek inscription, which he 
 
 ed. Kohler p. 15 sq. Ibn el-Wardi, ib. p. seems neither to have copied nor read. 
 
 172 sq. Narrat. II. p. 579. 
 
 ' Schuberfs Beise, HI. p. 297 sq. It is 
 
Sec. X.] ANTIQUITIES. 463 
 
 Just west of the great mosk are four large and tall columns 
 standing in a line, with a square one on each side. The columns 
 are ahout three and a half feet in diameter. They once formed, 
 perhaps, a triumphal arch or portal.' 
 
 As we passed through a narrow street not far distant from 
 the mosk, I counted no less than fifteen smaller ancient columns, 
 still remaining huUt into the walls of the houses on the left 
 hand ; and also four more around the first comer. These proh- 
 ably were part of a long colonnade, connected with the court of 
 some temple or other public edifice. — In another street not. far 
 off is the fragment of a very large column, still in its place ; the 
 diameter of which measured four feet nine inches.' 
 
 The street now called ' Straight' I have already described.' 
 The question of its antiquity will depend very much on the 
 finding of the columns said still to exist within the houses along 
 each side. Should these be found, such as they are reported, 
 they would imply an ancient street ; but the further question 
 would still remain undetermined, whether this is the identical 
 street referred to in the New Testament. 
 
 The larger canals from the Barada may likewise be regarded 
 as among the antiquities of Damascus. We find them bearing 
 the same names in the twelfth century ; and Strabo tells us that 
 in his time the river was almost exhausted by its canals.* Prob- 
 ably the fields have thus been watered even firom the time of 
 Abraham. 
 
 There are no traces of ancient aqueducts in or near the 
 city, that I am aware of ; nor is it easy to understand how an 
 aqueduct could ever have been necessary in connection with 
 Damascus. The ruins of one in the northern part of the plain 
 I have already spoken of; it seems to run. towards the city, and 
 was perhaps intended for irrigating the higher parts of the plain.' 
 I do not remember any further notice of ancient aqueducts 
 connected with the plain, or in the regions beyond. Yet it is 
 supposed by many travellers, and is stiU reported in Damascus, 
 that an aqueduct was once carried from the fountain of Fijeh, 
 or from some point not far below it, to Palmyra ; and that the 
 subterranean tunnel below Bessima was a part of it. This would 
 imply another tunnel through the ridge of Jebel Kasytn, or 
 else a channel high along the chasm south of Salihiyeh ; as also 
 
 ' So too Schubert, ibid. p. 298. Comp. a tradition of tbe Latin convent, where 
 
 De Saulcy II. p. 580. these travellers lodged. I have found no 
 
 ' Pococke speaks of a mosk at the further allusion to any such church or 
 
 northeast comer of the city walls, which temple. 
 
 w.as or.ce a church of St. Simeon Stylites, ' See above, p. 455. 
 
 and stia earlier a temple of Serapis ; II. i. ' See above, p. 447, notes, 
 
 p. 121. Schubert also refers to a temple ' See above, pp. 448, 449. 
 of. Serapis; III. p. 299. This is perhaps 
 
464 DAMASCUS. [Sec. X 
 
 lofty masonry along the borders of the plain. But of none of 
 these is there any trace.' We shall see at Bessima, that perhaps 
 the tunnel there was more probably for conductiag water to the 
 Sahra.= 
 
 Many ancient coins of Damascus, as the metropolis of Syria, 
 are still extant, bearing the names of all the Roman emperors 
 from Augustus to Alexander Severus. A later series, from 
 Phihp to Grallien, marks the city as a Colonial 
 
 History. — The origin of Damascus is lost in the shadows of 
 a hoary antiquity. In the days of Abraham it was already a 
 city of note ;* and is now probably the only known city of that 
 epoch, which is still inhabited and flourishing. Of all this long 
 history there is room here only for the very briefest outline. 
 
 The city is not further mentioned until the reign of David. 
 At that time Syria was divided into several petty sovereignties, 
 and Damascus was the seat of a king. In David's war against 
 the king of Zobah, the " Syrians of Damascus" aided the latter ; 
 and were subdued by David, who placed garrisons in their terri- 
 tory.' Yet, under Solomon, Damascus again threw off the yoke. 
 Rezon, a former servant of the king of Zobah, established there a 
 kingdom ; and " was an adversary to Israel all the days of Sol- 
 omon." * Later there was a league between Abijam the son of 
 Rehoboam and Tabrimon king of Syria, " who dwelt at Damas- 
 cus ; " and who seems to have succeeded his father Hezion.' 
 When Baasha king of Israel made war upon Asa king of Judah, 
 the son of Abijam, about B. C. 940, the latter applied to Benha- 
 dad I, then upon the throne of Syria, to aid him against Israel. 
 Benhadad did so ; and seized several cities in the northeastern 
 part of Israel.' His son, Benhadad II, in league with thirty- 
 two minor kings, invaded Israel under Ahab, about B. C. 900 ; 
 but was twice driven back, and sued for peace.' Three years 
 later, as he did not fulfil the conditions, Ahab and Jehoshaphat 
 king of Judah both made war upon him ; and the former fell in 
 battle." Twice again did Benhadad invade Israel during the 
 
 ' At Jerju'a and towards Sidon the 329 sq. Mionuet Descr. des Mdd. T. pp. 
 
 traces of the comparatively small ancient 283-297. Suppl. VIII. p. 193 sq. 
 
 aqueduct are still quite distinct. Much * Gen. 14, 15 " Hobah, which is on the 
 
 more should we expect like traces here, left hand [north] of Damascus." In Gen. 
 
 where the supposed aqueduct must have 15, 2, Abraham's steward is "Ehezerof 
 
 been ten times as large and important Damascus." 
 
 See above, pp. 45, 46. ' 2 Sam. 8. 6. 6. 1 Chr. 18, 5. 6. 
 
 = See further on, under June 7th.— This " 1 K. 11, 23-25. 
 supposed aqueduct to Palmyra is men- 'IK. 15, 19; comp. vs. 8. 18. 
 tioned by Pococke, II. i. pp. 136, 137 ; by "IK. 15, 17-21. 
 Volney, Kuins p. 252 ; by Seetzen, Rei- " 1 K. c. 20. The following was one ot 
 Ben I. p 138. For the view at the present the conditions proposed: "Thou shalt 
 day, which seems to vary considerably make streets for thee in Damascus, as my 
 from the earlier one, see W. M. Thomson father made in Samaria ;" v. 34. This re- 
 in Biblioth. Sacra, 1848, p. 763 sq. fers probably to commercial colonies. 
 
 ' See Eckhel Doctr. Nummor. HI. p. " 1 K. c. 22. 
 
Skc. X.] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 465 
 
 reign of Jelioram ; and was in each case compelled to. re- 
 tire.' 
 
 The Syrian dynasty was now changed. Benhadad was put 
 to death by his servant Hazael, who seized the throne, and raised 
 the kingdom of Damascus to a high pitch of prosperity and 
 power. He defeated the kings of Israel and Judah ; seized upon 
 all the provinces east of the Jordan ; levied a contribution upon 
 Jerusalem ; and reduced Israel to the condition of a tributary 
 kingdom.^ The son of Hazael, Benhadad III, was thrice beaten 
 by Joash king of Israel ; who recovered the cities which his 
 father had lost.^ Jeroboam II, the successor of Joash, B. C. 
 825^ drove the Syrians into stiU greater straits, took Damascus, 
 and extended his conquests to Hamath.* Nevertheless, more 
 than half a century later, we find Pekah king of Israel and 
 Rezin king of Damascus in alliance against Ahaz king of Judah ; 
 and Rezin gained possession of Elath on the Red Sea.' In this 
 extremity Ahaz invoked the aid of Tiglath-pileser king of 
 Assyria. This monarch took Damascus, slew Rezin, carried the 
 people into exile to Kir ; and thus all Syria about B. C. 740 
 became a province of the Assyrian empire.* The city is men- 
 tioned by Jeremiah ; also once by Bzekiel during the exile, in 
 reference to its trade with Tyre ; and once by Zechariah after 
 the exile.' 
 
 Of the fortunes of Damascus during the Assyrian, Babylo- 
 nian, and Persian empires, under the dominion of which it suc- 
 cessively passed,' there is hardly a trace in history. The language 
 of Ezekiel, above referred to, shows that it continued to be a mart 
 of manufactures and commerce. After the battle of Issus, 
 B. C. 333, all Syria came under the power of Alexander ; and 
 Damascus, where the harem and treasures of Darius had been 
 left, was surrendered to Parmenio by treachery.' In the Syro- 
 Grecian kingdom of the Seleucidse, the sovereigns established 
 their court, not at Damascus, but at Antioch ; and during their 
 wars with Egypt, the regions of Palestine and Ccelesyria some- 
 times came into the hands of the Ptolemies.'" In B. C. Ill, the 
 step-brothers Antiochus Grypus and Antiochus Cyzicenus di- 
 vided Syria between them ; the latter received Phenicia and 
 Ccelesyria, and fixed his residence at Damascus." The Jews 
 
 ' 2 K 6, 8-23. ib. 6, 24—7, 20. see 2 K. 24, 2. Jer. 35, 11 ; to the Per- 
 
 »2K 8 28. 29. — 2 K. 10, 32-36. sians, Arrian. Alex. 2. 11. Strabo 16. 2. 
 
 Am. 1. 3-5.-2 K. 12, 17. 18. 2 Cbr. 20. p. 756. Q. Curt. 8. 12, 27. 
 24, 23. 24. — 2 K. 13, 3. 22. " Arrian. Alex, 2. 15. Q. Curt. 3. 12, 
 
 ' 2 k. 13, 24. 25. 13. 
 
 « 2 K. 14, 27. 28. '° PolyKU. 4. 15. Comp. Zumpt An- 
 
 » ■2K.^5, 87. 16, 5. 6. Is. 7, 1-9. nales pp. 38, 39. 
 
 • 2 K. 16. 7-9. Is. 8, 4 ; comp. Is. 10, " Died. Sic. Fragm. 34. 30. Porphyr. 
 
 9. 17, 1 sq. Jos. Antt. 9. 12. 3. apud Euseb. p. 62 Scalig. Jos. Antt. 13. 
 
 ' Jer. 49, 28 sq. Ez. 27, 18. Zech 9, 1. 10. 1. 
 
 ' For its subjectiou to the Chaldeans, 
 
466 DAMASCUS. 
 
 [Sec.X 
 
 under Hyrcanus took occasion of the weakness of this prince, to 
 extend their territory.' After various civil wars and commo- 
 tions, Demetrius Eucserus, fourth son of Grypus, supported by 
 Ptolemy Lathyrus of Egypt, took possession of Damascus as 
 king ; and divided the empire of Syria with his brother Philip.* 
 At the invitation of the Jews opposed to Alexander Jannseus, 
 Demetrius marched into Palestine, and defeated Alexander at 
 Shechem, B. C. 88. On his return he made war against his 
 brother Philip ; but through the aid of the Parthians was over- 
 thrown and sent to Parthia, where he died.^ His younger 
 brother, Antiochus Dionysius, now seized upon Damascus ; ruled 
 over Syria for three years ; and fell in a battle with Aretas king 
 of Arabia, B. C. 84. The Damascenes then invited Aretas to be 
 their king, out of hatred to a pretender, Ptolemy Menneeus.* 
 Not long afterwards we find Tigranes king of Armenia in pos- 
 session of Syria ; and he also subdued Ptolemais. Being com- 
 pelled, however, to defend his own country against the Eomans, 
 the latter meantime under Metellus subdued Damascus.' Here 
 Pompey in B. C. 64 received ambassadors and presents from the 
 neighbouring kings ; and in the following year all Syria became 
 a Roman province.' The Roman proconsuls resided mostly at 
 Antioch ; rarely at Damascus. It was here that the young 
 Herod visited the proconsul Sextus Caesar, and received from 
 him for a while the government of Coelesyria.' Here too Herod, 
 after he became king, built a theatre and gymnasium, as in other 
 cities out of his dominions.* 
 
 In the history of the New Testament, Damascus is celebrated 
 as the scene of the conversion, baptism, and earliest labours of 
 the apostle Paul." At that time Damascus was under the tem- 
 porary dominion of a later Aretas, king of Arabia Petraea ; and 
 was governed in his name by an ethnarch. Through his agency 
 the Jews attempted to seize Paul ; but the apostle escaped 
 from the city, being let down in a basket through a window in 
 the wall.'" — It is singular that Josephus rarely mentions Damas- 
 cus after the time of the first Herod. Yet great numbers of 
 Jevfs were resident in the city during that period. The same 
 historian relates, that on one occasion ten thousand Jews were 
 slain by the citizens ; and also that most of the women of the 
 city were converts to Judaism." 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 13. c. 10. ' Acts 9, 2-27. 22, 5 sq. 26, 12. 20. 
 
 ' Jos.Antt 13. 13.4. Porphyr.l.o.p.67. Gal. 1, 17. 
 
 ' Jos, Antt 13. u. 14. B. J.-l. u. 4. '° 2 Cor. 11, 32. 33. For the history of 
 
 • Jos. Antt 13. c. 15. Aretas, see in Vol. II. p. 160 [ii. .560 sq.] 
 ' Strabo 11. 14. 15. p. 532. Jos. Antt. — Monkish legendary tradition still points 
 
 13. 16. 4. ib. 14. 2. 3. Comp. Zninpt ont the various spots mentioned in connec- 
 
 Annal p. 40. tion with the apostle, as also this window 
 
 • Jos. Antt. 14. 3. 1. in the wall ; although the wall itself has 
 ' Ibid. 14. 9. 2, 4, 5. been several times rebuilt 
 
 • Jos. B. J 1. 21. 11. " Jos. B. J. 2. 20. 2. 
 
Sho. X] HISTOKICAL NOTICES. 467 
 
 In the following centuries Damascus was the seat of a 
 Christian bishop, who was reckoned second in rank within the 
 patriarchate of Antioch.' Magnus of Damascus is enumerated 
 among the bishops of the council of Nicea, and also in the synod 
 held at Antioch in A. D. 340.' Thomas, a monophysite, was 
 bishop of Damascus in A. D. 518 ; and refusing to acknowledge 
 the council of Chalcedon, was expelled by the emperor Justin I.' 
 Various others are mentioned. At the present day there is a 
 Maronite bishop ; and the nominal patriarch of Antioch resides 
 at Damascus.* 
 
 In the wild conquests of early Muhammedanism, Damascus 
 in A. D. 635 fell under the power of the Khalif 'Omar. His 
 two generals, Khalid and Ibn 'Obeideh, invested the city. The 
 emperor Heraclius sent troops to relieve it ; but in vain. After 
 a siege of two months the city was taken, partly by storm and 
 partly by capitulation.' The Khalifs of the house of Ommiyeh 
 fixed their court at Damascus ; which thus became for the time 
 the metropoHs of the east. The Abassides resided at Bagdad, and 
 governed Damascus by a prefect.* In A. D. 877, Damascus, 
 and by degrees all Syria, was seized by Ahmed the first of the 
 Tulunides ; and retained by his successors for about thirty years.' 
 They were overthrown by the Khalif Moktefy ; but Damascus 
 came not long after under the rule of the Ikhshidites ; then 
 under that of the Fatimite Khalifs of Egypt ; who again were 
 driven out by the Seljuk line in A. D. 1075.' In the middle of 
 the next century, A. D. 1148, the army of the crusaders under 
 the three sovereigns Baldwin, Conrad, and Louis VII, made an 
 assault upon Damascus ; but were compelled to retire.' It 
 then passed into the power of Nureddin, and afterwards of Sala- 
 din.'° In A. D. 1260, Damascus surrendered without resistance 
 to Hulaku the leader of the Moguls ; the castle alone held out, 
 and was besieged and captured." In the following centuries the 
 city often changed masters among the various Muslim dynas- 
 ties. In A. D. 1401 it came under the power of the Tartar con- 
 queror Tamerlane (Timur Leng), who sent a colony of its best 
 artisans to Samarkand.'' The Mameluks of Egypt afterwards 
 
 ' Le Quien Oriens Christ. II. 834. Hist, des Huns, Introd. lib. VI. §§ vn, vm. 
 
 » Ibid. Gibbon's Hist, of the Decline etc. b. 1, li. 
 
 ' Ibid 836 See also above, Vol. I. pp. 390, 393, 400. 
 
 • Ibid. 698. [ii. 38, 42, 53.] Comp. above, p. 463. 
 
 ' Abnlfeda Annat I. p. 222. Elmakin ' Abulfeda Annales II. p. 250. De- 
 
 p. 21. V. Hammer's Gesch. des Osman. guignes 1. c. Tom. II. lib. IX. c. 1. 
 
 Reichs, IL p. 481 sq. — Other accounts say " Deguignes 1. c. Tom. H. lib. IX. c. 2. 
 
 that the city was lost through the treaoh- — Ibid. lib. X. c. 1. 
 
 ery of the father of John of Damascus; ° Wilken Gesch. der Kreuzz. IH. 1. p. 
 
 Elmakin p. 27. Asseman. Bibl. Or. U. p. 241, and App. p. 18. 
 
 97. '° Ibid. in. ii. pp. 31, 161. 
 
 ° For the succession and history of the " Wilken ibid. VII. p. 411. 
 
 Ommiades and Abassides, see Deguigiiea " Sherifeddih, Hist, de Timur Beo ou 
 
468 ENVIRONS OF DAMASCUS. [Shc. X. 
 
 held, possession of Damascus. At length, in the autumn of 
 A. D. 1516, the city was taken by Sultan SeKm I ; and has 
 ever since belonged to the Turkish empire.' It is the head of 
 a large Pashalik, extending from Marrah, half way between 
 Hamah and Aleppo on the north, to Jerusalem and Hebron on 
 the south, and from Hasbeiya on the west to Tadmor in the 
 east ; including the vast plains of Hauran and aU. the region 
 towards the desert.* 
 
 Like the rest of Syria, Damascus has ever been exposed to 
 earthquakes. It seems however never to have suffered from 
 them in the same degree as Antioch, Tiberias, and some other 
 places.' 
 
 Such is Damascus and its far famed plain ; and such the 
 outline of its long history. Nature would seem to have marked 
 out the spot as the site of an important city ; and such it has 
 always been from the earliest ages. The oldest city in the world, 
 unlike most other ancient cities, its prosperity has been compar- 
 atively uninterrupted. The waves of many wars have rolled over 
 it ; the city and the plain have often been deluged with blood ; 
 but the traces of war and pillage have never long remained. The 
 course of its history has been even. It has rarely been the seat 
 of a mighty empire ; but rather the head of a petty kingdom or 
 of a subordinate province. Hence, though an oriental city, it 
 has never equalled a Nineveh or a Babylon in the greatness of its 
 power or the grandeur of its edifices ; nor does it now resemble 
 them in the depths of their fall or the extent of their ruins. It has 
 flourished, while they have fallen ; and even now it continues to 
 flourish amid all the neglect and oppression of Turkish misrule. 
 The glory of Damascus is its splendid plain, sparkling and gush- 
 ing with streams and fountains from the Barada. Without the 
 waters of this river, the plain would be a desert ; with them it is 
 an earthly paradise, luxuriating with fields of the heaviest grain, 
 as also with groves and orchards of the finest fruit. Damascus 
 is still a gem, " the eye of the whole east." "* 
 
 PLACES IN THE ENVIRONS OF DAMASCUS. 
 
 There are several places in the vicinity of Damascus, which 
 are of interest as connected with the history and topography of 
 
 Tamerlan, par Le Croix, Par. 1723, lib. ' For earthquakes in 1139, 1157, and 
 
 V. c. 24-27. Tom III. pp. 312-347. De- 1170, see Deguignes Hist, des Huns, IL 
 
 guignes, Tom. IV. p. 306 sq. Germ. v. pp. 474, 494, 527, Germ. For that of 
 
 Hammer Gesch. der Osman. Reichs 11. p. 1759, see Volne/s Voyage I. p. 276 sq. 
 
 481 sq. For the last terrible earthquake of Jan. 1, 
 
 ' V. Hammer ibid. 1837, by which Safed was destroyed and 
 
 ' A sketch of the history of Damascus Tiberias overthrown, see above in Vol. IL 
 
 in the last half of the eighteenth century, pp. 381 sq. 422 sq. [iii. 254 sq. 321 sq.] 
 see in Volney's Voyage U. p. 230 sq. ' See above, p. 453. 
 
SEaX.] SALIHIYEH. KUBBET SEITAR. 469 
 
 the city and plain ; and there is one at least having relation too 
 with the Bible. Such places are Salihiyeh and the Wely upon 
 the ridge beyond ; both of which I visited. It was formerly, 
 also, not unusual for travellers to make an excursion to Saida- 
 ndya and its famous convent of nuns ; ' as also less often to 
 Helb6n.' I would gladly have done the same, but my time 
 was too far spent. In the following October, however, Saida^ 
 nSya and other places beyond were visited and examined by 
 Messrs Eobson, Porter, and Barnett ; and a full account of the 
 excursion and of the convents of that region has been published 
 by Mr Porter.' By him and Dr Paulding I was also furnished 
 with copious notes respecting Helbon. — Jobar, the Jewish place 
 of pilgrimage, half an hour northeast of Damascus, I did not 
 visit.* 
 
 Salihiyeh. — This is a long and very narrow village, stretch- 
 ing for a mile and a half along the foot of Jebel Kasyun. From 
 the Bab es-SSlihiyeh a strait road runs from Damascus N. W. 
 to the southwestern part of the village. The distance is a 
 quarter of an hour. This road is paved with hewn or flat 
 stones, and has a ditch on each side with side walks beyond, 
 next the garden walls, for foot passengers.' It is probably the 
 only road of the kind in Syria. On the southwest of it is the 
 Merj. 
 
 Salihiyeh lies slightly above the cultivated plain ; and is 
 watered by the Yezid, the northernmost and highest of the 
 canals taken out from the Barada. The village is regarded as a 
 suburb of Damascus. Here are fine gardens and the summer 
 residences of the wealthy Damascenes. The place is supposed 
 to contain fifteen thousand inhabitants. In the mountain side 
 above are several excavated grottos ; some of them quite exten- 
 sive.° Jebel Kasytin is here yellow and naked ; almost like the 
 mountains along the NUe, though somewhat less desert. 
 
 Kubbet Seiydr. — Passing through the southwestern quarter 
 of Sahhiyeh, the road winds gradually up the part of the moun- 
 tain next to the chasm of the Barada. It is a narrow and 
 crooked pass, cut deeply in the limestone rock. On the summit 
 of the ridge, just on the left of the road, is an open Wely, a 
 dome like a small temple, called Kubbet Seiyar.' This spot 
 commands the celebrated view of Damascus and its plain. The 
 
 ' So Manndrell under May 2nd ; also ° Comp. Pococke, IL i. p. 126. Seetzen 
 
 Pooocke, II. i. pp. 130-135. Brown's Reisen I. p. 133. 
 
 Trav. p. 405. The latter passed thence ' Pococke II. i. p. 126. 
 
 over the mountain to Ba'albek. ' This is the cnrrent name, by ifhicli the 
 
 ' Pococke ibid. p. 135. He writes We'y Is known to the missionaries. Trav- 
 
 * Helboue.' eliers usually speak of it as Kubbet en- 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sac. July 1854, pp. 433-455. Nusr ; comp. Lands of the Bible, IL p. 
 
 • For Jobar, see Lands of the Bible, II. 370. 
 p. 331 sq. 
 
 Vol. m.— 40 
 
470 ENVIKONS OF DAMASCUS. [Sec. X 
 
 view is indeed a glorious one ; though it differs not greatly, in 
 its main features, from that above described as presented from 
 the mound near the eastern gate of the city." Yet as this point 
 is so much higher, being seven hundred feet above the city, the 
 whole prospect is far more map-like and magnificent. It is 
 however less extensive than the other towards the north and north- 
 east ; a portion of that part of the plain being here shut out 
 from view by the projecting shoulder of Jebel Kasyun.' 
 . Directly below the spectator is the Merj, with the river running 
 through it ; and beyond is the city lying also along the river, most- 
 ly on the south ; while the great suburb Meidan (Kace- course) 
 stretches along the Haj route south for nearly a mile and a half. 
 All is embosomed in trees ; and the trees in the plain mark in 
 general the extent of the irrigation. Towards the southwest the 
 trees and gardens extend aliout two mUes from the city ; but 
 towards the east they reach as far as the eye can distinguish 
 them. The tract covered by them on that side of the city must 
 be some twelve or fifteen miles in length from west to east along 
 the river ; with an average breadth of some six or seven mUes. 
 There are likewise many isolated villages in the southeast, 
 south, and southwest, with extensive gardens and orchards 
 around them. 
 
 As the eye looks east and northeast, on the left of the 
 city, the plain seems interminable. Across the city, between 
 E. and S. E. are seen the distant Tellul beyond the lakes. The 
 latter we could not distinguish. Between S. E. and S. the plain 
 stretches away to Hauran ; the distant mountains of which are 
 dimly seen. Then come the hills of Jebel Mani'a beyond the 
 A'waj ; and the shorter and lower line of Jebel Aswad on this 
 side. In the southwest these ranges are seen not to connect 
 with the base of Jebel esh-Sheikh ; but to run out as low lines of 
 hills from an elevated plain. Jebel Aswad ends near Kesweh ; 
 so that below that place the course of the A'waj is in the plain. 
 
 Just back of the Wely one can also look down into the 
 chasm of the Barada, as it issues upon the plain. It is very 
 narrow, having very little soil at the bottom with trees along the 
 water. Indeed the bed of the valley is every where full of trees. 
 On this side of the river pass down the two great canals, the 
 Yezid and the Taurah ; while beyond the stream are the two 
 smaller branches from above, and another is taken out just here. 
 No road passes along the bottom of the chasm. The rocky 
 sides are precipitous and aboiit six hundred feet high. The 
 strata are very much dislocated and broken. 
 
 • See atove, p. 458. E. S. K Chasm at Suk Wady Barada, 
 
 " Bearings from Knbbet Seiyar : Jebel N. W. 
 esh-Sheikh, W. hy S. Middle of the city 
 
SbcX.] kttbbet seiyae. helbon. 471 
 
 Helhon. — Parallel to the valley of the Barada, in the north- 
 east, and about an hour and a half distant from it, is another 
 smaller valley, which descends hy a straighter course from ahove 
 Helb6n ; breaks through a wall of rock by a chasm to the vil- 
 lage of Derij ; and then crossing the Sahra to Ma'raba, finds a 
 passage through the last ridge by the chasm which bounds 
 Jebel Kasylin on the northeast. Here, at its mouth, is situated 
 the village of Burzeh, one hour distant from the east gate of 
 the city, N. 14° E. Helbon is nearly north of Damascus, three 
 and a half hours distant from it. The general course of the 
 valley from Helb6n to Burzeh is S. S. E. or S. by E. Just 
 above Ma'raba a branch enters it coming from Menin in the 
 north. The upper part of the valley, which spreads out into a 
 fertile tract, is called Wady Helbon ; below the first chasm it 
 takes the name of Wady Derij ; while the lower ' chasm is 
 known as Wady Ma'raba. 
 
 There are several fountains in this valley. The first is half 
 an hour above HelbQn, sending forth a stream of pure water from 
 a small cave. In the village itself is a fountain by the mosk. 
 Three quarters of an hour further down, at the mouth of the 
 chasm above Derij, is 'Ain Sahib ; its waters drive a mill. From 
 'Ain Sahib to Ma'raba is an hour and a quarter ; the valley here 
 cutting its way through the northern Sahra. At Ma'raba is 
 another fountain ; and a stream also comes down from Menin. 
 Between Ma'raba and Burzeh is a distance of about forty-five 
 minutes. From 'Ain Sahib a path leads along the northwest 
 border of the Sahra, S. W. by W. to the head of Wady Bessima ; 
 the distance being about an hour. 
 
 The rocky walls of the chasm above 'Ain Sahib are almost 
 perpendicular, and are several hundred feet high. A path has 
 been hewn out in the rock along the chasm on the right side of 
 the stream. Over it in one place is a niche, as for a statue ; 
 and there are also sarcophagi or tombs excavated in the rock on 
 both sides of the chasm. 
 
 Wady Helb6n itself is an hour or more in length, and more 
 open ; though still shut in by high and rugged sides. The 
 bottom is a strip of level ground, everywhere well cultivated. 
 In the northern part are many walnut trees ; as also apricot and 
 other fruit trees. Throughout the whole extent of the valley 
 there are well kept vineyards. Every available spot is carefully 
 planted with vines. Even places so steep, that the vine dresser 
 can approach them only with difficulty, are made to produce an 
 abundance of grapes. The vine is the chief product of the 
 place. In Damascus the grapes are greatly esteemed for their 
 rich flavour ; and from them is made the best and most highly 
 prized wine of the country. 
 
472 ENVIKONS OF DAMASCXTS. [SecX 
 
 The village of Helb6n is about half an hour below the upper 
 fountain, or nearly midway of the valley. There are many 
 ruins in and around it, but mostly dilapidated ; and hewn stones, 
 capitals, friezes, and broken columns, are built into the walls of 
 the modern dwellings. On the west of the village is an exten- 
 sive ruin, supposed to have been once a temple. On some of the 
 blocks are fragments of Greek inscriptions no longer legible. 
 
 The missionaries are probably right in regarding this place 
 as the Helhon of Scripture ; with the wine of which Tyre was 
 furnished from Damascus.' The "wine of Helbon" is still 
 famous ; and Damascus must always have been the natural 
 channel for its export. — Ro far as the mere name is concerned, it 
 is true that Aleppo, in Arabic Haleb, might also represent the 
 biblical Helbon.* But Aleppo produces no wine of any reputa- 
 tion f nor is Damascus the natural channel of commerce between 
 Aleppo and Tyre. 
 
 Hureiry. — From Helb6n a path leads across, the mountains 
 westwards, in two and a quarter hours, to the small village of 
 Efry, an hour north of 'Ain Fijeh. From Efry there is a rugged 
 and difficult path, still across the mountains, (some of them 
 basaltic,) to the village of Hureiry, two and a half hours further 
 west. It is situated on the west side of Wady Hureiry, a long 
 valley which lies parallel to the plain of Zebedany, and is sepa- 
 rated from it by a high range of hills. It runs to the valley of 
 the Barada just below the Suk ; from which the village of 
 Hureiry is distant about an hour and a quarter. 
 
 In the village there are some remains of antiquity, consisting 
 of hewn stones and fragments of columns. Near by the public 
 fountain is a stone with a long Greek inscription, now defaced 
 and illegible. 
 
 This region is traversed by no great road ; and has rarely 
 been visited except by the missionaries, for the purpose of ex- 
 ploring it. Pococke indeed seems to have been the only earlier 
 traveller, whose route came at all in contact with it. He passed 
 from Saidanaya westwards by Menin and then between Helbon 
 and Derij to the Barada two miles below Fijeh, probably at 
 Bessima.* 
 
 ' Ez. 27, 18 " Damascus was thy mer- 22. p. 735. Athenseus likewise assigns it 
 
 chant ... in the wine of Helbon and white to Damascus ; I. p. 22. 
 
 wool" ' According to Dr Russell, veiy little 
 
 ' See Gesen. Thesaur. p. 473 sq. Heb. wine is produced at Aleppo, and that of a 
 
 Lex. art "pabn. Strabo also speaks of poor quality. Russell's Aleppo, Lond. 
 
 the wine of Chalybon in Syria, as among l^^*- "Vol- I- P- 80 sq. 
 
 the luxuries of the Persian kings; 15. 3 * Pococke IL i. p. 135. 
 
SECTION XL 
 
 FROM DAMASCUS TO B A A L B E K . 
 
 I WAS now about to enter upon the third and last division of 
 my journey. My general plan was to visit 'Anjar, Ba'albek, and 
 Eibleh, proceeding as far north as time and circumstances would 
 pernlit ; and then return through the northern parts of Lebanon 
 to Beirtit. The Eev. Mr Eobson, senior missionary in Damas- 
 cus, was henceforth to be my companion. He took along his 
 intelligent head servant Jirjis (George), who acted as purveyor 
 and cook ; and we were well provided for. Beshirah continued 
 with me, and the tent and general arrangements all remained 
 the same. We hired anew the Druze muleteers, who had 
 brought me from Hasbeiya ; and kept them to the end of our 
 journey. 
 
 Monday, June *7ih. It took some time to get all things in 
 readiness this morning ; and it was 7.35 before we set olGf from 
 Mr Robson's house. Mr Porter accompanied us for a time on 
 our way. We were half an hour in passing through the city to 
 the Bab es-S£ilihiyeh ; from which we issued at 8.05. Here we 
 were surrounded by a swarm of custom house officers ; the first I 
 had seen since entering the country at Beirut. They were very 
 good-natured, their object being merely a bakhsMsh. This my 
 companions well understood ; and, keeping on our way, we were 
 at last beyond the reach of their importunities. 
 
 After ten minutes we crossed the Taurah, the largest of all 
 the canals, by a bridge ; and at 8.20 entered the southwestern 
 end of Salihiyeh. Here we crossed the Tezid, the other large 
 canal, which waters the village and its gardens. We now 
 climbed the steep and rocky ascent to the top of the ridge ; and 
 at 8.50 reached the Kubbet Seiyar, elevated seven hundred feet 
 above the city. Here we stopped to admire and enjoy the 
 magnificent prospect of the city and plain spread out under our 
 
 Vol. III.— 40* 
 
474 FEOM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBEK. [Sue. XL 
 
 feet.' It was my last lingering gaze upon Damascus ; and the 
 scene recurs often to my mind as the memory of a glorious vision. 
 
 Leaving the Wely at 9.10, we began to descend by a wind- 
 ing, and in one place steep path, towards Dummar. The road 
 crosses the points of several ridges jutting out on the right. On 
 one of these we met Mr Wood, the British consul, returning 
 thus early from Bluddn. At 9.50 we came to Dummar, a poor 
 village, on the left bank of the Barada. Near the village is a 
 stone bridge over the river, by which the main road to Beirut 
 crosses to the southwestern side, and passes on along the northern 
 margin of the Sahra to Dimas. The direct and shortest road to 
 the Silk and Zebedany likewise crosses here, and thus avoids the 
 great curve which the river makes towards the north. It strikes 
 the river again at Deir Kanon. 
 
 We desired to visit 'Ain el-Fijeh, and therefore remained on 
 the left bank of the river. In order to reach Bessima, the vil- 
 lage next below Fijeh, it is necessary to make a considerable 
 circuit through a part of the northern Sahra ; since the chasm 
 of the Barada just below Bessima is so very narrow and pre- 
 cipitous, as to admit of no road. We kept along the river and 
 the Yezid until 10.10, and then turned north among hills. The 
 Yezid is taken out at a point near Hdmy, a village higher up ; 
 where also is another bridge over the Barada. 
 
 We had now crossed the Salihiyeh ridge ; but here, instead 
 of a second parallel ridge, as on the Mezzeh road," there is con- 
 nected with it a tract of whitish conical hills, which we had 
 seen from that road. Among these we now entered. Here Mr 
 Porter bade us farewell, and returned to Damascus. The road 
 continued to wind among these hills till 10.45, when we came 
 out upon the Sahra ; our course being about N. N. W. The 
 barren tract now before us is an extension of the same Sahra 
 which we had crossed on the other side of the river. It is here 
 less wide, and slopes much towards the southeast. It runs on 
 northeasterly, back of the range of Kasyun and Kalamiin, 
 for a long distance beyond Menin ; and is said to be separated 
 only by a line of low hills from the plain of Jerud. We con- 
 tinued to rise upon it gradually, on the same course, directly 
 towards a high rocky ridge before us, which seemed to be its 
 northern boundary. All at once, however, at 11.30, we came to 
 the brow of a deep valley, passing down W. by S. along the 
 base of the high ridge to the river at Bessima. Descending into 
 it we kept on through vineyards and orchards of fig trees, and 
 reached Bessima and the river at 12 o'clock. The high rocky 
 ridge extends from Menin to Bessima ; and through it is broken 
 
 ' For a description, see nbove, p. 470. ' See above, p. 440. 
 
Jone7.] BESSIMA. the TUNNEL. 475 
 
 the chasm below Helbon. Bessima lies in a little basin on the 
 Barada, entirely shut in by high ledges of rock, through which 
 the river breaks by narrow clefts above and below the village. 
 The little tract of soil is wholly planted with fruit trees ; and 
 the inhabitants are said to get their supply of vegetables from 
 Damascus. 
 
 Bessima is situated at an angle of the Barada ; where that 
 river, having pursued a general course of E. S. E. from the vil- 
 lage es-Stik, suddenly turns and runs for an hour nearly due 
 south by Ashrafiyeh to Judeideb. Below Judeideh it turns east 
 for half an hour ; and then again south for the same distance ; 
 while close in the angle thus formed is situated the village of 
 Hamy. It afterwards runs southeast, by a winding course at 
 first to Dummar, and so to Mezzeh. The direct road to es-Suk, 
 which crosses at Dummar, keeps along the stream for half an 
 hour, and then goes on straight to Judeideh ; leaving Hamy on 
 the right and Tasseiya on the left ; neither of them visible, 
 though quite near, being concealed by the foliage. The distance 
 between Dummar and Judeideh is an hour and twenty minutes. 
 From Judeideh the road strikes up across the margin of the 
 Sahra on a straight course towards Deir Kanon ; to which it 
 descends by a shallow side Wady. Thence it follows up the 
 right bank of the stream to the Suk. All the villages between 
 Judeideh and Deir Kanon are on the left bank. 
 
 From Hdmy to Ashrafiyeh Seetzen passed by a direct road 
 across the bills ; and probably also a road leads thither from 
 Judeideh along the river. But between Ashrafiyeh and Bes- 
 sima, a distance of twenty minutes, there is no road for horses, 
 except along the bed of the stream for much of the way.' The 
 only path for persons on foot is through a tunnel, hewn along the 
 bottom of the precipitous cliff of limestone conglomerate. This 
 passage is narrow, but high enough for a man to walk nearly 
 erect. We saw the entrance from Bessima, and it extends 
 nearly to Ashrafiyeh. My companion had once passed through 
 it, sending his horse around to the other end. 
 
 This is the tunnel to which I have already alluded, as being 
 held by some to be the beginning of an aqueduct, by which the 
 waters of the Barada were once conducted to Palmyra.' I have 
 also suggested the difficulties in the way of such an hypothesis. In 
 the absence of aU further legitimate traces, it would seem much 
 more probable, that this passage was intended to carry water from 
 the river to the parts of the Sahra below Ashrafiyeh. Yet I am 
 not aware, that any remains of such irrigation now exist. There 
 
 ' Seetzen says, the horses had to wade ' See more on this supposed aqueduct 
 throi^h the stream six times ; Keisen I. p. above, pp. 463, 464. 
 138. 
 
476 FKOM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XT. 
 
 are said also to be traces of an aqueduct on the way to el-Fijeh, 
 whicli we did not notice.' 
 
 From Bessima the road cliags to the river, and enters at once 
 a very narrow, deep, and precipitous chasm, with high rugged 
 peaks on each side, leaving only room for a path along the stream. 
 It is one of the most picturesque spots along the whole river. 
 After a quarter of an hour the sides begin to recede a little ; 
 and just here is the small but beautiful fountain, 'Ain el-Khudra, 
 of the purest water. It is near the river, and runs into it ; and 
 was now surrounded by a plot of fine green sward. The valley of 
 the river now became somewhat more open. At 12.30 we came 
 to the village of Fijeh ; and at 12.35 to the great fountain. 
 
 The course of the valley just here is about from west to east ; 
 and the fountain issues from under the northern hill. The road 
 makes a short sweep away from the river, in order to pass above 
 the fountain. The latter bursts forth at once a full large stream, 
 considerably larger than the Barada higher np, and comparing 
 well in size with the great fountain at Tell el-Kady ; though the 
 water is less beautiful and sparkling than that at Binids. The 
 stream tumbles and foams along its rocky bed to the Barada, a 
 distance of some twenty rods ; it is so broad and deep and violent, 
 that no one would undertake to ford it. We went with some 
 difficulty to the junction, and found the stream from the foun- 
 tain to be still the most abundant and powerful ; although nearly 
 one third of it is led off directly from the source by a canal for 
 irrigation. The water of the stream is sweet, pure, and limpid ; 
 while the Barada, as it comes from above, is turbid. 
 
 The fountain issues just below the road, from a small cavern 
 with two low openings ; one of which shows the remains of a 
 low arch. Directly over this spot is an ancient platform, partly 
 of rock, and partly of heavy masonry of large squared stones. 
 On this platform, a few feet back, are the remains of a small 
 temple, about ten yards by eleven, built of large hewn stones ; 
 but without a trace of any portico, columns, or other ornaments. 
 
 A few feet south of the orifice of the fountain is another 
 lower structure, buUt up from the bed of the stream. It consists 
 of two parallel walls jutting out southeast from the high bank, 
 each thirty-seven feet long and six feet thick ; joined together in 
 the rear by a wall twenty-seven feet long and four feet thick, 
 resting against the bank. On the top of these side walls are 
 the remains of a very heavy arch of large stones, which would 
 seem to have covered the whole interior, and thus formed a very 
 strong vaulted chamber. The vault must have been at least 
 
 ' I suppose this to be the aqneduct de- and that he traced it " for about four 
 tcribed by Pococke, II. i. p. 136. He miles." The accuracy of the statement 
 says it begins almost a mile below Fijy; may be questioned. 
 
Jdke 7.] FOUNTAIN AT EL-FIJEH. 477 
 
 fifteen or twenty feet higli. Along the outside of the side walk 
 project large slanting stones, like the ornamented ledge or cornice 
 of the platform of a temple. ' In front, towards the stream, was 
 a sort of large portal, occupying the greater portion of that side. 
 In the back wall within, not far above the ground, is an oblong 
 quadrangular opening, as if a branch of the foimtain once issued 
 there ; and low down in each of the side walls, towards the front, 
 is likewise an opening as if for the water to flow out. Therfe are 
 also niches in the sides and at the end. Just south of the front 
 lies the fragment of a column, perhaps a pedestal. We could 
 not resist the conclusion, that this structure was once a vaulted 
 platform sustaining a small temple, erected over an artificial 
 branch of the fountain. The workmanship is simple and rude ; 
 and points to a high antiquity. 
 
 The fountain and the stream below are embosomed in the 
 dense foliage of orchards and groves. We took our lunch upon 
 the huge stones of the ancient temple platform, under the thick 
 shade of walnut and other trees, with the song of nightingales, 
 and amid the rushing of these mountain streams. 
 
 In this fountain we have another example of the popular 
 usage, followed also by Arabian geographers, which regards as the 
 source of a river, not its most distant head, but its most copious 
 fountain." Thus Edrisi writes, that " the waters which irrigate 
 the Ghutah, come from a source called el-Fijeh, which rises upon 
 the mountain ; they flow down from the mountain with a noise 
 and roaring, which is heard at a great distance."' Abulfeda 
 says : " The source of the river of Damascus is under a temple 
 called el-Fijeh. . . . Afterwards it unites with a river called 
 Barada ; and from hence come all the rivers of Damascus." * 
 Yet the true source of the Barada, as we shall see, is several 
 hours further up the mountain. 
 
 The valley of the Barada at this point, although tilled in 
 some parts, is shut in by walls not less than eight hundred or a 
 thousand feet in height, sharp, rugged, and picturesque. The 
 mountain ridge, through which the river here breaks in order to 
 reach Bessima, would seem to be a branch running ofi" about B. 
 by N. from the main ridge lying next below the plateau of Deir 
 el-'AshS.yir and Zebedany. This branch ridge terminates at 
 Menin in a high blufl". The interval on the west, between it and 
 the parent ridge, is not depressed ; but is mostly high uneven 
 table land, extending quite along on the west of Helb6n. Or, 
 
 ' Compare the platform of the temple ' Edrisi par Jauh. I p. 350. 
 at Deir el-'Ashiyir ; see above, p. 437. * Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 15. — To the 
 
 ' This illustrates the case of the Jordan; same effect writes Ibn el- Wardi, Kxcerpt. 
 
 see above, pp. 412, ilH. — So too thefoim- inAbulf. Tab. Syr. p. 174. Also Lex. Geogr. 
 
 tain of 'An jar and those of the Orontes in Schulten's lud. Geogr. adVit. Salad, art. 
 
 near Hurmul. Phaiha. 
 
478 FSOM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBEK. [Sea XI, 
 
 rather, it may be said to be divided into three mountain ridges 
 by the valleys of Efry and Hureiry, which run south to the 
 Barada. The valley of the Barada, from this point to the Suk, 
 is somewhat more open ; but it has this branch ridge on the 
 south, and the tract of high table land on the north. 
 
 We left 'Ain el-Fijeh at 1.55, following up the road along 
 the left bank of the river. At 2.20 we passed Deir Mukurrin 
 and at 2.35 Kefr Zeit. We were opposite Deir Kanon, on the 
 south bank, at 2.45 ; and at 3 o'clock were overagainst el- 
 Huseiniyeh, also on the other side of the river. At 3.15 we came 
 to el-Kefr ; and proceeded five minutes further W. N. W. to the 
 ruins of a Grecian temple, on a projecting point, overlooking the 
 river and valley. Here are many fallen co'lumns, measuring 
 thirty-one inches in diameter, and one of them nineteen feet two 
 inches in length. There are also immense Corinthian capitals ; 
 and two corners of a pediment, very massive and much orna- 
 mented. The portico was towards the river, and the pedestals 
 of its two columns are still in place. The temple was small, 
 but massive, well wrought and highly ornamented, with a sculp- 
 tured pediment and double cornice. In the vicinity are hewn 
 stones scattered or built into walls. 
 
 Eeturning to el-Kefr, we left that village at 3.30, and im- 
 mediately crossed the river by a bridge to the south side. On the 
 north bank, near the bridge, is a broad low Tell, the top of which 
 is cultivated. We now came into the direct road from Damas- 
 cus, which we henceforth followed. At 3.40 we were opposite 
 the small village of Berheleiya on the north bank. The path 
 now rises along the lower part of the high precipitous hill on 
 the south ; and at 3.55 we had the large village of Suk Wady 
 Barada below us on the right, on the south bank. ' Ten minutes be- 
 yond this village, the valley, the upward course of which from Deir 
 Kanon is about northwest, sweeps round to the southwest for ten 
 or fifteen minutes ; and then turns again nearly due west. This 
 short portion of the valley forms the pass of the Suk, shut in on 
 the southeast by the western end of the high cliff just mentioned, 
 and on the northwest by precipitous rocky cliffs of like altitude. 
 The walls of the chasm are here not more than fifty yards apart. 
 Just in the middle of this pass the river in its deep narrow bed 
 is spanned by a good modern bridge of a single arch ; and the 
 road from this point continues along on the northern bank. We 
 came to the bridge at 4.10 ; and crossing it, stopped for a time 
 
 ' This is the last village in the valley of perfect, and in some thino-s erroneous • 
 
 the Barada. I have been careful, in the pp. 2, 3. Yet some later travellers seem 
 
 preceding account, to give the name and merely to have copied from him ; e. g. G. 
 
 position of every village along the valley. Robinson, Travels 11. p. 113 ; Kussegger, 
 
 The account of Burckhardt is very im- L p. 173. 
 
JuNi 7.] SUK WADY BAKADA. SEPULCHEES. 479 
 
 to enjoy the grandeur of the scene, and examine the remains of 
 antiquity. All is here wild, desolate, and impressive. 
 
 In the village es-Suk are said to be traces of ancient foun- 
 dations and dwellings ; and on the north side of the stream are 
 columns and other remains in various places. There are many 
 tombs excavated in the cliffs beyond the stream ; mostly between 
 the bridge and the angle of the valley below, where it turns south- 
 west. Here, below the bridge, the face of the northwestern hill 
 consists first of a steep slope of earth or debris rising from the 
 river's brink and extending half way up the mountain. On this 
 are scattered many hewn stones, as also columns or fragments of 
 columns, some of which have rolled to the bottom.' Above this 
 slope, the limestone rock rises perpendicularly ; and in it are ex- 
 cavated the many sepulchres. They are laboriously wrought ; 
 and some of them are reached by long flights of steps. The 
 whole cliff is somewhat curved ; and forms a sort of amphithe- 
 atre. Mr Kobson had climbed up to several, and examined them, 
 in the summer of 1848. One which he entered was a square 
 chamber, having two crypts on each side, with two niches in each 
 crypt ; also one crypt with four niches opposite the door ; besides 
 four niches (Joculi) in the floor of the chamber itself. Other 
 tombs are similar ; some larger and some smaller. Some are 
 simply a recess cut mto the face of the rock, about seven feet 
 long and two deep, arched at the top, and in the bottom a 
 single loculus for a corpse. All these single tombs had formerly 
 lids of stone, like those of sarcophagi ; but all have been opened. 
 In the cliff on the southern bank is a single sepulchral excava- 
 tion, a little further up the stream. On the top of the north- 
 western cliff, above the sepulchres, are said to be extensive 
 ancient quarries. 
 
 The most remarkable of all the remains is the ancient road 
 excavated along the face of the northwestern cliff, a hundred 
 feet above the modern road and bridge. It begins at the angle 
 of the hill, where the valley bends round from the west ; and there is 
 no difiiculty in climbing up to it in that quarter. The sides of the 
 chasm are here from six hundred to eight hundred feet in height. 
 The road extends along the face of the cliff for about two 
 hundred yards. It is finely cut through the solid rock, fifteen 
 feet wide. In some parts a thin portion of the rock is left, of 
 
 ' In Manndrell's day some of these oo- view of them. We found them part of 
 lumns were yet standing. Speaking of the the front of some ancient and very mag- 
 pass, he says : " Here we entered into a nificent edifice ; bnt of what kind we could 
 narrow gut, between two steep rocky not conjecture ;" see under May 4th. The 
 mountains ; the river Barada miming at edifice was doubtless =* temple — Pococke 
 the bottom. On the other side of the also saw in 1738, two columns with their 
 river were several tall pillars, which ex- entiiblatuie yet standing, on the north side 
 cited our curiosity to go and take a nearer of the river; II. i. p. 116. 
 
480 FKOM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 various height, towards the river, as a guard ; in other parts a 
 wall was probably built up. At the northeastern end, this road 
 now breaks off abruptly in a precipice of rock rising from the 
 sloping bank below. If the road was ever continued further, it 
 must probably have been sustained on artificial and temporary 
 supports ; since the ancient aqueduct, which passes just below 
 it, and is carried along the face of the cliff beyond, serves to 
 show, that there has been no fall of the rock nor change in its 
 general features. It is not easy to see how the road was contin- 
 ued ; nor, if ending here, what purpose it could have ever served. — 
 The aqueduct, whach is covered over with stones laid aslope, is 
 first seen ten or fifteen minutes higher up the valley ; and can be 
 traced for about the same distance further down.' 
 
 The famous Latin inscriptions, which have been often copied 
 of late years, are found on tablets cut in the smooth wall of 
 rock above the road ; once at the eastern end, and again with 
 slight variations, about eighty yards further west." The former 
 are the most legible. The following is the correct copy :^ 
 
 I. 
 
 IMPCAESMAVRELANTONINVS 
 
 AVGARMENIACVSET 
 
 IMPC AESLAVRELVERVSAT GAR 
 
 MENIACVSTIAMELVMINIS 
 
 VIABRVPTAMINTERCISO 
 
 M ONTERESTITVERVNTPER 
 
 IVLVERVMLEGPRPRPROVINC 
 
 SYRETAMICVMSVVM 
 
 IMPENDIISABILENORVM 
 
 II. 
 PROSALVTE 
 IMPAVGANTO 
 NINIETVERI 
 MVOLVSIVS 
 MAXIMVSI 
 LEGXVIFFQVI 
 OPBRIINSTITVS 
 
 According to President Woolsey, these inscriptions may be 
 written out in full thus :* 
 
 ■' This aqnednot, as I have said ia the For copies by Dr T>e Forest and others, 
 
 text, is below the excavated road. Kiaffl see Biblioth. Sacra, Feb. 1848, pp. 86-90. 
 
 seems to speak of it as above the same Copies are also given by Krafft, eos. 32, 
 
 road ; p. 269. 33, comp. p. 269 ; by Schulz, Monathsber. 
 
 ' The variations are mostly found in the d. Ges. f. Erdk. II. p. 205 and Plate, BerL 
 
 short inscriptions. They consist mainly 1845 ; and by De Sanlcy, Narrative XL 
 
 iB a different division of the lines, as also p. 590 sq. 
 
 opere for opeii. They show that the * In Biblioth. Sacra, Feb. 1848, pp. 85- 
 
 stonecutter did not always do his work 89. 
 accurately. 
 
Jmra:?.] ES-STJK. — INSCRIPTIONS. ABILA. 481 
 
 I. Imperator Cmsar Marcus Aureliw Antoninus ' Augustus Armeniacus et ' 
 Imperator Gaisar Lucius Aurelius Verus Augustus Ai'meniacus tiam flu- 
 tninis ' vi ahruptam interciso ' monte restituerunt per ' Julium Verum 
 Legatum pro Prmtore provincial ' Syria et amicum suum ' impendiis Ahi- 
 lenorum. 
 
 II. Pro salute ' Imperatorum Augustorum Anto^nini et Veri ' Marcus 
 Volusiua Maximus Centurio ^ Legionis XVI Flavioi Firmcs [Fidelis'\ qui* 
 operi institit wto suscepto} 
 
 The ancient city indicated by these inscriptions and remains, 
 ■was situated in part perhaps at the present village ; but mainly, 
 as it would seem, upon the northern bank of the river. On that 
 bank, at least, were the road, the aqueduct, the sepulchres, and 
 the temples. 
 
 On the summit of the southern cliif, a little further down, 
 and nearly opposite the . village es-Suk, is the Wely or reputed 
 tomb of Neby Habil, the prophet Abel ; where, as the Arabs 
 say, Cain buried the dead body of his brother. In June 1851 
 Messrs Kobson and Barnett climbed up to it by a steep and 
 difficult path directly from the Silk. The cliff is here not less 
 than eight hundred feet high. The tomb is very plain, and re- 
 markable for nothing, except that it is nine yards long. It is 
 partly the foundation of some old wall, which can be traced for 
 more than twice that length.* It is covered over by a Wely 
 with a flat roof ; and seems to be a place of frequent resort. 
 
 Near the tomb are the ruins of a small ancient temple, about 
 fifteen yards long and nine broad, built of hewn stone. Under 
 the eastern end is a small vault, in which are three sarcophagi. 
 At the same end is an ascent by steps cut in the natural rock. 
 The stones of the temple are large and well dressed ; but there 
 are no remains of columns. The two letters A H cut on a stone 
 were the only traces of inscription, which they found.' 
 
 This tomb of Abel seems to have been first mentioned by 
 Eadzivil about A. D. 1584.* MaundreU a century later suggested 
 a connection between this name and the ancient Ahila or 
 
 ' " The date of the inscriptions is fixed spot, and yet makes no mention of the 
 
 very nearly by the imperial title ^rme»ia- very remarkable pass below; II. i. pp. 
 
 <r«5, assumed on occasion of the triumph 115, 116. Pococke calls the structure a 
 
 held by both emperors after the subjugation church, and speaks of two large columns 
 
 of Armenia by Verus. This triumph took with Doric capitals. He speaks also of a 
 
 place in A D, 166, and Verus died in A. broken Greek inscription in verse, which 
 
 D. 1Q9. The first inscription, at least, falls "makes mention of Lysanias tetrarch of 
 
 within this interval." Biblioth. Sac. Abilene;" ibid. p. 116. All this strikes 
 
 1848 p. 89. ™e as very questionable ; especially when 
 
 ' In Maundrell's day the tomb itself taken in connection with the utter con- 
 was said to be thirty yards long ; Maun- fusion of his topographical notices. 
 drell under May 4th. ' Gumpenberg more than a century 
 
 " I have given this account of Neby earlier speaks of the tomb of Abel ; but 
 
 HabU in Mr Eobson'a own language. It he obviously refers to Jebel Kasyun near 
 
 differs very much from that of Pococke in Damascus ; Eeissb. p. 451. See above, p 
 
 1738 ; who professes to have visited the 444, n. 3. 
 Vol. III.— 41 
 
482 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [SbcXI. 
 
 Abilene ; • and it is not improbable that the name Abel (Habil) 
 may be in fact a popular traditional reminiscence of the city 
 Abila. Pococke conjectured that Abila lay near ; and heard of 
 " an inscription on a stone near the river ; " referring probably to 
 those above given.' No further progress was made in identifying 
 the site of Abila, until in A. D. 1822 the Quarterly Keview 
 informed the pubUc, that Mr Bankes had brought home a long 
 inscription, from which it appeared that Abila was situated at 
 this pass.' This however does not definitely follow from the 
 inscription taken merely by itself. Yet the adjacent necropolis 
 and temple ruins might well remove all occasion of doubt. 
 Indeed the site of Abila is definitely fixed at this point by the 
 ancient Itineraries ; which give its distance from Damascus at 
 eighteen Eoman miles, on the way to Heliopolis or Ba'albek.* 
 We had now travelled hither from Damascus, with fresh horses 
 and constantly ascending, in about six hours.' 
 
 The city Abila is not itself mentioned until some years after 
 the Christian era. The district round about it bore the name of 
 Abilene, but we have no information as to its extent. The 
 earliest notice of this district is by the Evangelist Luke ; who 
 merely states, that in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, when John 
 the Baptist entered upon his ministry, Lysanias was tetrarch 
 of Abilene.^ About ten years later, in the first year of Cali- 
 gula, A. D. 38, as Josephus relates, Caligula gave to the elder 
 Agrippa, the Herod of the book of Acts, the tetrarchy of his 
 uncle Philip, and also " the tetrarchy of Lysanias " or Abilene ; 
 and these were confirmed to him by Claudius on his accession, 
 with the specification, that "Abila of Lysanias and whatever 
 was on mount Lebanon " were districts belonging to the emperor 
 himself On the death of Herod Agrippa they went to his son, 
 the younger Agrippa, before whom Paul was brought.' This is 
 the latest historical notice we have of the district Abilene. In 
 these gifts and transfers the city is spoken of as " Abila of Lysa- 
 
 ' Manndrell under May 4th. He thinis _„ ''';'■ ^'"o- t«mi^fm. 
 
 the came Abel gave name to Abilene. Abila. m. p. XXXVIH. Abila. m. p. XXXII. 
 
 * Pococke H. i. pp. 115, 116. Damaaco. m, p. XVIII. Damasco. m. p. XVllI. 
 ' Quart Rev. Vol XXVI. No. 52. p. 
 
 388, " There is not, in fact, any position See Itineraria, ed. Wesseling, p. 198. Tab. 
 more certainly ascertained, than that of Pent. ed. Scheyb, Segm. IX. F. See also 
 Ahila of Lysanias ... Mr Bankes has Biblioth Sac. 1848, p. 83 sq. Eeland Pa- 
 brought homeia long inscription, (not ob- last. pp. 527, 528. 
 
 served by former travellers,) copied from ' Our usual estimate of travel was three 
 
 the face of a rock there, in which the English miles to the hour ; but here the 
 
 Ahilenians record the making of a new continual ascent requires rather three Eo- 
 
 road to their city." This statement, as man miles, 
 
 now appears, is not quite borne out by the ' Luke 3, 1. 
 
 inscription. ' Jos. Antt. 18. 6. 10. lb. 19. 5. 1 U 
 
 * So the Itinerary of Antoninus and rwv avrov. B. J. 2. 11. 5. 
 
 the Peutinger Tables, <j. g. " Jos. Antt. 20. 7. 1. Acts c. 26. 
 
Jose 7.] ABILA. HISTOEICAL NOTICES. 483 
 
 nias," to distinguish it from another Abila in Perea, east of 
 Gadara.' 
 
 It thus appears that the specifications of Josephus, referring 
 to a period several years later than the notice of Luke, are in 
 perfect harmony with the latter. Josephus does not indeed 
 definitely mention, that a Lysanias had governed the district as 
 tetrarch ten years before ; but he does speak of his " tetrarchy," 
 and of the " Abila of Lysanias." Nor is there any valid reason, 
 why these expressions of the historian should be referred to an 
 earlier Lysanias, who Hved about seventy years before the time 
 specified by Luke ; and who is brought by Josephus into no con- 
 nection whatever with Abilene. 
 
 This earlier Lysanias was a son of Ptolemy the son of Men- 
 naeus. In the time of Pompey this Ptolemy was lord of Ohalcis 
 under Lebanon ; and is spoken of as a powerful and troublesome 
 neighbour to Damascus.' From this latter circumstance, and 
 from this alone, it may perhaps be inferred, that he was also in 
 possession of Abilene, which lay adjacent to the territory of 
 Damascus. Lysanias succeeded him about B. C. 40 ; but was 
 put to death through the intrigues of Cleopatra about B. C. 34.' 
 Some years later a certain Zenodorus is mentioned as having 
 farmed the possessions of Lysanias ; * he also had jurisdiction 
 over Trachonitis and other districts ; but Augustus afterwards 
 took away these and gave them to Herod the Great, B. C. 22 ; 
 and on the death of Zenodorus, B. C. 19, Herod received stUl 
 more of his territories.' 
 
 Thus far Josephus makes absolutely no mention of Abilene ; 
 and it is only by possible and perhaps probable inference, that 
 we can in any way connect this earlier Lysanias with it ; and 
 even then not as tetrarch. It is indeed not impossible, but that 
 both Ptolemy and his son Lysanias had possession of Abilene; that 
 after the murder of the latter it was farmed by the emperor to 
 Zenodorus for the benefit of the family of Lysanias yet in their 
 minority ; and that afterwards the children were reinstated in 
 their rights ; in which case the Lysanias of Luke may well have 
 been the son or grandson of the former Lysanias. If a son, he 
 must have been nearly seventy years old at the time specified by 
 Luke. This is not improbable ; for ten years later (A. D. 38) 
 his territories had reverted to the emperor, perhaps from the 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 19, 6. 1. ib. 20. 7. 1. So 0apvs ^y rii -ttSau yclruv. Comp. li.3. 2. 
 
 too Ptolemy 6. 14. 4, 'A$i\a hvaaviov, B. J. 1. 9. 2. 
 
 comp. Reland Palest, p. 458.— For Abila ' Jos. Antt. 14. 3. 3. B. J. 1. 13. 1. — 
 
 in Perea, now Abil, see Polyb. 6. 71. 2. Antt. 15. 4. 1. Dio Cass. 49. 32. 
 Sos. B. J. 2. 13. 2. ib. 4. 7. 5. Burck- * Jos. Antt. 15. 10. 1, ZtiviSap6t tji 
 
 bardt p. 269. iiKjiiaduTO rhv oTkov toD Avaaytov. 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 14. 7. 4, Svycurrtiay XoXkI- ' Ibid. 15. 10. 1-3. 
 Sos T^f vTrb T^ Aifidvcp Spet, 13. 16. 3, ts 
 
484 FEOM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 failure of heirs ; and were given by him, as his own, to Herod 
 Agrippa. — But however all this may be, there is nothing in 
 these previous events and circumstances to affect, in the slightest 
 degree, the entire harmony between Luke and the later notices 
 of Josephus. 
 
 The city Abila continued to flourish for several centuries. 
 The date of the inscriptions, as said above, is fixed very nearly by 
 the imperial title " Armeniacus," assumed on occasion of the 
 triumph held by both emperors after the subjugation of Armenia 
 by Verus. This triumph took place in A. D. 166, and Verus 
 died in A. D. 169.' The longer inscription at least falls within 
 this interval. — Abila became an episcopal seat within the patri- 
 archate of Antioch. One of her bishops, Jordan, was present at 
 the council of Chalcedon in A. D. 451 ; and another, Alexander, 
 is mentioned under the emperor Justin in A. D. 518.' 
 
 From that time onward, all traces of Abila appear to be lost 
 on the pages of history, until the present century.^ This is the 
 more surprising, since the site is very definitely assigned by the 
 ancient Itineraries ; it lay upon one of the great roads from 
 Damascus to the sea coast ; and the place was marked by ruins 
 attesting its ancient splendour, and by a necropolis perhaps 
 more extensive and remarkable than any other in Syria.* 
 
 Mounting our horses a few rods beyond the bridge in the 
 chasm, we set off again at 4.40, following up the north bank of 
 the stream on a course nearly west. After ten minutes the pre- 
 cipitous character of the hills on each side ceases ; but the valley 
 continues narrow, and the hills high. At 5 o'clock the valley 
 opened out into a narrow meadow-like plain. Just here is a 
 cascade of twelve or fifteen feet in the river. Here too comes in 
 fi-om the southwest a side valley with a brook, being the outlet 
 of Wady el-Kurn, of which I shall speak further on. The 
 brook dries up in smnmer ; and over its bed are seen the remains 
 of an ancient bridge. Ascending a little and turning around the 
 
 ^ Znmpt Annales p. 134. have long "been supposed to mark the site 
 
 ' Le Quien Oriens Christ. II. 843. Comp. of an Abila." He publishes the inscrip- 
 
 Reland Falsest, p. 529. tions from a copy taken by Dr De Forest 
 
 ' Even Busching, near the close of the in 1846. Lands of the Bible. 1847, II. p. 
 
 last century, could only conjecturally fix ■ 373 sq. — M. De Sanlcy, who was here in 
 
 Abila as being near Neby Habil, on the ISJJl, and whose work was issued in 1853, 
 
 strength of Pococke's testimony ; XI. i. p. says : '* I am not aware that this insorip- 
 
 369. Nor was Ritter able, in his first edi- tion has been already published ;" although 
 
 tion, to make any advance ; Vol. II. p. it was published by Letronne in the Jour- 
 
 486, Berlin 1818. nal des Savans for March 1827. M. De 
 
 ' Dr Wilson passed this way in June Saulcy seems almost to regard himself as 
 
 1843 ; but says : " We did not stop to ex- the first to identify this spot as the site of 
 
 amine the tombs, or aqueducts, or ruins, Abila. Narrat H. pp. 591, 592 sq. 
 which we observed from the road . . . which 
 
JoNE 8.] ABILA. UPPEK BAKADA. 485 
 
 shoTilder of th6 right hand hill, we came at once, after seven 
 minutes, upon the southern and more narrow part of the plain of 
 Zebedany. It was a beautiful view, like a meadow, with green 
 fields and green grass, and the river winding through it with a 
 swift current. It was more of an occidental view than I had 
 elsewhere seen. The direction of the plain is very nearly from 
 south to north. Turning down a little from the road, we 
 encamped, at 5.20, on green grass by the side of the deep and 
 swift stream. Ten minutes below us, and opposite the angle of 
 the valley, was a mill and a bridge ; over which a road leads to 
 Batniny, and another more to the left goes to join the road to 
 Beirtit. — We were here again amid the verdure of spring, as we 
 had been a week before at Deir el-'Ashayir. Jebel esh-Sheikh 
 now bore southwest. 
 
 The Barada, as it here winds through the plain, though deep 
 and swift, is nevertheless still. Our tent was not ten yards from 
 its brink ; yet not a murmur nor a ripple reached our ears. 
 
 We were again upon the same plateau of the mountain, as 
 at Deir el-'Ashayir.. In respect to the two roads which I had 
 now travelled between it and Damascus, the Sahra is much nar- 
 rower upon the northern than upon the southern. On the other 
 hand, the broad low ridge between Deir el-'Ashayir and Dimas 
 and the Sahra, is here expanded into the wide mountainous 
 tract lying betwepn our present encampment and Bessima ; 
 skirted on the lower side by the ridge extending from Bessima to 
 Menin ; and on the west by the line of hills between our tent 
 and Wady Hureiry already described.' These hills along the 
 plain of Zebedany are at first not high ; but beyond Bludan and 
 northeast of Zebedany they rise into the loftiest summits of Anti- 
 Lebanon proper. On the west, the plain, in its widest part, is 
 shut in by a high ridge, which is far more rocky and desolate 
 than that upon the east. 
 
 Tuesday, June 8th. — We sent off our muleteers this morn- 
 ing by the direct road for 'Anjar, intending ourselves to take a 
 more circuitous route. Eeturning to our path of yesterday, we 
 kept on towards Zebedany, until at 6.50 we came upon the 
 shoulder of a broad low sweU. jutting out from the eastern hills 
 into the plain. Here Zebedany was in sight at the northern 
 end of the plain, about an hour and a quarter distant, 
 embosomed in a wide tract of trees and gardens. These 
 orchards and gardens cover all the northern part of the plain ; 
 and are similar to those around Damascus." On the high flank 
 of the mountain, Blfldan was seen nearly east of Zebedany ; 
 
 ' See above, p. 472. Syria ; not excepting those of Damascua." 
 
 ' Mr Thomson says of these gardens : Biblioth. Sao. Nov. 1848. p. 762. 
 " They are the neatest and best kept in 
 Vol. in.— 41* 
 
486 FEOM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 and also much nearer at hand, and lower down towards the base 
 of the hills, the two smaller villages, Bukin and MudSya ; the 
 latter being nearest to us. 
 
 Here too we could overlook the whole plain ; and were able to 
 get an idea of its general form, such as we also saw it afterwards 
 from its western side. The whole length of the plain is about 
 two hours and a quarter, or some seven miles. The southern 
 portion, in which we had encamped, is narrow, being not more 
 than half or three quarters of a mile in width ; the river flowing 
 along its bottom in a gently winding course. On the west this 
 part is skirted by low hills, which after about an hour turn west, 
 by a right angle ; and then the plain extends west along their 
 northern base quite to the high rocky ridge on that side. Just 
 here is the widest part of the plain ; the distance across it being 
 about an hour. Further north it is gradually contracted on the 
 eastern side ; until at Zebedany it is only two thirds as wide. 
 Just in this southwest angle of the broad part of the plain, is 
 the great fountain of the Barada. The hills on the east become 
 gradually higher and higher ; until, as I have said, they rise 
 beyond Bludan into the loftiest peaks of all Anti-Lebanon ; 
 being six thousand eight hundred iect above the sea.' 
 
 The wide valley or plain is terminated on the north side of 
 Zebedany and its gardens, by a low spur running down west 
 from the mountain below Bludan. Beyond the village, only a 
 narrow valley with sloping and cultivated sides runs up north 
 from the northwestern quarter of the plain. It is called Wady 
 Zebedany. After an hour this valley opens out into another 
 plain an hour long by half an hour broad, fertile and cultivated, 
 and having many vineyards and fruit trees. This is called the 
 plain of Surghaya, from the village of that name at its northern 
 extremity. In the southeast corner of this plain, at the foot of 
 the hills, is the village 'Ain Hawar, an hour and a quarter dis- 
 tant from Zebedany. Here, in the centre of the village, is a 
 fine fountain ; the stream from which flows down Wady Zebe- 
 dany to the lower plain. At SurghS.ya, forty-five minutes from 
 'Ain Hawar, is another fountain ; and its stream flows N. N. W. 
 down Wady Haura, and helps to form the stream of Wady 
 Yahfufeh, which enters the Bfika'a at the village of that name. 
 Down this valley passes a main road from Zebedany to Ba'al- 
 bek, which indeed we afterwards struck at Neby Shit. Another 
 road leads across the western mountain from Zebedany to 
 Zahleh. 
 
 The stream from 'Ain Hawar, called also Nahr Zebedany, is 
 exhausted in summer in furnishing a supply of water for Ze- 
 
 ' Kev. J. L. Porter 
 
JmraS.] PLAIN OF ZEBEDANT. 487 
 
 bedSny and its gardens ; while in winter it flows on througli the 
 plain, and falls into the Barada. Below Zebedany also, on the 
 eastern margin of the plain, are three smaller fountains. The 
 first is 'Ain Funduk, about half an hour S. S. E. of the village, 
 with a ruined KhSn ; then, at intervals of about fifteen minutes, 
 follow 'Ain Salih and 'Ain el-Haddid. Their rivulets flow into 
 the plain, and render portions of it marshy. 
 
 The general direction of the lofty mountain range above 
 BlMan, being strictly the backbone of Anti-Lebanon, from the 
 Barada northward, is about N. N. E. That of the less lofty but 
 desolate range on the west of the plain is nearly the same. The 
 latter becomes lower and lower towards the north, and finally 
 sinks down and terminates, as we shall see, at Neby Shit. From 
 the spot where we stood, the direction of the fountain of the 
 Barada was nearest N. W. by W. 
 
 I would gladly have turned aside to visit Bludan, which the 
 British consul and the American missionaries at Damascus have 
 made their summer residence. It lies high up on the mountain 
 side, about four thousand eight hundred and fifty feet above the 
 sea, ' and more tian a thousand feet higher than Zebedany ; 
 being perhaps the highest village in Anti-Lebanon. It possesses 
 fine fountains ; and is surrounded by an abundance of fruit and 
 shade trees of every kind. The air is pure, and the prospect 
 enchanting. But a visit there would have cost a day ; and my 
 time was Umited. 
 
 We now, at 6.55, turned down into the plain, in order to 
 cross over to the great foimtain. Mr Eobson had once crossed 
 not far above without difficulty. But we soon got entangled 
 among ditches and smaU. channels of water, coming from the 
 fountains on the east of the plain. We crossed one or two with 
 some trouble ; and then were compelled to turn back. A man 
 tending cattle aided us in this, and afterwards became our guide 
 across the plain. We passed up on the east of the two lower 
 fountains ; and, ten minutes before reaching 'Ain el-Funduk, 
 turned again westward, crossed its brisk streamlet, and at 8.15 
 struck a well travelled path leading S. S. W. through the plain 
 towards the fountain of the Barada. At the point where we 
 entered this road, we were about forty minutes distant from 
 Zebedany ; having lost about half an hour in -our detour. Our 
 path carried us on the west of all the marshy part of the plain. 
 We crossed indeed several channels, mostly on bridges; but 
 Iiad no further trouble. There was only one channel which 
 seemed a prominent one ; this had now some water, but was not 
 
 ' Or more exactly 4843 Engl. feet. Ze- the sea. This result, as compared with 
 bedany, according to Russegger (I. p. 721) Mr Porter's altitudes of Bludan and 'Ain 
 is 4024 Paris feet, or 4292 Engl, above Barada, would seem too large. 
 
488 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 large. We supposed it to be the bed of tbe stream from Zebe- 
 dSny. We came at 8.45 to the left bank of the Barada, here 
 rumiing east, at its northernmost point, opposite to a low mound 
 with a few trees and some ruined walls. This is called Bustan 
 el-' Arab, as belonging to the people of Haush el-' Arab, a small 
 village on the hills further south. Hence we followed up the 
 left bank of the river, about W. by S. and came at 9 o'clock to 
 its upper fountain. 
 
 The fountain and head of the river form a small lake, perhaps 
 three hundred yards long by one hundred broad. It is shallow 
 and marshy, apparently not more than two or three feet deep ; 
 though in some spots the depth is said to be great. It is full 
 of reeds, flags, water-lilies, and other aquatic plants. The 
 water is nowhere seen to boil up along the surface ; but at the 
 western end there are many small springs along the brink. The 
 river runs off at first E. by N. tiU beyond the Bustin ; and then 
 sweeps around to the lower part of the plain. The stream is 
 here large and deep ; contrasting strongly with its appearance as 
 it rushes along its rocky bed in the chasms further down the 
 mountain. The fountain is at the foot of the high western 
 ridge ; and, so far as I know, has not been before described. It 
 is three thousand six hundred feet above the sea. It lies, at the 
 most, an hour distant from the spot where we first left the Damas- 
 cus road ; so that we lost a full hour in finding (or rather losing) 
 our way by a more circuitous route. 
 
 We left the fountain at 9.15, going S. S. W. parallel to the 
 western mountain. The path led over the rough low spurs and 
 hills, which fill up the space south of the broad plain of Zebe- 
 dany and west of its lower arm. Rising gradually we came 
 at 10.05 to Batrfiny, lying at the foot of the western ridge. 
 It overlooks a not unfertile oblong basin towards the east and 
 south ; in the southern part of which it has its enclosures of 
 vineyards and fruit trees. We kept on, in the same direction 
 and at about the same level, for half an hour longer ; and came 
 to the foot of a long and lofty spur, thrown off eastwards from 
 the western mountain, on the north side of Wady el-Kdrn, and 
 forming on this side an angle with the niountain quite to its top. 
 Along the northern slope of this spur ascends the road, which 
 crosses the Barada just below our last night's encampment, and 
 goes to join the road to Beirut. We fell into this road ; ' and 
 ascended by it westwards along the spur. At 11 o'clock we 
 came out upon the top of the high western ridge ; and had a 
 wide view towards both the east and the west.' 
 
 ' Bearings at 10.40: Zetedany N. E. ' Bearings at 11 : Chasm of the Suk E. 
 by N. Chasm of the Suk E. S. E. Jebel by S. Chasm at Salihiveh E. S. E. 
 esh-Sheikh S. S. W. 
 
JnuE 8.] UPPER FOUNTAIN OF THE BABADA. 489 
 
 Looking back, we had in the northeast the sweet vale of 
 ZebedS,ny with the lofty summits of the Bludan range beyond. 
 Towards the east was the broad mountainous region through 
 which the Barada breaks its way to the Sahra. We had yester- 
 day seen the eastern face of the mountain, which runs from 
 Bessima to 'Ain Sdhib and Menin. We now saw its western 
 face, crested like its eastern with a ridge of rocks ; and higher 
 towards the northeast than it is at the Barada. The top is a 
 rough and elevated plateau of almost a triangular form. West 
 of this is another ridge, separated from the former by a valley, 
 which runs up from the Barada near Fijeh, by the village Efry, 
 to the west end of Wady Helb6n. This ridge becomes more 
 elevated towards the north ; and about three hours north of the 
 Baradaforms one of the highest summits of that portion of Anti- 
 Lebanon. Next follows Wady Hureiry, separating this middle 
 range from that which borders the plain of Zebedany, with the 
 high summits north of Bludan. 
 
 In the south, the view towards the southern part of the same 
 plateau, around Deir el-'Ashiyir, was obstructed by the high 
 broken ground along Wady el-Kurn, included between the spur 
 by which we had just ascended, and the lo\«^er ridge lying along 
 above Khan Meithelun. 
 
 Before us also we now had Jebel esh-Sheikh in the S. S. W. 
 and likewise portions of Lebanon, including Jebel Keniseh and 
 the road from Damascus, which passes near it ; these latter 
 being seen over the top of another and lower ridge of Anti- 
 Lebanon still before us. This latter encloses the basin or plain 
 called Sahil Judeideh, which now lay far below at our feet. Its 
 southern extremity was not far distant on our left. In its south- 
 eastern quarter, perhaps a mile from us, was seen the entrance to 
 Wady el-Kurn, by which it is drained. Through this valley 
 comes up the main road from Damascus to Beirut, by Dim as ; 
 and, crossing the plain obliquely about N. N. W. it enters Wady 
 Za'rir and descends to the Bflka'a. This road on leaving the 
 fountain and Khan Meithelun immediately ascends the hill on 
 the right ; and following up a shallow Wady reaches in forty 
 minutes the right bank of a deep Wady, coming down from near 
 Yuntah and Helwa, and called by Burckhardt Wady Helwa ; ' 
 the village of Surghaya bearing from that point N. 36° E. At 
 the same point Wady Helwa is joined by Wady el-Kt3rn ; and 
 the united valley runs to the Barada just above the Suk.' The 
 sides of Wady el-Kurn are high, and in many parts precipitous 
 mountains, with many projecting rocks, some caverns, and an 
 abundance of stunted trees and bushes. Being thus wild and 
 
 ' Trav. p. 208. ' See above, p. iSi. 
 
490 FEOM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XI. 
 
 entirely uninlaabited, it is a noted rendezvous for banditti, when- 
 ever the country is disturbed. From its junction with Wady 
 Helwa to the entrance of the plain of Judeideh is an hour and 
 a half. The valley forms the southern boundary of the district 
 of Zebedany.' From the spot where we now stood, Helwa is 
 visible, beyond the basin of Judeideh, bearing S. 63° W. distant 
 about one hour and twenty minutes. This mountain range is 
 cleft to its base by Wady el-Kurn ; but extends thence unbroken 
 to Wady Yahfufeh, in a direction about N. 25° E. Its greatest 
 elevation is nearly six thousard feet above the sea. North of 
 Sahil Judeideh the western ridge unites with it ; and the whole 
 range runs out and terminates at Neby Shit.' 
 
 We now turned nearly a right angle, and began to descend 
 very gradually about N. by W. along under the western brow of 
 the ridge we had just crossed. After ten minutes we had splen- 
 did views of Jebel SCinnin and the mountain above the cedars, 
 both of them resplendent with their crowns of snow. The 
 descent continued gradual. At 11.30 we reached a small 
 level plateau, half way down, with a low ridge between it and 
 the plain. Through this ridge a Wady breaks steeply to the 
 plain below ; this we followed down northwest, and came at 
 11.45 to the eastern margin of the plain. Back of this ridge, 
 towards the northeastern part of the plain, on the side of the 
 eastern mountain, is the small village of Kufeir Yabus ; which, 
 however, we did not notice.' Crossing the plain obliquely N. N. 
 W. we fell into the Damascus and Beirut road at 12.05, at the 
 mouth of Wady Za'rir. 
 
 This is a singular plain. Its length is nearly the same with 
 that of Zebedany, perhaps two and a quarter hours ; its breadth 
 not usually more than half an hour. Its general direction is 
 from S. by W. to N. by E. parallel to the plain of Zebedany ; 
 but further south. It is of course higher than that plain ; being 
 drained by the long route of Wady el-Kurn to the Barada just 
 below the foot of the latter plain. It corresponds in position to 
 the basin of Kefr Kuk ; that is, both lie west of all the higher 
 ridges of Anti-Lebanon, in nearly the same line with these 
 ridges. They are separated by a broad tract of high table land. 
 
 ■ This description of the road np Wady Jan. 1854, pp. 41-44. — The Rev. W. M. 
 
 el-Kiim is from the manuscript journal of Thomson, in passing from 'Anjar to Zebe- 
 
 Dr E. Smith in 1844. dany iu 1848, crossed this ridge much fur- 
 
 ' The Rev. J. L. Porter crossed the ther north, and descended directly to Zebe- 
 
 mountain at this place in 1852, on his way dany; Biblioth. Sac. Nov. 1848, p. 762. 
 from Bludan to the summit of Hermon. ^ From a point on the Beirut road, half 
 
 His road led from here southwest, descend- way between the entrance of Wady el- 
 
 ing and passing the entrance of Wady el- Kum and Wady Za'rir, the village of Ku- 
 
 Kum, and then ascending, and crossing feir Yabus bears N. 25° E. Ms. Journ. 
 
 the high plateau near Mezra'at ed-Deir of Dr E. Smith. 
 and Yuntah to Kefr Kuk. Biblioth. Sacra, 
 
Jdnk 8.] PLAIN OF JUDEIDEH. 491 
 
 The SahU Judeideh is drained eastwards to the Barada ; while 
 the basin of Kefr Kuk is without an outlet, and is a hundred 
 feet lower than the fountain of the Barada. 
 
 The Sahil Judeideh is a desert tract. There are a few 
 bushes and stunted trees around the opening of Wady el-Ktim 
 and on other portions of its sides ; and there is probably some 
 tillage and perhaps water at Kufeir Yabus, which we did not see. 
 But with these exceptions, the plain has not a tree, nor a shrub, 
 nor a drop of living water ; nor is there a human habitation on 
 it or its borders. It is untilled and wholly desert ; except the 
 tufts of thistles and furze thinly scattered over it. And all this 
 too, just midway between the plateau of Zebedany and the 
 Bukft'a, two of the most luxuriantly fertile plains in the world. 
 Those plains are well watered, while this tract is without water. 
 
 We were now, so to speak, upon the water-shed between the 
 plain of Damascus and the Biika'a. The ridges and plateaus 
 lying east of us, in the region immediately north of the Barada, 
 were the following : Jebel Kasyun ; the plateau of the Sahra ; 
 the ridge extending from Bessima to Menin ; the valley running 
 up by Efry ; the ridge west of this valley ; Wady Huroiry ; the 
 lofty Bludin range ; the plateau of Zebedany ; the western ridge 
 or Jebel Zebedany ; SahU Judeideh. Between the latter and 
 the Buk3,'a there now remained only the low ridge before us. 
 
 Entering the mouth of Wady Za'rir we ascended very gently 
 northwest for fifteen minutes, and came at 12.20 to the water- 
 shed, where the valley begins to descend in a N. E". W. direction. 
 The same name continues for twenty minutes longer. At 12.40 
 we passed a large tree, where the name changes to Wady Harir. 
 This valley winds a good deal ; but has a general course north- 
 west, until it enters the margin of the Buka'a, at the base of 
 Anti-Lebanon. It is quite narrow, the bottom being little more 
 than the bed of a winter torrent. The descent is very consider- 
 able, but is nowhere steep. The valley is shut in by hills 
 neither very high nor precipitous. There is no cultivation in it 
 whatever ; but the hills on each side are clothed with bushes and 
 stunted trees, chiefly oak, and a species of tree which bears a 
 berry resembling a haw, but longer, and called Za'rtir. It is 
 from the abundance of this tree in the eastern or upper part of 
 the valley, that it is there for thirty-five minutes called Wady 
 Za'rir. We came to the mouth of Wady Harir at 1.30 ; the 
 whole distance from the plain of Judeideh being therefore 
 nearest an hour and a half. This valley furnishes a very con- 
 venient road through this ridge of Anti-Lebanon ; as Wady el- 
 Kurn also does through the ridge next east.' 
 
 ■ In 1848, the Rev. W. M. Thomson Zebedany; see Biblioth. Sac. Nov. 1848, 
 passed by a direct route from 'Anjar to p. 762. He ascended by Wady 'Anjar, 
 
492 FEOM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XI. 
 
 At the mouth of Wady Harir is a small Khan for travellers, 
 a miserable and filthy hole. We stopped here for lunch ; and I 
 ■was too much exhausted not to be glad of an opportunity for 
 rest, even in such a place. 
 
 We were not yet in the plain of the Buka'a itself. Before 
 us was a line of elevated hills, beginning a httle further on our 
 right, and stretching far to the south, parallel with Anti- 
 Lebanon and not far distant from its base. Between the two is 
 a narrow plain or valley, higher than the BiSka'a ; it here slopes 
 down northwards, and is from fifteen to twenty minutes broad. 
 This is the line of hiUs and intervening valley, which I have al- 
 ready described as extending northwards from Wady et-Teim, and 
 forming indeed a continuation of that valley.^ Mejdel 'Anjar 
 was now in sight opposite to us ; and on one of the loftiest hills, 
 an hour and a half further south, is situated Sultan Ya'kob. 
 The line of hills is interrupted only by Wady Faluj, half an 
 hour south of that village. — Towards the north the range sints 
 down gradually by low hills to the plain. On the northernmost 
 of the higher hills stands the temple of Mejdel, fronting towards 
 the N. N. E. Mejdel itself lies in the deep notch or saddle 
 between that hill and the one next south ; the village, with its 
 minaret, looking mainly towards the east." 
 
 Leaving the Khan at 2.35, we crossed the narrow valley, and 
 came in twenty minutes to Mejdel. Here, as we were passing up 
 through the village, the dogs made an assault upon Jirjis' mule. 
 This set the mule to kicking, and the dogs to howhng ; threw 
 off Jirjis ; and sent the mule racing and kicking into the fields. 
 Order was at length restored, without much damage to man, 
 mule, or dogs. Mejdel is a large and apparently thriving vil- 
 lage. Many of the dwellings had the courts and adjacent side 
 of the house whitewashed ; and were altogether neater than I 
 had elsewhere seen in the villages. The minaret is an old 
 square tower of better appearance and architecture than usual. 
 This, with a cornice carried around it high up, led me to 
 suppose, that it may perhaps be of earlier date than Islam itself. 
 Mejdel is mentioned by Abulfeda, as on the way from Ba'albek 
 to Wady et-Teim.' — We ascended to the temple from the 
 south, and reached it in ten minutes from the village. 
 
 The position of this temple is very striking. The great val- 
 ley is here seven or eight miles broad from mountain to moun- 
 
 twenty-five mimitea south of Neba' 'Anjar. dar, which is described as desert, probably 
 
 After two hours he passed a water-shed runs into the Sahil ; since it is said to be 
 
 into Wady Midar ; up which valley he drained to Wady el-Kurn. 
 
 rode for two hours more. At the head of ' See above, pp. 428-430. 
 
 it is a pass leading directly over to Zebe- ' Bearings from the Khan : Mejdel W. 
 
 dany. This route would seem to lie north N. W. The temple N. W. by W. 
 
 of the Sahil Judeideh; but the Wady Ma- ' Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 20. 
 
June 8.] MEJDEL. AKCIENT TEMPLE. 493 
 
 tain ; and its direction is in general about from S. W. by S. to 
 N. E. by N. Placed upon this northernmost high point of the 
 long line of hiUs extending from Wady et-Teim, the temple 
 looks northwards along the magnificent vista of the Buka'a, 
 carpeted with verdure and beauty, and shut in on the right by 
 the lofty wall of Anti-Lebanon, and on the left by the still 
 loftier snow-capt ridges of Lebanon itself. 
 
 The body of the temple, so far as we could fix the northern 
 end, measures eighty-two feet long by forty-six feet wide. It 
 had a portico with several columns towards the north. These 
 are aU displaced and prostrate in utter ruin ; though they would 
 appear to have been again laid confusedly together for some pur- 
 pose. * The diameter of the columns at the base is four feet ; and 
 higher up, three feet nine inches. Immense Doric capitals lie scat- 
 tered among them, as also fragments of the sculptured pediment. 
 On the east side the top courses of the wall are gone ; and the 
 whole surface of the stones is eaten away by the weather. Here, 
 in the fourth course from the bottom, we measured two stones, 
 each twenty-one feet long, and five feet eight inches high ; and 
 we afterwards found one of like dimensions in the western wall. 
 At the southern end also the lower courses are much worn away 
 by the weather ; and in the upper courses the stones are smaller 
 and are bevelled. The western wall is the most perfect ; the 
 stones being here well preserved and finely bevelled. The bevel 
 is the same as at Jerusalem, perhaps a little deeper ; it is well 
 cut and entire. On the west side too are seen the remains of an 
 ornament, which I here noticed for the first time ; namely, a 
 narrow projection or belt along the whole side, both near the 
 bottom and again half way up. At the southwest corner is the 
 appearance of a square pilaster ; but so much worn by the 
 weather as to be doubtful. 
 
 The grand portal, within the portico, was fourteen feet six 
 inches broad, with sculptured side-posts, each twenty-four feet 
 high by six feet wide and four feet three inches thick. On each 
 side of it is a smaller door-way. The sides of the interior were 
 originally decorated with half columns, with two niches one above 
 the other between ; that is alternately niches and a column. 
 These are much dilapidated. In one corner next the portico is 
 the fragment of a double fluted column of rose coloured lime- 
 stone." The interior measures nearest sixty feet in its whole 
 length by thirty-five in breadth ; the altar at the south end 
 occupying twelve and a half feet. Before it there seems to have 
 
 - Possibly at some time or other as a ' There are similar columns in the lesser 
 Muslim fort ; though there is now no ap- temple at Ba'albek, as we saw a few days 
 pearance that the temple was ever put to afterwards. 
 such a use. 
 
 Vol. III.— 42 
 
494 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBBK. [Skc. XL 
 
 been a partition. The inside courses on the level of the floor 
 consist of four stones on each side ; the two largest of which in 
 each wall we found to be twenty-one feet long by five feet eight 
 inches high. These correspond to the fourth outside course in 
 the eastern wall, and the third in the western. 
 
 The height of the temple is from thirty-five to forty feet to the 
 cornice ; a portion of which remains. On the west side there are 
 eleven courses of stones, none of them less than three feet thick, 
 and some of them much more. 
 
 This antique temple, next to the lesser one at Ba'albek, is 
 the finest and best preserved ruin in or near the great valley. 
 It is simple, massive, and beautilul ; and obviously of a severer 
 and earlier type than any we had seen, and also than those of 
 Ba'albek. Yet not the slightest allusion to it is found in his- 
 tory. Chalcis under Lebanon was indeed near at hand ; yet the 
 writers who speak of that city, make no mention of the neigh- 
 bouring temple. Even at the present day, it is only within the 
 last few years, that the structure has been recognised as an an- 
 cient temple ; although overlooking for centuries, and that quite 
 . near at hand, the great road between Damascus and Beirut. 
 No early traveller mentions it.' Seetzen in 1805 visited and 
 described it ; but his journal has lain unknown until the present 
 time.' Burckhardt was twice in the vicinity, at 'Anjar and near 
 Mejdel, but makes no allusion to it.' As late as A. D. 1844 it is 
 still spoken of by travellers as a castle or a tower.* I find it 
 first noticed as an antique temple in A. D. 1847.' 
 
 About three quarters of an hour south of Mejdel on the 
 western base of the same line of hills, is the village of Zekweh 
 (or Dhekweh), with the ruin of another smaller ancient temple. 
 The interior measures thirty-seven feet in length by nineteen in 
 width. The porch is five feet deep and the walls two feet thick. 
 The columns are plain, with Corinthian capitals. Sarcophagi 
 and large stones from ancient buildings are scattered around ; 
 and there are excavated tombs in the side of the hill.' 
 
 From the temple of Mejdel, besides the glorious prospect up 
 the long vista of the Buka'a, with the snowy summits of Keniseh 
 
 ' Not even Atnlfeda, who has -a, notice foundations ;" Mittel Syrien und Damaso. 
 
 of Mejdel ; Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler p. 20. Wien 1853. 
 
 ' Seetzen, Eeisen, Berlin 1854, I. p. ' E. G. Schulz passed this way in 1 847, 
 
 263. with Philip Wolfe. The latter speaks of 
 
 ^ Trav. pp. 8, 31. this structure as "the ruins of a heathen 
 
 * Dr Hogg in 1833 mentions it as " a temple ;" Reise ins Gelobte Land, p. 187. 
 
 large castellated building;" Visit etc. II. They did not visit it. 
 
 p. 85. Dr E. Smith in 1844 speaks of Mej' ' Dr De Forest in Joum. of Am. Orieu- 
 
 del 'Anjar as perhaps a third of a mile tal Soc. Vol. III. p. 363. Dr De Forest 
 
 distant from the road, " with the ruined had already visited this ruin, as well as 
 
 tower on the hill back of it." So late as that at Mejdel ; and also the less impor- 
 
 1851, Kremer mentions these ruins as those tant remains not far from Hummarah and 
 
 of " a chapel, probably resting on ancient 'Aithy ; ibid. pp. 361,-362. 
 
JniraS.] MEJDEL. THE TEMPLE. ENVIKONS. 495 
 
 and Sunnin near at hand on tlie left, and the glittering heights 
 above the cedars in the distance, there were other matters' of 
 interest close around us. Below us in the northeast were the ruins 
 of 'Anjar, and the great fountain beyond.' From the latter a 
 large stream flowed off first W. K. W. and then swept round 
 southwest to join the Litany. The range of hills on which the 
 temple stands, sinks down into a line of low Tells ; on and 
 around the northernmost of which lies the village of Neby Za'iir 
 with a conspicuous Wely.'' The road from Damascus to Beirilt 
 is seen issuing from Wady Harir and passing obliquely across 
 the plain on the north of Mejdel. It reaches the bridge over the 
 stream from Neba' 'Anjar in an hour and ten minutes from 
 Wady Harir. This bridge is called D^r Zeiniin from an adja- 
 cent village ; and the river is already too deep to be forded.' 
 The road then leaves Burr Elids on the right ; and after forty 
 minutes from the said bridge, and ten minutes beyond el-Merj, the 
 Litany is crossed by a low bridge of three arches. The water is 
 deep and of a clayey colour. The road begins to ascend the moun- 
 tain, passing through the village of Mekseh on the first ascent, 
 an hour from the bridge of the Litany. Ten minutes further 
 up, the road from Zahleh comes in ; and twenty minutes above 
 the junction is the Khan el-Mureijat. At the foot of the 
 mountain, further south, is the large village Ktibb Elias ; and 
 ten minutes above it is the castle of the same name, said to have 
 been built by the celebrated Druze chieftain, Fakhr ed-Din. 
 A rough path up the mountain leads in forty minutes from the 
 castle to Shukif eth-Thaur, a spot so called from the figure of a 
 bull, which is cut on the north side of a detached rock at the 
 foot of a rugged precipice. The figure is five feet high, and the 
 body eight feet long. From this point, a further ascent of forty 
 minutes brings the traveller into the usual Beirut road at the 
 top of the mountain.* 
 
 Returning from the temple to Mejdel, we left at 4.20 for 
 'Anjar. After twenty-five minutes we crossed the Damascus 
 and Beirut road ; and came at 5 o'clock to the ruins of 'Anjar. 
 They lie upon a slope, where the high narrow plain sinks down 
 
 ' Bearings from the temple of Mejdel : 346°. Jeditheh 321°. Mekseh 313°. Khan 
 
 Mejdel S. Khan at mouth of Wady Harir el-Mujeirat 308°. Kuhb Elias 303°. el- 
 
 S. E. by E. 'Anjar, ruin, N. 50° E. Neba* Merj 288°. Estubl 259°. Mejdel 194°. 
 
 'Anjar N. 65° E. Neby Za'ur 151°. Dar Zeinun li4°. 'Anjar, 
 
 ' This Wely is said to be built out of the ruin, 113°. 
 
 mins of an ancient temple, with sarcophagi ' Dr De Forest in Journ. of the Am. 
 
 and other remains round about; so H. Orient. Soc. III. pp. 365, 366. — Dr De 
 
 Guy's Relation, II. pp. 33, 34. Kitter Forest descended from the temple of Mej- 
 
 Erdk. XVTI. p. 182. del towards the west, and came in an hour 
 
 ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. to the Litany, by the village of Estubl ; 
 
 1848, p. 760. — From this bridge, in 1844, and in an hour and a half more to Kubb 
 
 Dr Smith took the following bearings: EliaSL 
 Miiallakah beyond Zahleh 5°. Burr Ellas 
 
496 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Skcl XL 
 
 rapidly northwards to the lower alluvial tract along the river 
 from Neba' 'Anjar. Here are the remains of the walls and 
 towers of a fortified city ; or rather, perhaps, of a large citadeL 
 Its form is nearly a square with eight or nine towers on each 
 side. The waU was built externally of hewn stones, some of 
 them large, and all well dressed.' They are now mostly fallen 
 down ; and the ruins of wall and towers still mark the former 
 line. We measured the wall on the north, which is the shorter 
 side. The length is nearest three hundred and thirty-five yards, 
 or somewhat less than one fifth of a mile. The longer side we 
 estimated at a quarter of a mile. There are no remains of 
 buildings within the enclosure, except slight foundations ; among 
 which we stumbled upon three columns, and there may be more. 
 The dwellings were probably built of small broken stones, as at 
 the present day ; and many such stones are scattered around. 
 The fortification would afford room for a large population ; and a 
 still larger number may have dwelt outside of the walls. The 
 whole reminded me strongly of the citadel of Banias ; though this 
 at 'Anjar covers a larger extent of ground, and its towers perhaps 
 were less massive. — The place had its supply of water from the 
 great fountain fifteen minutes distant ; the waters of which were 
 probably elevated in a high reservoir, and so conducted to the 
 town and fortress. 
 
 In the history of the crusaders we read, that in the summer 
 of A. D. 1176, whUe Saladia was occupied in the neighbourhood 
 of Aleppo, king Baldwin IV. made an expedition from Sidon 
 into the Buka'a. Crossing mount Lebanon, he came to a place 
 situated in a fertile tract with abundant fountains, called Mes- 
 saara (Meshghurah) ; thence descended to the valley Bacar (el- 
 Buk^'a), a land flowing with milk and honey, which was held to 
 be the ancient Iturea. In this plain they came to a place, the 
 modern name of which was Amegarra, surrounded by strong 
 walls, and exhibiting in its edifices many tokens of its ancient 
 splendour. Some held it to be Palmyra ; but there can be no 
 question, that it was 'Anjar, or as the Arabs then wrote it, 'Ain 
 el-Jurr. Here the crusaders plundered and burned at their 
 leisure ; the inhabitants having all fled to the mountains.'' 
 
 'Anjar is mentioned likewise by Abulfeda in connection with 
 the fountain. He writes the name 'Ain el-Jurr ; from which in 
 popular usage has come the form 'Anjar. He says there are 
 here " great ruins of stones." ' Yet although the ruins lie 
 
 'According to Burckhardt, the wall *Ain el-Jurr there are great nains of stones, 
 
 wag twelve feet thick ; Trav. p. 8. — Mr It is situated a long day's journey to the 
 
 Thomson gives the number of towers at south of Ba'albek. Near it is a village 
 
 thirty-two ; Biblioth. S.ac. 1848, p. 761. called el-Mejdel ; and it lies on the road 
 
 '■■ WilL Tyr. 21. 11. Tuch in Zeitschr. leading from Ba'albek to Wady et-Teim. 
 
 4 morgenl. Ges. IV. p. 512. Ritter XVII. From 'Ain el-Jurr springs a. great river, 
 
 p. 226. that runs into the Buka'a," Comp. p. 93. 
 
 ' Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 20: "At 
 
Jdne 8.] 'aNJAB, CHALCIS. NOTICES. 497 
 
 ■within fifteen minutes of the great Beirlit and Damascus road, 
 and in full view, Seetzen and Burckhardt were the first travel- 
 lers to visit and describe them ; and very few have done it since.' 
 
 As early as December, 1847, I was led conjecturally to con- 
 nect these remains with the ancient Chalets under Lebanon, 
 mentioned by Josephus.' The historian relates that Pompey 
 marching southwards from his winter-quarters, probably at or 
 near Antioch, about B. 0. 63, demolished the citadel that was 
 at Apamea on the Orontes (now Kul'at el-Mudik) ; passed 
 through the cities Heliopolis (Ba'albek) and Ghalcis ; and, cross- 
 ing the mountain which shuts in Ccelesyria, proceeded irom 
 Bella to Damascus.^ Of this Ghalcis, Ptolemy the son of Men- 
 nasus, already mentioned above under Abila, was then lord.* 
 Strabo likewise speaks of Ghalcis in connection with Hehopolis, 
 as subject to the same Ptolemy.' This Ptolemy was succeeded 
 by his son, the earlier Lysanias ; whose possessions, after his 
 murder by Antony, were farmed by Zenodorus, as already 
 related.* Many years later, the emperor Claudius in the first 
 year of his reign, A. D. 51, bestowed Ghalcis on Herod, a brother 
 of the elder [Herod] Agrippa with the title of king ; and gave him 
 also the oversight of the temple at Jerusalem, and the right of 
 appointing the high priests.' After his death, about A. D. 48, 
 Ghalcis went to his nephew, the younger Agrippa, mentioned in 
 the book of Acts.' He held it during four years ; and was then 
 transferred, with the title of king, to the provinces formerly 
 held by Philip, his father's uncle, and afterwards by his father^ 
 viz. Batanea, Ti-achonitis, Abilene, and others.' The further 
 fortunes of Ghalcis are unknown. 
 
 The preceding notices, and especially the march of Pompey, 
 go to show, that Ghalcis under Lebanon was situated in the 
 Buka'a south of Ba'albek." Its probable connection with Abila 
 also implies a position near the passes of Anti-Lebanon. All 
 these circumstances point to the strong fortress at 'Anjar as tho 
 
 ' Seetzen, Reisen I. p. 262. Burckhardt §§ 17, 18. p. 755. It is hence probable 
 
 p. 8. Lord Lindsay in 1837, Letters II. p. that Strabo's plain of Marsyas was the 
 
 375. W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. Buka'a ; and then the Ghalcis of the latter 
 
 Nov. 1848, p. 761. The spot is •'^r.o men- passage is the same with the preceding. 
 tioned in Dr Smith's manuscript Journal, ° See above, p. 483. 
 1844 ; and is merely named by P. Wolfe ' Jos. Antt 19. 5. 1. ib. 19. 8. 1, 3. 
 
 in 1847, p. 187. ib. 20. 1. 3. 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 1. 9. 2, Ti vTrh TM AiPiftji ' Jos. B. J. 2. 12. 1.— Acts 25, 13. u. 26. 
 XoXki'j. Antt 14. 7. 4. ' ' Jos Antt. 20. 7. 1. 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 14. 3. 2. '° There was another ancient Chalcis, 
 
 * See above, p. 483. — Jos. Antt 14. 7. now Kinneserin, a few miles south of 
 
 4. B. J. 1. 9. 2. Aleppo; Abulfed. Tab. Syr. p. 117. Re- 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 10. p. 753. Strabo here land pointed out the distinction between 
 
 mentions, that this Ptolemy was in posses- the two cities ; Palsest. p. 315. Cellarius 
 
 sion of the plain Marsyas and the moun- confounded them ; Notit. Orb. II. pp. 363, 
 
 taiuous tract of the Itureans ; comp. ibid. 364. 
 
 Vol. III.— 42» 
 
498 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sbg XI. 
 
 remains of the ancient Chalcis. Nor are there any other like 
 remains in all the valley, which can he referred to it.' 
 
 From the ruin of 'Anjar, we came in fifteen minutes due east 
 to the great fountain, Neba' 'Anjar, at the foot of Anti-Lebanon ; 
 called also sometimes Birket 'Anjar, as rising in a small reservoir 
 or pool. Here we found our tent already pitched some rods 
 below the fountain, on green grass, in the meadow-hke tract, 
 through which the copious river already cuts its way in a deep 
 winding channel.' The fountain is quite large ; not as abun- 
 dant indeed as those of Fijeh and Tell el-KSdy ; but nearly or 
 quite equal to that at Banias. It issues just at the foot of 
 Anti-Lebanon ; but yet high enough above the low plain to 
 drive some half a dozen mills. The strata of the mountain here 
 dip under the plain ; and the water boils up in its Birkeh, which 
 is lined with masonry, just in front of the dip. From this pool 
 the river descends upon the mills, and then rushes away to the 
 alluvial tract below ; where its course at first is W. N. W. The 
 water is limpid and fine. Euins of walls and foundations of 
 large hewn stones are seen around the pool. There may once, 
 perhaps, have been a temple here ; though, possibly, these may 
 be the ruins of an elevated reservoir for raising the water, so as 
 to conduct it to the neighbouring town and fortress. 
 
 Neba' 'Anjar is regarded by the inhabitants as a partially 
 intermitting fountain. Burckhardt was told by the people of 
 the mills, that the water " stops at certain periods, and resumes 
 its issue from under the roek eight or ten times in a day."' 
 According to Mr Thomson " there is at all times a large stream 
 boiling up ; but at irregular periods there is a sudden and great 
 increase of water ; sometimes only once a day ; while at other 
 times the increase occurs six, eight, or even ten times a day." ■* 
 We also made inquiry ; and the reply was, that the fountain 
 never wholly intermits ; but varies every few hours in the quan- 
 tity it sends forth. Still, as no traveller has personally observed 
 the phenomenon, and the reports vary, the question arose in my 
 mind, whether, after all, the occasional rise of water in the 
 Birkeh is perhaps anything more, than would naturally occur 
 on shutting it off suddenly from one or more of the mills.^ 
 
 ' The sum of the remarks in the text of Mejdel W. S. W. 'Anjar, the mins, W. 
 
 may he found in the Bibliotheca Sacra Zahleh N. 20° W. Neby Za'ur, Wely 
 
 for Feb. 1848, pp. 90, 91; with a fiirther and village, N. 60° W. l^m. dist. 
 reference to the subject in the same work for ' Trav. p. 9. 
 
 Nov. 1848, p. 761.— Bitter likewise main- * In Biblioth. Sac. 1848, pp. 760, 761. 
 tains the identity of 'Anjar with Chalcis ; ' So far as I know, the fountain has 
 
 Erdk. XVII. pp. 185-187. Yet mistaking been described only by Burckhardt and 
 
 my language in one place (p. 761) for that W, M. Thomson ; see the two next pre- 
 
 of Mr Thorrison, he erroneously ascribes to ceding notes. Seetzen mentions it briefly ; 
 
 the latter the first suggestion of Chalcis. Rei.sen I. p. 263. Comp. Ritter, Erdk. 
 
 ' Bearings from Neba' 'Anjar : Temple XVII p. 181. 
 
JoNE 9.] FOUNTAIN AND STREAM OF 'aNJAE. 499 
 
 Abulfeda speaks of tlie stream from Neba' 'Anjar as " a large 
 river that runs into the Boka'a." ' As he nowhere else alludes 
 to a river in the Bflk^'a, it would seem that he held this foun- 
 tain to be the head of the Litdny, in the same manner that he 
 describes the Barada as springing from Fijeh ; regarding not the 
 remotest, but the most copious fountain as the source of the 
 river.' The stream from Neba' 'Anjar, enlarged by the waters 
 of the two lesser fountains further north, is usually much larger, 
 at the junction, than that of the Litany ; the more northern 
 sources of which in summer become exhausted in the plain.^ 
 Neba' 'Anjar is regarded by the natives as the source of the 
 river.' 
 
 At this place a branch of the great alluvial plain of the 
 Buka'a runs up between the southern Hne of hills and another 
 which (as we shall see) begins further north ; it reaches quite to 
 the base of Anti-Lebanon ; and thus forms an outlet for the 
 stream from the fountains. I am not aware, that the elevation 
 of this portion of the Buka'a has ever been ascertained. That 
 of Zahleh, two and a half hours distant, is given by Dr De Forest 
 at three thousand and seventy-one feet ; ^ by Eussegger at three 
 thousand and ninety-three English feet ;' so that at Neba' 'Anjar 
 the elevation cannot well be over three thousand feet. Hence it 
 would follow, that 'Ain Barada, in the plain of Zebedany, is 
 only some six hundred feet higher than Neba' 'Anjar in the 
 Buka'a. The level of the BOka'a rises gradually towards the 
 north almost to Lebweh ; and its elevation at the water-shed, as 
 compared with the barometrical measurement at Ba'albek, 
 cannot be less than four thousand feet above the sea. In its 
 general character, therefore, this great valley is a vast ancj lofty 
 mountain cleft, eight or nine miles wide ; and the summits by 
 which it is shut in, as viewed from its plain, have from three to 
 four thousand feet less of altitude, than as seen from the Medi- 
 terranean and its shores. 
 
 Wednesday, June 9th. — The river, as it flowed by our tent, 
 was running in a channel eight or ten feet deep, with perpendic- 
 ular banks ; and was not easily fordable. In order to proceed 
 northwards we returned to the mills, and there forded the 
 stream, which was rushing down in several channels. Leaving 
 the mills at 6.35, we kept along the foot of Anti-Lebanon ; and 
 
 ■ Tab. Syr. p. 20. See above, p. 496, n. 3. * So Dr Smith, Bibl. Res. 1st edit. III. 
 
 ' For this principle, as applied in the App. p. 143. 
 
 case of the Barada, see above, p. 477 ; ' Ms. Letter. 
 
 also in the case of the Jordan, pp. 412, 413 ° Russegger's specification is 2900 Paris 
 
 Bq. Comp. Ritter XVII. p. 180. feet ; Trav. I. p. 697.— Russegger's results 
 
 ^ Burckliardt describes the stream from with the barometer, as compared with 
 
 'Anjar, in September, as having " more those of Mr Porter with the aneroid, seem 
 
 than triple the volume of water of tba Li- to be a hundred feet or more greater ; seo 
 
 tany ;" p. 8. So too Mr Eobson's Notes. above, p. 453, n. 6. 
 
500 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 came at 6.55 to Neba' Shemsin, the other chief fountain in this 
 region. This, though not more than one third as large as Neba' 
 'Anjar, is yet a fine fountain. It bursts forth under strata of 
 rocks, which dip under the plain at an angle of 45° or more ; 
 and flows off into the low alluvial tract to join the stream from 
 'Anjar. On the south side of the fountain are the square foun- 
 dations of some rude modem structure. About half an hour 
 further north is another smaller fountain, called Neba' Beida. 
 It lies west of our road ; and was said to be only a fourth part 
 as large as Neba' Shemsin. Its small stream runs also to the 
 river from 'Anjar. These three fountains were aU we could hear 
 of in the region of 'Anjar. ' 
 
 As we advanced, there was on our left, at 7.15, a high Tell, 
 a quarter of a mile distant, standing isolated in the plain. Half 
 a mile north of it begins another range of hills, lying parallel to 
 the base of Anti-Lebanon, similar to those south of Mejdel ; 
 and, like them, shutting in a narrow and elevated valley. These 
 hills continue, with some little interruption and irregularity near 
 Neby Shit, all the way to Ba'albek, where they disappear ; that 
 place being situated just at their northern extremity. Their 
 general direction, like that of Anti-Lebanon, is about N. E. by 
 N. Our course to-day was nearest N. 40° E. 
 
 At 7.35, Zahleh, situated at the foot of Lebanon, was seen 
 in a hne with the south end of the range of hills. We soon 
 after struck a great road, coming down from Zebedany to Kefr 
 Zebad just before us, and passing on around the southern Mil to 
 join the Beirut road below Mekseh. This is a branch of the road 
 already mentioned as leading across the mountain from Zebedany 
 to Zahleh.^ At 8 o'clock we reached Kefr Zebad. This village, 
 like our road, lies on the east of the line of hUls, within the 
 narrow higher valley, which is here drained towards the south. 
 The hills on the left are high in this part ; and on one of them, 
 a conical point called Jebel esh-Sha'ir, are said to be the remains 
 of an ancient building ; but no columns. At 8.20 the small 
 village of 'Ain was on our right.^ The next place is Kuseiyeh, 
 a large village at the top of the acclivity, opposite to the water- 
 shed of the narrow valley. We passed through it at 8.55. On 
 the hill side to the left, above the village, are the foundations, and 
 one or two courses of the walls of some structure apparently 
 ancient, about forty feet long by twenty wide. The stones are 
 well dressed ; and may perhaps be the remains of a, smal 
 temple. There is no appearance of columns. At Kuseiyeh the 
 
 ' Bnrokhardt speaks of a fourth foun- ' See above, p. 486. 
 tain, which he heard of but did not visit, " Dr De Forest saw at 'Ain a Corinthian 
 
 still an hour further north ; p. 9. It may capital, and some antique hewn stones ; 
 
 exist in one of the villages ; but has no Joum. of Am. Or. See III. p. 360. 
 connection with 'Anjar. 
 
JokbS.] DEIR EL-GHDZAL. MAST. 501 
 
 direct road from Zebedainy to Zahleh comes down from Anti- 
 Lebanon, and passes on througli a notch in the line of hills into 
 the great plain.' 
 
 At 9.15 there was on our left a deep gap in the line of hills, 
 through which we had a fine view of the great plain below. In 
 it, just in the nook of the hills beneath us, was the village of 
 Hashmush a quarter of a mile distant ; said to have near it the 
 remains of an ancient structure. We came at 9.25 to the village 
 of Deir el-Ghuzal, lying high on the eastern slope of the line of 
 hiUs ; or, rather, on a ridge between two of the hills ; while from 
 it a Wady runs down steeply westwards to the BukS,'a. Just 
 out of the village and above it, looking down into the deep 
 Wady and out over the great plain, are the massive foundations 
 of an ancient temple, with fragments of two large columns. 
 Many of the stones of the temple have rolled far down into the 
 valley. Among these is a small altar, with an inscription only 
 just legible enough to see that it was in Greek. Here we stopped 
 twenty minutes. 
 
 Setting off again at 9.45, our general course still N. 40° E. 
 we came at 10 o'clock to Ea'ith, a small village on a lower hill.' 
 Beyond it the water-bed of this northern part of the higher 
 narrow plain turns W. N. W. and passes out into the Buka'a. 
 We crossed it at 10.10 ; it is called Wady Sahtir. The hills 
 now continue as low spurs running out from Anti-Lebanon, and 
 terminating sometimes in bluffs. Crossing these spurs we came 
 at 10.35 to Masy, situated on a like hill. Here, just west of the 
 village, are the remains of a mosk, which seems anciently to have 
 been a church ; some say of St. John, but I do not know on 
 what authority. There are columns measuring twenty-nine 
 inches in diameter ; and at the southwest corner is a stone with 
 a Latin inscription ; but so illegible that we could make out 
 nothing except the name LONGINUS. — We now had before us 
 the lower portion or little plain of Wady Yahfufeh. Beyond it 
 we could see our road to Neby Shit crossing a higher ridge running 
 out from Anti-Lebanon, and terminating in a high Tell west of 
 the road ; the course of this latter being about N. N. E. On the 
 right, Wady Yahfufeh was seen breaking down through the low 
 outer ridge of Anti-Lebanon by a wild gorge. 
 
 Leaving Masy at 11 o'clock, we descended steeply into the 
 little plain of Wady Yahfufeh ; and came at 11.10 to its pretty 
 stream, here tolerably large, and well used up for irrigation. 
 The road follows up the right bank of the stream almost to the 
 village of Yahfufeh, situated near the mouth of the gorge ; and 
 
 ' See above, p. 486. umns ;" Jonm. of Am. Or. Soo. III. p. 
 
 " Here Dr De Forest found " small Co- 360. 
 linthian capitals and fragments of col- 
 
502 FKOM DAMASCUS TO BA'ALBEK. [Sec. X3. 
 
 then turns up a valley towards the north. Having no guide we 
 mistook the way, and climbed the hill directly without a path ; 
 but came to the road again about forty rods west of the village. 
 We now crossed the high ridge before us, having the high Tell 
 on our left ; and descending and crossing a deep valley on the 
 other side, running out N. by W. we ascended to Neby Shit on 
 our right, reaching it at 12.15. Here we looked round for a 
 shady place for lunch and rest ; and finding an unoccupied 
 house newly whitewashed, we took possession of the porch, and 
 made ourselves comfortable. The owner saw us, and kept 
 watch at a distance. It seems the Turkish officers take posses- 
 sion of houses when they please, and compel the people to serve 
 them. The owner therefore kept thus aloof ; but on our invita- 
 tion he came and sat with us, and made us quite at home. 
 
 Neby Shit (Seth) is a very large village, lying half way up 
 the western declivity of the western and lowest ridge of Anti- 
 Lebanon. Lower down, directly north, on a rocky ledge next 
 the plain, lies the village er-Eumddy, a mile and a half distant. 
 Below it, on this side of the ledge, is a deep well cultivated val- 
 ley running out southwest to the Buka'a. The village of Neby 
 shit takes its name from a conspicuous Wely of the " Projjhet 
 Seth ; " whose body, according to Muslim tradition, is here 
 deposited. Near by is a good mosk. The view from this village 
 is extensive towards the north along the great valley ; while 
 opposite is Lebanon with its rugged sides and snow-crowned 
 summits. 
 
 Here at Neby Shit comes in one of the main roads leading 
 from Zebedany to Ba'albek. It has already been described from 
 Zebedany as far as to SurghSya. ' Thence it follows down the 
 stream of Wady Haura (or Surghaya) half an hour, to its junction 
 with the stream coming down Wady Ma'rabun from the north- 
 east ; which latter is pressed by an ancient bridge. The village 
 of Ma'rabun is situated a large half hour up this valley, in a 
 meadow-like basin with many fruit trees ; similar to the plains 
 of Zebedany and Surghaya, with which it lies nearly in the 
 same line. Below the junction, the valley takes the name of 
 Wady Yahfufeh, which cuts its way through the western ridge 
 to the plain below by a winding rugged chasm, often between 
 precipices and everywhere narrow. Its general course is about 
 northwest, till half an hour from Neby Shit it turns westward 
 through its gorge above Yahfufeh to the plain. The road fol- 
 lows the chasm till in sight of Yahfiifeh ; and then ascends and 
 crosses the ridge to Neby Shit. The whole distance from Sur- 
 ghS,ya to the latter village is about two hours and a quarter.* 
 
 ' See above, p. 486. » J. L. Porter, in Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, p. 660. 
 
Juke 9.] WADT TAHFUFEH. NEBY SHIT. 503 
 
 At this point too, may be said to terminate the westcm or 
 outer ridge of Anti-Lebanon, lying west of the plain of Zebedany, 
 through which also Wady Yahftifeh has broken its chasm. This 
 ridge thus far has gradually become lower and lower ; and here, 
 turning more to the northeast, it runs into and unites with the 
 next and higher range, that of BlMan. This latter is strictly 
 the back-bone of Anti-Lebanon. Bunning here about N. by B. 
 it thus comes out to the Btika'a ; and slowly converging with 
 Lebanon it gradually contracts the breadth of the Buka'a in its 
 northern part beyond Ba'albek. 
 
 From Neby Shit northwards, the eastern part (at least one 
 fourth) of the Buka'a is a terrace or higher plain, sometimes 
 with hills, lying along the base of the eastern mountains. It is 
 skirted on the west, towards the lower plain, by a line of hills ; 
 but with wide openings and many interruptions. The surface 
 of the terrace slopes towards the west ; but is irregular, gravelly, 
 and almost a desert. 
 
 We set off from Neby Shit at 1.25, and made a great 
 descent to the bottom of the valley under Kumady ; here are 
 fruit trees and other cultivation. Leaving Rumady on its hill 
 above us on the left, and ascending gradually, we came out upon 
 the terrace, and proceeded along the half desert plain and 
 among the hills. At 2.45 the rocky and desert channel of Wady 
 Shabat, with a small stream, cut its way down through the 
 terrace, by a very deep and rugged chasm from the mountain to 
 the lower plain. This valley has its commencement not far 
 from Wady Ma'rabun ; and a more northern road from Surghaya 
 to Ba'albek leaves the Yahfufeh road at the biidge ; passes up 
 Wady Ma'rabxin for about three quarters of an hour ; then 
 crosses a low ridge into Wady Shabat, and follows down the 
 latter for a time northwest ; when, leaving it gradually and pass- 
 ing over naked rocky slopes, it joins our road twenty min- 
 utes beyond where we crossed the Wady. We came to this 
 junction at 3.05. This road is said to be not longer than that 
 by Neby Shit ; while it is better and more level, though less 
 interesting than the other. There are no rocky hills to cross ; 
 and no narrow and difficult defiles to wind through." 
 
 At 3.10 the village of Bereitan bore from us W. by N. about 
 a mile distant, on the south side of a gap in the line of hills. 
 Here are many ancient sepulchres. Keeping on over the desert 
 tract, at 4 o'clock another deep and rugged chasm, like the 
 former, passed down through the terrace, called here Wady et- 
 Taiyibeh, from a village further down between the hills ; though 
 
 ' J. L. Porter, in Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, Zebediny to Ba'albek, though his descrip- 
 pp. 660, 601. — I suppose this to be the tioa is notdeSnite; Lands of the Bible, 
 route by which Dr Wilson travelled from II. pp. 375, 376. / 
 
504 FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 we heard also the name of Wady Hijratan applied to its upper 
 part. At 4.35 there was a fork of the road ; one branch going 
 more to the right to the fountain of Ba'albek, while we took the 
 other, turning down more to the left through an open gap in the 
 hills. In the bottom of this gap we passed at 4.45 the little 
 village and fountain of 'Ain Burday. Following now the base of 
 the next hill, we came at 5 o'clock to the town of Ba'albek, 
 situated at the northwestern extremity and angle of the high 
 terrace and line of hiUs, which here break down and cease ; 
 while an arm of the alluvial plain runs up eastward to the 
 fountain. 
 
 The road which we had thus taken from Masy by Neby Shit, 
 and indeed quite from 'Anjar, had virtually led us out of the 
 Buka'a ; so that, properly speaking, we were the whole day long 
 not in the great plain at all ; but on higher ground east of the 
 line of hills. This smaller side valley is a singular formation ; 
 and may be said to extend from "Wady et-Teim to Ba'albek, with 
 interruptions mainly at 'Anjar and Neby Shit. The great plain 
 itself, as seen through the openings in the hills, is superbly rich 
 and beautiful ; a gem lying deep in its setting of mountains, 
 and fringed with the brilliant snows of Lebanon. The Buka'a 
 thus far is everywhere well watered. The mountains begin 
 further south to converge and make it narrower ; and north 
 of Ba'albek its character is wholly changed. 
 
 From Masy northwards there is another road, leading along 
 the western base of the line of hills, and of course skirting the 
 eastern margin of the great plain.' After crossing the stream 
 of YahfCifeh it ascends a steep hill ; and, leaving the village of 
 Kuna ten minutes on the right, passes along a shallow valley 
 west of the high Tell mentioned above ; and reaches in forty-five 
 minutes a place of quarries and excavated tombs. Fifteen 
 minutes further, across the valley running out below Neby Shit, 
 is the village of Sir'in ; and in twenty minutes more the road 
 passes west of and under Eumady. Then follows Tubshar in 
 fifteen minutes ; 'Ain el-Kuneiseh in ten minutes more, a modern 
 hamlet on the left ; and, after still twenty-five minutes one comes ' 
 to Bereitan. Thence to Taiyibeh is thirty-five minutes ; at 
 forty-five minutes further the village of Duris is ten minutes 
 on the left ;'' and another half hour brings the traveller to Ba'al- 
 bek. 
 
 ' This road was taken by Dr De Forest Zahleh and Ba'albek. Near this village is 
 
 in travelling from Ba'albek to 'Anjar ; what might seem to be a small temple, 
 
 Jonrn. of Am. Or. Soc. III. pp. 358, 359. described by Burckhardt as surrounded by 
 
 — Schubert also followed the same road, eighc beautiful granite columns ; Trav. pp. 
 
 at least from Sir'in, which he writes Za- ] 1, 12. But, according to 0. v. Richter, the 
 
 rain ; III. p. 314. columns are merely planted in the ground 
 
 ^ Diris is on the direct road between without order, and one or more of them 
 
JiraK9.] EOADS. ANCIENT QUARRIES. 505 
 
 The ancient quarries of Ba'albek are in the western base of 
 the last hill, eight or ten minutes south of the town and temples. 
 Here may stiU be seen the mode of quarrying the ordinary stones 
 used for the massive structures of the adjacent city. They were 
 ordinarily hewn out from the perpendicular face of the rock in 
 an upright position, by cutting away an interval of about six 
 inches between them and the rock behind and at the sides ; 
 leaving them half hewn or smoothed. Many such stones, so 
 separated except at the bottom, still stand there like massive 
 square piUars. In the same hiU, nearer the city, are several 
 sepulchral excavations. 
 
 The great stone of all, so celebrated by travellers, lies in a 
 slanting position, in a direction from east to west. We measured 
 it as foUows : 
 
 Feet In. 
 
 Length . . . . . 68 4 
 
 Widtli 17 2 
 
 Height 14 7 
 
 For what particular spot this stone was intended, it is difficult to 
 say ; as there would seem to be no place for it in the plan of the 
 present structures. In judging of it as it now lies, the actual 
 dimensions seem absolutely incredible. A person approaching 
 takes for granted that he can place his hand upon the top of it ; 
 but finds himself on trial falling short by at least one half. 
 
 On the low ridge or swell between this last hill and a small 
 knoll perhaps half a mile further north, stand the two larger 
 temples. The ancient city wall runs from their southwestern 
 corner in an easterly direction up the hill to near its top ;' thence 
 northwards down the hill and far into the plain which extends 
 towards the fountain ; and then north of west to the said knoll. 
 The fourth side we did not trace. The wall was faced with 
 hewn stones, and had square towers at frequent intervals. The 
 whole construction reminded me much of the walls and towers at 
 'Anjar ; except that the area here enclosed is much more ex- 
 tensive. The walls and towers are now in ruins ; and the modem 
 town, which lies mostly on the east of the temples, is nothing 
 
 tottom upwards ; forming a Miaslim Tur- coltimns were of course brought from Ba'- 
 
 beh or Wely; p. 80. So too Lt. Col. albek. 
 
 Squire, in Walpole's Travels in various - In the angle formed by the city wall 
 Countries of the East, p. 307. The like on this hill, formerly stood the Doric col- 
 conclusion is expressed still more definitely umn described by Pococke and Wood ; 
 and strongly by De Saulcy ; Narrat. II. p. Pococke II. i. p. 107. Wood p. 17. It 
 639. It is obviously the same structure, had already been overthrown in 1802 ; 
 which Pococke more than a century ago Squire in Walpole's Travels in the Kast, p. 
 speaks of as " a Mahometan sepulchre of 306. The remains are described by De 
 an octagon figure ; " 11. i. p. 108. The fine Saulcy ; Narrat. II. p. 615 sq. 
 
 Vol. III.— 43 
 
506 BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 more than a mean village of larger size.' There are here many 
 trees of various kinds, especially walnut trees. 
 
 The large and beautiful fountain of Ba'albek is fifteen 
 minutes south of east from the temples, in its own sweet valley 
 or depression in the plain ; which here runs up to the base of 
 Anti-Lebanon on the north of the hills and terrace. The whole 
 vale is rich and meadow-like. The water boils up in several 
 places ; two of which are built up with a low semicircular wall. 
 On the stone-work of one of the fountains Maundrell found a 
 Greek inscription, containing the name of a Christian bishop.' 
 The water is limpid and fine, and runs off murmuring in a pretty 
 river ; as large perhaps as the stream from Neba" Shemsin. 
 Just by the fountain are the ruins of a mosk, with a single 
 row of columns along the middle ; perhaps once connected by 
 arches and aiding to support the roof. On the north side is a 
 square court.' The stream from the fountain passes down to 
 the temples. Its natural channel is on the north of them ; but 
 branches are now carried along also on the south of the temples, 
 and supply water for several mills. The whole stream is after- 
 wards exhausted in the plain by irrigation ; and none of it 
 reaches the Litany, unless in winter. The remotest permanent 
 source of the Litany is understood to be at a village called 
 Haushbeh, nearly west of Ba'albek, at the foot of Lebanon ; 
 and the stream, an hour or two below the fountain, is about half 
 as large as that of Ba'albek.* 
 
 The elevation of Ba'albek above the sea, is, according to 
 Eussegger, 3496 Paris feet ; according to Schubert, 3572 Paris 
 feet.' The medium is 3584 Paris feet, or 3769 feet English. 
 
 We pitched our tent on the south, overagainst the lesser 
 temple, and opposite to the usual entrance at the present day. 
 We found here other companies of travellers ; and among them 
 several artists diligently occupied in sketching. One party was 
 encamped at the eastern end of the large court of the great 
 temple itself ; and we regretted that we had not done the same ; 
 having yielded rather hastily to the apparent difficulty of bring- 
 ing in our baggage animals. We gave ourselves up for the 
 evening to the astonishment and enjoyment which the wonders 
 of the scene inspire ; leaving a more careful examination of the 
 details until the next morning. 
 
 ^ In Burcthar(lt*3 time Ba'albek con- the side of Anti-Lebanon ; Trav. p. 16. 
 
 tained about seventy families of Metawileh, We neither saw it, nor heard it spoken of. 
 
 and twenty-five of Greek Catholics ; p. 15. ' So Mr Robson, who had visited the 
 
 There has probably been little change fountain, and crossed the stream some dis- 
 
 since. tance further down. Comp. Burckhardt 
 
 ' Maundrell Jonm. May 5th, nit. Trav. p. 10. 
 
 ' The smaller fountain visit«d by Bnrck- * Kussegger Eeisen I. p. 702. Schubert 
 
 Iiardt, which he calls Jush, is higher up on III p. 322. 
 
Sec. XI.] THE STREAM. ELEVATION. TEMPLES. 507 
 
 THE TEMPLES. 
 
 The temples, the ruins of which now constitute the wonder- 
 ful attractions of Ba'albek, are two in number ; the greater and 
 the lesser.' The former, with its magnificent peristyle and vast 
 courts and portico, extended a thousand feet in length from east 
 to west. It stands upon an artificial vaulted platform, elevated 
 from twenty to thirty feet above the adjacent country. Besides 
 the dilapidated ruins of the courts and portico, there now remain 
 only the six southwestern columns of the lofty peristyle ; and 
 these are stiU the crowning glory of the place. The lesser 
 temple stands likewise upon its own similar, though less elevated 
 platform." It is on the south of the greater temple ; is parallel 
 with it ; and its front is a few feet east of the eastern line of the 
 great peristyle. It had no court ; and its length is less than one 
 fourth part of that of the greater temple with its courts. It was 
 finished, and that most elaborately, and the larger portion of it 
 still remains ; while not improbably the larger temple was never 
 completed. 
 
 It is not my province to describe or dwell upon the plans and 
 noble architecture of these ruins. All I wish to do is, in the 
 fewest words, to present such a sketch as will enable the intelli- 
 gent reader to gain a correct general idea of the place ; and 
 such also as will put the future traveller in a situation at once 
 to comprehend the outhne of the ruins, and thus be saved 
 the time and labour of studying them out for himself without a 
 guide. This last unfortunately was our own case. We had with 
 us Maundrell's work, which contains a tolerable description of the 
 lesser temple, but hardly refers to the greater. Yet, since the 
 folios of Pococke and Wood, no traveller, with the exception of 
 Volney, has ever given a plan of the ruins, nor even a description 
 of their main parts and features. We examined for ourselves, 
 without plan or guide ; and while I have since been gratified to 
 find our results as to the plan corresponding entirely with those 
 of Wood and Dawkins, yet we should have been great gainers 
 had we possessed even the sKghtesf outhne. True, whoever 
 visits Ba'albek in order to study the architecture of its remains, 
 will make himself acquainted with the splendid and costly works 
 in which they are depicted. But such is not the object of most 
 travellers, nor was it oui-s. I insert therefore a mere outline of 
 the original ground-plan of the two temples, as reduced by Vol- 
 ney from that of Wood and Dawkins ; with a brief description. — 
 
 ' Tlie small circular temple further east, garded as standing upon the same platform 
 will be noticed hereafter. with the greater temple. Biblioth. Siic 
 
 ' It has sometimes been erroneously re- 1843, p. 85. 
 
508 
 
 TEMPLES AT BA'AIBEK. 
 
 [Sec. XI 
 
 igif — ' 
 
 m 
 
 MS SS 
 
 ■mmwrnmrnsw 
 
 
 m 1 
 
 m m 
 
 m m 
 
 m m 
 
 m i 
 
 ■ m 
 S m. 
 
 m m 
 
 m B 
 
 B a 
 
 m m 
 
 m m 
 
 m m 
 
 m 1 
 
 ■ m 
 m m 
 
 91 IK 
 
 asWBia iSlllilHH 
 
 h 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 a 
 
 n 
 
 M 
 
 The main material is everywhere the compact Kmestone of the 
 region, quarried from the adjacent hills.' 
 
 ' Wood and Dawkins Ruins of Baal- measurements; and I give in the text 
 bee, foL Lond. 1757, Plate IH. Comp. those of Wood and Dawkins, except 
 abo Volney, n. p. 216. — We made few where otherwise specified. 
 
Sec. XI.] THE GREAT TEMPLE. 509 
 
 In respect to the general plan, it must everywliere be borne 
 in mind, that many parts, and especially the south, side, have 
 been greatly disfigured and obscured by the Saracenic erections 
 of the middle ages ; when the whole area of both temples was 
 converted into a Muslim fortress.* 
 
 The Great Temple. — The eastern front presents the re- 
 mains of a magnificent Portico, one hundred and eighty feet 
 long, flanked at each end by a square tower or pavilion. The 
 floor of the portico is elevated some twenty feet above the 
 ground ; and the wall below it is built of large undressed stones ; 
 indicating that here was an immense flight of steps leading up 
 into the portico. These however have wholly disappeared ; hav- 
 ing doubtless been employed in the Saracenic works. 
 
 The portico was about thirty-seven feet in depth. It had 
 twelve columns in front, of which only the pedestals now remain. 
 The diameter of the columns was four feet three inches ; with an 
 interval of nine and a half feet between them. On two of these 
 pedestals were cut (with abbreviations) the following inscrip- 
 tions, copied by Wood and Dawkins, but now nearly illegible.' 
 
 I. Magnia Diis Seliupolitanis pro salute Antonini Pii Felicis Augusti et 
 JuliiB Augusta: matria domini nostri custrorum Senatus patrice . . . . co- 
 lumnarum dum erant in muro inluminata sua pecunia ex toto libenti an- 
 imo soltit. 
 
 II. Magnis Diis Heliupolitanis .... oriis domini nostri Antonini Pii 
 Felicis Augusci et Julia Augusta matris domini nostri castrorwm .... 
 ntoniancE capita eolumnarum dum erant in muro inluminata sua pecunia . . . 
 
 The pavilions at the ends of the portico are built of very large 
 stones ; we measured the size of one stone, twenty-four feet five 
 inches long. They are ornamented on the outside with a belt or 
 cornice on the level of the portico ; there are also pilasters at the 
 corners, and two intervening ones on the sides. In front, near 
 the bottom of each, is a door leading to the vaults beneath the 
 platform. The top of each pavilion has been rebuilt by the 
 Saracens. On the same level with the portico is a square room 
 in each, thirty-one feet wide by thirty-eight feet deep ; and 
 entered from the portico by three doors. These rooms are highly 
 decorated with pilasters, niches, cornices, and once probably with 
 Btatues. The same is true of the back wall of the portico. 
 
 The great portal leading from the portico to the temple 
 
 ' One of these structures is a clumsy Sauloy therefore regards them as a votive 
 
 quadran<nilar fort, directly abutting upon testimonial in behalf of Marcus Aurelius 
 
 the front of the lesser temple. Antoninus, afterwards Caracalla, the son 
 
 ' These inscriptions are cut in the long of Severus and the empress Julia Domna. 
 
 slender style of letters, which is regarded Narrat. II. p. 623. — M. De Saulcy con- 
 
 asmarking the period of Septimius Severus, siders the two inscriptions as being nearly 
 
 ut the close of the second century. M. De ideuticaL 
 Vol. III.— 43* 
 
510 BA'alBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 courts is seventeen feet wide. On each side of it is a smaller 
 one, ten feet in width. 
 
 These portals lead into the first court, which is in form a 
 Hexagon. Its length between east and west, from side to side, 
 is about two hundred feet ; its breadth from angle to angle 
 about two hundred and fifty feet. On the eastern side, and on 
 each of the sides towards the north and south, was a rectangular 
 exedra, a room or recess like the side chapels in Komish 
 churches, with four columns in front of each ; and with smaller 
 irregular rooms intervening. The recess on the east formed a 
 vestibule before the entrance from the portico. The exedrce 
 were doubtless roofed over ; but all is now in ruins. 
 
 The western side of the Hexagon was occupied by a broad 
 portal fifty feet wide, with two side portals each of ten feet, 
 leading into the Great Quadrangle, the vast court directly in 
 front of the temple proper. This area measures about four 
 hundred and forty feet in length from east to west, by about 
 three hundred and seventy feet in breadth, including the exedrce. 
 Beginning at the portals in the middle of the east side, and pro- 
 ceeding towards the north, we have next to the smaller portal 
 an immense niche, eighteen feet wide, intended apparently for a 
 colossal statue. Then comes a rectangular exedra with four 
 columns in front ; and this is followed by a room next the 
 corner, closed up in front except by a door. This room, in 
 front, joins upon a similar one on the north side of the court ; 
 and both connect with a small square room between them in the 
 angle. Proceeding west along the north side of the court, we 
 have first a rectangular exedra with four columns in front, then 
 a semicircular one with two columns ; and next, occupying the 
 middle of this side, a longer rectangular exedra with six col- 
 umns in front. Then follows, as before, in corresponding order, 
 a semicircular exedra with two columns, a rectangular one with 
 four columns, and a room with a door next the corner. On the 
 western side of the court, between this comer and the great 
 peristyle, a distance of one hundred feet, there were no exedrce. 
 Proceeding from the eastern portal of the court southwards, and 
 thence along the southern wall, the arrangement of the rooms 
 and exedrce corresponded entirely to those just described along 
 the other side. The exedrce were thirty feet deep ; and were 
 doubtless once roofed over. It was in the fronts of these exedrce, 
 that the columns of Syenite granite from Egypt would seem to 
 have been employed. Many of these columns, twenty-nine 
 inches in diameter, are stiU strewed around, especially in 
 the southern part of the court.' Their bases and capitals are 
 
 ■ One of these granite columns, of the Saulcy as lying in one of the vaults be- 
 same diameter, is mentioned by M. De neath ; Narrative II. p. 626. 
 
Sec. XI.] THE GBEAT TEMPLE. 511 
 
 Bupposed by Wood to have been of the same material as the 
 other parts of the temple. The exedroe were decorated within 
 and without with pilasters and also with niches ; the latter hav- 
 ing either scollop work above or pediments. Along the front 
 of the exedrcB above was an entablature with an elegantly 
 sculptured frieze. — In the middle of the western part of this 
 Court are the remains of a raised platform or esplanade ; on 
 which would seem to have been two rows of pedestals, three in 
 a row, as if for statues or sphynxes. These remains are men- 
 tioned by Volney ; ' but not by Wood and Dawkins. 
 
 Fronting upon this great quadrangle was the vast Peristyle, 
 measuring two hundred and ninety feet in length by one hundred 
 and sixty in breadth. On each side were nineteen columns, 
 with capitals of the Corinthian order ;' and at each end ten, 
 counting the corner columns twice ; that is, fifty-four in aU. 
 The diameter of these columns is given by Wood as seven feet 
 at the base and five feet at top. Our measurement gave to some 
 of them a diameter of seven feet three or also four inches.' The 
 distance between the columns was usually eight feet ; in the 
 middle of the eastern front, a little more. The height of the 
 shafts was about sixty-two feet, with a richly sculptured entab- 
 lature of nearly fourteen feet more ;* making in all nearly 
 seventy-six feet.' The columns were mostly formed of three 
 pieces ; many of which now lie scattered on the ground. They 
 were fastened together by iron pins or cramps, a foot long and a 
 foot thick ; and sometimes two of these were employed, one 
 round and the other square.' So solidly were the parts thus 
 joined together, that in some , instances the fall of the columns 
 has not separated them. One of the most revolting forms of 
 the ruthless barbarism under which these splendid ruins have 
 suffered, is still seen in the cutting and breaking away of the 
 bottom of the columns yet standing, in order to obtain these 
 masses of iron ! 
 
 These rows of columns stood upon immense walls, built up 
 nearly fifty feet above the ground outside. The eastern wall 
 rested against the platform of the grand quadrangle ; from which 
 there would seem to have been an ascent to the level of the great 
 peristyle. The southern wall is now mostly covered by the 
 rubbish of ages. That on the west is concealed by the gigantic 
 masonry yet to be described. The northern wall is free. It is 
 built of bevelled stones, well wrought and finished. Courses of 
 
 ' Tom. n. p. 218. They are also re- ' So too Wilson, Lands of the Bitle, H. 
 
 feired to in Roberts' Sketches, Explan. of p. 383. 
 Plate : Eastern Pnrlico, Baalbec. * Wood and Dawkins, Plate XXUL 
 
 ' The order of all the columns throngh- ' Lands of the Bible, 11. p. 383. 
 out the temple and courts, is supposed to ' Wood, p. 23. 
 have been the Corinthian. 
 
512 BA'albEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 longer stones alternate ■with layers of shorter ones. The thick- 
 ness of these courses is very uniformly three feet eight inches ; 
 and from the present surface of the ground outside to the pedes- 
 tals of the large columns above, there are thirteen courses, or 
 about forty-eight feet. In the southern wall the courses of 
 stones were similar ; and the elevation probably the same. 
 Whether on the level of these walls above there was a vaulted 
 esplanade, enclosed by the peristyle ; whether this was sur- 
 mounted by a cella within the latter ; or whether the esplanade 
 and peristyle alone served the purpose of a vast hypaethral 
 temple ; can perhaps never be determined. It may be, that the 
 latter is not the least probable hypothesis. 
 
 This magnificent peristyle, thus elevated some fifty feet above 
 the adjacent country, formed of course a conspicuous object in 
 every direction. Even now, the six western columns of its 
 southern side, the only ones which yet remain upright, constitute 
 the chief point of attraction and wonder in all the various views 
 and aspects of Ba'albek. In the time of Wood and Dawkins, 
 A. D. 1751, nine columns were yet standing. 
 
 Not less wonderful than the other parts of the great temple 
 are the immense external Substructions, by which the walls 
 supporting the peristyle are enclosed and covered ; if indeed 
 that term can be properly applied to huge masses of masonry, on 
 which nothing rests.' This external substruction wall is found 
 on the north side and west end of the peristyle ; and exists also 
 probably on the south side beneath the mounds of rubbish. It 
 is marked by Wood as everywhere twenty-ixine and a half feet 
 distant from the walls supporting the columns ; and as being 
 itself ten feet thick. 
 
 The most imposing of these substructions is the western wall, 
 as viewed from the outside. It rises to the level of the bottom 
 of the columns, some fifty feet above the surface of the ground ; 
 and in it is seen the layer of three immense stones celebrated by 
 all travellers. Of these stones, the length of one is sixty-four 
 feet ; of another, sixty-three fept eight inches ; and of the third, 
 sixty-three feet ; in all one hundred ninety feet eight inches. 
 Their height is about thirteen feet ; and the thickness apparently 
 the same, or perhaps greater. They are laid about twenty feet 
 above the ground ; and below them are seven others of like thick- 
 ness, and extending somewhat beyond the upper ones at each 
 end.^ It is obvious, that these huge blocks formed the covering 
 
 ' Wood and Dawkins give to these the vided mass, which is sixty-nine feet in 
 
 name of Krubasement, with a like question length, thirteen in depth, and eighteen in 
 
 as to its strict propriety. hreadth ;" Lands of the Bible II. p. 381. 
 
 ^ Dr Wilion speaks here of " one stone This statement I am unable either to con- 
 overlooked both by Manndrell, and Wood firm or to contradict. Like all former tfa- 
 and Dawkins, probably because irregularly vellers, except Dr Wilson, we observed no 
 cot in the outer surface, though of undi- such stone. 
 
Sec. XI.] THE GKEAT TEMPLE. 513 
 
 and marked the extent, of the west end of the great temple, 
 corresponding to the breadth of the vast colonnade above. The 
 •wall extending from these blocks southwards is of inferior 
 materials and probably modern. — It was doubtless these three 
 enormous stones, that gave to the great temple its ancient epi- 
 thet of Trilithon.^ 
 
 On the north, the substruction wall is only about twenty feet 
 in height, and was never completed. It also is built up of 
 Cyclopean work ; immense stones laid as brought from the quarry, 
 but never dressed smooth. Here are nine stones, measuring on 
 an average thirty-one feet in length, nine feet seven inches in 
 breadth, and thirteen feet in depth.'' In speaking of the huge 
 block still lying in the quarry, I have said that there would 
 seem to be no place for it in the plan of the present structures.' 
 Still, it may not be impossible, that the said block was intended 
 to be placed upon this very wall, in a line with the similar course 
 at the west end ; but for some reason the work was abandoned, 
 and the wall left in its present unfinished state. In this way, 
 the noble inner wall of bevelled stones, sustaining the line of 
 columns above, has remained open on this side to public view 
 and access. 
 
 Under the northern and southern sides of the great quad- 
 rangle, which project far beyond the peristyle and the hexagonal 
 court, are long vaulted passages extending quite through from 
 outside to outside. There is at least one like transverse passage 
 connecting them ; and probably more. Other passages and 
 rooms beneath the platform are also described.* The arch of 
 the vaults is circular ; and on the walls are seen fragments of 
 Latin inscriptions, and occasionally a bust.^ In the days of 
 Maundrell and also of Pococke, the only entrance to the platform 
 and courts of the great temple above was through these vaults ; 
 emerging somewhere near the lesser temple.^ The vaults we 
 did not examine, except by looking in at the entrances. 
 
 Along the external face of the northern wall of the great 
 court, are seen occasionally bevelled stones ; but not laid with 
 any regularity. Midway of the height of this wall, some thirty 
 feet from the ground, runs a belt or ledge like a cornice, similar 
 to that on the pavilions in front. Opposite the middle of the 
 
 ' 'lepby rpiXi^ov, Chron. Pasch. I. p. tions are reversed ; and De Sauloy reports, 
 
 561 ed. Dind. p. 303 Par. that the bases of all the sides are of the 
 
 ' Lands of the Bible II. p. 382. " gigantic material " of an earlier vault ; 
 
 ' See above, p. 50,5. p. 625. 
 
 * Ritter ErdL XVII. i. p. 236. H. ° Maundrell says: "You pass in a 
 
 Guys, Relation II. p. 24. stately arched walk or portico, one hun- 
 
 ' These are mentioned by Maundrell, May dred and fifty yards long, which leads you 
 
 5th ; by Pococke, who speaks of i%o busts, to the [lesserj temple ;" May 5th. Pococke 
 
 n. i. p. Ill ; by De Sauloy II. p. 626 sq. II. i. p. 111. 
 — Maundrell says that some of tiie inscrip- 
 
514 Ba'alBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 court is a small doorway with sculptured sides, leading appar- 
 ently to the vaults. The southern wall of this court was prob- 
 ably sirbilar. 
 
 Lesser Temple. — This temple is called the lesser only in 
 comparison with its gigantic neighbour. With this exceptioH, 
 it is probably by far the largest ancient structure remaining in 
 western Syria. It stands upon its own less elevated and vaulted 
 platform, wholly without the area and plan of the large temple ; 
 and had apparently no direct connection with it. The style of 
 architecture is regarded by Wood and Dawkins as coeval and 
 identical with that of the great temple ; the order being every- 
 where Corinthian. It had no court whatever beyond its peri- 
 style and porticos. 
 
 This temple, as I have said, stands parallel with the peristyle 
 of the larger temple ; its front extending a few feet east of the 
 southwest corner of the great quadrangle. It was approached 
 from the east by a flight of thirty steps, having at each end a 
 low sculptured wall surmounted by a pedestal fifteen feet high, 
 intended doubtless for statues. This flight of steps is described 
 by De la Roque in A. D. 1688, as if then still existing.' The 
 spot is now covered by the walls of the Turkish fort. 
 
 The whole length of this temple, including the colon- 
 nades, is nearly two hundred and twenty-five feet ; its breadth 
 about one hundred and twenty. The cella measures, on the 
 outside, one hundred and sixty feet long, by eighty-five feet 
 broad. It is surrounded by a magnificent peristyle, of fif- 
 teen columns on each side and eight at each end, counting 
 the corner columns in both numbers. At the eastern end 
 there was a second interior row of six fluted columns ; and 
 then two other columns between these and the ends of the side 
 walls, which are here extended to form the vestibule.' This 
 double colonnade formed the eastern portico ; which is now 
 destroyed, except the pedestals ; and its place partially covered by 
 the Turkish walls. The columns are composed of two or at most 
 three immense blocks, six feet three inches in diameter at the 
 base, and five feet eight inches higher up. These blocks are 
 very closely joined together, so that even the edge of a penknife 
 cannot be inserted ; and were fastened by iron cramps or pins, 
 without cement. So solidly is this done, that although one of 
 the columns on the south side has slipped from its pedestal and 
 fallen against the wall of the cella with such force as to dislodge 
 several of the stones, yet' it is itself unbroken, and remains 
 
 ' Voyage <3e Syrie etc. I. p. 108, Amst. the ends of the two side walls of the ves- 
 
 1723. Maundreii in 1697 says nothing of tibule. Nothing of this appears in the plan 
 
 the steps. of Wood and Dawkins ; and Pooocke also 
 
 " De la Roqne describes fonr other col- questions De la Roaue's statement ; IL i. 
 
 umns of the portico, as standing between p. 108. 
 
Sna XL] THE LESSER TEMPLE. 515 
 
 leaning against tlie cella. Here too the bottoms of the columns 
 have been broken away, in order to get at the iron cramps. 
 Along the sides and west end, the interval between the columns 
 is eight and a half feet ; and their distance from the wall nine 
 feet eight inches. In the eastern portico, the interval between 
 the columns is the same ; except between the middle columns 
 of each row, where it is eleven and a half feet. The two rows 
 are here nine and a half feet apart ; and the inner row is at the 
 same distance from the single columns ; and these again the 
 same from the walls of the vestibule. The height of the col- 
 umns is forty-five feet, including the Corinthian capitals. Upon 
 them rested an entablature seven feet high, composed of a double 
 frieze or cornice elaborately wrought.' This entablature was 
 everywhere connected with the walls of the cella by immense 
 slabs of stone, somewhat concave below ; and having the lower 
 surface exquisitely sculptured in fretwork. In the middle of 
 each slab is a hexagon, enclosing a bust or figure of a god, hero, 
 or emperor ; and towards the corners of the slabs are smaller 
 rhomboids with similar figures. Among them a Leda and a 
 Ganymede may be distinguished ; but all have been more or less 
 defaced. These slabs thus formed a ceiling of indescribable 
 beauty over the colonnades. Many of the columns have fallen, 
 bringing down with them their entablatures and blocks of 
 ceiling ; and these all lie scattered either singly or in heaps 
 below. At present' there are on the south side only four columns 
 still in their place ; on the west, six ; and on the north, nine.' 
 In A. D. 1751, there appear to have been nine in place upon the 
 south side, and eight (the full number) at the west end.^ 
 
 The vestibule before the great portal is twenty-four and a 
 half feet deep. This portal is the gem of the whole temple. 
 The elaborateness and exquisite finish of its sculpture surpasses 
 anything found elsewhere.* It is twenty-one feet four inches 
 broad ; the height is undetermined, because of the heaps of 
 rubbish by which it is blocked up below. The sides are each of 
 a single stone with elegantly carved ornaments. The top was 
 composed of three huge blocks, sculptured elaborately on both 
 sides and below. Here on the lower surface is the celebrated 
 figure of the crested eagle, beautifully wrought, holding in his 
 talons a caducous, and in his beak the strings of long garlands 
 
 ' Roberts Sketches of the Holy Land ; exquisite in its detail, of anything of its 
 
 Explan. of the Plate : Weaern Portico, kind in the world. The pencil can convey 
 
 Baalbec. bnt a faint idea of its beauty. One scroll, 
 
 " Roberts Sketches, ibid. alone, of acanthus leaves, with groups of 
 
 ' Wood and Dawkins, Plates. children and panthers intertwined, might 
 
 • The following is the judgment of Mr form a work of itself." Sketches : The 
 
 Roberts the artist : " This is perhaps the Doorway, Baalbec. 
 
 most elaborate work, as well as the most 
 
516 BA'ALBEK, [Sec. XL 
 
 extending on each side, where the other ends are home up hy 
 flying genii. The crest shows that this is not the Koman eagle ; 
 but, as the same figure is found in the great temple of the sun 
 at Palmyra, Volney and others regard it as the oriental eagle, 
 consecrated to the sun.' When Pococke, and also Wood and 
 Dawkins, sketched this portal, it was stUl in a perfect state ; 
 but in the shock of the earthquake of A. D. 1759, the middle 
 stone of the lintel slipped and sunk between the two others, and 
 now hangs suspended by the middle.* The eagle is thus separa- 
 ted from the genii on each side. 
 
 The cella is without windows, or any apertures for light. 
 Whether there was ever a roof is perhaps doubtful. With the 
 exception of its colonnades, it may have been hypsethral, or 
 mainly so. Adjacent to the portal on each side are massive 
 pillars, each enclosing a spiral staircase leading to the top. 
 Along the sides of the interior are fluted half columns, with 
 intervening niches below and above ; these have projections iu 
 the bottom of each like pedestals, as if for statues. The lower 
 niches are finished above with scollop work ; the upper ones with 
 triangular pediments (tabernacles). In the corners next the 
 portal are double fluted columns, as at Mejdel. The length of 
 the nave is about ninety feet ; its breadth seventy-four. Mr 
 Wood speaks of two lines of foundation walls running through 
 its length ; which probably served to divide off side aisles, when 
 the temple was converted into a church. The plaster seen upon 
 the walls is supposed to belong to the same era. The sanctum 
 or place of the altar occupied thirty-six feet at the west end of 
 the cella. It was raised above the nave ; and several steps led 
 up to it.' At each end of the steps was a door leading down to 
 the vaults.' Above was one or more fluted columns on each 
 side, forming or supporting a screen between the nave and the 
 adytum. 
 
 General Features. — Such in brief detail is the general 
 outline of these splendid ruins. But no description can convey 
 more than a very imperfect idea of their overpowering grandeur, 
 or their impressive decay. 
 
 The elevation of the platforms and the external walls pre- 
 vent access to the interior at the present day, except along the 
 western end of the lesser temple, and so between the latter and 
 
 ' Volney, Voyage II. p. 227. and foand two rooms, which he does not 
 
 ' In Volney's time this stone had sunk describe; II. i. p. 109. — On the side of the 
 
 eight inches ; Voyage II. p. 222. It is staircase leading down to these chambers, 
 
 now sunk lower ; l3e Sauloy says about Bnrckhardt found the Cufic inscription, 
 
 two yards ; II. p. 60i. which he copied ; pp. 12, 13. For conjec- 
 
 ° De la Koque speaks of thirteen steps ; tural readings of this insciiption, see Ge- 
 
 L p. 115. senius' Notes on Burckhardt, I. p. 490 
 
 * Pococke descended into these vaults, Germ. 
 
Sec. XL] GENEKAL FEATTTRES. CIRCULAR TEMPLE. 517 
 
 the great peristyle of tlie larger temple. And what an en- 
 trance ! Here are accumulated vast heaps of mighty ruins • 
 immense shafts of broken columns ; gigantic architraves, cor- 
 nices, and ceilings, all exquisitely sculptured ; aU now trodden 
 under foot, and forming perhaps the most imposing and impres- 
 sive avenue in the world ! 
 
 That which at once and mainly strikes the traveller is the 
 singular symmetry of proportion ; which gives an air of perfect 
 lightness and beauty to the most massive materials. On ap- 
 proaching from the south, and beholding the light and gracefiil 
 columns yet standing around the lesser temple ; and then view- 
 ing and measuring the fallen shafts below ; it seems impossible 
 that the two could ever have belonged together. It is only 
 after going up to the pedestals and surveying them close at 
 hand ; and striving to grasp the standing columns, which three 
 men together can hardly clasp around ; that the mind can even 
 begin to reconcile the apparent contradiction. In hke manner the 
 vast entablatures scattered below seem many times larger than 
 the airy architraves above. Still more impressive in their vast- 
 ness, yet apparent lightness, are the yet larger and taller col- 
 umns of the peristyle of the great temple. In this respect the 
 first impression of the whole is absolutely overwhelming. 
 
 These temples have been the wonder of past centuries ; and 
 will continue to be the wonder of future generations, until bar- 
 barism and earthquakes shall have done their last work. In 
 vastness of plan, combined with elaborateness and delicacy of 
 execution, they seem to surpass all others in Western Asia, in 
 Africa, and in Europe. They are hke those of Athens in light- 
 ness, but surpass them far in vastness ; they are vast and 
 massive like those of Thebes, but far excel them in airiness and 
 grace. Yet the very elaborate and ornate character of the struc- 
 tures appears to mihtate against the idea of high antiquity. 
 The simplicity and severity, which reign in the temple at 
 Mejdel, are here no longer seen. The gigantic substructions on 
 the west and northwest, and perhaps the massive foundation 
 work of the great platform, seem alone to point to an earlier 
 origin and a remoter age. 
 
 Circular Temple. — Thirty or forty rods east of the great 
 temples, stands a very small one, having apparently no connec- 
 tion whatever with the others, but very elaborately ornamented 
 and finished ; a perfect gem in its way. The cella is circular, 
 or, rather, semicircular. It has around it externally eight 
 Corinthian columns, with a roof or entablature projecting from 
 the cella separately to each column. This gives it at a distance 
 the appearance of an octagonal structure. Between the columns 
 are niches as for statues. The interior has two tiera of columns, 
 
 Voi,. III. -44 
 
518 BA'aLBEK. [Skc. XL 
 
 one atove the otlier ; the lower Ionic, the upper Corinthian. In 
 the days of Maundrell, Pococke, and Wood, the building was 
 used by the Greek Christians as a church.' Accofding to Maun- 
 drell it was even then " in a very tottering condition ; " and now 
 it has many crevices and seems ready to fall.' 
 
 History. — There is no question I believe, as to the identity 
 of Ba'albek with the ancient Heliopolis of Syria, mentioned by 
 several writers nearly cotemporary with the Christian era. 
 Strabo speaks of it as being, with Chalcis, under the dominion 
 of Ptolemy the son of Mennseus, already mentioned above. ' Pliny 
 refers to it incidentally as near the sources of the Orontes, between 
 Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon.' Josephus narrates, that Pompey, 
 marching from Apamea on the Orontes, passed through the cities 
 of Heliopohs and Chalcis, and came to Pella.' Ptolemy likewise 
 enumerates Heliopolis among the cities of Coelesyria."' No 
 other notice has yet been found, which is not later than the 
 third century after Christ. 
 
 The name Heliopolis, " City of the Sun," ' implies that this 
 city, like its namesake in Egypt, was already consecrated to the 
 worship of the sun. Indeed the sun was one of the chief divinities 
 in the Syrian and Asiatic worship ; and to him was applied in 
 their mythology, as weU as to Jupiter and some other gods, the 
 name of Baal or Lord.' The mythology of Egypt had a strong 
 influence upon that of Syria ;" and it would not be unnatural 
 to suppose a connection between the forms of sun worship 
 in the two countries. Indeed, this is expressly af&rmed; '° and 
 Macrobius, in the fifth century, narrates, that the image wor- 
 shipped at Heliopolis in Syria was brought from Heliopolis in 
 Egypt." 
 
 Be all this however as it may, there is no historical notice 
 
 ' Manndrell, May 5th. Pococke II. i. p. " Movers I. v. pp. 57, 235 sq. 
 
 108. " So Luoian or the author of the tract 
 
 ' Comp. De Saulcy, II. p. 607. de Syria Dea, § 5, "Exouc' Se Koi &Wo 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2, 11. p.. 753. — See above, ^olytKes ip6v, ovk 'Atrffvptov, a\\' AiytJ- 
 
 p. 497. vrtovy rh 4^ 'HKlou irtJAioj is rijv ^oiviK'qv 
 
 * H. N. 5. 18 or 22, " amnis Orontes, dir/iceTo. 'Eyii iniy /uy o!ik inanra, fieya 
 natos inter Libanum et Antilibannm juxta Se Koi riZe Kol apxi^i" cart. 
 Heliopolim." " Macrob. Satumal 1. 23, " Assyrii \i. e. 
 
 ' Jos. Antt. 14. 3. 2. Syri] quoque Solem snb nomine Jovis, 
 
 " Ptol. Geogr. 5. 14. quem Dia Heliopoliten cognominaiit, max- 
 
 • Gr. 'H\ioi^oAij. imis ceremoniis celebrant in civitate, qua) 
 ' Movers, die Phonizier, I. pp. 157, 159, Heliopolis nuncnpatur. Ejus dei simula- 
 
 163, 167, 169 sq. 180. Hence the name crum snmtnm est de oppido jEgypti, quod 
 lEJSa bra , Baal Shemesh, " Lord of the et ipsum Heliopolis appellatur, regnante 
 Snn," in a Pahnyrene inscription ; Movers "P^^ ^gyptios Senemure ; perlatamqus 
 ibid. p. 174. So too Macrobius Satumal. «^' pnmum m earn per Opium, legatum 
 1. 23. Comp. Gesen. Heb. Lex. art. bs3 Delebons, regis Assynorum sacerdotesquo 
 T- \, T> 7 J e ^C ' -Agypt'os, quommpnncepsfuitPartemetis, 
 no 5.-For the name Baal as used of other ^^ j^^^^itum apud Assyrios, postea He- 
 gods, Jnpiter, Satarn and Mars, sco Mo- ^^^^ oommigravit" 
 vers ibid, Geson. Heb. Lox. I. u. 
 
Sec. XI.] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 519 
 
 earlier than the fourth century, which speaks of Heliopolis as a 
 Beat of heathen ■worship. The fact r^sts solely upon the name, 
 in connection with the gigantic earlier suhstructions of the great 
 temple. We can hardly account for this silence of the older 
 historians, if the magnificent structures, which we now hehold in 
 ruins, existed in their day. 
 
 Whether this City of the Sun is anywhere alluded to in the 
 Hehrew Scriptures, is a question perhaps not yet fully settled. 
 It has sometimes been held to he the same with Baal-gad.'- 
 But this place, as we have seen, is more probably to be 
 sought at Banias ; and some of the reasons have been assigned 
 why it could not well have lain so far north as Ba'albek.' — By the 
 same writers Baalath is likewise regarded as identical both with 
 Baal-gad and Ba'albek. We read indeed that " Solomon built 
 Gezer, and Beth-horon the nether, and Baalath, and Tadmor in 
 the wilderness ; " ^ and therefore Baalath is assumed to be Ba'al- 
 buk solely on account of the juxtaposition of the name with 
 Tadmor. But in another passage this order is reversed ; and we 
 read that Solomon built Tadmor, store cities in Hamath, the 
 two Beth-horons, and Baalath.* The argument is thus de- 
 stroyed ; and further, Josephus says expressly, that the Baalath 
 thus fortified by Solomon was near to Gazara (Grezer) iu the 
 land of the Philistines.^ It was therefore no other than the 
 Baalath of the tribe of Dan.' — A third name brought into the 
 like connection by the same writers is Baal-Jiamon, once men- 
 tioned in Canticles ; ' where it is said, that Solomon had there a 
 vineyard, which he let out to keepers at a thousand pieces from 
 each. But Solomon would hardly have selected Ba'albek as a 
 favourable spot for a vineyard ; especially for one of such extent 
 and value.' 
 
 More probable is it, that the prophet Amos alludes to Heh- 
 opolis and its idol-worship, where he speaks of the " plain of 
 Aven" (Bikath Aven).' The Seventy appear to have so under- 
 stood the passage ; since they here give the Hebrew Aven by 
 
 • Heb. 15 bya, Josh. 11, 17. 12, 7. likewise Wilson, Lands of the Bible IL 
 So Iken de Bad-hamon et Baal-gad, in his P- °°** 
 
 Dissertatt. philol. theoL Michaelis Snp- ^ Haal-hamon. the latter word, Ha- 
 plemm. ad Lexx. . Hebrr. pp. 197, 201. men ("(ITan), is by some taken for Amon 
 Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. I. iL pp. 280, 281. or Amnion, the Egyptian Jupiter. So 
 Bitter Erdk. XVII. p. 230. MichaelisSuppl.l. c. p. 201. Rosenm. 1. c. 
 ' See above, pp. 409, 410. P- 281. Wilson 1. o. But this Egyptian 
 ' Heb nbsa 1 K 9 17 18 name occurs in Hebrew as "'JX, Jer. 46, 
 4 „ -,, Z " " ' ' ' 25. Nah. 3, 8. Gesenius refers Baal-ha- 
 ■; ' ' mon to the Be\ap.(iv or BoAa.u^i' of Judith 
 .Jos. Antt. 8. 6. 1. Comp. Reland Pa- 8, 3, among the hills of Samaria, near Do- 
 test p. 778 sq. than. This is more probable, if such a place 
 
 • Josh. 19, 44. actually existed ; see above, pp. 337, 338. 
 ' Heb. -jion bsa, Cant. 8, IL So ' Heb. -ilx-nypja, Am. 1, 5 andmarg. 
 
520 BA'alBEK. [Sec. XI 
 
 Ore, the domestic name of the Egyptian Heliopohs.' The allu- 
 sion would then be to the great plain of the Buka'a, or Ccele- 
 syria ; of which Heliopolis was always the chief city.' And 
 this accords well with the context. 
 
 The chief notices of Heliopolis during the second and third 
 centuries, are from coins of the city. Of these many yet remain, 
 struck under most of the emperors from Nerva to Gallienus.' 
 Of the earliest, those under Nerva and Adrian, the former have 
 the legend COL. IVL. HEL. ; and the latter C. I. HEL. LEQ. 
 H. The device on both is a colonist driving two oxen ; and this 
 is continued on many of the coins of the later emperors ; as 
 also the legend COL. IVL. AVG. EEL. Heliopolis therefore 
 had the rank of a Koman colony ; and the further inference is 
 drawn, that a colony of military veterans was sent hither, as 
 also to Berytus, by Julius Caesar or by Augustus.* About the 
 close of the second century, Septimius Severus bestowed upon 
 the city the jus Italicum, a boon granted to favoured provincial 
 cities.^ There are no coins of the city under the Antonines ; 
 and only one under Commodus, not differing particularly from 
 those of Nerva and Adrian. 
 
 But in the absence of coins and of all other ancient testi- 
 mony, we find, singularly enough, in John of Antioch, sumamed 
 Malala, a writer not earlier than the seventh century, the notice, 
 that "^lius Antoninus Pius erected at Heliopolis, in Phenicia 
 of Lebanon, a great temple to Jupiter, one of the wonders of the 
 world." ' However strange it may appear, that no cotemporary 
 writer has alluded to this temple of Antonine, yet the general 
 fact of its erection by him accords well with various other cir- 
 cumstances. The elaborate and ornate style of the architecture 
 belongs, as we have seen, to a late period. The massive sub- 
 structions, indeed, were probably those of an earlier temple ; 
 
 ' Sept. TrfSioy 'nv, Vnlg. campvs idoli. de Ceosib. lib. I, "Est et Heliopolitana, 
 The Heb. "|n8 or "jSt for Heliopolis in Egypt, qu^e a divo Severo per belli civilis oocasio- 
 
 i3 pointed as -.-ix or Vx Gen. 41, 45. 50. "^"^ ^'^^^ ™1™!* rempublicam accipit." 
 •^ ' ' Comp. smith s Diet, of Autt. art. Colonia, 
 
 46, 20, and as "iiS Ez. 30, 17. In all p 317, 
 
 these examples the Seventy and Vulgate " J. Malala Chronogr. ed. Dindorf, in 
 
 give it by 'HA.iouiro\ij, Heliopolis. The Corpus Soriptor. Hist. Byzant. ed. Niebuhr, 
 
 former nowhere have'^flv, except in Amos p. 280 Dind. p. 119 Ven. "H/Vios 'Ayrw- 
 
 1. c. vivos Titos . . . o(Tris eKTtfTsy iv 'H\tovTr6\€i 
 
 ' The Heb. fISpa and Arab. B&ka'a Trjs 'toiviiais rov Ai^imu vai>v tS Atl n4yav, 
 
 are strictly one and the same word, signi- «"" >«»' ""'^ii'' tm^ ivra »ea^aTa>y.— Here 
 
 fying " a cleft or plain between mountains." *^« writer probably refers to a BaoA Zeis, 
 
 ' See Eckhel Doctr. Nummorum III. p. J^pHer Baal, just as we elsewhere find a 
 
 334 sq. More fully in Mionnet Descr. des BaaA 'HA.10U (uJaB ^'S'2')iiun Baal; comp. 
 
 Uki. V. pp. 298-305. Suppl. VIH. pp. Movers 1. c pp. 173, 174. See above, p. 
 
 208-212. 518, n. 8. — Possibly Antonine rebuilt 'the 
 
 ' Eckhel L c. p. 334. Comp. above in great temple of the Sun ; and erected tho 
 
 Vol. II. p. 494. [iii. 442.] lesser temple to Jupiter BaaL 
 
 ' So Ulpiau, who was a native of Tyre ; 
 
Hue XI.] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 521 
 
 wMch may have been left unfinished, or perhaps been overthrown 
 by earthquakes. The inscriptions above given' point also to an 
 epoch earlier than Septimius Severus ; since they can hardly be 
 regarded as being coeval with the pedestals on which they are 
 inscribed. 
 
 Here again the testimony of the later coins is of avail. 
 Many of these indeed retain the device of the colonist and his 
 oxen ; while others, and especially some of Septimius Severus, 
 exhibit for the first time the figure of a temple with the legend 
 COL. HEL. I. 0. M. H.* One has a temple with a portico of 
 ten columns, seen in front ; another has a temple with many 
 cohimns in a peristyle, with steps, seen from the side. These 
 correspond to the greater and lesser temples ; and evidently imply 
 that the two were then extant. How they should first appear 
 on the coins of Severus is not so easily explained. Perhaps 
 there were earlier coins with the like device, which are now lost ; 
 or, possibly the temples were begun by Antonine, and only 
 finished fifty years later under Severus. — The coins of subse- 
 quent emperors continue to represent the temples, sometimes 
 under different forms ; and one coin of Valerian has two 
 temples. 
 
 From the votive inscriptions above given, ^ it would seem to 
 follow, that the greater temple was not only dedicated to the 
 worship of the sun as Baal, but was a Pantheon consecrated 
 to aU the gods of Heliopolis. The lesser temple was then that 
 erected to Jupiter Baal. The architecture of both shows them to 
 have been built at about the same epoch. The lesser temple was 
 finished ; the greater probably never. The extent and pomp of 
 the Syrian worship of the sun appears from the fact, that Julia 
 Domna, the empress of Septimius Severus, was the daughter of 
 Bassianus priest of the sun at Emesa (Hums) ; and that Helio- 
 gabalus, himself a priest of the sun in the same city, became 
 emperor and assumed the title : " Invictus Sacerdos Augustus, 
 Sacerdos Dei Solis." * The worship of Venus was also predomi- 
 nant at Heliopolis ; and people came together there to prostitute 
 their wives and daughters.' The licentiousness and the intoler- 
 ance of heathenism were alike prevalent, as appears from the 
 story of the martyr Gelasinus ; the scene of which was Heli- 
 opolis in A. D. 297, under the reign of Diocletian." Gelasinus 
 was an actor, and was to appear before the people assembled in 
 
 ' See above, p. 509. \atrTov *}iSov^v ri^wvres Trpotrfrfi/iarit ya.- 
 
 '•' In full : Colonia Heliopolis Jovi Op~ fierais koL ^vyarpoiriv avcdSjjv iiaropye^ctp 
 
 timo Maximo Meliopolitano. <rwex^pouy. 
 
 ' See above, p. 509. ° Chron. Pascb. ed. Dindorf p. 613. p. 
 
 * See his coins, etc 276 Par. The Chronicon says 269 years 
 
 ' Euseb. Vit. Const. 3. 58, eirl t^j *oi- after Christ^s ascension. 
 
 yiKwi' 'H\toinr6\eus' i(^* 7is ol ixey T7ii' ok^- 
 
 Vol. III.— 44* 
 
522 BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XL 
 
 the theatre for the public games. Having embraced Christianity 
 he declined his part, and was thrown by his fellow-actors into 
 the reservoir of the bath, full of warm water, in mockery of 
 his baptism. Having been taken out and dressed in white gar- 
 ments, he still refused to appear in the theatre, crying out : " I 
 am a Christian ; I saw the terrible glory in the bath, and I wiR 
 die a Christian." The people rushed madly upon him, thrust 
 him out of the theatre, and stoned him. His relatives buried, 
 the body in the neighbouring viEage Mariamme, where he was 
 born ; and there a chapel was erected to his memory. 
 
 When the power of the state, under Constantine, began to 
 be wielded in favour of Christianity, a check was given to the 
 debaucheries and licentious rites of heathenism. The temple of 
 Venus at Apheca (Afka) in Mount Lebanon was destroyed ; ' 
 and a new law or imperial rescript warned the people of Heli- 
 opolis against continuing the dissolute practices of their worship, 
 and exhorted them to receive the better faith." At the same 
 time the emperor founded here an immense Basilica ; ' consecra- 
 ted a bishop with his presbyters and deacons ; and all this in a 
 place still devoted to the worship of demons. Even from the 
 language of Eusebius himself, there would seem to have been 
 but few Christians in the city. By the founding of a church we 
 are probably to understand the conversion of the great temple 
 into a Basilica.'' 
 
 The heathen rites and customs of the people were too deeply 
 seated to be at once eradicated ; and the accession of Julian the 
 Apostate (A. D. 361) to the imperial throne, was the signal for 
 the violent suppression of Christianity, and the re-establishment 
 of heathen rites.° It was at this time, that the people of 
 Heliopolis distinguished themselves by their deeds of violence 
 and cruelty. Timid virgins consecrated to the service of God, 
 and shrinking from the public gaze, were exposed naked in the 
 market place, a spectacle and scoffing to all.' This was done, 
 according to the historian, in revenge for the former restraints 
 upon their heathen pollutions. In Heliopolis also, Cyril, a 
 deacon, who in the days of Constantine had manifested great 
 zeal for the truth, and had himself broken in pieces many idols, 
 was not only slain by the idolaters ; but in their ■ hatred they 
 even cut open his body and tasted of his liver.' In like manner, 
 
 ' Euseb. Vita Const. 3. 55. his Historia Dynastiarum, ed. Pococke, 
 
 " Ibid. 3. 58. Sozomen H. E. 1. 8. ib. Oxon. 1663. p. 85. 
 6. 10. ' Theodoret H. E. 3. 6. 
 
 ' Euseb. ibid. dlKoy evKTfipiov iieK\riaias ' Sozom. H. E. 5. 10. 
 Te iJiiyiCTOV . . . Ka.raPa7iK6iJ.ivos. ' Theodoret H. E. 3. 7. The historian 
 
 * This testimony of Ensebius is mostly relates, that all who took part in this hor- 
 
 repeated by Gregory Abulpharagius (Bar- rid act, lost first their teeth, then their 
 
 hebrseus), in the' thirteenth century ; see tongues, and lastly their eyes. 
 
Seo. Xl] HISTOEICAL NOTICES. 523 
 
 numerous Christians, banished by persecution from Alexandria, 
 were sent to HeliopoHs, as a place where there were no Christians, 
 and where no man could bear to hear the name of Christ ; and 
 here after a while they were distributed to the mines.' 
 
 Under Julian's immediate successors, the tide again slowly 
 turned in favour of Christianity. In A. D. 379, Theodosius the 
 Great ascended the throne. Of him it is related, that while 
 " Constantine during his reign only shut up the temples and 
 fanes of the Greeks, Theodosius also destroyed them ; as like- 
 wise the temple of Balanios at Heliopolis, the great and re- 
 nowned, the Trilithon ; and converted it into a Christian 
 church."' This mention of the Trilithon shows definitely, that 
 the writer refers to the great temple.' The name of the god, 
 Balanios, is most probably only a different form for the Baal 
 Heliou, ' Lord of the Sun,' which we have found elsewhere.* 
 What portion of the great temple was thus used for Christian 
 purposes, we are not informed. Perhaps a church may have 
 been erected within the great court ;' or, possibly, the lesser 
 temple, which seems to have been used as a church, may have 
 been reckoned as part and parcel of the Trilithon. 
 
 The name of the bishop instituted by Constantine, is not 
 recorded.' About the middle of the fifth century two others are 
 mentioned ; one, Joseph, at the synod of Antioch about A. D. 
 443 ; the other, Peter, under the emperor Leo.' 
 
 In the seventh century the fiery zeal of the followers of the 
 false prophet urged them on to conquest ; and as early as A. D 
 636, all Syria, including Damascus, Heliopolis, and the other 
 cities, had become subject to the victorious leaders of the new 
 faith.* From this time onward for three centuries, a veil of 
 darkness covers the City of the Sun. D'Herbelot indeed affirms, 
 but without specifying his authorities, that it continued to be a 
 powerful city under the Khalifs of the house of 'Ommiyah f that 
 is, for a century after the Muhammedan conquest. When it 
 reappears again in history, two circumstances had taken place, 
 
 ' Theodoret H. E. 4. 22. p. 179 ed. ^yftoy, /ScVrKTror, for^xaov, ;8e'\Ti(rTos; see 
 
 Beading. Gesen. Thesanr. under b, p. 727. So 
 
 » Chron. Pasck ed. Dindorf, p. 561. p. 5^;^^^^ XVII. i. p. 241. De Saulcy 11. p. 
 
 303 Par. KavtrTavrXvos i aoiSi/tos $a<n- g3Q_ 
 
 Kfiirns ri hpa ij^vov ^K\et<rev koX robs '<■ This is the opinion of M. De Savdcj; 
 
 vaohs Twi' "EAAVo"'' "'^"S QeoSdinos Koi jj „ g3^_ 
 
 KaT€\virev, Kol rh Uphv 'HMom6\fa)s rh e Euseb. Vita Const. 3. 58. 
 
 To5 BoKavlou rh \i.iya. /col vepiP6i,Tov rh ? Lg Q^jen Qriens Christ. H. pp. 843, 
 
 Tpl\iS)ov, ical ivoiriaey alirh iKKKtiaiav 844. Comp. Cave Scriptor. EooL Hist 
 
 XpuTTiavHi'. p. 309. 
 
 ' See above, p. 513. « Weil Gesoh. der Chalifen, 1846, t 
 
 ' Aram, aaa bsa, BaiX 'H\lov, see p. 80. Greg. Abulpharag. Hist Dynast, 
 
 above, p. 518, n. 8. The change of I ed. Pocooke, p. 1 1 2 Lat. Comp. Theophan. 
 
 into n is not uncommon in Syriao and Chronogr. p. 282 Par. p. 521 Classen. 
 
 Greek, as in other languages ; e. g. Dor. ' Biblioth. Orientale, art. Balbek. 
 
524 BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XI, 
 
 which form main characteristics in all the notices of Arabian 
 writers. 
 
 The first of these circumstances is the change of name. The 
 city reappears, not as Heliopolis, but as Ba'albek. That the 
 latter name corresponds to the former in the first part at least, 
 no one doubts; but as yet no satisfactory etymology or origin of 
 the latter portion has been discovered.' No ancient form is 
 known, either in Hebrew or Aramaean, from which it can be 
 well derived. Some of the Frank historians of the crusades 
 write the name Malbec' 
 
 The other circumstance referred to above, was the early con- 
 version of the great temple and its courts into a fortress. It is 
 mainly as a fortress that Arabian writers speak of Ba'albek. 
 
 The earliest Arabian authors, who mention Ba'albek, are el- 
 Isthakhri and Ibn Haukal, about the middle of the tenth cen- 
 tury.^ Their notices are brief, and quite similar to each other. 
 The latter writes : " Here are gates of palaces, sculptured in 
 marble ; and lofty columns, also of marble ; and in the whole 
 region of Syria there is not a more stupendous or considerable 
 edifice." No further notice of Ba'albek occurs for more than a 
 century. As a fortress, the possession of it was important in 
 the frequent wars waged between the Fatimite Khalifs of Egypt 
 and the various dynasties of northern Syria. Near the close of 
 the eleventh century, and not long before the arrival of the 
 crusaders, after several alternations, Ba'albek passed finally, in 
 A. D. 1090, from the Egyptian rule under that of the Seljuk 
 princes of Aleppo and Damascus.^ In A. D. 1134, the place 
 was an object of strife to the latter among themselves.' Five 
 years later, in A. D. 1139, Ba'albek surrendered to the victorious 
 arms of Zenki, the celebrated Atabek chieftain ; after whose 
 death it reverted, in A. D. 1145, to the Seljuk prince of Da- 
 mascus. '' 
 
 ' Perhaps the suggestion of A Schul- sq. Rosenm. Bibl. Geogr. L ii. pp. 280, 
 
 tens is the most probable, viz. that the 316. 
 
 syllable bek comes from the Arabic root ' Will. Tyr. 9. 15. ib. 21. 6, 8. Jac. 
 
 bakka, ' to be compressed, thronged ;' see de. Vitr. c. 45 llaubech. Adriohom. p. 
 
 Freytag's Lex I. p. 144. Hence Ba'albek 109. 
 
 ■would signify " Ba'al's throng," or pluce of ^ el-Istbakhri, das Buch der Lander, 
 
 multitude. The city Mecca is also some- fibers, von Mordtmann, Hamb. 1845, p. 37. 
 
 times called Behkah, ferhaps by allitera- Onseley, the Oriental Geogr. of Ebn Hau- 
 
 tion. See A. Schulten^s Index. Geogr. in kal, 4to, Lond. 1800. This last work is 
 
 Vit. Salad, art. Baalbechum.- — Others re- held by some to be only a copy of the 
 
 gard the syllable bek as for the Egyptian first ; see Mordtmann's Preface to I;- 
 
 ytori BAKI, "city;" and then Ba'albek thakhri. 
 
 ■would correspond fully in meaning ■with ' De Guignes Hist, des Huns, IL pp. 
 
 Heliopolis. But to form such a compound 386, 387, 388, Germ, 
 
 with a foreign word' is against the genius ' Ibid. p. 434, Germ, 
 
 of the Semitic tongues ; and probably no " Ibid. pp. 474, 483, Germ. Wilken, 
 
 analogous example can any where be found Gesch. der Kreuzz. II. p 685. Comp. 
 
 Seo Michaslis SuppL in Lex. Heb. p. 198 Eciuaud, Chroniq^ues Arabes etc. p. 70. 
 
Snc. XI] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 525 
 
 To the middle of this twelfth century belongs the notice of 
 Edrisi the geographer. He describes Ba'albek as situated in the 
 midst of a fertile and abundant region, and surrounded by vine- 
 yards and fruit trees. He speaks also of the two temples ; and 
 refers to the tradition, which even then regarded the greater 
 temple, with its immense stones, as a work of the times of Sol- 
 omon.' Some ten years later, Benjamin of Tudela likewise 
 mentions the " stones of enormous size" laid up without cement, 
 as the supposed work of Solomon assisted by the genii.' During 
 the same century no less than three earthquakes are recorded, in 
 the years 1139, 1157, 1170 ; by which all Syria was more or less 
 desolated. Aleppo, Hamah, Hums, and, in connection with the 
 last, Ba'albek, are specially enumerated, as having been over- 
 thrown, and many of the inhabitants buried under the ruins.' 
 
 In A. D. 1174, the formidable Saladin, who three years earlier 
 had made himself master of Egypt, appeared in Syria, and seized 
 possession of Damascus, Hums, Hamah, and the other towns of 
 Ccelesyria.* Two years later, in the summer of A. D. 1176, 
 while Saladin was occupied in the region of Aleppo, Eajrmond,. 
 Count of Tripolis, in concert with king Baldwin IV, whose ex- 
 pedition to the Baka'a and 'Anjar we have already recounted,' 
 led his troops by way of Byblus ( JebeU) and across the mountain 
 by the strong post Manethera (el-Muneitirah) near Afka, and so 
 made an inroad upon the district of Ba'albek, plundering and 
 burning whatever came in his way. The two expeditions met 
 afterwards in the middle of the Bukd'a ; defeated the Saracen 
 troops from Damascus ; and each returned laden with booty to 
 their head-quarters on the coast.' 
 
 One line of Saladin's descendants continued to be lords of 
 Damascus and the adjacent region, including Ba'albek, until 
 near the middle of the thirteenth century.'' After their expulsion 
 by the Egyptians, Ba'albek probably followed the fortunes of its 
 more prosperous neighbour, the provincial capital Damascus. 
 In A. D. 1260 it was captured by the general of Hulagu the 
 Mogol Khan ; who laid the fortress in ruins.' There exists no 
 further notice of the place during that century. 
 
 Early in the fourteenth century the princely geographer of 
 Hamah, Abulfeda, describes Ba'albek as an ancient city enclosed 
 by a wall, with a large and strong fortress ; and situated amid 
 
 ' Edrisi par Jaubert, I. p. 353 sq. ' De Guignes, ibid. pp. 533, 542, Germ. 
 
 ' Ashei's Benj. of Tudela, I. p. 86. Keinaud, Chroniques Arabes, p. 176. 
 
 Engl. — Rabbi Benjamin holds Ba'albek ' See above, p. 496. 
 
 to be the Baalatli of Scripture; which ' Will Tyr. 21. 11. Tuch in Zeitschr, 
 
 (he says) Solomon built for the daughter of d. morg. Ges. IV. p. 512 sq. Ritter XVII, 
 
 Pharaoh. 1 K. 9, 18. 2 Chr. 8, 6. p. 227. Wilken III. ii. p. 169. 
 
 * De Guio;nes Hist, des Huns, II. pp. ' De Guignes, Hist, des Huns, Introd. 
 
 474, 495, 527, Germ. Reinaud, Chroniques pp. 502, 503, Germ 
 
 Arabes p. 146. " De Guignes 1. c. IIL p. 273. 
 
526 BA'aLBEK. [Sec. XI. 
 
 treea, and ranning streams, and an abundance of all good things.' 
 At this time one of the quarters of the city was called Makriz; 
 and here was bom, in the year 1367, the celebrated Arabian 
 historian Takieddin Ahmed, better known by his more usual 
 appellative, el-Makrizi.^ At the very close of the century, in 
 A. D. 1400, Ba'albek surrendered to the powerful Tartar con- 
 queror, Tamerlane (Timur Leng) ; who directed his march this 
 way from Hums to Damascus. The conqueror made no delay, 
 but hastened on to Damascus ; as the winter was approaching.^ 
 This appears to be the latest historical notice of Ba'albek. in 
 oriental writers. 
 
 Ba'albek seems at that time to have been as yet unknown to 
 Frank travellers after the crusades. It was remote from any of 
 the great roads, which connected Damascus either with the 
 coast, or with the more northern cities of Syria. Hence for a 
 hundred and fifty years, until the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, we find no further notice of Ba'albek.* At that time, 
 A. D. 1548, the French traveller Belon was the first to pass this 
 way ; and he briefly describes the place, much in the same way 
 as an intelligent passing traveller would do at the present day. 
 The great temple was still a fortress ; and within it were then 
 standing nine lofty columns.' Thevet, another French traveller, 
 was at Ba'albek about A. D. 1550 ; but seems to add nothing 
 to Bslon's account.* The same remark applies to the German 
 Melchior von SeydUtz in A. D. 1557 ; and to Eadzivil in A. D. 
 1583.' 
 
 In the next century, Quaresmius, about A. D. 1620, briefly 
 describes Ba'albek. The good father was probably not very par- 
 ticular in his observations ; as he speaks (somewhat doubtfully) 
 of fifty-five columns then standing. Much more important were 
 the visits of De la Eoque in 1688, and Maundrell in 1697. Both 
 these travellers give descriptions and sketches of the ruins ; but 
 the account of De la Koque is by far the most complete. It is 
 singular that Maundrell makes but a single allusion to any 
 portion of the great temple, viz. the row of Corinthian piUars, 
 "very great and lofty." * 
 
 ' Abulf. Tab. Syriae, ed. KoUer, p. 103. • A. Thevet, Cosmographie universelle, 
 
 ' D'Herbelot Biblioth. Orient, art. Mac- I 6. c. 14. 
 
 rizi. ' M. V. Seydlitz in Reissb. p. 490. Rad- 
 
 " Sberifeddin, Hist, de Timur Bee on zivil in the same, II. p. 148. 
 
 Tamerlan, par La Croix, Par. 1723, lib. V. ' De la Roque Voyage en Syrie, 12mo. 
 
 c. 23. Tom. in. pp. 311, 312. De Amst. 1723, Tom. I. pp. 97-153.— Maun- 
 
 Guignes L c. IV. p. 306 Germ. Eitter drell's Journey, under May .5th. The fol- 
 
 XVII. p. 244. lowing is all that relates to the great tem- 
 
 * Adrichomius (1590) makes no refer- pie: " About fifty yards distant from tho 
 
 ence to any modem traveller ; pp. 108, [lesser] temple is a row of Coiinthian pil- 
 
 109. lars, very great and lofty; with a most 
 
 ' P. Belon, Observations etc. 4to. Par. stately architrave and comish at top. This 
 
 1555. p. 153. Germ, in Paulus' Samm- speaks itself to have been part of some 
 
 lung, Th. IL p. 5. very august pile ; but what one now sees 
 
Sue. XL] HISTORICAL NOTICES. 527 
 
 During the eighteenth century, we have the drawings and 
 explanations of Pococke about A. D. 1737 ; the great work of 
 Wood and DawMns in A. D. 1751 ; and the elegant description 
 of Volney, in A. D. 1784. From the latter we learn the cause 
 and progress of the destruction of the temples, which had taken 
 place since the visit of Wood and Dawkins ; and which is still 
 continued in a less degree by the ignorance and ruthless barbaiity 
 both of the people and the Turkish officials. The great earth- 
 quake of A. D. 1759 left standing only six of the nine columns 
 of the great peristyle, as depicted by Wood and Dawkins ; and 
 of the twenty-nine which they found around the lesser temple, 
 only twenty were left.' The same earthquake partially dislodged 
 the central stone over the grand portal of the lesser temple ; 
 though it has now sunk much lower than in Volney's day. 
 
 Whoever desires to obtain a correct idea of the general plan, 
 and many of the architectural details of these magnificent ruins, 
 will do best to consult the great work of Wood and Dawkins.* 
 General views of the more picturesque portions are also found in 
 the later sketches and engravings of Cassas, Laborde, and Koberts. 
 
 of it is but just enough to give a regret, ' Volney, Voyage II. p. 222. 
 
 that there should be no more of it remain- ' The Bnins of Baalbec, foL Lond. 
 
 ing » 1757. 
 
SECTION XII. 
 
 FROM BA'ALBEK BY KIBLEH TO EL-HUSN. 
 
 Beyond Ba'altek, towards the north, the character of the 
 Buka'a iiadergoes a great change. Hitherto, from Kamid 
 northwards, its main features are those of a broad, level, fertile 
 plain, occupying the greater portion of the great mountain cleft ; 
 with only a narrow parallel valley or terrace along the foot of 
 Anti-Lebanon, separated from the lower plain by a line of hills. 
 The average breadth between the mountains we estimated as 
 from two and a half to three hours, or from seven to nine 
 miles. Near Neby Shit, as we have seen, the lower western 
 ridge of Anti-Lebanon terminates ; and the higher dorsal ridge 
 forms further north the wall of the Buka'a.' This converges 
 gradually towards Lebanon ; and the great valley becomes nar- 
 rower, as far at least as to the water-shed near Lebweh. 
 
 Thursday, June \Qth. We spent the early morning hours 
 in completing our examination of the ruins ; and also visited 
 the fountain. At 10.15 we set off from our encampment near 
 the temples ; and in ten minutes were at the northern gate in 
 the ancient city wall. Both on the northeast and northwest of 
 the town are cemeteries ; and I was struck with the form of the 
 tomb stones placed at each end of the graves, and resembling 
 entirely those customary in New England. Here, however, 
 there were also low side-pieces connecting them, and thus 
 enclosing the grave in a parallelogram. — Our course was now 
 northeast, towards Nahleh. 
 
 Before us now was a rise of land, bordering on the arm of the 
 plain which runs up eastward to the fountain. As we drew near 
 to Ba'albek from the south, it had the appearance of a ridge 
 running out across the valley from the eastern mountain. It 
 now turned out to be the southern end of a wide gravelly slope, 
 
 ' See above, p. 603. 
 
JuKBlO.] TEMPLE AT NAHLEH. 529 
 
 extending down westwards from Anti-Lebanon and reaching 
 talf way or more across the whole valley ; a vast sloping tract, 
 having a very uneven surface, with spurs or ridges running down 
 it from the mountain, with deep Wadys between them. It is a 
 sort of continuation of the desert plateau south of Ba'albek ; * 
 and extends north to the water-shed near Lebweh. The whole 
 of this tract is barren and desert quite to Lebweh ; except a 
 little cultivation in the deeper valleys, and a few poor fields of 
 grain around two or three villages. The lower tract or plain, 
 towards the western mountain, appeared as a continuation of 
 the fertile portion of the BCika'a ; and seemed well cultivated. 
 
 We rose upon this desert slope ; and at 11 o'clock struck a 
 small rill of water serving for irrigation, and brought around the 
 hills from a small fountain southeast of Nahleh. Five minutes 
 later Deir el-Ahmar, near the foot of Lebanon, bore N. N. W. 
 At 11.40 we came to Nahleh, situated on the southern bank of 
 a very deep narrow rugged ravine, which cuts down through the 
 slope, from far up in the mountain to the western plain below. 
 A stream flows along the bottom, and there is a fine fouiitain 
 under the village. The latter is merely a collection of hovels. 
 
 Here too are the remains of an ancient temple in the middle 
 of the village. It stood upon an elevated platform of masonry, 
 like that at Deir el-'Ashayir.' Two courses of large stones are 
 visible below, which form the foundation. Then there is a course 
 with a large moulding, like a cornice inverted. Above this are 
 two courses, the upper one with a cornice or ledge, and forming 
 the floor of the platform, now about twelve feet above the 
 ground. The platform projects thirteen aind a half feet beyond 
 the body of the temple on each side and at the west end. The 
 eastern end of both temple and platform is broken away and 
 destroyed. The remaining portion of the temple itself measures 
 seventy-eight feet in length by forty-two feet in width. The 
 stones are large ; many of them being ten or twelve feet long. 
 Some seem to have a rude bevel, which perhaps is accidental. 
 Of the body of the temple only a few courses remain ; and 
 within these and on the platform, the inhabitants have built up 
 their hovels. In the courts of other dwellings, and outside of 
 the village, are seen many large hewn stones. 
 
 On a hill east of the village are the foundations and traces 
 of an earlier town. In the same hiR are several excavated 
 sepulchres. These Mr Kobson, my companion, had visited in 
 1848. One consists of a long passage ; on each side of which 
 are excavated five recesses, and one at the end opposite the 
 entrance. In each of these eleven recesses are three sarcophagi 
 
 ■ See atove, p. 437. 
 Vol. in.— 45 
 
530 FROM ba'albek to el-husk, [SEaxn. 
 
 or loculi cut in the rock side by side. The plan of the other 
 sepulchres is similar ; but their extent varies greatly. 
 
 Beyond this hill, in a valley southeast of the village, is a 
 small fountain ; from which the water was anciently brought to 
 Nahleh by an aqueduct, two or three miles long. Portions of it 
 still remain, well built and plastered with cement. But the 
 water is now conducted in rude open channels towards the south, 
 to irrigate the fields belonging to Ba'albek. One of these rivu- 
 lets we had crossed on our way hither. 
 
 At 12.45 we left Nahleh. Descending into the ravine and 
 crossing the brook on a stone bridge of one arch, we again 
 ascended on a northwest course until 1 o'clock. We then went 
 north along the slope ; and at 1.45 were opposite Yunin, a small 
 village on our right. Here the great slope is interrupted for 
 half an hour. A broad shallow Wady with a stream runs out 
 from the foot of the mountain. In this is the village, with a 
 fountain, at the base of Anti-Lebanon ; having also a glen in 
 the mountain back of it. We came at 1.55 to the brook in the 
 valley. It was led along the slope in several streams, and was 
 wholly used up for irrigation. At this point we could already 
 perceive the effect of the convergence of the mountains ; the 
 great valley being not more than two hours in width. Our road 
 was here about one third of the breadth of the plain distant 
 from the eastern mountain. Deir el-Ahmar bears from Yunin 
 N. 64° W. 
 
 South of Deir el-Ahmar, on the way from Ba'albek to that 
 village, an hour and a half N. N. W. of Ba'albek, and in the 
 western part of the plain, stands an isolated column, of the 
 Corinthian order. It is elevated upon a pedestal or platform of 
 five steps ; and, besides the base and capital, consists of fourteen 
 or fifteen blocks of stone, each about three feet thick. On the 
 north side is hewn a smooth tablet ; but with no trace of an 
 inscription.' It may have been a monument erected possibly in 
 some relation to Ba'albek or its boundaries ; or more probably to 
 commemorate some historical event now unknown. By the 
 natives it is called el-Maghazel, "the spindle." " 
 
 In this part of our road we had a fuller view of the northern 
 portion of the eastern declivity of Lebanon. Below the lofty 
 ridge over the cedars, and rather more than half way up the 
 mountain, is a broad uneven terrace, divided by irregular shallow 
 valleys into two or three parallel but irregular ridges. These 
 extend northwards along the whole length of Lebanon ; and run 
 out into several smaller ridges. All these and the whole lower 
 
 ' Maundrell, May 6Ui. Pocooke 11. i ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sao. 1848, 
 p. 107. Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 11. p. p. 700. 
 386. 
 
June 10.] "WATEB-SHED OP THE BTJKA'A. 531 
 
 part of that mountaiiij appear well wooded, that is, for Lebanon ; 
 chiefly with stunted oaks (Sindian), which are kept stunted, be- 
 cause the people constantly le't their goats and sheep feed on the 
 young twigs.' From this terrace the lofty dorsal ridge rises very 
 steeply, composed entirely of naked rock. At this time every 
 hollow in it was filled with snow ; and at the top the snow 
 appeared almost unbroken along the ridge. But there was 
 understood to be an unusual quantity of snow the present season. 
 
 Before reaching Ba'albek, and also to day, my companion 
 had several times inquired after the local name of this northern 
 part of Lebanon. One called it Jebel Bsherreh ; another Jebel 
 Libnan. One man of Yunin named it el-Miskiyeh, ' the waterer ; ' 
 but called it further south, Libnan. Others spoke of it simply 
 as el-Jebel. 
 
 Our path now lay along the western part of the great slope 
 on a course about N. by B. We were evidently approaching 
 the water-shed of the great valley, which as yet had never been 
 fully determined ; and our attention was therefore awake. After 
 a time the village of Eesm el-Hadeth came in sight before us on 
 our left ; lying at the foot of a rise of land, which at first seemed 
 to extend westward quite across the valley and so form the 
 water-shed. But the people told us, that a narrower valley ex- 
 tended up further north, just west of the village, as we indeed 
 saw ; and that the water there stUl flowed from the north. We 
 were opposite the village at 3.05 ; situated about half a mile 
 west of our road. We now rose along the gentle ascent, on a 
 N. N. E. course ; and soon struck a pretty brook, which is led 
 down southwest to the village from a stream and fountain lying 
 further north and east. 
 
 At 4 o'clock we came out upon the highest tract or ridge ; 
 and could for the first time look off towards the north. Here 
 the lone monument of Hurmul became visible, and we had a 
 view of the whole northern part of the Buka'a. A little stream 
 was led down by an artificial channel from towards the eastern 
 mountain along the top of the broad ridge. Near by our path 
 it was divided into two branches, in order to water two small 
 tracts or depressions on different sides of the ridge ; one branch 
 running off southwest, and the other northwest. The old bed 
 of the stream is a Wady a few rods further north, and lower ; 
 it runs off northwest and north. Here, then, I suppose, is the 
 water-shed in this part of the great valley ; nor can it vary 
 much from this line in the more western part.' 
 
 ' So Mr Rotson, who had travelled Rev. W. M. Thomson, in the Bibliotheca 
 
 through that region of the mountain. Sacra, 1848, p. 698. Mr T. passed south 
 
 '' The only published notice as to the along the west side ; and speaks of the 
 
 water-shed of the Buka'a is that of the water-shed as is a long field of grain west 
 
532 FROM BA'ALBEK to EL-HUSN. [Sec. Xn, 
 
 "We now kept on our course, gradually descending, towards 
 tte fountain of Lebweh, which is east of the vUlage. Before 
 reaching it we struck, a canal for irrigation, which is led off at 
 first southwest, along the southern border of the low plain west 
 of the fountain. Following this up, we reached the fountain at 
 5 o'clock, and encamped for the night. 
 
 This is a very large fountain of fine limpid water, gushing 
 out in four different places from under a broad tract of coarse 
 gravel, lying west of a ledge of limestone rocks. This ledge is 
 connected with higher ground running back east to the mountain. 
 The body of water which here bursts forth, is perhaps even 
 greater than at 'Anjar. Besides the four principal streams, there 
 are also three or four smaller ones ; and it would seem only 
 necessary to dig in the gravel, in order to have any number of 
 fountains. Besides the canal along the south side of the low 
 plain, another is carried along its northern margin ; and a third, 
 higher up and larger, is led along the valley, northwards, near 
 the road, quite to el-Ka'a. The rest of the waters run down 
 into the basin west ; and render it fertile, meadow-like, and beau- 
 tiful. The stream flows off northwest towards the foot of 
 Lebanon ; and breaks down along the western side of the great 
 valley, by a deep, narrow, rugged chasm, through a rocky and 
 desert tract, to the fountains of the Orontes towards Hiirmul. 
 
 In the middle of the basin, on a low Tell among the streams, 
 is the poor village of Lebweh, fifteen minutes distant from the 
 fountain, bearing W. N. W. It has the marks of an ancient 
 site ; though little now remains but heaps of rubbish, with here 
 and there a broken column or a disfigured capital. On the north 
 brow of the TeU are seen the foundations and lower walls of 
 some large structure ; perhaps a temple. A few miserable 
 hovels constitute the present village.' 
 
 We were here opposite to the cedars of Lebanon, situated 
 beyond the high dorsal ridge. On this side of the mountain we 
 could see the lower ridges running down and out towards the 
 northeast. 
 
 of Lebweh. — In Oct 1852, Dr De Forest feet ; which however is several hundred 
 
 passed up the valley on the west side ; and feet lower than Ba'albek according to 
 
 found the watershed somewhere south of Riissegger and Schubert ; see above, p. 
 
 the village of Sha'ad ; from which village 506. 
 
 the water runs northwards. The exact ^ Mr Porter passed by this route to 
 
 position of this village is not marked ; but Hums in Oct. 1 853. He was at the village 
 
 I suppose it to be not much, if any, farther of Lebweh. Biblioth. Sacra, 185+, p. 
 
 soulh than Lebweh. From it to the foun- 663. — Belon, the French traveller, was here 
 
 tains of the Orontes, Dr De Forest had 4 J about A. D. 1548, and speaks of " an iin- 
 
 hours of ordinary travelling. We were 5 cient Koman structure " then standing, 
 
 hours from Lebweh to the same fountains, built of massive stones ; Observations etc. 
 
 without baggage, but by a more circuitous Par. 1 555, p. 154 ; and in Paulus' Samm- 
 
 route. Ms. Joum. — Dr De Forest gives lung, Th. it p. 6. 
 the elevation of the water-shed at 3127 
 
Juirall.] LEBWEH, LIBO. 533 
 
 Lebweh i& mentioned by Arabian writers as a fortified place. 
 In A. D. 1132, it was seized along with er-Ras, by Muhammed, 
 then lord of Ba'albek.' Here too, in A. D. 1170, ShehSb ed- 
 Din, with two hundred horsemen, fell in with three hundred 
 Frank horsemen ; put them to flight ; and slew among others 
 the chief of the Hospitalers, who a;t that time had possession of 
 el-Husn, then known as Husn el-Akrad.' 
 
 The name Lebweh seems also to point to a higher antiquity. 
 It corresponds weU to the Libo or Lyho of the ancient Itinera- 
 rium Antonini ; but the distance from Ba^albek can only be 
 made to coincide by an easy emendation, viz. by reading XXII 
 instead of XXXII Roman miles.' I shall recur again to this 
 topic further on, when treating of Ris Ba'albek. 
 
 Friday, June \lih. We broke up from the fountain of 
 Lebweh at 6.55 ; and after some minutes struck the eastern 
 bank of the canal, by which a large portion of the water is led 
 along through the arid tract before us. Indeed, so hard and bar- 
 ren is the soil, that even the water seems to produce no effect ; 
 except where there is immediate contact. The usual road keeps 
 near this canal quite to Ras Ba'albek. At 7.25 there was on our 
 right ten minutes distant, a Wely with a few houses and trees, 
 called Neby 'Othman. It has a small fountain. We now left 
 the canal ; and turning northeast towards 'Ain, rose along the 
 ascent, and at 7.45 reached the village. 
 
 'Ain is a small village, with scattered building stones and 
 traces of former dwellings ; but nothing marking any great 
 antiquity, and no very large stones. There are said to be some 
 excavated sepulchres west of the village. It is watered by three 
 small fountains, near by ; and has many trees and vineyards. 
 It lies high up on the roots or spurs which here run down from 
 Anti-Lebanon ; and is a conspicuous object for a considerable 
 distance around, especially towards the south and west. We 
 could see that these roots or spurs form a barren slope towards 
 the west, extending through the whole valley, quite to the base 
 
 ' De Guignes Hist, des Huns, IL p. iSi, ?'"«^». ^„„, 
 
 t^e"™- Libo ... " XXXXIL 
 
 " Ibid. p. 527. Hcliopoli . . " XXIL 
 
 • Itin. ABtonini, ed. Wess. p. 198 : ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 
 Em«a(Hum8) to another removes the diffictilty. It may 
 
 Lauilkia . . m. p. XvIII. ^ c ^x. v -jv^v 
 
 Lit,,, ... " XXXII. *t "'■st have been occasioned by the over- 
 
 Ilelinpoli . . " XXXII. sight of a copyist ; or possibly in order to 
 
 The same distances are given on p. 199 in make the numbers coincide with those of 
 
 the reversed order, but with the name the reversed itinerary. See more below, 
 
 Conmofor Lifo, From Ba'albek to Leb- under Kas Ba'albek. — Rennell on his map 
 
 weh we were 5h. 40m. ; which (as we shall of Syria (Atlas to accompany, etc. ) has re- 
 
 Bee further on) is nearest 22 Koman miles, ferred Libo to Lebweh ; and Mr Thomson 
 
 As the whole distance between Ba'albek suggests the same identity, Biblioth. Sac 
 
 and Hums is known, not improbably the 1848, p. 699. Hitter XVIL p. 169. 
 original specification stood thus : 
 
 Vol. III.— 45* 
 
534 FROM BA'aLBEK to EL-HUSN. [Sec. Xn. 
 
 of Lebanon. Througli this tract the stream from Lebweh 
 passes in its deep narrow chasm.- Hereabouts is perhaps the 
 narrowest portion of the great valley. 
 
 This place can hardly be the Ain mentioned in the book of 
 Numbers as west of Kibleh.' Indeed, as the Hebrew word in 
 that passage has the article, it probably refers to the fountain of 
 the Orontes, which is southwest of Eibleh.' 
 
 We now continued still gradually to rise towards the north- 
 east until 8.20 ; when we reached the top of the ascent, and 
 came out suddenly upon the brow of a very deep narrow 
 chasm, with another like ridge beyond it.' In the bottom of 
 this chasm, a little higher up, lies the village of Fikeh. It was 
 as if the deep ravine, the continuation of a wild gorge in the 
 mountain just back, had here cleft just the middle of a broad 
 high ridge from top to bottom. It goes down through the 
 barren tract above mentioned, and meets the Lebweh. By a 
 steep and winding descent we reached the bottom, and crossed 
 the stream just below the village at 8.35. The brook is small, 
 and is soon exhausted by irrigation. The village is not visible 
 from the other road along the canal. It is of good size ; and 
 the narrow valley is well cultivated. 
 
 The road up the northern side of the ravine is less steep and 
 difScult than on the southern. At 8.45 we were at the top ; and 
 had now on our left a range of conical hills parallel to the 
 mountain, with this high ground between. We descended 
 gradually northeast ; and soon saw again the monument of Hur- 
 mul, and had a view of the lake of Kedes towards Hums. We 
 came at 9.10 to Eas Ba'albek. 
 
 The present village er-Eas is poor and half in ruins. It lies 
 in the interval between the last two of the conical hills. An 
 immense gorge in the mountain back of the village, here runs 
 out as a broad shallow depression between these two hills to the 
 western plain. Up this gorge, which cleaves the mountain 
 almost to its base, passes (as we were told) a road to Nebk, said 
 to be nine hours distant. There is a fine, though not large 
 fountain in the lower part of the village. Below the fountain 
 are many gardens and fruit orchards, extending out beyond the 
 hills into the plain ; and serving to mark the place, when seen 
 from a distance. The people are all Greek Catholics. There is 
 a convent in the upper part of the village near the gorge ; a 
 
 ' Ntim. 3+, 11 " to Eiblah on the east article is not elsewhere fonnd with I^S as 
 
 Bide 01 Ain. ^ proper name. 
 
 » Hcb. V;^ D"1I5^ i^J^-in.lit. 'to the ' From this point the villages of 'Ain, 
 
 fonntaiii ; ' that is, " the border shall go and Lebweh were seen in a line, bearing 
 
 down from Shepham to Riblah on the east S. 50° W. Comp. Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. 
 
 to [of] the fountain," Num. 34, 11. The 664. 
 
JdnbII.] eas ba'albek, conna. 535 
 
 modern structure dedicated to the Virgin.' There is also a con- 
 vent in ruins." 
 
 This place, now in such deep decay, was evidently in former 
 times a town of importance, at least as far back as the early 
 ages of Christianity. In the middle of the village are seen the 
 foundations of a large ancient church ; of which the east end, 
 with a large semicircular recess in the middle and a smaller one 
 on each side, is distinctly marked by a course of large and well 
 dressed stones, still in their place. On the west of the village, 
 south of the fountain, are the ruins of another church about a 
 hundred feet long by fifty feet wide, having one large recess in 
 the eastern end ; of which eight or ten feet are still standing 
 above the ground. There would seem to have been a court con- 
 nected with it on the west and south sides. Five minutes 
 further west is another ruin, built of large stones ; but there is 
 not enough remaining to mark its character. A subterranean 
 aqueduct appears to have brought water to it from the fountain. 
 Near it are the foundations of another structure of large stones. 
 The stones of this ruin, and of the church on the west of the 
 village, are of hard conglomerate ; while those of the church in 
 the middle of the village are of limestone. — Everywhere in and 
 around the village are the foundations and other traces of 
 ruined buildings ; as also many hewn stones, some of them large 
 and well dressed. 
 
 The question arises, what ancient Christian city this could 
 have been ? To this question I was long unable to find a satis- 
 factory reply. But from a careful comparison of the distances, 
 and of aU the historical notices- appertaining to this region, I 
 have been led to recognise in er-Kas the ancient Conna of the 
 Itinerary of Antonine. 
 
 This Itinerary gives us the distances between Emesa (Hums) 
 and Ba'albek in both directions ; as in the note below.' The 
 intermediate distances are the same in both. Laudicia (Lao- 
 dicea) is marked in both as eighteen Eoman miles south of 
 Emesa ; and this is apparently correct. The Peutinger Tables 
 mark the same interval at twenty Roman mUes ; and Ptolemy 
 gives it at fifteen degrees of latitude.* Midway between Lau- 
 
 In this convent Mr Porter lodged a Goinn South. 
 
 yearlater;Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, p. 664 sq. T^^lt\B. . . n-.p. XVIII. 
 
 " Bearings from er-Ras : North end of Lib,, ... " XXXII. 
 
 Lebanon N. .5° E. Mon. of Hurmul N. 2° Helinpoli . . " XXXIL 
 
 W. Village of Hurmul N. by W. Ribleh Gohia North. 
 
 N. 35° E. Zerr.i'a N. 39° E. Lake of Heliupoli ^^^„ 
 
 Kedes, middle, N. 22° E.-Comp.BibUoth. ^^^^^ ; J °'-.''- |i|{t 
 
 Sac. 1854, p. 665 sq. lSu,esa ... " XVIIL 
 
 " Itin Antoiiini, ed. Wess. pp. 198, 199. 
 
 The whole distance between Ba'albek and ' Tab. Peuting. ed. Scheyb, Segm. X 
 
 Hums was 82 Roman miles ; thus : PtoL Geogr. 5. 14. 
 
536 FROM ba'albek to EL-HUSN. [SEcXn. 
 
 dicia and Heliopolis, th.€re occurs Libo in the one case, and 
 Conna in the other. We have already seen, that Libo is prob- 
 ably to be identified with Lebweh, from the likeness of the 
 names ; and rec^uiring only an easy emendation in the text of 
 the Itinerary. '^ 
 
 The distance thus given between Hehopolia and Emesa is 
 eighty-two Eoman miles. Our mode of travelling was light 
 and rapid ; and our time from Ba'albek to Eibleh (allowing 
 three quarters of an hour for our detour to the fountains of the 
 Orontes) was thirteen and a half hours. From Kibleh to 
 Hums Mr Porter travelled the next year in seven hours.' The 
 amount is twenty and a half hours. In October 1853, Dr De 
 Forest likewise travelled from a point opposite Ba'albek to 
 Hums, by way of Sha'ab, Hurmul, and Zeiteh, fording the 
 Orontes south of TeU Neby Mindau ; and his time also was 
 twenty and a half hours. Our rate of travel, therefore, as com- 
 pared with the ancient Itineraries, was four Eoman miles the 
 hour. But from Ba'albek to er-Eas, our time was eight hours 
 lacking five minutes, or nearest thirty-two Eoman miles, the 
 exact distance of Conna from Heliopolis according to the Itin- 
 erary.^ 
 
 This ancient Conna of the Itinerary is. probably the same 
 with the Cunna of the Notitia Dignitatum.* Other notices go 
 also to show, that it was the seat of a bishop, in the province 
 known as Phenicia of Lebanon. In the acts of the fourth coun- 
 cil of Chalcedon in A. D. 451, is found the subscription of 
 " Dada bishop of Chonachara ; " and the same occurs elsewhere.* 
 
 ^ See above, p. 533. both Huimiol and eI-Ka.*a are at least forty 
 
 ' Bibliotheca Sacra, 1854, p. 67i sq. Eoman miles distant from Ba'albek, mid- 
 
 ^ In the French collection of the Itine- way between, it and Hums ; contrary to 
 
 raries, with maps by Lapie, as also in the the requirements of the Itinerary. The 
 
 edition by Parthey and Pinder and on their true view probably is, that one 'road lay 
 
 map, the two specifications of the Itin. A n~ like ours, by the fountain of Lebweh and 
 
 tonini are regarded as referring to two across the hills by er-Ras ; the other more 
 
 different routes between Heliopolis and in the plain by the village of Lebweh and 
 
 Laodicea, along the east and west sides of along the canal. The former would strike 
 
 the great valley ; and then JLlbo is fixed er-Rus (Conna), and not Lebweh (Libo) ; 
 
 at Hurmul, and Uontta at er-Ras. See the latter would pass at Lebweh and not 
 
 Recueil d?s Itineraires anciens par le Marq at er-Ras. — It was only after the results in 
 
 Fortia d'Urbain; avec dix Cartes par the text above were all definitely made 
 
 Lapie ; Paris, 1845, p. 55. Itin. Antonini out, that I became aware of the suggestion 
 
 ed. Parthey et Pini p. 328, 352. — But of Lapie, as to the identity of Conna and 
 
 against this view there are several consi- cr-Ris. Comp. Ritter Erdk. XVII. p. 170. 
 
 derations : First, from Ba'albek to Hums * Notit. Dignitatum, ed. Booking, I. p. 
 
 the road naturally leads along the east side 85,382. Earlier editions have the readir.g 
 
 of the valley, and not the west side. Mr Cuma; ed. Genev. 1623, p. 223. 
 
 Thomson and Dr De Forest who travelled ' Gr. Aa5a iriXeu! XoyaKapav, Act. 6. 
 
 along the west side, did not touch Ba'albek Comp. le Qnien Oriens Christ II. 847, 
 
 at all. Secondly, if Libo were at Hurmul, 849. Car. h St. Paulo Googr. Sacra. Amst. 
 
 then Conna must have been at el-Ka'a 1704, p. 295 et n. The text of this lat- 
 
 opposite to it. lldrdly, this could not have ter work reads Gomoara ; and a Greek Ms. 
 
 been the true site in either case ; because has XofjiiKapa. Is perhaps the present 
 
Jdne 11.] EK-RAS, CONNA. DESERT PLAIN. 537 
 
 In an early Greek Notitia also we find the name Saltus Gonai- 
 ticus, and in a Latin one tlie name of Konokora, mentioned as 
 a diocese in this province, between Laodicea and Jabruda.' AU 
 these forms refer apparently to one and the same place.' With 
 this diocesan character the extensive remains of ancient churches 
 at er-Ras well correspond.' 
 
 Sending off our muleteers direct to Eibleh, we set off from 
 er-Ras at 9.55, taking the road towards HQrmul. This leads 
 N. by W. obliquely across the rocky and desert plain. At 10. 
 30 we crossed the canal or artificial branch from Lebweh. It is 
 here a large stream ; and is used to drive three mills in succes- 
 sion, and not far apart. But so utterly sterile is the soil, that 
 no effect whatever is produced by this abundance of water on the 
 land adjacent ; not even along the banks of the canal. It goes 
 to el-Ka'a ; ,and there, in a lower tract and richer soil, causes 
 great fertility. We kept on through this desert, occasionally 
 interrupted by low rocky ledges and chasms, until 12 o'clock. 
 Here we left the road ; which continues to the village of Hurmul, 
 crossing the Orontes by a bridge. Turning to the left, we found 
 ourselves too far north ; and had therefore to lean a little south 
 of west in order to reach the great fountain. We came to it at 
 12.40, lying here in a narrow chasm, from three hundred to four 
 hundred feet deep ; and sinking down so suddenly, that a person 
 approaching from the east has no suspicion of its existence till 
 he stands upon the brink. 
 
 The high desert tract or slope, which we had crossed to-day, 
 running down west from Anti-Lebanon, crowds the Nahr Lebweh 
 and its deep narrow chasm quite against the base of Lebanon. 
 As we saw it here, above the fountains of the Orontes, the chasm 
 is very narrow, with perpendicular sides, and only a slender strip 
 of land at bottom. The stream from Lebweh seemed to us here 
 quite as large as at its source ; notwithstanding the branches led 
 off at first for irrigation, and the large canal to el-Ka'a. We 
 
 name er-Ras merely a translntion of the the names Comoara and XofiSKapa of p. 
 
 Greek t^ Rapa, the head, in the latter part 536, n. 5, are referred to the village K^ 
 
 of these forms ? ra, on the direct route from Hums to Da- 
 
 ' Gr. 'HKtov TovaiTiK6v, Reland Falsest, mascus. This seems, however, to be mere 
 
 p. 217. See Parergon to the work of Car. conjecture ; and if that place were even 
 
 k St. Paulo, as abuve, p. ."iO, 51, 62. the seat of a bishop, the name would cor- 
 
 ' Kennell, with whom Ritter agrees, con- respond better to the Karotea of the Lat. 
 
 nects also the 'Za.iixt of Ptol. 5. 14, with Notitia ; see Parergon as above, p. 62. — 
 
 Conna. But ^aiva is there mentioned in The same writer says that Ma'lMa repre- 
 
 the order ; Heliopolis, Abila, Saana, Da- sents Seleucia of Damascus, which I do not 
 
 mascus ; though, according to the longi- understand. But Ma'lula may well corres- 
 
 tude specified, it was east of Damascus, pond to the KKliin yia,y\oidaj, Klima 
 
 At any rate it cannot be brought into con- Magludorum, of the Greek Notitia, an 
 
 nection with Conna and er-Bis. Kitter episcopal seat; Reland Falsest p. 217. 
 
 XVn. p. 171. Parergon, ibid. p. 50, 51. — For a notice of 
 
 ' In an Arabic manuscript by Macarius, the above manuscript I am indebted to the 
 
 bishop of Antioch, written in A. D. 1635, Rev. Mr Poiter. 
 
538 FROM BA'aLBEK to EL-HUSN. [Sec. XH. 
 
 drew the conclusion, that the stream must have received acces- 
 sions in its course ; perhaps from fountains along the base of 
 Lebanon. This appears to be actually the case. In August 
 1846, Mr Thomson travelled up this valley for an hour from the 
 Orontes fountain to a place called el-Meruj, having fountains 
 and wUlow trees. For an hour and a half above el-Meruj, he 
 proceeded along the east side of this winding valley ; and then 
 crossed to the west side, at a great fountain called simply 'Ain. 
 It is large enough to drive several mills ; and around it are large 
 blocks of hewn stone. The chasm, along which the combined 
 stream from Lebweh and this 'Ain flows, is only a few rods 
 wide, usually with perpendicular banks thirty feet or more in 
 height. Its bottom is cultivated. At and above the fountain 
 'Ain, its bed rises to the general level of the adjacent tract, and 
 branches off into three or four well watered and beautiful plains. 
 Mr Thomson travelled up the western one of these, passing the 
 village of Sha'ab. Another one, doubtless, is the meadow-hke 
 basin of Lebweh.' 
 
 The chasm here, at the fountain of the Orontes, is close 
 under Lebanon ; so close, indeed, that to one approaching from 
 the east, the chasm seems to be some little way up the base of 
 the mountain itself, above the plain. The main fountain is in 
 a wider expansion of the chasm ; at a point twenty or thirty 
 yards east of the junction with the Nahr Lebweh. It issues 
 from under the eastern bank of the chasm ; not from under 
 Lebanon. The rock above it is limestone, the strata of which 
 have a great dip. We judged the fountain to be about two 
 thirds as large as that at Fijeh ; but the water is not as fine. 
 Other smaller fountains are reported as issuing further down, 
 also from under the eastern cliff; but they are not marked, 
 unless by the increase of the volume of water. At the main 
 fountain are several noble trees. We took our lunch under a 
 large plane tree on the very brink ; the water gurgling up all 
 around us. The descent is very steep and difficult ; though we 
 managed to lead down our horses.^ 
 
 From the fountain the stream first runs west and joins that 
 from Lebweh. The river then turns sharply around a high point 
 projecting westward ; and for a short time takes an easterly 
 course. The deep chasm winds much as far as to the bridge of 
 Hurmul. Afterwards the river runs north along the western part 
 of the great valley for a time, with many windings ; and then 
 turns more easterly to Kibleh. Below the fountain the enlarged 
 stream seemed to be about equal to the Barada below Fijeh ; 
 
 ' W. lit. Thomson in BibKoth. Sacra, Forest gives at 2118 Engl feet. That of 
 1848, p. 698. the bridge on the Hurmul road ia 1789 
 
 ' The elevation of this fountain Dr De feet. Its. Lett. 
 
June 11.] FOUNTAINS OF THE OKONTES. CAVERN. 539 
 
 the Nahr Lebweh above being somewhat larger than the upper 
 Barada. The chasm is everywhere narrow and jagged; and 
 has, so far as we saw it, high precipitous banks. Of course the 
 stream imparts no fertility to the higher tracts adjacent to the 
 chasm ; nor anywhere, indeed, except just in the bottom along 
 the very brink of the water. 
 
 Ancient writers, as Strabo and Pliny, speak only generally 
 of the sources of the Orontes, as being in the great valley of 
 Ccfilesyria near Lebanon.' Abulfeda erroneously describes its 
 remotest fountain as at er-Ras instead of Lebweh ; but relates, 
 that most of the river springs from a place called Mflgharat er- 
 Eahib (Monk's cavern) ; and thence flows northwards till it 
 passes Jusieh. The modern name of the river is el-'Asy (the 
 rebellious) ; and it is still commonly spoken of as having its 
 beginning at these fountains.' Here is a fourth example of that 
 popular usage in this region, which regards as the source of a 
 river, not the remotest, but the most copious fountains. The 
 other instances are the Jordan, the Barada, and the Litany.^ 
 
 The Mflgharat er-Eahib, or Monk's cavern, spoken of by 
 Abulfeda, still exists. Where the stream, having turned around 
 the high projecting point, flows eastward for a Httle time, on 
 the right hand side, high up in the precipice looking north, is 
 the excavated convent now known among the common people as 
 Deir Mar Maron. It is only a few hundred yards distant from 
 the great fountain, towards the northeast. The precipitous cliff 
 is here about three hundred feet high ; and the cavern is about 
 two thirds of the way up. The hill on the opposite side of the 
 river is less precipitous ; and rises to the height of some four 
 hundred feet. The monks took advantage of a shelf of over- 
 hanging rocks ; cut away more deeply underneath it ; and then 
 built up in front breastworks and outer walls with loopholes ; 
 thus forming a covered gallery along the face of the precipice. 
 Behind this they then excavated rooms and cells, mainly in 
 two stories ; but also some cells in a third story. These are all 
 small ; and are now dark, dirty, and desolate. No one dwells 
 there ; though it was said, that one or two monks had remained 
 there for a time within a few years. In the autumn of 1853, Mr 
 Porter found the cavern occupied as a shelter for flocks of sheep 
 and goats.* The place had formerly been visited by Mr Barker, 
 Mr Thomson, and probably others.' 
 
 It is a popular belief, that Mar Maron, the reputed founder 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 7, 19. pp. 750, 756. ' See above, pp. 413, 477, 499. 
 
 Plin. H. N. 5. 18 or 42, " Amnis Orontes, ' Biblioth. Sac. 1854, p. 667. 
 
 natus inter Libanum et Antilibanum juxta ' W. B. Barker in Jonrn. of the K. 
 
 Heliopolis." Geogr Soc. 1837, p. 99. W. M. Thomson 
 
 ' Abulf. Tab. Syr ed. Kohler, pp. 149, in Biblioth. Sac. 1847, pp. 405, 408; also 
 
 150. Bibl. Kes. Ed. 1, III. App. 144, 145. ibid. 1848, p. 697. 
 
540 FROM BA'ALBEK to EL-HTTSN. [Sec. XIL 
 
 of the sect of the Maronites, once dwelt in this cavern. Hence 
 its present name ; which would seem to have been unknown to 
 Ahulfeda, who speaks of it simply as Mugharat er-Kahib.' But 
 the story is apparently a mere legend ; as is perhaps Mar Maron 
 himself In all the historical accounts of the Maronites to 
 which I have had access, there is nothing to connect Mar 
 Mar6n in any way with this spot or this region.' The great 
 convent said to have been founded in his honour after his decease, 
 and called Deir Mar Maron, was, as some say, at Hamah ; or, 
 according to others, at Apamea, now Kul'at el-Mudik.' 
 
 We left the height above the cavern at 2.45 ; and took a 
 direct course, without path, about E. by S. to the monument of 
 Hurmul. At 3.20 we crossed the road to Hfirmul, which we 
 had before left ; and passing over and among low hiUs covered 
 with loose trap, we reached the monument at 3.45. This is a 
 singular and perhaps inexplicable structure. It stands out 
 prominently on a high mound projecting far out into the great 
 valley from the west ; and it is thus seen for a great distance in 
 every direction. The Orontes on the west and northwest, flow- 
 ing in its deep chasm, is nowhere visible ; but the village of 
 Hurmul with its trees is seen on the slope beyond the river, 
 nearly an hour distant.* The monument now bears the name 
 of Kamu'a el-Hurmul ; while Abulfeda speaks of it as Kaim 
 el-Hurmul.^ 
 
 The Kamu'a stands on a pedestal having three steps of black 
 basalt, each fourteen inches high. On this rests a story twenty- 
 nine feet six inches square, surrounded above by an ornamental 
 cornice. Above this is a second story somewhat drawn in and 
 less in dimensions ; and upon this last rests a pyramid built up 
 of smaller stones. The lower story has (including the cornice) 
 twelve courses of stones, each twenty-three inches thick ; the 
 second story has ten courses, apparently of the same thickness ; 
 and the pyramid has thirteen courses, not so thick. Hence the 
 height may be thus reckoned : 
 
 Feet In 
 
 Pedestal . . . . 3 6 
 
 Lower Story .... 23 
 
 Second Story . . . . 19 2 
 
 Pyramid . . . about 15 
 
 Total . . . 60 8 
 
 ' Tab. Syr. ed. KoWer, p. 150. * According to Dr De Forest, the eleva- 
 
 ' See Le Quien Oriens Christ. III. 1- tion of the site of the Kamu'a above the 
 
 51. Quaresmius I. p. 95 sq. De la Roque sea, is 2407 feet. That of the village of 
 
 Voya<!;e de Syrie et du Mt Liban, IL pp. Hurmul is 2171 feet. The bridge over the 
 
 10-120. river between the two is 1789 feet. Ms. 
 
 ' At Hamah ; see Le Quien 1. c. col. 1. Letter. 
 
 At Apamea; Le Quien ibid. col. .5. De ' Tab. Syr. ed Kohler, p. 1 ,50. Abuli'eda 
 
 la Roque 1. c. IL p. 32. Comp. Quaresm. wrote in the early part of the fourteenth 
 
 L p. 96. century. 
 
JuNBii.] kamu'a el-huemul. 541 
 
 The height therefore may be estimated at not less than sixty feet 
 nor more than sixty-five feet. 
 
 The -whole structure, except the pedestal, is of limestone. 
 The sides face the four cardinal points. The southwest comer 
 is fallen down from top to bottom, showing that the interior was 
 built up solid with smaller squared stones. There are pilasters at 
 the corners in both stories ; but they are without capitals, except 
 a small cornice. In the upper story there are two intervening 
 pilasters on each side. The upper portions of the sides of the 
 lower story are occupied by sculptures in relief, representing 
 hunting scenes. These are much broken and worn away by the 
 weather ; and are too much defaced to be fully made out. The 
 drawing borders rather on the grotesque. The following is an 
 outline. 
 
 On the east side are dogs attacking a larger animal before 
 and behind. Yet so defective is the drawing, that this animal 
 has been held by some to be a wild boar ; and by others, a bull. 
 The legs and feet are not those of a boar ; and with our glasses 
 we saw distinctly what seemed to be horns. On this side are 
 also a bow and other implements of hunting. 
 
 On the north side are two stags, one standing and the other 
 lying down ; as to which there is no question. Also quivers and 
 perhaps a coil of rope. 
 
 The west side exhibits three animals, which are difficult to 
 be made out. One of them resembles a cat, and may be 
 intended for a panther. The other two are less distinct. Some 
 speak of an elephant in the middle, a bear in front, and a buU 
 behind.' 
 
 On the south side a dog seizes an animal from behind. The 
 head of the animal is gone ; and this whole side of the monu- 
 ment is much broken away. 
 
 We searched carefully for some inscription, and examined 
 the whole surface with our glasses. But in vain ; nothing of the 
 kind appears. On the west side, below the sculptures, are many 
 scratches and scrawls, made probably by Arab visitors ; but no 
 inscribed letters. We examined them the more carefully, be- 
 cause these scrawls had been reported as inscriptions." 
 
 No explanation of this remarkable monument has yet been 
 given ; nor am I aware, that any historical notice of it exists 
 before the present century, except the simple mention of it by 
 Abulfeda.' In certain respects, it may be said to correspond to 
 the isolated column in the plain northwest of Ba'albek ; which 
 also is yet unexplained.* The Kamu'a was first made known to 
 
 » J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, ' Tab. Syr. ed KoHer, p. 150. 
 p. 669. * See above, p. 530. 
 
 ' Comp. ibid. p. 668. 
 
 Vol. III.— 46 
 
542 FROM BA'ALBEK to EL-HUSN. [SecXIL 
 
 the public by tlie Kev. Mr Thomson ; who in September, 1846, 
 returned by this route from Aleppo to Beirut.' It has since 
 been several times visited by the missionaries and others. 
 
 From the Kamu'a there is a wide and interesting view. 
 The northern end of Lebanon is near at hand ; while Anti- 
 Lebanon is seen again diverging on the north of er-RSs ; and 
 apparently sweeping off from that point northeasterly in the arc 
 of a great circle, which bounds the broad plain of the Orontes 
 on that side.^ In a clear day not only the lake of Kedes is visible, 
 but also the castle of Hums. Towards the south we could just 
 distinguish the glittering summit of Jebel esh-Sheikh. The 
 village of Hfirmul lies half an hour beyond the stream, north- 
 west, on the high slope. The village is divided into several 
 hamlets by narrow glens, in which are brooks of fine water. 
 There are many walnut trees around the village. The climate 
 is said to be unhealthy.' 
 
 We set off from the monument at 4.45 ; taking a straight 
 course for Eibleh across this most desert tract of low hills, ridges, 
 and valleys. The hUl on which the Kamu'a stands is covered 
 with loose trap, and the same continues for much of the dis- 
 tance ; making it very difficult for the horses to pick their way. 
 At 6.25 our course was crossed, from west to east, by what 
 seemed to be a line of wells recently dug, or at least cleared out, 
 similar to those near Damascus, by which a stream of water is 
 brought to the surface of the ground. But how or why such 
 wells should be found here, I am unable to explain ; since no 
 water could be hoped for except from the river. The excava- 
 tions were here in 1848. We had sight also of eight gazelles 
 feeding. The sun went down upon us behind the peaks of 
 Lebanon ; but still for seventeen minutes longer his beams con- 
 tinued to gUd the opposite summits of Anti-Lebanon. The hills 
 
 ^ See his report in Biblioth. Sacra, 1847, * Mr Porter says, that the spurs and line 
 
 p. 405 ; also ib. 1848, p. 695 sq. — Buck- of hills which lie before the eastern moun- 
 
 ingham saw the Kamu'a from the road on tain from '.Un to er-Ras, and which ter- 
 
 the east side of the plain ; and merely minate near the latter place, cause the 
 
 speaks of it as " a high and large tower, mountain here to have this appearance of 
 
 Been at a great distance, and called Koor- retreating. He supposes the main ridge 
 
 mee ;" Arab Tribes p. 489. — In the folio to maintain a straight course on tlie north 
 
 work of Cassas is a plate, purporting to of er-Ras and throughout Biblioth. Sacra, 
 
 represent a sepulchral monument on the 1854, p. 666. 
 
 way between Hums and Ba'albek. It was ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 
 
 probably meant to be a sketch of the Ka- 1848, p. 694 sq. — Bearings at the Kamu'a 
 
 mu'a, seen perhaps only from the east side el-Hurmul: Hi'.rmul 315". Fountain of 
 
 of the great valley ; but if so. It is exceed- the Orontes 295°, 2 m. Rls Ba'albek 
 
 ingly imperfect and unlike. — From a letter 186|°. Jebel esh-Sheikh S. 20' W. Ribleh 
 
 of Mr Farren, formerly British consul at N. 48" E. Tell Neby Mindau N. 37° E. — ■ 
 
 Damascus, in Lord Lindsay's Letters (Note By Mr Thomson in 1846 : Lake of Kedes, 
 
 53, p. 433, edit. 4, ) it would seem that he west side, 24°. Castle of Hums 39°. Ju- 
 
 had visited the Kamu'a before Mr Thorn- sieh, modern, 66°. el-Ka'a 119°. 
 son ; but no date is gireiu 
 
Jdnb 11.] EIBLEH, 543 
 
 gradually disappeared, and the country grew continually lower 
 as we advanced. The desert character of the surface also began 
 to diminish ; and thin stunted grass was occasionally seen 
 among the tufts^ of furze. At 7 o'clock we descended a slope, 
 and came at once upon the first canal led off from the 'Asy on 
 this side. It is said to have formerly carried water as far as to 
 Jtlsieh. We were now again on soil capable of tillage. "We 
 crossed one or two other like streams, not without some diffi- 
 culty in finding the proper fords, as it was now quite dark ; and 
 came at 7.35 to our tent, already pitched on the bank of the 
 Orontes. Our day's work had been a hard one, and we were 
 not sorry to give ourselves to rest. 
 
 On opening the door of our tent next morning, we found our- 
 selves directly upon the bank of the river ; not indeed the green 
 bank ; for although the ground is here only six or seven feet 
 above the water, yet the grass was quite dry, and the surface 
 dusty. The soil of all this region, and of the plain thus far, is 
 very hard, and the water scarcely penetrates it laterally ; so that 
 the influence of the water is felt only by contact, or from its 
 actual distribution over the surface. The course of the river 
 was here from west to east, apparently a long reach ; but it soon 
 swept round to the north, in which direction it continues in a 
 winding course. Eibleh is situated at the elbow. 
 
 Our tent stood near the ford of the river. The bottom is 
 hard ; and siich is said to be the case throughout the region. 
 The water at this time hardly came up to the horses' bellies. 
 There was much crossing in both directions ; horses and donkeys, 
 old and young, many of them loaded ; men and women wading 
 through, the latter often with bundles on their heads ; all going 
 to make up a lively scene. 
 
 The village is a very miserable one, of some forty or fifty 
 houses. The only traces of antiquity are the remains of a 
 quadrangular building of stone. This seems ancient ; the people 
 call it a church, but we could not make it out. There is 
 apparently much tillage in the vicinity. The crops however did 
 not compare with those we had seen in Galilee ; nor with those 
 seen next day in the Bukei'a near el-Husn. The water of the 
 river is taken out above, and carried long distances for irrigation ; 
 but the effect of it is not so visible just here, as in the other 
 regions we had visited. From Eibleh a vast plain stretches off 
 in every direction, except the southwest ; and various portions 
 of it exhibit a richer fertility. 
 
 The threshing-floors of the village were in full operation. 
 The instruments here used were sledges with flints fastened in 
 the bottom, such as we had formerly seen in Samaria.' These 
 ' See VoL U. pp. 306, 307. [iu. 143.] 
 
544 FROM Ba'aLBEK to EL-HUSN. [Sec. XO. 
 
 were here dragged around the floors by a horse, driven by a boy 
 sitting or standing on the sledge. There were also large quan- 
 tities of cow dung collected for fuel. It was formed into lumps ; 
 and these were laid up in circles, one above another, to dry ; 
 looking much like tall vats or tubs. 
 
 From Kibleh we could see the termination both of Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon. The former sinks down to a low point in 
 the northwest. The latter does the same in the E. N. E. where 
 it ends in the vast plain south of Hums. From er-Kas north- 
 wards, the eastern mountain sweeps round, as has been already 
 said, in the arc of a great circle ;' so that at Kibleh and further 
 north the great plain regains its former breadth, and even more. 
 At Eibleh the direct breadth cannot be less than four hours. 
 Opposite Eibleh (S. 78° E.) there is a singular pass through the 
 sole remaining ridge of Anti-Lebanon. It cuts off the northern 
 end ; leaving a line or group of hills about an hour in length 
 completely isolated. A road through this pass leads from Eibleh 
 to Hasya ; the distance between ez-Zerra'a and Hasya being 
 two hours and forty minutes.^ 
 
 Here too Hurmul was in sight, lying high near the base of 
 Lebanon, and surrounded by many trees. The village and 
 gardens of el-Ka'a are in the plain, between er-Eas and Eibleh. 
 Modern Jusieh' is marked by its mosk and tall minaret ; it lies 
 quite out in the plain between the mountain and Eibleh. 
 Ancient Jusieh is between it and the mountain, near the latter.* 
 Kuseir is east of the road to Hums, half an hour distant from 
 the river, and an hour or more from Eibleh.^ 
 
 No one, I believe, questions the identity of Eibleh with the 
 ancient Riblah of the Old Testament. It is first mentioned as 
 on the northern part of the eastern border of the Promised 
 Land ; which border was to pass from Shepham by Eiblah and 
 so down through the Buka'a and Wady et-Teim to the lake of 
 Chinnereth.' The place is not again mentioned until the days 
 of king Josiah. Then, Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt, march- 
 
 ' Comp. atove, p. 542. the time of the Muhammedan conquest. — 
 
 ' Comp. J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac. Modem Jusieh, also now deserted, is half 
 
 1854, p. 673 sq. an hour distant ; and has large Saracenic 
 
 ' So written by Ahulfeda ; Tah. Syr. ed. ruins. It is probably the place spoken of 
 
 Kohler, p. 150. The people now pronounce by Ahulfeda. See J. L. Porter in Biblioth. 
 
 it Jusy. Sac. 1854, pp. 670-672. Abulf. Tab. Syr. 
 
 ' In October, 1853, Mr Porter visited ed. Kohler, p. 150. 
 the remains of old Jusieh. He describes ' Bearings at Ribleh : Hurmul S. G5° 
 them as two and a half miles in circum- W. Kamu'a el-H. S. 48° W. er-Ras S. 
 ference. The principal ruin is a square 35° W. el-Ka'a S. 30° W. Jusieh, mo- 
 castle, 132 yards on each side, with towers dern, S. 30° £. Zerra'a Elm. Kuseir 
 at the angles. Large heaps of rub- N. N. E. Tell Neby Mindau N. 5^ W. 
 bish are seen on every side. But there is North end of Lebanon N. W. North end 
 no trace of Saracenic architecture. The of Anti-Lebanon E. N. E. 
 place was probably deserted at or before ° l^um. 34, 11. 
 
JroiEll.] EIBLEH, EIBLAH. 545 
 
 ing on an expedition to the Euphrates against the Mng of 
 Assyria, slew Josiah at Meglddo, and afterwards encamped at 
 Riblah, in the land of Hamath. ' Here Jehoahaz, the son of 
 Josiah, was held captive by the Egyptian monarch; and his 
 brother Eliakim made king in his stead. Some five and 
 thirty years later, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon encamped 
 in like manner at Ribleh ; while his general besieged and took 
 Jerusalem, and brought the captive Zedekiah to his master at 
 this place. Here " they slew the sons of Zedekiah before his 
 eyes, and put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him with 
 fetters of brass, and carried him to Babylon." " Here too the 
 nobles of Jerusalem were slain.' 
 
 Under the circumstances, a more advantageous place of 
 encampment for the hosts of Egypt and Babylon can hardly be 
 imagined. On the banks of a mountain stream, in the midst 
 of this vast and fertile plain, the most abundant supplies of 
 provisions and forage were at hand. From this point the roads 
 were open to the Egyptian monarch across the desert, either by 
 Aleppo and the Euphrates to Nineveh, or by Palmyra to Baby- 
 lon. From Riblah, too, the host of the Babylonian conqueror 
 could sweep around the end of Lebanon and along the coast, to 
 Palestine and Egypt ; or, passing on southwards through the 
 Buka'a, could spread themselves out over the land either east- 
 wards or westwards from the valley of the Jordan. Eiblah 
 indeed disappears from history, and is no more heard of until 
 the present century ; but the great plain of the Orontes contin- 
 ued to be the storehouse and battle-field of conflicting hosts, 
 during the long dominion of the Syro-Macedonian kings, the 
 Romans, and the Arabian warriors of the middle ages. Of its 
 great cities, Emesa (Hums) and Hamath (Hamah) still remain ; 
 while Apamea has sunk into oblivion, under its present name 
 of Kiil'at el-Mudik. 
 
 The absence of all mention of Riblah in the ancient 
 ecclesiastical Notitice, shows that it was not a place of impor- 
 tance in the early centuries of Christianity.* Nor does its name 
 appear in the records of the long ages from that time to the 
 present century. In the year 1816 Buckingham, passing from 
 Ba'.ilbek to Hums, found Ribleh as " a small cluster of houses " 
 at the elbow of the Orontes.^ He seems not to have recognised 
 its antiquity ; but its identity with the ancient Riblah was soon 
 
 ' 2 K. 23, 33 ; comp. w. 29-35. ooh. Onomast. arts. Reblah, Reblatliah 
 
 ° 2 K. 25, 6. 7. Jer. 39, 5. 6. 52, 9. Comp. Hieron. Comm. in Esa. xiil 1 ; et 
 
 10. in Ez. xlvii. 16 sq. 
 
 ' 2 K. 2a, 18-21. Jer. 62, 24-27. ' Buckingham's Arab Tribes, p. 491, 
 
 ' Eusebius and Jerome merely name He writes " Rubla." 
 Bibleh ; the latter regarding it as at Anti- 
 VoL. III.— 46* 
 
546 FEOM ba'albek to el-husn. [Sec. xrr. 
 
 pointed out by Gesenius.* It was visited by Mr Thomson in 
 1846 ; and several others have since passed through it.' 
 
 As Kibleh was the most northern point on the Orontes which 
 I reached, it may be worth while to pause for a few moments, 
 and look back upon the great valley, througb which we had now 
 passed ; as also upon the mighty ridges by which it is shut in. 
 We may also appropriately glean a few historical notices of the 
 region further north. 
 
 The Arabic name Buka'a is strictly the same with the 
 Hebrew Bik'ah ; and signifies a cleft, a valley or plain between 
 mountains.^ This character of the great elevated valley in 
 question has already been sufficiently illustrated.'' The ancients 
 gave it the appropriate name of Ccelesyria, ' Hollow Syria ; ' 
 which was strictly applied only to the valley between Lebanon 
 and Anti-Lebanon ; ' though it was sometimes loosely extended, 
 so as to include the valley of the Jordan on the south, and the 
 plain and valley of the Orontes on the north.' According to 
 Strabo, the most of the great valley bore also the name of 
 Marsyas, beginning at Laodicea of Lebanon on the north and 
 including Chalcis in the south.' The chief cities were Heliopolis 
 and Chalcis ; which have already been sufficiently described. 
 
 The lofty ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, which 
 enclose the great valley, have also been in general already de- 
 scribed. Yet there are some points of comparison, or rather of 
 contrast, between them ; to which it may be not uninteresting 
 to advert. 
 
 Lebanon has one long unbroken dorsal ridge, extending from 
 Jebel Eihan in the south, and becoming higher and higher, quite 
 to the peaks above the cedars. The western declivity is broad 
 and comparatively gradual ; divided up by the vast basins and 
 chasms of the many rivers which flow to the sea. The eastern 
 declivity is steeper, especially south of Zahleh ; north of that 
 place there is a lower terrace, with irregular smaller ridges, 
 running down and out towards the northeast.' The main sum- 
 
 " In his Heb. Lex. Also in his The- ' Straho 16. 2. 16. p. 754, 5i!o eVTl;/ 
 
 sanr. p. 1258. opti to. iroLovvra t^v KoiK-qv Ka\ovfiepriv 
 
 ' Biblioth. Sac. 1848, p. 693. See, too, ^vplay, iis tiv Trapa\\Ti\a, i!,T€ Ai$avos Kal 
 
 J. L. Porter, ibid. 1854, p. 673. Dr 6 'AyriJuPams. ib. 16. 2. 21. p. 756, IStas 
 
 Do Forest, passing fix)m Zeiteh to Hums, 5'^ [Koi'Xt) Supia] r$ Aifiivtf Kal -rip 'Avti- 
 
 CTOSSed the Orontes by a ford forty min- Ki^avif cupwpiirpLivtt. Comp. Plin, H. N. 
 
 ntes south of Tell Neby Mindan. Here the 6.17. 
 
 aneroid showed an elevation of 1530 feet. ' So towards the south, Strabo 16. 2. 
 
 Ms. Lett. 21. p. 756 ; towards the north, Plin. H. 
 
 ' Heb. iispa , see Heb. Lex. Comp. N. 5. 19. 
 
 the marginal reading of the Engl. Version, ' Gr. 4 Kapaias, Strab. 16. 2. 18. p. 
 
 Am. 1, 5. 755. So too Polyb. 5. 45. 8, 9. 
 
 * See above, pp. 499, 528. " See above, pp. 530, 531. 
 
Sea XIL] LEBANON AND ANTI-LEBANON. 547 
 
 mits of Lebanon are el-Keniseh, (just south of which passes 
 the road from Beirut to Damascus,) Sflnnin, and the peaks 
 above the cedars. The first, el-Keniseh, is marked by Peter- 
 mann at 7245 feet.' SOnnin, according to Marshal Marmont, 
 is about 8300 English feet.' One summit above the cedars, 
 Fum el-Mizab, was found by Dr De Forest in 1853, to be 9135 
 feet. Another adjacent peak, Dahar el-Kudhib, was estimated 
 by him to be at least 175 feet higher ; in aU 9310 feet. This is 
 the highest point of Lebanon.' These summits thus rise about 
 six thousand feet above the BQka'a and its water-shed ; * but the 
 general elevation of the ridge above the valley is of course much 
 less. 
 
 Anti-Lebanon, on the other hand, has its highest summit 
 in the south, Jebel esh-Sheikh, estimated at 9000 feet.' This 
 mountain, although in a sense broken off from Anti-Lebanon, 
 yet belongs to the same range. North of esh-Sheikb, Anti- 
 Lebanon consists of parallel ridges ; low at first, but rising into 
 higher summits opposite to ZebedS,ny and further north." These 
 ridges diverge more and more towards the northeast ; and ulti- 
 mately run out and are lost in the desert between Hums and 
 Palmyra ; leaving the main ridge north of Lebweh to run on 
 alone, until it ends in the great plain south of Hums. The east- 
 ern declivity of Anti-Lebanon, as we have seen, is formed by 
 these parallel ridges, with plains or terraces between. The few 
 streams which rise high up in the mountain, cut their way 
 through these ridges by deep gorges. The western declivity is 
 steeper ; and has also its gorges, by which roads descend. 
 Anti-Lebanon, with the exception of esh-Sheikh, is everywhere 
 lower than Lebanon ; and seems to tower much less above the 
 great valley. 
 
 The great fountains and streams which burst forth in the 
 Buka'a, at the foot both of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, have 
 been mainly described ; except the Nahr Berdony, which issues 
 from its mountain glen at Zahleh, and joins the Litany. The 
 Berdony forms the dividing line between the province of the 
 -Buka'a on the south, and that of Ba'albek on the north. 
 
 In Anti-Lebanon are many plains or basins, some of them 
 fertile ; and several small lakes or pools of water. Such are 
 those of er-Kam, at Kefr Ktik, and near Deir el-Ashayir. 
 
 ' Sec his Physical Map, 1851. these measurements I am indebted to the 
 
 ' That is, 2525 French metres, or 7772 manuscript communications of Dr De 
 
 Par. feet ; see Voyage du Due de Raguse, Forest. 
 
 II. p. 225. Ritter XVII. p. 192. The ' See above, pp. 499, 506, 531. 
 
 observation was made with boiling water. ' See above, p. 432. 
 
 ' Wildenbruoh made the height of Fum ' The mountain above Bludan, the high- 
 
 el-Mlzab to be 9621 English feet, which est point of Anti-Lebanon proper, rises to 
 
 Dr De Forest considers too high. — For the height of 6,800 feet ; see above, p. 486. 
 
548 FEOM BA'ALBEK to EL-HUSN. [Sec. Xn. 
 
 Besides these there are said to be many sink-holes, where the 
 water soon disappears and descends into the mountain, feeding 
 those immense subterranean reservoirs which supply the great 
 fountains. In Lebanon, on the contrary, only a single lake is 
 spoken of, Birket Limiin or Yemmoneh, near the village Yem- 
 moneh, on the eastern declivity. It lies at the foot of some of 
 the loftiest heights, west of Deir el-Ahmar, and an hour and a 
 half south of 'Aineitah. It is a beautiful lake. Dr De Forest 
 found it a mile long in June ; and it had been twice as long in 
 the spring. But it dries away in the autumn, from the failure 
 of its principal fountain ; which is fed by the snows in the deep 
 gorges above. Here, facing the fountain, are the ruins of a 
 temple, fifty-six feet long by thirty-six feet wide, on an elevated 
 platform measuring 265 feet by 205 feet.' 
 
 The sandstone formations, with their pine groves, so frequent 
 in Lebanon, rarely appear on Anti-Lebanon ; and there is, in 
 general, much less of fertility in the latter than in the former. 
 The limestone rock of Anti-Lebanon, according to Mr Thomson, 
 is far less fossiliferous than that of Lebanon ; and approaches 
 more frequently to a semi-crystalline marble. Indeed, in Anti- 
 Lebanon the evidences of volcanic agency are generally more 
 abundant and striking ; not only in the nature of the rock and 
 the absence of fossils, but also in the remarkable fractures and 
 dislocations of the strata, the fissures and gorges, and the vast 
 fields of porous lava, volcanic tuff, green-stone, and amorphous 
 trap. The northern portion of the plain of the Htileh, the 
 whole course of Wady et-Teim from far north of Easheiya, the 
 vast plain south and southeast of Damascus, and the southeast- 
 ern side and southern end of Jebel esh-Sheikh, are almost 
 entirely volcanic. Yet we have seen too the same volcanic for- 
 mation at the monument of Hurmul near Lebanon ; and we 
 shall meet it still further around the northern end of " that goodly 
 mountain." 
 
 Turning now our view northwards along the plain and vale of 
 the Orontes, we find the river pursuing its winding course in a 
 northerly direction as far as to the latitude of Antioch ; where it 
 turns westwards, and passes through a mountain gorge to the 
 sea. From the termination of Anti-Lebanon, about three and a 
 half hours south of Hums, until the hills begin to rise again four 
 hours north of that city, the river is bordered on the east only by 
 the vast plain, extending off towards the east, southeast, and 
 northeast, almost illimitably. On the west are the low begin- 
 nings of the Nusairiyeh mountains. Four hours north gf 
 Hamah, the river breaks through a rocky ridge, at Seij ir, and 
 
 ' Dr De Forest in Joorn. of the Amer. Hogg's Visit to Damascus etc. I. p. 241 
 Oriental Soc. Vol. IIL p. 355. Comp. sq. liitter XVII. pp. 301-306. 
 
Sec. Xn.] ANTI-LEBANON. LAKE OF KEDES. 549 
 
 enters its proper valley, having tlie mountains of the Nusairiyeli 
 on the west, and a lower range of hills on the east. This valley 
 is about two hours in breadth, is in some parts marshy, and 
 has several small lakes.' 
 
 About three hours north of Kibleh the river spreads out into 
 the small lake of Kedes, sometimes called also the lake of Hums. 
 It is about two hours in length by one in breadth ; and its 
 northern end is about two hours distant from Hums. The lake is 
 in a great measure, if not wholly, artificial ; being formed by an 
 ancient dam or embankment across the stream. The length of the 
 embankment is from four to five hundred yards. It is nowhere 
 more than twelve or fourteen feet in height, and seems to have 
 been often rebuilt or repaired. A small tower stands at the 
 northwestern extremity of the dam. In the southern part of 
 the lake is a small island, with a Tell upon it.' — From the lake, 
 the river flows on through a broad shallow depression ; but as it 
 approaches Hamah, its vaUey is two or three hundred feet below 
 the adjacent country.' 
 
 This lake is described by Abulfeda, who calls it Kedes, 
 and also regards it as artificial. "If the embankment were 
 destroyed," he says, " the water would flow off, the lake would 
 cease to iexist, and would become a river." * The building of 
 the dam was in Abulfeda's day referred to Alexander the Great. 
 "No earlier notice of the lake exists ; ' and why it bears the name 
 of Kedes is unknown. No city or village of that name, ancient 
 or modern, is found in the vicinity. The embankment is proba- 
 bly a work of antiquity ; and was erected in order to raise the 
 water of the river to such a height, that it might be conducted in 
 canals over the wide adjacent plains for the purposes of irriga- 
 tion. Some of these canals are still in repair, and carry the 
 water to the fields and gardens ; but the greater number are in 
 ruins.* i 
 
 Of the ancient cities along this portion of the Orontes, this 
 is not the place to speak in detail. I had afterwards a distant 
 view of Hums ; and would gladly have visited Hamah and 
 Apamea ; but my time did not permit. Of all the towns 
 between Antioch and Ribleh, only Hamah is mentioned in 
 Scripture. 
 
 ' Burckhardt Trav. in Syr. p. 135 sq. Annal. Mosl. IV. p. 218. Wilken Gesoh. 
 
 W. M. Thomson in BibUoth. Sao. 1848, p. der Kr. VI. p. 55. 
 686 sq. " Polybius speaks of a lake and marshes 
 
 ' J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sacra, 1854, near Laodicea ; but gives them no name, 
 
 pp. 675, 676, 678. Polyb. 5. 45. 10. 
 
 ' W. M. Thom.-ion, ib. 1848, p. 684. ' J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sao. 1854, p. 
 
 ♦ Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 157. Comp. 676. 
 
550 FROM BA'ALBEK to Efi-HUSN. [Sec. XH. 
 
 On the way oetween Antioch and Emesa (Hums), the Itine- 
 rarium Antonini specifies the following towns and distances : ' 
 
 Apamia 
 
 Larissa . . . . m. p. XVI 
 
 Epiphania (Hamath) ..." XVI 
 
 Arethusa . . . . " XVI 
 
 Emesa . . . . " XVI 
 
 It is worthy of remark, that these distances correspond to the 
 rate of travel at the present day with horses, reckoning four 
 Koman mUes to the hour, as we have done ahove between 
 Ba'alhek and Hums.' From Hamah to Hums is eight hours ; 
 and from Kul'at el-Mudik to Hamah the same.' All the towns 
 thus, specified in the Itinerary are now known. 
 
 Apamea of Syria lay upon the hills east of the lower valley 
 of the Orontes. It was a city of importance, the seat of a Chris- 
 tian bishop ; and continued to be a strong place during the cen- 
 turies of the crusades.' Abulfeda speaks of it as Ftimieh, or 
 Afamieh.' But the name has long been forgotten in those 
 regions ; having been superseded by that of a modern castle near 
 the site, Kul'at el-Mudik. Niebuhr heard of this change of 
 name at Aleppo ; and Burckhardt in 1812 conjectures the castle 
 to be the site of Apamea, but he saw no ruins.' Mr Thomson, 
 in 1846, was the first to discover and describe the extensive 
 ruins, with their many squares and magnificent colonnades. 
 They lie just east and northeast of the castle, about three hun- 
 dred feet above the valley of the Orontes.' 
 
 Larissa of Syria lay midway between Apamea and Epi- 
 phania. It was a place of some note ; was the seat of a bishop ; 
 and some of its coins are stiU extant.' Its position corresponds 
 precisely to that of the fortress of Seijar, or rather of Sheizar as 
 Abulfeda writes it,' occupying a high triangular point where the 
 Orontes bursts through the rocky barrier from the elevation of 
 Hamah, and enters the low wet plain of Apamea. It is four 
 hours distant from both Apamea and Hamah. Fragments of 
 columns, Corinthian and Doric capitals, a sarcophagus, and other 
 
 ' Itin. Antonini, p. 187 ; comp. also p. Wilken Gesch. d. Kreuzz. IL pp. 272, 274. 
 
 19t. m. ii pp. 3, 5. 
 
 = See above, p. 536. ' Tab. Syr. pp. 26, 114. 
 
 ' Irby and Mangles were eigbt hours ° Niebubr Reisebesohr. III. p. 97. Burok- 
 
 in travelling from Hamah to Hums ; Trav. hardt Trav. in Syr. p. 138. 
 
 p. 254 [77.] Burckhardt was ten hours ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 1848, 
 
 on the way from Ku.'at Mudik to Hamah ; p. 685 sq. comp. 1847, pp. 404, 407. 
 
 but he travelled very slowly ; Trav. p. " Cellarius ib. II. p. 354. Mannert ib. 
 
 142 sq. VI. i. p. 360.— Le Quien Oriens Christ. IL 
 
 * Cellarius, Notit. Orbis II. p. 354. p. 917.— Eckhel Doctr. Nummor. III. p. 
 
 Mannert Greogr. der Gr. and Rom. VI. L p. 321. Mionnet Med. V. p. 264. 
 
 300. Le Quien Oriens Christ. IL 910. " Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, pp. 26, 110. 
 
Sec. XH] apamea. hamath. aeethdsa. 551 
 
 remains serve to mark this as tlie site of an ancient town.' It 
 was already recognised as Larissa by Albert Schultens." 
 
 Hamath, called in Scripture " the great," is a very ancient 
 city, the seat of a Syrian king, who was an ally of David ; and 
 later the head of a kingdom or province which included Kiblah.^ 
 By the Greeks and Eomans it was called Epiphania.* But its 
 ancient name remained upon the lips of the common people ; 
 and it is now known only as Hamah. It lies on both sides of 
 the Orontes, in the valley and on the acclivities. The population 
 is estimated at not less than thirty thousand. One of the curi- 
 osities of the place are the immense Persian wheels, called 
 Na'urah, for raising water to the upper town. Some of these 
 are seventy or eighty feet in diameter, and raise the water to 
 nearly that height ; being driven by the force of the current. 
 The site of the former castle is a lofty mound or Tell, hke those 
 of Aleppo and Hums. There are few, if any, traces of antiquity 
 in the city.' Hamah was the native place of Abulfeda, the 
 Arabian geographer and historian ; he was a descendant of 
 Saladin, and head of the royal house of Hamah.'' 
 
 Aretliusa is mentioned by Strabo and others, and was the 
 seat of a bishop.' Its position midway between Epiphania and 
 Emesa fixes it at the modern village of Eestun, on the eastern 
 bank of the Orontes, where the road from Hamah to Hums 
 crosses the river by a bridge of thirteen arches. The river here 
 winds along a chasm. The village is on the hUl above. Portions 
 of walls and gateways, the lines of the streets, some pedestals of 
 columns, and a few coins, are all that remain of the ancient 
 city.' Abulfeda describes it in his day as having extensive 
 ruins.' It was recognised by Pococke as the site of Arethusa.'" 
 
 Emesa, now Hums, seems not to reach back to a very high 
 
 ' Burckhardt's Trav. in Svr. p. Ii3 sq. Christ. II. 915. Abulfeda Tab. Syr. ed. 
 
 W. M. Thoinsou in Biblioth.'Sao. 1848, p. K-hler, pp. 108, 149, 191.— Other writers 
 
 688 sq. also confound Hamath and Hammath ; so 
 
 ' See his Index Geogr. ad Vit. Saladin, Adrichomius p. 107. Some have regarded 
 
 art. Sjaiaarwnu So too Pooocke II. i. p. the present Hamah as Apamea : so P. 
 
 143. Gesenius, Notes to Burckhardt's della Valle II. p. 134. Le Quien Orieus 
 
 Trav. in Syr. I. p. 514 Germ. Christ. II. 910. Busching, in part, XI. i. 
 
 = Am. 6, 2.-2 Sam. 8, 9 sq.— 2 K. 23, p. 333. 
 33. — Reland Falsest, pp. 119, 120. Miin- ' See De Guignes Hist, des Huns, Introd. 
 
 nert 1. c. p. 359. Comp. Eaumer Palast. pp. 503, 504, Germ. 
 
 p. 113, 6(1. 3; where however he wrongly ' Cellarius ib. p. 357. Mnnnert 1. c. p. 
 
 read? P.TZn Hamath for nan Hammaih, 358. Le Quien Oriens Christ. II 915. 
 in Josh. '19, 35. " ' " Irty and Mangles p 254. [78.] W. 
 
 * For the coins of Epiphania, see Eckhel M. Thomson in Bibhoth. Sac. 1848, p. 
 
 Doctr. Kummor. III. p. 312. Mionnet 684. For the coins, see Eckhel Doctr. 
 
 Med. V. p 231. Nnmmor. III. p. 309. Miouuet Med. V. 
 
 ' Pococke II. i. p. 143. Burckhardt P ^25. 
 Trav. p. 116. W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. ' Tab. Syr. ib. p. 22; comp. Not 9G, 
 
 Sac. 1848, pp. 680-682; also in Miss, in Add. et Corr. prefixed. 
 Herald, 1841, p. 362 sq. Le Quien Oriens " Vol U. p. 142. 
 
552 FROM BA'ALBEK to EL-HtrSK. [Skc. XII. 
 
 antiquity. It is not mentioned in Scripture ; and the earliest 
 notices are those of Strabo and Pliny, who speak only of the 
 Umesenes as a people or tribe.' Ptolemy names Emesa as in 
 the district of Apamea ; and writers of the third and fourth 
 centuries often mention the city.' Coins of Caracalla and 
 Heliogabalus show that Emesa was in their day invested with 
 the rights of a Eoman colony.' It was already celebrated for its 
 splendid temple and worship of the sun ; the daughter of the 
 high priest, Julia Domna, had ascended the imperial throne ; 
 and Heliogabalus, the youthful priest, gloried as emperor in the 
 title, '•' Sacerdos Dei Solis." * It was early the seat of a Chris- 
 tian bishop ; and under Diocletian, near the close of the third 
 century, Silvanus its bishop suffered martyrdom.' Under the 
 emperor Constantine a splendid church was erected in Emesa. ^ 
 
 With the other cities of Syria, Emesa passed under the 
 Muhammedan dominion in A. D. 636 ;^ and during the following 
 centuries came under the sway of the successive dynasties, the 
 Ommiades, Tulunides, Seljuks, and others.' Its name was now 
 Hems or Hums ; which probably had been softened by the 
 Greeks into Emesa." In A. D. 1099, the host of the crusaders, 
 after the capture of Antioch, marched up the valley of the 
 Orontes ; took possession of Sheizar, Hamah, and Hums, which 
 opened to them their gates ; and then passed down along the 
 northern end of Lebanon to'Arka and the coast.'" The city in 
 A. D. 1130 resisted successfully the siege and assaults of Zenki 
 the Atabek chieftain ; who after forty days drew off his forces.'''' 
 In the years 1157 and 1170, Syria was ravaged by terrible earth- 
 quakes ; by which Hums was well nigh destroyed."* Here too 
 took place a great and decisive battle, in A. D. 1281, between 
 the Saracens and the Mogols ; in which the latter were over- 
 thrown, and their power in Syria for a time annihilated. '^ 
 During these centuries, Tortosa was the port of Hums.'* 
 
 In the middle of the sixteenth century Belon, on his way 
 
 ' Straho rb 'EpicffTivay l^os, 16. 2. 10. ' Constantin. Porphyrogen. de admin, 
 
 p. 753. Pliny " Emesenos," 5. 19 or 23. Imperio, c. 25, p. 59, Xe'/ii//, ^toi rh 
 
 ' Ptol. Geogr. 5. 14. — Herodian. 5.3. "E^ecro-o. A siniilar instance is the Arabic 
 
 Ammian. Marcea 14. 26. ib. 26. 18. Khulasah, Heb. nsibn , Gr. "EAoma, 
 
 = For the coins of Emesa, see Eckhel t^at is, Elnsa, in the'dosert towards Sinai, 
 
 Doctr Numm. IH. p. 311. llionnet south of Hebroa See Vol. I. pp. 201, 202 
 
 MidV.p^227. [i.296sq.565.] 
 
 ' EusetTI: 8 13. ib. 9. 6. Several ^ ^j^^^ .^-^l-- ^^ ^- ^- P" 2*9 sq. 
 
 of the bishops of Emesa are named ; Le Wilken ib. II. p. 585. 
 
 Quien Oriens Christ. II. 837 sq. " De Guignes Hist, des Hnns, II. pp. 
 
 ' Sozomen. H. E. 3. 17.— See generally 495, 527, Germ. D'Herbelot Biblioth. 
 
 for Emesa, Gellarins 1. c. II. p. 357 sq. Or. art. Hems. Wilken ib. IlL ii. pp. 134, 
 
 Mannert 1. o. VI. i. p. 356. 135. 
 
 ' See above, p. 523. ■» Wilken ib. VII. p. 667 sq. 
 
 ' See Index to De Guignes Hist, des " Edrisi pai- Jaubert, I. p. 359. 
 Hnns, art Memcssa, Germ. 
 
SEaXn.] EMESA, HUMS. 553 
 
 from Damascus to Aleppo, passed through Ba'alLek and Hums. 
 He speaks of the walls of the latter city as ancient and good, 
 and in part still standing ; though the houses were mostly in 
 ruins.' Pietro della Valle was in like manner at Hums early in 
 the seventeenth century.* All later travellers, who have passed 
 between Damascus and Aleppo, have of course taken their way 
 through Hums. 
 
 At the present day Hums is a city of twenty thousand 
 inhabitants ; of whom seven thousand are Christians, chiefly of 
 the Greek church. It is situated in the midst of a vast and 
 fertile plain, which in some directions extends quite to the horizon. 
 The first swell of Anti-Lebanon is three and a half hours from 
 the city, about S. by W. The river Orontes is hardly a mile 
 distant in the west ; and from it the city is supplied with water, 
 brought on the backs of animals or men.' The ancient embank- 
 ment of the lake is two hours from the city ; but neither the 
 lake nor the river is visible. The streets are in general paved 
 with square blocks of basalt, and the houses are mostly of the 
 same material. It is one of the cleanest cities of Syria. There 
 are no remains of ancient buildings ; but large hewn stones and 
 fragments of columns of granite, basalt, and limestone, are every 
 where scattered, and testify to its ancient architecture. The 
 modern walls around the city are of use only against the wild 
 Arabs.^ Dr De Forest found Hums to be 1496 English feet 
 above the sea.° 
 
 The mound or Tell, on which the castle of Hums was built, 
 and which we afterwards had in sight for several hours after leav- 
 ing Ribleh, is on the south side of the city. Mr Porter estimates 
 its diameter at three hundred yards.^ Its height, according to 
 Dr De Forest, is one hundred and one feet. It was surrounded 
 by a broad fosse.' The sloping sides were formerly laid with 
 small square blocks of basalt, forming an escarpment ; por- 
 tions of which only now remain.' Around the summit was a 
 wall of great strength ; the facing being of large limestone 
 blocks, while the middle was filled up with rubble embedded 
 in cement. All that remains of the castle at the present day, 
 are a few portions of the exterior towers on the northern waU. 
 The summit of the Tell is now covered with heaps of rubbish. 
 Among these are seen several large fragments of red and gray 
 
 ' P. Belon Observat. -tto, Par. 1555, p. " J. L. Porter, ibid. p. 679 sq. 
 
 155. Paulus' SammL Th. II. p. 9. ' According to Pococke, the fosse was 
 
 ' Tom. II. p. 133. " about twenty feet deep and thirty paces 
 
 ' E. Smith in BibL Res. 1st edit III. broad ; " over it was a bridge of several 
 
 App. p. 174. arches; II. L p. 141. 
 
 ' See J. L. Porter in Bibliotheca Saora, ' Pococke speaks of this facing as still 
 
 1854, pp. 677-681. W. M. Thomson, ibid, extant in his day ; and of the fortress as 
 
 1848, pp. 683, 684. " a large ruiued castle;" II. L p. 141. 
 
 ' Ms. Letter. 
 Vol. III.— 47 
 
554 FROM ba'albek to el-hxjsn. [Sec. xn. 
 
 granite columns ; the remains probably of some ancient temple, 
 perhaps that of the sun. The whole character and position of 
 the castle of Hums is said to bear a strong resemblance to that 
 of Aleppo. A modem Wely with a white dome crowns the 
 summit of the Tell ; and is a conspicuous object in every direc- 
 tion. 
 
 Laodicea, according to Ptolemy, was the head of a district, 
 which he calls Laodicene, comprising the towns of Laodicea, 
 Paradisus, and Jabruda.' In Ptolemy and in the Peutinger 
 Tables, it has the epithet Scabiosa Laodicea;' for what reason 
 is not known. Polybius mentions Laodicea as near a lake and 
 marshes.^ Strabo and Pliny speak of it as " at or in Lebanon ; " 
 the former describes it as at the northern end of the plain 
 Marsyas, or the Buka'a.^ It bears the like epithet on coins 
 of Antoniuns Pius and Caracalla.' Laodicea was a Roman col- 
 ony, having the jus ItaUcum ;' and became also the seat of a 
 Christian bishop.' These notices exhaust all our knowledge of 
 this ancient city. 
 
 "We have already seen, that the Itin. Antonini places Lao- 
 dicea at eighteen Eoman miles south of Emesa, and thirty-two 
 north of Conna, or er-Eas ; while the Peutinger Tables mark it 
 at twenty miles from Emesa ; and Ptolemy, at fifteen degrees 
 of latitude south of the same city.' According to our former 
 proportion of four Roman miles to one hour of travel, the dis- 
 tance between the two cities was from four and a half to five 
 hours. According to the Itinerary it was also eight hours distant 
 from Conna, or er-Ras. 
 
 Where then was this Laodicea situated ? The preceding 
 distances show conclusively, that it could not have been at old 
 Jtisieh, as suggested by Lapie and others ; ' for Jusieh is at 
 least seven or eight hours distant from Hums, and not more 
 than four hours from er-Ras." In searching, therefore, through- 
 out the region north of Ribleh, for some spot which might possi- 
 bly correspond to the site of Laodicea, I could find none deserv- 
 ing any attention, except the high mound known 'as Tell Neby 
 
 ' Ptol. Geogr. 5. 14. ' Leg. 1, Dig. de Censib. § 3, " Est et 
 
 * Gr. 2<co/3(uffo AaoSlKeta. In some Laodicena colonia in Syria Coele, cui di- 
 copies of Ptolemy it is read KajSteocra, vus Severus et imperator noster jus Italici 
 Tvitliout sense. The epithet is doubtless ob belli civilis merita concessit." See 
 from the Latin, Laudicia Scabiosa, as Smith's Diet, of Antt. art. Colonia, p. 317. 
 the Tables have it ; Segm. X. ed. Scbeyb. ' Keland Falsest, p. 217. Le Quien 
 
 ' Polyb. 5. 45. 10. Oriens Christ. IL 841. 
 
 * Strabo IG. 2. 18, opx') <«"toS AaoSf- ° See aboTe, p. 535. 
 
 K6ia ri irphs Ai0avov. Plin. H. N. 5. 19 or ° See Itin. ed. Parthei et Find. Index 
 
 23, " Laodiceni, qui ad Libanum cogno- p. 350. W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac, 
 
 minantor." 1848, p. 694. 
 
 ° E. g. irphs AiPivcf, ly TM Ai/SavM. " Comp. J. L. Porter in Biblioth. Sac. 
 
 Eckhel Doctr. Numm. Til. p. 336. Mion- 1854, p. 672. 
 net M^d, V. p. 241. 
 
Sec. XIL] LAODICEA AT TELL NEBT MINDAU. 555 
 
 Mindau, situated on the left bank of the Orontes somewhat 
 more than two hours north of Kibleh. There is a modem village 
 on the side of the mound ; while the summit is crowned with a . 
 white Wely, forming a conspicuous object on every side. This 
 TeU is visible from Eibleh, and we had it in sight for several 
 hours after leaving that place. — The thought arose, May not this 
 Tell, perhaps, have been the site of Laodicea ? 
 
 Mr Porter travelled, in 1853, from Eibleh to Hums along the 
 eastern bank of the river. Leaving Kibleh in the morning, 
 about 6 o'clock, at 8.15 he was opposite Tell Neby Mindau ; and 
 after slight delays and turning out of the road to visit the em- 
 bankment at the lake, he reached Hums at 1.15. This would 
 give the time of travel, along the road, at not much over four 
 and a half hours ; and this coincides with the distance of Lao- 
 dicea from Emesa.' The position, therefore, is not inconsistent 
 with the site of the former city. 
 
 On examining the TeU with his glass from the opposite side 
 of the river, Mr Porter " could plainly see extensive ruins 
 scattered along its base." " A tributary here falls into the 
 Orontes, coming from a fountain, 'Ain et-Tannur, and a smaU 
 lake, in the southwest ; and the Tell and ruins occupy the 
 angle above the junction. — In Sept. 1846, Mr Thomson travelled 
 from Hamah to Eibleh along the west Isank of the river. He 
 visited Tell Neby Mindau ; and is the first and only traveller 
 who has given an account of it. The Tell is on the tongue of 
 land between the Orontes and its tributary, el-Mukadiyeh, above 
 the junction. A ditch drawn from one stream to the other, 
 made the Tell an island. Around the ' southern base of this 
 large Tell, are spread the remains of an extensive ancient city. 
 They consist of numerous columns, foundations, and small por- 
 tions of the original wall ; the rubble work of which was 
 Eoman brick. Mr Thomson says : " I found the people of the 
 Tell breaking up the columns to bum into Ume ; and as, in this 
 trap region, limestone is scarce, this process of destruction may 
 have been going on for a thousand years ; and the wonder is, 
 that such a number of columns have escaped their barbarous 
 sledges." ' i 
 
 Both the position, therefore, the vicinity of the lake, and the 
 remains, leave no reason to doubt, but that in Tell Neby Min- 
 dau we have the site of the ancient Laodicea of Lebanon. 
 
 'J. L. Porter in Bibliotheca Sacra, see W. M.Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 1848, 
 
 18.54, pp. 674r-677.— The following is p. 691. 
 
 another estimate : From Hums to the lake, ' J. L. Porter, ibid. p. 675. 
 
 two hours. Length of the lake, two hours. ' W. M. Thomson, in Biblioth. Sac. 
 
 From the southwest corner of the lake to 1848, pp. 691, 692. — Dt De Forest also 
 
 the Tell, one hour. In all Jive hours, but confirms orally the statements of Mr 
 
 somewhat circuitous. For the first two Thomson, 
 distances, see above, p. 549. For the last, 
 
556 FROM ba'albek to EL-Husy. [seg xn. 
 
 There remain now the ruins at old Jusieh to be considered ; .' 
 and the question arises, can they be identified with any known 
 ancient city ? We may at least attempt the problem. 
 
 We have seen above, that the Laodicene of Ptolemy in- 
 cluded the three towns of Laodicea, Paradisus, and Jabruda.* 
 The first we have just determined. The last is obviously 
 the modem Yebrtid, situated on the eastern declivity of Anti- 
 Lebanon, some ten or eleven hours north of Damascus, and an 
 hour and a half W. S. W. of Nebk. It still possesses an 
 ancient church, distinguished for the beauty and solidity of its 
 architecture.^ It appears, then, that the district Laodicene ex- 
 tended from Laodicea in a southeasterly direction across Anti- 
 Lebanon to Jabnida ; and that Paradisus lay between those 
 two places. Now Ptolemy marks Paradisus at ten degrees of 
 latitude south of Laodicea, and five degrees of longitude east of 
 the same ; and that well accords with the position of old Jusieh 
 relative to Tell Neby Mindau.* Again, he gives the latitude 
 of Jabruda at only five degrees south of Paradisus, which is evi- 
 dently wrong ; whUe he places Jabruda fifteen degrees of longi- 
 tude east of Paradisus ; which last accords with the relative 
 position of old Jusieh and Yebrud. The specifications of 
 Ptolemy cannot, of course, be regarded as exact ; but, in the 
 case of groups, .they serve to mark the relative positions of 
 the places named together, as they lay before the mind of the 
 geographer. In the present instance, they seem to point defi- 
 nitely to old Jusieh as the site of the ancient Paradisus. 
 
 Paradisus is simply named by Strabo and Pliny ; ^ and is 
 nowhere mentioned as an episcopal seat. 
 
 Saturday June 12th. This morning, after completing our 
 observations at Eibleh, we prepared to set off for el-Husn, on 
 our way to Beirut. It was not without a feeling of sadness, 
 that I gave up finally the idea of visiting Hums, Hamah, and 
 Antioch. Mr Robson, my companion, was ready to take that 
 route. But the heat of summer had already come ; my health 
 was hanging by a slender thread ; and it seemed important, 
 
 * For an acconnt of these rains, see autumn of 1852, and agaiu in 1853 ; see 
 
 above, p. 544; and especially J. L. Porter Bibliotheca Sacra, 1854, pp. 441 sq. 446 
 
 in Biblioth. Sac. 1854, pp. 671, 672. sq. also p. 689 sq. 
 
 ' See above, p. 554. * PtoL 5. 14 ; e. g. 
 
 ' Tliisis doubtless the KXliia'la/x^poiSuy, 
 
 " Clima Jambrudorum," of the ecclesias- laraiurus^""''"" 6945 IS 
 
 tical NotitioB ; as Ma'Mla, three hours fur- Jabruda 70^ 'ss.^O 
 ther south, is the KAi/xa MayAoySwv of the 
 
 same; Reland Patest. p 217. Both these ' Strabo 16. 2. 19. p. 756. Plin. H. N. 
 
 pkces were visited by Mr Porter in the 5. 19 or 23. — Cellarius 1. c. p. 374. 
 
JoNKi2.] PAHADISXTS. 'ain et-taknub. 557 
 
 that I should leave Beirut by the steamer of June 22nd, rather 
 than delay for a month or even a fortnight longer. Reluctantly, 
 therefore, I turned my course westwards ; and the event proved 
 that I desisted from my journeyings none too soon. 
 
 Our journey of to day lay around the northern end of 
 Lebanon, to the great fortress formerly known as el-Husn el- 
 Akrad, " Castle of the Kurds ; " now called simply el-Husn. A 
 main object was to examine the character of the tract lying 
 between Lebanon and the mountains of the Nusairiyeh further 
 north. In a direct line the distance from Eibleh to the fortress 
 would not be much, if any, over eight hours ; but the long circuit 
 which we had to make on account of the difficult and marshy 
 nature of some of the intervening ground, prolonged our day's 
 journey to nine and a half hours. 
 
 We crossed the river by the ford above described ; ' and left 
 the north bank at 9 o'clock. Our course at first was north. 
 After fifteen minutes we saw el-Husn, bearing N. 30° W. At 
 9.45 we again struck the Orontes in one of its meanderings ; 
 and then turned our course more northwesterly. The plain was 
 a dead level ; the soil hard and gravelly, and fertile only in the 
 vicinity of the canals led through it from the river ; of which we 
 crossed several. Much of our way at first was by short cuts 
 through tilled fields ; which the guide seemed to know well. 
 At 10.30 we reached 'Ain et-Tanntir, a good sized fountain in 
 the plain ; having north of it a small winding lake. This is the 
 source of the stream el-Mukadiyeh, which joins the Orontes at 
 Tell Neby Mindau. That Tell was here about an hour distant 
 E. N. E. The village of Zeiteh lay in the opposite direction, 
 about the same distance W. S. W. 
 
 At 10.50 there was by our path a small milestone, with a 
 Greek inscription now illegible. In five minutes more we 
 crossed a pretty stream brought from a fountain some distance 
 on the left, and running along the east side of a lower meadow- 
 like tract, through which meanders a small brook. This vale 
 forms the western extremity of the plain ; and the ground begins 
 to rise immediately from it. Just here, on its western side, we 
 came at 11.05 to el-Buweidah, a ruined village ; now occupied 
 by an encampment of Arabs, dwelling mostly in booths and 
 in tents covered with mats. 
 
 Here at Buweidah we came again among black basaltic 
 stones and rocks ; and the trap formation continued around the 
 whole northern end of Lebanon quite to the vicinity of Sheikh 
 Muhammed. The ground rises fi-om el-Buweidah very gradually 
 at first. At 11.30 the whole lake of Hums came into view ; the 
 
 ' See above, p. 543. 
 Vol. III.— 47* 
 
558 PEOM BA'aLBEK to EL-HUSN. [SkcXH. 
 
 island in its southern part appearing like a truncated Tell. 
 The lofty castle of Hums was also now in sight. At 11.45 we 
 seemed to come out upon a plateau ; and at 12 o'clock, had the 
 island in the lake and the castle of Hums in a line, bearing 
 N. E. by E. The ruins of a village, Um el-Haratein, the hovels 
 built of black basalt, followed at 12.05 ; and just beyond was an 
 encampment of Arab tents. At 12.30 was another ruined vil- 
 lage of like black stones, el-Kuneiyiseh. Here was one tolerably 
 large building, which we could not make out. Under one of its 
 doorways, leading through a thick partition wall, we rested and 
 took lunch ; that being the only shaded spot that we could find. 
 
 Setting off again at 1.45, we passed a water-bed at 2.05, 
 running down northeast towards the lake. At 2.15 there was 
 another black ruined village, Huneider ; and Arab booths near 
 it. At 2.30 we came out upon the height of land, a plateau of 
 some width, having many shrub oaks. 
 
 Thus far we had been gradually ascending the eastern decliv- 
 ity of the broad and low slope, which we could everywhere see 
 running out and down from the termination of the great masses 
 of Lebanon, towards the east, the northeast, and the north. 
 This slope descends very gradually. Large tracts of it, near 
 Lebanon, are covered with forests of shrub oaks and other trees ; 
 presenting a green and pleasing appearance. While thus the 
 eastern portion of Lebanon was seen to end on our left, we now 
 had in sight a lower ridge running out from this part towards 
 the northwest, in front of the more western portion. The north- 
 western end of this ridge, as we shall see further on, is the 
 northernmost point of Lebanon. This ridge was now on our 
 left ; and along its northeastern side hes the deep valley of the 
 Wady Khalid, with a stream, the remotest source of the Nahr 
 el-Kebir. On our right we could everywhere look down along 
 the slope to lower ground west of the lake of Hums. This tract 
 appeared level, and was better cultivated. Indeed, along our 
 path we had seen very little tillage since leaving el-Buweidah. 
 
 Thus far the whole region seems to be drained eastwards. 
 But on this height of land we could now look off westwards, and 
 see not only the fortress el-Husn, but also the mountains in the 
 northwest beyond, along the coast north of Tortosa. 
 
 Indeed, after a few minutes, we struck the head of a side 
 Wady, running west to Wady Khalid ; and kept along its 
 northern brow above, having occasional glimpses into its depths. 
 At 2.40 there was another ruined village, Harba'ana, with its 
 hovels of black stones ; and five minutes beyond it we stopped 
 at a very rude and singular tomb. 
 
 This tomb has the form of a rude quadrangular enclosure, 
 five or six feet high, with walls four feet thick. On the south 
 
Jdne12.] NOBTH EKD OF LEBAKON. 559 
 
 side is a doorway leading into an area or broad passage ; on eacli 
 side of which, and at the end opposite the door, are two tiers of 
 niches, one above the other, for dead bodies ; the ends being 
 towards the area. There are ten niches in each tier on the 
 sides ; and eight in each tier at the end ; in all, fifty-six niches. 
 The divisions between the niches are formed by thin stones of 
 black basalt, roughly hewn and set on their edges. The floors 
 are of similar stones ; while the upper covering, or roof, is formed 
 by long stones of a like kind laid over each upper niche, and 
 sloping a little outwards. 'There is no trace of mortar or plaster. 
 The niches are about six feet deep, by two feet broad and three 
 and a half feet high. Only those on the east side are still per- 
 fect ; the rest have been more or less thrown down. On a rough 
 stone .outside, at the right of the doorway, are the remains of a 
 Greek inscription, very rudely cut, and so much weather-worn as 
 to be illegible. We could make out only the words TIC 
 TINtoN, forming one line. Mr Eobson, who had been at Pal- 
 myra, was struck with the rude resemblance of the structure to 
 the splendid tombs around that city. The general plan is the 
 same. ' 
 
 After a delay of ten minutes we passed on ; and could now 
 look down the side Wady to its junction with Wady Khalid, and 
 see the brook of the latter, the main branch of the river el-Kebir, 
 some three or four hundred feet below us. We descended along 
 the steep northern bank of the Khalid ; and were now again 
 completely environed by mountain scenery. The last ridges of 
 Lebanon were on our left, green with shrubs ; while the high 
 bank on our right was in like manner green, rocky, and precipi- 
 tous. At 3.30 we came down to the stream at a mill ; just 
 where the Wady opens out into a sweet valley, well watered and 
 fertile, passing on northwest. Here also comes in another broad 
 fertile valley from the northeast, now full of fields of wheat. 
 We could not see its northeastern extremity ; but the rise from 
 it in that quarter to the plateau whence we had descended, did 
 not seem to be great. 
 
 We now continued our course down Wady Khalid, north- 
 west. At 4 o'clock there was an Arab encampment in the 
 valley ; and we passed two large cemeteries, where these noma- 
 dic Arabs, from a great distance round about, bury their dead. 
 At 4.15 the small village of Musheirifeh was on the right hand 
 hill ; and we approached the end of the valley, where it issues 
 into the fine plain or basin known as el-Bukei'a. Here, just on 
 our left, was the northwestern end of the outlying ridge of Leba- 
 non above described. It forms the extreme northern point of aU 
 
 ' See the delineation of tombs in Wood's Ruins of Palmyra, Plates 36-42, and 55-57. 
 
560 FROM ba'albek to el-husn. 
 
 [Sec. Xn. 
 
 Lebanon ; is green and beautiful, being covered with shrubs ; 
 and stands forth a fitting termination of the noble mountain. 
 
 The existence of this fine plain, el-Bukei'a, thus embosomed 
 among the hills, was quite unexpected to me.' It extends from 
 northeast to southwest between three and four hours in length ; 
 its broadest part, between the mouth of Wady Khalid and the 
 castle, being about two hours. Its foim is an oval, rather than 
 a parallelogram ; the northwestern side, however, being more 
 nearly straight. It is bounded in the southeast by the last spurs 
 and hUls of Lebanon in that quarter, south of the northernmost 
 point of Lebanon, where we now stood. Towards the north- 
 east, it is shut in by the western part of the great slope run- 
 ning down north from Lebanon, as above described ; which 
 however, just here, is severed from Lebanon by the deep gulf 
 of Wady Khalid. Further towards the north are the ridges of 
 the Nusairiyeh mountains ; from which a lower ridge, or range of 
 bills, extends out southwest along the whole western side of el- 
 Bukei'a ; forming the division and broad step between it and 
 the great lower plain along the coast. This range declines grad- 
 ually towards the southwest ; and along that part of the Bukei'a 
 rises much less above the plain. 
 
 The river el-Kebir enters the Bukei'a from Wady Khilid, 
 and passing down to its southwestern extremity, there breaks 
 through the low western ridge by a gorge to the lower western 
 plain. This gorge is said to be in some parts narrow and rocky ; 
 in others wide, and cultivated. In the Bukei'a itself are several 
 fountains, large and small, and some marshes ; but the Kebir is 
 the only permanent stream that enters it from any quarter. It 
 receives all the waters of the plain itself ; and is the only stream 
 that issues from it. The Bukei'a is exceedingly fertile ; and is 
 well cultivated. The owners, or at least the tillers of its soil, are 
 Christians of the Greek church. 
 
 The road by which we had travelled thus far, passes on along 
 the left bank of the Kebir to the Jisr el-Aswad, or black bridge, 
 in the southern part of the plain. There it crosses the river and 
 strikes over the low line of hills to the western plain ; where 
 after a time it again crosses the Kebir by the Jisr el-Abyad, or 
 white bridge, said to be three and a half or four hours distant 
 from the other. — From the spot where we now were, in the 
 mouth of Wady Khalid, there is a direct path across the plain 
 to the castle, which now stood out conspicuously before us ; the 
 
 ' Burckhardt says not a word of the mountain (el-Husn) and the northern end 
 
 plain; Trav. p. 158 sq. Buekingham of Lebanon, there intervenes a plain, called 
 
 mentions and praises it, as Wady el-Husn ; el-Bukei'a, in which are a number of 
 
 but gives no idea of its character or posi- Turkman settlements ;" Bibl. Res. 1st edit 
 
 tioa ; Arab Tribes p. 503. Dr Smith in III. App. p. 181. 
 1834 merely says of it: "Between this 
 
JCNEl2.] EL-BUKEI'A. NAHR EL-KEBIR. 561 
 
 distance being about two hours to the foot of the -western hills. 
 But in consequence of the marshy nature of the ground, the 
 guide and muleteers were unwilling to venture by that road at 
 this season of the year ; lest the animals might be swamped. 
 It was therefore decided to make a circuit around the northern 
 part of the plain, following at first the eastern hUls. We did 
 so ; and were thus nearly three and a half hours in reaching the 
 point at which we aimed, only two hours distant from our start- 
 ing place. 
 
 We crossed, therefore, the river el-Kebir, along which we had 
 thus far travelled, by a bridge with a high arch, called Jisr el- 
 Kamar. Our path lay along over the ends of the low hills jut- 
 ting out from the great slope above. On these we passed several 
 other ruined villages of black stones, without learning their 
 names. We met also a large herd of neat cattle, and another 
 of buffalos. The latter are quite at home in this marshy 
 plain ; as also in the Huleh. At 6 o'clock we crossed the direct 
 road from Hums to Tripoly, coming down from the slope on our 
 rigbt, and passing through the Bukei'a to cross the hUls in the 
 southwest quarter, and so reach the Jisr el-Abyad in the west- 
 ern plain. Before coming to this road, we had passed two quite 
 large fountains on our left at the foot of the hills, with consider- 
 able streams running to the Kebir. It was to avoid these, that 
 we had made this circuit. Our path soon left the hills, and 
 turned across the northern and higher part of the plain direct 
 towards the castle. The way led through rich cultivation, and 
 among fields of the finest wheat I had yet seen ; not surpassed 
 even in GalUee or in the Ghor. We crossed several water- 
 courses, but no running stream. There was a rather large 
 water-bed, now dry, parallel to the base of the western range, 
 and not far distant from it ; which I suppose to come from the 
 long Wady Euwid in the north, described by Burckhardt.' At 
 length we reached the foot of the western hills, below the castle ; 
 and here at 7.30 we encamped, near a small fountain. 
 
 From our tent the castle was not visible ; though we ascer- 
 tained its direction to be W. by N. On the hill side above us 
 was the poor village Tellet Hana, fifteen minutes distant. Here 
 Jirjis bought provisions for us ; receiving thirty eggs for one 
 piastre. But he was quite indignant, and felt himself imposed 
 upon, when he afterwards found, that the common rate was forty 
 for a piastre. 
 
 Just southwest of our tent was the ruin of a large building, 
 apparently of the middle ages. An end wall was standing, 
 having on its inner side the outline of a large pointed arch, as 
 
 • Trav. in Syr. p. 157. 
 
562 kul'at el-htjsn. [Sec. xn. 
 
 if once belonging to a large hall ; and also loopholes. In another 
 part was a large low vault. These seemed most like the remains 
 of a small fortress ; or possibly of a convent. The northern 
 point of Lebanon, and the mouth of Wady Khalid adjacent, 
 bore from us S. by E. A portion of Anti-Lebanon was also 
 visible, in the direction of Kibleh. 
 
 During our journey to day we passed several Arab encamp- 
 ments ; but no inhabited village, except the miserable one of Mu- 
 sheirifeh. Otherwise the country along our road seemed deserted. 
 There is also a striking difference between the eastern and western 
 slopes of this great water-shed. On the east, so far as we saw 
 it, the soil is hard, rocky, and gravelly ; the vegetation scanty, 
 and the crops very Kght. Every step as we ascended, the soil 
 grew better ; and on the highest plateau we came among green 
 shrubs and grass. The aspect continued to improve as we de- 
 scended, quite to this noble basin ; which seems to resemble the 
 region of Zebedany more than any other. 
 
 Sunday, June \Zth. — This was emphatically a day of rest ; 
 of which I, at least, stood much in need. There was a fountain 
 near us, and several small trees ; but their foliage yielded no 
 shade. The air was hot, and the sun's rays fierce ; so that our 
 tent was anything but comfortable. 
 
 Monday Morning, June lAth. — We climbed early up the 
 long and steep ascent, to the fortress el-Husn ; which we reached 
 in fifty-five minutes from our place of encampment. 
 
 This is a very large and strong fortress, standing out on a 
 high and commanding point of the range of hills ; overlooking 
 towards the north, and almost isolated by, a deep valley or notch 
 extending from east to west obliquely through the whole ridge, 
 and cleaving it almost to the base. As we approached from the 
 east on Saturday, we had noticed a valley on our right, which 
 seemed to come down from behind the castle ; but we did not 
 then perceive its importance. We could now see, that this 
 valley aflbrds an easy passage through the ridge. It was through 
 this pass that Titus marched, when he encamped by the sab- 
 batical river ;' and through it at the present day lead the great 
 roads from Hamah to Tripoly, and from Hums to Tortosa its 
 former port. The water-shed in this notch is north of and under 
 the castle ; the ascent from the Bukei'a being short and gentle ; 
 while towards the west the valley is much longer, as we after- 
 wards found in travelling through it for a time. To command 
 this important pass the castle el-Husn was obviously erected. 
 
 The fortress is nearly square externally ; with the usual com- 
 plement of towers and bastions along its outer wall ; but no 
 
 ' Jos. B. J. 7. 5. 1. See the next Section, near the beginning. 
 
Jdnb u.] position, adjacent pass. 563 
 
 bevelled stones. We rode into it from the east through steep 
 vaulted passages and covered ways ; and after thus ascending 
 for a time dismounted in an open area. A whole village of 
 Fellihin have their hovels here within the castle ; and their 
 village is called Kul'at el-Husn, to distinguish it from another 
 outside, which is known simply as el-Husn. Within the square 
 outer enclosure, and occupying its middle part, is another inner 
 and higher citadel ; surrounded in part by a fosse with rain- 
 water, collected from the higher hills in the west and southwest. 
 This citadel is built up on all sides with sloping work, as if 
 encasing a mound or rock within ; not merely to form the foun- 
 dations of the towers, as at Jerusalem and esh-Shiikif, but carried 
 up between the towers and almost to their top. Both this 
 sloping work and the towers are built of smooth hewn stones, 
 with no trace of a bevel ; and the former, my companion said, 
 was Hke the outer casing of the mounds at Hums and Aleppo, 
 which he had seen. 
 
 On the south side of the citadel, and connected with it by a 
 wall resting against the sloping work, but not built into it, is a 
 square tower of regular rustic architecture ; that is, with a wide 
 slanting bevel two inches deep. On its west side is a portal 
 with a regular pointed arch ; o.nd above this two sculptured lions 
 are built into the wall. This tower of course is the work of the 
 crusaders. 
 
 This fortress is now the seat of government for the district 
 el-Husn. The MutseUim or governor resides in the citadel ; 
 but has no soldiers. More than sixty villages are enumerated in 
 Dr Smith's lists of the district el-Husn ; and there are doubtless 
 many others. The inhabitants are mostly Nusairiyeh ; the 
 Christians of the Greek church occupy several villages ; the peo- 
 ple in and around the castle are Muslims ; and there are some 
 Turkman settlements.' — We did not enter the citadel. Burck- 
 hardt describes it as seventy paces in breadth by one hundred 
 and twenty in length, with a lofty arched passage leading up into 
 it ; and containing many apartments and a large hall of the best 
 Gothic architecture, with arches intersecting each other along 
 the roof ^ 
 
 The view from the bastions of the castle, in various directions, 
 is extensive and grand. In the south and S. S. E. the eye rests 
 on the last ridges and spurs of that " goodly mountain, even 
 Lebanon ; " of which we here had a new and entirely different 
 aspect. Being now on its north-northwestern quarter, we saw 
 the high ridge above the cedars obliquely from a new direction. 
 
 ' E. Smith in Bibl. Kes. 1st edit HI. ' Tray, in Syr. p. 158. 
 App. p. 181. 
 
564 kul'at el-htjsn. [Sec. xa 
 
 It here seemed to form an immense curve, witli its concave side 
 towards the west. We saw this more distinctly afterwards. 
 
 The eastern view takes in the lake of Hums, and the plain 
 of the Orontes around it ; as also all the northern part of Anti- 
 Lebanon beyond. The whole lake was visible, except the north- 
 ern extremity ; the island was quite distinct. Hums was not 
 seen ; being hidden by some of the last hills of the Nusairiyeh 
 mountains, which run down in that quarter. Eibleh itself was 
 not visible ; but the trees of Zerra'a, just east of it. were in 
 view. Between the great slope from Lebanon, which we had 
 crossed, and the Nusairiyeh hills in the north, we could here see 
 an apparently level tract, without hiU or general unevenness, ex- 
 tending westwards to the rather gradual but shorter descent of 
 three or four hundred feet into the rich Bukei'a at our feet. 
 
 Towards the west, the view from the castle was shut in by 
 the higher hiUs close at hand on the west and southwest ; and 
 by others more remote in the northwest. We could therefore 
 only look down the valley and out through the notch, in the 
 direction from W. by N. to W. N. W. Here the eye rested on 
 the glittering waves of the Mediterranean in the neighbourhood 
 of Tortosa, as we were told. Nearer at hand, though still five 
 hours distant, was the great fortress known as Burj Safita, 
 which guarded one of the passes between Hamah and Tortosa.' 
 In the valley below us, forty minutes distant, was the convent 
 of Mar Jirjis (St. George), to which we afterwards came. 
 
 The striking, and to me unexpected feature in the prospect 
 was, that on the one side we could see the lake of Hums, and 
 on the other the Mediterranean. 
 
 Quite a number of villages are clustered below the castle, or 
 lie in sight from it. In the southeast, a quarter of an hour 
 distant, is Harat et-Turkman ; more easterly and further down 
 is Burj 'Anaz ; and in a direction between the two, and lower 
 down out of sight, was 'Andz. In the northeast, just below the 
 castle, is the village el-Husn ; and further down, just above our 
 tent, but not in sight from the castle, was Tellet Hana. 
 
 North of the castle, an hour or more distant, on the hill 
 beyond the notch, was the village Khureibeh. On the same 
 height, further west, at about the same elevation, was seen the 
 little village Kefreh. Northwest from this, and still higher, 
 directly above the convent, lies the large village of Mar Marita.^ 
 The smaller village Zaweitineh hes below this towards the con- 
 vent, and just above the latter.' 
 
 ' Bohaed. Vita Saladini, ed. Schultens, of fhe cnisadea npon ancient Phenioiau 
 
 Exc. p 4. Burj Safita was visited by Mr foundations 
 
 Thomson in 1846 ; and is described by ' Wrongly in Dr Smith's list, as Milr 
 
 him, Biblioth. Sacra, 1848, p. 243 sq. Nita; Bibl. Kes. 1st edit. III. App. p. 182. 
 
 Comp. Ritter XVII. p. 826 sq. Burck- ' Bearings from the castle el-Husn: 
 
 hardt, p. 160. It was built up in the time North end of Anti-Lebanon E. Island ia 
 
.Tune It] PKOSPECT. HISTORICAL NOTICES. 565 
 
 Burckhardt was the first in modem times to visit and 
 describe the castle. He was here in March, 1812.' Coming 
 from Hamah he sent on his horses, through the pass, to the 
 convent ; and himself ascended to the fortress on foot. Buck- 
 ingham, in May, 1816, travelled through the pass on his way 
 from Hums to Tortosa. He lodged at the convent, but did not 
 ascend to the fortress.^ Laborde was here about 1828, and 
 has given a view of the castle.' Dr Smith and Mr Thomson 
 both passed this way from Hamah to Tripoly ; the former in 
 1834 and the latter in 1840 ; but they seem neither of them to 
 have visited the fortress.* In October, 1852, a few months after 
 our visit, Dr De Forest travelled by this route from Hamah to 
 Tripoly ; but instead of proceeding through the pass, he kept 
 along the base of the range of hills apparently, as far as to the 
 road from Hums to Tripoly, which crosses the hills north of the 
 chasm of the Kebir. At a place northeast of our encampment, 
 where is a bridge, a ruined mill, and a low mound, which he calls 
 Tell Hatta, apparently near where the road from Hamah turns 
 into the pass, Dr De Forest found the elevation of the plain 
 above the sea to be nine hundred feet. The height of ground 
 where he crossed the line of hills, the same on which the castle 
 stands, was eleven hundred and two feet.' Hence the whole 
 descent from Hums to the plain of the Bukei'a may be given in 
 round numbers at six hundred feet.'' 
 
 The great fortress known to the crusaders as Husn el-AkrSd, 
 " Castle of the Kurds," and now called simply el-Husn and 
 Kul'at el-Husn,' has no marks of any higher antiquity than the 
 times of the Saracens ; although the importance of the position 
 would seem to imply, that it was not left unguarded in still 
 earlier times. According to the Arabian writer, Ibn Fer^t, an 
 earlier name of the castle was Husn esh-Shafah ; which was 
 superseded by the form Husn el-AkrM, on the occasion of a body 
 of Kurdish troops having been stationed in it as a garrison.' 
 By the crusaders it was called also the fortress of Crac or 
 Crach." 
 
 the lake of Hums S. 60° E. Zerri'a S. * E. Smith in Bibl. Res. 1st edit. in. 
 
 30°E. NorthextremityofLebanonS. 12°E. App. p. 181. W. M. Thomson in Mias. 
 
 Mouth of Wady Khalid adjacent, S. 16° E. Herald, 1841, p. 365. 
 
 Our place of encampment E. by S. Tellet ' Ms. Letter. 
 
 Hana E. 5° S. Harat et-Turkman S. E. ' See above, p. 553. 
 
 by E. i m. el-Husn, village, N. E. by N. ' E. Smith in Bibl. Res. 1st edit. HI. 
 
 i m. Khureibeh N. Mar Marita N. 35° App p. 181. Burckhardt Trav. p. 157. 
 
 W. Zaweitineh about N. 50° W. Con- ° Reinaud, Extraits des Hist. Arabes, 
 
 vent of MarJirjis N. 60° W. IJ^m. Burj etc. Par. 1829, p. 525. Wilken Gesch. 
 
 Safita N. 60° W. 5 h. ' der Kr. VIT. p. 589. 
 
 •■ Trav. in Syr. pp. 157-159. ' Will. Tyr. 22. 2. Hugo Plagon, p. 
 
 ' Arab tribes, pp. 503, 504. 616 Marin. Sanut. 3. 14. 2. p. 245. Wil- 
 
 ' Laborde, Voyage en Orient, fol. Paris ken IIL ii. p. 199. VIL p. 593.— This 
 
 1835, Livr. IV. PI. el-Hossn. name, Crac or Crach, was probably u cor- 
 VoL. III.— 48 
 
566 kxtl'at el-husn. [SecXIL 
 
 In the year 1099, the host of the crasaders, having followed 
 up the Orontes to Hums, turned and passed down this way to 
 'Arka and the sea, on their march towards Jerusalem. They 
 came here to a rich valley surrounded by hills ; and were 
 attacked from a castle situated on the side of a high mountain. 
 This castle was doubtless el-Husn ; but the name is nowhere 
 given. ' The earliest express mention of the fortress is in A. D. 
 1101, two years after the taking of Jerusalem by the crusaders. 
 At that time Eaimund, count of Toulouse, had invested it ; but 
 drew off his troops in order to march against Hums.' At what 
 time the Franks got possession of the fortress is unknown ; but 
 it was probably at an early date. In A. D. 1157, this castle 
 as well as several cities of Syria suffered greatly from the terri- 
 ble earthquake.' Two years later (1159) it was besieged by 
 Nureddin, the son of Zenki ; who however abandoned his 
 undertaking, in order to meet the approach of the Frank army.* 
 In the year 1180, we find the fortress in the hands of the 
 knights Hospitalers, who thenceforth continued in possession of 
 it.^ Eight years later (1188) Saladin fixed his camp in the 
 neighbourhood of el-Husn, and disquieted the castle ; but seems 
 not to have actually besieged it.' In the year 1236, the Hospi- 
 talers made war upon the prince of Hamah ; gathered their host of 
 knights in the valley el-Bukei'a below el-Husn ; ' and after an 
 expedition of several days against Bslrin returned to their en- 
 campment.' The impetuous Bibars, in A. D. 1268, demanded 
 of the garrison a thousand pieces of silver for the Muslims they 
 had slain ; which was paid.' Three years later (1271) Bibars 
 laid siege to the fortress ; and the Hospitalers, by whom it was 
 still held, capitulated after fifteen days.'" The fortress is after- 
 wards mentioned by Abulfeda as Husn el-Akrad, and by Mari- 
 nus Sanutus as Orach ; ' ' but no Frank traveller seems to have 
 taken it in his way, until the visit of Burckhardt. 
 
 Ptolemy in his geographical work mentions along with 
 Antaradus'^ two other places towards the southeast, Mariamme 
 
 mption for Akrad; and has sometimes ' "La Boqufe dessns loCrac;" Hugo 
 
 b^en confomided with Kerak southeast of Plagon, p. 616. "La Bochea," Will. Tyr. 
 
 the Dead Sea. See Vol. n. p. 166. [iL 18. 17. ib. 19. 8. Wilken VL p. 556. 
 569.] ' Wilken VI. pp. 655-557. 
 
 ' Kaim. de Agil. in Gesta Dei per Fran- ' De Guignes 1. c. IV. p. 15i. 
 cos, pp. 162, 163. Wilken I. pp. 251-253. " Wilken VII. pp. 589, 590. 
 
 " De Guignes Hist, des Huns, II. p. 411, " Abulf Tab. Syr. ed. Kohbr, pp. 19, 
 
 Germ. 102. Marin. Sanut. 3. 14. 2. p. 245. See 
 
 ' De Guignes ib. p. 494. Abulfarag. also Schnlten's Index in Vit. L)a.ad. art 
 
 Hist. Dynast, ed. Pococke, Oxon. 1663, p. Curdorum Castnim. 
 257. '" The name Antaradus is written in 
 
 ' De Guignes ib. II. p. 498. Arabic Antartus, Edrisi par Jaubert pp. 
 
 » Will. Tyr. 22. 2. Wilken HL ii p. 330, 359. Abulfeda p. 17. l!s present 
 
 199. name in Arabic is Tartus ; and so Abul- 
 
 " Wilken IV. pp. 234, 236. feda p. 102. Hence in Italian, Tm-tosa. 
 
Sec. Xn.] HISTORICAL NOTICES. WATEE-SHED. 567 
 
 and Mamouga.' Tlie same Mariamme is named hj Arrian as 
 existing id t£e time of Alexander the Great ; and Pliny speaks 
 also of a people in this region called " Mariammitani."' This 
 Mariamme was also the residence of a Christian bishop, as late 
 as the fifth or sixth century.^ Of Mamouga there seems to 
 be no mention, except by Ptolemy. — So far as the latitudes 
 of Ptolemy are concerned, Mariamme would accord well with 
 Burj Safita, which we know was an ancient place ; and Ma- 
 mouga with el-Husn. The longitude of Mamouga also, as 
 given by Ptolemy, marks well the relative position of el-Husn 
 both to Tortosa and Hums. All the circumstances therefore, so 
 far as we are yet able to apply them, would seem rather to fix 
 the site of Mariamme at Burj Safita; and that of Mamouga at 
 Husn el-AkrM.* 
 
 The "Water-shed. From the castle el-Husn, we had a fiill 
 view of the tract lying between the upper plain of the routes 
 and the Bukei'a ; and forming the water-shed between that river 
 and the Mediterranean. North of our own route across the 
 great slope, as we have seen, the region is very considerably 
 lower, in the direct line between the northern part of the lake of 
 Hums and the castle. Indeed, the best route on which to 
 examine closely the water-shed, would be the road from Hums, or 
 rather from the lake, to el-Husn, which crosses the lowest por- 
 tion of the intervening tract. This road was travelled by Buck- 
 ingham in May 1816 ; but his account is very meagre.' The 
 only place along the route is the small Nusairiyeh village of 
 Teniiny, some two hours east of the Bukei'a. I am not aware 
 that any other Frank traveller has passed that way. 
 
 As seen from the castle, this lower portion of the water-shed 
 was clearly and distinctly marked as a level tract, between the 
 slope from Lebanon on the south and the Nusairiyeh hills on the 
 north. In coming from the east, there is a very gradual ascent 
 until near the Bukei'a ; the descent into which is shorter and 
 much more rapid.* The road from the lake to el-Husn is there- 
 fore more level than the one we travelled. The Wadys also, 
 which descend into the northeastern part of the Bukei'a, are short 
 and shallow depressions, compared with Wady Khalid. The 
 
 ' Ptol. 5. 14. Gr. Mapi<£/i/t7j, Na/iovya. ' Comp. Mannert Geogr. d. Gr. u. Ro- 
 
 The following is Ptolemy's specification : mer, VI. i. p. 335 ; where however there 
 
 Antaradus 6815 S».I5 is some confusion. Ritter places Mariamme 
 
 Mariiiinme 69,20 84. at el-Husn, and says nothing of Mamou- 
 
 Mamuaga 69.20 83.45 g^ . Erdk. XVII. pp 53, 55, 841. 
 
 ' Arrian. Exp. Alex. 2. 13. Plin. H. » Arab Tribes, p. 502. 
 N. 6. 19 or 23. ' See above, p. 564. 
 
 » Le Quien Oriens Christ II. 9X9. 
 
568 kul'at el-husn, [Sec xn. 
 
 line of the water-shed lies along the heads of these Wadys. It 
 is of course much nearer to the Bukei'a than to the plain of the 
 Orontes ; yet much nearer to the Orontes than it is to the sea. 
 
 There is no reason to doubt, that the waters of the Orontes, 
 if carried off ahove Eihleh along the western side of the plain, 
 might all he turned across the water-shed into the Bukei'a and 
 so through the Nahr el-Kebir to the sea.' Still less difficulty 
 would there he in constructing a railway from Hums to the sea- 
 coast. With the exception of the descent into the Bukei'a its 
 course would lie over comparatively level ground, or along the 
 banks of the Kebir. Whether that steeper descent might be 
 best overcome on this direct line from the lake to the castle, 
 or by some one of the branches of the Wady Khalid, remains to 
 be seen. 
 
 The enteeing in of Hamath.' — This phrase seems evi- 
 dently to refer to some point or tract on the extreme northern 
 border of the Promised Land, in its farthest extent, as laid down 
 by Moses in the book of Numbers. Hamath is here put for 
 " the land of Hamath," the territory or kingdom which took its 
 name from that city ; and which extended so far as to include 
 Eiblah in the south. ^ 
 
 The Mediterranean being the western border, the northern 
 border was to run from the sea to mount Hor ; thence "unto the 
 entrance of Hamath ; " and thence to Zedad, now Sudud, some 
 hours southeast of Hums.'' Solomon afterwards held a great 
 festival, " and all Israel with him, from the entering in of 
 Hamath unto the river of Egypt." ' Further, among the por- 
 tions of the land not subdued by Joshua or the people after- 
 wards, was all Lebanon, on the east, " from Baal-gad under 
 mount Hermon [or from Baal-hermon] unto the entering into 
 Hamath ; " * that is, all Lebanon from the region of Dan and 
 Banias to its northern extremity.' It is further related, that 
 Jeroboam II. " restored the coast of Israel from the entering in 
 of Hamath unto the sea of the plain " or Dead sea ; ' and we 
 infer that the phrase has here its usual meaning, from the 
 subsequent mention, that Jeroboam " recovered Damascus and 
 Hamath for Israel." ' 
 
 All these notices show clearly, that "the entering in of 
 Hamath " was at the northern extremity of Lebanon ; and that 
 when the children of Israel took possession of the Promised 
 Land, this became a geographical name for the great interval or 
 
 ■ TLis opinion is also held ty Mr Thom- ' 1 K. 8, 65. 2 Chr. 7, 8. 
 
 son ; see Bibliotheca Sacra, i 848, p. 22. n. " Josh. ] 3, 5. Judg. 3, 3. 
 
 ' Hob. nan tiizb , Num. 81, 8. etc. ' See above, p. 409. 
 
 " 2 K. 25,' 21. ' ' 2 K. 14, 25. Comp. Deut. 3, J 7. 
 
 ♦ Num. 34, 7. 8. ' 2 K. 14, 28. 
 
Sec. Xn.] KNTEEING IN OF HAMATH. 569 
 
 depression, between the northern end of Lebanon and the 
 Nusairiyeh mountains. Mount Hor was obviously between the 
 sea shore and the Bukei'a. " The entering in of Hamath " may 
 then refer, either generally to the whole of the great depression, 
 affording as it does an easy passage from the coast to the plain of 
 the Orontes ; or, specifically, to the pass through the ridge under 
 el-Husn and the low water-shed east of the Bukei'a ; or, more 
 specifically still, only to this low water-shed adjacent to the plain 
 of the Orontes. In either application the phrase is intelligible 
 and sufficiently definite. 
 
 In one instance only would this phrase seem to be earlier used 
 of the approach to Hamath from the south, by the Buk3,'a and 
 Wady et-Teim.' This interpretation, however, depends on the 
 probable identity of the Kehob visited by the spies, with the 
 Beth-Kehob which was situated near Dan.* 
 
 » Num. 13, 21. s See aboye, pp. 371, 372. n. 1. 
 
 Vol. m.— 48* 
 
SECTION XIII. 
 
 FROM EL-HUSN BY WAT OF THE CEDAES TO BEIKUT. 
 
 It had been our wisli and pui-pose, to proceed from el-Husn 
 directly through the northern parts of Lebanon, by 'Akkar, to 
 the cedars. But we found great difficulty in obtaining informa- 
 tion as to any route. It seemed a direct and (for aught we 
 could see) a feasible route, to cross the Jisr el-Aswad in the 
 southern part of the Bukei'a ; and then climb the spurs of 
 Lebanon, which lay beyond. But no one in or around el-Husn, 
 or in the convent, to which we came afterwards, knew of any 
 road in that quarter, nor any way of reaching 'Aliar, except by 
 crossing the Nahr el-Kebir at the Jisr el-Abyad, four hours 
 west of the other. The monks aU said, the only possible route 
 to the cedars was by way of Tripoly. We were not then aware, 
 that the Eev. Mr Thomson, being in the region of 'Akkar in 
 October 1845, and desiring to pass on northwards to the Burj 
 es-Safita, which was in full view, was compelled to descend the 
 mountain westwards for two hours and a half, and cross the Kebir 
 at the same Jisr el-Abyad. The way was a continual descent 
 over trap boulders, which lay in heaps, and were covered with 
 vast orchards of short, thick, gnarled oaks. He was obliged to 
 travel all this distance west, in order to avoid the great trap 
 chasms and steps, which traverse the region from east to west, 
 and across which no road can be carried. Through these dark 
 chasms the rivers find or force their way^ to the plain.' 
 
 Finding our course thus hedged up, we determined to proceed 
 to the Jisr el-Abyad ; and then strike up into the mountain at 
 the first opportunity. 
 
 Monday ^ June lAth. — ^We left the fortress el-Husn at 8.15 ; 
 and descended steeply northwest into the valley or notch. In 
 this part the valley, or low saddle, is broad and well cultivated. 
 » W. M. Thomson in Bibliotheca Sacra, 1848, pp. 21, 22 
 
Jmrall] CONVENT MAR JIEJIS. 571 
 
 Furttier northwest it contracts into a narrower valley ; in which 
 the convent of Mir Jirjis is situated. The latter stands on the 
 northern declivity, not very high up ; and is surrounded by olive 
 groves. The road passes above and around it. Overagainst the 
 convent in the south are rather high hills, covered and green 
 with shrub oaks. We reached the convent at 8.55. As we 
 stopped for a moment to make some inquiries of an Arab, 
 three or four monks came out, and entreated us to dismount and 
 enter. We did so, and were immediately served with sherbet 
 and coffee in their reception room. The monks expressed regret, 
 that we would not let them prepare breakfast for us. They 
 were very courteous. The convent is wholly built of stone, large, 
 massive, and very strong. The chief entrance is by a small door 
 scarcely four feet high. At this time there were about twenty 
 monks residing here ; but several others were said to be absent.' 
 We stopped twenty-five minutes ; and then went on our way 
 down the valley, which also is called Mar Jirjis. 
 
 This great convent, called Mar Jirjis el-Humeira, is the most 
 important and celebrated in northern Syria. It is famous among 
 the common people for the miracles which Mar Jirjis (St. George) 
 is supposed to perform there. It has large vineyards and olive 
 orchards in the vicinity. Its own revenues are large, and it 
 collects alms all over Syria, Anatolia, and the Greek islands. 
 In return, travellers and pilgrims of all kinds are fed gratis, 
 mostly with rice, bread, and olives. Being on the great road 
 between Hamah and Tripoly, and also between Hums and Tar- 
 ttis, the convent has many visitors.' In May 1816, Buckingham 
 found here a great crowd of people, who had come as pilgrims 
 from all the country around, as also from Damascus and Aleppo, 
 to be present at the festival of St. George. At the same time 
 a great yearly fair was to be held ; at which aU sorts of com- 
 modities are bought and sold under the patronage of the Saint. ^ 
 
 Burckbardt was told by the prior, that the convent was built 
 at the same time with the castle el-Husn.^ Whether there is 
 any earlier or more authentic notice of it, may be doubtful.' 
 
 ' At the time of Burokhardf s visit in Bitter XVIt p. 844. Ockley relates from 
 March 1812, the convent was inhabited el-Wakidi, th.at in the time of the Khalif 
 only by a prior and three monks. Trav. 'Omar, about the middle of the seventh 
 in Syr. p. 159. century, a great fair was held at the said 
 ' See Bnrckhardt ib. pp. 159, 160. convent ; and at the same time the daugh- 
 ' Buckingham, Arab Tribes, p. 504. ter of che prefect of Tripoly and her bride- 
 * Trav. p. 160. groom were there, with a large escort, in 
 ' It has been supposed, that the great order to be joined in marriage by a holy 
 convent mentioned by el-Wakidi, and priest of the convent. They were set 
 which Ockley writes Deir Abi'l Kodos, was upon by five hundred Saracen horsemen ; 
 no other than the present Deir Mar Jii-jis ; but the latter being hard pressed, » rein- 
 Bee Oekley's Hist, of the Saracens, Bohn's forcement was brought up from Damascus 
 edit I. pp. 164-168. Lord Lindsay's Let- the same day; and the convent, wares, 
 teiB, ith edit p; 347, and Note p. 436. and bride were aU captured. The convent 
 
572 FEOM EL-HTJSN TO BEIRUT. [Sue. Xm. 
 
 Leaving the convent at 9.20, we proceeded down the valley, 
 and came in twenty minutes to the large intermitting fountain, 
 called Fauwdr ed-Deir, 'fountain of the convent.' It issues 
 from a small cavern with a narrow entrance at the base of the 
 northern declivity. The rock here is limestone. The fountain 
 was now at rest ; but had flowed the preceding day. We ex- 
 amined the water-bed of the valley, and the channels for irrigating 
 the gardens of the convent below ; in all of which water had 
 recently been flowing in large quantities. On entering the 
 cavern, a little rill was still running through it and issuing just 
 below ; and the sound of a small quantity of falling water was 
 heard behind the rocks. The floor of the cavern is three or four 
 feet lower than the mouth. The monks, and also the people 
 here, told us, that the fountain is very irregular ; the periods 
 of intermission varying with the rainy and dry seasons of the 
 year. Sometimes it flows two or three times a week, and at 
 such seasons continues for some two or three hours ; sometimes 
 not for twenty or thirty days, and then it flows for a longer time. 
 The bed of the valley below marks the existence of a considerable 
 stream ; which of course varies with the fluctuations of its 
 source.' 
 
 Burckhardt heard of this fountain at the convent ; but seems 
 not to have been aware that he passed directly by it.* Buck- 
 ingham also passed this way with9ut hearing of the fountain.' 
 Mr Thomson, who was here in 1840, was the first to describe it, 
 and bring it into connection with the sabbatical river of Jose- 
 phus.* 
 
 Josephus narrates,' that Titus on his way from Berytus to 
 Antioch, beheld a river between Arccea ('Arka) in Agrippa's 
 kingdom and Raphancea ; the nature of which was worthy to be 
 recorded. Though it was a considerable stream, with a rapid 
 current, yet at a certain time the springs would fail, and the 
 channel become dry during six days. Then, as if nothing had 
 happened, it would flow again on the seventh day, as before. 
 This was held to be its permanent nature ; and hence the stream 
 was called the sabbatical river. Pliny probably refers to the 
 same stream ; though he reverses the order, and makes it dry up 
 on the Jewish Sabbath.* 
 
 is said to have been sitnated between Tri- either been dried np, or the waters of its 
 
 poly and Harran. To this indefinite posi- fountain head diverted into some other di- 
 
 tion M'.r Jirjis would suit well enough, rection." Arab Tribes, pp. 505, 506. 
 
 But when it is said that <> reinforcement " Trav. p. 160. 
 
 was brought from Damascus the same ' Arab Tribes, p. 505. 
 
 day, we must either seek for the con- * W. M. Thomson in Silliman's Journal 
 
 Tent in some other quarter ; or else regard of Science, Second Ser. Vol. IL Nov. 1846, 
 
 the whole story as legendary. pp. 305-310. 
 
 ' Bucliingham, who saw the channel of ' Jos. B. J. 7. 5. 1. 
 
 this valley only when dry, drew the con- ' Plin. H. N. 31. 18, " In Judaea rivns 
 
 dusion, that " the original source had Sabhatis onmibos siccatur." — Moverj sup- 
 
June 14.] SABBATICAL EIVEK, INTERMITTING FOUNTAIN. 573 
 
 Arcasa is the well known 'Arka ; to wliicli we came on the 
 following day. Kaphanea is mentioned by ancient writers along 
 with Hamath and Apamea, and is situated between Antaradus 
 and the Orontes.' It was the seat of a Christian bishop as late 
 as the time of Justinian.' In the time of the crusades it was 
 still a place of importance, situated on the eastern border of the 
 province of Tripoly, in the district of Apamea.' Hence in A. 
 D. 1126, Pontius count of Tripoly undertook to reduce it ; and 
 for this purpose built a fortress on a neighbouring hUl. After a 
 time, king Baldwin II. came to his aid ; and the place surren- 
 dered to their united forces in eighteen days.^ The fortress thus 
 erected was called Monsferrandus, and also Barinum (Arabic 
 Barin) ; and came at last from its importance to supersede the 
 name and mention of Eaphanea itself ; just as in the parallel 
 instance of Apamea and Kid'at el-Mudik.' The place was 
 granted by the king of Jerusalem to the knights Hospitalers.' 
 Afterwards, in A. D. 1137, it yielded to the formidable Zenki ; ' 
 and seems to have remained permanently in the hands of the 
 Muslims. A century later, about A. D. 1235, the town was 
 plundered and partly destroyed by the Hospitalers in an expedi- 
 tion from Husn el-Akrad ; but the castle was not subdued.' In 
 Abulfeda's day it was a small town with a ruined fortress, 
 distant a day's journey from Hamath towards the southwest ; 
 and there stiU remained in and around it the substructions and 
 ruins of the ancient Eafaniyeh.' Burckhardt in 1812 travelled 
 from Kid'at Mesyad about S. S. W. to el-Husn ; and saw on his 
 way, an hour distant on his left, on the summit of a ridge over- 
 looking the eastern plain, the ruined castle Barin.'" The same 
 appears to have been seen by Mr Thomson from the east, in 
 passing southwards from Hamah in 1840, along the eastern foot 
 of the mountains." 
 
 It thus appears, that Titus was proceeding along the great 
 road, which ran by 'Arka and Eaphanea to Hamath ; and so 
 down the vaUey of the Orontes to Antioch. This course led him 
 naturally through the pass below el-Husn, and directly by the 
 
 poses that the name refers, not so much to * Will. Tyr. 13. 19. ib. 14. 25. Wilken 
 
 the Jewish Sabbath, as rather to the He- II. p. 527. 
 
 hrew name of Saturn, ■'n3\a ; or at least ' See above, p. 550. 
 
 to some Phenician myth respecting him ; 'Jf"^^ ^'"^' ^<"^<=« Diplomatico, L 
 
 die Phonizier L p. 666. ^' 7 -itr'n tt eie am 
 
 = Ptolem. 5. 15. Hieroolis Syneei p. Z'^t^'^r^^- ^^^ 
 
 712 Wess. Tab. Pent. Segm. X. ed. Scheyb. ^ ^^^^t J* ^A ^^^- . ^.., , 
 
 -Josephus lilcewise speaks of Eaphanea ,'^^''/- ^^\ ^J'^' «f ,K°"«'. PP- 2?, 
 
 as the station of a Roman legion ; B. J. 7. l^.J- . C""?- Schulten s Ind. Geogr. m 
 
 1. 3.-Comp. Cellarius. U. p. 357. Ritter Vit. SaL art. Banrmm 
 
 XVII P 940 ^™^- •" ^y^- PP- ^^^> ^^^• 
 
 » Le Qnien Oriens Christ. H. 921. , '" ^'- f- Thomson in Biblioth Sacra. 
 
 ' Will Tyr. 13. 19. He writes the 18*8- P- 689. Comp. Miss. Herald, 1841, 
 
 name Rafanea, P' 
 
574 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XIIL 
 
 intermitting fountain. In all essential particulars, the fountain 
 was probably then what it is at the present day. The regular 
 flow or rest upon the Sabbath alone, was a matter of popular 
 " belief, or rather of popular credulity. The' like credulity still 
 exists. Mr Thomson was informed by an old Sheikh of the 
 Nusairiyeh, who dwelt some twenty miles distant, that the foun- 
 tain stUl flows only once in seven days ; namely, on Friday, the 
 Muslim Sabbath.' 
 
 At the fountain several persons were occupied, under a booth, 
 in winding off silk from the cocoons, on a large reel turned by a 
 boy. This is the ordinary rude native method. 
 
 We set off from the fountain at 9.55 ; and proceeded down 
 the valley. At 10.10 we began to ascend the southern slope ; 
 thus leaving the valley, which continued on north of west to the 
 great plain. From the top of the broad ridge on which we came 
 out, we had an extensive view of the coast quite to Tripoly ; the 
 sea being three or four hours distant. The ridge which bounds 
 the Bukei'a on the northwest, and through which we had now 
 passed, sinks down on the east side (as we have seen) very steeply 
 to that vaUey ; while on the west side it declines much more 
 gradually, and runs down and out into low ridges and waving 
 hills ; the western plain being some six or seven hundred feet 
 lower than the Bukei'a. Our course now became southwest, 
 crossing the points of low ridges running out westwards, with 
 shallow Wadys between. At 10.45 the village Sheluh was half 
 a mile distant on our left. Ten minutes later there was a single 
 tower on a hill at the left, a mile distant. 
 
 Crossing a shallow Wady near its mouth, we came at 11.10 
 to a ridge ending towards the west in a low bluff or Tell, with a 
 village upon it, called Tell el-Haush. Below this, on the north, 
 is a considerable fountain and pond, called Neba' el-'Arus ; from 
 which a small stream flows off into the plain, and then (as we 
 afterwards saw) runs southwest to the Nahr el-Kebir. We 
 passed up around the west side of the Tell, and came out upon 
 a high plain extending towards the south ; having in the west 
 and southwest a lower alluvial plain reaching to the Kebir. 
 West of the latter, towards the sea, were low hills and swells. 
 Our course continued southwest, with the range of hills on our 
 l<ft. At 11.25 Kefr Eish was about half a mile distant on our 
 ri_ght ; our guide said it marked the boundary between the gov- 
 ernments of el-Husn and Saf ita. There was a small stream at 
 1140 ; and here Burj Saf ita was visible, bearing N. 15° W. 
 apparently about three hours distant. 
 
 At 11.50 we descended into the lower plain, one of the richest 
 
 ' Silliman's Journal, ib. p. 310. 
 
Jem 14.] TILLAGES. JISR EL-ABTAD. 575 
 
 and most fertile that I had yet seen. The soil is a rich black 
 mould ; and the plain was covered with abundant crops of 
 wheat, millet, and cotton, with tracts of grass yet green. At 
 12 o'clock there was a brook, and a village Mesaideh on our left, 
 a mile distant.' Fifteen minutes later there was another small 
 brook, with the village Burj el-Maksiir a quarter of a mile distant 
 also on our left. We came at 12.35 to a larger brook in the 
 plain, flowing in a deep channel, and bordered by oleanders and 
 trees of the DerdS,r, seemingly a species of ash. Under their 
 shade we stopped an hour for lunch and rest. Here and along 
 all the streams, the oleanders were in full blossom. It was here, 
 an hour and a quarter from Jisr el-Abyad, that Burckhardt was 
 detained in March 1812, for a whole night, by the swollen 
 stream.' The plain in this part is a mile arid a half wide ; and 
 is drained S. S. W. towards the Kebir. West of it, towards the 
 sea, is a higher plain. On our left, on the declivity of the hills, 
 was the village Kefr Sa'rid, a mile distant ; and half an hour 
 further in the same direction, high among the hills, and not in 
 eight, was said to lie the village Suth el- Afrit. We had now 
 passed out of the district of Safita into another called esh- 
 Shareh, between Safita and 'Akkar. 
 
 Starting again at 1.35, we had on our left, at 1.55, the village 
 Semikeh, a mile and a half distant. There was a fine httle 
 fountain just on our right at 2.05, called Neba' esh-Shareh. In 
 these immense fields the harvest was now in progress. Much of 
 the wheat was already stacked in the fields, to be threshed out 
 more at leisure. We afterwards saw the people loading up 
 camels and donkeys from such stacks. At 2.15 the road from 
 Hums across the Bukei'a, united with that from Jisr el-Aswad, 
 came into ours. After a while the road left the alluvial plain ; 
 and crossing a rolling tract, we reached the Kebir, here coming 
 out of the hills almost parallel for a time with our course. The 
 village el-'6reimeh was on the left bank, about half an hour 
 above the bridge. The Jisr el-Abyad is at right angles to the 
 ■ road, both above and below. We crossed it at 2.45 ; having 
 first passed through a caravan of camels, which had stopped for 
 rest. The bridge is modern, resembling the two sides of a steep 
 roof, resting on a high arch.' The road to Tripoly continues 
 along the left bank of the stream for some distance. Here, 
 perhaps half a mil6 from the bridge, is the Wely of Sheikh 
 'Aiyash, and a large Khan now in ruins. 
 
 The Jisr el-Abyad is also known as Jisr Sheikh 'Aiyash, and. 
 Jisr el-Jedid. The channel of the stream is broad and deep ; 
 
 ' Perhaps the Besaida of oar former ' Trav. p. 161. 
 lists, inhabited by Turkmans; Bibl. Ke3. ■* In Barckhardt's day there was hero 
 1st edit III. App. 182. only a ruined bridge; p. 161. 
 
576 FROM EL-HTTSN TO BEIRUT. [SkcXUL 
 
 and although there was now no great quantity of water, yet 
 there were evident marks, that in the rainy season an impetuous 
 torrent here finds its way to the sea. Indeed, before the erection 
 of the bridge, caravans have been known to remain encamped on 
 the bank of the stream for weeks together, without being able to 
 cross it.' The Nahr el-Kebir is the great border stream, separa- 
 ting Lebanon and Phenicia from the region further north ; and 
 as such it corresponds fuUy to the Eleutlierus of the ancients ; 
 which Strabo in like manner describes as the northern Hmit of 
 Phenicia and Coelesyria.^ 
 
 Thus far we had been travelUng upon the great road from 
 Hamah to Tripoly ; into which had fallen, as we have seen, the 
 road coming from Hums through the Bukei'a, united with that 
 from Jisr el-Aswad. All the villages we had seen along the 
 road, are in the district of el-Husn. The Kebir serves, as of old, 
 to divide the district el-Husn on the north from that of el-'Akkar 
 on the south ; the latter including the northern part of Lebanon 
 and extending to the sea ; the former having on the west of it 
 the districts of Safita and esh-Shareh. 
 
 Our purpose was to proceed to the village of Heitela ; from 
 which place, as we had been told, we might hope to find a road 
 leading up into the mountain. We kept on, therefore, along the 
 Tripoly road, till 3 o'clock ; and then turned south on the direct 
 road to Sheikh Muhammed. At this time the village Jurat 
 Bursha was on our left, twenty minutes distant. The road soon 
 forked ; and we took the left, towards Heitela, going S. S. E. 
 till 3.15, and then south. We had on our left the village 
 Sharahmarin at 3.20 ; and Serar at 3.30 ; both of them lying 
 between Jurat BQrsha and Heitela, and each about twenty min-. 
 utes from our road, on the hills. As we descended a slope into a 
 narrow plain, Heitela was before us on the opposite declivity. 
 W-e came at 3.40 to a threshing-floor in the plain, where several 
 people from the village were at work. They all assured us, that 
 there was no road from the village leading up iato the mountain. 
 We therefore had no resource, but to proceed to Sheikh Muham- 
 med. Heitela here bore S. S. E. about twenty minutes distant. 
 
 We now turned southwest along the narrow plain and 
 through the fields, without a path, until we struck the road from 
 Heitela to Sheikh Muhammed. At 4.05 the village of Sa'din 
 
 ' Bnrckhardt, p. 161. Cabiri fKo;8€ipoi), ■whose worship was cur- 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 12. p. 753. Comp. Plin. rent in Phenicia ; die Phonizier I p. 663, 
 H. N. 5. 17, "Tripolis . . . Orthosia, comp. 651 sq. This seems far fetched; 
 Eleutheros fiumen." The same Eleutherus since the epithet '* Great " is entirely ap- 
 is probably meant in 1 Mace. 12, 30. propriate. — Pliny relates, that at a certain 
 Comp. Ritter XVIL p. 819 sq. — Movers season of the year, the river Eleutherus 
 scggests, that the present name el-Kebir, swarmed with tortoises; H. N. 9. 12. 
 "the Great," may be derived from the 
 
JnsKli.] NAHK KEBIB, ELETJTHEBTJS. KAHK 'aKKAR. 577 
 
 was on our right, on a hill, a mile distant ; and ten minutes 
 later on our left, half a mile distant, was the village Jamia'. 
 Hereabouts we fell into the direct road from the bridge to Sheikh 
 Muhammed, which we had before left. Our course was now Si 
 S. W. At 4.45 Tell 'Abbas, a mound in the plain, was on our 
 right half a mile distant, apparently with ruins upon it. From 
 the Kebir southwards, the road follows the base of the hills, or 
 rather the swellings of the mountain, here called Jebel 'Akk^r ; 
 having the great plain all the way on the right. 
 
 We came at 4.55 to the Nahr 'Akkar, which issues from a 
 ravine in the hills on our left, and here makes a bend towards 
 the north. A large canal is carried off on the north side for the 
 purposes of irrigation. Our road followed up the high left bank 
 for a little distance ; and here a slight dam was thrown across in 
 order to turn the water into the canal. Here too was another 
 silk-reeling establishment, with an undershot wheel turned by 
 water. The wheel was rudely constructed with boards as arms, 
 without a rim. In the mouth of the ravine, about a mile on the 
 left of our road, and on the south bank of the stream, lies the 
 village Khureibet el-Jundy, with an old castle ; from which the 
 stream is also known here as the Nahr el-Khureibeh. Further 
 west it is also called Nahr el-Hisa, from a village of that name.' 
 It was said to water the fields and gardens around 'Akkar, five 
 or six hours distant in the mountain.* 
 
 Proceeding onward, and skirting the base of the hills as 
 before, we came at 5.30 to the little ravine, on the south side of 
 which, on the hill or plateau above, lies the large village of 
 Sheikh Muhammed. We had no motive for climbing to the 
 village ; and therefore encamped in the ravine below, near a fine 
 little fountain. The sea was in sight, some four or five miles 
 distant. From our tent, a square structure with corner towers 
 in the plain, apparently half an hour or more from the sea, called 
 Kulei'at, bore N. 50° W.= It is two hours north of Nahr Barii 
 The village Semmawineh, perhaps an hour distant from us, bore 
 N. 70° W. 
 
 In all the villages near which we had passed to day, the 
 houses are built of black volcanic stones, showing the nature of 
 the region. But from this point southwards, we came again 
 upon limestone. 
 
 Among the gardens below our tent, there stood by the way 
 
 ' The village el-Hisa, is at one honr on in the vicinity ; and flows at first through 
 
 the direct road from Jisr el-Abyad to Tri- a wild gorge. 
 
 poly; Dr De Forest Ms. Letter. ' Mentioned by Abulfeda, with Halba 
 
 ' The ruined city of 'Akkar was visited and 'Arka, among the conquests of Bibars 
 
 by Mr Thomson in IS-tS ; and is described near Tripoly, in .A D. 1266 ; Annales, ed. 
 
 by him in the Bibliotheoa Sacra, 1848, pp. Reiske, V. p. 17 ; comp. Tab Syr. p. 204. 
 
 19-21. The Nahr 'Akkar has its sources Wilken de Bellor. cruo. Hist. p. 2a3. 
 
 Vol. III.— 49 
 
578 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XHL 
 
 side a large shrub or rather tree of the wJiite oleander, It was 
 in full blossom, and very beautiful. We had seen one small 
 shrub of the same in the splendid court of the British consurs 
 house in Damascus ; and this his lady set great store by, as rare 
 and difficult to be obtained. Here were finer blossoms in rich 
 profusion, with none to prize them. 
 
 Tuesday, June 15th. — Our purpose to go from el-Htisn 
 directly through the northern parts of Lebanon to the cedars, 
 had thus been completely frustrated. We had been able neither 
 to find a road, nor to hear of any. Every person of whom we 
 inquired along the way, confirmed the testimony of the monks, 
 that the only known route to the cedars was by way of Tripoly. 
 
 We might have proceeded from Sheikh Muhammed to 'Akkdr 
 by way of Jibra'il, Mr Thomson's route. But we were now 
 pressed for time ; it being important that we should reach 
 Beirut not later than the next Saturday. We learned that it 
 would take us three days to go by 'Akkar to the cedars ; while 
 the other route would require only a day and a half We there- 
 fore reluctantly gave up 'Akkar ; and decided to keep along near 
 the base of the mountain, and strike the road from Tripoly to the 
 cedars as far distant from that city as possible ; hoping thus to 
 save a considerable circuit. We afterwards regretted, that we 
 had not at least made the attempt to go by 'Akkar ; and we 
 also found, that we had gained little by avoiding Tripoly. 
 
 Setting off from our place of encampment below Sheikh 
 Muhammed at 6.25, we continued on a southwesterly course 
 along the base of the hills ; which between this place and Tell 
 'Arka curve a little inwards, forming a sort of amphitheatre on 
 our left. On these hills lay four villages, in the following order, 
 which we passed at the time and distances specified, viz. Halba 
 at 6.35, distant a quarter of a mile ;' Sheikh Taba at 6.45, dis- 
 tant half a mile ; ez-Zawarib at 6.55, distant three eighths of a 
 mile ; and Menyarah at 7.05, distant three fourths of a mile. 
 The plain upon our right lies around the great bay north of 
 Tripoly ; and bears the name of Jun 'Akkar.^ 
 
 At 7.20 we reached the site of 'Arka with its high Tell. 
 The remains of the former city are very few. The town lay 
 below the Tell mainly on the north, upon a plateau or terrace 
 overlooking the plain and sea. The heaps of ruins seen here at 
 present consist for the most part of ordinary stones ; from which 
 the conclusion may be drawn, that the common houses of old 
 were built, as now, of such materials. Among the heaps, we saw 
 
 ' Halba is mentioned by Abulfeda ; see f ita, some distance beyond the Nalir 
 
 note R, on the preceding page. Abras ; see Pococke II. i. p. 201. Thom- 
 
 " This splendid plain e.'ctends along the son in Miss. Herald, 1841, p. 98. 
 coast .IS far north as opposite to Buxj Si- 
 
June 15.] TILLAGES. 'ABKA. 579 
 
 in different parts the fragments of several granite columns. 
 The Tell is quite steep, and more than a hundred feet in height. 
 The top is a level area of two or three acres, which is ploughed 
 and cultivated. There are traces of a wall on the eastern and 
 southwestern parts, and perhaps elsewhere ; also a fragment of a 
 fine granite column, and a deep and good cistern hewn in the 
 rock. We noticed nothing else oh the summit, except heaps of 
 ordinary stones like those below. At the southern base of the 
 Tell runs the Nahr 'Arka, which issues from the mountains just 
 above, and rushes along its deep rocky channel towards the sea. 
 The side of the Tell over the stream is in part precipitous rock ; 
 and at its base Mr Thomson counted sixty-four columns, most 
 of them broken, and apparently throv/n down from above. 
 About one third of them are of red Syenite, and the rest gray 
 granite. ' 
 
 The present village of 'Arka is on the east of the Tell. Further 
 up the stream, on the left bank, is el-Hakurah ; and still further 
 up, on the right bank, is Kerm 'Asfur. The road passes around 
 the Tell on the west side ; and descends to a bridge across the 
 narrow rocky chasm of the river. Here is a mill, with a race 
 cut through a high rock by a short tunnel ; perhaps an ancient 
 work. — The prospect from the summit of the Tell is splendid ; 
 including the sea in front, the rich plain in the north, and the 
 snowy heights of Lebanon in the background. The Tell is from 
 an hour and a half to two hours distant from the sea.' 
 
 'Arka appears to have been a very ancient Phenician city ; 
 the seat of the Arkites mentioned in the earliest history of 
 Canaan.' We hear no more of it until the Christian era, when 
 Pliny and Ptolemy merely give its name.* Josephus speaks of 
 Area as lying on the route of Titus from Bsrytus by way of 
 the sabbatical river to Eaphanea and Antioch.' He says also, 
 that Area belonged to Agrippa's kingdom ; which I cannot 
 explain, except by supposing, that there was some political 
 relation between Area and perhaps Abila ; which last was part 
 of Agrippa's domain.* Pliny likewise mentions Abila and Area 
 -together, though separated by so wide an interval.' Coins of 
 
 ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 572 — Josephus here writes the name in 
 
 18i8, p. 15. Greek 'KpKoua. In Antt. 1. 6. 2, he has 
 
 ' Bearings from Tell 'Arka : Sheikh 'Apir^. Ptolemy has "'A/jwa (av). Hierooles 
 
 Muhammed N. 40' E. Kulei'at in the and Steph. Byzant. "Apxai. 
 
 plain, N. 30° W. 'Arka, village, E J m. ' Agrippa at first had Chalcis ; Jos. 
 
 Kerm 'A'sfur E. S. E 1^ m. el-Hakurah Antt. 19. 9. 1, 2. ib. 20. 5. 2. Afterwards 
 
 S. E. 1 m. Deir Delum S. W. by S in A. D. 52, he was transferred to thepro- 
 
 ' » Heb. •'p-15 , Arkite, Gen. 10, 17. 1 ™<=es which his father at first possessed ; 
 
 „, ,,_>,■' T I. A „** 1 c o to which others w;re later added ; Antt. 
 
 Chr. 1, 15. Comp. Joseph Antt^ 1. 6. 2 ^^^ ^^^^'^^ ^.^ 
 
 Ap«^^osephus speaks of another Ap^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^. ^^. ^^ 
 
 m Asher, the same with A«r<™«, Antt. ^^^..^ „, i^^/^^y typographical connection 
 
 ■ • Plin. H. N. 5. 16. Ptol. Geogr. 5. U. ^'f''^^% „ . -„ 
 ' Joseoh. B. J. 7 6. 1 • see above, p. ^"^ ^- ■"• "• ^''- 
 
580 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIHUT. [SecXIO. 
 
 Area are still extant ; from whicli it appears, that as early as 
 Vespasian the city was also called Ceesarea of Lebanon.' A 
 later Eoman historian infoj'ms us, that there was here a temple 
 dedicated to Alexander the Great, in which an annual festival 
 was celebrated in his honour. It probahly stood upon the Tell ; 
 and hence the columns, which now lie at the southern base. 
 In this temple, on the day of Alexander's festival, the emperor 
 Alexander Severus was horn ; and received his name from this 
 circumstance.'' Area was likewise the seat of a Christian bishop. 
 Early in the fifth century, Theodosius the younger made Bery- 
 tus the ecclesiastical metropolis of a new province ; to which 
 Byblus, Botrys, Tripolis, Orthosia, Area, and Antaradus, were 
 subordinate ; and bishops of Area are named until the close of 
 that century.' 
 
 In the beginning of the crusades, Area was still a strong for- 
 tress and a place of importance. In A. D. 1099, the first host 
 of the crusaders, who under count Eaimund of Toulouse 
 marched from Antioch up the valley of the Orontes to Hums, 
 and thence by el-Husn to the coast, laid siege to Area without 
 success. The strength of the fortress resisted all their efforts.* 
 While the army lay here encamped, occurred the famous dispute 
 about the holy spear, with which it was said the Saviour's side 
 had been pierced. This spear had been made known at Antioch 
 in a vision to a monk, Peter Bartholomew ; and was entrusted 
 to the guardianship of count Eaimund.^ As doubts arose and 
 became loud in respect to its genuineness, Peter proposed to 
 undergo the ordeal of fire in its behalf ; and with it in bis hands 
 to walk through the midst of flames. This was done ; Peter 
 and the spear appeared uninjured, or slightly injured ; but the 
 people in their veneration for Peter rushed upon him, tore off his 
 garments as relics, and otherwise so injured him, that he died 
 twelve days afterwards ; but whether from wounds received by the 
 fire, or from injuries at the hands of the people, is not definitely 
 related.' The result was unfavourable to the credit of the holy 
 
 * Caesaraea Libani, Eckhel Doctr. Num- Assyrians ; but the name in Assyria could 
 
 mor. III. p. 360. Mionnet Med. III. p. have no reference to 'Arka. 
 
 683, Gesen. Notes to Bnrckhardt, I. p. ' Le Quien Oriens Christ. II. 815, 
 
 620 sq. Comp. Aur. Victor de CiES. 24, 823. 
 
 **cm duplex, Casaraea et Area, nomen * Wilken Gesch. der Kr. I. pp. 253, 
 
 est." 2ti5. Raimund d'Agiles, who was present, 
 
 ' JEl. Lamprid. Alexand. c. 1, " Aure- -writes the name Archados, and says of the 
 
 lias Alexander urbe Arcena genitus." Ibid, place : " castrum munitissimum et inex- 
 
 c 6, "Alexandri nomen accipit, quod in pngnabile viribus humanis ;" Gesta Dei 
 
 templo dicato apud Arcenam urbem Alex- per Fr. p. 163. 
 
 andro Magno natus esset; quum oasu illuc ' Raim. d'Ag. pp. 150-152. WiUcen I. 
 
 die festo Alexandri pater cum uxore, pa- p. 214 sq. 
 
 trisE solemiiitatis implendae causa, venisset." ' Kaim d'Ag. pp, 168-171. Will. Tyr. 
 
 — According to Macrobius Sat. 1. 21, a 7. 18. Wilken ib. pp. 260-264. 
 VenuB irchitis was worshipped by the 
 
June 15.] *AEKA. HISTORICAL NOTICES. 581 
 
 spear. After a delay of more thaii two months before 'Arka, 
 count Kaimund, in consequence of the urgent desire of the 
 leaders and troops to press on towards the Holy City, unwillingly 
 yielded to their importunity and abandoned the siege.* 
 
 'Arka surrendered to count William of Cerdagne in A. D. 
 1108 ; ' but was captured by storm and desolated by Zenki in 
 A. D. 1138.' At what time it again came under the power of 
 the Franks, is not related. In A. D. 1202, 'Arka, as also Tripo- 
 lia, was laid utterly waste by an earthquake.* The impetuous 
 Bibars in 1266 seized possession of the region around Tripolis, in- 
 cluding Area ; which latter at the time had jurisdiction over fifty- 
 six villages.' This was some years before the surrender of el-Husn. 
 
 Edrisi in the twelfth century describes 'Arka as a populous 
 city, with much commerce, built at the foot of a hiU, with a 
 lofty citadel, and an extensive suburb equally populous. It was 
 supplied with water by canals from the adjacent river ; which 
 also served to turn mills and to water many vineyards and plan- 
 tations of sugar cane.^ Early in the fourteenth century, Abul- 
 feda speaks of 'Arka as a small place with a small fortress ; it 
 was then the extreme point of the Pashalik of Damascus.' At 
 what time and in what way the utter desolation of both city and 
 fortress took place, or how the very disappearance of their stones 
 is to be accounted for, we are nowhere informed. Possibly the 
 larger and more valuable stones have been removed to Tripoly, 
 and used for building up that city and its castles. There is said 
 to be a tradition of the place, that 'Arka has for centuries served 
 as a quarry for Tripoly.' 
 
 Of modern travellers, Dr Shaw, in 1722, was the first to 
 visit 'Arka and bring it into notice.' Pococke passed this way 
 about 1738. He mentions the river 'Arka, and supposes that the 
 city must have lain upon it ; but appears to have had no further 
 idea of its site.'" No other traveller seems to have heard of 
 'Arka until Burckhardt ; whose route we had now followed, and 
 whose account is quite brief" Mr Thomson was here in 1846, 
 and has given a fuller description."' 
 
 ' Will. Tyr. 7. 20, 21. Wilken I. p. a hundred feet in diameter. His acconnt 
 
 265 sq. probably rests on some popular legend. 
 
 ' Albert Aq. 11. 1. Wilken H. p 202. Shaw's Travels, Lend. 1757, p. 270. W. 
 
 ' De Guignes Hist, des Huns, 11. p. 474, M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 184a, p. 16. 
 
 Germ. Wilken II. p. 673. ' Tab. Syr. ed. Kohler, p. 113. 
 
 * Wilken VI. p. 7. ° W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sacra, 
 ' Abulf. Annal. ed. Reiske, V. p. 17. 1848, p. 15. 
 
 Wilken de Bellor. cruc. Hist. p. 223. De » Travels, Lond. 1757, p. 270. 
 Guignes Hist des Huns, IV. pp. 157, 158. ■» Pococke II. i. p. 205. 
 
 • Edrisi par Jaubert, I. p. 357. This " Burckh. Trav. p. 162. Burckhardt 
 account of Edrisi contradicts the idea of heard for the Nahr 'AkkSr only the name 
 Shaw, that the city was supphed with Nahr Khureibeh ; and for Nahr 'Arka he 
 water by an aqueduct from the mountain, writes Wady 'Akka. 
 
 Shaw speaks of an arch of this aqueduct -^ Biblioth. Sacra, 1848, pp. 15-17. 
 
 Vol. III.— 49* 
 
5S2 PBOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Shc. XIIL 
 
 The order of the five considerahle streams which flow 
 through the plain to the sea north of Tripoly, is correctly given 
 by Pococke.' Two and a quarter hours from Tripoly is the Nahr 
 el-Barid ; on the north side of which is a Kh^n, and above it the 
 remains of an extensive city.' This was probably Orthosia ; the 
 place of which ancient geographers do not definitely describe ; 
 but which appears to have been situated between Tripoly and 
 'Arka.' The next stream, a short hour beyond, is the Nahr 
 'Arka ; and then foUow the Nahr 'Akkar, an hour and a half; 
 Nahr el-Kebir, one hour ; and Nahr A bras, one hour.' 
 
 We left the bridge of 'Arka at 8 o'clock, ascending the steep 
 and high bank to the plain beyond. The road kept along the 
 plain, skirting the hills. At 8.20 the village of Deir Delum 
 was on the left upon a hill, half a mile distant. At 8.35 
 thex-e was a fork of the road ; the right going on directly to 
 Tripoly, whUe we took the left in order to cross the higher 
 tract lying east of Jebel Turbul between it and Lebanon. 
 From the fork Tell 'Arka bore E. N. E. Just beyond the 
 fork was a small Wady and brook, known as Wady Burkail, 
 from a village situated half an hour higher up on its banks, 
 and not in sight. This village is the seat of government for 
 the district. At 9 o'clock there was another smaller brook, 
 Wady Jamts ; and these streamlets became now so frequent, 
 coming from the hiUs and watering the plain, that I ceased to 
 note them. A village, Bibnin, was close on our left at 9.10. 
 The road we were now on, led also to Tripoly ; hence at 9.25 
 we left it, and went on S. 10° W. over the skirts of the hills. 
 At 9.40 we struck the brow of the deep valley of the Nahr 
 Barid ; and descending, forded the stream at 9.45. The current 
 was deep and very rapid, rushing over a stony bottom. Our 
 guide's young donkey was nearly swept away ; and came out 
 looking much like a drowned rat. The stream was thickly 
 skirted with oleanders. It is said to have a greater quantity of 
 water at this season of the year, than at any other. There was 
 now twice as much water in it, as in the Kebir. The source is 
 said to be at the base of the highest ridge of Lebanon, above 
 the large village of Su. Here is a large fountain, called Neba' 
 el-Mas-hur, supplied by the melting snow, and very copious in 
 spring and early summer. Our guide professed to be able to see 
 and point out to us the foaming stream as it issued from the 
 
 ' Vol. II. i. pp. 204, 205. Area, Antaradns. Le Qnien Oriens Christ. 
 
 • W. M. Thomson, ib. p. 14. II. 815. See above, p. 580. 
 
 ' The six cities assigned to the new ee- ' W. M. Thomson in Biblioth. Sac. 
 
 olesiastica! province of Berytus established 1848, p. 14. Also in Miss Herald, 1841, 
 
 under Theodosins the younger, are named p. 97. — Maundrell wrongly places the 
 
 in the following order, beginning from the Nahr Abras south of the Kebir ; Joum. 
 
 Bouth : Byblus, Botrys, Tripolis, Orthosia, March 8th. 
 
June 15.] VILLAGES. NAHR EL-BARID. 583 
 
 fountain. Flowing to the Nalir el-BSrid, it makes the river 
 twice as large at that season, as it is later in summer and in 
 winter. Nahr el-Barid is the southern boundary of the district 
 of 'Akkar.' 
 
 After crossing the stream, we turned up the left bank for a 
 little, ascending gradually to the top. At 10.20 the village Dir- 
 hala was opposite to us, on the high right bank of the stream. 
 At 10.30 we came out upon the higher plateau or plain, lying 
 between Jebel Turbul on the right, and Lebanon on the left. 
 It is somewhat uneven and rolling ; but in general well culti- 
 vated. Our course was now about south. Jebel Turbul thus 
 lies between Lebanon and the sea ; and a like ridge, though 
 much lower, runs on south of Tripoly.' Between this ridge and 
 Lebanon lies the higher and long plain on which we were now 
 entering, stretching far to the south, and cut through by the 
 Kadisha near Zugharta. The width is in general from an hour 
 and a half to two hours. 
 
 At 10.45 the village of Turbul was visible about southwest, 
 lying on the northeastern end of the high summit of Jebel Tur- 
 bul, to which it gives name ; it seemed to be a short two hours 
 distant. Kefreiya was said to he in the same direction, at the 
 foot of Jebel Turbul, about one hour distant, though not in sight 
 from our road. At 10.55 there was a fountain, 'Ain . 'Adweh, 
 near the village 'Adweh, which lies a little southwest. Our road 
 continued over the high tract, which thus occupies the water- 
 shed between the Barid and the Kadisha. On our left, along 
 the foot of the eastern mountain, was a depression or lower plain, 
 fertile and well cultivated. From its northern part a short 
 Wady runs off northwest to the BSrid ; while from its southern 
 part a large "Wady goes southwest to a branch of the Kadisha. 
 At 11.30 we came to the brow of this latter, the deep Wady H§,- 
 lan, running southwest. We descended into it obliquely, and 
 reached its plain at 11.45. At 12 o'clock the village Halan 
 was on the right bank just above us. The valley gradually 
 opens out into a lower plain. At 12.10 we stopped for lunch at 
 the fountains and plane trees of 'Ayiin 'Ashash ; a village of the 
 same name lying a few minutes towards the southwest. 
 
 Setting off again at 1.30, we once more found ourselves on a 
 great road leading to Tripoly ; and going, after a time, W. S. W. 
 We were now in an open plain, on the level of the Kadisha ; 
 one of its branches being on our left. At 2 o'clock the village 
 Erdeh was at our left hand, some forty rods distant, on a low 
 
 - Shaw erroneously regards the Nahr Leopardorum, "Leopard mountain," of 
 
 cl-Barid as the ancient Eleuthems ; Trav. the centuries after the crusades ; Brocardus 
 
 p. 271. 0. 2. p. 171. De la Eoque II. p. 6. 
 
 ' Jebel Turbul seems to he the Mom 
 
584 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. Xm. 
 
 Tell, with the meadows of the Nahr Kesha'in heyond it. Here 
 we turned off again from the Tripoly road, in order to pass 
 across directly to Zugharta. At 2.25 we struck and forded the 
 Nahr Kesha'in, the large northern branch of the Kadisha, which 
 comes down meandering from the northeast, where it issues from 
 the mountain. On its southern bank we ascended a little into 
 the village of Zugharta, on a plain, at 2.3Q4- Here, after all our 
 efforts, we were but an hour and a half distant from Tripoly ! 
 
 Zugharta is a large village on the great road from Tripoly to 
 Ehden and the cedars. There is in it an open public place of 
 good size ; and there are some good houses. Many of the people 
 of Ehden have houses and gardens in this village, and pass here 
 the winter months. Their houses were now shut up. 
 
 Our course was now along the great road leading from Tripoly 
 up the mountain to the cedars. After some delay we set off 
 again at 3 o'clock, going at first S. S. E. over an open country 
 extending to the foot of the mountain. At 3.30 the village Kefr 
 Hata was on the road ; and we descended into a fertile valley 
 with a little stream, called Wady el-Kh41idiyeh. Ascending 
 again we struck in a few minutes the right bank of Wady Ju'ait, 
 with a stream of the same name, the middle and smaller branch 
 of the Kadisha. Here too was a long canal for irrigation. At 
 4.05 we were opposite the village Kefr Yashit, situated on the high 
 and steep southern bank of the valley, half a mUe distant. We 
 now crossed the stream, and climbed very obliquely along the 
 steep declivity. The Wady here issues from its deep gorge, in the 
 lower ridge of Lebanon. At 4.30 there was a village on the 
 steep rocky slope overagainst us, Mirh Kefr Sugh§,biyeh, half a 
 mile distant. Just south of this village, the chasm makes almost 
 a right angle ; and runs up east through the first ridge as a still 
 narrower and more precipitous ravine. We now rose out of the 
 valley, and began to ascend the ridge on the south of the chasm ; 
 having on our right at 4.40 the village of ' Arjis, about a -mile 
 and a half distant on a low hill, and separated from us by a deep 
 valley. At 4.50 Bnesh'ain was below us a quarter of a mUe on 
 our right. At 5 o'clock the large village Dareiya was on our 
 right, a mile and a half or two miles distant. On the summit 
 of a hill just east of Dareiya was the convent of Mar Ya'kob ; 
 and farther east, on the declivity of the same hill, was the village 
 Kerm Seddeh. Still a little fiirther east, and lower, lay Matran 
 BUlus. We now came out upon the first plateau or terrace of 
 the mountain, narrow, rocky, and uneven. Thus far our course 
 since crossing the Nahr Ju'ait had been about south. 
 
 From this spot we looked out upon the sea ; and had a full 
 view over the level tract lying between the low ridge along the 
 
June 15.] ZUGHAETA. ASCENT OF LEBANON. 585 
 
 coast, called Jebel Knla',' and the base of Lebanon. It was bere 
 not less than two hours broad ; but grows narrower towards the 
 south ; in which direction, after six or eight hours, the lower 
 ridge and the spurs of Lebanon run together." The traveller, 
 who in passing along the shore south of Tripoly supposes himself 
 to be journeying along the foot of Lebanon, is quite mistaken. 
 North of Tripoli the low ridge rises into the higher and broader 
 Jebel Turbul ; between which and Lebanon, as we have seen, 
 the level tract is also continued ; though it is there less broad. 
 
 Our paih now turned easterly across the uneven plateau. On 
 our right was a Wady, and beyond it the village Sib'al, a mile 
 distant. East of this, and on the high brow of the next ridge, 
 was perched the village of Aitfi.^ At the same time the village 
 Mizyara was on our left, a mile and a half distant, beyond a 
 Wady ; and east of it, on higher ground, was Humeis.* At 
 5.50 we came to the foot of the next ascent ; and entered a deep 
 wild gorge, called Wady Heiruna, running up southeast through 
 the ridge. We crossed its channel, now dry, which passes down 
 westward on the south of our road ; and began to climb along 
 its southwestern side with great difficulty. Indeed the way was 
 in some parts almost impassable ; and we both pronounced it to 
 be the worst we had met with in Lebanon or in aU Palestine. 
 We were, however, already well nigh beat out ; having been to 
 day nearly twelve hours in the saddle. Finding that we could 
 not reach Ehden, as we had intended, until quite late, we 
 stopped at 6.40, after an hour and a half of very toilsome ascent ; 
 and turning off from the road a few rods to the right, we en- 
 camped at a sweet little fountain, called 'Ain Heiruna. Here, 
 in the deepest solitude, this spring of the purest water has served 
 to refresh many ; it has a little spout and a small trough be- 
 neath. Several people showed themselves round about ; and wo- 
 men came for water. They were said to be from Aitu ; and 
 were here to watch the fields of grain. From them our servants 
 obtained milk. 
 
 The recollections of this evening are among the most delight- 
 ful of my whole journey. We had all day, till 4 o'clock, plodded 
 our way along the sultry plains of the coast, beneath the scorch- 
 ing rays of a Syrian summer's sun ; but now we had ascended 
 to an elevation of some four thousand feet, and the cool evening 
 breezes of Lebanon were both invigorating and exhilarating. 
 We could overlook the mountain slopes below us, with the dark 
 
 • Burokhardt pp. 172, 173. lira. Matran Bulus S. S. W. 2 m. Sib'al 
 
 ' This plain extends south as far as to S. S. E. 1 m. 
 'Amyiln ; Dr De Forest, Ms. notes. Comp. * Bearings at 5.40 : Sib'al S. W. 1 m 
 
 Burokhardt pp. 172, 176 sq. Aitu S. by E U m. Mizyira N. 40° E. 
 
 ' Bearings at 5. 15 : Darejya W. by S. 1^ m. Humeis N. 60° E. 1 m. 
 
586 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Skc. XHI. 
 
 sea beyond ; and could trace the port of Tripoly and the many- 
 islets stretching off into the sea. Tripoly itself was hidden by 
 the hills. The sun set in splendour ; and we sat, during the 
 glorious twilight and evening, in the full enjoyment of the mag- 
 nificent scene.' 
 
 Wednesday, June l&th. — The cool air of the mountain had 
 given us a night of refreshing sleep. We set off at 7.25 ; and 
 had still a steep ascent of about fifteen minutes. Here and 
 below, the northern side of the gorge is a precipice of naked rock, 
 having the strata dislocated and nearly perpendicular. We soon 
 came out of the chasm, and continued to ascend gradually over 
 open ground ; a high, rocky, isolated point being on our right. 
 At 7.55 a path went off on the left to the Maronite convent of 
 Mar Antanus el-Kuzheiya.'' Ten minutes later we came out on 
 a high plateau, a tract of land uneven and broken, but cultivated ; 
 having on the south the deep gorge of Bsherreh with the stream 
 Abu 'Aly, the main branch of the Kadisha ; and extending for 
 an hour or two towards the north. To this plateau may be said 
 to belong the tract quite to the cedars. Here we fell in with 
 several purling rUls, brought down from the fountain of Ehden. 
 Our course was about S. S. E. Some of the fields of wheat 
 afforded little promise ; but others again were fine, almost as 
 good as in the plains below. They were however not yet ready for 
 harvest ; and would not be ripe enough under two or three weeks. 
 The silk-harvest of the mountain was equally behind that of the 
 plains. As we approached Ehden we came upon a field of pota- 
 tos ; the first I had seen in Syria, and which I saw only at this 
 elevation, in the highest cultivated parts of Lebanon. It was 
 laid out in beds, and regularly irrigated.' 
 
 We came at 8.35 to the village of Ehden, pleasantly situated 
 on the northwestern border of a deep gulf running southwest to 
 that of the Kadisha. The village stands also at the northwestern 
 outer edge of the great amphitheatre of mountains, which sur- 
 round the cedars ; at the extremity of the lofty spur,, which pro- 
 jects westwards from the great upper ridge to form that amphi- 
 theatre. It lies on a slope facing the south, at an elevation of 
 4750 English feet above the sea.* Here is an abundance of 
 water for every purpose, coming from a copious fountain ten 
 minutes east of the village. There are many vineyards ; and 
 
 ' Bearings at 'Ain Heiruna : Tripoly, ° Burckhardt in 1810 speaks of the po- 
 
 the Mina, N. 25° W. Ziigharta N. 20' W. tato as cultivated in this region ; Trav. p. 
 
 ^ Said to be two hours distant from 22. According to Seetzen the cultivation 
 
 Ehden. The convent has a small printing of it began not long before 1805; Reise, 
 
 office; and prints prayer books in Arabic L p. 16t. It was singular to see the po- 
 
 ■with Syrian letters See Seetzen in Zach's tato thus treated as a delicate garden vege- 
 
 Mon. Corr. XVI. p. 5.55 Burckh. Trav. p. table. See below, p. 596. 
 22. 0. V. Kichter p. 110 sq. Ritter XVII. ' According to Schubert, III. p. 365 ; i. 
 
 p. 651 See iu Vol. II. p. 507. [iil 460.] e. 4454 Paris feet 
 
JONE 16.] EHDEN. 587 
 
 figs and apricots flourish well. There was also fine shade from 
 many noble walnut trees. The people seemed thrifty and well 
 off", and there was no begging. As has been already mentioned, 
 many famiUes make their winter residence in Zugharta. The 
 people were very civil. We were detained for some time, in 
 order to have our horses shod. 
 
 Ehden is said to have been the birthplace of the Maronite 
 scholar, Gabriel Sionita, the editor of the Syrian version in the 
 Paris Polyglot. It was also formerly the seat of a Maronite 
 bishop.' South of Ehden, beyond the adjacent gulf, was the 
 village Kefr Sa'ab ; and still lower down, also on the further side, 
 that of Ban. 
 
 Leaving Ehden at 9.15 we passed on in a southeast course, 
 having the fountain on our left ; and kept along the border of 
 the gulf, which has its beginning towards the northeast, under 
 the adjacent mountain. At 9.30 we crossed the valley and its 
 stream, here merely a wild sheet of white foam, coming down 
 southwest from a fountain at the Maronite convent Mar Serkis, 
 situated just at the base of the mountain, fifteen or twenty 
 minutes on our left.* We now continued to ascend gradually 
 along this high basin, having on our left the lofty spur running 
 out from the great upper ridge of Lebanon ; this spur being 
 here a thousand feet high or more above the basin, with py- 
 ramidal clifis along the top, and becoming higher and higher 
 towards the east. On our right was a low ridge between us and 
 the gulf of the Kadisha ; through the breaks in which we could 
 see the lofty dorsal ridge beyond, with its snows. 
 
 We came at 10.30 to the eastern end of this basin ; and 
 crossing a low saddle, continued to wind our way among rocky 
 hills. Among these we passed a fountain called 'Ain el-Bakarah. 
 At 10.50 we had a view down a deep cleft into the gulf of the 
 Kadisha, a monstrous gorge, having five villages in sight on its 
 southern brow, and Bsherreh lower down on the side next us. 
 We still kept along upon and among the hills. At 11.10 there 
 was a fine fountain at the base of a ledge of rocks ; from one 
 orifice issued a spout of water two or three feet high ; and others 
 just below were boiling up quite strongly. It is called 'Ain en- 
 Nebat ; its stream runs or rather shoots down to the Kadisha. 
 
 ■ Le Quien Oriens Christ. III. 91-93.— hardt, I. p. 493 ; copied also by Ritter, 
 That it should accord with the learning XVII p. 650. The two names (one of 
 and taste of Maronite monks, to confound them with 'Ain) have no relation to each 
 
 SMen or Sheden ( , Joci) with :Eden o'^er c . p ■ 
 
 ^C/^^ On this convent, see Seetzen, Kcisen 
 
 (■|ir), and regard it as the ParaiesMS of j p 173 j suppose it to be the same 
 
 ancient writers, is not surprising; see above, which Pococke mentions in 1739 as the 
 
 p. 556. But that the same error should convent of St. Sergius, beIongi.;g, as he 
 
 be committed by a scholar like Gesenius, supposed, to the Latin Carmelites ; II. i. p. 
 
 is less excusable ; see his Notes on Burck- 101. 
 
588 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [SkcXIH. 
 
 We could now see the road from Ba'albek coining down over the 
 lofty and naked ridge of Lebanon, a little south of the cedars. 
 
 At last we fell into the great road from Bsherreh ; having, 
 as I suppose, followed a less usual path from Ehden, at least for 
 a part of the way. We now kept along for a time on the brink 
 of the great chasm ; and then more to the left. We reached 
 the cedars at 12 o'clock, situated a quarter of a mile north of the 
 road. Here we rested for three hours, beneath these shades of 
 solemn grandeur, embosomed among the loftiest heights of 
 Lebanon. 
 
 The cedars, which stiU bear their ancient name, ' stand mostly 
 upon four small contiguous rocky knolls, within a compass of less 
 than forty rods in diameter. They form a thick forest, without 
 underbrush. The older trees have each several trunks, and thus 
 spread themselves widely around ; but most of the others are 
 cone-like in form, and do not throw out their boughs laterally 
 to any great extent. Some few trees stand alone on the out- 
 skirts of the grove ; and one especially, on the south, is large 
 and very beautiful. With this exception, none of the trees 
 came up to my ideal of the graceful beauty of the cedar of 
 Lebanon, such as I had formerly seen it in the Jardin des 
 Plantes. Some of the older trees are already much broken ; and 
 will soon be wholly destroyed. The fashion is now coming into 
 vogue, to have articles made of this wood for sale to travellers ; 
 and it is also burned as fuel by the few people that here pass 
 the summer. These causes of destruction, though gradual in 
 their operation, are nevertheless sure. Add to this the circum- 
 stance, that travellers, in former years, (to say nothing of the 
 present time,) have been shameless enough to cause large spots 
 to be hewn smooth on the trunks of some of the noblest trees 
 in order to inscribe their names. The two earliest which I saw 
 were Frenchmen ; one was dated in 1791.° — The wood of the 
 cedar, Pinus cedrus, is white, with a pleasant, but not strong 
 odour ; ^ and bears no comparison, in beauty or fragrance, with 
 the common red cedar of America, Juniperus Virginiana. 
 
 I made no attempt to count the trees. Probably no two 
 persons would fully agree in respect to the old ones, or in the 
 number of the whole. Yet I should be disposed to concur in 
 the language of Burckhardt, who says : " Of the oldest and best 
 looking trees I counted eleven or twelve ; twenty-five very large 
 ones ; about fifty of middling size ; and more than three hun- 
 dred smaller and young ones." * Yet there is no room to doubt, 
 
 ' Heb. T-iS . Arab. •.,( , Arz. differ from white deal in appearance ;" H 
 
 /> L p. lOi. 
 ' Irby and Mangles noticed the date of « Trav. p. 19. This was in 1810 
 
 1640; Travels p. 210. [6o ] Seetzen in 1S05 gives the numbev of the 
 
 ' Pocooke says: "The wood does not largest trees at fourteen; Eeisea L p. 
 
June 16.] CEDARS OF LEBANON. 589 
 
 but that during the last three centuries the number of earlier 
 trees has diminished by nearly or quite one half ; while the 
 younger growth has in great part, if not wholly, sprung up during 
 that interval. Biisching enumerates by name no less than 
 twenty-six travellers between A. D. 1550 and 1755, from P. 
 Belon to Stephen Schulz, who had described and counted the 
 trees ; ' and since that time the number of like descriptions has 
 probably been hardly less than twice as many. In the sixteenth 
 century the number of old trees is variously given as from 
 twenty-eight to twenty-three ; in the seventeenth, from twenty- 
 four to sixteen ; in the eighteenth, from twenty to fifteen.' 
 After the lapse of another century, the number of the oldest 
 trees, as we have seen, is now reduced to about a dozen. All this 
 marks a gradual process of decay ; and it also marks the diffi^ 
 culty of exact enumeration. This is rightly ascribed by Fiirer, 
 and also by Dandini, to the fact, that many of the trees have 
 two or more stems ; and were thus reckoned differently by 
 different travellers, sometimes as one tree, and sometimes as two 
 or more.' All the travellers of the sixteenth century speak only 
 of the old trees ; they nowhere mention any young ones. 
 Rauwolf, himself a botanist, seems to say expressly, that he 
 sought for younger trees, without being able to find any.* If 
 this be so, it would appear, that with the exception of the few 
 remaining ancient trees, perhaps none of those, which now make 
 up the grove, can be legarded as reaching back in age more than 
 three hundred years.' 
 
 In the minds of the common people an air of sanctity is 
 thrown around the grove, the river, and the region. The an- 
 cient trees are sacred, as coming down from the times of 
 Scripture and Solomon ; and the river which has its source near 
 
 J69. In 1843 Dr Wilson counted twelve of dini, Par. 1675, p. 83. Daudini says, that 
 
 the ancient trees, not standing together ; while he counted 23 trees, another person 
 
 and of younger growth three hundred and of the company made out but 21. Hence 
 
 twenty-five ; Lands of the Bible II. p. 389. it was a matter of popular belief, that 
 
 The latest account (1853) makes .'bur hnn- they could not be counted correctly ; that 
 
 dred in all ; of which twelve are spoken of is, that no two persons would ever make 
 
 as the largest ; Ritter XVII. p. Bid. out the same number ; ibid. 
 
 ' Busching Erdbeschr. XI. i. p. 314. * Rauwolf p. 280: "So bin ioh anoh 
 
 ' Thus Belon about 1550 has 28 ; Fiirer ferner auff dem Platz umbher gangen, 
 
 in 1556 about 25 ; Rauwolf in 1575 has mich nach andem jungen welter umbzu- 
 
 24 and two others, the boughs of which sehen ; hab aber keine, die hernacher 
 
 were broken ofif by age ; Dandini in 1596 wachsen, linden mogen." 
 has 23. — In 1632 Roger has 22; D'Arvienx ' So far as it respects this particular 
 
 in 1660 has 23 ; in 1688 De la Roque has grove, the following note of Mr Bartlett is 
 
 20 ; and in 1696 Maundrell has only 16. probably correct : " So nearly has the ce- 
 
 — Korte in 1738 counted 18, very old and dar disappeared from Lebanon, that there 
 
 lar^e ; Pocooke about 1739 found fifteen, are scattered about the environs of London, 
 
 and one recently overturned by the wind ; within twenty miles distance, far more of 
 
 while Steph. Schulz saw twenty. Biisching these beautiful trees, than exist upon their 
 
 L c. ' original and poetic soil" Walks about 
 
 ' Fiirer p. 102 Lat p. 294 Germ. Dan- Jerus. p. 22. Comp. letter XVII. p. 647 8^ 
 
 Vol.. III. -50 
 
590 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Skc. XIIL 
 
 by is sacred, and is called el-Kadisha.' In fonner centuries, 
 the patriarch of the Maronites imposed various ecclesiastical 
 penalties, and even excommunication, on any Christian who 
 should cut or injure the sacred trees ; ' and the story is recorded, 
 that when some Muslims, who were pasturing in the vicinity, 
 were so hardened and impious as to cut some of the trees, they 
 were punished on the spot by the loss of their flocks.' In former 
 times,, too, the Maronites were accustomed to celebrate in the 
 sacred grove the festival of the Transfiguration ; when the 
 patriarch himself officiated, and said mass before a rude altar of 
 stones.* This law and these ceremonies are to a certain extent 
 continued at the present day ; " and the influence of them un- 
 questionably has been great upon the popular mind. The rude 
 altars of stones have in our day been superseded by a Marouite 
 chapel ; built within the last ten years." Several persons were 
 residing here duiing summer in connection with the chapel ; but 
 we did not learn what services were held in it. A part of the 
 object of these persons seemed to be to wait on travellers, or to 
 supply their wants ; and thus gain a claim for bakhshish. A 
 monk brought us wine for sale ; and seemed disappointed, when 
 we declined the traffic. 
 
 The cedars are not less remarkable for their position, than 
 for their age and size. The amphitheatre in which they are 
 situated is of itself a great temple of nature, the most vast and 
 magnificent of aU the recesses of Lebanon. The lofty dorsal 
 ridge of the mountain, as it approaches from the south, trends 
 slightly towards the east for a time ; and then, after resuming 
 its former direction, throws ofi' a spur of equal altitude towards 
 the west, which sinks down gradually into the ridge terminating 
 at Ehden. This ridge sweeps round so as to become nearly par- 
 allel with the main ridge ; thus forming an immense recess or 
 amphitheatre, approaching to the horse-shoe form ; surrounded 
 by the loftiest ridges of Lebanon, which rise still two or three 
 thousand feet above it, and are partly covered with snows. In 
 the midst of this amphitheatre stand the cedars, utterly alone, 
 with not a tree besides, nor hardly a green thing in sight. The 
 amphitheatre fronts towards the west ; and, as seen from the 
 cedars, the snows extend round from south to north. The 
 extremities of the arc, in front, bear from the cedars southwest 
 and northwest. High up in the recess the deep precipitous 
 
 ' Dandini, Voyage dn Mont Liban, Par. Mem. II. p. 408 ; eo too Seetzen, Reisen I. 
 
 1675, pp. 83, 84. p. 168. 
 
 " De la Roque, I. p. 71. D'Arvieux, ' Seetzen, Reisen I. pp. 167, 168. 
 
 Mem. II. pp. 414, 415. Zacli's Monatl. Corr. 1806, XIII. p. 549. 
 
 = Dandini, p. 84. " When Dr Wilson was here in 1843, a. 
 
 * Dandini, p. 83. De la Roqne, I. p. 72. monk begged aid for the erection of an 
 
 D'Arvieux speaks of several such altars ; oratory ; Lands etc. 11. pp. 389, 390. 
 
JoNKie.] CEDAES OF LEBANON. 591 
 
 chasm of tlie Kadisha has its beginning ; the wildest and 
 grandest of all the gorges of Lebanon.' 
 
 The elevation of the cedars above the sea is given by Kuss- 
 egger and Schubert at 6000 Paris feet, equivalent to 6400 
 English feet." The peaks of Lebanon above rise nearly 3000 
 feet higher.' 
 
 Besides the natural grace and beauty of the cedar of Leba- 
 non, which stiU appear in the trees of middle age, though not in 
 the more ancient patriarchs, there is" associated with this grove 
 a feeling of veneration, as the representative of those forests of 
 Lebanon so celebrated in the Hebrew Scriptures. To the sacred 
 writers the cedar was the noblest of trees, the monarch of the 
 vegetable kingdom. Solomon " spake of trees, from the cedar 
 tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out 
 of the wall." *" To the prophets it was the favourite emblem for 
 greatness, splendour, and majesty ; hence kings and nobles, the 
 pillars of society, are everywhere cedars of Lebanon.* Espe- 
 cially is this the case in the splendid description, by Ezekiel, of 
 the Assyrian power and glory.' — Hence too, in connection with its 
 durability and fragrance, it was regarded as the most precious 
 of all wood, and was employed in costly buildings, for ornament 
 and luxury. In Solomon's temple the beams of tbe roof, as also 
 the boards and the ornamental work, were of the cedar of Leba- 
 non ;' and it was likewise used in the later temple of Zerub- 
 babel.' David's palace was built with cedar ; ' and so lavishly 
 was this costly wood employed in one of Solomon's palaces, that 
 it is called " the house of the forest of Lebanon." '° As a matter 
 of luxury, also, the cedar was sometimes used for idols," and for 
 the masts of ships." In like manner, the cedar was highly 
 prized among heathen nations. It was employed in the con- 
 
 ' Irby and Mangles compare the amphi- ' Eussegger L p. 713. Schubert HI. p. 
 
 theatre to " the vale of the Dive in Savoy, 365. 
 
 and its Pont de Chevres ;" this I have not ' See above, p. 547. 
 
 Been. They also compare it with " the * 1 K. 4, 33 ; comp. Judg. 9, 15. 2 K. 
 
 Appenines at the back of Genoa ;" but this 14, 9. Ps. 29, 5. 104, 16. 
 
 does not strike me as agood parallel. Travels ^ Is. 2, 13. 14,8. 37,24. Jer. 22, 23. 
 
 pp. 209, 210 [65.) Comp. Schubert III. Ez. 17, 22. Zech. 11, 1. ete. 
 
 p. 360. D'Arvienx speaks of the amphi- " Ez. 31, 3-9. 
 
 theatre as a crescent, croissant ; Mem. II. ' 1 K. 6, 9. 10 ; comp. 5, 6. 8. 10. 1 
 
 p. 415. Dr Wilson, coming from Ba'albek, Chr. 22, 4. 
 
 when on the summit of the ridge over the " Ezra 3, 7. 
 
 cedars, and looking down upon them, writes ' 2 Sam. 5, 11. 7, 2 ; comp. Jer. 22, 14. 
 
 thus : "A great quadrangular opening in 15. 
 
 the range was before us to the west Wo '° 1 K. 7, 2. 10, 17. 
 
 observed, running down the middle of this " Is. 44, 14. Plin H. N. 13. 11. 
 
 opening, the dark line of the deep and pre- " Ez. 27, 5 ; where the description evi- 
 
 cipitons ravine of the Kadisba, the holy dently refers to splendid pleasure vessels. 
 
 river of Lebanon, with beautiful villages. Yet according to Pliny, " in jEgypto et 
 
 and the richest terraces lining its banks ; " Syria reges inopia abietis cedro ad classes 
 
 Lands of the Bible IL p. 388. feruntur usi ;" H. N. 16. 76. 2. 
 
592 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sbc. Xm. 
 
 struction of their temples, as at Tyre ' and Ephesus ; ' and also 
 in their palaces as at Persepolis.^ In the two latter instances, 
 however, Ephesus and Persepolis, it does not follow that the 
 cedar came from Lebanon ; though that of Syria was among 
 the most celehrated.* It is also very possible, that the name 
 cedar was sometimes loosely applied to trees of another species.' 
 
 The frequent mention in Scripture of the cedar of Lebanon, 
 and the uses to which it was applied, make it apparent, that in 
 ancient times large tracts of the mountain were covered with 
 forests of this tree. Diodorus Siculus also relates, that Leb- 
 anon was full of cedars and firs and cypresses of wonderfiil 
 size and beauty.' But the destruction of them for architec- 
 tural uses was far more rapid than their growth ; so that when 
 Justinian in the sixth century erected the church of the Virgin 
 (now el-Aksa) at Jerusalem,' there was great difficulty in 
 obtaining timber for the roof ; though after much search a spot 
 was found full of cedar trees of great height.' The destruction 
 still went on ; and it would appear, that as late as the middle 
 ages, private houses in Sidon, and probably also in Tyre and 
 other Phenician cities, were ceiled and ornamented with the 
 cedar of Lebanon.' 
 
 All these circumstances sufficiently account for the fact, that 
 in our day the "goodly mountain" appears almost denuded of 
 those graceful forests, which of old were its chief glory. The 
 impression, however, has far outstripped the reality ; and the 
 present grove has come to be regarded as the only representa- 
 tive of the ancient cedars. This impression has doubtless arisen 
 from the circumstance, that this grove only is adjacent to any 
 of the great roads, by which travellers have crossed over 
 Lebanon. Other cedar groves there might be, in the northern 
 and more inaccessible parts of the mountain ; which have 
 remained unvisited, and therefore unknown. Such indeed is 
 truly the case, according to the testimony of Ehrenberg and 
 others. That eminent naturalist spent a considerable time on 
 Lebanon ; and found, as he informed me, the cedar growing 
 
 ' Joseph. Antt 8. 5. 3. c. Apion. 1. 17, ' So Plin. H. N. 13. 11 ; comp. Winer 
 
 18. In this instance Ritter assumes, that Realw. art. Ceder. 
 
 the cedar had been thus used before the ' Diod. Sic. 19. 58, ri re upos toCto . . . 
 
 days of Hiram and Solomon. Such may vKTJpss 5* icrrl ^v\a>v KeSpiyuy Kal neuKwy 
 
 very probably have been the case ; but it koI Kvirapiaaipoiy, ^av^affruv t6 t€ koAXo; 
 
 does not appear from the language of Kal fifye^os. ' 
 
 Josephus. Erdk. XVII. p. 648. ' See in Vol. I. p. 296 [i. 438.] 
 
 ' In the great temple of Diana ; Salma- " Procop. de JEdif Justin. 5. 6. p. 822 
 
 sins ad Solin. I. 571. 6, " tectum ejus e Dind. It by no means follows, that this 
 
 cedrinis ti-abibus." spot was the present grove, but rather the 
 
 ' Q. Curt. Hist. Alex. M. 5. 7. 5, " mul- contrary ; for the present grove is situated 
 
 to cedro erat sedifioata regia." on one of the great public roads of Leba- 
 
 ■• Plin. H. N. 16. 76. 1, " At cedrus in non 
 
 Creta, Africa, Syria, laudatissima." ' See Vol. II. p. 482. [iii. 423.1 
 
Jdse 16.] THE CEDARS. LOCAL NAME OF THE MOITNTAIK. 593 
 
 abundantly on those parts of the mountain, lying north of the 
 road between Ba'albek and Tripoly. The trees are of all sizes^ 
 old and young ; biit none so ancient and venerable as those usu- 
 ally visited. Seetzen likewise, in 1805, speaks of having dis- 
 covered two other groves of greater extent ; but without specify- 
 ing their location.' It appears, however, that one of these was 
 near el-Hadith, southwest of Ehden ; and the other in the dis- 
 trict ed-Dunniyeh, south of'AkkSr;" but neither of them was 
 personally visited by Seetzen. He afterwards, however, was at 
 Etnfib, north of Ehden, where the region is wooded ; and there 
 he found cedars to the number of several thousands.' In 
 respect to the grove near el-Hadith, which the natives and 
 others speak of as Arz (cedar),* I was informed by Dr Paulding 
 of Damascus, that although the trees bear a general resemblance 
 to the cedar, yet their leaves are altogether different, and mark 
 them as a different kind of tree." This, however, does not con- 
 flict with the testimony of Ehrenberg ; since el-Hadith is south 
 of the chasm of the Kadisha." 
 
 The local name of that part of the high dorsal ridge of 
 Lebanon, which overhangs the cedars, we had sought after while 
 passing along the Biika'a,' and also all the way on our journey 
 from el-Husn hither. The object of our inquiry was to ascertain, 
 whether the name Jebel Mflkhmel (or Makhmel) given to this 
 part of the ridge on recent maps, is known among the common 
 people. It first appears on the map of Berghaus in 1835 ; and 
 was there introduced from the manuscript map of Ehrenberg. 
 But we were unable to find the slightest trace of it among the 
 native population. From Beirut I afterwards wrote to my 
 friend Mr Wilson, one of the American missionaries stationed at 
 Tripoly, inquiring whether perhaps the name was in use among 
 the people of that city. His reply was to the effect, that 
 although that portion of the mountain is usually spoken of as 
 the mountain of the cedars (Jebel el-Arz), yet the name given 
 on the maps is certainly understood by the people as being 
 applied to the highest peak of those mountains ; the same peak, 
 of course, which according to Dr De Forest is elsewhere called 
 Dahar el-Kt3dhib.' The name Mukhmel, therefore, is at the 
 
 ' Zach'sMonatl CoiT.1806,Xin.p.549. 74,79. Freytag's Lex. II. p. 408. See- 
 
 ' Seetzen, Reisen I. pp. 167, 179. tzen's Reisen f. pp. 173, 213. Gesen. The- 
 
 ' Ibid. p. 213. saur. p. 246 sq. 
 
 * Berciren, Guide etc. p. 152. Ritter ' For other supposed localities of the 
 
 XVn. p?638. cedar, see Ritter XVII. p. 638. 
 
 ' The SherUn of the Arabs, which 0. ' See above, p. 531. 
 Celsius and Kreytag hold to be the cedar, * See above, p. 547. — Mr Wilson says 
 
 is according' to Seetzen the cypress ; many that there is a difference of pronunciation ; 
 
 of which, he says, grow on the mountain which he writes as Mahmel or Mahmed. 
 
 east of Ehden. So too the Arabic and On this Dr Smith remarks : " Ihe spelling 
 
 Syriao versions often put SherUn for Sept. is somewhat confused ; but my inference 
 
 Kmripuraos. See 0. Celsii Hierobot. I. pp from the whole is, that Mukhmel is right* 
 Vol. III.— 50* 
 
594 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIEUT. [Sec. XIIL 
 
 most a mere local name at Tripoly, and apparently nowhere 
 else, for that highest peak ; and not for that part of the moun- 
 tain in general. It ought therefore to be dropped from the maps, 
 unless for that peak ; and the more general name of Jebel el-Arz. 
 or Jebel Bsherreh substituted. 
 
 The elevation of this highest point of aU Lebanon, as we 
 have seen, is about 9310 English feet.' That of the highest 
 point of the road between the cedars and Ba'albek, is about 
 7500 English feet." 
 
 We set off from the cedars at 3 o'clock, to go to Hasrun, 
 situated on the south side of the Kadisha below Bsherreh. The 
 great chasm of Bsherreh is formed from three lesser branches 
 coming from above, and uniting half an hour or more east of 
 that village. The northern branch begins nearly opposite the 
 cedars ; and in it, I suppose, is the fountain of the Kadisha 
 described by Seetzen and others.^ The middle branch is longer, 
 and seems to extend up quite to the base of the highest ridge. 
 The southern one is shorter and less deep. They unite and 
 form a broad basin, perhaps a thousand feet deep, with steep 
 sides but with a level and cultivated bottom. We had been told 
 of a road, by which we could pass around above the basin, and 
 so down the other side to Hasrun ; thus saving a great descent 
 and an hour or more of time. We even found a guide, who 
 professed to know the way ; but it all proved of no avail. We 
 went round the head of the northern branch ; crossed the second, 
 which was quite deep ; and were about to cross the third, less 
 deep, when the people in the fields assured us, that there was no 
 road on the other side, and that our horses would be mired in 
 the marshy fields. There was no alternative but to return to a 
 spot ten minutes south of the cedars ; and then follow the usual 
 road to Bsherreh. We thus lost an hour and a half. 
 
 We left that spot at 4.40 ; and soon came again to the 
 brink of the great chasm or basin on our left. The view here is 
 beautifial. The bottom, far down, and the southern side, were 
 green with tillage ; while the eastern end, where the three arms 
 enter, is rugged and desolate. About the middle of the west 
 end issues the very narrow, rocky, and precipitous gorge of the 
 river; on the northern corner of which, almost half way up, 
 stands the village of Bsherreh, looking up the basin, and having 
 the gorge as a sort of background of some of nature's wildest 
 forms. The road soon left again the verge of the basin, passing 
 behind a thin ridge which separates it from the latter ; and 
 
 " See above, p. 547. mun and Hasrun, south of tlie usual road ; 
 
 ' Ensseggei's estimate is 7000 Paris feet; III. pp. 355, 358. 
 
 L p. 713. Schubert gives 7154 Paris feet ; ' Seetzen, Eeisen I. p. 170. Berggren, 
 
 bat this is on a pass between the lake Li- Kesor, TIT. Bihang p. 12. 
 
JoNE 16.] BSHERREH. 595 
 
 then, turning around the western end of the same, it descends 
 along a side Wady to reach the village. This part is very steep 
 and difficult. On the right comes down a pretty stream from 
 the spouting fountain, 'Ain en-Nebat, and others, mentioned 
 above.' This forms a succession of waterfalls, in all not much 
 less than three hundred feet high ; while there is another just 
 below the village of nearly a hundred feet. We came to Bsher- 
 reh at 5.30, in one hour from the cedars. The elevation of the 
 village, according to Schubert, is 4610 English feet ; or about 
 1800 feet lower than the cedars, and more than a hundred feet 
 lower than Ehden.* 
 
 The village is situated on the projecting northern angle, 
 where the deep and rugged gorge issues from the basin. The 
 hiU, which rises steep and high behind it, was green with 
 tillage, fruit trees, and mulberry trees, which decked its slopes 
 in great profusion. The declivities are of course everywhere 
 terraced, and under high cultivation ; and hardly a village, of all 
 those I had yet seen, had more the appearance of industry, 
 thrift, and prosperity. Many people ^ere in the streets ; yet we 
 hardly met a female, who did not at once beg for a bakhshish. 
 Bsherreh was formerly, and is perhaps now, the seat of a Maro- 
 nite bishop.^ 
 
 The fertility of this upper region of Lebanon is mainly 
 caused by the great abundance of water. Fountains and 
 streams are everywhere bursting forth ; and even the high 
 declivities of the hills are richly irrigated. Such too is the ele- 
 vation, and consequent coolness of the climate, that at this 
 season everything was yet green ; and the harvest would not 
 begin for some days or weeks yet to come. The harvest from 
 the silkworms too was equally backward. In the plains below 
 it was already over ; the mulberry trees were stripped ; and the 
 people were reeling the cocoons. Here on the mountain they 
 were just beginning to hatch out the worms ; and the mulberry 
 trees had not yet been touched. The houses for the silkworms 
 are here mere booths, built up of reeds, twigs, or furze, just 
 enough to ward off the sun. They are seen around all the 
 villages. — The trees around Bsherreh are particularly fine, com- 
 prising walnuts, pear trees, fig trees, and many others.* 
 
 We stopped ten minutes ; and then proceeded at 5.40 
 through the lower part of the village. We crossed the stream 
 of the waterfalls above the lowest one ; ' and then continued 
 
 ' See above, p. 587. * See also Burckhardfs Trav. p. 20. 
 
 ' Schubert Reisen HI. p. 365. n. * According to Seetzen this is called 
 
 ' De la Koqne I. p. 65. Dandini, ch. Nahr Mar Seman (St Simou) ; Reisen L 
 
 34, p. 175. Comp. Le Qnien Oriens Chr. pp. 158, 160. 
 
 in. 95, 97. 
 
596 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XIH. 
 
 along the declivity in order to cross tlie Kadisha at a higher 
 level, and thus save stiU a considerable descent. On our left, 
 high up under the rocks of the northern precipice, was perched 
 a convent, which our guide from the village said was inhabited 
 by Franks. It is the Maronite convent of M^r Serkis at Bsher- 
 reh ; where Seetzen spent several weeks in July and August, 
 1805, and has described the beautiful view.' It is often the case, 
 that Franks of the Komish communion, both monks and laymen, 
 reside here for a time. We struck the stream of the Kadisha at 
 6.10, near a mill and a bridge. The latter was constructed by 
 laying trunks of trees across the stream, and covering them with 
 small flat stones ; a frail and hazardous structure. Here we 
 waited rather impatiently for our baggage mules to come up. 
 It turned out that one of them had fallen, and had to be 
 reloaded. After half an hour's delay, we set off at 6.40 ; and 
 having crossed the river, we turned west and ascended obliquely 
 along the southern declivity. We soon had on our right the 
 deep and very narrow gorge, with perpendicular walls not less 
 than 1000 feet high. Near the bottom of the gorge, in a small 
 chasm on the north side, stands a convent, almost hidden from 
 the sun and light of day.' We now kept along upon the high 
 left bank, often looking down into the gorge. Here again we 
 fell in with fields of the potato. There was also rich cultivation 
 all around. At 7 o'clock we passed below Bka'kefreh, a quarter 
 of a mile on our left ; and then by Bkarkasha at 7.15, and just 
 below Bez'un at 7.30. We came to Hasrun at 7.45 ; and after 
 some difficulty in finding a place, encamped for the night in a 
 ploughed field. We had thus been an hour and a half in passing 
 from Bsherreh to Hasrun ; while in a straight line the distance 
 between them cannot be much more than a mile. 
 
 Hasrun is a large and flourishing village. It was formerly 
 the residence of a Maronite archbishop f and the birthplace of 
 the Maronite Joannes Hesronita, one of the editors of the Paris 
 Polyglot.* It stands upon the extreme point or angle, which 
 projects out between the deep gorge and a short side Wady 
 which runs up south ; and on the east of the latter. This angle 
 is formed by a perpendicular precipice of rock ; on the very 
 verge of which Hasrun is situated, overhanging the depths 
 below. Nearly opposite, and a little towards Bsherreh, the rocks 
 
 ' Reisen I. p. 158 sq. 208. — Both Seetzen Mar Elisha' mentioned by De la Roque 
 
 and Burckhardt speak of this as a Car- But that convent, according to De la 
 
 melite convent ; and in Burekhardt's time Roque's account, would seem to have heen 
 
 there was here only a single monk, a native farther distant from Bsherreh. See De 
 
 of Tuscany, probably the Pater Louis of la Roque I. pp. 63, 65. 
 Seetzen. Burckh. p. 20. " Le Quien Oriens Christ. II. 95. 
 
 ' We did not learn the name of this ' Geseniiis Notes 'on Burckhardt, L p. 
 
 convent. Lord Lindsay speaks of it as the 493 Germ. 
 
Junk 16.] VILLAGES. HASKUN. 597 
 
 on the north side of the chasm likewise project a little ; and 
 on that point stands the village of Hadshit. The people of 
 Hasriin and Hadshit can converse together across the great 
 chasm ; but to pass from one village to the other requires 
 nearly two hours. Another village on the north side was also in 
 sight, named Bliidha, an hour further down. The people of 
 Hasriin were building a new church, the largest which I saw in 
 the mountains. One stone measured about nine feet long by a 
 foot and a half thick. This is large for a modem building ; 
 though nothing in comparison with the stones of the ancient 
 temples. 
 
 The view of this great gorge or chasm and the region around 
 is exceedingly striking. The gorge is for the most part deeper 
 and wilder than any other in Lebanon. Its great depth ; its 
 sides, rocky, precipitous, and dark, closely approaching each 
 other below, and then in some parts gradually sloping off and 
 opening out above ; the rich cultivation and exuberant fertility 
 of every spot where earth can be made to lie ; the gardens of 
 fruit trees, the mulberry plantations, and the fields of grain and 
 vegetables, clothing and adorning its sides, and mingling every- 
 where with bold romantic rocks and precipices ; the villages 
 sometimes peeping from among the trees, and sometimes perched 
 picturesquely on the rocks ; the convents thrust into curious 
 remote nooks and inaccessible places, sometimes deep in the 
 valley, and sometimes on the summits of the surrounding moun- 
 tains ; all these together presented a scene singularly wild, pictur- 
 esque, and beautiful.' The head of the valley, from Bsherreh up- 
 wards, is particularly striking, as seen from below. The eastern 
 part of the deep basin is comparatively barren and naked. But 
 it or its branches extend up so closely to the base of the high 
 dorsal ridge of Lebanon, that from the bottom of the great 
 Wady to the summit of the mountain it appears only as one 
 unbroken slope. The streams from the sources of the Kadisha, 
 and from the fountains 'Ain en-Nebat, 'Ain el-Bakarah, and 
 Neba' Mar Serkis, tumble and foam in cascades along their 
 channels, to form the sacred river. In looking back the next 
 day from a spot about half an hour west of Hasrun, the view 
 was particularly fine ; including the deep gorge and basin ; the 
 verdure and villages of Hasrun, Hadshit, and Bsherreh ; the 
 streams from the fountains ; the cedars ; and the magnificent 
 snow-capped mountain range, which forms the amphitheatre in 
 which all these objects are embosomed. Here are seen combined 
 the beauty and the grandeur of Lebanon. 
 
 It is remarkable, that no ancient writer, so far as is known, 
 
 ' Comp. also Burckhardt, p. 20. 
 
598 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XIIL 
 
 makes any mention either of the chasm or the stream of the 
 Kadisha. 
 
 Thursday, June V7th. This was a festival day ; and the 
 hells of churches and convents were ringing all around us during 
 the morning. Our plan now was to proceed southwards, keep- 
 ing along as near as possible to the lofty upper ridge of Lehanon ; 
 so as to visit the higher basins and sources of the Nahr Ibrahim 
 and Nahr el-Kelb, and if possible also those of the Nahr Beirflt, 
 before descending to the coast. Our route to day was the same 
 with that of Burckhardt in September, 1810 ; which he has 
 briefly described.' 
 
 We left Hasrun at 6.35, going around the head of the short 
 but deep side chasm. Our road was the same with that to el- 
 Hadith. We kept on west along the left brow of the great 
 chasm of the Kadisha, just above the precipitous ]iart, and 
 gradually rising and diverging from it. There were many noble 
 views in various directions. Especially at 7.15 the view back 
 was magnificent, being the one described on the preceding page. 
 Here too we came upon trap rock, then upon red sandstone, 
 and afterwards these were intermingled with limestone. But 
 although we fell in with many tracts or spots of sandstone along 
 our route, yet we saw none of the usual pine trees, until we 
 reached the basin of the Nahr el-Kelb. 
 
 At 7.30 we came to the right bank of a large Wady, which 
 runs up south, nearly at right angles from the chasm of the 
 Kadisha ; which latter, just below the junction, turns more 
 towards the northwest. Below, on our right, in the angle 
 between the two, on the east side of the branch Wady, is the 
 convent called Deir Bdaman. This convent, like Deir Kanobin, 
 belongs to the Maronite patriarch ; and in it he spends a part of 
 the summer. Around the convent is a village, called also Bda- 
 man. On the north side of the great cliasm, and opposite the 
 mouth of the branch Wady, is the village of Bludha already 
 mentioned. On the same side, about half an hour below 
 Bludha, is Arbet Kusheiya. On the west side of the branch 
 Wady, in the angle opposite Bdaman, is Kunweir. On the west 
 of this branch Wady there rises an elevated ridge of cultivated 
 land, which extends also for some distance along the left side of 
 the great chasm, after its change of direction. On the summit 
 of this ridge, nearly west from Kunweir, is the village el-Hadith, 
 which now bore from us W. N. W. about three mUes distant. 
 Beyond the top of the ridge, and between Hadith and the 
 Kadisha, are the villages of Kunat and Tirza, which were not 
 here in sight ; the latter being the northernmost.' Midway on 
 
 ' Trav. in Syr p. 23 sq. Kanobin by Tirza to el-Hadith ; Reisen L 
 
 ' Seetzen passed in July, 1805, from p. 178. 
 
June 17.] MANY VILLAGES. WADT ED-DUWEIE. 599 
 
 the face of the precipitous northern declivity of the chasm of the 
 Kadisha, some distance below Arbeh, and not within our view, 
 is the convent Deir KanQbin, the chief seat of the Maronite 
 patriarch.' — From the point where we now stood, the cedars bore 
 due east by compass. 
 
 Our road now turned more to the southwest, ascending 
 gradually along the eastern side of the branch Wady. At 7.40 
 we passed through a hamlet reckoned as part of Bdaman, and 
 called Brasit. Five minutes later the road to Hadith went off 
 across the Wady, while we kept on ascending southwest. At 
 7.50 the village Harat Beit Dabul was on our right in the head 
 of the Wady. We reached the top of the ascent at 8.15 ; here 
 Hadith bore N. N. W. The position of Ehden was also pointed 
 out, about N. by E. but the place itself was hidden by the fog, 
 which lay in patches all over the mountain. 
 
 For twenty minutes we now passed over rough table land ; 
 and came at 8.35 to the brow of the deep and wild chasm of 
 Wady ed-Duweir. Here came in a road from el-Hadith. We 
 had thought of passing around by that village, which would 
 have taken us at least an hour longer. We had now left the 
 basin of the Kadisha. The Duweir descends either to Nahr el- 
 Asfur, or to Nahr el-Jauzeh at Batrun ; but to which, we could 
 not fully ascertain. On our right was here seen the same lower 
 rocky desolate ridge of Lebanon, through which we had passed 
 up by way of Wady Heiruna. It was here broken up into sharp, 
 rugged, naked peaks and ridges ; through which the little stream 
 of Wady ed-Duweir finds its way down. Between this ridge 
 and the lofty upper ridge lies the tract which we were about to 
 traverse, high, broken, barren, and gashed with many chasms. 
 Far in the S. S. W. we could see before us what seemed like a 
 battleraented hill, directly in our course. 
 
 We descended and crossed the brook of Wady ed-Duweir at 
 8.45 ; there was a little tillage of grain on the declivities, but 
 no village in sight. After a steep ascent, we came out on the 
 top of the southern side at 9.05 ; and here trap appeared again. 
 There was now for a short distance a tract of rough ground ; 
 and then we descended into the deep Wady Harisa, crossing its 
 little stream at 9.45. This Wady comes down from the very 
 base of the lofty ridge of Lebanon ; there is a little tillage in it 
 further up ; and it passes down by a deep and rugged chasm to 
 join the stream of Batrun. The millet was here just sprouting 
 from the ground. 
 
 ' This name is the Greek Koivi$toy, before and after them ; Pocooke 11. i. p. 
 
 Jj&t. Ccenobiwn, a. convent. — This convent 103. Seetzen, lleisea L p. 175. Burck- 
 
 was visited by Pococke, Seetzen, and hardt p. 21. 
 Burckhardt, as well as by many others 
 
600 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. {Sec. XIH. 
 
 Before us was now a still higher ridge, which we ascended 
 gradually. At 10.20 we crossed a small stream, coming froin 
 'Ain el-Beida a little on our left, and running to Wady Harisa. 
 We stopped five minutes to reload a mule. Here again we came 
 upon sandstone ; and afterwards wound along the steep eastern 
 declivity of a hiU of loose trap, to the pass of the ridge at 11 
 o'clock. This was truly an Alpiae pass, with p'atches of snow 
 all around us. Our course was here for some distance south- 
 west. We now were on table land again for fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, with the lofty ridge of Lebanon immediately on our 
 left. Below us, on the right, was the Wady Tannurin, just 
 here parallel to our course, but soon turning west towards the 
 sea at Batrun ; a deep, wild, and rugged chasm. On its western 
 declivity, near where it turns west, and about a mile distant 
 from us, were the two villages, Tannilrin et-Tahta and el-F6ka 
 (lower and upper) ; the former bearing N. W. by W. and the 
 latter W. N. W. Further down, just below the turn of the 
 valley, was seen the Maronite convent, DeirHtib.' 
 
 The upper portion of Wady Tannurin I suppose to be that 
 to which we next came, called Wady Bushrikh. It is perhaps 
 the deepest and most rugged of all those we crossed ; and comes 
 from the base of the highest ridge. We descended far, and then 
 passed to the left around its head, some two hundred feet or 
 more above the bottom. We were opposite the bottom at 11.40. 
 In it is a fountain called Neba' el-'Akab. Ascending again we 
 came out at 11.50 upon rugged table land, a high plateau, 
 where camels were browsing. This is the tract called Ard 
 'Akluk.' 
 
 Ever since we turned southwest at Bdaman, we had been 
 gradually gaining in elevation, and approaching closer to the 
 highest ridge of Lebanon. So high were we indeed, as to have 
 passed many large masses of snow, some above and some below 
 our path. Fine views of the sea and coast were frequently 
 presented. Ard 'Akluk is a plain having quite an irregular sur- 
 face ; in some parts bristling with rocks, in others green with 
 pasture. Many basaltic fragments are scattered over the plain. 
 It extends for about two hours in length, between Wady Bush- 
 rikh and the brow of the descent to 'Akurah. It is quite 
 narrow ; having on the east the highest range of Lebanon, and 
 on the west the lower parallel ridge of naked and jagged peaks 
 above described. This latter becomes higher south of Wady 
 Tannurin, and even more bristling and desolate, if possible ; and 
 retains this character as far south as to the basin of the Nahr 
 
 ■ This convent and the villages were ' Burckhardt wrongly writes Lakluk; 
 visited by Seetzen in 1805, coming from p. 23. 
 Hadith ; Reisen L p. 187 sq. 
 
JdotIt.] tannuein. akd 'akluk. 601 
 
 el-Kelb, In this part it is also of greater width towards the 
 sea. Ard 'Akluk is so high, that much snow was still lying in 
 patches upon it, as well as on the adjacent mountain. The 
 melting of the snow waters the ground, and forms little streams 
 in the plain ; and in consequence it was now covered in many 
 parts with green grass, affording fine pasturage. There was 
 nowhere any cultivation. There is no village of the name of 
 'Akluk. A few Arabs were encamped here, to whom the camels 
 belonged. According to Burckhardt they are of the Arabs 
 el-Haib, who usually pass the winters on the sea shore around 
 Jebeil, Tripoly, and Tartus ; though these families sometimes 
 descend in winter only to the villages of Tannurin or 'Akurah.' 
 
 As we came out upon Ard 'Akluk we found ourselves ap- 
 proaching the pyramidal hill already mentioned, with rocks 
 projecting singularly around its summit, looking at a distance 
 like the battlements of a large fortress. Other rocky points were 
 on the left of it. At 12.35 we were at the western base of this 
 hiU. Snow lay in patches on its sides ; and one large mass was 
 directly in our path. It was so firm, that the loaded mules 
 crossed it as on a hard path. Half an hour previously, one of 
 our muleteers from Hdsbeiya had turned aside and gathered a 
 large ball of snow, which he carried in his arms, for the rarity of 
 the thing ; here the rarity was gone, and he threw it away. At 
 12.45 we stopped for lunch, still under the southwest flank of 
 the hiU, with a low ridge before us. The wind was so cold, that 
 we sat down in the sun ; and I found an overcoat no burden. 
 
 Just north of the same hill a path comes up from Tanniirin ; 
 and crosses over the high ridge of Lebanon to Ba'albek. This 
 route was followed by Dr De Forest in May 1848, coming from 
 Tripoly by 'Amyun and Tannurin. Half an hour east of our road 
 he lost sight of the sea ; and then crossed a Wady descending 
 towards 'Akurah, an hour and a half distant. In half an hour 
 more he was again upon the high ridge ; and came in half an 
 hour to a small fountain, 'Ain er-Kumeh. Fifteen minutes 
 further he began the proper descent of the mountain ; and the 
 road brought him to the northeastern end of the lake Yemmoneh.' 
 
 Starting again at 1.30, we immediately turned around the 
 shoulder of the hill ; and ascending a little S. E. by S. we came 
 at once to look down into the great valley, in which lie 'Aktirah 
 and the sources of the Nahr Ibrahim ; having the lofty masses 
 of Sflnnin towering directly overagainst us. Here, as we saw 
 afterwards, we were upon the summit of a mighty spur thrown 
 off southwest from the main ridge of Lebanon, similar to that 
 which shuts in the amphitheatre of the cedars on the north. In 
 
 ' Burckhardt p. 25 sq. ' Ms. Notes. 
 
 Vol. Ill— 51 
 
602 FBOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [SKa XIIL 
 
 like manner this spur forms the northwestern side of the great 
 valley below us. At first it is as high as the main ridge itself ; but 
 declines gradually towards the southwest. We were here almost 
 upon its highest part, which is marked by the battlemented hill ; 
 and were very near to the main ridge ; and this point was prob- 
 ably the highest that we reached. 
 
 The great valley below us is usually called Wady el-Mu- 
 gheiyireh, from a village in it ; but might with more propriety 
 be known as Wady el-'Akurah. It runs up northeast apparently 
 under the northern flank of Jebel Sunnin ; and seemed separated 
 from that mountain only by what here appeared as a vast pro- 
 jecting flank or terrace. But we afterwards found, that there 
 were several intervening valleys and ridges ; among which are 
 the Alpine tract known as Watty el-Burj,' and various Wadys 
 running up above the main sources of the Nahr el-Kelb. As 
 here seen, the great valley on this side of Sunnin seemed nearly 
 on a level with the Buka'a on the other side ; the snowy flanks 
 of Sunnin being about equally exposed in both directions. But 
 m the valleys both of 'Akurah and Afka below, Sunnin is no- 
 where visible. 
 
 The descent to 'Akiirah was steep and very long ; it took us 
 an hour and twenty minutes to reach the village, at 2.50, situ- 
 ated on the northwestern declivity of the valley, just above the 
 bottom. It Kes in the very head of the great valley, looking 
 down its course southwest. This end of the valley is shut in by 
 a lofty transverse wall of almost perpendicular rock, a thousand 
 feet high, and extending northwest of the iUage ; so that the 
 latter lies under it. In the rear of the village there is a narrow 
 cleft in this wall of rock ; through which a road leads up, and 
 continues over the mountain to Ba'albek ; uniting, as I suppose, 
 after an hour and a half or more, with the track followed by Dr 
 De Forest.^ On this road, an hour from the village, the priest 
 said there were inscriptions in the Frank character ; meaning 
 probably not Arabic.^ In 'Akurah itself there are no ancient 
 ruins ; but the people tell of there being no fewer than forty 
 ruined churches and convents in the neighbouring hills. This 
 of course must be taken with much allowance. The inhabitants 
 are Maronites ; and it was formerly the seat of a Maronite 
 bishop.* The priest came to us, and was very courteous. Burck- 
 hardt complains of the inhabitants as inhospitable.' 
 
 The great Wady el-Mugheiyireh, thus shut in at its head, is 
 deep, rugged, and rocky ; but every accessible spot of earth is 
 carefully cultivated, and is rich with fruit trees and grain. Half 
 
 ' Burckhardt p. 25 fq. Greek inscriptions ; Trav. in Syri;', p. 209. 
 
 ° See the preceding page. ' Le Quien Oriens Christ IIL 93. 
 
 ' Burckhardt also heard of these, as ' Pp. 24, 25. 
 
JcsElT.] 'AKURAH. EL-MTJNEITIHAH. 603 
 
 ■way Tip a precipice on the east of the village, there was pointed 
 out to us a wall of loose stones. This was said to enclose a field 
 of wheat on a terrace of the high rock ; to which they contrive 
 to get up their cows and plough it. Indeed, the cattle of the 
 mountains climb the rocks almost hke goats. The whole scenery 
 around the village is romantic and impressive. 
 
 Setting off again from 'Akurah at 3.05, we descended and 
 crossed the little brook, which issues from the cleft in the preci- 
 pices ; and then kept along close under the high wall of rock, 
 about S. by E. At 3.40 we were quite across the valley, in its 
 farther angle. Here is a shallow cavern, or recess in the high 
 rocky wall ; out of which, in the rainy season, a torrent flows. 
 Before it lies a long flat stone, broad enough to form a complete 
 natural bridge, over which the road passes. The bridge is nearly 
 or quite two hundred feet above the bottom of the valley ; and, 
 at this season, a large fountain gushed out on the declivity below 
 it, and rushed to the valley. It is called i^eba' Kuweis. 
 
 We now turned S. S. W. along the foot of the high and 
 steep ridge, which shuts in the valley on its left side. Here was 
 a formation of the valley, such as is often foujd, especially fur- 
 ther south. From the base of the high and steep mountains on 
 each side, an undulating plateau or terrace slopes down gradually 
 towards the middle. This is usually fertile and cultivated, and 
 on it are villages. In the middle is the chasm of the stream. 
 This is much lower ; sometimes narrow and rugged, or again 
 much broader, with tillage and villages. Our path was now 
 upon the southeastern terrace. At 3.50 we were opposite the 
 vUlage of Mejdel in the lower valley, west of the stream, a mile 
 distant. The whole valley here appeared as shut in by a high 
 mountain on the northwest ; that from which we had descended. 
 The stream runs southwest, and in that direction breaks through 
 the ragged western ridge above described, by a deep and wild 
 gorge." The village of el-Mugheiyireh is nearly an hour below 
 Mejdel, upon the higher western terrace. 
 
 At 4.45 we turned to the left around the angle of the moun- 
 tain, and entered another large and similar, though shorter 
 valley, with a stream, coming from the southeast. Keeping 
 along upon the northern terrace, we came at 5 o'clock to the 
 village el-Muneitirah, situated upon it near the head of the valley ; 
 which here also is surrounded by lofty precipitous mountains. 
 On the opposite terrace, the village of Afka was in sight over- 
 against us, bearing W. S. W. Here at el-Muneitirah were two 
 wine-presses hewn side by side in the rock, much resembling the 
 one described at Hably ; * though less antique in appearance. I 
 
 ' See above, pp. 599, 600. " See above, p. 137. 
 
604 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. , [Sec. XHL 
 
 saw no trace of vineyards at present in the vicinity. A road 
 passes up from the head of the amphitheatre to the summit of 
 the high ridge north of es-Sunnin ; it then forks, one branch 
 descending to Ba'albek and the other to Zahleh. The latter was 
 travelled by Lord Lindsay ; and is apparently the same followed 
 by Burckhardt from Afka.' Col. Squire, in 1802, coming from 
 Jebeil, passed by this route to Ba'albek.^ 
 
 In the history of the crusades, mention is made of a fortress, 
 castrum, evidently in Lebanon, called Manethera ; and it is 
 narrated, that in the summer of A. D. 1176, the count of Tripoly 
 marched from Byblus (Jebeil) by way of said fortress to Ba'al- 
 bek, to join the expedition made at the same time by king 
 Baldwin IV. from Sidon to the Buka'a.^ This Manethera was 
 obviously el-Muneitirah ; which name is now also applied to the 
 . surrounding district, Jibbet el-Muneitirah.* We noticed here 
 no remains which struck us as those of a fortress ; but the people 
 at Afka told us, that on the road leading up out of the head of 
 the valley and over into the Buka'a there is still a large building 
 or castle in raius.^ This route into the Buka'a Burckhardt 
 speaks of as still much travelled by the people of Kesrawan ; 
 who transport iron ore upon mules and donkeys from Shuweir, 
 where there is no wood, to the smelting furnaces on the eastern 
 declivity of Lebanon, where there is much oak.* 
 
 Our plan was to visit the fountains in the head of the valley, 
 and then pass on to Afka for the night. But our muleteers had 
 taken it into their heads to stop for the night at Muneitirah ; 
 and began to unload the animals. Our servants joined with 
 them ; and the people of the village too supported them, declar- 
 ing that Afka was now deserted. We went on notwithstanding. 
 Descending for a time steeply, we came in fifteen minutes (at 
 5.30) to the angle of the valley, where the stream is formed. Here, 
 as near 'Aktirah, there is a recess, or shallow cavern, of consider- 
 able size, in the northern wall of rock, about a hundred and fifty 
 feet above the bottom of the valley. In the back of this recess, 
 near its top, is the smaller mouth of an inner and deeper cavern, 
 which seems to extend in for some distance.' Whether it is 
 
 ' Lord Lindsay's Letters, 4th edit. p. ' See Bibl. Ees. edit. 1, Vol. III. App. 
 
 360 sq. Comp. Burckh. pp. 25-27. p. 195. 
 
 ' In Walpole's Travels in various conn- ' Whether, however, this is any thing 
 
 tries of the East, pp. 302, 303. Col. more than "the small ruined tower," which 
 
 Sqnire was accompanied by Messrs Leake according to Burckhardt gives name to the 
 
 and Hamilton. For el-Muneitirah he tract Watty el-Burj, may be doubtful, 
 
 writes Milree His Kefr Uftar is possibly Trav. pp. 25, 26 
 
 Afka. — This is the most direct route be- ^ Burckhardt, p. 27. 
 
 tween Jebeil and Ba'albek. ' Seetzen was told, that this cavern ex- 
 
 ' Will. Tyr. 21. 11. Tuch in Zeitschr. tends for some hours into the mountain; 
 
 der morg. Ges. IV. pp. 512, 513. Ritter Keisen I. p. 245. 
 Erdk. XVIT. p. 226. See above, p. 525. 
 
JuKKlT.] AFKA, APHECA. TEMPLE. 605 
 
 natural or artificial we could not determine ; as we liad no lights 
 and no means of climbing into it. From the outer cavern issues 
 the stream of a large fountain ; while just west of it, at the same 
 level, two other smaller streams hurst from the rock ; and all 
 three rush down into a basin some fifty feet below, on the de- 
 clivity. Across this basin is thrown a stone bridge, over which 
 the road passes. Immediately below the bridge are three very 
 regular and beautiful water-falls in succession ; so regular, indeed, 
 as at once to suggest the, idea of their being, in part at least, a 
 work of art.' Further west another stream comes down from 
 the same height ; but joins the rest only below the falls. A 
 slight arrangement might easily, and perhaps once actually did, 
 cause all these streams to issue from the cavern. 
 
 A small ravine runs up southeast from the falls ; and down 
 this comes a stream. Across this rivulet, directly opposite the 
 cavern and falls, on a low bluff at the end of a ridge, are the 
 ruins of an ancient temple ; and from beneath these, at the base 
 of the bluff", issues another considerable fountain. The walls of 
 the temple are fallen inwards, as if from an earthquake ; but the 
 prostration is so complete, and the masses of masonry are so 
 much torn ajid so strangely displaced, that it is very difficult to 
 make out the plan and size of the building. There would seem 
 to have been, first, a large and somewhat irregular platform, built 
 up apparently to secure a level space of sufficient size. On this 
 was perhaps a second platform, not much larger than the temple 
 itself, regularly and carefully buUt, and having a sort of cornice 
 or moulding along its upper course. On this stood the temple ; 
 which could hardly have been less than a hundred feet in length 
 by fifty or more in breadth. The stones of the whole structure 
 are the common limestone of the region, many of them large, 
 and some well hewn. A large and fine column of Syenite granite 
 is lying near on the declivity ; and another, apparently its com- 
 panion, after being rudely chipped away to half the size, has 
 been removed to the village of Af ka. How these massive col- 
 umns could ever have been transported to this high part of the 
 mountain, is to me a mystery. Except these we saw no columns. 
 
 The wall of the outer platform appears to have been built 
 up in front from the base of the bluff. Here, at the northeast 
 angle, a large vaulted passage runs up under the platform ; and 
 from this, apparently, the fountain above mentioned once flowed ; 
 though it now issues near by. Above this passage is another 
 one, much smaller, leading under the ruins in the same direction. 
 
 ' Seetzen recrards the falls as in part ar- von Richter speaks of the whole as artifi- 
 
 tificial ; although the strata of the lime- cial ; p. 107. — Both these travellers men- 
 
 Btone rock, he says, are so regular, as to tion also a small mill at the bridge, 
 resemble masonry ; Beisen I. p. 245. 0. 
 Vol. III.— 51* 
 
606 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sna XIIL 
 
 On the western wall of the lower passage Mr Bamett of Da- 
 mascus formerly found the fragment of a Greek inscription ; of 
 which there remained only the letters IIEPAO. 
 
 The people said, that the fountains become nearly dry in 
 summer. The place is now called Mughirat Afka, i. e. cavern 
 of Afka. 
 
 In this sequestered recess we have the main source of the 
 river Adonis of the ancients, which entered the sea south of 
 Byblus (Jebeil);' now and since the middle ages known as the 
 Nahr Ibrahim. ' Here too was the scene of the ancient fable of 
 heathen mythology respecting Venus and Adonis ; and how the 
 latter being torn in pieces by a wild boar, his blood at certain 
 seasons was held to tinge the current of the river.' Byblus was 
 devoted to the worship of Adonis ; * whUe on the mountain, at 
 Apheca (Afka), was a celebrated temple of Venus.' The ruins 
 just described are obviously those of this temple. 
 
 The earliest notice of the temple of Venus at Apheca is the 
 account of its destruction under the emperor Constantine. Ac- 
 cording to Eusebius, it was situated in the higher parts of Leb- 
 anon ; and had been a school of wickedness, for all the licentious 
 and impure.' Here were practised all the enormities and guilt 
 of prostitution, both male and female. The emperor judged 
 such a temple to be unworthy of the light of the sun ; and gave 
 orders for its utter overthrow, with all its wealth of offerings. 
 This order was executed. A century later Sozomien narrates the 
 same event.' The temple was at Apheca on Lebanon and on 
 the river Adonis. But a legendary tradition was already at work. 
 According to this writer, on a certain day and at a certain invo- 
 cation, fire descended from the top of Lebanon, like a star, and 
 sank in the adjacent river. They called this fire Urania, a name 
 they gave to Venus. In the same century, though apparently 
 later, the like tradition, as given by Zosimus, had become still 
 further expanded. He relates, that Apheca lay midway between 
 Heliopohs and Byblus ; ' that in it was a temple of Venus 
 
 ' Strabo 16. 2. 19. p. 755, cTra lifri, Adonis is the Hebrew Thammuz, Ez. 8, 
 
 ravT-riv ['Bipxov] "Mayis irora/jiSs. PliD. 14. See Gesen. Thesaur. p. 1507. 
 
 H. N. 5. 17 T. 20, "flumen Lycos: ' The ancients interpreted the name ri 
 
 Palffibyblos : flumen Adonis." "Afpaxa from the Heb. psx to hold, to em- 
 
 ' Edrisi par Janbert I. p. 356. Irace ; and referred it to the first or last 
 
 ' Lucian de Syria Dea §§ 6—8. Movers embraces of Venus and Adonis. Etymol. 
 
 die Phonizier I. p. 191 sq. — Maundrell Mag. art. "A<paKa, Movers Phon. L p. 
 
 saw the river " stained to a surprising red- 192. 
 
 riess," in March ; which he supposed to be ° Euseb. Vita Const. 3. 55, iy axpapeias 
 
 occasioned by "a sort of minium, or red /xcpei tov At^tiyov ev 'AipaKois iSpvfieyoy 
 
 earth, washed into the river by the violence a^x°^'h tw ?iy airri KUKoepyias Traaiv oico\c£- 
 
 of the rain ;" March 17th. I am not arois, kt\. See also Euseb. de Laud, 
 
 aware that this discoloration has ever been Const u. 8. Comp. above, p. 522. 
 
 further investigated. ' Sozom. H. E 1. 5. 
 
 * Strabo 16. 2. 18. p. 755, fi /liv ody ' Zosimns Hist. 1. 58, /ico-or 'HXtainriSXc- 
 
 Tii0\os . . . iepi ioTi tov 'ASiiyiSas. — ^j tc koI Bv^Xov. 
 
Junk 17.] APKA, APHECA. TEMPLE, 607 
 
 Aphakitis ; and near by it a lake,' around vrlaich fires burst forth. 
 The water of this lake had the wonderful property, that aU gifts 
 and offerings acceptable to the goddess, even the lightest, as 
 silks, would sink in it ; while those not acceptable, even the 
 heaviest, as gold and silver, would swim upon the surface. 
 
 This mention of a lake has led to the idea, that there may 
 have been some connection between the temple at Apheca, and 
 the lake Limtln or Yemm6neh, the only one on Lebanon.' But 
 this is next to impossible ; for the lake was near the temple ; 
 while Yemmoneh is on the eastern declivity of the mountain, 
 several hours distant, with the lofty upper ridge of Lebanon 
 between. It seems therefore more probable, that the account of 
 Zosimus was founded on a nascent popular legend, in which the 
 river of Sozomen had now become a lake ; just as the star-like 
 fire descending from the top of the mountain had now become 
 fire bursting out around the lake. Further than this, the his- 
 torian has also interwoven a popular legend, already mentioned 
 by Seneca in the first century, of a lake in Syria, in which heavy 
 articles, as bricks, would not sink.' If, however, we stiU choose 
 to insist upon an actual lake near the temple, there may indeed 
 have been an artificial reservoir, formed either above the cascades, 
 where there is stiU a basin, or below them.^ 
 
 This fountain and temple have been brought again into notice 
 only within the present century. Col. Squire passed this way in 
 1802, but makes no allusion to either.' Seetzen was here in 
 1805 ; he describes the cavern and the cascades, and mentions 
 the ruins ; assuming apparently the identity of Af ka and 
 Apheca.' Burckhardt followed in 1810 ; he merely speaks of 
 " a spring," but saw no ruins, though he afterwards heard of 
 them.' In 1815 0. von Eichter passed this way, and has given 
 a brief but graphic description of the fountains and ruins.' Since 
 that time the place has been visited by many travellers. 
 
 We stopped long in this romantic spot ; and then a quarter 
 of an hour brought us westwards to the village of Afka. It is 
 situated on the upper terrace, on the brink of the chasm of the 
 stream, overagainst el-Muneitirah ; which here bore E. N. E. 
 Around the village are groves of the largest and noblest walnut 
 trees we had yet met with. Our tent was pitched on the highest 
 ground in the village, a hill ; where too is set up the Syenite 
 column brought from the ruined temple. We were here in faU 
 
 ' Zosim. ibid, tovtov irXija-loy Kl/tyTi Tii ' See genr. Ritter XVII. p. 301 sq. 
 ia-rlv ktK. ' See above, p. 604. 
 
 ' See above, p. 548. ' Seetzen, Reisen I. pp. 245, 246. 
 
 ' Seneca QuiEst. Nat. 3. 26, " Est adhno ' Burckhardt p. 25, also p. 209. Bnrck- 
 
 in Syria stagnum, in quo natant lateres, liardt passed from Afka over the mountain 
 
 et mergi projecta non possimt, licet gravia to Zahleh ; see above, p. 604. 
 sint." " O. V. Richter, pp. 106, 107. 
 
608 FROM EL-HTJSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XUI. 
 
 view of the cavern and water-falls ; and from ttis point, the 
 chasm, the river, the cascades, the bridge, the fountains, the 
 cavern, the ruins, and the steep and lofty mountains rising above 
 them all, combined to form a glorious picture. We were again 
 in a magnificent amphitheatre ; not so lofty, nor so regular, nor 
 so desolate, nor so vast, as at the cedars ; but full of grandeur 
 and verdure and beauty. The mountains around rise perhaps 
 two thousand feet above it ; while those above the cedars are 
 three thousand feet. The bottom here is more broken ; but is 
 cultivated, rich, and fertile. There is no spot in aU my wander- 
 ings, on which memory hngers with greater delight, than on the 
 sequestered retreat and exceeding loveHness of Af ka. 
 
 Both Seetzen and 0. von Richter also speak of the surpass- 
 ing beauty of the surrounding scenery. ' 
 
 The people of el-Muneitirah had endeavoured to prevent our 
 proceeding further, by telling us that Af ka was deserted. We 
 found people enough there, however ; though they said they had 
 returned only a few days before. They are Metawileh ; and had 
 fled frpm their homes, some weeks ago, on account of the con- 
 scription. With their women and children they had betaken 
 themselves to the wildest parts of the mountain ; carrying with 
 them only flour, and living there on bread and water. 
 
 We heard here of ruins with columns in the valley towards 
 'Akurah, below Mejdel ; and also of a large building or castle on 
 the way leading up back of the fountains to the Buka'a.=' 
 
 Friday, June \B>th. Just west of Afka a spur runs out 
 from the southern mountain across the terrace quite to the brink 
 of the chasm of the stream. It is connected with the mountain 
 by a low saddle ; and spreads out on the top to a tract of culti- 
 vated table land containing many acres. On this tract, it was 
 said, were the ruins of another temple, which we concluded to 
 visit. 
 
 We took a guide from Afka ; and setting ofi" at 6.30, climbed 
 the eastern acclivity of this spur by a sharp and rough ascent on 
 the right of our pioper road, which passes up southwest over the 
 saddle. Keeping on west across the table land, we came at 7.10 
 to its western brow, and to the ruins, which are called ez-Zawa- 
 rib. They are apparently the remains of two structures, both 
 very rude. One of them may have been a temple, fronting 
 towards the west, and looking down the great gorge by which 
 the river breaks its way through the lower rocky range. Of the 
 other building we could make nothing. There are no columns. * 
 
 We were however rewarded for our detour by a magnificent 
 view of the great basin formed by the two valleys from Akurah 
 
 ' Seetzen in Zach's Mon. Corr. XIII. p. " See above, p. 604. 
 550. 0. von Kichter p. 106 sq. 
 
JoOT Xa] AFKA. HIGH KIDGE. 609 
 
 and Aflca, wliich were fully in sight ; and of the wild gorge 
 beyond the basin running down west. Here the formation 
 already referred to was very distinct, viz. the chasms of the streams 
 below, with several villages along them ; and then the higher 
 terraces on each side, between these chasms and the mountains. 
 The vaUey from 'Akilrah is Wady el-Mugheiyireh ; that from 
 Afka and Muneitirah is called Wady el-Muneitirah ; and this 
 last name is applied also to the whole valley below the junction. 
 This however is merely a local appellation, for it is there 
 strictly the valley of the Nahr Ibrahim ; and the name Wady el- 
 Muneitirah would properly belong only to the branch valley from 
 that place. On the terrace below us on the south of the stream, 
 was the little village Laseh, bearing northwest, about a mile dis- 
 tant ; and north of the Wady and somewhat further down, was 
 Kartaba.' 
 
 From this spot we turned back, and went E. S. E. for ten 
 minutes, to a mound on the southern brow of the same table 
 land, called Dhuhur el-Hawa. Here the guide had told us of 
 ruins ; but they proved to be merely a few rude stones. We 
 now at 7.35 turned our course W. S. W. and descending from 
 the table land joined the road and our mules at 7.45. Our 
 path continued in the same direction, high along the flank of the 
 mountain on our left, and also high above Laseh. Indeed we 
 seemed here to be on a second higher and narrower terrace. We 
 kept on ascending very gradually ; and the road was said to lead 
 to 'Ain el-Hadid. After about an hour, at 8.50, we quite un- 
 expectedly turned short off, and began to ascend the high and 
 very steep ridge on our left. About half an hour west, we could 
 see a village on the south side of Nahr Ibrahim, called 'Amh^z. 
 The ascent was long and wearisome, but not particularly diffi- 
 cult. It took us fifty minutes, till 9.40, to reach the top. Here 
 we were nearly as high as on the ridge of yesterday between Ard 
 'Akluk and 'Akurah ; snow was lying around us ; and Jebel 
 Sunnin was now towering in majesty directly overagainst us, and 
 apparently quite near. 
 
 Immediately before and below us was a long, deep, and 
 tolerably even valley, called Wady Shebruh, belonging to the 
 basin of the Nahr el-Kelb, and running up still some distance 
 on our left. We immediately began to descend into it along a 
 steep ravine, and reached the bottom at 10 o'clock. The water- 
 bed was now dry. We followed it down, southwest, for half an 
 hour ; when it opened into the irregular and uneven basin of the 
 Nahr el-Kelb ; here it sweeps round to the west and goes to form 
 the northern branch of that river. The basin is intersected by 
 
 ' For these two villages see also Seetzen, Reisen L pp. 243, 244. 
 
610 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIEUT. [Sec. XIH. 
 
 two other streams from the two large fountains Neba' el-'Asal 
 and Neba' el-Leben, with high plateaus or terraces along the 
 sides of each. At 10.35 the village of Meiruba was about two 
 miles west of us, on the high terrace north of the stream. We 
 here turned southeast, along the same plateau, into an angle or 
 nook of the mountain ; and came at 11 o'clock to Neba' el-'Asal 
 (Honey fountain), one of the main sources of this branch of the 
 Kelb. 
 
 This is a considerable fountain of very cold water, bursting 
 forth under the very base of the high ridge, which here runs off 
 southwest. The stream foams and rushes along its channel with 
 a very rapid descent. The other great fountain, Neba' el-Leben 
 (Milk fountain), issues from the foot of the same ridge, about 
 forty minutes further southwest ; there being between them a 
 low spur or plateau running out from the mountain. The 
 streams from the two fountain's unite below ; that from Neba' 
 el-Leben forming just above the junction a high and noble cas- 
 cade, leaping over an elevated ledge of rock. The united stream 
 then runs into the continuation of Wady Shebriih, nearly oppo- 
 site to Meiruba ; and thus is formed the Nahr es-Salib, the 
 northern branch of the Nahr el-Kelb. We crossed this branch 
 further on. 
 
 The scenery of this basin is wild, rocky, and desolate ; with 
 little of cultivation, and at this season no verdure. There are 
 here few of the elements of beauty and grandeur, which exist in 
 such profusion at Afka and the cedars. The mountain ridges 
 which immediately surround the basin, are less elevated and 
 comparatively tame. 
 
 Leaving Neba' el-'Asal at 11.10, we went on about west ; 
 and ascending to the intervening plateau, came at 11.40 to the 
 chasm of the stream from Neba' el-Leben. This chasm is 
 spanned by the famous natural bridge ; which, if found elsewhere, 
 and by itself, would excite astonishment as one of nature's 
 wonders ; but here, amid the vastness of the surrounding mag- 
 nificence, it makes comparatively but a feeble impression. The 
 traveller, if not upon the watch, might easily pass along the 
 road and cross the bridge, without becoming aware of its exist- 
 ence. It is called Jisr el-Hajr (Stone bridge), or sometimes Jisr 
 el-Bughaleh. A road from Zahileh crosses it, leading to various 
 parts of the coast ; and the road which we followed from the 
 bridge to the mouth of Nahr el-Kelb, was very direct and much 
 travelled. 
 
 The fountain Neba' el-Leben ia a quarter of an hour higher 
 up, under the very base of the ridge in the southeast. Like the 
 other fountain, it bursts forth at once from under the naked rock, 
 without any accompaniment of trees or verdure. A large and 
 
Jdnkis.] sources of nahh el-kelb. natural bridge. 611 
 
 foaming stream comes rushing down from it ; the channel of 
 which is crossed in several places by ridges and ledges of rock, 
 through which the stream has worn its way in a chasm of fan- 
 tastic features. Just above the bridge, one such ledge is cut 
 through by a very narrow chasm with perpendicular walls. 
 Then follows a ledge of very considerable breadth ; the lower or 
 northwest part of which is cut away by the stream, as if regu- 
 larly chiseled into almost architectural forms, of columns, pilas- 
 ters, buttresses, battlements, and the like. Over the upper or 
 southwestern part, the natural bridge remains, spanning the gulf 
 below. Looking at it from the south, the bridge presents the 
 appearance of a lofty and tolerably regular circular arch, of not 
 less than a hundred and twenty-five feet span, as we judged ; 
 and from eighty to a hundred feet above the stream. The 
 breadth of the bridge (or roadway) in the narrowest part is 
 about one hundred feet ; in some places it is broader. The 
 thickness of the rock above the arch is about thirty feet. On 
 the north side the chasm is narrower, being about seventy-five 
 feet. The arch does not extend through under the whole 
 bridge ; but on the north the roof is angular in the middle. 
 Then follow, below the bridge, the architectural forms along the 
 chasm, not unlike a street of mighty ruins. ' The elevation of the 
 bridge above the sea is given by Wildenbruch at 4926 Paris 
 feet ; which is higher than Ehden.' 
 
 At this season a large stream was foaming and dashing 
 impetuously under the bridge. Yet a canal of good size is 
 carried off from the fountain westwards for miles, for the 
 purposes of irrigation. Mr Eobson, my companion, had been 
 here in September, 1846 ; and at that time the fountain was 
 small ; the water being all taken off by canals, and the bed of 
 the stream beneath the bridge quite dry. 
 
 We had now completed our visit to the sources of the north- 
 ern branch of the Nahr el-Kelb ; and would gladly have contin- 
 ued our journey to the main source of the southern branch, high 
 up under the southwestern parts of Jebel Sunnin, above Biskinta. 
 But we found, that we could not well accomplish this object and 
 reach Beirut the next day. We therefore set our faces at once 
 towards the latter city. 
 
 Leaving the natural bridge at 12.15, on a course W. S. W. 
 we almost immediately crossed the low ridge, which separates 
 the great basin of the Nahr es-Salib from a smaller and shallow 
 
 ' The numbers given in the text are not p. 3 : Span of the arch, 163 feet. Eleva- 
 
 measurements ; but estimates made on the tion above the stream, 70 to 80 feet, 
 
 spot, aud in which both Mr Kobson and Width on top (roadway) 120 to 160 feet, 
 
 myself agreed. — The following are Mr Thickness above the arch, 30. 
 Thomson's earlier measurements, as pub- ^ W. M. Thomson in BibUoth. Sac. L c. 
 lished by him in the Biblioth. Sacra, 18i8, 
 
612 FROM EL-HTTSN TO BEIRUT. [SkcXIH. 
 
 valley running southwest to the southern branch of Nahr el- 
 Kelb, or Dog river. A large canal from Neba' el-Leben is 
 carried across this water-shed far to the W. S. W. along the 
 southeastern side of the gentle declivity and near its top. Our 
 road continued for miles along the course of this canal, some- 
 times on one side atid sometimes on the other. After descending 
 gradually for some time, we struck across the fields on our right, 
 by a short cut, to reach the ruins of Fukra. We came first, at 
 12.40, to the northernmost, the remains of an ancient square 
 tower standing on the very water-shed, and looking down, on the 
 one side, into the deep gulf of the Salib ; and on the other, into 
 the open valley in which we now were. It is commonly spoken 
 of as " the castle." ' The top is gone, and a portion of the 
 sides fallen down. It was built with great solidity ; some of the 
 stones are five or six feet long. The entrance is from the east, 
 and leads to narrow passages within. There is a narrow spiral 
 staircase leading to an upper story ; and also to a small square 
 chamber in the middle of the building, covered with hewn stones. 
 There is nothing vaulted ; and the staircase also is ceiled with 
 large stones. The whole is without mortar. 
 
 On the stone over the doorway is the fragment of a Greek 
 inscription, containing the name of the emperor Tiberius Clii.u- 
 dius. On one of the large stones in front, at the northeast cor- 
 ner, is another inscription in large Greek letters, coarsely cut ; 
 but we could make nothing of it.^ 
 
 The construction of this tower seems to exhibit no reference 
 to military purposes ; and I am disposed to agree with Seetzen 
 in regarding it as a sepulchral monument. Near by it is a well, 
 walled up with hewn stones. 
 
 Just east of the tower is a heap of ruins, apparently those 
 of a small temple. Some of the stones are carved, as if once 
 belonging to cornices, or pedestals, or the capitals of pilasters. 
 A few rods south of these remains, are several large sculptured 
 stones, lying by themselves. 
 
 The principal remains are those of a large temple, five 
 minutes south of the tower. Just west , of the tower, near the 
 top of the water-shed, begins a singular tract of the usual lime- 
 stone rocks, which runs down S. S. E. beyond the road we had 
 left. This tract is some ten or twelve rods wide. The singu- 
 larity is, that the strata are perpendicular, and have been worn 
 
 ' Seetzen heard for it the name el-Kub- Claudius ; though Gesenius understands 
 
 beh ; Reisen I. p. 248 sq. Tiberius ; see Corpus Inscr. Grsec. Vol. 
 
 '' These inscriptions were copied by III. Par 26, pp. 240, 241, Nos. 4525, 
 
 Seetzen, Reisen I. pp. 248, 249 ; by 0. v. 4526. Gesen. Notes on Burckhardt, L p. 
 
 Richter, pp. 553, 554 ; and the last by Mr 525.— Nothing further has been made out 
 
 Thomson, Biblioth. Sac. 1848, p. 3 The in either inscription, 
 emperor referred to is supposed to be 
 
JdnkIS.] FUKRA. ancient TEMPLE. 613 
 
 away by time and weather, so as to present various forms of 
 columns, needles, blocks, and ridges, separated by narrow clefts, 
 chasms, passages, little chambers, and recesses ; the whole rising 
 up some twenty or thirty feet or more, and all exceedingly wild 
 and rugged. It reminded me of the celebrated labyrinth of 
 Adersbach in eastern Bohemia ; though in miniature. The 
 stream of water from Neba' el-Leben strikes the eastern wall of 
 this tract ;, and finds its way through some cleft, so as still to 
 flow on westwards beyond it. On the eastern side, the rocks were 
 cut away for a space large enough for the temple and a portion 
 of its court. The walls of rock thus formed, served towards the 
 front as sides of the court ; but the remaining part of the court, 
 further east, was built out with walls of a yellowish coloured 
 limestone, with an entrance in front by a portico of many col- 
 umns, all from the same kind of stone. Indeed, the whole front 
 of the court seems to have been highly ornamented. The body of 
 the temple stood further back, among the rocks ; and on a terrace 
 higher than the court. It was built of the same yellowish lime- 
 stone." The stones are large, and were laid up without cement. 
 The noble portico on the eastern front was composed of either 
 four or six large columns of rose-coloured limestone, three feet 
 nine inches in diameter, with Corinthian capitals. From long 
 exposure these columns now appear blue on the outside. The 
 temple we judged to have been not less than one hundred feet 
 long by fifty feet broad. But so entire is the prostration and 
 confusion, that accuracy is out of the question.' 
 
 A few rods east of the temple, in the open field, is a small 
 and singular enclosure of very large hewn stones ; as to which I 
 could come to no other conclusion, than that it had once been 
 a tomb. It is only fourteen feet square on the outside, without 
 a roof, and having an entrance on the south side. The stones 
 of the walls are from two to three feet thick. One stone is 
 thirteen feet long, three feet broad, and twenty-two inches thick. 
 Another one is not so long ; but is four and a half feet thick. 
 There is no ornament of any kind. 
 
 There are two other enclosures of walls, or rather of founda- 
 tions ; of which we could make nothing definitely. One of them 
 is half way between the tower and the temple. The other is 
 south of the temple, and beyond the road ; indeed, we saw it 
 only after we had returned to the road. South of the temple, 
 
 ' Seetzen speaks of this stone as " eiue ' M. Guys gives the following dimen- 
 
 Ait nmbrabranner (Kalkfelsen), welche sions of the temple in Paris feet : Length 
 
 weit weniger fest, aber leichter zn bear- 95 ; Breadth 43 ; Stones 3 by 2i ; The 
 
 beiten ist;" Keisen I. p. 248. M. Guys court, 116 feet long by 92 wide. See 
 
 calls it "a yellowish sandstone;" Kitter Ritterl. c. p. 519. 
 Erdk. XVir. p. 520. 
 Vol. III.— 52 
 
614 FKOM EL-HTJSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XHL 
 
 and along the road, are also the indefinite remains of a former 
 town of considerable extent. 
 
 Seetzen was the first traveller to visit these ruins in modem 
 times ; and many others have since passed this way.' 
 
 Setting off from the ruins at 2.30, we returned at once to the 
 road, which was near by. It passes on through a gap in the 
 tract of limestone rocks ; the same formation being seen also on 
 the left of the road. We followed again the canal from Neba' 
 el-Leben ; which keeps along high up on the right hand slope. 
 In two places we came upon low spots in the ridge ; and 
 at both the canal is divided ; the water being carried along on 
 both sides of the ridge, several hundred feet above the valleys on 
 each side. The Salib was now flowing along its deep gulf nearly 
 parallel to our course. The road seemed much travelled ; the 
 direction varied between W. S. W. and W. by S. all the way to 
 the mouth of the Dog river. At 3.30 we came to the beginning 
 of the very extended and straggling village of Mezra'ah, which 
 stretches along the road for two miles or more. At 4 o'clock a 
 village and convent were on our left, beyond the broad vaUey, a 
 mile and a half distant ; but I did not learn the name. The 
 whole valley on our left and along our road was under cultivation, 
 with many orchards of mulberry trees. The heights of Sunnin 
 were still ever in view, towering majestically ; but we were rap- 
 idly leaving them behind us. 
 
 At 4.15 we turned short to the right, through another part 
 of the village of Mezra'ah ; and crossing over the low water- 
 shed, soon began to descend into the very steep, wild, and deep 
 gulf of the Nahr es-Salib. This descent was a very formidable 
 one ; being by far the steepest, a's well as one of the longest, 
 that we had yet encountered. The path, bad in itself, conducted 
 us down by short zigzags ; and it needed but little, at every 
 turn, to throw us headlong down the declivity. We came, 
 however, safely to the bottom at 4.55 ; and looking back on our 
 road, it seemed fit only for goats and gazelles. The river is here 
 of considerable size ; and has a rapid descent and a very rocky 
 bottom, over which it rolls loudly murmuring and white with 
 foam. The vaUey is very narrow ; the sides steep and often 
 precipitous, very high, and mostly clothed with shrubs of stunted 
 oak. The margin of the stream is fringed with poplars and 
 plane trees. For the most part, there is room at the bottom only 
 for the bed of the stream ; but where the bottom is a little 
 wider, it is carefully cultivated, and is here and there occupied 
 by a house. The whole chasm reminded me much of the gorge 
 of the Litany between Barghfiz and Belat ; but it is wilder and 
 
 • Seetzen, Reisen L p. 248 sq. O. v. in Biblioth. Sac. 1848, p. 3. Bitter XVIL 
 Eichter, pp. 101, 102. W. M. ThonMoa pp. 513-520. 
 
June 18.] MEZRA'AH. CHASM OF NAHB ES-SALIB. 615 
 
 deeper ; the sides here being from twelve hundred to fifteen 
 hundred feet high ; in some parts certainly not less than the 
 latter number. The stream also is larger.' 
 
 We stopped for five minutes at the bridge. Here are narrow 
 patches of tillage on terraces ; and there are other patches 
 further down, with mulberry orchards and a house or two. The 
 bridge itself is narrow, with one large arch ; and is overhung 
 ^vith plane trees. There is a pretty view, looking up under it 
 from the south ; the stream is seen through the foliage dashing 
 and foaming along its steep descent beneath the bridge. The 
 course of the gulf is here from E. N. E. to W. S. W. 
 
 We left the bridge at 5 o'clock. The ascent on the other 
 side is much less difficult. The path ascends obliquely and very 
 gradually along the steep side ; so that without any great ap- 
 parent rise of its own, it comes to be high over the valley below. 
 Near the top, however, there is quite a steep ascent for some 
 distance. We reached the top at 5.30 ; having enjoyed the 
 rather unusual phenomenon of seeing the sun appear to rise in 
 the west. Below, in the valley, it had long been sunset ; but 
 as we approached the summit, the sun began again to be seen 
 in the west, and continued to rise apparently, till it became an 
 hour high or more. 
 
 At 5.45 the village of Kulei'at was just on our left. Our 
 road now continued about W. by S. over a broad elevated tract 
 of uneven table land, very rocky and stony, and fully planted 
 with mulberry trees. Indeed, we hardly met with any cultivation 
 other than mulberry orchards, until we came quite near the 
 coast. At 6 o'clock, through an opening in the lower mountains, 
 we had a glimpse of the sea south of Beirtit. Twenty-five 
 minutes later we passed through the village of Eeifun. At 6.40 
 we wound around the great convent of 'Ajeltun, situated in the 
 midst of another singular region of projecting limestone rocks. 
 They rise up at irregular intervals in fantastic forms, sometimes 
 with architectural regularity, resembling columns, blocks, houses, 
 towers both square and round, castles, fortresses, and the like ; 
 some of them forty or fifty feet high. The road passes through 
 the midst of them, in some places by very narrow clefts. 
 
 We were now on the lookout for a spot to encamp for the 
 night ; but the region was so rocky, and the soil everywhere so 
 stony, and given up to mulberry orchards, which were all fresh 
 ploughed, that we sought long in vain. At 7.05 we came to the 
 western part of the very extensive and scattered vdlage of 'Ajel- 
 tun ; here were two open public places, where the turf had once 
 been green. On one of these we encamped for the last time, 
 thoroughly wearied out after a long day's journey. 
 
 ' See above, pp. 3b6, 387. 
 
616 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XIIL 
 
 Saturday, June l^tJi. — We were now in the rich district of 
 Kesrawan, the chief seat of the Maronites. It lies mostly on the 
 broad plateau of the mountain, here extending from the foot of 
 Sunnin to near the coast, and everywhere deeply gashed by the 
 chasms of the Dog river and its deep branch valleys. That river is 
 the southern boundary of Kesrawan. The southern branch has 
 its source in a large fountain, Neba' Simnin, some distance above 
 Biskinta, and under the southwestern flank of Jebel Sunnin. It 
 flows down westwards ; and is joined by the northern branch, 
 the Salib, below Shiiweir. After their junction the deep chasm 
 cuts down through the plateau, first west, and at last northwest, 
 to the sea. Below the junction, and about two hours from the 
 sea, are situated the famous caves of the Nahr el-Kelb ; being a 
 succession of caverns and tunnels worn away by the action of the 
 stream, and through which its waters now flow.' 
 
 The direction of Shuweir was pointed out to us ; it lies 
 south of the Kelb, in the basin of a valley running to that river, 
 but was hidden from our sight by a ridge." Somewhat further 
 west Bukfeiya was visible, bearing south, about two miles dis- 
 tant, as we judged. 
 
 The surface of Kesrawan is exceedingly rocky and rugged ; 
 and we could trace the outline and course of the deeper chasms. 
 The view from our tent was varied and fine, extending over 
 valleys and ridges in full cultivation. Every spot where earth 
 can be found or scraped together, is carefully tilled. The plan- 
 tations of mulberry trees are very numerous. We could now 
 see many pines around and before us ; though we did not our- 
 selves come upon sandstone until an hour further on. The 
 villages are numerous ; indeed the region towards the coast swarms 
 with them. The houses are widely scattered ; each house usually 
 standing by itself ia its own garden. This gives them a pleasanter 
 aspect ; adds to their comfort, cleanliness, and cheerfulness ; and 
 testifies that here these Maronites dwell in security and quiet, 
 far from hostile Druzes and marauding Arabs. The open place 
 in 'Ajeltun, on which our tent was pitched, was not unlike the 
 square of a rural village in New England ; except that the dwel- 
 lings were not painted, and the church, the schoplhouse, the country 
 tavern, and perhaps the blacksmith's shop, \^ere wanting. 
 
 This was to be my last day of travel in Palestine. We 
 started at 7 o'clock ; and after five minutes had a splendid view 
 
 ' For a description of these caves, see Seetzen 1. c. p. 251 sq. O. v. Richter p. 
 
 W. M. Thomson in the Missionary Herald, 98. Kitter XVII. p. 765 sq. Here Volney 
 
 1841, p. 31. Ritter XVII. p. 526 sq. resided for several months, and has de- 
 
 ' For the village Shuweir, see Seetzen, Ecrlbed the printing establishment; Voyage 
 
 Reisen I. p. 255. For the neighbouring II pp. 174-184, comp. I. p. viii. See also 
 
 Greek Catholic convent. Mar Yohanna Schnurrer Biblioth. Arab. p. 379 sq. 
 SUuweir, with its printing-press, sec 
 
JoNE 19.] KESEAWAIT. AJELTTJiT. 'AIN TUKAH. 617 
 
 of the sea, and of tlie wliole peninsula and city of Beirftt. Our 
 course was W. by S. and very direct, quite to the bridge at the 
 mouth of the Nahr el-Kelb ; the road gradually but continually 
 descending by a very stony and much travelled path. At 8.10 
 was the village of Bellilneh ; where we began to get nearer views 
 of the coast and of the villages below us. The great chasm of 
 the river was seen on the left. In a shallow Wady or rather 
 plain on our right, running to the sea, was 'Ain Tiirah, com- 
 monly pronounced 'Anturah, hardly more than half an hour 
 distant, bearing N. 20° W.' On a low hill beyond it, a little 
 more to the left, was the great convent Mar Elias er-Rds, bearing 
 W. N. W. In a plain running down north of this convent, and 
 northwest of 'Ain Tiirah, was Zlik Musbah ; and in the next 
 valley beyond was Zuk Mekayil, the chief village of KesrawSn, 
 bearing N. W. by N. Before us, on the high point of a ridge 
 projecting westwards along the north side of the Kelb, was the 
 large convent of Deir Tanneis, bearing west.' 
 
 The road on coming to this ridge divides. The great and 
 more travelled path descends on the north side into the plain to 
 'Ain Turah ; and thence passes down to the shore north of the 
 mouth of the river, and so to Beiriit. A more direct, but less 
 travelled path keeps along on the southern brow of the ridge, and 
 descends to the river above the bridge. We followed the latter. 
 At 8.50 the convent Deir Tanneis was on our right, looking 
 much like a fortress. We now began to descend, as it seemed, 
 into the chasm of the river ; but on turning around an angle on 
 the right, the hUl sunk down at once into a fine plain ; which 
 however is still high above the river. At 9 o'clock we were in 
 the plain ; and ten minutes later the large vUlage Zilk el-Khurib 
 was close on our right. We kept on over the plain ; and came 
 suddenly upon the brow of the deep and precipitous chasm of 
 the Nahr el-Kelb. The descent was sharp, very steep and zig- 
 zag, and as romantic and wild, perhaps, as any we had encoun- 
 tered. We reached the bottom at 9.35 ; followed down the now 
 fordable stream to the modern bridge, which we crossed at 9.40 ; 
 and came to the foot of the pass at 9.45. Here we stopped to 
 examine again the ancient sculptures on the rocks. The bridge, 
 and the pass itself, as weU as the road between them and Beirlit, 
 have been already sufficiently described, in connection with my 
 excursion to the spot in March.^ Between the bridge and the 
 pass, there is a small Khan. 
 
 ' For the village and convent of 'Antu- Mekayil lies the village Zuk Musbali, with 
 
 rah, see Burckhardt pp. 183, 187. Hitter Deir MAr Elias. South of Deir Luweiz 
 
 XVII. p. 757 sq. half an hour is the village Ziik el-Khurab ; 
 
 " Burckhardt says : " One hour from half an hour east of the latter, Deir Tan- 
 
 'Anturuh is Deir Luweiz [on the way to neis." Trav. p 189. 
 
 Beirut]. Between it and the village Zuk ' See above, pp. 12, 13. 
 
 Vol. III.— 52* 
 
618 FEOM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XHI. 
 
 The rocky ridge ■whicli forms the south side of the chasm of 
 the river, projects for a considerable distance into the sea. The 
 present pass, around and over this point, was cut in the reign of 
 the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, in the latter part of the 
 second century. The road is some six feet in breadth, irregularly 
 paved with large uneven stones ; on the northern side quite steep ; 
 and at the top about a hundred feet above the sea. A more 
 ancient road crossed the point at a higher elevation. This is 
 still quite distinct on the northern side ; and along it are the 
 best preserved sculptures. On the southern side of the pass, 
 this earlier road cannot now be traced ; in consequence, very 
 probably, of the tumbling down of rocks from above in the course 
 of many centuries, or as the effect of earthquakes. This ancient 
 path can now be climbed only on foot. 
 
 In going from the bridge to the foot of the pass, there is, 
 first, in a field near the bridge, on the face of a low rock, a long 
 Arabic inscription. The storms and casualties of three centuries 
 have done their work so effectually, that at present a large por- 
 tion of the inscription is defaced ; and the characters of the 
 remainder are so interwoven and complicated, that the best 
 Arabic scholars have not yet been able to make out the sense of 
 the whole. Enough remains to show, that it refers to a Sultan 
 Selim, probably the first of that name, about A. D. 1517, appar- 
 ently as the restorer of the bridge. ' 
 
 Further on, at the left, upon the face of a rock by the path, 
 is the Latin inscription commemorative of the cutting through 
 of the present road. It is still quite distinct ; with the excep- 
 tion of a word or line purposely erased after per. I have 
 merely separated the words, which in the original run together ; 
 and have added dots to mark parts of words. 
 
 IMP. CAES. M. AVRELIVS 
 
 ANTONINVS PIVS FELIX AVGVSTVS 
 
 PAKT. MAX. BRIT. MAX. GERM. MAXIMYS 
 
 PONTIFEX MAXIMVS 
 
 MONTIBVS INMINENTIBVS 
 
 LICO FLVMINI CAESIS VIAM DELATAVIT 
 
 PER 
 
 ANTONINIANAM SVAM' 
 
 ' For a copy of the remains of this in- Parthicus, JBrittanicus, and Oermanicus, 
 
 acription by Mr Wildenbruch, see Mo- belong to the emperor Marcus Aurelios 
 
 nathsbericht d. Ges. fur Erdk. in Berlin, Antoninus, who died A. D. 180. The lat- 
 
 N. Folg. I. p. 89, and Taf. IV. ter title was given him after the death of 
 
 ' This inscription (as also the following Verus, on occasion of the war with the 
 
 one) has been copied by Maundrell, See- Marcomanni, which ended in A. D. 176. 
 
 tzen, Burckhardt, Wilson, and others. The We have therefore a close approximation to 
 
 copy in the text is that of Burckhardt. the date of the inscription and of the road ; 
 
 The form delatavit for dilatavit belongs some ten years later than the inscriptions 
 
 probably to the stonecutter. — The epithets at Abila. Comp. Hitter XVIL p. 630. 
 
JnuEig.] PASS OF NAHR EL-KELB. 619 
 
 From this inscription it appears, if all other evidence were 
 wanting, that the Nahr el-Kelb is the river Lycus of the an- 
 cients ; the wolf having given place to the dog. 
 
 A little further towards the sea is another brief Latin in- 
 scription, less legible. The following is Seetzen's copy partially 
 corrected : 
 
 INVICTE IMP. 
 
 ANTONINE PIE FELIX AVG. 
 
 MVLTIS ANNIS IMPERA 
 
 In proceeding now to speak of the tablets sculptured on the 
 rocks, I can of course only give the impressions made upon my 
 own mind after two rather cursory examinations. My studies 
 have not been specially directed to the field either of Egyp- 
 tian or Assyrian archaeology ; nor was I at the time sufficiently 
 acquainted with the recent literary history of these tablets, to have 
 my attention drawn to all the particulars, which still need inves- 
 tigation. But as both Lepsius and Layard, leading discoverers 
 in Egypt and Assyria, had already visited the spot and examined 
 the sculptures for themselves, we may well for the present rest 
 in their general conclusions ; until the progress of discovery shall 
 throw more light upon the hieroglyphics of the Nile and the 
 arrow-headed characters of the Tigris. 
 
 There are nine tablets in all ; of which three have been 
 regarded as Egyptian and six as Assyrian.' They occur at 
 different intervals upon the rocks, along the upper side of the 
 most ancient road. There is a difference in the size of the 
 tablets ; but they are all of sufficient magnitude to contain 
 figures as large as life. Some of the tablets are surrounded by a 
 moulding, more or less ornamented. Five of them are square at 
 the top ; of which at least the three regarded as Egyptian are 
 surmounted by an ornamental cornice. The remaining four 
 tablets are rounded at the top ; and aU contain Assyrian figures. 
 In two instances an Egyptian and Assyrian tablet stand side by 
 side, with hardly an interval between them. 
 
 Commencing at the northern foot of the pass, the first three 
 tablets are on the rocks adjacent to the present road, below the 
 point where the earlier road separated from it. The following is 
 the order of all the tablets. 
 
 No. 1. Egyptian. — Square at top ; no figure ; apparently no 
 sculpture. 
 
 No. 2. Assyrian. — Square at top ; Assyrian figure with 
 right hand elevated ; very much worn away and indistinct. — • 
 This tablet is a short distance from No. 1. 
 
 ' Layard says seoen Assyrian ; which is specifies three Egyptian tablets ; Discor. 
 probably a slip of the pen; as he also in Nineveh and Babylon, p. 211. n. 
 
620 
 
 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Se& XIIL 
 
 No. 3. Assyrian. — Square at top ; Assyrian figure, indis- 
 tinct. A short space from No. 2. 
 
 No. 4. Assyrian. — Eounded at top ; Assyrian figure, not 
 very distinct. This tablet is on the ancient path, some distance 
 from No. 3. 
 
 No. 5. Assyrian, higher up the ancient road. — Bounded at 
 top ; Assyrian figure, with uplifted arm ; perhaps something in 
 the hand. 
 
 No. 6. Egyptian, adjacent to No. 5. — Square at top ; no 
 figure ; apparently no sculpture. 
 
 No. 7. Assyrian, higher up and alone. — Eounded at top ; 
 Assyrian figure, with uplifted arm ; the most distinct of aU. 
 
 No. 8. Egyptian, near the top of the pass. — Square at top ; 
 no figure ; apparently no sculpture. 
 
 No. 9. Assyrian, adjacent to No. 8. — Eounded at top ; 
 Assyrian figure, with uplifted arm. The whole figure and tablet 
 covered with a cuneiform inscription.' 
 
 In all the Assyrian figures, so far as they are distinguish- 
 able, the left arm lies horizontally across the body, while 
 the right arm is uplifted. Each hand may have held some- 
 thing ; but this cannot now be well made out. The position, 
 costume, cap, and beard, so far as they can still be traced, have 
 a striking resemblance to the royal sculptures disentombed at 
 Nineveh.* 
 
 In the corners of the three Egyptian tablets, there are holes, 
 as for metal cramps ; as if a metal plate or marble tablet, 
 perhaps with sculptures or an inscription, had been fastened 
 within the border, covering the interior surface. In that case, 
 the rock surface of these three tablets was never sculptured. I 
 must here express my assent to the negative testimony of Mr v. 
 Wndenbruch, in which Dr Eli Smith and consul Schultz con- 
 curred, that he was able to distinguish on these three tablets 
 no hieroglyphics ; although he thought the sunken human fig- 
 ures could be recognised.^ I must confess, that for myself, on 
 neither of my visits, although both were made at midday and 
 under a brilliant sun, could I distinguish either hieroglyphics or 
 other figures.* It may be possible, however, that with the sun in 
 another direction, with a different condition of light and shade, 
 and less of glare, such outlines can be traced. But then, how 
 
 ' In one of the plates illustrating his ' In Monathsb. d. Ges. f. Erdk. in Ber- 
 
 work, M. De Saulcy has given rather im- lin, Neue F. Bd. I. p. 87. 
 
 perfect representations of all the nine * M. De Saulcy atiirms the same still 
 
 tablets. more strongly, in his work ; and cites 
 
 ' See in Layard's volumes, especially also the like testimony of M. Oppert; 
 
 the king, Nineveh II. p. 7 [13]; also Narrative, II. pp 655, 656. But he has 
 
 Sennecharib, Nin. and Babylon p. 150. since taken it all back ; see L'Athensetun 
 
 Comp. also the first note in his Nineveh, p. I<'ran9ais, Sept. 1854, No. 38, p. 902. 
 400. [304.] 
 
Jdnk19.] NAHK EL-KELB. EOCK SCULPTURES. 621 
 
 are the cramps at the corners to be accounted for ? ' At any rate, 
 I cannot but think, that fancy has had much to do in making 
 out the reputed copies of these Egyptian tablets. 
 
 Lepsius has treated of the Egyptian tablets ; once from the 
 reports of others," and again after a personal examination on hia 
 return from Egypt in November, 1845.' According to him, 
 they all three bear the cartouche of Kameses II, the Sesostris of 
 Herodotus. They are dedicated, the middle one (No. 5) to Ra, 
 Helios, the highest Egyptian god ; the southernmost (No. 8) to 
 the Theban ^mmow of Upper Egypt; and the northernmost 
 (No. 1) to the Memphitic Phtha of Lower Egypt. Lepsius 
 supposes the three tablets refer to different expeditions. — We 
 learn from Herodotus,* that the conqueror Sesostris, in his expe- 
 ditions to Asia Minor and Thrace, left behin'd him stelce and 
 figures,^ as monuments of his exploits. These had mostly 
 already disappeared in the days of the father of history ; yet he 
 had himself seen some of them in Palestine or Syria, with in- 
 scriptions.' 
 
 In like manner, Layard at first spoke of the Assyrian tablets 
 on the report of others ; ' but afterwards, in 1851, examined 
 them for himself on his way to Europe the second time.' He 
 regards them as the work of Sennecharib, the king represented 
 in the rock sculptures at Bavian and the founder of the palace 
 at Konyunjik ; but the inscription is so much injured, as 
 hitherto to have defied transcription. ° Layard appears to regard 
 all the Assyrian sculptures as referring to Sennecharib. It 
 seems, however, hardly probable, that one monarch should cause 
 six similar tablets to be executed on one spot, and during one 
 expedition. And as not less than five Assyrian sovereigns 
 invaded Syria and Palestine, or passed through them into Egypt, 
 some of them more than once, why may not the tablets belong 
 to different sovereigns, or at least to difi'erent expeditions ? If 
 the highest tablet with the inscription (No. 9) refer to Senne- 
 charib, why may not the rest belong to his predecessors ? The 
 features and figures are too indistinct to permit us to say defi- 
 
 ' It has been suggested, that the cramps ' Gr. Iv Se tJ TlaXaurTirri Svptri, c. 
 
 served for hanging doors, in order to pro- 106. Comp. Eitter XVII. p. 633. It 
 
 tect the tabl.ts. But nothing of the kind does not appear that Herodotus had ever 
 
 is elsewhere found; and besides, in that himself visited the monuments at the Dog 
 
 case, the cramps would have been inserted river. 
 
 on the borders of the tablets, and not ' Nineveh, II. pp. 144, 182, 400. n. 
 
 within them. [115, 145, 304. n.] 
 
 * Notice sur les Basreliefs Egyptiens et " IJiscov. in Nin. and Bab. p. 210. n. 
 Persans de Beirut ; par R. Lepsius. Rome ' Slight specimens of this inscription, 
 1838. which is in the Assyrian type of cuneiform 
 
 ' Biiefe ans Aegypten, etc. von E. Lep- letters, are given by Wiidenbruch and Dr 
 
 sins, p. 402. Wilson ; see Monathsber. 1. c. p. 88, and 
 
 * Hdot. 2. 102, 1C6. Tuf IIL Lands of the Bible, IL p. 
 ' Gr. aT?i\ai, rurroi. 412. 
 
622 FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRUT. [Sec. XHI. 
 
 nitely, ttat they all represent one and the same person." This 
 earlier pass may well have heen a terror to armies ; and to sur- 
 mount it successfully, was an exploit not unnaturally deemed 
 worthy of commemoration hy every passing conqueror. 
 
 The epoch of Sesostris covered the last half of the fourteenth 
 century before Christ ; ' and was three centuries earlier than the 
 accession of David. Sennecharib is supposed to have ascended 
 the throne in 703 B. C.^ Between the tablets of the former 
 conqueror and those of the latter, therefore, there intervened a 
 period of not less than six centuries. And looking back from our 
 day, the Assyrian tablets have continued to commemorate the 
 progress of the Assyrian hosts for more than five and twenty 
 centuries ; while those of Egypt, if proceeding from Sesostris, 
 have celebrated his prowess for thirty-one centuries. They reach 
 back to hoary antiquity, even to the earliest days of the Judges of 
 Israel, before Jerusalem was known. 
 
 We have seen, that the three Egyptian tablets are square at 
 the top ; while of the six Assyrian, four are rounded and two 
 are square. The square form, therefore, would at first view 
 seem to be the Egyptian type ; and the round, the Assyrian. 
 This is quite striking where the two are placed side by side. 
 The suggestion arose in our minds while on the spot, as it had 
 done to others before us,* whether the Assyrian conquerors, in 
 their " pride of power," may not have purposely defaced the 
 Egyptian monuments erected six centuries before, and then 
 boastfully have caused their own to be sculptured side by side 
 with them.^ The thought also occurred to us, whether perhaps 
 the Assyrian artist may not have sometimes facilitated his work, 
 by executing it . within a former Egyptian tablet. This might 
 account for the square form of some now containing Assyrian 
 figures ; and, if I recoUect aright, No. 4 especially, though now 
 rounded, bears traces of some such after-sculpture. I mention 
 this idea, without venturing to lay much stress upon it ; but it 
 may at least be worth further examination upon the spot.' 
 
 ' The following are the Assyrian kings seem to rest very much upon a preposses- 
 
 who invaded Syria and Palestine, or passed sion of mind ; see Ritter ibid, 
 
 through against Egypt: Pul^ 2 K. 15, 19. * It has been suggested, that another 
 
 1 Chr. 5, 26. Tiglath-pileser, 2 K 16, 7- Egyptian tablet once stood by the side of 
 
 10. 1 Chr. 5, 26. 2 Chr. 28, 20, 21. the Assyrian tablet No. 7 ; and has been 
 
 Shalmaneser, 2 K. 17, 3-6. 18, 9-11. destroyed by the falling away of the rock. 
 
 Sargon, Is 20, 1. Sennecharib. 2 K 18, We noticed nothing of the kind. Eitter 
 
 13 sq. 2 Chr. 32, 1 sq. Is. 36, 1 sq. ib. p. 544. 
 
 " His accession is placed by Wilkinson ' M. de Saulcy regards the two square 
 
 in 1355 B. C. Wilkinson's Mod. Egypt tablets adjacent to Assyrian ones, as strictly 
 
 and Thebes, II p. 428. belonging to the latter, and connected 
 
 ' Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, pp. -with them ; as intended, indeed, merely for 
 
 614, 620. Assyrian inscriptions. But in one of these 
 
 * So Levigne and Sir W. Gell ; see cases the inscription is still extant upon 
 
 Ritter XVII. p. 536. The reasons as- the Assyrian figure and tablet. Nor does 
 
 signed by M. Guys against this suggestion, this explanation apply at all to No. X, 
 
 appear to me to be of little weight ; and which stands alone. 
 
JmralO.] NAHE EL-KELB. EOCK SCULPTURES. 623 
 
 These rock sculptures were first brought to notice in modern 
 times hy that acute observer, Maundrell, in A. D. 1697. He 
 and his party were driven away by a violent storm of thunder 
 and rain ; yet he for the first time took note of the more ancient 
 path and the tablets above it ; and evidently climbed to the 
 highest sculptures. As he had just visited and examined the 
 tombs and sepulchral monuments along the coast south of Tor- 
 tosa ; and as Lebanon is fuU of sarcoi)hagi ; it is no wonder, 
 that these figures seemed to Maundrell to be " perhaps the 
 representation of some persons buried hereabouts, whose sepul-. 
 chres might probably also be discovered by the diligent obser- 
 ver." ' Maundrell could not know, that the sepulchres of those 
 ' persons ' were then buried along with mighty Nineveh ; and 
 that after the lapse of another century and a half, they with 
 Nineveh itself would be disinterred. 
 
 Pococke passed this way, but hardly took notice of the 
 sculptures. To him they were nothing more than " some small 
 figures of men in relief, cut in different compartments, but very 
 much defaced by time." " Niebuhr went from Sidon to Tripoly 
 by water. No other traveller of note seems to have taken this 
 route, until Seetzen ; at least no one has described the tablets.' 
 
 In the first years of the prfesent century M. Guys, son of the 
 French consul at Beirut, and afterwards his successor, took copies 
 of the sculptures.* These in September, 1805, he exhibited to 
 Seetzen among others ; who briefly mentions the sculptures in 
 his letters to Europe, and in his journal.^ Burckhardt passed 
 this way, and copied the Latin inscriptions ; but says not a word 
 of the sculptures.^ A cast of the tablet with the inscription, 
 
 ' Maundrell under March 17th : " We ' Volney resided for several months in 
 
 ohserved, in the sides of the rock above the convent Mar Yohanna at Shuweir ; but 
 
 us, several tables of figures carved ; which seems to have known nothing of the 
 
 seemed to promise something of antiquity : sculptures. He even confounds Nahr es- 
 
 to be satisfied of which, some of us clam- Salib with the Beirut river ; Voyage II. p. 
 
 bered up to the place, and found there 169. See above, p. 616. — Browne also 
 
 some signs as if the old way had gone in was here ; but does not speak of the 
 
 that region, before Antoninus had cut the tablets; p. 378. 
 
 other more convenient passage a httle * H. Guys Relation d'un sejonr h Bey- 
 lower. In several places hereabouts, we rout etc. I. pp. 254-271. Ritter XVII. p. 
 saw strange antique figures of men, carve 1 532 — Ritter has here undesignedly done 
 in the natural rock, in mezzo relievo, and some i[ijustice to Maundrell, when he says 
 in highness equal to the life. Close by it was M. Guys who first discovered and 
 each fioTire was a table plained in the side copied, not the lower sculptures along the 
 of the rock, and bordered round with present road, which every passing traveller 
 mouldings. Both the effigies and the must see, but those higher up and more 
 tables appeared to have been anciently in- remote from the modern way. The Ian- 
 scribed .ill over; but the characters are guage of Maundrell, as quoted in a pre- 
 now so defaced, that only the footsteps of ceding note, is conclusive to show, that he 
 them were visible ; only there was oue of discovered all the tablets, 
 the figures, that had both its liueaments ' Seetzen in Zach's Mon. Corr. 1806, 
 and its inscriptions entire." The tablet Bd. XIII. p. 549. Keisen I. p. 235. 
 thus described is the highest of all. * Trav. p. 190. 
 
 " Pococke XL i. p. 92. 
 
624 BEIRUT. [Sec. XHL 
 
 made by Mr Bonomi, is now in the British Museum ; ' and 
 copies of the sculptures were obtained by M. Bertou about 
 A. D. 1838. On these materials have mainly rested the 
 researches of archaeologists ; except that both Lepsius and 
 Layard have siace visited the spot, as above related.' 
 
 At the top of the modern pass, on the side next the water, is 
 a kind of pedestal ; near which lies the fragment of a round 
 column with an illegible Latin inscription. It was apparently a 
 Roman milestone.' But popular tradition, in accounting for 
 the present name of the Nahr el-Kelb, ' Dog river,' relates, that 
 the image of a dog once stood upon this pedestal ; from which it 
 has been thrown down into the sea. This supposed image is 
 still pointed out below ; being a single rock just rising to the 
 surface of the water. 
 
 Here my Syrian journey was virtually at an end ; as, I had 
 already travelled over the rest of the way to Beirut. Our horses 
 now became more spirited on approaching the city ; and we did 
 not restrain them. Leaving the top of the pass at 10.40, we 
 reached the open place before Beirtit at 12.50 ; and five minutes 
 later dismounted at the Mission house. With feelings of grati- 
 tude for the protection of a kind Providence, I repaired to my 
 former home ; and rejoiced to find all our remaining friends well. 
 Some of them had already left the city, and others were preparing 
 for their summer flight to 'Abeih and Bhamdun on Lebanon. 
 
 I had now travelled around the whole of Mount Lebanon, 
 between the great castles esh-Shukif and el-Husn, without having 
 anywhere crossed its main ridge. The general character of its 
 eastern declivity, as also of Anti-Lebanon, I have already de- 
 scribed.* A few remarks upon its western slope may here not be 
 out of place. 
 
 The western declivity of Lebanon is much broader and less 
 steep than the eastern ; its elevation from the base is on this 
 side three thousand feet greater than on the other. It lies in 
 broader plateaus, with a richer soil and far more of cultivation, 
 and teems with villages ; while the eastern side has almost none. 
 A main difference is in the number and character of the streams. 
 While on the eastern slope these are comparatively few and 
 small, the western declivity is broken and furrowed by the mag- 
 nificent basins and chasms of large rivers. In passing from north 
 to south, I had now seen the Kebir in much of its upper part ; 
 had crossed the rivers of 'Akkar and 'Arka and the Barid, near 
 
 • Layard's Nineveh, II. p. 400. [304. n.] this inscription ; Narrat. II. pp. 650, 651. 
 
 ' For a summary of the literary history Comp. S. Wolcott in Biblioth. Sac. 1843, 
 
 relating to the sculptorea, see Kitter XVII. p. 86. 
 pp. 531-546. ' See above, pp. 546, 547. 
 
 ' M. de Saulcy copied some words of 
 
Jtnre 19.] CONCLUSION. 625 
 
 the base of the mountain ; and had traversed the amphitheatres 
 where the Kadisha, the Ibrahim, and the Kelbhave their sources, 
 high up under the main ridge of Lebanon. The basin of the 
 Beirut river I had before viewed from Deir el-Kul'ah ; ' and that 
 of the Dimur from the ridge above 'Abeih.^ The Auwaly I had 
 crossed near the sea, and had missed a view of its upper basin 
 only because of the rain.' I had visited the Zaherfmy in its 
 remotest source ;' and traced the Litany in its wildest chasms." 
 All these features impart to the western slope of Lebanon a 
 character distinct, picturesque, and remarkable. 
 
 In my former work, I called attention to the temples then 
 already known on Lebanon ; which, however, were at that time 
 but six in number.^ In the present volume, likewise, I have 
 often had occasion to speak of the temples scattered, not only on 
 Lebanon, but also on Anti-Lebanon and in the Buka'a.' I had 
 now myself visited the remains of no less than thirteen such 
 temples ; only one of which was among the six above referred 
 to as known. This enumeration does not include the ruins of 
 Ba'albek, nor the rude remains at Kfil'at Bustra and Zawarib.' 
 We heard of several others ; and in all probability there are yet 
 many more to be discovered. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon, June 22d, my friends accompanied 
 me to the steamer, which was to leave for Smyrna. After some 
 tergiversation on the part of the agent, I received permission to 
 spend the quarantine at the latter place on board of the steamer ; 
 an arrangement granted only to three passengers on each trip, 
 and greatly to be preferred on the score of comfort, as well as of 
 expense. That evening my eyes lingered for the last time upon 
 the receding summits of that goodly mountain, Lebanon. The 
 steamer called, as before, at Larnaka and Ehodes ; but, being 
 now in quarantine, as coming from Beirut, we could not land. 
 We reached Smyrna late in the afternoon of Saturday. Our 
 quarantine of five days, in the occidental mode of reckoning, 
 would have lasted till the same hour on the following Thursday. 
 But according to the oriental rule, we were let out at sunrise on 
 Wednesday morning ; having actually been in quarantine only 
 three whole days and small portions of two others. This well 
 
 ' See above, p. 15. Kul'ah, see ahave, p. 15 sq. Hibbarayeh, 
 
 « Ibid. p. 20. p. 417; Neby Sflla, p. 426; 'Aiha, p. 
 
 ' Ibid pp. 36, 40. 433 ; Kukhleh, p. 435 ; Deir el-'Ashayir, 
 
 • Ibid. p. 45. p. 437; el-Kijeh, p. 476; el-Kefr, 478; 
 
 • Ibid. pp. 386, 421-424. Mejdel 'Anjar, p. 493 sq. ; Deir el Gbuz.51, 
 
 • See Vol. II. p. 493. [iii. 441.] p. 501 ; Nableh, p. 529; Afka, p. 605; 
 ' See above, pp. 432, 438, etc. Kukra, p. 612. 
 
 " The following is the list:- Deir el- 
 VoL. III.— 53 
 
626 CONCLUSION. [Sua xm. 
 
 illustrates the three days, during ■wiiich our Lord is related to 
 have lain in the sepulchre. 
 
 The fanaiHes of Messrs Eiggs and Benjamin had retired for 
 the summer from Smyrna to the pleasant village of Bournahat, 
 northeast of the city. I now found a home in the family of the 
 latter ; and well it was for me, that kind friends and careful 
 attention were at hand. On Monday evening I had felt feverish 
 on board the steamer ; but it passed away, and I thought no 
 more of it. During Wednesday night, however, the fever re- 
 turned, as a tertian, with great violence ; and left me prostrated. 
 Dr Wood, the Frank physician, prescribed large doses of quinine ; 
 and the effect was such, that there was afterwards but little 
 recurrence of the fever. On Monday, July 5th, by advice of the 
 physician, though still quite weak, I embarked in the regular 
 steamer for Trieste. 
 
 The next year, 1853, Messrs Riggs and Benjamin removed 
 to Constantinople, as a more eligible position for the printing 
 estabhshment of the Mission. There, in January 1855, Mi 
 Benjamin was called to his rest. He fell a victim to typhus feve- . 
 He was a man amiable in character and pleasing in address ; 
 an able, faithful, and devoted labourer in the missionary work.' 
 
 We lay twenty-four hours at Syra ; and thus fulfilled oui 
 quarantine between Asia and Europe. The further voyage was 
 without any special incident. Being in a slow vessel, we did 
 not arrive at Trieste until the following Monday at noon. I 
 secured a place for the next day in the diligence for Laibach, then 
 the southern termination of the railway ; and on repairing to the 
 office on Tuesday to take my seat, whom should I encounter in 
 the same vehicle, but my friend Mr W. Dickson of Edinburgh, 
 whom I had met two months before at Nabulus ? ' He had arrived 
 the preceding evening in the steamer from Alexandria. We 
 continued together next day upon the railway, through all the 
 splendid Alpine scenery along the Save and the Sann, as far as 
 to Bruck. There I left the cars, and rested for a day. The 
 next evening I took the malle paste for Salzburg, through a 
 beautifril region of country ; and reached that city very early on 
 Saturday, July 17th. I found there my family, residing tem- 
 porarily in the charming park of Aigen. , In this quiet retreat, 
 and in journeying amid the magnificence of the Austrian Alps, 
 my health was speedily and firmly restored. 
 
 On the 8th of October we embarked at Bremen on board the 
 steamer for New York ; left Southampton on the 13th ; and 
 arrived at New York, Oct. 27th, 1852. 
 
 ' Mr Benjamin died January 27th Missionary Herald for the month of May, 
 1855. An obituary notice of him, with a 1855, p. 142 aq. 
 brief account of his life, is given in the ' See above, p. 300. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 Note I. — Page 10. 
 
 Commerce op Beirut. — The following statement of imports and ex- 
 ports at Beirflt in A. D. 1853, in the vessels of different nations, was 
 obtained for Dr Smith by Mr Tabit, the iatelligent dragoman of the 
 British consulate. 
 
 
 
 IMPORTS 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Loaded. 
 
 Empty. 
 
 Austrian, 
 
 36 
 
 1 
 
 American, 
 
 1 
 
 2 . 
 
 French, 
 
 68 
 
 6 
 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 6 
 
 1 . 
 
 Greek, 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 English, 
 
 62 
 
 2 . 
 
 Norwegian, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Dutch, 
 
 1 
 
 
 Russian, 
 
 1 
 
 1 ' . ' 
 
 Sardinian, 
 
 8 
 
 
 Tuscan, 
 
 1 
 
 
 Turkish, 
 
 35 
 
 43 . ' . 
 
 Value of Cargoes. 
 Francs 6,643,231 
 25,000 
 3,276,157 
 92,042 
 162,370 
 6,803,212 
 6,750 
 68,125 
 
 756,400 
 
 57,009 
 
 1,627,000 
 
 Total 219 72 . . Francs 19,507,296 
 
 During the same year the imports at Aleppo were about 20,000,000 fr. 
 
 EXPOBTS. 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Loaded. 
 
 Empty. 
 
 Austrian, 
 
 29 
 
 7 
 
 American, 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 French, 
 
 26 
 
 38 
 
 Jerosalem, 
 
 3 
 
 i 
 
 Greek, 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 Englidi, 
 
 65 
 
 
 Norwegian, 
 
 
 2 
 
 Dntcb, 
 
 
 1 
 
 Bossian, 
 
 1 
 
 
 Sardinian, 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 Tuscan, 
 
 X 
 
 
 Turkish, 
 
 27 
 
 61 
 
 
 163 
 
 127 
 
 Value of Cargoes. 
 Francs 6,465,719 
 120,000 
 1,749,375 
 273,900 
 53,957 
 1,332^425 
 
 8,337 
 
 30,750 
 
 193,750 
 
 1,117,750 
 
 Francs 10,345,963 
 
628 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 [ii, ni. 
 
 Note II. — Page 91. 
 
 Itinerakt from 'Akka to Tyee. — ^The following Itinerary is that 
 of the late Capt. Newbold in 1845 ; and is copied with some abridge- 
 ment from an article by him in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic 
 Society, Vol. XII. p. 359-361. Taken in connection with our route 
 between Tyre and Beirut, and the Itinerary of Dr Smith from 'Akka to 
 Yafa in Note XL, at the end of Vol. II, it completes a full Itinerary 
 between Beirut and Ydfa. 
 
 Route from ''Akka to Tyre. 
 
 From 'Akka along the plain : 
 Jezz&r's aqueduct crosses the road, .... 
 Semirieh, with gardens and fig orchards, . 
 Ancient foundations, gardens, ..... 
 Rivulet of el-MabshOk, stone causeway, .... 
 ez-Zib (Ecdippa), ^ m. on left, near the sea, . 
 el-Bussah, a mile on right, on flank of promontory, . 
 'Ain el-Musheirifeh, south of Ras en-N^kOrah, 
 
 Foot of Ras en-Nakfirah, 
 
 Top of promontory, ....... 
 
 Bottom of first steep descent, ..... 
 
 Descent more gradual to rivulet, with Roman bridge, . 
 Bottom of second descent, ...... 
 
 Khan and village en-Nakurah, village on right, 
 
 Along the plain to 'Ain Iskanderiyeh (Alexandroschene), with 
 
 massive ruins. Just beyond begins the ascent of Ras el- 
 
 Abyad (Promontorium Album), .... 
 
 Top of ascent ; Kul'at Shema' on right, 
 
 Bottom of descent, ....... 
 
 Rivulet of Wady el-'Azziyeh ; foundations of an ancient site 
 
 village el-Mansflry on right, ..... 
 
 RSs el-' Ain, 
 
 Tyre, 
 
 Total 
 
 General course from 'Akka to Rds el-' Ain, N. 10° E. 
 " " " Ras el-'Ain to Tyre, N. 15° W. 
 
 .20 
 .45 
 .15 
 .25 
 ,35 
 .45 
 .10 
 .09 
 .08 
 .12 
 .16 
 .15 
 .15 
 
 1.10 
 .20 
 .12 
 
 .15 
 1.06 
 1. 
 
 8.38 
 
 Note III.— Page 92. 
 
 Statistics of the Province of 'Akka. — The following statistics of 
 the province of 'Akka, comprising eight districts, were obtained for us 
 by Mr Jirjis Jemal, American consular agent in 'Akka; see Text. 
 
m.] 
 
 EOUTES. STATISTICS OF 'AKKA. 
 
 629 
 
 1. Villages. 
 
 The SShil, Jetd, and SMghflr, 
 
 Shefa 'Omar, . , 
 
 Nazareth, 
 
 Tiberias, 
 
 'AtlSt and Haifa, 
 
 Safed, 
 
 38 
 18 
 25 
 26 
 42 
 11 
 
 2. Population : Number of Malee. 
 
 IGO 
 
 'Ailca, the city, 
 Distr. of Shaghur, 
 
 " the SahU, 
 
 " the Jebel, 
 
 " Shefa 'Omar, 
 
 " AtUt and Haifa, . 
 
 " Nazareth, 
 
 " Tiberias, 
 
 " Safed, 
 
 Mosl and Droz. 
 
 Ctar. and Jeva. 
 
 . 2378 
 
 793 
 
 2795 
 
 762 
 
 : 2077 
 
 644 
 
 2081 
 
 544 
 
 . 2767 
 
 763 
 
 6184 
 
 588 
 
 . 3013 
 
 1915 
 
 3521, 
 
 691 
 
 . 3612 
 
 942 
 
 28428 
 7642 
 
 7642 
 
 Total 36,070 
 
 3. YoJces of Oxen. 
 
 The Sahil, Jebel, and Shaghor, 
 
 Shefa 'Omar, . . 
 
 Kazareth, . . . 
 
 Tiberias, 
 
 'Atlit and Haifa, 
 
 Safed, . . . . 
 
 Total 
 
 1500 
 700 
 900 
 900 
 
 1200 
 700 
 
 5900 
 
 4. Taxes in Money. 
 
 The sahil, mcL 'Afcka, 
 
 Shaghfir, . . 
 
 The Jebel, 
 
 Shefa 'Omar, 
 
 Atlit and Haifa, . 
 
 Nazareth, 
 
 Tiberias, 
 
 Safed, 
 
 Piastres 
 
 On Property. 
 
 On Persons 
 
 172213.01 
 
 26750.27 
 
 206642.21 
 
 24323.13 
 
 12293626 
 
 27940.03 
 
 237071.05 
 
 38988.05 
 
 299964.16 
 
 77126.23 
 
 205774.03 
 
 65715.20 
 
 88826.04 
 
 59282.23 
 
 155497.15 
 
 49686.28 
 
 1488925.11 369813.21 
 1488925.11 
 
 From cnstoms, excise, rents, and villages famed, 
 
 1858738.33 
 1357850. 
 
 Total: Piastres 3.216.588.32 
 
 Vol. m.— 53» 
 
630 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 [lU. 
 
 5. Taxes in Produce. (Incomplete.) 
 
 The SaM, 
 
 The Jebe^ . 
 
 Shaghur, 
 
 Nazareth, , 
 
 Sated, 
 
 Tiberias, , , 
 
 Atlit and Haifa, . 
 
 Sheia 'Omar, 
 
 In the prov. ) Um el-Fahm, 
 
 of Nabulos. j el-Murussus, 
 
 ■Wheat 
 Kao. 6673^ 
 5126 
 3996 
 8129 
 2200 
 94:90^ 
 8041 
 8421 
 1100 
 283 
 
 Total: Kflo. 53-159 
 
 Barley. 
 Kilo. 12980 
 
 8726 
 
 754« 
 25106 
 
 4290 
 14212 
 
 8179 
 14146 
 
 95186 
 
 6. Products of Agriculture, etc. 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 KUo. 1.500.000 at 
 
 12^- Piastres. 
 
 Barley, . 
 
 500.000 " 
 
 7 
 
 ( 
 
 Millet, 
 
 400.000 " 
 
 7 
 
 ■ 
 
 Beans, 
 
 50.000 " 
 
 7 
 
 f 
 
 Lentiles, 
 
 20.000 " 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 Hummus, (chick peas,) 
 
 10.000 " 
 
 10 
 
 ■ 
 
 Castor oil beans, 
 
 1.500 " 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 Sesame, . 
 
 . Okes 200.000 " 
 
 1* 
 
 ' 
 
 Cotton, 
 
 Kuntars 2.500 " 
 
 750 
 
 ( 
 
 Oil, 
 
 5.000 " 
 
 650 
 
 ( 
 
 Wool, 
 
 100 " 
 
 750 
 
 C 
 
 Tobacco, . 
 
 750 " 
 
 1000 
 
 ' 
 
 Silk, 
 
 300 " 
 
 100 
 
 ' 
 
 Kerscnna, (vetches). 
 
 Kilo. 7.500, 
 
 not expon 
 brought tc 
 
 ted, nor 
 market 
 
 7. Masks, Churches, etc. 
 
 MosTcs. In 'Akka six ; in Haifa two ; in Safed three ; in Tiberias two ; in 
 Nazareth, Tcrshiha, and ez-Zlb, each one. In every Tillage there is a house 
 used as a mosk. 
 
 GreeTc Churches. There is one Greek church in each of the following 
 places : 'Akka, Haifa, Nazareth, Tiberias, Kefr Tasif, el-Mekr, el-Birweh, 
 Sha'b, 'Abil-n, Siikhnin, el-Bussah, er-Eameh, Tershiha, el-Bukei'a, Kefr 
 Sumei'a, el-Baneh, Abu SinOn, er-Eeineh. In aU 18. 
 
 Or ecTc- Catholic Churches. There is one Greek-Catholic church in each of 
 the following places : 'Akka, Haifa, Shefa 'Omar, Nazareth, Tiberias, el-Mekr, 
 ed-Damon, 'Abilin, Sukhnin, 'Arrabeh, 'Aihbun, Deir Hanna, Tur'an, cl- 
 Mughdr, er-Rameh, Suhmata, Futa, Tershiha, Ma'lia, 'Asfieh, Safed. lu 
 aU21. 
 
 Maronite Cliurches. In 'Akka one ; in Nazareth one. 
 
 Frdnh Latin Churches. In 'Akka one ; in Haifa one; in Tiberias one. — 
 Franh Convents in 'Akka, Nazareth, and on Carmel. 
 
 Jewish Synagogues. Of these there is one in each of the following places: 
 'Akka, Haifa, Tiberias, Safed, el-Bnkei'a. In all 5. 
 
IV.] STATISTICS. MR WHITING'S LETTER. 631 
 
 Note IV.— Pages 167, 185, 208. 
 
 The Ttropobon and certain Kemains in Jerusalem. — The letter 
 of the Rev. George B. Whiting, from which the following are extracts, 
 was published in full in the Bibiiotheca Sacra, 1848, pp. 94-96 ; also in 
 German by Hodiger, Zeitschr. der morgenl. Ges. II. p. 231 sq. Mr 
 Whiting was for several years a resident in the Holy City ; and hia 
 judgment is entitled to great weight. I insert here the greater part of 
 the letter, as having a direct bearing upon several of the topics dis- 
 cussed in the text. 
 
 " ^Abeih in Lebanon, Aug. 22, 1847 
 
 " Mr dear Sir : — A few months ago I read with deep interest your 
 two articles in the Bibiiotheca Sacra (1846) on the Topography of 
 Jerusalem. Being then about to visit the Holy City, I resolved to 
 examine anew some points, on which much stress is laid, in respect to 
 the Tyropoeon valley and the course of the second wall. 
 
 " One of these points, and perhaps the most plausible, is the alleged 
 fact, that along the street running eastward from the Yafa gate, at the 
 northern base of Mount Zion, where you find the commencement of the 
 Tyropoeon, there are no traces of a valley to he found ; and that the 
 street called Harat en-Nusara, or ' Christian street,' which leads out of 
 the street last named towards the north, is perfectly level. Now, it 
 must be conceded, that this ' Christian street ' is, at the point where it 
 leaves the other (the Yafa gate street), nearly or quite level ; and yet, 
 as you go northwards, there certainly is a gradual ascent through 
 almost the whole length of the street. 
 
 "But a more conclusive answer to the argument is the fact, that 
 there is undoubtedly a large accumulation of rubbish all along the 
 northern base of Zion, by which the old valley has been filled up. This 
 fact is not only rendered extremely probable by the existence of a great 
 depth of rubbish and old buildings on all the northern parts of Zion, as 
 was found to be the case in digging for the foundations of the English 
 church, and for those of the barracks erected by Ibrahim Pasha ; but it 
 is now proved by excavations actually made at different points in the 
 valley itself So that the argument upon the present level appearance 
 of the ground in question, is literally an argument resting upon rubbish. 
 It has no solid foundation. 
 
 " While walking in company with the late Prof. Fiske, through the 
 enclosure once occupied by the great palace or hospital of the knights 
 of St. John, our attention was arrested by a large heap of rubbish 
 freshly thrown up, lying near by the little Greek church in the south- 
 west corner of the enclosure. On entering the yard of this church, we 
 found people digging for foundations, on which to erect additional build- 
 ings. They had already excavated to the depth of some fifteen or 
 twenty feet, as we estimated, through nothing but rubbish ; and had just 
 then come upon the top of a vaulted room, the depth of which could not 
 yet be seen. The men said it was understood there was an ancient 
 chapel there, long since buried beneath the ruins and rubbish of other 
 buildings. Whether the vaulted room, the top of which we saw, was the 
 said chapel or not ; or whether it belonged to the first, or the second, or 
 
632 NOTES. [iv. 
 
 the third story of a structure long since huried and lost, we of course 
 could not tell. But supposing it to have been on the first or lower 
 story, the original foundations must hare been at least thirty or forty 
 feet below the present surface. They may have been much deeper than 
 that. Now this spot is within a few yards of the Yafa gate street ; 
 precisely where, on your theory, we should look for the Tyropoeon valley 
 filled up with rubbish. I need not tell you, how much we were interested 
 in this discovery. 
 
 " I proceed to mention another fact of the same sort. On this same 
 Yafa gate street, at a point further up towards the gate, a large new 
 building has recently been erected. It stands opposite the castle, on the 
 corner of the street leading north from the main street towards the 
 Latin convent. Of course, then, this building stands directly over the 
 bed of your Tyropoeon valley ; and here also we should look for a con- 
 siderable accumulation of rubbish. I inquired of a European mer- 
 chant, who occupies a part of the building, and who said he was present 
 when it was erected, whether in digging to lay the foundations much 
 depth of rubbish was found. ' A very great depth,' he replied. * How 
 deep do you think the ezcavations were ? ' ' Oh, I don't know,' he said, 
 but very deep. Look at the height of that castle wall ; the depth of 
 our excavations was equal to that.' The part of the castle wall to 
 which he pointed, cannot be less than forty or fifty feet high. ' Are you 
 sure,' I said, ' your foundations were so deep ? ' ' Yes,' he answered 
 with confidence, ' quite as deep as the height of that wall.' 
 
 " Our. English friends in Jerusalem, like ourselves, were much inter- 
 ested in these facts ; and regarded them as proving beyond all contro- 
 versy, that there was formerly a deep valley or ravine along the course 
 of this street. 
 
 " Much has been said about some supposed ancient remains, near the 
 corner formed by the Yafa gate street and the street running north 
 through the bazars ; as also about a supposed ' pier of an ancient gate- 
 way,' in the open grounds on the west of the bazars. Both of these 
 points I took some pains to examine, in company with Prof. Fiske. The 
 remains first mentioned are nothing more nor less than a square corner, 
 in a good state of preservation, of the celebrated palace of the knights 
 of St. John. You may recollect a row of arches, almost entire, along 
 the north side of the Yafa gate street, extending from near the bazars 
 almost up to the ' Christian street.' This row of arches, I believe it is 
 on all hands admitted, belongs to the crusades, and evidently formed the 
 south basement of the great palace of the knights. The square comer 
 alluded to, is a continuation, or, more correctly, the termination of this 
 row of arches. It is exactly on a line with them, and built in the very 
 same style; the'stones being of the same shape and size with those of 
 the arches and buttresses. 
 
 " Looking northward from this corner of the old palace, we noticed 
 exactly in a line with the eastern face of it, and about midway between 
 it and the north side of the palace enclosure, Mr Williams' ' pier of a 
 gateway,' which he says is in its style of architecture different from any 
 thing he had seen in Jerusalem, and, as he thinks, of high antiquity. 
 Now had he carefully compared this relic with the row of arches above 
 mentioned, he would have found, that the style of architecture is pre- 
 
v.] MR whiting's lettee. druze protectiok. 633 
 
 cisely the same in both. Even the shape and dimensions of the stones 
 are the same in both. The stones are mostly of an oblong form, three 
 or four feet in length, and perhaps a little less than two feet in breadth 
 and thickness. And further, if he had looked from the top of the corner, 
 already described, across the open ground to this ' pier of a gateway,' 
 he would have been satisfied, that both the ' pier' and the corner are part 
 and parcel of one and the same building, and that the old palace of the 
 knights of St. John. I think you have suggested, that this was one of 
 the gates of the said palace ; and it seems to me that no one, who care- 
 fully compares the several remains now alluded to, can doubt for a 
 moment that such is the fact. 
 
 Most truly yours, 
 
 G. B. Whiting. 
 
 Note V.— Page 384. 
 
 Druze Letter op Protection. — The following is a translation of 
 the letter given us by the chief Druze Sheikh residing in Hasbeiya, di- 
 rected to the marauding party of Druzes stationed near Banias. 
 
 " To their Excellencies the respected Sheikhs of the Shilf, now in 
 these parts; may God most High preserve them. 
 
 " First, the multiplication of abundant longings to behold you in 
 prosperity and health. And then, we inform you that our friend, Mr 
 Thomson, is proceeding, on the part of the British government, to visit 
 certain places ; and it is expected of you, that no one will interfere with 
 him, or stand in his way. Further, you need not that we should insist 
 in this matter. May your lives be long. 
 
 Your sincere friend, 
 
 MCHAMMED KeIS. (L. S.) 
 " Sha'bon 6, 1268. [May 24, 1852.]" 
 
ITINERARY. 
 
 I. FROM BEIKtTT TO 'AKKA. 
 (SEC. n.) 
 
 WITH HORSES. 
 
 General rate of Travel, 3 Eng. M. the hour. 
 
 Monday, April hth, 1852, 
 
 From Beirut. 
 
 1. NahrGhiidJr, 
 
 2. KhSn Khulda, 
 
 3. el-Ghilfr, 
 
 4. Nahr Dimiir, month, 
 
 5. Neby Yunas, el-Jiyeh, 
 
 
 1 05 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 Total 
 
 4 35 
 
 Tv£siay, Aprii 
 
 m. 
 
 
 From Neby Yunas, 
 
 
 
 
 1. Cape, highest point, 
 
 
 30 
 
 2. Wady Shehim, 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 3. KasRumeileh, 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 4. Nahr Auwaly, ford, 
 
 
 20 
 
 5. Sidon, 
 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 To Sidon 
 
 2 10 
 
 From Sidon, 
 
 
 
 
 6. Mejdel Yiin, 
 
 
 N. 85° E. 
 
 45 
 
 7. Brow of hill, 
 
 
 about E. 
 
 25 
 
 8. High point, 
 
 ( 30 
 \ 20 
 
 S. 77° E. 
 S. 70° E. 
 
 50 
 
 9. KefrFalus, 
 
 abt S. 74° E. 
 
 15 
 
 
 To Kefr Falus, 
 
 2 15 
 
 Wednesday, April 7th. 
 
 From Kefr Falus, 
 
 1. Wady Shemmas, bott 45 
 
 2. Rum. From K. Falus, N. 86° E. 55 
 
 3. Kaituleh, 1 35 
 
 4. Zehiltah. 65 
 
 5. Jebaa, (5 min. on right) 1 05 
 
 6. Jequ'a, 1 
 
 Total 6 15 
 
 TAursday, April 8th. 
 Detained by weather. 
 
 Friday, April 9th. 
 
 From Jeijii'a, 
 
 1. 'Arab Salim, (10 min. h. m. 
 
 on left,) S. 15° W. 35 
 
 2. Nahr Zaherany, bridge, 35 
 
 3. Tell Habbush. From 
 
 Jerju'a, S. 39°W. 20 
 
 4. Nebatiyeh, Lower, 30 
 
 5. Amfin, abt S. 55° E. 1 10 
 
 6. KOl'at esh-Shukif, S. 28° E. 20 
 
 To the castle 3 30 
 
 From Amun, 
 
 7. el-Humrah, about W. 30 
 
 8. Zautar, East, about W. 25 
 
 9. Zautar, West, about W. 10 
 10. Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh, about W. by S. 1 
 
 To the bridge 2 05 
 
 /Saturday, April lOlh. 
 
 From bridge, 
 
 1. Point hi W.Hn- 
 
 jeir, about S. by E. 
 
 2. Wady Seluky, 
 
 mouth, S. by E. 
 
 3. Kubrikhah, abt S. E. 
 
 4. Tulin, S.87°W. 
 
 5. Sauwaneh, S. 4° W. (circuit) 
 
 6. W. Hujeir, road 
 
 to Tibntn, S. W. 
 
 7. Khirbet Silim, abtN.N.E. 
 
 8. Tibnin, about S. S. W. 
 
 35 
 
 45 
 55 
 40 
 60 
 
 20 
 
 10 
 
 1 10 
 
 Total 5 25 
 
 Monday, April 12ih. 
 
 From Tlbnin, 
 
 1. Hans, S. 60° W. 
 
 2. Seribbin, S. 45° W. 
 
 55 
 46 
 
636 
 
 ITINEBAET. 
 
 3. W. el-'Ayfin, opp. it3 
 
 angle, S. 45° W. 
 
 i. High point, N. N. W. 
 
 6. Yutir, atont N. N. W. 
 
 6. W. el-'Ayun, return, abt S. S. E. 
 
 7. Hazireh, ruin, 
 
 8. HeadofWady, 
 
 9. Ram eh. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 15 
 16 
 30 
 40 
 S. 25° E. 1 00 
 
 abont W. S. W. 
 N. 60° W. 
 
 30 
 30 
 
 Belat N. 74° W. 1 m. Total 5 20 
 
 TuesSuy, AprU IZth. 
 From fork of road to 'Aiteh, 
 
 1. W. el-*Ayun, plain be- 
 
 low Rumeish, abont S. 30° E. 
 
 2. Rumoish, S. 10° E. 
 B. KefrBirim, about S.E.byE. 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 1 25 
 
 Total 2 45 
 
 WediKsday, Ajiril Uth. 
 From Kefr Birim, 
 
 1. Low ridge, angle of Jeb. 
 
 Jermuk, S. 15° E. 
 
 2. Meiron, S. 15° E. 
 
 3. E.browofmount'n, abtN. 60°W. 
 
 4. W. " " " N. W. 
 
 5. Beit Jenn, fl^ m. di- 
 
 rect,) S. 70°W. 
 
 6. Brow above Rameb, S. S. E. 
 
 7. er-Rameh, S. 50° W. 
 
 8. el-Mugh,ir, (3 m. direct,) 
 
 about S. 30° E. 
 
 To Hizur 35 min. and to 
 
 top of Tell 20 m. Total 
 
 1 20 
 40 
 30 
 30 
 
 1 15 
 30 
 1 
 
 1 40 
 
 7 25 
 
 Thursday, April \Sth. 
 
 1. Top of diagonal ridge, S. 65° W. 
 
 2. Deir Hanna S. 45° W. 
 
 „ ,. ., , (20'S. W. 
 
 3. Arrabeb, | ^^, g £_ 
 
 55 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 Total 1 55 
 
 Friday, April 16iS. 
 Remained at 'Arribeh. 
 
 Saturday, April 17«J. 
 From 'Arrabeh, 
 
 1. ibukhnin, N. 67° W. 
 
 2. Top of a ridge, N. 38° W. 
 
 3. Wady Sha'ab, bottom, N. W. 
 
 4. Kilbarah, about N. E. 
 
 Return to No. 3. 
 
 5. Sha'ab, -riU. abont W. 
 
 6. TeU Ya'uin, on left, W. by N. 
 
 7. TeU Birweh, 
 
 8. 'Akka, S. gate, 
 
 H. U. 
 
 W. byN. 1 
 N. 75° W. 1 30 
 
 Total 6 10 
 
 II. 
 
 FROM 'AKKA TO JERUSALEM. 
 (SEC. ILL) 
 
 WITH nOBSES. 
 
 Monday, April 19<A. 
 From 'Akka, 
 
 1. Tell Kison, S. 60° E. 1 45 
 
 2. Bit Tireb, S. 35° E. 30 
 
 3. Tumrah, S. 65° E. 30 
 
 4. Top of first ridge, abont S. 80° E. 40 
 
 5. Kaukab, S. 51° E. 45 
 
 6. Jefat, S. 89° E. 45 
 
 7. Kana, about E. S. E. 40 
 
 8. KefrMenda, about W. 40 
 
 Total 6 15 
 
 Tuesday, April 20t7i. 
 
 From Kefr Menda, 
 
 
 1. Seffurieh, S. 11° E. 
 
 1 15 
 
 2. Brow of a low hill, S. 80° W. 
 
 1 05 
 
 3. Beit Lahm, S. 80° W. 
 
 45 
 
 4. Jeida, S. 30° W. 
 
 40 
 
 5. Tell esh-Shemmam, S. 23° W. 
 
 55 
 
 Total 
 
 4 40 
 
 Wednesday, April 21rf. 
 
 
 From Tell esh-Shemmam, 
 
 
 1. TeU eth-Thorah, S. 19° E. 
 
 25 
 
 2. Tell el-Mutsellim, S. 7° E. 
 
 1 30 
 
 3. Lejjun, about S. W. by S. 
 
 15 
 
 4. Top of Pass towards 
 
 
 Eamleh, about S. 35° W. 
 
 1 10 
 
 5. Um el-Fahm, about S.(?) 
 
 30 
 
 6. High point, S. 5° E. 
 
 20 
 
 7. High brow, about S. 20° E. 
 
 1 30 
 
 8. Ya'bad, S. 
 
 40 
 
 Total 
 
 C 20 
 
 45 
 
 Thursday, April 22d. 
 
 25 From Ya'bud, 
 45 1. Hill 15' S.W. of Ya'bud, S. "W. 
 I 2. High point, S. 65° W. 
 
 15 
 
 30 
 15 
 
 Fork of road to 'Attil, 
 
 about S. 
 
 60° W. 1 30 
 
ITINERAKT. 
 
 637 
 
 4. 'Attil, about S. 40 
 6. Top of side Wady, from 
 
 W. Musain, abont S. 70° E. I 45 
 
 6. 'Anebta, S. 30° E. 40 
 
 7. Kanun, S. 47° E. 1 
 
 Total 6 50 
 
 Friday, April 23d. 
 From Ramin, 
 
 Nabulus, S. 55° E. 2 45 
 
 Saturday, April 2ith. 
 
 From N&bnloa, 
 
 1. Kafldieh, 
 
 2. High point, 
 
 3. High point, 
 
 4. Kuriet Jit, 
 
 5. Funduk, 
 
 6. High point, 
 
 7. 'Azzun, 
 
 8. Hableh, 
 
 abont W. N. W. 
 
 N. 68° W. 
 
 S. 70° W. 
 
 S. 70° W. 
 
 S. 55° W. 
 abont W. S. W. 
 about S. 70° W. 
 abont W. S. W. 
 
 Total 6 30 
 
 Moaday, April 2Gth. 
 
 From Hableh, 
 
 1. Mejdel Yaba, 
 
 2. Neby Thaiy, Wely, 
 
 3. Keuthieh, 
 
 4. Ludd, 
 
 5. On a ridge, 
 
 6. On a ridge, 
 
 7. el-Knbab, 
 
 8. High point, 
 
 9. Yilo 
 
 about 
 
 S. 16° W. 
 S. 67° W. 
 S. 13° W. 
 S. 20° W. 
 S. 26° E. 
 about S. 35° 
 S. 32° 
 S. 70° 
 j S. 62° 
 
 E. 
 E. 
 
 E. 
 E. 
 
 40 
 35 
 25 
 45 
 25 
 50 
 45 
 25 
 
 ( or E. S. E. 
 
 Total 7 50 
 
 Tuadag, April 27th. 
 
 From Yale, 
 
 1. Angle of ridge, about N. 65° W. 30 
 
 2. 'Amwiis, S. 47° W. 15 
 
 3. L&tron, S. 47° W. 20 
 
 4. High point, S. 8° W. 20 
 
 5. BeitSfisin, S. 20 
 
 6. Sfir-a, Zorah, S. 45 
 
 7. "Artuf, S. 62° E. 30 
 
 8. Yeshfi'a, N. 20° K 30 
 
 9. High point, abont N. 35 
 
 10. Mihar, about E. 35 
 
 11. Sans, about K N. E. 1 
 
 12. Kuriet el-'Enab, about R S. K 50 
 
 Vol. III.— 54 
 
 18. Kiistiil, on ridge 5' u. h. 
 
 on our right, about S. 62° E. 45 
 
 14. Kulonia, E. 30 
 
 Total 7 48 
 
 Wednesday, April 28(4. 
 From Kulonia, 
 
 1. Top of ascent, S. 80° E. 
 
 2. Jems., Yafa Gate, abt S. 75° E. 
 
 45 
 46 
 
 Total 1 80 
 
 IIL EXCURSIONS FROM JERUSA- 
 LEM. (SEC. VI.) 
 
 WITH HORSES. 
 
 Wednesday, May 5th. 
 
 From Jerusalem, 
 
 1. Convent of the Cross, 
 
 3 min. on right, abt "W. 
 
 2. High point, about W. by S. 
 
 3. 'Ain Yalo, about W. by S. 
 
 4. 'Ain Huniyeh, about W. 
 
 5. Bittir, S. 45° W. 
 6 Khttbet el-Yehud, N. 45° W. 
 
 20 
 30 
 25 
 25 
 40 
 15 
 
 Total 2 35 
 
 From Bit^r, 
 
 1. Fork of roads, N. 45° E. 
 
 2. Point } m. E. of 
 
 "Weiejeh, about N. 
 
 3. Top of ridge, abt N. by E. 
 
 4. Above 'Ain Ka- 
 
 rim, about N. E. by N. 
 
 5. Brow of Rephaim, abt E. 
 
 6. Jerusalem, Yafa 
 
 gate, about N. 60° E. (?) 
 
 20 
 
 15 
 15 
 
 20 
 60 
 
 80 
 
 Total 2 80 
 
 Friday, May Jih. 
 
 From Jerusalem, 
 
 1. MirElias, 
 
 2. el-Khamis, ruin, 
 
 3. Kubbet Rahil, 
 
 4. Urtas, 
 
 5. el-Burak, 
 
 6. High point, 
 
 7. High point, 
 
 8. High point. 
 
 S. 47° E. 
 
 S. 40° W. 
 about S. 35° W. 
 about S. 35° W. 
 
 60 
 25 
 10 
 60 
 25 
 10 
 05 
 16 
 
638 
 
 ITINERAET. 
 
 9. KftfiD, at reservoir, S. 37° W. 
 
 10. 0pp. Kheiran, about S. 20° W. 
 
 11. Hill north of Beit Sfir, S. 43° W. 
 
 13. Beit Sur, S. 36° W. 
 131 'Ain edh-Dhirweh, N. 80° E. 
 
 14. Angle of road, atont S. 
 
 15. Bir el-Khiilil, about E. 
 
 16. er-Rjimeh, about N. N. E. 
 
 17. Halbul, N. 9° E. 
 
 Total 
 
 Saturday, May 8th. 
 From Halliul, 
 
 1. 'Ain edh-Dhirweh, 12 
 
 2. High point, about N. 20 
 
 3. Beit Ummar, N. 2° E. 30 
 
 4. Merrina, about N. 30° E. 45 
 5 Top of ridge, N. 15° E. 30 
 
 6. Beit Sakarieh, N. 21° E. 13 
 
 Return over the neck ; 
 
 7. Point, from neck abt N. E. by E. 25 
 
 8. High point, about N. E. by E. 30 
 
 9. High point, about E. N. E. 10 
 10. el-iOiiidr, about E. N. E. 35 
 H. Jerusalem, Yafa Gate, 2 
 
 Total 6 10 
 
 IV. FROM JERUSALEM TO BEISAN. 
 (SEC. vn.) 
 
 WITH HOE3E3. 
 
 Mtyitdat/j May 10!h. 
 From Jerusalem, 
 
 1. er-Ram, by usual road, 1 40 
 
 2. Kubur el-'Amalikah, abt E. 55 
 
 3. Khirbet el-Haiyeh, abt E. by N. 30 
 
 4. Jeb'a (Geba), N.65°W. 45 
 
 5. Mukhmas, 45 
 
 Total 4 35 
 
 Tuesday, May \lih. 
 From MQkhmas, 
 1. Rummon, -j 
 
 40'N.50° E. 
 
 1 50 
 
 Wednesday, May 12tk. 
 
 1.10' N. 
 
 2. et-Taiyibeh, on right, N. 1° E. 45 
 
 3. Deir Jerur, N. 5° W. 15 
 
 4. Kefr Malik, abt j ^^ f_i%'^. 1 20 
 
 5. el-Mughaiyh-, N. 53° E. 1 45 
 ,6. Daumeh, N. 28° E. 45 
 
 Total 6 40 
 
 From Daumeh, 
 
 
 B. H. 
 
 1. Mejdel, 
 
 N. 70W. 
 
 40 
 
 2. 'Akrabeh, 
 
 about N. byW. 
 
 1 25 
 
 3. High pointy 
 
 about E. 
 
 10 
 
 4. Yanun, 
 
 N. 30° E. 
 
 30 
 
 5. *Ain Yanfin, 
 
 N. 30° E. 
 
 20 
 
 6. High ridge, 
 
 about N. 
 
 15 
 
 7. High point, 
 
 about N. 50° W. 
 
 20 
 
 8. BeitFurik, 
 
 N. 49° W. 
 
 15 
 
 9. Nabulna, 
 
 about N. 50° W. 
 
 1 25 
 
 
 Total 
 
 5 20 
 
 Thursday, May 13<A. 
 
 From Nabulus, 
 
 1. 'Askar, about S. E. by E. 
 
 2. Angle of moun- 
 
 tain, about N. 35° E. 1 
 
 3. Tiillfizah, about N. 40° W. ? 
 
 4. Bnrj el-Fari'a, N. 74° E. 1 
 . „., . ( 50' N. 70° E. , 
 o. luoaa, -j jQ, j^ 20° E. 
 
 „ „ . . , , j 25' N. 75° E. 
 
 6. Teyasir, abt ^ 35- n. 5° E. 
 
 25 
 
 50 
 
 Total 5 10 
 
 Friday, May Xifh. 
 
 From Teyasir, 
 
 1. Kiisr el-Milih, abt S. 50 E. 
 
 2. Khirbet el-Malih, abt E. S. E. 
 
 o c-i -^,0 *l.^ f 40' abt N.E. 
 
 3. Sakut ^Succoth) 1^5, ^^jg_ ^y jj_ 
 
 4. 'Ain el-Beida, 
 
 5. Berdela, ruin, 
 
 6. 'AinMak-hfiz, 
 
 abtN. 35°W. 
 abt N. (?) 
 abt N. (?) 
 
 1 05 
 30 
 
 1 25 
 
 60 
 30 
 20 
 
 Total 4 40 
 
 Saturday, May 15/A. 
 
 From 'Ain Mak-huz, 
 
 1. Ridghah, about E. by S. 25 
 
 2. Ford of Jordan, 
 
 near Sakut, about E. by S. 1 
 
 3. W. Yabis, mouth, abt E. by N. 30 
 
 4. Brow of 1st pla- 
 
 teau, about N. 65° E. 1 15 
 
 5. Another brow, about N. 60° E. 50 
 
 6. Kefr Abil, E. 10 
 
 4 10 
 
 From Kefr Abil, 
 
 1. High point, abt 
 
 2. Angle of road, about 
 
 N. 60° W. 1 
 N. 50° W. 
 
 30 
 15 
 
ITINEEAKT. 
 
 639 
 
 3. FaM (Pella), abont S. 
 
 From no. 2, 
 
 4. Ford to Bei- ( 45' abt N. 50° W. 
 
 sSn, } 16' abt S. S. W. 
 
 5. Beiaan, 
 
 H. M. 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 N. 620W. 1 15 
 
 Total 4 15 
 
 FKOM BEISAN TO HASBEIYA. 
 (SEC. vm.) 
 
 WITH HORSES. 
 
 Monday, May lltk. 
 From Beisan, 
 
 1. Beit nfa, N. 76° W. 1 30 
 
 2. Kumieh, N. 24° W. 1 25 
 
 3. en-Na'urah, N. 2° E. 1 
 
 4. Tumrah, N. 25° E. 25 
 
 5. S. E. foot of Tabor, 
 
 W. Sherar, about N by E. 50 
 
 6. Suk el-Khan, about N. N. E. 1 
 
 7. Lubieh direct N. N. E. 1 10 
 
 Total 7 20 
 
 Tuesday, May im. 
 From Lubieh, 
 
 1. Hajaren- 
 
 Nusrany, abtE.N.E.iE. 1 10 
 
 2. Irbid, N. 6° W. 45 
 
 3. KhanMin- 
 
 yeh, abtN.KbyE.iE. 2 10 
 
 4. Tell Hum, abt N. E. 50 
 
 5. BirKerazeh, abt N. W.(slow) 1 05 
 
 6. Angle of road, N. 30° W. 30 
 
 7. Damascus road, 
 
 about W.N.W. 45 
 
 8. Ja'uneh, about N. by E. 1 10 
 
 Total 8 25 
 
 Wedttesdta/, May 19d. 
 
 From Ja'uneh, 
 
 1. Mnghar, about N. 26° E. 
 
 2. Kasyun, about N. by E. 
 
 3. Angle of roads, abt E. 
 
 ( N bv W 
 
 4. Angle of roads, abt X ^ ^ j^ -^ 
 
 6. el-Khuieibeh, S. 60° W. 
 
 6. Kedes, N. 4° K 
 
 7. Meis el-Jebel, abt N. 
 
 40 
 
 50 
 
 15 
 
 25 
 50 
 20 
 
 Total 7 20 
 
 TTatrsday, May 20th. 
 
 From Meis el-Jebel, 
 
 1. High point, about N. 31° E. 
 
 2. Hfinin, N. 5° E. 
 
 3. N. E. part of Meij f N. N. E. 
 
 'Ayfln, ■ about { or N. by E. 
 
 4. Tell Dibbin, about N. N. W. 
 
 5. Brow of W. et-Teim, abt N. E. 
 
 6. Ford of Nabr Hasbiiny, abt N. E. 
 
 7. Hasbeiya, lower part, abt S. E. 
 
 " upper part, 
 
 IT. U. 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 2 30 
 
 35 
 1 16 
 56 
 30 
 10 
 
 Total 7 26 
 
 VI. 
 
 FEOM HASBEIYA TO BANlAS 
 AND BACK. (SEC. IX.) 
 
 WITH HOBSES. 
 
 Tuesday, May 26th. 
 
 From Hasbeiya ; upper part, 
 
 1. Ford of the HasbKny, abt N. W. 40 
 
 2. Notch of ed-Dahar, abt S.W. 45 
 
 3. Above Jisr Biirghuz, N. 26°\V. 20 
 
 4. Belat, abt S.W.byS. 1 16 
 
 5. Dibbin, abt S. 25 
 
 6. Judeideh, S. 15° W. 15 
 
 7. Tell Dibbin, abt S. 26 
 S. E. 1 
 
 8. Khiyam, 
 
 Total 5 05 
 
 Wednesday, May 26th. 
 
 
 From Khiyam, 
 
 
 
 1. el-Ghujar, 
 
 abt S. 
 
 2 
 
 2. Tell el-K&dy, 
 
 S. E. 
 
 50 
 
 3. Difneh, 
 
 S. 12° W. 
 
 25 
 
 4. el-Mansury, 
 
 abt S. S. W. 
 
 20 
 
 6. June. of 3 streams, abt S.W.byS. 
 
 1 
 
 RETURN : 
 
 
 From el-Mansury, 
 
 
 6. Khan Duweir, 
 
 - abt N. E. 
 
 45 
 
 7. Banias, 
 
 abt E. 
 
 35 
 
 
 Total 
 
 6 55 
 
 Thursday, May 27th. 
 From Banias, 
 
 1. 'Ain KiSnyeh, S. 69° E. 1 
 
 2. Lake Phiala, Birket 
 
 er-Eam, abt E. by S. 1 
 
 3. Top of ridge, abt N. N. W. 26 
 
 4. Wely Sheikh '0th- 
 
 man Hazury, abt W. by N. 1 
 
640 
 
 ITINERARY. 
 
 6. KOFat es-Subeibeh, 
 U. Banius, 
 
 N. 75° W. 
 S. 71° W. 
 
 n. >r. 
 
 25 
 50 
 
 Total i 40 
 
 Fridtof, May 2&i. 
 From Banias, 
 
 1. Brow of terrace, abt W. N. W. 
 
 2. S. W. comer of monn- 
 
 tain, N. W. 
 
 3. 'Ain Kharwa'ah, aU N. 10° E. 
 
 4. Kai'at Bustra, 
 
 Retnm to no. 3. 
 6. W. es-Seraiyib, att 
 
 6. W. cl-Khureibeh, abt 
 
 7. Basheijret el-Fiikhar, 
 
 abt N. N. E. 
 
 E. by S. 
 
 N. by E. 
 N. by E. 
 
 8. Hibbariyeb 
 
 9. 'Ain Jurfa, 
 
 10. Top of ridge 
 
 Hasbeiya, 
 
 11. Hasbeiya, 
 
 abt N. 75° E. 
 
 N. 40° W. 
 
 S. of 
 
 abt N. N. E. 
 
 abt N. 
 
 15 
 
 35 
 35 
 45 
 
 40 
 30 
 
 35 
 
 45 
 
 20 
 25 
 
 Total 6 25 
 
 Vn. FROM HASBEIYA TO DAMAS- 
 CUS. (SEC. X.) 
 
 •WITH HORSES. 
 
 Monday, May 3Isf, 
 
 From Hasbeiya, 
 L W. et-Teim, chan- 
 nel, abt N. 25° W. 25 
 
 2. Top of ridge ed- 
 
 Dahar, abt W. S. W. 45 
 
 3. Do. fork of road, abt N. E. 1 
 
 4. Yuhmur, abt N. 1 15 
 
 5. el-Kuweh, (natu- 
 
 ral bridge,) abt N. 30 
 
 Return to YiShmur ; 
 
 6. Libbeiya, abt E. by N. 1 15 
 
 7. Neby aiifa, N. K 35 
 
 Total 5 45 
 
 Tuesday, June Irf. 
 
 From Neby Siifa, 
 L Angle at Damascus 
 road, about 
 
 2. Angle at fountain 
 
 3. RaSieiya, E. end, 
 
 4. 'Ailia, abt 
 6. Ke&Euk, 
 
 E. by N. 
 N. E. by E. 
 
 S. 25° E. 
 i E. 
 
 I or E. by S. 
 ■ N. 20° E. 
 
 30 
 50 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 Angle of road, genr. abt E. N. E. 
 
 , „., , , , I 30' S. S. E. 
 
 7. Eukhleli, -j g- ■yy_ g -^ 
 
 8. Deirel-'AsM- 5,o abt n! 
 30' abt N. e! 
 
 Deirel-'AsM- 
 
 ¥: 
 
 ILK. 
 
 1 30 
 35 
 
 1 45 
 
 Total 8 20 
 
 Wednesday, June 2nd. 
 From Deir el-'Ashayir, 
 
 Khan Meithelun, E. N. E. 
 
 Dim:1s, about E. by S. 
 
 Khan el-'Ar- ( 50' abt E. by S. 
 rad, (l°05'abtE. S. E. 
 
 Mezzeh, abt E. by S. 
 
 Damascus, S. W. gate, E. 
 
 50 
 55 
 
 Total 6 20 
 
 Vni. FROM DAMASCUS TO BA'AL- 
 BEK. (SEC. XI. 
 
 WrrH HORSE3. 
 
 Monday, June 7th. 
 From Damascus, 
 
 1. Wely above Salihiyeh, W. N. W. 
 
 2. Dummar, about N. W. 
 
 3. Angle, N. W. side of 
 
 Sahra, about N. W. 
 
 4. Bessima, S. W. 
 
 5. el-Fijeh, fount'n, abt N. W. 
 
 6. el-Kefr, abtN.W.byW. 
 
 7. Bridge above the 
 
 Suk, abt N. W. by W. 
 
 8. S. E. comer of 
 
 plain, abt W. N. W. 
 
 9. Encampment on 
 
 the Barada, abt N. 
 
 Total 
 
 Tuesday, June 8th. 
 From encampment, 
 
 1. 'Ain el-Funduk 10 m. 
 
 north, , about N. 
 
 2. Angle opp. Bustan, abt S. S. W. 
 
 3. 'Ain Baxada, head, W. by S. 
 
 4. Batruny, S. S. W. 
 
 5. Top of high ridge, S. S. W. 
 
 6. Western brow, abt W. 
 
 7. Angle, mid-plateau, 
 
 abt N. N. W. 
 
 8. E sidoofJudeideh, abt N. W. 
 
 9. Wady Zartr, mouth, N. N. W. 
 
 45 
 40 
 
 1 40 
 30 
 35 
 
 1 20 
 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 15 
 
 6 55 
 
 10 
 35 
 15 
 
 50 
 35 
 20 
 
 30 
 15 
 20 
 
rriNERAET. 
 
 641 
 
 10. ■Water-shea, head of 
 
 W. Zarir, N. W. 
 
 11. Tree, Zarfir, N. N. W. 
 
 12. Khan, month of W. 
 
 Harir, abt N. W. 
 
 13. Mgdel 'Anjar, N. N. W. 
 
 14. 'Anjar, min, abt N. E. 
 
 15. Neba' 'Anjar, E. 
 
 H.M. 
 10 
 
 20 
 
 60 
 20 
 40 
 15 
 
 Total 7 25 
 
 Wednesd(a), June 9th. , 
 
 From Neba' 'Anjar, 
 
 1. Neba' Shemain, about N. E. 20 
 
 2. Kefr Zebad, about N. 40° E. 1 
 
 3. el-Kuseiyeh, N. 40° E. 65 
 
 4. Deir el-Ghuzal, N. 40° E. 30 
 6. Wady Sahur, N. 40° E. 25 
 
 6. Masy, about N. 40° E. 25 
 
 7. Neby Shit, about N. N. E. 1 15 
 
 8. 0pp. Bereitan, about N. N. E. 1 45 
 
 9. Fork to fountain, abt N. N. E. 1 25 
 10. Ba'albek, about N. N. W. 25 
 
 Fountain of Ba'albek, 
 
 15 m. E. by S. Total 
 
 8 25 
 
 IX. FROM BA'ALBEK TO EL-HUSN. 
 (SEC. XII.) 
 
 WrtU BORSES. 
 
 Thursday, June lOlh. 
 
 From Ba'albek, 
 
 1. Nahleh, N. E. 
 
 o w J f V • ( 15' N. W. 
 
 2. Wady from Yunm, ■< g., jj 
 
 3. 0pp. Resm el-Hndeth, 
 
 i m. on left, about N. by E. 
 
 4. Top of ridge, water- 
 
 shed, about N. by E. 
 
 6. Neba' Lebweh, 15m. 
 
 E. ofviU. about N. N. E. 
 
 1 10 
 
 55 
 
 1 05 
 
 Total 6 40 
 
 Friday, June MA. 
 From Neba' Lebweh, 
 
 about 
 
 15' N. by E. 
 
 35' 
 
 1. 'Ain, 
 
 2. el-Flkeh, about 
 
 3. Eas Ba'albek, abt 
 
 4. Angle, on road to 
 
 Hfirmul, N. by W. 2 
 
 Vol. IIL— 54* 
 
 N. K 
 
 N. E. 
 
 N. E. 
 
 5. Neba' el-'Asy, abt N. W. by N. ' 40 
 
 6. KSmu'a el-Hurmul, S. 65° E. 1 
 
 7. Eibleh, N. 48° E. 2 46 
 
 Total 8 40 
 
 Saturday, June I2ih. 
 From Ribleh, 
 
 1. Angle of road, abt N. 
 
 2. el-Buweidah, ruin, abt N. W. 
 
 3. Height of land, abt N. W. 
 
 4. W. Khalid, mill, abt N. Wi 
 
 5. Mouth of Wady 
 
 Khalid, abt N. W. by N. i N. 
 
 6. Encamp under 
 
 el-Husn, 
 Diieot, 2 h. 
 
 45 
 
 1 J6 
 
 2 15 
 50 
 
 50 
 
 N. byW. iW. 3 
 
 Kiil'at el-Hu3a, 
 
 W. by N. 
 
 8 66 
 56 
 
 Total 9 50 
 
 ' FROM EL-HUSN TO BEIRtTT. 
 (SEC. XUL) 
 
 WITH HOKSES. 
 
 Monday, June 14<A. 
 
 From el-Husn, 
 
 1. Deir Mar Jirjis, 
 
 2. Intermitting foun- 
 
 tain, abt 
 
 3. Angle of road, abt 
 
 4. Tell el-Haush, abt 
 
 5. Jisr el-Abyad, abt 
 
 6. Angle of road, abt 
 
 7. Angle of road, abt - 
 
 N. 60° W. 40 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 W. N. W. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 S. S. W. 
 
 S. S. W. 
 
 15' S. S. E. 
 
 25' S. 
 
 8. Nahr 'AkkSr, or ("30' S.W. 
 
 N. el-Khureibeh, \ 45' S. S. W. 
 
 9. Sheikh Muhammed, 
 
 foot of hill, abt S. by W. 
 
 20 
 15 
 
 30 
 15 
 
 40 
 
 1 15 
 
 35 
 
 Total 7 30 
 
 Tuesday, June 15th. 
 
 From Sheikh Mohammed, 
 
 1. Tell 'Arka, S. 40° W. 
 
 o XT 1. , ^J^ CSS' abt W. S. W. 
 
 2. Nahrel-Bi-_^g(,,^bts_^y_^s_ 
 
 "''' (20' abt S. 10° W. 
 
 3. W. Halan, brow, abt S. 
 
 56 
 1 46 
 1 40 
 
642 
 
 ITINEBART. 
 
 4. 'Ayftn 'Ashash, aU S. W. 
 
 6. Zflgharta, abt S. W. by W. 
 
 6. Opp.KefrYashit, 
 
 Im. dist. abt S. S. E. 
 
 7. Angle of road, abt S. 
 
 8. W. Heiruna, foot, abt S. E. 
 
 9. 'Ain Heiruna, abt S. S. E. 
 
 40 
 
 05 
 55 
 60 
 60 
 
 Total 9 40 
 
 Wednesdcy, June 16iA. 
 
 From 'Ain Heiruna, 
 
 1. Ehden, abt 
 
 2. Bidge, low point, abt 
 
 3. The cedars, abt 
 
 4. Bsherreh, abt 
 6. Hasrun, abt 
 
 From the cedars, abt 
 
 S. S. E. 1 10 
 
 S. E. 
 
 E. S. E. 
 
 "W. by N. 
 
 (W.by S. 
 
 i W. 
 
 1 15 
 1 30 
 1 
 
 1 30 
 
 Total 6 25 
 
 Thxnday, June nth. 
 
 From Hasrun, 
 
 1. Bdam^n, 
 
 2. Top of ridge 
 
 3. Top of a pass, 
 
 4. Highest ( 1 30' 
 
 ridge, { 15' abt S. E. by E. 
 
 5. el-'Akfirah, abt S. E. by S. 
 
 6. Neba' Ruweis, abt S. by E. 
 
 7. Angle of road, S. S. W. 
 
 abt 
 abt 
 abt 
 abt 
 
 W. by S. 1 
 
 s. s. w. 
 
 S. W. 2 
 S. W. J 
 
 1 
 
 8. Fountain of Afka, 
 
 9. Afka, 
 
 S.E. 
 W. 
 
 ILIL 
 
 80 
 16 
 
 
 Friday, Jane 18A 
 
 
 From Afka, 
 
 
 
 1. 
 
 ez-Zuwanb, ruin, 
 
 abt 
 
 W. 
 
 2. 
 
 Dhnbur elHawa 
 
 abt E 
 
 byS. 
 
 3. 
 
 Angle of road, base of 
 
 
 
 high ridge, 
 
 abt W. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 4. 
 
 Top of high ridge. 
 
 abt S. 
 
 S.W. 
 
 5. 
 
 W. Shebruh, bott 
 
 abt S. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 6. 
 
 Angle of road. 
 
 abt 
 
 S. W. 
 
 7. 
 
 Neba' el-'Asal, 
 
 abt 
 
 S. E. 
 
 8. 
 
 Natural bridge. 
 
 abt 
 
 W. 
 
 9. 
 
 Fukra, ruin, 
 
 abt W. S. W. 
 
 10. 
 
 Mezra'ah, middle, abt W. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 11. 
 
 Nahr es-Sallb, 
 
 
 
 
 bridge. 
 
 abt 
 
 "W. 
 
 12. 
 
 Top of ascent, 
 
 \V. 
 
 S. W. 
 
 13. 
 
 'Ajeltun,W.i«rt, 
 
 abt W 
 
 byS. 
 Total 
 
 Total 9 40 
 
 40 
 10 
 
 1 15 
 
 50 
 20 
 35 
 25 
 30 
 25 
 1 45 
 
 40 
 
 30 
 
 1 30 
 
 9 35 
 
 Saturday, June 19^ 
 From 'Ajeltun, 
 
 1. Belluneh, W. by S. 
 
 2. Zuk el-Khurab, W. by S. 
 
 3. Bridge of Nahr el-Kelb, W. by S. 
 
 4. Beirut (rapidly), 
 
 1 10 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 2 05 
 
 Total 4 45 
 
OBEX I. 
 
 AEABIO NAMES AND WORDS, 
 
 CHIBFLT GEOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 Names beginning -mth Alu, Vm, BeSt, and Kefr, are in evety case to be sought 
 tinder these words. In respect to names beginning -with Ain, Mr, Delr, Tell, and the 
 like, the arrangement is not so uniform ; and some of them -will be found nnder the 
 second part of the name. 
 
 The reference to pages is not always fixll ; the more important passages only being 
 cited, where a name occurs more than once. Yet the entiy is always sufficiently fijl, 
 to serve as a General Index for all the Arabic names and words found in the body of 
 the work. 
 
 For the significanoy and pronnnciation of the several consonants and vowels, the 
 reader is referred to the specifications immediately following the Preface in Vol. I ; as 
 also to Dr Smith's Essay on the Pronunciation of the Arabic, in the first edition of the 
 Biblical Researches, YoL HL App. pp. 89-111. 
 
 'Abd el-Kadir, Archdcds, 304. 
 
 'Abd el-Hady, fam. 123. 
 
 •Abeih, vill. 20. School, 20. 
 
 Abil, Ahd Beth^Maachah, 372. 
 
 'Abilin, better 'Abbilin, vill. and W. 103- 
 
 105, 107, 110. 
 Abrah, vill. 37. 
 Abu 'Aly, riv. 586. 
 Abn el-'Auf, 291. 
 Abu Feraj. Tell, 315. 
 Abu Ghaush, fam. 144, 157. 
 Abu Kamhiih, vilL 376. 
 AbuNar,W. 121, 123. 
 Abu 'Obeida, 310, 316. 
 Abu el-'Omeir, W. 342. 
 Abn Sa'ud, fam. 185. 
 Abu Seiyad, W. 325. 
 Abu Shiisheh, near Ramleh, 143, 146. 
 Abu Shusheh, near Khan Minyeh, 81. 
 Abu Subba!.!, ruin, 290. 
 
 Abu Sinan, viU. 103. 
 
 Abu Zaburah, 122. 
 
 Abu Zafcaiy, Wely, 283. 
 
 AbuZureih, 116. 
 
 el-Abyad, ' the white,' bridge, 560. 
 
 el-'Adaliyeh, vill 448. 
 
 'Adas, Heb O-'BJ'JS, 'lentiles,' 40. 
 
 'Adfithir, M. 72.' ' ' 
 
 'Adweh, vill. and F. 583. 
 
 Af ka, Apheca, 603-608. 
 
 Aghar, M. see Aghwar. 
 
 Aghwar, ' caverns,' M. plnr. of Ghir, perh. 
 
 the true form for ' Aghar,' 485. 
 el-Ahmar, Ard, 341. 
 Ahmar, W. 294, 296, 298. 
 Ahmed, W. 265, 285. 
 'Ajdib, vill 54. 
 'Aiha, vilL 431, 432. 
 'Ailnt, vilL 105. 
 
 •Ailebun, 'Ailibun, viU. 80, 81, 630. 
 'Ain, vill. near 'Anjar, 500. 
 'Ain, near Lebwch, 538. 
 
644 
 
 FIRST INDEX. 
 
 'Ain, viH. north of LeTiweh, 533. Not Ain 
 
 of Scripture, 534. 
 el-'Ain, W. 290. 
 •Ain 'Abd el-'Al, W. 53. 
 •Ain 'Anub, viU. 21. 
 •Ain 'Arab, 429. 
 'Ain 'hy, W. 278. 
 
 •Ain 'Ata, viU 382, 426, 428. 
 
 •Ain el-Bakarah, 587. 
 
 •Ain Barada, 488, 499. 
 
 •Ain el-BuriJeh, 420. 
 
 'Ain el-Beida, in the Ghor, 313. In Leba- 
 non, 600. See Neba' Beida. 
 
 •Ain el-Beida, Tell, 115. 
 
 'Ain Burday, viU. 504. 
 
 •Ain edh-Dhirweh, or ed-Dirweh, 277, 278. 
 
 •Ain Defneh, 299. 
 
 'Ain ed-Dibl, vilL 37. 
 
 'Ain Falfij, 428. 
 
 'Ain el-Fijeh, 474, 476-. 
 
 'Ain Fit, AilL 390, 393. 
 
 'Ain el-Funduk, 487. 
 
 'Aia el-Haddid, 487. 
 
 'Ain el-Hadid, vill. 609. 
 
 Ain Hautyeh, 265. 
 
 'Ain Harush, 449. 
 
 'Ain Hawar, rill. 486. 
 
 'Ain Hazury (z for Dha), 401. 
 
 'Ain Hershy, 437. 
 
 'Ain Hujeir, 54. 
 
 'Ain I'bl, vill. 63, 66. 
 
 'Ain Jiirfa, vill. 416, 418. 
 
 'Ain el-Jfirr, comm. 'Anjar, 496. 
 
 'Ain Karim, Gr. Kape/i, Carcem, 158, 271, 
 272. 
 
 'Ain Keblr, 298. 
 
 'Ain Kes6r, vilL 19, 20, 21. 
 
 'Ain el-Khudra, 476. 
 
 'Ain el-Knneiseh, vill. 604. 
 
 'Ain Kunyeh of Hasbeiya, 380, 382. 
 
 'Ain Kunyeh of Banias, 398. 
 
 'Ain el-Ku.=eir, 449. 
 
 'Ain Mak-huz, 314, 315, 316. 
 
 'Ain Meithelun, 439. 
 
 'Ain el-Mizrab, W. 57, 61. 
 
 •Ain Natif, min, 83. 
 
 •Ain Sahib, 471. 
 
 •Ain Salih, 487. 
 
 •Ain Seraiyib, 389. 
 
 •Ain Sheras, Beth-Shemesk, 153, 154. 
 
 •Ain e.j-Suweireh, 429. 
 
 'Ain Taiia, Tkanatk, 295. 
 
 •Ain et-Tannur, 555, 657. 
 
 'Ain Tannurah, near HSsbeiya, 420. 
 
 'Ain Tanniirah, vilL 382! 
 
 'Ain et-Tin, 344. 
 
 •Ain Tinta, 382. 
 
 'Ain Turah, coram. 'Anturah, 617. 
 
 'Ain tin, vill. 37. 
 
 'Ain Warkah, viU. 23. 
 
 'Ain Yalo, 265. 
 
 •Ain ez-Zeitun, vilL 75. 
 
 'Ainab, vill. 21. 
 
 'Ainan, vill. 38. 
 
 'Ainnn, not vCnon, 805. 
 
 'Ainut^ vill. 37, 38. 
 
 'Aiteh, vill. 63, 67. 
 
 'Aithat ez-Zut, 58. 
 
 'Aitheh, see 'Aiteh. 
 
 •Aitherun, vill. 55, 367. 
 
 'Aithy, 429. 
 
 •Aitu, vilL 585. 
 
 'Aiyad, W. 287. 
 
 el-'Ajam, W. distr. 445. 
 
 'Ajeltun, vill. 615, 616. 
 
 'Ajlun, M. 317. 
 
 el-'Akab, Neha', 600. 
 
 'Akahet PCamid, 429. 
 
 'Akbarah, A<^iabceri, 74. 
 
 'Akka, Accio, Ptolemais, 89, 90, 91 sq. 
 
 'Akkar, vill. and riv. and M. 670, 676 
 
 577. Koute by, 577, 578. 
 AklJm, Gr. KKl/io, ' district,' 38. 
 'Akluk, Ard, 600, 601. 
 'Akraba of Damascus, 447, 459. 
 'Akrabany, canal, 447, 459. 
 'Akrabeh, Aa-abi, 296. 
 'Akub, a plant, 110. 
 'AkArah, vilL 601, 602, 603. 
 'Al'ma, vill. 69. 
 'Almit, Alemeth, 387. 
 'Almon, vUl. 37, 58. 
 'Aly, W. 144, 151, 156. 
 'Aly es-Sughir, fam. 58, 59. 
 el-'Am.'ilikah, ' Amalekites,' 287. 
 'Amhaz, vill. 609. 
 
 'Amkah, not Beth-Emek, 66, 103, IDS. 
 el-'Amrid, W. 342, 344. 
 'Amiikah, 363. 
 el-'Amun, vill. 156. 
 'Amwae, Emihata, Nicopolis, 146, 147. 
 'Amyun, vill. 601. 
 'Anata, Anathoth, 287. 
 'Anaz, vilL 564. 
 'Anebta, vill. 125, 126. 
 'Annabeh, Bethcamaba? 143, 144. 
 'Anjar, Neba', 498 sq. 
 'Anjar, Chaids, 495-498. 
 'Ankun, vill. 42, 44. 
 'AntLir, Kiil'at, 431. 
 'Anturah, see 'Ain Turah. 
 'Arab, W. 429. 
 'Arab Silim, vill. 44, 47. 
 'Arak, ' wine-spirit,' 195. 
 'Arainon, vill. 19, 31. 
 'A^ar, F. 18. 
 
 Arbet Kusheiya, vill. 598, 699. 
 Ard, 'low plain,' Heb. ynx, 341. 
 Ard el-Ahmar, 341, 342.''' ' 
 Ard 'Akluk, 600. 
 Ard el-Hamma, 341. 
 Ard Serada, 389. 
 'Arjis, vill. 584. 
 'Arka, Area, 578-581. 
 •Arka, Nahr, 578, 579, 582. 
 Amuo, viU. 49, 51. 
 
ARABIC NAMES AND WORDS. 
 
 645 
 
 'Amy, vill. US. 
 
 'Arrabeh, Gr. to 'ApojSa, Araba, 83, 84. 
 
 el-'Arrad, F. 440. 
 
 •Arrub, W. 275, 283. 
 
 'Artuf, vill. 154, 155. 
 
 'Arubboneh, 337. 
 
 Arz, -cedar,' Heb. T'lX, 588. 
 
 Asad, ' lion,' pr. n. 45iS. 
 
 el-'Asal, W. 396, 397, 405, 413. 
 
 el-'Asas, W. 290. 
 
 'Asfieh, viU. G30. 
 
 el-'Asfur, riv. 599. 
 
 Ashrafiyeh, in W. el-'Ajam, 450. 
 
 Ashraf iyeh, on the Barada, 475. 
 
 'Ashur, W. 57, 59, 61. 
 
 Asireh, vill. 134, 302. 
 
 'Askar, not Sychar, 132, 133, 300. 
 
 'Askar, TeU, 289. 
 
 'AsluD, ruiu, 127. 
 
 el-Aswad, ' the black,' M. 444, 470. Bridge, 
 
 .560. 
 el-'Asy, riv. Orontes, fountains, 538, 539. 
 'Ataibeh, vill. 451, 452. 
 'Atallah, "W. 143, 144. 
 'Atherun, see 'Aitherun. 
 'Athltt, see 'Atllt. 
 'Atlit, or 'Athlit, 629, 630. 
 'Atshith, vill. 55. 
 'Attil, vill. 124. 
 'Audeh, pr. n. 128, 129, 131. 
 el-'Anjeh, riv. 140, 142. 
 el-'Aujeh, R.is, 378. 
 'Aajeh, in the Ghor, 293. 
 'Au-sarin, 296. 
 'Awad, pr. n. 307. 
 Auwaly, riv. Bostrenits, 36, 37. 
 el-A'waj, nv. 444, 447, 470. 
 'Awertah, vill. 297. 
 el-'Aytin, W. 61, 62. 
 •AyQn 'Ashasb, vilL and F. 583. 
 'Azariyat, Tell, 393. 
 'Azm&t (z for Dha), 301. 
 el-'Azz'iyeh, W'. 62, 65. 
 'Azzftn, vill. and W. 135, 136. 
 
 B 
 
 Ba'albek, HdiopolU, 505-527. The name, 
 
 524. 
 Bab, 'gate.' 
 Bab es-Surijy, 442. 
 Bahreh, 'lake,' 450, 451. 
 Ba'ineh, viU. 105, 108. 
 Bakah, E. and W. 124. 
 el-Bakarah, ' the cow,' F. 587. 
 Bakhjeh, conntry seat, 103. 
 B'aklin, vill. 21. 
 Balnias, castle, 402. 
 BalOla, vilL 425. 
 BalClta, oak, 365. 
 Ban, viU. 587. 
 el-Ba'neh, vill. 86. 
 
 Banias, Paneas, 397 sq. 408, 409 sq. Ter- 
 race, 397. 
 BanLls, canal at Damascas, 447, 459. 
 
 Barada, riv. Cknjsorrhoas, 441, 446. 
 
 Barid, Nalir, 582, 683. 
 
 Barin, 573. 
 
 el-Barnk, vill. 36, 37. 
 
 Ba'sir. vill. 35. 
 
 Batrun, Botnjs, 599, 600. 
 
 Batruny, vill. 488. 
 
 Bdaman, vilU and conv. 598. 
 
 Bedawln, sing. Bedawy, ' desert men,' 832, 
 335. 
 
 el-Bedawiyeh, TeU and W. 110, 113. 
 
 Beid.a, Neba', 500. 
 
 Beit 'Ainun, Bah-ajuHh, 279,280, 281. 
 
 Beit 'Atab, vill. 153, 154. • 
 
 Beit Dejan, Beth-Dagon, 298. 
 
 Beit Faghur, Gr. iayJip, Phagor, 275, xxiv. 
 
 Beit Fejjar, 275. 
 
 Beit Furik, 298. 
 
 Beit Hanina, W. 154, 271. 
 
 Beit Haskeh, W. 278. 
 
 Beit fba, vill. 128, 134. 
 
 Beit Idis, vill 318. 
 
 Beit Iksa, vill. 159, 272. 
 
 Beit Dfa, 336, 337. 
 
 Beit Jala, viU. 265, 272, 285. 
 
 Beit el-Jem41, vill. 154. 
 
 Beit Jenn, in Jebel Jermuk, ^^^ 76 sq. 
 
 Beit Jenn, in Jebel Heish, 447. 
 
 Beit Jiz, vill. 146, 151. 
 
 Beit el-Kantar, 438. 
 
 Beit el-Kerakeh, vill. 42. 
 
 Beit Kheiran, ruin, 276. 
 
 Beit Lahm, Bethldiem of Zebulun, 113. 
 
 Beit Lehya, vill. 426, 428. 
 
 Beit Lid, 134. 
 
 Beit Lif, vill. 61, 62. 
 
 Beit Lukieh, vill. 145. 
 
 Beit Miimil, Tell, 265. 
 
 Beit Miry, vill. 17. 
 
 Beit Nettif, viU 153, 282, 284. 
 
 Beit Nuba, Beihanntdm, l44, 145. 
 
 Beit Nukkaba, 157. 
 
 Beit Sabir, vilL 448. 
 
 Beit Sakarieh, Beth-Zacharia, 283, 284. 
 
 Beit Sawir, ruin, 275. 
 
 Beit Sufafa, viU 265. 
 
 Beit Sur, BetA-zur, 276, 277. 
 
 Beit Sunk, vill. 159, 272. 
 
 Beit Susin, vill. 152. 
 
 Beit Ummar, vill. 282. 
 
 Beit 'Or, Belh-harm, 145. 
 
 Beit Ozin, vilL 128, 134. 
 
 Beit Za'ter, ruin, 275. 
 
 Beitahiiu, vill. 58. 
 
 Beirut, Gr. BripvrSs,' Berytus, 7, 9. Com- 
 merce, 9. Antiquities, 10. Cape, 
 11. River, anc. jfagonu, 12, 13. 
 
 BeisSn, Belh-sheim, Sa/th^is, 325-832. 
 
 Beisur, vill. 38. 
 
 Bekka, vill. and W. 429, 430. 
 
646 
 
 FIRST INDEX. 
 
 Bekkifa, Till. 426. 
 
 Belad, ' district,' 66. 
 
 Belad Besharah, 66, 67. 
 
 Beliit, W. 140. 
 
 Belat, hill and ruins, 63, 64. 
 
 Belat, vill. on the Litany, 386 sq. 
 
 Belatah, ruin, 132, 299. 
 
 Belinas, castle, 402. 
 
 Belliineb, 617. 
 
 Benat Ya'koh, 'daughters of Jacob, 
 
 bridge, 362, 364. 
 Beni Haiyon. vill. iiS. 
 Beni Na'im, vilL 279, 281. 
 Beni Si'ikhr, Arabs, 452. 
 BeniTi^krin, 123. 
 Bentt, 367. 
 Beramtyeh, vill. 36. 
 Ber'ashJt, vill. 58. 
 Berdela, ruin, 314. 
 el-Berdy, stream, 450. 
 Bereikut, Berachah, 275. 
 Bereitiin, vill. 503, 504. 
 Berfilieb, vill. 142. 
 Berheleiya, viU. 478. 
 Berja, vill, 35. 
 Berkamy, 123. 
 Berta, vill 123. 
 Berteb, vill. 38. 
 Besharah, pr. n. 31. 
 Bessima, viU 474, 475, 476. 
 Bez'On, vill. 596. 
 Bibnin, vill. 582. 
 Bidan, W. and M. 301, 304. 
 Bint Jebeil, viU. 367. 
 Bir, 'a well.' 
 Bir 'Adis, vill. 137. 
 Bir ed-Dahar, 420, 422. 
 Bir Hasan, 121. 
 Bir jenlb. W. 296. 
 Bir Kerizeh, 347, 361. 
 Bir el-KhJlil, 278. 
 Bir Tireh, 104. 
 Bireh, vill. 429. 
 el-Bireh, W. 340. 
 Birkeh, ' a pool, tank.' 
 Birket 'Anjar, 498. 
 Birkct Derdarab, 374. 
 Birket Limun, or B. Yemmoneh, 548, 601. 
 Birket er-Eam, Phiala, 399, 400. 
 el-Birriyeh, vill. 143. 
 Birweh, vill and Tell, 88, 89, 103. 
 Biskinta, vUL 616. 
 Bitar, ' horse-doctor,' 17. 
 Bittir, vill and W. 266. 
 Bittir, I ell of, not Baker, 267-270. 
 el-Biyad, vill. 44, 61. 
 Biyad, ruir, 68. 
 el-Biyad, Khulwat, 418. 
 Biyar, W. 275, 284. 
 Bizzarieh, vilL 127, 134. 
 Bhamdiln, vill. 21, 624. 
 Bka'kefreh, vill 596. 
 Bkarkasba, vilL 596. 
 
 Bkiistah, vill 37, 38. 
 
 Bl'ftdin, vilL 442, 485, 487. 
 
 Bliidha, vill. 597, 598. 
 
 Bnesh'ain, vilL 684. 
 
 Br,-.8it(?)viU. 599. 
 
 Bsherreh. chasm, 594. Village, 695, 596k 
 
 el-Bughaleh, nat. bridge, 610. 
 
 el-Biika'a, Heb. nspa , 50, 492, 494, 497, 
 
 499. 503, 504,' 528, 546. 
 el-Bukei'a, dimin. ' plain,' 559, 560. 
 el-Bukei'a, \\\l and W. 66, 76. 
 Bukfeiya, vill. 616. 
 Bukin, vill. 486 
 Bukkar, ruin, 282. 
 Buleida, vilL 369. 
 el-Burak, 274. 
 
 el-Burajineh, see Burj el-Burajineh. 
 Bureij, stream, 395. 
 el-Burj, * castle,* Germ. Burg, Gr, vipyos, 
 
 18, 33. 
 el-Burj, vill. north of Tibnui, 65, 56. 
 el-Burj, vill. ne.ar el-Kubab, 146. 
 Burj 'Anaz, vill. 564. 
 Burj el-Burajineh, vill. 18, 33. 
 Burj el-Fari'a, 303. 
 Burj el Maksur, vilL 575. 
 Burj Safita, perh. Mariamme, 564, 665, 
 
 574, 575 
 Biirghiiz, vilL and bridge, 385 sq. 421. 
 Burkah, vill. 126. 
 Burkail, W. and vill. 582. 
 Biirkin, vill. 121. 
 Burkush, 436. 
 Biirr Elias, vill. 495. 
 Bursheh, W. 295. 
 Burzeh, 443, 444, 471. 
 Bushrikh, W. 600. 
 el-B::sis, W. 376, 380, 381. 
 el-Bu.;.;ah, vill. 628, 630. 
 Bustaii el-' Arab, 488. 
 Bustra, see Kul'at Bustra. 
 Butm, Pisiacia terebirUhus, 54, 369. 
 el-Bittanf, plain, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 
 
 ' 341. 
 el-Buweidah, by Damascus, 450. 
 el-Buweidah, near Kibleh, 557. 
 Buyuruldy, 102. 
 
 Chiftlili, vill. Turkish, 364. 
 
 ed-Dahar, 'ridge,' 420, 430. 
 
 Dahar el-Ahmar, vill. 428. 
 
 Dahar el-Kudlb, peak, 547. 
 
 Damon, vilL 88, 103, 104. 
 
 Uamur, riv. Gr. Ta/xipas, ^a/ioipas, Tam^ 
 
 ras, Darmras, 20, 34. Vill. 34. 
 Danial, pr. n. Daniel, 143. 
 
ARABIC NAMES AND WORDS. 
 
 647 
 
 Dar Zeinfin, vUl. 495. 
 
 Dareiya, Till. 584. 
 
 Band, pr. n. 129. Wely, 325. 
 
 Danmeh, JEdurma, 292, 293. 
 
 DebiWeh, Hcb. Daberath, 340. 
 
 Defneh, F. 132. 
 
 ed-Deidebeh, hill, 107, 109. 
 
 Deir, 'convent.' 
 
 ed-Deir, F. 315. 
 
 ed-Deir, Jabesh-ffUead? 319. 
 
 Deir Ab4ri, vill. 154, 155. 
 
 Deir Abu Humeid, 309, 310. 
 
 Deir Abu Mesb'al, 141. 
 
 Deir el-Ahmar, rill. 530. 
 
 Deir 'Amnus, vill. 61. 
 
 Deir el-As'ad, vUl. 78. 79. 
 
 Deir el-'Ashayir, vUl. 435, 437 sij. 485, 489. 
 
 Deir el-Benat, 275. 
 
 Deir Delum, vill. 582. 
 
 Deir Duwan, vill. 290. 
 
 Deir Estieh, vilL 135. 
 
 Deir el-Ghilsun, vill 12,5. 
 
 Deir Gbiizal, on mount Gilboa, 337. 
 
 Deir el-Ghuzal of the Buka'a, 501. 
 
 Deir Hanna, vill. 82. 
 
 Deir el-Hatab, vill. 301. 
 
 Deir el-Hawa, vill. 154. 
 
 Deir Hub, conv. 600. 
 
 Deir Jerur, vill. 290, 291. 
 
 Deir el-Kamr, 18, 21. 
 
 Deir Kanobin, 598, 599. 
 
 Deir Kanon, vill. near Tyre, 62. 
 
 Deir Kanon, vilL 'on the Barada, 474, 475, 
 
 478. 
 Deir el-Kul*ah, anc. temple, 13, 14, 15. 
 Deir Mur Maran, exo. conv. 539, 540. 
 Deir Mimas, vill. 61, 373. 
 Deir el-Mukhallis, conv. 38. 
 Deir Mukurrin, vill. 478. 
 Deir Sheraf, vill. 128, 134. 
 Deir es-Siriyan, 53, 55, 58. 
 Deir es-Sultan, 198. 
 Deir Tiirif, 'vill. 141, 142. 
 Deir ez-Zaherlny, 44. 
 Dellta, vill. 75. 
 Derb es-Sin, 36. 
 Derdir, ash ? 575. 
 Derdanih. brook, 372, 374, 395. 
 Derij, vill. 471. 
 
 ed-Deruz, Druzes ; sing. ed-Derazy, 8. 
 Dhaher el-'Omar, 82, 96, 97, 109. 
 Dhekweh, pron. also Zekweh, 494. 
 Dhuhur el-Hawa, 609. 
 e'dh-Dhuneibeh, vill. 383, 426, 431. 
 Dibbarieh. ruin, 128. 
 Dibbin, vill. 387, 388. 
 Dibl, vill 62, 63, 67. 
 Dibs, 'syrup of grapes,' Heb. 133'^, 'honey,' 
 
 40. Method of making, 381. 
 Difneh, Daphne, 393. 
 Dimas, vill. 439, 474. 
 Dirhala, vill. 583. 
 Diyura, ' convents,' 452. 
 
 Dothan, Dothan, 122. 
 
 ed-Diihy, viU. and M. 114, 310, 339. 
 
 Duk, Dodi, 290. 
 
 Dukkan, ' shop,' 18, 33. 
 
 Dukweh, Tell, 445. 
 
 Dflma, vill. 449. 
 
 Dummar, vill. 474, 475. 
 
 Dtira, Adara, 279. 
 
 Duris, vill. 504. 
 
 ed-Duweir, W. 599. 
 
 ed-Duweir, vill. 44. 
 
 ed-Dnweir, Khan, 397. 
 
 Dnweir, ruin, 289. 
 
 E 
 
 Efry, viU. 472, 478. 
 Eheden, see Ehden. 
 Ehden, or Eheden, vill. 586, 587. Not 
 
 Paradisus, 587. 
 'EUar, vill. 124. 
 EndOr, Endor, Endor, 340. 
 Erdeh, vill. 583. 
 Erhah, ruin, 287. 
 Ershaf, vill, 61. 
 'Esh el-Ghilrdb, 293. 
 Estubl, vill. 495. 
 Eyttb, Job, 345. 
 
 Fahil, PeUa, 321-324. 
 
 Fahmeh, vill. 121, 123. 
 
 Fakhr ed-Din, pr. a 495. 
 
 Falfij, W. 425, 428, 492. 
 
 Farah, W. 287, 288. 
 
 Farah, vill. 317, 318. 
 
 Fiiri'a, W. and plain, 301, 302. 
 
 Fauwar ed-Deir, intermitt. F. Sabhalical 
 
 River, 572-574. 
 el-Feijeh, vill. 140, 141, 142. 
 Fellah, plur. Fellahin, ' peasants,' 563. 
 Fendekamieh, Gr. nevTaxufila, Pentacomia, 
 
 121, 125. 
 el-Feras, Tell, 398, 401. 
 Ferlsin, vill. 124. 
 Fer'ata, Piraihon, 134. 
 Ferrady, vill. 78, 81. 
 Fersh el-Mu.sa, 304. 
 Fetwa, in law, 24. 
 el-Fijeh, vill and F. 474, 476. 
 el-Fikeh, vill. 534. 
 Fir'im, vill and W. 362. 
 Firmnn, Pers. 24 ; for travelling, 31. 
 el-F6ka, ' the upper.' 
 Fukra, temple at, 612-614. 
 Ful, ' beans,' 87. 
 Fuleh, vill. 117, 339. 
 Fum el-Miz",b, 547. 
 Furiduk, viU. 134, 135. 
 el-Funduk, F. in Anti-Lebanon, 487. 
 
648 
 
 FIRST INDEX. 
 
 FiMis, vill. 4ie. 
 
 Fnsail, Phasaeli), 293. W. 294, 295. 
 
 Futa, vill. 630. 
 
 G 
 
 Ghajiyeh, Ghazieh, Till. 41. 
 
 el-Ghor, Heb. Arabai, 293, 294, 333-335. 
 
 Ghudir, riv. 22, 33. 
 
 el-Ghufr, 'toll,' 34. 
 
 el Ghujar, vill. 390, 413. 
 
 Ghunib, 'raven,' W. 154, 158. 
 
 el-Ghurb, npper and lower, distr. 15, 18. 
 
 el-GhCitah, distr. 445, 453. 
 
 el-Gbuweir, plain, 344. 
 
 cl-Ghuziny, Arabs, 305. 
 
 riabbfish, vill. and Tell, 47, 48. 
 
 Habil, Abel, see Neby Habil. 
 
 H .bis, W. 75. 
 
 ilableh, vill. 136 sq. 
 
 iiaddithab, vill. 57. 
 
 el-Hadith, or cl-Hadetb, vill. 598, 599. 
 
 c)-Haditbeh, vilL 143. 
 
 Hadshit, vill. 597. 
 
 Hafeiyir, vill. 448. 
 
 Haifj, Gr. '}i<pd, Sycaminum, 100. 
 
 Hailazon, W. 85, 101. 
 
 el-Haiyeh, ruin, 288. 
 
 el-Haj, for el-H^iij, Heb. 5f1, the anoaal 
 
 caravan to Mecca, 453, 459. 
 Hajar eu-Nujriny, 341, 342. 
 Hakurah, vill. 679. 
 Hilan, vill. and W. 583. 
 Halba, vill. 578. 
 Halhul, Halhul, 278. 281 sq. 
 Hamab, Uamalh, 551. 
 cl-Ham.-im, W. 342, 343. 
 cl-Hamma, 341. 
 Haraol, W. 65. 
 
 cl-Hamy, vill. 440, 474, 475. ■" 
 Hanaweih, vill. 59. 
 Hunin, vill. 62 
 Hfirat Beit Dabul, vill. 599. 
 Horat et-Turkman, 564. 
 Harba'ana, m vill. 558. 
 g.iret Saida, 36, 37 38. 
 Harir, W. near Lydda, 143. 
 Harir, W. in Anti-Lebanon, 491. 
 HAiis, vill. 57, 61. 
 Harifa, W. 5U9. 
 Hasan, pr. u. 329. 
 el-Hlfbany, riv. 376, 389, 390. 
 Ha.;beiya, 376 sq. 
 Hashmush, vill. 501. 
 ^asrun, vill. 596, 597, 598. 
 
 el-Hasy, VT. 278. 
 Hasya, vill. 544. 
 HattJn, vill. 341, 342. 
 
 Haii-a, W. 486, 502. 
 
 Hauran, Heb. Hmrrwi, Gr. hvfaytTis, 
 AuraniUs, 444, 445. 
 
 Hansh el-' Arab, vill. 488. 
 
 Hazireh (z for Dha), 62, 63. 
 
 Hazur (z for Dha), ruin and Tell, 80, 81. 
 
 HAzury (z for Dha), not Razor, 402. 
 
 Hazzur, see Huz^tir. 
 
 Heijaneh, or Heijany, vilL and lake, 448, 
 451, 452. 
 
 Heirfina, W. and F. 585. 
 
 Heish, M. 398, 401. 
 
 Heitela, vill. 576. 
 
 el-Hejjeh, tank, 192. 
 
 el-Helaliyeh, vill. 36. 
 
 Heliweh, vill. 318. 
 
 iielbon, Heb. Helbon, ill. 
 
 Helwa, vill. and W. 489, 490. 
 
 Hendaj, W. 363-365. 
 
 el-Hendekuk, 308, 310. 
 
 Hibbariyeh, vill. 417. 
 
 Hijraban, W. 504. 
 
 el-Hija, vilL 577. 
 
 Hizmeh, vill. 287. 
 
 l^aram esh-Sherif, eastern wall, 173-175. 
 Southern wall, 175, 176. Western 
 wall straight, 184, 186, 187. 
 
 el-Himraeh, TeU, 313. 
 
 Hubaleh, ruin, 283, 284. 
 
 el-Hujeijeh, TeU, 315. 
 
 Hujeir, W. 54. 
 
 el-Hiileh, or el-Huly, Gr. Oi\d^a, Ulatha, 
 region, 396. Plain and lake, 8, 361, 
 370. Visit to, 393 sq. Junction of 
 streams, 394, 395. Heb. Merom. 
 
 Huleh, vilL near Tibnin, 58. 
 
 Hulhul, see Halhul. 
 
 Humeis, vill. 585. 
 
 Humin, vill. 48. 
 
 HCimmarah, vill. 429. 
 
 Hummus, chick peas, 630 
 
 Humar, W. 291. 
 
 Humra, W. 298. 
 
 el-Hamra, Tell, 310, 314. 
 
 el-HiJmrah, vill. 51, 53. 
 
 Hums, Emesa, 551-554, 558. 
 
 Huneider, ru. vill. 558. 
 
 HCmin, castle, Rehd)9 370, 371. 
 
 Hureiry, vilL 472, 478. 
 
 Hurj, ' saddle-bags,' 30. 
 
 HarjiUeh, vill. 448. 
 
 el-Hiiiinul, vill. 540, 542, 544.— Kamu'a el- 
 Hiirmul, 531, 540-542. 
 
 Hurriweh, see Tell el-Hurraweh. 
 
 Husan, vill. 267, 272, 284. 
 
 el-Husciuiyeh, vill. 478. 
 
 el-Husn, Husn el-Akrad, fortress, 556, 557, 
 562-567. 
 
 el-Hu?n, vill. 564. 
 
 Hilzzur (z for Dha), 62, 63. 
 
ARABIC NAMES AND WOEDS. 
 
 649 
 
 Ibl, Ibl el-Hawa, 372. 373, 375. 
 
 Ibn Ma'an, fortress, 343. 
 
 Ibn 'Omeir, distr. 145. 
 
 Ibrahim, Abraham. 
 
 If jim, vill. 297. 
 
 Ikrit, Till. 66. 
 
 Iksai, Heb. Chisloth, ChesuHolh, Gr. Eo\i5a 
 
 Xaloth, 117, 340. 
 Irhid, Arbd, Arbda, 342, 343. 
 Iskanderiyeh, Alexandroschene, 628. 
 Isma'il, Ishmael, pr. n. 61. 
 Isma'a, W. 154, 158. 
 
 Jala, 282. 
 
 el-Jalud, Kiil'at, 193. 
 
 Jalud, brook, 336, 338. 
 
 Jamia', vill. 577. 
 
 Jamus, W. 582. 
 
 Ja'uneh, 361. 
 
 Jaura, vill. 271. 
 
 el-Jauzeh, riv. 599. 
 
 Jeba*, Cfeba, 288. 
 
 Jeba', Till, north of Nabulus, 132. 
 
 Jeba'a, vill. 37, 38, 41. 
 
 Jeb'ah, GWcoA of Judah, 283, 284. 
 
 Jebatha, Gabaiha, 113. 
 
 Jebel, * mountain.* 
 
 el-Jebel, distr. 77. 
 
 el-Jedid, bridge, 575. 
 
 Jedin, W. and castle, 67, 90, 103. 
 
 Jeditheh, Till. 495. 
 
 Jedur, Gedor, 282, 283. 
 
 Jefat, Jotapata, 104, 105, 106, 107. 
 
 Jehar, W. 275. » 
 
 Jeida, vill. 113. 
 
 el- Jeidur, distr. Heb. Jetur, Gr. 'Irovpala, 
 
 /turea^ 445. 
 Jeiyus, vill. 136. 
 JelboD, see Jilbon. 
 Jelkamus, vill. 314. 
 el-Jemal, W. 370. 
 Jemmala, vill. 145. 
 Jenar, fam. 313. 
 
 Jenin, Ginaea, En-Ganmm, 116, 337. 
 Jerar, 123 
 Jerju'a, vill. 42 sq 
 el-Jerm, F. 321. 
 Jerm el-Manz, 321. 
 Jermiik, W. and vill. 43, 50, 51. 
 Jermiik, M. and vill. 72, 75, 77. 
 Jerud, plain, 448, 474. 
 Jett, viU. 124. 
 
 Jezzar, ' hntcher,' 83, 97, 98. 
 Jezzin, vilL 36. 
 Jib'it, 294. 
 Jibbein, vill. 66. 
 
 Jilbon, GUboa, M. and ra. vill. 314, 337. 
 jiljaieh, Ga^lU, 136, 138, 139. 
 
 Vol. III.— 55 
 
 Jimzu, Gimso, 143. 
 
 Jins SAfut, vill. 135. 
 
 Jinsiniya, vill. 37. 
 
 Jirjis, George, 473, 492. 
 
 el-Jish, Gtish HcHab, Giacjia, 69, 72. 
 
 Jisr el-Ahyad, 560, 570. 
 
 Jisr el-Aswad, 560, 570. 
 
 Jisr Benat Ya'kob, 362, 364. 
 
 Jisr el-Hajr, ' stone bridge,' natural, 610, 
 
 611. 
 Jisr el-Kady, 21. 
 Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh, 53. 
 Jisr el-Kamar, 561. 
 Jisr Khurdela, 49. 
 
 el-Jiyeh, Neby Yunas, Porphyreon, 35. 
 Jobar, Till. 469. 
 el-Ju'ait, W. 584. 
 Jnbb Jenin, vill. 425. 
 Jubb Yusnf, Khan, 345, 361. 
 Jubbata, vilL 401, 405. 
 Judeideli, vilL near Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh, 54. 
 Judeideh, near Beit Ufa, 337. 
 Judeideh, of Merj 'Ayun, 375, 387, 388. 
 Judeideh, on the Barada, 475. 
 Judeideh, in Anti-Lebanon, 489, 490. 
 Judeidet el-Khas, vill. 451. 
 Judeita, vill. 318. 
 Jumeijimeh, vill. 56, 58. 
 Jun, Till, near Sidon, 3.5. 
 Jnn, in W. el-'Ajam, 448. 
 Juneib, vill. 128, 134. 
 Junit Bursha, Till. 576. 
 Jurish, vill. 296. 
 Jurneiya, 42, 44. 
 Jusieh, comm. Jusy, ano. ParadUus, 544, 
 
 556. 
 JCisieh, comm. Jusy, mod. 544 
 
 K 
 
 el-K4'a, vill. 537, 544. 
 
 Kabr el-'Amalikah, 287 
 
 el-Kabu, vill. 267, 284. 
 
 Kabul, vill. 88. 
 
 Kabun, W. 281. 
 
 iCadditha, vill 73. 
 
 el-Kadisha, 'the holy,* riv. 683, 584, 586, 
 
 ■ 587, 597, 598. 
 Kaim el-Hurmul, 540. 
 Kaimon, see Tell Kaimon. 
 Kaituleh, vill. 41. ' 
 Ka'ka'iyeh, vill. 53. 
 Kiikon, vill. 124. 
 Kanobin, see Deir Kanobin. 
 Kalabat el-Mezzeh, M. 444. 
 Kalamiin, M. 444, 474. 
 cl-Kamar, bridge, 561. 
 Kamid el-Lauz, vill. 425 
 Kamu a el-HiSrmul, see Hurmul. 
 Kana, vill. near Tyre, Kcmah, 62. 
 Kana, Cana of Galilee, 108. 
 pnah, KanaA, W. 135, 139. 
 
650 
 
 FIRST INDEX. 
 
 el-Kantarali, Till. 64, 65, 58. 
 
 Kara, perh. Karotea, 637. 
 
 Kartaba, Till. 609. 
 
 el-K3simiyeh, riT. 50. 
 
 Ka.«yfln, M. Hi, 469, 470, 474. 
 
 Kafyun, rmn, 362, 363. 
 
 Katana, vill. 419, 432, 448. 
 
 Kankab, vill. near 'Abilin, 104. 
 
 Eanknb, Belvoir of the crusaders, 310, 314, 
 
 329, 339. 
 Kaukaba, in W. et-Teim, 385. 
 Kaukaba Abu 'Arabeh, 429. 
 Ka'uD, ruin. 314. 
 Kaozih, vill. 61, 62. 
 el-Kebir, Nahr, Eleuthenis, 576 ; 558, 559, 
 
 560, 575, 582. 
 Kedes, Kedesh of Naphtali, 366-369. 
 Kedes, lake of, near Hums, 549, 557. 
 Kefir, Chephira, 146. 
 el-Kefr, vill. 478. 
 Kefr 'Abbush, 135. 
 Kefr Abil, vill. 318, 319, 320. 
 Kefr 'Anan, vill. 78. 
 Kefr 'Awan, vill. 318, 321. 
 Kefr Beita, ruin, 298. 
 Kefr Bir'im, 68, 69, 70, 71. 
 Kefr Dinis, vilL 428. 
 Kefr Falus, via 37, 38. 
 Kefr Hamam, vill. 388, 416. 
 Kefr Hata, vill 584. 
 Kefr Hatta, ruin, 139. 
 Kefr Hauwar, vill. 448. 
 Kefr Jauz, vill. 44. 
 Kefr Jerrah, vill. 37. 
 Kefr Kaddum, vill. 134. 
 Kefr Kasim, vill. 135, 140. 
 Kefr Kenna not Cana, 108, 109, 112. 
 Kefr Kily, vill. 373. 
 Kefr Kud, Caparcotia, 121, 122. 
 Kefr Kuk, viU. 433, 434. 
 Kefr el-Lebad, vill. 125, 126. 
 Kefr Malik, viU. 291. 
 Kefr Menda, vill. 109, 111. 
 Kefr Milkeh, 37. 
 Kefr Mishky, or Kefr Mishkeh, 425, 427, 
 
 429. 
 Kefr Nata, 290. 
 Kefr Kish, vill. 574. 
 Kefr Kumnion, vill. 125. 
 Kefr Sa'ab, vill. 587. 
 Kefr Saba, Antipairis, 136, 138, 139. 
 Kefr Sabt, 341. 
 Kefr Sa'nd, vill. 575. 
 Kefr Shima, vill. 21. 
 Kefr Shuba, vill. 388, 414, 416. 
 Kefr Thulth, ruin, 136. 
 Kefr Tibnit, vill. 51. 
 Kefr YSshit, vill. 584. 
 Kefr Yasif, vill. 630. 
 Kefr Zebad, vill. 500. 
 Kefr Zeit, vill. 478. 
 Kefra, vilL 61. 
 Kefreh, vill. 564. 
 
 Kefreiya, vill. 68S. 
 
 Keis, party, 145, 153, 283. 
 
 Keisin, tiU. 127, 134. 
 
 el-Kelb, ' the dog,' riv. Lsaa, 12, 13. 
 
 Kelb Hauran, M. 8L 
 
 Eeniseh, Chald. K'S^S , ' a crynagogae, 
 
 church,' 129. ' ' ' 
 Eeniseh, Euneiseh, ' church,' M. 15, 489, 
 
 494. 
 Kerazeh, not Chmwm, 346, 347. 
 Kerkha, tIU. 37, 38. 
 Kerm Seddeh, vill. 584. 
 Kenn 'Asfur, vilL 579. 
 Kersenna, vetches*, 630. 
 Kesiif, ruin, Achshaph ? 55. 56. 
 Kesla, Chesalm, 154, 165, 284. 
 Kesrawan, distr. 616. 
 el-Kesweh, vilL 444. 
 el-Kliait, 361. 
 Khalid,'w. 558, 559,560. 
 el-Khalidiyeh, W. 584. 
 el-Khamis, ruin, 273. 
 Khan Khulda, or Kbuldeh, Beldm, 18, 33. 
 Khan Meithelfin, 439, 489. 
 Khan Minyeh, 344. 
 Khanzireh, W. 275. 
 Khamub, distr. 43. 
 KhilAl Sebi', W. 72. 
 el-Khirbeh, 51. 
 Khirbet el-Haiyeh, ruin, 288. 
 Khirbet Hazur (z for Dha), 81. 
 Khirbet jeradeh, 29l! 
 Kliirbet Kana, see Kana, 
 Khirbet Khamis, 273. 
 Khirbet el-Kuta'. 
 Khirbet Malih,' 308. 
 Khirbet Mim'la, 80. 
 Khirbet Ruha, viU. 428, 429. 
 Khirbet SeU'ameh, 81, 82. 
 Khirbet ^ilim, 56, 57. 
 Khirbet Shakir, 42. 
 Khirbet Yanuh, 58. 
 Khirbet Yanun, 297. 
 Khirbet el-Yeh6d, 267. 
 Khiyam, vill. 373, 388. 
 el-Khijdr, St. George, vilL 274, 286. 
 Khulda, BMua, see Khan Khulda. 
 Khuld'h, vUl. 146, 154. 
 Khulladiyeh, W. and Tell, 110, 113. 
 Khullet el-Werdeh, W. 63, 67. 
 Khulwat, plur. of Khulweh, q. v. 
 Khulwat el-Biyad, 381, 382, 418. 
 Khaweh, Druze chapel, 20, 34, 381. 
 Khiilwet e -Kufeir, vill. 382. 
 Khuneifis, vilL 113. 
 Khuraib er-Ram, 287. 
 Khuraibeh, Khureibeh, Tell, Rcaort 364. 
 Khurbeh, see Khirbeh. 
 el-Khurdela, bridge, 43, 373. 
 Khureibeh, see Khuraibeh. 
 Ehureibeh, vUl. near el-Husn, 664. 
 Khureibeh, Till, and W. in Wl et-Teim, 415 
 Khureibet cl-Jundy, vill. 577. 
 
ABABIC NAMES AND WORDS. 
 
 651 
 
 Khnreisb, rnin and W. 139. 
 
 Khnrwa'ah, F. 418, 415. 
 
 Khiishabeh, W. 398, 402, 403, 405. 
 
 Khushneh, W. 306, 307, 313. 
 
 Khutweh, 387. 
 
 Kibla, Kibleh, 'niche of prayer,' 186, 275. 
 
 el-Kibleh, 'the Bouth,' 450, 451. 
 
 Kilkaieh, viU. 136, 138. 
 
 Kflya, vilL 421. 
 
 Kinneserin, 497. 
 
 el-Kiueh, 116. 
 
 KJson, Tell, 103. 
 
 el-Koran, 456. 
 
 Kiiba'a, 363. 
 
 el-Kubab, Tffl. 143, 144. 
 
 Kiibalan, vill. 296. 
 
 Kubarah, Gabara, 85, 86, 87. 
 
 Kubatieb, Kubr.tiyeh, 120, 121. 
 
 Kubb'Elias; vill.' 495. 
 
 Kubbeh, ruin, 289. 
 
 KiJbbet en-NuFr, Wely, 458. 
 
 Kubbet Rahil, 273. 
 
 Kubbet Seiyar, Wely and prospect, 469, 
 
 470, 473. 
 Knbeibeb, vill. 148, 161. 
 iCfibosh, W. 314. 316. 
 KObrikhab, vill 55. 
 Knbur el-'Amalikah, 287. 
 iiubur Isra'in, 287. 
 Kufeir, viU. 382. 
 Kufejr Yabus, viU. 490, 491. 
 Knfin, vUl. 275, 282. 
 Kfila', M. 585. 
 icaia'at, vill. 51, 388. 
 Knla'at Tuweiy, 288. 
 Kul'ah, ' castle.' 
 Kulason, ruin, 292. 
 KM'at el-'Ain, 140. 
 Kul'at BuEtra, ruin, 414, 415. 
 Kiil'at IbnFnreih, 306, 318. 
 Kul'at Jendal, vill. 448. 
 Kul'at Mefyad, 573. 
 Kul'at el-Mndik, Apamea, 550. 
 kul'at er-Kiibud, 306, 308, 318. 
 Kul'at Shema', 62, 65. 
 Kulaweih, .56. 
 
 Kulei'at, vill. near the coast, 577. 
 kulei'at, vill. in Kesrawan, 615. 
 Kuleileb, 116. 
 
 kulonia, Kulonieh, Gr. Kav\({i', Culon, 158. 
 kuly, vill.' 141. 
 kumieh, vilL 337-339. 
 kuna, vill. 504. 
 kunat, vill. 598. 
 knneifidh, 62. 
 knneiseb, see Keniseh. 
 el-Knneiyiseh, ru. vilL 558. 
 Kunnabeh, vill. 426. 
 knnweir, vill. 698. 
 kur, vilL 134. 
 Kurah, rain, 67. 
 
 Kurawa, tract in Ghor, 298, 302. 
 jKiirdwa, W. 140. 
 
 Kniein, castle, €6. 
 
 el-Knreiyeh, vill. 37. 
 
 Knriet el-'Enab, Kirjaihrjearim, 156, 157. 
 
 Knriet Hajja, 134, 135. 
 
 Knriet Jit, ditto, 134. 
 
 Knriet es-Sa'ideh, 267, 284. 
 
 el-Kurkumeh, ruin, 317. 
 
 KiSm Snrtabeh, 293, 294, 317, 318. 
 
 el-Kiir'n, W. near the coast, 63, 66, 77, 90. 
 
 el-Kurn, W. in Anti-Lebanon, 484, 488, 
 
 489. 
 KiSr-iin, vill. 424, 425. 
 kfirun Hattln, ' horns of H.' 342. 
 kuryetein, vill. 449. 
 Kusbur, ruin, 282. 
 Kuseiyeh, vill. 500. 
 
 Kufeir, vill. near Jisr Ka'ka'iyeh, 54, 55. 
 el-kufeir, m. vill. near Damascus, 449. 
 Kuf eir, vilL near Eibleh, 544. 
 el-kusis, Dukkan, 18, 33. 
 Kusis, Tell, 113, 114.— W. 290. 
 Kuskus, vill. 113, 114. 
 kfliT Hummarah, 429. 
 ku.^ el-Malih, 306, 307. 
 kustul, 158. 
 kutaifeh, 444. 
 
 knweh, nat. bridge, 421, 422-424. 
 el-Knzheiya (K? h?), Burok. Kashheya, 
 
 586. 
 
 el-LSdikiyeb, Gr. AooS^Kaia, Laodicea, 32. 
 
 Lala, vill. 425. 
 
 Laseh, vill. 609. 
 
 el-Latron, ruin, 150, 151. 
 
 Lauz,'W. 363. 
 
 el-Leddan, riv. 392. 
 
 Lebweh, Libo, 532 sq. 
 
 Lebweh, F. and riv. 532, 537, 538, 539. 
 
 Leijun, Le^, Megiddo, 116, 117, 118. 
 
 Lib'ah, viU. 37, 38. 
 
 Libbeiya, via 426. 
 
 Libnan, Lebanon, M. 531. 
 
 Lifta, Lifteh, vill. 159. 
 
 el-Litany, Leontes, riv. 43, 49, 63, 385-387, 
 
 421, 423, 424. 
 Liwa, stream, 451. 
 Lubieh, viU. 341. 
 
 Lndd, Heb. Lod, Gr. AuSSo, Lydda, 142, 143. 
 Luhham, fam. 163. 
 Lufah, vill. 421. 
 Luweizany, F. 389. 
 Lnweizeh, vill. 389. 
 
 M 
 
 el^Maghazel, ' the spindle,' 530. 
 Makhmel, or Miikhmel, not a general 
 
 name for northern Lebanon, 593. 
 el-Makhrud, 304, 317. 
 el-Maklub, ruin, 319. 
 
652 
 
 FIKST INDEX. 
 
 Makatirali, vill. 448, 450, 451, 452. 
 
 Ma'iia, vilL 630. 
 
 Malih, W. and castle, 306, 307, 309. 
 
 MllUiah, vill. 205, 272. 
 
 Malikiyeh, 367. 
 
 Malula, Gr. K\ifia Mary\oiiSui', 537. 
 
 Mini's, M. 444, 470. 
 
 el-MankuIibeh, 362 
 
 el-Manfurah, ruin, 58. 
 
 pl-Mansuriyeh, vill. 14. 
 
 el-Mansuiy, in the Huleh, 394, 396. 
 
 Mir, ' lord,' a title. 
 
 M&r Elias, 272. 
 
 M4r Elisha', conv. 596. 
 
 Mar Jirjis el-Hnmeira, conv. St. George, 
 
 564, 571. 
 Mar Marita, vill. 564. 
 Mar Serkis, conv. 587. 
 Mar Serkis of Besherreh, 596. 
 Mar Ya'kob, conv. 584. 
 Mar-aba, vill. 448, 471. 
 Ma'rabun, vill. and W. 502. 
 el-Marieh, vill. 388. 
 Marky, pr. n. 130. 
 Mardn, vill. 69, 370. 
 Marus, vill. east of Sidon, 38. 
 Marus, viU. west of the Ilnleh, 363. 
 cl-Mas-hur, Neba', 582. 
 Mas'udy, Arabs, 302, 303, 304, 305. 
 Masy, vill. 501. 
 Matran Bulus, 584. 
 el-Maut, 'death,' riv. 13, 18, 33. 
 Maoz, W. 321. 
 Medukhah, vill. 429. 
 
 Meidan, in Damascus, 454, 455, 458, 470. 
 Meifidhiin, vill. 51. 
 Meiron, Meiron, 73. 
 Meiruba, vill 610. 
 Meis, Meis el-Jebel, 369. 
 Meithelun, W. and Khan, 439. 
 el-Mejami'a, bridge, 340. 
 Mejdel, Magdala, 344. 
 Mejdel, Ma^dal-senna, 295. 
 Mejdel 'Anjar, vill. 428, 429, 492-495. 
 Mejdel Bel'hiF, 425. 
 Mejdel Kerum, vill. 86. 
 Meidel esb-Shems, 401. 
 Mejdel Silim, vill. 56. 
 Mejdel Yaba, vill. 140. 
 Mejdel Yun, vilL 37. 
 Mejdel Zun, vill. 62, 65. 
 el-Mekr, vill. 630 
 Mekseh, vill. 495, 500. 
 Melik, W. 109, 110, 113. 
 Mellahah, F. 363, 364. 
 Mellul, species of oak, 317. 
 Mellum, red oak, 394. 
 Menbej, F. 447. 
 Menin, vill. 471, 472, 474. 
 el-Mensy, ruin, 116. 
 Menyarah, vill. 578. 
 Merah, ' goat-house,' 39. 
 Merajim, ruin, 292. 
 
 Merj, 'meadow.' 
 
 el-Merj, at Damascus, 459. 
 
 el-Merj, in tne Biika'a, 495. 
 
 Merj 'Ayun, diatr. 50, 373, 374. 
 
 Merj Bisry, 37. 
 
 Merj Ibn 'Omeir, 143, 144, 145. 
 
 Merj el-Mun, 400. ^ 
 
 Merj Shemlseh, 425. 
 
 Merj Yafiiry, 400. 
 
 e!-Meijemeh, castle, 291. 
 
 Merrina, ruin, 275, 283. 
 
 el-Merkab, castle, 402. 
 
 Merkebeh, vill. 55. 
 
 Meruj, ' meadows,' plur. of Meij, vill. 588. 
 
 Meryamin, Te 1, 62, 65. 
 
 Mesady, dairy house, 399. 
 
 Mefaideh, viU. 575. 
 
 Meshghfirah, vilL 421. 
 
 Meshhad, Wely, 375, 393. 
 
 el-Meshhed, vill. 108. 
 
 Metawileh, sing. Mutawaly, 38, 41. 
 
 el-Metn, distr. 15. 
 
 Mezra'ah, ' goat- village,' 399, 402. 
 
 Mezra'ah, vill. east of Tyre, 59. 
 
 Mezra'ah, vill. east of Nahr Salib, 614. 
 
 el-Mezzeh, vill. 441, 442. 
 
 Ml'ar, vill. 85, 86, 87, 103. 
 
 Mihsir, vill. 154, 155. 
 
 el-Milh, W. 114. 
 
 Mimis, vill. 382. 
 
 Min'in, 282. 
 
 elMinveh, Khan, 344. 
 
 Mirh Kefr SughabJyeh, viU. 584. 
 
 el-Mirr, vill. 138, 140. 
 
 Miryamin, see Meryamin. 
 
 Mishk, W. 425. 
 
 el-Miskiyeh, ' the waterer,' 531. 
 
 Miyeh'wa-Miyeh, vill. 36, 37. 
 
 Mizyara, vill. 585. 
 
 Mu'addamiyeh, W. 72, 364. 
 
 el-Mu'ajjijeh, Tell, 310, 314, 329. 
 
 el-Mu'allakah, ' the suspended,* viU. near 
 
 the coast, 34. 
 el Mu'allakah, vUl. near Zahleh, 495. 
 el-Mudahdirah, vill. J 36. 
 el-Mudauwarah, F. 344. 
 Mtidfiya, vill. 486. 
 el-Mughaiyir, vill. 292. 
 Mughar, vill. Mearah? 79, 80. 
 Mughar, vill. west of the Huleh, 362. 
 Mugharat Banias, 407. 
 Mughlrat er-Rahib, exc. conv. 539. 
 Mughlribeh, ' western Africans,' 186, 189. 
 el-Mughdusheh, vill. 36, 37; 
 el-Mugheiriyeh, vill. and W. 602, 603, 609. 
 Mughr en-Namar, Tell, 363. 
 Muhaiditheh, vill. 427, 428, 429. 
 Muhlmy, 291. 
 
 Muhaiteh, for Muhaiditheh, 428, 429. 
 Muljeibtb, vill. 369. 
 Mujedda', ruin and W. 315, 837. 
 Mujeidil, vill. 113. 
 el-Mukadiyeh, riv. 555, 557. 
 
ABABIC NAMES AND WORDS, 
 
 653 
 
 Mukhmas, 3/tehtna^ 289. 
 MQkhmel, see Makhmel. 
 Mukhna, plain, 132, 135, 298, 301. 
 el-Mdkabrit, ittream, 448, 451. 
 el-Mnkiitta', riv. KUAon, 114, 115, 116. 
 el-Mulebbis, vill. 140. 
 el-Huneitirah, vilL 603. 
 el-Muutar, 362. 
 el-Mureijit, Khan, 495. 
 MnrufsiiF, vill. 339. 
 Musheirifeh, viU. near Seffurieh, 113. 
 Musheirifeh, vilL on W'. Khalid, 659. 
 Mushmnsh, viU. 119. 
 Mufkurah, 293. 
 Mufsin, W. 121, 125. 
 el-MuFiirr, W. 283, 284. 
 Mntesellim, see el-Mutsellim. 
 el-Mntsellim, 'governor,' Tell, 116, 117. 
 el-MutuUeh, vUL 372, 373. 
 el-Muzeirl'ah, vill. east of Eenthieh, 141. 
 Muzeiri'ab, W. near Beit Ummar, 282. 
 
 N 
 
 NSblus, vnlg. for Nabulus. 
 
 Nabulus, Neapolis, Skeckem, 127-133, 299, 
 
 300. Abundance of water, 299. 
 
 Monnds of ashes, 299. 
 Nahleh, vill. 528, 529. 
 Nahr, 'river.' 
 
 Nahr Auwaly, riv. Bostremis, 36, 37. 
 Nahr Band, 582, 583. 
 Nahr Ibrahim, riv. Adonis, 601, 606, 609. 
 Nahr el-Kelb, Ia/cus, basin, 609, 610. Pass, 
 
 12, 13. Inscriptions and scnlptnres, 
 
 617-624. 
 Nahr Na'man, Bdm, 88, 102, 104. 
 Nahr Resha'in, 584. 
 Nahr Rubin, 152. 
 en-Nakurah, Ras, 62, 66. 
 en-Nakiirah, vill. 127. 
 Na'mau, see Nahr Na'man, 
 en-Na'meh, Deir en-N. 34. 
 NarabSh, Tell, 125. 
 Nasif, pr. n. 419. 
 Nas ir, W. near Kefr Bir'im, 72. 
 'SoAt, W. near Daumeh, 295. 
 Na'urah, Persian wheel, 551. 
 en-Na'urah, vill. 337, 339. 
 Nawa'imeh, W. 290. 
 Neba', 'fountain.' 
 Neba' 'Anjar, 498 sq. 
 Neba' el-'Arus, 574. 
 Neba' el-'Asal, 610. 
 Neba' el-Hasbany, 378. 
 Neba' el-Leben, 610. 
 Neba' el-Madineh, 60. 
 Neba' themsin, 500. 
 Neba' Shikkah, 51. 
 en-Nebit, 'Ain, 587, 695. 
 Nebatiyeh el-FOka, 44, 48. 
 Nebatiyeh et Tahta, 44, 48. 
 Vol. IIL— 55* 
 
 Nebk, vilL 452, 534. ^ 
 
 Neby, 'prophet.' 
 
 Neby 'Aly et-T^hir, Wely, 44. 
 
 Neby Bayazid,' 302. 
 
 Neby Bebin, 298, 301. 
 
 NebyDanial, 143. 
 
 Neby Habil, Abel, Wely, 481. 
 
 Neby Isma il, 105. 
 
 Neby Mindau, Tell, Laodicea, 554, 555, 
 
 557. 
 Neby Mishy, 37. . 
 Neby 'Othman, Wely, 533. 
 Neby Safy, 44. 
 Neby Sa'id, 105, 108, 110. 
 Neby Samwil, 159. 
 Neby Shit, Seth, viU. 501, 502, 603. 
 Neby Sijud, 44. 
 Neby Sufa, vill. 425, 426. 
 Neby Thary, Wely, 141. 
 Neby Yunas, 34, 35 ; see el-Jiyeh. 
 Neby Yunas, at Halhul, 281. 
 Neby Za'ur, viU. 495, 498. 
 Nejemeh, M. 292. 
 Nejha, vill. 444. 
 Nemur, ' panthers,' W. 414. 
 Nedeh, vill. 124. 
 NJha, vill. 37. 
 Nimrin, 341. 
 Nuhf, vill. 78, 79. 
 Nuhhalin, vill. 284. 
 Nakb, ruin, 344. 
 Nuris, 340. 
 
 Nu.jairiyeh, people and M. 390, 557. 
 en-Nusr, ' victory,' 458. 
 
 
 
 el-'Oreimeh, vilL 575. 
 
 'Othman, pr. n. 533. 
 
 'Othman Hazflry (z for Dha), Wely, 401. 
 
 el-'Ozeir, vill. 105, 108. ' 
 
 Rafaniyeh, Raphanea, 573. 
 
 Eafidh, vUl. 429. 
 
 Raf idia, Rafidieb, vilL 128, 133. 
 
 Rahab, 310, 314, 329. 
 
 er-Rahhaniyeh, 338. 
 
 Ea'ith^ vill. 501. 
 
 er-Ram, or er-Ran, lake, Phiala, 399, 400. 
 
 er-Ram, Ramah of Benjamin, 287. 
 
 Rameh, Ramah of Asher, 63 sq. 
 
 Rameh, Ramah of Naphtali, 78, 79. 
 
 Rameh, near Hebron, 279. 
 
 Bamin, vill. 126, 127. 
 
 Ramleh, 142, 146, 151. ^ 
 
 er-Kan, Birket, see er-Ram. 
 
 er-Ras, vilU 135. 
 
 Ras ei-Abyad, Prom, album, 44, 62, 65, 90. 
 
 Ras el-Ahmar, viU. 69. 
 
654 
 
 FIBST INDEX. 
 
 Ras el-'Ain, near Tyre, 69. 
 
 Kas el-'Ain, near Yafa, 140. 
 
 Eas el-'Aujeh, 378. 
 
 er-Ras Ba'albefc, Cotma, 634-537. 
 
 Ras Elias, 272. 
 
 Ras el-F(iri'a, 303. 
 
 Ras Jedrah, 35. 
 
 Ras Kerka', vill. 145. Written also Ras 
 
 Kerker. 
 Ris el-Metn, vilL 16. 
 Ras en-N,ikurah, Scda Tyriorum, 66, 77, 
 
 89, yo. 
 
 Ras Rumeileh, 36. 
 
 Ras Sa'diyeh, 34. 
 
 Rasheiya, vill. 379, 430, 431. 
 
 R.isheiyet el-Fukhar, (or R. el-Fukh-ldiar,) 
 
 415 sq. 
 Rand Abn el-Khuraz, W. 317. 
 Reifun. v. 615. 
 Eenthieh, vill. 141. 
 Resha'ln, Nahr, 584. 
 Reshrash, W 292. 
 Resm el-Hadeth, vilL 531. 
 Restun, Areihusa, 551. 
 RibHh, W. 140, 296. 
 Ribleh, Riilah, 542-546. 
 Ridghah, Tell, 310, 315. 
 Kihan, ' myrtle,' M. 37, 40, 43, 421. 
 Rishrash, W. 276, 282. 
 Rubin, W. 38. 
 Rubeiyeh, W. 290. 
 cr-Rubiidiyeh, W. 342, 344. 
 Ruhaibeh, vill. 448. 
 RQkhleh, temple, 435, 436. 
 Kum, vill. 37, 38, 39. 
 er-Rumady, vill. 502, 503. 
 Rumah, Ruma, 108, 110. 
 cr-Rumeh, 'Ain, 601. 
 Rumeileh, vill. 35. 
 Rumeish, vill. 68. 
 Rumiu, vill. 44. 
 Rummrma, min, 145. 
 Rummaneh, Rinvmon, 108, 110 
 Rummou, Rimmon, 290. 
 Rumy, ' Greek,' 80, 125. 
 Ruweis, vill. 103, 104. 
 Ruweis, Neba', 603. 
 Ruweiset Rum, 37, 38. 
 
 Sabineh, vill. 449. 
 Sabirany, stream, 448. 
 Sadik el-Jema'iny, pr. n. 140. 
 Sa'din, vill. 576. 
 Safed, S^kf 72, 74. 
 Safed, vill. near Tibnin, 68. 
 tiafita, see Burj Safita. 
 Sahii), F. 471. 
 Sahil, ' coast,' 91. 
 Saha, ' plain,' 490, 491. 
 Sahil Judeideh, 489, 490, 491. 
 
 es-Sahra, ' desert plain,' 439 aj. 474, 475, 
 
 485. 
 Sahur, W. 501. 
 Saida, Sidon, 36. 
 Saida, vill. 124. 
 Saidanaya, convent, 46,9. 
 Sa'idiyeh, Tell, 310. 
 Sakut, Succoth, 309, 310, 312, 329. 
 es-Salam, gate, 455. 
 es-Salib, Nahr, 610, 611, 614. 
 Salihany, vill. 61. 
 Salil'uyeh, vill. 441, 444, 469, 473. 
 Salihiyeh, Tell, 446. 
 Salim, Shalem, 298. 
 Salim, vilL 117, 119. 
 Salim, Wely, 315. 
 Salmon el-Farisy, Wely, 135, 296. 
 es-Samieh, 291. 
 Samiriyeh, ruin, 320. 
 Sanik, see Senik. 
 
 Sanur, vill. and fortr. 132, 302, 304. 
 Saris, Soris, 154, 155, 156. 
 Sa'sa", vill. near Kefr Bir'im, 68, 69, 72. 
 Sa'sa', in W. el-'Ajam, 447. 
 es-Sanwaneh, vill. 55, 58. 
 Sebustieh, Sebaste, Samaria, 126, 128. 
 Sefarein, vill. 38. 
 
 Seffiirieh, Sepphrris, 109, 110, 111, 112. 
 Sefineh, vill. 426, 431. 
 Seijar, or Sheizar, Larissa, 550. 
 Seijur, vill 79, 81. 
 Seiyar, see Kubbet Seiyar. 
 Selameh, pr. n. 129. 
 Selbit, ruin, 144. 
 Selhab, ruin, 306, 308. 
 Sellameh, W. 78, 80, 81, 342, 344. 
 Seluky, W. 54. 
 Selwan, Siloam, 189. 
 Semikeh, vill. 575. 
 Semmawineh, vill 577. 
 Semmunieh, Simordas, 113. 
 Sem^u'y, vill. 72, 75, 77. 
 Senik, riv. 38. 
 Serada, 389. 
 
 Seraiyib, W. and brook, 415. 
 Serar, via 576. 
 Serbah, vill. 37, 38, 42. 
 Seribbin, vill. and W. 61, 62. 
 Serreman, Tell, 344. 
 Sha'ab, W. 78, 81, 82, 85, 87.— Vill. 87. 
 Sha'ad, vill. 532. 
 Shab, distr. 66. 
 esh-Sha'ib, W. 21, 33. 
 Sha'ir, W. 125, 126, 134, 135. 
 esh-Sha'ir, Tell, 500. 
 Shabat, W. 503. 
 esh-Shafab, castle, 565. 
 Sha'fat, vill. 286. 
 
 esh-Sh igliur, distr. 77, 78, 629, 630. 
 esh-Shak, Tell, 829. 
 esh-Sham, Damascus, 453. 
 Sham, W. 291. 
 Sharahmaiiu, vill. 576. 
 
AEABIC NAMES AND WORDS. 
 
 655 
 
 esh-Shareh, distr. 575. 
 
 Shebrfih, \V. 609. 
 
 Shefa 'Omar, vill. 103. 
 
 Shehflb, fam. 431. 
 
 SheMm, W. and vill. 35, 37. 
 
 esh-Sheikh, ' the aged, the elder.' 
 
 esh-Sheikh, Jebel, Moimt Hennon, 48, 58, 
 
 376, 379, 400, 426 sq. 481 sq. Two 
 
 summits, 48, 379. 
 Sheikh 'Aiyish, Wely and bridge, 575. 
 Sheikh 'Aly, W. 134. 
 Sheikh Bure.ik, \-iU. 113. 
 Sheikh Daild, W. 325. 
 Sheikh Ghinim, Wely, 298. 
 Sheikh Hasan, Tell, 329. 
 Sheikh Hazaih, Wely, 394. 
 Sheikh Khudr, Wely, 406, 408, 409. 
 Sheikh Muhammed, Till. 577, 578. 
 Sheikh 'Otlmian Haziiry (z for Dha), 
 
 Wely, 401. 
 Sheikh Salim, Wely, 315. 
 Sheikh Salmon el-Farisy, see Salmon. 
 Sheikh Sha'leh, vill. 127. 
 Sheikh Tiba, -rill. 578. 
 Sheikh Yaffiry, Wely, 400. 
 Sheikh Yusuf, Tell, 395. 
 Sheizar, Abulf. see Seijar. 
 Sheluh, Till. 574. 
 Shemiseh, vill. 425. 
 Shemlan, Till. 21. 
 Shemmas, W. 39. 
 Shemsin, Neba', 500. 
 ?hera<at, tIU. 265. 
 Shcrak, W. 134. 
 Shcrir, W. 340. 
 Shib'a, or Shiha', W. 376, 379, 416.— Vill. 
 
 379, 405, 407, 414, 416. 
 Shilba'l, Till. 44. 
 Shiynkh, tUI. 276, 283. 
 Shuf, distr. 633. 
 Shufeh, Till. 134. 
 Shukheit, W. 283, 284. 
 esh-Shtikif, castle, 48 sq. 58. 
 Shiikif eth-Thaur, 495. 
 ShOkin, Till. 44, 51, 55. 
 esh-ShiSkk, W. and ruin, 309. 
 Shukrah, vill. 58. 
 
 esh-Shnrkiyeh, • the east,' 450, 461. 
 esh-Shurky, gate, 455. 
 Shattah, '337, 339. 
 Shuwalik, vill 37. 
 Shuweikeh, vill. 284. 
 Shuweir, vill. 616. 
 Shuweiyu, vill. 382, 419. 
 Si'a, ruin, 2!M. 
 Sib'al, vill. 585. 
 Sid Dahud. Wely, 393, 396. 
 Siftiif, vill 72, 73. 
 Siffaf, W +L' 1,434. 
 es-Sik, W. -iilO. 
 Sin li)], vill. 393. 
 Sindian, ' ilex,' 390, 391. 
 es-SindiSineh, viU. 120. 
 
 Sir'ln, vill. 604. 
 
 Skanderuna, vill. 37. 
 
 Saba, vill. 154, 156, 157, 158, 284. 
 
 Su, viU. 582. 
 
 SubAih, Arabs, 341. 
 
 Siibbarin, vill. 114. 
 
 Subbfirah, vill. 440. 
 
 es-Snbeibeh, castle near Banias, 404, 412. 
 
 Siiffeir, mistletoe, 128. 
 
 SuMf, see Sifiaf. 
 
 Suhmata, vill. 67, 68, 76. 
 
 Sfihmur, vill. 424. 
 
 Suk Wady Barada, 478 sq. 
 
 Siikhnin, vill. Sogane, 83, 84, 85 
 
 Siikr, Arabs, 326, 338. 
 
 Sultan Ya'kob, vill. 428, 429. 
 
 Sultana, road, 141. 
 
 Sumrah, ruin, 292. 
 
 es-Sumt, W. 284. 
 
 Si5na.nn, vill. 284. 
 
 Sunnin, Jebel, 9, 609, 616. 
 
 es-Sur, W. 276. 
 
 Siir'a, Zorah, 153. 
 
 Sur&r, W. 153. 
 
 Surghaya, vill. 486, 502. 
 
 es-Surljeh, es-Surijy, gate, 442, 455. 
 
 Surrah, vill. 134. 
 
 Siirtabeh, see Kum Surtaheh. 
 
 Suth el-'Afrit, Vill. 575.' 
 
 Suweinit, W. 288, 289. 
 
 es-Suweireh, ' picture,' F. 429. 
 
 Ta'annuk, Taanack, 117. 
 
 et-Tabighah, 345, 346. 
 
 et-Taiyibeh, Ophra, Ephraim, vill. 290. 
 
 et-Taiyibeh, vill. near esh-Shiikif, 53. 
 
 et-Taiyibeh, vill. near BeisSn, 339. 
 
 et-Taiyibeh, vilL and W. near Ba'albek, 
 
 503, 504. 
 Tamburit, vill. 37. 
 Tina, F. Thanath, 295. 
 Tannur, Heb. "lisn, 'oven, fnmaoe,' 44, 
 
 416. 
 Tannur Eyub, 345. 
 Tannurin," villages, W. 600, 601. 
 Tarabulus, see Tiipdis. 
 Taum Niha, ' twins of N.' two peaks of 
 
 Lebanon, 37, 388, 421. 
 Taurah, canal, 446, 470, 473. 
 et-Tawahin, W. 72, 342. 
 et-Teim, W. character, 373, 378, 379, 389, 
 
 413, 415, 420, 426, 430, 492. 
 Teir Harfa, vill. 62. 
 Teitabeh, vUl. 75. 
 et-Tekiyeh, in Jerusalem, 190. 
 et-Tekiyeh, at Damascus, 459. 
 Tell 'Abbas, ruin, 577. 
 Tell 'A.'iftr, 298. 
 Tell el-Bedawiyeh, 110, 113. 
 
656 
 
 FIRST INDEX. 
 
 Tell Beisan, 328, 329. 
 
 Tell Birweh, 88. 
 
 Tell Da'.ak, 103. 
 
 Tell DibWn, //on, 374, 388. 
 
 Tell el-Feres,' 362, 398, 401. 
 
 Tell Habbftsh, 47. 
 
 Tell el-Haush, vill. 574. 
 
 Tell Haz.'.r (z for Dha), 81. 
 
 Tell Hftin, 346. ' Not Capernaum, 853. 
 
 Prob. Chorazin, 359. 
 Tell el-Hiinaweh, 363, 364. 
 Tell el-Kady, Dan, 390-393. 
 Tell Kaimon, Cammona, Jokneam, 114, 115. 
 Tell el-Kerkef, 127. 
 Tell Rison, 103. 
 Tell Kurdany, 104. 
 Tell Kmsis, 114. 
 Tell Nam a, 374. 
 Tell e;-Safieh, 151. 
 Tell esh-Shemmatn, vill. 114. 
 Tell eth-Thorah, 115. 
 Tell Yanun, 88. 
 Tellet Hana, vill. 561, 564. 
 Tellul, plur. of Tell, 445, 470. 
 Tenfiny, vill. 567. 
 Terbikhab, vilL 66. 
 Terkumieb, TVuxwitos, 278, 
 Tersbiha, vill. C6, 67. 
 Tesseiya, vill. 475. 
 Teyflsir, vill. 306. 
 eth-Thaur, 495. 
 
 eth-Theli, ' snow,' Jebel, Herman, 50. 
 Theltbatba, Neby Sufa, 426. 
 Tibnin, Toron, 57, 58 sq. 
 Till, vill. 134. 
 et-Tin, F. 344. 
 Tiniyeh, Jebel, 444. 
 et-Tiny, Tell, 427. 
 Tirza, vill. 598. 
 et-Tireh, vill. near '..Vkka, 104. 
 et-Tireh, vil!. near Lydda, 141, 142. 
 Tom, see Tnum. 
 Tubas, Thehez, 305. 
 tiibukah, ' terrace,' 321, 325. 
 tiibCikat Fahil, PeOa, 321. 
 tub'On. vill. 113. 
 iubulyeb, 272. 
 et-Tuffa'j, distr. 38, 41. 
 Tuheisbimeh, W. 275. 
 et-Tuijar, Khan, 340, 341. 
 Tuk^n, 123. 
 TulKeram, 126. 
 tuleil el-l'ul, G'ibeak, 286. 
 Tulin, vill 55, 58. 
 Tullusiych, vill. 55. 
 
 Tiilluzah (z for Dha), Tinah, 302, 303. 
 Tuma, Thoinas, gate, 455. 
 Tummon, .302, 305. 
 Tumrah, vill. near esh-Shiikif, 52. 
 Tumrah, vi!l. in plain of 'Akka, 103, 104. 
 Tamrah, vill. near Tabor, 340. 
 Tor-an, vill 109, 110, 112, 341. 
 Turbul, vilL and M. 582 sq. 
 
 Turkman, people, 362. 
 Turmns 'Aya, 291. 
 
 U 
 
 Um el-'Ajra, Tell, 310, 329. 
 
 Um el-'Ajnad, m. vilL in the Buttauf, 83. 
 
 Um el-'Amad, vilL north of plain of Es- 
 
 draelon, 113. 
 Um Buij, 282. 
 Um el-Fahm, vilL 120. 
 Um el-Haratein, ru. vill. 558. 
 Um el-Meis, ruin, 283. 
 Um Selakhit, ruin, 83. 
 Um ez-Zenat, vill. 114, 116, 120. 
 Ummatein, vill. 134. 
 Ortas, Eiam, 273. 
 
 W 
 
 Watty el-Buij, 602. 
 
 Webr, Hyrax Stfriacus, coney of Script 387. 
 
 Welejeh, vill. 266, 271. 
 
 el-Wesa', W. 121, 123, 124. 
 
 Wezar, vill 117, 339. Not Mezar, 339. 
 
 Wukkas, vill. 364. 
 
 Wul'id 'Aly, Arabs, 452. 
 
 Yabis, riv. 33. 
 
 Yabis, W. 310, 316, 317. 
 
 Yabrud, see Yebrijd. 
 
 Ya'bud, vilL 121, 122. 
 
 Yafa, Heb. Jajpho, Gr. 'IcJinn/, Joppa, 142, 
 
 151. 
 Ya'fflr, W. 440. 
 Yafuiy. Merj, 400. 
 Yahfufeh, vilL 501, 502. 
 Yalifafeh, W. 486, 501, 502. 
 Ya'kob, pr. n. Jacob, 129. 
 YakOk, vill ByJckok, 81. 
 Yil'o, Aijalon, 144, 145. 
 el-Ya.m6n, vill 120. 
 YAniin, Janon, 297. 
 Yiron, vilL 61, 62. 
 Yasid, 302. 
 Yatir, vill. 61. 
 Yebrud, Jabruda, 556. 
 el-YehOdiyeh, vill. near Tibnin, 58. 
 el-Yehudiyeh, vill. near Yafa, 140, 141. 
 Yemen, party, 145. 283. 
 Yemmoneb, vill. and lake, 648. 
 Yerka, vill. 103. 
 Yerzah, ruin, 307, 308. 
 Yeshu'a, vill. 154, 155. 
 Yezid, canal, 446 469, 470, 473. 
 Yuhmur, vill. 421, 422, 423. 
 Yunin, vill. and W. 530. 
 Tiintah, vill. 430, 489. 
 
ARABIC NAMES AND ■WORDa. 
 
 657 
 
 Za'areh, W. 398, 405, 408. 
 
 ez-Zaheriiny, riv. 43 ; source, 45. 
 
 Zahleh, viU. 486, 500, 547. 
 
 e3-Zakur, ruin, 138. 
 
 Za'rir, W. 490, 491. 
 
 Za'rur, MespUus, medlar tree, 491, 492. 
 
 Za'ura, vill. 390, 393. 
 
 Zautar, vilL 51, 53, 55. 
 
 ez-Zawilrib, vill. near 'Arka, 578. 
 
 ez-Zaw&rib, rain near Af ka, 608. 
 
 Zawata, vill. 128, 134. 
 
 Zaweitineli, vUl. 564. 
 
 ez-Zawieh, vill. 140. 
 
 Zebedany, vill. 437, 485. 
 
 Zebdeh, vill. north of plain of Esdraelon, 
 
 113. 
 Zebdeh, vill. west of YaTjud, 123. 
 
 ZebdJn, vill. 48. 
 
 Zehilteh, vill. 41. 
 
 Zeita, vill. 124. 
 
 Zeiteh, Zeity, vill. 646, 557. 
 
 ez-Zeitfiny, Tell, 427. 
 
 Zekweh, see Dhekweh. 
 
 Zelafeb, viU. 117. 
 
 Zer'in, vill. and W. Jezreel, 117, 122, 123, 
 
 310, 320, 329, 338. 
 Zerka, W. 310. 
 ez-Zerra'n, vill. 544, 564. 
 ez-Zib, Ackab, Ecdippa, 628, 630. 
 Zibkin, vill. 65, 66. 
 Zibid, 75. 
 
 Zugharta, vill. 584, 587. 
 Zuk el-Khnrab, vill. 617. 
 Zuic Mekfiyil, vill. 617. 
 Zuk Mafbah, vill. 617. 
 ez-Zukkiyeh, vilL 54. 
 ez-Zureikin, brook, 50, 51. 
 
INDEX II. 
 
 ANCIENT GEOGEAPHY, ANTIQUnTES, ETC. 
 
 Modem Arabic names will be found in the preceding Index. For more general 
 matters, the reader is referred to the very full Table of Contents prefixed to the volume. 
 
 Ancient names of Places, and the like, are here printed in Italic. 
 
 Ancient places now first visited or identified, are marked by an asterisk ( *\ 
 Those in like manner first visited or identified during our former journey, and here 
 again mentioned, are marked by a dagger ( t )• 
 
 Aiasui, see Amaiui. 
 
 Abel Beth Maachah,\ 372. 
 
 Abila of Lysanias, 480-484. 
 
 Abraham's house, etc. 279. 
 
 Accho, Ptolemais, 92. 
 
 Acfiabari, 74. 
 
 Achskaph* 55. 
 
 Adaib, 628. 
 
 Acra, see Alcra^ 
 
 Acrabatetie, toparchy, 296. 
 
 AcrcM,'f 296. 
 
 Adorns, riv. 606. 
 
 Adam,'^ Aiaraim, see Dura. 
 
 ^nm, 333. 
 
 Aijalon,^ * 145. 
 
 Ain,* on north border, 534. 
 
 Ajdlon, see Aijalon, 
 
 Ahra, 207-211. 
 
 AUmeOi, 287. 
 
 Alexandroschene, 628. 
 
 Almm, 287. 
 
 ATTuma, Abana, riv. 447. 
 
 Anne, see St. Anne. 
 
 Anti-Lebanon, western declivity, 420. 
 
 Eastern declivity, 441, 485, 489, 491. 
 
 General features, 547, 548. 
 Antipairis,^ 139. 
 ATUimia, fortress, 230-243. 
 Apamea, 550. 
 Apheca, temple of Venus, 605-607. 
 
 Aqueduct, near Beirut, 14, 22. At Beit 
 Miry, 17. At source of the Zaheriny, 
 45, 46. From Solomon's pools, 285. 
 At Jerusalem, 247. • — Perforated 
 stones, 17, 18, 273, 285. 
 
 Araia, vilL Gr. 'ApoSa, 83. 
 
 ArdbaA, the Ghor, 333. 
 
 Arbel, Arbela,\ 343. 
 
 Area, Arkites, 579 sq. 
 
 Archelais, 304. 
 
 Areihusa, 551. 
 
 ArimaHiea, 141. 
 
 Arldtes, see Area. 
 
 Asamon, mountain, 77. 
 
 Ashes, mounds of, at Jerusalem, 201, 202. 
 At Nabulus, 299. 
 
 AsocMs, plain and city. 111. 
 
 Avion, the Ghor, 334. 
 
 AvrarutU, see HaurSn. 
 
 B 
 
 Bad-Gad,* prob. at BaniSs, 409, 410. 
 
 Baal-Henrum,* 409, 410. 
 
 Ba'albek, see Seliopolis. 
 
 Baiher, 266. 
 
 Bdhnarkos, a Baal, 16, 17. 
 
 Barinum, castellum, 573. 
 
 Belfort, fortress, 49. 
 
 Bdia, riv. 104. 
 
ANCIENT GEOGBAPHT, ANTIQUITIES, ETC. 
 
 659 
 
 Belvoir of the cmsadeis, Eankab, 310, 
 339. 
 
 SerachaA, 275. 
 
 Berytus, Beirfit, 7-12. 
 
 Seiarum, not Bether, 263. 
 
 SetJumnaha,* 144, 145. 
 
 Belh-Anoth, 281. 
 
 Belh-Aiid,^ 343. 
 
 Beth-Dagon, 298. 
 
 Bethd, i q. Bether ? 270. 
 
 Beth-emek, not at 'Amkah, 103, 108. 
 
 Bether of the Rabbins, 267-269. At Beth- 
 el? 270 
 
 BeOleken of Judah, 272, 273, 285. 
 
 Bethlehem of Zebulun, 113. 
 
 Bethoannaba,* 144. 
 
 Beth-Rehdb, 371, 372. 
 
 Bethsaida, at et-Tabighah, 358. 
 
 Beth-shan, Beth-sfieaa, 329 sq. 
 
 Beth-shemesh,\ 153. 
 
 BethuUa, not at Beit Ufa, 337 sq. 
 
 Beth-Zacharia* 284. 
 
 Beth-zur, 276, 277. 
 
 Betogabra,\ 194. 
 
 Betylua, Gr. BctvXovo, 337 sq. 
 
 Bevelled stones, 229 sq. 
 
 Bezetha, 190, 191, 211. 
 
 Bostreims,j^ riv. see Anwaly. 
 
 Bread, not sold by peasants, 127. 
 
 Bridge, ano. from temple, 221-227. 
 
 Bufiklos in the Huleh, 896. In the Bu- 
 kei'a, 561. 
 
 Butis, Pella, 323. 
 
 C 
 
 Coiai,* 88. 
 
 CiBsarea PhiUlppi, Pcmeas, 410. 
 
 Cammona,* 1 15. 
 
 Ccma of Galilee,t 108. 
 
 Caparcotia, 121. 
 
 Capernwim, at Khan Minyeh, 347-358. 
 Arguments, 348-354. Testimonies 
 of early writers and travellers, 354- 
 358. 
 
 Capharcotia, see Caparcotia. 
 
 Caphar Saba,\; 138. 
 
 Carcem, 156, 272. 
 
 CasteUum Emmaus, 151. 
 
 Cavern under Bezetha, 191. 
 
 Cedars of Lebanon, 588-593. Great am- 
 phitheatre, 590. 
 
 Cemete y, English, 178. American, 179. 
 
 Cendeuia. marsh, 104. 
 
 Chabolo* 88. 
 
 Chalcis * under Lebanon, 497. 
 
 Chephira* 1 46. 
 
 Ciesalm,}: 154. 
 
 Churadn, at Tell Hftm, 359. 
 
 ChTysorrhoaa, riv. 447. 
 
 Cisterns at Hableh, 137. 
 
 Citium, Lamaka, 7. 
 
 CooMs?* 309. 
 
 Cfdesyria, 646. 
 
 Column near Deir el-Ahmar, 530. 
 
 Coneg of Scripture, Hyrax Syriacia, Wehr, 
 
 66, 387. 
 Conna, at er-Ras, 535-537. 
 Convent on Carmcl, 100, 101. Greek, 
 
 visit to, 194. Convent of the Cross, 
 
 159, 264. 
 Com, 5, 6. 
 Coition, see Culon, 
 Crach, or Crac, for el-Husn, 565. 
 Cukn, Kulonieh, 158. 
 Cyamon, Kua^iii/, 338, 339. 
 Cyprui, 6, 7. 
 
 Damascus, 442-468.— The Plain : Bound- 
 aries, 443-445. Divisions, 445. 
 Tells, 445. Soil, 446. Elvers and 
 fountains, 446. Canals from the 
 Barada, 446. The 'Awaj, 447. 
 Lakes, 450. Agriculture, fruits, 452. 
 — The Crry : Geogr. position, 453. 
 Population, 453 sq. Form, streets, 
 454 sq. Houses, 454. Gates, 455. 
 Castle, 456. Mosks, Khans, 456. 
 Bazars, 456. Commerce, baths, 456. 
 Coffee-houses, 458. Meidan, 458. 
 The Merj, 459. Plane tree, 459. 
 Dogs, 460. Abundant water, 460. 
 Antiquities, 461-463. History, 462- 
 468. 
 
 Damuras, see Tamyras. 
 
 Dan,t 392. 
 
 Daphne,* near Dan, 393. 
 
 Dioccesarea, i. q. SeppAoris, q. T. 
 
 DipspoHs, i. q. Lydda, q. v. 
 
 Doih,i Duk, 290. 
 
 Dothan, 338. 
 
 Druzes, see ed-Deruz. 
 
 Ehd, M. 131, 132. 
 
 Ecce Homo, piers ancient, 171, 191, 220. 
 
 Ecdippa, 628. 
 
 Edomia,^ * Edumia, Daumeh, 293. 
 
 Eleutheropolis,f 194. 
 
 Eleuthems, Nahr el-KebJr, 576. 
 
 Emesa, 551-554. 
 
 EmTnaus, NicopoUs, 146, 147 ; in New Test 
 
 147-150. 
 Endar, 340. 
 Kn-Gannim, see Jenm, 
 Entering in of llamaih,* 568. 
 Ephraim,* Ephrm," Taiyibeh, 290. 
 Esdraelan, the great plain, 113 sq. 121. 
 Etam, 273. . . 
 
660 
 
 SECOND INDEX. 
 
 Gabam* Gabamth, Gr. rd$apa, Ta$ap<i^, 
 
 87. 
 Gabatha,^ 113. 
 Galgidis,f 139. 
 Geba,* 288. 
 Gedor,f 283. 
 Gennath, gate, 212-217. 
 Gennesaret, land of, 348, 349. 
 Gepknis, 324. 
 Geridm, M. 131, 132. 
 Gethsemane, 188. 
 GiieoA * of Said, 286. 
 Gibeon,f 160. 
 Gi'Aon, 242, 
 GiB>oa,t 337. 
 (?mzo,t 160. 
 GiTusa, see Jenin. 
 Giscaia,+ 73. 
 Giaa,i 134. 
 Golden Gate, 173. 
 Gopalaia, 106. 
 
 Grotte de Coton, cavern, 191, 
 Gush Ifahi,f 73. 
 
 Hadadrmmon, 118, 119, 
 
 .ffottu;,! * 281, 282. 
 
 JIamath, 551. 
 
 JJaTTiaih, Entering in of,* 568. 
 
 Bamm(m ? 66. 
 
 el-Haram, the Grand Mosk, see in Index I. 
 
 Hauran, 444, 445. 
 
 HazoT* of Naphtali, not at Haziiy, 63. 
 Not at Tell Hazur, 81. Not at el- 
 Hazury, 401, 402. Prob. at Tell 
 Khuraibeh, 365. 
 
 Belbm, 472, 
 
 Bddua. 33. 
 
 Seliopolis, temples, 507. Plan, 508. Great 
 temple, 509. Lesser temple, 514. 
 General features, 516. Circular tem- 
 ple, 517. History, 518-527. 
 
 Renrwn, Mount., 48, 431 sq. See esh- 
 Sheikh, Jebel. 
 
 Holy Sepulchre, 254-263. 
 
 House of Abraham, 279. 
 
 House in Lebanon, 39, 44. At Tibnln, 60. 
 At Kefr Bir-im, 68, 69. At 'AJcka, 
 90. At TiiUuzah, 302. 
 
 B"KjM»i,t*81. 
 
 Ijon,^ * 375. 
 
 Inscriptions, at Deir et-Kul'ah, 16. At 
 
 Jerju'a, 46. At Kefr Bir'im, 70. 
 
 At Jerusalem, 192. At Banias, 407. 
 
 At Abileh, 480. At Ba'albek, 509. 
 
 At Nahr el-Kelb, 618 sq. 
 Iturea, Heb. Jetur, 445. 
 
 Jabesft-ffSead,* 319. 
 
 Jabruda, 556. 
 
 Jacob's Well, 132, 299. 
 
 Jamm,* 297. 
 
 Japho, see Joppa. 
 
 Jerusalem, 161 ; see Contents of Sect. TV, 
 V. Geographical position, 183. To- 
 pography, etc. 203 sq. "Tyropojon 
 and Akra, 207-211. Bezetha, 211. 
 Gate Gennath, 212-217. Course of 
 second wall, 217-220. Temple area, 
 south part, 220. Ancient bridge 
 from temple, 163, 225-227. Sub- 
 structions, ancient, 228, 229. Bevel- 
 led stones, 229 sq. Antonia, 230- 
 243. Cisterns, 196, 198. Report of 
 water at Damascus gate, 197. Gi- 
 hon, 243. Well near the Haram, 245 
 sq. The aqueduct, 247. Upper foun- 
 tain, 248 sq. Canals, sewers, 249 sq. 
 Tomb of Helena, 251 sq. Tombs . f 
 the prophets, 253 sq. The Holy Sep- 
 ulchre, 254-263. Tradition, 263. 
 
 Jetur, see Iturea. 
 
 Jews' place of wailing, 163. Later Jewish 
 sepulchre at Teyisir, 306. 
 
 Jezreel, valley of, 325. See Zer'ln. 
 
 Jiphlhah-el,* valley, 103, 107. 
 
 .Tokneam,* 115. 
 
 Joppa, Yafa, 142. 
 
 Jordan, sources, 412, 413. In the Huleh, 
 394, 395. Junction of streams, 394, 
 395. 
 
 Jotapata, 106. 
 
 Kamun, 324. 
 
 Kanak^ of Asher, see Kana. 
 
 Kanah,* brook, 135. 
 
 Kapharrumm, F. 350. 
 
 Karem, 272. 
 
 Karotea," 537. 
 
 Kedesh of Naphtali, 367-369. 
 
 Kephamome, 350, 351. 
 
 Kirjatk-jearim,i 157, 
 
 Kishm, riv. 114, 116. 
 
 Knights Hospitalers, palace of, 165 sq. 
 
 iaisA,t 392. 
 
 Laodicea * in Lebanon, 554, 555. 
 
 Larissa, 550. 
 
 Lamaka, Citium, 7. 
 
 Lebanon Mount, eastern wall, 421. North- 
 eastern part, 530, 546, 548. Charac- 
 ter, 546, 547. Western declivity and 
 streams, 624, 625. 
 
 Legio, 118. 
 
ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY, ANTIQUITIES, ETC. 
 
 661 
 
 leoniai, riy. el-Litany, 49, 53, 385-387, 
 
 421,423,424. 
 Zesem,t 392. 
 IMio, Lebweh, 633. 
 Zod, see Lydia. 
 Lyho, see LiSbo. 
 Incus, riv. 619. 
 Zt/dda, Diospolh, Ludd, 142. 
 
 M 
 
 Magddl-senmi,* 295. 
 
 Magoras, riv. of Beirut, 12, 14, 15. 
 
 Mamouga.,* perh. el-Husn, 567. 
 
 Mamre, 279. 
 
 Mariamme,* 567. 
 
 Marsyas, plain, 546. 
 
 Jfammianopolis, 118, 119. 
 
 Megiddo,\ * 118. 
 
 Meiron,j[ 73. 
 
 Meleda, not MeHia, 3. 
 
 Men* Meroth, 73. 
 
 Merom, see el-Huleh. 
 
 ilichmash,^ Mukhmas, 289. 
 
 Modm, 151, 152. 
 
 Montfort of the crusaders, 66. 
 
 Monument near Hurmul, 540-542. Of 
 
 the high priest John, 215, 216. 
 Mounds of ashes, 201, 202. 
 
 N 
 
 Neapolis, Shechem, 133. 
 Nicopolis, Emmaus, 146, 147. 
 Nobe,^ Beit Nuba, 145. 
 
 O 
 
 Oaks of Bashan, 317. 
 
 Olives, MoviU of, 193. 
 
 Ophrafi,^ Taiyibeh, 290. 
 
 Oronies, fountains, 638. VaUey, 548 sq. 
 
 Orikosia, site, 582. 
 
 Faneas, Banias, 409, 410. 
 
 Panivm, source of Jordan, 406, 410. 
 
 Paphos, now Ba&a, 6. 
 
 Paridisus,* at old Jusieh, 556. 
 
 Patmos, 5, 6 
 
 PeOa,* 322-324. 
 
 PenJtaianma,\ Fendekumieh, 121, 125. 
 
 Phagor * xxiv, 276. 
 
 Pharpar, riv. 447. 
 
 Phasaais,\ 293. 
 
 PUaJa, lake, 399, 400. 
 
 Phogor,* see Phagor. 
 
 Pirathm," 134. 
 
 Vol. III.— 56 
 
 Platanvm,\ 34. 
 Porphyreon, 35. 
 Porta ferrea, legendary, 199. — I orta judi- 
 
 caria, legendary, 170, 171. 
 Prommtorium Album, 628. 
 Propylcea of Constantino, 168. 
 Protestants In Turkey, 23-25. 
 Ptokmcds, 92. 
 
 K 
 
 Rachel's Tomb, 273. 
 
 Rains, latter, 9, 30. 
 
 Sarruih\ of Benjamin, at er-Ram, 287. 
 
 Ramah * of Asher, 64. 
 
 Bamah * of Naphtali, 79. 
 
 Ramak of the south, 280. 
 
 Raphamea, 573. 
 
 JRehob,* 371. 
 
 Rephaim, plain of, 265, 272. 
 
 Rhodes, 6, 6. 
 
 Rjblah, 544-546. 
 
 Rimjnon,] * rock, 290. 
 
 TBrnOTon of Zebulnn, 110. 
 
 Roads, Roman, north of Sidon, 34, 35. 
 South of Lejijun, 119. From C^esarea 
 toNabnlus, 126-128. Fr.omNabulns 
 to Antipatris, 135. From Jerusa- 
 lem to Hebron, 274, 277. From Je- 
 rusalem to Antipatris, 188. From 
 Nabulus to Beisin by Tubas, 306. 
 Between Kefr Kuk and Damascus, 
 435. From Damascus to Ba'albek, 
 479, 482. 
 
 Ruma, Rumah, 110. 
 
 Sabbatical River of Josephus, 572, 574. 
 
 Salim, 333. 
 
 Samaria, Sebiistieh, 126, 127. 
 
 Samaritans, visit to, 129 sq. 
 
 Samos, 5, 6. 
 
 Sarcophagi, near Beirut, 12. On way to 
 'Abeih, 18, 19. At Khan Khnlda, 3a 
 At Hableh, 137. At Beit Ilfa, 337. 
 At Kedes, 367, 368. 
 
 Scala Tyriarum, 89. 
 
 Scopus, 286. 
 
 Sculptures at Nahr el-Kelb, 619 sq. 
 
 Scythopdis, 330 sq. 
 
 Sebaste, Sebustieh, 126, 127. 
 
 Selamis, Gr. ^eKa^i^, 82. 
 
 Seph, Safed? 74, 75. 
 
 Sepphoris, Diocasarea, 112. 
 
 Sepulchre, later Jewish at Teyasir, 306. 
 Of Joseph and Nicodemns, so called, 
 180-182, 260. See Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 Shalem,\ Sahm, 298, 301. 
 
 Shechem, 133. 
 
 Sichanin, Talm. 85. 
 
662 
 
 SECOND INDEX. 
 
 Sichem, 133- 
 
 Sidon, 86, 37. 
 
 Siloam, 189. 
 
 Simoraas,\; 113. 
 
 STmfma, 3, 4. 
 
 Sogane, Gr. Siuyitv);, 83, 84, 85. 
 
 Sorisj 156, 
 
 Sporades, 5. 
 
 St Anne's dmrch, 176. 
 
 Substructions, ancient, 228 sq. 
 
 Subterranean chapel in Jemsalem, 184, 
 185. 
 
 SwxM* 310-312. 
 
 Sycamimim^ 100. 
 
 Sychar, 133. 
 
 Synagogues, ancient, at 'Kefr Bir'im, 70; 
 atMeiron, 74; at Irbid, 342 ; at Tell 
 Hum, 346 ; at Kedes, 367, 368. 
 
 Syra, 3. 
 
 Taanach, 117. 
 
 Tabor, M. 340. 
 
 Tamifras, Damurta, riy. Damur, 34. 
 
 TanduBo, 352. 
 
 Tares, 55. 
 
 Temples, ancient, at Derr et-Kiil'ali, 15 sq. 
 At Kubrikhah, 55. AtBelat? 64,65. 
 At Kul'at Bnstra, 414. At Hibbiri- 
 yeh, 417. At Neby Stifa, 426. At 
 'Aiha, 433. At Ruthleh, 435. At 
 Deir el-'Ashayir, 437. At el-Fijeh, 
 476. At el-Kefr, 478. At Mejdel 
 'Anjar, 493 sq. At Deir el-Ghuza.1, 
 501. AtBa'albek, 507sq. At Nah- 
 
 leh, 529. At Afka, 605. At Fokra, 
 
 612. 
 Terraces on Lebanon, 14, 19. 20. 
 TJuaiath* Tlienath, 295. 
 Thebez,i * 305. 
 Tibenas, lake, 344 sq. 
 JlJrzaA,* 303. 
 Tomb of Helena, 251 sq. Tomba of the 
 
 prophets, 253 sq. See also Sepulchre. 
 Toparohies, 141. 
 Toron of the crusaders, 68. 
 Tradition, in itself of no value, 263. As to 
 
 Stephen's body, 261. 
 Tr!comias,\ Terkumieh, 278. 
 TripoUs, Tripoly, Arab. Tarabnlns, 682- 
 
 685. 
 Turon of the crusaders, 91 
 Tyre, 61, 62. ■ 
 TyrqpcBcm, 207 sq. 
 
 Via Dolorosa, not ancient, 170. 
 
 ■w 
 
 Wailing-place of the Jews, 163. 
 
 Waters of Jerusalem, 243 sq. Reported 
 
 at Damascus gate, 196, 197 sq. 
 Wdi of Jacob, 132. 
 Wine-press, ancient, 137, 603. 
 
 Zarah, 153. 
 
INDEX III. 
 
 PASSAGES OF SOEIPTiniE ILLUSTEATED. 
 
 liEvrcicua. 
 sL 6. The Coney, 387. 
 
 KUUBEBS. 
 
 xiii. 21. The Entering in of Hamath, 568. 
 xssiv. 8 ; see xiii. 21. 668. 
 
 Deuteronomt. 
 sir. 7 ; see Lev. xi 6. 387. 
 
 Joshua. 
 Til". 5 ; see Ntim. xiii. 21. 568. 
 
 Judges. 
 
 iii. 3 ; see Nnm. xiii 21. 568. 
 
 xviii. 9, 10. Danite spies atLaish, 396. 
 
 1 SamueIi. 
 
 ix. 11. Maidens going forth to draw wa- 
 ter, 153, comp. 63. 
 
 jdv. i, 5. Scene of Jonathan's adven- 
 tore, 289. 
 
 1 Kmaa. 
 
 viii. 65 ; see Num. xiii. 21. 568. 
 
 2 Kings. 
 
 T. 12. Amana (Abana) and Pharpar, 447. 
 xiv. 25 ; see Num. xiii. 21. 668. 
 
 2 Chbonici.es. 
 vii. 8 ; see Num. xiii. 21. 668. 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 xiii. 5. Treading the mne-press, 137. 
 
 Job. 
 xxiv. 11 ; see Neh. xiii. 5. 137. 
 
 Psalms. 
 
 xciL 12. The righteous like a cedar of 
 
 Lebanon, 691. 
 civ. 18 ; see Lev. xi. 6. 387. 
 cxxix. 6. Grass upon the housetops, 39, 
 
 601. 
 
664 
 
 THIED INDEX. 
 
 Proteebs. 
 XXX. 26 ; Eee Lev. xj. 5. 387- 
 
 Isaiah. 
 
 xxT. 2. The excellency of Carmel, 90. 
 XXV. 2. The glory of Lebanon, 9, 691. 
 Ix. 13 ; see xxxv. 2. 9, 591. 
 
 KZEKLEL. 
 
 xxvii. 18. Wine of Helbon, 472. 
 
 Amos. 
 i. 6. Plain of Aven, 619. 
 
 Matthew. 
 
 xiii. 24-30. Tares among the wheat, 65. 
 xxi. 33. Digged a wine-preaa, 187. 
 
 Bevelation. 
 xiv. 20 ; see Neh. xiii. 6. 137. 
 
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