Division JJS 107 Sevtiou if" 974 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/palestineholylan02fult MERRILL AND BAKER New York London THIS EDITION ARTISTIQUE OF THE WORLD’S FAMOUS PLACES AND PEOPLES IS LIMITED TO ONE THOUSAND NUMBERED AND REGIS- TERED NO.- COPIES.. .OF WHICH THIS COPY IS ill i) . Copyright, Henry T. Coates & Co., iqoo LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOLUME II PAGE Place of the Saviour’s Baptism, River Jordan ..... Frontispiece Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee . . 316 Ruins of the Christian Church at El Bireh, the Ancient Beeroth . . . 342 Shechem (Nabulus) ..... 360 Jacob’s Well ...... 388 Garden of Gethsemane .... 460 Golden Gate, Jerusalem .... 474 Church of the Holy Sepulchre . . . 490 a. CHAPTER XL THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. It is a great temptation to linger in Jerusalem, endeav¬ oring to realize the sacred employments of the Child Jesus during the celebration of His first passover, to trace the order of the services of the Temple in which He would doubtless be engaged, and to gather from history and tradition the names of the distinguished persons He may have seen, or with whom He may actually have come in contact. These things lie beyond the scope of this work, which seeks to illustrate the life of Christ only in its relations to the Land in which He wore the veil of our humanity. Therefore, a single incident which has been preserved for us in the Gospels can alone be recorded here. The days of religious occupation were over. The pil¬ grims had partaken of the Passover with all prescribed formalities, and at length set out on their return to Naz¬ areth, retracing their steps backward along the route we have already described. To escape the great heat of the day, they would probably set out at night, and they would not be alone. A whole caravan of pilgrims would be crowding the road at the same time, scattering to their dwellings in Northern Judea, Gilead and Galilee. At difficult and narrow parts of the way the confusion would be bewildering. Camels, asses and pilgrims on foot (269 ) 270 THE HOLY LAND. would be thronged together, not without danger some¬ times of the weak being trampled under foot by the crowd. As they advanced, and the branching roads were taken by one party after another, the press would become less confusing and less dangerous, but all would be glad to reach their first halting-place, at or beyond Khan Hadrur, the Inn of the Good Samaritan. Families which had become separated in the confusion would expect to be reunited at the appointed place of rest j but Joseph and Mary were distressed to find that Jesus was nowhere in the company. Failing to find him, and having no reason to suppose that He had gone beyond the place ap¬ pointed for their first encampment, they returned in great anxiety to Jerusalem, where they arrived in the after¬ noon or evening of the second day, and on the third day they set out to seek him in the courts of the Temple. There they found him in one of the Temple schools adjoining the Court of the Gentiles, where it was cus¬ tomary for the rabbis to instruct the people and espe¬ cially the youths of Israel. These schools were a charac¬ teristic institution of the times. The rabbi sat on a high seat or dais, surrounded by his pupils, who were seated on the ground, studying the law and asking questions of the rabbi. Their teacher answered, not out of his own thought but according to rabbinical tradition, which had become as sacred as the law itself. The students were not all children by any means. The school of a cele¬ brated rabbi was sure to be thronged by eager hearers, and even by other rabbis who desired to hear their illus¬ trious brother and were glad to join in the questioning and answering which were the principal exercises. In the school in which Jesus was found it is likely that many THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 271 rabbis would be present, because many of them would be in the city attending the Passover and the schools would afford their best opportunity of associating with each other. u The gentle Hillel, the Looser/’ says Dr. Geikie, “ was perhaps then alive, and may possibly have been among them. The harsh and strict Shammai, the Binder, his old rival, had been long dead. Hillel’s son, Rabban Simeon, and even his greater grandson, Gamaliel, the future teacher of St. Paul, may have been of the number, though Gamaliel, like Jesus, would then be only a boy. Hannan or Annas, son of Seth, had just been appointed High Priest, but did not likely see Him, as a boy, whom he was afterward to crucify. Apart from the bitter hos¬ tility between the priests and the rabbis, he would be too busy with his monopoly of doves for the Temple to care for the discussions of the schools ; for he owned the dove- shops on Mount Olivet, and sold doves for a piece of gold, though the law had chosen them as offerings suited for the poorest.” None of these learned men knew or dreamed who He was whom they were questioning and answering; but the rabbis in general cherished an extraordinary reverence for the sayings of children. They were accustomed to say that “the Word of God, out of the mouths of children, is to be received as from the mouth of the Sanhedrin, or of Moses, or of the Blessed God Himselfand yet we are told that anything like for¬ wardness in boys was specially distasteful to them. We may understand, then, that the unrecorded speech of Jesus with the rabbis in the Temple school struck them at once by its modesty and its wisdom. He was wiser than his teachers, but his wisdom charmed and did not offend them. 272 THE HOLY LAND. Here then Joseph and Mary found Jesus, and Mary was the first to address him. u My Son,” she said, u why hast thou thus treated us ? Behold thy father and I have been seeking thee in great anxiety.” It was in answer to this address that the first recorded words of Jesus Christ were spoken : u Why was it that ye sought Me ?” he asked, as though they ought to have had no doubt where they would find Him. u Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business V J We may suppose that Jesus laid a peculiar emphasis upon the pro¬ nouns of these two sentences. Mary and Joseph knew many things which in the home in Nazareth had been silently ignored, and had perhaps been practically for¬ gotten. Jesus was now fast growing out of childhood. By the custom of his nation He had recently been rec¬ ognized as a man. It was no longer right that the solemn and marvellous facts of his birth should be dis¬ regarded. He desired to recall those facts to their re¬ membrance, and at the same time to intimate his own knowledge of them. So He asked, u Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business ?” One would suppose that these words would have pierced them like a sword 5 but the force of habit is so strong, and the Child had ever been so submissive to them, that they did not understand the gentle intimation and the still gentler warning He had conveyed to them. We are told that u they understood not the saying which He spake unto them,” u Strange and mournful commentary,” says Archdeacon Farrar, “ on the first recorded words of the youthful Saviour, spoken to those who were nearest and dearest to him on earth! Strange, but mournfully pa¬ thetic : 6 He was in the world, and the world was made THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 273 by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 7 77 But though no one, not even the Blessed Virgin, knew or received him for what He was, He had come to know himself, to understand why He was thus sojourning in the world that He had made, and He declined nothing belonging to his mission. After this single intimation of his sense of a peculiar and divine relation to the Father of all men, He was still content to fulfill the duty of a child to his earthly parents. In all sweetness of simplicity and childlike obedience, He resumed his habit¬ ual submissiveness. “He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them.’ 7 There in the cottage home on the hill-side of Nazareth, He dwelt in silence and obscurity for eighteen peaceful years, concerning which we know absolutely nothing. During those years another child was growing up to manhood in a priestly family at Hebron or Juttah, near the southern boundary of the Holy Land. John was six months older than Jesus, and although we know nothing of his childhood or his youth, we do know from the whole course of his later history what must have been the bent of his spiritual development. At the time of his birth Israel had ceased to be an independent nation. Its throne was occupied by an Idumean vassal of Rome. Some of the people had submitted in good faith to the conqueror, and saw no hope in the future otherwise than by cultiva¬ ting the favor of the Herods. These Herodians were naturally honored and employed by the reigning family, but by the mass of their own people they were regarded as traitors to God and to Israel. In the excess of help¬ less loyalty the body of the people admired and praised 18 274 THE HOLY LAND. the sect of the Pharisees which practiced, or pretended, a minuteness in their observance of the national law far surpassing the earlier traditions of their race. Some there were who cherished the hope of a successful rebel¬ lion, but they were chiefly to be found among the law¬ less and dangerous classes of the provinces and among the poor who had little to lose except their lives, and who to do them justice seem to have valued their lives but lightly. There were others to whom the state of their country seemed to be utterly hopeless, and who looked for nothing larger than their own personal salva¬ tion through a rigor of legal observance which surpassed that of the Pharisees themselves. The Essenes, as they were called, in their anxiety to escape every occasion of ceremonial uncleanness, forsook the ordinary habitations of men, and either singly or more frequently in colonies betook themselves to the wilderness of Judea. There in caves of the earth or in rude habitations reared for their use they dwelt apart, and though these colonists did not invariably renounce marriage even their family lives were thoroughly ascetic. Solitary anchorites lived on the scanty herbs of the hill-side, and secured themselves against defilement, even from nature, by bathing twice and thrice a day j the colonists lived under strict rules, and were extremely and punctiliously regular in their times of bathing and changing their apparel. Through¬ out the day they labored in the field, caring for their cattle and bees and so providing for their own mainte¬ nance while avoiding the necessity of trading with others. Coined money they would hardly touch because it bore an image, in violation as they thought of the Second Commandment. They admitted no uninitiated person to THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 275 their company lest he might bring defilement upon them. Their novices were not accounted clean until after a three years’ probation, during which they were required to practice all the austerities of the initiated. The Sabbath of course was strictly observed and the Scriptures were constantly studied. That these men were sincerely de¬ vout there can be no question, and there is no doubt that their lives were more than negatively virtuous. At their admission to the sect they promised u that they would honor God, that they would be righteous toward men, doing no wrong to any man; that they would hate evil and do good ; that they would be faithful to all men, and especially to those in authority; that they would speak the truth and expose falsehood; and that they would be honest men, neither committing direct theft nor taking unrighteous gain.” Their property was held in common ; slavery was forbidden among them ; they took no oaths except the oath of their initiation; they abjured and abhorred war; and they renounced animal food be¬ cause +he law said, u Thou shalt not kill.” They did not seek to enrich their communities by means of trade, and did not trade at all, except so far as was necessary to supply their frugal wants, and that they did by exchange, not by money purchase or sale. The weakness of the Essenes consisted in this, that they considered the moral and the ceremonial law to be equally important, so that the least failure to obey a ceremonial requirement seemed to them to be as grave a fault as to commit a crime. The Essenes were scattered through the eastern part of the Wilderness of Judea, which was properly called Jeshimon , The Solitude. In Holy Scripture the word wilderness does not always mean a desert. In our Eng- 276 THE HOLY LAND. lish version it often signifies a pastoral plain over which the migratory shepherds were wont to lead their flocks from place to place, so that they might always be in u pastures new.” It was in such u pastures of the wil¬ derness ” that the patriarchs spent their lives, and in the same pastures the Arabs now feed their flocks. But no such signification can be applied to the gloomy and dreary region of Jeshimon, the Solitude of Judea. It extends southward from Jericho along the western side of the Dead Sea, with an average width of from fifteen to twenty-five miles, and just beyond its western bound¬ ary lie Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron. It is full of white, steep, rugged ridges, which are seamed with the courses of innumerable winter torrents, and between many of them lie broad, flat valleys of soft, white marl, strewn with flints and having a pebbly torrent-bed in the middle. There are no trees j hardly a shrub is to be seen. The valleys are like the dry basin of a former sea, scoured by the rains and washed down in places to the hard foundation of metamorphic limestone which un¬ derlies the district and forms precipices 2000 feet high, overhanging the shores of the Dead Sea. Such in sub¬ stance is the description of Captain Conder, taking his view of the wilderness nine miles south of Bethlehem. Thirty miles south of Captain Conder’s point of view Dr. Tristram gives a similar account. He says, u For two hours the ascent was rocky and slippery, and gen¬ erally we had to lead our horses till we entered upon the South Wilderness of Judea. Our course lay northwest, and for another hour nothing could surpass the mountain range in repulsive desolation. Rocks there were, great and small, stones loose and sharp, but no other existing THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 277 tiling. Occasionally in the deep depression of a small ravine, a few plants of salsola or retem struggled up, but this was all; and we only saw one rockchat and two desert larks. Almost sudden was the transition to the upland wilderness, the c Negeb 7 or South Country—a series of rolling hills clad with scanty herbage here and there, especially on their northern faces.Nothing can be barer than the South Country of Judah. It is neither grand, desolate, nor wild, but utter barrenness— not a tree nor a shrub, but scant stunted herbage, covered with myriads of white snail of five or six species, which afford abundant sustenance of the thousands of birds which inhabit it. It is the very country for camel brows¬ ing, quite unlike any we had hitherto traversed, but some¬ times reminding one of the best parts of the Sahara.” It is needless to say that this dreary wilderness, with the exception of a few spots, has never been cultivated. As Dr. Tristram elsewhere says, it seems to have been always destitute of trees, and except an old fort here and there, scarcely any traces of former permanent habita¬ tions can be found. Its wadys, or valleys, for the most part have only occasional and scanty supplies of water running eastward to the Dead Sea, and near its shore cutting to amazing depths through the soft limestone. The general slope of the country is downward toward the sea, where it breaks off in precipitous crags beetling above the waters below. Here and there however at the mouths of the wadys and ravines are little embayed spots of surpassing fertility where towns have formerly stood. Their climate is tropical, as the surface of the sea is depressed 1300 feet below the level of the Medi¬ terranean and Red Seas, making the temperature ex- 278 THE HOLY LAND. tremely warm ; so that the products of these spots, animal and vegetable, are for the most part entirely different from the indigenous forms of life in the rest of the country. When John the Baptist grew to manhood, he seems to have had no tendency to unite with any of the sects into which his countrymen and fellow-religionists had divided themselves. For the self-interested and truckling Herod- ians he could have no respect, but for the poor Jews whose necessities had compelled them to take office under the existing government he had more pity than reproba¬ tion. With the wild and lawless agitators who avowed their desire for a rebellion and whose professed patriotism was often the cloak of an actual life of robbery, it was impossible that he should sympathize. From the Essenes of the wilderness, he had perhaps learned to hate war and to pity the fate even of the Roman soldier, but he had not been attracted by the superstitious and excessive ceremonialism of the anchorites. He felt that the re¬ generation of Israel, if it could be brought about at all as he believed it could and would, must be first and chiefly if not exclusively an inward regeneration exhibited in thorough amendment of the outward conduct. The cere¬ monialism of the Essenes, who had separated from man¬ kind, could produce no such reformation. The pretended devotion of the Pharisees, which was as thoroughly formal as that of the Essenes without one particle of their inward and self-denying piety, could bring nothing better than spiritual dry-rot upon their disciples. When he grew up to manhood he felt, like so many other great spiritual leaders of the Orient, that he must retire into the solitude of the wilderness and there meditate upon the word of God he had been appointed to deliver to the men of his TI-IE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 279 generation. Into the wilderness therefore he went, clad in the simple and coarse garments of the Bedouin, his clothing being made of camel’s hair and his loins girded with a belt of sheepskin. He required no dainties. His food was of the coarsest. Locusts and wild honey, with a drink of water from some brook or spring, were the sole fare of the predestined prophet. How long he dwelt in the wilderness we do not know; but the scene of a life so self-denying and lofty, and of meditations so austere and so sublime, is well worthy of examination. Over a part of it then we may quickly glance. The route we have already traced from Jericho to Jerusalem is really within the Judean Wilderness j and if we leave Jerusalem by the way of the Kedron Valley, journeying over a different road toward the southeast, we come in something more than three hours to one of the most picturesque of all the many monasteries of Palestine, the Convent of Mar Saba. All along the Kedron Valley may be seen hermits’ caves or cells such as we have already observed in the gorge of the Brook Cherith. These, or some of them, may have been the dwellings of Essenes in the time of our Saviour, and may have been afterward occupied by Christian monks. When the hermit life came to be organized, the monks began to make their cells close to each other and to live in com¬ munities called u lauras ” in which, while the hermits allowed themselves some of the advantages of human companionship, every individual hermit was free to lead his own life in his own way. In that respect the lauras differed from monasteries where the monks formed an organized society under the rule of one common Superior. The Monastery of St. Saba marks the gradual change of 280 THE HOLY LAND. the laura to a monastery or cenobium. It is composed of a cluster of rock-hewn cells opening into each other, both laterally and perpendicularly, like swallows’ nests. The cells are constructed upon one side of the Kedron Valley, where the walls or sides of the gorge rise front¬ ing each other in precipices of hundreds of feet in height. u A well built road, guarded by a strong stone fence, leads one high up the west side of the chasm, and brings the monastery in sight. Its lofty, massive towers are seen clinging to the almost plumb-line sides of bare rocks rising wildly above, and sinking beneath into frightful depths, with great walls of rock, hundreds of feet up and down, forming the other side of the wady, and furnish¬ ing the only view presented to the monks on the eastern side. Fearful loneliness and desolation reign around. You seek in vain for a blade or leaf of green to relieve the barrenness of the shattered and weather-beaten rocks. In summer, the heat reflected from the naked precipices is almost unendurable, and in winter the rains stream in torrents from the heights, checked by no soil or herb¬ age.” In front of the convent are five immense buttresses supporting the ledge on which the monastery stands, and over the giddy height of the chasm the monks have put out frail balconies which seem hardly strong enough to sustain the weight of a human body. The entrance to the convent is from above, of course, where the approach is guarded by a strong tower. Ladies and Arabs are not admitted, but men bringing proper introductions are enter¬ tained with humble hospitality. It must be confessed that there are drawbacks to its enjoyment. Once ad¬ mitted to the tower, the traveller descends about fifty steps to a second entrance j thence by another stairway THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 281 to a paved court; and thence again, by a third descent, to the guest-chamber, where he will find divans for his accommodation. If he occupies one of them he will not sleep alone, as they are generally infested with vermin. The monks will furnish him with bread and wine, and if he is attended by servants he will find a kitchen where they may cook his provisions. The view from the ter¬ race on a moonlit night is said to be almost fearfully im¬ pressive, and by daylight it is touching to see how the monks have availed themselves of every inch of space for the making of terraces and miniature gardens. The sun beats so fiercely from the opposite precipice that the figs ripen much earlier here than in Jerusalem, and there is a solitary palm tree which the monks regard with pe¬ culiar veneration, as they believe it to have been planted by their founder, St. Saba. Since his death, about the beginning of the sixth cen¬ tury, the monastery has continued to exist, though it has been repeatedly plundered by invaders and marauders. Even in the present century it has been twice pillaged, first in 1832, and again in 1834. In 1840 it was re¬ stored and enlarged by the Russian government. It is now a favorite resort of pilgrims returning to Jerusalem from the Jordan. It is a singular survival of a mode of life which has been followed by men of strong religious tendencies, not only under Christian training but so far back as the days of John the Baptist and before. From Solomon’s Pools there runs in a southeasterly direction to the Dead Sea a wady which, near the pools, is called Wady Khureitun , and near the sea is called Wady ToUamirah . In this wady are several places of interest —TJrtas or Etam } Tequa or Tekoa , Mugharat 282 THE HOLY LAND. or Khureitun , and the traditional Cave of Adullam. A mile north of Wady Khureitun, four miles southwest of Bethlehem, is Herodium, the modern Jebel Ferdis , con> monly called Frank Mountain. We shall begin with Herodium. It was at this spot that Herod defeated the party of Antigonus and erected a fortress of great magnificence. The natural hill rises six hundred feet above the plain below, and it is said that Herod raised it still higher. It now presents the appearance of a huge cone, from which the top has been cut off. On the summit and within the walls of the fortress Herod provided for him¬ self a magnificent palace. The only way of access to the level of the fortress was by a superb stairway of hewn stone. At the foot of the hill were palaces for Herod and his friends, and the surrounding plain was laid out in a beautiful town, built in the Roman style and ornamented with gardens. From the beauty of these gardens, watered by means of aqueducts the remains of which are still to be seen, Herodium took the name of Paradise, which still survives in the modern name of El Ferdis —or Fureidis. Its other name of the Frank Mountain is de¬ rived from a spurious tradition that the Frankish Cru¬ saders held possession of this castle for forty years after Jerusalem had been wrested from them. The view from Frank Mountain is exceedingly interesting. All around, it is true, are but bare and wild uplands without a tree to relieve the deadness of the scene; but to the eastward lies the Salt Sea far below, and beyond that rise the mountains of Moab, while to the northwest lies Bethle¬ hem on its mountain seat, with the Shepherd’s Plain lying between. On that u wonderful night ” when the angels’ THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 283 song was raised above the humble shepherds, and u glory shone around” the heavenly messengers who announced the coming of the Prince of Peace, it is probable that lights were gleaming far too brightly in the halls of Herod for the revellers to think of looking out into the night where heaven was greeting earth with new light and with songs of joy. In Wady Khureitun, and only a mile and a quarter below the Pools of Solomon, is the Valley of Urtas, doubt¬ less the ancient Etanij of which some ruins still remain. Etam was fortified by Rehoboam, but the valley is more interesting as the site of the famous gardens of King Sol¬ omon, and because it is believed to have been part of the patrimony of his father David. Many evidences of former wealth, refinement and luxury have been exhumed at Urtas, notably some superb marble baths, built in the Jewish fashion but richly carved in the style of the Egyptians. They probably belonged to Solomon’s sum¬ mer-house, but they may have been restored by Herod as the capitals of some of the pillars are ornamented with the lotus leaf and show the style of sculpture that is found at Petra. It is interesting to know that the Valley of Urtas is again blooming with vegetation under the care of a colony of Christian Israelites who supply the market r of Jerusalem with fresh vegetables. Five miles south of Etam, and covering several acres of the summit of a long and gently-sloping hill, which at its highest point is 2397 feet above the level of the Med¬ iterranean, are the ruins of Tehua , the ancient Tekoa (or Tekoah ), among which there are remains of houses of Hebrew construction built of square stones which are partly bevelled, the wreck of a square tower or fortress, 284 THE HOLY LAND. the remains of a church formerly belonging to a Greek monastery, and a font of limestone so fine as to resemble marble. Tekoa can hardly ever have been a walled town, and although Rehoboam is said (2 Chron. xi: 6) to have built it for defence, the defence probably consisted of a tower or fortress similar to the structure of which the wreck still exists. The surrounding country is barren in the extreme and must always have been so, though it affords a scanty pasture to the flocks of some rude and ill-conditioned Arabs. From its lofty situation Tekoa was probably a signal-place for the Tribe of Benjamin, as we read in the Prophet Jeremiah, u Oh! ye children of Benjamin, .... blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great destruction ” (Jer. vi: 1). Tekoa is mentioned in sacred history as the birthplace of the wise woman whom Joab employed to induce King David to recall his son Absalom when that rash and un¬ happy prince had fled after the murder of his brother Amnon. The story as told in 2 Sam. xiv is thoroughly oriental in every feature. Tekoa is still more famous as the birthplace of the Prophet Amos. He was u among the herdmen of Tekoa ” (Amos i: 1), and was himself “ a herdman and gatherer of sycamore fruit” when “the Lord took him as he followed the flock and said, Go prophesy unto my people Israel” (vii: 14). The rugged style of the shepherd-prophet corresponds with his early training and the wild scenes in which his youth was spent. It was to Tekoa that the three surviving brothers of Judas Maccabeus fled from the Syrian general Bac- chides, in battle with whom he had fallen (Macc. ix : 33). John was soon afterward cut off by a force of Ammon- THE WILDEKNESS OF JUDEA. 285 ites from the east of Jordan, and his fate was terribly avenged by Simeon and Jonathan. Learning that the Ammonite leader was making a great marriage with the daughter of one of the neighboring princes and that the bridal train was proceeding on its way from Medeba, then u they remembered John, their brother, and went up and hid themselves under the covert of the mountain. While they lay in ambush they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold there was much ado.’ 7 The princely retinue approached, u and the bridegroom came forth, and his friends and brethren, to meet them with drums and in¬ struments of music and many weapons.” But the hour of joyful greeting to the Ammonites was the hour of ven¬ geance to the Maccabees. Jonathan and his companions leaped from their hiding-place and made such slaughter that u many fell down dead, and the remnant fled into the mountain, and they took all their spoils. Thus was the marriage turned into mourning, and the noise of melody into lamentation. So when they had avenged fully the blood of their brother, they turned again ” (1 Macc. ix : 34—42). The Wady Khureitun runs in a southeasterly direction from the Valley of Urtas to the Dead Sea. It takes its name from St. Chariton, a hermit of great sanctity, who established a laura in that wady, and died A. D. 410. About five miles from Urtas, and midway between the Frank Mountain and Tekoa, are the village of Khureitun and the traditional Cave of Adullam, to which, when per¬ secuted by Saul, David resorted and gathered a troop of about four hundred outlaws (1 Sam. xxii: 1, 2). It was while there that he called out, with longing, u Oh that one would give me of the water of the well of Bethle- 286 THE HOLY LAND. hem, which is by the gate v (1 Chron. xi: 17). At the village of Khureitun the wady narrows to a deep and precipitous gorge, which is rather a chasm than a wady. On the north side is the spring of Khureitun. Near the crest of the northern side is the ruin of a tower once square, and above and below the tower, clinging to the side of the gorge and overhanging its precipitous steep, are the hovels of the village. The cave lies below, and the approach to it is by a narrow ledge obstructed by fallen rocks. One of the entrances leads by a short pas¬ sage to a vast chamber one hundred and ten feet long by thirty wide and thirty or forty high, from which other passages lead to other chambers of smaller dimensions. The passages are so numerous and so intricate in their windings as to form a natural labyrinth which has never been fully explored, and which it is not safe for the trav¬ eller to enter without a guide. Under the feet the ground gives a hollow sound, showing that there are other caves underneath. Some of these are reached by descending passages, but it is not probable that all of them are known. The passages are of different dimen¬ sions, some being sufficiently wide and lofty for conve¬ nience and others so low that the explorer is obliged to stoop or even to crawl on his hands and knees. The whole cave, or combination of caves, is haunted by innu¬ merable bats, so that the visitor is obliged to carry his light in a strong lantern or it would immediately be ex¬ tinguished by the frightened creatures which fly wildly against him at every step. In summer the cave is in¬ fested by thousands of scorpions also. On account of these pests some writers believe that the cave could never have been habitable, and that it cannot therefore be the THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 287 cave in which David took refuge with four hundred men. On topographical grounds other writers are of the same opinion. Dr. Tristram declares that there is “no authority ” for the tradition which identifies the Cave of Khureitun with the Cave of Adullam. The latter he holds to have been west of Bethlehem on the frontier of Philistia, in the Valley of Elah and at or near the modern Ed el Miyehj a village situated in the low hills between Bethlehem and Gath, with an abundance of water and with many habitable caves in its vicinity. On the other hand, Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake of the Palestine Exploration Fund considers the Caves of Khureitun to be “ admira¬ bly adapted for the stronghold of an outlaw.” In this opinion Dr. Thomson concurs. He considers, moreover, that there is “ no good reason to disturb the tradition ” that the Cave of Khureitun is the Cave of Adullam, though he admits that the city of Adullam was undoubt¬ edly situated in the Plain of Philistia. On the western shore of the Dead Sea and twenty- three miles from its northern end is a spot of beauty which was once the seat of one of the most ancient cities of the world— Engedi , now Ain Jidi , the Spring of the Kid. A semicircular recess has been scooped out of the mountains of the wilderness to the extent of about a mile and a half each way, and this oasis is occupied with acacias, tamarisks and jujube thorn-bushes. The u clus¬ ters of camphire in the vineyards of Engedi ” (Cant, i: 14) are all withered and gone with the exception of a few straggling plants on the verge of extinction. Its most ancient name of Hazezon-Tamar, The Pruning of the Palm (2 Chron. xx : 2), and the poetical allusion to the vine, imply a former condition of culture which has long 288 THE HOLY LAND. since ceased to exist; but in its prime the little Plain of Engedi was a fruitful spot, and the slope of the mountain behind it was covered with terraced gardens of which vestiges still remain. The cause of all this beauty and fruitfulness was the spring from which the town took its name, the stream from which may still be seen bounding and skipping like a kid from rock to rock in tiny cataracts until it reaches the plain. Below these falls and in the centre of the plain a group of ruins stands; but although they are the remains of buildings erected with large square blocks of stone, it is now im¬ possible to trace their outline. Engedi, first called Hazezon Tamar, is as ancient as ancient Hebron. It was a city when Abraham was a stranger in the Promised Land, and hard by it the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, with their allies, attacked the host of Chedorlaomer as it was returning victorious from the South Country, laden with spoils, and was descending to the Dead Sea by the precipitous path which is still used by the Arabs in coming from the lofty table-land of the Wilderness (Gen. xiv: 7). It was in the caves of the precipice of Engedi that David hid when 11 Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek him upon the rocks of the wild-goats v (1 Sam. xxiv: 2). It was in one of those caves that he cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe which he afterward showed to Saul himself in proof that he might have slain his per¬ secutor (1 Sam. xxiv: 1-15). It was up those same steeps that the forces of Ammon and Moab clambered on their way to attack Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat, and it was not far from there that they were discomfited by the interposition of God (2 Chron. xx). THE WILDEBNESS OF JUDEA. 289 The fountain of Engedi gushes from under the rock at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Fresh-water crabs, some small shell-fish and a species of small black snail are found in its basin. Traffic still passes by it, as droves of asses laden with salt are driven by Arabs from the south shore of the Dead Sea to Bethlehem and Jeru¬ salem. u North of the fountain,” says Dr. Geikie, u is found the source of the spring seen in the vale below; a very delight for its rich luxuriance of all kinds of foli¬ age. In long past ages, a spot like this, utilized as it would be, must have been thought a very paradise in such surroundings. Could it be that this delightful nook, concealed within almost impenetrable jungle, was known to David when he hid in this neighborhood ?” Sir C. Warner thus describes the hidden grotto of En¬ gedi : u A fairy grotto of vast size under a trickling water¬ fall, with a great flat ledge of rock overhanging it, dripping with stalactites and draped with maidenhair fern. Its lux¬ uriance was wonderful. We gathered many tresses of its fronds a yard long, and yet the species is identical with our own. The sides of the cliff, as well as the edges of the grotto, were clothed with great fig trees, hanging about and springing forth in every direction, covered with luxuriant foliage and just now budding into fruit. Mingled with these were bushes of retem , with their lovely branches of pendant pink blossoms waving their sweet perfume all around. To reach the grotto we had to force our way through an almost impenetrable canebrake, with bamboos from twenty to thirty feet long and close together. No pen can give an adequate description of the beauties of this hidden grotto, which surpasses all that Claude Lorraine ever dreamt.” 19 290 THE HOLY LAND. Half-way between Engedi and the southern end of the Dead Sea a tremendous rock-cliff, which has been fairly called an inland Gibraltar, overhangs the sea. This is Masada. It is not mentioned in Holy Scripture, and yet it is famous in Jewish history as it is the last bloody scene of the Jewish struggle with Rome. It was first occupied as a fortress by the Maccabees, and was after¬ ward strengthened and made impregnable by Herod. The account of it given by Josephus is doubtless exag¬ gerated, but of the strength of its position and fortifications there can be no doubt. On the eastern side, fronting the sea, and also on the north and south, storm and escalade were out of the question from the natural conformation of the cliff. It was only on the west side that an attack could be rationally attempted, and there Herod erected walls of enormous height and thickness, and at the nar¬ rowest point a tower which might alone have been deemed impregnable. Besides these works he caused an immense cistern to be hewn out of the solid rock, and so provided for a plentiful supply of water. He also laid in an enor¬ mous store of arms and implements of war, and built a palace for his own occupation in case of necessity. Some time before the siege of Jerusalem, Eleazer with the band of robbers whom Josephus calls Siccarii gained possession of Masada by a stratagem, and after Jerusalem was destroyed the last act of the great tragedy was enacted at the fortress by the Dead Sea. Flavius Silva besieged Masada, and in order to reduce the place by famine he built works around it which can be traced to this day. When famine had sufficiently reduced the strength of the besieged, and an immense causeway had been erected on the west side, Flavius proceeded to THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. 291 batter the wall, and succeeded in making a breach ; but the Jews immediately erected an inner work of heavy timbers and filled the intervening space with earth. This the Romans set on fire 5 but on the following morning, when they were about to enter through the breach, they saw Herod’s palace in flames and there appeared to be not a living human being in the place. At length one old woman and five children emerged from a vault, and told a tale which made even the Roman soldiers shudder. Finding further resistance impossible, the starved and defeated but unconquered Jews had resolved not to be taken alive. With one consent they decreed their own death. Gathering together all their treasures in Herod’s palace, they committed them to the flames. Then they u embraced their wives, took their children in their arms, gave them the longest parting kisses,” and plunged their daggers, each into the hearts of his own wife and little ones. Next they choose ten men by lot to be the execu¬ tioners of all the rest, and one by one they laid their necks down on the fatal block. When all had been dis¬ patched except the ten, one of the ten was chosen as the executioner of the other nine, and having finished his atrocious task, he fell bravely on his own sword. Thus nine hundred and sixty men, women and children per¬ ished. Only two women and five children, who were overlooked, survived to tell a tale unmatched elsewhere in history. Canon Tristram describes the platform of Masada as being isolated by tremendous chasms on all sides, as of oblong shape and widest at the southern end. Its length is about 1800 feet, and its width from east to west about 600 feet. Its height above the level of the Dead Sea 292 THE HOLY LAND. Dr. Tristram found to be 2200 feet, though a more gen¬ eral computation makes it from 1200 to 1500 feet. u In the centre of the plateau stands an isolated building. It measures eighteen yards from north to south, and sixteen from east to west. The west porch is five yards square, the nave ten and a half yards, with a semicircular apsis, and a circular arched light at each end. It is all very neatly plastered with fine cement, flat pebbles, and frag¬ ments of pottery in mosaic patterns. Did we not know that Masada has no history after its capture by Silva, this chapel would certainly be set down as a Crusad¬ ing ruin.” Toward the south end of the plateau are ruins which may perhaps indicate the site of Herod’s palace, though they do not assuredly correspond with the exaggerated description of Josephus. Beyond them on the south the platform ends in a tremendous chasm. CHAPTER XII. BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. John the Baptist was not only the greatest of the prophets $ he was the chosen forerunner of Him of whom u all the prophets bear witness.” Yet he was a prophet of that inexorable law which, St. Paul says, declares all men to be lying under sentence of death. The Baptist proclaimed that the kingdom of God was at hand$ but to him the coming of God’s kingdom meant the coming of a day of vengeance, when the axe was to be laid at the root of the trees, and all dead trees with all their worth¬ less branches were to be utterly consumed. His cry was, u Flee from the wrath to come !” Most appropriate to such a message was the scene of the Baptist’s labors in the lonely and desolate Wilder¬ ness of Judea, which only a few scattered cells and villages of ascetic Essenes appeared to claim as a portion of the habitable earth. It lay along the Sea of Salt, in which no living creature moves, and which the common instinct of mankind has called the Dead Sea. Under the waters of that sea, or near its shore, was the former site of the doomed cities of the plain, the scene of a tremendous tragedy of fiery vengeance. On the northern boundary of the desert was Jericho, a city built in defiance of a solemn curse, and behind it towered a mountain haunted by evil beasts and spirits, the Mount of the Temptation, ( 293 ) 294 THE HOLY LAND. which even in its outward aspect is so gloomy and for¬ bidding as to have been called a mountain of malediction. Such was the theatre of nature in which the Baptist preached the last word that the law had for mankind. At the last, as from the first, that word was, u The soul that sinneth, it shall die !” No part of God’s Word ever contradicts another, how¬ ever different it may seem; and when Jesus came to preach the same Kingdom of God which John preached, He did not contradict the message of the Baptist. In the most emphatic way He set the seal of his approval to the message that the Baptist had delivered ; for He, himself, though He was innocent of all sin, went down from Nazareth to Bethabara, and was baptized with John’s baptism of repentance. Jesus had joined him¬ self to all humanity, and all the miseries which sin has brought upon our race. In the Gospel, as under the law, repentance is the first and indispensable condition of deliverance from sin and its consequences j and, there¬ fore, He submitted to a baptism of repentance, for which He had no personal need, as though He wished to join himself with men and make their very sins his own that he might also make them partakers of his grace. It was after this amazing proof of his humility, and as He rose from the baptismal waters of the Jordan, that u the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from heaven, saying, i This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ ” So true is it, even of the Son of God, that “he who humbleth himself shall be exalted !” The divine recognition of the Sonship of Christ was BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 295 immediately followed by His mysterious and awful temp¬ tation. While the voice of the Spirit was yet sounding in his ear Jesus was “led,” according to St. Matthew, or “ driven,” according to St. Luke, by the same u Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil.” There in the gloomy heights of Quarantania, He remained for forty days among the wild beasts, fasting from food, as if to try the utmost depths of human weakness before his struggle with the enemy of man. Emerging from that struggle, fainting yet victorious, “ angels came and min¬ istered unto him.” His body was refreshed j his soul was strengthened by victory and hope for the tempted world which He had come to save; and Jesus rose up in the consciousness of his divine power to do the work which lay before him. That work was to preach the same kingdom of God which John had preached, and yet how differently. John preached a kingdom of law and retribution, which it is; but Christ preached it as a kingdom of love and bene¬ diction, which it is still more. The issue of the law had been condemnation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was a proclamation of grace. Jesus was now to tell men that the kingdom of God is in them and among them, as well as over and above them, however little they may recog¬ nize it $ that the spiritual things of God have their be¬ ginnings in things which are natural j and that God’s indwelling power controls, and His Spirit sanctifies, all lawful human societies and operations. The desert was no place for the proclamation of such a Gospel. Where nature was most joyous, where men were most numerous and where their occupations were most varied, there was the appropriate place for Christ’s Gospel to be preached ] 296 THE HOLY LAND. and without an hour’s delay He rose and marched with swift steps to the field of much the larger part of all his ministry. Before He went, or rather perhaps as He went, He paused a little while beside the Jordan where John was still baptizing, and there for two short days he tarried with or near the priestly prophet, who should see His face on earth no more (John i : 29-36). John too had seen and heard the testimony of the Spirit to the Son- ship of Christ. His generous soul had felt no touch of envy at the sight. He rejoiced to know that One was to come after him whose shoes’ latchet he was not worthy to unloose. He was the first of men to bear u record that this is the Son of God.” He was glad to send his own disciples to the greater Master, and the first of Christ’s disciples was given him by John. Looking upon Jesus as He walked, he said to two of his followers, u Behold the Lamb of God!” and the two left John to follow Jesus. One of them was Andrew, who soon brought his own brother Simon to Jesus. Thus the little company of Christ’s disciples was begun. The next day, when about to set out to his work in Galilee, Jesus found Philip also, and said to him, u Follow thou me.” One disciple invariably calls another; and as Andrew had brought Simon to Jesus, so Philip brought Nathanael, u an Israelite indeed.” We know nothing further of Nathanael than that the place of his abode was in Cana of Galilee, and that he was one of the witnesses of Christ’s resurrection (John xxi: 1—14). It is conjec¬ tured, indeed, that Nathanael was only his personal name, and that his surname was Bar-Tholomew, u the son of Talmai,” as Simon’s surname was Bar-Jona ; u the son of BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 297 Jona.” If the conjecture is correct, then Nathaneal was Bartholomew, one of the twelve j but of this there is no certainty. He may have been one of that great multitude of Israelites indeed, who are called to no official station in the kingdom of God, but who are among its chiefest orna¬ ments. However that may be, it is probable that he now returned to his native village of Cana in the company of Jesus. On the third day (John ii: 1, 3) they were already there, and the quickness of their march showed the alacrity with which our Lord set forth to do his Father’s business. The first work of his ministry was meant to mark with signal approbation that most sacred of all human ties which is created by the bond of marriage. At the wedding of a humble pair He u adorned and beautified the holy estate of matrimony,” and glorified it by a marvellous work of superhuman power. It is piti¬ ful to think how blind many of the followers of Christ are to the lesson thus taught by their Master in the first act of his ministry. Jesus taught self-control; He never taught asceticism. He insisted on chastity; He never taught that marriage is less chaste or less pleasing to God than celibacy. From the beginning u God has set the solitary to live in families,” and the family is made by marriage. The family, and not the individual, is the true unit of society. So God has ordained; and the Son of God, when He began to preach the kingdom of God, began by recognizing and exalting that domain of God’s kingdom of the family which is established by every lawful marriage. Of Cana, the scene of Christ’s first miracle, there is little to be told. Dr. Robinson thinks it must have been 298 THE HOLY LAND. a village situated seven miles due north of Nazareth, and still called Kanet el-Jelil , the Arab equivalent of “ Cana of Galilee.” The traditional site of Cana, however, is considerably nearer to Nazareth. Ascending the hill, which rises behind the Virgin’s Well, we reach its sum¬ mit in little more than ten minutes. Descending into the valley beyond and going northward, after half an hour of easy walking we come in sight of the birthplace of the Prophet Jonah, JEl Meshed , the ancient Gath-Hepher (2 Kings xiv : 25); and about a mile to the northwest of El Meshed is the spring of Kenna. A little beyond the spring is the village itself, Kefr Kenna , an ordinary hamlet of six hundred inhabitants, half of whom are Mohammedans and half Greek Christians. The Greek church contains an earthen jar which is said to be one of those in which the water was turned into wine. All six of them are reported by another story to have been taken to France in the time of the Crusades, and one of them is still preserved in the Musee d’Angers. We may disregard these pretended relics; but if Kefr Kenna is indeed the Cana of the Gospel, and so the weight of authority seems to decide, then the spring is an object of deep and sacred interest as the source from which the water was drawn for the first of those signs of divine power by which Jesus u manifested forth His glory.” The life of Jesus at Nazareth was ended; his greater life had been introduced by the miracle at Cana, and after that event He u went down,” with his mother, his brethren and his disciples, on a short visit to Capernaum. Joseph is no longer mentioned; some time during the eighteen years which had elapsed since the first visit of Jesus to Jerusalem that good man had been taken to his BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 299 rest. Who are meant by the “ brethren 77 of Jesus we need not here inquire. Some commentators and all the theologians of the Roman and oriental churches maintain that they were not brothers but cousins of Jesus, and this has been the uniform tradition of Christendom. Be that as it may, it would seem that these brethren of Jesus were at first pleased at the power He had exhibited, and were perhaps not displeased at the distinction it reflected on themselves, since they chose to be among the com¬ panions of his visit to Capernaum. With the accuracy of one who was familiar with the scene, St. John rightly says that He “went down 77 from Cana to Capernaum. The way is one long descent, for, while Cana lay among the hills of Nazareth, Capernaum was seven hundred feet below the level of the Mediter¬ ranean. The road has few points of interest until it comes to what is now called Kurun Hattin , or the Horns of Hattin, the traditional Mount of the Beatitudes. Dr. Robinson describes this spot as being “ merely a low ridge, some thirty or forty feet high, and not ten minutes 7 walk in length from east to west. At its eastern end is an elevated point or horn, perhaps sixty feet above the plain, and at the western end another not so high; these give to the ridge at a distance the appearance of a saddle, ' whence the name Kurun Hattin—Horns of Hattin. On reaching the top it is found that the ridge lies along the very border of the great southern plain, where this latter sinks off at once by a precipitous offset to the lower Plain of Hattin, four hundred feet below. 77 In the lower plain is the village of Hattin, and toward the north and north¬ east a second offset, similar to the former, makes the de¬ scent to the level of the lake. 300 THE HOLY LAND The Kurun Hattin is held by the Latins to be the Mount of Beatitudes, where the Saviour delivered his Sermon on the Mount to the multitude standing in the adjacent plain. There is nothing in its form or surround¬ ings to make the tradition inherently inadmissible. The objection to it is that it is found among the Latins only, not among the Greeks; and that even among the Latins the first mention of the place in connection with the Sermon on the Mount is by Brocardus about A. D. 1283. Previous writers, both Greek and Latin, had supposed Kurun Hattin to be the place where our Lord fed the five thousand. That tradition is inherently improbable, and dates only from the fourth century ; but it has the sup¬ port of the Greeks as well as of the Latins, and it is nine hundred years earlier than the tradition which makes the same place the scene of the Sermon on the Mount. From the Horns of Hattin the traveller has a full view of the beautiful lake extending thirteen miles from north to south and seven at its greatest width from east to west, lyre-like in form, and therefore in ancient times called Chinnereth , the Lyre, though it is also known as the Lake of Gennesareth , the Lake of Capernaum , the Sea of Tiberias , and the Sea of Galilee. So far did it surpass all other waters known to Israel that the rabbis used to say God had made seven seas in the Land of Israel, but had chosen Chinnereth for himself. The scenery of the Sea of Galilee is not grand; it is only peaceful and joyous, and therefore most appropriate for the proclamation of a gospel of peace and joy. It has no high mountains, and with two exceptions no rugged crags or gloomy precipices. On the further side, indeed, BETHABARA,' CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 301 barren bills of black basalt rise over a fringe of oleanders which bloom gaily for a quarter of a mile back from the shell-strewn border of the lake, and behind those rocks are pastoral wilds where Jesus often sought retirement from the crowds that thronged about him. Northward the shore is broken by graceful bays of exquisite beauty j but it is on the western side that the paradise of Galilee was to be seen, for there was Gennesareth, that is to say, Ganne Sarim , the Garden of Princes, now called JEl Ghuweir. This celebrated plain lies about midway be¬ tween Tiberias and the entrance of the Jordan into the lake. It is only two and a half miles in length from north to south, and not more than a mile in width, but in the time of Christ it was the richest spot in Palestine. It was watered by five streams from the neighboring hills, and the sun warmed it into tropical fertility. u Its soil,” says Josephus, “is so fruitful that every sort of tree can grow upon it, and the inhabitants have planted an amaz¬ ing variety. Walnuts, which require a cold air 5 fig trees, which require an air more temperate 5 and palms, which require a hot climate, flourish luxuriantly beside each other. One might say that this place is a triumph of nature, since it compels plants that are naturally aliens to each other to grow side by side. The seasons also seem to maintain a generous rivalry 5 for the plain not only nourishes fruits of different climes, but the soil yields them at the most various times of the year 5 grapes and figs ripen continuously for ten months, and other fruits come in delightful confusion all the year round.” This lovely plain enjoys the only romantic scenery of the coast, for at its southern end are the limestone crags of Arbela, in whose lofty caverns robbers and Jewish pa- 302 THE HOLY LAND. triots once took refuge, and where the eagles only now build their nests. The Plain of Gennesareth, Josephus says, was called by its inhabitants Capernaum, a simple explanation of the fact that the site of Capernaum is not otherwise posi¬ tively known. If Josephus is right, and there is no good reason why he should not be, Capernaum was the name of the district, and not of a particular spot in the district. Gennesareth, as its name implies, was a plain of u gar¬ dens/ 7 and therefore must have been closely cultivated and thickly inhabited. It had a synagogue in which our Lord frequently taught (John vi : 59 ; Mark i: 21; Luke iv : 33-38); and this synagogue had been built by the centurion of a detachment of Homan soldiers which ap¬ pears to have been quartered in the place (Luke vii: 1— 5 j Matt, viii: 8). It has been well observed that the building of a synagogue by a foreigner, and not by the inhabitants, would go far to show that Capernaum was not at that time a place of wealth or commercial im¬ portance j but the same circumstance would be per¬ fectly natural in a district densely populated by humble gardeners. Such a district having a synagogue, a gar¬ rison and a station for the collection of customs (Matt, ix : 9 ; xvii : 24; Mark ii : 14; Luke v : 27) might properly be called a u city/ 7 as Capernaum undoubtedly was (Matt, ix : 1; Mark i : 33) j and situated on u the way of the sea/ 7 that is, on the great road from Damas¬ cus to the South, the custom-house at Capernaum may have been maintained for the levying of duties on the caravans of merchandise passing to Galilee and Judea, and on the fish and other commerce of the lake. Even the local traffic would be by no means contemptible, BETHABAKA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 303 for in the time of Christ “the waters of the lake were ploughed by 4000 vessels of every description, from the war-vessel of the Romans to the rough fisher-boats of Bethsaida and the gilded pinnaces from Herod’s palace ” at Tiberias. The statement of Josephus that Capernaum was the name given by its inhabitants to the Plain of Gennesareth is remarkably confirmed by an ap¬ parent discrepancy between two of the Evangelists, which would almost imply a contradiction if Capernaum lay be¬ yond the Plain of Gennesareth. St. Mark (vi: 53) says that on a certain occasion Jesus and his disciples “came into the land (Plain) of Gennesareth,” while St. John (vi: 24) says that the people who came to seek him .im¬ mediately afterward found him at Capernaum. It is true that Jesus might have gone from the one place to the other before the people found him j but it seems to be unnecessary to devise so clumsy an explanation, when no explanation is necessary if the Gennesareth of St. Mark and the Capernaum of St. John signify the same place. Volumes however have been written concerning the site of Capernaum, and three spots have been particularly singled out as indicating the true place where the Lord’s “ own city ” stood. Strange to say, that which is most generally approved is not in the Plain of Gennesareth at all, but about two miles to the north of it $ and it must be confessed that the remains at Tell Hum are more like those of a “ city ” than the ruins at Ain Mudawarah , which lie within the plain, or of Khan Minyeh , which lie on its northern border. This fact however proves noth¬ ing, unless it goes to prove that Tell Hum cannot be Capernaum. 304 THE HOLY LAND. However, the name Tell Hum presents a greater diffi- culty, since it is very probably a remnant of Capernaum, different as it sounds to English ears. Capernaum is sim¬ ply Caphar Nahum , the town of Nahum. Its Arabic equiv¬ alent would be Kcfr-n ’ Hum ; and when the town (kefr) became a heap {tell) of ruins, Kefr-n) Hum would be easily replaced by Tell-n 7 Hum 7 and finally by Tell Hum. Sup¬ posing this to be the fact, still it does not prove that the Capernaum which is now represented by the ruins at Tell Hum is the Capernaum of the gospels. In the time of Hadrian, long after the time of Christ, the Jews were permitted tb return to their own land. In Galilee they were much more numerous than in the rest of the coun¬ try, and the Capernaum of that period might easily take the ancient name without standing in the neighboring Plain of Gennesareth. One of the very best and briefest statements of the case between Ain Mudaivarah , Khan Minyeh , and Tell Hum (and incidentally also of the position of Bethsaida) is that given as follows by Dr. Tristram: u The soil of the plain is wonderfully rich. It is a wilderness—not, as in the days of Josephus, an earthly paradise—but it is a strikingly beautiful one. Wild flowers spring up everywhere. Tulips, anemones and irises carpet the ground. The various streams are lined with deep borders of oleanders, waving with their rosy tufts of bloom, one sheet of pink. Thick tangles of thorn tree every here and there choke the straggling corn patches, festooned with wreaths of gorgeous purple convolvulus. The plain is almost a parallelogram, shut in on the north and south sides by steep cliffs, nearly a thousand feet high, broken here and there into terraces, BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 305 but nowhere easily to be climbed. On the west side the hills recede not quite so precipitously, and streams of black basalt boulders encroach on the plain. The shore line is gently embayed, and the beach is pearly white— one mass of triturated fresh-water shells—and edged by a fringe of the exquisitely lovely oleanders. u At the northwest and southwest angles tremendous ravines open upon the plain. That to the south, Wady Hamam , where the cliffs rise perpendicularly twelve hun¬ dred feet, is the ravine of the robber caves, already men¬ tioned, with its tiers of cavern chambers. u The glen to the northwest, the Wady Amud , is scarcely less striking, and in some places, from its nar¬ rowness, is even more imposing. Both are the homes of thousands of griffon vultures, which rejoice in the de¬ serted caverns and solitude. Between these two, a third wady, Hubudiyelij opens in a wider valley. From each of these perennial streams run to the lake, fertilizing the whole plain; and in ancient times aqueducts conveyed the water to every part. “ A little way to the south of the middle valley, a copious spring bursts forth into an ancient circular foun¬ tain about thirty yards in diameter, Ain Mudawarah , from which a little stream runs right across the plain to the lake. This I formerly believed to be the Round Fountain of Capernaum, described by Josephus. But it has since been shown, by the researches of Sir C. Wil¬ son, that the larger and similar Fountain of JEt Tabighahy to the north of the plain, had its waters conducted by an aqueduct, round the projecting headland which forms its northeastern angle, right into the plain, and therefore the description of Josephus will apply equally to it. No 20 306 THE HOLY LAND. doubt there are difficulties connected with the site of Capernaum, whichever of the three localities claimed for it we accept ; but, after the recent surveys, I am not prepared to maintain the site of Mudawarah. “In the plain itself there are no other ruins of im¬ portance till we reach the northeast angle ; and if Caper¬ naum were, as all writers describe it, in the plain, it must have been either here or at Mudawarah. “ The ruins at this point are few. There is a large ruined Saracenic khan, some chambers of which are still used as cattle-sheds. It was known seven hundred years ago as a halting-place on the road from Damascus, and is called Khan Minyeh. A few yards lower down, nearer the shore, is Ain et-Tin , ‘the fountain of the fig tree/ bursting copiously from the rocks and sending forth a supply of sweet water under the shade of three fine fig trees, whence its name. The little stream, after a course of about thirty yards, forms a small luxuriant marsh, skirted with oleanders and choked with waving tufts of the beautiful tall papyrus of Egypt. The ruins, the second claimant for Capernaum, are to the west of it, forming a series of mounds, but no fragments of columns or carvings have been found. On the hill above are some more distinct ruins and tombs, and just above the khan the aqueduct from Ain Tabighah winds round the cliff and is now used as a horse-path. The spot loses none of its interest from the disputed identification. Whatever it be, many times must our Redeemer have trodden the path by that fountain j and often the walls below and the cliffs above it re-echoed the voice of Him who spake as never man spake. “Passing north, we leave Gennesareth’s Plain round BETHABABA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 307 the edge of a bluff which descends to the water’s edge, wholly interrupting any passage by the shore and hay¬ ing no beach. Descending immediately the path leads close to the beach, and at little more than a mile stands Ain Tabighah, usually agreed on as JBethsaida , The House of Fish, and still the chief fishing station on the lake, the few naked fishermen casting hand-nets into the shallow waters, one boat being used to supply the Tibe¬ rias market. A few hundred yards behind, on the hill, is the great Round Fountain before alluded to and supposed by Sir C. Wilson to be the Fountain of Capernaum of Josephus. It is the largest spring in Galilee—half the size of that of the Jordan at Caesarea Philippi. It was formerly raised by a strong octagonal reservoir some twenty feet above its source, and thence conveyed to the plain by an aqueduct. Neglect has long since suffered the great reservoir to be broken through, as well as the aqueduct of which here and there piers may be seen. There are four other fountains, all slightly brackish and warm. These, sending up a cloud of steam in the still atmosphere, produce a luxuriant semi-tropical oasis around them, but are otherwise wasted save that a por¬ tion of the water is collected in an aqueduct to turn a corn-mill, the only one in working order of five and the solitary inhabited dwelling of Bethsaida. The white beach gently shelves, and is admirably adapted, with its little curved bay, for fishing-boats. The an¬ chorage is good and is partly protected by submerged rows of stones, though there does not appear to have been any breakwater. Rocks however project more than fifty yards out at the southwest, forming a sort of protection. The sand has just the gentle slope fitted 308 THE HOLY LAND. for the fishermen running up their boats and beaching them. u Here we may safely fix the scene of the miraculous draught of fishes and the subsequent call of Peter and Andrew, James and John (Luke y : 1-11). Bethsaida was coupled in the woe denounced by our Lord with its sister cities Chorazin and Capernaum; and now, not only in the desolation of their sites, but in the very dispute about their identity, we see it has been 1 more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon ’ in the day of their earthly judgment than for these cities (Matt, xi: 21—24). Their names are preserved, their sites are unquestioned, but here the names are gone, and even the sites are disputed. u This Bethsaida, the birthplace of Andrew, Peter and Philip, is called Bethsaida of Galilee to distinguish it from the other Bethsaida, north of the lake, on the east side of Jordan, Bethsaida Julias . u Proceeding northward about a mile and a half, we come upon a little low promontory running out into the lake, covered with sculptured ruins and known as Tell Hum , the third and, I am now inclined to believe, the rightful claimant for the site of ancient Capernaum. The most conspicuous ruin is at the water’s edge, called the White Synagogue, built of hard white limestone while the district round is strewn with blocks of black basalt. It is now partly buried and is nearly level with the surface, the capitals and columns having been for the most part carried away or burnt for lime. The excavations of the Palestine Exploration Fund have however shown many of the ped¬ estals in their original position and many capitals buried in the rubbish. There can be no doubt, from the form and plan of the building, that it is a Jewish synagogue. BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 309 11 The outside of the synagogue of Tell Hum was decorated with pilasters, and attached to its eastern side is a later addition, a rectangular building with three entrances on the north and one on the east but without a doorway to connect the two buildings. But the most interesting relic here is a large block, once a lintel, with the pot of manna sculptured on it. If this be Capernaum, then this must beyond doubt be the synagogue built by the Roman centurion (Luke vii: 4, 5), and it was within its walls that our Lord uttered the discourse in John, chap, vi., and perhaps, pointing to the pot of manna carved over the door, proclaimed, 1 1 am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the Wilderness and are dead.’ It is possible, from the Corinthian and Ionic mouldings, that this place is a later erection of the time of the Emperor Hadrian, and that the name Tell Hum, or ‘ hill of Hum/ was applied to it when it took the place of the earlier Kefr Nahum, or Capernaum, ‘the village of Hum.* The remains of the latter building are prob¬ ably those of the church which we are told was built at Capernaum, and is described about the year A. D. 600 as a basilica enclosing the house of Peter. “ Round the synagogue, and stretching for half a mile from the shore, the area is covered with the ruined walls of private houses and the traces of a main street. Beyond these are some remarkable tombs above and below ground. There are no traces of a harbor, and it could never have been a convenient spot for fishing-boats. But at least it seems tolerably certain that whether this be the Capernaum of our Lord’s time or not, it is the Capernaum of the Jews when, under Hadrian, they were permitted to return to their land. Its distance from the 310 the holy land. Round Fountain and from the Plain of Gennesareth seems the obstacle to a decisive admission of it being the city of the Gospels. 77 Two and a half miles north of Tell Hum and two miles back from the lake are the ruins of Chorazin, now called Kerazeh , situated partly in a narrow wady of the same name and partly on an eminence 700 feet above the lake. The surrounding country is pathless and utterly des¬ olate. The ground is covered with millions of black boulders over which a horse can hardly make his way, and which present the appearance of having been poured down in a tremendous rain of rocks and stones. How or why a city could ever have existed or flourished in such a situa¬ tion it is difficult to imagine. Yet Chorazin must once have been a place of importance. Its ruins are as exten¬ sive as those of Tell Hum, and they are in a fair state of preservation. Though they have been unoccupied since the fourth century, the walls of many of the dwellings are still standing. They are two feet thick, and some of them are fully six feet high, built of blocks of basalt, with windows a foot high by six or seven inches wide. The roofs, which seem to have been flat, were supported by columns. The houses vary in size, the smallest being simply tiny stone boxes, and the largest being about thirty feet square and divided into four chambers. Here too are the remains of a large synagogue, and beside a tree in the middle of the ancient town is a spring. Such as Kerazeh is now, Chorazin must have been in the time of Christ. In such places He carried on his labors, and in such dwellings he took his rest. No wonder that, under the clear sky of the Holy Land, He preferred to spend his night in the open air. BETHABAEA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 311 About eight miles northwest of Tell Hum and tower¬ ing high above the intervening hills, so as to be visible from nearly all parts of the Sea of Galilee, stands Safed. It is not mentioned by name in the Scriptures, but it is believed to have been referred to by our Saviour as the u City set upon an hill,” which u cannot be hid ” (Matt, v : 14). Though it cannot be proved by any direct evi¬ dence to have been built so early as the time of Christ, it seems to be improbable that a military position so strong as that of Safed should have been overlooked or unoccupied, and at the present time it is the place of all others in that region which would be most readily thought of to point the Saviour’s illustration. Certain it is that Safed was a place of strength in the time of the Crusades, and that Saladin had great difficulty in reduc¬ ing it. In 1250 it was destroyed by the Sultan of Da¬ mascus, but it was afterwards restored by the Templars. In 1266 the garrison surrendered to Bibars, by whom the survivors were massacred. Safed then became the capital of a province. In 1759 it was destroyed by an earthquake. In 1799 it was occupied by the French. It is now a sacred place of the Jews, who believe that when the Messiah comes he will rise from the Lake of Gennesareth and establish his throne at Safed. Safed therefore is one of the four great Jewish sanctuaries, the other three being at Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias. It is occupied by a Jewish colony founded not later than the sixteenth century. It is also the seat of a celebrated school of rabbinical learning, and besides the schools which were originally taught by famous Spanish rabbis, it once had eighteen synagogues. Half of the present popu¬ lation of Safed—which is about 25,000 souls—are Jews. 812 THE HOLY LAND. They are punctilious sticklers for the law ; and Dr. Thomson says that u their social institutions and manners comprise a grotesque mingling of filth and finery, Phari¬ saic self-righteousness and Sadduceean license. A Jew on the Sabbath Day must not carry even so much as a pocket handerchief except within the walls of the city. If there are no walls it follows, according to their logic, that he must not carry it at all. To avoid this difficulty here in Safed they resorted to what they called Eruv. Poles were set up at the ends of the streets, and strings stretched from one to the other. Those strings repre¬ sented a wall, and a conscientious Jew could carry his handkerchief anywhere within their limits.” It was among just such superstitious punctilios that our Lord came preaching the gospel of liberty. How hard it must have been to him we can never imagine; and how sacrilegiously destructive his doctrine must have seemed to them it is impossible for us to conceive. On the first of January, 1837, Safed was again de¬ stroyed by an earthquake. The city then contained 9000 souls, and was built on the side of the mountain. As one tier of houses fell it rolled on the tier below, crushing all beneath. Nearly 5000 persons were killed. Most of the Jews now at Safed are Polish immigrants under Austrian protection, and almost all of them are beggars. Among the Sephardim— i.e.j the Spanish-Portuguese Jews—polygamy is still practiced. Six miles northwest of Safed is El Jish , the ancient Giscalctj seated on a cone-shaped hill. It was the last place in Galilee that surrendered to the Romans under Titus, and according to St. Jerome it was the home of the parents of St. Paul before they emigrated to Tarsus. BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 313 In the great earthquake which was so disastrous to Safed, El Jish was completely destroyed. Not a house was left standing, and a congregation of one hundred and thirty- five persons, which happened at the moment to be gath¬ ered in the church, was buried in the ruins. Only the priest escaped, being saved by a projection of the arch over the altar. Returning to the Plain of Gennesareth, we find its southwestern border closed by steep cliffs, and beside the shore is a wretched collection of hovels called Mejdel , which is all that remains of Magdala , the town of Mary the Magdalene. u Through its connection with her whom the long opinion of the Church identified with the peni¬ tent sinner,” says Dean Stanley, u the name of that an¬ cient tower (Migdol) has been incorporated into all the languages of Europe. A large solitary thorn tree stands beside it. The situation, otherwise unmarked, is digni¬ fied by the high limestone rock which overhangs it on the southwest, perforated with caves, recalling by a curious though doubtless unintentional coincidence the scene of Correggio’s celebrated picture.” With the ex¬ ception of this miserable hamlet, where there is such ab¬ ject degradation that the children play stark naked in the street, there is not an inhabited spot in El Ghuweir, the once crowded Plain of Gennesareth. The huts are built of mud and stone, without windows. The inhabit¬ ants are unspeakably filthy. The ground is overrun with tropical weeds which show the richness of the soil, while the flowering oleanders seem to protest against the desola¬ tion into which that once pleasant plain has been suffered to fall. From the rocks behind Mejdel is perhaps the very finest view of the Plain and Lake of Gennesareth. 314 THE HOLY LAND. The wady which rises up behind Mejdel is the Wadij el-Hamam , the Valley of Doves, famous in Jewish history. Its upright walls are 1000 feet in height. On the south¬ ern edge of the ravine are the ruins of Irbid , once the great Jewish town of Arbela, as appears from the re¬ mains of a magnificent synagogue. On the northern side are many small caves in which not only doves or pigeons but eagles, ravens and vultures make their abode. In the time of Herod these caves were the resort of great numbers of Jewish Zealots, who in that unapproachable stronghold defied their enemies. Herod, then a young man, marched against them, and was very nearly de¬ feated j but driving the insurgents to their dens he let down his soldiers in iron cages, drew out the wretched enthusiasts with hooks, and hurled them to the foot of the precipice. Some of them were smoked out of their re¬ treat by fires of straw kindled at the mouths of the caves, and wildly leaped out of their own accord. The triumph of Herod was complete. The Zealots were exterminated, and the only human beings who have since dwelt in those caves have been peaceful monks. About a mile to the south of Magdala a narrow glen breaks down from the west, and at its mouth, near to the lake, are some cultivated fields and gardens with several copious fountains and the ruins of a village surrounded by heavy ancient walls. This place is called Ain-el- JBaridelij the Cold Fountain. It is believed to be the Dahnanutha of the Gospel of St. Mark. The only reason to be given for this identification is that while St. Mat¬ thew (xv : 39) says that Jesus u came into the border of Magdala,” St. Mark (viii: 10) says that He u came into the parts of Dalmanutha.” The two places are so near BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 315 to each other that it would be perfectly natural to adopt either of these descriptions of the district lying between them, and there is no other place near Magdala of which the same could be said. Dr. Robinson, however, identi¬ fies Dalmanutha with Dalhamia or Dalmamia on the Jarmuk, which flows into the Jordan a little south of the Sea of Galilee. Four miles north of the exit of the Jordan from the Sea of Galilee are hot springs, four in number, which have been famous for thousands of years. Their water is excessively bitter and salt and has a strong smell of sulphur; its temperature is about 144 degrees Fahren¬ heit. These springs are believed to be medicinal, and are said to afford relief in cases of rheumatism and other maladies. In the time of Joshua they were probably surrounded by a walled town Hammatli , the Baths, which was one of the u fenced cities v given by Joshua to the tribe of Naphtali (Josh, xix : 35). The city of Hammath probably lay to the south of the springs, as the outlines of ruins of great antiquity can still be traced there, though similar remains found among ruins of a later date to the north of the springs indicate that the Herodian city which afterward occupied that site stood, probably at least, on the site of another city of greater antiquity « and possibly of equal splendor. In the time of Josephus Hammath was called Ammaus or Emmaus. At the pres¬ ent time the water from the springs is collected into one channel and conducted to covered baths which are not more than fifty years old. The reservoir is arched over, and the water is allowed to cool until its temperature is sufficiently reduced for bathing. Somewhat to the north of Hammath, and perhaps in- 316 THE HOLY LAND. eluding a part of it, was built the city of Tiberias. It was founded by Herod Antipas A. D. 20, and was finished A. D. 27$ that is to say, it was begun when our Saviour was about twenty-four years of age, and was finished when He was about thirty-one. It is one of the inci¬ dental evidences of the historical character of the Gos¬ pels that they do not represent our Lord as having ever entered the splendid city which Herod had named in honor of the Emperor Tiberius. If the Gospels were of the date of the second and third centuries, as certain critics would have us believe, the writers would hardly have known the reason why our Saviour, who visited so many other places on the shores of that lake, would not visit the new-built capital of Herod. Such a reason, however, did exist. Jewish burying-places were always outside their cities, never within them, because the very soil of a cemetery was held to be polluted. It may be that the ancient burying-place of Hammath was outside of its northern limit; but at all events, part of Tiberias was built on the ground of a former cemetery, and on that account the new city was an abomination to the Israelites. The prejudice against it was so strong that Herod had the greatest difficulty in inducing people to live in it. Stran¬ gers were brought from a distance. Persons of rank were enticed by promises of royal favor. To poorer people Herod made a present of desirable dwellings on the sole condition that they should accept and live in them. Even slaves were brought there and set at liberty in all other respects except that they were required to remain in Tiberias. u These measures were necessary,” says Jo¬ sephus, u because many sepulchres had to be taken away to make room for the city, contrary to the ancient Jewish BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 317 laws which pronounce the inhabitants of such a place to be unclean for seven days.” To have visited Tiberias would have subjected our Lord to the imputation of being a contemner of the law and a partisan of Herod not only in his sacrilege but also in idolatry. For Tiberias, built on a polluted site and inhabited by a mixed population of Gentiles and renegades, was also adorned with buildings which devout Jews regarded as essentially idolatrous. Herod was an Italian by educa¬ tion and preference. His tastes and habits were those of Rome ; he delighted in the splendid architecture and magnificent amusements to which he had been accus¬ tomed ; and when he founded Tiberias and designated it as the capital of Galilee, he erected a palace ornamented with figures of animals, “ contrary,” as Josephus says, “to the law of our countrymen.” It was in vain that Herod built in his new capital the finest synagogue in Galilee. To say nothing of the unclean soil on which it stood, it was surrounded with Gentile and heathen objects which would alone have sufficed to make it odious. Be- # side it were Roman gates and Grecian colonnades, which, like the squares of the city and the palace of Herod, were adorned with heathen statues; and not far off was an amphitheatre for the celebration of games which, to the Jewish mind, were inseparably connected with idol¬ atry. Apart from these tokens of infidelity to the re¬ ligion of Israel, the life of the luxurious monarch and his sycophant court would be offensive to all morality and even decency j for it was probably in the birthday revels of his palace of Tiberias, when surrounded by “ his lords, high captains and chief estates of Galilee,” that the daughter of Herodias danced before him and received 818 THE HOLY LAND. as her reward “the head of John the Baptist in a charger. 77 A hundred years after the time of Christ these things would be forgotten, and a writer of that age would have been almost certain to lay the scene of some part of the Saviour’s Galilean ministry in Herod’s splendid capital of Tiberias. It is one of the numerous incidental evidences that the Evangelists lived in the times and scenes of which they wrote that only one of them even mentions the great and beautiful city into which Jesus did not enter. St. John (vi: 1) merely says that the Sea of Galilee had come to be called the Sea of Tiberias, and that on one occasion (vi: 23) certain “ boats from Tiberias 77 went to a place where Jesus had been. Only in these two connections is Tiberias named in the New Testament. It is singular indeed that a city which in its foundation was regarded by the Jews with abhorrence should have become one of their four sacred places. The fact is doubtless due to the establishment there of the Great Sanhedrin after the destruction of Jerusalem. During the Roman war, Josephus, who was commander-in-chief of the national forces in Galilee, fortified Tiberias; but on the approach of Yespasian the inhabitants voluntarily surrendered, and Vespasian rewarded their submission by allowing them to remain undisturbed. After the war, Galilee, which had been comparatively undisturbed, and Tiberias, which had not suffered at all, became the chief seat of the Jewish nation. The Sanhedrin, which had been transferred from Jerusalem to Sepphoris, was again transferred to Tiberias j and there the school of the Tal¬ mud flourished. It was in Tiberias that the famous Rabbi Judah Hak-Kadosh published the ancient traditional law BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 319 called the Mishna, and it was there that St. Jerome learned the Hebrew tongue. Bishops of Tiberias are mentioned in the fifth century 5 but in 637, when the place fell under the Arabs, the bishopric disappeared. During the Crusades it was re-established under the Archbishop of Nazareth as Metropolitan. Tiberias long remained under Christian rule ; but after the battle of Hattin the Countess of Tripoli was compelled to surrender the cas¬ tle to the Moslems, and in their hands it has ever since remained. For about two miles and a quarter northward from the baths there lies along the shore an undulating plain, be¬ tween the water and the steep hills on the west. Taba- riyeh lies at the northern end of this plain, so that the ancient Tiberias must have occupied all or nearly all of the intervening space. It probably did not however cover the ground of the present Tabariyeh. The walls of the modern town were built during the last century; they are now dilapidated. On the south the town is entirely unenclosed; and the spacious old castle is deserted, except by a mongrel sort of military police. A Greek church in the possession of the Latins dates from the time of the Crusades, but was remodelled in 1869 ; it is dedicated to St. Peter, in honor of the miraculous draught of fishes which is said to have taken place in its vicinity (John xxi: 6-11), but which could not have occurred there. The synagogue is on the shore of the lake; it is a vaulted building, unquestionably of great age, sup¬ ported by columns and has the appearance of a Greek temple. The Jews of the town have none of the learn¬ ing for which their predecessors were once celebrated, and the most observable thing about them is their large 320 THE HOLY LAND. black bats. The steep hill behind the town is full of caves, some of which are 100 feet long. Many of them are plastered and bear other unmistakable evidences of former occupation as habitations of men ; but their present occupants are wild beasts, such as jackals, hyenas and foxes. A few palm trees still bear witness to the former fertility of the soil, but even they are degenerate and bear no comparison with the palms of Egypt either in size or in beauty. In the great earthquake of 1837, in which Safed was almost ruined, the whole town of Taba- riyeh was lowered toward the south, and the mole or pier, reaching out into the lake, was actually bent and almost shrivelled. Tabariyeh is the only town remaining on the shores of the Lake of Tiberias. It has a population of about 4000, two-thirds of whom are Jews, many of them immigrants from Poland. It is a wretched and filthy place. Lying as it does nearly 700 feet below the level of the Medi¬ terranean, its climate is very warm and the hills rising behind it on the west to a height of 1000 feet shut off the free circulation of the air by which its excessive heat might be modified. Dr. Thomson says that when he was encamped near the baths the thermometer stood at 100 degree about midnight. In summer the place is exceedingly unhealthy, severe forms of ague prevailing throughout that season. It is infested with vermin and swarms with mosquitoes of enormous size. Dr. Thom¬ son, after saying that no town in Syria is so filthy as Tabariyeh, exclaims, u What can induce human beings to live in such a place V 7 At the extreme south of the lake, and on the right side of the Jordan at its place of exit, is a small penin- BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 321 sula now called Kerak , the Taricheae of Josephus, and, probably, the still more ancient Bakkath of Joshua (Josh, xix : 35). It was once almost or quite an island, con¬ nected with the mainland by a long Roman bridge which is now a causeway and under the arches of which in the spring time the water of the Jordan still flows. Taricheae is not mentioned in Scriptures, but it was a place of un¬ doubted importance. The soil is full of fragments of pottery and mosaic tiles, for the manufacture of which the town was celebrated. In the Roman war, Taricheae was strongly fortified by Josephus, and its isolation from the mainland was completed by a ditch which was partly artificial. It made a stout defence but was taken and destroyed by Titus. It was there that Josephus collected two hundred and fifty ships to attack Tiberias, and as Taricheae is the only harbor on the whole lake it must have been an important place of refuge for ships over¬ taken in a storm. We have now glanced at all the notable places on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. We shall next look at the comparatively few places of interest on the north¬ ern and eastern sides, beginning where the Jordan enters the lake. Two miles back from the shore and in the dead level of a rich alluvial plain, through which the turbid and muddy waters of the Jordan roll rapidly to the lake, once stood a small village called Bethsaida. It was enlarged and adorned by Philip the Tetrarch, who gave to it the name of Bethsaida Julias , in honor of the daughter of the emperor. The mound of its remains, Et Tell , marks the spot near which our Saviour fed the five thousand. Bethsaida Julias must be carefully distinguished from 21 322 THE HOLY LAND. Bethsaida on the western shore j for until the existence of two places of the same name on opposite sides of the lake had been ascertained, the story of that miracle furnished one of the knottiest difficulties of the gospels. St Luke (ix : 10-17) says, that the scene of the transac¬ tion was a desert place “ belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” St. Mark (yi: 31-53) says, that after it had occurred, our Saviour u constrained his disciples to get into the ship and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people ” (vi: 45). As they were crossing the lake a great storm arose, and when they had given themselves up for lost, Jesus came walking on the water and stilled the waves. Then, according to St. Mark (vi: 53), and also St» Matthew (xiv : 15—34), u when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesareth.” St. John says (vi: 5-21), that u they went over the sea toward Capernaum,” and that after the stilling of the tempest, u immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” Comparing these accounts, it appears that whereas, according to St. Luke, the event of the miracle took place in the neighborhood of Bethsaida , according to St. Mark, Jesus sent them from the scene of the Miracle to Bethsaida. According to St. John the disciples landed at Capernaum, the place for which they had sailed; and according to St. Matthew and St. Mark they came to u the land of Gennesareth.” If we remember that be¬ sides Bethsaida Julias on the northeast of the lake there was another Bethsaida, the home of Peter, Andrew and Philip (John i: 44), and that this second Bethsaida was in u the land of Gennesareth ”—or Capernaum,—there is here no contradiction whatever. Unless we do remem- BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 823 "ber it, there is an inexplicable discrepancy. We may also observe that these accounts taken concurrently go to show that in the language of the Evangelists Caper¬ naum is the equivalent of Gennesareth. Regarded as a plain it was Gennesareth; regarded as a town or city, it was Capernaum ; but the phase u Land of Gennesareth v may have been loosely used to designate the district lying north and south of the plain as well as the plain itself. Thus every difficulty disappears, and it also appears that the geographical language of the Evangelists is identical with that of Josephus, a writer of their own time. Had the gospels been written a century later, as some critics think, they probably would not have applied the word Capernaum to the district of Gennesareth. To the southeast of Et Tell lies the Plain of JBatihah , in some part of which or in the heights to the eastward the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand took place; and in the lower part of the plain are ruins to which the Arabs give the name of Mesadiyeh . These ruins have been supposed to be those of Bethsaida, and are so marked in some maps. About one-third of the way from the north of the lake, a wady called Wady Semakh breaks through the cliffs, and on its southern side are the ruins of Gergesa , now called Khersa. As this is probably the u country of the Gergesenes ” in which St. Matthew places the scene of the destruction of the swine (Matt, viii: 28), while St. Mark (v : 1) and St. Luke (viii: 26) call it the “ country of the Gadarenes,” it is well to observe that either name might be appropriate if the district of Gadaritis at that time included the smaller town of Gergesa. In the near neighborhood there are several spots which would cor- 324 THE HOLY LAND. respond with the accounts of the Evangelists. Mr. Mac- gregor remarks that between Wady Semakh and Wady Fik about three miles below u there are at least four distinct localities where every feature in the Scripture account of this incident may be found in combination. Above them are rocks with caves in them very suitable for tombs, and further down there is ample space for tombs built on sloping ground—a form of sepulture far more prevalent in Scripture times than we are apt to suppose. A verdant sward is here, with bulbous roots on which swine might feed; and on this I observed what is an unusual sight, a very large herd of oxen, horses, camels, sheep and goats, all feeding together.” Within a mile of Khersa is a spot which seems particularly well to correspond with the circumstances of the miracle. At that place, says Sir C. Wilson, u the hills, which everywhere else on the eastern side are recessed from half to three-quarters of a mile from the water’s edge, approach within forty feet of it. They do not terminate abruptly, but there is a steep, even slope which we would identify with the 6 steep place ’ down which the herd of swine * ran violently into the sea,’ and so were choked.” Three miles below Grergesa is Wady Fik , and a little way up the wady, on the crest of the precipice which encloses it, is Kulat el Husn , the ancient Gamala , which made a terrible resistance to Vespasian and inflicted immense loss on its besiegers before it could be captured by the Romans. At the head of the wady is the town of Fik , the ancient Aphek , where Benhadad of Assyria was completely overthrown by King Ahab (1 Kings xx : 26-34). Between Wady Fik and the outlet of the BETHABAEA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 325 Jordan are remains of several towns and villages, nota¬ bly Es Semakh which is supposed to be the ancient Hip¬ pos, a place of such importance as to have been reck¬ oned as one of the cities of Decapolis and to have given the name of Hippene to the district lying about it. u I have spent a few days,” says Dr. Thomson u encamped on the beach below this village, and had ample time to explore the southern shore of the lake as well as the out-go of the Jordan. In the banks above the beach are innumerable nests of the wurwar, the beautiful green and blue bee-eater. The beach is covered with pebbles of flint, jasper, chalcedony and agate, and several varieties of fresh-water shells. But, though situated close to the beautiful Sea of Galilee, and with scenery around it in many respects the most interesting in this world, nothing would tempt one to live in the miserable hamlet of Es Semakh.” Thus we have viewed the shores of the once lovely Lake of Chinnereth ; and desolate as they now are, it would take but little to restore them to prosperity. A railway, which could be easily built from Tiberias south¬ ward along the Jordan Valley to Beisan (Beth-shean), and thence across the Plain of Esdraelon to Acre, would at once make the Sea of Galilee the centre of a profitable commerce, and its shores would soon again bloom under the hand of the husbandman and the vinedresser. When the heavy hand of the u unspeakable Turk ” is removed, it will be only a question of time when every part of Palestine will be once more opened to the uses of civilized life. Already the improvement has begun, for even the Turk cannot wholly resist the forces of the age. But when the u fullness of time ” shall come, no man living 326 THE HOLY LAND. can foresee the new beauty in which the Holy Land shall again be clothed. But if no such time were ever to come, the shores of Lake Tiberias would still remain forever sacred to man¬ kind in its memories of Jesus. That lake was chosen of God himself, and honored above all seas of the earth, in a sense of which the rabbis little dreamed. The men, the fields, the valleys round it, are immortalized by their association with the Saviour. There on the hill slopes were the vineyards round which their lord planted a hedge, and in which he built a watch-tower, and dug a wine-press (Matt, xxi: 33). There were the sunny hills on which the old wine had grown and the new was grow¬ ing for which the householder would take care to pro¬ vide the new leather bottles (Luke v : 37). The Plain of Gennesareth was the enameled meadow on which in spring ten thousand lilies were robed in more than the glory of Solomon (Luke xii: 27-28), and where in winter the dried grass was cast into the homely oven (Matt, vi: 30). It was on such pastures that the shepherd left the ninety-and-nine sheep to seek in the mountains the one that was lost and bring it back, when found, on his shoulders rejoicing (Luke xv: 4). The ravens that have neither storehouse nor barn (Luke xii: 24) sailed daily over from the cliffs of Arbela to seek their food on the shore of the lake ; and from the same cliffs flew forth the hawks to make the terrified hen gather her chickens under her wings (Matt, xxiii: 37). The fig orchards were there, and among these trees the dresser of the vineyard may have found one that in three years bore no fruit (Luke xiii: 7) ; and there the grain of mustard seed would grow into so great a tree that the BETHABARA, CANA, THE SEA OF GALILEE. 827 fowls of the air lodged in its branches (Luke xiii: 19). Across the lake rose the hills of Gaulanitus, which the idly-busy rabbis watched for signs of the weather. A murky red sky above them in the morning was a text to predict u foul weather to-day: for the sky is red and lowring ” (Matt, xvi: 3) $ and when the sun sank red and glowing, behind the hill in the west, the solemn gossips, returning from their many prayers in the synagogue, made sure that u it will be fair weather” (Matt, xvi: 2). When the sea cloud was seen driving over the hill-tops from Ptolemais and Carmel, neighbors warned each other that a shower was coming (Luke xii: 54), and the clouds sailing north, toward Safed and Hermon, were the accepted earnest of coming heat (Luke xii: 55). The daily business of Capernaum itself supplied many of the illustrations so frequently introduced into the discourses of Jesus. He might see in the bazaar of the town, or in the street, the rich travelling merchant who exchanged a heavy load of Babylonian carpets for one lustrous pearl (Matt, xiii: 46) that had perhaps found its way thither from distant Ceylon. Fishermen and ptiblicans and dressers of vine¬ yards passed and repassed each moment. Over in Julias, the favorite town of the Tetrarch Philip ; below, in Tiberias, at the court of Antipas, lived the magnates who delighted to be called u gracious lords,” and walked in silk robes (Luke xxii: 25). The young Salome lived in the one town; her mother, IJerodias, in the other; and the intercourse between the two courts could not have escaped the all-observing eye of Jesus as he moved about Capernaum. On the occasion of our Saviour’s first visit to Caper¬ naum in company with his mother and his brethren, all 328 THE HOLY LAND. these events and observations and instructions were still to come. As a general studies the field of future cam¬ paigns, so perhaps Jesus gazed on the scenes of by far the greater part of the ministry upon which he was enter¬ ing. But he took no more than a glance at it. u He continued there not many days.” Either returning to Nazareth, or going directly down the Jordan Valley, he set his face toward Jerusalem to attend the first Passover of the period of his ministry. CHAPTER XIII. FROM JERUSALEM TO THE BORDER OF SAMARIA. Whether our Lord returned to Nazareth after his visit to Capernaum we do not know. We hear next of his visit to Jerusalem to celebrate the first Passover of his ministry. It was at this time that He cleansed the Temple of the hucksters who profaned it with their sordid presence (John ii : 13-17), and when He was asked to prove his authority, He made that mysterious answer which his disciples remembered after his resur¬ rection : u Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up!” Yet He did not utterly refuse to show some signs of his Divine power, though He certainly did use reserve in proclaiming his mission (John ii: 23-25). His chief recorded discourse was with Nicodemus, who came to him by night (John iii) ; and when it began to be noised abroad that his disciples were baptizing more converts than John the Baptist, He immediately left Judea and returned into Galilee, not wishing, we may suppose, that there should be even the appearance of a rivalry between himself and his great forerunner (John iv : 1-3). u Then,” says St. John (iv : 4), u He must needs go through Samaria.” The necessity however was not of a physical or geographical character. Jesus had now set out on his personal mission, and from the first He wished ( 329 ) 330 THE HOLY LAND. it to be understood that bis was no narrow or exclusive gospel, and in no more striking manner could He proclaim that fact than by bearing its glad tidings to those outcasts of Israel, the despised Samaritans. More than one soul among those heretics was hungering and thirsting for a spiritual food and drink which He alone could supply, and to reach those souls Jesus “ must needs go through Samaria.” It is the line’ of that journey that we are now to follow. In all the wanderings of the Saviour’s foot¬ steps there is none more full of local interest and histori¬ cal romance than that which led from Jerusalem to the “city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (John iv : 5). We shall not, of course, confine our ob¬ servations to the comparatively few places of importance through which He actually passed, but rather take a bird’s-eye view of the country on either side of the main road, noting the spots of which the Saviour himself could hardly help thinking as He came near to each of them. On his right, as He left Jerusalem, was Anathoth , now called Anata 7 three miles northeast of the Mount of Olives. In the earlier days of Israel Anathoth was a priestly city (Josh, xxi: 18). It was the home of the priest Abiathar who conspired to put Adonijah on the throne instead of Solomon, and whom Solomon while sparing his life for the sake of his priestly office ban¬ ished from the sanctuary with the stern command, “ Get thee to Anathoth unto thine own fields: for thou art worthy of death, but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 331 all wherein my father was afflicted” (1 Kings ii: 26). Anathoth was long occupied by the priests of Israel. After the building of the Temple it would be one of the most convenient and desirable of all the towns belonging to those who were appointed to minister in the sanctuary. More than three hundred years after the time of Solomon, Jeremiah, the prophetic poet of Israel, was one u of the priests that were in Anathoth ” (Jer. i : 1). At some spot in that same plain, or perhaps as Dr. Robinson thinks somewhere upon the ridge of the Mount of Olives northeast of the city but certainly at least within sight of Jerusalem, there was once another priestly city called Nob , where the tabernacle stood for a time during its wanderings, before a home was provided for the ark in the Temple of Solomon (1 Sam. xxi: 1). It was there that Ahimelech the priest gave some of the u hallowed bread ” of the tabernacle to David in his ne¬ cessity when fleeing before the face of Saul. Unhappily the gift was observed by Doeg, an Edomitish servant of Saul, who reported it to his master. Filled with fury, Saul summoned Ahimelech and his assistant priests be¬ fore him and charged them with treason. The brave priest denied the treason, but spoke manfully for David as the most faithful of SauPs subjects. The infuriated r king was inexorable. u Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech,” he said, u thou and all thy father’s house.” Even at the king’s command the executioners refused to lift their hands against the Lord’s priests; but Doeg, the Edom¬ itish spy, fulfilled that office, u and slew on that day four¬ score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and 332 THE HOLY LAND. oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword ” (1 Sam. xxii: 18-19). Only one man of all the priestly line escaped, Abiathar a son of the faithful Ahimelech, the same Abiathar whom Solomon afterward deposed from his sacred office and banished to u his own fields ” at Anathoth. The site of Nob has not been ascertained. The present Anata is a poor village with only about a dozen small dwelling-houses, though the cultivated fields and fig trees and olive trees are perhaps a remnant of the culture of the priests who once dwelt there j and the remains of walls and solid old foundations tell of a prosperity that has long since passed away. On the flat roofs of the houses now occupied the wild grass grows, reminding one of the Psalmist’s malediction : Let them all be confounded and turned back that bate Zion ! Let them be as the grass upon the house-tops, Which withereth afore it groweth up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand, Nor he that bindeth the sheaves his bosom ! (Psalms cxxix : 5-7). The first city which our Saviour would pass on this journey was Gibeah of Saul, also called Gibeah of Ben¬ jamin, situated on what is now a dreary and desolate hill called Tuleil el Ful , the Hill of Beans. It is of conical shape and roughly terraced, but its sides are bare and treeless and its top is covered with ruins which are hardly more than a confused heap of stones. On this rough hill, then doubtless cultivated from base to summit, was enacted the horrid tragedy of the Levite and his concubine related in Judges xix and xx j and there, about a hundred years later, was the dwelling-place of Saul, the first king of Israel (1 Sam. x: 26). The simple FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 333 manners of the time are illustrated by the circumstance that when his subjects on the other side of the Jordan sent to tell their king how they were threatened with either subjugation or mutilation by the Ammonites, the messengers found Saul coming u after the herd out of the field ” (1 Sam. xi: 2-5). Again and again throughout the checquered story of that unhappy monarch we read of Gibeah, and it was not far from Gibeah that he had his last interview with the aged Prophet Samuel by whom he had been anointed to his kingly office. It was in vain that Saul pleaded for pardon; the prophet refused to grant him absolution. u Thou hast rejected the word of the Lord,” said Samuel, u and the Lord hath rejected thee.” At Saul’s urgent entreaty he yielded only so far as to refrain from dishonoring the king before his sub¬ jects, and therefore accompanied Saul to his camp at Gilgal. But he exacted a price for his complaisance. One of Saul’s offences had been that he had spared the life of Agag, king of the Amalekites, whom he had taken prisoner in battle. u Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal” (1 Sam. xv : 32-33). Then the king and the prophet parted to meet no more in life, though the voice of Samuel was once again to reach the king’s ear from the grave with words of doom and irretrievable defeat. u Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death : nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul ” (1 Sam. xv : 35.) 334 THE HOLY LAND. After Saul’s death, his home at Gibeah was the scene of a fearful retribution. In an hour of outrage he had put to death some of the Gibeonites, descendants of the men who had secured a league of amity and protec¬ tion from Joshua. On David’s accession they demanded vengeance. They would have no other recompense. They insisted that the violation of their treaty with Israel should be atoned by the law of retaliation, and that seven of Saul’s surviving sons should be taken and hanged in Gibeah. David yielded to their demand, stipulating however that the son of his friend Jonathan should not be sacrificed. The deed was done; and of the sons of Saul u they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the days of barley harvest ” (2 Sam. xxi : 9). Then followed one of the saddest scenes in history, when the mother of two of the hapless victims, u Kizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest upon them by day, nor beasts of the field by night” (verse 10). The woeful spectacle of the mother, lying on sackcloth day after day and night after night, guarding the bodies of her gibbeted sons, might well move the hearts of the beholders. David did not war against the dead, and when he heard of it he went and took the bones of Saul and Jonathan from the place where friendly hands had laid them j and with the bones of Saul and Jonathan they took the bones of them that had been hanged, and honorably buried all together in the sepulchre of Kish (12-14). In these stories of Gibeah, how strangely does the hard¬ ness of the law contrast with the gentleness of the gospel FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 335 of Christ! Though Samuel was a prophet, he had never learned to say, u Go, and sin no more !” And though David was a law-abiding king, he had not learned that there is any nobler law than that which says, u An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, life for life !” A little way beyond Gibeah of Saul is the modern vil¬ lage of Er Earn , inhabited by about fifteen families. It is the ancient Ramah of Benjamin (Josh, xviii: 25; 1 Kings xv: 17), which was a border fortress between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Er Ram would be more important if we could be assured that it is on the site of jRamathaim-Zophim , the birthplace and home and final resting-place of the Prophet Samuel (1 Sam. i: 1) j but as seven other modern towns and villages are put forward with more or less probability for that honor, we need not pause to investigate their respective claims. On the whole however there is as much to be said in favor of Er Ram as of any other. If we turn aside from the main road and proceed north¬ east through Er Ram, we come in less than three miles to the edge of a deep wady, called Wady Suiveinit , which is really the western end of the Wady Kelt, or Brook Cherith, already mentioned as in the neighborhood of Jeri¬ cho. Though the Wady Suweinit is not so grandly ter¬ rible as the Wady Kelt, it is precipitously steep, and on its very brink is Jeba , the ancient Geba , picturesquely seated on the summit of a terraced hill, opposite to a village on the other side, the name of which is Mukmas , the ancient Michmash. Geba is often confounded with Gibeah. It is famous as the scene of Jonathan’s exploit against the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii: 3). u From its sum¬ mit,” says Dean Stanley, u is seen northward the white, 336 THE HOLY LAND. chalky height of jRummon , 1 the cliff Himmon 7 over¬ hanging the Jordan c wilderness 7 where the remnant of the Benjamites maintained themselves in the general ruin of their tribe (Judg. xx : 47). Further still, the dark conical hill of Tayibeh , with its village perched aloft like those of the Apennines, the probable representative of the Ophrah of Benjamin (Josh, xviii: 23) and in later times the e city called Ephraim 7 to which our Lord retired, c near to the wilderness/ after the raising of Lazarus 77 (John xi: 54). Between Mukmas and Rummon is a ruin so complete that its name Et Tell , The Heap or Mound, peculiar as it is, is yet entirely appropriate. The word Tell is common enough in Syria, but it is usually accompanied with some more specific designation, as Tell Hum, Tell Asur, Tell Yusef, signifying the Heap or Mound of Hum, Asur, Yusef. In this case it is used simply with the article, Et Tell, The Heap. Now there was a city taken by Joshua which he completely desolated, and made “a heap for¬ ever 77 (Josh, viii: 28). The word used here is tell , and as it is of rare occurrence in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is reasonable to suppose that there was some special pro¬ priety in its use. So there seems to have been j for the name of the city which Joshua destroyed was Hi, or more generally Hai or Haiath , which also signifies The Heap or The Mound ; and the language of Joshua seems to have been a sort of grim play upon words, as if he had said u You called your city Hai, The Heap , but I will make it a telly a heap , forever. 77 As the situation of Et Tell perfectly corresponds with the scriptural accounts of Ai, it would seem as if Joshua’s new name had stuck to it for thousands of years, though Ai has never since reappeared in history. FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 337 Two great battles made this district illustrious in the annals of Israel. The first was that which ended in the destruction of Ai. Joshua had led Israel to the western side of Jordan and had encamped at Gilgal. Jericho had fallen, and Jericho was the key to the interior country. From that city to the upland regions above Jerusalem the ancient pass seems to have been by the Wady Kelt and the Wady Suweinit. That way was now clear, and the scouts reported that a force of two or three thousand men would be sufficient for the capture of Ai. They had not sufficiently considered the advantage of position wdiich the inhabitants of Ai had over an enemy advancing up hill to the attack; and in the event the Israelitish force, though its loss was small, was driven headlong down the pass (Josh, vii: 2-5). The second assault was better managed. During the night Joshua sent a heavy force high up into the wady north of Ai, posted a smaller force on the west, and then advanced as before, but this time making a feigned assault. The King of Ai, not suspect¬ ing an ambush, rushed down upon the assailants in front. They fled as before, and he followed them in hot pursuit. Then the ambushed forces fell upon the defenceless city and set it on fire. At sight of the appointed signal, the rising smoke, the pretended fugitives turned upon their pursuers, who were now attacked in front and rear and were cut to pieces. So Ai became Et-Tell, u a heap for¬ ever 77 (Josh, viii: 1-22). Of the great battle of Michmash, in the immediate vicinity of the site of Ai, Dean Stanley gives the following glowing account: u The next time that the Pass of Ai appears is in a 22 338 THE HOLY LAND. situation of events almost exactly reversed. The lowest depression which the Israelite state ever reached before the Captivity was in the disastrous period during the first struggles of the monarchy, when the Philistines, after the great victory over the sons of Eli, became the virtual masters of the country 5 and not content with defending their own rich plain, ascended the passes from the west (1 Sam. xiii: 5) and pitched in the heart of the mountains of Benjamin in Michmash, L eastward from Beth-aven . 7 Before the face of this terrible visitation the people fled in all directions. Some even took refuge beyond the Jor¬ dan. Most were sheltered in those hiding-places which all parts of Palestine, but especially the broken ridges of this neighborhood, abundantly afford. The rocks are perforated in every direction with 6 caves 7 and i holes 7 and 6 pits 7 (1 Sam. xiii: 6 ; xiv : 11), crevices and fis¬ sures sunk deep in the rocky soil, such as those in which the Israelites are described as concealing themselves. The name of Michmash (* hidden treasure , 7 Deut. xxxii: 34) seems to be derived from this natural peculiarity. Saul himself remained on the verge of his kingdom, in the Yale of Jordan, at Gilgal. East and west and north through the three valleys which radiate from the uplands of Michmash—to Ophrah on the north, through the Pass of Beth-Horon on the west, and down 1 the ravine of the hyenas 7 6 toward the Wilderness of the Jordan on the east 7 —the spoilers went forth out of the camp of the Philistines (1 Sam. xiii: 17, 18). u At last the spirit of the people revived. On top of one of those conical hills which have been remarked as characteristic of the Benjamite territory, in his native Gibeah, Saul ventured to entrench himself with Samuel FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 339 and Ahiah (1 Sam. xiii: 16 ; xiv : 2, 18) where Jonathan had already been at the time when his father was driven from his previous post at Michmash by the Philistine in¬ road (1 Sam. xiii: 16). From this point to the enemy 7 s camp was about three miles, and between them lay the deep gorge of the Wady Suweinit, here called the pas¬ sage of Michmash, which is described as running between two jagged points, or i teeth of the cliff/ as the Hebrew idiom expressively calls them j the one called the 1 Shining 7 (Bozez), probably from some such appearance in the chalky cliff; the other c the Thorn 7 ( Seneh ), probably from some solitary acacia on its top (1 Sam. xiv : 4). Immediately above, the garrison of the Philistines would seem to have been situated. It was up the steep sides of this ravine that Jonathan and his armor-bearer made their adventurous approach; and aided by the sudden panic and by the simultaneous terror of the shock of an earthquake, the two heroes succeeded in dispersing the whole host. From every quarter the Hebrews took ad¬ vantage of their enemies. From the top of Gibeah the watchman saw and the King and the High Priest heard the signs of the wild confusion. In the camp of the Philistines the Israelite deserters turned against them. From the Mountains of Ephraim on the north the Israel¬ ites, who had hid themselves, i followed hard after them in the battle. 7 1 So the Lord saved Israel that day, and the battle passed over to Beth-aven 7 (that is, Bethel). It passed over to the central ridge of Palestine j it passed through the forest now destroyed where from the drop¬ pings of the wild honey on the ground the fainting war¬ rior refreshed his parched lips j it passed over to the other side, from the eastern pass of Michmash to the 340 THE HOLY LAND. western pass of Ajalon, through which they fled into their plains; ‘ and the people smote the Philistines!’ Then Saul i went up ’ again into his native hills, 1 and the Philistines went to their own place ? (1 Sam. xiv : 46) j and from that day till the fatal route of Gilboa Israel was secure (1 Sam. xiv : 4—46).” It is impossible to leave this most interesting district of the Promised Land without referring to the poetical description by the Prophet Isaiah of the advance through it of the invading army of Sennacherib in the reign of Hezekiah, three hundred and fifty years after the death of Saul. With a truly dramatic rapidity of movement the prophet describes the progress of the invader through most of the places mentioned and others of which no vestige now remains. He is come to Ai; lie is passed to Migron. At Michmasli he deposits his baggage ; They cross the pass ; Geba is their night-station. Hamah is afraid ; Gibeah of Sanl has fled ; Cry aloud with thy voice, O daughter of Gallim ; Cause it to be heard unto Laish ! Alas, poor Anatlioth ! Madmenah is escaped, the dwellers in Gebim take to flight. As yet for that day he halts at Nob. He shakes his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, The hill of Jerusalem ! (Isa. x : 28-32.) In these stirring verses the progress of Sennacherib is clearly told. Thus far God permits him to come, but no further. Before the hand of God Sennacherib is no more than the bough of a forest tree, and Behold, the Lord, the Lord of Hosts, shall lop the bough with terror, He shall cut down the thickest of the forest with iron, Yea, and Lebanon shall fall mightily. (Isa. x : 33, 34.) FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 341 Returning to the road from Jerusalem to Samaria, we find on the left, about two miles north of Er-Ram, a ruin called Kkirbet el Atara with two old pools, answering to the ancient Ataroth-Addar (Josh, xvi: 5); and two miles further on, after skirting the Wady Suweinit which be¬ gins there, we come to JBireh , the ancient Beeroth. Beeroth was one of the four cities of the Gibeonites (Josh, ix : 17). It appears, however, that its Hivite in¬ habitants, possibly fretting under the yoke to which they had submitted, abandoned their city. Thenceforward Beeroth belonged to the tribe of Benjamin (2 Sam. iv : 2), and the cowardly assassins of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth were Benjamites of Beeroth. No further historical incident is recorded in connection with Beeroth, but the spot has been made exceedingly interesting by a tradition which is altogether improbable, though it may conceivably be true. Beeroth took its name from its abundant water which made it a suitable place for camping, and it has long been the night station for caravans going northward from Jeru¬ salem j hence the tradition that it was at that place that the parents of Jesus, at the close of the first day’s journey from his first Passover when he was twelve years of age, u sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance, and when they found him not, turned back again to Jerusa¬ lem seeking him ” (Luke ii: 44, 45). As has been said before, the passage of Jewish caravans through Samaria, especially from the celebration of the Jewish feasts, would be so offensive to the Samaritans as probably to lead to dis¬ turbance and even bloodshed ; and for that reason it is ex¬ ceedingly unlikely that the parents of Jesus would return to their home at Nazareth by that route. Still it is pos- 842 THE HOLY LAND. sible that they may have done so j and the mediseval tra¬ dition, founded perhaps on a still earlier belief, was emphasized by the erection of a magnificent church and hospice by English Knights Templar in memory of the supposed event. The ruins of the church, consisting of three apses and the north wall, still remain j and beside them is the wely or sanctuary of a Mohammedan saint. At the present time Bireh is a flourishing village with about a thousand inhabitants, who drive a profitable traffic with the caravans which frequently occupy the village khan. Two miles and a half beyond Bireh is a spot hallowed in all Christian and Jewish memories, Bethel , the House of God, more anciently called Luz , and now Beitin (Gen. xxviii: 19). Its sanctity extended to the time when Abraham u journeyed through the land,” and first received at Sichem the promise that the whole land should be the inheritance of his posterity. At Sichem he built an altar$ but near by Bethel, u with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east,” he built another u altar unto Jehovah, and called upon the name of Jehovah” (Gen. xii: 6-8). It was to Bethel and not to Sichem that he went again to offer sacrifice on his return out of Egypt, and it was then and there that he and his kinsman Lot took their view of the surrounding country in preparation for a friendly separation (Gen. xiii). There had been strife among the herdmen of their respective flocks, and Abra¬ ham was a man of peace. u Let there be no strife, I pray thee,” he said, u between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen j for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee ? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 343 will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, I will go to the left.” Then, we are told, that u Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld,” and made the choice w T hich ended so fearfully. The spot of that fateful view is precisely indicated. It must have been a lofty emi¬ nence j and yet it was not Bethel, strictly speaking, but a height having Bethel on the west and Ai on the east (Gen. xii: 8, xiii: 3). u This precision,” says Dean Stanley, u is the more to he noticed because it makes the whole difference in the truth and vividness of the remarkable scene which follows. Immediately east of the low grey hills, on which the Canaanitish Luz and the Jewish Bethel afterward stood, rises a conspicuous hill, its topmost summit resting as it were on the rocky slopes below and distinguished from them by the olive grove which clusters over its broad surface above. From this height thus offering a natural base for the patriarchal altar and a fitting shade for the patriarchal tent, Abra¬ ham and Lot must be conceived as taking the wide sur¬ vey of the country L on the right hand and on the left/ such as can be enjoyed from no other point in the neigh¬ borhood. To the east there rises in the foreground the jagged range of the hills above Jericho; in the distance the dark wall of Moab; between them lies the wide Valley of the Jordan—its course marked by the tract of forest in which its rushing stream is enveloped j and down to this valley a long and deep ravine, now as always the main line of communication by which it is approached from the central hills of Palestine—a ravine rich with vine, olive and fig, winding its way through ancient reser¬ voirs and sepulchres, remains of a civilization now ex¬ tinct but in the times of the patriarchs not yet begun. 344 THE HOLY LAND. To the south and the west the view commanded the bleak hills of Judea, varied by the heights crowned with what were afterward the cities of Benjamin and over¬ hanging what in a later day was to be Jerusalem, and in the far distance the southern range on whose slope is Hebron. Northward are the hills which divide Judea from the rich plains of Samaria. u This is the view which was to Abraham what Pisgah was afterward to his great descendant. This was to the lords of Palestine, then almost free before them where to choose, what in Grecian legends is represented under the figure of the Choice of Hercules,—in the fables of Islam under the story of the prophet turning back from Damascus. c And Lot lifted up his eyes, 7 toward the right, 6 and beheld all the u circle 77 of Jordan, and it was well watered everywhere. . . . even as a garden of the Lord, like unto Egypt. 7 He saw not indeed the tropical fertility and copious streams along its source. But he knew of its fame, as of the Garden of Eden, as of the valley of the Nile ; no crust of salt, no volcanic convul¬ sions had as yet blasted its verdure or touched the secure civilization of the early Phoenician settlements which had struck root within its deep abyss. 1 Then Lot chose him all the u circle 77 of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves one from the other. . . . and Lot dwelt in the cities of the u circle 77 of the Jordan, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceed¬ ingly. And the Lord said unto Abraham after that Lot had separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and south¬ ward, and eastward and westward; for all the land which FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 345 thou seest, to thee I will give it and to thy seed forever. . . . and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed be numbered. Arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. 7 Those bleak hills were indeed to be the site of cities whose names would be held in honor after the very ruins of the seats of a corrupt civilization in the garden of the Jordan would have been swept away; that dreary view, unfolded then in its primeval desolation before the eyes of the now solitary Patriarch, would be indeed peopled with a mighty nation through many gen¬ erations, with mighty recollections, * like the dust of the earth in number, forever. 7 77 Along the same beaten track, which for thousands of years has led from the south to the north of Palestine, came the wandering steps of the solitary fugitive Jacob, when he fled from the anger of his defrauded and justly indignant brother. He did not know the country as Abraham had known it, and in the Plain of Bethel he laid him down to rest with the bare ground for his couch, a stone for his pillow, and the starry sky of the east for his canopy. It was there that he dreamed of the ladder —which was more than the illusion of a dream—with its foot set upon the earth and its top reaching to the ut¬ most heaven, and the angels of God ascending and de¬ scending on it. In that vision he learned that all his unbrotherly fraud had been worse than wasted, since it was of God’s purpose and not through his own craft that the main line of his father’s posterity was to be con¬ tinued through him. “And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place$ and 346 THE HOLY LAND. I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the House of God (Beth-el) and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it; and he called the name of that place Beth-el; but the name of that city was called Luz at the first’ 7 (Gen. xxviii: 10-19). Thither again came Jacob in the days of his pros¬ perity and built an altar to the God who had kept promise with him since the night of his vision; and from that time onward Bethel was a sanctuary of the chil¬ dren of Israel (Gen. xxxv : 1-7). In the language of their sacred books its name is used in such a way that our translators have wavered between the Hebrew word Beth-el as a proper name and its English equivalent, the House of God. After they had taken possession of the land the people in their distress went to seek counsel of the Lord at the u House of God,” that is, at Bethel $ for it appears that for a time at least the ark of the cove¬ nant, with the consecrated altars of burnt offering and of incense, were kept at Bethel under the charge of Phine- has, the grandson of Aaron (Judg. xx : 18, 26-28, 31; xxi: 2-4). There, also, at a later time, the priestly Judge and Prophet, Samuel, held one of his yearly cir¬ cuits for the administration of justice (1 Sam. vii: 16). On the division of the kingdom of Israel from that of Judah, Jeroboam desecrated the sanctuary of Bethel by making it a sanctuary of idolatry (1 Kings xii: 28, 29, 33), though not without a brave protest from a prophet of God, who went thither from Judah to deliver his peril¬ ous message (1 Kings xiii: 1-4). Yet there were still FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 347 worshippers and even prophets of the true God left in the sacred city (1 Kings xiii: 11) j and when Elijah vis¬ ited Bethel he found there a school of the sons of the prophets (2 Kings ii: 2, 3). Under Jehu the calf-wor¬ ship of Jeroboam was renewed (2 Kings x : 29), and under his great-grandson Bethel became both a royal city and a royal sanctuary (Amos vii: 13). It then attained its highest splendor as a residence of the kings of Israel, who had both a summer palace and a winter palace there. There too the nobles had their u houses of ivory ” with sumptuous furniture and equipage, leading luxurious and self-indulgent lives and maintaining a magnificent but idolatrous worship (Amos iii: 15 ; v : 21, 22 j vi: 4—6). With the Assyrian invasion all these things came to an end; u the Lord removed Israel out of his sight,” the unfaithful people were carried away into captivity and their land was repeopled by alien tribes from Babylon and elsewhere (2 Kings xvii: 23, 24). Strange to say, it was then and by those strangers that the worship of Jehovah was restored at Bethel. When they came into the country they found it so forsaken and desolate that the wild beasts had invaded it, and some of the strangers were destroyed. Attributing this misfortune to the anger of u the God of the land,” they appealed to the King of Assyria, who sent one of the captive priests to Bethel to u teach them the manner of the God of the land.” The priests u taught them how they should fear Jehovah,” and they followed his instructions; but their worship of Jehovah did not exclude that of their own tribal gods, and their mixed ritual continued—though not at Bethel—down to the time of the writing of the Second Book of the Kings (2 Kings xvii: 24-34). 348 THE HOLY LAND. During the reign of the good King Josiah every ves¬ tige of idolatry at Bethel was swept clean away. The altar and u high place v of Jeroboam, which had been suffered to stand, were cast down and polluted by burn¬ ing upon them dead men’s bones from the neighboring tombs. As he looked around Josiah saw one sepulchre bearing an inscription, and asked whose sepulchre it was. On being told that it was the tomb of the prophet who had bravely borne a message of denunciation to Jeroboam foretelling the vengeance which Josiah himself had just executed, he said, u Let him alone; let no man move his bones!” So that monument and the bones of the brave prophet they let alone; and with them they left in peace the bones of that other prophet whose white lie, told out of a kindly and hospitable impulse, had betrayed the faithful prophet to his death, and caused him to be known in history as u the disobedient prophet v (2 Kings xxiii : 15-20 5 and, 1 Kings xiii: 1-10). From that time on the sanctuary of Bethel was forsaken, and the city ceased to be a place of importance j but it still existed in the time of Vespasian, since it was captured by him on his march from Tiberias to Jerusalem. In the New Testa¬ ment it is not mentioned, though it must have been passed by our Saviour on the journey we are now tracing. In later history it is unknown. Its very site is a recent discovery of the missionary Nicolaye, who in 1836 identi¬ fied it as Beitin. Beitin stands on a hill, and consists of miserable hovels inhabited by some four hundred wretched people. It has the ruins of a tower with some ancient substructures. Near it are the remains of a church. In the valley to the west is a large reservoir three hundred feet long by two hun- FKOM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 349 dred feet wide, enclosed by solid masonry. The vil¬ lage looks down upon the valley to the east where Abra¬ ham pitched his tent and Jacob laid him down to sleep with a stone for his pillow. The following observations of Dr. Hackett will be found interesting: u The sojourn of Abraham and Lot with their flocks and herds in this region (Gen. xiii: 1) implies that it was very fertile and well suited to their pastoral occupations. The writer can testify that it maintains still its ancient character in this respect. The cattle which he saw there surpassed in number and size any that he saw at any one time in any other place. Springs abound, and a little to the west, toward Jufna , the Roman Gophna, was a little flooded meadow, which as late as the 28th of April was almost large enough to be called a lake. On the hill¬ top just east of Bethel, where Abraham and Lot agreed to separate from each other, the eye catches a sight which is quite startling $ we see not only the course of the Jor¬ dan stretching north and south, readily traced by the waving line of verdure along its banks, but its waters broken and foaming as they roll over some of the many cascades, almost cataracts, for which the river is re¬ markable. It is interesting to be reminded that sep¬ ulchres are found at the present day in the rocky heights around Bethel. Stanley also speaks of 1 the excavations 9 which the traveller sees in approaching this place, in which the dead of so many past genera¬ tions have been buried. It was from such recesses, no doubt, that King Josiah, in his zeal for the worship of Jehovah, dug up the bones of the old idolaters who had lived at Bethel, which he burned on the altar of the golden calf in order by this act of pollution to mark his 850 THE HOLY LAND. abhorrence of such idolatry, and to render the place infamous forever .’ 7 If we should take the road to the northwest from Beitin, and follow it for three miles we should come to Jifna (or Jufna ), the Gopbia of Josephus, and a ride of twelve miles now would bring us to TibneJi , which with¬ out doubt is the ancient Timnath-serah, the home and last resting-place of the great leader whose name was to be borne by a greater leader still. For Tibneh was the inheritance of Joshua, whose name in the Greek form is Jesus. In the division of the conquered land of Canaan, Joshua was the last man to whom an inherit¬ ance was given 5 yet his portion was that which he de¬ sired. u According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in Mount Ephraim : and he built the city and dwelt therein ” (Josh, xix : 50). It has been a matter of wonder that the great chief who might have had his choice among the best lands of Palestine should have chosen so wildly rocky and secluded a spot 5 but it is not perhaps so strange after all. Joshua had fulfilled an arduous task, and his public life was at an end 5 for the evening of his days he might well desire seclusion, and if his inherit¬ ance was modest and remote from the great thorough¬ fares, he and his heirs would be the less exposed to envy, and the less danger there would be of future disturbance. Joshua had the wisdom of Agur, whose prayer was, u Give me neither poverty nor riches and he was tried as perhaps Agur was not j for when u all the land was before him,” he asked and received the rough and rug¬ ged and almost barren hills of Timnath-serah. u And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 351 the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-serah ” (Josh, xxiv : 29, 30). In the vicinity of Tibneh are many rock-cut tombs, and one of them is believed by Captain Conder to be the tomb of Joshua. Captain Conder says it “is cer¬ tainly the most striking monument in the country, and strongly recommends itself to the mind as an authentic site. That it is the sepulchre of a man of distinction is manifest from the great number of lamp-niches which cover the walls of the porch; there are over two hundred arranged in vertical rows, giving the appearance of an ornamental pattern, and all smoke-blackened. Here then, if we accept the site, is the resting-place of the great leader, the stout soldier, the fierce invader who first brought Israel into the Promised Land.” The number of tombs in the neighborhood shows that Tib¬ neh has for some reason been a favorite place of burial; and when it is remembered that all orientals have a strong and even superstitious desire to be buried near the tombs of saints and heroes, it might be expected that many of his countrymen would choose their future places of repose in the vicinity of Joshua’s tomb. Tibneh is one of the few places in Palestine which have no history. In the Roman period it was on the high road from Jerusalem to Antipatris and Caesarea, and it may therefore have been visited by St. Paul. At present its tombs and an ancient oak, which is believed to be the oldest and largest in all Palestine, are its only objects of interest. Returning to Beitin and continuing along the direct road to Samaria, after proceeding about ten miles north- 352 THE HOLY LAND. ward we have on our left tTiljcdicij the Gilgal from which Elijah u went down” to Bethel (2 Kings ii: 2). But where is the ancient and renowned sanctuary of Shiloh ? Until Dr. Robinson followed the exact words of Scripture in his investigations, that question could not be answered as it is now answered to the perfect satisfac¬ tion of the learned. In the book of Judges (ch. xxi: 19), Shiloh is said to be u on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.” Following this indication Dr. Robinson a few hours after leaving Beitin turned aside to the east of the highway, and continuing north¬ ward he found Seilun , the situation of which perfectly corresponds with the Biblical indications of the situation of Shiloh, and the name of which is clearly the ancient name in a more modern form. But as if to make his assurance of the identity of Seilun with Shiloh doubly sure, he was fortunate enough in the same excursion to find JEl-Lebbun , the Lebonah of which he was in search, north of Seilun and somewhat to the left of the highway. Rarely has patient and intelligent investigation been more happily or more completely rewarded. During the period of the Conquest the Tabernacle of God was kept at Gilgal by the Jordan. It was thence removed to Shiloh (Josh. xviii: 1), and there it remained, with the exception of a space during which it appears to have been at Bethel (Judg. xx: 26-28), until the con¬ secration of Solomon’s Temple. It was at Shiloh that the annual feasts of the Mosaic law were celebrated, and it was during the festivities of one of them that the remnant of the Benjamites, with the approval of their fellow Israelites, rushed in and carried off wives from among FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 853 the maidens who were dancing in the plain (Judg. xxi: 19—23). It was to Shiloh that the pious Elkanah went yearly to offer sacrifice ; it was there that his wife Hannah prayed in bitterness of spirit and received from the priest Eli the assurance that her prayer had been answered; and it was there that she left her son to be brought up in the House of the Lord (1 Sam. i). It was at Shiloh too that the sons of Eli disgraced their calling and pro¬ faned the sanctuary by their wickedness (1 Sam. ii: 12); and it was from Shiloh that they took the Ark of God as a talisman of victory into battle with the Philistines (1 Sam. iv: 4-5). When he heard that the Ark of God was taken by the Philistines Eli died, and the rule of Samuel as priest and judge of Israel began (1 Sam. iv: 18). The ark never returned to Shiloh. The shrine was forsaken (Psalms xxvii: 60) and the priestly sacri¬ fices were offered now at Mizpah (1 Sam. vii: 9), now at Ramah (1 Sam. ix: 12, x: 13), and again at Gilgal (1 Sam. x: 8, xi: 15). The Tabernacle itself was removed and for a time rested at Nob (1 Sam. xxi: 1-6). At length the ark and the altar were brought together in the Temple of Solomon; but the glory of Shiloh was departed, and so low was that once favored shrine abased that the Prophet Jeremiah makes it a terrible illustration of the unsparing justice of God. u Go ye now ,’ 7 says the prophet, u unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel” (Jer. vii: 12). u For the purposes to which Shiloh was devoted,” says Dr. Hackett, who visited the spot, u it was not unwisely chosen. It was secluded, and therefore favorable to acts of worship and religious study, in which the youth of 23 354 THE HOLY LAND. scholars and devotees like Samuel was to be spent. Yearly festivals were celebrated there and brought together as¬ semblages which would need the supplies of water and pas¬ turage so easily obtained in such a place. Terraces are still visible on the sides of the rocky hills, which show that every foot and inch of the soil once teemed with verdure and fertility. The ceremonies of such occasions consisted largely of processions and dances, and the place afforded ample scope for such movements. The surrounding hills served as an amphitheatre, whence the spectators could look and have the entire scene under their eyes. The position too in times of sudden danger admitted of an easy defense, as it was a hill itself and the neighboring hills could be turned into bulwarks. To its other advan¬ tages we should add that of its central position for the Hebrews on the west of the Jordan. ‘It was equidis¬ tant/ says Tristram, 1 from north and south, and easily accessible to the trans-Jordanic tribes.’ An air of op¬ pressive stillness hangs now over all the scene, and adds force to the reflection that truly the ‘ oracles ’ so long consulted there 1 are dumb / they had fulfilled their pur¬ pose, and given place to 1 a more sure word of prophecy.’ ” Of the immediate features of Shiloh, Dr. Hackett says : “ The contour of the region indicates very clearly where the ancient town must have stood. A tell , or moderate hill, rises from an uneven plain surrounded by other higher hills, except a narrow valley on the south j which hill would naturally be chosen as the principal site of the town. The Tabernacle may have been pitched on this eminence, where it would be a con¬ spicuous object on every side. The ruins found there at present are very inconsiderable. They consist FROM JERUSALEM TO BORDER OF SAMARIA. 355 chiefly of the remains of a comparatively modern vil¬ lage, with which some large stones and fragments of columns are intermixed, evidently from much earlier times. Near a ruined mosque flourishes an immense oak, or terebinth tree, the branches of which the winds of centuries have swayed. Just beyond the precincts of the hill stands a dilapidated edifice, which combines some of the architectural properties of a fortress and a church. At the distance of about fifteen minutes from the main site is a fountain, which is approached through a narrow dale. Its water is abundant, and according to a practice very common in the East flows first into a pool or well, and thence into a larger reservoir from which flocks and herds are watered. This fountain, which would be so natural a resort for a festal party, may have been the place where the 1 daughters of Shiloh ’ were dancing when they were surprised and borne off by their captors. In this vicinity are rock-hewn sepulchres in which the bodies of some of the unfortunate house of Eli may have been laid to rest. There was a Jewish tradition that Eli and his sons were buried there.’ 7 After passing and perhaps visiting many of these sacred scenes, Jesus and his disciples would come into a more and more inviting country, and at the distance of twenty-five miles in a direct line from Jerusalem, but much longer by the way they had to come, they would at length reach Akrabbin , the Scorpion Hills, on the border of Samaria. CHAPTER XIV. SAMARIA. Samaria was the name given by Omri, King of Israel, to the city which he built for a royal residence, and the name of the city was frequently applied to the kingdom of which Samaria became the capital. After the cap¬ tivity of the Ten Tribes, the Cuthite immigrants, who were brought into the depopulated country, were called Samaritans, and the district which they occupied was called Samaria. Finally, in the time of Christ, Samaria was the name of a Roman province, which covered sub¬ stantially the country of the Samaritans. Through all these changes the city of Samaria was the geographical, and generally also the political, centre of the kingdom, district or province which bore its name. As Samaria was not built until fifty years after the separation of the kingdom of Israel from that of Judah, it is not one of the more ancient cities of Palestine. In the memoirs of the Patriarchs, Shechem is the only city in that vicinity of which we have any account. Shechem, and not Samaria, was the first capital of the kingdom of Israel, and in our times, under its modern name of Nablous (or Nabulus ), it is a prosperous town, while Samaria, now Sebastiyehj is a comparatively unimportant village. From the plain-like table-land, midway between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, rise two mountain ( 356 ) SAMARIA. 357 heights boldly confronting each other on the north and the south, and separated from each other at their nearest point by a narrow glen three-quarters of a mile in length and only about one hundred yards in width. The north¬ ern mountain is Jebel Sulemiyeh , the Mount Ebal of the Bible ; the mountain facing it is Jebel Et-Tor , the Biblical Mount Gerizim. The height of Mount Ebal is 3032 feet, and the height of Mount Gerizim is 2836 feet, above sea level. In the sheltered glen between them, and nearly 1900 feet above sea level, lay Shechem peacefully se¬ cluded in its mountain nest. At its eastern end the glen quickly widens and sinks gently to the level of a plain called the Plain of El-Makhna , which is undoubt¬ edly the u place of Sichem” mentioned in patriarchal history (Gen. xii: 6). On a little knoll, close by the foot of Mount Gerizim, not quite 1200 yards in a southeasterly direction from Nabulus, is Bir Yakub , Jacob’s Well. It is on the direct road from Jerusalem to Galilee, and there is no doubt that it is indeed the well which was dug by the patriarch, and besides which our Saviour sat down to rest. There is more doubt about the u city of Samaria, called Sychar ” (John iv : 5), at which the well is said to have been. The name of Sychar seems to have been pre¬ served in that of the village of Asker , which is situated at the foot of Mount Ebal, nearly 1500 yards due east of Nabulus ; but Jacob’s Well is on the opposite side of the plain from Asker, and about 1300 yards distant from it, and it is unlikely that the Samaritan woman would go so far for water in a district in which water is so abund¬ ant. It is not improbable, however, that in the innumer¬ able wars which have swept that region, the Sychar of 358 THE HOLY LAND. the gospel has been swept away, and that some of its in¬ habitants when they rebuilt it, not on the same spot but not far from it, may have cherished the memory of their former home by giving the old name to the new village. Nearly midway between Jacob’s Well and Asker is a tomb, evidently by no means ancient, which is pointed out as the tomb of the Patriarch Joseph $ and in the Plain of Makhna, a little more than three miles south of Nabulus, is Salim , which may very possibly be the former dwelling of u Melchizedek, King of Salem,” the u priest of the most High God,” who u brought forth bread and wdne ” to Abraham, and blessed him and received tithes from him (Gen. xiv : 18-20). Salim is also one of sev¬ eral places which have been supposed to be referred to in the gospel where we read that u John also was baptiz¬ ing in iEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there ” (John iii: 23). Westward from Nabulus the land sinks irregularly away toward the Mediterranean, here swelling into hills and there falling to a lower level as it nears the sea until it ends beyond the hills of Ephraim in the Plain of Sharon. About six miles to the northwest of Nabulus, where the general level of the land is lower than that of the Plain of Makhna, there is a broad and wide basin en¬ circled with hills. From the centre of this basin an ob¬ long hill, with steep sides and a long flat top, rises to a height of 1540 feet. On the summit of that central hill once stood the city of Samaria. After this brief description of the relative position of these places, we may proceed to the facts and events which have made that narrow region so profoundly inter¬ esting to the Christian and the student. SAMARIA. 359 To begin with Shechem and its neighborhood, the dis¬ trict surrounding it has always been a u delightsome land/ 7 so far as it has lain in nature to make it so. From Isaiah we hear of the thickness of the forests of Sama¬ ria, the beauty of its flowers, the fatness of its valleys and the strength of its wine (Isa. ix : 18; xxviii: 1). Josephus says that in his time the hills and valleys of Samaria were extremely fruitful, well-watered and re¬ freshed with copious rains. In the autumn an immense number of trees, both wild and cultivated, were laden with all varieties of fruits j and by reason of the abund¬ ance and excellence of the grass the cattle yielded greater quantities of milk than in less favored regions. These were u the blessings of Joseph v awarded to him by the testament of his dying father (Gen. xlix : 26), and then as now they were both rich and beautiful. An enthu¬ siastic observer expatiates on the clumps of lofty walnut trees and the thick groves of almond, pomegranate, olive, pear and plum trees which adorn the outskirts of Nabulus and run toward the opening of the valley. In summer¬ time the woods are melodious with the songs of birds. The familiar note of the blackbird, the glorious song of the lark high in the heavens, and the chirping of innu¬ merable finches delight the ear as the variety of color de¬ lights the eye. Brooks of clear mountain water, fringed with cyclamens, dwarf tulips and red anemones, splash and murmur on their way to the unseen Jordan. The traveller repeats and justifies the saying of Mohammed that u the land of Syria is beloved of Allah beyond all other lands j in Syria, the district that he most loves is the district of Jerusalem, and in all the district of Jeru¬ salem the place in which he most delights is the mount- 360 THE HOLY LAND. ain of Nabulus!” In such a scene even the barren sterility of the mountain sides sets off the luxuriant fer¬ tility of the plain. u There is nothing finer in all Pales¬ tine,” says Dr. Clarke, u than a view of Nabulus from the heights around it. As the traveller descends toward it from the hills it appears luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens and by stately trees collected into groves all around the bold and beautiful valley in which it stands.” Says Dr. Robinson, a We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine. Here beneath the shadow of an im¬ mense mulberry tree by the side of a purling rill, we pitched our tent for the remainder of the day and the night.We rose early, awakened by the songs of nightingales and other birds, of which the gardens around us were full. The awful gorge of the Leontes is grand and bold beyond description ; the hills of Lebanon over against Sidon are magnificent and sublime ; the valley of the hill of Naphtali is rich in wild oak forest and brushwood; those of Asher, the Wady Kara for example, present a beautiful combination of wood and mountain stream, with all its magnificence of undisturbed original¬ ity. . . . Carmel, with its wilderness of timber, trees and shrubs, of plants and bushes, still answers to its ancient reputation for magnificence. But the Vale of Shechem differs from them all. 6 There is no wilderness here/ says Van de Velde, c there are no wild thickets, yet there is always verdure, always shade, not of the oak, the tere¬ binth and the carob tree, but of the olive grove, so soft in color so picturesque in form that for its sake we can willingly dispense with all other wood. There is a sin¬ gularity about the Vale of Shechem, and that is the pe- % >■ SAMARIA. 361 culiar coloring which objects assume in it. You know that wherever there is water the air becomes charged with watery particles, and that distant objects beheld through that medium seem to be enveloped in a pale blue or gray mist, such as contributes not a little to give a charm to the landscape. But it is precisely those atmos¬ pheric tints that we miss so much in Palestine. ... It is otherwise in the Yale of Shechem, at least in the morn¬ ing and the evening. Here the exhalations remain, hov¬ ering among the branches and leaves of the olive trees, and hence that lovely bluish haze. The valley is far from broad, not exceeding in some places a few hundred feet. This you find generally enclosed on all sides ; here likewise the vapors are condensed. And so you advance under the shade of the foliage along the living waters, and charmed by the melody of a host of singing-birds— for they too know where to find their best quarters— while the perspective fades away and is lost in the damp vapory atmosphere. Apart entirely from the historic interest of the place, such are the natural attractions of this • favorite resort of the patriarch of old, such the beauty of the scenery and the indescribable air of tran¬ quility and repose which hangs over the scene, that the traveller anxious as he may be to hasten forward in his journey feels that he would gladly linger and could pass here days and weeks without impatience.’ ” Into this wilderness of beauty the Patriarchs Abraham and Lot came wandering with their flocks and herds, and in u the place of Sichem ” was the first spot of all the Promised Land in which the Father of the Faithful built an altar “ unto the Lord who had appeared unto him ” (Glen, xii: 6-8). When Jacob returned from Padan-aram 862 THE HOLY LAND. Iig too ^ came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, .... and. pitched his tent before the city ” (Gen. xxxiii: 18). This Shalem can hardly refer to the Salim which is now in the Plain of Makhnah, since a better translation of the original Hebrew would be that u Jacob came safe to a city of She¬ chem.” However that may be, Jacob tarried long in that place. Pie bought there the only spot in all the land of Canaan that he ever owned, the same u parcel of a field ” which he gave to his son Joseph (Gen. xxxiii: 18, 19), and in which the children of Israel buried Joseph (Josh, xxiv : 32). In that same jiarcel of ground, to avoid trouble with the owners of the numerous springs around it, Jacob dug a well for the use of his flocks and herds; and then, on his own land, near his own well and beside his own tent, he reared his household altar, El- elohe-Israel (Gen. xxxiii: 20). There for many a year the patriarch dwelt in peace, while all his sons except Benjamin the youngest grew to manhood around him. In the time of Jacob, Shechem though it is called a u city ” can have been no more than a village inhabited ky a settlement of those Hivites of whom so little is known. Whether it took its name from Shechem the son of Hamor, or whether the man took his name from the city, we do not know. Either way Shechem was an appropriate name for a town situated on the shoulder , or saddle , or ridge of the tableland which from that height drains westward to the Mediterranean and eastward to the Jordan. The Shechemites appear to have been a simple and kindly people j and although one of their number was guilty of a deadly outrage to the family of Jacob, he and they were ready to make all possible repa¬ ration. Of the crafty treason by which the sons of Jacob SAMAEIA. 863 were enabled to assassinate the Shechemites and plunder their town, the aged patriarch told only the truth when he said, u Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce j and their wrath, for it was cruel. With their assembly mine honor, be not thou united ” (Gen. xxxiv : xlix : 6, 7). Before his death Moses solemnly charged the children of Israel that as soon as they had entered the Promised Land they should march to the very heart of it, and per¬ form a sublime act of national worship. u When the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto the land whither thou goest to possess it, thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the curse upon Mount Ebal” (Deut. xi: 29). They were to take great stones and cover them with plaster, and in the plaster, which when dry would be as hard as the stones themselves, they were to write all the words of the divine law. They were also to build an altar and to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings (Deut. xxvii: 2-8). Immediately after the destruction of Ai, Joshua performed this sacred duty to the letter. In the presence of the children of Israel, their elders, their officers, their judges, and even of the women and the little ones, he read the law aloud and proclaimed the blessings and the curses which should light upon the faithful and the disobedient respectively. In the narrow glen between the two great mountains, the ark and the altar of God were placed in full view of the people, who were ranged, line above line, along the steep sides of the hills and eastward in the widening vale—a natural theatre in which the voice of one man might be heard by hun¬ dreds of thousands. So while the priests stood round about the altar and the smoke of burnt offering and peace offering and incense floated heavenward, Joshua i L 864 THE HOLY LAND. pronounced from Mount Gerizim the blessings which should come upon the faithful; and at every benediction all the people cried, Amen ! Then with like fidelity he spake from Mount Ebal the curses that should blight the disobedient; and again with one voice echoing from mount to mount the people answered, Amen! Thus were the heathen notified that Israel had come to take possession of the land that God had promised to the patriarchs 5 and at the same time Israel was advertised of the terms on which that good land could remain to them u a possession forever ” (Josh, viii : 30-35). Once again Joshua assembled the tribes of Israel to meet him u before God” at Shechem. His work was done; the land was theirs 5 for his own portion he had been con¬ tent to take the quiet and secluded crags of Timnath- serah 5 he would soon be resting there u on the north side of the hill of Gaash.” But before he left them to the good and evil which the future hid from him and them, he gathered them together and recounted all that God had done for them. Once more he u set them a statute and an ordinance at Shechem.” By the sanctuary of Jehovah, which at least on one occasion stood on Mount Gerizim, he raised another stone for a memorial witness that he had done his part between God and them. Under the u great oak ” near by he bade them farewell 5 and u so Joshua let the people depart every man unto his own inheritance ” (Josh. xxiv). In the time of the Judges Shechem was a place of disquiet and crime. Abimelech, the slave-born son of Gideon, contrived to seduce the Shechemites, among whom his mother had been born, to make him king over them. With their aid he put to death all the other sons SAMARIA. 365 of Gideon except young Jotham, who escaped 5 and so for a while Abimelech reigned at Shechem. It was then that Jotham made his appearance in the heights of Mount Gerizim above the city and spoke the bitter fable of the trees that u on a time went forth to anoint a king over them.” His illustrations were all nigh at hand; the olive with its fatness, the fig tree with its sweetness, the vine with its u wine which cheereth God and man,” and the bramble bush, that light and fruitless dweller of the waste—which dries up like stubble and like stubble can be kindled into sudden flame which as suddenly dies down —nothing could more aptly have typified the vain man whom the Shechemites had chosen for king. The short reign of Abimelech was full of trouble for himself and the abettors of his crime. Their hands were soon turned against each other, and before his own death, Abimelech, the bramble, had razed Shechem to the ground and sown its site with salt. But Shechem sprang again from its ashes. It was the place appointed for the coronation of Rehoboam the son of Solomon. Then, and for the last time, u all Israel ” came together at Shechem. Under the leadership of Jeroboam they presented to the king their dignified demand for redress of grievances; and when they heard his threatening and insulting answer raised their fierce shout, u To your tents, 0 Israel!” That day the king¬ doms of Israel and Judah were rent asunder, and the curses of Ebal began to fall (1 Kings xii: 1-21). Thence¬ forward Shechem almost disappears from history. In the northern kingdom, of which it was the first capital, it was soon supplanted by Samaria. At the Captivity its people shared the fate of the rest of Israel. Its subse- i 366 THE HOLY LAND. quent inhabitants were imported foreigners, not distin¬ guished from the other u Samaritans” whom the Jews abhorred. Omri, King of Israel, spent the first years of his reign at a pleasaunce—or as the Orientals would call it a para¬ dise—-at Tirzah, a place of such beauty that the author of the Canticles compares his bride to it. u Thou art beautiful, 0 my love, as Tirzah !” (Cant, vi: 4.) After six years spent at Tirzah, Omri set about building a new residence for his court. He bought from its owner, Shemer, the hill which from his name was called in Hebrew, Shomeron, but became in Chaldee, Shemrin, and in Greek, Samaria (1 Kings xvi: 21, 22). Samaria presently supplanted Shechem as the capital of the king¬ dom. It was in every way as well situated. Its site was as beautiful, the surrounding country was as fertile, and its position in a military point of view was incom¬ parably stronger. Shechem with the heights of Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim on either side of it was utterly indefensible, while Samaria with its almost precipitous sides rising sheer out of the plain was inexpugnable in an age in which artillery was unknown. It was well supplied with water from natural springs, and in succes¬ sive sieges it defied the assaults of its enemies longer than Jerusalem was ever able to hold out in like circum¬ stances. Its only danger lay in the impossibility of ob¬ taining supplies in case of a close investment by a numer¬ ous army. When first besieged by the Syrian king Benhadad, it was able not only to defend itself but to re¬ pulse the enemy. In a second siege by the same king it suffered incredible hardships through famine, until the enemy fled panic-stricken on a false alarm of a night SAMAKIA. 367 attack by fresh troops which were supposed to have come to the relief of the city (2 Kings vii; viii). The situa¬ tion of the city during a siege is well described by Van de Yelde : u As the mountains around the hills of Shemer,” he says, u are higher than that hill itself, the enemy must have been able to discover clearly the condition of the besieged Samaria. The inhabitants, whether they turned their eyes upward or downward,—to the surround¬ ing hills or into the valley,—must have seen all full of enemies. The mountains and the adjacent circle of hills were so densely occupied by the enemy that not a man could pass through to bring provisions to the beleaguered city. The Syrians on the hills must have been able from where they stood plainly to see the famishing in¬ habitants.” In 721 B. C. Samaria was taken by Shalmanezer, King of Assyria, after a siege of three years (2 Kings xviii : 9, 10), and then the inhabitants were carried away into captivity. With the fall of Samaria the kingdom of Israel ceased to exist. The blessings of Mount Geri- zim had been despised and misused; the curses of Mount Ebal were reaped in a harvest of desolation. Soon after the fall of the kingdom of Israel begins the history of the strange people who are known in history as the Samaritans, and a handful of whom still exist. The Israelites were swept clean out of their former ter¬ ritories ; absolutely none were left. The country would have reverted into the condition of a wilderness if a new population had not been sent into it by Esarhaddon (Ezra iv : 2-10). The Assyrian king u brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the 368 THE HOLY LAND. cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof v (2 Kings xvii: 24). These strangers were idolaters of course, and in common with most idolaters they believed in gods having peculiar powers over particular nations and districts. Suffering considerably from the wild beasts with which the desolated country had begun to be in¬ fested and supposing themselves to be obnoxious to the God of the land, they appealed to Esarhaddon, and a priest of the captivity was sent to u teach them the man¬ ner of the God of the land ” (2 Kings xvii: 25-32). For a time the worship of Jehovah was mingled with idolatry ; but at length the Samaritans became entirely monothe¬ istic and as scrupulous in their observance of the law as the Jews themselves. On the return of the Judean cap¬ tives from Babylon, the Samaritans were naturally re¬ garded by them as strangers and foreigners; and when they asked permission to join with the Jews in rebuild¬ ing the Temple of Jerusalem, their offers were disdain¬ fully rejected (Ezra iv : 1). The scorn of Zerubbabel was returned with hatred, and the Samaritans, who might at least have been admitted as proselytes, became for¬ midable and vexatious enemies. Their first temple or tabernacle had been at Bethel j they now built a temple at Mount Gerizim, and after a time Manasseh, a lineal de¬ scendant of the priestly line of Aaron, became their chief priest. Many things contributed to the upbuilding of the Samaritan people and their religion, such as the rejection at Jerusalem of the priests who could not prove their priestly lineage (Neh. vii: 60-65), and the con¬ tumely heaped upon the u mixed multitude ” in whose veins the blood of the patriarchs had been mingled with SAMARIA. 369 a baser stream (Neh. xiii: 1-3). To these unfortunates Samaria gave a cordial welcome and full credit to their genealogical pretensions. Discontented Jews always found a hospitable asylum in Samaria 5 and in time, by intermarriage with Jewish outcasts and renegades the whole body of the Samaritan people must have come to be of Israelitish blood. By and by a belief sprang up among them that they, and not the Jews, were the true representatives of Israel j and that the tempi 3 on Mount Gerizim, not the temple on Mount Moriah, was the one place which God had chosen for his sanctuary. They maintained the law in its purity, holding and observing the books of the Pentateuch only, and they accused the Jews of adulterating the truth by admitting to their canon many other books which the purer Samaritans re¬ jected and anathematized. Thus from generation to generation the feud grew in intensity of bitterness. At the first opportunity John Hyrcanus destroyed the temple on Gerizim and leveled the city of Samaria to the ground, and this act of hostility was never forgiven. After its destruction by Hyrcanus, Samaria was rebuilt by the Roman general Gabinius. The Emperor Augustus gave it to Herod, by whom it was splendidly restored and forti¬ fied, and by whom also it was called Sebaste (the Greek for Augusta) in honor of his patron. A large colony of soldiers and peasants was established there, much to the satisfaction and equally to the profit of the inhabitants. Rejoicing in their own prosperity and confident in the strong protection they enjoyed, the Samaritans took every opportunity to vex the people who still treated them with implacable scorn j in every way they en¬ deavored to disturb the rival worship of the Jews. They 24 370 THE HOLY LAND. observed the signal-fires upon the mountain tops, the flaming telegraph by which the announcement of the rising of the paschal moon was flashed from Jerusalem to the brethren of the dispersion at Babylon, and they lit false fires to deceive the Babylonish Jews. Within the lifetime of our Lord (A. D. 10) they were accused of defiling the temple at Jerusalem itself. The submissive alliance of Samaria was assured to foreign invaders whom the Jews abhorred. Thus the Sa¬ maritans espoused the cause and enjoyed the patronage of Herod and the Romans, while the Jews were kept down with an iron hand. Nothing could exceed the hatred of the Jews for the Samaritans. The feeling of the Jews of our Lord’s time was well expressed in the logic of the taunt, u Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil!” No Israelite could lawfully eat even a mouthful of food that had been touched by a Samaritan, for to do so was as if he ate the flesh of swine. No Samaritan was allowed to become a proselyte. A Jew might be friendly with a heathen but never with a Samaritan, and all bargains made with one were invalid. The testimony of a Sa¬ maritan could not be taken in a Jewish court, and to receive him into one’s house would bring down the curse of God. It had even become a subject of warm contro¬ versy how far a Jew might use food or fruit grown on Samaritan soil. What grows on trees or in fields was reckoned clean, but flour and wine were doubtful. A Samaritan egg as the hen laid it could not be unclean, but what of a boiled egg? Yet interest and convenience strove by subtle casuistry to invent excuses for what intercourse was unavoidable. The country of the Cuth- ites was clean, so that a Jew might without scruple SAMARIA. 871 gather and eat its produce. The waters of Samaria were clean, so that a Jew might drink them or wash in them. Their dwellings were clean, so that he might enter them and eat and lodge in them. Their roads were clean, so that the dust of them did not defile a Jew’s feet. The rabbis even went so far in their contradictory utter- %/ ances as to say that the victuals of the Cuthites were allowed if none of their wine or vinegar were mixed with them, and even their unleavened bread was to be reckoned fit for use at the Passover. Opinions thus wavered, but as a rule the harsher feelings prevailed. The assertion by the Samaritans of a peculiar sanctity in the seat of their temple at Mount Gerizim was not destitute of foundation. Old traditions, antedating the time when the tabernacle of God stood there in the life¬ time of Joshua, clung around that ancient sanctuary and cling around it still. To this day there are some among the learned who believe that Mount Gerizim, and not the eastern hill of Jerusalem, is the Mount Moriah on which Abraham was bidden to offer up his son Isaac, which the aged patriarch himself called Jehovah-jireh, and which the sacred writer calls u the Mount of the Lord ” (Gen. xxii: 1-14). It was also believed, and it is still by some believed, to have been the meeting-place of Abraham with Melchizedek,King of Salem, to whom Abraham paid tithes (Gen. xiv : 17-20), and after whose u order ” the Messiah was to be u a priest forever.” If a writer like Dean Stanley after careful investigation, and on purely critical grounds, could declare his belief in these traditions, to the Samaritans they must have seemed indisputable. But the traditions of the Samaritans went far beyond the limit of critical probability. They represented Gerizim as the paradise 872 THE HOLY LAND. in which Adam was made of the dust of its soil. To this day their descendants show the spot on which he built his first altar, and also the spot where Seth raised his altar to God. Moreover Gerizim was Ararat, the moun¬ tain on which the ark of Noah rested after the flood, the one pure spot on all the earth which the waters of the deluge did not cover and which the corpses of the dead did not defile. It was there that Noah and his family came forth from the ark, and every Samaritan could show the seven steps of the altar on which he offered a sacri¬ fice. Not only was the place of Abraham’s altar, Jehovah- jireh, known to them j Gerizim was the true Bethel, and they knew the broad stone on which the head of Jacob rested when he saw the vision of the ladder reaching from earth to heaven. The stones which Joshua set up with the law written upon them were still there 5 there Moses had personally hidden the sacred vessels of the sanctuary; and it was there that the Messiah should appear. Samaria was early reached by Christianity (Acts viii: 5). It became a Christian see, and to this day a Greek bishop takes title from Sebaste or Sebastiyeh. The u New City ” of Shechem, Neapolis (now Nabulus), did not take kindly to the new religion 5 and therefore, particularly in the sixth century after Christ, it came into frequent con¬ flict with the power of the then Christian empire. The Neapolitan Samaritans persecuted the Christians and de¬ stroyed their churches 5 in 529 they put the bishop to death 5 and at the same time they were so mad as to make Julian, one of their leaders, king over them. The Emperor Justinian sent an army against them. Many of the insurgents were slaughtered 5 many fled to Persia 5 SAMAKIA. 373 many submitted and embraced Christianity. Their syn¬ agogues were destroyed. They were so completely crushed that in the history of the Crusades they are not even mentioned. In the twelfth century they are said to have had only about a thousand adherents at Nabulus and a few at Askalon, Caesarea and Damascus. More recently they are known to have had small communities at Damascus and Cairo 5 but these have disappeared. They are now to be found only at Nabulus, and there they are reduced to about fifty families, who occupy a separate district of the town in which their forefathers once ruled. But the line of their priesthood survives 5 their worship is maintained 5 the law of Moses is read among them every Sabbath Day. How punctiliously they perform the rites of their religion is strikingly illustrated in the account given of their celebration of the Passover by the accomplished writer of the description of Nabulus in Baedeker’s u Palestine and Syria.” He says: u The ascent of Mount Gerizim is best made from the west corner of the town, and through the valley ascending thence toward the south, in which rises the copious spring Has el Ain. A steep climb of twenty-five minutes brings us to a lofty plain, where we turn to the left and soon reach the spot where the Samaritans pitch tents at the feast of the Passover. Thence to the summit is a walk of ten minutes more. u On the Greek Palm Sunday of 1869 the writer had an opportunity of witnessing this interesting festival. Seven days before it the whole of the Samaritan commu¬ nity had repaired hither and encamped in this basin, where everything wore a gay, holiday aspect. In the 374 THE HOLY LAND. tent of the high priest, where we partook of coffee, his wife was busy in preparing the ‘ bitter herbs,’ which she mixed with unleavened dough. Toward sunset we pro¬ ceeded to the scene of the sacrifice, a little nearer the top of the mount. On a carefully-tended fire of twigs stood large cauldrons filled with water, and a few paces higher up there was another fire in a deep pit, also carefully sup¬ plied with fuel. To the right of the first fire, within a space enclosed by stones, stood twelve men in white sur¬ plices and turbans, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, with their faces turned toward the summit of the mount and chanting passages from Scripture and prayers in a monotonous tone. On a block of stone in front of them stood a young priest, silently joining in the prayers of the twelve. Around the fire were ranged a number of white-robed men and boys holding seven white lambs, and behind them stood a throng of women and children. “ As soon as the last rays of the sun had ceased to gild the Mediterranean, the high priest pronounced a blessing three times, and in a loud voice repeated the passage: ‘And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening ’ (Exod. xii: 6). Thereupon the slaughterers, who had already tested the sharpness of their knives with the tips of their tongues, instantly cut the throats of the lambs while loudly recit¬ ing a form of prayer. The twelve now approached the place of sacrifice, reading aloud the above chapter of Exodus. When they came to the verse which requires the blood to be struck ( on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses ’, the fathers dipped their forefingers in the warm blood and drew a line with it, from the forehead to the tip of the nose, on their child- SAMARIA. 375 ren’s faces. Meanwhile the chanting continued until a straw platter with the bitter herbs was placed before the high priest who handed to each comer his portion. The men reverently kissed the priest’s hand and showed the same mark of respect to the elders of the community. They then embraced and kissed each other, expressing mutual wishes for the success of the festival. As the slaughterers were not permitted to leave their posts the priest thrust their portions into their mouths, and after the men and boys had all partaken the remainder was distributed among the women. In order to facilitate the removal of the wool hot water was poured over the vic¬ tims, and as soon as this process was completed each lamb was hung by the hind-legs on a piece of wood rest¬ ing on the shoulders of two youths, in which position the entrails were removed. The animals were then scrupu¬ lously examined, great care being taken lest they should be polluted by the too near approach of strangers. u One of the lambs was pronounced by the high priest to be affected with a blemish, whereupon it was imme¬ diately thrown into the fire, to which were also consigned the wool, the entrails and the right forelegs of the other victims. The lambs were now rubbed with salt, hung on long poles and carried to the pit containing the second fire. At a certain passage in the prayers they were sud¬ denly thrown in, bundles of twigs were then speedily placed over the mouth of the pit, and the opening closed with pieces of turf. u The twelve surpliced men now returned to their en¬ closure and read on unremittingly till midnight. The pit was then opened, and the roasted lambs were taken out and carried in new straw baskets to the enclosure, where 376 THE HOLY LAND. they were eaten in haste by the men in a crouching atti¬ tude and with staves in their left hands. The white- robed men in profound silence thus eating the Passover presented a peculiarly solemn and impressive scene. At length the hour arrived for the morning prayer of four hours* duration, whereupon we quitted the place.** In order to complete our survey of this most interest¬ ing district, we may here very greatly condense the vivid description of Nab ulus given by Miss Rogers in u Pictur¬ esque Palestine ** and Dr. Geikie’s equally vivid account of Ebal and Gerizim. With Miss Rogers for our guide we take the road from Jacob’s Well in a northwesterly direction, skirting the base of Gerizim. u From Jacob’s Well the road takes a northwesterly direction, skirting the base of Gerizim. On the right is the pasture-land of Jacob, yielding abun¬ dant harvests of wheat, barley, beans, lentils, sesamum, cotton and tobacco, and a wealth of wild flowers on every uncultivated patch of ground. A spur of Gerizim runs northward as if to meet a corresponding but less devel¬ oped spur advancing southward from Ebal, the twin mountain opposite j the point of their nearest approach is the true entrance to the Valley of Shechem. As we follow the path around the northern extremity of Geri- zim, the whole length of the valley comes suddenly into sight, with its terraced hillsides, its running streams and olive groves and orchards, above which the mosques and minarets and white house-tops of Nabulus appear, rather more than half a mile distant. “ We pass the spring of Defneh (Daphne) and then the new barracks, to build which many of the stones of the ruins around Jacob’s Well were carried away. Here SAMARIA. 877 the valley seems to widen again, for the steep slope of Gerizim is broken by a deep wady which forms a vast natural amphitheatre. Immediately opposite there is a corresponding ravine reaching almost to the summit of Ebal. It has been conjectured by several writers that it was here that Joshua, after having taken possession of the Promised Land, assembled the tribes of Israel 5 and it would be difficult to find a more appropriate spot for the celebration of the solemn ceremonies described in Deuteronomy xxvii and Joshua viii: 30-35. We cross and recross winding streams and artificial watercourses in gardens and cultivated fields, and pass through picturesque olive-groves where the waysides are in many places brightened with wild flowers and patches of self-sown barley. In a few minutes we enter the eastern gate of Nabulus. u The town, which is almost three-quarters of a mile long, is built in the narrowest part of the valley where it is only one hundred yards wide. It is said that there are eight springs of water in and about Nabulus, each having its special name. The water is conveyed to mosques, public buildings and private houses. Many of the streets have channels of clear water running through them. After being thus utilized, the streams on the western side of the city are allowed to unite and form a stream which turns several mills and flows toward the Mediterranean 5 those on the eastern side irrigate the gardens, and then with a rather abrupt fall flow toward the Jordan. There are no very ancient buildings in Nabulus, and scarcely anything remains to remind us of the ‘New City ? of Flavius but the mutilated vestige of its name. The Crusaders, however, have left several 878 THE HOLY LAND. memorials of their influence here. We at once recog¬ nize their work in the fa 9 ade of the principal mosque, which was originally a church dedicated to St. John. It is at the eastern end of the city, and is called Jamia el Kebir , the Great Mosque. u From this point we enter the bazaars, which are better built and kept in better order than those of Jeru¬ salem. There are small arcades devoted to the sale of tobacco 5 others are filled with the odors of lemons, oranges, citrons and shaddocks. The long narrow bazaar where dried fruits, olives, rice, cheese and butter are sold, leads to another Christian church of the twelfth century, now converted into a mosque called Jamia el Nisr , the Mosque of the Eagle. Making a detour through a street almost blocked up with camels, we pass into the principal bazaar, the finest arcade in Palestine. Here the European goods are displayed, such as Manchester cottons, Sheffield cutlery, Bohemian glasses for narghilehs, and trinkets of all kinds from Marseilles. But the brightest shops are those in which Damascus and Aleppo silks, embroidered jackets and crimson tarbushes appear, with stores of Turkish pipes and amber rosaries from Stamboul, and glass bracelets from Hebron. An open¬ ing in this arcade leads into the khan on the north side of the city, the Khan of the Merchants (Khan Tujjar ). It consists of an extensive square space enclosed by a two-storied range of buildings. A stone stairway leads to the terraced roof, from whence there is an interesting view in every direction. The chief trade of Nabulus is in wool, cotton, olive oil, and soap of excellent quality, and goat-skins in great numbers are converted into khir- behs for carrying water. Sometimes the floor of this SAMAEIA. 379 khan may be seen half covered with the inflated skins laid out for seasoning. Returning to the arcade, we pursue our way westward through narrow bazaars, where smiths, carpenters, weavers, tailors and shoemakers may be seen at work; then turning southward we traverse tortuous lanes and gloomy streets, arched at intervals and built over in many places, till we reach a passage which leads us out of the town just opposite to the ter¬ raced gardens on the slopes of Gerizim, where flourish all c the precious fruits brought forth by the sun 1 (Deut. xxxiii: 14). Oranges, lemons, figs, apricots, pomegran¬ ates, mulberries, walnuts, grapes and almonds follow each other in due season j and hedges of cactus atford the cooling fruit commonly called the prickly pear. On one of these garden terraces Jotham perhaps stood when he cried, ( Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem/ and spoke his parable of the fruit-trees and of the bramble. From a certain point in these gardens, turning toward the northwest we see the outline of the western heights of Ebal and in the foreground the tall square tower— remarkably like the White Tower of Ramleh—which adjoins the Mosque El Khadra , the Green Mosque, another appropriated church of the Crusaders. In the front of this tower a slab is fixed on which there is a r Samaritan inscription. The Samaritans state that they once had a synagogue on this spot, which is popularly known as the Mukum Him Yakub , that is c the Place of the Mourning of Jacob/ for according to local tradition it was here that Jacob stood when the coat of his beloved son Joseph was brought to him, and where, believing him to be dead, 6 he mourned for him many days.’ But the chief interest of Nabulus is centered in a little group 380 THE HOLY LAND. of irregularly built bouses clustered closely together in the southwest quarter, the most crowded part of the city. u Here we find the last remnant of the once powerful Samaritan community. In 1874 they numbered one hundred and thirty-five individuals, of whom fifty-six were married, ten were widows advanced in years, forty- nine were unmarried men and young boys, and twenty were young girls, many of whom were already promised in marriage. Since this date the numbers have decreased. Several marriages have however taken place. Their only synagogue is a small unadorned building, the ap¬ proach to which is a crooked, uncovered, steep stone stairway leading to an open court, where a lemon tree grows near to an arched doorway, through which no one is allowed to enter until he has L put off his shoes. ? The nave is lighted by a circular aperture in the vaulted roof, as is also the northeast transept through which we enter. On the southeast side, which is in the direction of the L Holv Place ’ on Gerizim, there is a veiled recess to which the priests alone have access. The veil which is com¬ monly used consists of a large square curtain of white damask linen, ornamented very skillfully with applique work, apparently of the sixteenth century though the Samaritans regard it as much older $ pieces of red, pur¬ ple and green linen cut into various forms are sewn on it so as to form a complete and harmonious design. u Within the veil are preserved with jealous care, among other literary treasures, three very ancient copies of the Samaritan Pentateuch 5 one of which is said to have been written by Abishua the great-grandson of Aaron. This celebrated roll of the law, which is prob¬ ably of the third century of our era, is preserved in a SAMARIA. 381 cylindrical silver-gilt case, opening as a triptych does on two sets of hinges. The outside of the case is embossed and in some parts engraved. On one of the divisions there is a representation of the Tabernacle of the Wil¬ derness with the Ark of the Covenant, altars, candle¬ sticks, trumpets and various sacrificial implements, with explanatory inscriptions. The two other divisions of the cylinder are ornamented with conventional designs in repousse work. This case is said by experts to be Vene¬ tian work of the fourteenth or fifteenth century. The Samaritans regard it as much older. The roll itself is composed of prepared goat-skins twenty-five inches high and about fifteen feet wide $ they are neatly joined together, but in many places have been torn and rather clumsily repaired with parchment of various qualities. This much-prized volume is exhibited to the congrega¬ tion once a year. The ceremony takes place on their only fast day, the Day of Atonement, and then the people, young and old, are permitted to kiss that part of the roll on which the Aaronic blessings are inscribed 5 the con¬ sequence is that the blessings are by degrees disappear¬ ing. A crimson satin cover, on which Samaritan inscrip¬ tions are embroidered in gold thread, envelopes the treasure.” Under the guidance of Dr. Geikie we make the ascent of Mount Gerizim. u The ascent of Gerizim is made on horseback, but a good part of the way is so steep that it seems wonderful that the beasts can keep their footing among the loose stones. Passing up behind the town you come very soon to a magnificent fountain, the water of which is led eastward by an open water¬ course. At this copious source some women are draw- 382 THE HOLY LAND. ing for their households, others are washing their un¬ savory linen 5 men are enjoying their ablutions, and boys are playing in the water. Gardens climb the hill on the left of the track, beautiful with every fruit tree that grows in Palestine ; at some places grain is springing up vigor¬ ously on terraces raised upon slopes so steep that it seems impossible for their walls to stand. Vines, olives and figs fill stray nooks j but the part of the hill up which our horses have to toil is too stony for cultivation. At several places there are bold cliffs which seem to over¬ hang the town, several of them forming natural pulpits, from any one of which Jotham may have delivered his famous parable, the earliest of which we know (Judg. ix : 7). u After a weary climb we reached the top of the moun¬ tain, but we have a long way to ride before we arrive at the farther end. The narrow plateau,—now sloping up¬ ward, now undulating, now consisting of rough shelves of rock,—is partly ploughed for grain, partly sown ; stone walls separated some of the patches, and a terraced road at one point stretched for a good distance. The spot where the Samaritans still sacrifice seven Paschal lambs is very near the east end of the ridge, close to the true peak of Gerizim. A pit or tannur in which the lambs are roasted is all that appears of last year’s solemnity. Be¬ yond this to the east the highest part of the mountain is crowned with the ruins of a castle and a church. The church has been quite leveled with the ground, but some courses of the castle walls are still standing. u A rock is pointed out—merely a sloping shelf of lime¬ stone—on which Joshua is said to have reared the Taber¬ nacle 5 and a little rock-sunk trench is dignified as the SAMAKIA. 883 scene of Abraham’s sacrifice. Joshua as we know, wrote the whole law on stones which he set up on Ebal (Deut. xxvii: 2 - 8 ) ; coating them with the almost imperishable cement of the country, and writing on it, either with paint or with an iron style or pen while it was soft. Such a mode of preserving writing was common in an¬ tiquity, and in so dry a climate would last almost forever. The Samaritans believe that 1 the twelve stones ’ thus inscribed are still in existence on the top of Mount Geri- zim, but Sir Charles Wilson and Major Anderson exca¬ vated the large masses of rudely hewn stone supposed to be those of Joshua, and found them to be little better than mere natural slabs. u The view from the top of Mount Gerizim is of amaz¬ ing extent and interest—the bare and desolate slopes of Ebal, watered only by rain from cisterns on the successive terraces that have been raised with much labor on its sides ; the gardens on the lower terraces 5 the corn rising on many of those higher up, but the great bare mass of the hill swelling to the sky above; the valley below with its gardens and orchards, the mosque at Joseph’s Tomb, the Well of Samaria, and just outside on the plain the village of Sychar—a poor hamlet on the rocky slope of Ebal, which swells up in slow waves behind it 5 the glo¬ rious Plain of Makhnah — c the Encampment ’—with its fields of rich brown tilth 5 stray villages on its low un¬ dulations j clumps of olives behind them ; and on the other side, to the east, a long succession of round-topped hills, cultivated in terraces wherever there is a shelf for soil. On the west we could see Joppa, thirty-six miles off, at the sea; to the east, the chasm of the Jordan, eighteen miles distant j while at our feet, as if to bring us back 384 THE HOLY LAND. from poetry to prose, the poles of the telegraph from Joppa stood up in their barrenness along the valley, run¬ ning past Jacob’s Well and then south to Jerusalem and Egypt and east to Gilead. u The view from Ebal however is even finer. On the north you see Safed, i the city set on a hill ’ (Matt, v : 14), and the snowy head of Mount Herrnon, with i Thirza/ once the capital of the northern kingdom famed for its beauty (Cant, vi: 4 j 1 Kings : 17 ; xv : 21, 33 ; xvi: 8), shining out on a very steep hill a little way beyond the plain; on the west, Joppa and Ramleh, and the sea j on the south, the hills over Bethel j and on the east, the great plain of the Hauran, beyond the Jordan. A striking ruin on the summit of the mountain gives romance even to the Hill of Curses. The enclosure is over ninety feet square, and the walls are no less than twenty feet thick, strongly built of selected unhewn stones without mortar, with the remains of chambers ten feet square inside. Within the building however is a cistern, and round it are the heaps of stones and ruins. Excavation has thrown no light on the history of the structure. It is too small for a church, for there is only a space fifty feet square inside the amazing walls, and there is no trace of any plaster or cement, such as is associated with the incident of the great stones which Joshua set up, or with any altar that he may have raised on the mountain. Strange to say some peasant had carried his plough up to the top of the mountain and had raised a fine crop of lentils, perhaps in the hope that at such a height they might escape the greedy eyes of the Turkish officials.” It is well worth while to have given a special study to this most interesting region, because it is one of the few SAMAEIA. 385 places in the Holy Land in which we may be quite sure that we are standing on the very ground which was once trod by the Saviour’s feet, that we are gazing on the scenes on which he looked, and that we are recollecting some of the ten thousand things of which he must have thought. Jesus did not only pass through Samaria; he remained for two days among the simple, kindly, hospit¬ able folk who heard him so gladly (John iv : 40, 43); and when he left Samaria he contrasted the honor he had there received with the indifference of his own coun¬ trymen (John iv : 44). Nabulus too is well worthy of study, not only on ac¬ count of its historical interest and the strange people of whom the last remnant seems to be slowly dying out there, but because, in the opinion of many competent persons, and certainly in the opinion of the present writer, Nabulus is the Sychar of the Gospel. Unless the village of Asker formerly stood much nearer to Jacob’s Well than it does now, it seems to be incredible that the woman who went to that well to draw water should needlessly have gone so far for so homely a purpose. True the modern Nabulus is more distant from the well than Asker, but at that time it is probable that the town stretched much further down into the valley j and even now the barracks of Nabulus are considerably nearer to the well than is Asker. In short the conjecture seems to be some¬ thing more than reasonable that Sychar may have been the name given to the outlying suburbs of the main city, and that poor little Asker is only a remnant of extensive suburbs which once stretched far down into the valley and along the base-lines of the two lofty hills. Certainly the language of the Gospel implies that Sychar was a 25 386 THE HOLY LAND. populous town and not merely a village; and we have no knowledge of any other such town near Jacob’s Well except Shechem the modern Nabulus. It therefore seems to be almost certain that it was here that Jesus tarried preaching to Samaritans for those two memorable days. The Christian tradition of the site of Jacob’s Well dates back to the fourth century. Early in the fifth century a church had been erected there, but by the time of the Crusaders it had disappeared. The ruins of this church, with the stones cast into the well by travellers for the pur¬ pose of hearing the splash of the water far beneath the opening, have probably much more than half filled up the well. In 1697 it is recorded to have been 105 feet deep and to have had fifteen feet of water. In 1838 it still had a depth of 105 feet but was found to be dry. In the fol¬ lowing year, with the same depth, it held ten to twelve feet of water. In 1840 the Rev. Andrew Bonar, who accidentally dropped his Bible into the well, heard the book u plunging into the water far below.” Strangely enough the book was recovered three years later; and then, as also in 1866 and in 1877, the depth of the well was found to be only seventy-five feet. By what means thirty feet of depth was filled up in the four years between 1839 and 1843 is not known. In 1866 Captain Anderson of the Royal Engineers made a descent of the well with some danger, and even suffer¬ ing, for he fainted while descending and found himself lying at the bottom with the opening above him looking like a star. Nevertheless he succeeded in making the observations which were the object of his difficult investi¬ gation. He states that the mouth of the well is u just wide enough to allow the body of a man to pass through SAMARIA. 387 with his arms uplifted. The narrow neck, which is about four feet long resembling the neck of a bottle, opens out into the well itself which is cylindrical, and about seven feet six inches in diameter. The mouth of the upper part of the well is built of masonry, and the well appears to have been sunk through a mixture of alluvial soil and limestone fragments till a compact bed of limestone was reached, having horizontal strata which could be easily worked. The interior of the well presents the appearance of being lined with rough masonry.” The reason why the patriarch should have undertaken so great and difficult a work as the sinking of this well, when there were magnificent springs gushing from the sides and roots of Mount Gerizim, must have been the jealousy with which the right of property in springs and wells is guarded in the East. At any moment his flocks and herds might have been deprived of water by the owners of the neighboring springs, who would not will¬ ingly see a customary use of their property growing into a sort of right in the user. To avoid all such diffi¬ culties and the cause which might lead to them, it was doubtless prudent in Jacob to dig a cistern on the parcel of ground which he had acquired by purchase, and from which at the depth it originally had he could expect to find a never-failing supply of water for his flocks and herds. Above and around the well as it is now there is nothing of importance except the stones of the chapel which was built there in the fifth century. The mouth of the well is covered with great stones with an orifice large enough for the leathern bottles of the peasants to pass through it. From the well the ground slopes up to the fragments of 888 THE HOLY LAND. the broken wall, and the visitor must let himself down as best he can to reach the orifice. It was beside this ancient cistern that our Saviour, weary with his long march, sat down to rest. It was high noon; it could not have been morning or evening, for then the well would have been surrounded with girls and women coming to draw water for their families. At that unusual hour came one woman alone, perhaps be¬ cause other women, had they been there, would have cruelly taunted her with her disreputable life. The stranger knew her though she did not know him, and asked her to give him water to drink. The woman was astonished, and well she might be j for the man was a Jew, and the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans. Besides, it was contrary to Eastern etiquette for a rabbi to address a woman not of his own family. The Talmud goes so far as to say that no rabbi u is to speak with a woman in a public place, or to take any notice of her, even if she be his wife.” Perhaps this poor woman was not accustomed to be courteously addressed either by men or by women. At all events she answered him with evident surprise. u How is it that thou, being a Jew,” she said, u askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria V f (John iv : 9.) Into the wonderful discourse which followed we may not enter in this work. That is the loftier theme of preachers and commentators ; but before it was closed the woman had found reason to cry out, u Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet!” And before the two days of his sojourn in that town among the hated Samaritans were over, both she and they had learned to u know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world” (John iv: 42). 1 . . . . - I / _ SAMARIA. 389 After those two days of refreshment, thinking of the fields which He saw whitening for the harvest of the gospel, of the living water which unknown to them He had been showering on their souls, and then again of the few laborers who were willing to reap that harvest of redeemed souls, Jesus went on his way from the fair vale of Shechem, past Samaria,—then in all the pride of its Herodian magnificence, now a mere village with many ruins. On a terrace which ran around the summit of the hill of Samaria was then a stately colonnade 1000 yards in length, with pillars which, including base and capital, must have been twenty or twenty-five feet high, now all broken and many of them buried in the ground. On the western end, on an artificial terrace which is now used as a threshing-floor, then stood the temple which the obsequious Herod reared to Augustus. Five centuries later a magnificent basilica was built on that same mount¬ ain to the honor of the Traveller who then saw Herod’s temple. When that noble Christian edifice had fallen, the Crusaders of the twelfth century raised on the same spot another church bearing the name of John the Bap¬ tist, who as early as the fourth century was thought to have been buried here. That church of St. John is also now a ruin with its apse rising above the steep brink of the hill of Sebastiyeh. Its broken walls enclose a court in the midst of which, beneath a stone slab in a deep- sunk crypt, are said to have been laid the bodies of the Baptist, the faithful Obadiah (1 Kings xviii: 3-16), and the Prophet Elisha. On the north of the church are the ruins of another great building with massive square towers, probably remains of the palace of a bishop during 390 THE HOLY LAND. the Crusades, or of a commandery of the Knights of St. John. Except perhaps the pillars of the colonnade which are yet standing, no work of man’s hand that is now seen at Sebastiyeh could be seen from the road when Jesus passed on his way to Galilee. Beyond Samaria He went through a country which was extremely fertile and populous, but not famous in history, until He came to the plain of Dothan, where a pit is still shown in which Joseph is said to have been put by his conspiring brethren. All around that spot the flocks and herds of Jacob roamed and grazed, and over the same road which we are tracing came the Midi- anitish merchantmen from beyond Jordan bearing their spicery to Egypt. Now u the wild gazelle ” finds pas¬ ture there. Four miles beyond that plain, on the further side of the hills which swell between it and the Plain of Esdraelon, was En Gannim. Passing through the city of fresh springs and fertile gardens, and across the plain of many battles, Jesus and his little company would soon arrive at Nazareth, and thence the way was short to little Cana. CHAPTER XV. TOWNS OF GALILEE-TYRE AND SIDON. In following the steps of our Saviour to this early part of his ministry,—indeed only to its opening,—we have already gone over most of the Holy Land. Landing at Joppa, we have surveyed both the ancient and the modern road to Jerusalem and the famous scenes of sacred history near which they pass. We have vis¬ ited Bethlehem. We have traced the flight into Egypt by Hebron and Beersheba, and the return through the Plain of Philistia. On their way to the Passover at Je¬ rusalem we have journeyed with the Holy Family from the Jordan to Jericho and Jerusalem. We have sought the solitary Wilderness of Judea where the Baptist med¬ itated and the Saviour overcame the tempter. We have at last taken the highway which leads from Jerusalem to the border of Samaria. Thus we have left no part of Judea unnoticed which has any direct connection with the Life of Christ. In like manner we have traced one part of the journey of the Holy Family from Egypt through the maritime Plain of Sharon, and in the last chapter we have surveyed the only remaining part of the province of Samaria which is mentioned in the New Testament. In following the probable path taken to Jerusalem at the first Passover of the Child Jesus we have gone down ( 391 ) 392 THE HOLY LAND. the Ghor of the Jordan, noting as we went that part of the Holy Land which lies beyond the sacred river. Thus we have at least glanced at the Province of Perea and the district of Becapolis . In Galilee we have viewed the Plain of Esdraelon; we have visited Nazareth and Cana and Capernaum; and in going round the Sea of Tiberias we have seen not only its Galilean shore, but its eastern shore in the Province of Iturea. In order therefore to complete our survey of the Holy Land we have yet to take a rapid view of the rest of Galilee and of some of the places which our Saviour could hardly miss when He went into u all the cities and villages ” of that province. Beyond the borders of the Promised Land we must not omit to see u the coasts of Tyre and Sidon ” and u the towns of Csesarea Philippi,” into which He went at the very close of his ministry. Then, after ascending the u high mountain ” of his trans¬ figuration, we may descend as He did to the Holy City and the unknown place whence He was u taken up.” The name of Galilee, which was given to the northern province of the Holy Land, was probably applied at first to the circle (Hebrew, galil ) of the country which King Solomon gave with its twenty towns to Hiram, King of Tyre, in recognition or recompense of the large supplies of money and material which the Tyrian monarch fur¬ nished for the building of the Temple. When he came to see them, Hiram was by no means gratified at the present he had received, and asked King Solomon, u What cities are these which thou hast given me, my brother ? And he called them the land of Cabul unto this day ” (1 Kings ix : 13). The name was one of contemptuous disgust. One of TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 393 the towns in the district was Cabul (Josh, xix : 27) j and as that word in the Phenician language signifies dirty or displeasing , the disappointed monarch gave the name of that town to the entire district which had been ceded to him. Kabul still exists under the same name, and is situated about eight or nine miles east of Akka. Natu¬ rally, the opprobrious name bestowed by King Hiram would not be used by the Israelites or the inhabitants of the district, who would prefer to call it Galil; and when the tribes of Israel were carried into captivity and the Galileans swarmed into the desolate and empty land, the name of their original home was extended to the whole of Northern Palestine. By way of further distinction, Northern Palestine was called Galilee of the Gentiles (Isa. ix : 1; Matt, iv : 15), and with good reason, since the majority of the Galileans were not Israelites. In the time of the Maccabees it seems that the Israelites in Galilee were few and feeble in comparison with the Gentiles among whom they lived (1 Macc. v : 1, 2, 14, 15); and Strabo describes the population as consisting in his time of Syrians, Phenicians and Arabs. It is certain how¬ ever that in the time of Christ the Israelites largely out¬ numbered the Gentiles of any single race, and it is prob¬ able that they had many proselytes to their religion among their heathen neighbors. Galilee was one of the most lovely and delightful por¬ tions of Palestine. Josephus declares that it was densely populated by a hardy and warlike people, and that its rich and fertile soil responded so readily and generously to the labor of the husbandman as to attract all who cared to engage in agriculture. Every acre not under tilth or pasturage was verdant with the foliage of trees. 394 THE HOLY LAND. The cities were numerous, and many of the villages had so large a population as 15,000 souls. A considerable subtraction might be made from what Josephus says and yet leave Galilee a populous and prosperous country. Its hills were crowned with woods. Its upland slopes were the rich grazing-ground of cattle. Its valleys teemed with all the grains and fruits and flowers that a prolific soil could yield under the rays of a Syrian sun. The rabbis never wearied of extolling Galilee. For sixteen miles around Sepphoris, its capital, they said that the land of Galilee literally flowed with milk and honey, and they maintained that its fruits were actually sweeter than fruits of the same species in any other place. Tacitus particularly praised the palms which grew in the most favored dis¬ tricts. Thus Galilee in all respects fulfilled the promise of Moses, that the lot of Naphtali should be u full with the blessings of Jehovah ” (Deut. xxxiii: 23) ; and even in our own day Renan describes it as u a country clothed with verdure, full of shade and pleasantness—the true country of the Canticles and of the Songs of the Well-Beloved.’ 7 The products of Galilee were largely but by no means exclusively agricultural. The wheat fields brought forth u some an hundred-fold, some sixty, and some thirty.” Every season saw the presses bursting with new wine. The product of the olive groves was so abundant that when Jotopata was besieged by the Romans the citizens were able to defend themselves by pouring streams of boiling oil on their assailants. The waters of the Sea of Galilee teemed with fish, for which there was a ready market even so far south as at Jerusalem. In the town of Magdala there are said to have been no less than three hundred shops for the sale of doves from the rocks and TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYEE AND SIDON. 895 woods around. In the same neighborhood there were plantations of indigo, and the art of dyeing was prac¬ ticed extensively and profitably. In the central district there were manufactories of pottery, and the weaving of linen and woollen cloths was one of the chief industries of the whole province. In short, Galilee was the manu¬ facturing region of the Holy Land. It was also a com¬ mercial region. It found a market for its products in the ports of Acre, Tyre and Sidon, and along its highways the costly stuffs, the jewels, the spices and the grain from beyond Jordan were carried to the seaboard. Such was the province into which our Saviour went preaching the Gospel, and in which He spent by far the longest part of his ministry. His was pre-eminently a religion of life, and He went with it among men who were engaged in all forms of human activity. In our Saviour’s time the capital city of Galilee was Sepphoris, also called Dioccesarea , the modern Sefuriyeh , which is perhaps identical with the more ancient Kitron (Judg. i: 30). According to tradition Sepphoris was the home of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the blessed Virgin. It was at Sepphoris, we are told, that the mother of Jesus spent her childhood and received the angelic annunciation. The tradition is late but not in- r credible. It is hardly possible that our Saviour should not have visited Sepphoris, since it was only about five miles from Nazareth. As it is plainly in sight of the hill which rises north of Nazareth, He must at least have seen it hundreds of times, and whether the Cana of the Gospel is the modern Kefr Kenna or Kanet-el-Jelil, He must have been very near to Sepphoris every time he went to the place of his first miracle. 396 THE HOLY LAND. From the midst of a plain surrounded with hills a single hill rises to a height of several hundred feet, and on its southern slope, that is to say, on the side toward Nazareth, is the crescent-shaped town of Sefuriyeh. At that time it had been restored and adorned by Herod An- tipas, and was the greatest city of Galilee, outranking Tiberias itself. It had no natural supply of water, the nearest spring being over a mile distant in the plain to the south, but the remains of an aqueduct and a huge reservoir show the immense labor and expense at which this defect was remedied. The lines of the reservoir have been traced to a length of five hundred and twenty feet, Avith a varying width of from eight to twenty feet and a depth of from eight to fifteen feet, and when full it must have held more than 1,000,000 cubic feet of Avater. After the destruction of Jerusalem the great Sanhedrin was transferred to Sepphoris, A\ r hich thus for a time became the centre of JeAvish nationality and religion. In consequence t of a revolt of the JeAvish inhabitants, it was sacked by the Homans A. D. 339. Sepphoris Avas the residence of the Bishop of Palestina Secunda, and in the sixth century a basilica was erected on the spot where the Virgin is said to have received the angelic salutation. Still later the city was occupied by the Crusaders, and many a gal¬ lant Christian army has assembled in the plain beloAV. On the summit of the hill they built the fortress which they proudly called u the Castle Beautiful/ 7 and around that hill they gathered their forces for the fatal battle of Kurn Hattin, in which the Christians were completely routed by Saladin. The principal apse, and the apse of the north aisle of the basilica of Sepphoris, remain to mark the spot where Mary dwelt, and the ruins of the castle TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYKE AND SIDON. 397 show that it was strong as well as beautiful. If the Cru¬ saders had fought there, where they would have had an undoubted advantage of position, Guy de Lusignan and not the Saracen might have been master of Palestine. The history of the fatal battle of Hattin, as it is called, is admirably given by Dr. Robinson. With considerable abbreviation from his narrative the story runs as follows : It was on the fifth of July, 1187, that the last de¬ cisive battle was fought between the flower of the Chris¬ tian chivalry on the one side with the King of Jerusalem at their head, and on the other the immense power of the Mohammedans commanded by Saladin in person. The usurpation of the crown of Jerusalem by the weak-minded and irresolute Guy de Lusignan had embit¬ tered Count Raymond of Tripolis and many other Chris¬ tian barons; and Raymond, who was now lord of Tibe¬ rias and Galilee, had entered into negotiations with Sal¬ adin and had actually received aid from him. Yet a general truce was concluded with the Sultan, and the Christians were enjoying the prospect of tranquility when suddenly Raynald of Chatiilon, in open violation of the truce, plundered a caravan of Moslem merchants passing between Arabia and Damascus, laid his prisoners in chains, and refused to release them on Saladin’s demand. The enraged sultan made a solemn vow of vengeance, and swore that he would yet kill Raynald with his own hand. Hosts of Moslem warriors were quickly sum¬ moned from Mesopotamia, Egypt and Arabia, and the Christian princes were compelled to lay aside their per¬ sonal strifes to meet the unexpected danger. For five weeks the Christians waited at the fountain of Sefuriyeh, and at length the hosts of Saladin broke 398 THE HOLY LAND. like a flood upon the land. They penetrated to the neighborhood of Nazareth, Jezreel and Mount Gilboa, wasting the country with fire and sword and devastating Mount Tabor. Tiberias was attacked and the town fell, the wife of Count Raymond being compelled to retire into the citadel. Saladin encamped on the heights north of Tiberias in the hope of drawing the Christians on to attack him in that position. On the third day of July the Christian leaders held a council of war. The general voice was in favor of an instant march against Saladin, so as to relieve Tiberias without delay. Count Raymond however, though he might have been expected to be more impatient than the rest, urged that they should remain at Sefuriyeh. If they abandoned their present position, he said, they would ex¬ pose themselves to constant assaults from the Saracen army in a region without w r ater where they might soon find that their retreat had been cut off. To this wise ad¬ vice all in the council agreed, with the single exception of the Master of the Templars. The council broke up at midnight, but hardly had the barons laid them down to rest when the trumpets sounded and heralds went through the camp giving the call to arms. The Master of the Templars after the council had sought the king’s tent, and had overwhelmed him with reproaches for listening to the council of a traitor like Raymond, and the fickle king had yielded to the Templar’s urgency. It was in vain that the barons now sought to expostulate; he refused to listen, and the march toward Tiberias was begun. This movement of the Christians was precisely what Saladin desired. When his scouts reported that the TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 399 Christians were in motion he immediately despatched light troops to hang upon their flanks and rear, while he proceeded to dispose his main army on the high ground above the lake between Tiberias and Hattin. On the after¬ noon of July the fourth the Christians reached the open ground around the village of El-Lubiyeh, where they re¬ ceived a violent onslaught of the Saracens. They were exhausted with the torrid heat and parched with thirst but had not a drop of water to relieve them. Their strength began to fail. Fear and dismay began to spread through their ranks and omens of dire import began to be recognized. But instead of pressing on to the main body of Saladin, or at least forcing their way through to the waters of the lake, the weak-minded king gave orders to encamp on the high rocky plain where there was no water and to defer the final conflict to the following day. The night was dreadful to the Christians, tortured with thirst and sleepless in the momentary expectation of a night attack. To add to their sufferings, the Saracens approached the camp and by burning up the dry shrubs and herbage overwhelmed them with clouds of stifling smoke. When the morning of the fifth dawned they found themselves, as might have been expected, wholly surrounded by the Moslem host. Gallantly forming in solid phalanx, they advanced upon the foe only to find the foe retire before them, while their flanks were con¬ stantly assailed. The strategy of Saladin was to fight no serious battle with them, but to wear them out in a succession of fruitless efforts. Saladin succeeded. Ut¬ terly hopeless and worn out, the foot-soldiers began to break ranks and surrender at discretion. The knights, in great disorder, attempted to withdraw from further 400 THE HOLY LAND. fight and encamp around the Cross; but now the Sara¬ cens pressed them closely, and the archers poured in showers of arrows. King Guy gave orders to renew the fight. It was too late. When ordered to advance, the knights of Raymond raised the coward cry of Sauve qui pent !—spurred their horses through the ranks of the enemy, which opened before them, and he and they escaped in shameful flight in the direction of Tyre. All was lost, but all was not yet over. The king with¬ drew to the height of Hattin; and there, from the spot where Christ is thought to have sat teaching the multi¬ tude, King Guy three times hurled back the Moslem power before the standard of the Cross went down before the crescent. The small remnant of the Christian army were made prisoners. The perfidious Raynald was slain by Saladin’s own hand. Two hundred Christian knights were put to death. The king and captive princes were transferred by their conqueror to Damascus. Thus the Christian power in Palestine was broken. The Christian fortresses, weakened by the loss of their garrisons which had been sent to perish at Hattin, were easily reduced. The Castle of Tiberias surrendered on the day after the battle, and on the next day Saladin marched to the siege of Acre. Before the end of Sep¬ tember Askalon, Joppa, Csesarea, Acre and all the cities of the northern coast except Tyre were in his hands, and on the third day of October Jerusalem capitulated. Sal¬ adin was master of the Holy City. Six miles north of Sepphoris was Jotopata , now Tell Jefatj famous for its siege by Vespasian, and for the cap¬ ture of the Jewish general and historian, Josephus. It is a lofty round hill almost surrounded by mountains and TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 401 connected by a low spur with those on the north. The top of the hill is flat and naked. There are no remains of fortifications, the works of soft limestone having crum¬ bled away. On the north side of the spur are the re¬ mains of a deserted village. The account of the siege of Jotopata given by Josephus is doubtless an exaggera¬ tion, intended at once to glorify himself by the grandeur of his downfall and to gratify the Romans by magnifying the difficulties of the siege. The approach to the city through the Wady Jefat must indeed have been almost impassable to a great army, but the hill of Jefat is by no means so impregnable as Josephus represents it. He says, u Now Jotopata is almost all of it built upon a precipice, having on all the other sides of it valleys im¬ mensely steep and deep, insomuch that those who would look down would have their sight fail them before it could reach to the bottom. This mountain Josephus had encompassed with a wall when he fortified the city.” It was during this siege that the Jews, when worn out with fighting and watching, repulsed the Romans by pouring down upon them floods of boiling oil. The town was at last betrayed by a deserter, who told the Romans how they might attack it successfully. He was not at first believed, as treason was almost unknown among the Jews. Prisoners chose rather to die under torture than reveal the state of their besieged compatriots, and one man who was crucified scornfully smiled at his execu¬ tioners while hanging on the cross. Vespasian how¬ ever thought it well to follow the indications given by the traitor, and Jotopata was taken. Josephus and others took refuge in a cave. Vespasian sent an officer to assure him of his life if he would surrender, but his 26 402 THE HOLY LAND. companions refused to allow him to surrender, notwith¬ standing a specious address in which he sought to induce them to submit. At his suggestion they then resolved that they would all die together, and drew lots with the understanding that the drawer of the first should he slain by the second, and he by the third, and so on. All per¬ ished except Josephus and one other man, who agreed with him that life was better than death. It would be too much to say that Josephus contrived to manipulate the lots so as to save his own life after witnessing the death of his companions; but his sanctimonious reasons for his conduct stamp him as a hypocrite who might easily be guilty of such a fraud. It would be interesting to know whether our Saviour, in his circuit through u all the cities and villages v of Galilee, ever entered the only seaport of the province, which was then called Ptolemais. Its more ancient name had been Accho , which signifies Hot Sand. Its modern names are Akka and Acre or Saint Jean d’Acre. Akka is situated at the northern headland of the beautiful bay, the only bay on all the coast of Palestine, of which Mount Car¬ mel forms the southern promontory. Across the bay from Akka to the head of Carmel the distance is about six miles. Like Joppa on the coast of Judea, and like Csesarea in Samaria, Ptolemais was an unsafe port for shipping j but as it was the only port to which the way was open from the Plain of Esdraelon, from the plains lying north of the Nazareth hills, and through these from the country beyond Jordan, it was a place of much im¬ portance ; and being surrounded on three sides by the sea with a narrow neck of land in front, it was singu¬ larly well adapted for defence. It commands the en- TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 403 trances to Galilee, and round the sandy beach which lies between Carmel and the sea many an army has marched from the Plain of Acre into the Plain of Sharon. Acre has therefore been properly regarded as the military key to Palestine j and since foreign rice has become the ordinary food of the inhabitants, it has been said with some truth that u the lord of Acre, if he will, may cause a famine to be felt all over Syria.’ 7 At the very foot of the northern side of Mount Carmel, and within the bay—commonly called the Bay of Acre—is the little port of Haifa. Steamers call at it when the weather permits, but the harbor has long been choked with sand and also it is said by mud from the mouth of the Nile. Thence around the bay to Akka there is a broad belt of sand between the sea and the green plain beyond. The shore is strewn with the wrecks of ships where many a gallant vessel has gone to pieces. Two miles north from Haifa is the mouth of the Kishon, the bed of which is at one time wholly dry, at other times easily fordable, and then again only to be crossed by swimming the horses. The Kishon is so uncertain a stream and runs, if it can be said to run, through so treacherous a swamp, that no one except McGregor, the adventurous navigator of the Rob Roy, has ever attempted to explore its course. Even he was compelled to abandon his enterprise when a large crocodile rose under his famous canoe and nearly upset it. Yet further on toward Akka is a dark and sluggish stream called Nahr en Waman , the ancient Belus , where u the treasures hid in the sand ” were first revealed by the vitrification which suggested the art of making glass (Deut. xxxiii: 19). Along this shore there were fish¬ eries of the purple sea-snail which is still to be found, 404 THE HOLY LAND. and from which was made the famous Tyrian purple. The soil of the plain is naturally rich, and fully justifies the prophetic saying of Asher “let him dip his foot in oil,” that “ his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties ” (Deut. xxxiii: 24 ; Gen. xlix : 20). Though this fertile country fell to the lot of the tribe of Asher, Accho was never wrested from its original inhab¬ itants (Judg. i: 31), and was described by ancient writers as a city of Phoenicia. It is never mentioned in the Old Testament history except in this one passage in Judges, and in profane history it is not mentioned as a place of importance until after the dismemberment of the empire of Alexander. In the division of that empire, it was given with the rest of Phoenicia to Ptolemy Lagus, and received the name of Ptolemais, probably in honor of Ptolemy Soter. In the wars which followed between Egypt and Syria, Ptolemais was taken by Antiochus the Great, who made it his base of operations against the Maccabees after they had gained possession of Judea. Simon Maccabeus drove the Syrians back to Ptolemais, but did not take the city (1 Macc. v : 22). On the decay of the Syrian power, Ptolemais succeeded in establishing its independence j but it was taken by Cleopatra, and by her transferred with her daughter Selene to the Syrian monarchy. It was next besieged and taken by Tigranes, but fell at length under the all-conquering power of Rome and was raised to the dignity of a Roman colony by the Emperor Claudius. Many Jews must have resided in Ptolemais, since two thousand of them were put to death at the outbreak of the Roman war. The church was early planted there, and St. Luke records that on their way from Tyre to Jerusalem he and St. Paul “came to TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYBE AND SIDON. 405 Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day ” (Acts xxi: 7). The mediaeval and modern history of this ancient city is full of vicissitudes. After the fall of Jerusalem and the surrender of Caesarea it was taken by the Arabs in A. D. 638. After a siege begun in 1103 it was taken by Baldwin in 1104. For more than eighty years it flourished under the Crusaders, until it was taken from them by Saladin in 1187. In 1189 King Guy de Lu- signan besieged it on the landward side with an army of 10,000 men, while a Pisan fleet co-operated with him by sea; but for two years the city held out. On the 15th of June, 1191, Richard Coeur de Lion joined in the attack, and on the 12th of July Acre fell. It contained many Saracens of rank whom Richard offered to put to ransom; but Saladin not paying the ransom agreed upon, the English conqueror brutally slaughtered 2500 pris¬ oners in a field outside the city. For a hundred years Acre continued to be the centre of Christian power in Palestine. It was the court of the King and the seat of the Patriarch. The Knights of St. John established their headquarters there, and from them it took its mediaeval name of Saint Jean d’Acre. The Teutonic Knights followed, and acquired large estates in the vicinity. A reign of luxury and confusion followed, such as probably has never been seen in any other city of the world. There was a nominal sovereign, but there was no real sovereignty. The motley remnants of the Christian powers claimed absolute independence of each other. Within the narrow limits of which Acre was the chief place, Gibbon says, “ The kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus, of the House of Lusignan; the Princes of Anti- 406 THE HOLY LAND. och j the Counts of Tripoli and Sidon ; the great Masters of the Temple, the Hospital and the Teutonic Orders ; the Republics of Venice, Genoa and Pisa j the Pope’s Legate ; the kings of France and England,—assumed an independ¬ ent command. Seventeen tribunals exercised the power of life and death.” The end of this confusion came when the Sultan Ashraf took and utterly destroyed the city, which was never rebuilt until the 18th century. About the middle of the 18th century a certain Sheikh Zahir el Omar established himself in Central Palestine and made his residence at Acre, which he fortified, and which under him became prosperous. Unhappily he was succeeded by Jezzar Pasha, whose name of Jezzar , the Butcher, fitly characterized the man, but who added largely to the buildings of the city. In 1799 Acre was besieged by the French under Napoleon, but after eight desperate assaults they failed to take it, and Sir Sidney Smith rolled back the tide of conquest on the French invader. In 1804 Jezzar died, to the great relief and joy of his subjects, who were thenceforth in comparative peace. In 1831 Ibrahim Pasha invaded Syria from Egypt and besieged Acre. In 1832 the city fell and was mercilessly plundered ; and scarcely had it recovered from that misfortune when it was again bombarded by the fleets of England, Austria and Turkey, who were resolved to drive out the Egyptian Pasha. After these many devastations Acre has ceased to have any antiquities, and when one considers all that it has passed through, the old saying seems to be true, u Happy is the people that has no history !” The popula¬ tion numbers about 11,000 souls, of whom three-fourths are Mohammedans. There is a large trade in the export TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 407 of grain from the country beyond Jordan. The trans¬ port over land is by camels, and long trains of these patient beasts of burden are constantly passing along the road north of Nazareth and near to Sefuriyeh. In the time of our Saviour, when the country was at its highest point of prosperous activity, u the multitude of camels 77 and u dromedaries of Midian 77 thronged that same road in greater numbers than now; and even in his child¬ hood at Nazareth the Saviour must often have beheld the commerce of the great Roman world moving past the quiet and secluded village where he had his home. From the Kishon northward the plain of Acre extends about twenty miles with an average width of five, and ends at the rugged ridge of the Ladder of Tyre which juts out two miles into the sea. The ridge is eight miles wide, and has three distinct promontories. The most southerly is called Las el MusJieirifeh. It is the loftiest and boldest, and has often been erroneously de¬ scribed as the Ladder of Tyre. The second however which is called Las en Nakurah is the true Scala Tyri- oram. The third is Las el Abyad , which does not jut into the sea more than about a mile. An eloquent traveller says, u The route from Acre to Tyre is very wild and varied. A three hours 7 progress over the fine plain of Acre ends at the foot of bold cliffs of toilsome ascent. The path overhangs the sea, which it commands beautifully, yet fearfully, to a great extent both behind and in front. All is not barren ; the naked masses of rock are often relieved by more fertile places covered with lavender and rosemary, with a sprinkling of lofty trees. It is a silent, sublime and sea-beat scene, recall¬ ing vividly many parts of the British coast where the 408 THE HOLY LAND. Atlantic rolls its strength against the granite precipices; so like in feature, in sound, in association, that at times one can scarcely believe this to be part of the ruined Land of Promise. Thickets of myrtle and bay at inter¬ vals border the narrow and rugged path which is cut through the calcareous rock. In one part the track is really perilous, winding on the side of vast perpendicular precipices, with the sea dashing far below and the horrible path hanging above. There the traveller will do well to dismount if he wishes to enjoy the wild sublimity of the scene, and to listen calmly to the fierce music of the waves dashing against the rocks. On the most southerly of the three promontories of the ridge is a ruined watch- tower from which the ruins of Tyre are first seen. The noonday light beats full upon its rocks, its peninsula of sand, its ruined palaces, and its modern homes; but no cry of the mariner, no voices from the once crowded mart or from the chambers of departed luxury, come over the waters.” From the Ladder of Tyre to the city of Tyre the road lies along a narrow plain which bears the same name, and which is rarely more than two miles wide. The dis¬ tance in a straight line is sixteen miles, but the winding of the shore makes the road something over twenty. About three miles south of Tyre is an ancient reservoir called Has el Ain , or the Head of the Spring, where tradition has it that our Saviour was met by the Syro- Phoenician woman (Mark vii: 24-31) whose humility in asking only for crumbs from the Master’s table brought her so rich a reward. Somewhere in that narrow plain they must have met on the only occasion certainly known to us when liis feet trod on Gentile soil after the TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 409 return from Egypt. Mediaeval tradition affirms that He rested on a great stone near Ras el Ain, and that after drinking of its water which Peter and John brought him He blessed the beautiful spot from whence it came. Tyre is a difficult place to treat briefly $ not that its present appearance might not be easily portrayed with pen or pencil, but that its long and eventful history is so full of historical romance that to condense it is almost impossible. At present Tyre stands on a peninsula, but a more ancient town existed on the mainland while the future site of the great Queen City of Syria was yet two rocky and barren islands. The original name of that ancient town has perished. In history it is mentioned only as Palsetyrus or Old Tyre, though it continued to be inhab¬ ited for many ages as a suburb of the younger commer¬ cial city. At an early time the two islands were united by filling up the space between them with stones, and the action of the waves, filling the crevices with sand, made the two islands nearly one. The name of Tyre in Hebrew, and probably also in the Phenician language, was Tzor , from which came on the one hand Tyrus or Tyre , and on the other Sara and the modern name of Sur. It is ex¬ tremely likely that the whole province of Syria took its name from the same root. The island city measured only 1200 yards from north to south and 800 from east to west. Its entire circuit did not amount to three miles, and its area was not over two hundred acres. It was bordered with rugged rocks rising thirty or forty feet above the sea, which the inhabitants cut out into docks and convenient landing-places. On the northern side was a harbor of small extent, not having much over 410 THE HOLY LAND. twelve acres of surface, and on the south there appears to have been a mole which formed another and larger harbor. But the Tyrian works have never been accu¬ rately traced. Only the immense size of the blocks of granite and the grand columns—grand though fallen— which are still to be seen, many of them under the waves, show that in its days of prosperity the ships of Tyre lacked no means of safety that art or industry could fur¬ nish. The narrow limits of Phenicia proper, extending only from Tyre to Sidon twenty miles north and thence to Berytus the modern Beyrout, were in ancient times in¬ habited by a people of one race who were called Sidon- ians. Virgil calls Tyre itself the Sidonian City, and a much earlier author calls the inhabitants of Tyre Sidon- ians (1 Kings v : 6). From these facts it may perhaps be inferred that Sidon was at first the chief city of Phenicia and was afterward outstripped by its more en¬ terprising rival. In the time of Joshua Tyre was a u strong city,” that is, a fortified place (Josh, xix : 29); but although it was allotted to the tribe of Asher, it was never taken into possession. There as elsewhere the children of Israel u dwelt among the Canaanites, for they did not drive them out ” (Judg. i : 31, 32) ; but they continued never¬ theless to be reckoned as belonging to Israel, so that, when David made his census of all his subjects, the Israelitish inhabitants of Tyre were included in the enumeration (2 Sam. xxiv : 7). Between Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre, a strong friendship existed. For the building of the temple Hiram sent cedar trees and fir trees in rafts from Tyre to Joppa, a distance of TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 411 seventy-four geographical miles, besides making other valuable contributions to the sacred work j and Solomon, in return, sent grain and oil to Hiram (1 Kings v: 9 ; 2 Chron. ii: 16). The consequence of these royal ex¬ changes of courtesy was a league between the two mon- archs, and although Hiram was not greatly pleased at the gift of the district or circle (galil) of Cabul which Solo¬ mon gave him (1 Kings ix : 10-15), he could hardly have been displeased with the trading privileges which were granted to him in certain parts of the Bed Sea (1 Kings ix : 26—28). In the story of the intercourse of Hiram and Solomon we have some insight into the state of Tyre at that time. Its government was monarchical; it was engaged in an extensive commerce j it had a large trade in the timber with which the mountains of Lebanon were covered j but above all, it had attained to such skill in the working of metals that Hiram, a widow’s son of the tribe of Naphtali, a workman of Tyre, was the artificer of all ornamental metal-work of the temple (1 Kings vii: 13-45). After the division of Israel into two kingdoms the northern division continued the alliance with Phenicia, and King Ahab married the bloody Jezebel, who was a daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Sidonians (1 Kings •*xvi:31); but when the ten tribes fell into misfortune their former friends were perfectly ready to purchase their effects from the conquerors, and even to make mer¬ chandise of the Israelitish captives whom they sold in Grecian ports (Joel iii: 4-8 ; Amos ix : 10). Tyre was then enjoying a period of marvellous prosperity. She had founded the city of Carthage which at one time had more than an even chance to become the mistress of the 412 THE HOLY LAND. world. She had gained possession of the island of Cyprus. She had engaged the services of an army of faithful mercenaries (Ezek. xxvii: 10, 11) who defended her against all comers. She traded with Arabia for gold from the further east; from Spain she brought silver, lead, tin and iron ; from Cyprus, and perhaps also from the Cau¬ casus, she received consignments of copper; Palestine sent her an abundant supply of wheat, oil, honey and balm ; her wine came from Damascus ; caravans from the Persian Gulf brought her the precious ivory of India; her famous purple dye-stuffs were found on her own coast and came also from Peloponnesus, and every known sea was whitened with Tyrian sails made of cloth woven in Egypt. The narrow boundaries of her city could not contain the population required for her trade and manu¬ factures, and she built houses of many stories in height —a style of architecture which commanded the admira¬ tion and the envy of her neighbors. So self-confident was she that when Nebuchadnezzar advanced against Jerusalem she was not alarmed at the advance of that powerful monarch, but rather rejoiced in the approaching downfall of a city which under King Josiah had within a few years done despite to the gods which were adored in Tyre. When she was herself attacked and besieged by Nebuchadnezzar she held out stoutly for thirteen years, and it is doubtful whether she submitted at last or whether she entered into an alliance with him. But that long war weakened her and for a time she fell behind Si- don in commercial and political importance. She fell first under the yoke of Egypt and then of Persia; but she still maintained a certain independence, and when Cambyses would have had her attack Carthage she boldly refused TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 413 to make war on the city she herself had founded. Her dark day came when she was summoned to surrender by Alexander the Great. She clung to her Persian connec¬ tion and the conqueror attacked her. Secure in her island defences she defied the Macedonian 5 but Alex¬ ander constructed a road between the city and the main¬ land which the sand has now made half a mile in width. Attacked from the land side Tyre fell, and the conqueror took bloody vengeance upon his gallant enemies, putting many thousands of them to the sword and selling 30,000 captives into slavery. Gradually Tyre recovered from this fearful blow. First under the Syrians and then under the Romans, she was permitted to enjoy a reasonable measure of freedom. Under Augustus she again became wealthy 5 her trade revived, her people were prosperous. Her dye-works alone were so considerable an industry that Strabo says they made the city an unpleasant place of residence j he adds that the houses were loftier and had more stories than the houses at Rome. Pliny says that the whole city, including the peninsula and Palsetyrus on the mainland, was nineteen Roman miles in circumference. There is little doubt that its resident population was greater than that of Jerusalem; and if it was so, it was undoubtedly the largest city our Saviour ever visited. That he did visit it is all but certain, since in passing to u the coasts ” of Sidon he would almost certainly pass through Tyre. Besides, Nazareth was only thirty miles from Tyre, and we may easily conceive that he went there frequently during the nearly thirty years of his life of which the Gospels contain no record. It is very doubtful whether the Greek language was used in Nazareth, but it was 414 THE HOLY LAND. spoken at Tyre, and it was undoubtedly the language used in his conversation with the Greek woman whom he met within the Tyrian border (Mark vii: 24-31). Where our Saviour learned to speak Greek we do not know, but it is by no means impossible that he may have acquired it in the course of frequent visits to Tyre. Christianity was early planted at Tyre. On his jour¬ ney from Macedonia to Caesarea the ship in which St. Paul sailed called there to change cargo, and the Apostle found brethren in the city with whom he spent seven days (Acts xxi: 3-7). The Christian community grew rapidly. A Bishop of Tyre is recorded to have been present at a Church Council as early as the close of the second century. For ages this fortunate city continued to flourish without a break in her prosperity while nearly every other city of the East was ravaged again and again; but her course was checked when she was taken by the Moslems in the seventh century and was sub¬ jected to degrading regulations. She was again flour¬ ishing as the greatest commercial city of Syria when she was taken by the Crusaders on the 27th of June, 1124. In the following year the celebrated William of Tyre became Archbishop. Under the Crusaders Tyre became famous for its manufacture of glass. In 1190 the body of the German Emperor, Frederic Barbarossa, was buried there. Early in the fourteenth century the in¬ habitants, seeing that it was impossible longer to hold out against the Saracens, abandoned the city by night, making their escape on the sea side, so that when the enemy entered it was to find nothing but an empty town. Tyre soon fell into complete decay. In the sev¬ enteenth century it had become a mere heap of ruins oc- TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYRE AND SIDON. 415 cupied by a few wretched fishermen; in 1751 it had only ten inhabitants. During the present century it has somewhat revived, but Beyrout has secured the trade which might again have made it an important commer¬ cial city. It has now a population of about 6000, of whom one-half are Mohammedans and the rest are Chris¬ tians and Jews. The streets are miserable $ the houses are dilapidated j few antiquities are to be found $ even the hewn stones of the former dwellings and harbors have been taken away, and are still in course of removal, to be used at Acre and Beyrout. On the peninsular part of Tyre the most interesting object is the Crusader’s Church of St. Mark, which was built by the Venetians. It is said to have been founded in 1125 and completed early in the thirteenth century; possibly it occupies the same site as an earlier basilica which was consecrated by Eusebius in 323. It was in the Church of St. Mark that the body of Barbarossa was deposited, but German explorers have failed to discover the exact spot of his sepulchre. The central part of the ancient Palsetyrus on the main¬ land is marked by a hill or mound called Tell Mol shuk , where the Mohammedan sanctuary called Wely Ma ’ shuk is perhaps a survival of a Tyrian temple. Met? shuk (Beloved) was perhaps Astarte, the Beloved of Hercules, who brought her the treasures of the ocean. The slopes of the hill are covered with ruins, and many sarcophagi have been found there. Behind the Tell on the east is a necropolis. Two or three miles to the eastward of Ras el Ain is one of the most ancient and striking monuments in all Syria. It is called Kabr Hairan , the Tomb of Hiram. It is undoubtedly a Phenician work of great 416 THE HOLY LAND. antiquity, and it may very possibly be the actual tomb of King Hiram. The pedestal consists of huge stones in two tiers, above which is a still thicker slab of rock overhang¬ ing the rest of the pedestal on all sides. On the slab rests a massive sarcophagus of irregular pyramidal form covered with a stone lid. Excavations made by Renan show that there is a rock chamber under the tomb with a stairway from the north end of the monument. The road from Tyre to Sidon runs along the narrow plain by the sea through a country full of interest from the many antiquities which are everywhere to be found. To none of them, however, can we give attention here. We can pause only to notice the River Litany, which has its chief source near Baalbec, far to the north of Mount Hermon, and rushes between the mighty mountain ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, through the wildest gorges in Palestine, to lose itself in the Mediterranean a few miles north of Tyre. Midway between Tyre and Sidon is a town at which we must pause for a moment, since it was to that town and along this same road by the sea that the u Lord of Hair/’ the grim yet gentle Prophet Elijah, went when the sky was like brass and the whole earth was parched under a three years’ drought. In this little town, upon a hillside by the sea, was she who was to minister to the prophet at that time. There were many widows in Israel, but to none of them was Elijah sent (Luke iv : 25). He was sent to the poor widow of Zarephath ,—afterwards called Sarepta , and now Sarfend ,—whom he found gather¬ ing two sticks to cook the only handful of meal that re¬ mained in the barrel and the little oil that remained in the cruse that she and her son might eat it before they TOWNS OF GALILEE—TYKE AND SIDON. 417 died. But after she had given that last morsel of food to the hungering prophet the barrel of meal did not waste, neither did the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sent rain upon the earth (1 Kings xvii: 8-24). As we go northward toward Sidon we are reminded of the words with which the historian Gibbon closes his chapter on the Crusades, u A mournful and solitary silence now prevails along the shore which once resounded with the world’s debate.” From early times until the close of the Crusading adventures to win the Holy Land, Phenicia has indeed u resounded with the world’s de¬ bate.” Now all is still. Since Gibbon wrote, these shores have heard the roar of cannon ; but now again there is stillness—almost of death. But there will yet be a resurrection, and these solitary places may hereafter rejoice and blossom as the rose. Sidon, now called Saida , shows decided signs of revival, but it is far indeed from the glory which it once had. In Bible history it does not possess the interest of Tyre, and its story may be more easily condensed. In Genesis x : 15 Sidon is called the first-born son of Canaan. His descend¬ ants had their original abode near the Persian Gulf. Their territories in Phenicia were not always confined to the narrow strip of sea-coast but extended far inland. Their history, as related by themselves, was a mere tissue of mythological conceits. Their settlements formed them¬ selves into states under a kind of aristocracy, and were joined in a confederacy of which it is probable that Sidon was chief and therefore gave the general name of Sidon- ians to the people over whom it had some pre-eminence. Soon however Tyre outstripped the mother city and as¬ sumed a leading position which Sidon never regained. In 27 418 THE HOLY LAND. the book of Joshua, Sidon is dignified as “the Great” (xix: 28) ; and although the great city fell behind her sister, and seems to have acknowledged some sort of dependence upon her (1 Kings v : 6 j Ezek. xxvii: 8), yet she re¬ tained her own autonomy under her own kings (1 Kings xvi:31; Jer. xxv : 22). The Sidonians were eminent in the learning of that age, that is in astronomy and arithmetic, as Tyre was in manufactures. In commerce they both excelled. In general the course of the history of Sidon runs parallel with that of Tyre, except that under the Persian rule Sidon was almost utterly destroyed in consequence of a revolt, B. C. 351. Forty thousand persons are said to have been massacred at that time, and thereafter the city was comparatively insignificant. It was still however treated with a certain consideration, and in the Roman period it was governed by its own Senate and municipal officers. Its most famous manu¬ facture was that of glass. Christianity was introduced into Sidon at an early date. On his journey to Rome, Paul was permitted to visit his friends there (Acts xxvii: 3). At the Council of Nicsea, A. D. 325, a bishop of Sidon was present. On the inva¬ sion of Syria by the Mohammedans, Sidon submitted to the followers of the Prophet without a blow; but its submis¬ sion did not save it from fearful vicissitudes during “ the world’s debate ” which followed. After a siege of six weeks it was taken by Baldwin in 1111. In 1187, after the battle of Kurn Hattin, Saladin razed it to the ground. Ten years later it was re-occupied by the Crusaders, but they were driven out in the same year, and what re¬ mained of the town w r as again destroyed. In 1228 it was rebuilt by the Christians and strongly fortified, but TOWNS OF GALILEE— 1 TYRE AND SIDON. 419 in the year 1249 it was once more razed. Kefortified by Louis IX in 1253, it was purchased by the Templars; but again, within seven years, it was devastated by the Mongols. Passing finally under the Moslem power, it was cruelly devastated, and for centuries it seemed to have been extinguished. In the beginning of the seven¬ teenth century, however, it was made the residence of the Druse Emir ed-Din, under whom it flourished and be¬ came noted for its silk trade j and after the fall of the Emir the prosperity of Sidon continued until its commerce was annihilated by Jezzar Pasha. Under the government of Ibrahim Pasha it once more revived and the town was fortified, but in 1840 the allied fleet dismantled the forti¬ fications. In 1860 the Christian population was fearfully persecuted at the instigation of the Turkish governor, and nearly 2000 Christians are said to have been brutally massacred. Since then Saida has had rest. Saida is beautifully situated on a promontory, in front of which is an island. Beyond the plain and the foot¬ hills on the east rise the snowy crests of Lebanon. In the environs are orchards full of bananas and palm trees. The anchorage is not good. All around the island are remains of quays built of large hewn stones ; but since Fakhr ed-Din closed the mouth of the harbor to exclude the Turkish fleet, the hewn stones of the quays have been removed to be used elsewhere, and now in stormy weather the sea washes over the rocks into the harbor. The population is about 11,000 souls, of whom 8000 are Mohammedans ; the rest are Jews, Christians and Maron- ites. In the necropolis are many curious tombs, some of which are of high antiquity. But of u Sidon the Great,” of the Sidon which Assyrian, Macedonian, Egyptian, 420 THE HOLY LAND. Roman, Arabian, Frankish, Saracen and Turkish armies entered and plundered, each after the other, nothing re¬ mains. Sidon is a city of the past. Saida is a modern Syrian trading town. CHAPTER XVI. FROM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAREA PHILIPPI. When our Saviour departed from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon on his return to the Sea of Galilee his most direct route would be almost on a straight line to the southeast through Giscala and Safed to Capernaum. He did not tarry there, however, but went at once among the cities of Decapolis. Those ten famous cities were Gentile colonies enjoying under the Romans many special privileges and immunities which had made them wealthy and prosperous. Few of them had ever been cities of Israel, and the Israelites on their return from captivity had never been able to re-occupy even those which had been theirs. Their very names had been changed. Beth-shean, for example, had come to be called Scytli- opolis, or the Scythian City, from the colonists who had been settled there under the Graeco-Syrian monarchy. It is remarkable that of ?11 the great cities of Decapolis, not one, unless we except Damascus which was not cer¬ tainly one of them, is now of any importance. Seven are entirely desolate and uninhabited; only three have a few wretched people,—living at Scythopolis and Canatha in huts and caves, and at Gadara in the ancient tombs. It was to these Gentile or semi-Gentile communities that Jesus paid a brief visit after leaving Tyre and Sidon (Mark vii: 31). He was not unknown in that region, ( 421 ) 422 THE HOLY LAND. for the fame of his wonderful works had already gone abroad there (Mark v : 20), and He had hardly made his appearance in the district before a man was brought to him who was wholly deaf and had also an impediment in his speech. In connection with the healing of this man St. Mark has recorded one of the very words and one of the few significant gestures of our Saviour ; for it was then that He lifted his eyes to heaven and sighed as He spoke the commanding word, u Ephphatha /”—Be opened! —at which the sufferer’s u ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain ” (Mark vii: 32-35). It was in vain that Jesus charged the people not to publish what He had done ; u the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it.” Thousands pressed around him and followed his steps into the rural places which He preferred to crowded cities. Even into the wilderness four thousand of them followed him, and it was there that He fed them all, Avhen they were faint and famishing, with seven loaves and a few small fishes (Matt, xv : 32-38 j Mark viii: 1—8). Again our Lord returned to the Sea of Galilee, but only to encounter the opposition of his enemies while He went about doing good (Mark viii: 10-26). u He came unto his own and bis own received him notbut He had u other sheep ” which were not of that fold. In the days to come He was yet to bring those other sheep into the fold which his own refused to enter $ and at this time He seems to have looked with great longing to the multitude of those unfolded sheep. He had gone into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon; He had visited the cities of Decapolis, and now He went once more beyond the boundaries of Israel to visit the towns of Csesarea Philippi (Matt, xvi: 13). FROM DECAPOLIS TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI. 423 In going from the Sea of Galilee our Lord and his disciples had a choice of routes. Leaving Bethsaida- Julias on the east side of the Jordan, they could travel nearly in a straight line northward to Caesarea, passing through many towns, the sites of which are still marked by tells or ruins all along that road. If they started from Capernaum, they might go along the w r est side of the Jordan for nearly ten miles and then cross to the eastern side over a bridge or through a ford of the river a little to the south of Lake Huleh. At the present day the crossing is by a bridge called the Jisr Benat Yakut ), or the Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters. It is not an ancient structure, though it is strongly built of basaltic rock, and it was last repaired by Jezzar Pasha, the cruel ruler of Acre. It is quite certain that this has always been the caravan route from Damascus and the Hauran to Egypt and all parts of the Holy Land, and it was undoubtedly by this route that Saul of Tarsus went breathing threat- enings and slaughter against the followers of Christ at Damascus. The Jisr Benat Yakub is a point of military import¬ ance. During the Crusades it was occupied and lost by Baldwin III. Baldwin IV recovered and strength¬ ened it by building a castle which he committed to the Templars in 1178, only to be destroyed by Saladin in the following year. Its ruins remain at some distance from the bridge. In 1799 this was the extreme point of the French invasion of Syria, and in turning their backs upon the Jisr Benat Yakub the French abandoned the dream of oriental conquest with which the ambition of Napoleon had inspired them. The Jordan here is eighty- seven feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and rushes 424 THE HOLY LAND. rapidly toward the Sea of Galilee in a channel which is eighty feet wide, full of fish, and fringed on both sides with oleanders, zakkum, papyrus and gigantic reeds. The most probable, or certainly at least the most inter¬ esting, route from Capernaum to Caesarea would be alto¬ gether on the west side of the Jordan to the northern boundary of the country and thence to the eastern side. All along that route our Saviour and his disciples would pass through or near towns and cities famous in the his¬ tory of Israel. Back from the river and the western shore of Lake Huleh rises a chain of hills, most of which were once crowned with cities and populous villages. In front, toward the river and the lake, are rich plains of arable land, and where these are abruptly cut off by a steep descent there lies between the hills and the lake a swamp of rank and marshy vegetation. The whole of the southern end of Lake Huleh is bordered with impene¬ trable morass or cane-brake, in which is found the largest growth of papyrus in the world. At its base the tri¬ angular stalk of the paper plant, which the Arabs call babeer , is three inches thick, and on the top waves a tuft like broom-corn. The open water of the lake is merely a triangle, but north of it, where the water is not visible, is a mass of floating papyrus, through which and under which the stream of the Jordan makes its way. The plain around the lake-swamp is exceedingly productive. The thistles grow to an enormous height, out-topping a man on horseback, and their sharp thorns are a great annoyance to horses. The wild mustard grows so high and strong that finches often take refuge in its branches. This is the most magnificent hunting-ground in Palestine $ panthers, leopards, bears, wild boars, wolves, jackals, FROM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAREA PHILIPPI. 425 hyenas, foxes and gazelles abound. Of water fowl there is no end. The pelican is also found in the waters of Merom, and it is said that the number of crows and rooks is so enormous as to surpass anything known elsewhere. In the oozy swamp the u bulls of Bashan ” still delight to wallow, and on the surrounding plain they find perennial pasturage. The herbage is so mingled with flowers as to make a paradise for bees, so that the land might liter¬ ally flow with milk and honey, and the butter is the best in Palestine. A species of lily is found here which may have been in our Saviour’s mind when he said, u Con¬ sider the lilies how they grow.” u That lily,” says Dr. Thomson, u is large, and the inner petals meet above, forming a gorgeous canopy such as art cannot approach and king never sat under, even in his utmost glory. When I found this glorious flower in all its loveliness I felt assured that it was to such as that He referred. We call it the Huleh lily because it was here that it was first discovered. It is a species of iris, but with its botanical name, if it have one, I am unacquainted, and I am not anxious to learn of any other than that which connects it with this neighborhood.” The distance from the Sea of Galilee to Lake Huleh is ten miles, and north of the lake for eight miles more on either side of the Jordan lies a fertile plain five miles wide. Opposite to Lake Huleh at its middle point is a conical hill called Tell Khureibeh , or the Hill of the Ruin, which some authorities believe to be the ancient Edrei (Josh, xix : 37), but which Dr. Robinson identifies with Hazor . A little to the northwest of it is Tell Harah , which Wilson believes to be the true Hazor, but which Tristram thinks is Harosheth. At Tell Harah are many cisterns which 426 THE HOLY LAND. escaped the ravages of the Crusades, and which show that the city which once stood there must have been large and populous. Hazor was the capital of Jabin with whom Joshua fought the last decisive battle of the conquest (Josh, xi: 1-15). The victory was complete, but the conquest of Hazor was not permanent, since in the time of the Judges there was another u Jabin King of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles ” (Judg. iv : 2). We have already sketched the great battle in which Barak and Deborah destroyed the army of Jabin under Sisera in the Plain of Esdraelon; we may now give Dean Stanley’s account of the victory of Joshua over the earlier king of the same name. u After the capture of Ai and the battle of Beth-horon—which secured to him the whole of the south and centre of Palestine—a final gathering of the Canaanite races took place in the extreme north under the king who bore the hereditary title of Jabin (Josh, xi: 1), and the name of whose city, Hazor, still lingers in the slopes of Hermon, at the head of the plain. Round him were assembled the heads of all the tribes who had not yet fallen under Joshua’s sword. As the British chiefs were driven to the Land’s End before the advance of the Saxon, so at this Land’s End of Palestine were gathered for this last struggle not only the kings of the north in the immediate neighbor¬ hood, but from the desert Valley of the Jordan south of the Sea of Galilee, from the maritime Plain of Philistia, from the heights above Sharon and from the still uncon¬ quered Jebus, to the Hivite who dwelt in the Valley of Baalbec. . . . L under Hermon f all these 1 went out, FROM DECAPOLIS TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI. 427 they and all their hosts with them, even as the sand is upon the seashore in multitude. . . . and when all these kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters of Merom to fight against Israel’ (Josh, xi: 5). The new and striking feature of this battle, as dis¬ tinct from those of Ai and Gibeon, consisted in the L horses and chariots very many,’ which now for the first time appear in the Canaanite warfare, and it was the use of these which probably fixed the scene of the en¬ campment by the lake, along whose level shores they could have full play for their force. It was this new phase of war which called forth the special command of Joshua, nowhere else recorded: * Thou shalt hough their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.’ Nothing is told us of his previous movements. All that we know is that on the eve of the battle he was within a day’s march of the lake. On the morrow, by a sudden de¬ scent like that which had raised the siege of Gibeon, he and all the people of war ‘ fell’ (Josh, xi: 7) like a thun¬ derbolt upon them 1 in the mountain ’ (Josh, xi: 7) slopes of the plain, before they had time to rally on the level ground. In the sudden panic c the Lord delivered them into the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them ’ westward over the mountains above the gorge of the Leontes 1 to Sidon,’ and eastward to the 1 Plain ’ of 6 Massoch ’ or c Mizpeh.’ This route was complete, and the cavalry and chariots which had seemed so formidable were visited with special destruction. The horses were hamstrung and the chariots burned with fire. And it is not till the revival of the city of Hazor under the second Jabin, long afterward (Judg. iv : 2), that they once more appear in force against Israel, descending, as now, from 428 THE HOLY LAND. this very plain. Far over the western hills Joshua pur¬ sued the flying host, before 1 he turneth back/ and ( took Hazor/ and c burned it’ to the ground (Josh, xi: 10, 11). The battle of the Lake of Merom was to the north what the battle of Beth-horon had been to the south j more briefly told, less complete in its consequences, but still the decisive conflict by which the four northern tribes were established in the south of Lebanon, by which Galilee, with its sacred sea and the manifold consequences therein involved, was included within the limits of the Holy Land.” A little to the northwest of Tell Harah is Kades , the ancient Kedesh-Naphtali, the name of which, the Holy, shows that it must have been a sanctuary long before the conquest. After it was taken and its king slain by Joshua (Josh, xii : 22) it was included in the tribe of Naphtali, and was made a Levitical city and a city of refuge (Josh, xx : 7 ; xxi: 32). We know nothing of its after history except that it was the home of Barak, the conqueror of Sisera (Judg. iv: 6—10) and that its people were carried captives to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xv: 29). In the time of the Crusades the tomb of Barak was still shown. There are now remains of a very ancient character, most of them however of the later Jewish period, and among them the ruins of a large and beautiful synagogue. The eastern front and part of the walls are perfect, and the central door is sculptured with wreaths. The horses of the present village are watered from an ancient sarcophagus. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the situation of Kedesh, standing securely on a knoll of the eastern slope of the hill, with rich pastures behind and a bountiful spring bubbling below. FROM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAREA PHILIPPI. 429 At Hunin , seven miles north of Kades, is a great castle of the Crusaders which they called Chateau Neuf \ or Newcastle, standing on the eastward edge of the heights and towering two thousand feet above the plain of the Hasbani, the most northerly of the streams which unite to form the Jordan. This great castle measures 740 by 340 feet, and the citadel on the west is surrounded by a fosse or ditch 20 feet deep by 40 wide, cut out of the solid rock. The original wall of the fortress was built of large bevelled stones bound together with iron clamps. The whole interior is a mass of shapeless ruins in which Jewish bevels, Roman arches, Crusading masonry and Saracenic remains are mournfully mingled together, and among which are scattered the wretched hovels of the present occupants. Hunin, according to Dr. Robinson, is the ancient JBeth-rehob 7 the most northern point in the Holy Land which was reached by the spies of Moses (Num. xiii: 21). In the time of David this place, like others in its neighborhood, had become a Syrian de¬ pendency, and although the Syrians were defeated by Joab and compelled to make peace with Israel, it appears that they were not entirely subdued (2 Sam. x : 6, 8,19). Three miles north of Hunin is Abil, once called Abel- JBeth-Maachah, the Field of the House of Oppression, also (2 Chron. xvi: 4) called Abel-Maim , where the re¬ bellion of Sheba against David was suppressed (2 Sam. xx : 14-22). As a border town it was exposed to attacks from foreign enemies, and was captured by Benhadad, King of Syria (1 Kings xv : 20). Its inhabitants were carried into captivity by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings xv : 29). Beyond Abil a beautiful plain called Merj Ayun preserves the name of the city of Ijon , which shared the 480 THE HOLY LAND. fate of Abel-Maim (2 Kings xv : 29). On a round hill at the upper end of the plain are the remains of a strong city. Crossing the Hasbani we come to Tell el-Kady , the Hill of the Judge, that is to say, Dan , since Dan signified a judge. Not Dan, however, but Laish was the original name of the place, though it is called Dan even in the Book of Genesis (Gen. xiv : 14). It is an extensive round-top mound, half a mile in diameter, rising eighty feet above the plain. The surrounding country is ex¬ ceedingly fertile, yielding the finest wheat in Syria. It is literally u a place where there is no lack of anything that is in the earth 7 ’ (Judg. xviii: 10). On the west side of the tell can be heard the murmuring of water, to which the explorer must force his way through a thicket of oleanders. Beyond, at the bottom of a rocky slope, is a wonderful basin or pool fifty paces in width and sur¬ rounded by heaps of blocks of basalt. It is the largest spring in Syria and is said to be the largest in the world, and from it emerges one of the streams which unite to form the Jordan. From the southwest corner of the tell issues another stream, and the two soon join together in one channel, which contains twice as much water as the stream from Banias and thrice as much as the river Has¬ bani, and might therefore be regarded as the true Jordan. By Josephus it was called th q Little Jordan; it is now called El-Leddan. The full-grown Jordan is formed by the union of these streams four and a half miles below Tell el-Kady, where it flows in a bed nearly a hundred feet wide, though the river itself is hardly fifty feet wide. The city of Laish was inhabited by a peaceable com- FROM DECAPOLIS TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI. 431 munity of Phenicians, belonging to the confederacy of which Sidon was the head. Though they were far re¬ moved from their compatriots, they lived in quiet and security, expecting no hostile assault, minding their own affairs and not meddling with their neighbors. For some reason the tribe of Dan had received only a small inherit¬ ance in Israel, and sent spies to look for some part of the land which they might conquer and colonize. At Laish, on the extreme northern border, they found a place which they might well covet, and a people whom they might easily subdue. To Laish therefore a party of Danites went. It was in that period of the history of Israel when there was no king, and every man did that which was right in his own eyes. As the Danites passed through the mountains of Ephraim they assured them¬ selves of victory by stealing from Micah the graven image of silver with which he had thought to conciliate the favor of God, and they also carried off the Levite whom he had hired to act as a priest in his household. So they u came unto Laish, unto a people that were at quiet and secure : and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and burnt the city with fire. And there was no deliverer, because it was far from Zidon, and they had no business with any man; and it was in the valley that lieth by Beth-rehob. And they built a city, and dwelt therein; and they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first v (Judg. xviii: 27-29). Even the Hebrew historian seems to have pitied the peaceable and helpless Sidonians who became the victims of these Danite ruffians ; and there was little reason for Israel to rejoice in the conquest of Laish, 432 THE HOLY LAND. for the Danites immediately set up the graven image they had stolen from Micah, and the new city of Dan was ever afterward a sanctuary of idolatry. It was the northernmost city of Israel, and the phrase u from Dan even unto Beersheba v soon became proverbial. But that phrase indicated only extent, not unity, since the idolatry maintained at Dan was a symbol of present dis¬ cord and a prophecy of future retribution (Judg. xviii). All the time that the tabernacle of Jehovah was kept at Shiloh the idolatry of Dan was continued. Under King Jeroboam it was established in yet greater splendor, so that Dan and Bethel were the two chief sanctuaries of the northern kingdom (1 Kings xii: 25-31). Bethel was cleansed of its pollutions by King Josiah (2 Kings xxiii: 15), but a hundred years before that pious reformation the children of Dan had been removed from their de¬ lightful home and transported to Assyria and Media (2 Kings xvii : 6). From Dan to Caesarea the distance is only five miles, and the road rises upward on the lower slopes of the most majestic mountain of Syria, Mount Hermon. Though that famous mountain was not strictly speaking within the borders of the Promised Land, it would be difficult not to consider it as belonging to Palestine. From nearly every part of Palestine its snow-capped crest is to be seen. When Moses took his long look at the land he was not suffered to enter, he saw Hermon grandly marking its northern border. From the mountains of Gilead, and Bashan, and Hebron, and Ephraim, and Nazareth, and from many a plain between,—from Sharon and Philistia, nay, even from the shores of the Dead Sea, the crest of Hermon bounds the view. Its name of Hermon signi- FROM DECAPOLIS TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI. 433 iies The Lofty , and its other Hebrew name of Sion has the same signification. By the modern Arabs it is known as Jebel esh-Sheilch and Jebel eth-Thelj , the Chief Moun¬ tain and the Snowy Mountain. The height of Hermon has not been accurately measured, but it is not more than 10,000 feet above sea-level, and is therefore out-topped by some of the peaks of Lebanon. Yet so isolated is it and so grand in its majestic solitude that it surpasses every other mountain of Syria. In ages of remote antiquity Hermon was undoubtedly a sanctuary as famous and revered as Jerusalem and Mecca now are by men of later faiths. In the name Baal- Hermon (1 Chron. v : 23) we have a remnant of the former religion of that sanctuary, and every one of the known temples of Baal which still exist is built to face toward Hermon. Long ages later Hermon became the sanctuary of a more graceful cult; for in one of its grot¬ toes was established that worship of Pan from which the city near by took its name of Paneas. Some recollection of its ancient sanctity may have strengthened the better reason which led St. Peter to call Hermon u The Holy Mountain ” (2 Pet. i: 18). Standing at the very head of the deep-sunk Jordan Ghor, Hermon draws to itself and quickly condenses in its cold clear atmosphere the vapors rising from the tropic depth of the low-lying river ; and “ the dews of Hermon n (Psalms cxxxiii: 3), which to the Israelites were a proverbial symbol of gracious influences, clothe the lower slopes of the mountain with rich and almost perennial pastures. The vine thrives ; above the region of the cultivated grounds the almond flourishes abun¬ dantly ) and higher still there is a belt of fruit trees grow- 28 434 THE HOLY LAND. ing absolutely wild. Still higher are conifers and prickly shrubs belonging to the flora of the oriental steppes, and above all lies the belt of snow which even in summer does not wholly disappear. In the wilder parts of Her- mon foxes, wolves, and many sorts of game are to be found, and among them the peculiar species of brown bear which is known to naturalists as Ursus Syriacus. The form of Hermon is that of a truncated cone, but it has really three summits, situated like the angles of a triangle, about a quarter of a mile from each other. This may be the reason why the Hebrew Psalmist speaks of the Hermons , or Hermonites, as the word is improp¬ erly rendered in the Authorized Version (Psalms xlii: 6). Except when covered with snow, the cone is entirely naked, and a coat of decomposed limestone makes the surface smooth and bleak. u As summer advances the snow gradually melts from the tops of the ridges, but re¬ mains in long glittering streaks in the ravines that radiate from the centre, looking in the distance like the white locks that scantily cover the head of old age.” Canon Tristram gives the following sketch of the view from the summit of Hermon. u We were at last on Her¬ mon, whose snowy head had been a sort of pole-star for the last six months. We had looked at him from Sidon, from Tyre, from Carmel, from Gerizim, from the hills about Jerusalem, from the Dead Sea, from Gilead and from Nebo j and now we were looking down on them all as they stood out from the embossed map that lay spread at our feet. The only drawback was a light fleecy cloud which stretched from CarmePs top all along the Lebanon till it rested upon Jebel Sunnin , close to Baal-bec. But it lifted sufficiently to give us a peep of the Mediterra- FROM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAREA PHILIPPI. 435 nean in three places, and amongst them of Tyre. There was a haze too over the Gohr, so that we could only see as far as Jebel Ajlun and Gilead; but Lakes Huleh and Gennesaret, sunk in the depths beneath us and re¬ flecting the sunlight, were magnificent. We could scarcely realize that at one glance we were taking in the whole of the land through which for more than six months we had been incessantly wandering. Not less striking were the views to the north and east, with the head-waters of the Aivaj (Pharpar) rising beneath us and the JBarada (Abana) in the far distance, both rivers marking the courses of their fertilizing streams by the deep green lines of verdure, till the eye rested on the brightness of Damascus, and then turned up the wide opening of Coele-Syria until shut in by Lebanon. u A ruined temple of Baal, constructed of squared stones arranged nearly in a circle, crowns the highest of the three peaks of Hermon, all very close together. We spent a great part of the day on the summit, but were before long painfully affected by the rarity of the atmos¬ phere. The sun had sunk behind Lebanon before we descended to our tents, but long after we had lost him he continued to paint and gild Hermon with a beautiful mingling of Alpine and desert hues.’ 7 The situation of Banias , the ancient Ccesarea Philippi , is superb beyond description. The approach to it from Tell el-Kady is through park like scenery diversified with wooded hills and fertile valleys through which count¬ less streamlets wind along or dash down natural cascades in the midst of thickets and overhanging vines, while ever before towers the gigantic form of Mount Hermon. The situation of the Grecian city of Herod Philip to 486 THE HOLY LAND. which our Lord went, hut which had never been a city of Israel, is very admirably described by Dr. Geikie, who says, a A town, Baal-Gad—named from the Canaan- ite god of fortune—had occupied the site from immemorial antiquity j but Philip had rebuilt it splendidly three years before Christ’s birth, and in accordance with the pre¬ vailing flattery of the emperor had called it Csesarea in honor of Augustus. It had been the pleasure of his peaceful reign to adorn it with altars, votive images and statues, and his own name had been added by the people to distinguish it from the Csesarea on the sea-coast. It was one of the loveliest spots in the Holy Land, built on a terrace of rock, part of the range of Hermon which rose behind it seven or eight thousand feet. Countless streams murmured down the slopes amidst a unique rich¬ ness and variety of flower and shrub and tree. The chief source of the Jordan still bursts in a full silver- clear stream from a bottomless depth of water in the old cave of Pan at the foot of the mountain, from beneath a high perpendicular wall of rock adorned with niches once filled with marble Naiads of the stream and Satyrs of the woods and with countless votive tablets, but now strewn round with the ruins of the shepherd god’s ancient temple. Thick woods still shade the channel of the young river. Oaks and olive groves alternate with pas¬ tures and fields of grain, and high over all rises the old castle of Banias, perhaps the c Tower of Lebanon that looked toward Damascus ’ of the Song of Solomon ” (vii: 4). “ But the centre of attraction,” says Dean Stanley, u is the higher source of the Jordan. Underneath the high red limestone cliff which overhangs the town it bursts FKOM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAEEA PHILIPPI. 437 out, not as in the lower or westernmost source in a full spring but in many rivulets, which issuing from the foot of the rock first form a large basin and then collect into a rushing stream. It penetrates through the thickets on the hill side, and in the vale below at some point which has never been exactly verified joins the stream from Dan. In the face of the rock immediately above the spring is the large grotto which furnished a natural sanctuary, not indeed to the Israelites, who perhaps never penetrated so far, but to the Greeks of the Mace¬ donian kingdom of Antioch. The cavern-sanctuary of Caesarea was at once adopted by the Grecian settlers, both in itself and for its romantic situation, the nearest likeness that Syria affords of the beautiful limestone grottoes which in their own country were inseparably associated with the worship of the sylvan Pan. This was the one Paneum or * sanctuary of Pan ? within the limits of Palestine which before the building of Philip’s city gave to the town the name of Paneas , a name which has outlived the Roman substitute and still appears in the modern appellation of JBaniasP Eleven hundred feet above sea-level and still nine thousand feet below the summit of Mount Hermon lay the ancient Caesarea, naturally protected on three sides by the river and a deep valley. The remaining side was strongly fortified with three round towers which still re¬ main, and an immense fosse which could be flooded when necessary. The bridge was defended by a large square tower, through the town ran an ample aqueduct, and magnificent granite columns which are still found lying on the ground show what manner of buildings adorned the streets of Caesarea. In the centre of the south side 438 THE HOLY LAND. of the castle is an ancient portal on which an Arabic in¬ scription has been carved and from which a stone bridge crosses the wady. Something over two miles from Banias is the vast for¬ tress of Subeibeh , 2000 feet long by 300 wide, the huge walls of which are still in some places 100 feet high. From the north, the south and the west this fortification is almost inaccessible, and on the remaining side it is so defended as to have been called the Gibraltar of Pales¬ tine. Situated at the base of Mount Hermon, it com¬ mands the passage to and from the countries lying east of Syria which was used by Chedorlaomer 2000 years before the birth of Christ. On the road leading to Tyre Assyrian sculptures have been found which prove that this was the route taken by the great armies of Assyria in invading Palestine and Tyre, and the Phenicians would be almost under the necessity of fortifying this pass for their own defence. At the eastern end of the castle and one hundred and fifty feet above it stands the citadel with a wall and a moat of its own j so that, as Josephus says, the garrison could retire into the citadel and make a protracted defence even after the main castle had been taken by an enemy. In the time of the Crusades the castle of Subeibeh naturally played an im¬ portant part, but its history is too long to be told here. It was somewhere in the course of this interesting journey, and probably in the vicinity of Csesarea Philippi, that our Lord asked his disciples to tell him how Pie was regarded by the common people. The ideas of the peo¬ ple concerning him were all abroad. Some of them sup¬ posed him to be John the Baptist f some thought He was Elijah; some imagined He must be the sad Prophet FROM DECAPOLIS TO OESAREA PHILIPPI. 439 Jeremiah; the general opinion of those who believed in him at all was that He was one of the old prophets who had risen from the dead. Then Jesus asked the disciples whom they supposed him to be, and in the name of all of them Peter answered, u Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God !’ 7 If this sublime confession, the cor¬ ner-stone of the Christian faith, was pronounced in the vicinity of Caesarea Philippi, then the rocky slopes of Hermon would afford a thousand ready illustrations of its mighty significance. u Thou art Peter/ 7 said the Master, that is, a living stone (Petros) u of the living Temple I am rearing; but on this rock ( petra ), this immovable truth which flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 77 In the lofty glades of the majestic Hermon were a thousand places where eternal rocks and snow-strewn stones would fitly symbolize the firm founda¬ tion of the faith and the “ lively stones 77 of which the Church of Christ is builded (Matt, xvi: 13—18; Mark viii: 27—29 ; Luke ix : 18-20). It was six days later that Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and ascended “ an high moun¬ tain, 77 which must surely have been Hermon, and was transfigured before them (Matt, xvii: 1-9 ; Mark ix: 2-8; Luke ix: 28-36). It was a fit spot for our Sa¬ viour to take a long look over the many scenes of his earthly pilgrimage. Before him lay the Holy Land spread out like a map. Not far off were the hills of Nazareth where his infant years were spent. Stretching from north to south was the deep Glior of the Jordan, on whose banks He had so often journeyed on his frequent expeditions to the Holy City. Near the Dead Sea, 440 THE HOLY LAND. which was clearly visible, was the place where John had baptized him, and a little east of it the gloomy Mountain of Temptation. Wherever He gazed some natural object would remind him of the countless works and words He had done and spoken in proclaiming and exhibiting his gospel. Beyond the mountains of Gilead on the east and the Midland Sea on the west, beyond the hills of Hebron on the south and the mighty ranges of Lebanon on the north, the good news of that gospel and its healing influ¬ ences were yet to be borne to far-off lands by the poor fishermen whom He had taught and trained for that tremendous work of winning a world to God. Before they could set out on that marvellous work, He was to be taken from them; and the time was now, it was nigh at hand. When He descended from that mountain it would be to set his face toward Jerusalem, there to be offered up. Two mountains must have been conspicu¬ ously present to his thoughts—as they were conspicuous to his vision—Pisgah, the silent and mysterious resting- place of Moses, the Prophet of Law 5 and Carmel, the triumphant scene of the victory of Elijah, the Prophet of Vengeance. God’s law is love unrecognized; the ven¬ geance of God is only love disguised ; but the character of both must be revealed by the Prophet of Reconciliation. On u a green hill far away,” a mere knoll of the moun¬ tains of Jerusalem, He was to read the riddle making all things plain, and then from the summit of the Mount of Olives He was to ascend to other scenes of which the poet can but dream, and even the prophet can but babble. As he gazed and meditated on the past, the present and the wondrous future, “ the Life ” that is “ the Light of Men ” illuminated his whole being. The inner nature of FROM DECAPOLIS TO CiESAREA PHILIPPI. 441 the Christ sent an ethereal radiance gleaming through his mortal frame and glistening through the very gar¬ ments which He wore. While He had been gazing and praying night had fallen, and the drowsy followers He had brought with him were fast asleep. It was ever so in the great crises of his life. His most solemn hours were spent 66 apart, by himself, alone. 7 ’ On Hermon, as a few days later in the Garden of Gethsemane, the same three slept and left him utterly alone. Yet He was not alone; the Father was with him; and two grand figures came and stood beside him to partake in these his last meditations. Well does John Ituskin speak of those three who were there together. u When, in the desert, He was girding himself for the work of life, angels of life came and ministered unto him; now, in the fair world, when He is girding himself for the work of death, the ministrants come to him from the grave—but from the grave conquered—one from that tomb under Abarim, which his own hand had sealed long ago; the other from the rest into which He had entered without seeing cor¬ ruption.” It was of his death that Moses and Elias spake at that time to Jesus, for his death was imminent. It behooved him first to suffer, and afterward to enter into glory ; and perhaps to strengthen him for his u un¬ known sufferings,” as the Greeks beautifully say, a fore¬ taste of the coming glory was vouchsafed him in his transfiguration on Mount Hermon. For the weak disciples too whose faith was soon to be so sorely tried, some token of his glory was perhaps required to make their restoration to entire faith possible when they should have seen the tragedy of Golgotha. They started out of sleep, and for a moment saw the 442 THE HOLY LAND. glory of their Master. Somehow they knew the mighty men of old who stood with him and talked with him, and then the splendid vision faded from their sight. No man was with them save Jesus only; Jesus, no more gleam¬ ing with the light of heaven; only the Man of Sorrows, who was soon to bear his Cross along the Via Dolorosa. Poor blundering Peter wist not what to say, and yet he spoke. He would fain tarry where he was, high on the slopes of Hermon. He would fain build tabernacles for his Master and the Prophets. But it was not to be so. For the Son of Man the time of tabernacles was nearly gone. It was but a step now to the place of many man¬ sions which abide forever. Therefore from the steeps of Hermon and the momentary joy of his transfiguration Jesus turned himself and set his face steadfastly to go unto Jerusalem, there to do and suffer all that the prophets had told aforetime concerning him. From Her¬ mon to Golgotha! From Golgotha to Olivet! From Olivet to the New Jerusalem, the One Eternal City of the Great King! CHAPTER XVII. THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. In taking the most rapid possible survey of modern Jerusalem we shall find things new and old strangely mingled together. Side by side or in immediate contact are monuments of the time of Solomon, remains of Roman architecture, ruins of the Crusading period, and buildings erected within the present generation. Near the wall of the ancient Temple area Jewish lamentations are still heard bewailing the desolation of Zion. On Mount Mo¬ riah, perhaps on the very site of Herod’s Temple, stands the Mosque of Omar, with its glorious dome surmounted by the crescent symbol of Islam. In various parts are churches, convents, schools and hospitals of Christian sects—Greek, Roman, Coptic, Anglican, Armenian and Abyssinian, which have no dealings with each other, not¬ withstanding the six times repeated prayer of their One Master that they might u all be one !” In all directions may be seen the flags of distant nations, pilgrims from many lands throng to the sacred places, and the tongues of many peoples may be heard in every street, for now more than in any former age Jerusalem is El Klmds , the Holy City. The student will find it useful and interesting to ac¬ quaint himself with the surroundings of Jerusalem before entering within the walls, and for that purpose we shall offer our guidance in four short excursions, as follows: ( 443 ) 444 THE HOLY LAND. I. From the Upper Pool of Gihon, through the Valley of Gihon and the Valley of Hinnom, to Job’s Well. II. From the Jaffa Gate to the Tombs of the Judges, the Tombs of the Kings, and the Grotto of Jeremiah. III. Down the Kedron Valley to Job’s Well. IV. Around the Walls. I. From the Upper Pool of Gihon to Job’s Well. The traveller who approaches Jerusalem by the road from Jaffa passes through a cluster of watch-towers about a mile from the northwestern angle of the city, and then on his left is the English Mission House. A little further on, still on his left, is the Austrian Consulate, and on his right is Talitha Kami , an orphanage where a hundred Arab girls are educated by seven Westphalian Deacon¬ esses under the direction of their Superior. Skirting the road on its left or northern side, and beautifully situated on a rising ground, he will next pass the extensive build¬ ings belonging to the Russian Government, and consist¬ ing of two immense hospices for male pilgrims, a third hospice for women, a noble church, a well-appointed hos¬ pital and the consulate. On the other side of the road, at a distance of three or four hundred yards, is the Upper Pool of Gihon, which has already been described (p. 253). Two hundred yards south of the pool is a leper hospital, but not far from the Jaffa Gate another hospital for lepers exists within the walls, and will be mentioned hereafter. Two hundred yards east of the pool we enter the Val¬ ley of Gihon, or more properly the northwestern part of the Valley of Hinnom. Turning south we pass the Jaffa THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 445 Gate and the citadel on the left, and go straight on to the southwestern angle of the city wall, within which is the spacious garden of the Armenian monastery. In the valley directly opposite to that angle is the upper end of the Lower Pool of Gihon (p. 255), and on the other side of the valley, southwest of the pool, is Sir Moses Mon- tefiore’s Jewish Hospice, or Poor-House for indigent Jews. Here the valley makes a sweeping circuit to the east, round the foot of Mount Zion, and we are now in the Ge Sene Hinnom , the Valley of the Children of Groan¬ ing, also called Tophet, where young children were once sacrificed to Moloch (2 Kings xxiii: 10), and Jewish kings surrendered their own offspring to he offered as victims to that bloody god. So utterly detestable did that place become in the estimation of the Jews that Gehenna , which is a contraction of its Hebrew name, came in New Testament times to signify a place of tor¬ ment. North of this valley of infamy is a large part of Mount Zion which is not now enclosed within the city wall, and on its summit, surrounded by the burying-places of Latins, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, English and Ameri¬ cans, is Neby Daud , the Tomb of the Prophet David, which is also called Coenaculum , or the Chamber of the Last Supper. It is a collection of buildings, almost a village, in which many traditions are singularly mingled. That the Tomb of David may have been here is entirely possible j that the Last Supper may have been celebrated near the same spot is not unlikely 5 that the gift of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost may have been re¬ ceived in the same chamber in which the Eucharist was 446 THE HOLY LAND. instituted may be regarded as probable ; whether the Blessed Virgin died there or not nobody can possibly know 5 but that the precise spot of each and all of these different facts or events should now be ascertainable is simply absurd. Yet the Chamber of the Last Supper is exhibited, and in a lower room the place where the Lord’s Table stood is shown to the visitor. In a side room adjacent to the latter is a modern coffin which rep¬ resents the sarcophagus of David, and is said to be a copy of the genuine coffin which is alleged still to exist in a subterranean vault, and in honor of which the Mos¬ lem mosque was erected. In the time of the Crusaders a two-storied church stood here, with three apses in the lower story. In one of them was an altar commemorative of the washing of the Apostles’ feet by our Saviour, which was alleged to have occurred on that very spot 5 the second had an altar on the spot where He appeared to them on the evening of the first Easter day 5 the altar of the third marked the spot where the Blessed Virgin died 5 and in the upper story was the scene of the Last Supper and of the giving of the Holy Ghost! Not even stupid super¬ stition avails utterly to destroy the spirit of Christianity, for beside the Church of the Coenaculum was a monas¬ tery with a vast hospital for the solace and entertainment of pilgrims. To this day the Superior of the Francis¬ cans is called the u Guardian of Mount Zionbut the Moslems long ago took possession of Neby Daud, and the Christian visitor must now pay a few piastres to the Mos¬ lem guard for the privilege of seeing the supposed Coe¬ naculum and the Tomb of David. North of Neby Daud and near the Gate of David in the southern wall of the city is the traditional House of THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 447 Caiaphas. Within the same gate, and about a hundred yards north of it, is the traditional House of Annas (John xviii: 13, 24). On the south of the Valley of Hinnom rises the Hill of Evil Counsel, so called because of a tradition that it was in a villa belonging to Caiaphas on that hill that the chief priests and elders of Israel took counsel together against Jesus to put him to death (John xi: 53). In its steep sides many tombs have been excavated, some of which seem originally to have been closed by gates hung on sockets of stone$ and toward the eastern end of the Valley is Aceldama, the Field of Blood, the potter’s field for the burial of strangers, bought with the price paid for the betrayal of Jesus. u An old ruin thirty feet long and twenty wide, with one side of naked rock and the other of drafted stone, forms a flat-roofed cover to a dis¬ mal house of the dead. Two caverns beneath the floor, having their rocky sides pierced with loculi for corpses, are connected with galleries of tombs which extend from the bottom of the hill. There are holes in the roof of the ruin through which the bodies were let down by ropes, and there are marks of steps by which the tombs were entered.” Clay from the potter’s field is still used by the potters of Jerusalem. As the valley goes eastward it becomes very narrow, steep rocks forming its wall on the southern side, while on the upper side Mount Zion descends in steps like ter¬ races, but very abruptly. Olive and almond trees cast their soft shadows over the rising green of the little stony fields in the hollow and on the rocky sides of the ravine. The whole scene is beautiful in its quiet repose; yet it was in this narrow valley, now filled with budding 448 THE HOLY LAND. fruit-trees and springing grain and sweet flowers, that the Israelites once offered their children to Moloch, and these very rocks have echoed the screams of innocent victims and reverberated with the chants and drums of the priests, raised to drown the cries of agony. About a hundred yards below Aceldama the Hinnom Valley is joined by the Tyropeon, and a little to the southeast they unite with the Kedron Valley above Job’s Well (p. 261). II. From the Jaffa Gate to the Tombs of the Judges, the Tombs of the Kings, and the Grotto of Jeremiah. After leaving the Jaffa Gate, we take the road to Neby Samwil, pass the Russian buildings on the left, and pro¬ ceed through olive groves, ash-heaps, cisterns and ruins, until we come to the Tombs of the Judges, a little more than two miles north of our starting-point. These re¬ markable tombs are well worthy of a careful examination. On the west side of the rock is a small fore-court seven and one-half feet deep, leading to a vestibule twelve feet wide, open in front and provided with a gable. Another gable rises over the portal which leads into the tomb-chamber. The southeast and northwest corners of the first tomb-chamber ar b imbedded in rubbish. On the north side of it are seven shaft-tombs, above which are three vaulted niche-tombs, and at the back of these again are several shaft-tombs. Adjoining this first cham¬ ber on the east and on the south are two others nearly on the same level and two on a lower level. The myth that the Judges of Israel are buried here is modern. There are many other rock-tombs in the vicinity, but none of such extent as these. A mile and a half southeast of the so-called Tombs of THE ENVIRONS OF JEBUSALEM. 449 the Judges are the Tombs of the Kings. Of these tombs, which he rightly describes as u bewildering cata¬ combs/ 7 Dr. Thomson gives the following description: u Those who made these tombs selected a platform, nearly level, of hard limestone rock, and in this they ex¬ cavated an open court almost ninety feet square and twenty deep. This court was no doubt perfectly pro¬ tected all around, though the rock on the eastern side is now broken away. To obtain access to the court a trench was cut on the side of it, having a gradual slope east¬ ward. Near the eastern end of this trench was an arched doorway, cut through the solid rock, opening into the court, wdiich I suppose was originally the only entrance. On the west side of it is a portico thirty-nine feet long, seventeen feet wide and fifteen high, measuring from the rock floor. The front of this portico was originally orna¬ mented with grapes, garlands and festoons, beautifully wrought on the cornice ; and the two columns in the cen¬ tre and the pilasters at the corners appear to have re¬ sembled the Corinthian order. A very low door in the south end of the portico opens into the antechamber, nineteen feet square and seven or eight high. From this, three passages conduct into other rooms, two of them to the south, which are about twelve feet square and have each five or six crypts. On the west side is a room thir¬ teen feet square, and a passage leads from it down several steps into a large vault running north where are crypts parallel to the sides. These rooms are all cut in intensely hard rock, and the entrances were originally closed with stone doors, wrought with panels and hung on stone hinges, which are now all broken. The whole series of tombs indicate the hand of royalty and the leisure of 29 450 THE HOLY LAND. years, but by whom and for whom they were made is a mere matter of conjecture.” Their careful construction proves them to have been the burial-place of persons of high rank, and they are greatly revered by the Jews, who from a very early period have called them the Cavern of ZedeJciah, or the Tomb of KaTba Sabua , a rich Jewish noble who lived at the time of the great siege. A common opinion is that this catacomb is the Tomb of Queen Helena of Adi- abene, which according to Josephus was situated here. With her son Izates she was converted to Judaism in her own country, and after the death of her husband Mambaz in A. D. 48 resided at Jerusalem. She after¬ ward returned home, but when she died her body was brought to Jerusalem and buried in a pyramidal tomb three stadia from the city. Izates had twenty-four sons, and hence possibly the extent of the tomb. These vaults were understood to be tombs as early as the fourteenth century, and they were sometimes referred by tradition to the early kings of Judah, whence they are still called u Tombs of the Kings.” In the shallow wady of the Kedron, a little north of the Tombs of the Kings, are the Tombs of Simon the Just and of the Sanhedrin. u These curious sepulchres,” says Dr. Robinson, u are rarely visited. They are in the Valley of the Kedron, a short distance northeast of the Tombs of the Kings, and under the cliffs on the north side of the wady. They are frequented exclusively by the Jews, and mostly on their festival days. I once entered them on the thirty-third day after the Passover —a day consecrated to the honor of Simon. The tombs seemed to me to have been excavated in natural caves. THE ENVIBONS OF JEEUSALEM. 451 The entrance to all of them was very low and without ornament. The interior was spacious and gloomy in the extreme, especially that which was said to have contained the remains of the Sanhedrin. There were between sixty and seventy niches where bodies may have been placed; and from that number perhaps the idea origi¬ nated that they were the crypts of the seventy men of the great synagogue. Dr. Wilson seems to have heard of these tombs, but he confounds them with those of the Judges, which are a mile or more to the northwest.” Nearly southeast from the Tombs of the Kings, not far from the northern wall of the city, and nearly equally distant from the Damascus Gate and the Gate of Herod, is the Grotto of Jeremiah, a spot of peculiar interest because an ingeniously supported theory has been put forward that the high Tell ez Zahara , under which the grotto or cave is situated, is the true Mount Calvary. u The yawning cave of Jeremiah,” says Dr. Thomson, u extends under the cliff about one hundred and fifty feet; and there are buildings, graves and sacred spots arranged irregularly about it, walled off, whitewashed and plastered. Under the floor of the cavern are vast cisterns. Lighting our tapers we descend into the lowest one. The roof is supported by heavy square columns, and the whole, neatly plastered, is now used as a cistern. The water is pure, cold and sweet. In any other part of the world it would be considered a remarkable work; but here, in the vicinity of such excavations as under¬ mine the whole ridge within the city, it dwindles into in¬ significance.” In this cave it is said that the Prophet Jeremiah was imprisoned and wrote his Lamentations, and the keepers of the grotto point out his tomb near by; 452 THE HOLY LAND. but it is certain that tbe prison of tbe prophet was within the city (Jer. xxxviii), and it is equally certain that the present grotto was never included within the wall until the time of Herod Agrippa, six centuries later. Of the burial-place of Jeremiah nothing whatever is known, nor even of the place of his death. He was carried cap¬ tive into Egypt (Jer. xliii: 5-7), and in all probability died there. The theory that the Tell ez Zaliara above the so-called Grotto of Jeremiah is the true Calvary has a good deal of plausibility. The tradition which places the scene of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection under the Church of the Holy Sepulchre dates no earlier than the time of Constantine, and has no higher authority than an in¬ credible myth which has already been told (p. 242). Whether that spot can possibly be the place of our Lord’s death and burial depends upon the question whether it was or was not at that time included within the wall. The Saviour was crucified and buried without the wall, as the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews distinctly affirms (Heb. xiii: 12); and the same fact would be sufficiently implied by the Evangelists even if we did not know that the Israelites invariably had their sepulchres outside their cities (Matt. xxvii:31, 32; xxviii:ll; Mark xv: 20, 21 j Luke xxiii: 26). The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is within the modern wall, and the weight of opinion seems steadily to incline to a conviction that it must have been within the wall which existed in the time of Christ. The probability therefore is that wher¬ ever Calvary may have been, it cannot have been the place indicated by ecclesiastical tradition. Again, the place of crucifixion bore a name which it THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 453 apparently owed to some peculiarity of formation, since it was called in Greek Kranion, A Skull (Luke xxiii: 33), and in Hebrew Golgotha , The Place of a Skull (Matt, xxvii: 33 j Mark xv : 22 j John xix : 17). There is every reason to suppose that the Crucifixion of our Saviour was at the usual place of execution, and it has often been explained that Golgotha may have received its sinister designation from the skulls of executed crimi¬ nals left to bleach on its unhallowed side. But if that were the true reason, the spot would have been called The Place of Shulls, and not Kranion, A Skull, or The Place of a Skull. It seems more reasonable to suppose that the form of Calvary itself may have resembled that of a huge skull, and in that case the name Kranion or Golgotha would have had a double appropriateness. The site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is lower than that of the land immediately around it, can hardly have had any such form. But the Tell ez Zahara lies without the northern wall, u nigh unto the city ” (John xix : 20), being not more than forty rods from the Damascus Gale, and its outline, seen from a distance, strikingly resembles that of a skull. Moreover the Jews, following a very ancient tradition of the Talmud, call it the Place of Stoning. An early Christian tradition makes it the scene of the stoning of St. Stephen, the first Christian mart}^r, and the gate which is now called Plerod’s Gate was formerly called St. Stephen’s Gate, though that name was transferred at a later time to another gate on the east side of the city. From these facts it seems exceedingly probable that this Tell was the ancient place of public execution. Tell ez Zahara thus seems to have probabilities in its 454 THE HOLY LAND. favor which are lacking in the traditional Calvary, and in other respects it well conforms to the incidental indica¬ tions of the Gospels. Kranion, or Golgotha, must have been near a thoroughfare where persons were constantly passing, since u they that passed by v reviling and railing at the Crucified Saviour were clearly not those who had gone out to see the Crucifixion, but chance passengers (Matt, xxvii: 39 j Mark xv : 29). It was also an object so conspicuous as to be seen u afar off” (Matt, xxvii: 55 ; Mark xv : 40 5 Luke xxiii: 49) j and in its neighborhood were tombs and gardens. In every one of these particu¬ lars the Tell above the Grotto of Jeremiah corresponds with the Kranion of the Gospels, and the conjecture that it is the true Calvary, first made by an American gentle¬ man, Mr. Fisher Howe, has gained many adherents such as Dr. Selah Merril, U. S. Consul at Jerusalem, Dr. Otto Thenius and Capt. Conder. In 1881 it was found that a Jewish tomb existed on a smaller knoll not far from the Tell ez Zahara, and in the Palestine Quarterly Statement, 1883, p. 76, the follow¬ ing significant observation is made : u It would be bold to hazard the suggestion that this single Jewish sepulchre thus found is indeed the Tomb in the Garden, nigh unto the place called Golgotha, which belonged to the rich Joseph of Arimathsea j yet its appearance so near the old place of execution and so far from the other tombs in the old cemeteries of the city is extremely remarkable.” In the opinion of the writer the location of Calvary is not a matter of supreme importance j nevertheless, as the subject is interesting, and as the suggestion of Mr. Howe seems be gaining favor, it may be well here to quote a pas¬ sage in which the facts are very well put by Dr. Geikie. THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 455 u There is little in the New Testament to fix the exact position of the c mount ? on which our Lord was crucified, though the statement that He 1 suffered without the gate ? (Heb. xiii: 12) is enough to prove that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is not on the true site. The name Golgotha, c the Place of a Skull/ may well have referred rather to the shape of the ground than to the place so called being that of public execution, and if this be so, a spot reminding one of a skull by its form must be sought outside the city. It must besides be near one of the great roads, for those who were 1 passing by ’ are expressly noticed in the Gospels (Mark xv: 29). That Joseph of Arimathsea carried the body to his own new tomb, hewn out in the rock, and standing in the midst of a garden outside the city (Matt, xxvii: 60), re¬ quires further that Calvary should be found near the great Jewish cemetery of the time of our Lord. This lay on the north side of Jerusalem, stretching from close to the gates along the different ravines and up the low slopes which rise on all sides. The sepulchre of Simon the Just, dating from the third century before Christ, is in this part, and so also is the noble tomb of Helena, Queen of Adiabene, hewn out in the first century of our era, and still fitted with a rolling stone to close its en¬ trance, as was that of our Lord. Ancient tombs abound moreover close at hand, showing themselves amidst the low hilly ground wherever we turn on the roadside. Everything thus tends to show that this cemetery was that which was in use in the days of our Lord. u On these grounds it has been urged with much force that Calvary must be sought near the city, but outside the ancient gate, on the north approach close to a main 456 THE HOLY LAND. road, and these requirements the knoll or swell over the Grotto of Jeremiah remarkably fulfills (John xx : 12). Rising gently toward the north, its slowly-rounded top might easily have obtained from its shape the name of ( a Skull/—in Latin, Calvaria ; in Aramaic, Golgotha. This spot has been associated from the earliest times with the martyrdom of St. Stephen, to whom a church was dedi¬ cated near it before the fifth century. And this, as Cap¬ tain Conder shows, is fixed by local tradition at the spot, which is still pointed out by the Jews of Jerusalem as ( the Place of Stoning/ where offenders were not only put to death but hung up by the hands till sunset after execu¬ tion. As if to make the identification still more com¬ plete, the busy road which has led to the north in all ages passes close by the knoll, branching off a little further on to Gibeon, Damascus and Ramah. It was the custom of the Romans to crucify transgressors at the sides of the busiest public roads, and thus, as we have seen, they treated our Saviour when they subjected him to this most shame¬ ful of deaths (Luke xxiii: 35). Here then apparently on this bare rounded knoll, rising about thirty feet above the road, with no building on it, but covered in part with Mohammedan graves, the low yellow cliff of the Grotto of Jeremiah looking out from its southern end, the Saviour of the world appears to have passed away with that great cry which has been held to betoken cardiac rupture—for it would seem that He literally died of a broken heart. Before him lay outspread the guilty city which had clamored for his blood; beyond it the pale slopes of Olivet, from which He was shortly to ascend in triumph to the right hand of the Majesty on High j and in the distance, but clear and seemingly near, the pinkish- THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 457 yellow mountains of Moab, lighting up, it may be, the fading eyes of the Innocent One with the remembrance that his death would one day bring back lost mankind— not Israel alone—from the east, and the west, and the north, and the south, to the kingdom of God.” The tomb in which our Lord was buried will be per¬ haps forever unknown, but it was some one of those, we may be sure, still found in the neighborhood of the Place of Stoning. That which has been specially noticed by Captain Conder as possibly the very tomb of Joseph of Arimathsea is cut in the face of a curious rock platform, measuring seventy paces each way, and is situated about two hundred yards west of the Grotto of Jeremiah. The platform is roughly scarped on all sides, apparently by human art, and on the west there is a higher piece of rock, the sides of which are also rudely scarped. The rest of the space is fairly level, but there seems to be traces of the foundation of a surrounding wall in some low mounds near the edge of the platform. In this low bank of rock is an ancient tomb, rudely cut, with its entrance to the east. The doorway is much broken, and there is a loophole or window, four feet wide, on both sides of it. An outer space, seven feet square, has been cut in the rock, and two stones placed in this give the idea that they may have been intended to hold in its proper position a rolling stone with which the tomb was closed. On the north is a side entrance leading into a chamber with a single stone grave cut along its side, and thence into a cavern about eight paces square and ten feet high, with a well-mouth in its roof. Another chamber within this is reached by a descent of two steps, and measures six feet by nine. On each 458 THE HOLY LAND. side of it an entrance twenty inches broad and about five and a half feet high has been opened into another chamber beyond, and passages which are four and a half feet long having a ledge or bench of rock at the side. Two bodies could thus be laid in each of the three chambers, which in turn lead to two other chambers about five feet square, with narrow entrances. Their floors were still thinly strewn with human bones when Captain Conder explored them. I am sorry to say that a group of Jewish houses is growing up round the spot. The rock is being blasted for building-stone, and the tomb, unless special measures are taken for its preservation, may soon be entirely de¬ stroyed. III. Down the Kedron Valley to Job’s Well. The course of the Kedron Valley has already been sufficiently described (p. 218). In the shallow wady north of the city there are few objects of interest but tombs, of which the sepulchres of Simon and the San¬ hedrin are the most important (p. 450). In the deep ravine between the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem are scenes of unspeakable sacredness, though now desecrated and vulgarized by the painful trivialities of cultivated superstition. From north to south the floor of the Kedron Valley deepens and contracts. The upper part is planted with olive trees; the lower is quite uncultivated. As early as the time of Christ the Kedron was called the Winter Brook, and at the present day the upper part is always dry. Recent explorations have ascertained that its bed in ancient times lay about thirty feet west of the present floor of the valley. The eastern slope of the Temple THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 459 Hill is now deeply covered with debris , and must formerly have been much steeper than it is at present. The Mos¬ lems believe that this valley is to be the place of final judgment, and that its area will then be miraculously en¬ larged so that all men shall have room to stand within its limits. From the wall of the Temple area to the Mount of Olives a wire rope is to be extended 5 the two great Judges, Jesus and Mohammed, are to sit, the former on the Temple wall, the latter on the Mount; and in their presence all men must pass over the valley on the rope. The righteous, aided by their guardian angels, will cross safely over with the swiftness of lightning, but the wicked will fall headlong into the pit of hell. Nearly opposite St. Stephen’s Gate the bed of the Kedron is spanned by a bridge of a single arch, and on the left of the road, going south, is the subterranean Chapel of the Tomb of the Virgin, where the Apostles are supposed to have laid the remains of the Mother of Jesus and where her body is supposed to have lain until her fabled assumption. The only part of this curious church above ground is the porch, and to the open court in front of it the descent is made by three flights of steps. The portal in the principal fa 9 ade of the porch has a beautiful pointed arch, into which a wall with a r small door has been built. Within the door is a hand¬ some flight of 47 marble steps, 19 feet wide at the top and descending to a depth of 35 feet below the outer court. About half-way down are two side chapels—one on the right containing the tombs of Joachim and Anna, the parents of the Virgin, and another on the left con¬ taining the tomb of Joseph. There is a third vault on the left of the stairs, to which however no tradition is 460 THE HOLY LAND. attached. At the foot of the stairway we enter the chapel, which is cruciform and brilliantly lighted with lamps. Its length is 93 feet, its width 20 feet, the tran¬ sept from end to end is about 45 feet. The nave lies east and west. Its eastern wing is much longer than the western and has a window above, and in the midst of it is the sarcophagus of the Virgin. In different places are the altars of the Greeks, the Armenians and the Abys- sinians, and an oratory of the Moslems. Returning to the upper fore-court, we observe on our left a passage leading to a cavern which is called the Cave or Grotto of the Agony, and is supposed to be the very spot in which Jesus prayed and said, u My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me ; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt!” This is a genuine grotto in the solid rock; it is 54 feet long, 37J wide and 12 in height; the ceiling is supported jDartly by natural pillars and partly by masonry; and a hole in the ceiling seems to indicate that the grotto is an ancient olive-press. If this supposition is correct, then it is not at all improbable that we are here in the very olive-press which gave its name to the Garden of the Olive Press—Gethsemane ! Somewhere in this vicinity the Garden of Gethsemane must have been; and high authorities affirm that the en¬ closure which now bears that name entirely corresponds with the accounts of the Evangelists. Any spot in that part of the Kedron Valley would perhaps answer as well; and indeed another spot than this is also claimed to be the true place of our Saviour’s solitary struggle. The modern Garden of Gethsemane is an enclosure of a rectangular form, 160 feet long and about 150 wide, which is now surrounded by a hedge. It is in the pos- I I 1 I ) THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 461 session of Franciscan monks, and is kept in the trimmest and most artificial style. The ground is divided into beds in which roses, pinks and other flowers are culti¬ vated, and the attendant monk is careful to cull a nose¬ gay for which the visitor is expected to pay him one franc. There are also cypresses and some young olive trees, but the greatest glory of the garden is the seven venerable olive trees, some of which are 19 feet in cir¬ cumference, their bark burst with age, and their trunks so bent as to require to be shored up with stones. /One would fain believe these aged trees to be the same which spread their boughs over the Son of Man. That how¬ ever cannot be, for at the siege of Jerusalem by Titus every tree in that valley was cut down. A thousand years later when the Crusaders took possession of Jeru¬ salem they found no trees in the Kedron Valley, and it was not before the sixteenth century that the ancient trees of Gethsemane began to be mentioned. For all that, these trees are very likely lineal though remote de¬ scendants of those which grew there in the time of Christ j and certain it is that they are utterly unlike all other trees of the same species which are seen elsewhere on the Mount of Olives. Dean Stanley says that u in spite of all the doubts that can be raised against their antiquity or the genuineness of their site, these ancient olive trees, if only by their manifest difference from all others on the mountains, have always struck even the most indifferent observers. They are now indeed less striking in the modern garden enclosure built round them by the Franciscan monks than when they stood free and unprotected on the mountain side; but they will remain, so long as their already protracted life is spared, the most 462 THE HOLY LAND. venerable of their race on the surface of the earth ; their gnarled trunks and scanty foliage will always be regarded as the most affecting of the sacred memorials in or about Jerusalem; the most nearly approaching to the everlast¬ ing hills themselves in the force with which they carry us back to the events of the Gospel history.” The Garden of Gethsemane is entered from the eastern side, that is the side next to the Mount of Olives. A rock immediately east of the gate is said to mark the spot where the disciples Peter and James and John slept during their Master’s agony. Some ten or twelve paces to the south of that spot, and of course without the enclosure, the fragment of a pillar indicates the place where Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. At one time the garden was of much greater extent than at the pres¬ ent, and contained several churches and chapels which have now long disappeared. The place of the betrayal was then located in the Grotto of the Agony, and the traditions of the spot have greatly varied. The oil made from the olives of Gethsemane is sold at a high price, and rosaries made from the olive stones are in great request. From the Garden of Gethsemane there are three roads to the summit of the Mount of Olives, and half-way up the middle path, which is also the steepest, is a ruin on the spot where Jesus, “when He was come near, beheld the city and wept over it ” (Luke xix : 41). This spot is venerated even by the Moslems, who built a mosque in honor of it; but the building is now deserted. At or near that same spot undoubtedly is the place where Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem on the Tuesday of the week in which He suffered. On that THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 463 day He had sat teaching in the Court of Israel, near the Treasury (Mark xii: 41), and just before He left the Temple He saw and commended the faith of the poor widow who of her penury cast in the two mites, which were all the living that she had (Mark xii: 41-44 j Luke xxi: 1-4). Then He quitted the Temple, passing the gate through the massive wall which surrounded the sacred enclosure. u As He went out of the Temple one of his disciples v used an expression of admiration at the immense u stones and buildings ” of the splendid struc¬ ture, and in answer received a brief prophecy that not one stone of all the edifice should be left upon another. In going out they would be surrounded by a throng of people, and there would be little opportunity for further conversation ; but in returning to Bethany Jesus did not take the easier although longer road round the Mount of Olives, but the shorter and steeper path directly up the west side of the Mount. Half-way up they rested and sat down facing Jerusalem u over against the Temple v (Mark xiii: 3), and it was then that He delivered the long dis¬ course of warning and instruction which is recorded in the thirteenth chapter of Mark. Any one who will compare the account given by St. Luke of the action and discourse of our Saviour on that day with the circumstantial exact¬ ness of time and place exhibited by St. Mark will surely perceive that while St. Luke was a faithful reporter of what he heard from others, he had nothing of that preci¬ sion of detail which belongs to an original witness. That exactness and precision St. Mark has; not, of course, because he was an immediate witness—though he may have been—of the things which he relates, but because, according to the universal tradition of the Church, he 464 THE HOLY LAND. was merely the secretary or amanuensis of the Apostle Peter from whom he had the facts which he narrates. Only an eye-witness and ear-witness could have written or dictated the account of our Saviour’s words and acts on that last Tuesday of his earthly life as we find them recorded in the Gospel of St. Mark j and he who stands by the ruined mosque on the west side of the Mount of Olives may be sure that he is not far from the very spot on which our Saviour charged his followers in every age to u Watch!” If we proceed to the summit of the Mount of Olives we find there a village, Kefr et-Tur , which is not visible from Jerusalem, and within the court of a mosque, the minaret of which is ascended by all travellers for the sake of the superb view over Jerusalem and the Dead Sea, we find a small octagonal chapel where a shapeless de¬ pression in the rock is pointed out as the last footstep of Christ on earth before his ascension into heaven. To say nothing of the inherent absurdity of such a sign, it seems to be almost incredible that the crest of Olivet should have been taken for the place of the Ascension in face of the express statement of St. Luke that our Saviour before parting from his disciples u led them out as far as to Bethany ” (Luke xxiv: 50), that is to say, beyond the crest of Olivet and some way down the eastern side. The blunder is easily accounted for. The Empress Helena built two churches in Palestine, one at Bethlehem in honor of the Nativity, and another on the top of a hill near Jerusalem in memory of the Ascension. The latter was probably on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and being called the Church of the Ascension it was speedily supposed to be erected on the place of the Ascension. THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 465 Other sacred buildings clustered around it. Constantine built a roofless basilica 5 in the sixth century many monasteries had been added j the Crusaders erected u a small tower with columns in the centre of a court paved with marble, and the principal altar stood on the rock within.” In 1130 a large church rose over the spot, having in the centre a broad depression marking the scene of the Ascension, below which was a chapel. After the time of Saladin the chapel was enclosed by an octag¬ onal wall. In the sixteenth century the church was com¬ pletely destroyed; in the seventeenth the Moslems re¬ stored the interior of the chapel; and in 1834—1835 it was rebuilt on the former ground-plan. The entrance is through a door by the minaret on the west side, where a handsome portal admits the visitor to a court in the centre of which rises a small chapel of irregular octagonal form and about twenty feet in diam¬ eter. In the middle of the chapel is a cylindrical drum with a small dome over the spot from which our Saviour is said to have ascended. It belongs to the Moslems who regard it with veneration, but on certain days Chris¬ tians are permitted to use it as an altar for the celebra¬ tion of the mass. In an oblong marble enclosure is shown the footprint of Christ in the rock. Quitting this spot where an idle and superstitious tra¬ dition makes void an express statement of Holy Scrip¬ ture, we enter an adjacent mosque occupied by a com¬ munity of dervishes, and standing on the site of a former Augustinian monastery. On ascending the minaret a magnificent panorama is spread out before us. Below on the west lies Jerusalem with the Haram enclosure like a vast park, dotted with oratories and surmounted by the 30 466 THE HOLY LAND. glorious dome of the Mosque of Omar. The physical conformation of the city appears as it never can from any other point. The impregnable position of the Temple Mount is manifest. The hollow of the Tyropeon between the Temple hill and the upper part of the town, though now filled with rubbish, is plainly distinguishable. The relative position and the different heights of Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, Akra, Bezetha and Ophel are perceived at a glance. Beyond the north wall we can trace the course of the upper Valley of the Kedron, rich with verdure in the spring time, and behind it Scopus, whence the Roman looked down on the city he was shortly to de¬ stroy, confessing that its beauty might avail to u move the majesty of Rome to mercy.’ 7 Looking to the south, the opprobrious Mount of Offence is close at hand and beyond it we can scan the southward course of the Kedron Valley. A few miles off are Tekoah, and the Frank Mountain and the hills of Bethlehem, though Bethlehem itself is concealed from view. Everywhere the clearness of the atmosphere deceives the eye, and the Dead Sea, lying thirteen miles off and not less than 3000 feet below our point of view, seems near at hand and not many hundred feet below. Beyond the deep chasm in which its blue and glass-like surface lies are the mountains of Moab, and north of them is Gilead, along the base of which the Jordan Ghor appears as a green line on a whitish ground. Gazing on this majestic panorama one can almost pardon the poetic superstition which imagines this place to be the place of the Ascension. Taking the southern path down the mountain, passing the spots where silly traditions affirm that the Lord’s Prayer was first taught and the Apostle’s Creed was com- THE ENVIEONS OF JERUSALEM. 467 posed, we find ourselves opposite to the southeast corner of the Haram at the so-called Tomb of the Prophets. This curious and undoubtedly ancient Jewish sepulchre is peculiarly interesting on account of an early tradition, the truth of which Eusebius emphatically maintains, that our Lord initiated his disciples in his secret mysteries in a cave, and that it was in honor of that cave, which Constantine himself adorned, that Helena built her Church of the Ascension. u The cave to which Eusebius refers,” says Dean Stanley, “ must almost certainly be the same as that singular catacomb, a short distance below the third summit of Olivet, commonly called the Tomb of the Prophets. It is clear from the language of Eusebius that the traditional spot which Helena meant to honor was not the scene of the Ascension itself, but the scene of the conversations before the Ascension and the cave in which they were believed to have occurred. Had this been perceived, much useless controversy might have been spared.” No Hebrew tradition connects this re¬ markable sepulchre with the ancient Prophets of Israel j but as early as the seventh century four stone tables were shown there at which it was said that our Lord and his Apostles sat, and a church was erected there to com¬ memorate the Betrayal. The spot was abandoned and * forgotten, and remained unnoticed until the seventeenth century, when it was observed by travellers and assumed its present name. The entrance to the Tomb of the Prophets is insignifi¬ cant, and leads into a rotunda lighted from above, from which three passages thirteen to nineteen yards long extend and intersect two semicircular transverse passages. The wall of the outer semicircle contains about twenty- 468 THE HOLY LAND. four shaft-tombs. The rough way in which the cham¬ bers are hewn points to a very early origin of these tombs, and the form of the receptacles for the dead proves them to be of the Jewish period. By the modern Jews they are regarded with the greatest veneration. Returning to the Garden of Gethsemane, and taking the path down the valley, we soon come to the Jewish burying-ground and pass by four remarkable tombs. The first is the supposed Tomb of Jehoshaphat, from whom the valley takes one of its names. It is cut into the face of the perpendicular rock and has an ornamental portal, but the sepulchre is wholly underground and is not archi¬ tecturally remarkable. Close by, on the southwest of the Tomb of Jehosha¬ phat, is the Tomb of Absalom, by far the most striking object in the valley, hewn out of the native rock which has simply been cut away from three sides so as to leave a solid body twenty-two feet square and twenty feet high. As the base is embedded in rubbish which even covers the entrance, the true height of the block must be con¬ siderably greater. This huge monolith has been partly hollowed, and the entrance through a hole on the north side leads to an empty chamber eight feet square with tenantless shelf-graves cut in the rock on two sides. The exterior is ornamented with Ionic pillars and an archi¬ trave j above the monolith is a circular attic of large hewn stones; and the structure is finished to a total height of forty-seven feet by a small dome running up into a low spire, which spreads a little at the top like an opening flower. Of the history of this striking mon¬ ument there is no certainty, but the Jews believe it to be the pillar which Absalom reared in the King’s Dale (2 THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 469 Sam. xviii: 18). Jewish children have been seen cast¬ ing stones at it and cursing the memory of the disobe¬ dient and treacherous Absalom. Some two hundred feet south of this is the Tomb of St. James, which has a porch eighteen feet by nine front¬ ing the west, ornamented with tw T o columns and two half¬ columns of the Doric order. The entrance, however, is not through the porch, but by a passage cut through the rock from the south and leading to a cave which extends forty or fifty feet back into the mountain. A tradition dating from the sixth century assures us that in this grotto St. James lay concealed and fasting from the hour of Christ’s death until after the Resurrection. The tradi¬ tion that he was buried on the Mount of Olives is not older than the sixteenth century. The grotto was for¬ merly occupied by monkish preachers j it now sometimes serves as a sheepfold. The fourth tomb, immediately south of the Tomb of St. James, is the monolith of Zechariah, a cubical block measuring seventeen feet each way, without masonwork but hewn like the lower part of the Tomb of Absalom out of the solid rock, and surmounted by a flattened pyr¬ amid of twelve feet elevation. The entire height is nearly thirty feet, and there is no entrance. Each of the sides has two columns and two half-columns of the Ionic order. According to the Jews, by whom it is held in great ven¬ eration, this monument is the Tomb of Zechariah, the priest mentioned in 2 Chronicles xxiv : 20, 21, and the same to whom our Saviour referred in his scathing de¬ nunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees : u Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the 470 THE HOLY LAND. righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.Wherefore behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify 5 and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar ” (Matt, xxiii: 29, 30, 31, 34, 35). A hundred yards below these venerable tombs our path down the valley turns somewhat to the west of south, in a direction parallel with the base of Ophel, until we come to the Virgin’s Spring (p. 257). Thence, as we proceed midway between Ophel and the Mount of Offence, we have the village of Silwan on our left skirting the base of the latter, until we come to the Pool of Siloam at the foot of Ophel (p. 255), three hundred yards above Job’s Well. IV. Around the walls. As the traveller approaches Jerusalem from the west he has the whole west w^all of the city before him, ex¬ tending north and south above the Gihon Valley. At the northwest angle are remains of an ancient tower called Kulat el-Jalud , the Castle of Goliath, which Mr. Ferguson maintains is the Hippicus of Josephus. The entrance to the Holy City is by the Jaffa Gate, which the Arabs call Bab el-Khalil , that is the Hebron Gate. It is a busy place ; sentinels and custom-house officers are THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 471 always on guard, and the open space within the gate is used as a market-place in which peasants dispose of fruits, vegetables and other country products. u This open space probably represents the i market-place 7 men¬ tioned by Josephus as being situated on the western hill prior to the capture of the city by the Romans; and here the wholesale fruit and vegetable market is now held every day soon after sunrise. Dusky women of Bethany and Siloam, in long blue or white gowns, with bright colored kerchiefs tied round their heads, bring large bas¬ kets full of cucumbers, tomatoes and onions and other garden produce, while from more distant villages, espe¬ cially Bethlehem and Urtas, troops of donkeys come laden with enormous cauliflowers and turnips, guided by boys in white shirts girdled with broad red leather belts. The pleasant-looking Bethlehem women, wearing crimson and yellow striped or blue gowns with long white linen veils, carry on their heads baskets of grapes, figs, prickly pears, pomegranates and apricots, or whatever fruit is in season. Sometimes this market-place is almost blocked up with the piles of melons or with oranges and lemons from Jaffa, and in the early summer-time roses are sold here by weight to the makers of conserves and attar of roses. Hotel-keepers and servants from the various convents come here to make their bargains, and turbaned green-grocers and itinerant vendors of fruit come to buy their stock for the day. 77 On the right of the Jaffa Gate is the Citadel, which has already been described (p. 236), and adjoining the Citadel on the south is the infantry barracks. u Within the citadel there is ruin and rubbish everywhere; with¬ out, in the moat, soldiers 7 gardens, beds of cactus or 472 THE HOLY LAND. prickly pear, and filth of every possible description; and on the ramparts a few old cannon, much dreaded by the artillerymen who have to fire them. The view from the top of David’s Tower is extensive, embracing the whole town, the Mount of Olives, the Dead Sea and the moun¬ tains of Moab—a pleasant sight to feast the eyes upon for half an hour before the sun goes down.” From the barracks the wall runs due south to the southwest angle, within which is the garden of the Armenian monastery. There the south wall begins. For two hundred yards it runs due east, and then in¬ clines irregularly to the north of east, following the natural conformation of Zion, until it crosses the Tyro- peon to a point on Ophel situated about ninety yards south of the Haram. At that point it turns directly north for ninety yards and joins the south wall of the Haram one hundred yards from its southwest angle and two hundred yards from its southeast angle, which is also the southeast angle of the city. In the south wall there are two open gates, Bab en- Neby Baud or the Gate of the Prophet David, commonly called Zion Gate, which is about one hundred yards from the southwest angle of the city; and Bab el-Mughari- beh , or the Gate of the Moors, commonly called the Dung Gate, or Tyropeon. Zion Gate is simply an arch in the wall filled in with stones so as to leave space for a moderate-sized two¬ leaved door. The wall however is very thick. Within the north side of the gate is a row of hovels formerly oc¬ cupied by lepers. Suffering from a hopeless disease, and dependent on charity for daily bread, these poor crea¬ tures lived together under a sheikh of their own unfortu- THE ENVIRONS OF JERUSALEM. 473 nate class, with exemplary cheerfulness and good humor. The appeal for alms which they made without rising from their seats was seldom disregarded, and the backsheesh of the passenger was received in tin vessels on the ground beside them. The Dung Gate in the bed of the Tyropeon is a small and entirely modern entrance with no architectural pre¬ tensions whatever. It is supposed however to be fairly representative of the gate of the same name mentioned by Nehemiah (Neh. iii: 13 ; xii: 31). In the south wall of the Haram area there are three closed gates. Of these the Double Gate is the most westerly, and is undoubtedly a relic of the Temple of Herod. It has two entrances, now closed, each eighteen feet wide, whence there was formerly a vaulted passage ascending to the Temple Mount. Over the former open¬ ings are two ornamental arches, not belonging to the structure but fastened to it with iron clamps $ and above them are heavy lintels, cracked by the weight of the masonry above and now supported by columns. Next is the Triple Gate, with three openings now closed by a slight wall, which formerly gave entrance to three parallel passages now choked with rubbish. Furthest east is the Single Gate, of comparatively modern date, which led into the subterranean vaults called Solomon’s Stables. The East Wall runs directly north, and in that part of it which encloses the Haram there is a closed gate called the Golden Gate. The Arabs call it Bab ed-Dahcriyeh , or the Eternal Gate j also, Bab et-Tobeh , or the Gate of Repentance j and Bab er-Bameh , or the Gate of Mercy. The Moslems have a traditional prophecy that on some fore-doomed Friday, the Moslem Sabbath, when the 474 THE HOLY LAND. faithful are engaged in prayer, a Christian conqueror is to enter Jerusalem through this gate and take possession of the city. From a mistaken supposition that this is the Beautiful Gate (of the inner court) of the Temple mentioned in Acts iii: 2, the Greeks called it Thyra Horaia , that is, the Beautiful Gate. By a second and curious mistake the Latins mistook Horaia (Beautiful) for Aurea (Golden), whence the usual Christian name of The Golden Gate. In its present form it probably dated from the early centuries of the Christian era; but its resemblance to the Double Gate on the south side is re¬ markable, and may suggest that it is the successor of the Gate Shushan of the Herodian Temple mentioned in the Talmud. In the time of the Crusades the Golden Gate used to be opened for a few hours on Palm Sunday and on the Festival of the Raising of the Cross. On Palm Sunday a great procession took place in honor of the Saviour’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and the people strewed palm branches in the way of the Patriarch as he entered the City by the Golden Gate. Just above Birket Israil, the Pool of Bethesda, is Bab el-Asbat or the Gate of the Tribes, which is also called by the Arabs Bab Sitti Mariam or the Gate of the Lady Mary, but which Christians call St. Stephen’s Gate. Like most of the gates of Jerusalem it is situated in an angle. The doors are mounted with iron. Over the entrance are two lions in half-relief hewn in stone. In the guard- room within, a u footprint of Christ ” is shown. In the north wall are two gates, the so-called Gate of Herod, a quarter of a mile from the northeast angle, and the Damascus Gate, about midway between the east and west ends of the wall. Herod’s Gate, which the Arabs . . ■ ■ - S : ' " _ \ THE ENVIBONS OF JEBUSALEM. 475 call Bab ez-Zahiri or the Gate of Flowers, was formerly called St. Stephen’s Gate, and a church dedicated to St. Stephen was erected near by to commemorate the death of the first martyr and mark the place where he was stoned. The church has wholly disappeared and the name St. Stephen was long ago transferred to the Bab Sitti Mariam. By far the handsomest gate of Jerusalem is Bab el-Amud , or the Gate of the Columns, commonly called the Damascus Gate. It is built in an irregular angular form and is a fine specimen of the architecture of the sixteenth century. Properly speaking it consists of two gate towers, and it takes its name of Bab el Amud from the slender columns on either side which support a pointed gable. An inscription on the gable records that the gate was built by Soliman in the year 944 of the Hegira ; but excavations have ascertained that it stands on the site of a more ancient gate. About one hundred yards east of the Damascus Gate is the entrance to a cave or grotto called the Cotton Grotto, of vast size and of great antiquity, which extends to a distance of six hundred and fifty feet under the streets and houses of Bezetha, sloping from the entrance to a depth of more than one hundred feet. Strange to say, this excavation was not discovered until 1852, and its history is quite unknown. It is evidently an ancient quarry. u You still see clearly the size and form of the masons’ and hewers’ tools, for the marks of the chisel and the pick are as fresh as if the quarriers and the stone¬ cutters had just left their work. They appear to have been associated in gangs of five or six j each man making a cutting perpendicularly in the rock four inches broad 476 THE HOLY LAND. till lie had reached the required depth; after which, wedges of timber driven in and wetted forced off the mass of stone by swelling. It is touching to see that some blocks have been only half cut away from their bed, like the great stone at the quarry of Baal-bec or the enormous obelisk in the granite quarries of Assouan.” Shreds of pottery, fragments of utensils, and skeletons of men who died probably three thousand years ago were found in the grotto when it was discovered j and niches in the rock, with blackened spots above them, still remain to show where a feeble light enabled the “ slaves of the lamp ” to prosecute their subterranean labor. In all probability it was from this quarry that Solomon ob¬ tained the huge stones of the Temple wall and of the Temple itself. We are told that it “was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither: so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building ” (1 Kings vi: 7) j and the vast quantities of chips and fragments of stone found in the Cotton Grotto show that the stones taken thence were dressed before being removed. It is pitiful to think of the toil and wretchedness of the workmen— probably slaves—who lived and died in darkness that Solomon in all his glory might rear his temple to Jehovah. CHAPTER XVIII. MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. Within the walls modern Jerusalem is divided into five parts. The most prominent of course is the Haram esh-Sheriff the Noble Sanctuary, which includes the whole of Mount Moriah, and corresponds more or less exactly with the Temple area of the time of Christ. Its lofty platform is supported wholly on the east and mostly on the south by the city wall, and on the north and west by walls of equal strength. The rest of the city is divided into four Quarters occupied respectively by Mohammedans and Jews, and by Armenians and other Christians. From the Jaffa Gate, David Street runs eastward through the city to the principal entrance of the Haram, which is called Sab es-Silsileh, the Gate of the Chain. Another street, called the Street of the Damascus Gate, runs from the Damascus Gate due south to David Street; and almost from their point of intersection a third street, called the Street of the Gate of David, runs south to Zion Gate. Thus the inhabited part of Jerusalem is divided into four unequal Quarters; on the southwest is the Ar¬ menian Quarter; on the southeast is the Jewish Quarter; on the northwest is the Christian, or Frankish, Quarter; the rest, on the north, the west and the northwest of the Haram is the Mohammedan Quarter. The Jewish Quarter is the filthiest and most wretched (477 ) 478 THE HOLY LAND. part of a very filthy city, and although some of its occu¬ pants are rich, for the most part the Jews of Jerusalem are extremely poor. Nearly all are foreigners in the land of their forefathers, and have come to Jerusalem to die and be buried in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The motive which has brought many of them is that of deep religious feeling; in many others it is a superstitious be¬ lief that unless they are buried in the Valley of Jehosh¬ aphat, which they believe to be the place of final judg¬ ment, they will have to journey thither underground from any other place in which their bodies may be laid. In a few cases the motive is remorse for sin and a desire to expatiate its guilt by lives of ascetic devotion in the Holy City. The aspect and demeanor of the Jews is dejected and sorrowful. Their religious duties are per¬ formed with pharisaical punctiliousness. Every rabbini¬ cal tradition is observed. Schools are kept open all the night for the study of the law. At all hours of the day men may be found in the synagogues absorbed in the mysteries of the Talmud. The daily evening services and sermons in the synagogues are largely attended. The Sabbath is rigidly observed and the yearly fasts and fes¬ tivals are faithfully solemnized. On the last day of the Jewish year, which occurs in the month of September, they rise three hours before sunrise to engage in an office of penitence, in which every Israelite submits his back to a castigation of forty stripes save one, and at every blow these two verses from the Book of Proverbs are re¬ cited, u My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth j even as a father the son in whom he delighteth” (Prov. iii: 11 ? 12). The Passover and MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 479 other festivals are celebrated with expressions of the utmost delight. At the Feast of Tabernacles booths are erected out of doors and on the house-tops. At certain times the services in the synagogues are almost or quite tumultuous, the whole congregation leaping, dancing, singing, shouting and shrieking with a joy which seems to be hysterical, after which they stream forth and per¬ ambulate their poor streets in procession, bearing the Roll of the Law in their midst. Such occasions however are exceptional. The ordinary life of the Jews is aus¬ tere to sadness. Only the younger people who have been born there are bright and cheerful j the general appearance of the elder is that of men who mournfully realize that they are strangers in their own land and dwelling in one filthy quarter of the once splendid city of their forefathers. Forbidden as they are to enter the precincts of the Haram, which was formerly the glorious enclosure of the Temple, they purchased many years ago and at a great price the melancholy privilege of kissing the stones of the ancient Temple wall at a place not far from the Dung Gate, and now well known as the Jews* Wailing Place. There every Friday, and on other days as well, they can be seen, clothed in their quaint garb, bewailing the de¬ parted glory of Israel and the Holy City. They recite with sorrowful appropriateness the Seventy-ninth Psalm: O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance ; Thy Holy Temple have they defiled ; They have made Jerusalem an heap of stones ! Under their feet seventy feet of rubbish have been heaped above the street which once skirted the Temple 480 THE HOLY LAND. wall; but they love to lean against the courses of ma¬ sonry that are still above ground; and as they meditate they sit down, book in hand, and intone litanies of touch¬ ing tenderness and poesy. One of them begins with these lines: For tlie Palace that lies waste, We sit in solitude and weep ! For the Temple that is overthrown, We sit in solitude and weep ! For the walls that are cast down, We sit in solitude and weep ! For the mighty stones that are turned to dust, We sit in solitude and weep ! For our glory that is clean vanished away, We sit in solitude and weep ! Here and elsewhere in the Holy Land the Jews are of two classes, the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim. The Ashkenazim are mostly Poles and Germans, and are under the protection of their respective consuls 5 the Sephardim are from Spain and Portugal, and speak a corrupt dialect of Spanish but are Turkish subjects. These two classes of Jews have separate places of wor¬ ship, but their numerous synagogues are not remark¬ able. The extreme southeastern part of the Jewish Quarter, near the Dung Gate, is occupied by the Moors, and sur¬ passes even the rest of the quarter in filth. In this dis¬ trict, and only about fifteen yards from the southwest corner of the Haram wall, is Robinson’s Arch, so called from Dr. Robinson, its discoverer. It is part of an im¬ mense bridge, fifty feet in width, which once spanned the Tyropeon Valley and united the Temple platform with Mount Zion. It contains stones of ten and twenty-six MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 481 feet in length, but unfortunately only three courses are now distinguishable, and excavations made on the oppo¬ site side, anciently called Xystus , have not yet discov¬ ered the corresponding part of the bridge. As its name denotes, the Armenian Quarter is chiefly though not exclusively occupied by Christians of the Ar¬ menian Church. The garden belonging to the Armenian Monastery runs all along the west wall of the city from the barracks to the southwest angle, and thence eastward to the Gate of Zion$ but to this beautiful enclosure visit¬ ors are rarely admitted, and then with great reluctance. In going northward from Zion Gate to David Street along the narrow Armenian Street we first pass the Armenian Hospice on the right, northeast of which, on the sup¬ posed site of the House of Annas, is an Armenian Nun¬ nery. North of these is the great Armenian Monastery in which the Patriarch of that rite has his residence. The church is built on the spot where St. James the Great, to whom it is dedicated, is said to have been be¬ headed. Its walls are lined with porcelain tiles, and it contains some pictures of little merit. North of the Armenian buildings, east of the Tower of David, probably on the site of Herod’s Palace and his famous garden, is the Palace of the English Bishop, and near by are Christ Church and its Clergy House. Adjacent to the Citadel is the English Hospital. These buildings were erected at an enormous expense on ac¬ count of the depth of rubbish to be removed before a solid foundation could be reached. Shafts had to be sunk thirty-nine feet before the rock was found, and the contents of the foundation of the church alone amount to 70,000 cubic feet of masonry. This and other similar 482 THE HOLY LAND. facts go to prove that there was originally in this part of Zion a deep ravine running down to the Valley of Gihon. In Jerusalem, and generally throughout the East, the Armenian community is small and wealthy. The means of their people permitting them to travel, the number of Armenian pilgrims to the Holy City is large in compari¬ son with the number of the adherents of their communion. Their spacious monastery furnishes them with ample accommodations in u a fair place ” on the Hill of Zion, the fairest place indeed of all Jerusalem. The Mohammedan Quarter is nearly as large as the other three together, but it is by no means exclusively occupied by Mohammedans. It contains several mosques, barracks for cavalry and for infantry, the public prison, and the official residence of the Pasha. In the Street of the Damascus Gate, which divides the Mohammedan from the Christian Quarter, are the principal bazaars. Its most notable antiquity is Wilson’s Arch, but to Chris¬ tians by far the most interesting object in this Quarter is the Via Dolorosa or Way of Sorrows, along part of which it is as certain as it well can be that our Saviour passed on his way from the judgment-seat of Pilate to the place of his crucifixion. After indicating the locality of most of the places just mentioned we may dwell a little more at length on the bazaars and the Via Dolorosa. At the eastern end of David Street, directly under the Gate of the Haram, called the Gate of the Chain, is Wilson’s Arch, which once afforded a passage across the Tyropeon between the Temple and Mount Zion. This bridge, though now buried under fifty-five feet of rubbish, is absolutely perfect. Its masonry is of the same char¬ acter as that of the foundation wall of the Haram, and is MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 483 undoubtedly of the age of Herod. Like Robinson’s Arch it springs from the foot of the Haram wall, and as its stones are of the same character, it may be inferred that Robinson’s Arch was either a copy or duplicate of this. Its span is forty-two feet, semicircular and perfect, composed of twenty-five courses or tiers, twelve on each side of the keystone. u It is by far the most impressive specimen of Roman architecture yet discovered in Jeru¬ salem.” The descent to it is troublesome, and the space within the arch can be satisfactorily illuminated only with calcium or magnesium lights. Somewhat to the northwest of the Gate of the Chain is the Hammam esh-Shifa , already mentioned (p. 264) as the conjectured Pool of Bethesda. Due north of the same bridge are the cavalry barracks, west of which is the Pasha’s residence $ and adjacent to the west wall of the Haram at its northern end is the prison. The bazaars of Jerusalem are situated in the Street of the Damascus Gate and extend from David Street north¬ ward. They are simply three arched lanes lighted only from the top. The western lane is occupied by butchers’ stalls, the proprietors of which noisily proclaim the merits and cheapness of their meats to every possible purchaser. In the other lanes every sort of merchandise may be found, but in no great abundance or variety. The shops are tumble-down concerns, mere holes in the arched sides of the lanes, somewhat resembling rough cupboards raised a couple of feet from the ground. Within they are rough, unplastered and innocent of paint. In these dens the merchants sit cross-legged at their ease with their wares in front of them; fruiterers, oil, grain and leather mer¬ chants, with shoemakers, cobblers, tailors, embroiderers, 484 THE HOLY LAND. saddlers, cotton-cleaners, tinsmiths, pipe-borers and profes¬ sional letter-writers. Silks from Damascus and Alex>po, prints and calico from Manchester, colored muslin veils from Switzerland and Constantinople, and beads from Hebron allure the women j cutlery, hardware, arms, sad¬ dlery, pipes and fragrant tobacco attract the men j and the ubiquitous grocer, with raisins, dates and other dried fruits, rice from Egypt and the Jordan, flour from Galilee, olives, Pistachio nuts, walnuts, honey, salt, pepper and spices, is ready to supply the inward wants of all sorts and conditions of men. At certain times of the day these narrow lanes are thronged by a motley multitude from every part of the world. The noise of the shop¬ men crying their wares, and the cheapening and chaffer¬ ing of customers is almost deafening $ the air is fetid j and under foot the ground is slippery with filth. To go shopping in Jerusalem is not the endless delight that ladies find it in more western lands. To an intelligent Christian the Via Dolorosa is one of the most deeply interesting and affecting of all the sacred places of the Holy City. Though not a stone now stand¬ ing on either side of it may have been there when Jesus walked upon this earth, and though every foot of it is covered deep with rubbish, so that modern Jerusalem is almost literally the grave of the ancient city, yet it is certain that somewhere along the line of the Via Dolorosa He must often have passed; and wherever may have been the place of his crucifixion—unless, indeed, as Fer¬ guson conjectures, it was on the very site of the Mosque of Omar,—it was over some part of the Via Dolorosa that He went forth from the court of Pilate bearing the cross on which He was to die. On the other hand, so MODERN JEEUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 485 many superstitious myths have been connected with all parts of this street that its solemn sacredness is marred by the vulgarity of idle and senseless superstitions, and in passing through it, pity and disgust contend with veneration. Entering the city by St. Stephen’s Gate we are at once in the Via Dolorosa; on the right is the Church of St. Anna, dedicated to the mother of the Blessed Virgin, which was presented in 1856 by the Sultan Abdul Medjid to Napoleon III; on the left is the Pool of Beth- esda. Going westward with the Pool of Bethesda on our left, we come to the Turkish infantry barracks at the west end of the north wall of the Haram, standing prob¬ ably on the former site of the Tower of Antonia and the Prsetorium of Pilate. A chapel within the barracks is supposed to mark the First Station of the Way of the Cross, whence Jesus set out to u the place called Gol¬ gotha.” The Second Station, where the cross was laid upon him, is located at the foot of the steps leading into the barracks. Immediately beyond the barracks, but on the right, is the convent of the Roman Catholic Sisters of Zion, in which one hundred and twenty young girls are educated. Here, adjoining a church which is built partly into the rock, an arch called the Ecce Homo Arch crosses the street, and is supposed to mark the spot where Pilate uttered the words, u Behold the Man!” (John xix : 5). This is the Third Station. The Ecce Homo Arch is un¬ doubtedly modern. In 1856 Dr. Robinson was assured by residents of the city that it had been erected within their own time. Yet it probably stands on the founda¬ tions of a former arch of the time of Hadrian, which 486 THE HOLY LAND. may have had more than one intervening successor. Not a stone of the arch was there when Pilate said, u Behold the Man!” and yet the Roman governor’s weak attempt to commend Jesus to the pity of his per¬ secutors by exhibiting him before them in the depth of his humiliation must have been made not very far from the spot. From the Ecce Homo Arch the Via Dolorosa descends a short distance to the Street of the Valley, which runs in a generally southeasterly direction from the Damascus Gate to the Dung Gate ; and for a little way the Via Dolorosa coincides with Valley Street. Turning there¬ fore sharply to the southeast we presently have on our right the traditional House of the Poor Man Lazarus, and just beyond it the Fourth Station, where our Saviour is said to have met his mother. A few steps beyond the Fourth Station the Via Dolo¬ rosa once more turns westward, and at the left-hand corner we have the House of the Rich Man Dives. Here is the Fifth Station, where Simon of Cyrene took up the cross under which Jesus had fainted. A stone built into the house next to that of Dives has a depres¬ sion said to have been made by the hand of Jesus! From the Valley Street westward the Via Dolorosa begins to ascend, and about one hundred steps from the Fifth Station we come to the Sixth, where St. Veronica is said to have wiped the sweat from the brow of our Saviour as He passed, and to have received as her reward the inestimable boon of a portrait of his countenance imprinted on her handkerchief. Still ascending to the street of the Damascus Gate, we find at its nearest corner on our right the Porta Judi - MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 487 ciaria , which is the Seventh Station, near which Jesus fell a second time. Diagonally opposite, and therefore on the left, and in the Christian Quarter, is the Hospice of St. John, and thirty paces beyond its entrance, at a hole in the stone of the Greek monastery of St. Caralombos, is the Eighth Station, where Jesus addressed the weeping women of Jerusalem, bidding them to weep not for him but for themselves and their children. The Ninth Station is not far off, in front of the Coptic Monastery 5 and there our Saviour is said to have sunk again under the weight of the cross—which Simon of Cyrene was bearing! The last five stations are within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Tenth is where He was stripped for crucifixion 5 the Eleventh, where the nails were driven into his hands and feet; the Twelfth, where the cross was raised; the Thirteenth, where He was taken down from the cross; the Fourteenth is the Holy Sepulchre itself. We may dismiss these stations and the vain traditions connected with them without further remark. The Via Dolorosa is not a street in the European or American sense of that word. To use the words of Bart¬ lett, the author and artist, u The pavement is rugged as a mountain road, and prison-like walls on either side are only pierced here and there by a small doorway or grated window or jalousie. At twilight the overhanging arch¬ ways are involved in utter darkness; and unless pro¬ vided with a lantern, it is difficult to grope one’s way without treading on a sleeping dog or coming into violent collision with some invisible passenger.” Nevertheless, and notwithstanding the puerility of the traditions con- 488 THE HOLY LAND. nected with it, we cannot but feel with Mr. Bartlett that the Via Dolorosa is u the most gloomily impressive street within the precincts of this melancholy city.” More than one long chapter might easily be devoted to churches and monasteries, Greek, Latin, Abyssinian and Coptic, in the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem. We must be content to mention only the chief points of interest. Entering the city at the Jaffa Gate and going eastward along David Street, we pass two streets on the left, then a short lane or wynd, then Christian Street, and at last come to the Street of the Damascus Gate, which is the eastern boundary of the Quarter. The first of these streets runs northwest to the Latin Patriarchate, which is situated near the wall, between the Tower of Goliath and the Jaffa Gate. The second leads to the Casa Nova of the Franciscans. Christian Street has the best shops in Jerusalem. At its northern end, less than three hundred yards from David Street, it is crossed by a continuation of the Via Dolorosa. Walking through it from David Street, we have successively on our left the Pool of Hezekiah, the Coptic Khan, the great monastery of the Greeks, and the residence of their Patriarch, and on the right the Muristan and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Muristan is an open space, full of ruins, measur¬ ing one hundred and seventy yards east and west by one hundred and fifty yards north and south, once covered by the famous Hospital of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The beginning of that famous order was the charity of a few humble monks attached to a church built A. D. 1048 by Italian merchants in honor of St. MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 489 John, Patriarch of Alexandria. These poor monks, from their devoted care of sick pilgrims, were soon recognized as a separate order, and were called the Johnites or Brothers of the Hospital. Later on they were constituted an Order of Clerical Monks, some of whom were detailed for military service j others for spiritual functions; and others as serving brothers to escort pilgrims, to provide for their entertainment and to nurse them when sick. Their great Hospice was founded in 1120 j its arched halls were supported by one hundred and twenty-four noble columns; and many thousands of sick, wounded and helpless sufferers have been tenderly cared for within its walls. The fame of the Knights of St. John, and the renown of their exploits in Palestine, Cyprus, Rhodes and Malta, soon rang through the world j but perhaps, if all were known, the martial deeds of the military monks were not more glorious than the humbler ministrations of the serving brothers in the Hospice of St. John. When the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem was overthrown, the noble buildings fell into decay. Nothing but ruins is left of them. Less than twenty years ago even the ruins were concealed by heaps of indescribable filth. In 1869 the Sultan made a present of the Muristan to the Prus¬ sian government. It is said that he had previously made a present of it to the French government ! Neither of them however seemed to care much for the gift until after the battle of Sedan, when the French Consul at Jerusalem thought it might be well to raise the French flag over the property. Accordingly he repaired to the spot for that purpose, and found to his chagrin and dis¬ may that the Prussian flag had just been raised over it by the Crown Prince Frederick, afterward Emperor. 490 THE HOLY LAND. The Prussians had the Muristan thoroughly cleansed of the filth with which it was covered, leaving the ruins to tell their own tale of departed grandeur. Where the building formerly stood may now be seen fragments of columns eloquent in their decay, patches of flowering beans, straggling branches of prickly pear, and here and there a few scattered fig trees. The entrance is through a gateway surmounted with the Prussian eagle, over the arch of which there once were carvings of the seasons, now defaced, representing groups of sowers, reapers, pruners, threshers and other agricultural laborers. On the east side of the Muristan, a name which signifies Hospital and keeps alive the fragrant memory of its early history, is a Prussian church, school, hospital and parsonage. At the southwest corner is the Greek mon¬ astery of St. John the Baptist. On the west side is the Bath of the Patriarch, Hammam el-BatraJc (p. 263). On the north is a mosque named in honor of Omar and the Greek monastery of Gethsemane. North of the Muristan is the most interesting building in the Christian Quarter,—to hundreds of millions of Christians the most sacred building in the world—the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Properly told, its history would be the history of Christianity from the fourth century to the present time. It has witnessed those vast changes -which have altered the face of Europe and Asia from the time when Roman legions could be sent from Britain to Parthia until now, when an old man in the Vatican is the only visible link connecting ancient Rome with modern Italy. Around it have been marshalled armies from the east and from the west. Emperors of Rome and Byzantium, Caliphs of Bagdad and Damascus, MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 491 Sultans of Egypt, Crusader Kings, Saracen heroes and Turkish marauders have in turn ravaged and adorned it. Christian sects—Creek, Syrian, Homan and Armenian— have intrigued and fought for the possession of it. Stand¬ ing as a witness to the great facts of a universal faith, it has been desecrated by the blood of Christians shed by Christian hands, and to this very day the supposed scene of Christ’s resurrection is yearly profaned by a pretended miracle. We have here to do with hardly any of these high topics of history. For the present purpose a brief sketch of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre must suffice. Per¬ haps we ought rather to say the Churches of the Holy Sepulchre, for at least four have successively stood on substantially the same spot, and the present edifice is really a double building, including Avithin one area the Sanctuary of the Holy Sepulchre, a crusading church over the supposed scene of the Crucifixion, and two other minor chapels. We have already seen that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre cannot possibly be on the true spot of the en¬ tombment of Christ unless, in the time of Christ, its site was outside the north wall of Jerusalem. The walls of the city were wholly demolished by Titus, and the line ! of the north wall cannot now be certainly ascertained. Some topographers positively maintain that it corre¬ sponded in certain parts, especially in the neighborhood of the Damascus Gate and Herod’s Gate, with the pres¬ ent north wall. Others as positively maintain that its course must have been on the north of the Hill of Zion at the line of the west branch of the Tyropeon Valley (p. 220), which would leave the site of the Church of the 492 THE HOLY LAND. Holy Sepulchre without the wall. Perhaps the strongest evidence in favor of the latter theory is the fact that on the north of the church the rubbish is of much less depth than on the south, which would naturally be the case if the second wall ran south of the spot. However that may be, there is no evidence whatever that this place was connected with the Sepulchre of Christ by any early Christian tradition; and the story of the u Invention ” or discovery of the True Cross (p. 241) implies that its discovery there was unexpected as well as miraculous. The first Church of the Sepulchre was called the Anas- tasis , or Church of the Resurrection, and was erected in 336. It was an octagonal rotunda in which were twelve statues of the Apostles surrounding the Sepulchre, and at the east was a lofty colonnade. At the same time and to the east of the Anastasis was erected the Basilica of the Cross over the supposed site of Golgotha, with open courts on the north and south and with a fore-court and propylseon or pillared porch covering the entrance to three grand portals on the east. The view of these buildings from the Mount of Olives must have been mag¬ nificent. The Anastasis and Basilica of Constantine were de¬ stroyed by the Persians in 614, and between 616 and 626 they were replaced by Modestus, Abbot of the Mon¬ astery of Theodosius, with three buildings—the Anasta¬ sis, or Church of the Resurrection j the Martyrion, or Church of the Cross $ and the Church of Calvary. In the following fifty years a fourth, the Church of St. Mary, was added on the south, but these buildings were much infe¬ rior to the previous buildings of Constantine. In 936 and again in 969 they were partly destroyed by fire, and MODEBN JEKUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 493 in 1010 they were desecrated and almost destroyed by the Moslems. In 1055 a substantially new church was erected, and in 1099 the dome of the Sepulchre was solemnly entered by the Crusaders walking barefoot and chanting appro¬ priate psalms and litanies. This edifice however was not sufficiently magnificent for the Crusaders, and early in the twelfth century one large church was built, including the Sepulchre and all the other chapels under one roof. In outline it was sub¬ stantially the same as the present building, but it has passed through so many vicissitudes and has had so many additions and alterations that it cannot be recognized as belonging architecturally to that age. In 1187 it was damaged by the Arabs, and in 1244 the Sepulchre was destroyed by the Kharezmians j but before 1310 it had been magnificently restored, and not much later two domes were added to that of the Sepulchre. In the fol¬ lowing centuries the dome of the Sepulchre became dan¬ gerously insecure, and in 1719 it was restored and the greater part of the church was rebuilt, but not without violent opposition from the Moslems. In 1808 occurred a great disaster. The whole building was almost entirely burned down; the dome fell in and crushed the Chapel of the Sepulchre; the columns of the rotunda cracked j the lead on the roof melted and ran into the interior; hardly anything was saved except the eastern part of the building. Among other losses, the sarcophagi of the Crusading Kings of Jerusalem, including that of Godfrey de Bouillon, which had been deposited under the spot where the Cross is said to have stood, disappeared. The Greeks now secured the chief right to the edifice, and 494 THE HOLY LAND. with the aid of the Armenians they reared the present structure. It was designed by a certain Komnenus Kalfa of Constantinople, who religiously preserved as much as possible of the previous edifice. After this brief sketch of the history of the Church of the Sepulchre we may now examine its details, re¬ membering always that it includes four once separate parts, the Dome over the Chapel of the Sepulchre, the Crusader’s Church of the Cross, the Chapel of Helena— where the Cross was found,—and the Calvary. The entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is from the south, through a quadrangle or fore-court which is several steps below the street and not quite level. To the right and left of the court are chapels of no great importance. The first door on the right opens into a long passage which goes round the chambers and offices used by Greek pilgrims, and at its end a flight of eighteen steps leads to a small chapel, in the centre of which a round hollow marks the spot on which Abraham laid Isaac for sacrifice. The second door on the right of the court leads to the Armenian Chapel of St. James, and the third into the Coptic Chapel of the Archangel Michael, both of which are dark and uninteresting. On the left or west side of the court are three chapels. The first of these, dedicated to St. James, the Brother of our Lord, is handsomely fitted up. The second is dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and is said to be on the spot where our Saviour, according to tradi¬ tion, appeared to Mary for the third time. The third is in the lowest story of the Tower, and is called the Chapel of the Forty Martyrs. MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 495 The tower which originally adjoined the church is now incorporated on different levels with the old Chapel of St. John and the rotunda of the Sepulchre. In its four sides are large Gothic window-arches, and above them were formerly two rows of small Gothic windows, of which only one has been preserved. Though the upper part of the tower has been destroyed the remainder is extremely interesting, since it is the only part of the structure which undoubtedly dates from the Crusades. It was built between 1160 and 1180. The south fa 9 ade of the church on the right of the tower is not imposing. It has two portals built up with Gothic arches, one of them so depressed as to be almost in the form of a horseshoe. In the space between the doors and the arches are sculptures in bas-relief. Entering by the portal on the left, we pass through the place of the Turkish guard, where the soldiers may usually be found regaling themselves with pipes and coffee. Here, down to the present century, every pil¬ grim was compelled to pay a heavy tax to the Turkish government. Passing the guard, we reach the Stone of Unction, on which the body of Jesus was laid by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathsea, when they u wound it in linen clothes,’ 7 u as the manner of the Jews is to bury,” with “ a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight” (John xix : 39, 40). Before the Crusades the Church of St. Mary, which was somewhat to the south of this spot, was supposed to cover the place of the Anointment *, but when all the Holy places connected with the Sepulchre were enclosed within one building, the tradition was accommodated to archi¬ tectural necessities. The Stone has often been changed. 496 THE HOLY LAND. and in different ages has been in custody of different re¬ ligious communities. It is still regarded with the utmost veneration, and in the Middle Ages it was customary for pilgrims to measure it with a view to having their shrouds made of the same length. The present stone, which was placed here in 1808, is a reddish-yellow marble slab, over which Greeks, Latins, Armenians and Copts are entitled to burn their lamps. Beside it are candelabra of immense size. About sixteen paces to the left of the Stone of Unction is a small enclosure round a stone supposed to mark the spot where the women stood and witnessed the anoint¬ ment of the body of Jesus. Advancing a few paces northward w r e enter the rotunda of the Sepulchre in the centre of which and under the apex of the dome is the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. The dome, which is open at the top, is sixty-five feet in diameter and is supported by eighteen piers. At the low door on the east of the chapel the orienta Christians usually remove their shoes before entering the vestibule which is called the Angel’s Chapel. Its walls are very thick and are encrusted within and without with marble. In the centre is a stone set in marble which is said to be the very stone which the angel rolled away from the Sepulchre and on which he afterward sat. A fragment of the same stone is said to be built into the altar on the place of the Crucifixion. In this chapel fifteen lamps are kept burning, five of which belong to the Greeks, five to the Latins, four to the Armenians and one to the Copts. Through a still lower door we enter the Grotto or Chapel of the Sepulchre, properly so called, which is MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 497 only six and a half feet long, six feet wide and very low. The roof is borne by marble columns, and from the ceiling are suspended forty-three precious lamps, of which four belong to the Copts and the rest are equally apportioned among the other three sects. In the centre of the north wall is a relief in white marble repre¬ senting the Saviour rising from the Tomb, and on the same side, to the right of the entrance, is the marble tombstone, five feet long, two feet wide, and about three feet high, on which mass is celebrated daily. Immedi¬ ately to the west of the Grotto of the Sepulchre is a small chapel which has belonged to the Copts since the sixteenth century. In the gloomy recesses around the rotunda only two places are of interest, the plain Chapel of the Syrians or Jacobites in the niche at the extreme west, adjacent to which are the u tombs ” of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathsea. Leaving the rotunda on the north we come to the place where Jesus appeared in the garden to Mary Magdalene. The spot on which Jesus stood is indicated by a marble ring; the place of Mary is marked by another ring. This sacred spot belongs to the Latins, whose altar is on the east and opens into the Chapel of the Apparition, where tradition has it that our Saviour appeared to his mother. Immediately to the right of the entrance to this chapel is an altar within which a fragment of the Column of the Scourging is said to be preserved. As we leave the chapel we have on our left the Latin sacristy, in which the sword, the spurs and the cross of Godfrey de Bouillon are shown. They are still used in the ceremony of admitting knights 32 498 THE HOLY LAND. into the Order of the Sepulchre, which has existed from the time of the Crusades 5 but they are of doubtful gen¬ uineness. The spurs are eight inches long 5 the sword is two feet eight inches long, and has a simple hilt five inches long in the form of a cross. We now leave the rotunda of the Sepulchre and enter the old Church of the Crusaders, passing under the lofty Arch of the Emperors directly east of the entrance to the Sepulchre, where we find a Greek chapel called the Catholicon thirty-nine yards in length and lav¬ ishly ornamented. At the southeast corner of the choir is the Seat of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and at the northeast corner seats for other Patriarchs 5 and in front of this entrance is a fragment of a column which is supposed to mark the centre of the world! As is usual in Greek churches, the High Altar is sepa¬ rated from the choir by the Holy Veil. Behind it is the throne of the Patriarch. Passing into the north aisle we find at the north¬ east angle a dark chapel containing an altar, under which are said to be footprints of Christ. These are questionably shown through two round holes in the altar. Behind this chapel is another called the Prison of Christ, where the Saviour was kept bound while the cross was preparing. In the apse of the church, behind the Bema or Sanc¬ tuary of the Catholicon, we find three recesses. The first is called the Chapel of Longinus, the soldier who pierced the Lord’s side. According to an early tradi¬ tion, some of the blood and water spurted into one of his eyes which was blind and restored his sight, where¬ upon he instantly became a Christian. The Latins do MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 499 not receive this tradition, and their processions do not stop before the Chapel of Longinus. In the centre of the apse is the Armenian Chapel of the Parting of Christ’s Raiment; and beyond it, in the niche corre¬ sponding with that of the Chapel of Longinus is the Chapel of the Derision or the Crowning with Thorns. Here we are shown the Column of the Derision to which Christ was bound during the mockery of the Roman soldiers. Between the two chapels last named a stairway of twenty-five steps descends to the Chapel of Helena. An altar on the northeast is dedicated to the peni¬ tent thief; the altar in the middle to the Empress Helena. On the right a chair is shown in which the Empress sat during the search for the Cross. A flight of thirteen more steps leads into the Chapel of the Invention (discovery) of the Cross. It is entirely modern. Mass was said in it for the first time in 1857. We have now only to visit Golgotha. To reach it we mount the stairs, turn to the left and walk round the apse of the church southward until we reach a passage on the left which leads to Golgotha, fifteen feet above the Church of the Sepulchre. There we find a chapel called the Chapel of the Raising of the Cross, belonging to the Greeks. It is forty-two feet long and fifteen feet wide, and in the apse is shown the hole of the Cross, an opening faced with silver, in which the Cross is said to have been inserted. On either side, five feet distant from the Cross of the Redeemer, are the places where the two thieves were crucified. That on the north is the place of the penitent. Less than five feet from the Cross of Jesus is the rent in the rocks mentioned in Matthew 500 THE HOLY LAND. xxvii: 51. It is covered with brass grating, above which is a slide of the same metal. This chapel is sumptuously ornamented with paintings and mosaics. In an adjoining chapel is the supposed place of the nailing of the cross, and separated from this chapel only by two pillars is another much smaller and simpler chapel belonging to the Latins, which is called the Chapel of Mary or the Chapel of the Agony. It is only thirteen feet long and nine and a half wide, but is richly decorated. The altar-piece represents Christ on the knees of his mother. We again descend the stairway to a chapel imme¬ diately under the Chapel of the Raising of the Cross. This is called the Chapel of Adam. Here, according to tradition, Adam was buried, and here his body rested until the Crucifixion, when the blood of Jesus, trickling down the miraculous rent in the rocks, touched his head and restored him to life. A cleft in the rock correspond¬ ing to that in the chapel above attests to the truth of the legend. It is said that from this tradition comes the usual painting of a skull at the foot of the cross. However much we may dislike the superstitious tra¬ ditions attached to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and however thoroughly we may be persuaded that it does not cover the place of our Lord’s death, burial and resurrection, it is hardly possible for a Christian to visit it without becoming so saturated with the thoughts which it suggests as to be moved to involuntary veneration. The most resolute Protestants have felt the influence and confessed the spell it has thrown over them j and it is re¬ markable that many persons who have maturely pro¬ nounced against the genuineness of the site of the Sepul- MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 501 chre have gradually changed their opinion after a long residence in Jerusalem. In such cases it is surely not the wish nor the judgment, but the mysterious influence of association which is father to their ultimate convic¬ tion. The ceremonies of the oriental and Latin Christians at the Church of the Sepulchre are endless alike in num¬ ber and variety. Some of the least edifying have been gradually disused. In former times the Latin Patriarch used to represent on Palm Sunday the entry of Christ u riding on an ass and a colt, the foal of an ass.” Now the Latins send to Gaza for palms which are blessed on that day and distributed to the people. On Maunday Thursday the ceremony of u washing the feet ” is per¬ formed by the Latins, and on the corresponding day of the Greek calendar the Greeks perform a similar rite. The most disgraceful performance in which the Latins once participated is now confined to the Greeks alone. It is the reception of the Holy Fire which is supposed to be sent from heaven into the Sepulchre on every Easter Eve. Dean Stanley’s description is so striking that with it we may close our account of this wonderful temple: u The time is the morning of Easter Eve, which by a strange anticipation here, as in Spain, eclipses Easter Sunday. The place is the great rotunda of the nave, the model of all the circular churches of Europe, espe¬ cially that of Aix-la-Chapelle. Above is the great dome with its rents and patches waiting to be repaired, and the sky seen through the opening in the centre, which here, as in the Pantheon, admits the light and air of day. Im¬ mediately beneath are the galleries, in one of which, on the northern side—that of the Latin convent—are assem- 502 THE HOLY LAND. bled the Frank spectators. Below is the Chapel of the Sepulchre—a shapeless edifice of brown marble j on its shabby roof a meagre cupola, tawdry vases with tawdry flowers, and a forest of slender tapers; whilst a blue curtain is drawn against its top to intercept the rain ad¬ mitted through the dome. It is divided into two chapels— that on the west containing the Sepulchre, that on the east containing ( the Stone of the Angel.’ Of these, the east¬ ern chapel is occupied by the Greeks and Armenians. On its north side is a round hole from which the Holy Fire is to issue for the Greeks. A corresponding aper¬ ture is on the south side for the Armenians. At the western extremity of the Sepulchre, but attached to it from the outside, is the little wooden chapel, the only part of the church allotted to the poor Copts j and further west, but parted from the Sepulchre itself, is the still poorer chapel of the still poorer Syrians, happy in their poverty however for this, that it has probably been the means of saving from marble and decoration the so-called tombs of Joseph and Nicodemus, which lie in their pre¬ cincts, and on which rest the chief evidence of the genu¬ ineness of the whole site. u The Chapel of the Sepulchre rises from a dense mass of pilgrims who sit or stand wedged around it; whilst round them, and between another equally dense mass which goes round the walls of the church itself, a lane is formed by two lines, or rather two circles, of Turkish soldiers stationed to keep order. For the spectacle which is about to take place nothing can be better suited than the form of the rotunda, giving galleries above for the spectators and an open space below for the pilgrims and their festival. For the first two hours everything is MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 503 tranquil. Nothing indicates what is coming except that the two or three pilgrims who have got close to the aper¬ ture keep their hands fixed in it with a clench never re¬ laxed. It is about noon that this circular lane is suddenly broken through by a tangled group rushing violently round till they are caught by one of the Turkish soldiers. It seems to be the belief of the Arab Greeks that unless they run round the Sepulchre a certain number of times the fire will not come. Possibly also there is some strange reminiscence of the funeral games and races round the tomb of an ancient chief. Accordingly, the night before and from this time forward for two hours a succession of gambols takes place which an Englishman can only com¬ pare to a mixture of prisoner’s base, football and leap¬ frog round and round the Holy Sepulchre. First he sees these tangled masses of twenty, thirty, fifty men starting in a run, catching hold of each other, lifting one of them¬ selves on their shoulders, sometimes on their heads, and rushing on with him until he leaps off, and some one else succeeds; some of them dressed in sheepskins, some almost naked j one usually preceding the rest as a fugle¬ man, clapping his hands, to which they respond in like manner, adding also wild howls, of which the chief burden is ‘This is the Tomb of Jesus Christ—God save the Sultan—Jesus Christ has redeemed us!’ What begins in the lesser groups soon grows in magnitude and extent till at last the whole of the circle between the troops is continuously occupied by a race, a whirl, a torrent of these wild figures, like the Witches’ Sabbath in ‘Faust,’ wheeling round the Sepulchre. Gradually the frenzy subsides or is checked; the course is cleared, and out of the Greek church on the east of the rotunda a long pro- 504 THE HOLY LAND. cession with embroidered banners, supplying in their ritual the want of images, begins to defile round the Sepulchre. u From this moment the excitement, which has before been confined to the runners and dancers, becomes uni¬ versal. Hedged in by the soldiers, the two huge masses of pilgrims still remain in their places, all joining how¬ ever in a wild succession of yells, through which are caught from time to time strangely, almost affectionately, mingled the chants of the procession—the solemn chants of the Church of Basil and Chrysostom, mingled with the yells of savages. Thrice the procession paces round j at the third time the two lines of Turkish soldiers join and fall in behind. One great movement sways the multitude from side to side. The crisis of the day is now approaching. The presence of the Turks is believed to prevent the descent of the fire, and at this point it is that they are driven, or consent to be driven, out of the church. In a moment the confusion, as of a battle and a victory, pervades the church. In every direction the raging mob bursts in upon the troops, who pour out of the church at the southeast corner—the procession is broken through, the banners stagger and waver. They stagger and waver and fall amidst the flight of the priests, bishops and standard-bearers hither and thither before the tremendous rush. In one small but compact band the Bishop of Petra (who is on this occasion the Bishop of 1 the Fire/ the representative of the Patriarch) is hurried to the Chapel of the Sepulchre, and the door is closed behind him. The whole church is now one heaving sea of heads resounding with an uproar which can be compared to nothing less than that of the Guild- MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 505 liall of London at a nomination for the city. One vacant space alone is left; a narrow lane from the aperture on the north side of the chapel to the wall of the church. By the aperture itself stands a priest to catch the fire; on each side of the lane, so far as the eye can reach, hundreds of bare arms are stretched out like the branches of a leafless forest—like the branches of a forest quiver¬ ing in some violent tempest. u In earlier and bolder times the expectation of the Divine presence was at this juncture raised to a still higher pitch by the appearance of a dove hovering above the cupola of the chapel—to indicate, so Maundrell was told, the visible descent of the Holy Ghost. This extra¬ ordinary act, whether of extravagant symbolism or of daring profaneness, has now been discontinued; but the belief still continues—-and it is only from the knowledge of that belief that the full horror of the scene, the intense excitement of the next few moments, can be adequately conceived. Silent—awfully silent—in the midst of this frantic uproar, stands the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. If any one could at such a moment be convinced of its genuineness, or could expect a display of miraculous power, assuredly it would be that its very stones would cry out against the wild fanaticism without and wretched fraud within by which it is at that hour desecrated. At last the moment comes. A bright flame as of burning wood appears inside the hole—the light; as every edu¬ cated Greek knows and acknowledges, kindled by the Bishop within—the light, as every pilgrim believes, of the descent of God himself upon the Holy Tomb. Any distinct feature or incident is lost in the universal whirl of excitement which envelopes the church as, slowly, 506 THE HOLY LAND. gradually, the fire spreads from hand to hand, from taper to taper, through the vast multitude—till at last the whole edifice from gallery to gallery and through the area below is one wide blaze of thousands of burning candles. It is now that, according to some accounts, the Bishop or Patriarch is carried out of the chapel in triumph on the shoulders of the people in a fainting state, 1 to give the impression that he is overcome by the glory of the Almighty, from whose immediate presence he is be¬ lieved to come/ It is now that a mounted horseman, stationed at the gates of the church, gallops off with a lighted taper to communicate the sacred fire to the lamps of the Greek church in the convent at Bethle¬ hem. It is now that the great rush to escape from the rolling smoke and suffocating heat, and to carry the lighted tapers into the streets and houses of Jerusalem, through the one entrance to the church, leads at times to the violent pressure which in 1834 cost the lives of hundreds. For a short time the pilgrims run to and fro—rubbing their faces and breasts against the fire to attest its supposed harmlessness. But the wild enthu¬ siasm terminates from the moment that the fire is com¬ municated ; and perhaps not the least extraordinary part of the spectacle is the rapid and total subsidence of a frenzy so intense—the contrast of the furious agitation of the morning with the profound repose of the evening when the church is once again filled—through the area of the rotunda, the chapels of the Copt and Syrian, the subterranean church of Helena, the great nave of Con¬ stantine’s basilica, the stairs and platform of Calvary itself, with the many chambers above—every part, ex¬ cept the one chapel of the Latin church, filled and over- MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 507 laid by one mass of pilgrims, wrapt in deep sleep and waiting for the midnight service. u Such is the Greek Easter—the greatest moral argu¬ ment against the identity of the spot which it professes to honor—stripped indeed of some of its most revolting features, yet still, considering the place, the time, and the intention of the professed miracle, probably the most offensive imposture to be found in the world.” The Haram esh-Sherif J the Noble Sanctuary, is one of the most sacred of all Mohammedan holy places, ranking next to the Kaaba at Mecca. In the Koran Mohammed himself professes to have visited it, and on that account it was for ages protected from the profane footsteps of any man who was not a Moslem. Until the year 1854 all but Moslems were rigidly excluded; and it was only at the peril of their lives that Catherwood and Arundale succeeded in 1833 in making the first accurate measure¬ ments of the Haram and its edifices. Since the Crimean war travellers have been readily admitted, except at the time of the great Mohammedan festivals. The Jews, however, have never sought that privilege, lest they might ignorantly commit the sin of treading on the site of u the Holy of Holies.” In a general way the Haram corresponds with the , ancient Temple area, but there is no certainty concern¬ ing the details. It is probable however that the Temple stood somewhere in the southwest angle, and not on the spot now occupied by the Kubbet es-Scikhra , or Dome of the Rock, which is the most conspicuous object of the Haram. In the opinion of some ingenious topographers the site of the latter building was not even included within the Temple area, but was altogether without the 508 THE HOLY LAND. ancient wall, and was in fact the place of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. According to the same theory, which is not without plausibility, the Dome of the Rock, and not the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, occu¬ pies the site of the Anastasis or Great Church of the Resurrection built by Constantine. Into the discussion of this theory, which has been bitterly opposed, we shall not here enter, but shall confine ourselves to a brief sur¬ vey of the Haram and its most prominent features. The Haram is entered on the north by three gates and on the west by seven, of which the principal is the Bab es-Silseleh, already mentioned, at the eastern end of David Street. Passing that gate we find ourselves in an extensive but irregular quadrangle, measuring on the east five hundred and twelve yards, on the west five hundred and thirty-six, on the north three hundred and forty- eight, and on the south three hundred and nine. It is almost level, the only exception being at the northwest corner, which is about ten feet higher than the other corners. The west side is partly flanked with houses under which are open arcades. The two most promi¬ nent objects of the Haram are the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque el-AJcsa. The rock over which the dome is built is not mentioned in Holy Scripture, and it cannot be the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite (2 Sam. xxiv : 16-25), since the Temple, which was built over that spot, was undoubtedly to the south of this rock. According to Jewish and Mos¬ lem tradition however Melchizedek, the King of Salem, offered sacrifice upon it $ it was here that Abraham was about to offer up his son Isaac, and the rock itself was anointed by Jacob. The Ark of the Covenant once stood MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 509 here; here it was concealed by the Prophet Jeremiah; and here, beneath, was the ShenihampJiorash , the ineffable name of God, which Jesus is said to have read, and by the use of which He had power to work miracles. Under the rock is a cavern to which we descend by eleven steps, and the hollow sound under foot indicates the ex¬ istence of another cave beneath. In the cavern places are shown where Abraham and Elijah used to pray, and where Mohammed left the mark of his head on the rocky ceiling. Mohammed declared that one prayer offered here was more potent than a thousand offered elsewhere, and from this place he took his flight to heaven on his miraculous steed, El-Burak. As his body rose heaven¬ ward, it pierced in the ceiling of the rock a round hole, which is still to be seen and is probably nothing else than the opening of an ancient cistern formerly occupying the place of the present cavern. Ferguson however believes this cavern to have been the Sepulchre of Christ. Omitting further mention of the innumerable legends connected with the rock and the underlying cavern, we may now observe the edifice which stands above it on a platform ten feet higher than the rest of the Haram. The Kubbet es-Sakhra is a large and lofty octagon, each of the sides measuring sixty-six feet in length. The sides were once covered externally with marble, but the upper part is now encrusted with porcelain plates, which were added by Soliman the Magnificent in 1528. On four of the sides are gates with porticoes, above each of which are six windows; in each of the other sides are six windows. The interior is fifty-eight yards in diameter, and is divided into three concentric parts by two series of sup- 510 THE HOLY LAND. ports. The first series consists of eight piers and sixteen columns, making with the outer wall an octagonal aisle. A second and wider aisle, if it can properly be so called, is formed by a second row of supports, on which rests the dome over the rock. The pavement of the interior is of marble mosaic, covered in places with straw mats. The dome is sixty-five feet in diameter and nearly a hun¬ dred feet high. It is made of wood, and on the outside is covered with lead. The inside is covered with tablets of wood painted blue, and richly adorned with painted and gilded stucco. The windows admit a solemn but in¬ sufficient light. The panes are not painted, but are com¬ posed of separate pieces of variously colored glass, set in plaster and fastened with clamps of iron. There is no doubt whatever that the Dome of the Rock was originally a Christian church, however much it may have been changed in detail in later centuries. It produced on the Crusaders a profound impression, and some of them believed it to be the veritable Temple of Solomon. The renowned order of knighthood founded here was called the Order of the Temple, and the Dome of the Rock was adopted as a part of the armorial bear¬ ings of the Knights Templar. The plan of the building was carried by the Templars to Europe, and churches in Metz, Laon and London which still exist owe their pecu¬ liar form to the model of the Dome of the Rock. At Milan its polygonal outline is reproduced in the back¬ ground of RaphaePs famous Sposalizio in the Brera. The eastern door of the Kubbet es-Sakhra is called Bab es-Silseleh , or Door of the Chain, which is not to be confounded with the outer gate of the same name which opens from the city into the Haram. The Moslem tra- MODERN JERUSALEM WITHIN THE WALLS. 511 dition is that a chain was once stretched across this door by Solomon, or perhaps by God himself, for the detec¬ tion of false witnesses ; and while a truthful witness could safely grasp it, the touch of a perjurer instantly caused one of its links to fall. In commemoration of this mirac¬ ulous test a building called Kubbet es-Silseleh , the Dome of the Chain, and also called Mehhmet Daud , or David’s Place of Judgment, stands in front of Bab es-Silseleh. It is an elegant little pavilion, consisting of two concen¬ tric rows of columns, of which the outer forms a penta¬ gon and the inner a hendecagon. In this centre rises a hexagonal drum surrounded by a dome which is sur¬ mounted with a crescent. At the southeast corner of the raised platform of the dome is an elegant pulpit of marble, recently restored, where sermons are preached every Friday in the sacred month of Ramadin. It is a noble specimen of Arabian art. Below the flight of steps which rises to the plat¬ form on the west is an elegant fountain structure dating from the fifteenth century. In the east wall of the Haram is the closed gate called the Golden Gate, already de¬ scribed (p. 474), and north of it is a modern mosque called the Throne of Solomon, from a legend that he was found dead here. It is said that in order to conceal his death from the demons who had been in subjection to him, Solomon supported himself on his seat with his staff, and it was not until the worms had gnawed the staff asunder and had let the body fall that the demons knew of their deliverance from Solomon’s authority. At the southwest of the Haram is the great Mosque el-Aksa, a very complicated pile of buildings of great in¬ terest to the architectural antiquary, and having at its 512 THE HOLY LAND. southeast corner the Mosque of Omar. It is entered by a porch of seven arcades, opening into as many aisles of the main building. It was founded by the Emperor Jus¬ tinian as a basilica in honor of the Blessed Virgin. It has been repeatedly altered, but the original features of the basilica can still be traced. It has many legends attached to it, but the only sacred historical spot it con¬ tains is the Double Gate (p. 473), which is probably the Huldah Gate of the Talmud. Through it we may safely believe that our Saviour often entered the Great Porch (pp. 230, 473) on the south of the platform of Herod’s Temple. Here we leave the ever-sacred precincts of the Holy Temple. After our long journey through the Holy Land of the Holy Life, and after visiting the City of the Precious Death and Burial of Jesus Christ, as we quit these hallowed scenes the last point on which our eyes rest is the crest of Olivet, not far from the last spot of earth on which the Saviour’s feet stood when about to make his glorious Ascension. INDEX Abd el Mejid, 100 Abdul Medjid, Sultan, 485 Abel-Beth-Maacbah, 429 Abel-Maim, 429 Abel-sbittim, 189 Abiatbar, 330, 332 Abil, 429 Abila, 182 Abimelech, 102,110, 364 Abiuadab, 43 Abishai, 71, 380 Abner, 56, 96, 186 Abraham, 18, 91, 98, 100, 102, 224, 288, 342, 358 361, 371, 494, 508, 509 Abraham’s Oak, 98 Absalom, 19, 97, 179, 186, 208 Accho, 402 Aceldama, 447 Acre, 137 Adonijah, 330 Adullam, Cave of, 71, 115, 282, 285 Aelia Capitolina, 241 JEtius Lyddensis, 47 Agag, 333 Agrippa I., 236 Agur, 350 Ahab, 103, 130, 145, 206,324, 411 A In o r» 0^4 Ahaziah, 130, 143, 146 Ahiah, 339 Ahimelech, 331 Ai, 336, 337 Ain Duk, 204 Ain-el-Barideh, 314 Ain el Hod, 208 Ain el-Tin, 306 Ain es Sultan, 199 Ain-hajla, 197 Ain Jidi, 287 Ain Mudawarah, 303 Ain Sitti Mariam, Jerusalem, Ain Umm el Derej, Jerusalem, 260 Ajalon, 50 Akir, 116,117 Akka, 402 Akra, the, Jerusalem, 220, 222 Akrabbin, 355 Alexander the Great, 105, 112, 233, 413 Altar of Incense, Tabernacle, 226 Amalekites, 139 Amasa, 57 Amaziah, 232 Ammaus, 315 Ammon, oracle of, 12 Ammonites, 180, 284 Amorites, 188 Amos, 19, 196, 284 Amwas, 41 Anak, 91, 95 Auakim, 94 Ananias, High Priest, 237 Anastasis, 492 Anata, 330 Anathoth, 44, 330 Anchorites, 274 Anderson, Major, 383, 386 Andrew, 296, 308 Andromeda, legend of, 12 “ Angel to the Shepherds,” 73 Angel’s Chapel, Jerusalem, 496 Anna, 80, 459 Annas, High Priest, 271 Antigonus, 282 Antiochus II., 234 Antiochus Epiphanes, 234 Antiochus the Great, 404 Antipas, 108 Antipater, 106, 235 Antonines, 186 Antony, 199 Aphek, 324 Apostles’ Spring, 208 Apple of Sodom, 205 Aqueducts, 252 Arabs, 203, 206 Ararat, 372 Araunah the Jebusite, 223, 508 Arba, 91 Arbela, 314 Arch of the Emperors, Jerusalem, 498 Archelaus, 14,108, 200 33 ., ( 513 ) 514 INDEX. Arimathma, 36 Ark of God, 353 Ark of the Covenant, 42, 116, 226, 508 Armageddon, 143 Armenian Convent, Joppa, 9 Armenian Monastery, Jerusalem, 481 Armenian Quarter, Jerusalem, 481 Aroer, 188 Artaxerxes, 233 Arundale, Mr., 507 Asahel, 71 Asaph, 228 Ascalon, 112 Ascalonites, 113 Ashdod, 110, 113, 116 Asker, 357, 385, 404 Ashkelon, 110, 112 Ashkenazim, 480 Ashraf, Sultan, 406 Askalon, 112, 82, 83 Astarte, 113, 415 Ataroth-Addar, 341 Athlit, 127 Augustus, Caesar, 13, 73, 369, 413, 436 Auranitis, 35 Avim, 109 Azekah, 54 Azotus, 114 Baal-Hermon, 433 Bab ed-Daheriyeh, 473 Bab el-Amud, 475 Bab el-Asbat, 474 Bab el-Khalil, 470 Bab el-Mugharibeh, 472 Bab en-Neby Daud, 472 Bab er-Rameh, 473 Bab es-Silseleh, 477, 508, 510 Bab et-Tobeh, 473 Bab ez-Zahiri, 475 Bab Sitti Mariam, 474 Bacchides, Syrian general, 284 “ Backsheesh,” 4, 473 Baedeker, 236 Bahr Lut, 33 Balaam, 83 Baldwin, I., 89, 405,418 Baldwin III., 423 Baldwin, IV., 423 Balthasar, 82 Banatha, 182 Banias, 32, 435 Barak, 135, 136, 426, 428 Bar-Cochba, 83 Bar-Cochebas, 241 Bar-Jona, 296 Bar-Jesus, 78 Bar-Tholomew, 296 Bartlett, William H., 487 Barzillai, 70 Bashan, 34 Basilica of the Cross, Jerusalem, 492 Basilides, priest, 126 Bath of the Patriarch, Jerusalem, 490 Batihah, 323 Bay of Acre, 403 Bazaar, Joppa, 7 Bazaars, 378, 483 Beautiful Gate, Jerusalem, 474 Beelzebub, 117 Beeroth, 57, 341 Beersheba, 102 Bees, 425 Beirut, 2 Beisan, 141 Beit Dejan, 44, 117 Beitin, 342, 348 Beit Lahm, 62 Beit Nebala, 46 Beit-nimrim, 188 Beit Ur el foka, 48 Beit Ur el tahta, 48 Belus, 403 Ben-hadad, 169 Benhadad, King of Syria, 324, 366, 429 Benjamites, 184, 352 Berenice, 237 Bethabara, 170 Beth-abra, 189 Bethany, 208 Beth-barah, 169 Beth Dagon, 45, 110, 116,117 Bethel, 342, 432 Beth-Gan, 143 Beth-Hogla, 174 Beth-Hoglah, 197 Beth Heron, 48, 50, 55, 59 Bethlehem, 66 Beth-nimrah, 188 Beth-phage, 208 Beth-rehob, 429 Bethsaida, 321 Bethsaida Julias, 308, 321 Bethsaida of Galilee, 307 Beth-shan, 141 Beth-shean, 182, 421 Bethshemesh, 43 Beth-shemesh, 117 Bezetha, Jerusalem, 220, 225 INDEX. 515 Biarahs, 9,26 Bibars, 311 Birds, 23, 38, 174 Bir-el-Khebir, 60 Bir-es-seba, 102 Bireh, 341 Bir Eynb, Jerusalem, 42, 261 Birket el Hamman, Jerusalem, 263 Birket es Sultan, Jerusalem, 253, 254 Birket Hamman el-Batrak, Jeru¬ salem, 263 Birket Israil, Jerusalem, 262, 264, 474 Birket Jiljalia, 195 Birket Mamilla, Jerusalem, 253 Birket Sitti Mariam, Jerusalem, 253 Bir Yakub, 357 Blanche Garde, 114 Blessed Virgin, 73, 78, 152, 512 Blue iris, the, 120 Boaz, 18, 69, 200 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 9, 15 Bonar, Rev. Andrew, 386 Book of Ruth, 67 Bostra, 35 Bozra, 35 Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters, 423 Brocardus, 300 Brook of Cherith, 206 Broom trees, 103 Brothers of the Hospital, 489 “ Bulls of Bashan,” 171, 425 Burak, 250 Cabul, 392, 411 Caesar, 13 Caesarea, 121 Caesarea, Philippi, 22 , 435, 437 Caiaphas, high priest, 212 Caleb, 94 Cambyses, 412 Camels, 5, 407 Cana, 297 “ Cana of Galilee,” 298 Capernaum, 299 Caphar Nahum, 304 Caravans, 193 Carchemish, 91 Carmelites, 126 Carthage, 411 Caspar, 82 Castle of Abraham, 97 Castle of Goliath, 470 Castle of Lazarus, 210 Catherwood, Mr., 507 Catholicon, Jerusalem., 498 Cave of Adullam, 71,115, 282, 285 Cave of Khureitum, 287 Cave of Machpelah, 18, 91, 92,93, 99 Cave of the Agony, Jerusalem, 460 “ Cave of the Nativity,” Bethlehem, 89 Cavern of Redekiah, 450 Cepheus, ^Ethiopian king, 12 Cestius Gallus, 47, 56, 237 Chaffering and cheapening, 5, 24, 484 Chaldeans, 199 Chamber of the Last Supper, Jeru¬ salem, 445 Chapel of Adam, Jerusalem, 500 Chapel of Helena, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of Longinus, Jerusalem, 498 Chapel of Mary, Jerusalem, 500 Chapel of St. James, Jerusalem, 494 Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, Jeru¬ salem, 494 Chapel of the Agony, Jerusalem, 500 Chapel of the Apparition, Jerusa¬ lem, 497 Chapel of the Archangel Michael, Jerusalem, 494 Chapel of the Crowning with Thorns, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of the Derision, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of the Discovery of the Cross, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of the Forty Martyrs, Jeru¬ salem, 494 Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre, Jeru¬ salem, 496 Chapel of the Invention of the Cross, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of Jacobites, Jerusalem, 497 Chapel of the Parting of Christ’s Raiment, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of the Raising of the Cross, Jerusalem, 499 Chapel of the Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 496 Chapel of the Syrians, Jerusalem, 497 Chapel of the Tomb of the Virgin, Jerusalem, 459 Chateau Neuf, 429 Chedorlaomer, 288, 438 Cherubim, Tabernacle, 226 Chief Mountain, 433 Chimham, 70 Chinnereth, 300 Chorazin, 310 Christ Church, Jerusalem, 481 516 INDEX. Christian Street, Jerusalem, 488 Church of Calvary, Jerusalem, 492 Church of St. Anna, Jerusalem, 485 Church of St. George of Cappadocia, Ludd, 48 Church of St. Mark, Tyre, 415 Church of St. Mary, Bethlehem, 88 Church of St. Mary, Jerusalem, 492 Church of the Annunciation, Naza- «reth, 153 Church of the Ascension, Jerusalem, 464 Church of the Cross, Jerusalem, 492 Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Je¬ rusalem, 241, 487, 490-504 Church of the Prophet Jeremiah, Karget el Enab, 43 Church of the Resurrection, Jerusa¬ lem, 492 Citadel, Jerusalem, 471, 248 Citadel of Zion, 320 City gates, 17 City of Baal, 42 City of David, 217 City of Forests, 42 City of Grapes, 42 City of Jupiter, 47 City of Palm Trees, 197, 200 Clarke, Dr. Edward D., 153, 360 Claudius, Emperor, 404 Cleopatra, 199, 404 Coenaculum, 445 Cold Fountain, 314 Colony of the German Temple, 11 Column of the Derision, Jerusalem, 499 Column of the Swinging, Jerusalem, 497 Couder, Captain Charles R., 30, 38, 43, 120, 135, 195, 276, 351, 454, 457 Coneys, 175 Constantine, Emperor, 89, 241, 465 Convent of Elijah, Mount Carmel, 127 Convent of Mar Elyas, Mount Car¬ mel, 126 Convent of Mar Saba, 279 Convent of St. Elijah, 62 Convent of Sisters of Zion, Jeru¬ salem, 485 Convent of the Greek Church, Joppa, 8 . Coptic Khan, Jerusalem, 488 Cornelius, Centurion, 122 Cotton Grotto, Jerusalem, 475 Council of Nicsea, 47 Court of Israel, Temple of Herod, Jerusalem, 231 Court of the Priests, Temple of Herod, Jerusalem, 231 Court of the Women, Temple of Herod, Jerusalem, 231 Crassus, 235 Crusades, the, 244 Crusaders, 378, 389, 397, 414, 418, 446, 461, 465, 493, 510 Cuthites, 356 Cyprus, 412 Cyx-enius, 73 Cyrus the Great, 233 Dagon, idol of, 116 Dalhamia, 315 Dalmamia, 315 Dalmanutha, 314 Damascus, 182 Damascus Gate, Jerusalem, 474, 475 Dan, 430 Danites, 431 Daphne, 376 Darius, 233 David, 19, 23, 57, 61, 70, 71, 96, 101, 111, 113,115,142,144,169,178,186, 196, 208,217,220,222, 223,285, 288, 331, 429 David Street, Jerusalem, 477 David’s Place of Judgment, Jeru¬ salem, 511 Dead Sea, 33,191 Deborah, 135, 426 De Bouillon, Godfrey, 244, 493, 497 Decapolis, confederacy of, 182 Defneh, 376 Deir Eynb, 42 Deir Mar Elyas, Mount Carmel, 62, 127 De Lusignan, Guy, 397,405 Derketo, goddess, 13, 113 Desgenettes, French surgeon, 9 “ Dews of Hermon,” 433 Dibash, 98 Dibs, 98 Dion, 182 Diospolis, 47 Docus, 204 Doeg, 331 Dogs, 6, 22, 38 Dome of the Chain, Jerusalem, 511 Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem, 507, 510 Donkeys, 5 Door of the Chain, Jerusalem, 510 INDEX. 517 Dorcas, 14, 46 Doable Gate, Jerusalem, 473, 512 Doves, 271 Dragon Well of Jeremiah, Jeru¬ salem, 254 Drake, Tyrwhitt, 287 “ Dromedaries of Midian,” 407 Druses, 128 Dung Gate, Jerusalem, 250, 472 Dye-works, 413 Ebal, 383 Eben-ezer, 60 Ecce Homo Arch, Jerusalem, 485 Edamites, 238 Edrei, 425 Edward I., 126 Eighth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 Ekron, 110,116 El Azariyeh, 209 El-Burak, 509 Eleazer, 237, 239, 290 El-Elohe-Israel, 362 Eleventh Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 El Ferdis, 282 El Fuleh, 137 El Fureidis, 282 El Ghuweir, 301 El Haditha, 46 El-Harathiyeh, 135 Eli, 19, 111, 353 Eliezer of Damascus, 95 Elijah, 103, 127, 129. 130, 131, 132, 146,179, 189,198,206,352, 416, 509 Elimelech, 68 Elizabeth, 90 El Jib, 49, 56 El Jish, 312 Elkanah,353 El Khalil, 97 Elisha, 132,179, 189, 198, 347, 389 El Khuds, 241, 443 El Kobab, 40 El Lazariyeh, 209 El-Lebbun, 352 El-Leddan, 430 El-Lubiyeh, 399 El Maharrakah, 128 El Meshed, 298 El Tell, 437 El Yahndiveil, 45 Emir David of Kerek, 244 Emir ed-Din, 419 Emmaus, 41, 44, 315 Empress Helena, 241,464,467 En-Dor, 140 Eneas, 46 En-Gannim, 143, 144 Engedi, 190, 287 English Hospital, Jerusalem, 481 English Mission House, Jerusalem, 441 En Nazi rah, 151 En Eogel, 262 En-shemesh, 208 “ Ephphatha,” 422 Ephraim, 336 Ephraimites, 169, 181 Ephrath, 62 Ephron, 92 Er Eann, 335 Er Eiha, 194, 205 Esarhaddon, 367 Esau, 93 Esdraelon, Plain of, 31,134,142,144, 426 Esdud, 113, 114 Esfia, 124 Esh-colah, 98 Essenes, 274, 278 Es Semakh, 325 Etam, 281, 283 Eternal Gate, Jerusalem, 473 Ethbaal, 411 Et Tabighah, 305 Et Tell, 321, 336 Eusebius, 123, 415, 467 Faba, castle, 137 “ Face of God,” 187 Fakhr ed-Din, 419 Farrar, Archdeacon, 83, 105, 150, 272 Feast of Tabernacles, 479 Felix, Eoman governor, 123 Fergusson, James, 470, 484, 509 Festival of the Eaising of the Cross, 474 Festus, Eoman governor, 123 Field of Blood, Jerusalem, 447 Field of the House of Oppression, 429 “ Field of the Mighty,” 57 Fifth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 486 Fik, 324 First Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 485 Flavius Silva, 290 Flies, god of, 117 Flowers, 425 Fountain Gate, Jerusalem, 250 518 INDEX. Fountain of Hoglah, 197 Fountain of Steps, Jerusalem, 260 Fountain of the Virgin, Nazareth, 152 Fourth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 486 Frank Mountain, 282 Frederick II., 244 Frederic Barbarossa, Emperor, 414 “ From Dan even unto Beersheba,” 432 Fruit trees, 9, 26, 37 Fuleh, 138 Fulke, King, 114 Fuller’s Spring, 262 Gabinius, Roman general, 369 Gad, 35, 178 Gadara, 182 Gadarenes, 323 Gadaritas, 183 Galilee, 238,392 Gam ala, 324 Gamaliel, 271 Ganne Sarim, 301 Garden of Gethsemane, 460, 468 Garden of Elijah, 127 Garden of Princes, 301 Garden of the Olive Press, Jeru¬ salem, 460 Gardens, 9, 25 Gate of Flowers, Jerusalem, 475 Gate of Herod, Jerusalem, 474 Gate of Mercy, Jerusalem, 474 Gate of Repentance, Jerusalem, 473 Gate of the Chain, Jerusalem, 477, 482 Gate of the Columns, Jerusalem, 475 Gate of the Haram, Jerusalem, 482 Gate of the Lady Mary, Jerusalem, 474 Gate of the Moors, Jerusalem, 472 Gate of the Prophet David, Jeru¬ salem, 472 Gate of the Tribes, Jerusalem, 474 Gate of the Valley before the Dragon Well, Jerusalem, 250 Gate Shushan, Jerusalem, 474 Gath, 110,114, 115 Gath-Hepher, 298 Gaza, 96, 110 Geba, 335 Ge Bene Hinnom, 445 Gehazi, 133 Gehenna, 445 Geikie, Dr. H. L., 2, 11, 72, 87,193, 271, 289, 376, 381, 436, 454 Geodes, 177 Gerar, 110 Gerasa, 182, 186 Gergesa, 323 Gergesenes, the, 323 Gessius Florus, Roman governor, 237 Gethsemane, 460, 468 Gezer, 40 Ghazza, 111 Ghuzzeh, 111 Ghor, 33 Ghor, river, 169 Giants, 94 Gibbon, Edward, 405, 417 Gibeah,184 Gibeah of Benjamin, 332 Gibeah of Saul, 332 Gibeon, 56,227 Gibeonites, 50, 334, 341 Gibraltar of Palestine, 438 Gideon, 138,188 Gilead, 35 Gilgal, Plain of Jordan, 50,195, 352, 353 Gimzo, 48 Giscala, 312 Glass, 403, 414, 418 Golden Candlestick, Tabernacle, 226 Golden Gate, Jerusalem, 473, 511 Goliath, 114 Gophna, 349 Golgotha, Jerusalem, 453, 499 Grapes, 97 Great Altar of Burnt Offering, Tem¬ ple of Herod, Jerusalem, 231 Great Mosque, Nabulus, 378 Great Porch, Herod’s Temple, Jeru¬ salem, 512 Great Sanhedrin, 318 Greek Easter, 501-506 Green Mosque, Nabulus, 379 Grotto of Jeremiah, Jerusalem, 451 Grotto of the Agony, Jerusalem, 460 Grotto of the Sepulchre, Jerusalem, 496 “ Guardian of Mount Zion,” 446 Guerin, 16 Guilds, 105 Guillemot, Captain, 17 “ Habitation of Chimham,” 70 Hackett, Dr., 349, 353, 354 Hadid, 46 INDEX. 519 Hadrian, Emperor, 47, 241, 304 Hadrur Khan, 207 Hagar, 102 Hai, 336 Haiath, 336 Haifa, 2, 403 Haminam el Batrak, Jerusalem, 263 Hammam el-Batrak, 490 Hammam esk-Shifa, Jerusalem, 264, 483 Hammath, 315 Hannah, wife of Elkanah, 353 Hannan, High Priest, 271 Haram esh-Sherif, 477, 507 Haram Area, Jerusalem, 223 Haram, the, 507-512 Harosheth, 135, 425 Harper, Henry A., 206 Hasbani, the, 429 Hashbeya, 34 Hattin, battle of, 397 Haunt of Partridges, 197 Hauran, 34 Hazael, 146 Hazezon-Tamar, 287 Hazor, 425, 426 Head of the Spring, 408 Healing Bath, Jerusalem, 264 Heber, 136 Hebron, 90, 100, 273 Hebron Gate, 470 Helkath-hazzurim, 57 Heraclius, Emperor, 243 Hermits’ caves, 279 Hermon, 34 Hermons, 434 Hermonites, 434 Herod Agrippa I., 122, 225 Herod Agrippa II., 237 Herod Antipas, 316, 317 Herod Philip, 435 Herod the Great, 13, 80, 105, 113, 120, 199, 247, 282, 290, 314, 369 Herodians, 278 Herodium, 282 Hero’s Well, 60 Heshbon, 35 Heth, 46 Heth, children of, 91 Hezekiah, 111, 222, 232, 254, 263 Hiel, 198 Hieromax, the, 169 Hill of Beans, 332 Hill of Evil Counsel, 212, 447 Hill of Moreh, 147 Hill of the Judge, 430 Hill of the Precipitation, Nazareth, 154 Hill of the Prophets, 212 Hill of the Buin, 425 Hillel, the Looser, 271 Hills of Samaria, 31 Hippene, 325 Hippicus, 470 Hippos, 182, 325 Hiram, King of Tyre, 2, 13, 392, 410 Hittite Empire, 46 Hittites, 91, 92 Hivites, 341, 362 Holy City, 443 Holy Family, the, 90, 102, 104, 105, 117,119,124, 134, 150, 195,391 Holy Fire, 501 Holy House of Loretto, 154 Holy Place, Tabernacle, 226 Holy of Holies, Tabernacle, 226 Holy of Holies, Temple of Herod, Jerusalem, 231 Holy Place, Temple of Herod, Jeru¬ salem, 231 Honey, 98 “ Honorable counsellor,” 36 Hooker, Dr., 199 Horns of Hattin, 299 Hosea, 196 Hoshea (synonym for “salvation”), 77 Hospice of the Knights of St. John, Jerusalem, 221 Hospice of St. John. Jerusalem, 487 House of Annas, 447 House of Bread, 62 House of Caiaphas, 447 House of Dagon, 45, 110, 117 House of Dates, 208 House of Fish, 307 House of Flesh, 62 House of God, 342 House of Leopards, 188 House of Passage, 169 House of Simon, Joppa, 17 House of Sorrow, 208 House of the Ford, 169, 189 House of the Leopard, 188 House of the Poor Man Lazarus, Jerusalem, 486 House of the Eich Man Dives, Jeru¬ salem, 486 House of (unripe) Figs, 208 Howe, Fisher, 454 Huldah Gate, 512 Hunin, 429 520 INDEX, Iamblichus, 125 Ibrahim Pasha, 11, 87, 97, 100, 112, 245, 406, 419 Ibzan,70 Idumeans, 238 Ijon, 429 Infants, slaughter of, 86 Inn of the Good Samaritan,270 Irbid, 314 Iris, 425 Irrigation, 9,35 Isaac, 91, 93, 100, 102, 224, 494, 508 Isaiah, 20, 22, 81, 254, 255, 256, 340, 359 Ish-bosheth, 56, 101,186 Ishmael, 93 Issacliar, 144 Izates, 450 Jabbock Kiver, 34 Jabin, 135,426 Jacob, 63, 93, 100, 103,177, 186, 187, 188, 345, 361,379 Jacob’s Well, 357, 386 Jaddua, High Priest, 233 Jael, 136 Jaffa, 1 Jaffa Gate, Bethlehem, 44, 445, 470 Jabesh, 185 Jabesh Gilead, 184 Jamai el Kebir, 378 Jamai el Nisr, 378 James, 439, 462 Jeba, 335 Jebel Duhy, 147 Jebel el Tur, 212 Jebel esb-Sheikh, 433 Jebel eth-Thelj, 433 Jebel Et-Tor, 357 Jebel et Tur, 149 Jebel Ferdis, 282 Jebel Karantel, 202 Jebel Mar Elyas, 127 Jebel Mebbeh, 190 Jebel Shihan, 58 Jebel Sulemiyeh, 357 Jebel Usdum, 34 “ Jebusite, the,” 217 Jehoash, 104,232 Jehu, 143, 146,347 Jehud, 45 Jenin, 143 Jephthah, 179,188 Jerash, 186 Jerboa, the, 175 Jeremiah, 149, 176, 331, 353,509 Jericho, 194,197, 198,199, 200 Jeroboam, 346, 365, 432 Jerome, 75 Jerusalem, 213,215,216-245, 443-512 Jeshimon, 275 Jcssg 69 Jesus, 26, 77, 143, 148, 154, 160, 163, 170, 182, 189, 200, 202, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 214, 215, 216, 246,255,270,271, 294-296,298,310, 329, 385, 388, 390, 392, 407, 408, 413, 421, 422, 436, 438, 440, 452, 459, 460, 462, 463, 469, 482, 484- 486, 487, 495-497, 498, 499, 509 Jesus Barabbas, 78 Jesus Justus, 78 Jewish Hospice, Jerusalem, 445 Jewish Quarter, Jerusalem, 477 Jews’ Wailing Place, Jerusalem, 479 Jezebel, 103, 145, 411 Jezreel, 139,145 Jezzar Pasha, 406, 419, 423 Jezzar, the Butcher, 406 Jiljalia, 352 Jimzur, 48 Jisr Benat Yakub, 423 Joab, 19, 56, 57, 71, 96, 217, 429 Joachim, 459 Joash, 104, 222 Job, 18 Job’s Monastery, 42 Job’s Well, 42,261 Jochanan, Kabbi, 96 John, 273, 284, 439, 462 John Hyrcanus, 369 John of Giscala, 238 John of Jerusalem, 126 John the Baptist, 170, 189, 278, 293, 389 Johnnites, 489 Jokneam, 134 Jonah, 11, 13, 298 Jonathan, 13, 67, 141, 285, 335 Joppa, 1 Jopppa, wife of Cepheus, 12 Joram, 146 Jordan, the, 32, 170, 192, 423, 430, 436 Jordan Valley, 32 Jose, 78 Joseph, 73, 75, 85, 93, 105, 108, 362, 459 Joseph, father of Jesus, 270, 272 Joseph of Arimathsea, 495,497 Joseph the Patriarch, 358 INDEX, 521 Josephus, 78, 136,160, 183, 217, 222, 225, 228,229,239, 248,254, 255,263, 265, 266, 290,301,305, 317, 318, 321, 359,393, 400,430, 438,450, 470 Joshua, 13, 50, 94, 110, 145, 195,196, 198, 321,336,337,350,363,382, 410, 426, 428 Joshua (synonym for “ whose salva¬ tion is Jehovah ”), 77 Josiah, 142, 348, 432 Jotham, 224,232,365, 379 Jotopata, 400 Judah, 114 Judah Hak-Kadosh, 318 Judas, 212, 462 Judas Maccabeus, 13, 55, 60, 97, 169 Jufna, 349 Junot, Andoche, 138 Julian, Emperor, 242,372 Justinian, Emperor, 243, 372, 512 Juttah, 90, 273 Kabr Hairan, 415 Kabul, 393 Kades, 428 Kadesh, 91 Kadesh-Naphtali, 428 Kaisariyeh, 124 Kanet el-Jelil, 298 Karyet el Enab, 42 Kasr el Yehudi, 193 Kasr Hajla, 197 Kastal, 44 Katamon, 61 Kedron Valley, 218, 280, 448, 458 Kefr Auna, 45 Kefr et-Tur, 464 Kefr Kenna, 298 Kenna, Spring, 298 Kepler, Johann, 84 Kerak, 58,321' Kerazeh, 310 Keto, goddess, 13 Khalif Amar, 243 Khan Minyeh, 303, 306 Khan of the Merchants, Nabulus, 378 Khan Tujjar, 378 Kharezmians, 493 Khersa, 323 Khirbet el Atara, 341 Khurbet Erma, 43 Khureitun, 282, 285 King Agrippa, 123 Kirjath-Arba, 91 Kirjath Baal, 42 Kirjath-jearim, 42 Kishon, the, 135,403 “ Kitchen of the Virgin,” Nazareth, 154 Kleber, 138 Knights of St. John, 405 Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, 488 Knights Templar, 510 Komnenus Kalfa, 494 Koran, 507 Kranion, 454 Kubbet es-Sakhra, 507, 509, 511 Kulat el-Jalud, 470 Kulat el Husn, 324 Kulonieh, 44 Kurun Hattin, 299 Laban, 177 Ladder of Tyre, 30, 407 Laish, 430 Lake Asphaltites, 34 Lake Huleh, 32, 171, 424 Lake of Capernaum, 300 Lake of Gennesareth, 300 Lake of Merom, 427 Lamentations of Jeremiah, 451 Land of the Philistines, 31 Latin Hospice, Joppa, 8 Latrun, 41 Latticed windows, 4, 20 “ Lauras,” 279 Lazarus, 208,210 Leah, 64, 100 Lebonah,352 Lejjun, 135 Lepers, 209, 472 Levites, 66 Lilies, 119, 425 Little Hermon, 147 Little Jordan, 430 Lod, 45 “Lord of Hair,” 416 Lord’s Table, 446 Louis IX., 419 Lot, 19,191,342, 361 Lot’s Sea, 33 Lower Beth Horon, 48 Lower City, Jerusalem, 220, 222 Lower Pool of Gihon, 255,445 Ludd, 44, 45 Luz, 342 Lydda, 45 Lynch, Lieutenant William F., 172, 213 Maccabees, 235, 291, 404 Macgregor, John, 324 522 INDEX. Magdala, 313 Magians, 81 Mahaniam, 186 Mahneh, 186 Makkedah, 54 Makta, 193 Malek-el-Adel, 14,15 Mambaz, 450 Mamelukes,'15 Mature, 91, 98 Manasseh, 35, 224, 232, 368 Marcus ScaurUs, 12 “ Market-place,” 471 “ Marshes of the Acacia,” 189 Marsh-mallow, the, 120 Martha, 208 Martineau, 125 Martyrion, Jerusalem, 492 Mary (mother of Jesus), 74, 75, 270, 272 Mary (sister of Martha), 210 Mary Magdalene, 313, 497 Masada, 290 McGregor, John, 403 Megiddo, 135, 142 Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt, 245 Mejdel, 313 Mekhmet Daud, 511 Melchior, 82 Melchizedek, 358, 371, 508 Melek el Moaddin, Sultan, 244 Menelaus, priest, 234 Mensa Christa, Nazareth, 154 Mercy Seat, Tabernacle, 226 Meri Ibn Omar, 49 Merj Ayun, 429 Merril, Dr. Selah, 454 Mesadiyeh, 323 Micah, 66,73,431 Mich mash, 335, 337 Midianites, 138, 139,169,188 Migdal Eder, 73 Migdol, 105 Millo, 222 Milton, John, 211, 261 Miracles, 132, 148, 200,209, 255, 321, 422 Mizpah, 177, 353 Mizpeh, 58, 180 Moab, mountains of, 190 Modestus, Abbot, 492 Mohammed I., 359,459, 507, 509 Mohammed II,, 100 Mohammedan Quarter, Jerusalem, 482 Moloch, 445, 448 Monastery of Gethsemane, Jerusa¬ lem, 490 Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Jerusalem, 490 Montefiore, Sir Moses, 445 Moon-pool, Joppa harbor, 2 Moorish Quarter, Jerusalem, 480 Moses, 24, 95, 190, 191, 226, 363, 432 Mosque el-Aksa, Jerusalem, 508, 511 Mosque El Khadra, 379 Mosque of Omar, Mount Moriah, 243, 443, 490, 512 Mosque of the Bastion, Joppa, 16 Mosque of the Eagle, Nabulus, 378 Mount Calvary, 451 Mount Carmel, 30, 58, 124, 403 Mount Ebal, 357 Mount Gerizim, 58, 357, 371, 381 Mount Gilboa, 31, 111, 140, 144 Mount Gilead, 176 Mount Hermon, 432 Mount Joy, 60 Mount Moriah, 219, 223, 443 Mount Nebo, 190, 192 Mount of Offence, 211 Mount of Olives, 212, 239, 462 Mount of the Ascension, 212 Mount of the Beatitudes, 299 Mount Quarantania, 202 Mount Scopus, 212 Mount Tabor, 31, 149 Mount Zion, 219, 221, 445 Mountain of Elijah, 127 Mountain of Purity, 149 Mountain of Sodom, 34 Mountain of the Forty Days, 202 Mishna, 319 Mugharat, 281 Mujedda, 135 Mukmas, 335 Mukum Hizn Yakub, 379 Murat, Joachim, 138 Muristan, Jerusalem, 221, 488 Naaman, 169 Nablous, 356 Naboth, 145 Nabulus, 356, 377, 385 Nahr en N’aman, 403 Nain, 148 Naomi, 68 Napoleon I., 112, 137, 406 Napoleon III., 485 Narcissus, the, 119 Nathan, the prophet, 254 Nathanael, 296 INDEX, 523 Nazareth, 151 Neballat, 46 Nebuchadnezzar, 229, 232, 412 Neby Daud, 445 Neby Samwil, 57,59 “ Negeb,’’ Judea, 277 Nehemiah, 224, 255, 473 Nethinims, 224 Newcastle, 429 Nicodemus, 329, 495, 497 Nicolaye, missionary, 348 Nicopolis, 42 Ninth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 Nob, 227, 331, 353 Noble Sanctuary, Jerusalem, 477, 507 Nunc Dimittis, 79 Obadiah, 389 Obed, 69 Og, King of Bashan, 95, 178 Old Tyre, 409 Olive trees, 461 Omri, 356, 366 Ono, 45, 46 Ophel, Mount Moriah, 220,224, 472 Ophrah, 57, 336 Ophthalmic affections, 38, 47 Order of the Sepulchre, 498 Order of the Temple, 510 Oreb, the Haven, 139 Origen, 123, 201 Orpah, 68 Palace of the English Bishop, Jeru¬ salem, 481 Paleetyrus, 409 Palestine and Syria, 373 Palestine Exploration Fund, 45, 308 Palestine Quarterly Statement, 454 Palm Sunday, 474 Palmer, Edward H., 177 Pan, 433 Paneas, 433 Papyrus, 424 Parapets, 21 Passover, 373, 478 Patmos, 28 Patriarch’s Bath, Jerusalem, 263 Paul, 123,418 Pella, 182, 185 Peniel, 187 Pentateuch, Samaritan, 380 Perazim, 61 Perseus, 12 Peter, 122, 308,439, 462 Pharisees, 274, 278 Pharaoh (father-in-law of Solomon), 41 Pharaoh Necho, 142 Phenicians, 431 Philip, 114, 296, 308 Philip, the deacon, 121 Philip, the Tetrarch, 321 Philadelphia, 182 Philistia, Plain of, 31, 109 Philistines, 31,109,140,227, 335,338, 353 Picturesque Palestine, 127,376 Pirke Aboth, 82 Pilate, 485 Pisgali, 190 Place of a Skull, 453 Place of Stoning, 453 “Place of the Mourning of Jacob,” 379 Plain of El-Makhna, 357 Plain of Esdraelon, 31,134,142, 144, 426 Plain of Gennesareth, 402 Plain of Jordan, 33, 188 Plain of Philistia, 31, 109 Plain of Sharon, 10, 31,118 Pliny, 11, 236, 413 Pompey, 13,199, 235 Pomponius Mela, 11 Pontius Pilate, 252 Pool of Amygdalon, Jerusalem, 263 Pool of Bethesda, Jerusalem, 223, 253, 262, 264, 474 Pool of Gibeon, 56 Pool of Hezekiah, Jerusalem, 253, 262, 488 Pool of Israel, Jerusalem, 264 Pool of Siloam, Jerusalem, 224, 253, 255, 470 Pool of the Bath, Jerusalem, 263 Pool of the Bath of the Patriarch, Jerusalem, 263 Poor-House for Indigent Jews, Je¬ rusalem, 445 Porta Judiciaria, 487 Porters, 5, 24 Poseidon, sea god, 12 Potter’s Field, 447 Pottery, 7, 21 Prince of Wales, 99 Prison of Christ, Jerusalem, 498 “ Pruning of the Palm,” 287 Procopius, 123 Ptolemais, 402 Ptolemy Lagus, 404 Ptolemy Philadelphus, 105 524 INDEX, Ptolemy Philopator, 234 Ptolemy Soter, 233, 404 Pythagoras, 125 Queen Berenice, 123 Queen City of Syria, 409 Queen Helena of Adiabene, 450 Quirinus, 73 Eabban Simeon, 271 Babbath Ammon, 182 Bab-Mag, 81 Eabshakeh, 254 Bachel, 93 Eachel’s Tomb, 62 Bahab, 198, 200 Bakkath, 321 Bamah, 86, 335, 353 Bamah of Benjamin, 57 Bamathaim, 36 Bamathaim-Zophim, 335 Bamesis II., 91 Bamoth Gilead, 146 Baphael, 510 Baphana, 182 Bas el Abyad, 407 Bas el Ain, 373,408 Bas el Musheirifeh, 407 Bas en Nakurah, 407 Baymond, Count, 397 Baynald of Ckatillon, 397 Bebekah, 100 Eehoboam, 72, 97, 232, 283, 284, 365 Beligious emblems, 87, 98 Benan, Joseph E., 416 - Bentiyeh, 37, 45 Beuben, 35, 178 Eichard Cceur de Lion, 14, 60, 113, 244, 405 Bichardson, Dr., 152 Eimmon, 57, 336 Biver Litany, 416 Bizpah, 334 Eoberts, David, 111 Bobinson’s Arch, Jerusalem, 223, 480 Bobinson, Dr. Edward, 43, 45, 59, 104, 135, 156, 171, 188, 206, 258, 260, 297, 289, 315, 331, 352, 360, 397, 425, 429,450,480, 485 “ Bob Boy,” canoe, 403 “ Bod out of the Stock of Jesse,” 70 Bogers, Miss, 127, 376 Boll of the Law, 479 Bose of Moab, 69 Boses, 119 “ Boot of Jesse,” 70 Bound Fountain of Capernaum, 305 Bummon, 336 Buth, 18, 200 Safed, 311 Saida, 417, 419 * St. Basil, 197 St. Caralombos Monastery, Jerusa¬ lem, 487 St. Chariton, 285 St. James the Great, 481 St. Jean d’Acre, 126, 402 St. Jerome, 37, 125, 201, 256, 312,319 St. John, 28,163, 21Q, 23$, 299, 303, 322, 329 St. Justin, 75 St. Louis of France, 126 St. Luke, 41, 75, 77, 322, 104, 463 St. Mark, 163, 303, 322, 422, 463 St. Matthew, 163, 190, 322 St. Paul, 27, 46, 312, 404, 414 St. Peter, 14, 46, 433 St. Saba, 281 St. Stephen, 453 St. Stephen’s Gate, Jerusalem, 453, 474 St. Veronica, 486 Sakhra, Jerusalem, 223 Sakut, 188 Saladin, 15, 113, 244, 397, 405, 418, 433 Salim, 358 Salmon, 200 Salome, 107, 200 Salt Sea, 33 Samaria, 356, 366 Samaritans, 168, 330, 356, 367, 370, 371, 379 v. Samson, 20, 96, 111, 112, 113,117 Samuel, 57, 59, 70, 103,196, 333, 335, 338, 346, 353 Samuel’s tomb, 61 Sarah, 91, 93,100 Sarepta, 416 Sarfend, 416 Sarona, 11 Saul, 60,70,96,101, 111, 115,140,185, 196,227,285, 288, 332, 333, 334,338 Saul of Tarsus, 423 Sayce, Prof. Archibald, 259 Scarlet anemone, the, 120 Scala Tyriorum, 407 School of the Prophets, Mount Car¬ mel, 133 Scorpion Hills, 355 Scythian City, 421 Scythiopolis, 182, 421 Sea of Arabah, 33 INDEX. 525 Sea of Galilee, 300, 422 8eaof the Plain, 33 Sea of Tiberius, 300 Sealed Spring, 251 Sealing, 24 Seat of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 498 Sebastiyeh, 356 Second Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 485 Sefuriyeh, 397 Seilun, 352 Selene, daughter of Cleopatra, 404 Seleucus, 234 Selim I., 100,244 Semiramis, 113 Sennacherib, 263, 340 Sephardim, 480 Septuagint, 105 Sermon on the Mount, 300 Serpent Pool, Jerusalem, 254 Seth, 372 Seventh Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 Shakespeare, William, 76,83 Shalem, 362 Shallum, 255 Shalmanezer, 367 Shammai, the Binder, 271 Sharon, Plain of, 10, 31, 118 Sheba, 429 Shechem, 93, 356, 359 Shechem, son of Ham or, 362 Shechem, Yale of, 360 Shechemites, 362 Shem, 109 Shemer, 366 Shemhamphorash, 509 Shemrin, 366 Shew Bread, table of, Tabernacle, 226 Shiloah, 255 Shiloh, 227, 352 Shimei, 208 “ Ship of Tarshish,” 13 Shisliak, King, 232 Shitrai, the Sharonite, 118 Shomeron, 366 Shunem, 132,140,148 Shur, Wilderness of, 31 Siccarii, 290 Sichem, 342 Sidon, 30, 417 Sidonian City, 410 Sidonians, 410,418 Sihon, 178 Silla, 222 SilwaD, 470 Simeon, 79, 285 Simon Maccabeus, 13, 404 Simon of Cyrene, 486 Simon of Gerasa, 238 Simon Peter, 296 Simon, slave, 200 Simon the Leper, 210 Simon the Tanner, 14, 16 Sinai, desert of, 226 Single Gate, Jerusalem, 473 Sion, 433 Sisera, 135,136,426 Sixth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 486 Smith, Sir Sidney, 137,406 Snowy Mountain, 433 Solane, 148 Solomon, 18, 24, 26, 58,188, 211,222, 223, 224, 228, 252, 254, 283, 330, 392, 410, 511 Solomon’s Pools, 97, 250 Solomon’s Stables, Jerusalem, 473 Solyman the Magnificent, 245, 475, 509 Son of a Star, 83 South Country, Judea, 277 Spring of Elisha, Jericho, 199 Spring of Nehemiali, Jerusalem, 262 Spring of the Kid, 287 Spring of the Virgin, Jerusalem, 256, 257 Stanley, Dean Arthur P., 49, 51, 99, 118, 120, 124, 128, 149, 154, 171, 177, 209, 214, 313, 335, 337, 343, 349, 371, 426, 436, 461, 467, 501 Stoke, Simon, 126 Stone of Help, 60 Stone of Unction, Jerusalem, 495 Strabo, 413 Strato’s Tower, 120 Street of the Damascus Gate, Jeru¬ salem, 477, 482 Street of the Gate of David, Jeru¬ salem, 477 Streets, 4, 20, 38, 99 Subeibeh, fortress, 438 Succoth, 188 Suetonius, 85 Sugar cane, 201 Suleiman, 37 Sultan’s Pool, Jerusalem, 256 Sultan’s Spring, Jericho, 199 “ Sun Spring,” 208 Sychar, 357,385 Syrians, 404 Taanach,135 526 INDEX. Taanuk, 135 Tabariyeh, 319 Tabernacle, the, 226-228,353 Tabitha, 14,16 “Table of Christ,” Nazareth, 154 Tables of the Law, Tabernacle, 226 Tacitus, 85, 125, 250 Talitha Kami, Jerusalem, 444 Talmud, 82, 86, 228, 388, 453, 474, 478, 512 Tanis, 105 Tarichese, 321 Tattooing, 8, 24 Tayibeh,336 Tel Jiljalia, 195 Tel Keimum, 134 Tell el-Kady, 430 Tell es Safiyeh, 114 Tell ez Zahara, 451 Tell Harah, 425 Tell Hum, 303,308 Tell Jefat, 400 Tell Kliureibeh, 425 Tell Ma’ shuk, 415 Tel Jezer, 40 Tekoa, 281, 283 Tekoah, 283 Tekua, 283 Templars, 419, 423 Temple, Jerusalem, 220 Temple Hill, Jerusalem, 458 Temple schools, 270 Temple of Dagon, 116 Temple of Herod, Jerusalem, 229 Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem, 223, 228 Temple of Zerubbabel, Jerusalem,229 Temptation of Christ, 202 Tenth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 Tequa, 281 Tersato, 154 Teutonic Knights, 405 “The Beautiful Gate,” Jerusalem, 231 “ The Friend,” 97 “ The Holy Mountain,” 433 The Land and the Book, 40 The Solitude, 275 “ The Well of the Oath,” 102 “ The Well of the Seven,” 102 Thenius, Dr. Otto, 454 Third Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 485 Thirteenth Station of the Way of the Cross, Jerusalem, 487 Thistles, 424 Thompson, Dr. Joseph P., 9, 15 Thomson, Dr. William M., 40, 64, 96, 114,120, 202, 256,260,262, 265, 287, 312, 320, 325, 425, 449, 451 Thothmes III., 91 Throne of Solomon, Jerusalem, 511 Thyra Horaia, 474 Tiberias, 316 Tibneh, 350 Tiglath-pileser, 428, 429 Tigranes, 404 Tinmath-serah, 350 Tirzah, 366 Titus, Roman general, 185, 212, 238, 248, 312, 321, 461, 491 Tomb of Absalom, Jerusalem, 468 Tomb of Hiram, Tyre, 415 Tomb of Jehoshaphat, Jerusalem,468 Tomb of Kalba Sabua, Jerusalem,450 Tomb of St. James, Jerusalem, 469 Tomb of Simon the Just, Jerusalem, 450 Tomb of the Judges, Jerusalem, 448 Tombs of the Kings, Jerusalem, 253,449 Tomb of the Prophet David, Jeru¬ salem, 445 Tomb of the Prophets, Jerusalem, 467 Tomb of the Sanhedrin, Jerusalem, 450 Tomb of Zachariah, Jerusalem, 469 Tophet, 445 Tower of Antonia, Jerusalem, 236, 247 Tower of Baris, Jerusalem, 235, 247 Tower of David, Jerusalem, 248 Tower of Drusus, 121 “Tower of Eder,” 73 Tower of Hippicus, Jerusalem, 236, 248 Tower of Hoglah, 197 Tower of Mariamne, Jerusalem, 238 Tower of Phasaelus, Jerusalem, 236, 248 Tower of Prephinus, Jerusalem, 236 Tower of Ramleh, 36 “ Tower of the flock,” 73 “ Tower of the Forty Champions,” Ramleh, 39 “Tower of the Forty Martyrs,” Ramleh, 38 Triple Gate, Jerusalem, 473 Tristram, Canon Henry B., 35, 57, 59,137,183, 186, 1S7, 189, 192, 199, 202, 222, 250, 256, 260, 276, 277, 287, 291, 304, 354, 425, 434 INDEX. 527 True Cross, the, 241 Tuleil el Ful, 322 Twelfth Station of the Way of the Cross, 487 Tyre, 30, 410 Tyrian purple, 404 Tyropeon Valley, 219, 448, 472 Umm Rush, 49 Universal Israelitish Alliance, 11 Um-Keis, 183 Upper Beth Horon, 48 Upper City, Jerusalem, 220 Upper Pool of Gihon, Jerusalem, 253, 444 Urtas, 281 Uzziah, 114, 232 Vale of Acacias, 115 Vale of Elah, 115 Vale of Shechem, 360 Valley of Doves, 314 Valley of Giants, 61 Valley of Gihon, 218, 444 Valley of Hinnorn, 213, 219, 444 Valley of Jehoshaphat, 213,218 Valley of Our Lady Mary, 213 Valley of Rephaiin, 61 Valley of Roses, 61 Valley of the Brook Kedron, 213 Valley of the Cheesemakers, 219 Valley of the Children of Groaning, 445 Valley of Urtas, 283 Valley Street, Jerusalem, 486 Van de Velde, 59, 125, 360, 367 Venerable Bede, 82 Venus, Philistine, 113 Vespasian, Roman general, 14, 97, 126, 186, 201, 238, 318, 324, 348,400 Via Dolorosa, Jerusalem, 482, 484, 487 Village of the Virgin, 99 Virgil, 410 Virgin Mary, 459 Viri Galilaei, 212 Virgin’s Spring, Jerusalem, 470 Volney, de, Constantine F. C., 112 Wady Amud, 305 Wady el Hod, 208 Wady el Rababi, 213 Wady el Werd, 61 Wady Esh-col, 98 Wady es Sunt, 115 Wady Fik, 324 Wady Hainam, 305, 314 Wady Kelt, 205 Wady Khureitun, 281 Wady Rubudiyeh, 305 Wady Semakh, 323 Wady Sitti Mariam, 213 Wady Suweinit, 335 Wady Ta’ amirah, 281 Wady Yabes, 185 Walla in Palestine, 206 Warren, Sir U C., 31, 224, 260, 261, 289 “ Washing the feet,” 501 Waters of Merom, 33, 171 Water-supply of Jerusalem, 250 Way of Sorrows, Jerusalem, 482 Weil of Abraham, 104 “ Well of David,” 71 Well of Isaac, 104 Wely Ma’ shuk, 415 Wilderness of Judea, 275 Wilderness of Sliur, 31 William of Tyre, 414 White Fortress, 114 White Synagogue, 308 White Tower, Ramleh, 38 Wilson, Sir Charles, 248, 305, 324, 383, 425, 451 Wilson’s Arch, Jerusalem, 223, 482 Winter Brook, 458 “ Wise Men,” 81, 85 Wordsworth, William, 161 Xystus, 481 Yalo, 50, 60 Yapho, 15 Yarrnuk, the, 169 Yazur, 44 Zaohariah, 90, 96, 469 Zaccheus, 200 Zadoc, priest, 254 Zahir el Omar, 406 Zakkam, 199 Zalmunna, 139,188 Zarephath, 416 Zealots, 237, 238,314 Zeba, 139,188 Zedekiah, 199 Zeeb the Wolf, 139 Zerin, 147 Zerubbabel, 13, 72,368 Zibiah, 105 Zimri, 147 Zion Gate, 472 Zoan, Egypt, 91, 105,191 Zohar, 92 18 ■ H mi i ■ II _ i i I I i ■ : I 1 * . l mSm v _.__ .