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TENT AND TESTAMENT
“I pity the man who can travel from Dan
to Beersheba, and cry, 'Tis all barren.”
Sterne
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: - -


TENT AND TESTAMENT
A CAMPING TOUR IN PALESTINE
WITH SOME NOTES ON SCRIPTURE SITES
BY
HERBERT RIX, B.A.
LONDON
W I L L I A M S A N D NO R G A TE
HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN
- 1907
PREF ACE
THE tour which is recorded in this book followed in
part the hackneyed tourist route ; in part a route
which is seldom taken. It is hoped that each may
have its own interest.
The average tourist who arrives in Jerusalem finds
himself in the midst of perplexity. He is confronted
by two or more sites for most biblical scenes. Two
Zions, two Temple areas, two Bethanys, two Geth-
semanes, two or more Calvarys, three Holy Sepul-
chres, several Bethesdas, put in their claims for his
veneration. And it is the same throughout his tour :
there are two Bethlehems, two Capernaums, two
Sychars, four Jerichos, and so on. Some attempt is
made here to discriminate between the true and the
false in respect of the Bible places which are visited
by most pilgrims to Palestine.
For the rest, the détours to Bethlehem of
Zebulon and to Chorazin, and the journey down
the Ghór, with visits to Gadara and Pella, may
interest those who have not left the beaten track and
the Bible student in general. -
The narrative is in some respects belated. The
tour was taken five years ago, and, though the notes
were written out in full immediately upon return, the
gºº
—%– ** 2° 22.4% -
vi PREFACE
publication, with the results of subsequent study, has
been delayed partly by an active life, partly by illness.
The “Unchangeable East" has not, however, essen-
tially altered since then. So far as the tourist is
concerned, the main alterations are the completion
of the northern road from Jerusalem as far as Sinjil,
and the establishment of hotels at Nabląs and Jenin.
The opening of the railway from Haifa to Semakh
does not help the average tourist : it is intended for
and will be chiefly used by Mohammedan pilgrims,
The suffering from drought, which occurred during
my visit to Jerusalem, led to an attempt to lay on
water from Solomon's Pools, and a feeble stream now
arrives in the Harām esh-Sherif, but it is available
only for Moslems, and, since the pipes are laid on the
surface of the ground, it arrives hot. Besides these
“improvements,” I do not know that any change
remains to be noted which would alter the record if
the tour had been taken this year.
AUB//SA/EA’.S’ MOTE
Mr. Rix died on October Io, 1906, while this book
zwas in the Aress.
We haze endeavoured to make it accord in all respects
zwith the Author’s zwishes, and zwe are greatly indebted
to those of his friends who have assisted us in the
attempt.
CHAP.
II.
III.
IV.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.
XXV.
CONTENTS
PAGE
. JAFFA . e o º e º º º * º I
FROM JAFFA. To JERUSALEM & g º º * 6
FROM JERUSALEM TO BETHEL . º e e . II
FROM BETHEL THROUGH SHILOH TO HUWARA . I6
. FROM HuwäRA To JAcoB's WELL AND SHECHEM . 24
FROM SHE CHEM To SAMARIA . © tº & • 33
FROM SAMARIA THROUGH DóTHAN TO JENíN . . 37
FROM JENíN THROUGH NAIN To NAZARETH . . 4I
AN Excursion To BETHLEHEM OF GALILEE . . 46
. A SUNDAY IN NAZARETH . o º ſº & . 50
FROM NAZARETH To TIBERIAs . . . . . 56
AcRoss THE SEA OF GALILEE TO KERSA. º . 62
A COASTING-TRIP IN SEARCH of BETHSAIDA . . 68
FROM TIBERIAS THROUGH GENNESARET TO TELL
HÚM . e e e º e º ſº º . 74
FROM TELL HÚM THROUGH CHORAzIN To SAFED . 81
FROM SAFED TO EL-KHALISAH . e © & . 87
FROM EL-KHALISAH, BY THE SPRINGS OF JORDAN,
TO MEJDEL ESH-SHEMs. e © º º • 93
ON MoUNT HERMON . º e g {- e . IOO
BACK TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI . & & º . IO4.
FROM CAESAREA PHILIPPI To GENNES ARET . . IO9
ROUND ABOUT CAPERNAUM . tº tº º e • II.4
Two DAYS IN TIBERIAs . º º º e . I2 I
FROM TIBERIAs To GADARA . . e º º . I28
FROM GADARA To PELLA . º º e - . I4O
FROM PELLA To Scythopolis . e & e . I 50
viii CONTENTS
CHAP.
XXVI. FROM ScythoPolis BY THEBEz To JERUsALEM
XXVII. JERUSALEM-CALVARY AND THE ToMB
XXVIII. AN Excursion to JERIcho Q º
XXIX. FROM JERICHO To BETH-NIMRAH AND BACK
XXX. THE RETURN to JERUSALEM —THE GARDEN OF
GETHSEMANE
XXXI. A DRIVE To BETHLEHEM .
XXXII. A DRIVE To HEBRON . e
XXXIII. JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA
XXXIV. JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE WALLs
XXXV. JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE AREA
XXXVI. JERUsALEM-THE Holy FIRE e
XXXVII. JERUSALEM-ConDER's SEPULCHRE. —AN ADVEN-
TURE AT THE VIRGIN’s WELL
XXXVIII. A DRIVE To BETHANY
XXXIX. A WALK THROUGH JerusaleM .
XL. FAREweLL
APPENDIX
THE NAZARETH QUESTION
. THE BETHLEHEM QUESTION
. THE BETHSAIDA QUESTION
. THE CAPERNAUM QUESTION
. THE BETHESDA QUESTION
i
. THE SITE OF HEROD’s TEMPLE
INDEX .
PAGE
I56
I6I
I66
I73
I83
I88
I 95
2O2
2 I 7
224
237
24 I
246
249
253
255
257
265
274
298
3OO
305
FIG.
I
.
.
:
I5.
I6.
I7.
I8.
I9.
20.
2I.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
To face
Mountains of Samaria and the Plain of Esdraelon Frontispiece
. Our Dragoman .
. Our Muleteers
. The Well at Shiloh
. Jacob's Well º o e e
. Resting Place on Mount Gerizim
. Tomb at Nain º º
. Greek Church at Nazareth
. St. Mary's Well at Nazareth
. The Old Mosque, Tiberias º
. The Sheikh of Gergesa . tº tº •
. Khan Minyeh and Ain et-Tin, Gennesaret
. Ain Täbigha : The Octagonal Enclosure .
. Ruins of Chorazin º º
. Ruins of Synagogue: Chorazin º e e 9
Bedawin of Ain Beláta.
Bridge of el-Ghajar
The Infant Jordan e
Near Caesarea Philippi . * tº • * -
Caesarea Philippi: The Castle Gate from the Bridge
Caesarea Philippi: The Castle Gate from Within * §
The Village of Bāniyās, built from the stones of Caesarea
Philippi º • & - e e o e *
Summer Houses on the Roofs of Bāniyäs.
Caesarea Philippi: The Cave of Pan. e
Caesarea Philippi: The Source of the Jordan .
Bedawi Village: Plain of Hūleh *
Fishing Bedawin of Lake Hūleh & e
Tiberias: Jewesses preparing for the Passover
Tiberias: Jewesses preparing for the Passover
Outflow of the Jordan at Kerak
Aage
I4
I4
26
26
44
44
50
5O
60
6O
76
76
82
82
88
88
94
94.
IO4
IO4
IO6
IO6
Io8
Io8
I IO
I IO
I26
I26
I28
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG.
3O.
3I.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
4O.
4 I
42.
43
44-
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
5O.
5.I.
52.
53.
54.
55. e
. The Old Pool . tº e *
57.
58.
59.
6o.
6I.
62.
63.
Crossing the Jordan at Kerak
Western Theatre at Gadara g
Theatre at Gadara : The Corridors .
Ghawārineh Boy
Ghawārineh Boy
Coin Struck at Tiberias
Valley of el-Waggäs .
Pella : The Terrace .
Pella: The Wädi el-Jirm .
Pella: Temple Ruins cº e
Conder’s “Bethabara ''
Bedawin Women by Jordan
Natives of Thebez e * ©
Thebez: Driving Home the Cattle .
“Gordon’s” Calvary. fº
Gordon's” Sepulchre . e * g tº
Shore and Bottom of Prehistoric Jordan Lake
Ford of Nimrin (Bethabara P)
Tell Nimrin e e e © * o
The Jordan near the Mouth of Wädi Nimrin
Pilgrims to the Tomb of Moses
Pools of Solomon : The Middle Pool
Upper Pool of Hebron
Pool of Hezekiah & g tº tº
Entrance to the Virgin's Spring e g
Hezekiah’s Conduit
The Pool of Siloam
The Jews' Wailing Place
Jewesses at the Wailing Place .. º
The Hâram esh-Sherif. N.W. Angle
The Dome of the Rock
“Conder’s ” Sepulchre
The Village of Siloam
To face
Aage
I 28
I 36
I 36
I4O
I4O
I42
I42
I42
I48
I48
I 52
I 52
I 58
I 58
I62
I62
I74
I74
176
176
I82
I 82
I98
I98
2O8
2O8
2 [2
2 I2
218
2 I 8
224
224
242
242
B I BLIO G R A PHY
WORKS REFERRED TO
Besant, Sir W., and Palmer, E. H., “Jerusalem, the
City of Herod and Saladin,” 1888
Burton, Sir R., “Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and
Meccah''
Conder, C. R., “Tent-Work in Palestine,” 6th edition,
I895
Curtis, W. E., “To-day in Syria and Palestine,”
Chicago, Igo4
“Dictionary of the Bible,” Hastings, 1898
“Dictionary of the Bible,” Sir W. Smith, and Rev.
J. M. Fuller, 2nd edition, 1893
Doane, T. W., “Bible Myths and their Parallels in
other Religions,” 4th edition, 1882
“Encyclopædia Biblica,” 4 vols., 1899–1903
“Encyclopaedia Britannica,” 9th edition
Edersheim, Alfred, “The Life and Times of Jesus,
the Messiah,” 9th edition, 1897
Edersheim, Alfred, “Sketches of Jewish Life"
Finn, James, “Byeways in Palestine,” 1868
Guérin, M.V., “Description De La Palestine,” Tome I.
(Galilée)
Hausrath, Adolf, “A History of the New Testament
Times—The Time of Jesus,” translated from
2nd German edition, 1878
Hausrath, “Time of the Apostles,” 1895
“Hibbert Journal, The,” Vol. II., 1904
ABBREVIATIONS
USED
Tent- Work
Hastings, D.B.
Smith, D.B
Encycl. Bibl.
Encycl. Brit.
Hauswath,
Time of jesus
Hausrath,
Time of the
Apostles
xii BIBLIOGRAPHY
* ABBREVIATION
WORKS REFERRED TO USED
Hull, E., “The Survey of Western Palestine.” “Me-
moirs on the Geology and Physical Geography.”
Josephus, Flavius, The Works of Translated by W.
Whiston, 1843
“Kernel, The, and the Husk,” by the Author of
“Philo-Christus,” 1886
Keim, Theodor, “The History of Jesus of Nazara.”
Translated by Arthur Ransom, 2nd edition, 1876
King, Rev. J., “Recent Discoveries on the Temple
Hill at Jerusalem,” 1884
Lees, Rev. G. R., “Jerusalem and Its People,” 2nd
edition
Le Strange, Guy, “Palestine under the Moslems,”
1890
Le Strange, Guy, “A Ride through Ajlūn ''
Macgregor, J., “The Rob Roy on the Jordan,” 2nd
edition, 1870
Merrill, Selah, “East of the Jordan,” 2nd edition, 1870
Neander, A., “General Church History,” 2nd edition.
Translated by J. Torrey, 1847
Okakura, Kakasu, “Ideals of the East ’’
Palestine Exploration Fund. Memoirs. 4to P.E.F. Mem.
Palestine Exploration Fund. Quarterly Statement.
8vo P.E.F. Q.S.
“Purchas, His Pilgrimes.” Fol. 1625
Ramsay, W. M., “Was Christ Born in Bethlehem P’’
2nd edition
Robinson, E., and E. Smith, “Biblical Researches in
Palestine,” 1841
Robinson, E., and E. Smith, and others, “Later
Biblical Researches in Palestine,” 1856
Sanday, Prof. W., “Sacred Sites of the Gospels,” 1903 Sacred Sites
Schumacher, G., “Northern Ajlūn '’
Schumacher, G., “Pella,” 1889
Smith, Geo. Adam, “Historical Geography of the
Holy Land,” 1894 Smith, Hist,Geog.
Smith, W. Robertson, “Lectures on the Religion of
the Semites.” First Series. 2nd edition, 1894
BIBLIOGRAPHY
X111
WORKS REFERRED TO
Stanley, Arthur P. (Dean), “Sinai and Palestine,”
1883
Stapfer, Edmond, “La Palestine au Temps de Jésus-
Christ.” 6me édition
Stapfer, Edmond, “Palestine in the Time of Christ.”
Translated by A. H. Holmden, 1886
Thomson, W. M., “The Land and the Book,” 1866
Tristram, H. B., “The Land of Israel,” 3rd edition,
1876
Tristram, H. B., “The Natural History of the Bible,”
9th edition, 1898
Wilson, Sir C. W., and Sir C. Warren, “The Recovery
of Jerusalem,” 1871
Wilson, John, “The Lands of the Bible Visited and
Described,” 1847
ABBREVIATIONS
USED
Nat. Hist. Bib.
T ENT AND TESTA MENT
CHA P T E R I
JAFFA
AFTER a leisurely journey across Europe, and a glimpse of
Egypt, we (myself and a friend) anchored off Jaffa on Friday,
March 8. The vessel in which we had sailed from Port Said
was a Russian. Apparently she had no keel to speak of, for,
although the sea was calm, she rolled prodigiously. Every
one spent the night in more or less of misery, which was
much increased by the fact that no one belonging to the ship,
not even the captain, nor, alas, the steward, spoke a word of
anything but Russian. One passenger, fortunately, could
speak modern Greek, and by means of this he made the
officers understand a little of our wants, and so we managed
to endure the long hours in which we bored our way cork-
screw fashion through the dark waters. When at length we
anchored outside the reef we learned to our dismay that the
surf was too heavy for the boats to put off.
All that weary day we swung and rolled and bobbed
about in the smooth, heaving Swell, the ship never still for
a moment, the passengers mostly on their backs. Evening
came, and still the ocean heaved and the reef foamed. For
twenty-four hours we endured that curvilinear motion in
many planes; and then, Oh, joy in the cold dawn of the
second day the boats came threading the reef to our rescue,
and a shout of relief went up from the travellers who
crowded the deck.
We landed at about 7.30 A.M. and found our dragoman
A
2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
awaiting us. His Christian name was Hanna, which being
interpreted means John ; a strong, stout, good-looking
fellow, dressed in Syrian costume, cool and composed in
manner, and speaking good English. He was a Christian,
and a resident in this town of Jaffa.
One's first impression of Jaffa is that of a place of unmiti-
gated glare, with roads ankle-deep in dust. But this
impression is soon lost in admiration for the beauty and
luxuriance of the surroundings seen from any point of
vantage. The view from the minaret of the Greek church,
which was the first sight that Hanna took us to see, is very
lovely. Below and around us was one dense mass of foliage,
the greater part that of orange-groves upon which the fruit
hung golden. Among the Orange-trees were pomegranates,
not yet in leaf, bananas, blossoming almonds, and, rising tall
and stately amid the general mass, palms, which reared their
feathery heads and gazed abroad over the blue waters of the
Mediterranean. To the north-east rose the hills of Judaea
and Samaria, and South-eastward the high plateau between
Jerusalem and Hebron. These heights were all dim with a
blue heat-mist; Carmel and Gaza were still shrouded by it.
Enough, however, we could see to enable us to realise, at
length, what had been at first so difficult to believe, that we
were indeed in the Holy Land.
This church of the Greek Christians is built in honour of
Dorcas, whose tomb is supposed to be in the adjoining
burial-ground. We did not care to visit it, but drove at once
to the traditional house of Simon the Tanner. In Dean
Stanley's time the site of Simon's house was shown near the
Latin convent ; but it has shifted since then, and is now
shown half a mile away, to the south of the town : there is
little reason to suppose that either site is the true one. Dean
Stanley, it is true, regards the former as “one of the few
localities which can claim to represent an historical Scene of
the New Testament”; but the most that Canon Cheyne can
say for the long note in which Stanley maintains this posi-
tion” is that it “is at least eloquent and chivalrous.”f On
the whole, the archaeology of Jaffa may be summed up in
the three words used by the Canon in the article just
quoted : “Antiquities are wanting.”
But although there are no antiquities, and ancient sites
are more than uncertain, we may to some extent console
* “Sinai and Palestine,” p. 274.
“Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Joppa.”
JAFFA 3
ourselves with the reflection that there is no doubt about
the situation of the town itself. Jaffa or Yāfā, as the natives
call it, corresponds to the ancient Joppa. It was in these
blue waters that the cedars were floated for the building of the
Temple ; and in the offing yonder that the miserable act of
treachery took place, in the days of Judas Maccabaeus, when
the men of Joppa “invited the Jews who dwelt among them
to go with their wives and children into the boats which
they had provided,” and then “took them out to sea and
drowned them in number not less than two hundred.””
Here stood the city which Jonathan Maccabaeus besieged
and took, and which went through such troubled times
during the Maccabaean Wars. Here stood the later city
which Pompey built and gave to Syria, which Caesar
restored to the Jews, which Herod seized, and which
Cestius plundered and burnt in the Jewish War. And,
coming to later times, it was here that Richard Coeur de
Lion fought the Saracens; and it was on that strip of
beach, where the surf is now breaking so white, that
Napoleon, called “the Great,” shot in cold blood two
thousand prisoners whom he could not feed and would
not release.
There is, moreover, much that interests in the life which
to-day crowds the streets and roads. Here come long
processions of camels loaded with mountains of empty
Orange-boxes going to the gardens to be packed for Europe.
Here, up this narrow court, is a bare-legged boy drawing
water from a well, in a bucket made of a roughly stitched
piece of goat-skin. The stone edge of the well is worn
with deep grooves where the ropes have rubbed for many
generations. Possibly this may be the very well which
supplied water for Simon's tannery : who knows 2 The
bazaars, too, are picturesque. The shops are dark, shadowy
recesses without shop-front or screen: inside squat the
shopkeepers Smoking their pipes. Along the narrow lane
between these stalls, crowds of picturesque figures pass to
and fro, old men in turbans riding brisk little donkeys;
youths in long Cotton gowns girded at the waist; women
with their faces veiled, not as in Egypt merely from the
eyes downward, but with the countenance completely
covered.
Perhaps, after all, the most interesting thing about Joppa
is the variety of myth connected with it, in which variety
* 2 Mac. xii. 3, 4.
4 TENT AND TESTAMENT
there is, moreover, a very interesting unity. I am reminded
of it by the appearance of the reef as it is seen from the
shore. One cannot but note the likeness of the long line of
rocky Spikes, standing up so abruptly from the water, to
the backbone of some great fish whose skeleton has been
stranded in the shallow surf ; and I have wondered whether
that reef was not in fact the skeleton of the sea-monster
which was shown at Joppa until about 60 B.C. as that of the
creature from whose jaws Andromeda was rescued by
Perseus; though, if it is true that Marcus Scaurus, Pompey's
general, carried the skeleton to Rome, that cannot be, for
there it still is.
The myth of the great Joppa fish is threefold. First you
have the myth of Jonah : for, it was from Joppa that Jonah
took ship for Tarshish, when the storm arose and he was
cast into the sea, to be swallowed by “the great fish which
the Lord had prepared.” Next you have the Greek tale of
Heracles, rescuing Hesione from the sea-monster at Joppa
by leaping into its jaws and tearing its entrails for three
days and three nights. And, thirdly, you have the story
of Perseus rescuing Andromeda, the daughter of Cepheus
and Joppa, who was chained to the rocks at a place of the
latter name.*
As to these three myths folklorists seem pretty well
agreed that they are variations of the same idea—that of the
sun being swallowed up by the earth (or sea) and vomited
forth again in the morning—a cross-current of another cycle
coming in, from the observation of the winter solstice, when
the sun remains in the lowest regions for three days and
three nights from December 22 to 25.
But this does not of itself explain why all three myths
should be localised at Joppa. To explain this we must
remember that Joppa was originally a Phoenician colony in
Philistine territory, and that the particular legend of Heracles
given above is of Phoenician origin. Also, in the neighbour-
ing Philistine country Dagon was worshipped, who was
represented as a man emerging from a fish's mouth, being
in fact a symbol of that same solar myth which is represented
by the stories of Heracles and Perseus; while Jonah is
said to be no other than Oannes, the Chaldean fish-god,
who is one with the Philistine Dagon. Whoso meditates
* According to Josephus “the chains wherewith Andromeda was
bound have left their marks '' on the rocks here (“Jewish Wars,”
iii. ix. 3), and Pliny says the same.
JAFFA 5
on these cognate facts will not find it hard to see how
Joppa may have come to be the scene of these strange
adventures.”
* See Doane’s “Bible Myths,” p. 77, et seq.; “Encycl. Bibl.” art.
“Joppa"; Smith's D.B. art. “Joppa,”’ &c. We have also to take into
account the widespread association of dragons with the movement of
waters. The rising and falling of the intermittent spring at Jerusalem
known as St. Mary's Well are accounted for by the natives by a hypo-
thetical dragon, who is believed to swallow the waters and vomit them
forth again at regular intervals. The special liveliness of the Sea at
Joppa, where the Mediterranean swell is churned into foam by the
remarkable reef at that place, would, therefore, go to confirm the
connection between Joppa and sea-monsters. (See “Encycl. Bibl.”
arts. “Dragon” and “Joppa.”)
CHAPTER II
JAFFA TO JERUSALEM
THERE was no need to linger in Jaffa, and at mid-day we
took train to Jerusalem by the one little bit of railway which
up to the time of our visit had invaded Palestine.” It is a
line of about fifty miles, with one train a day each way,
which accomplishes the journey in something under four
hours.
The line runs first through the plain of Sharon, a district
of wonderfully rich and deep soil. Along the shore a great
deal of this rich land has been lost beneath the drifting
Sand, which has accumulated to the depth of a couple of
feet or more. A little energy in planting tamarisk and other
bushes might rescue Some thousands of acres which are
otherwise doomed. At present, however, there is a vast
extent of fertile soil remaining. In two or three places I
noticed excavations near the line, which showed a depth of
ten feet or more of pure loam. The scriptural “Rose of
Sharon,” by the by, is said to be the Polyanthus narcissus
(Narcissus tazetta), which grows both upon the plains and
hills of this district, a flower of which Orientals are passion-
ately fond. “While it is in flower,” says Canon Tristram,
“it is to be seen in all the bazaars, and the men as well as
the women at that season always carry two or three blossoms
at which they are continually smelling.”
The train passes between large plantations of orange-
trees; then through cornfields, the blades of wheat standing,
on this ninth day of March, eight or ten inches high, very rich
and glossy. In the distance we could see the small Square
watch-towers along the Jerusalem road. “Before the railway
was made,” said Hanna, “two soldiers were put in each
* A branch of the Hejāz line, from Haifa, is in course of con-
struction, but is still (1906) far from completion. The Southern
extension of the Damascus-Beyrout Railway is now carried as far as
Mezerib, and a Turkish railway has been built from Damascus to Akaba.
JAFFA TO JERUSALEM 7
tower to guard the road, but there is now much less traffic
by road, and the towers have no guard in them.” On the
right of the line Hanna pointed out the village of Beit-
Dejan—the ancient Beth-Dagon (Josh. xv. 41). It stands
On the border of Philistia. And on the same side there
presently came into sight the Tower of Ramleh, near the
old Saracenic and Crusading city of that name.
Then we passed through the olive-plantations of Lydda,
enclosed by hedges of prickly pear, and I knew that away
to the left lay Mödein, where the Maccabaean revolt took its
rise, where Mattathias hewed down the false priest who
Sacrificed to idols, and where the Maccabees are buried.
On Our right Ekron was pointed out, and then the train
began to climb through the harsh and stony land of Judaea,
the maritime plain being left behind. Past “Samson's
Cave” the engine panted, toiling up a narrow chasm in the
limestone, where we got our first impression of the wadis of
Palestine. Here, too, we saw our first jackals, of which we
were to have experience in plenty before our tour was
done.
We arrived at Jerusalem at five o'clock or thereabouts,
and were straightway whirled off to the hotel in one of the
Open carriages drawn by a pair of horses, which here fulfil
the office of the London cab. People say that Jerusalem is
disappointing, especially when approached from the western
side. I can only say that I did not find it so. To me it was
forthwith entirely fascinating ; SO picturesque, so venerable,
So crowded with strange half-civilised life, so full of
historical and sacred interest ! In particular I found it
more obviously biblical than I had expected. Here were
the blind, the lame, the lepers, the camels passing through
the city gates, the peasants riding on their asses. It hardly
needed interpreting; the past was brought to life. As
I Sat in my room and looked from the window at the
“Tower of David’’ and a narrow perspective of grey walls
beyond, and knew that at last my eyes actually beheld the
Holy City, there came one of those rare moments of life
when the ideal is fulfilled and the mind rests in perfect
Content.
I was fortunate in being the bearer of a letter of intro-
duction to the Rev. Dr. Merrill, the United States Consul in
Jerusalem, and the learned author of several works on
Palestine. Many were the kindnesses which he wrought us
during our stay in the Holy Land, and very valuable was
8 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the information which he afforded us. On Sunday morning,
being the day after our arrival, the kind doctor took us on
the roof of our hotel and indicated the points of interest in
the bird's-eye view of the city which is thence obtained.
The “Grand New Hotel” in which we were staying is close
to the Jaffa Gate, in the middle of the western wall. As
you face eastward the high ground, on which of old
stood the Upper City, lies in the near foreground and
stretches away to your right. This, in the time of Christ,
was the aristocratic and wealthy quarter of the town. It is
now erroneously known as “Zion,” a designation which
causes much confusion in the minds of tourists. On your
left are the two domes belonging to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, and straight before you, at the further boundary
of the city, stands forth the Dome of the Rock, in the old
Temple Area, situated on the true “Zion” of the Psalms.
Beyond this rises the Mount of Olives, very sadly disfigured
of late by the buildings which have multiplied upon its
sacred soil, and, back of all, stretches the purple wall of
Moab, a huge straight-ridged mountain-barrier, looking
strangely near, though it is thirty or five-and-thirty miles away.
Dean Stanley * seems to find some difficulty in justifying
the Psalmist's simile, “As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so is the Lord round about his people.” He is
tempted to refer it to the mountain-barrier on the far North,
together with the enclosing arms of Olivet on the East, and,
perhaps, the distant range of Moab just mentioned ; but he
is perplexed because on the South and West he finds no
protecting mountains such as the expression would lead one
to look for. Seen, however, from an elevated point, like
this roof on which we are standing, the surrounding country
seems to fit perfectly with the Scriptural picture. The pro-
tection of the city is not in any towering heights which over-
top and hem the city in, but in that wide sea of mountains
which, billowing ridge behind ridge, and stretching arid and
forbidding far into the distance, are seen to surround the
city on every hand. This difficult country, waterless and
waste, was, historically speaking, always Jerusalem's pro-
tection.
And now it behoved us immediately to make our plans,
and decide upon what day we would take up our camp.
One main object of our tour was to see something of the
Ghór or Valley of the Jordan. I had long since come to the
* “Sinai and Palestine,” p. 174.
JAFFA TO JERUSALEM 9
conclusion that it was probably by this Jordan Valley route
that Jesus in His last sad journey came from Galilee to
Jerusalem, and I was anxious for this reason to travel down
some portion of its length. After due deliberation we
decided to travel northward to Nazareth at once, returning
southward by the Jordan Valley, and deferring any sight-
seeing in Jerusalem until the end of our tour.
This decision having been communicated to Hanna, he
forth with brought our horses round for us to try them, and
we went for a two hours' ride on as lovely a morning as I
have ever known. It was just such a day as early June
sometimes brings to us in England, when the air is of
perfect clearness, the colour brilliant, the heat tempered by
a delicious breeze, and the dull world so gay and buoyant
that it is hard to believe that it has ever been the scene of
tragedy or terror.
At the start our horses were somewhat fresh and frisky,
and performed various antics to the amusement of the
Onlookers, but they very soon quieted down and gave no
trouble except such as was occasioned by their extreme
jealousy of one another. This I have been told is character-
istic of the Syrian horses. They seldom quarrel with
their riders, but continually quarrel with each other.
The almost invariable mode of progression being in
Indian file, it is inevitable that one horse of the party should
be the leader; and which is to be the leader is the great
subject of dispute among the horses. In their endeavours
to settle this question each in his own favour, they bite and
kick and fight, with no animosity against their riders but
occasionally with peril to them all the same. The peril,
however, is after all but slight, for the Syrian horses are
docile to a degree, and there is no need for even inex-
perienced riders to make such an exhibition of themselves
as did the good clergyman of whom Dr. Merrill tells in his
delightful book “East of Jordan” ” “who was so timid that
he had his horse led by the bridle from Jaffa to Jerusalem, to
Jericho, Mar Saba, Hebron, and back to Jerusalem again,
and thence all the way up through the country to Beirut !”
Our ride took us first to the knoll above “Jeremiah's
Grotto,” which I had learned in my previous study to
identify with Calvary. The question whether it is rightly so
identified must be discussed in a future chapter; here it
will suffice to say that it is a mound divided from the
* Op. cit. p. 219.
IO TENT AND TESTAMENT
northern wall of the present city only by a road and a small
area of garden ground, and presenting to it the broken face
of a sheer cliff, while on all other sides it slopes gently down
so as to form a slightly rounded surface.
I had sufficient faith in the site to make the interest very
great, yet there was always the haunting doubt, and there
was moreover the hard glare of the mid-day Sun, which made
the reality seem too earthly. I felt that one should have
come here not only in full faith, but by twilight. On this
first visit it was as if the sun were shouting to us, “This is
Calvary 1” and it ought to have been whispered.
Leaving this sacred spot to be revisited on a later day, we
struck northward to Scopus, where one of the camps of
Titus was pitched during the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
The mountain is something less than a mile from Jerusalem
(seven stadia, Josephus says), near the spot now called
Meshårif, and is one of the great view-points in the neigh-
bourhood of the city. The Temple Area stands, as Josephus
describes it,” in full view, with the city spreading beyond it,
while, away to the East, the north end of the Dead Sea
can be seen, and that Strange mountain-wall of Moab
behind it.
From Scopus we came by a circuit over the high ground
to the Mount of Olives on the East of the city, from which
we descended by a steep road past the traditional Garden of
Gethsemane into the Valley of the Kidron, and so up to the
so-called St. Stephen's Gate and through the city to our
hotel in the Western or Christian quarter. About some of
these localities we shall have an opportunity of Speaking at
more length in a later chapter.
* “Wars,” v. ii. 3.
C H A PT E R III
JERUSALEM TO BETHEL
THE ride described in the previous chapter was but a “pre-
liminary canter” to try our horses; but now we were to
begin serious work. The morning of Monday, March II,
was spent in making necessary arrangements, packing Saddle-
bags, kit-bag, wraps and umbrellas, looking out photo-
graphic films, pressing-papers, Sketch-books, and all the
other things that would be wanted upon the journey, and
making a bundle of the rest to be left at Jerusalem.
The native saddle-bag, a gorgeous affair decorated with
numerous tassels and fringes, is a most useful contrivance,
indispensable indeed when you are separated from your
baggage, as we mostly were, for the whole travelling day.
The native stirrup is also, as I was afterwards informed by
an experienced traveller, very comfortable and much to be
preferred for this kind of travelling to the European stirrup
which is generally supplied to tourists. It consists of a flat
metal plate upon which the whole foot is rested, and the
corner of which is used as a spur. As for the Saddle, most
English travellers use the European form, although some
prefer the Arab with its high peaks fore and aft, which
afford some support upon a long day's journey.
The dragoman, of Course, was armed, but after much
debate we decided to take no arms ourselves. West of the
Jordan all the Ordinary roads nowadays are safe enough,
it is not until one strikes into the untamed East that the
question of arms need be considered.*
We intended to have set forth directly after luncheon,
but unfortunately our tezkerehs had not come. The tezkereh
is a secondary passport, with which every traveller has to
provide himself in addition to that which he gets from the
Turkish Ambassador before leaving Europe. Until he has
* Macgregor, of Rob Roy fame, has some very judicious remarks
upon this subject. See “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 219.
I 2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
obtained this he cannot go from one vilăyet, or chief
division, to another. It is much as if the British were to
require from every traveller in England separate passports
for the Southern, the Midland, the Northern, the Eastern
and the Western counties, besides the passport with which
he landed. This is, of course, merely one of the petty ways
in which the Turkish Government extorts money; for, each
tezkereh means not only a fee for its issue, but another fee
for the visa at each vilāyet that is entered.
At length the dragoman decided to start, tezkereh or no
tezkereh, and was giving instructions to have them sent after
us by express messenger, when a youth came panting in hot
haste, his eyes starting from his head, and with a tremendous
fuss and flourish delivered the important documents to the
dragoman, and, of course, claimed his bakhshish for the ex-
treme expedition which he had used. Our horses thereupon
were brought to the door, an excited crowd gathered, and
we proceeded to mount with the eye of the world upon us.
Unfortunately for the dignity of our start, the steeds were
fresher than ever, and danced about in fine style before the
entrance to the hotel. The animal upon which I was
myself mounted, after rearing and kicking in an excited
manner, backed obstinately across the middle of the road
just as the carriage of a Turkish dignitary, with outriders
and rearguard, came careering along at a furious pace. My
back being turned that way I was, of course, ignorant of the
approach of that great man, and wondered why the heathen
did so furiously rage. However, we managed by degrees
to bring our horses within hail of each other, and started
on our journey amid the cheers of the throng who had
gathered in the street to see us off—the first expedition
going northward that year.
A good part of the afternoon ride was alongside a road
which was then in course of construction, but which has
since been opened for traffic as far as Bireh. The general
character of the country was stony and barren, but our way
was fringed throughout with flowers; bright blue irises—
little things six inches high, but very noticeable among the
scarlet anemones which were everywhere abundant—
daisies, buttercups, golden broom, wreaths of cyclamen
encircling the loose limestone blocks, while once or twice a
yellow crocus peeped out among the Scrub, a Solitary
lingerer, for the time of Crocuses was past.
Of traffic there was a considerable amount nearly all the
JERUSALEM TO BETHEL I3
way, people travelling in each direction, towards Jerusalem
and away from it. They were mostly poor folk driving
laden asses or walking in companies, the women sometimes,
but by no means always, veiled. At one point we saw six
girls stepping along in single file, balancing empty water-
pots upon their heads. The waterpots lay upon their sides,
that being the position in which they are always carried
when empty, and between each pot and the bearer's head
was a little round pad similar to those used by bakers in
England for their trays. At another place we passed a well
from which girls were returning home with their waterpots
full and balanced upon their heads in an erect position.
One picture is impressed with special vividness upon my
mind, that of a beautiful shepherd-boy with dark oval face,
reclining among his flock. About his neck and shoulder
hung a scrip, from which he took Scraps of food and held
them to the sheep, who ran to him with perfect confidence
and fed from his hand. It might have been David himself.
The villages we passed were Shafât, Tell el-Fúl, er-Râm,
and el-Bireh-all of them places of scriptural interest—
Shafāt being usually identified with Nob, Tell el-Fúl with
Gibeah of Benjamin, er-Râm with Ramah, and el-Bireh
with Beeroth.*
Of these places er-Râm is to us the most interesting,
because this is in all probability the spot where Jacob's
pillar stood and marked the traditional grave of Rachel
when her story in the Book of Genesis was written, where
it stood when the story of Saul and the lost asses was
written in the Book of Samuel—“thou shalt find two men .
by Rachel's sepulchre in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah’’
—and because it is the place to which Jeremiah alluded
when he recalled the sorrowful leave-taking of the Jewish
exiles at this spot and wrote the well-known lament quoted
by the Evangelist Matthew, “A voice was heard in Ramah,
lamentation, and bitter weeping ; Rahel weeping for her
children refused to be comforted for her children, because
they were not.” + -
Above all is er-Râm interesting to us because here was
* The chief passage upon which these identifications depend is
Isa. x. 28–32. A writer in the “Encyclopaedia Biblica,” basing his view
upon an emendation of the text, gives strong reasons for thinking that
it was not from Nob at all, but from the northern summit of the Mount
of Olives that the enemy was to shake his fist at Zion ; so the village
of Shafāt may not occupy the site of Nob. + Jer. xxxi. I5.
14 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the Rachel's tomb of Christ's time. The traditional tomb,
which has been shown for many centuries on the road to
Bethlehem, dates in all likelihood from the time of Con-
stantine, when so many other holy sites were fixed ; in the
time of Jesus Jacob's pillar still stood at Ramah, and the
grave of Rachel which He knew was the grave beside this
northern road.* Indeed, the whole of this afternoon's ride
has a certain New Testament interest for us, because
although the places belong to the older Jewish history, their
close proximity to each other helps us to realise how every
mile of country through which Jesus passed on His journeys to
and from Jerusalem was replete with sacred story. Here, in a
distance of five miles, we have passed the ruins of at least
four villages intimately connected with Scripture narrative.
Possibly some parts of Britain are similarly packed with
British history; but consider the difference How much
does the English peasant know of English history, and of
the connection of existing localities with that history 2
With the Jew it was far otherwise. His history and his
religion were one. His Synagogue-Schooling steeped every
Jewish boy with both at once. . His patriotism, which to the
Roman seemed so fanatical and SO Obstinate, was afire with
religious enthusiasm. And down to Jesus' day almost every
corner of Palestine was filled with villages and towns bearing
names which hallowed them because those names were
written in the sacred annals of God's suffering people.
All three of these villages—Shafât, Tell el-Fúl, and er-
Râm—are small places, not in themselves picturesque,
though picturesquely situated on high hills; but el-Bireh
(the Beeroth of Scripture), the fourth place which we passed,
comes under a different category—it is beautiful in itself.
The village, as we saw it, was surrounded by vineyards, each
with its watchman's tower, and by plantations of fig-trees
which were now just putting forth the tender leaf. A foun-
tain of sweet water gushed from a crevice in a rock. The
elders of the village sat and gossiped and Smoked their
hubble-bubbles, while near by the children played and
shouted to their hearts' Content. As we rode on into the
distance the sounds came to us wafted on the breeze, like
those of an English village on a Summer evening.
There are ruins of an old khān here, for it was one of the
* “Book of Jubilees,” 32 ; “Götting. Year-Book,” 1850, p. 53, quoted
by Hausrath, “Time of Jesus,” 1878, vol. i. p. 30. The question as to the
site of Rachel's tomb is further discussed in chapter xxxi.
FIG. I.-O U R D R A GOMAN
FIG. 2. — OUR MULETEERS


JERUSALEM TO BETHEL I5
places where Jews travelling northward from Jerusalem used
to pass the night. Sometimes, it is true, those who wished
to reach Galilee would cross the Jordan opposite Jericho and
travel up the eastern bank, but this was by no means the in-
variable rule; often they would pass through Samaria, spend-
ing the first night at Beeroth or Gophna,” especially when
they were in haste.f To this day travellers from Jerusalem
often make it their first stage. There is some likelihood, there-
fore, in the old tradition dating from Crusading times, that
this village of el-Bireh is where the caravan, returning to
Nazareth after the feast at Jerusalem, made its first halt, when
Joseph and Mary found that the child Jesus was not, as they
had supposed, “among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.”
From el-Bireh we diverged to the right, and another
half-hour brought us to Bétin, the modern representative
of the ancient shrine of Bethel. There we found our camp
pitched in a sheltered nook below the village. It was the first
we had seen of it, and we were rather taken aback by the
luxury which Messrs. Cook and Sons had thought fit to pro-
vide for two homely individuals. The camp consisted of
three tents—sleeping-tent, dining-tent, and kitchen-tent—
containing bedsteads, washstands, dressing-table, looking-
glass, chairs, carpets, mosquito-curtains, and endless etceteras.
The staff included, besides Our dragoman, a groom, a cook,
a waiter, and three muleteers. Our beasts of burden were
four horses, six mules, and two donkeys.
The little hollow in which our camp was pitched at Bethel
was surrounded by a dry stone wall, and in the midst rose an
aged fig-tree, whose twisted arms sprawled stark and un-
canny against the sky. On the Stony height above us stood
one of the square flat-topped houses of this strange land.
A turbaned figure clad in the flowing garb of the East could
be seen upon the roof slowly pacing to and fro, and pausing
every now and then to gaze fixedly towards the Western
heavens or look up towards the zenith.
The twilight is short in Palestine. We arrived in broad
daylight; half an hour afterwards it was too dark to see.
Suddenly a mist came sweeping up, and the wind began to
rise. “Ha ! rain f" exclaimed Hanna ; “well, let rain
come !” But as we sat reading in our tent after dinner, we
heard some one ramming every tent-peg tighter into the
ground. They were expecting a storm.
* Hausrath, “Time of Jesus,” vol. i. p. 26. Compare Josephus,
“Antiq.,” xx, vi. I. + Josephus, “Life,” sec. 52.
CHA PT E R IV
FROM BETHEL THROUGH SHILOH TO HUWARA
THE storm did not come. There was a shower, which
Hanna declared was nothing but the falling of the dew. I
awoke without having dreamt of any ladder reaching to the
skies: the luxury of Cook's tents forbids, I fear, those dreams
of heaven.
By daylight it was easy to see what Dean Stanley meant
when he supposed that the material suggestion of Jacob's
Dream came from the manner in which the stones around
formed themselves into a vast “ladder,” or rather “flight of
steps” (for so the word should be rendered).* It is a familiar
phenomenon in limestone country, and by no means peculiar
to Bethel, although at Bethel the natural terraces climbing
up the hill side are very marked, and readily lend themselves
to the fancy.
What may be the mythology or folk-lore of that ladder of
Jacob I do not know. Perhaps it is connected with the
Indian, Persian, and Egyptian ladders by which Souls
descended from heaven to enter into earthly bodies ; or,
perhaps it is purely legendary adornment of the Yahvistic
narrative by the hand of the Elohist. The earlier narrative
has no “ladder,” only a dream that “Yahveh stood beside
him.” If, as biblical scholars now tell us, Jacob was a
tribal name, and the pillar stood at Bethel long before the
story of Jacob was written, it is impossible to say whether
the stone was erected because of a vision, or the vision in-
vented to account for a stone.
In Arabia the anointed pillar is still found a living fact
of religion ; and it stands as a memorial of the past in almost
every land. Such a pillar was more than a monument of
some religious event, more than an altar for the offering of
sacrifices, it was (like the stone at Luz) “Beth-el,” the house
of God—the object into which the Deity entered, the body
* “Sinai and Palestine,” p. 220.
THROUGH SHILOH TO HUWARA 17
in which He dwelt, the vehicle by which He manifested
Himself to His worshippers. At Bethel, Shechem, Gilgal,
and other shrines, such pillars continued to be an essential
part of the apparatus of worship to a comparatively late
time.
“But where is Jacob's stone now?” Well, such a question is
not quite so absurd as it may seem at first. Prehistoric monu-
ments of the kind—monuments dating from an antiquity
quite as remote—are to be found in all parts of the world ;
and, seeing that there is absolutely no doubt as to the site
of Bethel, why, if the iconoclasm of intervening ages has
spared it, may not the megalith be standing there still ?
Unfortunately, the iconoclasm of intervening ages has been
unusually ruthless in Western Palestine. East of the Jordan,
menhirs, such as this pillar of Jacob, with cromlechs, cairns,
and dolmens, are numerous enough, but west of the Jordan
they are few and far between. It is sufficient, however, to
recall the doings of one very celebrated iconoclast at this
very place, namely, those of King Josiah : “He brake in
pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled
their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar
that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam, the
son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that
altar and the high place he brake down ; and he burned the
high place and stamped it small to powder, and burned the
Asherah.” After that it is of little use, I fear, to look for
Jacob's pillar !
Nevertheless, I remembered that one such prehistoric
monument was reported to be still standing here. It is
mentioned by Baedeker, and alluded to in most of the recent
accounts of Bethel ; namely, a stone circle discovered by
Sir Charles Wilson, “which, though much decayed, reminds
one irresistibly of the rude stone temples of our own
country.”f Why Josiah had not “stamped it small to
powder” I could not say ; perhaps he overlooked it. At
any rate, it might prove worth our while to see it, and if
not, the climb would at least give us a view of the country
and do us no harm.
So we mounted our horses and left our camp in the valley
for a bare, bleak height above the village. Unluckily I had
* See Hosea iii. 4. On the place of the sacrificial pillar in the
worship of the northern Semites see Robertson Smith’s “Religion of
the Semites,” pp. 200 et seq.
+ P.E.F.Q.S., 1881, p. 81.
I8 TENT AND TESTAMENT
no precise note as to the position of the “circle.” Baedeker
said it was on the north of the village, the Palestine Explora-
tion List of Photographs said it was on the east.
The best plan seemed to be to make our way to the highest
neighbouring point and take a general survey, and this
accordingly we did. What a tumult, what a wild confusion
of rocks and Stones, some lying loose, others rooted in the
mountain l Truly Jacob had no lack of material when he
“took of the stones of that place and put them for his
pillows l’’ The line of deep blue away to the north, where
the mountains of Samaria lay, was refreshing to the eye;
but in the nearer distance, for miles around us, was little
else than a grey chaos. I swept the adjacent hills and
valleys with my glass, and there, sure enough, on a slope
less than half a mile away, was a fairly perfect circle. We
did not need to go to it, for I could see it in every detail.
It was a circle of huge stones, quite as perfect as that
photographed by the Palestine Exploration Fund, and yet
—not the same ! In fact, I cannot but think that too much
has been made of that circle, and that in the stony wilder-
ness around Bethel several such natural circles might be
found. Conder says that he paid three visits to the vicinity
“with the view of examining the supposed circle of stones.”
“We were, however, unable,” he writes, “to arrive at any
other conclusion than that the curious rocks photographed
by Colonel Wilson are natural features; and although Dr.
Sepp speaks, I believe, of a rude stone circle, I was unable to
find any such monument after searching the entire vicinity.”
I will only add that the photograph published by the Pales-
tine Exploration Fund fully confirms this verdict of Colonel
Conder as to the natural origin of this supposed monument;
and I hope that some time soon the guide-books and hand-
books will cease to copy one another and to waste the time
and energy of tourists.
Having concluded our survey of Bethel, we renewed our
journey, travelling through a barren and Silent Country.
Not the twitter of a bird broke the deathly stillness, for in
these mountains where birds of prey are abundant, the little
songsters cannot live. We passed several villages perched
upon the tops of hills, but the very villages seemed dead :
we saw no figures moving about them, heard no sounds
issuing from them. Even the flowers seemed to have for-
saken this forbidding region, and it was not until we left the
* P.E.F.Q.S., 1881, p. 255.
THROUGH SHILOH TO HUWARA I9
bald and solid rocks of Bethel that we found ourselves once
more travelling over the beautiful carpet which spreads itself
on the bleak hills of Judaea in springtime. Then indeed,
wherever the least scrap of soil could be found, their glory
returned to us. Large anemones, white, Scarlet, blue, and
pale pink, with cyclamens both white and purple, wreathed
every stone and draped every mountain-terrace.
Leaving the high ground, we descended into The Valley of
Fig-trees, a vast depression with plantations of figs extending
far up the slopes by which it is bounded. We climbed again,
and again descended by a narrow and rocky wadi known as
The Valley of Robbers. The path drops steeply down the
length of this pass beneath a fine range of limestone rocks
in which are many caves. At one point a spring breaks out
of the cliff and trickles down its face. This place opens
into a fine wide valley as full of olive-trees as the first was
of fig-trees, their grey foliage spreading over the length and
breadth of the hollow, and climbing the mountain-sides as
far as eye can see. Again we rose and again descended ;
and found ourselves in a broad plain, with deep rich soil,
where barefooted men were ploughing with their old-world
ploughs. They press on the cross-piece of the simple
plough-tail with their left hand, and in their right they carry
a long goad with which they guide the little oxen, one man
and one yoke of oxen to each plough.
From this plain the road to Sinjil (the Casale St. Giles of
the Crusaders) bears away to the left ; but we kept straight
on, or inclined a little to the right, ascending another barren,
Stony region. We were now approaching Seilün, the ancient
Shiloh. On our right, a little off the path, stood an ancient
building, about thirty-five feet Square, known as “The
Mosque of the Forty,’” that is to say it is dedicated to the
Forty Companions of the Prophet. But it was a synagogue
before it was a mosque, for the lintel of the north doorway,
although it has been thrown down since Colonel Conder
visited it in 1872, is still unbroken, and shows the pot of
manna on its front, being, as Conder declares, “similar to
the lintels of Galilean synagogues.” Neither are the Jews
and the Mohammedans the only claimants to the building,
for in the west wall there is a pointed arch ; and inside the
ruin are columns and capitals which Colonel Conder con-
siders to be Byzantine. In all probability, therefore, the
building has been first a Synagogue, then a church, and
finally a mosque,
2O TENT AND TESTAMENT
What can have made this particular spot so sacred that
Jew, Christian and Moslem have alike reverenced it Of
course those to whom the Hebrew Tabernacle is a solid fact
jump to the conclusion that this is the spot where the
Tabernacle stood. Even Edersheim quotes the opinion
with apparent approval.” All that we can say, however, is
that in ancient and mediaeval times such a tradition may
have existed and led to the erection of these shrines, but
that, if so, it is quite lost now.
As we approached Shiloh I had in mind that passage in
Stanley's “Sinai and Palestine” in which the author pictures
the “daughters of Shiloh” as dancing about the well at the
yearly festival,f and I asked the dragoman to point it out to
me when we reached it. Accordingly, a little way past the
“Mosque of the Forty,” he pointed out a round pool cut in
the rock, which he said was the Well of Shiloh. This may
certainly be sufficiently ancient, but a serious drawback is
that it is not a well at all, but a cistern, and it was difficult
to imagine Shiloh's daughters dancing round this. It is to
be noticed, however, that this “well” is a feature of the
picture gratuitously introduced, and that the Scripture
Fº to which Stanley refers contains no mention of it
at all.
However, while we were on the subject of wells it seemed
not amiss to visit any running water which there might be
in the neighbourhood; so I determined that after our
mid-day meal we would go in search of the real well of
Shiloh. Meanwhile luncheon was the next business on the
programme.
We ate it under the shadow of another mosque. A
group of villagers gathered round us. The men wore
the usual Square striped cloak of coarse sacking thrown
over a tunic of dark-coloured cotton, which was belted
at the waist and came a little below the knees. Their
heads were wrapped in the keffiyeh or large handkerchief
protecting the neck and fastened round the crown by the
agāl or elastic rope of camel-hair or worsted. The girls
wore blue skirts, and had their heads wrapped in white
kerchiefs. Their faces, like those of all fellah women, were
* “Sketches of Jewish Life,” p. 255.
| “Sinai and Palestine,” p. 232. Judges xxi. 19 et seq.
# Some trace of the festival may linger in the name Merj el 'Aid,
“the meadow of the feast,” by which the plain to the south of Seilân
is still called. P.E. F.Q.S., 1877, p. 180.
THROUGH SHILOH TO HUWARA 2 I
unveiled. One man, of different aspect from the rest, tried
to converse, speaking to my surprise what seemed tolerable
French. He asked the invariable questions as to where we
came from and whither we were going. I complimented
him upon his French, and he explained that he was an
Algerian.
After luncheon I requested Hanna to inquire of the natives
whether there was no running water in the neighbourhood
of the village, and one of the youths readily undertook to
guide us to it. He had not gone far when he was joined by
another, and the two stepped briskly on before us, planting
their bare feet on the rough and thickly-strewn stones with
the greatest unconcern. They were very jolly fellows, their
broad faces, which were almost black, Shining with good
humour, their eyes sparkling, and rows of white teeth gleam-
ing when they laughed. The ease and spring of their walk
over the rough ground indicated great agility and health ;
indeed, it seemed difficult for them to walk slowly enough
for us; they would stop and look round and wait, and then
trot on again, just as a dog does when he is out for a walk
with his master.
The spot to which they guided us was in a deep valley
running north and south, the western side of it perforated
with numbers of rock-cut tombs lying in rows along the
layers of limestone. In a picturesque nook on the same side
of the valley, among piled-up rocks, they showed us a round
hole just large enough to admit the body of a man. Look-
ing down it I could see, at a depth of about fifteen feet, a
stream of running water. It was apparently coursing Swiftly
along an underground duct in a direction transverse to the
line of the valley.
While we stood there a grey-haired old man appeared,
wearing nothing but a cotton Shirt, which was open from
the neck to the waist, showing his hairy breast. He promptly
descended through the Opening, making his way down to the
water by means of projections in the rocky sides of the shaft.
There he drank and washed, and then climbed up again.
Fig. 3.)
( When we got back to our dragoman, he told One of our
guides to show me how he struck a light. The youth pro-
duced from a little leather pouch at his girdle (the “purse"
of Scripture) a flint and steel, the latter similar in shape to
those formerly used in England, but smaller. He then took
a small end of frayed hempen cord, and held the flint and
22 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the cord between the thumb and finger of his left hand in
Such a way that the frayed end of the latter came about level
with the sharp edge of the former. With his right hand he
then struck the steel upon the flint, the cord immediately
began to Smoulder, and he soon produced a flame with his
breath.
Remounting our horses, we now travelled in a north-
westerly direction down the Wädi Seilün. After about an
hour's ride we turned northward, and on a hill before us saw
the village of el-Lubban—the Lebonah which in the Book
of Judges (xxi. 19) is mentioned as being on the north of
Shiloh. How strange it seems to find these names almost
unchanged, clinging to the identical spots for thousands of
years
The country continued to be silent—no streams, no birds;
only Mohammed the groom, riding in the rear, chanted an
interminable Arab Song to a tune of four notes; and occa-
Sionally, in Some cultivated nook among the mountains, a
little company of fellahin sang at their work.
At a distance of about two or three hours' ride from Seilün
we found ourselves on a height from which we looked
upon the plain of Makhnah, with a grand distant view of the
mountains of Samaria, and the snowy peak of Hermon far
to the north. In the near distance rose Ebal and Gerizim,
and at the foot of the latter lay the little village of Huwära,
where our camp was pitched. We reached the valley by a
very steep and bad road, and thence made our way to the
Open plain,across which about twenty minutes' ride took us to
Our Camp.
I should have preferred to encamp at Nablus, in that Vale
of Shechem concerning whose beauties I had heard so much.
But Hanna strongly dissuaded us from any such plan. The
people, he said, were rude, and it was impossible to keep
them from invading the tents; and they were fanatical to
such a degree that they often became dangerous to Chris-
tians. He further took occasion to remind us that pictures
were forbidden by the Mohammedan religion, so that when
we entered Nablus I must not attempt to photograph, other-
wise we stood a fair chance of all being killed. It may be
that for reasons of his own he exaggerated the dangers, but,
of course, for the ignorant there was nothing to do but to
follow his advice.
However, the spot where our camp was pitched had its
own interest. Our tents were on a spur of Mount Gerizim.
THROUGH 'SHILOH TO HUWARA 23
The mountain chain rose upon our left as we faced north-
ward. On our right beyond the plain was a range of lower
hills, their tops all aglow just now with the rays of the
declining Sun as it sank behind Gerizim. Straight before us,
but just hidden by a projecting spur, lay the Well of Jacob.
It was about four or five miles distant, and between it and
our camp stretched the Plain of Makhnah, green with the
broad stretches of wheat now in blade. And it came upon
me that these were the very fields upon which Jesus looked
when He sat by the well and said, “Say not ye, There are yet
four months, and then cometh the harvest ? Behold, I say
unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they
are white already unto harvest.” The very fields, and
almost the very time of year. Not quite ; for the wheat-
harvest is in June, and this was March 12, so that it wanted
little more than three months to the average harvest-time.
Before our tents there stretched two paths, both of them
leading to Nablus. The main path crosses the centre of
the plain, and is the one most frequented ; the other is on
rather higher ground, and is therefore used more especially
in winter, though it was far from being deserted even now,
being shorter, though rougher, than the main route. Dotted
along each path, in vanishing perspective, were people in
twos and threes, dressed in bright colours, particularly in
a very bright yellow, which seems to be the favourite
colour in this part of Palestine. A little further up the
slope on which our camp was pitched stood the village of
Huwära, from which came shouts and laughter of children.
Their little forms, in red, blue, and yellow, glanced gaily
in the evening light.
The sun sank behind Gerizim, the golden glory faded
from the hill-tops on the East, the vivid green of the plain
below us darkened, the children's games ceased, night came
with rapid strides, and the sudden chill warned us into the
tents. I noticed that inside the tent the thermometer stood
at 55° Fahr., and it was ten degrees lower when we woke
in the morning.
* John iv. 35.
CHA PT E R V
FROM HUWARA TO JACOB's WELL AND SHECHEM
PROFESSOR GEORGE ADAM SMITH, in his “Historical
Geography of the Holy Land,” mentions that besides the
ordinary road to Jenin through Shechem and Samaria, he had
heard from his muleteers that another route existed. He
was told that in order to find this route he must take the
road past Askar which leads towards Bethshan, until he
reached the point where it turns eastward, and then keep due
north.* Professor Smith, therefore, upholds Lightfoot and
Stanley in their assertion that such a road exists, and he
thinks it likely that it would be preferred by Jesus to the
other route, inasmuch as it avoided both Shechem and
Sebaste, two large alien towns, one Samaritan and the other
Greek, close to which He must otherwise have passed.*
Now, since it was one chief object of my tour to obtain
such information as would enable me to realise that Life, I
read the passage from Professor Smith's book to our
dragoman Hanna, and told him that I should like, if pos-
sible, to follow the route described. He declared, however,
that he had never heard of such a road, neither had his mule-
teers; and, even if it existed, one thing was certain, and that was
that we could not depend upon finding any suitable camp-
ing-grounds on the way. I then began to realise how heavily
handicapped we were by our luxurious camp. It was perfectly
true that to drag our great caravan over mountain-tracks
which were unknown to dragoman or muleteers, where we
might find no water, or might be forbidden by the natives
to encamp, would never do at all, so the plan had to be
abandoned. By all means let the man who has health and
strength travel with nothing but horse and Saddlebags.
* Op. cit. p. 374.
+ We know from Josephus that Galileans who went up to the festivals
at Jerusalem commonly travelled through the country of Samaria
passing through Jenin (“Antiq.” xx. vi. 1); but that description might
apply to either route.
JACOB'S WELL AND SHECHEM 25
However, I determined, since the existence of the road
has been denied, and since Professor Smith does not seem
to have actually seen it, that I would do what I could to
ascertain whether it is really extant.” Accordingly I
requested Hanna to cross-examine the natives of Huwära.
But all I got from them was this : they said that they never
went through Nablus or Sebastiyeh to reach Jenin, but
neither did they go by the Bethshan road. Their regular
route was by a mountain track which took them through
Fandakūmiyeh and Jeba. Now there is one road through
Fandakūmiyeh and Jeba which is well known ; it runs
almost direct from Sebastiyeh to Jenin, leaving Dôthän on
the left ; but the mountain-track of which the Huwära
people spoke would avoid Nablus and Sebastiyeh, cutting off
a large corner, and joining the main road near Jeba.
However, we were at the mercy of our dragoman and
impedimenta, and, since we could not explore the road
mentioned by Lightfoot and Stanley, the best course
seemed to be to take the usual route, and when we had
visited Jacob's Well to follow the great bend round to the
west and see something of Nablus and Sebastiyeh, the
ancient Shechem and Samaria.
From Huwära to Jacob's Well is between four and five
miles. We rode along the wide well-worn track between
broad stretches of glossy wheat, and reached it before nine
o'clock in the morning. Until a recent date the well lay
in the open plain, amid the ruins of an ancient church
which once covered it. At the present time it is enclosed
by a high stone wall, having been purchased, as Hanna
informed us, by the Greek Christians of the village of Balāta,
which is about seven minutes' ride from the well.
In 1697 the well was found to be IoS feet deep, with
fifteen feet of water. In 1866 it was reported as seventy-five
feet deep and quite dry. In 1881 the original stone which
surrounded the mouth of the well was discovered among
the ruins. In 1894 Professor George A. Smith writes, “It
is impossible to say whether the well is now dry, for many
feet are choked with stones.”f At the present time the well
may be seen with the ancient curbing replaced, the débris
cleared out, and the water standing cold and Sweet to a
considerable depth.
Entering the enclosure we found ourselves in a garden
* It is not marked in the Ordnance Survey Map.
+ Smith, “Hist. Geog.,” p. 374.
26 TENT AND TESTAMENT
of sweet-scented stocks, which the Christian owners had
planted there. In one corner of the enclosure, on the left
as we entered, were some sheds and a long barrack-like
building where pilgrims are lodged ; six hundred Russian
pilgrims were expected that very night. Looking to the
right we saw what seemed to be a heap of rubbish—a
mound of earth and stones—in the side of which was a dark
doorway or cavernous opening flanked by the shafts of some
broken pillars. To this narrow arch we were led, and
found ourselves at the top of a short flight of steps which
led down to a little chapel within the mound. We
descended the steps, and, when our eyes had become accus-
tomed to the gloom, saw before us the Well surrounded by
its ancient kerb cut half through by the rub of the ropes.
Noting these deep-worn grooves, and remembering that
the well has not been in use for ordinary purposes since the
fourth century, when the church whose ruins now lie
Scattered around was built over it, it appears to be just
within the bounds of possibility that this was the very
stone upon which Jesus sat when He talked with the woman
of Samaria (Fig. 4).
To some, no doubt, the whole story of the Samaritan
woman who “came to draw water” is as legendary as the
story of “our father Jacob, which gave us the well”; to
myself, however, the probabilities have seemed to be that
the Fourth Gospel is a composite book, consisting of dis-
Courses based upon more or less historical traditions, and
that this particular story of the Samaritan woman is
One of those which, while it contains some Philonic sym-
bolism, bears traces of having come originally from the
narrative of one who knew the place and was likely to know
the circumstances. The well lies close by the road from
Judaea to Galilee ; above it towers the mountain of Gerizim,
where the foundation of the Samaritan temple still exists ;
to the east and south stretches the plain of el-Makhnah, rich
with corn-crops to this very day; and the village of Askar,
half a mile away, in all likelihood represents the little town
of Sychar, from which the Samaritan woman had come
to draw water. Thus the local details seem to be exact.
At our request an attendant let down a candle by a long
string, and we were able to judge of the accuracy of another
detail of the Scripture story—“the well [ppéap not trmyń, the
pit, not the water] is deep.” The water, of which we drank,
is very pleasant to the taste and the coolest which we found
ELL AT SHILOH
FIG. 3. –THE WE
FIG. 4.—JACOB's WELL


JACOB'S WELL AND SHECHEM 27
in the course of our journey, a cup of really cold water not
being very easily obtainable in Palestine.*
On issuing from the little chapel I noticed carefully the
relation of the floor of the cell to the level of the surround-
ing plain. Standing on the mound of débris which covers
the well and looking around me, it was very obvious that
the floor of the chapel must be exactly on a level with the
surrounding country. The well, in fact, was just like others
which we had seen in our journey—a plain circular opening
in the level ground, guarded by a stone curb to keep the
earth from falling in—only, this particular well was of un-
usual depth and was constructed with special pains, for the
upper part is protected to some distance from the surface
by carefully built stone-work, and the lower part is cut
through limestone rock.
And that, by the way, is just one of the puzzles about
this remarkable relic of antiquity—why such a laboriously
constructed well should exist in such a place 2 The place
is within easy reach of wells and streams. Askar has its
spring and Nablus its running brooks. The natives, indeed,
claim that the latter has over twenty springs. Who, then,
could have dug such a well in such a place, and for what
purpose did he dig it
The readiest answer certainly seems to be that it was dug
by some one who was an alien to the owners of the neigh-
bouring waters. Jacob may be an eponymous hero or a
real person ; but this well surely goes back to those
“patriarchal” times when tribes or families fought together
for possession of the springs and jealously excluded all new
comers from their use.
The fact which I have just mentioned, that Askar has its
Own Spring, suggests another puzzle. If the story of the
Woman at the Well is a story of fact, and iſ Askar is to be
identified with Sychar, why did the woman come so far to
fetch her water The objection is not that the well was
too far away, for many villages in the East are half a mile
from their wells, but that there was no need to come at all.
The well of Askar (so I was informed by the natives) is in
the middle of the village, with a convenient passage leading
down to the water's edge ; and it is used at the present day
* I asked the custodian whether the water came from a spring at the
bottom of the well. He answered that it did not, but came by infil-
tration; which agrees with Conder’s statement on the subject, but not
with Robinson's.
28 TENT AND TESTAMENT
by all the inhabitants. Why then should the Woman of
Sychar come to Jacob's Well ? Formerly, when Sychar was
Supposed to be identical with Shechem or Nablus, the
objection had even greater weight, for Nablus is still more
distant and has still more water |
The answer may be that she came just because it was
Jacob's Well. The well was in some sort sacred in the time
of Jesus, and these holy wells were and still are frequented
by people from a distance who value the water from them
for its supposed healing and medicinal qualities. On the
other hand, the woman is made to speak as though it were
for the mere quenching of thirst that she came this weary
journey, and would gladly have a spring of living water
nearer home. So that one has to confess with a sigh, that
even if the fiction is, as I hold, founded on fact, the fact is
very difficult to separate from the fiction.
The path by which we had approached Jacob's Well con-
tinues northward, bearing slightly to the east, and passes the
village of Askar. But in that path we did not now continue,
but turned instead sharply to the west along the Vale of
Shechem, Ebal being now on Our right hand, and the moun-
tain-slopes of Gerizim upon our left. -
At this turn to the west, I noticed how closely the spurs
of Ebal and Gerizim approached each other, making possible
the traditional reading of the law from the two mountains,
if we suppose the lower slopes of the mountains to be meant.
The Bible narrative does not, indeed, require even that
modification of the tradition, for, whether with the Autho-
rised Version we read that the Israelites stood “over against”
Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, or with the Revised Version,
that they stood “ in front of ’’ either mountain, the reading
of the law was quite possible. The only thing that is im-
possible is that the reading took place, as has been so
Strangely fancied, from the summits of the two mountains.
Nablus, the Shechem of the Bible, is not visible from
Jacob's Well, being entirely round the corner, and a good
half-hour's ride to the west.*
At the entrance of the town we passed the Turkish
barracks, where a number of soldiers were loafing about in
the sun. A little further on we dismounted, and presently
* De Saulcy, Stanley, and other writers, who identify Sychar with
Shechem, maintain that the ancient Shechem lay to the east of the
rebuilt city of Neapolis (Nablås), founded by Vespasian, and that this
Saves the historicity of John iv. 30, 35.
JACOB's WELL AND SHECHEM 29
found ourselves walking through the streets of this most
ancient place. The bazaars of Nablus are beyond descrip-
tion picturesque—narrow of course, and cut, like those we
had already seen in Cairo, Jaffa, and Jerusalem, into masses
of brightest light and blackest shade by the cloths and
awnings stretched at short intervals from roof to roof across
the street. But there was a colour here and a tone, a variety
of form and general flavour of antiquity, which surpassed
those of the other places mentioned. The costumes of the
natives, too, were purely Oriental without that admixture of
Western garb which in Jaffa and Jerusalem one cannot but
feel to be a disfigurement, and they were mostly of brightest
hues with a preponderance of yellow.
At my desire we were now led to the Samaritan quarter.
We passed through narrow Streets, along which every now
and then long files of camels threaded their way, leaving
small space for foot-passengers on either side, through the
market where corn was being bought and sold, then bearing
to the left we were taken to the south-western part of the
town, and there, crowded among a dislocated mass of
houses, stood the tiny synagogue in which the Samaritans
worshipped.
So small was the little whitewashed room that I did not
at first understand that this was the Synagogue which I had
so much wished to see. I supposed it to be a vestibule, and
wondered when we should be taken through it to the main
building. I noticed, however, that it contained a kubla, or
niche, towards which prayers were directed, and, inferring
that it was therefore holy, asked whether I should remove
my shoes. The high-priest, who was showing us the place,
answered that it was unnecessary to do so; but before we
were allowed to step upon the floor, he turned back the
corner of the matting with which it was covered.
This high-priest was a fine-looking man, tall and dignified,
with lofty forehead, oval face, clear olive complexion, mild
eyes, rather thick underlip, nose somewhat straighter than
the usual Jewish type, beard black turning grey. The total
impression was distinctly Jewish, but that of the very finest
type of Jew, in which the sensuousness has almost disap-
peared, and a certain refinement which does not as a rule
belong to the Jew has taken its place.” He was accompanied
* The generally accepted view as to the origin of the Samaritans is
that they were the Cuthim, or strangers from Chaldea, who were placed
in this district when Sargon carried away Israel into Assyria. Colonel
3O TENT AND TESTAMENT
by his son, a very beautiful lad of fifteen or sixteen. The
Samaritans are very clean in person, differing in this respect
very markedly from those of their ancient enemies who are
seen 1n Palestine.
Enemies to the Jews of course they still are. With the
Jews of Nablus at any rate their feud is as acrimonious, so
I was informed, as ever it was. It cannot, however, last
much longer; it will die with the Samaritans themselves.
For, this very ancient sect has almost disappeared. In the
fifth century of the present era there were many Samaritans
both in Southern Palestine and in Egypt, and they even had
a synagogue in Rome. As late as the seventeenth century
they had communities in Cairo and Damascus. But early
in the last century they became extinct everywhere but in
Nablus. The Samaritans of Nablus numbered about a
thousand in the twelfth century; at the present time they
number about 150.*
The outer clothing of the Samaritan consists, like that of
any other town-dweller in Palestine, of the kumbāz, or long
cotton robe tied about the waist with a girdle and having
loose sleeves reaching to the tips of the fingers. But the
turban is peculiar. Round the tarbüsh, and almost covering
it, is wound a broad Sash of crimson silk, arranged in
picturesque folds. This colour belongs exclusively to the
Samaritan. The high-priest, in addition to this character-
istic turban, wears a long black cloth coat open in front and
hanging loosely from his shoulders. This, Hanna explained,
was worn only by his Holiness, and distinguished him
from the rank and file of his flock. .
This robe, which was not purchasable in the bazaar, I was
anxious to add to my collection of costumes, and informed
Hanna of my desire. He requested that I would leave the
matter entirely to him, not appearing in the transaction
myself, and he would then do his best for me. Followed, a
lengthy dialogue in Arabic, much gesticulation, tones of
surprise, indignation, indifference, explanation, firmness,
Conder and others hold, however, that this is a biased account of the
matter, invented by the Pharisaic party, and that the tradition of the
Samaritans themselves, that they are of pure Jewish blood, is to be
respected. See Conder's “Tent-Work in Palestine,” p. 16 et seq.
* Conder says 135, in 1872; Baedeker says 160; our dragoman
informed us that the number is 150, of whom only forty are initiated.
In an article in the Daily AVews (August 27, 1906) on a visit to London
of a deputation from the Samaritans, the total number is given as 115
men and 85 women.
JACOB'S WELL AND SHECHEM 3I
concession, dignity, amusement, and suddenly the High-
Priest stripped off his official robe with a laugh and handed
it to Hanna. Then the son was despatched to fetch the
corresponding turban, and the transaction was complete.
The price I afterwards learned was fifteen shillings, below
which figure his Holiness declared that he could not go, as
the coat “had still two years' wear in it.” Hanna told me
at the same time (he never informed me of his lies till we
were well away) that he would not have obtained it even at
that price, only he had told the priest that the coat was
wanted for an American gentleman who had written for it
from New York and named a fixed price beyond which it
was not possible for him to go. There was nothing for me
to do, after Hanna made such confessions of deceit, but to
express surprise and disapproval, which, however, did not
have the slightest practical effect when the next occasion
arose. The Arab is, in fact, incapable of understanding the
Western attitude towards deceit. “The word of an English-
man’’ has become a synonym with them for truth and
fidelity, but they seem quite unable to see that the same
truthfulness would be either morally praiseworthy or com-
mercially advantageous to themselves. Lying is an art with
them, and I really believe they take an artistic pleasure in it.
It is all one with their love for tales of adventure. The
invention, the cleverness, and the pleasure of outwitting
another, are at the root of their habitual deceit. An Arab
appears very seldom to tell the truth unless there is a distinct
and immediate advantage in doing so; and then he feels it
to be a lost opportunity for playing his favourite and amusing
game of competitive invention.
To return to the little synagogue ; a chair was now set
before us, and we were mysteriously told to wait and see
what would appear upon that chair. That which appeared
was an ancient parchment roll much torn and patched,
which the priest placed there for our inspection. This was
presently removed, and another was placed there, larger and
in better condition. These manuscripts were written not
in the square Hebrew to which we are accustomed, but
in the more ancient “Samaritan " character. They were,
the priest asserted, copies of the Pentateuch, the first which
he showed us dating from the time of the Maccabees, and
the second from “the thirteenth year after the Jews entered
Palestine !”
Whether either of the scrolls was indeed the Sacrosanct
32 TENT AND TESTAMENT
codex which is elevated in the Samaritan services like the
host in a Roman Catholic church, it is impossible to say. It
is affirmed that the most ancient copy is seldom or never
exhibited to travellers. By the priest himself it is handled
with the greatest reverence. Every time he touches it he
exclaims, “In the name of God.” It is, however, interesting
to know that when it is “elevated ” in their synagogue the
congregation do not bow down to the scroll, but turn them-
selves obliquely and fall on their faces towards the eastern
summit of Mount Gerizim, where of old their temple stood.
In a tiny Courtyard near the Synagogue grew an Orange-
tree which was just now laden with fruit. Here we rested
for a while in the cool shadow conversing with our Samaritan
friend. His part of the conversation consisted of only two
words—the words “very good.” But it was surprising into
how many connections they fitted. Turning to the tree, he
said “very good,” in a tone of information. Pointing to my
camera into which I had been putting some new films, he
asked “very good f * in a tone of inquiry. Waving his hand
toward the mountain up which we were about to climb for
the sake of the view over Nablis, he exclaimed “Very
good l’’ in a tone of pride ; and so the conversation went
merrily forward till we made our adieus and addressed our-
selves to our journey.
CHAPT E R V I
SHECHEM TO SAMARIA
At the western boundary of the town we remounted and
climbed a spur of Gerizim by a long slope, until we reached
a kind of terrace from which there was a beautiful view of
Nablus ; and here under the shade of the olives, which are
cultivated in terraces far up the side of the mountain,
Mohammed spread our mid-day meal.
The place was a favourite resort of the inhabitants of
Nabląs, who came here to smoke and drink coffee and chat
or sleep in the sunshine. Beside the road was a platform
of stone, on which were placed a number of four-legged
stools, several nargilehs, and a small charcoal stove. It was
in charge of a short, broad, elderly man in a white turban,
jacket and baggy trousers, and an old pair of slippers. He
let out the stools and nargilehs, and sold sweet Turkish
coffee, which he made upon his stove in a little metal vessel
and served in tiny cups without handles (Fig. 5). The
margileh was originally made from the nargil or cocoanut,
but those which you see in Palestine are mostly made of
glass. Above the bottle or vase which contains the water is
a small cup-shaped receptacle to hold the tobacco. The
people of Palestine use large flaky tobacco, of which they
take a handful, dip it in water and Squeeze it together ; then,
laying it in the cup, they light it by applying a bit of burning
charcoal with the tongs. The Smoke passes downward from
the cup into the water, through which it rises into the empty
space above the liquid surface, and is thence inhaled by
means of a long flexible tube. The Smoke is drawn into the
lungs.
#. is the favourite form of smoking in Palestine when
the smoker is at rest. Sometimes, indeed, I Saw men even
when riding horses or donkeys holding their “hubble-
bubbles" in their hands and smoking them as they travelled;
but, for the most part, cigarettes are Smoked when en route.
C
34 TENT AND TESTAMENT
The old-fashioned Turkish pipes with large bowls and long
wooden stems seem almost to have gone out of use : I do
not think I saw a single one in the course of our tour. It was
very strange to find French cigarette papers lying on the
ground even in remote places beyond Jordan, where one
imagines oneself to be out of reach of civilisation.
After we had lunched, my fellow-traveller climbed the
mountain where the Samaritan place of sacrifice is to be
Seen, upon which every year the passover-lamb is still slain;
where also is the Sacred rock upon which tradition says that
the altar of their temple stood. As the horses could not do
the climb, I had to deny myself the pleasure of seeing these
interesting spots, being constitutionally incapable of the
ascent on foot.
While my friend was gone therefore I sat in the shade
and looked abroad over the valley beneath me, in which the
white houses of Shechem lay clustered, with Ebal towering
beyond. A stream of bright water ran by the roadside,
whose musical voice mingled with the gurgling of the
nargilehs, the hum of quiet talk, the distant laughter of a
group of children dabbling in the brook, and the shrill chirp
of a small bird up the mountain-side. Two youths, one in
yellow, the other in blue, were lounging in the sun ; in a
shady corner a man in a striped cloak and a white turban
lay dozing; while the old custodian in his baggy blue
trousers and jacket was cooking his pot. Behind me rose
the terraced side of Gerizim with its olives; below was a
tangle of almond-trees, figs, and poplars, and those brambles
which figure in Jotham's parable. It must have been from
just such a spot as this that his parable of the trees was
spoken.
At two o'clock we were on horseback again, and,
regaining the valley, journeyed westward for about an
hour under a burning sun. Our way lay through the
fertile valley of Shechem, past fields carefully irrigated
from the abundant stream which flows down its length.
We passed two aqueducts. One of them, a Roman
structure on a long Series of arches, was still in use;
though the sides were broken and cascades poured from it
into the road beneath. These old Roman contrivances often
fill one with wonder. It seems strange that so civilised a
people should never have hit upon the fact, which was daily
before their eyes, that water returns to its level; and that for
want of this one little simple bit of knowledge they should
SHECHEM TO SAMARIA 35
have spent such enormous labour upon these wonderful but
needless structures.
Then we turned to the right, and for another hour
travelled by a still hotter road toward the north-west. The
track lay between cultivated fields and continued to rise
until, at the highest point, a great stretch of the Mediter-
ranean came into view. A little further and Samaria lay
before us on an opposing height.
The situation of the ancient city is superb. Between us
and it lay a deep valley, from which the round terraced
hill upon which the ruins stand rose to a height of four or
five hundred feet ; the elevation of Samaria above the sea
being as much as I450 feet. No other city in Palestine can
approach it for situation except Jerusalem and Safed.
Jerusalem, with its sheer gulf upon the east and south, is
certainly impressive, but it cannot compare with Samaria for
isolated grandeur; only Safed, the sacred city of Galilee,
surpasses it in that respect. Omri, king of the ten tribes,
certainly chose the site of his capital with judgment.
But the ruins which we see up yonder are not those of the
city of Omri. That old capital, where Ahab reigned and
sinned, where Jehu slaughtered the priests of Baal, and to
which Naaman came to be healed of his leprosy, was com-
pletely wiped out of existence by John Hyrcanus. The ruins
which crown the hill to-day are those of Herod the Great's
Samaria. Its modern name, Sebastiyeh, is but a slight
departure from the name Sebastè, the Greek for Augusta, by
which the tyrant indicated its dedication to Augustus. In the
lifetime of Jesus there stood in the midst of the city a marble
temple where the Caesar was worshipped as a god, and to
this day amid the broken walls and scattered stones which
cover the topmost plateau, a group of pillars stands erect, and
marks the site of that abomination of all pious Jews.
We plunged into the deep ravine which surrounds the
mountain of Samaria, passed through an ancient gateway,
and climbing the terraced height upon which the ruins
stand, soon reached our camp, which we found pitched in
the very midst of Herod's temple. Of course we were soon
surrounded by a group of villagers. One in Striped abá and
keffiyeh brought coins which his plough had turned up.
Few of them were legible, but one was plainly a coin of
Probus, one of the emperors who succeeded in restoring
and, for a time maintaining, the unity of the Empire after
that long and terrible period of anarchy during which it had
36 TENT AND TESTAMENT
been brokcn up into undefined military districts. When that
coin was struck, some thirty years before Constantine,
Samaria was still a place of some importance ; for it lived
on into Christian times and became an episcopal see. The
very mosque in which these villagers worship, which stood
hard by our camp, was once a Christian church. *
As the sun got low a great flight of storks settled in the
trees behind our camp. I tried to count them, but when I
had got as far as fifty gave it up. The Snapping of their
multitudinous beaks made a curious rattling noise, and the
branches of the trees swayed and bent beneath their weight
as though they would break. It was March 13, a week
earlier than the usual date for their arrival in Palestine,
accounted for perhaps by this being an unusually warm
spring. It interested me much to see these friendly immi-
grants, faithful to their old country in the day of her ruin
and desolation. They are several times mentioned in Scrip-
ture, and Jeremiah (viii. 7) alludes to the regularity of their
return in that pathetic passage, “Yea, the stork in the heaven
knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the swallow
and the crane observe the time of their coming; but my
people know not the ordinance of the Lord.”
CHA PT E R V II
FROM SAMARIA THROUGH DóTHAN TO JENIN
WHEN Hanna came to us next morning we found that he
was suffering from rheumatism in the legs. However, he
managed to limp along and show us something of the ruins,
Herod's hippodrome and the Street of Columns. The latter
—a colonnade which originally made the circuit of the hill
—has a hundred of the columns still standing, besides a
multitude lying prostrate where they fell. It affords some
notion of the magnificence in which Herod indulged when
he gave rein to his passion for building. Few places, in-
deed, enable one better to realise what an offence these
cities of the Gentiles who “exercised lordship over them,”
must have been to the devout Jews. Their temples,
their theatres, thcir pagan splendours were all alien and
impious and hateful.
About half way round the hill we found Mohammed
waiting for us with the horses, and turning our back upon
Samaria we took our way northward toward Dôthān. The
ride is not one which has impressed itself upon my memory
except as extremely hot and tiring. Four hours of Scorching
hillsides and stifling wadis, and we found ourselves at the
foot of Tell Dôthān, that same “mountain " of Dôthān which
we read of as “full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha.” It is not much of a “mountain,” being in
fact merely a green mound with a long back, on the top of
which are foundations of old buildings. At the foot of it
ran a broad, clear, shallow stream, and on the stream was
—horribile dictu-a mill ! Yes ; in this venerable place,
where Joseph's brethren had fed their flocks and Elisha
had been besieged by the Syrian host, a steam flour-mill
was puffing and snorting and rattling. One would have
preferred silence. At the same time the mill was primitive
enough of its kind. The engine-fire was fed with wood,
and in the glare of the furnace-room one could see the
38 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Stoker gliding to and fro in oriental petticoats—a curious
mixture of past and present.
Mohammed had spread our lunch in an orchard across
the stream, and there in the cool shadow of the fruit trees
we stretched our weary limbs while the horses were tethered
on the further bank. But we had not taken many mouthfuls
when the usual outbreak of equine spite commenced. One of
the horses, seized with jealousy of his neighbour, commenced
to bite and kick and do his best to injure the object of his
hatred. There was nothing for it but for our little groom
to fetch him across the stream and tie him to one of the
trees. Forthwith, out bounced the miller and fell upon
poor Mohammed tooth and nail, pouring upon him such a
volume of wicked Arabic that the humble little man trembled
in every limb. The torrent of abuse slackening a little, and
the violent gesticulation gradually slowing down, Mohammed
recovered the use of his limbs, took the offending quadruped
Out of the miller's orchard ; and peace was once more
restored.
Of course we saw Joseph's Pit; a circular cistern in the
field hard by the miller's orchard, and tried hard to believe
that it was the very “pit” or cistern into which the lad was
Cast.
At two o'clock we bade farewell to the irascible miller, and
rode in the fierce heat over a stony track along a stifling
valley; then turning sharply to the left came into a wide
valley full of olive trees. Under the grateful shade of these
trees we rode for about two miles, our general direction
being still northward. In one place we passed a very
picturesque group about a village well. The well itself was
surrounded by a low wall, and around it were gathered a
number of graceful girls clothed in bright colours. Some
of them were drawing water in buckets made of skin,
attached to ropes that ran in grooves which years of
friction had cut deep into the stone. Each bucket was
drawn by two girls. They had no winch, but raised the
water by a direct pull upon the rope. One girl pulls as high
as she can, and then lets go. The other catches the rope
at the moment that the first one drops it. And so they
alternate, first one pulling and then the other, until the bucket
appears.
Soon after four o'clock we arrived at Jenin, and found our
camp pitched upon a grassy slope overlooking this beautiful
town with its picturesque old mosque. The Bible name,
SAMARIA THROUGH DOTHAN TO JENíN 39
En-Gannim, meaning Fountain of Gardens, is as suitable to
the place to-day as it ever was, for there is a stream here
which, running from the hills behind the village, parts into
many brooklets and makes the whole place luxuriant. The
white houses are half buried in beautiful foliage, from the
general mass of which palms raise their stately heads. A
range of distant mountains, the mountains of Galilee, form
the background of the view; behind all rises the snowy head
of Hermon.
Although Jenin is not mentioned in the New Testament,
it is not altogether without interest in relation to Christ's
life, for the road between Nazareth and Jerusalem always
passed this way, and it must often have been His halting-
place in His journeys to and fro between Galilee and Judaea.
“It was the custom of the Galileans,” says Josephus, “when
they came to the holy city at the festivals, to take their
journeys through the country of the Samaritans, and at this
time there lay, in the road they took, a village that was
called Ginea (Jenin), which was situated in the limits of
Samaria and the Great Plain.” "
It is true that there were alternative routes on the east of
Jordan, recrossing by one of the fords in Judaea ; it was, in
fact, by one of those routes that Jesus travelled to His death.
But to take one of those eastern roads necessarily meant a
much longer journey; it is remarked elsewhere by Josephus
that “it was absolutely necessary for those that go quickly
[to Jerusalem] to pass through that country [of Samaria],
for in that road you may, in three days' time, go from
Galilee to Jerusalem.” f The principal reason for taking the
longer route would probably be to avoid those recurrent
border-fights between Galileans and Samaritans which
Josephus mentions, and one of which he describes as taking
place at this very town of Ginea. Ordinarily the people of
Galilee would travel to the feasts at Jerusalem by this road
through Jenin, but when the country was disturbed peace-
able folk would prefer the eastern route.
I wonder whether Jesus did not choose the Jordan Valley
for His last journey to Jerusalem with the express purpose
of avoiding the risk of those brawls which would have been
fatal to the purpose of His mission ? It is usually said that
He chose that route to avoid notice, but remembering how
* “Antiq.” xx. vi. 1. The situation of Ginea is also described in
“Wars,” iii. iii. 4.
f “Life,” sec. 52. Whiston's translation.
4O TENT AND TESTAMENT
populous Peraea was at that time, the other seems to me to
be a more likely motive. When we call to mind the
Galilean notion of a Messiah, that He was to head their
faction-fights and their religious wars; and when we
remember how persistent Jesus was in His warnings to His
disciples that His Messiahship was of another kind, a
suffering Messiahship, how “He charged them that they
should tell no man of Him,” we can understand that to
Come upon a party of excited Galileans contending with
Samaritans at this border-town of theirs might have meant
the fury of His own countrymen if He refused to head
them, and so a premature martyrdom and the frustration of
the whole design with which He set out for Jerusalem—the
proclamation of a spiritual Messiahship.
The “Great Plain" mentioned by Josephus in the
passage quoted above is, of course, the historic Plain of
Esdraelon, which stretches away beyond the northern
limits of the town. For we are now upon the frontier-line
of Galilee, and nestled among the distant hills which lie
beyond the Great Plain, a lovely background to the scene
which is displayed before us, there reposes, though unseen
as yet, the long-loved Nazareth.
It is a lovely picture upon which we are looking. At the
foot of the grassy slope upon which our tents are pitched a
path runs from right to left, along which men and women
dressed in brilliant hues pass to and fro. The path is
bordered on the further side by a hedge of prickly pear, and
beyond this are gardens upon gardens. Little children in
yellow, white, blue, red, are playing merry games on the
greensward near us with shouts and laughter. And now it
is six o'clock. From the minaret which rises white and tall
amid the gardens, higher than the palms, higher than the
distant line of hills, cutting with its slim line the clear blue
of the evening sky, there sounds the distant chant of the
Muezzin. In a moment the games of the children cease, all
with one consent turn their faces to the town and scamper
down the slopes to their homes in the beautiful town, and a
great quiet falls over all the scene. Then the soldiers
arrive from the Kaimmakäm, and mount guard over our
tents, and the piercing stars come out, and in due time we
turn in, and the tent-door is buttoned up by our Solemn-
faced waiter.
CHAPTE R VIII
FROM JENíN THROUGH NAIN TO NAZARETH
It was the habit of our dragoman to secure soldiers to act
as our sentries whenever he could get them. When this was
not possible he employed two villagers, generally the sheikh
of the village and some other responsible inhabitant. The
soldiers have a practice of whistling to each other at intervals
throughout the night—just a single low whistle, but rather
disturbing to light sleepers—while the fellahin often keep
themselves awake by singing their monotonous mournful
chants by the hour together. Add to these disturbances the
barking of village dogs and the howl of jackals, and it will
be understood that a Palestine traveller needs to be a
preternaturally sound sleeper if he is to rise refreshed.
However, the troubles of the night were soon forgotten
in the thought that to-day's journey would bring us to one
of the most deeply desired objects of our journey—the
mountain village of Nazareth.
Midway between Jenin and Nazareth, upon the slope of
Mount Gilboa, just where that mountain-range thrusts a
spur into the midst of the Plain of Esdraelon stands Zerin,
the Jezreel of Scripture story; and it was to this village that
our way was now directed. The great stretch of level land
through which we rode was busy with ploughs, each plough
being drawn by a yoke of Small black oxen, and closely
followed by a man or woman who dropped the seed carefully
into the furrow by hand. The ploughman paid little heed
to the great blocks of loose stone which were scattered over
the surface, for they do not care about a straight furrow as
an English ploughman does. Though it is stony, the soil of
Esdraelon is wonderfully deep and fertile, reddish in hue,
suggesting to the fancy that sea of blood which both in
ancient and modern times has been poured out on this great
battlefield of Palestine.
As we approached Zerin, there rose upon our right the
42 TENT AND TESTAMENT
desolate uplands where Saul and his three sons fought
their last battle. Saul, we read, had pitched his camp
“by the fountain that is in Jezreel.” The fountain is still
there, known now as Ain-el-Meiyiteh, or the Dead Well"
and in appearance and surroundings it certainly answers
to its name. It is a ragged hole girt by shapeless blocks
of limestone situated at the foot of a bleak and barren moor.
No human being was in sight as I stood there, save one
old woman who wept beside it over the loss of her goat-
skin bucket which had slipped into the water. A rough-
coated and dejected ass meditated among the dry scrub near
by, and a vulture scenting out some carrion wheeled slowly
round beneath the staring sun. Looking northward I could
see, at a distance of some half-dozen miles, a rise of broken
land which there invades the Great Plain. Among those
low hills there nestles a village known as Endor. For thirty
centuries it has kept its name unaltered. On the night
before the Battle of Gilboa, when darkness had fallen upon
the camp, the wretched king stole from his tent pitched
beside this well, and in breach of his own laws crept across
yonder plain to the witch-woman in that same village to ask
his fate. The rival fountain Ain Jālūd, which is more
commonly identified with the “Fountain of Jezreel,” is a
more picturesque and striking spot than this, and it is not
wonderful that it should have been selected as the scene of
so famous a tragedy, but the Dead Well at the foot of Gilboa
fits far better with the Scripture account of the battle.
The view from Zerin is beautiful. Across the Plain of
Jezreel to the north rises the hill, easily recognised by its
peculiar shape, in which Nazareth is embosomed. Westward
stretches the range of Carmel. The general aspect is one of
fertility, which makes the barrenness of the heights above us
all the more striking by contrast. One might almost fancy
that the curse which David uttered in his passionate lament
for Saul and Jonathan, “Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there
be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you,” had literally
blasted the mountain, so dry and hopeless it appears.
Yet these stony and withered slopes were once clothed
with vines, and just below the spot where we have halted
Naboth used lovingly to tend that little vineyard which has
become a proverb in every mouth. For that other tragedy,
the judgment upon Ahab and Jezebel, was enacted close to
* So Cheyne, relying upon an amended text. See “Encycl. Bibl.” art.
“Harod.”
THROUGH NAIN TO NAZARETH 43
the place where we were standing. Here it was that Ahab,
brought face to face with Elijah, cried : “Hast thou found
me, O mine enemy 2 " Here rose the tower on which the
watchman stood “ and spied the company of Jehu as he
came.” Here Joram the son of Ahab was pierced to the
heart by Jehu's arrow, and his body cast “into the plot of
ground of Naboth the Jezreelite.” And here at the foot of
the city wall was fulfilled “the word of the Lord, which He
spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying: “In the
portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.’”
As for Ain Jālūd, we passed that soon after leaving
Jezreel. It is a most beautiful spring. On our right as we
rode was a rocky cliff, at the base of which yawned a dark
cave from which the waters flowed. The stream issuing
from this cave immediately spread itself into a broad and
shallow pool as clear as crystal and forty or fifty feet in
diameter. I was admiring the beauty of the spot as our
horses plashed their way through, when Hanna turned his
head and shouted, “Gideon's Fountain l’” We had already
become so much accustomed to hear all kinds of places
associated with all kinds of patriarchs and heroes that we
paid little attention at the moment, whereby we lost the
chance of an emotion, for it is generally agreed that this
is indeed the veritable spot where the three hundred men
who “lapped the water with the tongue as a dog lappeth "
were selected to deliver Israel from the Midianites.
In order to show us Ain Jālūd, Hanna had made a slight
détour. He now led us across the plain to Nain, which is
five or six miles distant, passing on the way the village of
Sülem, dear to the memory of childhood from its being the
scene of the story of Elisha and the Shunamite woman.
Of Nain I wished to take something like careful note, so
we made our mid-day halt there. After we had lunched in
the cool shadow cast by the wall of the Franciscan chapel,
the sheikh of the little village undertook to guide me to the
“unfenced burial-place” mentioned by Edersheim as lying
to the east of the village. My desire of course was to
realise the scene described in the Gospel of Luke, and
certainly the spot to which I was conducted corresponded
in a striking manner with the details of the story.
The ancient tombs (Fig. 6) were reached by walking
eastward across a level stretch of rough herbage and then
taking a few steps up the hillside. They are barely ten
minutes' walk from the present village. The position of
44 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the tombs may be diagrammatically represented as
follows:
N º
zº***
s S S. s
Sq ??
The north-east road which comes from the lake shore
past Tell Húm and Khān Minyeh (rival sites for Caper-
naum) and through el-Mejdel (Magdala), is the one which
Jesus and His disciples would, according to the story, have
travelled. As they approached the village they met the
funeral procession of the widow's son issuing thence
towards these tombs, which lie upon the south-east road.
Thus Tristram and Edersheim are plainly right in their
locality, as against Stanley, Conder, and Farrar, who find
the tombs on the west of the village.”
From Nain we again descended into the Plain of
Esdraelon, across which we rode northward for the space
of about an hour. Most travellers, I suppose, are sur-
prised at the height and the abruptness of the hill upon
which Nazareth is situated. It may without exaggeration
be termed a mountain. One is accustomed to picture
Nazareth as a little rustic village nestling in the hollow of a
gentle upland, instead of which we found ourselves
approaching a bold and somewhat fantastic cliff from
which the Nazarenes might look abroad over half the land
of Palestine. The town itself we could not yet see, though
there is a growing village gleaming white upon the nearer
ridge, which travellers often mistake for it. Nazareth lies in
a hollow behind and below the lofty rampart which forms
the southern edge of the mountain.
As we drew still nearer and began to traverse the gentle
slope which leads to the foot of the steep ascent, I was much
struck with the gorgeous effect of the dark blue lupines
* I assume that the account of the “miracle" is based upon a real
incident. The tombs are very ancient rock-cut tombs, which I should
have supposed to belong to a period much earlier than the Christian
era ; but upon this point I find no pronouncement by any archaeologist.
Dr. Ramsay (quoted in Sanday’s “Sacred Sites,” p. IoI) holds that the
ancient city did not occupy the same site as the modern village, but
was on the top of the hill.

RIZIM
º
E ON MOUNT GI
—RESTING I’LAC
FIG. 5.
..—TOMB AT NAIN
FIG 6


THROUGH NAIN TO NAZARETH 45
in full flower. In one place was a great mass, an acre or
more in extent, the magnificence of which almost took away
one's breath, and there were many similar patches.
Then, turning to the left, we skirted the base of the
mountain until we reached the road which climbs the
western side by a series of zig-zags. It was weary work
pacing to and fro from west to east and east to west, rising
by slow degrees towards the ridge above us; but we forgot
the fatigue in the excitement of knowing that when we reached
the crest we should look down upon the goal of so many
dreams—the little town where the childhood of Jesus was
spent—one of the few sacred spots which we can with some
confidence associate with the life of the beloved Master.”
And now we crossed the lip of the great cup in which
Nazareth lies and began to drop toward the town. On our
right near the bottom of the descent we passed the thresh-
ing-floor, where travellers often encamp. It is a bare, dusty
place, hot and low, and we were glad to find that our
pioneers had succeeded in getting a better pitch for us—an
orchard situated on the South-eastern side of the cup, high
up the slope and facing the main mass of the habitations.
A better spot we could not have had for viewing the town
in its entirety, for there it lay spread before us fan-wise on
the opposite slope, built terrace above terrace in the scoop
of the mountain like the seats in a Roman theatre, and scored
through here and there by miniature wadis, down which
the water doubtless courses impetuously in the rainy season.
The first view of it, I must confess, is disappointing. It
is a Christian town, and like most of the Christian towns is
progressive, and thinks it becoming therefore to imitate the
West. Consequently there are many houses to be seen of
European form, with red tiles and sloping roofs, and this
detracts from the antique and Oriental character which one
would fain associate with this place of all others. More-
over, the town is a growing one. It contains about ten
thousand inhabitants, and houses are still building. This
adds to the newness of its appearance, especially in its
upper part ; and it is not until you get into the narrow
streets among the dark faces and Eastern costumes that you
can recover the Oriental feeling. However, we are in
Nazareth ; and here we may rest, deferring to another day
a closer acquaintance with its topography and traditions.
* A doubt is thrown even upon this site by Canon Cheyne in his
article “Nazareth,” in the “Encycl. Bibl.” On this question see -
Appendix A,
CHA PT E R IX
AN EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM OF GALILEE
AT last we were in Nazareth, and yet when morning dawned
I decided to put off for the present any nearer view of the
town than that which our camp afforded. For to-day was
Saturday, and, if Hanna was to get his Sunday's rest to-
morrow, an excursion upon which I had set my heart must
be made at once.
The excursion to which I refer was to the little village of
Bêt-Lahm, the modern representative of “Bethlehem, a
city of Zebulon,” mentioned in the Book of Joshua. My
interest in this place arose from the theory put forward by
some recent writers that this, and not Bethlehem of Judaea,
was the true birthplace of Jesus. The argument for that
view is, briefly, as follows: An obscure phrase occurs in the
Talmud which may be read “Bethlehem Noseriyyah,” i.e.,
Bethlehem near Nazareth. Suppose, then, that this was the
name by which Bethlehem of Zebulon came to be known,
and suppose that in the earliest form of the evangelical
tradition Jesus was stated to have been born at this
Bethlehem-Nazareth, we can understand that a two-fold
tradition might arise; sometimes the inheritors of the
tradition would say He was born at Bethlehem and some-
times at Nazareth. The next step would be the transfer-
ence to the better-known Bethlehem, near to Jerusalem ;
and it may thus have come about that we have the story of
the birth at Bethlehem-Judah alongside the oft-repeated
title “Jesus of Nazareth.” “
Without discussing the theory here, I may say that proba-
bility on the whole seems rather to incline to the view that
Nazareth was the birthplace of Jesus, and that the Bethlehem
of the birth-stories was imagined and adopted in fulfilment
of definite Rabbinic teaching, which is known to have
existed, that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of
* See more fully in Appendix B.
AN EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM 47
Judaea. Nevertheless the theory that Jesus was born in the
northern Bethlehem carries with it sufficient probability to
make a visit to that village of interest to a New Testament
student. Accordingly I left my fellow-traveller to wander
alone through the streets of Nazareth, and took Hanna with
me to seek out this little-known place.
Hanna declared that he had never heard of such a village
much less been there, so he had to find his way by question-
ing the peasants and others whom we passed. By good
luck we took the shortest route, the distance to ride being
about ten miles each way, although as the crow flies it would
perhaps be not much more than seven.
The ride was through a beautiful region, more like an
English country-side than any we had yet seen. First we
went down the mountain-side by the same road as we had
ascended the night before, and then for some distance
followed the highway leading to Haifa. At length, turning
into a field-path to the right, we traversed for some miles a
stretch of rich arable land. Great herds of black cattle
were being driven single file along the narrow track between
fields. Shepherd boys were followed by flocks of goats and
sheep. Men with bare legs and feet and wearing cotton
shirts open to the waist, which showed their naked bodies,
were ploughing with oxen and with camels. Now and then
we met a man carrying home his wooden plough over his
shoulder, after finishing his work. We Crossed a stream
and found ourselves surrounded by extensive woods of
what Hanna called “wild oak.” A specimen which I
brought home has been identified as Quercus coccifera—a
tree whose growth is much like that of Our English Oak, but
whose leaf is somewhat different. -
Shortly before reaching the village we came to a spring
where girls were drawing water in pitchers and women
were washing clothes. The women had lighted a fire on
the ground and were boiling the clothes in a cauldron.
They were natives of Bethlehem, they said, and had to come
to this spring for all their water; it is a good step from the
village—a quarter of a mile, or perhaps more. Their
dresses were of white cotton, made with tight sleeves and
confined at the waist by a sash, the skirt coming a little
below the knee and showing the baggy Turkish trousers
made of some darker stuff. The top of the head was
exposed, but the back of the head and neck carefully pro-
tected by a handkerchief knotted beneath the chin. -
48 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Bethlehem of Galilee is a miserable little place now—just
a group of poor hovels, one or two built of stone from the
adjacent ruins, but mostly made of mud. The view, how-
ever, which is seen from the village is extremely beautiful,
whichever way one turns. On the south-west rises the long
range of Carmel—the Place of Sacrifice standing up pro-
minent and noticeable above the general level of the ridge.
From the south-west to the south-east extend the blue hills
of Samaria ; * on the hither side of them the immense Plain
of Esdraelon, at present mostly of a bright green (almost
yellow) with the young wheat, but showing also considerable
tracts of dark red soil just turned up by the plough ; nearer
Still, a belt of slightly undulating ground sloping down from
the village to the plain and thickly clothed with oak-woods
of a fresh and tender green. Turning, next, to the east, one
faces a mountain-mass, part of the highlands of Galilee ; the
nearest being the low hills up which the road to Nazareth
winds. Nazareth itself we cannot see, nor yet the height
upon which Nazareth is built, these lower hills being near
enough to hide it.
I lunched beneath a great spreading tree, and then explored
the place under the guidance of an elderly native whom
Hanna engaged for the task. Bethlehem must at one time
have been a place of some importance, for numbers of
Square stones and prostrate columns lie around, covering a
large area. Guérin f mentions the ruins of two buildings, a
Synagogue and a church, the former lying north and South,
the latter oriented east and west. The synagogue, which
Guérin describes as “presque complètement démoli,” I have
no doubt is to be identified with the scanty remains to the
east of the village, where I found the bases of five round
pillars set in a row seven feet apart, the section of each
pillar being two feet in diameter. As to the church, I was
not aware till afterwards that its ruins had existed, and I
should think that, as in so many other places, the fellahin
have carried off most of the stones to build their houses
since Guérin was there, but it may account for some of the
cryptic pits and tunnels the origin of which I could not
guess. One of these is a square pit, lying to the west of the
synagogue, the sides being lined with large Squared stones.
At the bottom is seen the opening of a passage, which, my
Arab guide explained by gestures, led underground for an
unknown distance ; he pointed far away to the blue hills.
* See Frontispiece. + “La Palestine,” tome i. (Galilée) p. 393.
AN EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM 49
Such stories are, of course, very commonly attached to any
unexplored tunnel. Between this and the village lay another
shorter tunnel or arch, lined with trimmed stones of some
size, several which I measured were two feet long by fifteen
inches high and twelve inches deep.
As is very commonly the case in Palestine, there is a place
just outside the village where the people store their corn.
It is a bare dusty mound, on the top of which are holes
opening down into pits. In the case of Bethlehem this
also showed, if I remember rightly, traces of being a buried
1 U1111.
We returned to Nazareth by the road which had brought
us there. Had I been physically fit, my observations might
have been more adequate; but ills of the flesh, from which
I had long been suffering, rendered riding painful and
walking almost impossible.
C H A PT E R X
A SUNDAY IN NAZARETH
ASSUMING Nazareth to have been, if not the birthplace, at
least the foster-home of Jesus, the ancient synagogue must
be for us a spot of the deepest interest, for, in that case, it
was here that He received His schooling and here that He
worshipped with His parents. Moreover, there is the story
told by St. Luke of His having preached here in His early
ministry.
Once more, however, we have to lament the doubt in
which so many Bible sites are clouded. All that we can say
for certain is that the church of the United Greeks stands
upon the site (Fig. 7) of a very ancient Synagogue; and
that there is a tradition, dating back to the sixth century,
that it was in this synagogue that Jesus preached His me-
morable sermon. But this is something, sufficient, at any
rate, to make it worth our while to visit the spot. Accord-
ingly, we engaged the local guide, an Albino, to take us
there.
A service was just over when we reached the building, and
round about the entrance was a crowd of women and girls,
clean and happy-looking, with merry eyes, and smiles that
showed their white teeth. Their features were regular and
very pleasing, their faces unveiled, their expression frank
and open. Their heads were, for the most part, wrapped
in some gay kerchief, and their foreheads adorned with a
string of coins—those “pieces of silver’’, of which Jesus
spoke in His parable. Truly the Christian girls of Nazareth,
like those of Bethlehem in the south, testify by their
appearance to the healthy influence of the social freedom
which they possess in a far greater degree than their Moslem
sisters.
As to the church itself, it appears to be almost entirely
new, and there can be but the merest fragment of the
ancient synagogue left. Its position is, however, a point of
FIG. 7.-GREEK CHURCH AT NAZARETH
FIG. 8.-ST, MARY'S WELL AT NAZARETH


A SUNDAY IN NAZARETH 5 I
some interest ; for, if this was the synagogue in which Jesus
preached the sermon which aroused the fury of His fellow-
townsmen, we must look hereabout for the true Rock of
Precipitation.
The traditional cliff is the great mountain-edge to the
south of the town, overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon. But
this is an altogether preposterous idea. It is based upon
the very common notion that a great event must happen on
a great mountain, or in a great city, or be in Some other way
physically prominent. Assuming, however, the Greek
church to stand upon the site of the ancient synagogue,
then the Rock of Precipitation is doubtless the cliff behind
the Maronite convent. This rock is scarcely more than a
stone's throw from the Old Synagogue. It has a sheer drop
of about thirty feet. At the present time private gardens
extend to the foot of it, but its summit is easily accessible ;
and a few steps up the hillside enabled us to stand on the
spot whence, according to the Gospel story, the mob desired
to hurl the heretic prophet.
Our guide now remarked that he wished to go to his
church ; so he showed us, at our request, the path which we
must follow to gain the hill behind the town whence that
famous view, so finely described by Keim, could be obtained,
and left us to take our way alone. We were glad, indeed,
to be released from the constant attendance which Pales-
tine travel involves ; and in this Christian town of Nazareth,
where there was less risk of molestation than elsewhere, it
was a relief to be allowed to meditate in solitude and quiet
upon the great past, of which the scenes around us so
eloquently spoke. So we climbed in the sweltering heat to
the ridge on the north of the town, and rested in the shadow
of a half-covered shrine—one of those “sheikhs’ tombs"
which crown half the hill-tops in the land.
It is cooler here, for the least bit of Shadow always gives
a refreshing air. In the Sun it is intolerable, but here in the
shade my pocket thermometer shows only 58°, and the
gentle breath which fans us makes one realise what was
meant by “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”
We are sitting with our backs against the wall of the
“tomb" and looking westward. Straight before us is the
long ridge of Carmel, with Elijah's “Place of Sacrifice,”
rising boldly above the general level at its nearer extremity.
At the other extremity we see Haifa, a white cluster of houses
nestling beneath the hill and facing the blue sea, which is
52 TENT AND TESTAMENT
marked off from the land by a long white line stretching
from Haifa northward. It is in reality a line of low sand-
hills, though seen from this height it might be taken for a
fringe of surf. On our left hand as we are now facing we
See a long undulating range—the hills of Samaria, dim in a
heavy heat-mist.
If we rise from our lowly seat and stand with our faces to
the south, we see directly below us the hollow in which
Nazareth lies; beyond that, the Plain of Esdraelon, a vast
expanse of green with patches of dark earth ; and if we step
out of the shadow of the building, and turn to the south-
east, we are confronted by Little Hermon and Mount Gilboa,
two short ranges which divide the eastern part of the plain
into three strips of low-lying ground which run down to the
valley of the Jordan. Turn the head a little more till you
face due east, and there, beyond the Nazareth range, Tabor
thrusts up his round and shaggy head; beyond him lies the
deep depression in which the Jordan runs, and dim in the
hot distance are the lofty mountains of Gilead and Bashan,
standing up to-day like a gigantic blue wall, a noble back-
ground to the picture.
To the north of our position the view is more confined.
There is no great plain, or deep valley, only a huge moun-
tain mass, ill-defined and featureless. One noble object
alone meets the gaze in this direction, the solemn height of
Hermon, rising high above this stony and barren confusion
and crowned to-day by a cloud which rests lightly on his
snowy head. Perhaps the prospect might be wider and the
hills separate themselves into successive ranks, were it not
for this haze which hangs so heavy, for on this side,
especially, the air trembles with heat. Yet, it is cool in
the shadow of the “sheikh's tomb,” and there we sit
and rest.
We had come here to try and realise what Jesus looked
upon in His childhood, and, lo, as we sat here in perfect
quiet, a beautiful boy of ten or twelve in white tunic and
fez came strolling by. He did not see us sitting in the deep
Shadow, and as he passed along the ridge, his lithe young
figure clean cut against the sky, I remarked to my fellow-
traveller that he might do for the boy Jesus. Scarcely had
the words left my lips when the lad paused and looked
around—first at Hermon, then at the sea, and then up at
the sky, where some Swallows were darting to and fro—an
act of contemplation deliberate, impressive, bespeaking a
A SUNDAY IN NAZARETH 53
beautiful young soul. And that was the only human figure
which broke the solitude of that Sabbath morning.
The ground at our feet was gay with the spring flowers of
Palestine—the beautiful scarlet anemone, the little cyclamen
(latifolium), the small blue iris (Iris histrio), and countless
others. A small long-tailed hawk was hovering near us.
There was a hum of bees and the chirp of one small bird ;
no other sound, except once the distant bark of a dog down
yonder in Nazareth.
At about two o'clock a number of folk in holiday dress,
mostly women and children, arrived at the little shrine.
And here I must put in a word or two explanatory of the
shrine itself. These little chapels are extremely numerous.
Almost every conspicuous hill is crowned with one, and
they are to be seen in almost every village. Conder
identifies them with the “high places” of Scripture, and, on
the ground that mukām or “station,” one of the names by
which they are commonly known, is a Hebrew word, he sug-
gests that the cult they represent is of Canaanite origin." To
argue thus, however, is to overlook the fact that the Saint-
worship to which they pertain is found over the whole
Oriental world. The “dome,” “shrine,” or “station,” for
it is known by all these names, is dedicated to some Saint ;
it may be his tomb, or it may merely mark the spot where
Some incident in his life occurred ; but his presence always
dwells in it, and his influence both for good and evil goes
out from it. When there is sickness in a village, offerings
are brought to the mukām, and on occasions of rejoicing
the peasants will dance or feast before it.
Such a place is held in the greatest possible respect, and
it is said that notwithstanding the thieving propensities of the
Palestine peasant, ploughs or other farm implements are often
left in the mukām with the certainty that they will not be
touched. In this little shrine above Nazareth I noticed
some clothes lying. These, however, were not left for
safety; but were, as Hanna afterwards informed me, put
there as offerings to the saint by people who had been
cured of their complaints. Such a use of clothing is very
widely spread, and the custom has many ramifications. It
is connected, for instance, with the practice of hanging
shreds and rags upon sacred trees, which we saw in Palestine,
as I shall hereafter have occasion to mention, and which is
not unknown in the British Isles, for I have seen it both in
* “Tent-Work in Palestine,” 6th edition, pp. 3O4–6.
54 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Wales and Ireland. The root-idea of the custom seems to
be the identification, or at any rate the close connection, of
the clothes with the wearer, so that in offering his clothes
it is as if a man offered a part of himself.
It was to such a sheikh's (or saint's) shrine that these
good folk of Nazareth had come on this Sabbath afternoon.
They had come there to hold festival, though whether it
had any religious significance I cannot say. They all seemed
very merry, and set to work to gather fuel for a fire, just as
we should at an English picnic. Some went inside the
mukām, others climbed on the roof to look at the view.
The children laughed and played, and I noticed one little
girl of twelve or thirteen smashing a scorpion which she
had found beneath a large stone.
Leaving my friend on the hill to proceed with his medita-
tion in solitude, I now dropped down the steep side, first
through a maze of broken terraces and half-built houses,
and then through a region of older streets and bazaars, and
in due time reached St. Mary's Well, the sole spring by
which Nazareth is supplied by living water (Fig. 8). I
found it surrounded by a crowd of women and girls filling
their earthen pitchers at the arched fountain. Some, I am
sorry to say, used large square paraffin-tins, a horrible pro-
duct of Western civilisation, which, like so much else that
Western civilisation produces, are more useful than beauti-
ful. I once asked some of the folk why they used these
instead of the graceful earthen pitcher which they had
inherited from antiquity, and they very simply and unan-
swerably replied, “Because they do not break l’’
This fountain of Nazareth has not the same form that
the well of Nazareth had in Jesus' day, neither is it at pre-
cisely the same spot. But this is the same spring, and the
old well was probably not many yards away. It is, as I
have said, the only spring in the place, and the mother of
Jesus must have come here daily to draw water for the
household.
At the present day the girls of Nazareth have a coquettish
way of balancing the full pitcher all awry, just as in England
a smart youth will sometimes wear his hat on the side of
his head. The Christian girls are particularly good-looking,
and I gathered from Hanna that they have a reputation for
innocent “chic,” of which this little trick with the pitcher
is a symptom. A Turkish soldier mounted on a fine and
spirited horse was lingering there, chaffing the women and
A SUNDAY IN NAZARETH 55
laughing gaily. Poor fellow ! the horse suddenly became
restive, a struggle ensued between horse and rider which
ended in the gay soldier being dashed up against a wall and
carried home in a battered condition.
Returning to the camp I was met by Hanna with the
news that our mules were all stolen. One of the muleteers
had been sent with them to a neighbouring village to get
them some food, but had returned with a bleeding nose and
no beasts. Whether the mules had strayed into the crops,
or how the affray had arisen I could not learn, but Hanna
had already sent to the deputy-governor and obtained
some soldiers to go in pursuit ; and in the evening the
soldiers came riding into our camp with Swords drawn, all
looking very important and bringing the rescued mules in
their midst. I much fear that no very diligent inquiry was
made into the rights of the case. Certainly none of our
party were called either as prosecutors or witnesses. Several
inhabitants of the guilty village, we afterwards learnt, were
clapped into gaol, and Hanna seemed altogether unable to
understand why we should deem anything in the shape of
a trial to have been necessary.
CHAPTER xI
NAZARETH TO TIBERIAS
FROM Nazareth it had been our intention to go westward to
Haifa, explore Carmel, and see something of the “coasts
of Tyre and Sidon’’; but Hanna declared that if we at-
tempted this large circuit we could not be back in Jeru-
Salem by Easter, unless we omitted some other essential
part of our projected journey. It is the misfortune of a
traveller new to the country that he has scarcely any check
upon his dragoman's statements. Distances he can, to
Some extent, estimate ; but the character of the country, the
temper of the inhabitants, the difficulty of obtaining suit-
able camping-grounds or wholesome water, all are un-
known to him ; and unless he can speak the language of
the country and make independent inquiries, or is a man
of strong physique, prepared for hardship and danger, he
is practically in his dragoman's hands. This the dragoman
very well knows, and his constant endeavour is to keep
the party in the beaten tracks, along the roads with which
he is acquainted, and where he will meet old cronies, and
put a good thing in their way in the shape of fees for camp-
ing and bakhshish for Occasional service.
So it proved in the present instance. We were obliged
in all prudence to follow the strong representations of the
wily Hanna, with the result that in the northward journey
we followed pretty much the usual tourist route. It was
not until we turned southward that we departed to any
great extent from the course usually laid down.
We left Nazareth on Monday, March 18, and by eight
o'clock were on the way to Tiberias. It was a cool grey
morning, and as we mounted the hill to the east of Nazareth,
long white clouds lay across the mountain ranges to the
north ; Hermon alone reared his noble head high above
the mists.
Over the ridge and down the steep and stony path bear-
NAZARETH TO TIBERIAS 57
ing north-eastward we rode, until we reached the low un-
dulations which fringe the Plain of Esdraelon. On the
spur of a hill to our left, covered with olive-trees, stood el-
Meshed, where Jerome says that in his day the tomb of the
prophet Jonah was shown. A rise in the road brought us
in view of Bashan beyond Jordan, and presently Karn
Hattin thrust his strange shape upon our notice, lying
almost straight before us.
The tradition that this was the Mount of Beatitudes arose
perhaps from its noticeable form and conspicuous position,
but it is an idea that dates only from the time of the Cru-
sades. Tradition, as I have already remarked, usually de-
mands that a notable incident shall have a dramatically and
romantically fit stage for its occurrence ; but it is not so
that the world is in general arranged. For my own part,
I afterwards came to believe that the true Mount of Beati-
tudes was the green hill behind Gennesaret—a serene and
natural resort for the Master and His disciples.*
Soon afterwards the nearer heights open out and show
the village of Kefr Kenna lying in a fold of the hills on a
slight rise, a place where there is no want of water, for it is
supplied by a beautiful and abundant stream. Kefr Kenna
is known to every tourist as the traditional Cana of Galilee,
but the site is extremely doubtful.
As to the significance of Cana in the Gospel story, whether
it is historical or merely symbolical, it is impossible to say.
It is as mysterious as the disciple Nathanael, who was said
to have been born there. The fourth Gospel—in which
almost every name and numeral, as well as every event,
seems to have a cryptic meaning—can never be freely used
for biographical purposes. All we can say is that the stories
of the water made wine, and the healing of the nobleman's
son, were probably founded on some biographical facts
handed down by tradition ; but as we read them now they
are poetry, and their spiritual intent is all that remains
to us.
That there actually was such a place as Cana does not,
however, admit of doubt. There was, and there is, more
than one such place. In fact, we have here one of the
* On Karn Hattin, however, one notable incident did, in fact, occur
—the last and decisive battle of the Crusades, which was fought on
July 4, 1187. One main cause of this great defeat was thirst; and, as
one stands on the arid plain below the Horns, one can realise how
terrible an enemy that must have been.
58 TENT AND TESTAMENT
many examples of the multiplication of identical names
which is so characteristic of Palestine, and which has so
often occasioned historical confusion. There is a Cana far
away in the Sidon region, another Cana eight miles north
of Nazareth, a third a mile and a half north-east of Nazareth,
and there is this village of Kefr Kenna, three miles and a
half from Nazareth by the same road. The first is out of
the question, and the last seems to be excluded by the fact
that Cana in Greek is spelt with a “K,” while the root of
Kenna demands a “x.” The remaining two are both
philologically possible, and from either of them the traveller
would go “down” to Capernaum. There is, perhaps,
rather more probability attaching to 'Ain Kāna, which is
on the road from Nazareth to Capernaum, than to Khurbet
Kâna, eight miles to the north and away from the line of
travel; and this site, which was first suggested by Colonel
Conder, has been favoured by Guthe and by Sanday.”
The beautiful brook of Kefr Kenna was reached just be-
fore entering the village. Close behind it lay a venerable
Sarcophagus, used as a drinking-trough. Women were
fetching water in their graceful jars, one woman was rinsing
clothes, and a little girl was scraping a water-skin with a
knife and cleaning it in the stream. We did not halt to see
the veritable water-pots in which the water was changed
into wine, nor the house of Bartholomew the Apostle ; but
passing the school, from which issued the hum of children
at their lessons, and the Greek and Latin churches which
frowned at each other across the road, we issued into the
open fields again.
From Kefr Kenna we dropped into a beautiful little plain
surrounded by low hills. At times it seemed almost as
though we were in England, for the lower slopes of the hills
were clothed with yellow broom, and the rough scrub
which covered their stony sides and crowns reminded one of
Dartmoor. - -
We passed the usual groups and parties on the road, Some
* Conder, P.E.F. Mem., i. p. 288, and “Tent-Work,” 6th edition,
p. 81; Sanday, “Sacred Sites,” p. 84, fin. As between Kefr Kenna and
Kanat el-Gelil (Khurbet Kāna), ecclesiastical authority is on the whole
in favour of the latter; so also is the evidence derived from Josephus
(“Life,” $16). He lived at Cana at the time of John of Gischala's
revolt, and since he also describes his home as situated in the plain of
Asochis, it may be inferred that the Cana, “a village of Galilee,” which
he knew (and he was living when the Gospels were written), was
Khurbet Kána.
NAZARETH TO TIBERIAS 59
riding, Some walking. Here were women cutting dandelion
plants, which they cook and use as a vegetable ; anon came
a string of eight mules, driven by three men; presently
passed an imposing procession of seven laden camels led by
three men riding on donkeys, with the merchant at the head
of the party busy with tablet and pencil as he rode ; and
last, but not least, came the Tiberias omnibus, for we were
now on one of the few roads on which a vehicle can run
This remarkable machine is a kind of covered char-à-banc,
or “flying bedstead,” which runs between Haifa and Tibe-
rias, and on this particular day was crowded with passengers,
Some in Oriental, others in semi-European costumes. So
bizarre was its appearance that it scarcely seemed to spoil
the romance of the journey, though it frightened both our
horses, which left the road and bolted into the fields.
Shortly before noon we turned aside into an olive garden,
and lay there during the heat of the day. Near by was a
picturesque group of shepherds, in striped cloaks and cool
head-drapery, stretching their limbs beneath the spreading
boughs of an ancient tree. In Palestine noon rather than
night is the silent time. The wild beasts are in their lairs,
the men hide themselves from the heat, the wells are almost
deserted by the women, even the chirping of the little crested
larks, who hop from stone to stone, almost the only small
bird seen in these mountains, is silenced for a time, and the
monarch of the skies looks abroad over a hushed and
powerless world.
When we took the road again, a slight ascent lay before
us. As we climbed it Tabor began to thrust up his shaggy
head. He rose above the low hills a little to our right. An
uncouth, ill-placed mountain he always seemed to me, from
any and every point of view, never harmonising with the
Scene, but standing apart insolently individual and self-
contained in his rounded and too symmetrical isolation. I
suppose it was this symmetry and isolation which led the
early Christians to select this as the Mount of Transfigura-
tion, a strange selection, seeing that in the time of Jesus it was
crowned by a fortress, and probably by many dwellings.
Soon afterwards, passing over a slight ridge, we found
ourselves at the apex of an immense fan-shaped scoop, which
sloped downwards broadening out as it descended, and
broke off abruptly at the edge of the steep declivity—the
cliff one might almost say—which overlooks the Jordan
Valley and the Sea of Galilee. Our first glimpse of the lake
6o TENT AND TESTAMENT
we obtained about an hour and a half after commencing the
descent of this conchoidal hollow, just a narrow blue streak,
which opened out as we proceeded, till at length there lay, far,
far below us, at the bottom of a weird gulf, Small by reason
of the enormous depth at which it lay, seeming, indeed, to
be of some sub-terrestrial world, that lovely expanse of azure
water, which was the goal of so many dreams.
We dismounted and gazed long upon that buried beauty,
as one might peer into still water and fancy some fairyland
in the calm crystal depths. That underworld into which we
were looking is 680 feet below sea-level—a widening out of
the wonderful cleft down the length of which the Jordan
flows. The mountains recede and leave this oval setting for
yonder jewel. -
The nearer half of the sea was ruffled by a breeze, the
further part, under the shelter of the red cliffs of Bashan,
motionless, transparent, ethereal—a shimmer of blue which
might be either air or water—a dream ready to vanish at a
word. Immediately beneath us, dwarfed into a pigmy town
by the distance, lay the glittering houses of Tiberias, its
dazzling whiteness lit by the western Sun, standing in lovely
contrast to the blue of the lake and the rich brown of the
crusaders' walls and towers which encircled it.
It took us an hour or more to descend the steep zig-zag
which was cut in the side of the cliff. When at length we
reached the Lake-side almost the first thing we saw was a
group of fishermen squatting on the beach “mending their
nets.” It seemed a reminder that here at least we were in
Jesus’ country; a feeling which never left us so long as we
lingered about these lovely waters. The Mount of Olives
had seemed so disfigured by modern dwellings, Jacob's Well
so doubtful in its Messianic legend, Nazareth itself occiden-
talised and spoiled, but here is both certainty and beauty.
Jesus paced these slopes and sailed these waters, and filled
His eyes and His soul with the azure of the lake and the rosy
splendour of yonder cliffs. He took His parable from those
lilies of the field which to this day clothe the shores with
their splendour.” Here was veritably lived that Galilean
idyll which has become the Gospel of half mankind.
And now it is evening. We are encamped on a grassy
* The scarlet anemone (Anemone coronaris), which has often, and
reasonably, been identified with the lilies which surpassed in splendour
the glory of Solomon, is abundant here; also the yellow chrysanthemum
(Chrysanthemum coronarium) and many other of the gayest flowers
FIG. 9.--THE OLD
Io.--THE SHEI KH OF GERGESA
MOSQUF, TIBERIAS


NAZARETH TO TIBERIAS 61
bank close to the shore, and about a mile to the south of
the town. The sun has gone behind the hill, a breeze has
sprung up ; there is a white surf along the beach ; the
sound of its wash comes soothingly through the twilight.
A level bank of cloud crosses the north end of the lake, so
mingling with the mountains that it is hard to say which are
mountains and which are clouds. The wind rises; the
colour of the lake has changed from blue to a slaty green ;
its surface is flecked with tiny wavelets, and long dark lines
stretch obliquely across the water, marking where the swell
rolls beneath the pressure of the wind. A gull is skimming
the waves, dipping his wings and feet as he flies. And now
the dusk rapidly deepens, fire-flies glance among the mimosa
shrubs, and away yonder on the eastern shore the lights of
the Bedawin camps glimmer against the dark hills as night
descends.
CHA PT E R XII
ACROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE TO KERSA, THE
“COUNTRY OF THE GERASENES.”
IN the night the jackals came down from the mountains,
and the dogs of Tiberias Sallied forth and fought them. A
tremendous affair it must have been, judging by the noise,
which made the hours of darkness horrible, and which con-
tinued through the greater part of the night. “What peace
is there between the hyena and the dog f" exclaims the Book
of Ecclesiasticus ; and the same might be said of the jackal,
for the dogs seem to consider them their natural enemies. In
the morning we learned that the garrison of Tiberias had been
victorious and one of the jackals had been torn to pieces.
When we arose at half-past five, the lake was of glassy
smoothness, the mountains on the further side of deep
purple, except a narrow undulating ribbon of purest blue
along the sky-line. Above this a band of orange light told
that the sun was up, though he had not yet risen above the
hills. But presently the rim of his burning orb appeared,
and instantly a golden shaft flashed across the mirror,
broadening in a few seconds to a pathway of glory as
though the sacred feet had once again touched the waters
of Galilee.
To-day we had planned to visit Kersa, the ancient Gergasa
or Gerasa, where the demoniac dwelt among the tombs, and
the swine ran down a steep place into the Sea. So we
breakfasted at six, and by half-past were rowing straight
across the lake, for Kersa lies almost Opposite to Tiberias.
Our boat was rather a heavy affair, manned by five strong
Arabs, hearty, jolly fellows, who chattered and joked and
laughed, showing rows of glistening teeth. We had started
early because we intended after seeing Kersa to explore the
north end of the lake and return along the western shore, a
round of some four and twenty miles in all, which with
inland excursions would take up the greater part of the day.
ACROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE TO KERSA 63
Hanna said, moreover, that the boatmen liked to cross the
lake early in the day if they had to cross at all, and were
not permitted, as they preferred to do, to hug the shore.
The sudden storms, said Hanna, which are here so prevalent,
are more frequent in the afternoon and evening than the
morning, the wind coming in squalls from the west. This
latter is contrary to what I have usually heard, which is that
the storms descend from the mountains on the eastern shore.
The lake at this part is something over six miles across,
which the Arabs row in about two hours. Half-way across,
the view towards the head of the lake is very striking. A
little to the left of the central point of the northern shore,
one sees a deep cleft in the hills, filled now with dark blue
shadow. That is where Jordan enters. Behind this are
ranges of hills; and beyond all, almost central, and domin-
ating the whole scene, rises the white crest of Hermon.
It is a picture which must have entered very deeply into a
soul such as that of Jesus in His frequent crossings and
recrossings of the Galilean Sea.
Turning now to the direction in which we are rowing,
that is, due east, we observe that the dip in the hills which
we had seen from Tiberias has opened itself out into a
distinct cleft or wādi, and, as we proceed, this further reveals
itself as a deep and broad valley running up from the lake.
It is in the mouth of this valley that the ruins of Kersa are
situated ; and as we are now drawing towards the shore, we
must devote a few lines to the question of the identification
of Kersa with the ancient Gergasa, which identification is
the main reason for our paying it a visit.
The one story connected with this place—that of the
demoniac and the Swine—is narrated by all the synoptics.
In Matthew's story different manuscripts give the scene
of the occurrence as the country of the Gadarenes—
the Gergesenes, the Gerasenes, and the Gazarenes—“Gada-
renes” having the weight of evidence in its favour as the
word which the Evangelist himself wrote. In Mark and
Luke the scene is given as the country of the Gerasenes,
Gergesenes, and Gadarenes—“Gerasenes” having here the
weight of manuscript evidence in its favour. The difference
in readings is very remarkable, one and the same manuscript
giving sometimes three different readings. The Codex
Sinaiticus, for instance, reads Gazarenes in Matthew, Gera-
senes in Mark, and Gergesenes in Luke.
The case is nevertheless not entirely hopeless. The first
64 TENT AND TESTAMENT
thing that occurs to us is that the only Gerasa one knows is
thirty-five miles from the Sea of Galilee, while Gadara is at
least six miles from it; and we might be inclined to infer
forthwith, as many eminent authorities have done, that
Gerasa and Gadara are both to be rejected, and that Gergesa
was the true name of the place. A writer in the Encyclopædia
Biblica reminds us, however, that this would be to argue
too hastily, and that we must take into account the well-
known tendency of the scribes when writing a word be-
ginning with “gad” or “ger” to repeat the initial “g” at the
beginning of the second syllable. Allowing for this he con-
cludes that Gerasa was the true name of the place, Gergesa
the name as corrupted by the scribes, and that the modern
representative of it is Kersa, the spot towards which the
prow of our boat is now directed. The Gerasa represented
by the modern Jerash is of course altogether out of the
question, but there is no reason why a second Gerasa
represented by the modern Kersa might not have existed.*
It may seem strange to some readers that any one should
trouble to identify the scene of so legendary an occurrence.
They will recall the famous passage of arms between Mr.
Gladstone and Professor Huxley, and having long since
concluded that science allows no reality to this miracle of
the bedevilled swine any more than to any other story of
witches or magicians, they may be inclined to say, Why
trouble about the supposed scene of a baseless legend ?
Let them, however, glance at Rushbrooke's “Synopticon,”
or take the trouble to compare for themselves the story as
given in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, and note the
verbal correspondences, and they will realise that here we
have a very early tradition, earlier than any of the written
Gospels, strongly suggesting some real incident in the life
of Jesus, however distorted it may have become in the pro-
cess of passing from mouth to mouth amid a wonder-loving
eople.
p Dr. Edwin Abbott, in “The Kernel and the Husk,”f
has given a possible explanation of the “swine" part of the
story ; but, whatever be the true explanation, I cannot
doubt that the shore upon which we are about to land was
trodden by the feet of Jesus, and that here He performed
one of the many healing works which He wrought upon those
mental sufferers who abounded then, as now, in this sad
* See on the whole question Sanday’s “Sacred Sites,” pp. 25 ff.
t Op. cit., p. 204.
ACROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE TO KERSA 65
country, and who then, as now, were believed to be possessed
by demons. It is this which gives such interest to the ruins
of Kersa and their surroundings, and made me eager to
compare the locality with the details of the Gospel story.
We landed upon a flat shore covered with rank grass and
flowers, among them species of campanula, chamomile, and
pheasant's-eye (Adonis), the blue pimpernel, and quantities
of an enormous umbel growing to a height of six or seven
feet. At a little distance, perhaps a quarter of a mile, from
the lake we found the ruins. They consist of two long lines
of wall at right-angles, apparently forming part of an en-
closing rampart, together with fragments of walls covering
a large area. This agrees fairly well with Thomson's state-
ment,” that it was a small place with considerable suburbs,
though I did not verify his assertion that “the walls can be
traced all round.”
The small plain upon which the ruins lie is bounded on
the south by a spur of the mountains which runs steeply
down to the water—“the only portion of that coast,” says
Professor G. A. Smith, “on which the steep hills come down
to the shore.” I afterwards verified this statement of Pro-
fessor Smith's, for, although there are several other places—
as, for instance, at Kalat el-Hosn, a little south of Kersa,
where the mountains are not too precipitous to fit the story
—this is the only place where they descend within a few
feet of the water; everywhere else there is a long stretch
of level ground between the mountains and the lake. In
short, the objection which lies against Gadara as the place
which the Evangelist had in mind—that the swine, after they
had reached the foot of the mountain, would have had to
ford the Jabbok and then gallop for five or six miles over a
level plain before they could succeed in getting themselves
drowned—applies in a less degree to every other place along
the lake-shore except the mountain at Kersa. At every other
place the level strand would be too broad for the impetus
of their descent to carry them into the waters of the lake,
but here such a descent must inevitably end in such a
disaster. The inference is that, whatever of truth or fiction
there may be in the story itself, the coast immediately south
of Kersa is that which was intended by those who handed
the story down.
From the slope of this southern hill there jutted out what
appeared to be a mass of masonry. Four miles up the Wädi
* “The Land and the Book,” p. 375.
E.
66 TENT AND TESTAMENT
are the remains of Kusr Bardawil, or the Castle of Baldwin ;
and this tower, overlooking the sea, may have been some
to work or watch-tower belonging to Crusading times.
Whatever it had been in olden time, it was evidently used as
a look-out place now, for perched upon it we noticed the
figure of a man who was intently watching us. Presently he
lay down, and all the time that I was photographing and
gathering flowers I was conscious of him eyeing my pro-
ceedings. At length, when we began to retreat towards the
shore, he left his ruined tower, and with a slow and stately
step descended the slope of the mountain. At the same time,
an elderly Bedawi appeared from another direction. The
watchman proved to be the sheikh of a tribe of Bedawin
whose tents we had noticed not very far away, and who, as
Hanna afterwards informed us, is very rich, owning large
flocks and herds. He addressed us courteously, and our
dragoman and boatmen made due Submission, each in turn
kissing his hand ; of us, as Europeans, this was not ex-
pected. Notwithstanding his wealth, the sheikh has the
reputation of being a humble-minded man, which on the
present occasion was shown by his attempting to withdraw
his hand each time that it was kissed, this being the recog-
nised mode of expressing humility and politeness.”
I inquired his name, and was informed that it was Sheikh
Ahmed el-Azaizeh, chief of the Azaizeh tribe of Bedawin.
I further asked the name of the ruin upon which he was stand-
ing when we first saw him, and he said that it was called
Gilyat (“Kaliat”) Ghersa. It now occurred to me that he
might be able to inform me on one point which I had been
turning over in my mind ever since we landed. According
to the demoniac story there ought to be tombs in this place,
yet I had found none of the rock-cut tombs which are so
often seen near ancient ruins in Palestine. Only two dark
spots high up the hillside looked as though they might be
caverns of the kind. Pointing to them, I asked Sheikh
Ahmed whether they were tombs. The left-hand one he
said was a cave, the right-hand One was not an opening at
all, though from this distance it looked like one. In reply
to my question whether he knew of any other caves or rock-
cut tombs in this neighbourhood, he said, to my surprise,
that this one which I had pointed out was the only cave of
any sort in the surrounding district. Thomson's account, in
“The Land and the Book,” does not very well agree with
* Cf. Burton, “Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah,” vol. i. p. 287.
ACROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE TO KERSA 67
this. His statement is, “It [Kersa) is within a few rods of
the shore, and an immense mountain rises directly above it,
in which are ancient tombs, out of some of which the two
men possessed of the devils may have issued to meet Jesus.” “
The phrase “some of which " would imply that Thomson
found several.
We were much charmed with the dignity and kindliness
of our Bedawi sheikh. He was altogether just such an
Arab chief as one reads of in romances. He permitted me
to take his portrait, and when we essayed to bid him farewell
pressed us to take coffee with his tribe. This, much to our
regret, we were forced to decline, as we had a long circuit to
make before evening. We launched our boat, and turning
the prow northwards, commenced our coasting trip round
the northern half of the lake.
* Op. cit., p. 376.
CHA PT E R XIII
A COASTING TRIP IN SEARCH OF BETHSAIDA
FROM Kersa we commenced to row northward, keeping
near to the shore, and noticing all the way how broad a
strip of flat land intervened between the mountains and the
sea, a feature which is not observable when this coast is
viewed from the western shore. After rowing for about
four or five miles we found ourselves at the north-east
corner of the lake, where the mountains recede to a con-
siderable distance and the shore-strip broadens into a wide
plain. At one part this plain broke off at the water's edge
with a sheer bank of some height, along which was
stretched a large Bedawin camp, and near to it a line of
low buildings, which the boatmen told us were used by the
Bedawin for storehouses. In the midst of the village rose a
single palm.
The broad plain which extended between us and the
mountains was the famous Plain of el-Batiha, where
Josephus fought with Sylla and was hurt by the stumbling
of his horse, and the Bedawin settlement is now known as
Mesadiyeh, a name which has the same root and is, indeed,
almost the same word as Bethsaida. It was to understand
more clearly the situation of this place that we had included
it in our excursion.
Besides the significance of the recognised geographical
name of Mesadiyeh, the fact is on record * that when Dr.
Thomson was here in 1855 he heard the identical name
“Bethsaida’ applied to the village by the Bedawin of the
district. May not this, then, we would ask, be the site of
the old fishing village of Bethsaida from which Andrew and
Peter came 2 True it is rather far (some two miles) from
et-Tell, which is usually identified with Bethsaida Julias,
the Greek Bethsaida ; but it is more than probable that the
Bethsaida which Philip built upon the inland mound was
* “The Land and the Book,” p. 360.
A TRIP IN SEARCH OF BETHSAIDA 69
called after some older coast-village where Jewish fishermen
lived ; and if so, Mesadiyeh may well be the village after
which it was called—the Jewish Bethsaida which Jesus
frequented.
But this Mesadiyeh, it may be objected, with its high
bank falling sheer to the water, was surely not a very con-
venient landing-place for fishing-boats 2 True, but I would
call attention to the fact that just beyond the Bedawi settle-
ment, the lake opens into a broad estuary or basin into
which three considerable streams empty themselves. This
basin, with its shelving beach of sand and shells, one may
imagine to have served as a harbour for the boats, while the
village itself was built along the bank.”
Some have preferred to find the original Bethsaida at
el-Araj on the further or western shore of the estuary in
question, and there is something to be said for this view ;
there are considerable ruins there, it is more accessible from
et-Tell, and it is said that a Roman road connected the two
places.
Re-embarking we rowed across the opening, which is
perhaps a quarter of a mile in width, to el-Araj, or “Laraj,”
as the name is abbreviated by the natives of the place just
mentioned. Here there are broken stone walls of some
extent, with palm-trees rising above them, and some roughly
built houses constructed of ancient materials. From this
place I decided to make my way inland to et–Tell, the site
of Bethsaida Julias. At first our crew had all declared that
this would be impossible, as the tell stood in the middle of
a swamp. But they afterwards admitted that as the season
was so extraordinarily dry, one might perhaps reach the tell ;
so two “brave men,” as Hanna styled them, undertook to
be my guides, while the rest of our party promised to take
the boat round to the mouth of the Jordan and await us at
a point in that river opposite to the tell which we were about
to visit.
The walk occupied about half an hour. We met with no
difficulty other than that of the intense heat, which was
indeed almost intolerable. One or two broad ditches we
had to leap, and there were marshy spots to pass, and I
called to mind that this was the very place where Josephus
met with his accident, referred to above : “The horse upon
which I rode, and upon whose back I fought, fell into a
quagmire, and threw me to the ground ; and I was bruised
* See sketch in Appendix C., p. 274.
7o TENT AND TESTAMENT
on my wrist, and carried into a village named Kepharnömön
(Capernaum).”” In a wet season the whole plain almost as
far as et-Tell must be practically a quagmire. The drier
part, where the marsh rises toward the mound, is adorned
with patches of dark blue lupine (Lupinus pilosus) and many
Other gorgeous flowers.
We passed several herds of Indian buffaloes with horns
of immense length, wallowing in the mire like swine. These
are not, as has been stated, the “bulls of Bashan,” but are
a comparatively modern introduction, and are of the same
breed as we had already seen both in Italy and Egypt.
The buffaloes were tended by rough-looking, black-faced
Bedawin, who would every now and then start up in un-
expected places from the cover of some ditch or shrub. They
would gaze at us with immovable faces, uttering no greeting
and showing no sign of surprise at our unwonted intrusion.
The tell, as we approached it, was seen to rise somewhat
abruptly from the plain, and was of a height quite sufficient
to dominate the whole of the Delta in the midst of which it
stands. It occurred to me as I reviewed it that the whole
of this marsh was formed by the deposit brought down by
the Jordan and by the streams which flow down the Wady
Suffāh, and that in 1900 years an area quite equal to this
might have been laid down. Is it possible, then, that
et-Tell stood in Christ's time upon the coast-line 2 This
idea seems to be negatived, however, by the presence of so
much ancient stonework and roadwork at el-Araj and else-
where on the existing shore, and by the fact that in the time
of Josephus that district was apparently as marshy as it is
now. Dr. Torrance, of Tiberias, to whom I afterwards
mentioned the doubt, and who knows the lake shores as
thoroughly as any man living, gave it as his opinion that in
the first century of our era the coast-line was practically the
same as it is now.t
At the foot of the mound was a Mohammedan burial-place,
the tombs very roughly built of ragged stones, with an
upright one at each end. About a quarter of the way up the
tell were the remains of an ancient oil-mill, with a circular
nether stone more than six feet in diameter. The tell itself
is covered with rough buildings, mostly made from old
squared stones, the material doubtless of the ancient town.
These seemed to be storehouses of the Bedawin similar to
those of Mesadiyeh.
* “Life,” $72. + See, however, Sanday, “Sacred Sites,” p. 41.
A TRIP IN SEARCH OF BETHSAIDA 71
The fierce heat of the sun could now no longer be borne,
nor, as none of us were armed, did it seem very prudent to
pry too much among the Arab property, So I did not attempt
a complete exploration of the tell. I looked for the Roman
road which is said to have joined the place with el-Araj, but
found no trace of it; though a search under more favourable
conditions might very probably have revealed it. Turning
westward we left the tell and found our way to the nearest
point on the Jordan bank.
Following down the river we presently discovered our
party, who had moored the boat in the shade of some
bushes, where the clear waters played music against her
sides. The little bays and holes beneath the bank were full
of fish and little tortoises. It was our first near view of the
Jordan, and it was not without emotion that I found myself
floating on the bosom of that venerable stream.
Our Arabs rowed us home along the western shore past
Tell Húm, 'Ain Täbigha and Khān Minyeh. The two latter
have both been identified by different writers with the
supposed Western Bethsaida, a town which, if the Gospels
are rightly read, does not, I think, need to be looked for
either here or anywhere else. My thoughts, therefore, in
this part of our voyage ran rather upon the probable site of
Capernaum than on that of Bethsaida ; for Christ's lake-side
home lay certainly at some point upon this four or five
miles of coast.
Tell Húm has been known to most of us from childhood’s
days as the place where the ruins of Capernaum are to be
seen. Pictures in magazines and books of travel have
familiarised us with the scattered remains of its buildings;
and the story of the discovery of the Marble Synagogue, the
very one as we fondly believed which the Centurion of the
Gospels built for the Jewish people whom he loved, was one
of the religious romances of our youth. At this first super-
ficial view of the site, as we passed it in the boat, what
struck one concerning it was, first, its distance from the
Plain of Gennesaret, and secondly, its low-lying position.
The description which Josephus gives of the “fertile
fountain " of Capernaum which waters the Plain of Genne-
saret f leads one to infer that Capernaum is situated in or
just above that plain, which Tell Húm certainly is not.
This objection, it is true, has been met by supposing that
Capernaum's stream was carried to the plain by an aqueduct,
* See Appendix C. + “Wars,” iii. x. 8.
72 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the possible remains of which we shall by-and-by examine.
But what about a second objection ? Can yonder be the
Capernaum which was “exalted unto heaven f" And
where, moreover, is “the mountain’’ into which Jesus
called His disciples when He chose the twelve * Where is
that peaceful height to which He would ascend for prayer ?
Surely it must have been nearer to His home than any of
the hills which form a distant background to Tell Húm I
And now contrast this with el-Minyeh, which we pass
about an hour later. There is the green hill immediately
behind the ruins. On that lofty rock which overhangs,
there are the remains of a Roman castle. The town itself
may well have climbed the height which backs the narrow
plain. For, this is the northern point of Gennesaret, where
its crescent-shaped expanse tapers off to a point as the
mountains crowd toward the shore. Behind these nearer
mountains rises the lofty and imposing peak of Safed—a
three hours' climb from here. That may well have been the
“city set on a hill” alluded to by Jesus in His teaching.
This little bay under the shadow of the rock would form a
harbour for the fishing-boats, a feature that is wanting to
Tell Húm. On the whole our first impression is much in
favour of el-Minyeh as the true site of Capernaum. But
these questions are not settled off-hand, and we must wait
for closer consideration before we form a judgment on SO
long-debated a question.
At the northern wall of Tiberias we beached our boat for.
a short time while one of the boatmen was despatched to
the Scottish Mission-house to ascertain if I could see
Dr. Torrance, the resident physician, whom I wished to
consult about our projected journey down the Ghór.
The doctor was not at home; but late in the evening,
accompanied by Hanna, I dragged my weary limbs along
the shore from our tent to his house, one of the muleteers
preceding us with a lantern. We had some difficulty in
groping our way by the narrow streets to the door, and
when we stood there all the dogs of the town seemed to be
surrounding us in a menacing circle, with such a chorus of
fierce barking that we could not hear each other speak.
At length we effected an entrance, and were most kindly and
graciously received.
The doctor, brisk, practical, energetic, kind-hearted, after
the manner of the British practitioner, thought the season
favourable for the journey, and on the whole was encouraging.
A TRIP IN SEARCH OF BETHSAIDA 73
Hanna, who had been admitted to the conference, felt some
timidity; averred that he had no acquaintance with those
Arab tribes of the Ghor, that they were often dangerous,
that he doubted if we should find any road or any camping-
grounds, and all the other objections which a dragoman
usually raises when he is instructed to go off his beat.
All these imaginary difficulties the good doctor brushed
aside; could not see where the difficulty came in, spoke of
the matter with a general of course-ness, but gave us the
very practical promise to speak to the Kaimmakäm on our
behalf and get a letter from his Excellency together with
a man who knew the district, and these preparations he
promised to have ready by the time that we reached
Tiberias again on Our return journey. And so we sallied
forth into the darkness, woke our muleteer, who was dozing
on the doorstep, and followed his lantern back to the
Camp.
CHA PT E R XIV
FROM TIBERIAS THROUGH GENNESARET TO TELL HUM
AT a little after six the next morning we broke up our camp
and started northward. Our tents had been pitched, as I
have said, about a mile South of Tiberias, so we had to pass
the town in order to reach the bridle-path which runs thence
to the Ghuweir or Land of Gennesaret. As we approached
the walls we came upon a strange and interesting sight. It
chanced to be one of the mornings which occur at regular
intervals (every month, Hanna said) when the Jews com-
memorate their dead. Troops of Jewesses were issuing from
the city and trudging towards us, most of them carrying
small pots or cans containing some liquid which they were
careful not to spill. When we reached the burial-place, a
straggling area of Stony and ragged ground, apparently
without boundary or protection, the mystery of these vessels
was explained. They contained whitewash ; and numbers
of the women were busy among the graves, whitening the
stones till they gleamed out in the morning light, the
veritable “whited sepulchres” of Scripture.
It was a weird scene. While some of the poor creatures
were busy among the tombs making them “outwardly
appear beautiful,” others had thrown themselves prostrate
on their dead with passionate weeping. A few were sitting
upon the whitened mounds conning the Hebrew psalms,
but many more rocked themselves to and fro and filled the
air with a monotonous melancholy chant which came to us
like the wail of the wind over some barren moor.
I have seen the mourning customs of the peasantry in the
Highland kirkyard, and the green graveyards of Ireland, in
the Swiss mountains, the flats of Holland and the snows of
Norway, and all are impressive and pathetic, but nowhere
have I beheld a scene so weird and foreign, so eerie and
lonely and apart from human ways, as this mourning among
the Jews of Palestine. We left them there in the grey
FROM TIBERIAS TO TELL HÚM 75
morning, and rode on past the ruined walls and towers of
Tiberias.
The ride from Tiberias northward is along the waterside.
The lake-shore was luxuriant with oleanders bursting into
bloom and many unknown flowers among the grass, especially
a pale yellow scabious, the most abundant of all the blossoms
hereabout. Large butterflies floated past us on gorgeous
wing. We noticed a blue and red kingfisher diving for his
prey, and numberless little tufted larks, common everywhere
in Palestine, which do not rise like our skylark, but hop
from Stone to stone, uttering a clear fragmentary little song
something like our robin's.
At Mejdel we made a pause, for this is the ancient Magdala
from which probably came Mary Magdalene. Even here,
however, as almost everywhere in Palestine, certainty is
denied us. We have to remember that the name Magdala
is derived from migdal, a tower, and that there were many
towers in Palestine. This particular Mejdel is three miles
from Tiberias, while the Babylonian Talmud speaks of a
Migdal Nunya, or fish-tower, which was only one mile from
Tiberias, and the Jerusalem Talmud confirms this account
in placing Magdala within a Sabbath day's journey of that
city. There may, therefore, have been two migdals in this
neighbourhood. Which of the two was the wealthy and
luxurious Magdala spoken of in the Jerusalem Talmud, said
to have been destroyed because of licentiousness, we cannot
Say.
“The one, doubtless, from which Mary Magdalene came *
interposes the hasty reader. But here, again, what reason
have we for associating Mary Magdalene with licentious-
ness 2 The notion appears to be based upon the groundless
identification of Mary Magdalene with the “sinner” of
Luke vii. 36-50. All that we really know about her is that
she came from a place named Magdala, that she was one of
the women who accompanied Jesus and ministered to Him,
and that Jesus was believed to have cast out seven devils
from her. This last belief, having regard to Oriental notions,
would point, not to her having lived a dissolute life, but
rather to her having at one time been mentally affected, and
to this affection having several times returned.*
Whether or not there was another migdal near to Tiberias
(distinguished perhaps from this one as Migdal Nunya or
the fish-tower), one may with some likelihood surmise the
* “Encyclopaedia Biblica,” arts. “Magdala’’ and “Mary.”
76 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Mejdel where we have now alighted to have been the actual
Magdala from which Mary came. It was very near to Jesus'
home and to the scene of so many of His teachings, for it
stands on the southernmost margin of the Plain of Genne-
Saret, and was in all probability the watch-tower which
guarded the entrance to the plain. At the present day it is
a wretched little place, a mere heap of scattered ruins and
tangled rubbish, in which a few dirty mud-huts lie half buried,
the whole disorderly heap being dignified only by one or
two palms which rise in the midst and wave a benediction
Over the memories of the past. Close beside the palm-trees
incongruously rises stark and straight a telegraph post,
aggressively asserting modernity. It is one of a line which
we see stretching away over the mountain ridge upon our
left, and which tells of some distant civilisation far removed
in every way from these poor hovels of Mejdel.
We mounted again, and proceeded to traverse the Land of
Gennesaret. The plain so called in Scripture is between
three and four miles in length, and shaped, as already indi-
cated, somewhat like a crescent moon, being widest half-
way between its two extremities, and tapering off at each end
to points where the mountains almost touch the Sea. All
along the shore of Gennesaret the blooming oleanders grow
in thick masses. The plain is crossed by several streams,
one at Mejdel, three others in the midst of the plain, and a
fifth at Khān Minyeh on the northern extremity. The last-
mentioned is a very beautiful spring or fountain called Ain
et-Tin (the fountain of the fig-tree), and there, Sure enough,
is the aged fig-tree overhanging the crystal waters with its
large glossy leaves. The spring gushes from beneath a pic-
turesque and precipitous rock, which projects into the water
of the lake, and so completely closes the northern end of
Gennesaret that the only exits from the plain in that direction
are over the rocks or by a circuit up the mountain-slope.
Near to the pool of the fig-tree lie the ruins of an ancient
Saracenic inn called Khān Minyeh, and not far from them
Some fragmentary walls. The most extensive traces of ruins,
however, in the neighbourhood are out in the plain at a
distance of about 430 paces to the south. Here there are
remains of massive walls and arches. The stones are joined
with mortar, and many of them are of considerable size.
Some which I measured were 3 feet 6 inches in length by
I foot 9 inches in breadth. Also, the boundary walls be-
tween the fields, loosely piled up by modern hands, are full
FIG. I. I.-K HAN MINYEH AND DA IN ET TiN, GENNES ARET
FIG. I2 – A IN TA BIGHA : THE OCTAGONAL ENCLOSURE


FROM TIBERIAS TO TELL HÚM 77
of large Squared stones doubtless taken from the ancient
ruins. I spent some time wandering among these fragments,
and came to the conclusion that whatever might be said in
favour of Tell Húm as the site of Capernaum (as against el-
Minyeh), no stress can fairly be laid upon the argument that
Minyeh is lacking in extensive ruins. The plough has, in-
deed, passed over the site, but traces remain, notwithstanding
this, of what may well have been a town of considerable
extent.*
We must not leave this place without noticing the great
bed of papyrus which grows in a swamp where the fountain
flows into the lake. It is one of two places in Palestine
where the papyrus, which is now extinct in Egypt, still
flourishes, the other being Lake Hūleh.
From Khān Minyeh we climbed a little way up the hill
and turned into the trough of the old Roman aqueduct,
which is here hollowed in the rock. This is the aqueduct
alluded to in the previous chapter, which plays so con-
siderable a part in the Capernaum controversy.
The point upon which it bears is as follows: Josephus
says that the Plain of Gennesaret is “watered throughout”
by a most fertile fountain, which the people of the country
call “Capharnaoum.” At first sight, then, one would infer
that Capernaum was situated in the Plain of Gennesaret; and
if that was so, Tell Húm, which is two and a half miles from
Gennesaret, cannot be Capernaum. On further considera-
tion, however, one perceives that the spring and village of
Capernaum may have been far from Gennesaret, provided
that the water of the spring was conveyed by an aqueduct
to the plain of that name. Now, there is no notable spring
in Gennesaret itself which could possibly have watered the
plain “throughout;” but there is such a spring, a very notable,
very copious, and very fertile one, in the adjoining plain of
Täbigha, which lies to the north of Gennesaret, and is
separated from it by this barrier of rocks over which we are
now supposed to be travelling.
Was the Täbigha stream, then, the Fountain “Caphar-
naoum ” 2 and were its waters conveyed by an aqueduct to
the Plain of Gennesaret 2 “Yes,” say the advocates of the
Tell Húm site, “the spring of Täbigha is the only one that
* The late Sir Charles Wilson told me that he found nothing but
Arab remains here, but admitted that he had excavated for only two
days. Two days’ excavation by native workmen does not amount to
much.
78 TENT AND TESTAMENT
answers to Josephus’ description of the Fountain ‘Caphar-
naoum,’ and its waters were doubtless conveyed to the Plain
of Gennesaret by this rock-cut trough.” Adopting this view,
they proceed to argue that this disposes of the necessity
for looking for Capernaum in Gennesaret itself, and they
furthermore hold that Tell Húm, which is about two miles
from Täbigha, is not too far removed from the spring to bear
the same name.
The argument, it will be seen, is permissive. If it is
granted, it makes Tel Húm possible as the site of Caper-
naum, but it does not of itself supply any positive grounds
for the identification. I may say briefly, without entering
further into the question at present, that the conclusion I
came to was that this trough in the rock was, indeed, an old
aqueduct; that it did, indeed, convey the waters of Täbigha
to the Plain of Gennesaret, and yet that Tel Húm was not
Capernaum.
Meanwhile, it was only as a road that we were personally
concerned with the trough in question, and a shockingly bad
road it makes, with its semi-circular channel polished to a
fine glaze by the hoofs of countless beasts of burden.
However, our horses managed to slide and scramble
through it, and we found ourselves presently on the northern
side of the rocky barrier which shuts away the Plain of
Gennesaret.
Not far from the point where we issued into the open we
came upon the settlement of the German Catholic Palestine
Society, where we inquired our way to Ain et-Täbigha. We
were promptly informed that the true and only Ain et-
Täbigha was the little runnel of sweet water which trickled
through their own secluded grounds on its way down to the
lake It was clear, however, that if “Täbigha" is derived,
as it is said to be, from Heptapegon, the seven streams,”
the true Täbigha was the great flood of brackish water which
rushed by numerous channels down to the Sea of Galilee
at some little distance from the German settlement. The
* Sanday (“Sacred Sites,” p. 40) speaks of Ain el-Tabigha as “the
ancient Heptapegon,” but does not quote authorities. Thomson, in
“The Land and the Book, p. 356,” gives a different derivation, namely,
from Dabbaga, the Arabic for tannery, “and, no doubt,” he adds,
“the tanneries of Capernaum were actually at these fountains, what.
ever may be true in regard to the name. . And if a city should again
rise in this vicinity the tanneries belonging to it would certainly be
located here, for the water is precisely the kind best adapted to that
business.”
FROM TIBERHAS TO TELL HÚM 79
purport of my inquiry was, in fact, not where to find the
stream, but where to find the Ain, or source of the stream,
with its large octagonal enclosure, of which I had previously
read, and the relation of which to the channel through
which we had just ridden, has an important bearing on
the question whether that channel is indeed a road or an
aqueduct.
This octagonal wall enclosing the spring we soon dis-
covered higher up the hillside upon our left (Fig. 12). It
is a remarkable structure, apparently very ancient, but of
well-fitted blocks of stone, and in its neighbourhood are con-
siderable remains of masonry. The stream which issues from
this source is warm as well as brackish, and one may guess
that it was used in old times for baths similar to those at
Tiberias. May it not be, then, that the rock-aqueduct
through which we had just passed carried this volcanic water
for such a purpose to the towns in the Plain of Gennesaret,
and that this partly answers the question, which has often
been asked, why this water should be conveyed at so much
expense, when the plain might so much more easily have
been irrigated from the Rubudiyeh, or other streams which
come down the wadis on the north As to the fragments
of ruin in the neighbourhood of the spring, one speaks with
diffidence about a place where the eyes of experts have often
been busy ; but to a layman in these matters the possibility
is certainly suggested that if Minyeh marks the site of Caper-
naum, a portion of the city was built up here on the hillside,
round about the spring, and that this lofty position, looking
down upon the Galilean Sea and the towns along its shore,
suggested the form of that sentence of doom : “Thou
Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought
down to hell.”
Descending again to the water-side we waded through
the torrents of et-Tabigha, and did not pause until we
reached the famous place known as Tell Húm. But here
a great disappointment awaited us. The Franciscan monks,
who have bought and enclosed the site, either could not or
would not show us anything. Old photographs and well-
known pictures led us to expect extensive ruins, yet
nothing was to be seen but a few loose fragments of white
stone. Hanna believed from their manner that they were
purposely concealing something. Perhaps it was that we
had come unarmed with any permit from the guardian at
Tiberias, which Baedeker advises travellers to take ; or
8O TENT AND TESTAMENT
perhaps what Hanna said that he had heard is indeed the
truth, that the monks have carefully hidden all the relics
lest the Turkish government should appropriate them.”
However this may be, we saw nothing except a few frag-
ments piled promiscuously near to the door of their
hospice. So we had to content ourselves with lunching
in their spacious guest-room, glad to be out of the midday
glare, and with indulging in a cool siesta while Hanna
went in search of a Bedawi guide to show us the path up
the mountain to the ruins of Chorazin.
The brethren, who by the way were all Italians, assured
me in answer to my inquiries that there was no spring at
all at Tell Húm, and that, as they believed that the lake-
water caused fever, they sent for all their drinking-water
to the German Catholic settlement at Ain-Täbigha.
* The late Sir Charles Wilson told me that, so far as the White
Synagogue is concerned, this is indeed the case; that he knew the
place where its remains were buried, a mound now planted with fruit-
trees. A re-excavation by a German society is at present (1906) in
progress.
CHA PT E R XV
FROM TELL HUM THROUGH CHORAZIN TO SAFED
THE Bedawi whom Hanna engaged to guide us to Kerä-
zeh (the ancient Chorazin) was a mild-looking elderly man,
rather short and spare, who carried a gun slung upon his
back, very long in the barrel and highly ornamented on
the stock—one of those ancient muskets of the flint-and-
steel order which are still in use among the Bedawin, and
handed down by them as heirlooms from father to son.
From the enclosure at Tell Húm we struck inland up a
long stony slope, passing here and there, among the natural
boulders, carefully squared blocks and other traces of the
ancient town, the most important which we noticed being
a marble sarcophagus. The path by which our guide took
us was no path at all, and as we proceeded we found our-
selves among a very chaos of huge lumps of rock. Among
these our horses picked their way at the risk of breaking
their legs and our necks. Several times they slipped and
recovered themselves with difficulty. Their coats streamed
with sweat. Meanwhile the old Bedawi hopped from
boulder to boulder in the most marvellous manner without
once losing the big slippers which by Some conjuring
device hung persistently upon his shrunken feet. Every
now and then he would stop, and turning round await our
laborious advance, he himself being apparently quite cool
and not at all out of breath.
Professor George A. Smith, in the Encyclopædia Biblica
(art. “Chorazin"), estimates the distance from Tell Húm to
Kerāzeh as “about one mile.” It is, however, more than
double that distance, even when measured in a straight line.
Jerome, whom he quotes, is nearer the mark when he says
two Roman miles, though this also is too little, for a Roman
mile was equal to only 1618 English yards. It is not
absolutely certain, however, that Jerome means Kerāzeh
when he speaks of Chorazin, for he describes the town as
F
82 TENT AND TESTAMENT
being on the shore of the lake, and although there is a peep
of the lake looking down the wadi from Kerāzeh, the
nearest point of the shore is fully two miles away. Perhaps
the ancient city extended in scattered fashion down the
wādi to the lake shore. This would explain Jerome's
description, and it would also give point to the fact that
Jesus links together Bethsaida, Chorazin and Capernaum
in pronouncing His record woes, as though they were all
lake-side towns or all simultaneously in sight, as in that
case they might from some points of view have been.
There could not, in any case, be much doubt as to the
ruins at which we had now arrived being in fact those of
the ancient Chorazin. The survival of the name with so
slight a corruption would seem almost sufficient of itself
to prove the identity. We remembered, moreover, that
Jesus bracketed Chorazin with Tyre and Sidon, as though it
were a town of some extent, and we could see for ourselves
that such a town must at one time have occupied this site.
The ruins, composed of black basalt (for we are here on
the edge of that circular eruption of basalt of which Safed
is the crown and centre), are utterly dislocated and thrown
together in confusion by earthquakes and natural con-
vulsions. The blocks are of magnificent size, and among
them are some beautiful pieces of carving; one in particular,
a conchoidal ornament lying near to some gigantic mono-
liths, perhaps the lintels of a doorway, belongs probably to
the entrance of the principal synagogue (Fig. I4.)
From Kerāzeh the old Bedawi continued to guide us on
our way to Safed. The same terrible sort of “road” from
which we had already suffered, continued for most of the
way until we reached a lonely mosque beside a ruined khān
known as Khān Jubb Yūsuf. The khān is on very high
ground (for we had been climbing ever since we left Tell
Húm), and round it was grouped a picturesque crowd of
Arabs. It is not in any way noteworthy, unless it be for the
fact that here the pit is shown into which Joseph was put by
his brethren. This was the third of Joseph's pits which had
been pointed out to us in the course of our travels; for we
had already seen one at Cairo " and another at Dôthān
* Joseph's Well at Cairo is in the Citadel, near the mosque of Ibn
Kalaun. The Jews of the city are credited with having originated the
legend that this is the well into which the Patriarch was cast. The
real Joseph to whom the well pertains is no other than our old friend
Saladin, whose full name was El-Melik En-Nāsir Salah-ed-din Yusuf
FIG. I.3–RUINS OF CHORAZIN


FROM TELL HÚM TO SAFED 83
From this point there was a path of some sort, but
terribly hard at times, and once I was within an inch of
death. We were passing along a rocky path, with a sheer
precipice below us upon our right. Just at this critical point
my little steed, usually so sure-footed, slipped, and one foot
went over the edge of the narrow track. For a few moments
of awful suspense there was a desperate scrambling, and
sparks flew from the rock; then the footing was regained
and the horse stood with trembling limbs.
The wadi through which we came before the final climb
to Safed was magnificent beyond anything I ever saw out-
side the Alps; cliffs towered above us and the gulfs below
seemed fathomless. The paths which wind through the
chasms surrounding the city are intricate, and for once our
dragoman was puzzled, but a little lad in kumbāz and tar-
bûsh, who had been sent by our pioneers to guide us to the
camp, came running to meet us, and we presently issued
from the maze.
We entered the town by the Mohammedan quarter, and
one of the first things we saw was a wedding procession.
A troop of women, dressed in the brightest colours, came
towards us chanting, or, rather, screaming a melancholy
phrase, consisting of only two notes :-

eſc.
sºmºmº |
J
The phrase may be written in any octave you like, the upper
note being simply a shriek. Every now and then the
“song" was broken in upon by one of the women sending
forth the piercing trill of the zaghārit: the whole effect
being most melancholy and weird. Whether or not it was
intended for joy I do not know ; convention may require
such an expression ; but in fact marriage cannot but be
for the Mohammedan girl a dreaded if not heartbreaking
affair.
This procession of women, Hanna explained, was going
to fetch the bride from her parents' house in order to con-
duct her to the house of the bridegroom. If he was correct
in this statement, then the wedding ceremony was such a
one as that described in I Maccabees ix. 37 et Seq., in
Ibn-Eiyoob. The well existed before his time, but he re-opened it and
named it after himself.
84 TENT AND TESTAMENT
which the processions of bride and of bridegroom go to meet
each other, for we presently met the bridegroom's procession
coming towards us, so that as the women returned with the
bride they must have come face to face with the bride-
groom. In the Maccabean story “the children of Jambri
were making a great marriage, and were bringing the bride
from Nadabath with a great train, a daughter of one of the
great rulers of Canaan. . . . And the bridegroom came
forth, and his friends and his brethren, to meet them with
timbrels, and minstrels, and many weapons.” It would
appear, from various accounts, that all these forms of pro-
cedure obtain in the East—the bridegroom may come to
the bride's house to fetch her, the bride may be conducted
by her friends to the bridegroom's house, or, finally, the
two processions may meet, though the last is not so
common.” However this may be, we presently met, as I
have said, the men's procession coming from the bride-
groom's house. They were beating a small drum or
“tubble,” clapping their hands in rhythm all together, and
all chanting in a monotone. In their midst was the happy
man, walking slowly along. Beside him were friends
carrying chairs, which Hanna explained were always
carried on such occasions, in case the bridegroom might
wish to sit down and rest.
We saw nothing more of the proceedings till after dark,
when a dance took place just behind our camp. The com-
pany at the dance consisted, of course, of men only, and
the music was of the same drumming and clapping which
we had already observed. The men stood in rows and
swayed their bodies to and fro to the sound of the primitive
music. This went on until it was quite dark, and long after
we had retired to rest the stillness of the night was broken
by the intermittent firing of guns, one of the common
tokens of rejoicing. This wedding took place upon a
Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, which is the
orthodox day for the marriage of a virgin.f
The Mohammedans form less than half the population of
Safed, nearly all the rest being Jews. Safed is, in fact, one
of the four cities which the Jews hold sacred, the other three
being Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tiberias. They believe that
the Messiah will come from Safed, or rather that He will
* “Encyclopaedia Biblica,” art. “Marriage.”
+ “Palestine in the Time of Christ,” E. Stapfer, p. 163.
FROM TELL HÚM TO SAFED 85
rise up from the waters of the Sea of Galilee, assemble His
followers in Tiberias, and thence march hither to Safed, where
His throne will be established for forty years, before He
goes forth into the wider world. All this seems strangely
out of harmony with the ancient Jewish prejudice against
Galilee.
The town itself, though it is not mentioned in Scripture,
is mentioned in the Talmud; but the present Jewish settle-
ment there dates only from the sixteenth century A.D. It
was founded by Spanish Jews, near descendants of those
who were driven out of Spain by Isabella I. These
Sephardim Jews still speak a Spanish patois, and they
practise polygamy. They form, however, only a small pro-
portion of the whole Jewish colony, the greater part being
of Polish descent. These Polish Jews, who crowd the streets
Of Tiberias and Safed, are pale and sickly in appearance,
weedy in growth, with bent shoulders as if they still bore
the yoke of contempt which their fathers bore in Egypt.
They wear long cotton gowns, and round-crowned “pot ”
hats made of soft felt, and their countenances are adorned
by two curls, one on each cheek, like the traditional Shylock.
This custom of wearing curls is said to arise from a mis-
understanding of Leviticus xix. 27 : “Ye shall not round
the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the
corners of thy beard.”
They have many other such superstitions. Dr. Thomson,
in “The Land and the Book,” speaking of Safed, remarks that
formerly, being an unwalled city, it was surrounded every
Sabbath by a string stretched from post to post. This
String was held to represent the wall of the city, and its
erection relieved the Jews from a certain legal difficulty. A
Jew must not carry on the Sabbath even so much as a
pocket-handkerchief, except within the walls of the city;
if there are no walls he must not carry it at all ; within the
String, therefore, a conscientious Jew may carry his hand-
kerchief without feeling that he has broken the law. Dr.
Thomson goes on to narrate that he was once amused by
a devout Israelite who was walking with him on the Jewish
Sabbath toward the grove of olive-trees on the north of
the town, where the doctor's tent was pitched. When
they came to the end of the street they found that the string
was gone. This his companion regarded as a great con-
venience, since he was now at liberty to go on without
86 TENT AND TESTAMENT
reference to what was in his pocket, because he had not
passed the wall.”
We shall have more to say about the Jews when we visit
Tiberias again on our return journey; meanwhile as we
sit in the door of our tent, glance yonder at that little group
upon Our left. Our little groom, Mohammed, has friends
in Safed, and they have come to the camp to see him. Note
the effusiveness of the greetings, the men kissing each other
first On one cheek and then on the other, two or three times
Over. See how they stand clasping each other's hands,
while questions and exclamations are poured forth on either
Side. They have none of our occidental reserve. Burton,
in his “Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah’’ (p. 287), speaks of the
same freedom of expression among the Bedawin : “Friends
and comrades greeted each other, regardless of rank or
fortune, with affectionate embraces and an abundance of
queries, which neither party seemed to think of answering.
The general mode of saluting was to throw one arm over
the shoulder and the other round the side, placing the chin
first upon the left and then upon the right collar-bone, and
rapidly shifting till a jam Satis suggested itself to both
parties.” If one is apt, however, to regret our own shame-
facedness and coldness of manner which forbid the full
expression of feelings that are often warm and even
passionate beneath, we must remember that the same
absence of restraint which shows itself in moments of
friendship, equally shows itself in moments of enmity or
dispute, and that in the East hatred is as ungoverned as
affection.
However, we may leave Mohammed and his friends to
Squat upon the ground and sip their coffee in the gathering
shadows; for ourselves, we must write up our journal and
then retire to sleep, if the music of the wedding-guests will
allow us to do so, for we have a longish ride before us
to-morrow. Our camp last night was 680 feet below sea-
level ; to-night it is 2749 feet above it.
* The Rev. G. R. Lees, in his little book “Jerusalem and its People"
(p. 32), speaks of what is, perhaps, the same custom, but gives it a
somewhat different interpretation: “Articles may be carried about a
room, but not conveyed from one house to another; yet there is a way
out of this difficulty: a rope is attached to two houses, or more if desir-
able, and sometimes to every house in a colony; the whole may then
be regarded as one dwelling.”
C H A P T E R XVI
FROM SAFED TO EL-KHALISAH
BY half-past seven the next morning our camp was struck,
and we were dropping down into one of those wonderful
wādis by which Safed is surrounded. At the bottom of the
steep descent was a bit of fairly level ground where men
were ploughing, each plough being followed by a woman
who dropped seeds into the furrow. We climbed the
opposing height, beautiful with blue veronica, and found
ourselves on the ridge which immediately overlooks the
Valley of the Jordan. To our right we saw a part of the Sea
of Galilee, to our left gleamed the Lake of Hūleh, and
between them flowed the winding river.
Then followed a steep descent to the Plain of Hūleh, too
steep even for our acrobatic horses, so we made the descent
on foot, leading them by the bridle. The Plain of Hüleh is
a wide stretch of fertile ground between the mountains and
the lake of that name. To the north of the lake it expands
into a great marsh, some five or six miles in breadth and ten
miles from north to south, marking the area of what in the
Pluvial period had been a sheet of water as large as the
present Sea of Galilee.
Our road at present lay along the western border at some
distance from the water and close to the foot of the moun-
tains. It was a grassy stretch through which we rode, and
I presently espied a little shepherd-lad, one of the negroid
Bedawin, minding his flock. As I had been looking out for
Opportunities to photograph this particular type, I immedi-
ately dismounted ; but at sight of my camera the little fellow
was off like a shot, to the great amusement of our Arab
groom, who burst into loud laughter and accelerated the
flight of the terror-stricken boy by shouts of “Hürra !
hūrra !”
A couple of hours' riding brought us to the north-west
corner of the lake, where a beautiful stream of considerable
88 TENT AND TESTAMENT
breadth, known as Ain el-Mellāha, turns a mill before it loses
itself in the waters of the mere. The long ride with the
Scorching Sun at our backs had been very exhausting, and
we were nothing loth to strip in the shadow of the trees and
bathe ourselves in these crystal waters.
Lake Hūleh is marked in many maps as “The Waters of
Merom,” and if that identification is correct, the plain
which we have just been traversing must have been the
scene of Joshua's battle with the kings of the north. All
the best authorities, however, doubt the identification, and
in an atmosphere of doubt one cannot get up any historical
enthusiasm. So we mounted our horses again and rode
prosaically northward, with a promise of luncheon before
us. This we found spread in another beautiful spot some
five miles north of the “Waters,” where a spring called
Ain Belåta runs through a grove of oaks and loses itself in
the marshes beyond.
The heat had seemed to us intolerable while riding, but I
found that it was not really so great as we had supposed.
Here, in the shade of the trees, the thermometer showed
only 80%". Indeed, it was pleasant enough to lie here and
watch the grand curves of a magnificent griffon who was
wheeling round and round above the plain—such an eagle
as the prophet Ezekiel describes (xvii. 3) “a great eagle,
with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had
divers colours.”” We were interested, too, in a family of
Bedawin (Fig. I5), who came to help us (in more senses than
one) with our luncheon. The father was very ready to give
a little assistance, and for that purpose tied the ends of his
long white sleeves together, and threw the knotted loop thus
made over his head, in this way drawing the sleeves up and
leaving his arms bare. This arrangement is used when any
manual work is performed, and also as a necessary pre-
liminary to a fray; which latter usage explains the prophetic
* Canon Tristram writes (“Nat. Hist. Bib.,” p. 172): “There can
be no doubt of the identity of the Hebrew mesher with the Arabic
missr, the name invariably applied, not to any eagle, strictly so called,
but to the Griffon (Gyps fulvus) of naturalists, commonly known as the
Griffon Vulture, or Great Vulture. It is unfortunate that in our
language we have but one word, “vulture,’ applied alike to the noble
Griffon and to the very useful, but very despicable scavenger,
‘Pharaoh's Hen,’ as Europeans in the East call the Egyptian vulture.
Though the Griffon be a carrion-feeder, it is neither more nor less so
than all eagles, none of which will kill their prey if they can find it ready
slain to their hand.”
Fig. 15 —BEDAWIN OF AIN BELATA
FIG. 16-BRIDGE OF EL-GHAJAR
:


FROM SAFED TO EL-KHALISAH 89
metaphor (Isa. lii. Io), “The Lord hath made bare His holy
arm in the eyes of all the nations.”
Our Arab had with him two beautiful boys (one of them
in particular had a very intelligent and attractive face), and
presently the group was joined by some young girls of the
family, carrying feathery reeds of papyrus. It was very
charming to watch these lithe and graceful children at play.
They would poise their reeds pretending they were spears
which they were about to hurl at us, laughing and showing
their gleaming teeth as they did so. Then one climbed a
tree and threw down clusters of berries which they divided
and ate. One of the boys had a pipe cut from a jointed
reed, upon which he played a monotonous tune for Our
edification. I bought it from him for a penny, but have
never yet found any European who could play it. It had
no mouthpiece, but was lipped at the end as one would
whistle with a key, and it had only five holes. I noticed
that the lad never ended on what we should regard as the
key-note, but always a tone above it. The “tune” consisted
merely of an endless repetition of this phrase:
IX.C.
O).
—: *E*E*E=E —e-–3H
#EEEEEEEEE #H

e)
The boys as well as the father were armed with old-
fashioned guns, very long in the barrel, but fired with a cap,
not with a flint. In face these Bedawin had nothing of the
negro, and could not have belonged to the Ghawārineh, but
neither did they apparently belong to any of the great desert
tribes. I asked them to what tribe they belonged, and they
said they were simply called “The Tribe of Ain Belātah.”
After lunch we started up the valley again and passed
large Bedawin camps. These were partly composed of the
ordinary black Bedawin tents, but there were also long rows
of somewhat more substantial looking tents, or rather, huts,
made of mats woven from the stems of papyrus. Sometimes
a combination of the two styles was adopted, the walls being
of papyrus mats and the roof of black drapery thrown over
the walls and Supported by upright poles. Papyrus mats
are an article of trade with these Bedawin, and we saw
women toiling up from the marshes with huge bundles of
the reeds upon their heads, which they would presently
weave into mats and send away into the towns for sale.
90 TENT AND TESTAMENT
The papyrus is called “Babir” by the Arabs, which is
almost identical with the Latin word. It is, of course, the
same plant as that which of old time was used in Egypt for
the manufacture of “paper.” At the present time it is said
to be extinct in the Nile, neither in Asia is it to be found
except in this district of the Upper Jordan. Mr. J. Macgregor
in his volume “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” gives an interest-
ing account of his attempt to penetrate the jungle of papyrus
which forms an impassable barrier at the northern end of
Lake Hūleh. Its mode of growth is remarkable. The old
stems of dead plants float upon the water, and an accumula-
tion of them forms what is practically a floating shore.
From this vegetable mass there spring the living plants,
which rear their heads to a height of ten or twelve feet and
Send their roots downwards through the clear water into the
mud at the bottom. “Can the papyrus grow up without
mire f" asks Bildad the Shuhite (Job viii. 11). Mr. Macgregor
succeeded in finding a channel through the great floating
forest, and proved that it extends northward from the defined
Shore of the lake to a distance of at least three miles. The
plant is also found to the distance of a mile or more south
of the lake, and then does not reappear till we reach Ain
et-Tin on the border of Gennesaret. The reedy mass to the
north of Hüleh is inhabited by wild boars, pelicans, and
innumerable water-fowl.
Round about these papyrus huts a busy domestic life
seemed to be going forward. Near one of them a woman
was winnowing by pouring grain upon the ground from a
vessel held above her head, the breeze carrying the chaff to
One side. At the door of another, two women were grinding
at the mill ; at another, a woman was baking flat cakes on a
tin over a fire; and at yet another, two women were beating
rice with mallets for the purpose of removing the husk.
This, by the way, is said to be the only place in Palestine
where the rice-plant grows. It is described as singular in
its colour and flavour; reddish in appearance, and swelling
in cooking to an unusual degree.* The women seemed
also to have the care of the poultry, which we saw feeding
in goodly numbers where the threshing and winnowing was
going on ; and of course they looked after the children.
One woman stood at her door and pulled a string with
regular motion, as though she were rocking some primitive
* Schwartz, quoted by J. Macgregor, “Rob Roy on the Jordan,”
p. 282 fin.
FROM SAFED TO EL-KHALISAH 9 I
Cradle, and an eye was kept upon the infants of larger
growth who swarmed round the tents.
Many of the children were stark naked, and we could
not but notice their enormous stomachs, which seemed to
hang down with fatness. Sir Richard Burton mentions the
same characteristic in the Egyptian children. “Travellers,”
he writes,” “always remark the curious pot-bellied children
on the banks of the Nile. This conformation is admired
by the Egyptians, who consider it a sign of strength and a
promise of growth.” The same opinion, I was informed,
obtains among the Bedawin of Palestine.
The plain, which stretched away on our right without the
slightest undulation to the foot of the distant mountains,
was dotted with horses and black cattle, with here and there
a herd of buffaloes. Horse and cattle-breeding seems,
indeed, to be the principal work of these tent-folk. Of
course the herds supply them with abundant dairy-produce
for their family needs. Near one camp we noticed a calf
Standing motionless in a peculiarly stiff attitude, and when
we rode up to it found that it was, in fact, the skin of the
animal stuffed with straw. Upon inquiry, we learnt that
the calf had died, and that the Arabs, according to custom,
had stuffed the skin and placed it erect that the mother
might not cease to give her milk.
The Beda win whom we were now leaving behind us
seem to be all Ghawārineh–negroid Arabs, with woolly
heads and thick lips—a low type compared with the pure-
blooded Arabs of the desert; but they seemed to live in
more comfort than any others whom we saw. Nature,
indeed, has been kind to them. She supplies them with
papyrus for fuel and for shelter, and with fowl and fish to
shoot and spear; and these things, with their cattle-breeding
and mat-weaving, add to that liberty which is the ideal of
every Arab heart, a plenty which they do not all enjoy. I
suspect, however, that one enemy which they often have to
fight is that of fever, for the native is no more proof against
fever than the European, and the marshes of Hüleh must
be a very hotbed of malaria.
As we rode along the plain the chorus of frogs was such
as I had never before heard or conceived. Miles of marsh-
land breed myriads of these creatures, and the air seemed
to be filled with the shrill, stridulous confusion of their
voices. Having heard their deafening music, I can believe
* “Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah,” p. 406 fin.
92 TENT AND TESTAMENT
what Canon Tristram says of them, that “in some of the
lakes and pools of the Holy Land the frogs are so amazingly
numerous that they cover the surface towards evening in
One solid, unbroken mass.”
That phenomenon we did not wait to see, but left the
marsh-land behind us, and pushed forward towards the
roots of Hermon. In the course of our ride we passed
many Sacred bushes hung with rags, such as I have already
alluded to in describing the mukām above Nazareth. Here,
too, we heard for the first time that which will always mark
this ride in my memory, the Syrian double-pipe, played with
its right effect. Out in the wild country it is merry and
inspiriting to a degree, reminding one forcibly of the
Highland bagpipes when they are heard in their native
mountains. Our camp to-night was in a grove of silver
poplars at a place called el-Khâlisah, on a slight rise at the
head of the Plain of Húleh.
CHAPTE R XVII
FROM EL-KHALISAH, BY THE SPRINGS OF JORDAN,
TO MEJDEL ESH-SHEMS
EL-KHALISAH is hardly to be called a village; rather is it a
Bedawi camping-place ; but it has enclosures of poplars and
a good deal of cultivated ground. It is situated on One of
those westerly streams which form some of the head-waters
of the Jordan, but are scarcely reckoned along with the three
principal sources which we shall have presently to mention.
The sound of running water seems to fill the air with music,
and the mountains crowned by ruined castles lend to the
place an additional feeling of romance.
On the left of our camp as we face in the direction of our
journey is the old crusaders' castle at Hunin, and before us
is the fortress of Subébeh, crowning the mountain which
overhangs Caesarea Philippi. The castle of Hunin is noble
and nobly situated, but has nothing Oriental in appearance.
Its massive round towers seem to take us back to feudal
Europe. One portion of it, however, is said to be extremely
ancient, being built of large bevelled stones, such as perhaps
belong to Old Testament times. Thomson identifies the
place with Beth-Maachah, in which case the village of Abil-
el-Kamh, which lies below it, would be the Abel of Beth-
Maachah mentioned in the story of Joab (2 Sam. xx. 14, 15).
As to Kal‘at-es-Subébeh, the great castle above Bāniyäs,
it is a mediaeval building erected by the Franks, though
it may well be that an older fortress preceded it ; for
the position is one of immense strength and importance,
and has often proved to be the key of Palestine upon the
north.
We made an early start from el-Khâlisah, skirting a spur of
the mountain by a long détour, and finally striking north-
eastward by an ever-ascending road. More Bedawin camps
were passed, mostly of reed-built huts, also large herds of
94 TENT AND TESTAMENT
buffalo and flocks of brown sheep and long-haired goats.
Then up and up towards the heights of Hermon by a
villainous path among scattered boulders. Turning sharply
to the east we crossed the Häsbâni by the well-known
Bridge of el-Ghajar. This river forms the most westerly of
the three main head-waters of the Jordan, the chief sources
being—that at Hāsbéya, from which this Hāsbäni river
flows, ten miles north of the spot where we are standing;
that at Tell-el-Kādi, known as the Leddān, a mile or two
eastward of this spot; and the third at Băniyās (the ancient
Caesarea Philippi) which lies yet further east. The first of
these may be regarded as the source, if the rule is followed
which accords that honour to the stream rising furthest
from the mouth ; the second, if the question is which throws
up most water; and the third, if the principal Source is that
which is best known to history.
The Nahr Häsbâni, over which we are now crossing,
must geologically be a remarkable stream if that which
Thomson says of it be true, that “during the countless ages
of the past it has cut a tortuous canal through the hard
lava at least two hundred feet deep ’’l But, whether the
deep fissure through which it flows was rent by some volcanic
convulsion (for we are now in the region of volcanoes) or
whether it is indeed due entirely to the action of the stream,
it is impressive enough from the scenic point of view; for
above it tower on the one hand the mountain ranges of
Upper Galilee, and on the other hand the gigantic flanks of
Hermon, while, far below in a wild and gloomy gorge,
whose sides are rough with thicket of sycamore and oleander,
there rushes a broad torrent of dark blue water as it plunges
down to the abyss.
A couple of miles, or a little more, from the Bridge of
el-Ghajar in a south-easterly direction, we reached the
second source, Nahr Leddan, as it is called, which is one of
the most wonderful sights, I should imagine, that a man
may see. At the base of a thickly-wooded mound, and
seeming to rise from the roots of the mound itself, there
boils up as if in some titanic cauldron an enormous body
of water. It is said to be the largest volume in the world
rising from a single source,” and one of the largest it must
undoubtedly be. Robinson estimates that it is two or three
times the size of the source at Băniyās, and four or six
times the size of the Häsbäni spring, but this I should have
* Tristram, “The Land of Israel,” p. 572.
FIG. I7—THE INFANT JORDAN
; : ... :
FIG. 18.-NEAR C.ESAR EA PHILIPPI . . * * *
*_*
-- + -
i
:
i


JORDAN, TO MEJDEL ESH-SHEMS 95
thought much understates its magnitude. It is in fact a
river born full-grown. There is no gathering of rills,
no gradual growth from tributary streams, but with
one silent upward heave the whole river bursts from the
womb of earth and swirls away to the south, a majestic flood
from the moment that it sees the light. No wonder that
Eusebius and Jerome and many other ancient writers
regarded this as the real beginning of the Jordan *
The mound from beneath or beside which the river rises
is about fifty or sixty feet in height and one hundred feet in
length, and is of great interest as being the probable site of
the ancient city of Dan and the still more ancient Laish.
The site is not, indeed, undisputed, the question lying
between this and Bāniyās, which is about three miles to the
east as the crow flies. In favour of Tell el-Kādi, the mound
which now faces us, is its name “The Mound of the Judge,”
for Dan means “judge’ in Hebrew as Kādi does in Arabic ;
and the name of the stream itself, the Leddan, may also, as
Canon Cheyne suggests, contain an echo of the name of
the old city. Josephus, Eusebius, and Jerome all identify
this spot with Dan or Laish, and the ruins upon the sides of
the tell and within the basin which dips into its summit,
are evidence that at some period a city did actually occupy
this site.
Against this, only a single argument is urged, but it is
supported by so high an authority as Professor G. A. Smith.
It is that Băniyās was “a better site than Tell el-Kādi for
the capital of a district,” inasmuch as its position was,
from a military point of view, much stronger. That might
be of weight if the two sites were equally bare of all tradi-
tion, and if we knew that the ancients always thought only
of military strength in founding a city; but, as Canon
Cheyne remarks, “From Judges xviii we do not gather
that Laish was a place of exceptional national strength ; its
inhabitants were a peaceful folk, who trusted not in their
fortress but in their remoteness from troublesome people
like the Danites.”
This is strikingly true, and after seeing the two places I
must say that it seems easier by far to locate here, at this
rich tell rising amidst the fat fields of the Leddan, that old
story of the five men of the children of Dan who went up to
spy out a place which they might capture for a settlement,
* Josephus, however, calls this the Lower Jordan, and regards the
source at Băniyās as the head-fountain of the sacred stream,
96 TENT AND TESTAMENT
than it is to reconcile it with the wild broken country and
the rocky fastnesses of Bāniyās : “Then the five men
departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were
therein, how they dwelt in security, after the manner of the
Zidonians, quiet and secure ; . . . and they came unto their
brethren . . . and they said, Arise, and let us go up against
them ; for we have seen the land, and, behold, it is very
good : and are ye still ? Be not slothful to go and to enter
in to possess the land. When ye go, ye shall come unto a
people secure, and the land is large : for God hath given it
into your hand ; a place where there is no want of anything
that is in the earth.”
Dean Stanley speaks of the hill itself as “apparently an
extinct crater,” but J. Macgregor, who seems to have made
a careful study of the place,” regards it as “wholly arti-
ficial.” The truth, probably is that a small crater did exist
here, for we are in a volcanic region where similar craters
are not wanting, and that it was artificially adapted for
habitation. The plan of the mound which Macgregor gives
would favour this view.
The south-west corner of the mound is much higher than
the rest (Canon Tristram says eighty feet high), and here,
according to tradition, the golden calf, the fellow of that at
Bethel, was set up by Jeroboam. It was a sacred spot long
before his day, however; for here, doubtless, the children of
Dan set up their graven image at the founding of their city
(Judges xviii. 30), and earlier still, in prehistoric times, it may
well have been one of the many river-sources which
gathered tales of mystery around them. Such traditions
live on and change their form and take long in dying.
Even to this hour this is a venerated site, for the oak and
the terebinth which stand near that same corner of the tell
are hung, as we witnessed, with countless rags, the Offerings
of Moslem devotees.
Leaving Tell el-Kādi behind us we continued our ride
eastward up a long grassy slope bejewelled with bright
blossoms, and especially beautiful with great bushes of
hawthorn and of some white-blossomed pale-leaved shrub,
which waved in the breeze and scattered its delicious
fragrance on every side. This latter I at first took to be
some kind of syringa, for its scent was very similar ; but I
learnt afterwards that it was the storax (styraw officinalis), a
tree well known to the ancient Greeks, who extracted from
* “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” 2nd ed., pp. 214–8,
JORDAN, TO MEJDEL ESH-SHEMS 97
it a sweet-smelling gum used for incense. It is the perfume
of which Herrick sings:
“This, that, and ev'ry thicket doth transpire
More sweet than Storax from the hallowed fire.”
I wonder whether these waving bushes which adorn our
journey are descendants of those which yielded incense for
º, worship of Pan, whose cavern still yawns in yonder
Cliff -
We were now in that district into which Jesus retired
with His disciples at the great turning-point of His life
when He went with them “into the villages of Caesarea
Philippi,” and put to them the momentous question, “Who
say ye that I am f" And a fit setting this is for the ever
memorable event—wild, beautiful, tumultuous scenery, in
harmony with the tragic grandeur of the crisis. A broad
green road passing through groves of oak and olive leads up
to a climax of rocky gorges, cliffs of ruddy limestone, torn
rocks of gloomy basalt, dashing torrents and foaming
Cataracts festooned with briar and bramble and masses of
drooping maidenhair.
We crossed the foaming current of the infant Jordan–
the third of its headwaters—by a bridge of Roman masonry,
and then in the midst of this tangled wilderness we sat and
rested, almost overpowered by its melancholy beauty. On
every hand were titanic walls, rent into massive blocks of
masonry, which hung in threatening fashion Over dark
abysses. Here and there the shallow, brawling streams
which coursed in the deep wadis found their passage barred
by marble pillars and carved stones which lay athwart the
bed. A lofty bridge across one of these wadis led to the
gloomy ruins of an ancient fortress. Chasms yawned
beneath us, mountains raised their heads above us, and in
the midst of all, those tuneful birds, which we had missed
so sorely in this silent land, raised their sweet voices all
heedless of the human tragedies, the struggles for empire,
the birth and death of faiths, of which in times long past this
place had been the fitting scene. -
We did not explore the ruins of Caesarea Philippi, or
inspect the modern village of Bāniyäs. Having made up
our minds that, come what might, we would spend at least
one clear day here on our return journey, we contented
ourselves with a moderate rest on the present occasion. As
we sat at our midday meal an eagle swept in a Swift curve
G
98 TENT AND TESTAMENT
so near to us that I could see his hooked beak, the turn of
his neck, and the glitter of his cruel eye. We saw, indeed,
in the course of this day's ride a large number of eagles and
vultures, more than in any other part of our journey. The
cliffs and crags of these mountain-spurs which run up into
the Hermon range are a home well suited for all such birds
of prey.
From Băniyäs we continued our ascent, which now
became considerably steeper. Our journey was along the
mountain side with the castle of Subébeh on our left. For
two hours we travelled along a bad path among blocks of
black basalt, then descended into a valley where there was
some cultivation and where a mill-stream ran through a
plantation of poplars, and finally after another half-hour's
climb saw our camp below us in a green dip of the mountain
just under the village of Mejdel esh-Shems. We were now
well up on the main Hermon range, with the highest point
of it looking down upon us. It is generally a mass of
gleaming white, but this year the spring being unusually
warm, the snow had been reduced to a few patches near the
top.
ºede esh-Shems means Mejdel of Damascus, Esh-Shām
being the native name for the city as well as for Syria in
general (including Palestine). It is doubtless so called to
distinguish it from Mejdel near Ascalon and from that other
Mejdel in the Plain of Gennesaret which we had already
visited. The particular Mejdel where we were now encamped
is a Druse village. It is inhabited, that is to say, by people
of the brave and handsome mountain race who are the
great enemies of the Maronite Christians in this region.
What the Druse religion itself is, over and above being
violently anti-Christian, or at any rate anti-Maronite, it
would be difficult to say with any particularity. They
believe in an ineffable, unapproachable God, who incarnates
Himself from time to time, the latest incarnation being the
Khalif Hākim Biamrillāh, who lived at the beginning of
the eleventh century. They are therefore allied religiously
to the Shi'ite or heterodox Mohammedans of Persia.
As to race, they are Syro-Arab, with a great preponderance
of the Syrian element. To the beauty of their faces I can
myself bear witness, for one of the loveliest boys I ever saw
hung about our camp on the evening of which I am writing,
hand in hand with his sad-eyed and beautiful mother, who
was offering lace for sale. The whole place swarms with
JORDAN, TO MEIDEL ESH-SHEMS 99
children, and many of them are so pretty that the traveller
is at first greatly attracted by them. Perhaps that is one
reason why they are so fearless and so intrusive. However,
the tourist soon wearies of their incessant cry for bakhshish,
and the camp-attendants have to take the matter in hand to
prevent him from being hopelessly mobbed.
The village is built on a steep terraced slope, just above
the grassy hollow in which our camp is pitched. The
houses have flat roofs and arched doorways and are mostly
windowless. In spite of our sheltered position the place
strikes bitterly cold after the sweltering heat of Hūleh, and
it is difficult to believe the thermometer when at 7.30 P.M. it
shows as much as 55°; it feels more like 35°l
CH A P T E R XV III
ON MOUNT HERMON
OUR camp at Mejdel esh-Shems was about 3780 feet above
the sea, the wind in the night was violent, and the flapping
canvas like the noise of guns. I rose feeling very unwell, a
severe chill being added to other ailments of long standing.
The ride northward from Mejdel was consequently a long-
drawn wretchedness; my remembrance of it, chiefly a night-
mare of many miles of black and barren country strewn with
huge masses of cinder-like rock, full of holes, like gigantic
bits of black pumice-stone, dismally suggesting a projection
of my own inward state.
Yet certain gleams of heavenly loveliness broke through
this nightmare at times and touched the soul to momentary
forgetfulness of its suffering body. At the very start there
was such a moment, when there floated in the valley below
us a long line of light cloud with wisps of gauzy mist
streaming upward from it and paling the Sun to a moonlike
dreaminess of hue. Then there was the view of the purple
mountains of the Haurán, and the moment when the vast
blue plain of Damascus broke upon us; and there was the
point at which we first touched the snow, and the excitement
of crossing the infant Pharpar (if indeed the Nahr Barbar is
so to be identified). But for the most part the ride was for
one of us sheer misery, and the happiest moment was when
after a short day's journey the sufferer crept between the
blankets. Our camping-place was at Kefr Hawar, where most
travellers who take this road halt for the night.
The next day was Sunday, March 24. We ought to have
been in Damascus, but the journey on the previous day,
short as it was, had finished me up. A freezing wind had
been blowing during the greater part of our ride, and the
morning found me aching in every bone. So Mohammed
the groom was despatched to Damascus to bring stores for
the camp and medicines for the invalid.
ON MOUNT HERMON IOI
Monday came, and I thought I might struggle on, but
was glad enough to know that’Hammad had not yet returned,
and that I might retain the horizontal position for a few
hours longer.
At ten o'clock Hanna begins looking anxiously toward
the low rounded hill which rises to the north, but no
"Hammad appears upon its brow. The men begin to take
down the tents that we may start the moment that our
Stores arrive ; but, still no 'Hammad. Up springs a strong
South-west wind, at which Hanna looks serious. The
Sheikh of the village, who has been our sentinel for the
past two nights, is set to work to make a fresh supply of
tent-pegs. He proceeds to do so with a small sickle of
exceeding bluntness. The cook joins him with the kitchen
chopper, and together they progress at the rate of one peg
in every five minutes.
The sheikh is dressed in the blue baggy trousers used in
Syria and Northern Palestine, a loose cotton coat striped
with yellow and black, and has his head wrapped in a large
cotton hood fastened round the crown with the “agal.” A
girl, perhaps his daughter, has just come into the camp.
She, too, wears loose blue trousers, confined at the ankle,
and Over them a blue skirt which reaches to the knee or a
little lower. She has a flowing white veil hanging down her
back and tied round the crown of her head with a coloured
cotton handkerchief. Now and then, if she sees that you
are looking at her, she draws her veil over the lower part of
her face. I notice that her face is tattooed and that she has
a jewel in the side of her nose. Some little boys of five or
six years are playing around. They wear little white skull-
caps, which contrast well with their black hair and dark
faces, and blue or red striped gowns open in front from the
neck to the stomach and showing their little brown bodies.
It is nearly eleven, and Hanna looks over the hills every
five minutes: he is plainly getting uneasy. The bridle-road
to Damascus lies to the north-east of our camp. At the foot
of the hill over which it disappears, and a little to the north
of the road, lies the village of Bêt-Ima. To the west rises the
head of Hermon—“the white-haired old man,” as the
natives call it. To the south and south-east stretches a
barren, rocky hill, which we see only partially through the
beautiful veil of silver poplars which is doing its best to
screen us from this boisterous wind.
In the camping-ground itself are fig-trees and large old
I O2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
vines which writhe and coil along the ground like snakes,
and end by hanging themselves over the lower branches of
the trees. The sheikh has just fetched in a great bough of
hawthorn in full flower to cut into tent-pegs. One of the
gaunt hungry-looking dogs of the village is smelling round
the tents for bits of food.
Noon, and still no sign of Mohammed. The wind has
risen to a gale, and Hanna says we must keep in the shelter
of this clump of trees and not attempt to travel over the
exposed slope of Hermon. So the men put up the tents
again which they had taken down, drive in the new pegs,
and fasten additional ropes round the tree-trunks.
Mohammed returned from Damascus at one o'clock, having
been robbed of some of his parcels, including a bottle of my
physic, and having also had his pocket picked of his purse.
The people of Damascus have a bad name for thieving.
The wind dropped at sunset, but at the same time the
temperature fell, and clouds came rolling up over Hermon
so that we rather feared snow on the morrow. The stars
were piercingly bright. In the early hours of the night
Sudden gusts would come at long intervals, rising with an
alarming crescendo, shaking the tent and threatening to
Overthrow it, then ceasing as suddenly as they had begun.
At length, profound quiet, save for a distant chorus of dogs
in some far-off village, and we slept the sleep of the just.
It was disappointing, but Damascus had to be given up.
The choice lay between that and omitting some portion of
our Palestine plan ; and the latter was not to be thought of.
Before we turned in, therefore, it had been agreed that on
the morrow we should retrace our steps and take the down-
ward road to Caesarea.
And now, before we turn southward, let me say a word
about the northern dress which I have just described. I
have often wondered whether the difference in dress between
the north and south of Palestine was as marked in the days
of Jesus as it is now. I can hardly imagine the scene
between Peter and the servants at the High Priest's palace
taking place if the Galilean dress had been the same as it is
to-day. To-day the peasant of Galilee assimilates his dress
to that of Syria proper ; if he wears the kaftan at all he wears
it short enough to show the trousers beneath it. In the
streets of Jerusalem the northerner is known at once by his
attire, and no such debate as that recorded in the Gospel of
St. Matthew, ending with the decisive criterion of dialect,
ON MOUNT HERMON IO3
would need to take place. It is true that to-day as then the
Galilean's “speech bewrayeth him,” but one would not now
depend exclusively on that, for his costume “bewrays” him
from the first.
The difference between the north and south extends also
to the custom of tattooing.” Here again we have what is
strictly speaking a Syrian custom. The workers in tattoo
are generally Syrian, and the decoration is seen mainly in
Syria and Northern Palestine; it is scarcely ever seen in
Judaea, at any rate in the mountain districts, although it is
found I believe in Philistia.
The inference one would be inclined to draw is that in
the north the ancient Jewish customs have given way be-
fore foreign influence, and that Judaea affords at present a
nearer approach to Bible attire and decoration than Galilee.
Ancient Jewish law forbad the Israelite to “print any marks”
upon himself (Lev. xix. 28); tattooing was a Canaanitish
custom which he might not follow. It may well be, there-
fore, that as tattooing has invaded Galilee, so the Syrian
dress has invaded it, and that neither the one nor the other
was found there to any extent in New Testament times.
There is, of course, no certainty about this inference.
“Galilee of the Gentiles” was probably never very strict in
matters of Jewish law and custom. But the Petrine incident
referred to above goes to bear out the view that the disciples
of Jesus were dressed in the flowing kumbāz and abá of
Judaea, rather than in the costume which is worn by the
Galilean of to-day. And we would judge by analogy that
the graceful dress and the freedom from tattooing which
to-day characterise the women of Southern Palestine
belonged in the time of Jesus to the north also. Artists are
possibly right, therefore, even from an archaeological point
of view, in representing Mary the mother of Jesus, as they
generally do, in the long robe and drooping veil of Judaea.
* “The Immovable East.” P. G. Baldensperger, P.E.F.Q.S. Jan.
I904.
CHAPTE R XIX
BACK TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI
ON Tuesday, March 26, we began our southward journey.
It will not be interesting to the reader to mark the fluctua-
tions of the writer's health : suffice it to say once for all that
from this time to the end of the tour he was more or less
ailing, which somewhat crippled our enterprise. -
We started early, and retraced our steps first through a
cultivated plain and then through the black wilderness of
volcanic stuff already mentioned. We could not but notice
the industry of the fellahin, who had ploughed up patches of
ground high on the rocky sides of Hermon far above the
line of the lowest snow. Wherever some hollow on the
Sunny side had caught and kept a little earth, there these
poor peasants ploughed and sowed in the hope of Saving
something from the withering blast of the mountain winds
and the cruel rapacity of the Turkish tax-gatherer. The chief
feature, of course, in the ride southward is the series of
lovely views of the blue mountains of Palestine. I will not
attempt to describe this ride, nor to detail the accident
which happened to our cook, whose horse came down with
him and lamed him. Nor need I speak further of the folk
of Mejdel esh-Shems who swarmed down upon us at our
mid-day rest. It will be sufficient to remark that in the
course of the afternoon we found ourselves once more
looking down upon Bāniyäs.
Then began a long and precipitous descent from the
mountains, and again I noticed the extraordinary number
of eagles and vultures which haunt the southern spurs of
Hermon. They were of several kinds, though the com-
monest was the black and white vulture known in Egypt as
Pharaoh's Hen, which is mentioned in the Levitical law "
among the unclean birds.
* Translated “gier eagle" in the Authorised Version, “vulture * in
the Revised Version.
FIG. 19.-CAESAR EA PHILIPPI : THE CASTLE GATE
FROM THE 1:RIDGE
FIG. 20.-C-ESAR EA PHILIPPI : THE CASTLE GATE
| ROM WITH IN


BACK TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI IO5
We had taken spiralwise the hill upon which the castle of
Subébeh stood, leading our horses by the bridle, and had
just remounted before the last drop into Bāniyās, when
... 1ddenly our ears were assailed by a burst of merry music.
rom cliff to cliff it echoed, and seemed to set the whole
irit of the place a-dancing. No soul was in sight, and One
Duld almost fancy that Pan himself, whose grotto lay just
below us, was piping from his cave. Nearer and nearer came
the happy strains, till at length our eye detected the musician,
a young Syrian peasant, stepping briskly along and blowing
away into his twin pipes as though he were sending his very
Soul through them. Presently we came up with him, and
a pastoral dialogue ensued between Corydon and our guide,
Hanna extending his arm with a dignified not to say com-
manding air, the simple shepherd smiling, shy, shaking his
head, and pleading plaintively. It ended in the hills sinking
into silence while Hanna rode off with the musical reed.
Too late I learned that it was on my behalf that the chaffer-
ing had taken place, that Corydon had sold his soul for
ninepence, and that he had done so with reluctance. I
asked Hanna what the boy had said. “He said,” replied
Hanna, “that he loved his pipe better than he loved him-
self; ” and in a sense I believe the boy spoke truly, for
never otherwise could he have sent those wild notes
wandering among the hills with such a soul in them.
We camped within sight of the Grotto of Pan and the
Jordan Source, our tents being pitched on a grassy slope
beneath some fine spreading trees. The slope broke off at
a narrow, rocky channel, down which the little river tossed
and foamed, making music to us through the hours of the
clear night.
The ruins of the citadel of Bāniyās, which were the first
of the relics we visited on the following morning, are a
strange mixture of many ages. They are approached by an
ancient bridge thrown across the wadi, which is said to be
partly Roman, but the walls and piers of which contain
materials more ancient still. At the further end of the
bridge is a gateway superscribed with an Arabic inscription;
yet the adjacent walls are mediaeval, with marble pillars of
the old Graeco-Roman time, showing their circular butt-ends
among the squared stones of the twelfth-century masonry
(Fig. 19). 4-
Passing through this portal you find yourself among
the houses of the modern village, which are crowded to-
Ioé TENT AND TESTAMENT
gether within the castle walls. They are built from the
stones of the ancient ruins, their roofs being flat and com-
posed as usual of timbers and brushwood and hardened **','
mud. Perched on the tops of the houses are the curious ...”
Summer shelters, composed of leafy boughs and shaped like
beehives, which are common in the country. The men
who loaf in the shadow of the walls wear the shirt and
trousers of the northern peasantry with the Beda win
keffiyeh and agál (Figs. 21, 22).
Back of the village is the red limestone cliff, over a
hundred feet in height,” where the foot of the mountain
(one of the spurs of Hermon) is torn away. This cliff is
pierced now as in ancient times by a vast cave, no other
than the celebrated Grotto of Pan, which gave the place its
name of Paneas (Fig. 23). “When Herod the Great had
conducted Caesar to the sea,” writes Josephus, “and was
returned home, he built him a most beautiful temple, of the
whitest stone in Zenodorus's country, near the place called
The Paneion. This is a very fine cave in a mountain,
under which there is a great cavity in the earth, and the
cavern is abrupt and prodigiously deep, and full of a still
Water ; over it hangs a vast mountain ; and under the
caverns arise the springs of the River Jordan.” The
threshold of the cave is blocked now by a great heap of
earth and stones which have fallen from above, diminishing
the size of the opening and smothering the pool of “still
water.” The river, which, when Josephus wrote, must have
flowed from the cave itself, comes filtering to-day through
this mound of rubbish (Fig. 24). The “temple of whitest
stone” which Herod dedicated to the worship of Caesar is
represented now by a little Moslem shrine dedicated to
the prophet Elijah.
The term Paneion, according to Prof. G. A. Smith, f was
applied to the whole group, hill, cavern, and fountain.
Paneas, a feminine form of the adjective, was applied to the
district and town of the Paneion. Philip the Tetrarch
named the city Caesarea Philippi, and Agrippa named it
Neronias, but the old name could not be killed out. The
rank and file of the people are apt to take this matter of
names into their own hands, and the ancient name often
survives when the aristocratic and fancy name dies out.
So it was in this case. The city ceased to be called
* Stanley says 80 feet; Robinson says Ioo to 150 feet.
ł Smith, “Hist, Geog.” p. 474.
FIG. 21.--THE VILLAGE OF BANIYAs, BUILT FROM
THE STON ES OF CAESA REA PHILIPPI
FIG. 22.-SUMMER HOUSES ON THE ROOFS
of BANIYAS
-
-
-
-
:


BACK TO CAESAREA PHILIPPI 107
Caesarea or Neronias, but retained its old name of Paneas,
and to this day the name lingers on the lips of the native in
the softened Arabic form of Bāniyäs.
I clambered up the great slope of débris which leads to the
cave. In the hard surface of the rock, beside and above the
cavern's mouth, are niches which once held statues, and
inscriptions looking in some cases as sharp as if the chisel
had lately left them. The dedication to Pan and the Nymphs
is still perfectly clear to read.
Passing through the opening, you drop suddenly down
from the ridge formed by the fallen rubbish and find your-
self in a cave of much vaster size than you realise at first.
Indeed, it was not until I had been seated there for some
minutes enjoying the transition from the glare of noonday
to the refreshing shadow of this retreat that I discovered
some one else besides myself enjoying the same. At the back
of the cavern were a number of black cattle, who had fled
from the scorching heat and the tormenting flies into this
cool recess. I then realised the true proportions of Pan's
rustic grotto.
Caesar's temple has disappeared, though its materials
doubtless lie all around. One may guess, however, that
it stood on that rocky platform just above the cave and a
little to the left, where the white Moslem shrine of Elijah
mentioned above now stands. It is the custom for one
religion to adopt the sacred sites of another and change the
dedication, and it is likely enough that the Arab weli has
superseded the Roman temple.
What a mixture of religious associations we have at this
place 1 This doubtless was the Beth-Gad or Beth-Hermon
“in the valley of Lebanon under Mount Hermon " which
“is thrice mentioned as marking the northern limit of
ſº conquests.” Here Baal-Gad, the lord of good
uck, was worshipped even as late as the days of Isaiah.t In
later times came the Macedonian Greeks to set up here the
worship of the god Pan. Then Herod the Idumaean built
his temple here to the Roman Caesar. And while the Greek
and the Roman worship were still living here side by side,
Jesus came with His disciples “into the villages of Caesarea
Philippi,” and from His momentous question : “Who say
ye that I am 2" sprang the Christian religion. In the fourth
* “Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Baal-Gad.”
+ Schwartz, quoted in Macgregor, “Rob Roy on Jordan,” 2nd ed.
p. 225.
IOS TENT AND TESTAMENT
century of our era a bishopric was founded under the
patriarchate of Antioch. In the twelfth century the
Crusaders rescued it from the Saracens and founded a
bishopric under the Latin Church. Finally the Moham-
medans reconquered it, and there on yonder cliff stands to-
day their little weli of Elijah.
Long we stood musing by the infant Jordan, where in a
broad and sparkling stream it flows from the foot of the
cliff. Cattle were standing in it, children were dabbling in
it, and in one cool nook within the shadow of the trees a
brown-skinned Arab was bathing. We turned from the
lovely spot with regret, and pushed our way through
tangled growth and over prostrate ruins to our tents beneath
the spreading oak.
In the afternoon a hot breeze began to blow from the
east, and induced a feeling of languor which kept us loung-
ing in camp. Towards night it rose to a strong wind, a
touch of sirocco. Even at 8 P.M. the thermometer showed
81°, and the hours seemed to grow hotter instead of cooler
as they passed. The wind rose to a storm, and the men
were up all night driving in tent-pegs, tightening cords, and
guarding the shaking tents. There was little sleep for us,
and we rose next morning unrefreshed.
FIG. 23–CAESAR EA PHILIPPI : THE CAVE OF PAN
FIG. 24.—CAESAR EA PHILIPPI : THE SOURCE OF
THE JORDAN
:


C H APT E R XX
FROM CAESAREA PHILIPPI TO GENNESARET
WE left Băniyäs at our usual hour, about seven o'clock,
retracing our steps to Tell-el-Kâdi and the bridge across the
Häsbäni, and then dropping downward and ever downward
till we reached once more the Plain of Hüleh and were
greeted by the same old deafening chorus of countless frogs
which we had wondered at a week before and which I
suppose had never for a moment ceased since we left the
place. Then, past village after village of reed-built huts,
swarming with little black Bedawin children (Fig. 25), at
one of which I dismounted intending to photograph the
little creatures, but at a signal from one of the women, hey!
presto they all vanished in a twinkling. Great herds of
long-horned Indian buffaloes tended by wild-looking
Bedawin grazed between us and the marshes, while many
of them lay in the water like hippopotami, or were immersed
in the mud of pools and ditches.
When we reached our old bathing place, Ain Belāta, the
Marble Fountain (so-called, they told us, because it flowed
from a white rock) we found that 'Hammad had arranged
for our mid-day halt there beneath a large oak. It is a
lovely spot, and as we had plenty of time before us, we
somewhat extended our usual interval. There, resting
under the deep shadow, we watched far, far up in the
transparent air—so high that they seemed beyond the plane
in which the clouds float or even that in which the stars
shine at night-time—a great flight of white birds. They
were only just within the range of vision, and looked no
larger than a swarm of bees. When the sunlight caught
them they flashed like silver, then as they turned aslant
they would as suddenly disappear ; and so, Shining and
vanishing every minute, they took their pathless way
through the cloudless heaven. What were they White
storks? Wild swans ? It was impossible to say, but there
I IO TENT AND TESTAMENT
was poetry in their flight so high above this sordid world,
and in that annual Swarming northward at the return of
spring which has never ceased from the days when Jeremiah
prophesied or Solomon's Song was written.
We mounted again, and pursued our southward journey.
I have hardly alluded to the abundant traffic which we met
whenever we touched any of the caravan-routes. On this
very morning, we had met near the Bridge of Ghajar a
curious train of donkeys carrying ploughs—two wooden
ploughs on the back of each donkey. And here again, in
the Plain of Hüleh, we met many traders' caravans, long
strings of asses laden with pots and jars packed in bulging
nets woven from palm-tree fibre, and great processions of
camels with bundles of mats piled upon their backs plaited
from the reeds which grow in the Hūleh marshes.
Our ride to-day was short, not more than five or six hours
in all, so we reached our camp early. The men had pitched
it beside the mill at Ain Mellāha, a rushing stream near the
north-west corner of the lake. There was again a threaten-
ing of Sirocco, the temperature in our tent at 4 P.M. being
92°, and not much less in the coolest shade outside. So we
contented ourselves with sitting in the tent-door and watch-
ing the exquisite little dragon-flies of bronze and brown and
blue and the great purple adder-spears which flitted to and
fro, and with listening to the cattle-bells and the piping of
a Bedawi herdsman and the voice of the flowing water.
As dusk drew on a weird and romantic spectacle was
granted us. The Bedawin of this district spear the fish of
the lake, attracting them to the surface by lighting fires.
For this purpose they had this evening set light to the dry
sedge and reeds along the further shore. Opposite to us
was a line of flame Over a mile long, and there were two
other fires away to the south. Looking across the flat of
the intervening marsh one noticed a wavy black line inked
on the blood-red background. It flickered and quivered
unceasingly against the dazzle. It was the surface of the
lake. No human figures could be seen from the place
where we sat, which was two miles or more from the scene
of the fishing, but there was a sound of drumming and a
barking of dogs, and there floated slowly upward, mounting
above the hills, rolling out into the open sky, and drifting
far, far away to the north across the face of Hermon, a
mighty column of smoke, brown and luminous.
The night deepened, the Bedawin drums became more
distant, an army of frogs and crickets invaded the whole
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CAESAREA PHILIPPI TO GENNESARET I I I
plain with their rattling and their fifing, a bat flitting to and
fro made a moving blot against the flare of the distant fires.
Through the darkness came the voices of our muleteers, a
mosquito hummed in our tent, and the sentinel who had
just been posted for the night had already begun the
monotonous chant by which he meant to while away the
hours of watching. The moon and stars shone calm above
us all.
The next morning we had a glimpse of our fishing friends.
I wandered down the mill-stream alone before sun-rise,
stripped, and plunged into the crystal stream. While I was
in the water the edge of the sun peeped over the eastern
mountains, and instantly, as if a spring were touched,
heaven opened. The lower sky of every-day was reft
asunder, and far, far above it, beyond the lift of any earthly
sky I ever saw or dreamed of, a canopy of gold and carmine
—a very tabernacle for the God of glory—was spread
abroad. Just then, as I stood awe-struck at the wonder,
there came strolling up the stream one of the black Bedawin,
spear in hand, peeping this side and that side, peering into
all the holes on either bank, plainly on the look-out for
fish. I half wondered whether he might not find some
welcome fish in the pockets of my clothes, but he merely
glanced at the naked white man without moving a muscle
of his face, and passed on. After breakfast, at about half-
past six, when we were preparing for our start, a small
crowd of these black fellows visited the camp and stood
gazing at us while we packed (Fig. 26).
I could not see their hair, since their heads were covered
with the black keffiyeh, but their flat noses and thick lips
told of their semi-negro blood, and the map of the Palestine
Exploration Fund marks the district as inhabited by
“Ghawārineh.” These are the fellows who captured
Macgregor in his canoe and kept him prisoner at their
camp ; but I believe they are friendly enough in the general
way, and even on that occasion were probably moved more
by curiosity than by any thought of plunder. The fishing-
spear which each man held must be a very ancient Palestine
implement, or the mode of fishing at any rate must be
ancient, for when Jehovah answered Job out of the whirl-
wind He asked, “Canst thou fill the head of leviathan
with fish-spears ” (Job xli. 7.)
We realised in the course of this morning's ride how
great a drop the Jordan makes from Lake Hūleh to the Sea
of Galilee. It falls, in fact, 690 feet in the ten miles or so
II 2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
of direct distance. We start about 40 feet above sea-level
and finish 650 feet below it.
In due time we reached the cross-track from Safed by
which we had struck our present route when making our
northward journey. After this our road was new to us.
The new elements were, however, not those of romance,
but those of strict and non-picturesque utility. For here
we passed through one of the principal Jewish farm
colonies subsidised by rich European Jews; and the place
looks like what it is, the reverse of a natural growth–a bit
of Europe plumped down into incongruous surroundings.
Here were European roads and carts, European drivers,
dressed in Semi-European garments, and beyond all, worst of
all, here was European barbed wire. But the mile-long
avenue of poplar and eucalyptus, with hedges of mimosa,
gave a very grateful shade, for the heat was fierce to-day ;
and water from a tap, which we could drink without fear
of typhoid, was a veritable luxury, albeit the farmyard
where we found it was singularly unbiblical.
“Twenty years ago or more,” says a recent American
writer, “Baron Edmond Rothschild of Paris, who, as a
practical man, does not thoroughly sympathise with the
Zionist movement, undertook at his own expense to try an
extensive experiment to demonstrate the problem. He
purchased large tracts of land in different parts of Palestine,
and settled upon them some twenty or more colonies, with
about ten thousand Jews from Roumania, Poland and other
parts of Europe. The experiment has cost him at least ten
million dollars, and he admits that it is a failure. He has
abandoned this vast scheme of philanthropy, transferred all
of the land and other property to the Jewish Colonisation
Society of London, and has given it ten million dollars
more to carry on the work.” "
The passing impression which one receives in riding
through this Hūleh colony is certainly that everything has
been done which money can do. But when one sees the
pale languid faces, and the lank weakly frames of the
“labourers” as they lounge along by their teams or peck
feebly at the soil, the conviction comes home to one that
there are things which money cannot do, and that this task
of turning the emaciated Jews from Western towns into
successful tillers of Eastern soil is one of them.
* “To-day in Syria and Palestine,” by W. E. Curtis, p. 327.
Chicago, Igo4.
CAESAREA PHILIPPI TO GENNESARET 1.13
From this point we travelled by a mountain road to
Khān Jubb Yūsuf, the old half-ruined khán which, in our
northward journey, we had reached viá Kherāzeh; and
thence we dropped by the broad caravan road to Khán
Minyeh, by the Ain-et-Tin. The greater part of this track
is on one of the main routes of the country, a very famous
and ancient road. It is, in fact, no other than the Via
Maris, the old Roman road between the Mediterranean and
Damascus. From time immemorial the caravans have
travelled by this identical line of march. Coming from
Damascus they crossed the Jordan by the Bridge of the
Daughters of Jacob, south of Lake Hūleh, thence climbed
to the point where the khān of Joseph's Pit now stands,
and so descended to Khān Minyeh. From this place, or
the city which then stood here, they followed one of three
roads: they either struck westward out of the Plain of
Gennesaret up the Wädi Rubudiyeh and reached the
Mediterranean under Carmel ; or left the Plain by the Wädi
Hamām, crossed Esdraelon, and travelled by Sharon and
Philistia to Egypt, or they kept southward through Tiberias
and Bethshan to Jerusalem. There is no long-used road
in the world which is not full of poetry; but is there any-
where a road so full of poetry, so full of history and of
sacred associations, as this old “Way of the Sea "?
|H
CHA PT E R XXI
ROUND ABOUT CAPERNAUM
IT had taken us five hours to ride from Ain-Mellāha to Ain-
et-Tin, taking the détour over the mountains by Khān Jubb
Yūsuf, and then we felt that we had earned our rest, so
here we made our mid-day halt. The thermometer stood
at 94° in the shade, and I would fain have prolonged my
siesta by the Fountain of the Fig-tree, but this was the only
chance I should have of studying this important place in
connection with the great Capernaum question, so I wearily
dragged my limbs among the scattered ruins in the
neighbourhood of Khān Minyeh and took what notes I
could. They were scanty enough, for, as the hours advanced,
so did the heat : in fact, it was on the same afternoon
(March 29) that Dr. Torrance's thermometer at the
neighbouring town of Tiberias reached Ios” in the shade at
4 P.M.–eight degrees higher than the highest record for
the month of March in the previous ten years.
The details of my observations are given elsewhere,” but I
may here briefly remark that my earlier impression f that
there had at some period been a town of considerable size
here was confirmed. Robinson, I find, although on his
first visit he spoke slightingly of the ruins, wrote, when he
visited them a second time, “the remains . . . are much
more extensive and considerable than my former impression
had led me to anticipate.” Lieutenant (now Lord)
Kitchener also speaks of them as “extensive ruins.” The
group of ruins of which I myself examined the traces,
appearing sometimes only on the surface of the ground and
sometimes rising into bold obstructions to the plough,
covered an area of Some five or six acres. But Robinson
and Tristram both describe additional ruins lying nearer to
the shore of the Lake, and to these we must add ruins
mentioned by Schumacher, Wilson, Merrill, and others, on
* See Appendix D. # See ante, p. 72.
ROUND ABOUT CAPERNAUM II 5
the hill above the khán. So that, all taken together, we
have traces of a town comparable in size with that which
stood at Tell Húm.
As to the Fountain of the Fig-tree (Ain-et-Tin) that is
indeed a lovely pool, crystal clear, and, in spite of what
Dr. Thomson says in “The Land and the Book,” its water
is sweet to the taste." But it cannot possibly be the spring
Capharnaoum which Josephus mentions as irrigating the
plain, for it is nearly on a level with the lake, and the plain
could never, therefore, have been irrigated from this source.
It is full of small fish and tortoises, but it is not, I believe, a
haunt of the “Coracinus fish,” as the Fountain of Capernaum
was said to be.
It does not, however, follow in the least that because this
little spring at el-Minyeh cannot have been the Capernaum
Fountain, el-Minyeh itself cannot have been Capernaum
village. For, as already explained, the Fountain of
Capernaum may have been separated from the village by
this rocky promontory, and its water brought across the
top of the rock through the channel which traversed it and
which still exists. Whether that channel is road or aqueduct
is still to some extent a debated question. Those who
consider it to be a road rely upon the faet that there are no
remains of cement on the sides or bed of the channel ; also,
upon the doubt, which, Strange to say, still remains, as to
whether the source of the Täbigha spring is above or below
the bed of the channel. To my own mind the question
appears to be practically settled by the testimony of Master
John Sanderson, set forth in “Purchas His Pilgrimes,” which
seems to prove that as late as A.D. 1601 the waters of et-
Täbigha came pouring through this channel, and were
carried along through the midst of el-Minyeh.t
The mental picture of Old Capernaum—the Capernaum
of Jesus' day—which, standing in the midst of these ruins,
I formed, was something like this : The main part of the
town was clustered here to the south-west of the rocky
promontory which closes the northern end of the Plain of
* It is curious how travellers are divided in their opinion upon the
quality of this water. Burckhardt says that it is sweet, so does
Tristram ; but Thomson and Wilson both declare that it is brackish.
Perhaps the difference in opinion arises from their not having ail
tasted the very same spring; for, Robinson in his “Biblical Researches”
records that near the main source are several other springs, and that
his guides said these springs were somewhat salt.
t See Appendix D.
II6 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Gennesaret. It was supplied with sweet water from this
beautiful pool and Fountain of the Fig-tree. The houses
climbed the slope of the hill towards the Roman castle,
which reared itself, “exalted unto heaven,” above the rocky
height, and in which the centurion and his soldiers resided.
The ancient caravan-road came down the mountain-side
near to the castle walls, and the garrison kept watch upon
it and upon the custom-house where the publican sat at the
receipt of custom, levying toll upon the merchandise which
passed to and fro by land and water. The little town
extended in the other direction to the shore of the lake, and
here was a small harbour for the boats which plied to and
fro upon the Sea of Galilee. It is partly silted up now, and
forms a flowery marsh where the papyrus grows in
profusion.
On the further side of the rock barrier was the fishing and
tanning suburb. The great stream, one of the largest in
Galilee, poured its warm brackish water into the lake, and
round about its mouth then as now the fish were abundant.
The fishing-boats were anchored or drawn up on the shelving
beach of the little bay. The water of Ain et-Täbigha is said
to be specially suitable for tanning, and we may suppose
that in ancient as in later times it was used for that purpose.
A part of the stream, however, was diverted into an aqueduct,
and carried through a channel cut in the top of the rock to
the main town of Capernaum. Its warm and fertilising
waters were used for irrigating the Gennesaret gardens in
the dry season ; probably, too, they filled the Roman baths,
which were always to be found where Romans settled.
Add, as a setting to this picture, the rich sub-tropical
verdure and the grapes and figs and divers fruits for which,
according to Josephus, Gennesaret was famous; and then,
as a background to the whole, remember the green hill
which rises close behind the town and looks down serenely
upon its beauty—the hill into whose silences Jesus would
love to climb. That is the chosen home of the Master as I
picture it. To me it appears to fit the Gospel-story far
better than any possible reconstruction built from the
natural features of Tell-Hüm.
Well, the two or three hours, which were all that we
could devote to el-Minyeh, were spent, and turning back
upon our tracks we struck north-eastward across the top of
the rock which divides Gennesaret from the Bay of Täbigha.
A second time we passed through the far-famed channel
ROUND ABOUT CAPERNAUM II7
mentioned above, and again we noticed its semicircular
bottom so ill-fitted for a road, so suitable for flowing water.
When we see how it is worn by countless hoofs of countless
beasts through centuries of traffic, it is little wonder that
there are no traces of cement to be found upon its surface.
Issuing from it and taking the path which leads from it
down the hill-side toward the lake, we came presently upon
the German Catholic hospice, at which we had called on a
former occasion, but at which we were not then able to
make any lengthened pause in our journey. On this
occasion we made a longer stay and obtained permission of
the residents to examine the fresh-water spring which
descends through their grounds and which they insist is
the real Ain et–Täbigha. It is but a small runnel of water
rising from under a rock, but made more important by the
German pfarrer, who has fashioned a rocky basin, and built
a stone dam, and planted beautiful trees round the pool thus
made.
Then we went on to the big, brackish Ain et-Täbigha,
which came rushing down the mountain-side, pouring over
broken aqueducts and ruined walls. Close beside it our
tents were pitched, and we were glad enough to creep into
their friendly shade.
A naked fisherman was at work near by with a casting-
net, standing in the water up to his waist to throw it. This
is the very same dpipiſłAmarpov which Simon and Andrew
were “casting in the sea" when Jesus called them “to
become fishers of men’’ (Mark i. 16). The Sinaitic and
the Vatican manuscripts say that they were “casting nets
here and there into the sea,” and this very graphically
describes the mode of operation with the duºpiºmorpov.
This net, which is still in use on the Phoenician coast as
well as here at the Sea of Galilee, is leaded round the
circumference, and has a cord fastened to the centre.
When it is thrown it expands, and the leaded circle falls
about and encloses the fish. It is, in fact, much such a net
as I have myself used in boyhood to catch minnows for
“live-bait.” It is now one of the principal instruments for
fishing used in the Sea of Galilee, because the larger nets
require a boat, and boats are so heavily taxed by the
wretched Turks that the poor Galilean fishers cannot
afford to use them. Even the ancient Romans were more
merciful.
Hanna goes up to my brown-skinned fisher and begins
II.8 TENT AND TESTAMENT
to talk with him. The man's black eyes sparkle and his
speech is eager and vivacious. Presently Hanna comes
strolling back to say that the fisherman had told him of
another fresh-water spring which I might like to see. So
again I issued forth, and after wading through some of the
Täbigha streams we arrived at a round-topped knoll, less
than a quarter of a mile beyond the main stream, from the
base of which the water flowed. I tasted it and found it
sweet. I wonder that the Fathers at Tell-Húm do not get
their water here instead of at the German settlement; it
would shorten their journey by a good step.
The story which the fisherman told about the spring was
a little difficult to understand. He said that it was called
Ain el-Hāsel; that it was formerly covered by a round stone
with a hole in it, through which the water forced itself up
into a fountain, but that the stone had been broken by the
Bedawin, though the pieces of it still exist. He said more-
over (so Hanna interpreted him) that the water from it was
carried by the aqueduct to Khān Minyeh, where it turned a
mill, the ruins of which remain. I suspect, however, that
there is some confusion here, and that mill and aqueduct
were both on the Täbigha side of the Minyeh rock. I did
not find the stream marked in my Survey Map.
The cook gave us for dinner a fish which had a biological
as well as a culinary interest. It was a kind of bream with
a very broad side and almost circular body. I have no
doubt that it was the Chromis Nilotica, one of those
Egyptian fishes which are common in this lake, although
both head and tail seemed smaller and the flat side more
circular than the figure of that fish as given in Tristram's
“Natural History of the Bible” (9th ed. p. 282). It was
very good eating and less insipid than the bream of our fresh
waterS.
Tristram mentions that of fourteen species of fish which
he obtained from the lake, four were essentially African : a
very remarkable fact when taken in conjunction with other
inhabitants of this wonderful Jordan Valley. We had only
an hour or two before seen the Egyptian papyrus growing
at Ain et-Tin, and only yesterday left behind us the great
papyrus-jungle of Hüleh ; and many other plants and many
birds of the valley have African affinities. Even the human
inhabitants with their woolly hair and thick lips are practically
African ; though I suppose this latter fact has no geological
bearing, but merely indicates that the climate in the Ghör
ROUND ABOUT CAPERNAUM II9
ºrages negro fugitives and nomads to live and breed
€re.
One of the African fishes in the lake is that mentioned by
Josephus, the Coracinus, the presence of which in or about
the Fountain of Capernaum, according to his account, led
to the popular belief that that spring was connected in some
mysterious subterranean manner with the Nile. The fish
in question is identified with the Clarias macracanthus,
or Sheat-fish, a curious eel-like creature with feelers
above, beneath, and on either side of its head. It buries
itself in the sand, leaving only its head with these long
feelers free. Mr. J. Macgregor records that the Arab fisher-
men whom he met called it Barbút, and alleged that it
was found plentifully in the lake, and was exported by
thousands to Damascus and Beyrūt; and he quotes an
interesting passage from Rabbi Schwarz, who says, “There
is found in the Sea of Chinnereth a very fat fish, “ al Barbud,"
which has no scales, wherefore it is not eaten by Jews; I
consider it to be a species of the eel.” -
This identification of the Coracinus with the Sheat-fish
is not, however, universally accepted, for some writers speak
of it as being like a perch; which should be a warning to
topographical controversialists not to depend too much on
the Coracinus argument in their search for Capernaum.*
Perhaps after all the fish we dined off may have been the
classical creature which has figured so often in heated
discussions as to that holy site I However that may be, it
was certainly a Chromis, and as such has one element of
interest which Josephus himself and all the theologians to
boot could never draw from any other genus. For these
are the fishes that have the most amazing cradle for their
young that any creature on this amazing earth has ever yet
invented. The father fish takes the tiny eggs of the spawn
one by one into his mouth, and there he hatches them. For
several weeks the paternal mouth, which is furnished
with pouches for the purpose, forms the home of the
“small fry’; and they live there till they are nearly four
inches long, so that the poor parent cannot even close his
iaws
J The climate, I suppose, of this deeply embosomed sea has
something to do with the extraordinary fertility of its waters.
“The density of the shoals of fish in the Sea of Galilee,”
says Tristram, “can scarcely be conceived by those who
* See Appendix D. 2.
I2O TENT AND TESTAMENT
have not witnessed them. Frequently these shoals cover
an acre or more of the surface ; and the fish, as they slowly
move along in masses, are so crowded, with their back-fins
just appearing on the level of the water, that the appearance
at a little distance is that of a violent shower of rain patter-
ing on the surface.” This, perhaps, may account for those
“large dark patches on the water,” of which Professor
Stapfer writes as though they were something unaccountable.”
Dr. Torrance, for many years a resident in Tiberias, whom
I questioned on this point, had never observed these
“patches" as a phenomenon special to the Sea of Galilee.
The roughening of the surface by a breeze or by the slow
passing of a shoal of fish he knew ; and these one who
spends but a few days by these shores may see for himself,
but beyond them I saw nothing to justify Professor Stapfer's
remark.
In the evening I sat near the camp and watched some
black and white kingfishers at work. It was wonderful to
see the little creatures hover for a minute and then pounce
upon their prey. They did not seem timid like our British
kind, for a pair of them went on quite unconcernedly with
their fishing, although I was fully in sight. I learned that
beside this black and white kingfisher, two other kinds are
found here—a large blue, and a small blue.
Well, should we for ever fail to locate Capernaum, the
fish and the birds remain the same ; the shores, the lake, the
mountains remain as of old ; the flowers which grace these
grassy slopes, the little fire-flies which glance among the
bushes in the dusk, must have been known to Jesus. Nay,
even Capernaum must have stood within two miles of our
camp to the right or left. Tell Húm and Khurbet Minyeh
lie but some three miles apart, and one or other of them
was the home of Christ.
* “Palestine in the Time of Christ.” Eng. Trans. p. 40.
CHA PTE R XXII
TWO DAYS IN TIBERIAS
WE commenced the next day with a delicious bath in the
lake in the cool of the morning. Before we could get our
dip, however, with any comfort or sweetness we had to walk
a good step from our camp in order to get to windward of
a putrid corpse of a donkey which lay upon the beach. My
fellow-traveller had been in a high state of indignation on
the previous day concerning this presence, and had offered
a reward for its burial, but his offer was met by the wooden
faces which the Arabs always wear when they mean to
refuse or disobey.
This hateful custom of letting animals lie and rot wherever
they may chance to fall dead obtains all over the country.
No one, apparently, ever dreams of burying them. The
bodies of horses, sheep, and camels are met with in every
day's march, fouling the air and offending the eye.
Vultures, dogs, and flies do the work of sextons and
scavengers—all the work, at any rate, that is ever done—
and the bare bones are then left to bleach for months
beneath the staring sun. In part, no doubt, this is due to
indolence, but in part also to that total want of reverence
for animal life which is characteristic of the fellah.
After breakfast we sent the tents and baggage to Tiberias,
while we ourselves sailed thither in a fishing-boat. The
water was rough enough to give us a good tossing, but to
my regret we saw nothing like a storm at any time during
our stay by the lake.
The coasting-trip from Täbigha to Tiberias is a matter of
some seven miles, and for nearly half the way we are sailing
past the shore of Gennesaret. This is, perhaps, the best
way to get a general idea of the plain. One sees the moun-
tains grouped in the background, and the way in which the
wādis open out from them. In particular one is struck by
the abrupt and unexpected gap where the Wädi Hamām
I 22 TENT AND TESTAMENT
comes down. It is with a thrill that one sets eyes for the
first time on this wild “Valley of Doves,” so famous in
Jewish history. For here stood Arbela, and here took
place that romantic assault upon the robbers' caves by
Herod's soldiers of which Josephus writes in his “Wars
of the Jews.”
I would fain know more about these same “robbers.”
Their magnificent heroism is such that it is difficult not to
believe that some greater motive than “robbery” lay behind
their deeds, some despairing patriotism or bitter rebellion
against the ruling forces of the world. The story tells how
they were defeated by Herod in a pitched battle, “for their
skill was that of warriors, but their boldness was the bold-
ness of robbers”; and how a remnant of them fled to their
caves in this same Valley of Doves, and defied all Herod's
assaults, till he let down his soldiers from the top of the cliff
in chests bound about with iron chains. And then it goes
on to tell of the terrible fight upon the narrow terraces
which were cut in the face of the cliff and upon which the
caverns opened, and how one of the robbers, the father of
seven children, stoutly refused to let his wife and children
surrender themselves; but, standing at the cavern's mouth,
commanded them to pass out one by one and, as one by
one they came, cut them down with his own hand, children
and wife, and cast their dead bodies down the precipice,
and last of all threw himself down after them rather than
yield to the Idumaean.*
Before we are out of sight of Wädi Hamām, there is one
other association with the place which we ought to bear in
mind. It was down this wadi that the old road from
Nazareth came. When Jesus left His mountain home to
begin His life-work, He travelled to Capernaum by way of
this wild gorge. He passed beneath the robbers' caves, and
as He looked up at them knew well that story of desperate
deeds. For, the weird fight had taken place within forty
years of His birth and within a few miles of His boyhood's
home, and He must often have heard the story from His
father's lips.
We landed at Tiberias at about Io A.M., and while my
companion went on to the camping-ground, I went to call
upon Dr. Torrance at the Scottish Mission to ask his advice
about travelling down the Ghór, in view of the heat which
had overtaken us. For, to-day again the Sirocco assailed us
* Josephus, “Ant.” xiv. xv., 4, 5; and “Wars,” i. xvi., 2–4.
TWO DAYS IN TIBERIAS I 23
with its hot breath, and the thermometer showed Io2° in
the shade and 119° in the sun. Like the good Christian
that he is, the doctor immediately insisted that we should
leave our camp and stay for a bit in his cool stone house,
where the walls were thick and the floors sprinkled with
water. So a messenger was dispatched to bring my com-
rade back, and we found ourselves revelling in the com-
fort of a home. And here it was that we had a novel
experience.
It was about four o'clock, and the Sirocco was still blow-
ing, when one of the servants came in and said something
to the doctor in Arabic. “The locusts have come !” ex-
claimed the doctor, and we hurried into the garden to see
the sight.
What we saw was a yellow snow-storm. The air was
thick with the insects driving with the wind just as the
snow-flakes drive in a heavy fall. The valley was full of
them coming from the lake and drifting up between the
mountains. Seen against the sky they were like a plague of
black flies, and their multitude was so great that they
darkened the air. The westward drift of the swarm con-
tinued for an hour, then all of a sudden a sort of miracle
seemed to occur. The wind quite suddenly changed to the
exactly opposite quarter. In a moment heat was changed
to coolness, and in a moment the flight of the locusts was
checked. For a time there was a confused mixing of the
swarms, just as we see when Snowflakes are whirled about
by gusts. Then a steady drift in a contrary direction set in,
and the whole flight was driven back to the wilderness by
the way that it had come. It was difficult to realise, as we
saw them thus at the mercy of every breath, that these par-
ticles were all alive. Their helpless drifting greatly im-
pressed me, and although it did not occur to me at the
time, I was interested afterwards to find that the same
thing had been used as a figure by one of the Hebrew
Psalmists to express the helplessness of one subjected to
a bitter fate; “I am poor and needy, and my heart is
wounded within me. I am gone like the shadow when it
declineth : I am tossed up and down as the locust”
(PS. cik. 23).
Another scriptural passage was also illustrated by what
we had seen. The swarms had been brought us by an east
wind, and the sudden change to the west had driven
them back. Just so in the story of the Egyptian plague
I 24 TENT AND TESTAMENT
we read how “when it was morning the east wind brought
the locust,” and afterwards how “the Lord turned a
mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts"
(Ex. x. 13, 19). The parts which the east and the west winds
play in this phenomenon are of course explained by the
fact that these insects are bred for the most part in the
Arabian desert.
The swarm which we had seen must have been an un-
usually early one ; for, Tristram speaks of May 18 as an
early date for the appearance of the young,” and here
we had the fully winged insect on March 30 ! It is of
course in the pupa state that the locust does the greatest
harm, but in the winged state also they are very far from
being harmless, as the doctor ruefully told us while he
gazed at them swarming over his garden. The wonderful
description by the prophet Joel of the march of the locusts
refers to the pupa state before the wings are developed.
In the evening we walked through the hospital of the
Mission—all delightfully ordered, cool, sweet and airy;
the patients looking comfortable and happy, the nurses
brisk and clean as nurses always are. The doctor has
introduced and enforces the rule that those who can pay
shall pay what they can : the poor pay nothing. At first
the well-to-do objected, saying that they understood that
it was “work for God,” but the doctor stuck steadily to his
principles, and has taken in fees from the rich as much
as £IIo Sterling in one year, which goes to the funds of
the hospital, and therefore benefits the poor to that extent.
Dr. Torrance says that epileptics are very numerous in
the country. They are believed by the people to be
possessed by demons, and are usually taken by them to the
native doctors, who say incantations over them and write
charms to expel and ward off the devils. Such facts re-
mind one irresistibly of the New Testament stories of
poor folk possessed by evil spirits ; and it is possible that
even Jesus was so far subject to the limitations of His
countrymen as to use some form of incantation when He
“stood Over" Simon's wife's mother “ and rebuked the
fever.”
Certainly in respect of belief in supernatural agencies
the Palestine of to-day is one with the Palestine of New
Testament times. People of all ranks and creeds use
charms both for themselves and their children to protect
* “Nat. Hist. Bibl.” 9th ed. p. 308.
TWO DAYS IN TIBERIAS I25
them when they are well, and to cure them when they
are in sickness. Dr. Thomson narrates that he was called
to see the sick son of one of the most respectable Moslems
of Sidon, and that he found the patient's head laid upon
an old rotten rag as filthy as the vilest hermit could make
it. When he suggested that this should be removed it was
explained that this could on no account be permitted,
since it was part of the sheet of a very holy man then
living in Joppa, and had cost several thousand piastres.
The child died all the same.*
Many diseases are caused, of course, by the “evil eye,”
and Colonel Conder mentions that often the peasants not
only leave their children's faces dirty, but if they are
accidentally too clean they “even besmirch them to avoid
the consequences of an envious look.”
The Jews are quite as superstitious as the Moslems in
these matters. They use incantations and wear charms
and have various methods by which they hope to cheat the
Angel of Death. Mr. Robinson Lees, who lived for six
years in Jerusalem, tells a strange but authentic story of
one such device. “A Jew had had six wives, all of whom
had died at the birth of their first child. When about
to marry for the seventh time he bought a cow and tied
it outside his window. The marriage ceremony was per-
formed between him and the cow, and he placed a ring
on its horn. The contract was even drawn up mentioning
the cow. At the close of this peculiar ceremony the
cow was killed and its flesh distributed amongst the poor,
and the rite of marriage again performed with the girl who
became his seventh wife. He felt quite satisfied that all
would be well, as his sacrifice to the Angel of Death
was in place of his wife. She lived and bore him many
children.”f
In reading the New Testament it should always be
borne in mind that it was among such people as these that
Jesus lived and taught, and it was in such an atmosphere
that the story of His deeds took shape.
The change of wind brought a change of weather. At
midnight there was a shower, though only of brief dura-
tion. I was still more or less in a state of collapse, and spent
much of the time reclining in the garden among the tall
cypresses and huge spreading aloes. The pomegranates
* “The Land and the Book,” 1866, p. 152.
+ “Jerusalem and Its People,” 2nd ed. p. 40.
I26 TENT AND TESTAMENT
were in flower with their exquisite coral bloom, and
through their branches one could see the bright blue of the
lake. However, I wandered for a part of the morning
about the town and found my way down to the beach. The
shore was lined with Jewish women washing their furniture
in the waters of the lake (Figs. 27–28). So busy were they
with this cleansing process that I began to think that the
Jews of Tiberias had been maligned, and that they were a
cleanly as well as a godly people. I learned, however, that
this cleanliness is not a daily but an annual custom. The
Passover was approaching, and every article of the house-
hold use must forthwith be washed ; so these good women
had hauled their chairs and tables, their bedsteads and plate-
racks, from their houses to the beach, and were at work upon
this useful, if ceremonial, ablution.
Tiberias is inhabited chiefly by Jews, and yet there was a
time when no Jew would enter it unless he was forced to do
so. It was founded by Herod Antipas just about the time
that Jesus came to live in Capernaum—at any rate, not more
than a year or two earlier—and during the building many
tombs were removed and houses erected in their place,
which of itself was enough to make it an unclean city. Add
to this that Herod peopled it with heathens and slaves, and
we can understand how repugnant such a place would be to
the Jew who cared for ceremonial purity.
It was at first a purely Greek city, and it is doubtful
whether Jesus ever entered it : at any rate, it is never men-
tioned in the first three Gospels. Neither is the lake called in
them the Sea of Tiberias; at the time that they were written
the city was too new for it to give its name to the lake.”
After the destruction of Jerusalem, however, Tiberias
became one of the chief centres of Judaism. For many
years the Sanhedrin had its seathere, and afamous Rabbinical
school came into existence. It is still to the Jew one of the
four sacred cities of Palestine. I have already mentioned
* And in the fourth Gospel the only mention of Tiberias is John vi.
23. “Furrer, writing on the ‘Geography of the Fourth Gospel,” refers
to the consensus of critics that the words Tús Tuđeptáðos in John vi. 1, are
a gloss attached before the diffusion of our manuscripts. Jewish
writings of the second century and Pausanias afford, as he shows, the
first evidence of the superseding of the old name, “Sea of Galilee,” or
• Gennesareth,' after Tiberias had acquired its later predominant im-
portance. But the Appendix (John xxi. I.) has ‘the Sea of Tiberias’
pure and simple, Furrer, therefore, dates it ‘bedeutend später.’”
Professor Bacon, in “Hibbert Journal,” ii. p. 343.
JEWESSES PREPARING FOR
TIHE PASSOWER
FIG. 27. —TIBERIAS :
FIG. 28,-TIBERIAs : JEWESSES PREPARING FOR
PASSOWER
".
THI


TWO DAYS IN TIBERIAS 127
their quaint superstition that in the last days the Messiah will
emerge from the waters of the lake. I wonder whether
those two young Jewesses who are sitting this morning
perched upon a rock off-shore amid its waters with clasped
hands and far-away gaze are thinking upon that strange
coming of the great Deliverer
CHA PT E R XXIII
FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA
WE left Tiberias in the cool of the morning, riding along
the shore of the lake past the ancient Hammath, where the
famous baths are fed by a hot sulphur-laden spring. Not
far from the baths is the tomb of Rabbi Meir, one of the
great Jewish scholars of the second century. Indeed, we
are surrounded here by the heroes of the later Jewry. The
tomb of Rabbi Akiba, Meir's master, is not a mile distant ;
and the great Maimonides is buried close to Tiberias.
Of Rabbi Meir it was said by his contemporaries that to
see him disputing in the college was like seeing great
mountains torn up from their base and rubbed against each
other to dust. But it is not for the sake of his tremendous
dialectics that we halt for a moment before his tomb, rather
is it in pity for the human tragedy of his life and in admira-
tion for a courageous albeit a somewhat erratic individu-
ality. We see him in Rome, disguised as a Roman, rescuing
his wife's sister from a life of public shame at the risk of
his own life. We see him standing hand in hand with his
noble and learned wife Beruria by the bier where her two
sons lie stretched in death, acknowledging that the Lord
had a right to take back what He had only lent. We see
him fleeing to Babylon in search of oblivion from that
tragedy which never could be forgotten—his wife's suicide
by reason of his own masterful mistake and dire transgres-
sion. And we see him in exile stretched upon his death-bed,
sending his proud message to his countrymen in Palestine,
“Tell the children of the Holy Land that their Messiah has
died in a strange country.” It was by his own wish that
his body was brought here to Tiberias and laid beside the
sea-shore. The whole touching story is told by Edersheim
in his “History of the Jewish Nation.” All we can do now
is to drop a tear for the great Rabbi and still more for the
noble Beruria, as we pass his tomb in Our Southward
journey.
FIG. 29-OUTFLOW OF THE JORDAN AT KERAK
FIG, 30–CROSSING THE JORDAN AT KERAK


FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA I29
We shall very shortly say farewell to the Sea of Galilee,
So we seize our last chance of a bathe from its clean white
strand, somewhere near Khān Kadish, which we used to be
told was Kedesh, the ancient city of refuge, until the real
Kedesh was found far to the north. Then we ride on to
Kerak, at the southern extremity of the lake, where the
Jordan flows out; and here we dismount, for we have
reached the place where we are to cross by ferry to the
eastern side of the river, in order that we may see
something of the Ghôr and of certain cities of the
Decapolis. -
The business of unloading the mules and piling the
baggage into the boats that are awaiting us, and then of
swimming the animals across, is a long one. But it is an
interesting place for a wait, and we by no means regret
having the chance of a leisurely survey of this historical
spot, which is in all probability the Taricheae of Josephus.
We cannot, indeed, be sure of this identification ; for a
controversy rages round this, as around so many other
Palestine places. Taricheae, wherever it may have been,
was an important city in the time of Jesus. It was not so
new as Tiberias, for in 52 B.C. it had a large population.*
Great ship-building and fish-curing industries were carried
on there, and it had a harbour which could shelter a fleet of
vessels. So that it would be interesting to fix the site of it
for certain, and picture the place as it showed itself to the
eyes of the great Nazarene.
The whole trouble in identifying the place arises from a
very slight omission by Josephus. He tells us that Taricheae
was thirty furlongs distant from Tiberias, but he does not
tell us whether it lay to the north or south of that city;
and by a series of strange coincidences the arguments for
each direction are very evenly balanced. They are evenly
balanced, that is to say, so long as we confine ourselves to
literary evidence; but I cannot help thinking that if
sufficient weight were given to the natural features of the
place, this “tell” at Kerak would be felt to have greatly the
advantage in the argument. Let us climb the mound and
look around us and compare what we see with the description
of Taricheae given by Josephus.
The Jordan as it leaves the lake does not, you observe,
flow southwards, but swirls round and flows due west (see
(Fig. 29), embracing in this eccentric course a tongue of
* See Josephus, “Ant.” xiv. vii. 3.
I
I3o TENT AND TESTAMENT
land which is thus surrounded on three sides by water with
only a narrow landward outlet. This corresponds with his
description of it as strongly fortified on those sides “not
washed by the sea.” Again ; turn your back to the lake
and look at the great plain of the Ghôr. Here you have
that “plain that was before the city,” upon which Vespasian
when he besieged Taricheae saw that “a great multitude of
the enemy was gotten together.” Here, too, just below the
mound, is the port with room for a double fleet of ships;
and yonder to the north-west is the site of Sinnabris, which
Josephus says could be “easily seen by the innovators” or
insurgent reformers who were besieged in Taricheae.* No
other place upon the lake corresponds in anything like the
same way to the history of Vespasian's siege as given by
Josephus.t
The one difficulty is in the fact that Josephus describes
the archers of the Roman enemy as shooting at the be-
sieged from the neighbouring mountain. Now, Kerak might
possibly be described as “under a mountain’’ (Öröpetoc)
as may be seen from the accompanying photograph (Fig.
29); but the mountain is not near enough to Kerak for
archers to shoot from it with any effect. It is quite possible,
however, that there may have been a portion of the town
separated from the port, like a miniature Athens with its
Piraeus. But we must now descend from the “tell,” for
our baggage has crossed the river, and the boat is waiting
for us to go on board.
When we reached the further side we found ourselves in
a hot dusty plain, across which we rode wearily for a matter
of five miles or more till we came to the banks of the
Yarmūk—a wild river dashing down a deep cleft towards
the Jordan, of which it is one of the principal tributaries.
In the time of Jesus the Yarmük was the boundary between
the Perea and the tetrarchy of Philip, and it is by nature a
dividing stream, not only because of the great gorge which
rends the mountain range to form its bed, but because the
country north of it is of a totally different character from
* “Wars,” iii. ix. 7.
† The argument for Kerak is clearly summarised by Colonel Conder
in P.E.F.Q.S. for 1878.
f There is said to be a certain Mellaha or Place of Salt on the hill-
slopes in the neighbourhood. Perhaps that is where the people of
Taricheae obtained brine for curing their fish,_see Smith, “Hist.
Geog.” p. 454, fm. I, and, perhaps, a part of the city lay near there,
close under the hills.
FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA I31
that on the south. Southward it is all of cretaceous lime-
stone, while northward lies the basaltic region of the Jaulan,
where volcanoes, whose extinct craters may still be seen,
have covered the limestone with their molten streams.
A great and strange battle was once fought upon the cliffs
which overhang this gorge. It was between the Jewish
King Alexander Jannaeus * and an Arabian army, and
happened within the century before Christ. The Arabs
conquered by means of a wild and unheard-of device.
They gathered a mighty herd of camels, drove them furiously
against their foe, till by sheer weight and rush the whole
army was flung down these precipices into the chasm
beneath, Alexander himself barely escaping with his life.
Strange to say, the very same device was used in the same
neighbourhood some seven centuries later, when the
Byzantine army was thrown into a defile in a similar
1113.1111621.
On the banks of the torrent we found a great concourse
of fellahin, met together, as they told us, in order to make
a united effort to dam the channel and turn the water upon
their crops. The season was indeed a disastrous one for
these poor peasants. The “latter rain" had entirely failed,
and everywhere we noticed withered fields, and in places
even the wheat was dying.
The Sheri ‘āt el-Menādireh, as the Yarmük is now called,
was much lower than it usually is at this time of year, and was
fordable, though by reason of its swiftness not altogether
without difficulty. It was not above three or four feet deep,
yet the horses seemed as though they could scarcely keep
their legs against the rush of the current. However, we
struggled through, and after continuing Our Southward
course for a short distance, we presently turned sharp to
the left up the mountain-side. For more than an hour we
zig-zagged up a precipitous ascent, then, gaining the level
of the plateau, crossed a stretch of cultivated land. Here
and there we noticed in the fields stray locusts which had
been left behind by yesterday's swarm, but we did not
observe that any considerable damage had been done by
their visitation. I think it was in these same fields, or it
may have been among the limestone débris which lay just
beyond them, that we saw magnificent specimens of an iris
of the rhizomatous kind, the blossoms of which, closely
* The tomb near Jerusalem, known as Absalom's Pillar, is probably
that of Alexander Jannaeus.
I32 TENT AND TESTAMENT
veined with narrow purple stripes, measured from four to
six inches across. But our eyes were soon drawn away
from flowers and insects by the distant prospect of the ruins
we had come to visit.
Our first impression was that of a confusion of unmeaning
wreck. Fragments of walls and heaps of stones covered a
vast area ; beyond which, far in the distance, rose a mound
on the hither slope of which stood a crumbling structure
which we surmised to be the ruin of the ancient theatre of
which we had read. Such was our first view of the far-
famed Gadara, once the chief city of the Decapolis—now
represented only by this desert of rubble and by a mean
Arab village which lies behind yonder mound, known by
the name of Mkés.
We halted by a large heap of earth and stones crowned
by a bush, the branches of which were completely covered
with shreds and rags. The camp was then sent forward to
the village with instructions to treat with the sheikh for a
camping-place, and Mohammed tethered our horses and
spread our meal beneath the shadow of this sacred shrub.
I have already mentioned in connection with the mukâm
above Nazareth and the sacred tree at Tell el-Kádi this
curious custom of hanging up rags as offerings. Burton,
in his “Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah,” ” tells how, when enter-
ing upon the desert in company with Arabs, he followed
their example in adding a rag to those which hung upon
the Pilgrims' Tree, and he mentions that Park in Western
Africa did the same ; also that the Tartars worship mountain
spirits by hanging dry branches with bones and strips of
cloth and planting them in enormous heaps of stones. He
regards the practice as one of the many relics of fetish-
worship which have entered into the Mohammedan
religion.
Fundamentally the custom would seem to be the
degenerate form of a more primitive notion. The original
offering has dwindled down through the influence of the
vicarious or representative idea. Just as the Egyptian
shab-ti, the little image of a mummy, came to represent the
real mummy and was buried with the rich man in place of
the embalmed labourer who at one time went to the tomb
with him as his servant in the spirit-world ; so these shreds
represent the complete garment, and that in its turn repre-
sents the wearer of the garment.
* Vol. i. p. 155, fin, I.
FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA I33
Such offerings, however, although they may once have
embodied the sacrificial idea, do not appear now to retain
much of their primitive meaning. They are not now gifts
in the Ordinary sense ; rather are they channels connecting
the worshipper with the object or person worshipped." The
garment or shred is left at the holy place (and therein Sur-
vives perhaps a remnant of the idea of propitiating the
presiding spirit), but, in exchange for it, that which has been
in contact with the holy place is taken away and worn as a
charm. Holiness is, indeed, to the Palestine peasant a sort
of liquid which may be absorbed by physical contact. The
man who hangs a rag upon this bush at Gadara will take
from it and wear about his person another rag which has
become soaked with the virtue of the place by hanging
there ; and this magical idea overshadows and obscures, it
would seem, the original notion of a sacrificial offering.f
After luncheon, we decided to walk through the ruins to
our camp, and Mohammed was therefore sent forward with
our horses while we advanced toward the village on foot,
approaching it from the west. The ruins which lay scat-
tered round were the most extensive that we had hitherto
seen, but so utterly demolished by the shock of earthquakes
and by the hands of time and the barbarian, that, with the
exception of the great theatre which fronted us, it was diffi-
cult to get any idea of the buildings which they represented.
As we drew nearer, however, the plan of the old Greek
city as explained by Schumacher and by Dr. Merrill began
to reveal itself. It was strongly situated. On the north is
the deep valley of the Yarmūk, or, as the Greeks called it,
the Hieromax ; on the south, the cleft which is now called
the Wädi el-Arāb; on the east, a natural slope of consider-
able steepness; and on the west, the deep valley of the
Jordan.
There was a wall all round the city, the traces of which
* “Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Dress,” sec. 8.
# The custom is not confined to Islam. In the Harām at Jerusalem
there is a window through which one looks down upon the Birket-
Israin, the pool which the Crusaders believed to be Bethesda. The
iron-work of the window is covered with pieces of rag tied to it by
(presumably) Christian pilgrims. At the church of St. Ouen in Rouen,
the figure of St. Lawrence is similarly decked. Kakasu Okakura in
his “Ideals of the East’’ (p. 21) mentions the Sakaki, or tree of the
gods, “upon which are hung pieces of brocade, silk, linen, cotton, and
paper, cut in special devices.” In our own island, pin-wells and rag-
bearing bushes still Survive.
I34 TENT AND TESTAMENT
remain ; it was about two miles in circuit. In the centre was
the Acropolis, formerly occupied by temples and public
buildings. This had theatres on two sides of it, cut into the
slope of the mound, one upon the north and the other,
which I have already mentioned, upon the west. Westward
of this central group of buildings were streets of private
houses occupying the area through which we had just
advanced ; eastward was a city of tombs, the remains of
which are at this day one of the most remarkable ruins of the
kind in existence. As to the modern village, that is marked
by Schumacher as lying to the east of the Acropolis, but at
the present time it has invaded the hill itself.
The people of Mkés are rough and dirty, with a bold and
insolent air. Most of them carry a round-headed club as
well as the usual long-barrelled gun. They are both Beda-
win and fellahin, and among them are settlers from the
neighbourhood of Nablus, who keep themselves somewhat
aloof from the other inhabitants and are said to be fanatical
and uncivil. In the course of our wanderings among the
ruins we came upon a slope overlooking the valley, where
Some plots of soil had been cultivated. Near by stood two
Bedawi women in violent altercation. One of them was
accusing the other of stealing beans from her plot, and the
accused raised her hand to heaven and swore by Allah that
She was guiltless. We stood for a few moments watching
their fierce gestures and listening to their harsh voices,
strongly reminiscent of a like argument in a London slum,
and then turned toward the western theatre of which we
desired to have a nearer view.
Prof. George A. Smith speaks of this as an “amphitheatre,”
but that is obviously a slip upon his part. It is a semicircle
in form, or little more than a semicircle, certainly not a
completed circle or ellipse. It was not, in fact, a place for
gladiatorial shows at all, but for stage-plays. Its date I have
not seen discussed, but in form it is evidently Graeco-
Roman. It is partly scooped out of the side of the hill in
the Greek fashion, but it is also built in part above and
away from the slope of the hill, and it has interior passages
or tunnels behind and beneath the seats, just as we find in
those Roman theatres which were built upon the flat. There
are also seven stairways ascending from the orchestra to the
topmost bench, and cutting across the tiers of seats in their
ascent. This again is evidence of Roman influence, for in
the Greek theatre the number of stairways was always even.
FROM THEERIAS TO GADARA I35
The orchestra, it is true, is not of orthodox Roman form,
for the Roman orchestra was exactly a semicircle, while
this is more than a semicircle. But neither is it orthodox
Greek, for the extension is not formed by continuing the arc
of the circle, but by describing a parallelogram upon the
diameter of the semicircle, as in the large theatre at Pompeii."
As Gadara was not founded till after Alexander the Great's
time, its theatres belong, of course, to a date long subsequent
to the great dramatic period when actors and chorus all
Occupied the orchestra or level space below the seats, with
the altar of Dionysos in their midst. The theatre at which
We are looking had a stage raised above the orchestra and
facing the audience. Yonder doorway upon our right, of
which the arched headway rises above the débris, opened
upon the Orchestra; the proscenium or stage was imme-
diately on this side of it. Beneath was the ghost-chamber,
in which the metal thunder-jars were kept, and from which
the ghosts who figured in the tragedy passed upward by a
stairway—Charon's steps, as they were called—to the
Stage itself. Ai ai, actors and spectators alike are ghosts
now ! -
The back of the stage was just where we are standing and
consisted of a lofty scena, what we should call a back-scene,
which with the ancients was not a pasteboard affair, but a
good substantial wall. These great blocks heaped in con-
fusion at our feet are the stones of the fallen scena and of
the postscenium or chamber behind the scene, into which the
actors retired.j Look before you, and you will see what
brought them down. The horizontal shift of the stones in
so many parts of the auditorium shows that earthquakes
have been at work. The lofty wall of the scena, not being
supported like the semi-circular cavea by a hillside backing,
was usually the first to go.
Dr. Merrill, in his interesting book “East of the Jordan,”
writing about this same theatre, remarks that “the spectators,
from their seats in the west theatre, could overlook the
* See plan given by Schumacher in his “ Northern Ajlūn '' (p. 55).
t Schumacher's plan does not give any postscenium, but he makes
the stage twenty-two feet broad, and as the orchestra was sixty-seven
feet, five inches in diameter, and the breadth of the Roman stage was
reckoned at a quarter of the diameter of the orchestra, this would leave
about five feet for the postscenium. This would certainly be narrower
than usual, but when one has seen the chaos which lies where the scena
and pulpitum once stood, it is difficult to believe that Schumacher can
have given us very precise measurements.
I36 TENT AND TESTAMENT
finest portion of Palestine.” And this is, doubtless, a true
estimate of the character of the prospect; but it is scarcely
true that the spectators could see it. The glory of the
view was almost entirely shut out by the lofty wall just
described. What they had before them was probably the
representation of a palace or temple built flat against the
wall; or perhaps they had a painted canvas hung in front
of the permanent palace-scene, for such temporary scenes
were in use in the Roman theatres from 99 B.C. onwards.
But let us pass forward across the orchestra to the semi-
circle of seats where the spectators sat of old. The seats
are wonderfully well preserved. There are fifteen rows,
with stairways and landings. In the orchestra itself there
may have Sat, after the Roman fashion, a few of the most
distinguished officials—magistrates and priests. Next comes,
slightly raised above the level of the orchestra, a semi-
circular pavement twelve feet wide ; and from this five rows
of seats ascend. These are the seats of the privileged
people—the aristocracy—they are, in fact, the “stalls" of
that period. Then comes a landing nine feet and a half
wide, which runs round the entire semicircle. This landing
is backed by a perpendicular wall nearly seven feet high,
pierced, as may be seen in the photograph (Fig. 31), with
round-headed doorways which lead into a corridor to be
presently described. Above this wall are ten more rows of
seats for the rank and file of the Gadarene men. And
above these again, separated from them by a three-foot wall
with a cornice, were probably two or three more rows of
seats for the women.”
From the praecinctio or landing, mentioned above, we
now pass through one of the doorways into the corridor,
which is built below and behind the upper or main tier of
seats. It is a roomy passage with an arched roof, running
round the semicircle from end to end. The arrangement is,
in fact, just like that of our modern theatres with their
corridors behind the boxes. The floor has been broken
through in places, and reveals another corridor below
(Fig. 32). The natives call these corridors “the prison,”
and they use them for storing their grain, several heaps of
which lie piled within their shelter. There seems, however,
at one time to have existed among the population a truer
tradition as to the purpose of these theatres, for the rocky
* See “Encycl. Brit.,” 9th ed., art. “Theatre,” where authorities for
this position of the women's seats are cited.
FIG. 31.-WESTERN THEATRE AT GADARA
FIG. 32.--THEATRE AT GADARA : THE CORRIDORS


FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA I37
platform, in the sides of which they are carved is still
º to the villagers as El-Mel’ah, “the place of the
p ay.” :*:
To that platform we now climbed, and found ourselves
among the native hovels. As usual, the dogs of the village
rushed out upon us with fury, barking and snarling and
showing their teeth, but keeping out of arm's reach.
Cutting across a corner of the mound, we descended on the
northern side and found our camp pitched close to the
Second theatre—a structure in a far more ruinous condition
than that which we had just left. That had well-defined
tiers of Seats retaining their form and sweep, and built of
hard clean-cut blocks ; but this northern theatre is little
more than a heap of earth and stones ; the rows of benches
can no longer be counted, and were it not for the arched
openings at either end of the semicircle, which tell where
doors once opened on the orchestra, the traveller might
almost pass by this scoop in the hillside without recognising
its origin or purpose.
Soon after our arrival at the camp, the sheikh of the
village paid us a visit. Unlike most of his fellow-villagers
he seemed a decent sort of man, with kindly eyes and an
intelligent face. I made inquiries of him concerning the
old city-gate of which I had read, and which Schumacher
describes as flanked by pillars of basalt, and having a well-
preserved cornice. The sheikh informed me with much
simplicity, and with the air of having performed a merit-
Orious deed, that he had pulled the gateway down to
furnish stones for building his own house. He showed me
where it had stood ; it was a few steps beyond the northern
theatre, spanning the paved road which passes it. He told
us, moreover, that within his recollection there was another
gateway besides this, leading up to the theatre itself. I find
that Schumacher has noted the vestiges of this gateway in
his book on “Northern Ajlūn’’ (p. 49). The sheikh was
far more curious concerning his surroundings than is
usually the case with the peasants. He made many per-
tinent inquiries as to the history of the place and to whom
it had formerly belonged. Before he left us we engaged
from him a man to act as our guide to the ruins of Pella on
the following day.
The paved road just mentioned leads westward from the
northern theatre to a considerable distance. It is formed
* Schumacher, “Northern Ajlūn,” p. 50.
138 TENT AND TESTAMENT
of large blocks of basalt carefully fitted, and was originally
flanked by colonnades like the “Street of Columns” in
Samaria. This was, in fact, one of the principal streets of
the city, and the mark of the traffic which passed along it
may still be seen, for here are the grooves cut by the chariot-
wheels of generations, where the great people—Greeks and
Romans—once thundered along on their business or their
pleasure.
A great part of the afternoon I spent in wandering about
with my camera. Once when I was alone and at some
distance from our camp, a native with a bludgeon came up
to me with a truculent air, and I quite expected to be
robbed ; but if he entertained any such idea, it was averted
by the amusement of looking into the “finder" of the
Camera at the small pictures of the surrounding scene,
which apparently afforded him great delight.
One of the natives brought me a handful of coins, and
among them were one or two of interest. Here, for
instance, is a typical Gadara coin bearing the figure of a
ship with rowers, showing that at one time the territory of
the city, extended to the shores of yonder lake. Each city
of the Decapolis governed, in fact, a large territory extend-
ing far beyond its own suburbs and sometimes embracing
many villages. This explains, of course, what is meant by
the “country of the Gadarenes" in that reading of
Mark v. I from which the Authorised Version takes its
translation. The territories of Pella, Scythopolis, Gadara,
and Hippos joined each other, so that the “borders of the
Decapolis" through which Jesus came to the Sea of
Galilee on His journey back from Phoenicia was a fairly
solid belt of land.
Here, again, is another coin in the same handful,
which illustrates, in a manner, that journey of Jesus to
which I have just referred. It is a Phoenician coin, and
reminds us of the constant intercourse that obtained
between the cities of the Decapolis and the “borders of
Tyre and Sidon.””
It is this connection with New Testament times, yielding
points of contact with the Story of the Gospels, which gives
the thrill and the zest to our wanderings among these
ruins. That great confederation of Greek cities established
for mutual defence against Jew and Arab still existed and was
* Another interesting coin included in the same purchase (Fig. 35),
was struck at Tiberias in the reign of Domitian.
FROM TIBERIAS TO GADARA I39
active in Christ's time. True, it had lost something of its
independence and its glory beneath the dominion of Rome,
but its cities were still Greek in their customs and their life,
and contemptuous of that Hebrew race from which they
felt themselves to be utterly alien.
It was with such thoughts that we returned to our camp
and sat in the tent-door gazing into the depths beneath us.
The view was magnificent, embracing the valleys of the
Yarmúk and Jordan and the southern half of the Sea of
Galilee, where Tiberias lay gleaming in the sunlight. Our
tents were pitched amid the ruins of paganism and looked
down upon the birthplace of Christianity. The paved road
and the colonnaded street passed close to us, the great
theatre spread its arms around us, the Acropolis overlooked
us. The stage-plays, the athletic games, the chariot races,
the pagan ritual—all have passed, but in Christ's time they
were alive, and the humble Galilean looked up from yonder
villages in wonder and resentment at this magnificence of
the Gentiles who “exercised lordship over them.” In the
words of Professor George Adam Smith, “The Decapolis
was flourishing in the time of Christ's ministry. Gadara, with
her temples and her amphitheatres, with her art, her games
and her literature, overhung the Lake of Galilee, and the
voyages of its fishermen. A leading Epicurean of the
previous generation, the founder of the Greek anthology,
Some of the famous wits of the day, the reigning emperor's
tutor, had all been bred within sight of the homes of the
writers of the New Testament. Philodemus, Meleager,
Menippus, Theodorus, were names of which the one end
of the Lake of Galilee was proud, when Matthew, Peter,
James and John, were working at the other end.”
CHA PT E R XXIV
FROM GADARA TO PELLA
THE temperature in the tent at six o'clock the next morning
(April 2) was 50°, but when we reached the valley
of the Jordan one hour and a half later, the thermometer
stood at 70°, and from that time the heat rapidly
increased. We did not descend by the Wädi Arāb, but by
an easier path which brought us out to the south of that
wädi. On the way down we passed one of those isolated
pillars which seem such a riddle in this land. This one was
of great size, the largest I had yet seen, and appeared to be
cut out of a kind of coarse conglomerate. It lay prone and
broken in half and was far away from any building. Could
it possibly have rolled down the mountain slope to this
great distance from the town above 2 The thing seemed
incredible.
In Our descent from the hills many fine views were given
to us of the land beyond the Jordan. Safed, Nazareth,
Tabor, Little Hermon, Gilboa, and even Carmel were in
sight. Near the bottom of the slope we caught our last
glimpse of the lake, and a few minutes later we joined the
road which runs from north to south down the length of
the Jordan valley.
This bridle-road down the Ghôr is perfectly distinct and
good. On Our right was a great plain stretching away to
the river. The course of the Jordan itself is marked by a
long winding line of low cliff, very distant from our road
which keeps close under the hills. This is doubtless one of
those curious terraces left by the long lake-valley when,
after the pluvial period, it shrank to the narrow channel
which the river now fills. Below this cliff there is a line of
tamarisk and thick sedge which harbours wild boars and
other beasts, but which was too distant to be clearly seen by
us. In parts the plain is cultivated with wheat, but else-
where it grows only what gardeners call “rubbish "–not
FIG. 33.-GAWARINEH Boy


FROM GADARA TO PELLA I4I
grass, but coarse weeds and rank untidy looking tussocks.
It is crossed by many clear and beautiful streams, none of
them at this season too deep for easy fording. Some of
these streams have been diverted from their natural channels
and made to run lengthwise down the valley for purposes
of irrigation.
On our left was an upland ridge of varying height and
form. In places it was composed of not very high rocks,
but for the most part of rounded hills almost like Sussex
downs. This is perhaps the eastern bank of the prehistoric
lake just mentioned. Here and there a wadi breaks through
this low range, and you get a peep of the real mountains
which lie behind in majestic ranks, hidden from us for the
most part by reason of our nearness to the foot of the low
terrace.
The Ghór is far from being desert. Wherever there is a
stream you have masses of oleander bushes, which were
now in full bloom. There were also quantities of single
hollyhocks with pink blossoms. Now and then a gazelle
would cross our path and scamper up the hills.
We passed large assemblages of black Bedawin tents. In
one part the whole plain, almost as far as we could see, was
dotted with black tents and black cattle. The women were
decently dressed and some of them wore silver anklets;
but the boys and lads who tended the cattle were very
ragged and unkempt. They were of course all of the
negroid type. One little shepherd-boy whom I photo-
graphed while Hanna engaged him in conversation was
suffering from a disease which they call “jarrab " : a scabby
complaint which attacks both men and camels in the spring
of the year.” His tribe, as I understood the name, was
called Schurah-Ghôr (see Figs. 33, 34).
As we journeyed down this wild valley, feeling that we
were now very far removed from anything like civilisation,
the illusion was suddenly broken by the apparition of a
white tent flying a flag which bore the Turkish Crescent.
Upon inquiry we learned that three fellahin had been killed
by Bedawin in a dispute a few days before, and that this
was the tent of an official who had been sent to inquire into
the matter. The Turkish rule is in fact far more effective
on the east of Jordan than it was some five and twenty years
ago. Discipline of some sort is maintained; and if only
* See “Survey of Western Palestine; Memoir on Physical
Geology,” &c., by E. Hull, p. 130.
I42 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the Turk could learn that punishing and taxing are not the
Only functions of government, but that such matters as
irrigation and road mending are worthy of some attention,
this tropical valley, SO rich in soil and so abundant in streams,
might become a region of phenomenal luxuriance.
It was interesting to remember that our journey down the
Ghór was taken at the same season of the year as that in
which Jesus travelled down it on His last journey to Jeru-
Salem, and to reflect that, so far as natural scenery and
natural products were concerned, what we saw was much
the same as what He had seen. I have thought that even
the dryness of the season may have been the same. For
had the season been as wet as it usually is before Easter,
foot passengers would certainly have found some difficulty
in crossing the numerous streams which intersect the
valley.
On another point, however, one feels considerable doubt.
Keim regards this route as being taken by Jesus because it
was “unfrequented.” He speaks of it as “quiet,” “remote,”
“sparsely populated,” and passing “few inhabited places,”
and other writers have adopted the same view. This might
be accepted as a fairly correct description now, but is it a
correct description of what the valley was then f Certain it
is that even in the small portion of the valley which we
traversed we passed, besides Bedawi villages, many pieces
of ancient wall showing where substantial buildings had
once stood. These ruined buildings may indeed have been
watch-towers, or Crusading fastnesses, or Saracen khans, or
what not; but on the other hand they may indicate buried
sites belonging to much older times, and one hesitates to
accept Keim's theory of that Last Journey until something
in the way of excavation has been attempted down the Ghor.
At El-Waggås (or Wakkâs) we halted for a rest. This is
a mud-built village shaded by trees, with a white-domed
stone weli in its midst (Fig. 36). We learnt its name from
some lounging natives, and Hanna told us that it was
a Bedawi village, the houses of which were mainly used for
storage purposes, though in winter he said the Arabs left
their tents and lived in them. Schumacher, however, who
mentions the village in his “Abila of the Decapolis,” says
that the hamlet consists of winter-huts belonging to the
village of et-Taiyibeh. The weli he describes as “an old
Mohammedan Weli of Sheikh Wakkâs.” After a short rest
we continued our journey southward, crossing the Wädi
FIG. 36.-VALLEY OF EL-wagg As
FIG, 37.-PELLA : THE TERRACE
:
º
:


FROM GADARA TO PELLA I43
Siklad, the Wädi Abu Said, and another stream, and then
turned sharply to the left up the hillside to Tubukåt Fahil,
which was the goal of our morning's ride.
Fahil is pretty generally accepted as identical with the
ancient Pella, a place of great historical, and especially of
Christian interest. The origin of the name, it is true, is open
to doubt. Professor George Adam Smith says that “it is im-
possible to understand how “Fahil ' could have arisen from
“Pella’”; but Thomson, on the other hand, says that his
guide assured him that “Felah" was still the true name of
Fahil,” and Guy Le Strange quotes Arabic authority to
prove that the name is foreign to that tongue,t The evi-
dence for the identification does not however rest upon the
existing name ; it is historical and geographical. The
arguments are too lengthy to be given here, but the reader
who cares to study them may find them in the pages of
Robinson, who was the original discoverer, or of Dr.
Merrill, who sets forth the principal points at some length.Ş
To the evidence there given one important fact mentioned
by Le Strange | ought to be added, namely that among the
Moslems the great Battle of Fahal was also called the Day
of Beisãn, and Beisãn lies only a couple of hours away.
As to the history of Pella, the two points which were
personally interesting to us and which had led to our visiting
its ruins, were its position as a member of the Decapolis and
its connection with Christian history. It was founded, of
course, long before the League of the Decapolis was formed,
having been originally built by the veterans of Alexander,
and named after the Macedonian Pella, Alexander's own
birthplace. Gadara and Pella were in fact two of the
oldest Greek cities in Syria; by 218 B.C. they were already
strong fortresses. The Jews hated these Greek cities and
deprived them of self-government; but Rome restored their
autonomy, together with the right of coinage, asylum,
mutual association, and the power to hold property in Sur-
rounding districts; wherefore several of them, and Pella
among them, reckoned their eras from the date of Pompey's
Syrian campaign, 64–63 B.C.
It was at some time between this date and the time of
* “The Land and the Book,” p. 456,
+ “Palestine under the Moslems,” p. 439.
# “Later Researches,” p. 323.
§ “East of the Jordan,” pp. 442–7.
| “A Ride through Ajlūn,” p. 274.
I4.4 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Christ's ministry—the precise date is not known—that the
League of Greek cities in Eastern Palestine called the
“Decapolis” was formed. Mutual defence was the prime
motive of the League (for Rome, although it was their over-
lord, was not ably fully to protect them against the desert
robbers and other hostile influences), but the association
had also the further aims of mutual aid in commerce and
the fostering of Greek religion and social life.
The original ten cities which formed the Decapolis were
Scythopolis, Pella, Dion, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara,
Raphana, Kanatha, Hippos, and Damascus; but other cities
were afterwards added to this number. The importance of
Pella as a member of the League lay in its situation on one
of the great highways which traversed the region in which
the Greek cities lay. Scythopolis (now called Beisan) lay a
mile or two west of the Jordan, just at the point where the
great road from the sea coast divided into three roads, which
crossed the Jordan and intersected the trans-Jordanic Pales-
tine. On each of these three roads a member of the
Decapolis was situated ; Hippos on the northern, Gadara
on the central, and Pella on the southernmost road.
These cities, having power to acquire property in land,
soon governed a large extent of territory, and the Decapolis,
which Jesus visited in the course of His missionary tours,
was a vast district lying partly in the west, but mainly on
the east of Jordan. It has been surmised that Pella was
one of the towns where He taught, and that in His last
journey down the Jordan, when He had “set His face to
go to Jerusalem,” He turned aside into this city as into a
place prepared by His previous ministrations. In this way
it is sought to account for the fact that Pella seemed to have
a hereditary sympathy with Christianity, so that when
Jerusalem was besieged by Rome, it was to this place that
the Christians fled.*
Similarly it has been conjectured that this is the city
which St. Paul made his place of retreat when he “conferred
not with flesh and blood, neither went up to Jerusalem to
them that were apostles before him, but went away into
Arabia,” for by “Arabia’’ we are perhaps to understand
the Roman district of that name which would include this
city.f
* Merrill, “East of the Jordan,” p. 463.
+ Hausrath, “Times of the Apostles,” English translation, iii. p. 73.
In the same passage St. Paul adds that he afterwards “returned unto
FROM GADARA TO PELLA I45
All this, however, is mere matter of conjecture; the one
certain link between Pella and the dawn of the Christian
faith—the one enthralling fact which gave to its venerable
ruins an absorbing interest in our eyes—was that on two
occasions it became a refuge for the “Brethren " of Jeru-
Salem, and that this, therefore, was almost the earliest home
of that pre-Christian type of Christianity—that Christianity
which existed before the name “Christian" was invented
—the little heterodox Jewish sect which was the original
“mustard-seed” from which the “great tree” sprang.
Eusebius says that at the time of the destruction of
Jerusalem by Titus, the Brethren removed and dwelt at a
town beyond the Jordan, called Pella, “in accordance with
a certain oracle delivered by revelation to notable men on
the spot.”
Seventy years later, after the second Jewish War with
Rome, Hadrian excluded the Jews entirely from the Sacred
City, and changed its name to AElia Capitolina, and on that
occasion the Jewish Christians, who had returned to
Jerusalem, again fled to Pella. From that time Jerusalem
contained no Jewish Christians. The Church there, under
their elder Marcus, consisted only of Christians of Pagan
descent, mingled perhaps with some Jews who had renounced
their nationality. Pella became the headquarters of the
original community of Christians; there Christianity had
never been severed from Jewish custom and belief, and
there “a strictly Jewish-Christian Church maintained its
existence down to the fifth century.” "
What led the Christians of Jerusalem to select Pella in
particular for their place of retreat is quite uncertain. It
has been conjectured that the inhabitants of Pella, like
those of Sidon, were tolerant enough to leave the Jews
unmolested; or that, after the occupation of Peraea, in 68 A.D.,
peace was established here, and that this region was there-
fore practically beyond the area of political commotion at
the time when the Christians fled to it. Whether the true
explanation be of this sort; or, whether there was indeed
some Christian nucleus in the place through the teaching of
Jesus or of St. Paul, as has been suggested above ; or,
whether it was a case of that genius loci, unaccountable but
quite real, which gives individuality to every town and
Damascus,” and the most important city on the road from Damascus
through Arabia was the rock-fortress of Pella.
* Neander, “General Church History,” ii. p. 13.
K
I46 TENT AND TESTAMENT
village in the world, it seems certain that for Christians of
Jewish descent Pella had some peculiar attraction.
One other matter I must briefly refer to before we look
round upon the existing ruins, and that is the reference to
Pella in the Apocalypse of St. John. There can scarcely be
a doubt that Pella was that “place prepared of God,” which
received the Church and nourished her when she “fled
into the wilderness” (Rev. xii. 6). The passage which de-
scribes how “the serpent cast out of his mouth after the
woman water as a river that he might cause her to be car-
ried away by the stream,” vividly reminds us of the winter
rains and the swollen floods which warred against the
Church when “they that were in Judaea fled unto the
mountains.” Josephus has given a terrible picture of a
fugitive band of Jews pursued by the Romans, seeking in
vain along the banks of the Jordan for some ford still pass-
able amid the winter floods, and driven by their enemies
into the stream to perish. But “there were given to the
woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly
into the wilderness unto her place where she is nourished.”
This city of Pella received and nourished the infant
Church, and for that, if for no other reason, it is for us a
holy spot.*
I confess that, until I saw the ruins at Fahil, I had always
thought of Pella as a remote and quiet nook, a secret village
among the mountains. Most writers, indeed, lay stress
upon its suitability as a hiding-place for the early Christians,
from its situation if not from its obscurity. It could not,
however, have been either secret or obscure. It is open to
the Jordan Valley, and its ruins are perfectly visible from
many places on the western bank of that river, notably from
the tell at Beisãn. It was, moreover, situated on a prin-
cipal trade-route, and it could only in a certain particular
sense be spoken of as in “the wilderness.” The Decapolis
was so far from being a “wilderness” in the sense of being
uninhabited or uncivilised, that it exhibits even to-day the
most remarkable remains of Greek civilisation which Pales-
tine can show. Nevertheless, the Jew of Jerusalem doubtless
always thought of the country on the east of Jordan as “the
wilderness.” By tradition it was Arab country, and the
splendid cities of the Greeks which were built in Peraea were,
after all, but a fringe of civilisation bordering the wild and
* Rev. xii. 13–17. See Hausrath, “Time of the Apostles,” iv.
pp. 252, 253 (Eng. trans.).
FROM GADARA TO PELLA I47
limitless desert. In this technical sense Pella was in the
“wilderness”; but the fancy picture of a hidden village
º certainly be corrected ; even in A.D. 70 it was not
that. -
Some of the ruins surrounding our camp doubtless be-
longed to later centuries, but the greater number and the
most important date from the days of Greek commerce and
Roman rule—from the lifetime of Jesus and the days of
Israel's doom. To these ruins and to the general situation
of the place it is now time for us to turn.
Our camp had accompanied us to-day instead of going
on ahead, as dragoman and muleteers were alike ignorant
of the country; so, as soon as we arrived, the men had set
to work to pitch the tents. The spot chosen was the highest
point available close to the mud village of Fahil, for,
although an inviting valley lay below us with a sparkling
stream which washed the ruins of the ancient Pella, we
knew that to camp in the hollow near the marshy ground
might mean fever, and even the dusty threshing-floor of
Fahil was better than that.
The modern village occupies what was a Sort of Secondary
Acropolis of Pella, the main Acropolis being on Tell el-Hosn
—the summit rising on the south ; for Pella is not, like
Gadara, on the mountain-heights, but mainly on a plateau
raised only a little above the Jordan Valley and overlooked
by high hills both on the south and north. It may,
however, be described as relatively high, and it has an
intrenched position. On the north there is a depression
which is partly artificial ; on the east there is also a slope,
though of no great height; on the west is the descent to
the lower level of the Ghér, and on the South is a very
steep decline, almost precipitous in parts, which falls to
the wadi down which runs the beautiful stream just
mentioned. The whole platform is about four or five acres
in extent.
Round about the wretched huts of the villagers are strewn
the remains of some of the principal buildings of the old
city. One of these, which lies on the west of the village
looking away to the Jordan, has been very fully described
by Schumacher,” and is stated by him to be a Christian
church of uncertain period, perhaps a Roman basilica
transformed into a Christian meeting-place, or perhaps a
* “Pella,” 1895, p. 45.
I48 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Crusading work added to a previous Christian church.
The remains of another public building lay eastward of our
camp, and is mentioned by Robinson in his “Later Biblical
Researches” (p. 321). He describes them as those of “a
temple, or perhaps a church.”
The ride from Mkés to Fahil had taken only five hours
and a half, so that by early afternoon we had refreshed
ourselves with food and rest and were ready to explore the
ruins. I asked the sheikh of the village whether he knew
of any inscriptions among the scattered stones, and he took
me at once to an oblong slab which lay among the remains
last mentioned. It measured 5 ft. Io in. by 2 ft. 2 in. by
9 in., and bore the name Thomas in Greek letters. I spent
Some time in taking a squeeze of the inscription, but found
afterwards that it had been already noticed by Robinson.
The glare and heat of the sun were so fierce that I was
now fain to take shelter in the tent till they had somewhat
abated. Later in the afternoon I ventured forth again,
and, leaving the withered, dusty hill, descended toward the
crystal stream which wandered in the hollow beneath us
(Fig. 38). This hollow is, in fact, a winding valley, though
from some points of view the folds of the hills seem to shut
it in and give it the appearance of an enclosed basin. The
name of it is the Wädi-el-Jirm, and the spring which rises
in it is the Jirm el-Moz. The steep descent to it is cut into
terraces, parts of the retaining walls of which remain.
These terraces are such a noticeable feature that it seems
more probable that they gave rise to the name of the place,
Tubukåt Fahil (Terraces of Fahil), than that it was so called,
as Robinson supposes,” because a part of the town was
built on the terrace or plateau which overlooks the Ghôr.
A great part of the houses of Pella seem to have been built
upon these steps in the hillside. A little to the east, where
the slope is less abrupt, their ruins lie in orderly ranks, row
above row, just as they have fallen. Their general appear-
ance at this part may be seen from the accompanying
photograph (Fig. 37). The man in the foreground is one
of the inhabitants of the village. Round about the fountain
which rises near the foot of this slope are hewn stones and
fallen columns of great size, in which Schumacher recognised
the ruins of yet another templet (Fig. 39).
I searched among the ruins for some time in the hope of
* “Later Researches,” p. 321.
+ “Pella,” p. 22.
FIG. 38.-PELLA : THE WADI EL-JIRM
FIG. 39.-PELLA : TEMPLE RUINS
i
.
:
;



FROM GADARA TO PELLA - I49
finding inscriptions, but without result, much to Hanna's
distress, who proposed that I should mount and ride to the
ruins on the southern height, where he thought there might
be a better chance of discoveries. I was, however, too
exhausted from illness, and too weary from the exertion of
the day, inconsiderable as it was, for this to be possible.
The ruins in question, which stand upon a hill 17O feet
higher than Fahil, are those mentioned above as Tell el-
Hosn, and, according to Schumacher, formed “the naturally
protected Acropolis of Fahil, or Pella.” I regretted not
to be able to explore them, and still more to leave the
place without penetrating to any of those caves which
Schumacher found in the neighbourhood, and concerning
one of which he says that “it may be accepted as beyond
doubt that we here have a cave once inhabited by those
Christian anchorites who, in the beginning of the Christian
era and during the Jewish wars, found a refuge in Pella.”
CHA PT E R XXV
FROM PELLA TO SCYTHOPOLIS
WE rather dreaded going down into the Ghôr again, and
still more did we dread travelling and camping there, as we
must do if we were to carry out our idea of following the
line of the Last Journey and keeping to the valley of the
Jordan as far as Jericho. The heat grew greater each day,
and worse than the heat was the oppression occasioned, I
suppose, by the great depth of the valley below the sea,
which increased, of course, with every hour, as we descended
towards the Dead Sea. It was, moreover, not a comfortable
thought that we were some days' ride from any doctor.
Finally, we decided to recross the Jordan and pursue our
journey to Jerusalem by way of Beisãn and Thebez. Beisän,
the Bethshan of the Old Testament, and the Scythopolis of
Josephus, was well worth seeing, and by this route we
should travel for the most part over high ground, which
was an important consideration.
Of course, directly we had made up our minds to this
course, Hanna veered round and was for continuing the
journey due southward. He had apparently lost by this
time his timidity concerning the tribes of the Ghór, and
declared himself to be enamoured of the “beautiful road"
which we had been following. The temperature, he
declared, was quite pleasant, and, in short, we should make
a great mistake if we altered our plan. We altered it
nevertheless, and left Fahil for Beisãn at eight o'clock on
the morning of April 3rd, all the camp travelling together
under the guidance of the village sheikh.
A dear old fellow that sheikh was, with a gentle, Sorrow-
ful face. He had enough, no doubt, to make him Sad, for
he told us that the drought had so utterly destroyed their
crops that the village must be broken up. They rented
their land from the Sultan, and the rent and taxes would
absorb all the produce and more, and there would be
FROM PELLA TO SCYTHOPOLIS I5 I
nothing left to eat. Half the people of the village had
already departed, and the rest were making ready to go.
Where were they going 2 Who can say ? In such cases
the families disperse, each travelling where it thinks to find
Subsistence ; passing perhaps to some other district where
relatives may be living. Sometimes they even take to a
wandering life, as in the case of the Ta'amireh tribe in the
South, who are not true Bedawin, but fellahin who have
reverted to the nomad state.
We dropped down the hill, with the old sheikh riding on
a white horse at our head. As soon as we reached the
valley we turned northward, retracing the way by which we
had come on the previous day. After riding along the
track in this direction for half an hour, our guide slanted
off towards the river across a wild prairie gay with flowers.
In the beds of streams were oleanders in full flower, tall
reeds and sedge and jointed canes fifteen or twenty feet
high. On the open plain were Scarlet poppies, huge white
umbels, yellow marigolds, purple thistles, pale yellow
Scabious, light pink mallows, hollyhocks pink and some-
times white, and the whole expanse was dotted with green
mimosa bushes.
Across this flowery country we rode for about an hour
and a half and then struck the Jordan, which we found
flowing rapidly through a dense thicket of large tamarisk
trees, very different from the puny bushes which wave their
feathers in our English gardens. For a short distance we
followed up the winding stream, till an opening in the
thicket showed us a shelving shore and a broad channel.
Our sheikh, on his white horse, quietly entered the water,
striking diagonally down stream, in which direction, appa-
rently, the shoal lay. Hanna had tried to frighten us by
saying that the ford would be too deep, and that if we got
across at all, it would only be by hiring Camels for the
passage; but as we sat in the saddle the water only reached
to our ankles.
There was some difficulty in getting the donkeys across,
but at length they and the mules with tents and baggage
were safely landed, and we found ourselves and our
belongings once more in Western Palestine. Just as we
reached the bank a party of Bedawin came down to cross
the ford from west to east. There were women with
them, and a boy of twelve. I never saw a child of that age
so terrified at water. He struggled and wept and utterly
I52 TENT AND TESTAMENT
refused to descend to the shore, till one of the men seized
him, flung him across his shoulder and bore him through
the river howling all the way. I asked the name of their
tribe, and learned that they were Ghawārineh. (Fig. 4I).
The old sheikh now took leave of us. He came crouch-
ing toward me, fell upon his knees touching his brow and
breast, and then seized my hand and kissed it. The
expression of his eyes was most pathetic; there was suffer-
ing and fear induced by human tyranny, where naturally
there would have shone only a gentle and affectionate
spirit. It hurt me to have this good old man crawling at
my feet. .
Before we leave this ford I must mention that according
to the Survey Map it seems to be the one which Colonel
Conder identifies with Bethabara (Fig. 40). The whole
Bethabara question we must hold in suspense until we have
visited the fords near Jericho, only mentioning here that I
did not find the name Abāra, which Conder says that he
heard here, used to designate this ford. I asked the fellahin
of Fahil what they called it, and they told me they knew it
only by the name “Makhāda,” while the Bedawin on both
banks told me that their name for it was “Hammud.” Hanna
could not see what it mattered, since “Makhāda,” he said,
“means just the same as Abāra, your English word
“ford.’”
But whether or not this was indeed the Bethabara of
John i. 28, it was certainly at one time a much-used passage
across the river, since it lies on the main route to Bethshan
or Scythopolis. Whether it was the Bethbarah 'of
Judges vii. 24, which the men of Ephraim were set by
Gideon to guard, seems as uncertain as whether it was the
New Testament Bethabara, but it was doubtless by this
ford that the men of Jabesh-Gilead crossed, when they stole
by night to the walls of Bethshan and rescued thence the
headless bodies of Saul and his three sons after the fatal
battle of Gilboa.
To that city of Bethshan we now turned our faces. The
modern village is still known as Beisãn, the Greek name
Scythopolis having dropped into oblivion, and its most
ancient Hebrew name, with slight variation, having, as in
so many other cases, returned to it. The path from the
river-bank soon struck the broad, well-worn, and rather
dusty road which conducts the traveller to the notable
ruins and the lofty tell which mark the historic site. A ride
FIG. 4o.—CONDER's "BETHABARA. "
FIG. 41-BEDAWIN WOMEN BY JORDAN
i.
:
*r -:
*** * * * *, r*
- -- -
- - - - --
* * - - * -
- - -


FROM PELLA TO SCYTHOPOLIS I 53
of about an hour and a half from the Jordan bank brought
us to them.
We had been strongly advised to encamp on the top of
the tell, but Hanna said this was quite impracticable, the
height and steepness were such that no laden beast could
climb it, and he bade us look for ourselves if what he said
was not true. Certainly it appeared so. The black tell
reared its head from the plain and frowned upon us with a
forbidding aspect. The sides were precipitous and appeared
inaccessible. There was, however, if we had but known it,
a fairly easy ascent from a saddle on the western side.
Whether Hanna did not know, or did not wish to know
this, I cannot say. For my own part, short as Our day's
ride had been, I felt quite unfit for anything but to get the
tent pitched upon the most easily accessible spot and throw
myself upon the bed to rest. The spot chosen was some-
what dry and dusty, but there was a beautiful orchard of
figs and pomegranates near by, where we could get Some
shade.
We were on a low hill just outside the town, the edge of
the great Plain of Jezreel, which here breaks off and drops
suddenly by a descent of three hundred feet to the level of
the Ghór. It is, in fact, the bank of the great river-lake
which filled the whole valley in the Pluvial period.
To the north-east we looked across a Swampy valley,
watered by a stream, to the artificial-looking tell behind it.
On the slope just below our camp stood the ruins of the
great theatre. A bridge, a colonnade, the ruins of a street,
and other remains fill the valley. On the saddle to the
west of the tell are columns of a temple and traces of the
city wall.
The view from the tell I did not see, but from my
fellow-traveller's account it must be fine. To the west lay
the Plain of Esdraelon, stretching away between mountain
ranges to the sea. To the east lay the Jordan Valley, with
its curious mounds hiding the river from sight, and beyond
it the great range of Gilead. The setting sun shone full
upon the eastern hills. Their rounded masses of basalt,
scored with deep hollows, lay piled terrace-wise higher and
higher to the summits, beyond which they stretch away
towards the desert. To the north-west lay the slopes of
Gilboa, and a little to the east of north was Hermon, lined
with a few remaining streaks of Snow.
At Beisãn we are still 320 feet below the Mediterranean,
I54 TENT AND TESTAMENT
low, therefore, in relation to the country on the west, though
high with respect to the bed of the Jordan. The place is
planted, indeed, as already explained, on the verge of a long
terrace-slope. It is important, however, to remember that
although this cliff running north and south breaks the
surrounding country into two, there lies below it a breadth
of plain stretching three miles or more to the east, and
above it there lies the Plain of Jezreel running westward for
a dozen miles or more and then issuing in the great battle-
ground of Palestine, the Plain of Esdraelon.
It is this which explains why the people of Bethshan
became famous for their chariots—“All the Canaanites that
dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both
they who are in Bethshan and her towns, and they who are
in the Valley of Jezreel.” The flat country by which they
were surrounded gave them opportunity for the use of these
dreaded chariots. This gave the people of Bethshan a great
advantage; “Manasseh,” we read, “did not drive out the
inhabitants of Bethshan and her towns, . . . . but the
Canaanites would dwell in that land.”
It is probable, indeed, that up to the very end Bethshan
never became a Hebrew or a Jewish town. It retained
its Canaanitish population long after the Israelitish occu-
pation of Palestine; in Saul’s reign it belonged to the
Philistines : in the days of the Maccabees it was Greek,
although there were many Jews settled there ; and Josephus
tells us how, so late as A.D. 65, the inhabitants massacred all
the Jews within its walls.
In the time of Christ it was one of the chief cities of the
Decapolis, and was known as Scythopolis.” Whether Jesus
ever entered it we cannot tell : the probabilities depend upon
the view we take of the scope of His mission. If He con-
fined that mission mainly to “the lost sheep of the house
of Israel,” it is unlikely that He entered Scythopolis. No
pious Jew of His day would voluntarily enter so pagan a city.
Everything he saw would be abhorrent, and the very stones
of the place would defile him. The temples, the hippodrome,
and this massive theatre below us were all alien and sinful ;
and yonder black Acropolis, crowned by its buildings and
fortress-wells, which stood like some spirit of wicked pride
* Possibly from a colony of Scythians, descendants of settlers left
there during the Scythian invasion of Palestine, which, according to
Herodotus, had taken place six centuries before. At the present day,
the settlers in it are said to be of Egyptian origin.
FROM PELLA TO SCYTHOPOLIS I55
frowning on the humble Jew as he toiled along the sultry
road to Shechem, must have seemed to him like the embodi-
ment of that heathen power which overwhelmed and op-
pressed him. But whether Jesus ever lingered there or not,
His eyes must often have beheld its pagan grandeur, for the
three roads through Decapolis gathered at this point into
one, as we have already seen, and the main routes to
Jerusalem through Shechem, and to Egypt from Damascus,
passed beneath its walls, so that most Jews would have
occasion at some time in their lives to pass along so fre-
quented a road.
As to the theatre, although it is termed in Baedeker an
“amphitheatre,” it is, strictly speaking, not correct to call
it so. It is semicircular, like the theatre at Gadara, with a
proscenium 180 feet in length. There are six cunei, or
sections, containing rows of seats; and the vomitoria, or
passages for entrance and exit of the spectators, are in per-
fect preservation. The whole building is very massive, and
is constructed, like everything else at Beisãn except certain
marble pillars, of dark volcanic basalt.
CHAPT E R XXVI
FROM SCYTHOPOLIS, BY THEBEZ, TO JERUSALEM
WE struck our camp early the next morning, and, turning
our back upon the ruins of the ancient city, passed through
the modern town. It appears to be a growing place. In
England we should not consider it as ranking above a
village, but as it has perhaps a hundred houses, many of
which are built of stone, and a regular street with the houses
ranged side by side, instead of being scattered promiscuously
after the usual Palestine fashion, we may perhaps allow the
term “town " to be used. On the outskirts of the place a
troop of Turkish soldiers were making a road. They had
fitted up as a roller the shaft of a venerable marble pillar,
filched from the old Greek ruins, and were dragging the
poor ancient to and fro over the loose rubble of the new
roadway. There was something rather painful in the lack
of veneration implied in these proceedings.
For a couple of hours or so our way lay along the upper
terrace of the Jordan Valley. Once we passed some small
plots of cultivated land through which a little stream ran,
and here booths had been erected, made of the woven boughs
of trees—some round, like those we had already seen on the
roofs of the houses at Băniyās and elsewhere, but most
square with flat roofs. These are, doubtless, the structures
which the prophet had in mind when he spoke of forlorn
Jerusalem as “left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a
garden of cucumbers.” They looked pretty enough on this
bright April day, with the growing crop around them ; but
when the crop is gathered, and the watchman gone, and the
lodge left standing empty on the black earth, we can see how
the simile applies.
Then, leaving the Upper Ghôr, we struck into the hills by
a wadi, the floor of which was of rocks polished by the
traffic to such a degree that neither man nor horse could
without the greatest difficulty stand upright upon their glassy
FROM SCYTHOPOLIS TO JERUSALEM I57
surface. We dismounted and led our beasts by the bridle,
proceeding at a snail's pace, and taking it in turn to fall
down. All the four horses we had with us—the dragoman's,
the groom's, and our own—fell more than once.
This wadi, which ran from east to west, led into another
running north and South, and turning southward we were
able at length to pursue our way with better speed. Presently
Hammad trotted forward to prepare a place for our mid-
day rest, and in due course we found ourselves lying under
the shadow of a spreading tree, and listening to the cry of
the cuckoo.
This was not the first time in our journey that we heard
that homely bird. I had noticed it first at the end of March
as I was wandering along the western shore of the Sea
of Galilee ; it called across the lake from the eastern cliffs.
We heard it again on April 2 as we rode down the Jordan
Valley from Gadara to Pella. And now, on the 4th of the
month, its cry was frequent and persistent. This is earlier,
of course, than we hear it in England, April 14 being known
as “cuckoo-day” in our southern counties. According to
Hanna, the Arabs call the bird “htād-hūd,” softening after
their usual fashion the explosive consonants which we
northerners prefer. Or, is that what the cuckoo really says,
and is it merely tradition which makes us Britishers hear
the guttural in the cuckoo's cry 2
It seems strange that so noticeable a bird should not be
mentioned in the Bible,” but there are many such silences
that are almost equally remarkable. The gorgeous butter-
flies, for instance, which we had seen in Galilee are never
once alluded to, nor the fire-flies near Gennesaret; and there
are many striking flowers—such as the lupine, the hollyhock,
the oleander, and the beautiful scented mimosa—which one
would have expected to meet with somewhere in the course
of the Scriptures; though it must be admitted, no doubt,
that much uncertainty lingers round the names of Scripture
plants, and that the mimosa, for instance, may possibly be
represented by one of the many Bible words for “thorns.”
We reached our camp at Tübás after a four hours' ride.
The name answers to the Scripture Thebez, and the situation
tallies with that of Thebez as given by Eusebius and Jerome.
In modern times it was first identified in 1838, when Robin-
son and Smith visited it, and described it in their “Biblical
* The word rendered “cuckoo" in Lev. xi. 16 and Deut. xiv. I 5 (A.V.)
is given as “sea-mew’’ in the Revised Version.
158 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Researches.” Tourists do not often come here, and, in-
deed, beyond the beauty of the situation, there is little
enough to see.
The modern village, like the ancient town, is built on the
slope of a hill, with a fine plain before it, better wooded than
most of the plains in this part of Palestine. Mount Gerizim
can be seen from it, Nablus being, indeed, only ten or twelve
miles distant.
This reminds us that Thebez is linked with Shechem in
that weird story of Abimelech, the son of Gideon, killing his
Seventy brothers, and seizing upon the government in
Shechem. And it fits the continuation of the story, which
tells how three years afterwards Abimelech marched to this
city of Thebez, which had made common cause with the
Shechemites, and how he met his death here; for “Abime-
lech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went
hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire; and a
certain woman cast an upper millstone upon Abimelech's
head, and brake his skull.”
I told this story to Hanna, to whom it was new. He was
greatly impressed, especially with the “cleverness” of the
woman who dropped the millstone.
As to the village itself, there is little that is ancient about
it. It consists mainly of the usual mud-built houses, nor
could I see any traces of ruins. There are mounds, however,
round about the village, which may perhaps contain relics
of the ancient city. The village is said to be well-to-do.
Formerly it paid a heavy bribe to escape the conscription ;
whether it does so still, I do not know ; but certainly there
seemed to be more well-clad men about than in most
of the villages which we had visited. I watched them in
the evening driving home their cattle, and the women carry-
ing home great bundles of leafy firewood, which is here
comparatively abundant.f. (Figs. 42, 43.)
Up to five-and-twenty years ago, and perhaps later,
Thebez constantly suffered from incursions of the Eastern
Bedawin. A glance at the map shows the reason for this,
for it lies almost in the line of that notable cleft in the
* Vol. iii. (1841) p. 158.
+ James Finn, at one time British consul in Jerusalem, mentions, in
his “ Byeways of Palestine,” that “the natural soil here is so fertile
that its wheat and its oil, together with those of Hanoon, fetch the
highest prices in towns, and the grain is particularly sought after as
seed for other districts.”
FIG. 42. –NATIVES OF THEBEZ
FIG. 43–THE BEz: DRIVING HOME THE CATTLE
- - - -
* * * * * * * * * * * *
--
* * * º - -
--- --
* -- * * * * ... •
- - * - - -


FROM SCYTHOPOLIS TO JERUSALEM 159
mountain-mass, which extends down the Jabbok on the east
of Jordan, and up the Wädi Făra on the west. It is pro-
bable, indeed, that those wild and very ancient Bedawin,
the tribes of Israel, passed into the land of Canaan by this
very route, crossing the Jordan by the Ford of Damieh,
when they took possession of the Shechem Valley, the earliest
of Israel's settlements. *
At Tübás we were but fourteen hours from Jerusalem,
and it was now the Thursday before the Latin Easter; so,
as our men much desired to spend the feast in the Holy
City, we resolved to ride seven hours on each of the next
two days, that we might reach our journey's end by Saturday
night.
Our southward way was through scenery which was often
wild and grand. We passed Ain el-Fāra, which has been
identified by some with AEnon, though it is about five miles
from Salim, which is supposed to be the Salem to which
AEnon was “near.” Then we climbed the high slopes of
Ebal, whence we looked down into the noble valley between
that mountain and the opposing height of Neby Belan.
From this mountain road we came down close to Askar,
which may well be the Sychar of the New Testament and
the Talmud. The Fountain of Sychar which the Talmud
mentions is a very fine spring in the middle of the village,
used by all the inhabitants. We crossed the Sâhil el-Askar,
which is doubtless the Plain of Sychar also mentioned in
the Talmud, and so arrived for the second time at Jacob's
Well.
Thence we pursued the road, which in the reverse direc-
tion we had already travelled, across the green Plain of
Makhnah, past our old camping-ground at Huwära, where
the children rushed out upon us noisily demanding bakh-
shish ; thence again to el-Lubban, which has been already
described, arriving Soon afterwards at Sinjil, where our camp
was perched.
Nothing new occurred by the way except that a fellah
who was travelling Southwards on foot sought our protec-
tion. He explained that he had enemies in that district,
who would attack and kill him if they found him alone.
So for several miles he walked beside our horses, a living
reminder that the ancient custom of the blood-feud still
remains in force in this barbarous country.
* See “Encycl. Bibl.,” arts. “Israel” and “Jericho.”
I6o TENT AND TESTAMENT
Sinjil,” where we slept that night, lies high, and the air
was cold and bracing. Its huts are surrounded by vines
and fig-trees and by well tilled fields. The men of the
village seemed lively and well-to-do as they sat in a circle
near our tents engaged in eager talk. We had missed this
place on our northward journey by reason of the détour
which we had made to visit Shiloh. The junction with the
path to the latter place was passed soon after we started
next morning, and from this point onwards our road was
identical with that which we had travelled in leaving
Jerusalem four weeks before. It took us past Bethel,
Beeroth, Ramah, Gibeah of Benjamin, and Shafât, and so
along the weary length of newly-made road and over
Scopus into Jerusalem. I fear that the joy of a safe return
and the relief of knowing that now one could have a day's
rest, needful physic, and suitable diet, caused me to act in
a most undignified manner, for no sooner had we dis-
mounted at the hotel door than seizing Hanna's hand in
the open street I shook it warmly, to his unmeasured
amazement.
* Sinjil is a corruption of St. Giles, “one of the few names,” says
Professor G. A. Smith, “which the Crusaders stamped on the land,”
for here was “a castle or manor of the Order of St. John, presented to
them by a Robert of St. Giles.”
CHA PT E R XXVII
JERUSALEM-CALVARY AND THE TOMB
AT last a day on which to stretch one's legs, a day with
no packing or unpacking, no weary stiffening of one's
back, a day for resting and strolling ! Oh, the comfort of
standing upon your own feet ! It was April 7 and Easter
Sunday ; that is to say, the Latin Easter. For, as with
the holy sites so with the holy seasons: everything in
Palestine is duplicated. You not only take your choice
between the Latin Gethsemane and the Greek Gethsemane,
but also between the Latin Easter and the Greek Easter.
The Greek Church keep to the old style, and their Easter
Day will arrive a week later than that which is reckoned by
the Gregorian Calendar.
Meanwhile, here was our own Easter morning, somewhat
grey and chill, more like our home weather than the
Scorching heat and blinding glare which these Eastern
skies had hitherto poured down upon us. It seemed fitting
to-day to visit the tomb which we believed to have upon
the whole the best claim to be associated with the Resur-
rection story—the sepulchre cut in the face of that cliff
which adjoins what is known as “Gordon's" Calvary.*
After breakfast, therefore, we strolled to the north of
the city, passed through the Damascus Gate, and crossing
the broad road which runs parallel with the northern
defences, found ourselves presently opposite to the far-
famed hill or knoll which surmounts the ancient quarry
known as Jeremiah's Grotto. “Gordon's " Calvary and
“Gordon's "Sepulchre are named after the famous General
Gordon, because these were the sites he favoured as the
scenes of the Gospel tragedy; although Conder pointed
* Subsequent reading has led me to be more doubtful about this site
than I was at the time of my visit to it. The whole subject of Calvary
and Sepulchre has been exhaustively treated by the late Sir Charles
Wilson in his posthumous work, “Golgotha.”
L
I62 TENT AND TESTAMENT
out this knoll as the probable site of the Crucifixion long
before it was adopted by Gordon, and the tomb was visited
by both Conder and Schick at the time of its excavation,
in 1873, ten years before Gordon set eyes upon it.
It was not without a thrill that I stood before that ancient
scarp and raised my eyes to the summit of the little hill
upon which, as I believed, the Cross of Christ had been
planted. It would not be true to say that I had no linger-
ing doubts ; in fact, the uncertainty attaching to nearly all
the sacred sites is the most distressing element in Palestine
travel.
However, here was the knoll, and here was the cliff with
its tomb, and it was open to us at any rate to get a better
understanding of the arguments “for” and “against ''
advanced by the champions of the rival theories through
an examination of the spot itself. Our Easter visit to the
tomb we reserved till we had first considered the Calvary.
The “Mount’ is not, as I had imagined it, a semi-
spherical elevation, giving one a representation of the
crown of a skull. The top of it is but very slightly rounded,
and that only at one point in the ridge. Sir Charles
Wilson says, indeed, that this rounded surface is only the
effect of accumulated rubbish, and that the rock bed is
flat. However that may be, the name Golgotha could
never have been derived from the form of the hill, if this
is the hill so named. General Gordon's fantastic notion
that the skull is to be found not in the shape of the hill,
nor in any other appearance visible to the passer-by, but
in the ground-plan or bird’s-eye view of the hill itself may
surely be disregarded. The hill could never have been
named by cartographers. The name, whencesoever derived,
was certainly given, as nearly all such place names are given,
by the peasant population, or by the Jerusalem man-in-the-
Street.
Keeping to this idea we looked next for the skull-like
face said to be visible on the cliff front. The morning
being, as I have said, grey and cloudy, there were no deep
shadows in the caves and fissures of the precipice to help
the illusion ; and I am fain to confess that at first I failed to
see the death's-head before me. But my companion, being
of a more perceptive nature, immediately pointed it out; and
it is certain that the gigantic face of Death once seen can
never again be missed, it catches the eye every time the
place is passed.
FIG.
44. –“ GoR DON's " CA Lv ARY


JERUSALEM-CALVARY AND THE TOMB 163
There is something grimly fascinating in the notion that
this is indeed the “Gulgolta” or skull from which the
populace had named the place ; and one awaits with
impatience further evidence as to the history of this cliff,
how and when through this rocky spur of the upland the
great cutting was made which produced this broken surface
and separated it by so wide a gap from the city wall. Was
it made prior to the Crucifixion, and did it bear the same
appearance then as now 2 * One is even inclined to say
that wherever the true Calvary is situated, it must have been
some such deathly apparition which suggested its designa-
tion ; the theory is so simple and does away at a stroke
with the many far-fetched guesses as to the origin and
meaning of the name.
A broad road runs between the cliff and the wall of the
city; and between the road and the cliff there are gardens.
Skirting the gardens we climbed to the top of the little hill.
The ascent is easy, for the hill is broken only on the one
side, that which faces the city ; on the other sides the slope
is gradual. In fact, the place is perfectly adapted for such
a spectacle as that of the Crucifixion. It is the one obvious
spot to which the procession leaving Antonia and issuing
from the northern gate would wend its way. Here, as if
made for the purpose, was a little hill set right opposite to
the city, and separated from the new suburb of Bezetha by
6oo or 700 feet; so that women and quiet citizens, who did
not care to mingle with the rough mob that thronged the
plain below the knoll, or crowded up its sides, could stand
upon the house-tops in Bezetha and view the tragedy
“from afar.”
And this would be possible, even if the execution was
carried out at the foot of the cliff, and not upon its summit.
For, in trying to reconstruct the scene, we have to remember
that it is not certain that the Crucifixion took place upon a
hill. We speak always of Mount Calvary, but we have in
fact no Scripture authority for describing Calvary as a
“Mount.” The “Monticulus ” from which our “Mount "
Calvary is derived was artificially produced by cutting away
the rock round the traditional or ecclesiastically-Sanctioned
tomb ; and it is possible that the Crucifixion took place not
* Such evidence as exists has now been set forth in the late Sir
Charles Wilson's posthumous work, “Golgotha,” referred to above.
It points strongly to the “skull” on the cliff being of later date than
the Crucifixion.
I64 TENT AND TESTAMENT
upon a “mount” at all, but on some level space below the
walls or house-tops. Quite apart, however, from the evidence
or want of evidence furnished by tradition, the probabilities
would seem to be in favour of such an elevation as this
upon which we stood. Our own islands furnish many
instances of the “Gallows Hill,” and it is plain that con-
venience would dictate the use, whether in East or West, of
carrying out executions on some hillock or platform which
would more or less completely isolate the operators and the
guards from the encumbering mass of spectators. On the
whole the general appearance and surroundings of this place
tend to conviction.
Descending now from the rocky platform to the level of
the plain below it, we paid our Easter visit to the Tomb. .
To discuss the historical evidence for the Resurrection, or
the spiritual evidence for that greater truth which it
symbolises, would be out of place here : our Easter
meditations may be left unrecorded. We are concerned
only with the question which hung upon our lips as we
approached the Sepulchre : Was this in truth the tomb
“hewn out of a rock” in which they laid our Lord 2 If
only that question could be answered 1 One longs to
believe in it, for the spot is a fitting one, and it answers in
many respects to the story.
Having paid our little fee and passed through the door in
the enclosing wall, we found ourselves in a garden. It is
shaded by pomegranates and fig-trees; brightly coloured
poppies and Sweet-scented Stocks grow in luxuriant con-
fusion ; and in the crevices of the rock-face in which the
sepulchre is hewn tufts of furry borage have taken root.
The custodian tells us that this is “the hyssop that springeth
out of the wall,” but Canon Tristram identifies that scriptural
plant with the caper.”
In the garden there is a tomb, and at the threshold of the
tomb is a long groove, in which, so it is said, the circular
stone rolled to and fro to close and unclose the door. “He
rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.” Certain it is
that such rolling stones were in use at the beginning of our
era, and that this groove is of the precise width of that of
* The plant which hangs in tufts from the rock-face at the Sepulchre
is, to be precise, the Alkanna orientalis, a plant allied to the borage.
The caper grows in the crevices of the Harām wall. Dr. Post believes
that the hyssop was an Origanum.
JERUSALEM-CALVARY AND THE TOMB 165
the “Tombs of the Kings” in which the stone itself is still
to be seen.
Passing through the narrow doorway, we stand in a low
flat-roofed chamber hewn in the solid rock. To the right
and the left of the short passage which bisects it are two
loculi or trough-like receptacles for dead bodies. The one
on the left is indicated as that in which the body of Christ
was probably laid (Fig. 45).
Our guide points to the chisel-marks upon the left-hand
wall and maintains that they show this wall to have been
unfinished, proving that this was a “new” tomb, as the
Arimathean Joseph's is recorded to have been. He also
points to marks of places where wooden wedges were
inserted which when wetted expanded and split the rock—
the ancient method of blasting.
In spite, however, of all that one sees and all that is said,
we cannot feel any high degree of assurance that this is
indeed the tomb of the Arimathean Jew. One is haunted
by the knowledge that this was for long years a Christian
tomb, that Crusading folk were buried here, that crosses
were painted on the walls of it; and by the recollection
that the whole weight of the Sepulchre-theory hangs by so
slender a thread as the suspicion or belief that, though at
one time Christian and containing Christian additions and
alterations, it was enlarged from a smaller tomb of Jewish
origin. These matters, however, must be studied hereafter ;
the morning has been wearing on, and it is time for us to
return to our hostelry. A visit to an alternative Sepulchre,
known as “Conder's,” is recorded in a later chapter.
C H A P T E R XXVIII
AN EXCURSION TO JERICHO
THE next day the sun showed himself again, though the air
was still somewhat sharp. We left Jerusalem at two o'clock
for an excursion to Jericho, where we were to spend a clear
day, staying at the Jordan Hotel for two nights. It is a five
hours' drive from Jerusalem to Jericho, nearly the whole
journey being a precipitous descent. Our dragoman Hanna,
who had now discarded the keffiyeh and agál, and wore the
simple Scarlet tarbūsh, sat beside the driver, and we had as
an outrider a mounted Bedawi, whom Hanna had engaged
the day before.
The mode of engaging an Arab escort is peculiar. It is
done through the “Sheikh of the Escorts,” who resides in
Jerusalem. Hanna had met him on the previous day as we
were walking in the street : a tall, spare man, more impos-
ing than the average Bedawi, who is rather short and small-
made. Payment (which is virtually blackmail) is made to
the Sheikh, and you are then provided with a man of his
tribe to accompany you, and are immune from robbery.
How far there is really danger of robbery by a road which
is now so much frequented I do not know, but I imagine it
might still be unsafe for a European to wander unguarded
in the neighbourhood of Jericho.
The escort provided by the sheikh was the best specimen
of the true Bedawi whom I had seen. He was dressed in
a black abá and white keffiyeh, and was superbly mounted.
He liked to show off his horse and his riding. Every now
and then he would dart away from our side, gallop his
horse furiously over a stretch of loose stony ground, plunge
into some gully or behind some hill, and presently reappear
at some unexpected point, or show himself like an eques-
trian statue on some lofty rock, with the dainty limbs of his
glossy steed sharply outlined against the sky.
Our carriage followed behind a long procession of other
AN EXCURSION TO JERICHO 167
vehicles which were taking a party to visit the shores of the
Dead Sea. Just outside Jerusalem, on the south slope of
the Mount of Olives, we passed the slaughter-house. The
filthy smell of the place had attracted a host of vultures,
who wheeled round and round it in a slowly-revolving,
never-pausing circle, like unclean Souls of some Inferno.
It reminded us forcibly of the words spoken of this very
city : “Where the carcase is there will the eagles be
gathered together.”
Rounding this spur, we passed Bethany, which is just over
the brow. The hill was parched and brown, the roads
dusty and the village dirty ; the poetry for the moment
seemed wanting. The one touch of romance came from
the ruined tower in the middle of the village, crowning it
and giving to it some approach to dignity. This castle is
said to belong to a time earlier than that of the Crusades,
though its real age and purpose are, I believe, unknown.
After Bethany there is another slight ascent, and then our
road drops rapidly, and we begin that wonderful descent of
about 3,400 feet to that terrace above the Jordan bed upon
which Jericho is built. Hour after hour down this steep
mountain-side we descend till it seems as though we must
be descending into the bowels of the earth. And so
in a sense we are, for by the time we reach Jericho we
shall be some 900 feet below sea-level, and those who go
a little further and reach the Dead Sea shore will be no
less than 1300 feet below the Mediterranean, and will
stand upon the lowest dry land on the surface of this
lobe.
8 The drive is dreary and monotonous, through a sea of
land-waves, parched and brown, Stony, round-topped feature-
less hills. The whole landscape is redeemed from utter
barrenness only by a few patches of green corn, where a
little arable earth has here and there accumulated. Down
the sides of these desolate limestone moors the road zig-zags
mile after mile, our carriage enveloped in a cloud of dust,
and the heat and closeness increasing with every league of
our descent. The loneliness and desolation of the sur-
rounding wilderness, whose Stony undulating mass is inter-
sected by a network of deep valleys sufficient to afford cover
for a score of armies, helps us to realise why this was of old
time a robber-country, and why Jesus located here that
immortal parable concerning one who was “going down
from Jerusalem to Jericho" and fell among thieves.
I68 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Half way to Jericho stands a khán, which tradition, turning
parable into history, associates with that same story of the
Good Samaritan ; and here we lingered, while our dragoman,
our driver, and our escort refreshed themselves and their
beasts before conducting us on our final plunge towards the
Ghór.
Resuming our journey, we found the hill still barren and
forbidding, but with a gap now opening out before us,
across which was stretched the distant range of Moab,
standing like some Titan's wall across our way and lit up
now by the sun which was slowly falling behind us. In
about an hour after leaving the khân the carriage stopped,
and we were invited to dismount and climb the bank on the
left of the road. We did so, and saw one of the grandest
sights of Palestine. All unknown to ourselves we had been
skirting the southern side of the Wädi el-Kelt, and here we
touched a point where we could look down into that mighty
rent in the limestone range. “Few mountain gorges in
Western lands,” says Canon Cheyne, “can compare with it.
It is one of the most stupendous chasms in the ‘ancient
mountains,” so narrow that one can hardly measure twenty
yards across the bottom, so deep that one can only just see
the slender torrent stream which winds along amidst caves
and rank rushes to the Jordan.” Canon Tristram regrets
that it could not be identified with the brook Cherith of
Elijah, especially as he took two ravens' nests with eggs
there. Ravens or no ravens, I could not but echo that
regret. The place would form such a grand setting for that
ancient drama : its wild stern grandeur be so exceedingly
appropriate to the grim old prophet of Jehovah. Truly the
march of knowledge is sometimes very exasperating, and
one is half inclined to throw truth overboard and to shift
the scene to suit the story !
Those, however, who remain obstinately determined to
set the story in its actual scene will have to seek their brook
Cherith somewhere in Gilead on the further side of the
Jordan Valley; perhaps, as Canon Cheyne suggests, in the
Wädi Ruhaibeh. This, at least, is what they must do if they
accept the reading which that scholar gives of the word of
the Lord which came to Elijah : “Get thee hence from
Samaria and turn to the east and hide thyself in the torrent-
valley of Cherith which is to the east of Jordan.” "
What, then, is this wild chasm into whose depth we are
* See “Encycl. Bibl.,” art. “Cherith.”
AN EXCURSION TO JERICHO I69
now gazing f If we divorce it from the Elijah tradition, is
there any other historical event which we may associate
with it in our minds It is in all probability the Valley of
Zeboim mentioned in that grim story of Samuel, when Saul
took upon himself to offer sacrifice because the prophet
delayed his coming, and when he started upon his expedition
without the prophetic sanction. Into this depth one of the
bands of Philistine spoilers is represented as looking down
as they skirted it in their march, just as we are looking now.
And there is a later interest. For, those treeless crags
are pierced with caves which in early Christian days were
inhabited by anchorites. I suppose they felt (as who would
not ?) that the scene echoed in some way the tragedy of the
soul. Some such feeling, perhaps, led the Greek monks of
a later time to build yonder monastery so strangely perched
on one of the rocky ledges which break the face of the
precipice which fronts us. Or perhaps they hoped for
cleansing from the water of the brook which comes down
the length of the valley—the sacred brook of Elijah, as they
deemed it, and as it is still believed to be by the monks who
live there to-day.
We returned to our carriage, and soon afterwards had
glimpses of the Jordan Valley and the upper end of the Dead
Sea. In another hour we were in full view of the Plain of
Jericho, with the course of the Jordan and a large stretch of
the Dead Sea clearly visible. The aspect of the plain was
disappointing. The traditional luxuriance seemed wholly
wanting. Where, then, were the groves of palm, the tangled
masses of flowering shrubs, the balsam gardens, the Spark-
ling streams, the tropical glory of this far-famed spot ?
What we seemed to see was a vast extent of burnt-up prairie,
broken only here and there by little groups or streaks of
foliage. Some way out on the plain were the mud hovels
of the modern village with four hideous hotels, making this
ugly place still uglier; the only redeeming features being
the poplars, tamarisks and cypresses which surmounted it
and softened its harshness, and the black tents of the
Bedawin, which suggested a very ancient past.
But again we could forget all ugliness as we looked beyond
the village and beyond the parched plain and beheld once
more the noble range of Moab. That curious scored and
crumpled appearance so familiar in Palestine pictures—the
prominences standing out in bright orange and ochre and
the gullies marked in vertical streaks of deep blue—all
17o TENT AND TESTAMENT
seemed so satisfactory and so fitting, so scriptural from long
association, as well as so intrinsically dignified and lovely.
As to Jericho itself, the discrepancy between its traditional
glories and its Squalid appearance was presently in Some Sort
explained by a certain dry stony reservoir, an ancient ruined
pool, which lay upon our right as we neared the foot of the
hill. It belonged, so antiquaries tell us, to the old irrigation
works, which at one time spread a network of living streams
far around, and gave to Jericho the name “City of Palms ”
and that reputation as an earthly paradise which lingers
even yet in spite of the glaring reality.
Another still greater interest attaches to it, for there is
little doubt that this is the self-same pool which Herod con-
structed near to his Jericho palace. We are standing, in fact,
in the very midst of the New Testament Jericho, which did
not occupy the same site as the Jericho of old Hebrew times,
the latter lying some distance to the north. The group of dry
mounds which rise on both sides of our road cover the re-
mains of the Jericho of Roman times—the Jericho of Antony,
of Herod, of Zacchaeus the tax-gatherer.
According to Josephus,” Cleopatra received from Antony
the revenues derived from the balsam and palm-trees of this
region, but afterwards Herod the Great compounded for
them and came into personal possession of the place, and
here it was that he built that royal residence in which he
died his loathsome death. I believe we can actually see the
place where the Springs of Callirhoe run—those hot springs
to which the tyrant resorted in his last illness. They still
rise on the further shore of yonder blue sea, far away to the
south-east. The coast in their immediate neighbourhood, at
any rate, is in view ; and it was thither that the wretched
king painfully travelled, and there that he bathed in vain
hope of curing the terrible disease from which he suffered.
Some thirty years after Herod's death a humble prophet
of the people passed beneath the palace walls, on the way to
his doom. As he issued from the shadow of the palms
which waved their fronds above the white houses on the
western outskirts of the town, a blind beggar was sitting by
the wayside One knows the story. The incident is in
the earliest record, it cannot be doubted, and it happened
almost on the spot where we are standing. Turn round ;
look up the way we have just come : see the hot dry road,
where it climbs those treeless heights. It was much the same
* “Antiq.” xv. iv, 1, 2.
AN EXCURSION TO JERICHO 171
then, for there was never any water between this place and
Jerusalem. And the little procession of Galileans, with the
rejoicing Bartimaeus following the prophet, wended their
toilsome way up that same road, just as yonder company of
pilgrims with their village-banner is climbing the height
to-day.
Another two miles and we halted before the rough wooden
structure, dignified by the name of “hotel,” which stands
in the midst of the group of squalid huts known to the
natives as Eriha. And here it may be as well to explain
that there are no less than four Jerichos, of which this
village of Eriha claims to be one.
The oldest city lies about two miles to the west of our
“hotel ” : it is buried beneath the mounds which border the
so-called Elisha's spring, just below the traditional Mount
of Temptation. This is the Jericho of the Old Testament.
The second is that which we have just left : the noble and
beautiful city of Herod. The traveller from Jerusalem
passes through the midst of what must have been the main
city, though the houses extended perhaps in scattered
fashion as far south as the further side of Wädi el-Kelt.
The third is the Byzantine Jericho, which stood near the
site of the Old Testament city, but further from the moun-
tains. It is marked by loose building-stones and fragments
of broken pillars buried among the thorn-bushes and coarse
herbage in that part of the plain. And the fourth is the
Jericho where we have just dismounted and in which we are
to stay to-night. This is the Crusaders' Jericho; and yonder
square tower standing a little to the South-east of us, which
the credulous tourist accepts from his dragoman as the
“House of Zacchaeus,” is doubtless one of those towers
which the Crusaders were accustomed to build along their
pilgrim-roads for the protection of the faithful.
Nothing in the way of exploring can be done to-day.
The evening is well advanced ; the Sun is just about to dip
behind the ridge which divides us from Jerusalem, lighting
with its parting beams the brown and dusty desert by which
we are surrounded, and giving even to that a burnished
beauty not to be surpassed. The little clouds which hang
in the west are flecked with rosy pink. Darkness falls, the
stars come out, we lie down to rest. But sleep comes not ;
the breathless heat of this Valley of Sodom smothers us.
It wants about an hour to midnight when we rise and
wander to the window in a vain attempt to get a mouthful
172 TENT AND TESTAMENT
of freshness out of the stifling night. Shouts and the beat-
ing of drums come from a neighbouring camp of Coptic
pilgrims. And then, silently, a tinge of silver spreads along
the ridge of Moab, out yonder in the east, and slowly,
solemnly, the waning moon floats up into the calm sky,
and looks down with serene untroubled eye upon our
feverish tossing, our troubled thoughts, our weird religions.
So looked she down on that last sad journey of our Lord,
when He travelled down this same valley of the Jordan on
His way to Jerusalem. For I suppose that He slept in
Jericho, at the house of Zacchaeus, before the last stage of
His journey—so at least the story as told by St. Mark would
seem to indicate—and it was just at this season of the year.
Upon that solemn grief and despairing hope this same
Easter-moon looked down with this same untroubled calm.
Did her calm seem cold to Him, austere and aloof f Or
did it speak to Him of “peace in the high places,” and
heal Him with the strength and serenity of God's own
presence 2
CHAPT E R XXIX
FROM JERICHO TO BETH-NIMRAH AND BACK
THE stifling night was over and the glare and dust of a new
day begun. Little of freshness has the morning of an April
day in Jericho. I had planned for to-day an excursion
to Tell Nimrin, which some have held to be the true
Bethabara. So I bade good-bye to my companion, who
followed in the long tourist procession which was bound
for the shores of the Dead Sea, while I and Hanna sought
Out Our Bedawi guide and prepared to start in an opposite
direction, for Nimrin lies somewhat higher up the Ghér
than Jericho.
My equine friend, who had carried me for so many days,
had been brought over from Jerusalem, and the three of us,
fºnglishman, Syrian, and Bedawi, were soon in the saddle
and riding side by side over the withered plain towards the
Jordan. I had now an opportunity of observing our Arab
guide more particularly. He was a good-looking, lively
fellow, undersized but active. Never did I come across
such a talker. For fully two hours he kept up an incessant
flow of Arabic, interrupted only at long intervals by a word
from Hanna.
Our route ran somewhat to the north of east over a flat
plain by a broad well-trodden track. Jericho, it must be
remembered, stands upon the upper terrace of the Jordan
Valley, 9oo feet below the Mediterranean, but nearly 4oo feet
above the bed of the river. It was across this terrace, left
by one of the long pauses in the subsidence of the great
Jordan lake, that we had hitherto been travelling: and it
was not till we had crossed four or five miles of this old
lake-bottom (Fig. 46) that we came to the edge, where a
further drop was to take us into the Lower Ghör—the
deeper, narrower rift, down the midst of which the river
has cut its proper and still more straitened channel.
It was there that we entered that strange labyrinth of
I74 TENT AND TESTAMENT
fantastic mounds which never fails to excite the wonder of
the traveller who sees it for the first time. Heaps of soft
white marl, from twenty to fifty feet in height, have been
carved by water and wind into every imaginable shape.
Houses, castles, pyramids, cairns, ruined fortresses, ter-
raced citadels, squared and buttressed platforms, are all
crowded together, divided from each other only by narrow
passages branching in every direction and leading nowhere
—a goblin city, silent as the dead, barren as Sahara, grO-
tesque as some nightmare dream. Through this network
of alleys we must have ridden, one behind the other, for
nearly a mile, without seeing a bush or a blade of grass,
before we came into the open.
When we emerged from it we found ourselves not far
from the Jordan bank. The river has worn for itself a
deep channel, fringed with tamarisk. We crossed it by a
quaint, rough-looking wooden bridge, with sides of trellis-
work, the entrance being closed by a wooden gate which
was guarded by a lodge, where the bridge-keepers resided.
The bridge is the property of the Sultan, from whom the
custodians rent it, and then extract what they like, or what
they can, in the way of tolls from travellers.
On the further bank we entered a broad belt of copse,
where for the first time I heard the song of the bulbul. I
mistook it at first for that of the nightingale, for it has the
same richness and liquid beauty; but I missed the long,
piercing note, as if the songster were in pain, which in
Philomel's song is so characteristic and unmistakable. But
the bulbul, though its voice is so like, is in reality quite
distinct from the nightingale, and is more nearly allied to
the thrush, though it is, as Tristram says, of “a very
marked and distinct species, of which we possess no
representative.”
After the copse came another zone of fantastic rocks
similar to those on the west of the river, but not equal to
them in extent or in strangeness of form. Passing through
these we emerged on a wide and open plain, brown and
withered like the Plain of Jericho which we had left, and
strewn like that with loose stones, but studded somewhat
more thickly with stumps of green bushes. Among the
latter the mimosa prevailed. It was in fruit, and as we
rode along our Bedawi gathered and devoured handfuls of
the berries. Then, as though it were inhospitable for him
to be eating while I fasted, he drew from his Saddle-bag a
FIG 46.--SHORE AND BOTTOM OF PREHISTORIC JORDAN LAKE


FROM JERICHO TO BETH-NIMRAH I75
minute cucumber, which he handed to me with a smile,
and of which I ate with relish, finding it very refreshing.
The heat being now oppressive and wearying, I casually
asked our Arab when we should arrive at Nimrin.
He immediately answered, “We are in Nimrin already.”
“Where, then, is the Tell ?” I inquired.
“It is a long way yet to the Tell,” he replied.
“Is, then, the whole of this country called ‘Nimrin ' ' " I
further inquired.
“The whole of it, down to the Jordan banks.”
This struck me as rather important for the purpose of the
problem which I had in mind, and I questioned and Cross-
questioned him, through the lips of my dragoman, but he
consistently maintained that the whole district was called
Nimrin “down to the very banks of the river.”
And now, in a few words, I must explain to my reader why
this seemed to me of some importance.
The theory that Tell-Nimrin is the site of Bethabara
originated with the late Sir George Grove. In John i. 28,
we read: “These things were done in Bethabara beyond
Jordan, where John was baptising.” But the oldest MSS. read
Bethany instead of Bethabara, and the Revised Version has
amended the passage accordingly. Origen, however, al-
though he mentions the fact that almost all the copies of
his time had “Bethany beyond Jordan,” regarded this as a
copyist's slip, and on topographical grounds retained the
name Bethabara. It may be argued, moreover, that it is
more likely that Bethabara should be altered to a familiar
name like Bethany, than that Bethany should be altered to
an unfamiliar name like Bethabara ; and this may be taken
as an additional reason for thinking that Bethabara was the
original reading. And yet, on the other hand, there stand
the ancient MSS., with their striking consensus in favour
of Bethany, a fact which it is impossible lightly to set
aside.
Now, it would not be an isolated phenomenon if the
original name were some combination of the variants ; in
the text of the Old Testament instances are known of Com-
plex words branching off in this manner into two different
components. Suppose, for instance, that the real name of
the place had been Bethanabra ; then one copyist, omitting
or overlooking the final letters, might have substituted
Bethany, and another, overlooking two of the middle letters,
might have substituted Bethabra—a form of the name
176 TENT AND TESTAMENT
which does, in fact, occur. In this way the alternative read-
ings Bethany and Bethabara would be accounted for.
But this, one may be inclined to say, is merely guess-
work. That, however, is not quite the case. For, strange
to say, one ancient MS. of the Septuagint actually provides
a very near approximation to the suggested name Bethan-
abra. In Joshua xiii. 27, we find in that copy, instead of
the Hebrew name Beth-Nimrah, the form Baithanabra,
which looks like a confirmation both of the suggestion that
Bethanabra was the form which Beth-Nimrah ultimately
took, and also that it is the original word of which Bethany
and Bethabara are both corruptions.
It was this theory that Beth-Nimrah was the true Betha-
bara which had led me to undertake the present expedition.
I was quite prepared, if the topographical aspect of the place
did not contradict the etymological argument, to abandon
the traditional scene of the baptism of Jesus, notwithstand-
ing any prejudice in favour of the Jordan which association
might have created. But when my Bedawi so unexpectedly
informed me that Nimrin extended to the very banks of the
sacred stream, it suddenly struck me that the philological
argument and the traditional view might thereby be har-
monised. For, suppose that the place where Jesus was
baptised was the ford near the junction of the Wädi Nimrin
with the Jordan (Fig. 47). This ford, which is near the
wooden bridge by which we had crossed, would at that time
be the regular passage used by all who passed to and fro
between Jericho and Beth-Nimrah. The town itself is five
miles to the east, but the ford would naturally be known as
the Ford of Beth-Nimrah, that being the nearest place for
which it is available. On that supposition, even though
Jesus were baptised in Jordan, the original tradition might
very well have run, “These things were done at Beth-
Nimrah.” Afterwards, when the corruption “Bethany ”
crept in, the words, “which is beyond Jordan,” would be
added to distinguish it from the well-known Bethany near
to Jerusalem.
However, leaving this speculative point aside for the
present, my immediate object was to ascertain what the
probabilities were from a topographical point of view. Did
Beth-Nimrah look like a place for a public baptising 2
This was the point I had chiefly in mind when at length
we dismounted at the Tell (Fig. 48). I did not make any
extensive survey of the neighbourhood, but saw quite suffi-
48.-TELL. NIMRIN
FIG.
FIG. 49.--THE JORDAN NEAR THE MOUTH OF WADI NIMR is


FROM JERICHO TO BETH-NIMRAH 177
cient to prove that a town of some extent had once stood
there. There were, it is true, no standing ruins, but there
were plenty of foundations visible, lines and angles of
squared stones, rising just above the surface of the ground—
the vestiges of walls and houses of unknown date, overgrown
now with brambles, or half-hidden by rank herbage.
Turning my attention next to the stream, I found it to be
a mere driblet of water completely choked and smothered
in a dense sub-tropical growth. Through the mass of vege-
tation, which was by no means easy to penetrate, the shallow
streamlet, scarcely more than ankle-deep, slowly filtered its
way. On the face of it, it seemed impossible that a public
baptising could take place at such a spot.
This, however, would of course be a very hasty conclusion
to form without further consideration. In the first place, it
must be remembered that when Beth-Nimrah was an in-
habited town, the vegetation in its neighbourhood would be
kept within bounds, and the channel of the stream which
is now choked with bushes would lie open to the sun. Then,
again, much might have been done by means of damming;
at certain seasons a head of water would be collected to be
presently used for purposes of irrigation. Furthermore, we
have to take into account that the Spring of 1901, in which
I visited the place, was exceptionally dry ; that the rivulet
was, therefore, lower than usual, and that a great part of it
had been drawn off to water the crops of the fellahin, who
cultivate some considerable tracts of ground in the neigh-
bourhood of the Tell. I went to look at their irrigating
channels, and found that some of the side-streams which
they had conducted to their fields exceeded in volume the
main stream which they left behind.
These main points being taken into consideration, no one
can say that it is impossible for the baptising of the multi-
tudes to have taken place in this Nahr of Beth-Nimrah.
But, on the whole, I lean to the theory which I have sug-
gested above. Those who favour the idea that John baptised
close to the town of Beth-Nimrah would perhaps admit that
so far as the individual baptism of Jesus is concerned, the
original statement of the earliest Gospel that “Jesus came
from Nazareth to Galilee, and was baptised of John in
Jordan" is to be followed, and they would apply the words
of the Fourth Evangelist—“These things were done in
Bethabara"—not to the baptism of Jesus, but to John's
interview with the deputation from Jerusalem. Bethabara,
M
178 TENT AND TESTAMENT
according to this view, would be merely one of several
places where John baptised the multitudes.
But even with reference to the baptism of the multitudes,
the banks of Jordan seem more probable than the suburbs
of Beth-Nimrah. The fact that the words of St. Mark's
Gospel are, They “were all baptised of him in the river of
Jordan”; the well-known veneration in which that river
was held making it the natural instrument of such a national
consecration ; the fact that Beth-Nimrah was a considerable
town, while the Evangelist tells us that “John did baptise
in the wilderness”; all favour the idea that the waters of
the Jordan near to Beth-Nimrah, rather than those of the
little stream which bathed its walls, were those in which the
people were cleansed by the prophet.
Did John travel about baptising 2 Did he ever baptise
anywhere except in the sacred river ? It is impossible to
say. One other passage in the Fourth Gospel mentions
him as “baptising at Aenon (the Springs) near to Salim ";
but neither Aenon nor Salim has ever been Satisfactorily
identified. Perhaps, after all, what the Ephesian Evangelist
really wrote was that John was baptising at the Springs
near Jerusalem, for it is to be noted that it is in connection
with the baptism of the Judaeans that the statement is made.
By this vague statement he may merely have indicated
those fords of Jordan which were nearest to the Holy City,
the clause “because there were many springs there” being
an explanatory gloss. But enough of speculation. These
questions, arising from the topography of the Fourth Gospel,
can never be settled until the origin and structure of that
Gospel are more perfectly known, nor until its historical
and symbolical elements have been more clearly distin-
guished.
On our return journey we kept nearer to the bed of the
stream—the Wädi Nimrin, as it is called—though in this
case the term Wädi is applied, not to any deep cleft in the
hills, but to a very slight depression down which a stream,
small in volume except perhaps in the winter months, finds
its way to the Jordan. The stream does not rise near the
tell; it rises in the mountains on the east. From its source
until it reaches the tell, it is called, so our guide informed
me, the Wädi Sha'ib ; from that point down to the Jordan
it bears the name of Wädi Nimrin. I measured its well-
marked channel near the tell, and found it half-a-dozen
paces across. The thick tangle of bushes hid the river from
FROM JERICHO TO BETH-NIMRAH I79
sight nearly everywhere; but about half-a-mile above the
Jordan a long gap occurred, and here I examined the
channel again. It was broader here, dividing at places into
two or three branches which afterwards reunited, but the
bed was now quite dry, the whole of the water having been
taken off for irrigation.
As we approached the Jordan I hoped to see the junc-
tion of the Wädi with that river, but found a broad zone of
dense and thorny copse preventing any approach to the
river. I asked the Arab to see if he could find a way to the
junction of the streams, and he immediately plunged into
the thicket and disappeared from view. He was gone for
about twenty minutes. Then there was a stir among the
bushes near us, and presently his Swarthy face emerged
from the thicket. It was quite impossible, he said, to reach
the place, and though he had penetrated for Some distance
in the required direction, he had lost his way in coming
back. Abandoning this project, therefore, we made the
best of our way back to the bridge, and here we saw an
interesting example in the art of misgovernment. Just
below the bridge the water, although too deep for horses,
can be waded by camels; and while we were there a caravan
of these beasts of burden arrived at the river-bank. The
drivers, mounting their beasts, entered the water and pro-
ceeded to cross the river, when, lo l forth from their
wooden tower issued the keepers of the bridge, shouting and
flinging stones and attacking both men and beasts with
their cudgels when they attempted to land. By this means
they at length obliged them to recross the river in order
that they might come over the bridge and pay toll ! And
this is a government-bridge, erected presumably for the
benefit of those who need to use it, not for the compulsion
of those who do not need it ! Such is the practical effect of
farming out tolls and taxes, the system in the Palestine both
of the ancient Romans and the modern Turks. -
We lunched in the shadow of the bridge, our Bedawi, so
I noted, not being too proud to pick up the empty bottles
which we had thrown away and carefully to store them in
his saddle-bag. Any manufactured articles—cheap knives,
or scissors, a bit of wire, an old nail, a broken corkscrew
are always prized by these children of the wilderness, who
have no factories of their own. We then paid our toll and
recovered the western bank, traversed the sandy stretch
beyond and found ourselves once more at the foot of the
I8O TENT AND TESTAMENT
cliffs and terraces which mark the shore of the primeval
lake. On this return journey our guide conducted us, by
way of a change, through a longer series of the fantastic
terraces than that which we had passed through in the
morning. It seemed, indeed, a perfectly hopeless intricacy :
and I could not but be glad to remember that I had nothing
in my pockets, and that Hanna was armed. Our guide was
faithful, however, and we emerged in safety from this night-
mare-place and soon “pricked across the plain,” as the
romances have it, to our sleeping-place at Eriha.
I found, upon our return, that the Dead Sea tourists were
also back, so sought out my friend and, after a cup of tea
we drove together to see the famous Fountain of Elisha.
This place is supposed to be of surpassing beauty, a reputa-
tion which I cannot but think is echoed from the past
rather than evidenced in the present. The banks of the
stream, it is true, are not so wanting in life as much of the
surrounding district ; clustering bushes mark the course of
the channel, and in the springtime it is vocal with the song
of birds. But the channel itself is of the most formal kind,
for the natural banks a kerb like that of a London pave-
ment has been substituted, and the curves of the flowing
rivulet have been cut into sharp angles. The spring which
supplies this very artificial conduit rises at the foot of a
barren and dusty mound, the lower part of which is terraced
by means of rough walls built of loose stones undraped by
any trace of verdure.
The real interest of the place lies not in any fancied
picturesqueness, but in that self-same dusty mound or hill
which overhangs it. For this, as already mentioned, is no
other than the tell in whose bowels are buried the oldest
Jericho of all. The tell itself is something less than a
quarter of a mile in length measured up and down the
valley, and about fifty feet in height. But if we stand away
from it and cast our eyes upward we see that towards one
end of the ridge, mound rises above mound, the highest
being almost double that number of feet above the plain.
Whether these higher mounds mean some fortress or
acropolis built to protect the city, or what other secrets of
antiquity may be hidden in their bosom, no man knows.
Some little attempt at excavation was made many years ago,
but was not carried far enough to yield results of much
interest. The fragments of brick-work which were exposed
FROM JERICHO TO BETH-NIMRAH I8I
were found to be peculiarly friable, and it was even con-
jectured at one time that the whole place was not a city at
all, but one vast brickfield, where bricks were made for
building other towns. Such a theory, however, would not
to-day be entertained by any one. All authorities are
agreed that there did once stand here the ancient walled
city of Jericho. Only a few years ago, an ancient mud
brick wall was laid bare near the face of the tell, and pottery
not only pre-Roman but also pre-Israelitish has been found.
So that if money were forthcoming and the Sultan's per-
mission were obtained, we might yet hope to see laid bare
some prehistoric city like that recently excavated at Gezer,
and above this the Israelitish city of Old Testament times,
with its vicissitudes marked in successive layers of masonry
and débris—the city of Hiel the Bethelite upon whom the
traditional curse of Joshua fell, the city where David's
insulted ambassadors tarried till their beards were grown,
the city whose inhabitants called in the magic of Elisha to
heal the waters of its fountain, and that desolated city to
which the 345 men returned from captivity in the days of
Nehemiah. Wonderful that our generation should leave
such an unopened page of Sacred history buried in this
desolate mound !
Upon one other question we must say a word before we
leave this Old Testament site. What about the Jericho of
Joshua, and the walls which fell before the blast of the
invaders' trumpets 2 May we picture to ourselves the hosts of
Israel crossing yonder fords and swarming over the fruitful
plain 2 May we imagine them compassing the city seven
days, and either with or without miracle breaching the brick
walls and Sacking the city ?
In answer to this question I fear that we must banish the
picture from the mind as anything more than poetry and
symbol. At least we cannot historically attach it to this
particular spot. The probabilities seem almost overwhelming
that it was not here but at the Ford of Damieh, much higher
up the river, that the crossing of Joshua's Israelites took
place. If we read Joshua iii. 16, in the amended version of
Canon Cheyne, we find that it runs as follows: “(It came
to pass) that the water stood still ; that which came down
from above stood as a heap some distance from the ford of
Adamah which is opposite Beth-Zur"; and the ford of
Adamah there mentioned is without doubt to be identified
with the modern ford of Damieh, at the confluence of the
I82 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Jabbok and the Jordan, the very ford, in fact, at which
#. also is said to have crossed with his family and his
Ocks.
One interesting fact is that at this Ford of Adamah, where
the Ephraimite Joshua led his troops across dryshod, an
occurrence identical with that of the heaping up of the water
described in the biblical narrative has happened in historical
times. Near to that ford there are still to be seen the ruins
of an ancient bridge which was built by the Sultan of Egypt
in 1266. When that bridge was completed, part of the piers
gave way; and while the engineers were wondering how to
repair them, the waters were arrested and the bed of the
river left dry, although the Jordan was then in flood. This
was doubtless regarded as a miracle ; though the cause of it
was ascertained to be a very natural one, namely, a landslip
which had occurred higher up the stream and which blocke
the channel for several hours.” -
* For the full account of this see P.E.F.Q.S. 1895, 256 f.
FIG. 50-PILGR IMS TO THE TOMB OF MOSES
FIG, 51–POOLS OF SOLOMON : THE MIDDLE POOL
:
.
---
--
:
.
:
:


CHAPT E R XXX
THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM-THE GARDEN OF
GETHSEMANE
THERE had been rain in the night, and the morning was
cloudy, as the long line of carriages toiled slowly up the
interminable ascent from Jericho to Jerusalem. As we
passed the Herodian city I again took particular note that
the tells were on both sides of our road, so that if the
modern road follows the line of the ancient, as it is said to
do, travellers from beyond Jordan must have passed through
the very midst of the town on their way to Jerusalem.
The road climbs through the folded hills, which for the
most part are rounded in form, but broken here and there
into cliffs of white or grey. Numbers of Mohammedan
pilgrims thronged the way, the greater part on foot, though
now and then women were to be seen riding on horses or
other beasts. They rode astride, of course, as women do in
the East, being much more careful to cover their faces than
their limbs. Here and there a family party might be seen,
the woman mounted on an ass or camel and carrying a
babe, while the father trudged beside her, reminding one of
familiar pictures of the Flight into Egypt. This must have
been from sheer inability on the part of the woman to
perform the journey on foot, for it is not the common
custom ; the Palestine man usually rides while the woman
walks behind. Many of the pilgrims were formed into
procession, some of the men carrying spears and others
banners and drums. One such procession I photographed
over the back of our carriage, but the banner-bearer espied
me as I was about to “snap * them, and hastily held his
hand before his face that he might not be accessory at such
a holy time to the sinful idolatry of the kodak (Fig. 50.)
Soon after we had passed them, I looked back and saw the
procession turn aside from the road and climb a neighbour-
ing height to visit a sacred spring.
I84 TENT AND TESTAMENT
These pilgrim crowds were for the most part returning
from the “Tomb of Moses,” which it is customary at this
time of the year to visit. The Bible tradition is that “Moses
the servant of Jehovah died there in the land of Moab,
according to the word of Jehovah, and He buried him in
a ravine in the land of Moab, before Beth-peor ; but no
man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.” The
Moslems, however, think they do know it; and departing
from the scriptural account, they place the tomb of Moses
not far from the monastery of Mar Sābā, on the west of the
Dead Sea, which is of course the wrong side of the valley.
Dean Stanley says that the authorities of Jerusalem fix the
Greek Easter as the time for the pious to visit the tomb of
Moses, so that if the city were surprised by the Christians
who flock to Jerusalem at that time, there might be a
body of Mussulman pilgrims on the spot to defend it.
If this is true it seems a most ill-advised measure for
the authorities to have taken ; for the simultaneous
presence of two fanatical mobs so mutually hostile as the
Greek Christians and the orthodox Mussulmans is always
a source of danger and has often issued in religious
riots. -
As we neared Bethany a new experience overtook us.
It became bitterly cold, and presently down came a sudden
rain, straight, violent, and icy. It was something of a
Surprise, for I had never associated that kind of rain with
Bible countries. The abundant tropical rain one had of
course heard of, but I had always imagined it warm and
fruitful; here, however, was a cruel downpour, as spiteful
as any experience in our northern climate. And yet it ought
not to have been surprising at an elevation of something like
2500 feet above the sea. Moreover, out of some seventy
or eighty Bible references to the rain, although the great
majority speak of the rain as an unmitigated blessing, we
have the other side too : in the Book of Ezra “the people
sat trembling for the great rain,” and in Ezekiel the Lord
threatens to rain in the land of Israel with “an overflowing
rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” Indeed,
there is plenty of hail in the Bible “hail, snow, and
vapour"; “tempests of hail"; “hail for rain and flaming
fire.” The sooner we rid our minds of the idea that
Palestine is a hot land, the sooner shall we understand the
meteorology of our Bibles. Palestine is as cold as it is
hot ; as must of course always be the case in a mountainous
THE RETURN TO JERUSALEM 185
country, whose heights are often snow-clad, though its
depths are tropical.
We passed Bethany, descended the Mount of Olives, and,
the storm being over, we took the opportunity of visiting
the traditional Garden of Gethsemane.
Here it is a relief to doubt, and would be a still greater
relief if one could entirely disbelieve. It would be inex-
pressibly painful to behold this little formal square, with its
stone wall, its gravel paths, its flower beds and vulgar little
shrines, if one knew that this was indeed the place where
Jesus “sweat as it were great drops of blood.” I have seen
many a little suburban garden attached to a stuccoed villa
with more of nature about it than has this enclosure since
the Franciscans some sixty years ago took in hand to adorn
it. They could not have made a greater blunder ; for,
the garden to which Jesus retreated (if it was a garden at
all and not rather a small field or orchard) was Oriental :
and an Oriental “garden " is a plantation of trees, not a
geometrical arrangement of flower borders.
The one redeeming feature of the place is the group of
venerable olive trees which remain in the centre of it. For
centuries past Christian pilgrims have regarded those trees
as witnesses of Christ's agony ; and many a doubting tourist
of to-day still tries to believe that it was beneath their
shadow that Jesus knelt and prayed, “Father, if it be
possible.” -
Perhaps, after all, the notion is not so absurd as it might
seem at first to be. There were olive trees at Linternum in
Italy, which in Pliny’s time were said to be 250 years old,
and they are recorded to have survived to the middle of the
tenth century; and, according to Tristram, “there are many
olive trees near Carthage, in Africa, not more antique in
appearance, which, with good reason, are believed to date
from a time before the irruption of the Vandals.”
Yet even these cases of longevity, supposing them to be
proved, fall some centuries short of the age required to
establish the desired belief concerning the trees of Gethse-
mane. And on the other hand we have to set the fact that
it is altogether exceptional, if it has ever actually occurred,
for olive trees to attain so great an age, and the still more
patent fact that these particular trees are never mentioned
till the sixteenth century.
There are, moreover, other considerations which militate
against the claim made for these arboreal patriarchs. It is
I86 TENT AND TESTAMENT
expressly stated by Josephus that when Titus laid siege to
Jerusalem he cut down all the trees round Jerusalem ; and as
to this particular side of Jerusalem, we know that the Tenth
Legion were encamped there, and we know moreover that
in the course of the siege a wall of circumvallation was
carried along the Kidron valley, which must have passed
close to the spot now known as Gethsemane. It is extremely
unlikely, therefore, that under these circumstances this par-
ticular group would be spared.
But, apart from this question of the olive trees, is there
any reason for believing that the true Garden of Gethsemane
was situated just here 2 All we learn from the New Testa-
ment is that from Jerusalem it lay beyond the “Kedron,” and
that it was at or on the Mount of Olives. Luke says, “He
went unto the Mount of Olives; ” the fourth Evangelist,
“He went over the brook Kedron, where was a garden.” It
is not distinctly stated in any Gospel that it was on the
Mount. So far as situation is concerned, therefore, the
traditional garden satisfies the Scriptures. But so would a
hundred other spots; and we are forced ultimately to rely
upon tradition ; and the tradition, alas, will scarcely bear the
weight Of Our reliance. One very suspicious circumstance
is that it is first met with in the fourth century, soon after
the time when the Empress Helena came to Jerusalem and
gave her royal authority to other sacred sites, including that
of Calvary. It was upon this visit that she discovered the
true cross, a discovery which throws some doubt upon all
other discoveries made by her. Nevertheless, it is impossible
to prove a negative, and supposing that the traditional
Gethsemane, as well as the traditional Calvary, received the
Sanction of the Empress, it may of course quite possibly
have been based on some local memory or native knowledge,
the chief consideration against the existence of any such
Surviving knowledge being that extensive terracings had
been carried out by the Emperor Hadrian in the Kidron
Valley a couple of centuries earlier, which must considerably
have altered the whole appearance of the place.
For my own part, I think I may say that the one thing
which weighed with me above all others, as I stood within
the garden itself, was its proximity to the road. In Christ's
time it stood in like proximity to the then existing Roman road
to Jericho. And that a place so situated should have been
chosen for a retreat (for as such Jesus seems to have used
it) is well-nigh incredible. Even if it were ten times the size
THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE 187
of the present garden (which covers less than half an acre)
it would not be much of a retreat, so near to the dust and
noise of passers-by. Rather would I picture the chosen
place for rest and meditation well up the mountain-side. In
the lifetime of Jesus the whole of the western slope was
thickly clothed with olive trees. Many an olive garden such
as the one which Jesus chose must have hung there. “Gethse-
mane" means “the olive-press”; it is an Aramaic word, a
word of the people. Some one among the people of
Jerusalem owned the little farm, grew olives there, and had
fashioned within its borders a press for the extraction of the
oil. He or she was a disciple of the prophet, a follower of
this spiritual Messiah, and loved to have Him shelter here in
the deep shadow of the grey branches, taking refuge from
the noisy throng, the heated controversialists, the crowding
disciples, the staring day.
The hillside, as we now see it, almost denuded of trees,
woefully disfigured with hideous churches and the still more
hideous houses of the rich, scored this way and that with
newly-made roads, and desecrated by crowds of Scampering
tourists “doing” Jerusalem in a day, does not, it is true,
readily lend itself to such a picture in any part of its wide
sweep. But it was not so then. Many a shady grove was
there, many a natural oratory; but not here by the public
road and in the bottom of a stifling valley; up yonder,
rather, withdrawn from the public highway and lifted nearer
to heaven.
CHA PT E R XXXI
A DRIVE TO BETHLEHEM
IN the afternoon of that day we drove to Bethlehem.
Our road ran to the south over a high plain or tableland,
desolate and stony like the greater part of Judaea. Of
course we saw the little wayside pool, called the Well of the
Magi, where they found again their lost star, and besides
which also the Virgin rested on her way to Bethlehem. It
is not generally known what finally became of the star, but
at Bethlehem they will tell you that it fell at last into a
spring near the Church of the Nativity, where it remained,
and where to this day virgins, and virgins only, can see it.
For we are here quite in the land of legend. We do not
look south of Jerusalem for New Testament history: what
of Bible history can be illustrated here belongs not to the
Son of David, but to David himself, and even that is full of
doubt.
Soon after passing the Magi's Well we begin to get
glimpses of the Dead Sea, far away upon Our left ; a lovely
gleam of blue among its grey hills. There is more
“ atmosphere" to-day than we have usually seen in Palestine.
Mount Nebo far away beyond the sea looks as it should
look, wonderful, mysterious, and dreamy, and we can
almost see upon its summit the vast and shadowy form
of Israel’s Lawgiver looking abroad upon the land of
promise.
On the road we meet numbers of Bethlehem women
trudging to Jerusalem in twos and threes. Their dress pro-
claims at once the town from which they come, for the
Bethlehem costume is peculiar to Bethlehem. It consists
of a long blue garment with sleeves loose and open at the
wrists, and in most cases with gay needlework upon the
breast and arms. Over this is worn a little tight-fitting,
sleeveless, scarlet jacket, very brightly embroidered. The
head-dress is remarkable. It is a stiff brimless hat, in
A DRIVE TO BETHLEHEM 189
shape and colour something like a fez, decorated with
numbers of gold and silver coins sewn upon the front.
The coins in most cases are shams, but rich women wear
real money upon their caps, and it is said that many a time
this display has been the incentive to highway robbery.
Over this gorgeous headpiece an embroidered veil is thrown,
made generally of muslin or fine linen, and worked round
the border and at the corners in coloured wools, but the
veil protects only the neck and ears, the face being left
uncovered.
The origin of this striking costume I have been unable to
discover. It is probably more modern than Bible times.
The veil, at any rate, as it was worn in Bethlehem in Old
Testament days must have been far more substantial than
that which is worn to-day, or Boaz could never have
measured six measures of barley into Ruth's veil. That
might still be done into the Jerusalem veil, but not into
that of modern Bethlehem. The whole costume, indeed,
appears to be unlike anything else in Palestine. The
complexion too, of the Bethlehem people is different, and
seems to argue a different race. They are fair-skinned
and light-haired; a peculiarity which it is conjectured they
Owe to Norman blood derived from the Crusaders. The
children, in particular, are of Striking beauty.
In the course of our drive we pass many vineyards, not
differing, indeed, from those which we have seen in other
parts of Palestine, but bringing specially to mind in this
locality the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, because it
must have been in Jerusalem and against Jerusalem that
Jesus spoke that parable. The vineyards are surrounded
by walls built of loose stones, similar to those which are
seen in Cumberland and Westmorland. When Mark says
that the owner “set a hedge about it,” he can hardly mean
a quick hedge, for although in Christ's day Judaea was
under better cultivation than now, it was essentially the
same stony district. “He hedged it round about,” says
Matthew, and that is perhaps nearer to the spoken word,
meaning, of course, that he surrounded it by a wall.
The “tower” which the owner built is seen to-day : every
vineyard has its tower. It is sometimes square, sometimes
round, but the round towers seem rather more character-
istic of this part of the country. They are used as lodges
for watchers when the grapes are ripening, and very neces-
sary they must be in this land of thieves. At present, when
I90 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the vines are scarcely showing life, the towers, of course,
are empty.
Another biblical reference is recalled by the little domed
well known as the Tomb of Rachel. We pass it on our
right about a mile this side of Bethlehem. The building
itself is a comparatively modern erection, but Rachel's
Sepulchre has been located here for many centuries, and if
we could take the Scripture story as it stands and regard it
as plain history, one might almost accept the site, the chief
difficulty in that case being that “a voice was heard in
Ramah' cannot be made to fit this tomb, since the only
Ramah known is far away to the north of Jerusalem. The
story cannot, however, be taken as it stands. There are, in
fact, three stages in the history of “Rachel's Sepulchre,”
which we must consider in estimating its topographical
interest.
The first stage is the historical. And here we are met by
the discomforting disappearance of Rachel altogether as a
historical personage : she melts into the personification of a
clan. Rachel was in fact the eponymous mother of the
tribes of Israel. Her name “Rahel,” meaning “a ewe,”
indicates, perhaps, that the ewe was the totem of the original
clan. The Second stage is the legendary, in which Jacob
makes a journey from Paddam-aram or Mesopotamia to
the Tower of Eder between Bethlehem and Hebron. On
this journey Rachel died and was buried at some point on
the road between Bethel and Ephrath, “and Jacob set up
a pillar upon her grave; the same is the Pillar of Rachel's
grave unto this day ” (Gen. xxxv. 20). The “day” unto
which the pillar had stood there was somewhere near the
end of the ninth century B.C.; and there apparently it con-
tinued to stand until the time of Jesus.” But that pillar did
not stand where Rachel's Tomb is now shown, it stood by
the roadside near to Ramah between Bethel and Jerusalem.
The third stage is that of Christian Invention ; at least,
that seems on the whole the most probable origin for the
modern site. A time of tumult, destruction, and dispersion
had swept away both the pillar and its tradition, and the
site of Rachel's Tomb was transferred to the Bethlehem
road, south of Jerusalem, perhaps to fit the story of Rachel
weeping over the massacre of the Babes of Bethlehem.
The only circumstance that gives us pause in thus assign-
ing the invention to the age of Constantine is that Jews,
* See Hausrath, “Time of Jesus” (Eng, trans.), vol. i. p. 30,
A DRIVE TO BETHLEHEM - I9 I
Christians, and Moslems all agree upon this Bethlehem
tomb, a combination which might perhaps argue an
older date.
Of patriarchal interest, at any rate, this little tomb has
none. And it is so extremely doubtful whether in Jesus' day
it was ever looked upon as a Sacred spot, so probable that
the tomb to which Matthew alludes was the pillar at Ramah,
that it is almost equally devoid of New Testament signifi-
cance. Only in one connection can it have some interest
for New Testament students: it may be in fact that which
M. Clermont-Ganneau believes it to be—the tomb of
Archelaus mentioned by Jerome.
Bethlehem itself we found to be a busy, energetic place.
It has an air of industry, reminding one in this respect of
Nazareth. The Christian towns in Palestine seem always
to be the most progressive, the one fact to be regretted
being that in their progressiveness they imitate too much
the architecture, dress and manners of the West. Here, as
at Nazareth, there is a good deal of building going on ; new
houses springing up in all directions, not always of the
Oriental type. One of the chief industries of the place is
the making of “objects of religion ” from mother-o'-pearl
and olive-wood. Unfortunately, the imitation of “pro-
gressive” nations is here extended to one of their chief
vices, a large proportion of the objects being hastily and
roughly made, and the beads of the rosaries often strung on
the flimsiest thread for cheapness' sake. The annual export
from Palestine of these and other “articles of Christian
veneration ” amounts to no less than 2700 cwt. ; they form
in fact one of the principal articles of commerce.
To one who has abandoned the belief that Bethlehem
was the birthplace of Jesus, its chief biographical interest
gathers round the name of David. Accordingly I requested
Hanna to conduct us to “David's Well,” that famous
“well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate,” whence the
three mighty men drew the water which David would not
drink, “but poured it out unto the Lord.” Our dragoman
naively asked which of David's Wells I wanted to see, since
there were two of them. “Both,” I answered. So he took
us first to the Latin well, or rather to the insurmountable
wall surrounding it. We hammered lustily at the gate, but
no one came. The custodian of the Greek well, which was
just across the road, poking his head out of his own entrance
to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, was delighted to
I92 TENT AND TESTAMENT
see the opposition shop closed against its own customers,
and beckoning to us frantically he entreated us to come and
see the true and only David's Well on his side of the way.
This, after some more fruitless pounding, we resolved to do,
and having presented the Greek gentleman with a coin of
small value about the size of a cartwheel, were admitted to
the sacred precincts.
I am afraid I had overlooked the fact that the Scripture
story designates David's well as a “bor” and not an “ain,”
and I was expecting a living spring of crystal water which
would explain and justify David's exclamation, “Oh, that
one would give me water to drink of the well of Bethlehem l’’
Why he or any one should ask to drink water from a cistern
by the town's gate it is difficult to understand, unless it be
indeed but another way of expressing a desire that the gate,
and therefore the town, might be recaptured from the
Philistines.
However that may be, I was repelled by the appearance
of the dirty, stagnant pool, shown to us as the historic well,
and asked the custodian whether this was indeed a well or
only a tank. The old man replied without hesitation that
it was only a tank. “But,” he added, pointing his thumb
over his shoulder at the establishment across the road, “no
more is his ; the only difference is that our water comes off
the roof, and his '' (with an accent of Supreme contempt)
“comes Off the road.”
From David's Well we went to the Church of the Nativity.
It is a building of the greatest interest, and I could not but
regret that our moments there were so brief. In spite of
dilapidations and repairs and restorations, it remains a sixth-
century, and in part a fourth-century church, and an example
of the earliest Christian architecture. The nave, as we enter,
is noble in its simplicity, and before the modern wall was
built, which now cuts off the eastern part of the church, the
effect of this simplicity leading up to the mystery and
gorgeousness which surround the high altar must have been
beautiful indeed. +
The nave is separated from the double aisles by rows of
great red marble pillars twenty feet high, the shaft of each
being cut from a single stone. Hanna Solemnly assured us
that these pillars had been brought there from Solomon's
Temple.
From the nave we passed to the transept and choir, and
with this part of the church I was deeply impressed. The
A DRIVE TO BETHLEHEM I93
architectural details may be read in any descriptive hand-
book, but the picturesqueness of the scene and the
mysterious beauty and venerable antiquity of its setting are
what can never be conveyed. Armenians and Greeks both
have altars here, and service was going on at each. The
church was alive with a crowd, or rather several crowds—
groups and knots of folk in curious Eastern dress, various
in their fashion, brilliant in their colouring. Priests
gorgeously arrayed, pictures, mosaics, multitudinous burning
candles and Swinging censers, the dazzling light broken by
intense mysterious shadows, and the air sweet and dim with
scented vapour, combined to produce an effect phantas-
magoric and dreamlike, taking possession of the imagination
and suggesting more than can ever be expressed. The
church itself was obscured as to its symmetry, screens
breaking its unity, doorways leading into mystery, flights of
steps in unexpected places diving into darkness, everywhere
that disorder in the midst of order, that uncompleted, frag-
mentary, dimly-hinted harmony which is so stimulating to
the fancy, and so emblematic of the orderly disorder of the
strange world in which we live. One felt, indeed, that we
had something here which transcended the mere historical
question of the manger; we had an embodiment of the
great idea of the manger—the idea, vital and vitalising
throughout the Christian centuries—the Incarnation of the
Divine.
One grim fact, however, amid all the gorgeous confusion
remained very obvious and very literal—two Mohammedan
soldiers sitting upon a stone bench to keep order among
the Christians. Hanna pointed out a strip of carpet laid
diagonally which marked the line where the Latin
Christians may tread, and beyond which they must not
wander. Only Greeks and Armenians worship here, the
Latins have a chapel of their own adjoining the choir but
beyond and outside it on the north. From that chapel the
Latins can descend by their own steps to the crypt of the
manger, lest if they used the other flight, which descends
to the same crypt from the Greek choir, Greeks and Latins
should come into conflict, as indeed, notwithstanding these
precautions, they often do.
We descended to the crypt by the stone staircase just
mentioned, very steep and very worn, and found ourselves
in a small dark cavern, lighted by the dim flames of fifteen
oil lamps suspended from the roof. A silver star in the
N
I94 TENT AND TESTAMENT
floor marks the spot where Christ was brought forth by the
Virgin. Then down three steps we passed into a recess
where a ragged hole in the rock showed where the manger
had been before it was cut out and carried to Rome.
Thence proceeding through long and winding passages
past several spots having Scriptural events assigned to them
(all crowded for convenience into the one cavern) we
arrived at one which I had much desired to see—the Cell
of St. Jerome. For St. Jerome believed in the cavern and
the manger and the Divine Babe, and here he is said to
have lived and written many of his works and died. To
my horror, however, I found that the rocky walls of the
cell had been carefully stuccoed in recent years, and that
the whole now formed a neat and symmetrical little chapel,
the only remaining antiquity being a flight of rock-cut
steps leading to the cell from above, much worn, and
exhibited now through a pane of glass like a sixpenny show.
Alas for prose and vulgarity
Our regret would be keener if we were more certain about
the cell. It does not seem to be mentioned in literature
earlier than the fifteenth century, and in the more ancient
records of his life Jerome's residence at Bethlehem is stated
to have been in the monastery which his disciple, the Lady
Paula, built. So that even here, as almost everywhere in
Palestine, we find ourselves once more on doubtful ground.
This was our last day with Hanna. When we returned
to Jerusalem, we found there the well-known geographer
and scholar and our very good friend, Professor George Adam
Smith, with a large party about to start upon a long tour.
To them we handed over our faithful and experienced
guide, and engaged instead for the Small remainder of our
stay in Palestine a young dragoman named Nassar.
CHAPTE R XXXII
A DRIVE TO HEBRON
ON the following day, being April IIth, we took the long
drive to Hebron and back, with our new dragoman on the
box. The first part of the way is identical with that which
we had traversed the day before ; but at a distance of four
miles or thereabouts from Jerusalem the road forks; the
left-hand road, which we had already travelled, being the
way to Bethlehem, the right-hand, which we now followed,
being the high-road to Hebron.
About three miles beyond this fork we reached the Pools
of Solomon, which were among the principal objects of our
excursion. Near to the pools and hard by the roadside is a
Square castle, erected, it is said, as a protection against the
Bedawin, but used now as a khán, though some portion
must, I think, be retained as a lock-up, for just as we reached
it a prisoner handcuffed and bound about the arms was
marched toward the gateway between Turkish guards. Just
before they entered, as though he knew it to be his last
chance, the wretched-looking captive made a dart for liberty,
but was recaptured before he had taken many steps.
Alongside the walls of the castle runs a stream of water,
fed from a fountain known as “The Sealed Spring,” and
conducted into a little old conduit which passes almost
close to the Pools of Solomon.
The great pools themselves are three in number. They
are, I suppose, ascribed to Solomon merely because they are
large and magnificent, and because Ecclesiastes, the pseudo-
Solomon, says that he made him “pools of water.” Their
real date no one knows. They are said to show traces of
Saracenic workmanship, but that must surely be the result
of repairs or restoration; for it is certain that the aqueduct,
large sections of which still remain between this place and
Jerusalem, brought water hence to the Temple; and it seems
likely that the pools, which form part of the same water
196 TENT AND TESTAMENT
system, also existed when the Temple service was still per-
formed. One may guess that they were made, or at any
rate enlarged, by that great builder Herod, though it is
likely enough that pools existed here at an earlier date.
A theory has been entertained that the lowest pool
which is a splendid basin nearly six hundred feet long
and over two hundred feet broad at the larger end, was used
as an amphitheatre for naval displays, the steps or terraces
which form the sides and one end of the pool being intended
to seat the spectators. It occurred to me, however, to com-
pare these steps with the natural terraces of the limestone
slopes which adjoin the pools, and I am quite convinced
that the steps both of the middle and lowest pools, the two
which are thus terraced, are continuous with the layers of
limestone of the adjacent hillsides ; they are, in fact, formed
by the native rock being cased over with masonry to save
the labour of cutting it away (Fig. 51).
Resuming our journey we passed sundry places of his-
torical or legendary interests. Some bits of old wall, great
numbers of hewn stones, and many rock-tombs represented
Gedor of Joshua. Then, on the left, Nassar pointed out
Ain-ed-Dirweh, the spring in which Philip is said by
Eusebius to have baptised the eunuch, and opposite to it
On the right, standing conspicuously on a hill a bit of a
ragged old tower marked the site of Beth-Zur, famous in the
Maccabean Wars.
Just before reaching Hebron, Nassar showed us on the
left of the road what he called the Terebinth of Abraham—
a tree of no great age or size, close to a small half-ruined
mosque or weli, backed on the hillside by a village which he
dubbed Râmet el-Khalil—a good illustration of the way in
which dragomans' fancies caused the sacred sites to shift
and change their places to the bewilderment of travellers;
for the place corresponded neither with the description of
Dean Stanley nor the instructions of Baedeker, and by Sub-
sequent inquiries made in the town we afterwards found
the true spot.
As to the traditional oak, that corresponds neither with
Nassar's terebinth nor with Dean Stanley's Grove of Mamre;
it lies to the north-west of Hebron at the distance of a mile
and a half. We did not visit it, since it can claim no
interest beyond that of having been gazed upon by pilgrims
and tourists for some four or five centuries. Even if
Abraham were accepted as a flesh-and-blood patriarch
A DRIVE TO HEBRON I97
living at the time assigned to him by Archbishop Ussher,
the difficulty would remain that the “Oaks” of Mamre were
not oaks at all, but terebinths, while the dying monarch
whose remnants are still visited by tourists is a true oak.
Leaving, therefore, the whole question of Mamre and its
terebinths until our return journey, we made our way with
all speed into Hebron—the “City of God's friend,” as the
Moslems call it.
The ancient city lay to the west of the modern town, on
the olive-coloured hills across the valley. This is proved by
the existence there of mural fragments of great antiquity.
In the low ground between the ancient and the modern
cities lie the two pools, one of which, at least, dates from
Old Testament times, while the Harām, which covers the
traditional Cave of Machpelah, lies on the eastern border of
modern Hebron, and is far removed from the ancient city.
Previous to visiting these antiquities, we betook ourselves
for luncheon to the upper room of a small Jewish hostel
kept by a veritable Shylock. Hooked nose, thin and fur-
rowed face, avaricious eyes, straggling ragged locks, side
curls, fur cap, and long gaberdine clothing a bent, spare
figure, formed an exaggerated edition of the traditional
stage-Jew. The room was hung with Hebrew samplers of
quaint design. The wine, which the old man sold at an
exorbitant price, was a light hock made by the Jews of
Hebron from the famous grapes of Eschol.
Such at least is the belief of those who hold that the ten
miles of vineyards through which we had lately passed do
verily lie in the Valley of Eshcol, and that the Spring of
Kashkaleh, at the head of that valley, is no other than the
“brook of Eshcol,” unto which the twelve spies came, “and
cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes,
and they bare it between two upon a staff.” Dr. Thomson
solemnly remarks that he has not seen a cluster of that size
in the neighbourhood, nevertheless he accepts the branch of
grapes by faith.
However that may be, the land is to-day a land of vine-
yards, and in connection with that fact a curious little bit
of etymology noted by Dr. Thomson may be mentioned.
The Moslems as well as the Jews grow vines; but as they
do not make wine, those grapes which are not disposed of
by them in the market or dried into raisins, are boiled down
into a kind of thick molasses. This substance is frequently
mentioned in the Bible under the Hebrew name “debash,”
I98 TENT AND TESTAMENT
in some passages translated “honey,” in others “grape-
syrup,” but the word is in fact akin to the old school-boy
word “dibs,” which in my boyhood was the common term
for “treacle” among the junior fraternity.
The room in which we lunched opened on a stone ter-
race which overlooked the roofs of some of the neighbour-
ing houses. Strolling out there after lunch I beheld a
beautiful and truly Oriental scene. On the flat roof of an
adjoining dwelling stood a very lovely Jewish girl, with long
luxuriant hair streaming in waves of raven blackness over
her shoulders and below her waist. She wore a loose,
flimsy, Orange-coloured robe, hanging in graceful folds from
neck to ankle. Leisurely and gracefully she moved to and
fro, hanging over the low parapet which surrounded the
roof some long gaberdines and other garments striped in all
the colours of the rainbow. The picture was lighted by
dazzling Sunshine, while a palm tree planted beside the
house lifted its curved and feathery fronds to form a canopy
above the roof, flecking the girl's face and neck with shadow
as they waved in the gentle breeze. One thought of the
story of Bath-sheba, and how David saw her as he “walked
upon the roof of the king's house.” These houses, built on
the hillside, looked down the one upon the other, just as in
Jerusalem at this day the people who live near the city-walls
do not like strangers to walk there, lest they should pry upon
the privacy of domestic life.
From the same terrace of our khān we had a wide view
over the city, its houses flat-roofed or crowned by the low
white dome which, owing to the scarcity of timber for beams,
is characteristic of Southern Palestine. Palms and orange
trees grow among the dwellings, the low rounded hills of
Judaea formed a background of hazy blue, and below us,
shaded by surrounding buildings, the cool waters of one of
the ancient pools rippled in the breeze.
To this pool we now descended, leaving our cloaks and
travelling-gear in the care of the old Jew. Its modern name
is Birket-el-Kazzăzin : the Arabic “Birket” corresponding
to the Hebrew “B'recah,” which is applied to the Hebron
Pool in 2 Sam. iv. 12, and indeed to all such artificial reser-
voirs throughout the Old Testament Scriptures. It was
doubtless by one of these two pools of Hebron that David
hanged Rechab and Baanah, the murderers of Ishbosheth,
Saul's crippled son. The “King's Pool” is the one with
which tradition associates the event, but that is probably
FIG. 52–UPPER POOL OF | | EBRON
FIG 53.-POOL OF | | EZE|K.I.A. H.


A DRIVE TO HEBRON I99
because it is the larger. The upper and smaller pool has
the more ancient appearance; and, though the whole matter
must be almost entirely guesswork, still the small and quaint
and unpretending belong usually to an earlier stage of
Society than the magnificent (Fig. 52).
From the Upper Pool, which lies to the west of the present
town, we pass by winding and narrow streets to the Harām
on the east. From the ancient city this would be half a mile
distant at the least, but that, of course, would be nothing
exceptional for a place of sepulture, such as the traditional
Cave of Machpelah, whatever be its true history or origin,
undoubtedly was. In approaching its venerable walls, one
would fain share Dean Stanley's enthusiasm and awe when
he exclaims that it is “marvellous to think that within the
massive enclosure of that mosque lies, possibly, not merely
the last dust of Abraham and Isaac, but the very body—the
mummy—the embalmed bones of Jacob, brought in solemn
state from Egypt to this (as it was) lonely and beautiful
spot.” But the later study of Bible literature, and the
advance in comparative religion and folklore, forbid us to
indulge in such fascinating dreams. The most that we are
permitted now to believe is that Abraham may be a genuine
personal name, and that there may be a kernel of tradition
in the patriarchal narratives. For the rest, the Father of
the Faithful was probably the object of a kind of national
cultus, and this cultus was probably performed at Machpe-
lah. But “that the traditional hero was actually buried there
cannot be affirmed. Even among the Arabs there is hardly
one well-authenticated case of a tribe which possessed a
really ancient tradition as to the place where the tribal an-
cestor was interred.”*
However this in truth may be, there is no doubt at all
that the historic building before whose walls we now stand
is one of the most ancient places of worship in the world.
Even in David's time it was already looked upon as a place
of primeval sanctity. In the Gospels it is not mentioned ;
but we know from the pages of Josephus that in New Testa-
ment times the tombs of the patriarchs were shown there ;
and though Jesus perhaps never travelled so far south, the
knowledge that among the southern hills which He looked
upon from the walls of Jerusalem or the heights of Olivet,
there lay that hoary city, grey with the burden of centuries,
holy before Jerusalem itself was holy, must have entered
* Cheyne, art. “Abraham ” in “Encycl. Bibl.”
2OO TENT AND TESTAMENT
into His consciousness and contributed to the creation
of that awful patriotism which brought Him to his death.
We had engaged a Turkish guard to accompany us, as
the Mohammedans of Hebron are extremely fanatical, and
as we approached the steps which lead to the mosque, Our
soldier-guide pointed out to us the limit to which the infidel
may go. Only to the seventh step may the unbeliever
ascend, and since we were sceptics even among the unbe-
lievers, we allowed ourselves only to the fifth. Opposite
the fifth step is a hole in the wall, said to extend down to
the tomb of Abraham ; but the hole, like so many other
matters in the region of faith, was perfectly dark, and, peer
as we might into the sanctified orifice, neither perception
nor understanding gained aught for all our gazing.
It was something, however, to see the enclosing walls of
the holy place. The masonry of it is superb, the stones
comparable with those of the Wailing Place in Jerusalem.
In fact this also is a wailing-place, for here as well as at
Jerusalem the Jews meet to pray and weep over their
departed glories.
Leaving the Harām, we visited the King's Pool, which
lies in the west of the town—a fine reservoir, much larger
than the Upper Pool which we had already seen. As we
stood there, a procession passed us—a disorderly stream,
hurrying through the glare and dust, and sending up as it
went a loud and unmusical wailing. We soon perceived
that it was a funeral procession hastening towards the
Mohammedan cemetery which lies on the north-west of the
town. In their midst was carried the corpse, stretched
upon a rude bier. Their rapid pace, their fierce fanatical
faces, and the weird noise of their dirge, combined to pro-
duce an effect strangely foreign to all our associations
with a scene of mourning. Here in Hebron the sound of
this customary sing-song lamentation, always demanded by
Eastern opinion, reminded us of the story of Abraham ;
how “Sarah died in Hebron : and Abraham came to mourn
for Sarah and to weep for her.”
Returning to Shylock's house, we suddenly found our-
selves in the centre of a brawl. For Some unexplained
reason Nassar and the Jew danced round each other shout-
ing unspeakable epithets of which we did not understand a
word, while an admiring group of picturesque natives
formed a ring round the two vituperators. A momentary
lull occurring, we managed to learn that the Jew had
A DRIVE TO HEBRON 2O I
impounded all our traps and was doubling his fees before
he would let them go. In the end the Jew got the best of
it, and Nassar with a crestfallen air was forced to pay the
coins which the Jew demanded. We then mounted our
Carriage with our property and commenced our homeward
Journey.
In Hebron our young dragoman had succeeded in dis-
covering the whereabouts of the true Râmet el-Khalil, and
Soon after leaving the town to return to Jerusalem we stopped
at a rough track which led off the main road to the right,
and at a distance of 300 yards found the spot described by
Dean Stanley. It is sufficiently identified by the cistern
and two ancient oil-presses, although the courses of stones
which were in situ when Stanley went there are now
thrown down, and the walls of the enclosure almost level
with the ground. I suppose that the materials have gone
to build up the boundary walls of the neighbouring fields
and vineyards, for the place is not now bare and solitary as
it once was, but in the midst of cultivated ground. This is
certainly the traditional Mamre according to the Jews, and
is probably the spot mentioned by Josephus where in his
time the great terebinth (not oak) was standing, although
he places it at six furlongs from Hebron, which is a good
deal below the mark. The people of Hebron, so Nassar
ascertained, call the place “The Grove of Abram” and the
surrounding country “The Valley of Terebinths.” The
peasants working in the fields hard by told us that the place
is never visited nowadays by travellers, but that the Jews
come up there periodically to pray. To us the main interest
is that, whatever be the literal truth concerning the history
of Abram, it is practically certain that in New Testament
times this is the spot which was recognised as Mamre,
where Abram had “dwelt by the terebinths,” and where he
had entertained angels unawares.
CHA PT E R XXXIII
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA
JERUSALEM is built upon a limestone rock, almost devoid of
water; and the supply of that prime necessity of life has
always been one of the city's chief problems. St. Mary's
Well in the Kidron Valley is the only natural spring in the
immediate neighbourhood, and that spring is some little
distance beyond the walls. In the great days of the capital,
when it was still alive and vigorous, aqueducts brought
water from distant sources, and mighty reservoirs were
built in which rain-water was collected, and so the daily
wants of the city as well as the needs of the elaborate cere-
monial washings in the Temple-service were successfully met;
but now that the community is languishing under an oppres-
sive and bankrupt government and deprived of all natural
initiative, it suffers much from drought and from epidemics
Occasioned by the filthy state of the half-ruined cisterns out
of which the people draw nearly all their water.
Since our visit to the East something indeed has been
done to remedy this state of things, though the supply, I am
told, is still most inadequate. The drought from which the
people were suffering during our visit led to a certain
expenditure upon the water supply. A great part of the
money assigned for this purpose found its way, as usual,
into the pockets of Turkish officials, but enough was left
to carry out the design of bringing water by a line of pipes
from the springs near Solomon's Pools; not enough, how-
ever, to lay the pipes properly; instead of being buried to a
sufficient depth in the soil they were laid on the burning
surface of the ground, and now a small stream of water
does, indeed, arrive in Jerusalem, but it arrives there
hot.*
* At the annual meeting of the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1904
it was stated that £6000 had been spent in laying these pipes, with the
result that the supply was far inferior to what might have been obtained
by the repair of the old Herodian aqueduct.
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 203
On the day after our drive to Hebron we devoted the
morning to visiting certain of the ancient pools, not, how-
ever, with reference to the modern water supply, but with
reference to biblical, and especially New Testament history.
In particular, the vexed question of Bethesda was present to
my mind, and all the pools but one which we went to see
had some bearing upon that question.
Our guide Nassar, having been informed of our desire,
led us first down Christian Street, crowded now with a
motley and unruly stream of beasts and people, for Easter
was at hand. Russians, Armenians, Jews, Turks, English-
men and Americans, were mingled with sheep, donkeys and
camels; and all were jostling and pushing without respect
of persons and with no rule of the road whatever. “Take
Care of your pockets,” said Nassar as we plunged into the
mélée and forced our way along the bazaar.
Presently he paused before a shop where a Turk was
making coffee, said a few words to the proprietor, and we
were forthwith conducted through the premises to a long
gallery behind, which overhung an enormous reservoir of
antique appearance. This was the famous “Pool of
Hezekiah,” sometimes called the “Patriarch's Pool,” though
the natives more correctly termed it the “Pool of the
Patriarch's Bath,” a name derived from the fact that it is
used for filling a smaller pool to the south-east of Christian
Street, known as the “Bath of the Patriarch.” Josephus
calls it the Pool Amygdalon, which one would guess, but
guess wrongly, to mean the Pool of Almond-trees. As a
matter of fact it was known in Josephus' day as the Pool of
the Towers, but because he wrote in Greek the historian saw
fit to change the late Hebrew Migdalin (towers) into the Greek
Amygdalon (of almond-trees). It is very interesting to note
that as we look across the pool towards the south-west
corner, we see rising above the surrounding buildings the
so-called “Tower of David,” which is in reality no other
than the Tower Phasaelus, one of the three towers
built by Herod, the proximity of which gave the pool its
name (Fig. 53).
“Hezekiah's Pool" probably existed long before the
time of Josephus, but there is nothing to show that it dates
back to the days of the monarch whose name it now bears.
Its popular designation is derived from the surmises of
earlier topographers,” who argued as follows. In Hezekiah's
* See “The Land and the Book,” 1866, p. 655.
2O4 TENT AND TESTAMENT
time there was a pool called the Upper Pool, which had a
conduit and was near a highway (Isa. xxxvi., 2). Hezekiah
stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon and brought it
“straight down to the west side of the city of David "
(2 Chron. xxxii. 30). Now, the Patriarch's Pool has a con-
duit, for it is fed by one to this day from the Birket Mamilla,
which thus brings water “straight down to the west side of
the city of David.” Therefore the Birket Mamilla is the
Upper Pool of Gihon, and the Patriarch's Pool is the pool
into which Hezekiah conducted its water.
This whole argument, however, rests upon the theory
that the City of David was situated on the western hill,
whereas it seems now to be satisfactorily made out that it
lay on the eastern hill, and that the passages quoted above
refer to the spring in the Kidron Valley already mentioned,
from which spring an ancient conduit brings the water
westward to the Pool of Siloam at the foot of Ophel.”
We cannot, therefore, definitely connect the noble “Pool
of Hezekiah’’ with Old Testament history, but with New
Testament history, or at any rate New Testament times, we
can ; and it is with supreme interest that we realise that we
have here a veritable bit of old Jerusalem, and that Jesus
Himself must often have stood beside these waters and seen
that self-same tower of Herod's palace rising as it does to-
day above the surrounding buildings.
It did not, however, in His day present precisely the same
appearance ; for this pool, as we learn from Josephus, was
one of the Columbèthrai, or swimming-pools of Jerusalem.
It was surrounded, therefore, not by these grey walls with
their projecting casements and tufts of hanging weed, but
by cloisters or “porches” where the bathers dressed and
undressed and lounged in the welcome shade. In this fact
we already have a reminder of the “porches” of Bethesda,
although this particular pool is not one of the claimants to
the honours of that poetic site.
It is so quiet here and so impressive, that one could
linger for hours endeavouring to recall in imagination the
“year of the Lord”; but our time is brief, so we return
shortly to the scrimmage of Christian Street, and turning
presently to the right, into the north-eastern or Moslem
quarter, we find ourselves in the far-famed Via Dolorosa,
* For a clear statement, by the late W. Robertson Smith, of the
grounds of this theory, see “Encycl. Brit.,” 9th edition, art.
“Jerusalem.”
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 205
One of the most picturesque streets in the city, spanned as
it is in parts by huge flying buttresses, passing up and
down ancient stairways, and plunging through dark
mysterious archways. -
This street, which is generally marked erroneously upon
the maps as though it touched the very boundary of the
city at the eastern gate of St. Stephen, extends properly only
from the barracks at the north-west corner of the Temple
area to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The street is
named, of course, in accordance with the theory that the
Praetorium where Jesus was tried was at the Fortress
Of Antonia, which was situated where the Turkish
barracks now stand, and that the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre marks the place where He was crucified. But the
more probable theory is that Pilate's Praetorium was at
the Palace of Herod, just by that ancient tower which we
saw a few minutes since near the Pool of Amygdalon, and
that Jesus was crucified on the north of the city. Yet, even
on this latter hypothesis it is not improbable that the street
after all is rightly named, for, after the trial at Pilate's
Praetorium, it is likely enough that the victim would be con-
ducted to Antonia, where the two robbers were imprisoned,
and that the whole procession would pass thence by the
northern gate of the city to the place of execution. Thus,
in either case, this street, or part of it, would have to be
traversed.
However, the actual roadway which those sacred feet
trod so painfully is some yards below the present surface ;
and when the houses are different, the street different, and
the whole surroundings different, one cannot feel that thrill
which the actual scene and situation would bring. The
so-called Ecce Homo Arch, which spans the street near the
site of Antonia, is a Roman triumphal arch of later date, and
the “Stations of the Cross " with which the street is marked
at intervals are, of course, vain imaginations.
At the Ecce Homo Arch, just mentioned, we may pause
for a moment, for here we are near to the first of our Pools
of Bethesda. We are near to it, but cannot see it, for at
the present time it lies below ground. Warren rediscovered
and explored it in 1867. He found it to be a “double
pool”—two pools, in fact, cut side by side in the rock, with
a pier of masonry running up the centre, and arches thrown
over them. They lie partly beneath the convent of the
Sisters of Zion, the building on our left, and partly beneath
2O6 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the street in which we stand, and they are known now as
the Twin Pools. They measure, taken together, 165 feet
by 48 feet, and they still supply the sisterhood with water
for every purpose but drinking.
We have direct evidence that in the fourth century these
twin pools were believed to be the Pool of Bethesda, for
they were visited as such and described by the Bordeaux
Pilgrim (A.D. 333). The Pilgrim mentions a curious fact
about them, namely, that “these pools have water which,
when agitated, is of a kind of red colour.” Eusebius also
mentions the redness of one of the pools. The phenomenon
was probably due to heavy rain bringing the red earth
down the aqueduct which fed the pool; but, according to
Eusebius, it was popularly believed that the redness was
due to the fact that the pool was near the sheep-gate, and
that “it therefore retains to this day a trace of the victims
that were formerly cleaned in it.” ” One can understand
how this feature of the place would help the belief that
this was Bethesda.
There are grounds for believing that this double pool was
in existence long before the Pilgrim's date—in fact, quite at
the beginning of our era; and, if it is identical with the
Pool Stronthion mentioned by Josephus (and its situation
corresponds with that) we may take its existence at that
time as certain. Add to this, that the form of the pool
admits of “five porches,” one on each of the four sides and
a fifth on the dividing wall of rock, and one appears to
have strong grounds for identifying it with Bethesda.f
However, for the present we will hold our judgment upon
the Bethesda question in suspense, for there are two other
pools in the neighbourhood which we must now visit.
Leaving the Sisters of Zion, with their twin pools,
behind us, we pass now beneath the well-known Ecce
Homo Arch, a triumphal arch built, according to M.
Ganneau, to celebrate the suppression of the great revolt
under the pseudo-Messiah Bar Cochba. We have now
upon our right hand the Turkish barracks, standing upon
the very rock whereon the Roman barracks stood in the
days of Jesus—the historic fortress of Antonia. We are
walking, in fact, upon the filled-up fosse which separated
that fortress from the fine new suburb called “Bezetha,”
* “Recovery of Jerusalem,” pp. 197, 198.
f For further pros. and cons. see Appendix E.
† Palestine Exploration Fund, Mem., “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 212.
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 207
which had then only recently sprung up. A little further
and we glance down a turning upon our right. It is a short
narrow lane, with a gateway at the far end. That gateway
none but the faithful may pass to-day, for it is one of the
northern entrances to the Harām esh-Sherif, and to-day
the Moslems are holding a sacred festival there ; to enter
it, the dragoman assures us, would be our death. It
reminds us how a still more ancient people once held that
same area for their worship, and how with them also the
law was death for an unbeliever to enter the sacred
inclosure—not, indeed, in their case, the outer court, but
the central part of it, the sacred 500 cubits. Just thirty
years ago, very near the spot where we are standing,” an
inscribed stone was discovered, which bore in Greek letters
the following inscription :
“No stranger is to enter within the balustrade round the
Temple and inclosure. Whoever is caught will be responsible
to himself for his death, which will ensue.”
That very tablet, it is likely enough, faced Paul on the
day when he entered the Temple precincts and when the
Jews attacked and sought to kill him because he had intro-
duced, as they believed, a Gentile into the inclosure. And
it is interesting to remember that the Apostle was rescued
by the intervention of a tribune and band of soldiers, who
were quartered in that same fortress of Antonia, overlooking
the Temple area, whose site and successor we have this
moment passed.
A few steps more and we come upon our right to the
Birket Israin, our second Pool of Bethesda. The tradition,
however, assigning the Bethesda miracle to this spot cannot
be traced further back than the thirteenth century. It was
probably not until the Twin Pools and the Pool of St.
Anne (to be presently described) had become buried and
lost to sight that the name Bethesda was attached to this
lace.
The pool, however, is very much more ancient than the
tradition. It is true that the portion of the Harām wall
which now forms its southern side was probably not built
till the beginning of the eighth century, when this north-
eastern corner of the sacred inclosure was completed (as is
supposed) by El-Walid, the son of Abd el-Melik, but the
eastern wall which cuts across the little side valley in which
* It was found by M. Clermont-Ganneau in the Moslem graveyard
near the barracks.
2O8 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the pool is contained, dates from Hadrian ; and, what is
more to the point, the pool itself is found to be rock-cut,
and may very well be much older than either wall.
However, there is no possibility here of “five porches,”
nor is there anything to be said in favour of the Birket
Israin which does not apply with greater force to the
“Twin Poç is.” So we proceed to the third Bethesda, that
which lies within the precincts of the Church of St. Anne.
We reach the church by turning off to the left a little
before we come to the Gate of St. Stephen. We are
immediately conducted to a courtyard, or small quadrangle,
to the west of the church, at one side of which is a flight of
steps leading down to the pool. What we find at the
bottom of the steps is a rock-hewn cistern, arched over
with masonry in the manner of a crypt. And a crypt it
actually is, for the pool was originally beneath the church,
the courtyard already mentioned being in fact the roofless
remains of the old Crusading sanctuary, upon the ruined
wall of which we could even now trace portions of an
ancient fresco representing the angel descending to trouble
the water.
This, then, is the twelfth-century Bethesda ; what are its
claims ? One argument brought forward in its favour is that
it has five porches, which, though of the Crusading period,
are “reconstructed on old bases.” “ This does not go for
much, since the twelfth-century church here was a re-
building of an earlier seventh-century church, which would
account for the “older bases” without supposing them to
belong to a ko)\vuſºff0pa. Another argument is that since
Beit-Hanna and Beth-Hesda both mean “House of Mercy,”
the dedication of the church to St. Anne is an indication of
its earlier name. This, again, is rather far-fetched. A
third proof is supposed to be found in the discovery of a
marble foot bearing an inscription to the effect that a certain
Pompeia Lucilia was cured here.
But the really strong argument seems to me to consist in
the fact that this, too, is a double pool, and a much larger one
than that beneath the convent of the Sisters of Zion. The
five porches cannot in reality be seen now, but the form of
the pool was the only form admitting of the arrangement
of five colonnades around the water. Only one pool is now
uncovered, but the other is known to exist beside it; it may
be that when the Bordeaux Pilgrim passed it, one-half was
* Rev. R. Lees, “Jerusalem Illustrated,” p. 146.
FIG. 54.— ENTRANCE TO THE VIRGIN's SPRING
FIG. 55- HEzEki AH'S CONDUIT


JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 209
covered as it now is, and that this is why the smaller Twin
Pool was chosen at that time as the true Bethesda. On the
whole, we may say that of the three pools which we have
considered, this one at the Church of St. Anne, from its
situation, its size, and its shape, has the greatest claim to be
considered as the true Bethesda.
But now it was time for us to examine the evidential value
of a phenomenon different from any which we had yet con-
sidered ; accordingly we directed Nassar to guide us, next,
to the intermittent spring in the valley of the Kidron known
as St. Mary's Well or the Virgin's Fount.
It was already nearing the hour at which the water usually
rose; we hurried, therefore, through the Gate of St. Stephen,
and by the shortest path along the Kidron slopes to the
Virgin's Spring. The spring is about a quarter of a mile to
the south of the Harām, on the eastern slope of Ophel. It
is almost in the bottom of the Kidron Valley, looking up to
the little village of Siloam on the east, and to the city walls
on the north and north-west. The fountain is underground,
the approach to it being a flight of thirty steps cut in the
rock, and going down into the darkness, on which account
the Arabs call it “The Spring of the Mother of Steps”
(Fig. 54). At the bottom of the steps you stand upon a small
platform, or landing, where the rock is levelled. In front
of you is the mouth of a tunnel; beside you, close to your
feet, is a small boring, or well (Fig. 55). The tunnel is the
conduit cut through the rock by Hezekiah, and leading by
a serpentine course down to the Pool of Siloam, which lies
something less than a quarter of a mile further down the
valley; the well is the opening through which the water
rises, overflowing into the tunnel when it reaches the level
of the platform, and running in a stream to fill the Siloam
Pool.
The history of this spring and conduit is exceedingly in-
teresting. It is one of the few tolerably clear and almost
undisputed points in the topography of Jerusalem ; for there
can hardly be a doubt that this is the conduit mentioned in
2 Kings xx. 20, “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and
all his might, and how he made the pool, and the conduit,
and brought water into the city, are they not written in the
Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah P’’ The pool
here mentioned is the Pool of Siloam, and the conduit is the
tunnel through which the “Virgin's Fountain” feeds it. In
August 1880 an inscription was found on the wall of the
O
2 IO TENT AND TESTAMENT
tunnel about 19 feet from the Siloam end, the oldest Hebrew
inscription known, which gives an account of the making of,
the tunnel. The forms of the letters are like those of the
Moabite stone, and there is little doubt that it dates from the
days of Hezekiah. It reads as follows:
“Behold the piercing through l Now this was the manner
of the piercing through. While [the hewers were lifting upl
the pick, each towards his fellow, and while there were yet
three cubits to be trodden through, there was heard the voice
of each man calling to his fellow, for there was a [fissure] in
the rock on the right hand [and on the left], and on the day
of the piercing through, the hewers smote, each to meet his
fellow, pick to pick ; and then flowed the waters from their
channel to the pool twelve hundred cubits; and [three
fourths] of a cubit was the height of the rock on the head
of the hewers.”
The meeting each other and breaking through was evi-
dently a triumph. And, indeed, one can see with the bodily
eyes what desperate efforts these primitive engineers had to
make in order to effect this meeting; for the blind turnings
and offsets where they had gone astray in their direction still
remain in the tunnel, as also do the perpendicular shafts
reaching to the upper air, which the two parties had con-
structed in order to ascertain where they respectively were,
and in which direction they must correct their work in order
to meet at last.
Hezekiah's object in making the tunnel was to bring the
water within the walls of the city without its being available
to a besieging army. Before his day the water had ap-
parently been brought down by an open conduit, the remains
of which still exist; now that channel was disused, the spring
was buried, and its waters were brought by the underground
conduit to a pool within the city walls. The pool in question
was that which was afterwards called the Pool of Siloam,
but in Hezekiah's day seems to have been called the King's
Pool. The city walls which now crown the summit of the
hill came in that day to the foot of the slope, and old founda-
tions seem clearly to show that they did actually encircle
the pool as implied in the passage quoted from the Book of
Kings.
#e, then, was the conduit which Hezekiah had made,
and here was the spring which it conveyed to Siloam.
Its intermittent character was the point which we had to
examine, for this it is which has induced some biblical
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 211
topographers to identify it with Bethesda. The waters were
Said to rise generally at about eleven o'clock, and it was now
ten minutes to the hour; we anxiously inquired therefore
of some natives standing near the entrance whether the
fountain had risen. Alas! we were a quarter of an hour too
late. Well, it was useless to wait, for it was the time of
year when the flow only takes place at intervals of four or
five hours. All we could do was to come again another
day, and content ourselves that morning with a visit to
Siloam. - -
Before proceeding, however, to the pool in question we
lingered a little, looking at the strange ways of the villagers
who were gathered at the well. Some rough Arab boys
were dancing just in the arch of the tunnel, looking very
much like Savages in a cave as they waved their arms to
and fro and chanted a wild melody. Then came a mother
with her boy ; he stripped, and passing into the tunnel
stood in a pool which the overflow had formed on the
uneven floor. The woman proceeded to pour water over
her son in the fashion of the old pictures of John baptising
Christ, and we remembered that to this day the waters of
this spring are sacred and are believed by the natives to
have healing powers. Then came a middle-aged woman,
one of the Siloam villagers, to fill her water-skin. While
she was there I was proceeding to photograph the arch of
the conduit, when immediately she fell into a passion of
anger. Screaming, shouting, and gesticulating violently,
she pointed at me and my camera, and it was evident that
I was giving unspeakable offence. I thought that she might
be under the impression that I was photographing her, as
to this many of the women object; but Nassar said this
had nothing to do with her rage; she was complaining
that it was because travellers came making pictures of the
place that the water had of late so woefully failed.
This was the second strange reason that we had heard
that morning for the failure of the water; for, at the church
of St. Anne, a Jerusalem resident of the better class had
assured us that St. Mary's Well had failed ever since the
Pool of St. Anne was uncovered, proving, as he considered,
a causal connection between the two events | Two other
reasons were supplied by Nassar, for he said that some of
the folk believed that a magician had come and taken away
a treasure that was hidden there and had left a curse behind
him ; and that others held that the failure of the water was
2 I 2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
due to the removal of the ancient inscription from the wall
of the tunnel (for the Hebrew inscription mentioned above
was cut out of the rock by the Turkish Governor and sent
to Constantinople, being broken of course in the process).
Little incidents like this, which are of frequent occurrence
in Palestine travel, bring home to one how devoid the
Palestinian is of any notion of cause and effect. He remains,
indeed, to-day just what he was of old when he “demanded
a sign,” living in a world of arbitrary and chaotic occur-
rence, and seeing the supernatural everywhere around
him. sk
The true cause of the spring's failure has since been dis-
covered. A fissure had occurred in the rock, and the water
escaped through it before it reached the “Mother of
Steps.” The crack has now been mended, and the stream
has returned to its former abundance.”
My good-hearted companion thought to soften the heart
of the wild woman by offering to fill her water-skin, but
his offers were angrily rejected. Possibly the frantic gesti-
culations by which he earnestly sought to make the Arab
woman understand English were not altogether so soothing
as they were meant to be. So, we left her to her rage and
bent our steps toward Siloam.
But now, before we leave St. Mary's Well, let us take a
farewell glance at this fourth claimant to the honours of
Bethesda—at the heaps of earth and rubble, the narrow
opening of the stairway, the steep descent to the dark
tunnel. Do these things fit the Bethesda story There
are ruins of a mosque near by, but no traces of a pool with
stoaº ; and the well itself, ever since the days of Hezekiah,
has apparently been underground. It is conceivable,
indeed, that further excavation might bring unknown things
to light ; but So far as present evidence goes, the probability
would seem to be that this superincumbent mass of earth
* The intermittent character of the spring is due to a siphon-action,
which arises from the position and nature of the source in relation to
the outlet. The water of the spring is derived from a slow accumula-
tion in a limestone cavity within the rock on which the city is built.
This cavity is high above the valley where the fountain issues. As
soon as the water has accumulated to such a height as to reach the lip
of the rocky basin, it begins to flow down the precipitous and narrow
channel to the point of outlet; the siphon-action then comes into play
and completely empties the basin, so that no further flow can take
place until this natural cistern has once more been filled by the slow
tricklings from the Surrounding rock.
FIG
. 56.--THE OLD POOL


JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 213
and stone was piled there by Hezekiah himself when he
buried the spring to withdraw it from his enemies. And
looking at the well itself, with its long steep stairway and
the confinement of its spring, is it possible that a colum-
béthra with its stoaº could ever have pertained to such
a “pool "--if pool it can be called ? The narrowness of
the stairway fits in, it is true, with the difficulty of the poor
man in getting to the water before his stronger fellows,
but that feature is not by any means needed to explain his
perplexity, it is sufficiently explained in the words “I have
no man when the water is troubled to put me into the
pool.” In fact the one and only thing in favour of this
Spring is the intermittent troubling of the water; unless,
indeed, we add that which it shares with other pools (the
Hammam esh-Shifā, for instance), a reputation for healing
properties.
From St. Mary's Well we proceeded to a still lower
point in the valley where there is a pool of some size
formed by a strong masonry dam across the depression.
It is situated just where the Tyropoeon opens into the
Kidron Valley, and on maps it is marked as “Old Pool”
(Fig. 56). How old it really is seems to be an unanswered
question : the masonry of the dam is extremely massive,
and is pronounced by the highest authorities to be “prob-
ably of great antiquity.” It may be the “King's Pool"
which Nehemiah visited on his night journey when he
viewed the ruined walls of Jerusalem (Neh. ii. 14), and it
may also be the “Pool of Solomon’’ where Josephus says
the city wall took a bend. But some find these sites at
Siloam, and others at St. Mary's Well.
Ascending now the slope towards the city, we arrive in a
few moments at the Pool of Siloam (Fig. 57). This is one of
the few undisputed sites in the topography of Jerusalem.
It retains its old name, for the Arabs know it as Silwān, and
it has an unbroken chain of tradition for over eighteen
centuries. But what we see is at first disappointing. It is
little but a pitful of loose stones, for the sides have for the
most part fallen in, and the building-stones which lined it
are worn and rounded. These are, in fact, not the walls
of the ko)\vu}}0pa which Jesus knew ; they are modern walls
hastily piled up from the ruined remains of Crusaders' and
Saracens’ work: the masonry of Jesus' time is gone.
Yet the spot is the same ; and both the pool and its sur-
+ Palestine Exploration Fund. Mem., “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 346.
2I4 TENT AND TESTAMENT
roundings can be reconstructed in the mind, as we stand
and look around us.
Picture, then, a pool fifty-two feet square (for that was its
Original size as proved by excavation). It is cut in the solid
rock, and enclosed by colonnades. Northward rises the
slope of Ophel, that spur of the Temple-hill which we still
See Crowned by the walls of the Harām. The east side of
that spur, from Siloam where we stand to the Upper Gihon
which we have just left, is adorned by the King's Gardens,
rising terrace above terrace. Ophel itself is covered with
houses, for here are the priests' quarters. Down the centre
of the slope comes a street of steps, descending from the
Temple to the pool—“the stairs of the City of David.”
We may imagine that it is the Feast of Tabernacles and
“the last, the great day of the Feast.” That wall up yonder
is the same boundary and in part the identical wall which
enclosed the Temple in the days of Jesus. There is a gate-
way in that wall which has existed from His days to ours,
though it is to-day no longer open. But as we gaze toward
it, imagination sees its doors swing apart, and down the
stairs of the long slope a procession comes to the sound of
a flute and the chanting of a weird old Hebrew psalm. The
procession is headed by a priest bearing a small golden
pitcher. The people behind him carry in their right hand a
triple spray—myrtle, palm, and willow tied together—and
in their left hand a fruit-bough with the fruit upon it.
Down the steep, terraced street, between the houses of
Ophel, the procession advances towards us. At this ancient
Pool of Siloam it pauses. The priest fills his pitcher with
the Sweet clean water, and then the company returns,
timing its ascent of the slope so as to arrive at the Temple-
gate just as the morning sacrifice is ready for the burning.
As they cross the threshold the trumpets sound a three-fold
blast, the golden pitcher is borne to the altar, and the water
of Siloam is there poured out before the Lord, while the
chant of the Great Hallel rises into the air, the voice of the
Levites crying, “Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise
the name of the Lord,” and all the people responding with
one voice, “Praise ye the Lord.”
Apart from the Bethesda question, the chief New Testa-
ment interest attaching to Siloam is the story of the
blind man whose eyes Jesus anointed with clay, “ and
said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by
* See Edersheim’s “Jesus the Messiah,” 9th ed., vol. ii. p. 159.
JERUSALEM-IN SEARCH OF BETHESDA 215
interpretation sent).” The story is obviously symbolical.
Jesus as Light, Jesus as Water, two of the Evangelist's most
favourite symbols come into its symbolism. The “sent”
waters of the Conduit, the “sent” Messiah of God—such is
the parallel implied in his “interpretation ” of Siloam. But
the narrative may nevertheless be based on fact. Siloam
even in Jesus' day was venerable and sacred ; its waters
even then were believed to have healing properties; the use
of Spittle, too, as a healing agent is quite consistent with
historical probability; Jesus shared with His contemporaries
these associations and beliefs. For my part I have confi-
dence enough in the truth of the basic event to look with
interest on the ancient pool and picture the poor man
washing the clay from his eyes in hope of healing.
But now, what of Bethesda 2 Well ; I do not remember
to have seen Siloam claimed as the true Bethesda, and yet
to myself it seems the most likely site of all. The whole
story, it is true, is more or less of a poem ; we must not
therefore look to find all its details to fit this or any other
Scene ; but, taking it as in its main features historical, the
One Salient point is the troubling of the water. And this
troubling was evidently intermittent, lasting but a short
time, and, when over, involving another long wait before it
occurred again. Now, the Virgin's Fount is not the only
place where such an intermittent “troubling” would occur;
the connection of that fount with Siloam would produce a
corresponding troubling in the pool. Whenever the foun-
tain rose, the water rushing down the conduit to the pool
occasioned a corresponding troubling there. In fact the
word “troubling” (äray rapax0: rö $80p) fits the pool far
better than it does the spring. The spring is not merely
“troubled,” it bursts upwards—rises—overflows (as I myself
Saw on a subsequent day), but the pool is “moved" or
“troubled,” precisely that and no more.
And Siloam was a columbéthra : it was a swimming-pool,
with porches : Josephus explicitly names it as such. No
other columbéthra of Jerusalem, no other pool, at least,
which we know to have been such, shows this intermittent
troubling.” This one salient feature, then, outweighs in my
* It has been stated that the Hammam Esh-Shifā is an intermittent
spring (“Recent Discoveries on the Temple Hill,” by Rev. J. King,
1884, p. II7). If this were so, the claims of that pool would have to be
more closely considered. It could hardly, however, claim to have been a
ko)\vpſ3%6pa, which is a serious objection to identifying it with Bethesda.
2I6 TENT AND TESTAMENT
mind all other considerations and assures me that if the story
is based on fact at all, it was at this Pool of Siloam that the
incident actually occurred.
There is the difficulty, no doubt, that the Evangelist knew
Siloam, and speaks of it elsewhere by its proper name.
Why, then, should he call the same pool in this passage by
the name “Bethesda” ” But this difficulty disappears when
we remember the character and origin of the Fourth Gospel.
That Gospel we take to be founded upon fragmentary
materials, partly common to the Synoptics, partly belonging
to a different line of tradition ; it is, possible, therefore, that
the fragment which recorded this healing act at the pool of
troubled waters did not name the pool. In such a case it
would be in the manner of the allegorist to supply a signifi-
cant name, and, whether we take “House of Healing” or
“House of Bubbling-up" to be the true interpretation of
the name Bethesda,” either meaning would fit the story.
In short, it is not here suggested that the Evangelist had
Siloam in mind when he narrated and applied the legend ;
it is claimed, only, that the original and historical incident
upon which the legend was founded took place, if anywhere,
in all probability at the one pool where water mysteriously
troubled is seen as an actual fact at intervals of a few hours
throughout the day.f
But is it intermittent P It is described as “an underground cave-well’
(“Encycl. Bibl.,” “Jerusalem,” 2414). Dr. Chaplin, who explored it in
1871, says: “No appearance of a fountain was discovered, though
carefully searched for,” and adds that “every fresh observation tends
to confirm the opinion that its water is derived solely from the per-
colation of the rains through the débris upon which the city is built”
(P.E.F. “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 262); and Socin says that it contains
only “rain-water which has percolated through impure earth” (Socin
in “Baed.” 1898, p. 55); while Conder says that “the only place near
Jerusalem where a periodical ‘troubling of the waters’ is now known
to occur is the Virgin's Fountain’’ (P.E.F.Q.S., 1888, p. 134).
* Edersheim, “Jesus the Messiah,” 9th edition, i. p. 162.
# See, further, Appendix E.
CH A PTE R XXXIV
JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE WALLS
A CHAPTER on the Temple Walls and the Temple Area, and
the long and intricate controversy on the Temple Site, might
easily expand into a volume. Moreover, descriptions of the
Harām, and brief accounts of the numerous points of in-
terest without and within its walls, are to be found in every
Palestine guide-book; I shall confine myself, therefore, to
one or two points which were especially interesting to
myself.
The first of these was the Jews' Wailing-Place, which we
visited on the Friday afternoon after our return from Siloam.
It is a small open area at the end of a blind turning, and is
situated on the west side of the Harām at about one-fourth
of the distance between the south-west and north-west
corners. This situation for the traditional Wailing-Place
has been advanced as an argument in favour of the theory
that the ancient Temple was situated in the south-west
Corner of the present area, and not opposite to the Sakhra,
Or Sacred rock. The argument seems, however, rather far-
fetched, for, as a matter of fact, from this point northwards
there is no other point at which you can see even a few
contiguous yards of the west wall; so that the Jews would
Seem—at any rate, at the present day—to have no choice
in the matter.
It was about half-past three, too early for the Friday
liturgy, which is not read until four, but a number of Jews,
young men and white-headed fathers, were already gathered
together, and were praying, or reading their psalters, or
kissing the great stones of the Temple wall. Some of the
more poverty-stricken of them, I am bound to confess, left
their prayers upon sight of us, and besieged us with requests
for bakhshish ; but, for the most part, the worship was de-
vout, and the tears and lamentations apparently genuine.
The men were variously habited, some in semi-European,
218 TENT AND TESTAMENT
others in Oriental dress; some in cloth coats, others in long
cotton gowns ; some wore the tarbüsh, others fur caps, and
yet others the bowler-hat, which so many of the Jews affect
(Fig. 58).
On the other side of a canvas screen, which divided the
little courtyard into two, were the women, standing against
the sunlit wall of the Temple, or sitting in the shade with
their books. They wore, for the most part, cotton gowns
and Manchester shawls, with a folded handkerchief by way
of headdress, and they carried very Western-looking black
umbrellas (Fig. 59).
This Jewish custom of wailing over the lost Zion is of
immense antiquity, dating, indeed, from Roman times ; for
Jerome tells us how the Jews had to “buy their tears” of the
Roman soldiers. By Hadrian they had been entirely ex-
cluded from Jerusalem, but Constantine permitted them to
stand upon the neighbouring hills and view their ancient
capital from afar ; and soon afterwards they were allowed
once a year, on the anniversary of the capture of the city by
Titus, to enter within its walls and wail over the ruins of
the Temple. From that time forth the custom has probably
remained unbroken. In the twelfth century, at any rate,
Benjamin of Tudela mentions it as then existing, and the
allusions to it in later times are frequent.
The published fragments of the liturgy used at this place
are very affecting. They are such as the following:
For the Palace which is deserted
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For the Temple which is destroyed
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For the Walls which are broken down
We sit in solitude and mourn,
For our majesty which is departed
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For our great men who lie dead
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For the precious stones which are burned
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For our priests who have stumbled
We sit in solitude and mourn.
For our Kings who have contemned Him
We sit in solitude and mourn.
Lord, build, Lord, build—
Build Thy house speedily
FIG. 58. --THE JEWS' W.A II,IN ( ;
|'LACE


JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE WALLS 2I9
In hastel in haste even in our days,
Build Thy house speedily
In haste, in haste, even in our days,
Build Thy house speedily
So the passionate entreaties ascend by the face of these
grey stones—the veritable stones of ancient Zion. But no
response comes.
. The stones are themselves full of interest. As we raise
our eyes from the base of the wall to its summit nearly sixty
feet above us, we see at a glance that there are three periods
represented in its masonry. Above the present surface of
the ground you have, first, five courses of gigantic stones,
mostly with marginal draughts, averaging 3% feet in height
and several feet in length ; one of them is 13 feet, another
16 feet, long. These courses, it is now generally agreed,
are Herodian, the prepossession in favour of Solomon, which
has so often been a drag upon Jerusalem archaeology, having
given way to a more reasonable view.” Next above these
are four courses of great square stones with plain faces,
which are said to be late Roman or Byzantine. And at
the top are sixteen courses of small stones representing
Arab work.
It struck me as very remarkable that while some of the
huge Herodian stones are wonderfully preserved, others
have crumbled into an almost shapeless irregularity. This
is due, I am told, from their being quarried from two dif-
ferent strata found at Jerusalem—the “mezzeh,” or soft
limestone, and the “melekeh,” or hard—and it has been used
as an argument, but not a very convincing one, that the
materials belong to different ages. That the wall at this
place has been rebuilt is, nevertheless, possible, for it is
noticeable that the joints between the stones gape wide in
some instances, instead of fitting SO closely, as they do in
most parts of the wall, that a knife cannot be inserted be-
tween them.
It is not wonderful that such signs of reconstruction
should occur here and there, considering the desperate
sieges which the Temple, as well as the city, has sustained :
* Masons' marks painted on the stones of the foundations of the
south-east angle and elsewhere were pronounced to be Phoenician, and
supposed on that account to prove that the wall dated from Solomon,
“but their forms are too rude to give any clear indication of their age.
They may have been painted by Herod's masons quite as well as by
Solomon’s” (P.E.F. Mem., “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 244).
22O TENT AND TESTAMENT
they do not form any sufficient ground for doubting the
Opinion, formed after careful and laborious examination of
the west wall at every point where it can be inspected, that
the whole wall in its lower courses is mainly of one age,
and that age, as has already been said, the Herodian.
Take a good look at the masonry of the “Wailing-Place”
before we leave it; for this is the recognised standard of
Comparison in all discussions on the character and age of
the Harām walls in the various parts of their circuit. Any
such discussion would be too lengthy for insertion here, but
We may briefly remark that the conclusion to which it would
lead us would be that (disregarding, of course, the upper
and later courses) the west, the south, and the east walls are
all the work of one period and one builder. The only reason-
able doubt attaches to the north-east corner. With that
exception we can say with some confidence that these are
the very walls with which Herod surrounded the sacred
precincts; they are the walls upon which Jesus looked."
And now let us leave the Wailing-Place and proceed to-
ward the south-west corner of the Harām—that corner about
which there is not, and never has been, any dispute, all
admitting that this, at least, was Herod's work. Nassar
takes us round by some very filthy streets (for houses abut
upon the wall, and prevent a straight course), and lands us
presently at a spot a little north of the corner where dust and
rubbish and formidable clumps of prickly pear encumber
the base of the great rampart. It is very hot and very glaring
and very unsavoury. But look there upon your left l
What do you see ? One of the most interesting relics of
Christ's Jerusalem. A stranger to Jerusalem topography
might pass it, perhaps, without realising its significance, for
it appears to be nothing but a rough projection from the
ancient masonry—the spring of an arch, perhaps.
Just so I that is precisely what it is—the spring of an
ancient arch. “Now in the western part of the Temple en-
closures,” writes Josephus, “there were four gates, the first
led to the King's Palace, and went to a passage over the
intermediate valley.” This arch was part of that same “pas-
sage over the valley.” The valley is almost filled up now ;
the curve of the arch begins but a few feet from the ground.
But originally the arch rose to a height of forty-two feet; its
# The details of the masonry of the Harām walls are fully described
in a paper by the late Sir Charles Wilson, in PE.F.9.S., 1880, p. 33.
See, also, Appendix F to the present work.
JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE WALLS 22I
span was forty feet from pier to pier, and its depth fifty feet
from back to front. The bridge of which it formed a part
joined the Palace of the Maccabees to the Royal Cloister of
the Temple. It was built of great stones like those of the
Wailing-Place, and in the lifetime of Jesus it formed one of
the principal features of the city.
The relic is known as Robinson's Arch, after the name of
its discoverer. The ground beneath it was excavated by
Warren, who found the central pier of the bridge rising from
an old pavement, that identical pavement upon which Christ
and His disciples walked whenever they went down the
Valley of the Cheesemakers to the Pool of Siloam. And
upon the pavement Warren found the great stones of the
arch lying where they fell when the ruin which Jesus pre-
dicted was accomplished.
Warren furthermore broke through this pavement and,
after passing through another twenty-two feet of rubbish,
found the stones of a still earlier arch, which had been de-
stroyed before ever the pavement of Herod's day was laid.
This, there cannot be a doubt, belonged to the bridge
destroyed at the time of Pompey's siege in 63 B.C.; for
Josephus tells us how in that siege “the adherents of
Aristobulus being beaten, retreated on the Temple,
breaking down the bridge which connected it with
the city.”
But the later bridge upon whose fragments we are now
looking, was Herod's bridge, the bridge which spanned the
valley with two great arches in Christ's time. Standing
upon it you might at that time have seen some of the most
magnificent features of what was then a noble city. On
your right as you faced northwards would be Ophel, the
priests’ quarter, and the vast walls round the Temple;
higher still, the Temple itself rising terrace above terrace, a
pile of snowy stone and yellow gold. Below you the deep
cleft of the Tyropoeon with the “Lower City,” or business
quarter, stretching north and north-west. Here too, upon
your left, was the Xystus, or Forum, on the western slope of
the valley, with the Palace of the Maccabees above it; * and
higher still, the Upper City, the “West End,” the quarter of
palaces and mansions, the houses of the rich ranged terrace
* Jos., Bell. Jud., ii. xvi. 3. aštm yap [i.e., 'Aapovalov oiktal fiv čºrdvo too
£vorroſ, trpès to Trépav Tijs àvo TróNeos, kai yébvpa Tó Švoró to ispöv
ovvmtriev.
222 TENT AND TESTAMENT
above terrace. Such was Jerusalem seen from this ancient
bridge in the days of Jesus.”
And now let us turn from this bit of the old bridge, and
taking a few steps southward pause at the corner of the
wall. This corner stands not, as might be supposed, in the
bed of the Tyropoeon Valley, but high on the western slope
of that valley. This remarkable fact is obscured now b
the filling up of the valley down its whole length with the
débris of the ruined city, but the rock levels obtained by
excavation from the Wailing-Place southward, and from the
Double Gate westward, show that the Tyropoeon at this
part of its course bore south-eastwards, and actually cut
across this south-west corner of the Temple area ; or rather
that this corner of the great platform actually crossed the
valley and planted its extremity on the opposite bank.
It was a bold idea for an architect to conceive, and it
could only be carried out by making the retaining wall of
the most massive description, and then filling in with earth
and rubble the great space left between the wall and the
eastern slope of the valley. And the masonry at the south-
west corner is just what might be expected. It shows the
most gigantic blocks, in Some cases approaching forty feet in
length.f And the wall has never been disturbed ; none of
the rebuilding which may possibly have taken place at
some points has ever occurred here; the joints are per-
fect and the masonry “has every appearance of being in
situ.”
Look at the height of the wall here, and remember that
this is but a third of the whole height measured from the
foundations; that will give you some idea of the largeness
of Herod's conception and the strength of his will. In
Jesus' day the wall was hidden to a third of its height from
the base ; but allowing for that, and measuring only from
the pavement to the summit, this rampart of cyclopean
blocks, said to be “the finest example of mural masonry in
the world,” towered to a height of IOO feet above the spec-
tator's head, and the wall of the Royal Cloister rose for
* Edersheim, “Jesus the Messiah,” 9th ed., vol. i. p. 112 ; Stapfer,
“Palestine in the Time of Christ,” p. 52.
+ One stone, built into the wall at a height of 62 feet from the base,
measures no less than 38 feet 9 inches in length, and is 4 feet thick and
Io feet deep, and others are of scarcely less size (Wilson, P.E.F.Q.S.,
1880, p. 9).
JERUSALEM-THE TEMPLE WALLS 223
another fifty feet above that. Near the south-east angle an
even greater height was visible above the surface. There
wall and cloister together soared to a height of about 185
feet from the ground, and below the wall was a precipitous
descent to the bed of the Kidron, which at that time was
126 feet beneath the exposed base of the wall. It was on
this east side of the Temple that the disciples, crossing the
Kidron to the Mount of Olives, were struck with wonder at
the sight. And truly when we remember that the great
stones were then pure white, that the platform above them
was surrounded by four marble cloisters, one at least of
which was longer and higher than York Minster;” when we
remember moreover that these cloisters embraced a building
of marble and gold, approached by a porch or gateway 150
feet in height,f higher, that is to say, than the façade of St.
Peter's at Rome, we feel that we too might well have ex-
claimed, in the words of the Galilean disciple : “Behold
what manner of stones and what manner of buildings l’’
Truly as we stand beside their wrecked remains we are
impressed anew with the greatness of Him who so pro-
foundly realised the nothingness of all material splendour
in comparison with the things of the spirit, that He could
exclaim with deep conviction concerning this marvel of His
age, “Destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in
three days I will build another made without hands.”f
And how long did this Temple of Herod last It was
completed in the procuratorship of Albinus (62–64 A.D.), and
it was burned in 70 A.D. It lasted about six years 1
* “Recovery of Jerusalem,” vol. i. p. 9.
+ “Fricycl. Bibl.,” s.v. “Temple.”
# See Mark xiv. 58. One may believe that the words which Jesus
really said were those suggested above. It is noteworthy that in
Mark xiii. 1, 2, the passage previously alluded to, while the disciple
calls attention to the stones and the buildings, it is the buildings only
(i.e., the iepov and the cloisters which crowned the cyclopean platform)
concerning which Jesus said they should be “thrown down "-a subtle
indication of His reasonableness and perception of probability.
CHAPT E R XXXV
THE TEMPLE AREA
AT seven o'clock the next morning (Saturday, April 13) we
made our way to the Harām esh-Sherif, the great platform
upon which the Temple once stood, and whose retaining
walls we had gazed upon the day before. We started thus
early because the Easter-eve celebrations of the Greek
Church were to take place that day, and already the streets
were becoming thronged : at a later hour, we were warned
the ways would be so crowded with pilgrims as to be almost
impassable. For an hour past, indeed, the pavement round
about the Jaffa Gate had been appropriated by petty
merchants selling their wares, coloured fabrics, oranges,
sweets, relics, glass bangles, endless frippery. The foot-
passengers were crowded off into the road among the
donkeys, mules, and camels, while the side-walk, wherever
one existed, was filled with costermongers, loungers, and
barbers.
By the by, speaking of barbers, one notices here a curious
illustration of a passage in one of St. Paul's Epistles. The
operation which for the most part the street barber seems
to be performing is that of shaving his customer's head with
a razor. As the warm weather approaches, every male, it
appears, has all his hair shaved off in this manner. And it
is to this custom that the Apostle alludes when he writes:
“If a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn : but if it is
a shame to a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be
veiled”: in other words, “if she means to be a man let her
be a man outright”—a truly Oriental view. Both customs,
the veiling of the women and the shaving of the men, are
practised to-day precisely as they were then.
But to return to our expedition : we took with us, besides
our own dragoman, a “kawass” or official attendant from
the British Consulate, and a soldier from the Turkish
barracks. It is unsafe, especially at feast-times (and the
ANGLE
HARAM Esh-SheriF. N.W.
º
FIG. 6d.--THI
"THE ROCIN
OF
FIG, 61. –THE DOMI


THE TEMPLE AREA 225
Moslem festival only ended yesterday), to visit the Harām
without being thus attended.
We entered by a gate in the north-west angle, and were
deeply impressed by a most unexpected experience. The
contrast between the sordid streets we had just left and the
grandeur of this sacred inclosure was such as almost took
our breath away. The Mohammedans have good right to
name this the “Noble Sanctuary.” In place of evil-smelling
filth, rough jostling, narrow roadways, decay, disorder, and
noise, you enter Suddenly upon spaciousness, cleanliness,
silence, nobility, beauty. A conviction seizes upon you that
this people has ideals, that its religion is alive ; the pity is
that those who can thus appreciate the spiritual value of quiet
and purity do not apply it to their civic life.
The quadrangle occupies about thirty-five acres, a sixth of
the whole area of the city. It is nearly a mile in circuit.
At the corner where we are standing there is a considerable
area of rock, bare except for patches of weedy growth
(Fig. 60); in other parts there is grass which would be
green but for the drought which has withered it; but a
great part of this vast area is paved with flagstones which
are kept neat and clean. Cypresses and Sycamores are
planted here and there, some of them being trees of con-
siderable age. Mastaba, or raised places for prayer, and
sebil, or fountains for religious ablution, are dotted about ;
the Mesjid el-Aksa, on the site of Omar's Mosque, occupies
the south-west corner ; and in the midst of all rises the noble
and graceful building known as the Kubbet es-Sakhra, or
Dome of the Rock.
And now, disregarding the numberless “sights” usually
shown to travellers, most of them things to which silly
fables are attached, let us confine ourselves to the one or
two matters of biblical interest which are contained within
the Sanctuary. To begin with, there is the rock upon which
we are standing. We have entered at the most northerly
gate of the west wall, and we are facing eastward. The
whole of the north-west corner is, as I have said, neither
paved nor turfed, it is the bare native rock. But the rock
has been lowered and artificially levelled. This is evident
from the fact that the barracks upon our left hand (successors
to the ancient Antonia) stand upon a rocky platform which
is scarped on the south. The base of the barracks gives
you the natural level of this part of the Harām, and the scarp
gives you the depth of rock which has been cut away. This
P
226 TENT AND TESTAMENT
lowering of the general surface has had the effect of isolating
the barracks on the north and the platform of the Dome
upon the south : formerly they must have been connected
by a continuous ridge.
When did that lowering and levelling take place 2 Well ;
we read in the First Book of Maccabees and in the Works
of Josephus, of a certain Akra or Citadel which stood
higher than the Temple, and which, when it fell into hostile
hands, was a serious menace. We also read that when
Simon Maccabaeus captured it from the Greeks, he levelled
the hill upon which it stood, so that the Temple might be
the higher, a work which occoupied three years. It has
always been a debated question where this Greek Akra
stood. Some have placed it at the west, across the Tyro-
paeon ; some to the south, on a hypothetical rock separated
from the Temple site by a doubtful hollow ; * but Professor
Robertson Smith places it on the north, and identifies it
with Antonia. I wonder, then, whether the suggestion is
worth considering that the Baris, or Akra, occupied a much
larger platform than Antonia ; that the Antonia rock, which
measures only fifty feet from north to south, is in fact a
mere remnant of the Akra rock ; that the latter approached
in the time of the Maccabees much nearer to the Temple
than this narrow Antonia strip which stands at a distance
of some 130 yards from the Temple site ; and that this
great rocky area, which adjoined and vied with the Temple
platform, is the rock which was cut away ? If so, this flat
surface of the native limestone, upon which our feet are at
this moment planted, is accounted for, and it presented
the same appearance in New Testament times as it does
to-dav.
†. alternative hypothesis is that the levelling of this
part of the Sanctuary took place at a later date, when the
Temple area was extended toward the north so as to bring
the Sacred Rock more nearly into the centre of the Sanc-
tuary. According to this view, the lowering of the north-
west corner took place at the same time as the filling up of
the north-east corner, whether by Hadrian, as some sup-
pose, or by Abd el-Melik, as is supposed by others.
* The strong point in favour of this view is the association of Akra
with the Fountain in Siloam, in Jos, “Bell. Jud.,”v. vi. 1; but the passage
by no means necessitates the view that the Akra was above the
fountain. It runs as follow : kareixe kai Tàu trmyńv, kai Tºv"Akpav–aúrm
ôé àv # kāra, tróAus, kai Tà piéxpt tºw ‘EXèvns BaoriNetov, ris toū Movo&#(ov
p.mtpós.
THE TEMPLE AREA 227
And, speaking of the north-east corner, we must not
leave our present standpoint at the north-west till we have
noticed the difference of level between the two. Notwith-
standing the obvious fact that the ground where we are
standing has been considerably lowered, it is still ten feet
higher than the corner which faces us. This is due, of
course, to the former existence of the side-valley whose
filling-up I have just alluded to. In Herod's day a combe
Or hollow cut diagonally across yonder angle, sloping
rapidly down to the Kidron ; and the later character of
the masonry at that part of the east wall proves that it was
not till long after Herod's day that a part of this hollow
was walled in and filled up so as to extend the general
surface of the Temple enclosure. If we wish, therefore,
to picture the ground-plan of the enclosure as it existed in
Christ's time, we must altogether exclude yonder north-
eastern part, and place the northern boundary just on the
hither (northern) side of that dais which supports and sur-
rounds the Dome of the Rock.” Antonia stood on our left
as we are now facing, just outside the existing north-west
corner. From that fortress to the inner court of the
Temple (the Temple standing, we are for the moment
assuming, where the Dome of the Rock rises now) there
ran a colonnade. Such is the reconstruction which we
must make upon the north ; but for the rest the limits were
the same then as now ; the south-west and south-east
angles remain as they were.
It is time, however, that we moved on and visited what
is to myself the most interesting of all the objects of
veneration—the Sakhra, or sacred rock, from which the
Moslems say that Mohammed took his night-journey to
heaven, but which actually marks, as I believe, a spot in-
timately connected with the Jewish Temple-worship.
The vast and beautiful building which covers the Sakhra,
known as the Dome of the Rock, stands upon a raised
platform of about five acres in extent and ten feet in
height, to which ascent is made by broad flights of steps
(Fig. 61). The platform is paved, but is itself doubtless a
solid mass of rock, and the Sacred Rock merely the highest
* Near the north side of the platform on which the Dome of the
Rock stands, a scarp of the rock has been found beneath the present
paved surface; the line of that scarp produced eastwards would cut the
eastern boundary wall just at the point where Herod’s masonry joins
the later masonry which runs northward from the Golden Gate.
228 TENT AND TESTAMENT
peak of the same. The Sakhra is a rough, irregular piece
of the native limestone, rising five feet about the general
surface of the pavement, and standing there in isolation
amid the marble and mosaics which surround it.
At the top of the three flights of steps which lead up to
the platform there stands a graceful arcade, which surrounds
and encloses the sacred ground upon which the great
Dome stands. Here we are stopped and told to remove or
cover our shoes. Slippers are accordingly tied over our
boots lest we should defile the sanctuary, and we pass
beneath the arch and pause for a minute to look at a beauti-
ful little building which stands before the entrance of the
greater building, and which is almost a replica in little of
the latter. This exquisite little oratory, known now as “The
Dome of David's Chain,” figures in the accounts which the
Moslem historians give of the erection of the greater Dome.
Their story is that Abd el-Melik, the ninth successor to
Mohammed, having lost possession of Mecca, conceived
the idea of making Jerusalem the principal place of
pilgrimage, and proceeded to build a dome over the Holy
Rock. For this purpose he set apart “a sum of money
equivalent in amount to the whole revenue of Egypt for
seven years. For the safe custody of this immense
treasure he built a small dome, the same which exists at the
present day to the east of the Cubbet es Sakhrah, and is
called Cubbet es Silsileh. This little dome he himself
designed, and personally gave the architect instructions as
to its minutest details. When finished, he was so pleased
with the general effect that he ordered the Cubbet es
Sakhrah itself to be built on precisely the same model.” "
Such, then, is the origin of the Dome of the Rock, and of
its little companion the Dome of David's Chain. That this
is the true account of the latter has been doubted ; yet there
seems nothing intrinsically improbable in it, and no rival
tradition disputes the claim. The former is often confused
with the Mosque of Omar ; but the two were distinct build-
ings: the Dome is in fact not a Mosque at all ; it is an
oratory—a sacred spot for private devotion, not a place of
public worship. The Mosque el-Aksa, to the south of the
Dome, which was built by Abd el-Melik, there can be little
doubt, occupies the same position as the Original Mosque
* Besant and Palmer, “Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin”
(1889), p. 87.
THE TEMPLE AREA 229
of Omar, which, according to an early pilgrim who saw it,
was a simple square building of timber.
We now proceed to enter the Dome itself. We could
not perhaps see the interior of this beautiful building to
greater advantage than we do at this moment, when the
early morning light is streaming through the upper windows
and lights up the gorgeous mosaics and marble pillars.
Round the base of the cupola runs an inscription recording
in Old Arabic letters that the oratory was erected in the
year 72 of the Hegira, that is in A.D. 687. It is said that
Originally the inscription gave the name of Abd el-Melik
as the builder (which is no doubt the truth), but that the
name of el-Mamūn, who did not live till more than a
century later, has been substituted.
There is a quaint story told by the Moslem historians of
a narrow escape which the Great Dome had about 200 years
after it was built. In A.D. 846 a great earthquake occurred,
and the guards who were watching on that fateful night
“were suddenly astonished to find the dome itself displaced,
So that they could see the stars and feel the rain splashing
upon their faces. Then they heard a low voice saying
gently, “Put it straight again,’ and gradually it settled down
into its original state.” "
It is not our business to describe the Mohammedan shrine,
wonderful as it is. Our immediate concern is with that for
the sake of which it was built—the Sakhra, which lies
within its walls. To some it seems childish and irrational
to feel interest in that which is associated with historical
events by mere locality or physical contact : it seems akin
to the passion of the Oriental for sacred trees and sacred
hills and the sacred ground which the body of a saint has
touched. Yet I confess that it was with deep emotion that
I approached this venerable rock. By no other relic in the
holy city had I been impressed and thrilled as I was by this
one. When I came to myself and found my mouth parched
with the absorbing interest of the moment, I began to get
an inkling of what the Prophet meant by his “night-journey
to heaven” when he knelt upon this rock.
This fascination was due to my firm conviction (and sub-
sequent study has not shaken it), that this was the actual
spot upon which stood the altar of burnt-offering in the
Temple of Solomon, in the Temple of Zerubabel, and in
the Temple of Herod. From the high point where the
* Besant and Palmer, “Jerusalem,” p. 104.
230 TENT AND TESTAMENT
natural rock, untouched by any tool, rose above the sur-
rounding courts, the Smoke of sacrifice ascended through
the long history of Israel's worship till the days of Jesus;
and it was upon this same spot that His eyes too were fixed
at the hour of sacrifice when He came up to His “Father's
House ’’ a lad of twelve, and when in after years He attended
the feasts with His friends or His disciples.
The controversy as to the site of the Temple is a long one,
and at one time was strangely bitter. The late Sir Charles
Wilson, a biblical scholar of very high repute, held to the
very last that the Temple stood in the south-west corner of
the Harām ; but, at the present time all Continental and
nearly all British scholars place it at or near the spot where
we are standing.” The entrance to the Holy Place was to
the west of the rock : the altar faced the Temple.
My first impression as I stood by the Sakhra was that
the altar must have stood at its western end, and the priest
when he went to offer sacrifice must have ascended the
gradual slope of the rock from east to west, in obedience to
the commandment : “Neither shalt thou go up by steps
unto Mine altar.” The shape of the rock favours this idea,
for while the ascent is gradual from east to west, the western
termination of the rock, which would face the Temple, is
abrupt. That cannot, however, have been the arrangement
in Herod's Temple, for, at that time, the altar occupied the
whole surface of the rock.t Moreover, the Mishna distinctly
states that the approach to the altar by which the priest
ascended was on the south side. May it not be that
in Solomon's Temple the ascent actually was from east to
west, and that the altar, which was much smaller than
Herod's, occupied the western end of the holy rock 2
When Herod's magnificence demanded a larger altar, he
adapted that to the form of the rock, not daring to touch the
latter with a tool, and built of unhewn stones the ascent on
the south side which the Mishna describes.
However this may be, it is clear that the altar upon
* Upon this point, see Appendix F.
f In the Temples of Solomon and of Zerubabel the base of the altar
measured only 20 cubits each way; but in Herod's Temple the Mishna
says that it measured 32 cubits (nearly 48 feet) each way. Josephus
(B.J. v. v. 6) says 50 cubits, but the statement of the Mishna may
perhaps be preferred. The length of the cubit is uncertain. In “Encycl.
Bibl.” the probable lengths of the longer and shorter cubits are given as
20.67 inches and 17.72 inches respectively. The present size of
the Sakhra is 58 feet by 44 feet.
THE TEMPLE AREA 23 I
which Jesus looked must have occupied the whole of the
rock. We must picture it as built up in stages to a height (so
Josephus says) of fifteen cubits, and approached from the
South by an acclivity constructed of unhewn stones, carefully
arranged so as not to form steps, but a gradual slope.”
Though we have no evidence upon the point, we may
assume, I suppose, that the Jews kept the rock in its rough
State in obedience to the same sentiment that forbade them
to build the altar itself of hewn stones, “for if thou lift up
thy tool upon it thou hast polluted it.” Unfortunately, the
rock is not now quite in its original condition, for the Cru-
saders did lift up their tool upon it : they covered it with
marble, and traces of the fastenings can still be seen upon
the Surface. The Moslems, however, leave it untouched
to-day, except that they keep it clean by covering it appar-
ently with some kind of lime-wash, just as the Jews used to
white-wash the unhewn stones of the altar.
We went down into the cave under the Sakhra, and we
saw the marks of the Archangel Gabriel's hands; for, when
Mohammed was caught up into heaven, the rock wished to
go too, but the Archangel held it down, and he left the
marks of his fingers where he clutched it. Then we left the
Dome, and as we did so, we were called by a group of four
or five turbaned men to stay and see the stone which
Covered Solomon's Tomb. Into the stone Mohammed had
driven nineteen nails, and one nail falls through into the
tomb at the end of each aeon till the world ends. There are
three and a half nails left, and it was incumbent upon us, so
it seemed, to lay bakhshish on these miraculous time-
measurers. We attempted to pass on without doing so, but
were pursued by the whole gang, and saved our lives at the
expense of sixpence.
We visited the Mosque el-Aksa, f which, as I have said,
occupies the site of the original Mosque of Omar, saw the
traditional footprint of Christ behind the pulpit, the old
armoury of the Knights Templars, and many other sights
legendary and historical; and then, descending to the vaults
beneath the Mosque we were led to one of the most inter-
esting of the relics belonging to New Testament times.
A flight of steps near the entrance to the Mosque brought
* “Encycl. Bibl.” and Smith's D.B. “Altar.”
f Called by native historians El Jámi el-Aksa: the Masjid el-Aksa is
properly applied to the whole of the Harām.—Besant and Palmer.
“Jerusalem” (1889), p. 92.
232 TENT AND TESTAMENT
us down to the upper end of a vaulted passage. This
passage ran beneath the centre of the Mosque, sloping
gently downwards towards the south wall of the Harām.
Walking along it for about 200 feet we arrived at the top of
eight steps, by which we descended into a porch or vesti-
bule about 40 feet square, at the further end of which is
the famous Double Gate. \
The Double Gate is now blocked up ; for the south wall
of the Harām, in which it is situated, is now one of the walls
of the city; but in Gospel times the city wall lay much
further south, at the foot of the Ophel ridge, and this gate
was one of the principal entrances from the town into the
Temple. At that time the sill of the gate lay at the level of
the ground outside the Temple wall, and a long tunnel
sloped up from it to the paved surface of the Temple area,
as may still be seen. It was this tunnel which gave to the
entrance the name of Huldah, or Weasel Gate.
What makes the gate and tunnel so deeply interesting is
that it was through them that the water procession from
Siloam entered the Temple of old ; so that at feast-times
Jesus must often have passed through the vestibule and up
yonder ramp. Much of the ancient masonry remains ; and
we feel here, what we can so seldom feel with any cer-
tainty, that we are looking on the very thing that His eyes
beheld.
Around the porch in which we stand are huge stones of
the mighty Herodian type with which we are familiar ; and
in the centre is a gigantic monolithic column. The capital
of this column, which is said to be “of the Greek, rather
than Roman Corinthian order,” is an indication to us of the
style of decoration in Herod's Temple. The acanthus
alternates with the water-leaf, “as in the Tower of the
Winds at Athens, and other Greek examples.” “ The floor
of the vestibule is spread with mats, for it is now used by
the Moslems as a place for prayer.
As to the Double Gate itself, it consists, as its name
indicates, of two arches. These are divided by a massive
rectangular pier built of large Herodian stones, and the
lintels are still in position. It is significant also that the
breadth of the whole gateway is precisely the same as that
of Barclay's Gate, one of the original entrances on the west
side. Thus, there is every indication of the gateway being
the veritable structure as it left Herod's hands. On the
* Smith, D.B. (1893), “Temple,” p. 1461.
THE TEMPLE AREA 233
outside, indeed, there is evidence of rebuilding. There we
find two highly ornamental arches dating from Julian's
time; * but these are loosely and roughly inserted into the
original structure of the gateway, and held in place by
metal clamps. They, as well as a topsy-turvy inscription,
dating from the second century, form no part of the
massive Huldah Gate of Jesus' time; but here, at the
interior, the Gateway, the Portico, and the “Weasel” tunnel
sloping up to the Temple area, are the very entrances
through which He passed when, as one of the worshippers,
He followed the procession of the priests at the Feast of
Tabernacles, carrying the fruit-laden bough in His hand.
Returning now to the Harām, we proceed to the south-
east corner. Here we descend by a flight of steps to the
“Cradle of Christ,” which, our guide informs us, is no
other than the cradle in which Jesus was laid when as an
infant He underwent the rite of circumcision. How it came
about that a niche belonging to a pagan statue, built hap-
hazard into the wall in a horizontal position was used for
this purpose, he did not say. Thence more steps led us
down to Solomon's Stables, vast vaults supported by no
fewer than eighty-eight columns. Solomon's Palace un-
doubtedly lay to the south of the Temple, and he is declared
in Scripture to have had forty thousand stalls of horses for
his chariots; moreover, the Knights Templars actually found
these underground avenues convenient as stables for their
Own Steeds, so those who like can put these facts together
and call the place Solomon's Stables. But a soberer view
recognises in them a reconstruction, probably belonging to
the age of Justinian, of those substructures which Herod
built to support his cloisters, when he extended the area of
the Temple Courts. Some remains indeed of Herod's
Original work, and a good deal of the original material, may
still be seen. Perhaps the most interesting historical
association of the place is that on that dread day when the
city was stormed by Rome, hundreds of poor panic-stricken
Jews crowded these hidden spaces for refuge from inevitable
death.
To the extreme west of these vaults, at a distance of one
hundred yards from the South-east angle, is situated an
ancient gateway known as “The Triple Gate.” Originally
it appears to have opened into a vestibule similar to that
* Smith, D. B., 2nd ed., “Jerusalem,” p. 1656. “Recent Discoveries,”
by Rev. J. King, pp. 73-77.
234 TENT AND TESTAMENT
which we saw at the Double Gate ; and like the Double
Gate it led up by an underground ramp to the Temple
Courts. It is blocked up now, but the form of the original
entrance is very clear.
The main interest of this gateway is that its situation
affects the question as to whereabouts in the Harām the
original Temple area lay. Josephus says that the Weasel
Gates were in the middle of the south wall. If, therefore,
the two arches of the Double Gate are to be identified with
the Weasel Gates, the school represented by the late Sir
Charles Wilson was right, and the south side of the old
Temple area did extend for about six hundred feet from the
south-west corner. But the discovery of this Triple Gate
upsets that conclusion, for this gate also had a tunnel
sloping upward to the light, and the Weasel Gates may
therefore have been the Double and Triple Gateways taken
together. Now, the Triple Gate is about the same distance
from the south-east corner as the Double Gate is from the
South-west, so the two together may be considered as “in
the middle" of the southern Harām wall, and the whole
Southern part of the Harām belonged in that case to Herod's
Temple. The one theory would oblige you to put the
Temple in the south-west part of the Harām, the other
would permit you to place it, in accordance with later
views, where the Dome of the Rock now stands.
Reascending now to the level of the Temple plateau, and
turning the corner, we proceed along the east wall. At
about two-thirds of its length as we go northwards we come
to the far-famed Golden Gate. This was probably the
northern limit of Herod's Temple. In New Testament
times a side valley cut diagonally across what is now the
north-east corner, and was not filled up until a later date;
so that this gateway must then have been near the north-
eastern extremity of the enclosure. It is significant that
just here the masonry of the external wall changes its
character; also, that the Golden Gate is almost exactly in a
line with the northern scarp of the platform upon which
the Dome of the Rock now stands.
As to the name “Golden,” it represents the Latin “aurea,”
which in its turn was a corruption of the Greek ºpata,
beautiful. The 00pa dopaia, or Beautiful Gate, was, in fact,
so named because it was supposed to be the Beautiful Gate.
of the Temple “where Peter healed the lame man’” (Acts
iii. 10). But Peter’s “Beautiful Gate” was certainly not in
THE TEMPLE AREA 235
the outer wall of the Temple, but in the inner sacred
enclosure, and it has utterly disappeared with the Temple
itself. We cannot, therefore, connect the Golden Gate with
that New Testament event. Can we connect it with any other?
Well, as to the existing gateway, that is generally admitted
to be Byzantine, and dates, it is believed, from the reign of
Justinian. But it was in all probability built upon the site
of an older gateway, the Gate Shushan of the Talmud,
which was the only gate on the east side of the city. If so,
it was at this point that Jesus entered the city riding upon
an ass on that first Palm Sunday, when “they that went
before and they that followed cried ‘Hosanna: Blessed is
He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’” The Moslems
believe that some day another conqueror will enter by the
same gate, and that he will wrest the city from the Moslems
and give it to the Christians. Therefore they keep this gate
walled up, so as to put off the decree of Fate to the last
possible moment, or possibly circumvent Fate altogether
From the Golden Gate we proceed to the north-east
corner, peer through a grating covered with bits of rag, the
offerings of pilgrims, and look down into the Birket Israin,
regarded by the Crusaders as the Pool of Bethesda, but now
a mighty dustbin, filled almost to the brim with all kinds of
city filth and ordure. So, back to the north-west corner
from which we started, and home through the crowded
streets an hour before noon.
I have said nothing about the great cisterns with which a
large part of the Harām is honeycombed. They are not
included in the sights shown to tourists, but are of great
importance in determining the boundaries of Herod's
Temple, as well as the levels of the rock upon which it was
built. They are of two kinds : large rock-cut cisterns roofed
by the natural rock left uncut ; and excavations in the rock
arched over with masonry. The former are ancient, the
latter comparatively modern. Those of the ancient kind
have been made by mining out the layer of soft limestone
and leaving over it the roof of hard limestone which overlies
the soft : they probably date from a time when the arch
had not come into common use. One of them, known as
the Great Sea, could contain three million gallons; and the
tanks all taken together would hold more than ten million
gallons.”
* “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 17 ; Hastings, D.B., “Jerusalem,”
p. 598.
236 TENT AND TESTAMENT
The significant facts about these tanks are that none of
the ancient sort are found north of the Dome of the Rock,
and that all the tanks in the North-east corner are roofed
with masonry; which accords with the theory as to the
northern boundary of Herod's Temple-plateau which has
been advocated above. On the other hand, the greater
number of the ancient tanks lie quite in the southern part
of the Harām, and this is claimed by the advocates of the
South-west-Temple theory as a circumstance in their favour.
It is not, however, very conclusive as an argument, since it
is agreed that Solomon's Palace, which would also need
tanks, occupied the south of the Harām ; also it is to be
remembered that three of the largest tanks are not to the
South, but close to the Dome of the Rock; and finally,
many if not all of the tanks are connected with each other
and form one system. This vast water-system was in
Herod’s day, and perhaps before, supplied by means of the
aqueducts which brought water from the southern springs
as mentioned in a prevous chapter.
CHAPTE R XXXVI
JERUSALEM-THE HOLY FIRE
AT noon that same day, Saturday, April 13, being the day
before the Greek Easter, we were taken under the protection
of officials from the British Consulate and marched with a
few other Britons to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
where the miraculous fire was expected to burst from the
Tomb at two oclock precisely.
The streets were now thronged with men and women of
many nationalities and religions; multitudes of pilgrims
from all parts of the world where the Greek Church is to be
found were pressing through the crowds of Jews and
Moslems, their streams converging on the great Cathedral,
where the annual miracle was to take place. The tall gentle-
men in velvet and braid, whom the Consul had sent, did
their best for us; their silver-tipped wands rang upon the
pavement, and their stern voices bade the mob fiercely to
make way for us; but we had finally to fight our way into
the church all the same. As we came near to it the narrow
avenues were so polished with the tramp of the thousands
that it was difficult to keep one's feet, and human dung
along the sideway reminded us that vast armies had en-
camped in these streets for four-and-twenty hours or
II]. OIC.
Once in the church, however, we found that the Consulate
had provided us with good seats in a gallery high up in the
rotunda, whence we could look down on the crushed,
seething mass of humanity below us. At first we could see
very little, for the church was very dark; what light there
was came through the open doorways and from the
windows in the central dome, if we except the dim red
flare of torches down yonder in the black depths. The air
was thick with smoke and dust and human Steam, and
through this fog a shaft of white sunlight struck across the
dome.
238 TENT AND TESTAMENT
As our eyes became accustomed to the gloom we began
to make out the amazing scene below us, a mob possessed
by a fury, a frenzy of religion. The crowd was of the most
motley description, Arab Christians with turbaned heads,
Armenians, Syrians, Copts in dark robes, Abyssinians in
white, and a large contingent of Russian pilgrims with
their long matted locks and thick woollen coats. For
these poor, filthy, pathetic Russian peasants the prayers
and hopes of a lifetime were to be fulfilled ; many of
them had slept in the precincts of the church all night ;
to fail to light their bundles of candles at the holy fire
would be despair, a loss to them in the next world as well
as in this. They looked dim down there in the shadows
and the thick air—these fighting, bruised, frantic masses;
and there floated up to us an indescribable and sickening
stench.
Around the gorgeous erection which contains the
Sepulchre a lane was kept open by Turkish troops with
rifles ; and from this circumambient lane avenues radiated
to the entrances, which were kept free by muscular giants
in Arab costume, who rushed up and down laying about
them with thick whips. We could hear the hiss of the
lashes as they cut among the living flesh. Screams and
shouts rose above the dull roar of the multitude, the women
trilled their strange shrill note, and the butts of the rifles
rattled on the pavement of the church.
At about two o'clock a religious procession appeared in
the central lane, which the soldiers guarded. It passed once
round the Tomb and then retired. After this followed a long
procession. Then another procession appeared—twelve
banners, followed by ecclesiastics in Strange, gorgeous,
barbaric apparel. Three times they walked slowly round
the central sanctuary, and then from their midst the
Patriarch stepped, cross in hand, and passed within the
Chapel of the Tomb, all the vast concourse shouting again
and again a sentence which I was told meant “God bless
the Patriarch 1” Then followed a time of suspense, the
crowd almost silent : one could feel the intensity of antici-
pation, the strained, eager, breathless waiting of the people.
Suddenly, the beating of brass, frenzy, fury, fighting ! The
fire has appeared, a flame has flashed through the fire-hole
in the side of the chapel; the runners have lighted their
torches from it and rushed furiously down the guarded
avenues. At the door a horseman waits to gallop with it to
JERUSALEM-THE HOLY FIRE 239
Bethlehem. Other messengers fly off with it to the Greeks,
Armenians, Copts in different quarters of the Eastern
world. (A priest told me that the Copts pay 2000 dollars for
the right to sell the holy fire in Egypt 1)
Meanwhile, inside the church the soldiers have been
overpowered ; their line is broken, and they gather together
in a compact knot surrounded by a frantic struggling mob
fighting for a share of the flame. Thousands of arms are
stretched out, thousands of candles are thrust towards every
kindled centre, and in two or three minutes the whole
church is one blaze of light. Far beyond the rotunda, in
the aisles which have hitherto been hidden in darkness,
vistas of many thousand lights are seen. High up the
church, in a gallery which surrounds the rotunda, native
women, dressed in white with streaks and spots of bright
colour, hold burning tapers in their hands, and trill out the
weird zaghārit in a frenzy of excitement. The smoke of the
torches and candles fills the dome, so that the sunbeam
which has been travelling round as the hours advanced
looks like a solid thing.
There can be no doubt as to the people's belief in the
efficacy of the fire. We could see them passing their hands
through the flame, wiping it on their heads, their faces, their
breasts. Meanwhile, on the roof of the gilded shrine priests
were at work lighting the candles and oil lamps with which
it was adorned. When they had finished their work all the
pilgrim-lights in the centre of the church were put out, and
then followed a series of processions representing the
various divisions of the Greek Church, each procession
being headed by its bishop, gorgeously arrayed, and all the
clergy carrying lighted candles. Round and round the
central shrine they circled till the eye was dazed and the
head sick. We wearied at length of this endless wheel of
superstition, and left the church.
The upper and middle classes of Jerusalem of course are
well aware how gross is the imposture which is thus annually
played upon the poor ignorant peasants of the Eastern
world. They know well that the Patriarch when he enters
the Holy Tomb carries with him a box of matches where-
with to kindle the “miraculous ” fire. The Patriarch himself
is uneasy over the part he plays : at least, in the year of
which I am writing he preached a sermon before the festival,
in which he explained that the fire was to be taken as a
symbol of the spiritual fire which breaks from the Tomb of
240 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the Redeemer; but the sermon was so obscurely worded
that the common people were not scandalised. Had they
been aware of the drift of the discourse, I was assured
that they would have torn the Patriarch to pieces, so
convinced are they of the miraculous nature of the
OCCUITICIn Ce.

CHAPT E R XXXVII
JERUSALEM-CONDER'S SEPULCHRE-AN ADVENTURE
AT THE VIRGIN’S WELL
IN the morning following upon our dream of the Holy
Fire—for as we look back upon it, it seems like a weird
vision more than a reality—we took our young Christian
dragoman with us and visited the tomb which Conder has
regarded as possibly the true Sepulchre of Christ. It is
situated about 200 yards from “Gordon's Calvary” (the
road runs between that knoll and Conder's tomb) and it is
cut in the east face of a rock-platform Scarped on all sides,
which is believed by many to have formed the foundation
for a tower. It is approached through a rough open recess
in the rock, from which a narrow passage on the right
leads to a tomb with a single loculus. Passing this entrance
and going straight forward you enter a rude, much broken
doorway cut in the rock and having a window four feet
quare on each side of it (Fig. 62). You descend two steps
nd find yourself in a chamber measuring six feet by nine.
he places for the bodies open out from this, on the right,
n the left and in front. In all three directions run very
arrow passages, in which it is just possible to stand, and
ach passage has a rock shelf or bench on the right, on the left,
and in front, every bench being broad enough for two bodies.
he whole inner tomb would thus hold eighteen bodies.
When the tomb was first excavated a slab was found in
t, with the words 6 cm 8tapépouc, “Private Sepulchre,” and a
ross. The slab would date from the fifth or sixth century
.D., and is Christian ; the tomb, however, it is confidently
sserted, is not of Christian origin, but belongs to “the
enturies immediately preceding the Christian era."
It may be noted, in connection with this tomb, that in
Shrist's time the Jewish cemetery then in use lay to the north
f the city, a circumstance which tells, of course, against
* P.E. F. Mem., “Jerusalem Vol.” p. 434.
Q
242 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the traditional Calvary and Sepulchre, and in favour of the
neighbourhood of this tomb which we have just visited.
When we had explored this interesting and tantalising
spot I left my companion to wander as he would, and went
off with our young dragoman Nassar to the Virgin's Well,
where I had been disappointed on a former occasion in my
hope to see the rising of the waters. I was determined
upon this occasion to be in time, and was on the spot at
ten o'clock, the rising of the water being expected at eleven.
Some women, we were told, were washing themselves in
the water for the cure of their diseases, and we could not
descend the steps to the well until they came up. Presently
they appeared, clad in their loose blue gowns and long white
veils, and we descended.
The long flight of thirty steps is divided into two. I left
Nassar on the landing at the foot of the first flight, and
descending the second flight alone, seated myself on a
camp-stool close to the hole by which the waters rise, which
is just large enough to admit the body of a man, and is about
eight or ten feet deep. For nearly an hour I sat there
“waiting for the moving of the waters,” but still no water
came. A number of women and girls from Siloam had by
this time gathered with their jars and water-skins. At the
bottom of the well was a little pool of water into which
driblet from the spring was flowing. The water ought t
have come before this, and the women were tired o
waiting, so a young girl let herself down the hole, takin
with her a tin mug. The skins were then let down to he
one by one, and she baled the water into them. She kep
this up for about half an hour, and then an old woman too
her place.
A crowd of thirty or forty women had by this time arrived
with their skins and pots: the steps were thronged with
them. They were all women of Siloam, a very rough set
strong, tall and well-knit, but of a coarse type, reminding
one strongly in voice and demeanour of our coster-girls a
home. They shouted and screamed at the top of thei
voices, laughing loudly or quarrelling loudly as the Cas
might be. A man of equally coarse type came down th
steps, pushing his way through them ; and, hustling me ver,
rudely as he passed, disappeared into the tunnel which, a
explained in a previous chapter, joins this spring with th
Pool of Siloam. He stank horribly, and was probabl
suffering from some skin-disease. We heard him presentl


CONDER'S SEPULCHRE 243
Splashing himself with the water of one of the pools which
form on the uneven floor of the tunnel. Presently he re-
appeared out of the darkness and ascended the steps, and
only the screaming crowd of women and girls was left.
Still the water did not come. The women began to get
insolent, pushing me and shaking their fingers in my face.
They were evidently angry with me; but as I did not know
their tongue I could not tell the cause of their anger, and
continued to sit upon my stool with my eye fixed upon the
opening from which the water was presently to flow. One
splendid creature, a girl of two or three and twenty, planted
herself with her back against the wall of the cave, and her
long straight limbs outstretched in such a way as to hide
the orifice of the well from my sight. There she leaned,
laughing in my face, every curve of her body revealed by
the loose flowing drapery of her dark blue gown, the
embodiment of health and energy. What her object was,
whether coquetry, or obstruction, or sheer impudence, I
could not tell ; but Nassar explained to me afterwards that
the women believed I was exercising the evil eye, and this
they thought was why the water did not rise at the usual
hour. They were angry, he said, that I kept my gaze fixed
so steadily upon the well, and this girl was trying to inter-
pose her body between the well and my blighting vision.
He also said that they threatened to beat us or push us into
the water, and that he had been forced to bribe them with
a promise of bakhshish if they would keep quiet till the water
Ca11162.
At length, at a quarter to twelve, the old woman down the
pit got tired and scrambled up, and a young girl went down
to do the baling. Scarcely had she vanished into the hole
when suddenly her head reappeared ; she came clambering
out in the utmost haste, Sounding the shrill “zaghārit,” and
all the women set up a great Scream. Silently, Swiftly, the
water rose in the well, rushing up the eight or ten feet in a
few seconds, and beginning to flow down the tunnel in
which I was standing. Ordinarily the water would have
risen high in the arch, almost filling the conduit in places
where the roof is low, but for a year or two the water had
not risen to its normal height, Some defect or fissure having
drained off the spring before it reached the dipping-hole.*
Very soon, however, it reached the top of my boots, and I
took refuge on the bottom step. It rose to this level also ;
* This has since been discovered and remedied ; see p. 212 atte.
244 TENT AND TESTAMENT
but beyond that it did not come. There was quite sufficient
water, however, for the stream to go rushing down
Hezekiah's Conduit on its way to the Pool of Siloam, and
One could well understand how, upon its reaching that
pool, a considerable troubling of the surface would take
lace.*
Well, I had seen the wonderful sight, and began to climb
the steps toward the sunlight and fresh air. Then came a
scene of confusion and uproar. Those to whom Nassar
had, all unknown to me, promised bakhshish began to
clamour for payment. The youth distributed what small
coins he had, but could not of course find nearly enough to
satisfy the crowd of girls and women by whom he was
being mobbed. They began to clutch hold of me and feel
my pockets, and I was in the awkward dilemma of having
to hit out, which in a crowd of women I could not bring
myself to do, or allow myself to be robbed. I did what I
could by rapping their mischievous knuckles with my
umbrella, and pushed my way as speedily as possible
through the angry throng. But the vigorous use of my
elbows left my side pockets unprotected, and very soon
sketch-book, note-book, Baedeker, letters, silk handkerchief,
and many other articles were in the hands of the enemy.
Some things I got back by force, others I bought back, but
the handkerchief of coloured silk was too highly prized to
be parted with, and that I never recovered.
Before we leave the subject of Siloam and St. Mary's
Well, I must mention one sight which interested me much.
While we were waiting at the well I inquired of the Siloam
women, through my interpreter, whether they knew of any
place in their village named Zahweleh. I suppose my pro-
nunciation was defective, for they answered in the negative.
But presently a bright girl exclaimed, “Zahweleh yes! the
place where the steps come down.” Afterwards, when we
had escaped from the furies and clambered up the slope
towards Jerusalem, we turned and looked across the narrow
ravine at the village of Silwān on the opposing steep
(Fig. 63); and then Nassar pointed out to me the steps cut
in the face of the rock, where a woman bearing a water-pot
was at that moment descending with Cautious tread.
“Zahwöleh,” said Nassar, “means slippery.”
This rock has been identified with “the Stone of
Zoheleth " mentioned in I Kings i. 9, and at first sight the
* See ante, chap. xxxiii.
CONDER'S SEPULCHRE 245
identification seems probable enough. But of course the
name alone is hardly sufficient to fix the place. At the
root of both names is a verb meaning “to creep” or
“crawl" : in Job xxxii. 6 it is used of one who walks with
faltering feet. It is quite possible, therefore, that the people
of Silwān may use the word of a rock with slippery steps,
while the ancient Hebrews may have used it of a stone
named after the creeping serpent. Zoheleth may mean
“Serpent,” and the stone of Zoheleth may mean the
Serpent-stone, and it may quite possibly have nothing to do
with the rock-cut steps of Siloam.
One reason for refusing to identify the Rock Zahweleh
with the Stone of Zoheleth is that “Eben,” the word here
used for stone, cannot properly be used of a rock, but
means always a movable stone ; and taking this into
account, the probability would certainly seem to be that
the Stone of Zoheleth or Serpent Stone was a rude pillar or
menhir standing beside the Serpent Spring—the Dragon's
Well, as St. Mary's Fount is often called to this day.”
Instead of supposing, therefore, that Adonijah's sacrifice
and coronation-festival was held at the rock Zahweleh
across the valley yonder, as some have imagined, I would
suggest that the true account of the matter is as follows:
The ancient spring en-Rogel, which largely determined the
site of the City of David, was held to be sacred, and was
known as the Serpent's Well. Beside it stood a sacred
stone, known as the Serpent Stone. In accordance with
widespread primitive custom, kings must be crowned by or
upon this stone.f Adonijah with his party comes down
there, is crowned, and returns to Jerusalem to feast. Then
comes the priest Zadok, bringing Solomon and the oppo-
sition party to the same spot in the valley of Gihon.
Solomon likewise is crowned by the stone and returns to
the city; the main part of Jerusalem follows him ; and
Adonijah flees.
* Compare Cheyne, “Encycl. Bibl.,” “Zoheleth.”
† Compare the Scottish Coronation-stone and the stone at Kingston-
on-Thames.
I See I Kings i. 45, “They are come [not “gone'] up from thence
rejoicing, so that the city rang again.”
CHAPTER xxxv III
A DRIVE TO BETHANY
BETHANY is an easy walk from Jerusalem, but our morning's
tramp had wearied us, so we hired a carriage and drove
thither in the afternoon, crossing the Kidron, passing the
slaughter-house with its everlasting wheel of vultures, and
ascended the slope of Olivet. You pass over the brow of
the mountain; and a short mile beyond, on the further or
Eastern slope, just before you come to the steep, almost
precipitous, descent towards Jericho, stands the little village
of Lazarus, as the Arabs call it. There is almost unanimous
consent as to the spot, although the old name has dis-
appeared. Certainly the situation suits the story, and the
tradition is unbroken from the fourth century. Schwartz,
however, finds Bethany in Beth-hanan, on the Mount of
Offence, above Siloam.*
From a little distance the village is beautiful. The houses
nestle among Oaks and Olives and almond-trees, and in
their midst a grey and ruined tower forms a most effective
feature. As to this tower, it is curious that no one has so
much as a guess to offer who built it, and why, and
when. The character of the masonry proclaims it as older
than Crusading times. Perhaps it is Roman, but late Roman
one would say. It is not likely that it stood there in
Christ's time.
Indeed, there is no sort of relic to connect the village
with Him for whose sake we have come here. You may
See the house of Mary and Martha, and the house of Simon
the Leper, and the tomb of Lazarus ; and we saw them :
we even took our lighted candles and descended the long
flight of steps into the so-called “tomb.” But these sites
have such a way of shifting themselves from time to time,
at the call of convenience, that faith refuses to spread her
wings, and we are left to crawl among the dust and filth
* Smith, D. B. (1893), p. 404.
A DRIVE TO BETHANY 247
of this very dirty little village, which, like many other
holy things and places, is beautiful only from a distance.
That, at least, would have to be our verdict, but for one
supreme bit of loveliness which Bethany has painted on
the memory—the glory of the blossoming pomegranates.
Returning, we left our carriage and walked over the
summit of the hill by the old mule-track. There are, as
pointed out by Dean Stanley, three possible routes by which
travellers from Jericho through Bethany can approach
Jerusalem : one towards the north between Olivet proper
and Scopus ; a second, the mule-track, over the summit;
and a third, to the south between Olivet and the Mount of
Offence. It is by the last that he supposes Christ's triumphal
procession to have travelled. That is, indeed, the natural
route to take, and the most usual one for caravans or pro-
cessions such as that which followed Jesus. My object in
following the old mule-track was to see whether it offered
an extensive view of the Holy City at any point antecedent
to its junction with the lower road. There is one point in
its course, I found, whence one sees the southern part of
the city, with a small part of the Harām ; but the Dome of
the Rock, where the Temple stood, is not in view. The glimpse
one gets does not, indeed, differ materially from the first
sight of the city obtained in travelling by the lower
road, as described by Dean Stanley. So that there is by
this route no spot which can compete with that at which
Stanley supposes the lament of Jesus to have been
uttered.
In short, supposing the Gospel account to be historical
in detail, the Dean's topography may, I think, be accepted.
“As he was now drawing nigh, even at the descent of the
Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began
to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the
mighty works which they had seen ; saying, Blessed is the
King that cometh in the name of the Lord.” That out-
burst takes place at the first sight of the city, the imperfect
partial sight which one gets just “at the descent of the
Mount,” by whichever route, the middle or the southern,
one is travelling. A few minutes further, just where the
old mule-track joins the lower road, the city is again hidden
from view. Ten minutes more and the road rises again,
the whole panorama of Jerusalem bursts upon the gaze, the
eastern and northern walls are seen to their full extent,
and in the midst of the picture rises the Dome of the Rock
248 TENT AND TESTAMENT
and the whole area of the Harām. This must, without
doubt, if the account is historical at all, have been the
spot where the great lament was made : “When He drew
nigh, He saw the city and wept over it, saying If thou hadst
known in this day, even thou, the things that belong unto
thy peace | But now they are hid from thine eyes.”
In spite, however, of this topographical fitness, one can-
not but doubt whether it was upon this occasion that Jesus
wept over the city. There is no hint of any such weeping
in the oldest Gospel, neither is there any trace of it in St.
Matthew. Luke alone gives it, and it is to be noted that he
gives us two such weepings. According to him the first
one took place in Galilee, when Jesus uttered the beauti-
ful lament, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” and the second took
place at the Entry into Jerusalem when He uttered the
words quoted above.f. But Matthew places the former
lament at the close of Christ's great invective uttered in the
Temple, later than His triumphal entry, and after the
chief priests and elders had openly rejected Him. § One is
fain to think that the two laments were one, and that
they were not made upon that day of rejoicing when the
multitudes had joined cause with the new Messiah, and
when there was yet hope that the Holy City itself might be
won for Him ; but rather, as St. Matthew records, after that
hope had been dashed to the ground, and the great men of
the city had declared their hostility.
It may nevertheless well have been at this turn in the
road from Bethany that “He saw the city and wept over it,”
perhaps upon one of those many walks from the house of
Mary and Martha to the Holy City, in those days when
death was hanging over Him, and when every night He
“went forth out of the city to Bethany, and lodged there.”
* Luke xiii. 34. # Luke xix. 42.
# Matt. xxiii. 37. § Matt. xxi. 23.
C H A P T E R XXXIX
A WALK THROUGH JERUSALEM
THE morning of our last clear day in the Holy Land
(Monday, April 14) we devoted to a walk through the
streets of Jerusalem. Our friend, Mr. Khadder, the Bishop's
curate, most courteous and helpful of men, took us under
his wing and showed us many sights illustrative of Scrip-
ture words which we should never have discovered for
ourselves.
The Easter excitement has partly subsided, but the streets
are still very crowded. Here is a group of donkeys
tethered by the city gate, there is a string of them trotting
along the narrow street, with the men behind them shout-
ing, “OO-wa,! Oo-wä l’’ A camel comes Swinging along,
filling the bazaar from side to side. On the kerb sit bread-
sellers, with loaves in their laps, a Jew of the Ashkenazim
passes, thin and bent, a round felt hat on his head, beneath
the brim of which hang the two long curls, one on either
side. Two men stand in lively converse, friendship beam-
ing from their eyes : they hold each other's hands all the
time they talk, just as some gushing old ladies do in
England. Here and there are women of the upper
classes wearing black veils, and wrapped in white man-
tles, which just reach to their high-topped opera-dancers'
boots.
As we passed a wide street near one of the gates, Mr.
Khadder pointed out a number of men standing, lying, or
squatting on the pavement ; they were waiting for employ-
ment—“Why stand ye here idle all day ? Because no man
hath hired us.” Here again were a number of Jewish
money-changers in their shops; just such people doing
their business in just such a way as when Christ cast the
money-changers out of the Temple.
We saw many artificers at work. In one place a tanner
250 TENT AND TESTAMENT
had laid his leather in the street, so that every one who came
that way might walk upon it; this was a primitive way of
hardening the leather. In another place a brass-worker
exposed his wares, among them brass-topped staves with
the name of Allah worked into the design ; these are the
magic wands of the dervishes. We saw the process of silk-
weaving by hand ; the warp is of hair, the woof of silk.
We went into the shop of “Alexander the copper-smith,”
and saw him pewtering a copper-pan. We saw a dyer with
his vats full of dyes; he ladled them out by means of
gourds, the stem of the gourd forming the handle of the
bowl. In another shop we saw quantities of woven goats-
hair, used for tent-making, which our friend told us had
been actually woven in Tarsus, where St. Paul worked at
the same handicraft.
In a corn-dealer's we saw a woman buying corn. The
method of purchase is for the buyer to pay So much for a
measure of corn and then to fill the measure herself. The
good woman whom we watched “shook it together ’’ and
“pressed it down” repeatedly, the process taking quite a
long time. Then she piled it up till it “ran over” the rim,
then patted the heap all round, and tried to pile on a little
more till it ran over again—“pressed down, shaken together,
and running over " : I suppose when the Gospel-spirit
prevails the seller will do this rather than the buyer. Mr.
Khadder asked the man who sold the corn, and who wore
the loose dress of the fellahin, how he would carry home
such a measure of corn if he were buying it, and he
promptly answered “in my bosom,” looping up his dress
to illustrate his words.
We next saw a potter using the old potter's-wheel of
Scripture. It consisted of two solid horizontal wheels, an
upper and a lower, connected by a perpendicular spindle.
The clay is put upon the upper wheel, which is whirled
round by placing the naked foot upon the lower and
larger wheel and giving repeated shoves; there is no
treadle. We entered a soap-factory, and saw soap being
made of olive-oil and lime. The oil is kept in skins,
through which it appeared to Sweat and ooze to a con-
siderable extent.
Our kind friend then took us to visit the house of a
Mohammedan tax-gatherer (a “publican ") in the Turkish
service. He was a man of the better class, in command
of soldiers whose duty it was to collect the taxes with or
A WALK THROUGH JERUSALEM 25I
without the whip.” He told us with pride that his family
had been in the service of the government for 150 years,
and that he was descended from one of the twelve com-
panions of the Prophet. Lemonade was served in glasses;
then more conversation, and then café à la Turc, very
strong and very sweet, in tiny cups. The guests wiped
their mouths on a long towel, which was handed round to
all the company. Of course we saw nothing of the women.
They prepared the coffee downstairs, and it was brought to
the “guest-chamber "upstairs by a boy.
We were next taken to a Christian house of the middle-
class. The family consisted of father, mother, and one son
Ibrahim, of fifteen. The father, a builder by trade, received
us, then the mother appeared in a silk dress and shook
hands all round. She was unveiled, but had a bright blue
gauze handkerchief over her head. The house consisted
of two rooms. The coffee was made downstairs ; the room
in which we were received was a large, airy, comfortable
apartment, containing at One end a great four-posted bed-
stead with enclosing curtains, and a smaller bed beside it,
presumably for the son Ibrahim. At the other end were a
broad comfortable couch and some chairs.
Here the hostess managed the hospitality, and of course
it was much better done than in the Moslem house where
the man managed matters. First we had lemonade
flavoured with orange-blossoms, which was very delicious.
Then each guest was provided with a long towel to serve
as a table-napkin, measuring about four feet by one, with
fringe at each end. If this is, as Mr. Khadder affirmed, the
traditional shape, it would explain Christ “girding Himself”
with a towel after supper. Next came Turkish coffee,
followed by a liqueur-glass of arak, tasting strongly of
aniseed. The anise, which with the mint and Cummin was
tithed in the old times, is commonly used in the East in the
manufacture of cordials. The arak was accompanied with
a pot of jelly and a teaspoon. It is correct to swallow the
liqueur at a gulp and take a spoonful of jelly immediately
after it. Each guest was then served with a small Sweet
cake shaped like a dumpling. If you do not wish to eat
this, the etiquette is to put it in your pocket, but you must
# The taxes are often ruinous. Fruit trees, for instance, are taxed
not according to what they bear, but according to what it is estimated
they ought to bear; consequently in bad fruit seasons whole villages
are sometimes deserted for fear of the soldiers' lash.
252 TENT AND TESTAMENT
on no account decline it. Finally a dish of freshly cut
roses was handed round, most deliciously scented, being
of the kind from which the attar is made ; each guest was
pressed to take two or three. Then we shook hands, carry-
ing with us a delightful impression of genial and smiling
hospitality, gentleness and refinement of demeanour, and
of the face of a Christian man not to be forgotten.
C H A P T E R XL
FAREWELL
EN ROUTE for Jaffa ; half-past seven in the morning at the
Jerusalem railway station ; the usual Oriental confusion ;
no sign of Organisation, no attempt at it. Nassar managed
to get us seats, but with luggage around us and atop of us ;
people and portmanteaus all wedged together in such a way
that the people could not move nor their luggage be moved.
The ticket-collector tried to enter the carriage, but gave it
up, and we departed with tickets unclipped. Pilgrims were
piled upon each other in stacks, regardless of the class to
which the carriage professed to belong. Once a fierce fight
Occurred, but not much damage was done by reason of the
fact that the fighters were too much hampered by their
surroundings. Four hours of this and we were set upon
the quay waiting for our steamer.
On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 16, we took our seats
in the rowing-boat, and, to the sing-song of the Arab boat-
men, were shot through the narrow slit in the reef and rowed
toward our steamer, which lay outside. The smiling face
and waving hand of Nassar vanished into the distance, and
a gentle melancholy stole over me to think of the kind
countenances that I should never see again, the suffering
peasants who would continue to suffer, the sacred spots so
sadly desecrated, the great Divine life of the Master so
hidden in the twilight of the past that all our labours and
fatigues could help us but a very little to realise it as it
was really lived. And then, as we pulled out to sea, and
the boat leaped the wave, and the breeze blew fresh about
our temples, there sprang up within us happiness and down-
right glee to feel that our faces were once more set toward
a land which, with all its faults (and they are many), is
nevertheless a holier land than that which we had left
behind.
A P P E N D I C E S
A. THE NAZARET H Q UESTION
(See p. 45.)
CANON CHEYNE, in the article “Nazareth,” in the Encyclopædia Biblica,
puts forth the startling surmise that there may have been no “city
called Nazareth '' existing in the time of Jesus; and that at any rate
the name Nazareth was originally attached to a large district, in fact
to the whole province of Galilee.
No such town as Nazareth, he tells us, is mentioned in the Old
Testament, in Josephus, or in the Talmud ; and there are two
New Testament passages which may well suggest a doubt whether
Nazareth was at that time the name of a town at all.
One of these is Matt. ii, 23 : “And He came and dwelt in a city
called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.’” The term “city” we
are to disregard, for the theory goes behind the existing text of the
Gospels. The question is, to what prophecy is reference here made P
It cannot, says Dr. Cheyne, be held with any probability to refer, as
a current interpretation would have it do, to the “neser” or
“branch " of Isaiah xi. 1, but is rather to be taken as an allusion to
Isaiah ix. 1, “In the former time he brought into contempt the
land of Zebulon and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter times
hath he made it glorious, by the way of the Sea, beyond Jordan,
Galilee of the nations.” But if the allusion is to that prophecy,
and if that prophecy, as seems likely, was taken by the early
Christians to predict the whole Galilean ministry of Jesus, then
“Nazarene’’ must be taken to mean Galilean, and “Nazareth '' to
mean Galilee in general.
The other passage upon which our critics rely is John i. 45," Can
there any good thing come out of Nazareth P” There is, it seems,
some ground for supposing that the ri dyadév should be 6 áytos, and
that the true reading is, therefore, “Can the Holy One proceed from
Nazareth?” Comparing this with John vii. 41, “Doth the Christ
256 TENT AND TESTAMENT
come out of Galilee P”—it is inferred once more that Nazareth is
synonymous with Galilee; an inference which is considered to be
supported by a comparison with the following passages: Matthew
xxvi. 69, “Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean ’’; Matthew xxvii.
71, “This man also was with Jesus the Nazarene.”
If, now, we grant that Nazareth is equivalent to Galilee, an
obscure phrase which occurs in the Talmud is said to be explained.
The phrase in question may be read “Bethlehem nóseriyyah,”
Bethlehem near Nazareth, or, in the district of Nazareth, which our
author takes to be identical with “the Galilean Bethlehem,” just as
the southern Bethlehem was called Bethlehem of Judah.
We now (so he observes) begin to see why Nazareth was called
the “fatherland” (Tarpis) of Jesus. It was called so, not because Jesus
was born or brought up in a town called Nazareth, but because
He was a native of the district Nazareth (i.e., Galilee). His real
birthplace was probably Bethlehem of Galilee, which would account
for some of the discrepancies in the birth narratives, and for the
apparently discordant traditions—on the one side that He was born
at Nazareth, and on the other that He was born at Bethlehem.
Cheyne's argument depends largely upon the cumulative effect of
various slight indications, and upon that readers must judge for
themselves by reading the full article in the Encyclopædia ; but, upon
the salient points which I have set forth above I would venture,
though with some diffidence, to make the following suggestions:
As to the argumentum e Silentio, it is always a dangerous argument,
and there is really no reason why Nazareth, especially if it was a
small place, should necessarily be mentioned in Hebrew or Jewish
literature; while the Scriptural and Talmudic passages, though they
may possibly admit (in their conjectural primitive forms) of the
equation Nazareth = Galilee, admit equally well, one would say, even
in their conjectural forms, of the supposition that Nazareth was a
town with a village Bethlehem near to it. Bethlehem, as a matter
of fact, is only seven miles from the existing town of Nazareth, lying
at the foot of the hills upon which Nazareth stands.
As to the assertion that Nazareth is spoken of as the “father-
land ” of Jesus, there are but eight verses in the New Testament in
which His Tarpis is spoken of, and every one of these eight refers to
the self-same event, while none of them necessarily implies that
Nazareth (i.e., Galilee) was the Tarpis spoken"of. Matthew's state-
ment (and the others are similar) is this: “And coming into His
own country (Tarpts) He taught them in their synagogue.” But
such a statement, so far from going to prove that Galilee is the
“country” spoken of, tells rather the other way, otherwise Galilee
* Matt. xiii. 54.
APPENDIX B 257
might be supposed to contain only one synagogue. The passage is
much more consistent with the idea that the “country” in
question means simply the district, undefined but not extensive,
round about His native town. It is, in fact, just such an expression
as might be used if Jesus had been born at Bethlehem of Galilee
and had gone to preach at Nazareth—to preach, that is to say, not
in His own town but in a town in His own district.
Against the negative surmise, there is, moreover, one positive
though not, perhaps, conclusive fact to be set—namely, the exist-
ence of ancient rock-cut tombs up the hill toward the west of the
modern town. This fact is passed over by the writer of the article
with a “notwithstanding,” but it is, I cannot but think, significant.
These old remains are a sure sign that a town or village of some
sort stood here in very early times. What, then, was the name of
that town or village P. We know from innumerable instances that
for thousands of years the names of places in Palestine will cling to
the old sites; yet for this site there is no name known but that of
en-Nāsira—a name which has belonged to it, at any rate, from the
fourth century, for Eusebius mentions it. And this, taken with the
fact that at an earlier date still, when the Gospels of Matthew
and Luke took their present form, there was believed to have
existed in Galilee a tróAts Aeyop,évm Načapér, surely forms rather
strong presumptive evidence that this is no other than the Nazareth
which is eleven times mentioned in the Gospels and four times
called a “city.”
B. THE BET HLE HEM QUESTION
(See p. 46.)
IN the following note an attempt is made to balance the probabilities
as to the true birthplace of Jesus; whether Bethlehem of Judah,
Bethlehem of Zebulon, or Nazareth is to be so regarded. It may
help to a clear understanding if the line of argument is previously
indicated. This may be done as follows:
I. The details of Luke's birth-story may probably be disregarded,
but we have nevertheless to reckon with a tradition, which evidently
did exist before his time, that Jesus was born at Bethlehem of Judaea.
II. How did this tradition arise? Was the Rabbinic teaching
that Christ should come from Bethlehem-Judah so prominent as to
make it likely that an overwhelming popular demand for its fulfil-
ment led to the creation of the story? No; but the Rabbinic teach-
R
258 TENT AND TESTAMENT
ing on the point was sufficiently definite to incline the scale towards
Bethlehem, if in any way apart from sheer invention, a Bethlehem
story could have arisen alongside the Nazareth story.
III. There is some evidence that a double tradition Bethlehem-
Nazareth did actually exist, and an explanation of the way in
which it may have sprung up is suggested. Although Jesus was
called “Jesus of Nazareth’’ He may have been born at Bethlehem of
Zebulon, which was known as Bethlehem-Nazareth.*
Lastly, a consideration is added, which may, perhaps, notwith-
standing this possibility, incline the scale to the view that Jesus
was actually born in Nazareth, and that the Bethlehem which was
reputed to be His birthplace was, in fact, the Bethlehem near
Jerusalem.
I. The Gospel of Mark, which, taking the Gospels in their present
form, is probably the earliest of the four, tells us nothing whatever
about the birth of Jesus. He first appears upon the scene at the
Baptism of John, and what we read is simply that He “came from
Nazareth of Galilee.” As to Bethlehem, it is never so much as
mentioned in Mark’s Gospel. How, then, did Luke, who stands
next in order of time, come to believe that Bethlehem was the
birthplace? He did not derive the idea from Matthew, for the
narrative parts of Matthew’s Gospel are later than Luke, and there
is nothing in Matthew's Logia to lead to such a belief. We can
only infer that already, in A.D. 85 or thereabouts, there were some
Sources of which we do not know—some of those “many narra-
tives '' to which Luke himself alludes—which stated that Jesus was
born at Bethlehem.
Now, Luke essays to tell us how it came about that Jesus was
born there. He has a story of Quirinius, governor of Syria, enrol-
ling the people by decree of Augustus Caesar, and explains that
because this was done by tribes and families Joseph and Mary went
to Bethlehem, the city of David, Joseph being of that house and
family, and so it chanced that Mary was delivered of the Child
while they were in that town. Did this story, then, form part of
the original record or records which Luke consulted, or was it
merely an historical setting which he himself supplied ?
To this question it is answered on one side that there is every
appearance of the story being a belated and unfortunate attempt of
Luke's to harmonise the fact that Jesus was always known as “the
Nazarene,” with the tradition, which the Evangelist found else-
where, that He was born at Bethlehem. The erroneousness of the
* The theory that Jesus was born at the northern Bethlehem I first met with in the
pages of Prof. Edward Stapfer, of Paris (“Le Palestine au Temps de Jésus-Christ,”
6me éd. p. 44 fr.) Neubauer is said to have previously hinted at it, and it was adopted
by Grätz.
APPENDIX B 259
history, as given by St. Luke, is said to be shown by the following
considerations:
I. It was legally impossible that any enrolment of the whole
empire should be taken in Judaea and Galilee in the reign of
Herod.
2. Quirinius (or Cyrenius) was never governor of Syria before
Herod's death.
3. Even if the census in Judaea, taken under Quirinius in 6–7
A.D., is the one Luke has in mind, and even if it be granted that this
may have been part of a census of all imperial provinces, yet could
it not in any case have applied to Galileans.
4. It neither would nor could have been taken at the ancestral
home of the subject, but at the actually existing home.
5. Mary would not have had to go, even if Joseph went.
To these objections answers more or less hypothetical are given
as follows: It is true that Herod was an ally and not a subject,
and that legally speaking an imperial decree, that an enrolment
should be made, would not apply in the reign of Herod to Judaea
and Galilee ; yet it may have been politic for him to comply with a
request for such a census, and we know, as a matter of fact, that
it was particularly to his interest at the time in question to con-
ciliate the imperial power. It is true, again, that the well-known
enrolment under Quirinius did not take place until 6–7 A.D., and
that Josephus speaks of this as being a new and unheard-of thing
among the Jews; nevertheless, Luke says so emphatically, “This
was the first enrolment made when Quirinius was governor of
Syria,” that he probably does refer to some previous enrolment of
which we do not know. Once more, it is true that Quirinius was,
strictly speaking, only once governor of Syria, but there are reasons
for thinking that he commanded the armies and directed the foreign
policy of Syria in B.C. 6, when Varus was governor of the internal
affairs, and this may be the fiyepidvua of which Luke speaks, using it
merely as a point to date from, not as implying that the census was
carried out by Quirinius. So that if Jesus was born not, as is
popularly supposed, in B.C. 4, but in B.C. 6, this would justify the
historical statement with which Luke's Gospel opens.”
As to the objection that even if the census made in Judaea in
A.D. 6–7 is meant, it could not have applied to Galileans, and the
further objection that if it had applied to Galileans it would have
been taken at the existing, not at the ancestral homes, both these
difficulties are met by the supposition that Herod, in endeavouring
to satisfy the imperial decree without offending the Jews, may have
carried out the enrolment by tribes, thus obscuring the civil and
* “Was Christ born in Bethlehem 7” By W. M. Ramsay. Second edition, p. 244.
26o TENT AND TESTAMENT
imperial meaning under a national and religious veil; while the
argument that Mary would not have had to go to Bethlehem even
if Joseph went, is met by the answer that Mary, notwithstanding
her condition at the time, may have preferred to go rather than
stay at home without Joseph’s protection.
So far, the answers are of a very conjectural character, and
although a conjecture here or there might be permitted, a whole
series of conjectures makes but a weak chain on which to hang an
historical statement. So that the presumption, it must be con-
fessed, is rather strong that Luke had in mind, but miscalculated
the date of, the great enrolment under Quirinius in A.D. 6–7, of
which we know from another passage (Acts v. 37) that he was
aware. And when he speaks of it as the “first enrolment,” he
says, in fact, nothing else than Josephus himself has said (“Ant.”
xviii. i. 1) when writing about this same well-known census. The
presumption, moreover, is strengthened by the fact that in other
parts of his writings Luke has fallen into chronological errors.”
There is, however, another line of argument which must be
taken into account before we leave this part of our subject. It is
surmised that the enrolment of which Luke speaks was not an
imperial census at all, but a local enrolment and numbering of the
population, one of many held in various parts of the empire. It is
true that Luke speaks of it as “a decree from Caesar Augustus that
all the world should be enrolled ”; but it is noticeable that he uses
the present tense (āroypápeoffat), which would seem to indicate that
what Augustus ordered was a systematic series of enrolments; if
he had intended a single enrolment he would have used the aorist.
Now, comparatively recent discoveries have shown that periodical
enrolments by households were actually made in Egypt under the
Roman empire, the period being one of fourteen years; and if it
can be shown that such enrolments were also extended to other
parts of the empire, and that one of the dates for enrolment fell at
the time of Jesus' birth, Luke's statement is justified.
But there are indications that such enrolments were made in other
parts of the empire, and there is positive evidence that in Syria, in
particular, the first, the second, and the fourth of a series of enrol-
ments beginning in B.C. 8, and repeated every fourteenth year were
observed. So that the case for St. Luke (so it is argued), if it is
not completely made out, is at any rate shown to have great
probability. *
With reference to this argument it must be remarked, that even if
the rather obscure evidence be held to support the propositions which
the proof requires, the year of the supposed Syrian enrolſhent is
* “Encycl. Bibl.” “Chronology,” col. 808, fin, 2. f Ramsay, op. cit, p. 167.
APPENDIX B 26I
neither that which is popularly accepted as the year of Jesus’ birth
nor that which Dr. Ramsay, the ardent exponent of the theory,
favours. If Jesus was born in B.C. 4, Luke, who on the former
hypothesis was ten years too late, is by the present hypothesis four
years too early. If, as Dr. Ramsay holds, Jesus was born in B.C. 6,
there is, even then, an error of two years; a difficulty which the
learned apologist evades by supposing that Herod's kingdom was in
such a condition at the time when the enrolment was due that it had
to be put off till two years later.
On the whole, while this new line of argument may possibly reduce
the magnitude of Luke's error, there is still, as it seems to the present
writer, too much adjustment and too little coincidence to outweigh
the probability that the Evangelist was merely supplying an historical
setting to the Bethlehem tradition which he had found in some of
the “narratives” which he had consulted.
II. But now, how did that Bethlehem tradition arise? The first
and most obvious suggestion is, that although Jesus was really born
in Nazareth, the expectation that the Messiah would be born in
Bethlehem was so general and so strongly rooted that the facts of
His birth were perverted in order to meet the expectation. Matthew
is believed to be voicing the popular belief when he represents the
chief priests and scribes as quoting the prophet Micah to prove that
Christ must be born in Bethlehem of Judah.
What weight shall we give to that view P Was the tradition of the
synagogue so strong that even deliberate perversion of the facts in
order to meet the popular demand is credible? Would the early
Christians themselves find it hard to believe that Jesus was the Christ
unless they also believed that He was born in Bethlehem P
Now, even the reader ignorant of Rabbinic Hebrew may to some
extent test this question for himself. Dr. Edersheim has given, in an
Appendix to his “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,” a list of
Old Testament passages Messianically applied in ancient Rabbinic
writings; and in the American journal “Hebraica.”* there is a
similar list by Dr. Pick, in which a full translation of the Rabbinic
texts is printed.
Of these Rabbinic passages, which number more than five hun-
dred, only four have any bearing on the present inquiry. One of
the four, commenting on Isaiah xli. 25, speaks of “Messiah who is
in the North coming to build the Sanctuary which is in the
South,” but has no distinct reference to Messiah’s birthplace. The
other three distinctly say that Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem-
* Vols. ii.-iv., 1885–1887. &
f Jerus. Berachoth, fol. 5, col. 1. (on Ps, xviii. 50) : Midrash on Lam. i. 16; Targum
on Micah v. 2.; and Midrash on Num, vii. I2, where Isa. xli. 25 is Messianically applied.
262 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Judah or Bethlehem-Ephratah, but two of the three are identical, the
one being merely a quotation of the other. There are thus practi-
cally only two traditional passages for us to consider, and it ma
perhaps interest the reader if they are given here in full. -
The first is the Targum on Micah v. 2 : “But thou, Bethlehem-
Ephratah, thou hast been little to be counted among the thousands
of the house of Judah, yet out of thee shall come forth before me
Messiah, to exercise dominion over Israel, whose name is spoken of
from of old, from the days of eternity.” This is of course the
ancient traditional comment upon which the Evangelist Matthew
relied.
The other is a very curious story, and raises questions. As given
in the Jerusalem Berachoth, it runs as follows: “A certain Jew was
engaged in ploughing. His ox bellowed. An Arab passing, and
hearing the ox bellow, said, ‘Son of a Jew, son of a Jew, loose thy
oxen, and loose thy ploughs, for the temple is laid waste.” The ox
bellowed a second time. The Arab said to him, ‘Yoke thine oxen,
and fit thy ploughs, for King Messiah has just been born.” The Jew
said, ‘What is his name?’ ‘Menachem' (i.e., comforter). He asked
further, “What is the name of his father?’ ‘Hezekiah,” replied the
other. “Whence is he?' asked the Jew. “From the royal palace of
Bethlehem-Judah,” replied the Arab. At this the Jew sold his oxen
and his ploughs, and became a seller of infants' swaddling-clothes.
And he went about from town to town till he reached Bethlehem.
All women bought of him, but the mother of Menachem bought
nothing. When the other women said to her, ‘Mother of Menachem,
mother of Menachem come and buy something for thy son,’ she
replied, ‘I would rather strangle the enemy of Israel, for on that
same day on which my son was born the temple was destroyed.’ They
replied, “We hope that as the temple was destroyed for his sake, it
will also be rebuilt for his sake.” The mother said, ‘I have no
money.” The Jew replied, ‘What matters it? Buy bargains for
him, and if you have no money to-day, after some days I will come
back and receive it.” When he came back and inquired of the mother
after the welfare of the child, she replied, ‘After the time you saw me
last, winds and tempests came and snatched him away from me.’”
One would like to know the date of this story with its allusions
to the mother in Bethlehem buying swaddling-clothes, and the de-
struction and rebuilding of the temple; for it has to be borne in
mind that the Jerusalem Talmud was not completed until about the
middle of the fourth century A.D.
In any case it is plain from the foregoing that there was (at any
rate in the Targum quoted) a distinct Rabbinic teaching that the
Messiah would be born in Bethlehem of Judaea; but at the same
APPENDIX B 263
time it is equally plain that there was no great body of teaching to
that effect. We do not find in these five hundred Rabbinic texts
that the reference to Messiah’s birthplace is repeated again and again,
as we find, for instance, that the prediction that He will come riding
upon an ass is repeated. It is clear that the latter belief was popular
and widespread ; it is not clear that the former was so.
No doubt the fact is to be taken into account that in these Tal-
mudic passages the title Son of David is continually repeated, and
was generally and popularly accepted; and perhaps this may have
carried with it a popular inference that He would come from David’s
city. But there is no direct evidence to that effect. And on the
whole the probability seems to be that, while there was no such
general and popular expectation that the Messiah would be born in
Bethlehem, as would form an overwhelming demand for the precise
fulfilment of the prophecy, there was nevertheless such definite Rab-
binic teaching on the point as would lead the first Christians to
welcome any apparent evidence that such an expectation had been
fulfilled.
III. It remains to show that such apparent evidence did possibly
exist in early Christian times, in the form of a double tradition, one
pointing to Nazareth and the other to Bethlehem; and that there is
a very probable explanation of the way in which it sprung up.
If we take the Gospel of Matthew and read it by itself, banishing
from our minds Luke's theory about the birthplace, we shall find
that the assumption is that the parents of Jesus had their home in
Bethlehem of Judaea, and that Jesus was born there in consequence
of that being their usual domicile. There is no preliminary ex-
planation to the opening statement “When Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the King,” such as Luke
in his Gospel supplies. Joseph and Mary did not need to be
brought to Bethlehem; the story starts there. The flight into Egypt
follows, and when the time comes for the Holy Family to return,
their first thought is to go back to Judaea from which they started.
Why so, if their home was in Nazareth, and if the visit to Bethlehem
had been a brief and casual occurrence brought about by a political
duty P In that case their natural intention would be to go home to
Nazareth. But this does not enter Matthew's mind. He represents
them as intending in the ordinary course of things to go back to
their Judaean home, and he has to use a device to get them to
Nazareth, where the Nazareth-tradition demands that Jesus should
be—the story, namely, of the dream warning Joseph to “withdraw
into the parts of Galilee’’; and so it happened that “he came and
dwelt in a city called Nazareth.”
Note the phraseology. He did not go home, he “withdrew.”
264 TENT AND TESTAMENT
He did not return to the familiar haunts, he proceeded to these
outlying “parts of Galilee.” He did not arrive at the well-known
town, he “came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth.”
If we now take the Gospel of Luke and read the first two chapters
without allowing our minds to be influenced by Matthew's Gospel,
we shall find that all this is reversed. The story of Jesus opens
with the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, the betrothed of Joseph,
in their home at Nazareth ; and Luke's device, contrary to that of
Matthew, is used to get Jesus to Bethlehem, where He has to be
born to satisfy the Bethlehem-tradition. This he does by means of
the enrolment-story of which we have spoken above; when “Joseph
went up to Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, to the
city of David.”
Thus we see that Matthew starts with the Bethlehem-tradition
and endeavours to account for the Nazareth-tradition, while Luke
starts with the Nazareth-tradition and endeavours to account for the
Bethlehem-tradition.
Suppose now, that the Talmudic phrase referred to on page 46,
ante, “Bethlehem nóseriyyah,” indicates the name by which the
northern Bethlehem was known, and suppose that in the earliest
form of the Evangelical-tradition this Bethlehem-Nazareth is the
place where Jesus was said to have been born, we can easily see how
the twofold tradition would arise. Bethlehem-Nazareth was a
little-known place, and some of those who handed on the tradition
would say that Jesus was born at Bethlehem, while others
would say that He was born at Nazareth. Bethlehem without the
suffix would naturally be supposed to mean the well-known Bethle-
hem near Jerusalem. Thus, even if the Rabbinic doctrine that
Jesus was to be born at Bethlehem-Judah was not popular or wide-
spread, the tradition might nevertheless gain footing, and those who
knew of the doctrine would appeal to it both as confirming their
tradition about the birthplace and as fulfilling Scripture.”
This theory appears to me to gain some confirmation from the
fact that another such transference from the northern to the southern
Bethlehem has almost certainly taken place in the case of the Judge
Ibzan. “Ibzan of Bethlehem,” says the Book of Judges (xii. 8),
“judged Israel,” or, as suggested in the margin of the Authorised
Version, “ North-east Israel,” and the same Ibzan “was buried in
Bethlehem.” Josephus and Jewish tradition assign this Ibzan to
Bethlehem-Judah, but most scholars take the Bethlehem spoken of
to be Bethlehem of Zebulon.f
And now, finally, there is one consideration which may, perhaps,
* Cf. “Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Nazareth.”
f “Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Bethlehem,” No. 2.
APPENDIX C 265
be taken to nullify the previous argument so far as the birth at the
northern Bethlehem is concerned. Besides the most ancient Rab-
binic writings referred to above, it has to be remembered that there
are also passages of a later date, in which it is said that the Messiah
was to be born in Bethlehem, or in Beth-Arabah, near Bethlehem.
Now, although these passages are all much later than the Christian
era, they may nevertheless point to a pre-Christian condition, for,
written though they were with full knowledge on the part of the
Jews of the story of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, they would not be
derived from that knowledge: the Jewish bias would be in the
opposite direction. Jewish teachers would hardly have said that
Messiah was to be born there, unless they had an older, independent
tradition to that effect.*
This consideration may be taken to strengthen the probability of
a popular pre-Christian belief in Bethlehem-Ephratah as the birth-
place of Messiah; and the truth of the matter may, therefore, after
all, be that Jesus was born in Nazareth, and that it was this popular
belief which led to His birth being nevertheless assigned to the city
of David.
C. THE BETH SAIDA QUESTION
(See chap. xiii.)
THE Bethsaida question involves three separate inquiries. First,
Was there one Bethsaida, or were there two P Second, If there was
only one principal place of that name, had it, nevertheless, a suburb
or dependent village of the same name attached to it? Third,
Where was the Bethshida, or where were the Bethsaidas, of the
Gospels situated?
There are two considerations which point to the existence of a
second Bethsaida. The first consideration is that while Luke says
(or, rather, implies) that the feeding of the five thousand took place
in a desert place at or near Bethsaida, Mark says that after the
feeding Jesus constrained His disciples to go unto the other side of
the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida ; so that if both accounts are accepted,
there must have been two Bethsaidas situated on opposite sides of
the lake. The second consideration is that, according to the Gospel
of Mark, the disciples are sent on before Jesus to Bethsaida, and
yet they land in the Plain of Gennesaret ; so that it looks as if there
* I am indebted for this suggestion to Mr. I. Abrahams, of Christ's College,
Cambridge.
66, TENT AND TESTAMENT
were a Bethsaida in the Plain of Gennesaret on the western shore,
as well as the “Bethsaida Julias” mentioned in Josephus, which is
known to have been situated at the north end of the lake.
Now, in examining a question of geographical fact like this, the
first thing naturally is to ask what the character of the documents may
be upon which we are called to base a judgment. And we must
confess that the incidents which occur at this part of Mark's
Gospel are particularly legendary in appearance. Are we, in fact,
dealing here with history at all P Can such incidents as the feeding
of the five thousand and the walking on the water be supposed to
have so much as a germ of historical truth? Even Edersheim has
noticed their exceptional character. He traces a curious cor-
respondence between some of these incidents and the events of the
Passion.” In any case, and even supposing that the stories, though
ultimately used as parables, contain a nucleus of historical truth,
they remain of such a character as to afford a very slender basis for
any such geographical inference as that which we are considering.
Our suspicion of the unhistorical character of the data upon
which that inference is based receives confirmation when we find
that a comparison of the Gospels of Mark and Luke reveals strong
reasons for believing that an interpolation has taken place in the
former Gospel, and that this interpolation is of such a kind as to
destroy altogether the order of events upon which the evidence for
the second Bethsaida depends.
The following are the textual facts upon which the inference of
an interpolation is based. If we compare the histories as given by
the Synoptics, we shall find that up to and including the feeding of
the five thousand, the Gospel of Luke gives, with more or less
fulness, almost everything given in the Gospel of Mark, the only
exception being the short parable of the “seed cast upon the earth.” +
We find, moreover, that the incidents of the narrative follow very
nearly the same order. But at that point a great break in this
correspondence occurs, and the thread of Mark's narrative is not again
taken up by Luke until Jesus departs with His disciples to the
neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi, where Peter's confession,
“Thou art the Christ,” took place. From that point the corre-
spondence continues to Luke ix. 40. This suggests that for the
earlier portion of his Gospel Luke used a document, or an extended
oral tradition, which corresponded very largely with Mark i.—ix. 4o
as we have it, except that chapters vi. 45 to viii. 26 of our present
Mark were wanting.
Upon closer scrutiny, however, we find that vi. 45–52 and
* “Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,” 9th ed., vol. ii. p. 4.
+ Mark iv. 26–29. †: Mark viii. 27; Luke ix. 18.
APPENDIX C
** 267
viii. 22–26 were also probably in Luke's document or tradition.
The traces of these two sections are found in certain curious phrases
used by Luke, which can best be accounted for by supposing that
the narrative which Luke consulted contained them both, that they
were in close juxtaposition, and were immediately followed by the
account of the confession of Peter.”
If these two sections, containing the story of the walking on the
water and the healing of the blind man of Bethsaida, were in the
written document or oral tradition which Luke used, we can under-
stand why he may nevertheless have omitted them. The former he
may have taken to be a variant of the story of Christ's ruling the
winds and waves, which he had already given, and the latter he may
have objected to or doubted on account of the means said to have
been used. But the same cannot be said of the other omitted
sections. In particular it is very strange that, writing as he did
for the Gentiles, he should not have given the story of the Syro-
phenician woman, if he had it before him when he compiled his
Gospel. Our theory, therefore, is that in the early narrative which
Luke used for this portion of his Gospel, chapters vi. 53, viii. 21
were wanting,
The theory will, perhaps, become clearer if we place the con-
tinuous narrative of Luke side by side with the supposed original
Mark, and attend carefully to the correspondences which are
printed in heavy type:
MARK.f
vi.
30 And the apostles gather them-
selves together unto Jesus, and
they told him all things whatso-
ever they had done, and whatso-
31 ever they had taught. And he
saith unto them, Come
ye yourselves apart, into a
desert place, and rest a while.
For there were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure
32 so much as to eat. And they
went away in the boat to a desert
33 place apart, and the people Saw
them going, and many knew
* “Withdrew apart to a city called Beth saida" (Luke ix. Io).
LUKE.f
And the apostles, when they
were returned, declared unto him
what things they had done.
And he took them, and
withdrew apart to a city
called Bethsaida. But the
multitudes perceiving it followed
him : and he welcomed them,
and spake to them of the king-
dom of God, and them that
had need of healing he
healed.
Compare
ix.
IO
“Come
ye yourselves apart" (Mark vi. 31), and " He constrained His disciples to go before
Him unto the other side to Beth saida " (Mark vi. 45). “As He was praying alone, the
disciples were with Him” (Luke ix. 18). Compare “ He departed into the mountain
to pray . . . He alone on the land” (Mark vi. 47), and “ He asked His disciples saying
unto them” (Mark viii. 27). The suggestion is that in omitting the story of the
walking on the water, Luke has joined up the two ends with this rather awkward
seam. “And they come unto Bethsaida. And they bring unto Him a blind man "
(Mark viii. 22). Compare Luke, ix. Io, II, “He took them . . . to a city called
Bethsaida . . . and them that had need of healing He healed.”
# Text of the Revised Version, used by permission of the University Presses.
268
TENT AND TESTAMENT
them, and they ran there to-
gether” on foot, from all the
cities and outwent them. And
34 he came forth and saw a great
multitude, and he had compas-
sion on them, because they were
as sheep not having a shepherd:
and he began to teach them
35 many things. And when the
day was now far spent, his dis-
ciples came unto him, and said,
36 The place is desert, and the day
is now far spent : send them
away that they may go into the
country and villages round about.
and buy themselves somewhat
37 to eat. But he answered and
said unto them, Give ye them to
eat. And they say unto him,
Shall we go and buy two hun-
*See mar: dred * pennyworth of bread, and
§"M. give them to eat? And he saith
xviii. 38, unto them, How many loaves
38 have ye? go and see. And when
they knew, they say, Five, and
9 two fishes. And he commanded
"Gr, recline.them that all should sits down by
companies upon the green grass.
4o And they sat down in ranks, by
4I hundreds, and by fifties. And
he took the five loaves and the
two fishes, and looking up to
heaven, he blessed, and brake
the loaves; and he gave to the
disciples to set before them ; and
the two fishes divided he among
42 them all. And they did all eat
43 and were filled. And they took
up broken pieces, twelve bas-
ketfuls, and also of the fishes.
44 And they that ate the loaves
were five thousand men.
And straightway he con-
strained his disciples to enter
into the boat, and to go before
him unto the other side to
JBethsaida, while he himself
sendeth the multitude away.
46 And after he had taken leave of
them, he departed into the
47 mountain to pray. And
when even was come, the boat
was in the midst of the sea, and
he alone on the land.
48 And seeing them distressed in
rowing, for the wind was con-
trary unto them, about the fourth
watch of the night he cometh
unto them, walking on the sea ;
and he would have passed by
49 them : but they, when they saw
him walking on the Sea, supposed
that it was an apparition, and
cried out: for they all saw him and
* Or, by
2a:7td.
And the day began to wear 12
away; and the twelve came, and
said unto him, Send the multi-
tude away, that they may go into
the villages and country round
about, and lodge, and get vic-
tuals: for we are here in a desert
place. But he said unto them, I3
Give ye them to eat. And they
said, We have no more than five
loaves and two fishes; except
we should go and buy food for
all this people. For they were 14
about five thousand men. And
he said unto his disciples, Make
them sit * down in companies,” Gr, recline.
about fifty each. And they did I5
so, and made them all sit * down.
And he took the five loaves and I6
the two fishes, and looking up to
heaven, he blessed them, and
brake; and gave to the disciples
to set before the multitude.
And they did eat, and were all 17
filled : and there was taken up
that which remained over to
them of broken pieces, twelve
baskets.
And it came to pass, as he 18
was praying alone, the
APPENDIX C 269
50 were troubled. But he straight-
way spake with them, and saith
unto them, Be of good cheer:
5I it is I; be not afraid. And he
went up unto them into the
52 boat and the wind ceased : and
they were sore amazed in them-
Selves; for they understood not
concerning the loaves, but their
heart was hardened.
viii.
22 And they come unto
Bethsaida. . . And they
bring to him a blind
man, and beseech him
23 to touch him. And he took
hold of the blind man by the
hand, and brought him out of
the village; and when he had
Spit on his eyes, and laid his
hands upon him, he asked him,
24 Seest thou aught P And he
looked up and said, I see men,
for I behold them as trees, walk-
25 ing. Then again he laid his
hands upon his eyes; and he
looked steadfastly, and was re-
stored, and saw all things clearly.
26 And he sent him away to his
home, saying, Do not even enter
into the village.
27 And Jesus went forth, and º º
his disciples, into the vil- disciples were with him:
lages of Caesarea Philippi: and and he asked them, saying,
in the way he asked his Who do the multitude say that
disciples, saying unto them, I am 2 And they answering. I9
Who do men say that I am? said, John the Baptist; but
28 And they told him, saying, others say, Elijah ; and others,
John the Baptist: and others, that one of the old prophets is
Elijah ; but others, One of the risen again. And he said unto 20
29 prophets, And he asked them, them, But who Sayye that I am P
But who say ye that I am? And Peter answering said, The
Peter answereth and saith unto Christ of God. w
him, Thou art the Christ.
If this was originally Mark's account, the order both of places
and events becomes clear.” Jesus proposes to His disciples to
escape from the crowds, as He had done before, by entering into a
boat. They row to a desert place, probably on the same side of
the lake as Capernaum, their starting-point. This, however, is not
sufficiently remote; the multitudes follow. The feeding of the five
thousand takes place, and when the evening approaches Jesus sends
His disciples across the lake to Bethsaida, where they will have a
better chance of quiet than in their own town of Capernaum.
Bethsaida is correctly described as “on the other side,” if the well-
* It is not to be understood in what follows, or in any part of this chapter, that the
writer maintains that the events are historical. The supposition is merely that the
story was originally narrated by one who was acquainted with the position of the
localities to which the events, whether historical or not, were assigned.
270 TENT AND TESTAMENT
known Bethsaida Julias was meant, for that town lay east of Jordan
at the north end of the lake.
As soon as the disciples have gone away in the boat, Jesus dis-
misses the multitudes and departs into the mountain (eis rô pos) to
pray. Not into a mountain, but the mountain ; * that is, the well-
known mountain behind Capernaum, which was His accustomed
retreat.f
In this order of events Luke follows Mark's narrative ; provided
we give to Luke ix. Io, et seq., its natural meaning—that Jesus and
the disciples set out originally for Bethsaida, and that the feeding
of the five thousand took place on the way. In abbreviating the
narrative he falls into the awkward expression “withdrew apart to
a city called Bethsaida,” which, however, is quite consistent with
his interpretation of the narrative ; and he also manufactures the
still more awkward “seam ” whereby the “praying alone” is made
to take place on the same occasion as Peter's Confession. Such
things are possible, however, to an ancient editor.f
It should, I think, be taken as a confirmation of our hypothesis,
that by its adoption the following difficulties, among others,
disappear :
I. It has generally been held that a part, at least, of Jesus’
motive in leaving Capernaum for Bethsaida was that He might
escape from Herod’s territory, Herod having recently heard of His
fame. If so, why did He immediately return and stay there P Š
Now, in our supposed tradition Jesus does not return to Galilee;
He passes from Bethsaida, which is on the east of Jordan, to
Caesarea Philippi, and so remains in Philip's territory.
2. In Mark’s Gospel, as we have it in our Bibles, the disciples are
sent before to Bethsaida, and yet they land at Gennesaret. This
has been explained in various ways, as, for instance, by the Sup-
position that they were driven out of their course by the storm, or by
the suggestion, now under discussion, that there was a second
Bethsaida not mentioned in Jewish history. The hypothetical
“Mark’” does away with all need for any explanation; the difficulty
disappears.
3. The occurrence of the feeding of the five thousand and of
the four thousand in the same Gospel, although they are so
obviously variants, cannot but be regarded as a difficulty if the
* See Revised Version.
f See Matt. v. I ; xiv. 23; xv. 29. Mark iii. 13; vi. 46. Luke vi. 12; ix. 28.
John vi. 3, 15.
£. In John vi. I, for instance, the evangelist (or his editor) retains a phrase from the
earlier document which does not fit into the edited narrative, with the result that Jesus
is represented as departing from Jerusalem to “the other side of the Sea of Galilee,”
as though Jerusalem were situated on the shore of the lake.
§ Mark vi. 53. | Mark vi. 45.
APPENDIX C 2. 271
Gospel of Mark is early and is the work of one hand. The
hypothesis which we have adopted removes both the narrative of
feeding the four thousand (viii. 1–1 oy and the allusion to it in
viii. 16–21.
4. Dr. Menzies, in his book, “The Earliest Gospel” (p. 149),
says that the conflict with the Pharisees given in vii. 1–23, “must
belong to the late ministry, when the difference of principle between
the authorities and Jesus has come to be recognised.” This
difficulty is by our hypothesis removed.
5. The enigmatical phrases, “He took them, and withdrew apart
to a city”" and “As He was praying alone, the disciples were with
him,” t are explained by our hypothesis as mentioned above. i
Now, it is by no means necessary, for the purpose we have in
view, to insist upon this particular form of the earlier “Mark”; it
is sufficient that some such form may have existed. A comparison
of the Gospels shows that there is at least much uncertainty as to
the order of events originally set forth; and, so long as that un-
certainty exists, it is quite gratuitous to invent a town, for the
actuality of which we have no other evidence than that the relation
in which these events now stand to each other. Apart from the
order of the Gospel stories there is no evidence of the existence of
a second Bethsaida, and that order being in the highest degree
doubtful, we may take it as sufficiently probable that there was but
one. Whether the “desert place" and “ the mountain’’ were on
the east or on the west of the lake, a considerable bay would have
to be crossed in order to reach Bethsaida on the north, and on either
supposition the geography becomes sufficiently clear, so far as
Bethsaida is concerned. The well-known Bethsaida mentioned by
Josephus answers every demand of the narrative.
Taking it, then, as sufficiently probable, that there was only one
Bethsaida in the neighbourhood of the lake, namely, that near the
point where the Jordan enters upon the north, it remains to inquire
whether this town of Bethsaida had a suburb or dependent village
of the same name connected with it, as some geographers have
supposed to be the case.
The reason for such a supposition is that, whether or not Jesus
* Luke ix. Io. f Luke ix. 18.
f It is worth noting by the way that in the account of the feeding of the four
thousand, as given by Matthew (xv. 39), the disciples landed after it at Magadan.
This is identified with Mejdel in the Plain of Gennesaret, and suggests that the
feeding of the five thousand, after which they land at Gennesaret (Mark vi. 53), is a
variant of the feeding of the four thousand, after which they landed at Magadan,
and that both are based upon some incident unconnected in fact with the coming to
Bethsaida. This would point back to a still earlier form of Mark's Gospel, in which
vi, 35–44 also was wanting.
272 TENT AND TESTAMENT
did, as some hold, actually make Bethsaida His headquarters for
some time after his flight from Herod's territory to that of Philip,
He did at any rate perform many “wonderful works there”; and yet
it was not customary for any pious Jew, and appears not to have
been customary for Jesus, to so much as enter such a purely Greek
town as that of Julias. The difficulty would be met if the old
village of Bethsaida remained Jewish, while the new town of
“Bethsaida Julias,” which grew from it, had a practically separate
population. Josephus mentions that Nero gave to Agrippa “Julias,
a city of Peraea, with fourteen villages that lay about it.” Was one
of these villages perhaps the original nucleus of Bethsaida Julias,
just as Old Hastings with its fishing-boats has long lived side by
side with the modern town of Hastings, separate and yet important P
The origin of Julias would make such an idea quite probable, for
what we read in Josephus’ history f is that Philip “advanced the
village Bethsaida, situate at the lake of Gennesareth, into the dignity
of a city, both by the number of inhabitants it contained, and its
other grandeur, and called it by the name of Julias, the same name
with Caesar’s daughter.”
Now, “Bethsaida” means Place of Fishing or Hunting—of fish-
ing we may say in this case, since it was the city of Peter, and he
was the fisherman. But et–Tell is more than a mile from the lake
and a good half mile from the Jordan, so that if et-Tell is indeed
the site of Bethsaida Julias, it is likely that the foregoing is the
true account of the matter—the town of Bethsaida has to be dis-
tinguished from the old lake-side village which gave to the town its
name. It has accordingly been suggested that el-Araj, the ruins of
which are said to have been joined to et–Tell by a Roman road,
was the original village of Bethsaida. The distance from el-Araj
to et-Tell would be about 14 miles.
There is, however, another site, which, before accepting this
theory, ought to be carefully considered ; it is that of el-Mesadiyeh.
Thomson, in “The Land and the Book,” says that when he was there
in 1855 the Bedawin in the Butaiha applied the name Bethsaida to
this place.S Moreover, the name Mesadiyeh, by which it is more
generally known, is “a derivative from the same root as Bethsaida,
both having reference to fishing.” One is tempted at first to say,
“Why, then, seek any further? Here is the place with the name
still surviving.” The difficulty, however, in the way of identifying
this place with the ancient village of Bethsaida, is that if et–Tell
was Bethsaida Julias, then this dependent village was two miles
* Josephus, “Ant.” xx. viii. 4. † Ibid. xviii. ii. I.
f Schumacher, quoted in “Encycl. Bibl.” art. “Bethsaida.”
§ Op. cit., ed. 1866, p. 360.
APPENDIX C 273
from its principal, and divided from it by a broad estuary into
which three streams run; while, if we give up the idea of a
suburban Bethsaida, and take Mesadiyeh to be Bethsaida Julias,
we are in conflict with the description of the situation of Julias
given by Josephus. Josephus speaks of a battle in which an earth-
work was raised “a furlong off Julias, near to the river Jordan’; *
and he elsewhere describes the Jordan as “passing by the city
Julias”; f phrases which fit et-Tell admirably, but are scarcely
applicable to Mesadiyeh; for Mesadiyeh is a good mile and a half
from the mouth of the Jordan.
Professor G. A. Smith (citing Thomson, “Land and Book,”
ed. 1877, 360), in his article on Bethsaida in the Encyclopædia
Biblica, speaks of the site as having been fixed “either at et–Tell,
a mound with many ruins, close to the Jordan where the latter
issues from the hills, or at Mesadiyeh, by the mouth of the river.”
But “the river " by the mouth of which Mesadiyeh is situated, is
not the Jordan, but the stream which flows down the Wädi
es-Saffāh and empties itself by a triple channel into the broad
estuary marked on the Survey Map as W. el-Mesadiyeh. It lies
on the east side of the estuary, which forms a natural barrier,
cutting it off from et-Tell and from the channel of the Jordan.
Whatever may be thought, therefore, about the old Jewish
fishing village of Bethsaida, the situation of et-Tell accords much
more closely with Josephus’ account of Bethsaida Julias than
Mesadiyeh does.
Moreover, et-Tell is a place “where there are many ruins,” and
its situation on a mound of some height in the midst of the Plain
of Butaiha makes it a likely, and the only likely place, for a town
intended to dominate the surrounding district.
One other fact is mentioned by Thomson which appears to me
rather significant. It is that there is another site named Mesady
“on the rocky hill west of the Jordan, and higher up the gorge.”
Is it not possible that this was one of the “fourteen villages”
around Bethsaida Julias which Nero gave to Agrippa P And is
not, perhaps, the true account of the matter this : that Bethsaida
was a small district consisting of Julias (et-Tell) and fourteen
dependent villages lying on both banks of the Jordan near about
its outlet into the Sea of Galilee P
Such a theory would harmonise several conflicting matters. It
would explain why Bethsaida is said by Josephus to be in Lower
Gaulonitis, and yet is called by the Evangelist John “Bethsaida of
Galilee.” It would permit us to retain the identification of Beth-
saida Julias with et-Tell, and yet would consist with Bethsaida
* “Life,” sec. 72. # “Wars,” iii. x. 7.
S
274 TENT AND TESTAMENT
being “the city of Andrew and Peter,” the fishermen. It would
harmonise the practice of Jesus as a pious Jew avoiding the heathen
Julias and yet working many mighty miracles in Bethsaida. And
it would account for the name “Mesady” lingering to this day
on both banks of the Jordan, in the one case near the lake and in
the other at some distance from the shore.
As to the question where stood the particular village which Jesus
frequented—the old home of Andrew, Peter, and Philip—our first
impulse would be to assign it to the high bank along the lake shore
now known as Mesadiyeh, where, as I have said, the identical
name Bethsaida is reported still to linger among the Bedawin who
camp there. True, it is somewhat far from the central mound
upon which we believe that Julias stood; but if, as we are supposing,
the name Bethsaida was given to the whole group of villages, this
would be no valid objection ; and it is, moreover, to be observed
that although the triple stream of which I have spoken above seems
to form an obstacle to any close connection with et-Tell, yet these
streams are not always impassable, and, as a matter of fact, a road
exists at this day which cuts across all three. Either this or el-
Arāj seems by far the most probable site; and of those two, one is
situated on one side of the estuary mentioned above, the other on
the opposite side, so that it matters little which we choose, the
outlook and surroundings, the relation to the story, are so nearly
identical. In either case the estuary of the W. el Mesadiyeh would
serve as a natural harbour for the fishing-boats of Bethsaida.
&-Arāj et Ten rºstyń,
D. THE CAPERNAUM QUESTION
PART I. THE FOUNTAIN OF CAPERNAUM
THE keystone of the Capernaum question—the question, that is,
where Capernaum, the later home of Jesus, was situated—is to be
found in the description which Josephus gives of the Plain of
Gennesaret. His description is as follows:
“This country also which lies over against this lake hath the

APPENDIX D 275
same name of Gennesareth ; its nature is wonderful as well as its
beauty;-it supplies men with the principal fruits, with grapes and
figs continually, during ten months of the year, and the rest of the
fruits as they become ripe together, through the whole year; for
besides the good temperature of the air, it is also watered from a
most fertile fountain.” The people of the country call it Caphar-
naum. Some have thought it to be a vein of the Nile, because it
produces the Coracin fish as well as that lake does which is near to
Alexandria.” +
According to Josephus, therefore, there was a spring called
Kaſpapyaowu. But the name of the spring thus given corresponds in
spelling with the name of the town as it appears in the New Testa-
ment Manuscripts NBDZ. The natural inference is that the town
Capernaum stood at or near a spring of that name. Can we, then,
identify the spring from the description which Josephus gives P
1. The Spring Capernaum watered the Plain of Gennesaret.
The first point is that the spring is youtpuordrm. I am not sure whether
it is justifiable to translate this, as Professor G. A. Smith has done,
by the word “copious.” Josephus is not insisting so much upon its
size as upon its fertilising properties. But in any case it must have
been a noticeable spring, or Josephus would not have so emphati-
cally remarked upon it. The Plain of Gennesaret contains several
springs : is any one of them more noticeable than the others ?
Travelling from Mejdel northwards you first cross a stream which
comes down the Wädi Hamām, or Valley of the Doves ; next, that
which flows from the Round Fountain, known as Ain Mudawarah ;
third, a stream which issues from the Wädi Rabadīyeh; fourth, one
which comes from Wädi el-Amúd ; and fifth, you have at the
extreme north of the plain, close to the ruins of Khān Minyeh, the
Ain et-Tin, or Fountain of the Fig-tree. These, I think, are the
principal springs and streams which cross the Plain of Gennesaret,
although there are said to be minor springs rising in the plain itself
which are nameless. Tristram, in fact, speaks of Gennesaret as
“rendered very marshy’ by its streams; and one wonders at first
why Josephus should have spoken of it as watered by any particular
stream when there are so many to water it.
We must remember, however, that it is not always springtime or
winter in Palestine, and that in the summer even a plain like that of
Gennesaret can be anything but “marshy.” Tristram's remark was
made during a spring visit; but when I was there in the unusually dry
* IImyń 8tépôeraw yovuorirm. A good deal depends, as will presently be seen, upon
this phrase. # Whiston's “Josephus,” “Wars," iii. x. 8.
276 TENT AND TESTAMENT
springtime of 1901 a great part of the plain, especially the northern
half, was very parched. For this reason, irrigation is necessary in the
Plain of Gennesaret as well as in most parts of Palestine, and it is
pretty clear that some particular stream was used to irrigate the
plain, on which account Josephus says that the plain budpèerat (is
watered throughout) by it. The streams mentioned above cut
across the short breadth of the plain, and none of them by its
natural flow can be said to “water the plain throughout,” but some
of them have been and are used for irrigation, and it is possible,
therefore, that it was to one of these Josephus referred.
Taking the waters mentioned above in their topographical order,
that which comes from the Wädi Hamām may be neglected. It is
less in importance than either the second or the third, could never
have watered more than a portion of the southern end of the plain,
and has been claimed by no one as the stream Capernaum. The
second spring, known as Ain Mudawarah, or the Round Fountain,
is more noteworthy; it sends a considerable stream to the lake,
from which it is about half a mile distant. But this, again, as an
irrigating agent seems to be out of the question. Dr. Selah Merrill,
who examined it more than once, has no hesitation upon this point.
“I visited again,” he writes in 1876, “Ain Mudawarah, or the Round
Fountain, on the Plain of Gennesaret, and am certain that only a
small portion of the plain could ever have been irrigated from it. It
lies too low by fifty or sixty feet, and there are no means of raising
the water to such a height.” ” Robinson, writing some forty years
earlier, had also noticed that this spring watered only “the ground
between it and the lake.”f
The third stream, coming from the Wädi Rabadiyeh, is noticed
by most explorers as one which might possibly, by aid of proper
irrigation works, “water the plain throughout.” Robinson speaks
of it as “a very copious stream of pure water, which is scattered
Over the plain in all directions, by means of small canals and water-
courses,” and in comparing it with the other springs of Gennesaret,
and especially with the Round Fountain, he says: “The main irri-
gation comes from the more abundant stream of Wädi er-Rabadiyeh,
which is now, and doubtless was of old, carried to various parts of
the plain on both sides of that fountain.” Dr. Merrill, too, after
rejecting the Round Fountain, continues: “In the Rabadiyeh
stream, however, there is a copious supply of water, and it is at such
a height that it could easily be carried by canals to all parts of the
plain.”f
The fourth stream, Wädi el-Amūd, is a stream of small import-
* “East of the Jordan,” p. 3oo. f “Biblical Researches,” 1841, vol. iii. p. 284.
f “East of the Jordan," p. 3oo.
APPENDIX D 277
ance compared with the preceding. It was dry when we passed, and
it has not, so far as I am aware, appeared among the claimants to
the honours of Capernaum.
The fifth fountain, the Ain et-Tin, has received more attention
than it deserves. The beauty of the pool in which it rises, lying in
the shadow of a great rock and overhung by an aged fig-tree, has pre-
judiced travellers in its favour ; and since it happens to flow near
ruins which have on various grounds a strong case to present in the
suit for the title of Capernaum, some travellers have tried hard to
persuade themselves that this is the spring of which Josephus speaks.
Robinson, following a reading tortporárm instead of yovuorárm de-
scribed Josephus’ spring, Capernaum, as “most potable,” in which
respect he declared that Ain et-Tin agreed with the description.
Whereupon, good Dr. Thomson declares, “I can never abide this
water of Ain et-Tiny, but always drink that of the lake,” a verdict
with which the present writer, having tasted both, can in no wise agree.
The question of potability is not, however, of importance; it is
clear from Josephus’ description that the fountain of Capernaum did
irrigate the plain, and it is equally clear from observation that Ain
et-Tin can do nothing of the sort. Thomson says that the Ain
“comes out close to the lake, and on a level with the surface.”f Dr.
John Wilson more cautiously observes that it “cannot with propriety
be said to be that which distinctively waters the plain, properly so
called.”f Sir Charles Wilson says, “Ain et-Tin is a small weak
spring, and could never have irrigated anything.” S Tristram gives
the course of the stream from the fountain to the marsh by the
lake-shore as only ninety-five feet, and says that it cannot have
watered the plain through its course. Mr. J. Macgregor, who made
some careful observations here, says that the level of the spring is
about eight feet higher than that of the lake." In fact, no one who
has seen the place can imagine for a moment that the plain can ever
have been watered from this pool by the shore.
So far, then, the Rabadiyeh stream is the only one which we need
seriously consider in relation to the question of irrigation. But now,
before we more closely inquire into the possibility of this being the
fountain mentioned by Josephus, there is yet another source for us
to consider.
When the traveller riding northwards through the Plain of Gen-
nesaret has crossed the various streams which we have enumerated,
* “Later Bibl. Researches,” p. 350. See also another gloss in “Bibl. Researches,”
p. 291, where “aiding in watering and fertilising” cannot fairly give the force of
ôtépôerat.
f “The Land and the Book, p. 350. £ “Lands of the Bible,” vol ii. p. 139.
§ “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 377.
| “Land of Israel,” pp. 424, 430. * “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 366.
278 TENT AND TESTAMENT
he comes at the further horn of the crescent to a barrier of rock
which runs down to the very margin of the lake and actually projects
into its waters, thus closing in this fertile plain and apparently pre-
venting all direct advance. At this point his guide will turn away
from the shore, and climbing the slope will presently point out a
trough cut across the top of the rocky bluff, enabling the traveller to
continue his journey in the northerly, or rather north-easterly,
direction. This curious road, thus hollowed out in the rock, conducts
him to another small plain, in which he discovers to his astonishment
a magnificent torrent. When he sees this river leaping and foaming
down the mountain-side, and hears it roaring over the broken
parapets of old aqueducts, his first thought is, “Why have I been
searching among the driblets of Gennesaret for the fountain of
Capernaum, when here, hidden only by a bar of rock, is this glorious
rush of water P This most assuredly is the fountain which caught
the eye of Josephus and dwelt in his imagination when he described
this district.” But the enthusiast is suddenly pulled up by the
recollection that the fountain of Capernaum “watered the plain of
Gennesareth throughout,” and even supposing (what is possible)
that Josephus included this little Plain of Täbigha in the whole Plain
of Gennesaret, yet this great stream of Täbigha, abundant as it is
could never, one might say, have watered the whole length of the
plain, since the greater part is cut off by the rocky headland which
we have just passed.
It is at this point that we must bring into the argument the dis-
covery of recent years that the waters of Täbigha were probably
carried at one time into the Plain of Gennesaret by that trough cut
in the dividing rock, which I have already noticed as being used for a
road at the present day.
Robinson, in his “Later Researches,” which were undertaken in
1852, without fully appreciating the bearing of his observation (for
he maintained to the end that Ain et-Tin was the Fountain Caphar-
naum) wrote as follows respecting this road connecting the Plain of
Gennesaret with the Plain of Täbigha : “One feature of the excava-
tion surprised us, namely, that for most of the way there is a
channel cut in the rock, about three feet deep and as many wide,
which seemed evidently to have been an aqueduct once conveying
water for irrigating the northern part of the Plain el-Ghuweir. There
was no mistaking the nature and object of this channel; and yet
no waters were near, which could be thus conveyed, except from the
fountains of et-Täbighah.” ”
Thomson seems to have accepted this discovery, and mentions
in his dialogues (which he dates 1857, but which are in part based
* Op. cit., p. 345.
APPENDIX D 279
on earlier observations), “the channel of the ancient canal which
conveyed the water from Tabigha westward to this Plain [of
Gennesaret]”*
In 1869-70 Captain (afterwards Sir Charles) Wilson surveyed this
district, and worked out in detail this hypothesis of an aqueduct
from the spring of Täbigha to Gennesaret. “Connected with this
fountain,” he says, “are the remains of some remarkable works
which at one time raised its waters to a higher level, and conveyed
them bodily into the Plain of Gennesareth for purposes of irrigation.
The source is enclosed in an octagonal reservoir of great strength,
by means of which the water was raised about twenty feet to the
level of an aqueduct that ran along the side of the hill. Strong as
the reservoir was, the water has at last broken through it, and there
is now little more than two feet left at the bottom, in which a
number of small fish may be seen playing about. After leaving the
reservoir the aqueduct can be traced at intervals following the
contour of the ground to the point where it crossed the beds of
two watercourses on arches, of which the piers may still be seen ;
it then turns down towards the lake, and runs along the hillside on
the top of a massive retaining wall, of which fifty or sixty yards
remain, and lastly passes round the Khān Minyeh cliff by a
remarkable excavation in the solid rock, which has been noticed by
all travellers. The elevation of the aqueduct at this point is suffi-
cient to have enabled the water brought by it to irrigate the whole
Plain of Gennesareth ; and though we could only trace it for a few
hundred yards inland, it was not improbably carried right round the
head of the plain; the same causes which have almost obliterated it
in the small Plain of Tabighah would fully account for its disappear-
ance in Gennesareth.” + On this last point Sir Charles Wilson
remarks elsewhere,i that from the mouths of each of the valleys
which debouch into Gennesaret, “aqueducts are carried to the right
and left, for the irrigation of the plain. Some appear to be very old,
and may formerly have been connected with the Tabigah spring,
which would supply water when the streams were dry.”
Wilson’s observations were confirmed by Kitchener in 1877. He
found “considerable remains of the masonry of the aqueduct leading
to the rock-cut portion, and a small piece beyond, with the water-
course coated with thick cement.” The levels which he took showed
that the “height of the top of the reservoir’’ was fifty-one feet above
the surface of the lake, while the rock-cut aqueduct was fifty-two
feet four inches above the same. So that, in its original condition,
before it was ruined, the reservoir would give a sufficient fall to the
* “The Land and the Book,” 1866, pp. 350, 354.
f “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 349. # Ibid, p. 352.
28O TENT AND TESTAMENT
aqueduct. The aqueduct itself he found had a fall of seven feet in
the mile toward the Plain of Gennesaret.* The conclusion was
accepted by Merrill t and other authorities. Macgregor remarked
that the section of the rock-cut aqueduct was “like an inverted
horseshoe ; the very least convenient form for a road, and the very
best for a channel.”f
Colonel Conder, however, revisiting the spot in 1882, came to the
conclusion that the aqueduct theory was improbable, “and that the
rock-cutting in the Minieh cliff represents an ancient road.” He
based this conclusion partly on the view that the Plain of Gennesaret
would more easily have been irrigated from the springs in it, than
by bringing the water from el-Täbigha,S to which it may be
answered that in the summer the northern half of the plain is at the
present time very dry and parched, and that the supply of water
required for such gardens and orchards as Josephus describes,
would be greater even than that required at present. In part
he appealed to observations on the construction of the supposed
aqueduct, “that there are no remains of any cement on the sides or
bed of the channel ”; that “to the east a paved path continues from
the rock-cut portion, and gradually descends to the shore of the
lake | ; that the level of the channel, as far as could be judged by
observations taken with an Abney’s level, seems to be possibly ten or
twenty feet above the top of the reservoir ''; that “the mortar and
plaster of the Birket appear to be modern "; that it “was built up
to its present height by one of the sons of the famous Dhahr-
el-Amr in the last [18th century,” and that “between this spring
and the passage there are no traces of any aqueduct.”"
Only two of these objections appear disastrous to the aqueduct
theory : namely, that which relates to the relative levels of the spring
and the channel, and that which alleges an absence of any traces
of an aqueduct connecting the two. Both of these are in direct
contradiction to the observations of Wilson and Kitchener; we must
await their settlement by experts.” As to the masonry of the
octagonal reservoir, Conder admits that the lower blocks are of
larger size; Dr. John Wilson fi and Canon Tristram ff speak of the
work as Roman ; and we are free to believe that the son of
* “P.E.F. Q.S.,” 1877, p. 123. f “East of the Jordan,” 1881, p. 457.
f “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 372. § “Tent-work,” p. 294.
| This paved path may, of course, be a later addition. “At Ain-Fijeh precisely
similar rock-cuttings, made for aqueducts, were afterwards used for roads.”
P. E.F.O.S., 1882, p. 225 fr.
T Ibid. pp. 223-4, and “Tent-work,” p. 294.
** Since the above was written, Prof. Wm. Knight (late of St. Andrews), at my
suggestion, has tested the level with an aneroid, and found the Spring ten or twelve
feet above the highest point of the aqueduct. See “Expositor,” July, 1906.
ff “Lands of the Bible, vol. ii. p. 142.
fi “The Land of Israel,” p. 425.
APPENDIX D 28I
Dhahr-el-Amr, when he set his mills going, merely heightened the
broken wall of an ancient reservoir, * and cemented the whole with
the “modern" cement referred to by Conder.
To my own mind, such doubts are almost or quite outweighed by
a passage in “Purchas His Pilgrimes” which seems to me something
like proof that the rock-cut aqueduct was actually in operation as late
as A.D. 1601. Mr. Macgregor refers to the passage in a footnote,f
without, as I think, fully appreciating the importance of the refer-
ence. The quotation is from “The Voyages of Master Iohn
Sanderson,” who left Jerusalem on July 8, 1601, reached Jenin on
the IIth, and Tiberias on the 12th. Master Sanderson continues the
account of his journey as follows: “We came to Almenia, which hath
beene a great Citie also, seven or eight miles off, close built by the Sea-
side, along through which runneth a Channell of Iordan; this
undoubtedly is Capernaum, for that it is over the point of the Land,
where we lodged.”f
Upon this passage Mr. Macgregor remarks that the “sound of the
word [Almenia] very much resembles that of Khan Minyeh.” We
would suggest that it not merely “resembles,” but is practically
identical with the name, not indeed of the Khan, but of the place
—that Almenia and el-Minyeh are to all intents one and the same.
There is, in fact, evidence extant that in 1430 the place was called
El Munya, which is probably no other than the Spanish name
Almunia, S and it is likely enough that Sanderson received it in this
form from the (probably Spanish) Jews with whom he travelled. It
is moreover abundantly evident from the context that Minyeh and
no other was the place where Master John Sanderson lodged.
Now, what is that “Channel of Jordan’’ which he mentions P It
Cannot have been any of the streams which cross the plain, all of
which are somewhat distant from Minyeh, and cross at right angles
to the direction of the Jordan : still less can it have been the little Ain
et-Tin, with its crystal pool; and to Täbigha Master Sanderson did
not go. It must surely have been some considerable flow of water
running in a line with the direction of the Jordan. Suppose that
Master Sanderson, camping at Minyeh under the limestone pro-
montory behind the Khān, sees issuing from a channel across that
promontory a swift and abundant river, which flows along the plain
in a direction parallel to the shore of the lake, what would be his
natural inference P He has not been beyond the rocks of Minyeh,
and is unaware of the existence of the great springs of Täbigha ; he
knows, however, that he is but a short distance from the head of
* On this point, see Kitchener in “P.E.F. Q.S.,” 1877, p. 123.
f “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 373 fm.
i: “Purchas His Pilgrimes,” Part ii. p. 1635. § Smith, “Hist. Geog.” p. 456 fri.
282 TENT AND TESTAMENT
the lake where the Jordan flows in. He infers, of course, that this
flood is a side stream of the Jordan. “Coming from so high a
level,” as Mr. Macgregor remarks, “the stream might readily be
mistaken for a canalette from the river, like those we have described
in connection with the Abana,” and, indeed, quite similar to these
both in purpose and in construction.”
In A.D. 16or, therefore, this channel was, it seems, still in use
to convey the water of Täbigha, a fact which ought to set at rest
the question “Road or aqueduct P” Taking this into account it
seems clear that Ain Täbigha must be admitted as having a strong
claim to be the spring described by Josephus.
To sum up this part of the question, we must say, I think, that
if we have regard only to the question of irrigation, the evidence is
fairly strong that the Fountain Capernaum was either the Rabadiyeh
stream or that of Ain Täbigha, and that if we take copiousness
and prominence into account the balance seems to be in favour of
the latter. The streams of Täbigha flow from five fountains, one of
which “is by far the largest spring in Galilee, and was estimated to
be more than half the size of the celebrated source of the Jordan at
Banias.”f It is likely, therefore, to have attracted the historian's
attention, and I think it has been shown that in all probability
this spring did actually “water throughout ’’ the Plain of Gen-
neSaret.
2. It produced the Coracin Fish.
The question, “Where was the Fountain of Capharnaum ?” can-
not, however, be yet regarded as concluded, for the fact that it
irrigated the Plain of Gennesaret is not the only fact mentioned by
Josephus. He mentions, also, that it was thought by Some “to
be a vein of the Nile, because it produces the Coracin fish f as well
as that lake does which is near to Alexandria.” And when we take
this additional statement into account, the whole question seems at
first to be thrown back into the melting-pot.
Travellers long searched in vain the various streams for the
Egyptian Coracinus, and, not finding it, were content to argue in an
a priori fashion about what could and could not be. Robinson
proved conclusively that the fountain of Josephus could not be the
Round Fountain of Ain Mudawarah, because the latter was so far
inland that no fish of any size could pass to it; but he thought that
in all probability it was Ain et–Tin, because that was just such a
spring as the fish could reach.Ş. Thomson quite agreed that it
* A district, by the way, which John Sanderson had previously visited.
# Wilson and Warren, “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 348. See also p. 377 of the
same work. f Concerning this fish, see ante, p. 119.
§ “Biblical Researches” (1841), iii. p. 291.
APPENDIX D 283
could not possibly be the Round Fountain, but thought that Ain
et-Tin was equally unlikely.” Then comes Tristram in 1864, and
upsets every one by finding the Coracinus in the Round Fountain
in abundance and of unusually large size.f
This discovery of Canon Tristram's naturally induces one to re-
consider the question of Ain Mudawarah. However, it does not
dispose of the difficulty that, next to Ain et-Tin, Ain Mudawarah is
just the most impossible spring ever to have watered the plain to
any extent; and the safest course seems to be to inquire more
particularly into the relation between the Coracin fish and all the
streams of the neighbourhood. Is it always in Ain Mudawarah ;
and is it never anywhere else?
The first thing we note is that the Coracinus is not always in the
Round Fountain. Mr. Macgregor carefully examined it all over
and found none of the fish hiding in the sediment. Other travel-
lers have searched it with the same result.
A second point is that the fish is found abundantly in the lake.'
It passes thence up the streams and may conceivably be found in
any of those which flow into the lake. It has not, as a matter of
fact, been found at Ain et–Tin, though Thomson, Tristram, and
Macgregor seem all to have searched that spring for it. Neither
has it been found in any other of the Gennesaret streams, though
the last-named traveller searched them all. || But Thomson admits
that certain kinds of fish delight to come in cold weather to those
fountains that are tepid and slightly brackish," and Tristram
mentions Ain Täbigha in particular, “where the water is hot and
brackish,” as a stream which the Coracinus would be likely to
haunt.
At this point comes the very instructive evidence obtained by
Mr. Macgregor on the habits of the fish : “After a diligent search
in all the streams and fountains of Gennesareth, and a total failure
to discover any of the Coracinus fish there, I made particular in-
quiries from the five fishermen who came to my camp in their
boat by invitation, and were most courteous and intelligent in their
talk. The men told me—and not in reply to any leading questions,
but to the most formal and strict examination which a Templar
could give to such witnesses—that the Coracinus fish is found in
summer time (after the month of April) in the fountain of Muda-
wara, but also in that of Ain et-Tin ; and that it ascends to both
* “The Land and the Book,” p. 354.
f “The Land of Israel,” p. 431. Lieutenant (now Lord) Kitchener also found it
there in abundance. P.E. F. Q.S., 1877, p. 122.
† “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 368.
§ Tristram, “The Land of Israel,” p. 431. Macgregor, “Rob Roy on the
Jordan,” p. 369. | “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 369.
‘ſ “The Land and the Book,” p. 354.
284 TENT AND TESTAMENT
of these from the lake, where it is always found, but in the colder
months only beside the hot springs of Bethsajda (Ain Täbigha).
Thither I rode at once to see further into the matter, and spent
Some hours on horseback, Splashing among the tepid streams. At
last in the lake itself, and just at the spot the men indicated—that
is, where the waters are warmed by the heated rivulet—I noticed
one of the fish in question darting out of the shallows of the warm
sand, and a few yards off burrowing until its body and even its long
tail were hidden again.” ”
This evidence goes to show that the “producing ” of the Coracin
fish is not a distinguishing mark which will enable us to pronounce
with certainty upon one spring more than another. At the same
time it perhaps gives a slight preference in favour of Ain Täbigha,
inasmuch as while the fish is found only in the summer at some
fountains, it is found at all times of the year at the mouth of Ain
Täbigha. It may, perhaps, be worth noting that Josephus does not
say that the Coracinus is found in the stream Capharnaum, but that
the stream “produces * it, and that the unusual abundance of fish
round about the mouth of the warm streams of Täbigha has been
noticed by several travellers.t
The upshot, then, of the full facts about the Coracinus is to destroy
the preference which the Round Fountain at first received on
account of Tristram's discovery, and to restore the question very
nearly to the position where the irrigation-argument left it—namely,
Rabadiyeh and Täbigha as alternatives for the Fountain of Caper-
naum—though Täbigha may now perhaps be considered to have a
slight advantage.
That is, perhaps, as far as we can get with the evidence at present
before us. It will now be necessary to ascertain whether, associated
with any of the streams which have been mentioned, and especially
with the two which have been selected as answering to the descrip-
tion of Josephus, any ruins exist which may possibly have been those
of the town of Capernaum.
*
* “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” pp. 369, 370.
f See especially Macgregor, “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 345. Kitchener, how-
ever, found numbers of fish in the octagonal reservoir itself, and saw no reason why
the Coracinus should not be there. P.E.F.O.S., 1877, p. 124. See “Encycl. Bibl.,”
“Fish,” on the migration of members of this species up Small and dwindling streams,
traversing stretches where the water is insufficient to cover them, or is absent
altogether.
APPENDIX D 285
PART II. THE TOWN CAPERNAUM.
1. The Search for Ruins.
The preceding argument, if it favours the identification of either
Ain Täbigha or Wädi Rabadiyeh with the Fountain of Capharnaum
mentioned by Josephus, is yet hardly so conclusive as to make the
search for ruins on the banks of the streams of Gennesaret altogether
superfluous.
Taking the streams, then, in the order which we have hitherto
followed, we come first to the Wädi el-Hamām. The banks of this
stream were followed up the Wädi for several miles by Mr. J. Mac-
gregor, “but without any discovery of art employed, or even of
much masonry.”* The next spring, the Ain Mudawarah, has
received a good deal of attention on account of the Coracinus having
been found in it. Robinson, to his great disappointment, found
“nothing which could indicate that any town or village had ever
occupied the spot.” f Dr. Tristram found “only the faintest traces
of other ruins” near the basin of the spring.: Sir Charles Wilson
found there “no ruins of consequence.” $ Only Macgregor thinks
that the remains in the neighbourhood of the fountain, “though
not distinct,” might possibly be the vestiges of Capernaum.
The Rabadiyeh stream, more important as an irrigator, has no
ruins upon its banks.|| On a slight eminence on the north side
Robinson found the remains of a village, but “no traces of antiquity,
no hewn stones nor any mason work.”" The same place, however,
was examined by Captain Wilson, who held that the existing houses
were built “on the débris of an ancient village or town.” But the
spot is nearly a mile and a half from the lake-side, quite isolated
from any other traces of habitations, and no one has claimed for it
the honours of Capernaum. On the whole, Wädi Rabadiyeh must,
I think, retire from the contest.
The Wädi el-Amūd, which comes next in order, has near it a
single limestone column, “lying alone in the plain, some twenty
feet long, and at least two feet in diameter.” This solitary column
is something of an enigma, but the solution cannot be “Capernaum,”
* “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 367. The author appears to have confused the
Ain el-Amud with the Wädi el-Hamām, but it is evidently the latter which he
followed.
f “Biblical Researches,” iii. p. 284. † “The Land of Israel,” p. 423.
§ “Recovery of Jerusalem,” P. 352.
| “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 367. T “Biblical Researches,” p. 285.
* Lieutenant Kitchener reported (P. E.F. Q.S., 1877, p. 122) “no remains of
importance to be seen; only a few basalt huts and some scattered stones.”
286 TENT AND TESTAMENT
for the travellers “could discern no trace of any site or ruins in the
vicinity.”
We seem shut up, then, so far as Gennesaret is concerned, to the
ruins near to Ain et-Tin, known as el-Minyeh.
2. Tell Húm in relation to the Fountain.
But here, as all the world knows, another claimant has to be
heard. Two and a half miles to the north-east of Khān Minyeh lie
the ruins of Tell Hàm. They are (or were) the most considerable
ruins on the lake-shore; and, though Tell Húm itself has neither
fountain nor stream, the question has arisen whether its distance
from Ain Täbigha is too great for it to have been called by an
identical name. The controversy, in short, as to the site of
Capernaum has of late years almost entirely resolved itself into a
question between Minyeh and Tell Hàm.
So long as Ain Täbigha was regarded as cut off from Gennesaret,
both stream and town were more naturally looked for to the south
of the Tell el-Oreimeh, or Rock of Minyeh; but now that it has been
shown that Ain Täbigha probably watered the plain, and may there-
fore be the spring Capernaum, we are free to look for the site of
Capernaum town on either side of that stream.
So far as the proximity of the spring is concerned, Minyeh has
a distinct advantage, for it is less than a mile from the source, and a
main part of the stream actually flowed in all probability through
the old town, while Tell Húm has no such direct contact with the
stream, and is nearly two miles distant from both stream and
source. This distance can, however, hardly be considered fatal to
the claim of Tell Hàm if in other respects it has a clear case in its
favour.
3. Was Capernaum in Gennesarei ?
One point that is urged on behalf of Minyeh is that Capernaum
lay on or near the Plain of Gennesaret. Josephus, however, does
not say so, neither can the Gospels be made to say so except by a
comparison depending on the order of events and by a topographical
inference; and we have no other evidence. Dr. Robinson depends
upon these Gospel proofs in favour of Minyeh,” while Wilson
uses them in support of Tell Hàm.f We have seen in studying the
Bethsaida question how difficult and hazardous these inferences from
the order of the Gospel story are. The argument for Capernaum
being in Gennesaret has been summed up by Lightfoot,i and to
* “Biblical Researches,” vol. iii. p. 289. H. “Lands of the Bible,” vol. ii. p. 145.
f “Cent. Chorograph.,” ch. lxxx., cited by Tristram, “Land of Israel,” p. 429.
APPENDIX D 287
that authority we may refer the reader who cares to depend upon
this class of evidence. For ourselves we prefer to pass on to such
characteristics of the town as may be gleaned from the Gospel state-
ments without dependence upon the chronological or topographical
sequence of the history.
4. “Capharnaum ” was a tróAts.
In the first place, it has been urged that Capernaum was a
“village,” and that this agrees better with Tell Hàm, which was
unwalled, than with Minyeh, the city wall of which place has been
excavated.* The name “Capharnaum,” it is argued, means village
(kephar) of Nahum ; also, when Josephus was wounded and carried
thither he described it as a village (Köpm).f
The reverse argument has also been set forth—namely, that
we learn from Matthew ix. I (els Tāv iótav TóAw) and Mark i. 33
(3Mm # TöXts) and other passages, that Capernaum was regarded as a
“city,” and that it was a place with a synagogue, a Roman garrison,
a customs station, and a harbour; in fact, a place of some import-
ance. This agrees, say some, better with Minyeh, a walled place,
than with Tell Húm, an unwalled. Nay, reply others, it agrees
better with Tell Húm, a place with ruins of considerable extent,
than with Minyeh, where the ruins are unimportant.
Here we have a double confusion, first as to the fact, and second,
as to the inference. What, then, was the fact of the matter P Was
Capernaum a “town " or a “village’?
So far as concerns the word “Capharnaum,” nothing surely ought
to be inferred from that. Such a name is, of course, traditional ;
and that which was a village when the name was given might well
have become a city in Roman times without losing or altering its
appellation. St. Martin's does not now stand “in the fields,”
neither is Long Acre in any sense an “acre.” And as to the story
of Josephus, it raises this double doubt: First, that we are far from
certain that it was to Capernaum he was carried; for, the name of
the place was Cepharnömön (keſpapvopov), or, according to another
and more authoritative reading, Cepharnökon (kebapvoków), and it is
a mere guess that he means by this Capernaum. And, secondly,
that if he did, no dependence can be placed upon his “köpim,” for he
calls Arbela a “village " both before and after he had fortified it,i
while elsewhere he calls the same place a “city” $; similarly, Euse-
bius, Jerome, and Epiphanius call Capernaum both “town’ and
“village.” || The fact, therefore, that Minyeh had a city wall, while
* Tristram, “The Land of Israel,” third edition, p. 430. f “Life,” 71-73.
it “Life.” Cf. sects, 37 and 6o. § “Ant.,” xii. xi., I.
| Keim, “Jesus of Nazara" (English translation), ii. p. 367.
288 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Tell Húm shows no trace of one, tells neither one way nor the
other, except in so far as it may show that Minyeh, as well as Tell
Húm, has at Some period of its history been a place of some
importance.
The truth would appear to be that Capernaum lay on the border
line between “town’ and “village.” In size it did not, of course,
compare with such cities as Hebron, Caesarea, or Shechem; and to
Josephus, who moved in the great world, it may well have appeared
to be little more than a “village.” It was, however, in New Testa-
ment times of sufficient importance to be called a tróAts, and to have
a centurion stationed there. In short, the question whether walled
or unwalled is not of importance ; but it does become incumbent
upon those who argue in favour of any particular site to show that
the ruins on that site are not entirely insignificant. On this general
question, then, of the extent of the ruins, we may briefly take the
evidence of travellers.
As to Tell Húm, most observers are agreed that the ruins there
are extensive. At a favourable time of year, when the rank growth
does not obscure the remains, the traces of the town can be seen (so
it is said) to cover a space measuring half a mile in length by a
quarter of a mile in breadth. But the ruins of Minyeh are described
by Sir Charles Wilson as “covering an extent of ground small in
comparison with those of Tell Húm or Kerāzeh ‘’”; and Robinson,
on his first visit to the place, wrote: “ The few remains seemed to
be mostly dwellings of no very remote date; but there was not
enough to make out anything with certainty.”f
On a second visit, however, made in 1852, Robinson altered his
opinion. “The remains,” he writes, “are strewed around in shape-
less heaps; but are much more extensive and considerable than my
former impression had led me to anticipate. Indeed, there are here
remains enough not only to warrant, but to require the hypothesis
of a large ancient place.”: Dr. Tristram says: “On the other side
of [the marsh formed by the stream from Ain et-Tin] near the water
are the traces, rather than the remains, of an extensive collection of
buildings, an ancient city, now wholly ploughed over.” $ Dr. Merrill
says: “At Khān Minieh is a swell in the plain, in which peasants
are digging, and, at a depth of four to six feet, they struck a finely
built wall, which they followed to a depth of twelve feet. I do not
know that they reached the bottom. They traced this wall until it
turned an angle, and for some distance after that. About one mile
south of this place is another low mound—a mere swell on the
* “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 350.
+ “Biblical Researches,” vol. iii. pp. 287–8.
it “Later Biblical Researches,” p. 345.
§ “The Land of Israel,” third edition, p. 425.
APPENDIX D 289
surface of the plain—over which a person might ride without noticing
that it was not a part of the common field. Here also I found signs
of a buried town.”* Lieutenant (now Lord) Kitchener also reported
to the Palestine Exploration Fund, in 1877, that there were “exten-
sive ruins’ there, and that he “was informed by two authorities that
hewn stones and good walls existed below the present surface, and
are excavated for building purposes.” t
To the foregoing my own observations, such as they are, may be
added. I examined only one group of ruins. At a distance of 4oo
yards to the north of the khān were a pile of masonry and a stretch
of broken wall standing well up from the plain, and consisting of
roughish blocks of stone joined by hard cement. The nether stone
of a large oil-press lay twenty yards south-east by south of this cen-
tral ruin. One hundred yards west of this mass of masonry is
another very similar mass, and I 44 yards to the east is an oval
hollowed stone standing on its end, the longer diameter measuring
three feet. Between this stone and the central point first mentioned
are distinct mounds, too stony for ploughing, and containing squared
blocks, some of which measured 3 feet by I foot. The whole
breadth, therefore, of the visible ruins from west to east was 244
yards; beyond these limits I saw no traces of buildings. The limit
to the south seemed to be the dry bed of a stream, which crossed
the path I 2 o yards from the same point of measurement.
The whole area of these ruins was, I suppose, not more than five
or six acres. But the ruins which Tristram describes are evidently
situated much nearer to the shore ; and Robinson also describes
the ruins as “extending down to the little bay along the shore,” +
observations which greatly extend the area of the ancient town; and
to these remains we must add the ruins upon the hill mentioned
by Schumacher, Wilson, Merrill, and others, of which we shall pre-
sently have to speak more particularly. So that, without including
the mound described by Merrill, which lay “a mile to the south,” or
any possible extension of the city on the Täbigha side of the rock,
we have traces of a town Comparable in size with that which stood
at Tell Húm.
At Tell Húm, when the thicket of thistles has died down, the
foundations of the houses on the bare Stony slope may no doubt be
easily seen, while at Minyeh they are for the most part buried in the
deep rich soil of the place, and the plough has passed over the greater
part of the city; but that a city stood there, and one of sufficient
importance to answer to the hints of its character given in the
Gospels, cannot certainly be doubted. These hints we must now
* “East of the Jordan,” p. 301. + “P.E, F, Q,S.,” 1877, p. 122.
†: “Later Biblical Researches,” p. 345.
T
290 TENT AND TESTAMENT
examine and see with which of the two places they more nearly
correspond.
5. It had a Roman Garrison.
The first hint is given by the mention of the centurion who was
stationed at Capernaum (Matt. viii. 5, and Luke vii. 2), which im-
plies that it was a place with a Roman garrison. Now Minyeh has
the ruins of a castle on the “bold bluff” which overlooks the town.
It is called Khurbet el-Oreimeh, and was built, no doubt, to com-
mand the pass round the lake, the great caravan route to Damascus,
and the road to the Mediterranean. This ruined castle is mentioned
by Thomson,” Merrill,f Kitchener, Í and other explorers. Tell
Hàm, on the other hand, has “no remains of a garrison,” $ and no
particular need of one.
6. And a Customs Station.
The second hint is given by the mention of Levi, the son of
Alphaeus, sitting at the place of toll (Matt. ix. 9, Mark ii. 14,
Luke v. 27). We infer from this that Capernaum had a customs
station, and it was presumably, therefore, on One of the great com-
mercial routes. Now the great caravan road to Damascus passes
Khān Minyeh, but does not pass Tell Húm. The route, as given
by Socin, is as follows. After leaving Mejdel, “it keeps by the
shore only for a short distance. Having traversed the small plain
of Gennesar, it begins again to climb the mountains where they
approach the lake at Khān Minyeh . . . and then it goes on to Khān
Jubb Yūsuf, strikes down again into the valley of the Jordan, and
crossing the river at Jisr Benat Ya'kub, holds on across Jebel Hish
to Damascus.” || Professor G. A. Smith describes this as the route
followed “from the earliest times”; "| Robinson,” Wilson,++
Merrill,ii. Burckhardt,S$ Sepp, Keim," "I all agree that this impor-
tant commercial highway turned up the mountains at Khān Minyeh,
and did not pass through Tell Húm.
This was the great Via Maris, or Way of the Sea,” to which allu-
sion is supposed by some to be made by the Evangelist Matthew ;
“He came and dwelt in Capernaum . . . [by] the Way of the Sea.”
* “The Land and the Book,” p. 350. f “East of the Jordan,” p. 457.
+ “P.E.F.O.S,” 1877, p. 123. See also Mr. Brass in “P.E.F.O.S.,” 1890, p. 178.
§ Merrill, “East of the Jordan,” p. 458.
| “Encycl. Bibl.,” “Palestine,” sec. 20. ‘ſ “Hist, Geog,” pp. 426–7.
** “Biblical Researches,” vol. iii. p. 296. fºr “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 386.
†: “East of the Jordan,” p. 457. “Here the Roman road, coming from the south,
touched the lake, and can still be traced.” §§ Vol. ii. 558, cited by Keim.
| Vol. ii. 190f, cited by Keim. TT “Jesus of Nazara,” English translation, ii. 369.
*** Edersheim, “Jesus the Messiah," vol. i. p. 147. Schumacher in “P.E. F.Q.S.,”
1889, p. 78.
APPENDIX ID 29I
(Matthew iv. 15). That, however, is a somewhat forced interpre-
tation ; but what is important to note is that Capernaum was a
customs station, and that Khān Minyeh was situated at a point where
three branches of the great caravan-road gathered into one, and
entering the narrow valley with no other issue, struck up the moun-
tains away from the lake-shore. A more convenient place for col-
lecting customs both from land and lake could not be imagined. Sir
Charles Wilson, although he always held to Tell Húm, admitted in
the passage cited above that “the Roman road from Tiberias to
Damascus certainly left the lake at Khān Minyeh, and struck up over
the hills to Khān Jubb Yūsuf; and if Capernaum was situated on
this, it would at once decide the question in favour of Khān Minyeh.”
The points urged against this view are that there is no direct,
evidence that the road ran through Capernaum, and that the tolls
which Levi was collecting may only have been town tolls.” Both
of which positions may be admitted ; but, as the whole argument
must necessarily depend upon the cumulative force of several pro-
babilities, the situation of Minyeh upon the great highway remains
an important element in the problem. It must be estimated in
contrast with the fact that Tell Húm “is two or more miles from
the Roman road on which the custom-house where Matthew was
would naturally be.” f
7. It had a Synagogue.
The next indication which we gather from the Gospels is that
Capernaum had a synagogue, built for the town by the centurion
who was stationed there. This is a point which has been much
insisted upon in favour of Tell Húm ever since the celebrated White
Synagogue was discovered there. Nothing, it is true, is told us as
to the beauty of the synagogue which the centurion built, but there
is something attractive in the idea of Jesus preaching in that marble
building on the open sunny shore at Tell Hàm, which holds the
imagination and gives a greater weight to the existence of these
beautiful fragments than it deserves for the purposes of the argument;
in a city of the size of Minyeh there must also have been a syna-
gogue, but it is buried and we have never seen it.
The fatal objection to the White Synagogue of Tell Húm being
that which the centurion built is, that in the opinion of the best
authorities, it dates only from the second century A.D. Colonel
Conder says that it “seems probably (by comparison with those at
Meirán) to be the work of Simeon Bar Jochai, the Cabalist, who
* Smith, “Dictionary of Bible,” “Capernaum.”
f Merrill, “East of the Jordan,” p. 458.
292 TENT AND TESTAMENT
lived about 12 o A.D.” “ That is a time at which Judaism was
flourishing in Galilee. The Sanhedrin then had its seat at Tiberias.
Indeed, it is not at all improbable that the city which now lies ruined
at Tell Húm is not a Scriptural city at all—neither Bethsaida, nor
Chorazin, nor Capernaum—but a place which took its rise under
Jewish auspices in the second century of our era.f
8. It probably had a Harbour.
At Capernaum lived Simon and Andrew, James and John, all of
whom were fishermen, and had boats on the lake. Presumably,
therefore, it had a harbour, or at least a quay. And if the
Keqiapywpov to which Josephus was brought, when he was hurt in
the skirmish with the Romans on Butaiha, was indeed Capernaum,
that also would go to show that it was a place with a harbour for
ships; for the object of Josephus was to get to Taricheae, and
thither he was taken the same night, which could only have been
accomplished if he went by water.
Now, Minyeh has a harbour used even at this day for landing
wood from the east shore.: Under the shelter of the jutting rock
which bounds Gennesaret and cuts off the beach of Minyeh from
the bay of Täbigha beyond, there is a pool still large enough for
floating boats, which must have been much larger before it became
half choked by débris from the cliff and by the bordering
marsh. That marsh formed by the earth brought down in
long centuries by the little streams from Ain et-Tin, now grows
a great thicket of papyrus ; what may be buried beneath the
matted roots of the thicket we cannot tell. Macgregor paddled
his canoe through the still open channel into this jungled pool and
searched it for traces of buildings, but without success. Wilson,
however, found “standing on the lake, near the point where the Ain
et-Tin flows in,” the shaft of a small basaltic column five inches in
diameter,S showing at any rate that the town extended to this shore,
and increasing the probability that this bay was used as its port.
In addition to this harbourage, let it be taken into account that
just on the other side of the rock lies the little Bay of Täbigha,
which “is admirably suited for boats. It shelves gradually, the
anchorage is good, and boats can be safely beached . . . the water
is deep, and nearly free from boulders until near the south-west end.”||
* “Tent-Work,” p. 295. See also Merrill, “East of the Jordan,” p. 458.
f See “P.E. F.Q.S.,” 1879, p. 169. The “synagogue” is now (1906) being re-ex-
cavated, and rumour has it that the so-called “Synagogue" is proving to be a
Mithraic temple. :: Sepp. pp. 182, 191, cited by Keim (Eng. Trans, vol. ii. p. 371).
§ Wilson, quoted by Macgregor, “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” p. 362.
| Macgregor, loc. cit.
APPENDIX D 293
It is evident, therefore, that if Capernaum stood upon this rock and
in the plains beneath, it was a place well furnished with accommo-
dation for shipping on either side of its high central point.
And now, how does Tell Húm compare with this P Dr. Pococke
said that he “could plainly observe a round port for small boats.””
But the late Sir Charles Wilson, who gave no mere passing glance,
but “eagerly searched ”the shore for traces of an artificial harbour,
confessed that his search was “without success "; and although he
was an ardent advocate of the Tell Hàm theory, admitted that “the
boats which formerly belonged to the town must always have taken
shelter at et-Tabigha, or, as is just as probable, have been drawn up
on the bank when not in use.”f Mr. Macgregor, however, upon
this particular point, deserves perhaps more attention than any
other traveller, since he looked at the matter as an expert in the
navigation of boats, and his testimony is emphatic. The nearest
point to Tell Hàm suitable for fishing-boats to beach he considers
to be the second bay to the west. As to Dr. Pococke’s “round
port for small boats,” he declares it to be no port at all, but “a most
treacherous reef.”; ; and on the whole question of Capernaum and
its harbour, his opinion about Tell Húm is as follows: “In no part
about this point is there any proper place for boats. The land is
too rocky to beach them ; the water is too shallow to moor them ;
the bottom is too stony to anchor them. There is no protection here
from the worst winds, no pier, no harbour; and where you can
neither beach, nor moor, nor anchor a boat in Safety, how can that
be the port of a large town P”
9. It is spoken of as “exalted unto Heaven.”
The next point is one upon which I should lay more stress than
many would think that it deserves. In the woe which Jesus pro-
nounced upon Capernaum. He seems to imply that it stood in a
prominent and exalted position. To somes this inference seems no
longer to hold, since the agreement of the Codex Sinaiticus with the
Codex Vaticanus led to the correction of the text. The revised
version reads, “And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto
heaven?” and this substitution of a question for direct assertion
is supposed to nullify the argument as to the situation of Capernaum.
To the present writer a rhetorical turn of this kind seems to
diminish scarcely at all whatever force the argument ever had. The
passage still implies that Capernaum was, or thought itself to be,
* “Travels in the East,” Book I. ch. xviii., quoted by Wilson, “Lands of the
Bible," ch. ii. p. I45 fr. + “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 346.
+ “Rob Roy on the Jordan,” second edition, p. 342.
§ E.g., Sir Charles Wilson. See “Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 346.
294 TENT AND TESTAMENT
“exalted unto heaven.” That is to say, it was differentiated from
the other places mentioned in the context by being literally or
figuratively lifted up.
Now, to myself it seems much more consonant with the method
of Jesus’ peasant-teaching to suppose that He drew His lesson from
Something which appealed to the eye, than to suppose that He used
a rather far-fetched metaphor to indicate a spiritual or municipal
pride which there is no particular reason for supposing that Caper-
naum ever felt. Of two places, one of which lay upon a gradually
shelving shore, and the other stood upon a lofty cliff, it would
Seem natural to me to suppose that the allusion was to the latter.
This consideration ought, I think, to tell rather more strongly than
it does with some in favour of Minyeh. The ruins of Minyeh are
found not only upon the plain to the south of the cliff, but on the
mountain-side above. It is even possible that the ruins called
Khurbet Khureibeh, which stand upon the hills above et-Täbigha,
were connected with the ancient city. But, without insisting upon
this, the remains of the old castle, Khurbet el-Oreimeh, already referred
to, and some few other remains which exist in its neighbourhood, are
sufficient to show that the city which clustered beneath the cliff,
between the mountain and the lake, looked up to an acropolis upon
the rocky mountain-side, which would be visible from far and near.”
This would account for the phrase used by Sanderson in the
description of Minyeh already quoted, wherein he says that it “is
over the point of land.”f Indeed, taking all things into considera-
tion, the ruins on the hill, the ruins in the plain near the Khān, the
ruins near the harbour, the fact that probably part of the existing
aqueducts at Täbigha and certainly the Octagonal reservoir, are
Roman, and that tesserae have been picked up along the little bay
on that same side of the Minyeh cliff,1 it may be inferred that the
ancient town which stood here included : A castle on the hill,
commanding the caravan road, the Plain of Gennesaret, the Bay of
Täbigha and the Lake ; grouped around this, other buildings for
Roman and civil officers; a custom-house situated where the
caravan-road turns up the mountain, possibly near the spot where
the old Khān stands now ; a residential quarter built on the plain
to the south of the cliff, but climbing the mountain-side toward the
castle; a sheltered port close under the cliff; a manufacturing
suburb on the north of the dividing-rock, where at the present day
the great Täbigha spring rushes down and the broken aqueducts
* See Wilson, “Recovery of Jerusalem," p. 351 ; Schumacher, “Zeitschr, des Deut.
Palaest.,” vol. xiii. 70, cited by G. A. Smith, “Hist. Geog.,” p. 457 fr.; H. Brass,
“P. E. F. Q.S.,” 1890, pp. 178, 179; Merrill, “P.E.F. Q.S.,” 1891, p. 75.
+ “Purchas His Pilgrimes,” Part II. p. 1635.
f H. Brass, ‘‘P.E.F. Q.S.,” 1890, p. 18O,
APPENDIX D 295
stand ; and above this the octagonal reservoir with the southern
aqueduct leading away to the rock-cut channel, through which the
water rushes in a full stream to be carried on arches through the
town and across the northern half of the Plain of Gennesaret. Such
a town would fit the Bible story well.
There is one other desideratum which the town thus pictured
supplies, but which the site at Tell Hàm seems to leave quite
unsatisfied :
Io. “The Mountain * behind Capernaum.
Seeing the multitudes He went up into the mountain (Matt. v. 1).
“He goeth up into the mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He
Himself would " (Mark iii. 13; Luke vi. 12). “And when He was
come down from the mountain—there came a leper and worshipped
Him” (Matt. viii. 1). These incidents are all definitely assigned to
Capernaum, and probably those narrated in Matt. xiv. 23 ; xv. 29 ;
Mark vi. 46 and other passages belong to the same place. The
phrase is, as given in the Revised Version, “the mountain,” not
“a mountain.” Here, then, we have evidence of the proximity of a
mountain to the town. Some definite, well-known height close by
Capernaum afforded a place of quiet retreat for Jesus and His
disciples. At Tell Húm there is no such height. The long
gradual stony slope leads by a wearisome journey to distant hill-
tops, but there is nothing that could by any stretch of language be
called “the mountain.” If the term were used in that neighbour-
hood, it would be immediately met by the question “which
mountain P”; but at Khān Minyeh “the mountain * is definite and
unmistakable. There it is, starting forth from the general range,
and bathing its foot in the very waters of the lake. As we rowed up
and down the lake, I bore this point in mind; and, again and
again it struck me how well the phrase fitted, and how impossible it
was to fit it to any other place along this shore.
I I. The Philological Argument.
At this point one feels almost at a loss to know why the Tell Húm
site has been defended so ardently by some New Testament
geographers. For this ardour the White Synagogue is partly
responsible. I was myself taught in childhood to picture Caper-
naum stretched along the open and Sunny shore at Tell Húm with
the marble synagogue gleaming in its midst ; and I know from
experience how difficult such a picture once formed is to dislodge
from the mind. But to this must no doubt be added the weight
which the philological argument has carried, and to that argument
we must briefly advert.
296 TENT AND TESTAMENT
The name Tell Húm, it has been maintained, contains within it a
remnant of the name Capernaum. When Caphar Nahum, the
village of Nahum, fell to ruin, the Arab changed “Caphar,” the
village, to “Tell,” a mound of ruins ; then followed the loss of the
first syllable in Nahum, and so the name Tell Húm was arrived at.
In answer to this hypothesis it is denied that such a process as
dropping the first syllable can possibly take place. Prof. George
Adam Smith speaks of “Húm " as an “impossible contraction.””
Robinson f and Conder i say that it is possible, but extremely
unlikely. Thomson Š and Wilson | argue for it and give analogies.
However this may be, the fatal objection remains that there is no
“tell” at the place. “Tell” does not mean merely a ruin, it
means a mound, and the mound is wanting. Now the Talmuds
mention a Caphar Tanhum, Tanhumin or Tchūmin," and Prof. G.
A. Smith considers that Guérin was right when he pronounced the
name Tell Hàm to be simply a corruption of Tanhum, the place
where Rabbi Tanchum was buried.** But Colonel Conder would
seem to have proved thirty years ago that this Caphar Tanchum of
the Talmuds was the Crusading Capernaum on the Mediterranean
coast, and identical with Tantura or with Kefr Lām not far from
there.ff
Another attempt to account for the name is that which identifies
Tell Hàm with “the ancient Tellum,” called by Josephus Thella,
being the village to which Josephus measured the breadth of Lower
Galilee from Meroth on the West.ºf If this derivation is accepted,
it answers the question which is often (though not very reasonably)
asked, “If Tell Húm is not Capernaum, what is it P”
As to Minyeh it is supposed by many to be derived from Minim or
sorcerers, a nickname which was applied to those Jews who had
become Christians. In the Talmud the term Huta, sinners, is used
as an equivalent for the word Minim, and the same term Huta is
elsewhere defined as “sons of Caphar Nahum.” From this it is
inferred that Capernaum was looked upon as the head quarters of
the Minim or Jewish Christians. This receives some confirmation
from the fact that Isaac Chelo, who saw the ruins of Caphar Nahum
in 1334, remarks incidentally, “Here formerly dwelt the Minim.” $$
* “Hist. Geog.," p. 456 fr. - f “Later Biblical Researches, p. 354 fr.
f “Tent-Work," p. 293 § “The Land and the Book,” p. 354.
| “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 386. T Smith, D. B., art. “Capernaum.”
* “Hist. Geog,” p. 456 fri. ©
++ Colonel Conder finally settles on Kefr Lam, but that village is barely two miles
from Tantura, which Colonel Conder first advocated, and the name of the latter looks
as though it might be akin to Tanchum. See “P.E.F.O.S.," 1875, p. 9o ; 1876, p. 17.
++ Schwartz, p. 70, quoted by Macgregor, p. 389 fm.
§ Conder, “Tent-Work,” p. 293; G. A. Smith, “Hist, Geog.,” p. 456 ſn. ; Keim,
“Jésus of Nazara,” vol. ii., p. 371 (English translation).
APPENDIX D 297
Another suggested derivation is from Mineh, harbour *; and yet
another from Arabic el-Munya, a hamlet. It is said in support of
the latter that in the eleventh century a place lay here called Munjat
Hischam, and that the name Hischam was afterwards dropped f ;
that in the fifteenth century it was called el-Munya ; and we may
add that in the seventeenth century John Sanderson, as we have
seen, knew it as Almenia.
Amid this conflict of authorities a layman finds it difficult to form
a judgment. All that seems clear is that the philological claim of
Minyeh is no worse than that of Tell Húm.
12. The Argument from Tradition.
I do not propose to dwell at any length upon the argument
from tradition. Those who desire to study it in detail may be
referred to the works of Robinson, Thomson, Sepp, Wilson, Conder,
G. A. Smith, Keim, Stanley, and many other writers.j. The upshot
seems to be that, as Prof. Smith puts it, “A strong Christian tradi-
tion from the sixth century onward has fixed [the site of Capernaum]
at Tell Húm,” and that “for Khān Minyeh the tradition is nearly as
old.” Jewish tradition, however, is in favour of Minyeh, and, as
Colonel Conder says, “When these two traditions are discordant, the
Christian ceases to be of much value, for it is evident that the
traditions of the Jews, handed down unbroken by an indigenous
population which was never driven from the country, must take pre-
cedence of the foreign ecclesiastical traditions of comparatively
later times, which can so often be proved self - inconsistent, or
founded on fallacy.” $
The conclusion which I would draw from the whole of the
evidence is, that probabilities incline strongly to el-Minyeh. Espe-
cially would I urge that when the natural features of that place are
taken in combination and compared with the indications in the
Gospel story no other spot upon the lake-shore suits those indica-
tions so well ; nowhere else is it so easy to reconstruct a Capernaum
which answers to the home of Jesus as the New Testament
describes it.
* “Encycl. Bibl.,” art. “Capernaum.”
# See Professor G. A. Smith, “Hist. Geog,” p. 456 fr.
i For readily accessible summaries of the argument from tradition, see especially
“The Encyclopaedia Biblica” and Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible,” articles
“Capernaum ”; Wilson and Warren, “Recovery of Jerusalem,” p. 383 ; and Conder,
“Tent-Work,” pp. 292–7. § “Tent-Work,” p. 297.
298 TENT AND TESTAMENT
E. THE BET H ESDA QUESTION
(See ch. xxxiii.)
THE Bordeaux Pilgrim (A.D. 333) referred to in the text (p. 206)
thus describes his visit to Bethesda :—
“There are at Jerusalem two great pools at the side of the
Temple, that is, one on the right hand and the other on the left,
which Solomon made. But more within the city are two twin
pools, having five porches, which are called Bethsaida [Bethesda].
Here the sick of many years were wont to be healed.”
Now, if we suppose the Pilgrim to have entered the city by the
Gate of St. Stephen, the three pools which he mentions are easily
identified. The one on the right hand would be that which lies
beside the Church of St. Anne, the one on the left would be that
known now as Birket Israin ; and the “Twin Pools,” “more within
the city,” would be the double pool beneath the Convent of the
Sisters of Zion.
One point in favour of the Twin Pools being Bethesda is their
antiquity. They were cut in the bottom of the Moat of the Castle
of Antonia, and were in existence therefore before that moat was
filled up. As stated in the text, they correspond in situation with
the Pool Strouthion, mentioned by Josephus in his account of the
Siege of Jerusalem, and, if that identification holds, they must have
been in existence at the commencement of Our era.
Another point is that the pool lends itself to the feature of the
“Five Porches.” An ordinary rectangular bathing-pool would have
four such cloisters or colonnades, but this one with its dividing wall
of rock, five feet in breadth, might very well have five. In the life-
time of Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386) five cloisters actually existed,
four round the double pool and one down the middle.
A third point is its proximity to the Sheep Gate. For, although
the Sheep Gate was formerly placed at Bab el-Kattānin on the west
of the Temple area, Bethesda being placed at the neighbouring
Hammām esh-Shifā, the weight of modern authority is in favour of
a position for the Sheep Gate near to the eastern extremity of the
north wall of the ancient city, at a point which at present lies
within the Harām, and which would be about 150 yards to the
south-east of the Twin Pools.
There is an ancient aqueduct leading to the Twin Pools, which
has been traced as far as the northern wall, where it was cut through
APPENDIX E 299
when the ancient fosse was made. A tradition of running water
seems, moreover, to be preserved in the name of one of the neigh-
bouring streets, which the Arabs call the Street of Bubbling Water.”
Nevertheless, the assumption with which Warren started, that the
pools were fed by a living spring, does not appear to be justified,
for the nearest spring with which the aqueduct could have been
connected is that of Bireh, ten miles away, and no trace of it has
been found in that direction, notwithstanding extensive excava-
tions for road-making and building. It is more probable, therefore,
that it merely collected rain-water from the rocks north of the city.
The three points in favour of identifying the Twin Pools with
Bethesda apply with equal weight to St. Anne's Pool, except that in
the case of the latter the fifth “porch " would be short and insig-
nificant, since the two oblong reservoirs lie end to end, whereas in
the case of the Twin Pools they lie side by side. The one fact
which weighs heavily in favour of St. Anne's Pool is its proximity to
the Sheep Gate, assuming that the modern view of the position of
that gate is correct.
With respect to the view taken in the text that, supposing the
account of the healing at Bethesda to be based on a real incident,
that incident probably occurred at Siloam, it may be objected that
Siloam is not near the Sheep Gate. But we have to bear in mind
that neither “gate,” as in the Revised Version, nor “market,” as
in the Authorised Version, is to be found in the Greek text, and
that what the rpoSarikº was is matter of conjecture; also that the
site of the Sheep Gate itself is still in dispute, and that such authori-
ties as Robinson, Lightfoot and Conder place it at the south-east
corner of Jerusalem, close to Siloam. But even supposing the
Sheep Gate to have been at the north-east corner of the ancient
Temple area, where most recent authorities, as explained above,
place it, this does not really affect the question of the historical
fact, it only affects the question what pool the Evangelist himself
assigned to the miracle. He may not, as suggested in the text,
have known the name of the pool, and may have invented the name
Bethesda for its figurative significance. But even if he knew the
incident to have occurred at Siloam he would be free, in a book
confessedly allegorical, to use the poetic licence of transferring the
incident, together with some topographical features of Siloam, to
another pool. Supposing the five porches to be a topographical
* Is it possible that Hosh Bezbezi (bubbling of water) is a reminiscence of the
ancient name of the pool, which, as Edersheim Suggests (“Jesus the Messiah,” ninth
edition, vol. i. p. 463), “might combine, according to a not uncommon Rabbinic
ractice, the Hebrew Bed,” with some Aramaised form derived from the Greek word
gº ‘to boil,' or “bubble-up' (subst. Séorts); in which case it would mean ‘the House
of Bubbling-up,’ viz., water”?
3OO TENT AND TESTAMENT
fact, and not merely an allegorical symbol; and supposing Bethesda
(or as the Codex Sinaiticus gives it “Bethaatha") to be but a cor-
ruption of Bezetha-the new north-eastern suburb—then, one of
the two double pools at the north of the Temple (that at St. Anne's
or that at the Convent of Zion) is probably the pool which the
Evangelist had in mind. Upon this pool of Bethesda, which was
known to him in fact or by repute he grafts the story, because it
supplied him with the sacrificial idea suggested by the Sheep Gate,
and a symbol for the “five porches '' of human sensibility. But the
one central feature, the troubling of the water, belonged to the
actual occurrence and to the actual place. The healing act was
wrought beside the troubled waters of Siloam, but transferred to
Bethesda for the sake of certain accessory features which aided the
symbolism of the story.
F. T H E SITE OF HERO D’S T E M P LE
(See p. 230)
IF we are to picture to ourselves the Temple as it appeared in the
time of Jesus, we must determine, first, the extent and form of the
surrounding area ; and, secondly, the position of the Sanctuary
within that area.
It is agreed on all hands that Antonia stood at the north-west
corner of the Harām, where the Turkish barracks now stand; that
the present north-east corner was then wanting, a valley running at
that time diagonally across the space now occupied by that corner;
also, that the south-west corner is Herodian. The eastern side is
in dispute, some holding that the present east wall corresponds
with that of Christ's time, others that Herod's wall was much further
west, and that the antiquity of the south-east corner is to be
accounted for by the existence of a detached tower at that point.
The facts as to the external masonry, which govern the whole
question, are as follows:—
Starting from the Jews' Wailing Place northward, we find that
until we reach the north-west angle of the Harām, the whole of the
west wall is encumbered with buildings to such an extent that there
are only one or two points where it can be seen, but at these points
the lower part of the wall is of the same character as that of the
Wailing Place. Near the north-west corner, opposite to that
rectangular rock upon which the Fortress of Antonia once stood,
APPENDIX F 3OI
the character of the wall is of special interest. A peep of it can be
obtained by entering the old aqueduct which comes down from the
Twin Pools ; and what is found is that the wall is eight feet thick,
that the masonry is similar in character to that at the Wailing
Place, that it projects eight or nine feet from the main line of the
wall (which is what we should expect in the boundary wall of a
corner castle), and that it is furnished with buttresses like those of
another great work of Herod's—the walls of the Harām of Hebron.
Turning the corner we follow the northern scarp of the same
rocky platform eastward for a distance of 35o feet. There the
Scarp ends, and we might perhaps have expected some ancient and
massive wall to form the northern boundary of the Harām; but
nothing of the sort appears. The whole of the northern wall is
recent, dating probably from the twelfth century of our era.
At the north-east corner the character of this masonry can be
plainly seen, for the north wall of the Harām forms the south wall
of the Birket Israin. The stones are of medium size and irregularly
built, and excavation has proved that this is so down to the rock;
there is nothing there at all like the masonry of the Wailing Place.
But directly we turn the corner and begin to go southward, we
find ourselves in more ancient times. Not necessarily, however, in
Herodian days. In fact, there are two reasons against supposing
that this north-eastern corner was Herod’s work. One is that it is
not a corner at all; that is to say, the ancient east wall does not
turn the corner, but runs past it northward, as though this were
part of the old city wall rather than that of the Harām, while the
mediaeval north wall merely abuts upon it with a straight joint.
Another fact is that the stone is of inferior quality and the masonry
of a different character from that of our Wailing-Place masonry.*
This doubtful masonry extends southward for 179 feet, almost
to the Golden Gate; then comes a Moslem cemetery, and no
excavations can be made. From the Golden Gate southward the
* “Recovery of Jerusalem,” vol. i. pp. 162, 167. The stones are said to have great
bulging rough surfaces within the draft of the blocks; but too much has been made of
this circumstance, for, in the projecting tower which rises Squarely from the sloping
base at the north-east corner, the faces of the stone are dressed smooth, and at the
angle of the tower these two different faces are cut on one and the same stone (“P. E.F.”
Mem. “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 128) proving that the rough and smooth masonry are of
identical date. Moreover, Conder has pointed out that masonry of the same character
exists “west of the Double Gate, and on the west wall south of the Prophet's Gate,
where the stones have rustic bosses with great projection,” and “that in the three
places where the rustic work occurs a valley intersects the east, the west, and the
south walls of the Sanctuary respectively. It may be suggested,” he adds, “that the
ground was filled in in these valleys, both inside and outside the Sanctuary, above the
level of the rough masonry, at the time of the construction of the walls.” (“Jerusalem
Vol.,” p. 243. See also Hastings, “Dict. Bib.,” “Jerusalem.”). Nevertheless, Conder
recognises the masonry of the east wall north of the Golden Gate as of “somewhat
different" character from the Herodian masonry, and attributes this part of the wall
to Agrippa (41 A.D.). (“Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 245.)
3O2 TENT AND TESTAMENT
wall below the surface has never been seen, until you come within
I61 feet of the south-east angle, Nevertheless. there is said to be
some reason to suppose that this part of the wall is older than the
northern part.*
But, as we approach the south-eastern corner we unmistakably
resume the Herodian story. The walls here are 74 feet
in height, and contain blocks measuring from 16 to 22 feet in
length. Those whose theory confines Herod's Temple Courts to a
comparatively small square at the south-west corner of the Harām,
account for this masonry by supposing a detached tower there ;
but that supposition seems to be practically disposed of by Warren's
discovery of the Ophel wall. Josephus states that this wall, which
defended the Ophel and Tyropoeon valley, joined the Temple wall
at the south-east corner. Warren excavated the wall, and thus fixed
this corner as the original south-east corner of Herod's Temple.
This brings us to the south wall, and here again we find remark-
able and debatable features. The south side of the Harām is 922
feet long, and it is divided into three nearly equal sections by two
gates, called the Double and Triple Gates. Now, from the Double
Gate eastward, on a level with the sill of the gate, is a line of great
stones of double height, but this feature is not found westward of
that gate. From this fact, a different date has been assigned for
this part of the wall. But it seems, after all, to be small ground
for such a conjecture. The masonry is all of that vast and generous
style which we find exemplified at the Wailing Place and in the
undoubtedly Herodian sections of the wall; and, without some
additional reason for assigning this section to a different age, one
would be inclined to look for an explanation of this “master-
course in some other circumstance.”f And So we come to the
south-west corner, about which there is no dispute, all admitting it
to be Herodian.
So far as the masonry is concerned, therefore, we may say that
on the whole it bears out the view that the present walls coincide
with those of Herod, with the exception of the east part of the north
wall and the north part of the east wall; and this accords with the
view that Herod’s Temple area occupied an approximate square,
which may be described by drawing a line from east to west, a little
north of the Golden Gate : and that Antonia, with the cloister
connecting it with the Temple, projected northward from the north-
west corner of that Square.
As to the Temple building, or Sanctuary itself, the principal
reason for placing it at the south-west corner of the Harām is that
Josephus says that the Temple enclosure was a square measuring
* Smith's D. B., “Jerusalem,” p. 1638. Conder, in “P.E.F. Q.S.,” 1880, p. 93.
f P.E.F. “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 244.
APPENDIX F 303
4oo cubits (about 600 feet) each side; * and since the south-west
corner is the only right angle in the Herodian masonry, this is
the only corner in which such a square will fit. Therefore, the
Temple area, it is argued, must be found by measuring about 600
feet along the South wall and the same distance along the west
wall, starting in each case from the south-west angle. The facts
that the Triple Gate, where the solid ground ends, is 588 feet from
that corner measuring eastwards, and that Wilson's Arch is 586 feet
north of the same corner, are taken as confirmatory of the theory.
Josephus, writing far away in Rome, and dependent probably upon
memory, is so often astray in figures that the dimensions which he
records do not form a very strong foundation for the argument.
Nevertheless there is no doubt force in the contention that he
generally exaggerates instead of diminishing his numbers when he is
describing the glories of Israel's possessions; and here he con-
siderably diminishes the size of the Temple Courts, if they did
actually occupy the much larger space which we have assigned to
them above. Such a ground-plan as that described would give a
Square of something like 9oo feet a side, instead of 6oo.
Conder meets the difficulty by supposing that the figures of
Josephus relate only to the Soreg, or wall of partition which divided
off the consecrated ground from the Court of the Gentiles,f and it
is certainly noteworthy that the central platform, with a strip fifty
feet broad around it, would give approximately the required
measurement. It is difficult, however, to reconcile this view with
the language of Josephus unless we suppose that in the passages
cited he is describing not the Temple of Herod but the Temple of
Solomon.f And this is probably what he is doing. He appears in
fact to identify the dimensions of Herod's Temple enclosure with
Solomon's, although elsewhere he distinctly says that when Herod
rebuilt the Temple he “encompassed a piece of land about it with
a wall; which land was twice as large as that before enclosed.” $
On the whole, we may conclude, I think, that when Josephus gives
the dimensions of the Temple area as a stadium each side, he is
giving the measurement of the ancient and Sacred area ; and it is
confirmatory of this that on the hypothesis of the ground-plan which
we arrived at on the evidence of the masonry, Herod's area,
including the Court of the Gentiles, would actually be rather more
than twice the size of the sacred area as given by Josephus. ||
* P.E. F. “Jerusalem Vol.,” p. 97. Smith, D. B., second edition, p. 1639,
“Jerusalem.” f “Tent-Work,” pp. 183–186.
“Ant.,” xv., xi. 3, 5 ; xx., ix. 7; and “Wars,” v., v. 2. § “Wars,” i., xxi. I.
| Cf. Hastings, D. B., “Jerusalem,” p. 598. Of course the prime objection to
Wilson's theory is that the south-west corner of the Harām really crosses the valley
of the Tyropoeon, and that the massive Temple buildings would therefore, on that
theory, have been built upon ground which had been made up by filling in Herod's
enclosing walls with rubble and earth, as already explained.
3O4 TENT AND TESTAMENT
Abandoning, therefore, ſhe theory that the Temple area, and
therefore the Temple itself, occupied the south-west corner of the
Harām, a theory which rests mainly upon the doubtful measurements
and the ambiguous language of Josephus, we are free to give due
weight to the evidence which goes to show that the holy house itself
stood over or near the Sakhra or sacred rock.
The points in favour of that view are, briefly stated, as follows:
(1) Josephus says that the Temple stood “ upon the topmost
plateau.” (2) If placed there, the levels of the Courts, as recorded
in the Mishna as well as by Josephus, agree with the actual rock-
levels, as ascertained by observation.* (3) The tenacity with
which Oriental tradition clings to sacred sites makes it likely that
the Sakhra, which is always regarded as the central sacred point of
the Harām, is the original centre of holiness. These points are
elaborated in the works already referred to, and, taken in conjunction
with other minor points there given, carry conviction to most minds
that the Temple stood at this central part of the Harām.
But now, if the Temple stood at or near the Sakhra, what was
the Sakhra itself? Was it, as Conder supposes, the stone of
foundation within the Holy of Holies P Or, was it the rock upon
which stood the altar of burnt-offering facing the holy place P
The former view seems to be clearly negatived by known facts.
A tradition was current, it is true, among the Jews, at the beginning
of our era, that the place of the lost ark was taken by a stone
called “the foundation stone'; but this was supposed to be
identical with the stone which Jacob “set up ’’ for a pillar at
Bethel, and must therefore have been a detached block of moderate
size.f The term, moreover, used in the Talmud to describe the
stone of foundation proves that it was not a rock but a moveable
stone. Yet, again, the size of the Sakhra negatives the theory;
for, the Holy of Holies measured twenty cubits each way and could not
have contained the Sakhra, which measures about two and a half
times that area. Finally, if the Holy of Holies stood here, the altar
must have stood so far to the east that there would have been no
room for the Courts.
On the other hand, if the Sakhra be regarded as the unhewn
rock upon which the altar of burnt offering stood, then a channel
observed in the rock, and a hollow which exists beneath it, are
accounted for. The channel would be designed to carry off the
blood, and the hollow beneath is probably a cistern connected with
the general system of conduits.
* “Tent-Work,” sixth edition, p. 288.
f Smith, D. B., second edition, “Jerusalem,” p. 1643.
† “Encycl. Bibl.,” “Temple,” col. 4928. It is worth noting that the sacrificial rock
on Mount Gerizim has a cave beneath it similar to the cave beneath the Sakhra
(Tristram, “Land of Israel,” p. 174.)
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I N D E X
ABEL OF BETH-MAACHAH, 93
Abil-el-Kamh, 93
Abimelech, 158
Abraham and the Cave of Machpelah,
I97, IQ9
Abraham's terebinth, 196, 201
Adamah, Ford of (cf. Damieh, Ford of)
Adonijah, 245
AEnon, 159, 178
Ahab, 43
Ain Belâta, Io9
Ain-ed-Dirweh, the legendary spring in
which Philip baptized the Eunuch, 196
Ain-el-Fāra, sometimes identified with
AEnon, I 59
Ain-el-Meiyiteh, 42
Ain-et-Tin (see Fountain of the Fig Tree)
Ain Jālūd, 42, 43
Ain Täbigha, 71, 78 (cſ. Bethesda—
Appendix)
Akiba, Rabbi, Tomb of, 128
Akra, the Greek, 226
Almond trees, 2, 34
Aloes, I25
Anchorites of Palestine, 149
Anemones, 12, 53, 6o ; their probable
identity with the “lilies of the field,”
60 (note)
Anise, 251
Antonia, 225, 226 (cf. Bethesda and Ap-
pendix E)
Antonia, Fort, 205–206, 225; Ecce Homo
3. f 5, 206 (cf. Bethesda and Appen-
IX
Apocalypse, reference to Pella in the, I46
Aqueduct of Gennesaret, 77 (cf. Appen-
dix D)
Aqueducts, Roman, 34 (cf. Fountains,
Irrigation, Water Supply, &c.)
Arab escort, an, 166; his dress and horse-
manship, 166
Arabia, I44
Arabs, ingrained deceit of, 31
Arak, 251
Arbela, I22
Archelaus, the probable tomb of, 191
Askar (see Sychar)
BALDWIN, Castle of, 66 - *
Băniyās, 93, 94, 97, Io; ; ancient bridge,
IoS ; the gateway, IoS ; the Grotto of
Pan, Ioff ; mixed religious associations,
Io?–8; Castle of, 93 (cf. Caesarea
Philippi)
Barbers, 224
Bartimaeus, I70, 171
Bashan, bulls of, 7o ; cliffs of, 60
Battle-ground of Palestine (cf. Esdraelon,
Plain of)
Beatitudes, Mount of, 57
Beautiful Gate, The, 234
Bedawin Camps, 68, 89, 91, Io9, I4I, 151
Beeroth, I3, I4; vineyards of, I4; an old
tradition, 15
Beisãn, I44, 153, I54; theatre of, I55;
road-making, I56; the ancient Beth-
Shan (q.v.) -
Beit-Dejan (the ancient Beth-Dagon), 7
Bêt-Lahm, 46
Beth-Dagon (see Beit-Dejan)
Beth-Nimrah (the reputed Bethabara),
173, 175; the traditional scene of the
baptism of Jesus, 176; baptisms by
St. John, 178
Beth-zur (Jordan), 181, 182; ruins of an
ancient bridge, 182
Beth-zur (Judaea), ruins of a tower which
marks the site of, 196
Bethabara, I52, 175; its variants, 175,
177 (cf. Bethany, Beth-Nimrah, Tell
Nimrin)
Bethany, 167; castle at, 167 ; “beyond
Jordan,” I75; house of Mary and
Martha, 246, 248; pomegranates of,
247; view from, 247; Dean Stanley's
topography of, 247–248 (cf. Bethabara,
Beth-Nimrah, Tell Nimrin)
Bethbarah, I52
Bethel, 15; “Jacob's Ladder,” 16; stone
circle at, 17
Bethesda, 203, 298; Hezekiah's Pool,
2O3, 209; other Pools, 203, 298 et seq.;
Biblical references, 2O4; the Twin
Pools, 206, 298; Birket Israin regarded
by Crusaders as Pool of, 207, 235, 298;
the Pool of St. Anne, 208–209, 299;
the Five Porches, 208, 299; the Sheep
Gate, 299; the “Street of Bubbling
Water,” 299; Siloam identified with,
3OO
U
306
TENT AND TESTAMENT
Bethesda Question, The (see Appendix E)
Bethlehem, 188; dress and coiffure of
women of, 188, 189; vineyards round
about, 189; Rachel's Tomb, 190; its
industries, 191 ; David's Well, 191,
192; Church of the Nativity, 192;
Scene in the church, 192, 193; the
chapels of the Greeks and Latins, 193;
the manger, 194; the cell of St. Jerome,
I94
Bethlehem-Ephratah (cſ. Bethlehem of
Judaea)
Bethlehem of Galilee, a visit to, 46–48;
the question of the true birthplace of
Jesus, 46, 257 et seq. ; native washer-
women, 47; ruins of synagogue and
church, 48; distance from Nazareth, 256
(cf. Bethlehem Question, The)
Bethlehem of Judea, 257, 262, 265
Bethlehem Question, The, 257-265 (Ap-
pendix B)
Bethlehem of Zebulon, 258
Bethsaida, 68; in search of, 68–71 ; Dr.
Thomson on, 68; the disputed site, 68,
69, 265 et seq. ; discrepancies in the
Gospels as to its site, 265 et seq.;
Josephus on, 272 ; meaning of, 272
(cf. Appendix C)
Bethshan, I52, I54; famous for its chariots,
I54
Bezetha, 163, 206; Hill of, 163
Bireh, the ancient Beeroth (q.v.)
Birket Israin regarded by Crusaders as
Pool of Bethesda, 235
Birds of Prey, 88, 97, Io4, 167; Canon
Tristram on, 88 (note), (cf. Eagles,
Pharaoh's Hen, Vultures)
Blood-feud, a reminder of, 159
Iłorage, I64
Brambles, 34
Brassworker, A, 250
Breadsellers of Jerusalem, 249
Broom plant, The, 58
Buffaloes, 7o, Io9
Bulbul, The, 174
CAESAREA PHILIPPI (now called Bāniyās),
93, 94, 97; waters at, forming one of
the sources of the Jordan, 94, Io& ;
Grotto of Pan, Ioë ; mixed religions,
Io'7, IoS
Caesar's Temple, ruins of, Ioë–7
Cairo, Joseph's Well at, 82 (note)
Calf, a stuffed, 91 ; the golden, set up
by Jeroboam, 96
Callirhoe, hot springs of, 17o
Calvary, Mount, reputed site, 9, Io,
163-4; the tomb, 164
Cana of Galilee, 57; other Canas, 58 ;
brook of, 58
Canaanites and their chariots, 154
Caper plant, the, 164
Capernaum, ruins of, 71,287; controversy
as to its sites, 72, 77 et seq., II5 et seq.,
274 et seq.; a mental picture of 115-II6;
the “Coracinus” fish, II5, II9, 282 et seq.;
was Capernaum in Gennesaret 2 286 :
“Capharnaum,”77, II5, 287 et seq.; the
Roman garrison, 290; the Customs
station, 290 ; the Synagogue, 291 ; its
probable harbour, 292; its plan, 293 ed
seq.; the “mountain” behind, 295; philo-
logical argument, 295; argument from
tradition, 297 % Minyeh, Tell Hàm,
and Appendix D)
Carmel, Mount, 48, 51
Castle at Bethany, 167; of Subébeh, 98
Census in Judaea and the birthplace of
Jesus, 259 et seq.
Chamomile plant, the, 65
Chariots, I54
Cherith, the brook, 168–169
Cheyne, Canon, on the Nazareth Contro-
versy, 255–6; on Wädi-el-Kelt, 168
Chorazin, 81 ; a picture of chaos, 81 ;
distance from Tell Húm, 81 ; Jerome's
description of, 81, 82; the ruins of 82
Christ, birthplace of (cf. Bethlehem);
His tomb, 257 et seq.; and Lazarus, 246
Church of St. Anne, Jerusalem, 208
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 205; the
Holy Fire, 237-240
Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, 192:
architectural details, 192–193; the
various chapels, 193; cell of St. Jerome
I94
Cisterns of Jerusalem, 235-236
“City of God's Friend,” the, 197
“City of Palms,” the, 17o
Cleopatra and the balsam of Jericho, I70
Climate of Palestine, 184–185
Conder, Colonel, on the Mosque of the
Forty, 19; on the Samaritans, 30 (node);
on Nazareth, 53; on Cana, 58; on the
“evil eye,” 125; on Kerak, 130 ; on
Herod's Temple, 301, 303
Conder's Calvary, 162
Conder's Sepulchre, 241-242
Coppersmith, A, 25o
Coracinus fish, II.5, II9, 282 et seq.
Corn, A measure of, 250
Coronation stones, 245 (and note)
“Cradle of Christ,” The, 233
Crusaders: Baldwin’s Tower, 66; towers
at Jericho, 171 ; castle at Hunin, 93
Cuckoo, The, 157 (and note)
Cyclamen, 53
Cypress-tree, 125
Cyrenius, 258, 259
DAGON, worship of, 4
Damascus Gate of Jerusalem, 161
Damascus-Beyrout Railway, The, 6 (note)
Damieh, Ford of, 181; the ford at which
Jacob, with his family and flocks, is
Said to have crossed, 182; a remark-
able coincidence with Joshua's crossing,
I82
INDEX
307
Dan, City of 95; opinions of Professor
Smith and Canon Cheyne, 95; of Dean
Stanley, J. Macgregor, and Canon
Tristram, 96
Dandelions as vegetables, 59
David's Tower, 203
David's Well, 191, 192
Dead Well, The, 42
“Debash,” 197
Decapolis, The, 144
Demoniacs (cf. Epileptics)
Dogs of Palestine, 41; of Tiberias, 62,72;
of Gadara, 137
Dome of David's Chain, origin of, 228;
(see, also, Dome of the Rock)
Dome of the Rock, 8, 225, 227—231; built
by el-Melik, 228 ; often confused with
the Mosque of Omar, 228; displaced
by earthquake, 229 (cf. Temple, the)
Dorcas, Tomb of, 2
Dôthán, Mountain of, 37
Double-pipe, the Syrian, 92
Dragon's Well, 245
Dress in the North and South of Pales.
tine, IO2, Io9
Druse religion, The, 98
Dyer, A, 250
EAGLES, 88, 97, Ioa.
Earthquake in Jerusalem, 229
Easter at Jerusalem, 159; the Latin, 161
et seq.; the Greek, 184
Ebal, Mount, 22, 28, 34, 159
Ecce Homo Arch, Antonia, 205, 206
Ecclesiastes, reference to the Pools of
Solomon, 195
Edersheim, Dr., 20, 43, 44
Ekron, 7
El-Arāj, 272
El-Batiha, Plain of, the scene of Josephus'
fight with Sylla, 68, 69
El-Bireh (see Beeroth)
El-Ghajar, Bridge of, 94
El-Khâlisah, 93 ; , ruined castles, 93;
Thomson's identification, 93
El-Lubban, 22, 159
El-Waggäs, I42
Elisha, Fountain of, 18O
Elisha's spring, 171
En-Gannin, 38, 39
En-Rogel, 245 (cf. Serpent's Well)
Endor, 42
Epileptics, I24
Eriha, 171, 180 (see, also, Jericho)
Er-Rām, 13, 14; the traditional grave of
Rachel, I3, 14
Esdraelon Plain of, 39–42, 44, 48
Eshcol, 197; grapes of, 197
Et-Täbigha, II 5
Et Tell, 272 et seq.
“Evil eye,” The, 125, 243
FAH'ſ L, 143–149; Battle of, I43; Terraces
of, 148
Feast of Tabernacles, 214
Fellahin, a concourse of, I31
Fetish worship, 132, 133
Fig-trees, 19, IoI, I53
Fire-flies near Gennesaret, 157
Fish-spears, III ; Biblical reference, III
Fish without scales, 119
Fishing, by fire-light at night, IIo; cast-
ing nets for, II?
Flint and steel, A, 21–22
Flora of Palestine, 2, 6, 7, 12, 19, 34,
44, 47, 53, 58, 6o (note), 65, 70, 75,
76, 77, 96, 125, 126, 131, 132, I4T,
I5I, I57, 164
Fountain of Elisha, 18O
Fountain of the Fig-tree, 76, II4, II5,
Josephus on, II5
Fountain of Gardens, 39
Fountain of Gideon, 43
Fountain of Jezreel 42
Fountain of Sychar, 159
Fountain of the Sealed Spring, 195
Fountain, the Marble, Io9
Fountain of Capernaum, II5–II6 (and
Appendix D)
Fountains of Nazareth, 54
Franciscan Monks at Tell-Húm, 79–80
Frogs in the Holy Land, 91–2, Io9, IIo
GADARA, Ruins of, 132 : rags as offer-
ings, I32–133; the city wall, 133; the
Acropolis, 134; its theatres, 134-137;
dogs of, 137; typical coins, 138; famous
citizens, 139 ; views from the hills,
I4O
Gadarenes, country of the, 63, 64
Galilean Bethlehem, The, 256
Galilee, Lake of, first glimpse of, 59–60,
II7; the fishing-nets, 117; varieties of
fish in, II.8, 119; Tristram on the fertility
of its waters, 119 ; birds and insects,
I2O
Gate Beautiful, The, 234
Gazelles, 141
Gennesaret, 72 ; its fig-tree, 76; old
Roman aqueduct, 77 ; famous for its
fruits, II6; fire-flies, near, 157
Gennesaret, Plain of, I 13, 275 et seq. ,
Josephus on, 275; springs which water,
276 et seq.; Tristram on, 275; irriga-
tion of, 276 et seq.
Gergasa (or Gerasa), 62; discrepancies in
the Synoptic Gospels of the demoniac
and the swine, 63–65; the tombs, 66;
Dr. Thomson's account, 66, 67
Gerizim, Mount, 22, 23, 26, 28; annual
Sacrifice of the Passover lamb, 34 ;
” Sacrificial rock on, 304 (note).
German Catholic hospice, 80, 117
Gethsemane, Garden of, the traditional,
Io, 185; the olive trees in, 185–186:
Empress Helena and, 186 ; Author's
impressions, 186; derivation of name,
187
308
TENT AND TESTAMENT
Gibeah of Benjamin (cf. Tell-el-Fāl)
Gideon's Fountain, 43
Gihon, Watercourse and Pool,
valley of, 245
Gilboa, Mount, 42; the Dead Well, 42
Goats, hair of, used for tent-making, 250
Golden Gate, The, 234 ; probably the
point at which Jesus entered Jerusalem
on Palm Sunday, 235
Golgotha, reputed site, I62; Sir Chas.
Wilson on, 163 (note)
Good Samaritan, The Khān of the, 168
Gordon's Calvary and Sepulchre, 161
Grapes of Eshcol, 197
“Great Plain,” The, 39, 40
Greek Church, Jaffa, 2
Greek Easter at Jerusalem, 237
Guérin, 48
2O4 ;
HADRIAN, Emperor, 186
Harāmat Jerusalem, 217,220 ; at Hebron,
I97; the traditional Cave of Mach-
pelah, 197
Harām esh-Sherif, 224 (cf. Temple, The)
Häsbâni River, 94; the head waters of
the Jordan, 94 ; Josephus on, 95 (note)
(cf. Jordan, The)
Hawthorn, The, 96
Hebrews (see Jews)
Hebron, 197; vineyards of, 197; the
“King's Pool,” 198, 200 ; the reputed
burial place of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, Igg ; Wailing-place of the Jews
at, 200 ; Abraham's mosque, 200; a
Mohammedan funeral, 200 ; an adven-
ture in a Jewish hostel, 200 ; Abraham's
terebinth, 196, 20I
Helena, Empress, and her visit to Jeru-
Salem, I86
Hermon, Mount, 22,98, IOI el seq.; race and
religion,98; dress, IoI; ploughing on, IO4
Herod the Great, temple of (Jerusalem),
222, 223, 300; the external masonry of,
301; the Sanctuary, 302; the ground plan
of 302; the Sacred Rock,303; hippodrome
of, 37; his building of Jericho, 17o:
the springs of Callirhoe, 17O ; his
loathsome death, 17o ; the balsam
groves, 17o; and Solomon's Pools, 196;
towers of, 203-4; palace of probably
Pilate's Praetorium, 205; bridge of, 221
(cf. Appendix F)
Herod the Great, temple at Samaria, 35
Hezekiah's Pool, 203, 209-2II
Hiel of Bethel, the city of, 181
Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, 237-240
Hollyhocks, I4I, I5I
Honey, 198
Horses, Syrian, 9 ; Dr. Merrill on, 9
Hūleh, Lake of, 88 ; Plain of, 87, Io9 ;
papyrus culture, 90 ; conformation of
children, 91 ; frogs in marshes, 91 ;
Jewish colony, II2
Hunin, Crusaders' castle at, 93
Huwära, 22, 23
Hyrcanus destroys Samaria, 35
IBZAN the Bethlehemite, 264
Invention of the Cross, 186
Iris, The, 53, 131
Irrigation of Gennesaret (see Appendix D)
33 the Holy Land (cf. Aqueducts,
Fountains, Water Supply)
Isaac said to have been buried at Hebron,
I99
Ishbosheth, 198
JACKALS, 7, 62
Jacob, reputed place of burial, 199
Jacob's Ladder, 16
Jacob's Well, 23, 25–28, 159
Jaffa, Author's arrival at, I ; first impres-
sions, 2 ; view from the minaret of the
Greek church, 2 ; tomb of Dorcas, 2 ;
house of Simon the Tanner, 2 ; the
Maccabaean treachery, 3; history of, 3 ;
the great fish of Joppa, 4 ; Joppa and
the sea-monsters, 4, 5 (note); the orange
groves of, 6
Jaffa gate, 224
Jannaeus, King Alexander, 131 ; a strange
battle, 131 ; Absalom's Pillar, probably
the tomb of Jannaeus, 131 (note)
Jenin (see En-Gannim)
Jeremiah's Grotto, 9, 161 ; the prophet's
allusion to the stork, 36
Jericho, distance from Jerusalem, 166;
Plain of, I69–170; its present appear-
ance, 17o ; “the City of Palms,” 17o ;
built by Herod the Great, 170; death
of Herod, 170 ; no fewer than four
Jerichos, 171 ; Eriha, 17I ; the Jordan,
174; Fountain of Elisha and the ancient
Jericho, I80, 181; a pilgrimage to Jeru-
Salem, 183–184
Jerome, St., cell of, at Bethlehem, 194
Jerusalem, scene in, 7 ; arrival at, 7 ;
“Zion,” 8; Church of the Holy Sepul-
chre, 8, 237 ; view of Mount of Olives
and Moab, 8; the Latin Easter at, 161;
the sepulchre adjoining “Gordon's "Cal-
vary, 161 ; Golgotha, reputed site, 162–
I63; visit to the Tomb, 164; water
supply of, 202; Hezekiah's Pool, 203,
209 et seq.; Tower of David, 203–204;
Swimming pools of 204; Via Dolorosa,
204–205; Church of St. Anne, 208;
the wailing - place of the Jews at,
217 ; Scene at the wailing-place, 217-
218 ; liturgy used, 218–219 ; Harām
walls, 217-220; Herod's bridge, 221 ;
the Temple in Our Lord's time, 221–
223; Eastertide at, 22.4—240 ; Mosque
of Omar, 225 (cf. Dome of the Rock);
Mosque of Aksa, 225, 231 ; Golden
Gate, 234; cisterns and water supply,
235–236 (cf. also, Appendix F); Conder's
INDEX
309
Sepulchre, 241-242; Virgin's Well, 242
et seq. ; the Streets of, 249 et seq.
Jesus, birthplace of, 256, 257; disputed
sites, 256 et seq.; the Gospels of St. Matt.
and St. Luke concerning, 257 et seq. ,
Micah's prophecy, 261 ; Rabbinic writ-
ings concerning, 261-262; St. Matthew's
Gospel, 263 (cf., also, Bethlehem, Naza-
reth, Nazareth Question—Appendix A)
Jewish farm colonies, II2; the Zionist
movement, II2
Jews, in Safed, 84, 85; superstitions of,
84, 125; laws regarding tattooing, Io9 ;
banished from Jerusalem, 218
Jews' wailing-place at Hebron, 200 ; at
Jerusalem, 217 ; scene at, 217–218;
liturgy used, 218–219; masonry of, 219–
22O
Jezebel, her death, 43
Jezreel, 41, 42 ; fountain of, 42 ; Plain of,
I53–154; view from, I53
Job : reference to papyrus, 90 ; reference
to fish spears, III
Joel's reference to locusts, I24
John, St., baptisms in the Jordan, 177-178
Jonah, and the great fish of Joppa, 4
Joppa (see Jaffa)
Jordan, The, 71 ; headwaters of, 94, 95,
97 (see, also, Bānyiás, Hāsbâni River)
Joseph's Pit, 38, 82 (and note), II3
Joseph's Well, Cairo, 82 (note)
Josephus on—Joppa, 4; the Grotto of Pan,
Ioé ; the census of Judaea and Galilee,
259–26o ; and Hezekiah's Pool, 203;
the Plain of Gennesaret, 275
Joshua and the city of Hiel, 181 ; and the
crossing of the Israelites, 181–182
Josiah destroys the Temple at Bethel, 17
Jotham's parable, 34
Judaea, Census in, 259 et seq.
KARN HATTIN, 57 and note
Kedesh (Khān Kadish), 129
Kefr Kenna (see Cana of Galilee)
Keral:, 129; probably the Taricheae of
Josephus, 129; its industries, 129
Kerāzeh (see Chorazin)
Kersa (see Gergasa)
Khān Jubb Yūsuf, 82, 113
Khān Kadish, I29
Khān of the Good Samaritan, The, 168
Khán Minyeh, 71, 76, II3; a famous
road, II3; the reputed Capernaum,
II4 ; Author's impressions, II4–II6
Khurbet Minyeh, 120
Kidron, Valley of, Io
Kingfishers, I2O
King's Pool, 213 (cf. Siloam, Pool of)
LAISH (cf. Dan)
Lazarus, Village of, 246; tomb of, 246
Lebonah, 22, I59 *
Leddan, River, 94 ; regarded by the
ancients as the source of the Jordan, 95
“Lilies of the field,” 60 (and note)
Locusts, a Swarm of, I23, 124; Biblical
references, 123, 124
Lupines, a mass of, 44, 70
Lydda, Olivc plantations of, 7
MACCABAEUS, Judas, 3
Maccabaeus, Simon, 226
Maccabees, Palace of, 221
Machpelah, Cave of, 197, 199; Dean
Stanley on, 199
Magdala, 75; its present appearance, 76
Magi, The well of, 188
Maimonides, 128
Makhāda, 152; Colonel Conder and, 152
Makhnah, Plain of, 23
Mamre, Abraham's Terebinth at, 196,
I97, 20I
Marble fountain, The, Io9
Marriage ceremony, A curious, I25
Marriage procession, A Mahommedan,
83, 84
Mar Sābā, Monastery of, 184
Martha and Mary, House of, 246, 248
Mats made from papyrus, 89
Meir, Rabbi, and his tomb, 128
Mejdel (cf. Magdala)
Mejdel esh-Shems (Mejdel of Damascus),
98 ; its inhabitants and religion, 98
Mellaha, or Place of Salt, 130 (note)
Menādireh, The (cf. Yarmūk, The)
Merom, Waters of, 88
Mesadiyeh (see Bethsaida)
Meshārif, Io
Mesopotamia, 190
Messiah, The, Rabbinic writers on the
birthplace of, 261 et seq.
Micah prophesies birth of Jesus, 261, 262
Mimosa, I57, 174
Mint and Cummin, 251
Minyeh, 72, 76, 77 (cf., also, Appendix D)
Mkés, I32, I34
Moab, Mountain of, I69
Mödein, birthplace of the Maccabean
revolt, 7
Mohammed and the Sacred Rock, 227 :
his “night journey to heaven,” 231
Mohammedan fetish worship, 132, 133
(and note), 235 (cf. Trees, rags and
shreds on)
Mohammedan burial-place, A, 70
Mohammedan funeral, A, 200
Mohammedan settlement in Safed, 84
Mohammedan wedding, A, 83, 84
Mohammedan well, An old, 142
Money-changers, 249
Moses, Tomb of, I84
Mosque El Aksa, 225, 231
Mosque of the Forty, The, 19 ; the re-
puted site of the Tabernacle, 20
Mosque of Omar, 225, 231
Mount of Beatitudes, 57
Mount of Olives, 8, 10, 60, 167, 185,
246—248
3IO
TENT AND TESTAMENT
Mount of Temptation, 171
Mount Gilboa, 42
Mount of Transfiguration, The reputed,
59
Muezzin, call to prayer, 40
NABLUS, 22, 28; bazaars of, 29; the
Samaritan synagogue, 29, 31 ; the high-
priest of, 29: Samaritan dress, 30 ; the
robes of the high-priest, 30, 31 ; the
holy Scrolls, 31, 32; view of, from
Gerizim, 33, 34
Naboth's vineyard, 42
Nain, 43; the “unfenced burial-place”
mentioned by Edersheim, 43; the
tombs of, 44; the widow of, 44
Narcissus, The, probable identity with
the Rose of Sharon, 6
Nargileh, The, 33
Nazareth, 44; present appearance of, 45;
the question of the true birthplace of
Jesus, 5o, 255 et seq.; a Sunday in, 50 ;
the Greek church at, 5o ; the Rock of
Precipitation, 51 ; St. Mary's Well, 54;
Synonymous with Galilee, 255, 256; the
controversy concerning, 255–257 (Ap-
pendix A)
Nob, site of, 13
OAKS, Wild, 47
Oleanders, 75, 76, 141
Olives, Mount of, 8, Io, I85, 246–248;
slaughter-houses on, 167
Olive-trees, 7, 19, 33, 38; in the Garden
of Gethsemane, 185
Omar, Mosque of, 225, 227—231 (cy.
Mosque el-Aksa)
Omri, City of, 35
Ophel, 204, 209, 214, 221
Orange-trees at IHebron, 198
Orchards of Joppa, 6
PALESTINE, Battle-ground of (cf. Es-
draelon, Plain of)
Palestine, climate of, 184
Palestine dress, Ioz, Iog
Palestine Exploration Fund, The, 17, 18,
202 (note), 28o, 281, 283, 285, 289, 290,
292, 294, 296, 3OI et seg.
Palestine flora (see Flora)
Palestine, tattooing in, Io9
Palm-trees of Hebron, 198; of Jericho, 170
Pan, Cave of, at Băniyās, 97
Pan, Grotto of, 97, IoS, Ioë ; Josephus
on, Ioč ; Professor Smith on, Ioff
Papyrus, 77, 9o; mats, 89; huts, 89, 90 ;
a jungle of, 90 ; Job's reference to, 90
Passports, II, 12
Patriarch's Pool, The, 203; Josephus
on, 2O3
Paula builds the monastery at Bethlehem,
I94 g
Pella, 143 ; Christian traditions, I43;
the refuge for the “Brethren” of Jeru-
Salem, I45, 146, 149; referred to in the
Apocalypse, 146; the terraces of, 148
(cf. Fahil)
Pharaoh's hen, Ioa
Pharpar, River, Ioo
Pillars, 16, 17, 140
Pipes of reed, 89; double pipes, 92
Ploughing at Safed, 87; on Hermon, Ioa
Ploughs in Palestine, 19, 41
Polish Jews, 85
Polygamy practised by Jews, 85
Pomegranates of Bethany, 247; of Ti-
berias, I25, 126
Pool of Hezekiah, 203, 209–211 ; of
Siloam, 209, 213; of St. Anne, 208,
209
Pools of Bethesda (see Appendix E); of
Hebron, 198; of Solomon, 195, 198;
Springs near, Supply Jerusalem, 202
Poplars, IoI
Potter, A, and his wheel, 250
Praetorium, The, 205
Publican, A, 250
QUIRINUS, 259
RACHEL, Grave of, 13, 14
“Rachel weeping for her children,” 190
Rachel's Tomb, 190, 191 ; its topo-
graphical interest, 190, 191 ; the prob-
able tomb of Archelaus, 191
Rain-storms, 184 ; Biblical references to,
I84
Raisins, 197
Ramah, Tower at, 190, 191
Ramleh, Tower of, 7
Ramsay, Dr., 44 (note)
Rice-plant, The, 90
Richard Coeur de Lion, 3
Road-making by Turkish soldiers, 156
Robinson's Arch, 221 ; Warren's dis-
coveries, 221
Robbers' caves, 122
Rock of Precipitation, The, 51
Rose of Sharon, 6
Rothschild, Baron, and the
movement, II2
Zionist
SACRED Rock, The, Moslem tradition
concerning, 227; a visit to, 229–230; the
legend of Mahommed, 231
Sacred shreds, 53, 92, 96, 132, 133 (and
720te), 235
Safed, 82–83; hills of, 83; a wedding pro-
cession, 83; Mohammedans and Jews
of 84, 85 ; Jewish belief regarding the
Messiah, 84, 85; the Jewish settlement
in, described, 85; Dr. Thomson on, 85;
the wadis around
St. Anne, Pool of 208–209, 298
St. Mary's Fount, 245
St. Mary's Well, 5 (note), 54, 209, 212, 213
* § 9 (Naz.), 54
Sakhra (see Dome of the Rock)
INDEX
3II
Salim, 159, 178
Samaria (now called Sebastiyeh), 35 ;
Herod's temple, 35; a flight of storks,
36; Herod's hippodrome and the Street
of Columns, 37; from Bethlehem, 48
Samaritan, The Good, The Khān of, I68
Samaritans : Synagogue, and ancient
manuscripts at Nablús, 29, 31; their
dress, 30; annual sacrifice of lamb at
Gerizim, 34
Samson's cave, 7
Saul's last battle, 42
Scopus, Mount, headquarters of Titus,
Io; view from, Io
Scythopolis, probable origin of the name,
I54 (note) (cf. Beisan)
Sebastiyeh (see Samaria)
Seilân, the ancient Shiloh (q.v.)
Sephardim Jews as polygamists, 85
Sepulchres, whitening the, 74
Serpent stone, 245
Serpent's Well, The, 245
Shafāt, 13
Sharon, Plain of, 6; Rose of, 6
Shechem (see Nablös)
Shiloh, 19; “The Mosque of the Forty,”
19; Well of, 20 ; “waters” of, 21
Shrines, 53 ; offerings of, 53, 132, 133
(and note)
Shushan Gate, 235
Silk-weaving, 250
Siloam, Pool of, 209, 213–216; Biblical
reference, 209; an old inscription, 210;
Strange customs of the villagers, 2II;
local reasons for the lack of water, 2II ;
the true cause of the spring's failure,
212; the Feast of the Tabernacles, 214;
the “troubling ” of the water, 215, 244
(see also Appendix E)
Siloam as the true Bethesda, 215
Silwān, 213, 244, 245
Simon the Tanner, House of, 2
Sinjil, 19, 159, 16o ; a corruption of St.
Giles, 19, 160 (note)
Slaughter-house at the foot of the Mount
of Olives, 167
Snow in Palestine, I85
Soap-factory, A, 250
Sodom, Valley of, 171
Solomon, Pools of, 195, 198; water Supply
of Jerusalem derived from near-by
Springs, 202
Solomon's stables, 233;
Knights Templars, 233
Solomon's Temple (see Appendix F)
Spring of the Mother of Steps, The 209
Springs, in Jerusalem, 209 et seq. (cf. Beth-
esda Question—Appendix C)
Stanley, Dean, on—the house of Simon
the Tanner, 2.; the mountains of Jeru-
salem, 8; Jacob's Ladder, 16; the Greek
Easter, 184
Stones, circles of, at Bethel, I7, 18
Storax, The, 96
used by the
Storks, A flight of, 36
Sôlem, 43
Sychar, 26, 27, 28, 159; Fountain and Plain
of, I59
TABIGHA stream, The, 77, 78; Sanday
and Thomson on, 78 (note); supplied
to the Franciscan monks at Tell Hſim,
80 (cf. Appendix D)
Tabor and the Mount of Transfiguration,
59
Tanner, A typical, 249, 250
Tanneries of Capernaum, 78 (note)
Taricheae, 129, 130; Vespasian's siege of,
I3O
Tattooing, Io9 ; Jewish law regarding,
IO3
Tax-gatherer, A Mohammedan, 250
Tell-Dôthán, 37
Tell Húm, 71 ; the aqueduct controversy,
77; a reputed site of Capernaum, 78
(cf. Capernaum and Appendix D)
Tell-Nimrin (the reputed site of Beth-
abara), 173, 175
Tel-el-Fúl, 13, 14, 15
Tell-el-Kádi, 94, 95
Temple, The walls of, 220–223; its
appearance in the days of Christ, 221–
223; the wailing-place, 217 ; Robin-
Son's Arch, 22r ; Easter-Eve celebra-
tions, 224; Dome of the Rock, 225,
227—231 ; controversy as to its site,
230 ; the Double Gate, 232; Triple
Gate, 233–4; Golden Gate, 234 ;
votive gifts, 235; cisterns, 235, 236 (cf.
Jerusalem and Appendix F)
Temple of Herod, 300 et seq. (cf. Appen-
dix F)
Temple of Solomon (cf. Appendix F)
Temptation, Mount of, 171
Tent-making, 250
Terebinth of Abraham, 196, 201
Tezkereh (see Passports)
Thebez, 157; linked with Shechem, 158;
fertility of the soil, 158 (note)
Thistles, 151
Thorns, 157
Thomson, Dr., on Bethsaida, 68 ; Safed,
85
Thorns, Mimosa may possibly be identi-
fied with, 157 (cf. Flora)
Tiberias, town of, 60; dogs of, 62, 72 ;
whitening the Sepulchres, 74; a swarm
of locusts, I23, 124; a visit to the
mission hospital, 124; superstitions,
125; the ancient town built by Herod
Antipas, 126; ceremonial ablutions, 126;
tombs, 128
Tiberias, Lake of, 59; identification of
Kersa with ancient Gergasa, 63 et seq.
Titus, siege of Jerusalem, 186; cutting
down trees, I86
Tomb of Moses, 184; Moslem error con
cerning, 184
3I2 TENT AND
TESTAMENT
Tomb of Rachel, 190, 191 ; its topo-
graphical interest, 190, 191 ; the prob-
able tomb of Archelaus, 191
Tombs of the Kings, near Jerusalem, 165;
the rolling stone, 164, 165
Tombs at Tiberias, I28
Tower of David at Jerusalem, 203
Towers in vineyards, 14, 189
Transfiguration, Mount of, 59
Tº: of Jerusalem cut down by Titus,
I8
Trees, rags, &c., on, as votive offerings,
53, 92, 96, 132, 133 (and note), 235
Trustram, Canon, on the Rose of Sharon,
6 ; on the birds of prey of the East,
88; on the frogs of the Holy Land, 92;
on the fish of the Jordan Valley, 11.8;
on the fertility of the waters of Galilee,
II9, I2O ; on locusts, I24; on the
Capernaum Question (Appendix D)
Tyropoeon Valley, The, 213, 221, 222
Tūbās (see Thebes)
Turkish barracks at Antonia, 205, 225
Turkish rule, Hardships of, I5o, 151, 179
{
*-
UNEMPLOYEE), Jewish, 249
WALLEY OF DOVES, The, I22; robbers'
caves, I22
Valley of the Fig-trees, The, 19
Valley of the Jordan, 8, 94 et seq. (see, also,
Häsbäni River)
Valley of the Robbers, The, 19
Veils, 189
Via Dolorosa, 204, 205
Via Maris, The, 113
Vineyards, I4, IO2, 189; towers in, 189
Virgin's Fount, The (see St. Mary's Well)
Virgin's Well, The, 209; an adventule at,
241-244
Vultures, 88 (note), IO4, 167, 246
WADI-NIMRíN, 178; an example in the
art of misgovernment, 179
Wädi Ruhaibeh (the probable Brook of
Cherith), 168)
Wädi el-Kelt, 168; its caves, 168; Cheyne
and Tristram on, 168 monastery at,
I69
Wädi Hamām, 122
Wailing-place of the Jews at Hebron, 200;
at Jerusalem, 217
Water-carriers, Women, 38
Watercourses and Pools of Jerusalem,
202 et seq., (cf. Appendix E)
Water-supply at Jerusalem, 202 et seq. ;
235–236
“Way of the Sea,” The, 113
Wedding procession at Safed, 83-84
Weli, an old Mahommedan, 142
Well of Jacob, 23, 25, 28; of Shiloh, 20–
21 ; of Askar, 27
Well of Shiloh, 20
Well of the Magi, The, 188
Wilson, Sir Charles, and Bethel, 17; on
Calvary and Sepulchre, 16I (note), 163
(zzote)
Wine of Hebron, 197
YáFÅ (see Jaffa)
Yarmūk, The, 130 ; a strange battle, 131
ZACCHAEUS, House of, 171–2; probably
a Crusaders' tower, 171
Zeboim, Valley of, 169
Zerín (see Jezreel)
“Zion,” 8
Zoheleth, 244,245
Printed by BALLANTYNE & Co. LIMITED
Tavistock Street, London
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