/7
 
 A SKETCH 
 
 HISTORY OF PALESTINE. 
 
 A LECTURE 
 
 DELIVERED IN SUSSEX HALL, 
 
 M. KALISCH, PH. DR.
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF PALESTINE, 
 
 EARLIEST DATE TO OUR TIME. 
 
 [ INVITE you to follow me, in your minds, into the land of the 
 patriarchs and the prophets, into the land of Israel's pride and 
 Israel's humiliation, into the land where David shouted hymns 
 of victory, and Jeremiah mourned over the ruins of the sanctuary. 
 I ask you to accompany me to the hallowed soil, where truth 
 for ever triumphed over error, where the priests of Baal sank in 
 shame and ignominy before the prophet of the Lord of hosts, and 
 where a torch was lighted destined to illumine the dark and tor- 
 tuous paths of mankind. Palestine with its history and re- 
 miniscences does not belong to one nation, it is not the ex- 
 clusive property of the children of Abraham : wherever a human 
 heart longs after communion with the Infinite Spirit, wherever 
 a human soul, borne on the beamy wings of religion, rises from 
 the disturbed spheres of earthly toil to the serene regions of 
 spiritual contemplations, all may claim the Holy Land as their 
 own ; all may let their thoughts and their sentiments rest on 
 those favoured hills which witnessed the presence of the Eeity. 
 Palestine is the common home of the human family; we look 
 back to it as on the scenes of our childhood ; we look forward 
 
 2117696
 
 to it as to the centre where the scattered members will be re- 
 assembled. Greater empires have flourished, but they are buried 
 in oblivion ; and Rome is but a grave of the past. Higher 
 praise has been lavished on happier lands by the genius of 
 poets and historians, but their present existence is no more than 
 a name ; and Greece is but a dream of the past. But, however 
 glorious the past history of Palestine was, the mind adorns its 
 future destiny with far more glorious rays ; it centres upon it 
 all the ideal hopes which swell the aspiring breast in its most 
 solemn moments ; it sees there, united in love and brotherhood, 
 all those whom prejudice, and selfishness, and rank pride now 
 separate; it beholds there the knowledge of God, undefiled 
 virtue, eternal peace. 
 
 Permit me, then, to reproduce before you the history of this 
 wonderful land ; let me give you a rapid sketch of the different 
 nations which inhabited or possessed it from the beginning of 
 historical time to our day. I shall lead you through a space of 
 nearly four thousand years ; follow me through this panoramic 
 view of past ages ; in the history of the Holy Land you will, 
 as in a mirror, behold the history of the world. 
 
 Every ancient country boasts of a primitive population, the 
 direct offspring of the soil; all heathen lands boast to have 
 produced Aborigines ; it was a folly almost as universal as 
 paganism itself; but it was overthrown by the very first chapter 
 of the Mosaic dispensation, which teaches the unity of the 
 human race as it enforces the unity of the Creator. And 
 Palestine also had its Aborigines, tribes worthy of the sacred 
 soil : giants, compared with whom the Israelites said they were 
 like grasshoppers in stature ; a strong people with large and 
 fortified cities ; a people whose king (Og) rested in a sarco- 
 phagus of iron nine cubits in length and four cubits in breadth ; 
 nations, which are described as brave, warlike, unapproachable
 
 and invincible: these are the Anakim, the Rephaim, the 
 Nephilim, the Emim : names the very sound of which spread 
 fear and terror. But not to the strong belongs the land ; the 
 mighty are fallen ; already in the time of Abraham, about 
 2000 years before the present era, the giants were, for the 
 greatest part, subdued, expelled, or exterminated by other 
 powerful tribes, the Canaanites. Thus ends the first mythic 
 period of Palestine's history. The new inhabitants conquered 
 now with facility the remains of other more harmless tribes 
 which had sought a modest shelter in the land ; the Horim or 
 Troglodytes, the Avim, and the Kenites. Inebriated by these 
 successes, and elated by the vanity always attending victorious 
 arms, the Canaanites delivered themselves up to every crime 
 and abomination; their religion, far from checking these atro- 
 cities, far from ennobling their conduct, encouraged them in 
 their baneful aberrations. For their religion was the invention 
 of men ; their creed was the deceit of their priests ; framed to 
 flatter the benighted senses of the one, and to serve the selfish 
 interests of the others, their faith sanctioned, instead of 
 crushing, folly and vice. Should then that blooming country, 
 that choicest of all lands, upon which the loving eye of the 
 Lord watches from the beginning of the year to the end of 
 the year : 
 
 " Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid, 
 And parting summer's ling'ring blooms delayed " 
 
 should this country remain in the possession of a dissolute, 
 enervated, and savage nation ? The far-reaching care of Pro- 
 vidence, which penetrates through the darkness of centuries, 
 provided, with a profound design, successors more worthy of 
 that happy land. God led Abraham from the distant plains of 
 Chaldea westward to the groves of Hebron; He revealed to 
 his pure mind the fundamentals of truth, the pillars of religion ; 
 
 B 2
 
 He conducted his descendants southward to the land of Egypt ; 
 there they grew into a nation ; there they gained strength in 
 the iron furnace of servitude and ignominy : after the lapse of 
 four centuries they left the country with a high hand under 
 the ever-memorable leadership of Moses ; through him they 
 received a code of divine laws as the eternal standard of 
 human conduct ; he exercised their courage and their patience, 
 by a bold march and sojourn in the desert of Arabia ; and after 
 forty years he entrusted the command, at the frontiers of 
 Palestine, to his successor Joshua, leaving to him the glory to 
 conquer the land with a new and more obedient generation. 
 
 Meanwhile the sin of the Canaanites had reached its highest 
 pitch ; the cup of their iniquity overflowed ; they were ripe 
 for the rod of destruction. Joshua crossed the Jordan; and 
 the God of Abraham was with him. A long and obstinate 
 war ensued; force combated with force, and stratagem with 
 stratagem. Of the eleven tribes descending from their com- 
 mon ancestor, Canaan, six had settled in the north of Palestine, 
 in the boundaries of Phoenicia ; the remaining five occupied 
 Palestine itself; they were the Hittites, especially in the moun- 
 tainous regions, and near Hebron ; the Jebusites, who had 
 possession of the territory around Jerusalem ; the Amorites, 
 whom the prophet Amos describes as men whose height was 
 like the height of the cedars, and who were strong as the oaks ; 
 they lived, as the most powerful of Canaan's tribes, both in 
 the west and the east of the Jordan, forming several important 
 monarchies ; the Girgasites, in the west of the Jordan, scattered 
 among the other tribes; and lastly the Flivites., at the foot of 
 the Hermon or Antilebanon, but also more southward at 
 Schechem and Gibeon. To complete the seven tribes of 
 Canaan usually mentioned, we add the Canaanites more pro- 
 perly so called, who were the inhabitants of the plains, and
 
 were formidable by their vast number of iron battle-chariots ; and 
 the Pherisites, in the southern and middle part of the land, 
 especially near Bethel and the mountains of Ephraim. Thirty- 
 one kings were subdued by Joshua ; and their territories were 
 divided among the tribes of Israel. Many Canaanites escaped 
 and fled from the land ; they settled in the southern regions ; 
 and dim historical traces and reminiscences assign the tracts 
 of Northern Africa as the places of their refuge. The people 
 of God was victorious ; and its leader exclaimed : 
 
 " The nations have fallen, and thou still art young, 
 
 Thy sun is but rising, when others are set; 
 And though slavery's cloud o'er thy morning hath hung, 
 
 The full moon of freedom shall beam round thee yet." MOORE. 
 
 But not all the heathen enemies were subdued in the Holy 
 Land ; a considerable number of cities remained, from which 
 the Canaanites could not be expelled ; the Hittites maintained 
 themselves under their own sovereigns ; Jabin, king of Razor, 
 waged, nearly two hundred years after Joshua, an almost fatal 
 war against Israel ; the Amorites were only by great exertions 
 kept in obedience and peace ; David and Solomon were com- 
 pelled to seize arms against several of those warlike tribes ; even 
 after the exile they existed among the Israelites and became 
 dangerous to them by their matrimonial alliances ; and, more 
 than all, the mighty and enterprising Philistines, with their five 
 independent communities, at the western coast of the land, 
 were to the Israelites a perpetual cause of anxiety, and a 
 frequent source of humiliation. Why was then this conquest 
 of the Holy Land so incomplete? Why remained heathens 
 on the soil which was to be glorified by the temple of God ? 
 The Holy Scriptures answer, and they answer satisfactorily and 
 convincingly, that Israel might not, by a sense of undisturbed 
 security, degenerate and fall into effeminacy ; they should al-
 
 ways be vigilant, ready to defend their property, the plough in 
 the one hand; and the sword in the other ; enjoying the bliss- 
 ful fruits of peace, but deserving them by their bravery on the 
 field of war. Thus concludes the second period in the history 
 of Palestine, about 1400 years before the present era. 
 
 And now follows the epoch of Palestine's greatness and glory. 
 Judges, filled with the spirit of enthusiasm, went out to fight 
 in the name of the Lord of hosts ; Deborah sang her immortal 
 lay ; Gideon declined regal power and splendour in favour of 
 Israel's independence; Jephthah brought without murmuring a 
 dear offering in pious, though misunderstood zeal ; Samson, him- 
 self almost unconscious of his power, with a mind childlike and 
 simple, glorified the name of Israel even in his death ; Samuel, 
 the man with the strong will, with manly purpose, with exalted 
 aims, purified the nation, guided, united, ennobled the divided 
 public mind. Kings lifted their sceptre ; Saul began his reign 
 with noble deeds of heroism ; David, already in his youth ex- 
 tolled as the conqueror of Goliah, extended Israel's dominion to 
 the far east and south ; he enforced and obtained respect for 
 the Hebrew empire among the mighty nations of the heathens ; 
 but more powerful still than his sword was his lyre ; and the 
 hymns of his genius have become the most precious treasure of 
 the generations of men. Solomon inherited and increased the 
 wisdom of his father; the magnificent temple, one of the 
 wonders of the East, rose on the height of Moriah, a monument 
 of piety, and a witness of splendour and magnanimity ; com- 
 merce began to flourish ; but alas ! already had the Hebrew 
 realm attained its highest power, its greatest glory ; what had 
 been acquired by Solomon's predecessors, could not be maintained 
 by his descendants ; a baneful spirit of discord, of jealousy and 
 of hatred caused the inimical division of the brotherly tribes, 
 the children of the same ancestor ; henceforward the empire of
 
 Israel stood opposed to the empire of Judah ; their armies met ; 
 and the sacred soil was stained with the blood of civil wars. 
 
 And both realms ran into their destruction the tribes of 
 Israel, however, with a more hasty step. For in criminal 
 forgetfulness of their origin and their destiny, they dissolved 
 every connection with Jerusalem and the temple, that powerful 
 centre of common interests ; they ceased to appear with prayers 
 and offerings at the great festivals ; they erected unhallowed 
 altars on the mountains and in the groves ; the God of Jacob 
 was forgotten, and the depraved descendants of Israel prostrated 
 themselves before Baal, and burnt their children to Moloch, 
 the horrid king ! In vain were the admonitions of the inspired 
 prophets ; the warnings of Elijah were scorned, and the fervent 
 entreaties of Elisha were despised ; the heavenly messengers 
 were persecuted and exiled ; and every crime blossomed. How 
 could the commonwealth prosper ? Northern conquerors saw 
 with delight the internal strife, the rapid decay of the empire ; 
 the Assyrian kings felt that it could not escape their attacks, 
 and, tempted by the natural wealth and the important position 
 of the land, they invaded it with their invincible armies ; first 
 Phul, then Tiglath-Pilesar, and lastly Salmanassar inundated the 
 land with their hosts. The latter was victorious ; the ten tribes 
 were, in shame and confusion, carried away into the Assyrian 
 captivity (B.C. 720), and heathens occupied a large portion of 
 the Holy Land. 
 
 Could now the empire of Judah withstand long ? was it 
 sufficiently organized and united to offer resistance to the 
 masters of Asia? Were the atrocities of Jehu and Athaliah 
 calculated to cement, to invigorate the alienated minds ? Were 
 the fiery words of Isaiah powerful enough to uphold the purity 
 of religion and morality, or could his penetrating wisdom secure 
 a strong and independent policy of the weak and wavering
 
 kings ? Sennacherib attempted the subjugation of Judah ; the 
 people trembled ; an ignominious treaty was offered ; in over- 
 bearing haughtiness the Assyrian king refused it ; but a pesti- 
 lence of God destroyed his proud army, and he himself escaped 
 only by a hasty flight ; or as one of the greatest modern 
 poets describes it : 
 
 " Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, 
 That host with their banners at sunset was seen : 
 Like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, 
 That host on the morrow lay wither'd and strewn." BTROH. 
 
 But the pious King Hezekiah was succeeded by the impious 
 Manasseh ; idolatrous worship was restored ; Jeremiah preached 
 and warned, but he preached and warned in vain ; the internal 
 confusion continued even when Josiah, moved by the paternal 
 admonitions of the venerable prophet, renewed the purity of the 
 Mosaic doctrines ; in the East the retaliating justice of God 
 reared and exalted a nation, destined to punish and to destroy ; 
 the Babylonians under their impetuous King Nebuchadnez- 
 zar swept over the provinces of Palestine (in B. C. 588) ; this 
 time no angel lent to the armies of Judah his invisible aid ; the 
 measure of their iniquity was now full, as, about eight hundred 
 years before, that of the Canaanites had been complete ; and the 
 land vomited them out, just as it had vomited out the heathens. 
 For Israel is a chosen people only so long as it acts in harmony 
 with the divine will ; Israel's selection from among the nations 
 includes great privileges, but it imposes greater duties ; the 
 higher the rise, the deeper the fall ; the greater the love, the 
 severer the punishment. And Judah's princes wandered to 
 Babel's plains, to weep on its brooks over the fall of the nation, 
 the destruction of the holy city, the ruin of the temple. Thus 
 finishes the third, and most glorious, epoch of Palestine's 
 history. Shall I here describe in melancholy strains the
 
 lamentations of the prophets? Shall I draw a picture of the 
 misery of the dispersed singers on foreign soil ? of the dejection, 
 of the despair which oppressed their patriotic hearts? How 
 the wretched exile sighed : 
 
 " My fortune leads to traverse realms alone, 
 And find no spot of all the world my own;" 
 
 how, casting a last fond parting glance at the land of his 
 fathers, he murmured in sorrow : 
 
 " Sunk are thy bow'rs in shapeless ruin all, 
 And the long grass o'ertops the mould'ring wall ; 
 And trembling, shrinking from the spoiler's hand, 
 Far, far away thy children leave the land. 1 ' GOLDSMITH. 
 
 No ! we may deplore the fallen grandeur of Judah ; but let us 
 revere that inscrutable Will, which guides nations and worlds. 
 And Israel was certain of its innate power, of its speedy re- 
 demption ; it was calmed by the consoling words : 
 
 " The stranger shall hear thy lament on his plains, 
 
 The sigh of thy harp shall be sent o'er the deep, 
 Till thy masters themselves, as they rivet thy chains, 
 
 Shall pause at the song of their captive, and weep." MOORE. 
 
 Nor did the humiliation of Palestine last long. The vast 
 Babylonian empire was crushed by its own weight; the vigorous 
 hero, Cyrus, King of Persia, became master of Asia ; his heart 
 was neither hardened nor effeminated ; he sympathised with the 
 downfall of Judah, and permitted the return of the captives, 
 and the restoration of the temple. Once more was Palestine's 
 soil trod by the descendants of Abraham ; a cheerful zeal and 
 emulation were kindled for the renewal of the sanctuary ; the 
 people seemed to be filled with the youthful spirit of enthusiasm 
 and enterprise. Nor were worthy leaders wanting in this mo- 
 mentous epoch ; Serubbabel and Jeshua were the first leaders ; 
 Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi inspired the immigrants by 
 their prophecies, and Ezra and Nehemiah organised the young
 
 10 
 
 state with wisdom and zeal, with moderation and energy. 
 Already is the temple rebuilt and consecrated ; the walls of the 
 city stand reared ; the people promise in sacred assembly faith- 
 ful adherence to the law of Moses ; the families are purified from 
 all heathen alliances ; a number of fatal abuses are abolished ; 
 Nehemiah holds the reins of government with a strong hand ; 
 the Sabbaths and the common festivals become mighty pillars 
 of the new constitution but, alas, too soon the old demon of 
 discord and strife broke forth with new vehemence; jealousy lifted 
 its serpent head, and crippled with its venom the young shoots 
 of the tender tree. The Samaritans erected on the Mount Geri- 
 zim a temple similar to that of Jerusalem ; they adopted the 
 Pentateuch alone of all the sacred books ; many dissatisfied 
 Judeans joined them ; and feelings of bitterness and inveterate 
 hatred were rife between Samaria and Judah. And Palestine 
 was no more an independent country ; it was a part of mightier 
 empires, and shared their changeful fate. About two hundred 
 years Palestine stood under the control of Persian satraps, from 
 whose proverbial arbitrariness they frequently endured heavy 
 sufferings. 
 
 But when (B.C. 330) the Persian empire was subdued by the 
 Macedonian conqueror, Alexander the Great, the Holy Land 
 naturally acknowledged the sceptre of the latter. He treated the 
 inhabitants with mildness ; induced, as some historians relate, 
 by the venerable appearance of the high-priest Jaddua, in whom 
 he recognised a vision in a dream, which had predicted to him 
 the most glorious victories. But Alexander's career was as brief 
 as it was brilliant, and his empire vanished with him ; the vast 
 chain of countries which his indomitable will and his fortune 
 had united, broke asunder with his death ; a hot struggle among 
 his generals ensued ; the chance of war decided on the fate of 
 nations ; and in the year 323 Judea, together with Phoenicia,
 
 11 
 
 passed over to the government of the Egyptian King Ptolemeeus 
 Soter. 
 
 Nor had the land reason to be dissatisfied with this change. 
 Under the mild rule of Greek sovereigns the Hebrews remained 
 undisturbed in the practice of their religious rites ; a high-priest 
 stood at the head of the community ; the distant brethren, who 
 had been induced to take their abodes in Egypt, or Lydia, or 
 in other parts of Asia, were permitted to send their regular con- 
 tributions to the Temple of Jerusalem ; for since Palestine stood 
 under foreign masters the Israelites had but a religious, no poli- 
 tical unity. Only under the two last kings, Ptolemeeus Euergetes 
 and Ptolemseus Philopator, the country suffered some vexations. 
 It remained under the sway of the kings of Egypt till the year 
 203, when it became a part of the powerful Syrian empire 
 founded by Antiochus the Great. This noble monarch restored 
 and confirmed to the inhabitants of Judea all the privileges 
 which they had enjoyed under the best rulers of the preced- 
 ing dynasty, and added new advantages ; the Judeans were 
 guaranteed equal rights with the Greeks ; the temple was de- 
 clared sacred, and strangers were forbidden to enter its hallowed 
 precincts. 
 
 But this happy condition was of too short duration ; new trials 
 awaited the miserable land, more sorrowful than those inflicted 
 by Salmanassar or Nebuchadnezzar ; the cries of despair rang 
 through the peaceful provinces, and a sea of blood defiled Pa- 
 lestine's soil. The almost immediate successor of Antiochus 
 the Great was Antiochus Epiphanes ; he ascended the Syrian 
 throne in the year B.C. 176. This sanguinary, insatiable ty- 
 rant permitted himself unprecedented oppressions and extor- 
 tions ; and when the Judeans resisted, he determined their utter 
 extirpation. But it was not so willed in the decrees of Provi- 
 dence. Antiochus intended to effect Israel's destruction ; and
 
 12 
 
 he caused Israel's renewed glory ; and Palestine was the grave 
 both of his power and of his honour. In the year 167 com- 
 menced that war which showed that the spirit of Samuel and of 
 David was not extinct in Israel ; it had slumbered for centuries, 
 but it now awoke to the astonishment and the terror of the im- 
 pious enemy. Vast Syrian troops, filled with the rage of de- 
 struction, swarmed in the Holy Land ; they were opposed, they 
 were defeated by small armies filled with the spirit of God ; 
 and the name of the Maccabees will shine in imperishable splen- 
 dour in the annals of history. It was from them that the people 
 borrowed their fire ; it was they who cried throughout Pales- 
 tine : 
 
 " And though destruction o'er the land 
 
 Come pouring as a flood, 
 The sun, that sees our falling day, 
 Shall mark our sabre's deadly sway, 
 
 And set that night in blood. 
 For gold let Syria's legions fight, 
 
 Or plunder's bloody game ; 
 Unbribed, unbought, our swords we draw 
 To guard our king, to fence our law, 
 
 Nor shall their edge be vain." WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 The temple was taken and desecrated by the heathens ; it was 
 re-taken and re-consecrated by the priests of the Lord ; thou- 
 sands were compelled to abjure the faith of their ancestors, 
 but thousands preferred death from the executioner's hand to 
 treachery ; mothers became heroines, and youths died as 
 martyrs. Many a lip uttered with firmness those words to the 
 insolent tyrant : 
 
 " If the bad never triumph, then God is with thee ! 
 If the slave only sin, thou art spotless and free ! 
 If the exile on earth is an outcast on high, 
 Live on in thy faith, but in mine will I die. 1 ' BYRON. 
 
 Long, sanguinary, and changeful was the struggle ; at last it
 
 13 
 
 was decided in favour of Israel's honour, of Israel's independ- 
 ence ; and once more Judea had its own independent sovereign 
 the brave and wise Simon, the Asmonean (B.C. 139). And 
 although his successors had to pay an annual tribute to the kings 
 of Syria, the Israelites lived under their own laws conscientiously 
 based on the Mosaic precepts ; and although too weak to oppose 
 the mighty conquerors of empires, or to exercise an influence on 
 the course of history, they began to develop their theological 
 literature, and thereby laid the foundation to the stability of 
 Israel's faith. 
 
 Palestine remained under the gentle leadership of the Asmo- 
 neans till B.C. 37 And discord was again the cause of its fall. 
 A dissension between the two brothers Hyrcanus and Aristobulus 
 called the Romans into the land ; the victorious Pompey decided 
 for the former, and conquered Jerusalem (in 63). Nine years 
 later Crassus plundered the temple ; the influence of the Ro- 
 mans predominated ; Herod, the offspring of an Idumasan 
 family, successively favoured and supported by Caesar, Antonius, 
 and Octavianus, was (B.C. 40), in Rome, proclaimed King of 
 Judea ; he besieged and conquered Jerusalem ; he sealed his 
 victory by murdering the remaining branches of the Asmonean 
 family ; his own wife Mariamne, too late lamented, fell by the 
 blood-stained hands of his satellites ; and in the year B.C. 37 
 Herod was acknowledged King of Palestine. A stranger sat 
 now on the throne of David ; a stranger of that nation, which 
 had, on the day of Jerusalem's fall, exultingly exclaimed r " De- 
 stroy it, destroy it, even to the foundation thereof;" and the 
 temple was presided over by a man who violated and scorned 
 the laws of Moses. Incessantly tormented by suspicion and 
 jealousy, those children of a troubled conscience, he died un- 
 mourned, cursed as a tyrant, having but a few days before* 
 murdered his own son Antipater.
 
 14 
 
 His successors were worthy of such ancestors ; his son Herodes 
 Antipas, a reckless, prodigal, and insidious prince, contributed to 
 render the name of his family an object of abhorrence to the 
 Judeans ; and after his death, in the year 39 of the present era, 
 Palestine was declared a Roman province. Under the two fol- 
 lowing governors, Herodes Agrippa I. and II., political oppres- 
 sions and religious violations were wantonly exercised ; the Israel- 
 ites, unable longer to bear either the burdens or the insults, were 
 forced to rebellion ; the din of arms filled again the sacred land ; 
 the courage of the Asmoneans seemed for a moment revived; but 
 a chief was wanting to unite the various elements ; and the old 
 enemy of Israel, discord, this time completed his work of mis- 
 chief and destruction. Vespasian and Titus approached with 
 their legions ; already the Roman eagles floated before the walls 
 of Jerusalem ; many a heroic deed, worthy of a better fate, was 
 performed by the desperate Israelites ; a struggle ensued which 
 will long be remembered in the records of undaunted valour ; 
 unparalleled sacrifices were suffered, unheard-of exertions were 
 made ; but the God of Israel did not smile on these efforts ; 
 the awful predictions of the prophets were near their realization. 
 Jerusalem was conquered ; the temple was burnt ; the sacred 
 vessels of the Holy and the Holy of Holies adorned a heathen 
 triumph ; Mount Zion was humiliated by a Roman garrison; the 
 people of God was, in the year 70, expelled from their soil, dis- 
 persed, and delivered up to endless persecution, oppression, and 
 contumely. Thus concludes the fourth epoch of the history of 
 the Holy Land. Is not this a desolation which must rouse the 
 sympathy even of strangers ? Who can think of Israel's destinies 
 without acknowledging, without revering the finger of God ? 
 
 " Tribes of the wand'ring foot and weary breast, 
 ^ How shall ye flee away and be at rest ! 
 
 The wild-dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, 
 Mankind their country Israel but the grave!" BYRON.
 
 15 
 
 But let us leave the descendants of Abraham to their variable 
 fate in the various countries of their dispersion ; let them struggle, 
 under unprecedented difficulties, always faithful to their past 
 history, always cheered by glorious hopes; and let us pursue the 
 destiny of the Holy Land, from which they were exiled, and 
 which was occupied by armies which bowed not to the God of 
 heaven and earth. The history of Palestine is now no more 
 identical with that of Israel ; for even the religious centre, the 
 temple, existed no more ; events take place on Palestine's soil 
 in which Israel has no part, which concern it not ; which are 
 caused and carried on by other nations, by distant conquerors ; 
 but it always remained the Holy Land, the country with which 
 the brightest and sublimest ideas of mankind are associated. I 
 shall be brief, in order to make the sketch of the following 
 occurrences clear and comprehensive. 
 
 The Emperor Domitian persecuted the Jews and the Chris- 
 tians alike; but his second successor Trajan reaped the fatal 
 fruits of the evil seeds. Many Israelites had, with tender affec- 
 tion, remained in Jerusalem, to weep on the ruins of the 
 temple : 
 
 " They only left of all the harmless train, 
 The sad historians of the pensive plain." 
 
 Others had settled in other parts of the Holy Land ; and illus- 
 trious schools of learning kept alive the glories of bygone ages. 
 The Israelites did not even then resign the hope of indepen- 
 dence ; irritated by the Roman cruelties, they broke out in a 
 formidable revolt in the year 116; the sedition raged simulta- 
 neously at different parts of the Roman empire ; many thousands 
 were massacred on both sides ; but the result was, that Hadrian, 
 the following emperor, proclaimed still more rigorous edicts, 
 some of which struck the very root of Mosaism. It was inter- 
 dicted to observe the Sabbath, and even to read the sacred books.
 
 16 
 
 This was too much insult. The faith of their ancestors deserved 
 a last, a desperate effort ; under the leadership of Bar-Cozebah, 
 who called himself the Messiah, and assumed the name of Bar- 
 Cochebah (the son of the star), a furious combat was com- 
 menced against the Romans ; the whole world seemed in com- 
 motion; the Emperor sent to Palestine his most experienced 
 generals, his bravest troops ; Bar-Cozebah was beleaguered in 
 Bethar; after a siege of more than three years the town was 
 taken ; and if the historical accounts are at all correct a 
 carnage ensued which has no parallel even in the sanguinary 
 annals of war ; more than half a million of Israelites were slain, 
 and the losses of the Romans were enormous. Judea was con- 
 verted into a desert ; and the war terminated in 136. Hadrian 
 erected on the ruins of Jerusalem a new city, which he called 
 Aeliaj and, on Mount Moriah on the very spot where the 
 temple of Solomon and the temple of Serubbabel had shone in 
 chaste splendour he built a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus. He 
 interdicted the Jews, under the penalty of death, to enter the 
 city ; but Roman avarice opened to them the gates ; they paid a 
 certain sum, and they were permitted to visit once a year the 
 spot of the ancient temple. There they mourned over their 
 misery, exclaiming : 
 
 " The gods of the Pagan shall never profane 
 
 The shrine where Jehovah disdained not to reign ; 
 And scattered and scorned as Thy people may be, 
 Our worship, O Father! is only for Thee." 
 
 This was the last effort, the last political manifestation of the 
 Israelites. They concentrated henceforward still more all their 
 energies on the study and elucidation of the Law ; the academies 
 of Sephoris, Lydda, and Tiberias were the centres of prodigious 
 learning, of unwearied research, of inimitable piety ; and towards 
 the end of the second century the Mishna, with its six principal
 
 17 
 
 parts or Sedarim, and its many subdivisions, was compiled by 
 Rabbi Jehudah the Holy ; the Mishna was again made the 
 subject of diligent expositions, of sagacious comments, both in 
 Palestine and in Babylon; and these interpretations, enriched 
 with many beautiful maxims, and many touching tales and 
 allegorical narratives, were later comprehended in the Talmud 
 of Palestine and that of Babylon ; the former was completed in 
 the second half of the fourth century, and the latter about the 
 year 500 of the present era. It was only a transitory excite- 
 ment on the part of the Samaritans, when they took part, in 
 194, in favour of Pescennius Niger against Septimius Severus ; 
 who on ascending the imperial throne punished their imprudence 
 with extreme rigour. But on the whole the Israelites of Pales- 
 tine had learnt that their political mission was passed ; they 
 had learnt to resign themselves to their fate ; and they became 
 loyal and peaceful subjects of the Roman Emperors. 
 
 " So sleeps the pride of former days, 
 
 So glory's thrill is o'er, 
 And hearts that once beat high for praise 
 Now feel that pulse no more." MOORE. 
 
 They were governed by a patriarch or Nasi, who resided in 
 Tiberias, and who was sanctioned and supported by the 
 Emperor; their disputes were adjusted by their own judges; 
 and they performed their religious worship undisturbed in the 
 numerous synagogues which were erected in the different parts 
 of the land. But they were not left long in the enjoyment of 
 this tranquillity in the reign of the Emperor Constantinus 
 Christianity became the religion of the Roman world ; and the 
 consequence was a renewed and barbarous persecution ; nothing 
 but utter impotence prevented a rebellion ; and the Church of 
 the Holy Grave was completed by Constantinus in the year 33,5. 
 The same cruelties were continued by Constancius and Gallus ; 
 
 c
 
 18 
 
 the Israelites attempted resistance, they were punished with 
 fire and sword ; their houses and their towns were burnt down. 
 But in the year 361 Julian the Apostate was proclaimed Emperor ; 
 he returned to paganism, and the hopes of the Israelites were 
 rekindled. Julian gave them, indeed, permission to rebuild the 
 temple ; he supported their plans with vigour ; but superstition 
 on the part of the workmen, and chiefly the early death of 
 Julian, in 363, frustrated their expectations. They were per- 
 mitted a lingering existence, safe only by its obscurity, till 395, 
 when Theodosius divided his dominions, and Palestine fell to 
 the lot of Arcadius as a part of the East-Roman empire. It 
 thus escaped those frequent and violent convulsions which shook 
 Italy in rapid succession. But the Hebrew patriarchs of Pales- 
 tine lost gradually their authority and power, since the syna- 
 gogues in all parts of the Roman empire enjoyed independent 
 administration : the introduction of a universal calendar by 
 Hillel (in 360) destroyed almost the last link which connected 
 the dispersed Jews with Palestine ; and in 420 (in the reign of 
 Theodosius II.) the patriarchate became extinct with the death 
 of Rabbi Gamaliel. The Church of Jerusalem was not much later 
 (in 45 j), by the Council of Chalcedon, raised to the dignity of a 
 patriarchate; and the Bishop Juvenal was the first Christian 
 patriarch of Jerusalem. In the reign of Zeno, Samaria was for 
 a short time (in 490) in a state of revolt, caused by the intolerable 
 persecutions of the Christian clergy ; but order was soon restored 
 by a formidable slaughter, and a Christian church, dedicated to 
 the Virgin, rose on Mount Gerizim, the sacred spot of Samarian 
 worship. The cruelties were repeated under Justinian, a monarch 
 weak and arbitrary, vain and narrow-minded, who was the first 
 great instance of the tyranny and intolerance of a dominant 
 church. The Jews and Samaritans were deprived of all their 
 privileges ; they were unable to bear the yoke longer ; they
 
 19 
 
 broke out in a furious rebellion, in 530 ; more than 100,000 men 
 fell in the tumultuous struggle ; the blooming tracts of Samaria 
 were changed into a dreary wilderness, and humiliating restric- 
 tions were imposed upon the unhappy population. Justinian's 
 successor, Justinian II., ratified in 5/0 these cruel and unwise 
 measures, and thus prepared the gradual and almost total 
 extinction of the Samaritans; many were compelled to embrace 
 Christianity, and at present scarcely fifteen to twenty families of 
 that ancient sect are found in Nablous (or Shechem). Can it 
 be expected that the Jews loved their heartless masters ? Can 
 we not imagine to hear them pray : 
 
 " Oh, in Thy lightning let Thy glance appear ! 
 Sweep from his shiver'd hand the oppressor's spear ! 
 How long by tyrants shall Thy land be trod ? 
 How long Thy temple worshipless, oh Gud?" BYRON. 
 
 Can it cause astonishment that they encouraged and supported 
 every undertaking which promised to bring them rescue ? Such 
 opportunity soon occurred ; but it was fatal to their hopes, 
 disastrous to their liberties. The Persians, under their King, 
 Chosroes II., waged war against the East-Roman Emperor 
 Heraclius ; a large Persian army marched into Palestine in 614 ; 
 26,000 Jews joined the invaders. Galilee and Samaria were 
 soon conquered ; Jerusalem offered a brave and obstinate 
 resistance; it was taken taken not for the first time; and 
 again 90,000 corpses covered the walls and the streets of the 
 much-tried town ; the Church of the Holy Grave, and other 
 religious edifices became a prey of the flames ; many inhabitants, 
 and among them the Patriarch Zechariah, were led away as 
 captives. Already did the Persians menace Constantinople 
 then Heraclius gathered all his forces and summoned all his 
 heroism ; he was victorious ; the Persians were everywhere 
 defeated, and the Jews suffered once more the terrible vengeance 
 
 c2
 
 20 
 
 of the Greeks. The Emperor was by sacred promises bound to 
 protect them ; but his subjects promised to atone afterwards for 
 his perjury by prayers and fasts ; the signal for a general 
 massacre was given, an enormous number was killed, and the 
 edict of Hadrian, which forbid the admission of the Jews into 
 the holy city, was renewed. Again the remnants of Israel 
 were wandering; again they envied the palms and the cedars, 
 which once taking root for ever remain in the sacred soil ; and 
 they mourned : 
 
 " But we must wander witheringly, 
 
 In other lands to die ; 
 And where our fathers' ashes he 
 
 Our own may never lie ; 
 Our temple hath not left a stone, 
 And mockery sits on Salem's throne." 
 
 But other misfortunes awaited Jerusalem after a very short 
 interval of rest. The religion of Mohammed was proclaimed ; 
 it sought to extend its dominion by the force of arms ; province 
 after province witnessed the victory of the crescent; in 636 
 Syria was invaded by a Mussulman army ; a decisive battle was 
 fought at the little river Yarmouk ; Jerusalem was again besieged 
 and was again taken. Thus begins a new epoch in Palestine's 
 history. The Calif Omar acted, however, with wisdom and 
 clemency ; the Christians were permitted free exercise of their 
 religious rites within their churches ; the Mohammedan con- 
 queror gave to the world a praiseworthy example of moderation. 
 The Jews also were again allowed to enter the holy city ; but on 
 the spot of the ancient Temple of Solomon, Omar erected a 
 mosque ; and instead of the hymns of David, the verses of the 
 Koran resounded on the hallowed heights of Moriah. It is said 
 that the Christian patriarch Sophronius died in despair at the 
 sight of this edifice ; what feelings must have agitated the
 
 21 
 
 hearts of the pious Israelites, feelings more bitter than death, 
 pangs more tormenting than exile. 
 
 Henceforward Palestine, with its Jewish and Christian popu- 
 lation, shared the changeful fate of the vast Arabian empire. 
 The dynasty of the descendants of Omar was in the year 750 
 succeeded by that of the family of Abbas ; and the change was 
 not favourable for the Christians ; they were limited to a small 
 quarter of the town ; but thousands of pious pilgrims crowded 
 annually to the sacred places. However, the policy of the great 
 Calif Harun-al-Rashid dictated clemency towards the Christians : 
 he courted and obtained the friendship of Charlemagne, who pre- 
 sented him with the keys of the Holy Grave and of the sacred 
 city. Under his weak successors Palestine enjoyed comparative 
 tranquillity, but a few times slightly interrupted by the agita- 
 tions of fanatic adventurers. The uniformity of the life in the 
 Holy Land was for a short time enlivened by the universal 
 pilgrimages of the Mohammedans to the Mosque of Omar in 
 Jerusalem, instead of their visits to Mecca, which had become 
 impossible by the invasion of the Kar mates. Palestine was 
 during this period the centre of the Mohammedan world ; it 
 assumed a religious importance higher than that which it had 
 possessed for many past centuries ; the times of Solomon and of 
 Hezekiah seemed renewed ; but alas ! who were the pilgrims ? 
 which was the temple of their devotion ? where were the pious 
 gifts offered with joyful willingness ? 
 
 These pilgrimages lasted for about twenty years from 929 to 
 950. Within the same period (in 936) Palestine, together with 
 Syria and Egypt, were conquered by the Turc Abubecr Mo- 
 hammed; a new banner, never seen before in the holy city, 
 floated on Zion and Moriah, and it was only in 968 that the 
 Arabs reconquered these lost provinces. Only a few years the 
 peace lasted : in 975 Syria and almost the whole of Palestine
 
 22 
 
 were conquered by the East-Roman Emperor Tzimisces ; 
 Christian garrisons trod again the streets of Jerusalem, and the 
 Mussulmans were temporarily repelled. They soon regained 
 thsir power; but only a few years later Palestine fell into the 
 hands of other conquerors, the califs of the Fatimites in Africa. 
 The first two rulers were mild, but the third, Al-Hakem, who 
 had the madness to wish to be considered as the incarnation of 
 God, raged with the fury of a maniac against the Jews and 
 Christians, and the year 1010 witnessed a carnage inferior to 
 none of the many preceding slaughters. 
 
 " While scourged by famine, from the smiling land 
 The mournful peasant leads his humble band, 
 And while he sinks, without one arm to save, 
 The country blooms a garden and a grave." 
 
 Hakem was murdered in 1020, and the Christians were relieved ; 
 the Church of the Holy Grave was rebuilt in 1048. Other 
 equally barbarous invaders followed : the Turkish Seldshuks, 
 under their general, Atsis, conquered, pillaged, and devastated 
 Judea; and in 1071 Jerusalem was again besieged and again 
 taken Seldshukish princes governed in Palestine, which was 
 now the scene of incessant internal mutiny. In the year 1096 
 the holy city was reconquered by the Egyptians, after a siege of 
 forty days. 
 
 But that year witnessed other more important occurrences, 
 events which mark an epoch in universal history, which placed 
 the West and the East, Europe and Asia, into a commotion of 
 an unparalleled character, events the aim and the scene of which 
 was the Holy Land. In 1096 the Crusades began'. During 
 two hundred years the eye of the world was directed to Pales- 
 tine ; all the interests of mankind seemed again concentrated on 
 the land of the Patriarchs ; but the results of the gigantic 
 exertions were trifling the effect of the monstrous preparations
 
 23 
 
 was insignificant. For the aim of the princes who encouraged 
 the Crusades was not the same as the motive of the people who 
 executed them : the former were chiefly prompted by political, 
 the latter by religious motives ; the former wished to check the 
 menacing progress of the Turcs, who had already seized Spain 
 and Sicily ; the latter wished to satisfy a religious craving of an 
 indefinite nature thus the war was contradictory in its very 
 origin. The Christian pilgrims were by the cruelty of the Turcs 
 excluded from the holy city ; the impetuous eloquence of Peter 
 of Amiens stimulated, on the Council of Clermont, the enthusiasm 
 of the people ; but the enthusiasm soon degenerated into fanati- 
 cism ; the holy war became an uninterrupted chain of the most 
 unholy cruelties ; blood and slaughter and conflagration marked 
 the falal traces of the Crusaders, and Christians who had marched 
 out to save their co-religionists thought it an act of mercy, of 
 kindness, and piety, to murder and to burn, on their road, 
 myriads of followers of other creeds. 
 
 Oil the 15th of July, in 1099, Jerusalem was conquered by 
 the Christian army; an eye-witness reports that around the 
 Mosque of Omar the blood of the murdered rose to the knees of 
 the soldiers; 70,000 Turcs covered the streets ; the Jews were 
 shut up in their synagogues and burnt. Let us rapidly pass 
 over these horrid scenes, which it were better to bury in oblivion ; 
 but history is the stern judge of ages ; she weighs with a just 
 balance the deeds of men ; and gives up past generations either 
 to the blessing or the burning contempt, to the horror, of end- 
 less ages. Godefrey of Bouillon was proclaimed king or de- 
 fender of Jerusalem, and thus concludes the sixth epoch in the 
 history of Palestine. Godefrey's successors, Baldwin I. and II., 
 continued their conquests ; but under Fulco of Anjou the 
 Christian empire began to decline ; and the Pope Eugen 
 inflamed the European world to a new crusade. The Emperor
 
 24 
 
 Conrad III. and the King Lewis VII. marched out, in 1147, 
 with a well-equipped army ; in the following year they entered 
 the holy city with the mere ruins of their troops ; but they were 
 unable either to extend or to maintain the Christian dominion ; 
 the Turkish conqueror Nureddin assumed a menacing attitude ; 
 the internal dissensions and dissolute manners of the kingdom of 
 Jerusalem facilitated his successes, and under the Calif Saladdiii 
 Jerusalem was, after a most sanguinary and obstinate resistance, 
 delivered up to the Mussulmans on the 2nd of October in the 
 year 1187. The Christians departed from the holy city with 
 heartrending lamentations ; Saladdin, a sovereign of much- 
 praised moderation, touched by a feeling of humanity, relieved 
 their misery; but, of the 100,000 Christians who had been in 
 Jerusalem, only 14,000 were permitted to remain there as slaves, 
 and Mohammedan worship now again triumphed in the holy 
 city. Thus ended the Christian empire in Jerusalem, after 
 having existed less than ninety years ; and this short space of 
 time limits the seventh period in the destinies of Palestine. It 
 is true that a third and a fourth crusade were undertaken by 
 Christian armies; but neither Frederic Barbarossa, in 1182, 
 nor Richard the Lion-hearted, in 1191, nor Frederic II., in 1228, 
 nor Lewis IX., in 1248, were able to recover the holy city. 
 Certainly, deeds of stupendous, of almost miraculous heroism 
 were achieved : towns were taken and lost, destroyed and re- 
 built ; many warriors gained immortal glory in the Holy Land ; 
 but many more found there their grave; and in 1291 the 
 Crusades ended : they had utterly failed in their immediate 
 aim ; they have destroyed millions of human beings, and are an 
 eternal monument of the fearful aberrations to which human 
 nature is liable, even while pursuing excellent aims. 
 
 And what was the fate of the Israelites during these times of 
 misery ? They could bear torture and death ; they could brave
 
 25 
 
 exile and persecution, but their hearts broke to see again the 
 sacred soil almost entirely in the hands of strangers, to see 
 mosques in the place of temples and synagogues. Do you wish 
 to recall to your minds their feelings in that period ? Read the 
 immortal elegy of the great Rabbi Jehuda Halevi that elegy 
 which even strangers could not read without tears beginning, 
 " Oh 1 hast thou forgotten, oh Zion, thy captive children ?" 
 where the poet exclaims : " Thou wast the residence of the 
 Eternal King, and I see slaves sitting on the throne of thy 
 princes. . . . Give me wings, and I will carry to thy ruins the 
 scattered fragments of my heart; I will embrace thy dumb 
 stones, and my face shall touch thy sacred dust." 
 
 My sketch draws to its conclusion ; the long period of more 
 than 550 years which has elapsed since the end of the Crusades, 
 and which is the eighth epoch in Palestine's history, witnessed 
 indeed many changes in the land ; conquerors and invaders 
 succeeded each other in frequent succession ; but Palestine was 
 but a passive spectator of its own destinies. From 1250 to 
 1382 the Mameluks of Baharid were the ruling dynasty of 
 Egypt; they granted both to the Jews and the Christians 
 valuable liberties : the former were permitted to live in a proper 
 quarter of Jerusalem, where they had several synagogues ; and 
 the latter were guaranteed the protection of their sacred places. 
 In 1382 the Circassian Mameluks dethroned and succeeded the 
 Baharids, and they introduced many just reforms; but they 
 could not conquer a feeling of suspicion and distrust against the 
 Christians, who were subjected to a most rigorous inspection, 
 and sometimes to severe oppressions (for instance in 1452 and 
 1491). The Jews, however, enjoyed great consideration; 
 encouraged by this sense of security they applied themselves vi- 
 gorously to trades and handicrafts ; and whenever the ignorant 
 or fanatic mob insulted their rights, they found ready protection
 
 26 
 
 in an appeal to the sovereign. The dynasty of the Mameluks 
 maintained itself until 1517. In this year the Turkish Sultan 
 Selim I. conquered, to the consternation of Europe, Syria and 
 Palestine. But the fate of the Jews and Christians remained 
 almost unchanged ; the synagogues and the holy places were 
 respected ; the laws were more equitable; but the governors or 
 pashaws were frequently arbitrary, and hence revolutions and 
 seditions disturbed occasionally the general peace. The 
 Christians embittered their tranquillity by perpetual dissensions 
 of their principal sects, who disputed with each other the pos- 
 session of the holy places, and who in their violent quarrels 
 constantly exposed themselves to the ridicule of the Mussulmans. 
 The Jewish communities were, after the expulsion of the Jews 
 from Spain in 1492, increased by many wealthy and learned 
 individuals, who soon attained a certain ascendancy ; and if the 
 Jews of Palestine did not attain brilliant positions, they lived at 
 least without being objects of envy and animosity. 
 
 But the pashaws continued their despotism and their vexations; 
 and often their ambition incited them to revolt against the sultans. 
 The most notorious of these disturbances was the war of Dhaber, 
 sheikh of Acre, and his sons, against their sovereign ; a war 
 which agitated Palestine for more than twenty-five years, and 
 which ended only in 1775, after many battles and vicissitudes. 
 Tranquillity was scarcely restored when Napoleon Bonaparte, 
 after his Egyptian expedition, invaded Palestine ; and now the 
 unhappy land was doomed to witness other atrocities perhaps 
 not less barbarous than those perpetrated by the Babylonians, 
 Romans, or Syrians. In the beginning of 1799 Napoleon 
 entered Palestine ; Gaza was easily taken ; he then besieged 
 Jaffa, which offered a courageous resistance ; at last it was com- 
 pelled to capitulate ; 4,000 soldiers were taken prisoners ; and, 
 because Napoleon did not know how to dispose of them, he
 
 27 
 
 ordered them to be all shot on the same day. Eye-witnesses 
 describe the horror of this scene with glowing colours ; and 
 history will with abomination, in anger and in shame, record 
 this foul deed of cruelty. Bonaparte then besieged Acre ; a 
 great Turkish army, which came to its rescue, was totally de- 
 feated by the French ; but other reinforcements which arrived 
 from different parts, compelled Napoleon, after vain efforts of 
 two months, to give up the siege and to return southward. 
 
 Once more Palestine changed its master : Mohammed Ali, 
 the Viceroy of Egypt declared, in 1831, under futile pretences, 
 war to Abdallah, pashaw of Acre ; the Sultan ordered him to 
 desist from his hostilities; he pursued his ambitious designs ; 
 he was declared a traitor and a rebel ; but he continued the 
 war ; he conquered Syria and Palestine ; and partly the sym- 
 pathies of Europe, and partly the impotence of the Porte 
 secured to him for a short time the possession of his ill-acquired 
 conquests. But his insolence caused to him their loss. In 
 1840 he insultingly declined the very favourable offers of the 
 Porte, sanctioned by the four great European powers ; but he 
 was besieged in Acre ; the town was taken, and he was forced 
 to evacuate Syria, which henceforth returned to the dominion of 
 the Porte. A Protestant episcopate was, in 1841, established in 
 Jerusalem, under the auspices of England and Prussia. Since 
 the last ten years greater personal security has increased the 
 number of European travellers : they describe the land, in 
 spite of the numberless devastations which it has suffered, still 
 as capable of the richest harvests ; new hopes are fostered for 
 its future amelioration; the recent war with Russia will, it is 
 anticipated, not remain without beneficial results for the protec- 
 tion, for the safety, for the prosperity of Palestine ; and the 
 most energetic and most praiseworthy exertions which have 
 lately been made by magnanimous and generous philanthropists
 
 28 
 
 for alleviating the miseries of its inhabitants, will gradually 
 prepare better prospects, 
 
 I have finished my task, I have fulfilled my promise ; you 
 have seen, however imperfectly, the varying destinies of the 
 Holy Land through a period of 4,000 years. Thirty times did 
 Palestine during this epoch change its masters ; almost all the 
 nations of the earth, both ancient and modern, swayed their 
 transitory sceptres in the sacred territory. Most of these 
 nations have passed away ; the Holy Land stands, an eternal 
 witness of the confused struggle of mankind, in indestructible 
 glory. The land of Israel saw the dominion of the giants and 
 of the Canaanites ; of Assyria and Babylon ; of Persia and 
 Macedon ; of Egypt and Syria ; of Edom and Rome ; of 
 Greece and Arabia ; of Turkey and the African tribes ; of the 
 European Christians and of the Mameluks. Great was the 
 curse which the Holy Land suffered ; but greater is the blessing 
 which the Divine goodness has pronounced over it. The land 
 of Israel is as imperishable as Israel itself its emblem the 
 burning bush, burning but never consumed ; and let me con- 
 clude with the consoling words of that elegy of Rabbi Jehudah 
 Halevi to which I have above alluded : 
 
 "All the empires will return into annihilation ; thou, O Holy 
 Land, wilt alone remain to the end of time ; for the Lord will 
 there fix His eternal abode. Happy the mortal who will dwell 
 under the shelter of thy walls ! happy the mortal who will see 
 the light of thy new morning ! He will witness the happiness 
 of thy selected; he will attend thy festivals; and thou wilt 
 again be beautiful like in the days of thy youth !"
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 
 
 Before 2000 B.C. The Aborigines ; the Giants, Anakim, &c. 
 
 About 2000 The Canaanites possess the land. 
 
 1400 The Israelites conquer it under Joshua. 
 
 720 The Assyrians under Salmanassar. 
 
 588 The Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 530 Cyrus permits the return of the Jews. 
 
 From 530 to 330 Palestine under the dominion of Persia. 
 
 330 to 323 Alexander the Great of 
 
 Macedon. 
 
 323 to 203 Egypt. 
 
 203 to 139 Syria. 
 
 ,, 139to37 Maccabees or Asmoneans. 
 
 ,, 37 B.C. to 39 A.C. Herodians or Idumeans. 
 
 39 A.C. to 395 A.C. Romans (70, Destruction of the 
 
 Temple by Titus). 
 
 395 to 614 East-Roman Empire. 
 
 614 to 629 Persians (Chosroes II.). 
 
 629 to 636 East-Rome. 
 
 636 to 936 the Mohammedans. 
 
 936 to 968 Turcs (Abubecr Mohammed). 
 
 968 to 975 Mohammedans.
 
 30 
 
 From 975 to 980 Palestine under the East-Roman Empire. 
 
 980 to 996 . Mohammedans. 
 
 996 to 1071 Egyptians (FatimiteV). 
 
 1071 to 1096 Seldshukish Turcs (Atsis). 
 
 1096 to 1099 Egyptians. 
 
 1099 to 1187 European Christians. 
 
 1187 to 1250 Mohammedans. 
 
 1250 to 1382 Mameluks of Baharid. 
 
 1382 to 1517 Mameluks of Circassia. 
 
 1517 to 1799 Turcs. 
 
 1799 Napoleon Bonaparte invades Palestine. 
 1832 Mohammed Ali, Pashaw of Egypt, conquers it. 
 1840 The sovereignty of the Turcs restored.

 
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