ARAB AND DRUZE AT HOME
[Illustration: ARAB SHEIKH
(Photo: The Photochrome Co. Ld.)]
ARAB AND DRUZE
AT HOME
A RECORD OF TRAVEL
AND INTERCOURSE WITH THE PEOPLES
EAST OF THE JORDAN
BY
WILLIAM EWING, M.A.
FIVE YEARS RESIDENT AT TIBERIAS
_THIRTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP_
LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK
16 HENRIETTA STREET W.C.
AND EDINBURGH
1907
TO
MY FATHER
[Illustration: TIBERIAS FROM THE SEA]
FOREWORD
THE number of books published regarding Palestine proves the
exhaustless fascination of the subject. Most of them, however, deal
with Western Palestine; and even of this, beyond the districts
traversed by the annual stream of tourists, comparatively little is
heard.
The lands beyond the Jordan are seldom visited. For the ordinary
sight-seer the difficulties and dangers are considerable; but these
almost entirely vanish before one who can speak the language and is
able to mingle freely with the people.
This book is an attempt to lift a little way the veil which still
so largely obscures that region, in spite of its great and splendid
history; where picturesque and beautiful scenery, the crumbling
memorials of grey antiquity, and the life of villager and nomad to-day,
cast a mysterious spell upon the spirit.
While the information given in the following pages is woven round the
narrative of a single journey, it is the outcome of frequent travel and
familiar intercourse with the peoples both east and west of Jordan.
During a residence of over five years in Palestine the writer was
privileged often, quite alone or with a single native attendant, to
visit the peasantry and the _Beduw_, to share the shelter of mud hut
and goat’s-hair tent, to enjoy their abounding hospitality and friendly
converse in the _medāfy_, on the house-top, and around the camp-fire in
the wilderness.
What is here related regarding these strange but deeply interesting
peoples was either learned from their own lips or verified in converse
with them.
The author offers his tribute of affection and gratitude to the memory
of Dr. H. Clay Trumbull of Philadelphia, U.S.A., surely the most
generous and friendly of editors, who first moved him to write on
Oriental subjects.
For many of the photographs taken on the journey he is indebted to his
companions in travel, Rev. J. Calder Macphail, D.D., Edinburgh, and
Dr. Mackinnon of Damascus; for others, to Dr. Paterson of Hebron and
to the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. He also gratefully
acknowledges assistance received from the Rev. J. E. H. Thomson, D.D.,
and Oliphant Smeaton, Esq., M.A., F.S.A., Edinburgh.
EDINBURGH, _December 1906_.
[Illustration: DAMASCUS FROM MINARET OF GREAT MOSQUE]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
Damascus--Haurân Railway--Great Moslem pilgrimage--The plains of
Damascus--Great Hermon--_El-Kisweh_--Bridges in Palestine--
_Ghabâghib_--_Es-Sanamein_--Medical myth--A Land of Fear--
Grain-fields of _Haurân_--An oppressed peasantry--_Nowa_ 1
CHAPTER II
Arab courtesy--_Sheikh Saʿad_--Egyptian monuments--Traditions of
Job--_El-Merkez_--Religious conservatism--Holy places--_Sheikh
Meskîn_--A ride in the dark--_Zorʿa_--_El-Lejâʾ_ 16
CHAPTER III
A landscape of lava--Deserted cities--Caverns--Cultivation--A land
of ruins--The guide’s terror--_Damet el-ʿAliâ_--The sheikh’s
welcome--A state of siege--An ugly incident--Druze hospitality--
Arab and Druze in _el-Lejâʾ_--St. Paul in Arabia--The well of
the priest--Story of the priest 30
CHAPTER IV
Hidden treasure--The Bedawy’s treasure-trove--The sheikh’s
farewell--A savage tract--_Jebel ed-Druze_--_Umm ez-Zeytûn_--
_Tell Shihân_--_Shuhba_--An ancient house--A stingy
entertainer--The ruins--Pharaoh’s “grain-heaps”--The house of
_Shehâb_ 48
CHAPTER V
Ride to _Kanawât_ (Kenath)--Impressive situation and remains--
Place-names in Palestine--Israelites and Arabs--Education--A
charming ride through mountain glades--_Suweida_ 63
CHAPTER VI
Healing the sick--A strange monument--Telegraph and post in
_Haurân_--Cruel kindness--The Ruins of _Suweida_--Turkish
methods of rule--_ʿIry_--_Sheyûkh ed-Druze_--Jephthah’s
burial--Enterprise of _Ismaʿîl el-ʿAtrash_ 74
CHAPTER VII
The Druzes--Their religion--Their character--Druze and Jew--
Recent history in _Haurân_--Druze and Bedawy--War 86
CHAPTER VIII
_Bozrah_--First Syrian mosque--The physician the reconciler--The
“House of the Jew”--The great mosque--Cufic inscription--
Boheira and Mohammed--The fortress--Bridal festivities--Feats
of horsemanship--History--Origen’s visit--Capture by Moslems 102
CHAPTER IX
Travellers’ troubles--A corner of the desert--The mirage--
Dangerous _wadies_--Lunch in the desert--A “blind” guide--The
clerk to the _sheyûkh_--A milestone--_Kalʿat Esdein_--Thirst--
The uplands of Gilead--Search for water--A _Bedawy_ camp--
Terrific thunderstorm 117
CHAPTER X
Morning on the mountains--Arab time--Tents and encampments--The
women and their work--Arab wealth--Scenes at the wells--Dogs--
Arabian hospitality--Desert pests--Strange code of honour--The
blood feud--Judgment of the elders--Arab and horse--The Arabs
and religion--The Oriental mind--Arab visit to Damascus 129
CHAPTER XI
Ride to _Jerash_--Magnificent ruins--Circassian colonists--
History--Preservation of buildings--East of Jordan--_Sûf_--
A moonlight scene--Down to the Jabbok 145
CHAPTER XII
“Time is money”--_Rumamain_--Priestly hospitality--Fair mountain
groves--Es-Salt--The springs--Relation to Arabs--Raisins--
Descent to the Jordan--Distant view of Jerusalem--View of the
river, the plains of Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the mountains
beyond--The bridge--The “publican’s” shed--The men from
_Kerâk_ 158
CHAPTER XIII
The banks and thickets of the Jordan--Bathing-place--The Greek
convent--A night of adventures in the plains of Jericho--The
modern village--Ancient fertility--Possible restoration--
Elisha’s fountain--_Wady Kelt_--The Mountain of Temptation--
The path to Zion 169
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Arab Sheikh _Frontispiece_
Tiberias from the Sea _Facing_ iii
Damascus from Minaret ” vii
Pilgrimage leaving Damascus ” 2
The Cook’s Tent ” 8
Treading out the Corn ” 14
“Wild Ishmaelitish Men” ” 25
Peasant Ploughman ” 33
Well in the Desert ” 47
Shuhba: Baths and Roman Pavement ” 54
Kanawât: Ruins of Temple ” 66
Kanawât: Sculptured Doorway in Temple ” 70
Sheyûkh ed-Druze: a Council of War ” 83
Bozrah: Bab el-Howa ” 102
Bozrah: at the Cross Ways ” 114
Palestinian Shepherd and Flock ” 122
Arab Camp in Gilead ” 126
Arab Women and Children ” 133
Arabs at Home ” 136
Arab Horseman ” 140
Jerash: Gateway ” 145
Jerash: Temple of the Sun ” 148
Jerash: Street of Columns ” 152
Jerash: General View ” 154
Gorge of the Jabbok ” 156
Rumamain ” 159
Es-Salt: the Fountain ” 162
Jordan, showing Terraces ” 164
Fords of Jordan: Pilgrims Bathing ” 170
Elisha’s Fountain ” 175
Mouth of Wady Kelt ” 178
MAP ” xii
[Illustration: MAP OF THE COUNTRY EAST AND WEST OF THE JORDAN]
CHAPTER I
Damascus--Haurân Railway--Great Moslem pilgrimage--The
plains of Damascus--Great Hermon--_El-Kisweh_--Bridges in
Palestine--_Ghabâghib_--_Es-Sanamein_--Medical myth--A Land of
Fear--Grain-fields of _Haurân_--An oppressed peasantry--_Nowa_.
THERE is a pleasant excitement in the prospect of a journey through
long-forgotten lands, where hoary age is written on dark ruin and
carved stone, which lends its influence to while away the monotonous
days of preparation. But even amid surroundings of entrancing interest
in the queenly city on the _Barada_, the traveller soon grows impatient
to find himself in the saddle with his friends, heading away towards
the hills that bound the green plains of Damascus. Fortunately, we
could dispense with a dragoman, often more an imperious master than an
obliging servant, and were able to arrange our routes and carry out our
programme according to our own wishes.
Leaving the city by _Bawabbat Ullah_, we took the _Hajj_ road to the
south-west. This for many centuries was, what in the southern reaches
it still is, a mere track, not always clear, and often to be kept only
by observance of landmarks. To facilitate the passage of troops to and
from _Haurân_, the Government had made a fairly good road from Damascus
to some distance within that province. A railway has now been built,
and is in working order as far south as _Mizerîb_. One day, perhaps,
it will reach the sacred cities in _el-Hejaz_. If this do not greatly
expedite the _hâjj’s_ enterprise, it will at least add variety to his
peril. The first trains east of the Jordan were objects of surpassing
interest to the camels. Unaccustomed to give way to anything else on
the road, a strange mingling of curiosity and pride brought many of
these “ships of the desert” to grief.
[Illustration: MOSLEM PILGRIMAGE LEAVING DAMASCUS]
Our journey fell in the late spring of 1890. The _Hajj_, the great
annual pilgrimage to _Mecca_ and _Medîna_, fell that year in the month
of April. A few days before we started, we had seen the pilgrims and
their guard setting out. Most were mounted on mules, but there were
also a few horses and camels. Conspicuous among these last was that
which bore the _Mahmal_--the canopy in which is carried the Sultan’s
gift--a covering for the shrine at _Mecca_. The canopy is of green
silk, richly embroidered, supported by silver posts. On its apex a gilt
crescent and globe flash in the bright sun. The occasion stirs the city
to its depths. The roofs all along the line of route were crowded, and
every point of vantage was occupied by eager spectators. The procession
passed amid the hum of suppressed conversation. From the faces in the
crowd it was plain to see that many had gone of whose return there was
but little hope. The weary, painful journey through the pitiless
desert, beset by marauding Arabs, and the insanitary conditions of the
“holy places,” prepare a sure path for not a few to _Firdaus_--“the
garden” _par excellence_ of Moslem dreams, the unfailing portion of him
who dies on pilgrimage. The stir caused by their passage through the
country quickly subsides. When we followed in their footsteps, things
had already assumed their drowsy normal.
Passing the gates, we were at once in the open country; for the
famous orchards do not extend thus far in this direction. On every
side the plains were clad with heavy crops of waving green; the whir
of the quail and the crack of the sportsman’s fowling-piece mingled
with the frequent sound of running waters--sweetest music to the
Syrian ear. Stately camels came swinging along, each with a great
millstone balanced on his back. One of these forms a camel-load. The
basaltic quarries in the mountains southward, from which these stones,
celebrated for hardness and durability, are hewn, have been long and
widely esteemed. Full thirty miles away, yet, in the clear April
afternoon, seeming almost on the edge of the nearer plain, lay the
magnificent mass of Hermon, clad in his garment of shining white--a
huge snowy bank against the horizon, twenty miles long and ten thousand
feet high. Those who have seen this majestic gleaming height, when the
snows lie deep in the early year, can understand how appropriately
the Amorites named it _Senir_--the breastplate, or shield. Syria owes
much to Hermon. Cool breezes blow from his cold steeps; his snows are
carried now, as in ancient days, to moisten parched lip and throat
in the streets of Sidon and Damascus. Many of the streams “that fill
the vales with winding light” and living green are sweet daughters of
the mighty mountain, while his refreshing dews descend, as sang the
Psalmist, even on the distant and lowly Zion.
Looking back a moment from the rising ground, ere passing down behind
the Black Mountain, we caught a parting glimpse of the fair city,
renowned in Arab song and story. Rich flats now stretched between
us and the thick embowering orchards, over which rose tall minaret
and glistening dome. A light haze hung over the city, obscuring the
immediate background; but away beyond appeared the high shoulders and
peaks of Anti-Lebanon, many capped with helmets of snow, standing like
guards around the birthplace of the city’s life; for thence comes the
Abana, the modern _Barada_, without which there could have been no
Damascus.
A gentle descent brings us to the _Aʿwaj_, in which many find the
Bible Pharpar--a name still to be traced, perhaps, in _Wady Barbar_,
higher up but not a tributary of this stream. On the nearer bank stands
_el-Kisweh_, a Moslem village of some pretensions, with khan mosque
and minaret, and ancient castle, while the stream is spanned by an
old-time bridge. No new bridges in Palestine are of any account. The
only two that span the Jordan from _Banias_ to the Dead Sea--the _Jisr
Benât Yaʿkûb_, below the waters of Merom, and _Jisr el-Mejamiʿa_
above Bethshan--are both survivors of the old Roman system. Around and
below _el-Kisweh_, as in all places where water comes to bless the
toil of the husbandman, are beautiful orchards; olive and willow, fig,
apricot, and pomegranate mingle their foliage in rich profusion; and
high over all rise the stately cypress trees--the spires and minarets
of the grove. Here, when the _Hajj_ falls in summer or autumn, pilgrims
take leave of greenness and beauty, and press forward on their long
desert march to the _Haramein_. As our evening song of praise rose from
the river’s bank, for centuries accustomed to hear only the muttered
devotions of the Moslem, we could not but think of the time when the
voice of psalms shall roll with the sweet waters down the vale--a time
surely not far distant now; and in the thought we found new inspiration
for our work.
Continuing southward, a dark mountain lies to the left, well named
_Jebel Māniʿa_, which may be rendered “Mount of Protection,” or “The
Protector.” In its difficult recesses the peasant cultivators of the
rich open land around find a home, secure against marauding _Beduw_ and
lawless bands. _Jedûr_, the old Iturea, stretches away to the right;
we are now in _Haurân_, part of the land of Bashan, corresponding in
name to the ancient Auranitis. At _Ghabâghib_, where we halt for lunch,
great cisterns and scattered ruins tell of an important place in times
past. It has fallen on evil days, only a few wretched hovels occupying
the site. The poor inhabitants, demoralised by the yearly _Hajj_,
expect much more than value for anything they supply; but neither
here nor anywhere east of Jordan did we once hear the irritating cry
_Bakhshîsh_.
From this point the road deteriorates. First there are patches of some
thirty yards in length thickly laid with broken stones, then occasional
stretches of ground cleared, and finally the ancient track, with no
claim to be called a road. These patches illustrate the Government
method of road-building. All is done by forced labour. A certain length
of road is allocated to each town or village in the district concerned,
and this the inhabitants are bound to construct themselves, or pay for
its construction. The stone-laid patches represent the diligence and
promptitude of some villages; the intervals suggest the evasions of
work, in the practice of which the Arab is an adept.
The country now becomes more open. The view stretches far in front
over the waving grain-fields which have given _Haurân_ its fame.
Westward, the rolling downs of _Jaulân_, the New Testament Gaulanitis,
corresponding to the ancient Golan, reach away towards the roots
of Hermon, with their beautiful conical hills, once grim smoking
volcanoes, now grass-covered to the top; while beyond Jordan we catch
glimpses of the Safed hills. To the left, at a somewhat lower level,
through a light mist we see indistinctly the dark lava-fields of
_el-Lejâʾ_, and dim on the eastern horizon rises the mountain-range
_Jebel ed-Druze_.
_Es-Sanamein_, “the two idols,” where we spent the Sunday, stands to
the west of the _Hajj_ road. This is a typical _Haurân_ village. The
houses are built throughout of basalt, the oldest having no mortar
whatever--doors, window-shutters, and roofs all of the same durable
material. They have outlived the storms of many centuries, and, if
left alone, might see millenniums yet. The modern houses are built
from the ruins, the mortar being mud. Carved and inscribed stones that
once adorned temple or public building may often be seen, usually
upside down, in these rickety new structures. Many houses are fairly
underground, being literally covered with rubbish, accumulated through
the long years, as generation after generation grew up within these
walls and passed away. One temple, built also of basalt, is well
preserved, the ornamentation on pillar, niche, and lintel being finer
than most to be seen in _Haurân_. A Greek inscription[1] tells us
that this temple was dedicated to Fortuna. An olive-press occupies
the centre of the temple. Near by a large water-tank is connected
by channels still traceable with an elaborate system of baths. The
ancients loved these more than do their degenerate successors. Several
tall square towers are evidently of some antiquity; but awkwardly
placed hewn stones, certainly taken from other buildings, show them to
be modern compared with the city whose ruins lie around.
The doctor’s name is a passport to favour all over the land:
Christian, Moslem, and Druze, however fanatical, have ever a welcome
for him. His presence brought a perpetual stream of afflicted ones.
The people are in many respects simple and primitive. Myth and mystery
grow and flourish among them. Most extraordinary tales are told, and
accepted with unquestioning faith. The traveller who goes thither
leaves modern times behind, sails far up the dark stream of time, and
lives again in the dim days of long ago.
Grateful patients sang the doctor’s praise and celebrated his skill.
From lip to lip the story and the wonder grew. Some with sore eyes
had been relieved. By and by we heard that a great doctor had passed
through the country, who took out people’s eyes, opened them up, washed
them thoroughly, and replaced them in their sockets, when the aged and
weak-eyed saw again with the brightness of youth!
These lands offer a tempting and promising field for the medical
missionary. His profession would act like magic in securing entrance to
the people’s homes and confidence. And it is practically virgin soil.
He would build on no other man’s foundation.
[Illustration: THE COOK’S TENT]
About sunset the owner of a flock from whom we wished to buy a lamb
was brought to our tents. The flock was sheltered only a little way
from the village, but, as the shadows deepened, he displayed no little
unwillingness to go thither. At last, armed with sword, musket, and
pistols, and accompanied by one similarly accoutred, he sallied forth,
not without signs of alarm. Soon he returned, the lamb under his
arm, and looks of evident relief on his face. Neither fear nor relief
was without reason. In that lawless land, he who goes abroad after
sundown takes his life in his hand. Even the hardy shepherd, with
tough, well-knit frame, fed on the milk of the flocks, exercised in the
invigorating air of the uplands, used from infancy to face the dangers
of the solitary wilderness by day, trembles until his knees knock
together at the thought of falling into the hands of the enemy who
lurks privily for him in the dark.
From _es-Sanamein_ two tracks branch off, one to the east, the other
to the west of the _Hajj_ road. The former leads down to the villages
on the borders of _el-Lejâʾ_; the latter to _Nowa_, _Sheikh Saʿad_,
and _el-Merkez_, the last being the seat of the Governor of _Haurân_,
who is also military commander in the province. The main part of our
company went eastward. Two of us turned towards _el-Merkez_ to visit
the Governor, who had been ordered by his superior in Damascus to show
us what attention and kindness might be possible. Our arrangement was
to meet at night by a city in the south-west corner of _el-Lejâʾ_,
whence we hoped to penetrate that forbidding region. We rode down a
ruin-covered slope, on a paved road--monument of the wise old warrior
Romans, and crossed, by an ancient bridge, the little brook which, fed
by springs on the southern slopes of Hermon, affords a perennial supply
of water. The bridge, having served men for centuries, now failing,
is almost dangerous to horsemen. A few stones and a little mortar
judiciously applied would quite restore it. But where shall we find an
Arab with public spirit enough to do that from which another might reap
benefit?
Here we entered the far-famed grain-fields of _Haurân_. What
magnificent stretches they are! These vast plains of waving green,
here and there tending to yellow, were our wonder and delight for
many days. Such land as this, with rich, dark soil, yielding royally,
might well sustain a teeming population. Often, in the West, had I
watched the interminable strings of camels, laden with wheat, on all
the great caravan roads leading from the east to Acre, the principal
seaport, and mused as to whence these well-nigh fabulous streams of
golden grain should come--from what mysterious land of plenty. Now I
could understand it all. As that scene opens to view, visions of the
future inevitably rise--but even in fancy one cannot easily exhaust
the possibilities enclosed in these generous plains. What it once
was, as attested by grim ruins around--a land studded with beautiful
cities and prosperous villages--that, at least, it may be again. We
see what it is under the hand of the ignorant peasant, with antique
methods and implements of husbandry. Who shall say what it might become
with enlightened care? This is of special interest _now_, when the
eyes of the world are turning toward Palestine to find a home for the
descendants of the men to whom long since it was given by God. Far more
of the land in western Palestine than appears to the passing traveller
would bear heavy crops of grain; while of the remainder, although much
was probably never cultivated, there is very little which, in the
hands of patient, industrious people, might not be made to yield fair
returns. Evidence of the wealth and immense possibilities of the soil
of Bashan meets one on every hand.
As the eye wanders over the wide green expanse, the thought naturally
arises, whence the reapers are to come who shall gather in the harvest;
for the population, as represented by the little villages seen at
long intervals, is certainly quite inadequate to the task. Should the
traveller return six weeks hence, he will find the whole country alive.
Men and women, youths, maidens, and little children, come trooping up
from the deep depression of the Jordan valley; reapers pour down in
streams from the mountain glens. And right swiftly must they ply their
task; for soon the burning suns and hot winds of the desert will drive
the wild _Beduw_ and their flocks hither in search of pasture and
water, when woe betide the owner of unreaped or ungathered grain. The
robber bands that afflicted the patriarch Job in these same fields,
according to local tradition, have worthy successors to-day in the bold
wanderers from the sandy wastes.
No scythe ever flashes among the bending heads of wheat and barley
here. Everything is reaped with the hook--not changed in form, I should
say, for at least three thousand years. Faithfully, too, is the law
befriending the gleaners observed; and many a golden armful is carried
off at evening by modern Ruth, widow and orphan, to store in the clay
vats that stand in the corners of their little houses, against the
cheerless winter days. When the grain is cut, it is swiftly gathered
into heaps on threshing-floors, in the neighbourhood of villages or
other protected spots, ready for the “treading out,” the process that
still stands for threshing here.
Donkeys and camels are the carrying animals chiefly employed in the
fields. They are constant companions everywhere, even in the desert,
where the former has almost as good a claim to the honourable title
“ship of the desert” as his better-known comrade. The grain is bound
in bundles of equal weight, one of which is tied on either side, over
a broad, wooden saddle. Seen in motion from a little distance, the
animals are quite concealed: they seem like so many animated “stacks”
making their way home. Reaping and gathering are soon accomplished, but
threshing and winnowing are tedious. The most primitive methods are
still employed. Round each heap the ground is covered about knee-deep
with grain, and over this, round and round, oxen or horses are driven,
trampling it under foot; or the old _tribulum_, a strong piece of
board, with small stones fastened in its under surface, is drawn, until
the straw is beaten small and the wheat or barley thoroughly separated.
This is then drawn aside, and a second supply, taken from the
grain-heap, treated in the same way. The process is repeated until all
has been thus reduced. Winnowing is done only when there is sufficient
wind to “drive the chaff away.” Then the new heap of threshed stuff
is attacked with a wooden fork of three prongs and tossed high in the
air. The grain falls at once, forming a heap beside the workman, while
the chaff or crushed straw is blown into a bank farther off. This may
be repeated several times, until the wheat or barley is quite clean.
Then it is put into goats’-hair sacks, ready for transport, since only
a fraction of what the land produces is used in the country.
Indeed, it is but little of anything that the poor husbandman has, in
the end, for his labour. The Government tax is a first charge upon the
entire crop. A tenth is the legal proportion to be paid to officials.
But the season for the collection of _ʿashâr_, or tithe, is often one
of oppression and terror for the wretched villagers. Soldiers are
quartered upon them, who practise all manner of excesses at the expense
of their poverty-stricken hosts; and scenes of violence and rapine are
all too common. The tithe has often to be paid over and over again to
purchase peace. There is no other way; for if the despised _fellah_
lifts his voice in protest or appeal, there is no ear to hear and none
to sympathise. He can only thus bring down the iron hand more heavily
on his own head. Of what remains, he must sell the most. But in the
country there are no buyers; he must needs send it to the coast or
sell it to agents for shipment abroad. Camels afford the only means of
transport, and the cost is ruinous. A camel-load consists of two bags,
and one of these must go to pay the hire of each camel. Only half
thus remains to be sold at Acre in the name of the grower; and happy
is the man who receives from cameleers and agents all his due for this
miserable remnant of his harvest.
What would our western agriculturists say to such conditions as these?
Who can wonder if the people are utterly heartless, having neither
spirit to cherish dreams of improvement nor courage to give them
effect? What wonder if the thief and the robber increase in a land
where honesty and industry are so severely punished? One can see what
an incalculable blessing the opening up of this country by rail should
be, putting it into connection with the outside world, and bringing
all the civilising influences that elsewhere follow the wheels of the
steam-engine. What the result will be remains to be seen. Should Israel
come back with the returning tides of civilisation, he will find the
land almost like an empty house, waiting for the return of its tenants.
The scanty population would heartily welcome the advent of masters who
could both instruct them in improved arts of husbandry and protect them
against unrighteous exactions and oppressions.
[Illustration: TREADING OUT THE CORN]
The black remains of _Nowa_ cover a large area. In its essential
features the village resembles _es-Sanamein_, but lacks the relief
afforded by the temples. A few fragments of ancient sculpture and
architecture are scattered through the village, which also boasts a
large tower, its most conspicuous feature, corresponding to those
at _es-Sanamein_. Some have sought to identify _Nowa_ with Golan,
the ancient city of refuge. It commands a wide and beautiful
prospect over the district for which Golan was appointed; beyond this
there appears to be no reason for the identification. The place is
associated in local tradition with the patriarch Noah. Whether the
name was derived from this association or _vice versa_, who shall now
determine? In any case, the grave of Noah is pointed out, a little to
the north-west of the present village,--which suggests the reflection
that, if we are to trust tradition, these old worthies must have
been often buried; for I have stood by another grave where Noah was
buried, and that at no little length, near _Zahleh_ in Mt. Lebanon. The
grave is many yards long, and even then, it is said, the patriarch’s
legs are doubled down. The mother of our race, also according to the
Moslems, lies within sound of the Red Sea waves, in the sacred soil of
_el-Hejaz_, while the Jews with equal earnestness maintain that she
sleeps beside Abraham and Sarah, with Adam, within the holy precincts
of Machpelah. The prophet Jonah has tombs almost anywhere, from _Mosûl_
to the Mediterranean Sea.