Modern Palestine forms part of the “pashalic” of Syria, under the
Turkish Government, the chief towns of importance in modern times
include: Jerusalem, with a population of about sixty thousand
consisting of Moslems, Jews, and Christians; Damascus, with a
population of two hundred thousand, has a trade in silk and cotton
stuffs, jewelry, saddlery, and sword blades; Acre, a seaport, twelve
thousand; Beyrout, one hundred and twenty thousand, considered to be
the port of Damascus; Joppa, or Jaffa, a seaport, fifty-five
thousand. The country is mainly agricultural, the crops consisting
of wheat, barley, maize, vines and olives. The land is naturally
fertile, but it suffered centuries of neglect.
JERUSALEM (signifying probably “abode of peace”), the “Holy City,”
central point of Hebrew worship and Christian tradition, was founded by
the ancient Canaanite inhabitants upon a spur of the limestone ridge
that forms the watershed of this part of Palestine. Standing at an
elevation of twenty-six hundred feet upon a plateau about half a mile
square and cutoff by the deep valleys of Gihon on the west, Hinnon on
the south, and Jehoshaphat east, the city held an almost impregnable
position, and was only wrested from the Jebusites by David, who made it
the base of his military and political enterprises. The modern city
proper is surrounded by a wall of hewn stones, two and one-half miles in
circumference, and probably built by the Sultan Solyman the Magnificent.
This wall is surmounted by thirty-eight towers and pierced by eight
gates. The inner city is divided into four quarters--the Armenian in the
southwest, the Jewish in the southeast, the Moslem in the northeast, and
the Christian in the northwest. Since 1858 extensions have been made
towards the north and west. In the older part the streets are narrow,
dull, and dirty. The Mosque of Omar, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,
and the Jews’ Wailing Place, are among the more interesting places.
It has always been a sacred city. Its drama of events included the
reigns of David and Solomon; the sieges of Egyptian, Assyrian, and
Babylonian hosts; the Greek conquest; the heroism of the Maccabees; the
events of the Roman dominion; our Saviour’s appearance and crucifixion;
the siege of Titus and its destruction, A. D. 70; its rebuilding by
Hadrian, A. D. 120; the Crusades, and its capture by Godfrey of Bouillon
(first Christian King of Jerusalem), Richard Cœur de Lion, and its final
capture by the Ottoman Turks in 1516.
The later-built additions extend much beyond the walls of Our Lord’s
time, and beyond the reputed site of Calvary (He “suffered without the
Gate”), which is now in the middle of the city. Of the eight gates, one
is called St. Stephen’s, or Bâb Sitti Maryam (Lady Mary Gate), at the
end of the via Dolorosa, leading to Gethsemane, Mount of Olives (where
He beheld the city and wept over it), and Bethany. The Golden Gate,
which He entered on Palm Sunday, is walled up. The relics of the old
city are buried twenty to forty feet below the present site.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the northwest quarter of the city is
so called because alleged to contain under its roof the very grave in
which the Saviour lay. This church, which was built by Helena, the
mother of Constantine the Great, is remarkable for the richness of its
decorations and the number of pilgrims by whom it is visited.
On Mount Moriah, Solomon is supposed to have built his famous temple,
where a rectangular walled space called the Harâm at present encloses
the Mosque of Omar and the El Aksa Mosque, once, perhaps, a Christian
church. Recent explorers believe that they found traces of Solomon’s
masonry here, and the foundations of the existing walls are more safely
identified with those of the sacred building as reconstructed by
Hadrian.
According to the Jews, Abraham sacrificed here, the intended offering of
Isaac was here, and Jacob anointed the rock. The Order of Knights
Templar was founded in this Mosque. Just outside the extreme northeast
corner of the Harâm, to be seen from the windows in north wall, down in
a ravine, is the Pool of Bethesda, rarely containing water, half filled
with rubbish.
North of the Harâm is a huge rocky platform, where the residence of the
Turkish governor marks the site of the Court of Pontius Pilate.
The Golgotha Chapels on Mount Calvary are off the south side of the east
end of the Church of the Crusaders. Steps lead up to them, their
elevation being fourteen and one-half feet above the main building. Just
beyond the top of the steps is a silver lined opening where the Cross
was inserted in the rock; at a distance of about five feet the spots of
the thieves’ crosses are indicated--some searches are satisfied that the
cross of the penitent thief would be the one to the north.
GETHSEMANE is at the base of Mount Olivet, and near it is the
traditional Grotto of the Agony, with the spot where Judas betrayed his
Master. This grotto is held in great veneration, and near it is the
Church of St. Salvatore, said to have been erected by the mother of
Constantine, containing the tombs of St. James, St. Ann, and St. Joseph.
THE VIA DOLOROSA, or Way of the Cross, possesses a number of places of
much interest, even if partly legendary. Among them the place where
Christ is said to have pronounced the words “Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me.” Where the Virgin is said to have fainted on meeting
her Son. At a truncated column where Jesus fainted under the Cross, and
they called on Simon of Cyrene to help him. The house of Dives, and the
stone on which Lazarus sat. The Gate of Judgment, formerly marking the
limits of the town, and the Calvary itself, now inclosed within the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
MOUNT ZION (though used in the Scriptures as identical with Jerusalem)
is just outside the southwest corner of the city wall. There were
Christian churches erected here at very early dates over the spot where
the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles, but there followed so many
destructions, mutilations, and confusions, that little certainty
attaches to the cluster of buildings now standing. Here is reputed to be
the tomb of David, and the Room of the Last Supper, once part of a
Christian Church.
THE MOUNT OF OLIVES is a range of eminences and slight depressions on
the east side of Jerusalem, parallel with the hill of the Temple, but on
higher ground. Here is the Tomb of the Virgin within a subterranean
church, where she lay until her “assumption.” A few yards from the Tomb,
off the south side of the road, is the Garden of Gethsemane. The Chapel
of the Ascension marks the tradition of the Ascension of Christ from
this spot.
=Bethlehem= (_beth´lē-em_), (Heb., “house of bread”), is six miles south
of Jerusalem. It was the birthplace of David, the scene of Ruth’s story,
and, most important of all (according to Matthew, Luke and John), the
birthplace of Christ. The Church of St. Mary, at Bethlehem, is built
over the birthplace of Christ. The Chapel of the Nativity is in the
crypt of the church, under the great choir; here in the pavement is a
star and the words “Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est” (Here
Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary); opposite the Chapel of the
Nativity is the Chapel of the Manger.
=Hebron= (_hē´bron_) is situated on a hill among the mountains of Judah,
about seven hours south of Jerusalem. It is one of the oldest existing
biblical towns and was the home and burial-place of the patriarchs.
Afterward it became an important city in the territory of Judah. David
resided here the first seven years of his reign. Later it was taken
possession of by the Idumeans, from whom Judas Maccabeus recaptured it.
Upon the traditional site of the burial-place of the patriarchs,
Machpelah, a magnificent mosque is erected.
=Cana of Galilee=, a decayed town near Nazareth, is celebrated in
Scripture as the scene of our Saviour’s first miracle, where He turned
water into wine. Near it is the Mount of Beatitudes, the supposed scene
of the Sermon on the Mount.
=Damascus= (_da-mas´kus_) formerly the capital and most important city
of Syria, is situated in a fertile valley east of the Anti-Lebanon, on
the edge of the desert. On account of its beautiful fertile
surroundings, its lofty position, and its richness in fresh water,
Damascus had been praised in antiquity and in modern times as the
“paradise of the earth,” “the eye of the desert,” and “the pearl of the
Orient.” Originally a Hittite city, it became the capital of Syria, and
a great part of the country was called by its name.
[Illustration: =MARKET PLACE IN THE VILLAGE OF BETHLEHEM. THE CHURCH OF
ST. MARY, NEARBY, IS BUILT OVER THE BIRTHPLACE OF OUR SAVIOUR, AND
CONTAINS THE CHAPEL OF THE NATIVITY=]
In the Old Testament the name of Damascus occurs as early as the history
of Abraham. After the time of David, Damascus often came into sharp
collision with Israel. In the New Testament Damascus is known especially
from the history of Paul.
Its chief modern glory is the Omayyad Mosque, and the ever changing
color and variety of the street traffic, the costumes and the animation
of the bazaars. The mosque was the subject of extravagant description by
Arabian writers. In 1069 fire destroyed part of the building, and again
in 1893 immense injury was done by fire; it has been restored, though it
has not its ancient magnificence.
=Jericho= (_jer´i-kō_), situated west of the Jordan and fourteen miles
east-northeast of Jerusalem, was destroyed by Joshua and rebuilt by
Ahab. It was the residence of Herod the Great; was destroyed by
Vespasian, rebuilt by Hadrian, and again destroyed by the Crusaders.
=Nazareth= (_naz´a-reth_) is celebrated as the dwelling-place of Jesus
during his childhood and early manhood. The Church of the Annunciation
here was founded by the empress Helena, but ruined in the middle ages,
and rebuilt later. It is well proportioned, and, while much of the
architecture is new, it preserves interesting memorials of the past. In
the crypt is the traditional place of the Annunciation.
=Petra= (_pē´trä_).--On the northwest edge of the Arabian desert, about
midway between the Gulf of Okabah and the Dead Sea, among desolate
mountains, stand the remains of the rock-hewn city of Petra, best
reached from Jerusalem. These ruins probably date from the time of Roman
rule in 105 A. D., though some of the magnificent monuments were built
by the Edomites who dwelt here before the Greeks and Romans.
This wonderful city is approached through a narrow gorge called the Sik,
a kind of gateway in the rocks, like the entrance to a Roman
amphitheatre.
Here one is confronted by a temple cut in the rock, with the most
exquisite Corinthian columns, and entering the doorway he finds himself
in the heart of the hill, surrounded by subterranean architecture of the
most elaborate beauty of form and workmanship. This is called the
Khaznet or Treasury of Pharaoh, which is rightly regarded as one of the
wonders of the East. It is attributed to the Emperor Hadrian, who
visited the place in A. D. 131, and erected here a temple to Isis. The
rock wall from which it is hewn is an exquisite rose-pink. It is in a
state of remarkable preservation. The imposing facade shows two rows
each of six majestic columns, one row above the other, with niches in
which are rock-hewn equestrian and other statues, the whole terminating
above in a miniature temple crowned by a huge urn, the entire height
being one hundred and two feet. Within is a bare lofty room and some
chambers. The urn is said to contain treasures of Pharaoh. Neither the
Coliseum at Rome, grand and interesting as it is, nor the ruins of the
Acropolis at Athens, nor the Pyramids, nor the mighty temples of the
Nile, present a more marvelous spectacle.
But this is only an introduction to the marvels behind. The gorge opens
out into a narrow valley, some three miles in circumference, everywhere
sunk deep beneath the enclosing mountains, and the walls of this valley
are filled with the remains of other rock-cut temples, tombs and
dwelling places. In one place are the remains of an open air theatre,
the workmanship of which is Greek. Some of the structures, cut in the
face of the rock, are several stories in height, while their
architectural details excite the wondering admiration of the beholder. A
stairway of many hundreds of steps leads to the largest of the ruins,
El Deir, or Convent. In design it somewhat resembles the Treasury of
Pharaoh.
[Illustration: THE TREASURY OF PHARAOH