[p.320] in a perpendicular cliff, which is basaltish with an upper
stratum of calcareous rock; and the shore changes from the direction
S.W. by S. to that of S. by E. In the angle stands the miserable village
El Medjdel (Arabic), one hour distant from Ain-et-Tin, and agreeing both
in name and position with the ancient Magdala. The Wady Hammam, in which
stands the Kalaat ibn-Maan, branches off from Medjdel. Proceeding from
hence the shore of the lake is overgrown with Defle (Solanum furiosum),
and there are several springs close to the waters side. At the end of
two hours and a quarter from Ain-et-Tin, we reached Tabaria (Arabic).
June 23d.--There being no Khan for travellers at Tabaria I went to the
Catholic priest, and desired him to let me have the keys of the church,
that I might take up my quarters there; he gave them to me, but finding
the place swarming with vermin, I removed into the open churchyard.
Tabaria, the ancient Tiberias,[Tel el Faras, the southern extremity of
Djebel Heish, bears from a point above Tabaria N.E. by E.] stands close
to the lake, upon a small plain, surrounded by mountains. Its situation
is extremely hot and unhealthy, as the mountain impedes the free course
of the westerly winds which prevail throughout Syria during the summer.
Hence intermittent fevers, especially those of the quartan form, are
very common in the town in that season. Little rain falls in winter,
snow is almost unknown on the borders of the lake, and the temperature,
on the whole, appears to be very nearly the same as that of the Dead
sea. The town is surrounded towards the land by a thick and well built
wall, about twenty feet in height, with a high parapet and loop-holes.
It surrounds the city on three sides, and touches the water at its two
[p.321] extremities; but there are some remains on the shore of the
lake, which seem to indicate that the town was once inclosed on this
side also. I observed, likewise, some broken columns of granite in the
water close to the shore. The town wall is flanked by twenty round
towers standing at unequal distances. Both towers and walls are built
with black stones of moderate size, and seem to be the work of not very
remote times; the whole being in a good state of repair, the place may
be considered as almost impregnable to Syrian soldiers.
[Map not included] a, The town gate; b, the Serai or palace of the
Mutsellim, a spacious building, which has lately been repaired; c, the
mosque, a fine building, but in bad condition; d, the Catholic church;
e, the gate of the Jews quarter; f, a mosque; g, a range of large
vaults; h, a small town-gate now walled up; i, a newly built Bazar. The
mosque (f) is a handsome arched building, and was anciently a church.
The range of vaults at g, which are close to the sea shore, communicate
with each other by cross alleys and have very low roofs, which terminate
at top in a point: they are well built with stones joined with a very
thick cement, and appear to have been destined for warehouses; in summer
they are almost the only cool places in the town. I could not find any
inscriptions, that might assist in determining their date.
Tabaria, with its district of ten or twelve villages, forms a part of
the Pashalik of Akka. Being considered one of the principal points of
defence of the Pashalik, a garrison of two or three hundred
[p.322] men is constantly kept here, the greater part of whom are
married, and settled. During the reign of Djezzar a colony of two
hundred Afghan soldiers were persuaded by the Pasha to establish
themselves at Tabaria; many of them were natives of Kashmir: and among
others their Aga, who was sent for expressly by Djezzar. After the
Pashas death they dispersed over Syria, but I found two Kashmirines
still remaining, who gave me the history of their colony in broken
Arabic.
The Christian church is dedicated to St. Peter, and is said to have been
founded on the spot where St. Peter threw his net. It belongs to the
community of Terra Santa and is visited annually on St. Peters day by
the Frank missionaries of Nazaret, who celebrate mass in it on this
occasion. In the street, not far from the church, is a large stone,
formerly the architrave of some building; upon which are sculptured in
bas-relief two lions seizing two sheep.
There are about four thousand inhabitants in Tabaria, one-fourth of whom
are Jews. The Christian community consists only of a few families, but
they enjoy great liberty, and are on a footing of equality with the
Turks. The difference of treatment which the Christians experience from
the Turks in different parts of Syria is very remarkable. In some places
a Christian would be deprived of his last farthing, if not of his life,
were he to curse the Mohammedan religion when quarrelling with a Turk;
while in others but a few hours distant, he retorts with impunity upon
the Mohammedan, every invective which he may utter against the Christian
religion. At Szaffad, where is a small Christian community, the Turks
are extremely intolerant; at Tiberias, on the contrary, I have seen
Christians beating Turks in the public Bazar. This difference seems
chiefly to depend upon the character of the local
[p.323] government. That of Soleiman Pasha of Akka, the successor of
Djezzar, is distinguished for its religious tolerance; while Damascus
still continues to be the seat of fanatism, and will remain so as long
as there are no Frank establishments or European agents in that city.
A Bazar has lately been built at Tabaria, in which I counted about a
dozen retail shops. The traffic of the inhabitants is principally with
the Bedouins of the Ghor, and of the district of Szaffad. The
shopkeepers repair every Monday to the Khan at the foot of Mount Tabor,
where a market, called Souk el Khan (Arabic) is held, and where the
merchandize of the town is bartered chiefly for cattle. The far greater
part of the inhabitants of Tabaria cultivate the soil; they sow the
narrow plain to the west of the town, and the declivity of the western
mountain, which they irrigate artificially by means of several springs.
The heat of the climate would enable them to grow almost any tropical
plant, but the only produce of their fields are wheat, barley, Dhourra,
tobacco, melons, grapes, and a few vegetables. The melons are of the
finest quality, and are in great demand at Akka and Damascus, where that
fruit is nearly a month later in ripening. Knowing how fond the Syrians
in general are of the early fruits, I sent to my friends at Damascus a
mule load of these melons, which, according to eastern fashion, is a
very acceptable and polite present. About three hundred and fifty pounds
weight English of melons sell at Tabaria for about eight shillings. I
was informed that the shrub which produces the balm of Mecca succeeds
very well here, and that several people have it in their gardens.[Strabo
mentions the [Greek], as growing on the lake, p. 755. Ed.] It was
described to me as a low shrub, with leaves resembling those of the
vine, the fruit about three inches long and in the form of a cucumber,
changing from green to a yellow colour when ripe; it is gathered in
June, oil is then poured over
[p.324] it, and in this state it is exposed to the sun, after which the
juic[e] forming the balm is expressed from it.
The Jews of Tiberias occupy a quarter on the shore of the lake in the
middle of the town, which has lately been considerably enlarged by the
purchase of several streets: it is separated from the rest of the town
by a high wall, and has only one gate of entrance, which is regularly
shut at sunset, after which no person is allowed to pass. There are one
hundred and sixty, or two hundred families, of which forty or fifty are
of Polish origin, the rest are Jews from Spain, Barbary, and different
parts of Syria. Tiberias is one of the four holy cities of the Talmud;
the other three being Szaffad, Jerusalem, and Hebron. It is esteemed
holy ground, because Jacob is supposed to have resided here, and because
it is situated on the lake Genasereth, from which, according to the most
generally received opinion of the Talmud, the Messiah is to rise. The
greater part of the Jews who reside in these holy places do not engage
in mercantile pursuits; but are a society of religious persons occupied
solely with their sacred duties. There are among them only two who are
merchants, and men of property, and these are styled Kafers or
unbelievers by the others, who do nothing but read and pray. Jewish
devotees from all parts of the globe flock to the four holy cities, in
order to pass their days in praying for their own salvation, and that of
their brethren, who remain occupied in worldly pursuits. But the
offering up of prayers by these devotees is rendered still more
indispensible by a dogma contained in the Talmud, that the world will
return to its primitive chaos, if prayers are not addressed to the God
of Israel at least twice a week in these four cities; this belief
produces considerable pecuniary advantage to the supplicants, as the
missionaries sent abroad to collect alms for the support of these
religious fraternities plead the danger of the threatened chaos, to
induce the rich Jews to send supplies of money, in
[p.325] order that the prayers may be constantly offered up. Three or
four missionaries are sent out every year; one to the coasts of Africa
from Damietta to Mogadore, another to the coasts of Europe from Venice
to Gibraltar, a third to the Archipelago, Constantinople, and Anatolia;
and a fourth through Syria. The charity of the Jews of London is
appealed to from time to time; but the Jews of Gibraltar have the
reputation of being more liberal than any others, and, from four to five
thousand Spanish dollars are received annually from them. The Polish
Jews settled at Tabaria send several collectors regularly into Bohemia
and Poland, and the rich Jewish merchants in those countries have their
pensioners in the Holy Land, to whom they regularly transmit sums of
money. Great jealousy seems to prevail between the Syrian and Polish
Jews. The former being in possession of the place, oblige the foreighers
to pay excessively high for their lodgings; and compel them also to
contribute considerable sums towards the relief of the indigent Syrians,
while they themselves never give the smallest trifle to the poor from
Poland.
The pilgrim Jews, who repair to Tiberias, are of all ages from twelve to
sixty. If they bring a little money with them the cunning of their
brethren here soon deprives them of it; for as they arrive with the most
extravagant ideas, of the holy cities, they are easily imposed upon
before their enthusiasm begins to cool. To rent a house in which some
learned Rabbin or saint died, to visit the tombs of the most renowned
devotees, to have the sacred books opened in their presence, and public
prayers read for the salvation of the new-comers, all these inestimable
advantages, together with various other minor religious tricks, soon
strip the stranger of his last farthing; he then becomes dependent upon
the charity of his nation, upon foreign subsidies, or upon the fervour
of some inexperienced pilgrim. Those who go abroad as
[p.326] missionaries generally realise some property, as they are
allowed ten per cent. upon all alms collected, besides their travelling
expenses. The Jewish devotees pass the whole day in the schools or the
synagogue, reciting the Old Testament and the Talmud, both of which many
of them know entirely by heart. They all write Hebrew; but I did not see
any fine hand-writing amongst them; their learning, seems to be on the
same level as that of the Turks, among whom an Olema thinks he has
attained the pinnacle of knowledge if he can recite all the Koran
together with some thousand of Hadeath, or sentences of the Prophet, and
traditions concerning him; but neither Jews, nor Turks, nor Christians,
in these countries, have the slightest idea of that criticism, which
might guide them to a rational explanation or emendation of their sacred
books. It was in vain that I put questions to several of the first
Rabbins, concerning the desert in which the children of Israel sojourned
for forty years; I found that my own scanty knowledge of the geography
of Palestine, and of its partition amongst the twelve tribes, was
superior to theirs.
There are some beautiful copies of the books of Moses in the Syrian
synagogue, written upon a long roll of leather, not parchment, but no
one could tell me when or where they were made; I suspect, however, that
they came from Bagdad, where the best Hebrew scribes live, and of whose
writings I had seen many fine specimens at Aleppo and Damascus. The
libraries of the two schools at Tiberias are moderately stocked with
Hebrew books, most of which have been printed at Vienna and Venice.
Except some copies of the Old Testament and the Talmud, they have no
manuscripts.
They observe a singular custom here in praying; while the Rabbin recites
the Psalms of David, or the prayers extracted from them, the
congregation frequently imitate by their voice or gestures,
[p.327] the meaning of some remarkable passages; for example, when the
Rabbin pronounces the words, Praise the Lord with the sound of the
trumpet, they imitate the sound of the trumpet through their closed
fists. When a horrible tempest occurs, they puff and blow to represent
a storm; or should he mention the cries of the righteous in distress,
they all set up a loud screaming; and it not unfrequently happens that
while some are still blowing the storm, others have already begun the
cries of the righteous, thus forming a concert which it is difficult for
any but a zealous Hebrew to hear with gravity.
The Jews enjoy here perfect religious freedom, more particularly since
Soleiman, whose principal minister, Haym Farkhy, is a Jew, has succeeded
to the Pashalik of Akka. During the life of Djezzar Pasha they were
often obliged to pay heavy fines; at present they merely pay the
Kharadj. Their conduct, however, is not so prudent as it ought to be, in
a country where the Turks are always watching for a pretext to extort
money; they sell wine and brandy to the soldiers of the town, almost
publicly, and at their weddings they make a very dangerous display of
their wealth. On these occasions they traverse the city in pompous
procession, carrying before the bride the plate of almost the whole
community, consisting of large dishes, coffee pots, coffee cups, &c.,
and they feast in the house of the bridegroom for seven successive days
and nights. The wedding feast of a man who has about fifty pounds a
year, and no Jew can live with his family on less, will often cost more
than sixty pounds. They marry at a very early age, it being not uncommon
to see mothers of eleven and fathers of thirteen years. The Rabbin of
Tiberias is under the great Rabbin of Szaffad, who pronounces final
judgment on all contested points of law and religion.