further on, celebrated in Deborah's song (Judg. v. 21), but
it is about five miles south of Acre, the river nearest to
the town being the Belus, noted for its fine sand suitable
for glass-making. It is not unlikely that R. Benjamin
alludes to the celebrated ox-spring of which Arab writers
have much to say. Mukkadasi writes in 985: "Outside the
eastern city gate is a spring. This they call Ain al Bakar,
relating how it was Adam--peace be upon him!--who discovered
this spring, and gave his oxen water therefrom, whence its
name."]
[Footnote 66: Gath-Hepher, the birthplace of Jonah, near
Kefr Kenna, in the territory of Zebulon (Joshua xix. 13), is
not here referred to, but the land of Hepher, I Kings iv. 10
is probably meant.]
[Footnote 67: In Benjamin's time hermits, who eventually
founded the Carmelite order of monks, occupied grottoes on
Mount Carmel.]
[Footnote 68: Benjamin travelled along the coast to
Caesarea. Mr. Guy Le Strange (_Palestine under the Moslems_,
1890, p. 477) writes: "Tall Kanîsah, or Al Kunaisah, the
Little Church, is the mound a few miles north of Athlith,
which the Crusaders took to be the site of Capernaum."
Benjamin must have known very well that Maon, which was
contiguous to another Carmel (referred to in Joshua xv. 55),
belonged to Judah, and was not in the north of Palestine.
Here, as in the case of Gath and elsewhere, he quotes what
was the hearsay identification current at the time he
visited these places. See an article by C.R. Conder on
"Early Christian Topography" in the _Quarterly Statements of
the Palestine Exploration Fund_ for 1876, p.16. Cf. _The
Ancient Hebrew Tradition_, by Prof. Fr. Hommel, p. 243.]
[Footnote 69: In the time of the Crusaders Gath was supposed
to be near Jamnia, but nothing definite is known as to its
site. (Baedeker, _Handbook to Palestine and Syria_, 1876, p.
317.)]
[Footnote 70: It lies between Caesarea and Lydda. See
Conder's _Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem_. Munk's _Palestine_
might also be consulted with advantage.]
[Footnote 71: The tomb of St. George is still shown in the
Greek church at Lydda.]
[Footnote 72: Mr. A. Cowley in an article on the Samaritan
Liturgy in _J. Q.R._, VII, 125, states that the "House of
Aaron" died out in 1624. The office then went to another
branch, the priest being called [Hebrew:], the Levite Cohon.
Cf. Adler and Seligsohn's _Une nouvelle chronique
Samaritaine_. (Paris: Durlacher, 1903.)]
[Footnote 73: The small square building known as Joseph's
tomb lies a short distance north of Jacob's well, at the
eastern entrance to the vale of Nablous.]
[Footnote 74: Cf. Guy Le Strange, _Palestine_, 381, and
Rapoport's Note 166, Asher's _Benjamin_, vol. II, p. 87.]
[Footnote 75: The MSS. are defective here; starting from
Shechem, Mount Gilboa, which to this day presents a bare
appearance, is in a different direction to Ajalon. It is
doubtful whether Benjamin personally visited all the places
mentioned in his _Itinerary_. His visit took place not long
after the second great Crusade, when Palestine under the
kings of Jerusalem was disturbed by internal dissensions and
the onslaughts of the Saracens under Nur-ed-din of Damascus
and his generals. Benjamin could at best visit the places of
note only when the opportunity offered.]
[Footnote 76: This and most of the other places mentioned by
Benjamin are more or less identified in the very important
work published by the Palestine Exploration Fund, _The
Survey of Western Palestine_. Our author's statements are
carefully examined, and Colonel Conder, after expatiating
upon the extraordinary mistakes made by writers in the time
of the Crusaders, some of whom actually confounded the sea
of Galilee with the Mediterranean, says: "The mediæval
Jewish pilgrims appear as a rule to have had a much more
accurate knowledge both of the country and of the Bible.
Their assertions are borne out by existing remains, and are
of the greatest value."]
[Footnote 77: King Baldwin III died in 1162, and was
succeeded by his brother Almaric.]
[Footnote 78: The reading of the Roman MS. that there were
but four Jewish inhabitants at Jerusalem is in conformity
with R. Pethachia, who passed through Palestine some ten or
twenty years after R. Benjamin, and found but one Jew there.
The [Hebrew: daleth] meaning four would easily be misread
for [Hebrew: resh] meaning 200.]
[Footnote 79: The Knights of the Hospital of St. John and
the Templars are here referred to. See Gibbon, _Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire_; Charles Mills, _History of the
Crusades_, 4th edition, vol. I, p. 342, and Besant and
Palmer's _Jerusalem_, chap. ix.]
[Footnote 80: Cf. the writings of Mukaddasi the
Hierosolomite, one of the publications of the Palestine
Pilgrims' Text Society. See also Edrisi's and Ali of Herat's
works. Chap. iii of Guy Le Strange's _Palestine_ gives full
extracts of Edrisi's account written in 1154 and Ali's in
1173. See also five plans of Jerusalem designed between 1160
and 1180, vol. XV, _Zeitschrift des Deutschen
Palästina-Vereins._]
[Footnote 81: Ezek. xx. 35. The idea that the Gorge of
Jehoshaphat will be the scene of the last judgment is based
upon Joel iv. 2. Cf. M.N. Adler, _Temple at Jerusalem_ and
Sir Charles Warren's Comments.]
[Footnote 82: In memory of Absalom's disobedience to his
father, it is customary with the Jews to pelt this monument
with stones to the present day. The adjoining tomb is
traditionally known as that of Zechariah, 2 Chron. xxiv. 20,
King Uzziah, otherwise Azariah, was buried on Mount Zion,
close to the other kings of Judah, 2 Kings xv. 7. Cf. P.E.
F., _Jerusalem_, as to identification of sites. Sir Charles
Wilson, _Picturesque Palestine_, gives excellent
illustrations of the holy places, and his work might be
consulted with advantage.]
[Footnote 83: Pillars of salt are to be met with elsewhere,
for instance at Hammam Meskutim in Algeria. They are caused
by spouts of water, in which so great a quantity of salt is
contained as at times to stop up the aperture of the spring.
The latter, however, is again unsealed through cattle
licking off the salt near the aperture, and the same process
of filling up and unstopping goes on continually. Cf. Talmud
Berachot, 54 a.]
[Footnote 84: See Baedeker's _Palestine and Syria_, pp. 233,
236; also Schwartz, _Palestine_, 1852, p. 230 and Dr.
Robinson's _Palestine_, I, p. 516.]
[Footnote 85: Edrisi in 1154 writes: "The tomb is covered by
twelve stones, and above it is a dome vaulted over with
stones."]
[Footnote 86: Compare R. Pethachia's account of his visit
(_Travels of Rabbi Petachia_: translated by Dr. A. Benisch;
London, Trübner & Co., 1856, p. 63). See papers by
Professors Goldziher and Guthe (_Zeitschrift des Deutschen
Palästina-Vereins_, XVII, pp. 115 and 238) for an account of
the opening of the tombs at Hebron in 1119, as given in a
presumably contemporaneous MS. found by Count Riant. Fifteen
earthenware vessels filled with bones, perhaps those
referred to by Benjamin, were found. It is doubtful whether
the actual tombs of the Patriarchs were disturbed, but it is
stated that the Abbot of St. Gallen paid in 1180 ten marks
of gold (equal to about £5,240 sterling) for relics taken
from the altar of the church at Hebron. The MS. of Count
Riant further mentions that before the occupation of Hebron
by the Arabs, the Greeks had blocked up and concealed the
entrance to the caves. The Jews subsequently disclosed the
place of the entrance to the Moslems, receiving as
recompense permission to build a synagogue close by. This
was no doubt the Jewish place of worship referred to by
Benjamin. Shortly after Benjamin's visit in 1167 the
Crusaders established a bishopric and erected a church in
the southern part of the Haram. See also Conder's account of
the visit of His Majesty the King, when Prince of Wales, to
the Haram at Hebron. (_Palestine Exploration Fund's
Quarterly Statement_, 1882.)]
[Footnote 87: Beit Jibrin was fortified by King Fulk in
1134. See Baedeker's _Palestine and Syria_, p. 309;
Rapoport's _Erech Milin_, p. 54; also a preliminary notice
on the Necropolis of Maresha in _P.E.F.Q.S._, Oct., 1902, p.
393. The text has [Hebrew:], but it should be [Hebrew:].
Inscriptions on tombs near Beit Jibrin show that the town,
to which those buried belonged, was called Mariseh. The
passage in A and all printed editions as to Shunem and Toron
de Los Caballeros is corrupt. Shunem was a small place in
Galilee, and is not likely to have had 300 Jews at the time
of the Crusaders, still less so Toron the present Latrun.]
[Footnote 88: Shiloh, at the time of the Crusaders, was
considered to occupy the site of Mizpeh, the highest
mountain near Jerusalem, where the national assemblies were
held at the time of the Judges. The present mosque is
dilapidated, but the substructure, which dates from the
Frank period, is beautifully jointed. The apse is raised.
The reputed tomb of Samuel is on the western side of the
church. It is still called Nebi Samwil, venerated alike by
Jew and Moslem.]
[Footnote 89: This and Mahomerie-le-grand, already
mentioned, are Crusaders' churches. See Rey, _Les Colonies
franques de Syrie aux XII'e et XIII'e siècles_, p. 387; also
Conder, _The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem_.]
[Footnote 90: Beit-Nuba near Ramleh has been identified
without proof with Nob. Richard Coeur-de-Lion encamped here
some twenty-five years after Benjamin's visit. He with the
army of the Crusaders passed through Ibelin on his way to
Askelon. Cf. Vinsauf's _Itinerarium Regis Ricardi_.]
[Footnote 91: See an interesting Paper, "Der Pass von
Michmas," by Prof. D.G. Dalman, _Z.D.P.V._, 1904, vol.
XXVII, p. 161.]
[Footnote 92: Asher renders [Hebrew:] Ramleh, for which
there is some justification. Ramleh did not exist in Bible
times--it was founded in 716. It prospered to such an extent
that it became as large as Jerusalem. It was a good deal
damaged by an earthquake in 1033. Ramleh had a large Moslem
population, and the Jews there remained comparatively
unmolested by the Crusaders. This latter fact accounts for
the somewhat large number of Jews residing there. Asher's
reading, and that of all the printed editions, is "about
three Jews dwell there." This is obviously wrong. Probably
the copyist is to blame in taking [Hebrew:] to be an
abbreviation for [Hebrew:] The reports of contemporary
Arabic authors will be found in Guy Le Strange's
_Palestine_, pp. 303-8.]
[Footnote 93: Ali of Herat, Benjamin's contemporary, writes:
"Askelon is a fine and beautiful city. There is near here
the well of Abraham, which they say he dug with his own
hand." Bohadin, in his _Life of Saladin_, gives a detailed
account of the demolition of the city in 1192, after the
conclusion of peace between King Richard I and Saladin. Ibn
Batutah in 1355 found the town in ruins, but gives a
detailed account of the well. (Guy Le Strange, pp. 402-3;
cf. Dr. H. Hildesheimer, _Beiträge zur Geographie
Palästinas_.)]
[Footnote 94: The cathedral at Lydda with the tomb of St.
George was destroyed when Saladin captured the place in
1191. It was rebuilt by a King of England in the seventeenth
century.]
[Footnote 95: A.M. Lunez in his Year-book for 1881, pp.
71-165, gives a complete list of the reputed Jewish tombs in
Palestine. There are many records of the graves of Jewish
worthies in our literature, but it is not easy to reconcile
the different versions. See Jacob ben Nethanel's Itinerary
given in Lunez's _Jerusalem_, 1906, VII, p. 87.]
[Footnote 96: Both BM. and R have [Hebrew:], whilst E and A
have the faulty reading [Hebrew:]. The Seder Hadoroth has
the same reading as E and A. Jehuda Halevi died about thirty
years before Benjamin's visit, and the question of the
burial-place of our great national poet is thus finally
settled.]
[Footnote 97: The common belief is that Simon the Just was
buried near Jerusalem, on the road to Nablous, about a mile
from the Damascus Gate.]
[Footnote 98: Cf. Schechter's _Saadyana_, p. 89.]
[Footnote 99: The passage referring to the Arnon is
evidently out of place.]
[Footnote 100: See Deut. xi. 24.]
[Footnote 101: For a description of the city and its great
mosque, see Baedeker, also Guy Le Strange, _Palestine under
the Moslems_, chap. vi. The most eastern dome of the mosque
is to this day called Kubbet-es-Saa, the Dome of Hours.
Mukaddasi gives an elaborate description of the mosaics and
other features of this mosque.]
[Footnote 102: Cf. _Midrash Raba_, chap, xiv: [Hebrew:];
also Josephus, _Ant_. I, vii, 2 who quotes Nicolaus of
Damascus in the words "_In Damasco regnarit Abramus._"]
[Footnote 103: Pethachia estimates the Jewish population at
19,000. This confirms the opinion already given (p. 26) that
Benjamin refers to heads of families.]
[Footnote 104: Dr. W. Bacher with justice observes that, at
the time of the Crusades, the traditions of the Palestinian
Gaonate seem to have survived at Damascus. See _J. Q.R._,
XV, pp. 79-96.]
[Footnote 105: Galid as a city cannot be identified. Salchah
is in the Eastern Hauran, half a day's journey from Bosra,
and is spoken of in Scripture as a frontier city of Bashan.
(Deut. iii. 10; Joshua xii. 5.) It lies a long way to the
south of Damascus, whilst Baalbec lies to the north.]
[Footnote 106: Tarmod is Tadmor or Palmyra.]
[Footnote 107: The important city Emesa, now called Homs, is
here probably indicated. In scripture, Gen. x. 18, the
Zemarite and the Hamathite are grouped together among the
Canaanite families. In this district is the intermittent
spring of Fuwâr ed-Der, the Sabbatio River of antiquity,
which Titus visited after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Josephus (_Wars of the Jews_, Book VII, sec. 5) describes it
as follows: "Its current is strong and has plenty of water;
after which its springs fail for six days together and leave
its channels dry, as any one may see; after which days it
runs on the seventh day as it did before, and as though it
had undergone no change at all: it has also been observed to
keep this order perpetually and exactly." The intermittent
action is readily accounted for by the stream having
hollowed out an underground duct, which acts as a syphon.]
[Footnote 108: Hamath is often mentioned in Scripture,
situated at no great distance from the Orontes. In the
troublous time after the first crusade it was taken by the
Ismailians or Assassins. The earthquake of 1157 caused great
damage. Twenty years later the place was captured by
Saladin.]
[Footnote 109: Robinson and Conder identify Hazor with a
site near Kedesh Naftali, but Sheiza is doubtless Sheizár,
the ancient Larissa. Having regard to the readings of the
other MSS., there is no doubt that Latmin, the next stage on
the way to Aleppo, is the correct name of the place. See M.
Hartmann's articles, "Beiträge zur Kenntuis der Syrischen
Steppe," _Z.D.P.V._, vols. XXII and XXIII, 1900 I. Cf. the
article on the Boundaries of Palestine and Syria by M.
Friedmann, Luncz's _Jerusalem_, vol. II.]
[Footnote 110: Edrisi writes that there was abundance of
water at Aleppo, but there is no discrepancy between
Benjamin's and Edrisi's statements, as Asher supposes. The
old waterworks were restored by Malek about the year 1200,
some thirty years after Benjamin's visit.]
[Footnote 111: Edrisi and Abulfeda speak of Balis and Kalat
Jabar. See Guy Le Strange, p. 417. Zengy the Atabeg was
slain at Kalat Jabar.]
[Footnote 112: Rakka is on the left bank of the Euphrates.
It was an important city of Upper Mesopotamia, commanding
the Syrian frontier. Salchah is in the Hauran. See p. 30,
note 5. On the right bank of the Euphrates, nearly opposite
to Rakka, was Thapsacus. Here Cyrus forded the river, and
here Alexander crossed in pursuit of Darius.]
[Footnote 113: Harr[=a]n, the city of Nahor, is twenty-four
miles SSE. of Edessa on the Balikh. Mustawfi tells us of
Abraham's Shrine.]
[Footnote 114: Ras-el-Ain, probably Rhesaina. The river
Khabur--the Araxes of Xenophon--flows from the Kurdistan
mountains southwards, and runs into the Euphrates.]
[Footnote 115: The Gozan river cannot be, as tacitly assumed
by Asher, the Kizil Uzun (also known as the Araxes). The
Kizil Uzun is on the right of the watershed of the mountains
of Kurdistan, and falls into the Caspian Sea. The Khabur
above referred to flows through Mesopotamia, not through
Media. The misconception arises probably from the author
being too mindful of the passage occurring repeatedly in
Scripture, e. g. 2 Kings xvii. 6: "... and placed them in
Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities
of the Medes."]
[Footnote 116: All the MSS. except BM. have here: "Thence it
is two days to the city of Nisibis (Nasibin). This is a
great city with rivulets of water, and contains about 1,000
Jews."]
[Footnote 117: Josephus (_Antiquities_, I, 3) mentions that
Noah's Ark still existed in his day. Rabbi Pethachia, who
travelled through Armenia within twenty years after
Benjamin, speaks of four mountain peaks, between which the
Ark became fixed and from which it could not get free. Arab
writers tell us that Jabal Judi (Koran, ch. xi, ver. 46)
with the Mosque of Noah on the summit, could be seen from
Geziret. See also _Marco Polo_, Bk. I. ch. 3.]
[Footnote 118: See Lebrecht's Essay "On the State of the
Caliphate at Bagdad." Sin-ed-din, otherwise known as
Seif-ed-din, died 1149, some twenty years before Benjamin's
visit, and Graetz (vol. VI, note 10) suggests that the
appointment of Astronomer Royal must have been made by
Nur-ed-din's nephew. None of the MSS. have this reading, nor
is such a correction needed. R. Joseph may have been
appointed by Nur-ed-din's brother, and would naturally
retain the office during the reign of his successor.]
[Footnote 119: Irbil, or Arbela, is two days' journey from
Mosul. See Saadyana, _J. Q.R._, vol. XIV, p. 503, and W.
Bacher's note, p. 741.]
[Footnote 120: For a full account of Mosul and other places
here referred to, see Mr. Guy Le Strange's _The Lands of the
Eastern Caliphate_, 1905, also Layard's _Nineveh and its
Remains_ and _Nineveh and Babylon_. Layard carefully
examined Nebbi Junus, which is held in great veneration by
the Mussulmans, and came to the conclusion that the
tradition which places Jonah's tomb on this spot is a mere
fable (p. 596). It will be seen that Benjamin speaks of the
Shrine as a _Synagogue_. At Alkush near Mosul the tomb of
Nahum is pointed out, and the Arabs say that after Jonah had
fulfilled his mission to the people of Nineveh they relapsed
into idolatry. Then Nahum denounced the city and was slain
by the populace, who proclaimed him and Jonah to be false
prophets, since the doom the latter foretold does not come
to pass, See Schwarz, _Das Heilige Land_, 1852, p. 259,
identifying Kefar Tanchum near Tiberias with Nahum's
burialplace]
[Footnote 121: As to Jewish seats of learning in Babylon
refer to Dr. Krauss's Article "Babylonia" in the _Jewish
Encyclopaedia_; see also Guy Le Strange, p. 74, who suggests
that Pumbedita means "mouth of the Badat canal." Cf. _J. Q.
R._, XVII, p. 756.]
[Footnote 122: Hadara goes under the name Alhathr or Hatra.
There must exist great doubt as to whether Benjamin had
personally satisfied himself as to the Jewish population he
gives for this and the other places he tells of, till he
comes to Egypt. Up to this point the Traveller has always
appeared to under-estimate the Jewish population. Henceforth
it will be found that he gives apparently exaggerated
figures,--and this lends colour to the view that Benjamin
did not proceed beyond Ispahan, but found his way thence
direct to Egypt. The statements concerning the intervening
places must therefore be taken to have been based upon
hearsay information. Pethachia's remarks are significant:
"In the land of Cush and Babel are more than sixty myriads
of Jews; as many are in the land of Persia. But in Persia
the Jews are subject to hard bondage and suffering.
Therefore Rabbi Pethachia visited only one city in Persia."
(Dr. Benisch's edition, p. 19.)]
[Footnote 123: The Caliphs of the Abbaside Dynasty traced
their descent from Mohammed. Benjamin here refers to the
Caliph El Mostanshed. The Caliph is aptly compared to the
Pope. In addition to his temporal authority at Bagdad, he
exercised as Leader of the Faithful--Emir
al-Muminin--religious authority over all Mohammedans from
Spain to India. At a later time the vizier arrogated all
authority to himself, and the Caliph spent his time either
in the mosque or in the seraglio.]
[Footnote 124: _Lebrecht_, p. 391, states that this was a
scarf of black velvet, generally a portion of the hangings
of the mosque of Mecca, which was suspended from a balcony
of the Palace and was called the Sleeve of the Caliph.]
[Footnote 125: The statements here made are strangely
contradictory; see a suggestive article by Dr. Goldziher in
_Z.D.P.G._, 1905, p. 151.]
[Footnote 126: A valuable work, _Bagdad during the Abbaside
Caliphate, from Contemporary Arabic and Persian Sources_,
appeared in 1900, written by Mr. Guy Le Strange, which helps
to explain Benjamin's account of the Moslem metropolis. The
Caliph Mansur in 762 selected it as the Capital of the
Empire. Numerous references in the Talmud prove that a
Jewish settlement was there long before. Mansur built a
double-walled Round City two miles in diameter on the
western side of the Tigris. It formed the nucleus of
suburbs, which spread over both banks of the Tigris. A very
fair idea of the metropolis may be obtained if we imagine
the Round City as situated on the Surrey side of the Thames,
having the "Elephant and Castle" for its centre. At this
spot stood the great Mosque of Mansur, where the Friday
services were held, and where the Caliph took a prominent
part in the service on the Bairam, at the close of the
Ramazan fast. The Round City being subject to periodical
inundations, the government buildings were gradually
transferred to the eastern side of the river. The Royal
Palaces, in the grounds called the Harim, which were fully
three miles in extent, occupied the site similar to that
from Westminster to the City. At one time there were as many
as twenty-three palaces within the royal precincts. The
Caliph, when visiting the Mosque in state, left the palace
grounds, and proceeded over the main bridge, corresponding
to Westminster Bridge, along a road which in Benjamin's time
led to the Basrah Gate quarter. At the close of the ceremony
in the Mosque, the Caliph returned, crossing the bridge of
boats, and proceeded to his palace by a road corresponding
to the Thames Embankment. The members of his court and the
nobles entered barges and escorted him alongside the river.
The Arab writers mention that certain palaces were used as
state prisons, in which the Caliphs kept their nearer
relations in honourable confinement. They were duly attended
by numerous servants, and amply supplied with every luxury,
but forbidden under pain of death to go beyond the walls.
Lebrecht, p. 381, explains the circumstances under which the
Caliph Moktafi imprisoned his brother and several of his
kinsmen. There were large hospitals in Bagdad: the one to
which Benjamin alludes is the Birmaristan of the
Mustansiriyah, in Western Bagdad, which for three centuries
was a great school of medical science. Its ruins, close to
the present bridge of boats, are still to be seen. The
reader must bear in mind that at the time when Benjamin
visited Bagdad, the Seljuk Sultans had been defeated, and
the Caliphs stood higher than ever in power. They, however,
took little interest in political affairs, which were left
entirely in the hands of their viziers.]
[Footnote 127: Asher and the other printed editions give the
Jewish population at 1,000. Pethachia makes the same
estimate, which, however, is inconsistent with his
statement, that the Head of the Academy had 2,000 disciples
at one time, and that more than 500 surrounded him. The
British Museum and Casanatense MSS. solve the difficulty;
they have the reading _forty thousand_. It would be
wearisome to specify in these notes all the places where a
superior reading is presented by these MSS.; the student
will, however, find that not a few anomalies which
confronted Asher are now removed.]
[Footnote 128: The last or tenth Academy.]
[Footnote 129: This appellation is applied in the Talmud to
scholars who uninterruptedly apply themselves to communal
work.]