Transcriber’s Note
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has
been surrounded by _underscores_. Some corrections have been made to the
printed text. These are listed in a second transcriber’s note at the end
of the text.
[Illustration: _From a Drawing by Mr. F. E. Blackstone._ RANGE OF HERMON
NEAR BANIAS, OR CÆSAREA PHILIPPI, AT THE MAIN SOURCE OF THE JORDAN. _The
Probable Scene of our Lord’s Transfiguration._]
“Those Holy Fields.”
PALESTINE,
ILLUSTRATED BY PEN AND PENCIL.
BY THE
REV. SAMUEL MANNING, LL.D.,
_AUTHOR OF “ITALIAN PICTURES,” “SWISS PICTURES,” AND
“SPANISH PICTURES.”_
“Those holy fields,
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which fourteen hundred years ago were nailed,
For our advantage, on the bitter cross.”
LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY;
56, PATERNOSTER ROW; 65, ST. PAUL’S CHURCHYARD;
AND 164, PICCADILLY.
BRIGHTON: 31, WESTERN ROAD MANCHESTER: 100, CORPORATION STREET.
PREFACE
[Illustration]
The journey of which a brief account is given in the following pages was
undertaken in the early part of 1873. The object of the writer was to
compare the _Land_ and the _Book_, and by an examination of the
topography of Palestine to illustrate the histories of Scripture. Had
any doubt existed in his own mind as to the veracity of those histories,
it must have been dispelled by the minute agreement which he traced
between the indications of the narrative and the physical geography of
the country. No “fable,” however “cunningly devised,” no myth or legend
coming into existence at a later age, could have adapted itself so
precisely to the topographical details of the scene. The main design of
the present volume has been to trace these coincidences, and thus to
elucidate and confirm the biblical narrative. Whilst he has availed
himself of all the help he could gain from the writings of former
travellers, he has in no case depended upon them, but endeavoured, by a
personal and careful inspection of the sites, to arrive at an
independent and accurate conclusion.
[Illustration: (Drawing of men next to a tent)]
In the Illustrations, which form so large a part of the present volume,
fidelity rather than artistic effect has been aimed at. Many of the
engravings are from drawings made on the spot, but a greater number are
from photographs. Those of Messrs. Bergheim and Nicodemus of Jerusalem,
and Madame Bonfils of Beyrout, have been largely used for this purpose;
and the writer desires to express his gratitude for the liberality with
which the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund have placed their
admirable series at his disposal.
The Maps are enlarged by permission of Messrs. W. and A. Keith Johnston,
from their Royal Atlas Map of Syria, which for correctness and fulness
of detail is worthy of the high reputation they have long enjoyed as
chartographers.
[Illustration: (Drawing of people outside the walls of a village)]
List of Illustrations.
Range of Hermon, near Banias _Frontispiece._
Village of Siloam, and Valley of the Kedron _Preface._
SOUTHERN PALESTINE, OR JUDÆA.
JAFFA TO HEBRON.
Map of the District _page_ 10
Head-Piece—Our Camp 11
Initial—Eastern Water-Seller 11
Jaffa, from the North 12
Jaffa, from the Sea 15
Ploughing in Palestine 17
Ramleh 18
German Colony near Jaffa 19
Lydda 21
Amwâs, or Nicopolis 22
Women of the Hill Country of Judæa 24
Wady es-Sumt and Kulônia 25
Southern Wall of the Temple Area Showing the opening
of “Robinson’s Arch” 27
Tomb of Rachel 29
Solomon’s Pools 31
Ruins of Tekoa, on the way down to Hebron 32
Distant View of Hebron 33
Hebron, and Mosque over the Cave of Machpelah 35
Pool of Hebron 36
Entrance to the Mosque over Machpelah 37
Roof of the Mosque 38
Arrangement of Tombs in the Cave 39
Abraham’s Oak, near Hebron 40
BETHLEHEM TO THE DEAD SEA.
Head-Piece—Bethlehem 41
Initial—The Dead Sea 41
Gate of Bethlehem 42
Women of Bethlehem 43
Shepherd of Bethlehem 44
Eastern Gleaners 45
Entrance to the Cave of Adullam 47
Interior of the Cave of Adullam 48
Bethlehem, from the Shepherds’ Field 49
Interior of a Khan 50
Interior of the Church of the Nativity 52
Church of the Nativity 53
Convent of Mar Saba 55
Wilderness of Judæa 57
Northern Shore of the Dead Sea 59
Southern Shore of the Dead Sea 60
The Dead Sea 61
Approach to Engedi 63
Makaur, the site of ancient Machærus 65
The Dead Sea, near Masada 66
Map of the Dead Sea 67
The Well of Bethlehem 68
JERICHO AND THE JORDAN TO JERUSALEM.
Head-Piece—Arabs of the Plain 69
Initial—Er Riha, near Jericho 69
Plain of the Jordan, near Jericho 70
Arabs in the Plain of Jericho 71
Banks of the Jordan 73
Sketch Plan of the Jordan 74
Site of Ancient Jericho 75
Elisha’s Fountain, near Jericho 81
Bathing-Place of Pilgrims on the Jordan 82
Ruined Aqueduct near Jericho 83
Bethany 85
Church on the Summit of the Mount of Olives 87
St. Stephen’s Gate 88
JERUSALEM.
Head-Piece—Church of the Holy Sepulchre 89
Initial—Tomb of Absalom 89
Plan of Jerusalem 90
Ruins near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 92
Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives 93
Walls of Jerusalem 95
Street of Modern Jerusalem 96
Sketch Plan of the Site of Jerusalem 97
Entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 98
The Pool of Hezekiah 99
Plan of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 101
Interior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 102
Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre 103
The Place of Scourging 104
Cave under the Church 105
Via Dolorosa 106
The Mosque of Omar 109
The Golden Gate 111
Projecting Stones of Robinson’s Arch 112
Wailing-Place of the Jews 113
Jewish Almshouses 115
Pool of Bethesda 116
Substructions under the Temple Area 117
Temple Area and Mount of Olives 118
Tunnel and Shaft of the Palestine Exploration Fund
outside the Temple Wall 120
Garden of Gethsemane 121
Mount of Corruption 124
Tomb of Zacharias 125
Aceldama 126
Tomb of Helena 127
The Valley of Jehoshaphat 128
CENTRAL PALESTINE, OR SAMARIA.
JERUSALEM TO SHILOH.
Map of the District 130
Head-Piece 131
Initial—Mosque of David 131
Jerusalem, from Scopus 132
Ramah 133
Anathoth 134
Ruins of Bethel 137
Stone Circle near Bethel 139
Ruined Synagogue at Shiloh 141
The Site of Shiloh 142
SHECHEM, EBAL, AND GERIZIM.
Head-Piece—Road-side Wells 143
Initial—Arab at Tent Door 143
Valley of Shechem, with Ebal and Gerizim 144
Jacob’s Well and Joseph’s Tomb 145
Nablus 146
Evening on a Housetop 148
Ruins on the Summit of Gerizim 151
Cylinder enclosing the Samaritan Pentateuch 154
Translation of Inscriptions 154
Copy of a portion of the Samaritan Pentateuch 155
In a Bazaar 158
Gate at Nablus 159
NABLUS TO THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON.
Head-Piece 160
Initial—Ruined Church of St. John in Samaria 160
The Hill of Samaria 162
An Arab Story-Teller 164
Ruins of the City of Samaria 165
Ruins of Cæsarea 166
Jenin, the ancient En-gannim 168
Head-Dress of Egyptian Fellaheen 170
Plain of Esdraelon, with the Ruins of Jezreel 171
Mouth of the River Kishon 172
Sketch Plan of the Esdraelon Plain and surrounding
district from El-Muhrakah 174
Monastery on Mount Carmel 176
Promontory of Carmel, from the Sea 178
NORTHERN PALESTINE, OR GALILEE.
SOUTHERN GALILEE AND NAZARETH.
Map of the District 180
Head-Piece—Village of Nazareth 181
Initial—Fountain of Mary at Nazareth 181
Tabor 183
Nain 185
Nazareth 187
Cliff behind the Maronite Convent at Nazareth, the
supposed “Rock of Precipitation” 189
Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth 191
Fountain at Cana 194
THE LAKE OF GENNESARETH.
Head-Piece 195
Initial—Town and Lake of Tiberias 195
North Shore of the Lake, near Tell Hum 196
The Town of Tiberias 199
Magdala 201
Southern End of the Sea of Galilee 202
Hills over Gennesareth 203
Ruins of Et-Tabigah 206
Ruins of Tell Hum 207
The Lake of Gennesareth from near Khan Minyeh 208
GENNESARETH TO THE SOURCE OF THE JORDAN.
Head-Piece—Lake Hûleh 209
Initial—An Arab Encampment 209
Bridge of Jacob’s Daughters 210
Rob Roy captured by the Arabs on the waters of the
Lake Hûleh 211
The Mouth of the Jordan, Lake Hûleh 213
Lake Hûleh, or the Waters of Merom 214
Hermon, from the Northern Shore of Lake Hûleh 215
Hermon, from near Tell-el-Kadi 216
The Source of the Jordan at Banias 218
SOUTHERN PALESTINE,
OR JUDÆA.
[Illustration:
SOUTHERN PALESTINE, OR JUDÆA.
[_Enlarged by permission from Keith Johnston’s Map._
]
[Illustration: Head-Piece—Our Camp]
SOUTHERN PALESTINE, OR JUDÆA.
JAFFA TO HEBRON.
A REEF of sharp jagged rocks, over which the surf breaks fiercely, runs
parallel with the shore, forming a natural breakwater. Inside the reef
the water is smooth enough, but too shallow to admit anything except
fishing-boats and small coasting-craft. The harbour has silted up by the
sand-drift from Arabian and African deserts, so that steamers and
sea-going vessels must anchor outside. Jaffa, a town of four thousand
inhabitants, picturesque at a distance, as all Eastern towns are, stands
on the slope of a hill and comes close down to the beach. It is
encircled by a broad belt of gardens and orange groves. A rich fertile
plain stretches for ten or twelve miles inland. Then a range of hills
bounds the view.
[Illustration: EASTERN WATER-SELLER.]
This ancient port was famous both in legend and history. It is the site
of the fabled rescue of Andromeda by Perseus, and the city is declared
by Pliny to have been standing before the Flood. The cedar-wood for
building the Temple was sent hither by Hiram, king of Tyre.[1] Here
Jonah, “flying from the presence of the Lord,” found a ship about to
sail to Tarshish, “so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into
it.”[2] Somewhere within the circuit of those grey walls, “widows stood
weeping and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas had made whilst
she was yet with them.” And amongst the tan-pits on the shore once
stood, perhaps still stands, the house of Simon the Tanner, where Peter
was taught by vision that Jewish exclusiveness was to end, and that
henceforth he should “call nothing common or unclean.”[3] It is our
first view of that land,
“Over whose acres walked those blessed feet
Which _eighteen_ hundred years ago were nailed,
For our advantage on the bitter cross.”
[Illustration: JAFFA FROM THE NORTH.]
A number of boats, manned by half-naked Arabs, howling, yelling, and
fighting like demons, cluster round the steamer. In one of them,
retained for the use of our party, the fight is so fierce that our
dragoman leaps down into it, and lays about him right and left with his
heavy _korbash_. This proving of no avail, he seizes one of the Arabs by
the throat, and throws him into the sea, to sink or swim as it may
happen. Order being at length restored, we take our seats in the boat,
are skilfully steered through a gap in the reef, and soon find ourselves
at the foot of some black slimy steps, leading to the Turkish
custom-house. A crowd of wretched creatures press round us, clamouring
for _backshish_. The unpaved road is ankle deep in mud. Foul sights, and
yet fouler smells, offend the senses. To most of my companions the sight
was altogether new and strange. For myself, having had some previous
experience of the filth and squalor of an Oriental town, I was not taken
by surprise. But the disenchantment of the rest of the party, as they
first set foot on the soil of Palestine, was complete. One American
gentleman, who had come prepared to go into ecstasies, and had avowed
his intention of falling on his knees on landing, to express his
gratitude for being permitted to tread the sacred soil, looked round
with a comical expression of bewilderment, and exclaimed, “Is this the
Holy Land?”
Picking our way through a tortuous labyrinth of dismal alleys, we found
our tents pitched outside the town. The camping ground is a spot of rare
beauty. The Mediterranean, of a clear crystalline blue, studded with
white sails, rolls up upon the beach. The long coast-line of Philistia
runs north and south. Groves of orange, lemon, citron, fig, and
pomegranate, vineyards and gardens, the produce of which is famous
throughout Syria, form a broad belt round the city. The plain of Sharon,
bright with verdure and enamelled with flowers, stretches inland. The
mountains of Ephraim, blue against the eastern sky, form a beautiful
frame for a lovely picture. It was easy to understand how a name meaning
“the beautiful” should have been borne by the town for three thousand
years.
The traditional house of Simon the Tanner furnishes, from its flat roof,
a fine point of view for this charming scene. And there is reason to
believe that the tradition is not far wrong. The house is “by the
sea-side;”[4] the waves beat against the wall of its courtyard. An
ancient well, fed by a perennial spring, furnishes the water needful for
the tanner’s trade; and tanneries of immemorial antiquity probably go
back to the time of Peter’s visit or even earlier. The vision here
vouchsafed to the Apostle gains a new appropriateness on this spot.
Joppa has always been the port of Jerusalem. It is, indeed, the only
port of Southern Palestine. Thence “the ships of Tarshish” were seen
coming and going. The “isles of Chittim” (Cyprus) lie just below the
horizon. It was the point at which the Jewish and Gentile world came
into contact. Peter looking out over the waters of “the Great Sea”
towards Greece and Rome, where the gospel was to win its greatest
victories, would be at no loss to apply the lesson taught by the vision.
The history of Tabitha is fondly remembered by the people of Joppa.
Tabitha or Dorcas (_i.e._ the gazelle) is partly a personal name—partly
a term of endearment. An annual festival is still celebrated on the 25th
of May, when the young people go out into the orange-groves around the
town and spend the day in a sort of pic-nic, singing hymns and ballads
in her honour.
In modern times Jaffa has acquired a sad notoriety from the infamous
massacre of his prisoners, and the alleged poisoning of his
plague-stricken troops by Napoleon Bonaparte. The spot is yet pointed
out where, amongst the sand-hills on the beach, four thousand Turkish
and Albanian troops, who had surrendered as prisoners of war, were shot
down in cold blood.
[Illustration: JAFFA FROM THE SEA.]
Passing out from the town we cross the Plain of Sharon, the exquisite
fertility and beauty of which made it to the Hebrew mind a symbol of
prosperity. “The excellency of Carmel and Sharon”[5] was proverbial.
“The earth mourneth and languisheth” when “Sharon is like a
wilderness.”[6] When the Most High shall again “bring forth a seed out
of Jacob and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains,” its first
result will be that once more “Sharon shall be a fold for flocks.”[7] In
the Song of songs, “I am the Rose of Sharon,”[8] is the symbol to
express the highest ideal of grace and beauty. As we rode across the
plain, bright with the vivid green of early spring, and plucked handfuls
of the innumerable flowers—cyclamens, anemones, roses, lilies, tulips
and a score of others—which gemmed the turf or grew “unprofitably gay”
amongst the corn, we could enter into the feelings of Hebrew poets and
prophets as they exulted in “the glory of Sharon.” But where were the
inhabitants? This fertile plain which might support an immense
population is almost a solitude. Two or three wretched hamlets, mere
clusters of mud huts, are the sole representatives of the numerous and
thriving cities which once occupied it.[9] Here and there was a solitary
Arab breaking up the clods with a plough which remains unchanged in form
from the earliest ages. These were the only signs of life we could
discover. Day by day we were to learn afresh the lesson now forced upon
us, that the denunciations of ancient prophecy have been fulfilled to
the very letter,—“the land is left void and desolate and without
inhabitants.”[10] Within the last few years, however, there has been an
improvement in some parts of the plain, arising from the establishment
of a German agricultural colony near Jaffa, of a model farm supported by
a society in London, and the acquisition of a considerable tract of land
by Messrs. Bergheim of Jerusalem. The German colonists retain,
unchanged, the dress and manners of their fatherland, and it is not a
little curious to meet a bevy of fair-haired, blue-eyed, red-cheeked
damsels driven by a Silesian peasant in a genuine _einspanner_, in a
district made memorable by the exploits of Samson against the
Philistines.
[Illustration: PLOUGHING IN PALESTINE.]
[Illustration: RAMLEH.]
Three hours from Jaffa stands RAMLEH, which has been identified with the
Ramah of the Old Testament and the Arimathea of the New, but without
sufficient authority. Its chief object of interest is a magnificent
tower, resembling the famous Giralda of Seville, quite perfect, which
rises from the ruins of an ancient khan. From the summit a superb view
is gained. To the east are seen the mountains of Israel, bare and
monotonous, but not without a certain impressiveness. Westward the
Mediterranean stretches to the verge of the horizon. All around lies the
plain of Sharon. On the slope of a hill about three miles distant stands
a little white-walled village, conspicuous by a lofty ruined tower. It
is the Lod of the Old Testament, LYDDA of the New.[11] Here Peter “found
a certain man named Æneas, who had kept his bed eight years, and was
sick of the palsy. And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh
thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.” Here,
too, he received the request of the saints at Joppa to visit them in
their trouble at the death of Dorcas. As the road has remained unchanged
from the earliest times, we can trace the whole route by which the
sorrowing disciples came and the apostle returned with them. In
hagiology, Lydda is distinguished as the birth-place of St. George, the
patron saint of England. The Church, the ruins of which are visible from
a distance, was destroyed by Saladin, and restored by Richard Cœur de
Lion.
[Illustration: GERMAN COLONY NEAR JAFFA, WITH THE PLAIN OF SHARON AND
THE MOUNTAINS OF EPHRAIM.]
Soon after leaving Ramleh the road begins to ascend and the country
grows wilder. We are approaching the elevated plateau on which Jerusalem
stands, two thousand six hundred feet above the level of the sea. Up to
the time of David the whole maritime plain over which we have been
riding was held by the Philistines. The defiles and passes we are now
about to enter formed the marches—the debatable ground, the possession
of which was contested inch by inch during successive generations. A
little to the north of us stood the city of Ekron, whither the Ark of
God was brought from Ashdod. We can trace the path by which the
milch-kine, yoked to the new cart on which the Ark was laid, left their
calves behind them and “went along the highway, lowing as they went, and
turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the
Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. And they of
Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they
lifted up their eyes, and saw the Ark, and rejoiced to see it.”[12] The
names of Ekron and Beth-shemesh are easily identified in Akir and
Ain-shems. As we saw the green slopes of the hills with their fields of
wheat and barley, and the labourers in the busy light of the declining
sun, it was easy to realise the whole scene. Tracing the history step by
step and noting how the localities exactly fell into the requirements of
the narrative, it was impossible not to be struck by the precise
accordance of the one with the other. The land and the book formed a
perfect illustration of one another.
[Illustration: LYDDA.]
Two traditional sites are now passed—El Latron, the name of which is
said to be derived from its having been the abode of the penitent thief,
and Amwâs, the ancient Nicopolis, long regarded as the EMMAUS of the New
Testament.[13] Though the identity of the latter site was for a thousand
years unquestioned, and has recently been reasserted by the high
authority of Dr. Robinson, it seems to me to be quite untenable. Its
distance from Jerusalem is too great. The evangelist fixes it at “three
score furlongs;” Amwâs is a hundred and sixty. Robinson assumes an error
in the MSS., for which there is no authority; nor is it credible that
the disciples should have visited Jerusalem and returned hither in the
same day, as the narrative requires, making a distance of forty miles.
[Illustration: AMWÁS, OR NICOPOLIS, THE TRADITIONAL SITE OF EMMAUS.]
Just as the sun was setting we found ourselves on the summit of a hill.
Below us was a tangle and labyrinth of valleys running one into another.
On the opposite hill the sun was resting before he “hasted to go down.”
Our camp was pitched on the edge of a brook in the bottom of the valley
where mists and shadows were already gathering thick and heavy. It was
the VALLEY OF AJALON, where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still.
Again the topography illustrated and confirmed the narrative. Joshua,
encamped at Gilgal in the valley of the Jordan, received intelligence
that five kings of the Amorites had attacked the Gibeonites with whom he
had just before made an alliance,[14] and who demanded instant succour.
“Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly and save us
and help us.” Though only just before the army had required three days
to reach the city,[15] Joshua at once ordered a forced march which he
accomplished in the course of a single night. He found the Amorites
besieging Gibeon, the site of which is marked by the village of Geeb,
some distance to the north-east of where we stand. Taken by surprise at
this sudden and unlooked-for attack, they were “discomfited,” “slain
with a great slaughter,” and “chased along the way that goeth up to
Beth-horon,” now, Beit ’Ur el-Foka, Beth-horon the upper, on the summit
of a hill looking over the plain of Sharon. Here they seem to have made
a stand, but were driven down the steep rocky declivity leading to the
lower Beth-horon, now Beit ’Ur et-Tahta, at the foot of the ravine. As
in wild panic they were rushing down the precipitous descent, a
hailstorm, perhaps, accompanied by a fall of meteoric stones, added to
their confusion and dismay. Slipping and falling from rock to rock, the
discomfited host endeavoured to escape along the valleys below us, hotly
pursued by the victorious army. The kings took refuge in a cave, the
entrance to which was blocked up by the pursuers who still pressed on
after the flying foe. The sun had reached his meridian and stood over
Gibeon, the pale crescent moon over Ajalon. Will the shades of evening
close upon them when the victory is incomplete, giving opportunity to
the Amorites to escape among the defiles which run in every direction,
or to rally in the darkness? “Then spake Joshua to the Lord ... and he
said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and
thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the
moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their
enemies.” The victory was complete; the kings were brought out from the
hiding-place and slain. “And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him,
unto the camp at Gilgal.”[16]
Soon after leaving the valley of Ajalon we reach the village of
Kuryet-el-enab, better known at the present day as Abu-Gosh, from the
robber chief who for nearly a quarter of a century kept the Turkish
power at bay, and levied blackmail on the whole district. It is
identified with tolerable certainty as the ancient KIRJATH-JEARIM (_the
city of forests_), though the forests from which it took its name have
long since disappeared. Originally a city of the Gibeonites,[17] it
subsequently became one of the border towns marking the frontier between
Judah and Benjamin. It is in consequence frequently mentioned in the
mapping out and allotment of the land by Joshua.[18] The accuracy of
what has been well called “The Doomsday Book of the Israelites” is shown
by the fact that these ancient records still afford invaluable aid in
settling the topography of Palestine. At Kirjath-Jearim the Ark rested
for twenty years after being recovered from the hands of the Philistines
and before its removal to Jerusalem by David. It was in this “city of
forests” that the royal psalmist found it in “the fields of the wood”
and brought it with songs of praise to the place he had prepared for its
reception.[19] It was very interesting to read the narrative of the
bringing hither of the Ark and compare it with the surrounding scenery.
“And the men of Kirjath-Jearim came, and fetched _up_ the Ark of the
Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab _in the hill_.” The
village stands on the slope of a hill trending down towards Ain-Shems,
the ancient Beth-Shemesh. A hill rises above the town, and the ruins of
an ancient church which stands on its summit may not improbably mark the
site of “the house of Abinadab.”
[Illustration: WOMEN OF THE HILL COUNTRY OF JUDÆA.]
[Illustration:
WADY ES-SUMT AND KULÔNIA.
[_From a Sketch by Mr. F. E. Blackstone._
]
Shortly after leaving Abu-Gosh we descend into a broad deep valley, the
Wady es-Sumt, enclosed by rounded hills, terraced and covered with
olives to the very summit. A brook, swollen by winter rains into a
torrent, brawls over a bed of pebbles brought down by it from the rocks
above. It is the VALLEY OF ELAH, along which the hosts of the Amorites
fled after their defeat at Beth-horon, and where the ruddy stripling
from Bethlehem confronted and slew the giant of Gath.[20] The hills
curve round, forming an amphitheatre, in which, as “the Philistines
stood on a mountain on one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the
other, and there was a valley between them,” the hostile armies would be
able to watch the combat between their chosen champions. Bethlehem is
only about ten miles distant, and the young shepherd boy, who “rose up
early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper,” could easily
reach the spot in time to see “the battle set in array,” and hear the
defiant challenge of the Philistine. Shocoh is represented by the
village of Shuweikeh; Azekah is probably the modern Tell Zakarîya; and
Gath lies at no great distance on the way down to Ekron. David,
returning to Bethlehem by the main road would pass through or near
Jerusalem, at that time in the hands of the Jebusites; hence the
statement which has caused some perplexity to commentators, that “he
took the head of the Philistine and brought it” thither.
Leaving the valley of Elah on the way to Jerusalem the eye is arrested
by a white-walled village standing on the slope of the hill, a little
way off the road, but visible from it. Travellers going thither from
Jerusalem must turn aside as “they draw nigh unto it”; others “who would
go farther,” continue along the road, leaving it on the right. It is now
called Kulon or Kulônia, and at least a probable conjecture regards it
as EMMAUS.[21] Though there is no direct evidence of the fact, yet it
fulfils all the requirements of the narrative, which, as we have seen,
the traditional site fails to do. We know from Josephus that there was
an Emmaus in this neighbourhood, and that a Roman garrison was stationed
there. The modern name of Kulônia may not improbably represent the
_Colonia_, or Roman settlement. Assuming the identification to be
correct, we now, for the first time, find ourselves in the actual
footsteps of Him whose “name is above every name.” Tender, sacred,
sublime, as are all the associations of the Holy Land, they must yield
to thoughts of Him who was David’s son and yet his Lord; who was of the
seed of Abraham, and yet could say, “Before Abraham was I am.”
About seven miles, “sixty furlongs,” from Kulônia we reach the summit of
a broad plateau. Turning a corner of the road, a huge Russian monastery
and church, with several smaller buildings around, all new, crude and
raw in colour, obstruct the view in front. On the right is a ravine,
beyond which a series of barren wind-swept hills stretch to the horizon.
Just behind the monastery is a Turkish barrack, and then a line of dim
grey venerable walls. There is nothing imposing or impressive in the
sight, and yet every traveller halts; even the most frivolous are awed
into silence. Not a few gaze with tears upon the scene. It is JERUSALEM!
The moment when its sombre turreted walls, minarets, and domes break,
for the first time, upon the eye is one never to be forgotten. The
dream, the hope of a lifetime has been fulfilled. The one thought, “Our
feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem,” swallows up every
other. I was not surprised; I was not disappointed. The outward features
of the landscape were scarcely seen. The present was lost sight of and
forgotten in the memories of the past. This was the city of the Lord of
Hosts! Here He chose to dwell between the cherubim! Here my Lord was
crucified!
It was not our plan to make any stay in Jerusalem at present. We should
return in a few days. I contented myself, therefore, with entering at
the Jaffa gate, and clattering for a few hundred feet along the stony
street. Then, retracing my steps, I rode round a portion of the southern
wall and descended into the Valley of Hinnom to rejoin my companions.
[Illustration:
SOUTHERN WALL OF TEMPLE AREA.
[_From a Photograph by Mr. Bergheim, Junr._
]
Passing the Pool of Gihon, and leaving the Hill of Evil Counsel on our
left, an extensive view opens before us. The eye ranges over a vast
expanse of rocky hills, covered with a sparse vegetation. Several
fortified and castellated convents—Greek, Latin, Copt and
Armenian—remind us that Christianity is but encamped as a foreigner in
the land which gave it birth, suggest too the wild and lawless character
of the people where the monks have to live as garrisons holding
fortresses in an enemy’s country. Several villages, each with a name
which recalls events of biblical history, come into view. One of these,
conspicuous from its size and position, is Bethlehem, which we hope to
visit on our return from Hebron.
[Illustration: TOMB OF RACHEL.]
An hour and a quarter after leaving Jerusalem, we approach a square
white-washed building surmounted by a dome. Except for its greater size,
it differs in no respect from the ordinary tombs of Moslem saints, so
numerous throughout Egypt and Syria. It is the birth-place of Benjamin,
and the TOMB OF RACHEL. The present edifice is modern, but the identity
of the site is undoubted, being clearly marked out by the inspired
narrative, “And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was but a little
way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard
labour.... And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing (for she
died), that she called his name Ben-oni (_i.e._ the son of my sorrow):
but his father called him Benjamin (_i.e._, the son of my right hand).
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is
Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of
Rachel’s grave unto this day.”[22] How deeply and permanently this
event, with all its details, was impressed on the mind of the bereaved
patriarch, may be gathered from the fact, that, on his death-bed, he
recalled all the circumstances: “As for me, when I came from Padan,
Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was
but a little way to come unto Ephrath, and I buried her there in the way
of Ephrath.”[23] It has been said that the roads in the East never vary,
but continue to follow precisely the same course age after age. It will
be noticed that, in both accounts of the death of Rachel, stress is laid
upon the fact that she died and was buried “in the way.” The tomb of
Rachel still stands on the roadside.
An hour beyond Rachel’s tomb brings us to a fertile, but desolate and
unpeopled valley, in which stands a large old castellated khan, near
which are three remarkable cisterns of great size, constructed with
solid masonry, the joints of which have the peculiar bevel which is
regarded as characteristic of old Jewish or Phœnician work. Their
dimensions are as follows:
Length. Feet. Depth. Feet. Breadth. Feet.
Upper Pool 380 25 230
Middle Pool 423 39 230
Lower Pool 582 50 175
They are fed by three perennial springs, which gush from the rock into a
cavern lined with masonry in the hill above the khan, access to which is
gained by a narrow doorway, and are conducted by a subterranean conduit
into the upper pool. In the valley, below the lower pool, on the way to
Bethlehem and Jerusalem, are traces of ancient gardens and orchards.
Fruit trees are growing wild; the hills on either side are terraced; and
there are indications of fountains, waterfalls, and arbours having been
constructed amongst the rocks. The name by which they are known,
Solomon’s Pools, leads the mind to the passage in Ecclesiastes: “I made
me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me
gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kinds of
fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that
bringeth forth trees.”[24] Though we have no positive proof that these
are relics of “the glory of Solomon,” the probability is strong in
favour of their being so.
About four hours and a half south of Solomon’s Pools, stands a city,
which contests with Damascus the distinction of being the oldest in the
world; and which, in historical interest, may almost vie with Jerusalem
itself—Hebron. It has been said that the road thither is unique, as
being absolutely the worst in the world. It would, however, be more
correct to say that for the greater part of the distance there is no
road at all. A track, indistinctly marked, crosses hill and valley, over
smooth sheets of slippery rock, winding in and out amongst piles of
stones, or leading into treacherous quagmires. Here and there traces of
Roman pavement may be detected, or a mass of limestone rock has been cut
through. In all other respects the rugged mountain-sides remain
unchanged. The scenery is monotonous and depressing. A succession of
bare, rounded hills, absolutely treeless, and apparently hopelessly
barren, stretch to the horizon in every direction. There is nothing to
break the solitude, save now and then a string of camels on their way
between Hebron and Jerusalem. Not a house, or sign of human habitation,
is visible.
[Illustration: SOLOMON’S POOLS.]
The prevailing grey tone of the landscape, save where a strip of
brilliant green in the valleys marks the line of a watercourse, adds to
the monotony. And yet this district, now so lonely and desolate, must at
some period have been both populous and prosperous. Ruins of ancient
villages are to be seen on every hand; and the lines of stones, which
now add to the sterile aspect of the hill-sides, prove on examination to
be the remains of artificial terraces, by means of which the steepest
slopes and the scantiest soil were once brought under cultivation.[25]
Shortly before reaching Hebron the road passes along a valley, the sides
of which are covered with figs, olives, pomegranates, peaches, and
apricots. But the extent and luxuriance of the vineyards form its most
striking feature. It is the VALLEY OF ESHCOL, where the spies “cut down
a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a
staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs.”[26] The
fruit of Eshcol is famous to this day for its size and flavour
throughout Southern Palestine; and as we looked around on the expanse of
orchards and olive groves and vineyards, it was easy to understand the
favourable report of the spies—“We came unto the land whither thou
sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the
fruit of it.” We are in the territory of Judah, and as we observed the
size of the vine-stubs, and the abundance of their produce, the
prophetic blessing of Jacob could not be forgotten, “Binding his foal
unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his
garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: his eyes shall
be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.”[27]
[Illustration: RUINS OF TEKOA, ON THE WAY DOWN TO HEBRON.]
We noticed, too, the vineyards walled round with stones, collected from
within the enclosure, each with its wine-fat and a tower, constructed,
like the fences, with stones and masses of rock which would otherwise
have marred the soil; and the words of Isaiah found an exact
illustration, “My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it
with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also
made a winepress therein.”[28] The parable spoken by our Lord was, at
the same time, vividly illustrated. “There was a certain householder,
which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a
winepress in it, and built a tower.”[29]
The grapes are either eaten fresh, or dried into raisins, or boiled down
into grape-honey (_dibs_), or made into wine. Of course the Mohammedans
leave the production and consumption of the latter to the Jewish and
Christian residents, its use being forbidden by the Koran. I found the
wine of Hebron strong, but very sweet, being loaded with grape-honey,
and apparently flavoured with spices, tasting much like the elder-berry
wine which is made in country districts in England.
[Illustration: DISTANT VIEW OF HEBRON.]
The first view of Hebron is very striking. It is picturesquely situated
among groves of olives, on the slope of a hill at the southern end of
the valley of Eshcol. Solidly built with blocks of grey weather-beaten
stone, it has an appearance of great antiquity as befits a city reared
“seven years before Zoan in Egypt.”[30] Zoan has disappeared, but Hebron
still stands, with a history which goes back for more than three
thousand years. The ancient names of the city—“Kirjath-Arba, the city of
Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron,”[31] are no longer used.
But its modern name is strangely impressive and affecting. It is now
known as El-Khulil, that is, _The Friend_, leading the mind back to the
title given to the illustrious patriarch by God Himself, “Abraham, My
friend.”[32] It is by this name that he is always known throughout the
Mohammedan world; and the epithet has passed over from the patriarch
himself to the city with which he was so intimately associated.
Very early in the life of Abraham we find him encamped “in the plain of
Mamre, which is in Hebron, and he built there an altar unto the
Lord.”[33] He and his nephew Lot had parted. Lot had chosen the
well-watered and luxuriant plain of the Jordan, which lies just across
the range of hills on the western slope of which Hebron stands; and
Abraham had remained on the elevated _plateau_ which was henceforth to
be inseparably associated with himself and his descendants.
It was whilst encamped at Mamre that he received tidings of the disaster
which had fallen upon his nephew. Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, with his
allies, had attacked and sacked the cities of the plain, had carried
away Lot as captive, and, laden with spoil, was returning to his own
country. Abraham at once collected his clan, “born in his own house,
three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan,”[34] the extreme
northern city of Palestine. A battle was fought, in which Chedorlaomer
was slain, his army routed, and Lot with his family delivered from
captivity.
Some years now pass by, in which the names of Hebron and Mamre do not
occur, though it is probable that some of the incidents recorded
happened there. Then “the Lord appeared unto him in the plain of Mamre:
and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his
eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him.”[35] The prompt
hospitality of the patriarch was just such as would be offered by an
Arab sheikh at the present day. Travellers have delighted to illustrate
the narrative by narrating similar incidents in their own experience.
Soon the mysterious visitants “rose up from thence, and looked toward
Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way”[36] over the
ridge of hills which divided Mamre from the doomed city. Two of them
seem to have continued their journey, “and went toward Sodom.” The third
remains—it is the Lord himself, the Angel of the Covenant. He discloses
to Abraham the impending destruction of the cities of the plain, which
would involve Lot and his family in the general ruin. The patriarch, who
had once before rescued his nephew from the cruelty of man, now ventures
to interpose between him and the judgments of God. His fervent prayer
having reached its end, “the Lord went His way, as soon as He had left
communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.”[37] With
the dawn of day we find him an eager watcher from the hill-top above his
tent. “Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood
before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all
the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country
went up as the smoke of a furnace.”[38] It affords an interesting
confirmation of this part of the narrative that from the summit of the
hill just above the traditional site of Mamre a view may be gained,
through a notch of the dividing ridge, right down into the valley
beyond, with its scene of weird desolation.
Hebron next comes before us as the scene of bereavement. “And Sarah died
in Kirjath-Arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham
came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.” He, to whom the whole
land had been promised in “a covenant which could not be broken,”
possessed not a foot of soil in it, and he must buy a grave, “that I may
bury my dead out of my sight.” The negotiation with the sons of Heth
which followed, is finely characteristic of the courtesy, the
generosity, and the practical wisdom of the bereaved patriarch. The
purchase of the cave of Machpelah is effected and the place of burial is
transferred, the narrative of the completion of the purchase being
recorded in terms, the precision of which is like that of a legal
document.[39] Sarah is buried there, and “then Abraham gave up the
ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and
was gathered to his people. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in
the cave of Machpelah.”[40]
Yet again we read that “Jacob came unto Isaac his father unto Mamre,
unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac
sojourned. And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years.
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people,
being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.”[41]
[Illustration: HEBRON, AND MOSQUE OVER CAVE OF MACHPELAH.]
Here Jacob lived after the death of his father, and hence he sent the
beloved son of his beloved Rachel to visit his brethren at Shechem.[42]
Here, too, he buried Leah,[43] as Sarah and Rebekah had already been
laid side by side. And “he gave commandment concerning his bones,” that
the same sacred enclosure should be his last resting-place.[44] Hither
his embalmed body was brought, with all the pomp and ceremonial of
mourning for which Egypt was famous, and there, probably, the mummy of
the last of three great patriarchs rests to this day.[45]
We have already seen that the spies, starting from Kadesh-Barnea, passed
through Hebron when sent up “to spy out the land.”[46] One of them,
Caleb the son of Jephunneh, faithful amongst the faithless, had rebuked
the fears of the people and “wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.” To
him and his heirs Hebron had been promised as the reward of his
fidelity. After the defeat of the Ammonites by Joshua, when the city was
stormed and sacked by the victorious Israelites, Caleb claimed the
fulfilment of this promise, “And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb
the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.”[47]
[Illustration: POOL OF HEBRON.]
For some time onward, Hebron receives only slight and passing mention.
But in this old royal city, hallowed by so many associations, David
established his throne on the death of Saul, and here he reigned as king
of Judah for “seven years and six months.”[48] Soon Hebron again comes
before us as a place of burial. Abner, falling a victim to the vengeance
and ambition of Joab, who slew him in the gate of the city, received a
magnificent funeral, and king David himself followed the bier, and they
buried Abner in Hebron, and the king lifted up his voice and wept, and
all the people wept.[49] A tomb is yet shown and regarded with great
reverence as that of Abner.
One spot in the suburbs of Hebron we are enabled to associate with the
residence of David here. There are two tanks or pools just outside the
city gate, evidently of great antiquity. It was here that he executed
the murderers of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul. “And David commanded his
young men, and they slew them, and cut off their hands and their feet,
and hanged them up over the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of
Ish-bosheth, and buried it in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.”[50]
[Illustration:
ENTRANCE TO MOSQUE.
_From a Photograph._
]
When the tribes of Israel came down to Hebron, and made David king over
all the land, the interest and importance of the city ceased. Only once
again does it appear in history. Here Absalom came and raised the
standard of revolt against his father, and “sent spies throughout all
the tribes of Israel, saying, As soon as ye hear the sound of the
trumpet, then shall ye say, Absalom reigneth in Hebron.”[51] The name
does not occur in the New Testament, nor does our Lord appear to have
visited it in the course of his ministry; but on the flight into Egypt,
when Joseph “arose and took the young child and his mother by
night,”[52] they must have passed through the city and probably rested
here on the first night of the journey.
Great and various as is the interest associated with Hebron, that
interest culminates in the cave of Machpelah. Here lie the bodies of the
three great patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their
wives—Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. Mohammedan tradition affirms that the
embalmed body of Joseph, likewise, rests here, and his cenotaph is in
the mosque over the cave, with those of the other patriarchs.[53]
[Illustration: ROOF OF MOSQUE OVER MACHPELAH.]
It is thus the most interesting _Campo Santo_ in the world, and shares
with Jerusalem the distinction of being regarded with reverence alike by
Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans. If it were possible for us to
ascertain with certainty the sepulchre of our Lord, we should approach
it with yet deeper feelings of awe and reverence, though He lay there
only for thirty-six hours. But in seeking the place “where the Lord
lay,” we have nothing to guide us but vague conjecture and dubious
tradition. Here, however, the identification is absolute and beyond the
reach of scepticism. Guarded with superstitious care for more than three
thousand years, we can feel complete confidence that “the Father of the
faithful” and “the Friend of God” lies here with his sons.