A WORLD-FAMOUS LAND--PALESTINE
The most fascinating and lureful land on the globe is the little country
we call Palestine. Since it was wrested from the unspeakable Turk during
the world war, the eyes of the world have been focused upon it to a
greater degree than ever. It is the dearest spot to civilization. From
it have gone the greatest and most powerful influences for good that
ever affected humanity. It produced the one great character which is
today the great center of history. The date of his birth is the
recognized beginning of the greatest era in the history of mankind. The
calendars of the world have been changed by the Galilean carpenter.
Palestine is less than one-eighth as large as Wisconsin. Smaller than
Greece or Italy or England or even Belgium, it has a greater history
perhaps than all these combined. The book it produced is the foundation
of history, literature and law. The hills and valleys, mountains and
rivers are hallowed by the memory of him who wore the crown of thorns.
The writer of these lines will never forget the tender memories aroused
when standing on the sacred spots in this world-famous land.
The man who said: "Palestine is the world in a nutshell," told the exact
truth. Between snow-capped Mount Herman on the north, which is ten
thousand feet above the ocean, and the Dead Sea on the south, which is
thirteen hundred feet below the level of the ocean, are found all the
zones and climates that can be found on the globe. The geologist finds
here not only all the formations of rock found on the earth, but all
the geological periods and ages. The botanist finds here about all the
plants, shrubs and flowers; the zoologist finds most all the animals and
the ornithologist finds most all the birds, while the ichthyologist
finds all the fishes.
It used to be thought that there was at least one exception to the above
named rule: that there was at least one type of fish that could not be
found in Palestine. The exception was a type of fish found by David
Livingstone in an inland lake in tropical Africa. Nature has provided
the male of this peculiar fish with a large head and made him the
protector of the school of little fishes when they are first hatched out
so that in time of danger he opens his gills and the little ones swim
into his mouth where they will be safe. The habit is unheard of and
unparalleled among any fish in the world, so it is said. While for years
it was supposed that this family of fish was found only in tropical
Africa, yet some years ago one of this very type of fish was caught in
the sea of Galilee.
It was the privilege of the writer to visit Palestine some years ago
with a converted Jew as a guide. We fell in together on an Italian
steamship on the way from Italy to Egypt. On account of the bubonic
plague which was raging in Egypt at the time we were thrown together
again unexpectedly, leaving Egypt on the same ship bound for Syria. We
were quarantined together on a ship in a Syrian harbor and became so
well acquainted that he was persuaded to act as my guide through
Palestine.
Our first landing place on this sacred soil was at the city of Haifa,
which is located at the foot of Mount Carmel near the northern part of
the country. Haifa is a small city of some ten thousand people and to
visit the market place in the early morning makes one think that the
people are very much alive. Not far from the city are shown some
rock-cut chambers in Mount Carmel that are said to be the very rooms
where Elisha conducted his school for the young prophets.
On the top of this mountain perhaps four or five miles from Haifa is a
sort of a natural amphitheater and in this an old, old, rock-cut altar
that is pointed out as the place where Elijah and the prophets of Baal
had the great test to see whose god would answer by fire. At the foot of
the mountain is a large mound which is to this day called the "Priest's
Mound" and which is the traditional burial place of the false prophets
who were slain at that time.
From Haifa we went to Nazareth which is about eighteen miles in an
eastward direction. We traveled for several miles along a railroad that
the builders had started and then abandoned. The story told me at the
time as to why this project was abandoned became quite significant when
the war broke out, although it was told me several years before this
happened. They said an English company secured the right to build a
railway from Haifa to Damascus. About the time the work was started the
Kaiser came to visit Palestine.
Great preparation had been made for this visit and as a worshipper (?)
he visited all the sacred places. On his return he spent a week in
Constantinople with the Sultan of Turkey and that immediately after this
visit this Turkish ruler decided that this railway would give the
English too much power and the company was compelled to give up the
work. Of course the railway was finished later on, but not by the
English. As it developed after the war broke out, the Kaiser and the
Sultan of Turkey had worked together for years.
Stopping by the highway a Mohammedan woman was drawing water at a well
and on request she cheerfully gave us a drink. These people never refuse
to help even an enemy get a drink of water so I was told. The women do
most of the hard work in Palestine. Where we stopped to pay the
government tax that was always collected from travelers, I saw a man and
woman building a stone wall. The only thing the man did was to sit on
the wall while the woman mixed the mortar and carried both it and the
stone to him. She even had to lift the stone up on the wall without any
assistance from him, but he did manage to spread the mortar alone.
Spread out before us was the great Plain of Esdraelon, which was often
spoken of as the world's greatest battlefield. Here more battles that
decided the destiny of nations have been fought than on any other spot
on the globe. To behold the place where "The stars in their courses
fought against Sisera" and a score of other world-famous struggles was a
marvelous sight to say the least.
Nazareth is a beautiful little city on the side of a mountain. The
streets are narrow, the paving stones are worn slippery, and the shops
are all open to the streets. In the Church of the Annunciation they
point out "Joseph's Workshop" and "Mary's Kitchen" and with great
solemnity show you the tools used by the Galilean carpenter and the
cooking utensils used in the sacred home. There is in Nazareth one
building the walls of which perhaps were standing nineteen hundred
years ago. This old wall is hoary with age and the Hebrew characters
above the door indicate that it used to be a Jewish synagogue. Possibly
it was the place where the great sermon was preached which so enraged
the people that they tried to mob the preacher, but he escaped from
their hands.
An amusing experience was when we visited the Hall of Justice. The
officials found that we had come into their city without permission from
the authorities at Haifa. At once we were held up and fined. The fines
and costs amounted to sixty cents each and I had to pay one dollar and
twenty cents for myself and guide. When this was paid they gave us
permission to proceed on our journey. That all might know that we had
this permission it was so stated upon the back of our passports.
The last thing I remember before going to sleep one night in the city of
Nazareth was the loud talk of a crazy man in the street near the window.
As there were no asylums for these unfortunate people they often just
wandered around. I visited the only asylum for crazy people in all Syria
at that time, and Dr. Waldimier told me with his own lips that it took
him nineteen long years to get permission from the Turkish government to
found the institution.
From the top of the mountain near Nazareth one has a wonderful view of
the entire country. As Palestine is less than one hundred and fifty
miles long and but one-third as wide one can see almost entirely over
the land from some high elevation. To the east and southeast of the top
of this mountain lies the great Jordan valley with the mountains of Moab
in the background. It was from one of these peaks, Mount Nebo, that
Moses viewed the landscape o'er. Only about fifteen miles to the
northeast lies the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias and
Lake of Gennesaret. One cannot see the water in this lake, but the
depression where it lies is very marked.
To the north is the "Horn of Hattin," where the famous Sermon on the
Mount was given to the assembled multitude. Still further is Mount
Hermon which was the scene of the transfiguration. Still farther away
are the mountains of Lebanon. To the west is old Mount Carmel and beyond
that the great Mediterranean Sea. Stretched out to the southwest is the
Plain of Esdraelon, and beyond that the mountains of Samaria. Just east
of this plain are Mount Tabor and Gilboa. One can stand for hours and
not get tired of looking for every foot of the ground is historic.