\ii 
 
 
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 ^ iVie ^ 
 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 
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 Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. 
 
 Division 
 
 Section 
 
 DS/Q7 
 
 -D a S . 
 

 1 
 
 JORDAN RIVER 
 
Forbidden 
 
 Paths 
 
 in the 
 
 
 Land of 
 
 Og 
 
 A Record of the Travels of Three 
 Wise and Otherwise Men to 
 the East of the Jordan River 
 
 BY 
 
 THE 
 
 OTHERWISE ^MAN 
 
 c:* ^. iX i'-t 1 _• 1 jCtO 1 
 
 tl 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 Publishers of Evangelical Literature 
 

 
 SECOJV£> EDITION 
 
 Copyright, 1900 
 by 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 
 
 
 THE CAXTON PRESS 
 NEW YORK. 
 
ITn /iRemodam 
 
 TO ONE 
 
 WHOSE KINDLY WORD OF HELPFUL COMMENT HAD 
 LEFT ITS IMPRESS ON THESE PAGES 
 ERE SHE PASSED BEYOND 
 
 THIS LITTLE BOOK 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
Preface 
 
 Palestine is a much-travelled land. During 
 the spring months the roads between Jerusalem 
 and Damascus are dotted with white tents, and 
 the pavements of her historic towns resound 
 with the ring of the horses’ hoofs. 
 
 But the East-Jordan region is seldom visited 
 for various reasons. The government is chary 
 of giving permission; the springtime is unfa¬ 
 vorable; the tourist has no leisure for such a trip. 
 
 Hence it was accounted a rare privilege, when 
 three missionaries could leave their respective 
 fields of labor and journey together in the au¬ 
 tumn time to the lands east of the sacred river. 
 
 If this simple record of their travels may find 
 interested readers in the hands of its friends, 
 and afford them an hour’s glimpse into' those 
 historic regions, its mission will have been ac¬ 
 complished. 
 
 May the enjoyment of the trip at second-hand 
 be as great as the pleasure experienced in the real 
 tour in The Land of Og. 
 
 The Otherwise Man. 
 
 At Home in Syria, Sept, ^o, i8gg. 
 
 7 
 

 i 
 
 

 Contents 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 Whittier’s « Palestine ”.13 
 
 Introduction—Concerning Og . ...... 15 
 
 I. Plans AND Preparations.17 
 
 II. Introductions by the Way.24 
 
 III. A Sabbath Day’s Journey.35 
 
 IV. « The Kingdoms of this World ”.43 
 
 V. Geographical.50 
 
 VI. A Bedawy Prince at Home.60 
 
 VII. Golan, the City of Refuge.72 
 
 VIII. Maneuvering. 83 
 
 IX. A Memorable Ridge . ..96 
 
 X. Gadara, the City of Tombs.103 
 
 XI. A Sabbath Beside Galilee.112 
 
 XII. A Prophecy and a Fulfillment.124 
 
 XIII. The Oaks of Bashan.139 
 
 XIV. Camp and Castle.153 
 
 XV. A Halt at Mizpah.164 
 
 XVI. Jerash, the Magnificent City.176 
 
 XVII. A Grewsome Bedchamber.19 1 
 
 XVHI. A Quest for Water .i99 
 
 XIX. The Ford of the Jordan.213 
 
 XX. Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul .... 226 
 
 XXL The End of the Journey.237 
 
 Conclusion—Contrasts and Hopes.244 
 
 9 
 
List of Illustrations 
 
 Jordan River .. 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 The Cook “ En Route” . 
 
 The Cook at Work . 
 
 FACIN< 
 
 > 
 
 3 PAGE 
 
 \ 24 
 
 Public Weigher . 
 
 Threshing the Wheat .. 
 
 
 j- 30 
 
 Women at the Mill. 
 
 A Load of Water . 
 
 
 i 98 
 
 Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee . . . 
 
 
 112 
 
 Village at Migdel. 
 
 
 114 
 
 Arab Woman and Child. 
 
 Eastern Embrace . 
 
 • • 1 
 
 \ 146 
 
 A Crusader’s Castle . 
 
 
 154 
 
 Modern Jerash Across the Stream. 
 
 • • 
 
 180 
 
 Southern End of Colonnade Avenue . 
 The Forum at Jerash . 
 
 • • 1 
 
 \ 184 
 
 Bedouins at Dinner . 
 
 Midianitish Cameleers . 
 
 
 [ 238 
 
 Village School . 
 
 Fishing Boats on Sea of Galilee . . 
 
 ;; ! 
 
 [ 246 
 
 MAPS. 
 
 Map of Palestine . 
 
 
 58 
 
 Map of City of Jerash ....... 
 
 • f 
 
 186 
 
 II 
 
Palestine 
 
 Blest land of Judea 1 thrice hallow’d of song. 
 
 Where the holiest of memories pilgrim-like throng; 
 In the shade of thy palms, by the shores of thy sea, 
 On the hills of thy beauty, my heart is with thee. 
 
 With the eye of a spirit I look on that shore. 
 
 Where pilgrim and prophet have linger’d before; 
 With the glide of a spirit I traverse the sod 
 Made bright by the steps of the angels of God. 
 
 Blue sea of the hills! in my spirit I hear 
 Thy waters, Gennesaret, chime on my ear; 
 
 Where the Lowly and Just with the people sat down, 
 And thy spray on the dust of his sandals was thrown. 
 
 Beyond are Bethulia’s mountains of green, 
 
 And the desolate hills of the wild Gadarene; 
 
 And I pause on the goat-crags of Tabor to see 
 The gleam of thy waters, O dark Galilee! 
 
 I tread where the twelve in their wayfaring trod; 
 
 I stand where they stood with the chosen of God — 
 
 Where His blessings were heard, and His lessons were taught. 
 Where the blind were restored, and the healing was wrought. 
 
 O, here with His flock the sad Wanderer came — 
 
 These hills He toil’d over in grief, are the same — 
 
 The founts where He drank by the way-side still flow, 
 
 And the same airs are blowing which breathed on His brow. 
 
 
 13 
 
Palestine 
 
 But wherefore this dream of the earthly abode 
 Of humanity clothed in the likeness of God ? 
 
 Were my spirit but turn'd from the outward and dim, 
 
 It would gaze, even now, on the presence of Him! 
 
 Not in clouds and in terrors, but gentle as when. 
 
 In love and in meekness, He moved among men; 
 
 And the voice which breathed peace to the waves of the sea, 
 In the hush of my spirit would whisper to me I 
 
 And what if my feet may not tread where He stood, 
 
 Nor my ears hear the dashing of Galilee’s flood. 
 
 Nor my eyes see the cross which He bow’d him to bear, 
 
 Nor my knees press Gethsemane’s garden of prayer. 
 
 Yet, Loved of the Father, thy Spirit is near 
 To the meek, and the lowly, and penitent here; 
 
 And the voice of thy love is the same even now. 
 
 As at Bethany’s tomb, or on Olivet’s brow. 
 
 O, the outward hath gone!—but, in glory and power, 
 
 The Spirit surviveth the things of an hour; 
 
 Unchanged, undeCaying, its Pentecost flame 
 On the heart’s secret altar is burning the same! 
 
 —^Whittier. 
 
 
Introduction 
 
 Concerning Og 
 
 Everyone knows, of course, about Og, the 
 giant king of Moses’ day, whose bedstead was so 
 large that it was worthy of mention in the sacred 
 record, and was taken as a captured curiosity to 
 the land of the Ammonites.^ 
 
 But our present interest in Og centres not so 
 much in the size of the man and the peculiarities 
 of his furniture, as in one or two facts of 
 geographical and historical import, which serve 
 to give the name of the giant monarch prominent 
 mention in the volume in hand. 
 
 In the first place, the kingdom of Bashan, over 
 which he ruled, was largely coextensive with the 
 territory traversed by the three tourists, whose 
 pilgrimage forms the subject of the present dis¬ 
 sertation. 
 
 Secondly, Og’s trait of exclusiveness, mani¬ 
 fested specially in his unwillingness to permit the 
 passage of the Israelites through his territory, has 
 been transmitted to his successors in power, with 
 the result herein narrated. 
 
 In a word, it may be said that King Og was 
 the creature of circumstances. Bashan and the 
 
 * Deut. iii. 11. 
 
 15 
 
Introduction 
 
 children of Israel rescued his name from the 
 ignominy of oblivion. Had he been the monarch 
 of Cathay, he would never have found a place in 
 the sacred book. And had the Israelites not 
 essayed a peaceful passage through the East- 
 Jordan territory, the name of Og would not have 
 appeared on the present page. 
 
 It was his good fortune to rule over a wide 
 and densely-populated region, remarkable for the 
 variety of its natural features and the unparalleled 
 fertility of its soil. Nor has the land of Bashan 
 ceased to be an attractive district to all classes of 
 foreigners, from the time when the Israelites 
 wrested it from Og’s hands, to the present day 
 of peaceful invasions by well-intentioned tourists. 
 The land of Og possesses a peculiar interest for 
 the student of the Bible, even though its giant 
 ruler has perished, and the only evidences of 
 Israel’s possession are the curious stone-heaps, 
 known as “the tombs of the children of Israel." 
 Bashan no longer teems with a vast population, 
 nor would its inhabitants intimidate an invading 
 army. The natural and historical^ attractions, 
 however, remain the same, and tempted the 
 herein-mentioned travellers to brave the interdic¬ 
 tions of Og’s successors and journey in the trans- 
 Jordanic country. 
 
 16 
 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 I 
 
 PLANS AND PREPARATIONS 
 
 Travelling in Bashan may be likened to a trip 
 by rail from New York to Chicago in that it dif¬ 
 fers from it in every particular. One advantage 
 of the former is the absence of “stuffy ” coaches, 
 —abundance of ventilation, especially on cold 
 and rainy nights. Other advantages are not so 
 apparent. Possibly the avoidance of porters’ fees 
 at first-class hotels might be mentioned; but that 
 necessarily argues the non-existence of the hotels. 
 The trip by rail may be planned and executed in 
 a short space of time and with a minimum of 
 mental energy. A tour in Bashan requires hope 
 for its inception, experience for its preparation, 
 patience for its management, time for its comple¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Indeed, it may be truthfully said that the 
 
 journey herein described had its beginning in 
 
 17 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 hopes, rather than in expectations. Every mis¬ 
 sionary in Syria probably hopes that he may cross 
 the Jordan (speaking literally as well as meta¬ 
 phorically) and visit the land of Gilead and 
 Bashan. Few, however, see their hopes realized. 
 It was a happy concurrence of circumstances that 
 enabled not only one, but three missionaries 
 actually to carry out plans which had been 
 formulated fully three months before. 
 
 At first it was treated as a mere delightful 
 project; then plans of missionary work were laid 
 with an ample hiatus from the middle of October 
 and onward'. Later on, as the expedition looked 
 more and more feasible, the question of an 
 itinerary was broached, and desirable points of 
 interest settled upon. Now plans and counter¬ 
 plans passed back and forth, the possibilities and 
 actualities of camp outfit, provisions and the like 
 were docketed and checked off; and when the 
 date was set, there followed an interval of sus¬ 
 pense. What innumerable hindrances might arise 
 to thwart all plans! 
 
 For a missionary may not order his affairs with 
 the precision of a bank clerk. His services are 
 “pro bono publico,” and noteworthy is this in¬ 
 genuity displayed by his “public” in introduc¬ 
 ing into the sphere of his activities all classes and 
 
 18 
 
 
Plans and Preparations 
 
 descriptions of duties;—theological, educational, 
 pastoral, political, financial, medical, practical;— 
 duties to the young, duties to the old; duties to 
 the living, duties to the dead; duties to the rich, 
 duties to the poor; duties to the learned, duties 
 to the ignorant; duties to the single, who wish to 
 be married; duties to the married, who wish to 
 be single. Indeed, it is well if, in the multiplicity 
 of varied duties, he keep ever uppermost his 
 chief vocation, and say with Paul, “I am made 
 all things to all men, that I might by all means 
 save Some.'* 
 
 The bearing of this disquisition upon the ques¬ 
 tion in hand is that a funeral, or a new school, or 
 a fallen wall, or a church quarrel, or a sick child, 
 might have caused irreparable delay to any one of 
 the three. 
 
 In fact, one circumstance did arise, which at 
 the time somewhat dampened the ardor of the 
 would-be tourists. It was a governmental matter. 
 Tis a queer coincidence that the Turkish govern¬ 
 ment is quite as unwilling to open the doors of 
 Bashan’s hospitality to foreigners, as were Sihon 
 and Og in their day to grant leave of passage to 
 Moses and Joshua and Hur. He who wears a 
 hat is viewed with the eye of suspicion and dis¬ 
 trust by olficials and dwellers in those inland re- 
 
 19 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 a 
 
 gions. Permissions are rarely granted to intend¬ 
 ing tourists, and recent cases have occurred 
 where travellers were turned back, or kept wait¬ 
 ing on the borders for the proper papers, until 
 time and patience were exhausted. 
 
 Knowing this full well, the plans of the present 
 party had not included an application to the gov¬ 
 ernment; but by some fortuitous circumstance 
 such application was made through the Consulate 
 to the Governor-General of the Damascus Wilayet, 
 with the result that a most courteous answer was 
 returned, stating that a request had been sent to 
 Constantinople for an Imperial Irade! 
 
 Three unoffending American missionaries, with 
 no possible ulterior motive, must await the pleas¬ 
 ure of his Ottomanic majesty to investigate the 
 import and consequences of this highly important 
 political move, and grant his sovereign permission 
 for a three-weeks’ tour in this part of his domain! 
 But the result was,a foregone certainty. Con¬ 
 stantinople, if need be, is at the ends of the earth. 
 As well might one have established telepathic 
 communication with Og himself, and gained 
 possession of that monarch’s (presumably) gi¬ 
 gantic seal-ring, whereby to make legal the intru¬ 
 sion into his territory. 
 
 There is a useful Arabic proverb to the effect 
 
 20 
 
Plans and Preparations 
 
 that '' every act accomplished is lawful, and every 
 act discussed is forbidden.” It is not a bad prov¬ 
 erb in its practical workings. The proposal to 
 apply it to the present emergency met with 
 unanimous approval. According to agreement, 
 therefore, on a Friday afternoon late in October, 
 the three parties to this clandestine expedition 
 met at Judeideh, near Mount Hermon, each from 
 a different mission station, and all realizing the 
 nature of the undertaking. Suffice it to say that 
 roughing it” must be the general order for the 
 day. Not even '‘the king’s highway”^ appears 
 to solace the weary traveller. Nor may he call for 
 many “extras” of any kind with hopes of suc¬ 
 cess in obtaining them. 
 
 True, the “ Cook’s Personally Conducted ” may 
 pay his ten dollars a day, and expect to travel 
 with considerable luxury on the well-beaten routes 
 west of Jordan. But, withal, the “Personally 
 Conducted ” is an object of pity. He belongs to 
 his dragoman, and must accept his statements as 
 the quintessence of veracity ; he is beset by im¬ 
 pertinent beggars; his “mount” maybe the first 
 or the worst in his experience; he knows no 
 Arabic (except a few “swear-words” in general 
 use by muleteers). And think what he misses! 
 
 * Num. xxi. 22. 
 
 21 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 All previous knowledge of the Arab and his ways; 
 the relative value of money (an important item to 
 the average missionary); one’s own well-tried 
 horse; intimidation of saucy urchins; knowledge 
 of the language; choice of routes in detail; ex¬ 
 hilarating experiences in new roads; privilege of 
 freeing one’s mind to the muleteers and cook, as 
 occasion warrants or demands; not to mention the 
 genuine pleasure in setting up camp,”—build¬ 
 ing a house in a new place every day. Yes, the 
 missionary has the advantage, provided he makes 
 use of it in the right way. 
 
 The party under discussion believe that they 
 did proceed according to approved principles. 
 Perhaps a recital of necessary preparations might 
 suggest work rather than recreation. But what is 
 work to one may be relaxation to another. It is 
 undeniable that the “ impedimenta ” in such an ex¬ 
 pedition are numerous and varied. The rendez¬ 
 vous that Friday afternoon was well-filled with 
 the evidences of contemplated travel, audible as 
 well as otherwise. Donkeys, dogs and men (and 
 women, too) furnished the noise; boxes, bundles 
 and bales, the substantials. 
 
 First, there were the tents with full quota of 
 
 ropes and pegs, and a generous flag to top them 
 
 all and display the stars and stripes. Folding 
 
 22 
 
1 
 
 •‘H 
 
 T 
 
 I '>• 
 
 ■S 
 
 ! * 
 
 i Plans and Preparations 
 
 I beds and plenty of bedding must go along, for 
 
 ■ good sleep is better than a tonic. The table with 
 
 all its equipments; pots, kettles and kitchen outfit, 
 
 I , suggest the necessity of food. Hence bags of 
 
 ‘ many sizes found a place in the loads, filled with 
 i cereals, salt, sugar and the like. A whole box 
 
 I was devoted to cans,—cans of beef, cans of fish, 
 
 cans of corn, cans of peas, cans large, cans small, 
 cans short, cans tall. Bashan boasts no grocery 
 and meat shops. Then the lights,—lanterns, can¬ 
 dles and matches; rubber goods for possible 
 rain; Bibles, guide-books, maps and papers; tools 
 and medicines; toilet and personal articles of 
 wear, including a laundered shirt against the time 
 of a return to ‘‘civilization.” 
 
 And last of all was a bag, furnished and filled 
 by the senior member of the party, whose motley 
 : contents eked out the wants of every department 
 
 of camp life with a cheerful disregard for the pro¬ 
 prieties of affinity and aesthetic assortment. 
 
 23 
 
11 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS BY THE WAY 
 
 The early dawn of Saturday witnessed a busy 
 scene—a fitting prelude to the labors of the “first 
 day out." The heterogeneous collection of travel¬ 
 ling effects was packed and arranged with careful 
 calculation as to minimum of bulk and maximum 
 of safety. Glass goods were tenderly cared for, 
 and an honest attempt was made not to put the 
 horses' feed-bags in the box with the rice and 
 cold roast. 
 
 When all had been arranged satisfactorily to 
 the minds of the travellers, the public weigher 
 was called. With his old-fashioned steelyards 
 and a sturdy muleteer at each end of the pole he 
 went rapidly from one bundle to another, weigh¬ 
 ing each one. Then by a judicious combination 
 of these according to weight, the loads were 
 “made up" with equity and equilibrium. For 
 each muleteer is obliged by contract to carry on 
 his animal a maximum of sixty rattles (about 
 three hundred and fifty pounds); and, unless the 
 
 services of the weigher have been previously in- 
 
 24 
 
THE COOK “EN ROUTE” THE COOK AT WORK 
 

Introductions by the Way 
 
 yoked, the ordinary muleteer easily forgets his 
 knack of estimating weights. The public weigher 
 nips in the bud many an incipient wordy dispute, 
 which might develop into mild anarchy, if allowed 
 to follow the natural course. In this country the 
 tongue is mightier than the brain. 
 
 Let us not, however, disparage the Syrian 
 muleteer. He is of the utmost use to the tourist. 
 He is the freight train of the land. With sur¬ 
 prising ingenuity he assorts the most conglom¬ 
 erate camp outfit into an exact number of loads 
 to correspond to the animals engaged ; two 
 heavy packs of equal weight are swung on the 
 sides of each mule, and a lighter bundle is fas¬ 
 tened in the middle (unless the calculating owner 
 purposes to ride on the load over the long, weary 
 stretches). And the wonder is that this is all done 
 by means of but tu'o ropes to a mule load! Woe 
 betide the tourist who spendeth his shekels for 
 rope and bindeth his bundles therewith ! It is 
 not needed ; it is extra; it disappears. 
 
 Thus securely freighted, away goes the 
 mule up hill and down dale, over rocky bridle 
 paths by courtesy styled roads, fording streams 
 and rivers where the water rushes madly over 
 treacherous stones, yet seldom spilling his load. 
 Behind him trudges the muleteer, guiding him by 
 
1 : 
 
 Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 his voice, travelling hour after hour under blazing 
 sun or pouring rain. He has no visible wardrobe 
 other than that upon his back, and is content with 
 an amount of dry bread and cheese (frequently 
 carried for convenience under his arm) that would 
 ill serve an American pauper. He sings*as he 
 goes, with hand to mouth, evolving crude, ap¬ 
 parently inarticulate strains, in a hollow, minor 
 key, that may have “charms to sooth a savage 
 breast.” 
 
 Such is the man who “ moors ” you for half a 
 dollar a day, including mule and feed, his own 
 scanty fare, and his services in setting up camp, 
 watering and cleaning your horse, aiding the 
 cook, and being general factotum. 
 
 Since it is becoming that the members of the 
 present company should be properly introduced, 
 the muleteers may first come forward for recog¬ 
 nition. They display all the characteristics of 
 their guild, even to the immense darning needle 
 visible in their headgear. This last is used both 
 to baste up bundles and also to encourage lagging 
 mules. Aside from differences in temper and age, 
 all muleteers are alike. Their individuality yields 
 to their profession. In a bargain for services the 
 mules are hired, and the muleteers are treated as 
 
 a necessary accompaniment. Hence names are 
 
 26 
 
 J 
 
Introductions by the Way 
 
 of little consequence. It may be interesting, how¬ 
 ever, to note that on this occasion both Job and 
 Elijah were represented by namesakes. But 
 the leading characteristics of those ancient heroes 
 were not confined to their successors in name. 
 Each one of the expedition had opportunity to 
 display something of the patience of Job and the 
 sturdy courage of Elijah in the face of difficulties. 
 
 Khaleel, the cook, deserves a special word 
 of introduction. For he is a functionary 
 hardly to be dispensed with. The lines by Owen 
 Meredith meet with full corroboration in the daily 
 experience of the tourist : 
 
 « We may live without poetry, music and art; 
 
 We may live without conscience and live without heart; 
 We may live without friends; we may live without books; 
 But civilized man cannot live without cooks.” 
 
 Now the chef of this party is assuredly an im¬ 
 portant personage, and realizes it (far more than 
 do the others). He has gotten into pantaloons 
 and boots, wears a girdle and revolver, has his 
 headgear arranged in true dragomanic style, and 
 gives tone to the whole party. He affects a dis¬ 
 play of fancy horsemanship upon telling occa¬ 
 sions, and makes it his duty to repeat orders given 
 
 to the muleteers and guides, by way of emphasis 
 
 27 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 both to the command and to the importance of 
 his position. 
 
 His cooking, however, is not to be despised, 
 considering the environment. No well-arranged 
 kitchen with stove and sink and pantry close at 
 hand, not even a table, can he boast. His kitchen 
 is the open air ; his stove is a low, shallow trough 
 of sheet iron, so arranged that pans and skillet 
 may rest just above the fire of glowing charcoal in 
 it. His larder is as nomadic as he,—sometimes all 
 in a heap, according to the revised version of the 
 rule, *‘a place for everything, and everything in 
 that place]” sometimes scattered amongst the 
 boxes in both tents. His work table is the ground 
 about him, in this respect fully in accordance with 
 the genius of the country in doing all work on the 
 lowest possible level, either sitting with feet 
 tucked under or standing in a bow-shaped, back¬ 
 breaking position. (Brooms in thisjcountry have 
 handles about six inches long ; bread is kneaded 
 on a table as many inches low; and one maid 
 was heard to exclaim with delight, when a new 
 hand-sew'ing machine appeared, “ Oh, now 1 
 can sit on the floor and sew with it in my lap ! ") 
 
 Add to these circumstances the fact that ready 
 
 cash is of no avail in a district where there is 
 
 nothing to purchase, and the wonder grows that 
 
 28 
 
Introductions by the Way 
 
 the cook is able to provide for hungry men as 
 well as he does, with a handful of coals, out in 
 the wilderness, under the stars. 
 
 Perhaps a part of the secret is found in the 
 abundance of fresh air and physical exercise. 
 These are excellent sauce. When one is at 
 home, the mind may revert to delicate puddings, 
 juicy roasts and garnished side dishes. But for 
 the hungry traveller, burned by the hot sun and 
 dusty within and without, the evening meal, 
 served in the moonlight just outside the tent, 
 dispels all envious thoughts. There may be 
 nothing more than a moderate supply of native 
 bread and a fried egg or two, with olives and 
 cheese and a possible can of salmon or beef;—it is 
 eaten with gratitude and meets the present want. 
 
 It cannot be denied that the bill of fare does 
 not undergo many variations; canned goods play 
 a large part in its make-up, and one may be par¬ 
 doned if he think sometimes of the home with 
 its well-ordered table and varied supplies. It was 
 Henry Drummond who, after months of explor¬ 
 ing in the heart of Africa, remarked in effect that 
 all “ tinned ” goods had come to taste alike to 
 him, from kippered herring and strawberry jam 
 through all the steps of the tiring gamut to sar¬ 
 dines and the like. 
 
 29 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 A word as to the missionaries themselves. 
 Please do not bring to mind, forbearing reader, 
 the picture of the sedate and serious gentleman 
 found on the front cover of your missionary 
 magazine. Clad in flowing ministerial garb, with 
 broad-brimmed hat, long white beard, an open 
 book in his left hand, he is earnestly exhorting an 
 all-absorbed gathering of half-clad savages, who 
 have laid aside their spears and wicker shields in 
 their eager desire to drink in the eloquent words 
 of the preacher. No; such a picture could not 
 have been realized in the present group. For 
 this trio of tourists consisted of three young men, 
 forgetful for the nonce of the cares and responsi¬ 
 bilities of missionary service, from which they 
 were temporarily released. They were off for a 
 vacation to a part of the country seldom visited, 
 and enjoyed it all the more for the added spice of 
 its quasi-illegality. 
 
 True, they had not forgotten to bring Bibles, 
 
 nor did they fail to use them as occasion offered. 
 
 But these weapons of peace were accompanied 
 
 by others not so suggestive of tranquillity. Shot 
 
 guns, revolvers, rifle and dogs were taken with 
 
 the expectation of hunting, and for defence, if 
 
 necessary. And why should not a missionary 
 
 hunt, especially with the example of David before 
 
 30 
 
PUBLIC WEIGHER 
 
 THRESHING THE WHEAT 
 
Introductions by the Way 
 
 him, who undoubtedly supplied his needs from 
 the larder of nature. For he had fled from before 
 Saul to similar regions of forest, hill and dale, and 
 the adroit reference^ to his outlawed condition 
 was evidently inspired by his own experiences in 
 hunting partridges, as plentiful then, as now. 
 Be it said that many a partridge graced the trav¬ 
 ellers’ table in the wilderness, and the eastern 
 hills yielded their choicest game to the hunters. 
 
 Three congenial companions were they, ready 
 to accept with good will every hardship, fatigue, 
 or danger. One was dubbed “ our aged friend,” 
 —an entire misnomer, save in the trifling matter of 
 seniority. He was the moving spirit of the enter¬ 
 prise, thoroughly acquainted by long experience 
 with all the traits of the genus “Arab,” and a 
 keen observer of every noticeable characteristic 
 or peculiarity in landscape, inhabitants and build¬ 
 ings old and new. He usually arrived first at the 
 proposed camping-place, and, throwing off his 
 coat, engaged in untying ropes, setting up 
 tents, driving pegs, and directing operations 
 generally. 
 
 The second member of the trio was “our liter¬ 
 ary friend,” endowed with a genius for journal¬ 
 istic effort, the statistician of the party. 
 
 * I Sam. xxvi. 20. 
 
 31 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The “otherwise man" completed the number, 
 remarkable for nothing worthy of note. 
 
 The cavalcade, whose component elements 
 have been thus introduced, was a long one in its 
 entirety, as it left Judeideh on a Saturday morn¬ 
 ing and travelled toward Hermon. Three mis¬ 
 sionaries, four muleteers, one cook, four horses, 
 four mules, two donkeys, and two dogs were 
 the joint members of the expedition, each one 
 indispensable in his position. 
 
 Old Sol, jovial orb of light and heat, beamed 
 benignantly upon the tourists, as they rode 
 along toward the village where they were to 
 spend the Sabbath. They had not far to travel, 
 and had been over the road many a time. It 
 
 had led them at first southward in a well- 
 
 watered plain, by the site of old Ijon, the 
 
 northernmost town of ancient Palestine.^ It 
 
 passed near Abel, once saved by a wise 
 woman’s advice from Joab’s destructive fury.* 
 Thence it crossed one of the streams, which 
 unite to form the Jordan, and over a rich, 
 alluvial plain to the southern base of the noble 
 Hermon range. 
 
 The day was exceedingly hot, and the travellers 
 were well-nigh overcome with thirst. Even the 
 
 > 2 Kings XV. 29. 2 2 Sam, xx. 16-22. 
 
 32 
 
Introductions by the Way 
 
 expected cold draught from the fountain near 
 the river, where they lunched, had been denied, 
 by reason of a family washing in progress at the 
 fountain itself, amidst the thicket of oleanders 
 and low shrubs. Hence the great, gushing, ice- 
 cold fountains at Banias were hailed with de¬ 
 light. 
 
 There is the main source of the Jordan, emerg¬ 
 ing from the very base of snow-capped Hermon, 
 out of that vast storehouse of pent-up waters, 
 bubbling up into a wide stream, which connects 
 as by a silvery band those two objects of sacred 
 interest,—Hermon and Galilee. These waters 
 gush forth from the midst of a natural amphi¬ 
 theatre, whose towering walls are formed of 
 solid rock. Leafy trees entwine their branches 
 across the stream from bank to bank, and thus 
 afford a shady retreat from the glowing sun. 
 Such a gem of nature could not escape the eye 
 of worshipping man; there are found to-day 
 niches carved in the rocky walls,—a rural temple 
 to the god Pan. Traces of the fact also exist in 
 the name of the village, Banias, that is, Pan ias. 
 But Pan is gone, leaving no blessing, unless by 
 his order those springs continue to refresh thirsty 
 travellers with their abundant waters, cold as 
 Hermon’s snows. 
 
 33 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Across a slope and up an opposite mountain 
 side is Ain Kunyeh, almost the last outpost of the 
 American mission, on the border of the Jaulan, 
 the Arabs' land. There the tents were pitched, 
 near a fountain, under the shade of tall poplars, 
 with the flag waving proudly in the breeze. 
 After supper the evening was spent with the 
 Syrian friends, and all united at the close in the 
 customary evening devotions. The missionaries 
 gladly retired; for on the morrow they must ful¬ 
 fill their duties as preachers of the Word. 
 
 34 
 
Ill 
 
 A SABBATH DAY’S JOURNEY 
 
 Although missionary work is not the theme of 
 this volume, it may be permissible to take one 
 glimpse of a mission outpost, even though it 
 involve a delay in entering the desired country. 
 Being Sunday, the time is opportune both for the 
 visitors and the visited. 
 
 It was the privilege of the “ otherwise man ” 
 
 to minister to the church at Mejdel, distant an 
 
 hour and a-half from Ain Kunyeh. This was his 
 
 second visit, made after the lapse of over five 
 
 years. How well he recalled the first occasion! 
 
 He was on his “maiden trip" in the country, in 
 
 company with the missionary in charge of the 
 
 district. His knowledge of the Arabic was 
 
 extremely limited. From his gesticulations and 
 
 frantic efforts to be intelligible, one might have 
 
 thought him a direct arrival from the tower of 
 
 Babel. All was new to him, at that time,— 
 
 language, people, customs and history. He had 
 
 already seen and heard much that was interesting, 
 
 and Mejdel was an added chapter. He listened 
 
 35 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 with amazement to his missionary guide as he 
 unfolded to him the history of the place. 
 
 It was made up of Christians and Druzes, 
 whose lack of harmony was proverbial. Rough, 
 sturdy mountaineers they'were, bronzed by the 
 summer sun and toughened by the winter snow; 
 for Mejdel is high up on the southeastern slope 
 of Hermon. Farming, grazing, robbing and 
 being robbed made up the round of their life. 
 Yet when the gospel reached the hearts of some 
 of those uncouth robber-farmers, it transformed 
 them into true and faithful followers of Christ, 
 as strong and robust in their acceptance of the 
 truth, as they had been before in unlawful pur¬ 
 suits. 
 
 The advent of the missionary and his guest on 
 
 that summer day five years ago was an occasion 
 
 of unusual interest to the villagers. They came 
 
 to the schoolhouse both to converse with their 
 
 missionary friend and counsellor, and also to see 
 
 the newcomer. With laughable frankness the 
 
 missionary interlarded his Arabic conversation 
 
 with remarks in English (supposably translations 
 
 of the conversations, but really characterizations 
 
 of the different individuals about him), as That 
 
 man was once the most noted cattle thief in all 
 
 this district”; or, “This one is the prince of 
 
 36 
 
A Sabbath Day’s Journey 
 
 liars," (evidently someone in whom regeneration 
 had' not blossomed out into perfect fruition) ; 
 and other remarks which revealed both the need 
 of the pure gospel in some lives and its manifest 
 work in others. Thus the time was spent that 
 day, and it is a question which profited more, 
 the sturdy farmers or the pupil missionary. 
 
 Two years after this visit, occurred a general 
 uprising of the Druzes in all that region. Mejdel 
 and Ain Kunyeh were burned and looted and 
 
 destruction was rife. Not that the Druzes did 
 
 ¥ 
 
 it all; oh, no I The Turkish soldiers, conser¬ 
 vators of the peace and protectors of the helpless, 
 took a large part in the proceedings, as only 
 Turkish soldiers can do. The whole town was 
 laid waste, and the Protestant church did not 
 escape. The girders under the sheet-iron roof 
 were badly burned and the roof was in danger 
 of falling in. Complaint was made to the gov¬ 
 ernment by the missionary in charge, and was so 
 vigorously followed up that orders were sent to 
 the town official (Turkish of course) to replace 
 the damaged girders. He purchased the neces¬ 
 sary lumber at a neighboring village (and never 
 paid for it), and so the church and preacher’s 
 home were restored. 
 
 But the poor inhabitants suffered intensely. 
 
 37 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The winter was upon them, and their supplies 
 had all disappeared. This opportunity was 
 eagerly seized by the missionaries to minister to 
 their wants, both temporal and spiritual. Such 
 was the ordeal of fire and sword in the Hermon 
 district, which, terrible as it was, could be called 
 but an echo of the fiendish work done at that 
 time in Armenia. Is it any wonder that love of 
 the government is notably wanting in this land ? 
 
 Again a period of three years passed by,—years 
 of toil, which served to restore the face of nature. 
 This Sunday, morning the missionary rode 
 through the town for the second time, glad in 
 the thought of meeting again some of those with 
 whom he was unable to speak at the first visit. 
 Now he could give them the gospel message in 
 their own tongue. He had hurried away from 
 camp as early as possible. Yet he arrived almost 
 too late. For as he tied his horse to a native 
 hand millstone (referred to by Solomon ^ and our 
 Lord^), he heard the Syrian preacher announce 
 the text. Quietly entering the church, he took 
 his seat on the floor with the worshippers. The 
 preacher paused, somewhat confused, then asked 
 in broken English, '‘Do you like to preach?" 
 The missionary stepped forward, clad in his 
 
 * Eccl. xii. 4. 2 Matt. xxiv. 41. 
 
 38 
 
A Sabbath Day’s Journey 
 
 riding garb, and his homiletics likewise arrayed. 
 Without wishing to forestall what might have 
 been a more profitable sermon than his own, 
 nevertheless he did not care to miss the oppor¬ 
 tunity of addressing this mountain congregation. 
 He read and expounded the story of Naaman, the 
 Syrian, as a type of sin and its cure. It may be 
 that Naaman passed through Mejdel on his 
 journeys to and from Samaria ; for it is on the 
 great highway to Damascus. At any rate the 
 Syrian prince furnished the material for a plain 
 gospel message, which was welcomed by the 
 hearers that day. Thoroughly oriental was the 
 scene 1 The congregation to the number of 
 seventy-five were seated on straw mats about 
 three sides of the large, unfurnished room. The 
 favored ones found physical support by leaning 
 I against the wall, while the rest “ squatted ” wher¬ 
 ever they could find enough matted surface. The 
 men occupied one side of the room, and the 
 women the other, with a flaming red curtain 
 hanging between. The costumes were doubtless 
 in the fashion of Naaman’s day. Yet that un¬ 
 cultured audience paid excellent (and often audi¬ 
 ble) attention, nor would the preacher have ex¬ 
 changed pulpits with any western divine. 
 
 After the service the rural congregation gath- 
 
 39 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 ered in the parlor of the native helper and re¬ 
 newed acquaintance (in Arabic) with one whom 
 they had seen five years before. This visit was a 
 pleasant sequel to the other, and the service ren¬ 
 dered was a true delight to the man who hopes 
 for better things. 
 
 Discouragement found no lodgment in the 
 thoughts of the otherwise man,” as he turned 
 back from the delightful morning gathering. 
 Even had the responsive hearers left any shade of 
 doubt, surely the ride itself would have dispelled 
 it all. As he checked his horse at the summit of 
 a high ridge, a magnificent, suggestive view lay 
 all about him. To the north, majestic Hermon 
 with its hoary head stretched at great length like 
 some prostrate giant. At its base were many 
 villages. To the east and south the great plain 
 was lost in the distance—the land of Og, pro¬ 
 ductive Bashan. The western horizon was 
 closed by the undulating line of mountain ridges 
 in Naphtali and Zebulon. 
 
 Far below, at the opening of a deep valley, 
 Banias appeared,—not much in itself, but might¬ 
 ily stirring the memory. For it is the site of 
 Caesarea Philippi, one of the grandest of Roman 
 cities, made sacred by the entrance of Christ, 
 
 doubtless over the very Roman bridge that spans 
 
 40 
 
A Sabbath Day’s Journey 
 
 e chasm to-day. To the right of the town, 
 crowning a high spur of Hermon, are the ruins 
 of a mighty Crusaders’ castle, more massive than 
 any other in Syria, vying with the famed Rhine 
 castles of Germany. There it stands, the monu¬ 
 ment of man’s attempt to found a Christian em¬ 
 pire by strength of arm and frowning tower. 
 
 Another peak of Hermon, not far from the 
 
 Roman city, looking toward the south country, 
 
 is in all likelihood the scene of a transaction far 
 
 surpassing the building of Crusaders’ castles, 
 
 even as God’s works are grander than man’s. 
 
 There occurred the transfiguration of our Lord, 
 
 when He ushered Moses and Elijah into His 
 
 presence to talk with them prophetically of His 
 
 marvellous redemptive act,—His death, that the 
 
 world might live. In that presence how small 
 
 appear man’s mightiest works; how weak his 
 
 strongest efforts! The divine purpose, born in 
 
 eternity, which prompted the living gift of a 
 
 dying Saviour, transcends in depth and breadth 
 
 the greatest plan of mightiest earthly sovereign. 
 
 God’s purpose in redemption includes all times 
 
 and all peoples. Nor can man tell how God may 
 
 choose to accomplish His purpose. He called 
 
 Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees, David from 
 
 the sheepcote, Paul from a rabbi’s seat, to be-^ 
 
 41 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 come instruments in His hand, that His majesty 
 might be revealed, His kingdom triumph, and 
 Jesus reign forever and ever. 
 
 The preacher might return to camp confident 
 that God’s all-embracing purpose had included 
 his sincere effort to aid and cheer the little 
 church at Mejdel. His “ Sabbath Day’s Journey ” 
 was but a part of a larger plan. 
 
 ** Nothing useless is, or low; 
 
 Each thing in its place is best; 
 
 And what seems but idle show 
 
 Strengthens and supports the rest.” 
 
 •^Longfellow, 
 
 42 
 
IV 
 
 **THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD 
 
 The Holy Land is preeminently a historical 
 country. It lives in memories of other days. In 
 order to follow with interest the record of any 
 section of the land, it is quite essential to grasp 
 the outlines of the country's progress as a whole. 
 A brief historical summary may therefore be 
 here inserted as a slight aid in unravelling the 
 tangled lines of world-power which have been 
 perplexingly mingled in this little strip of sea- 
 coast. 
 
 If one might take his stand upon some lofty 
 mountain-top, and call in review before him the 
 various peoples and nations that have entered 
 and held this land, how many would they be, 
 and how diverse the civilizations I Palestine and 
 Syria are the battlefield of the ages. How many 
 pages of the sacred history are stained by the 
 record of war and bloodshed! 
 
 When the Israelites came up from Egypt to 
 
 possess the Promised Land, they found it already 
 
 43 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 occupied by many tribes/ some strong and others 
 weak/ some bound together by loose ties of 
 alliance and federation/ all idol-worshippers* 
 and enemies of the one God. Their spies, by 
 describing the characteristics of the West-Jordan 
 nations, early frightened them into abandoning 
 the original intention of going directly up by 
 Hebron and Jerusalem. Therefore they received 
 long punishment for their cowardice and hard¬ 
 ness of heart. When they had finished their 
 wanderings in the wilderness, then they at¬ 
 tempted to encircle the Dead Sea and peaceably 
 pass through the East-Jordan countries, unmo¬ 
 lesting and unmolested. They even asked for¬ 
 mal permission® of Sihon, king of the Amorites, 
 whose kingdom joined Bashan on the south. 
 But Sihon looked with disfavor upon such a 
 wholesale permission,—the passage of hundreds 
 of thousands of men, women and children, to¬ 
 gether with vast numbers of animals of all kinds. 
 Such a host would drain the resources of the 
 land. So he refused, and consequently God 
 gave to His children a victorious passage. When 
 Israel had conquered Sihon, then they came on to 
 Bashan. 
 
 1 Gen. XV. 19-21; Ex. iii. 8. “ Judges i. 7. 
 
 * Josh. ix. 2. * Deut. vi. 14. ^ Deut. ii. 26-29. 
 
 44 
 
“The Kingdoms of this World” 
 
 Og, who had reigned undisturbed heretofore, 
 was not dismayed by the advance of this pecul¬ 
 iar people, travelling from Egypt in a motley cara¬ 
 van. He “ went out against them, he and all his 
 people, to the battle at Edrei."^ But he failed to 
 realize that God, the King of kings, was fighting 
 Israel’s battles. He met utter defeat, and was 
 slain, with his sons and all his people; and the 
 Israelites “possessed his land."^ Thus waned 
 the star of his power; his country was given to 
 aliens; Bashan was allotted to the half tribe of 
 Manasseh; the one-time land of Og became a 
 Jewish possession, and shared with the rest of 
 Palestine the vicissitudes of war and empire. 
 
 After the children of Israel became established 
 in the land, there ensued a long and stormy 
 period under the judges. Then the monarchy 
 was established and lasted undivided for three 
 generations, when ten tribes separated from two 
 and established the northern kingdom. After this 
 came a period of retrogression, until the Assyr¬ 
 ians burst upon them and eventually carried cap¬ 
 tive the whole land. Never was such a com¬ 
 plete destruction known! The kingdom of Israel 
 was fairly blotted out! The tramp of the east¬ 
 ern armies resounded throughout Bashan in all 
 
 » Nam. xxi. 33. »Num. xxi. 35. 
 
 46 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 its length and breadth, and Jordan's fords were 
 crossed by myriads of the Assyrian host. Da¬ 
 mascus fell into the hands of Tiglath-Pileser,' 
 and the whole East-Jordan country was stripped 
 from its Jewish possessors and became an Assyr¬ 
 ian province.’* Sargon later completed the devas¬ 
 tation, and the kingdom of Israel ended igno- 
 miniously. 
 
 Nor did the kingdom of Judah fare better. 
 Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty Babylonian king, 
 destroyed Jerusalem and carried the people into 
 captivity.® 
 
 Three hundred years before Christ another and 
 a distant power entered the country. Alexander 
 the Great, of Macedonia, carried his conquests 
 over all known seas and lands, and the traces of 
 that Grecian civilization are scattered through¬ 
 out Syria. Massive old theatres, stately temples, 
 inscriptions and coins, show that the people 
 became thoroughly imbued with the Grecian cul- 
 ture. Even the Greek language in a measure 
 supplanted the Hebrew and later Aramaic. 
 
 But this Hellenistic tendency eventually aroused 
 the warlike spirit in the loyal Jews, and the noted 
 Asmonean family of the Maccabees restored to 
 the nation something of its former power. 
 
 1 2 Kings xvi. 9. ^ l Chron. v. 26. ^ 2 Kings xxiv. 14. 
 
 46 
 
“The Kingdoms of this World” 
 
 Yet not for long. After b. c. 63 the formi¬ 
 dable Roman influence was felt in the land, and 
 Syria became a Roman province under the rule 
 of the Idumean Herods. Roman architecture 
 prevailed; Roman roads overspread the country 
 like a net; Roman law and justice were felt; 
 Roman geography made new divisions in the 
 land; Roman armies razed Jerusalem to the 
 ground. 
 
 After Constantine had transferred the Roman 
 capital to Constantinople, Syria remained under 
 . the power of the Byzantine rulers, until the be¬ 
 ginning of the seventh century. Then Chosroes 
 II., king of Persia, took possession for an inter¬ 
 val of ten years, only to be driven back by 
 Heraclius, the Byzantine. 
 
 His reign, however, marked the rise of a new 
 power in Syria. The nomadic Arab tribes, which 
 had always wandered more or less over Syria, 
 and w'ere always a menace to Byzantine rule, had 
 already occupied the Hauran. Now, under Mo¬ 
 hammed's unifying influence, this rapidly-rising 
 power seized all the land, capturing Damascus 
 and Jerusalem in rapid succession. They swept 
 all before them, until their dominion extended 
 from Egypt to the Bosphorus. 
 
 After a rule of more than four hundred years, 
 
 47 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL 
 
 Geography is not one of the exact sciences. It 
 is as variable as history itself. The kaleidoscope 
 of events noted in the preceding chapter had its 
 due effect upon the geographical nomenclature 
 of the Holy Land. It is the purpose of this 
 chapter to mention some of the changes which 
 occurred, and to outline the geographical condi¬ 
 tions of the trans-Jordanic country at some of the 
 most important periods of its history, beginning 
 at the time of Og himself. 
 
 The kingdom over which Og ruled, was in 
 general known as Bashan, though this name in 
 some places in the sacred geography sinks to the 
 level of a section of the whole kingdom, coordi¬ 
 nate with Argob and Gilead. 
 
 It is difficult to define exactly the boundaries of 
 Bashan, for the references in the Old Testament 
 are somewhat indefinite. From the investiga¬ 
 tions of Robinson, Schumacher, Merrill and 
 others, it is fairly well ascertained that Bashan ex¬ 
 tended from the Jordan river eastward for fifty 
 
 50 
 
Geographical 
 
 miles or more, to the Druze mountains, on the 
 edge of the desert. However much the eastern 
 boundary may be in doubt, its western limit is 
 indisputably fixed. For the Jordan has cut so 
 deeply into the soil, that with all its windings 
 and twistings, it cannot possibly escape. So the 
 western boundary begins at Mount Hermon, 
 where the Jordan itself begins, and keeps on 
 down stream, until it reaches the mouth of the 
 Jabbok. There it meets the southern boundary, 
 which has followed that historic river and its 
 . tributaries from some point in the region of 
 Salched at the southern base of the Druze moun¬ 
 tains. The northern limit is approximately on a 
 line running east from Hermon’s southernmost 
 point, leaving Damascus on the north. 
 
 In extent Bashan covered about two-thirds as 
 much territory as the state of Connecticut.^ 
 However, not having the transportation facilities 
 which that state enjoys, it cannot be traversed as 
 rapidly. 
 
 Og transmitted his kingdom (unwillingly) to 
 the sons Manasseh, and the old terminology was 
 not altered. But when the Greeks and Romans 
 appeared upon the scene, they changed many 
 long-established arrangements, and gave new 
 
 * About 3,750 square miles. 
 
 51 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 names to old Bashan,—Gaulonitis, Auronitis, 
 Trachonitis and Batanaea. The northern half of 
 Gilead, which had been a part of Og’s possessions, 
 became known as the Decapolis. Augustus 
 Caesar bestowed some of these provinces on 
 Herod the Great about 20 b. c. They also passed 
 into the hands of his son Philip, the Tetrarchd 
 After him Herod Agrippa ruled all the territory. 
 
 After the influx of the Yemen Arabs about the 
 second century, a. d., the Roman names assumed 
 Arabic forms. Gaulonitis became Jauldn, Auro¬ 
 nitis Haurdn, Trachonitis Lejah, Batanaea Beta- 
 neyeh, the Decapolis ’Ajlun. 
 
 Of the first four districts Jaulan is the most 
 western, touching Galilee and the upper Jordan 
 sources. Hauran borders its southern half toward 
 the east. To the east and north of that is the 
 Lejah, while Beteneyeh occupies the extreme 
 northeastern portion. ’Ajlun is situated to the 
 south of Jaulan and Hauran, and is separated 
 from them by the deep chasm of the Yarmuk 
 river (the Hieromax of ancient history). This 
 district includes a portion of the famous Ghor of 
 the Jordan. 
 
 Now the journeyings east of the sacred river, 
 noted in this volume, were made in the districts 
 
 ^ Luke iii. i. 
 52 
 
Geographical 
 
 of Jaulan, Hauran and ’Ajlun. Hence these three 
 sections deserve special notice geographically and 
 otherwise, since each possesses characteristics 
 peculiarly its own. 
 
 The Jaulan is a barren plateau, whose note¬ 
 worthy feature is the great number of curious 
 volcanic, cone-like peaks, which rise up solitarily 
 from the surrounding plain. They are placed in 
 two rows somewhat regularly defined, which 
 extend from north to south. In some of these 
 peculiar sentinel knolls the crater is very distinct. 
 In one. Tell Abu Nida,—a very high cone, visible 
 for miles around,—the crater has been broken 
 down on one side, as if the lava could not wait 
 to rise to the top. Another, Tell el Faras, has a 
 perfect crater, circular in appearance, somewhat 
 inclined, so that it shows most clearly from the 
 north side. 
 
 These lava cones have influenced the topog¬ 
 raphy of the surrounding country in a remarkable 
 way. For the lava which flowed from them 
 hardened the great terraces. The lowest terrace 
 is farthest away toward the west, verging on the 
 marshy ground about the waters of Merom. The 
 next gigantic wave of lava evidently swept over 
 the surface of the first, but hardened before it 
 
 reached the outer border. And so the succeeding 
 
 53 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 waves tended to raise the level near the craters, 
 and sink lower and lower toward the west. 
 
 The whole country is also overlaid with vol¬ 
 canic stones, either thrown from the craters, or 
 caused by the disintegration of the surface lay¬ 
 ers. This basaltic rock, as it crumbles, forms an 
 excellent soil, which produces an abundance of 
 grass in the springtime. Then the whole of the 
 Jaulan is overspread with grass so deep and 
 thick, that all paths are obscured, and a rider 
 finds difficulty in making his way through the 
 resisting undergrowth. 
 
 Then the flocks and herds are as plentiful as 
 the pasturage. They are brought from long dis¬ 
 tances to this famous pasture land. The ancient 
 '‘bulls of Bashan*'^ must have fed there; also, 
 “rams of the breed of Bashan”* could have 
 found no better pasture. Ezekiel speaks “of 
 rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of 
 them fatlings of Bashan.”® The Jaulan is pre¬ 
 eminently the grazing district of the East-Jordan 
 country, and in spring is a magnet to attract 
 every possible Bedawy. But during the rest of 
 the year it becomes as vacant as a seaside hotel 
 in winter. 
 
 The Hauran produces grain and insurrections. 
 
 1 Psalm xxii. 12. * Deut. xxxii. 14. »Ezek. xxxix. 18. 
 
 54 
 
Geographical 
 
 The natural fertility of the soil accounts for the 
 former, while the latter may be briefly accredited 
 to the independent character of the Druze popu¬ 
 lation and the overreaching, exasperating policy 
 of the Turkish government, especially in regard 
 to taxes. Fully one-half of the harvest goes to 
 the officials. 
 
 The eastern part of the Hauran, where it rises 
 up into the lofty range of the Druze mountains, 
 is a capital refuge for offenders against the law. 
 The name of the mountains indicates the class of 
 inhabitants. The Druzes love to fight, and until 
 very recently were masters of the situation in east¬ 
 ern Hauran. Their warlike propensities have kept 
 the district in a state of unrest, not conducive to 
 the safety of travellers. The Hauran has been 
 the Mecca of many a traveller, who could not 
 obtain permission to enter the district, fast 
 barred against the intrusion of foreigners. Even 
 so useful a servant as the railroad must run along 
 the very western borders of the territory. 
 
 It need hardly be said that the soil is produc¬ 
 tive. The Hauran is the granary of Syria. Its 
 wide stretches in harvest time are beautiful with 
 waving grain, and when one sees the train creep¬ 
 ing over the plain, he might imagine himself in 
 
 Kansas. This railroad is a recent innovation, a 
 
 66 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 branch of the Beirut-Damascus railroad, and runs 
 south from the latter city toward the southern 
 wilderness. 
 
 The Hauran is one of the few districts in Syria, 
 whose chief crop is /zo/stones. Elsewhere in this 
 country the fences are made of stones to dispose 
 of the stories. The current story has it that some 
 Titanic member of the clan of the Genii was or¬ 
 dered to distribute the stone supply over the 
 world. He put them into two huge bags and 
 started on his rounds. After he had disposed of 
 one bagful, which he had scattered sparingly 
 over Europe and Africa, he came to Syria. Here 
 an accident occurred. He stumbled and fell, the 
 bag broke, and all the stones destined for Asia 
 were deposited in Syria. 
 
 The wide plain of the Hauran, however, is a 
 great green lake of fertility bounded by rocky 
 shores. Its abundant crops find their way to 
 the coast both by train and by^camel. The 
 completion of the projected Haifa-Damascus rail¬ 
 way will mark a new era in the Hauran trade, 
 and the slow, patient camel, will be largely rele¬ 
 gated to his native desert. 
 
 'Ajlun, the third great division of the East-Jor- 
 dan country, has its own characteristics, which 
 thoroughly distinguish it from the northern dis- 
 
 56 
 
Geographical 
 
 tricts. It is vertical, while the others are hor- 
 i:(ontaL It is all mountain-sides. Valleys 
 abound. ’Ajlun is the “forest belt" of Syria. 
 Its hills are clad in verdure. Dense oak forests 
 abound, and furnish the material for large quan¬ 
 tities of charcoal, which is prepared and shipped 
 to Damascus and the seacoast. Under foot, too, 
 there is a change. Limestone has replaced the 
 grimy, forbidding basalt of the lava regions. 
 Fountains also add their charms to the pleasing 
 prospect. 
 
 This rugged, mountainous section of the 
 Promised Land was given to Machir, “the first¬ 
 born of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because 
 he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead 
 and Bashan."^ Perhaps the mind reverts to the 
 “balm of Gilead"^ and to thoughts of a 
 soothing, peaceful nature in connection with 
 Gilead. But this is far from the reality. It has 
 always been the border-land between civilization 
 and the desert, and its Bible heroes were men of 
 war and valorous deeds. 
 
 Taking, then, the kingdom of Og as a whole, 
 it certainly presents a surprising variety of geo¬ 
 graphical features. The traveller in a week’s 
 time may traverse weary stretches of treeless 
 
 * Joshua xvii. I. * Jer. viii. 22. 
 
 67 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 plateau, covered with boulders and stones; may 
 hurry over excellent roads in a boundless farming 
 country; and may lose himself in tangled valleys 
 and river bottoms, or on mountain-sides nearly 
 impassable for the abundance of oaks and shrub¬ 
 bery. In the north black basalt rules; not a tree, 
 not even a shrub relieves the sombre sameness. 
 The south country is underlaid with white lime¬ 
 stone, many streams are found, and the hills are 
 green with forests. Picturesque villages and 
 hamlets are sprinkled plentifully over the district; 
 while the Jaulan can boast hardly a one worthy 
 of the name. Indeed, the trip of the three ven¬ 
 turesome tourists might be tersely characterized 
 as one of extreme contrasts. 
 
 And now, having arranged all preliminaries, 
 the travels in that untried country may begin, 
 with a note or two by the wayside, as the ani¬ 
 mals jog along. 
 
 tSA Ate 
 
 ^p 
 
 A brief itinerary is hereby subjoined, following 
 the custom of all travellers, from the children of 
 Israel ^ down to the latest explorer, whoever he 
 may be. Itineraries in this country are generally 
 made out, not in miles, but in hours. The East- 
 Jordan Arab, however, who may never have 
 
 >Num. xxxiii, 34-42. 
 
 68 
 

 i 
 
 f 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 V 
 
 *r 
 
 /■ 
 
 -9:7 
 
 
 •'\ 
 
 1 
 
 
 / 
 
 u 
 
 •I 
 
 
 f 
 
Geographical 
 
 seen a watch, is quite likely to measure the 
 stages of his journey by the number of cigarettes 
 that he smokes between stops. The following is 
 given in hours, as being more exact and less ex¬ 
 pensive than the cigarette method. 
 
 DAY 
 
 FROM 
 
 TO 
 
 DISTRICT 
 
 HOURS DIRECTION 
 
 Mon. 
 
 Ain Kunyeh 
 
 Ameer’s camp Jaulan 
 
 
 S. E. by S. 
 
 
 Ameer’s camp 
 
 Enjasa 
 
 44 
 
 3 
 
 •4 44 
 
 Tues. 
 
 Enjasa 
 
 Sahem ej Jaulan “ and Hauran 
 
 6 
 
 44 44 
 
 Wed. 
 
 Sahem ej JaulanJillen 
 
 Hauran 
 
 a 
 
 S. E. 
 
 41 
 
 Jillen 
 
 Ain Harteh 
 
 ’Ajlun 
 
 534 S. W. by W. 
 
 Thurs. Ain Harteh 
 
 Gadara 
 
 44 
 
 5 
 
 W. 
 
 Fri. 
 
 Gadara 
 
 Tiberias 
 
 ’Ajlun and Galilee 
 
 4% 
 
 N. W. 
 
 Mon. 
 
 Tiberias 
 
 Pella 
 
 Galilee and ’Ajlun 
 
 734 S. E. by S. 
 
 Tues. 
 
 Pella 
 
 ’Ajlun 
 
 ’Ajlun 
 
 634 
 
 S. E. 
 
 Wed. 
 
 ’AjlQn 
 
 Castle Rubud 
 
 M 
 
 iVa, 
 
 W. 
 
 u 
 
 44 
 
 Jerash 
 
 41 
 
 
 S. E. by E. 
 
 Fri. 
 
 Jerash 
 
 Ghor of Jordan 
 
 44 
 
 lo 
 
 N. W. by W. 
 
 Sat. 
 
 Ghor of Jordan Beisan 
 
 ” and Galilee 
 
 5% 
 
 N. W. by N. 
 
 Mon. 
 
 Beisan 
 
 Tiberias 
 
 Galilee 
 
 634 
 
 N. 
 
VI 
 
 A BEDAWY PRINCE AT HOME 
 
 At eight o'clock on Monday morning the three 
 travellers left Ain Kunyeh, with backs turned 
 upon old associations, and faces toward the 
 untried south country. A ride of ten minutes 
 brought them to the base of a steep and lofty 
 acclivity. They mounted to the top, and saw 
 before them the far-reaching, stony plateau of 
 the Jaulan. The journey had begun in earnest, 
 expectation reigned. 
 
 The Jaulan is the Bedawy’s paradise. In the 
 springtime the luxuriant growth of grass supplies 
 the needs of his flocks and herds without ex¬ 
 penditure of energy on his part, and in the sum¬ 
 mer and fall the abundant crop of stones by its 
 very inertness is admirably adapted to his idler 
 moods. The true Bedawy is Passed Master in the 
 art of ‘‘ How Not to Do It.” 
 
 The northwestern district of the Jaulan is occu¬ 
 pied by a wealthy and influential tribe of Arabs, 
 who have so far abandoned their nomadic life as 
 
 to remain in a comparatively contracted area. 
 
 60 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 They have even built rough huts, by piling up large 
 stones into walls, and covering them over with 
 beams and branches and earth for a roof. These 
 rude structures thus serve as a refuge during the 
 coldest part of winter. But in the fall these 
 deserted villages" look dreary enough and 
 thoroughly uninviting. 
 
 The chief of this tribe is the Ameer Muhammed 
 Fa'our, a real Arab prince of the blood and a direct 
 descendant from the prophet, doubtless as proud 
 of his lineage as any European potentate. This 
 ruler is not a man to be despised. Though he is 
 an absolute monarch in his tribe and his word is 
 law, still he is wise and progressive. He even 
 desires to introduce a touch of civilization into 
 the tribal life. A substantial, comfortable stone 
 house for his own occupation is among the possi¬ 
 bilities of the near future. An endeavor was 
 made to cultivate vines, and might have suc¬ 
 ceeded, but for the innate la:{iness of his people,— 
 it involved too much work and protracted atten¬ 
 tion. Several children from the tribe have been 
 in yearly attendance at the Protestant schools in 
 Judeideh. But this laudable effort at advancement 
 was recently frustrated by a governmental order 
 prohibiting the return of the children to school. 
 
 The wife of the Ameer has made two or more 
 
 61 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 trips to Sidon to consult the lady physician of the 
 American Mission resident there. An excursion 
 to Beirut was made with her, much to the amaze¬ 
 ment of the Ameery, who was entirely unaccus¬ 
 tomed to the sights and sounds of the Syrian 
 metropolis. Yet she deported herself most ad¬ 
 mirably,—far more circumspectly than many a 
 country bumpkin, who strolls about *‘t-a-own" 
 in open-mouthed wonder. This lady is young 
 and attractive,—the second wife of the Ameer. 
 During her visits to Sidon she was entertained at 
 the house of a strict Moslem, a friend of the Arab 
 prince. As a mark of courtesy two of the mis¬ 
 sionaries called one evening at the house. Ac¬ 
 cording to custom they had sent word in ad¬ 
 vance, in order to give opportunity for prepara¬ 
 tion. They had expected to meet only the friend 
 and leave with him their regards to the Ameer 
 (not to his wife). What, then, was their sur¬ 
 prise, upon entering the parlor, to find the 
 Ameery also sitting there unveiled, and not at all 
 backward in entering into the conversation ! 
 Manifestly she did not propose to be classed with 
 the common Moslem women, who have no 
 standing and no liberty. 
 
 It was the good fortune of the touring trio to 
 
 visit the far-away home of this Arab princess. 
 
 63 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 A ride of about two hours brought them to the 
 large encampment of the Ameer. There, amongst 
 the blackish rocks and boulders, were pitched 
 dozens of long, low, black tents, almost indis¬ 
 tinguishable from the sombre soil. Here were 
 the black ‘Hents of Kedar,” mentioned in the 
 Song of Songs.^ 
 
 The dwelling of the Ameer was easily dis¬ 
 cernible among the other tents, not by reason of 
 shape or kind, but merely by its si:{e. Imagine a 
 great stretch of gable roof, one hundred and fifty 
 feet long, its ridge pole (minus the pole) fifteen 
 feet above the ground, and the sides of the tent 
 high enough to admit a person with ease. 
 This great expanse of black, thick cloth is upheld 
 by solid wooden pillars, and the edges are 
 stretched out by heavy ropes drawn taut. This 
 long, cloth-covered structure is divided into sev¬ 
 eral apartments by means of large straw mats 
 stretched transversely across the tent at con¬ 
 venient intervals. Here lives the prince of the 
 tribe of Fudl, with his wife, his grown-up sons 
 by a former wife, his retinue of servants and 
 slaves, and his horses—precious property. Here 
 is the centre of justice, judgment and punishment 
 for all members of his tribe. 
 
 1 Song of Sol. i. 5. 
 
 63 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 As the tourists approached the tent, they were 
 aware of animated preparations to receive them. 
 The great parlor ” must be put into readiness for 
 the’ reception of guests with helmet hats ! The 
 mats and rugs were all removed and, thoroughly 
 beaten, then disposed about the .sides of the 
 apartment. Soft divans, or mattresses, were laid 
 upon the mats in regular order, and these in turn 
 augmented by numerous cushions and pillows. 
 Having removed their shoes, the guests were con¬ 
 ducted to the place of honor opposite the en¬ 
 trance,—the “good place'’ of Bible times.^ 
 
 The prince, unfortunately, was absent; but 
 his son was ready to act the part of host. And 
 right royally he did so. He added the finishing 
 touches to the preparations, as much as to inti¬ 
 mate that it was a mere fortuitous circumstance 
 whereby he had not done it all. He conducted 
 the visitors to their place, and then retired in true 
 Oriental self-depreciation to a seat upon the 
 ground near the doorway,—the “lowest room.” 
 After urgent and repeated invitation, he finally 
 consented (with due show of reluctance) to take 
 a seat next to the guests upon the divan. There 
 the battle was renewed to have him sit comfort- 
 ably, that is, cross-legged,—anything but com- 
 
 * James ii. 3. 
 
 64 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 fortable to the neophyte. It is the height of 
 politeness for the host and his retainers to sit in 
 a kneeling position, until ashed to change their 
 posture. This they do by degrees, and the polite 
 visitor is expected to persist in his request, until 
 he actually has his host beside him with his feet 
 tucked up under him. 
 
 The young prince was exceedingly courteous, 
 though very' reserved. It happened that some of 
 the “notables” of the tribe were present, and as 
 they sat around and eyed the strangers from head 
 to foot, not forgetting to scrutinize the guns, one 
 had a most uncanny, creepy feeling. They were 
 willing to converse about plans and routes and 
 the “ European concert ” (badly out of tune at 
 the time), but any matter connected with the 
 tribe was dealt with most circumspectly. The 
 number of the tents, or of the men of the tribe 
 (women are not counted), or the size of the 
 flocks and herds, could not be ascertained from 
 them. They fear the tax collector, as westerners 
 dread the smallpox. They purchase exemption 
 from military duty and then evade the tax as far 
 as possible. Since raiding is a part of their busi¬ 
 ness, they live in expectation of detection and 
 punishment. But woe to the man of the tribe 
 
 who blunders in the act of stealing and carries off 
 
 65 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 any of the prince's cattle or sheep 1 Recently 
 some cattle, belonging to the Ameer, were stolen. 
 The son of the Ameer, the y^ung man who so 
 graciously entertained the visitors, vowed to cut 
 off the right hand of the culprit, if he should be 
 found. And he fulfilled his threat later, although 
 the thief was one of the tribe. The Ameer’s cat¬ 
 tle will doubtless be safe hereafter I 
 Since cattle-raising is one of the chief occupa¬ 
 tions of the Arabs, they ^conveniently adapt 
 their mode of life to the exigencies of the case. 
 The whole camp consists of what Wemmick, Pip’s 
 friend, would delight to call ‘'portable property." 
 The infants, too, are included under this designa¬ 
 tion. They are disposed of by being tightly 
 wrapped in “ swaddling clothes ” and then slung 
 over the mother’s back, thereto remain for hours, 
 as the caravan moves along under the broiling 
 sun. The horses, however, form the chief treas¬ 
 ure of the Bedawin. Here are some of the pure 
 Arab steeds, renowned in verse and story. Fleet 
 and sure-footed, they carry their owners over 
 rough fields filled with rocks and stones, where 
 an American horse would not venture. These 
 animals are often the property of more than one 
 man, and are owned, like everything else in this 
 
 queer country, in shares of twenty-fourths. Think 
 
 66 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 of the mental acumen required to compute the 
 value of seven twenty-fourths of a horse 1 
 
 Yet this is no stranger than many other customs. 
 For example, counting is always done hy pairs. 
 The shepherd counts his sheep thus. When the 
 maid counts the loaves of native bread, the result 
 is announced as so many pairs and a single one 
 (if one is left over). Even gold pieces are thus 
 counted! The Arabic is read and written from 
 right to left; a line of manuscript is even at the 
 top, and hence words and phrases are u^EKscored 
 above. Twelve o’clock is at sunset; 5 is o, and 
 o is a period. Sun ” is feminine, “ moon ” mas¬ 
 culine ; the orator begins, “Gentlemen and 
 ladies.” Locks are generally upside down ; the 
 hands are washed after eating ; the carpenter 
 saws away from the body ; in building a 
 fire the twigs and chips are placed on top of the 
 charcoal; in hot weather the head is wrapped in 
 a shawl ; the father is known by the name of his 
 eldest son. 
 
 The Arab tribes are Moslem, though they are 
 
 not so strict as their city co-religionists. Perhaps 
 
 they pray, but certainly not so regularly as the 
 
 Koran prescribes. Nor does their religion in the 
 
 least interfere with business. A horse “deal” 
 
 the world over carries with it the aroma of dis- 
 
 67 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 honesty. Even the Arab hospitality is in some 
 points subject to criticism. To use a figure of 
 civilized speech, it might be termed “silver 
 plated." For when a feast is prepared, the great 
 heap of food is so arranged, that the first to be 
 served eat from the outside of the small mountain 
 of rice, and when they have finished, lo, the rice 
 has disappeared, and under it is a mass of boiled 
 wheat, the common food of the peasantry ! 
 
 Their coffee, however, is the genuine article,— 
 no chicory berry in it,—pure Mocha, prepared in 
 the presence of the guests, from the first process 
 of browning it. This is done by placing a hand¬ 
 ful of the green coffee in an immense iron spoon 
 with long handle, and holding it over the glow¬ 
 ing coals. Next it is pounded in a wooden mor¬ 
 tar with a wooden pestle to a rythmical cadence 
 not unpleasant in its variations, which is produced 
 by certain dextrous taps upon the side of the 
 mortar, as the pestle is withdrawn to be poised 
 in the air for another descent upon the amber, 
 redolent berries. After it has been transferred to 
 a curious long-handled, long-nosed, brazen coffee¬ 
 pot, it boils briskly for a time, and then a sip of 
 the dark fluid is poured into dainty cups and 
 these presented to the guests. The host also 
 
 partakes, as a token of benevolent intentions, or, 
 
 68 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 at least negatively, to prove the absence of poison 
 in the drinkd After this preliminary trial, the 
 cups are later filled with the dark, bitter coffee, 
 and the guest is expected to drink it all. 
 
 He who drinks coffee, or a cup of milk, 
 or eats a morsel at the tent of the sheikh, is 
 thereupon under his protection; nor is it etiquette 
 to ask as to the business or objective point of 
 the wayfarer, until after the lapse of three days. 
 During that time he may eat and sleep as freely 
 as if he were in his native village, and no ques¬ 
 tions asked. That is Arab hospitality, in a land 
 where the screech of the lightning express is 
 unheard and unknown, and the voice of the 
 hotel runner is still. Oriental hospitality requires 
 time and patience, two commodities abundantly 
 bestowed upon the easy-going Arabs. 
 
 The travellers were not privileged to test these 
 virtues to their full extent, because the itinerary 
 included but an hour’s stop at the encampment. 
 However, an hour was quite sufficient to afford 
 a view of Arab tent life. True, a poetic glamour 
 overspreads this mode of existence. Novelists 
 
 1 As corroborative evidence it has been noticed that the 
 servant in receiving back the cup from the guest quickly places 
 his hand over it with averted face, that he may not see whether 
 any of the guests have suspiciously refrained from tasting the 
 coffee. 
 
 69 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 and poets have vied with one another in invest¬ 
 ing these black tents and their swarthy occupants 
 with the romance of idealism. But the fact 
 remains that the tents are hot in summer, cold in 
 winter, wet in rainy weather, uninviting at their 
 best. The possibilities in the culinary depart¬ 
 ment are meagre in the extreme, with no further 
 variety than what rice, wheat and milk can 
 afford. In the matter of dress they practice the 
 extreme of simplicity, both in quantity, quality 
 and style. Feminine rivalries in this direction 
 are unknown. - The only indulgence in ornamen¬ 
 tation is in tatooing and in the use of blue-glass 
 nose-jewels much in vogue. 
 
 The sameness of their life would be appalling 
 to a nervous westerner. No perceptible business, 
 no newspapers, no social functions, no literary 
 and musical clubs, no market reports, no football 
 games, no elections! In such circumstances a 
 little guerilla warfare would be welcome and a 
 funeral would be a boon. Indeed, the latter is 
 highly prized by townspeople as a choice occasion 
 for social intercourse. One woman was heard to 
 remark enthusiastically, after attending a funeral, 
 "‘I enjoyed it very much! " 
 
 The three tourists left the encampment of the 
 
 noble Arab el Fudl, in nowise inclined to prolong 
 
 70 
 
A Bedawy Prince at Home 
 
 their visit, yet thankful for this opportunity to 
 see an Arab prince and his home. They moved 
 on for three hours more, the stony monotony of 
 their road relieved only by an occasional fox¬ 
 hunt (the real article without anise seed). They 
 passed several of the isolated crater-cones, 
 lunched in the open, with but a sip of warm 
 water from the ever-ready pottery jug, and 
 finally, in the middle of the afternoon, reached 
 their first camping-place in the Jaulan, in the 
 unpeopled wilderness. There they had ample 
 opportunity to write, to discuss plans for the 
 untried road before them, and surrender them¬ 
 selves to the abandon of unshackled freedom. 
 Even the cook felt the influence. For he served 
 floating island” as the first course, and fol¬ 
 lowed it up with potatoes, Irish stew and the like. 
 
 Then followed the calm, restful quiet of a 
 moonlight night. 
 
 How beautiful is night! 
 
 A dewy freshness fills the silent air; 
 
 No mist obscures, no cloud, nor speck, nor stain, 
 
 Breaks the serene of heaven. 
 
 In full-orb’d glory yonder moon divine 
 Rolls through the dark-blue depths ; 
 
 Beneath her steady ray 
 The desert circle spreads. 
 
 Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky; 
 
 How beautiful is night I "— Southey. 
 
 71 
 
VII 
 
 GOLAN, THE CITY OF REFUGE 
 
 Desolation is mildly expressive of the Jaulan 
 in the autumn time. Two days of travel over 
 its level, rocky surface from its northwestern to 
 its southeastern corner revealed nothing but 
 stones, ruins, graves and squalid indolence. The 
 only exceptions to this monotony were due to 
 outside influence. 
 
 The first was a thriving Circassian village 
 nestling on the side of a low hill, about a half 
 hour off from the camping-place. Its well-built 
 houses, its numerous haystacks, and its glisten¬ 
 ing mosque dome revealed an industry of per¬ 
 severance noticeably out of harmony with their 
 surroundings. These Circassians came into the 
 country in the year 1878 as a sort of political 
 exiles, and wherever they have settled, they 
 have made the desert to blossom as the rose.” 
 Their villages, to the number of a dozen or 
 more, dot the eastern edge of the Jaulan, and by 
 sheer force of industry and will they have estab¬ 
 lished themselves in the face of exasperating 
 
 72 
 
Golan, the City of Refuge 
 
 annoyances from their Bedawin neighbors. They 
 are honest in the midst of rank dishonesty; and 
 they follow Paul’s injunction, “If it be possible, 
 as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all 
 men.” 
 
 The Jews have introduced the second novelty 
 into those dreary stretches of Arab-Iand in the 
 form of a carriage road, which runs from a point 
 near the waters of Merom, past Golan, to Mez- 
 areb, the present terminus of the Damascus- 
 Hauran railroad. Now this is not a macadam¬ 
 ized road, with fences and shade trees on either 
 side. It is nothing more than an honest attempt 
 to clear a wide path amongst the loose surface 
 stones, and construct a few simple passageways 
 in places, to avoid the mud of springtime. 
 
 Yet this modest attempt at improvement 
 awakes no slum.bering ambition in the Bedawy. 
 On the contrary, he reads in this the signs of 
 encroaching civilization and resents it with all 
 his might. He has tried to undo what the jew 
 has done, by rolling back the large stones into 
 the middle of the road, and thus impede the 
 progress of any hypothetical vehicle unfortunate 
 enough to attempt the journey. 
 
 This road, however, was hailed with joy by 
 
 the three travellers, who had wearied of jogging 
 
 73 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 over the stony plain, ever on the alert lest a 
 horse should stumble and fall. That was a long, 
 thirsty ride,—six hours under a relentless sun, 
 over a tract absolutely shadeless. 
 
 « And on the traveller’s listless way ; 
 
 Rises and sets th’ unchanging day, 
 
 No cloud in heaven to slake its ray, 
 
 On earth no shelt’ring bower.” 
 
 Only two trees were sighted during the day, and 
 they were far away. 
 
 Thanks to the old Romans, one of their sub¬ 
 stantial bridges, provided a cool, shady retreat, 
 where lunch was discussed. The arches of that 
 bridge still rise in refreshing memory. Eight 
 solidly-built, pointed arches unite to form a 
 bridge two hundred and fifty feet long and 
 fifteen feet broad, spanning the Rukkad river, 
 which is gentle enough in the fall, but evidently 
 capable of manifesting in winter great obstruc¬ 
 tive ability. The old bridge has withstood nobly 
 the ravages of time. Its interstices are filled with 
 excellent lime mortar, and at comparatively small 
 expense it might be repaired. Then the roving 
 inhabitants would not need to camp beside the 
 swollen stream, awaiting sometimes for days 
 and weeks the abating of the waters, that they 
 
 may cross. However, they have nothing else to 
 
 74 
 
Golan, the City of Refuge 
 
 do, and their domestic economy suffers no jar 
 by encamping here or there. 
 
 This noble bridge stands as an almost im¬ 
 perishable monument to the sovereignty of the 
 ancient Romans, in this land. That they were 
 preceded, however, by a civilization far more 
 ancient than theirs, is evidenced by the large 
 number of dolmens scattered all about the dis¬ 
 trict in the vicinity of the bridge. These are 
 remarkable piles of stone, called to this day 
 '‘graves of the children of Israel," and were 
 manifestly used at one time for sepulture. They 
 consist of a circular platform of stones, upon 
 which a rude tomb was erected, made of slabs 
 of stone set on edge, and covered over by one 
 or two enormous pieces. These tombs all have 
 an east and west trend, are from two to three 
 yards in length, about half as wide, and propor¬ 
 tionately high. These huge monuments of a 
 hoary antiquity may be counted by the hundred, 
 nor may it ever be known who erected them and 
 who found a last resting-place therein. Perhaps 
 the giants of Bashan were buried in them,—those 
 doughty warriors of Og’s time. Then the land 
 was densely inhabited. We read in the book of 
 Joshua^ of sixty cities, and in Deuteronomy^ that 
 
 2 Deut. iii. 5. 
 
 75 
 
 > Joshua xiii. 30. 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 *'all these cities were fenced with high walls, 
 gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great 
 many.” By this may be understood sixty centres 
 of population, together with the outlying vil¬ 
 lages. Where could be found now sixty towns 
 worthy of a name and record? Those tombs 
 are of a truth evidences of a bygone civilization, 
 —a memorial of buried greatness. 
 
 Suppose, now, that the scroll of the ages might 
 be rolled back to the time of Joshua and his suc¬ 
 cessors. How different would be the landscape! 
 Instead of stanes would appear grain and vines 
 and trees. Cities and towns and villages would 
 be spread over the plain, joined to each other by 
 a network of roads. The Jew would be there, 
 but not by the gracious permission of his maj¬ 
 esty, the Sultan;—rather by right of victory and 
 conquest. Farmers, merchants, warriors, law¬ 
 givers, all would unite to improve^ the land and 
 transform it into the Holy Land of Promise. 
 
 And among other excellent and pleasing fea¬ 
 tures would be one which commends itself as 
 furthering the ends of justice and protecting its 
 dignity,—namely, the city of refuge. There 
 were six such cities, three on the east, three on 
 the west of Jordan. Of these six, only two are 
 
 of interest in the present discussion,—Ramoth 
 
 76 
 
Golan, the City of Refuge 
 
 Gilead in 'Ajiun, and Golan in the Jaulan. They 
 were established at the command of the Lord, 
 Ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of ref¬ 
 uge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, 
 which killeth any person by error. And they 
 shall be to you cities for refuge from the aven¬ 
 ger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand 
 before the congregation in judgment.”^ 
 
 The necessity for this provision of justice had 
 its origin in the custom of tribal and family 
 feuds,—avenging of blood,—prevalent to this 
 very day. By it, for every murder there must be 
 a compensating shedding of blood, and at the 
 present time it need not be the murderer who is 
 to be killed in his turn, but any innocent member 
 of the tribe. Such justice bears but slight re¬ 
 semblance to civilized codes of law. But it must 
 not be forgotten that the children of Israel were 
 hardly more than roving bands in those days, to 
 whom God in His wisdom adapted such customs 
 and laws as were best fitted to meet their needs, 
 which contained also the germ of a higher and 
 nobler existence 
 
 Golan was well chosen as a city of refuge. It 
 was situated in the midst of a vast plain, on rising 
 ground, which might even deserve the name of hill. 
 
 * Num. XXXV. II, 12. 
 
 77 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 [At this point it may be well to remark that 
 this is an unscientific record. Identifications 
 of historic spots, and all differences of opinion in 
 regard thereto, are left for settlement to abler 
 minds. Suffice it for the purposes of this narra¬ 
 tive that Golan once existed somewhere east of 
 the Jordan, and in this near vicinity; and that 
 some explorers of no mean repute have located 
 it at this very spot. Visitors to the Holy Land, 
 who desire to preserve the least bit of sentiment, 
 should not be too particular as to topographical 
 niceties. In this instance ‘‘the letter killeth.”] 
 
 Doubtless the Golan of ancient times was an 
 imposing city. For it was the capital of the 
 great district of that name. It may well be im¬ 
 agined as covering a large area, with its citadel 
 crowning the hill. Walled round about, it was 
 a strong fortress for defence and a welcome 
 refuge for the oppressed. Perhaps the Bible 
 dictionary illustration comes to mind. There is 
 the massive wall of the city, and the great gate 
 opened by an expectant priest or Levite, ready 
 to receive the fleeing unfortunate, who has un¬ 
 wittingly killed a fellow-man. He is well-nigh 
 exhausted, but fear and hope urge him on. 
 His headgear is gone, his long locks stream out 
 behind, on his countenance are depicted mingled 
 
 73 
 
Golan, the City of Refuge 
 
 emotions, and his eye is directed toward the 
 gates. He has all but entered. In one short mo¬ 
 ment he will be safe. 
 
 But the “avenger of blood" is close behind 
 him in hot pursuit. The arrow lies notched upon 
 the string; the bow is drawn. Will the arrow 
 find its mark ere the gates have swung to ? Alas, 
 that childish query of long Sabbath afternoons 
 will never be answered! The runner still flees 
 from the avenging pursuer, the gates stand ajar, 
 the arrow is still poised in mid-air, all the possi¬ 
 bilities of a ruthless tragedy remain,—not a line 
 of the picture is changed. 
 
 Not so the city itself. No sane man, jew or 
 Gentile, would seek refuge in the dirty, dusty, 
 degraded village that dishonors the name of 
 Golan. Its buildings are ruins; its well is pol¬ 
 luted; its citadel is a dunghill. Far from being 
 a city of refuge, it has turned away the Jew, who 
 sought an entrance, not for his own good alone, 
 but to improve the general condition as well. 
 
 Some years ago a colony of these despised, in¬ 
 dustrious Israelites settled here, built them sub¬ 
 stantial tile-roofed houses near the village, 
 planted trees of various kinds, cultivated the land, 
 laid out the carriage road, and might have restored 
 
 to the place something of its ancient prestige. 
 
 79 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Thereupon these uncouth villagers, farmers 
 only by necessity, first-cousins to the lawless 
 Bedawin, began a series of lying intrigues, which 
 eventuated in the driving out of the Jews. The 
 trees were uprooted and the vines despoiled. 
 But the Jews will undoubtedly return some day. 
 They are not to be dealt with thus unceremo¬ 
 niously. And the villagers realize this. They 
 fear a return, and look with suspicion upon all 
 strangers, as being possible agents of their en¬ 
 emies. 
 
 When the travellers arrived at Sahem ej Jaulan 
 (the modern name of Golan), the tents were soon 
 surrounded by a group of interested (and inter¬ 
 esting) men, women and children. They were 
 a sickly-looking lot, unwashed and unkempt, 
 yet suspicious of any surreptitious introduction 
 of civilization. The town well was so filthy that 
 even the mules would hardly drink. Water for 
 cooking and drinking purposes was brought 
 from a distance of half an hour in tins that had 
 once held kerosene oil. 
 
 One innovation had been brought into the town, 
 —a shop kept by two enterprising young men 
 from Judeideh, one of them a former pupil in the 
 Boarding Academy at Sidon. It was evident that 
 these young men enjoyed the visit of their 
 
Golan, the City of Refuge 
 
 friends, and they entered most heartily into the 
 singing when prayers were held. They had a 
 varied stock of goods, and even furnished two 
 small canisters of tea, not any the better for its 
 long residence in the country. 
 
 The villagers live a miserably poor life. There 
 are some patches of ground called gardens, where 
 a little corn and a few cucumbers and other such 
 vegetables are grown. These, together with 
 curds and cheese, are supposed to restore the 
 wasting tissues of mortal man. Meat is a luxury, 
 reserved for feasts and special occasions. 
 
 The mental food is no better in quality and less 
 in quantity. Of the whole district it may be said 
 that schools are unknown. Education is at its 
 lowest ebb. In regard to the moral and spiritual 
 condition of the villagers it were better to be 
 silent. True religion is inward. What have 
 they within their souls that could possibly be con¬ 
 strued as a hungering and thirsting after right¬ 
 eousness ? 
 
 Far more suited to their desires and capacities 
 
 was the village dance held that evening. The 
 
 travellers were invited, but politely declined, as 
 
 even from a distance both ears and nostrils were 
 
 filled with the attendant noise and dust. The 
 
 place chosen was evidently some open space, not 
 
 8t 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 far from the camp, where the elite of the town 
 gathered in the moonlight. According to reports 
 conveyed early in the proceeding by the Judeideh 
 merchants, the men were seated in a large circle 
 and giving the time by a mingled clapping of the 
 hands and a gutteral grunt as near hu-way-yah 
 hu-way-yah” as can be expressed in civilized 
 English. 
 
 A drama was enacted by various damsels, who 
 in turn seized a sword, entered the ring, and suc¬ 
 cessfully warded off the advance of would-be 
 suitors, until the one of their choice appeared,— 
 and all this to the clapping of the hands and the 
 dull, guttural hu-way-yah.” This was mild 
 excitement, requiring no exercise of mental 
 energy, admirably adapted to the limited intel¬ 
 lects of the performers. Hour after hour they 
 kept it up, with no variation in the time or the 
 monotone, until one feared for the results upon 
 their mental furniture. 
 
 The tourists had early sought their cots, wearied 
 by a day of excessive heat and dust; but far into 
 the night, as they awoke ever and anon, came 
 that low, droning sound,—the groaning of the 
 sons of Golan,—‘'hu-way-yah, hu-way-yah.” 
 
 83 
 
VIII 
 
 MANEUVRING 
 
 The Hauran! That far-away district, that 
 dream of other days, the forbidden land, had be¬ 
 come a reality, and the horses’ hoofs were mak¬ 
 ing their impress upon its rich soil. There it lay 
 at the traveller^’ feet, stretching off into the dis¬ 
 tance, glowing in the early morning sunlight. 
 
 Those plains could reveal many a secret of war 
 and bloodshed. There Chedorlaomer and the 
 Rephaim giants met in deadly conflict at Ashter- 
 oth Karnaim,^ which rises on a double-pointed 
 hill not far from Golan, and is famous in history 
 for a temple to the heathen goddess Ashtoreth, 
 and also as being one of Og’s royal residences.’ 
 Only a few hours away was Edrei, another of 
 his capital cities,’ where he was overwhelmingly 
 defeated at the hands of Israel.* 
 
 Near by could be seen El Merkez, the present 
 residence of the governor of the Hauran, and re¬ 
 puted to have been the home of the patriarch Job. 
 
 * Gen. xiv. 5. 2 Joshua xii. 4. 
 
 3 Joshua xiii, 12. * Deut. iii. 1-3. 
 
 83 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 It is well that this venerable individual did not 
 live to come under the sway of those same 
 Turkish governors, who occupy his native soil 
 to-day, else might his enviable reputation for pa¬ 
 tience have been tarnished by contact with the 
 representatives of all that is slow, obstructive, 
 and exasperating. Who, more than the Turkish 
 government, is responsible for the sad retrogres¬ 
 sion in these districts, both of inhabitants and 
 land ? These governmental leeches have sucked 
 the life-blood of the poor peasants, until there is 
 no hope left, nor any further reason for industry 
 and effort. Improvement is but an excuse for 
 greater excesses of iniquitous misrule. This is 
 strong language, but not more so than that used 
 in a popular Handbook for Syria and Palestine, 
 compiled by a clergyman of the Church of Eng¬ 
 land, who says: 
 
 “Syria has been oppressed for^centuries by 
 foreign rulers who show no real interest in the 
 soil or the people, and whose policy is to keep 
 the inhabitants bound down in ignorance and 
 poverty, all the available wealth of the country 
 being grasped by themselves. The present do¬ 
 minion of the Turk is no exception to this rule; 
 and the miserable peasants are hopelessly crushed 
 
 under the threefold oppression of the govern- 
 
 84 
 
Maneuvering 
 
 ment, the money-lender, and the tithe-gatherer. 
 The results are potent to all—indolence, destitu¬ 
 tion, bigotry, feuds, and bloodshed. The natural 
 resources of Syria are excellent, and under a fair 
 and enlightened government the country might 
 rise again to prosperity. ... In the district 
 bordering on the east boundaries of the country 
 there are hundreds of towns and villages de¬ 
 serted, whilst tens of thousands of acres of the 
 richest soil are abandoned to the periodical raids 
 of the wild hordes of the desert.”^ 
 
 Is it surprising that a people, fostered under 
 such a government, should grow up to exhibit 
 traits of dishonesty, trickery and suspicion in 
 their most glaring form ? And is it any the more 
 surprising that the Turk should use every en¬ 
 deavor to prevent the ingress of Europeans and 
 other foreigners, even as transient travellers, into 
 those parts, where injustice and oppression have 
 full sway ? 
 
 The trio of sightseers were not unmindful of 
 all these facts, and for two days had watched 
 with closest scrutiny every road leading to gov¬ 
 ernmental centres, lest they should meet some 
 soldier or officer, who would forthwith report 
 the presence of “Franks" in that forbidden land. 
 
 * Murray’s Handbook for Syria and Palestine. 
 
 85 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Thus far all had gone well. Now, however, a 
 change was felt. The people themselves were 
 suspicious to an extreme. Mezareb, a telegraph 
 and railroad station, was only a few miles away, 
 to approach which meant certain detection and 
 inquiry and orders to appear at Damascus. The 
 sheikhs of Sahem ej Jaulan were indebted to the 
 government for assistance rendered in ejecting 
 the Jews, and hence would gladly do a favor in 
 return. 
 
 What was the dismay, then, of the travellers, 
 as they left Sahem ej Jaulan by the eastern road, 
 and advanced along the great plain, to discover 
 . in a backward glance one of these very sheikhs 
 riding up to them, accompanied by a soldier, 
 both mounted on swift steeds! They were on 
 the straight road to Mezareb, and would rejoice 
 to give the word of warning. 
 
 The tourists had not intended to follow the 
 main road for long, but hoped to strike off in a 
 southerly direction, cross the river, keep on past 
 Tell Shehab, and end their day’s journey at Irbid, 
 only one day distant from jerash. 
 
 But this movement of the Golan sheikh com¬ 
 pletely disconcerted their well-laid plans. For 
 he could by rapid riding reach Mezareb, and a 
 
 mounted soldier or two could reach Tell Shehab, 
 
 86 
 
Maneuvering 
 
 ere the travellers with their pack-animals could 
 cross the deep gorge of the Yarmuk river and ar¬ 
 rive at Tell Shehab by a straighter route, though 
 far more difficult. That is, the sheikh and the 
 soldiers could traverse two sides of a triangle 
 more quickly than the baggage-laden party could 
 cover the third. 
 
 This sheikh accompanied them for a half-hour 
 or more, and during all that time his eyes were 
 busily surveying with most careful scrutiny 
 horses, riders, arms, dogs and loads, so that he 
 could have given a minute description of the 
 whole expedition. While he conversed with the 
 
 foreigners” with evident satisfaction, yet his 
 air of reserve and suspicion boded naught but ill 
 for the successful issue of present plans. 
 
 However, when the guide (an old man from 
 the village and very talkative) turned off toward 
 the south on a road leading to Jillen and the river, 
 the great natural divide,” all breathed more 
 easily, and there was a perceptible and spontane¬ 
 ous quickening of the pace, even to the smallest 
 donkey. 
 
 Arrived at Jillen, a superb view greeted the 
 eyes of the travellers, enough to dispel all dis¬ 
 quieting thoughts of government, soldiers, or 
 
 discovery. Here was an exhibition of natural 
 
 87 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 grandeur not often seen. It was the deep gorge 
 of the Yarmuk river, which flows in its mighty 
 chasm fully seven hundred feet below the level 
 of the surrounding country. It is as if the earth 
 had burst asunder into a yawning abyss, which 
 had given passage to the rapid stream. The 
 country on either side is perfectly level, and the 
 sides of the fissure are almost perpendicular. 
 Hence one might ride nearly up to the brink of 
 the precipitous gorge, without in the least sus¬ 
 pecting its presence. 
 
 Far, far below,' the madly-rushing waters of 
 the river fill the air with the sound of their cease¬ 
 less energy, as they dash over rocks and boulders 
 and form miniature rapids and cascades, or 
 whirl in circling eddies about some broadened 
 corner. On the banks the vegetation is luxuriant 
 and vari-colored. A few Bedawtn have selected 
 the wider parts to pitch their temporary camps. 
 The sides of the gorge, at first glance, reveal no 
 possible way of descent from either side,—only 
 a network of goat paths, which no human be¬ 
 ing, other than the experienced goat-herds, could 
 climb with safety. Such is the boundary be¬ 
 tween the Jaulan and Haur^n on the one side, 
 and ’Ajlun on the other. 
 
 The travellers halted upon the brink of this 
 
 88 
 
 ♦ 
 
Maneu\cring 
 
 mighty chasm, this natural (and geographical) 
 boundary, with something of the feelings of the 
 children of Israel at the shore of the Red Sea. 
 To turn back upon their tracks meant dis' 
 appointment and disgrace; to the left hand lay 
 the high road to Mezareb; the right hand path 
 would lead them into greater difficulties of 
 valleys and impassable chasms; and before them 
 this precipitous, pathless gorge! Unlike the 
 children of Israel they did not murmur, but did 
 what was far more practical,—resolved them¬ 
 selves into a committee of ways and means, sent 
 out scouts to reconnoitre, and eventually plunged 
 down the steep sides over a path that zigzagged 
 in a most dangerous fashion over slippery rocks 
 and down difficult steps. 
 
 When they reached the river bank, they could 
 look back at their course, past giant boulders that 
 threatened to come crashing down upon them. 
 They made their way through thick bushes of 
 oleanders to the ford of the river. 
 
 There a new difficulty confronted them even 
 
 worse than the descent. The Israelites were 
 
 highly favored in comparison, because they went 
 
 over the Red Sea on dry land. Here, however, 
 
 was a ford of the worst possible description. 
 
 The water was rushing swiftly along, over a 
 
 89 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 river bed filled with large, smooth boulders. 
 And it was sufficiently deep to add to the diffi¬ 
 culties of the passage. The animals could not be 
 sure of a single step. They might easily place a 
 hoof upon the top of a smooth, slippery rock, 
 and slide off into a deep hole on the other side 
 of it. 
 
 At such a ford the rider must make absolute 
 surrender of all prospects for future comfort and 
 dryness. He must tuck his feet up in a most 
 uncomfortable and insecure fashion, must watch 
 gun and saddle-bags and umbrella, must guide 
 his horse up stream, and keep clear of the other 
 struggling animals. Add to this the shouting of 
 the muleteers and the assembled Bedawin, the 
 barking of the dogs, and the decisive directions 
 of the travellers, and the scene may be mentally 
 pictured. 
 
 No untoward accidents occurred. One mule 
 lost his load, but after he had reached dry (or, 
 at least, muddy) land. Another fell, but he, too, 
 obligingly waited till he had crossed the river. 
 So, after a delay of a half hour, the caravan 
 moved on, thankful for progress made, “ count¬ 
 ing their mercies.” 
 
 At this point a new guide was taken on to con¬ 
 duct them up to the high level of the plateau on 
 
 00 
 
JMituHAalik 
 
 f 
 
 Maneuvering 
 
 the southern side. It was a heavy uphill pull, 
 especially for the loaded animals. Then a short 
 advance over the barren plateau brought them to 
 a village on the direct road to Tell Sheh^b. Here 
 the guide from Golan was dismissed, and a new 
 one was engaged, not to take them further south, 
 which was the direction of the danger-zone,” 
 but to turn to the right and follow the southern 
 bank of the gorge toward the west. 
 
 Here were rapid tactics, well calculated to dupe ‘ 
 the governmental envoys. A double change of 
 guides and a complete “right face” away from 
 telegraph and Turkish officials placed the travellers 
 out of all danger of pursuit. Indeed, they en¬ 
 joyed the possible predicament of the Golan 
 sheikh, who might have been the means of send¬ 
 ing out soldiers post haste to Tell Sheh^b and tele¬ 
 graphic messages to Irbid. 
 
 They themselves moved on rapidly along the 
 high plateau, delayed in some places by mud, 
 which in the autumn time is as unexpected as it 
 is unwelcome. This plateau has the form of a 
 triangle, ever narrowing toward the west, 
 bounded on the north by the Yarmuk in its deep 
 gorge, and on the south by another stream 
 equally depressed below the surrounding land. 
 
 At the junction of these two rivers the plateau 
 
 91 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 -11 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 narrowed to a mere tongue of high land. On 
 either side could be seen the two streams far 
 below. 
 
 The road led down by a rapid descent to a 
 point where a third stream joined the two, 
 making a labyrinth of valleys and mighty 
 chasms, which branched off in every direction. 
 Here was scenery wild, and bold, and romantic. 
 The majestic cliffs mingled in perplexing con¬ 
 fusion. To the east could be seen the beautiful 
 falls of Zeizun, descending in a series of cascades 
 a distance of nearly eight hundred feet. At one 
 point the river made a graceful turn, including 
 within the circumference a high limestone hill. 
 The whole course of the river was lined on 
 either side by thickly-growing oleanders and 
 other bushes. 
 
 This was an ideal place for a camp along the 
 broad river-bottom, with choice of water from 
 three streams, and excellent pasturage for the 
 animals. But alas, barley is necessary for a 
 hard-working beast, and the mill, which the 
 guide had affirmed to be a well-stored granary, 
 was locked and the owner absent. Hence this 
 choice spot must be abandoned and the travellers 
 move on. 
 
 Once more the deep gorge must be left behind, 
 
 92 
 
Maneuvering 
 
 as the animals mounted up to the former level of 
 the plain. The crossing of two such deep 
 abysses had tired the beasts of burden, and the 
 caravan moved on slowly toward the close of 
 day. The sun went down upon them as they 
 came opposite Abil, the ancient Abila of the 
 Decapolis. 
 
 A new difficulty confronted them. The guide 
 had crossed the boundaries of his own tribal 
 section, and was in the district of enemies. One 
 of his tribesmen had killed a man of the tribe who 
 occupied this district, and by the laws of the 
 blood-feud, it was their turn to kill some one of 
 the other tribe. Why should it not be this 
 guide? With difficulty could he be persuaded 
 to conduct the party to a fountain, whose lo¬ 
 cation he knew. 
 
 When the sun set, the moon was ready to take 
 
 its place, and by the waning light of day and the 
 
 ever-increasing brightness of the moon the party 
 
 entered a little valley, where flamed a shining 
 
 rill from a cool, refreshing fountain. There they 
 
 pitched their tents on the greensward beside the 
 
 stream. A muleteer was despatched with the 
 
 guide to a near village to purchase barley for the 
 
 well-deserving animals. Supper was served in 
 
 the moonlight to three hungry travellers, wearied 
 
 93 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 from a fatiguing ride and climb of seven hours 
 and a half in the intensely hot sun. 
 
 This quiet, lonely valley was unique as a camp¬ 
 ing-place, and its very obscurity gave a pervad¬ 
 ing sense of calm and security from all observa¬ 
 tion. Not a soul was visible all the long even¬ 
 ing. The travellers were monarchs in their 
 lovely little valley. Their spirits revived under 
 the genial, mellowing influence, and soon sweet 
 harmonies of well-known strains echoed from 
 crag to crag along the hills. 
 
 How marked the contrast between the begin¬ 
 ning and end of this eventful day! The one was 
 marked by haste, confusion and alarm; the other 
 came like a gentle benediction upon the labors of 
 the day. That night a watch was set for the 
 first time. Each one in his turn stood guard 
 over tents and animals and slumbering com¬ 
 panions. 
 
 The ‘"otherwise man "took his turn toward 
 midnight. All nature seemed to sleep, save the 
 tiny stream, whose gentle murmur broke the si¬ 
 lence of the night. The cold rays of the moon 
 cast stilly shadows alongside rocks and shrubs. 
 The distant howl of a jackal added a weird charm 
 to the strange, quiet scene. 
 
 The stars above were friends,—those never- 
 
 94 
 
Maneuvering 
 
 changing reminders of God’s love to man, silvery 
 ladders of light, on which the finite mortal may 
 rise in thought and prayer to the infinite Creator. 
 Amid the stillness of the scene came the com¬ 
 forting thought of a loving Protector. 
 
 “ Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, 
 Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.” 
 
 — Longfellow. 
 
 9 
 
 95 
 
IX 
 
 A MEMORABLE RIDGE 
 
 Nothing is so sure to arouse a hunter from his 
 early morning sleep as the calling of the par¬ 
 tridges from one bush to another,—that peculiar 
 sound, unmistakable in its identity. 
 
 Peaceful Valley” was evidently a favorite 
 haunt of doves and partridges. They could 
 drink at the purling stream and find refuge 
 amongst the crags and low bushes of the moun¬ 
 tain-sides. 
 
 The cackling of these feathered visitors im¬ 
 pressed itself upon the dreamy half-conscious¬ 
 ness of the “Literary Friend,” until he fully re¬ 
 alized the situation. Then he left his cot, dressed 
 himself, and started in pursuit of game. But 
 there was another hunter in the party, fully as 
 desirous of a shot as he. It was the “Aged 
 Friend.” That hale and hearty individual no 
 sooner awoke to the transaction, than he, too, 
 sprang out of bed and into a garment or two, 
 grasped his gun, called to the dogs, and was out 
 
 of sight amongst the rocks and bushes, before 
 
 96 
 
A Memorable Ridge 
 
 the third member of the expedition— notdi hunter 
 —could array himself for public inspection. 
 
 Soon the report of the guns awoke the echoes, 
 the dogs brought in a partridge or two, and 
 thus the fundamentals for an excellent lunch 
 were assured. Still the chase continued, one 
 hunter up aloft on the ridge of the barrier moun¬ 
 tain, the other leaping from rock to rock, hurling 
 stones into every clump of bushes, up, down, 
 everywhere, both oblivious of the flight of time 
 and the labor of the chase,—thorough sportsmen. 
 
 Long after the ''otherwise man" in despair 
 had begun upon bread and sweet-food, the two 
 hunters returned and took a hasty bite before the 
 process of "pulling down the house" began in 
 real earnest. Soon, however, the whole camp 
 was on the move upward, out of the beautiful, 
 lonely valley, to the highlands toward the west. 
 The guide of yesterday had returned early in the 
 morning, happy in the possession of a bright sil¬ 
 ver Turkish dollar. 
 
 The caravan moved on past fields on either 
 side, where busy scenes of ploughing were wit¬ 
 nessed. Dozens of yokes of oxen were circling 
 about the fields in jerky procession, true to the 
 Biblical narrative.^ The rude, one-handled 
 
 1 I Kings xix. 19. 
 
 97 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 ploughs, light enough to be carried long distances 
 on the shoulder, danced unevenly over the rough, 
 stony ground, which scarcely felt the wounds 
 made by the simple oriental ploughshare. It is 
 not due to the excellence of the farm implements 
 that the soil yields “ an hundredfold." 
 
 The travellers next passed an old and ruined 
 town, in whose midst was a gigantic tower,—a 
 token of former greatness and an evidence of 
 energy entirely foreign to the present purposeless 
 inhabitants. For they live mostly in caves (if 
 such an existence could be called living, or have 
 piled up a few stones from the ruins of a nobler 
 ancestry and covered them over with roofs made 
 of sticks and branches and earth. .They have a 
 precious legacy in a subterranean fountain, 
 reached by descending a long flight of steps, ex¬ 
 cavated with great labor in the hard soil in the 
 desire to make available the precious spring. 
 There, deep, deep down bubbles the refreshing 
 water, a priceless acquisition to the town. 
 
 One might think that the present dwellers in 
 
 that village and region would be stimulated to 
 
 the exhibition of a little pride and energy by the 
 
 grand examples of ancient activity ever before 
 
 their eyes. But no ! they would not turn over a 
 
 single spadeful of soil to find water. They would 
 
 98 
 
A LOAD OF WATER 
 
A Memorable Ridge 
 
 rather send their women a mile to some spring 
 to carry a jarful at a time for cooking and drink¬ 
 ing purposes. 
 
 The name of the village is Hebras, doubtless a 
 town with a history, could it but divulge its 
 secrets. 
 
 From thereon the road led the travellers 
 through a long valley, and up to a ridge bordered 
 on the north by the deep, impassable Yarmuk 
 valley, and breaking down to the south into a 
 wide, depressed plain, whose towns and hamlets, 
 woods and valleys formed a pleasing panorama, 
 and ended in the magnificent prospect of the high 
 and rugged mountains of Gilead. 
 
 This northern ridge is historic. Along its whole 
 length may be traced the aqueduct, which in 
 ancient times brought water to Gadara from 
 fountains in distant Haur^n. At some points it 
 is as perfect as in the days of its service, at 
 others is entirely obliterated by time and the 
 elements and man’s destructive hand. This 
 waterway recalls the period when human labor 
 counted for nothing, and kings had but to order 
 and it was done, despite all obstacles. 
 
 Would that kings had always directed the 
 
 labors of their subjects in the line of building 
 
 aqueducts and other useful works,—peaceful pur- 
 
 99 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 suits ! Alas, this ridge brings up memories of war 
 and bloodshed,—host battling against host, and 
 human lives held as valueless. It was somewhere 
 along this natural barrier between north and south 
 that two vast civilizations, leading representatives 
 of the Semitic and the Japhetic branches of man¬ 
 kind, met in deadly conflict to decide the su¬ 
 premacy in these eastern lands. The Greek and the 
 Saracen in the year 634, a. d. , opposed one another, 
 army against army, and history records the deadly 
 scene in the battle of the Hieromax. The Arabs 
 bore down in an overwhelming avalanche upon 
 the fated Greeks, and by sheer momentum of 
 dauntless courage pushed them over the precipice 
 to certain death in the valley below. This battle 
 sounded the death-knell of European supremacy 
 in Syria, and opened the door to the Moham¬ 
 medans. 
 
 To-day the country lies desolate? Only a vil¬ 
 lage here and there distinguishes it from the desert. 
 Yet this northern strip of ’Ajlun is better than 
 dreary Jaulan because of the many small trees, 
 which are the promise of forest lands beyond. 
 
 The travellers plodded along in the white lime¬ 
 stone dust, while the sun beat down upon them 
 with relentless energy. The day was exception¬ 
 ally hot and the dust was suffocating. 
 
 100 
 
A Memorable Ridge 
 
 “ The sun 
 
 Pours the unmoving column of his rays 
 In undiminish’d heat; . . . 
 
 The parch’d baked earth, undamp’d by usual dews, 
 
 Has gaped and crack’d, and heat, dry midday heat, 
 Comes like a drunkard’s breath upon the heart.” * 
 
 The Syrian sun! Who can describe it! One 
 might conclude that it is a different orb from the 
 genial old Sol, who smiles down upon the States. 
 There he tempers his mighty power, unless it be 
 that the dogs in August bark him to fury. He 
 warms the atmosphere (and sometimes uncom¬ 
 fortably), and countenances the fashion of shal¬ 
 low straw hats. 
 
 But no traveller in Syria would venture to pro¬ 
 voke his wrath by meeting him with less than a 
 helmet of pith or cork. He burns the nose to a 
 rubicund hue and tans the skin until the tourist 
 might merge his identity in that of some swarthy 
 Bedawy. 
 
 The unfortunates of this particular day’s travel 
 were no magicians to pacify the raging sun by 
 soothing incantations. They must move on, 
 jogging along over a fairly good road, but ex¬ 
 ceedingly dusty, with no water at hand to quench 
 their increasing thirst. They were glad to take 
 
 noontide shelter under a clump of scrub-oaks, 
 
 * Van Schaick. 
 
 101 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 which furnished scanty shade for such a day of 
 heat. Nor did dry biscuit and sweet-food tend 
 to allay the desire for water. They then ex¬ 
 perienced real thirst. The intense heat had 
 seemingly burned out of their systems the last 
 vestige of moisture. The driest package of 
 desiccated codfish would have been a mineral 
 spring in comparison ! 
 
 Would that the old aqueduct were still carrying 
 its precious burden of sparkling water ! Oh, that 
 some water-seller might appear, with the well- 
 known cry, Oh, ye heated ones, oh, ye thirsty ! ” 
 even though the goatskin tucked under his arm 
 be filled with lukewarm, salty water ! 
 
 No such good fortune was the lot of the trav¬ 
 ellers. They rested as best they could for an 
 hour or two with unslaked thirst, then mounted 
 once more and urged their animals on, now over 
 black stretches of white road, now amidst min¬ 
 iature forests of scrub-oaks, until at last they 
 stood upon the summit of a rising knoll and 
 their gaze fell upon the goal of the day’s journey, 
 Gadara, toward which they hastened with eager 
 steps. 
 
 102 
 
X 
 
 GADARA, THE CITY OF TOMBS 
 
 As the three tourists stopped for a moment at 
 the rise of the hill to rest the tired horses, from 
 their elevated view-point they could look down 
 upon the site of the once-famed city of Gadara. 
 Its modern representative is mean enough,—a 
 usurper of its situation only. At first glance 
 the sightseers were poorly rewarded for their 
 efforts. 
 
 But the imagination is not fettered by the tes¬ 
 timony of the senses. Suppose these travellers 
 to have exchanged personality with three way¬ 
 farers of nineteen centuries ago. Then let them 
 stand upon this eminence. What a magnificent 
 scene would have greeted their eyes! A truly 
 Roman city would have lain at their feet. For 
 Pompey in the hour of his ascendency ordered 
 the rebuilding of the place in regal splendor, to 
 satisfy the wish of his freedman, Demetrius, 
 who had been born there. 
 
 Gadara was once an important city. Did it 
 
 not belong to the circle of the Decapolis ? Was 
 
 103 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 it not the centre of the whole district known as 
 ** the country of the Gadarenes ” A royal city 
 it was indeed! A grand boulevard stretched 
 toward the west, lined on either side with pil¬ 
 lars of basalt brought from a distance. This 
 was the fashionable quarter of Gadara, where 
 noble Romans had their villas, and passed their 
 time in driving their chariots over the well-paved 
 street. To this day the ruts worn in the paving 
 blocks attest the frequent passage back and forth 
 of chariots and charioteers. They would drive 
 to the temple to strew incense upon the altar of 
 their favorite god, or to the theatre (of which 
 there were two), there to join with other noble 
 Romans in witnessing the plays, or seeing a 
 Christian martyr torn to pieces by wild beasts. 
 
 As they sat in the rising tiers of stone seats in 
 the great amphitheatre, what a wondrous pros¬ 
 pect greeted their eyes! Clearing the nearer villas 
 and columned avenue, their gaze could extend off 
 to the western side of Jordan, to the waving line 
 of mountains, to Tabor and Gilboa and Gerezim 
 and Ebal. Far below in its deep-sunken basin, 
 fully nineteen hundred feet beneath them, lay 
 Galilee, the beautiful lake, shimmering under the 
 rays of the afternoon sun. 
 
 * Mark v. I. 
 
 104 
 
Gadara, the City of Tombs 
 
 And doubtless all the surrounding land was 
 laid out in gardens and parks to please the eye 
 of the noblemen, and the breezes wafted to their 
 refined senses spiced odors of rare plants and 
 shrubs. In the foreground rose the citadel, the 
 crowning feature of the magnificent city. 
 
 Yet Gadara to the Christian Bible-student is 
 connected more with the dead than with the 
 living. Though the miracle of our Lord in heal¬ 
 ing the raving maniac, who came out from the 
 tombs to meet the party, ^ could not by any phys¬ 
 ical possibility have been performed in or near the 
 city of Gadara itself, yet because the evangel 
 locates it in the country of the Gadarenes, the 
 mind naturally turns to rocky tombs and deso¬ 
 late places—to “the city of the dead.” 
 
 The necropolis of Gadara is well-nigh as ex¬ 
 tensive as the city itself. Between three and 
 four hundred tombs fill the eastern quarter, mak¬ 
 ing a veritable honeycomb. These tombs are 
 huge caves under ground, with steps leading 
 down to well-wrought doorways. Many of the 
 tombs have double doors of hard basalt stone, 
 which were carved with pivots at the top and 
 bottom. These pivots work in sockets cut into 
 the surrounding frame. Everything is of stone, 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 28-34; Mark v. 1-20; Luke viii. 26-39. 
 
 105 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 —frames, pivots, doors. Most of them are still 
 in situ, and are to-day in working order. 
 
 Some of the caves contain carved and orna¬ 
 mented basalt sarcophagi. Many of them, how¬ 
 ever, have been removed and utilized as troughs 
 for feeding animals and holding grain. The 
 tombs themselves constitute excellent storerooms 
 for fodder and the like. 
 
 Thus have the present inhabitants made use of 
 those relics of a bygone age of splendor and 
 wealth. How great the contrast! To-day Gadara 
 is in the hands of a dirty, degenerate population, 
 —not natives of the soil, but exiles from old 
 Shechem across the Jordan. A more untoward 
 lot was not seen in all the trip. They were re¬ 
 quested to sell coal and bread. The former was 
 not to be found in all the miserable village of two 
 hundred souls. They use smoky chips and twigs 
 instead. 
 
 As for bread,—that oriental staple never re¬ 
 fused even to an enemy,—Gadara could, or rather 
 would, produce none. The sheikh of the village, 
 when asked to aid in the matter, replied that it 
 would be a disgrace to sell bread. Yet his 
 oriental instincts of the proprieties failed to 
 discern the far greater disgrace involved in 
 
 practically refusing to provide this essential 
 
 ica 
 
Gadara, the City of Tombs 
 
 article. Pride prevented a sale; stinginess, a 
 gift. 
 
 Hard-pressed, the muleteers finally arranged 
 with a man to bake some bread for them. When 
 it appeared in camp, even the muleteers, accus¬ 
 tomed to every known variety of food, exclaimed 
 in wonder and amazement! That bread might 
 have won a prominent place in the British Mu¬ 
 seum I Its components no one would have ven¬ 
 tured to name. It left a lasting impression upon 
 the memory of all, and doubtless a painful one 
 upon those who were obliged to partake. 
 
 The present name of the town is Um Keis,/. e., 
 ‘‘mother of Keis.’’ This appellation, coupled 
 with the extraordinary display of culinary ability 
 above mentioned, led the facetious member of 
 the party to christen it “Mother Keis’ Hotel." 
 
 The water supply of this degenerate town is a 
 fountain situated far down a steep and narrow 
 ravine, fully a half hour away. Near this foun¬ 
 tain the travellers found a level spot just large 
 enough for tents and animals to find lodgment. 
 There they passed the night, though not very com¬ 
 fortably; for the place had evidently been used 
 for tethering donkeys from time immemorial, and 
 was a mass of fine dust not conducive to cleanli¬ 
 
 ness. 
 
 107 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Still, they were thankful that they could be free 
 from the greater of the two evils,—the town up 
 on the hilltop, polluting the very view with its 
 squalor. Good it is that the noble Romans, 
 scented and bathed and clad in perfumed gar¬ 
 ments, could not realize the degradation of their 
 beautiful city! 
 
 The fountain furnished a study in the tenacity 
 of custom. It was at the rear of a large cavern 
 in the face of the cliff. A goodly stream issued 
 from the rocky wall in a little waterfall. The 
 floor of the cavern was sunk below the level of 
 the ground outside, so that those who wished to 
 fill their water-skins must wade in water two 
 feet deep. Here was a cause of wonderment to 
 a progressive westerner. That fountain, fully fif¬ 
 teen feet within the cave, had been there for years, 
 and the women, girls, and donkeys of that town 
 had labored down the long, long hill with their 
 empty water-skins (Biblical as could be desired), 
 and had waded through the pool of water to 
 reach the flowing fountain! 
 
 And why should they do otherwise? Their 
 
 mothers and grandmothers had been content thus 
 
 to draw water. Has the thought never occurred 
 
 to any one during all this time that they might 
 
 fill up the undesirable pool with the loose stones 
 
 108 
 
Gadara, the City of Tombs 
 
 which abound everywhere, and thus make a 
 rough causeway to the interior of the cave? No; 
 such a burst of genius would be mentally dele¬ 
 terious, and would be out of harmony with the 
 general effect of the picture. Who would wish 
 to change one line or bit of color in it ? Foun¬ 
 tain, village and villagers, with dirt, donkeys, and 
 universal indigence, rise in memory and invari¬ 
 ably (even though contrary to fact) bring to mind 
 another series of pictures,—a herd of two thou¬ 
 sand swine; a demoniac “clothed, and in his 
 right mind”; a great number of angry villagers; 
 a gentle, yearning, loving Presence departing 
 from their midst, driven away, never to return 
 with the priceless Word of Life, far greater in 
 value than many a herd of filthy swine. 
 
 Gadara must suffer for the sin of her one-time 
 dependency, Gersa, where the miracle and the 
 rejection of our Lord most probably occurred. 
 But to-day Gadara, the city of tombs, represents, 
 in the mind of the visitor, a sordid greed and a 
 rejected Saviour. 
 
 “Then the whole multitude of the country of 
 the Gardarenes round about besought him to de¬ 
 part from them.” ^ 
 
 Turn, now, to a brighter and a cleaner picture. 
 
 * Luke viii. 37. 
 
 109 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The old Romans, whose villas graced the boule¬ 
 vard of Gadara, delighted in abundance of water. 
 Not only had they the aqueduct, bringing a refresh¬ 
 ing stream from far-off fountains, but they could 
 spend their leisure hours at the famous hot 
 springs of the Hieromax, down in the deep valley 
 to the north. It was a long descent to the river- 
 level, but they had abundance of time for such 
 excursions. There the precipitous banks of the 
 river broke down on the one side into sloping 
 terraces, and on the other widened out into a 
 luxuriant, triangular plain. Palms and other sub¬ 
 tropical vegetation were found in rich profusion. 
 The view glistened in its broad, winding course. 
 Stately buildings,—theatres, baths and villas,— 
 united to make this place second only to the re¬ 
 nowned Italian Baise as a resort for the rich and 
 titled Roman youth. 
 
 Time and neglect have levelled the princely 
 
 edifices, and only traces remain in prostrate 
 
 columns and fallen walls. Yet time has been 
 
 kind to the natural beauties of the place. It is an 
 
 attractive spot, despite neglect and ruin. The 
 
 pools of steaming water, even as of yore, show 
 
 a temperature of 119°,—far too hot for comfort. 
 
 The old arrangement of double tanks still exists, 
 
 whereby the hot water is drawn off from one to 
 
 110 
 
Gadara, the City of Tombs 
 
 another and there allowed to cool. Even then it 
 was too hot for nineteenth century missionaries. 
 It was highly suggestive of Roman tortures. 
 But a Bedawy at hand, tough of skin, leaped 
 into the pool and remained there for a long time! 
 The tourists were quite content to retire in his 
 favor, and seek a cooler retreat in the shade of a 
 compact little theatre close by the spring. 
 
 The ride down the valley from the hot springs 
 was a beautiful one, with the rushing stream in 
 full view, and Um Keis receding in the back¬ 
 ground. The travellers followed the narrow 
 path, at first along the river-bottom, then up 
 high on the sloping mountain-side, until at last 
 they emerged upon the wide plain at the south¬ 
 ern end of Galilee. There they could forget all 
 discomforts of previous days in the delightful 
 prospect before them. For they were returning 
 to civilization, to enjoy a quiet day or two with 
 friends and renew acquaintance with books and 
 papers. 
 
 They reached the lake about noontime, rested a 
 while and bathed in its refreshing waters, wash¬ 
 ing away the last vestige of Gadara's unpleasant 
 contagion. After lunch the party rode on along 
 the southern shore of the lake, glad in the 
 thought of rest. 
 
 Ill 
 
XI 
 
 A SABBATH BESIDE GALILEE 
 
 The camp at Tiberias was well chosen for 
 situation. High up on the brown bluffs overlook¬ 
 ing city and lake the white tents gleamed under 
 the afternoon sun. Their occupants made them 
 specially tidy, and the table was spread in the 
 doorway, that the beautiful view might not be 
 lost. For this was not to be an ordinary stop 
 over night, but Saturday and Sunday were to be 
 spent here and friends might be expected to call. 
 There were letters to read and letters to write, 
 and, best of all, there was the ever-present pic¬ 
 ture of the peaceful lake, the most beautiful, the 
 most restful spot in the world. 
 
 " How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 
 
 O sea of Galilee! 
 
 For the glorious One who came to save 
 Hath often stood by thee. 
 
 ****** 
 
 “ Graceful around thee the mountains meet, 
 
 Thou calm reposing sea; 
 
 But, ah, far more! the beautiful feet 
 
 Of Jesus walked o’er thee.”— M^Cheyne, v 
 112 
 

 TIBERIAS AND THE SEA OF GALILEE 
 
A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 Who would not wish to sit down with the 
 travellers at their evening meal ? Many a devout 
 worshipper of our Lord has longed to see with 
 the natural eye what is his to see only with the 
 eye of faith. Many a saint, rich in grace and 
 works, has yearned to look upon the scene of 
 Christ’s earthly labors. Every year come hun¬ 
 dreds of tourists, at no trifling outlay of time, 
 expense and personal inconvenience, that they 
 may stand beside the hallowed lake. 
 
 Silently, reverently the true believer waits at 
 the shores of blue Galilee, and as he meditates 
 upon the spotless Life spent beside the still 
 waters, his thoughts are all enhanced by the 
 harmonious views of nature round about. 
 Where could be found a more beautiful, truly 
 appropriate setting to the mental picture of 
 the innocent Lamb of God than in the ex¬ 
 quisite physical surroundings on that quiet even¬ 
 ing! The fading light of day in the western 
 sky scarce dimmed the rays of the rising moon, 
 as it ascended higher and yet higher in the 
 east, sending its calm, cold rays over the 
 obstructing mountains down to the quiet lake 
 below. As the brightness reached the placid 
 waters, there stretched from shore to shore a 
 
 silvery path of shimmering light, as though the 
 
 113 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 angels were preparing the way for the Saviour 
 once more to approach, walking on the water, 
 as of yore. 
 
 Peace, perfect peace overspread the scene. 
 Hardly a ripple stirred the face of the lake. No 
 sound was heard from the quiet city. Far across 
 to the northeast the crater cones stood out in the 
 abundant moonlight, and the travellers could 
 discern how their path had led them amongst 
 those hermit mounts. There rose noble Hermon 
 to the north, standing out in lofty solitude, in¬ 
 deed the sheikh of the mountains. The south¬ 
 ern horizon was closed by the mountains of 
 Gilead, dimly revealed in the distant prospect. 
 
 As one stood upon the overhanging bluff, his 
 thoughts might wander back to distant centuries, 
 and his memories harmonize with the dim, ro¬ 
 mantic sheen cast over all the scene far and near 
 by the full-orbed moon and the myriad stars of 
 heaven. He might look down, and, almost at 
 his feet, in imagination view the marble palace 
 of a Herod, in the newly-built city dedicated to 
 Tiberias Caesar, with streets laid out in ancient 
 splendor, its baths and seaside villas the resort of 
 the rich and titled aristocracy of the Roman city. 
 Near the southern end of the lake might be seen 
 
 another town. Hippos, whose name reveals its 
 
 114 
 
VILLAGE AT MIGDEL 
 
I 
 
 v*: 
 
 
 
 
 
 - ■ 
 
 
A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 Greek origin,—one of the Decapolis. Far up 
 on the eastern ridge gleam the columns of 
 Gadara’s boulevard. Gamala and Taricheas in¬ 
 cluded in imagination’s picture. 
 
 Yet these Greek and Roman cities find small 
 place in the devout memory, which seeks other 
 places touched by the divine life of the Son of 
 Man. It is not recorded that our Lord ever en¬ 
 tered Tiberias, or climbed the steeps to Gadara. 
 No doubt He visited those centres of population. 
 But nothing is said of such visits. The eye 
 dwells but momentarily on the wonders of Ro¬ 
 man greatness, and rests upon the scenes to the 
 north. It seeks out the little village of Magdala, 
 —not far away, just over the cliff, at the borders 
 of the plain of Gennesaret. Thence came Mary 
 the Magdalene, upon whom the Divine Physician 
 wrought a marvellous cure,^ and she in grateful 
 recognition of His mercy became an humble fol¬ 
 lower and helper in His needs. 
 
 That wide-spreading, fertile plain of Gennes¬ 
 aret! How it must have teemed with multitudes 
 in towns and villages! While now it is all but 
 deserted, then our Lord found much to do on its 
 plain and at its shores. There it was that He 
 used the beautiful, though commonplace, illus- 
 
 J Matt. XV. 39; Luke viii. 2 . 
 
 115 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 tration of the sower and the seed ^ to enforce in 
 the minds of His hearers an important truth. 
 They crowded about the shores in great numbers, 
 while He stood in the boat just off the shore. 
 The lowly fishing-smack, made serviceable as a 
 floating pulpit, was gently rocked by the rippling 
 waves of the quiet sea, and the Great Teacher 
 revealed to them the way of life, looking lovingly 
 upon the dense mass of human beings, for whom 
 His own soul yearned as a parent fora lost child. 
 Behind and beyond the crowds He could see 
 the gently-rising plain, bearing on its bosom long 
 stretches of ground prepared for the sowing. 
 There He could discern the narrow path, passing 
 through the cultivated fields, pressed hard by the 
 tread of oxen, horses and men; in one place 
 there was the good soil, warm and deep; in an¬ 
 other a mere covering of earth over the limestone 
 rock; with clumps of thorny bushes springing 
 up on the borders. Perhaps, as our Lord looked 
 upon this scene, some farmer, too busy with the 
 cares of this world to be attracted by the words 
 of salvation which fell from the lips of Jesus, 
 was even then engaged in sowing the seed,—un¬ 
 consciously furnishing a sacred lesson to be 
 handed down the ages. 
 
 * Matt. xiii. 1-23. 
 
 116 
 
A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 How typical of our Lord’s work! He sowed 
 on all soils. He spared not the seed. Wonder¬ 
 ful power and force of propagation there was in 
 that seed! Nations have been born, have flour¬ 
 ished and passed away since that time. But the 
 seed of the Word, sown beside the quiet little 
 lake, has been propagated, until to-day its in¬ 
 crease is found in every nation of the globe! 
 Verily, God “hath chosen the weak things of 
 the world to confound the things which are 
 mighty.” 
 
 How busy was the divine Master! From the 
 day that He called Peter and Andrew, James and 
 John away from their boats and nets to follow 
 Him and become “fishers of men,” He led a life 
 of unceasing activity. Mark recordsUhat “in the 
 morning, rising up a great while before day, He 
 went out, and departed into a solitary place, and 
 there prayed. And Simon and they that were 
 with Him followed after Him. And when they 
 had found Him, they said unto Him, All men 
 seek for Thee. And He said unto them, Let us 
 go elsewhere into the next towns, that 1 may 
 preach there also: for therefore came I forth.” 
 
 Capernaum on the north shore of the lake was 
 specially favored as being the Galilee home of 
 
 ‘ Mark i, 35-38. 
 
 117 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 our Lord. As in Judsea He made the Bethany 
 house of Lazarus His home while there, so in His 
 labors about Galilee He always returned to the 
 house of Peter in Capernaum.^ Many are the 
 miracles recorded, plain and important were the 
 teachings of our Lord in that place! None too 
 lowly, none too exalted for His merciful touch. 
 He healed a raving demoniac,** and raised Peter’s 
 wife’s mother from her bed of sickness.® On 
 His way to heal the daughter of Jairus,^the ruler 
 of the Jews, He stopped to speak to a poor 
 woman in the throng, who had received the cure 
 she desired by merely touching the hem of His 
 garment^ While in Cana of Galilee, a noble¬ 
 man came to Him in great haste, beseeching Him 
 to go down to Capernaum and save his son from 
 death. By a word the youth was restored, even 
 though the Great Physician was far away.® Ro¬ 
 mans, too, received favors from His gracious 
 hand. A centurion besought Him for the life of 
 a favorite servant, and for his great faith this 
 was granted him.^ It was in Capernaum that 
 He spoke the wonderful words concerning the 
 bread of life.® There, too, He placed a little 
 
 * Mark i. 29. * Matt. ix. 32, 33. ^ Luke iv. 38, 39. 
 
 ^Luke viii. 41, etc. ®Matt. ix. 20. fijohn iv. 46-53. 
 
 ’Matt. viii. 5-13. ®John vi. 26, etc. 
 
 118 
 
A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 child in the midst of His ambitious disciples, 
 saying, “Except ye be converted, and become 
 as little children, ye shall not enter into the king¬ 
 dom of heaven.” ^ 
 
 Favored city, to have seen and heard the great 
 Master! How must her citizens have listened 
 with reverence and awe to those divine words of 
 wisdom, and obeyed the injunctions to repent 
 and believe! Alas! what do we hear the Sav¬ 
 iour say? “And thou, Capernaum, which art 
 exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to 
 hell: for if the mighty works, which have been 
 done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would 
 have remained until this day.”* 
 
 That prophecy is literally fulfilled! Not one 
 stone stands upon another, and even the site of 
 the once-prosperous city is disputed by those 
 who should know. 
 
 « Tell me, ye mouldering fragments, tell, 
 
 Was the Saviour’s city here ? 
 
 Lifted to heaven, has it sunk to hell, 
 
 With none to shed a tear?”— M^Cheyne. 
 
 Chorazin, likewise, and Bethsaida, where the 
 Lord worked other miracles, have suffered the 
 same fate, doomed to oblivion, as our Saviour 
 said.* To-day those sacred shores are calm,— 
 
 * Matt, xviii. 3. ^ Matt. xi. 23. > Luke x« 13. 
 
 119 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 but only with the quiet of the wilderness,—for¬ 
 gotten places. 
 
 Then the whole lake in its length of a dozen 
 miles or more felt the touch of a Divine hand, and 
 seemed to reflect the peace, the repose of a super¬ 
 natural will. Galilee is the scene of Christ's 
 peaceful works, while in His Jerusalem ministry 
 all was turbulence and strife. It might even be 
 admissible to say that Galilee, the beautiful, the 
 peaceful, could not have been chosen for the 
 scene of His crucifixion. 
 
 Even in its angry moods, when lashed to mad¬ 
 ness by the raging winds, it remained obedient 
 to the Divine word of command, Peace, be 
 still.” ^ And after His resurrection, as if with the 
 desire once more to see His disciples in that 
 quiet region and beside the peaceful lake, the 
 risen Redeemer appeared to them there, as they 
 fished, and called to them. Then he led them 
 away to a near mountain and gave them His last 
 command to “ go into all the world.” ^ 
 
 The lustre of that glorious Presence still per¬ 
 vades these shores. Some one has written of 
 sermons in stones.” Here are sermons in 
 scenes, —scenes, which cannot be polluted by 
 human superstition and clerical myths. For 
 1 Mark iv. 39. » Mark xvi. 15 
 
 120 
 
A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 they have to do with nature, not man. No need 
 to offer threadbare stories to prove the reality of 
 these places. Galilee is now what it was in our 
 Lord’s time in all but the part which man played. 
 That has passed away, leaving the better part,— 
 better, because natural. The placid waters of 
 the lake cannot be changed by man, nor do the 
 eastern precipitous bluffs lose one whit of their 
 grandeur as the years pass by. Peter and John 
 and all the disciples of our Lord have departed. 
 Roman turrets and glistening ramparts have 
 crumbled away. The Crusaders have come and 
 gone, their memory kept in the massive, though 
 fast-decaying walls and towers about the city of 
 Tiberias. All these have seen their day. 
 
 But the Divine Healer in His life and teachings 
 has given an impulse to charitable works, un¬ 
 dreamed of before His time. Where in all the 
 Roman world could have been found a hospital, 
 an asylum, a resort of any kind for the healing of 
 body or mind.^ Christ, as embodied in Chris¬ 
 tianity, has filled the world with noble institutions, 
 for the relief of pain and restoration of bodily and 
 mental powers. 
 
 To-day there stands beside the sacred lake a 
 
 spacious hospital, built by Scottish Christians, 
 
 who have desired to follow the example of the 
 
 121 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Great Physician. A rare privilege was accorded 
 the “otherwise man” on Sunday morning, when 
 he was permitted to address the patients gathered 
 in the little chapel. Most of them were Jews. 
 Tiberias is a great centre for these people, gath¬ 
 ered from many parts of the world. Some of the 
 listeners were brought in by attendants and laid 
 gently near the speaker’s stand. Many circum¬ 
 stances recalled the Divine Preacher to the sick 
 and suffering,—the nearness to the lake, the 
 presence of halt, maimed, and blind, the Jewish 
 faces and oriental dress. Even the language 
 was akin to the Aramaic, which the Lord may 
 have used in His talk, when “the common 
 people heard Him gladly.” Nor were these 
 listeners inattentive, as the word was read, 
 hymns sung and thoughts presented. True, the 
 Jews of the present time are indeed “ children of 
 Abraham,” as were their forefathers, and they 
 strenuously reject the Saviour. But our Lord 
 was not discouraged in His labors, and shall His 
 followers relinquish hope ? 
 
 As the beautiful Sabbath day drew to a close, 
 
 and the last many-colored hues on the eastern 
 
 mountains had faded away with the setting sun, 
 
 then sweet music, full of cheer and comfort, 
 
 sounded on the evening air. In the parlor of the 
 
 122 
 
4 
 
 A Sabbath Beside Galilee 
 
 missionary home, beside the quiet lake, the 
 tourists passe.d a delightful hour in song. 
 Familiar hymns and inspiring solos from the 
 grand oratorios seemed to bring nearer the 
 blessed One, whose steps had hallowed these 
 pleasant shores. And what could be more 
 beautiful than the tender refrain, sung often in 
 the home-land, but never so appropriately as 
 beside those tranquil waters shimmering in the 
 moonlight: 
 
 O Galilee ! sweet Galilee T 
 
 Where Jesus loved so much to be: 
 
 O Galilee! blue Galilee! 
 
 Come sing thy song again to me 1 ’* 
 
 
 123 
 
XII 
 
 A PROPHECY AND A FULFILLMENT 
 
 Retrospect is a clever artist. It softens the 
 darker lines of past experiences, brings into prom¬ 
 inence the more interesting features, and tones 
 the whole picture with the subtle sub-coloring 
 of a genial hopefulness. 
 
 As the travellers arose on Monday morning, 
 after the grateful rest of the quiet, peaceful Sab¬ 
 bath, memories of intense heat and waterless 
 plateaux, of deficiencies in coal and bread, and of 
 possible detection and detention, had given place 
 to more agreeable anticipations. For the week 
 was to be spent in a delightful portion of the 
 country, filled with woods and fountains, and 
 Jerash was the goal before them. This goal they 
 might reach by either of two routes. One would 
 lead them through the mountainous land of Tob,' 
 south of Gadara, and thus by pleasant stages to 
 the desired point. 
 
 The other route lay partly along the depressed 
 valley of the Jordan, partly through the heavy 
 
 j Judges xi. 3, 5. 
 
 124 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 woodlands of 'Ajlun. Although this way prom¬ 
 ised to be hot and tiresome during the first day’s 
 ride over the long stretches of the sunken plain, 
 it was chosen, nevertheless, because of the wealth 
 of historical associations connected with the re¬ 
 gion, and more especially, because the site of 
 Pella was the objective point of Monday’s travel. 
 For this little city was once the divinely-provided 
 retreat of the early Christians during the years 
 which followed the establishment of the infant 
 church of Christ. Pella is connected with a 
 prophecy and a fulfillment. The prophecy fell 
 from the lips of the Lord Himself; the fulfillment 
 was accomplished all unconsciously by the Ro¬ 
 man legions. 
 
 Ere the tourists leave the camp at Tiberias, it 
 may be well to refresh the memory regarding the 
 events of those early years and review the record 
 of Rome’s destructive work in Palestine. 
 
 At about the time when the noble apostle Paul 
 lay languishing in a Roman prison, awaiting 
 death, as no uncertain tradition indicates, at the 
 hands of the monster Nero; that infamous ruler 
 conceived the necessity of subduing Palestine 
 and the proud Jewish nation. He found them 
 very different from other tribes and nations that 
 
 had come under the sway of the Roman eagles. 
 
 125 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 They were an independent, haughty race, and 
 their very religion, free from idolatry, was a 
 matter of remark to the idol-loving Romans. 
 Other nations and principalities had easily taken 
 a place in the accommodating Roman common¬ 
 wealth, and their gods had been added to the 
 number of the national deities. But this avow- 
 
 t 
 
 edly monotheistic nation was perseveringly stub¬ 
 born. And they were so situated geographically, 
 as to render it imperative that the land be thor¬ 
 oughly subdued. 
 
 This difficult task was assigned to Vespasian, 
 a skilled veteran of many a rough campaign, 
 who undertook the work with most thorough 
 preparation. He gathered a redoubtable army of 
 sixty thousand men at Ptolemais (Acre), the door 
 of all Galilee. Thence he advanced toward the 
 east. All the open country and unfortified towns 
 fell quickly into his hands. The first severe and 
 protracted siege was before Jotapata, where 
 Josephus, the historian of the war, commanded 
 the Jewish forces. The beleaguered inhabitants 
 resisted till the last vestige of hope had vanished, 
 when they were all put to the sword (save Jose¬ 
 phus himself, who escaped by a doubtful ruse), 
 and as many as forty thousand Jews perished. 
 
 This was but one instance of the terrible scenes 
 
 126 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 that accompanied the army’s progress through 
 the land. Peaceful Galilee was transformed into 
 a charnel house, and the lovely lake assumed a 
 bloody hue from the deadly sea-fights thereon. 
 
 Tiberias voluntarily opened its gates to Titus, 
 son of Vespasian, but Tarichese, along the south¬ 
 ern shore, sustained a heavy siege. It was of no 
 avail. The Roman armies were victorious. Over 
 six thousand of the inhabitants perished on the 
 spot, and the strangers were marched away from 
 the doomed city along the lake shore to Tiberias, 
 to be slaughtered, if old and unserviceable, or, if 
 strong and robust, to be sent to Greece to dig 
 the great canal. Six thousand youths were thus 
 transported as a tribute to Nero. The rest of the 
 inhabitants, over thirty thousand, were given to 
 Herod Agrippa, or sold in the slave market. 
 
 Gamala, an almost inaccessible fortress and 
 town at the east of the lake, fell into the hands 
 of the Romans, though not without severe loss to 
 them. The city was built on a projecting spur 
 of the eastern bluffs, and the houses, built in ter¬ 
 races, overhung one another in a precipitous 
 manner. Josephus relates that the Roman le¬ 
 gions, having gained access to the city, crowded 
 into the upper rows of houses in great numbers. 
 
 This immense and unusual weight loosened the 
 
 127 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 houses from their precarious foundations and 
 bore them down upon the houses below. These 
 in turn crashed down to lower levels. Thus 
 perished many Romans,—ground to powder in 
 the falling ruins, or suffocated by the dust that 
 arose from the debris. Vespasian himself led a 
 second attack, which was successful. In this 
 siege nearly ten thousand Jews perished. 
 
 Gadara next succumbed to a bloody siege, and 
 thousands met death by the sword, or were 
 drowned in the Jordan, whither they had been 
 pursued. 
 
 Thus in one short year was all Galilee subdued. 
 Cities and villages, fortresses and plains, fell into 
 the power of the Romans, until all of northern 
 Palestine was laid waste, and its inhabitants put 
 to the sword. Strange contrast! The shores of 
 gentle Galilee transformed into afield of blood! 
 
 The southern portions of the country were next 
 assailed in similar manner, in tragic preparation 
 for the final scene,—the memorable siege of Jeru¬ 
 salem. The destruction of this city in the year 
 70 A. D. was a remarkable example of the literal 
 fulfillment of prophecy. Our Lord, as he stood 
 before the massive temple in the streets of the 
 Holy City, had plainly told His disciples of com¬ 
 ing events. '‘And when ye shall see Jerusalem 
 
 128 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 compassed with armies, then know that the 
 desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them 
 which are in Judcea flee to the mountains; and 
 let them which are in the midst of it depart out; 
 and let not them that are in the countries enter 
 thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, 
 that all things which are written maybe fulfilled. 
 But woe unto them that are with child, and to 
 them that give suck, in those days! for there 
 shall be great distress in the land, and wrath 
 upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge 
 of the sword, and shall be led away captive into 
 all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down 
 of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be 
 fulfilled.”^ 
 
 To Titus, the able son of Vespasian, was com¬ 
 mitted the conduct of the siege of Jerusalem. 
 
 He began operations in April, at the time of 
 the great feast of the Passover, when Jews from 
 all the world were assembled within the city 
 walls, and the vast numbers added greatly to the 
 terrible vividness of the foretold tragedy. The 
 Roman general used the utmost precautions in 
 fortifying his position by banks and trenches. 
 He was greatly aided by the riotous dissensions 
 inside the sacred city itself. The ranks of the 
 
 1 Luke xxi. 20-24. 
 
 123 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Jews were divided into three parties, who filled 
 Jerusalem with internecine carnage and blinding 
 confusion. The people, though brave, were un¬ 
 skilled, and no match for the veteran soldiers of 
 the enemy. Famine, too, added its gloomy hor¬ 
 rors. Who can describe the agonies of a million 
 people, shut in to starvation and maddening pes¬ 
 tilence! The stronger preyed upon the weaker. 
 Even maternal instincts failed and the children 
 starved to death before their mothers. Those 
 who ventured outside the walls in search of grain 
 or other food, were seized by Roman soldiers, to 
 the number of five hundred a day, and crucified 
 before the eyes of the Jewish populace upon the 
 walls. So many were they that '‘room was 
 wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for 
 the bodies.” Ah, did not the Jews then call to 
 mind their atrocious crime in crucifying One 
 who did them naught but good ? 
 
 When Titus had built a massive wall about 
 Jerusalem, precluding all possibility of escape, 
 then famine stalked through the city with great 
 strides and destroyed whole families, until there 
 were none left to bury the dead. A great con¬ 
 flagration also burst forth and swept away the 
 magnificent temple, and with it the hopes of the 
 Jews. A general entrance was soon forced into 
 
 130 ^ 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 the doomed city. Carnage was rife. The sur¬ 
 vivors of famine and pestilence were killed or 
 transported, and thus was destroyed the sacred 
 city in awful fulfillment of our Lord’s predic¬ 
 tion, “Behold, your house is left unto you 
 desolate! ” ^ 
 
 Josephus states that over a million souls perished 
 during the siege, and that in all the course of the 
 war nearly one hundred thousand prisoners were 
 captured and transported 1 Thus thoroughly did 
 the Roman accomplish the task ordained of God 
 to be done. Like a mighty judgment upon the 
 nation, that had rejected the promised Messiah, 
 that wave of fire and sword and consequent pesti¬ 
 lence swept through the land. 
 
 And where were the disciples of Christ ? Did 
 they perish with their countrymen ? No ; the 
 omnipotent God, who uses kings and armies at 
 His will, is able also to preserve His elect. Christ 
 had not prophesied entirely to deaf ears. His 
 followers caught the meaning of His warnings, 
 ere it was too late. When all signs pointed to a 
 Roman invasion, the little band of Jerusalem con¬ 
 verts remembered His words, “ Then let them 
 which are in Judaea flee to the mountains.” In 
 the year 66 a. d., the Christians in and about 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 3S. 
 
 131 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Jerusalem left their homes and made their way to 
 those '‘mountains,” which were to protect them 
 in the coming besom of destruction. How often 
 had they gazed off toward the northeast to the 
 line of the solid hills that rose up beyond the 
 dividing Jordan! 
 
 No doubt they received plain guidance in their 
 flight. They came to the little city of Pella, in 
 the eastern hills, off from the travelled main road, 
 which led from Galilee, through Peraea, to Judaea 
 and the south, and made it their home for many 
 years. Why this place escaped, while all around 
 it met destruction, may possibly have been due to 
 the character of its inhabitants. Perhaps it was 
 so predominantly Greek and Roman, that the 
 armies could have found but little employment. 
 The great reason, however, was the divine pur¬ 
 pose of God. 
 
 Those were dark days for the church of Christ. 
 Well-nigh universal destruction and carnage all 
 about them ; thundering legions passing near in 
 the valley below ; the evening skies reddened by 
 the glow of burning cities ; their beloved country 
 laid waste before them. And they, a little band 
 of believers, were refugees in the east-Jordan 
 country. There these disciples, who gloried in 
 the cross of Christ, were destined to be preserved, 
 
 132 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 at a time when the proud rejecters of Christianity 
 were perishing in their sins. 
 
 Such were the stirring events which led up to 
 the occupation of Pella as a retreat for the faithful 
 disciples. Is it surprising that the three travellers 
 of the present record willingly included the his¬ 
 toric city in the list of desirable points ? The only 
 cause for hesitancy was that the ruins of Pella 
 are so snugly hidden away amongst the eastern 
 hills, that they might easily escape detection. 
 
 At eight o’clock the exploring party were un¬ 
 der way, and travelled during the first two hours 
 back along the shore of the lake, whence they 
 had come three days before. Near the exit of 
 the Jordan they passed the probable site of 
 Tarichese, which suffered terribly at the hands of 
 Vespasian. Then it was a populous city with 
 turreted castles and moat and frowning walls. 
 Now only the cattle graze idly on the gentle slopes, 
 and the broad river sweeps along, as if to carry 
 away on its tranquil tide all memories of fierce 
 encounter. The noble stream was forded at the 
 point where it emerges from the lake, there broad 
 and shallow,—hardly two feet deep,—as if averse 
 to entering between the narrow banks, which 
 are to confine it along many a mile in its down¬ 
 ward course. 
 
 133 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The eastern plain stretched out in level fields, and 
 the tourists, urged onward by hope of reaching 
 their goal, as well as by the intense heat of a shel¬ 
 terless plain, rode straight across the fields. They 
 sighted a number of beautiful gazelles, standing 
 in a half-frightened, half-inquisitive manner, 
 which, when pursued, bounded swiftly and 
 gracefully over the soil to reach the shelter of the 
 protecting foot-hills. Harmless creatures ! Lit¬ 
 tle did they realize that they were passing over 
 ground once reddened by the blood of thousands, 
 and shaken by the tread of armies. They escaped 
 unharmed, and their pursuers, retracing their 
 steps, hastened onward to the ford of the Yarmuk. 
 This river at its junction with the deep, swift¬ 
 flowing Jordan is nearly as wide and deep as the 
 better-known stream. The passage was not ac¬ 
 complished without some danger of a thorough 
 wetting. But all passed over safely and laughed 
 heartily at the episode. Then southward as the 
 crow flies, over fields unploughed, to a large, 
 shady tree, where a rest was taken for lunch. 
 After this they reached a refreshing little stream, 
 bordered with those peculiar, thorny shrubs, 
 which look inviting enough for shade, but have 
 a most exasperating way of insisting on retaining 
 
 the unwary one who accepts their invitation. 
 
 134 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 There a typical John the Baptist appeared. 
 His shaggy locks and swarthy face, bare limbs 
 and short garment bound about with a leathern 
 girdle, and his sudden appearance from out the 
 water of the little brook, reminded one of that 
 striking figure who appeared in the wilderness 
 of Judaea. 
 
 At this stream the travellers imbibed great 
 quantities of water,—enough, it might be 
 thought, to suffice them till morning. But no; 
 as day drew to a close and no signs of their 
 destination were visible, their thoughts were de¬ 
 tracted from the historically interesting Pella to 
 the presently important question of water. They 
 asked goat herds along the way as to the where¬ 
 abouts of the village that marks the site of Pella. 
 The invariable answer was returned, “Only a 
 little way ahead.” They tried one rise that ap¬ 
 peared to have a well-marked path; this led them 
 nowhere, and, baffled in the search, they retreated. 
 Like some hidden city Pella was not to be found. 
 
 When a running stream was reached toward 
 
 sunset, the loads were “put down” beside the 
 
 road and the tents were spread. Two of the trio 
 
 went up a steep road leading into the foot-hills 
 
 and followed it for a quarter of an hour or more. 
 
 No village appeared, however, to justify the im- 
 
 135 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 pression that they were near the desired spot. 
 The night was spent in camp beside the road. 
 The water was poor, the thermometer high, the 
 mosquitoes industrious, and sleep intermittent. 
 
 In the morning the contest was renewed and 
 fortune smiled. From early wayfarers it was 
 learned that the conjectures of the night before 
 had been right. Tubakat Fahl (Pella) was only 
 a half-hour away. Five minutes more of riding 
 would have taken the two scouts into view of 
 the village. While one of the party went with 
 a muleteer to reconnoitre and to buy feed for the 
 animals, the others had an opportunity to witness 
 a proceeding which appeared to them at the time 
 as somewhat novel, and proved in the sequel to 
 be worthy of note. As they glanced up a steep 
 ravine, they saw a number of cattle hurried along 
 over the rough, pathless gorge, urged onward by 
 two or three men. On the opposite side of the 
 ravine, high up on the mountain-side, a number 
 of armed Bedawin moved along, apparently not 
 associated with the cattle-herders. They all 
 moved on rapidly out of sight, and almost out of 
 mind. 
 
 Later on the two foragers returned, bringing 
 
 with them barley for the horses, good news for 
 
 the sightseers, and —the sheikh of the village^ 
 
 136 
 
A Prophecy and a Fulfillment 
 
 who, when he heard that the travellers were 
 near, went down to greet them in true oriental 
 fashion. He led them back to his native place 
 with manifest pride, and essayed to play the 
 dragoman amongst the ruins. 
 
 Tubakat Fahl is situated on a high hill, looking 
 much like a truncated cone. This may have 
 been the citadel of the ancient city. Below, in a 
 beautiful, green valley, is a copious spring, or 
 rather, a series of them, bubbling up into a rip¬ 
 pling stream, that waters the broad valley. So 
 abundant is the rank vegetation, that the pros¬ 
 trate columns strewn about are quite invisible to 
 the casual observer. Here was Pella,—not more 
 than a remembrance of it left to-day; only a few 
 broken columns and an inscription or two, built 
 into the walls of the houses on the hill, or lying 
 unused beside the road. 
 
 It was near here, on the rising plateau beyond 
 the town, that, many centuries after the first 
 little group of Christians found protecting shelter, 
 a great battle was fought between Arabs and 
 Christians, and eighty thousand of the latter 
 were left dead upon the field. 
 
 The tourist of the present, as he wanders over 
 
 the fields and drinks from the fountains, excuses 
 
 the meagreness of the existing ruins, because of 
 
 137 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 the abundance of historical memories that crowd 
 in upon the mind. He recalls Pella as an oasis in 
 the great desert of ruined and deserted villages, 
 kept green by the fountains of God's providential 
 care, the retreat of the Christians in that first 
 century of conflict and commotion. 
 
 
 138 
 
XIII 
 
 THE OAKS OF BASHAN 
 
 It would be a rare privilege to enjoy the atten¬ 
 tions of a mayor as escort in visiting an American 
 city. These officials as a rule deem themselves 
 unqualified for such service. 
 
 Not so, however, the mayor of Pella! That 
 dignitary was quite willing to suspend the duties 
 of his office, in order to escort his three guests 
 and their attendants on their way toward the 
 south country. Quite true, there was the pros¬ 
 pect of a half-UoIIar, or thereabouts, and above 
 all, the pleasure of hearing something outside 
 the regular round of conversational topics, worn 
 into ruts by the cumbrous passage of slow-going 
 thoughts in a village like Tubakat Fahl. The 
 sheikh was in a talkative mood, so that the trav¬ 
 ellers gained fully as much information as he. 
 
 The way led up from the fountains of Pella 
 through a deep and precipitous valley, in whose 
 walls appeared many caves, once used as dwell¬ 
 ings for the living or the dead. The white lime¬ 
 stone of this valley glistened under the burning 
 
 139 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 rays of the sun. The only breezes that came 
 were hot and dry, and not at all refreshing to 
 parched lips. The memory of Pella’s cool waters 
 added vividness to the uncomfortable reality. 
 At the upper end of the valley a huge rock stood 
 out alone, like a guarding sentinel. 
 
 Yet not so watchful but that robbery could be 
 committed near by. As the tourists, sweltering 
 in the morning heat, labored past the giant 
 guard, down from an adjoining ravine rushed a 
 number of excited villagers. One was riding, 
 and the others hastened with careless feet over 
 the rough, stony roads, all carrying guns of an¬ 
 tique pattern, shouting and gesticulating at the 
 passers-by. They had just discovered the theft 
 of a herd of cattle. Ah, those cattle seen in the 
 early morning! The mystery was explained! 
 The sheikh of Pella was eagerly questioned, 
 though he could give little satisfaction. The 
 travellers told all they knew. Then onward 
 again rushed the villagers in hot pursuit (liter¬ 
 ally) of the raiders, urged by a siren hope that 
 some one of the multitudinous valleys and ra¬ 
 vines would divulge its unlawful secret. How 
 improbable that those unfortunate villagers would 
 ever see their property again! 
 
 For this was Gilead, the rough, mountainous 
 
 140 
 
 t 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 district, where robbers abound,—once the ap¬ 
 propriate home of brave warriors and stalwart 
 huntsmen. Elijah, the prophet of fire, was born 
 and bred in this region,^ and his history well ac¬ 
 cords with his mountain home. He might easily 
 take refuge in some valley, safe from the intru¬ 
 sion of Jezebel’s mercenaries. And if, as some 
 translators would have it, the Arabs, and not the 
 ravens, fed him,^ the picture might almost be du¬ 
 plicated now. Woe to the king's soldiers, had 
 they attempted to find their way in that maze of 
 valleys without a guide! Their ranks would 
 have been broken and their numbers availed little 
 against the natural barriers raised all about them. 
 The wild scenery, so rocky and precipitous, 
 forms a fitting background to the rugged story 
 of Elijah’s life and service. Even as that uncouth 
 Gileadite appeared like a spectre before the 
 wicked King Ahab, to frighten the conscience- 
 stricken monarch® by the very suddenness of his 
 appearances, so new scenes of rugged grandeur 
 burst upon the view, as the traveller makes his 
 way through difficult valleys and over rocky 
 ridges. 
 
 The three tourists followed their guide up a 
 steep path, past the dusty village of Kefr Abil, 
 
 1 1 Kings xvii. I. *1 Kings xvii. 4, 6. ^ I Kings xxi. 20 , 
 
 141 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 and down again into a beautiful, green valley, 
 set with olive-trees and watered by a clear 
 stream, which bears the misnomer of the '*dry 
 river.” This name in Arabic, Yabis, is the exact 
 equivalent of Jabesh, Yabis{h), and since this 
 situation accords with the Bible references, com¬ 
 petent authorities have placed in this vicinity the 
 site of Jabesh Gilead. 
 
 This city had a peculiar history. It first ap¬ 
 pears in the sacred record in connection with the 
 incident of Benjamin's depopulation.^ When Is¬ 
 rael relented of their cruel deed, and realized that 
 one of the tribes was thus blotted out, they 
 sought a means of reparation, and fixed upon 
 Jabesh Gilead to release them from the conse¬ 
 quences of a rash vow. Because the inhabitants 
 of this place had not joined in the war against 
 Benjamin, this was made an excuse for a deadly 
 slaughter, and of all the inhabitants very few es¬ 
 caped, other, than four hundred maidens, who' 
 were given as wives to the needy Benjamites.’ 
 
 The record does not tell how Jabesh Gilead re¬ 
 covered its previous state, after this damaging 
 blow. Three hundred years afterward it again 
 came into notice shortly after the anointing of 
 Saul by the Prophet Samuel. Nahash, the Am- 
 
 * Judges XX. I. 2 Judges xxi. 8. 
 
 142 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 monite king, had come up against the city,^ and 
 promised to spare the lives of the people, on 
 condition that he thrust out the right eye of 
 every one of them. They gained a seven days’ 
 respite from the execution of this terrible and 
 disgraceful condition, and sent to Gibeah, Saul’s 
 home. That worthy was following the homely 
 occupation of a farmer (strange kingly avoca¬ 
 tion!), and, as he was driving the cattle home¬ 
 ward, heard the unmistakable sound of a public 
 wailing in the village,—the sure token of some 
 calamity. With characteristic zeal he organized 
 a relief party, which swelled to the enormous 
 number of three hundred and thirty thousand 
 men. The people of the besieged town were in¬ 
 formed of the imminent deliverance, and sent a 
 deceptive answer to Nahash, promising submis¬ 
 sion. Then the redoubtable host crossed the Jor¬ 
 dan, fell upon the Ammonites with great slaughter, 
 and rescued the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead from 
 the tortures of their barbarous enemies. 
 
 The recollection of these dire events did not dis¬ 
 turb the travellers, as they sat under the refresh¬ 
 ing shade of the olive-trees and ate their lunch 
 with a relish. There the old guide turned back, 
 after giving instructions to go straight ahead up 
 
 1 I Sam. xi. i. 
 
 143 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 the valley, which opened up before the tourists in 
 the direction of their desires. After bidding their 
 friend, the mayor, a proper farewell (including 
 the half dollar) they ventured boldly forth. The 
 valley led upward in what appeared to be a 
 fairly passable road. Suddenly they came to the 
 base of a perpendicular ledge of solid rock 
 absolutely impassable. Here was a barrier not 
 included in the guide’s directions. Nothing 
 could be done but to retrace a few steps to a 
 point where a branch path led up the mountain¬ 
 side to the left. It was a road evidently some¬ 
 what travelled, but one pitied the unfortunates 
 who were obliged to toil up the steep, rugged 
 path more than once. It consisted largely of 
 smooth, slippery rocks, dangerous to limb of 
 horse and rider. The animals did nobly. 
 
 At the top of the ridge a village appeared, 
 whence might be gained some information re¬ 
 garding roads. The occupants of this village 
 were a most suspicious-looking lot, down to the 
 very dogs. They were urgent in their invitation 
 to the travellers to remain over night. But their 
 sinister faces and overanxious expressions re¬ 
 vealed too plainly the real desire for thieving, 
 awakened by the sight of baggage and camp 
 
 equipment. It was only by dint of much per- 
 
 144 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 suasion that a young fellow could be engaged to 
 guide the party away from this malevolent com¬ 
 munity to the desired destination. 
 
 He knew his business well, conducting his 
 followers over a path far from smooth and level, 
 but leading through a most interesting section of 
 country. For this is the great forest land of 
 Syria. Here are the *‘oaks of Bashan," men¬ 
 tioned by the prophets.^ To one born and bred 
 in forest-clad America it may seem strange to 
 single out an oak-forest as a special theme for 
 reflection. But ask the average Syrian where the 
 woodlands are situated, and he may point to 
 some clump of small firs or scrub-oaks, that 
 would be unworthy of mention in the home¬ 
 land. Even the famous “cedars of Lebanon" 
 are now but an insignificant dot upon the bare 
 mountain-side. Green hills and waving tree- 
 tops are not now characteristic of the Holy 
 Land, and the long stretches of brown, barren 
 mountains are almost invariably a disappointment 
 to the casual tourist. 
 
 Not so, however, the “oaks of Bashan." 
 Gilead is forest-clad in all its length and breadth. 
 The travellers were privileged to enjoy a sight 
 not soon to be forgotten. Their guide led them 
 
 * Isa. ii. 13; Ezek. xxvii. 6; Zech. xi. 2. 
 
 145 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 by a narrow, crooked path through the wildest 
 forest land to be found in all the country. The 
 oaks were large and leafy, and their boughs at 
 times almost intercepted the progress of the 
 delighted tourists. Sometimes the path took 
 them up steep hillsides, sometimes along beauti¬ 
 ful, green valleys. Partridges abounded, but the 
 dense woods were their protectors. Then, too, 
 clouds had formed in the skies, and the burning 
 heat of the morning had given way to acceptably 
 cool shadows. 
 
 What a grand place for a picnic in these east¬ 
 ern woods! Not alone would the scenery please, 
 but also many Biblical characters might in im¬ 
 agination join the group. For the land of Gilead 
 is the scene of much Bible history. Nineteenth 
 century Sunday-school scholars might open their 
 Bibles under the trees, and call up many a hero, 
 whose reality had been dimmed by distance. 
 Nor would the teachers object to a view of the 
 Biblical panorama. 
 
 First come the Midianite cameleers, who 
 bought Joseph from his brethren, sold him to a 
 high officer in Egypt, then returned to Gilead to 
 load their camels once more with "‘spicery and 
 balm and myrrh." ^ What questions would not 
 
 * Gen. xxxvii, 2 t:, 
 
 146 
 
 
ARAB WOMAN AND CHILD EASTERN EMBRACE 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 Yankee curiosity contrive to ask them regarding 
 the particulars of. the lying deceit, whereby 
 Joseph was taken down to Egypt! 
 
 The panorama moves on to the time of the 
 Judges. Behold a maiden wandering upon the 
 mountain-tops amongst these wooded hills, clad 
 in mourning robes, in evident grief and sorrow 
 for some impending event. It is the daughter of 
 Jephthah, the Gileadite.^ He had driven the 
 Ammonites from the land, and had vowed to 
 sacrifice as a burnt-offering that which should 
 first come forth from the door of his house upon 
 his safe return. When his daughter, his only 
 child, met him with timbrel and dance, his joy 
 was turned to grief, as he saw the terrible out¬ 
 come of his rash vow.® ‘‘Alas, my daughter! 
 thou hast brought me very low.” Jephthah 
 realized his misfortune in all its severity. Not 
 only must he sacrifice his only child, but he 
 thereby brought ignominious disgrace upon him¬ 
 self for dying without posterity. To this day the 
 perpetuity of an oriental family holds supreme 
 
 1 Judges xi. I. 
 
 3 While the theory of perpetual virginity has been offered by 
 some eminent authorities in explanation of this difficult episode, 
 yet their conclusions, however much to be desired, seem not 
 sufficiently to accord with the Biblical statements and the exist¬ 
 ing primitive conceptions of ethics and religion, 
 
 147 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 place in the plans of its members. The memory 
 of Jephthah’s glorious victories could not atone 
 for the ignominy of a house blotted out. Hence 
 his daughter, not questioning the propriety of the 
 sacrifice, begged merely that it be postponed two 
 months, that she might lament with her friends 
 the doom of her father’s house. Her fate, con¬ 
 nected with the disgrace to Jephthah’s memory, 
 Tennyson has immortalized in verse in 
 Dream of Fair Women,” writing 
 
 of her that died 
 To save her father’s vow. 
 
 My words leapt forth: < Heaven heads the count of 
 crimes 
 
 With that wild oath.’ She render’d answer high; 
 
 < Not so, nor once alone; a thousand times 
 I would be born and die. 
 
 My God, my land, my father—these did move 
 Me from my bliss of life, that Nature gave, 
 
 Lower’d softly with a threefold cord of love 
 Down to a silent grave. 
 
 And I went mourning, “ No fair Hebrew boy 
 Shall smile away my maiden blame among 
 The Hebrew mothers ”—emptied of all joy, 
 
 Leaving the dance and song. 
 
 Leaving the olive-gardens far below. 
 
 Leaving the promise of my bridal-bower, 
 
 The valleys of grape-loaded vines that glow 
 Beneath the battled tower.’ ” 
 
 How beautiful a thing it was to die 
 For God and for my sire ! ” 
 
 148 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 Again the panorama rolls upon the scroll of 
 time, and those woods resound with the din of 
 battle.' Absalom, the usurper of David’s throne 
 in Jerusalem, has pursued his aged parent beyond 
 the Jordan into the wooded slopes of Gilead. 
 David is a fugitive before the face of his favorite 
 son! How sad is this page of the sacred his¬ 
 tory! Absalom’s conspiracy had ripened, until 
 his father had been obliged to flee from the holy 
 city beyond the river, and there await the attack 
 of his treacherous son. He had chosen his 
 ground well. The entangled valleys and steep 
 hillsides of Gilead, all covered with forest trees, 
 were no place for the maneuvres of an army. 
 David’s tried and loyal bodyguard of six hundred 
 chosen men were with him,’ and thousands of the 
 Gileadites fought for him, because they loved 
 their king. He had many friends, who supplied 
 the needs of him and his faithful followers. 
 
 David himself, at the entreaty of his friends, 
 remained in the city of Mahanaim, to await 
 tidings of the battle. How did his paternal 
 love shine forth! Confident in God’s protecting 
 power, his one thought was for his wayward 
 son. “Deal gently for my sake with the young 
 man, even with Absalom.”® 
 
 • 2 Sam, XV., etc, ’ 2 Sam. xv. 18. * 2 Sam, xviii. 5 
 
 149 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The battle raged throughout all the forest, over 
 hill and dale. The hosts of Absalom were over¬ 
 thrown in their unequal contest against skill and 
 nature combined. Twenty thousand men per¬ 
 ished, most of them destroyed in the wild de¬ 
 files of the mountain. “And the wood devoured 
 more people that day than the sword devoured.”^ 
 Absalom became separated from his men and 
 was obliged to flee precipitately. His abundant 
 hair,* which had been his pride, became the cause 
 of his destruction. In his wild flight through 
 the woods his mule became unmanageable and 
 dashed under a low-hanging bough. Absalom 
 was left suspended, and entirely at the mercy of 
 his enemies. A common soldier, coming upon 
 him, respected the wish of David, and spared 
 the life of the wretched son. He told Joab of 
 the prince’s plight, but was rebuked by him for 
 thus dealing leniently with the king’s greatest 
 enemy. Joab himself hastened forward and 
 killed Absalom in mid-air. The dead body was 
 cut down and cast into a pit, and over it was 
 raised a heap of stones, as a special mark of 
 execration. 
 
 Far different was this mean grave in the hidden 
 forests of Gilead from the magnificent monu- 
 
 12 Sam, xviii, 8. ^2 Sam. xiv, 26. 
 
 150 
 
The Oaks of Bashan 
 
 ment which Absalom had erected for himself in 
 the “ king’s dale.”^ Thus perished the beautiful 
 son of David, beloved of his father even in the 
 hour of rebellion. 
 
 But how was Joab to inform David of his 
 son’s death ? He seemed to realize that he had 
 acted under misguided zeal. When Ahimaaz, a 
 young and special friend of the king, offered to 
 bear the tidings of victory, Joab restrained him, 
 and told a Cushite soldier^ to run and tell what 
 he had seen. After this man had started, Ahi¬ 
 maaz again entreated joab to let him go. He 
 evidently knew the country better than the other, 
 for he chose a better road and outran the other. 
 Breathless from the violent pace, he entered the 
 king’s presence and announced a glorious vic¬ 
 tory. David’s mind was still preoccupied with 
 thoughts of his son. “ Is the young man Absa¬ 
 lom safe?” The reply was characteristic of all 
 such tidings even to this very time. It was 
 deemed better to conceal the disaster with a 
 half-truth, rather than to proclaim the real case. 
 Many a falsehood is told in such circumstances, 
 so that it is impossible to rely upon any message 
 of safety and health. Ahimaaz thought to spare 
 the feelings of his royal friend, and replied that 
 
 12 Sam. xviii. l8. *2 Sam. xviii. 2l» 
 
 151 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 he had seen a great tumult, but had not compre¬ 
 hended its meaning. 
 
 The next messenger, however, bluntly replied 
 to the same tender, eager inquiry, ''The enemies 
 of my lord the king, and all that rise against 
 thee to do thee hurt, be as that young man is."^ 
 
 Then the anxious father realized the truth of 
 his son's destruction, and his heart overflowed in 
 pathetic utterance. Where in all history can be 
 found a more touching scene, and where its de¬ 
 scription in more beautiful language: 
 
 "And the king was much moved, and went up 
 to the chamber over the gate and wept: and as 
 he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my 
 son, my son Absalom! would God 1 had died for 
 thee, O Absalom, my son, my son I" 
 
 1 2 Sam. xviii. 32. 
 
 
XIV 
 
 CAMP AND CASTLE 
 
 Experiences in new and untried mountain roads 
 are not the least of the traveller’s delights. All is 
 fresh; nothing palls; the unexpected prevails. 
 Each valley offers an ever-changing vista of scenic 
 surprises. Each hilltop is a Pisgah of opportu¬ 
 nity. Toward the end of the day’s ride the im¬ 
 agination outstrips the deliberate pace of the 
 animals and in hope reaches the appointed camp¬ 
 ing-place long before the time. Now and again 
 it determines upon the spot,—surely just over 
 the next hill, or around the bend in the road. 
 Many are the mild disappointments. Then, in a 
 moment of good-natured despair, the camp ap¬ 
 pears, after all quite to the surprise of the 
 tourist. 
 
 The forest-clad hills of ’Ajlun afforded ample 
 opportunity to the three travellers for indulgence 
 in these varying sensations. The winding roads 
 through the valleys were little paradises of green¬ 
 ery, and from time to time, as the hilltops were 
 reached, there came momentary glimpses of a 
 
 153 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 rugged castle, half revealed through the interven¬ 
 ing trees. 
 
 The destination of the sightseers was the town 
 of 'Ajlun (named after the district), but its exact 
 location no one knew. At last they emerged 
 from the dense forest of Gilead to a height, 
 where a grand view was obtained. They stood 
 on the brink of a great valley, which stretched 
 far off to the southwest, and in the opposite di¬ 
 rection broke into two forking valleys,—all cov¬ 
 ered with oaks and pines and olives. To the 
 right hand rose the sentinel castle, now close by 
 and standing out against the clear, blue sky. At 
 their feet, deep down in the beautiful valley, 
 nestled the little village, where the camp was to 
 be pitched for the night. 
 
 The travellers paused at this favored view¬ 
 point to drink in the scene of mingled charm, 
 beauty and sublimity. Then they followed the 
 rapidly-descending path to an ideal camping- 
 place. In the Christian quarter of the village, 
 above the part occupied by the Moslems, a place 
 was found for the tents amidst a number of noble 
 olives, whose immense, gnarled trunks indicated 
 great age. This spot, in its unadorned natural 
 beauty, proved to be the choicest camping-place 
 
 of the trip. What is more satisfying, more re- 
 
 154 
 

 A t'KlisAI>l^l<’S ( AS'ri.K 
 
Camp and Castle 
 
 poseful, than the protecting shelter of a grove of 
 olive-trees! The olive is the king (and queen) of 
 Syrian trees;—king, by right of inherent strength 
 and venerable age; queen, by reason of those 
 gentler qualities of delicate refinement manifest 
 in form and color. Mrs. Hemans in her apos¬ 
 trophe to “The Olive” has beautified this 
 thought with a woman’s poetic touch in the line, 
 
 “ One shiver of thy leaves’ dim silvery green,”— 
 
 and again, 
 
 “ But thou, pale Olive ! in thy branches lie 
 Far deeper spells than prophet grave of old 
 Might e’er enshrine.” 
 
 An olive branch, borne by a gentle dove, was 
 once the messenger of peace on earth,—of wrath 
 averted. The olives of Gethsemane, chosen, it 
 might be, for their strength and sympathetic en¬ 
 couragement, were the witnesses of the severest 
 struggle ever known. Is it strange that these 
 trees have a peculiar hold upon the affection of 
 the people ? 
 
 The advent of the tourists was the signal for a 
 
 gathering of the villagers, who were not so much 
 
 accustomed to tents and camps as to neglect the 
 
 opportunity for a sight of them. One young 
 
 man, who knew how to read, and exhibited a 
 
 pleasing degree of politeness, became general 
 
 155 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 purveyor to the party. He brought delicious 
 milk and honey, and a bowl of leben, like that 
 which Jael presented to Sisera in her tent.^ 
 (This word is often blindly translated as 
 ^‘milk."*) 
 
 Water was brought in common pottery jars, 
 such as have been used since the time of the 
 Patriarchs. Solomon speaks of the “pitcher 
 broken at the fountain."^ Many a tearful maiden 
 has returned to her house empty-handed, because 
 the “pitcher " has been “broken at the fountain." 
 No such misfortune befell the fair damsel who 
 supplied the needs of the thirsty travellers. She 
 had not far to go, and the water was abundant. 
 How truly oriental was that picture ! A bright¬ 
 eyed, clear-complexioned girl, with straight 
 and well-formed figure, moving easily under the 
 heavy weight of a large jar full of water, weighing 
 nearly fifty pounds, and carried on the shoulder 
 or the head, as it pleased the bearer. She was 
 dressed in the Bedawy costume, adopted by the 
 women of the district, with bare arms, and the 
 loose sleeves caught together at the back. No 
 cosmetics were needed to bring a rosy color to 
 
 > Judges iv. 19 . , 
 
 3 Ex. iii. 8; Num. xiii. 27; Jer. xi. 5, etc, 
 
 3 Eccl. xii. 6. 
 
 156 
 
Camp and Castle 
 
 those cheeks I The exercise had done that. 
 These oriental maidens know the drudgery of 
 hard work and the comfort of excellent health. 
 The carrying of the water is almost invariably a 
 part of woman's work in this land. For this 
 reason, when our Lord gave directions to His 
 disciples as to how they should find the house 
 where the Passover was to be eaten, He said, 
 ** Go ye into the city ; and there shall meet you a 
 man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him."^ 
 That man, carrying a jar of water on his shoulder, 
 was a marked man, even in the motley crowd 
 which thronged Jerusalem at the great feast. He 
 was doing woman's work. 
 
 An interesting Biblical courtship was forwarded 
 by means of a pottery water jar.^ Isaac must 
 needs have a wife from among his own kindred 
 in far-away Haran, and a trusted servant was 
 despatched to make the proposal (by proxy). 
 One is reminded of the stereotyped phrase in the 
 “Court and Personal" of the London Times ,— 
 “ A marriage has been arranged and will shortly 
 take place between, etc., etc." In this instance 
 the high contracting parties did not figure in 
 drawing-room gossip. One was the son of a 
 desert shiekh, and the other a maiden, who took 
 
 » Mark xiv. 13. * Gen. xxiv. 14-67. 
 
 167 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 her place daily in the line of women, who ''at 
 the time of the evening went out to draw water.”' 
 Rebekah had done this, doubtless, many times 
 before. One evening she found a stranger at the 
 well, with ten camels in his train. She came, 
 bearing "her pitcher upon her shoulder,” "and 
 she went down to the well ” (probably excavated 
 below the surface of the surrounding land), " and 
 filled her pitcher, and came up.” She swung the 
 heavy jar up to its place on her shoulder, and 
 would have returned home, had not the stranger 
 requested a drink. "And she said. Drink, my 
 lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher 
 upon her hand, and gave him a drink.” 
 
 True to life is this scene I Not a line need be 
 changed. One foot is slightly raised from the 
 ground, and the jar is lowered to the bended knee. 
 It is there steadied with one hand under it and 
 the other grasping one of the small handles, and 
 by a dextrous motion the outstretched palms of 
 the thirsty servant are filled, and he sips the re¬ 
 freshing water. 
 
 A pottery water jar might be considered at the 
 farthest remove from romance. But Cupid is a 
 blind little archer. His shafts often take erratic 
 flights. 
 
 * Gen. xxiv. il. 
 158 
 
Camp and Castle 
 
 After the sun had set, the tourists sat about the 
 camp table, eating an appetizing supper, and not 
 at all embarrassed by the assembled villagers, 
 who whispered their comments on the scene. 
 The flickering candles lit up the surrounding 
 gloom in wierd fashion. Bending boughs and 
 knotted trunks appeared like spectres in the semi¬ 
 darkness, while the interested onlookers, of 
 whom the travellers could discern but the front 
 row distinctly, brought to mind the face of the 
 Cheshire cat in '‘Alicein Wonderland.” 
 
 The first watch of the night fell to the “other¬ 
 wise man.” As he paced back and forth among 
 the olives, he had ample opportunity to reflect 
 upon the history, sacred and secular, which is 
 connected with this district, and more especially 
 the romantic record of the deadly struggle be¬ 
 tween Crusader and Saracen. His thoughts 
 turned to the castle up on the neighboring hill, 
 ruined now and invisible in the black darkness of 
 a cloudy night. Would that this stronghold of 
 Christianity might divulge its secrets! 
 
 The day dawned, and the travellers prepared to 
 
 visit the castle of Rubud. They engaged the 
 
 services of a lithe and long-limbed guide, whose 
 
 rapid pace up from the town of 'Ajlun did not 
 
 interfere with his conversational powers. Al- 
 
 159 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 though the massive, ruined pile had seemed near 
 enough to the party, as they gazed at it leisurely 
 from the tents, the ascent was long and required 
 nearly an hour. But once arrived, all effort was 
 amply repaid. Could a grander site have been 
 found for this castle than the summit of the noble 
 peak, which towers above all its surroundings ! 
 The Crusaders realized the strategic value of this 
 lofty eminence, and built upon it one of their most 
 imposing structures. 
 
 From this point they could send the gleam of the 
 nightly signal fires far across the country to the 
 fortress of Belvoir to Tiberias, and further north 
 to Safed and other points. By day they could 
 scan the surrounding country and quickly discern 
 the approach of a band or army, be they friend 
 or foe, advancing from any direction. Thus 
 they could gain time to prepare for siege. 
 
 Perhaps these stern warriors had no inclination 
 to enjoy the beauties of ^nature. But there was 
 a panorama spread before them almost unequalled 
 in extent and grandeur. At their feet lay the 
 beautiful, green valley, with its stream of glis¬ 
 tening water, here and there a village peering out 
 from amidst a bower of green trees. All about 
 were the grand forests of Gilead, rustling in 
 
 the gentle breeze, or bending to the raging storms. 
 
 160 
 
Camp and Castle 
 
 To the north rose mighty Hermon, far, far away, 
 only a white outline against the blue sky. Nearer 
 by shimmered the sea of Galilee, and the Jordan 
 revealed itself in its winding way. All the west¬ 
 ern hills and mountains appeared, and Moab to 
 the south, and even the Dead Sea could be seen 
 spreading over the southern plain. 
 
 All these magnificent views remain unchanged; 
 but the castle has succumbed to the ravages of 
 time, and tells a tale of vanished greatness. Yet 
 notwithstanding decay and fallen walls, it well 
 repays a visit. The whole structure is sur¬ 
 rounded by a deep, wide moat, cut out of the 
 living rock. The one-time drawbridge, by 
 which the great doorway of the castle was once 
 approached, is no longer in existence, but 
 grooved stones above the doorway mark its 
 former place and way of operation. Now a rude 
 bridge of stones affords means of entrance to 
 shepherds and chance visitors. In one recess of 
 the walls, inside the moat, a great cistern was 
 built, and the water from the roofs of the castle 
 was conducted into this, so that the occupants of 
 the fortress might sustain a long siege. 
 
 The vast building was wonderfully well 
 adapted to its purpose. It was not merely a sin¬ 
 gle castle, but a series of castles within castles. 
 
 161 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 A powerful enemy might withstand the flights of 
 deadly arrows from the slotted walls; might 
 throw up a temporary bridge across the moat; 
 might storm the castle and capture the entrance; 
 and what would they find ? A blank wall of 
 immense thickness and a second doorway and 
 portcullis even stronger than the first. This, too, 
 might yield, and a third one would bar further 
 progress. The whole structure is a network of 
 intricate passages, and the massive walls and 
 towers show the resisting power of a beleaguered 
 guard. 
 
 One wonders, as he stands amidst the ruins, 
 what power could cope with, much less over¬ 
 come, a force stationed within those bulwarks. 
 Nevertheless the Saracen conquered the Crusader 
 and drove him from the land. What must have 
 been the emotions of the besieged Franks, as they 
 beheld their swarthy foemen advance step by 
 step, taking first the outworks, then the bridge, 
 and one by one the labyrinth of passages, which 
 led to the keep, the last stronghold of the castle! 
 With what a shout of triumph would the Moslem 
 hordes dash into that final refuge, there to meet 
 and massacre the remnant of the brave band of 
 Christian defenders! 
 
 Rubud castle, with many other fortresses in 
 
 162 
 
Camp and Castle 
 
 the land, marks the era when Christianity tried 
 by might to regain the sacred places of the Holy 
 Land. Does not history prove the futility of 
 their efforts ? They attempted by military prow¬ 
 ess to gain a land. Did not the three mission¬ 
 aries, as they stood above the ruined monument 
 of man’s misguided endeavor, represent 
 forces ,—schools and hospitals and evangelical 
 churches,—which shall some day gain a people, 
 and thus conquer gloriously in a conflict which 
 could not be settled by force of arms ? The Mo¬ 
 hammedans have no weapons which will avail in 
 this new warfare. They are now the belea¬ 
 guered ones and already the portcullis has been 
 surrendered. The fortress must fall ere long. 
 
 The travellers descended from their lofty view¬ 
 point and made their way back to the olive 
 grove. The camp was ready to move, and the 
 party set out on the eastern road. 
 
 163 
 
XV 
 
 -r 
 
 A HALT AT MIZPAH 
 
 The morning was well advanced, when the 
 travellers left 'Ajlun, after the visit to the castle. 
 Their way led through delightful territory. A 
 little out of ’Ajlun they passed Ain Jenneh,—a 
 paradise of huge walnut-trees, which formed 
 a shady bower above copious springs of pure 
 water. Thence they passed along gently rising 
 ground, in a cool valley bounded by forests, 
 where fallen leaves and moss-covered logs in¬ 
 vited them to rest. Out of the valley they passed 
 on to the summit of a high ridge, whence a 
 grand view met their eyes. They could see far 
 away into the desert and northeast toward the 
 Druze mountains. 
 
 Traces of the old Roman thoroughfare ap¬ 
 peared, beside the modern path. Now impass¬ 
 able, it was once a great highway to Gerasa and 
 the east. At the eastern foot of the ridge the 
 riders passed under a telegraph line with some¬ 
 thing of the feelings of escaping prisoners. It 
 
 seemed to mark the boundary between the land 
 
 164 
 
A Halt at Mizpah 
 
 of governmental restraint and the wilderness of 
 freedom. 
 
 After another half hour they came to the 
 squalid and ill-favored town of Suf, where more 
 than one traveller has endured inconvenience and 
 insult at the hands of the lawless inhabitants. 
 The village is situated high up on a commanding 
 site, though many of the people live in caves in 
 the hillside. The place was wretchedly dirty; 
 poverty was prevalent; the cattle were relics of 
 the “ seven years of want.” This unsavory place 
 was passed in safety, and the travellers halted 
 just beyond, in full view of the town and its 
 surroundings. The lunch boxes were opened 
 under some convenient olive-trees. 
 
 Here, too, is a favorable spot to study a page 
 of patriarchal history. For the town of Suf, ac¬ 
 cording to the prevailing opinion among modern 
 explorers and archaeologists, marks the site of 
 Mizpah. If this conjecture be true (and it is not 
 the province of this little book to be a judge), 
 then the tourists were indeed treading historic 
 ground. In the earlier Old Testament history the 
 name of Mizpah calls up the record of Jacob’s 
 life, than which there is none more interesting 
 among the early Bible characters. 
 
 Mizpah, or Mizpeh, gives the meaning of 
 
 165 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 “beacon,” or “watch-tower,” and was the 
 meeting-place between Jacob and his father-in- 
 law, Laban. Jacob had served him for twenty 
 years, and finally desired to leave the avaricious, 
 unprincipled farmer.^ Laban refused to give 
 consent, hence Jacob was obliged to use his 
 wits. He called his wives,^ Leah and Rachel, 
 away from their father’s tent to the place where 
 he was keeping his flocks, distant three days’ 
 journey. Rachel took with her her father’s 
 household gods,—the penates ,—but secretly. 
 Then Jacob hurriedly packed up his goods, 
 started his flocks and herds toward the Eu¬ 
 phrates, and “stole away unawares to Laban 
 the Syrian.” Laban, who had been away shear¬ 
 ing his sheep, did not hear of Jacob’s defection, 
 until three days had passed. Realizing that his 
 recent good fortune had been due to Jacob’s 
 presence, he hastily organized a posse and pur¬ 
 sued after him. Although Jacob had a start of 
 three days, his progress was retarded by the 
 sheep and cattle. Laban overtook him after 
 seven days in “the mount of Gilead.” 
 
 There he attempted to upbraid his more honor¬ 
 able son-in-law. He mingled reproaches for the 
 secret departure with hints of illegal abduction 
 
 * Gen. XXX. 25. ^ Gen. xxxi. 4. 
 
 166 
 
A Halt at Mizpah 
 
 and tender utterances of parental affection. He 
 asserted that he would like to have sent him 
 away with music and mirth. But the crushing 
 accusation was reserved till the end of the pas¬ 
 sionate, dramatic outburst. With biting sarcasm 
 he flung the question at Jacob, “Wherefore hast 
 thou stolen my gods ? " Search was made, but 
 the teraphim were not found.* Thereupon Jacob 
 in his turn rose to the heights of oratory. Con¬ 
 scious of his innocence, he recounted his harsh 
 treatment, and his own faithful service. For 
 twenty years he had endured the heat of day and 
 frost of night; sleep had been denied him; his 
 had been the responsibility for every untoward 
 accident to flock or herd; he had served fourteen 
 years for his wives and six for his possessions; 
 and his wages had been changed ten times. 
 
 Truly oriental is this scene! It may be dupli¬ 
 cated at any time and in any place. Doubtless 
 the conference began in mild tones, then in¬ 
 creased in vehemence of speech and gesture, 
 until at the culminating point the two main actors 
 were face to face and vigorously gesticulating, 
 while their retainers had gathered about them in 
 wordy sympathy. 
 
 Laban was defeated in the oratorical contest,— 
 
 * Gen. xxxi. 34, 35. 
 
 167 
 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 requiring only a pledge of future good-treatment 
 to his daughters. He also extracted a promise 
 that there should be no war between the two. 
 Laban seemed to surmise Jacob’s future great¬ 
 ness, and feared lest his son-in-law should march 
 against him and take vengeance for ill-treatment 
 during the days of menial service. He proposed 
 a covenant, to which Jacob readily agreed. A 
 rough heap of stones was thrown up on some 
 high point and given the name of Mizpah. “ For 
 he said. The - Lord watch between me and 
 thee, when we are absent one from another.”' 
 Each one was thus “bound over to keep the 
 peace.” Early on the following morning Laban 
 arose, kissed his daughters and their children, 
 blessed the whole company, and departed to his 
 far-away home. 
 
 [Now it is by a remarkable liberty in the use of 
 Bible texts that the words of this covenant have 
 been made a familiar and much-loved watch¬ 
 word in Christian societies and gatherings. But 
 the words (beautiful and appropriate in them¬ 
 selves) have doubtless been dissociated from their 
 exegetical connections and made to serve a nobler 
 purpose.] 
 
 When Jacob had concluded this prudent ar- 
 
 1 Gen. xxxi. 49. 
 
 168 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 the land of Edom had become wealthy and 
 powerful. Years had elapsed since the unlawful 
 taking of the parental blessing, and no intima¬ 
 tion of reconciliation had ever come from the 
 wild hunter. Jacob deemed it prudent to send 
 messengers to his brother, both to ascertain the 
 probable danger and to conciliate Esau, if possi¬ 
 ble.^ What, then, was the surprise and distress, 
 when his envoys returned without the usual 
 counter-greeting, and the sinister report that 
 Esau was advancing to meet him with four 
 hundred warlike men,—a roving band of free¬ 
 booters, who might easily overwhelm him and 
 his possessions in rant and destruction! Jacob, 
 never a man of war, had recourse in his fear to 
 stratagem and wise planning. He divided his 
 possessions into two parts, so that, if one should 
 be captured, the other might escape. Then he 
 betook himself to prayer. This led him to the 
 use of other means, not of defence, but rather of 
 conciliatory persuasion. He prepared a large 
 present for Esau, which he sent forward in sec¬ 
 tions, that he might win his brother's heart. 
 
 This accomplished, and the flocks and herds 
 sent forward, Jacob waited till the stillness of 
 midnight had settled upon hill and dale, and all 
 
 ^ Gen, xxxii, 2 . 
 
 170 
 
A Halt at Mizpah 
 
 nature animate and inanimate had sunk to restful 
 « 
 
 slumber. Then he arose, quietly sent his own 
 family across the Jabbok at the ford, and himself 
 returned to pass a sleepless night in conflict with 
 distress and grave apprehension. 
 
 But ere he was aware, a greater contest was 
 upon him. He felt the grasp of a strong hand, 
 and, fearing lest it might be one of the expected 
 enemy, he arose and grappled with the stranger. 
 The struggle continued until break of day re¬ 
 vealed the identity of the unknown wrestler. 
 Then the angel exerted his superhuman power 
 and quickly disabled his persistent antagonist. 
 Jacob, conquered in body and humbled in spirit, 
 was not willing to lose a victory. He asked for 
 a blessing and received it in change of name,— 
 Israel, a prince of God." All his fear now van¬ 
 ished. 
 
 “ Contented now, upon my thigh 
 
 I halt till life’s short journey end; 
 
 All helplessness, all weakness I 
 
 On Thee alone for strength depend.” — Wesley. 
 
 At sunrise Jacob advanced in all confidence to 
 
 meet Esau and his troop. He arranged his family 
 
 with Rachel and Joseph in the rear. Advancing 
 
 before them all, he “ bowed himself to the ground 
 
 seven times, until he came near to his brother." 
 
 171 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 This obeisance, like modern profuse salaams, was 
 made with bent head and body and graceful 
 sweep of the arm, as the person advanced. 
 “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced 
 him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and 
 they wept. Esau, forgetful of his anger and his 
 threats, was entirely overcome. “They both 
 wept." Brotherly love and long absence had 
 swept away all angry feelings. They only re¬ 
 membered they were brothers. Twins in birth, 
 they are united again." ^ 
 
 The sentimental manifestations of affection de¬ 
 scribed in this connection are worthy of note. It 
 is even now the custom for men to embrace one 
 another, kiss each other's cheeks (lips never 
 meet), and weep copiously. No words could 
 better describe the realistic action of an eastern 
 embrace than those used, “he fell on his neck 
 and kissed him." 
 
 Another custom, aptly illustrated in this meet¬ 
 ing of the two brothers, is, in Esau's positive 
 refusal of Jacob's gift, the subsequent urging of 
 its acceptance, and the final yielding to entreaty. 
 The gift was a very large one,—every gift in this 
 country is large. Anything less than a donkey¬ 
 load of dried figs, or a supply of rose-water suf- 
 
 * Harper: The Bible and Modern Discoveries. 
 
 172 
 
A Halt at Mizpah 
 
 ficient for two years, or a nosegay of flowers the 
 size of a cabbage, would stigmatize the giver as 
 stingy. Quantity, not quality, rules. Esau felt 
 obliged to refuse the munificent gift of animals, 
 in order to satisfy social custom. (Doubtless he 
 fully expected to take it eventually.) By so do¬ 
 ing he could mention incidentally, that he had 
 sufficient of his own. Nor would it be polite to 
 manifest a desire for the offering. Jacob on his 
 part was in duty bound to urge the acceptance 
 of his gift. The Bible sums it all up in four 
 verses.^ But in all probability the transaction 
 consumed a good half hour. (The discussion of 
 a simple supper invitation has been known to 
 occupy as much as this.) 
 
 Finally Esau with gracious condescension took 
 over the prize, inwardly pleased at the large ad¬ 
 dition to his possessions, outwardly manifest¬ 
 ing no emotion of any kind. Gifts in this land 
 are received with benumbing coldness and no 
 expression of thanks. Otherwise the recipient 
 would appear to show undue desire for more. 
 The oriental definition of ''gratitude" is “a 
 lively sense of favors to come.'* Hence gratitude 
 should be outwardly suppressed. Let it not be 
 thought, however, that the gift goes wholly un- 
 
 * Gen. xxxiii. 8-li. 
 
 173 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 noticed. A return is always made, equal, if not 
 larger, than the original. The basket, which 
 brought grapes, is filled with figs. A present of 
 raisins draws forth a larger gift of pulse.^ 
 
 When the gift had been properly transferred, 
 then Esau extended a polite invitation to his 
 brother to return home with him to Seir. Jacob 
 prudently declined this offer, though the text^ 
 would seem to indicate a courteous and consid¬ 
 erate acceptance. It is easily explained by cur¬ 
 rent customs. Esau's invitation was probably 
 quite as superficial as was Jacob's evasive ac¬ 
 ceptance of it. Each party fully realized, too, the 
 other's polite, but meaningless, motives. Such 
 interchange of customary courtesies is common 
 among all classes in the Orient. How many 
 other customs have descended from the days of 
 the Patriarchs, who can tell ? 
 
 The travellers left the heights of Suf and 
 descended into a wide valley, whose innumer¬ 
 able olive-trees softened the landscape with their 
 pleasing tints. At the other side of this sea of 
 green a village appeared, and there began a 
 broad, open plain, which swept southward 
 toward the Jabbok river. The riders hurried on¬ 
 ward, for the elements looked unpropitious. 
 
 *Dan. i. 12. »Gen. xxxiii. 12-17. 
 
 174 
 
A Halt at Mizpah 
 
 Thus far the rain-god had been exceedingly 
 kind in withholding his stored-up waters. Now, 
 however, the heavens were lowering, and black 
 clouds hung in the darkened skies. 
 
 But the great impelling motive was their near¬ 
 ness to Jerash. Another hour of travel would 
 certainly bring them to the journey's end amidst 
 its fallen buildings. How many and how great 
 were their anticipations as they drew nigh to the 
 city of ruins! “Jerash” had been a name upon 
 their lips and in their deepest thoughts and high¬ 
 est hopes from the very inception of the journey. 
 It had seemed discouragingly distant, hidden by 
 almost insurmountable hills of difficulty. Once 
 the quest had been quite abandoned, when heat 
 and apprehension had turned the tourists toward 
 Galilee. Now, however, they were nearing the 
 acme of their desires. 
 
 175 
 
XVI 
 
 JERASH, THE MAGNIFICENT CITY 
 
 Eagerly did the expectant tourists traverse the 
 rolling plain to the southward. Their thoughts 
 were all upon what was before them. How 
 would Jerash appear as it was approached from 
 the north ? Could it be the little town on the 
 brow of that distant hill ? Would it repay all this 
 toil and expense ? How much further off was it ? 
 
 Suddenly, as a rising knoll was surmounted, 
 there came into view in the plain before them 
 such a picture as may not often be spread before 
 the traveller’s gaze. Like some well-set scene 
 of surpassing grandeur, appearing before an ex¬ 
 pectant audience, as the curtain rolls ^slowly up¬ 
 ward, did Jerash, the magnificent city, silently 
 greet the eyes of the tourists, as they waited, 
 almost with reverence, to drink in the marvels 
 of the wonderful revelation. There, at their 
 very feet, lay the city of columns, stretching off 
 into the distance, its temples and its theatres, its 
 colonnaded avenues and triumphal arches, stand¬ 
 ing in majestic outline, oppressive in motionless 
 
 176 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 silence. It might have been a painting on can¬ 
 vas,—so fixed, so dead. 
 
 There came to mind a youthful visit to a gigan¬ 
 tic panorama of a famous battle of the Civil War. 
 The mountain-side was there, the trees, the 
 copse, the rail fence, the rivulet, the smoke of 
 battle settling in dark line upon the scene. The 
 officers with brandished swords were bravely urg¬ 
 ing their men forward into the face of belching 
 cannon, into the jaws of death. Here and there 
 a brave comrade was falling, mortally wounded, 
 and the blood was staining the ground where he 
 fell. Flags were fluttering in the breeze. Every 
 line indicated intense action and energy,—but all 
 was as still and unchanging as death. The scene 
 was appalling from its very fixedness! 
 
 So the afternoon sun of that memorable day 
 shone down upon a scene marvellous in magnifi¬ 
 cence, overwhelming in silent solitude. How 
 came that hermit city to exist off there on the 
 edge of the desert? Whose genius planned 
 those elaborate buildings and well-laid avenues ? 
 Whose wealth was poured into those massive 
 piles of stone work ? Whose hands wrought 
 out those delicate traceries in extended friezes 
 and lofty capitals ? Whose strength was given 
 
 to rear those gigantic columns ? 
 
 177 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Some of these questions history answers. 
 Others must be left to the imagination to fill out 
 in reply. 
 
 Gerasa was a grand city in its day. ''One of 
 the ten cities of Decapolis. It existed during the 
 first centuries of our era. Its days of surpassing 
 grandeur and architectural activity were in the 
 second and third century after Christ. It was 
 one of the famous Greek colonies, dependent for 
 its beauty upon the successors of Phideas and 
 Praxiteles; but it owed its very existence to the 
 iron rule of an all-conquering Roman power. 
 By order of the Roman emperors royal roads had 
 been made, connecting this city of the east with 
 western civilization. No expense was spared to 
 build a city magnificent in its proportions. Acre 
 upon acre of finely-wrought, massively-con¬ 
 structed buildings filled the plain. Round about 
 the whole stretched the wall,—a mighty bulwark 
 in itself. 
 
 Who could exaggerate the grandeur of the 
 ancient city, when its ruins excite unbounded 
 surprise and admiration! No other ruins in all 
 Syria (unless Palmyra be an exception) cover 
 such a great extent of ground. Over three hun¬ 
 dred columns still stand,—and they are but a 
 fraction of the whole! 
 
 178 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 This mighty result in stone was accom¬ 
 plished largely by slave labor,—by forced draft. 
 How many of them were Jews, how many 
 Christians, who can tell ? The remark of one of 
 the trio was eminently true, These buildings 
 were not erected by subscription.’’ The rather, 
 by conscription. When the hidden page of his¬ 
 tory shall reveal the labor, the toil, the suffering, 
 the stripes, the agonies endured by overworked 
 slaves of all nations, the price of those structures 
 will not seem overvalued, “a stone for a life.” 
 The roll of the martyrs, read in the courts of 
 heaven, may contain many names of steadfast 
 believers, who died for their Lord in menial 
 service at Gerasa in rearing a wonderful city 
 for the proud and tyrannical Greeks and Ro¬ 
 mans. 
 
 Little did those imperial colonists realize that 
 the ruins of their magnificence should one 
 day serve a company of Christians, not for 
 work, but for convenience. The three tour¬ 
 ists, speculating as to the best place in Jerash in 
 which to spread their tents, passed down the 
 broad plain, where flowed a little stream, its 
 banks lined with oleanders, which in their season 
 make the scene beautiful with rich color. They 
 
 crossed over the north wall of the city,—no 
 
 17U 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 longer a barrier,—and rode up to the first great 
 pile, the ruins of a noble theatre. 
 
 A Greek theatre of the ancient type forms a 
 capital camping-place for modern travellers. His¬ 
 torically it awakens myriad thoughts of regal 
 
 splendor and Christian martyrdom. Practically 
 
 « 
 
 it lends itself to the real necessities of the tourists 
 in affording shade and shelter, semi-seclusion, 
 and excellent stabling for the animals. Incon¬ 
 gruous as this may sound,—a grand theatre re¬ 
 duced to the tevel of tourists’ conveniences,—yet 
 so it was. Camp was pitched in the midst of the 
 open arena. Round about on three sides rose the 
 semicircle of stone benches, in sixteen tiers, one 
 above another, capable of seating three or four 
 thousand spectators. In the Orient, where no 
 rain falls from May to October, the people could 
 gather in the theatres with the vault of heaven for 
 a roof. Light awnings were stretched above the 
 seats, to protect the favored ones from the sun. 
 The sockets in the stones to hold the poles of 
 the awnings may still be seen. 
 
 The proscenium was very low, with a backing 
 of detached columns. This is now filled with 
 dirt and rubbish, and the rude farmers of the dis¬ 
 trict have laid it out in terraces for sowing, hop¬ 
 ing for a little profit amidst the wrecks of time. 
 
 180 
 
 
# 
 
 MODERN JERASH ACROSS THE STREAM 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 Part way up the rows of benches a narrow aisle 
 ran about the semicircle, connected by five 
 arched exits with the inner vaulted passage built 
 beneath the upper tiers of seats. Under the low¬ 
 est row, at each end, are certain dark cellars or 
 vaulted rooms, manifestly used in their day to 
 contain the wild beasts for the shows. 
 
 The travellers reached this desirable camping- 
 place early in the afternoon, with ample time to 
 pitch tents and stake out the animals on one of 
 the terraces in the midst of this oriental scene. 
 Eagerly they mounted the narrow benches and 
 walked about them, wondering at their solidity 
 and capacity. They guessed at the use made of 
 the shell-shaped niches about the aisle leading to 
 the seats. Were they to contain busts of the 
 idol gods, or were they for the burning of 
 incense ? They passed through the ** vomitoria” 
 to the great vaulted semicircle, where the noble 
 Romans were wont to stroll “between the acts." 
 Surely this was a unique camping-place. 
 
 Yet this theatre was but a small sample of 
 
 what was to be seen further on. At a stone’s 
 
 throw distant, on the highest eminence in the 
 
 plain, were the ruins of a majestic temple. This 
 
 was doubtless the crowning feature of all the 
 
 architectural marvels found in the once-favored 
 
 181 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 city. This temple was probably dedicated to the 
 sun, facing, as it does, toward the east. The 
 walls are still standing, and enclose a rectangle 
 about seventy-five feet long by sixty-five wide. 
 The temple was originally enclosed by a colon¬ 
 nade, but many of the columns have fallen. The 
 portico, however, still merits its meed of praise. 
 It is approached by broad steps, and consists of 
 three rows of columns in the Corinthian style, all 
 of colossal proportions. The front row now shows 
 five of the original six columns. These stand 
 out against the sky from every view-point. The 
 other two rows each had four, but two of the 
 inner ones are down. Of the thousands of 
 columns, which once adorned the beautiful city, 
 none were larger than these, which upheld the 
 portico of the great temple of the sun. They 
 are thirty-eight feet high, and fully six feet in 
 diameter, and the carved capitals are beautifully 
 wrought in acanthus foliage. In comparison 
 with these gigantic monuments of bygone great¬ 
 ness, what a pigmy does man appear, with his 
 possible six feet of stature! 
 
 The site of the temple was not chosen by 
 
 chance. It is a well-selected platform whence a 
 
 marvellous panorama greets the eye. A forest of 
 
 standing columns fills the plain. It seemed to 
 
 182 
 
 I 
 
\ 
 
 Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 the **otherwise man” as if some giant had 
 passed that way and sown broadcast the germ- 
 seeds, which had sprung up into a plentiful 
 harvest of columns. 
 
 From north to south stretches a well-paved 
 boulevard, lined on either side by mighty 
 columns, whose number may have reached a 
 thousand. This avenue is intercepted by cross¬ 
 streets at intervals, and ends in a great circle of 
 columns joined by an entablature. Special atten¬ 
 tion was given by the tourists to this long 
 colonnaded avenue. Think of a boulevard half- 
 a-mile in length, flanked on either side by mighty 
 pillars joined one to the other by beautifully 
 carved blocks fully fifteen feet long! At the 
 street intersection are ruins of what must have 
 been a massive vaulted dome, with niches in the 
 walls for statues of their gods. At one point the 
 street widens on the left-hand side into the shape 
 of a semicircular room. The columns have 
 there given place to a wall, which is most pro¬ 
 fusely and exquisitely carved. The stone work 
 in this room was the most beautiful seen in all 
 Syria. Further on two or three very beautiful 
 fluted pillars were found, of a delicate pinkish 
 hue, the lines running about the shafts in a 
 
 spiral. The great circle at the end of this avenue 
 
 183 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 must have consisted of fully seventy-five or 
 eighty pillars,—a grand forum. 
 
 The cross streets led to bridges, which spanned 
 the stream. One of these is still used for pas¬ 
 sage. All the avenues were flanked by beautiful 
 structures, either dwelling houses or public 
 buildings, whose floors were laid with rich 
 mosaic. The little cubes, which. composed 
 these mosaics, may now be gathered all along 
 the way. 
 
 South of the forum-like enclosure, on rising 
 ground, is a second temple, smaller than the 
 first, with many delicately-carved pillars. An¬ 
 other theatre stands beside it. The close prox¬ 
 imity of temple and theatre was not then con¬ 
 sidered inconsistent. The ancient Greeks loved 
 games and plays as they loved their gods. This 
 theatre was capable of seating six thousand spec¬ 
 tators. 
 
 But no such numbers could now be found in 
 
 this vicinity, even were the theatre in readiness 
 
 to receive them. The only residents of this 
 
 once-famous city are a few imported Circassians, 
 
 who have obligingly built their houses across the 
 
 stream in the eastern quarter of the town, and 
 
 have not disturbed the grand array of ruins 
 
 to the west, except as they have taken some of 
 
 184 
 
SOUTHERN END OF COLONNADE AVENUE 
 
 THE 
 
 l-'ORUM AT JEKASH 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 the carved and shaped stone, with which to 
 build houses for themselves. One beautiful cap¬ 
 ital was seen beside the southern temple, 
 hollowed out inside and its exquisite carving of 
 acanthus leaves chipped off, to make, forsooth, a 
 circular opening for some cistern! 
 
 Further to the south, and beyond the city gate 
 proper, is a noble, triumphal arch in the form of 
 a handsome, triple gateway, erected in honor of 
 some magnate in the time of Trajan or later. 
 Near by is a great basin, once used for miniature 
 sea-fights, whose water supply came through 
 a conduit, which remains in a fair state of 
 preservation. This naumachia was mani¬ 
 festly a favorite resort of the time-burdened 
 Greeks,—if the rows of seats all about it are an 
 evidence. 
 
 Beyond this for nearly a mile ruins of houses, 
 tombs and other structures may be traced, but 
 nothing of any (comparative) importance ap¬ 
 pears. 
 
 It is well for the fortunate few, who are able 
 to reach this city of ruins, that Jerash is situated 
 beyond the confines of an inquisitive civilization. 
 Distance and difficulty of access have tended 
 to produce somewhat the result of the lava over¬ 
 flows upon Pompeii. Man’s genius for change 
 
 185 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 and improvement, or for pillage and destruction, 
 has been restrained. Jerash may be cited as an 
 example of natural decay. To all appearances 
 it has been left uninhabited for centuries, and all 
 changes must be credited to natural agencies. 
 Sun and rain have done their work well ; earth¬ 
 quake shocks have wrought havoc amongst the 
 stately buildings, and scattered the columns right 
 and left; and Time, the insidious destroyer, has 
 brought low those proud edifices, erected to 
 withstand all enemies. 
 
 Night settled upon the camp in the theatre. The 
 
 otherwise man " kept the watch from midnight 
 and onward. As he paced back and forth on the 
 highest tier of benches, the sight of the late-rising 
 moon, fast waning in its reflected glory, brought 
 to mind the reality of the weird scene about him. 
 Those dimly-lighted piles and faintly-glimmering 
 columns were the waning, vanishing evidence of 
 a former magnificence and grandeur foreign to 
 this land in the present generation. 
 
 The accompanying outline (from survey by 
 Kiepert) gives an idea of the form and vast extent 
 of the ruins of Jerash. 
 
 The following extended extracts from Keith's 
 *‘Land of Israel" (written in 1843), are here in¬ 
 serted, not only because of the intrinsic merit of 
 
 186 
 
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 V* ■■ ^ . • ...■•«'^- ?v/ »■ ■ 
 
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 ITf'- 
 
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 ' ■•• r' ■' '-*1 
 
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 >, «jii* J f ’ 
 
 
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 WX.. • • • ' - ., ' --v ^ A-' . ’;'.-- A4. sT . '¥ 
 
 'i. 
 
 - _-- - . • '' S'. . ''S ♦ .-■ ‘J 
 
 ■ ' " -ilA, A-' , yy.--.^ 
 
 — ^. . - ■'-. -h*' >-• . 
 
 % i. ,.^ a- ■■ *•, :,'■ -., 
 
 •«-...-> v». ; ■'*" -* . ■- '• V N V •: '»*. _lr: 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 the descriptions, but also in corroboration of 
 foregoing statements. 
 
 “Scarcely anywhere are ruins to be found 
 which outvie those of Jerash, supposed to be the 
 ancient Gerasa. Fallen as they are, enough is left 
 to prove that the banks of a streamlet were so 
 enriched and adorned, as to challenge in their 
 magnificence, though in ruins, any spot in Europe, 
 the most richly garnished with princely edifices. 
 Lofty columns generally pertain only to palaces or 
 temples or other public buildings. But the streets 
 of Jerash were lined with colonnades from end 
 to end, and opened a way to public edifices, which 
 yet lost not their distinction, while statelier or 
 finer columns were doubled or multiplied around 
 them. 
 
 “An arched gateway, facing the chief street, 
 
 leads to the splendid remains of a magnificent 
 
 temple, such as few countries could have ever 
 
 shown. The base of the edifice is now covered 
 
 with its fallen roof. Three of the walls still stand, 
 
 showing the niches for images. The front of the 
 
 temple was adorned with a noble portico, with 
 
 three rows of grand Corinthian columns thirty- 
 
 five or forty feet in height, the capitals of which 
 
 are beautifully ornamented with acanthus leaves. 
 
 The spacious area within which it stood were 
 
 187 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 surrounded in like manner by a double row of 
 columns, the total number of which, that origi¬ 
 nally adorned the temple and its area, was 
 not less than two hundred or two hundred and 
 fifty. 
 
 “ In the construction of the city and the position 
 of its principal edifices, now the monument of its 
 glory, nature has been seconded or followed by 
 art. An eminence on one end of the city, op¬ 
 posite to the termination of the grand street which 
 led to the other, was the site both of a temple and 
 of a theatre, which were placed in pagan juxtapo¬ 
 sition. The low hill on which they stood was 
 connected with the princely street by a magnifi¬ 
 cent semicircle of Ionic columns, embracing an 
 open space at its base, fifty-seven of which are 
 still standing, their heighthavingbeen varied with 
 the rising ground to give a uniform level to the 
 whole entablature. The immense theatre, larger 
 than that of Bacchus at Athens, and estimated as 
 having been capable of containing eight thousand 
 spectators, was partly cut out of the rock and 
 partly built; the front wall, or proscenium, is very 
 perfect, and embellished within by five richly- 
 decorated niches, which are connected together 
 by a line of columns, of which there is another 
 parallel range within. 
 
 188 
 
Jerash, the Magnificent City 
 
 I 
 
 “ Beside it are the remains of a beautiful temple, 
 ornamented with pilasters surmounted by Co¬ 
 rinthian capitals; without, it was surrounded by 
 a grand peristyle of the same order. Now in the 
 words of Lord Claude Hamilton, ‘the columns, 
 capitals, and cornice all lie confusedly in a com¬ 
 mon ruin. The view from this spot is still most 
 wonderful, but in the days of Gerasa’s glory it 
 must have been a spectacle of unequalled mag¬ 
 nificence. The whole town, including a vast 
 area, and surrounded by an immense wall, is at 
 your feet. Immediately below is the noble Ionic 
 crescent, from the centre of which the main street 
 extends. Of the continued line of columns on 
 each side, now eighty-three only are standing 
 with their entablatures, but portions and pedes¬ 
 tals of the remainder are clearly visible. Around 
 them, on every side, are confused heaps of well- 
 cut stone, and piles of ruins which have only 
 fallen from the violence of ruthless barbarism. 
 These columns, raising their slender forms among 
 the general wreck, and stretching in so long a 
 line amid the remains of former magnificence, 
 produce an effect which nothing in Italy, Greece, 
 or Egypt has yet presented to me. To the right, 
 the noble temple first mentioned stands against 
 the sight, displaying the beautiful proportions of 
 
 189 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 its matchless portico, and in every direction, 
 columns, colonnades, and massive walls attest the 
 wealth, the power, and the taste that once dwelt 
 in this desolate spot, and read a lesson to human 
 vanity that cannot readily be forgotten.'" 
 
 4- 
 
 190 
 
 A 
 
XVII 
 
 A GREWSOME BEDCHAMBER 
 
 Drip, —drip,—drip;—disquieting dreams and 
 fine spray upon the face of the sleeping “other¬ 
 wise man” had the effect of gradually awaken¬ 
 ing him to the realization that the expected rain 
 had come. Had those old Greeks been in the 
 habit of putting a roof on their theatres, he might 
 have slept on undisturbed. Even this oversight 
 on the part of our Hellenic friends might have 
 passed unnoticed, if their more recent fellow- 
 townsmen, the Circassians, had not ploughed 
 their furrows quite so deeply, thus allowing an 
 ill-placed peg to slip out and let the tent-top sag. 
 Be that as it may, the gently-descending drops 
 were oozing through the canvas and moistening 
 the pillow of the sleeping tourist. He arose, 
 moved his cot out from under these descending 
 blessings, turned his pillow over, and would 
 have resumed his slumbers, had not the “aged 
 friend” called “all hands up” to bring in boxes 
 and other articles to the sheltering tent. Ropes 
 
 were tightened and the erring peg replaced. 
 
 191 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 The muleteers led the animals into the “lions’ 
 den,”—conveniently at hand for the occasion. 
 Sleep was no longer possible, so thoughts were 
 turned to breakfast, ruins, or partridge hunting, 
 according to the individual tastes of the thinkers. 
 
 Indeed, the rain was very obliging, having 
 waited for a day when the travellers expected to 
 remain in camp. Nor did it interfere with pres¬ 
 ent plans. Only a slight shower followed the 
 heavy downpour of the early morning. 
 
 After breakfast and prayers a thorough inspec¬ 
 tion of all the ruins was undertaken. The day 
 was delightfully cool for the excursion. Every 
 part of the ancient city was visited. Eyes and 
 minds were busily occupied. The tourists lin¬ 
 gered long in the southern theatre, specially 
 favored as a choice outlook. From its higher 
 seats one may view the whole expanse of ruins 
 in all their magnitude. 
 
 And they are only ruins! What must have 
 
 been the splendor of the city in its entirety 1 Can 
 
 the imagination compass its magnificence ? The 
 
 spectator at the theatre might weary of the heavy 
 
 dialogue in progress on the stage beneath him, 
 
 but could his eyes ever tire of the grand scene 
 
 spread out before his view ? He might see the 
 
 chariots coursing up and down the avenue of 
 
 192 
 
A Grewsome Bedchamber 
 
 columns, and richly-dressed Greeks and Romans 
 gathered at the Forum, or wending their way to 
 the grand temple on the hill. Wherever his 
 gaze was directed, his eye rested on beautifully- 
 wrought pillars and graceful shapes in buildings, 
 public and private. The companies of helmeted 
 soldiers, with armor glistening in the sun, 
 marched here and there, and the guards upon 
 the wall proclaimed the hourly word of peace 
 and security. 
 
 Now, however, the walls are overthrown, and 
 the sightseers made their way along the street 
 strewn with prostrate columns, and returned to 
 camp, impressed with the power of man to rear 
 such mighty buildings, but the more with the si¬ 
 lent, patient, yet destructive power of Nature, 
 which works by rain and sun, by springing grass 
 and burrowing roots, until it accomplishes the 
 downfall of the proudest structure. 
 
 The afternoon sky was still lowering, and, in 
 order that the tents and camp outfit might be dry 
 for transportation on the morrow, a bold and 
 novel plan was formed. It was resolved to 
 spend the night in the great vaulted passage be¬ 
 hind and beneath the stone benches. Thither 
 the baggage was transferred through one of the 
 
 “vomitoria” connecting with this encircling 
 
 193 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 chamber, even though the exit was nearly choked 
 with stones and rubbish. The tents, having been 
 dried by the afternoon breeze and the fitful sun, 
 were folded and stored away. 
 
 The removal was effected at first by the wan¬ 
 ing light of departing day, and then by flickering 
 candle light. A weird scene it was, as the forms 
 moved back and forth, entering the cave-like 
 opening, casting grotesque shadows on the walls. 
 More grewsome than all was the passage-chamber 
 itself. Candles had been fixed at intervals in the 
 sides, revealing in the rounded ceiling the huge 
 blocks which upheld the seats above them in the 
 open air. This passage was ten feet in width 
 and fully as high, though the floor was covered 
 deep with earth and blocks of stones. 
 
 The beds were ranged along th^ walls, with 
 
 weapons close at hand. For who could tell 
 
 what strange visitor might appear ? At the far 
 
 end of this semicircular vault the horses were 
 
 sheltered,—not in sight nor in sound, except for 
 
 an occasional stamp of a hoof. All the openings 
 
 to the rear had long ago been closed by rough 
 
 piles of stones. Only one was left, and by that 
 
 opening the muleteers slept, guarding against any 
 
 intrusion from without. When all preparations 
 
 had been completed, and darkness had settled 
 
 194 
 
A Grewsome Bedchamber 
 
 upon the outside world, then the three mission¬ 
 aries, envoys of the Christian religion, lay down 
 to sleep in a heathen theatre, dedicated, no doubt, 
 to a heathen god! 
 
 And as they slept, and dreamed, what form 
 may not their night visions have assumed! If 
 environment can affect the unfettered fancies of 
 the dreamers, they must surely have traced their 
 path back over the centuries to the early days of 
 Christianity, when hundreds and thousands of 
 noble martyrs adhered steadfastly to their faith, 
 even in the hour of ignominy and cruel death. 
 
 This theatre by its very shape reveals its pur¬ 
 pose, which is not the recital of innocent plays, 
 but the shedding of blood for the amusement of 
 heathen spectators. Nor would the thousands 
 of onlookers be content with the slaughter of 
 beasts, however wild and noble; they must see 
 human prowess and human suffering. 
 
 Might not the dreamer, with the liberty of ir¬ 
 rationality,— 
 
 “ While fancy, like the finger of a clock, 
 
 Runs the great circuit, and is still at home,” —* 
 
 see the place restored to its one-time form ? 
 
 Again the day dawns, but a day in the third 
 century of our era. The sun shines upon glis- 
 
 * Cowper. 
 
 195 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 tening circles of seats, and busts of gods and 
 goddesses adorn the shell-shaped niches. The 
 sand in the arena glows under the warming 
 rays, while the half-famished beasts fill the air 
 with their roaring, which issues from the 
 strongly-grated dens on the lowest level. Hark! 
 a strange, sweet sound rises on the morning air; 
 —it is the hymn of the Christians, as they wait 
 in chains for the hour of their release. Upheld 
 by divine strength, they look out upon the prep¬ 
 arations, as fresh sand is sprinkled on the arena, 
 and the barrier walls are examined, lest some in¬ 
 furiated beast leap to the benches. 
 
 Then the rear gates are swung open and the 
 crowds pour in. Those clad in the royal purple, 
 their courtiers with them, choose the best seats, 
 while the rest of the available space is filled with 
 an eager, expectant thfong. The nobility are 
 greeted with cheers, then all eyes turn to the 
 grated bars. 
 
 These are opened, and one, two, three raven¬ 
 ous beasts spring out. They have not long to 
 wait. An opposite door swings backward, and 
 perchance a Christian family move slowly for¬ 
 ward to a horrible death, while pampered nobles 
 and court-bred ladies eagerly bend far over to 
 
 watch the certain result. They no longer think 
 
 196 
 
A Grewsome Bedchamber 
 
 of thumbs turned down, which might have res¬ 
 cued a gladiator or a wrestler. 
 
 But these are only Christians! With uplifted 
 eyes and unswerving faith they die the martyr's 
 death. Can such things have been? Is it not 
 all a monstrous dream ? Were the believers ever 
 put to such a test ? In this day of easy Christi¬ 
 anity who would stand in the face of such an 
 ordeal! 
 
 The dreamer seems to be drawn irresistibly 
 into the midst of the onlookers. Dazed and 
 trembling he beholds the Christians, singly and 
 in groups, brought before the altars in the pres¬ 
 ence of the throng, and given a little incense to 
 strew, if they will, upon the altar fire. A very 
 easy way to deny their Lord, yet all the more 
 subtle the temptation. One by one they refuse 
 with the Christian fortitude born of faith. “ To 
 the beasts!" is the cry, and their crown is won. 
 
 Now the dreamer is brought closer and closer 
 to the altar. The officiating priest places the 
 incense in his hand, and urges him to a decision. 
 All about him are the eager, heathen faces, row 
 upon row, with eyes bent upon him, and ears 
 open to hear his reply, or witness the slight 
 gesture of submission. He dare not look behind 
 
 him,—the moans of the tortured are enough. 
 
 197 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 It is a moment of awful suspense. All his 
 professions of faith, his calling itself, urge him to 
 the word of right decision. The sweetness of 
 life, the love of his dear ones, the sophistry of 
 plausible excuses tempt him to move his arm 
 toward the altar. The crowds grow impatient; 
 the cry goes up; his fate is about to be sealed; 
 what shall he do ? Suddenly some hunger-mad¬ 
 dened beast raises its voice; the dreamer starts 
 and vainly struggles with his captors, and— 
 awakes to realize that a wild-cat has invaded 
 the improvised bedchamber, and the 'Miterary 
 friend" has raised the alarm. The provisions 
 were saved, and a tragedy averted. 
 
XVIII 
 
 A QUEST FOR WATER 
 
 The stars were shining brightly in the heavens, 
 when, at four o’clock in the morning, the travel¬ 
 lers emerged from their theatrical chamber, none 
 the worse for their experience, and ready to 
 start on a new path toward the west. No rain 
 had fallen during the night, and all signs pointed 
 to a cool, breezy day. Little did they realize 
 that this was to be the longest day’s work of the 
 trip. 
 
 The chilly darkness, scarce dispelled by a 
 
 belated and discouraged moon, gave zest to 
 
 active preparation for the removal. The loads 
 
 were made up; the inner man was refreshed 
 
 (principally with bread and sweet-food); lunch 
 
 (ditto) was packed; and, as the genial light of 
 
 dawning day grew brighter and clearer, the 
 
 caravan started, rejoicing that no government 
 
 officials had stepped in to interfere with the 
 
 solid delight of the visit to Jerash. Indeed, the 
 
 utmost precautions had been observed. The 
 
 early morning start had been made without 
 
 199 
 
% 
 
 Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 noise or confusion. The muleteers knew abso¬ 
 lutely nothing of their destination. Hence no 
 one could extract from them any reliable infor¬ 
 mation. (This had been a rule of procedure 
 thus far. The muleteers were under ‘'sealed 
 orders.") 
 
 The ruins of Jerash were left behind, as the 
 crest of a hill was turned, two or three villages 
 were passed on the road, which led up and down 
 over gentle hills and broad valleys, until Reimun 
 was reached. This may possibly be the Ramoth 
 Gilead of the Bible. Surely the site was most 
 suitable, but, alas, the village has sunk to the 
 lowest grade of poverty and squalor. Many 
 huts were seen, built in wigwam style,—stalks 
 of grain or reed coated over with rnud. 
 
 If this were indeed the true site of Ramoth 
 Gilead, then the tourists were on historic ground. 
 Moses appointed this city, with five others, to be 
 a city of refuge.^ It became also an important 
 place and seat of government. Solomon made 
 it one of his commissariat stations,* whence 
 might be supplied the daily necessities for his 
 table in Jerusalem. The requirements were 
 prodigious.® The list would seem to indicate 
 that quantity, not variety, was the chief stipu- 
 
 * Deut. iv. 43. 2 I Kings iv. 13. >1 Kings iv. 22-28. 
 
 200 
 
A Quest for Water 
 
 lation. It is even so at the present time. An 
 oriental bill of fare undergoes slight changes, 
 except in amount. 
 
 But the chief claim of this city to distinction is 
 that Ahab, the infamous king and husband of the 
 more infamous Jezebel, met his death here at the 
 hands of a certain man, who drew a bow at a 
 venture.” How black is the page of the sacred 
 record, which contains the names of Ahab and 
 Jezebel I The only redeeming feature is the 
 necessary intermingling of the story of Elijah. 
 
 After Ahab had gained a decisive victory at 
 Aphek in Jaulan over his long-time enemy, 
 Benhadad, the Syrian, he displeased the Lord by 
 his lenient and foolish treatment of his royal 
 prisoner, and received a well-deserved rebuke.' 
 He returned to Samaria, angry at the Lord's 
 reproof, and peevish as a little child. He wanted 
 Naboth's vineyard, and his childish wish was 
 gratified. But appended to it was a terrible 
 curse from the lips of Elijah. That sturdy 
 prophet appeared finally to the conscience- 
 smitten Ahab, and pronounced a bloody ending 
 to the wretched king's career. In the place 
 where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall 
 dogs lick thy blood, even thine.” “ 
 
 * I Kings XX. 28-42. 8 1 Kings xxi. 19. 
 
 201 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Two years passed by after this event, but the 
 fulfillment was delayed. Possibly the dire 
 prophecy was forgotten by Ahab. God never 
 forgets. In the third year came Jehoshaphat, 
 King of Judah, to pay a visit to his royal neigh¬ 
 bor.^ He was entertained sumptuously (accord¬ 
 ing to prevailing Eastern ideas). Sheep and oxen 
 were slaughtered in abundance, and his attend¬ 
 ants allowed to gorge themselves. When all 
 were feeling happy, Ahab, the crafty ruler, pro¬ 
 posed a joint expedition against the Syrian mon¬ 
 arch, to compel him to keep his promises,^ and 
 more especially to surrender Ramoth Gilead, the 
 key to the eastern situation. 
 
 jehoshaphat, really a good and a pious man, 
 felt averse to joining with his infamous neighbor. 
 He would enquire of the Lord through the 
 prophets. Ahab readily assented, for he had his 
 prophets well trained. One of them even placed 
 horns of iron upon his head, thus representing 
 how Ahab would push the Syrians out of the 
 country. One poor fellow, who insisted on tell¬ 
 ing the truth, was put into prison and fed on the 
 bread and water of affliction.” His metaphor 
 of “all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep 
 that have not a shepherd,” had reached its mark, 
 
 * I Kings xxii. 2. * i Kings xx. 34. 
 
 202 
 
A Guest for Water 
 
 however, and Ahab went disguised into the bat¬ 
 tle at Ramoth Gilead. 
 
 Now this ruse did not work with entire satis¬ 
 faction to the other king; for Jehoshaphat found 
 himself the recipient of great attention,—he was 
 the centre of attraction. The Syrians had been 
 ordered to direct their force against the king, and 
 they did so, without discriminating between 
 Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Poor, innocent Jehosha¬ 
 phat was so hard-pressed that he could escape 
 only by crying out that they had the wrong man. 
 
 Ahab did not profit by his scheme. God’s 
 sovereignty was upheld by man’s free agency. 
 One of the Syrian archers placed an arrow on his 
 bow, and without taking aim, in his simplicity,” 
 as the margin reads, let it fly. It reached a vital 
 point beneath the armor of Ahab, and he fell 
 mortally wounded. His life-blood ebbed away 
 till the eventide, when he sank in the midst of his 
 chariot. Then the word was passed from mouth 
 to mouth, Every man to his city, and every man 
 to his own country.” A king had fallen. 
 
 The chariot was driven just as it was to the 
 
 royal city of Samaria, and there was washed in 
 
 the pool. ''And the dogs licked up his blood 
 
 . . . according unto the word of the Lord 
 
 which he spake.” Thus did the dogs, the home- 
 
 g03 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 less, ownerless, outcast scavengers of Syria, ful¬ 
 fill the prophecy of Elijah. 
 
 Again, after the lapse of a dozen years, Ramoth 
 Gilead figured once more in the history of Israel, 
 this time in connection with Jehoram, the son of 
 Ahab.' He had gone out to the east-Jordan coun¬ 
 try with Ahaziah, his ally, and had been severely 
 wounded in Ramoth Gilead in a battle with the 
 irrepressible Syrians. Upon his removal to Jez- 
 reel for healing, Jehu, one of his captains, raised 
 a revolt, and was proclaimed king by the soldiers. 
 Then he mounted his chariot and drove headlong 
 from Ramoth Gilead to Jezreel, and amid the 
 slaughter of all Ahab’s house, together with the 
 frightful, but well-deserved death of jezebel, 
 Jehu assumed the reins of government. Thus 
 was Ramoth Gilead again connected with the 
 fulfillment of prophecy in the destruction of the 
 house of Ahab, root and branch. 
 
 Reimdn is in the midst of a hilly7 wooded dis¬ 
 trict. The vision of the prophet was in place, 
 I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep 
 that have not a shepherd.”* The travellers, hav¬ 
 ing no guide, were often at a loss to know the 
 right road, nor were there many wayfarers. 
 The path led up and over a high ridge covered 
 1 2 Kings viii. 28, etc. * l Kings xxii. 17. 
 
 204 
 
A Quest for Water 
 
 with forests, then on and up again, until the 
 tourists emerged upon a high point to the south 
 of their previous camp at 'Ajlun, with the castle 
 Rubud in full view across the mighty gorge. 
 The noonday rest and lunch were enjoyed under 
 the olives near 'Anjara, with Rubud ever in sight. 
 
 Then westward they went, above the great 
 valley, to Kefrenjy, where a council was held as 
 to routes. The deep valley led down in a south¬ 
 westerly course to the plain of the Jordan, invit¬ 
 ing to the travellers, because (as described by a 
 villager), it was perfectly easy,—a carriage road 
 in directness and smoothness. “Need a guide? 
 No! Couldn't possibly lose the way." The 
 many good points of this route overcame the 
 counter-attractions of a night at Helaweh, the 
 possible site of Jabesh Gilead. The river route 
 offered abundance of water, while at Helaweh 
 there were only cisterns, and those liable to be 
 nearly dry. 
 
 So the line of march was once more resumed, 
 and it was the expectation that the Jordan plain 
 would soon be reached. All went well for a 
 while, until the ever-winding stream in the gorge 
 was crossed and the other bank ascended. That 
 was the false move. The river should not have 
 been crossed. They seemed, however, to be fol- 
 
 205 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 lowing the course, though its resemblance to the 
 above-mentioned carriage road was exceedingly 
 faint. Fortunately, the animals were all watered 
 at the stream and were ready to push on. 
 
 The path led upward and away from the water, 
 past large boulders and along a level plateau. It 
 seemed to be a well-trodden path. But all at 
 once it disappeared,—swallowed up in a field of 
 ploughed ground,—nor could the most minute 
 and extended search reveal its continuation. 
 
 There the travellers were, high and dry, up 
 above the desired Jordan plain, and the sun sink¬ 
 ing ever lower in the west. The only compen¬ 
 sation for this untimely altitude was the marvel¬ 
 lous view. It surpassed even that from Rubud 
 castle. Now this point is marked in Baedeker 
 with a triple star, simply because the compiler of 
 that valuable guide-book undoubtedly never had 
 occasion to view the world from this thor¬ 
 oughfare.” 
 
 The wanderers realized that something must 
 
 be done. It would be ignominious to retrace 
 
 their steps; it seemed impossible to go forward. 
 
 But they must leave the plateau and strive to 
 
 reach a lower level. With some difficulty the 
 
 horses were led down a steep, rocky hillside to a 
 
 second and lower plateau. Here, too, no roads 
 
 206 
 
A Quest for Water 
 
 were found, and affairs looked far from prepos¬ 
 sessing. The tourists were ready to pitch camp 
 then and there. The muleteers were taken into 
 council. “Put up the tents and make the best 
 of it in this dry place. Count it a night in your 
 experience,” was the suggestion offered. What, 
 pass the night without water! Impossible! What 
 would their mules do, and what would they do ? 
 The idea could not be entertained. 
 
 One of them remembered to have noticed a 
 slight path leading down a gully toward the left. 
 It was only a goat path, or used by wood-chop¬ 
 pers, but it was a path, and take it they would! 
 The risk of defeat was great. A massive boul¬ 
 der, or a steep declivity, or any one of number¬ 
 less hindrances might stop them in their way. 
 The sun was nearing the horizon, and the plain 
 was far away. 
 
 They first took a zigzag path down a rough, 
 steep hillside, where a false step by horse or 
 mule would send him to sure death. It is su¬ 
 perfluous to state that the travellers walked, 
 leading their horses. They reached the narrow 
 gully, where a winter torrent had scoured the 
 bed-rocks in the channel, till they almost shone. 
 Here was indeed a geometrical progression of 
 
 difficulties. The first descent from the highest 
 
 207 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 plateau had seemed hard; the next was danger¬ 
 ous; the one before them seemed impassable. 
 
 But the muleteers were spurred on by the in¬ 
 born Syrian craving for water. Deprive him of 
 all else, but allow him water at all times of day 
 and night! David took from Saul a precious 
 article, when he carried off by night the jug of 
 water placed for easy convenience at the king’s 
 bolster, out in the wilderness of Judaea. ^ Much 
 of the Bible imagery, narrative and illustration 
 can be understood only with a full realization of 
 the intense desire for water among the people of 
 the Orient. A westerner can curb his thirst, and 
 be influenced by decisive circumstances. The 
 oriental drinks at every fountain and in every 
 house,—and his thirst continues. 
 
 The thought of a night without water had 
 sent the muleteers down over a declivity danger¬ 
 ous in the extreme. They pushed ahead over 
 pebbles and rocks and boulders, sliding on 
 treacherous slabs worn smooth by the winter 
 waters. The travellers cautiously followed their 
 thirsty guides, fearful of consequences to limbs 
 of struggling horses. As they passed over the 
 slippery rocks, the query of Amos received re¬ 
 newed verification, “Shall horses run upon the 
 
 11 Sam. xxvi. 12. 
 
 208 
 
A Quest for Water 
 
 rock ? ” * And what if this progress should posi¬ 
 tively be stopped ? Could they ever retrace their 
 steps ? This mad plunge continued till the sun’s 
 red orb was hid behind the western ranges, when 
 they emerged finally and with a shout of triumph 
 onto the plain of the Jordan. 
 
 That had been a novel experience in rough 
 roads, far better in the retrospect than the actu¬ 
 ality. It was uniquel 
 
 But the day’s labor was not yet ended. No 
 water was in sight. The Jordan was far away 
 across the wide plain, and water to the north 
 was a discouraging uncertainty. Yet the mule¬ 
 teers were determined to keep moving, till they 
 landed in the lake itself, provided no water were 
 found before that. Wearily the tired pack-ani¬ 
 mals plodded along. The colors faded out on 
 the bare mountain-sides. Long after dark some 
 shepherds, camping near the roadside, gave the 
 information that a cistern was ahead *‘one 
 cigarette.” That cigarette could never have been 
 lighted, for the cistern never appeared. 
 
 Then the road was lost in the thick darkness, 
 and with difficulty found by the closest scrutiny. 
 A viper hissed in the roadside, unseen but not 
 unheard. The way stretched out interminably 
 
 * Amos vi. 12. 
 
 209 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 over slightly rolling ground. Patience was tried 
 again and again, as the dried-up water-courses 
 were reached and passed. Job had evidently 
 been tempted thus, for he wrote “My brethren 
 have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the 
 stream of brooks they pass away; which are 
 blackish by reason of the ice, and wherein the 
 snow is hid: what time they wax warm, they 
 vanish: when it is hot, they are consumed out of 
 their place. The paths of their way are turned 
 aside; they go to nothing, and perish.”^ Each 
 depression seemed to promise relief. None was 
 » to be found. Courage and hope were spent. 
 
 At last the glad sound of running water was 
 heard, faint at first, then growing louder. It was 
 a little stream below the path, flowing in a nar¬ 
 row channel through a field of stones. Darkness 
 reigned, an absolute monarch; but the loads 
 were put down without ceremony in the stony 
 plot, and enough of the stones removed to fur¬ 
 nish a place for the tired beasts. They had had 
 a memorable day,—nearly fourteen hours of 
 solid work! 
 
 No attempt was made to unpack or set up 
 tents,—no one had the energy to try it. A cold 
 meal was “picked up,” (the third cold one for 
 
 ‘Jobvi. 15-18. 
 
 210 
 
A Quest for Water 
 
 the day). Beds were placed amongst the stones in 
 the open field, and the reward of all the toil came 
 in refreshing sleep. Fatigue vanished in the night, 
 just as the thirst had departed, when the little 
 rivulet of flowing water offered of its precious 
 self to meet the needs of the thirsty wayfarers. 
 
 Such an experience adds vividness to all the 
 sacred allusions to water and its value. 
 
 “And Abraham reproved Abimelech because 
 of a well of watery which Abimelech's servants 
 had violently taken away.”^ 
 
 “And there was no water for the people to 
 drink. Wherefore the people did chide with 
 Moses.” ^ 
 
 “Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I 
 may eat; and give me water for money, that I 
 may drink.” ^ 
 
 “ He shall bless thy bread, and thy water.” ^ 
 
 “Thou hast not given water to the weary to 
 drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the 
 hungry.”® 
 
 “ He leadeth me beside the still waters.” ® 
 
 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the 
 waters.” ’ 
 
 >Gen. xxi. 25; xxvi. 19-21. *Ex. xv. 24; xvii. i, 2. 
 
 3 Deut. ii. 28. ^ Ex. xxiii. 25. » Job xxii. 7, 
 
 « Ps. xxiii, 2, ’ Isa, Iv. i. 
 
 211 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 ** If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and 
 drink/'^ 
 
 “ And He showed me a pure river of water of 
 life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
 of God and of the Lamb.”^ 
 
 * John iv, 14, 15; vii, 37. *Rev. xxii. 1. 
 
 212 
 
 f 
 
 \ 
 
 V 
 
XIX 
 
 % 
 
 THE FORD OF THE JORDAN 
 
 As the tourists awoke from refreshing sleep in 
 their stony camping-place, they were glad to see 
 in the morning light what darkness had wrapped 
 in impenetrable gloom. They had descended 
 from the heights of ’Ajlun to the depressed Ghor 
 of the Jordan. On the one side rose the moun¬ 
 tains, and far across the wide plain the cleft of 
 the sacred river could be followed. 
 
 This Ghor, the great “plain of the Jordan,” is 
 one of the characteristic features of Biblical to¬ 
 pography. It varies in width. In some places 
 it embraces a plain nearly a dozen miles across. 
 This is what Lot saw when he “lifted up his 
 eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that 
 it was well watered everywhere, even as the 
 garden of the Lord.” This strip of country is 
 intensely hot and equally fertile. It is inhabited 
 almost exclusively by Bedawin, whose lazy 
 habits and meagre wants enable them to endure 
 
 the burning heat with a minimum of physical 
 
 213 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 inconvenience. They pitch their rude camps 
 along the river-bottoms and exist. Not even the 
 otherwhere potent offer of money could induce 
 the lazy Bedawin to act as guides. Many a time 
 the travellers, in their way toward the river 
 across the perplexing rolling land and streams 
 and marshy plots in the Ghor, made trial of the 
 lounging Arabs. It was of no avail. They 
 would not budge an inch. There they lay along 
 the ground,' sunning themselves, like lizards 
 upon a rock, and counted it an effort to raise 
 their hands to point toward the road. They 
 were contented. There was tobacco in their 
 long-stemmed pipes and probably enough meal 
 in the tent to last a few days, and what more did 
 they crave? One old Bedawy along the way 
 was seen to produce a dirty bag from within the 
 bosom of his tattered garment, extract a hand¬ 
 ful of millet (or some other cheap grain), mix 
 this with some dirty water, shape the dough into 
 a rough cake, lay it on a smooth stone, bake it 
 (?) under the hot sun, and then eat it with evi¬ 
 dent relish. That constituted his noon meal. 
 And doubtless all the others were similar. 
 
 This great stretch of low land may once have 
 
 been the basin of a great lake. But the waters 
 
 have subsided and left only a stream and smaller 
 
 214 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 lakes, remarkable for their history as well as for 
 their physical peculiarities. 
 
 It is a curious fact that not until this century 
 did the world know the truth about the marvel¬ 
 lous depression of this valley. In 1837 an Amer¬ 
 ican lieutenant, Lynch, explored the Jordan and 
 the Dead Sea, and found that they lay below the 
 level of the Mediterranean! What must have 
 been his feelings, as he travelled the length of 
 the sacred water-course, to discover his instru¬ 
 ments gradually recording the fact that he was 
 sinking below the ocean! At the waters of 
 Merom he was but six feet and a half above the 
 sea level. When he reached Galilee, he had de¬ 
 scended to a point six hundred and eighty-two 
 feet below the Mediterranean, and finally, as he 
 emerged upon the great expanse of salt water at 
 the Dead Sea, he had reached the lowest known 
 spot on the face of the earth, twelve hundred 
 and ninety-three feet below sea level! 
 
 The Jordan is a river which has made the most 
 of its opportunities. In a straight distance of 
 one hundred and thirty-six miles it has managed 
 to lengthen itself by twistings and turnings to 
 almost twice the above distance. In one place it 
 runs due north! And more than that, in the 
 
 same distance it descends three thousand feet! 
 
 216 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Contrary to the popular idea, the Jordan is a nar¬ 
 row river. Its current is very swift, and it is 
 impassable except at certain points, where it 
 broadens into a somewhat shallow stream. It is 
 not surprising that the Jordan is a muddy river. 
 For its banks are of clay, and wage a losing war¬ 
 fare against the allied forces of swift current and 
 sharp loops. Bridges are few and ancient, most 
 of them were ruined remains. One, the Jisr el 
 Mijamia, still 'does a good business in the winter 
 months, when the fords are dangerous or impass¬ 
 able. Much of the grain from Hauran passes on 
 camels over this ancient bridge. The Jordan has 
 three banks,^ one above another. The low¬ 
 est one,—the true channel of the river,—is nar¬ 
 row and sunk far below the surrounding level. 
 This is its course during the fall and winter. 
 One standing at the water’s edge finds his view 
 almost completely intercepted. The next bank 
 consists of soft, sedimentary deposit, which con¬ 
 fines the river in its fuller course. When the 
 hot sun of late spring and summer melts the 
 snows of Hermon, then the river swells to its 
 greatest proportions and often rises to the level 
 of the third bank, which is lined with trees, 
 bushes and undergrowth. The Jordan at this 
 
 * Joshua iii. 15. 
 
 216 
 
 V 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 level is a formidable stream. It is noted of 
 David’s most valiant warriors, as a mark of 
 special strength and courage, that they ‘‘went 
 over the Jordan in the first month, when it had 
 overflown all his banks,” ^—that is, they swam 
 the swollen stream. 
 
 The Jordan is the river of fancy and imagina¬ 
 tion. Poets have sung of it, devotional writers 
 have used it as a figure of death from time im¬ 
 memorial. Every one, young and old, has 
 painted some mental picture of this sacred 
 stream. The hymn-writers have woven the 
 thought of the swift-flowing stream into many 
 a hymn of heaven and release from the burdens 
 of this life. Yet not all allusions to the Jordan 
 are adapted to the true facts. One beautiful 
 poem begins with this stanza: 
 
 *• Like an arrow from the quiver, 
 
 To the sad and lone Dead Sea 
 Thou art rushing, rapid river. 
 
 Swift, and strong, and silently.” 
 
 At the risk of seeming to question the poetic 
 license it is permissible to state the fact that no 
 arrow could possibly pursue the crooked course 
 adopted by the Jordan. 
 
 This well-known river forms a natural and 
 
 I I Chron. xii. I 3 » 
 
 217 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 well-defined boundary, and in all times has 
 sharply divided between east and west. The Is¬ 
 raelites were accustomed to the phrases “over 
 Jordan,” “on the other side of Jordan,” “beyond 
 Jordan,” and similar expressions. Even the 
 peoples that inhabited the different sections were 
 dissimilar. The eastern nations were rugged and 
 uncouth, and lived by war and plunder. Those 
 to the west were amenable to law and progress. 
 
 The historical references to the sacred river 
 form an interesting part of Holy Writ. The Jor¬ 
 dan is mentioned nearly two hundred times! It 
 is connected with incidents varying widely in 
 character. The “ great plain of Jordan ” ^ tempted 
 Lot to his final downfall. This is the first men¬ 
 tion of the Jordan river. In opposite mood the 
 Patriarch Jacob, when he set out from home to 
 seek his fortune, crossed the river eastward.^ 
 Later on his descendants, the Israelites, under 
 Joshua’s leadership miraculously passed over on 
 dry land, and took twelve stones from the bed 
 of the stream to rear as a memorial pillar.^ It 
 was the grief of Moses’ life that he was not per¬ 
 mitted to cross the stream.* 
 
 During the period of the Judges many stirring 
 
 2 Gen. xxxii. lo, 
 
 4 Deut. iii, 25. 
 
 1 Gen. xiii. 10. 
 3 Josh, iv, 20. 
 
 S18 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 events transpired at the Jordan. Ehud, the left- 
 handed deliverer of Israel, gathered his men at 
 the fords of Jordan and slew ten thousand 
 Moabites.^ 
 
 The episode of Gideon and his doings Ms pecul¬ 
 iarly interesting, because it illustrates the crude 
 ideas of justice and the qualities of leadership 
 displayed in those days. The Midianites had 
 crossed the Jordan in great numbers and gathered 
 on the plain of Jezreel. Where was the man to 
 rise up as champion of Israel ? Gideon was the 
 hero ordained of God. He belonged to a poor 
 family of Manasseh. After receiving convincing 
 signs that he should succeed, he assembled his 
 followers from all the neighboring tribes (except 
 Ephraim). But the Lord wished to reveal His 
 power unto Gideon and to Israel, and therefore 
 told him to send back all the cowards. These 
 amounted to twenty-two thousand! Yet there 
 were ten thousand left,—far too many for the 
 purposes of God. 
 
 Then a strange choice was made. They were 
 all hurried pellmell down to the water, so that they 
 arrived very thirsty. All but three hundred of the 
 men hastened to the river’s edge, knelt down, put 
 their faces to the water, and drank without stint. 
 
 1 Judges ii. 28,29, * Judges vi, 7,8, 
 
 219 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 These were rejected, because they evinced lack 
 of prudence and self-control. Caution, too, was 
 wanting. The enemy might have gained an ad¬ 
 vantage while they were thus kneeling and in¬ 
 attentive to their surroundings. Such men were 
 not the best for the delicate expedition proposed 
 by the Lord. 
 
 The other three hundred did not kneel down, 
 but merely bending the knee, and with one eye 
 upon their duty, quenched their thirst by dipping 
 one hand in the stream and dexterously throwing 
 handful after handful of the refreshing water into 
 their mouths, just as a dog flings the water into 
 his mouth by a quick movement of his tongue.^ 
 These three hundred were prepared to spring 
 instantly to attack or defence without the loss of 
 a moment. And they stood in need of all their 
 prudence and self-restraint. For the enemy num¬ 
 bered one hundred and thirty-five thousand men.* 
 
 That night they gained an overwhelming victory 
 by the use of pottery jugs, torches and trumpets. 
 The remnant of the Midianites fled precipitately 
 toward the ford of the Jordan. Gideon sent word 
 to Ephraim to cut off their escape at the fords. 
 As a result many of them were slain, and among 
 them two princes. 
 
 »Judges vii. 5. 
 
 220 
 
 * Judges viii. 10, 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 Gideon and his men, faint, yet pursuing,” 
 hastened after the fugitives, even though the 
 provisions were exhausted, and the citizens of 
 Succoth and Penuel refused to feed his followers. 
 This was a marked breech of hospitality, which 
 did not pass unnoticed. On his triumphal return, 
 he took occasion to look in upon these two places 
 as he passed. Succoth’s officials and city council 
 he caught, and with a collection of thorns and 
 briers, as the record says, he “ taught the men of 
 Succoth ” I Penuel he laid waste and killed its 
 citizens. 
 
 Jephthah, the Gileadite judge, is also worthy of 
 mention in connection with the fords of the Jor¬ 
 dan.^ When the Ephraimites from the west of the 
 river thought to bully him, because he had fought 
 a battle without their aid, he sent some of his men 
 to hold the fords of the Jordan, and with the rest 
 routed the' men of Ephraim, so that they fled 
 homeward. But at the great river they fell into 
 difficulties of a linguistic nature. Being asked to 
 say something about the stream, they would in¬ 
 variably say “Sibboleth,” whereas an east- 
 Jordaner would call it Shibboleth.” This 
 lingual impediment cost the lives of forty-two 
 thousand Ephraimites. Nor is it an unlikely story. 
 
 >Judgesxii. i-6. 
 
 m 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Dialectical differences in Syria and Palestine are 
 more marked than those between North and 
 South, East and West in America. The teacher 
 in Arabic, whose school is far distant from 
 his native place, frequently finds himself in the 
 dilemma of the lisping pedagogue who tried to 
 teach his pupils the sound of s." The nektht 
 letter ith *eth.' But don’t thay eth ath I thay 
 eth ; thay eth.'" 
 
 The Jordan river, although no city has ever 
 stood upon its banks, nevertheless could boast 
 two useful institutions in its immediate vicinity. 
 One was a brass foundry of immense proportions, 
 near to Succoth, where Hiram, king of Tyre, had 
 all the brassware for the temple cast in the clayey 
 ground found thereabout. So much brass was 
 used in making the various utensils, that no one 
 ever ascertained the weight of it.^ 
 
 The second institution was a theological semi¬ 
 nary conducted by Elisha. As far as is known, no 
 question has ever been raised as to the orthodoxy 
 of this school. Indeed, the pupils exhibited some 
 excellent traits of character. One of them lost an 
 axe head in the Jordan, and was specially dis¬ 
 turbed because it was borrowed! ^ 
 
 Naaman, the Syrian leper-prince, dipped seven 
 * Kings vii. 46, 47. 2 Kings vii. 1-7. 
 
 222 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 times in Jordan, perhaps at the very ford where 
 three travellers recently dipped also, but not for 
 the same reasond 
 
 David, the fugitive king, fled over Jordan by 
 night, but on his return, triumphant, yet mourn¬ 
 ful, he found a ferryboat set aside for his use, 
 and was accompanied by that lovable old char¬ 
 acter, Barzillai, eighty years of age.^ 
 
 One more scene of the Old Testament must 
 be mentioned,—the majestic translation of the 
 [ Prophet of Fire, Elijah. As in service sudden in 
 appearance, fierce in denunciation, and dramatic 
 in action; so in his departure the fire of heaven 
 shaped itself to his need. Strange it is that he 
 delayed his ascension,—not in Gilgal, not in 
 Bethel, not in Jericho,—until he had crossed the 
 Jordan with Elisha, and there, in the borders of 
 his own Gilead, the mighty prophet left this 
 earth, swept by a whirlwind to heaven in a 
 chariot of flaming fire.^ 
 
 But the cup of Jordan’s honor was not yet full. 
 There remained one crowning event.^ Hundreds 
 of years after that fiery ascension a quiet scene 
 occurred at one of the higher fords, transcending 
 that manifestation of mighty power, even as the 
 
 »2 Kings V. 14. ® 2 Sam. xix. 18, 31. 
 
 3 2 Kings ii. I-li. * Matt. iii. 13 etc. 
 
 223 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 “still small voice” surpassed in real grandeur 
 the wind, the earthquake, and the fire. It was 
 a scene of utmost simplicity. A rough-clad 
 preacher stood beside the flowing waters, pro¬ 
 claiming salvation through repentance. People 
 of all stations in life thronged to the ford, im¬ 
 pelled thither by varying motives. In the midst 
 of his exhortations the eloquent preacher paused. 
 One had come, whose very look and sinless 
 beauty, and majestic solemnity of mien com¬ 
 pelled the attention of the prophet, who was 
 overawed by the Divine Presence. How simple 
 and heartfelt the confession of human depend¬ 
 ence, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and 
 comest Thou to me ? ” With the humble reply, 
 “Suffer it to be so now,” the Son of God 
 descended into the waters of Jordan, the dove of 
 the Divine Spirit rested upon Him, and from out 
 the parted heavens came the Father’s voice, 
 “This is My beloved Son, in whom 1 am well 
 pleased.” 
 
 Surely at that sacred river the three travellers 
 
 might well pause in contemplation of all the 
 
 scenes of sacred history enacted at its banks. 
 
 They, too, came to the ford of the Jordan, 
 
 desiring to cross. As it swept past them in 
 
 deep, dark currents, there seemed to be no way 
 
 224 
 
The Ford of the Jordan 
 
 of passage. But a Bedawy near at hand strode 
 across in safety, and riders and loads followed 
 him, until all were across the stream. The camp 
 pushed on to its destination, while the travellers 
 lingered for a refreshing dip in the swift, cold 
 waters, and a quiet rest beneath the overhanging 
 shade. Oh, poet’s dream, how many would 
 delight to share that rest, in the sound of the 
 rushing waters, in sight of the rolling stream I 
 
 “ Through the dark green foliage stealing, 
 
 Like a silver ray of light. 
 
 Who can tell the pilgrim’s feeling 
 When thy waters meet his sight ? 
 
 ** All the deeds of sacred story, 
 
 All its marvels great and true, 
 
 All that gives the Jordan glory, 
 
 Rush upon his raptured view! 
 
 ****** 
 
 « Emblem bright of Death’s dark River, 
 
 Long I linger on thy shore; 
 
 All its waves can harm me never. 
 
 Now the Ark has gone before.”— Anderson, 
 
 225 
 
XX 
 
 BETHSHAN, AND THE IGNOMINY OF SAUL 
 
 The travellers, leaving the favored lunching- 
 place at the river ford, mounted the steep western 
 banks to the level of the great plain, which 
 stretches off toward Bethshan. Almost opposite 
 to this ford, somewhat back from the river, lies 
 the site of the little village, where Elisha was 
 born,—Abel-meholah. His father was evidently 
 a well-to-do farmer, for he was able to employ 
 several laborers for the work of ploughing. 
 Elijah found the young farmer in a field at work 
 with eleven others, each with his oxen and 
 plough.^ 
 
 As the tourists made their way across the 
 wide-spreading plain, they looked toward the 
 ancient site and in imagination could see a dozen 
 yoke of oxen trailing lazily over the ground, 
 spurred on by frequent pokes from the “pricks” 
 in the hands of nineteenth century Elishas. 
 
 This plain was once luxuriantly fertile. It was 
 watered by many little rivulets, which afforded 
 
 * I Kings xix. 19-21, 
 
 226 
 
Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul 
 
 ample moisture for abundant and easy crops. 
 Many palms reared their stately heads. Not 
 much of the ancient beauty remains, though the 
 plain is as fertile as ever it was. 
 
 Beisan itself, the objective point of the day’s 
 travel, is a Syrian paradise for water. On every 
 side are living streams, copious fountains and 
 running brooks. The place is a large and im¬ 
 portant point on the great route from the south¬ 
 ern seaports toward Damascus. The horses of 
 the strangers clattered over well-paved streets, 
 through markets lined with substantially-built 
 stores and grain magazines. There, too, was 
 found the ubiquitous Judeideh merchant,—this 
 time a Protestant church member and a good 
 representative of his sect. He was delighted to 
 see his friends, and on Sunday evening brought 
 some of his companions to the tents for an in¬ 
 formal service of song and prayer. Having 
 spent long months away from church life, his 
 soul craved the fellowship, which the mission¬ 
 aries were delighted to give. 
 
 The present town is but a faded remnant of the 
 old-time city. Then it filled all the surrounding 
 plain, and, leaping a deep valley, planted itself 
 upon a remarkable hillock, the citadel of the me¬ 
 tropolis. When the travellers had passed through 
 
 227 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 the town, they emerged upon the level threshing 
 floors at the edge of a bluff looking across a deep 
 water-course to the high hillock above mentioned. 
 
 The muleteers had tried to pitch the tents on 
 this level spot, though the rushing wind increased 
 the difficulties of the operation, and filled the 
 tents with the fine straw from the threshing 
 floors,—the “chaff,” which used to be burned in 
 the time of John the Baptist.^ The tourists at 
 once realized the unwisdom of this choice of 
 site,—exposed to heat, wind, dust, chaff, boys, 
 donkeys and thieves. A prompt reconnoitre re¬ 
 vealed a charming place at the foot of the bluff, 
 at the rear of a large Grecian theatre, in a fig or¬ 
 chard whose trees were of immense size and af¬ 
 forded ample shade. This orchard, by the way, 
 belongs to the Sultan, as does any amount of the 
 best land in the em.pire. On this occasion his 
 majesty’s fig-trees were highly-appreciated by 
 those, who may not have considered his posses¬ 
 sion of them as absolutely lawful. 
 
 This spot settled upon, the camp was quickly 
 shifted down the steep hill and as quickly put 
 into shape by many willing hands. For this was 
 to be a two-night stop, that the patient animals 
 might gain a well-earned rest. Water was close 
 
 * Matt. iii. 12. 
 
 228 
 
Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul 
 
 at hand, though somewhat brackish and not en¬ 
 tirely pure. A thirsty traveller, however, does 
 not always take the sanitary precautions which 
 civilization renders easy. 
 
 A variation in the usual program was occa¬ 
 sioned by the collapse of the cook. His usual 
 high spirits had suffered a decline a day or two 
 before, and he could now barely drag himself to a 
 spot near the tents, there to groan as if his end 
 were near. But there was no danger. His ill¬ 
 ness was more dramatic than serious, though dis¬ 
 agreeable to him and inconvenient to others. 
 The tourists set to work and soon had a choice 
 meal of omelette and other delicacies. This re¬ 
 past having been finished, there was nothing to 
 do but retire. So at half past seven all sought 
 welcome rest, trusting for protection from thieves 
 to the intangible influence of the Sultan, repre¬ 
 sented in his fig-trees. (Possibly a judicious dis¬ 
 play of revolvers and other weapons during the 
 afternoon removal may have been quite as im¬ 
 pressive as fear of imperial vengeance.) 
 
 Next morning the travellers arose betimes, pre¬ 
 pared to enjoy a quiet Sabbath of rest and study 
 in the Bible. All about them were spread the 
 evidences of ancient greatness, and every point 
 
 in the landscape was historic. 
 
 229 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Bethshan, long before the Israelites invaded the 
 land of Canaan, had been a stronghold in war 
 and a centre for commerce. The Canaanites held 
 this city against all the endeavors of Israel to 
 wrest it from their grasp.^ It was a renowned 
 centre of Dagon worship, and the devotees came 
 from afar to propitiate the powerful god. Dur¬ 
 ing the glorious reign of Solomon this place with 
 all the surrounding territory seems to have been 
 added to his dominion and made an important 
 commissariat station for the supply of his royal 
 needs.^ 
 
 The later Grecian name of Scythopolis indicates 
 the influx of a considerable foreign element,— 
 perhaps Scythian settlers. The great theatre is 
 also an evidence of Greek or other European oc¬ 
 cupation. This (temporary) Greek city was also 
 adorned by many other buildings,—a hippo¬ 
 drome, colonnaded street, and other evidences of 
 former splendor. Scythopolis was also the chief 
 city of the Decapolis. In the Christian period it 
 was important as the centre of an episcopal dio¬ 
 cese, and during the Crusades was destroyed by 
 fire at the hands of Saladin. 
 
 The most interesting and thrilling narrative, 
 however, connected with Bethshan is the recital 
 
 1 Judges i. 27. 2 I Kings iv. 12 . 
 
 230 
 
Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul 
 
 of Saul’s tragic death and ignominious exposure 
 on the walls of the Philistine cityd How vivid 
 did the record seem, as the tourists read of the 
 episode on the very ground! The muleteers had 
 been gathered under one of the great fig-trees, 
 and one of the missionaries, speaking in the 
 Arabic tongue, which is particularly adapted to 
 such a narrative, read to them from the books of 
 Samuel of that disastrous day in the history of 
 Israel’s first king. 
 
 And even more thrilling did the story become, 
 as the travellers stood upon the heights of the 
 truncated cone, which represented the citadel of 
 Bethshan. That great, elevated plateau seemed 
 almost artificial, so perfect was it as an impreg¬ 
 nable stronghold. The line of the massive wall 
 could be traced all about it, and the site of the 
 ancient gateway was still in evidence. 
 
 A broad sweep of country fell beneath the 
 glance from that favored view-point. All the 
 places connected with Saul’s sad death were in 
 full view. The mountain of Gilboa rose to the 
 west, and the plain of Jezreel north of it. Toward 
 the east the Jordan flowed in its sunken channel, 
 and beyond it lay jabesh Gilead in the rising foot¬ 
 hills. 
 
 * I Sam. xxxi. lo. 
 
 231 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 Saul’s career as king of Israel had been a 
 troubled one, largely because of his disobedient 
 nature. When he heeded not the command¬ 
 ment of the Lord in saving alive the sheep and 
 cattle of the Amalekites and Agag, the king, then 
 Samuel warned him of his final end, and left him, 
 never to see him again,^ until the fearful night, 
 when the witch of Endor brought him up at 
 Saul’s request.^ The conscience-stricken mon¬ 
 arch seemed to realize his impending doom. 
 For he cried- out in a paroxysm of terror and 
 agony, “I am sore distressed: for the Philistines 
 make war against me, and God is departed from 
 me, and answereth me no more.” The reply of 
 the disembodied spirit contained no comfort for 
 the sin-burdened warrior. ‘'To-morrow shalt 
 thou and thy sons be with Me.” 
 
 And it was even so. The next day occurred a 
 mighty battle in the plain of Jezreel. The forces 
 of Israel were overwhelmed in disastrous defeat, 
 and were pushed ever backward, toward the 
 long range of Gilboa. Defeat turned to rout, 
 and rout resulted in dire destruction. The slopes 
 of Gilboa were strewn with Israel’s dead, while 
 the victorious Philistines pressed madly on, re¬ 
 gardless of dead and dying trampled beneath 
 
 > I Sam. XV. 35. * I Sam. xxviii. 7-25. 
 
 232 
 
Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul 
 
 their feet. They slew Jonathan and his brothers, 
 nor stopped to remove their bodies, but has¬ 
 tened after the royal victim. A well-aimed ar¬ 
 row pierced his armor, and his life-blood stained 
 the ground. He called upon his armor-bearer to 
 thrust him through, lest the enemy should do so, 
 and gloat over their deed. But his servant was 
 unwilling to lift the hand against his royal mas¬ 
 ter, and Saul fell upon his own sword and per¬ 
 ished. 
 
 The Philistines pursued their advantage all that 
 day, reserving till the morrow the barbarous proc¬ 
 ess of stripping and mutilating the dead. They 
 found Saul and his sons, lying where they had 
 fallen, and secured his head and his armor as a 
 ghastly trophy of victory. A great day of re¬ 
 joicing was proclaimed and the idol temples 
 were crowded. Saul’s armor was placed in the 
 
 house of Ashteroth," while his headless body, 
 with those of his sons, was hung in ignominy 
 upon the walls of Bethshan,—the very walls, 
 whose remains appear to-day high up on the 
 great hill of Beisan. The Israelites, defeated and 
 crushed, could not openly avenge this insult. 
 They must endure in silence the greatest pos¬ 
 sible disgrace to their nation. So the bodies of 
 their monarch and his sons remained exposed to 
 
 233 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 the taunts and jeers of the heathen Philistines, to 
 the attacks of carrion crows, to the punishment 
 of God in the elements. 
 
 The news of this signal disaster spread through¬ 
 out the land. Fleeing fugitives carried the word 
 even to the camp of David, the warrior-poet, 
 who gave expression to his unfeigned grief in 
 that peerless utterance of loss,—the most exqui¬ 
 site funeral ode ever penned: 
 
 ** Thy glory, O Israel, is slain upon thy high places I 
 How are the mighty fallen! 
 
 Tell it not in Gath, 
 
 Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon ; 
 
 Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
 
 Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 
 
 Ye mountains of Gilboa, 
 
 Let there be no dew nor rain upon you, neither fields 
 of offerings: 
 
 For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away, 
 The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 
 
 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, 
 The bow of Jonathan turned not back, 
 
 And the sword of Saul returned not empty, 
 
 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their 
 lives. 
 
 And in their death they were not divided; 
 
 They were swifter than eagles, 
 
 They were stronger than lions. 
 
 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, 
 
 Who clothed you in scarlet delicately, 
 
 Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle 1 
 
 234 
 
Bethshan and the Ignominy of Saul 
 
 Jonathan is slain upon thy high places. 
 
 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: 
 
 Very pleasant hast thou been unto me: 
 
 Thy love to me was wonderful, 
 
 Passing the love of women. 
 
 How are the mighty fallen, 
 
 And the weapons of war perished! ” i 
 
 But the tale of death and ignominy was carried 
 to another quarter, where brave men promptly 
 conceived a plan to mitigate, if not requite, the 
 insult brought upon their people.* The inhabi¬ 
 tants of Jabesh Gilead, across the Jordan from 
 Bethshan, when they heard of Saul’s disgrace, 
 were reminded of the favor which he had done 
 for them, almost forty years before, in saving 
 them from the barbarity of Nahash, the Am¬ 
 monite. Although forty years had elapsed, and 
 doubtless all the “elders of Jabesh” had passed 
 away, yet the tale of Saul’s magnanimous ex¬ 
 ploit had been handed on from old to young, 
 until the day when the favor could be requited. 
 That opportunity had come in the downfall of 
 Israel and the ignominious exposure of Saul's 
 body upon the walls of Bethshan. 
 
 A band of young and valiant Jabeshites set out 
 by night across the plain, forded the river, and 
 stole up unawares to the ramparts of the Philis- 
 
 * 2 Sam. i. 19-27. * I Sam. xxxi, 7-13. 
 
 235 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 tine city. Doubtless the heathen citizens were 
 celebrating their victory in revelry and mirth, and 
 the guards had relaxed their vigilance. The 
 rushing of the waters in the stream below cov¬ 
 ered the ascent of the daring rescuers. With 
 great toil they labored up the almost inaccessible 
 hillside, until they reached the point where the 
 royal bodies were hanging in disgrace. Noise¬ 
 lessly they lowered them and returned with their 
 burden to their native town across the plain and 
 river. There they burned the bodies in solemn 
 assembly, and buried the bones in a decent man¬ 
 ner under a large tree, and mourned for seven 
 days. Thus did they repay the favor which Saul 
 had rendered in the day of his power. 
 
 236 
 
XXI 
 
 THE END OF THE JOURNEY 
 
 A Bedawy funeral saddened the thoughts of 
 the travellers, as they left Beisan on their way to¬ 
 ward Tiberias. Just outside the town, under a 
 spreading oak-tree, a grave had been dug, and 
 without any ceremony and scarce any one to 
 mourn, those wandering sons of the desert had 
 laid away a lifeless form. A few women sat 
 near by, their heads bent, perhaps in grief, 
 though what know they of grief or joy ? What 
 feelings can such creatures entertain, whose lives 
 are untouched by all that raises man above the 
 beasts ? One of their number had come to the 
 end of the journey’' of life, with no joyful pros¬ 
 pect of a glad welcome at Home. He had known 
 no home on earth, nor had any one been found 
 to tell him of the hea^^enly mansions. 
 
 How different was to be the ending of the 
 other journey! The travellers with thankful 
 hearts hastened on their way. They were glad 
 in the retrospect of the great opportunity vouch¬ 
 safed to them to see a historic land. They were 
 
 237 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 joyful in the prospect of the expected ''welcome 
 home" from the lips of friends and loved ones, 
 whom they had entrusted to the tender, watch¬ 
 ful care of the all-loving Father. 
 
 The Bedawin exist and die, the Christians live 
 in the joys of earthly home and comforts, and 
 await with trust the last summons, when they 
 shall be welcomed to infinite joys in the heavenly 
 palaces. The contrast brings its own lessons of 
 faith and duty. The poor Bedawin and millions 
 like them will never know of Christian hope, 
 until they are told. " How shall they believe in 
 Him of whom they have not heard ? and how 
 shall they hear without a preacher? and how 
 shall they preach except they be sent ? " ^ 
 
 The end of the journey is near^at hand, and 
 the story is soon told. Beisan with its many 
 water-courses and green trees was left behind, 
 and the travellers pushed on across a hot and 
 dusty plain, uninteresting in its monotony. The 
 road, however, was not devoid of interest his¬ 
 torically. It is a great thoroughfare from the sea 
 to the east. Many and various have been the 
 travellers over its level course. Some day the 
 monotony may be forgotten in the shriek of 
 whistles and rumble of trains. For this is 
 
 * Rom. X. i4, 15. 
 
 238 
 
! 
 
 MIDIANITISH CAMKLKKRS 
 
The End of the Journey 
 
 along the line of the projected railway. Geo¬ 
 graphically this road deserves mention as lying 
 six hundred feet below sea level. It was well 
 for the tourists that the barrier mountains kept 
 their place and restrained the waters of the sea. 
 This road led down to the Jordan and the his¬ 
 toric bridge. From there the river was followed 
 past the confluence of the Yarmukto ’Abadeyeh, 
 where shade trees offered a desirable place for 
 lunch. Thence the way led past ruined bridges 
 to the southern end of the lake. The next two 
 hours sufficed to bring the travellers once more 
 to Tiberias. 
 
 On the following day the usual order of prog¬ 
 ress was varied by a boat ride to the northern 
 end of the lake. The water was calm and beau¬ 
 tiful. Hardly a puff of wind stirred the lazy 
 sails. The boatmen rowed the craft, which left 
 its wake far to the rear. The passengers enjoyed 
 the change from horseback and dry land to this 
 easy and indolent method of advance. They 
 read and chatted and studied the landscape from 
 their moving view-point. 
 
 The plain of Gennesaret was specially interest¬ 
 ing, and behind it the rock-bound valley, where 
 robber cave-dwellers once lived. They had long 
 
 been a menace to the inhabitants of the fertile 
 
 S39 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 plain. Whenever danger approached, they would 
 betake themselves to their caves high up in the 
 cliff. It is more than a thousand feet high, and 
 in many places is absolutely perpendicular. 
 There the robbers had made an impregnable 
 rocky fastness, seemingly unapproachable,—a 
 network of caverns and passages in the face of 
 the frowning bluff. It remained for Herod the 
 Great to overcome and annihilate them. This he 
 did by letting down soldiers in huge iron-bound 
 boxes suspended by iron chains, and thus land¬ 
 ing them at the entrance to the caves. The 
 modern name of the valley, in complete contrast 
 with its former character and reputation, is ‘‘the 
 valley of doves.” 
 
 The travellers were carried by boat to a point 
 on the northern shore of Galilee near the site of 
 Capernaum. There they took a farewell dip in 
 its cool, refreshing waters. When the baggage 
 train overtook them, they began the ascent to 
 the Jewish city of Safed. From a depression of 
 six hundred and eighty-one feet below the level 
 of the Mediterranean, they must rise to an eleva¬ 
 tion of nearly two thousand eight hundred feet 
 above it. 
 
 Part way up the mountain-side is the “ Khan 
 
 jubb Yusef,” which is by Mohammedan tradition 
 
 240 
 
The End of the Journey 
 
 the well in which Joseph’s brethren placed him, 
 and from which they sold him to the Midianite 
 traders. Here the tourists “sat down to eat 
 bread,” though not in the heartless way ascribed 
 to Jacob’s sons at the time of their cruel deed.^ 
 Safed is a large and important city, renowned 
 for its stout resistance to the Moslems in the time 
 of the Crusades. It has suffered many times 
 from destructive earthquakes. The most note¬ 
 worthy feature of the place at present is the in¬ 
 fluential Jewish colony situated there. Two 
 centuries ago it was the seat of Jewish learning. 
 Famous rabbis and other teachers gathered there, 
 and as many as eighteen synagogues were found. 
 The place also contained a printing-press. The 
 Jews consider Safed as a sacred city, for they 
 expect the Messiah to come from there. 
 
 This polluted stream of rabbinical lore, how¬ 
 ever, in no way affects the natural streams of 
 pure, cold water, that burst forth in a great 
 fountain below the town. It is called the 
 “fountain of the olives.” Here men and ani¬ 
 mals drank freely, and rested under the shade of 
 the olive-trees, before they started on to the end 
 of the day’s journey. They had still two hours 
 to go, and the sun had nearly set. Nor was the 
 
 > Gen. xxxvii. 2 ^. 
 
 241 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 road one to be chosen for a night ride. It was 
 very rough and stones abounded. At last they 
 arrived in the thick darkness at Sifs^f, where 
 they had chosen to spend the night. Camp was 
 pitched on the threshing-floors to the west of the 
 village. Here was supposed to be a fountain, 
 but it was dry. It was fortunate that the animals 
 had drunk freely at Safed, for they were destined 
 to pass nearly twenty-four hours Without water. 
 Darkness permitted no glimpse of the surround¬ 
 ings. The tents sheltered tired sleepers. The 
 morning sun revealed the nature of their where¬ 
 abouts. They were near to Mount Jermuk, the 
 highest peak west of the Jordan. 
 
 The way lay along a plain for a time, then 
 across rolling country, until the village of Kefr 
 Bir’im was reached. A short halt was made to 
 examine the interesting ruins of an ancient Jew¬ 
 ish synagogue, used now as a dwelling-house. 
 Kefr Bir’im has the distinction (by tradition) of 
 being the burial-place of the judge Barak and the 
 prophet Obadiah. 
 
 A short ride further brought the party within 
 the bounds of the American Mission, where the 
 tour may be said to have finished. Each mem¬ 
 ber of the expedition returned to his work by 
 
 shortest routes, regretting that the parting-time 
 
 242 , 
 
The End of the Journey 
 
 had come, yet desirous of taking up his duties 
 afresh in the added vigor acquired. 
 
 Thus ended an eventful journey, full of inter¬ 
 est, biblical, historical, geographical, sociological 
 and religious. There remains now but to state a 
 few general impressions derived from the trip as 
 a whole. 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 CONTRASTS AND HOPES 
 
 During an absence of twenty-three days, 
 within which a large area of interesting territory 
 had been encompassed, one word was prominent 
 in the thoughts of the travellers, as descriptive of 
 the trip. That word was ‘"contrast.” The ex¬ 
 periences had been exceptionally diverse in many 
 lines. 
 
 On the one side the eastern desert had been all 
 but reached, on the other the horses’ feet had 
 been bathed in the waters of the “Great Sea.” 
 The travellers had reached an altitude of three 
 thousand feet or more, and had crossed the Jor¬ 
 dan where it ran fully eight hundred feet below 
 the level of the Mediterranean. 
 
 The heat during the daytime had been intense 
 and almost unbearable, while the nights were 
 comfortably cool. 
 
 All the world had contributed to the tourists’ 
 
 larder. They had had beef from America, jam 
 
 from England, sardines from France, maccaroni 
 
 from Italy, butter from Denmark, tea from China, 
 
 244 
 
Conclusion—Contrasts and Hopes 
 
 coffee from Arabia, curry from India, rice from 
 Egypt, bread from Tiberias, and partridge from 
 the ruins of Jerash. 
 
 The water supply had been as varied as the 
 food. Fountains, rivers, pools, and conduits had 
 furnished large quantities of the liquid, drunk 
 from glasses, cups, pottery jugs and jars, bottles, 
 tin cans, hands, and from the original sources 
 directly. 
 
 The travellers had run the risk of robbers by 
 day and petty thieves by night, and had returned 
 without a single loss. 
 
 Possibly some may question the legitimacy and 
 propriety of a trip in regions where entrance is 
 guarded by a useless application to the Porte. 
 No laws, however, were broken in so doing, 
 and, per contra, treaty rights should properly 
 secure all foreign travellers from annoyance from 
 any source,—governmental or personal. As it 
 was, the tourists merely ran the risk of being 
 sent back, provided they ventured into the im¬ 
 mediate precincts of some overzealous official. 
 This did not happen. 
 
 This expedition, too, revealed the existence 
 
 of much virgin soil for missionary effort. No 
 
 contrasts were more striking than those observed 
 
 between towns where schools and churches had 
 
 245 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 turned the thoughts and aspirations toward higher 
 things, and villages whose inhabitants know 
 nothing of and care nothing for the fruits of 
 Christianity. Little do the dwellers in Jaulan and 
 the other East-Jordan districts realize their privi¬ 
 leges as members of a race above the brute crea¬ 
 tion. Christianity, which has made possible oc¬ 
 cidental civilization, must touch these eastern 
 lands in its purity. 
 
 Nor may it be the effete, decaying Christianity 
 (so-called) of the oriental church. The results of 
 this form of religion are manifest,—deadening of 
 all spiritual aspirations, and temporal ascendency 
 of the clergy. The land is cursed with politics. 
 The various sects of the church are more political 
 than theological, and each one strives for its own 
 advancement in power at the expense of the 
 others and to the detriment of real church life 
 and growth. “The whole head is sick, and the 
 whole heart faint." Political civilization has been 
 tried and “found wanting." Political religion 
 has kept the whole country at a low ebb of men¬ 
 tal, moral and spiritual attainment. 
 
 The trans-Jordanic regions will remain in gross 
 
 darkness, if left to the ministrations of the church 
 
 west of the river. No; the prevailing oriental 
 
 Christianity of the present time must be su- 
 
 24G 
 

 VIM.ACIC SCHOOL lHSIIIN(i HOA'I'S ON SI'LV Ol'' 
 
Conclusion—Contrasts and Hopes 
 
 perseded, even as the misguided efforts of the Cru¬ 
 saders came to an end. 
 
 There is needed the infusion of a regenerating 
 influence entirely foreign to the politico-supersti¬ 
 tious fabric now investing the land. This influ¬ 
 ence must be sought from above,—sent down in 
 the Word of God, exemplified in the lives of 
 God’s servants. The ignorance of the ages must 
 be overcome by a wholesome, effective educa¬ 
 tional and evangelizing system based upon the 
 Bible. Only thus may the land make permanent 
 advance. 
 
 The kingdom of God is a plant of slow growth. 
 But it is surely blossoming out into the perfect 
 fruition born of divinity. “ One day is with the 
 Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years 
 as one day.” The spiritual regeneration of Syria 
 and Palestine is but a part of the divine plan. 
 Consider the reach of Christ’s undertaking,—a 
 new moral creation of the whole race, and the 
 restoration of it to God in the grand unity of a 
 spiritual kingdom. No such infinite and all-em¬ 
 bracing purpose ever entered the mind of mortal 
 man. The potentates of earth have been content 
 to covet limited power for personal ends. The 
 Holy Land, small as it is, has been the cause of 
 
 endless strife. Man has tried in every way,—by 
 
 247 
 
Forbidden Paths in the Land of Og 
 
 force, by strategy, by human wisdom, by super¬ 
 stitious zeal,—to protract his power in this 
 coveted land. Where man has failed, has God 
 also failed ? The answer may be found in Christ’s 
 saying, ‘‘The Kingdom of God is within you.”^ 
 God's rule is spiritual. He requires neither 
 Rome’s thundering legions, nor the knighted 
 chivalry of Europe; neither mounted troops, nor 
 turreted castles, to accomplish His purpose. 
 When He said to Abram, “ In thee shall all fami¬ 
 lies of the earth be blessed,” He knew that the 
 divine purpose would be fulfilled, despite the 
 plans of passing men. It is as if God would 
 teach the lesson that religion and true power are 
 not connected with time and place. The King¬ 
 dom of God moves on down the ages, independ¬ 
 ent of man’s petty plans, and is surely transform¬ 
 ing “the kingdoms of this world,” “not by 
 might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the 
 Lord of hosts,” until, in God’s own time, they 
 shall all “ become the kingdom of our Lord and of 
 His Christ.” 
 
 May the time be near at hand, when tourists in 
 the East-Jordan districts shall find schools instead 
 of rude caves, and churches in the place where 
 the village dance is now held. May they see the 
 
 * Luke xvii. 21. 
 
 248 
 
Conclusion—Contrasts and Hopes 
 
 visible triumph of Christianity over degrading 
 Mohammedanism, and a vigorous western belief 
 in Christ supplanting the ignorant, superstitious 
 worship of the virgin. 
 
 And now permit the last word to be one of 
 good cheer. Despite all untoward circumstances, 
 the ** Land of Og ” is a delightsome land, teeming 
 with recollections of historic interest, and he is a 
 fortunate man who is permitted to traverse in 
 safety its Forbidden Paths,” 
 
 THE END. 
 
 249 
 
Scripture References 
 
 Genesis 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Numbers 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Judges 
 
 PAGE 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 218 
 
 21: 35 
 
 45 
 
 4; 19 
 
 *56 
 
 14 
 
 5 
 
 83 
 
 33: 34-52 
 
 58 
 
 6: 7, 8 
 
 219 
 
 15 
 
 19-21 
 
 44 
 
 35: II, 12 
 
 77 
 
 7: 5 
 
 220 
 
 21 
 
 25 
 
 211 
 
 
 
 8: 10 
 
 220 
 
 24 
 
 14-67 
 
 157 
 
 Deut. 
 
 
 II : I 
 
 *47 
 
 24 
 
 II 
 
 158 
 
 2; 26-29 
 
 44 
 
 *15 3 , 5 
 
 124 
 
 26 
 
 19-21 
 
 211 
 
 2: 28 
 
 211 
 
 12: 1-6 
 
 221 
 
 30 
 
 25 
 
 166 
 
 3: *-3 
 
 83 
 
 20: I 
 
 142 
 
 31 
 
 4 
 
 166 
 
 3: 5 
 
 75 
 
 21: 8 
 
 142 
 
 31 
 
 34 , 35 
 
 167 
 
 3: II 
 
 *5 
 
 1 Sam. 
 
 
 31 
 
 32 
 32 
 
 49 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 
 168 
 
 169 
 
 170 
 
 3 5 25 
 
 4: 43 
 
 6: 14 
 
 218 
 
 200 
 
 44 
 
 II: I 
 
 *55 35 
 
 26: 12 
 
 *43 
 
 232 
 
 208 
 
 32 
 
 33 
 33 
 
 37 
 
 10 
 
 8-11 
 12-17 
 
 25 
 
 218 
 
 *73 
 
 174 
 
 146 
 
 241 
 
 24: 6 
 
 32: 14 
 
 Joshua 
 
 3: *5 
 
 21 
 
 54 
 
 216 
 
 26: 20 
 
 28: 7-25 
 
 3* 5 10 
 
 3 * 5 7-*3 
 
 3 * 
 
 232 
 
 231 
 
 235 
 
 
 
 
 4: 20 
 
 218 
 
 2 Sam. 
 
 
 Exodus 
 
 
 9: 2 
 
 44 
 
 I ; 19-27 
 
 235 
 
 3: 
 
 8 
 
 44 
 
 12: 4 
 
 83 
 
 14; 26 
 
 * 5 * 
 
 *56 
 
 13: 12 
 
 83 
 
 15 : etc. 
 
 *49 
 
 15 
 
 24 
 
 211 
 
 135 30 
 
 75 
 
 15: 18 
 
 149 
 
 17 
 
 I , 2 
 
 211 
 
 17 : I 
 
 57 
 
 18: 5 
 
 149 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 
 211 
 
 
 
 18: 8 
 
 *50 
 
 
 Judges 
 
 
 18: 18 
 
 * 5 * 
 
 Numbers 
 
 
 I : 7 
 
 44 
 
 18 : 21 
 
 * 5 * 
 
 13: 
 
 27 
 
 156 
 
 I : 27 
 
 230 
 
 18: 32 
 
 *52 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 
 21 
 
 2 : 28, 29 
 
 219 
 
 19 : 18, 31 
 
 223 
 
 21 : 
 
 33 
 
 45 
 
 3 •• 28, 29 
 
 221 
 
 20 : 16-22 
 
 32 
 
 251 
 
Scripture References 
 
 1 Kings 
 
 4: 12 
 
 4: 13 
 
 4 : 22-28 
 
 7 : 46, 47 
 17; 1 
 17 : 4, 6 
 19: 19 
 19: 19-21 
 
 20 : 28-42 
 20: 24 
 
 21 : 20 
 
 21 : 49 
 
 22 : 2 
 22; 17 
 
 2 Kings 
 
 2: i-ii 
 
 5: 14 
 
 6: 1-7 
 8: 28, etc. 
 15: 29 
 16: 9 
 
 24: 14 
 
 I Chron. 
 
 5 : 26 
 12: 15 
 
 » 
 
 Job 
 
 6: 15-18 
 22: 7 
 
 Psalms 
 
 22: 12 
 23: 2 
 
 Eccles. 
 12 : 4 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Eccles. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Matt. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 230 
 
 12: 6 
 
 156 
 
 24: 41 
 
 38 
 
 200 
 
 
 
 
 
 200 
 
 Song 
 
 
 Mark 
 
 
 222 
 
 l: 5 
 
 63 
 
 I : 29 
 
 II8 
 
 I4I 
 
 
 
 I : 35-38 
 
 II7 
 
 I4I 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 
 4: 39 
 
 120 
 
 97 
 
 2: 13 
 
 145 
 
 5: I 
 
 104 
 
 226 
 
 55: I 
 
 2 II 
 
 5: 1-20 
 
 105 
 
 201 
 
 
 
 14: 13 
 
 157 
 
 202 
 
 Jer. 
 
 
 16: 15 
 
 120 
 
 141 
 
 8; 22 
 
 57 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 II: 5 
 
 156 
 
 Luke 
 
 
 202 
 
 
 3: I 
 
 52 
 
 204 
 
 Ezek. 
 
 
 4 : 38, 39 
 
 II8 
 
 
 27 : 6 
 
 145 
 
 8: 2 
 
 II5 
 
 
 39: 14 
 
 54 
 
 8; 26-39 
 
 105 
 
 223 
 
 
 
 8: 37 
 
 109 
 
 223 
 
 Daniel 
 
 
 8: 41, etc. 
 
 II8 
 
 222 
 
 i : 12 
 
 174 
 
 10: 13 
 
 II9 
 
 204 
 
 
 
 17 : 21 
 
 248 
 
 32 
 
 Amos 
 
 
 21 : 20-24 
 
 129 
 
 46 
 
 6: 12 
 
 209 
 
 
 
 46 
 
 Zech. 
 
 
 John 
 
 4 : 14, 15 
 
 4: 46-53 
 
 212 
 
 
 II : 2 
 
 145 
 
 II8 
 
 46 
 
 Matt. 
 
 
 6: 26, etc. 
 
 II8 
 
 217 
 
 3: 12 
 
 223 
 
 7 : 37 
 
 212 
 
 
 3: 12 
 
 228 
 
 Romans 
 
 
 210 
 
 211 
 
 8: 5-13 
 
 8: 28-34 
 
 118 
 
 105 
 
 10 : 14, 15 
 
 238 
 
 93 20 
 
 9 : 32, 33 
 
 118 
 
 118 
 
 James 
 
 2: 3 
 
 64 
 
 54 
 
 211 
 
 II : 23 
 
 119 
 
 13: 1-23 
 
 116 
 
 Rev. 
 
 
 
 15 •• 39 
 
 115 
 
 22: I 
 
 212 
 
 
 18: 3 
 
 119 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 23: 38 
 
 131 
 
 
 
 252 
 
Index 
 
 Abadeyeh, lunch at, 239. 
 
 Abel Beth-Maacheh, site of, 
 32. 
 
 Abel Meholeh, Elisha’s birth¬ 
 place, 226. 
 
 Abila, Abil, city of Decapolis, 
 
 93 - 
 
 Absalom, revolt, 149; death, 
 
 *51- 
 
 Acqueduct of Gadara, I lo. 
 Acre, surrendered by Cru¬ 
 saders, 48. 
 
 Ahab, history, 201; and Jehosh- 
 aphat, 202; death, 203. 
 
 Ain Jenneh, near Jerash, 164. 
 Ain Kunyeh, camp at, 33; 
 burned, 37. 
 
 Ajlun, district, situation, 52; 
 described, 56; town, camp at, 
 
 152. 
 
 Alexander the Great, enters 
 land, 48. 
 
 Ameer Muhammed Fa’our, 61; 
 
 his home, 61; his cattle, 65. 
 Ameery, an Arab princess, 62. 
 Anjara, lunch at, 210. 
 
 Aphek, Ahab’s victory at, 201. 
 Arabs, enter land, 47, 49; 
 changes in tribes, 48; tribe 
 of Fudl, (situation, 60; en¬ 
 campment, 61; horses, 63); 
 hospitality of, 68; coffee, 68; 
 unromantic life, 70; laziness 
 of, 213. 
 
 Ashteroth Karnaim, site of, 
 
 83. 
 
 Assyrians capture land, 46, 
 
 Bag, the, 23. 
 
 Balm of Gilead, 57. 
 
 Banias, fountain of, 33; temple 
 of Pan, 33; site of Caesarea 
 Philippi, 40. 
 
 Baptism of Christ, 224. 
 
 Barak, burial-place of, 242. 
 
 Barzillai, David’s friend, 223. 
 
 Basalt district, 54. 
 
 Bash an, ruled by Og, 15; 
 historic interest of, 16; travel¬ 
 ling in, 17; conquest of, 45; 
 to Manasseh, 45 ; names of, 
 52; boundaries of, 50; extent 
 of, 51; division of 52 Greek 
 names, 52; Arabic names, 
 52; once densely inhabited, 
 
 75 - 
 
 Bedawin, visited, 63; cattle 
 raiders, 136, 140; in Ghor, 
 213; laziness of, 213; food 
 of, 214; funeral, 237; ex¬ 
 istence, 238. 
 
 Beisan, described, 227; camp 
 at, 228; site of Bethshan and 
 Scythopolis, 230; destroyed 
 by Saladin, 230; Saul’s death 
 near, 231; ignominy of Saul 
 at, 235. 
 
 Belvoir castle, 160. 
 
 Bethsaida, prophecy concern¬ 
 ing, 119. 
 
 Bethshan, Beisan, history, 
 230; citadel of, 231; Jabesh 
 Gileadites at, 235. 
 
 Blood feuds, 77; guide involved 
 in, 87. 
 
 263 
 
Index 
 
 Boat ride, on Galilee, 240. 
 
 Brass foundry, near Jordan, 222. 
 Bread, at Gadara, 106. 
 
 Bridge, Roman, at Rukkad 
 river, 74; el Mijamia, 216. 
 Byzantine rulers, 47. 
 
 C^sAREA Philippi, Banias, 40. 
 
 Cameleers, Midianite, 146. 
 
 Cans, 23, 29. 
 
 Capernaum, Christ’s home in, 
 117; miracles in, 118; proph¬ 
 ecy concerning, 119; site of, 
 240. 
 
 Captivity, the, 45. 
 
 Carriage road, Jewish, 73. 
 
 Castle, Banias, 41; Tiberias, 
 121; Rubud, 159 j Bel voir, 
 160. 
 
 Cattle raiders, 136, 140. 
 
 Cave-Odwellers, robbers, 240. 
 
 Chederlaomer, 83. 
 
 Children of Israel, take Bashan, 
 45; nomadic, 77; cross Jor¬ 
 dan, 218. 
 
 Chorazin, prophecy concern¬ 
 ing, 119. 
 
 Chosroes II., Persian monarch, 
 47 - 
 
 Church, the Oriental, impotent, 
 249. 
 
 Circassians, villages of, 72; at 
 Jerash, 184. 
 
 Cities of refuge, 78. 
 
 Coffee, Arab, 68. 
 
 Contrasts, 244. 
 
 Cook’s parties, 21. 
 
 Cook, the, described, 27; ill, 229. 
 
 Counting in pairs, 67. 
 
 Country of the Gadarenes, 104, 
 109. 
 
 Crater peaks, 53. 
 
 Crusaders, in Syria, 47 j con¬ 
 quered, 162. 
 
 Customs, Arabic, 67, 
 
 Dagon worship at Bethshan, 
 230. 
 
 Dance at Golan, 81. 
 
 David, a hunter, 30; flees from 
 Absalom, 149, 223; informed 
 of Absalom’s death, 152; 
 takes Saul’s jug, 208; mourns 
 for Saul, 234. 
 
 Dead Sea, depression of, 215. 
 Decapolis, Ajlun, 56; Scythop- 
 olis, capital of, 230. 
 Destruction of Jerusalem, 129. 
 Dolmeus, tombs, described, 75 - 
 Dream of Gerasa, 195. 
 Drinking, like a dog, 220. 
 Druze Mountains, eastern 
 boundary of Bashan, 51; 
 lawless district, 55. 
 
 Druzes, uprising, 37; in Haur^n, 
 
 55 - 
 
 Duties of missionaries, 19. 
 
 Edrei, battle at, 45 ; capital of 
 Bashan, 83. 
 
 Ehud, at Jordan, 219. 
 
 Elijah, home of, 141; and 
 Ahab, 201; ascension of, 223. 
 Elisha, and Elijah, 223; birth¬ 
 place, 226. 
 
 El Merkez, in Hauran, 83. 
 Embrace, oriental, 172. 
 Encampment of Arabs, 63. 
 Equipment for trip, 22. 
 
 Esau, and Jacob, 169. 
 
 Ferryboat, used by David, 
 223. 
 
 Fig orchard, at Beisan, 229. 
 Ford, at Yarmuk, 88, 134; at 
 Jabbok, 171; at Jordan, 223. 
 Forests of Gilead, 145. 
 
 Fountain of the Olives, 241. 
 Funeral, a diversion, 70; 
 David’s ode, 234; a Bedawy, 
 
 237- 
 
 254 
 
Index 
 
 GadarA, aqueduct to, 99; 
 described, 103; not site of 
 miracle, 105; necropolis of, 
 106; bread at, 106; Um 
 Keis, 107; hot springs of, 
 110 ; siege of, 128. 
 
 Gadarenes, country of the, 104, 
 105. 
 
 Galilee, Sea of, 120 ; scene 
 of Christ’s peaceful works, 
 120; depression of, 215; 
 boat ride on, 240. 
 
 Gamala, seige of, 127. 
 
 Gazelles, near Galilee, 134. 
 
 Gennesaret, plain of, 115; 
 robbers near, 239, 
 
 Gerasa, Jerash, 178. 
 
 Gersa, scene of miracle of 
 swine, 109. 
 
 Gh6r, the, part of Ajlun, 52; 
 camp in, 213 ; described, 213; 
 Lot chose the, 213; Bedawin 
 of, 213; depression of, 215; 
 west side of, 239. 
 
 Gideon, at Jordan, 219; men 
 drink like dogs, 220. 
 
 Gifts, large, 173; coldly re¬ 
 ceived, 173; repaid, 174. 
 
 Gilboa, mount, from Beisan, 
 232; Saul’s death at, 233. 
 
 Gilead, Ajlun, 52, 57; balm 
 of, 57; described, 140; home 
 of Elijah, 141 ; retreat of 
 David, 149. 
 
 Golan, city of refuge, 72; de¬ 
 scribed, 77 ; degenerated, 79; 
 Jewish settlement at, 79; 
 Sahem ej JauDn, 80; status 
 of inhabitants, 81; dance at, 81. 
 
 Government, no permissions, 
 20; Lebanon, 49; Hauran, 
 83 ; criticised, 84. 
 
 Gully, dangerous, 207. 
 
 Hauran, situation, 54; de¬ 
 scribed, 55. 
 
 Heat, 73, 100. 
 
 Hebras, near Gadara, 99. 
 
 Helaweh, site of Jabesh Gil¬ 
 ead, 204. 
 
 Heraclius, Byzantine ruler, 47. 
 
 Hermon, mount, source of 
 Jordan, 33. 
 
 Herod, rulers, 47; the Great, 
 52; and robb«-rs, 240. 
 
 Hieromax, river, Yarmuk, 
 boundary, 52; battle of, 100; 
 hot springs of, iio. 
 
 Hiram, king of Tyre, 222. 
 
 Hospital, Tiberias, 121. 
 
 Hospitality, Arab, 68. 
 
 Hot springs, Hieromax, no. 
 
 Hunting, legitimate, 30. 
 
 IjON, site of, 32. 
 
 Impedimenta, 22. 
 
 Invasion of Palestine, 126. 
 
 Irade, Imperial, 20. 
 
 Isaac, courtship, 157. 
 
 Israelites take Bashan, 45; 
 nomadic, 77; cross Jordan, 
 217. 
 
 Itinerary, 59. 
 
 Jabbok, southern boundary of 
 Bashan, 51; ford of, 171. 
 
 Jabesh Gilead, site of, 142, 
 204; history of, 142; from 
 Beisdn, 235; requites Saul’s 
 favor, 236; Saul buried at, 
 236. 
 
 Jacob, at Mizpah, 166; and 
 Esau, 170; wrestling, 171. 
 
 Jars, pottery, 157. 
 
 Jaulan, situation, 52; de¬ 
 scribed, 53; entered, 60; 
 inhabitants of, 60. 
 
 Jehoshaphat, and Ahab, 202; 
 in battle, 203. 
 
 Jehu, 204. 
 
 Jephthah, vow, 147 j Shibboleth, 
 
 221. 
 
 255 
 
Index 
 
 Sower, parable of, 116. 
 
 Springs, hot, of Hieromax, i lO. 
 Stones, abound, 54; myth 
 about, 54 - 
 
 SuccoTH, and Gideon, 221. 
 SuF, situation, 165; Mizpah, 
 165. 
 
 Sultan, fig orchard of, 229. 
 Synagogue at Kefr Bir’im, 242. 
 Syria, became Roman province, 
 47 - 
 
 Syrian sun, loi. 
 
 Tariche^, siege of, 127; site 
 of, 133 - 
 
 Taxes, government, 55. 
 Telegraph line passed, 164. 
 Tell Abu Nida, crater cone, 
 53; El Faras, crater cone, 
 
 53 - 
 
 Temple, Pan, at Banias, 33; 
 Jerash, 176. 
 
 Theatre, Gadara, 104; Jerash, 
 180; Beisan, 228. 
 
 Theological Seminary, 222. 
 Threshing floors, 228. 
 
 Tiberias, camp at, 112; an¬ 
 cient city, 114; hospital at, 
 121; Jews at, 122; music at, 
 123; surrendered to Titus, 
 127. 
 
 Titus, destroyed Jerusalem, 130. 
 Tob, land of, 124. 
 
 Tombs, Gadara, 106. 
 Transfiguration, the, 41. 
 
 Tobakat Fahl, Pella, 136; 
 described, 137. 
 
 Turks gain ascendency, 48. 
 
 Um Keis, Gadara, 107; foun¬ 
 tain at, 107. 
 
 Valley, camp in, iii; of 
 Doves, 240. 
 
 Vespasian, subdues Palestine, 
 
 126. 
 
 View, at Jillen, 87 ; at Gadara, 
 103; from Rubud castle, 160; 
 above Jordan plain, 205; 
 from Beisan, 226. 
 
 Vow of Jephthah, 147. 
 
 Watch, at night, 94; at Jerash, 
 186. 
 
 Water, carrier at Ajlhn, 157; 
 courses dry, 207; jar, 156; 
 seller, 99; supply, 245. 
 
 Waters of Merom, level of, 
 215. 
 
 Weigher, public, 24. 
 
 Woman’s work, 156. 
 
 Yabis river, near Jabesh 
 Gilead, 142. 
 
 Yarmuk river, boundary, 52; 
 view, 88; battle of, lOO; 
 ford at, 89, 134. 
 
 Zeizun, falls of, 92. 
 
 358 
 
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DS 107 .D 69 
 Forbidden paths