} ... • A. : : - - .*3 : ', *'; ！* · º , *:）*）\s* ț¢; ș} &&.* : ********* · * * （º.ſ.? # ¿¿.*?--.*¿¿.***...!--.* **, ***， …? ;-）. À ț¢;（.*¿¿.*¿.*; º $ ！”）, šğ 、、、、, ） * （ · Tºxº. ¿（…）: * '' … ¿（.. × ':.**） ș-* …， 3. ***. .* §：ſs!！！Eſae· *）（.*?<！-- *）.* ** * · **<<.*§§§§§）,É: --~~~~，~… - *-·-··< ‘ ----：::：：:：：：::：::- --~~ ~~~~）. -*§§7）. ·&æ:）. ¿?….*¿¿.*; ***<'）:.*¿.* & §<！---、§§§§§§:（$ş-t--, ~*=~→ :***¿¿.* ***<！---、。- ---------—--— -------~i?: TINITIENUINTV £º 1: . . . . --- ſº- |N º - *ſ* IIIIIHIIITIII) źſ # Inc. : *AW ||||||||| Ill; "ºs"V Bº F N º- ę - LIBRARYºº YoF THE gnºmºuſſiºn - J N Sºº Sºº F. º.º.º. ... tº: c * - - - a ". . .e.-- º *--- - - ... 3-2: =2.7 - - . - * fº - w - ºr . . . ... ºrº- D-T-T) º Nº.39,N',Nº. ~. ' "," ºn Tºº àIIIHIIIIITIIITIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIº º- º N Nº. % º § § § iſ a . Ö - º - : Yºº & . . AJºh – º $º sº. M ſº Y - Fº sº a ." - º Fº aſ i ~ t Ge. 7 S. * O'. Cbe Ulorio's Great Explorers & 75 ano Exploration3, |33 | IEdited by J. Scott KELTIE, Librarian, Royal Geographical Society; H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., Reader in Geography at the University of Oxford ; and E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S. PAL E S T IN E. The WOrld's Great Explorers and Explorations. -º- . The following Volumes are already published, and may now be obtained in three different bindings:— Price per vol. 1. Plain neat cloth cover . . g & - º e wº - . 4/6 2. Cloth gilt cover, specially designed by Lewis F. Day, gilt edges. 5/- 3. Half-bound polished morocco, marbled edges e º º . 7/6 I. JOHN DAVIS, Arctic Explorer and Early India Navigator. By CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM, C. B., F.R.S. Crown 8vo. With 24 Illustrations and 4 Coloured Maps. [Second Edition.] “If the succeeding volumes attain the high standard of excellence of this ‘Life of John Davis,' the Series will, when complete, form a biographical history of geographical discovery of the utmost value and interest.”— A cademy. 2. PALESTINE. By MAJOR C. R. ConDER, R. E., Leader of the Palestine Exploring Expeditions. Crown 8vo. With 26 Illustrations and 7 Coloured Maps. [Second Edition.] “It is charmingly written, contains much information in a convenient form, and is well illustrated by woodcuts and maps.”—Athenaeumt. 3. MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER. By Joseph THOMSON, Author of “Through Masai Land,” &c. Crown 8vo. With 24 Illustrations and 7 Coloured Maps. “Mr. Thomson's book is to be strongly recommended to all who wish to understand the position in Africa to-day, as an intelligent Englishman should do.”—Saturday Review. 4. MAGELLAN and the First Circumnavigation of the Globe. By F. H. H. GUILLEMARD, M.A., M.D., Late Lec- turer in Geography at the University of Cambridge. Crown 8vo. With 17 Illustrations and I3 Coloured and 5 Uncoloured Maps. A ſew coſjes may still be obtained of the Large Paper Edition, on hand- 7/zade /a/e7. Price on aff//ication. “This is not only a record of splendid and successful adventure (not the less successful because Magellan died, like Wolſe, in the arms of victory) but the story of an exquisitely noble life.”—County Gentleman. 5. JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. By CAPTAIN ALBERT MARKHAM, R.N. Crown 8vo. With 20 Illustrations and 4 Coloured Maps. 6. LIVINGSTONE AND THE EXPLORATION OF CENTRAL AFRICA. By H. H. JoHNSTON, C. B., F.R.G.S., F. Z.S., &c., H. M. Commissioner and Consul-General. With 24 Illustrations from Photographs and from the Author's Draw- ings, and 3 Coloured Maps. A/so a Dimited Edi/ion (Large Paſer), Žrinted on hand-made /a/er, quith additional ///ustrations/roſt the Author’s Dzawings, and an AEtched Aºzoyutis/iece. Price 25s. 7ted. coonſ gxras ..ºu. ãaſſift; sº,”)") :'''', S. ſy wa) wba brú gºv aſ . . RY. blabovo, A.! ** * * . ſ\ \{\ TN * Nº Hº - “ (& Lºpé Čſ a moyſt. & : &l- § (). º ſejo Ç § 2. — +: * , ºf Alºw - | lº TÉ'ſ lº El Úſ. Jú ſorti revi . necz. ...b.w. —1– It r # ##### trug lººszº-sº :* -º Yºº caluarje º * * e Golgoa * Sºfalſ? 7 "º ºW 24- * * ** ºſº o) 0 sº A PICTORIAL MAP of JERUSALEM AND THE HOLY LAND, FOR THE USE OF PILGRIMS. (From a M.S. of the 13th Century in the Burgundian Library at Brussels.) P A L E S T T N TE. jº I, Y V’ ,” MAJOR dº R: "CONDER, D.C.L., R.E. LEADIER OF THIS PALESTINE EXPLORING IXPEDITION. Şecottu (ſtuitiott. L ON DON : GEORGE PHILIP & SON, 32 FLEET STREET; LIVERPOOL : 45 TO 51 SOUTH CASTLE STREET, I891. PRIEFA C E. THE Editors of the present series having done me the honour to ask me briefly to relate the story of Palestine Exploration, and especially of the expeditions which I commanded ; and having stipulated that the book should contain not only an account of the more interesting results of that work, but also something of the personal adventures of those employed, I have endeavoured to record what seems of most interest in both respects. Many things here said will be found at greater length in previous works which I have written, scattered through several volumes amid more special subjects. I hope, however, that the reader will discover also a good deal that is not noticed in those volumes; for the sources of information concerning ancient Palestine are constantly increasing ; and, among others, I may men- tion, that the series of Palestine Pilgrim Texts, edited by Sir Charles Wilson, has added greatly to our know- ledge, and has enabled me to understand many things which were previously doubtful. The full story of the dangers and difficulties through which the work was brought to a successful conclusion cannot be given in these pages, and no one recognises Vi TREFACE. as in all more than I do the imperfections which human work—have caused it here and there to fall short of the ideal which we set before us. What can, however, be claimed for Palestine exploration is, that the ideal was always as high as modern scientific demands require. The explorations were conducted without reference to preconceived theory, or to any consideration other than the discovery of facts. The conclusions which different minds may draw from the facts must inevitably differ, but the facts will always remain as a scientific basis on which the study of Pales- time in all ages must be henceforth founded. I fear that even now, after so much has been written, the facts are not always well known—certainly they have often been misrepresented. It is my desire, as far as possible, in these pages to summarise those facts which seem most important, while giving a sketch of the mode of research whereby they were brought to light. C. R. C. Note.—The maps illustrating this volume have been revised by Major Conder, who is more especially responsible for those of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of Modern Palestine. The geological sketch-map embodies Major Conder's researches, as also the important explorations of Dr. K. Diener in the Lebanon.—ED. 49c º g * * * g g º XGI(INI C9. ' º tº e w ſº g (INIUSTITV &I NT CIGITATI'ſ, NGI (II SSII,IS IN WITV.V.I.SJIT, A\{[N IO XSICINI zSz º p † © º w §IN.I.T.SSI TV, I NI CITII, IIJNSICII SSITIS LNGIIWVTSSII, CITO GIO XSIGINI Zi 2 & º NOILWAVOXQI INSITVS ſh?IGIſ NO (IJON -: SGIOICINGICICIW # Iz e § gº N. O.I.LVºIOT.IX3[ ][O S.I.T.ſ, SGI'ſ QIIHT, "IIA O6 I g tº e e tº * VISIXS Nº.I (IEII’ION IA I / I s * e º (IVGITIIH) NI SNOIJVºIOT JXSI "A #79 I s & tº & * {[VOIAI JIO X (IATIſ) S QIEIJ. "AI 98 º º e * GIGITITV%) NI SQLEIO'IVQISQIYI "III 69 e * tº * VI?IVINVS IO XII Aºſſ, S GIFII, "II ZZ * V6ICIO ſ” NI SNOIJ, VºIOT.IX®I "I I * }IJIJ, IV HIO AQIOTOſ) CIO'ſ I, NI ºf 5) V.I “d VII O 'S J N (I L N 0 0 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. I'ULL-PAGE ILL USTRATIONS. I. A Pictorial Map of Jerusalem and the Holy Land for the use of Pilgrims (from a MS. of the 13th Century in the Burgundian Library at Brussels. Frontispiece 2. The Plain of Jericho, as seen from Ai ſº e to face page 32 3. The Dead Sea (view S.E. of Taiyibeh e e tº 5 § 43 4. Alphabets of Western Asia, g º & & º 5 * I73 5. Jebel Sannin (Lebanon) . § * & * e 3 5 I92 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT. Portrait of Dr. Robinson (from a photograph) te º ... page I6 Portrait of Sir C. Wilson (from a photograph by Maw?! & Joac) . e tº tº g tº & tº e • ; ; T 7 Portrait of Sir C. Warren (from a photograph) . ſe , , , I8 Desert of Beersheba. & g e e g & © • , , 53 Kurn Sartaba. e º tº & ,, 68 The Jordan Valley ('Esh el Ghurab) ; , 73 A Camp in the Jordan Valley e t g g * , , , 8o Mount Tabor º ſº ,, 86 Carmel . ,, 88 Nain . º g 3, 93 The Sea of Galilee . * Q t g †: ſº • , , 99 ICrak des Chevaliers (Kala’t el Hosn) . e º sº . , , IOS Moab Mountains from the Plain of Shittim te • 23 I42 A Dolmen west of JHeshbon . & * * & • ; ; I44 View of Dead Sea, from Mount Nebo . º * * , , , I58 THittites from Abu Simbel . e & t ſº & , , , Igb Hamath Stone, No. 1 . º g º * ſº * . 3, 200 MAPS (/?rinted in Colours). I. General Map of Palestine ſº g ſº g facing page I II. Physical Map of Palestine & º . . . e , all end III. Geological Map of Palestine # & * tº e 22 IV. Palestine as divided among the Twelve Tribes & º 2 3 V. Palestine in the Beginning of the Christian Era . * 5 5 VI. The Kingdom of Jerusalem, showing the Fiefs, about II.87 A.D. º § tº º e º & º 3 3 VII. Modern Palestine, showing the Turkish Provinces . & 5 y MAPS IN TEXT. Talestine and Syria according to Ptolemy, c. IOO A.D. . ... ?)ſtſ/C 2 A Section of Peutinger's Table . gº g . 3, 4 Marin Samuto's Map of the Holy Land, 1321 & , , I2 The Holy Land, from the Atlas of Ortelius, c. 1591 . • 2, 14, 30 - º 30 F- - - -- - - - º PALESTINE " A. * ...lº o Beipiſt / Scale 1:1500,000 (2+ Stat. Miles lin. - 5 _ ſº -E, _ º - º ºf ºld Mehrew Mamey are written thrºw. Shechem. Greco-Latin Vamºs are placed wºn tº // ..., , Mºrodºtreams are distinguished by a brºken line. . º £S - -ºld hºoman Roads. Wahr-Jºannial nºver. ſ tº H. Wady Valley, Jºe Mountain. 7 . . | Lowland below the level of the .ºca. lowland up to 300 ºf Whallow wea down to 600 ºf Fashº -- - - - -- - I - Saida (Sidonſ ºzº ^- º - .2”. Warw/ºld ºpia *\ . - º 2. - Adlunj. *º ſº. 3 $º º º 4/º- - . Man, - - Ram Nikurul - º º ºf . º, ºf 2, 2, Acº º - - ſº º º - - º Akka Acreſtolemaisº - ; Hazz. A Murº, Lejja. - #" º - .. à Je Esdr i....: }. L-J-- - --~5. Cº-ºº!'" - ñº Nahriskunderunch - ºf º - z - / - ſ - º / *Mizpeh - º 25erasa º & *Râmoth Gilead S. Z Nahu. alºng. Mejarkon Yafa Jaffa Japhoſ.Jopp. ka. . - ANCIENT. J.E RU SALEM. Scale 1:25000. 2 Fºrlongs _First Wall. Aqueducts. Women's Tower- Calvarº. º – - Nahr Rubinſ, ſº." Yºnah ibne-Jºnſ º Nalu Sukº - - *Liz: LÚº º - - - Ashdod A: - ºrº Mºº. º º isºlaºa ºº - Millo (Akpa) Lower City) Abºntº --- - ºria - A-Tº A º - § sº Aceldams' Toºet à º -- - - - § 36 - Nº º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º-º- Rehobº - ºf 3. - - ſº º - - - + º- º - º ºº, is º 4 30" 35° East of Greenwich - - E.G.Raº-rºtºn, ºr \ * ,- - P A L E S T IN E. I N T R O DU C T O R Y C H A P T E R. THE long narrow strip of country on the east shore of the Mediterranean, which in a manner was the centre of the ancient world, has in all ages been a land of pil- grimage. For five hundred miles it stretches from the deserts of Sinai to the rugged Taurus, and its width, shut in between the Syrian deserts and the sea, is rarely more than fifty miles. It can never be quite the same to us as other lands, bound up as it is with our earliest memories, with the Bible and the story of the faith ; and it is to the credit of our native land that we have been the first to gather that complete account of the country, of its ancient remains, and of its present in- habitants, which (if we except India) does not exist in equal exactness for any other Eastern land. The oldest explorer of Palestine—if we do not reckon Abraham—was the brave King Thothmes III., who marched his armies throughout its whole length on his way towards Euphrates. Many are the pilgrims and conquerors who have followed the same great highways along which he went. When, in the early Christian ages, the land became sacred to Europe, the patient pilgrims of Italy, and even of Gaul, journeyed along the A 2 PALESTINE. shores of Asia Minor, and sometimes were able to reach the Holy City, and to bring back to their homes some account of the country; while in later ages the pilgrims came not singly, but in hosts continually increasing, and finally as crusaders, colonists, and traders. The literature of Palestine exploration begins, there- | PTO LEMY Cº. º.º. - ge . . . . ſariºca , Casiotides, /2 #ºn i.” " ax/us ; & º - i. Antar ſe f 3 * - =y - s ... .º.º. Real ºs-Ax * 34. 4 →º i. ſº +. º & º/-S& 2", 4%;"º. A t 㺠e .x' °Heliopôlīš Laodiced - #º, NJ-23-3: "“º Co K. - Aº ! w a 2 | *mel, “º ºn. S Cze olº 9 3Abida 3rax... a jº/° ºść SS A& 9. } pus * 3:34-3. 's, ºf Lt.º - º, & ºft hº Foadara. *:::: šº - Ž - —r— * i oSºv/vopods % 7° coaza, ſº , "......, N. & & 92 - o * t .”-ºs- * & Žerava Canadia. …" * * - Yºmi's ºum. : o Adrama ºk....... &Yºkoºma y °Gadora, _.--|---.” o *}” f Y. ...? Aºſſ \, f Philodelphia Böyörd. § S.' I d tº m'a e a }. s °ollichoºl ...” " * yº. • *| othamark-" |Maguz Adria. º Jºãº _|_ _*Aragºar. guaguza. º, / -, - . ~" ' '*'. - ..., * * * *, - . . . / Eboda. (2 * Zoar. Q. /' 3 gº • ~* , , 9- ‘Mesoda A. I & b l 8- Petra, \\ (orace gh: 66. º º k 6'9" PALISTINIS AND PART OF SYRIA ACCORDING TO PTOLEMY, c. Ioo A.D. fore, with the establishment of Christianity. Before that date we have very little outside the Bible except in the works of Josephus, whose descriptions, though at times unreliable as regards measurement, are invaluable as the accounts of an eye-witness of the state of the country INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 3 before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. We have scattered notes in the Talmud, in Pliny, in Ptolemy," in Strabo, and in other classic works, which have been col- lected by the care of Reland and of later writers; but it was only when the Holy Land became a land of pil- grimage for Christians that itineraries and detailed accounts of its towns and holy places began to be penned. The Bordeaux pilgrim * actually visited Jerusalem while Constantine's basilica was being built over the supposed site of the Holy Sepulchre, and in Palestine his brief record of stations and distances is expanded into notes on the places which he found most revered by Syrian Christians. In the same reign, Eusebius, the historian of the Church, constructed an Onomasticon, which answered roughly to the modern geographical gazetteer. His aim—and that of Jerome, who rather later rendered this work from Greek into Latin, adding notes of his own—was to identify as far as possible the places mentioned in the Old and New Testaments with places existing in the country as known to themselves. This work is both scholarly and honest in intention, but the traditions on which Eusebius and Jerome relied have not in all cases proved to be reconcilable with the Biblical requirements as studied by modern science. The Onomasticon is, however, of great importance as regards the topography of Palestine in the fourth century, and has often led to the recovery of yet more * The latitudes and longitudes given by Ptolemy (see Reland’s Palestima Illustrata, p. 456-466) are not reliable. Those nearest the coast are the most correct; those farther east are very wild. The little sketch given above sufficiently illustrates this. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. V., translated by Aubrey Stewart, M.A., annotated by Sir C. W. Wilson. 4 BALESTINE. ancient sites, which might otherwise have been lost. Jerome had an intimate personal knowledge, not only of the country round Jerusalem and Bethlehem, where he lived so long, but also of the whole of Western Pales- tine. Places east of Jordan are noticed in the Ono- masticon, but that region was less perfectly known to the Christian co-authors of this work. In the fourth century the Toman roads were marked by milestones, and thus the distances given by Eusebius and Jerome are actual, and not computed distances. Measurement on the Survey map, which shows these milestones where- ever they remain by the roadside, proves that for the • -------- ** ——l. - fºntescytop *... seasº. T \-- --M --~~~\–- Dai §§ A SECTION OF PIEUTINGER'S TABLE. most part the Onomasticon distances are very correct, and the sites of places so described can, as a rule, be recovered with little difficulty. The Peutinger Tables, representing the Roman map of Palestine about 393 A.D., give us also the distances along these roads; but the knowledge of the map-maker as to the region east of Jordan was most imperfect, and the map, which presents no latitudes or longitudes, is much distorted. To the same century belongs Jerome's elegant letter on the travels of his pious friend Paula, which is, however, but a slight sketch, more remarkable INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5 for its eloquence and fanciful illustration of Scripture than for topographical description." A short tract —very valuable, however, to the student of Jerusalem topography—was penned by Eucherius in the fifth century; and in the sixth we have the account by Theodorus (or Theodosius) of the Holy Land in the days of Justinian.” The eulogistic record by Procopius of the buildings of Justinian also gives accounts and re- ferences to the names of his monasteries and churches in IPalestine, which are of considerable use.” In the same reign also (about 530 A.D.) Antoninus Martyr 4 set forth from Piacenza, and journeyed to Constantinople, Cyprus, Syria, and Palestine. He even crossed the Jordan and went through the Sinaitic desert to Egypt. Like the Dordeaux pilgrim, Antoninus was a firm believer in the apocryphal Gospels, which already began to be held in high estimation. The former pilgrim repeats stories from the Gospel of the Hebrews; the latter, in addition, refers to the Gospel of the Infancy; but, in spite of the superstitious tone of the narrative of Antoninus, his itinerary is valuable, because it covers the whole region west of Jordan, and contains notes of contemporary custom and belief which are of great antiquarian interest. The conquest of Palestine by Omar did not by any means lead to the closing of the country to Christians. One of the best known and most detailed accounts of the 1 Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. II., translated by Aubrey Stewart, M.A., 1887. * See the Latin edition of Töbler. These are not yet published in English translation. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. III, annotated by Pro- fessor Hayter Lewis. * Ibid., No. I., translated by Aubrey Stewart, M.A., annotated by Sir C. W. Wilson. 6 PALESTINE. Iſoly Land written up to that time was taken down from the lips of the French Bishop Arculphus 1 by Adamnan, Bishop of Iona, about 680 A.D., in the monastery of Hy. It appears that Arculph was in Palestine during the reign of Mu'awiyeh, the first independent Khalif of Syria ruling in Damascus, and the same policy of tolera- tion and peace which was inaugurated by this ruler enabled St. Willibald in 722 A.D.” to journey through the whole length of the land. These writers are con- cerned chiefly in description of the holy places, which increased in number and in celebrity from century to century. Arculphus constantly interrupts his narrative with pious legends, much resembling those of the modern Toman Catholic guide-books to Palestine, though some of the sites which were correctly identified by these early Christian pilgrims were transferred by the Latin priests of the twelfth century to impossible localities, where they are still in some cases shown to Latins, while the older tradition survives among the Greek Christians. We often encounter an interesting note in these pilgrim diaries, such as Arculphus’ description of the pine-wood north of Hebron, now represented by but a few scattered trees. St. Willibald seems to have been regarded as a harmless hermit, who, when once the object of his journey was understood, was allowed by the “Commander of the Faithful” to travel in peace throughout the land. In the reign of Charlemagne good political relations existed between that monarch and the Khalif of Bagh- dad, Harān er Tashid. The keys of Jerusalem were I Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. X., translated and annotated by Rev. J. I. Macpherson, B.D. * See Early Travels in Talestine, Bohn's Series. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7 presented to the Western monarch, who founded a hospice for the Latins in that city. About half a century later, at the time when Baghdad was at the height of its glory as a centre of literature and civilisa- tion, Bernard, called the Wise," with two other monks, one Italian, the other Spanish, visited the Holy Land from Egypt, and they were able to obtain permits which were respected by the local governors. The rise of the Fatemites in Egypt altered materially the status of the Christians in Syria. We have no known Christian account of Palestine between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Hakem, the mad Khalif of Egypt, destroyed the Christian churches in Jerusalem in IoIo A.D., and the country seems to have been then closed to pilgrims. During this period, however, we have at least two important works, namely, that of El Mukaddasi (about 985 A.D.), and the journey of Nasir i Khusrau in 1647 A.D.” El Mukaddasi (“the man of Jerusalem ’’) was so named from his native town, his real name being Shems ed Din. He describes the whole of Syria, its towns and holy places (or Moslem sanctuaries), its climate, religion, commerce, manners and customs, and local marvellous sights. The legends are no less wonderful than those of his monkish predecessors, but his notes are often of great historical interest, and he is the earliest writer as yet known who plainly ascribes the building of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem to its real author, the Rhalif 'Abd el Melek. It is remarkable I See Early Travels in Palestine, Bohn's Series. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. IV., “IEl Mukaddasi,” translated by Mr. Guy Le Strange, 1886; No. IX., “Nāsiri Ikhus. rau,” by the same translator, 1888. 8 PALESTINE. that he speaks of the Syrian Moslems as living in con- stant terror of the Greek pirates, who descended on the coasts and made slaves of the inhabitants, whom they carried off to Constantinople. The Christians were still, he says, numerous in Jerusalem, and “unmannerly in public places.” The power of the Khalifs was indeed at this time greatly shaken by the schisms of Islam, and the Greek galleys invaded the ports, which had to be closed by iron chains. The Samaritans appear to have flourished at this time as well as the Jews, and the Samaritan Chronicle, which commences in the twelfth century, speaks of this sect as very widely spread even earlier, in the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. Abu Muim Nāsir, son of Khusrau, was born near Balkh, and journeyed through Media and Armenia by Palestine to Cairo, thence to Mecca and Basrah, and back through Persia to Merv and Balkh, the whole time spent being seven years. He gives good general accounts of Jerusalem, Iſebron, and other places, though his description does not materially add to our informa- tion. The rise of the Seljuks boded little good to Syria. Melek Shah in 1 o'73 A.D. conquered Damascus, and by the end of the century Jerusalem groaned under the Turkish tyranny. It was at this time—just before the conquest of the Iſoly City, which had been wrested from the Turks by the Egyptians—that Foucher of Chartres began his chronicle of the first Crusade, which contains useful topographical notes. The great history of the Tatin Kingdom by William of Tyre is full of interest- ing information as to the condition of the country under its Norman rulers (I 182–85 A.D.), and to this we must add the Chronicles of Taymond d'Agiles and INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9 Albert of Aix, which belong to the time of the first Crusade." Two other early works of the Crusading period are of special value. Saewulf” visited the Holy Land in 1102 A.D., before the building of most of the Norman castles and cathedrals; and the Russian Abbot Daniel, whose account has only recently been translated into English,” is believed to have arrived as early as I Icó A.D. From Ephesus he went to Patmos and Cyprus, and thence to Jerusalem and all over Western Palestine. His account is one of the fullest that we possess for the earliest Crusading period. In the middle of the twelfth century we have the topographical account by Fetellus,” which refers to places not generally described ; and rather later we have the valuable descriptions by Theodoricus and John of Wirzburg,” while only two years before Saladin's conquest of Jerusalem, John Phocas" wrote a shorter account in Greek upon silk, which is interesting as the work of a Greek ecclesiastic at a time when the Tatins were the dominant sect. The names of monasteries in * These works, with Jaques de Vitray (1220 A.D.) and Marino Samuto (1321 A.D.), I studied in the great collection of Latin Chronicles, also containing William of Tyre, by Bongars, called Gesta Dei per Francos, Hanover, 161 I. * See Early Travels in Palestine, Bohm’s Series. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. VI., annotated by Sir C. W. Wilson. * Fetellus in Latin is given by De Vogüé, Églises de la Terre Sainte, p. 4 Io. This account was republished by Leo Allatius, under the name of Eugesippus, in the thirteenth century. He dates it IO4O, but the true date appears to be I I51–57 A.D. * See the Latin version, Töbler's edition. Neither are yet pub- lished in English. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. XI., translated by Aubrey Stewart, M.A. This, like Fetellus, was recovered in MS. by Leo Allatius, 10 PALESTINE, the Jordan Valley, otherwise unnoticed, are recoverable in his account. - Much interesting topographical information of this period is to be found in the Cartulary of the Holy Sepulchre," which gives striking evidence of the rapidly increasing possessions of the Latin Church, due to the gifts and legacies of kings and barons. The cartularies of the great orders and the laws contained in the Assizes of Jerusalem are equally important to an understanding of Palestine under the rule of its feudal monarchs. It is possible to reconstruct the map of the country at this period in a very complete manner from such material.” The Jews were not encouraged in Syria by the Normans. Benjamin of Tudela, however, made his famous journey from Saragossa in I 160, and returned in 1173 after visiting Palestine, Persia, Sinai, and Egypt; he was interested in the “lost tribes,” whom the mediaeval Jews recognised in the Jewish kingdom of the Khozars in the Caucasus, and his account of IPalestine is a valuable set-off to those of the Christian visitors.” We have pilgrimages by Tabbis in later cem- turies, viz., Rabbi Bar Simson in 12 To A.D., Tabbi Isaac Chelo of Aragon in 1334, and others of the fifteenth, six- teenth, and seventeenth centuries.* These refer chiefly to the holy cities of the Jews, especially to Tiberias and Safed in Galilee, and record visits to the tombs of cele- 1 Cartulaire de l'Église du S.S. de Jerusalem, E. de Rosière, Paris, 1849. * See E. Rey's Colonies Franques de Syrie, Paris, 1883. The work, however, remains to be further perfected by aid of the Survey map. I find some 700 places mentioned in all in Western Pales- time, 8 Early Travels in Palestine, Bohn's Series. * E. Carmoly, Itinéraires de La Terre Sainte, I’aris, 1847. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 11 brated Rabbis, many of which are still preserved, and some yet visited by the Jews of Palestine. Several im- portant points regarding early Christian and Talmudic topography are cleared up by these works. One of the favourite accounts of the Holy City and of Balestine at the time of its conquest by Saladin was written by an unknown author, and was reproduced in the thirteenth century in the Chronicle of Ernoul.1 There are many manuscripts of this, as of earlier works, which were preserved in the monasteries of Europe, and recopied by students who seem to have had little idea of the importance of preserving the original purity of their text. Some of the versions are mere abstracts, Some are supplemented by paraphrases from Scripture. The original work known as the Citéz de Jherusalem was evidently penned by one who had long lived in the Holy City, and knew every street, church, and monastery. IIe gives us the Frankish names for the streets, and the topography is easily traced in the modern city. There are perhaps few towns which are better known than Jerusalem in the latter part of the twelfth century A.D., and the varying manuscripts throw an interesting light on the way in which errors and variations crept into a popular work before the invention of printing. The vivid and spirited chronicle of the campaigns of Richard Lion-Heart by Geoffrey de Vinsauf (11.89– 1192 A.D.) informs us of the condition of the maritime region, and describes a part of Palestine which few have visited, between Haifa and Jaffa, as well as the region east of Ascalon and as far south as the border of Egypt. * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. VIII., translated from the old French (edition of Société de l'Orient Latin), by Major Conder, and annotated by him with map of Jerusalem in 1187 A.D. 12 PALESTINE. The topography of this chronicle I studied on the ground with great care in 1873–75. The charming pages of Joinville, though of great interest as describing the unfortunate Crusade of St. Louis in 1256 A.D., contain much less of geographical value than the preceding.” In the fourteenth century men's minds were often occupied with schemes for the recovery of the Holy Places. Marino Sanuto, a Venetian noble, who is said to have travelled in the East, wrote an elaborate work on the subject, which he presented to Pope John in —e:- M A R T N S A N U TO , 132) –% –– e T. ontº, E /? don /\{x^ ^^^^ /º 300&ra. Alºk. T.Amo o is sº wºº - t Q. ,” ſu ſ . *** * “...... Mare f pa’s Aquafter Tiberiadis 9. |O - x^^^ Ö oſºbron. i *.....”---....[... ^:......Jº'ſ," ~! 12 Aa 'A G A) o - º.º. _: ~~ R& 1. Ruben, 2. Gad, 3.Mavasse. 4. Judo. 5. Effrayn. 6. Benjamin. 7. Cabulon. 8. XSacco. 9. Aser, 10. Neptaſim. Iſ Darv. 12, Simeon. MAP OF MARIN SANUTO. 1321. The greater part is taken up with his views as to the military steps necessary for an expedition against the Saracens, but a very full gazetteer of Palestine, with a map, is also introduced into the work. Some have doubted whether Marino Sanuto ever visited Palestine. His information is, however, very correct on the whole, * See Chronicles of the Crusades, Bohm’s Series, for both these works. Other accounts of the thirteenth century, which, however, are less valuable, are those by Willibrand of Oldenburgh, Tetmar, Epiphanius of Hagiopolis, and Brocardus, INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, 13 and his account of roads, springs, and other features appears to be founded on reliable observation. During the transition period of the struggle between Christendom and Islam, Palestine had narrowly escaped the horrors of a Mongol invasion. Mangu Khan, to whom St. Louis had sent the mild and pious William de Rubruquis at his distant capital of Karakorum (in Mon- golia) in 1253, was defeated by the Egyptian Sultan Kelaun, successor of the terrible Bibars, in I28o, and had already been defeated in 1276 by Bibars himself near La Chamelle (now Homs) in Northern Syria. A very interesting letter has lately been published by Mr. Basevi Sanders from Sir Joseph de Cancy in Palestine to Edward the First in England," written in 1281, and describing the later defeat near Le Lagon (the Lake of Iſoms), which saved the country from the cruelty from which other lands were then suffering. The Mameluk Sultans ruled in Palestine down to 1516 A.D., when the Turkish Selim overthrew their power at Aleppo, since which time Palestine has been a Turkish province. During the three centuries of Mameluk rule there are many descriptions, Christian and Moshem, of the country, and the well-known Travels of Sir John Mandeville are among the earliest. He was a contemporary of Marino Sanuto, and although those portions of the work (with which he consoled his rheumatic old age) that refer to more distant lands are made up from various sources, going back to the fables of Pliny and Solinus, still the account of Palestine itself appears to be original, and contains passages (such as that which relates to the fair held near Banias) which show special knowledge of the country. In 1432 Sir Bertrandon de la Brocquiere, * Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, No. VII. I 4 PALESTINE. with other knights, made an adventurous journey through the whole length of the country, and through Northern Syria and Asia Minor to Constantinople. To the same period belongs John Poloner's description, which shows us how tenaciously the Latin monks held to their possessions in the Holy Land.” In the fifteenth century we have Moslem accounts by TERRA sa NCTA, a Petro Taicstain per lustrala etal, eius ore of schedi's a Christiano Schrot in tabulacra, rodactal. º; ^/N Hºgbon º: * sº Seir Žºgpº > >T Tº ---> * -º ~, ^ -- ~..., -E-F--- THE IIOLY LAND, FROM THE ATLAS OF ORTELIUS, c. 1591. Kemál ed Dīn and Mejr ed Din, which are of value in tracing the architectural history of Jerusalem. Mejr ed Dīn was Kady of the city, and his topographical account, though brief, is minutely detailed.” Among 1 For these two, see Early Travels in Palestine, Bohm’s Series. * See the Latin text, Tobler's edition. * The best and most recent translations are by Mr. Guy Ile Strange. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, 15 other Christian travellers of this century, Felix Fabri (1483–84), a Dominican monk, has left one of the best accounts. But how little these later Christian pil- grims contributed to enlarging our exact knowledge of Palestine may be judged of from such a map as that contributed by Christian Schrot to the Atlas of Ortelius, a map very decidedly inferior to that supplied more than two centuries earlier by Marino Sanuto. Of travellers who visited Palestine during the early Turkish period, the first in importance is the shrewd and moderate Maundrell (1697 A.D.)." He was chaplain of the English factory at Aleppo, which dated back to the time of Elizabeth, and the account of his travels shows that it was more difficult to traverse Palestine in his days than to penetrate into Eastern Mongolia in the days of Rubruquis and Marco Polo. Among the tyrannical chiefs of various small districts who robbed and annoyed him was Sheikh Shibleh near Jenin, whose tomb is now a sacred shrine on the hill above Kefr IGud. Of this holy man he records that “he eased us in a very courteous manner of Some of our coats, which now (the heat both of the climate and season increasing upon us) began to grow not only superfluous but burdensome.” In these early days travelling was perilous, and, as a rule, only possible in disguise. In 1803 the journey of Seetzen was specially valuable, and the travels of the celebrated Burckhardt followed soon after in 1809–16. IBoth these explorers died in the East before their self- allotted tasks were complete. In 1816 Buckingham (still remembered by the elder generation as a gallant explorer) visited Palestine, and in 1817 Irby and Man- gles made an adventurous journey in the country east * Early Travels in Palestine, Bohn's Series. I6 PALESTINE. of the Jordan. Their account is still valuable for this region. From that time forward the accounts of per- sonal visits to the country become too numerous to be here recorded. The names of Bartlett, Wilson, Töbler, Thomson, Lynch, De Sauley, Van de Velde, Williams, and Porter are among the better known of those who preceded or were contemporary with the celebrated Robinson. Port RAIT of DR. EDWARD Roß1NSoN (Born 1794, Died 1863). But it was only in 1838 that really scientific explora- tion of Palestine began with the journey of the famous American (Dr. Robinson), whose works long continued to be the standard authority on Palestine geography, and whose bold and original researches have been so fully confirmed by the excavations and explorations of the last twenty years. To this same period, preceding actual surveys, belongs INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 17 the work of De Vogüé, whose monographs on the Temple, the Dome of the Rock, the churches of Palestine, and his splendid volume of plates for Northern Syrian archi- tecture, together with his collection and decipherment PORTRAIT OF SIR CHARLES WILSON. From a Photograph by Maull & Foz, Piccadilly. of various early inscriptions in the country, give him the highest rank as an Orientalist. With his name must be coupled that of Waddington, who first attempted to form a corpus of Greek texts from inscriptions found in Palesvine, while the standard authority on Phoenician B 18 PALESTINE. and Hebrew texts is the recently published corpus of Semitic inscriptions by Renan. Sir C. W. Wilson's survey of Jerusalem and travels in Palestine in 1864–66, and his subsequent exploration of the Sinaitic desert in 1867, roused public attention to the neglected state of Palestine geography, leading to the execution for the Palestine Exploration Fund of the PORTRAIT OF SIR. C. WARREN wonderful excavations by Sir C. Warren at Jerusalem. These excavations round the walls of the old Temple area, carried out in the teeth of fanatic and political obstruction, have enabled us to replace the weary con- troversies of half a century ago by the actual results of measurement and scientific exploration. Sir Charles Wilson's already published survey of the Holy City, his reconnaissances throughout the length of the Palestine INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER, 19 watershed, preceding his Sinai Expedition, his survey of the Sea of Galilee, and his exact determination of the level of the Dead Sea, 1292 feet below the Mediter- ranean, were the first efforts of modern science to supply really valuable statistics concerning Palestine itself. The shafts and tunnels of Sir Charles Warren were the first serious attempts of the engineer to place our know- ledge of Jerusalem on an equal footing with that which had been in like manner attained at Nineveh and Babylon some twenty years before. It was by the advice of these experienced explorers that the survey of Palestine from Dan to Beersheba, and from the Jordan to the Great Sea, was undertaken, a work which commenced in 1872, was completed in the field in 1877, but not fully published till 1882. It is with this work that the present volume is chiefly con- cerned, since it was my good fortune to conduct the parties almost from the first, and to carry out the pub- lication of the maps and memoirs. It had first been intended that Captain Stewart, R.E., should have com- manded the party, but that officer was unfortunate in falling ill almost at once on reaching the field of work; and it was through the kindness of the late Major Ander- son, R.E., the comrade of Sir Charles Wilson in Pales- tine, that my name was brought forward as one who had been deeply interested in the work of previous explorers, and who desired to act as Captain Stewart's assistant. By the sudden illness of that officer, the non-commissioned officers were left in Palestine without a military superior ; and as my military education at Chatham had just been completed, I was fortunate in being selected, at the age of not quite twenty-four years, to the command of the Survey Expedition. 20 PALESTINE. Since the completion of the survey of Western Pales- tine, the survey of Moab, Gilead, and Bashan has been commenced. In 1881 I set out in charge of a small party, hoping to finish this new enterprise in about three years' time. But alas ! I found much change in Syria during the interval of my absence. The suspicions of the Sultan were aroused ; the Turkish Government refused to believe in the genuineness of our desire to obtain antiquarian knowledge. Political intrigues were rife, and after struggling against these difficulties for fifteen months, after surveying secretly about five hundred square miles of the most interesting country east of the Dead Sea, and after vainly attempting to obtain the consent of the Sultan to further work, it became neces- sary to recall the party in the same year in which the researches of Mr. Rassam in Chaldea were suspended and a general veto placed on all systematic exploration. Since that year, however, a little work has been done from time to time by residents in communication with the Home Society. ITerr Schumacher, a young German colonist, has made Some excellent maps of parts of Bashan, and Dr. Hull has explored the geology of the district south of the Dead Sea, while further discoveries have even been made in Jerusalem by Herr Konrad Schick, who has recovered part of the second wall and one of the important pools (the Piscina Interior) in the north-east corner of the city. The most interesting result of ITerr Schumacher's journeys have been the discovery of the sites of Hippos and Kokaba east of the Sea of Galilee, and of dolmen centres like those which I found in Moab. The task with which I am charged is, however, to give a general account of the exploration of Palestine INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 2] conducted by the parties under my command ; and taking the subject roughly in the order of date of survey, I hope to show that not only in a geographical sense, but also as a contribution to the true understanding of the ancient history of the East, our labours were not in vain, and our method was such as to give exhaustive results. In concluding this introductory sketch, I should wish to point out that the Palestine of 1889 is not the IPalestine which I entered in 1872. Partly on account of the work of the Palestine Exploration Fund, partly because of political changes, the number of travellers has enormously increased. In 1873 it was possible to visit villages where the face of a Frank had never been seen, but now even the Arabs beyond Jordan are often brought in contact with Europeans. Such a chance of studying the archaic manners of the peasantry and the natural condition of the nomadic Arabs as we enjoyed cannot now recur. For six years I lived entirely among the peasantry, but since then war, cruel taxation, and the rapacity of usurers has broken up and ruined the peasant society as it existed fifteen years ago. In 1882 I saw only too plainly the change that had come over the land. The Palestine of the early years of the Survey hardly now exists. The country is a Levantine land, where Western fabrics, Western ideas, and even Western languages, meet the traveller at every point. In the present pages I have attempted to give some idea of the country as it was in the last years of its truly Oriental condition, with a peasantry as yet hardly quite tamed by the Turk, and regions as yet hardly traversed by the European explorer, CHAPTER T. EXPLORATIONS IN } UDEA. NEARLY every tourist in Palestine lands at Jaffa, and thence travels to Jerusalem. The open roadstead, the yellow dunes, the distant shadowy mountains, the brown town on its hillock, the palms, the orange-gardens and the picturesque crowd are familiar to very many of my readers. So are the paths over the plain, the mud vil- lages and cactus hedges, the great minaret tower of Ramleh, and the rough mountains, with scattered copses of mastic and oak, with stone hamlets and terraced olive groves, through which lies the way to the Holy City. When first I traversed this road in July 1872, it was less frequented than it is now. The long rows of Jewish cottages which first meet the eye on reaching the pla- teau west of the city were not then built, and Mr. Cook's signboard was not fixed to the ancient walls of Jerusalem. The increase of the population by the arrival of 15, ooo European Jews had not commenced, and what has now been gained in prosperity has been lost in picturesque antiquity of appearance. Jeru- salem was then still an Oriental, but has now become what is known as a Levantine town. The winters of 1873, of 1874, and of 1881 I spent within the walls, and many other visits were necessary 22 TEXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 23 from time to time; but our work lay in the country, and it was only here and there that we were able to add new details to the exhaustive and Scientific records of Sir Charles Wilson and Sir Charles Warren in Jerusa- lem itself. My first impression was one of disappoint- ment. The city is small, the hills are stony, barren, and shapeless. One seemed always to be traversing by- lanes, so narrow were the steep streets, which afterwards became so familiar. But Jerusalem is a city which to the student becomes more interesting the longer he ex- plores the remains of a past stretching back through the proud days of the Crusading kingdom to the glories of the Arab Khalifate, to the quaint superstitions of the Byzantines, to the greatness of the Herodians, to the earlier civilisation of the Hebrews. Relics still remain of the works of every age, from the time when David first fixed his throne on Sion ; and even after fifteen years of exploration a great discovery remained to be made in the finding of the only Hebrew inscription, as yet known in Western Palestine, which dates back to the times of the kings of Judah. Space will not allow of a complete account of Jeru- salem, which may be found in the publications of the Palestine Exploration Fund.” Few scenes in the East remain more distinctly printed on the memory than do those connected with life in Jerusalem. The motley crowd in its lanes, where every race of Europe and of Western Asia meets; the gloomy churches; the beauty * Memoirs of the Survey of Western Palestime, Jerusalem volume. Tent Work in Palestine, vol. i. chaps. xi., xii. See also Conder's Handbook to the Bible, Part II. chaps. vii., viii. Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society's publications; and Picturesque Palestine (edited by Sir C. W. Wilson.) 24 PALESTINE. of the Arab chapel of the Rock; the strange fanaticism of the Greek festival of the Holy Fire; the dervish pro- cessions issuing from the old Temple area; the pathetic wailing at the Temple wall; the Jewish Passover; the horns blown at the feast of Tabernacles; Russian, Armenian, Greek, and Georgian pilgrims; the Christ crucified by Franciscan monks in the gilded chapel of Calvary; the poor whose feet are washed by a crowned bishop—all remain in the memory with the mighty ramparts of the city as seen by Christ and His disciples, and the blue goggles of the tourist from the West. No other town presents such an epitome of history, or gathers a crowd so representative of East and West. There are only two discoveries to which I propose to refer, as being the most important since the closing of Sir Charles Warren's mines. These are the discovery of the Temple rampart and that of the Siloam inscrip- tion. The extent of the Temple area, as rebuilt by IHerod the Great, was defined by the excavations which Sir Charles Warren carried down to the rock founda- tions, in some parts by mines 70 to Ioo feet deep," but * For those who are unfamiliar with the methods of professional surveyors, it is perhaps well here to state distinctly that the profes- sional opinion as to the level of the rock throughout the city and the Temple area does not depend on ‘‘imaginary contours,” but on a large number of observations of level. The rock base of the moun- tains is fixed in seventy-five places throughout the Temple area, and in more than I2O other places in the city by excavations, where it is not seen on the surface. In some of the most important parts long sections were visible in the great reservoirs recently excavated. On the little Ophel spur alone fifty such measurements were taken by Sir Charles Warren, besides the 200 above mentioned. There is thus no doubt in the mind of any one who knows these facts as to the position of the hills and depth and width of the amoient valleys ; and the imaginary gully which some theorists have drawn on their IEXPLORATIONS IN JUDFA. 25 in no part did he find the ancient walls rising above the level of the inner court. The north-west corner of the area is occupied by barracks, standing on the cliff which was once crowned by the citadel of Antonia; and out- side this cliff is the rock-cut trench, converted later into a covered double pool, which the Christians of the fourth century regarded as Bethesda. From this pool a narrow lofty tunnel leads southwards through the cliff. It is an ancient aqueduct, which was stopped up by the build- ing of the Temple wall. Sir Charles Warren explored it with great difficulty on a raft on the sewage with which it was filled ; but in 1873 it was cleared out by the city authorities, and I was able to explore it at leisure. At the very end, through a hole in the floor, it was possible to reach a chamber over this rocky passage, built against the Temple wall and lighted by a window which looks into the north-west part of the Temple court. The east wall of the chamber is the ancient wall built by Herod, and here I found the same great drafted stones which occur in the foundations. I also found that the wall was adorned outside above the ground-level by projecting buttresses, just like those of the enclosure at Hebron, to be mentioned immediately. We are thus able to picture the appearance of the great maps to suit the requirements of their version of Josephus’ account has decidedly no existence. The south-east cormer of the Temple was the most important to fix, in view of conflicting theories. It was at this corner that the Ophel wall joined the “eastern cloister of the Temple ’’ (Josephus, V. Wars, iv. 2). Sir Charles Warren found this wall joining the east wall of the Haram at the present south-east angle of the Haram, and thus appears to have set the question at rest, if Josephus' account is to be received. This question is fully treated in Conder's Handbook to the Bible, pp. 366–368, third edition. 26 PALESTINE, ramparts of Herod's Temple enclosure, with such but- tresses running round the walls and capped by a boldly corbelled cornice, presenting the same simple and mas- sive appearance which may still be seen in the smaller enclosure round the tombs of the Patriarchs at Hebron. The discovery of the Siloam inscription was an in- stance of the accidental manner in which important monuments are often recovered ; yet, as in other cases, it was due to the education which the native population receives from the scientific explorer. Had the import- ance of such discoveries not been impressed on the minds of natives, it is possible that the Jewish boy who, fall- ing down in the water of the narrow aqueduct, first observed the only known relic of the writing of his ancestors in King Hezekiah’s days, would not have been conscious how valuable a discovery he had made on a spot visited by more than one eager explorer who passed unconscious by the silent text. On the east side of Jerusalem runs the deep Redron gorge; under the Temple walls on its western slope a rock chamber contains the one spring of Jerusalem, known as the Virgin's Fountain to Christians, and as the “Mother of Steps” to Moslems, because of the stairs which lead down into the vault from the present surface of the valley, as raised by the accumulated rubbish of twenty-five centuries of stormy history. This spring, with its intermittent rush of waters welling up under the steps, is the En Rogel of the Old Testament, and I believe the Bethesda or “House of the Stream,” the troubling of whose waters is mentioned in the fourth Gospel. From the back of the rock chamber a passage, also rock-cut, and scarcely large enough in places for a grown man to Squeeze through, runs South under the EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 27 Ophel hill for about a third of a mile, to the reservoir which is the undisputed site of the ancient Pool of Siloam. The course of the channel is serpentine, and the farther end near the Pool of Siloam enlarges into a passage of considerable height. Down this channel the waters of the spring rush to the pool whenever the sudden flow takes place. In autumn there is an in- terval of several days; in winter the sudden flow takes place sometimes twice in a day. A natural syphon from an underground basin accounts for this flow, as also for that of the “Sabbatic river” in North Syria. When it occurs, the narrow parts of the passage are filled to the roof with water. This passage was explored by Dr. Robinson, Sir Charles Wilson, Sir Charles Warren, and others, but the inscription on the rock close to the mouth of the tunnel was not seen, being then under water. When it was found in 1880 by a boy who entered from the Siloam end of the passage, it was almost obliterated by the deposit of lime crystals on the letters. Professor Sayce, then in Palestine, made a copy, and was able to find out the general meaning of the text. In 1881. Dr. Guthe, a German explorer, cleaned the text with a weak acid solution, and I was then able, with the aid of Lieutenant Mantell, R.E., to take a proper “squeeze.” It was a work of labour and requiring patience, for on two occasions we sat for three or four hours cramped up in the water in order to obtain a perfect copy of every letter, and afterwards to verify these copies by examin- ing each letter with the candle placed so as to throw the light from right, left, top and bottom. Only by such labour can reliable copies be made. We were rewarded by sending home the first accurate copy pub- 28 PALESTINE, lished in Europe, and were able to settle many disputed points raised by the imperfect copy of the text before it was cleaned. An excellent cast was afterwards made. The contents of the text, which now ranks as one of the most valuable found in the East, are not of historic importance. The six lines of beautifully chiselled letters record only the making of the tunnel, which seems to have been regarded as a triumph of Hebrew engineering skill. It was begun from both ends, and the workmen heard the sound of the picks of the other party in the bowels of the hill, and called to their fellows. Thus guided, they advanced and broke through ; the two tunnels proving to be only a few feet out of line. No date, no royal name, or other means of ascertaining the age of the text exist ; yet our knowledge is enough to fix very closely, from the forms of the letters, the cen- tury in which it must have been written. It is pro- bably to this tunnel that the Bible refers in noting the water-works of King Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxxii. 30); and the text shows us that monumental writing was in use among the Hebrews about 700 B.C. The differences between these Hebrew letters and those used by the Phoenicians of the same age also show us that writing must have been familiar to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for many centuries before the time when this text was engraved ; and it thus becomes the first monumental proof of the early civilisation of the Hebrews which has been drawn from their own records on the rock. Being aware of the contents of the text, we determined to re-explore and survey the whole length of the tunnel, in order to see if any other texts could be found, and to discover if possible the exact place where the two parties of workmen met, on that day 2580 years before, when EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 29 they heard each others' voices through the rock. Fol- lowed by Lieutenant Mantell and Mr. G. Armstrong, I crawled over the mud and sharp pebbles for the whole distance, dragging with us a chain, and taking compass angles, which were entered in a wet note-book by the light of a candle often put out by the water. We also suffered from the bites of the leeches and from the want of air; but our chief danger was the sudden rise of the water, which might have caught us in that narrow part of the passage, where, crawling flat, we were hardly able to squeeze through and to keep our lights burning. We noted, however, two shafts to which we might retire if the water rose, and which were perhaps made in order to allow the workmen to stand upright at times and rest. It is almost impossible to suppose that the nar- rowest parts were excavated by grown men ; at all events, they must have been narrower in the shoulders than the explorers; but I believe that boys were pro- bably employed. In this narrow part no inscription could have been cut, nor did we find any tablets on the rock in other parts like that already noticed. On the first occasion, after five hours, we reached the Virgin's Pool safely; but we found a second visit necessary, and in order to make the danger less, we determined to pass down the tunnel from the spring, where I stationed a servant to warn us if the water began to rise. Hardly had we got a hundred yards down the passage when we heard his shouts, and at once began to canter on all fours to the spring chamber over the pebbles and mud. We had crossed the pool with the water only up to our knees, but when we again reached it from the tunnel at the back, it was well up to the arm-pits; and hardly were we safe on the landing of the steps, when we heard 30 PALESTINE. the water gurgling in the tunnel, and knew that it must in the narrow part be full to the roof. In a short time the flow subsided, and we were able to go back safely, knowing that it would not rise again that day. We were astonished, however, on emerging at Siloam, to find the stars shining, for we had again spent five hours in the dark, with the mud, stones, and leeches, and con- sidered ourselves lucky in escaping an attack of fever, which generally follows such exposure to wet and cold in Palestine. We were rewarded by finding the place where the two parties, working from either end of the tunnel, met nearly half-way, From the fourth century to the present day the sites of Calvary and of the IHoly Sepulchre have been shown within the precincts of the Crusading cathedral, stand- ing where Constantine's basilica was raised. The dis- covery of part of the “second wall” in 1886 shows pretty clearly that the line which—guided by the rock-levels— I drew in 1878, nearly coinciding with Dr. Robinson's line, is correct, and that the traditional site was thus in the time of our Lord within the city walls. For the last half century this view has been very generally held, but there was no agreement as to the true site. I was enabled, however, through the help of Dr. Chaplin, the resident physician, to investigate the ancient Jewish tradition, still extant among the older resident Jews, which places the site of the “House of Stoning” or place of execution at the remarkable knoll just outside the Damascus gate, north of the city. There are several reasons, which I have detailed in other publications, for thinking that this hillock is the probable site of Calvary. When General Gordon was residing at Jerusalem, he adopted this idea very strongly, and it has thus become EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 31 familiar to many in England.” The bare and stony swell breaks down on the South side into a precipice, over which, according to the Talmud, those doomed to be stoned were thrown, and on the summit they were afterwards crucified, according to the same account. The hillock stands conspicuous in a sort of natural amphitheatre, being thus fitted for a spectacle seen by great multitudes. The neighbourhood has always appa- rently been regarded as of evil omen, and a Moslem writer says that men may not pass over the plateau beside it at night for fear of evil spirits. Close to this same spot, also, the earliest Christian tradition pointed out the scene of the stoning of Stephen. When first I reached Palestine in 1872, the Survey party were at work at Shechem, thirty miles north of Jerusalem. Sergeant Black and Sergeant Armstrong, whose names should be specially recorded among those who worked at the survey, because they were longest employed, and because their ability was conspicuous in framing a plan of operations suited to the peculiar re- quirements, had made good progress, with the aid of Mr. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake, left in charge when Captain Stewart came home ill. They had carried the work from Jaffa to Jerusalem, and thence along the mountains to Shechem, in six months, and the hill country of Benja- min, which I afterwards examined, was thus surveyed before I reached Palestine. This part of Judea, though * The Jewish tradition was first published in “Tent Work in Palestine’’ in 1878. The account of this question, given by Mr. L. Oliphant in “Haifa,” is abstracted from my later paper in the Jerusalem volume of the Survey Memoirs, published in 1881, and again in 1883, where I have given the Talmudic passages in full. Many other writers have also copied my account since. 32 TALESTINE. presenting immense difficulties to the surveyor, which had been overcome by patience and toil, did not yield much of great interest beyond Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake's discovery of a Jewish tomb-inscription, and the identifi- cation of several lost Hebrew cities. The site of Bethel, famous as it is in Bible history, is only that of a small village, on a ridge which, even for Judea, is remarkably barren and rocky. Here truly the wanderer who dreamed of angels could find nought save a stone for his pillow ; but the long vista of the Jericho plain, seen over the peaks and ridges of the desert of Judah, might even now, by some modern Lot, be likened to the “garden of the Lord,” so green do its pastures look in spring, set in the stomy ring of barren hills. Not far thence we one day crossed the great gorge of Michmash, where was the fortress of the Philistines that Jonathan assaulted. We were able to lead our horses down from ledge to ledge, following the strata, to the bottom of the valley on its south side ; but on the north towered the cliff of Bozez (“the shining”), which the Hebrew hero scaled. TIere no horse could find a footing, and climbing up to visit the hermit's caves, I was able to judge the effort which would be necessary to scale the whole height and then to fight at the top. No doubt the garrison must have regarded Jonathan's feat as practically impossible. The ridge on which Jerusalem stands, 25oo feet above the Mediterranean, runs southwards, oradually rising to 3ooo feet in the neighbourhood of Habron, where the open valley of vineyards forms one of the heads of the great Beersheba watercourse. This difficult region was surveyed in the autumn of 1874, and many ancient sites and ruins were discovered. We were not, however, at º ſ W. º º º º 2. % | % % EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 33 that time able to enter the Hebron Sanctuary, which had never been fully explored, and which is one of the most interesting places in Palestine. In 1882, however, I accompanied the Princes Albert Victor and George of Wales, who, under the guidance of Sir Charles Wilson, explored this zealously-guarded mosque, of which I then made the only complete plan in existence. The TIaram (or “Sanctuary") at Hebron is an oblong enclosure, repeating that of the Temple of Jerusalem on a smaller scale. It is not mentioned by early writers, yet there can be little doubt that it must be the work of Herod the Great, or of one of his immediate successors. It already existed in 333 A.D., and the walls are so exactly like those of the Jerusalem Haram, that they cannot be supposed the work of the Byzantine emperors. The ramparts enclose a mediaeval church and a court- yard, built over an ancient rock-cut cave, which in all ages has been regarded as the sepulchre purchased by Abraham from the sons of Heth, where Sarah first is said to have been buried, and afterwards Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Tebecca and Leah. Six cenotaphs, like Moslem tombs, covered with rich embroidered cloths, stand in the enclosure—two inside the church (now a mosque), two in chapels beside the porch of the same, and two in buildings against the opposite rampart walls. It is not however supposed, even by Moslems, that these are the real tombs; they only mark supposed sites of tombs beneath the floor. These lower tombs, which Benjamin of Tudela, the Jewish traveller of the twelfth century, claims to have seen, are now inacces- sible, and it is impossible to say how far his account can be trusted." In the floor of the mosque there are two * Sec Darly Travels in Palestine, Bohn's Series, p. 86. C 34 | PALESTINE. entrances closed by flagstones, which are said to lead down by steps into the rock-cut cave. No Moslem would dare to enter this sacred cavern, where, as they say, Isaac would await and slay them, while Jewish legends tell that Eliezer of Damascus stands at the door to watch the repose of Abraham asleep in the arms of Sarah. There is, however, a hole in the floor which pierces the roof of a square chamber, lighted by a silver lamp suspended from the mouth of the hole. into this well-mouth we thrust our heads, and the lamp was lowered almost to the floor. Here I saw clearly that in one wall of the chamber a small square door exists, just like those of rock-cut tombs all through JPalestine. There is thus probably a real tomb under the mosque, and the chamber is apparently an outer porch to this tomb. The floor was covered to some depth with sheets of paper, evidently the accumulations of many years. These papers are petitions to Abraham, which the pious Moslems drop through the hole, and thus leave lying at the door of his sepulchre. Another opportunity of so thoroughly exploring this interesting site may not speedily occur; and so long as the mosque remains a mosque, it is doubtful if any one will succeed in entering the tomb itself, though it might perhaps be reached by the stairs said to exist on the south side of the building, if permission could be obtained to force up the flagstones.” As regards the identity of this sepulchre with that of the Patriarchs, all that can be said is that tradi- tion is unvarying on the subject, and the site nowise improbable; but the Hebrews never appear to have embalmed the dead, and if any inscriptions existed * See the full account in the Memoirs of the Survey, vol. iii. IEXIPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 35 (inscriptions of early date on Hebrew tombs being almost unknown), they would probably belong to a very recent period. In an account like the present it is difficult to follow either a geographical or a chronological order. The geography of Palestine is, however, very generally under- stood, and the regions next to each other are here men- tioned in order. The Survey was extended from a central band along the watershed, the reason being that the plains could only be visited, with due regard to the health and comfort of the party, in the spring and early summer, while the mountains were our refuge in the great heats of August and September, and in the sickly autumn, when the climate of the lower regions becomes almost pestilential. Only once was this system disregarded, and the result was an outbreak of virulent fever in the camp, which threatened for a time to put an end to the expedition. Last of the Hebron and of the Jerusalem hills stretches the desert of Judah, a plateau broken by ridges and ravines reaching to the tall cliffs which rise from the shores of the Dead Sea. Beyond this desert the plains of Jericho, through which the Jordan flows, stretch along the north shores of the sea, and are about I ooo feet lower than the surface of the Mediterranean. On the west of the Judean mountains there are foot hills (the region called Shephelah in the Bible), and west of these again the broad plains of Sharon and of Philistia extend to the sandhills of the Mediterranean coast, which pre- sents no natural harbour south of Mount Carmel. The Judean desert I surveyed with a very small party in the early spring of 1875. The Jericho plains we unfortunately visited too soon in December 1873. The 36 PALESTINE. Shephelah and the plain of Philistia were completed in the spring of 1875 without any difficulty, save a small part near Beersheba, which was finished in 1877. Peer- sheba itself was visited in the autumn of 1874. These regions were all more or less wild, and inhabited by nomadic Arabs, so that the adventures of the party were more numerous than when our work lay near the civilised centres and among the settled villagers. The four regions above mentioned may be briefly mentioned in order. The Judean desert is without exception the wildest and most desolate district in Syria. It seems hardly possible that man or beast can find a living in such a land. Yet, as David found pasture for those “few poor sheep in the wilderness,” so do the desert Arabs find food for their goats among the rocks. It is none the less a desert indeed, riven by narrow ravimes leading to deep gorges, and rising between the stony gullies into narrow ridges of dark brown limestone, capped with gleaming white chalk, full of cone-like hillocks and fantastic peaks. IIere sitting on the edge of the great cliffs, which drop down a sheer height of some two thousand feet to the rock-strewn shore, gazing on the shining waters of that salt blue lake, watching the ibex herds scudding silently over the plateau, the tawny partridges running in the valley, hearing the clear note of the black grackle as it soars among the rocks where the hyrax (or comey) is hiding, I have felt the sense of true Solitude such as is rarely known else- where. There is no stirring of the grass by the breeze, no rustling of leaves, no murmur of water, no sound of life save the grackle's note or the jackal's cry, re-echoed from the rocks. The sun beats down from a cloudless EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 37 sky; the white glare of the chalk, the smooth face of the sea, are broad stretches of colour unbroken by variety, save where the tamarisk with its feathery leaves makes a dark line among the boulders of the torrent course. Iſere really out of the world the solitary hermits sate in the rocky cells which were their tombs; here in the awful prison of the Marsaba monastery men are still buried, as it were, alive, without future, without hope, without employment, with no comradeship save that of equally embittered lives. The chance traveller alone connects them with the world. The grackles, to whom, on the wing, they toss the dried currants, the jackals, who gather beneath the precipice for the daily dole of bread, these are almost the only living things they see. Many are monks disgraced by crime, and what wonder, too, that some are maniacs or idiots? Few sadder scenes can be witnessed than that of a mass sung in the chapel of Marsaba, where John of Damascus (once the minister of a Moslem Khalif) sleeps in the odour of sanctity. I think it is General Gordon who has somewhere said that for a man to understand the world he should for a time leave the life of busy cities and think out his thoughts alone in the wilderness. Often have I thought that could the critic leave his comfortable study and dwell for a time in this desert of Judah, under the starry sky at night and the hot glare of the sun by day, in a land which men once thought to have been burned by fire, cursed, and sown with salt, and in the great still- ness of a world almost without life, he would be able better to understand what Hebrew poets, prophets, and historians have written, and we should perhaps not see Solomon in the garb of a German Grand Duke, or Isaiah in the robes of an University Don. 38 PALESTINE. The north part of this desert is inhabited by scat- tered groups of the Taamireh tribe, the southern part by the Jahalin Arabs. The Taamireh, or “cultivators,” are not true Arabs, but villagers who have taken to desert life. They wear turbans, and resemble the vil- lagers in type more closely than the Bedu. The Jahalin, whose name means “those ignorant of the Moslem faith,” are a wild and degraded tribe, the poorer being almost naked, while the chiefs have an evil name. I went into this desert without either guide or inter- preter, and the party depended throughout on such knowledge of Arabic as I possessed in communicating with natives. I was not then aware how exact are the border divisions between nomadic tribes, and was surprised to find the Taamireh chief one day very unwilling to follow me. As we returned home the reason became evident. We had crossed the boundary valley into Jahalin country, and a number of wild half- clad figures sprang up from behind the rocks on the hillside armed with ancient matchlocks. The Sheikh's influence was enough to prevent their robbing me, but they guarded us for some distance to the border valley, only asking how soon I was going to cover the land with vineyards. They believe that the Franks control the rain, and that they once grew vines in the desert. It is perhaps a dim memory of the days when the Crusaders had sugar-mills at Engedi, on the shores of the Dead Sea, as mentioned in the chronicles of the twelfth cen- tury, of which mills the ruins are still to be seen. At Engedi the Taamireh left us, and a few days later I rode with my scribe to the camp of the Jahalin, where we sat down and made ourselves guests of the chief. The Arabs were at first surly, but soon came to see that EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 39 money was to be earned, and finally asked us to recom- mend their country to tourists. To those who choose to venture into this wild corner, there is an attraction in the wonderful fortress of Masada, on the shores of the Dead Sea, one of the most remarkable places in Pales- tine, and one which has been little visited. Masada (now called Sebbeh) was the stronghold built by Herod the Great which held out against the Romans after the terrible destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 A.D. A people less determined than the Romans might well have been content to leave the surviving Jewish zealots in so remote and inaccessible a fortress. But not so the Romans. After the death of Bassus the procurator, his successor, Flavius Silva, in the spring of 74 A.D., gathered his forces against this last refuge of the fanatical robbers called Sicarii or Zealots, who were enemies alike of Jews and Romans. The difficulty of the task was immense. Water had to be brought by Jewish captives from a distance of eleven miles: the nearest supplies of corn were twenty miles away; and only in spring could an army have endured the great heats in the valleys, 1 200 feet below sea-level. The for- tress is a lozenge-shaped plateau, with precipices 1 500 feet high all round ; walls and towers, now in ruins, surrounded it on all sides; and while on the east a narrow path called the “Serpent” wound up the cliffs, the only vulnerable point was on the west, where a chalky undercliff Iooo feet high lies against the rocky walls. Opposite this undercliff Silva placed his camp on a low hill, and round the fortress he drew a wall like that which Titus had built round Jerusalem, with small posts at intervals, and a second larger camp on the east. The Romans then piled a great mound 3 oo 40 PALESTINE. feet high on the top of the undercliff, and built a wall on the mound, from the top of which they fought in a siege-tower plated with iron, and battered the fortress wall with a ram. The besieged were not in want of food or water. There were rain-water tanks, and corn was grown on the plateau. It is even said that the stores of wine, oil, pulse, and dates laid in by Herod a hundred years before were still edible, because of the dryness of the desert air. Within the ramparts was Herod's old palace, towards the north-west part of the plateau, and until the walls fell to the battering-ram the courage of the Zealots was unabated. Even then they made an inner stockade of beams and earth, and still continued their fierce fight for freedom when this was in flames, Put when the dawn of the Passover came, the Romans put on their armour and shot out their bridges from the siege-tower, yet met with no resistance, and heard no sound save that of the flames in the burning palace: “A terrible solitude,” says Josephus, “on every side, with a ſire in the place as well as perfect silence.” In the night 960 persons had been slain ; first the women and children by their own husbands and fathers, then the men each by his neighbour. Only one old woman with five children hidden in a cavern had escaped. Such was the wonderful history of the fortress which we explored and planned. From the plateau one looks down on the Roman wall which crosses the plain and runs up the hills to south and north. One can see Silva's camp and the guard-towers almost as he left them 1800 years ago. The Roman mound, the wall upon it, the ruins of IIerod's palace and of the fortress walls, the towers on the cliff-side to the north, the EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 41 empty tanks, the narrow “serpent ’’ path, all attest the truth of Josephus’ account (VII. Wars, viii., ix.), and remain as silent witnesses of one of the most desperate struggles perhaps ever carried to success by Roman determination, and of one of the most fanatical resis- tances in history. On the east is the gleaming Sea of Salt ; the dark precipices of Moab rise beyond, and the strong towers of Crusading Kerak. On all sides are brown precipices and tawny slopes of marl, torrent beds strewn with boulders, and utterly barren shores. There has been nothing to eſtace the evidence of the tragedy, nor was Masada ever again held as a fortress. Yet even here the hermits found their way, and built a little chapel from the stones of Herod's house; while in a cave—perhaps the one in which the poor Jewish matron hid—I discovered on the dark walls a single word, Kuriakos, flanked by crosses and written in mediaeval letters—evidence of some peaceful anchorite's last rest among the ghosts of the Zealots. The survey of this wilderness was completed in ten days, and the party, having no food for beast or man, were forced to march to IIebron in one of the great spring storms. Sleet and hail, a biting wind, and a rocky road made this one of our most toilsome jour- neys, and when, half frozen, we reached the fanatical town, we were greeted only with curses, and owed shelter, food, clothing, and ſire to the hospitality of a Jewish family in the despised suburb to the north of the Haram. The desert of Judah was no doubt as much a desert in David's time as it is now. Here he wandered with his brigand companions as a “partridge on the moun- tains.” Here he may have learned that the coney 42 PALESTINE. makes its dwelling in the hard rock. Iſere, in earlier days, he tended the sheep, descending from Bethlehem, as the village shepherds of the present day still come down, by virtue of a compact with the lawless nomads, and just as Nabal's sheep came down from the high- lands under agreement with the wild followers of the outlaw born to be a king. I do not know any part of the Old Testament more instinct with life than are the early chapters of Samuel which recount the wanderings of T)avid. His life should only be written by one who has followed those wanderings on the spot, and the critic who would embue himself with a right understanding of that ancient chronicle should ſirst with his own eyes gaze on the “rocks of the wild goats” and the “junipers” of the desert. North of the Dead Sea, the wide plain of Jericho lies beneath the wilderness where the Jordan Valley broadens between the Moab mountains and the western precipices. This region we first entered in the Novem- ber of 1873, and pushed the survey rapidly over the plain. Our camp was by the clear spring of “Elisha's Fountain,” well known to tourists; and here, emerg- ing from the glaring chalk hills and barren precipices of Marsaba, we enjoyed greatly the greenness of the plain, the song of the bulbuls in the thorn trees, and the murmur of the stream. Unfortunately, this very greenness was a sign of deadly climate, especially in the autumn months. No sooner had the first thunderstorm swept over us, turning the Brook of Cherith (as it is traditionally called) into a torrent ten feet deep or more, than fever suddenly attacked the party, then numbering five Europeans and fifteen natives. Even the Nuseir Arabs, who were our guides, lay round the tents shaking ----…------------~--~ ==--№====================E== =№ā№Ē=īĒ= ssº！№.S | №=- ==№ --------------- == ===S====№3==№ēĒ№=< EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 43 with ague ; and for a time the life of my companion, Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, was in danger. In fact, though his zeal and fortitude prevented his leaving the work, he never really recovered from this terrible Jericho typhoid, and the hardships of the following spring, which we again passed in the Jordan Valley, proved too much for his shaken health. It is only after the soil in such malarious regions has been purified by a winter's rain that it is safe to remain, even for a night, in the low ground or near water ; and the premature visit to Jericho threatened at one time to bring our small party entirely to a standstill. The region round Jericho is well known. The tall cliff burrowed with hermit's caves, and supposed to be the place where Christ fasted forty days in the desert ; the flat marshy valley sprinkled with alkali plants and with lotus trees and feathery tamarisks; the eastern mountain ridge which we afterwards explored; the strange white peak of Kurn Sartaba on the north ; the oily Dead Sea on the south, must have been seen by many who may read these lines. In clear weather in spring, the snowy dome of Hermon can be seen from near the mud village of Jericho, marking the north end of the Jordan Valley; but the Lake of Tiberias is hidden even from the higher ground near the plain. In this Jericho region also new discoveries were made. A solitary tamarisk marks the site where, at least in early Christian times, it was believed that the Gilgal camp was set up by Joshua. The surveyors verified the existence of the name, even now known to the Jericho peasants. Here also we copied the curious mediaeval frescoes, which still remained on the ruined walls of two monasteries, and several hermit caves. In the twelfth 44 PALESTINE, century there were many monasteries in the desert and round Jericho, and the memory of the monks has not died out. The Bedu point to a curious chalk hill called the “Taven's Nest" as the “place where the Lord Jesus ascended ; ” and in studying the mediaeval accounts of Palestine, I found that this very place, although the top is below sea-level, was pointed out to Crusading pilgrims as “the exceeding high mountain ’’ whence, as we read in the Gospel, Christ surveyed the kingdoms of the world. This is but one instance out of many in which the teaching of the monks and hermits still lingers among the Moslem population in many parts of Palestine. In England a fresco of the twelfth century is to us a rare and ancient thing. In Palestine, so far back are we carried by history, that Crusading remains rank among the latest. But the explorer has no right to confine himself to any one period. His duty is to bring home everything he can find, and without such exhaus- tive work the sifting out of the most valuable and most ancient results cannot with safety be undertaken. I spent several days in the hermits’ caves and in the ruined monasteries, copying such frescoes as were dis- tinguishable, and reading the various titles above them. In the middle of the Jericho plain lies Kusr Hajlah, then a Crusading ruin with frescoes bearing the names of Sylvester Pope of Rome, Sophronius of Jerusalem, and John Eleemon. By the character of the writing I was able to ſix these paintings as twelfth-century work. When in 1881 I revisited the spot, I found that not a single trace remained of any one of the pictures. Rus- sian monks from Marsaba had settled there, and had rebuilt the monastery. Every fresco had been scraped from the walls, in order, they said, that new and better IEXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 45 might replace them. Judging from the existing paint- ings at Marsaba, it is hardly to be expected that much advance will be made on the quaint style of the figures which represented the Last Supper, or the Apostles robed by angels in resurrection garments of white. I think rather that the monks suspected that the frescoes were of Latin origin ; yet, in destroying them, they had obliterated the names of two of the most famous Greek Patriarchs of Jerusalem ; but then they also destroyed the representation of Sylvester Pope of Rome. This single instance shows that the systematic exploration of l’alestine was undertaken none too soon. Not only in monasteries and hermits’ caves were these pictures painted. On the north side of the Kelt ravine (the traditional Brook Cherith) there is a ruined monas- tery of St. John of Choseboth. IIere I copied many texts and pictures; and outside the gate there is a wall of rock eighty feet in length, once covered with very large figures, like those which I have seen on the outer walls of Italian churches. The weather had long since destroyed them, but at Mar Marrina, near Tripoli, I afterwards found another cliff cemented and painted in like style. In this case the Greeks had come after the Latins, and instead of scraping off the old work, had begun to paint over it huge figures of the throned Christ and of the Mother of God, beneath which though on a palimpsest—I was able to copy a set of {US pictures representing the miracles performed by some Latin saint or abbot." * Something of the kind, but better drawn, exists on the walls of the Lady Chapel at Winchester, the work, I believe, of IFlemish artists of the fifteenth century, representing the miracles of the Virgin. Those at Mar Marrima are probably not later than the thirteenth century. 46 PALIESTINE. Such are the remains preserved by the dryness of the desert air in the vicinity of Jericho. We must now cross to the west side of the watershed, where the country presents a very different aspect. Looking down from the heights of the Judean mountains, you see beneath a strip of low hills, covered in some places with brush- wood, but full of villages, and with olive yards along the valley courses and round the stone or mud houses of the hamlets, so many of which preserve the old names of the Book of Joshua. Beyond these foot-hills is the broad plain, here and there rising into Sandy downs, but, as a rule, brown in autumn with rich ploughlands, and yellow in summer with ripening grain. In spring the delicate tinge of green, the wide stretches of pink flush from the phlox blossoms, and the great variety of flowers and flowering shrubs, present a strong contrast to the grimness of the desert. The Shephelah or foot-hills form a district full of interesting sites, and of ruins from the twelfth century A.D. back to the times of Hebrew dominion. Here our discoveries were numerous and important, but I will only refer to two periods of special interest—the time of the Jewish revolt under Judas Maccabaeus, and the time of the first establishment of the Crusading king- dom in Jerusalem. The history of the heroic brothers who recovered the religious freedom of the Jews by revolting from the Greek kings of Antioch in the second century B.C., is as easy to follow in detail on the ground as is that of David's wanderings. I have already devoted a short volume to the subject," and have tried to show how the attacks on Jerusalem were made successively by the * Judas Maccabaeus. Marcus Ward, 1879. EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 47 Greek armies along the roads from the north-west, the west, and the south ; how Judas met the foe on each occasion at the top of the narrow passes; how he hurled them back, as Joshua did the Canaanites on the same battle-fields; and how not even the elephants dismayed him. The native town of Judas, Modin—now called Nedyeh-is a little village in the foot-hills, where, how- ever, the reported tomb of the Maccabee and his family turned out to be merely a Byzantine monument. The scene of the death of Judas, while he was defending a fourth mountain pass leading from Shechem to Jeru- salem, was not known ; but we have, I think, been able to identify this important battle-field, where for a time the hopes of the national party seemed for ever to have been crushed. It is an instructive fact that so long as the Greeks strove to prevail by arms, the puritan movement was never stamped out. When at length the native princes were allowed to reign and to coin money in the native tongue, they became in a few generations as Greek as the Greeks themselves, and finally as hateful to the extreme party of the Orthodox as any Greek oppressor. At the border between the foot-hills and the Philistine plains three Norman castles were built to protect the kingdom of Godfrey and Baldwin against their Egyptian enemies. A little later (in II 53 A.D.) Ascalon was taken, and long remained the great Christian bulwark on the south. Still later, when Richard Lion-Heart was striving to prop up the Latin kingdom, ruined even more by vice and degeneracy than by the fierce attacks of Saladin, the English conqueror spent many months in this region. I had with me in Palestine the chronicle of his expedi- tion, written by Geoffrey de Vinsauf, which is one of 48 PALESTINE. the most vivid monographs of the age. It was thus possible to trace every point in his travels; and very few places remain, among the many mentioned in the Philistine plains, which cannot be found on the Survey map. The lists of property of the canons of the Holy Sepulchre, and other documents of like kind, were com- pared, and thus what is to us an early chapter of our history could be worked out on the spot in Palestine. The difficulties and dangers of Richard’s army, how they were troubled by the wind, rain, and hail, which blew down the tents and spoiled the biscuit and the bacon, how the flies, “which ſlew about like sparks of fire, and were called cincenelles” (mosquitoes), stung the English- men till they looked like lepers, and how they suffered from fever and fatigue, we could well understand ; and even of the attacks of Saracens we had some experience when one day a party of Dedu on the war-path, mis- taking us for their enemies, charged down upon us with flying cloaks and lances fifteen feet in length quivering like reeds. The walls of Ascalon, so often built, and which Tichard raised again from the foundations, we sur- veyed with difficulty, clambering over the fallen masses of the towers, all of which are mentioned by name in the chronicle—such as the Maiden's Tower, the Admi- ral's, the Bedouin’s, and the IBloody Tower, and Tower of Shields. Yet farther south we explored the little fortress of Darum, which Richard rebuilt, with many others, as garrisons against the Moslems. North of Jaffa, in the Sharon plain, we found the oak wood through which the English in I 19 A D. marched down from Acre, Sorely harassed by the rain of arrows on their armour. Every river and every tower mentioned EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 49 on that toilsome march are now identified, and the fort of Habacuc, where fell the brave knight Renier of Marun, who was, I believe, an ancestor. Yet earlier scenes belong to this region, which was the theatre of Samson's exploits. In the low hills, Zoreah and Eshtaol and the valley of Sorek were already known, but to these we added the site of the rock Etam, where the strong man hid in a cave, which we explored. The tracing of this topography gave us, however, experience of the great caution which the explorer must exercise in sifting the evidence of natives. It had been supposed that the memory of Samson's history still survived among the peasants of Zoreah. Certainly they all were able to repeat a garbled version of the story, and this excited the greater interest because such tales are extremely rare in occurrence among the villagers, though the Arabs have a fancy for wonderful legends, as we afterwards found in Moab. I was anxious to ascertain if the Samson legend was a truly ancient one, but soon discovered that it was quite modern. The village lands had recently been purchased by a Christian Sheikh from Bethlehem, and it was from him that his tenants learned the Bible story, which they were unable to repeat without converting all the characters into good Moslems and wicked Christians. In these same foot-hills lies the site of the celebrated Cave of Adullam, on the side of the Valley of Elah, the scene of David's meeting with Goliah. It was first discovered by M. Clermont Ganneau, whose views were fully borne out by our researches. The cave itself is a Small one, blackened by the smoke of many fires, and Scooped in the side of a low hill, on which are remains of a former town or village. Beneath the slope is a D 50 PALESTINE. wide valley, which was full of corn ; and the spot is marked by a group of ancient terebinths, like those which gave the name Elah, or “terebinth,” to this im- portant Wädy. There are other caverns opposite to the Adullam hill, and these are used as stables, while in the cave itself we found a poor family actually living. The name is now corrupted to the form 'Aidelmia, but the position fully agrees with the Bible accounts, and with the distance from Eleutheropolis (now Beit Jibrin) noted by Eusebius. The Philistine plain from Jaffa to Gaza is one of the best corn districts in Palestine. It grows steadily wider to the south, and sweeps round the base of the Hebron hills to Beersheba. The celebrated cities of the Phili- stine lords are now, with the exception of Gaza, no longer important places. Ekron and Ashdod are villages with a few cactus hedges; Ascalon lies in ruins by the sea; Gath is so much forgotten that its name has disappeared, and the site is still not quite certain. Gaza is, however, a large place, with some trade, and with extensive olive groves. Along this whole coast the sand from the high dunes, which, as seen from the hills, form a yellow wall between the ploughlands and the sea, is always steadily encroaching. It has covered up a great part of the gardens within the walls of Ascalon, and has swept over the little port of Majuma, west of Gaza; but beyond the line of its advance the soil is everywhere fertile, and the villages are numerous. The Philistine plain seems never to have been long held by the TLebrews. Joshua, Samuel, or Simon the Hasmonean may have conquered its cities, as Richard Lion-IIcart afterwards did, but the Egyptian power in Syria in all ages has been first felt in this plain. The EXPLOIRATIONS IN JUIDEA. 51 natives indeed, in dress and appearance, are more like the peasantry of Egypt than they are like the sturdy villagers of the other parts of Palestine. In times of trouble this region is now much exposed to the attacks of the southern Arabs. Egyptian records show us that the Philistine plain was long held by the Pharaohs, and we have a representation of the siege of Ascalon by Tameses II. In Hezekiah's reign we learn, from the cuneiform records, that each of the Philistine towns had its own king, and these princes allied themselves with Sennacherib against Jerusalem. These facts agree with the account of David's struggles with the Philistines, and give the reason why Israel did not enter Palestine “by the way of the Philistines,” as probably at that time the plain was actually garrisoned by Egyptians. It is clear from monumental accounts that there was a Semitic population in Philistia at a very early period, but it is not certain that the Philistine race was of this stock. We have Egyptian portraits of Philistines—a beardless people wearing a peculiar sort of cap or tiara. Many scholars believe that the Philistines were of the same stock with the Hittites (who were a Mongolian people), and this may account for the curious fact that the Assyrians speak of the Philistine town of Ashdod as a “city of the IHittites.” In Philistia the name of the Hittites is also probably still preserved in the villages of Hatta and Kefr Hatta. Among the peasantry there are several legends of the Fenish king and his daughter, of his garden, and of the place where she used to spin. I think it is probable that the Fenish was a Philistine, rather than a Phoenician, legendary monarch. The town of Gaza, standing on a mound above its 52 |PALESTINE, olive groves, surrounded by the crumbling traces of its former walls, contains several good mosques, one of which is the fine Crusading Church of St. John. Near Gaza, on the south, is a mound called Tell 'Ajjúl, “hil- lock of the calf,” from a legend of a phantom calf said to have been here seen by a benighted peasant. At this place was discovered a fine statue of Jupiter, 15 feet high, which now stands at the entrance of the Constan- tinople Museum, where I drew it in 1882. This discovery reminds us that Palestine had also its age of classic paganism, when statues like those of Tłoman temples were erected. We have, indeed, an account of the temples of Gaza, which existed as late as the fifth cem- tury, when the Christians overthrew them and built a church. Venus had here a statue, much adored by the women, and the Cretan Jupiter was known under the name Marmas, which is thought to mean “our lord.” It is probably the statue of Marnas himself that has now been discovered, one of the very few statues of any importance as yet found in Palestine. The Philistine plain merges on the south in the plateau called Negeb, or “dry,” in the Old Testament. This is the scene of Isaac's wanderings as described in Genesis, where lie Gerar the city of Abimelech, and Rehoboth and Beersheba. The region was visited late in 1874, when it was at its driest, the spring herbage being all long since burnt up. The Beersheba plains consist of a soft white marl, rising in low ridges, and not unlike some parts of the Veldt or open grazing-land of Bechua- maland, in South Africa. The Negeb still supports a considerable nomad population, and their flocks and herds are numerous. On the east it sinks to the Judean desert, and on the South descends by bold steps to the IEXPLORATIONS IN JUIDEA. 53 Wilderness of Sinai. The view from the spurs of the Judean hills near Dhaheriyeh (identified with Debir) is very extensive, ridge beyond ridge of rolling down stretching to the high points on the horizon which mark the passes by which ascents lead from the south. This region, though generally without water on the surface, possesses several groups of deep and abundant wells, where the herdsmen gather to water the flocks. Among the most renowned are the Beersheba wells, of $ºś §§ •' i Şsº > º: sº. 6° 23 tº ºs-y- £ºiºiº-2: --~~~..." "T - §ºw----ºry - - ~ss- - Wi - - <>, < *S* - - --- •sºa -92 cScºpºgo.-->= º _--→ - - - • *-* -- - - - - - - - --> e - , , , = * * ...-- ºr * * t I ~$4t . . . . . . * W . w - - S.Vº * | ſ - e. w t!, - . 1, tº -*. V& ^J.W. . N - \ 1' ' Sº & . ! * Nº. 43 . ºf . Jº-º: >s Sº a 2-48. -S - - - * º % º |P. * * N w . ~a - & * * :* S. - - x w * — - S.N.R/ \\ §§§4. *2. ~ : * ~&A-. • S. Jº * Sºr. ~&A. * - Sº Hº- J.-- * * d DESERT OF BIBERSEIEBA. which there are three, each a round shaft lined with masonry; one is dry. The principal supply is from the largest well, 12 feet 3 inches in diameter, and 38 feet deep to the water in autumn. The smaller dry well is 5 feet in diameter and 40 feet deep. Round these wells, which have no parapet, rude stone troughs are placed, into which the water, drawn up in skin bags, is poured. The water-drawing, to the sounds of Arab shepherd songs, is one of the most picturesque of sights. It used to be thought that the masonry was very ancient, but it 54 |PALESTINE. only extends to a depth of 28 feet in the largest well, and on one of the stones I found the words, “505 . . . Allah Muhammad,” showing apparently that the stone- work was at least renewed in the fourteenth century A.D. Any student who desires really to be able to judge of the social life of the IIebrew Patriarchs should visit the plains of Beersheba. It was here, we are told, that Isaac passed his life. Iſere Abraham settled after long wanderings through the length of Palestine. Here Jacob was born, and hence he descended into Egypt. It is very notable that Palestine appears in Genesis as a country already full of cities, and in which land could only be obtained by the IIebrew immigrants by pur- chase from landowners already settled—the Hivites of Shechem and the IIittites of Hebron. In the pastoral plains of Deersheba, however, the wanderers ranged undisturbed even by the Philistines of Gerar. So it is to the present day. The Jordan Valley, to which Lot is related to have taken his flocks, the desert of Judah, where David fed his sheep, the plains near Dothan, and the pastures of Beersheba, are still the grazing-lands of Talestine, where nomadic shepherds range, while the higher lands are held by a settled population. Although we have no monumental records sufficiently early to compare with the narrative of Genesis, we find that the country presented the same aspect when the conquering Pharaohs of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties invaded it. There were then regions held by the nomads, and other regions full of fortresses and open towns. In the history of the Patriarchs we find described a mode of life just like that of the modern Arab. The great chief or Emir dwelt in his tent among his followers, EXPLORATIONS IN JUDEA. 55 led them out to war, and allied himself to the neighbour- ing townsmen, with whose families, however, he scorned to intermarry. The sons of the Emir and his daughters (like Leah and Tachel) tended the flocks and herds, and strove at the wells, where countless beasts awaited their turn. The relation which the IIebrew chiefs bore to the distant paternal tribe beyond the Euphrates 1’eminds us how Syrian Arabs still trace their descent from dis- tant families, with the same tribal name, far off in the Nejed. The stone memorial is still raised by the I3edawi, as Jacob reared his stone of Bethel; and the covenant is still sealed by the eating of bread. Still, too, the Arab hunter brings back savoury venison to the camp, like Esau; and by the wells of Beersheba you look northwards to the same low hills which were be- fore Isaac's eyes when he went forth to pray in the open field—as the Arab still prays outside his camp— and “beheld the camels coming.” In the early morn- ing, by the light of the rising sun, I have seen the camels, preceded by their giant shadows, coming in troops to the wells, guided by the shepherd-boys, whose music is the same rude pipe on which the ancient shep- herds played. I have seen, too, the dark gipsy-like girls, with elf locks, blue robes, and tattooed faces, who tend the sheep as Rachel and Leah (still children) tended those of Laban before they were old enough to be restricted to the women's side of the curtain, and to follow their mothers to the well. The visit to Beersheba was not without its adven- tures. This was the only occasion on which a thief— of many who tried but were discovered by our terriers —succeeded in making his way into the tents. He took With him all our food, and we had to depend on the wild 56 PALESTINE. sand-grouse and plovers for our dinner. It was during the fast of Ramadan that this journey was undertaken, and the Moslem guides suffered greatly in consequence; for fasting among the Moslems in Ramadan is a very serious matter, and especially so among the primitive villagers of Judea. Not a scrap of food, not a drop of water, not a whiff of tobacco will then pass the lips of the strict Moslem between sunrise and sundown. I have seen the wrath of the spectators roused when an old man of eighty washed his mouth with water on a day of scorching east wind. We had gone down to explore an underground tank in Hebron, and as he stooped to the water we heard a voice shouting, “Ah ! Hamzeh, God sees you !” and the unfortunate elder rose at once in confusion. When the sun sets, a cry goes up throughout the town or village—a shout from the men and a shrill tremulous note from the women—for then it is lawful to break the trying fast. Even children are induced by pious parents to keep Ramadan, and some zealots will continue fasting for ten days beyond the prescribed time. The Moslem year being lunar, and thus never the same year by year in relation to the seasons, it is especially at those times when Ramadan falls in Sep- tember that this privation is most felt. Not that I would lead the reader to suppose that all Moslems are thus strict in religious duty. In Islam there is as much scepticism, indifference, outright re- jection of religious belief as in Christendom ; and his- tory reveals that this has always been so since Islam became a religion. Among the antiquities of the Beersheba desert there are several rude buildings of undressed chert blocks, which may be almost of any age. It was, however, in EXI’I,ORATIONS IN J U DEA. 57 the early centuries of Christianity that this region was apparently most fully inhabited. The hermits who, like IIilarion, came from Egypt and settled in the Holy Land, soon gathered disciples round them ; and even against their will monasteries rose by their cells, and a village round the monastery. Pious pilgrims like Antoninus, not content with seeing Pales- tine, ventured far into the deserts, and down to the miraculous tomb of St. Catherine in Sinai. Thus, in the fourth century, Jerome found the land full of monks and nuns, even in the wilderness ; and stories which may have been told to the Arabs by these eremites still linger among them. We have early Christian accounts of Pagan rites among the natives of the Negeb, who still in the seventh century were worshipping Venus at J·lusa, and the stone menhin's on Mount Sinai. There is no part of Syria in which the anchorites' cells are not found, though in modern times they are only re- presented by the Jericho hermits—Abyssinians and Georgians, who, I believe, only retire to the wilderness during Tent. Glancing back over this sketch of exploration in Judea, I only note one place of primary interest which has not been mentioned, namely, Bethlehem. It is, however, familiar to every tourist, and nothing new was added by the surveyors to what was already known con- cerning this city, except that the crests which Crusading knights drew upon the pillars of Constantine's great basilica were carefully copied. Bethlehem is a long white town on a ridge, with terraced olive groves. The population is chiefly Chris- tian, and thrives on the manufacture of carved mother- of-pearl shells, and objects made from the bituminous 58 PALESTINE. shale of the desert, which pilgrims purchase. The pecu- liar (and probably very ancient) head-dress of the women, adorned with rows of silver coins, has often been repre- sented in illustrated works. The main antiquity of the place is the great basilica of Constantine, with its thirteenth-century mosaics and wooden roof. Beneath the choir is the traditional site of the “manger,” which has been constantly shown in the same place for nearly eighteen centuries. The church itself is one of the oldest in the world ; and Justin Martyr, in the second century, mentions the cave. Origen also says that “there is shown in IBethlehem the cave where He was born, and the manger in the cave " (Against Celsus, T. li.), so that the Dethlehem cave-stable is noticed earlier than any other site connected with New Testament history. It is the only sacred place, as far as I know, which is mentioned before the establishment of Christianity by Constantine, yet it is remarkable that Jerome found it no longer in possession of the Christians. “Bethlehem,” he says, “is now overshadowed by the grove of Tammuz, who is Adonis; and in the cave where Christ wailed as a babe the paramour of Venus now is mourned.” CIIAPTER II. THE SURVEY OF SA MARIA. My first experiences of Palestine survey were from the camp at Nāblus," the ancient Shechem. The method which we then employed was very little varied through- out the whole period of our labours. The camp, con- sisting of three or four tents, was pitched in some convenient central position by a town or village. Thence we were able to ride eight or ten miles all round, and first visited a few of the highest hill-tops, where, when the observations with the theodolites were complete, we built great cairns of stone. The survey was trigonometrical, depending on two bases, one near Ramleh, east of Jaffa, the other in the plain of Esdrae- lon, north of Jenin. In 1881 I measured a third base on the Moab plateau, south of Heshbon. All these were connected by triangulation, the stations being from five to fifteen miles apart. The heights of these stations were also fixed by theodolite angles, and thus the elevations above the sea of every great mountain from Dan to Beersheba, and of those east of Jordan between the Jabbok and the Arnon, are known within a limit of four or five feet at least. * This is usually written Nablous, but the accent is on the first syllable. 59 60 T'AILESTINE. The triangles having been calculated in camp, the surveyors separated, and each with his prismatic com- pass worked in the detail of roads, valley beds, villages, ruins, towers, and all that is usually shown on maps of this scale by Ordnance surveyors. He took the aneroid heights of all important points, which I regard as re- liable within ten or twenty feet. He was invariably accompanied by a local guide, who gave the names of the various features shown. The surveyor was never responsible for the spelling of these names. A native scribe was employed to catalogue them in Arabic letters, and thus the errors which might have been caused by the difficulty of distinguishing the sounds of Arab letters were avoided. Without such precaution it would have been impossible to make any scientific comparison with the Hebrew names of the Old Testament. This work being complete and penned in, we were ready to move the camp. There are parts of the map which I executed to assist my staff, but, as a rule, when the triangulation was complete, I was free to spend much of my time in exploring the important sites within reach, of which I made special surveys on a larger scale. The explorer is, however, not his own master until he becomes practically acquainted with the language of the natives; and although I had learned French in France and Italian in Italy, the acquisition of a Semitic tongue was only so far rendered easy, that no one who has learned one foreign language grammatically and idiomatically is likely to be content with any other kind of knowledge of other tongues. At the same time, those who have had the advantage of studying foreign languages on the spot know how much easier and more THE SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 61 agreeable it is to learn them, as a child learns his mother tongue, first by practice, afterwards by the rules of the grammarian. In the East, the spoken dialects, such as those of Arabic and Turkish, differ greatly from the literary languages. In speaking, simplicity and brevity take the place of the high-flown and artificial refine- ments of the modern grammarian. The vernacular grammar is simplicity itself compared with the literary style, which only schoolmasters or pedants affect in everyday speech. Nor, indeed, is such indifference to strict grammar unknown even in our own land, though in a less degree, in spoken as compared with written phrase. At first there was only time to obtain a very super- ficial smattering, for everyday uses, of the Fellah dialect, which is archaic and rude as compared with the Nahu or “correct ’’ language; but it appeared to me absolutely necessary, not only to understand the Arabic alphabet, but also to become acquainted with the elements at least of grammatical structure; and for this I found leisure during the winters, and the summer holiday of 1873, when a native teacher could be obtained from Damascus. When once the unfamiliar principles of Semitic grammar are understood in one language of the small group (including liebrew, Arabic, and the Aramean dialects), the student should be able to learn other tongues of the group by the aid of books; but my first lessons in Hebrew I owe to the kind interest of a friend since dead, who devoted time to my education in Jerusalem itself. So unlike in structure are these tongues to either Aryan or Turanian languages, that the idiom is at first hard to catch ; and I doubt if any luropean, until he has lived in the East some time, is 62 PALESTINE, ever likely correctly to pronounce the gutturals of the Arabic, unless he is gifted with an ear much more sen- sitive than usual. After many years' study of the native dialect, it appears to me that its further investigation would be of great value to scholars. There can be no doubt that ordinary conversation of the peasantry preserves archa- isms of sound, of idiom, and of expression which recall rather the Aramaic spoken in Palestine in the days of Christ than the pure Arabic of southern Arabia. The Syrian dialect (which is much less degraded than Tºgyptian) is acknowledged, even in dictionaries, to have its peculiarities. The Lebanon servants in my employ were almost unable to understand the speech of the Beni Sakhr Arabs in the Moab desert. The dialect of the towns differs, again, especially in pronunciation, from that of the peasants. The convenient auxiliaries used in daily speech are not recognised in standard grammars, and not a few familiar words of the Fellah dialect I have been unable to discover in the standard dictionaries of Lane and Freytag." The Hebrew goran, “a threshing floor,” and moreg, “a threshing-sledge,” are still words used by the peasants, as is the Assyrian Sada, for a “moun- tain,” and many other ancient words which a good IIebrew scholar will recognise. The peasantry, in short, are not, properly speaking, Arabs, but descendants, in part at least, of the old population to which the Thoenicians belonged, mingled with colonists imported by the Assyrians from Aram, and with the Nabathean and Arab tribes from the south-east. To one acquainted with such a race, the narratives of Genesis and Samuel * I have published a paper on this subject in the Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement for July 1889. TIII, SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 63 must always read as though falling from the lips of a modern Syrian, speaking with the same terse vigorous idiom in which his fathers wrote. The Fellahin have been called “modern Canaanites,” and if by this is meant descendants of the Semitic race which the Egyp- tians found in Palestine before the time of the Hebrew conquest under Joshua-akin to those whose language is represented by the Moabite Stone, and the Phoenician texts from the north coast—the term seems justified by what is known ; but, as we shall see a little later, there has always been another population in Syria side by side with the Semitic, of which a few traces are yet discover- able not far north of Shechem. Ancient Shechem stood very nearly on the same site occupied by the large stone town of Nāblus, in the well- watered gorge, full of gardens of mulberry and walnut, with vineyards and olive-yards and fig trees, above which rise the barren slopes, of Ebal on the north and Gerizim on the south. About one and a half miles to the east, where the vale opens into the small plain of Moreh, is the undisputed site of Jacob's Well; and north of this, at the foot of Ebal, the little village of Askar, among its cactus hedges, preserves the site of Sychar, mentioned in the fourth Gospel, below which is the tomb of Joseph. It is curious that Josephus believed Joseph to have been buried at Hebron, for the Book of Joshua places his tomb at Shechem. The monument now shown is an ordinary Syrian tomb in an open-air enclosure by a little ruined mosque. The peculiar feature consists in two pedestals with shallow cups in their tops, placed one at the head, the other at the foot of the grave. I have been told that both Jews and Samaritans offer 64 PALESTINE. burnt-offerings at this shrine on these pillar altars, the offerings consisting of shawls, silks, and such fabrics. The same practice is observed by Jews annually at the tomb of the celebrated Simeon Bar Jochai at Meirán, in Upper Galilee. The substitution of fabrics for animal sacrifices recalls the paper figures which the Chinese burn, representing the various sacrifices, animal or human, which in earlier ages were burned at tombs. Shechem has long been a place of special interest, because it is the last refuge of the few survivors of the old Samaritan sect, which, according to their own records, once inhabited every part of Galilee and Samaria, and whose synagogues down to quite recent times existed in Damascus and Alexandria. Although almost every traveller visits their synagogue at Nāblus, it is very difficult to become intimately acquainted with this proud and reserved people; and there are very few persons living who have really seen the oldest of the manuscripts of the Pentateuch which they possess. Scholars, it is true, no longer attach the exaggerated value to this document which it was thought to possess when first attention was called to its existence, and before science was able to show its comparatively modern date, as indicated by the character in which it is written. Yet this venerable roll is perhaps the oldest copy of the Bible in the world, and until it has been read by a com- petent scholar, it is impossible to say what light it may throw on the study of the Pentateuch. The Samaritans, according to the latest accounts which I have been able to obtain, number about 100 persons. I had opportunities not only of visiting their synagogue, but of holding a long conversation with TIII, SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 65 the high priest, and questioning him concerning their traditions and literature. They claim to know not only the real tombs of Joseph and Joshua, and of the sons and grandsons of Aaron, sites which are now identified, but also the burial-places of all the sons of Jacob, of which tombs many are also revered by Moslems; but the reliability of such traditions is not very certain, The Samaritan chronicles are not trace- able beyond the Middle Ages; but one of these (to be distinguished from their “Book of Joshua,” with its wild legends of Alexander the Great) is a very sober work, to which successive high priests are said to have added brief notes of the chief events of their age." Of this chronicle I made careful study, and found that, as regards its geography at least, it is possible to obtain a very clear idea, and many interesting notices are included of places otherwise very little known in all parts of Palestine. This practice of extending a historic journal from time to time is worthy the attention of students of other ancient literatures; and although the chronicle only claims to have been started by Eleazar ben Amran in I I49 A.D., it has been carried down to 1859 by successive authors. This chronicle presents, as above noted, a great con- trast to their “Book of Joshua,” which is full of Samaritan folklore tales, and consists of two parts, one penned in 1362 A.D., and the second in 1513 A.D. Of their copies of the Pentateuch, kept in the Synagogue, the oldest of those usually shown dates only from 1456 A.D. ; the date of the oldest of all, called “Abish- * See Memoirs of Palestine Survey, Vol. Special Papers. This chronicle was edited and published by Dr. Neubauer in 1869. The Samaritan Book of Joshua was published by Juymboll in 1848. I. 66 FALESTINE. uah's Roll,” is not yet known, but it is certainly very ancient, the ink being much faded and the parchment decayed. The fact that a Samaritan text of the sixth century is built into a tower near the Synagogue, and preserves letters of the peculiar character employed by this people, seems to show that not impossibly Abish- uah's Roll may be as old as the sixth or seventh century of our era. The Samaritans are a fine race, above the average of Orientals in stature, and possessing a beauty of feature and complexion very like the best type of South Euro- pean Jews. Even in the peculiar crinkle of the hair they resemble the Jews, and there can, to my mind, be no doubt that they are more closely allied by blood to their great rivals than they are to any other Oriental people. It is impossible here to inquire into the details of their history, which are very generally known, but the inquiries made by us at various times agree with former researches in indicating that, in many particu- lars, the pietists of Nāblus have preserved the letter of their law in more primitive degree than have even the Raraites or other puritan Jewish sects which discard Talmudic teaching. So great is their terror of defile- ment, that they will not even close the eyes of their dead, and employ Moslems to prepare them for burial. In this extreme observance they resemble the Falashas or Abyssinian Jewish converts, who even take the sick out of their houses before death. One very curious custom is observed when, on the eighth day, the Sama- ritan boys are circumcised. An ancient hymn is sung, which includes a prayer for a certain Roman soldier named German, because he connived at circumcision when forbidden by the Romans, and refused to accept THE SURVIEY OF SAMATIA. 67 any reward for so doing, asking only to be remembered in their prayers; which desire has been respected for perhaps sixteen hundred years. Shechem, the home of the Samaritans, has often, from the twelfth century to the present day, been confounded with the city of Samaria, five miles farther to the north- west ; but at the latter site there are, I believe, no Samaritans living. The peasant population of Palestine in this central district differs somewhat, however, from that of either Galilee or Judea. It was here that we found the peculiar head-dress which recalls the “round tires like the moon " that roused the Hebrew prophet's wrath (Isa. iii. 18). These horse-shoe head-dresses, made up of large silver coins laid overlapping, are worn only by married women, often with a crimson head-veil. Some of the little terra-cotta statues of Ashtoreth which are found in Cyprus and in Phoenicia, representing a naked goddess, have just the same crescent-shaped bonnet, and it was perhaps originally connected with the worship of this deity, and therefore hateful to the servant of Jehovah. The site of Samaria is that of a considerable town, upon an isolated hill, with springs in the valley and olives climbing the terraced slopes. On the summit a colonnade, probably of the age of Herod the Great, runs round a long quadrangle, enclosing the site of the temple built in honour of Augustus by Herodian servi- lity ; and on one side are the ruins of the great Crusad- ing Church of St. John, in the crypt of which was shown his tomb. It was believed in the Middle Ages that the head of the Baptist was here preserved. St. John had apparently two heads, since another was shown in Damascus. 68 PALIESTINE. There is no doubt that the tomb in question is an ancient Hebrew sepulchre. Perhaps it may be that of the “Kings of Israel.” At least eleven bodies could have been here interred, and there were only thirteen Rings of Israel between Omri and the fall of Samaria.” An ancient stone door once closed this tomb, carved in panels like other doors of tombs in Palestine belonging to an early age. One which was found farther south was adorned with the heads of lions and bulls, like those found in Phoenician sarcophagi. The date of these *\tº \º. - º | \% Wº ...' ... ". . . . . T--...- º * * , ºe º **ś. * : *ś. - ºn * * * ICURN SARTABA. monuments is uncertain. In Lycia, Sir Charles Fellows found doors sculptured with exactly the same ornamental details, which may be as old at least as 500 B.C. East of Shechem, and to the south, there are moun- tains more rugged than any south of Galilee. The border of Samaria, which divided it from Judea, ran through these mountains, following the line of the * The following are the Kings said in the Book of Kings to have been buried at Samaria :—Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah (probably), Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II., Menahem (probably). THE SURVEY OF SAMARIA. 69 principal valley bed. It had never been laid down with any attempt at exactness before the Survey, but now that the position of the border towns is correctly fixed, it becomes possible to trace it throughout. The Judean outpost on the north-east was the extraordinary conical mountain called Sartaba, which rises from the Jordan Valley. This little-visited peak was thoroughly explored. On the summit a square foundation was discovered, sur- rounded by an oval rampart. The cone has been arti- ficially cut in places, and is some 27 o feet high. The remains may be those of the fourteenth-century fortress, but the site has a much earlier history. On their return from exile the Jews were accustomed to fix the first day of each month by actual observation of the new moon, and according to the Mishna, the announcement was made throughout the Holy Land by means of bonfires on the mountains. One of these bon- fire stations was Sartaba, and it is not impossible that the remains of extensive ash-deposits observed on the mountain were traces of such beacons. The practice was open to mistake, for the Jews assert that the Samaritans used to light fires on neighbouring heights with the malicious intention of confusing the Jewish calendar, and making the Passover feast to fall on the wrong day. Whether we are to credit the statement that this chain of beacons extended even to Mesopotamia is doubtful, but the Jews certainly long kept up inter- course with their brethren in Babylonia. On the south of Shechem rises the great rounded top of Gerizim, whence the eye ranges from Gilead to the Mediterranean, and on the north to dusky Carmel and Snowy Hermon. On the south side of the mountain is Kefr Hâris, where, according to the Samaritans, Joshua 70 PALESTINE. was buried—a tradition nowise discordant with the statements of the Old Testament, and which can be traced back at least to the fourth century. Here also the peasants show the tomb of his father, Nun. On the mountain-side, near the summit, the Passover is still eaten, and here, as the Samaritans say, once stood their temple. There are no remains of any great building, but a sacred slab of rock, in which is one of those curious “cup hollows” so frequently found in connection with prehistoric monuments. On the west, the Sharon plain extends beyond the olive groves of the foot-hills to the dark ruined ramparts of Caesarea—a region which was surveyed in the spring of 1873, and many interesting ruins were then explored. It is one of the most lawless parts of the country, and was then but little cultivated. Scattered Oak woods, Sandy dunes, marshes, and boggy streams occupy great part of its extent ; and on the north is the Crocodile River, still the dwelling of these monsters, who are not found in other streams, but lie in the muddy river under the papyrus or amid the reeds as comfortably as in the Nile. The crocodiles of this region are mentioned by many writers, from Pliny downwards. A curious story was told in the thirteenth century, according to which they were imported from Egypt by a lord of Caesarea, in order that his brother might become their victim. The brothers went to bathe in the river, but the wicked lord went in first and was eaten, while his innocent brother escaped. This part of the plain of Sharon and the west side of the Esdraelon plain are the only places in Palestine, so far as I have been able to ascertain, where Turko- man encampments are found. In Northern Syria the Turkoman camps are more numerous. I have visited THE SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 71 their tents in the plains near Kadesh on Orontes, and in the oak-dotted vale where the Eleutherus rises. To the casual visitor they seem to be Bedu, and indeed those in the Sharon plain have almost forgotten their original language. We know historically that a horde of the followers of Ghazan Khan in 1295 A.D., consisting, it is said, of 18, ooo tents, came down to Damascus and settled on the coasts of Palestine. Probably the exist- ing Turkoman tribes are the last relics of this horde ; but in this mixture of Tartars with the Semitic race of Syria we see still surviving a condition of population as old as the days of Abraham. It is now the general opinion of competent scholars that the non-Semitic population which the Egyptians in the sixteenth century B.C. found in Syria—more especially in the north—was a Mongolic race. The monuments show that in feature they were Mongolian and that they wore the Tartar pigtail, and the names of their chiefs and towns tell the same tale. The Turkomans are degraded representatives of a kin- dred race. The Turkish masters of Palestine hold now the same position which the Hittite princes held in the days of Abraham and Solomon as over-lords in a country whose inhabitants were mainly of another race. The greater part of the Jordan Valley lies within the boundaries of Samaria, and it was for this reason that Galilean Jews travelling to Jerusalem crossed the Jordan and journeyed down the left bank to Jericho, where they crossed again without having approached the country of heresy. As regards the western borders of Samaria, there is less certainty perhaps, but such information as we possess seems to show that the limits of this pro- vince must be extended to the sea-shore." Indeed, had * Conder's Handbook to the Bible (3rd edit.), p. 310. 72 PALESTINIE. it been otherwise, the journey from Galileo along the coast would always have been preferable to that along the east side of the Jordan Valley. It must be con- fessed that the Samaritans possessed some of the best land in Palestine. Since the greater part of the Jordan Valley thus be- longed to Samaria, the exploration of the valley may be here noticed. The survey of the plains of Jericho has been recorded in the preceding chapter. From Jericho in the early spring of 1874 the party proceeded north- wards, and by April, in spite of very bad weather, the work was finished within a few miles of the Sea of Galilee. The total length of the valley is about a hundred miles from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The level of the latter Sir Charles Wilson has determined as 1292 feet below the Mediterranean. The former, as deter- mined by the line of levels which, under a grant from the British Association, I commenced in 1875, and which was completed in 1877, is 682 feet below the same datum. Thus the average fall of the river is 6oo feet in a hundred miles, but the upper part of the course is the more rapid, falling about 4co feet in fifty miles. The width is pretty constant along the whole course, the evaporation counterbalancing the additional flow of the Jabbok and other affluents. The volume of water brought down by the Jordan, and evaporated during the summer months in the Dead Sea, makes a differ- ence of fifteen feet between the summer and winter sur- face of that sea over an area of about 4oo square miles. The flow is greatest when the Snows on Hermon begin to melt, about the time of Passover, when “Jordan overfloweth its banks all the time of harvest ; ” for THE SURWEY OF SAMARIA. 73 harvest in this deep valley is much earlier than even in the Sharon plains. The river flows in a narrow bed between banks of marl, and the Zor, or depressed channel on either side, averages about a mile across, flanked by white cliffs and steep slopes fifty feet high. In high flood this channel is at times all under water, and the river becomes about a mile wide, but soon sinks within its natural borders. The Zor is filled with brushwood of tamarisk, agnus-castus, and other vegetation, and in places the river is hidden between the bushes and cane s...}, … . .” -- 2-3%.<, ...s.. .º.º. ah . . .4. g ~ * S .. - º { } { - • t **... • • *- : - º º jº- * sº£º &s *...* - *- :-},…, * -- e --- • ºw- . . ------- tº Mº -ºs, .. * 2’ __--~~~~~ * * * ~ - - - * : - . \\\ | * A --> - { 3 * - \;. ...! ** sº-w S. Y. ... --- - - - * - \, ,ſ} --Yº..." ºr "sº \, -\ **, *t, * ~ * > * --~. --> SS ~f ºxes • * * THE JORDAN WALLEY (ESII EL GHURAB) beds. Near the fords it is seen as a brown swirling stream with a rapid current. In the upper part of its course there are numerous fords and small rapids. No less than forty crossing places, nearly all of which were previously unknown, were marked by the surveyors. The most interesting discovery in connection with the river was that of the ford called 'Abārah. The name was found in one place only, and does not recur in the ten thousand names collected during the survey. It was applied by the Arabs to one of the chief fords leading 74 PALESTINE. over to Bashan, in the vicinity of Bethshean, where the road from Galilee comes down the tributary valley of Jezreel. 'Abārah means “ferry’’ or “crossing,” and there is no doubt that it is the same word which occurs in Beth Abārah, “the house of the crossing,” mentioned (John i. 28) as a place where John preached, and where, according to the usual opinion, Christ was Himself baptized. The traditional site of the Baptism, from the fourth century down to the present day, lies much farther south, at the ford east of Jericho, where Israel crossed from Moab to Gilgal; but the distance from this spot to Cana of Galilee is so great, that it is impossible to reconcile this tradition with the New Testament account. Nor is there anything in that account which points to this southern site. The visit yearly paid by Greek pilgrims to the traditional spot, near Justinian's old monastery of St. John on Jordan, has often been de- scribed. In the sixth century Antoninus speaks of the vast crowd which used there to assemble at the Feast of Epiphany, when it was believed that Jordan yearly rolled itself back and stood still till the baptisms were ended. “And all the men of Alexandria who have ships, with their crews, holding baskets full of spices and balsams, at the hour when the priest blesses the water, before they begin to baptize, throw those baskets into the river, and take thence holy water, with which they sprinkle their ships before they leave port for a voyage.” It must be confessed that these offerings to the Jordan savour of paganism rather than of Christianity. Sen- nacherib, before he crossed the river-mouths at the Per- sian Gulf, threw gold and silver fishes into the water. Alexander the Great, in like manner, according to Arrian, THE SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 75 offered a golden goblet to the Indus. In Etruria the Lake of Ciliegeto was found full of bronze ea votos, with coins and other objects, thrown by pious visitors into the water, and other instances are known in India. Nor is this a solitary example in which the practices of Byzan- tine Christians in Palestine are intimately connected with the older pagan rites of the country. There is, as before said, no strong reason for accept- ing this traditional site for Bethabara. Some of the earliest MSS. of the Gospel read Bethania for Bethabara; but Origen disputed this reading, and Bethania is pro- bably the later form of the Hebrew word Bashan. Dethabara is found at least in the Codex Ephraemi (C2), and Origen says that nearly all copies of the Gospel in his time had this reading. It would seem then probable that the scene is to be laid, not in the lower, but in the upper part of the Jordan Valley, where the highway from Galilee crosses over to Bashan, where, gay with flowers and carpeted with grass, the plain, dotted with stunted palms, extends between the basalt heights crowned by the Crusading Castle of Beauvoir and the long slopes round Pella, the home of the early Ebionites, who fled from the destruction of Jerusalem, and formed a quiet Christian community in the wilderness where John had baptized. Few more beautiful scenes can be desired than that which the Jordan Valley presents in spring, when the grass has grown long, and the eye looks down from the hill on the wide stretches of varied colour which fields of wild-flowers present. The pale pink of the phlox, of the wild geranium and cistus, the yellow of the St. John's wort and of the marigold, the deep red of the pheasant's- eye and anemome, the lavender of the wild stock are 76 DALESTINE. mingled with white and purple clover, white garlic and purple Salvia, Snapdragons, star-daisies, and the earlier narcissus. The retem, or white broom—the juniper of Scripture—is then in blossom ; the long wreaths of vapour cling to the stony mountains of Gilead, and hide its oak glades and firs. The stork pilgrims have come from the south, bringing the spring-time, and rest their weary wings by the marshy brooks round Bethshean, where the chorus of frogs day and night invites their own destruction. But towards the south the saltness of the soil is too great for such vegetation. For five or six miles north of the Dead Sea, the marl flats support only the low bushes of the alkali plant. Even half-way up the valley there are salt springs and tracts of barren salt marl ; and one of our camps in the narrow gorge called Wädy Māleh (“the Valley of Salt") was placed beside a hot sulphu- rous spring too brackish to drink. For several days we experienced much discomfort in this volcanic ravine, and had to fetch water from a considerable distance. These traces of volcanic action occur from north to south on both sides of the Jordan Valley. Beds of lava and basalt occur both west and east of the Sea of Galilee, and again east of the Dead Sea. Hot springs are found on either shore of that sea, and again at the famous Baths of Gadara, and at those of Hammath near Tiberias, Even in times long after the great fault had rent this mighty gorge from north to South, tearing asunder the sandstone beds, and bending down the chalk strata on the west, forming the chain of lakes between Hermon and the Arabah of which the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee are the last relics, and of which we traced the raised beaches far up the valley—long after all these THE SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 77 convulsions, fiery streams of lava flowed over the plains of Bashan, and reached the shores of Tiberias, and covered the cliffs to the west with black volcanic rocks, which form rolling downs of treeless land. Nor was this energy spent even in late historic times, when the great earthquake of 1837 overthrew the town of Safed, and raised the temperature of the hot springs in the valley. Among the curious delusions which seem destined again and again to recover from the ridicule cast upon them by practical knowledge is the famous fallacy of a Jordan Valley Canal. Deaving aside the question of an expenditure to which that of the Panama Canal cannot compare, the theorists who have proposed this wild scheme do not seem to reflect that the whole volume of the Jordan never suffices permanently to alter the Dead Sea level. The canal then must let in much more water than the river. If it were possible to fill this valley to sea-level—as no doubt it may once have been filled by Nature herself—not only would the crops of the inhabi- tants be overwhelmed, with the villages of Jericho and Delhemiyeh and the town of Tiberias, but the sea so formed would extend to a breadth of from ten to twenty miles, covering all the villages and corn-lands of the valley of Jezreel. It is almost incredible that this chimaera should have received serious support from in- fluential and monied believers in the unlimited powers of modern engineering. A very simple calculation shows that were the sea admitted by such a canal as was proposed in 1883, it might pour into the valley, but could never make headway against the enormous power of evaporation in this burning gulf. Even on the higher plateau near Damascus the rushing stream of 78 PALESTINE. the Abana is unable to penetrate far into the desert, and sinks in the marshes of the Birket 'Ateibeh.” The exploration of the valley was one of the most trying periods of the Survey. At first a constant down- pour of rain, with clouds scudding along below sea-level, and storms of snow and hail interrupting the observa- tions from the hill stations, delayed our progress. After- wards the want of fresh water at Wädy Māleh proved very trying ; then the marshy land round Bethshean brought fever into the camp; lastly, the intense heat obliged us to work in the very early hours of dawning light, and nearly cost me a Sunstroke. • There was also great difficulty in obtaining supplies and transport. Our party was by this time so well organised that no time, as a rule, was lost in changing camp. But in the valley we waited day after day in the wet, suffering some of us from rheumatism, and unable to move the Sodden and heavy tents. Our first camp was at Wädy Fusail, near the site of the ancient Phasaelis; and here we found it almost impossible to get any of the Bedu to stay with us. The reason, true or not, which they gave for avoiding the place was, that it is haunted by a ghoul,-that evil and corpse-eating demon whose haunts are shown all over Syria. More than once, while exploring a dark cavern or descending a rock-cut tunnel, we have heard the frightened guide shouting outside, and found him astonished to see us emerge in safety from the ghoul's den. The ghoul lives also in the great dolmens and in hermits' caves; but though I have felt on one occasion, in a tunnel where it * The fallacy of this scheme I pointed out in a well known magazine in 1883. My arguments are also reproduced by Mr. L. Oliphant in “Haifa.” THE SURVIEY OF SAMARIA. 79 was necessary to crawl flat, the frightened bats creeping in my hair, I have never been privileged to see or hear a ghoul. The Wädy Fusail ghoul, however, was the cause of much delay, and when at last we induced the Arabs to come by daylight with camels, we found that they never used saddles, and their camels were, indeed, almost un- trained and very small. We missed the sturdy beasts used by the peasantry, and had very great difficulty in loading the desert dromedaries at all. - It was a pleasure, in the times when the party was well provided with transport, to watch the expedition on the march. The horsemen, on trusty Arab ponies, never sick or sorry, never baffled by the stoniest bridle- path, came first, with our breed of white terriers, which were hardly recognised as dogs by the natives, and which often, night after night, saved us from the depre- dations of determined horse-thieves. Behind the horse- men came our own baggage-mules, carrying all that was needful for the first founding of the new camp ; be- hind these, again, the camels with heavy stores swung slowly along, while the Maronites, on their donkeys, the Bedu guides on horses and dromedaries, formed a picturesque straggling band, which, as reviewed from a low hill, sometimes extended over half a mile of road. It is pleasant to reflect that, in the years we worked together, there was no dissension, no desertion, and no grumbling in the camp. We suffered together in seasons of sickness, but we stuck together as long as health lasted, and till the work was done. One of the most picturesque incidents of the Survey was a night-raid which occurred at Sulem (the ancient Shunem), where, with Sergeant Black, I was for a few 80 PALESTINE. days at a detached camp. At this time the difficulties of transport obliged us to separate from the rest of the party, and to remain without meat, and with very little other food, for three days. In the darkness, after a fatiguing day's work, we were roused by the shouts of the villagers, and hastily loading our shot-guns, we turned out to witness a skirmish with the Bedu. Whether the raid was intended to capture our horses º ----º-º------- --> --~~~ - - - - ** --> --- N º º º * * d [. sº A CAMP IN THE JORDAN WALLEY. or to drive off cattle from the village was uncertain ; but the dogs discovered a robber just about to cut the halters, and the hillside was for some time illumined by the flashes from the old matchlocks of the villagers, while the war-song of the retreating Arabs faded in the distance. Failing to surprise, the raiders quickly gave up their enterprise, but drove off a stray cow in the darkness. With such night-attacks we became more THE SURVEY OF SAMARIA. 81 familiar afterwards in the wilder parts of the Moabite deserts, The hardships of this campaign cost us dear. They were severe for the strongest, and for my comrade, Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, they were fatal. As already stated, the terrible Jericho fever had undermined his strength ; and though he was successfully nursed through that attack, I have always regretted that he would not hear advice, tendered with the most friendly intention, that he should leave Palestine at least for a time. Turing the months we spent in the valley he suffered con- stantly from ague, asthma, and the terrible fever sores, from which no member of the party escaped. Finally, he was almost unable to ride, and when we reached the higher lands, rest was absolutely necessary. I left him with anxious foreboding; and as he wished during my absence in England to make a tour in Northern Syria, I wrote to friends at Damascus, begging them not to let him travel alone. Hardly, however, had he reached Jerusalem when the fever again seized him, and his grave is now marked by a simple monument in the Protestant cemetery on Sion. There can be no doubt that he fell a victim to his own earnest desire to con- tinue his work after his powers of endurance were exhausted. The share which he took in Palestine exploration has been fully acknowledged in more than one publication. In many respects he was peculiarly ſitted for an ex- plorer's work. Of tall and commanding appearance, with a grave and reserved manner, such as most im- presses the Oriental, with a kindliness for man and beast, which made the natives who had long served him much attached to his person, with a power of F 82 BALESTINIE, silent endurance, which made him scorn to utter a single complaint in the midst of trial and suffering constantly endured—especially in frequent attacks of asthma, Mr. Drake was a pattern of that class of Englishmen of whom we are proudest, Iſad he lived, his name would have been widely known as a bold and trained explorer. I have heard a French traveller, after talking with him, exclaim, “If we had such men among the youths of France, it would be better for our country.” I am happy to be able to reflect that, during those three years of constant intimacy, in the trying isolation of our camp-life, we never fell out ; that our last hand-shake was that of comrades who had suffered and worked with single purpose; and that he trusted me to represent at home, at its proper value, the share which he had contributed to our common work. CHAPTER III. RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. THE third province of Western Palestine is divided into two regions—Upper and Lower Galilee. Lower Galilee was surveyed in 1872 and 1875. Upper Galilee was completed in 1877 under the direction of my companion, Lieutenant Kitchener, R.E., who joined the party in the autumn of 1875. During this year, when the field party was engaged in Upper Galilee, I was employed in London in charge of the drawing of the map, exe- cuted by Ordnance Survey draughtsmen, and writing the |Memoirs of the country already surveyed, consisting of five-sixths of the total area. Upper Galilee, however, I visited in 1873, and again in 1882, and have thus had occasion to explore almost every important site within its limits. The boundaries of Lower Galilee include the great plain of Esdraelon and the Nazareth hills, with the smaller plains to the north and east, which stretch to the mountains of Naphtali. No part of Palestine is fuller of interesting sites, and several important dis- coveries were here made, including a synagogue in ruins on Mount Carmel, and the probable remains of the city of Megiddo. Defore the survey was made, Megiddo—one of the most important places in Palestine—was supposed to 83 84 PALESTINE, be identical with the Roman city of Legio. The reason which induced Dr. Robinson to make this suggestion seems to have been that Megiddo is several times men- tioned in the Old Testament with Taanach, a ruined town near Legio. In other passages, however, Megiddo is noticed with Bethshean and Ibleam, places east of the great plain, so that the argument has no great force. There is only one place in Palestine where a name at all like that of Megiddo exists, namely, at the large ruin of Mujedd'a, a well-watered site at the foot of Mount Gilboa, just where the valley of Jezreel opens into the Jordan plain south-west of Bethshean. Megiddo appears as an important place very early in history. Thothmes III. here fought a great battle against the allied Canaanites on his way to Damascus, and has left us a catalogue of his spoils, which gives a most vivid picture of Canaanite civilisation. Chariots of silver and gold, precious stones, bronze armour, Phoenician arms, gold and silver currency, statues and tables of precious metal, ivory, and cedar, are mentioned as Canaanite trophies, with wine, incense, corn, Sycamore wood, goats and oxen, mulberries, figs, and “green wood of their fair forests,”—perhaps referring to the oaks of Mount Tabor. Such, according to the Egyptian monu- ments, were the products of Palestine in the sixteenth century B.C., before the Hebrew invasion under Joshua. About two centuries later, an Egyptian traveller re- cords how he came down from the shores of the Sea of Galilee to the “fords of Jordan ’’ and to the “passage of Megiddo.” In the Bible we find Megiddo to be the place where Josiah awaited Necho, the Egyptian king, then on his way to Carchemish, on the Euphrates. In every case this point appears to have been that where RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 85 Egyptian invaders fought for the passage of Jordan on their way to Assyria. There is little now to be seen at IMujedd’a beyond a mound such as marks the site of many another famous city, but the spot is one well fitted for a great town, on account of the fine supply of water from the springs below." The site has a further interest, because from Megiddo was named the Har-Mageddon, or “Mountain of Megiddo,” better known as Armaged- don (Rev. xvi. 16)—the author of the Apocalypse evi- dently referring to the old battle-field of Canaan, which is also noticed in the Book of Zechariah (xii. 11), in connection with the mourning of Hadadrimmon. Above Megiddo on the west are the barren ridges of Gilboa, where Saul fell in battle, and between this and the Carmel range is the V-shaped corn plain of Esdrae- lon. In the north-east corner of this plain is the vol- canic come of Nebi Dhahy, and beyond this, on the north, the mole-hill form of Tabor. Nebi Dhahy is named from a little white saint-house on its summit, sacred to a Moslem hero, whose bones are said to have been carried hither from the Kishon by his dog. Probably he is to be connected with Dhahya el Kelbi (Dhahya of the Dog), who was converted before the Battle of the Ditch, according to Moslem chronicles. It is curious that sacred dogs occur more than once in Palestine folk- tales, for the dog is an unclean beast to the Moslem, while, on the other hand, to the Persians it was amongst the most sacred of animals. The Tyrian Hercules was accompanied by a dog, and a sculpture which perhaps represents this group is still to be seen on the rocks not far from Tyre. * The details of this discovery are recorded in the “Memoirs of the Survey,” vol. ii. pp. 90–99. 86 PALESTINE. Mount Tabor is one of the few places in Western Palestine where the oak grows as a forest tree in abun- dance. There is an oak wood also west of Nazareth, and an open forest of scattered oak trees in the Sharon plain, but east of Jordan it is found in Mount Gilead in greater luxuriance. In the glades of Tabor it is said that the fallow-deer still lingers, but we never came MOUNT TAIBOR. across one of them. On Carmel, on the other hand, the roebuck is still hunted, and this species—the existence of which in Palestine was quite unknown before—we found to bear the name Yahmūr, which occurs in the Bible as the Hebrew word for a species of deer. I after- wards found that the Yahmür was known to the Arabs east of Jordan, no doubt as a denizen of the oak woods cf Mount Gilead. RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 87 Tabor has been pointed out from the time when the heretical “Gospel of the Hebrews” was penned as the site of the Transfiguration. There are ruins of a great Crusading Church on its summit, dedicated to this event ; but the New Testament clearly points to some part of Hermon as the site intended. This is not the only instance in which traditions, dating back even earlier than the fourth century A.D., are in conflict with the plain reading of the Bible narratives. The chain of Carmel, a region little visited by tourists, presents one of the most picturesque districts in Galilee. At one time it seems to have been fully populated, and traces of vineyards were discovered in many places. The main ridge runs for fifteen miles, and rises at the highest point 17oo feet above the Mediterranean. The north slopes are steep, and in parts precipitous, but on the south-west long spurs run out towards the sea. A dense brushwood of oak, mastic, and arbutus covers the greater part of the chain ; and of the former villages, only two are now inhabited by Druze families from the north. The generally accepted view places the scene of Elijah's sacrifice on the highest part of the crest, still called “the place of burning,” but the tradi- tion represented by a large monastery above the pro- montory which juts into the Mediterranean, points to the opposite end of the ridge. The most interesting discoveries on Carmel were made in 1872, including the ruins of a small Jewish synagogue and a tomb with a Hebrew inscription. Inscribed tombs in Palestine are almost unknown, three of the five as yet discovered being found by my party. That near Ain Sinia (the ancient Jeshanah), found by Mr. Tyrwhitt Drake, has been already noticed. 88 . . PALESTINE, The text is probably of about the first century B.C., and includes the name of “Moses bar Eleazar . . . the priest.” A second was in the Jordan Valley; the third, on the south side of Carmel, records the name of Eleazar bar Azariah. The forms of the letters are ancient and peculiar; the name recalls that of a very celebrated ... • * . sy - º º * . t § §: - ve - * ... in sº * * ... & A. 39 t • *ſº % º 4. ! º ... A^\\). - | **** º * \. º § Mººrºº § º º \ **ść §§ ** |\ *i tº x x . \,\ , t \{\}\ Yaº § | " ; § ". CARMISL, Rabbi who died in Galilee in 135 A.D. There are many gravestones and inscribed Sarcophagi in early Square IHebrew characters, both at Jerusalem and at Jaffa, but no such archaic text has elsewhere been found on a rock-cut tomb. The letters are rudely cut over the tomb-door, and were originally painted red to increase their distinctness. - RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 89 A very unpleasant adventure occurred to me in con- nection with the exploration of the group of tombs where this inscription was found. As before said, the region was lawless. I have been stalked by the “club- bearing ” brigand Arabs in the plains to the west, and in many of the tombs we found skulls of recent date, often with marks of violence. The rock cemetery near |Umm ez Zeinät, to which I now refer, was remarkable, because the tomb-doors were roughly closed with piled- up stones. I did not pay much attention to this, or to a skeleton which I found in one tomb, but I retreated somewhat rapidly from another when, striking a light, I found myself kneeling in a large chamber, and sur- rounded with quite fresh corpses of both sexes. As Moslems are buried east and west, with the face to Mecca, whereas these bodies lay in various directions on the floor, it seemed probable that they were those of murdered persons, or of the victims of some epidemic disease. The Galilean synagogues are among the most interest- ing ruins in Palestine. They were known before the Survey, many having being visited, and even excavated, by Sir Charles Wilson. The Carmel example was the only one added to the list, and was much less perfect than some examples in Upper Galilee. Synagogues are indeed mentioned in the New Testament, but in Pales- time they seem to have become important chiefly after the destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem. Synagogues are noted in one of the Psalms (lxxiv. 8) in the English version, but the Hebrew word in this passage (properly “meeting-places”) is not the same usually applied to the buildings of a later age in the Talmud. The archi- tectural style of the synagogues is a curious imitation 90 PALESTINE. of Roman architecture of the Antonine period, and it is to this age that Jewish tradition refers the building of the Galilean synagogues. It appears to me very doubt- ful if any one of these structures was in existence in the time of Christ. The Hebrew text which occurs on the gateway of the Kefr Bir'im synagogue is ascribed by competent authority (from the forms of the letters) to the second or third century of our era. The text runs in a single line under the semi-classic mouldings of the lintel stone, consisting, as read by Tenan, of the words, “Peace be to this place, and upon all the places of God. Joseph the Levite, the son of Levi, put up this lintel. A blessing rest upon his work.” It is easy for those who think only of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and of the persecution of the Jews by Christian emperors to forget how peaceful and prosperous was the life of the Galilean Rabbis in the second century under the tolerant Antonines. After the fatal revolt of Bar Cochebas, the Sanhedrim sat for a while at Jamnia in Philistia, but gradually the centre was shifted to Galilee, and soon Tiberias became the central focus of Judaism in Palestine. It was here that the Mishna was written, and many are the famous teachers of the Talmud whose graves were made in the Galilean mountains or on the shores of Gennesareth. To this period of toleration it is therefore natural to attribute the execution of works as ambitious as are the synagogues still standing in ruins. One of the most curious facts connected with these buildings is the frequent representation of animal forms. In one case I copied two well-designed lions flanking a vase, and on Carmel a rude repetition of the same design occurs. In other instances rams' heads RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 91 and a hare are represented in relief; yet there was per- haps no period when the commands of the Law, which forbade the representation of the likeness of any living thing, were more rigorously observed. In Moslem art, also, it has always been considered impious to carve the figures of beasts and birds; yet I have found on the walls of towns and castles representations of lions clearly due to Moslem sculptors. In this case there is less difficulty, because the newly converted Mongols and Turks very probably rebelled against such restrictions, having long been accustomed to the use of heraldic crests; but it is hard to reconcile the ornamentation of the synagogues with the letter of the Law, so strictly enforced by the Rabbis. The synagogues are long buildings, divided into walks by rows of pillars, and having generally the entrance doors on the South ; perhaps because, as we learn from Rabbinical writers, the north side was considered un- lucky. At the doorway end of the building are generally found two double columns, fitted to give extra support. It was suggested to me by a gentleman, whose name unfortunately escapes my memory, that these pillars must have been intended to carry the gallery for the women ; for it was a custom in Israel, even when the Temple was still standing, to separate the sexes, the women being placed in an upper balcony, where they could not be seen by the men, just as we find the mosques of the present day to be arranged, or as the great church of St. Sophia at Constantinople is built with spacious galleries for women. Perhaps the best-known spot in Galilee is the brow of the hill above Nazareth, whence the traveller com- mands a view of the greater part of the province. On 92 PALESTINTE. the north is the high rough chain where Safed stands; on the east, the plain where the Crusading kingdom was crushed by Saladin; on the south, Tabor and Gilboa, and Ebal blue in the distance ; on the west, the dark outline of bushy Carmel, the round bay, and the city of St. Jean d’Acre ; in the nearer mid-distance, the great plain of Issachar and the oak woods of Zebulon. On every side the memory of great battles rises to the mind. By the springs of Kishon, under Tabor, Barak defeated the iron chariots of Canaan, which sank in the boggy stream ; farther south, the Philistines defeated Saul; up the valley of Jezreel came Jehu, driving furiously to Jezreel; and farther down the two battles of Megiddo were fought. Round Acre the traces of Napoleon's siege-works may still be seen ; and it was at the battle of Tabor that the simple-minded Junot won his fame, driving the Turks into the same swamps in which the forces of Sisera perished. Near Seffurieh, on the north, the Christian host gathered when it went forth to meet the Moslems coming up from Tiberias on the fatal day of the battle of Hattin. There is no region in Syria, where great hosts have so frequently met in great and decisive combats. When first we look at the map of a country, it is hard to realise how few are the points where armies can meet ; but the student of history and of geography knows well that simple physical causes, ever present, so narrow the lines of advance that famous battles constantly recur in the same places—whether at Some mountain pass, by the fords of some considerable river, or beside the springs on which an army depends for water. Thus not only have the battle-fields of Palestine proved to be the same in all ages, but, even with our somewhat changed methods TIESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 93 and new tactics, it is certain that future battles, if they take place in Syria, must be on the same fields, by Tabor at Megiddo, or farther north, where the main road crosses the Euphrates, at the old battle-field of Car- chemish. . There are other memories which this famous view calls 1 Jr. º. . . . ." - Nº NS Şsº t - *WN \ , $ SS --~~~~ * * º * < x * * .* 'N \,, ~~ - - - - - sº * NS- • * wº s Sºw, ^ 3. *—— NAIN. up to the mind. The little town of Nain, where the widow’s son was brought out to meet the Saviour and His followers; the long road from Shunem to the wilds of Carmel, pursued by the mother who went to seek Elisha; the paths leading to Cana and to Bethabarah ; the many chapels which recall episodes in the life of the Christ. These spots have all become sacred within 94 PALESTINIE. the last nineteen centuries, and their associations mingle strangely with those of battle and disaster; but Galilee always holds a different place in our minds from any other part of Palestine, because it is the cradle of Christianity and the chief scene of the Gospel narratives. Of Nazareth itself there is little to be said. It was always a secluded and unimportant place, and probably at the present day is larger and more important than even when it was the see of a Latin bishop. The cave-cis- terns, which have been traditionally regarded for many centuries as the “Holy House,” of which part was carried by angels to Loretto, are enclosed in a modern church on the foundations of a Byzantine chapel, con- verted later into a Crusading cathedral. The Greek church farther north, over the Spring head, is the re- puted site of the Annunciation, according to the Eastern belief. Another Christian sect was busy, when I first visited Nazareth, in consecrating a round table of rock, which seemed to be newly hewn, but which was to be revered as the Mensa Christi, where Jesus had once sat with His disciples. Such sites have little claim to atten- tion, since no hint is to be found in the Gospels of their locality or preservation. Nor are the mediaeval legends connected with the “Leap of our Lord,” at the cliff where the road runs up to Nazareth from the great plain, of interest, save to the student of the curious Crusading chronicles. Antoninus, the pious pilgrim of the time of Justinian, says that “in this city the beauty of the Hebrew women is So great that no more beautiful women are found among the Hebrews, and this, they say, was granted them by the Blessed Mary, who they say was their mother.” The same is said in our own times of the Christian women of the town, and of those RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 95 in Bethlehem also. Certainly their type of beauty is very superior to that of the peasant women of Moslem villages. The Nazareth girls are more Italian than Arab in feature, and often very comely ; but there are many ways of explaining this besides the theory of Crusading ancestry. We must not forget that in Syria mixed types, half Aryan, have long existed, due to Greek, or Italian, or Frankish forefathers, and the blue eyes sometimes seen in Syria may be due to yet later admixture of European blood. More weight is, I think, to be given to such facts than to a comparison with blue and green eyes in the faded pictures at Rarnak, which represent the Canaanites. The fair- ness of the Nazareth women is denied by Père Lievin's orthodox guide-book, and by the Franciscan fathers— mainly Italians—who have monasteries at Nazareth and at Bethlehem. North of Nazareth lie the two sites which have at various times been regarded as representing Cana of Galilee. It is curious that Robinson, usually so careful, has confused them together. The one is the Christian village of Kefr Kenna, which was certainly regarded, before the Crusaders arrived, as the true site. Thus Antoninus places it three miles from Sepphoris, which can only apply to Kefr Kenna. The other site is the ruin of Kāmah, four miles farther north. The dis- tances given by writers of the twelfth century show most clearly that this was the supposed site in Crusad- ing times. Tobinson has twisted the earlier traditions, making them to apply to the more distant ruin; but the reader can measure the distances on the map for him- self. This is not the only case in which the views of the Frankish monks of the Latin kingdom differed from 96 PALESTINE. the earlier traditions of the Eastern Church, but it is hard to say which is in this case the more reliable, though the opinion of most writers is in favour of Kefr Kenna." - The Buttauf plain is for the most part arable land, well cultivated, but towards the north there is a pestilent swamp surrounded by reeds—whence the name Kāmah, from the “canes.” Camping on the borders of this un- healthy morass, we suffered from the inevitable fever, as well as from the most notable mosquitoes in Palestine. The delay at this spot was, however, unavoidable, since the line of levels had to be carried across this plain from the Mediterranean to the Sea of Galilee, and accurate levelling is not rapidly completed in any country. Here also we examined, more closely than our predecessors, one of the smaller synagogues, and I was interested to find that its dimensions were multiples of a cubit of sixteen inches, as are also many dimensions of the Jerusalem Temple. The researches of the great Jewish writer Maimonides point to this length for the Jewish unit of measurement, which was not the same as the Egyptian cubit of about twenty-one inches—a ques- tion which is of no little importance in the study of Jewish antiquities. On the east side of the Buttauf plain, not far north of the curious cromlech now shown as the scene of “Feeding the Multitude,” rises the dark crag of the “Horns of Hattin’—a place celebrated for its connection with the great battle in which Saladin defeated the forces of Chris- tendom. The story of that battle, of the fatal dissensions 1 The question is worked out in detail in the Survey Memoirs. See my note, vol. i. p. 367, and cf. p. 392. The Crusaders called IKefr Kemma the Casale Robert, from its owner. RESEARCHIES IN GAILILEE. 97 among the Christians, and their lack of strategical skill, their vacillation and rashness, forms one of the most re- markable incidents in mediaeval history. The unhappy King Guy of Lusignan had lain with his hosts by the foun- tains of Sepphoris for many months, awaiting the attack which it was foreseen would follow the loss of the Castle of Banias and the defeat of the Grand Master of the Templars near Tiberias. Whether through evil fortune or because of hidden designs, the Templars seem always to have been responsible for the great failures of the Latin kingdom. Taymond of Tripoli gave good and disinterested advice, for though his lady was besieged in Tiberias, he was willing to lose all, seeing that the only chance of victory lay in the choice of a battle-field close to the springs of Sepphoris. “Between this place and Tiberias,” he said, “there is not a drop of water. We shall all die of thirst before we get there.” But the Templars prevailed, and on the night of the 1st of July 1187, in the hottest season of the year, the army moved out over a plain which, east of Refr Kenna, is entirely waterless. The Saracens had, therefore, the advantage, for there were several springs behind their position. The Arab and Kurdish horsemen harassed the heavy-armed knights and set fire to the dry grass and stubble, which, in 1875, I saw in flames sweeping over this plain and destroying great part of a village by our camp. There was no water for the Franks, but a hot sun, with clouds of dust, smoke, and flames. The issue of the day was not long doubtful, and the army melted away as the deserters threw down their arms and begged for water from their enemies. Only 150 knights gathered round the royal standard on the rocky Horns of Hattin, and G 98 PALESTINE. here the chiefs and princes of the kingdom were taken alive. The Holy Cross was lost, and with it went the Latin kingdom. Only Raymond, with Balian of Ibelin and his followers, were able to fight their way from the scene of this great disaster, and thus escaped to Tyre. Renaud of Chatillon, the proud and treacherous lord of Kerak—his great castle by the Dead Sea—whose mis- deeds were among the chief causes of the destruction of Crusading power, was the only prisoner whom Saladin slew, having first offered him his life if he would become a Moslem. Iced sherbet was ordered for King Guy in the conqueror's tent, and the King handed the cup to Itenaud. “Thou hast given him drink, not I,” said Saladin, and so pronounced the doom of a foe more feared by Islam than any other Christian in the king- dom ; for he had sailed with his men almost to Mecca, and threatened the very centre of Mohammedan faith. - - From the neighbourhood of Hattin the eye glances over nearly the whole of the Sea of Galilee, and the Scene, which is unlike any other in Palestine, is not easily forgotten. Yet familiar though it is from many descriptions and pictures, it is difficult to bring to the mind of those who have not seen it. The scenery has not the wild and barren grandeur of the Dead Sea precipices, nor has it the rich wooded beauty of English lakes. It is quiet and simple in both outline and colour, and the finest effects depend on the passing shadow of the thunderstorm or the long shades of the sunset. The first view is generally from the top of the steep slope above Tiberias, with the flat plateau of the Iſauran above the cliffs to the east, and the peak of the RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 99 “Hill of Bashan '' in the far distance. On the north- east are the volcanic cones of the Jaulān; on the north- west a long slope rises to the Safed ridge. The shore is here indented with tiny bays and strewn with black basalt stones. The cliffs of Wady Hamām above Mag- dala, and those south of Tiberias on the west shore, º "...w ~4×: º, * -, -ºx º - *... -- \\ sº #. *...*. 23. . ºğ ºś tº § \; \*: §§§ Y. ***"I'W', §§§ &\\ –sº THE SEA OF GALILR.E. extending to Kerak (Taricheae) at the Jordan outlet, are among the boldest features of the scene. The lake itself is pear-shaped, twelve miles long and eight at its broadest measurement, east and west. The placid waves reflect the water-worn gullies of the eastern cliffs, save when tossed by the gusts that sweep down Wady 100 PALESTINE. Hamām before the heavy thunder-showers which are here frequent in autumn. The shores of the Sea of Galilee had been surveyed and thoroughly explored by Sir Charles Wilson before the Survey reached this region, and no important discovery was added to his exhaustive account. The sites of several important places, such as Magdala, Chorazin, Tiberias, Taricheae, and Sinnabris, with Gamala on the east, are certainly fixed. Hippos (now Susieh) may now be added to these, with Hammath and Rakkath." The three sites on the shore of the lake which are most discussed represent three conditions of our know- ledge of ancient Palestine topography. Bethsaida is practically unknown. Capernaum is the subject of con- troversy, and Chorazin is certain. In the latter case the name survives at Kerāzeh; in the other two the modern ruins do not preserve in recognisable form the Hebrew titles. As regards Bethsaida, a city of that name existed at the mouth where the Jordan entered the lake; and the point which struck me most on visiting the ground was that this spot cannot be supposed to be the same at which the river now opens into the Sea of Galilee. Most rivers, and especially those like the Jordan, which flow through soft soil, have within historic times lengthened themselves by the formation of deltas at their mouths. There is a Jordan delta in the Dead Sea. * Sinnabris I recovered, in 1872, from a list of ruins kindly prepared by a resident. It was afterwards fixed by the surveyors. The identity of Hippos and Susieh was suggested by Dr. Neubauer in 1868, and the site has been recently discovered by Herr Schumacher. RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 101 very distinctly marked, and the north shore of the Sea of Galilee must also have been widened by Jordan river deposits. Since the time of Ptolemy the Nile Delta has grown considerably, and since the days of Senna- cherib the Euphrates has become nearly one hundred miles longer. For this reason Bethsaida Julias must be sought somewhere, as placed by Robinson, near Et Tel]. As regards Capernaum, Sir Charles Wilson has clearly shown that the site of Tell Hàm has been regarded by all the pilgrims, from the fourth century downwards, as representing the celebrated city of the Gospels. Yet, as we have had occasion to remark on previous pages, Christian tradition is not invariably a safe guide; and, after reading all the chief discussions of the question, and visiting all the sites, it seems to me impossible to ſix on Tell IIſim as being the place intended by Josephus or by the Evangelists. I think, rather, that Tobinson's view is correct, and that the ruin of Mimieh not only represents Capernaum, but preserves the con- temptuous Jewish appellation for that town, “The city of the Minai’’ or “heretics”—a term by which the Christians were intended. Within the limits of this volume it is, however, impossible to detail the reasons which have led me to this view, and which I have fully explained in previous works. A very curious legend may be noticed in connection with the Sea of Galilee. According to some Jewish and Moslem writers, the Messiah is first to appear in the future, rising from the waters of the lake. This idea appears to be of Persian origin. At all events, it is found in very early Persian literature, and it is not recognisable in the Bible. In one of the Yashts or I 02 PALESTINE. hymns of the Zendavesta, we read of the lake in the far east, out of which Saoshyant, the Zoroastrian Mes- siah, will rise in the last days. Such recurrence of IPersian legends is not uncommon, both in the Talmud and in the Korān, which borrowed largely from the Zoroastrian literature. Before entering Upper Galilee there is one famous site which should be described, and which is very rarely visited, namely, the mountain fortress of Gotapata, which Josephus, the celebrated historian, defended against Vespasian and Titus for forty-seven days during the revolt in Galilee before the fall of Jerusalem. The ruin stands on a high spur in the mountains, north of the Buttauf plain, surrounded by deep valleys and rugged ridges clothed with brushwood. I reached the spot by a bridle-path from the north-west in the autumn of 1875, and found that the various features agreed very closely with Josephus’ description, although an exagge. ration, pardonable in One who wrote at a distance and many years later, seems to have crept into his account both of the place and of the events. He speaks of giddy precipices where only rugged slopes can be found, and one would certainly have expected the site to have been larger. The hill, over half a mile to the north, where Vespasian camped, is, however, easily recognised, and the statement that the city was only approachable on this side agrees with fact. The Roman energy is well shown by the nature of the mountain up which they dragged their heavy battering- rams and the iron casings for their siege towers. The rocky knoll of the fortress of Gotapata is now bare of ruins, but there are foundations of a tower on the north, where Josephus built his wall, and cisterns (some still RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 103 holding water), recalling the straits of the besieged during the summer, due to the absence of any supply save that from rain-water. No soldier reading Josephus’ account can fail to see that it was penned by one who had experienced war, and in whose memory certain awful incidents were for ever imprinted. He remembers the terrible fire from the catapults, the gleam of the Roman spears in the sunlight, the darts of the Arab and Syrian auxiliary archers, the thud “which the dead bodies made when they were dashed against the wall” (III. Wars, vii. 23). He delights in recalling his own stratagems and inventions, and has no scruple in telling how he feared and despaired. Banks were raised in due form by the Tomans, and screens of raw hide by the defenders to catch the stones and arrows. The spies sent by Josephus crept out in the dusk among the woods towards the west, covered with sheep-skins, so as to be taken when seen for straying beasts. At one time the Jewish general meant to desert his post, but he was overcome by the entreaties of the poor peasants, who wept and kissed his feet. The heavy armour of the Tomans proved a disadvantage against the sudden attacks of the Jews, who sallied out even as far as their camp. The silent valleys re-echoed the cries of the women and of the combatants. “Nor was there amy. thing of terror wanting.” When, on the fortieth day of the siege, the trumpets of the legions sounded a gene- ral assault, the enemy were met with streams of boiling oil, which flowed inside the armour, and made the scaling ladders slippery, Josephus held out yet another week, and Gotapata was finally surprised at night by Titus himself. The caves, in one of which Josephus hid, are I 04 PALESTINE. still to be seen in the rock, recalling his curious account of many hairbreadth escapes; for those who sought refuge in the caves cast lots to kill each other, and the lot left Josephus and one other to the last. These two alone surrendered to Nicanor, a Roman friend of the historian's, and but for the throw of a die (if we may trust his account) we should never have possessed that stirring story of the wars against Rome which Josephus lived to write, and should have depended solely on the curt and cynical chronicles of the Jew-hating Tacitus. The survey of Upper Galilee was interrupted in the autumn of 1875 by an attack on the party at Safed. This was our only serious collision with natives, and it was due to the famatical intolerance of the Algerine Moslems, who formed a foreign colony in the town, and held the unfortunate Jewish population in daily terror. - Our relations with natives of all creeds and races had always been excellent, and so remained afterwards. A little rigour was occasionally necessary when my men were pelted with stones, or when the muleteers in camp fought with knives; but our actions were always legal, and a Turkish policeman attached to the party was employed to take offenders before the local magistrates. There were no complaints against any of the party; and indeed, as we spent money, employed labour, and bought provisions at a good price, the Survey was always popular in Palestine. Iłut at Safed a Christian was then rarely seen, and fanaticism always lives longest in the mountains. It is possible that some imprudent speech of the dragoman may have enraged the Emir who attacked us. Certainly a pistol belonging to RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE, 105 our party was stolen, and was the immediate cause of the quarrel ; but I never expected it to become serious until the furious Algerine attacked me with a knife. Few readers will blame me for knocking him down, and breaking his tooth ; but the result was an attack by his followers, with stones, and swords, and aged guns. Several shots were fired at us, but no one was hit. They, however, broke my head badly with a club, and I was defended by Lieutenant Kitchener, whilo I lay for a few moments stunned. I fear that I broke the head of the clubman afterwards even worse, but the party was never out of hand. We were armed with shot-guns and pistols, but we never fired a shot, and defended our tents without bloodshed until the police arrived. The enraged Algerines threatened to kill us during the night, but we kept watch with our guns loaded with ball-cartridge, hastily made up, and only in the morning did we march off the field in good order. The worst hurt was that of my groom, who was an old soldier. His head was laid open with a sword- cut, and had to be sewn up ; but he accompanied us for Several years after ; and except a cook and a scribe little accustomed to such scenes, none of the natives in our party showed any signs of fear in face of the howling mob. When the Emir was afterwards tried and sentenced to eighteen months’ hard labour, he was asked how the quarrel began. He said that he was taking an evening walk when we set upon him and beat him. It was represented to him by the Kadi that this was scarcely credible, as we were only fifteen in all, in a city where he had hundreds of retainers; and to this he had no answer. It was to his own furious temper that he:owed, y 3 * tº e § 106 PALESTINE. the punishment inflicted for breaking the peace with law-abiding explorers working by express permission of the Sultan. The negotiations which followed this riot were extremely tedious, and interfered with our progress. In addition to this, I had caught a serious attack of fever in the Buttauf marshes, and at one time the whole expedition was down with fever in the Carmel Monas- tery, except Sergeant Armstrong, who nursed us all. My health was so much shaken that I was unfit for further field work for several years, and, indeed, was not expected by the doctors to live through the attack of fever, aggravated by the injuries to my head. The Turks at first did nothing, for the Emir was a relation of the venerable and respected Abd-el-Kader, whose acquaintance I was happy to have made, though this was unknown to his cousin. Afterwards they dispatched a commission, which adjudicated in our ab- sence, and only inflicted nominal punishment ; finally, my representations at home, backed by the Foreign Office, led to a proper inquiry, with the result that several of our assailants underwent terms of imprison- ment, including the Emir, Aly Agha. The Palestine Exploration Fund Committee were paid the sum of 24, 27 o for our broken heads. The mountains of Upper Galilee rise to a height of 4ooo feet above the Mediterranean at Meirán, the Jewish town where a wild torchlight dance of Jews occurs yearly round the tomb of Bar Jochai, the Cab- balist—a ceremony which I regret never to have wit- nessed or to have seen fully described. The ridges of these mountains are crowned by several important castlos, which defended the kingdom of Jerusalem RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 107 against the Sultans of Damascus. Toron (now Tibnin) was built as early as I 1 o'7 A.D., and Belfort (now Kal'at esh Shukif) in or before 1179 AD. The great castle above the Jordan springs at Banias was held from II 30 to 1 165, and after its loss the line was protected along the Jordan side of Galilee by Chateau Neuf, now Hunin, and Belvoir (Kaukab el Hawa), south of the Sea of Galilee, with another strong fort, built in I 178 A.D., at the Jordan bridge south of the Huleh Lake. This place William of Tyre calls “the Ford of Jacob,” and its modern name is Kasr 'Atra, near the “Bridge of Jacob's Daughters.” The chain of castles ran through Gilead to Kerak, and thence south to Montreal, which was built in II 15, and thence to Ahamant and Taphilah ; while on the south-west of the kingdom there were many other forts, such as Blancheward, Chateau Ernuald, the Castle of the Baths, Darum (near Gaza), Ibelin, Gibilin, and Mirabel, all of which are marked on the map. Another similar line of strongholds also protected the county of Tripoli against the Sultan of Aleppo, including Mont Pelerin at Tripoli, Chastel Blanc, Krak des Chevaliers, Mont Ferrand, Margat, and Saone, in Northern Syria. In Galilee other castles were also built in the thir- teenth century by the Teutonic Order, who owned much property between Acre and the Sea of Galilee, acquired by treaty with the Saracens. Among these later castles Safed was one, and Chateau du Roi (Malia), with Chateau Judin farther west. The large castle of Montfort (el Kurein) is also not noticed before I 2.29 A.D. M. E. Rey, the French explorer, who has specially studied Crusading castles, points out a difference be- tween those built by the Templars and those built by 108 PALESTINE. the Hospitallers, for most of these strongholds belonged to the great military orders, and very few were held by the King. The Templars had eighteen castles in all, in- cluding Chateau Pelerin (now Athlit), built in 1291 A.D. south of Carmel, and Tortosa. The Hospitallers in the twelfth century had only five great castles, Margat, Krak des Chevaliers, Chateau Rouge, Gibelin and Beauvoir. The Templar castles contain polygonal **-** - * - .* sº - * :/,” - --- -- •- : * * -. --- %gºs; “Sº is ... *s- “. - - :* -: *---~ : * ~. --~~~ *-* KRAK DES CHEVALIERS (KALA’T EL HOSN). chapels, like the Templum Domini or Dome of the Tock, whence the Order was named, while the chapels in castles of the Hospitallers are of the usual form, with nave and aisles. The latter builders also did not gene- rally make a donjon tower as an inner citadel, but often had a double line of ramparts with several important towers, as at Krak des Chevaliers, one of the finest RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 109 and best preserved of the castles, which I visited in 1881, or that at Banias, which I explored in the following year. Krak quite recalls the Norman castles of our own country, or the early French castles, as it towers above the hamlet on the rugged slope. In its courtyard the whole population of that hamlet might have taken refuge in time of war. The proud humility of the Hospitallers is brought to mind by the text carved in Gothic letters by the door of the chapel in the inner court— Sit tibi copia Sit sapientia Formaque detur Inquinat omnia Sola superbia Si cometetur. There is, however, another text on the outer wall at Krak in ornamental Arabic characters and in another style. “In the name of God, merciful and gracious, the rebuilding of this most favoured castle was ordered in the reign of our master the Sultan Melek edh Dhaher, the wise, the just, champion of the holy war, the pious, the defender of frontiers, the vic- torious, the pillar of the land and of the faith, the father of victory, Bibars.” And such indeed was the history of nearly all these castles, which Bibars took, and afterwards restored and held. The name of that famous champion of Islam, Melek edh Dhaher, “the victorious king,” is even now not forgotten by the peasantry of Palestine. From the mountains of Upper Galilee you look down to the narrow shore-line of the coast of Phoenicia. In the later Jewish times the Holy Land was only reckoned 110 PALESTINE. to extend along the shore as far as Ecdippa (ez Zib), north of Acre. From that point it passed over the spurs along a line which I have traced in detail from the names of places mentioned in the Talmud, leaving a broad strip of country reckoned as Phoenician. It is very remarkable that immediately beyond this line we begin to meet with carvings on the rocks representing human beings. One of these near Tyre I copied in 1881, and another which I have not seen is reported to exist near Kanah. It cannot be accidental that no such sculptures have been found within the borders of the Holy Land, whereas they occur in Northern Syria near Merash, and in Assyria and Asia Minor. The explana- tion is, I believe, to be found in the Hebrew law which forbade the representation of living things. If any carved idols of the Canaanites existed on the rocks in Palestine, they were probably destroyed at some period or other by the pious Hebrews or Jews. The distinction is, however, one of race, for the Arab hates carved images as much as did the Jew, while the Tura- nian Canaanites were fond of such arts, just as the Turanians of other parts of Western Asia were the first to adorn temples and houses with sculpture and painting. The moment we cross the border into Phoenicia, we also find Phoenician inscriptions, though not of very great age. At Umm el Amed, Reman discovered three texts, of which the longest is a dedication to Baal Shemim, “That I may be remembered and my name good beneath the feet of my Lord Baal of the Heavens for ever.” The ruins among which these texts were found include a city (probably the Biblical Hammon) and a temple. Iſere I found Sculptured sarcophagi and RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 11] altars still lying on the hill-side, where the French ex- plorers left them, and the foundations and pillars of a JPhoenician temple. The exploration of Tyre itself was conducted in 1874, in 1877, and in 1881. The famous city is still a fair- sized town, having a few modern houses with tiled roofs. The population is reckoned at about 50oo souls, half at least being Metàwileh or Persian schismatics—some of the most fanatical Moslems in Syria. It was by these new colonists that the town was raised from its ruins in the eighteenth century. The old Phoenician capital stood on reefs or islands in the sea, which together formed an area of about 2 oc acres. It had two ports, the Sidonian on the north and the Egyptian on the south, each about twelve acres in extent, or half the area of the port at Sidon. It is a curious fact that until 1881 recent explorers have spoken of the Egyptian harbour as no longer existing. With Lieutenant Mantell's assistance, I was able to recover the site of this harbour, but the exploration had to be conducted in a novel manner by swimming. There are reefs, which seem to have been regarded as unconnected with any artificial structure, about 200 yards from the rocky shore of the island. On reaching these, we found that the rock had been carefully levelled, and in some places was still covered with remains of cement and concrete. We know that the Phoenicians used concrete at Carthage, and there was probably at one time a wall on this reef, which was thrown down when the harbour, like that of Acre, was filled up with stones, and thus rendered useless. We were able with some little trouble, walking naked in the sun over the sharp rocks, to dis- cover the entrance to the harbour at its west end, and 112 PALESTINE. I can only suppose that no one had previously done more than look at the reefs from the shore. Another important discovery, which may yet lead to more valuable finds, was the recovery of the probable site of the old cemetery on the island, which may, I believe, exist under the present Moslem graveyard. We squeezed through a narrow fissure in the rocks on the shore, and found ourselves in a Phoenician tomb of the peculiar character found at both Tyre and Sidon—a chamber at the bottom of a deep shaft from the surface. Unfortunately this tomb has been rifled, and the sarco- phagus which it once held now lies on the ground out- side the shaft. There may be other tombs not far off of the same kind which remain to be discovered, but excavation in a modern cemetery would present com- siderable difficulties. Tyre was already a city on an island in the sea in the fourteenth century B.C., as we learn from an Egyptian papyrus of that date. Enumerating the coast towns of Beirãt, Sidon, and Sarepta, the Egyptian traveller adds, “They are nigh to another city on the Sea. Tyre, the double port, is its name; water is carried to it in boats; it is richer in fish than in sands.” The reference to the want of water is of interest, for this has always been the weakness of Tyre, which was somewhat later sup- plied by an aqueduct from the fine springs on the shore at Ras el Ain. The joining of the island to the main- land appears to have been first effected when Alexander the Great besieged the city and made a causeway to it from the shore, which causeway is now broadened by the constant drifting of the sands. The so-called “spring of Tyre” on the causeway is fed, I believe, by the ancient aqueduct, which we carefully traced. The work RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. | 13 seems in great part to be probably Roman, but I found that in one part “false arches,” like those in Etruscan and early Greek vaults, occur in this aqueduct, which can only be attributed to the Phoenicians. The aqueduct probably existed in the time of Shalmanezer IV., for the inhabitants in 724 B.C. dug cisterns when the water- supply from the land was cut off. Although Tyre is perhaps more celebrated than any other Phoenician city, it is from Sidon that the finest Phoenician remains as yet found have been recovered, including the celebrated sarcophagus of Esmunazar— the date of which is still disputed within several cen- turies—and the recent large find of sarcophagi and art objects which remain in the Constantinople Museum, unpublished and only very vaguely described. These remains are not older, apparently, than the Greek period, or in some cases, perhaps, of the Persian age. It is sincerely to be hoped that good accounts of them will be soon forthcoming. It is still very doubtful what we mean when speaking of Phoenicians. The alphabet and the language of the Phoenician monuments are Semitic, and are traced perhaps as early as the time of Solomon. The repre- sentation of the Fenekhu or Phoenicians on Egyptian pictures of the time of Thothmes III. also presents us with a Semitic type of bearded aquiline profile. These Semitic people were certainly the Phoenicians known to the Greeks, and there is no good reason for doubting the statement of Herodotus that they were emigrants from the Persian Gulf. There are, however, many things in Phoenician anti- quity which are not easily explained by the aid of Semitic studies. Thus, for instance, the gods Tammuz II 114 PALESTINE, and Nergal were adored in Phoenicia. Even Gesenius is unable to give a Semitic derivation for these names, and they are very well known to be Akkadian words, meaning “The spirit of the rising sun” and “The great lord.” Both these deities were adored in Chaldea, and their presence in Phoenicia indicates a population of like character to the Akkadian on the shores of Pales- time. Nor is this the only indication of the kind. The Hebrew language itself contains foreign words of the same derivation, including a good many of what are known as “culture words,” relating to architecture, agriculture, and settled life, indicating the influence of that settled non-Semitic population which the Hebrews found dwelling in walled cities and tilling the land when they invaded Canaan. It is not possible here to enlarge on this subject, though it is one of very great interest. No scholar who has carefully studied the early Phoenician seals and cylinders can fail to observe how like they are to the art of Mesopotamia, not only in general character, but in subject and in the details of symbolism. Rude mono- syllabic words constantly meet the eye in Phoenician momenclature, in the names of gods and in short inscrip- tions on seals, which it is very difficult to explain as Semitic. The conclusion at which it seems to me we must arrive is, that in Phoenicia, as in other parts of Syria, there was from a very early period a mixed popu- lation. The traders and rulers of the cities were of a race akin to the Hebrews, and spoke a language which is only a Hebrew dialect ; but there must have been also an old element of population existing perhaps, in this case, chiefly among the lower class, which was quite dis- tinct, and which belonged to that ancient and wide- RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 115 spread “Turanian * race to which the Medes, the Akkadians, and the Hittites also belonged. It was from this race originally that the Phoenicians acquired their knowledge of metal-work, of seal-engraving, of sculpture; and I believe that it was from the syllabaries and older hieroglyphics of the Hittites that they de- veloped their great invention, the alphabet, which they bequeathed as a practical benefit to all engaged in com- merce and literature throughout the world; for it is from the Phoenician alphabet that every other alphabet of Europe or of Asia has sprung. The number of Phoenician gems with carved emblems, and of small Phoenician pottery figures of the gods which fill our museums contrasts in a very remarkable way with the absence of such remains in Palestine proper. The only places where such pottery figures have been found in the South are at Gaza and at Gezer, as far as I can ascertain. The Jerusalem seals, generally speaking, have only an engraved name, though a few, said to be Hebrew, have emblems like those of Phoenicia. There is no apparent reason why these pottery images and other idols should exist undiscovered in Palestine, for collectors are just as eager in the south as in the north of Syria, and the tombs have been rifled equally in all parts. In the Palestine tombs glass tear-bottles are found, and coins occasionally occur; but the pottery statuettes are absent. The explanation seems to be that there was a difference of religion between the Hebrews and their neighbours; that the Phoenicians, like the Chaldeans or Egyptians, believed in the efficacy of such figures, symbolic of their many gods, while the IIebrews were forbidden by the Law to make any such image. The same sort of conclusion may, as we shall see 116 - PALESTINE. in a later chapter, be drawn from the absence of rude stone monuments in Palestine, such monuments being very abundant in parts of Syria not reached by the zeal of Hezekiah and of Josiah. The course of our investigation now carries us into the extreme north-east corner of the Holy Land, to Banias, under the slopes of Hermon, where the Jordan springs forth a full-grown stream, joining the Hasbány river, which geographically, but not historically, is the true head-water. The fastnesses of this lofty mountain, which forms a conspicuous background to many a view in Galilee, in Samaria, and even in Judea, have always formed a remote and isolated region. It was here that the men of Dan, according to the Book of Judges, came to Laish, “unto a people that were quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned the city with fire; and there was no deliverer because it was far from Sidon, and they had no business with any man’’ (Judges xviii. 27, 28); and in later ages this mountain was the cradle of the Druze religion, which at one time had its missionaries in Afghanistan and in India, as well as in Persia, Arabia, and Egypt. The Druze race inhabiting Hermon, and now existing in great numbers in the Hauran, to which some of the chief families have migrated from the Lebanon since the establishment of Christian rule in that province, represents one of the finest elements of population in Syria. Tall, stalwart men, and women with features more delicate than any of the Arab or Fellahah females, seem to belong to a Persian rather than a Semitic race, although the language of their literature and RESTEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 117 of daily life is Arabic.” It is not hard to become acquainted with Druzes of every class, but to penetrate beneath the surface which they present to those of other creeds is far more difficult, and our knowledge of their creed is derived, not from any communications made by themselves, but from the capture of their sacred books; , although even these probably only reveal the outer aspect of their belief, with one exception. The Druzes have long been regarded with great in- terest in Europe, their bravery and ability having won for them a well-deserved fame. To me they were the most interesting people in Syria next to the Samaritans, and what I observed of the manners of their leaders (under very favourable circumstances in 1873 and 1882) fully agreed with the expectations raised by what I had read. But, on the other hand, a sort of mystery has been conceived by some enthusiasts to surround them, which disappears when the student compares them with other historic sects. They have been represented as if they were Oriental disciples of Mde. Blavatsky, or mystics claiming secrets of a supernatural nature. Those who know them well and have been long familiar with them hold a very different opinion, and regard them as a very practical and politic people, who may yet play a part in the history of the Levant, and who, but for their dis- sensions, would have become the dominant power in Syria, instead of the Turks. I have had more than one Druze servant, but they do not prove satisfactory in * The Druzes took from the older Ismailiyeh sect the words Natek and Asas, which are not Semitic words. They represent the two powers in Nature. The first might be connected with the Mongol word Natagai for the chief deity, and the latter with the word Asa for “god” in the same language. | 18 PALESTINE. that character, being very independent and averse to regular habits. Their religion allows them to acquiesce in the creed of the dominant people, wherever they may be ; thus to a Christian they present the Christian aspect of their system, and their Moslem beliefs to a Moslem. It seems, however, established that they have no rites, ceremonies, or prayers of their own, and that the gather- ings in their remote chapels or ſhalwehs are mainly for political and social purposes. The accounts of the beauty of their horses, the rich- ness of their dress, the silver ornaments of saddles, bridles, swords, and guns, I did not find to be exag- gerated ; but the curious horned head-dress, worn under the veil by the women till quite recent times, I have never seen in use, though such a horn, made of silver filagree-work, was once shown to me. It is a curious and interesting fact that this head-dress was also worn by tribes in Central Asia, on the Oxus, near the Caspian ; and this indication agrees with others to be mentioned shortly in indicating that the original Druzes were probably emigrants from Persia, or from some region perhaps farther east. - The Druzes are perhaps best described as Moslem Gnostics, and the best key to their rambling and con- crete dogmas is found in a study of Gnostic systems. They are schismatics, whose chief distinguishing tenet is a belief that the mad Khalif Hakem, in the eleventh century, was the final incarnation of the power of God. The appearance of this heresy in Egypt was due to the fact that the Fatemite Khalifs in that country were of the Ismailiyeh sect, which was of Persian origin. Other sects of similar character were independently estab- lished in Syria (the Metàwileh, the Anseiriyeh, and the RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 119 Ismailiyeh), among which the Druzes probably gained many recruits. When the Moslems conquered the Persian dominions, they came in contact with several religions and with numerous philosophies. The Zoroastrian established faith, the Christianity of Nestorians and Sabians, the Judaism of the great Chaldean schools, were firmly rooted in the land; and in addition to these the Mani- chean system, which was, in fact, a combination of the preceding with Buddhist scepticism, had spread on all sides, even as far as Turkestan. Moslem mystic and philosophic sects very quickly developed under these influences, and the Sufis represent the adoption of Buddhist ideas by professing Moslems. The philosophic sects held the opinion—which is also a Duddhist view—that the religion of the masses can never be the same as that of leading minds. The Ismailiyeh and other Moslem societies put this belief into practice, teaching to their disciples a series of dogmas in which they had no personal belief. Thus, while they professed to explain a series of incarnations of the Natek and the Asas, who were in the future to appear on earth as Ismail and Muhammad, in secret initiation they taught the more advanced student to discard all belief in either Rorán, or Gospel, or incarnation, and to believe only in two natures (“the uprising one” and “the abode”), which together were, they said, the only realities in the universe. This doctrine is closely similar to that of the Syrian and Persian Gnostics, and to the final ini- tiation of Eleusinian and other mysteries, as we learn from many detailed accounts. This simple basis enables us to thread the labyrinth of absurd allegories which the various sects wove round their concealed disbelief. 120 PALESTINE. These were, as a rule, politic dogmas, framed to bring into the organisation men from every existing creed, . and apparently to reconcile systems which, in the eyes of the initiated, were all equally untrue. The dogmas generally cited as tenets of the Druze religion are those taught to the lowest and uninitiated class. They are known through the seizure of sacred books by the Maronites in 1837, during Ibrahim Pasha's wars, and again by the French in 1860. The great Orientalist De Sacy at the earlier period was able to study at leisure the manuscripts in the National Library at Paris, and Dr. Wortabet added to his results after 1860. There is no reason here to give the details of this fantastic system. The Druze doctrines as to Christ, like those in the Korān, are clearly of Gnostic origin. Their teaching of a paradise for the pious dead in China, whence also Hakem is to return at the last day, and their dogma of transmigration of Souls, were no doubt learned from Bactrian Buddhists or from Manicheans. We have already seen that more than one link connects them with the Manichean and Buddhist Mongols of Turkestan, though in appearance they approach nearer to Persians and Parsees. They have celibates among them, and hermits who retire to distant khalwehs, sleeping on mats, with pillows of stone, eating dry bread, and dressed in wool, with a girdle like that of monks or of the Dervish orders; but they are also commonly said to celebrate annual Orgies, like those of Gnostics, of Greek pagans, or of the Sakti sects in India. They have secret emblems whereby they recognise each other, one of which is the fig, which was also a Manichean emblem, according to Cyril of Jerusalem. By none of these RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 121 tenets or customs are they very clearly distinguished from Anseiriyeh or Ismailiyeh heretics, the divinity of IIakem being their true point of Schism. There is, however, in existence a work, said to be that of ITamza, the original Druze teacher, which admits us within the veil of initiation. It is called the “Hidden Destruction,” and it abolishes both Tawil and Tenzil, or open and secret dogma as to the Korán. It reduces the Moslem prayer—the Fetwa—to a cabalistic myth of planets and zodiac. It abolishes prayer, sacrifice, tithes, fasting, pilgrimage, the holy war, and even sub- mission; and for these seven cardinal doctrines of Islam it substitutes seven new laws, which represent truth according to Druze philosophy. 1st, The confession of truth, save when such con- fession may endanger the Safety of the initiate, when silence is allowed. Thus, too, the Buddhist is taught not to interfere with the common beliefs of other men. 2d, The duty of mutual help and assistance. 3d, The concealed renunciation of every form of creed or dogma. 4th, A separation from those who live in error. 5th, The unity of “the Power” in all ages. 6th, Contentment with His will. 7th, Resignation to inevitable fate. This then, I believe, is the true system of Druze initia- tion. The fantastic dogmas are but the husk of which this is the kernel. There is no real mysticism in the system, but simply a concealed scepticism which re- nounces even the most negative of religions—that of Muhammad. The inquirer who expects to discover a secret supernaturalism among these philosophers de- 122 PALESTINE. ceives himself, and would by them be regarded with contempt. In the present chapter we have thus had occasion to refer to four developments of Moslem religion existing in Syria, side by side with the Sunnee faith (the Metàwileh, the Ismailiyeh, the Anseiriyeh, and the Druze), and I may perhaps be pardoned a few words in addition on a question which of late has excited interest in England, namely, the comparative vitality of Christian and Mos- lem religion in lands where both exist together. On this matter the views of the tourist visitor, how- ever well stored his mind may be with knowledge obtained from books, have little permanent value. Nor will conversations, carried on by aid of a dragoman, with respectable Moslem doctors, or with peasants, really enable the new-comer to form a true opinion. Islam is not what it appears to be to the stranger, and Moslems do not, and indeed cannot, give to such a visitor a comprehensive view of their creed. It is neces- sary to live for many years in a Moslem country, and in daily contact with Moslems of all classes, in order really to know what they and their religion are like ; and such contact will not lead the impartial observer to form a very high estimate of the practical results of Moslem teaching. In the first place, Islam can only be regarded as a general term, like Christendom. There are in Islam as many antagonisms, as much indifference and disbelief, as many sects mutually hateful, as much discord and contention over abstract dogmas, as are to be found in the West. A general reconciliation and union is as impossible in the one case as in the other. But if we are to judge Christianity and Islam by their declared RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 123 moral standards, Islam must stand second. It is, more- over, the most negative of faiths, distinguished by what it denies, not by what it maintains. The enthusiasm for Moslem religion which some writers express is but the natural reaction from that ignorant prejudice against the “wickedness of the false prophet” which used to mark our entire want of knowledge of Moslem belief; but this enthusiasm is also the result of imperfect knowledge, and it dies off as the student of Moslem life becomes more intimate with actual society in the East. It is true that Islam spreads with rapid strides in countries where the Arabs are strong and where Chris- tian teachers are weak. The conquered are forced to adopt the creed of the conqueror, but the conversion is not superior to the orthodoxy of Spain under the Inquisition; and the propaganda is the same as that of the persecuting days of mediaeval Christianity. It is surely no mark of advanced religious culture that uni- formity should be due to terror of the sword. Islam does (as far as I have been able to observe) absolutely nothing for the education and raising up of the ignorant and of the poor. The religion of the so- called Moslem peasant is the paganism of the days before Islam was preached. He swears by Muhammad, but his real gods are the buried Saints, whose power to punish him by misfortune he dreads. He lives in fear of the Jān, of the Ghouls, of the Kerād or “goblins; ” he prays to the holy tree; he believes in magic and in witches. No attempt is made to educate him. He cannot read or write ; he has no doctor save the charit- able European who may chance to pass by. So long as he proclaims his belief in God and the Prophet, no 124 PALESTINE. one troubles himself as to his fate. The dark places are full of cruelty, and the morality of the peasant is generally not better than that of the African Savage.” The visitor, charmed by the natural dignity and courtesy of Oriental manners, does not see more than the surface, and it is not till one incident after another reveals the truth, that it can be recognised that Islam has done nothing to raise the poor. In the cities usually visited the traveller finds mosques filled with decent congrega- tions. In the villages there are no mosques at all. Many peasants cannot repeat the simple Moslem prayer. They can do nothing more than light a lamp to the Nebi when child or husband are sick. They dwell in an imaginary atmosphere of marvels, like that in which the Zulu or the Hindu peasant passes a lifetime of superstitious fear. We have nothing like it, save per- haps as a survival in the wilder mountain districts of Britain, where witches are still feared. The pious doctors and fanatic Imams of Islam have done nothing to compare to the home-missions of England. This is not only the case in Syria; it applies equally to the whole Moslem world. Among the upper class, too, there are many differ- ences of belief and of life. The mosque students and doctors represent, as a rule, Orthodoxy of the most con- servative type. Yet even among these some survival of the philosophy of the early Baghdad Schools may 1 The immorality of the Palestine peasantry, though hidden by their decent manners, is, I have been assured by respectable residents, very great. Their vengeance on women who have gone astray is often very savage. I have visited a cavern in the Judean hills with a deep pit in it, down which such unfortunate women used to be thrown. and I believe there is another in the Lebanon. RESEARCHIES IN GAILILEE. 125 exist, some tinge of the influence of Plato and of Aris- totle, which led captive for a while the intellect of Islam. Among these, again, the passionate mysticism of the Sufis represents an emotional condition not un- known in the West. The Sufi gives up the riddle of existence to seek the final union with God, which is the aim of his life. But side by side with these are men professing Islam, yet breaking its laws, soldiers and diplomatists who have seen the world unknown to the dweller in mosques or to the literary professor; men also who drink wine and who neglect prayer; other men who take bribes and grind the faces of the poor; pitiful ambitions gained by crooked means; white turbans covering hypocrisy, and successful humbugs decked with stars. There is, however, one phase of Moslem life which has no exact counterpart in the West—a power which is often unsuspected but very great, namely, that of the Dervish orders. The visitor who sees the miserable mendicant in the street, who hears the frantic howls of those performing the zikr, or watches the stately dance of the Mawlawiyeh, little suspects the power which under- lies these outward appearances, and little understands the reason for that reverence which is shown, even by Turkish officials, for the Dervish beggar. Miserable and ignorant as is the fanatic who thrusts a sword through his arm, or devours Scorpions, charms snakes, treads on the sick babe laid before him, or bathes in charcoal embers, he yet belongs to a wide-spread secret organisation, and has sworn away his private judgment and liberty of action, devoting himself to fulfil the will of one man, the distant head of his order. A letter from such a chief will secure the active help of immu- 126 PALESTINE. merable associates scattered far and wide, in Turkey, in Egypt, and yet farther afield. The power which Gnos- tics, Assassins, Templars, and other secret orders used to wield is still wielded in a certain measure by the Dervish leaders: we have only a faint reflex of such a system among Masons. Yet it cannot be said that the Dervish orders have done much for Islam : rather have they served to secure the aims and ambitions of chiefs who, regarded by their ignorant followers as possessed of marvellous powers, are yet perhaps in reality as scepti- cal as the Druze initiates. By pretensions to spiritual knowledge and power they attract the poor candidate who stands naked at the door begging for admission to the order. By jugglery and sensational acts they capti- vate the imagination of the mob. But they are careful only to admit to their real counsels those of whose intelligence and trustworthiness they have had long experience. The Dervishes may lead the populace in reli- gious war, but chiefly when certain very practical aims are seen by their leaders to be thereby attainable. Such considerations, though they have led us far away from Galilee, will perhaps be allowed as the results of practical acquaintance with Islam, gained by six years of life in Moslem lands, and may be useful in face of the somewhat superficial estimates of Moslem religious life which so often appear before the public as the results of a trip to the more frequented towns of the Levant and the talk of dragomans and renegade Turks. I know only one point in which Islam has real advan- tage over Christianity, namely, in its direct condemnation of drink. Even Islam is unable entirely to stamp out this curse; but when we contrast the sobriety of Pales- tine with the drink traffic forced on natives of South RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 127 Africa by an English-speaking race, whose Government draws a revenue from the excise, we find that there is one great lesson to be learned in the East, and one great evil which the voice of Muhammad has always proclaimed as such. In all other respects—the position of women, the condition of education among the poor, the sympathy of the upper class with the ignorant, the love of truth, and of freedom, and of justice—the lands where Islam is established can never be compared with those where Christianity is purest. These reflections have been raised by the remembrance of days spent in crossing over Hermon, from Banias to Hasbeya, on the road to Damascus, or in the investiga- tion of the ruined towns and temples on the mountain, or in toiling to the summit, 9200 feet above the sea, where the Survey party once spent the night, and took observations of the stars for latitude. It is one of the wildest and most picturesque parts of Syria. The lower slopes are of the sandstone which underlies the Lebanon and appears on the Moab hills. Above is the hard fossiliferous limestone, which is a base-bed in Western IPalestine. Near the Druze villages great cascades of bright green foliage deck the mountain slopes, where the vineyards, already famous in Hebrew times, run terrace above terrace. Clumps of pines, low thickets of oak and mastic, and hedges of wild rose rise towards the snowy dome, where the Syrian bears are hiding, and whence sometimes they venture down to eat the grapes. The costumes of the Druzes, the white veils, through which one eye only of the Druze damsels is seen, and the brightly-coloured dress of the men, are equally pic- turesque ; as are, too, the solitary khalwehs or meeting- places perched on cliffs remote from other habitations. 128 PALESTINE. The scenery round Bamias is also of remarkable beauty. It is well known to tourists, who generally visit it at its best. Here by the Mound of Dan is the fine clump of oaks, a familiar resting-place, near which is the tomb of Sheikh Merzūk, who is said to have been a dog. To the west the path crosses four rushing brooks, which join the cascades of Banias to form the Jordan, break- ing over stony channels in a plain strewn everywhere with blocks of black basalt, covered at times with orange. coloured lichens. It was here that I discovered a group of dolmens in 1882, which had previously been overlooked amid the many natural boulders, and which are no doubt con- nected with the old worship of the region. Farther east the town itself still preserves its great Norman wall in parts, and the rush of the Jordan, shooting down in a foaming torrent between thickets of low shrubs, with forest trees in groups here and there, and a few poplars, is that of an Alpine river rather than of a Syrian stream. High up on the east the ruins of the great castle, which was the bulwark of Christendom against Damascus, cover a long spur on the side of Iſermon. The great cave of Pan, whence Banias takes its name, has now fallen in, so that the full effect, which probably was to be remarked when Josephus wrote, is lost ; for the sudden bursting of the river out of the cavern must have been very striking. A little Moslem chapel is built on the debris, and dedicated naturally to El Khudr, the mysterious “green one,” who drank the water of life, and who represents the vivify- ing power of moisture in Moslem folk-lore. On the rocks, still half legible, are the Greek inscriptions of the days of Agrippa, one dedicating an altar to the nymphs, RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE. 129 another recording the name of Agrippa as archon of the year, a third speaking of the priest of the god Pan. The name of Pan at this place is perhaps older than the Greek age, and of Canaanite origin, since the word as a Turanian term, meaning a “spirit,” is found in many languages of the group to which the Hittite tongue belonged. Looking southwards over the flat Jordan plain, you see the marshy Huleh lake shining amid its papyrus Swamps. On the east are the fantastic cones of the Jaulan volcanoes, on the west the bushy range of Naphtali, on the north the rugged ridges of Hermon. The black camps of the Arabs are dotted over the plain, their brown cattle wander beside the streams, and the women in dark flowing robes are churning butter in goatskin bags beside the “houses of hair.” IIermon appears in all ages to have been a sacred mountain and a religious centre. The name is thought by some to mean a “sanctuary,” but by Gesenius to mean a “mountain spur.” The old Amorite name was Shenir, of uncertain meaning, and the Sidonians called it Sirion, which is probably a Turanian word meaning “white” or “snowy.” Long after the calves of Dan had been overthrown, and before the calf became an emblem in the Druze ſhalwehs on the same mountain, the Romans covered its slopes with little temples. These have been, for the most part, visited and described. Sir Charles Warren made careful plans of the best-preserved examples, and nearly all of them I have explored on different occasions. At Rukhleh, on the north-west slope, there are remains of such a temple, which has been pulled to pieces apparently to make a church. The Toman eagle, which one traveller in his en- thusiasm has called Hittite, is here carved in bold I 130 TALESTINE. relief, as also at Baalbek, and in the curious temples of the Anseireh mountains; and a great head of the sun-god is sculptured on another stone. Here, too, occur Greek inscriptions; one recording the adorning of the temple gates with silver, another mentioning the Epiarch of Abila. Farther north, at Abila itself, the ground is strewn with Greek funerary texts, and the rocks burrowed with tombs, one of which has rude busts in low relief over the entrance, such as we also found over Roman tombs in Gilead. On the top of the mountain itself there are some very curious remains. A sort of peak has here been sur- rounded by an oval of cut stones carefully laid, within which we found a quantity of ashes, apparently belong- ing to some beacon or sacrificial fire once lighted on the spot. Close to this circle is a cave hewn in the rock, measuring fifteen feet by twenty-four, with a roof sup- ported by a rocky pillar. Three steps lead down into the cave, and the rock above has been levelled, perhaps as the floor of a building. There is no historic account of the object with which this curious cave was cut high up on the snowy summit, remote from all inhabited spots. The Druze hermits are said to retire to Hermon, but their place of retreat was shown to me farther down the side of the mountain. The names of Antar and Nimrod are connected with various buildings on Her- mon, and the remains on the top are called “Castle of the Youths” by the shepherds. It is said that a Greek inscription lies near the circle round the highest peak. This I was unable to discover. The rock of the peak has been cut so as to form a sunken trench with a round shaft—perhaps for water—beside it. The object of these cuttings is, however, obscure. RESEARCHES IN GALILEE. 131 By passing the night on the summit, I was able to witness two of the most interesting scenes imaginable— the sunrise over the plains of Damascus and the sunset in the sea. These I have fully described in another work, but, as there is no other point from which such a general view of Palestine can be gained, I may be allowed to repeat in part what I saw. We ascended the mountain on the 9th of September, at which time it was quite free from snow. Indeed, we could not even find snow to melt for cooking, and had thus great diffi- culty in getting water. Beneath us, apparently quite near, lay the calm Sea of Galilee, showing a light green among its dusky cliffs. Tabor and the Horns of Hattin appeared to the right, and the chain of the Safed mountains as far as the Ladder of Tyre. The gorge of the Litany River was clear, with Belfort on its northern slope, and Tyre itself with its harbours. Carmel formed the extreme distance on this side, about eighty miles away. On the east the Syrian desert stretched unbroken towards the Euphrates, and the white houses and mina- rets of Damascus were set in a deep border of green from the surrounding gardens. Farther to the south-east, as on a map, we looked down into the craters of the Jaulan volcanoes, which seemed no larger than the hollow cones of the ant-bear. Over the great brown Bashan plains, so full of ruined Roman cities, of endless Greek inscriptions, of Nabathean texts scrawled on the rocks, and of dolmen groups yet older, we saw the great columns of the whirlwinds slowly stalking in the autumn heat. The Druze villages were at our feet, and a green valley with a gleaming stream. On the west the long ridges of the Southern Lebanon 132 PALESTINE. reached out to the great level of the Mediterranean, with dark shadows in the deep ravines. On the north is Sannin, with its cedar clumps, and grey rocky walls, and valleys fringed with pines. The glorious flush of the Eastern sunset bathed all this scene for a few moments, and then, while still in Sunshine ourselves, the steel-blue shadow crept over all the lower world. The great conical shadow of Hermon crept out eastwards and swallowed up Damascus, and stretching yet farther for seventy miles over the desert, stood out against the thick haze on the sky itself. When the dawn rose, we again stood on the peak, where perhaps the old Sun-worshippers used to await the great orb, which here rises from the desert horizon. Often in other places have I seen the first white streak and the glory of the aurora behind mountain ranges; but here, as the red globe appears in the mists over a boundless plain, the great shadow of Hermon stretches far across the dim Mediterranean—a sight not often seen by those who watch the dawn. Wherever a single peak stands out alone, such a shadow may be seen from the summit. In Teneriffe it stretches over the Atlantic, and the watchers on other mountains have seen it ; but in Palestine there is nowhere else such a sight or so glorious a panorama, because nowhere else does a soli- tary mountain stand up twice the height of the surround- ing hills. The great peak of Monte Viso, rising above the Italian snowy ranges, has a finer outline, but Hermon is unlike any mountain with which I am acquainted. It appears as the centre of every view in northern Palestine, and its snowy dome is seen from the plains near Jaffa, and from the valley of Jericho; while on the north its outline is equally impressive from the RESEARCHIES IN GALILEE, 133 plains of Coele-Syria, or from the heights of Lebanon. It is this scene which rises in the mind of Hebrew poets in many ages, and which inspires the Song of Songs: “Look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir, even Hermon, from the lions' dens, and from the moun- tains of the leopards,” CHIAPTER IV. THE SURVEY OF MOA B. THE survey of Western Palestine was happily complete in 1877, and the map was out in the following year; but the Memoirs were still not half published when, in 1881, I was again given command of a party instructed to carry the work east of Jordan. The adventures of the fifteen months which followed were far more excit- ing than any encountered west of the river. Even in 1877, when it was thought that some trouble might arise, the condition of affairs was really favourable, as the Turkish Government was very cordial, and all the dangerous characters were drafted out of the country to the war, leaving only peaceful elders, women, and boys. But in 1881–82 there was great excitement preceding the Alexandria massacres and the expectation of a Moslem Messiah in the year 1300 of the Hegira. In addition to this, our relations with Turkey had altered. The new Sultan refused to prolong our firman or to allow any exploration. The British Government served me with a notice that any expedition I might undertake was at my own risk, and that they would not be responsible for the consequences. We had, therefore, no support on which to rely, and were yet expected to work in the 134 TIHE SURVEY OF MOAB. 135 wildest districts, against the will of the Government of the country, and in a time of religious and popular excitement, finally culminating in massacre. Arriving at Beirāt in March 1881, before the assis- tants and the stores had left England, I determined to ſill out the time by a journey through Northern Syria, in company with Lieutenant Mantell, R.E. The object of the excursion, which, by hard riding, was carried through in eighteen days, was to search for the lost city of Kadesh on Orontes. On our way through Baalbek we made the discovery of a Greek inscription painted in red in a chamber behind the north apse of the church built by Theodosius in the great enclosure. It appears to me to be as old as the time of the building of this church, and had not, I believe, been previously noticed. Our farthest point was the ancient and picturesque town of Homs, whence we returned by the valley of the Eleutherus to Tripoli, and down the Phoenician coast. The full account of this journey I have already given (“Heth and Moab,” chaps. i. and ii.). The im- pression left on my mind was that few parts of the East would now better repay scientific exploration than Northern Syria. Excavations at Carchemish are ur- gently needed. Rock-tablets and large ruins exist in the Northern Lebanon, as yet very imperfectly ex- plored. Round Homs there are great mounds awaiting the spade, which probably contain Hittite and other remains of the highest interest. Even the remains existing above-ground are as yet little known, though De Vogüé has done much for the Byzantine ruins of this region. Kadesh on Orontes was the Hittite capital attacked 136 PALESTINE, by Rameses II., and an Egyptian picture represents it as a walled town surrounded by the river. Its discovery, which rewarded our labour, gave an instance of the necessity of keeping the mind open in archaeological research, and of avoiding preconceived theory. South of Homs is a great lake, which, in the fourteenth cen- tury, was known as the Lake of Kadesh. A mound in this lake was thought likely to be the site of the city. We found, however, that the lake was artificial, being formed by a Roman dam across the river. This agrees with the statement of a Rabbinical writer, who says that the lake was made by Diocletian as a reservoir for the supply of IIoms, the ancient Emesa ; and an aqueduct still leads from the dam to this city. The lake, then, did not exist in the days of Tameses II. Camping for the night a few miles south of this lake, I, as usual, inquired for the names of towns, ruins, &c., in the district, and to my surprise the name Kades was among them. We therefore altered our plan, and turned aside to explore the place pointed out under this name. We found it to be the site of an important town on the Orontes, about five miles south of the lake, and it was afterwards discovered that previous travellers had re- covered the name, though it had escaped the map-makers. Standing on the great mound, and observing how the Orontes washes it on the east, while a tributary stream ſlows on the west and joins the river immediately to the north, no doubt remained possible that the name sur- vived at a site exactly fulfilling the requirements of the Egyptian account. Excavations at the recovered Hit- tite capital might lead to very important discoveries, if thoroughly carried out. THIE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 137 I was much interested also to find a considerable Turkoman population in these plains; for the border between Turkic and Arab populations is generally placed much farther north. This mingling of Turanian and Semitic peoples round the old Hittite capital represents, in our own times, just the same racial con- dition which we gather to have existed in the time of Tameses II. It has come to be generally recognised that the Kheta or Hittites were a Mongolic people, speaking what is called an “agglutinative ’’ language, which was, I believe, akin to the Turkic dialects." They were thus related to that ancient race of Chaldea and Media which, through the labours of Sir Henry Rawlinson and of Dr. Oppert, and their disciples of the second generation, has been so wonderfully demonstrated to have produced the existing population of Central Asia and of the Turkish hordes which spread over Asia Minor. The hiero- glyphics found at Hamath, a day's journey north of Emesa, are the same characters now known in many parts of Asia Minor, and of which examples occur even in Nineveh and at Babylon. Our troubles were all before us. The Wāli of Syria caused us to be privately told that he must forbid any exploration under the old firman. The Druzes were in rebellion, and the Hauran, which I had intended first to enter, was surrounded by a cordon which we could not 1 This theory I put forward in 1883. The late Dr. Birch held the same view. Dr. Isaac Taylor in 1887 published his belief that the Hittites were Mongolians. Mr. G. Bertin, the Akkadian scholar, favours the same conclusion. At the British Association, 1888, Professor Sayce admitted that the general opinion favoured this view. 138 PALESTINE. pass. Moving southwards, I found the Belka governor, who lives at Nāblus, equally firm. The word had been sent all over Syria. Moreover, the great Arab tribes of the Belka were at war, and the Adwān had just killed a chief of the Beni Sakhr. I soon found that we were watched by spies, and, moreover, that the Turkish power east of Jordan had been so much strengthened since the time when Sir Charles Warren visited Moab, that it was very hard to find an Arab chief independent of the Turks with whom to treat. I felt that the lives and safety of my party rested on my decision, and that while subscribers at home were eager for results, the question of putting my followers in peril rested on my shoulders. There was another consideration which also weighed with me. Imprudent action and an open breach with the Government of the country might not only en- danger our safety and entirely stop our work, but it might also close the doors for many years on Palestine explorers. After patient waiting, however, during several months, which were fully employed in visiting places of interest only imperfectly described before, fortune at length favoured us for a while. The quarrels of the Arabs were settled, and I found at last a sturdy Arab chief of the old school, regarded by the Turks as a rebel, but powerful and respected over a large area east of Jordan, and willing to escort us, I was thus able to carry out the wishes of those at home and to start the Eastern Survey. It was not difficult, by leaving the greater part of my camp standing west of Jerusalem, to give the Turkish spies the slip. A regular treaty with Goblan, the aged Adwān chief, was signed. With THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 139 Ilieutenant Mantell I crossed Jordan, and finding that no active steps were taken by the Government, I sent for the rest of the expedition. For two anxious months we laboured at very high pressure; and after measuring our base-line and connecting our triangula- tion with that west of the river, we worked over five hundred square miles in detail. I had quite hoped that, though not recognised, we might be tolerated in the country, and I believe we might have worked still longer—for I doubt if the Turks at all knew where we were gone—but that there was an adverse influence of some kind at work. Whether it was the jealousy of the Beni Sakhr, or whether some political counter-current existed, I was unable to find out. The Beni Sakhr had certainly seemed friendly. We had already subsidised them, and they expected us soon to work in their country, and to pay them hand- somely for escort. No means that I could think of was neglected to interest all who could help in our peaceful and rapid progress. Yet suddenly the whole plan was spoilt by the extraordinary action of the Beni Sakhr chiefs. I am not aware that they are conspicuous for devotion to Turkish interests, though certainly they hated Goblán, with whom they had a blood-feud and whose life they sought. Whatever their reason, they went out of their way to draw atten- tion to our presence. The Haj, conducted by the famous Jºurdish Pasha, Muhammad Said of Damascus, was on its way through Moab to Mecca. To this Pasha they pointed out that English captains were measuring the land, and he only did his duty when he at once ordered us to be stopped, and telegraphed to Damascus, whence the news was sent to the Sultan. The governor of the I 40 PALESTINE. Belka was reprimanded, and he in turn came down on the governor of Es Salt. Yet even after this we were able to extend the work over a considerable area, and only recrossed Jordan in time to escape from the winter storms or from being cut off by the flooding of the river. It was in the same year that Mr. Tassam’s researches in Mesopotamia were stopped, and no important or ex- tensive explorations have since that date been possible in the Turkish dominions. We could not blame the Turks for their action. They had every reason to be jealous and suspicious at a time when the war in Egypt was brewing, when Cyprus had been handed over and Tunis annexed, and when Russian political emissaries were, I believe, actu- ally exploring Northern Syria. It was not likely that the Sultan or his advisers would discriminate closely between antiquarian work and political intrigue, espe- cially as our explorations were not likely to put much money in the treasury. It had been my wish to go to Constantinople, and to place the matter fully before the Sultan, before attempting to begin the work; but when I was instructed to go to the capital, after our irregular proceedings had been peremptorily stopped, it was with a bad grace that I was forced to ask for regular autho- risation, which, though promised, has not yet been granted. In spite of all difficulties, a substantial bit of work was done—about an eighth of the total proposed—and we came back from the desert with our hands full of valuable results. I believe that but for the Beni Sakhr, or their unknown instigators, we might, through Turkish good-nature, have been allowed to work for some time longer. As it was, I revisited Moab and Gilead next THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 141 year, through the kindness of our Toyal Princes, and thus have seen nearly all the country east of Jordan except Bashan, on which I have only looked from a distance. Finally, we left Syria on a steamer crowded with refugees from the Alexandrian massacres; and Dieutenant, Mantell and I had hardly been six weeks in England when we were ordered to Egypt on active service. Since that date I have been in two campaigns, serving on the staff at Tell-el-Kebir, and laying down the west border of the Transvaal in South Africa ; yet I can look back on no more anxious time than the weeks we spent in surveying Moab. Surrounded with lawless Arabs: roused almost every night, at times, by the attacks of thieves bent on stealing the horses on which we so much reckoned; having nothing on which to trust but the unproved loyalty of our old guide, Sheikh Goblan, whose life was in constant danger from his blood-foes on the south, and his liberty from the Turks, who had often tried to catch him, on the north ; placed in opposition to the Turkish Government and disowned by the British,_we felt that a disaster might any day occur which might endanger the lives of brave comrades who had ventured to follow, but who certainly were alive to the perils of our position. I write these lines not to exaggerate those dangers, for Goblan was trusty and our relations with the Arabs were excellent, but to show how difficult it was to carry through even that small portion of the great task which we completed, and how utterly impossible it was to do any more. The stoppage of the work was a great disappointment to us all; but I can only feel thankful that no accident marred our success, and that the sum banked in Syria 142 PALESTINE, to pay ransom in case of our being imprisoned, like Dr. * ** *º | } .j”, | | . | | ſº | !'; } - : I #. * |'' ſ ; , f º r / z --. . º * ſº • W ;ºſº'ſ lº * * *n, | # i 3. | ( - }} | . Y& ( , " $f, }** -º $.” ſº {{ = ~. Sº, /, / , , , ; Tº ºr: .# . * s 4. Tristram in Kerak, or kidnapped by the wild Anazeh to the east, who could have brought many armed horsemen against our little band of fifteen, was never called into UlSO. Crossing the Jor- dan, and traversing the plain of Shittim, we ascended the great sandstone spurs to camp by the Brook of Heshbon. Thence we afterwards went South, camping in the wild ravine of Wädy Jideid, inside the cur- ious Hadānieh circle, and again farther south, near the brink of the gorge of Cal- lirrhoe. A rapid countermarch, which put the Turks at fault, took us thence northwards to Rab- bath Ammon Gilead. in The most remarkable feature of our work was the THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 143 systematic examination of the rude stone monuments, of which we catalogued some seven hundred in all. They were known to exist east of Jordan, but it was not, I think, expected that they would prove more numerous in this region than anywhere else except in Tunis; and the contrast with their absence in Western Palestine is very remarkable." Rude stone monuments are found in many parts of Asia, in Europe, and in North Africa. They occur from Norway to Tunis, and from India to Ireland, and they still present many curious problems to the anti- quarian. These questions have been complicated by the utilitarian suggestions of writers, who ignore the folk- lore which is so closely interwoven with the history of these remains. It appears, I think, clear, first, that the rude stone monuments are of very high antiquity, having probably been erected in most, if not in all cases, by the early Turanians, who in Asia, North Africa, and Europe preceded the Aryans and the Semites, and who are called by modern students Iberians even in our own islands; and, secondly, that no study of these remains can be considered complete which ignores the beliefs con- cerning them surviving among the peasant populations of the regions where they occur. Rude stone monuments are known in Arabia, and have been found near Lake Van and in Persia, in the Crimea and east of the Black Sea. They occur in Greece, in Cyprus, and in Phoenicia. There is, there- fore, no reason for surprise at their discovery in Galilee, in Bashan, Gilead, and Moab. The only curious fact is their absence in Samaria and in Judea. There are some * See “Heth and Moab,” chaps, vii., viii. 144 PALESTINE. peculiarities, such as the occurrence of orientated avenues, of talyots or bilithons, of single stones outside circles, and of ring-marks on rocks, familiar in our own land, but not as yet noted in Syria. I confine my remarks, therefore, to the Syrian remains, including Menhirs, or erect stones, whether single or in groups, circles or A DOLMEN WEST OF IIISTIBON. alignments; Dolmens, or monuments with a flat stone table ; Slone Circles, Disc Stones, and Cup-hollows, all of which are exemplified in Moab. It is clear that a stone may be placed on end for more than one purpose, though that purpose is gene- rally monumental. Some enormous stones near 'Ammān, THE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 145 I believe, marked boundaries. Standing-stones have also been used to record events, like the Moabite Stone or the modern gravestone. Stones and stone pillars, or even cairns and heaps, have been used as memorials of a visit to some shrine, and are still so used. Other erect stones in Greece, in Chaldea, in Phoenicia, and in India are idols and lingams, worshipped as containing a spirit. In every case the explorer must consider the most pro- bable reason for the erection of the stone. In Greece such stones—afterwards sculptured as terminal figures —marked boundaries, or were sacred emblems. Such boundary-stones occur also in Babylonia, and sacred stones are also mentioned in Chaldean temples. Jacob and Saul and other Hebrew heroes erected such memo- rials, and the pagan Arabs bedaubed them with blood, and offered to them their babes and daughters, and swore by them as sacred emblems. In some cases burial at the foot of such a stone may possibly mark a human sacrifice, as, for instance, at Place Farm, in Wiltshire, where a skeleton was found by a mem/lir in the centre of a circle; but no sepulchral remains are found by or under the majority of these monuments. In all countries where they occur they are remarkable for a rounded or pointed top, which resembles that of later obelisks. In India the lingam stones are worshipped, and peasants rub against them. In some rural districts maidens lean against them, ex- pecting to see a future husband. Marriages were often celebrated by such stones. The Greystone, by the Tweed, witnessed marriages, where bride and bridegroom joined hands through a hole in the stone. Oaths were sworn at these stones in France to a late date ; and the oath of Woden was sworn by men who joined hands through K 1 46 PALESTINE. the stone. In Sardinia great stones with holes occur at the tombs called Giants' Graves, and also form the entrance to a circle called cuisses de femme. I have never found such holed stones in Syria, but a pair occur in Cyprus, which I think, from their size, not likely to have belonged, as some suppose, to an oil- press. These standing-stones were often anointed with oil, with blood, or with milk. Dibations of milk were poured through a stone in the Western Isles. Alexander anointed with oil the pillar on the grave of Achilles, as Jacob anointed the stone of Bethel, or as the Arabs smeared their ansſtb with blood. The lingam stones in India are still anointed with ghee, and stone circles are splashed with blood. In Aberdeenshire water was believed to spring from a hollow in the top of a sacred stone; in Brittany the menhirs were believed to go to the river to drink. Such monuments are also wishing-stones, such as Dhu esh Sher'a, a black stone at Petra, or the Hajr el Mena (“stone of desire”), which we found in Moab. To some prayers for rain have been offered. Breton menhirs, and others in India and in Somersetshire, are said to represent wedding-parties turned to stone ; others in the Khassia IIills are adored as ancestors by tribes which burn the dead. The stones of Allāt, 'Azzi, and IIobal at Taif—still shown—were once adored as deities by Arabs, as were those of Asaf, and Naila, and Kha- lisah near Mecca. Such instances out of many which have been collected show that the idea of a “ IIoly Stone '' is no theorist's dream. Those who see in these monuments only grave- stones or boundary-marks have not fully studied the facts of the case. THE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 147 One curious feature of such stones I have not seen noticed. In Gilead I found a fallen mem/hir with a hollow artificially made in the side, as though to put something into the stone. At Kit's Cotty-house I found similar holes in the side stones. At Stonehenge I found them in some instances even larger. No doubt many other cases are known." The holes are not water-worn, but have been rubbed as though by fingers or arms thrust constantly into the stone. They are not lewis holes, and they were made after the stones were erected. Probably they were enlarged, like the hole in the pillar at the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople, by countless visitors putting their fingers into the same hole. - The great alignments of Brittany and of Dartmoor are well known, though the reason for their erection is doubtful. In Moab I found one place where such a collection of standing-stones exists. It is called El Mareighât, “the smeared things,” and stands on the plateau north of the great valley of Callirrhoe. There is a rude circle of memlièrs at the site, with a trilithon or dolmen on one side. It surrounds a knoll on which is a group of menhirs, the tallest being six feet high. To the east is a large menhir, which has been hewn to a rounded head and grooved horizontally, and between this and the circle is an alignment consisting of several rows of shorter menhirs, running north and south. The * An antiquary familiar with Indian and British stone monu- ments, writing from Edinburgh, tells me that “cups and smoothed sloping hollows are common enough in Keltic standing-stones. The best I have seen,” he adds, “are the two on the memlvirs east and west of the lºrodart parish church, Strathpeffer, I think they were swearing-holes, in which the vower placed his fingers, for they are worn as smooth as glass.” | 48 PALESTINE. hills close by are covered with fine specimens of dol- mens, many of which I measured. It is impossible to regard this monument as sepulchral. The stones stand, like many in India and elsewhere, on the bare rock. The circle resembles many found in other lands; and the wild tribes of Western India still sacrifice a cock at such circles, smearing the stones with its blood ; while the Khonds adore the sun in similar circles, the tallest menhir being on the east. In Mecca, the Kaabah was once surrounded by seven such stones, which also were smeared with blood. I believe the Mareighât circle to be an ancient temple, and the dol- men which faces the central group on the west to be probably an altar facing the sun rising behind the stones, while the alignments appear to consist of memorial stones erected by visitors to the shrine —just as the Moslem pilgrim still erects his stone mesh-hed or “memorial" in the neighbourhood of any shrine. What has been said of erected stones or memhir‘s equally applies to what are called dolmens in France, or cromlechs in England, namely, stone tables raised on other stones. Such monuments also may have been erected for many purposes—as huts, as tombs, and as altars. Any hasty generalisation will certainly fail to account for every case. Unfortunately, the great authority of the late Mr. Fergusson, and his wide acquaintance with such subjects, have led recent writers to neglect many impor- tant facts not mentioned in his works, and to speak of dolmens as ancient tombs with a degree of dogmatism which shows that their own researches have not been very widely extended. After examining seven hundred examples of these monuments in Moab and Gilead, I THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 1 49 have come to the conclusion that the sepulchral theory is often quite untenable, though we cannot deny that such rude blocks were often piled up to form huge cists or chambers hidden beneath mounds, and intended to hold either the corpse or the ashes of the dead. Sepulchral chambers — dolmens, if you will — under mounds are widely found; but a trilithon on bare rock, not so covered, is clearly unfitted for a tomb, especially when it is not large enough to cover even the body of a child. Moreover, the stone table is sometimes supported by flat stones on the rock; and observers who have found bones under dolmens have not always proved that they are original interments. Nothing is more indestructible than an earthen mound, and in many cases in Moab it was certain that no mound had ever covered the stones. There was nothing but hard rock to be found, and no cairn had ever existed to fulfil the purpose of a mound. Again, I say, we must turn to local superstitions in order fully to understand the use of trilithons and dol- mens. Wild as are the legends, they preserve what was once the religion of the dolmen-building tribes. In the Talmud we find mention of such a monument as con- nected with idolatrous worship in the second century A.D., the trilithon being in this case placed in front of a memhir," In 1872 I found such a monument on Gilboa, and another example has since been found in Bashan, while a similar combination is also known in one in- stance in Sweden. At the temple of Demeter in Arcadia, Pausanias mentions a trilithon called the Petroma, by which the Greeks swore, and under which they kept a * See a detailed note, Pal. Expl. Quarterly Statement, January 1885. 150 PALESTINE. certain sacred book, which was yearly read by a priest. At Larnaca, in Cyprus, a dolmen is said to exist in a chapel, and in Spain one is found in the crypt of a Church of St. Miguel in the Asturias, and another in a hermitage.” The modern Arabs beyond Jordan use miniature dolmens, generally on the west side of the circles round the graves of their chiefs, as little tables on which to place offerings to the spirits of the dead. Dolmens are also connected with the old ceremony of “passing through,” which is observed in India as well as in our own islands. St. Willibald, in the eighth century, speaks of Christians squeezing between two pillars in the church on Olivet ; and as late as 1881 the Moslems in Jerusalem squeezed between two pillars in the Aksa Mosque. Near Madras, the Hindus used to crawl through the hole in a sacred rock. In Ripon Cathedral, “threading the needle * was a similar rite. Children were also passed through ash and oak trees, and through hoops, or dragged through holes in the ground and under door-sills. At Craig Mady, in Stirlingshire, the newly wedded used to crawl through a dolmen.” In the Jordan Valley, near the Jabbok, and again in Bashan, 1 This curious connection between churches and rude stone monu- ments, also remarked in Pritain and in France, is no doubt ex- plained by Pope Gregory's letter (Greg. Pap. Tºpist., xi. 71), advis- ing the early missionaries not to suppress the rites and sanctuaries of the Saxons, but to reconsecrate them to Christian use. * The practice has also been noted at Kerlescant in Brittany, at IRollrich, and at Ardmore. There is a similar rite in China of “passing the door ’’ to cure sickness. In Cornwall, the Men-an-tol, or “holed-stone,” near Morvah, is a stone ring two feet in diameter, flanked by two menhirs in a line which passes through the hole. —Dymond, Journal, Brit. Arch. Assoc., June 30, 1877. TIIIE SURVEY OF MOAD. 15.1 dolmens exist having a hole in the end-stone, and many are surrounded by a circle of stones in both districts, as also were some Celtic dolmens. On the dolmens in Ire- land, called “beds of Diarmed and Grain,” youths and girls used to deposit gifts of corn and of flowers. The Cyprus girls, according to Cesnola, in like manner visit the menhirs pierced with holes, and place in them offer- ings of jewellery, lighting candles before them,--which illustrates a previous remark as to these holes in the stones. There is a curious monument in the Jordan Valley, with a stone hollowed into a sort of arch a yard in diameter, through which it would be easy to crawl. From such notes it is clear that dolmens are inti- mately connected with ancient superstitious practices. The crawling through was always believed either to cure sickness or to ensure good fortune, and the dolmen has often been used as an altar. After making measured drawings of about a hundzed and fifty dolmens in Moab, I was able to obtain Some general results. In some cases the top stone is raised only a foot from the ground, and in others the trilithon is so small that it would not serve as any- thing but a table or seat. Some examples on the hill- sides consisted of a table stone resting on the rock at One end, and on a single side stone at the other. In others the table was supported by horizontal stones. In most cases it was slightly tilted, and in very few were the stones even roughly hewn in shape. Not only could we never find any trace of sepulture, or of a grave beneath, but often the size precluded the idea that the dolmen could have been either a hut or a tomb. In other cases a sort of box was formed which could have held a body, but it was not covered by any mound. The 152 PALESTINE. general purpose seemed clearly to be the production of a flat table-like surface. It may, however, appear strange that if these dolmens occur in such numbers at one site, they should be re- garded as altars; * but we must not forget the story of Balaam and Balak. Visiting in succession three mountain-tops, whence the enchanter was bid to curse Israel, he addresses Balak in each case in the words, “Build me here seven altars.” And on each of these mountains we found groups of dolmen still standing. A curious circumstance in connection with dolmens is that they usually occur near springs and streams. The groups in Moab were all so placed, just as Kit's Cotty-house stands near the Medway, or Stonehenge above the Avon, or like the dolmen near a sacred spring in Finisterre. Menhirs also, as we have seen, are simi- larly connected with water and with rain. There is, perhaps, a simple reason for this circum- stance. Stonehenge was near a British village, and the rude tribes which built the dolmens no doubt, like all early migrants, settled round the natural waters of the country. But it is also not impossible that water was required in connection with rites at the dolmen altars. 1 The following are the principal groups which I drew and measured :— JEl Maslubiyeh, south of Nebo . . I 50 examples. Fl Mareighat, farther south . . I 50 55 JEl Kurmiyeh, west of Heshbon . 50 , , Tell Mataba' and neighbourhood .. 300 , Ammām, in Mount Gilead º & 2O 9 * In some cases rows of these monuments exist almost touching each other on the hillsides. TIIIE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 153 Another very interesting observation was the occur- rence of cup-hollows—artificial pittings, in some cases connected by well-marked artificial ducts or channels—in the table stones of the dolmens. These cup-hollows were, in some cases, quite as well formed as any that I have seen in England. I found one very unmistakable example on the Holy Rock on Mount Gerizim, where, it is said, by the Samaritans, to mark the site of the laver in the court of the Tabernacle. I am not aware that any accepted theory has been formed about these hollows; but they are often found on high tops and on or near dolmens. We must not forget that wild tribes of Asia and of Europe have always attached great virtue to the healing power of dew, espe- cially the dews of spring-time. Perhaps dew may have been collected in these hollows and used for superstitious rites. Two other classes of rude stone structures in Moab have still to be mentioned. The first of these is the class of great circles with walls made by heaps of stones piled up like cairns. These I have never found elsewhere, though they recall the earthen mounds which form circles in England, sometimes surrounding menhirs or dolmens, and sometimes I believe used as meeting-places or courts of justice. A spendid specimen occurs on a spur at Iſadānieh above a great spring on the slopes near Mount Nebo. Inside this circle, as a precaution against thieves, I set up my whole camp and stabled my horses. Iſadā- nieh means “sepulture,” and a small circle outside the * The Rev. E. B. Savage, writing to me from the Isle of Man, says, “These cup-hollows are used to the present day in remote parts of Norway for making offerings to the spirits of the departed, such as lard, honey, butter, &c.” 154 PALESTINE, great structure here surrounds the grave of an Arab chief. The great circle is 250 feet across, the walls are thirty to forty feet thick and some five feet high, and a smaller wall inside divides the area unequally. There is an enormous cairn on the hill above about three-quarters of a mile away on the east. Another circle of equal size was found by Lieutenant Mantell on the south slope of Mount Nebo, and east of ‘Ammān two more about sixty feet in diameter. Yet another occurs at Kom Yajuz, measuring 200 feet across, and we visited two others of nearly the same size. To one of these the name El Mahder applies, which is radically the same word as Hazor, “the enclosure.” There is nothing to show the age or object of these works, which must have entailed considerable labour, as they are so much larger than the circles of stones which the Arabs now build up round the graves of their chiefs. The last class of monuments consists of great disc stones, which resemble mill-stones, but are much too large to be used for such a purpose. One of these, in the Jordan Valley, lies flat, like a mighty cheese, by a thorn tree, and measures eleven feet across. It is called “the dish of Abu Zeid,” an Arab legendary hero, who is said to have heaped it with rice and with a whole camel as a feast to his allies. It weighs probably Some twenty tons. Another example stands on end in a ruined village, and is 9% feet in diameter. A third, on a prominent hill, surrounded by dolmens, also stands up like a wheel, and is six feet across, without any hole in the centre. The origin of these monuments is also very uncertain, but we must not forget that one of the towns of Moab THE SUIRVEY OF MOAB. 155 mentioned on the Moabite Stone and in the Bible was called Beth Diblathaim, which means “the house of the two discs" (or “cakes”). Mill-stones are common enough in Syrian ruins, as are the pillars of olive- presses, but no explorer who is familiar with these is likely to confound them with the great menhirs and disc stones which have been here described. Such were the monuments which we discovered and described east of Jordan, and I have only to add a few words on the important questions of their age and dis- tribution. As regards age, these monuments—dolmens and men- hirs—were erected apparently by a people who had little mechanical power. Very rarely are the stones shaped, however roughly, and the dolmens are hardly ever on hill-tops, but on slopes where they might be easily formed by dragging the stones down-hill, and sliding the cap-stones on to their supports. Probably the people that erected them was unable to sculpture or to write. In other countries such monuments are of high antiquity, and there is no reason why they should not be very ancient in Syria. As regards distribution, these monuments are absent in Judea and Samaria. There is one example on Gilboa, and five or six in Upper Galilee, one of which is called “ the stone of blood.” I have seen near Jeba, north of Jerusalem, what might be a fallen dolmen, and have found what might be cup-hollows, but more probably these were mortars scooped in the rock in which glean- ings of the fields were crushed. East of Jordan there are such hollows, used for making gunpowder, not connected with dolmens. The surveyors, who found so many dolmens in Moab, found none at all south of 156 PALESTINE. Galilee. In Moab, Gilead, and Bashan they are more numerous than anywhere else in Western Asia, as at present known. In a previous chapter I have noticed that pottery statuettes, found in abundance in Phoenicia, are almost unknown in Palestine proper, and have suggested the reason. The same reason holds good, perhaps, as re- gards the rude stone monuments. They may very pro- bably have once existed, and may have been purposely destroyed. Israel was commanded to “smash ’’ the menhirs of the Canaanites, to “upset ’’ their altars, and to destroy their images. These commands Josiah, the zealous king of Judah, is recorded to have carried into practice. May not this, I would ask, be the true reason for their disappearance " The Greeks and the Romans would not have so acted, and dolmens still stand close to the Roman city of ‘Ammān. The Arabs, who left them east of Jordan, and who regard them as “ghouls' houses,” would not have destroyed them west of the river. Josiah and Hezekiah did not penetrate beyond Jordan. At Dan many of these monuments seem to have been pur- posely overthrown. It seems to me therefore probable that the absence of such monuments, like the absence of sculptures and of pottery images, is best explained by supposing their destruction in the time of the reforming kings of Judah. It seems to me also that the existing monuments, though not impossibly erected by Naba- theans or other pagan Arabs, are very probably the sur- viving work of Canaanite tribes, as are very certainly the hieroglyphic inscriptions of Northern Syria. The age so claimed for these remains is not equal to that of some of the monuments of Egypt and of Chaldea, which represent a more advanced civilisation, and the presence THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 157 of dolmens on the slopes of Nebo cannot but recall the altars which Balak, king of Moab, is said to have erected on that mountain." The ruins of the cities of Heshbon and Medeba are those of Roman towns with later Byzantine additions. At Medeba, there was a fine church, of which only foun- dations remain. Here the Jesuit Fathers claimed to have discovered four ancient Nabathean inscriptions, which I afterwards copied in Jerusalem ; but I regret to say that learned opinion regards these as forgeries. Such texts should be found in Moab, and Sir Charles Warren obtained a copy of one said to exist farther south. At present, however, the Moabite Stone is the only impor- tant inscription from this region. It was found acci- dentally by a missionary, just as the Siloam text was discovered by a Jewish boy. Even of this monument the genuineness has been questioned by a learned writer, but his reasons seem to be insufficient. He says that the letters are much sharper than the water-worn sur- face of the stone, and hence argues that they were carved by the forger on an old cippus. My experience in respect to a very large number of ancient texts which I have copied is that the letters are generally better preserved than the surface. They get filled with mud, and are thus guarded against the weather, which wears the surface in which they are cut. * One of these places visited by Balaam was called Bamoth Baal, and appears to be a hill now covered with dolmens. The word Bamah (plural Bamoth) is rendered “high place,” and is sometimes connected with sepulture (Ezek. xliii. 7 ; Isaiah liii. 9). Gesenius compares the Greek Bömos, a sepulchral mound or an altar. On the Moabite Stone the word occurs as meaning the stone itself. It seems probable, therefore, that the 13amoth were rude stone monu- ments. 158 PALESTINE, There is one famous spot in Moab which requires special notice, namely, Mount Nebo, whence Moses is recorded to have gazed on the Promised Land. The cele- brated, “Pisgah view º' has often been described, but some writers seem to have given accounts not based on notes taken on the spot. The value of all geographical descriptions depends on their being written with the scene before the eyes of the writer, for memory plays strange tricks, and in the present case accuracy is of the ( . , S ' ' ) - -** --> -- *--- - • _- - - - - --> *-** * * As **, - -- - ſº - * * * *- : - - - -2. - . . . . . ...' _____. ...----------~~~~~ * ~ * - .....… ---º’---. .. sºº. . yº º ºx. --- * ſy !, Ajº. M - § {, } Wº% A 2 l, ‘’. | %, ..}; . |\}. , t, §º - -- - - - - - g %. “, . ~ J ' 2 …”. . . . ºl kV 'S', §§§, º, --- ~~~~~~~. N \º. - º, Y ...' ... ?" ...sº º------ ºf ...A. ºs', ºr - S$2\\\ s º . . . . . . .' ºf } * - -- --- -- ..--...---- . . ;----> l ºr lsº • ,' ' º: & " ºs t sº º, " g." º.º. *\º. Tº sº. -->, sº fy , Nºs.º . . .*.*...; Yi Ağ. • \\\\} = ºf , ......…Sººº...º." &º Nº. -----sº-gº" §§ ñº § ſº § - f{ h; ºff # , #, - gº * : ...A ... - *t's §§§ | \º ºr sº tº ‘Ā’At §§ "º . A vº - & - • ‘º. , ſº \ §§ W -> , § ºft ****** t; § N N & * § (? .* sº . \ \, § \º \\ | #º º §, \. 7 } || \\ º Wºº \) * **) ))\ .\ # Il . . " - * * W \\ w - sº // “) º }; * *S- SºNº|| || \ Nº. º # , y **. WWºlſ. A ſº “gº tº .Nº §% • L. VIEW OF DEAD SEA FROM MOUNT NTSBO. greatest importance. I not only made detailed notes sitting on the ruined cairn on Nebo, but I also drew an outline of the panorama which is preserved in my note- book, The most important fact is that the Mediter- ranean Sea is not in sight ; and as the heights of Nebo and of the chief tops of the western watershed are now certainly known within four or five feet, it is possible to say with certainty that the Great Sea is invisible from Nebo, because it is hidden throughout by the THE SURVEY OF MOAB. } 59 western watershed of Judea, and Samaria.” We had the advantage of being familiar with every hill-top in sight, and, moreover, saw the view in clear weather. Mount Nebo is a site fixed beyond dispute. It retains the name Neba, which applies to the highest knoll on a long spur running out west from the plateau between Heshbon and Medeba. As already noted, there are traces of a ring of dolmens round the knoll, and it is curious that none of these particular examples are mentioned in any previous account of the site, as far as I can find. Lower down on the ridge is the ruin Siaghah, preserving the name Seath, which stands instead of Nebo in the Targum of Onkelos. To the aorth are the “Springs of Moses,” of which we have per- haps an early account in the sixth century. Antoninus the pilgrim says that certain hot springs called “Baths of Moses,” where lepers were cleansed, existed east of Jordan.” The plateau close to the Nebo knoll is called “Field of Zophim " in the Bible, and the name, I think, still survives close by in the Tal'at es Sufa, or “Ascent of Zoph,” on the north side of the spur. The view from the knoll or from the ruin of Siaghah is much the same. It cannot compare with the panorama from Iſermon, and there are indeed several places east of Jordan which command a finer view ; but Nebo is the nearest mountain to Shittim in the Jordan Valley, from which an extensive view is visible. On the east the eye is met at a distance of only two miles by the edge of the Moab plateau, which shelves 1 The height of Mount Nebo is 2643.8 feet above the Mediter- ranean. The western watershed is from 3OOO to 2500 feet above the same level. * Sir C. Wilson, however, places these in the Jordan Valley, 160 PALESTINE. away eastward ; and on the south a long ridge closes the scene at a distance of about five miles. On the north-east the hillocks on which Heshbon and Elealah were built stand above the plateau, and Jebel Osh'a in Gilead appears behind, shutting out the Sea of Galilee and Hermon. It is on the west that the scene is most extensive, including all the Judean watershed, all Samaria and Tower Galilee, to Tabor and Bel- voir. Carmel is hidden behind Jebel Hazkin, which is close to the Jordan Valley, and 7oo feet higher than Carmel. On the south-west is Yukin, the city of the Kenites, perched high above the Jeshimon or desert of Judah, and in front of the great precipices of that desert lies the Dead Sea, of which the northern half only is seen. Herodium, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem are all in sight, and beneath are the traditional tomb of Moses—in the desert of Judah—the precipice of Qua- rantania, and below this the dark groves round ancient Jericho. North of Jerusalem is seen Nebi Samwil with the mosque over the Crusading tomb of Samuel, and Baal IHazor with its oak clump, and Gerizim with Ebal to the right, and the deep cleft of the Vale of Shechem between them. Under these is the white cone of the Sartaba towering over the Jordan Valley, and at our feet the thorn groves of the plain of Shittim east of the river. To the north-west appear Hazkin and Tabor, as already noticed ; and the chain of Gilboa with the dim outline of Galilean hills marks the farthest extent of the view. Seen in autumn, the whole was singularly bare and colourless, for the green hues of spring were absent, and the dusty valley of Jordan, with the white marl banks near the THE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 161 river, contrasted with the black snake-like jungles mark- ing the course of the stream and of the various tribu- taries, such as the waters of Nimrim. The view thus described appears to be in accordance with the Old Testament account (Deut. xxxiv. 1–3), and the eastern geography of the Pentateuch is as easy gene- rally to trace on the ground as is the topography of the Book of Joshua west of the river. Naphtali, Gilead, Dphraim and Manasseh, Judah, and the Negeb, or “dry land ” south of IHebron, are all in sight, with the plains of Jericho “unto Zoar.” The only difficulty lies in the mention of Dan and of the western sea, which are not in sight from this ridge. The south limit of the Adwān country and of the Survey was formed by the magnificent gorge now called Zerka Main, the Callirrhoe of Josephus, where are the hot baths in which the miserable IHerod was bathed during his last sickness. This valley seems to be noticed in the Pentateuch under the name Nahaliel, “Valley of God,” as one of the camping places of Israel. The top of the cliffs is here 2.5oo feet above the Dead Sea, and the hot springs in the valley are 16oo feet above the same level. The cliffs, 9oo feet high, are precipitous for the most part, but a winding descent leads down on the north. The scenery is magnificent. A black basalt bastion and brown limestone walls of rock face north- wards, and on the north side are precipices of yellow, red, pink, and purple sandstone, with gleaming chalk above and the rich green of palm groves beneath. The hot streams flowing from the northern slopes are crusted along their course with yellow and orange sulphur deposits, and the hottest spring—about 140 Fahr.—has formed a breccia terrace near the remains of the Roman baths, L 162 PALESTINIE. a hundred feet above the bed of the torrent, which flows with cold water from springs higher up the valley. The Arabs still bathe, or rather steam themselves, sitting over this spring, to cure rheumatism, from which they often suffer. They have a legend of a demon slave of Solomon who found the spring, and Dr. Tristram men- tions sacrifices at the spot, which—though I did not see any such performed—would be in accordance with Arab custom in other places in the deserts. We found a great contrast between the Arabs and the Fellahin in the matter of folk-lore. The Fellah legends are, as a rule, of very little interest, and most of those which we collected are to be found in the Rorán. But all the desert Arabs with whom I am acquainted are only in name Mohammedan, and are, strictly speaking, pagans; and they are very fond of legendary tales, so that we collected more of these in two months east of Jordan than we got in four years west of the river. I have devoted a chapter in a previous work to the legends which we collected in the Adwān country, including the story of Aly and the wishing well of Minyeh, which sprang up under his spear; of Aly and the city of Antar; of Aly and the City of Brass. The romantic tale of Zeid and Ghareisah, an Arab Romeo and Juliet, is connected with a rude in- scription in Wädy Jideid. The story of the “Dish of Abu Zeid” has already been mentioned ; and at the ruin of Tyrus, farther north, we have the legend of the prince, his daughter, and the black slave. At a place near El Marighât called Hana wa Bana is localised an Arab version of AEsop's fable of the man with an old and a young wife. This proverbial story is, however, known all over Syria. Then again in the Jordan Valley THE SURVEY OF MOAB. 163 are shown the pits of the hero Zir, legends concerning whom are known to the Maronites, but taken from printed story-books, which, I believe, come from Egypt. I would here only note that within a comparatively small district we collected from the Arabs no less than eight folk-lore tales in a few weeks, only one of which was previously known, and that one gathered from the Abu Nuseir Arabs at Jericho. The Arabs showed no reserve in relating these stories as soon as they saw that we also enjoyed them ; and none of them, as far as I know, belong to the printed tales of Egyptian collections, except that of Zir and Hakmun. This wealth of folk- tales contrasts with the barrenness of Fellah imagina- tion ; and though it is of course possible that something of interest may be extracted from the Fellahin, they cannot be said to be remarkable for their love of legendary tales. The Kalmuk Tartars, even, are far more imaginative and poetic in their folk-lore than are the peasants west of Jordan, and the Arabs, who pro- duced so many poets, even earlier than Muhammad, are intellectually a finer race than the Eellallin. As above observed, the Arabs of the desert are practi- cally pagans. They do not pray as Moslems should do, and they are as much addicted to the worship of the dead as the Fellahin. The graves of famous chiefs and of der- vishes, or reputed Welys, are visited by the Arabs, who there offer small objects, such as pieces of blue pottery, old coins, berries, and pebbles, placed on the little dolmen table on the west side of the surrounding circle. The wives cut off their hair, and the plaited pig-tails are hung on a string on the husband's tomb. An Arab passing by a graveyard often kisses the tombstones. This seems to constitute their chief religious observance. They, I 64 |PALESTINI). however, celebrate the yearly feast while the Moslem pilgrims are at Mecca, slaying camels and eating the flesh ; but this feast was an Arab festival long before Tslam, and, as far as my experience goes, the true Arabs are ignorant of the Korān, and have no fanatical feeling. I have never actually seen them worshipping the sum or the moon, but they face the sunrise while visiting the tombs, and their frequent legends of Aly agree with the fact that down to the present century they belonged to the great faction of the Yemeni, as opposed to the Reis faction, to which the greater part of the villagers west of Jordan belonged. These factions represent the survival of a political feud as old as the seventh century A.D. between the adherents of Aly, including most of the Yemen Arabs, and the followers of the Damascus Rhalifs. The Arabs east of Jordan are thus connected with Persia rather than with Palestine, and it was from Persia that all the most imaginative elements in the religion of Islam came first. Tersian Muhammadism is the creed of Islam as influenced by the older creed of the Zoroastrians. Syrian Muhammadism is the creed of Islam as influenced by association with Christianity and Judaism. - The tribes among which we lived were very rich in camels. The droves were really countless, and were herded like cattle, and neither saddled nor ſitted with halters. They were kept for milk and for breeding, not for transport, and the camel so seen east of Jordan was a different beast to his hard-worked brother in the villages. Property in this case depended on branding, and the brands were the tribe-marks of the owner's tribe. I had thus an opportunity of studying at leisure the Question of tribe marks, concerning which most extraordi- THE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 165 nary theories have been broached, one writer regarding them as planetary signs, and another as rough sketches of totems. Of that which (by an unlucky misnomer) is called Totemism, I have never been able to find any traces in Syria, though I have studied it among the Bechuanas of South Africa. The simple fact as regards Arab tribe-marks is, that they are letters of the old Arab alphabets of the Nejed and of Yemen. This I have been able clearly to show in the case of every tribe- mark which we collected among the Arabs. In closing this chapter, I ought to record the services of our ally, Sheikh Goblan en Nimr. His early adven- tures are well known, and he was one of the most remarkable men whom I met in Syria. He belonged to the junior branch, but to the elder generation, of the Adwān tribe, which is divided under two ruling families. Aly Diab, the ruling chief of the elder branch, is a friend of the Turks, but Goblan was a sturdy and inde- pendent leader of the free or anti-Turkish party. So strong were his feelings on this subject, that he could hardly hear the name of Turk with any patience. This strong feeling made him perhaps the most popular personage beyond Jordan, and wherever we went the tribesmen received him with marks of reverence and affection. He had earned the reputation of being greedy and grasping, and I have no doubt he regarded every stranger as fair prey, from whom the uttermost farthing was to be exacted. But in spite of this greed for money, which all Arabs alike show in dealing with travellers, Goblan was not a miser. The gold I gave him was scattered with royal muniſicence, and was gone as soon as he got it. There was very much in his character which was admirable, and yet more that was 166 PALESTINE. romantic. IIe was a man of honour, who having once sealed a treaty, stuck to his word, and smoothed our path when many even of his own sons and nephews were afraid to come near us. There is no doubt that if, instead of science, our object had been intrigue, we might without difficulty have raised a revolt in Moab, which Goblan would have headed with great satisfaction. At one time I think he suspected us of some such pro- ject, and was rather disappointed that we should submit to Turkish authority. In his youth Goblan received a serious sword-cut in the face from an angry relative. The details of the story I have not heard, but it is well known how ashamed he was of this wound, which he always hid with his Kufeyeh shawl. IIe had also been guilty of murder, having run through with his lance the owner of a fine grey mare in the desert. He was, I believe, unaware that the man he slew was one of the Beni Sakhr chiefs, but the consequence was a blood feud which threatened his life for many years. Thus on the south and east he was in peril from the neigh- bouring tribesmen, while on the north the Turks lay in wait. Some years before our visit to the country, a governor of the Belka summoned the Adwān chiefs to Nāblus, promising to make them Government officials with salaries, recognised as his lieutenants in their own country. Goblan counselled them not to go, and not to be tempted by such promises. They went and Goblan stayed behind. Those who went were cast into prison and fined, and Diab, the eldest, was so roughly handled that his leg was broken. He came to see me as a lame old man, who had abdicated in favour of his son, having TIIE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 167 lost all the reputation to which Goblan, by his superior judgment of the case, attained. A Russian Grand Duke at Jericho gave Goblan, rather later, a valuable ring, which this same governor at Nāblus found means to make him give up. These were the personal reasons for Goblan's hate of the Turks, and it was on such grounds that he was able and willing to help us in our exploration of the forbidden ground. These lines can now be freely penned, for poor Goblan is no more. IIis wild life—an untaught savage life, not without its elements of greatness, of pathos, and of romance—has closed at a ripe old age in a peaceful death. Neither by Turkish jailor nor by Arab lance was his life ended ; he died among his own people in the desert home of his I’a C62. The peculiar position of the man led me into more than one adventure. Some of our trigonometrical stations were on the border of the Beni Sakhr country, which I had promised not to enter without their escort. The Beni Sakhr chiefs and Goblan had met in my tents, but there he was safe as my guest. Had we been caught, however, in their land, by a relation of the murdered man already mentioned, Goblan would have been slain, and I should have been placed in the dilemma of either leaving him to his fate, or else myself becoming a blood enemy to an Arab tribe. On such occasions, while we took angles on a high hill, Goblan sat with his eyes fixed on the distant camp of his foes, scanning the plateau, so that he should not be taken unawares. On another occasion, riding somewhat in advance of my party, I sud- denly saw bearing down upon me a group of horsemen with long spears. We met and saluted, and the first question was, “Where is Goblan " " I never made out to 168 PALESTINI). what tribe these cavaliers belonged, but Goblan had vanished as though swallowed by the earth, and not till we were far away from this spot, near his own camp, did he reappear. Another day he and I went out alone to survey the borderland between the two tribes. At one place, as I was taking angles, he came and pointed to distant figures. “All horsemen,” he said ; “make haste and finish your work.” I noted my angles as fast as I could, when he again touched me. “They are only camels,” he said ; “you can go on as long as you like.” However, as I got on my horse, he again pointed to the plain, where we saw three horsemen about a mile away. There were no friendly camps near, and so I gained experience of how an Arab acts in such a case. We rode away quietly on the side of the hill, where we could not be seen, but were able from time to time to look over the crest at the advancing figures. Finally, we came to a sort of dell by a ruin, with banks all round, and here we lay comfortably lurking, and saw the group following the road to my camp. When they had gone some way, Goblan boldly emerged, and we rode parallel with them in the open. The reason was soon apparent. Though quite near, they were separated from us by one of those great rents in the plateau which form narrow gorges many hundred feet deep. Coming to the brink, he called across and they answered, but could not reach us with- out riding round many miles; and besides this, we were now close to a camp of Goblan's people. “It is well we did not stay,” said Goblan to me; “they are Satám and his brothers.” These were the Beni Sakhr chiefs who had been to my camp, and who sought his life. Like David calling across the valley to Saul, THE SURVIEY OF MOAB. 169 Goblan stood thus within hearing of his helpless foes, and quietly greeted them. Such is the etiquette of Arab life. The blow may be struck when the time comes, but to revile one another would be discourteous between foes. Another incident showed me Arab life in a more pleasing colour. We had ridden through Jordan, and were resting on the bank, when a poor Arab with his wife on a donkey came down to the river. Addressing Goblan in that simple way in which the meanest Arab addresses the greatest chief, he said, “Goblan take my wife over the river.” The old chief at once complied, and ordered his son to take the woman on his horse behind him. Rather sulkily his handsome son obeyed, and went back through the river to the western bank. These men were the true sons of that great Arab who, having conquered all Syria, rode into Jerusalem on his camel in the simple garb of the desert. The kindly greetings which Goblan bestowed on the men he met, on the women and children at the springs, and on the poorest of his fellows, showed perhaps that he had learned the secret of governing others, and his strength lay in the simplicity and steadfast constancy of his actions. They had but one opinion in Moab, that Goblan alone represented the freedom of earlier days. Tall, gaunt, with a dusky colour, one eye red and sightless, one cheek furrowed with the sword, with a thick, straight, obstinate nose, and a few silver locks, usually hidden, the old chief was yet at times, when no One mentioned the Turks and the Beni Sakhr, of cheer- ful mien. He is one of the few Orientals I ever met with a sense of humour, and often laughed most heartily. 170 PALESTINE. IIe could neither write nor read, and he never Smoked tobacco. Peace be to his ashes; and I hope the monument which covers them is at least equal to that which is erected in Goblan's own country to his great rival, Fendi el Faiz, who died on his way to the Beni Sakhr country. CIIAIPTER W. EXPLORATIONS IN GILEA. D. NonTII of Heshbon the country rises slightly, and we enter the region surrounding the large ruined city of ‘Ammān—the Rabbath Ammon of the Bible and the Toman Philadelphia. This was the most important ruin surveyed in Palestine, as regards its antiquarian inte- rest, and the best specimen of a Tłoman town that I visited, except the still more wonderful ruins of Gerasa, which yield only to Baalbek and Palmyra among Syrian capitals of the second century of our era. On the slopes below the plateau in this region is the still more interesting ruin of Tyrus, the only dated Jewish building of early age that we possess. Although it had often been visited, we were able to add some interesting architectural details, and to correct a false impression about the great Jewish inscription of five letters here boldly carved on the rock. Tyrus, now called 'Avák el Emir, is our one relic of the Jewish architecture of the days of Judas Maccabaeus. The priest IIyrcanus, who fled from his brothers beyond Jordan, committed suicide at this place (where he had lived seven years) on hearing of the approach of Antio- chus in 176 B.C. His life was one of adventure and of constant warfare against the Arab or Nabathean tribes I71. 172 PALESTINIE. of the region. IIe first made himself a stronghold con- sisting of numerous caves in two storeys, with an open rock terrace leading to the upper tier, where, among other chambers, he cut a great stable for his horses. We measured this stable, and found mangers for a hundred steeds. Near this fortress he built his great palace, which is now fallen in, except the east wall. The palace was surrounded by a broad moat, and water was brought by an aqueduct from the stream, which here breaks down rapidly towards the Jordan Valley through dense bushes of oleander, which have grown to the size of forest trees. The walls of the palace were of stones six to eight feet in height and fifteen to twenty feet long. Only three courses were required to reach up to the roof. The top course above a narrow frieze was adorned at each corner by rude sculptured figures of lions, which were carved in relief by sinking back part of the face of the stone after it was placed in position. The details of some fragments of cornice are rude imitations of Greek classic style, but the extraordinary capitals of great pillars belonging to the interior are unlike any that I have elsewhere seen, and they most resemble Egyptian work. They seem not to have been noticed by De Vogüé, whose work I have generally found to be very detailed and faithful. Whether this great palace was ever quite finished seems doubtful. A stone which must weigh about fifty tons lies half-way between the building and the quarry, as though left on the last day when the building was stopped. A deliberate destruction of the walls seems also certainly to have occurred. * Here, then, we have an ancient dated Jewish inscrip- tion, belonging to an age singularly deficient in monu- Q \; o o $ ~o ~ ~ n − G. — C, SS ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ JY S \ Q \ - \\ c G „ ! ue?ų reqeN C) O “? | -9 · 3 oor g| 4） | x n -- s- ， ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Þºr » 5 Ž- - - N,-+-- §| ， | a, co < IU u Hx < $ » º «-Q— v^ — > º -> X <->< •|2an•5.cº)>< >} < C/) ! :O : » OOS <|）| ºg ºn e- →" ºr º ſa º № T ，~ 7 ~~. Þ º. E > C - 3 × 2， ſſſ* D * 8 QO9 H- || ule ſu o | ºver downrºe. –––-li jaaoo-oooo T 35T | | | | GEO-L0 GICAL. º Scale lºſ)00,000 - º - º-; 3,4-ºff/es. * | º { % | | | fºº Rºulani ſº - Q y ºf- ( - 33 - º R.I., M! º - N. --- - S.LUshch 3597 2 *- Y y - - 32 º %, ’’ REFERENCE, º º | ſº Recent. - 2 - º ſ º º, ſ / N º | Aſſocene and Pºiocene * -- "N-- º alº", wanderone of sºlº -º-ºne hºwda. rº- º WYuild 2: - Mummuhne annartone. ſ --- º | | White Chalk wºn ºnzº "Nº ſº, % - Tº Cretacº lºwacº ºwnertone |- Munan wandarrone. - º ºr- º ------ " ... hooks. *-- - º mºst - - º ºr ſº -------- --~~~~ - . º - N- -- wºme works. º sº º-rº \ſ º ---------------- º º-º-º-º- PAL E S T IN E as divided among the "I'WE LVE TRIBE S. Scale 1:2,000,000 to -ø ºwn no º (c) (ºes of fººze. & ºtherzewoodz arres. __ - ºrgº. n asse h C ºx. hraim - rſ ºr-º-º-o-º-º-º: - T- - T PAL E S T | N E. in the Beginning of the C H R | STI A N E R A. Scale lºſ)00000 (º.sta Mººn.) 0 75-º-º-º-º/oman ºlar. o Cºzy of the Decapolºw . *— alsº - * > g.º. beyi. - Carmelmº ſ: - ºpphorºsſ/º. º w Mºoraſ º Ac, Cheraeus I - Caesaret - r lae Allies lº A M A Ril ºeºe N ...'" º oppeſº idiº" W . º ºmnia. - co A *--- Apollona. amnia Trip olis.” Botrys? Hyblº) Adonia R. £es. L gas. - - - # - - - Samºa-nomatae ºl, ºlº º “”. *draeto º Sºyū ºpolisº opºl - --- -º- Fºliº ---Tº --- *haracas. -* - & “. - Eladharu-ri º Aora //aesarea). - | Lu º º - º ºs - Mºe gººd. ºff. - º Rºº, Pºº tº: -- Galaaditis oùetasa º: - hiladelphia - Lu * Am Tº º -- *non ºr º ºn, Iºn ºn tºº. The Kingdom of J E R U SALEM Shewing the Fiefs. About 1187 A.D. scale, lºoooooo º 37-yoºr”. - wºn a …thºlo - (Same ..Y Crocodile R Salt R. Arsur de Araur. M () I) E R N PA L E S T | N. E. Shewing - º TU RK ISH PROVINCES. Scale;1:3000,000 70-37-3 Trab ºr " Ad. Nahr Ibrahi 81 Nahrel Tyre (e Z 2 III. | O In a rºl. - Dimes usesh | º Litani 5 Sur º--- Al----Jerº. º--" Kanawat --~~...~9. --- Tw Boºg. . Ny's -------- P 'S r - 2.2% _ſ r º Reference. Whe Vºlºvetofºria ºudes tº/lowing ºver-rººk--- A.M.Shawn. Aºazzarº Akº. Mºhaw with ºbedº º/Mºrº. ºc. º-oº-ºº ºn, ºn-lºvº- JBy the $5ame Žlutbor. TENT WORK IN PALESTINE. Bentley. 1878. JUDAS MACCABAEUS. Marcus Ward. 1879. HETH AND MOAB. Bentley. 1883. PRIMER OF BIBLE GEOGRAPHY. Sunday School Union. 1884. HANDBOOK TO THE BIBLE, Longmans. 1879. SYRIAN STONE LORE. Bentley. 1886. ALTAIC HIEROGLYPHS. Bentley. 1887. THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society. 1888. 32 FLEET STREET, LONDON. (ſhe (Clorlö's C5teat Erplorers ano Erploration3. EDITF D RY J. Scott KELTIE, Librarian, Royal Geographical Society ; H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., Reader in Geography at the University of Oxford ; And E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S. NDER this title Messrs. G. PHILIP & SON are issuing a series of volumes dealing with the life and work of those heroic adventurers through whose exertions the face of the earth has been made known to humanity. Each volume will, so far as the ground covered admits, deal mainly with one prominent name associ- ated with some particular region, and will tell the story of his life and adventures, and describe the work which he accomplished in the Service of geographical discovery. The aim will be to do ample justice to geographical results, while the personality of the ex- S 2 plorer is never lost sight of. In a few cases in which the work of discovery cannot be possibly associated with the name of any single explorer, some departure from this plan may be unavoidable, but it will be fol- lowed as far as practicable. In each case the exact relation of the work accomplished by each explorer to what went before and what followed after, will be pointed out ; so that each volume will be virtually an account of the exploration of the region with which it deals. Though it will not be sought to make the various volumes dovetail exactly into each other, it is hoped that when the series is concluded, it will form a fairly complete Biographical History of Geographical Discovery. Each volume will be written by a recognised author- ity on his subject, and will be amply furnished with Specially prepared maps, portraits, and other original illustrations. While the names of the writers whose co-operation has been secured are an indication of the high Standard aimed at from a literary and scientific point of view, the Series will be essentially a popular one, appealing to the great mass of general readers, young and old, who have always shewn a keen interest in the story of the world's exploration, when well told. It is, moreover, believed that not a few of the volumes will be found adapted for use as reading books, or even text-books in schools. Each volume will consist of about 300 pp. crown 8vo, and will be published in cloth extra, price 4s. 6d., in cloth gilt cover, specially designed by Lewis F. Day, gilt edges, price 5s, or in half polished morocco, marbled edges, price 7S. 6d. O U The following volumes are either ready or are in an advanced State of preparation :- JOHN DAVIS, Arctic Explorer and Early India Navigator. By CLEMENTS R. MARK IIAM, C. B., F.R.S. [/Čeady.] PALESTINE. By MAJOR C. R. ConDER, R.E. Leader of the Palestine Exploring Expeditions. [Å'eadi'.] MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER. By Joseph THOMSON, author of “Through Masai Land,” &c. [A'eaſy.] MAGELLAN AND THE PACIFIC. By DR. H. H. GUILLEMARD, author of “The Cruise of the Marchesa.” [A’eady.] JOHN FRANKLIN AND THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. By CAPTAIN ALBERT MARKHAM, R.N. [A'eady. ] LIVINGSTONE AND CENTRAL AFRICA. By H. H. Joi INSTON, II.B.M. Consul at Mozambique. [Shortly.] SAUSSURE AND THE ALPS. By Doug LAs W. FRESH- FIELD, Hon. Sec. Royal Geographical Society. THE HIMALAYA. By LIEUT.-GENERAL R. STRACHEy, R.E., C.S.I., late President of the R.G.S. ROSS AND THE ANTARCTIC. By H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., Reader in Geography at Oxford. BRUCE AND THE NILE. By J. Scott KELTIE, Librarian R.G.S. WASCO D.A. GAMA AND THE OCEAN HIGHWAY TO INDIA. By E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.S. Other volumes to follow will deal with— HUMBOLDT AND SOUTH AMERICA. B.A.R.ENTS AND THE IN. B. PASSAGE. COLUMIBUS AND HIS STUCCESSORS, JACQUES CARTIER AND CANADA. CAPTAIN COOK AND AUSTRALASIA. MARCO POLO AND CENTRAL ASIA. IBN BATUTA AND IN. A.FRICA. LEIF ERIKSON AND GREENLAND. DAMIPIER AND THE BUCCANEERS. &c. &c. &c. GEORGE PHILIP & SON, LONDON & LIVERPOOL 32 FLEET STREET, E. C. JUNE 1897. GEORGE PHILIP & SON'S List Of NEW and Impºrtant WORKS (5cography) and Cravel. — was #3 Nº- Crown Svo, Antique Cover, price 7 s. 6d. HOME LIFE ON AN 0STRICH FARM, T3 Y AN NIE M A. RTIN. WITH E L E V E N I L L U S T R A TIONS. O PIN | ONS OF THE PRESS, “Mrs. Martin has furnished one of the most charming descriptions of African experience that have come under the notice of the reviewer, weary of book-making and padding. The work does not contain a dull page, and it is so short and so bright in tone that we should be doing an injustice to the author if we quoted any of the choicest bits. The account of ‘Jacob,' the secretary-bird, which swallowed the kitten alive, and, hearing it still mewing in his capacious inside, went about in futile quest of another kitten to devour, is delightfully comic ; so also are the experi- ences of servants and household difficulties on a farm in the Karroo, near Port Elizabeth. . . . Defore they agreed to “combine forces,’ both Mrs. Martin and her husband—alluded to as T.-had evidently travelled widely, wisely, and well; the result being a sparkling little book of which it would be difficult to speak too highly. It contains eleven illustrations from photographs; and, while men will enjoy it, ladies will appreciate it even more.”—Athemawm. “There is not an uninteresting page in this entertaining book, while there are very few pages indeed which do not contain something genuinely funny.”—St. James's Gazette. “Nothing has been published for a long time in the way of light litera- ture which can give more unmitigated satisfaction than this book.”— Mancheste)” Jºacaminer. “The book is a rarity altogether—rare in its pretty and tasteful bind- ing and its beautiful engravings, and especially in the amount of informa- tion it supplies on that very remarkable bird, the Ostrich.”—Newcastle Daily Chromicle. LONLY ON AND LIVERPOOL : GEORGE PHILIP & SON. Just Published, Super-royal 8vo, in handsome illustrated cloth cover, gilt top, price 328. ACROSS EAST AFRICAN GLAG|ERS. AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST A SCENT OF MOUNT KILIMAN}ARO. BY DR, HANS MEYER. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN By E. H. S. CALDER. 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Compton, and adequately supplied with maps in which Dr. Meyer's survey-work has been incorporated.”—Athenæum. “Dr. Meyer's magnificent volume has more permanent value than any of the publications connected with the Emin Relief Expedition.” —Daily Telegraph. “The record of Dr. Meyer's march, even through the most barren places, is never dull, because every page is brightened with scientific observations and deductions.”—Daily Chronicle. “One of the few books about Africa published during the year which is of enduring scientific value. . . . There is more thoroughly scientific work recorded in a few pages of Hans Meyer's book than im all the vast body of Stanley literature put together.”—Observer. “This monumental work has been translated from the German by I. S. Calder, who has dome the work well. Forty illustrations and three maps, all magnificently executed, adorn the work, which as a book of travel will charm every one with its modest, unassuming style, The observations made by the Doctor will be of infinite use to future travellers.”—St. Stephen's Review. “This work is the handsomest and most important book of travels of the season.”—Manchester 1'acaminer. “A most fascinating and instructive story of adventure and explora- tion.”—Liverpool Post. LONDON AND LIVERPOOL : GEORGE PHILIP & SON. 2 THE WORLD'S GREAT EXPLORERS AND EXPLORATIONS, Edited by J. SCOTT KELTIE, Librarian, Royal Geographical Society; H. J. MACKINDER, M.A., Reader in Geography at the University of Oxford ; and E. G. RAVENSTEIN, F. R. G.S. Six volumes are already published, and may now be had in three different bindings : –Plain neat cloth cover, 4s. 6d. ; cloth gilt cover specially designed by Lewis F. Day, gilt edges, 5s. ; half-bound polished imorocco, marbled edges, 7s. 6d. VOLU M ES AL READY PUBLISHED, 1. JOHN DAVIS, Arctic Explorer and Early Indian Navigator. By CLEMENTs R. MARKHAM, C.B. Crown 8vo. With 24 Illustrations and 4 Coloured Maps. “The series now begun should operate as a stimulant to the acquisition of knowledge in the boundless field of geography. . . . The book is a good piece of work, and should be popular.”—Spectator. 2. PALESTINE. By Major C. R. CoNDER, R.E., Leader of the Palestine Exploring Expedition. Crown 8vo. With 26 Illustrations and 7 Coloured Maps. “No marrative of personal adventure and of scientific discovery could be found more interesting. This may be said to be the first attempt to bring together in a popular form the results of the great work of Palestine survey.”—Scotsman. 3. MUNGO PARK AND THE NIGER. By Joseph THOMson, author of “Through Masai Land.” Crown 8vo. With 24 Illus- trations and 7 Coloured Maps. “A well-chosen adaptation of author to subject sometimes produces a volume of exceptional interest. The life and work of perhaps the greatest African ex- plorer of the last century by one of the most distinguished and capable travellers of our own day is an instance of this.”—Athenaeum. 4. THE LIFE OF FERDIN AND MAGELLAN, and the First Circurnnavigation of the Globe, 1480–1521. By IF. H. H. GUILLEMARD, M.A., M. D., Cantab., author of “The Cruise of the Marchesa.” Crown 8vo, cloth. With 24 Illustrations and 11 Coloured Maps. A few copies of the Edition de Lure (only fifty copies printed), avedium 8vo, printed on hamd-made paper, with Illustrations on India, may still be obtained. Price on application. “This is not only a story of splendid and successful adventure (not the less successful because Magellan died, like Wolfe, in the aims of victory), but the story of an exquisitely noble life.”—Cownty Gentleman. 5. THE LIFE OF SIR, JOHN FRANKLIN. By Captain A. MARK II AM. Crown Svo. With 22 Illustrations and 4 Coloured Maps. This volume will be of special interest in connection with the Franklin relics, which are to form an important feature of the Naval Exhibition. 6, LIVINGSTONE AND THE EXPLORATION OF CENTRAL AFRICA. By H. H. Jon NSTON, C. B., F.R.G.S., F. Z.S., &c., II. M. Commissioner and Consul-General. Crown Svo, price 4s. 6d. With 24 Illustrations from Photographs and from the Author's Original Drawings, and 4 Coloured Maps. Also a Limited Edition (large paper) printed on hand-made paper, with several additional Illustrations from the Awthor's Drawings, and a magnificent Etched I'rontispiece. Price to swbscribers, 21s, met, will be raised to 25s, met immediately on 7) wblication. LONDON AND LIVERDOOL : GlöORGE PHILIP & SON. Third Edition. Now Ready, Crown 8vo, 7s. 6d. A G|RL |N THE KARPATH |ANS, By MENIE MURIEL DOWIE. With upwards of Thirty Original Illustrations and a Coloured Map. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, “Miss Towie's fresh and pleasant book is unconventional and in many respects original. . . . 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The writer's courage and high spirits are beautifully tempered with a touch of feminine weakness, without which the book would lack one of its distinctive charms.”—Daily News (Leader). “An undoubtedly valuablo contribution to our knowledge of the social life of a people who are comparatively unknown. . . . Very readable, mot only for its novelty, but on account of the porsonality of its certainly clover authoress.”— JDaily Graphic. “A book in which there is evidence of keen observation, humour, and a con- siderable literary gift. . . . IIas a provoking piquancy and a freshness of outlook which quite atone for any unchastened exuberance.”—Anti-Jacobin. “It would hardly be too much to say of it that since King lake’s “IEothen wo have had nothing so brilliant in its way, or disclosing a literary individuality so fresh and so emphatic. . . . It gives us a vivid glance at a corner of Europe that hitherto has lain for us in deep obscurity; but, better than this, it will furnish to all its readers a real and rare literary treat.”—Scottish Leader. “What she has to say is full of interest and of freshness. The picture she gives both of the scencry and of the Polish peasantry is vivid and entertaining. . . . Will be read with enjoyment by all who take it up.”—Scotsman. “IHer style is quite unlike anything I know, and for picturesque variety of phrase, delicacy of shading, and really fine proportion, it deserves very warm praise. Moreover, Miss Dowie has a genuine gift of observation, and she makes }. Ruthenian peasants live in these pages with vivid and occasionally audacious realism. . . . The book is the expression of a very interesting and genuine per- somality.”—Sws.sea. Daily News. “Undoubtedly one of the most piquant books of travel that have appeared of late.”—Daily Mail. “Far superior to the ordinary run of books of travel, the descriptive powers of he young author being of a very high order, and the work throughout is remark- able for many passages of great power and beauty. Dinding, printing, and illustrations are alike handsome, the illustrations especially—both full-page and text—being exceedingly well done.”—Newcastle Chronicle. 4 T.ONDON AND LIVERPOOL ; GIEORGE l’HII,II? & SON. THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DATE DUE -- APR 12 1993 * ** -- . - - * - ~ * . .2 º ſi. º : “…” ºr º, |||||||||||| D0 NOT REM0 WE 0R MUTIILATE CARD ¿? &&&&z:： ∞∞∞ → • • ••• • ， agºſaerºs